Frackin’ Gas

The English government has made its biggest mistake ever!

Politicians are stupid!

Gas fracking: Ministers approve shale gas extraction

The government has given the go-ahead for a firm to resume the controversial technique known as fracking to exploit gas in Lancashire.

The company, Cuadrilla, was stopped from fracking after two tremors near Blackpool.

Conditions have been imposed to minimise the risk of seismic activity.

In fracking, a mixture of water, sand and some chemicals is pumped into a well under high pressure to force the gas from the rock.

The Energy Secretary Ed Davey said shale gas was a promising new potential energy resource for the UK. It might contribute significantly to energy security and substitute for imports which are increasing as North Sea gas is decreasing.

But he warned against over-excitement: “We are still in the very early stages of shale gas exploration in the UK and it is likely to develop slowly.

“It is essential that its development should not come at the expense of local communities or the environment. Fracking must be safe and the public must be confident that it is safe.”

Read more

Opinion:

image: Decombustion

England is NOT America where you have wide open spaces.

1. The introduction of fracking will destroy the traditional quiet balmy rural English countryside.

The countryside will be scarred like this and worse.

2. The jury is still out as to whether fracking produces earthquakes. The earthquakes near Blackpool should be a warning, but once again, no one is listening.

3. Fracking IS proven to contaminate and pollute. The American experience of kitchen taps producing flammable water should be enough to stop this insidious practice, but again, nobody is listening.

I read this on another site:

“The process is safe and controlled

If all goes well,”

“If all goes well???” Well it won’t.

Fracking is hit and miss technology. Not enough is known about it, except that it is known to cause problems.

Even the  CEO of Cuadrilla Resources, the company operating near Blackpool where recent earthquakes have been attributed to their fracking operations, has admitted that “You never have control. Fractures will always go into the path of least resistance.”

Read that again, “you NEVER have control!”

The only thing that is known for a fact is that the companies get rich, and once again the people suffer!

Does he, or doesn’t he?

UK’s Hague confirms ‘evidence’ of Syria chemical arms plans

William Hague says there will be “serious consequences” if Syria uses chemical weapons

British Foreign Secretary William Hague says the UK and the US have seen evidence that Syria is preparing to use chemical weapons.

Mr Hague told the BBC there was “enough evidence to know that they need a warning”.

The foreign secretary did not give details, as he said the evidence had come from “intelligence sources”.

A Syrian official insisted last week that it would “never, under any circumstances” use such weapons.

That statement followed a warning on Monday from US President Barack Obama that there would be consequences if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his people.

Mr Hague told the BBC: “The president of the United States warned of serious consequences and he means it.”

Speaking at a security conference in Bahrain, he said he could understand why the public might be sceptical after the blunders made over Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago.

Read more

Both the USA and UK deceived the world over the WMD in Iraq, maybe that’s why I’m one of those sceptics mentioned above.

I have no doubt that Bashar al Bastard is quite capable of doing it! If he is, and there is proof, I get the feeling of “The Little Boy who Cried Wolf” syndrome.

I mean, this duplicity has been the modus operandi of the USA since Franklin D Roosevelt and Pearl Harbour. Strangely coincidental, my post on Tomus Arcanum is about exactly that today. Winston Churchill was no innocent either in respect of WWII.

I am mindful that the USA needs another war to stimulate the economy, the UK economy is looking a bit sick too at the moment; and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if both used the idea of ‘evidence’ as a reason to convince the world.

There is no question that Bashar al-Bastard needs to be removed, what concerns me is the duplicity being used, again.

Hungry children – England, not Africa

When one hears of hungry children, one immediately thinks of Africa, places like Somalia and Ethiopia, or the Sudan. But one never equates the phrase ‘hungry children’ with England.

The problem of hungry children

Teachers are trained to deal with various special needs, but the fundamental issue of hunger in UK classrooms is rarely discussed
• Call for teachers to complete a Guardian survey to probe into whether austerity is having a direct impact on pupil hunger

All teachers have seen the effects of not having breakfast on their pupils. How much of a problem is pupil hunger on a long term basis in your classroom? Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

As teachers we have probably all had hungry children in our class. There wasn’t time for breakfast, they overslept, their sister/brother/dog/hamster had eaten all the Coco-Pops. You have heard the excuses and know the knock-on effects.

Few can say they witnessed a child actually foraging for pencil sharpenings to eat because they were so hungry. But I did.

Callum had come in early that cold winter morning and was helping his teacher with a few jobs before class – one of which was sharpening the pencils. I’d popped up from my year four classroom to borrow something or other and walked in to see him guiltily shoving a handful of wooden pencil shavings into his mouth.

Source: The Guardian Read more

Opinion:

When a kid has to eat pencil sharpenings to keep hunger at bey there is something seriously wrong with the system.

The politicians have just got the plot so totally wrong.

Austerity, while it looks good on paper, it doesn’t put food on the table.

I am not talking about government handouts, that’s just as evil. I’m talking about people having jobs, people having dignity, people having the ability to feed their kids.

But the politicians are too busy worrying about their own necks, too busy worrying about the banks, too busy worrying about the rich getting richer. They have ignored the plight of the people who have been robbed by the institutions so that they can be rich.

The plot needs to be rewritten. Priorities need to be changed.

Frackin’ Stupid!

Environment Agency head Lord Smith supports fracking expansion

Lord Smith is expected to say that the environmental risks of fracking may be overcome

The chairman of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, has given his support to the expansion of the controversial “fracking” method of extracting natural gas from shale rock in the UK.

Energy companies say the use of fracking will lead to cheaper supplies.

Lord Smith told the BBC it could be a “useful addition” to the UK’s “energy mix” if certain requirements were met.

But critics say there are risks from the process, which has been linked to two earth tremors in Lancashire.

Source: BBC News Read more

Opinion:

I have only two questions…

1. Is this guy frackin’ stupid?
2. How much was he paid?

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Bloody Politicians!

The whole world is on the binge.

We are getting fat, our kids are getting fatter.

It doesn’t matter if you are in UK, USA or here in Brazil (the latest obesity figures are alarming, the figures for morbid obesity are shocking).

The food and fast food corporations must be taken to task. They have proved they can’t be trusted to self-regulate.

Institutions also must be taken to task. They feed the students, patients, inmates crap because crap is cheaper than real food.

Read this warning:

Jamie Oliver warns Michael Gove on academy school meals

Jamie Oliver has campaigned for healthier school meals

TV chef Jamie Oliver has said Education Secretary Michael Gove is endangering pupils’ nutrition by not controlling what food academy schools provide.

He said he was “totally mystified” that academies were allowed to determine what food should be on offer, while state schools follow strict rules.

“The public health of five million children should not be left to luck or chance,” he told the Observer.

The government says it trusts schools to act in their pupils’ best interests.

A campaign by the chef led to tough new legal standards on school meals in England.

Oliver told the newspaper: “This mantra that we are not going to tell (academy) schools what to do just isn’t good enough in the midst of the biggest obesity epidemic ever.”

‘Playing with fire’

Referring to Mr Gove, who enabled more schools in England to become academies through the Academies Bill in 2010, Oliver said: “I have got nothing against him personally. But the health of millions of children could be affected by this one man.

“When there is a national obesity crisis unfolding around us, I honestly think he is playing with fire.”

Academies are semi-independent schools so do not have to abide by regulations introduced in 2008 which set out strict nutritional guidelines for school food.

Source: BBC News Read more

Opinion:

It’s not just the UK that has this problem, it is global.

Governments everywhere need to step in, because the industries, corporations and institutions CANNOT BE TRUSTED!

The world over are screaming about austerity measures. Many countries have sliced their health budgets to shreds. One of the major factors in illness is obesity.

There are two solutions:

1. Stop kids from getting fat.

2. Tax the providers of obesity to fund the health budgets.

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Hark! Is that the Voice(s) of Reason I Hear?

Argentina intellectuals query Falkland Islands policy

The Falklands row has sparked protests in recent weeks in Argentina

A group of Argentine intellectuals has challenged the government’s ambition to take control of the Falkland Islands from the British.

The 17 writers urged the government to recognise the right of the islanders to decide their own future.

They also say Argentina’s demand for negotiations with the UK contradicts its insistence on sovereignty.

Tension has been rising in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the war the two countries fought over the islands.

The intellectuals issued a joint statement titled An Alternative Vision of the Malvinas (Falklands).

Among the signatories are the journalist Jorge Lanata, historians Luis Alberto Romero and Hilda Sabato, cultural critic Beatriz Sarlo, and constitutional law expert Daniel Sabsay.

‘Nationalist agitation’

They argued that the government’s actions were out of proportion to the importance of the issue, and had little relation to the “major political, social and economic problems” the country faces.

Source: BBC News Read more

Opinion:

Yes, a voice(s) of reason, certainly they did not come from a politician. Politicians are incapable of reason.

As I see it; ALL the aggression and demands over sovereignty have originated in Argentina, and yet they say the British are the aggressors. The futile accusation that Britain is militarising the South Atlantic is a load of old bollocks, Britain militarised the South Atlantic 30 years ago after the Argentinians foolishly attacked the Falkland Islands. Maybe that point was missed by Argentina, well, at least Kirchner.

It is noted, that Argentina has not considered, nor mentioned, nor given any guarantees over the people who live there. Argentina therefore, can be considered in breach of the human factor.

There is also the high possibility that Kirchner is using the Falklands issue and stirring up the people to mask internal government goings on that the Argentine people may not be all that thrilled about.

Don’t Cry for me Argentina…

Falklands: UN chief calls on UK and Argentina for calm

The UK says the HMS Dauntless is being sent to the South Atlantic as part of routine operations

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on Argentina and the UK to avoid an “escalation” in tensions over the disputed Falkland Islands.

His appeal came as Argentina’s foreign minister made an official complaint to the UN about the UK’s “militarisation” in the South Atlantic.

Last month the UK said it was sending one of its newest Royal Navy destroyers to the region.

The two countries went to war in 1982 over the British overseas territory.

‘Colonial holdover’

Mr Ban’s office said in a statement that the UN secretary general had “expressed the hope that the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom will avoid an escalation of this dispute and resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue”.

The UK says it is only carrying out routine operations in the South Atlantic, off Argentina’s east coast.

The HMS Dauntless, which is due to arrive off the Falklands in March, is among the largest and most powerful of the UK’s air defence destroyers.

Source: BBC News Read more

Opinion:

The British have maintained a presence in the South Atlantic since the Argentinians flexed their muscles in 1982, so this is not a new thing, it has been happening for 30 years and the Argentinians have just started to bleat about it.

Kirchner is making political points.

Why?

Oil!

As far as claiming the Falklands, the British have more than 200 years seniority, dating back to 1592, before the Argentinians ever knew the Falklands existed in 1820.

You can read a brief history with links on Tomus Arcanum.

The people on the Falklands are British, there’s no disputing that fact. Their customs and society are British, it has been this way since 1833. Suddenly Argentina comes along. They are going to force British subjects to become Argentinians. Blood will be spilt again if they ever try.

The British Falkland Islanders don’t want to become Argentinians; they are British.

The bottom line is that the Falkland Islanders have the right to determine, and Britain will see that that right is respected, militarily if necessary.

My view is that the Falkland Islands be given independence and protected by the United Nations.

Making asses of themselves again

Cigarette vending machines banned in England

Vending machines are expected to be banned in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland in February

The sale of tobacco from vending machines has been banned in England, with anyone caught selling cigarettes in machines facing a fine of £2,500.

The Department of Health said the ban had been introduced to prevent under-age sales to children and to support adults who were trying to quit.

The rest of the UK is expected to implement a similar ban next year.

Some pub landlords say it is a further threat to a livelihood that has already been damaged by the smoking ban.

But Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation have welcomed the move.

According to the Department of Health, nearly all adult smokers started smoking before they turned 18.

‘Unsupervised’

Of the children who regularly smoke, 11% buy their cigarettes from vending machines.

Source BBC News Read more

Opinion:

I had my first cigarette at eight because I stole a pack of 10 de Reszke from my father’s shop. Why? Because stealing was wrong, because I knew smoking was wrong.

Boys do that.

This move is not going to make any difference. Kids will smoke, simply because they are not allowed to.

The 11% who buy their cigarettes from vending machines only do it because you made buying them from the shop illegal.

With the machines gone, they will find more inventive ways to get their cigarettes. You won’t stop kids smoking as long as you say, “you can’t!”

It’s the same with booze, it’s the same with cannabis, it’s the same with anything you make illegal.

Don’t believe me?

Go on, make chocolate, coca cola or coffee illegal and watch the consumption sky rocket.

Honestly, you guys have no idea of human nature.