Ok. Then I have misread you. Your first post seemed to suggest that we shouldn't do anything about climate change because it would never work (and reading it back I see some nuance but it still strikes me as such).

The idea that a worldwide CO2 taks could be forced certainly appeals to me. I do not, however, share your revulsion for using CO2 numbers from governments. In fact since CO2 doesn't stop at the borders it will hard to make a model that accurately calculates the CO2 produced in a country (Belgium, e.g. where I live is only about 250 miles from one end to the other and it has the German Ruhr Industrial site, one of the biggers industry concentrations in Europe, close by).

And last but no least: I don't think I ignore the facts around global warming and I am in favor of any measure that could counteract it. Just to be clear: I think we SHOULD make a CO2 taks, that we HAVE to invest in solar and wind power and we MUST massively invest in fusion power. In my Original post I was being sarcastic...

From the IPCC website "Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. IPCC aims to reflect a range of views and expertise. The Secretariat coordinates all the IPCC work and liaises with Governments. It is supported by WMO and UNEP and hosted at WMO headquarters in Geneva"

So they are not taxpayer-funded...

Firstly: that's not true. Even though China has a much higher population than the US, the emissions per person in the US are that much higher that the US emits almost as much CO2 as China.

Secondly: The US, as one of the countries with the highest emissions should lead the efforst instead of standing back (or even blocking agreements).

Last but not least: you seem to say: I know climate change is real, I know we caused it. I jus't can't be bothered to actually do something about it. Because that may involve CO2 taxes (OH NO!!), or investing in Solar and Wind power (UGH) or even massively investing in fusion (e.g. the Iter project) (!!!!!)

No. Let's just keep going as we are today. I prefer to close my eyes. When things go wrong we 'll just hope for the best...

IPCC Synthesis report (link) P.4 (very first chapter): "Ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate system, accounting for more than 90% of the energy accumulated between 1971 and 2010 (high confidence), with only about 1% stored in the atmosphere. "

So there IS an increased energy storage in the climate system according the IPCC. Which stands to reason: temprature increase (where before there was none) without a higher energy absorbtion is termodynamically nonsense.

Remember this Synthesis report (Summary for Policymakers

It's a 30 page document that is a simple and clear exposé of the current state of climate science on global warming. You can read what the current observations on climate change are, what it's causes are, how this will affect us, what the risks are, how we can mitigate these risks.

On every statement there is a confidence level and every statement refers to a longer more elaborate report that explains the science behind it in more detail. And if that is not enough: this second report (about 100 pages) refers to the reports of the different workgroups (physical evidence, impact of climate change and how to mitigate the impact). These reports of those workgroups are often more than 1000 pages and refer directly to actual publications and scientific studies.

So either you read the first part and you are convinced, or keep reading...

What makes you think that the BBC or anybody else can tell Jeremy Clarkson what to do?

All jokes aside: people who mess up their life (if all this information is actually correct) and then start on other people's lives must be stopped. Immediately.

Well, I don't know about everyboldy else. But in my case this is certainly false.

I love top gear and Jeremy Clarckson is the heart of it. That being said it was clear to me that he was an asshole and that the success of the show had only made it worse.

One should separate fact and fiction. The presenter from the human being: presenter: suberb, definitely has 'it'; human being: is he really??

This seems a bit extreme to me. I think the execise part is the poster story is actually the most important part.
After all: you live years taking in more calories than you need without growing fat. So clearly your body has a mechanism to regulate how much of the intake is converted to fat. It seems that exercise and a healty lifestyle keep this mechanism healty too.

So, I wouldn't go too extreme on the food part and just make sure you live, eat and sport healthyly.

Just my 2 cents....

I hope you realise that in most european countries (and also Finland afaik) this is exactly what happens. The fines go the the national/federal government and gets thus redistributed. Only not specifically to those with a vehicle insured.
The point is that mostly fines are not a means to generate revenues nor for the police force, nor for the communities.
Of course people tend to be creative. In Belgium e.g. they do not issue parking fines (which go to the federal government) but give you a 'default' parking ticket (3x more expensive than the normal tariff). But since it is a parking ticket and not a fine the money goes to the community.

That's the point of the article. The majority of suicide attempts are not determined. Rather they are a 'spur of the moment' 'I've had enough' type of knee jerk reaction to things that may or may not be serious. The idea is that when you can stop them at that moment, the person may come to his/her senses and either seek help (serious problem) or go on with his/her life (no serious problem).
There is often no reason why this person could not live on happily.
Mind you: I'm not talking about people that have serious psychological problems and are suicidal. That's another case altogether that is not fixed by a fence on a bridge.

That's exactly the kind of thinking we need to change. What the article says is that there is a 'growing body of knowledge' that people who commit suicide are not fatally lost and are not uncurable. Rather people tend to decide to take their lives unplanned and without considering the options. If you can deter them at that very moment, treatment is often possible of even unnecessary. Often it was just a momentary coming together of small things.

On the other hand there are people who are inherently suicidal. For them there is indeed no easy cure and these measures proposed here will no help them.
But let's at least try and save the others. Who hasn't had an urge to throw himself of a bridge once upon a time?

"...snuck into a Rockwell International facility in Seal Beach...".
Oh, it was still on the ground. For a moment I thought they had attempted something stupid.

No. If we would invest into fusion like we invest in fission or better even oil, fusion can be with us much sooner.
ITER is a step in the good direction, certainly. And even with the current funding (nothing to sneeze at but nothing like a 'manhatten like effort') a DEMO plant is foreseen that would actually produce current in 2040 (25 years from now - so less than one generation).

With addititional funding this could be accelerated, since the major challenges of ITER are engineering (materials, stablility, remote handling...) rather than fundamental science.

Still: it's that kind of simplicity that most people are looking for. What is the attraction of a tablet? The functionality of a PC with the simplicity of a Phone.

This works perfectly for most people because most of them only need a browser (shopping, online banking, creating photo albums, ...) and email. Reading office documents and pdf's is kind of mandatory, but editting is not.

Even more intrestingly: I hate windows Metro but I think windows Phone is actually kind of cool.
But when buying a new Phone I did the sensible thing: buy the same thing that 'everyone' buys: a samsung android Phone.