Monckton debunked

Readers of this blog have heard of Lord Christopher Monckton, who once posted a rebuttal of my rebuttal of the theories of Khilyuk and Chilingar. Monckton is a real role-model of a climate change sceptic.
Now, John Abraham from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota has posted a presentation online, in which he gives a detailed rebuttal of many of Monckton's allegations. A very instructive piece of work for all those interested in the depths of the climate change debate. Have fun!

King Anand Again

Viswanathan Anand just defended his title as chess world champion with a great win in the final and decisive game against Veselin Topalov. Fantastic performance!
See Susan Polgar's or Anish Giri's comments on the game. I add pictures of the two protagonists that I took at an event in Zurich last year.

The Champion: Anand


The unsuccessful challenger: Topalov

They couldn't possibly have known

I like this one. A real reality check for Goldman Sachs and their fellows. And here is more of this sort of cartoons.

Greenpeace Report on Sponsors of Climate Change Deniers

Greenpeace has issued a report that seems to provide a thorough reality check on the background of the climate change denial propaganda in the US: "Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine". They also have an interesting interactive graphic that allows you to check out some details directly.
Amazing that Koch Industries, the company that Greenpeace exposes as a major sponsor of the climate sceptics, is little known in the public although, as they claim on their webpage, it is one of the largest private companies of the world. Obviously they know about doing things secretely. The company has issued a statement on the report, however.
This reminds of the Exxon Report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, on which I have blogged before. Apparently, Koch Industries easily out-spent Exxon Mobil in the area of political sponsoring. Interesting indeed.
Other blogs such as Climate Progress or ClimateScienceWatch have more details on the story. I wish I had time to study and cover this report in more detail.

Reality Check's Tax Proposal Haunts Bankers

My idea of taxing excessive bonuses for bankers is still alive. After the Americans, now the British give it a try. If only they would keep it up!

Downsizing the financial sector

It happens rarely, but sometimes it does: Influential people from politics and finance speak up with ideas that are not too far from my view. The latest example is Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority in London, who says the financial sector in the city has grown too big and needs to be cut to a socially reasonable size, possibly by imposing taxes.

Good luck, Mr. Turner!

Chess Champions in Zurich

A chess post for a change: Today, 8 chess world champions came to Zurich to celebrate the 200th anniversary of SG Zurich, the world's oldes chess club.

They are playing simuls against a total of 200 amateurs right now in the hall of Zurich's main station. I've been there and got some snapshots with my mobile's camera. See here two chess greats with name tags in the background!

Some games can be followed live.