"EU warns US Commerce Department of counter-measures if car tariffs imposed"

https://www.rt.com/newsline/431461-eu-us-tariffs-cars/

As a Sunderland supporter I've got used to thinking that my team is called Sunderland 0. It looks as though I'll have to get used to thinking the EU is called "EU warns", since that seems to be all it does these days, and "EU warns..." seems to be a regular headline now.

"Maltese prosecutors want confiscation of German rescue boat Lifeline"

https://www.rt.com/newsline/431499-malta-confiscation-rescue-boat/

"The German captain of a private ship that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean Sea pleaded innocent on Monday to charges that he entered Malta’s waters illegally and without proper boat registration, AP said. At an arraignment hearing in Valletta, Maltese prosecutors asked a magistrate to order the confiscation of the vessel Lifeline, which picked up 234 migrants in waters off Libya last month. Malta last week gave the ship safe harbor, only after Italy and seven other nations agreed to each take some of the migrants. Several hundred thousand migrants have arrived in Italy after sea rescue in recent years. The country’s new government refused to let the Lifeline dock. Maltese officials launched an investigation to determine if the ship’s crew violated maritime laws."

"Austria against asylum claims from non-EU migrant centers – Kurz"

https://www.rt.com/newsline/431518-austria-eu-migrant-centers/

"Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke out on Monday against giving migrants the chance to seek asylum in the EU from proposed “disembarkation platforms” outside the bloc, AFP reported. European leaders hammered out a deal in Brussels on Friday to consider setting up the centers, most likely in North Africa, in a bid to discourage migrants and refugees boarding EU-bound smuggler boats. Kurz told O1 radio: “If we allow asylum applications [from the disembarkation platforms], this will create an incredible pull factor.” Austria has just taken up the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. The chancellor said it would be “smarter to go directly to people in war zones, rather than create an incentive to undertake the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.”"

"Merkel migration deals not in the bag
Chancellor negotiated with 16 EU countries, less than half think they have a done deal."

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-angela-merkel-migration-deals-not-in-the-bag/

"In the battle over migration between German conservatives, Angela Merkel may have scored an own goal.

Her conservative party claims the chancellor has negotiated with 16 other EU countries on transferring asylum seekers out of Germany. But POLITICO spoke to all 16, and most of them said they’ve either ruled out such a deal or still need to negotiate one. Of the countries that have, in Merkel’s words, made “political pledges to conclude such agreements,” many said it amounted to little more than a souped-up version of the EU’s current cooperation system."

GolfCharlie. They would achieve that goal more quickly by consuming a good cuppa.

Jul 2, 2018 at 12:47 PM Supertroll

So it is the peaty tannins that causes enthusiasts of whisky and whiskey to get pickled?

GolfCharlie
1. Preservation is due to the presence of large amounts of tanins in peat which convert many types of animal organic matter into leathers.
2. subsidence in the fens was due to oxidation of peat when it was annually brought to the surface by deep ploughing. Most of the peat has now gone, and the black soils I saw as a boy from the train to Peterborough are now greys.
3. I know very little about the Eocene of Hampshire and didn't know any of it was particularly organic rich so cannot comment. The London Clay (not particularly organic rich) has odd properties. It expands when excavated, and undergoes changes similar to those you describe.

Jul 2, 2018 at 9:05 AM | Uibhist a Tuath
Jul 2, 2018 at 9:45 AM | Supertroll

Supertroll, I fully accept what you say about peat, decay, organic matter etc. The state of preservation of human remains submerged in bogs (are they all called "Pete"?) is amazing. I think that is acidity combined with zero ozygen ?? Have they been pickled?

The Fens and parts of East Anglia are subject to progressive decay of the peat, is an inch per year fairly constant? The reason I ask is due to subsidence that is NOT due to clay deseccation and shrinkage.

In South East England, house that have been built on soils with a high organic content (Bracklesham Beds?) may be stable and crack free for years, and then cracks appear. No further movement occurs for years. Then it happens again. An Engineer offered the suggestion to me over 25 years ago, that this MAY be a result of 5-10 year rises and falls in the water table. When the water table falls, fresh air, with fresh oxygen is introduced and decay was able to restart.

Does this seem about right, and if so, is water table and oxidation of organic matter beneath The Fens subject to seasonal and, in addition, longer cycles of progressive movement?

UaT. Peats are oxygen free because the superabundance of organic matter causes all infusing oxygen to be consumed oxidizing part of it. Normally, peat holds water which swells the peat , allowing it to bulge up to cover prominences in the landscape. So, in order to burn, it must dry out, either during a drought or a result of being heated by a nearby fire.

Thinking about this subject reminded me of a related subject. The bedrock of much of the Prairies, south of the glaciated region is made up of coal measures. Very common are areas of brick- red hard clays (literally natural brick) caused by the surface and shallow subsurface burning of the coal seams. There are tourist spots where you can peer down cracks and see flames caused by the still burning coal. If the climate mafia ever get to know about them, these natural fossil fuel sources of deadly CO2 will be extinguished.