[Stoves] News: National Geographic on promotion of gas stoves over improved woodstoves - in Guatemala

[Andrew Heggie]

On 30 August 2017 at 23:24, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
<crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:
">[RWL3:  I recall that the Lima meeting decision was unanimous (I
don’t wish to take the time to look up that cite, but I gave it on
this list a while back).   I don’t understand why call anything about
stove testing to be “gerrymandering”.

‎For those whose first language is not English, gerrymandering is
manipulating the process by which decisions are made to achieve a
pre-determined outcome that would not, on balance, have been
acceptable without the manipulation. When this is done by the
convenors and administrators of the process, it is sometimes called
'facipulation' meaning 'facilitated manipulation‎'. It is also seen
when the person chairing the process is an advocate, not a neutral
party. "

Point of order Mr. P-P: Not at all relevant to the discussion but
gerrymandering is specifically about manipulating electoral boundaries
in order to favour the governing body. Though made famous by a case in
Boston at the turn of the 18th century it has surprisingly happened
twice more recently in what many may consider a mature democracy, UK,
first in Ulster (Northern Ireland) in the mid sixties when the
conservative unionist government  diluted the opposition vote in wards
they held marginally by drawing the boundaries around parts of the
province and concentrated the opposition vote in areas they would
never win.

This led to a resurgence of violence, civil unrest and warfare which
did not subside till 1998. Incidentally it meant that there was little
tourism to Ulster which has a beautiful coastline with views toward
Scotland which until now have remained unspoilt compared with Eire
(The republic of Ireland).

The more recent second case involved a Conservative billionaire
politician in London.

Andrew