Green idea of the day 2

I know this may sound radical but the green idea of the day is to simply use less. And what I mean is: less toothpaste on your toothbrush, less washing up liquid in the sink, less toilet roll on your ass, less lights on in the house, less use of the car for those trips to the shops, less food in your mouth. And sure enough you will consume a little less, and if everyone does it then it'll make a difference, and a difference is a start because the world is in serious trouble.

And if you want to go further, make what you have last longer - from your iPod to your computer to your TV - do you really need a new one right now? Wanting the latest thing makes companies produce even more whilst shortening product cycles, making it more difficult for people to accept what they've got and enjoy it rather than looking round the corner at the next big thing. And we really ought to avoid disposables, from razors to those goddawful cameras that take 24 pics then are thrown into a landfill and take 50,000 years to decompose, polluting rivers and the environment in China.

These days it seems we live in an increasingly disposable culture, inundated with 'want now buy now' obsessional behaviour becoming the norm. OK, if you really want it go ahead, but if that's your whole life mentality then perhaps you ought to admit there's something wrong. I adore Apple Macs but I only have two - an old one and a new one - and I know it's hard because things come out all the time and I lie awake and yearn sometimes but I have to get my irrationality under control, and it might as well be here - with the things I love the most because if you can get that under control then you're made. You have to make a stand for common sense, and your sanity, and of course, your credit card, the last one being all important because when you consume less, you have less to pay, less debts, less stress, and ultimately more life.

A very personal reason to hate George W Bush

Well, it could be for invading Iraq, the single most diabolical foreign policy decision in more than a generation, which has made him and America a laughing stock, thrown open the west to all manner of hypocrisy as well as killed and maimed a million or more people and devastated a whole country and warped an entire region.

Or it could be in that pathetic State of the Union speech ("um, folks, it's all shit basically") where the new Green George Bush has demanded a 4% increase in the efficiency of cars every year - from the year 2010. Duh, that'll save the fucking planet, won't it shithead.

No, it's more than that, because America, that once interesting and versatile country has allowed itself to be led by a demented lunatic, who went to war in Iraq, who gave away billions in tax breaks to the already staggeringly rich, who wrecked the economy and led the dollar into freefall. Which by coincidence is linked to the Japanese yen, which just so happens to be the country I live and work in, whose exchange rate has plunged by 20% in a matter of months. Yes, a very personal reason for me to hate the man whose eyes are far too close together, is that he's costing me thousands of pounds a year because when I send a thousand home it now costs me 20% than it did in the good old days a few short months back.

I daresay I could also whine about the high price of petrol (but I don't have a car), which the Bush administration has foisted upon us in this world of instability - and so many others might have reason to complain. The problem is we all do. There is no more reason for electing a half-wit to run the world than there is to allow a five year old to pilot a plane. But the real question here is can the world learn? Do we elect someone for their head for figures, their common sense and intelligence, or for the fact that we'd prefer to have them round for a beer? Sadly Americans do not understand that there are profound differences at work here, and when they make that mistake, then we all get dropped in the shit.

David Beckham's astonishing greed

So, Real Madrid got wise to David Beckham's mediocrity of the last 3 years and told him he could leave. Hence the $240 million he will be paid over the next five years to 'play' for LA Galaxy. This makes him the highest paid sportsman in the world. This is despite him being over the hill and not having played a great game for at least 4 years.
Now of course David's said he hasn't gone for the money - in fact a lot of people are saying it's because his wife wants to get ahead in Hollywood. He says it's to develop the game in the US though this kind of altruism has been entirely lacking from his greedy life, so why now?
Of course making so much money is said to already be causing a little fuss among existing LA Galaxy players - especially considering the average salary at the club is $125,000 a year, making Beckham's salary 500 times the average. And if you were to ask the average man in the street if some semi-retired washed-up has-been ex-star who never reached the heights of reasonable expection were to arrive at your company and get a salary of 500 times yours you'd probably be a little pissed off. And you'd have every reason to be.
And will David spread some joy with his mother of all salaries? Well, again, there really is no record of him giving away a penny, so we can assume the worst. It seems that Beckham and his wretched greed and his ghastly bulimic wife will be in the news for some time to come.