Alfred the Ordinary’s blog

2009 the 1st year of global governance says the EU Emperor

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:09:58 +0000

"2009 is also the first year of the establishment of Global governance with the establishment of the G20 ... The climate conference in Copenhagen is another step towards the global management of our planet"

EU President Herman Van Rompuy

and you thought that this was just for conspiracy theorists.

Hat tip EU Referendum

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Your new government - a reminder

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:53:58 +0000

Two more individuals suffer under the European Arrest Warrant. This is not justice. It is the 'New Law' of the European Union. Have you been affected yet? You will be. Just add the names to the ever growing list and remember them, especially Andrew Symeou as he rots in a Greek Jail.

Our new masters at work

Free Mike and Jason
Justice for Symeou (Remember he has been in a dreadful Geek prison since July 2009)

and our 'caring government' say that we must have 'mutual respect' for the legal systems of other members of the European Union.

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Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue. An American Life"

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:50:52 +0000

“By His Grace, an American life is an extraordinary life.” Sarah Palin

Going Rogue: An American Life

At 413 pages one is left wondering what the editor took out, but it would appear that he, Adam Bellow, was giving Sarah Palin a relatively free hand. The result is a very readable ride through a life that is both ordinary and very extraordinary at the same time and I was glad that none of the incidents or stories had been edited out. We get to know Sarah Palin well. We are given an insiders insight into a family that is closely knitted, that has struggled with employment and finances so understands the difficulties that so many face in these days of job losses. The book also gives a valuable insight into life in Alaska.

This home town Mom, took on the challenge of local mayor, then state Governor. In just over two years, she shook up the political scene in Alaska routing out excessive spending and big government in the face of considerable opposition, but was unable to convince the voters of her skills and record in the 2008 Presidential election. We are given a first hand account of how those behind the scenes work to control politics through manipulation and trickery and why ordinary people are likely to be put off entering the political fray. Read and be informed.

Sarah Palin is not a grey person. Love her or not, and I think she is great, this book leaves you with absolute clarity as to where she stands on the major issues of the day. What you see is what you get. eg:

“In his book A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell explains the underlying assumptions or “visions” that shape our opinions and the way we approach social and political issues. He identifies two separate visions: the unconstrained and the constrained.
People who adhere to the unconstrained vision (the label applied to them is “liberal” or “left-wing”) believe that human nature is changeable (therefore perfectible) and that society's problems can all be solved if only the poor, ignorant, disorganized public is told what to do and rational plans are enacted. And who better to make those plans than an elite bureaucracy pulling the strings and organizing society according to their master blueprint? No one can doubt that our current leaders in Washington subscribe to this unconstrained vision.
   Conservatives believe in the “constrained” political visions because we know that human nature is flawed and that there are limitations to what can be done in Washington to “fix” society's problems.
   Commonsense Conservatives deal with human nature as it is – with its unavoidable weaknesses and its potential for goodness. We see the world as it is – imperfect but filled with beauty. We hope for the best. We believe people can change for the better, but we do not ignore history's lessons and waste time chasing utopian pipe dreams.
   We don't trust utopian promises from politicians. The role of government is not to perfect us but to protect us – to protect our inalienable rights. The role of government in a civil society is to protect the individual and to establish a social contract so that we can live together in peace." P 386.

I expect that we will hear more from this lady.

But, if you prefer the opposite opinion, read The Guardian's book review "Jay Parini shudders at the thought of President Palin". I feel that Jay Parini cannot see past his prejudices to understand the strengths of Sarah Palin.

(Sarah Palin, Going Rogue. An American Life, Harper Collins, New York, 2009)

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Andrew Symeou - BBC news item

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Interview by Malcolm Brabant the BBC correspondent in Athens on the 23rd November

Watch and wonder about the moral backbone of our UK leaders. (YouTube)

From Fair Trials International, Nov 24th, 2009.

Greek police fabricated evidence and lied under oath in order to frame Andrew Symeou, according to a criminal complaint being filed by Andrew's lawyer in Greece. Andrew, a 20 year old British man from Enfield, is accused of involvement in the tragic death of another young British man in a nightclub in Zante, Greece in 2007.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:
"Andrew should not have been extradited on the basis of this fabricated evidence and flawed investigation. This young man has already spent four months in a Greek jail, and still no trial date is in sight."
Despite serious flaws in the case against him, in July of this year British courts ordered his extradition to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant. Andrew remains in prison, having been twice refused bail on the grounds that he is not a Greek national.

Read also the speech made by Baroness Ludford, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for London and remember that the Liberal Democrats are completely and fully supportive of our European Government.

Sarah speaks to the European Parliament about the European Arrest Warrant, defendants' rights and Andrew Symeou
Speech by Sarah Ludford MEP delivered to the European Parliament on Tue 24th Nov 2009
Sarah Ludford (ALDE). - Mr President, the Swedish Presidency is to be congratulated for the way they have pushed the overdue question of defendants' rights to fair treatment across Europe. This is absolutely essential to accompany the European arrest warrant. We need to ensure that mutual recognition really can be based on mutual confidence in all the national criminal justice systems. This is not the case at present and there are severe weaknesses.
I also have a constituent, Andrew Symeou, who has been in jail in Greece since July, refused bail because he was a foreigner. His Greek lawyer has made a complaint about police abuse and destruction of evidence. An application will be made to the European Court of Human Rights, and it is pretty shameful that this is necessary, because this is about the treatment of one EU citizen by another Member State. It is shocking that this has to go to Strasbourg.
So I support the European arrest warrant, but we absolutely must have the defendants' rights to go with it. Otherwise we will have scandals like that of Andrew Symeou which destroy public support for the European arrest warrant, as is happening in my country.

Remember. Andrew has been in this Greek jail for over 4 months now.

European arrest warrant - Statement: Sophie Symeou

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A deeply troubling time for science in general

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:59:14 +0000

Climategate: Dr. Tim Ball

Hat-tip The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

The most troubling aspect is that politicians have been:

1. not only taken in by this, but they have
2. bought into it wholescale and have then
3. found it to be a powerful tool to manipulate, scare and tax their subjects
4. hiding behind the new found power of so called "Expert Groups"

We have had a close shave as "Governments", in their glee were about to hand over fiscal power (your money) to some new, as yet undefined, international government. Read this extract from the UN's "AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON LONG-TERM COOPERATIVE ACTION UNDER THE CONVENTION" and note the "Government" and the power that was to be handed to it.

Page 18/19. "The Government?"
38. The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism, and the basic organization of which will include the following: (a) The government will be ruled by the COP with the support of a new subsidiary body on adaptation, and of an Executive Board responsible for the management of the new funds and the related facilitative processes and bodies. The current Convention secretariat will operate as such, as appropriate.
(b) The Convention’s financial mechanism will include a multilateral climate change fund including five windows: (a) an Adaptation window, (b) a Compensation window, to address loss and damage from climate change impacts, including insurance, rehabilitation and compensatory components, (c) a Technology window; (d) a Mitigation window; and (e) a REDD window, to support a multi-phases process for positive forest incentives relating to REDD actions.
(c) The Convention’s facilitative mechanism will include: (a) work programmes for adaptation and mitigation; (b) a long-term REDD process; (c) a short-term technology action plan; (d) an expert group on adaptation established by the subsidiary body on adaptation, and expert groups on mitigation, technologies and on monitoring, reporting and verification; and (e) an international registry for the monitoring, reporting and verification of compliance of emission reduction commitments, and the transfer of technical and financial resources from developed countries to developing countries. The secretariat will provide technical and administrative support, including a new centre for information exchange.

From: Seventh session, Bangkok, 28 September to 9 October 2009, and Barcelona, 2–6 November 2009 FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/INF.2 15 September 2009

Hat-tip Watt's Up With That

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Is wealth earned or just available for redistribution?

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:28:44 +0000

Please note that Leo Carrington doesn’t exist, neither does Carrington Automotive Enterprises, Inc, however don't let that distract you from the message.

Carrington Automotive Meeting From the CEO
**************************
The Employee Meeting:

"Carrington Automotive Enterprises is what we call a Sub-S - a Subchapter S corporation. The name comes from a particular part of our tax code. Sub-S status means that the income from all 12 of our stores is reported on my personal tax return. Businesses that report their income on the owner's personal tax return are referred to as "small businesses." So, you see now that this $534,000 is really the total taxable income - the total combined profit from all 12 of our stores. That works out to an average of a bit over $44,000 per store.
Why did I feel it important for you to see my actual 2008 tax return? Well, there's a lot of rhetoric being thrown around today about taxes, small businesses and rich people. To the people in charge in Washington right now I'm a wealthy American making over a half-million dollars a year. Most Americans would agree: I'm just another rich guy; after all ... I had over a half-million in income last year, right? In this room we know that the reality is that I'm a small business owner who runs 12 retail establishments and employs 187 people. Now here's something that shouldn't surprise you, but it will: Just under 100 percent ... make that 99.7 percent of all employers in this country are small businesses, just like ours. Every one of these businesses reports their income on a personal income tax return. You need to understand that small businesses like ours are responsible for about 80 percent of all private sector jobs in this country, and about 70 percent of all jobs that have been created over the past year. You also need to know that when you hear some politician talking about rich people who earn over $200,000 or $500,000 a year, they're talking about the people who create the jobs." . . .

"Right now the Democrats are pushing a nationalized health care plan that, depending on who's doing the talking, will add anywhere from another two percent to an additional 4.6 percent to my taxes. If I add a few more stores, which I would like to do, and if the economy improves, my taxable income ... our business income ... could go over one million dollars! If that happens the Democrats have yet another tax waiting, another five percent plus! I've really lost track of all of the new government programs the Democrats and President Obama are proposing that they claim they will be able to finance with new taxes on what they call "wealthy Americans."

And while we're talking about health care, let me explain something else to you. I understand that possibly your biggest complaint with our company is that we don't provide you with health insurance. That is because as your employer I believe that it is my responsibility to provide you with a safe workplace and a fair wage and to do all that I can to preserve and grow this company that provides us all with income. I no more have a responsibility to provide you with health insurance than I do with life, auto or homeowner's insurance. As you know, I have periodically invited agents for health insurance companies here to provide you with information on private health insurance plans. The Democrats are proposing to levy yet another tax against Carrington in the amount of 8 percent of my payroll as a penalty for not providing you with health insurance. You should know that if they do this I will be reducing every person's salary or hourly wage by that same 8 percent. . . "

"Let's be clear about this ... crystal clear. Any federal tax increase on me is going to cost you money, not me. Any new taxes on Carrington Automotive will be new taxes that you, or the people I don't hire to staff the new stores I won't be building, will be paying. Do you understand what I'm telling you? You've heard about things rolling downhill, right? Fine .. then you need to know that taxes, like that other stuff, roll downhill. . . "

"Most Americans don't realize that when the Democrats talk about raising taxes on people making more than $250 thousand a year, they're talking about raising taxes on small businesses. The U.S. Treasury Department says that six out of every ten individuals in this country with incomes of more than $280,000 are actually small business owners. About one-half of the income in this country that would be subject to these increased taxes is from small businesses like ours. Depending on how many of these wonderful new taxes the Democrats manage to pass, this company could see its tax burden increase by as much as $60,000. Perhaps more."

Thanks to "Collecting my thoughts"

As this parable has evolved, it has gained the following paragraphs, in other blog entries

I know a lot of you voted for President Obama. A lot of you voted for Democrats across the board. Whether you voted out of support for some specific policies, or because you liked his slogans, you need to learn one very valuable lesson from this election. Elections have consequences. You might have thought it would be cool to have a president who looks like you; or a president who is young, has a buff body, and speaks eloquently when there’s a teleprompter in the neighborhood. Maybe you liked his promises to tax the rich. Maybe you believed his promise not to raise taxes on people earning less than a certain amount. Maybe you actually bought into his promise to cut taxes on millions of Americans who actually don’t pay income taxes in the first place. Whatever the reason .. your vote had consequences; and here they are.

Bottom line? I’m not taking this hit alone. As soon as the Democrats manage to get their tax increases on the books, I’m going to take steps to make sure that my family isn’t affected. When you own the business, that is what you’re allowed to do. I built this business over a period of 23 years, and I’m not going to see my family suffer because we have a president and a congress who think that wealth is distributed rather than earned. Any additional taxes, of whatever description, that President Obama and the Democrats inflict on this business will come straight out of any funds I have set aside for expansion or pay and benefit increases. Any plans I might have had to hire additional employees for new stores will be put aside. Any plans for raises for the people I now have working for me will be shelved..
Year-end bonuses might well be eliminated. That may sound rough, but that’s the reality.
You’re going to continue to hear a lot of anti-wealth rhetoric out there from the media and from the left. You can choose to believe what you wish ... ..but when it comes to Carrington Automotive you will know the truth. The books are open to any of you at any time. I have nothing to hide. I would hope that other small business owners out there would hold meetings like this one, but I know it won’t happen that often. One of the lessons to be learned here is that taxes ... all taxes ... and all regulatory costs that are placed on businesses anywhere in this country, will eventually be passed right on down to individuals; individuals such as yourself. This hasn’t been about admonishing anyone and it hasn’t been about issuing threats. This is part of the education you should have received in the government schools, but didn’t. Class is now dismissed.

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High Treason on November 3rd - the handing over of a nation to a foreign power

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:35:02 +0000

A Post to mark the death of a Nation

The signing of the Lisbon treaty today marks the end of a once proud nation. A nation that has fought for the freedom of all Europeans through two World Wars. A nation that now becomes just a vassal state of the European Union. A nation whose Prime Minister now reports to his E.U. masters.

As Dr Richard North put it so clearly on October 9th:

But, as we pointed out – nay screamed out - in our earlier posts, the most fundamental change in the ~~constitutional~~ Lisbon treaty is to absorb the European Council into the structural institutional maw of the EU, making it formally an EU institution, bound under treaty law to further the objectives of the EU and subject to EU law.

Since the membership of the European Council comprises the heads of state of governments of the member states, this means necessarily that our prime minister becomes a servant of the European Union, bound by the treaty to promote its objectives, and subject to its law. He will no longer represent us in the European Union but, as part of the supreme government of Europe, is one of 27 who will determine the policies of the EU for individual vassal states to implement.

Thus, as we have remarked many times, come the next general election, we will not be electing MPs, with the wining party then go on to form our government. We will we choosing an electoral college which will then go on to choose the person it wishes to send to Brussels, not as our representative but as one of the 27 who will take part in the supreme government of Europe.

Despite the general election, therefore, the government will not change. We only get to change one member of our government – our member of the European Council. Those MPs who go on to become ministers will, by and large, assume junior roles in the rubber-stamp machine of the Council of Ministers, and then go home to implement EU laws.

To that extent, the next election is devoid of any great significance. Barring those few areas which have not been taken over by Brussels, the new "government" will be shorn of its power. The election is primarily an electorally mandated (partial) reshuffle.

And that is why the ~~constitutional~~ Lisbon treaty is so important. That is why we cannot "leave it there". When the treaty comes into force, the all but final step of creating a supreme government of Europe is complete. All the "colleagues" want now is an elected president and the coup d'état will be complete.

The genius of it all though, it that so few will notice. The EU has learned that the way to take over independent countries is not by force of arms but to create "institutional changes" that go unrecognised for what they are. Leave intact the façades of the formerly independent institutions of the member states, and reward the politicians handsomely with the trappings of power, and the deed is done.

The end game is all but complete. Our politicians have sold the pass. They have allowed our government to be stolen. And if they don't care, we should. We are to be ruled by an alien power. It is not our government – it is theirs. We owe it neither loyalty nor obedience.

[Photo from England Expects]

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This website has now served its purpose

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:51:28 +0000

This website has now served its purpose. The subjects of the United Kingdom are becoming increasingly aware that all meaningful government power has been handed over to the undemocratic unelected, officials of the European Union, despite assurances to the contrary and despite no public support for this transfer of sovereignty. There are many useful websites exposing the truths behind this E.U. government and the Westminster puppet regime's blind love of all things Big Government and especially the EU.

I suggest the following sites, shown below.

But please do not forget the plight of Andrew Symeou while he rots in a Greek jail, almost forgotten by most of us. He epitomises the Whitehall Government's attitude to both the individual and to the E.U. Superstate. The former is unimportant and can rot especially if he is innocent but an embarrassment. The latter must be obeyed and its rules implemented and gold plated.

Dr Richard North's valiant expose of the E.U. vs Truth at EUReferendum.blogspot

Roger Helmer MEP's attempts to expose the Great Global Warming Scam

Lord Lucas supporting the freedom of parents to choose how to educate their children

Helen Szamuely highlighting the almost daily increased restrictions on personal freedoms

Daniel Hannan MEP's expose of the pointless and dangerous aspects of the 'Toy Parliament' in Brussels

[Photo: Andrew Symeou]

[Edit: Nov 2009 - I will continue to post the occasional article on the horrors of the EU Government, that I feel need highlighting everywhere and also any updates on Andrew Symeou.]

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DECLARATION OF ANNEXING THE BRITISH ISLES AS PART OF THE USA

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:52:15 +0000

Obsolete

According to Snopes.com, one Alan Baxter of Rochester, U.K., wrote a short, four-item article in November 2000, as a wry commentary on the then recently concluded (but far from decided) U.S. presidential election. The original article spawned a whole subset of articles, which snopes details. These included this repost.

DECLARATION OF ANNEXING THE BRITISH ISLES AS PART OF THE USA

To the imperialist British colonizers.

In the light of your indecision over joining a common European Currency, your dissatisfaction with the European Union, your bickering with European Governments and the fact that you already almost speak our language and refuse to speak any other European languages, you are to be annexed as a State of America. Your state code will be GB. Zip codes will be assigned to replace your old postal districts. The state capital will be Stratford-upon-Avon which is a lot prettier than London. Princess Diana will be declared a saint. You have already assimilated so much American culture that you are unlikely to notice the transition. To aid in the assimilation, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. Look up "aluminum" in any good American Dictionary. Check the spelling and pronunciation guide. We discovered it, we named it, you are mispronouncing it. Learn to live with it. You are, of course welcome to your idiosyncratic and illogical place-names such as Edinburgh, if you wanted it pronounced 'Eddinburra' you have spelled it that way in the first place. You will quit using words such as "fortnight". The correct term is "a two week period". You will learn words such as "credenza", "intern" and "chad".

2. There is no such thing as "UK English". UK English is the relic of a defunct colonialist power which attempted to impose British English linguistic superiority on a nation which has a higher number of English speakers.

3. Your film-makers should learn to distinguish the American and Canadian accents. American accents are not limited to redneck drawls or New York accents. Mainland Americans have more than enough accents to cope with in our own country, so all British dramas will now bear subtitles, especially those made in impenetrable dialects such as Scottish, Scouse or Geordie. To make life easier for mainland America, all British films and TV programs must use American vocabulary and accents; Scotch characters will wear plaid, Irish characters will have shamrocks on them, Welsh characters will not be used since we don't have Welsh Americans, and English characters will wear bowler hats and pinstripes.

4. The British film industry will no longer portray all Americans as cowboys, rednecks, trailer trash or Beverly Hills billionaires. Hollywood will continue to use "Mockney" and "Posh" British accents as this makes it easier for viewers to identify which characters are British. You can have Hugh Grant back. He's a lousy actor and we don't want him either. All British films will be made in Hollywood where the weather and scenery are better. Your film industry is already unable to make a halfway-decent film which doesn't contain a American in the starring role. All American characters should be 'good guys'.

5. You will learn your new national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner". It shall be sung every morning at kindergarten, high school, university and your places of work. Your Union Flag will be hung up any damn way we wish so stop bitching about it being upside down. If there was meant to be a right way up you should have made it simpler. All Union flags will be replaced by the Stars and Stripes over a 12 month period of time.

6. You should stop playing soccer and rugby. There is no need to have two games, one of which is confusingly like Football and one of which is called football but patently isn't real football. If it doesn't require 45 pounds of padding, it isn't football. You should also stop playing cricket. Americans can't understand the rules. If you insist on playing this game which is only played by former British colonies, you will introduce a simplified scoring system, timeouts, colored strips and cheerleaders to make it more interesting. Any match which takes longer than 90 minutes will be declared a draw.

7. In films, as in real life, we decide who the bad guys are. The bad guys are those guys who don't do as we tell them. They are also the guys who attract the biggest audiences into movie theaters. You will cease using the word "cinema". They are "movie theaters". The snippets of forthcoming films are not "trailers" they are "teasers".

8. November 5th is no longer a day for fireworks. July 4th is the appropriate fireworks festival. If you want a big fireworks party on November 5th, we will help you to blow up your Houses of Parliament. You won't be needing them any longer; Disneyland London will be situated there. Hunting with packs of dogs is also banned. Instead, you will go hunting with a pick-up truck, some six-packs of beer, two coonhounds and enough guns and ammo to equip a private militia. There is also no such activity as "caravanning". It is properly called "camping". The thing boy scouts do with tents and bedrolls is called "tenting".

9. Roundabouts will be banned. What is the point of turning left in order to turn right? They are confusing to Americans and are death traps. You will start driving on the right with immediate effect. Most of the world drives on the right already. You will be allowed to turn right on a red light if safe to do so though you must check local county legislation as this is not permitted in all areas.

10. Those things which you call chips are cholesterol-soaked abominations. You will start to eat fries - light fluffy potato in crisp coating. If you want to eat British-style fried potato sticks you will need a certificate from your doctor and good medical insurance. Beer is to be served cold. The warm, flat drink you call beer is properly termed 'ale' and the FDA have determined it to be unfit for human consumption. You will also learn the difference between crackers, cookies and biscuits to avoid causing unnecessary confusion to mainland Americans.

11. All inter-personal communications between family members, even if resident in the same house, must be through a lawyer. It is compulsory to sue somebody at least once per year - be inventive. It is compulsory to have therapy three times each week and to recover false memories of your childhood which allow you to sue your parents and/or your therapist. Therapy will take the place of speaking to family members. You will be given compulsory courses on how to become dysfunctional. Name your children after interesting medical conditions.

12. You will not have guns. In the eyes of Mainland Americans you are wayward children. Children are not permitted to play with firearms unless they have a legitimate reason to do so i.e. they plan to gun down the population of a small town (self-defense) or slaughter every living creature within a mile radius (hunting).

Thank you for your co-operation. You will be assimilated.

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When Andrew Neil notices, the Warmists must begin to worry

nobody@vox.com(Alfred the Ordinary) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:39:42 +0000

7a-dogwood3

... and with only 40 days left for saving the world!

The BBC has maintained a united Global Warming front, in all its news stories, until recently, but the cracks are beginning to show. It started with its scientific correspondent, Paul Hudson, on 9 October 2009 saying What happened to global warming?

“This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.”

Now the BBC's Andrew Neil is saying “Apocryphal, some might even say hysterical“ about Lord Stern's recent outburst. Neil makes some sound points:

Part of the problem is that, as those worried about global warming become more apocalyptic, so the supposed scientific consensus about the matter begins to fray at the edges. Then there is the problem that global temperatures have actually been falling since 1998:

And there is the simple populist resistance to rock stars and rock politicians who lecture the rest of us on the evil of low cost flying while circling the globe in their private jets.

The media also needs to become tougher in questioning what the experts tell us -- for example, there is much coverage of claims that the Arctic is melting, very little mention that Antarctica, which counts for 90% of the world's ice, has been cooling for the past three decades.

And we need to be very wary indeed of events that are clearly stunts: there was much unquestioning coverage of the recent underwater meeting of the Maldives cabinet, meant to highlight the danger to the islands of rising sea levels, caused by global warming. Hardly anybody bothered to ask the question: are the seas around the Maldives actually rising? The answer, from the world's greatest authority on the subject, the Commission on Sea Level Change, would seem to be no. It has visited the Maldives regularly in recent years. Its studies show that sea levels today are about 20 centimetres LOWER than they were in the years below 1970, that the current lower level is stable and there is no sign the islands are about to be submerged.

Is global warming just one big scam? It would begin to appear so and remember it wasn't many years ago that the scare was that we were entering a new ice age. However, don't expect this scam to disappear anywhere soon. It is far too convenient a scare for the worlds political class to create new “green” taxes and other powers that have very sinister undertones.

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