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"Italy's borrowing costs have jumped to the highest level since the financial crisis over two years ago, raising concerns that Europe's biggest debtor may slip from the eurozone's stable core into the high-risk group on the periphery..."

Seems that WWF gave a spiel to “corporate leaders “of Coca-Cola, Loyalty One of the Air Miles fame and others one gathers, this according to The Calgary Herald, right here:
Polar bear predicament shocks corporate leaders.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Polar+bear+predicament+shocks+corporate+leaders/4040271/story.html#ixzz19eOVJ5Ac

The PR guy from Coca-Cola is obviously beside himself: "It's such a heart-wrenching way to learn a very hard lesson about climate change,"….. “the polar bear has a particularly warm place in our hearts."….” said it was particularly shocking to see the mammals stranded by large waves coming into the shore in November.”
Does the guy have any clue as to how the polar bear lives? Does he even know that the polar bear spends much of the time in the water? Could it be said that he is deliberately uninformed, misinformed moran (sic)?

Another “executive” nearly got hit: "It kind of felt like a little bit of a punch," and then he said "You are just seeing such a dramatic degradation in terms of what these poor bears have to live with."

Are these grown up people for real or are they putting up appearances?

Now, the thing is, these people live in their offices don’t have a clue what is going on though they are in on the spin. WWF, the mass hysteria mongers comes to talk to them, gives them a likely story and there you have it. No questions asked, not a snowflake of scepticism, they just swallow the whole shebang in one gulp.

Then the writer of the article adds his 1.5 cents about the polar bear numbers and the propaganda is rolling on: ...”Canada, which is home to about 15,000 of an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world."

Actually, nobody, even the wise guys, know how many polar bears there are. They don’t even want to guess, if they do guess, they end with a disclaimer that they really don’t know and nobody knows.
Here is an article on the subject, of all places, in Orlando Examiner by Kirk Myers:
“Canada's growing polar bear population 'becoming a problem,' locals say”

“Harry Flaherty, chair of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board in the capital of Iqaluit, says the polar bear population in the region, along the Davis Strait, has doubled during the past 10 years.
“Scientists do a quick study one to two weeks in a helicopter and don’t see all the polar bears.“
Dr. Mitchell Taylor, a biologist…seems to agree. “The study estimates from the Iqaluit area agree with those of local hunters, although the accuracy of the counts is doubtful in some areas,”

Of course, you do know where this leads.
AWG? Maybe? Could be?

You've a gift for this task EDB!

Ah, but they're just watching the teleprompter.

Here is a juxtapose within the same article on coyotes (http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/920253--close-encounter-with-coyote-shakes-glen-abbey-woman).

“I had to scare him back because he was coming up very close to my dog. I did that about four times, but he kept coming back.”

Wellman said the coyote eventually backed off, at which point she and Pepper ran down the street towards their home.

...

Representatives from both the Oakville and Milton Humane Society and the Toronto Wildlife Centre have said residents should not fear coyotes because coyote attacks on humans are very rare with fatal coyote attacks being even rarer.

For all those who say (variants of) "The Afghan people are a bunch of backwards, goat-humping..." etc., here's a photo essay in Foreign Policy magazine showing Afghanistan in the fifties and sixties.

Excerpt from the accompanying text by Mohammad Qayoumi:

"A half-century ago, Afghan women pursued careers in medicine; men and women mingled casually at movie theaters and university campuses in Kabul; factories in the suburbs churned out textiles and other goods. There was a tradition of law and order, and a government capable of undertaking large national infrastructure projects, like building hydropower stations and roads, albeit with outside help. Ordinary people had a sense of hope, a belief that education could open opportunities for all, a conviction that a bright future lay ahead."

(h/t snaphanen)

Quote of the day

"China's economic policy is not to develop China's own economy, but to make some people rich."

Wei Jingsheng

Simply amazing photos of Afghanistan EBD... I've seen similarly different photos of Tehran from +30 years ago as well. Everyone knows what's happened since.

What happened with the New York snowstorm.
(NMA animation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKHvT0gHx7g

I think, EBD, that that outline is an airbrushed, whitewashed image of a small part of Afghanistan- the Kabul area. This 'bubble' ignores that the tribal areas of Afghanistan dominate the land base.

After all, you would not have an entire population living within an educated and modern and industrial lifestyle - revert to the non-industrial tribalism that is the reality in Afghanistan today. The fact is: that primitive tribalism exists - and it has taken over the country.

There was a period of massive international investment in Afghanistan, from the Soviets, the US, China, etc. So, what's going on?

There is the reality of Pakistan - ever looming with its agenda of destroying Afghanistan. I'd say that Pakistan was behind the uprising of the outlying tribes, the take-over of the govt (1978)..
And the Taliban -in 1994 - also supported by Pakistan.

So, Afghanistan's dominant lifestyle of tribalism, bonded to that of Pakistan and Iran - burst that unreal Kabul lifestyle.

Marc, I knew a few Persians in Vancouver who said the same thing, that Iran used to be much more open and modern. They knew exactly why it regressed, too.

I think the article makes that perfectly clear, ET - that this was Kabul, and not the whole country - but the fact that this sort of life is no longer possible in Kabul is highly significant.

And yes, the extent to which that Pakistan is a huge part of the current problem can't be overstated.

Tips...we're looking for tips...who's got tips....

Oh wait, here's one:

"The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that there are 2,869,000 Muslims in Britain, an increase of 74 per cent on its previous figure of 1,647,000, which was based on the 2001 census. No demographic statistics are reliable in an era of open borders, but such an expansion is unprecedented."

(...)

"The fact that many terrorists are Muslims may lead to unfair assumptions about the loyalty of British Muslims. But, at a time when – according to some surveys – around 40 per cent of the Muslim community support the establishment of Sharia, fears of social fracture are understandable."

A friend of mine from England says that they refer to the Muslim areas in Britain as the 'Dark Areas' where one does not go. He said 'dark' does not refer to skin colour.

"Venezuela’s Minister of Finance announced the devaluation of the “lower” official exchange rate of Bs. 2.6 per US$ to unify it with the Bs. 4.3 rate, essentially devaluing the exchange rate for all essential items by 65%." Note: this only affects "essentials", not cellular phones for example, they were already available at the elevated rate, and it was 2 ? years ago that Hugo lopped 3 zeros from the currency in order to wrestle inflation to the ground.

Tourists can still trade dollars above 8 to 1, outside of the official channels, just don't get caught.

http://devilsexcrement.com/2010/12/30/venezuelan-minister-of-finance-announces-devaluation-of-currency/

EBD @10:06 - yes, but it's okay because they're banning plastic shopping bags:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/29/italy-ban-plastic-bags-starting-jan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxbusiness%2Feconomy+%28Internal+-+Economy+-+Text%29

Ezra Klein = Journ-O-list = Obnoxiously Ignorant Foooooool!!!

Here's why

Texas Tony has a few things to say about the silence and hypocrisy of the Libtards.

Another perfect example of what passes for "thinking" in government.

It is illegal almost everywhere (maybe everywhere?) in this country to display any tobacco product at its point of sale.

Governement has now introduced new "shock" packaging on tobacco packaging to discourge smoking.

So the new ineffectual shock packaging will be just as well hidden from view as the old ineffectual mildly shocking packaging was.

And the left wonders why conservatives ain't dancing in the streets over big government?

Mocked Meteorologist Gets Last Laugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwyjsJJrr2I&feature=player_embedded

AGW Progress Report: A "Tail end" Tale.

>>> New UFO sighting: "snow-type flurries".

"People in Phoenix were stunned at the sight of snow-type flurries."

"Phoenix braced for a subfreezing Friday morning, a rarity in the desert city."

...-

"Tail end of storms blast some Western states"

"DENVER (AP) -- Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico struggled against the tail end of storms New Year's Eve that left more westerly states recovering from a wintertime onslaught of snow, rain and bitter wind.

Denver faced its heaviest snows of the season early Friday, while parts of Wyoming and New Mexico bundled up against stormy weather and frigid temperatures.

Phoenix braced for a subfreezing Friday morning, a rarity in the desert city."

"Snow and strong winds in northeastern Wyoming were expected overnight accompanied by subzero temps. The weather service Thursday posted blizzard and winter storm warnings for parts of eastern and southern Wyoming.

Meanwhile, a cold front was continuing its sweep across New Mexico with overnight snows in the east."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WESTERN_WEATHER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-12-30-20-42-50

Update: AGW PR Report.

BWowser says, lookee at this.

We're all dead now.

...-

"Josef says:
December 31, 2010 at 1:41 am

Germany in coldest December in 40 years:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90853/7247950.html

UK WEATHER: DECEMBER HAS BEEN COLDEST FOR 300 YEARS

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/220085/UK-weather-December-has-been-coldest-for-300-yearsUK-weather-December-has-been-coldest-for-300-years#ixzz19gGs3ej4

H/T WUWT?

Iggy’s “internal rectification”, aka purge, is underway.

Iggy is a flounder, a bottom-of-the-poll feeder.

PET Cemetery calls for the recall of Liberal MP Citoyen Kyoto Dionky.

But, PET is passe/DOA.

Now, we hail as chief: Mao Stlong’s nephew, “B.R”; that’s left-liberal code for socialist Bub Rae.

“That potential leader’s initials are likely B.R., and he’s a former premier of Ontario.”

More: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority government has been in power for five years, a Canadian record for a ruling minority.”

“The media’s eagerness to be rid of the Conservatives means the pressure on Ignatieff to force an election with a non-confidence vote against the austerity budget coming at us in the spring will be unrelenting from the moment the House returns from its Christmas break on Jan. 31.

Additional pressure also will be brought to bear on Ignatieff by party militants who mistakenly think they can win, and from Liberals on the party’s left who simply want him to lose his first election so they can dump him and appoint another leader more to their liking.

That potential leader’s initials are likely B.R., and he’s a former premier of Ontario.”

“In Harper’s interview with CTV, he dismissed election talk as premature. With the economy the way it is, this is no time to “screw around with a bunch of political games.”

Harper’s take is probably one most Canadians would agree with. Why, it’s almost Don Cherry-like.”
…-

“Federal spring election unlikely with Liberals floundering in polls”

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Federal+spring+election+unlikely+with+Liberals+floundering+polls/4044899/story.html

http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2010/12/29/what-would-queen-elizabeth-do/#comment-58098

If peer review was a drug it would never be allowed onto the market,' says Drummond Rennie, deputy editor of the Journal Of the American Medical Association

Classical peer review: an empty gun
http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/12/S4/S13

Ski Saskatchewan

http://tinyurl.com/28xchua

EBD, I've managed to locate "The Decalogue" DVD. We're looking forward to watching.

(Is it the kind of thing to watch for a light, entertaining evening with friends or should we start after tonight?)

Happy New Year!

Special Report: Top 11 Technologies of the Decade

From smartphones to cloud computing to planetary rovers to flexible AC transmission....

France is prepariing for annual islamist fireworks festival.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101231/wl_nm/us_france_newyear

AGW "crazy" Progress Report.

Who's crazy now?

Here's the abominable ignorance/bs of the MSM:

"It’s been so cold that even the sea has frozen to create these chunks of ice."

The MSM is Napoleon.

...-

"Icebergs off Cumbria as weather turns crazy round the world"

"Polar scenes on the Solway Firth came as Britain has shivered in the coldest December on record. It’s been so cold that even the sea has frozen to create these chunks of ice.

Weather forecasters warn that the grim conditions are likely to bring fog to the country today – meaning that many New Year’s Eve fireworks shows may be hit by poor visibility.

Met Office weatherman Mark Seltzer said: “The general outlook is quite murky and for fog. Combined with the low-lying cloud, it is going to prove problematic for fireworks displays.”"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/12/31/icebergs-off-cumbria-as-weather-turns-crazy-round-the-world-115875-22816466/

Curse you EBD, I'm addicted to this video. Sadly, there is serious doubt whether I can woo this fine woman, as this seems to be her life partner as well, talented individuals both:

Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding are two of the most talented and innovative Irish Dancers in the world. They first met on the Irish Dance competition circuit where between them they accumulated World, North American, All Scotland and Great British championship titles. At 17 the couple were head-hunted by Riverdance and after only six months were chosen to lead the show as the productions’ youngest ever understudies

Remember some of those SDA debates in which some intrepid commenters suggested that the Arab-Israeli conflict was ... JIHAD. I've refused to call it the Israeli-"Palestinian" conflict, preferring the Arab-Israeli conflict. But according to Jonathan Speyer that's wrong too.

The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.

From a FrontPage interview:

"The book is concerned with the emergence over the last decade of a new conflict, or rather a new mutation of an old conflict.

"I suggest that the old Arab-Israeli conflict has been in a long process of winding down since the mid-1970s, as the Arab states that once led it gradually leave the field of engagement. However, the combination of popular Islamist movements in Arab countries and the state interest of the Islamic Republic of Iran is producing a new alliance which is committed to the destruction of Jewish sovereignty. So the book describes the emergence of this alliance, the basis of its strategic optimism and its belief system, the response of the Israeli society and state to the challenge posed by this new alliance, and the main engagements between the two sides so far, with a particular focus on the 2006 Second Lebanon War."

It was due
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/31/man-in-muslim-woman%e2%80%99s-garb-robs-ottawa-bank/

I understand Coke is made by bubbling carbon dioxide through flavoured sugar water.
Boycott Coke and save the planet

Onward to 30 million Kate congrats and thanks

It was due
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/31/man-in-muslim-woman%e2%80%99s-garb-robs-ottawa-bank/

I understand Coke is made by bubbling carbon dioxide through flavoured sugar water.
Boycott Coke and save the planet

Onward to 30 million Kate congrats and thanks

AGW Progress Report.

For Sale: used lemonade.

Thanks to a grant from Our Enemy, The State, which as we know is flush with our tax money, we are able to offer this bargain (for a limited time only).

Apply here: socialismAGW.caca

...-

"Families forced to use lemonade to flush toilets as fury mounts

Families left without water for almost two weeks are being forced to use lemonade to flush their toilets as the Northern Irish crisis deepened today.

And amid calls for heads to roll at state-run Northern Ireland Water – who have been blamed for the creaking system that has led to the shortage – managers have refused to cancel all staff leave."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343001/NORTHERN-IRELAND-WATER-CRISIS-Families-use-lemonade-flush-toilets.html

[...]

"Telegraph | More than 3,000 Yorkshire homes left without water after pipe burst"

...-

http://www.jacksnewswatch.com/

AGW Progress Report.

For Sale: used lemonade.

Thanks to a grant from Our Enemy, The State, which as we know is flush with our tax money, we are able to offer this bargain (for a limited time only).

Apply here: socialismAGW.caca

...-

"Families forced to use lemonade to flush toilets as fury mounts

Families left without water for almost two weeks are being forced to use lemonade to flush their toilets as the Northern Irish crisis deepened today.

And amid calls for heads to roll at state-run Northern Ireland Water – who have been blamed for the creaking system that has led to the shortage – managers have refused to cancel all staff leave."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343001/NORTHERN-IRELAND-WATER-CRISIS-Families-use-lemonade-flush-toilets.html

[...]

"Telegraph | More than 3,000 Yorkshire homes left without water after pipe burst"

...-

http://www.jacksnewswatch.com/

James Allan, True north strong and free?

But Canada is also the capital of political correctness run rampant, to an extent few Australians would credit as plausible. You get the newspaper columnist Mark Steyn taken before various Canadian Human Rights tribunals not for the fact what he wrote was false but rather simply because people were offended. And then there’s the stand-up Canadian comedian taken before these same officious bureaucrats for hurting the feelings of a lesbian member of his audience. (I know, it’s not really possible to make this stuff up. Apparently you can’t insult people who come to hear you as a stand up comic, you’ve got to laugh with them – I’m not sure, to be honest, at what.) And of course there’s the fact that freedom of religion and religious views seem always to lose out to equality concerns in the Great White North, and I say that as an avowed atheist myself, but one who can recognise when a group is getting a raw deal.

Put more bluntly, freedom of speech in Canada looks a lot more enervated and emasculated and hedged about with politically correct limits than here in Australia.

Canada is also a much more top-down, elite driven country. The judges, under their constitutionally entrenched bill of rights, make all sorts of social policy line-drawing decisions that here in Australia would be made by the elected Parliament, on issues related to same sex marriage, immigration, private health care, judges’ pay, abortion, re-writing human rights legislation to add a new ground, and so on and so forth.

But the latest instalment in the Canadian advancement of political correctness is quite astonishing. You see Canada is on the verge of passing a law that says its top judges, the ones on the Supreme Court there, will have to be bilingual before they can be appointed....

The new backwardsness in Afghanistan is not a unique situation. There are many places in Africa that have gone through the same process. The most obvious example is Rhodesia. Many places in Africa were made civilized by their British colonial overlords, and when they left it was pretty much down hill. It is now so far in the past that even the memory of it is 4 or 5 generations ago. The current generation is pretty much back to the stone age cannibalism that existed before colonialism. Ivory Coast, Liberia. Zimbabwe, Kenya, Angola, were all more civilized 50 years ago than they are now.

Lookout (10:13):

I can say with certainty that the Decalogue is perfectly unsuitable for an evening of light entertainment with friends. It deals with serious and uncomfortable (and not always easy to spot) moral issues that are teased out almost in the form of a puzzle. It's simultaneously slow and spare in form, and incredibly dense (in the non-pejorative sense of the word), so if you miss one short exchange of dialogue, or one *word*, or one visual image, you can entirely lose the plot.

Best watched alone, or with one other person, in focused, meditative silence. Trust me on this one. If you're going to watch a movie on New Year Eve with friends, go with something like "Meet Me In St. Louis."

/:>)>

Noticed this while catching on reading a blog meant for small entrepreneurs who produce clothing lines. How racist...

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/it_all_starts_here_3/

"...in the movies, the cotton pickers are always sweating up a storm in what appears to be mid-July. You know, overseers with whips and sweat drenched slaves? In real life however, it would seem that cotton isn’t picked -or rather scooped- until the temperature turns chilly. So much for Hollywood movies warping our sense of harvest and seasons."

So, when do we get to see Cleary and Harding dance?

lookout, how about choosing one from this pot-pourri:

My Man Godfrey, the original with Carole Lombard and William Powell

or

Singin' in the Rain with Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor

or

Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hebburn and George Peppard

or

Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon

or

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with MM and Jane Russell

'Just a few suggestions. (But I'm going to get The Decalogue for sure ... for another night ...)

look at the compassion written all over this woman's face. take a look. #1 in the series. Michaelle Jean speaking about the earthquake. why do you people hate this woman so much?

http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/canada/4279/

"why do you people hate this woman so much?"

Yeah, why do we? I mean, what are you basing this on?

beagle, I'm quite serious - if you are taking drugs of some kind, in the spirit of the season... stop.

AGW Progressive Report:

We have regressed to fraud/criminality as per Red-Green Mao Stlong's directives.

Happy New Yeal, flom Mao's nephew, Canadian Liberal leader, Bub Lae.

...-

"Europol Arrests More Than 100 In Carbon Trading Fraud"

"- Estimated 5 billion euros in damage for European taxpayers

- Massive fraud involving criminal networks / Middle East"

"Here’s more proof that trading of CO2 emission certificates is fraught with fraud and attracts seedy criminal organizations – all costing the consumers and taxpayers billions.

Worse yet, it has spread out of control and appears that the authorities can’t keep up.

The Austrian online Kleine Zeitung here reports that Europol have raided an elaborate CO2 emissions scam in Italy and have arrested more than 100 persons.

The Kleine Zeitung writes: “The damage runs in the billions of euros”.

According to Europol, the Italian tax authorities, directed by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office, have raided 150 companies in Italy. The fraud involves evasion of value added tax with CO2 emission certificates. More than 100 have been arrested and are suspected of being involved in organised crime.

The Kleiner Zeitung reports that the Italian Electric Utilities trading markets had earlier halted entire trading with emissions certificates “because a high number of abnormal transactions”. The loss in tax revenue just from VAT (MTIC (Missing Trader IntraCommunity Fraud) alone is estimated to be 500 million euros, the online Kleine Zeitung writes.

The fraud is widespread

According to reports, it’s been known since June of last year that criminal organizations have been using CO2-emissions trading for defrauding governments of value added tax.

This is not the first time that police raids of this scale have taken place. It’s the latest in a series of raids that have been carried out all over Europe this year, all involving the trading of CO2 emission certificates. It seems the authorities just can’t keep up with the multitudes of swindlers out there."

http://notrickszone.com/2010/12/28/europol-arrests-more-than-100-in-carbon-trading-fraud/

Beagle @ 5:37....it was the followers of the Coalition of Idiots who hated Michaelle Jean for allowing the prorogation of parliament last winter....you're calling the wrong group haters.

Happy New Year, Dead Gopher Nation!

Civil servant keeps job despite porn

http://tinyurl.com/232fc58

EBD, thank you very much for your notes on "The Decalogue": what I'd thought, actually. I'll watch each episode sparingly and keep alert.

batb, many thanks for the movie suggestions, but I'm actually spending a quiet evening reading "The Making of the Saint John's Bible" and listening to "The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"--my idea of a truly fine New Year's Eve!

To everyone here, a very Happy New Year.

Yeah, Happy New Year, Black Mamba and all the other SDAers!!! Here's to a GR-8 2011!