the real cost of political posturing

'The average price of a pint of bitter in Britain's pubs could increase from around £2.20 to as much as £4 next year, the industry has warned.

The massive hike, which is also expected to affect cans bought from off licences, is due largely to increased prices of key ingredients barley and hops - in part because farmland is being turned over to environment-friendly biofuels.

But brewers are also suffering from rises in fuel costs and the price of the metals used to produce kegs and cans. Kegs are now so valuable that they have become a target for thieves, who stole 60 million this year to melt down for their metal.' (AOL news, 24/12/07)

So the hippies' obsession with driving at any cost is already having terrible effects. This is also going to drive more pubs out of business. I'm so glad I'm getting a vineyard in Hungary in the next few years. I'll do EVERYTHING to resist turning my land over to biofuels - the biggest con in history. The recipe for biofuels disaster - loads of scarce water + valuable land + 10 barrels (conventional) oil = 8 barrels biofuel + rich farmers + smug (ostrich) politicians. Total madness.

And the second part of the story is also telling. ALL metals are running out, being snapped up to fuel the expansion of China and India. Okay, as an investment ploy metals are great, but otherwise we should all be concerned ...

hungary

The Christmas market in Budapest. This was great fun with loads of stalls selling local products and even real food (vegetarian!) plus regular free shows on the stage.


The castle on the Buda side. This was very impressive, especially at night when it's floodlit. There were no tourists there on a cold December morning, and all the better for it!


Budapest has - inevitably - a superb public transport system. These modern trams run around the city, though other routes have far older trams, a testament to their longevity and superiority over buses! Behind is one of the maon Budapest stations designed by Eiffel.


The largest open air ice rink in Europe, at the City Park in Budapest.

Hungary's a fantastic country - we're planning to move there within 6 to 7 years.

more idiots

Do you agree with the protesters that the price of fuel is too high?
Results:
Votes
Per cent
Yes
32,284
96%
No
1,324
4%
Don't know
171
0%
Total votes: 33,779

This is an AOL poll. I find it hard to believe that in this day and age fully 96% of the population feel that our ridiculously cheap petrol is too EXPENSIVE! Are 96% of the population completely stupid or do they spend their entire lives hidden in basements??

Get this thickos - petrol is cheaper now than it will ever be again. It is ludicrously cheap, hardly allowing at all for the environmental costs it incurs. Climate Change means we'll all have to produce less CO2. The idiot communist USA isn't even committing to keeping temperature changes under 2 degrees, even though scientists state that any rise above 2 degrees will be catastrophic. Perhaps our dim friends across the Atlantic should look that up in a dictionary (Webster's if neccessary). We don't have the option of over 2 degrees - it will lead to mass extinctions and runaway positive feedbacks. Listen to the scientists - they know what they're talking about. David Handley, the commie christians and the brickie in the pub DON'T!!

And in any case the harsh economics of Peak Oil are upon us, which will decrease the availability of petrol by 7% per year from now on. That will be reflected in prices, idiots. And this is just the beginning.

more idiots ...

'The United States will reject demands to commit to internationally binding cuts in global warming gases at the UN climate conference in Bali, the chief US climate negotiator said.'

More hippies from dying semi-nations burying their heads - and economies - in the sand. Why not join this facebook group if you think all Americans are communistic, christian morons!! Apart from those heading Peak Oil groups, survivalists and Pagans of course, who are well mint.

gloves off ...

'China has refused to accept mandatory cuts on greenhouse gases, saying the West should lead the climate change battle by being less extravagant.'

Have they indeed? Well, if you read the above statement you can see there's the potential for some stunning internal logic.

Let's bring the Chinese dream to life by being less extravagant and NOT BUYING any Chinese products! That will reduce their economic growth and with a bit of luck start the break up of China as a future superpower.

Climate Change is now far worse than even the very worst scenarios predicted. The tropics have ALREADY expanded to the point predicted in the WORST scenarios for the end of this century. There are already massive population dislocations. Nobody, especially some tin pot COMMUNIST third world pigsty, is in the position to decide it ain't going to join in the prevention attempt. Even Australia, hippy communist third world Foster-drinking joke, has now agreed to Kyoto (big deal!)

As Jarvis Cocker once sang so eloquently, 'Something Changed'. It's just a few dinosaurs, hippies and commies still haven't realised it.

No more Chinese junk for me ...