Sunday, April 27, 2008

QUOTE OF THE DAY - So there

I share this for no good reason at all, save that it does refer to my favourite quango, and shows Jeremy Clarkson to be every bit as adept at cruddy acronyms as me.

Though mine are often better...IMHO:

Potato heads are talking rot on food

'A sinister government agency called Wrap (We Rape and Pillage) has spent vast lumps of our money to determine that...' [actually he does specify something, but I'm happy enough to selectively edit here as it seems to apply]

The article is also quite fun, as much as for the comments it inspires. The Times use to allow links, but as it does so no longer I don't see much point, so I'll just lurk on and quote this one.

Nero would be proud

Tory hot air on carbon offsetting

I'd love someone to explain how this offsetting works to reduce emissions and not just redistribute them with an extra cut of City-slicker lifestyle thrown into the mix to reduce the remote chance of a positive enviROI even more.

The only way I can see this working, or any other Carbcon prefixed initiative, other than yet as another a get rich quick obscene green scheme, is that if the whole planet cooperates.

Good luck with that, so to mix a few metaphors, why not make hay on fiddling futures while Rome burns?

Up a GM tree

I have tended to steer clear of GM. hence I share this as is, but more because of the referral to the issue of population.

As the world begins to starve it's time to take GM seriously

This I am also a bit of a wuss on when it comes to commentary (GM is more a case of absolutely not knowing enough to do so, despite doing a 1/2 a degree in something pretty close. Mind you, I was at college with Mendel - the extremes of 'fact' in the thread comments cases in fact).

As with the two 'E's, I do find I lack patience with the idealistic, simplistic and totally self-serving pronouncements of those who wish to ban something without any clear suggestion on how the consequences of such a ban would be handled.

Taketh away. And giveth back.

For years I have been spouting nonsense.

Somewhere along the line (no doubt for its complementary name associations) I picked up the notion of 'Junkentag', a day in Germany when you stick unwanted stuff out on the kerb to be collected by passers by. A delightful notion that does not require state intervention of meddling, save for permissions.

Well, it seems I had the name, at least, wrong.

It's “Sperrmüll”. I think I liked mine better, but whatever it is called, the concept is tops.