Judgement Day

The High Court case had consumed all my being for the last 2 months. Everything else around me; kids, family, friends and work had been put on hold whilst I dedicated myself, night and day, preparing for the biggest battle of my life. Climbing mount Everest would have been a stroll in comparison.

I'd been summoned to court for the abduction of my children under the Hague Convention. The plaintiff was the father, who sought the return of the children to Spain. Proofing one's innocence is not as easy as you would expect.

Under the guidance of my legal counsels KC ( solicitor) and TG ( barrister), I began the mammoth task of listing events in chronological order , gathering documents and people who can support me in my case. The most vital document I possessed was a 3 page signed agreement for the relocation between myself and the father.

The timing of events were clear as it merely involved recalling memories. Rattling my head as who the potential witnesses could be was somewhat more difficult. Other time was spent reading everything about the Hague Convention, fighting to get legal aid, reading affidavits and making notes for my legal counsels.

A month into the preparation of my affidavit, I just could not see the wood from the trees. At one point, I had truly believed that I had kidnapped the girls. It would have been easy then  just to say " Ok, I did it", just so that the mental torments and stresses would go away.

My public legal aid was suspended 3 times. Even at the first final hearing on 10th March, I was without legal representation and had no choice but to turn up to court alone. I pleaded for an adjournment and presented the judge the correctly sworn exhibit (the signed Spanish agreement), which had been incorrectly served! The original agreement contained 3 signed pages however my solicitor had made a mistake by only serving the 1st page of the Spanish agreement and the three English translation pages.

The opposing counsel panicked and called for a hand writing expert to examine and establish whether the signatures were that of my ex. I had pointed out that the father had already made admissions (in five points of his first affidavit) that he had signed 1 page  of the agreement. So the judge, came to my defence, and ordered that the expert witness will establish whether the other 2 signatures on the other 2 pages matched that of the 1st page. The opposing side were to instruct and pay for the hand writing expert. That weekend was spent reading everything I could find about graphology, signature forgeries and disguises.

The original questioned documents were sent to an ex-hippy, Ruth Myers, who you could say was non-scientific. I still had no legal counsel at that time, so the opposing counsels took full advantage by mis-instructing the hand writing expert. I received a copy of the letter of instruction to Ms Myers on the same day her report was submitted. As I had suspected, she had not examined whether the 3 signatures were the same. Lawyers never break the law, but bends it to their maxinium capability. The better the law firm, the greater the degree of bendness. Dawson Cornwell (DC) is a highly respectable family law firm, probably the best in the UK. Foul-play, yet they had not broken the law! Deploying signature vertification and then mis-instructing the expert  is  vindicative proof  that there was something to hide.  Ruth Myers's result was inconclusive! but suggested that a possible disguise signature had been adopted. In a telephone conversation I had with her she revealed who  my ex is merely from his signature. His signature is illegible, contains numerous flourishes and scrolls surrounded by a circular whirl, which  indicates a conniving, deceitful, secretive person who hides a himself behind a wall! Jeez, why couldn't she just tell the judge this and save us all time and energy.

The new final hearing was set for the 23th March. The day before, I served my third affidavit at 10am. It was not substantive, merely to clarify some fundamental points. My ex, at 4pm submitted another affidavit, where he retracts ever signing any pages of the agreement  as he had declared in his previous affidavit and admits an email (*)  between my solicitor KC and the Spanish lawyer who had drafted the agreement. KC panicked and phoned me immediately. I rested her assure that the exhibited email was actually in my favour.

We arrived at court on Tuesday 23rd, with no judge yet assigned to the case. There were 2 judges floating so TG presuaded the opposing counsel that we should all go home for the day and secured Justice Bodey ( one of the floating judges) for a definite hearing the next day. They agreed! TG is labelled the 'Cat's Whiskers' for a reason. Justice Bodey was the judge who had ordered the probihition of  Nuria's operation in  January. He's "like an old woman" said TG. He was the perfect judge for us!

The first day hearing on 24th, the judge needed 3 hours to read the 600 page bundle and so we were sent away until 2pm. After lunch, the child pyschologist went in the dock first. Her pyschological assessment (back in late February) of the children was in favour of a non-return to Spain. DC had strongly opposed the children from seeking legal representation for themselves and from seeing the judge. The opposing barrister (ED) was silly as to get up the psychologist's nose in his cross examination and so had inadvertedly opened doors for the judge to see the girls, contrary to what they had so strongly opposed. So it was ordered that the psychologist interviews the girls again to establish whether their general feelings and wishes were still the same and the judge said that he would like 2 minutes with the girls, just to say 'Hi'.

My cross examination lasted 3 hours. ED was irriated by the fact he could not trip me up or corner me. Actually, some of his questions were quite stupid. One example ( whereby father had said that it was agreed that the relocation was suppose to be temporary for 1 or 2 years only).

" Wasn't it agreed  that the children take a course in England for one or two years?"

" No, I would have never agreed to such thing. No responsible parent would do that! To suggest that a child should move to another country and under-take a course in a different language temporarily would be insane. Perhaps if they were diplomats or for other work reasons then this would be feasible, in which case the children would be enrolled in a school that taught in the same language"

And so the relentless questioning went on. At one stage, I really pissed him off by asking him if the last sentence he'd said was a question, affirmation or statement. No matter how much he tried to put me under duress, I kept calm. To one question, whereby he pushed me to give him an answer, I said " can I just finish reading !"( the statement in the bundle). My solicitor said that I did super well and liked the fact that I didn't allow ED to bully me.

It goes to say, that when one tells the truth, it's easy to recall facts.

Now it was my ex's turn to go in the dock. Being the sly person he is, he re-entered the court room before anyone else, made his way to the dock with his own bundle. Luckily TG's under-study spotted him switching the court room's bundle. It was pointed out to him by his own solicitor "in England, you're not allowed to have your bundle, you have to use the court's bundle"

My ex's cross examination by TG was also about 3 hours long. He, of course had an interpreter who was brilliant and mimicked every single audible and inaudible sound my ex made. For the first 15 minutes, it was quite easy, really just affirming some factual details, addresses,  what he did and what mother did with kids during the summer holiday etc. TG then extended his cat claws to twang his whiskers. My ex was white with fear. He babbled, stumbled,  obviously confused and blatantly lost in the sea of lies whilst being fried in the hot oil. It was actually painful to see him in the dock. It was like watching a cat playing with a mouse before killing it.

My ex never expected this. He was very familiar to being in lower courts in Spain but now finds himself in the British High Court, being cross examined by a High Court barrister. TG's cross examination notes consisted of a spider web with important points circled at very line. He'd explained to me his cross examination techniques afterwards. Basically, not to follow one line of questioning but to have interlinking lines which was dependant on the answers given. ie. basically boxing the witness to a desired conclusion or fact. TG was brilliant! He had used my ex's affirmed facts and his own exhibits to corner him; Three personal emails of his and his girl friend to the girls. One email to me before the agreement was signed. And most devastating  (*) email, in which the Barcelona lawyer had stated " Mr E. would only accept the agreement if the flat owned by Ms L. was sold and the debit for which Mr E was responsible for was eliminated". The flat was in deed, sold!

ED ( his barrister) attempted to salvage a minor point, by asking my ex a question, to which the answer should have been a yes. But he said NO! At that point, ED just gave up.
On the fouth and last day of the hearing, the psychologist (after having interviewed the girls again) gave more evidence in the dock and swore that she's 100% confident in saying that Nuria does not want to be returned to Spain. It also came to light that my ex had bought his Spanish lawyer to London and during his over-night contact time he had with the girls, introduced the lawyer as the half-sister of his girl-friend. Nuria said  the Spanish lawyer / half-sister had  asked her many pertinent  questions. Everyone in the court room gasped in horror.

Then came the two barristers' final submissions. ED had nothing against me, so reverted to past judgements. He attempted his excuse his client's poor cross examination performance by comparing the two parents; the mother being a businesswoman, articulate and sophisticated whereas father was obviously less sophisticated and with other limitations ie. she had the mental ability to premediate the abduction and the father was completely innocent due to his humble education!

We had a three and half  hours lunch break whilst the judge deliberated and wrote his judgement. TG invited us to lunch in a private members club off the Strand. A sanctuary, a place far from the madding crowd. I ordered baked hake and lemon tart which appeased my empty stomach.

Back in court by 4.20 pm whereby the judge commenced reading his judgement. I'd been warned that Justice Bodey is a considerate judge and would not leave his ruling until the last sentence as he appreciates the enormous anxiety that the plaintiff and defendant would be under. After about an hour, his rationale was that the mother's logical time line and consistency was preferred and therefore mother had established Consent Defence under Hague Convention Article 13(a). Tears ran down my face. The next ruling was that he was satisfied that Nuria had reached  an age of maturity and had accepted her well grounded objections to being returned to Spain and thereby Objection Defence Article 13(b) had been established. He further went to exercise his discretion  that Nuria views had not been influenced by mother. Maxine, though is ambivalent as where she lives, had stated in February that she wanted the judge to know that "if he puts me somewhere I don't want to be, I'll be a bad girl" . It had been established that she is a good girl and happy in England.  He also states that the return to Spain for the mother would have seriously affect her mental well-being and consequently have adverse affect on the children.  Even our cats, Sam and Tinky got mentioned in the judgement. The judge finished reading at 6pm! Application dimissed!

Winning a Hague Convention under Article 13, means that my ex can still apply to the Spanish courts  for them to decide where the children live (Brussels II revised Convention of 2005). However, it would be difficult for the Spanish courts to over ride or quash the rationale made by Justice Bodey. Therefore any application  the father makes will be furtile. 

I think only the judge, the two legal teams and  I know what  the true rationale was. Meanwhile, the father is probably still figuring  out how he got caught out!

This blog entry is exactly two months since  the served originating summons. It is  an end to an end.

I would like to dedicate my gratitude and thanks to the people who had contributed to winning this case:-

-  Dong & Hung for having been there when I needed them, especially picking up the phone to hear me rant.
- Stephanie, Miguel, Rodri, Joan Marcos, Marina, Sonia and Richard for their support and testamonies.
- Curtis, my mentor who guided me through the finer points logic and reasoning.
- KC, TG and Janet who went that extra mile.

Glorious Britain.......NOT!

Britain is spiralling down the convenience! I'm comtemplating of voting Conservative in the next general election. In hindsight, the Thatcherite years were glorious. Jesus Crist! how has my political views shifted?

K

Have you ever wondered how life takes unexpected turns and you find yourself in a situation where your life becomes entwined with that of a complete stranger?


I first met K in her offices down in Duke Street, round the corner of Selfridges. As I entered the reception area I was met by a young male receptionist, the same guy I’d spoken to about an hour ago to make an enquiry. A male receptionist! This is quite a revelation if you’ve spent the last 12 years back in the dark ages of Spain! Receptionist SHOULD and are always female. This was my immediate thought, which is completely irrelevant. I’d always thought the best and most efficient receptionist would be a gay guy. I’m stereotyping? Not at all. Well, let just leave the gender out for the time being.

In the reception area, there were two thirty something black women speaking in broken French. I  gathered that this law firm deals with a lot of immigration cases. I wondered, whether I had come to the right law firm! As I waited, a young oriental guy walked in wearing a tweed jacket with skimpy black jeans. His voice was quintessentially English. He was bringing in some documents and requested to speak to someone from the offices above. This teaches me never to make assumptions upon first sight! I have no idea what this law firm specialises in. As I sat patiently to see my solicitor, I chit chatted pleasantries with the young receptionist in between calls he took. What was obvious is that he’s very competent and dealt with great efficacy calls, which he forwarded to the relevant department or persons.

My solicitor, with whom I had had a 5 minutes conversation an hour prior, gave me sufficient assurance to say “I’m coming in”. So here I am. She walks in and immediately apologises for the delay in tending to me. She takes me to an interior box room where the heater was on maximum. It felt like a dry sauna. I began to strip whilst she turned off the heater.

She's a Punjabi woman in her mid thirties. She wore a cheap green pine coloured top which had bobbled from having been washed too many times. Her hair was messy as it been hadn’t brushed  for a few days. I felt instantly that she was the right solicitor for me. Her un-kept appearance signalled a hard worker. Some one who worked instead of caring about their appearance. However, if you over look the green top, unmade face and fluffy hair, she was actually very attractive, with great bone structures.

She got straight to the point as time was of the essence. The meeting went over an hour and half, and as it drew to a close, she informs me that she will brief T.  I will meet him at the preliminary hearing next Monday. She talks as if I knew him well. ‘Great’ I said. As I left the offices and skipped down Oxford Street, I realised that T must be the barrister. ‘Of course, in England, they have barristers!’

On the Monday, I was the first to arrive. I’d sussed out where the nearest ladies toilet was and that the mobile kiosk down the corridor sells tea, coffee and knick knacks. I had often passed the High Court on the Strand en route to my mum’s on the Number 15 bus. I have seen the façade of the building countless times and had always wondered what it was like inside. Never could I imagine that I would see the building in this manner. This building is a great landmark of London. So many historical cases have been won and lost here. Yet, at that moment, I can only remember the divorce case of Paul McCartney and his ex-wife, Heather Mills. A record £24mil settlement was paid. This payout was the largest amount ever paid in the world, though Heather wasn’t satisfied. Her original plead was £75mil or something similar. They were married for about 6 years or so, that’s £4mil per year. How the fuck can she be dis-satisfied? And last week, a Hindu priest/guru won the appeal to be cremated with wood when he dies, so that his soul is carried by the winds. Another historical win, which will pathe the way for followers.  The building was truly breath-taking, yet, I was not in the frame of mind to enjoy its beautiful architecture.

K came strolling along the corridor outside court room 40. I hardly recognised her in the black suit and made up face. The busy beaver was now in the public eye and had dressed for the occasion. I did not recognise her until she was 4 ft away and called out my name.

T soon followed. He kind of crept up from behind. Well they label him the ‘Cat’s Whiskers’ for a reason. T is Bengali. His first question to me was “how many languages do you speak” to which I gave a modest reply of “two and half”. As we sat on the court's benches, it seemed like a fight between the third world against the west. The opposing barrister was a public school educated white young man. Before we'd entered the court room, he asked me how to pronounce the plaintiff’s name. An inexperienced barrister who didn’t know how to say the name of his client was a good sign. I gleed with delight!

The preliminary hearing was short and sweet, and we got everything we wanted. It has been almost three weeks since I first met K, and she has become my best email buddy. We have exchange probably a hundred emails between ourselves since. The last email I sent her, I said “Happy Lunar New Year”. Her last email to me was simply one word “Ace”.

She is to become the most important person in my life for the next few months. The trust between us will be implicit and irrevocable. My life will be entwined with hers, though her life will always remain hers. Whether she succeeds or fails, for her it will be, just another case. For me, everything depends on this complete stranger! A scary sensation. It’s like someone telling you to jump from a 30ft height, and the only assurance you have is a verbal “don’t worry, I’ll catch you”.

Revolutionary New Year

During the festive season of Christmas and New Year, the real truths of underlying and current issues are magnified a thousand folds. One cannot help but reflect on the last 12 months. We can choose to ignore what’s happened and channel our thoughts to other incidences, we may cringe of past events, we may smile on the small achievements and feel a tinkle of pain about our failures.

I had spent most of the holiday feeling rather blue, somewhat a hermit. However at 7pm on New Year’s Eve, I found myself on a train to Brighton, a last minute  invite from a friend. Dominic and I, kind of gate crashed a house party in the posh part of Brighton. The food was excellent, and the chef promises to email his recipes for the ham and red cabbage. The company was a mix of Beat Brightonians, a nice crowd. Most were connected to the arts somehow. I hated myself so much for admitting that I owned a small import-export table top company that the during a conversation I had with an Indian guy, who was 50 years old but looked 27, I said I was an actress, a porn star. He’s is a lecturer of philosophy at Sussex University so saw the satirical side of what I’d chosen to be. Having spent the whole evening with these people and my host, I found myself wishing I was something different. I love my job and the freedom it gives me; however, I have spent the last five years head banging worried about the business; which direction; changes, executions, logistics, basically working fuck hard. Combined with the fact that the children will miss 9 days of schooling in January whilst I’m in Paris for the trade fairs, comes as a painful blow of the harsh reality.

Upon moving to London, I had promised so many things to my children and myself. My current business ensures that these promises will not be kept. Furthermore, it will not bring me any closer to my ultimate business: a mushroom farm. I had set myself a time span of 5 years to realise a concrete business plan for the farm, but I cannot see that becoming a reality for a long time, if ever.

I awoke today, 2nd of January 2010,  to a new person. I will set the ball rolling for a life style change. I will have to do the forth coming trade fairs as I have paid and more importantly it will be a challenge to coordinate two fairs simultaneously and I would like to know whether my decision to do Bijorcha, the jewellery fair, was right. In essence it will test whether I still have the edge for business.

So the next few months I shall lay the foundation for transitions and by summer the changes will commence.

After Easter, I will suspend wholesale activities, serving only current clients. I will contact some clients and offer my services as a consultant for product development and buyer, I will dedicate myself solely to this. My earnings will be commission based only and will be less than what it had been, but there will be no expenditures on my part other than the odd essential business trips. In short, a greater profit margin without the logistics, this equates to more quality time.

I will therefore have much more time for the kids and our general well being. Perhaps visit Allison in Morocco before Easter. Get a car! And will get my hands mucky and on some mushrooms as a hobby. I celebrated my New Year's revelation by cooking a tapioca and taro in coconut milk dessert. It’s going to be a great 2010!!!!

Christmas

Everyone loves Christmas but the nicest thing of Christmas for me is the turkey and potatoes especially the gravy, hmm yummy!

Oh! And the presents too, but it’s a shame that I know that Santa is mummy and papi (my daddy ). I don’t think that Kelvin knows that Santa is the parents, but my sister Nuria says that he knows, but I don't think so. The most important thing at Christmas is spending time with family and friends.

In London they don’t have the three Kings: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. My favourite King is Melchior, who gave gold to baby Jesus. Caspar, gave myrr and Balthasar gave frankincense.

                                                                                  By Maxine, aged 8

Taming The Tiger

Chinese astrology is a fascinating science. Most Chinese people live obsessively by the horoscope. They would consult astrologers or reference books before selecting a date for an important event. Even if you’re a non believer, the astrological readings can be painfully accurate and sometimes enlightening. For example, after a relationship has ended one may search for answers as to why the relationship broke down etc. You may find that internet compatibility matches provide some insight. Though, too often, we fall into the trap by believing all that we read, and that somehow make pretence that our reasonings are validated.

There are periods in my life, when I gregariously consult astrological charts. Usually before embarking on a relationship and after the relationship had ended. Even if the pre-relationship reading is negative, i.e. the relationship is fated to fail, do I follow the advice? Of course not! I will defy the laws of the celestial skies and convince myself that astrology is a load of bollocks and proceed to engage in courtship. Post-relationship readings, depresses me, as truths had been there black on white. Leading me to say ‘why didn’t I listen?’

Other than predicting your failures in love. Chinese astrology can be a great source of guidance to be harmonious with the environment and those creatures within it. The astrological recommendations combined with Feng Shui, I-Ching, Ku Bau, can prove to be life enriching. Five years ago, I really got into reading about Feng Shui and  for a few months became obsessed with it. Suddenly I started to notice my surroundings on a deeper level: designs of buildings, chairs, sofas, tables, knifes, vases….well basically everything the eye can see. I even applied the laws of Feng Shui to re-arrange the settings in my shop, even to the window displays, and made sure that at every meal the five elements (fire, water, wood, and earth, metal) were present. I became consciously aware that when ever I entered a bar or restaurant, I’d hesitate and cast an over view of the floor to pick the best table. Even if the maitre showed me to a table in which didn’t offer good Feng Shui, I would request another. In bars and cafes where I could choose the table to sit myself, I would sometimes be playing musical chair around different tables until I found a table which felt right. Feng Shui had enriched my life so much; that I wanted shared the gosspals. In the shop many customers received advice of how to improve their homes, their lives, colours they should wear and shouldn’t wear. At one stage, I thought perhaps I could become Feng Shui interior designer. The idea was quickly quashed as I recognised that couldn’t verbalise why particular changes would be beneficial. It just felt right, well to me at least.

Lately, I haven’t been sleeping very well. No matter how many hours I’d slept, during the day I was always tired. Yesterday, I realised that, two months ago, I had turned my bed 90 degrees clockwise so that the headboard faces south. But I- Ching sign recommends that east is my ideal direction. Where was the headboard before? North- East! As consolation, I had moved my office into the East room of the house and I’m facing east. Business has been very smooth since.

Most astrological websites brush on the twelve animals sign giving brief outline of personalities and love compatibilities. Some offer astrological reading combined with the elements. A few websites offer  deep readings combining Chinese astrology with other philosophies, but in exchange for payment. Normally, I don’t like paying with credit card on such pages; however, I did pay for an in depth reading before embarking in the last courtship. The reading I got was quite confusing. As you can see, it combined with western zodiac. The Chinese side, recommended a marriage counsellor, where as on the zodiac reading, stars were literally flying off the computer screen. So which do you believe? At this point I decided that I was more English than oriental and so dived into the relationship. It was a full blown tempest. I can truly say that as I’m Thunder in I-Ching.

The Angel Love Match Scores

Astrology Match            Zodiac Match                Kua Match

-6                                   99                                95

The range of Chinese astrology matching score is from -16 to 16. It’s considered a good match, if the score is equal to or greater than zero. The range of western zodiac score is from 50 to 95. A good match needs a score of 70 or more. Feng Shui Kua Number match is from 60 to 95. If a matching score is equal to 75 or greater, then that’s a good match. Certainly, the ideal match is that Chinese astrology matching score is not negative, western zodiac score is greater than 79 and Feng Shui Kua match is 80 or more.


Your Chinese astrology Match score is -6, which means you Need Marriage Advisors. (If this score is different from the free Fast Match in the website, this is because this report compares the HOUR columns in both of your birth chart.) The western zodiac match score is 99, that means your match is too good to be true. The Feng Shui Kua Number zodiac match score is 95. This score means you two are a wonderful pair.
You pass western Zodiac and Feng Shui matching tests. Both of you should be able to get along. Since you didn't pass the Chinese astrology test, you need more time to understand each other before a closer relationship. You can keep this relationship, because you pass two tests.

So now, I’m thinking, right, forget the astrological sprills and live life as a non believer. However, there’s a tiger prowling around. My astro tells me that I’m the only creature who can tame it, apparently!

http://www.astrologizeme.com/e-d-zodi.shtml

Global Hysteria

For the past decade, debates about carbon emissions contributing to global warming have really been heating up. For the past five years or so, the British government have been showing the terrifying adverts, and the chilling warnings that global warming will be worse than scientitists expect. Increasing hysterical publicity campaigns, our government beseeches to drive less, heat less, and consume less, all in the name of climate change. But people are still not convinced. The urgency which grips politicians around the world seems not to be shared by the general public.

Last month’s leaked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, in which some scientists denied that human activities were responsible for global warming, pretty much affirmed the public’s scepticism. In one corner, outrage really did hit the fan, well at least in the UK, as the leak had been perfectly timed to coincide with the Copenhagen conference next week. I’m not a rocket scientist on the subject of global warming, but have taught 'O' level Natural Economy, so I do have strong view about it. And I do know attempted thought control and  hostility to free speech when I see it.

The truth about global warming is that the debate has many layers and levels. The issues for debate are whether mankind is largely responsible and if so how can we avert carbon emissions. Global temperature is on the rise, this is an undisputed fact and its consequences are easy to see. However, I now have doubt whether humans are responsible for global warming; my conspiratorial mind is inclined to believe the ‘deniers’. I would give a right arm to see those leaked emails and analyse the data. Whether I would understand anything I read or see is beside the point.

At the Copenhagen conference, much attention will be placed on alternative forms of energy and actions for drastic reduction of carbon emissions. However the general consensus will be hard to achieve as the rift between rich and developing nations is immense. China and India are currently responsible for much of the increased carbon emissions. Yet at the same time, the economic growth is lifting millions of people out of proverty. It’s a hard balance to weigh up. What is apparent and agreed by all nations is the sheer cost of reducing carbon emissions. According to the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change calculated that global tax “starting at $68 could reduce economic output by a staggering 13 per cent by 2100-the equivalent of $40 trillion a year". That is to say, it would cost 50 times the expected damage of global warming. "A further $800 billion spent over the next 90 years solely on mitigating carbon emissions, we would rein in temperature increases by just 0.1 degree C”. When figures are put in such brutal manner, one start to wonder why all the fuss.

It has been put that the smartest way forward would be to increase public funds for research into non-carbon energy and perhaps not rule out geoegineering solutions. Superfreakonomics have suggested that by pumping millions of tons of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere (operation costs is negligible). At high altitude, it mixes with water vapour and quickly blankets the earth, effectively creating a sunscreen layer, which would cool earth by 0.5 C instantly. Pioneering science, which is still very much in experimental stages, but it could work. I couldn’t abstract any secondary consequences of this brilliant idea, but what comes to my mind is global acid rain. But the simplicity is this solution is ingenious. So why not fund these super-freaks?

So why the hysterical pandemonium by governments? Have they too been misinformed, misguided by scientists? Perhaps, perhaps not! Perhaps the real fear is that wealth will be shifted from West to East. By forcing developing countries to drastically reduce emitting carbon would inevitably result in stunted economic growth.