I was invited to be on the Murnaghan programme on Sky News this morning – which I always find a great deal more intelligent than the Andrew Marr alternative on the BBC. I declined because I did not want to get up and get a 7.30am train from Ramsgate on a Sunday morning. I had a meeting until 11.30pm last night planning a conference on human rights in Balochistan [I still tend to say Baluchistan], and I have a newly crowned tooth that seems not to want to settle down. But I am still worried by my own lack of energy, which is uncharacteristic. Is this old age?
I also have some serious work to do on my Burnes book, and next week I shall be staying in London to be in the British Library reading room for every second of its opening hours. So there may be a bit of a posting hiatus. I have in mind a short post on an important subject on which I suspect that 99% of my readership – including the regular dissident commenters – will strongly disagree with me.
This is a peculiarly introspective post, perhaps because my tooth is hurting, but I seem to have this curmudgeonly spirit which wishes to react to the huge popularity of this blog by posting something genuinely held but unpopular; a genuine view but one I don’t normally trumpet. The base thought seems to be “You wouldn’t like me if you really knew me”.
Similarly when I wrote Murder in Samarkand I was being hailed as a hero by quite a lot of people for my refusal to go along with the whole neo-con disaster of illegal wars, extraordinary rendition and severe attacks on civil liberties, sacrificing my fast track diplomatic career as a result. My reaction to putative hero worship was to publish in Murder in Samarkand not just the political facts, but an exposure of my own worst and most unpleasant behaviour in my private life.
I am in a very poor position to judge, but I believe the result rather by accident turned out artistically compelling, if you don’t want to read the book you can get a good idea of that by clicking on David Tennant in the top right of this blog and listening to him playing me in David Hare’s radio adaptation.
Anyway, that’s enough musing. You won’t like my next post, whenever it comes. Promise.
John 🙂 My three brothers and I used to get pushed off to Sunday school where we had to sing it. It sounds worse with electronic music here. I’m afraid to say I never made the grade as a little ‘sunbeam’.
http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_Jesus_Wants_Me_For_A_Sunbeam.html
JimmyGiro
19 Sep, 2012 – 11:09 pm
I’m with Clark and Glenn on the subject of changing weather patterns/warming, regardless of the papers I read on the changing acidity and slowing down of the conveyor belt that is exchanging.
I can see that sea ice that has not melted during the summer when I was young, is now melting. I can compare weather patterns of the 1950’s60’s with todays and see a marked change within 30 years only.
The problem with quick fix thinking on a planet that reacts in millions of years, indeed hundred millions of years, Jimmy, which might or might not be normal in today’s fast age, is that we are not prepared to consider the long term implications of our short term gain actions, that we expect theories to explain what is happening. Our modelling is still in its infancy, but we have 100 years of records.
They might not show very much as yet, little glimpses of change, but we know what a stand still in the sea currents conveyor belt will mean for us, we know what decreased salinity will do and we can count a marked increase of methane hydrates escaping into the athmosphere.
Many are focussing on CO2, but methane is as important, a real greenhouse gas and there is lots of it, and its escaping due to rising temperatures were there weren’t’ any for a long time.
Now to the complexity of problems. We have financial systems that are close to collapse, a serious long term problem with a slow release radioactive source that will have a marked change on our genetic make up, some rabid sociopath in charge of armies and nuclear weapons, religious strife as ever, ever more limited resources, a steadily increasing population problem, due to religious bigotry and better healthcare, in short we are approaching the limitations of our existence and refuse to see it.
The precautionary principle and the theory of sustainable living should underpin all countries policy, failing that and hitting the buffers of our viability on earth, we will revert to our natural murderous guile, slaughtering each other when we can’t get our own way or have failed until everyone agrees to start again from scratch.
I have failed my children, it was not good enough to demonstrate in Wymondham, Twyford Down, Newbury, Bath Easton, the M11 and M62 extensions, Stanstead, Brightlingsea and others I shall not mention here, because nothing is changing much, we are still enthralled with burning oil, rather in ignorance of more simpler effective and benign sources of energy.
I rest my case m’lord
Mary, you shine in other ways. Thank God you never graduated like George W. Bush and Anthony Blair!
May I just second John Goss comment, far from it, Mary, you shine bright and clear here.
Paul Flynn has blogged on his day in parliament yesterday. There are a good few supportive comments. A few more would not go amiss.
http://paulflynnmp.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/09/human-shields-for-ministers-reputations.html
Look at the headline and then read the article. An utter eyewash. Politicians telling us thast theywant to see no politics from the PCC, but the only choice there is in Suffolk, are a Labour and Conservative candidate. With much soothing words from Lord Tebbit who no doubt will tell all his Conservatives to stop helping during the elections.NOT!
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/suffolk_panel_agrees_no_place_for_politics_in_policing_ahead_of_police_and_crime_commissioner_vote_1_1522853
Mary wrote:
“Mensch sends a message to all her followers on Twitter
Louise Mensch@LouiseMensch
Have been remiss in wishing all my Jewish friends and followers Shana Tova, been enjoying High Holy Days too much #lchaim
Has she left these shores yet?”
I recall reading that one of the reasons she, [Mensch-Bagshawe-Mensch-Bagshawe: depending on time of month], gave for her early ‘retirement’, was being afraid her three young children might become too ‘British’.
This is why I believe that the present Tory party must be called ‘Zanu-Conservative’ party. They are just as subversive as the Marxist-Feminists they replaced.
Jemand wrote:
“Has anyone factored the Dunning Kruger effect into the climate change debate yet?”
I’ve been meaning to blog on that effect for some years now. The thesis being that: in a society that teaches mediocrity and conceit, will cause the D-K-E graph to tilt toward a flat or even negative slope. This I called the Skills-Inversion, or the rise of the parvenues.
Free juice and biscuits Mary. My sister was in the girls brigade and had to set the chairs and tables out. After Sunday school we grabbed dad at the pub for coke and crisps while sitting on the car-park wall. Happy days!
CIA sued over drone killings:
The secret program of Robocop extrajudicial murder by remote control is under the microscope. Who gives the command to hit the ‘kill’ button’ from intelligence and a computer screen without clear evidence? This CIA/Army unit are terrorists.
http://rt.com/usa/news/cia-drone-program-aclu-516/
Earth is flat was the belief and anyone who thought otherwise were moronic imbeciles bent on living their blasphemous lies and defying the order of the universe.
Earth was the center of the universe and the sun and the stars circled it and anyone who thought otherwise were moronic imbeciles bent on living their blasphemous lies and defying the order of the universe.
Humanity has always had certainty of knowledge in its assertions and assumptions, to which every and all members of its societies have been encouraged to accept/subscribe and take onboard, thus promoting order through the prevalent wisdom, and act as per the prescribed edicts therein.
In the current wisdom of new belief constructs; the global warming/climate change/global freeze (pick as applicable)
The biggest elephant in the room ie the SUN is never taken into equation other than when its rays are getting trapped by carbon dioxide and particulates in the atmosphere. As is the case in any global warming debate.
The global warming debate is akin to the story of a masturbating catholic teenager, whom cannot lay off his little tadger and keeps on committing the heinous crime of self onanism and then going to the confessional for his sins!
Every argument/debate goes on about all manner of sciences, and forever the conclusion is; less use of energy, diversification of energy sources, population control, and parsimonious use of resources. This is then encouraged by higher taxations levied upon the energy and escalators provisioned for punishing/discouraging those who think otherwise the moronic imbeciles bent on living their blasphemous lies and defying the order of the universe. (ie the more the confessionals/taxes the better)
Troubling fact is the most obvious facts are so missing out of the equations;
a- what is happening on the sun?
b- any changes in the Earth’s orbital behaviour?
c- what is happening in the solar system?
d- what is going on in our galaxy? (never mind the rest)
Alas the above are of no interest, however let us legislate for bio fuels and take the land off from food production and designate it for car fuel. The money from the taxes is diverted to buying the car fuel at a higher price (farmers switching their cultivation habits at once), at the expense of the human food production. This results in the subsequent hikes in the food prices (as it is now and getting worse), which will kill off millions of the food wasters and the globe will not be getting as warm due to the population depletion measures of the mad bastards filled with pseudo scientific clap trap.
The fact that so far there has been no credible alternative energy found, and every proposed system has been at the cottage industry level, does not deter the believers from following the yellow brick road to the alternative energy land.
Meanwhile the governments which invented these lines of thought are raking it in in taxes and no one dares to call them out on it. Fact is, if global warming is taken off the agenda, how can any of the bastards justify the huge costs of energy that is mostly due to taxation?
Further, given a credible alternative source of energy is found, what would be the consequences of the geopolitical fall out?
Mid east no longer of any importance, that means no more Empire US, which means no more the shitty little strip of land, that in turn would decimate the geese that lay golden eggs; defence industry/military industrial complex.
Alternative energy is a taboo, it is a poison, it is a game changer, therefore alternative energy is not going to happen. However the debate about the alternative energy is good, because just look at the comments: everyone is busy arguing the toss and forgetting what the fuck is it that they are arguing about?
Human life?
Human dignity?
Human rights?
Human cull?
Industrial evolution?
Terra forming?
After the 9/11 attacks the oil prices fell from $20.82 to $16.21. On the eve of the Iraq war, oil per barrel was $32.13. Today after all those miles of flights by the bombers, tanks, APC, ships, factory outputs, soldiers kit, food, transport, etc. The globe is not any hotter than what it was, but the price of oil has come to be $107.24. Way to go, the globe is lot more cleaner all those bombs and ordinance have knocked the particulates and carbon dioxide all dead, and there is the cheap oil flowing all around. Our lives are made a misery by the banks that were too big to fail and money printing game of the treasuries, has recompensed the too big to fail gamblers with some more casino chips, that has meant poorer services, and worthless savings.
Global warming is indeed real, if it were not, the governments would have had to order their armies to turn up the heat and blow the fuck out of any cold weather fronts.
Apes will always be monkeys regardless of the years of evolution, just a lot more verbose, belligerent, and deadly. Alas I am an hairless ape too, but why do I not behave/think like the rest of the hairless monkeys?
@ Nevermind 20 Sep, 2012 – 9:40 am:
“I rest my case m’lord”
Case dismissed for lack of meaningful evidence!
http://www.nature.com/news/extreme-weather-1.11428
LOL Mark The crisps were plain, made by Smith’s (no flavours then) and had those litle packets of salt in blue paper. I remember it well.
Thanks for the Paul Flynn link John. He is one of the very few honourable men in the HoC. Has Mr Speaker allowed him back in yet?
I chanced on a programme last night featuring the Speaker’s wife who is travelling around traveller communities in Europe with some Big Brother contestant she met when she was in the show. I suppose the point of the series is to show the travellers in a better light than the one that is normally shone on them and to give them some inclusivity.
http://tv.uk.msn.com/news/bercow-husband-supports-tv-show-3
Well said, Jimmy.
As for the precautionary principle – just suppose that governments around the world together with their military/scientific experts via a controlled compliant media told us that alien abduction was both real and increasing, would we accept a curfew: home schooling via the internet, home working where possible, only essential journeys (with the permission of the authorities)…
You get the point.
Perhaps closer to home, should we vaccinate young babies just in case natural childhood diseases turn nasty?
Should we accept ID cards or Micro (tracking) chips under our skin because the “experts” tell us there are nasty terrorists in our midst?
That’s the so-called precautionary principle, as far as I am concerned: a tool to effect compliance in whatever the powers that be want to do to control us.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9553548/Ban-drilling-say-MPs-as-wake-up-call-shows-Arctic-ice-melt-could-cause-colder-winters-in-UK.html
Where are Delingpole and the others in the Torygraph denialist camp?
Be fair, Mary – it is Louise Gray, the eco-(add your own epithet).
and at 9.09am Vforvendetta commented:
“Lies, lies and more lies. When are we going to rise up and rid ourselves of these disgusting “green” bastards who have infected everything in our society.
Off with their heads. Literally.”
Thanks Mark Golding for the RT drones link. Much of the proper news comes from RT. I’ve reposted the link on the Campaign for the Accountability of
American Bases (CAAB) page.
Twix the two stories Scouse Billy from Budd Hopkins a charming yet delusional man who has spouted alien abduction nonsense for decades.
Here said, “”Everything I have learned in twenty years of research into the UFO abduction phenomenon leads me to conclude that the aliens’ central purpose is not to teach us about taking better care of the environment. Instead, all of the evidence points to their being here to carry out a complex breeding experiment in which they seem to be working to create a hybrid species, a mix of human and alien characteristics.”
This organisation Scientists for Global Responsibility has always looked sincere and principled to me. They campaign on many issues rather than just one or two:
Climate change and energy,
Security and disarmament,
Who controls science and technology?
Emerging technologies
Other issues
The idea that Climate Change science and even Environmental science in general, is born of global conspiracy, is i think boosted by the existence of the many real conspiracies at play, and at war and in business around us. I suspect confusion has been deliberately increased by disingenous manipulations of arguments over moon landings and ufos and magical realms too. Chris Jones – one of the best composed detractors of climate science here, was recently accepting enough of 30 minutes worth of preposterous meditation over a purple cgi ‘infinite energy torus’ at the begining of a documentry to neverless recommend the torus blessed youtube program as a guide on some geostrategic issues. It is true Chris you warned to skip that magical torus section, but really wonder, if you can skip that can’t you skip anything? Cant you pick conspiracy and wonder and assign faults and write off real work, with that type of freedom to pick and choose your convictions?
My problem is I do believe there are some real serious consipracies afoot, but those who misplace them everywhere are wrong and disruptive as those who assure that all consiparcy theories are equal and moot.
I never believed the advice to tackle climate change and environmental destruction, by self limiting. The advice to take your own individual stand against resource useage, might have merit to those who appreciate spiritual/ethical realms, but practicaly/culturaly it is marginalising behaviour (and that it is why it is the mainstream thrust for action). Flicking light switches and standbys is just a bothersome distraction, it can never have any significant impact on the parameters of the situation even if all the good and great live in total darkness, they will be ridiculed and a barrier/respulsion to popular support for structural action, which is the only thing which can significantly change the situation.
Similarly even pressure to not use disposable plastics bags is a waste of breath. Those bags which people tell us are such an issue, actually contain a tiny fraction of the resources which the pots and bags and tins and produce they are used to transport contain. And as long as you dont throw them away outside, they make up a tiny fraction of an average persons landfill waste. It is just a bothersome distraction. Millions of times as much useless stuff continues to be made and packed and advertised and bought. Reuseable carrier bags are simply a convieninet or not -or a psuedo-religious trapping. They make no difference.
It looks like in a decade or two we may have to risk drastic technological hacks to try to counter climatic extremes, or we may be lucky and just have warded off an ice age for long enough to come up with more advanced technological controls, but equally we may be unlucky and pushed things so far as to be completely catastrophic. However things turn out, our planetary scale changes outwith millions of years of established running have been unneccessary, we have technology to have avoided it and live better. Sad. More sad already are the billions of starving and destitute people already present and long suffering in the world. It seems there are both heavenly and hellish realities present here. What stupid creatures given wealth and wonder we are all together.
Thanks if you read my rant. And thanks very much to those who dont rant and rant so much better here – I think at times it is important. I write too slowly so not very often – plenty for some.
“The USA, Britain and their ‘allies’ are amassing the largest naval strike forse ever in the Persian Gulf right now, and have been spruiking the Propaganda and Rhetoric about Iran long enough for even the most Comatose SHEEPLE to notice it.”
http://www.truthology.org.au/index.php/latest-news/375-another-war-is-looming-now-the-us-is-preparing-for-war-right-now
I hope I can convince or gain the confidence here for most of us to agree that Senator Mitt Romney running for presidency is a STRATAGEM, a maneuver designed to keep the present regime in power. He is a bogeyman, a cutout for President Obama to allow his warmongers to stay on their current track.
That track includes the top secret program that employs next generation UAV’s armed with small tactical nuclear bombs that fly together as a network synchronised to each other in fail fall-over mode and cloaked to minimise radar detection when above the detect horizon(they will fly low and then regroup). Hundreds of these drones will be launched in a well practiced systematised and integrated scheme fed with satellite data and integrated to the missile defense systems America is rapidly putting in place. This appalling game plan is top secret – I have no links only this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnogCha5Iu0
The American neocon administration is out of control. The truth of the WTC murders is looming – Time is NOT on their side.
A spring offensive is bad enough for civilians under barrage, but an autumn offensive is just plain nasty. Even in desert climates, the winter nights kill with the cold.
An autumn-winter campaign should be seen as genocide, only it will be ‘collateral’ genocide, since the home blasters can blame the weather rather than the strata-bombers. And along will come the UN with its life saving blankets, emblazoned with ‘Uncle Sam’s Democracy inc.’; and CNN pictures of snugly warm Iranian babies saved by NATOs caring foreign policies.
Mark Golding
You are aware that at least 100 Afghan mercenaries have been killed in Aleppo by the Syrian army?
It is evident that KSA has kicked Erick Prince inro overdrive mode.
Don’t forget the US military boasts that it will “own the weather” by 2025.
They are ahead of schedule – expect weirder weather to go with the weird clouds they are creating.
Sorry people…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUDjRZ30SNo
Nick Clegg spoof ‘I’m sorry’ video song to be released
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19660345
Sorry Nicholas William Peter “Nick” Clegg, although you have given ‘permission’, it still doesn’t wash.
Sorry Mark. You beat me to it. I just heard it in the car as I was coming home.
Great minds Mary…
“You are aware that at least 100 Afghan mercenaries have been killed in Aleppo by the Syrian army?”
Heh. Mercenaries aren’t exactly ‘freedom fighters’, are they? When it takes an insult to Mohammed to get protests going, there seem to be no commensurate actions at Syrian Embassies worldwide.
Hmmmmmmm
For those who missed this:
“”We are on a road that leads straight to the World War 3, but in order to see that and to fully understand what is at stake you have to look at the big picture and connect the dots. This video examines the history of the dollar, its relation to oil, and the real motives behind the wars of the past two decades.” – The Road To WW3.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5N_huInM0k
Thatcrab, excellent comment at 20 Sep, 1:30 pm. Thanks.
What’s Craig going to post next? I reckon he’s going to announce that he’s abandoning this blog to become either a geologist or to join a heavy metal band. The clue is in the name …. “Craig Murray” means “rock master.”