Yesterday Gordon Brown posted on Comment is Free a piece about Burma entitled The Whole World Must Act. He's written before about how he admires the courage of Aung San Suu Kyi. He concludes with a quote from her: "It's no use standing there wringing your hands and saying my goodness, my goodness, this is terrible. You must try to do what you can." Gordon Brown has written:

"... to G7 leaders... proposing discussion of a possible economic initiative to support recovery in Burma, to be implemented if and only if there is real, verifiable progress towards reconciliation and democracy..."

Is that 'doing what you can'? Gadzooks man! You're the British Prime Minister who apparently feels strongly enough about this issue to write about it and be torn apart in the comments section in the same way you get torn apart at PMQ. What a curious perception Gordon Brown must have of his role in world affairs to limit himself to a letter-writing campaign. Or perhaps it is a back-handed way of telling us all to pipe down if not even the PM can do more than scribble a few missives in support of an important cause.

There's an elephant in the room. Energy Watch Group is saying today that global oil production peaked in 2006 and will now be in terminal decline year-on-year. The range of predictions as to when we'd hit the peak is very wide, from earlier this century to the dim-and-distant future. What matters is that oil, being a finite resource, was always going to go this way from the moment the very first oil well was drilled in the 1850s. Since then we've treated this precious resource like there was an unlimited supply of the stuff, a delusion we're about to start paying very heavily for.

What is utterly incredible is that government remains silent on the subject. Either they don't want to worry us and have matters well in hand or they have no handle on this whatsoever and like most people don't want to grasp the harsh realities of what this means. From all the pronouncements they make about how important 'climate change' is I'm guessing the latter as they still seem to think this is an issue that can be addressed within the bounds of our market economies.

If you have the time read through this entry over on The Oil Drum as it makes the very good point that we exceeded the carrying capacity of our environment some time ago and have been using the "one-time gift" of oil to compensate for this. The stupidity of our collective behaviour boggles the mind. This is the most serious issue facing us as a species today and yet people look blank when you mention the words peak oil.

Update: Here's an article that says the government is planning to abandon the agreed target for renewable energy that they previously signed up to.

Update: A new report from the UN is saying we're in serious trouble too.

If a liberal leader resigns and no-one cares, does it really matter?

Sir Menzies Campbell resigned last night and it was all over the news this morning. The fact it received any attention at all is actually a bad thing as it might make members of the Liberal Democrats feel they are relevant in some way. I find it terribly frustrating that at a time when the choice has been between Tory and Tory-lite for so long the two are now indistinguishable Britain's third party have done nothing of any note to challenge this theatre of the absurd.

The Guardian said:

"The abrupt and undignified departure followed increasingly public concern among peers, MPs and activists about his lack of voter appeal, as polls placed the party as low as 11%."

Who cares? Under the present electoral system you're completely unelectable anyway. If you're not going to win you don't have to placate anyone. What you could do is ask awkward questions, challege the government of the day and embarass the main party of opposition into doing some opposing. As it is social inequality becomes more ingrained, ID cards are on the horizon, the occupation of Iraq grinds on with a million civilian dead from this round alone....

But no. Maybe the Liberals are trying to be vocal, one view has always been that although they are ignored by the mainstream media they do well at the grassroots. Here in Brighton they've managed to make themselves irrelevant next to the Greens. This incident makes them look just as bad as the rest of them. Disappointing.

While 'knowing my enemy' at the weekend I happened on this advert in The Telegraph placed by Total, the oil and gas company. As you can see the imagery chosen is the usual untrammelled wilderness, this time it includes a rustic shack offering warm refuge to the weary traveller. The message appears to be that Total will sensitively explore one inhospitable environment to bring life-giving warmth to another.

Is it just coincidence that Total is running an attractive looking advert about all it's doing to keep us snuggly this winter just as Burma happens to be in the news? Total is accused of helping to prop up the hideous military junta we've been hearing so much about this week. You can read about their alleged complicity in the use of forced labour here and here. But wait! If Total left Burma it would be so much worse for the people: "If we decided to leave, we would immediately be replaced by another company who might not apply the same social or ethical standards." Ah! Nothing to do with the profits they'd lose from no longer being able to exploit the resources of the country then? What they actually mean is that China would be in like a shot. Their tagline is: "Our energy is your energy". Their cynicism leaves me cold at night. Go to the Burma Campaign website for more information.

Busy month equals lack of posts recently. The story about Radiohead releasing their new album on download caught my eye though. I've been waiting for a high-profile act to further undermine an industry that has so wilfully failed to understand what's happening to it.

What I want to see is a chart that shows just how much people were prepared to pay. I'm betting a peak around £5 and a fairly high percentage of individuals shelling out for the £40 box that will off-set those who decide to pay next-to-nothing.

Reaction from the mainstream media has been predictable. The Telegraph said:

"This is a move that has bamboozled everyone... Radiohead are cutting out the A&R men, critics and media who normally act as a filter for the massive amount of music competing for our attention, helping guide consumer choices."

I love that... thanks to all those people selflessly labouring to 'guide my choice' otherwise known as 'turning a profit' off the back of the artists' work.

The pricing model is not a concept that's hard to grasp, it's like a friend giving you something and saying "pay me what you think it's worth". It isn't any more complicated than that, it's just that the web allows you to do it with a lot more people.

Why not take a minute to read about Fugazi?

Update: more Radiohead news on Dead Air Space.

1 original comment:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/nine-inch-nails-help-seal-record-industr...
Why would bands, with millions of pounds, let record companies scrape of the cream?
Comment by Adam Boulton — 9 October, 2007 @ 4:01 pm