Doha Round About

Originally published in the Edmonton Journal in July:

Food has is more expensive now than it has been in a generation. In part this is because many of the input costs for food production has risen. There is also growing demand to use base crops for energy production and there are the now exceptionally high costs of transportation. We see the impact on our grocery bills, but the real impact is in countries where the poor now find their access to food severely restricted.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was intended to have an impact on both price and the freedom on producers to operate competitively globally. It has failed to do so. The final attempt to salvage the so-called Doha round of talks collapsed this week, mainly due to the reluctance of developed countries (most especially France and Germany) to significantly reduce farm subsidies. They also refused to remove barriers to imports from developing countries – a battle which is basically between the US, India and China. It was very much a “rich” versus “poor” debate, with the rich not wanting to help the poor nations grow through trade.

The cynic might conclude that the failure to make a base agreement around a core industry reflects badly on the World Trade Organization. It does not. It reflects badly on the European countries who cannot stomach telling their overly subsidized farmers to “make it or go bust” and the US who wants to protect its farmers from competition. The proposal which was floated in the recent round was for cutting the limit on European farm subsidies by 80%, and US payments by 70% to about $14.5bn and for the reduction of tariff barriers to agricultural trade – bringing all jurisdictions closer to true market conditions.

What will happen now is already clear – Canada will begin to make bilateral arrangements with other countries in the Americas, with Japan, India and China. It will aggressively pursue access to these last two markets as well as Brazil and Russia – all fast growing economies. What will not happen is that we will persuade our largest trading partner to liberalize access to markets for developing countries, which Canada sees as an important strategy to support the economic independence of nations.

Canada will also need to look again at the concept of free trade as it relates to agriculture. A serious rethink is needed of the weakened internal transport infrastructure for grain, the role of supply agencies such as the Wheat Board, incentives for biofuels and the future of key agricultural industries, especially livestock. Free trade within Canada and open markets for producers selling to the US directly would be a strong sign that Canada is serious about reform of the subsidy regime. Any remaining trade tariff barriers for developing countries need to be removed. Canada should show by doing that it is serious – unilateral action aligned with the Doha round objectives would show global leadership.

There should also be a serious inquest into the processes used by the WTO to try reach agreement. The Doha round began in 2000 with great fanfare and hopes of a real breakthrough outcome . In meeting after meeting, the same players have effectively blocked change for the same reasons that the first round did not produce a result. There is no court of appeal for stubbornness borne out of self serving, small minded protectionism.

Speaking of which, with the possible election of a US President who is more protectionist than their predecessors , this round of talks was seen as something that needed to be “closed” before George W Bush left office. Barrack Obama has been clearly protectionist in many of his comments about trade, jobs and globalization. Obama’s “audacity of hope” extends to Arkansas but not to those in Africa who seek an end to US trade restrictions – it is obviously too audacious to ask Americans to compete directly with others in the agricultural sector without substantial subsidies and protection.

So we are at impasse – the talks have definitely failed, some 200 or so new bilateral agreements will be negotiated by the 153 nations associated with the process and the poor will stay poor. This failure shows what happens when the global community tries to tackle a global issue- national interest trumps what everyone knows to be right. Just wait until we get really serious about climate change!

The Road t o Hell...

before you arrive at your final destination), is paved with good intentions.

For example, I am sure Air Canada had every intention of getting me from Toronto to Edmonton in reasonable time last Wednesday when it loaded me onto a plane at 5.30pm and kept me on that plane till almost 8pm before we took off. We arrived several hours late – enough time for me to finish reading Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth (923 pages), watch the movie We Own the Night and take in a glimpse of the stunning movie Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchett.

I am equally sure that the ill fated Mitt Romney really had every intention of running for President of the United States. The fact that few liked him, that he was basically a right wing-nut only got in the way when he realized that he couldn’t win.

And that Oprah has every intention of being intelligent, focused and hip – only succeeding in this latter item by virtue of size and failing miserably on the first two items (aided by Gail King and Steadman).

Or that Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta, intends to win the Provincial election on March 3^rd despite the fact that his communications skills are those of a reclusive Serbian monk on sleeping tablets. He even makes former Premier Don Getty look like a Kennedy, according to The Globe and Mail. (I had him confused with that animal that comes out every year to predict what kind of summer we are going to have – a Corpu or something).

Equally, then, I had every intention of maintaining this blog and of being a reliable source of sauce, gossip, attitude, acerbic comment and insight (not necessarily in that order). Sadly, a little thing called work got in the way. In 2007/8 I managed to write the equivalent in word count of four novels, one good non fiction book or two editions of the skeptic’s bible. I also secured super elite status on Air Canada (not that this means a thing any more).

So, I let the blog slide.

As a penance, I have re read Room at the Top and watched a dreadful 1950’s movie filmed in Morocco and drank a bottle of Mateus Rose.

But I am really going to try, honest.

Speaking of the Presidential race in the US (what about the one in Pakistan?) – it is actually getting interesting.

Looks like the democratic party convention will actually have to do what it was always intended to do – chose a candidate. Curiously the democratic party doesn’t like the idea that every primary and caucus counts – it would prefer that super Tuesday had settled it. John Dean (who fizzled out last time round), Chairman of the Party, would like it to be settled so that the party can start to take on the republicans rather than each other.

And then we have Senator McCain (no connection to the potato billionaires). No one has yet drawn the parallel with Bob Dole - the GOP candidate against Clinton (male). McCain is the same as Dole and will most likely end up against Clinton (female). He is too old, too grey, too liberal and too, well, dull to beat either democrat. Plus McCain has to overcome the real problem for the GOP – George Bush, the sitting President and world class idiot. McCain has to beat Bush to win the republican vote, and then has to beat Clinton to win the election.

McCain will likely have Huckabee as his running mate, and he is clearly articulate and can play the guitar. He is also actually a conservative, which should help McCain, who isn’t.

Interesting – far more interesting that the coming Canadian federal election, which will see the end of Mr Dion, the failed leader of the Liberal Party of Eastern Canada.

English Reflections

England is such an expensive place. A drink of ginger beer, cup of soup and a sandwich at the Royal Festival Hall was twenty three dollars – a ticket to the Philharmonia was seventy six dollars and the tube there was five – over a hundred dollars to listen to Sibelius (Karelia and the violin concerto) and Tchaikovsky (4^th symphony). Some things are a better deal – The Wigmore Hall has Sunday morning coffee concerts for twenty dollars (Vermeer String Quartet playing Mozart 22 and Beethoven 15) and the Wyndham Theatre on Charring Cross Road has Charles Dance performing in a moving stage play Shadowlands – for fifty dollars. Even getting in to see some pop art (including Warhol’s Marilyn’s) at the National Portrait Gallery was twenty two dollars – all this is cheap because the Canadian dollar hit $1.07 last week. But just look – a couple of concerts, a play and an exhibition for one hundred and thirty five dollars.

“I don’t know how people manage to afford to live here,” commented an affable Canadian in the torture chamber they call Heathrow airport. The answer is that they don’t. Personal debt in Britain is now at £1.73 trillion and grows at £15 million an hour each hour, each day. Personal debt in Britain will lead to close to 50,000 houses being repossessed during 2008 if interest rates remain the same as they are now, which is unlikely. It’s getting tough out there – 40% of those who now apply for additional credit, can’t get it and many more will find themselves squeezed when the credit crunch really comes home to roost post the sub-prime melt down which is now disabling global credit systems.

All of this is most notable with the elderly, who suddenly find their pensions do not match their basic needs. They look shabby, under nourished and ill treated – many walking with a shuffle and not a smile. They have some concessions – a free bus ride anywhere in Britain will shortly be possible and there are seniors discounts for concerts – but not many. Britain is a place that doesn’t treat its old kindly.

Nor is it a place that is particularly British. During my recent one week stay, it was rare to hear English spoken – in fact, it was more probable in Bayswater to hear Polish or Italian or some eastern European language. The revelation that Britain has had over 1,500,000 immigrants since 2000 and that over half the new jobs created by “new” (read tired and worn out) Labour have gone to immigrant workers is not at all surprising. It is also worrying – politically, immigration and race are back on the agenda and this is never a good thing in a country which hates the French, treats the Italians as a joke and thinks the Scots are heathens. One conservative party candidate had to resign after praising Enoch Powell’s foresight in his “rivers of blood” speech in the 1970’s.

What is it with hotels in Britain? I checked in to the Royal Hyde Park Hotel, Queensway in Bayswater – two minutes from the tube. The room was the size of a double bed plus two feet on one side and at the foot of the bed, plus a kind of cupboard in which there was a shower, toilet and washbasin the size of a teacup.

So into small was this hotel that the sheet on the bed was not big enough to cover the mattress. No wonder they make you pay before they give you the key!

I managed a week in this box. They made the bed each day (but not on Sunday) and provided clean towels each day and that was that. There was a tiny wardrobe and three coat hangers, five little drawers and a table at the foot of the bed just big enough for a kettle, a cup and possibly a box of tissues (not supplied).

Breakfast was included, though inedible (toast prepared at 7.30 for a breakfast not available until 8) and coffee that tasted like sludge with dandruff in it.

Oh, there was a television – in one corner some six feet up on the wall. It was a small television, not big enough to watch anything serious or long – squinting to make sure you could see it hurt my eyes.

I did not spend long in this room – just enough to sleep (being careful to sleep on the sheet and not the mattress) and I breakfasted across the street at a café. Eating locally – Lebanese, Indian, Chinese, Brazilian, Italian, Welsh..- was the best way to go.

Ryanair is the airline everyone uses and loves to hate. I flew from Stanstead to Dublin and back for a total cost of twenty two pounds plus the tube and rail fare to get there – another twenty two pounds. The airline left on time and was early landing both going and coming back. It was efficient, cheap and easy. I don’t know why people get upset. For the money, it’s a great deal – I left at 0930 and was back downtown in time for a meal and a movie.

I met with some business colleagues at a hotel in Dublin. There was a nice incident. One of my colleagues is allergic to cows milk and related products. He asked the waitress if the feta cheese in the Greek salad was goats feta, she said “no, its from Denmark”. Reminds me of a time in a pub in northern Alberta when I asked for a Tuborg and was told by an innocent barmaid that they “were out of borg’s”, and “would you like two of anything else?”

My friend Sarajane and her partner Brian took me out on the town on my birthday. After a long and leisurely breakfast, Brian and I went to the Pop Art exhibition at the Portrait Gallery. Brian was a student of art history and teaches watercolour to adult education students, so this was a special treat and much appreciated. The Pop Art was a little disappointing – not much energy in the exhibit and a great many pieces not there which should have been. But then I went around the rest of the NPG – what a terrific place. Full of wonderful evocative portraits - many which I had only seen in books. Vivid, bright paintings which capture the essence of the people.

Later, I also managed a quick trip to the Bankside to see the autumn watercolour exhibition from the Royal Watercolour Society – some very fine paintings, including one from HRH Prince Charles. Some of the landscapes and abstract watercolours were exceptional.

Popped into the Tate Modern to see the “crack” in the floor – no idea how this has been done, but it does attract a lot of interest. Apparently, someone actually got stuck in it early on.. there is no accounting for stupidity.

Then onto Tate Britain to see the Malais as well as the Hockney on Turner exhibition. The Malais was wonderful – his Ophelia will be a painting I will never forget, and some of his portraits (especially of his own daughters) are simply magnificent. He was a master of art and a terrific portrait painter.

Which is more than can be said for the Hockney on Turner exhibition. It would be more accurate to describe it as a heck of a lot of Turners, which I do not enjoy at the best of times, with the odd comment from Hockney.

The good news is that the fish and chips at the Tate Britain are just as good as at the Tate Modern – both top class, amongst the best in London.

Saw two films. Rendition – the story of how the US used third parties to conduct torture interviews with suspected terrorists –very compelling, if a little brutal. Strong acting. Also saw Keira Kinghtley in a very classic version of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement. Superb acting all round, though a friend suggested that Keira was a little overly proper – too clipped and trying too hard to be British upper class. It worked as movie, mainly because of the strength of the ensemble as a whole, but especially because of the strong acting from the three women playing Brierly at three stages of her life.

On the flight back saw Once – a light film about an Irish man trying to make it in the music business who befriends a young Czech girl. Nothing to write home about.

Lest you think I did nothing but gad about doing arty things and eating, I also taught at Oxford with my partner Don Simpson and finalised a deal over two days (one in Dublin) with Middlesex University and met up with colleagues who run the Irish Centre for Work Based Learning. I also fell asleep on a train returning from Oxford to London and was gently woken by a guard – thus saving me a return trip to Oxford I did not want to make (at least no one stole my teeth, which is what happened to my brother who fell asleep on a bus, found himself in Scotland (he was just going to Leeds) sans false teeth, which someone had stolen from his pocket).

Read the novella by Alan Bennet The Uncommon Reader. It is about The Queen taking up reading and it changing her life – clever, as one might expect from Alan, and insightful about the power of books. There are some wonderful one liners, especially when he refers to gay authors (of which he, of course, is one) and the odd jab at fellow scribblers.

The book reminded me of a joke, attributed to the late Victor Borge. He said that if you put ten monkeys in front of a piano they would eventually play Mozart, but you would have to put up with a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber before you got there.

There is a lot of talk in Britain about dumbing down – people say that all this reality television is “dumbing down” the BBC or that the English press, especially The Times and The Telegraph, is “dumbing down”. By this it is meant that there is an attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator and to over play the cult of the largely unknown celebrity. This is true, though occasionally both television and the newspapers surprise by either a stunning drama or excellent and critical reporting. Both television news and the intelligent press coverage of events in Pakistan this last weekend (the President declared a state of emergency and imprisoned over 500 of his opposition and muzzled the media) show that the team can still bat a good innings when given the opportunity to do so. There was also a new Stephen Poliakoff film (Joe’s House) which I saw most of, but fell asleep before the end. Two terrific paired television dramas – Britz by Peter Kosminsky – showing how seemingly ordinary sons and daughters of immigrant parents can become terrorists also suggest that “dumbing down” is only part of the story.

Its All in a Name ..

A coupled called their new son ANDERSON PLAYFAIR WORT as given names - their surname was something innocuous. Isn't this all getting out of hand? I know it is not as bad as Stu Pid or Chris P. Cream or Jack Mehoff or Ima Cumming (all real names), but really.

Mind you. there are some odd place names. Like Climax (Saskatchewan), which really should be near Fucking in Austria (32 km north of Salzburg) and is already quite a way form Hellhole Bay (South Carolina).

The names bands give themselves are also an interesting topic for some sociologist to get their teeth into. Like these: Penis Flytrap or the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Mind you, a band once named themselves after me The Murgatroyd's (its a long story).

Thinking of language, about the first page I check in the Saturday Globe and Mail (a Toronto newspaper that pretends to be Canada's national newspaper, as if) is the competition which focuses on interesting challenges in the book section. This week you had to change or add one letter to a known disease to give it a new meaning. The two that took my fancy were ALGOREOPHOBIA (the fear of yet another global warming lecture from this not entirely truthful former next President of the United States) and WHIPLUSH (injury to the neck from falling off a bar stool).

Steady Eddy Wobbles

Ed Stelmach. Premier of Alberta, made a move. By 2010 energy related royalties in Alberta will increase by $1.4 billion on certain assumptions about energy prices. If they are higher than now, royalties will be higher if prices are lower the royalty increase will be lower. The basic arrangements are as follows:

• New, simplified royalty formulas for conventional oil and natural gas that will operate on sliding scales that are determined by commodity prices and well productivity. The formulas eliminate the need for conventional oil and natural gas tiers and several royalty exemption programs.
• A sliding scale will be implemented for oil sands royalty rates ranging from one to nine per cent pre-payout and 25 to 40 per cent post-payout depending on the price of oil.
• The province will exercise its existing right to receive “royalty-in-kind” on oil sands projects (i.e. raw bitumen delivered to the Crown-operated Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission in lieu of cash royalties). Because this bitumen can be sold or used for upgrading or refining, royalty-in-kind can be sold by the province to support value-added, upgrading projects in Alberta.
• The province will ensure that eligible expenditures and definitions of oil sands projects (also known as “ring fence” definition) that determine when a project has reached payout are tightly and clearly defined. Environmental “costs of doing business” will continue to be recognized as eligible expenditures.
• No grandfathering will be implemented for existing oil sands projects. The government is in discussions with Syncrude and Suncor, whose Crown agreements expire in 2016, to transition to the new oil sands royalty regime.
• Substantial legislative, regulatory and systems updates will be introduced before changes become fully effective in January 2009.

Natural gas royalties will be unchanged – the industry is in enough trouble as it is, with low prices and increased costs of securing and exploiting new, deep finds.

It’s a smart move – not as bad as many expected and better than some feared. No one will be satisfied.

The oil companies will bleat and moan and their share price will drop for a very short time (good time to buy). They will then get on with business, with a slight slowing of projects (which is not a bad thing). Three years from now, all will be well.

Meantime, the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta will now need to go into over drive to sell this decision as a good deal for Albertans. I doubt that this will trigger an election – it started to get cold today and a few flecks of snow were seen about town. Buy we are headed that way. I suspect there will be a very different kind of Alberta budget statement on February 10^th 2008 and we will head into an election on February 11^th 2008. If, however, the oil patch starts to take on the Premier, he will goto the people and they will vote him back in.

Royalties are not the real issue, though they are important. The real issue is that current royalties will drop by close to $2 billion and Alberta government spending is out of normal bounds – well above inflation and a factor for population growth. Further, few government departments manage within budget and there are surpluses due to poor foreword forecasts of oil prices (risk management requires modest forecasts). The budget will rightly correct some of this – Stelmach is a fiscal hawk – but come as a surprise to many Albertan’s who are blissfully unaware of the true circumstances of the Province.

Alberta has invested $11 billion in municipalities and $18 billion in infrastructure from forecast revenues. Health care costs are rising rapidly and, at current rates, will take 50% of all revenues by 2020. Personal taxation revenue, already the lowest in Canada, will decline as more and more baby boomers retire. There are also legal requirements as to the use of surplus revenue. So pretty well all room for manoeuvre is small.

Of all the issues Stelmach faces, health care is the real worry. The system is broken and there are so few strategic and system thinkers with the courage to fix it – the inmates of tacticians and vested interests (nurses with collusion from doctors) have been running the asylum for too long. The public have been seduced into thinking that more money will make a difference – there is strong evidence that the challenge has little to do with money, but is more about strategy, structure and culture. We cant allow costs to continue to escalate.

So it will not get interesting.

Stelmach seems shocked that Alberta is being branded the “new Venezuela” (it is a totally ridiculous charge – especially given that royalty rates in Texas are much higher than here) and he is no communicator. Someone has to step up to the plate. Watch this space.

Oh Dear...

Ed Stelmach, despite the gift of the royalty review, was especially weak last evening in his televised address to the people of Alberta. It was pleasant, innocuous and largely rhetorical. It was not exciting or challenging and it dropped hints about a royalty for energy announcement due at 3pm on 25th October. But it was poor (and very low cost) TV and did not fire the imagination.

I was with Ed at a function as the broadcast took place. He spoke to some 300 people. He comes across as a decent, intelligent man who has no communication skills. He comes across as someone who is determined to do his best, but will never meet the standards set by others.

He is also incredibly naive about his own environmental policy, which most see as very weak but he sees as strong. Alberta has set intensity targets for carbon reduction, which in essence permits CO2 to grow by 37% between now and 2015 - less than would have been the case without these targets, but not as much as Kyoto requires.

So we wait till 3pm today to see what Honest Ed will do. Hopefully (again I use this word) he will get it right today. Fingers crossed.

Green Bubble

Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat and a columnist for the New York Times, wrote an editorial piece in the New York Times recently about greentech and the green strategies of governments which ended with these words:

“We have a multigenerational problem that requires a systemic, multigenerational response, and that can happen only if we get our energy prices right. Only that will guarantee green innovation and commercialization at scale. Anything less is wasted breath and wasted money — and any candidate [for the Presidency] who says otherwise is only contributing to global warming by adding hot air.”

His point is that many of the “solutions” being touted to global warming are small scale and that the pace of change is too slow to make a difference.

Key to all of this, in his view, is the pricing of energy – changing behaviour through market is how real change will occur.

Several steps would be needed to make this happen. First, there would be a need to challenge energy producers to reduce carbon emissions significantly – adding costs to the supply chain, well to wheel. Second, it would be helpful to demand that cars can travel additional km’s from a litre of gas – creating better use of the gasoline or gas-ethanol blends. Third, there would be a need to increase gasoline taxes and reinvest the additional funds in public transport systems and infrastructure. Fourth, there would be a need to increase royalty rates from wells and oil production – adding yet more costs to the supply chain. Finally, a green tax on all forms of air transport – people and goods – would further demonstrate that CO2 emissions - e.g. a tax on air travel that went into a carbon offset fund.

When gas at the pump gets to be $4.50 to $5.50 a litre here in Canada, then social behaviour may change.

So too will other things. Poverty will increase – food prices and costs of almost all goods will increase significantly. Travel will become very expensive – a tank of gasoline for a trip to Calgary from Edmonton would cost $275 – economic activity would slow.

It’s a tough call. No one is willing to make it.

Goodbye Stephane Dion and (Hopefully) Well Done Ed Stelmach

Stephane Dion claims to be the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. I says “claims to be” because there are almost no signs of leadership behaviour. He has a party that is full of strife, former leaders Chretien and Martin fighting over history, Quebec liberals in complete disarray and a policy book which is being steadily raided by the Government of Stephen Harper. He is not communicating effectively with either his party or the country (at least if you live in the West). His policy on the environment, while sounding tough, is no different from the one he espoused when in office – he did nothing to act on it and the Liberals blew off Kyoto in terms of action (but was very strong on rhetoric).

More significantly – the Liberal party is making itself irrelevant (just as the NDP has been for many years). They are not at the forefront of twenty first century challenges, nor are they positioned to speak to the youth of today.

Dion should do the decent thing and resign. He should do it immediately after his party bottles out of challenging the government on their throne speech later today. Continuing his charade demonstrates his cynical regard for true politics and reveals his ability to insult the people of Canada. The party should then go for one man one vote election for a new leader - not the charade of a delegate conference which is how this particular leader was chosen. They should also start to rethink their role in politics – they will be out of office for at least a decade.

While we’re on politics, today is the big day in Alberta. It’s the day Premier Stelmach will tell us what the future looks like, at least as far as it relate to Alberta’s energy economy. Good luck to him. The behaviour of the oil companies has been deplorable. Threatening to pull out of major projects if royalties increase significantly. They will not. Stelmach knows this, but will find a middle course and do the right thing. I am having dinner with him tonight as the broadcast to the people is being shown. I hope we can cheer at his determination. I hope this is the real start to his Premiership.

About Africa

What will it take to “solve” the problem of Africa?

Our historical answer to this questions has had two major thrusts. First, we colonised Africa and exploited it, making one or two African’s wealthy, but essentially enslaving many in the service of the few. Second, we flooded the continent with aid. Neither of these strategies appear to work.

Currently we are continuing a twofold strategy – aid and peacekeeping, with a sideline on corruption extinction. This is also not working.

The real strategy is to promote wealth. Not wealth of the few – but the development of free and effective markets with focused investment and a strong investment in education, research and infrastructure,

The basic solution is capitalism, not socialism. Get used to it.

If this is of interest to you, I recommend you look at this video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/159

Telling It as It Is

Canadian’s do not like straight talk. They don’t like straight talk about the need for a rethink of our health system with ways of further integrating private practice into the system. They don’t like to recognize that we are no longer amongst the leading peace keepers in the world. They don’t like to acknowledge that our workforce productivity is low in comparison to our major competitors. Most of all, they don’t like to acknowledge some harsh truths about the environment. A part of the Canadian psychology is denial.

Kyoto is not a strategy for saving the planet. If fully implemented, it may have a modest impact on global warming – slowing its progress for three to five years. That’s it. In part this is because climate change is part of a natural cycle, driven by a combination of factors of which green house gas emissions are just one. In part it is because the strategies to reduce emissions are not to be embraced by all.

But there are other environmental truths it is hard for people to accept. First, not all solutions are in fact solutions. Take biofuels as one example. Advocates suggest that we should replace gasoline with fuels derived from plants and woodlands. To replace ten percent of the world’s fuel supply would require so much agricultural and woodlands that it would force food prices high, impact livestock farming, increase global poverty and lead to massive disruption of the world’s agricultural economy. Further, biofuels produce greenhouse gases – in some cases the nitrous oxide is more damaging to the environment than gasoline.

Next, take energy and the call for us to replace coal fired power plants with renewable energy sources – hydro power, wind power, geothermal and solar. While increasing the portion of our energy supply from such sources may be desirable, supply from these sources will not replace non renewables as the primary source of energy in the world until new energy sources – especially fusion – become affordable on an industrial scale. For the foreseeable future, coal and natural gas will be the dominant sources of energy. Get used to it.

Third, the kind of actions Canadian’s have been encouraged to take – changing their light bulbs, turning off electrical appliances, not drinking bottled water, driving hybrid or electric cars, installing a thermostat – are all sensible things to do, but they will have little impact on climate change. Even if every Canadian did all of these things with the fervour of an Oiler’s fan in a playoff game, China’s coal fired power plants (there is a new plant opening every week and will be for the next three years) will quickly replace the emission saved.

Then there are offsets. This is where, each time you fly or heat your home, you can purchase an offset which permits someone somewhere else to do something good for the planet. This unregulated market has had its problems with some of the schemes being fraudulent, but in principle it’s a medieval idea: you could buy pardons from the Church for the sins you had committed and buy eternal redemption. Offsets are the same thing – someone somewhere else plants trees or invests in wind and solar so that you can continue to travel by air. So few people buy offsets that it is a negligible “solution” – worse, the evidence appears to suggest that this buying of pardons actually increases the volume of air travel, defeating the underlying purpose.

Finally, there is “the science”. It is often said that there is a global consensus amongst scientists that man is causing global warming. This is simply not true. What is true is that the dominant paradigm at this time amongst the scientific community is the theory of global warming in which CO2 emissions are seen as a primary (but not the only) cause. There are disputes amongst those who then look at impacts – on oceans, agriculture, and climate. There are disputes amongst those building models of climate – this is why there are so many of them, not all arriving at the same specific conclusions. There are many errors – just read the UK Court judgement about Al Gore’s film which identifies nine errors of fact in an Inconvenient Truth – and omissions. But it is a theory. There are other theories that compete with this and evidence in support of these too. This is how science works. We are still exploring the science – it is not, despite what the IPPC says, “settled”.

So when the Prime Minister says it is not possible for us to meet the Kyoto targets, he is right to do so. When he says that technology is the way forward he is right to do so. We should capture and use as much carbon, sulphur and nitrous oxide as we can and find good use for all three. We should continue to invest in fusion and fuel cells and alternative energy sources. We should challenge our best and brightest to get past Kyoto and look at new ways to provide energy and transport for our economy. But face up to it: there are no quick fixes, no magic bullets and no simple solutions to complex environmental problems.

So, fellow Canadians, Kyoto is dead. Long live the environment – it will be here long after we all are. Get used to it.

So Long UK, It Was Nice Being a Brit...

Britain is about to change in ways which suggest that its leadership has lost the plot. Gordon Brown, the Anthony Eden of the twenty first century, is about to sign an EU agreement which transfers a great deal of power and authority to Brussels and the unelected EU commission and its agencies. This despite promising at the last election that a referendum would be held over the terms of any revised EU constitution. In a battle of the elite versus the people, which is how this can be characterized as, everyone loses.

The UK government argues that it has negotiated “red lines” or boundaries which are opt-outs on key areas - human rights, tax and benefits, foreign policy and justice – leads them to believe that there will be no significant transfer of power to Brussels. Few agree. In fact, the House of Commons Select Committee sees the treaty to be signed as almost identical to the EU constitution which was rejected two years ago.

If a state cannot control its legal system, tax system or foreign policy what is it?

If a constitution is rejected by ballot, how can the administration implement it without a ballot?

If justice is to be transferred to the EU, which British court can hear a challenge to the signing of the treaty?

If human rights abuse issues are now matters for the EU, who can use the human rights legislation to challenge the right of Gordon Brown to take them away?

Apart from the cynicism being used by the Prime Minister and his cabinet to promote the treaty - treating the electorate as fools is always a mistake, they come back and bite you - the manipulation of facts and emotions here does a discredit to all.

Oprah is Basically Not Very Bright

Oprah is losing it. Its official. She had a wonderful opportunity on Monday to shine - she had Seinfeld for an hour and bloew it. Today she had a gobbledegook natural homeopathic doctor who spoke jibberish for an hour and she fell for it. We all have good days and bad days, Oprah is just having bad ones.

Its time for her to quit before she completely goes to pieces.

Mountains are Growing

The Daily Telegraph reports today that Mont Blanc has grown. The volume of ice on Mont Blanc's slopes has almost doubled since 2005 to reach 24,100 cubic metres this year, while snow has built up due to greater frequency of winds and higher temperatures in the summer, believed to be cause by global warming.

So, polar bears are not dying in large numbers, some ice fields in both the Arctic and Antarctic are growing as well as some ice caps on mountains around the world.....

Its NOT all doom and gloom.

Quote Unquote

The Times of London printed this list of quotes from, well smart people. I share it in the spirit of encouragement for others.

1 Oscar Wilde “Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast”

2 Spike Milligan “All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy”

3 Stephen Fry “An original idea. That can’t be too hard. The library must be full of them”

4 Jeremy Clarkson “Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary . . . that’s what gets you”

5 Sir Winston Churchill “A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen”

6 Paul Merton “I’m always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. If they don’t know who you are, how do they know who your dentist is?”

7 Noel Coward “People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what’s wrong with it.”

8 Shakespeare “Maids want nothing but husbands, and when they have them, they want everything”

9 Brian Clough “The River Trent is lovely, I know because I have walked on it for 18 years”

10 Liam Gallagher “She [Victoria Beckham] cannot even chew gum and walk in a straight line at the same time, let alone write a book.”

The New Anthony Eden

What a long time a month in politics can be. A month ago, Prime Minister Gordon Brown looked assured, confident and a winner. He had come through a tough period in his first 100 days and showed that he could handle tough stuff – a terrorist attack, mad cow disease, a history of drug use amongst cabinet members – and that he was able to let his Ministers lead. A good party conference led to speculation that a snap election would be called to give him a mandate – he has until 2010 and could have had a mandate to 2012.

Now he looks like a loser – the conservatives are 7 points ahead in the polls, David Cameron the young Tory leader looks assured, articulate and solid. Brown looks dishevelled and adrift. What happened?

Two things. Everyone supports a leader at a time of crisis if they show that they are competent. They don’t support one who appears duplicitous. Brown is duplicitous. He started and encouraged speculation about a snap election and had Ministers make clear election announcements – some troops back from Iraq and a major change in estate duty – before squashing the election once he read the poll data. He also says that the EU Treaty he will sign in Lisbon this week is so different from the EU Constitution that was rejected two years ago that it no longer requires a referendum. He is lying – its pretty close to identical, at least according to a parliamentary select committee. Since a referendum was promised on the constitution at the last election by the Labour party, he is repudiating a promise.

His troop withdrawal from Iraq turns out also to be smoke and mirrors. Its not a new number – some of the troops are already home. Cameron savaged him in the house and he withdrew into his shell.

The British press are all over this like a dirty shirt. Comparisons with Anthony Eden are floating, as are comparisons with Blair (Blair is looking good, apparently – how quickly we forget!). Some have started the search for a successor (Brown passed his first 100 days recently). Others are looking to beef up Cameron as the next PM. So its quite a time.

Brown will ride it out, but something significant is going on and it will be interesting to watch.

More Tommy Cooper

1. Two blondes walk into a building....you'd think at least one of them would have seen it..

2. Phone answering machine message - "...If you want to buy marijuana, press the hash key..."

3. A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only Clingfilm for shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."

4. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

5. I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, "No, the steaks are too high."

6. My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in.

7. A man came round in hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't, I've cut your arms off.
8. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a muscle.

9. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

10. Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.

11. Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it."

12. 'Doc I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home' "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome. 'Is it common?' "It's not unusual."

13. A man takes his Rotteweiller to the vet. "My dog is cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," said the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down.""What? " Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy"

14. Guy goes into the doctor's. "Doc, I've got a cricket ball stuck up my backside." "How's that?" "Don't you start.."

15. Two elephants walk off a cliff...boom, boom!

16. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fish.

17. So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me "Can you give me a lift?" I said "Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it.'

18. Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. There are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my Dad, or my older Brother Colin, or my younger Brother Ho-Cha-Chu? But I think its Colin.

19. Two fat blokes in a pub, one says to the other "Your round." The other one says "So are you, you fat b*****d!"

20. Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.

21. "You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice."

22. A man walked into the doctors, he said, "I've hurt my arm in several places" The doctor said, "Well don't go there anymore"

23. .. Ireland 's worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 1826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb As digging continues into the night

PEACE PRIZE FOR GORE - THE UNTRUTHFUL MAN

Al Gore (along with the IPCC) has won the Nobel Prize for peace by championing untruthfulness - according to a UK Court.

An interesting two days for Gore. About twenty minutes ago he won the Nobel prize, making him the high priest of the church of Global Warming - not even this Pope has won an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Nobel Prize.

Yesterday, the UK High Court ruled that his film An Inconvenient Truth contains nine errors of scientific fact. These are:

Mr Gore claims that a sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland "in the near future". The judge said: "This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr Gore's "wake-up call". He agreed that if Greenland melted it would release this amount of water - "but only after, and over, millennia"."The Armageddon scenario he predicts, insofar as it suggests that sea level rises of seven metres might occur in the immediate future, is not in line with the scientific consensus." The film claims that low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls "are being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming" but the judge ruled there was no evidence of any evacuation having yet happened. The documentary speaks of global warming "shutting down the Ocean Conveyor" - the process by which the Gulf Stream is carried over the North Atlantic to western Europe. Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the judge said that it was "very unlikely" that the Ocean Conveyor, also known as the Meridional Overturning Circulation, would shut down in the future, though it might slow down. Mr Gore claims that two graphs, one plotting a rise in C02 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed "an exact fit". The judge said that, although there was general scientific agreement that there was a connection, "the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts". Mr Gore says the disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was directly attributable to global warming, but the judge ruled that it scientists have not established that the recession of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro is primarily attributable to human-induced climate change. The film contends that the drying up of Lake Chad is a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming but the judge said there was insufficient evidence, and that "it is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability." Mr Gore blames Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans on global warming, but the judge ruled there was "insufficient evidence to show that". Mr Gore cites a scientific study that shows, for the first time, that polar bears were being found after drowning from "swimming long distances - up to 60 miles - to find the ice" The judge said: "The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm."That was not to say there might not in future be drowning-related deaths of bears if the trend of regression of pack ice continued - "but it plainly does not support Mr Gore's description". Mr Gore said that coral reefs all over the world were being bleached because of global warming and other factors. Again citing the IPCC, the judge agreed that, if temperatures were to rise by 1-3 degrees centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and mortality, unless the coral could adapt. However, he ruled that separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution was difficult.

The ruling follows a challenge the the UK Government's decision to ask that the film be shown to every student in a UK school. The judge ruled that this could occur only if these errors of fact were drawn to the attention of every student.

Reaction to Gore's global warming Nobel prize is very mixed. The UK's Daily Telegraph has leaders today indicating that he has done so little for peace that the award makes a mockery of the prize. This is what Damian Thomson says:

"The former US Vice-President has already taken over from Michael Moore as the most sanctimonious lardbutt Yank on the planet. Can you imagine what he'll be like now that the Norwegian Nobel committee has given him the prize?More to the point, can you imagine how enormous his already massive carbon footprint will become once he starts jetting around the world bragging about his new title?"

- and there will be more like this throughout the day. Many speculate that he may now consider a run for President, but given his status as the head of a religious order (The Church of Global Warming) and superstar who is also now a very wealthy man, why would he bother?

Soccer Saves the World

Robert Mugabe is one of the most despicable despots in the modern world. He has reduced Zimbabwe to a shambles of a country, killed millions either with bullets or through starvation and has pursued his tribal vendetta in a way that makes Idi Amin look almost modest.

But he is still there. Omnipotent, serene and vicious. He is a personification of evil in the contremporary world. If there is a real axis of evil, I would look to Mugabe before I looked to the leadership of North Korea or the completely loony tune who is President of Iran.

But there is hope. The World Cup will be in South Africa in 2010. It is unacceptable to other African leaders that many countries may boycott the soccer if Mugabe intends to attend as President of Zimbabwe. If he is not gone by other means – a bullet, bomb or the final consequences of syphilis (or whatever it is that ails him) – he will be removed before embarrassing the continent at the games.

For once, we can say that Soccer helped Save the World.

TOMMY COOPER

One of the greatest English comedians of all time was Tommy Cooper - big bloke, wore a fez and did magic tricks, most of which did not work. While doing tricks, he would tell one line gags... here are some of his best:

I went to the local video shop and I said "Can I borrow Batman Forever?" He said, "No, you'll have to bring it back tomorrow"

Batman came up to me and he hit me over the head with a vase and he went T'PAU! I said "Don't you mean KAPOW?? He said "No, I've got china in my
hand."

I went into a shop and I said, "Can someone sell me a kettle." The bloke said "Kenwood?" I said, "Where is he then?"

I met the bloke who invented crosswords today. I can't remember his name, it's P something T something R.

I was reading this book today, The History Of Glue. I couldn't put it down.

I phoned the local ramblers club today, but the bloke who answered just went on and on.

The recruitment consultan asked me "What do you think of voluntary work?? I said "I wouldn't do it if you paid me."

I was in the jungle and there was this monkey with a tin opener. I said, "You don't need a tin opener to peel a banana." He said, "No, this is for the custard."

This policeman came up to me with a pencil and a piece of very thin paper. He said, "I want you to trace someone for me."


I phoned the local builders today, I said to them "Can I have a skip outside my house?" He said, "I'm not stopping you!"

This cowboy walks in to a German car showroom and he says "Audi!"

I fancied a game of darts with my mate. He said, "Nearest the bull goes first" He went "Baah" and I went "Moo" He said "You're closest"

I was driving up the motorway and my boss phoned me and he told me I'd been promoted. I was so shocked I swerved the car. He phoned me again to
say I'd been promoted even higher and I swerved again. He then made me managing director and I went right off into a tree. The police came and
asked me what had happened. I said "I careered off the road"

I visited the offices of the RSPCA today. It's tiny: you couldn't swing a cat in there.

I phoned the local gym and I asked if they could teach me how to do the splits. He said, "How flexible are you?" I said, "I can't make Tuesdays
or Thursdays."

I kind of miss him really...

The 10 Things that Get Me Riled

I have been quiet. People have noticed. I am sorry. Hope to get back on track. I have been quietly fuming about ten things. Here they are:

1. Airport Security - last week I was at the airport at 0500, don't ask me why. There were just six passengers, but over 25 security guards. They are so ignorant that I was able to walk on with a ceramic and very sharp knife but they were very suspicious of my Sony e-Book reader. I just don't get it.

2. The Modern Terror - Cyclists! I am talking about the ignorant, law breaking cyclists who ride on sidewalks. Not only is this illegal in Edmonton, it is very dangerous. Who do these people think they are? Its time to go to war against these modern terrorists.

3. Spandex - speaking of cyclists, who gave middle aged men and flabby people permission to wear tight spandex as part of the campaign of poor dressing?

4. Britney Spears - or, more accurately, the press covering her. Poor woman, as if she is not disturbed enough - we don't need to know!

5. The Traffic Guy on CBC Edmonton Radio (PM) - don't know who he is, but his voice sounds like he is sitting on a large cone shaped object - its strained, quirky and well down right annoying. Worse, they have started asking him to do longer pieces, as if it wasn't enough to inflict pain on us with his traffic reports. Take him off the air before his hernia bursts! (Peter Brown, the host of the Radio Active show, is, however, excellent - largely because he is so unpredictable).

6. Canadian Thinking About Soldiers- We have a mission in Afghanistan right now and its a tough one. Many Canadians think our troops should not be put in harms way. If this is the case, we should have an army of social workers not trained fighters. Since we began working in Afghanistan we have lost 71 fine soldiers and 1 diplomat. A small price to pay for a larger mission. We lost 67,000 in the first world war. Imagine if each had been treated to the kind of publicity (which would have been well deserved) that we give each death now. Soldiers fight. They aim to kill. This is part of what they do. Get used to it.

7. Jack Layton - is he pompous or what? I know he is short, but he doesn't need to be a jerk all of the time - or does he? My father used to complain about people like Jack - he'd look at them, listen to them and say to me "don't trust him lad, his arse is too near the ground".

8. The Portuguese Police - I have some slight connection to Portugal. My daughter in law is of Portuguese descent and I regularly drink a glass of port. I also like the look of the country. But the police investigation of the Madeline McCann kidnapping and likely murder strikes me as largely incompetent. I look at the parents and just want to reach out and hug them. I look at the Portuguese policeman who was in charge of the investigation (now fired) and want to hit him.

9. Fitness Posers - I am back at the YMCA playing squash and such like, but having to cope with the men and women who are there for other reasons. Such posers - I am sure some are stuffing tissues where they don't belong.

10. George W Bush - 43rd President of the US. In the world of technology there is a law known as Moore's law. It is basically that the capacity of a memory chip in a computer doubles every eighteen months. It also applies to such things as chip speed. In politics I would like to propose Murgatroyd's law. It is this: The IQ required to destroy the planet falls by 1 point each month. Bush said that other day that Madella was dead. Nelson Madella called him to thank him for thinking about his father.

Notice I haven't mentioned Oprah. The poor lady. Its time she quit. She is showing us more and more of her naivetee and ignorance with every show. Nor I have mentioned the dreadful films I have seen recently - like Oceans 13. I am just warming up for the blogging season.

Biofuels are Bad for the Environment

A recent international study has found that BioFuels such as Ethanol emite up to 70% more greenhouse gases, particularly nitrous oxide, than fossil fuel. Nitrous Oxide is 300 times more damaging than carbon monoxide. This is the second study that has come to this conclusion, which will surely be brushed aside by the likes of Al Gore and others that want to blame humans for Gloabal Warming. The alternative fuels sources are becoming slimmer. More Green Credits please…

Another hiddedn jem in this article, that the liberal left will deny, is that the study also found that the human effect, man-made causes, is only responsible for 2% of Global Warming. Holy Jesus, what about the other 98%? Please Mr. Gore, answer that. Additionally if the US were to move to biofuels,, man-made emissions would rise to 6%, that is a 300% increase in greenhouse gases. Time to wake up America, the liberals are using smoke a mirrors, ultimately to make money for themselves.

The Al Gore campers have been trying to convince the public were are all so bad and we need to spend massive amounts of money to change to “green” engery and we will have to give up our daily convinience unless we have green credits. What a load of crap. Speaking of crap, guess what contains a lot of nitrogen based compounds that release into the air. Guess what will be used to rapidly grow corn for Ethanol. If you guessed the crap that keeps coming from the Gore campers, your were right.

A renewable energy source designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is contributing more to global warming than fossil fuels, a study suggests.

Measurements of emissions from the burning of biofuels derived from rapeseed and maize have been found to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than they save.

Other biofuels, especially those likely to see greater use over the next decade, performed better than fossil fuels but the study raises serious questions about some of the most commonly produced varieties.

Rapeseed and maize biodiesels were calculated to produce up to 70 per cent and 50 per cent more greenhouse gases respectively than fossil fuels. The concerns were raised over the levels of emissions of nitrous oxide, which is 296 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Scientists found that the use of biofuels released twice as much as nitrous oxide as previously realised. The research team found that 3 to 5 per cent of the nitrogen in fertiliser was converted and emitted. In contrast, the figure used by the International Panel on Climate Change, which assesses the extent and impact of man-made global warming, was 2 per cent. The findings illustrated the importance, the researchers said, of ensuring that measures designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions are assessed thoroughly before being hailed as a solution.

“One wants rational decisions rather than simply jumping on the bandwagon because superficially something appears to reduce emissions,” said Keith Smith, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and one of the researchers.

Maize for ethanol is the prime crop for biofuel in the US where production for the industry has recently overtaken the use of the plant as a food. In Europe the main crop is rapeseed, which accounts for 80 per cent of biofuel production.

Professor Smith told Chemistry World: “The significance of it is that the supposed benefits of biofuels are even more disputable than had been thought hitherto.”

It was accepted by the scientists that other factors, such as the use of fossil fuels to produce fertiliser, have yet to be fully analysed for their impact on overall figures. But they concluded that the biofuels “can contribute as much or more to global warming by N2 O emissions than cooling by fossil-fuel savings”.

The research is published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, where it has been placed for open review. The research team was formed of scientists from Britain, the US and Germany, and included Professor Paul Crutzen, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on ozone.

Dr Franz Conen, of the University of Basel in Switzerland, described the study as an “astounding insight”.

“It is to be hoped that those taking decisions on subsidies and regulations will in future take N2O emissions into account and promote some forms of ’biofuel’ production while quickly abandoning others,” he told the journal’s discussion board.

Dr Dave Reay, of the University of Edinburgh, used the findings to calculate that with the US Senate aiming to increase maize ethanol production sevenfold by 2022, greenhouse gas emissions from transport will rise by 6 per cent.

Real Torture, British Style

A friend says that the three most depressing words in the English language are "Come On Tim!", referring to the shouts we all make at our TV sets in support of Tim Henman, the tennis luckless British player.

Each year for the past 14 we have watched him at Wimbledon. He gets good and then gets bad and then wins and then looses. Its painful to watch - he is like a schoolboy (despite the fact that he is 30 ands still doesn't have a tattoo). His gestures show that he is focused, in pain and probably constipated.

As I watch, he looks like taking his game with the Spanish player Lopez to a fifth set, having lost the first two in tie breakers. This is a second round game - if he goes through, well more pain.

He has made it clear that he will not retire this year. This means more pain. I suspect he would make an excellent Prozac salesman - he probably is accounting for around 20% of UK sales just by playing Wimbledon. He is in fact a property speculator.

He looks like the kind of guy whose most exciting moment is finding a penny in a pair of trousers he hasn't worn for a while.

Why I put myself through this agony of watching him every year I do not know. It must suggest something about my psychological needs.

The New Terror Walk

Harold is 72. He lives in Blackpool but comes from Oldham - and he hasn't lost his accent. Its broad, but in a sophisticated way. He is very fit. He walks every day, usualy 6-10 miles, and is a walking holiday guide for HF Holidays. He was our guide on our walking holiday in Italy.

We walked the 70+ KM from Bonosola to Le Spezia over the course of a number of days. The walk includes the Cinque Terra (five villages), which we did in a day. Some of the walk is tough, especially the last section (Riomaggiore to La Spezia) where we scrambled, struggled on very narrow paths and had a difficult scree based descent. But it was worth it. Each day we did some 2500+ feet of "up" - sometimes tough "up" - and pushed our legs up many many steep steps or difficult up.

Our guide - Harold - was wonderful. His Italian accent wasn't. When he introduced the walk it was the "Chinky Terror" (sounds like the Chinese Al Quida). The village of Vernazza became Venessa and Sistri Levanti became Central Lavanto - but he was fun, tolerant and very generous with his spirit of care and kindness. A treat of a man. Made the pain seem worthwhile.

As for the views from various parts of the journey, they are simply stunning - its no wonder they call this region the Italian Riviera. We ended our week in Liguria in Portofino - a quaint, small harbour made glorious by up-scale shops. classy restaurants and very nice atmosphere. Just a week later, Rod Stewart and his new bride Penny Lancaster celebrated their wedding (which was held just up the coast on his boat) at a select function at Brown's in Portofino.

From the Cinque Terra we went on to Umbria and stayed near Assisi in a very nice cottage overlooking a fantastic view. We used this is a base to tour around = Perugia was very nice.

Good to have a break. Nice to spend quality time with Lynne.

Missing in Action!

It is basically inexcusable. I have been negligent of this space and have caused anxiety to friends and colleagues by not blogging. Sorry. Many apologies. Grovel.

Several excuses. Bitten by a lama whilst swimming amongst sharks. Sent tone deaf by accidentally listening to a Barry Mannilow CD. Deranged by the developments in the life of Paris Hilton. Washed up on the shares of Iwo Jima following an attempt to make a movie entirely in Welsh. Caught trying on a tutu with a guy named Desmond. Bitten by a rabid politician worried about her fate in the government of Gordon Brown. All lame excuses. None of them true.

The fact is, was just too hectic and took on too many things. By the time the day was done, so was I. So no blog. As you may have guessed by now, things are quieter. So I have time and I am back.

I have written two short books since I last blogged. Not as such, but the equivalent of in reports, documents and submissions. I have been walking in Italy (the Italian Riviera and the Cinque Terra), cooking in Umbria, partying in Wales, teaming up with old friends in Warrington, visiting my mum and sister on the Yorkshire coast, resting in Umbria, facilitating in Oxford, palling it up in London, been to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, spent time with colleagues in British Columbia, took a break in the hinterland near Toronto and written hundreds of emails.

More to the point. I am well, refreshed and raring to do some work, but not much. (Just a note of thanks to those who have been concerned about my health). Lynne is well too (except for a current bout of shingles, which is no fun).

So expect polemic, insght, humour and bullshit and other good stuff in this space from now on.

Alberta Ballet

Alberta Ballet performed two works last night. The most amazing was George Balanchine’s choreography of Tchaikovsky Serenade. The woman next to us wept and said “it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen”. Another I spoke to at the intermission said that she had never been to a ballet before, but that this work would bring her back “it was stunning – my senses were awakened”. It is elegant, moving, visually simply remarkable. My admiration for our dancers (I am a member of the Board) was high before I saw this, but this is a most demanding piece – lots of point work. A terrific focus on timing and precision and a lot of high moves. The ending blows me away (I saw it twice this week).

The other work is a new work – a collaboration between our Artistic Director (Jean Grand Maitre) and Joni Mitchell. Nine songs with vivid dance, poignant movement and evocative and lyrical transitions. I though it marvelous.

One of those nights when you know it is the right thing to volunteer to be a Board member of an arts company – one that is doing the right thing.