19/02/2009 by Stew.

Celebrity culture had hit new heights over the past few years, and the internet has vastly become the top recourse for the latest gossip, pictures and more. But there was a surprise personality that topped the list of most searched for person online in Q4 of 2008 in the UK. Beating none other than Barack Obama, Money Saver Martin Lewis topped the list of most searched personality.

Making pleanty of TV apearences spilling financial advice during an emerging recession, and plugging his website Money Saving Expert, Lewis has cought the attention of the nation. From credit cards to ISA’s, he has packed his site with usefull info on how to endure the ever deepening recession. The site has now become so popular that the forum, in which people discuss money saving tips and advice, has become the 10th biggest social networking site in the UK.

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17/02/2009 by christ.

GMTV. I think I only watch it because I’m glutton for punishment and too timid to ask to be whipped. What does the average person want out of a Breakfast news show? News? Weather? Features on forthcoming important events or issues that affect the British people? Unfortunately, you’d get more of that from an episode of ‘Postman Pat’ than on Good Morning Television.

No, instead you’ll get only three minutes of news and weather squeezed in between some odious celeb shamelessly plugging their new attempt to cling-on-to-fame fitness video/makeover show, whilst Fiona Phillips swoons over their ’strength of character’. Either that, or it’ll be some poorly researched, sensationalist tittle-tattle on fat kids or pissed-up, potentially barren women.

The only light relief you get from this froth-fest is when a soap actor badly mimes to their latest single, before talking it up as though it’s going all the way to the top. GMTV may be bloody awful, but nowhere else on TV offers this type of hilarity anymore.

However this saving grace and the recent departure of Miss Phillips, does not save GMTV from becoming the main candidate for being shutdown and thrown into the vault of TV History. Unfortunately, this won’t happen, so the only other option is to throw out your TV.

P.S. I didn’t mention a certain Scotswoman once, did I? That would be too obvious!

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12/02/2009 by Stew.

The words of leading scientist Prof James McCarthy on the eve of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He stated that the planet will be in “huge trouble” unless Barack Obama makes new progress in tackling climate change, and warned that Obama has just four years to save the planet. He warned that if major policy changes on climate change do not happen within Mr Obama’s term of office, they will not happen at all.

“The caliber of scientific advice that is close to this man is truly exceptional.

“If in his first term, in the next four years, we don’t make significant progress in these areas, then I think the planet is in huge trouble.

“Without US leadership, which has been sorely lacking, we will not get to where we need to be.”

Climate change is high on the agenda of this year’s AAAS meeting in Chicago, with former US vice president Al Gore among due to speak at the event, with 10,000 scientists expected to attend across five days. Lets hope they get there act in gear and actually agree on something!

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10/02/2009 by Stew.

Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has blocked a government advertising campaign on climate change.

In an extraordinary move, Wilson claimed the adverts were part of an “insidious propaganda campaign”.

The adverts called for people to save electricity,both cutting the costs of their bills and helping the environment, as well as being less dependent on fossil fuels. Wilson argued that they were “giving people the impression that by turning off the standby light on their TV they could save the world from melting glaciers and being submerged in 40ft of water”, saying he had written to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to say that the advertising campaign Act on CO2 “was not welcome”. He explained that he did not believe in its message that “man-made greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of climate change” and that the campaign was contrary to his personal views.

The Green party claim his opinions on climate change has made a “a laughing stock out of Northern Ireland” and have called for his resignation. Friends of the Earth NI director John Woods said: “It’s bad enough that we have an environment minister who doesn’t accept that human activity is driving climate change, but trying to block advice to people on how they can help tackle it is completely irresponsible. He went on to say “The reality is that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe that our activities are causing global warming and that urgent action is needed to tackle it.”

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