Saturday, December 25, 2010
No more White Christmas's - LOL
A great article from the UK Independent newspaper from 2000:Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past
Monday, 20 March 2000
Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives.
Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain's culture, as warmer winters - which scientists are attributing to global climate change - produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.
and now that things didn't work out as planned......
Expect more extreme winters thanks to global warming, say scientists
Friday, 24 December 2010
Scientists have established a link between the cold, snowy winters in Britain and melting sea ice in the Arctic and have warned that long periods of freezing weather are likely to become more frequent in years to come.
An analysis of the ice-free regions of the Arctic Ocean has found that the higher temperatures there caused by global warming, which have melted the sea ice in the summer months, have paradoxically increased the chances of colder winters in Britain and the rest of northern Europe.
The findings are being assessed by British climate scientists, who have been asked by ministers for advice on whether the past two cold winters are part of a wider pattern of climate change that will cause further damaging disruption to the nation's creaking transport infrastructure.
Cancelled trains and icy roads stall the mass getaway
Friday, 24 December 2010
Freezing temperatures are forecast to continue for days, with Boxing Day blizzards likely in the West Country, Wales and Scotland.
Hyperinflation arrives with the end of price subsidies in Iran
From ArabianMoney.net:The street-price of bread is reported to have doubled in Tehran this week as price subsidies were removed from energy and food. Taxi prices jumped 40 per cent in reaction to a 900 per cent hike in diesel prices. Electricity and water prices jumped 300 per cent and household cooking gas by 500 per cent.
Officials said that food and energy subsidies have been costing Iran $100 billion a year and can no longer be afforded. They cited recommendations from the IMF suggesting the subsidies should be removed......read on
Why silver is the top pick for 2011
From ArabianMoney.net:Search back in the archives of ArabianMoney and you will find gold as our tip for 2010 (click here). Not bad, the yellow metal gained more than 26 per cent but it played second fiddle to silver as the best bet of the year up more than 70 per cent.
You do not need to be a Wall Street rocket science to know that silver outperforms gold when precious metals go up, and moves down faster in the opposite direction. Last year we listened a bit too much to the worries about silver as an industrial commodity and rather stupidly were put off by the 50 per cent price crash in late 2008, though we did tip silver in April (click here).......read on
End of Empire: Boy arrested for daring to write
From the smokinggun.com:DECEMBER 22--A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday for using a permanent marker while in class at his Oklahoma City middle school, a violation of an obscure city ordinance.
According to an Oklahoma City Police Department report, the boy was spotted “in possession of a permanent marker” by Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside. The 50-year-old educator told cop Miguel Campos that the student was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.”
Woodside, pictured at right, reported that the child, whose name was redacted by police from the report, attempted to hide the marker when she asked him for it. Strangely, Woodside’s Facebook page reveals that her “likes and interests” include the official “Sharpie Permanent Markers” page on Facebook.
Campos reported that he allowed Woodside, a seventh grade math teacher, to “sign a citation” against the boy, who was then transported to the Community Intervention Center, a juvenile holding facility. A police sergeant subsequently “booked the marker into the property room.”
A police spokesman referred to the student’s bust as a “citizen’s arrest” effectuated by Woodside.....read on
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thailand - GFC is for stupid Americans
I visited this nightclub in Bangkok with friends this week. Well it was more like a Bavarian beer hall meets Las Vegas stage show which served Dutch beer, a very "only in Thailand" experience.
The stage show had a rotation of bands, singers and styles, Thai pop, rap and country and a few western (actually Australian) pop songs which was ironic as my family and I were the only westerners amongst the several hundred people in the venue.
A survey of the car park with my son (to walk off the affects of the "Dutch" beer) confirmed my impression of the venue's clients. The closest several rows of the car park were reserved for the elite (wankers), in total over 50 late model Mercs and BMWs, many factor mod specials (AMG, Brabus, M3, M5,etc). It made think "haven't these people heard of the GFC, aren't they meant to be embracing austerity like the rest of us?"
When I went back inside I asked my friend (a successful Thai businessman) what happened to Thailand in the GFC? how come the car park outside has more and better Mercs than the Merc dealer in Mosman?
He replied "GFC is for stupid Americans and their thieving bankers. Thailand making things people need. The rice and sugar are getting high prices, factories are busy making things people need - cheap small cars, whitegoods, cement, building products. We not make paper banking shit and sell it to other stupid people"
An example of the shows at the Holland Brewery: