Gaia Like Balance

Two adjacent headlines from the Reuters Health eLine appear to support the Gaia hypothesis. This suggests that the Earth behaves like a giant organisim and reacts to threat levels in ways that try to restore a balanced state to the planet. Today I see a) Goal of eliminating malaria in sight: experts and b)Deadly flu breaks out in Mexico, U.S.

Gaia seems to be substituting one threat for a new more virulent threat which will kill countless numbers of people before we get a handle on it and eradicate it.

It is just possible that, unless we find some way to control our propensity for limitless breeding, the poor old Earth will find ways to do it for us. We can but hope.

The Serpent Eats Itself

This report from the States suggests that AIG, the massive ailing insurance giant bailed out and essentially 80% owned by the American taxpayer, is suing er... the American Government aka the American taxpayer. AIG is suing for the return of tax paid on income with money it got from Uncle Sam and, if it wins, it will be paid by... Uncle Sam. Meanwhile the traders who finagled this giant into the shitter are expecting $160m in bonuses. Hmmm can anyone see who's the biggest looser here?

I'm reminded of Kurt Vonnegurt's three laws of life a) You cannot win b) You cannot break even c) You cannot get out of the game. Visionary or what?

Ann Nixon Cooper or Joe The Plumber

Nothing could illustrate the differences between the two campaigns in the United States of America better than the citizens chosen by the respective candidates to illustrate Joe Public. While McCain picked Joe The Plumber who was quickly tracked down and turned out not only to have no plumbing qualifications but also to owe the taxman several thousand dollars, Obama picked a 106-year old black woman whose dignity and longevity were evident in equal measure. The contrast could not have been more stark. 

There seems little doubt that, if dignified statesmanship is what's required in a President, then America has made the right choice.

Presidential or What?

Who looks the most Presidential - Barak Obama or John McCain? Or perhaps Sarah Palin should be up there in the choice because, frankly, McCain ain't looking so hot health-wise. Three times cancer survivor is three times cancer getter n'est-ce pas? So his record on cancer is not to be envied. Does the USA want Sarah Palin as President? Perhaps they do. I heard a lady on Radio 4 this morning saying that we, the British more specifically the British Press, were being superciliously nasty to Ms Palin and that we had misjudged her appeal to the American people. Well dang my britches if that ain't the darndest accusation I ever heeard! Is it too much to ask that a Vice-President, possibly a President, can speak in joined up sentences and knows a little, just a little, whereof she speaks. I know we've all been conditioned to low expectations by eight years of W but maybe we might not be in the shit heap we're currently in if we'd had a President who could read without moving his lips. To replace him with another one who's definitely short on international experience is, to say the least, dangerous. Ms Palin is undoubtedly smart, a cute as a pet fox some might say, but is Alaskan native cunning enough on the international stage. I suspect not.