Remembering John Spencer

I cannot say for sure if he was the brains of the West Wing - somehow Jed Bartlett's IQ of 150 (see definition here) seemed to overshadow his sensibilities. Nor can I say he was the conscience of the show, because evidently that was why Communications Director Toby Ziegler was fired from the White House staff. One can look at it in oh so many ways, but when no reason is left standing, John Spencer remains in his death, an integral pillar that held up the show for what it was and in some ways always is - intelligent, loyal and personable. My short tribute - John Spencer, the wind beneath the West Wing...

The way we put out lights at Christmas, are we celebrating Jesus or TNB?

The following report convinces me that we are celebrating Christmas the wrong way... :)

Christmas is damaging the environment - report
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Christmas is damaging the environment, says a new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The report titled "The Hidden Cost of Christmas" calculated the environmental impact of spending on books, clothes, alcohol, electrical appliances and lollies during the festive season.

Every dollar Australians spend on new clothes as gifts consumes 20 litres (four gallons) of water and requires 3.4 square metres (37 sq feet) of land in the manufacturing process, it said.

Last Christmas, Australians spent A$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) on clothes, which required more than half a million hectares (1.2 million acres) of land to produce, it said.

Water that would approximately fill 42,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools was used in the production of Christmas drinks last December -- most was used to grow barley for beer and grapes for wine.

"If your bank account is straining under the pressure of Christmas shopping, spare a thought for our environment," Don Henry, the foundation's executive director, said in a statement.

"It's paying for our Christmas presents with water, land, air and resources. These costs are hidden in the products we buy."

The report said that gifts like DVD players and coffee makers generated 780,000 tonnes of greenhouse pollution, even before they were unwrapped and used. A third was due to fuel consumption during production.

Even a box of A$30 chocolates or lollies this Christmas, will consume 20kg (44 pounds) of natural materials and 940 litres (207 gallons) of water.

"We can all tread more lightly on the earth this Christmas by eating, drinking and giving gifts in moderation, and by giving gifts with a low environmental cost, such as vouchers for services, tickets to entertainment, memberships to gyms, museums or sports clubs, and donations to charities," said Henry.

Were You Present Mr Glazer?

The passing of Britain's best footballing talent has cast a new light on Manchester United - the people's club. The poignant manner in which Best's life was celebrated and the wonderful displays of soccer, tribute and sense of history cannot have come at a better time for this glorious institution of the beautiful game. Too much has been thrown in and out of the once hallowed corridors of Old Trafford, with little or no sense of the past and putting footballing rivalries aside, no one has emerged the wiser, nor in this case nobler...

To the Glazers, now is the time to embrace the colossus that you have so shamelessly "purchased." For you may hold the purse strings and power over the body corporate, but until you live and embrace it, you will never be a part, don't even mention own, the spirit that is Manchester United. In his time on the field, George Best, this genius from Belfast threw caution into the wind, and the gusts that swept lifted the club to heights it never knew before. He became a part of us, a part of our dreams and now, a part of our past. Now is the time for Malcolm Glazer and Sons to throw caution to their ill winds, embrace the club and lift United to the heavenly heights we yearn to see!

The press speak about our nameless jersey as if it were a tarnished cloth, but we know better... Mr Glazer, were you present at George Best's tribute? If you were, were you listening?