Friday August 25, 2006
Climate change
- Posted by Rob (#1) on August 25, 2006 07:42 CEST
Wow. There's a first for everything, apparently. The Beeb reports on our changing climate and increasing temperatures, without a big, red, flashy neon sign that blames humanity.
One of the paper's lead authors, Tim Sparks from the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), said the findings did not go as far as pointing the finger of blame at human-induced climate change.
This time it's just small, red, carton sign:
"We can't tell that from our study but experts have already shown that there is a discernable human influence on the current climate warming."
But why would we listen to experts appointed by a researcher who isn't even aware of the meaning of the word climate?
The team examined 125,000 observational series of 542 plants and 19 animal species in 21 European countries from 1971 to 2000.
Climate is defined as the average weather over a span of thirty years. Thirty years of observation can at best define one single climate. Never climate change.
- PermaLink: Climate change (1 comment)
- Tags: global warming, climate change
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International force for Gaza?
- Posted by Rob (#1) on August 25, 2006 10:17 CEST
The international force in Lebanon that will keep Israel safe by not disarming Hezbollah might be expanded to Gaza:
If the planned multinational force in Lebanon succeeds, it might be possible to create a similar force for the Gaza Strip, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said in an interview with Haaretz.
Even more than usual, I'm skeptical. This international force will not actually be able to use force, despite the obvious lessons from the Srebrenica massacre. Therefore Hezbollah (and Hamas) will have to lay down arms voluntarily. Time to smirk, people. See, if a voluntary disarmament were even a remote possibility, we wouldn't need an international force in the first place. And indeed we could suffice with the international farce that is currently underway. UNIFIL sounds a lot like "unfulfilled" and it's beocming clear why.
By the way, Hezbollah isn't even considered a terrorist organisation by former Communist Party senior D'Alema:
Hezbollah is not considered a terrorist group by the European Union, nor in my personal view.
Hezbollah actually is classified as such by the United States, Canada, Israel, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Australia. The EU does recognise "clear evidence" of "terrorist activities by Hezbollah" and for good reason. Hezbollah Secretary-General has actually stated: "in occupied Palestine there is no difference between a soldier and a civilian, for they are all invaders, occupiers and usurpers of the land". As long as that mentality prevails, not even disarmament will help obtain peace. Likewise, without the explicit acceptance of the state Israel, there will always be war, and UNIFIL might as well be named UNIFAIL.
- PermaLink: International force for Gaza?
- Tags: European Union, Hamas, Israel, Lebanon, Italy, Gaza, UNIFIL
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