Ironies multiply as rescue ice-breaker is also stuck in Antarctic ice

December 28, 2013

I posted earlier about the irony of the Guardian having to report this story about the lack of the expected melting of ice during the Antarctic summer.

The ironies multiply.

The objective of the tourists, the journalists and the ostensibly “scientific” team was to recreate the journey of Douglas Mawson 100 years ago. They got stuck in 3m thick ice and three ice-breakers have gone to their rescue. The first, a Chinese ice-breaker is now also stuck in the ice. The “scientific” team is led by – wait for it – Chris Turney, a “professor of climate change” at the University of New South Wales in Australia!!

Some immediate questions arise:

  1. Who pays for the rescue ships? (I do hope the Guardian and the BBC and the University of NSW pay their fair share).
  2. If the journey of 100 years ago cannot be retraced because there is more ice now – what does that say about global warming theory and melting polar ice?
  3. What does a professor of climate change do – apart from profess his faith in climate change?
  4. When does “climate change” change from being global warming to global cooling?

CNN reports:

Only at the South Pole: Icebreaker also stuck — in ice — heading for stranded ship

South Pole weather has stymied a rescue by a Chinese icebreaker trying to reach an expedition vessel trapped for the past four days in frozen seas, a ship officer told CNN Friday.

The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, was just six nautical miles away from the rescue, but now it’s stuck in an Antarctica ice floe, too.

The Chinese crew is hoping a French icebreaker 14 nautical miles away will arrive and offer relief, said Zhu Li, chief officer of the Chinese ship.

But it’s likely the French vessel Astrolabe will also be slowed by the polar cap’s extreme frigidity, Zhu said.

Those two icebreakers — plus a third, from Australia — were battling the planet’s coldest environment in trying to reach the stranded Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, whose 74 researchers, crew and tourists remained in good condition despite being at a frozen standstill since Monday. …..

Antarctic sea ice is currently at record levels and global sea ice extent is greater than it has been for two decades. It should be noted that few proponents of climate change yet have the courage to state what is really happening but which is politically incorrect. That global warming has stopped and global cooling has begun and that carbon dioxide emissions are largely irrelevant to climate.

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Greetings for the In-between days

December 27, 2013

A God Fortsättning, a God Slut and a Gott Nytt År to you all!

In most instances English has a much richer vocabulary than Swedish does – but when it comes to greetings during the festive season, Swedish wins hands down. The nuances of available greetings are just not available in English. Perhaps because there was a greater need for nuance during the long and cold and dark winters.

In Sweden the days between Christmas and the New Year are called the In-between days (mellandagarna) and immediately after Christmas it is no longer appropriate to use Merry Christmas (God Jul) as the greeting. It shifts to God Fortsättning which can only be translated as A Good Continuation. But it is also quite common to wish people a God Slut during this time. But this is also a nuance of greeting that Swedish has which does not appear in English. The literal translation of God Slut in English would be Have a good ending which may be taken to be somewhat morbid or an invitation to take hemlock!  Have a good ending to the Year is a little too long and doesn’t trip of the tongue as well and as succinctly as God Slut. Of course it is perfectly permissible to use Gott Nytt År – Good New Year – during the In-between days.

The In-between days run from December 26th to December 30th.

Clearly God Jul cannot be used after 25th December and God Slut cannot be used after 31st December but God fortsättning can. In theory God fortsättning can be used at any time. I have even heard it used at Advent and during the vacation period in July (when Sweden is closed). But I have heard it most often during the In-between days and then for the first 2 or 3 weeks of January. Gott Nytt År can be used well into February – especially if it is the first meeting of the Year.

And so during these In-between days,

God fortsättning! followed by a

God Slut! and a

Gott Nytt År!

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‘Tis the day after Christmas – Limericks (5)

December 26, 2013

‘Tis the day after Christmas and we have had no snow,

Erdogan in Turkey has suffered another blow,

Against China, Shinzo Abe tries to draw a line,

As in full tie and ‘tails he visits the Yakasuni shrine,

And down under at the MCG, England are 173 for four.

–

‘Tis the day after Christmas and it is time to end the mirth,

The Queen said very little beyond Prince George’s birth,

Obama basks in Hawaii in this time of austerity,

And in his annual Christmas speech, he called for charity

The Kiwis and the Windies, in Auckland, are battling to the death.

–

‘Tis the day after Christmas but I am not depressed,

One day older every day but much new to be addressed,

Misery and mayhem everywhere and so very antagonistic,

And yet I have no problem in staying optimistic,

Two more out at the MCG, and England are distressed

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Summer in the Antarctic and expedition is trapped in thick ice

December 25, 2013

“Global sea ice area is second highest on record for the date after 1988, and closing in the #1 spot. Antarctic ice is melting very slowly this summer, due to record cold Antarctic temperatures”. — Real Science, 21st December 2013

Certainly no irony would have been intended but irony there undoubtedly is when even The Guardian is forced to report that:

Antarctic expedition stranded as ship gets stuck in ice

Scientists and explorers on Spirit of Mawson voyage will spend Christmas and Boxing Day awaiting rescue. Explorers are stranded near Antarctica after their ship became wedged in by thick sheets of sea ice.

The Spirit of Mawson voyage, which includes scientists, explorers, tourists and the Guardian journalists Alok Jha and Laurence Topham, is trapped in Antarctic ice floes and awaiting rescue.

But with the nearest ship with ice-breaking abilities at least two days away, the crew will spend Christmas and Boxing Day stuck about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a distress call on Christmas morning, notifying the rescue co-ordination centre that the ship was trapped and would need help. …

Akademik Shokalskiy surrounded by ice

A view of the ice from the boat. Photograph: Laurence Topham

The voyage is part of a research expedition to commemorate the centenary of Douglas Mawson’s exploration.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition leader, Chris Turney, wrote on Twitter: “Heavy ice. Beautiful; light wind. Only -1degC. All well. Merry Xmas everyone from AAE.”

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Dies Natalis Solis Invicti MMXIII

December 24, 2013

It is my conviction (which is more than belief and somewhat less than science) that man is – and for the foreseeable future will be – incapable of overpowering the Sun. On any scale related to human capability it is Sol Invictus which applies. And the birthday of the Sun some 4.5 billion years ago was being celebrated long before it was  hijacked by Christianity around 354 AD. And one day the sun will die and we will have moved on (or we will have perished).

Just imagine, if you possibly can, a Sun devoid of its light,

No semblance of day and no trace of any night,

But there are those, like Icarus, who are still very naive,

Who in their arrogance, and at their peril, continue to believe,

That trivialising the Sun’s power is perfectly alright.

Greetings on the day of the birth of the Invincible Sun, 25th December 2013

Optimus optat novus annus MMXIV

Sol Invictus 2013

The Fall of Icarus

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The night before Christmas – comments by limerick (4)

December 24, 2013

In the year twenty thirteen,

1. Christmas Spirit (the glass half-empty) 

‘Twas the night before Christmas in the year twenty thirteen, 

Fanatics killed fanatics and the Holy Land was unclean. 

Tribes warred with other tribes in deepest Africa,

While mayhem reigned in Syria between the Sunni and the Shia,

But, ’twas the night before Christmas and no gods dared be seen. 

2. On Putin the Merciful

Putin the Merciful is now in full flow,

The Arctic 30, Khodorkovsky and Pussy Riot has he let go.

The Games in Sotchi are just 6 weeks away,

And he badly needs visitors who are willing to pay,

But most important of all, he is praying for snow.

3. On Democracy and science

Popular democracy is now the flavour of the day,

Decisions by consensus have a preemptive right of way, 

What is right or what is true is of little relevance, 

When a majority in favour can always trump the evidence, 

And minorities must assent if they are to join the play.

4. On the Alarmist Creed

Mankind, it should be apparent is hurtling downhill,

Blind consumerism is Evil and Man must pay the bill,

We eat far too much and we breed all too fast,

The earth’s puny fuel reserves cannot possibly last,

If Warming doesn’t get them, Global Cooling will.

5. On Forms of Marriage

In Christian heaven, marriages are made monogamous,

Under Islamic enlightenment they can even be polygamous,

But with the advent of Human Rights, 

Gay abandon governs now our delights,

And monogamy and polygamy are joined by mano-on-mano-mous.

6. Christmas Spirit (the glass half-full)

‘Twas the night before Christmas in the year twenty thirteen, 

More people were being fed than ever there had been. 

Longevity worldwide was steadily increasing,

While population growth was checked and soon to be declining,

‘Twas the night before Christmas and a future could be foreseen. 

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Global cooling alarmism of the 1970’s

December 23, 2013

What remains constant is Alarmism.

If it is not global warming it is global cooling or the ozone hole or population or food shortages or water shortages or energy shortages. It does not matter what is to cause the catastrophe. What is important to some people is to assert that a catastrophe – any catastrophe – will happen if we don’t do as they say.

Which is of course why anybody with any kind of a catastrophe scenario (including the IPCC) must be treated with the utmost suspicion and subjected to the most rigorous, inquisitorial scepticism possible.

Popular Technology carried an excellent round-up of the Global Cooling Alamism of the 1970’s. And it is often the same Alarmists who are now bleating about Global Warming.

Just a couple of examples:

While a silent majority of the scientific community may have been more skeptical, you ironically find one of the most outspoken supporters of modern day Al Gore style global warming alarmism was promoting global cooling in the 1970s, the late Dr. Steven Schneider;

and

From the BBC’s 1974 documentary, “The Weather Machine”;
“The ice age is due now anytime“ – Professor George Kukla, Columbia University, 1974

In a few years we will be back to Ice Age Alarmism. Perhaps easily duped politicians will introduce incentives to consume more energy and hold back the advance of the ice-sheets!

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Comments by limerick (3)

December 23, 2013

A reader suggested that I was being unfair in not having addressed Berlusconi and Sonia Gandhi.

So here goes.

First separately and then together.

1.

Sylvio Berlusconi of bunga bunga renown,

Sought to emulate Mussolini and his shirts of brown,

But he had never in his dreams expected,

Of debauchery and tax fraud to be convicted,

And the loss of his passport has raised a nasty frown.

2

Sonia Gandhi – no relation to the Mahatma –

Would perpetuate the legacy of the Nehru atma,

But she overlooked Rahul’s lack of intelligence,

Which together with a reputation for arrogance,

Means she now wishes she had bet on Priyanka.

3.

Sonia is Indian by marriage of Italian descent,

While Sylvio is Italian of questionable ascent,

But they are both extremely wealthy,

Resulting from means fairly stealthy,

And those that follow are left to lament.

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Comments by limerick (2)

December 23, 2013

A family function led to some “scandalous” limericks being written about other family members (who were not present of course). It soon became obvious that putting together the rhymes – even with very free rhyming – and keeping the overall theme intact was not as easy as it seemed.

Finishing a limerick is eminently satisfying and these are written entirely for myself with no particular audience in mind.

1.

Vladimir Putin the Tsar of all Russia,

Fancied himself the Peacemaker of Syria,

But he had not anticipated,

That European policy was constipated,

And the winner of all Syria is now Al Qaida

2

Marks and Spencer, the epitomy of Britishness,

Decided to cow down to political correctness,

“Sensitive” muslims employed to work,

Need no longer serve customers with alcohol and pork,

Leading to ridicule for the iconic M’en’ess.

3.

George Walker Bush, he of Iraq in-fame,

In 2003 claimed the end of the game,

But as has now become bloody obvious,

He achieved nothing to any purpose,

And then in Afghanistan, Cameron did the same

4.

Barack Obama – he of questionable birth,

Pushed insurance for all, for all he was worth,

But incompetence and foolishness were rife,

As his web site caused confusion and strife

And his poster policy became an object of mirth.

5.

Francois Hollande, a rabid die-hard socialist,

Was chosen by the French to replace Sarkozy the chauvinist,

But he had no money for the war,

He waged in Mali and now in CAR.

And is now begging for a fund from capitalists.

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Global warming – Comments by limerick (1)

December 20, 2013

A mediocre, plump academic named Mann,

Devised a lucrative and cunning plan;

By means of a very Nature trick,

He fabricated a hockey stick;

But global cooling made him an also-ran.

–

The sun came up, the sun went down,

Global warming could not be found,

Where could it be – the missing heat?

Why in the oceans  – Oh so deep,

But the travesty made Trenberth frown

–

Ice-ages come and ice-ages go,

And when they come the seas lie low;

“Calamity” cried Hansen in his doom-sayer guise,

“By over 20 feet the seas shall rise”,

But then came the blizzards, ice and snow.

–

In the hallowed temples of the IPCC,

Carboniferous fuels the devil be,

But for 17 years have temperatures stalled

While coal combustion has not paused,

And the world now sees their idiocy.

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