Rambling; Gleneagles
Party tomorrow. Order in, have some home-made cocktails, listen to stupid cheesy pop, prolly watch some horror films or summink (what's on Sat nights, anyway?) and crash at ours. No point in trudging across the entirety of London when there's perfectly good futon to be had right here, eh?
I was also um-ing and ah-ing about getting my arse in gear and going to thingie whatsit, the British Library. Got a meeting with the dissertation supervisor during my Tuesday lunch hour next week, so I need to brush up on my UK-based emergency response manuals. *facepalm*
*pause*
Just realised that the Hilton Metropole was used as a triage site. That's a freaky coincidence. Thrusday evening I was supposed to go to the Hilton Metropole - to take pictures of events. Needless to say, I never made it.
Anyway.
How much of a twat is George Galloway? STFU, George, we're no longer playing Rent-a-Twat. I couldn't watch all of Newsnight tonight, I'd have thrown things. Or at the very least changed the channel.
Also:
Dear Beeb. Why Eastenders? I understand that the news footage was lagging, and that, honestly, things were getting back to normal and people were annoyed to have cameras shoved in their faces. But Eastenders? I missed the second half of Casanova way back when; couldn't you have shown that? We had to go and forage for nibbly things instead. Bleargh.
And some other news, buried in the back pages somewhere - what was actually decided at Gleaneagles (from the bbc.co.uk) wrt making Poverty History:
- Mr Blair said trade discussions in Hong Kong later this year should yield an end date to agricultural subsidies.
- Britain is to host a 1 November meeting on climate change, to assess progress.
- Mr Blair said "only people who can change Africa ultimately are the Africans".
- $3bn agreed for Palestinian Authority for investment in infrastructure.
- Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo described the deal as a "success".
- G8 commits to training 20,000 peacekeepers for Africa.
- African leaders to commit to democracy and good governance as part of the deal.
- Debts of the 18 poorest countries to be forgiven.
- Universal access to anti-HIV drugs in Africa by 2010.
You can also read the full thing here (pdf download).
Clearly, the anti-HIV medication rocks. Not quite sure what those 20,000 peacekeepers are supposed to be doing in Africa (they managed not a great deal in Rwanda, but I suppose that a clear agenda might produce better results). Regarding climate change, fuck all was decided. Yes, Bush admitted that humans are responsible but still calling it 'climate change' rather than 'global warming'? Not a sign of progress, in my book. And, for the record, Mr Bush, researching new tech doesn't do a fat lot of good if you refuse to implement any programme that will cost the US money. Newsflash: it's all going to cost money. That's what internalising externalities means. You've been passing on all those social costs to someone else - well, coming up with fun and kooky backstop tech won't do a great deal of good if oil prices drop. All of a sudden, the alternatives will look even more expensive by comparison. And that's exactly what's going to happen, the moment any tech progress is made, I bet you all the money in my hypothetical pockets. *cynicism*
Then there is the witchcraft torture case that I have been following. Hmmm. After the big hoo-haa we had in law class about the 'cultural values' defence, it doesn't look like it was even a factor, does it?
*small voice*
Can I ask for fandom now?
I was also um-ing and ah-ing about getting my arse in gear and going to thingie whatsit, the British Library. Got a meeting with the dissertation supervisor during my Tuesday lunch hour next week, so I need to brush up on my UK-based emergency response manuals. *facepalm*
*pause*
Just realised that the Hilton Metropole was used as a triage site. That's a freaky coincidence. Thrusday evening I was supposed to go to the Hilton Metropole - to take pictures of events. Needless to say, I never made it.
Anyway.
How much of a twat is George Galloway? STFU, George, we're no longer playing Rent-a-Twat. I couldn't watch all of Newsnight tonight, I'd have thrown things. Or at the very least changed the channel.
Also:
Dear Beeb. Why Eastenders? I understand that the news footage was lagging, and that, honestly, things were getting back to normal and people were annoyed to have cameras shoved in their faces. But Eastenders? I missed the second half of Casanova way back when; couldn't you have shown that? We had to go and forage for nibbly things instead. Bleargh.
And some other news, buried in the back pages somewhere - what was actually decided at Gleaneagles (from the bbc.co.uk) wrt making Poverty History:
- Mr Blair said trade discussions in Hong Kong later this year should yield an end date to agricultural subsidies.
- Britain is to host a 1 November meeting on climate change, to assess progress.
- Mr Blair said "only people who can change Africa ultimately are the Africans".
- $3bn agreed for Palestinian Authority for investment in infrastructure.
- Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo described the deal as a "success".
- G8 commits to training 20,000 peacekeepers for Africa.
- African leaders to commit to democracy and good governance as part of the deal.
- Debts of the 18 poorest countries to be forgiven.
- Universal access to anti-HIV drugs in Africa by 2010.
You can also read the full thing here (pdf download).
Clearly, the anti-HIV medication rocks. Not quite sure what those 20,000 peacekeepers are supposed to be doing in Africa (they managed not a great deal in Rwanda, but I suppose that a clear agenda might produce better results). Regarding climate change, fuck all was decided. Yes, Bush admitted that humans are responsible but still calling it 'climate change' rather than 'global warming'? Not a sign of progress, in my book. And, for the record, Mr Bush, researching new tech doesn't do a fat lot of good if you refuse to implement any programme that will cost the US money. Newsflash: it's all going to cost money. That's what internalising externalities means. You've been passing on all those social costs to someone else - well, coming up with fun and kooky backstop tech won't do a great deal of good if oil prices drop. All of a sudden, the alternatives will look even more expensive by comparison. And that's exactly what's going to happen, the moment any tech progress is made, I bet you all the money in my hypothetical pockets. *cynicism*
Then there is the witchcraft torture case that I have been following. Hmmm. After the big hoo-haa we had in law class about the 'cultural values' defence, it doesn't look like it was even a factor, does it?
*small voice*
Can I ask for fandom now?