Durban Climate Meeting Drags On - Durbanhagen Anyone?

Ronald Bailey | December 10, 2011

It's another metaphor. Durban, South Africa – The 17^th conference of the parties (COP-17) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was supposed end on Friday, December 9. However, COP-17 is still hung up on three main issues: (1) will countries agree to a “roadmap” for future negotiations being pushed by the European Union that commits them to begin hammering out “a Protocol or other legally binding instruments or arrangements for the period after 2020" and that would apply to all countries; (2) will the Europeans agree to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in which they cut further their greenhouse gas emissions; and (3) will the COP launch a Green Climate Fund designed to redistribute billions in climate change aid from rich countries to poor ones.

The latest rumors are that the conference could go into Sunday morning or that it could be simply adjourned with a decision to continue discussions at a meeting in Bonn in May. If the meeting is adjourned until later that would represent a bigger "collapse" than the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen. Too early to say which way it’s going.

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Matt M|12.10.11 @ 9:36AM|#

http://i44.tinypic.com/9lkbqa.jpg

|12.10.11 @ 9:41AM|#

MM: Amusing, but not quite accurate.

Fist of Etiquette|12.10.11 @ 9:50AM|#

No room on the flow chart for grant money?

a penny a day|12.10.11 @ 9:58AM|#

And the government mandates and policies?

|12.10.11 @ 4:22PM|#

and the UN is a group of local and regional activists?

|12.10.11 @ 8:52PM|#

or GE?

|12.13.11 @ 8:40PM|#

the un are a bunch of crimanals

|12.10.11 @ 5:08PM|#

Solyndra loan guarantees?

Ethanol subsidies?

Carbon trading banks and exchanges?

Sailor|12.10.11 @ 9:56AM|#

Where is my bribe money? I'm for sale.

rsi|12.10.11 @ 11:36AM|#

We're all paid to comment here. Contact the Koch Bros.

Local Wit|12.10.11 @ 12:12PM|#

No Koch. Pepsi.

Sevo|12.10.11 @ 10:10AM|#

Oh, Look!
Whacko propaganda with clip art graphics!
How...................
boring

Maxxx|12.10.11 @ 10:20AM|#

What is an obscene profit?

Sevo|12.10.11 @ 10:26AM|#

To a lefty? One word.

Mr. FIFY|12.10.11 @ 12:04PM|#

"Profit" = "baby rape"

Scruffy Nerfherder|12.10.11 @ 12:08PM|#

How about this:

Government lackies and career politicians are using their bully pulpits to create a crisis to which there is no answer except ever-increasing government.

Now that I think of it, that applies to the War on Terror and the War on Drugs as well.

chis|12.10.11 @ 12:25PM|#

It is not like leftist have ever ruined economies before, right comrade?

|12.10.11 @ 1:48PM|#

There are no environmental conspiracies, just stupidity.

|12.10.11 @ 4:25PM|#

No the group surrounded around the climategate emails is a conspiracy.

but they are about a dozen people....not 90% of scientists.

tarran|12.10.11 @ 2:18PM|#

Since BP and Shell have been funding the cult of Alarmism the meme that skepticism is funded by oil company shills is one of the dumber lies the cultists have been peddling.

EnviroSlut|12.10.11 @ 9:39AM|#

"Bring on the booze, the coke and the whores! Let's extend this for another week!"

Colin|12.10.11 @ 10:46AM|#

If Al's there that'll mean lots of extra work for masseuses.

And lots of happy endings.

|12.10.11 @ 8:56PM|#

Don't worry, rectal, we've got idiots like you to balance it out and propagate the bullshit that is "global warming".

insensitive monster|12.10.11 @ 10:01AM|#

The lunar eclipse this morning was awesome. Captured 790 pictures and it looks like a full day of editing ahead.

rsi|12.10.11 @ 12:18PM|#

Yes from where?

In Kansas City I did't see much.

insensitive monster|12.10.11 @ 12:28PM|#

So Cal. Clear, crisp morning with decent seeing conditions considering how low on the horizon. Pictures captured with DSLR and telephoto lens + DSLR coupled to Meade SCT

rsi|12.10.11 @ 1:25PM|#

It was clear here for change. We were supposed to get a partial. I didn't see squat.

Yeah, I went down to the beach in Santa Monica at five in the morning. When in totality the Sun was rising and the Moon literally 'disappeared' in the blue emerging dawn.

It was surreal, like if you didn't know where in the sky the Moon was you would not have noticed it. Very, very cool.

insensitive monster|12.10.11 @ 2:36PM|#

spaceweather.com has some nice shots from all over the planet plus its a great site for everything solar. They have a cool cell phone program for satellite flybys.

Realist|12.10.11 @ 10:33AM|#

The weather whores are just dragging out this loser.

Colin|12.10.11 @ 10:44AM|#

As someone once said, "Millions for defense, but not one penny for tribute."

|12.10.11 @ 10:54AM|#

These are dedicated, hard-working bureaucrats, slavishly trying to resolve a thorny, complex issue. It is inconceivable that they would drag this process out for their own selfish reasons.

Mo Trubble|12.10.11 @ 11:45AM|#

We are talking about the Mid-East Peace Process, right?

Mr. FIFY|12.10.11 @ 12:57PM|#

Dig this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Not enough to fool me/talk me into voting for Gingrich, but I love how he put this out there.

Mr. FIFY|12.10.11 @ 1:13PM|#

Just so we're clear, folks:

Nothing will ever make me vote for Gingrich.

But this was a good piece.

|12.10.11 @ 1:25PM|#

I don't know, it seems kinda retarded.

Every group of people could be called invented.

And if the Palestinians aren't a separate people because they're historically Arab, then what the fuck are the Jews? I guess everyone is historically African if we go far back enough, because 200,000 years ago that's where all our ancestors were.

Someone needs to smack Titties on his giant fucking moon-head. I'm glad Paul is going after him so hard.

Saikh Saad al-Buraik|12.10.11 @ 1:36PM|#

Well said, capitol l!

And to my Muslim brothers in Palestine, do not have any mercy neither compassion on the Jews, their blood, their money, their flesh. Their women are yours to take, legitimately. God made them yours. Why don't you enslave their women? Why don't you wage jihad? Why don't you pillage them?

|12.10.11 @ 1:47PM|#

Fuck off.

Posting some theocratic muslim bullshit ain't a response you fucking child raper.

And yes, because you cannot pick a fucking handle you will henceforth be known as child raper, child raper. Because only a child raping bible thumping nincompoop couldn't admit that arabs and Jews have the same ancestry.

Saudi High School Textbook|12.10.11 @ 2:26PM|#

You are correct, it isn't about ancestry, nationalism, or anything political. It is religious.

[One reason for Israel's military victories over Arbas is ] Islam's estrangement from the domain of [religious] struggle with the Jews, and the appearance of false calls and slogans such as Arab nationalism and socialism. [Another reason is that] many in the ummah disregard the [true] essence of our conflict with the Jews, which is a purely religious struggle, with the Jews drawing their principles from their distorted books. Allah, may He be exalted and glorified, commanded us to pin our hopes on Him. [Allah,] may He be exalted, said: 'And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited' [Koran 3:103].

To overcome the spiritual defeatism that has harmed many of us. We are, as described by God, may He be praised and glorified, the greatest nation to have risen among mankind, and the Jews, as they are described by the noble Koran, are the most cowardly and life-lusting people, as has already been proven by the conflicts with the Jews throughout history.

Jihad for the sake of Allah is the only path to liberating Palestine. Only through jihad did the Muslims conquer Jerusalem, and only through jihad did the Crusaders leave Palestine. Likewise, only through jihad will the Jews leave Palestine.

The only point of departure in our handling of the issue of Palestine [should be] absolute faith in Islam and in the fact that all rulings related to this issue must be derived from [Islam].

|12.10.11 @ 3:28PM|#

I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with your "crazy theocratic muslims are crazy theocrats!" copy and paste spree, child raper, but if it's to make some cogent point then you're failing.

If two arbitrarily created peoples want to kill each other over their (same!) sky god, why the fuck should I care?

You seem to have a lot of emotion invested in this issue though, so copy and paste away, moron.

Zuheir Mohsen|12.10.11 @ 1:41PM|#

The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.

|12.10.11 @ 1:50PM|#

The American people does not exist. There is no difference between Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans.

I just said that, so it must be true.

Neu Mejican|12.10.11 @ 1:59PM|#

Ironically Gingrinch may be the most historically ignorant politician on the national scene. Or he would be if it weren't for Perry.

|12.10.11 @ 4:36PM|#

The irony is that he is a history professor and garnering votes from the christian right whose 2000 year old bible specifically identify the Palestinians as Samaritans.

Heroic Mulatto|12.10.11 @ 5:07PM|#

Starting in the 60's, the Palestinians began to advance the claim that they were descended from Jebusites. Some argue that they fabricated this lineage as a way to justify their territorial claims. I'm more inclined to believe that they do so because they're uncomfortable with scholarly consensus that they are Islamized Hebrews.

Nude Mex|12.10.11 @ 7:43PM|#

Sorry about that last post. Newt is right.

Mr. FIFY|12.11.11 @ 12:20AM|#

Sorry, cap, but I just can't get all misty-eyed over the Palestinians anymore. Or any other group that has a perpetual bone to pick with Israel.

The UN created that country, and it's been one thing after another ever since. People in that region should just give up and stop trying to fuck with Israel, stop bitching about its mere existence, and get the fuck over it.

There's more than just one problem on this planet at any given time.

|12.11.11 @ 2:11PM|#

This has nothing to do with my assertion that if you want to call the Palestinians an invented people then you'd have to concede that every geographically/genetically/ideologically aligned group of people would have to be considered invented as well.

One could make that argument regardless of where one stands on middle eastern politics.

Mu Hahm Ed|12.10.11 @ 5:01PM|#

The "there is no such thing as Palestinians" meme is one of the most brain dead in all of politicdom.

Palestinians - Arabs who were living in the region of Palestine and were displaced when the modern state of Israel was created.

David Duke|12.10.11 @ 4:55PM|#

In the interview, which was taped Wednesday in Washington and will be broadcast Monday on The Jewish Channel, Gingrich spoke

I thought all tv channels were Jewish channels.

rsi|12.10.11 @ 11:47AM|#

So people are contributing money to reason so Bailey can hang out in Durban, the party capital of the world.

Local Wit|12.10.11 @ 12:13PM|#

You're even funnier than I. More!

|12.10.11 @ 12:50PM|#

Looks like NASA is gonna "let" SpaceX go to the ISS on a trial cargo run.

I swear, if I owned SpaceX, I'd just tell NASA to go fuck themselves and move to a nation where they don't have to be credentialed or "allowed" to fly into space if they want to. What could NASA do? It's not like they can pull somebody over in space...especially when their manned rockets can't even reach LEO anymore.

Mr. Mark|12.10.11 @ 12:54PM|#

What does the ISS even do?

Why is it there?

Why have I paid for it?

What is the point?

|12.10.11 @ 1:46PM|#

Nothing.

Because Top Men said it should be.

Don't you care about science, you Luddite?

Point? Why does there have to be a point for a government program?

tarran|12.10.11 @ 2:20PM|#

It's a giant welfare program for guys w/ the knowledge to build ballistic missiles.

jtuf|12.10.11 @ 1:19PM|#

I agree that there is an unalienable right to fly in space, but docking is another matter. You need permission to walk into any earthbound federal research facility. Why would the ISS be differnt?

I was trying to make a larger point. The simple fact that they have to get NASA's permission to fly into space from the USA is absurd. This trip to the ISS is just the latest step in the progression.

slurpyinca|12.10.11 @ 4:49PM|#

And all those gd rules about obeying air traffic controllers at airports! Fascists!

|12.10.11 @ 5:17PM|#

Yeah, because the traffic in space is as heavy as it is around an airport.

Dumbass.

|12.10.11 @ 5:20PM|#

Oh, and +1 to me.

rsi|12.10.11 @ 1:35PM|#

But what if the space missiles fail? They fall and damage the earth!

|12.10.11 @ 1:51PM|#

I swear, if I owned SpaceX, I'd just tell NASA to go fuck themselves and move to a nation where they don't have to be credentialed or "allowed" to fly into space if they want to.

SpaceX would have gone under long time ago without COTS-cash. NASA tells them whats up because they are on NASA's dole.

jtuf|12.10.11 @ 1:20PM|#

This is what OWS demoracty looks like. No one is allowed to return home until everyone signs this contract.

|12.10.11 @ 1:54PM|#

At least the Warmers went to a typically hot place and the local weather didn't give'em six days of record lows like Cancun. I guess you could say that while God is not on their side (he is distracted by Tim Tebow these days me thinks) at least he no longer has time or inclination to mock them.

So Durban was not a total waste for the Warmer cause.

|12.10.11 @ 9:00PM|#

Not to mention the fact that it's fucking summer over there.

|12.10.11 @ 2:04PM|#

Jay-Z wants Obama to raise his taxes.

"I wouldn't mind paying more taxes if it went to the things that really mattered," Jay-Z told CNN. "If it went to education, to people in poverty, if it went to the right things, I wouldn't mind."

Isn't it great to live in a country where the functionally retarded can become billionaires?

Heroic Mulatto|12.10.11 @ 2:13PM|#

But there are organizations that would use Jay-Z's money toward the "right things," they're called private charities and I wonder just how much of the H.O.V.A.'s income is voluntarily donated to them?

|12.10.11 @ 2:25PM|#

Yup.

Sevo|12.10.11 @ 3:13PM|#

And it's a good bet the charities would waste less in admin costs.

mad libertarian guy|12.10.11 @ 3:14PM|#

However much his highly paid team of accountants thinks is necessary in order to avoid paying that money in taxes.

|12.10.11 @ 3:45PM|#

It's a sad state of affairs when one's altruism isn't measured by the amount of one's own self-sacrifice, but by how much one advocates that others sacrifice (at the point of a gun).

veemee sashimi|12.10.11 @ 3:09PM|#

"If it went to education, to people in poverty, if it went to the right things"

Such as basketball stadiums built on the wreckage of normal people's homes?

|12.10.11 @ 3:18PM|#

I know, right? That was my first thought too!

|12.10.11 @ 4:16PM|#

What's a "Jay-Z?"

|12.10.11 @ 4:34PM|#

It's a rapper from NYC that isn't NAS.

|12.10.11 @ 4:42PM|#

Why did Chuck D. change his name?

|12.10.11 @ 4:52PM|#

... and hasn't died of a gunshot wound, yet.

Mr. FIFY|12.11.11 @ 12:21AM|#

Apparently, rich people aren't smart enough to voluntarily pay more taxes, if it makes them feel less guilty.

Koan|12.10.11 @ 4:22PM|#

High taxes are designed for a lazy, morally corrupted society that would rather the government do their charitable work for them. Except it's not charitable work. And the people know it, but still pretend that it's charitable so as to feel better about themselves, which makes them . . . morally corrupt and lazy.

|12.10.11 @ 6:00PM|#

Obama sets off White House metal detector with cell phone.

Too bad he wasn't sneaking a hari-kari knife back in.

|12.10.11 @ 7:44PM|#

OK wow that makes a lot of sense dude. Seriously.

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