The majority of the British public is still not convinced that climate change is caused by humans - and many others believe scientists are exaggerating the problem, according to an exclusive poll for The Observer. Notice no mention of 'Global Warming'. I just talked to my wife in England and she is freezing for this time of year.
The results have shocked campaigners who hoped that doubts would have been silenced by a report last year by more than 2,500 scientists for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which found a 90 per cent chance that humans were the main cause of climate change and warned that drastic action was needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
People considered the source and remained doubtful. Surprise!
The findings come just before the release of the government's long-awaited renewable energy strategy, which aims to cut the UK's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent over the next 12 years.
The poll, by Ipsos MORI, found widespread contradictions, with some people saying politicians were not doing enough to tackle the problem, even though they were cynical about government attempts to impose regulations or raise taxes. In a sign of the enormous task ahead for those pushing for drastic cuts to carbon emissions, many people said they did not want to restrict their lifestyles and only a small minority believe they need to make 'significant and radical' changes such as driving and flying less.
'It's disappointing and the government will be really worried,' said Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the government's Sustainable Development Commission. 'They [politicians] need the context in which they're developing new policies to be a lot stronger and more positive. Otherwise the potential for backlash and unpopularity is considerable.'
People simply don't like being told what to do, to make do with less, and to have a government that takes on more and more power. Present a green revolution that is decentralized, common-sense and bottom-up in terms of fixing problems, and people will flock to it. That, however, wouldn't meet the primary goal of the elites, which is to arrogate more power to themselves.
There is growing concern that an economic depression and rising fuel and food prices are denting public interest in environmental issues. Some environmentalists blame the public's doubts on last year's Channel 4 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, and on recent books, including one by Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, that question the consensus on climate change.
However Professor Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, said politicians and campaigners were to blame for over-simplifying the problem by only publicising evidence to support the case. 'Things that we do know - like humans do cause climate change - are being put in doubt,' said Lomborg. 'If you're saying, 'We're not going to tell you the whole truth, but we're going to ask you to pay up a lot of money,' people are going to be unsure.'
They won't be 'unsure' at all, as it turns out ...
In response to the poll's findings, the Ministry of Silly Walks Department for the Environment issued a statement: 'The IPCC... concluded the scientific evidence for climate change is clear and it is down to human activities. It is already affecting people's lives - and the impact will be much greater if we don't act now.'
Ipsos MORI polled 1,039 adults and found that six out of 10 agreed that 'many scientific experts still question if humans are contributing to climate change', and that four out of 10 'sometimes think climate change might not be as bad as people say'. In both cases, another 20 per cent were not convinced either way. Despite this, three quarters still professed to be concerned about climate change.
Those most worried were more likely to have a degree, be in social classes A or B, have a higher income, said Phil Downing, Ipsos MORI's head of environmental research. 'People are broadly concerned, but not entirely convinced,' said Downing. 'Despite many attempts to broaden the environment movement, it doesn't seem to have become fully embedded as a mainstream concern,' he said.
More than half of those polled did not have confidence in international or British political leaders to tackle climate change, but only just over a quarter think it's too late to stop it. Two thirds want the government to do more but nearly as many said they were cynical about government policies such as green taxes, which they see as 'stealth' taxes
#1
Fortunately, Brits have had several opportunities to watch "The Global Warming Scam." I have seen the video and producers savaged every claim made by the Gorists. Researchers reported intimidation by same: either spout the party line, or forget about research funding that doesn't enforce Gore dogma.
Last I heard, Gore has raked in $35,000,000 from the scam. Why would he stop?
#3
Up next - gerbil worming denial skepticism as actionable hate sheech. Cheerio, John Bull...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/22/2008 9:48 Comments ||
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#4
sheech speech. Sheesh...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/22/2008 9:49 Comments ||
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#5
...many others believe scientists are exaggerating the problem...
For the most part, it's politicians, Hollywood airheads, musicians, and media pundits who are exaggerating the problem. You very rarely hear actual scientists speak on it, unless they're non-climatologists.
I talked to my sister a while back and Al Gore's name came up. She said, "Tell me you believe in global warming." I said I was very skeptical. She blurted out, "But it's so intelligent!"
I think that's part of the problem right there. People who are insecure about their intelligence seek to identify with some movement of certified Smart People[TM]. For some reason, Smart People are always gloomy.
#6
For some reason, Smart People are always gloomy.
If you look at the evidence in most people's lives, there is little reason to be gloomy. So when someone can spin a tale of why we should be gloomy it is startling and the teller seems clever.
And beside that, most "smart people" work in academia. But they really produce very little. For the forty years of brainwashing, not to be confused with brain showering, they have changed astonishingly few minds. If Fauxbamessiah doesn't win, they'll be very gloomy indeed.
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday he is pulling out of this week's presidential runoff because mounting violence and intimidation have made it impossible to hold a credible election.
Tsvangirai announced his decision about Friday's election during a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital after thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the site of the opposition's main campaign rally in a now routine pattern of intimidation. 'We can't ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost their lives. We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election,' he said. 'Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war.'
Sad that Mugabe gets a free pass, but at some point your followers have to live to fight another day. That's a terrible calculation to have to make.
He said it is the United Nations' responsibility to make sure the people of Zimbabwe are protected from the violence now under way in the country.
Depending on the U.N. was a big mistake; we could have told you ...
Tsvangirai said he would put forward new proposals by Wednesday on how take the country forward. He did not provide any details about what the proposals would include. 'Our victory is certain, but it can only be delayed,' he said.
Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980. That campaign was generally peaceful, but the runoff has been overshadowed by violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.
Tsvangirai complained that he was being treated like a 'common criminal,' with his attempts to tour the country stymied by police at roadblocks. The state-controlled media have banned opposition advertisements, claiming they 'contain inappropriate language and information.' The media cited one ad that claimed that Tsvangirai won the election, 'which is not the case, hence the runoff.'
Tendai Biti, the opposition party's No. 2, was arrested within minutes of his return from South Africa last week and is being held on treason charges.
Tsvangirai had hoped to address his main campaign rally for the runoff Sunday afternoon. But a Movement for Democratic Change statement said that armed soldiers and police in full riot gear took over the show ground early afternoon. It said that riot police mounted road blocks around the venue and on the main approaches to Harare. It said troops were jogging down another road leading into central Harare.
The party said military helicopters were flying around the city and around the second city of Bulawayo. 'Zimbabwe clearly is under military rule,' the statement said.
Yup. And the Zim-bob generals are acting like Burmese generals ...
There was no immediate confirmation about the movement of riot police and troops.
Thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the show ground site and set up road blocs at the main approach streets, ripped branches from trees and hurled stones at cars. Hundreds of militants, many with sticks and wearing ZANU-PF ruling party colors, marched past its headquarters chanting slogans. Eight ZANU-PF trucks, warning lights flashing and crammed with passengers, circled the grounds.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claimed that the militants were beating opposition supporters who were trying to reach the venue and said at least two were seriously injured. It said the militants attacked journalists and forced African election monitors, who had been driving around the rally site, to flee. Election monitors could not immediately be reached for comment and there was no independent confirmation of the opposition claims.
'It is evident that the Mugabe regime has disregarded regional and continental opinion that has been calling for an end to disruption of MDC election campaign programs, state sanctioned brutality, violence and harassment of the people of Zimbabwe,' the opposition said in a statement. 'The observers on the ground surely ought to be seeing this systematic state harassment of the MDC. The regime does not even want to pretend that the election will be free and fair,' it said.
Zimbabwe has barred Western observers and most journalists, but the Southern African bloc hopes to send in about 400 monitors, and there are also some from the Pan-African Parliament.
At a rally in the western city of Bulawayo on Friday, Mugabe said that the opposition was lying about the violence and said everywhere he visited was peaceful. His powerful police chief pinned the blame firmly on the opposition and said that police would clamp down.
Some analysts say a small inner circle of security chiefs has orchestrated the current violence as it is desperate to prevent an opposition victory and wants to keep Mugabe in power to retain its privileges and protect it from possible prosecution.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2008 15:23 ||
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Time to shame the Chinese and South African supporters with sanctions?
Morgan made the smart move - the military supports Bob ...for now.... and would kill their way to victory if need be. If the military were to not be paid for several months due to sanctions, they might change their tune. Time to shut off the funds for Bob and Grace and the military. Restrict their movements. Make them and anyone who supports them international pariahs
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 16:55 Comments ||
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#2
Don't know of a way to shame the Chinese and South Africans. If they could be shamed someone would have done it already.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2008 19:39 Comments ||
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#3
How 'bout them Olympics? Kinda timely, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 23:12 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua on Friday in Abuja ordered an offensive on the militants in the Niger Delta, warning them to get ready to face the full consequences of taking up arms against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, according to local media report on Saturday.
Olusegun Adeniyi, special adviser to the president on communication said the president gave the directive to the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies in an angry response to Thursday 's attacks on the multi-million U. S. dollars Bonga and Pennington Oil Fields of the Shell Petroleum Development Company.
Yar'Adua, in a clear departure from the prevailing practice of handling the militants with kid gloves, said his government would not shirk from its constitutional responsibility for law and order and safety of lives and property across the country.
He directed the Armed Forces and security agencies to take all necessary actions to apprehend the militants behind the attack, which he described as 'national sabotage.' The Nigerian Armed Forces and other relevant outfits were also directed to beef up security at all oil facilities to forestall further attacks.
The presidency said militant activities were undermining efforts aimed at addressing the huge developmental challenges in the oil rich Niger Delta region. 'The federal government wholly condemns Thursday's attack on the Bonga Oil Field operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company,' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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bout time
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 11:24 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- General Manager of Nigerian Agip Oil Exploration, Richard Ogunde, on Friday in Nigeria's southwest Ogun State said Nigeria's oil reserve had only 43 years to dry up, according to the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday. Ogunde made the disclosure in a lecture at the Tai Solarin University of Education in Ogun State.
He said Nigeria's reserve remained 36.2 billion barrels, quoting from the latest world oil data, saying that Nigeria had a yearly oil production capacity of 2.3 billion barrels.
The oil expert advised the government to start looking for other oil reserves, and urged it to seek other means of sustenance after oil might have disappeared.
He accused successive governments of conniving with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to misdirect, mismanage and misapply the country's oil revenue without commensurate infrastructure growth, and criticized the NNPC for engaging in the direct sale of petroleum products by setting up retail outlets in different parts of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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The oil expert advised the government to start looking for other oil reserves, and urged it to seek other means of sustenance after oil might have disappeared
#2
With all the stoppages due to attacks in the last few years, I'd imagine Nigeria's oil reserves would last another century or several. But it certainly wouldn't hurt anything were the Nigerians to find something productive to do -- other than financial scams, I mean.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is facing an avalanche of calls to withdraw from this Fridays presidential election after a campaign of murder, assault and intimidation by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe told a campaign rally last Friday: Only God who appointed me will remove me not the MDC, not the British.
Tsvangirai is expected to decide tomorrow whether he will contest the election even though 85 members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been killed and evidence is mounting of attempts to rig the voting.
The 56-year-old former trade union leader has previously indicated that nothing would deter him from fighting the election. But senior party officials warned yesterday that there was little point in a contest that Mugabe is determined to steal. Mugabe told a campaign rally last Friday: Only God who appointed me will remove me not the MDC, not the British.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Morgan dear, how about we have a SECRET meeting here in Northern Virginia? I think I can convince my old friend Mugabe to stop the MDC killing's and pick up your $11m in campaign debts (there may be a bonus in it for you as well).... if you and your spouse agree to stay OUT OF THE MEDIA and just quietly go away. We can re-look this entire matter in 2011. What say you?
US oil giant Chevron has halted onshore oil production at its Escravos oilfield after an attack on a pipeline. The loss could equate to about 120,000 barrels per day, about 6.6% of Nigeria's total daily crude production.
The Nigerian military said militants blew up the Niger Delta pipeline, but the region's main armed group blamed angry youths for the attack. Earlier this week, Nigeria's president ordered tighter security in the Delta after an attack at a Shell facility. According to the BBC's Alex Last, in Lagos, sources in the western Niger Delta believe the latest attack is the work of illegal oil "bunkerers" - involved in the lucrative trade in stolen oil.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That is yet another attack by the MEND group that is targeting oil infrastructure. MEND is a communist organizaion that is armed by Cuba, Venezuela, and Libya.
MEND and other groups commenced terror, after they engineered production of the "Niger Delta Manifesto." One part of it reads,
"It is noteworthy that this conference is being held 155 years after the publication of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. That document was the first prophetic statement that proclaimed the ascendancy of the working class as a ruling class. In their usually vibrant and robust style, Marx and Engels concluded the Manifesto with a charge to the oppressed and dispossessed of the world to revolt and break the chains that held them in servitude. "Workers of the world unite ... you have nothing to lose but your chains," so declared St. Marx and St. Engels."
#5
These protests have been 100% pure Korean Bull$&!^ from day one. It really has almost nothing to do with the beef issue and everything to do with the Korean Left trying to regain some of the ground they lost after the last election, in which they got their asses royally kicked.
Korea is a crazy, self-defeating country in a lot of ways. Last night I was talking to a Korean college student who was angry with the government because they were "too violent" with the protesters. What she didn't know was that the protesters have been using iron pipes and bricks to attack the police with. The police are so afraid of being accused of a repeat of the Gwangju Massacre they'd rather get physically beaten than fire their weapons. If you want a really in-depth analysis of this issue, read Robert Koehler at The Marmot's Hole. He's covered it exhaustively. It's the first time I've seen even the normally pro-Korean Koehler just truly disgusted by Korean behavior on both sides of the issue.
It's crap like this that makes every American I know here in Korea think that it would be MUCH better on all counts if the U.S. pulled USFK out of here lock, stock and barrel.
The further we can withdraw ourselves from Korea's internal politics, the better for both countries, and that includes scrapping the proposed KORUS FTA treaty. We've been nothing but a convenient scapegoat for Korea's problems the last twenty-five years and it's long past time that ended. The Koreans simply won't face up to their own problems as long as they can blame them on foreigners who won't fight back. BTW, they'd NEVER have dared pull this kind of crap about something Chinese.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/22/2008 18:54 Comments ||
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#6
I agree. We need to excise the Korean tick from our body.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 19:04 Comments ||
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#7
TOPIX + STARS-N-STRIPES > Wel-l-l, looks like iff the SOKORS don't want US BEEF, the NOKORS MIGHT. As per Various Pert claims that NOKOR's aricultural secotr s will collapse completely in 2009, due to POOR STATE PLANNING + ENVIRO DESERTIFICATIONS, NOKORS > DEMANDING GUARANTEED FOOD + ECONOMIC AID IN RETURN FOR A PERMANENT HALT TO INDIGENS NUCDEV.
Oooh, Fred, new spambot-barrier pictures! I can't wait to see the rest of them! Oh, and surely this must be the End Times: common sense is appearing in Brussels.
The European Union has launched a study into whether a large-scale expansion of genetically modified crops would curb soaring global food prices.
Gordon Brown backed the move after the European Commission said GM crops could 'play an important role in mitigating the effects of the food crisis'. Jose Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, warned that the EU's current obstacles to GM products could result in higher food prices in Europe than the rest of the world. EU leaders endorsed the plans to review the complex system of approving GM licences, which is split between the EU and national governments. It could be streamlined to make the approval process easier.
It's one thing to let nameless Africans or Asians starve. It's another for France to miss a meal.
A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked on Saturday night in Paris, a violent assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and that Jewish organizations said was motivated by anti-Semitism. The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of Muslim African origin, according to a police source and a statement from the National Agency of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism. The agency cited the use of iron bars in the attack. Haddad is suffering from "serious neurological problems," a police source said.
Another Jewish group, the Union of French Jewish Students, said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa (skull cap), and had suffered several broken ribs, a fractured skull and was now in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris. "The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home, when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.
The exact number of attackers was not immediately known, ranging from 6 or 7 up to 30, depending on sources. Haddad's father told French radio RTL there were around 15 attackers. A police source said that five youths had been taken into police custody.
The assault was immediately condemned by Sarkozy, who embarks on a three day visit to Israel on Sunday, aimed at reinforcing his image as its ally. "[Sarkozy] assures the victim and his family of his support and renews his total determination to fight all forms of racism and anti-Semitism," said a statement from Sarkozy's office. France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "profound emotion" and announced in a statement the launch of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack.
#2
"France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her 'profound emotion'."
I don't think 'profound emotion' is going to help Rudy Haddad at this point. The Fifth Republic seems beyond redemption, no matter what posturing Sarkozy adopts. Who would have thought that Clockwork Orange + 1984 = France 2008?
#7
that's precious, you insufficient little pissant.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 15:23 Comments ||
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#8
One of the military units I spent several tours with is holding a reunion next Saturday, troll. We'd be glad to have you attend. I'm sure it would be very educational. There should be about 25 retired Air Force, Army, and Marine personnel there to "educate" you. Bring a couple of friends.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/22/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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#9
blanket party!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 16:14 Comments ||
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#10
It's either our Saudi troll, or (more likely) someone who can spoof the Saudi IP.
#11
Awright, Sherry nailed a troll! She's in the club now!
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2008 19:44 Comments ||
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#12
Tack it's hide on the barn door.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/22/2008 19:52 Comments ||
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#13
The custom is to make a necklace of the key caps from its keyboard. It's then presented to the newly initiated Mod with libational toasts in the Club.
#14
Oooh, libational toasts -- I can get to the front door of the O Club from here in 10.7 seconds. (Ok, I realize that's slow for the distance, but I never was into running.)
No offence taken, Unoth Grundy6217 dear. JUSTICE has always been an ass, although I can no longer remember if he's the Saudi troll who was for some reason obsessed with my armpit hair. One of the Saudi trolls was a bit odd.
The Irish government is expected to bow to Franco-German pressure and hold a second referendum to try to rescue the Lisbon treaty that voters rejected this month.
The plan for a possible new vote in Ireland, disclosed privately by ministers in Dublin, will be greeted with outrage by opponents of the treaty in Britain.
The Irish government believes that it may be able to rescue the treaty if it can secure concessions on a list of issues. A yes vote can be achieved if the Irish people are offered guarantees on issues like defence and taxation, said one senior Irish official. The no campaign will be picked off one by one. Everyone has a price.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Front-page WaPo
As Sen. Barack Obama opens his campaign as the first African American on a major party presidential ticket, nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice, leaving 7 of 10 to lie about it according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Overall, 51 percent call the current state of race relations 'excellent' or 'good,' ... but our headline chose to focus on the negative, thankyewverymuch,
... about the same as said so five years ago. That is a relative thaw from more negative ratings in the 1990s, but the gap between whites and blacks on the issue is now the widest it has been in polls dating to early 1992.
Our socialist media and elites have succeeded admirably in that regard ...
More than six in 10 African Americans now rate race relations as 'not so good' or 'poor,' while 53 percent of whites hold more positive views. Opinions are also divided along racial lines, though less so, on whether blacks face discrimination. There is more similarity on feelings of personal racial prejudice: Thirty percent of whites and 34 percent of blacks admit such sentiments.
At the same time, there is an overwhelming public openness to the idea of electing an African American to the presidency. In a Post-ABC News poll last month, nearly nine in 10 whites said they would be comfortable with a black president. While fewer whites, about two-thirds, said they would be 'entirely comfortable' with it, that was more than double the percentage of all adults who said they would be so at ease with someone entering office for the first time at age 72, which McCain (R-Ariz.) would do should he prevail in November.
Even so, just over half of whites in the new poll called Obama a 'risky' choice for the White House, while two-thirds said McCain is a 'safe' pick. Forty-three percent of whites said Obama has sufficient experience to serve effectively as president, and about two in 10 worry he would overrepresent the interests of African Americans. Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle!
Obama will be forced to confront these views as he seeks to broaden his appeal. He leads in the Post-ABC poll by six percentage points among all so-called adults, but among those who are most likely to vote, the contest is a tossup, with McCain at 48 percent and Obama at 47 percent.
His campaign advisers hope race may prove a benefit, that heightened enthusiasm among African Americans will make Obama competitive in GOP-leaning states with large black populations. But to win in November, Obama most likely will have to close what is now a 12-point deficit among whites. (Whites made up 77 percent of all voters in 2004; blacks were 11 percent, according to network exit polls.)
This is hardly the first time a Democratic candidate has faced such a challenge -- Al Gore lost white voters by 12 points in 2000, and John F. Kerry lost them by 17 points in 2004 -- but it is a significantly larger shortfall than Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton encountered in their winning campaigns. Not to be negative here, but it seems it was sufficient to keep the last two socialists out of the White House.
Posted by: Bobby in Illinois ||
06/22/2008 08:55 ||
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three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice,
3 in 10? wow, so there must be some whites included with the black liberation racists!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2008 12:15 Comments ||
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ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > NEW US PRESIDENT SEEN AS UNLIKELY TO CHALLENGE CHINA.
Why not, e.g.as per Catholic Bishops + ABU SAYYAFF in the Phillippines???
NEW DELHI: The Indian mission in Beijing is busy shooting itself in the foot at a time when India-China relations are on a downswing.
Fresh controversy enveloped the mission with RAW station chief Uma Mishra being recalled this week, apparently for a poorly handled investigation into a 'honeytrap' case. Mishra is expected to return to India soon and this will be the second time a RAW official has returned from Beijing under a cloud.
Earlier, another RAW staffer, Manmohan Sharma, was recalled for his alleged affair with a Chinese interpreter. In connection with the Sharma case, an assistant to deputy chief of mission Saurabh Kumar has already been sent back. The assistant, Gangadharan, was called back to Delhi on 'special duty' and then given a recall letter and now it is believed that Kumar himself may be posted out as well after barely a year as deputy chief of mission. Kumar's replacement is believed to be another MEA official from Vietnam.
Just what's happening in Beijing?
Amid the sheer inefficiency, lack of checks and poor professionalism, there's a strong possibility of an ego spat between MEA and RAW. The trouble apparently began after the Manmohan Sharma incident.
While RAW, responsible for external intelligence, cried foul and said its official was above board and the problem had really to do with a quarrel between Sharma's maid and interpreter, MEA differed and claimed that a probe had found evidence that Sharma had been 'penetrated' by the Chinese. Sharma's apartment was apparently bugged.
The Gangadharan recall thereafter is being seen as a tit-for-tat affair between MEA and RAW. On being called back to Delhi, he was not even allowed to go back to Beijing to bring back his family, said sources.
Mishra's recall is rather more serious as she's a counseller level officer. It is said that her return is a result of not conducting the investigation of the Manmohan Sharma incident properly with sources saying that MEA was unhappy at her alleged refusal to pass on details of the Sharma affair to the ministry.
The turn of events reflects poorly on both organisations. Certainly, when relations with China need closer attention, India should be better served by both agencies.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Fast question re: alphabet soup
What do the acronyms RAW and MEA stand for?
Thanks
More front-page WaPo. Surely, the war in Iraq is over!
The environmental fervor sweeping college campuses has reached beyond the push to recycle plastics and offer organic food and is transforming the curriculum, permeating classrooms, academic majors and expensive new research institutes.
The University of Maryland teaches 'green' real estate strategies for landscape architects. The University of Virginia's business graduate students recently created a way to generate power in rural Indian villages with discarded rice husks. And in a Catholic University architecture studio last week, students displayed ideas for homes made from discarded shipping containers.
What was once a fringe interest, perhaps seemingly a fad, has become fully entrenched in academic life, university officials say, affecting not just how students live but what they learn and, as graduates, how they will change workplaces and neighborhoods.
Concern about the environment has waxed and waned in the past few decades, said GWU President Steven Knapp. But with fears of climate change and high gas prices, 'the situation has become dire enough that people are focused on it,' Knapp said. 'Energy is costly enough that people are focused on it. We really think this time, it's here to stay.' Are not high gas prices good for global climate change? What's the matter? Hits in your pocketbook?
For years, student activists have demanded environmentally friendly changes, prompting university officials to reevaluate how they heat classrooms, water campus greens and buy light bulbs. Frostburg State University in Western Maryland, for instance, has a wind-powered generating station. Johns Hopkins University is planning to build its own heat and power generator.
For those who are skeptical about global warming and think that the current trend is often too alarmist, the changes carry risk. 'It discredits science,' said Richard Lindzen, a professor of meteorology at MIT. 'It's propaganda,' he added, with opposing viewpoints rarely explored. 'I think it's getting a little out of proportion, the emphasis on the environment,' said Donald J. Boudreaux, chairman of the economics department at George Mason University. He said people increasingly look at environmental issues almost as a religion, with unquestioning belief, rather than thinking critically about scientific evidence or economic issues.
But many school officials say there's a growing consensus about climate change. 'Three or four years ago, I would hear that from people, that global warming's a fraud,' said Randall Ott, architecture dean at Catholic. 'I don't hear that at all now,' especially from students. In his view, he said, 'the evidence is overwhelming -- and very troubling. We at our university feel a certain ethical mission to be operative on this issue.' As opposed to critical thinking and diverse points of view.
Posted by: Bobby in Illinois ||
06/22/2008 09:16 ||
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It does no harm for the academicians to bend the occasional neuron toward efficiency and cost savings... especially if it ends up saving the support staff work, or keeps undergraduate tuition from rising quite so much.
#2
I strongly suspect that the salad days of Enormous State University are drawing to a close. Mostly because they have created a paradigm for themselves of endless growth with profligate spending.
Though they pride themselves in liberal education, the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of their students are wasting their time. They are not getting information specific to their eventual career, but they are getting a huge amount of crap education.
Which impoverishes them for years when they should be making the money they need to raise a family.
This means that most of these universities are not just parasitical, but impart toxins to their hosts in exchange.
Private universities are much more in tune with student needs, and will eventually replace the ESUs with more realistic instruction.
#3
Some private universities, Moose. Consider some of the 'elite' private schools and you'll see why I qualify your statement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/22/2008 12:16 Comments ||
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#4
Many of the students who go to enormous public universities are there to get a paying career and get out, and those many don't bother taking the silly courses, Anonymoose. All those hard-headed engineers who marry equally hard-headed nurses, reality-rooted accountants who marry elementary school teachers, business majors who co-op at local businesses, which then hire them as soon as they get degrees... All of whom calculated that the extra investment required by fancy private universities would not pay out in higher pay at the other end. I was the only one I knew at the ESU I went to who didn't have a practical and lucrative career plan, as opposed to my friends who went to name private schools and assumed that would be enough to make them desirable when they graduated. As for the fools taking all those X Studies courses, at least their parents are paying less to rot their brains than they would at a more expensive private school. Surely, Anonymoose, you aren't contending that the small to mid-size private universities don't have more than enough such courses and degrees to side track the vulnerable?
#5
ESU is safe. They have the name, alumni and IP office to stay around a long time. Endowed Private University (EPU) is also safe. Unendowed Private College (UPC) is in trouble. They used to be able to serve the regional elites. But with the common app, their applicant pool has fallen in quality. And now the EPUs have started price slashing full ride scholarship programs for virtually all students from their obscene, untaxed endowments. The UPCs will fall like the local hardware store once Home Depot opens.
#6
The University of Virginia's business graduate students recently created a way to generate power in rural Indian villages with discarded rice husks.
(Gasp) Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, ALGore will shit, buy his carbon credits NOW.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/22/2008 16:45 Comments ||
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#7
Jeebus! Back in the 70's when I was an Architectural student at Auburn University we could, with a few extra courses, get a degree in Architecture AND Environmental Design. Yall other staes just now catchin' up?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/22/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#8
GEORGE WILL > The GREEN LEFT = RADICAL ENVIROS have not only supplanted the PRO-BIG GOVT POLITICAL LEFTS in America since 9-11, BUT ARE NOW WAGING = BEGUN ALL-OUT WAR TO FORCE AND ENTRENCH TOTALITARIAN REGULATORY GOVT + ENVIRONMENTALISM IN AMERICA, INCLUD PRO-GOVT PRO-MARXIST INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTALISM???
#9
KOMMERSANT > NORTH OF RUSSIA TO SUFFER FROM GLOBAL WARMING. By 2030, effects could be "CATASTROPHIC", wid 1/4 of Housing stock + geologic instabilities [e.g. airports = food deliveries], detrimental increases in METHANE release/emissions, + pervasive signific area floods due to MELTING PERMAFROST???
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The majority of the British public is still not convinced that climate change is caused by humans - and many others believe scientists are exaggerating the problem, according to an exclusive poll for The Observer. 
In response to the poll's findings, the 
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday he is pulling out of this week's presidential runoff because mounting violence and intimidation have made it impossible to hold a credible election.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is facing an avalanche of calls to withdraw from this Fridays presidential election after a campaign of murder, assault and intimidation by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.
US oil giant Chevron has halted onshore oil production at its Escravos oilfield after an attack on a pipeline. The loss could equate to about 120,000 barrels per day, about 6.6% of Nigeria's total daily crude production. 
The Irish government is expected to bow to Franco-German pressure and hold a second referendum to try to rescue the Lisbon treaty that voters rejected this month. 
