batrabill

Timbo seems to have gone AWOL. I look forward to his opinion on whether Glover is going to happen. Just for the sake of reasonableness and balance - there is absolutely no reason that under a new National Landscapes organisation the Broads cannot have an extra purpose of maintaining the navigation exactly as they do now. Despite what some people say, I have never seen anything approaching evidence that anyone at the Broads Authority has ever wanted to grossly curtail boating activity. But, then I would say that wouldn’t I?

But that is the excuse used by all people with closed minds. We are living in times where a significant minority of people genuinely believe that vaccinating children against lethal diseases is a bad thing, and when you show them the evidence they tell you it’s s huge conspiracy by Big Pharma (and of course all the million doctors on the planet) For some it has become a real sickness in that they believe everyone in power is lying (but cranks on the internet, a bloke down the pub and Nigel Farage ars the only ones telling the truth) That way madness lies. I dont know much about Greta Thunberg but I do think the puppet idea is loony tunes. But then I would say that.

My impression was that there were many Facebook refuseniks here.

Greta Thunberg Recently I’ve seen many rumors circulating about me and enormous amounts of hate. This is no surprise to me. I know that since most people are not aware of the full meaning of the climate crisis (which is understandable since it has never been treated as a crisis) a school strike for the climate would seem very strange to people in general. So let me make some things clear about my school strike. In may 2018 I was one of the winners in a writing competition about the environment held by Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish newspaper. I got my article published and some people contacted me, among others was Bo Thorén from Fossil Free Dalsland. He had some kind of group with people, especially youth, who wanted to do something about the climate crisis. I had a few phone meetings with other activists. The purpose was to come up with ideas of new projects that would bring attention to the climate crisis. Bo had a few ideas of things we could do. Everything from marches to a loose idea of some kind of a school strike (that school children would do something on the schoolyards or in the classrooms). That idea was inspired by the Parkland Students, who had refused to go to school after the school shootings. I liked the idea of a school strike. So I developed that idea and tried to get the other young people to join me, but no one was really interested. They thought that a Swedish version of the Zero Hour march was going to have a bigger impact. So I went on planning the school strike all by myself and after that I didn’t participate in any more meetings. When I told my parents about my plans they weren’t very fond of it. They did not support the idea of school striking and they said that if I were to do this I would have to do it completely by myself and with no support from them. On the 20 of august I sat down outside the Swedish Parliament. I handed out fliers with a long list of facts about the climate crisis and explanations on why I was striking. The first thing I did was to post on Twitter and Instagram what I was doing and it soon went viral. Then journalists and newspapers started to come. A Swedish entrepreneur and business man active in the climate movement, Ingmar Rentzhog, was among the first to arrive. He spoke with me and took pictures that he posted on Facebook. That was the first time I had ever met or spoken with him. I had not communicated or encountered with him ever before. Many people love to spread rumors saying that I have people ”behind me” or that I’m being ”paid” or ”used” to do what I’m doing. But there is no one ”behind” me except for myself. My parents were as far from climate activists as possible before I made them aware of the situation. I am not part of any organization. I sometimes support and cooperate with several NGOs that work with the climate and environment. But I am absolutely independent and I only represent myself. And I do what I do completely for free, I have not received any money or any promise of future payments in any form at all. And nor has anyone linked to me or my family done so. And of course it will stay this way. I have not met one single climate activist who is fighting for the climate for money. That idea is completely absurd. Furthermore I only travel with permission from my school and my parents pay for tickets and accommodations. My family has written a book together about our family and how me and my sister Beata have influenced my parents way of thinking and seeing the world, especially when it comes to the climate. And about our diagnoses. That book was due to be released in May. But since there was a major disagreement with the book company, we ended up changing to a new publisher and so the book was released in august instead. Before the book was released my parents made it clear that their possible profits from the book ”Scener ur hjärtat” will be going to 8 different charities working with environment, children with diagnoses and animal rights. And yes, I write my own speeches. But since I know that what I say is going to reach many, many people I often ask for input. I also have a few scientists that I frequently ask for help on how to express certain complicated matters. I want everything to be absolutely correct so that I don’t spread incorrect facts, or things that can be misunderstood. Some people mock me for my diagnosis. But Asperger is not a disease, it’s a gift. People also say that since I have Asperger I couldn’t possibly have put myself in this position. But that’s exactly why I did this. Because if I would have been ”normal” and social I would have organized myself in an organisation, or started an organisation by myself. But since I am not that good at socializing I did this instead. I was so frustrated that nothing was being done about the climate crisis and I felt like I had to do something, anything. And sometimes NOT doing things - like just sitting down outside the parliament - speaks much louder than doing things. Just like a whisper sometimes is louder than shouting. Also there is one complaint that I ”sound and write like an adult”. And to that I can only say; don’t you think that a 16-year old can speak for herself? There’s also some people who say that I oversimplify things. For example when I say that "the climate crisis is a black and white issue”, ”we need to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases” and ”I want you to panic”. But that I only say because it’s true. Yes, the climate crisis is the most complex issue that we have ever faced and it’s going to take everything from our part to ”stop it”. But the solution is black and white; we need to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. Because either we limit the warming to 1,5 degrees C over pre industrial levels, or we don’t. Either we reach a tipping point where we start a chain reaction with events way beyond human control, or we don’t. Either we go on as a civilization, or we don’t. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival. And when I say that I want you to panic I mean that we need to treat the crisis as a crisis. When your house is on fire you don’t sit down and talk about how nice you can rebuild it once you put out the fire. If your house is on fire you run outside and make sure that everyone is out while you call the fire department. That requires some level of panic. There is one other argument that I can’t do anything about. And that is the fact that I’m ”just a child and we shouldn’t be listening to children.” But that is easily fixed - just start to listen to the rock solid science instead. Because if everyone listened to the scientists and the facts that I constantly refer to - then no one would have to listen to me or any of the other hundreds of thousands of school children on strike for the climate across the world. Then we could all go back to school. I am just a messenger, and yet I get all this hate. I am not saying anything new, I am just saying what scientists have repeatedly said for decades. And I agree with you, I’m too young to do this. We children shouldn’t have to do this. But since almost no one is doing anything, and our very future is at risk, we feel like we have to continue. And if you have any other concern or doubt about me, then you can listen to my TED talk ( ), in which I talk about how my interest for the climate and environment began. And thank you everyone for you kind support! It brings me hope. /Greta Ps I was briefly a youth advisor for the board of the non profit foundation “We don’t have time”. It turns out they used my name as part of another branch of their organisation that is a start up business. They have admitted clearly that they did so without the knowledge of me or my family. I no longer have any connection to “We don’t have time”. Nor has anyone in my family. They have deeply apologised and I have accepted their apolo

Who was it who was defending ‘banter’ just a few hours back?

STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD! KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! Now, what have you done with Jenny Morgan? Enjoying the new decade positivity Ms Morgan!

The problem with this debate is that 50% of climate scientists believe we are heading for a climate catastrophe, and the other 50% agree with them.

Bear in mind that several posts were deleted notably the most offensive. So it may look like people are upset over nothing.

Why? I think old men slagging off a young girl makes the forum look really friendly.

Yes. I am slightly taken aback. It just goes to show conspiracy theories are very attractive. Is it George Soros who is pulling GTs strings? Or the illuminati? It’s hard to keep track. Wait it’s obvious! Its the devil himself Dr Packman!!

I’m confused about where some of these comments come from. Do those who seem to think it’s all Greta Thunberg’s fault think that we don’t have a climate problem that does need some “solving”? If you think that is the case then there is no point continuing any discussion. Good luck with everything! If you do accept that there is a global problem then it seems strange to attack a 16 year old girl who has really got off her **** to agitate for what she believes. If you accept there is a problem then we are just discussing tactics, which Greta Thunberg will not decide as she doesn’t run an industrialised nation. Genuinely makes me queasy to watch keyboard warriors get so annoyed with someone who I feel quite proud to share a species with

Will they Timbo? I'm not an experienced reader of the ways of Government, so I may not recognise the signs. Didn't Glover just ...report? What are the indications that DEFRA will carry out the recommendations? Isn't it possible that Glover will gather dust in a drawer, or is the way it was released evidence that its what is happening? I think you know more about this than the common wo/man

From FB Waveney River Swim Announcement Firstly apologies for this taking longer than I thought it would about the Waveney River Swim 2020. Unfortunately this is not the announcement I had planned. Due to a change in personal circumstances as well as a review of the event having an outcome of it not being financially viable, the Waveney River Swim won't be running this year. I'm sure you can appreciate that this decision has been made with a very heavy heart and not lightly. On a positive note, it's been an amazing experience and there are countless people that have provided support to allow the last 2 events to run. Those people know who they are and I will always be eternally grateful. And a huge thank you to all of the swimmers, it would never have run without you guys. I hope this event has gone some way to increasing the popularity of open water swimming especially in Norfolk and Suffolk. Regards, Mel

Unnecessary

When you're in a hole - stop digging.

POST OF THE YEAR! It's not the vandals that are at fault, no, no no, its the Broads Authority's "inexperience ... in regard to vandalism" The poor vandals expected the BA to be better at dealing with criminal damage. Simply breathtaking.

Ah, interesting to note the members who don’t see a problem......

Lets be honest shall we? Speakers corner was created because of a perception that people were getting tired of the bickering/sloganeering was it not? Hasn't really solved the problem has it??

Groundhog Day. Which brings me back to my question which I really don't feel has been answered in any way: since everywhere it is described as a National Park, specifically and crucially on the National Parks UK website, but as even the most cursory search finds pretty much all of the top hits referring to the Broads National park and the "15 National Parks" what is the strategy for changing that? I can see that you are all spending a lot of time campaigning on this issue, when it would seem to me that the battle was lost long ago. If that is not the case, then what are you going to do about the current situation once the signage side-show has stopped? If you want to succeed in your aims (my assumption on what your aims are, there is a great deal of subject shift whenever things get sticky) how are you going to stop the rest of the world referring to the Broads as one of the National parks?

No, that is what is so weird. NO ONE thinks the Broads is legally a National Park as defined by the NP legislation for the main group of National Parks. (As you know there are 3 different legal entities, the Scottish, The Broads and the "main group") Who are you trying to convince? I can't think of anyone who says it is a NP as narrowly defined above. Is it possible you don't know what de facto means? "existing or holding a specified position in fact but not necessarily by legal right"

No it’s very clear. In fact it answers, in my view many of the points do endlessly debated on here. What is also clear, is that it is a de facto NP as far as the Government are concerned, with additional responsibilities for navigation.

I hadn’t read this before. It seems to set out very clearly what Defra think and expect. It is very clear about the legal situation and the expectation of what objectives should be pursued. “33. The waterways of the Broads are important for navigation, biodiversity and outdoor recreation. They also support the adjacent wetland habitats and the local economy, and provide wider ecosystem services such as mitigating flood risk, and providing drinking water for the adjacent urban areas. The Government expects the Broads Authority to maximise the benefits available from these resources by continuing with its holistic approach to ensure its management of navigation is integrated into all the aspects of the Authority’s management of the Broads. In particular, the Government expects the Broads Authority to continue to encourage a greater range of people to take up sailing, canoeing and fishing and other water related activities and to work with the local tourist industry to promote the area.” Promote? pb13387-vision-circular2010.pdf

Are you suggesting that the BA has pulled off a sort of reverse takeover of UK National Parks? Still not sure you have answered my question, but happy to leave it there. Life is too short.

But if the objective (I assume) is to stop people thinking the Broads is a NP, doesn’t this have to be solved??? This is a genuine question. How can you ever stop people thinking it’s a NP if the NP website says it is??

Sorry, I’m really thick, but which of the above is an answer to the question?