ickledot
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December 2009
What do you do when an endowment matures?
December 31, 2009
… spend the first few minutes weeping over how huge is the shortfall. Then head out to Hi-tec to buy a new Mac mini for the TV!
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Coming soon: A Twitter camera. (Scripting News)
December 29, 2009
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Coming soon: A Twitter camera
Sunday, December 27, 2009 by Dave Winer.
I’ve been trying to find an easy way for my mom to manage her own digital camera, and have settled on getting her a netbook computer she can travel with. I’ll set it up so it’s easy for her to take the SD card from the camera and plug it into the netbook and upload her pictures to Flickr. It’ll be pretty easy, but then I was just driving home from dinner and realized that someday, maybe very soon, it will be even easier.
Imagine a Twitter-branded camera. Here’s how it would work.
It would have the inverse of Amazon’s Whispernet. Where Amazon wants to push content to the remote device, the purpose of the Twitter camera would be to push the content, pictures — to Twitter.
The user interface would be simple. Take a picture. It shows up in the little screen built into the camera. There would be a blue button with the Twitter bird on it. Click the button and the picture being displayed is uploaded and a pointer is tweeted on your behalf. One-click publication from anywhere a cell phone works.
Ultimately cameras will be able to communicate. Until today I didn’t realize that they would be hard-wired into social networks. I’m sure they will.
Of course there will be a Facebook camera.
And if Yahoo had been paying attention there would have been a Flickr camera, two or three years ago.
A UStream or Qik HD camera would be good too.
The key point is that the device and the online service will become inseparable and least for casual point-and-shoot people, like myself.
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Worst Idea of the Year, 2009
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AndrewBurton 12 hours ago
Short summary: the most revolutionary thing about the Kindle was that it was the first device to come bundled with connectivity. As operators look to increase their revenues they should start business units that are dedicated to servicing corporations who want to sell products connect to the network out of the box.
Like Reply Reply
box142
vinceoutlaw How does your vision differ from this other than some additional streamlining (removing some extra clicks and touches)?
Like Reply Reply
blankbaby There is already an app for UStream to broadcast the live video too.
Like Reply Reply
jeffshuey
Tyler 1 person liked this. I’ve seen video cameras at walmart that are branded as you tube camerasLike Reply Reply
Tyler 1 person liked this. thats pretty much apples game. take features away so its easier to use and more people will use it because they understand how to use it.Like Reply Reply
dave 1 person liked this. If someone gets rich off this idea I wouldn’t mind getting a little stock.
Hint hint. :-0Like Reply Reply
I bought myself an Eye-Fi card from Google on a special, buy 200GB online storage for $50 get a $95 Eye-fi card FREE. It supports automatically uploading photos to Picasa Albums and maybe even flickr too. It’s a SD card maybe SDHC, and that’s about all I know for now I haven’t received it yet. But you’ll be sure to see my results. I’m certain Picasa albums can have RSS feeds.Like Reply Reply
Queco Jones 1 person liked this. Aren’t there SD cards that already do this (via WiFi only at the moment)?I thought so: http://www.eye.fi/
[Edited to add URL]
Like Reply Reply
dave 1 person liked this. It isn’t just a click — it takes a minute or more to arrange it.I wanted to send a picture of the outside of the restaurant to Twitter
before we went in. I didn’t even get as far as clicking the Share button in
the camera app of the Droid.I know all the steps I have to go through, that isn’t the issue — but I
always want to make it simpler, by removing steps. By binding the camera to
the online service, you remove a bunch of steps.Also because it’s tied to a specific service it will be cheaper, it might
even be free.Like Reply Reply
dave 1 person liked this. Yes that’s the point. My mom tries hard, but if we can make it easier she
can do more.Remember Amazon has 1-click ordering for a reason. I know how to go through
check out and click all the buttons and fill in all the forms. But I buy
more stuff from them because I can just click one button and it arrives a
few days later. If they could make it easier — they would.Similar story with blogging. Before we came up with Manila in 1999, we were
writing blog posts, but it would take a few steps to get something up. With
Manila it was 3 steps and it couldn’t be easier. Click the Edit button, make
the change, click Submit. Believe me, a lot more people started blogging as
a result, but some people thought they didn’t need the simplification.The whole point of technology is to make things easier. We call it “paving
the cow paths.”Like Reply Reply
via scripting.com
An interesting idea from Scripting News
The Steam Room – a further version
December 19, 2009
This is another version of the story. Still not right though. Not menacing enough. Different ending though. Went to Green’s gym in Chingford a couple of weeks ago. No heating pillar and stupid light in their steam room. That got me thinking.
‘Whoever’s in there, I wish they’d stop that tapping.’Jeff smiled to himself. He was alone. In the steam room. The steam room.
Jeff enjoyed the time he spent here. After a work-out in the gym or a few lengths of the pool, he looked upon it as a reward. He could sit in the relative quiet, recover his breath, feel his heart rate slow and reflect on the events of his day. As other occupants were virtually hidden from him by the combination of steam and subdued blue lighting, there was no pressure to socialise. He was free to sweat and ponder in peace.
Recently, the steam room had been forced to close for three or four days due to some malfunction. For almost a week, a small, yellow, plastic figure with a Stop sign on its chest stood guard in front of the door while members made do with the adjoining sauna.When the steam room reopened, users discovered that a number of alterations had been made. Although some grumbled, particularly the long established members, the modifications were generally well received, probably as enough had been left untouched so keep a familiar feel. The blue mosaic tiles that flowed down the walls and across the concrete seat beneath, they were still there, along with the large grey ones that covered the floor. Jeff noted that its unevenness hadn’t been corrected. Bathers who sat to the right of the entrance would still have their feet in a shallow puddle.The biggest change was in the location of the waist high pillar that held the heating elements. Originally, it had been fixed in the centre of the room. Now, probably as a result of some health & safety dictat, it stood in front of the back wall, directly opposite the glass door.A lighting feature had been attached to the top of the pillar. A moulded plastic pillar, like a minature standing-stone, a couple of feet tall, its dull glow gradually changed through a sequence of colours. Together with the glow from those blue ceiling lights, through the haze, Jeff felt it created an almost psychedelic atmosphere that he quite liked. He was particularly taken with the light that changed colour. In the ever-present steamy fog and blue murk, he found that if he half closed his eyes, it appeared to be floating in air.
Not long after the reopening, he first heard the noise. It seemed to come from the new heating column, beneath the plastic pillar. Almost imperceptible at first, he sensed a slow, metallic tapping. Never loud, the volume would gradually increase and fade back to nothing over three or four minutes. Perhaps it had always been there, but after that first time, he was aware of it at some point during each session.
Week day afternoons between lunch and school closing, the gym was usually quiet. If he could get out of work for an hour or two Jeff always especially enjoyed a steam room session at such times.On this particular day, shortly after he’d uttered his witty remark, he was joined by an athletic young man. Stomach muscles held tight, he sat tall, straight, breathing deeply. He had the kind of body Jeff thought he might have had once.
The tapping began again. As it grew louder, the athlete glanced towards the heater. This was the first time Jeff had seen someone else acknowledge the sound.
A splendid opportunity to try out the quip. To be sociable.
‘Whoever’s behind that wall, I wish they’d let him out!’ He followed up with a smile. Just to make it clear he was joking. That he wasn’t mad.
He couldn’t gauge the reaction. The murky blue fog didn’t allow for detailed facial analysis. The athlete hadn’t smiled though. So Jeff followed up with an exaggerated half laugh. To reassure. The younger man nodded, returned a semi-smile of his own, and left. Rather quickly, Jeff thought. Tap … tap … tap … He’d never really understood the phrase ‘a sharp intake of breath. Fleetingly, he considered just how apt it was right now though, as the old Scotsman wrapped his huge hand around Jeff’s genitals and squeezed hard.The Scotsman had moved so fast across the steam room, grabbed an arm, twisted it round his back and made a bid for the groin with the other hand. Jeff was now facing the blue tiled wall. His face was, in fact, rammed up against it.
He’d witnessed the testicle grip a number of times before in cop shows and films. Never in real life though. He’d wondered whether it could ever be used in actual fisticuffs. Considered just exactly how one would go about perfecting such a technique. In other forms of hand-to-hand combat one could go to classes, join a club, enter competitions or at least practise with friends. With this though, they might get the wrong idea at the suggestion of a crutch-grabbing session. Telling them you wouldn’t squeeze too hard could actually make the situation worse.
Jeff wasn’t thinking about that right now, though. He only had room in his head for the excruciating pain he was suffering.
Things hadn’t gone too well since he’d first tried out that quip, exactly a week ago.For the first forty years, Jeff’s life could have been described as humdrum. Indeed, even within the parameters of humdrum, there’d been far more hum than drum. He’d been contented enough with his wife, couple of kids, decent house and job. Since celebrating his ‘big 4-O’ as they call it nowadays, he’d begun to wonder whether there wasn’t more to life than what he’d encountered up until a week ago. Now he was discovering there certainly was, and this was it.
Though the remark had not been received with a howl of laughter that first time, he’d still thought it quite witty himself.The following Saturday, after a particularly grueling shopping expedition with the family, even though the afternoon was turning to evening, he decided to nip down to the gym for a quick swim and a steam. Completing his regular number of lengths, he stepped into the steam room. It was quite full this time. There were at least three people seated on each side and a couple at the end beside the heating element. Through the steam, he thought he could discern another figure seated on one of the ledges above and behind the seat. These were the hardy individuals who demanded higher temperatures than those reached at the lower altitude where Jeff and other mortals sat.
Sitting down heavily, he took three or four deep breaths and felt his heart rate beginning to slow. The drops of water on his skin gradually began to feel less like wetness from the pool and more like beads of sweat. He always enjoyed that halfway point where he couldn’t quite tell how far he’d moved along the process. He’d promised himself that one time he would try drying thoroughly before stepping into the steam room and then see how long it took him to reach overall sweat wetness.
He looked around at his companions. Some were chatting to those sitting beside them while others called across the room. These tended to be the younger ones. Their chatter was banter. On other occasions it might have become raucous but at this time in the evening they were in good humour. Jeff imagined their steam session being a pre-cursor to a night of drink and merriment. Some of the couples were around the same age as Jeff himself or a little older. He guessed that they would be looking forward to a meal out and a glass or two before going home to the TV. He smiled across at those he recognised as regulars he’d seen and spoken to before.
Just as the conversations and chatter seemed to have reached a conclusion, the tapping began. Like before, it was very quiet at first. As it grew louder and Jeff scanned the faces around the room. Nobody seemed to be aware of it at all. Some were stretching while others just looked at the floor, absorbing the heat.
He took the break in conversation as an opportunity to try the comment once more. He chose to address it to the man opposite who happened at that moment to be looking in his general direction.
‘Don’t know who it might be behind there,’ he nodded towards the heater, ‘but I wish he’d stop that knocking!’
Again, no guffaws of laughter but there were enough smiles and nods to give Jeff the impression his remark had gone down well. Among present company he would be marked from now on as something of a wit, he thought.
However, as sank back into the glow of his own humour he became conscious of the man opposite, staring back at him, looking anything but amused.
Later, as he showered and changed, he became aware that each time he momentarily glanced across the room while drying his hair or tying laces, he felt sure the man was watching him. There he was, in the reflection of a shaving mirror. And again, this time looking directly, from across the room.
Out in the foyer, there he was once more, on his mobile, still looking across as Jeff gulped on a glass of juice. Jeff sensed that he was the topic of conversation in that phone call.
On the short walk across the darkened car park, Jeff was startled by a vehicle that seemed to flash its headlights at him before reversing quickly out of its space. It sped off, brakes squealing, wheels spinning, He stood looking after it.
Ten minutes or more went by as he sat motionless in the darkness of his car, trying to remember how the man had reacted when he’d fired off that remark. Why did he always have to make a fool of himself, trying to come across as clever or funny? Gradually he began to calm down. By the time he started the engine and set off for home, he’d convinced himself there was no problem. The man had just thought him a smart arse. Jeff had merely witnessed him sharing the episode with a friend on the phone, that’s all. As for the car, he couldn’t even be sure the man was behind the wheel. But now, almost exactly a week after his fateful decision to become the joker, here he was with his face pushed up against the steam room wall, his genitals in the vice-like grip of this Scotsman.By the time he’d entered the steam room today, Jeff had convinced himself that his fears of Saturday evening had been nothing more than a series of coincidences, fueled by his own rampant imagination. Even though he was joined once more by the man who had seemed so menacing only two days previously, together with the athlete who had first witnessed his quip, he’d been confident that there wouldn’t be any trouble.
Ironically, this had mostly been due to the presence of the Scotsman. Jeff had seen him so many times before, either in the steam room or relaxing in a pool-side chair. They’d chatted together on a number of occasions. Or at least, the Scotsman had chatted, usually to complain about the pain in his back or knees as he slowly performed various stretching exercises. Other times he’d tell Jeff about how well his children had done in life and in which foreign parts they now resided. Jeff had occasionally become so bored or irritated by his ramblings, he’d make an excuse about needing to get back to work and leave.
Today, though, the Scotsman had been most welcome.
That is, until he’d leapt across the room, before Jeff had even begun to think about reacting, and put him in this current predicament.
Jeff noticed through his tears that the athlete was now standing just outside the glass door and menacing man had formed a secondary defensive position, also near the door, on the inside.
At last, the Scotsman broke the silence.
‘So. Jeff. Let’s get straight to the point. Cut to the chase, as they say. I want to know … what you know … about the person behind that wall.’ He nodded towards the heating element.
‘I don’t know anything…’ Jeff whimpered, and squealed, as the Scotsman tightened his grip on the tender spot.
‘Jeff … Jeff,’ the Scotsman continued, in a quiet, menacing tone. ‘My friends and I know … you know something …’
‘ … I don’t …’
‘ … oh Jeff …’ now he sounded like a mother gently chastising her naughty toddler. But there was no loosening of his grip. ‘Twice. Twice you said that there was someone behind that wall. You pointed to the exact spot. My friends saw you. Even today, Jeff. When the noises began, you knew exactly where they were coming from. Well I’ve got some news for you, Jeff. As you will find, there is some one behind the wall …’
As Jeff took in these words, he became aware of a sharp pain in his arm and a grating sound, like stone being pulled across stone.
The Scotsman’s face began to change, seeming to absorb the blueness of the room. Around the yellowing, bulbous eyes, Jeff saw the emergence of scales … gills … a snout, growing outwards and forwards towards him. When the Scotsman spoke next, it was in a hoarse whisper, as if blown through water.
‘We need you, Jeff … we need you …’
As his terror grew, the physical pain decreased. He fought desperately to stay awake. Across the room, he saw Menacing Man, a man no more, a lizard-like thing, floundering, gulping… … he’s awakened by the light. From within its warm glow, he can look out across the room, sensing movement. As his heart pumps, and the days become weeks, there’s the slow rhythmic tapping. And the colours changing slowly … … tap … tap … tap …
As visiting members, from other branches of the Aqualeisure chain of gyms and health spas, have remarked, this one’s almost identical to theirs. ‘It’s like being in a parallel universe,’ they say. ‘Apart from the steam room. That’s different. What’s that weird pillar with the light all about?.’
Copenhagen: Where Africa Took On Obama
December 17, 2009
The highlight of my first day at COP15 was a conversation with the extraordinary Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International. We talked about the fact that some of the toughest activists here still pull their punches when it comes to Obama, even as his climate team works tirelessly to do away with the Kyoto Protocol, replacing it with much weaker piecemeal targets.
If George W. Bush had pulled some of the things Obama has done here, he would have been burned in effigy on the steps of the convention center. With Obama, however, even the most timid actions are greeted as historic breakthroughs, or at least a good start.
“Everyone says: ‘give Obama time,’” Bassey told me. “But when it comes to climate change, there is no more time.” The best analogy, he said, is a soccer game that has gone into overtime. “It’s not even injury time, it’s sudden death. It’s the nick of time, but there is no more extra time.”
The solution for Bassey is not carbon trading or sinks but “serious emissions cuts at the source. Leave the oil in the ground, leave the coal in the hole, leave the tar sands in the land.” In Nigeria, where Bassey lives, Friends of the Earth is calling for no new oil development whatsoever, though it does accept more efficient use of existing fields. If Obama isn’t willing to consider those types of solutions, Bassey says, “he may as well be coming [to Copenhagen] for vacation.”
Those kinds of gloves off criticisms are scarce around here. Most groups don’t seem to have figured out their Obama-era strategy yet: Tough love? Gentle encouragement? Blaming Congress? Bassey likened the political discombobulation to what his own country went through when democracy finally replaced dictatorship in 1999. Suddenly they didn’t know how to fight anymore, and it was all about giving the politicians time–despite the fact that the oil companies were still ravaging the Delta and violence was (and still is) spiraling out of control. Sometimes hope can be dangerous.
Speaking of hope, the Scandinavian establishment is still clearly swooning over Obama, showering him with prizes for things he hasn’t done yet and renaming this city “Hopenhagen” for the duration – a not too subtle homage to Mr. Hope himself.
In sharp contrast, one of the most interesting developments here is that Africa is clearly cooling off its Obama love affair. For months the African negotiating bloc has been the toughest and most united voice in the climate talks. At a pre-conference negotiation in Barcelona, the African team walked out en masse–a protest against the paltry emissions cuts proposed by the rich world, led by the U.S.
The African bloc has plenty of dodgy actors in it, of course, and standing up on this one issue does not turn a war criminal into a hero. That said, when it comes to climate change, Africa has emerged here as the conscience of the world– and its best hope of avoiding a disastrously weak deal.
Today, while big NGOs bit their tongues, Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the G77 group of developing nations, greeted the news that rich countries will spend a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change by saying that it was “not enough to buy us coffins.” And when the Danish draft of the final agreement was leaked to The Guardian–incorporating much of Washington’s destructive wish list–it was the Africans who were out protesting it first.
Obama, the son of a Kenyan man, still inspires a great deal of pride among African delegates here, and rightfully so. But the louder message we are hearing is that that the continent has a great many sons and daughters and our collective failure to address the climate crisis is an immediate threat to their survival. As the African delegates chanted at the Bella Center tonight: “We will not die quietly.”
Note: After my interview with him, Nnimmo Bassey reiterated some of what he said to our friends at The Uptake, who are videoblogging the conference. You can check it out here:
Research support for Naomi Klein’s reporting from Copenhagen was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
Thanks for the post, Ms. Klein.
As for Obama, I vote we simply call him by his policies….
Dr. Shock
Brief, effective and precisely on target.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:17pm
The solution for Bassey is not carbon trading or sinks but “serious emissions cuts at the source. Leave the oil in the ground, leave the coal in the hole, leave the tar sands in the land.” In Nigeria, where Bassey lives, Friends of the Earth is calling for no new oil development whatsoever, though it does accept more efficient use of existing fields. If Obama isn’t willing to consider those types of solutions, Bassey says, “he may as well be coming [to Copenhagen] for vacation.”
–are there any clean alternatives that are affordable in America on a massive scale?
I can’t afford a Prius–and even if I could–I’d be on a waiting list.
I can’t afford to put solar panels on the roof.
I burn wood for heat in the winter–but isn’t that just contributing to deforestation which further contributes to global warming?
What are the affordable solutions? If they don’t exist yet–when will they?
Posted by urmygyro at 12/08/2009 @ 4:21pm
Great article! I think more people will begin to see through the false hope.
Posted by trueleftist at 12/08/2009 @ 4:26pm
“What are the affordable solutions? If they don’t exist yet–when will they?”
~An Urmy of one at 4:21pm
First, what price can we possibly put on the only place in the universe that we can ever call home?
No question, we are in one helluva pickle. Nothing supplies energy like the ancient sunlight trapped in hydrocarbons. But we can’t continue to burn ancient sunlight without imperiling the entire globe.
It really is that simple.
The point that needs to be made –emphatically– is that we absolutely must recalibrate what we genuinely value.
Living high or just living?
The onus is on the wealthy nations –and most heavily by far, on the U.S.– to provide leadership. So far, we aren’t even in the ballpark, let alone at the table.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:32pm
KLEIN: “Those kinds of gloves off criticisms are scarce around here. Most groups don’t seem to have figured out their Obama-era strategy yet:…..”
Conservatives warned of this long, long time ago…..though it was directed domestically!
It’s his race, stupid!
Simply because Affirmative Action produced our first black (well, the more prominent half anyway) President, it means a whole lot of politically-correct (but physiologically stupid, the types that brought AA into being and continued their support even today) Libs/Progs/Indies/RINOs will find their own mind and tongues tied into knots.
Hey, did anybody notice today, Rep. Conyers is a RACIST……LOL!
Posted by Happy at 12/08/2009 @ 4:36pm
It is sad to say but people and governments are not going to change their ways until its too late.
There are very few Noah’s willing to devote resources to building an ark when it has not started raining.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 4:39pm
Those Sudanese do need a lot of coffins if they actually bury all them black people they’re akillin’.
If they just leave ‘em where they drop ‘em, they’ll be cutting down emissions on like, so many levels.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 4:40pm
Thank goodness for Naomi.I heard the great speech she gave at “The Progressive ” Magazine’s 100th year Celebration.I wish I could have gone to Copenhagen.I wish The Green Party of the US and gone ..Money helps..I dress as Polar bear and stand on the corner waving w sign”Stop Global Warming” and I have a Santa w me w sign ” Global Warming is Melting Santa’s Home”.I make online comments in the 2 major newspapers in Oklahoma.I am the only one giving info on the first 2 days of this historic meeting..Thanks “The Nation”,Democracy Now” and Naomi Klein
Posted by JeanMac at 12/08/2009 @ 4:43pm
Here’s one from Happy the Shithead’s hometown fishwrap:
Houston Chronicle Nov. 22:
As world governments prepare for a pivotal conference in Copenhagen next month to map future strategy to contain global warming, and the U.S. Congress debates legislation to reduce carbon emissions, evidence continues to accumulate that the threat is accelerating.
A new study by a team of British scientists indicates that man-made carbon emissions continue to increase despite the global recession. While emissions in the United States fell by 3 percent last year, they jumped 2 percent worldwide, most of the increase coming from China. The U.S. and China are the world’s largest carbon emitters.
Equally ominous, the planet’s oceans are steadily losing capacity to absorb the greenhouse gases that trap heat and fuel global warming.
The Global Carbon Project study concludes that unless emissions are substantially reduced, the result would be a rise in average global temperature by nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. That is on par with previous worst-case scenarios outlined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Scientists have estimated that temperature spikes above 2 degrees could have disastrous consequences, including large rises in sea level, droughts and stronger storms.
End excerpt.
Houstonians can be thankful their local paper isn’t as brain dead as some of the citizens clearly are.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:45pm
“I make online comments in the 2 major newspapers in Oklahoma.”
~JeanMac at 4:43pm
Bless your heart, Ms. Mac. Oklahoma is actually not an unpretty place –if you leave out the political part. Of course, the U.S. as a whole could reasonably attract the same comment.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:52pm
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNp7HVXvVE
Calling,
Dr. Sho-o-o-ck….
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:57pm
This Copenhagen debate reminds me of the narrow focus on troop levels in Afghanistan or focusing only on the public option in healthcare.
We need to BROADEN our understanding and focus on all of these issues, including the environment.
Emissions cuts are just one piece, and not even the KEY piece in moving to a sustainable environment. Oil and gas are still drilled because they are CHEAP. Taxing these non-renewable resources and using the revenue to develop alternatives that are sustainable and not limited by geography would be much more effective than an emissions cut announcement. Other methods such as mandating a percentage of zero-emission vehicles like what was done in California before they caved in to the auto industry is another approach. Providing incentives for the efficient use of existing energy is another approach.
There has to be a multi-prong strategy if we are going to get to a sustainable environment, and simply harping on an emissions cut makes the environmental movement look rather stupid.
Posted by Metteyya at 12/08/2009 @ 5:00pm
“are there any clean alternatives that are affordable in America on a massive scale?”
why do they have to be on a massive scale? why can’t there be numerous alternatives, involving numerous small businesses, and numerous natural resources?
and why can’t people just stop driving all the time?
there are millions of americans who drive to work every single day, knowing full well that they could easily bike or take public.
they are just lazy.
don’t republicans hate lazy people?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 5:02pm
Yes, Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey lecturing us about how the world is out of time by describing soccer overtime rules? Um, gee, thanks Nnimmo, I think we got it. Hey, is there any symbolism in your chic red scarf?
This is what you think is illustrative of what we should be supporting in Copenhagen today?
And his excellency, Lumumba Di-Aping stating, that rich countries spending [he meant to say "giving"] a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change was “not enough to buy us coffins.”" Yeah not to mention a new G6 for him!
What an amazing ship of fools sailed into Copenhagen. How can there be any doubt that this has nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with revolutionary political change?
Not even Obama is collectivist enough for this crowd. Well, at least not so far.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
OK. Maybe you guys missed it. But this gem is exactly why you will soon again be irrelevant.
“Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the G77 group of developing nations, greeted the news that rich countries will spend a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change by saying that it was ‘not enough to buy us coffins.’”
That’s right, a soulless hack from a nation actively engaged in a genocide against part of it’s population said “not enough to buy us coffins.” And somebody actually wrote that down in a piece and put her by-line on it.
It’s like the spokesmen for the KKK at a “Save Lake Minnetonka” rally saying, “That’s not enough to buy torches!”
It’s like Hitler saying, “That’s not enough to buy Zyklon B.”
This may be the only post in the history of these blogs in which a KKK comparison was made and not only was it NOT hyperbolic, but a MAJOR UNDERSTATEMENT, and yet there you have it, a hack employed by a prolific racist murder cult feigning to moralize to us about something as theoretical as absolute zero, while the people in the south of his country contemplate realities as stark as a rotting corpse or a hacked off limb. And this is “journalism.”
I’m laughing and crying at the same time. Will Joseph Kony be available to lecture us on religious tolerance?
Holy shnikes! The same people who seizure every time the sexy librarian flips her bangs. Congratulations, seriously. This is some serious shit. Semantics meets Pink Flamingos. You guys are all Edith Massey in an over-sized crib asking for her eggies.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
more profound insight…..(choke, cough)
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 5:26pm
What an amazing ship of fools sailed into Copenhagen. How can there be any doubt that this has nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with revolutionary political change?
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
Get out yer tin foil hats, lest they read your thoughts and have you banished to azkaban.
Revolutionary political change! Really funny.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 5:32pm
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 5:32pm
Really? How is it not? It is funny, Extraneous, you have resorted to just calling me nuts. I actually expected more out of you.
So, let’s just review the attendees of the COP15 for a second… take a look… Now, forget Obama, who’s expected on the final day, do you think the participant list has any political clout? Or is it just a buncha “scientists”?
What I think is bugging you Extraneous, is you are actually also having some doubts about the legitimacy of what’s going down in Copenhagen. Especially after watching Obama escalate Afghanistan. You, like me, are realizing that what we thought was the truth in our political dialog was actually false. instead of right vs left, it is actually the politico/plutocracy vs we the people.
We are being played. You know it too. But because we’ve been political and cultural adversaries here for the most part, you instead call me a tin foil hat guy.
Is that easier than facing the truth? Whatever.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:47pm
Lumumba Di-Aping
Go ahead, look him up. Try and learn who he really is. Who funds him. Who ‘elected’ him. Where he was educated. Who pays him and how much. What is his political orientation?
This guy is quoted world-wide today for criticizing $10 Billion in aid from the developed world to the developing world as “not enough to pay for coffins”?
I think it is a good time to “QUESTION AUTHORITY”
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:02pm
it’s tremendously difficult to determine where exactly freiheit stands in the debate. he regularly impugns the scientific findings, and yet at the same time, claims that politicians and business leaders are using these un-scientific findings to foster some sort of political-economic revolution, which would presumably screw the masses, and enrich and empower the plutocrats.
so which is it, frei? do you support the scientific findings or not?
and what’s your understanding of the pentagon’s report on climate change and national security, in which they have embraced the most severe interpretations of the scientific data on climate change?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 6:19pm
What a pile of manure. If the developed world gives $10 billion to Africa for Climate Change, it will be $10 billion too much. Have the African countries been convinced they are at risk or do they see a chance to scam billions from the West? I think it is the latter – they know an easy mark when they see one and want many tens of billions more. Hey, why not, if the liberals are dumb enough to buy in to this nonsense….
The funniest is the hope of convincing Nigeria and other similar countries, to “leave the oil and coal in the ground” – in the name of fighting Climate Change of course. Yeah, that’s it! Now there’s an idea one can sink his teeth into….uh wait a sec…what will we sell to make money? well, how about prostitutes? trinkets? hmmm, might want to rethink that one.
Posted by pyeatte at 12/08/2009 @ 6:38pm
Frei.
I am skeptical of everything. Sure I question the whole copenhagen extravaganza. I think it is more of a show than anything else, we will see, but I doubt anything will come from it.
I am skeptical when it comes to climate change, not about it being a hoax, but about the actual real effects that it will have. I think copenhagen is more of a political side show, as even if there is consensus on how to reduce our CO2 output, without India, China, and the US joining and taking real action, all that results is talk and photo ops.
I don’t think your really a tin foil hat wearing nut. But I think the idea of revolutionary political change coming from a climate change workshop is far fetched.
Folks that claim anthropogenic GC is a hoax is outlandish. My primary reason for disregarding such claims is purely the level of organization and secrecy that would be needed to keep such an enormous hoax secret. Secondly, the motivation for such a hoax is beyond me. And finally, I know some of the scientists who would have to be involved, I know the personality type it takes for gaining a PhD in atmospheric science, thermodynamics, chemical limnology. These are not the type of people who would be any good conspriring on a massive hoax. Scientific publication is a cutthroat business and these folks would sell each other out pretty quickly if they knew one was commiting fraud, and we all know the real money is on the side of those wanting to maintain the status quo and to discredit GCC/GW.
So, I apologize for scoffing and insinuating that you may wear a tin foil lined ball cap. I know that is not the case, I just find large political of either ideology a bit much. I am an advocate of Occam’s Razor or K.I.S.S. Where the simplest answer is usually the best.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 6:19pm
Darla, the climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future.
Climate change doesn’t have to be true, Darla, it just needs to be believable and plausibly blamed on industrialization. As you’ve proven, it is a good tactic.
Governments – all, but especially ones based on collectivism – need an enemy to fight to legitimitize them and to force the masses into actions they would not take voluntarily. You know, like fear of communism, and fear of terrorism, and, yes, that boogyman Global Warming! Copenhagen is all about “global governance”, isn’t it? Thanks, but I’ll stick with our Constitution before following the dictates of NGO’s and dictatorships. I wish our federal government would stick with the constitution too.
Regarding your Pentagon observation, I answered that last week, if you’ll recall. I expect the Pentagon to be prepared for all contingencies, including false alarms. Last time I looked the Pentagon is in the business of TAKING orders, not setting environmental policy, so what the Pentagon thinks on the subject is irrelevant. Its actions on AGW are reactive, not proactive. Besides, you know how pro-environment that ol’ Pentagon is! Do you even listen to yourself Darla? In the AGW space you’re a Pentagon proponent?! LOL!
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
ooops.
*large political conspiracies of either ideology a bit much
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 6:57pm
“Climate change doesn’t have to be true, Darla, it just needs to be believable and plausibly blamed on industrialization.”
it is plausibly blamed on industrialization. it doesn’t “need to be” that, because it IS that.
“the climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future”
only because the indicators keep getting worse. much worse.
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:31pm
Flash! Obama is owned. Or is he a willing captive, eyes open all the way, but soooo eager to be emperor, it’s worth it.
Should’ve voted for Kucinich.
Posted by sloper at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
frei,
do you believe climate change is “believable”?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
Hey, maybe the Darfur victims could be made into some kind of bio-fuel. China could keep supplying Bashir with choppers. Bashir can use the choppers to kill Darfurians. The corpses can be transported by rail to Kenya (photo op for Obama!) and processed into bio-fuel. A government worker can use the Darfurian bio-fuel to power his Chinese made leaf blower outside the Darfur Holocaust Museum in Madison, Wisconsin, paid for by China.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 7:53pm
“Bashir can use the choppers to kill Darfurians”
hey sick-f*ck,
there’s no such thing as a “darfurian”
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:09pm
matt osborne:
” Nontroversy feeds on empty, twisted brains. In this case, a general unfamiliarity with the language of scientific banter allows the “climategate” nontroversy to overwhelm the consensus on global warming. That consensus is built on literally hundreds of thousands of studies at this point; and indeed, the stolen emails contain a wealth of proof that temperatures are rising. Yet the media stovepipe magnifies, even invents, discrepancies and minimizes evidence, even as the ice melts.
“Consensus” is the key word here. Nontroversy always aims to distort or destroy consensus. Birther sites and ACORN fantasies exist for the sole purpose of undermining the democratic consensus of last November’s election; and insofar as they have convinced a majority of Republicans, they have succeeded”
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:13pm
just face it neocons,
you have been brainwashed.
yet again.
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:14pm
Our African friends have a lot of truth in what they say because most Africans are or were close to nature and have inherited some good and a lot of bad from the West which is spoiling the country while exploiting ‘resources’ that are not necessary applied for the best or to serve the people.
All that US and most West companies care for is: “standard of living”. What is then standard of living? The NOT ten commandments: – NOT mass transit, producing more cars – NOT wind or solar power, it is oil and better coal – NOT recycle, produce brand new and waste – NOT energy efficiency, only performance, or even worse fake luxury. – NOT rational agriculture, intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides -NOT organic foods, best cows and meat -NOT peace, better to sell armament. – NOT savings, only consumption. -NOT quality of living, just growth – NOT global warming, better global markets.
If we follow their ‘ten commandments’ our grand children will NOT inherit Earth but garbage.
Posted by Frank42 at 12/08/2009 @ 10:43pm
Should’ve voted for Kucinich. Posted by sloper at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm | ignore this person | warn this person
no, you shoulda voted for ME. I wasn’t on the ballot either.
Posted by EmailduBois at 12/08/2009 @ 10:49pm
Who are your African friends Frank? If they include the Sudanese ambassador to the UN, then you are not a great friend of Africans.
Oh, nice bit of noble savage pastoralism in the first paragraph there.
“Look for the bare necessities The simple bare necessities Forget about your worries and your strife I mean the bare necessities Old Mother Nature’s recipes That brings the bare necessities of life”
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 10:51pm
frei,
do you believe climate change is “believable”?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
Well, of course I do Darla. I believe that our climate is ever changing. Who doesn’t? I remember in the 1970′s the big fear was global cooling. I’ve studied the Alps and there is clear evidence it was a much warmer region in the relatively recent past. I lived on the shores of Lake Erie as a boy and marveled at the fact it was dug by glacial ice.
But I do not believe imposing laws restricting driving, punitive taxation on energy and unconditional redistribution of wealth from the first to the third world is in any way going to “save the earth.”
Darla, it seems to me the environmental movement is simply trying to replace war with AGW. Remember, to these people, war is what glues society together. War = control. AGW = war.
Iron Mountain.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 12:31am
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 10:51pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Read all your posts. (definately NOT hyberbolic) Curious thing about the history of Africa, did you ever contemplate what african might look like today if the arab and black slave trade had never migrated north and west their ongoing trade since biblical times off continent?
White europe and N. America economic engines might not have initially been as robust, but I don’t doubt they would not have progressed to the degree they have even though it would have proceeded more expensively labor wise perhaps, but that is all! History has slaves from all nations and almost all have been a slave at some time.
However, when African and Arab nations were left to their own devices before, and even now after “atlantic slavery” and colonial aparthied, I seriously doubt there would be any difference than what we see today! That I think is the saddest commentary I see about that continent and its people today!
Look at every “self determined” african country now and you find it going down the same road reguardless of leadership educated elsewhere! When it is influenced by islamic religion the results are just as bad if not worse like the dafur region of Sudan. It doesn’t seem true of any other continent developmentally.
As a white christian I am always puzzled and somewhat perplexed considering the great responsiveness of the people in many regions of africa to the gospel of Jesus and the large amount of missionary materials, money, and aide that has been poured into the continent for well over 110 yrs. now. Sadly it seems their lot in life has not improved even with the wealth and resourses provided also by other nations! “Self determination” seem to be a curse for them!
Posted by BigPasture at 12/09/2009 @ 01:23am
I hope that before we began to pile on President Obama, for his timid response to climate change thus far into his “young” presidency that we understand that given the dynamics of the American Political system he can not commit to any international climate treaty unless he has the backing of Congress. Which as far as I can tell he does not.
Posted by hethatbe_king at 12/09/2009 @ 03:09am
The population of the world and our enviornment are subordinated to the interests of the profits of a handful of olgarchs that control the 90% of the world’s wealth and 100% of the world’s governments.
What we have in Copenhagen is the national representitives of the world’s polluters locking horns on how to give a semblance of doing something about climate change while gauranteeing their profits–and they cannot do it, especially as they are engaged in a life and death struggle to maintain profits in the midst of the worst economic collapse since 1929.
As albert Einstein said ‘capitalism is the root of evil” and must be done away with before it consumes us all.
Posted by Doric at 12/09/2009 @ 06:09am
…climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
So why not err on the side of caution and start reducing what we spew into the atmosphere. Or does that make too much sense.
Posted by kennyboy at 12/09/2009 @ 06:20am
Happ comes clean on his main focus on Obama…
“It’s his race, stupid!”—–Posted by Happy at 12/08/2009 @ 4:36pm
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:52am
Iron Mountain.—-Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 12:31am
Uh, Frei….you DO know that “The Report From Iron Mountain”…is a parody written by Leonard Lewin, right?
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:54am
“John Wayne Gacy, the Chicago delegate to the National Conference on Exploitation of Children, complained that the federal government wasn’t doing enough. ‘Ten million dollars,’ said Gacy, ‘that’s not enough to buy clown suits.’”
Posted by gangpapist at 12/09/2009 @ 08:44am
“leave the oil in the ground and the coal in the hole ” . Ohh and send us “dodgy actors” billions to fight off this “immediate threat to their existance ” Yea OK Naomi . Great report from your first day .Wonders where KVH finds these people .
Posted by limoman at 12/09/2009 @ 08:58am
“it seems to me the environmental movement is simply trying to replace war with AGW”
(QUOTE OF THE DECADE)
nevermind that the VAST MAJORITY of scientists and scientific organizations embrace the claim that CC is anthropogenic. and nevermind the literally hundreds of thousands of studies which support that claim.
the ONLY reason why there is “doubt” about AGW now (and there is only doubt in the minds of PEOPLE WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CLIMATE SCIENCE), is because governments and industry are finally attempting to “something” (and by that i mean, extremely tepid, weak, ineffective measures) about it.
and whoever was complaining about giving Africa $10 billion a year is…….f*cking clueless!!!!!
Posted by darladoon at 12/09/2009 @ 10:24am
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:54am
Ever read it Mask? I mean, seriously, have you ever read it?
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 10:30am
via thenation.com
Naomi Klein. I like her. She speaks a great deal of sense.
Hopenhagen? No, thanks: Naomi Klein on COP15
December 17, 2009
via youtube.com
Naomi Klein again. Very good. Her book, The Shock Doctrine, is a good read.
Copenhagen: Where Africa Took On Obama
December 17, 2009
The highlight of my first day at COP15 was a conversation with the extraordinary Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International. We talked about the fact that some of the toughest activists here still pull their punches when it comes to Obama, even as his climate team works tirelessly to do away with the Kyoto Protocol, replacing it with much weaker piecemeal targets.
If George W. Bush had pulled some of the things Obama has done here, he would have been burned in effigy on the steps of the convention center. With Obama, however, even the most timid actions are greeted as historic breakthroughs, or at least a good start.
“Everyone says: ‘give Obama time,’” Bassey told me. “But when it comes to climate change, there is no more time.” The best analogy, he said, is a soccer game that has gone into overtime. “It’s not even injury time, it’s sudden death. It’s the nick of time, but there is no more extra time.”
The solution for Bassey is not carbon trading or sinks but “serious emissions cuts at the source. Leave the oil in the ground, leave the coal in the hole, leave the tar sands in the land.” In Nigeria, where Bassey lives, Friends of the Earth is calling for no new oil development whatsoever, though it does accept more efficient use of existing fields. If Obama isn’t willing to consider those types of solutions, Bassey says, “he may as well be coming [to Copenhagen] for vacation.”
Those kinds of gloves off criticisms are scarce around here. Most groups don’t seem to have figured out their Obama-era strategy yet: Tough love? Gentle encouragement? Blaming Congress? Bassey likened the political discombobulation to what his own country went through when democracy finally replaced dictatorship in 1999. Suddenly they didn’t know how to fight anymore, and it was all about giving the politicians time–despite the fact that the oil companies were still ravaging the Delta and violence was (and still is) spiraling out of control. Sometimes hope can be dangerous.
Speaking of hope, the Scandinavian establishment is still clearly swooning over Obama, showering him with prizes for things he hasn’t done yet and renaming this city “Hopenhagen” for the duration – a not too subtle homage to Mr. Hope himself.
In sharp contrast, one of the most interesting developments here is that Africa is clearly cooling off its Obama love affair. For months the African negotiating bloc has been the toughest and most united voice in the climate talks. At a pre-conference negotiation in Barcelona, the African team walked out en masse–a protest against the paltry emissions cuts proposed by the rich world, led by the U.S.
The African bloc has plenty of dodgy actors in it, of course, and standing up on this one issue does not turn a war criminal into a hero. That said, when it comes to climate change, Africa has emerged here as the conscience of the world– and its best hope of avoiding a disastrously weak deal.
Today, while big NGOs bit their tongues, Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the G77 group of developing nations, greeted the news that rich countries will spend a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change by saying that it was “not enough to buy us coffins.” And when the Danish draft of the final agreement was leaked to The Guardian–incorporating much of Washington’s destructive wish list–it was the Africans who were out protesting it first.
Obama, the son of a Kenyan man, still inspires a great deal of pride among African delegates here, and rightfully so. But the louder message we are hearing is that that the continent has a great many sons and daughters and our collective failure to address the climate crisis is an immediate threat to their survival. As the African delegates chanted at the Bella Center tonight: “We will not die quietly.”
Note: After my interview with him, Nnimmo Bassey reiterated some of what he said to our friends at The Uptake, who are videoblogging the conference. You can check it out here:
Research support for Naomi Klein’s reporting from Copenhagen was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.
Thanks for the post, Ms. Klein.
As for Obama, I vote we simply call him by his policies….
Dr. Shock
Brief, effective and precisely on target.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:17pm
The solution for Bassey is not carbon trading or sinks but “serious emissions cuts at the source. Leave the oil in the ground, leave the coal in the hole, leave the tar sands in the land.” In Nigeria, where Bassey lives, Friends of the Earth is calling for no new oil development whatsoever, though it does accept more efficient use of existing fields. If Obama isn’t willing to consider those types of solutions, Bassey says, “he may as well be coming [to Copenhagen] for vacation.”
–are there any clean alternatives that are affordable in America on a massive scale?
I can’t afford a Prius–and even if I could–I’d be on a waiting list.
I can’t afford to put solar panels on the roof.
I burn wood for heat in the winter–but isn’t that just contributing to deforestation which further contributes to global warming?
What are the affordable solutions? If they don’t exist yet–when will they?
Posted by urmygyro at 12/08/2009 @ 4:21pm
Great article! I think more people will begin to see through the false hope.
Posted by trueleftist at 12/08/2009 @ 4:26pm
“What are the affordable solutions? If they don’t exist yet–when will they?”
~An Urmy of one at 4:21pm
First, what price can we possibly put on the only place in the universe that we can ever call home?
No question, we are in one helluva pickle. Nothing supplies energy like the ancient sunlight trapped in hydrocarbons. But we can’t continue to burn ancient sunlight without imperiling the entire globe.
It really is that simple.
The point that needs to be made –emphatically– is that we absolutely must recalibrate what we genuinely value.
Living high or just living?
The onus is on the wealthy nations –and most heavily by far, on the U.S.– to provide leadership. So far, we aren’t even in the ballpark, let alone at the table.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:32pm
KLEIN: “Those kinds of gloves off criticisms are scarce around here. Most groups don’t seem to have figured out their Obama-era strategy yet:…..”
Conservatives warned of this long, long time ago…..though it was directed domestically!
It’s his race, stupid!
Simply because Affirmative Action produced our first black (well, the more prominent half anyway) President, it means a whole lot of politically-correct (but physiologically stupid, the types that brought AA into being and continued their support even today) Libs/Progs/Indies/RINOs will find their own mind and tongues tied into knots.
Hey, did anybody notice today, Rep. Conyers is a RACIST……LOL!
Posted by Happy at 12/08/2009 @ 4:36pm
It is sad to say but people and governments are not going to change their ways until its too late.
There are very few Noah’s willing to devote resources to building an ark when it has not started raining.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 4:39pm
Those Sudanese do need a lot of coffins if they actually bury all them black people they’re akillin’.
If they just leave ‘em where they drop ‘em, they’ll be cutting down emissions on like, so many levels.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 4:40pm
Thank goodness for Naomi.I heard the great speech she gave at “The Progressive ” Magazine’s 100th year Celebration.I wish I could have gone to Copenhagen.I wish The Green Party of the US and gone ..Money helps..I dress as Polar bear and stand on the corner waving w sign”Stop Global Warming” and I have a Santa w me w sign ” Global Warming is Melting Santa’s Home”.I make online comments in the 2 major newspapers in Oklahoma.I am the only one giving info on the first 2 days of this historic meeting..Thanks “The Nation”,Democracy Now” and Naomi Klein
Posted by JeanMac at 12/08/2009 @ 4:43pm
Here’s one from Happy the Shithead’s hometown fishwrap:
Houston Chronicle Nov. 22:
As world governments prepare for a pivotal conference in Copenhagen next month to map future strategy to contain global warming, and the U.S. Congress debates legislation to reduce carbon emissions, evidence continues to accumulate that the threat is accelerating.
A new study by a team of British scientists indicates that man-made carbon emissions continue to increase despite the global recession. While emissions in the United States fell by 3 percent last year, they jumped 2 percent worldwide, most of the increase coming from China. The U.S. and China are the world’s largest carbon emitters.
Equally ominous, the planet’s oceans are steadily losing capacity to absorb the greenhouse gases that trap heat and fuel global warming.
The Global Carbon Project study concludes that unless emissions are substantially reduced, the result would be a rise in average global temperature by nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. That is on par with previous worst-case scenarios outlined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Scientists have estimated that temperature spikes above 2 degrees could have disastrous consequences, including large rises in sea level, droughts and stronger storms.
End excerpt.
Houstonians can be thankful their local paper isn’t as brain dead as some of the citizens clearly are.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:45pm
“I make online comments in the 2 major newspapers in Oklahoma.”
~JeanMac at 4:43pm
Bless your heart, Ms. Mac. Oklahoma is actually not an unpretty place –if you leave out the political part. Of course, the U.S. as a whole could reasonably attract the same comment.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:52pm
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNp7HVXvVE
Calling,
Dr. Sho-o-o-ck….
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/08/2009 @ 4:57pm
This Copenhagen debate reminds me of the narrow focus on troop levels in Afghanistan or focusing only on the public option in healthcare.
We need to BROADEN our understanding and focus on all of these issues, including the environment.
Emissions cuts are just one piece, and not even the KEY piece in moving to a sustainable environment. Oil and gas are still drilled because they are CHEAP. Taxing these non-renewable resources and using the revenue to develop alternatives that are sustainable and not limited by geography would be much more effective than an emissions cut announcement. Other methods such as mandating a percentage of zero-emission vehicles like what was done in California before they caved in to the auto industry is another approach. Providing incentives for the efficient use of existing energy is another approach.
There has to be a multi-prong strategy if we are going to get to a sustainable environment, and simply harping on an emissions cut makes the environmental movement look rather stupid.
Posted by Metteyya at 12/08/2009 @ 5:00pm
“are there any clean alternatives that are affordable in America on a massive scale?”
why do they have to be on a massive scale? why can’t there be numerous alternatives, involving numerous small businesses, and numerous natural resources?
and why can’t people just stop driving all the time?
there are millions of americans who drive to work every single day, knowing full well that they could easily bike or take public.
they are just lazy.
don’t republicans hate lazy people?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 5:02pm
Yes, Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey lecturing us about how the world is out of time by describing soccer overtime rules? Um, gee, thanks Nnimmo, I think we got it. Hey, is there any symbolism in your chic red scarf?
This is what you think is illustrative of what we should be supporting in Copenhagen today?
And his excellency, Lumumba Di-Aping stating, that rich countries spending [he meant to say "giving"] a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change was “not enough to buy us coffins.”" Yeah not to mention a new G6 for him!
What an amazing ship of fools sailed into Copenhagen. How can there be any doubt that this has nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with revolutionary political change?
Not even Obama is collectivist enough for this crowd. Well, at least not so far.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
OK. Maybe you guys missed it. But this gem is exactly why you will soon again be irrelevant.
“Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the G77 group of developing nations, greeted the news that rich countries will spend a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change by saying that it was ‘not enough to buy us coffins.’”
That’s right, a soulless hack from a nation actively engaged in a genocide against part of it’s population said “not enough to buy us coffins.” And somebody actually wrote that down in a piece and put her by-line on it.
It’s like the spokesmen for the KKK at a “Save Lake Minnetonka” rally saying, “That’s not enough to buy torches!”
It’s like Hitler saying, “That’s not enough to buy Zyklon B.”
This may be the only post in the history of these blogs in which a KKK comparison was made and not only was it NOT hyperbolic, but a MAJOR UNDERSTATEMENT, and yet there you have it, a hack employed by a prolific racist murder cult feigning to moralize to us about something as theoretical as absolute zero, while the people in the south of his country contemplate realities as stark as a rotting corpse or a hacked off limb. And this is “journalism.”
I’m laughing and crying at the same time. Will Joseph Kony be available to lecture us on religious tolerance?
Holy shnikes! The same people who seizure every time the sexy librarian flips her bangs. Congratulations, seriously. This is some serious shit. Semantics meets Pink Flamingos. You guys are all Edith Massey in an over-sized crib asking for her eggies.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
more profound insight…..(choke, cough)
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 5:26pm
What an amazing ship of fools sailed into Copenhagen. How can there be any doubt that this has nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with revolutionary political change?
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:10pm
Get out yer tin foil hats, lest they read your thoughts and have you banished to azkaban.
Revolutionary political change! Really funny.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 5:32pm
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 5:32pm
Really? How is it not? It is funny, Extraneous, you have resorted to just calling me nuts. I actually expected more out of you.
So, let’s just review the attendees of the COP15 for a second… take a look… Now, forget Obama, who’s expected on the final day, do you think the participant list has any political clout? Or is it just a buncha “scientists”?
What I think is bugging you Extraneous, is you are actually also having some doubts about the legitimacy of what’s going down in Copenhagen. Especially after watching Obama escalate Afghanistan. You, like me, are realizing that what we thought was the truth in our political dialog was actually false. instead of right vs left, it is actually the politico/plutocracy vs we the people.
We are being played. You know it too. But because we’ve been political and cultural adversaries here for the most part, you instead call me a tin foil hat guy.
Is that easier than facing the truth? Whatever.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 5:47pm
Lumumba Di-Aping
Go ahead, look him up. Try and learn who he really is. Who funds him. Who ‘elected’ him. Where he was educated. Who pays him and how much. What is his political orientation?
This guy is quoted world-wide today for criticizing $10 Billion in aid from the developed world to the developing world as “not enough to pay for coffins”?
I think it is a good time to “QUESTION AUTHORITY”
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:02pm
it’s tremendously difficult to determine where exactly freiheit stands in the debate. he regularly impugns the scientific findings, and yet at the same time, claims that politicians and business leaders are using these un-scientific findings to foster some sort of political-economic revolution, which would presumably screw the masses, and enrich and empower the plutocrats.
so which is it, frei? do you support the scientific findings or not?
and what’s your understanding of the pentagon’s report on climate change and national security, in which they have embraced the most severe interpretations of the scientific data on climate change?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 6:19pm
What a pile of manure. If the developed world gives $10 billion to Africa for Climate Change, it will be $10 billion too much. Have the African countries been convinced they are at risk or do they see a chance to scam billions from the West? I think it is the latter – they know an easy mark when they see one and want many tens of billions more. Hey, why not, if the liberals are dumb enough to buy in to this nonsense….
The funniest is the hope of convincing Nigeria and other similar countries, to “leave the oil and coal in the ground” – in the name of fighting Climate Change of course. Yeah, that’s it! Now there’s an idea one can sink his teeth into….uh wait a sec…what will we sell to make money? well, how about prostitutes? trinkets? hmmm, might want to rethink that one.
Posted by pyeatte at 12/08/2009 @ 6:38pm
Frei.
I am skeptical of everything. Sure I question the whole copenhagen extravaganza. I think it is more of a show than anything else, we will see, but I doubt anything will come from it.
I am skeptical when it comes to climate change, not about it being a hoax, but about the actual real effects that it will have. I think copenhagen is more of a political side show, as even if there is consensus on how to reduce our CO2 output, without India, China, and the US joining and taking real action, all that results is talk and photo ops.
I don’t think your really a tin foil hat wearing nut. But I think the idea of revolutionary political change coming from a climate change workshop is far fetched.
Folks that claim anthropogenic GC is a hoax is outlandish. My primary reason for disregarding such claims is purely the level of organization and secrecy that would be needed to keep such an enormous hoax secret. Secondly, the motivation for such a hoax is beyond me. And finally, I know some of the scientists who would have to be involved, I know the personality type it takes for gaining a PhD in atmospheric science, thermodynamics, chemical limnology. These are not the type of people who would be any good conspriring on a massive hoax. Scientific publication is a cutthroat business and these folks would sell each other out pretty quickly if they knew one was commiting fraud, and we all know the real money is on the side of those wanting to maintain the status quo and to discredit GCC/GW.
So, I apologize for scoffing and insinuating that you may wear a tin foil lined ball cap. I know that is not the case, I just find large political of either ideology a bit much. I am an advocate of Occam’s Razor or K.I.S.S. Where the simplest answer is usually the best.
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 6:19pm
Darla, the climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future.
Climate change doesn’t have to be true, Darla, it just needs to be believable and plausibly blamed on industrialization. As you’ve proven, it is a good tactic.
Governments – all, but especially ones based on collectivism – need an enemy to fight to legitimitize them and to force the masses into actions they would not take voluntarily. You know, like fear of communism, and fear of terrorism, and, yes, that boogyman Global Warming! Copenhagen is all about “global governance”, isn’t it? Thanks, but I’ll stick with our Constitution before following the dictates of NGO’s and dictatorships. I wish our federal government would stick with the constitution too.
Regarding your Pentagon observation, I answered that last week, if you’ll recall. I expect the Pentagon to be prepared for all contingencies, including false alarms. Last time I looked the Pentagon is in the business of TAKING orders, not setting environmental policy, so what the Pentagon thinks on the subject is irrelevant. Its actions on AGW are reactive, not proactive. Besides, you know how pro-environment that ol’ Pentagon is! Do you even listen to yourself Darla? In the AGW space you’re a Pentagon proponent?! LOL!
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
ooops.
*large political conspiracies of either ideology a bit much
Posted by Extraneous at 12/08/2009 @ 6:57pm
“Climate change doesn’t have to be true, Darla, it just needs to be believable and plausibly blamed on industrialization.”
it is plausibly blamed on industrialization. it doesn’t “need to be” that, because it IS that.
“the climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future”
only because the indicators keep getting worse. much worse.
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:31pm
Flash! Obama is owned. Or is he a willing captive, eyes open all the way, but soooo eager to be emperor, it’s worth it.
Should’ve voted for Kucinich.
Posted by sloper at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
frei,
do you believe climate change is “believable”?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
Hey, maybe the Darfur victims could be made into some kind of bio-fuel. China could keep supplying Bashir with choppers. Bashir can use the choppers to kill Darfurians. The corpses can be transported by rail to Kenya (photo op for Obama!) and processed into bio-fuel. A government worker can use the Darfurian bio-fuel to power his Chinese made leaf blower outside the Darfur Holocaust Museum in Madison, Wisconsin, paid for by China.
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 7:53pm
“Bashir can use the choppers to kill Darfurians”
hey sick-f*ck,
there’s no such thing as a “darfurian”
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:09pm
matt osborne:
”
Nontroversy feeds on empty, twisted brains. In this case, a general unfamiliarity with the language of scientific banter allows the “climategate” nontroversy to overwhelm the consensus on global warming. That consensus is built on literally hundreds of thousands of studies at this point; and indeed, the stolen emails contain a wealth of proof that temperatures are rising. Yet the media stovepipe magnifies, even invents, discrepancies and minimizes evidence, even as the ice melts.“Consensus” is the key word here. Nontroversy always aims to distort or destroy consensus. Birther sites and ACORN fantasies exist for the sole purpose of undermining the democratic consensus of last November’s election; and insofar as they have convinced a majority of Republicans, they have succeeded”
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:13pm
just face it neocons,
you have been brainwashed.
yet again.
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 9:14pm
Our African friends have a lot of truth in what they say because most Africans are or were close to nature and have inherited some good and a lot of bad from the West which is spoiling the country while exploiting ‘resources’ that are not necessary applied for the best or to serve the people.
All that US and most West companies care for is: “standard of living”. What is then standard of living? The NOT ten commandments:
- NOT mass transit, producing more cars
- NOT wind or solar power, it is oil and better coal
- NOT recycle, produce brand new and waste
- NOT energy efficiency, only performance, or even worse fake luxury.
- NOT rational agriculture, intensive use of fertilizers
and pesticides
-NOT organic foods, best cows and meat
-NOT peace, better to sell armament.
- NOT savings, only consumption.
-NOT quality of living, just growth
- NOT global warming, better global markets.If we follow their ‘ten commandments’ our grand children will NOT inherit Earth but garbage.
Posted by Frank42 at 12/08/2009 @ 10:43pm
Should’ve voted for Kucinich.
Posted by sloper at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm | ignore this person | warn this personno, you shoulda voted for ME. I wasn’t on the ballot either.
Posted by EmailduBois at 12/08/2009 @ 10:49pm
Who are your African friends Frank? If they include the Sudanese ambassador to the UN, then you are not a great friend of Africans.
Oh, nice bit of noble savage pastoralism in the first paragraph there.
“Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature’s recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life”Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 10:51pm
frei,
do you believe climate change is “believable”?
Posted by darladoon at 12/08/2009 @ 7:35pm
Well, of course I do Darla. I believe that our climate is ever changing. Who doesn’t? I remember in the 1970′s the big fear was global cooling. I’ve studied the Alps and there is clear evidence it was a much warmer region in the relatively recent past. I lived on the shores of Lake Erie as a boy and marveled at the fact it was dug by glacial ice.
But I do not believe imposing laws restricting driving, punitive taxation on energy and unconditional redistribution of wealth from the first to the third world is in any way going to “save the earth.”
Darla, it seems to me the environmental movement is simply trying to replace war with AGW. Remember, to these people, war is what glues society together. War = control. AGW = war.
Iron Mountain.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 12:31am
Posted by gangpapist at 12/08/2009 @ 10:51pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Read all your posts. (definately NOT hyberbolic)
Curious thing about the history of Africa, did you ever contemplate what african might look like today if the arab and black slave trade had never migrated north and west their ongoing trade since biblical times off continent?White europe and N. America economic engines might not have initially been as robust, but I don’t doubt they would not have progressed to the degree they have even though it would have proceeded more expensively labor wise perhaps, but that is all! History has slaves from all nations and almost all have been a slave at some time.
However, when African and Arab nations were left to their own devices before, and even now after “atlantic slavery” and colonial aparthied, I seriously doubt there would be any difference than what we see today! That I think is the saddest commentary I see about that continent and its people today!
Look at every “self determined” african country now and you find it going down the same road reguardless of leadership educated elsewhere! When it is influenced by islamic religion the results are just as bad if not worse like the dafur region of Sudan. It doesn’t seem true of any other continent developmentally.
As a white christian I am always puzzled and somewhat perplexed considering the great responsiveness of the people in many regions of africa to the gospel of Jesus and the large amount of missionary materials, money, and aide that has been poured into the continent for well over 110 yrs. now.
Sadly it seems their lot in life has not improved even with the wealth and resourses provided also by other nations! “Self determination” seem to be a curse for them!Posted by BigPasture at 12/09/2009 @ 01:23am
I hope that before we began to pile on President Obama, for his timid response to climate change thus far into his “young” presidency that we understand that given the dynamics of the American Political system he can not commit to any international climate treaty unless he has the backing of Congress. Which as far as I can tell he does not.
Posted by hethatbe_king at 12/09/2009 @ 03:09am
The population of the world and our enviornment are subordinated to the interests of the profits of a handful of olgarchs that control the 90% of the world’s wealth and 100% of the world’s governments.
What we have in Copenhagen is the national representitives of the world’s polluters locking horns on how to give a semblance of doing something about climate change while gauranteeing their profits–and they cannot do it, especially as they are engaged in a life and death struggle to maintain profits in the midst of the worst economic collapse since 1929.
As albert Einstein said ‘capitalism is the root of evil” and must be done away with before it consumes us all.
Posted by Doric at 12/09/2009 @ 06:09am
…climate indicators are inconclusive in predicting the climate decades into the future.
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/08/2009 @ 6:56pm
So why not err on the side of caution and start reducing what we spew into the atmosphere. Or does that make too much sense.
Posted by kennyboy at 12/09/2009 @ 06:20am
Happ comes clean on his main focus on Obama…
“It’s his race, stupid!”—–Posted by Happy at 12/08/2009 @ 4:36pm
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:52am
Iron Mountain.—-Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 12:31am
Uh, Frei….you DO know that “The Report From Iron Mountain”…is a parody written by Leonard Lewin, right?
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:54am
“John Wayne Gacy, the Chicago delegate to the National Conference on Exploitation of Children, complained that the federal government wasn’t doing enough. ‘Ten million dollars,’ said Gacy, ‘that’s not enough to buy clown suits.’”
Posted by gangpapist at 12/09/2009 @ 08:44am
“leave the oil in the ground and the coal in the hole ” . Ohh and send us “dodgy actors” billions to fight off this “immediate threat to their existance ”
Yea OK Naomi . Great report from your first day .Wonders where KVH finds these people .Posted by limoman at 12/09/2009 @ 08:58am
“it seems to me the environmental movement is simply trying to replace war with AGW”
(QUOTE OF THE DECADE)
nevermind that the VAST MAJORITY of scientists and scientific organizations embrace the claim that CC is anthropogenic. and nevermind the literally hundreds of thousands of studies which support that claim.
the ONLY reason why there is “doubt” about AGW now (and there is only doubt in the minds of PEOPLE WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CLIMATE SCIENCE), is because governments and industry are finally attempting to “something” (and by that i mean, extremely tepid, weak, ineffective measures) about it.
and whoever was complaining about giving Africa $10 billion a year is…….f*cking clueless!!!!!
Posted by darladoon at 12/09/2009 @ 10:24am
Posted by Mask at 12/09/2009 @ 07:54am
Ever read it Mask? I mean, seriously, have you ever read it?
Posted by freiheit1 at 12/09/2009 @ 10:30am
via thenation.com
Naomi Klein. I like her. She speaks a great deal of sense.
Posterous to WordPress to Rapidweaver
December 17, 2009
Just testing whether I can write to Posterous and see whether it will post on my WordPress blog and then onto my ickledot home page.
Italian student tells of arrest while filming for fun | UK news | The Guardian
December 16, 2009
via guardian.co.uk
Been thinking about this all day. OK, the young lady is a bit reticent and uncooperative. But she is speaking in a second language, and she is the amateur negotiator in the conversation. The community constable should have had the skills to impress on her that, although she may have seen the matter as trivial, he was required to ask these questions.
He didn’t do that. I would get the police to use this video as an illustration of how not to deal with the public.
And as for those who inflicted the violence shortly after …
#rapidweaver Posterous Stack
December 16, 2009
http://www.ickledotco.co.uk/posterous.html
Just trying out this Stack from 2bitoperation (http://www.2bitoperation.com/). It seems to be working very well.
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