Recent Football News of Note

Over the past month there have been a few instances within the world of football, which have been given much attention. The following is more a listing than a discussion of some of these.

France v. Ireland
France and Ireland were playing their second play-off game for the chance to get on the plane to South Africa for the World Cup. During the second game, played in Paris, there was one particular instance which took over the headlines, and continues to do so. In extra time Thierry Henry used his hand to set up the goal for William Gallas. with this goal, France secured their passage to the finals in South Africa. This despite the outrage which has come up following the blatant hand-ball.
Talking after the game, the referee for the game has indicated that it was not his fault that game was let to proceed, and that it was not his fault that they let the goal stand. It is of interest that during the game the referee indicated that he had no uncertainty what so ever that there was no illigal infringement.

It is further of note that there were suggestions that Gillette should drop their promotional contract with Henry. Looking at the promotional material it is of interest to see the approach taken by the company ... see the before and after editions of the promotional material in the picture below. It appears that through this Henry is not really indicating his associated sport, as the other two are.

Environment and Conflicts

Today there are twelve days until a big UN climate conference in Copenhagen Kicks off. There have been many stories going on in the connection with this even - a big one being whether Mr. Obama will or will not make an appearance. In the development of this conference there were high hopes that some results for a new way forward on the environment. The hope was to develop a new agreement which would supplant the Kyoto agreement.

Obama's considerations with regards to being present at the conference would be connected with the fact that it has been difficult to achieve support from the Senate for the bill. When the bill was on the floor of Congress it passed with a meeker majority of 219 to 212. The hope would have been that the US would have established a domestic target. Effectively, other countries led by the European Union are trying to engage the US and China in establishing targets of lower emission.

There are real dangers that the Copenhagen conference fails to show any results. Without commitment by either the US or China, other countries have suggested that there is no need for them to rush to develop any target. In this context however it is worth to note that amid the faltering hope of the conference, Russia and relatively insignificant South Korea have pledged to lower their emissions.

It has since been indicated that Mr. Obama will be making an apperance at the conference! It may be all in vain as it is on his route to Norway to pick up his Nobel Prize. He will therefore be in Copenhagen on December 9th. This however is little as the conference is in the period December 7-18.

On another note of climate it is apparent that there is an emergent need for developed countries to deal with climate change in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. There are in effect reports indicating that with the heating world there is an increased likelihood of conflict development. Through a study it has been suggested that there is a correlation between increased temperature and increased conflict in Africa. All the same, there needs to be consideration given to that which is attached to the conflicts between people of lesser means. Increased tempratures have a significant impact on the crops which are grown. Addressing the issue of food-supply is therefore of importance.

The world is an interesting place with many different issues and challenges. Living in the north/west there are many of these that we do not encounter, yet our actions have an impact on the issues faced by those of lesser means. We all have to give consideration to the environment we live, and the fact that there are those who face more immediate challenges on a daily basis.

- Additional info as this story has developed: China has indicated that the Prime Minister will be at the conference. Further China has joined the US in indicating hard targets, but how tangible is it if the US statement does not have the domestic political support it needs.

Religion and Politics

There have been many and long discussions on the connection of religion and politics within most western societies. Such an issue has come up again in these days, with the latest of the Kennedy's, as a Catholic, accepting and championing the cause of choice to have an abortion.

This remains a siginificant item for the Catholic church, and there are members of the church which have ventured to suggest that people accepting and promoting this should be rejected the oportunity of communion. This is further complicated by the fact that the church is setting its foot down in connection with healthcare reform in the states, partly due to the lack of strong language against abortion.

May not be the most coherent post ... but I will get the hang of things as we go ... see this link for a story on this topic, it includes commentary by Brian McLaren a evangelical pastor championing the idea of the emergent church. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/23/kennedy.abortion/index.html

Sense on

Hello World ... this is my inaugural blogging experience with interesting news items. This first item will deal with fisheries, and I suspect that some in the future will do the same.


The fisheries industry have become increasingly restricted by the governing structures established. At given times there have been emphasis on different approaches, with centralized management being the preferred approach for many many years. This was following the lack of over-all management which had gone before it.


Many management schemes have integral inefficiencies, such as restricting harvesters to land fish if the by catch of particular species are to large. This forces the harvesters to discharge volume which could otherwise be processed. Yet, regulators do not want it brought to land, albeit the resource that has been harvested will not just go back into the water and help any rebuilding as such.


On Friday 20th of November 2009 Scottish officials will argue with European Union Fisheries Council that such regulations should be changed in such a way that the harvesters can have greater freedom to bring in what they catch. The meganism suggested is that in order to let the harvesters bring smaller fish in, is to reduce the quota they are allowed.


This blog inspired and sourced from the Financial Times - see story

Fishermen urge EU to end dumping