A Lexicon of Lunacy

Photo-montage of the Alphabet: by Jemimah Lack (my daughter)

An A to Z of Climate Change Denial
A is for Anthropocentric
B is for Belligerent
C is for Counterintuitive
D is for Delusional
E is for Ecophobic
F is for Fallacious
G is for Growth-oriented
H is for Heliocentric
I is for Incoherent
J is for Juvenile
K is for Kamikaze
L is for Libertarian
M is for Misguided
N is for Nonsensical
O is for Obfuscatory
P is for Perverse
Q is for Quackery
R is for Reactionary
S is for Sociopathic
T is for Tendentious
U is for Unfalsifiable
V is for Vacuous
W is for Witch-hunt
X is for Xenophobic
Y is for Yellow-bellied
Z is for Zzzzzz.

Will QE2 out-live Climate Change Denial too?

Some may say that a Monarchy is the abrogation of democracy but, with respect, I think they confuse Monarchy with Dictatorship.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second is said to be the most photographed person on Earth today and, in an incredible period of seemingly-accelerating change, she has been a remarkable constant. This was one of the points made by HRH The Prince of Wales in his Diamond Jubilee tribute to his mother. Broadcast on Friday, this was a wonderfully-endearing personal tribute to his “Ma-maa”; a reflection upon her 60 year-reign; and a whole lot more: It included a lot of previously-unseen cine film footage shot by his parents (before and after the death of his grandfather in 1952); including behind-the-scenes footage of both public events and very private family occasions.

This is viewable (if you live in the UK) on the BBC’s iPlayer or (if elsewhere) on You Tube. It is 60 minutes of very entertaining viewing and, if ever issued on DVD, I would be willing to bet it will be a top-seller.

Prince Charles pointed out that, just as Sir Winston Churchill, the UK’s octogenarian Prime Minister in the early 1950s, was a source of inspiration and comfort to our young Queen, so she herself has become the same to her equally young Prime Ministers today.

However, as my personal tribute to Her Majesty, I should like to propose some less jingoistic replacement verses for our National Anthem; more appropriate to the times in which we now live:

God help us all today,
Even though we don’t pray,
What’s right to know.
Please help those in denial,
To put aside their bile,
And from folly resile,
Carbon must go.

Our Queen’s out-lived a lot,
She does not lose the plot,
Great her insight.
We don’t want ecocide,
Please help us to decide,
We need to turn the tide,
And do what’s right.

You can’t take it with you

Having been lucky enough to have lived and worked in Australia between 1986 and 1989, I got to know and like some Australian bands many of my British friends and family have still never heard of. One of my favourites was – and still is – Paul Kelly and the Messengers. In 1989, they produced a CD album entitled So Much Water So Close To Home from which this self-explanatory song is taken (if you can’t catch all the words and/or want to ponder them awhile – they are reproduced below the embedded video).

All I will say, by way of introduction is this: The accumulation of personal wealth has become the sole objective of many people in modern society; and perpetual growth is posited as a means whereby even the poorest might achieve it. The former World Bank economist Herman Daly called this “growthmania”. Paul Kelly’s words cut through this madness…

You might have a happy family, nice house, fine car
You might be successful in real estate
You could even be a football star
You might have a prime time T.V. show seen in every home and bar
But you can’t take it with you
You might own a great big factory, oil wells on sacred land
You might be in line for promotion, with a foolproof retirement plan
You might have your money in copper, textiles or imports from Japan
But you can’t take it with you
You can’t take it with you though you might pile it up high
It’s so much easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye
You might have a body of fine proportion and a hungry mind
A handsome face and a flashing wit, lips that kiss and eyes that shine
There might be a queue all around the block
Long before your starting time
But you can’t take it with you
You might have a great reputation so carefully made
And a set of high ideals, polished up and so well displayed
You might have a burning love inside, so refined, such a special grade
But you can’t take it with you

A poetic interlude

I am not normally prone to being poetic but, while out walking yesterday, I found myself wondering what reason I have to feel sad. This is the result:

Beware of the sting in the waspy tail

I am very fortunate
To live in a country where life is fair.
To know that for me starvation is rare.
To be alive when so many are dead.
To live in a place where most are well fed.

To have use of four limbs when some do not.
To have all five senses to use a lot.
To be able to write and speak well ‘nough.
To be unable must be oh so tough.

To have fine children whom I love so dear.
To have a fam’ly some far and some near.
To have some good friends in whom to confide.
To have a safe haven where I can hide.

To worry for others who have been spurned.
To say it is right to be so concerned.
To fight for the rights of those in the Sun.
For those who are now and and those yet to come.

Copyright Martin Lack, 2012