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Help. Cool stuff. Twitter. Expedition Copenhagen In Three Words. OVN. Joss Garman: Copenhagen - Historic failure that will live in inf. Then a Chinese premier who is in the process of converting his Communist nation to that new faith (high-carbon consumer capitalism) takes such umbrage at Barack Obama's speech that he refuses to meet – sulking in his hotel room, as if this were a teenager's house party instead of a final effort to stave off the breakdown of our biosphere. Late in the evening, the two men meet and cobble together a collection of paragraphs that they call a "deal", although in reality it has all the meaning and authority of a bus ticket, not that it stops them signing it with great solemnity. Obama's team then briefs the travelling White House press pack – most of whom, it seems, understand about as much about global-climate politics as our own lobby hacks know about baseball.
Before we know it, The New York Times and CNN are declaring the birth of a "meaningful" accord. A success? This "deal" is beyond bad. Not all of our politicians deserve the opprobrium of a dismayed world. China stands accused of wrecking global deal - Climate Change, E. The accusation, backed up by a separate eye-witness account from the heart of the talks of obstructive Chinese behaviour, reflected widespread anger among many delegations about the nation's actions at the conference. The concluding agreement about tackling global climate change was widely criticised yesterday for being too weak, and was seen as a dashing the hopes of many concerned about the warming threat.
The lack of teeth in the "Copenhagen accord" – which, it is accepted on all sides, is inadequate for fighting climate change – was widely blamed by environmentalists on President Barack Obama for not making bigger US commitments to cut carbon emissions. Yet the key element of the agreement, a timetable for making its commitments legally binding by this time next year, was taken out at the last minute at the insistence of the Chinese, who otherwise would have refused to agree to the deal. "It's always easier to block than to try and get something. Chris Green in Copenhagen. Climate Checkmate: Who won the COP15 mind-game? Three pillars of the European Union - Wikipedia, the free encycl.
Between 1993 and 2009, the European Union (EU) legally comprised three pillars. This structure was introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993, and was eventually abandoned on 1 December 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, when the EU obtained a consolidated legal personality. The European Communities pillar handled economic, social and environmental policies. It comprised the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, until its expiry in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar took care of foreign policy and military matters.Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) brought together co-operation in the fight against crime. This pillar was originally named Justice and Home Affairs (JHA).
Chart[edit] Within each pillar, a different balance was struck between the supranational and intergovernmental principles. History[edit] 1993: Origin[edit] What is the EU's Position on a Legally-Binding Agreement? Lorry hits Nigeria Kogi state market killing up to 10. Up to 100 people have been killed after a runaway truck ploughed into a crowded market in Nigeria. Officials said 55 people died, but a BBC reporter at the scene, in Kogi state, counted at least 100 corpses. Kogi state police said the lorry hurtled down a hill at speed, smashing cars and motorcycles then crashing into the market, injuring up to 40 people.
Traffic accidents are common in Nigeria because vehicles and roads are badly maintained. "I can only confirm that 55 people were killed. The driver of the truck lost control and ran into a group of people moving in a procession along the road," a senior police officer told AFP news agency. Burned beyond recognition Kogi state commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Yomi Asaniyan, said brake failure was the cause. Declaring three days of mourning, Ibrahim Idris, the governor of Kogi state, expressed his sadness and offered to pay the medical bills of those injured. A number of vehicles caught fire, burning people beyond recognition. British Army to get new camouflage uniform. Lieutenant Colonel Toby Evans explains the thinking behind Multi-Terrain Pattern, the Army's new camouflage uniform, pictured left.
The uniform of the British Army is to be changed for the first time in almost 40 years. The new Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) will replace the traditional four colour woodland uniform known as No.8: Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM). Forces in Afghanistan will start to get the new uniforms in March next year, with the whole army upgraded by 2011. MTP is designed for a wide range of environments, including the volatile "green zone" of Helmand province.
British troops in Afghanistan currently use a mix of desert camouflage and temperate DPM, depending on which area they are operating in. There are three main types of terrain in Helmand - desert, the agricultural "green zone" either side of the Helmand river, and residential areas with dusty buildings and mud huts. Not perfect Why armies switched from colours to camouflage uniforms 'Looks good' BBC NEWS | Science & Environment. China and Indonesia welcome Copenhagen summit deal. Asian giants China and Indonesia have hailed the Copenhagen UN climate summit outcome, despite its cool reception from aid agencies and campaigners. Beijing's foreign minister said it was a new beginning, and Indonesia's leader said he was pleased with the result. Earlier, US President Barack Obama defended the accord he helped broker with China and other main powers.
The non-binding pact, called the Copenhagen Accord, was not adopted by consensus at the summit in Denmark. Instead, after two weeks of frantic negotiations, the 193-nation conference ended on Saturday with delegates merely taking note of the deal. BBC environment correspondent Richard Black says the accord looks unlikely to contain temperature rises to within the 2C (3.6F) threshold that UN scientists say is needed to avert serious climate change. It includes a recognition to limit temperature rises to less than 2C and promises to deliver $30bn (£18.5bn) of aid for developing nations over the next three years. 'Make it binding'
Obama Tries Optimism In Face Of Copenhagen Flop - Science News - Amidst growing talk from pundits of all political persuasions that the Copenhagen climate conference was a royal flop, President Barack Obama attempted to challenge these interpretations on Friday, saying the United States, China and other participants had achieved an “unprecedented breakthrough” in the battle to cut global climate emissions. After months of anticipation and two weeks of intense political wrangling, diplomats from around the world “” including representatives from growing financial powerhouses like India, South Africa, Brazil and, of course, China “” have said that they will take action to cut pollution, though specific benchmarks and targets have not yet been announced. Specifically, Obama mentioned that the U.S. along with the four previously mentioned nations had reached a pact that would ensure a mutually agreeable mechanism for verifying compliance with all new standards.
“I am leaving before the final vote,” said the U.S. President. On the Net: Very impressive 3d business card with augmented reality | HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags. One of the most complex features of Twitter for new users to understand is the hashtag, a topic with a hash symbol ("#") at the start to identify it. Twitter hashtags like #followfriday help spread information on Twitter while also helping to organize it. The hashtag is a favorite tool of conferences and event organizers, but it's also a way for Twitter users to organize themselves: if everyone agrees to append a certain hashtag to tweets about a topic, it becomes easier to find that topic in search, and more likely the topic will appear in Twitter's Trending Topics.
So how do you disseminate and make sense of all this hashtag madness? By going through the art of the hashtag step-by-step, of course. This short guide details how to identify, track, use, and organize hashtags in an efficient and useful way. Have a tip to share on hashtags or a unique way you utilize them? 1. So what's the most efficient way to figure out those nasty hashtags?
What the Trend? 2. 3. 4. EU news/events. Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com. For Isaac Francisco Solnit, born December 17, 2009 It’s clear now that, from her immoveable titanium bangs to her chaotic approximation of human speech, Sarah Palin is a Terminator cyborg sent from the future to destroy something -- but what?
It could be the Republican Party she’ll ravage by herding the fundamentalists and extremists into a place where sane fiscal conservatives and swing voters can’t follow. Or maybe she was sent to destroy civilization at this crucial moment by preaching the gospel of climate-change denial, abetted by tools like the Washington Post, which ran a factually outrageous editorial by her on the subject earlier this month. No one (even her, undoubtedly) knows, but we do know that this month we all hover on the brink. I’ve had the great Hollywood epic Terminator 2: Judgment Day on my mind ever since I watched it in a hotel room in New Orleans a few weeks ago with the Superdome visible out the window.
Will he?