12/20/2009

FAIL!

The Copenhagen Climate Meeting FAILED.

They didn't come to a good conclcusion, not all together anyway.

I was talking to a friend of mine, and we were "discussing it". His msn personal message read: ‘why has the Copenhagen meeting been allowed to fail?’

because it is impossible not to piss people off when you shove however many people in a room and try to get to a single conclusion

you can't do it

and then as much as obama was trying to solve somethhing

he just pissed people off by coming to a conclusion with a very small group of people

and leaving others out

Him:

honestly, you can do it, easily, especially for something as important and necessary as this was

Me:

no you can't

if you involve developing countries

Him:

and he did, but that is because they were the only ones who actually wanted to do anything, rather than leaving others out

Me:

the developing countries need to go through the industry boom that we have already been through to get themselves out of development status

therefore they won't accept it

some will feel singled out

some will have personal grudges

some will just plain disagree

you can't reach a conclusion to single targets with that amount of people

thats like trying to get

all of year 12 and 13 to agree on what food to have (single dish) for dinner every day for a year

everyone will have some different ideas, needs and values..

which means it would probably become something vegetarian, or chicken

in this case, that was obama talking to a small group of people

Him:

I disagree completely

Me:

by trying to please everyone

they have failed

and pissed off everybody

Him:

of course there are problems, but they can be overcome

Me:

not in the short time that they have had

Him:

the simple answer to your example, is to have more than one dish

Me:

yes, but that is not what they were trying to do.

Him:

although people can always think of examples which are very irrelevent to the discussion

Me:

they were trying to decide on a single dish

Him:

and they could have tried for longer

Me:

they were trying to decide on a single standard limit... a single dish as it were

everyone the same targets

and it failed

because that can't be done

Him:

it can be done, it requires will, but it is possible

Me:

yeah, they could do it if they set a low standard

but that would piss people off everywhere

because china is not going to agree to a 20% emission cut by 2020

they are currently going through there own "industrial revolution"

which requires them to build more power plants and other polluting things, because they're not going to go completely nuclear

the only thing china has promised so far is to cut the intensity of their carbon admissions

Him:

what I'm saying is that china should want to cut more

Me:

they should, but they won't because they need to get through their revolution.

furthermore they want to maintain sino-american and sino-british relations

which are relatively new.

and if you tell them that's not allowed, they are not going to be happy...

every other country, which is now in the first world, has been allowed to go through that period. whereas by telling them they have to cut it all, means that they are not allowed to become a truly developed country

which they would percieve unfair

which when you look at it that way is understandable.

Him:

understandable, yes, but still wrong

Him:

I hate how countries are so obsessed over their economy

Me:

but without a substantial economy it would be impossible to have people out of poverty

without substantial economies there is no third world aid

it would be nice if everyone could have all of their debts written off

so all of us

the WHOLE world

can start

with a clean slate

have everyone developed to the same point, without debt and without poverty

and allow them to start again

Him:

If the richest peopple in the world wanted to solve poverty, it really would not be that difficult

Me:

yes but the richest people in the world don't want to

Him:

If countries stopped pouring money into the armed forces and into areas that matter, it would be so much better

but they should!

Me:

*I partially agree with your last statement, except for the fact that there are still issues that need to be resolved.. look at the arab-israeli crisis

that requires an army

Him

it requires an agreement, a solution involving talking

not an army

Me:

*however, the problems there are paradoxical

*and people are still fighting

Me:

which is why they should see sense and stop

11/22/2009

Diary of a Jew in the Second World War

Another one has been found. Now, rather than just one by Anne Frank (Who lived in Amsterdam) there is one by a lady called Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch, whom, too, lived in Amsterdam. She had given her diary to her brother-in-law and wrote in it: “I wish that this will reach the outside world someday” which it now has as they are going to publish it. It had been in the possession of the “Joods Historisch Museum” or Jewish Historical Museum, In Amsterdam for several years, but it was not known who had written it. It had taken some time for a Dutch tv program, who was doing a series on the second world war, to find the anonymous document. Once they did they tracked down who it was by use of old transport lists they realised it must be that of Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch. It’s exciting that there is another account, this time by a 32year old. It allows people to see what really happened in the Second World War in Amsterdam, not just from the perspectives of a child. Many Dutch people feel that they were very much innocent in the Second World War, after all Holland was occupied by the Germans. And I grew up with the same ideas, as that is what the general conception is. It was only when I learnt more about it, watched more programmes and especially the film of ‘Zwart Boek’ or ‘Black Book’ has opened my eyes to the contraversiality of what really happened. There were always colaboraters, no matter where you were in the “third reich”, but they seem to be forgotten at times in Holland. And it is only now that people can fully understand that there were plenty of colaboraters in Holland, and thus it was hard to get away from all of it. I feel it is important that the catastrofes of the Second World War are not forgotten, no matter where you live. (And those of the First World War).

My History teacher told me that 1 in 20 children thinks that the Holocaust (the systematical mass murder of Jews in the second world war) was a party at the end of the war to celebrate that it was over.
Children think that Hitler was a footbal coach.

And then there are people in the world who have the audacity to say that we should not commemorate the first and second world wars simply because it was a long time ago. Yet things such as Burns Night are still celebrated… and that was far longer ago – but there is no question of stopping that, after all it includes fireworks and drinking. It seems ridiculous to me, and it is something I will never be able to understand, that these children do not know or understand fully about what happened in the second world war, so many people were murdered for no reason at all. So many innocent people died because they didn’t fit a certain description set up by some idiot who thought that all blond people were the best in the world. (The irony with that is… the mixing of the genetics of two “races” – for lack of better word – makes it stronger. If you keep “breeding” the same genetic characteristics there is a higher chance of relation and thus degeneratif mutation of the genes) Hitler was making the “übermensch” weaker, not stronger.

All in all it is important that everyone realised and is educated about the atrocities in the first and second world wars, without them our world would not be as it is today.

You forgot a very important thing my friends, I am captain Jack sparrow.

Piracy – this is what the Somalians do best… they kidnap people and get randsom.. But they’ve had a bit of a hickup with this English couple… They don’t have any money – so now they are asking the government for help. The point my stepmum made? the UK does not pay randsom money –> they never have and never will. So what is going to happen to the poor people that are being held captive? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that the Somalians have made piracy a highly lucrative business and do so in a manner completely different to what the age old image is. They no longer take women captive or rob other ships with hand guns and swords. There is never talk of right of “parlay” and there will not be a chance that they are released without randsom money being paid.

The somalians use big guns, big being and understatement at that, and hold people captive for money. They often take people who are likely to have financial backing. their first mistake being this english couple who have a yacht – and that’s it, according to their family. I believe they currently have about 30 hostages or something… so if you’re sailing don’t go anywhere near there unless you want to end up  as bate, and possibly an extra on NCIS…

11/06/2009

Fort Hood - Texas

Ok, I feel my blog name is very appropriate right now. What. Was. That?!
Fort Hood, the largest american military base had a shooting, 13 dead, 33 wounded. 1 guy who flipped caused all of it. now the thing that surprised me most, is that I went on to the website this morning, to make sure I had all of the right figures. Their website says NOTHING. I am appalled, already they are covering it up? Or what are they doing? Are they just plain in denial about what happened. Sure I understand that it is important to continue ones life and to move on from what happened, and I'm sure that the base needs to continue to be run - but surely it doesn't need to be ignored this early on? (Check out their website here
Luckily all of the news papers and news channels are currently still commenting on it, and shocked.
I feel it is a bit ridiculous that the Times has had to comment on the fact that the soldier was Muslim, as if this is something so very significant. What does strike me, however, is that Major Nidal Malik Hasan was trained to by a psychiatrist... a bit ironic. So is the fact that he lived in a place called Killeen. But none of this is proof for anything, of course, beyond extreme irony and that if god exists he has a very strange sense of humor.
All in All, what happened in Fort Hood was something that is definitely shocking and rediculous, I hope that Major Hasan gets a very long period in a prison, because that is definitely what he deserves.

10/21/2009

The first post

This is my latest blog, one to get a bit more up to date with the news really. I notice that I don't follow it that closely and I'm just in my little bubble of school. So here I will reflecting on the news and maybe criticizing what happens in the world.
first thing:
Gatwick is getting sold. Finally.
It has taken BAA long enough to realise that it needs to be sold, not just because they have had it for a very long time and are monopolising the London airports. It's also because they legally have to and that, well, they're in a lot of debt. Thus, selling the airport for 1.51BILLION pounds, will help them get out of that debt, well a little bit anyway. They're going to be selling it to a firm called:
Global Infrastructure Partners
which is a joint venture between Credit Suisse, the investment bank, and GE (the world’s largest company). Most of the money will be raised from major banks including HSBC, RBS, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan.

The reason why BAA is in debt, is because Ferovial (who are the owners of BAA) bought it for 10.2 billion pounds in 2006, and they basically borrowed the whole amount. They've had problems repaying it anyway, but have had even more problems refinancing it now the credit crunch has hit. (I'm going take a long shot here and guess that this is because people don't have a lot of money to go anywhere, therefore they stay within the UK.. maybe.)

I think it's a good thing that Gatwick is being sold, previous criticss have also suspected that BAA was diverting funds etc to heathrow, and have thus made Gatwick a bad relation to it. What GIP wants to do is probably build a second runway, and make it more of a holiday airport, offering package holiday to far away destinations and attract more holiday people than business people, thus acquiring more funds. TADAAA someone with sense.

Hopefully that will give BAA a kick up the backsidce as well so that they will continue to improve the other airports and life will be better for me when I fly backwards and forwards between Holland and England.