Ideal

So it came to pass that the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen boarded the train for the big city. Then diving underground we hurtled through the tunnels to Earl's Court and the Ideal Home Show. It is some 10 years since last we did this, and it promised to be a good day (as it was foul outside and indoor pursuits were the order of the day).

Whether there was an official theme, the Gorse Fox is unclear. The theme that was evident, however, was a lemming-like obsession with CO2 and claims for almost every item on display that they are ecologically sound, carbon neutral, planet-friendly... and all of this was reinforced with thick glossy brochures handed out in plastic bags! Who says irony is dead?

The Gorse Fox would like to recall some highlights for you... but can't. It's not that it was not enjoyable - more that nothing really stood out.

A few things caught the imagination:

• There was a sign on a carpet "Order your cow parade rug today and receive a free Cow".
  (Does this really need a further comment?)
• There were two ladies looking at news footage of Her Majesty the Queen: "Well" said one, in damning praise "she's never been one to be a slave to fashion".
• There was the sign in the "Eco-house" explaining that in the average UK household there are 20 electrical devices left on standby at any time... and this is equivalent to the output of 2 700MW power stations.
  The Gorse Fox has extrapolated this figure:


• There are 23M households in the UK
• Therefore there are 32,200,000 devices on standby
• and there are 46,000,000 700MWatt power stations
  

One does get fed up with the utter tripe that is spouted!

This brings him to the three gentlemen that he was following whilst touring the "Eco House". At first they sounded very knowledgeable as they spoke soto voce among themselves discussing the impact of various recycling efforts, the benefits of certain fuels and so forth. Then one of them said:
"You realise that in 2 years 70% of the world's XXXX will have been used up?".
One of the trio responded "Really? Where did you get that number?" and again soto voce he replied
"I made it up - last week I was saying 60%, but 70% sounds better".

And that tells you what you need to know about the science behind the current green-hype. As usual GF should point out that he is for re-cycling, and for energy efficiency, and against pollution... but he is rapidly anti the utter drivel that we are being fed by the media in a continuous misrepresentation of science or in the fulfillment of the political agenda of the IPCC.