Saturday 21 November 2009

Yet Another CO2 Scare

Okay, the day after the blogosphere opens the pandoras box and exposes the myth that is Man Made Global Warming, we get yet another CO2-related scare in the news. I assume in an effort to say increased CO2 doesn't just cause global warming.

Well, increased CO2 levels causing lower Ph levels is something I and many aquarists know about. And this scare is another load of bollocks. In an aquarium's closed environment, yes increased CO2 does cause a significant Ph drop, but there's enough buffering material in the oceans to absorb huge amounts of CO2 without having to worry about acidification for centuries. Plenty of time for organisms to adapt.

So just fuck off and find some other mug to palm your dodgy science off on you fuckwits.

Update: I really am annoyed about this study. Two sets of fish were put into a tank one had been reared in "normal" water and the other in water with a reduced Ph. The tank was fed by two streams of water, one from a tank full of predators, the other from a tank without predators. No mention of Ph or chemical content of the different streams, so no real correlation as the fish could be exhibiting a preference for each stream of water based on any number of different factors.

But the science must be made to fit: the fish brought up in reduced Ph water couldn't smell their predators and so acidification of oceans is bad. FFS. Where is the proof, the real, irrefutable proof that this is actually what is happening and not something else? Bet there isn't any.

I Don't Know Art, But I Know What I Like.

The Turnip Prize for Bad Art.

Whether its art or not I can't comment, but I do love the humour.

Friday 20 November 2009

ACPO Threatening Governments Now?

It seems that ACPO (a Public limited company and therefore not publicly accountable) is making direct threats to the Conservative Party, if they insist on making the Police more accountable to the local public

Its very interesting that ACPO, a company that controls the Police force and is in no way accountable for the public money it receives, is threatening what would be a publicly elected and accountable government.

How fucking dare they?

ACPO it seems, need taking down a peg or to. Either they need to be disbanded altogether, or made more publicly accountable.

It is NOT right that an unelected, unrepresentative, unaccountable body should receive public money. "No taxation without representation" also equates to "No public funding without public accountability".

Of course Sir Hugh Orde's comments about Police independance from political pressure would be fine, if they hadn't morphed into some paramilitary force of occupation that gets involved with and has powers over a vast swathe of our lives, and swaggers about the land lording it over us all instead of being public servants. If the Police were still a civil organisation, not headed by a public limited company, if they were accountable to an independant elected committee rather than an unelected directorship, then his words might have some resonance. But instead, his position is incomprehensible and to be honest quite offensive to me.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Inflation on the move....

Inflation rose in September, supposed due to fuel price increases. Yeah, right. Nothing at all to do wih quantative easing then? And we are still stoking the money supply, at the same time the inflation meter has just had its first twitch into significantly positive territory.

Ready for the rollercoaster? Did anyone really think that printing vast sums of money would have no consequence? Did anyone doubt that effectively devaluing the pound would be pain-free?

Do Labour care? I really doubt it. Their plan is obviously the create a huge amount of carnage for the next government to sort out. They really don't care about the country, they would destroy this nation just to make the opposition look bad and themselves look good.

Sunday 15 November 2009

Curb on Freedoms Extends to America it Seems

In the US, Defence Secretary Bob Gates has ordered the banning of publication of pictures showing US troops abusing prisoners. The move is qute rightly being contested by civil liberties campaigners.

Over here in the UK, should the government wish to make pictures such as these illegal to possess, never mind distribute, they will find no such hinderance from civil liberties lawyers, nor indeed from the Houses of Parliament. Thats because thanks to the violent pornography part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, all the government needs to do to suppress such images is to issue a statute, with no debate in Parliament and no opportunity to argue against in in a court of law.

Just remember that: images that might bring a government or its agencies into disrepute or show them acting illegally can be suppressed as easily as introducing a statute. There doesn't need to be debate or votes in the house of commons for the act to be enlarged or changed in scope to include anything the government doesn't want us to see.

Yeah, Forced Migration 40 Years Ago is a Real Priority

Violent Crime is Up, Street Crime is up, Drug use is up, Racial Tensions are rising. We are in the middle of the worst recession in recorded history. Our troops are dying on a weekly basis in Afghanistan for god only knows what reason (because our elected representatives are clueless).

What is such a huge priority that the government of the day has decided that the Prime Minister will devote time to?

Yes, he's going to apologise for forced child migration. Not long after I reported Parliament wasting precious time debating slavery. They really don't get it do they? They really don't get that all this round the edges fuckwittery just calls them into disrepute.

I really, really am convinced that these are clear indications of the amount of power and sovereignty we've handed over to the EU. Otherwise our elected representatives would be busy debating about and hammering out a plan to improve our financial situation. Instead, thanks to the EU now holding most of the power, all they can do in Westminister is debate about fucking non-issues, fiddling round the edges, while those outside in the real world face ever more hardship, unemployment and restraints on freedom.

The end of Empire

Are you ready? Are you really ready for the fall? By which I mean are you ready for the real rollercoaster ride to begin?

Because if this comes to pass, then the industry underpinning our house-of-cards service-based economy will collapse.

No ifs, no buts. Without financial services, we are a third world economy. And with significant legislation put in place to inhibit their practices, they will abandon the UK in droves.

Which will be an interesting exercise, because when we do fall and we become a net drain on the E.U. as opposed to a net contributor, will the E.U. prop us up to the tune of say Greece, or the new accession countries?