I come not to praise Schneider - by Richard... Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I come not to praise Schneider - by Richard... Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A commentary on the death of an unrepentant hypocrite.

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Delusion or deception? - by Richard...

Once again we are thrust into that all-embracing dilemma as we learn of The Great Leader's exudations in the Wall Street Journal, where he tells us that he is hard-headed and realistic about US-UK relations. 

"I understand that we are the junior partner - just as we were in the 1940s and, indeed, in the 1980s," says TGL. "But we are a strong, self-confident country clear in our views and values, and we should behave that way."

As it stands, we're not even a country, or barely so, as the EU increasingly usurps our roleon the world stage. And as long as we have to pay handmaiden to our masters in Brussels, there is not a chance of us being strong, self-confident, or clear in our views and values.

So the question is, is he deluding himself, or deceiving us? Could it even be both?

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It don't mean nuffink - by Richard... Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Mongolia, the dzud and not a mention of global warming – that's The Guardian for you, telling us that temperatures fell to -50°C and thick snow buried the grass. 

This was the story we covered earlier in the year. By the time it finally melted in May, nearly 9,000 families had seen their entire herds freeze or starve to death. Another 33,000 lost half their livestock. Almost 10m cattle, sheep, goats, horses, yaks and camels have died, a fifth of the country's total, at a cost of £250m.

Now it is the turn of South America to suffer unusual cold, if by no means as severe. But, according to recent reports, at least 175 people have died in the coldest winter in recent years, officials in six affected countries are saying.

The cold has been worst in southern Peru, where temperatures in higher altitudes of the Andes dropped to -23°C. Since the beginning of last week there, 112 people have died of hypothermia and flu. Argentina recorded the coldest temperatures in ten years. Sixteen people froze to death and 11 died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to faulty heaters.

In Bolivia, 18 people died, in Paraguay five and two each in Chile – where heavy snow has been seen (pictured) - and Uruguay. Nine people died of the cold in southern Brazil. Thousands of cattle also froze to death on their pastures in Paraguay and Brazil. There are no stables for the animals as temperatures usually do not drop that low.

Several regions in Bolivia and Peru closed schools until the end of the week and larger cities opened emergency shelters for homeless people.

Electricity and gas networks are operating at capacity limits in many of the affected regions. Argentina reported natural gas shortages in several provinces. The poorest population groups are worst affected by the cold spell with their homes poorly equipped to deal with the cold, lack of heating and access to health care.

While Britain is set to suffer a shortage of green vegetables because of the dry summer (although not here), the intensely cold weather in Chile has hit farm in central and southern Chile hard, especially those growing fruits and vegetables. Production is expected to drop sharply and there has already been a 20 percent rise in fruit and vegetable prices.

The problem is a polar air mass which is settling over the region, now causing rare snowfall in the Buenos Aires province. People in downtown Buenos Aires City bundled up against the cold as temperatures ducked down near freezing.

Essentially, the whole of the Southern Cone is trapped, and now thousands of livestock have died. 

Meanwhile, there is a heatwave in parts of Russia, and the worst drought in more than a century. In Moscow, it's hotter than in European and African resorts. The heat has caused asphalt to melt, boosted sales of air conditioners, ventilators, ice cream and beverages, and pushed grain prices up. 

Environmentalists, silent about Mongolia, silent about the cold in South America and silent about the record cold and snow in Russia over the winter, are blaming the abnormally dry spell on climate change.

"So what was it down to 130 years ago?" asks one of my readers. Well, then it was weather. Now it is weather. It don't mean nuffink. I really am getting tired and terribly bored with these tea-leaf readers who seem to be making up temperatures as they go along in order to discern trends out of random noise. We really should not take them seriously.

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Low grade stuff - by Richard...

Like them or dislike them, some of the scientists in the climate field you can have some small respect for – not many, but there are still some genuine people. On the other hand, the discipline is badly tainted by the low-grade hangers-on, who do not have the intellect to understand the issues and therefore argue almost completely on an ad hominem level.

The problem with these people is that you are never going to win the argument – for two reasons. Firstly, they never engage and, secondly, they do not have the equipment to understand the argument anyway. And this is the measure of the climate debate. We have to win the wider argument, and leave these people beached like stranded whales.

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Parish notes - by Richard...

Readers will have noted that the latest Battle of Britain post went up early, not least because one reader, Andy Baxter, kindly volunteered his services and sent me by email the core script, to which I could then bolt on some more detail and the pics.

I'm actually quite amazed at the response to this venture. There is enormous interest in the narrative, and clearly there is a need for a more coherent account of the Battle. Hence, I am convinced it is worth doing, even if it is taking a little longer than I anticipated each day.

With Andy helping out, this makes things a lot easier, but it would also help if we could have "watchers" of specific aspects. In particular, most of the official narrative tend to be London-centric, but this was the Battle of Britain, and the whole of Britain was involved. 

People who could watch each of the regions and write the occasional daily summary would be extraordinarily helpful – even the occasional, fully-formed paragraph which could be slotted into the running script would be much appreciated, either put on the forum or emailed to me.

We have other ideas as well, on how to expand the scope of the work, and I will post notes about these developments as they arise. Now, back to work ... 

Battle of Britain thread

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Day 11 – Battle of Britain - by Richard...

It was the weekend, the second since the official start of the battle, and a Saturday like no other. Activity off Dover had become so intense that this small area of the Channel was being called "Hellfire Corner". And not even the weather was helping. Occasional thunderstorms and some cloud in Straits of Dover proved no deterrent to the Luftwaffe, especially as it brightened later in the afternoon. The morning saw isolated raids all over Britain from Scotland to Dorset. But Channel convoy "Bosom" was the main focus of attention by the Luftwaffe. 

Read more on DAYS OF GLORY

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Hungary's revolt - by Richard...

Ambrose says it augurs ill for Greece. This is the collapse of Hungary's talks with the International Monetary Fund and the EU that we picked up on Sunday. It is a chilly reminder that sovereign debt crises do not end with a rescue package and a click of the fingers. As austerity drags on for year after year, democracies react, he writes.

The thing is, if it is as bad as he makes out, and as bad as I think it is, then it would be on the front page, instead of this meaningless fluff about a "big society". If this goes down, we'll be lucky to have a society at all, unless you count Grozny as a model (pictured).

But then I keep forgetting that our newspapers don't do real news any more, alongside our politicians who don't do real politics. So, when it happens we're likely to get little warning, and we'll be totally stuffed before we even realise it. Whoever said ignorance is bliss? 

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