2007 — 9 Mar: global warming due to CO2? Nahhh!
Well, not according to Channel 4 last night, when they screened Martin Durkin's documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle". I must say, I hadn't figured one-time Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson (who can certainly no longer be called "Fatty" by the way) as an authoritative science commentator. Meanwhile, NPR's "Science Friday" is all about North America's rush to bio-fuel alternatives in pursuit of decreased CO2 emissions. The thrust of the documentary seemed to suggest that if you want the real culprit, look rather to the sun (though remember, kiddies, not to look directly at it). Just remember, in the long run we're all dead in any case.
I just hope the culprit doesn't turn out to be any part of the doubtless complex chemical chain involved in the manufacture, packaging and cross-globe transport of DVDs, of which I now have the following additional titles to record:
- For your consideration The new Christopher Guest ensemble piece
- Minder, Series #1
- Night of the Comet starring the wonderful Catherine Mary Stewart
- Northern Exposure, final series I can still recall my sense of outrage when I learned, via the Interweb thingy back in December 1995, of this fine show's untimely demise. I had by then twice written to Channel 4 (not something I do lightly) to praise their acquisition and encourage their continued transmission of this superb series. I now have every episode safely at my fingertips — in a manner of speaking
- Trust the Man which is a leap of faith, based on the excellent cast list
Meanwhile, interesting factoids continue to drop in (or out, in this case, of the wrapper for my weekly dose of New Statesman magazine in a flyer touting the intellectual benefits of my starting a subscription to Prospect magazine): "If all the Lego in the world were divided up evenly, we would get 30 pieces each." Not quite as catchy as those 30 pieces of silver, is it?
HR Appraisals
Having just caught up with the two excellent programmes I had to "Humax" while watching the climate change stuff last night, I am reminded (yet again) that a) Nigel Williams is a fine writer, Jonathan Pryce and Nicholas le Provost are fine actors and b) one of the nicer points about retirement is the placing firmly in the past of any further interactions with ridiculous "Human Resource" departments and "staff appraisal" systems. Who appraises the appraisers? — that's what I always wanted to know.
Bill Gates tops the Forbes billionaires list (415 of these people are in the US) for the 13th year running. Turkey has six, Serbia and Romania one each. JK Rowling has now reached dollar billionaire status, too. Who does their appraisals, I wonder?