Politicians

Ah, the uplifting spectacle of politicians scrabbling for power once more uplifts my heart and fills me with hope for the future.

If all goes according to plan, Tony Blair, that evil warmongering christian, should be be replaced fairly quickly by Gordon Brown; man of the people; steady hand on the economic tiller; dour; responsible; duty bound, eyes shining with the faux integrity and idealism so favoured by politicians of all times.

So, we can look forward to a few heady months of optimism. Perhaps Gordon will prove to be that most elusive of beasts, an honest, committed, common sensical politician.

My heart yearns for such a scenario.

My head tells me a different story though. I can already feel the steady drip, drip of failed expectation, the corrosive litany of broken promises, unrealistic pledges and sullen compromise eating away at that shiny vision of the future.

Perhaps we should vote in David Cameron; eco-warrior; lover of the poor and under-priviliged; Non-tie wearing 'regular guy'; Jaguar chauffered, bicycling, friend of the scandinavian glacier?

Is it just me or do these characterisations ring a little hollow? Perhaps, though, I'm being wilfully cynical?

Is it merely that David is a little late to the spin party? Has he arrived, dressed to the nines in his glad rags, jiving and jitterbugging his little heart out, only to discover that everyone else has long since moved to the chill-out room to contemplate how they are going to feel about their embarassing indiscretions in the cold light of the following morning?

For people whose priority is surely meant to be running the country in the best interests of us all, voters and humanity in general, it does seem they spend the vast majority of their intellect, passion and energy imitating crabs in a barrel.

Or is it just me?

Global Warming

Well, we are 'harming the planet' eh? With our profligate use of fossil fuels, our cavalier attitude to other species, our propensity to generate massive amounts of 'pollution'?

Rubbish!

I mean come on, we could heat up the planet by 10 degrees centigrade in the next 12 months and believe me the planet isn't going to suffer. The human race might be wiped out but I can't see that the planet is going to take any significant long term 'damage'.

And it's not as if any action we take now is going to prevent the inevitable is it?

Even if the whole of the human population suddenly stopped all energy use, the way we've behaved in the past is surely sufficient to precipitate massive, inevitable climate change.

We can't even afford to stop pumping out air pollution. The only thing dampening down global warming is the massive amount of particulate pollution hanging about in the upper atmosphere, handily dumped there by power stations, aeroplane contrails and vehicle exhaust. Stop that and the amount sunlight reaching the ground goes up by about 20-30%, thus accelerating global warming significantly.

So, we're all doomed.. well most of us. The sea levels are going to rise, hurricanes will become more and more violent. Regional climates will change and food production will suffer. It seems that even higher levels of carbon dioxide will have a negative effect on our ability to produce food!

Anyways, all this should bring the population down a tad and so tip the balance back towards low energy use?

With the drastic reduction in human population we may well see another wave of new species come forth eager to fill the recently evacuated ecological niches once occupied by proud humanity.

Will the planet suffer? I doubt it.

Surprise

Much to my surprise, it looks like Iraq is slowly but surely descending into civil war.

Despite our best efforts to bring these ungrateful people freedom and democracy, they insist on following their own agendas, whether it be the creation of an Islamic state, establishing an enclave for the Kurds or just blowing up people at random to further their own narrow interests.

Given the great sacrifices made by the 'free west' on behalf of these poor oppressed people; The massive expenditure on arms, the injection of thousand upon thousand of dedicated, freedom loving american military personnel and the generous rebuilding carried out by Halliburton et al, I must admit I just don't get their attitude.

Just look at the history of the region. Over the last 100 years, the west has tried to engineer the best possible situation for these people and has consistently been met with resentment, violence and hate.

I'm just confused. Why have they not jumped at the chance to embrace western democratic culture and insisted on retaining their own sense of identity?

Perhaps someone could enlighten me.