I could be RSS'd

You might not know it but, with luck, this blog is now strangely different.

As a consequence of getting in a tangle trying to log on to another site 'feed' (this word crops up a lot... and I am still not much the wiser), I ended up clicking a bunch of things and....

...the long and short of it is that I think I have now added an RSS 'feed' option via 'Feedburner' to by blog.

What's that mean? Well, to be honest I have currently no blooming idea.

I think what it means that if you like what you see and read here, and want to come back, you can click on something that makes it easier. It may even mean you get told when a post goes up, which means several a day.

Oops.

It's OK.... because I'm worth it:)

There is also a small Brazilian woodland's worth of print out on my desk to read in bed tonight as there were scores of links to instructions to do new stuff - all with odd names - that may make the experience better all round. So I guess I'll be playing a while. Icons. Twiddly bits. Audio. Video. Stats.

And of course between my Mac and PC and Safari and IE and Firefox, it all looks totally different in each browser. I can see a little button up there now on one at least (though not, oddly, FireFox, who are Google/Blogger chums), which is nice.

Hope it works out. For the best. For all of us.

Moments from a blog

While Junkk.com devotes itself to the unremittingly positive and 'nice', this blog at least affords me the luxury of having a bit of a rant and, on occasion, a go.

I really must restrain myself. But, I'd like to think, there is some justification inasmuch as I am usually only keen to pop some pompous bubble, usually being inflated with hot air by one (or collection of same) who seems to 'know' what's good for us. Or, worse, is so convinced that what some others are doing is not, see it as their mission to stop 'em. I guess there are a few areas where a ban sadly is the only recourse, but I'd really like to think we have exhausted all other options first before reaching for the speed dial to one's PR, who in turn reaches for the speed dial to their favourite Editor to launch a 'reporter' off on a slow news day. And put a few folk making stuff out of a job.

But just as I used to envy my mates at uni who got all the girls by coming all over bomb banning, whilst I had this small niggle that maybe greeting the Russians with a Lee Enfield might not quite be the best deterrent of first effectiveness, so I must confess to thinking how blooming easy it would be just to have at anything that comes across my sights, and do so from the cosy cover of it being, or even just looking, 'green'...ish. Or not even having to concern oneself with any alternatives or, if one has, then whether these really are effective anyway.

This struck me as I was working through the Telegraph blogs. What fun it would be to just let rip, and the heck with whether it's fair or justified or anything other than a good way to daub myself in an arboreal hue and bask in the approbation of half of Islington, Dorset or the South Cotswolds (well, the bits not scraping a living in real jobs, that is).

Just look what I could do (I've left out the political ones, though even a few here offer pickings of richness:

Adding elegance to a room - Fireplaces, huh? That would be the dirty great hole up which a vast amount of the central heating escapes?

Confessions of a fake blonde - How much peroxide, in how many bottles, from how many trips... get consumed to look like a BBC news reader?

A portrait's progress - 'Squeezed in a trip to South Africa'. As you do.

I could go on (and do the same for all the rest), but I think I'm coming over all Marvin (it's a HitchHiker's Guide thing), and really can't be bothered.

At least most would have got a comment. Which rather begs the question as to what these types do... and who pays them. I guess it's the travel ads.

There's no business...

... like snow business: Mad fer it – we’re going skiing in a £31m shed

As a genuine question, as I really have no clue as to the answer, I was wondering how these things compared in terms of carbon whatevers?

Yes, getting a family to the ski slopes has a consequence (snow cannon point noted) , but I guess so does running a dirty great big chiller too... 24/7, 365/365?

And if the numbers are not optimal... who gave planning permission? I'd hope not some LA type who is trying to save the planet with bi-weekly collections.

In politics, a week is a long time. Ten years, however...

I was going to let this pass, but having watched yet another pol dredge for tushtissue into distant history, I simply cannot fail to pass comment.

On the matter of cancer care Alan Johnson, Minister for something or other (there are so many doing so little in so short a time before being 'reassigned' I can't keep up), was on BBC Breakfast this morning trumpeting some 'new' 'initiative' to 'resolve' some woeful state of service provision. And somehow, in a blizzard of stats he was allowed to refer us back to .... the previous administration.

My kids are now eleven.

So for over a decade they have 'moved on', 'looked at' and 'learned from' a lot.

I can't quite figure out how this is a feat that seems so far to have escaped the government who have been in power for the same period, and seems top have decided the best defence is to come out with such utter tripe to justify the hiring of extra hundreds of thousands (articles in the papers at the weekend on just how much our pensions equate to those of MPs (hint: not favourably), and how much of our local taxes goes to the pensions of public service employees) and the blowing of bazillions that have achieved diddly squat.

To put just one area in context as we're equating things with my kids: just 5 years ago they would have been in the world top 3 for literacy. Now, 5 years later and after 10 years of this administration, we're at 15th (source: Daily Mail. I'll live with 'em for facts).

The only mystery to me is how they keep getting away with this for so long, and what motivations are actually still serving to get even the most manipulable examples of the voting public, even those on the juiciest end of the public trough, still seem to plonk their x on the names of such numpties.

EVENT - I'm dreaming of a Green Christmas - London Science Museum Dana Centre

A bit last minute, but for any in or near London here's one I can reccomend:

MONTH - December

FIELD: Enviro, Science, Awareness
WHEN: Tomorrow, Dec 4 (corrected - tx Dave), 7-8.30pm
WHAT: Dreaming of a Green Christmas?
WHAT... MORE?: A few more key details
WHERE: Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD
WHO: Well, yours truly for one!
HOW: It's free. But you need to book.
URL: Link. Call 020 7942 4040 or e-mail tickets@danacentre.org.uk
COMMENTS: We went last year. It was fun and informative. And guess what... Junkk Male Peter will be going again, with a bunch of new stuff to show off! Including his famous Green Santa outfit.

Holding up mirrors

I am about to start my Sunday Trawl of the papers..

Before I click on a single article.I just wanted to share the first thing that popped up in front of me.

I have not yet opened it, so it may be a critical appraisal. Or maybe yet another uncontradictory though unusual complement to editorial elsewhere on climate change. Let's see.

The Observer - 'Would madam care to taste the cloud juice?'

You read it here first... well, second, well...

Just make sure you always read this with eyebrow aware of the origins.

CBS Seeking 'Irreverent,' 'Hip' Journalist for Eco-Beat (No Knowledge Required)

But facts are facts.

I just have to say that, while minor, this really does offer an unfortunate insight into how climate change is viewed and treated by those tasked with sharing it with the general public. Actually, It is the use of the word 'journalist' that throws one. One suspects this is really an empty talking head that spouts the script provided. What is more of relevance is what lies behind those words supplied.

But it all serves up a tasty morsel to those who cast nasturtiums. And in this I am one. The issue of climate is too serious not to entrust to those who care about dealing with it professionally. You can be irreverent and hip, but you should have a pretty good grasp of what's going on... or what is not yet known.

Abilities all to sadly lacking in most I see spouting forth, doubtless packing their Speedos for Bali.

A lot of space

Not exactly a priority in the great scheme of things, but I am watching the BBC news and something has struck me.

While I appreciate the dilemma presented by space travel between scientific investigation and the vast carbon footprint it lays down, I cannot for the life of me comprehend why the national broadcaster would be so actively promoting space tourism in all its forms.

Other than the dubious justification of using private money to fund public works (like rich hunters getting to kill whatever they fancy to support conservation), there seems to me no other way to describe this activity other than sticking a rich bozo atop a column of greenhouse gasses to have a Kodak moment.

Yet it warrants a visit to NASA to promote to those of us who will never afford it, even if we feel the urge. Odd.

Sorely Missed: *

You can pop in the appropriate noun here: *

Newsnight: Stern climate questions

As was in Brussels I obviously did miss it. But maybe not much as I interpret post 100.

In the hands of our media and those in authority tasked to shape our futures, this Bali effort is looking more and more of a joke as it approaches.

God help us if they find Maddie's teddy bear at the same time as any worthwhile consensus or call for action is broadcast. I know what our beleaguered PM will rush to the studios to comment upon first.

A week may be a long time in politics. But it seems an hour can be an eternity when it comes to weighing priorities: the end of the human race, versus the travails of some individuals who are just part of it.

Brussels Sprouts

Well, I’m back from sunny (make that grey and wet) Brussels, having attended ‘Caps & Closures 2007’.

It really is too early to answer the question I was asked more than once at the end: ‘Was it worth it?’

To put that in context, it was often preceded by another that I had posed to me at the beginning: ‘What are you doing here?’

My answer to both was/is the same: ‘I’ll let you know when the cheque clears’.

All it takes is one. But when I walked in, saw the format and the presentation slide document... I almost turned straight around to hit the bars (which are pretty good).

It’s hard to be all things to all people, and when you are at the annual conference of those on the planet whose life revolves around the bits that top bottles and jars, you pretty much know what to expect, but there were some unpleasant surprises.

First up, over the majority of the two days we were there to be talked at, and mainly by folk who had paid to give a 30 minute pitch to those who had paid to sit and listen to them. And I have to say that when I was on the nth ‘nozzle cleaning design’ I was glazing over a tad. Hence I was tasked with meeting and pitching to as many relevant folk as possible at the coffee break, lunch and post event.

I was also up against a bunch of guys who all knew each other, knew their topic backwards, thought of little else… and wore suits as opposed to shirts emblazoned with ‘Junkk.com – home of the award-winning eco-cap design, the RE:tie’, and carry laptops and not pink Vac:Sacs.

Still… nothing ventured…

Actually, I ended up jotting down a lot of useful stuff to help enhance my pitch for the concept once back and can get in a room with those who can make strategic decisions… and sign cheques. Because, sadly, there were few… very few… of such folk there.

That said I do believe there were several who, if not in such positions themselves, were at least in pretty close, if only round the water cooler. And, best yet, for a collection of rather literal, often jaded representatives of a $400Billion industry who get pitched to an awful lot by crackpot inventors, all went from impatient cynicism to highly complimentary approval in the space of my elevator pitch (usually on a sofa in the lobby – maybe I should have tried the lift, it would be more private!).

I guess it was summed up by the feedback from a representative of Coca-Cola (who, sadly, use no packs that have a closure that can evolve into a RE:tie) who said he’d seen a lot, and this was one the best innovations he’d seen. But then I was also cautioned about the nature of the indus... beast I am trying to influence. You don’t easily steer something that cranks out units in the billions daily, and once you apply the corporate system to the mix you are talking many years for even the best to work through to production.

So a lot ahead still, but a good set of seeds have been sown and, if I may be slightly optimistic, have already shown signs of germinating.

Methane from a very unexpected source

Here's another source of methane (one of the most potent of the greenhouse gases) that needs to be taken into account in any climate model. It seems that certain shrubs (woody) plants themselves actually produce methane by some, as yet, unexplained mechanism, as reported in RSC Chemistry World.

Fortunately it would appear that herbaceous plants don't emit methane, but upland wooded areas may well yet turn out to be a source of at least some of the naturally occurring methane in the earth's atmosphere.

Fickle weather

One of the dire warnings issued by climatologists was that the likelihood and frequency of really nasty hurricanes would increase as global warming took hold. But the 2007 weather has, of course, been totally fickle, and refused to play ball. As the USA's 2007 hurricane season draws to a close, the country has escaped almost entirely unscathed (whilst Mexico and Central America have taken the brunt of the major storms this season).

Anybody fancy a little wager that this first fact will be seized upon by the BOFDi brigade as more evidence that global warming is not taking place?

More windmills for Don Quixote to tilt at?

Spain is going to invest in a project to develop vast windfarms in order to reduce its dependence on natural gas and coal fired power stations. As reported in today's Telegraph.

"The Ministry of Industry plans to announce over the next few weeks its more detailed plans to erect tens of thousands of pylons.
This will require a further investment of about €45,000m in order to produce 107.845 MW of electricity by the year 2030. The ambitious scheme involves tripling wind power in order to reduce Spain's dependency on foreign suppliers of gas (North Africa) and to reduce pollution."

The overall plan is to produce up to 49% of energy requirements from renewables by 2030. My bet is that Spain will succeed while here in the UK we will still not even be at the 20% target set for 2020, even when we get to 2030.

Labour party donations

As ever, the inimitable genius that is Matt of the Daily Telegraph manages to sum up the whole sorry mess in a single amusing cartoon.

Coming on top of the cash for questions affair and more recently the missing HMRC data files, it looks as if this could create more than a few ripples.

Here's the Telegraph's take on the story.

The Guardian's take is worth a look too, as is this from The Times.

In fact, the more this story unfolds, it looks as if we may well see a few more heads rolling before long.

Addendum 29/11/07:
Hmmmm, looks like the plot is thickening already. See this from this mornings Guardian Unlimited. I find it extremely odd that the party's treasurer (who also just happens to be 'Harridan' Harman's husband; and of course, 'Harridan' herself did accept a donation via such a 'conduit' "in good faith") claims to know absolutely nothing about the use of 'conduits' for the acceptance of donations. On top of that they had one of the so called 'conduits' on Radio 5 this morning; a builder from the NE by the name of Ray Ruddock. What is very interesting is that the labour party donations record shows that he has paid in some £200,000 but he claimed he was only aware of handing over some £80,000 in donations.

Another interesting snippet via Guido Fawkes. This one is going to run and run!

Oh, check out Matt's cartoon today in the Telegraph too. Brilliant!

Whitehall could save millions on offices

There's that special word again, 'could'. Isn't it amazing how often it crops up in headlines?

However, in this case, as reported on epolitix.com, I suspect that they probably couldn't. Why? Because they would set up a special project, staffed by innumerable representatives of the government's best super-pensioned, unaccountable, jobs-worth, empty-suited and highly paid staff (not counting the super expensive consultants that they would undoubtedly call in for help). This little lot would almost certainly blow more in undertaking the project than it could ever save.

(Oh dear, I've just used the 'could' word myself; I must slap myself on the wrist.)

Not the first, and certainly not the last

Here's another in the long line of consumer adverts (19 so far this year) that has been found to have breached the ASA's environmental code as reported by the Guardian.

Boeing used figures that assumed that their new super jumbo (the 747-8 Intercontinental) was flying at 100% capacity, the UK rules state that CO2 emissions for aircraft should be calculated using the figure of a standard 79.7% capacity.

At the rate that adverts eulogising most businesses 'green' products are starting to appear, I reckon the ASA is going to become rather busy over the next couple of years.
______________________
There's also a nice little commentary by Leo Hickman on the same subject in yesterday's Guardian Blogs.

10 years to fix climate

That's the depressing heading of a UNDP report as interpreted by Reuters.

I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions.

Bali climate summit

We've all heard about the upcoming summit meeting on climate change in Bali. Now I reckoned there might be a few hundred pols and associated hangers on, plus several hundred media teams, but this from The Times reports on what seems to have become a major international circus.

"Calculations suggest flying the 15,000 politicians, civil servants, green campaigners and television crews into Indonesia will generate the equivalent of 100,000 tonnes of extra CO2. That is similar to the entire annual emissions of the African state of Chad." Strewth!!

"Indonesian officials say the final tally could reach 20,000 — and fear it could stretch the resort’s infrastructure to the limit." "The preparations are acquiring the feel of a huge party, with the Indonesian government seeing it as a chance to revive Bali as a tourist destination".

Sounds like it's going to be one hell of a party. I hope they don't forget just what it is that they are there to achieve.

Addendum: (28/11)
Some of them could have fun getting there if they're flying via the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, as this from Associated Press reports.

Addendum 2:
But the Bali bash seems to have stirred some action into the Indonesian government as indicated by this report from Pravda. The trouble is, if trees are disappearing at the rate of 300 soccer pitches worth per hour, planting another 79 million of them seems to be rather too little too late.

Too good not to share

Not much to do with the planet, but in light of recent events I thought this PR headline received last night explained a lot: :Children take over a Government Department for a day

Well, they can only improve on the current lot.

In case you're interested, it's called 'Take Over Day'.

Auto Trumpet Tooting #104

Hey, I feel I am allowed. It's nice to get a boost on a Friday.

It's Friday, I have a whole night ahead of me preparing for my trip to Brussels to try and flog the RE:tie next week (so please allow for a distinct paucity of postings - with luck oodles upon my return, if only on EuroStar's performance. I am already impressed that I had an email to prepare me for French strike eventualities had I being using TGV services in France).

Wish me luck!