Blair-Bush Legacy: More Oil, More Jets and Melting Glaciers

Melting Planet Seeks Environmentally Friendly Politician

Alternative vision to status quo essential. Warmongers, friends of the oil industry, jet buyers and jet sellers need not apply.

Environmental stories featured prominently in recent newspaper reports. The Observer described glacial melting in Nepal and Bhutan, while The Independent features a report on the thawing of the world's largest glacier in Greenland.

Meanwhile Deputy PM John Prescott, not known for his eloquence, pours scorn on Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador in Washington and current head of the Press Complaints Commission.

Meyer's crime was to cash in on his privileged position, selling the juiciest extracts from his memoirs to newspapers who then gloated over his cutting criticism in describing various politicians, the harshest of which seemed to be reserved for Prescott.

Given that Cherie Blair has a book out reportedly describing life in Number 10, her penchant for bargains on Ebay and when buying apartments for her son, as well as Prescott's reputation for enjoying the odd trapping of power, he should remember the old adage about people who live in glass houses...

It is comforting to know that some of those who play in the higher echelons of the Westminster Wendy-house reveal their true selves in their childlike excitement at the prospect of a new toy...

As The Observer reported, Tony wants a new jet, but Gordon won't let him have one...

On the subject of jets, it is no wonder Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett wants post-Kyoto CO2 emission targets to be merely voluntary - begging the question: why bother? - because Blair isn't the only one with his eye on a shiny new phallic flying machine.

Bush proved that politicians are glorified salesmen (and not very good ones at that) by securing a welcome order for Boeing jets from China....would you buy a used 747 from Dubya?

Such is the aviation race between Europe's Airbus and America's Boeing, that the latter recently announced plans to make stretched 747 jumbo jets to compete with the latest offerings from their competitor.

Gordon Brown has been doing his bit as well, helping Rupert Murdoch more or less get his way - in this case secure football broadcasting rights for Sky TV - in Brussels.

In Iraq, meanwhile, oil corporations are jostling for position to drill more oil to burn in all these new planes.

So next time you are setting down to the latest match, one of the few opportunities we get - in our fast-paced and individualised world - for communal enjoyment and "atmosphere" (although much less so if in front of Sky TV on your own), we can concentrate on enjoying the game, safe in the knowledge that everything is all right with the world.

While some parts of the planet are melting, politicians are confident that, thanks to the spoils of Iraq, lots more black gold will soon be flowing as fast as jets can be sold to burn it.

Others are trading in jibes and personal attacks while another helps secure more football for us to watch in the hope that we might forget it all.



Media Lens Latest on the Smearing of Chomsky

Media Lens published its response to the smearing of Chomsky, and end their detailed and well-argued position on a thoughtful snippet that actually praises him, which they found, albeit in the Birthdays section of - you guessed it - The Guardian...


'It's all about bucks kid, and the rest is just conversation.' - Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's film, Wall Street.