Many a slip...

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The World Bank stores up trouble whilst focusing on the bottom line

Beast Market

Seeing as the markets have done such a wonderful job of securing a safe and happy future for everyone, the British Conservative party suggest leaving the safeguarding of bio-diversity in their caring and capable hands

It'll drive us all mad in the end, but some folk have got off to a head start, (short sighted dinosaur politics in the North of Ireland? - who'd've thunk it?)

We begin to say goodbye to Asian water supplies, Indian rains and the salamander

A figure of Speech

I've been tediously going through all last year's cartoons to put them on a database for the new website (which WILL happen, honestly) and came upon this one, from September - which I'd forgotten about. It was originally published in Ethical Consumer Magazine. Whilst not wildly news related, it still holds water (!)


Contrasting sides of China compete for posterity - via Climate Progress and DotEarth

The US senate shows its contempt for the people of Gaza, whilst calls increase for an apartheid-style boycott of the Israeli state

Today's news features the welcome and long overdue re-education of the head of ExxonMobil, who has finally thrown in the towel and admitted that yes - we've screwed the climate. Hallelujah. But his main thrust seems to be trying to head off international action by putting the onus on domestic taxation - which is a safe bet in a recession. Once a Sith Lord, always a Sith Lord. Cartoon on this tomorrow. Just thought I'd mention it today

Honesty and Realism?

Whilst Israel's formidable military machine visits ruthless collective punishment upon Gaza - an action that is a bitter insult to the sufferings of history and is condemned around the world ......
Sir John Harman calls for realism and honesty as we move into a renewable energy future, whilst GazProm underlines the point by freezing the extremities off of winter-bitten Europe.

Even the trees are against us.

Those of us with an excess of options on our potential menus are asked to consider our options a little more carefully

No Claims Bonus

Bradwell nuclear power station leaked like a cullender for years and nobody seems to feel responsible, whilst civil servants collude with government and the Sellafield mob to make sure they never need to say sorry in the event that their leaky buckets of toxic sludge go boom.
What's that you say? Too 1970s? Maybe. We at Throbgoblins International are aware that our choices about power are somewhat constrained -what with humans being a greedy and somewhat addled bunch, disinclined to switch anything off. So of course we must consider some short term fixes that would be best left alone in less pressing circumstances. But we don't think it unreasonable to ask that the mad dog be effectively chained.

Elsewhere Dubya's penny drops, for the briefest of moments
and
the Stanstead Plane Stupid protestors get their wrists slapped after their fine work of December 8th.

plus ca change

Before I get on my high horse - please take a look at the latest McFly (Manchester Climate Fortnightly).
and watch Leo Murray's short film

Now then...

As unregulated capitalism breathes its last, the world's bankers -unfazed, and with bonuses intact - gather for the World Economic Forum junket in Tianjin. I was going to do a strip based on the current (wholly unpredictable) financial debacle which juxtaposed the imminent belt tightening with a report by the Food Climate Research Network (of Surrey University) that calls for some climate driven belt-tightening. It would've tied it all up nicely and Frank would have got to say some scathing and self righteous stuff, whilst looking comically cross. Then I realised that I could just repost some old stuff from last year's WEF, by way of an "I told you so" - which I found more satisfying. Normally I would resist this, but I'm full of a cold and somewhat irritable.

I watched Chris Martenson's economics Crash Course presentation yesterday. The simplicity of our collectively generated financial illusion "repels the mind".

I have found myself unaccountably amused by the following joke for days now.

-I got some German christmas cake yesterday
-Was it stollen?
-No, I bought it from Aldi

( I apologise. )

A bird in the hand (is worth two of George Bush)

A report indicates that privately owned fisheries deplete slower and remain viable longer than the habitual free for all of the commons. It neglects to go into the tricky subject of policing or the morality of foreign owned stocks.

Common birds are in freefall (flap, my beauties, flap) all over the planet as climate change and environmental degradation take their toll. It occurs to me that once they (and the frogs) have gone, there's going to be an awful lot of extra insects around (but not bees).

I can't help but have one more slug at the financial f*ck-up. The New York staff of the bankrupt Lehman Bros are to be rewarded for their total incompetence with billions in collective bonuses whilst the likes of you and I are looking at increased taxes to pay for it. Marvellous. Surely there must be some actual moustache twirling going on somewhere, to the soundtrack of heavily echoed BWAHAHAAHAARs

At the Manchester "Labour" party conference - I saw John Prescott standing unguarded, chatting in the street yesterday, in marked contrast to the wailing multi-vehicled cavalcade taking Gordon to lunch. I'm not particularly getting at Brown there. The leadership nonsense is a sideshow. It just showed up how things have changed from old to new labour; from ordinary bloke to celebrity. The streets are blocked off with attractively made barriers that seem designed to distract you from the fact that you are no longer allowed to approach your elected representatives during the congress of the People's party.
I've never seen so many police in the city centre, drafted in from all over the show to rummage through the rucksacks of students and look sideways at foreigners. All very cosmopolitan.

Socialism to the rescue?

Let's hope that Asia and the petro-economies don't decide to get all "Black Monday" on the Dollar's arse. (links to follow)

Now that we can finally acknowledge the validity of big government interventions in major crises - perhaps we can start looking at Climate Change through more focused eyes.

Craig Mackintosh of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia sent the following link,

and there's this, from the FT