READ ALL OF THIS! It's your life.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a disaster. It is a disaster of unprecedented scale that has cost lives and livelihoods. The long term impact cannot be known either in terms of the environment or the economy of the region.

The full facts behind what caused the blast and where the blame lies has yet to be told, but in what has come out so far, the theme tends to be that safety was set aside for the sake of profit.  One such tale comes from Tyrone Benton.

It wouldn’t be the first disaster where safety was set aside for the sake of profit.  In 1984, an accident at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal released Methyl Isocyanate and other toxins into the town affecting an estimated 500 000 residents. Estimates vary on the final death toll, but some put it as high as 15 000 people.

A 1982 safety audit identified 30 faults with the plant. Union Carbide rectified the faults at a sister plant in the US, but took no action in Bhopal.

15 000 people died.

The plant is still sealed off. It has never been decontaminated. Any remaining toxins are left to leach into the groundwater and get into the food chain.

Ten days after the accident, the Chairman and CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, addressed the US Congress, stressing the company's "commitment to safety" and promising to ensure that a similar accident "cannot happen again".

In the rhetoric over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the phrase “cannot happen again” is oft repeated. The response of BP has been to stress their “commitment to safety”.

This doesn’t make me feel any better and I am thousands of miles from the pollution. I did not lose friends or relatives in the explosion. I have not lost my livelihood. I will not have to live with the after effects for decades.

I want to make sure that safety is not set aside for profit. I want to see actions by government that reinforce the message that they are serious about making sure that they are making sure that safety is so paramount that, regardless of the industry, such ecological disasters “cannot happen again”.

With pictures of the thick sludge lapping up against the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico on every news bulletin and the stories of hardship and grief of residents, workers and relatives ringing in everybody’s ears, you would be forgiven if you thought that governments everywhere are being extra diligent in making sure that safety is not being set aside for the sake of profit.

You are wrong. Especially in the case of the US Supreme Court who yesterday decided to overturn the ban on Monsanto selling GM modified seeds BEFORE all the safety tests have been completed

Just in case you didn’t catch that last bit, I’ll repeat it. The US Supreme Court decided to let Monsanto sell Genetically Modified seeds to farmers BEFORE they have completed and analysed all the safety tests.

So, Monsanto can start to pull in their dollars BEFORE they have proved that their Genetic Modifications to alfalfa has no safety implications to the environment and to ecological systems.

BEFORE they prove that their Genetic Modifications cannot, under any circumstances, pass to other species.

BEFORE they prove that large scale and repeated use of the weed killer, Roundup, does not have long term environmental impacts – despite this weed killer never having been submitted for test by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

BEFORE they can prove beyond doubt that intensive farming that has huge fields that consist of a single species does not have a catastrophic effect on habitat and disrupts the food chain.

Genetically Modified crops will always raise an emotional debate between those who claim that man is playing god by the manipulation of DNA and those who point to the potential for GM crops to provide huge benefits in feeding ever growing populations. There will be scientists who argue on both sides and eventually scientific data will prove the point one way or the other.

BUT, in this case there is a fundamental difference. The Genetic Modification doesn’t increase yield or require less nutrients. It doesn’t reduce the amount of irrigation required. In this case, it means the crop will be resistant to a single brand of weed killer (which in a stunning case of corporate co-incidence is also produced by Monsanto).

Surely I cannot be alone in looking at this and thinking that somebody is setting aside safety for the sake of profit? Am I alone in failing to understand how selling these seeds BEFORE completing safety tests can demonstrate even the most basic “commitment to safety”? Can anyone explain to me how this decision by the US Supreme Court demonstrates that they wish to ensure that environmental catastrophe “cannot happen again”?

Five and a half million cannot be wrong.

Conveniently situated near to Heathrow airport.

My fair minded yeomen, there are some topics that are just guaranteed to get the blood pressure rising. Prepare yourself, this is going to be one of those posts.

To say that immigration is a touchy topic is one of those wonderful understatements. It’s like saying that World War II was a minor disagreement or that Pele could kick a ball. (Note 1)

I suppose us Brits like understatement. It allows us to make a grudging nod towards reality while allowing us to live within our chosen realities undisturbed.

And, as if by magic, I start to stereotype and define ‘Britishness’. I’m not alone, it seems to have become an obsession of our politicians. It seems that wherever you turn, someone is trying to define what makes us British. Tony Blair believes "When it comes to our essential values - belief in democracy, the rule of law, tolerance, equal treatment for all, respect for this country and its shared heritage - then that is where we come together, it is what we hold in common.".

Noble words?

Maybe, but when you look to the general public, the majority seem to believe that we will be better served by curtailing or even stopping immigration into Britain. David Cameron, the Tory leader espouses immigration controls. href="#Note2h" class="">(Note 2)

There appears to be this belief that it is us Brits that are being so very reasonable about the whole debate and that it is others that refuse to understand our position and to engage in our view of a Multicultural Britain.

Perhaps I am in a very, very small minority who saw a fly fall into the very expensive ointment yesterday.

The troublesome insect came in the form of a survey that suggested that five and a half million people born in Britain now live abroad.

There seems to be a paradox here. While it seems that as a nation we are against immigration into the UK, yet we seem to believe that it is OK for us to up sticks and move abroad. I’m not sure, but am I the only one who finds this a rather hypocritical view?

My sturdy yeomen, I’m Banishing the synaptic tangent to a footnote. href="#Note3h" class="">(Note 3) I would much rather highlight an article I heard on the radio when they were discussing this survey.

A reporter found himself in a town in the South of Spain that had become a haven for British expats. After various discussions over the benefits enjoyed by the Brits who had made their home in the town, the reporter sought out some Spaniards to get there view on this ‘friendly invasion’. He couldn’t find any in the town.

He eventually found some in a neighbouring town. They complained that the expats didn’t learn Spanish, didn’t integrate into society and didn’t embrace the Spanish culture and way of life.

Well what do you know? Exactly the same complaints being levelled at immigrants at home! Do you reckon that it could be that us Brits might be required to change our attitudes just as much as those immigrants that politicians love to berate?

If we are not worried enough about global warming, a report out today highlights the fact that the ice in the Arctic Ocean is rapidly melting. This is one of the climatic events that is seen as a tipping point in the changes to our planet’s weather patterns and likely to have a huge impact on our future.

The really depressing part of this story is that it is probably now far too late to be able to reverse the trend and to save the ice and the Arctic environment.

From 14th June, the industry standard Crozzy Standard has been applied to footnotes.

NOTE 1: Of course this is just a lame excuse to roll out the urban legend of the famed Hollywood Producer who in response to an audition tape said “He can’t sing, can’t act, can dance a little.” So it was that RKO Pictures decided to turn down Fred Astaire. That’s the trouble when you are asked to voice an opinion, if it turns to be different from the vast majority – you become a figure of ridicule. Still, I’ll take my chances. Click to return

NOTE 2: He is not alone. The Labour Party have been applying immigration controls ever since they came to power. Picking out a speech by ‘Dave’ isn’t my attempt to highlight the fact that he just loves to make speeches that play well to the cheap seats (although that does seem to be his favoured method of campaigning), but just an example I plucked from the numerous available that shows the mindset within the country. Click to return

NOTE 3: While Marmite is a sought after delicacy amongst British ex-pats, the inclusion of this photograph is just a flimsy excuse to link to Rii’s discussion on an unusual art form. Click to return

TECHNORATI TAGS : Trivia ; Life ; News; Environment ; red1hols.

Now you see it - Now you don't

The perils of Google Image Searching.

Well. My fine yeomen, I have been rather remiss the last couple of weeks. Not only have I not been updating my own blog, but I have not been checking out all of your wonderful entries. I have not even been checking out my messages – which is very naughty of me I know. Hopefully, I will go a little way to rectifying all of that today.

It is not that I haven’t been at my scribblings. The last month or so has seen me doing a lot of scribbling. The thing is that my creative juices have been channelled towards writing consultancy reports. Some may consider these dry and boring, but they put food on the table and quite often require a lot more imagination and creativity than you may realise.

There again, it could be that I need to keep my hand in at this blogging lark. The germ of an idea was in my head and I decided to search out an appropriate opening picture. The result is above. That, for those puzzled yeomen who don’t know, is David Copperfield. (Note 1)

While I may not have got back into the swing of picking the best images, the synaptic tangents seem remarkably intact – and boy, doesn’t David Copperfield give you a lot of scope for synaptic tangents?

I could go whizzing off on a political angle, linking one of Mr. Copperfields famous illusions, the disappearing of the Statue of Liberty, with the current state of American politics. If I really wanted to, I might launch into a sermon and make it into a complex metaphor. (Note 2)

I could spin away along the popularist, cult of celebrity route. A route I have to mention as an excuse to include a picture of Claudia Schiffer. It seems that even Wikipedia speculates on the apparent engagement between Mr. Copperfield and Ms. Schiffer. (Note 3)

For all of the opportunities, to go off on some wild, cerebral, white knuckle ride, the picture has to be set aside. For I was searching for a picture to illustrate this quote -

”Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

The better read and the intuitive amongst the prod phalanx of my yeomen will have already worked out the source of the quote. It is from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.(Note 4)

The quotation came to mind when I read this news story. A group of scientists have calculated that in 40 years or so, our consumption of the world’s resources will result in a major collapse of ecosystems. More importantly, the lifestyles we enjoy in the UK would require three planets if it was enjoyed by everyone on the globe.

There have been an absolute flood of environmental stories over the last month or so. The latest being a warning of the economic impacts of what we are doing to the environment.

I wonder when we will start to get it into our thick heads that unless we start living within our environmental means we are heading for misery?

Not wanting to end on a pessimistic note, I will hand out a few congratulations to a few loyal yeomen. It seems that while I have been writing about “Single Touch Processes”, those people at Yahoo have gone and got their sewing kit out. It seems that NikkiD and Mitch Rhave been ambushed and had the “interesting” label sewn into her UK & Ireland underwear. Meanwhile, across the pond, Delectable Pet suffered the same fate in her Canadian undergarments. Plus, an occasional visitor, Claudia also seems to have been caught out.

Congratulations to you all!

If you find that “interesting” label a touch on the itchy side or perhaps that it brings you out in a rash – Fear Not! It seems that those nice men at Yahoo (Those very nice men, very, very nice men) have set up a Support Group.

From 14th June, the industry standard Crozzy Standard has been applied to footnotes.

NOTE 1: Well, the search result said it was David Copperfield so I’m not going to argue. The photograph reminds me of someone though. If add a little bit of stubble, don’t you think that he reminds you of the interesting champion blogger, Marcus? Click to return

NOTE 2 : Or I could be really, really nasty and just give you a spoiler that takes away your childish wonder and innocence by telling you how the illusion was performed. For those of you who wish to maintain your childish wonder and innocence, I suggest you click here instead. Although my own theory is that he wore a frock coat with extra baggy sleeves. Click to return

NOTE 3: I admit that somehow this whole story passed me by. I cannot find a reputable link or anything to validate the truth, but I really appreciate the irony that both parties involved felt the need to issue a rebuttal to the tabloids claiming they DID have sex. That must be a first.Click to return

NOTE 4: Although Dickens would feature with at least two books on my ‘100 Books to read before you die’ list, David Copperfield wouldn’t really be one of them. I think I would rather see Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby on the list. Although I must admit that my choices are constantly changing.Click to return

TECHNORATI TAGS : Claudia Schiffer ; Life ; News ; Comedy ; Environment ; red1hols.