It's Monday

Again...


Celebrity Apartheid Week- it's coming.


Oh, really:

While global temperatures are still on the rise, the last ten years have seen a dramatic reduction in the rate of increase. Some have attempted to say that this is proof that global warming has stopped, but a new study by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder is pointing towards the real reason — volcanic eruptions releasing tons of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

Mixed in to the ash and smoke released by a volcanic eruption are several gases, including water vapour, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide. The sulphur dioxide can produce acid rain downwind of the volcano, but if it gets high enough in the atmosphere — into the stratosphere — chemical reactions there form extremely tiny particles of sulphur, called aerosols. These highly-reflective sulphur aerosols can damage the stratospheric ozone layer, and they absorb heat coming off the Earth, thus warming the stratosphere, but at the same time, they reflect incoming sunlight back into space, thus cooling the surface of the planet.

Yes, about that:

The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. 

The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures.

This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.

**

Bottom line: There’s still no consensus from climate scientists about the cause of the slowdown in the warming rate of global surface temperatures.

And of course, the sea surface temperature and ocean heat content reveal another reason: there hadn’t been a strong El Niño to release monumental volumes of warm water from below the surface of the tropical Pacific and shift up the sea surface temperatures of the Atlantic, Indian and West Pacific Oceans.

Moving on...


You remember this guy:

Canada can’t credibly preach human rights on the international stage when too many of its own citizens are going hungry, the UN’s right-to-food envoy, Olivier De Schutter, told The Canadian Press in an interview.

His comments come on the heels of a report De Schutter released Monday in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council that cited several Canadian government policies as impediments to fighting poverty.

They include the cancellation of the long-form census in 2009, the ongoing Canada-EU free trade negotiations and the way Ottawa oversees the money it transfers to the provinces for social services.

There is no reason why we should still be a part of the UN.


There's a Book of Exodus joke in here somewhere and I'm struggling to find it:

Israel is on a locust alert as upwards of 30 million of the destructive bugs descend on neighbouring Egypt ahead of the Passover holiday....

The locust alert comes ahead of the Passover festival, which recounts the biblical story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. According to the Bible, a plague of locusts was one of 10 plagues God imposed on Egyptians for enslaving and abusing ancient Hebrews.

Egyptian Christians tortured by Libyan Islamists in Benghazi:

Libyan Islamists detained 48 Egyptian Christians in Benghazi last week, torturing them and using acid to burn off tattoos of the cross, according to family members.

The Christians, who are peddlers, were arrested by Islamist Salafists in Benghazi, who said they had Christian icons at their marketplace stalls, according to Mideast Christian News. The men were later reportedly freed and await deportation, but their family members back home told the Egyptian press they were abused while held, initially on charges of proselytizing.

Remember: 

Truthful statements can be presented in a manner that would meet the definition of hate speech, and not all truthful statements must be free from restriction.

In the Islamic world, that means living an open Christian life or even talking about it is a form of hate speech and should be punished. The unelected SCC could find no fault in that.


If one is going to borrow $253.5 billion then one cannot be surprised at a 46% job approval.


Honest to God, what the hell were Americans thinking when they voted back in this spend-happy, paranoia-evoking perpetual campaigner?


This shouldn't exist:

Vegetarian Ham? That doesn’t even taste like ham?

A couple of feel-good stories: Marvel makes a deaf boy into a hero and a British mother urged to abort two of her quadruplets celebrates all four children's birthdays.


(With thanks)