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Branson’s bogus eco-drive

by gagrice on Mon Aug 04 18:01:15 PDT 2008

Another case of Follow the Money. GW and Greed are synonymous. 03 August 2008 By Stephen Price The Virgin boss’s much trumpeted pledge of €1.9bn to tackle global warming is nothing but smoke and mirrors. In September 2006, Virgin boss Richard Branson pledged €1.9 billion towards tackling global warming. For the next ten years, he announced, the profits from his aviation and rail businesses would go towards combating the biggest, most complex problem that mankind has ever faced. The promise earned Branson headlines around the world. Media outlets carried photos of him, Bill Clinton and Al Gore at a Clinton Global Initiative press conference in New York. Adults, Branson solemnly told the assembled media, had a duty to pass a ‘‘pristine’’ planet on to the next generation. Politicians and campaigners were effusive in their praise for his imagination and generosity. However, a look at the not-very-small print revealed that this amazing gesture would not be a matter of taking the profits from Branson’s polluting industries and using them to protect vast tracts of the Amazon. In fact, the money would go to a new division of the Virgin conglomerate, called Virgin Fuel. Branson was simply gearing himself up to make more money. But as always, the PR spin was that he’d be doing the rest of us a favour in the process. Branson has built an empire on this perception. (read more) Since Virgin Fuel was set up in 2006, the tide has very much turned against bio-fuels with the realisation that far too much agricultural land could be eaten up by fuel crops. Palm oil, one of the major biofuels, is contributing to global warming as virgin (no pun intended) rainforests in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are decimated to make way for palm plantations. Still, in February of this year Branson was on the tarmac toying with a coconut for the inevitable photocall when one of his 747s flew - empty- from London to Amsterdam on a 20 per cent bio-fuel mixture. Two years on from his ‘‘profits’’ gesture, slightly wiser green campaigners dismissed the flight as a stunt. But onwards and upwards. While Branson has done little to save the planet and a hell of a lot to pollute it, he can arrange for you to look down upon it. This week he unveiled an aircraft for flying tourists into space. Virgin Galactic (yes, space can be branded too) has built a four-engine, twin-fuselage jet that will carrya spaceship with six passengers up to 50,000 feet to release it for sub-orbital flight. Spraying huge amounts of jet fuel into the atmosphere, purely to allow rich people to look down on an overheating planet, is about as stupid and hypocritical as it gets. Still, I’m sure that the earth from space is a beautiful sight – enjoy it while it lasts. http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=AGENDA-qqqs=agenda-qqqid=34805- - -qqqx=1.asp

Re: The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back!! [sanjaysdca]

by dewey on Sat Jul 26 04:06:05 PDT 2008

Most of the enjoyable things in life are either Unhealthy, Immoral, or Illegal...Go figure So true. That applies to everyone except maybe a hedonistic German Porsche owner who lives near the Autobahn in order to go with unlimited speed to Amsterdam for servings of psychoactive hemp that are legally served in Amsterdam bars" (hemp is considered healthy you know). ;) Nothing unhealthy, immoral and illegal about that. Unless of course you are a North American moralist. :surprise:

Let the GW stupidity begin

by gagrice on Sat Jun 28 21:09:03 PDT 2008

Tax means fewer travellers at main Dutch airport: report Jun 28 02:46 PM US/Eastern Some 50,000 fewer passengers are expected to use Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest, this summer on account of a Dutch environmental tax on flights, it was reported Saturday. "We're expected zero growth in 2008, and in fact a decrease (in passenger numbers) in July and August," an airport spokesman was quoted as saying by the domestic ANP news agency. The Netherlands is the only country that levies an environmental tax on flights departing the country -- 11.25 euros per passenger (17.75 dollars) for European destinations and 45 euros for intercontential points. With higher fuel prices pushing up air fares worldwide, travel industry experts say the tax will hurt business at Schiphol and see many Dutch travellers go to nearby German airports instead. Another good reason to vacation in the good ole USA....

Re: Car Choice [tagman]

by dewey on Fri Jun 27 20:54:43 PDT 2008

First and foremost I am not a psychologist. Second of all my name is not Ap Dijksterhuis And the third thing is I am not gainfully employed at the University of Amsterdam. :) Having said all of the above I still see some truth in these studies. Imagine a fiance doing a thorough cost/benefit analysis of his future wife. Imagine a car nut who knows what he truly loves and what he can afford but continues to insist on going to every single dealership of every single marque to test drive and assess every single alternative against the one single car that he truly desires and then goes even further by researching every single auto mag,consumer survey and all past related auto litigation suits for all competing marques. My bet is this fellow is better off following his gut feelings than following the conclusion of his so-called thorough research. Anyways pardon my psychobabble. We will leave those Dutch bearded doctors with couches and notepads for another forum like Group Therapy. ;)

Car Choice

by dewey on Fri Jun 27 15:45:52 PDT 2008

How many people here have bought a car after discussing their decision for a very long time and ended up regretting their decision and as a result selling their new dream car within a few months? Seems to be quite a few people here whom fits that description. The following studies indicates that overthinking our choices may make us feel like we made a wrong choice and cause dissatisfaction. In fact based on the studies below we make our decisions before they even become conscious. So sometimes its best to rely on our gut feelings versus over-analyzing what cars to buy. Dutch researchers led by psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis at the University of Amsterdam recently found that people struggling to make relatively complicated consumer choices -- which car to buy, apartment to rent or vacation to take -- appeared to make sounder decisions when they were distracted and unable to focus consciously on the problem. Moreover, the more factors to be considered in a decision, the more likely the unconscious brain handled it all better, they reported in the peer-reviewed journal Science in 2006. "The idea that conscious deliberation before making a decision is always good is simply one of those illusions consciousness creates for us," Dr. Dijksterhuis said. Does this make our self-awareness just a second thought? link title

Re: Snow Angel> [andys120]

by fintail on Wed Jun 25 18:02:56 PDT 2008

Ha, I have that same image on a postcard a friend sent to me from Amsterdam