Charles on… anything that comes along

It being August, I’m taking a brief break. Sorry for the delay. Normal service will resume in a week or so.

I’ve also turned off comments for now, so as not to feed the spammers. If you’ve got something you need to say.. email me, please. (Any @charlesarthur.com address will work.) Just don’t expect me to reply in a hurry. :-)

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• A brief break (26 December 2004; score: 46.69%)
• I'm now going to break the blog.. (19 October 2006; score: 41.79%)
• The last thing the Queen wants today... (21 April 2006; score: 21.63%)

Hey, guess what? Carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is increasing, and unless we do something, bad stuff will happen. That’s the George Bush-style version of the global warming briefing. (GB still hasn’t quite grasped it.)

Now Business Week, in its latest edition link valid after August 9 has picked up on it, and done an issue about companies preparing for a “carbon-constrained economy”.

Here’s how the email for subscribers describes it: Consensus is growing among scientists, governments, and business that they must act fast to combat climate change. This has already sparked efforts to limit CO2 emissions. Many companies are now preparing for a carbon-constrained world.

Note how the consensus isn’t about whether global warming is happening - it’s about the need for fast action. I’ve always like BW for its ability to get right down to the core of a story, yet be readable. Let’s hope this makes some people think a bit in the US.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• The Onion Infograph on global warming (19 November 2004; score: 91.06%)
• Save the world: take it out of slavery (25 January 2005; score: 56.28%)
• Ah, welcome onto my patch, Melanie: La Phillips finds nutso group opposing global warming (20 October 2004; score: 55.15%)

Seen The Times today? Front-page ’splash’ (the biggest article on the front page) is Manhunt for al-Qaeda five.

Interestingly, the Daily Mail (midmarket tabloid) has the same story: Al Qaida men on run in Britain. It begins: “Five al Qaida militants are feared to be on the run in Britain after escaping capture during anti-terror raids earlier this week.”

Two quick points here. (1) Well-informed police sources say there aren’t five AQ suspects on the run. Not at all. (2) It is known that some crime reporters will ring each other up to “agree” a line on a story, so that they don’t get yelled at the next day by their newsdesk when a rival has a “better” story.

(Bonus point if you can find all the different spelling of *that organisation* as used by Fleet Street papers.)

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• Two examples of hoked-up stories, and a third of amazing PR (23 November 2004; score: 25.5%)
• It's nice to know it isn't (30 July 2004; score: 25.37%)
• Twitter is down. Gmail isn't working. At this rate.. (18 November 2008; score: 24.68%)