Richard Shepherd gave the finest speech yesterday, I urge you to listen to all of it. Not as entertaining as Hague's, and none the worse for that, it was considered, insightful and humble and a very good case for the dissolution of the present Parliament.
A letter similar to the one below has been doing the rounds and I wasn't exactly sure whether it was genuine, or not. This version is copied from the Speccie, and was sent to them by Dr Mörner, so we can assume it's legit.
I've been reading about sea levels for some time and from what I've read everything is pretty much as one would expect, they change, like the climate. I've also read about how low lying coral islands grow as the sea levels rise, it's what coral does, and dies off if the sea levels lower, so coral islands are always, just above the sea.
There was a tree on the shore of the Maldives for fifty(?) years. It's gone now, not because of rising sea levels, it had just become inconvenient to the warmists. link
If you follow the link the same Dr. Mörner is quoted as saying:
"“There came an Australian sea-level team, which was for the IPCC and against me. Then the students pulled down the tree by hand! They destroyed the evidence. What kind of people are those?”"Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner: Claim that sea level rising is a total fraud Dear Mr President, You are obviously very concerned about the effect that sea level rises may have on the Maldives. Your Cabinet has been photographed meeting underwater, and you have even declared that ‘we are going to die’ if the climate change summit in Copenhagen fails. I am now writing with what I hope will be some good news. The scientific side of the situation is quite different to that which you imagine. You are, in fact, not going to die. Before I continue, I should perhaps state my credentials. I have been a sea-level specialist for 40 years. I launched most of its new theories in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. I solved the problem of the gravitational potential surface, the theory that it changes with time; the rotation of the earth, how it affected the redistribution of the oceans’ masses — and so on. Last year, I was awarded a prize from Algarve university for my ‘irreverence and contribution to our understanding of sea level change’. We both know that the 1,200 islands of the Maldives are all low-lying with the highest point only some 2.5m (8ft) above sea level. Hence, your nation is vulnerable to extreme storms, tsunamis — and, of course, any possible sea level rise. The IPCC vision is a rise that by the year 2100 may amount to between 30cm and 50cm. This is based on model calculations. Our figure is a 5cm rise, plus or minus 15cm. In a newspaper article, you have suggested that sea levels may rise by between one and eight metres. Those figures, however, do not concur with the physics and known rates of ice melting. So those figures must be dismissed as impossible. I have been on no fewer than six different field expeditions to the Maldives. We worked in the lagoon, we drilled in the sea, we drilled in lakes, we looked at the shore morphology — many different environments. We have always found the same thing: a total stability for the last 30 years, preceded by a 20cm drop in sea level in the 1970s. We have presented a detailed documentation of the sea level changes in the Maldives over the past 4,000 years. The record of the last 500 years may be of special interest to the situation of your islanders. It shows: The people of the Maldives had no problems surviving the 17th century, which was 50cm higher than now. Nor the last century, where it rose by 20cm. This bodes well for their prospects of surviving the next change. I recently visited Bangladesh, a country cursed by floods. In the Sundarban delta, I documented very strong coastal erosion despite zero changes in sea level. So, even here, there is no global sea level rise going on today — just as in the Maldives, in Tuvalu and in Vanuatu, to mention a few famous sites claimed already to be in the process of becoming flooded. By the end of this century, sea level may have risen by between 30cm and 50cm according to the various IPCC scenarios. Our records suggest a maximum of 20cm. Neither of those levels would pose any real problem — simply a return to the situation in the 17th and the 19th to early 20th centuries, respectively. So why the scare-mongering? Could it be because there is money involved? If you inhabit a tiny island and can convince the world that its very existence is under threat because of the polluting policies of the West, the industrialised nations will certainly respond. The money is likely to flow in more quickly than the ocean will rise. This is the fourth time I have written to you. Unfortunately, I think there is a problem with your email service because so far I have not received an acknowledgement. For this reason, I have decided to write this open letter in the pages of The Spectator. So, Mr President, you and your ministers in the Maldives really don’t need to worry about a future life beneath the waves. You should pass on this message to the people of the Maldives. It is high time to release them from this terrible psychological burden. Yours, Nils-Axel Mörner NB: I have read that The Maldives won't get EU aid unless it goes along with this farce, so we shouldn't be too hard on the new President, he needs the cash. Comments 4
Following the progress of the LHC and what goes on at CERN is fascinating, it is one of the few places in the World where cutting edge physics by real scientists takes place, they are trying to unlock the secrets of the Universe and it has some interesting by-products:
Cosmic rays and cloud formation (CERN)
CLOUD is an experiment that uses a cloud chamber to study the possible link between galactic cosmic rays and cloud formation. Based at the Proton Synchrotron at CERN, this is the first time a high-energy physics accelerator has been used to study atmospheric and climate science; the results could greatly modify our understanding of clouds and climate.
Cosmic rays are charged particles that bombard the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. Studies suggest they may have an influence on the amount of cloud cover through the formation of new aerosols (tiny particles suspended in the air that seed cloud droplets). This is supported by satellite measurements, which show a possible correlation between cosmic-ray intensity and the amount of low cloud cover. Clouds exert a strong influence on the Earth’s energy balance; changes of only a few per cent have an important effect on the climate. Understanding the underlying microphysics in controlled laboratory conditions is a key to unravelling the connection between cosmic rays and clouds. continues
I can't find the results, but I believe that the theory was born out by the initial experiment which is why they're building a bigger and better one. The results should blow the CO2 lobby away like so much hot air:
The initial stage of the experiment uses a prototype detector, but the full CLOUD experiment will include an advanced cloud chamber and a reactor chamber, equipped with a wide range of external instrumentation to monitor and analyse their contents. The temperature and pressure conditions anywhere in the atmosphere can be re-created within the chambers, and all experimental conditions can be controlled and measured, including the ‘cosmic ray’ intensity and the contents of the chambers.
CLOUD and Initial CLOUD proposal
Nothing should be decided at The Copenhagen (collectivisation of the World) conference, or anywhere else until the results of these experiments are known.
You can't argue with real physics.
Update: CERN has kindly provided some further links:
The turbine may be the icon of modern wind power generation for now but it could be replaced by the kite in most, if not all, wind generation applications sometime in the next couple of decades.
Turbines (for example) are, subject to engineering and economic constraints, mounted on the highest possible tower in order to capture faster/smoother winds (wind energy is proportional to the cube of the wind speed) but constructing a 70m+ tower, installing 60t+ of generator and control equipment on top of the tower and attaching 3x6t+ blades is extremely expensive and sometimes quite dangerous (installation can only be performed in low wind conditions at sites that are inevitably chosen for their consistently high winds). In addition, turbines can only operate within a certain minimum and maximum range of wind speeds (e.g. 4m/s to 25 m/s).
Modern airfoil kites coupled with specialised autopilot systems offer the real possibility of being able to tap higher, faster, more reliable winds at much lower installation costs (no tower, all heavy equipment at ground level) and comparable, or lower, maintenance costs, when compared to offshore wind farms (it seems likely that the kite control lines will need to be inspected and/or replaced on a fairly regular basis but this should be something that a man in a white van could do). Airfoil kites can also be flown in a way that offers the potential for them to operate across a much wider range of wind speeds.
Kite power generation has been an active area of research since, and almost certainly before, I first spotted it back in 2003/2004 and is now at the stage where a number of different groups have solved the all important autopilot problem:
Rang Tina, my ex-wife, and asked if I could borrow her jam pan. "Just for one night. I need a pan big enough to take a gallon and I've only got one for boiling spuds and a frying pan" I told her. She made me promise not to burn it and so I went over to collect it. Tina always loved Christmas so I wasn't surprised to find the place done up like a grotto with crystal icicles and tiny white lights - nothing she would consider vulgar. She's living in a detached neo-Georgian new build - it was developed ten years ago after a politician left office and suddenly became a property developer in a deal which ran suspiciously smoothly by the standards of these things. Within two years the 13th century grounds of a local mansion had become over eighty executive residences, the Manor Hall Estate.
"I bet Jamie Oliver has his own jam pan" said Tina, ushering me in to the lounge - sorry, drawing room - to admire her real Nordman pine Christmas tree which doesn't drop its needles. "Jamie Oliver is a cock and I can prove it" I replied. Tina sniffed. "He's a millionaire, and his books are published. Delia made the mistake of recommending other people's cookware for no fee at all but Jamie realized he was the brand". She's right, of course. That will be Donald, her partner the supermarket manager, talking.
"Doing something special for Christmas?" I asked. You've got to be sociable when you're borrowing a jam pan. There was a fractional hesitation. "Donald will be networking with area managers in the pub in the morning. Mother will be over for lunch. I'm trying a goose with cranberry glaze in the American style. He'll have dinner here, but he has to go in to do some emergency pricing for the Boxing day sales. That's retail for you."
Her mother will complain about the goose, just like she always moaned about the turkey, chicken, lamb and beef. You could give that woman a ballotine of peacock, swan and phoenix, but she'd gripe because that is what she does. Tina went to find the jam pan leaving me to appreciate the leather sofa, the pure-wool modernist rug and the gas coal-effect Victorian-style fire in its marble surround with bevelled-glass over-mantle mirror.
I looked around the room for an old friend; the chipped plaster crib set which Tina had made at school. She used to set it up under a silver tree, the one with the coloured lights where you had to check the bulbs each year for duds. The tree had long ago failed the taste test. It shed its tinsel until it was no more than a scaffold of coat-hangers and the lights were like a row of gappy teeth. Modern LEDS do the same job but cheaper and more reliably, or at least until they pack up and you have to throw the whole string away. There was nothing wrong with the plaster Bethlehem family that a little poster-paint wouldn't fix, though. I wondered if perhaps she didn't need a tiny plaster baby in a plastic crib to believe in any more, but as she returned she was silhouetted against the frosty lights of the Nordman near-as-dammit-immortal Christmas tree. Nothing.
"Here's the jam pan, Tynan. Please can I have it back by Christmas eve - I need to boil a pudding in it." She paused. "If you bring it back at three o'clock there might be carol singers. I'll do mince pies and sherry". Tina always made her own mince pies. She laid them out on a glass cake stand and dusted them with icing sugar, tapping it through a tea strainer with the edge of a teaspoon. Her hands were full and she couldn't do anything but giggle if you came up and tickled her. She always got sugar on her cheeks. You could taste it.
"Sure, thanks".
......
Marmalade is easy if you don't muck about with fresh oranges. Use the the ready-prepared Seville oranges which come in a tin. It usually costs £1.59 from the supermarket but you can sometimes find it on a stall in the market for less. The only other ingredient is sugar, but it takes a while to save 1.8 kilos from cafes so you'll have to buy a 2 kilo bag for £1.90 - but you might find it cheaper if you hunt around. The kit makes a shade under four and a half pints which is approximately 77p per pint. That's cheaper than a supermarket budget brand and gives a top-quality marmalade. The tin says it makes 6 lbs, but pints are easier to measure. Allow two hours for the process, which includes the cooking, clearing and bottling.
Scrub four pint-jars and a smaller one for the remainder. If using odds and sods of jars you measure how much water it takes to fill them by emptying them in to the jam pan, then measuring it back out with a pint bottle or jug. You need enough space for four and a half pints, remember. Set the clean empty jars in a baking tin in the oven on a low light to sterilize and heat them so they don't crack when they are filled with hot marmalade. By the time you've finished cooking nothing will be left alive on the glass. The scrubbed lids can go in as well.
Apart from the jam pan you will need a wooden spoon. A glass pint-measuring jug is handy as it will make pouring the marmalade much easier than using a ladle alone. In to the pan put 4 lbs or 1.8 kg of granulated sugar, the tin of prepared oranges and 3/4 pint of water. N.B. the sugar comes in 2 kilo packets so there is a spare 200g of sugar to put aside. To measure the water you can use either the jug or the tin has a special marker on the side so a jug is not absolutely necessary, but it makes life easier. Then scrub and put the jug in the oven as well. You'll have to handle it with gloves later, but at least it will be sterilized.
Stir up the sugar, oranges and water and keep stirring them with the wooden spoon over a gentle heat until, eventually, the mixture reaches the boiling point. Watch out for it rising up quickly - that's why you need a pan bigger a bigger than the volume of the marmalade. Warning - you are now handling half-a-gallon of citrus napalm. Then turn down the heat and maintain a simmer just reaching the boil for at least 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
After 15 minutes take a teaspoonful and tip it on to a saucer. As it cools it should behave like marmalade; it should wrinkle and be a soft jelly. If is still behaving like orange syrup which would run off the toast, it needs to be cooked for longer, so carry on simmering it. Test it every five minutes to see if it is at the setting point. It usually takes about two or three goes.
When you are convinced that it is marmalade, turn off the heat on the hob and ignore the part about a nob of butter. What's all that about? The foam disperses when you stir it. After five minutes the marmalade cools and thickens slightly so the orange peel stays where it is and doesn't float up to the top.
Lift the tray of jars out of the oven and avoid touching them. If using a ladle alone, prepare to get sticky, otherwise use it to fill the glass jug and pour the marmalade in to the jars. Some people insist on filling the jar to the brim on the grounds that this prevents any bacteria in the air getting in, but at that temperature I've not had much trouble. I filled the jars but not to the brim, put the lids on and waited for them to cool, checking they were firmly screwed down as the jars contracted.
When they are cool, add a label. The tin says they will provide labels for free if you send them a large return stamped addressed envelope.
MaMade Leaflet and Label offer, PO Box 439, AL4 OYG.
Author: Tynan Wierd
Comments 4
h/t Sarah the fish
Comments 3
Tricksy-Wu is sitting in her basket in a frightful sulk because I won't let her play with the Christmas tree decorations. I've done my own as no one does them precisely as I want them to be. There is a string of silver bells on a hairy string which took me ages to do. Ed Balls came and in, looked at it and said "Did you have a Christmas tree as a child, Pete?" It's so near Christmas I can hardly bring myself to correct him; think of it as a little gift from me to him. "No" I said. "Figures" he replied.
"How is Yvette getting along with her lines as Peter Pan - is she getting it the intonation on This man is Mine?"
"Yeah, fanks mate, it's a complete gas rehearsing her in the full tights and boots" beamed Ed, who is playing Captain Hook "but they've had to put up extra rigging to haul Claire Short up for the flying scenes". Edward is playing Captain Hook and very much enjoys wearing the wig, too.
He flicked one of the silver bells and made ding-dong noises. "You made these yourself?" Yes, indeed I did, out of egg cartons and a dab of silver paint. I painted the string too - it was down in the stationery basement next to Jack's supply of S&M gear. "It's my craft tree. I'm setting an example of how to make things" I told him. "Riiiight" he sneered.
"I'm in charge of business in this country and yet when I go to the shops I find everything is made in China. When I go to colleges I find they aren't allowed to make things in case somebody gets glued to the desk".
"That's just a myth, Petey, we at the DCFS encourage full development of manual dexterity"
"A nation of expert onanists is not going to pay back our squillion pound debt. Besides, that doesn't alter the fact that one of my godchildren did cookery at school last week and was supposed to make spicy bean goulash but they were only allowed to look at a chili pepper, not touch it".
"That's not true"
"That is true. They were told not to touch it because of health and safety. Are you calling my godchild a liar? I suggest you apologise."
"Tou-chy. I'll look in to it and put how to de-seed a bell-end pepper on the Personal Development syllabus if it bothers you that much. Anyway, why are you worrying about it now?"
"Because if you look around you at a restaurant you will see young people eating with their hands and being baffled as to the purpose of cutlery. It's no wonder our steel works are closing if people have no use for knives and forks. If they can't even spear spaghetti vongole, they stand no chance with advanced laser surgery".
"It's best to suck spag bol off the spoon, you should see Vette hoover it up. Anyway, what's your plan?"
"Well, for a start, I've torn loads of old press releases in to strips. I've got glue and I can make the strips in to paper chains as decorations."
Edward picked up the iconic glass bottle of thin amber glue with its rubbery 'nipple' top. Next thing I knew he was making a paper chain, getting sticky down his shirt, and breathing heavily with his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth.
The staff at the drinks reception were suitably impressed with Edward's decorations, although Nurse Milligan, my agent and Gordon's carer from Number 10, looked pointedly at the carpet and the gluey footprints. I gave her a drink and thanked her as Gordon has been so much better this past few weeks. She gave me an hard look.
"Beggin' yer pardon, yer Werchip, but what's in this fizzy punch?"
"It's Cherry Perry, Nurse Milligan."
"So that's like own-brand Babycham, is it?"
"Yes, but with the delightful cherry twist. It was more expensive than the Lambrusco Rosso, but I thought, hang it, spend the extra sixpence."
Nurse Milligan nodded thoughtfully.
" Did I ever tell yer Werchip about when I was nursing for the BBC?"
No, but I had a terrible feeling she was going to tell me all about it. Still, you never know what she might let slip which could come in handy.
"I was on them costume dramas as nursing advisor. Historical nursing, that's my speciality. You can't beat rubber sheets and leeches, in my view, beggin' yer Werchip's pardon for diversifying, but that Oz Clarke, him as does the wine, he was always hanging around. He has a thing about corsets."
"He never does."
"He does indeed. Had me lacing him up from arse to tit, he did. But James May was having none of it, although it's May that would benefit from a little boning, if you ask me. But more to the point, OZ has a thing about wine. We had nothing to do but tastings and fill up his notebook. I should say this was an unpretentious little glugger is well-worth the whole six pence more than the £1.98 I happen to know Lambrusco Rosso costs."
"You know, Nurse Milligan, I have often thought that a really good Scotch is more suitable for the medical fraternity."
"You thought right yer Lordship Sir. Did I mention that Oz did a section on whisky?"
"I rather thought he might have. I take it you would be able to pass an informed opinion on House of Commons whisky?"
"I would indeed. In my opinion it is an excellent antiseptic, but if I wanted to drink surgical spirit I would stick to what ever forms the backbone of your punch. Now, if you wanted my opinion on drinking whisky, I should say Kilchoman is a little gem."
Bang goes all my savings on decorations.
Author: Woman on a Raft
Comments 1
4 comments:
Ah - I don't believe it - I just posted an extract from his speech and a signpost to Hansard because I couldn't find it on YouTube - and here you had it all the time! Nice one (and nicked!)
Very good speech I agree. After he finished and Russell Brown spoke, he just spewed out the usual Labour rubbish about fixing what was wrong. How annoying and insulting.
If some people are incompetent in their jobs and take the piss, they dont get another chance to put things "right" if the employer doesnt want them to.
What is it with thickly accented provincials like Russell Brown.
They seem to be completely exhausted by the effort of dressing up their own squalid self-interest in the language of Parimentary debate, with nothing at all left over to consider the merits of an argument from any other perspective.
Too stupid to realise that their terms of reference alone mark them as unfit to rule. What tedious, narrow-minded trolls.
A very nice speech by the amiable old duffer though - there are few indeed, on either side of the House, who consider the integrity of the democratic process to be a worthwhile goal in itself. And possibly none at all in the current Cabinet.
Lord help us.
Thanks for this. Excellent.
Just in passing, in the sixth form in 1988 we politics A-level types went to Oxford Poly ostensibly to listen to Michael Heseltine. Tarzan's pre-lunch warm-up act was Richard Shepherd.
I remember Shepherd's speech very well, not merely because it was the first time I'd ever seen a seasoned pro at work, but because by anyone's standards it was captivating. He spoke about how parliament makes laws, the origins of modern British democracy, the Great Reform Act and many other riveting things. He spoke without notes and never once lost the attention of a hall full of uppity 17-year olds looking forward to a pint. 'Nuff respect.
At lunchtime we conned our two well-meaning old teachers into taking us to the pub. I got so lamely shitfaced, I spent the rest of the afternoon throwing-up in the Union toilets. So I didn't get to see Heseltine. I have no regrets about that.
Shame Shepherd is so frail nowadays. He's a man I admire.
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