Well, a bit of good news...

In the face of pressure from the Fitz and others, Heritage Lottery Fund have come up with some dosh for Bletchley park after all...

Why we're all doomed

Check this out. A campaign has been launched in the US called CO2 is Green, with an 'educational' off-shoot, Plants Need Co2. Grauniad piece about it here. Now, compare the profile of the nice cuddly environmental expert here (on about page of Plants Need CO2) with the biog of the same bloke here. Curious that he forgot to mention his chairmanship of the US Oil and Gas Association, US Natural Gas Supply Association or Honorary Directorship of the American Petroleum Institute in his biog on 'Plants Need CO2'. Must have slipped his mind. These bampots are admittedly of marginal influence, but every little seed of doubt they plant helps to delay Americans facing up to the fact that they produce a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions each year. Don't know how the b*st*rds can sleep at night.

Vive le Sarko

Maybe it's because he hasn't exactly enjoyed excessive growth himself (with his stack heels and specially chosen short people in photo ops), but Nicholas Sarkozy has commissioned and endorsed a report by Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen that criticises the obsession with GDP growth. “For years, statistics have registered an increasingly strong economic growth as a victory over shortage – until it emerged that this growth was destroying more than it was creating,” says Sarko. You've got to hand it to him - not the most likeable bloke, but this is good. (He and Angela Merkel have also been good on the whole financial crisis, and are pretty good on the climate talks.)

And here's Jonathan Porritt talking about it, while revealing for the umpteenth time that the Treasury (mostly under Brown, alas) has frequently been malign, obstructive and anti-progressive.

Recession Road

This looks great but not yet had time to read it, alas.

Why I believe again

A N Wilson, back in the fold.

Keith on Keith

Just watched the Keith Allen program about Keith Floyd on the Channel 4 website. I say watched - actually had to abandon it about 1/2 way through because it was so dire. Nice countryside around Avignon though, kudos to Floyd for going to ground (as it were) in a lovely part of the world.

Why I love the EU

Great stuff from the EU. But cue hysterics from the CBI, Human Resources professionals and everyone else dedicated to keeping this country as stressed, over-worked and miserable as possible.

Nothing to be frightened of

Anyone read this? I'm just about to - on my desk courtesy Amazon today.

To balance things out I'm also reading Tintin: The Complete Companion in tandem with reading Tintin stories to Jenny at bedtime. To pick up a conversation from a while ago, I don't think Herge was fascistic at all - just a product of his times.

Glum Councillors

This is the sort of thing the internet is supposed to be for.

Climate scepticism - on the rise!?

God this is depressing. There are dozens of reasons for this: a scientifically ignorant population, a hopeless and incompetent media, insufficient leadership from government, the ability of lobbyists and business interests to spread confusion, and a nation of people that just don't want to face up to truths that at best will require big changes in their lifestyle and, at worse, are terrifying. What the hell is to be done?

Iconic ironmongers to close doors

This is a shame, I've done quite a bit of lunchtime ironmongery shopping in this place over the past couple of years.