Watched the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing last night: amazing technology, amazing performances, amazing spectacle and all in a way rather frightening. Take note Mr Cock-up Bush, America is not the super power she used to be. There is a giant on your horizon and the giant may not always lie sleeping. You think Iran is a problem? North Korea? Afghanistan? Iraq? Jihad? Hopefully soon Mister Obama may take the place of the present incumbent and this planet will have a few more years to go before we’re all blasted out of the water or die in a miasma of shit. Irreverent and irrelevant thoughts watching this amazing spectacle: One – how many degrees of global warming were added in those three hours, let alone the hours of preparation and rehearsal? How much carbon footprint? No doubt statistics are already being drawn up as to the financial cost that spreads not just from the games themselves but out to thousands of travellers and athletes flying in by plane from all over the world, so how much fuel would have been used? What amount of electricity had to be generated? One might even query the number of silk cocoons that went into making the material for the literally thousands of costumes. Actually those thoughts are not irreverent and irrelevant but these are – Firstly, how on earth is London going to beat this and pay for it? The United Kingdom will disintegrate and fall apart, bankrupt, that is if it’s not already heading that way. Secondly, there are just too too many people. Despite the 30000000 killed by Stalin and the 2000000 odd killed by Hitler, despite the victims of the Japanese in World War ll, despite those killed by Pol Pot and massacred in Rwanda and various other hot spots, there are still far too many people. Thirdly – this was just a thought, if someone had dropped a bomb into that stadium last night, they could have got most of the world leaders in one go, Bush, Putin, Sarkosy and the others. Notice Brown wasn’t there but he is hardly in the same class as far as influence is concerned and I read he is to attend the closing ceremony. Come to think of it I didn’t notice Blair and Cherie either. What a wasted opportunity for some really terrific publicity and I am sure they could have got someone to stump up for their air tickets, no?