It’s all [revealed](http://picasaweb.google.com/cdibona/RIPGoogleMasterPlan/photo#4979945846336323602)!

Ah The Fifties. You have to love their happy go lucky attitude to, well, everything:

Of course I actually speak [Received Pronunciation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_pronunciation).

Ahhh, the fourth estate. With quality such as [this offering from Pravda](http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/11-01-2006/9488-condoleezza-0) their government is sure to be kept in line.

Downing Street have started a new feature on their website, where any UK Citizen can petition the Prime Minister for something. Most of the petitions are pretty pointless, but I rather like the one demanding the [PM's immediate resignation](http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Resign).

Even more I like that it’s got a big **BETA** tag on it — very web 2.0. I know that’s *really* going to wind [Andy](http://www.offmessage.com) up

[This is the First Annual Solstice Synchronized Global Orgasm for Peace](http://www.globalorgasm.org/), leading up to the December Solstice of 2012, when the Mayan Calendar ends with a new beginning.

For parents of young children, this seems like a good opportunity for your annual shag.

This is really sick. This kid refused to show his ID when he went to his university library, when he was told to leave they grabbed him and he told them not to touch him. They then tazed him 5 times.

More details on the [college newspaper](http://dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=38958).

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One of the comments in today’s Guardian “Blog Watch” was about the new London Congestion Charge prices for large cars. It’s a comment I’ve heard a few times now, and it’s one that has some large implications for how people think.

The commenter said “What is the point in London making these changes, we are only a tiny country and it’ll have no overall effect on the climate”.

This is pretty much identical to why, economically, it’s not worth voting. In a UK Parliamentary election each constituency has around 70,000 people. If 40% of them vote, that’s 28,000 votes cast. With so many votes, it is extremely unlikely that your vote will be the casting one. Basically, whether you vote or not has no effect whatsoever on who is elected.

Now as a bare fact it is perfectly true that reducing the number of 4×4s in London will have very little effect on the climate directly. It is also true that voting is pointless with respect to who gets elected. Yet there are other reasons you should perhaps do these things.

When I have expressed the voting argument to people in the past, their general response has been “Well what if everyone else thought that!?”. They often say it with some finality too, as if this was an unassailable argument. It is of course a very silly argument. Whether I vote or not has no effect on whether other people vote. Our actions are *independent*. In fact, me not voting makes it **more** likely my wife will vote, since I can look after the kids while she goes to the polling station. If I choose to vote (which I do), it’s not because it encourages others to vote - It’s because I rather enjoy it. For a brief moment I feel as if I have some effect on the governance of the country, even if I don’t. I quite enjoy that feeling. It’s all rather civic.

The opposite is true of actions taken against climate change. Saying to India or China that they should burn less coal, or have less traffic, but we aren’t going to bother is hypocritical and foolish. If we really want other countries to make changes we must lead by example, and put our money where our mouth is.

Of course Ken Livingstone has managed to make **other** people put their money where his mouth is. But that is the way of the sucessful politician

First in an occasional series of posts about music. Recycle or Die were set up in 1992 by Eye Q, to produce german electronica. They’ve produced a stack of what I consider to be really rather excellent minimalist/ambient electronic music. I can particularly recommend:

Oliver Lieb - Constellation

Baked Beans: Baked Beans

Baked Beans: Bean Me Up Scotty!

The best of the all of them that I have is a virtually unidentifable label mix, Recycle or Die: Electronic Mind Music.

Anyhow, keep an eye out, it’s good stuff.