antarctic ozone hole: 5th biggest ever recorded

Above: NASA image of the 2008 ozone hole maximum, reached on Sept. 12. Credit: NASA. The size of this ozone years hole is 10.5 million square miles. The largest hole recorded was in 2006 at 10.6 million square miles.

• Thomas Midgley invented CFCs which are believed to be the main cause of the ozone hole. He also invented lead in petrol, another total disaster. His final invention was an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from his bed after becoming disabled by polio. He was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.

cross party support for gary mckinnon

There is new hope for Gary McKinnon as MP's from all sides put pressure on the Home Secretary to stop or at least put some conditions on the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the USA on computer hacker charges.

obama on marijuana: "i inhaled ... frequently"

"when i was a kid ... i inhaled .... frequently, that was the point."

In the past Obama has supported decriminalisation of marijuana, legal medical cannabis and has criticised the War on Drugs, but has back tracked more recently. Obama's vice president choice Joe Biden is an arch drug war warrior of the worst kind.

• Obama promised his wife he would quit smoking before starting his campaign to be president - he failed. This is the best evidence yet that he might actually be human, although it is entirely possible aliens from another planet could love smoking weed, just like millions of humans.

first obama press conference: fuck fox

At obama's first press conference reporters from the following networks were allowed to ask a question; AP, NBC, ABC, CBS, Reuters, CNN plus the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and New York Times. Which major network didn't get a question? Fox News.

no russian honeymoon for obama

above: nokia and lenin in novosibirsk, siberia, (taken on a nokia).

Obama's honeymoon with Russia lasted exactly no time at all. Within micro seconds of Obama election victory Russia's president was on the news wires announcing he would put short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, a region wedged between Poland and Lithuania, to "neutralize" the planned U.S. missile-defense system if it went ahead.

This should not be too surprising as Obamas policy statements about Russia have been full of neo-cold war crap. For example Obama is either ignorant of the true facts about the Georgian war crime against South Ossetia, or more hopefully just taking the politically most expedient line which will now be dumped. now is the testing time. Obama should understand Russia is like Britain - Russia does not want it's empire back.

The schmoo sanity test for Obama: if Obama is really cool he will do a defence cooperation deal with Russia as suggested by ... Russia. This would include the missile defence system but unite russia with the west in defence against the likes of Iran and also save a lot of cash. Obama should also end the US trade embargo on Cuba asp. If he does these two things he will have passed the test.

outside white house: star spangled banner

"Like We Overthrew a Dictator"

best act wins for a change

The Americans have something to be very proud of - but why did so many of them still vote for the idiots ticket


• some good US blogs; bartcop, daily kos, crooks and liars, physioprof, smirking chimp, blue gal, huffington post.

mccain palin - hopefully closed for ever

us election - good verses evil

i like gordon brown because

i like Gordon Brown because he throws mobile phones at people, because he stays up working late and looks like shit in the morning, because he bites his nails and picks his nose, because he gets very depressed sometimes and looks it, because he can't trust anyone to do anything right, because he does not know how to schmooze to save his life, because he has done more to end poverty in Britain and elsewhere than any Tory robbing bastard ever will, because he probably suffers from computer compulsion and can actually write his own emails, because he is often crap at giving speeches and interviews, in fact Gordon Brown has got to be one of the coolest politicians ever.

revolting machine guns turn on owners

It seems the British army in Afganistan is being attacked by it's own weapons as an artificial intelligence terrorist virus infects machine guns.

chevron whitewashes website as murder trial continues

This is interesting: "Chevron has quietly removed from its website any reference to its operations in Burma, a country where the oil giant has been implicated in allegations of rape and murder connected to a lucrative pipeline project that generates up to $1 billion annually for the country’s brutal military regime, the Amazon Defense Coalition said today.

The company has replaced the majority of substantive information on its website with a short page glossing over their role in the country.

Chevron removed the references to Burma while it has been embroiled in high-stakes legal case charging it helped orchestrate the deaths of two Nigerian villagers protesting Chevron’s operational practices in the African country. The trial on those charges began Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco."

• In the Amazon region of Ecuador, Chevron faces a potential $16.3 billion liability for dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste, there are also allegations that Chevron has supported the use of slave labour in Burma.

• daily kos connection with chevron blood money

palin sarkozy prank shows Ross and Brand

now this is the sort of thing Ross and Brand should have been doing if they want to do phone pranks, but they would probably have been banned anyway thanks to the fascist email lynch mob now on the rampage in britain, who really just want a reason to not pay their TV licence fee because they've maxed out all their credit cards on crap, and need to vent their hatred and anger towards anything they do not understand, whipped up by the media corporations who really just want to take out the BBC and make a lot more cash without the competition, supported by a craven spin mongering and desperate government who really just wants to keep the continuing and worsening financial crisis off the front pages. Here at the safehouse we happily pay the TV licence as an insurance against Murdock or some other corporate whore pimp owned media monster owning everything. Ross and Brand should be told they can have their jobs back immediately if they can phone prank David Cameron, plus a one million pound bonus if they can destroy his political career for ever. It would be licence fee payer's money well spent.

• bloggerheads has some good points and links on the hypocrisy of the whole bad sad sick joke.

• atlargely points out that in the prank interview sarah palin proves she does not know the name of the Canadian prime minister

• support russell brand and jonathan ross facebook group.

climate change camp crazies clash

The climate change issue seems to have died a death for the moment due to the credit crunch fake money reality crisis despite a recent outburst from prince charles, and a stupid attempt to cause trouble at a power station ..... but here is some entertainment back from august .... frankly it was a case of 'nutter nuts even nuttier' as arch climate change professional hysteria merchant George Monbiot proved he retains some modicum of sanity by taking apart and soundly nutting the climate change camp pseudo anarchist and totally unrealistic fundamentalist eco panic zealot Ewa Jasiewicz of the 'back to the caves and nettle soup tendency'.

• short schmoo climate change spiel: of course dramatic climate change is happening, humanity contributes but nothing like the contribution of nature, and there is nothing wrong with flying organic green beans from Kenya, their total co2 foot print is less than green beans from Kent and it helps a lot of good African people make a living. Most importantly, we should not kid ourselves that humanity can stop global warming effects even if it was responsible, so the truth is that massive humanitarian disasters are very likely in the future. Cutting Co2 waste, toxic pollution and conserving finite energy sources plus developing alternatives are obviously sensible but will not stop climate change and dangerous global warming. plane flights = 3 per cent of human co2, meat production = 18 per cent; plane stupid are morons. Beware the manipulation of scare merchants with political agendas and panicked lost souls desperate for an answer. Also windmills and solar panels are a joke if you rely just on them for humanities survival as a species. Instead of wasting time and resources on futile, self harming attempts to stop climate change, we should face the changes that are happening now and the changes to come with practical solutions, ensuring no one is left behind, this is a massive global task but it is achievable, unlike the fools errand of trying to stop climate change. Already millions are dying while arrogantly pontificating ignorant rich kids of the west like Ewa Jasiewicz waste time camping in their anarcho-playpens.

green party candidate in homophobia scandal

Way back in April this year some storybooks for children which included 'gay' relationship story lines to help stop bullying were withdrawn from two Bristol primary schools following objections from sexually paranoid parents.

Thanks to Harry's Place it has since emerged that local Green Party Council candidate, Tony Gosling, told The Muslim News he was “personally disgusted” by the books. “No way should kids be indoctrinated in this way. Anyone who says so is branded as homophobic which they are not; it’s the gay mafia in full swing,” he said. (Muslim News, 25 April 2008)

Finally, on the last day of October, the 'Green' Party woke up, smelt the muesli and is now on a major damage limitation exercise led by Peter Tatchell, but although he threatens "disciplinary action" he fails to do the only honourable thing which is to demand Gosling's immediate resignation and expulsion from the Green Party.

There is absolutely no excuse for the Green Party as it appears they have had Tony Gosling as their official candidate since 2005.

It is time the UK Greens got hold of some eco friendly weed killer and rid themselves of the anti Semitic conspiracy nutters, pseudo anarchists and trustafarian crusties who have dominated and stymied the party for years. These politically and intellectually irrational, anti science, anti business, anti democratic, authoritarian 'anti-hierarchical', green 'nazies' have held back the development of a decent Green Party in Britain for far too long.

By squandering for years it's opportunities and duty to credibly represent the widely held desire for a more natural and sustainable approach to the way we live, the current 'Green' Party in Britain is itself an ecological disaster.

• The Greens showed some sign of getting real last year when they voted by 73 per cent to have a party leader. For years they had followed an 'non-hierarchical' policy straight out of Animal Farm. This resulted in the Green Party UK being officially a 'leaderless' party, when in fact it was controlled, held back and intellectually corrupted by a small number of fundamentally bigoted, incompetent and out-of-touch-with-the-real-world people who dominated key party 'fiefdoms' with almost no party or democratic control. It was of course these very people who most strongly fought against having a leader; their cosy little political game world was under threat, and they might have to explain their incompetence, and justify their inept and stupid ideas. Thankfully they were soundly beaten in the end. However it is obvious, almost one year on, that the Green Party UK still needs a drastic detox. A massive enema might work, but who would want that job ....