It's been quiet, I've not blogged much
I've been too disheartened.
All that was feared for Iraq, happened.
It is now a violent country with little hope of civil society in the near future.
The country is being strip-mined off her riches.
It is becoming Iran-lite.
What was feared for America, happened.
Bush was re-elected.
On almost all fronts, the country moved to the right.
I know a pendulum swings the other way too.
Patience is needed...
but oh, how much damage can be done while we wait.
In many countries, freedoms are curtailed in the name of fighting enemies that hate their freedoms. My country too. How far will it all go??
I have not stopped blogging, I have taken a break from it.
I have not stopped speaking out, if anything I speak out more now.
I may resume blogging again one of these days, as our elections grow nearer.
Disheartened was never a reason to give up.
As for America and the UK, some day those chickens will come home to roost.
And again, those paying the price will be simple folk who had nothing to do with what was done in their name.
And yet, they voted.
Next time, my eyes will be drier.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
It's been quiet, I've not blogged much
I've been too disheartened.
All that was feared for Iraq, happened.
It is now a violent country with little hope of civil society in the near future.
The country is being strip-mined off her riches.
It is becoming Iran-lite.
What was feared for America, happened.
Bush was re-elected.
On almost all fronts, the country moved to the right.
I know a pendulum swings the other way too.
Patience is needed...
but oh, how much damage can be done while we wait.
In many countries, freedoms are curtailed in the name of fighting enemies that hate their freedoms. My country too. How far will it all go??
I have not stopped blogging, I have taken a break from it.
I have not stopped speaking out, if anything I speak out more now.
I may resume blogging again one of these days, as our elections grow nearer.
Disheartened was never a reason to give up.
As for America and the UK, some day those chickens will come home to roost.
And again, those paying the price will be simple folk who had nothing to do with what was done in their name.
And yet, they voted.
Next time, my eyes will be drier.
I've been too disheartened.
All that was feared for Iraq, happened.
It is now a violent country with little hope of civil society in the near future.
The country is being strip-mined off her riches.
It is becoming Iran-lite.
What was feared for America, happened.
Bush was re-elected.
On almost all fronts, the country moved to the right.
I know a pendulum swings the other way too.
Patience is needed...
but oh, how much damage can be done while we wait.
In many countries, freedoms are curtailed in the name of fighting enemies that hate their freedoms. My country too. How far will it all go??
I have not stopped blogging, I have taken a break from it.
I have not stopped speaking out, if anything I speak out more now.
I may resume blogging again one of these days, as our elections grow nearer.
Disheartened was never a reason to give up.
As for America and the UK, some day those chickens will come home to roost.
And again, those paying the price will be simple folk who had nothing to do with what was done in their name.
And yet, they voted.
Next time, my eyes will be drier.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
Ocean's growing acidity
Scientists warn growing acidity of oceans will kill reefs
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Friday February 4, 2005
The Guardian
Scientists have given warning of a newly discovered threat to mankind, which will wipe out coral and many species of fish and other sea life.
Extra carbon dioxide in the air, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is not only spurring climate change, but is making the oceans more acidic - endangering the marine life that helps to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
So alarmed have marine scientists become about this that special briefings have been held for government departments. Carol Turley, head of science at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, warned of a "potentially gigantic" problem for the world.
"It is very urgent to warn people what is happening," she said. "Many of the species we rely on to eat, like cod, will disappear. In cartoon form, you could say people should prepare to change their tastes and switch from cod and chips to jellyfish and chips. The whole composition of life in the oceans will change."
Jerry Blackford, another of the authors of a paper presented to a climate change conference in Exeter, has modelled the effect on the oceans. He said: "Some scientists are saying that, in 35 years, all the coral reefs in the world could be dead - it could be less or more. Put it this way, my children may never get the opportunity to go snorkelling on a living reef. Certainly, my grandchildren won't."
Although the phenomenon is caused by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is not a "global warming" problem, but a simple chemical reaction between air and sea.
Carbon dioxide mixed with water produces carbonic acid which is making the alkaline oceans more acidic. But for hundreds of thousands and probably millions of years plankton, shellfish and corals have adapted to use the stable levels of calcium and carbon in the sea to make their shells.
"Scientists did not look at this problem because everyone assumed the chemical composition of the sea was constant. But this change is 'O-level' chemistry and we missed it," said Dr Turley.
The oceans' vital role in limiting CO2 levels in the air will have to be reassessed in light of the findings.
Plankton are as important as plants and trees in the take-up of carbon. Scientists estimate that about half the 800 billion tonnes of CO2 put into the atmosphere by mankind since the start of the industrial revolution has been soaked up by the sea. Much of the carbon is fixed in the shells of creatures called coccolithphores, the tiny plankton whose bodies make up the white cliffs of Dover. They live on the ocean surface in trillions and when they die their shells sink to the bottom taking the carbon with them. They could not survive in a more acidic sea and their removal of carbon from the atmosphere would stop.
"These creatures are part of our survival bubble. The oceans give us a sustainable atmosphere by taking out the carbon dioxide. They're the lungs of the planet. People have not woken up to the potential impact their removal will cause," said Dr Turley.
The acidity of liquid is measured on the pH scale, from one to 14, with seven being neutral, and the higher the number the more alkaline. The oceans have previously recorded an 8.2 pH reading, but this has now dropped to 8.1 and is continuing to fall.
The sea around Britain has been found to be more acid than many other areas, partly because of ocean currents, but mainly because Europe and North America are the largest carbon dioxide emitters.
Experiments show that even a small increase in acidity reduces the ability of shellfish and plankton to grow and causes a population fall.
The loss of corals would seriously affect small islands and coasts.
The fundamental problem is the effect on the food chain. Zooplankton, essential food for fish, could suffer increasing mortality rates and starfish, whelks and other shellfish, eaten by cod, might perish.
This might lead to population explosions of other creatures, such as jellyfish, or crabs, shrimps and lobsters which rely on chitin rather than calcium for their shells.
The Royal Society has set up a working group to study the problem. Plymouth Marine Laboratory is installing special tanks to aid the research.
The conference on avoiding dangerous climate change was held at the Meteorological Office in Exeter. At its conclusion, the steering committee of senior scientists identified the growing acidity of the oceans as a new impact that was "potentially disturbing". It would reduce the oceans' capacity to remove CO from the atmosphere and affect the entire marine food chain.
Participants at the conference also concluded that the risks from rising temperatures were "more serious than previously thought".
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Friday February 4, 2005
The Guardian
Scientists have given warning of a newly discovered threat to mankind, which will wipe out coral and many species of fish and other sea life.
Extra carbon dioxide in the air, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is not only spurring climate change, but is making the oceans more acidic - endangering the marine life that helps to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
So alarmed have marine scientists become about this that special briefings have been held for government departments. Carol Turley, head of science at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, warned of a "potentially gigantic" problem for the world.
"It is very urgent to warn people what is happening," she said. "Many of the species we rely on to eat, like cod, will disappear. In cartoon form, you could say people should prepare to change their tastes and switch from cod and chips to jellyfish and chips. The whole composition of life in the oceans will change."
Jerry Blackford, another of the authors of a paper presented to a climate change conference in Exeter, has modelled the effect on the oceans. He said: "Some scientists are saying that, in 35 years, all the coral reefs in the world could be dead - it could be less or more. Put it this way, my children may never get the opportunity to go snorkelling on a living reef. Certainly, my grandchildren won't."
Although the phenomenon is caused by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is not a "global warming" problem, but a simple chemical reaction between air and sea.
Carbon dioxide mixed with water produces carbonic acid which is making the alkaline oceans more acidic. But for hundreds of thousands and probably millions of years plankton, shellfish and corals have adapted to use the stable levels of calcium and carbon in the sea to make their shells.
"Scientists did not look at this problem because everyone assumed the chemical composition of the sea was constant. But this change is 'O-level' chemistry and we missed it," said Dr Turley.
The oceans' vital role in limiting CO2 levels in the air will have to be reassessed in light of the findings.
Plankton are as important as plants and trees in the take-up of carbon. Scientists estimate that about half the 800 billion tonnes of CO2 put into the atmosphere by mankind since the start of the industrial revolution has been soaked up by the sea. Much of the carbon is fixed in the shells of creatures called coccolithphores, the tiny plankton whose bodies make up the white cliffs of Dover. They live on the ocean surface in trillions and when they die their shells sink to the bottom taking the carbon with them. They could not survive in a more acidic sea and their removal of carbon from the atmosphere would stop.
"These creatures are part of our survival bubble. The oceans give us a sustainable atmosphere by taking out the carbon dioxide. They're the lungs of the planet. People have not woken up to the potential impact their removal will cause," said Dr Turley.
The acidity of liquid is measured on the pH scale, from one to 14, with seven being neutral, and the higher the number the more alkaline. The oceans have previously recorded an 8.2 pH reading, but this has now dropped to 8.1 and is continuing to fall.
The sea around Britain has been found to be more acid than many other areas, partly because of ocean currents, but mainly because Europe and North America are the largest carbon dioxide emitters.
Experiments show that even a small increase in acidity reduces the ability of shellfish and plankton to grow and causes a population fall.
The loss of corals would seriously affect small islands and coasts.
The fundamental problem is the effect on the food chain. Zooplankton, essential food for fish, could suffer increasing mortality rates and starfish, whelks and other shellfish, eaten by cod, might perish.
This might lead to population explosions of other creatures, such as jellyfish, or crabs, shrimps and lobsters which rely on chitin rather than calcium for their shells.
The Royal Society has set up a working group to study the problem. Plymouth Marine Laboratory is installing special tanks to aid the research.
The conference on avoiding dangerous climate change was held at the Meteorological Office in Exeter. At its conclusion, the steering committee of senior scientists identified the growing acidity of the oceans as a new impact that was "potentially disturbing". It would reduce the oceans' capacity to remove CO from the atmosphere and affect the entire marine food chain.
Participants at the conference also concluded that the risks from rising temperatures were "more serious than previously thought".
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Global warming timetable
Global warming: scientists reveal timetable
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Correspondent
03 February 2005
A detailed timetable of the destruction and distress that global warming is likely to cause the world was unveiled yesterday.
It pulls together for the first time the projected impacts on ecosystems and wildlife, food production, water resources and economies across the earth, for given rises in global temperature expected during the next hundred years.
The resultant picture gives the most wide-ranging impression yet of the bewildering array of destructive effects that climate change is expected to exert on different regions, from the mountains of Europe and the rainforests of the Amazon to the coral reefs of the tropics.
Produced through a synthesis of a wide range of recent academic studies, it was presented as a paper yesterday to the international conference on climate change being held at the UK Met Office headquarters in Exeter by the author Bill Hare, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany's leading global warming research institute.
The conference has been called personally by Tony Blair as part of Britain's attempts to move the climate change issue up the agenda during the current UK presidency of the G8 group of rich nations, and the European Union. It has already heard disturbing warnings from the latest climate research, including the revelation on Tuesday from the British Antarctic Survey that the massive West Antarctic ice sheet might be disintegrating - an event which, if it happened completely, would raise sea levels around the world by 16ft (4.9 metres).
Dr Hare's timetable shows the impacts of climate change multiplying rapidly as average global temperature goes up, towards 1C above levels before the industrial revolution, then to 2C, and then 3C.
As present world temperatures are already 0.7C above the pre-industrial level, the process is well under way. In the near future - the next 25 years - as the temperature climbs to the 1C mark, some specialised ecosystems will start to feel stress, such as the tropical highland forests of Queensland, which contain a large number of Australia's endemic plant species, and the succulent karoo plant region of South Africa. In some developing countries, food production will start to decline, water shortage problems will worsen and there will be net losses in GDP.
It is when the temperature moves up to 2C above the pre-industrial level, expected in the middle of this century - within the lifetime of many people alive today - that serious effects start to come thick and fast, studies suggest.
Substantial losses of Arctic sea ice will threaten species such as polar bears and walruses, while in tropical regions "bleaching" of coral reefs will become more frequent - when the animals that live in the coral are forced out by high temperatures and the reef may die. Mediterranean regions will be hit by more forest fires and insect pests, while in regions of the US such as the Rockies, rivers may become too warm for trout and salmon.
In South Africa, the Fynbos, the world's most remarkable floral kingdom which has more than 8,000 endemic wild flowers, will start to lose its species, as will alpine areas from Europe to Australia; the broad-leaved forests of China will start to die. The numbers at risk from hunger will increase and another billion and a half people will face water shortages, and GDP losses in some developing countries will become significant.
But when the temperature moves up to the 3C level, expected in the early part of the second half of the century, these effects will become critical. There is likely to be irreversible damage to the Amazon rainforest, leading to its collapse, and the complete destruction of coral reefs is likely to be widespread.
The alpine flora of Europe, Australia and New Zealand will probably disappear completely, with increasing numbers of extinctions of other plant species. There will be severe losses of China's broadleaved forests, and in South Africa the flora of the Succulent Karoo will be destroyed, and the flora of the Fynbos will be hugely damaged.
There will be a rapid increase in populations exposed to hunger, with up to 5.5 billion people living in regions with large losses in crop production, while another 3 billion people will have increased risk of water shortages.
Above the 3C raised level, which may be after 2070, the effects will be catastrophic: the Arctic sea ice will disappear, and species such as polar bears and walruses may disappear with it, while the main prey species of Arctic carnivores, such as wolves, Arctic foxes and the collared lemming, will have gone from 80 per cent of their range, critically endangering predators.
In human terms there is likely to be catastrophe too, with water stress becoming even worse, and whole regions becoming unsuitable for producing food, while there will be substantial impacts on global GDP.
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Correspondent
03 February 2005
A detailed timetable of the destruction and distress that global warming is likely to cause the world was unveiled yesterday.
It pulls together for the first time the projected impacts on ecosystems and wildlife, food production, water resources and economies across the earth, for given rises in global temperature expected during the next hundred years.
The resultant picture gives the most wide-ranging impression yet of the bewildering array of destructive effects that climate change is expected to exert on different regions, from the mountains of Europe and the rainforests of the Amazon to the coral reefs of the tropics.
Produced through a synthesis of a wide range of recent academic studies, it was presented as a paper yesterday to the international conference on climate change being held at the UK Met Office headquarters in Exeter by the author Bill Hare, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany's leading global warming research institute.
The conference has been called personally by Tony Blair as part of Britain's attempts to move the climate change issue up the agenda during the current UK presidency of the G8 group of rich nations, and the European Union. It has already heard disturbing warnings from the latest climate research, including the revelation on Tuesday from the British Antarctic Survey that the massive West Antarctic ice sheet might be disintegrating - an event which, if it happened completely, would raise sea levels around the world by 16ft (4.9 metres).
Dr Hare's timetable shows the impacts of climate change multiplying rapidly as average global temperature goes up, towards 1C above levels before the industrial revolution, then to 2C, and then 3C.
As present world temperatures are already 0.7C above the pre-industrial level, the process is well under way. In the near future - the next 25 years - as the temperature climbs to the 1C mark, some specialised ecosystems will start to feel stress, such as the tropical highland forests of Queensland, which contain a large number of Australia's endemic plant species, and the succulent karoo plant region of South Africa. In some developing countries, food production will start to decline, water shortage problems will worsen and there will be net losses in GDP.
It is when the temperature moves up to 2C above the pre-industrial level, expected in the middle of this century - within the lifetime of many people alive today - that serious effects start to come thick and fast, studies suggest.
Substantial losses of Arctic sea ice will threaten species such as polar bears and walruses, while in tropical regions "bleaching" of coral reefs will become more frequent - when the animals that live in the coral are forced out by high temperatures and the reef may die. Mediterranean regions will be hit by more forest fires and insect pests, while in regions of the US such as the Rockies, rivers may become too warm for trout and salmon.
In South Africa, the Fynbos, the world's most remarkable floral kingdom which has more than 8,000 endemic wild flowers, will start to lose its species, as will alpine areas from Europe to Australia; the broad-leaved forests of China will start to die. The numbers at risk from hunger will increase and another billion and a half people will face water shortages, and GDP losses in some developing countries will become significant.
But when the temperature moves up to the 3C level, expected in the early part of the second half of the century, these effects will become critical. There is likely to be irreversible damage to the Amazon rainforest, leading to its collapse, and the complete destruction of coral reefs is likely to be widespread.
The alpine flora of Europe, Australia and New Zealand will probably disappear completely, with increasing numbers of extinctions of other plant species. There will be severe losses of China's broadleaved forests, and in South Africa the flora of the Succulent Karoo will be destroyed, and the flora of the Fynbos will be hugely damaged.
There will be a rapid increase in populations exposed to hunger, with up to 5.5 billion people living in regions with large losses in crop production, while another 3 billion people will have increased risk of water shortages.
Above the 3C raised level, which may be after 2070, the effects will be catastrophic: the Arctic sea ice will disappear, and species such as polar bears and walruses may disappear with it, while the main prey species of Arctic carnivores, such as wolves, Arctic foxes and the collared lemming, will have gone from 80 per cent of their range, critically endangering predators.
In human terms there is likely to be catastrophe too, with water stress becoming even worse, and whole regions becoming unsuitable for producing food, while there will be substantial impacts on global GDP.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Ja maar hoeveel criminelen zijn nu gepakt???
Wedden dat er geen een is opgepakt doordat hij of zij zichzelf wel of niet heeft geidentificeerd!
Dit is een repressief maatregel en dient geen enkel goed doel.
Zo snel mogelijk weer afschaffen... maar dat zal wel niet.
Repressieve maatregelen worden meestal snel ingevoerd onder druk van angst en zelden of nooit teruggedraaid.
Dit is een repressief maatregel en dient geen enkel goed doel.
Zo snel mogelijk weer afschaffen... maar dat zal wel niet.
Repressieve maatregelen worden meestal snel ingevoerd onder druk van angst en zelden of nooit teruggedraaid.
Eeste maand identificatieplicht: 3300 boetes
Uitgegeven: 2 februari 2005 15:36
Laatst gewijzigd: 2 februari 2005 16:08
DEN HAAG - In de maand januari hebben 3300 mensen een boete gekregen omdat zij bij controle geen geldig identificatiebewijs op zak bleken te hebben. Dat heeft het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) woensdag bekendgemaakt.
De huidige identificatieplicht is van toepassing op iedereen van 14 jaar en ouder en is per 1 januari ingevoerd. De boete bedraagt 50 euro. Voor jongeren van 14 en 15 jaar is de boete 25 euro. De overheid wil met de uitbreiding van de identificatieplicht de veiligheid vergroten. Klik hier !
Controle geschiedt vooral bij onrust of dreigend geweld, zoals bijvoorbeeld 's nachts in uitgaansgebieden. Ook bij voetbalwedstrijden, waarbij ordeverstoring dikwijls op de loer ligt, is de kans op controle groot.
Volgens het OM zal de politie omstanders bij een plaats delict, zoals een schiet- of steekpartij of een brand, ook om geldige papieren vragen.
Wie geen identiteitsbewijs bij zich heeft, hoeft er bij controle niet op te rekenen dat de politie de hand over het hart zal strijken, zegt het OM. Dat zou de waarde van de identificatieplicht voor de rechtshandhaving ondergraven. Iemand die zich niet kan identificeren en vervolgens ook nog eens een valse naam opgeeft, kan rekenen op strafvervolging voor beide feiten.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
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