Yet Another Summit...

[GRG55]

Actually it's better than that...they doubled down by holding two summits.

I'm waiting for the headlines to report that Tim Geithner has whispered those three special words in Angela Merkel's ear...
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..."More stimulus please"...



They don't look like they want to get too close to each other, do they? Maybe we should put them all in one canoe and refuse to let them out until they really solve all those problems.

G8/G20 summits in Canada

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

For many years we've been told that recycling is a good thing. Apparently that applies to recycling of topics for discussion at summits...

Talks could end deadlock on emissions deal

World leaders will give final approval on a plan to radically overhaul the global climate change debate at summit meetings in Toronto this weekend in the hope of breaking the deadlock in talks for an international emissions-reduction deal, the Toronto Star has learned.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to downplay any talk of climate change at the meetings, preferring to focus on the economy.

But environmental stalwarts Brazil and Germany are forging ahead with the creation of a high-level panel made up of heads of state, government ministers and eminent individuals to advance troubled negotiations to cut the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and halt global warming.

The panel was to have been launched Sunday at the end of the G20 meetings in Toronto but has now been delayed, Janus Pazstor, the secretary general’s top climate change advisor, said in an interview Thursday.

“We decided against it because we felt it would be submerged by so many other (issues) and wouldn’t get the attention, so we will do it in more like another week or 10 days,” Pazstor said.

President Lula da Silva of Brazil and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will co-chair the panel along with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, sources say...

...The panel’s task will be to shift the climate change debate away from its current state, which is deemed to be confrontational, complex and scientific, toward more strategic and practical solutions on how to encourage sustainable development in poor countries and how to ensure that green economies emerge from the wreckage of the global financial crisis.

Ban previewed the emerging strain of thought earlier this month when he urged “green growth” for the developed and developing world in a letter to G20 leaders.

“Economic recovery will be more sustainable if it is embedded in a global green new deal,” he wrote.

Under the new framework, talk of mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to a warmer planet will be replaced by “green economic growth” and “resilient development.”...

[chr5648]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

and refuse to let them out until they really solve all those problems.

The premise that this group of bureaucrats is there to solve problems is one that is propagated by the media and governments. The main goal is to try to figure out how to use the states monopoly power to somehow screw society over by selling it out. Not to forget to mention wine, dine, and pocket line at the tax payers expense.

Nonetheless, a picture of all these idiots on a canoe would be entertaining.

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

The premise that this group of bureaucrats is there to solve problems is one that is propagated by the media and governments. The main goal is to try to figure out how to use the states monopoly power to somehow screw society over by selling it out. Not to forget to mention wine, dine, and pocket line at the tax payers expense.

Nonetheless, a picture of all these idiots on a canoe would be entertaining.

Couldn't find a canoe, but the lifeboat works too...

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

The French really have a way to endear themselves to us Anglo-region Canadians. In 1967, during our Centennial Year, then French President Charles de Gaulle declared "Vive le Québec libre!"

Today President Sarkozy took a shot at his host, Stephen Harper. Frankly, after watching the news reports of the violence and senseless destruction in Toronto today, I think we should propose that the French host every subsequent G8, G20 and any other future G-number conference that is ever held. Forever.

Sarkozy says his G8/G20 will cost one-tenth of Canada’s

Toronto — Globe and Mail
Update Published on Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010 1:53PM EDT
ast updated on Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010 7:53PM EDT

Nicolas Sarkozy thinks his Toronto hotel room is quite nice and he doesn’t see any overt signs of opulence at the G8/G20 summit, but the charismatic French President vowed his country will pull off its hosting duties next year for one-tenth the price.

After more than a half-hour of answering reporters’ questions on deficits, the United Nations Security Council and sanctions for Iran, Mr. Sarkozy asked if there was one last question.

A reporter who scrambled to the microphone asked whether French citizens should brace themselves for a similar summit tab as Canada, which is expected to pay out more than $1-billion to host the G8 in Muskoka and the G20 in Toronto this weekend.

“Et voilá. Une question bien positive,” replied Mr. Sarkozy sarcastically, as if dreading the question. He then went on to make a bold declaration that could come back to haunt him in 2011.

“I thank my Canadian friends for their contribution. I don’t know how it was organized,” he said in French. “I can tell you we are in a hotel where the comfort is extremely sufficient and extremely reasonable. I haven’t seen anything sumptuous."

“ As for the French G8/G20, even though I can’t confirm the Canadian numbers, they will be 10 times less. Exactly. ”...

No indication if Sarko was factoring in a constant value Euro in his calculations...

[Adeptus]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Wait... what?? We paid $1 Billion for 20 people to talk for 2 days??!! Seriously, WTF!! That's F*ing ridiculus during prosperous times, nevermind in the current times.

Clearly these guys never heard of video conferencing. This just makes me mad.

[cjppjc]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Wait... what?? We paid $1 Billion for 20 people to talk for 2 days??!! Seriously, WTF!! That's F*ing ridiculus during prosperous times, nevermind in the current times.

You know that's a great point. Most leaders don't ever consider any austerity of their own. They could always do something symbolic, but never do. I don't think it ever occurs to them. It says alot.

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Wait... what?? We paid $1 Billion for 20 people to talk for 2 days??!! Seriously, WTF!! That's F*ing ridiculus during prosperous times, nevermind in the current times.

Clearly these guys never heard of video conferencing. This just makes me mad.

You haven't heard about the $57,000 "fake lake"? That's about the extent of the "video conferencing" going on at this summit - video's of Muskoka cottage country beamed into the press room...and of course the requisite stack of canoes. Have a look here

While the leaders of the G20 search for the Holy Grail, I think the authorities should train up a regiment of the most "foul, cruel and bad tempered rodents" [in this case beavers, not bunnies] , dress them in red Mountie coats and turn them loose on the protesters...

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Wait... what?? We paid $1 Billion for 20 people to talk for 2 days??!! Seriously, WTF!! That's F*ing ridiculus during prosperous times, nevermind in the current times.

Do not let yourself get too distracted by the details.

If a meeting of leaders costs us a Billion, but sets us back a Trillion by way of their continued assent to directions not in our best interests, then what should one be most concerned about?

Ceremony, grandeur, the size and scale of events, ... these things matter in the ebb and flow of human civilization. It is clear from history that they have mattered for a very, very long time. How and why they matter is often less evident to the ordinary person of the time.

[LargoWinch]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Actually it's better than that...they doubled down by holding two summits.

Here is what the world will remember from this $1Billion partee (for the 3 guys/gals not watching FIFA that is):

(song: Milk Inc ~ Land Of The Living)

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

There's a first hand report by a resident of the area at Despite the mayhem, today’s yesterday’s G20 Protest a big flop.

It's a decent read and seems honest enough. Except for a couple of small "anarchist" groups, the demonstrations were apparently modest in size and peaceful. I wonder if any of the "anarchists" that set the three police cars on fire were wearing police boots.

[LargoWinch]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

There's a first hand report by a resident of the area at Despite the mayhem, today’s yesterday’s G20 Protest a big flop.

It's a decent read and seems honest enough. Except for a couple of small "anarchist" groups, the demonstrations were apparently modest in size and peaceful. I wonder if any of the "anarchists" that set the three police cars on fire were wearing police boots.

Had to be Toronto...the largest city (and hence the most accessible and difficult to protect); why not Yellowknife in the middle of January?

Better yet, I will generously offer for 20 flat screens and matching video camera...

[jk]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

my favorite- says it all

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

...I wonder if any of the "anarchists" that set the three police cars on fire were wearing police boots.

I wonder if any of them had a carbon emissions permit. Good thing a number of the riot police were on bicycles to help keep things carbon neutral.

$1B of deficit financing for all this? Owe Canada...

[GRG55]

Re: Yet Another Summit...

Some snapshots from the G8 warmup event...

...Canada pledged a credible $1.1 billion in new funds over five years for Harper’s signature “Muskoka Initiative” to improve maternal and child health care. While that commitment fell noticeably short of the $1.2 billion the G8 and G20 summits cost to stage...the recession-battered G8 as a group responded feebly, mustering only $5 billion over five years...

...the leaders predictably endorsed a tentative five-year exit strategy from Afghanistan...

...They had harsh words for the “grave threat” posed by the bellicosity and nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea...

...they called for an easing of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, saying “the current arrangements are not sustainable.”...

...on climate change they said the issue remains “top of mind” and pledged to adopt “robust aggregate and individual mid-term reductions,” without getting specific...