BRUSSELS: In a sign of shifting politics over global warming, leading scientists said Friday that China was among a group of nations that had sought to water down a major report on climate change, while they credited the United States, long a skeptic about climate change, with sometimes playing a helpful role.
Capping four days of debate between scientists and representatives from more than 100 governments, Martin Parry, co-chairman of the team from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the effects of climate change were widespread and measurable, with much more to come.
"We're no longer arm-waving with models," said Parry. "This is empirical information on the ground." He added that the areas most affected were likely to be the Arctic, sub-Saharan Africa, and small islands and Asia's sprawling, crowded, flood-prone river deltas.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/07/2007 11:29 ||
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Greenhouse gases...they mean water vapor and methane, right?
Well, here is a suggestion. If all the "global warmints" stop breathing, they can substantially reduce the production of greenhouse gases. How about that?
#2
concluded with 90 percent certainty that human actions were the main cause of warming since 1950
Curious, anyone who has studied science would know that 95% certainty is considered the minimum for a result to be considered valid. It's one of those thing you hear a hundred times.
Of course the 90% certainty is utter bollocks, but the message the number sends to real scientists is interesting.
Since 1885, the University of Massachusetts has awarded nearly 2,000 honorary degrees to world leaders, renowned scholars and writers. For the first time, it is considering taking one back - from Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe. When Mugabe received an honorary doctorate of law from the UMass-Amherst campus in 1986, he was hailed as a humane revolutionary who ended an oppressive white rule to establish an independent Zimbabwe in 1979.
But in the two decades since, Mugabe has been condemned for attacks on dissidents and accused of running a corrupt government that has ruined the economy.
On Wednesday, the student senate of the UMass-Boston campus passed a resolution asking the university to revoke Mugabe's degree, and officials say they are considering doing so.
"Mugabe's actions during the past decade show he's fallen from being a good citizen of the world,'' said Shauna Murray, a graduate student who helped circulate a petition last month on the Boston campus urging the administration to rescind the degree. "He has a track record of suppressing basic human rights like free speech and the right to protest, and that doesn't represent what students here stand for,'' she said.
The issue also has surfaced at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Michigan State University, which gave Mugabe honorary degrees in 1984 and 1990, respectively. Terry Denbow, a Michigan State spokesman, said administrators have received letters requesting that Mugabe's degree be rescinded. "There have been discussions, but I know of no formal process for rescinding the degree,'' Denbow said, adding that Michigan State has stopped its study abroad program in Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2007 00:00 ||
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You know it's over, Bob, when you lose even the UMASS-Amherst contingent...
#2
heh even massholes are ditching bobby Mooogobbie.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
04/07/2007 4:16 Comments ||
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I don't understand this. Isn't he fulfilling exactly what they prescribe? Most universities don't allow "basic human rights like free speech and the right to protest" if you aren't in the favored group.
A total of 149 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soldiers loyal to an ex-rebel leader have been disarmed after turning themselves in to a United Nations base, a UN spokesperson said on Thursday. The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC is in discussions with the government regarding the handover of the troops to government authorities for reintegration into the national army, UN spokesperson Michele Montas said.
Bemba, who came in second in last year's presidential election, sought refuge inside the South African embassy, while his guard took flight.
The soldiers, formerly loyal to ex-warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, began turning themselves in last month, after a two-day clash between Bemba's personal militia and security forces left at least 150 dead. At the height of the violence, Bemba, who came in second in last year's presidential election and has routinely been at odds with the government, sought refuge inside the South African embassy, while his guard took flight. Bemba once commanded a 20 000-strong rebel army, but his militia is now thought to number closer to around 1 000.
This article starring:
Jean-Pierre Bemba
UN spokesperson Michele Montas
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2007 00:00 ||
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Wait, who are the good guys? T-I-A (this is Africa).
Detroit News: An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?
We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.
No cost estimate was attached to their hare-brained idea to "invest" in education. Details, we are promised, will follow. The Democrats, led by their increasingly erratic speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township, also pledge $100 million to make better downtowns. Their plan goes beyond cluelessness. Democrats are either entirely indifferent to the idea that extreme hard times demand extreme belt tightening, or they are bone stupid. We lean toward the latter.
We say that because the House plan also keeps alive, again without specifics, the promise of tax hikes. The range of options, according to Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, includes raising the income tax, levying a 6 percent tax on some services, and taxing junk food and soda.
We wonder how financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher taxes to buy someone else's kid an iPod.
More boggle at link...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/07/2007 16:59 ||
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What" No rubbers?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2007 17:26 Comments ||
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Rubbers are provided by the Feds. Or at least they used to be.
Here in King County there was a controversy a while back on providing hookers with condoms - at public expense. And not just any condoms but (as I recall) something like 90 different kinds and 'flavors'. All paid for by some federal public health program.
King County contains the Peoples Republic of Seattle.
#8
...The real problem in Michigan is that something on the order of 75% of the state's population lives in Greater Detroit - and that beknighted city has been Moonbat Central for decades now. Combined with the fact that a Democratic party dictatorship (yes, that's the word that fits)has looted the city for years, the only real chance for the rest of the state is secession. Cut off the corner with Detroit, call it Saint Clair or Cadillac, and watch it sink.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/07/2007 23:19 Comments ||
Top||
What a pussy
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday pulled out of a second debate co-hosted by Fox News Channel, saying the cable network has a conservative slant. The Edwards campaign said it will not attend the Sept. 23 debate hosted by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, but officials added that Edwards will participate in a different debate hosted by the institute and CNN. "who won't ask me tough questions"
"We believe there's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda while pretending they're objective," said Jonathan Prince, Edwards' deputy campaign manager. "Edwards, hiding behind his wife's skirts, couldn't be reached directly for comment"
It's the second time Edwards has decided to skip a debate because of its affiliation with Fox News. Edwards decided in March that he would pass on an Aug. 14 debate in Reno, Nev., co-hosted by Fox News and the Nevada Democratic Party.
The Nevada Democratic Party canceled that debate just days after the Edwards announcement, citing comments by Fox News President Roger Ailes that the party found offensive. Ailes had made a joke comparing the name of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to that of Osama bin Laden. No, the joke was that W misunderstood the name. Nice spin, liars
Online activists and bloggers have assailed Democratic leaders who have tried to work with Fox News, saying the cable news network is biased. the "wrong way"
The Democratic National Committee has sanctioned six debates before the 2008 primary season, but it has snubbed the Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2007 10:56 ||
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Online activists and bloggers have assailed Democratic leaders who have tried to work with Fox News, saying the cable news network is biased.
Let me correct that for you -
Online activists and bloggers have assailed Democratic leaders who have tried to work with Fox News, saying the cable news network is not part of the Party Apparatchik [tm].
IN a revised edition of her autobiography, Benazir Bhutto's "Daughter of the East", which has been released in bookshops in London this week, some startling revelations have been made.
According to 'Outlook', which is carrying the entire new chapter, the revised autobiography had not been published before, and the preface and this chapter was specially written for the revised edition of the book, now available on bookshelves.
"Revision of the old book was necessary because many momentous developments had taken place in the life of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto during the last two decades", Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for the PPP told The News.
'Daughter of the East' was first published by Hamish Hamilton in 1988. The revised edition has been issued by Simon & Schuster, who also published Musharraf's autobiography last year. The new edition has a preface and a new chapter, 'Prime Minister and Beyond', which contains sensational revelations, providing an insight into the mindset of the Pakistani military and the ISI.
Pervez Jamil Mir, the media manager of the Pakistan World Cup team, told an inquiry committee on Friday that the team had been focussing more on religion than cricket, a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman told Daily Times. Mir recorded his statement before a three-member World Cup probe committee appointed by the PCB at the Service House. Former Test cricketer Ejaz Butt heads the committee whose other members are Salahuddin Ahmad and Salim Altaf.
The committee had a long session with PJ Mir, who gave his views on Pakistan teams defeat in the World Cup 2007, said the PCB spokesman. The committee had an open session with Mir who offered his candid views on the teams poor show in the West Indies. Today, former member of the PCB selection committee Ehteshamuddin and all rounder Shoaib Malik will appear before the committee.
Reuters adds: Mir told Reuters, I told the committee that the players were not focussed on cricket in the World Cup. They were more into religion. Mir said he was disturbed to see focus on cricket missing in the team in such an important tournament. I told the committee that Pakistani players, rather than pray privately, tried to make it a public spectacle, he said. Mir said he had told the committee of incidents to highlight his point. He said that some players, led by captain Inzamamul Haq, even made it a point to pray in the galley of aircrafts on flights rather than privately in their seats. A member of the committee, which has to give its report in 30 days, said Mirs statement was disturbing.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2007 00:00 ||
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Good to see where their priorities are, as I see no mention of their murdered infidel coach guy...
h/t: Drudge (again)
A senior Russian lawmaker called Saturday for Russia to be included in US plans to build a missile defence system in Europe, warning Moscow will otherwise view the antimissile shield as a threat. "Russia has every reason to be interested in close cooperation in creating Eurasian missile-defense systems," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the State Duma, wrote in an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune. "And any attempt to build them without Russia (which is not only an interested party but also geographically and technically the most suitable place for an effective antimissile defense) automatically means they are being built against Russia," wrote the lawmaker.
Russia has repeatedly criticised the United States' plans to place missile defence equipment in countries that were once part of Moscow's orbit. The United States has asked the Czech Republic to host a radar system and Poland to host interceptor rockets as part of its missile defence plans.
Washington insists the anti-missile shield is intended as protection against attacks from "rogue states" such as Russia Iran and points out that the proposed system would be useless against Russia's vast weapons arsenal. For now...
Kosachev argued building an antimissile shield without Russia wouldn't be effective and counterproductive as Moscow would view it as a threat. "Our colleagues in Europe should understand this basic principle: Any attempt to build a security system without Russia (still less against it) by definition cannot be comprehensive or effective," he wrote. "Instead of security for Europe's people we will have a new division and new targets on our densely populated Continent," Kosachev noted, echoing warnings by other Russian officials that Moscow would be forced to target the anti-missile shield.
On Friday, the lower house of the Russian rubber-stamp parliament warned that the antimissile shield risks triggering a new international arms race which they couldn't possibly win. "Such decisions, which are useless in terms of preventing potential or imaginary threats from countries of the Middle and Far East, are already bringing about a new split in Europe and unleashing another arms race," read the declaration, which was approved unanimously by deputies in the State Duma.
#10
I'm in there, too. And so is Chumley. Where's Tennessee Tuxedo?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/07/2007 18:46 Comments ||
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So long as Russia continues to sell Iran and other enemies advanced weapons and nuclear technology, they belong on the other side of our missile defense shield. Let's see how RasPutin likes it out in the cold.
h/t: Drudge
The military shot down a Scud-type missile in this year's second successful test of a new technology meant to knock down ballistic missiles in their final minute of flight, the Missile Defense Agency said Friday. A ship off Kauai fired a target missile before 9 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time Thursday. Three minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army's 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile from Kauai that destroyed the target over the Pacific, according to the agency.
The military says it already can shoot down missiles in their last stage of flight by using Patriot anti-missile batteries. But the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be able to protect larger areas than the Patriot system because it intercepts targets at a higher altitude, said agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers.
The new system had its first successful test last year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It had another successful test Jan. 27 at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. A September test at White Sands failed when the target missile failed after launch.
The Missile Defense Agency moved its testing for the Terminal High Altitude Defense system to Hawaii because the New Mexico range was not large enough for the military to do the testing it wanted, Rogers said. The military also uses the Pacific Missile Range Facility to test Aegis technology when it's not mixed with hentai pics that's designed to shoot down ballistic missiles midway through their flight.
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.
A total of 149 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soldiers loyal to an ex-rebel leader have been disarmed after turning themselves in to a United Nations base, a UN spokesperson said on Thursday. The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC is in discussions with the government regarding the handover of the troops to government authorities for reintegration into the national army, 
