We can't say we haven't been warned. The International Energy Agency has announced that greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to 2C, the lowest level of dangerous climate change, all but out of reach.
In 2010, a record 30.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere, a rise of 1.6Gt on the previous year.
The Copenhagen climate summit set out five possible scenarios for our future climate and was hoping to hold the increase in global temperature to a disasterous, but manageable, 2C.
A 2C increase was the lowest rung on a catastrophic ladder which would see summer heatwaves on a par with the heatwave of 2003 which killed tens of thousands of people across Europe, higher rates of malaria, starvation of half a billion people as more agricultural yields fail and the world's sea level rising by seven metres increasing coastal flooding.
Unbelievably, we are on course to surpass that and have moved into the catastrophic area of a 4C increase where the Arctic permafrost thaws to release the methane and carbon dioxide currently locked in the soils into the atmosphere. At the Arctic itself, the ice cover would disappear permanently, a 13m rise in the sea level, submerging many island nations. Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey become deserts and mid-Europe reaches desert temperatures of almost 50C in summer.
While some world leaders are continuously joining hands to fight terrorism, one wonders why they cannot offer similar efforts to control climate change, a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism according to the UK Government's chief scientific adviser.
The physical effects of climate change has become much more noticeable lately with floods in Australia, Brazil and Indonesia and swathes of tornadoes sweeping across America this year killing over 500 people.
Future generations will look back and wonder why we allowed such a disaster to unfold and the only reason they can possibly reach is the selfish World leaders who condemned billions of humans for short term financial gain. Disgraceful doesn't begin to cover it.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Gil Scott-Heron's Legacy
I didn't know who Gil Scott-Heron was until he died this weekend but i did know of his song 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' but only because i thought it was a great title. I'm not even sure i had ever heard it and after clicking through a host of links on You Tube it still didn't sound familiar.
His biggest impact on the British psyche was not with 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' but as the voice of the ad slogan, 'You know when you’ve been Tango-ed'.
In an interview with the Telegraph in 2010 Scott-Heron described his most famous work as 'satire' and felt that people misinterpreted his song as a militant message, 'I just think they made a mistake' he said.
I have always been quite indifferent to hip hop and rap music, it was always far too boastful and violent for my tastes and the artists with all the gold and macho posing just turned it into a genre that never appealed.
That said, there are a few rap songs i like from the early days, before it turned into a musical category that attracted the strutting egotists that seem to pollute it now.
Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message' was probably the best hip hop song i have heard, a warning against drugs and admiring the 'smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers, pickpockets, peddlers and even panhandlers'.
Apart from that song, Fight for your right to party by the Beastie Boys and a couple of Run DMC songs (Walk This Way and It's Tricky) the rest i could, and have, easily ignored.
Not that i don't appreciate the effort that goes into creating that style of music, i just don't much care for the message behind most of the songs or the image of the performers as nor was the man lauded by today's rappers as their inspiration.
“That negativity stuff sells records' he said in 2010 in answer to a question on today's rap music, 'It appeals to the kind of people who are not interested in taking advantage of opportunities – the kind of people who have time to sit around and listen to that shit'.
His biggest impact on the British psyche was not with 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' but as the voice of the ad slogan, 'You know when you’ve been Tango-ed'.
In an interview with the Telegraph in 2010 Scott-Heron described his most famous work as 'satire' and felt that people misinterpreted his song as a militant message, 'I just think they made a mistake' he said.
I have always been quite indifferent to hip hop and rap music, it was always far too boastful and violent for my tastes and the artists with all the gold and macho posing just turned it into a genre that never appealed.
That said, there are a few rap songs i like from the early days, before it turned into a musical category that attracted the strutting egotists that seem to pollute it now.
Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message' was probably the best hip hop song i have heard, a warning against drugs and admiring the 'smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers, pickpockets, peddlers and even panhandlers'.
Apart from that song, Fight for your right to party by the Beastie Boys and a couple of Run DMC songs (Walk This Way and It's Tricky) the rest i could, and have, easily ignored.
Not that i don't appreciate the effort that goes into creating that style of music, i just don't much care for the message behind most of the songs or the image of the performers as nor was the man lauded by today's rappers as their inspiration.
“That negativity stuff sells records' he said in 2010 in answer to a question on today's rap music, 'It appeals to the kind of people who are not interested in taking advantage of opportunities – the kind of people who have time to sit around and listen to that shit'.
Friday, 27 May 2011
Have a Nice Day Cheryl
Cheryl Cole's new job as a judge on the new American X-Factor has come to a
screeching halt after a fortnight as she was sacked and replaced by Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger because her Geordie accent was so think that the Americans couldn't understand her.
Hmm, now call me a cynic but i smell a big publicity stunt.
Now Cheryl is 'known' in the United States, albeit by virtue of being sacked for having a bad accent so when she releases her songs she won't be a complete unknown, she will be that woman who got sacked on X-Factor.
This, my inner cynic says, was just a way to bring her to the mind of the American record buying public and Nicole Scherzinger was always going to be the 'real' judge.
Now she is making all the right noises about being heartbroken and upset by it all but everyone wins.
American X-Factor gets publicity from it all and so does Cheryl in the country she is desperate to break.
They knew very well what her accent was like before they hired her so the reason that Americans can't understand her is a red herring.
Alternatively, they quickly realised she has little discernible talent outside of wearing skimpy costumes and parachuted in someone else.
screeching halt after a fortnight as she was sacked and replaced by Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger because her Geordie accent was so think that the Americans couldn't understand her.
Hmm, now call me a cynic but i smell a big publicity stunt.
Now Cheryl is 'known' in the United States, albeit by virtue of being sacked for having a bad accent so when she releases her songs she won't be a complete unknown, she will be that woman who got sacked on X-Factor.
This, my inner cynic says, was just a way to bring her to the mind of the American record buying public and Nicole Scherzinger was always going to be the 'real' judge.
Now she is making all the right noises about being heartbroken and upset by it all but everyone wins.
American X-Factor gets publicity from it all and so does Cheryl in the country she is desperate to break.
They knew very well what her accent was like before they hired her so the reason that Americans can't understand her is a red herring.
Alternatively, they quickly realised she has little discernible talent outside of wearing skimpy costumes and parachuted in someone else.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Welcome Obama
I quite like having the American President over here, not because i think he is a particular good President or has made the World a better place by his appointment, it's because British politics and politicians are boring and he is a great diversion.
My highlights so far has been his car getting stuck exiting the US Embassy in Dublin and his signing the guest book in Westminster Abbey book and putting the wrong date, writing 24 May 2008. Surely Americans do the date other way around? You sure he is American? Has anybody checked his birth certificate recently?
David Cameron has been fawning over him as expected and Obama does seem to have a genuine liking for our Queen but i wish they wouldn't keep going on about our so-called special relationship.
Britain’s obsession with its trans-Atlantic alliance has always struck me as a bit strange and one sided. America has many special relationships, unfortunately the one with Israel being the closest, and as Obama moves around Europe, undoubtedly he will use the special relationship phrase again and again depending on which country he is in at the time.
It was only a few short years ago that the largest mid-week demonstration that this country has ever seen was because of the arrival of the previous American President, widely despised everywhere outside of the American bible belt.
Our role in the special relationship seems to be as the excited puppy who bounces around Americas heels and is rewarded by a pat on the head, or a Presidential visit, every so often.
There is much to admire regarding America but let's not keep up this pretence that the bond between London and Washington is anymore special than the one between Washington and Beijing, New Delhi or Paris. Our own special relationship should be with the likes of Germany and France, countries that we have many more political and economic ties with and not America who will make every effort to woo emerging markets like China and India as the tectonic plates of international relations shift and we become just another smallish country hoping to get noticed and looking for that comforting pat on the head.
My highlights so far has been his car getting stuck exiting the US Embassy in Dublin and his signing the guest book in Westminster Abbey book and putting the wrong date, writing 24 May 2008. Surely Americans do the date other way around? You sure he is American? Has anybody checked his birth certificate recently?
David Cameron has been fawning over him as expected and Obama does seem to have a genuine liking for our Queen but i wish they wouldn't keep going on about our so-called special relationship.
Britain’s obsession with its trans-Atlantic alliance has always struck me as a bit strange and one sided. America has many special relationships, unfortunately the one with Israel being the closest, and as Obama moves around Europe, undoubtedly he will use the special relationship phrase again and again depending on which country he is in at the time.
It was only a few short years ago that the largest mid-week demonstration that this country has ever seen was because of the arrival of the previous American President, widely despised everywhere outside of the American bible belt.
Our role in the special relationship seems to be as the excited puppy who bounces around Americas heels and is rewarded by a pat on the head, or a Presidential visit, every so often.
There is much to admire regarding America but let's not keep up this pretence that the bond between London and Washington is anymore special than the one between Washington and Beijing, New Delhi or Paris. Our own special relationship should be with the likes of Germany and France, countries that we have many more political and economic ties with and not America who will make every effort to woo emerging markets like China and India as the tectonic plates of international relations shift and we become just another smallish country hoping to get noticed and looking for that comforting pat on the head.
Democracy Conservative Party Style
Augean, a waste management business, wanted to use a landfill site in Harwell, Oxfordshire, to dump 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste a year.
In a referendum in Harwell, 96% of residents were against this dump and the local council turned down Augean's application.
Augean, who have been fined by the Environment Agency for past breaches of regulations, appealed to the secretary of state, Eric Pickles, who explained that 'the risk of actual harm from the development would be very low and it should therefore be given the go-ahead.'
Augean were quoted as saying they were 'pleased' with the decision as well they might. A report by Edison Investment Research in March 2010 suggested that if Augean was to accept its full quota of radioactive waste, its profit from the site would be in excess of £100 million per year.
Democracy, where money talks louder than people. Don't you just love it.
In a referendum in Harwell, 96% of residents were against this dump and the local council turned down Augean's application.
Augean, who have been fined by the Environment Agency for past breaches of regulations, appealed to the secretary of state, Eric Pickles, who explained that 'the risk of actual harm from the development would be very low and it should therefore be given the go-ahead.'
Augean were quoted as saying they were 'pleased' with the decision as well they might. A report by Edison Investment Research in March 2010 suggested that if Augean was to accept its full quota of radioactive waste, its profit from the site would be in excess of £100 million per year.
Democracy, where money talks louder than people. Don't you just love it.
Monday, 23 May 2011
Giggs Outed At Last
Oh well, that's that bit of fun over now that Ryan Giggs has been named in the House of Commons as the footballer who paid £50,000 for a super injunction against us finding out he was having a six month affair with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.
The part that tickled my funny bone was that almost everyone knew about it anyway, it has been all over the internet and even on his Wikipedia page for the past week as well as the newspapers hinting heavily who it was.
I am a big advocate of the adage 'if you don't want people to find out you are a two timing scumbag, don't be a two timing scumbag' and i sincerely hope Giggs gets the kicking that Imogen got after the atrocious decision that she could be named but he couldn't which hung her out to dry.
I also hope she gets a ton of money thrown at her for her story and Giggs comes out of it looking like the callous, arrogant bonehead that he is.
Hopefully, this will put an end to the world of super injunctions where the rich and powerful can hide their indiscretions from the World because this is the age of the internet and nothing will stay secret for long.
Then we can get back to how it should be, the media highlighting the behaviour of anyone on a pedestal who acts in a way that puts them in a bad light.
If Giggs wife has half a brain in her head, she will boot the Manchester United player into touch and take him for half his fortune but as previous footballer wives have shown, they don't tend to half a brain between them.
I reckon the well known British actor with the super injunction may be getting a bit nervous about now.
The part that tickled my funny bone was that almost everyone knew about it anyway, it has been all over the internet and even on his Wikipedia page for the past week as well as the newspapers hinting heavily who it was.
I am a big advocate of the adage 'if you don't want people to find out you are a two timing scumbag, don't be a two timing scumbag' and i sincerely hope Giggs gets the kicking that Imogen got after the atrocious decision that she could be named but he couldn't which hung her out to dry.
I also hope she gets a ton of money thrown at her for her story and Giggs comes out of it looking like the callous, arrogant bonehead that he is.
Hopefully, this will put an end to the world of super injunctions where the rich and powerful can hide their indiscretions from the World because this is the age of the internet and nothing will stay secret for long.
Then we can get back to how it should be, the media highlighting the behaviour of anyone on a pedestal who acts in a way that puts them in a bad light.
If Giggs wife has half a brain in her head, she will boot the Manchester United player into touch and take him for half his fortune but as previous footballer wives have shown, they don't tend to half a brain between them.
I reckon the well known British actor with the super injunction may be getting a bit nervous about now.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Newt is Crapo But Olympia's A Corker
The next American election is picking up pace and the Republicans may have lost the remarkably haired Donald Trump but in his place has stepped the magnificently named Newt Gingrich.
A quick look at his profile shows the man is an idiot of the highest order but putting that to one side, what a great name.
President Newt sounds like something out of Wind in the Willows and i would love to hear that name being bandied around for a couple of years although his name is probably the best thing about him.
Marrying your geometry teacher and having an affair while you are leader of the Republican investigation into Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinksi doesn't bode well. That and his anti-gay, black and Muslim stance.
Looking through the list of Senators, there are some others who should be made President just because they have a great name, people such as John Boozman, Mike Crapo, Dick Durbin, Olympia Snowe, Bob Corker and Orrin Hatch.
My initial favourite was Sheldon Whitehouse, how could someone with that surname not deserve to be made leader of the country but then I saw him, Saxby Chambliss.
British politicians have names like David or John, as exotic as we get is Eric Pickles so anyone with the name Saxby should receive a standing ovation where-ever he goes because that's just brilliant.
Credit must go to his parents who obviously were not swayed by the restrictions of giving their child a sensible christian name so they called him Saxby.
I didn't even bother looking him up, he deserves the Presidency with Crapo as vice President.
Saxby for President 2012. Failing that, just one that won't morph into an idiot as soon as he gets the keys to the White House would be nice.
A quick look at his profile shows the man is an idiot of the highest order but putting that to one side, what a great name.
President Newt sounds like something out of Wind in the Willows and i would love to hear that name being bandied around for a couple of years although his name is probably the best thing about him.
Marrying your geometry teacher and having an affair while you are leader of the Republican investigation into Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinksi doesn't bode well. That and his anti-gay, black and Muslim stance.
Looking through the list of Senators, there are some others who should be made President just because they have a great name, people such as John Boozman, Mike Crapo, Dick Durbin, Olympia Snowe, Bob Corker and Orrin Hatch.
My initial favourite was Sheldon Whitehouse, how could someone with that surname not deserve to be made leader of the country but then I saw him, Saxby Chambliss.
British politicians have names like David or John, as exotic as we get is Eric Pickles so anyone with the name Saxby should receive a standing ovation where-ever he goes because that's just brilliant.
Credit must go to his parents who obviously were not swayed by the restrictions of giving their child a sensible christian name so they called him Saxby.
I didn't even bother looking him up, he deserves the Presidency with Crapo as vice President.
Saxby for President 2012. Failing that, just one that won't morph into an idiot as soon as he gets the keys to the White House would be nice.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Obama's Speech
It was described as the most important speech Obama has made on the Middle East since becoming President although the overwhelming feeling I had was why was the United States, a non-Middle-Eastern country, yet again setting out a vision for the Middle East? Why is everyone else not setting out our vision for the USA involving an end to this sort of arrogance?
The 'Arab Spring' caught the American administration by surprise and the US is sliding out of view in the region, their influence fading fast as 'friends' are pushed aside and America is desperate to regain some clout.
Obama's star has been waning or some time now and his cause was not helped by his condemnation of brutal regimes during his hour long speech and name checked Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain but passed over Saudi Arabia.
So far so what we expected, but one place that America does have influence and can make a real change is Israel and I was lifted to hear Obama state that 'the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state'.
This will be the headline maker and was what the Middle East has been waiting to hear and will be the one thing that will show them that the old status quo isn't going to be just accepted anymore because Americas blind defense of Israel is the greatest problem for Americas image in the region.
Israel responded as expected, rejecting the plan for borders along the 1967 lines but if Obama is to make any real difference to the Middle East, he will have to see through the Israeli act of playing the victim and force it into negotiations, proper negotiations and not the feet dragging exercise while Israel continues to claim Palestinian land.
Obama needs to link the negotiations to continued Israeli funding, without American money, Israel will be unable to bankroll it's continued occupation and be forced to seek peace with Palestine.
Whether Obama will do that and risk the religious vote in the 2012 elections will be the test but if America wants to improve its image and be seen as an honest broker in the region, it cannot continue to supply Israel with its weapons which in turn are used against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, until Obamas words become actions, the Middle East will view the West, and America in particular, with suspicion and it has every right to because it is our hyprocisy and meddling in their region that has caused the vast majority of its problems.
The 'Arab Spring' caught the American administration by surprise and the US is sliding out of view in the region, their influence fading fast as 'friends' are pushed aside and America is desperate to regain some clout.
Obama's star has been waning or some time now and his cause was not helped by his condemnation of brutal regimes during his hour long speech and name checked Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain but passed over Saudi Arabia.
So far so what we expected, but one place that America does have influence and can make a real change is Israel and I was lifted to hear Obama state that 'the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state'.
This will be the headline maker and was what the Middle East has been waiting to hear and will be the one thing that will show them that the old status quo isn't going to be just accepted anymore because Americas blind defense of Israel is the greatest problem for Americas image in the region.
Israel responded as expected, rejecting the plan for borders along the 1967 lines but if Obama is to make any real difference to the Middle East, he will have to see through the Israeli act of playing the victim and force it into negotiations, proper negotiations and not the feet dragging exercise while Israel continues to claim Palestinian land.
Obama needs to link the negotiations to continued Israeli funding, without American money, Israel will be unable to bankroll it's continued occupation and be forced to seek peace with Palestine.
Whether Obama will do that and risk the religious vote in the 2012 elections will be the test but if America wants to improve its image and be seen as an honest broker in the region, it cannot continue to supply Israel with its weapons which in turn are used against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, until Obamas words become actions, the Middle East will view the West, and America in particular, with suspicion and it has every right to because it is our hyprocisy and meddling in their region that has caused the vast majority of its problems.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Crediting John Major
Anglo-Irish relations have always been a source of bemusement. Both countries can point to atrocities perpetrated on them by the other over the years but finally it seems Ireland and England have settled their differences.
The visit by the Queen to the Republic of Ireland, the first visit by a British monarch for 100 years, will hopefully continue this process and her laying of the wreath to commemorate the Irish who died fighting for their independence from the English shows great humility and recognition of past behaviour.
One forgotten person who should be feeling rather proud of himself today is former British Prime Minister John Major who took the historic step of attempting to normalise relations with the Republic and to reach out to the IRA which led directly to his successors signing the Good Friday Agreement.
Margaret Thatcher balked at the idea of discussions with Sein Fein and the IRA but Major and his Irish counterpart, Albert Reynolds, took a huge political risk that the status quo could not continue and searched for an agreement, a decision that could easily have backfired as the Irish Republican Army were inflicting carnage on England at the time.
Seen largely as a makeweight prime minister between two prime ministerial heavyweights, John Major did very little else that was creditable during his time in Number 10 but he deserves most credit of all for taking that initial gamble of starting the ball rolling with no real support from his own party.
Major, i believe, acted out of a genuine belief in an agreement with a lasting, peaceful political legacy being good for both countries and the relative political calm in Northern Ireland compared to pre-1998 would not have been possible without his contribution.
Hopefully there are people in the many current conflict areas in the World with the vision of John Major and Albert Reynolds who decide that just sitting down and talking through your differences is a preferable method of conflict resolution than bombs and bullets.
The visit by the Queen to the Republic of Ireland, the first visit by a British monarch for 100 years, will hopefully continue this process and her laying of the wreath to commemorate the Irish who died fighting for their independence from the English shows great humility and recognition of past behaviour.
One forgotten person who should be feeling rather proud of himself today is former British Prime Minister John Major who took the historic step of attempting to normalise relations with the Republic and to reach out to the IRA which led directly to his successors signing the Good Friday Agreement.
Margaret Thatcher balked at the idea of discussions with Sein Fein and the IRA but Major and his Irish counterpart, Albert Reynolds, took a huge political risk that the status quo could not continue and searched for an agreement, a decision that could easily have backfired as the Irish Republican Army were inflicting carnage on England at the time.
Seen largely as a makeweight prime minister between two prime ministerial heavyweights, John Major did very little else that was creditable during his time in Number 10 but he deserves most credit of all for taking that initial gamble of starting the ball rolling with no real support from his own party.
Major, i believe, acted out of a genuine belief in an agreement with a lasting, peaceful political legacy being good for both countries and the relative political calm in Northern Ireland compared to pre-1998 would not have been possible without his contribution.
Hopefully there are people in the many current conflict areas in the World with the vision of John Major and Albert Reynolds who decide that just sitting down and talking through your differences is a preferable method of conflict resolution than bombs and bullets.
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