Barack Obama is on his way to Europe which is probably a wise move as his roadshow seems to have hit a few bumps in the United States. Today's Guardian/ICM poll shows that 57% of Brits want Obama in the White House against 11% for McCain and 36% telling the pollsters where they can shove their questions, but in the place where it matters, the Obama bandwagon is showing signs of a few wobbly wheels.
A series of disappointments for his supporters has given the Democrat candidate a rough couple of weeks that has seen his national 6 point lead over his rival John McCain cut almost in half and is now almost within the margin of error.
So swapping the shores of the US for those of Europe is a good move because the man is desperately in need of a few decent photo opportunities in front of the Eiffel Tower and Reichstag not only to show that France & Germany are now Americas friends and improve his slim foreign policy credentials but also a timely reminder to his fellow Americans that the guy they elect is going to be striding the globe on their behalf, and nobody wants to see their representatives berated and protested against everywhere they go like Bush has been.
Obama is expected to make Britain his final stop towards the end of July and he and our own Mr Brown will have plenty to discuss. Namely how to move from the left to the centre and not throw away a commanding lead in the polls. Then again, Brown with his record lowest rating for a sitting PM is probably not the best one to ask about that but the fate of the Labour Party should act as a warning against chasing the popular vote and forgetting what made you popular in the first place.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Friday, 11 July 2008
Playing A Dangerous Game
The sabres are being rattled just that bit louder over the past few days as all sides in the latest Middle East escalation have been testing and showing off their military hardware and making bellicose statements about what they will do if things get any hotter.
Iran test fires missiles to prove it can and will hit Israel if attacked while the Israeli defence minister has warned of his country's readiness to act against Iran. The third piece in the jigsaw is America which today said the US are: "sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies."
We have been here before in the build up to the Iraq War but anyone with an ounce of sanity must hope that the bluster and posturing doesn't escalate to a level where bombs start dropping because the fallout we experienced from Iraq would be nothing compared to the chain of events following an attack on Iran's still hypothetical nuclear weapon capability.
This increasingly dangerous game is in a particularly delicate phase at the moment because of the uncertainties of the American, Iranian and Israeli leaders.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing an election mid-2009 which he is by no means the favourite to win as the economy continues to stagnate despite high oil prices while political scandals hovering over the head of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert are threatening either his removal from power or a snap election which he can fully expect to lose.
George Bush's time in power is almost at an end and there will be a new body in the White House come January although the time between the November election and the January inauguration could be the opportunity for America or Israel to strike, safely after the elections so the inevitable blow back will not impact on the result.
Israel and America easily have the worst record over the past 60 years for stoking up conflicts and not much caring who they launch their weapons at but as Iran have these missiles that can strike Israel, they would be totally justified in plotting in the co-ordinates of Israels 'secret' nuclear facility at Dimona in the Negev desert.
Iran test fires missiles to prove it can and will hit Israel if attacked while the Israeli defence minister has warned of his country's readiness to act against Iran. The third piece in the jigsaw is America which today said the US are: "sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies."
We have been here before in the build up to the Iraq War but anyone with an ounce of sanity must hope that the bluster and posturing doesn't escalate to a level where bombs start dropping because the fallout we experienced from Iraq would be nothing compared to the chain of events following an attack on Iran's still hypothetical nuclear weapon capability.
This increasingly dangerous game is in a particularly delicate phase at the moment because of the uncertainties of the American, Iranian and Israeli leaders.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing an election mid-2009 which he is by no means the favourite to win as the economy continues to stagnate despite high oil prices while political scandals hovering over the head of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert are threatening either his removal from power or a snap election which he can fully expect to lose.
George Bush's time in power is almost at an end and there will be a new body in the White House come January although the time between the November election and the January inauguration could be the opportunity for America or Israel to strike, safely after the elections so the inevitable blow back will not impact on the result.
Israel and America easily have the worst record over the past 60 years for stoking up conflicts and not much caring who they launch their weapons at but as Iran have these missiles that can strike Israel, they would be totally justified in plotting in the co-ordinates of Israels 'secret' nuclear facility at Dimona in the Negev desert.
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Canada Wants Us
Everyone likes to feel wanted and it seems that Canada is smiling and winking suggestively at us Brits. The Alberta's minister of Employment and Immigration, Hector Goudreau, has made the trip across the Atlantic to encourage Brits to pursue the Canadian dream.
Canada does seem to have a bit of a reputation for being the place where, well, nothing really happens but if you are willing to swap football, bobbies and condensed milk for hockey, mounties and maple syrup, then Canada is ready and waiting.
Canada, and Alberta especially, is suffering a chronic labour shortage that it is struggling to plug and is hoping to attract all kinds of skilled workers especially doctors, teachers and constructions workers.
So why should we consider giving up the high crime rate, cramped cities and summers spent under an umbrella and move to Canada?
The member of staff at the Alberta Immigration Office that i spoke to listed low crime, cheap housing, low unemployment, clean air, rolling planes, snowy mountains, fresh streams, thick forests and sparkling freshwater lakes. Not mentioned was the -30C winters.
British police officers seem to be willing to make the switch with one in 10 of Calgary's police force former members of the British police force.
Immigration to Canada is done by a points system and depends upon your age, qualifications and experience. Then all you need before you jet off to your new life is the minimum £10,000 savings they insist you must have to tide you over on your arrival.
It was at this point in the conversation that i faked a coughing fit and accidentally turned my phone off so unless there is a Canadian reading this and is willing to make me a job offer that comes with a £10,000 advance, i will just have to make do with the Due South repeats on UK Gold. Whatever happened to that cute Paul Gross anyway?
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Let Them Eat Milk Fed Lamb
The worlds poorest may be languishing in half starved poverty, their only worldly possession a pot which has Do Not Fill With Urine written on the side of it, but they'll always have the knowledge that the worlds richest nations are in there scrapping on their behalf. Or at least they will once they have unfastened the button on their trousers and had a bit of a kip to sleep off the eight-course dinner they have just polished off at the G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan.
What more could a world leader want after a hard days agonising over spiralling food prices and how to feed the Worlds poor than a menu containing hairy crab Kegani bisque-style soup alongside salt-grilled bighand thornyhead (fish) with a vinegary water pepper sauce followed by milk-fed lamb with cepes, and black truffle with emulsion sauce. Finally there was a "fantasy" dessert, a special cheese selection accompanied by lavender honey and caramelised nuts, while coffee came with candied fruits and vegetables.
You can't do global problem solving on an empty stomach, heaven forbid Gordon Browns stomach starts rumbling during Silvio Berlusconi's speech on the soaring prices of rice risking malnutrition for over 1bn Asians so they earlier sat down to a four course lunch of corn stuffed with caviar, smoked salmon and sea urchin, hot onion tart and winter lily bulb.
We can only hope that despite the tightening waistbands, our leaders will put their heads together and come up with some results to alleviate the escalating food crisis and not just leave Japan empty handed like when they left Gleneagles three years ago promising to help the Worlds poor and conveniently forgot all about it as soon as their planes left the tarmac.
We have to start seeing results from these summits that cost tens of millions of pounds and cause massive disruption or else people will begin to think they are just interested in looking out for their own interests rather than the people they are paid to represent.
These meetings already smell a bit fishy but that could just be the sea urchin repeating.
What more could a world leader want after a hard days agonising over spiralling food prices and how to feed the Worlds poor than a menu containing hairy crab Kegani bisque-style soup alongside salt-grilled bighand thornyhead (fish) with a vinegary water pepper sauce followed by milk-fed lamb with cepes, and black truffle with emulsion sauce. Finally there was a "fantasy" dessert, a special cheese selection accompanied by lavender honey and caramelised nuts, while coffee came with candied fruits and vegetables.
You can't do global problem solving on an empty stomach, heaven forbid Gordon Browns stomach starts rumbling during Silvio Berlusconi's speech on the soaring prices of rice risking malnutrition for over 1bn Asians so they earlier sat down to a four course lunch of corn stuffed with caviar, smoked salmon and sea urchin, hot onion tart and winter lily bulb.
We can only hope that despite the tightening waistbands, our leaders will put their heads together and come up with some results to alleviate the escalating food crisis and not just leave Japan empty handed like when they left Gleneagles three years ago promising to help the Worlds poor and conveniently forgot all about it as soon as their planes left the tarmac.
We have to start seeing results from these summits that cost tens of millions of pounds and cause massive disruption or else people will begin to think they are just interested in looking out for their own interests rather than the people they are paid to represent.
These meetings already smell a bit fishy but that could just be the sea urchin repeating.
Female Bishops Get Go-Ahead
Seems that the Church of England has been getting its cassocks in a bunch over females bishops.
Some 1300 of the clergy had threatened to leave if the Church of England's ruling body, the General Synod, voted to confirm the ordination of women bishops.
In a narrow victory tonight, the Church of England voted to allow women Bishops so now it looks as though the new female Bishops will have the opportunity to step straight into Bishopless parishes.
This from a Church that only came about because King Henry VIII wasn't allowed an annulment under the rules of the Catholic Church so set up his own, named himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and granted himself a divorce and shacked up with Anne Boleyn.
So why were 50% of the population disallowed from taking up the cloth if they so wish despite the top dog collar belonging to the Queen who just happens to be female?
According to our neighbourhood Priest, it all goes back to a certain carpenter who chose men as his twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose them to succeed them and so on and so forth so the Church sees itself as bound by this choice made by Jesus himself.
The furore over women bishops comes after rifts within the Church over its interpretation of biblical issues. These disagreements centre on how strictly it should interpret the Bible, for example, whether it should be read as classing active homosexuality as a sin.
Such is the outrage over the direction that the CoE is taking, 1100 of the clergy have presented a 'Jerusalem Declaration' which is calling for Old and New Testaments to be read, preached, taught and obeyed literally.
Channel 4 has reportedly expressed an interest in bidding for the rights to televise the weekly stoning of non-virgins and blasphemers.
Some 1300 of the clergy had threatened to leave if the Church of England's ruling body, the General Synod, voted to confirm the ordination of women bishops.
In a narrow victory tonight, the Church of England voted to allow women Bishops so now it looks as though the new female Bishops will have the opportunity to step straight into Bishopless parishes.
This from a Church that only came about because King Henry VIII wasn't allowed an annulment under the rules of the Catholic Church so set up his own, named himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and granted himself a divorce and shacked up with Anne Boleyn.
So why were 50% of the population disallowed from taking up the cloth if they so wish despite the top dog collar belonging to the Queen who just happens to be female?
According to our neighbourhood Priest, it all goes back to a certain carpenter who chose men as his twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose them to succeed them and so on and so forth so the Church sees itself as bound by this choice made by Jesus himself.
The furore over women bishops comes after rifts within the Church over its interpretation of biblical issues. These disagreements centre on how strictly it should interpret the Bible, for example, whether it should be read as classing active homosexuality as a sin.
Such is the outrage over the direction that the CoE is taking, 1100 of the clergy have presented a 'Jerusalem Declaration' which is calling for Old and New Testaments to be read, preached, taught and obeyed literally.
Channel 4 has reportedly expressed an interest in bidding for the rights to televise the weekly stoning of non-virgins and blasphemers.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Denying Man Made Climate Change
When someone called Tom Harris, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project and Manhattan Declaration signatory issues a challenge for me to attack the message and not the messenger, it should be time to wave around the mountain of evidence of man made climate change which he refutes. Instead, let's keep it as simple and straightforward as possible and deal with facts.
Climate change is happening, that much we agree on but where we differ is just how the alarming amount of Carbon Dioxide got there.
Picture a timeline in your mind and let's go back 800,000 years. Analysis of Antarctic ice shows us that at no point in the past 800,000 years did levels approach today's carbon dioxide concentrations of around 387 parts per million (ppm).
These studies indicate that atmospheric CO2 levels were around 260 – 280 ppm immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding years.
In the Ice core, the fastest increase seen was 30 parts per million over a period of approximately 1,000 years. In recent times we have seen a 30 ppm increase in just under two decades.
What this tells us is that over the last 200 years, something has increased carbon dioxide by 30%-40% to levels unprecedented in the 799,800 years that went before.
It really does not take a genius to look back at what has been pumping the CO2 out since the 1800s.
Global Carbon emissions from Fossil fuels in 1800 equaled 0 million tonnes. Today it equals almost 9000 tonnes with power generation (41%) and transportation (20%) being the chief culprits.
And there we have our timeline stretching back 800,000 years with CO2 in the atmosphere keeping at a steady 260-280 ppm until the early 1800's and then suddenly shooting up to 387 ppm at exactly the same time the Industrial Revolution stuttered into being and we started burning fossil fuels. Is there seriously anybody still ignorant enough not to see this, know where the blame lays and realise that we have to change our ways drastically if we are to avert a disaster?
Earth Policy Institute
Antarctic Ice Analysis
BBC
Climate change is happening, that much we agree on but where we differ is just how the alarming amount of Carbon Dioxide got there.
Picture a timeline in your mind and let's go back 800,000 years. Analysis of Antarctic ice shows us that at no point in the past 800,000 years did levels approach today's carbon dioxide concentrations of around 387 parts per million (ppm).
These studies indicate that atmospheric CO2 levels were around 260 – 280 ppm immediately before industrial emissions began and did not vary much from this level during the preceding years.
In the Ice core, the fastest increase seen was 30 parts per million over a period of approximately 1,000 years. In recent times we have seen a 30 ppm increase in just under two decades.
What this tells us is that over the last 200 years, something has increased carbon dioxide by 30%-40% to levels unprecedented in the 799,800 years that went before.
It really does not take a genius to look back at what has been pumping the CO2 out since the 1800s.
Global Carbon emissions from Fossil fuels in 1800 equaled 0 million tonnes. Today it equals almost 9000 tonnes with power generation (41%) and transportation (20%) being the chief culprits.
And there we have our timeline stretching back 800,000 years with CO2 in the atmosphere keeping at a steady 260-280 ppm until the early 1800's and then suddenly shooting up to 387 ppm at exactly the same time the Industrial Revolution stuttered into being and we started burning fossil fuels. Is there seriously anybody still ignorant enough not to see this, know where the blame lays and realise that we have to change our ways drastically if we are to avert a disaster?
Earth Policy Institute
Antarctic Ice Analysis
BBC
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Is Obama Losing His Shine?
Barack Obama is getting a bit of a rough time from some quarters over a shift towards the political centre in an attempt to mop up a few more votes from the electorate who don't particularly follow his more leftist agenda.
Nothing wrong with that of course, his rival John McCain has tacked further to the right to gain more votes and all politicians wiggle up and down the ideological line trying to appeal to the greatest number.
The Iraq War, and his objection to it from the off, just happened to be Obama's greatest selling point and this is perhaps his greatest and most uncomfortable shift for many who held this policy up as an example of the 'change' which Obama was promising.
His unswerving support for Israel was what caused me to question his 'change' credentials but since then there has been his decision to support immunity for phone companies helping government eavesdrop on citizens and his new found opposition of gun control which have made a few more people frown but the switch in tactics in Iraq has been what has caused many to take a step back and take stock of the man they have been holding up as some sort of saviour of America for the past six months.
All this has given the Republicans a golden opportunity to label Obama as a flip-flopper, a term that was used with such devastating effect on John Kerry at the last election.
In Britain Margaret Thatcher stated that she was not for turning and Tony Blair said that his Government had no reverse gear but all they got for their refusal to yield was an early removal from power. A leader who refuses to listen and adapt when the evidence to change course is overwhelming is of little use to anyone and is potentially disastrous but despite making this same argument about his policies being adaptable, this is not how the Democrat's actions are being perceived with a growing number of voters.
The problem Obama has is that the u-turns he is performing look like grubby and blatant vote grabbing tactics and making a move for the centralist vote is going to lose him votes from the further end of the left where he could reach from where he pitched his flag at the beginning of his campaign.
An ability to re-evaluate ideas is a massive advantage for a politician to have in his arsenal but the growing view seems to be that possibly the death of John Mccain's Presidential hopes have been greatly exaggerated.
Nothing wrong with that of course, his rival John McCain has tacked further to the right to gain more votes and all politicians wiggle up and down the ideological line trying to appeal to the greatest number.
The Iraq War, and his objection to it from the off, just happened to be Obama's greatest selling point and this is perhaps his greatest and most uncomfortable shift for many who held this policy up as an example of the 'change' which Obama was promising.
His unswerving support for Israel was what caused me to question his 'change' credentials but since then there has been his decision to support immunity for phone companies helping government eavesdrop on citizens and his new found opposition of gun control which have made a few more people frown but the switch in tactics in Iraq has been what has caused many to take a step back and take stock of the man they have been holding up as some sort of saviour of America for the past six months.
All this has given the Republicans a golden opportunity to label Obama as a flip-flopper, a term that was used with such devastating effect on John Kerry at the last election.
In Britain Margaret Thatcher stated that she was not for turning and Tony Blair said that his Government had no reverse gear but all they got for their refusal to yield was an early removal from power. A leader who refuses to listen and adapt when the evidence to change course is overwhelming is of little use to anyone and is potentially disastrous but despite making this same argument about his policies being adaptable, this is not how the Democrat's actions are being perceived with a growing number of voters.
The problem Obama has is that the u-turns he is performing look like grubby and blatant vote grabbing tactics and making a move for the centralist vote is going to lose him votes from the further end of the left where he could reach from where he pitched his flag at the beginning of his campaign.
An ability to re-evaluate ideas is a massive advantage for a politician to have in his arsenal but the growing view seems to be that possibly the death of John Mccain's Presidential hopes have been greatly exaggerated.
Friday, 4 July 2008
Hello America, Can I Interest You In...
It is hard to ignore America. That great wedge of land beneath Canada and above Mexico has spread its tentacles all around the globe and no more than to Britain where we have a history of borrowing some aspects of the American lifestyle. Cody of the It Is What It Is blog and i have put our heads together to thrash out the things we would take from each others countries and what we feel we could offer in exchange.
The first thing i would ask for is the US National Anthem. Great tune which soars to a passionate crescendo of pride filled gusto. Ours is so bland and tuneless even a rockets red flare up the backside wouldn't be enough to breath life into it. For this we would give you changeable weather. Yes we are obsessed with it here but that's because it is so unpredictable that we literally can have 3 days of weather in 1. It is what ex-pats miss the most apparently because the weather in most of America is so reliably unchanging.
Next on the table is your sportsmen. I don't know if you have noticed but our sporting fraternity is a bit rubbish. We have terrible tennis players, awful athletes, god awful golfers and shite swimmers. We will take any on offer, we are not proud as this summers Olympic medal haul will prove.
Your sportsmen in exchange for the British Communications Regulator (OFCOM) who ensure that the television news channels keep to a Broadcasting code of accuracy, impartiality and fairness in television and radio programmes. I have seen Fox news. You need OFCOM.
Something we need that you have is exciting politics and politicians. Watch our House of Commons, most of them are either asleep or have lost the will to even pretend they are not bored to death. No Obama-esque orations or Clinton style passion. Heck, i would even settle for some Hillary type pointing and manic grinning over Gordon Brown and his strangely eerie smile.
For this we offer you the letter U. The amount of times i have been accused of having the spelling skills of a monkey by you Americans. It's our language, we had it first so would it kill you to stick some U's into words? We would throw in an -ise to sweeten the deal so you can get shot of that -ize.
With the exception of a few bands you could count on two fingers, British music is in a bad way. You have more decent bands than you could shake a Amy Winehouse spliff at so throw a few of them this way and we give you the ability to not applaud every ten seconds. It drives me crazy trying to listen to someone over there and the speaker is constantly interrupted by applause and whooping.
Judges that hand out creative sentences like the man who called a police officer a pig and was ordered to stand on a street corner next to a pig with a sign saying the pig was not a police officer. You can have our game of football, or soccer as you insist on calling it. American football just looks like a load of men who jump on each other and then get substituted by another group of men who do the same thing over and over again. Seriously lacks the poetry and skill of a good old fashioned soccer match.
Finally, David Boreanaz, George Clooney, Brad Pitt. We have no good looking male actors. We have Hugh Grant and Bob Hoskins. Not very fair but i think you will be more than pleased to accept a selection of British swearwords for the trio. I know you don't have 'T*s**r' and its stronger cousin 'W*a*k*r' but how about ar*e, bo**ocks, bugg*r, sod and git? Tempted?
That's that then, mull it over and let me know what you are interested in.
Cody has his own ideas on what we need from you and what you need from us here.
The first thing i would ask for is the US National Anthem. Great tune which soars to a passionate crescendo of pride filled gusto. Ours is so bland and tuneless even a rockets red flare up the backside wouldn't be enough to breath life into it. For this we would give you changeable weather. Yes we are obsessed with it here but that's because it is so unpredictable that we literally can have 3 days of weather in 1. It is what ex-pats miss the most apparently because the weather in most of America is so reliably unchanging.
Next on the table is your sportsmen. I don't know if you have noticed but our sporting fraternity is a bit rubbish. We have terrible tennis players, awful athletes, god awful golfers and shite swimmers. We will take any on offer, we are not proud as this summers Olympic medal haul will prove.
Your sportsmen in exchange for the British Communications Regulator (OFCOM) who ensure that the television news channels keep to a Broadcasting code of accuracy, impartiality and fairness in television and radio programmes. I have seen Fox news. You need OFCOM.
Something we need that you have is exciting politics and politicians. Watch our House of Commons, most of them are either asleep or have lost the will to even pretend they are not bored to death. No Obama-esque orations or Clinton style passion. Heck, i would even settle for some Hillary type pointing and manic grinning over Gordon Brown and his strangely eerie smile.
For this we offer you the letter U. The amount of times i have been accused of having the spelling skills of a monkey by you Americans. It's our language, we had it first so would it kill you to stick some U's into words? We would throw in an -ise to sweeten the deal so you can get shot of that -ize.
With the exception of a few bands you could count on two fingers, British music is in a bad way. You have more decent bands than you could shake a Amy Winehouse spliff at so throw a few of them this way and we give you the ability to not applaud every ten seconds. It drives me crazy trying to listen to someone over there and the speaker is constantly interrupted by applause and whooping.
Judges that hand out creative sentences like the man who called a police officer a pig and was ordered to stand on a street corner next to a pig with a sign saying the pig was not a police officer. You can have our game of football, or soccer as you insist on calling it. American football just looks like a load of men who jump on each other and then get substituted by another group of men who do the same thing over and over again. Seriously lacks the poetry and skill of a good old fashioned soccer match.
Finally, David Boreanaz, George Clooney, Brad Pitt. We have no good looking male actors. We have Hugh Grant and Bob Hoskins. Not very fair but i think you will be more than pleased to accept a selection of British swearwords for the trio. I know you don't have 'T*s**r' and its stronger cousin 'W*a*k*r' but how about ar*e, bo**ocks, bugg*r, sod and git? Tempted?
That's that then, mull it over and let me know what you are interested in.
Cody has his own ideas on what we need from you and what you need from us here.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Pi, Calculus & Clay Jugs
Despite a five year, multi-million pound recruitment drive, Britain is struggling to recruit maths and science teachers which sends my mind back to my own schooldays.
1985 and Michael J Fox is back in the future, Emilio Estevez is in the Breakfast club, Freddy Kruger is back in Elm Street and i was in Class 72 not listening to the Maths teacher tell us how important it was to learn the value of Pi.
Of course what the Maths teachers never told us was that unless we planned on sewing leather patches onto cardigans and becoming Maths teachers ourselves, 99.9% of us will never actually use Pi but that little gem is kept quiet because otherwise they will have to fill the time trying to explain long division or another thing i have managed to survive the past 23 years since leaving school without ever contemplating using, calculus.
Things like Pi, Calculus and the Periodic table of Elements stayed in my brain for as long as it took for the teacher to say them and i couldn't tell you the chemical symbol for Mercury without googling it first and that's exactly what i would do if for some unfathomable reason i needed to know.
I also spent a whole year making a clay jug. What practical use that is to a person in the world outside of secondary education i don't know unless you are unlucky enough to find yourself in a desert with only a lump of clay and a potters wheel and then you will be glad you didn't fake a period pain every Monday afternoon in that final year.
What it comes down to is that a number of lessons we sit through at school are actually useless and just there to pad out the curriculum but we don't know that at the time and pay attention because we never know when the ability to name the wives of King Henry 8th in chronological order will pop up in the course of the working day.
So pay attention kids and listen to the Maths teacher because the chances of ever hearing anyone mention the word Pi again once you have left school is 3.14159265 or something.
1985 and Michael J Fox is back in the future, Emilio Estevez is in the Breakfast club, Freddy Kruger is back in Elm Street and i was in Class 72 not listening to the Maths teacher tell us how important it was to learn the value of Pi.
Of course what the Maths teachers never told us was that unless we planned on sewing leather patches onto cardigans and becoming Maths teachers ourselves, 99.9% of us will never actually use Pi but that little gem is kept quiet because otherwise they will have to fill the time trying to explain long division or another thing i have managed to survive the past 23 years since leaving school without ever contemplating using, calculus.
Things like Pi, Calculus and the Periodic table of Elements stayed in my brain for as long as it took for the teacher to say them and i couldn't tell you the chemical symbol for Mercury without googling it first and that's exactly what i would do if for some unfathomable reason i needed to know.
I also spent a whole year making a clay jug. What practical use that is to a person in the world outside of secondary education i don't know unless you are unlucky enough to find yourself in a desert with only a lump of clay and a potters wheel and then you will be glad you didn't fake a period pain every Monday afternoon in that final year.
What it comes down to is that a number of lessons we sit through at school are actually useless and just there to pad out the curriculum but we don't know that at the time and pay attention because we never know when the ability to name the wives of King Henry 8th in chronological order will pop up in the course of the working day.
So pay attention kids and listen to the Maths teacher because the chances of ever hearing anyone mention the word Pi again once you have left school is 3.14159265 or something.
Mythbusters
I have a new favourite TV show and blimey, it is a science show.
Mythbusters is special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman using scientific methods to test the validity of various rumours, urban legends, myths and internet rumours.
This week they tested the 'Brown Note' theory which saw Adam stood amongst some huge speakers and swamped with an infrasound frequency that is said to cause humans to lose control of their bowels. He never unfortunately.
Britain has its own version of Mythbusters called Brainiacs but that is played more for entertainment but there is a certain amount of crossover such as running on custard, mobile phones at petrol stations and the aforementioned Brown note experiment but Mythbusters seems to have a much larger budget and can therefore smash cars between two trucks, build an Archimedes Death Ray and attach rockets to a car to see if it would take off.
Brainiacs is one of Sky's Televisions best viewed programmes and Mythbusters seems very popular on the web so there is the call for science based programming as long as it's done the right way and doesn't blind you with unfathomable science.
One thing is the lousy British accent that Adam Savage seems to launch into at least once a show, it sucks dude. Stick to burning off your eyebrows or making fun of Jamie's impressively ludicrous facial hair.
Mythbusters is special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman using scientific methods to test the validity of various rumours, urban legends, myths and internet rumours.
This week they tested the 'Brown Note' theory which saw Adam stood amongst some huge speakers and swamped with an infrasound frequency that is said to cause humans to lose control of their bowels. He never unfortunately.
Britain has its own version of Mythbusters called Brainiacs but that is played more for entertainment but there is a certain amount of crossover such as running on custard, mobile phones at petrol stations and the aforementioned Brown note experiment but Mythbusters seems to have a much larger budget and can therefore smash cars between two trucks, build an Archimedes Death Ray and attach rockets to a car to see if it would take off.
Brainiacs is one of Sky's Televisions best viewed programmes and Mythbusters seems very popular on the web so there is the call for science based programming as long as it's done the right way and doesn't blind you with unfathomable science.
One thing is the lousy British accent that Adam Savage seems to launch into at least once a show, it sucks dude. Stick to burning off your eyebrows or making fun of Jamie's impressively ludicrous facial hair.
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