HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Rebuttal to letter on global warming

Loud, painful noises

News blackout on Thaksin

Thank you charitable golfers

First prize for sheer confusion

Have any traffic engineers looked at traffic lights?

What next?

Rebuttal to letter on global warming

Editor:
In the Aug 28 issue, Freddie made a rebuttal to my letter on global warming. (It was) interesting, but fell short of the mark. By your research Freddie, you say world sea levels have been rising 7 inches (.17meter) every 100 years for the past 10,000 years. Freddie, the leading man made global warming theorist, Al Gore, writer of Inconvenient Truth (Lies) is the one in front of trying to scare the world over global warming. It was Gore who said that worldwide sea levels would rise 20 feet (6 meters) in the immediate future due to global warming. He said so on pg 204-206 of his book, and showed charts and pictures of massive global flooding which would displace 100 million people around the world.
Freddie, you among others, have showed that is a lie. Freddie, your research shows sea levels have risen the same 3 1/2 inches over the past 50 years as it has every half century for the past 10,000 years. Why 1/2 inch a year? Why, Freddie, in the past 50 years when mankind started pumping 25% or more CO2 into the atmosphere has it made no increase in the rate of growth of worldwide sea levels? Thanks Freddie for supporting my belief that man made global warming is junk science, meant to scare people.
Why is that so? Money. Gore had reportedly become worth well in excess of US$100-million. Many expect him to become a billionaire through his stakes in a global warming hedge fund, a carbon-offset business, a renewable energy investment business and other global warming related ventures. He is now money manager to institutional investors and the super rich through Generation Investment Management, a firm that he co-founded in 2004.
And Wayne, I did not forget your being so closed minded about the global warming myth. Yes, Wayne the North Pole is going through a climate change cycle and it’s ice mass is shrinking. But Mr Open Minded, you forgot to say that the South Pole Ice Mass is growing at a faster rate than the North Pole is shrinking.
As for Venice, try being “open minded” and look up the cause as to why Venice is flooding. According to news articles, one from USA Today, a number of factors have converged to cause the flooding, scientists say. Two decades of pumping water for industrial use from aquifers in the nearby port town of Maghera, from about 1950 to 1970, caused the city to sink by 5 inches. Meanwhile, sea levels have risen nearly 4 inches because of regular climatic forces. But the greatest fault, MOSE opponents say, are the jetties and shipping channels created during the British occupation in the 19th century. The shallow lagoon was carved out so that ships could pass through on their way to port. Result: currents have been dramatically altered, and high tides barrel in unimpeded, sucking out millions of tons of sediment that forms the foundation of the city.
Wayne, just being “open minded” could improve knowledge of subject matter you quote. America, hmmm, do you have a USA hang up? If you were “open minded” your blaming USA is quite prejudiced and certainly not that simple. China, India and Brazil have refused to be part of any agreement. Russia is excluded till 2020. Canada and Australia are saying they will not agree and Spain, Portugal, and Japan have exceeded their greenhouse gas emissions goal by 11 to 40%. But that is a whole different subject of “open mindedness”.
Bob, Pattaya

Loud, painful noises

Editor;
I have been living in Thailand for eleven years and have always been curious about why Thais love painful high-intensity loud speakers. Now I finally have a reason. They are trying to break up unruly demonstrations. I guess it would follow that the whistles parking people love to blow are to break up peaceful demonstrations.
After reading the article in the Aug. 26 BP regarding the police now planning on using these same speakers to break up unruly demonstrations, I have to ask myself; when they try to stop a holiday street karaoke sing, which certainly borders on an unruly demonstration, are they going to use more powerful speakers than the karaoke people? It would seem that they have to because obviously the karaoke people have proved that the theory does not work. As a matter of fact, I think that painfully loud speakers actually make Thais even more frisky, and if I am correct, it would seem that a lot of unruly demonstrations are going to become violent when the theory is tested.
If I had my way, what I would do is have the police use painful high-intensity loud speakers on air conditioned government buildings, stores, buses and malls in order to get them to turn down the air conditioning units. But then again, it probably wouldn’t work.
John Arnone
Yasothon

News blackout on Thaksin

Editor;
The Court began hearing defence in Thaksin’s frozen assets case on 16th July 2009. Many weeks have passed and I have not seen any further news or comment on this case. Why such silence? Does anybody have any clue on why there seems to be a news blackout on this case?
H Hobbs
South Pattaya

Thank you charitable golfers

Editor;
I was pleased to see that your report of the Jackalope Open golf recently showed an amount of over 430,000 baht collected during the event by the Canadian golfers. It is a tremendous amount from one event. The Diana Group collected 320,000 baht last year in their Charity Golf Day. The PSC last year donated over 3,800,000 baht. I think that it is tremendous that golfers and other sportsmen in Pattaya have collected over 4.5 million baht for charity in Pattaya.
Regards,
Bob Lindborg

First prize for sheer confusion

Dear Editor,
Sorry to write again on this topic but I just have to say that Wayne’s reply to Des Gillet must surely take first prize for sheer confusion, contradictions and obfuscation. Not a Tory MP has done a better job!
It begins with the incomprehensible statement, “Pay the pension while you are working age” and goes on to say that NI contributions would not provide a very good pension. This is correct: they don’t, but it is completely irrelevant to the subject of Mr. Gillet’s letter which was the robbery of our increments! He then admits that he didn’t know that he would lose his increments until he came to live in Thailand; yet tells Mr. Gillet, “It’s your own fault as you knew about it but still moved there.” How does Wayne know this anyway?
He introduces unrelated information about his private pension as well as health (medical) benefits for UK residents: totally irrelevant! He wails on about family allowances and repeats his dubious statement about expatriates knowing what to expect. This is, in fact, not true; many expats did not know what to expect. Even if it was true it certainly doesn’t compel us to accept an unjust situation without question.
As if all this wasn’t enough Wayne then attempts to liken a person ceasing to pay insurance premiums to expats who have paid all their contributions. Not only is there no comparison: the two situations are diametrically opposed. The ultimate absurdity is his insular comment that the withholding of increments is justified because the cost of living in Thailand is low. This is arrant nonsense. Doesn’t he know that most British pensioners who suffer the loss of their increments live in countries with a high cost of living such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada? Moreover, the full pension is paid to those in countries such as the Philippines, Turkey, Mauritius and Cyprus where the cost of living is much lower than the UK. One might just as well add that it is quite legitimate to steal from a rich man since he has more than he needs!
Finally, Wayne seems unable to differentiate between whinging and the legitimate and necessary pursuance of claiming one’s rightful possession. By the time this letter is published the European Court of Human Rights will have considered the case again: let’s hope that it will have been free from any waynerisms.
Yours sincerely,
Michael

Have any traffic engineers looked at traffic lights?

Editor,
With all the discussion there has been lately concerning the traffic lights on the new road by the train tracks, I haven’t seen any mention of the new traffic light that has been added to Sukhumvit at Naklua. There are now three lights within 0.3 kilometer.
Coming from the north direction into town, the first two lights are no longer green when there is a right arrow, as they were before. There is no reason that the through traffic should get the red when the right turn arrow is green. There is no traffic coming out onto Sukhumvit at that time. The only reason I can think of is to give the traffic at the new light (at the Water Company turnoff) time to enter Sukhumvit. However, the net result is that a major traffic jam is created where there never was.
Coming from the other direction, heading out of town, is even worse. The new light is set to give only about ten cars on Sukhumvit the green. From my experience, over the past month or so, since this light was installed is that I’ve never been able to make it through without having to stop at 2 out of the 3 lights.
I realize that it is difficult for the people that live on this street to get in and out, especially at peak times. However, everything must be done to ensure that traffic moves on Sukhumvit. Where there were never traffic jams, now there are many. Another example of this is the light at the Cholchan Hotel. Why in the world would a little soi off of Sukhumvit need a traffic light? Anyone coming out of that soi and going in could easily go a little further and make a U-turn and come back. Major jams are found at this intersection as well.
Have any traffic engineers looked at these two locations lately?
Thank you,
Norton

What next?

Editor;
I am very concerned about Thailand, especially Pattaya. I have lived, travelled and married in Pattaya for the past 10 years. I am from England and have put up with many things including visa regulations, fines for not wearing a crash helmet which many police do not do, red and yellow t-shirts protestors, swine flu, now being charged to take my money from ATM’s now 150 baht per transaction using my English ATM. But now closing the bars again at 2 a.m. and even thinking about not selling alcohol during Songkran is bewildering me. Better to stop water fights as these do not make the city money. What is going on?
David Arnold

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