Climate change: move over Viner
Monday 25 March 2013
 The thing about warmists, though, is they never give up. Back in January 2010, after one of the coldest winters in 30 years, we got John Hammond, a meteorologist at the UK Met Office, telling us: "Winters like this are likely to become less of a feature as we head through the 21st century". "Colder winters". He said, "become less likely because overall the background warming will reduce the severity of them, certainly for our part of the world". And now, in the grip of the coldest March for fifty years, with global warming thick on the ground, the fool Beddington, the government's outgoing chief scientist, is telling us that the effects of climate change on the weather were already being felt in the UK. "In a sense we have moved from the idea of global warming to the idea of climate change … temperatures are increasing but the thing that is going to happen is that we are going to see much more variability in our weather', he says, then adding, "I think you only have to look at the last few years to see how that is actually starting to manifest itself even in the UK". Looking out the window at the snow drifts, we can indeed see how this "climate change" is manifesting itself. But we expect no relief from the idiots the government insists on appointing as it chief scientific advisors. Beddington's successor is Sir Mark Walport, former director of the Wellcome Trust, and a medically trained immunologist. This great sage is already imbued with warmism, telling us in 2009 that, "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not only essential to help tackle climate change, it is also an important way to improve public health". This is also the man who, in July 2011 was adding to his voice to the complaints that the BBC was giving "too much weight to fringe views on issues such as climate change". So, as we shiver through the unseasonable weather, hardly daring to venture out into the biting easterly wind, these fools prattle and prance with the quasi-religious mantras. You will get nothing sensible from Walport. He is pure establishment. But then that is the joy of being a warmist – you can keep repeating the same old, same old, never having to admit you are wrong. And the idiots in government will always give you a nice cushy job. COMMENT THREAD Richard North 25/03/2013 |
UK politics: "I have never been a huge fan of Cameron"
Monday 25 March 2013
Obviously, the way to get on in life is to brown-nose The Leader on his way up, and then forget everything you said when he is on his way down.
 The above is Tim Montgomerie on 6 December 2009, the fourth anniversary of David Cameron becoming the leader of the Conservative Party. And now, little Timmy has fallen out of love. Today, he says …  How times change when you've got a nice safe job behind that Murdoch paywall. Unfortunately, there is always the internet to remind you of your past. COMMENT THREAD Richard North 25/03/2013 |
Eurocrash: Cyprus – now or never?
Monday 25 March 2013
 Meanwhile, Chicken Little is screeching round the courtyard in Brussels, with frenetic talk of the island nation being the first to leave the eurozone. But that, the "colleagues" could never allow to happen, and nor can they risk bringing down the entire European banking system for a paltry €10 billion – not even a rounding error in terms of the wider European economy. And that is why Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, has a much stronger hand to play than many commentators allow. Potentially, the "colleagues" have much more to lose than he does. However, before we get to the end play, and an outcome that is to an extent pre-ordained, we must go through the theatre which so characterises EU politics. Everything is for show with the posturing entirely for public consumption, while the real negotiations proceed apace, behind closed doors. For the moment, though, there is no resolution. They game must be played out to the bitter end, for the final compromise that will see Cyprus remain in the eurozone, with another glorious fudge in place. That is the one certainty in a sea of uncertainty. The rest, as they say, is detail.
UPDATE:
And hey! Waddayaknow? We're "back from the brink". An "11th-hour deal" has been agreed. This boilerplate comes from The Independent but any of the dead tree media could suffice. It's a "tough deal" of course, but the drama's done. The dogs bark and the caravan moves on.
COMMENT: CYPRUS COMBINED THREAD Richard North 25/03/2013 |
Monday, 25 March 2013
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