Ha-ha!

Excellent stuff:

The New Zealand Climate Education Trust - a branch of the NZ Climate Science Coalition - challenged NIWA figures, in the High Court at Auckland earlier this year, which showed a rise in temperatures in New Zealand of 1degC over the past 100 years. 

The group said the temperature increase of 1degC was significantly higher than global warming figures around the world and almost 50 per cent above the global average. 

In the High Court judgement, released today, Justice Geoffrey Venning ruled that the New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust had not been successful in any of the challenges they brought against NIWA. 

Justice Venning also decided that NIWA's cost should be paid by the trust and he said that if an agreement on the costs could not be reached he would make another ruling at a later stage.

Obviously, the courts are all controlled by the liberal-elite-PC-space lizard-Jews. That was sarcasm, for the terminallt stupid.

How do you shuffle shit?

It shows just how hopelessly hopeless the Tories are that when David Cameron reshuffles portfolios, and attempts to promote new talent, you immediately wish he hadn't.  His original cabinet really was the best line up, the Big Beasts in a party of pygmies.

More on the Labour / Green alliance fantasy

Over on the Standrad, there has been another of the apparently endless series of posts extolling the likelihood of some red-green coalition. The latest one is courtesy of James Henderson:

I reckon that if Labour and the Greens combined get more votes than National next election, they’ll be able to find enough support parties to govern. Vice versa too. 

During the last term, National averaged an 11% lead over Lab+Green. This term 3%. Since June, less than 1%.

Look, I'm not saying this is an impossible outcome. I am saying it is far fetched, and the left seem to be pinning far too much hope on it.

It's pretty pathetic, really, to see the Labour Party that once stood for the best progressive instincts of the country, whining about how it can still scrabble to the line with a considerable dose of support from minor parties and professional factionalists.

Labour have to learn to stand on their own two feet if they are to be a viable governing party. They can’t rely on the Green to toddle along with 15% of the vote and push them over - or anywhere close to - the line. The Greens have their own interests and their own voters’ interests to think of. They are not just a slightly dishevelled, pot smoking extension of the Labour Party. They can – and will – do business with National if need be. Labour will lose support if they are constantly chasing the elusive Green Alliance. They will look feeble, disgust their supporters and find themselves going no-where if they try. Stop dreaming about Red-Green alliances, if the Red team can’t get itself into a more useful position, it won’t be going anywhere near the Government benches.

What can Labour do? On studying the talent available, very little. The best team is in the top jobs, shuffling them about would make a minute difference, but there isn’t very much they can do unless they face up to the reality that vaguely aping National’s policies with a few populist, opportunistic postures, isn’t going to get them anywhere.

I suspect, bitterly, that Labour is simply hoping Key gets bored and goes away before the next election – for if Labour’s talent pool is pretty shallow, National’s – without Key – is a sort of anti-pool.

Warsi all about?

It would appear Baroness Warsi's proletarian credentials were not enough for Comrade Dave. She's out.

Lady Warsi had appealed to the Prime Minister to allow her to carry on in the post but she was widely expected to be moved on. 

Her deputy, Michael Fallon, Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Employment Minister Chris Grayling are seen as strong candidates to take over. 

The peer used her official ToryChairman Twitter account this morning to confirm she was "signing off", saying it had been "a privilege and an honour to serve my party as co-chairman".

Interesting to see where Cameron finds the much needed new blood in the thoroughly anemic corpse of the Tory party.

When two Tories go to war

One of the more intruiging spats developing in British Conservative politics features two potential future leaders of the Tory Party, Boris Jonson and Zac Goldsmith. These two worthies - both quite likeable (for tories) in their own ways seem to be on collision course:

Mr Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, told The Daily Telegraph he was ready to desert the party if it ditched its pledge to block Heathrow’s expansion. 

“I promised before the election that if the Conservatives perform a U-turn on Heathrow, I would trigger an immediate by-election so that local voters can have their say,” he said. 

“Clearly, I would honour that commitment.” 

Mr Goldsmith snatched the seat from the Liberal Democrats at the last election and a by-election in a highly marginal constituency - which is under the flight-path for Heathrow - would not only be unwelcome news for David Cameron, but also expose further Tory divisions on airport expansion. In recent weeks the party has been beset by infighting. 

Boris Johnson, London’s mayor has accused Mr Cameron of “pussyfooting around” on the issue.

Surprisingly principled stance by Goldsmith. BoJo, of course, wouldn't know what a principle was if it savaged him with a meat cleaver. Still, it is easy for Goldsmith to come over all principled - it isn't like her really needs the salary from being an MP.

Be interesting how this works out.  If Cameron lets the runway proceed, then Goldsmith storms off in a huff. E ven if returned as an MP, he will be pretty pissed off with Cameron.  If Cameron doesn't cave in on the runway issue, BoJo rails at him and bemoans the lack of ambition, enterprise and brave thinking in the Conservative party.  Either way, he is strengthening a potential successor and creating a dangerous malcontent.

EDIT - the above is horseshit.  BoJo, now that I'm in charge of my head once again, is not in favour of a Heathrow expansion.  He wants to build an Island in the Thames.  So the 'Two Tories warring over a runway' idea is the product of my tired and emotional brain.  There are Dark Forces in the Tory Party pushing for more Heathrow, but Jonson is not among them.

The face of the British proletariat

 

“If you look at the demographics, at where we need to be at the next election, we need more people in the North voting for us, more of what they call here 'blue collar’ workers and I call the white working class. 

We need more people from urban areas voting for us, more people who are not white and more women. “I play that back and think: 'I’m a woman, I’m not white, I’m from an urban area, I’m from the North, I’m working class – I kind of fit the bill. All the groups that we’re aiming for are groups that I’m familiar with.”

As far as I can tell, said without the slightest trace of irony by BARONESS Warsi, who is the daughter of a genuine northern mill owning capitalist; a university graduate; and a former solicitor.

How very representative of the British blue collar.

Am I reading this right?

From Paul Ryan's speech to the Republican convention:

"Without a change in leadership, why should the next four years be any different from the last four years?"

Are Republicans really running on a platform of recession and more war?