Author: Liam

Now I’m back in Europe, I’m reminded that American political life looks even weirder at a distance than it does close up. I’m inspired by the gall of the Republican party almost daily, but today has been most impressive.

1) Republicans veto a bill that is an attempt to start cleaning up the mess their economic policies have made.

2) Having scuppered the bill, they then try to lay the blame for the bill’s failure at the feet of a woman who voted for it, claiming that the speech Nancy Pelosi made introducing it turned off certain members of the Republican party.

If the Republicans thought it was important that the bill passed, surely they’d have voted for it en masse? If they didn’t want the bill to pass, and that’s what it looks like from the voting record, then why are they now claiming to be upset that it didn’t? Obviously, it’s because they want to make it look as if the Democrats are at fault for the crisis. But, for Republicans, there is no crisis, because they don’t believe in regulation. But then again, there is a crisis, and they want to make sure someone else gets the blame.

On top of this, a John Boehner, the Republican leader of the House said:

“I do believe we could have got there today, had it not been for this partisan speech that the Speaker gave on the floor of the House,”

What are the partisan pieces of the speech?

…when was the last time someone asked you for $700bn?

It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush administration’s failed economic policies: policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything-goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.

Over the past several days, we have worked with our Republican colleagues to fashion an alternative to the original plan of the Bush administration.

Oh, how upsetting, Pelosi spoke the truth about George Bush, and the Republicans are unhappy. They seem to be conveniently forgetting that George Bush was one of the supporters of the bail-out package. They’ll claim to support him when Pelosi says something harsh about him, but they won’t support him with votes for a bill he supports? Wow, that’s some meaningful support. Oh, the doublethink!

On reflection, it’s no wonder that a group of such conflicted and volatile people should take exception at what, to me, looks like a balanced and well-worded speech.

Transcript of Nancy Pelosi’s speech.
Source: The Guardian.

I really hope the Republicans are humbled at the ballot box in November. The Americans I know and love deserve better.

It looks like M&S is working to reduce its carbon footprint, which is a good thing. However, their marketing surrounding the introduction of sustainable technologies exaggerates the effect it will have.

The chain’s first wind turbine, in Aberdeenshire, will provide renewable energy to the branches, which bosses say will lead to a drop of 55% in their energy use. This, the company says, will also contribute to the shops producing 95% less carbon dioxide.

[source: Guardian Unlimited]
It all depends on how you define a shop I suppose. If, like M&S seem to, you limit your measurements to the building itself, then you will achieve a huge reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. However a shop is not just a building. It needs to be stocked, and M&S’s goods are still made all over the world and travel many thousands of miles before they reach the shops. The food sold in their shops is often highly processed and overly packaged single-serving meals. Surely carbon dioxide generated by the manufacture, packing and shipping of goods needs to be taken into account when calculating a shop’s carbon footprint. Seen in these terms the reduction in carbon footprint is far smaller. Taking a wild guess, I’d imagine it’s closer to ten or twelve percent.

Now they’re starting to address environmental concerns in the part of the business that is most obvious to the customer, will they extend that thinking into the most polluting parts of their business? Does this news herald a deep-rooted change in their business plan or is their environmental commitment just window dressing?

Here’s why my missus ain’t got no stone – check out this De Beers parody.