Ows' olive offering...

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting over the next few weeks so please accept this card from Owsblog. Click on the image (...and then the door!) to receive the card. Design by Jacquie Lawson: easily "the classiest e-cards on the Web". [Link]

"Each card we make takes anything from a few weeks to several months to complete. Many of the elements of the animation are actually painted by hand (using real paint, brushes and paper!) because the textures and colours achieved that way are so much more attractive than the electronic equivalent. These paintings are then scanned into electronic form, and the laborious process of animation starts. Finally, the music is created to accent or complement the animation."

Ows' olive offering...

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting over the next few weeks so please accept this card from Owsblog. Click on the image (...and then the door!) to receive the card. Design by Jacquie Lawson: easily "the classiest e-cards on the Web". [Link]

"Each card we make takes anything from a few weeks to several months to complete. Many of the elements of the animation are actually painted by hand (using real paint, brushes and paper!) because the textures and colours achieved that way are so much more attractive than the electronic equivalent. These paintings are then scanned into electronic form, and the laborious process of animation starts. Finally, the music is created to accent or complement the animation."

Ominous omnipotence...

Baroness Ashton of Upholland, the EU's new High Representative for Foreign Affairs, is "racing against time to establish a pan-European diplomatic service before David Cameron can clip its wings." This should be a message to all Ukippers to desist from weakening a prospective Conservative win at the coming General Election. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister has said,

"Since the Lisbon treaty came into force, relations between member states were no longer considered "foreign policy" but were now "domestic policy"

[FFS!!!] Therefore any EU leader has no need of his/her diplomats/ministers beside them at EU summits. Bildt said this defending the situation whereby (shock, horror, surprised...NOT!) the foreign minister of each country was banned from attending the EU summit in Brussels; a dozen of the 27 foreign ministers objected to this: errm...you mean they weren't aware they would be replaced by Baroness Ashton (or whomever) at the European summit in Brussels? You mean they weren't aware that it was henceforth...

"...futile for member states to think they could still act unilaterally."

Do you, like me, find that ominous and sinister? Downright scary? [The Times]

P.S. That last quote was from the previous EU foreign policy supremo, Spanish career diplomat Javier Solano. I tend to agree with David Cronin re Solano: his (Solano's) own description of his approach to diplomacy was "Make no enemies and never ask a question to which you do not know or like the answer." Or in other words be "grey", be all things to all men and be nothing at the same time: or, take the money and go with the flow, be damp wallpaper, or, as Cronin says: "'Make no enemies' is another way of saying 'have no principles'" [Link] That's not so bad - and apologies for the change of tack - but some think Solano was the Antichrist (which would make Ashton the new one)! Mind you, reading the following link, the closing paragraphs open up a whole new possible career for Tony Blair as one smooth end times operator.

Ominous omnipotence...

Baroness Ashton of Upholland, the EU's new High Representative for Foreign Affairs, is "racing against time to establish a pan-European diplomatic service before David Cameron can clip its wings." This should be a message to all Ukippers to desist from weakening a prospective Conservative win at the coming General Election. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister has said,

"Since the Lisbon treaty came into force, relations between member states were no longer considered "foreign policy" but were now "domestic policy"

[FFS!!!] Therefore any EU leader has no need of his/her diplomats/ministers beside them at EU summits. Bildt said this defending the situation whereby (shock, horror, surprised...NOT!) the foreign minister of each country was banned from attending the EU summit in Brussels; a dozen of the 27 foreign ministers objected to this: errm...you mean they weren't aware they would be replaced by Baroness Ashton (or whomever) at the European summit in Brussels? You mean they weren't aware that it was henceforth...

"...futile for member states to think they could still act unilaterally."

Do you, like me, find that ominous and sinister? Downright scary? [The Times]

P.S. That last quote was from the previous EU foreign policy supremo, Spanish career diplomat Javier Solano. I tend to agree with David Cronin re Solano: his (Solano's) own description of his approach to diplomacy was "Make no enemies and never ask a question to which you do not know or like the answer." Or in other words be "grey", be all things to all men and be nothing at the same time: or, take the money and go with the flow, be damp wallpaper, or, as Cronin says: "'Make no enemies' is another way of saying 'have no principles'" [Link] That's not so bad - and apologies for the change of tack - but some think Solano was the Antichrist (which would make Ashton the new one)! Mind you, reading the following link, the closing paragraphs open up a whole new possible career for Tony Blair as one smooth end times operator.

Olive oil Oakeshott...

An olive oil economy...no, not what may happen because of global warming but what Liberal Democrat Matthew Oakeshott called the UK economy earlier today as our debt and our credibility "heads southwards" [Daily Politics] (plus Ken Clarke on good "straight up and honest" form). Elsewhere David Cameron hammers yesterday's piss-take by Darling.

"I think the Labour Party should be haunted for a decade by what we saw yesterday in terms of irresponsibility, basic deceit and complete lack of moral principle"

Update: 11th Dec 9am (GMT): now things become a little clearer. The piss-take I mentioned above was Brown's idea (and Balls).

"Alistair Darling wanted to impose a VAT rise above 17.5% in his pre-budget report to raise extra revenue but was persuaded by Gordon Brown to opt for an increase in national insurance instead"

And the "tax on jobs" charge levelled at Darling by George Osborne is relevant not only because it could cause job losses but also because only working people pay National Insurance (NI). Increased NI would usually hit middle and even low income earners harder than "the rich". Conversely, everyone pays VAT and would usually hit those with most money to spend i.e. the rich - although I could be wrong. Blimey, it must be bad, even the BBC are headlining it. [Link]

Olive oil Oakeshott...

An olive oil economy...no, not what may happen because of global warming but what Liberal Democrat Matthew Oakeshott called the UK economy earlier today as our debt and our credibility "heads southwards" [Daily Politics] (plus Ken Clarke on good "straight up and honest" form). Elsewhere David Cameron hammers yesterday's piss-take by Darling.

"I think the Labour Party should be haunted for a decade by what we saw yesterday in terms of irresponsibility, basic deceit and complete lack of moral principle"

Update: 11th Dec 9am (GMT): now things become a little clearer. The piss-take I mentioned above was Brown's idea (and Balls).

"Alistair Darling wanted to impose a VAT rise above 17.5% in his pre-budget report to raise extra revenue but was persuaded by Gordon Brown to opt for an increase in national insurance instead"

And the "tax on jobs" charge levelled at Darling by George Osborne is relevant not only because it could cause job losses but also because only working people pay National Insurance (NI). Increased NI would usually hit middle and even low income earners harder than "the rich". Conversely, everyone pays VAT and would usually hit those with most money to spend i.e. the rich - although I could be wrong. Blimey, it must be bad, even the BBC are headlining it. [Link]

Olympiakos outing opportunity...

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[Edit: 'dead' image/video removed] Could it be Mission Impossible as Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger lines up ten teenagers in the squad of 18 players to face Olympiakos in the last group-stage game of the Chamions League. Arsenal have already qualified top of their table so for them tonight is a stroll but the other interesting thing is that lining up for Arsenal will be Tom Cruise. [Guardian]

"For me, there is only one Tom Cruise and he is the one who plays for Arsenal Football Club."

Olympiakos outing opportunity...

---

[Edit: 'dead' image/video removed] Could it be Mission Impossible as Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger lines up ten teenagers in the squad of 18 players to face Olympiakos in the last group-stage game of the Chamions League. Arsenal have already qualified top of their table so for them tonight is a stroll but the other interesting thing is that lining up for Arsenal will be Tom Cruise. [Guardian]

"For me, there is only one Tom Cruise and he is the one who plays for Arsenal Football Club."

Outing obfuscation...

"Obfuscation is the concealment of intended meaning in communication, making communication confusing, intentionally ambiguous, and more difficult to interpret." (from Wiki)

Today is Plain English Day! The Plain English Campaign has, since 1979, "been campaigning against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information." If you're within half an hour of The Brewery (London EC1Y 4SD) then get on down to the 30th Plain English Campaign Annual Awards 2009 (starts at midday UK time). Not to give too much away but as of today Mandy has another award!

I touched on a similar subject last week when discussing the Overarching outcomes of outsourced output about the need to 'ditch the jargon that is the daily fare of all public bodies so they can "communicate effectively with local people"' ...[Link].

Update: their Grammar Quiz has just left my ego a bit deflated!

Outing obfuscation...

"Obfuscation is the concealment of intended meaning in communication, making communication confusing, intentionally ambiguous, and more difficult to interpret." (from Wiki)

Today is Plain English Day! The Plain English Campaign has, since 1979, "been campaigning against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information." If you're within half an hour of The Brewery (London EC1Y 4SD) then get on down to the 30th Plain English Campaign Annual Awards 2009 (starts at midday UK time). Not to give too much away but as of today Mandy has another award!

I touched on a similar subject last week when discussing the Overarching outcomes of outsourced output about the need to 'ditch the jargon that is the daily fare of all public bodies so they can "communicate effectively with local people"' ...[Link].

Update: their Grammar Quiz has just left my ego a bit deflated!

Obvious outcome of overallocation...

Overallocation of carbon emission permits. Whilst the 20,000 delegates (How many???!!!), descend on Copenhagen, "1,200 limousines have flooded into the Danish capital (forget about public transport)" [Link] !! Naturally, there is an underlying motivation for some: many will benefit greatly from ETS (no I do not mean enfermedades de transmisión sexual (ETS, in English STDs although there is plenty of "free sex" on offer) but I refer to the EU's "carbon credits" given under the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS).

"...the ETS has been turned into a system for generating free subsidies."

A system under which Britain's richest resident, the Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, is set to benefit from a £1bn windfall in "carbon credits". The same Lakshmi Mittal that is a major donor to the labour Party, the same man, let's not forget, that the Government helped to clinch a £70 million "soft" loan, funded by taxpayers, to allow him to buy Romania's Sidex steelworks.

Well his company stands to gain immensely but only after threatening to relocate if made to pay for carbon certificates (like a carbon tax) and "Following intense lobbying and claims that the scheme would harm business, the cap on emissions was set too high and too many permits were issued"... Details emerged after inquries by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) "Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU". Also from The revelations of an analysis by Anna Pearson and Sandbag. (a PDF of their 'ETS SOS' is HERE). Anyway, they are not alone and others support the criticisms of carbon trading: Professor Jim Hansen (Director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies..yes, the same one who said the Copenhagen summit was a farce) who also prefers alternatives e.g. a direct tax on carbon. He said:

"The corporates see emissions trading as a huge opportunity to boost profits."

Update: 3:45pm. Oh the Irony...Copenhagen climate summit apparently in disarray as developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement.

Obvious outcome of overallocation...

Overallocation of carbon emission permits. Whilst the 20,000 delegates (How many???!!!), descend on Copenhagen, "1,200 limousines have flooded into the Danish capital (forget about public transport)" [Link] !! Naturally, there is an underlying motivation for some: many will benefit greatly from ETS (no I do not mean enfermedades de transmisión sexual (ETS, in English STDs although there is plenty of "free sex" on offer) but I refer to the EU's "carbon credits" given under the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS).

"...the ETS has been turned into a system for generating free subsidies."

A system under which Britain's richest resident, the Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, is set to benefit from a £1bn windfall in "carbon credits". The same Lakshmi Mittal that is a major donor to the labour Party, the same man, let's not forget, that the Government helped to clinch a £70 million "soft" loan, funded by taxpayers, to allow him to buy Romania's Sidex steelworks.

Well his company stands to gain immensely but only after threatening to relocate if made to pay for carbon certificates (like a carbon tax) and "Following intense lobbying and claims that the scheme would harm business, the cap on emissions was set too high and too many permits were issued"... Details emerged after inquries by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) "Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU". Also from The revelations of an analysis by Anna Pearson and Sandbag. (a PDF of their 'ETS SOS' is HERE). Anyway, they are not alone and others support the criticisms of carbon trading: Professor Jim Hansen (Director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies..yes, the same one who said the Copenhagen summit was a farce) who also prefers alternatives e.g. a direct tax on carbon. He said:

"The corporates see emissions trading as a huge opportunity to boost profits."

Update: 3:45pm. Oh the Irony...Copenhagen climate summit apparently in disarray as developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement.