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There’s been a G8 summit. Has anyone noticed? It was billed as the most important G8 ever, which is hardly surprising when a global recession means the rich and powerful have to tighten their belts and cut back on the caviar. That’s bad news, especially for their personal cardiologists.

Still, hard times just around the corner is reason enough for splashing out on a darned good nosh, and that’s exactly what our esteemed leaders masticated their way through this week in Japan.

Lunch was a mere four courses (asparagus and truffle soup, crab and supreme of chicken served with nuts and beetroot foam, followed by a cheese selection, peach compote, milk ice-cream and coffee with petits fours) helped down with lashings of Chateau-Grillet 2005 (presently on offer by the Sunday Times Wine Club at $193 a bottle, though that’s certainly a member price).

The dinner menu comprised aperitifs of ‘corn stuffed with caviar, smoked salmon and sea urchin, hot onion tart and winter lily bulb’, followed by diced fatty tuna fish, avocado and jellied soy sauce, and pickled conger eel with soy sauce. The main course featured a selection of ‘milk-fed lamb, roasted lamb with cepes, and black truffle with emulsion sauce’, followed by ‘a “fantasy” dessert, a special cheese selection accompanied by lavender honey and caramelized nuts, while coffee came with candied fruits and vegetables.’^[1]

Following the dinner, British prime minister Gordon Brown announced Britons must stop wasting food, as it had become far to precious a commodity to be thrown away.^[2] This was shortly after attempting to dance the conga with Angela Merkel, but prior to belching the host-nation’s national anthem in the Japanese prime minister’s left ear. That feat failed to arouse the acclaim of other world leaders who were outside cheering on Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi as he chased George W Bush around the gardens, brandishing a Samurai sword and threatening to sever George from his manhood for daring to label him a ‘despicable political amateur’.^[3]

It took a full week of wine-drinking before they could agree on global warming, though commentators concur it resulted in only one more of many short, hesitant, steps in the right direction.

It’s not a problem, though.

All that’s needed is for someone to talk the planet into slowing climate change to a more leisurely pace, so that our esteemed leaders may have a chance to catch up.

^{*Apologies to Monty Python.}

^{[1] “Just two of the 19 dishes ………” Guardian, July 8th 2008}

^{[2] “Stop wasting food, Brown urging” BBC, July 7th 2008}

^{[3] “Bush sorry over Berlusconi insult” BBC, July 8th 2008}

Filed under: Party time

I’m getting a seat belt fitted to our sofa. It’s either that or stop watching American news altogether. No matter how much I try to compose myself for the 5.30 CBS bulletin, it’s guaranteed some headline will floor me.

Usually, its the ‘medical’ segment, and tonight was no exception.

“An influential doctors group is recommending that some children as young as 8 be given cholesterol-fighting drugs to ward off future heart problems…….” says CBS News tonight.^[1]

Going one step further, they are advocating screening cholesterol levels from the age of two, with a view to dispensing statins and other cholesterol drugs to children way younger even than eight.

Far be it from me to criticize such an august group as the American Academy of Pediatrics, but one wonders how long before they recommend a program of intravenous drug infusions for pregnant mothers, arguing their babies will then be fully protected against disease, pre-natally.

According to CBS, Dr. Stephen Daniels of the AAP stated that recent research shows cholesterol fighting drugs are ‘generally safe for children’.

Not all doctors are in agreement.

Still, as I mentioned previously, the American Academy of Pediatrics are an august body, no doubt free of any drug company or corporate involvement.

Well, except, that is for:

Aventis; AstroZeneca; Merck; MedImmune, Inc;McNeil Healthcare;Pediatrics Insurance Consultants, Inc; Dermik (a subsidiary of Aventis)

oh, and I just love this one – McDonalds!

These are the “President’s Circle” of donors to the AAP’s “Friends of Children Fund”, who have donated more than $25,000 apiece. There are a whole host of other industry corporates somewhat more stingy of their generosity.^[2]

Of course, I’m not suggesting AAP members are deliberately paid to push drugs on unsuspecting kiddies, but with this sort of involvement by certain, reputedly unscrupulous corporates, could any professional body remain totally independent in reaching its conclusions?

I’ll leave the reader to decide.

With a double-whammy from CBS tonight we learned that Merck’s wonder-vaccine, Guardisil, that protects against the virus responsible for much cervical cancer, may not be quite so miraculous after all. While Merck are vigorously contesting claims the vaccine has caused deaths and paralysis among young girls given the drug, the anecdotal evidence is rapidly mounting.^[3][4][5]

All-in-all just another load of suspicion that the corporates in general, and the drug companies in particular, are not necessarily the benevolent institutions they spend millions trying to convince us they are.

But, then, we knew that already, didn’t we? So why do they bother?

Finally, a report tonight that Barack Obama’s plane was forced to make an unscheduled stop today due to ‘controllability problems’ with the plane’s pitch controls.^[6]

Asked if he was worried, Obama responded:

“No. Anytime a pilot says something’s not working the way it’s supposed to, then you make sure you tighten your seat belt……”

And that’s exactly what I’ll be doing tomorrow night, on our sofa, prior to watching the 5.30 CBS News bulletin.

^{[1] “Cholesterol Drugs For Kids Recommended” CBS News, July 7th 2008}

^{[2] “AAP Friends of Children Fund – Corporate members” May 2008}

^{[3] “HPV Vaccine Linked To Teen’s Paralysis?”CBS News, July 7th 2008}

^{[4] “8 More Deaths Caused by Gardasil…..” Natural News.com, October 19th 2007}

^{[5] “FEDS’ WARNING SHOT” New York Post, July 6th 2008}

^{[6] “Obama’s Plane Makes Unscheduled Landing” CBS News, July 7th 2008}

Filed under: Unhappy landings

Have you ever wanted to be one of the stinking rich? While the immediate response of many to that question would be, “Ooh, yes, please,” taking a moment to consider the implications might well have some changing their minds. After all, it’s not all champagne suppers and high class prostitutes – though they’re probably two of the benefits – and it could mean having to hobnob with the likes of George W Bush and the Cheney’s.

Yes, I thought that might cause you to reconsider.

The truth is that most of us aren’t obsessed with riches at all, it’s just that we don’t want to be poor. It isn’t any fun when your income only provides food sufficient to last halfway to the next pay check. Having once lived on stale oatmeal for three full days, many years ago, I wouldn’t be happy to repeat the experience, yet I’m acutely aware that many in the world today live their whole lives in far greater deprivation.

So while the dream of big mansions, Lear jets, and a harem of beauties may initially appeal, for me the reality would rapidly transform into one almighty guilt complex.

Frankly, I don’t believe this singles me out from the rest of humanity – except, that is, from 103,320 of us.

If you’re talking reasons to impeach George W Bush, then the figure 103,320 is not all that great; nor, for that matter, the justifications for flicking the ‘Off’ switch of Dick Cheney’s pacemaker, but when it comes to the accumulation of vast amounts of cash, and those amongst whom it is distributed, 103,320 is actually just a smidgen’s more than 0.0015 percent of us. Yet in a recent World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch, 103,320 is the exact number of human beings on this planet who hold most of the money.^[1] To be exact, those who each have in excess of $30 million dollars.

Unfortunately, the report fails to stipulate just how much in excess each of these individuals has, but apparently $30 million is sufficient these days to buy you “super rich-ness”, and the number in that category is rising year on year. In fact, the “super rich” class increased by nearly nine percent in 2008.

Dollar millionaires are also on the rise, though as a million dollars now only equals 504,680 British pounds, or 637,598 euros, being a dollar millionaire doesn’t necessarily place one in the ‘super-brat bracket’ these days.

Merrill Lynch suggests that by 2012 the “……global wealth of high net worth individuals will grow to $59.1tn”.

That’s 59 ‘trillion’, or if you prefer, 59 thousand thousand thousand thousand dollars, divided amongst 10.2 million of us, with the lion’s share going to less than 120,000 individuals.

There were approximately 6,708,083,942 of us on this planet on July 5th 2008.^[2] The idea of so much owned by so few seems somewhat unfair. Still, as we all know well, statistics can be manipulated to mean virtually anything.

One fact we can glean from these figures, though, is that there are 103,320 people on this planet who probably never had to eat stale oatmeal for three days, while waiting for the next paycheck.

^{[1] “Millionaires defy the credit crunch as rich get richer”} Guardian, June 24th 2008

^{[2] “World population”} Wikipedia

Filed under: Pyramid capitalism