Not the sharpest coin in the biscuit tin

Fug. Fug of virus. Neither of us are feeling too bright, despite this morning being a bright and sparkling one. There's not much work going on around here. Now I don't want you to go off thinking we're self pitying lily-livers - cos we aint - and there's still the base-load of work being undertaken but some of the other stuff - fixing septic tanks, roofs, digging test holes for foundations of potential extensions, preparing ground for poly tunnels and and and aint happening. On a day like today it feels particularly bad. Days like this are becoming rare - we need to make the most of them.

Financial times
Meanwhile I run out of metaphors for the jaw dropping torrent of bad news from the financial markets. It seems we're there's some hard times ahead. But what? Has anyone found an analysis that understands what all this means?? I'd love to know.

There's many parallels to be drawn between this crisis and climate change. Not least that many were predicting the current chaos long before it happened but everyone seemed powerless to do anything about it. Governments should have regulated? But that would have hit corporate profits and national wealth. Individuals should have acted more responsibly? But what effect does my visa bill or over-optimistic mortgage have on the big picture? Everyone who looks at these things could see a collapse had to happen. Well we're seeing it collapse now and we'll feel the financial pain over at least the next decade or so.

In the climate change debate we're seeing the same inaction for the same excuses. And I'm afraid history tells us that nothing seriously will be done to stop it - despite overriding evidence - until it is too late.

Hope?
Unless perhaps, the way out of the forthcoming recession is a massive expansion in renewable energy applications. Let's spend our way out of this recession - get a solar panel on every house heat pumps and turbines everywhere we can - let's go for a major restructuring of the power grid and decentralise the whole thing, whilst also investing in tidal and wave power.

In the recession we'll be less able to afford stuff (from China) - which is good news for the climate. If there's money to be spent let's make sure that the investment is for the future of the planet and not on gadgets and gizmos and cheap clothes that hardly ever get warn. And while we're at it let's re-align our value system so that we appreciate things that will last rather than the transience of this years model.

I've no idea how this can be engineered on a political level. But it seems the days of laissez faire are over and now Govts are now buying back control of the financial systems and waking up to the need for regulation. So maybe they will have the power to do this.

This might make the whole financial chaos good news in the longer term. There will be the horrors of real poverty as the recession bites. But this is nothing compared to what mother earth has in store for us if we don't start behaving ourselves. NOW.