Those watching the [climate] talks begin said it was an inauspicious start. "It is headed towards a real impasse in Durban, frankly, there is no way to gloss over it", one veteran participant said.

"There are very few options left open to wring much out of the meeting unless the position of these major countries softens considerably".

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I did post this on another thread, but Chris Huhne and the Climate Choir seems too good to miss, if just for the pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deccgovuk/ ... otostream/

I see Louise is getting a good slamming.....errr I mean in the comments section of that DT piece of course!!!!!

Isn't the first thing they do, chat about.......and organise the next pis-- --...........er junket?

The Climate Choir ?

A third or fourth rate staged "meeja event" for fake charitees - but then again, the media can only be spoon fed mashed up drivel these days anyway - even then they seem to manage to get it all down their fronts....

The BBC's promotion of the anti frackers reaches new heights:

BBC Points West from 13:25 in

And on the BBC Bristol web... a totally ill informed bit of provincial scaremongering

The regional news segment clearly oversteps the bounds of impartiality and makes a mockery of responsible reportage, disgraceful. It looks like the perpetrators of this scaremongering see Richard Black as a role model to aspire to and ape.

Pointless complaining direct too....

Given that it is in South Africa this time perhaps the climate jamboree could be subjected to massed ranks of vuvuzelas.

Durban has accumulated barely a third of the attendees of Copenhagen '09. Is it 'cos they is black? Weather is not climate but years of pretending it was really bit them on the bum with a few bad winters in succession.

They've already had a storm that was the worst in 83 years.

In some ways they are right, but it is a question of the use of language. There is climate change, always has been - long cycle, short cycle, local caused by ocean currents, deforestation and other factors. What there is not is climate change driven by a trace gas in the atmosphere that blocks radiation in a very narrow spectrum band. Somehow we need to disassociate the terms climate change from AGW, or maybe that is now impossible.

Dr North notes that the Defence Chiefs traditional role is preparing to fight the last war.
Although a traditionalist generally, I think they should follow Hamlet's advice that some traditions are more honoured in the breach than the observance.

Actually, it might be more accurate to assert that our generals spend their time planning to re-fight the last war, as they would have preferred it to be. Certainly, our current batch of generals seem intent on fighting their preferred wars, rather than the real things, as presented. They don't seem to be able to cope with the idea that real wars are messy, uncertain things, where the enemy does not always follow his briefings.