The BBC (unwittingly) Discovers The Answer To Declining Marine Life!

It's not often that the answer to a worrying environmental problem can be found on the same news page but, today, the BBC News website managed it without even realising it had.

At the top of the page its editors featured this:

A deeply disturbing story on the decline of the world's marine life, for which global warming seems to be the main suspect.

Just below, on the same page, came this:



Well, if I lived in the oceans and saw this bunch heading for my habitat, I would pretend to be extinct too!!

Mind you.....if it wasn't for global warming then.......!

A Long Time Resting.....

It’s been almost two months since I've posted on here and I am ashamed of myself; I needed a break.

I've also been testing new technologies to make my writing life easier but somehow I never got re-started.

A lot has happened in the world in the time I have been away and if I had been writing, it would probably have included the following earth shattering events:

 

The World:

Tunisians demonstrate and get rid of ‘tyrant’

Egyptians demonstrate for even longer and – eventually – get rid of ‘tyrant’

Other Arab countries start queueing to demonstrate and get rid of ‘tyrants’

Daily Mail tries to create hysteria over Muslim takeover of UK and the world

 

UK Politics

Liberal coalition ministers have been noticeably less ‘visible’ in the media

VAT increases to 20 percent

Fuel prices rocket, yet again, as crude oil prices rise, 1p tax goes on a litre of fuel and VAT is added to that

Inflation rises

Jobless total rises

Coalition still using the old “left with a huge deficit” excuse

More troops lose their lives in Afghanistan

Still no-one is brave enough to ask the question: “how much is this bloody war costing?”

Ministers abstain over vote on EU Court ruling that prisoners should get the vote

Cameron still confuses everyone with Big Society

Coalition announce their intention to modernise (a.k.a privatise) the NHS

Multi-million pound Nimrod air defence aircraft get broken up for scrap to save a few bob.

Coalition announce plans to sell our forests (it’s the only thing left to sell)

 

Celebrity Stuff:

Katie Price announces split from her cage fighting husband after almost a year.

Meanwhile, Peter Andre (Katie’s previous ex-husband) seriously dates Elen Rives (footballer Frank Lampard’s ex-wife)

Katie Price is spotted (mainly in the Daily Mail) partying – lots!

The world’s 2nd most boring couple Katy Perry and Russell Brand allegedly seek counselling after he tweeted a pic of her without makeup

Elton John and his partner have a baby.

 

More UK Politics:

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor resigns after his police protection officer is, allegedly, overly 'protective' of said Shadow Chancellor's wife.

It is revealed that over 50% of Conservative party funding comes from City finance (highest in 5 years)

Coalition go on using the “inherited with a huge deficit” excuse

Our student protesters are no longer 'revolting' – for now at least

Bankers resume paying themselves excessive bonuses

Wikileaks extradition hearing suspended, once more, after the revelation Julian Assange allegedly applied for a ‘missionary position’ in Sweden.

After ‘outrage’ from the Big Society (that’s you and me – I think!) The PM announces a government U-turn on selling the forests (maybe he has turned over a new leaf?)

 

More Showbiz Stuff:

Daily Mail ‘reports’ on actress Emma Watson’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ as an excuse to publish a paparazzi shot of her nipple

Prince Philip reaches 90 (years old….not number of gaffes!)

Top Gear presenters offend all Mexicans – apparently!

England Rugby team are playing well this year

Big Fat Gypsies hold weddings in our living rooms

Actress and celebrity Kelly Brook poses full frontal wearing nothing but lipstick – all over!

Coronation Street gets more depressing

Emmerdale gets more depressing

Eastenders ……well it was always…… depressing!

Oh and did I mention….?? Kelly Brook posed full frontal wearing nothing but lipstick – all over?

Apparently, her mum said ‘they’ (I presume she was referring to the pictures) have the ‘Wow Factor’!!

Well, you should never argue with a Mum!!

Happy Days!!



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Asda First To Help Us 'Cash Cows'

(graphic from PetrolPrices.com website)

Once again supermarket giant Asda is leading the way in passing on lower fuel costs to its customers.

As the above graphic demonstrates, it is even more admirable when you see the small percentage that a retailer actually makes from a litre of fuel. Their own profit has to come mainly from volume of sales rather than true markup.

Add the duty to the VAT, though, and it is easy to work out why the government are in no hurry to help us all when we are such a cash cow standing in their field of financial black holes.

Despite the idealistic views of certain political parties, fuel is a necessary and unavoidable part of everyday life for most of us. Not everyone has the benefit of good public transport and those of us who live outside of the cities have no choice other than to drive to work.

True recovery will not come until the price of a litre becomes realistic once again!

Good News, Bad News - The Planes Are Flying Again!

Finally, the planes are back in the air!

Whether this is good news, or bad news, is a matter of debate.

For those living under the flightpaths of the UK’s airports, or in towns threatened by the building of new runways, or concerned about the impact flights have on our environment, it will be bad.

Others, though, who are able to conveniently ignore such matters, will see it as good news. They have the freedom to travel wherever they like, whenever they like, returned to them once again.

We will be able to import ‘out of season’ foodstuffs directly into the supermarkets, allowing us to create those often exotic and ‘trendy’ recipes all year round.

Countries like Kenya, for whom 20 percent of their gross GDP is accounted for by the export and transportation of horticultural products, will breathe a sigh of relief once again.

A few things are certain though:

The political fallout could be far more devastating than the threat from the volcanic ash we were told to fear.

Stranded passengers are going to have huge mobile phone bills.

International lawyers are going to gather massive income from litigation against airlines and regulators - for possibly years to come.

The concept of ‘knee jerk’ health and safety shutdowns, based on inadequate information and evaluation, will be more closely examined in the future.

Personally, though, I enjoyed a peaceful few days!!

Eruption And Disruption - It's 'Plane' Crazy!

So who really is running the asylum?

Six days after our planes were grounded, airports are still closed and an estimated 150,000 UK travellers are stranded abroad, unable to get home.

The cause, as we all know by now, is an erupting volcano in Iceland.

I am finding it really hard to comprehend that such chaos has been caused by one relatively small natural occurrence and it seems I am not alone.

Yesterday, Willie Walsh the CEO of British Airways flew on one of his planes to test whether any damage would really be caused by the dust cloud i.e. is the situation really as dangerous as we are being led to believe?

He returned in one piece - I am sure much to the annoyance of many of his recently striking cabin crews - convinced the disruption to air travel and his company's revenues was not justified.

Which brings me back to the original question: who is responsible for making the initial decision?

It seems it was not made by our own government but taken somewhere in Europe where, as we all know, they are true professionals in inventing silly rules and regulations.

But this is not a piece of stupidity about the straightness of a banana, it is far more disruptive and for many, financially disastrous.

The contradictory updates have been almost a work of farce: Scotland and Northern Ireland can fly now.... oh no they can't....all airports will open tomorrow.....oh no they won't ....but they might..... errrr not... etc. etc.

I guess, in one sense, the regulators and health and safety obsessives can claim a massive success; no planes will come crashing out of the skies as they haven't been able to leave the ground in the first place - it's the equivalent of making sure there are no motoring accidents by removing the wheels from cars!

If this decision was taken in Brussels, then it should not be too long before UKIP start spouting on about being a classic example of what our future has in store as part of a United States Of Europe!

Personally, I would rather take my chances with the volcano!

Climate For A Change...Of Message!

The UK’s Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, has stated it would be “profoundly irresponsible” to use one “mistake” as an excuse not to act.

He was referring to the fact that the Himalayan Glaciers have not seemed to melt in quite the 'doom and gloom' manner predicted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Mr Miliband added it did not "undermine decades of climate research and the overwhelming majority of scientists say that." Hmmm it must be right then!

The trouble is, no-one has come up with a convincing argument either for, or against, climate change being a man-made problem. It has, instead, been a storm of confusion and opposing ‘facts’.

Cyclical changes in climate have been occurring since the creation of the planet.

Yes, we could all do a lot better at helping the environment but we have reached a stage in our evolution where we no longer just accept, or believe, the words of Al Gore, government funded scientists or self important ministers. We need to respond to positive education and not desperate scare tactics.

I have no idea who is right or wrong about global warming but what I do know, for sure, is...... I am bloody freezing!!

Whale....We Certainly Got You This Time!

The Japanese certainly have a delicate way of dealing with anti-whaling protesters.

This video was shot by whaling researchers from the Institute of Cetacean Research.

Fortunately, the crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's high-tech speedboat, managed to escape any harm, other than that to both their pride and vessel....

Dying To Negotiate A Bargain!

According to a report in today's Independent, the average cost of bidding farewell to one's dear departed, is now £7,018 taking into account legal costs, funeral expenses and flowers etc. This is a rise of 42 percent over the last five years.

The funeral industry says the cost of new environmental procedures has been largely responsible for the steep increase, but others say it is a lack of competition amongst funeral directors, since many have been taken over in recent years by larger companies.

Another factor is that bereaved families are often loathe to haggle over the price at such a distressing time.

It seems that we no longer just have to struggle to survive financially when we are living but now we have to worry when we are dead too!

I think I have the answer....

I am going to refuse to die unless they give me a good price first!

The Difference At McDonalds!

According to research by the German based, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, male chimpanzees who share the meat they have hunted with a female chimp are able to copulate with their mate twice as much as those that do not share at all.

Apparently, meat is an important part of a chimp's diet and the female is not a successful hunter - hence she is very grateful.

When you carry the theory over to the human race, it must explain why McDonalds has been such a success .... pass the fries!!

The Seal Club!

This week saw the start of Canada's annual commercial seal hunt. It is a disgusting spectacle where up to 280,000 young harp seals are killed for their fur, meat and oil, which is sought for being rich in Omega 3 fatty acids.

While the majority of the innocent young are shot, there are still a large number that are killed by hunters using large spiked clubs called hakapiks; they are literally beaten to death without any chance of escape.

Despite the high profile objections of conservation groups from around the world, the Canadian government remain deaf to criticism and say the killing of seals is necessary to provide financial security to isolated communities.

It is not only the ice that is left stained by the blood of the dead seals; it is the reputation and morality of a country that would lead us to believe it is a part of the civilised world!!