A Celtic Tiger and an Island of Ice

*Photo from BBC website

A few days ago I mentioned Ice Island, a huge chunk of ice which broke off of the Canadian Artic coastline, changed the geography of the area and further highlights the effects of climate change. The BBC team and scientists landed on the Island yesterday and their latest report can be seen here.

Ireland, Europe’s model of economic success and labelled the Celtic Tiger, goes to the polls tomorrow in what is expected to be an extremely close election. This is despite the significant economic gains achieved in the past decade. Ireland has witnessed the same phenomenon as every country before it which experienced a serious economic transformation: conflict between the new and traditional ways of life, prosperity not reaching everyone, ecological/environmental challenges, immigration and a construction/real estate boom putting the price of property beyond the reach of the average person. The BBC website has a series of articles devoted to the Irish election and the various issues that have formed part of the debate leading up to polling day.

An Ice Island and West Indian Woes

Torturous viewing! West Indies did not bowl badly in the morning session but they dropped catches; after lunch it was all England as the weaknesses of the bowling attack were cruelly exposed. Of course, poor umpiring did not help as Collingwood was plumb LBW to Taylor in the morning and was not given out by umpire Asad Rauf. It is amazing how many times poor umpiring decisions go against us, whether we are batting or bowling.

I was not at all surprised that Prior scored a century on debut. We have made it a habit in recent years to gift centuries on debut to batsmen and from the time the fools started bowling short at him and he kept swatting them away, a century was there for the taking. What sense does it make to bowl short at a batsman if he keeps putting you away? Nothing makes my blood boil more than to see a pathetic so-called fast bowler from the West Indies bowling sugary short balls to a batsman and then giving him chat and glares. You should be on a plane back to the Caribbean in disguise! I wish I could feel positive but it appears as if an innings defeat will be the result.

In more depressing news- almost everyday we hear negative news about the destruction of the environment and climate change- I saw a feature today on BBC about Ayles Ice Island, an iceberg that broke away from the Arctic coastline in summer 2005. The iceberg is huge- 10 miles long and three miles across- and while it separated almost two years ago, it has only now received public attention. The event is significant as it has transformed geography of the region and provides more evidence of the effects of climate change. A BBC team along with two scientists have departed for the island and will be providing daily updates.