He who pays the piper...

Caption: not the best photoshoot of my career, to be sure. That flared page on top is an ad from the travel direct insert that fell out of this edition, along with the Climate Change one. A 'once in a lifetime' 'expedition' to Antarctica, whilst stocks last, no doubt. You follow in the footsteps of Polar explorers, with international flights available at great deals. Hmn.

Wind power is very much in the news at the moment. So it was awesomely useful that a few weeks ago the Sunday Times (also in the news, at least the news on this blog of late- oddly enough regarding selling green opportunities for promotion, only to those that can afford the fee) had an insert on the topic of climate change and sustainability.

Thing is, and if you look at the bottom right you'll see their logo, it was billed as 'in association with' Siemens.

Nothing wrong with a bit of sponsorship, to be sure. I hope for such largesse to swing my way with Junkk.com wherever possible.

Thing is, I rather hope I can do so without the editorial being quite so, how to put it, 'encouraging' to the sponsor, almost to the exclusion of all else. Such as discussing the topic in depth, pro and con (hold that last word in mind).

It's a pity, as many of the articles were indeed fairly valuable in terms of information. However, I have to say that, come the third, my eyebrow was cocked so far I could have been a Jack Nicholson Tribute.

IFC - Ad - Siemens - no prob. It's an ad.
p3 - Facing up to the meltdown - 'German engineering giant Siemens is building...'
p4 - The power brokers - 'Siemens, the German engineering group, is building...'
p5 - Going the extra mile - 'It all requires careful control, and Siemens, the German engineering firm that supplied the system...'
pp6-7 - Always on tap: natures greatest forces - 'The blades of the 25 turbines, built by Siemens, the German engineering conglomerate..'
pp8-9 - Sky-high cost of wasted energy - 'Siemens Building Technologies is one of the market leaders...'
p10 - In search of a brighter future - Osram, one of Europe's leading lighting manufacturers..' Go on.. guess who owns 'em.
p11 - Fast Track to green travel - 'According to Siemens Transpiration Systems...'
Back Cover - Ad - Siemens - No prob.

Now I'm all for a fair exchange of information, but this whole things just came across a tad too much as a leading paper selling itself, and its readers, more than a little short when it came to objective reporting (more like reprinting press releases) of the issues, and giving paid-for free rein to the players who are set to make bazillions out of ensuring they get the work, through shaping how it all gets reported.

Not best impressed, sorry.

Tick, tick, tick ...

That's the countdown started. This from the Guardian CIF by John Sauven reckons we have about 100 months for humanity to sort out CO2 emissions.

He makes some very valid points.......

"Sadly, 'progress' is not just slow, we are moving in the wrong direction. Global energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions are increasing rapidly rather than plummeting. In the desperate scramble to secure energy supplies, the world is becoming ever more dependent on oil supplies from areas of conflict and energy supplies that are environmentally devastating - such as tar sands in Canada and palm oil for biofuels from peatland clearance in Indonesia.

This cannot continue."

Quite.

But many will undoubtedly disagree, and I guess that by about 3 o'clock this afternoon, this CIF post will have turned into the usual set of extremely opposed views and multiple 'knocking the spots off each other' posts.

Seems to be that with anything to do with climate change on CIF t'was ever thus.
___________________
Interesting point from one of the posters.
"Growth at any cost is the basic tenet of all economists - interestingly that's also the basic tenet of cancer"

AWARDS - Sunday Times 'Best Green Companies' - Feb 29

I always have the selfish urge not to share these, as one more entry could be the one that kicks ours into touch.

Not a problem here. I was excited. I was inspired. And then when I saw it was £500 just to enter. So I was moved to ponder... again... that green is a great opportunity to make money. But often for the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

WHEN: February 28, 2008
WHAT: Sunday Times 'Best Green Companies'
WHAT... MORE?: From site - Imagine the benefits a listing could bring you. It would generate credit among the general public for your success and tell all your business partners, suppliers and customers that you are helping to tackle one the of the biggest problems facing all industrialised nations.

The winning companies will be profiled in a dedicated Sunday Times supplement, which will be distributed with 1.3m copies of the paper in the spring next year, and their achievement will also be marked at an awards event. Winners will also be given our special logo for branding on publicity, advertising and letterheads.
HOW MUCH: £500 to kick off!
URL: here
COMMENTS: Good luck Sunday Times, and good luck all who can afford to enter. You (well most of you. I am sure some worthy entrants will scrape the necessary together to enter and might even win despite not having massive ad budgets to dangle or lobbyists to whisper. If you do win, have the courage to say this on the podium for the rest of us to cheer) deserve each other. I'm just not sure the planet, or our kids, do. Sadly, I will be viewing the 'best' result, and any PR that ensues, as shaped by this highly excluding financial requirement.

Anyone can nominate an organisation – from the cleaner to the CEO. I can't be paying my cleaner (er, that's me) enough.

Just wanted to share

Having had had my fill today of pols and media filling the airwaves and acres of print with mountains of meaningless vapour, I offer this bon mot for the day:

'Where there's a 'will' there's a way.

Where there's a 'could' there's always a way out.'

'Oh Aunty, what big fingers you have!'

'All the better to flip you one whilst plugging my ears... tra-la-la-la...' One in three Brits back BBC accuracy.

And, for those enjoying the ten golden years that is our nu-education system, that makes 2 in 3... don't. I was moved to write:

Oh, heavens, do get with the (new) programme.

As Ed Balls has clearly explained regarding the country's relative positions in educational standards in a similar global survey: it's not that we're doing worse; it's just the others that are doing oodles better.

I am sure the BBC, who will cheerfully read out any press release they are given from such worthy sources, will be able to apply the same reasoning or cherry pick to suit.

"We are also seen as the most trusted news provider, especially in times of crisis and for big breaking news stories. This clearly shows the value audiences place in us."

There we go.

CATEGORY - Don't do as I do; do as I say

I wonder how long until I have a top 100 chart?

Schwarzenegger's lavish foreign trips in spotlight - of course, a guy in his postion needs to tarvel and needs an entourage. It's all a question of scale.