[blogfocus friday] blogpowerers present and past

1. Colin Campbell, birthday boy, is musing on the sun:

Living in the sunniest country in the world, it always surprised me that there wasn't a solar cell on every house. Now I know part of the reason why. Those climate change denying, coal loving politicians who run this country just didn't believe in one of the leading technologies underpinning solar power, developed here in Australia and sold to a German company, which has exploited it and is now exporting it back to Australia. This kind of short sighted thinking is very typical of this mob, where Big Coal is King.

2. Lady Macleod live-blogs and fills us in on her rooting [slight cultural, lexical mix up here]:

I had a very productive day indeed. The weather is bloody brilliant – heavy misting rain to outright downpours and 10 to 12 degrees C. Thank you Canada. I love it! My other suitcase (the one with my clothes) arrived during the night, and was delivered to my room this morning. The FedEx package with my shoes and the Princess coat arrived shortly thereafter – so I’m dressed now.

The hotel is nice, and my room has a huge picture window, a roomy couch, desk, and tables, along with a big comfy bed, and a view of the mountains. Good lighting in the bathroom (this is important chaps believe me), and good service so far.

3. Shades has been whacked, apparently:

Googlewhack! I received an unsolicited email this morning telling me that my blog is a Googlewhack. I contrived to make it one once before but this is genuine and discovered by someone else. I'm the only website in the world with an onomatapapaeic carpet. Check it is still the case here.

4. Cassilis is neither pro-Europe nor anti, as far as I can gather:

With one or two notable exceptions I find both sides in this debate intensely irritating. Too often the Europhile agenda seems built on nothing more substantial than an intense self-loathing, distrust of the US and a belief that further integration will help facilitate more social democracy than any Westminster election could deliver.

Exaggerated fear?

The Europhobe agenda often boils down to an exaggerated fear of that same social democratic ‘creep’, a ridiculously outdated view on ‘Johnny Foreigner’ and a geopolitical outlook still rooted in the 19th century. As with most issues the middle ground between these extremes probably represents the sensible way forward but navigating this path is all but impossible in the current climate.