New Green Movement

Iranians inching toward freedom?

Using the grey cells...

From the other side

Better start making lists, yeah? Since climate change is going to continue along merrily...

The Guardian has this one out.

Obama dropped in at Copenhagen, made an unconvincing speech dripping with hypocrisy, and left having promised nothing more than money to the poor countries. Oh, he also said the promises made by others could be monitored via satellites and the like.

Um, hello? What about responsible action on your part? Like cutting down emissions?

....

Ok, I guess America doesn't care. Wait, maybe it's more like the American government (i.e. rich folks in the US) do not care. But don't they read The Economist?

..the broad scientific consensus is that serious climate change is a danger, and this newspaper believes that, as an insurance policy against a catastrophe that may never happen, the world needs to adjust its behaviour to try to avert that threat. The Economist, Dec 5-11, 2009

Anyway, if the science hasn't convinced them, I doubt anything could. So let's just sit back and watch some movies, and wait for real catastrophe to happen, shall we?

And ignore this:



Regarding concerns that climate change is a 'elitist issue':

Rich countries are responsible for almost three quarters of global emissions. But it is poor countries that are bearing the brunt of the impact. Hundreds of millions face drought, floods, starvation, disease and death.

and

160,000 people are already dying each day because of climate change. The poorest in the world are the most affected by climate change yet they are the least responsible.

Taken from the World Development Movement website.

I *don't* think it's an elitist concern, exactly.

Here's the 'deal' reached, and here's the report card on the summit.

The last sentence of the article on the 'deal' :
However, if, in 2015, delegates wanted to adopt a new, lower target on global average temperature [rise], such as 1.5C rather than 2C, it would be too late.

For more on the world politicians' Copenhagen holiday that tax-payers paid for:
Blind faith
Saving the planet or just saving face?

Imaginary quote of the day -
Obama: WTF have I signed on for?! HELP!!!!!!!

Lost hopenhagen

Cacophony Central

You know, if the climate change talks actually manage to result in all countries working in tandem toward a common goal, it could be the first baby step toward the beginning of a unified world, under one single government. Like, the one in which when the aliens land and ask, "Take me to your leader", you actually know whom to take them to.

Of course, that's not going to happen at the summit, so chill. The summit is a pretty big mess. And aliens, if they're smart, will stay away from humans:)

Imaginary quote of the day -
US Arms Industry and Economy speaking in unison: World peace?! If there's no war, how will we make money?

War as a justification for peace

Childhood in ruins.

From the article:

The 23-day war in numbers

Statistics from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme

• 1,420 Palestinians killed, 446 of them children

• 5,320 injured, 1,855 of them children

• 4,000 houses destroyed

• 16,000 houses damaged

• 94.6% of children aged six-17 heard the sound of sonic jetfighters

• 91.7% of them heard shelling by artillery

• 92% saw mutilated bodies on TV

• 80% were deprived of water or electricity

• 50.7% left home for a safer place

• 25.9% report one symptom of PTSD

• 39.3% report more than one symptom

• 9.8% report full criteria of PTSD

So I'm guessing the president of the US has a daily account of the casualties of war placed in front of him, everyday. What I don't understand is how he can still continue to justify war. He knows, probably better than most others, the numbers involved. And he still does not look for a more civilised solution to the US' problems. He hasn't even been completely frank with his own countrymen.

And I'd have appreciated him a lot more if he had declined the Nobel Prize. Be straightforward about what you are doing. Dressing up in nice clothes to accept a peace prize and attending fancy parties hosted by the Nobel Committee when the people you sent to war are dying...I honestly don't know how he sleeps at night. If you want to wage war, be open about it. Be honest. Don't try to reinterpret the situation to make it seem like you actually deserve the prize. Just say, 'No, thank you. You know, I've just sent 30,000 soldiers to the battlefield. I don't think I should be accepting this prize. I wish I could, but it's completely at odds with what my principles dictate right now.' That would have been so much more decent than what he's doing. Dude, the Nobel Prize isn't all that valuable, man. Not more valuable than the lives of all the people who are being killed to ostensibly bring about peace.

I hope he's not started believing others' delusions about his potential. Potential, in the world of politics and global affairs, is useless when it isn't converted into achievement.

From his speech:
And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. (Laughter.)

Laughter?!?! When did the Prize turn into a joke? Shouldn't that 'laughter' actually read 'mild, uncomfortable squirming'?

Oh, and?
But there has been no Third World War.

Yet.

[I know the US president is not (directly) responsible for the Gaza strikes, but it's a specific example that illustrates the cost of any war. I'm not blaming Obama for Gaza.]

On Viruses...

Very interesting article.

A picture speaks...

A mock funeral for Planet Earth being held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Things didn't go so well yesterday. Too many people making too many demands. I wonder what's going through the politicians' minds, the ones who've gathered there. Are they concerned? Are they aware enough? Do they know what the solutions are? Are they hopeful of some progress? Or are they certain that nothing can be done?
Hmmm...
It's just that the future of the whole of humanity depends on the outcome of this summit, on the agreements reached here (and, of course, the implementation of what's been agreed upon here). I hope they know what they're doing. (Not likely, but still...)
Meanwhile, here's what Mr Jairam Ramesh is saying about India's position.

Further reading:
Primer
Copenhagen climate summit: live
The Missing Billions

Future superpower? Really?

So here's some bad news. India still has a lot of poor people. Between the IT boom, the 'India Shining' campaign, the call-centre boom and the management boom some people seem to have slipped through the cracks. I still don't get how we can fancy ourselves a future superpower when we are doing absolutely nothing to solve our biggest problems: poverty and overpopulation. A booming economy can only help those who are already a part of it. How will it help someone who has never had a normal family life, normal parents, a normal school education, normal social peers? Never had the roti, kapda, makan? Someone who has been addicted to drugs since he was 5 years old? Someone who was raped when she was 12, and had a child soon after who's going to follow the same trajectory of hunger, disease and hopelessness? In fact, they can't even have hope when they don't know what's possible. They don't know that it's possible to live a life that includes three square meals a day, a clean home and clothes, basic education and job opportunities. That, in fact, some of these are their basic rights. That they are, in fact, human beings who deserve to reap as much from the economic boom as the rich currently are. Forget reaping, I'm sure a decent lifestyle would be welcome, if you look at things from where they stand.

Honestly, unless superpower = nuclear power, which we kind of already are, how are people so sure we're zooming to the top of the world order when they're likely seeing drug-addled little children begging at traffic signals on a daily basis?

Wealth distribution. Real equal opportunities. Real equal rights. All some of the things a just society considers fundamental.
We have a looonnngggg way to go.

finally, a little understanding on climate change

This article is the first one I've read that actually succinctly explains the main issues in climate change. I was not really interested in reading it, since it was written by an actor (as opposed to a "climatologist" or even an "expert on climate change"), but maybe that's why it's more easy to grasp. Apart from the fact that I'm slightly dumber than the average bear, he puts everything across quite neatly.
I now have (what I think is) a brilliant idea for circumventing the deep rift between the developed and developing countries' attitudes toward curbing climate change, but I've to read a lot more and understand even more before I lay it out, even here, where no one is reading it.

Television ain't totally hopeless yet

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, putting things in perspective.

YAY, Buffy!!!!

This is one kickass video. School kids these days drool over Twilight?! Poor, deprived souls.

A picture speaks...

From Reuters. This lion is called Richie, and he's being shifted to South Africa from Bucharest, Romania, where he was taken care of all his life by Lucian Craita, whose hug he's returning.