There is a general gloom about government, more specifically, about the members of the Cabinet. I do not get a sense that the public are experiencing the same sense of despair and despondency. The reason is simple; no one has spelt out in detail the financial crisis this country is facing. Is the news that upsetting that the sensitive ears of the "little people" should not be made aware of it? The public backlash at the hair shirt measures in the budget are taking place in the absence of any real sense or understanding of the scale of the economic problems facing the country.

In America in the 1890s an advertisement described Stanley's snake oil as "A wonderful pain destroying compound." It was "the strongest and best liniment known for the cure of all pain and lameness." To be "used external [sic] only," it treated "rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, lumbago, contracted muscles, toothache, sprains, swellings, etc." It also, the ad said, "cures frost bites, chill blains, bruises, sore throat, [and] bites of animals, insects and reptiles," in fact being "good for every thing a liniment should be good for." Promising "immediate relief," it sold for fifty cents a bottle. (http://www.csicop.org/sb/9812/snakeoil.html)

I went to London recently to hear a lecture on a subject that is quite taboo in Ireland. It is the alien concept of reducing the consumption of meat including poultry and Dairy. The chap giving the lecture is a heavy hitter in the scientific community and his opinions have to be taken seriously. Dr Rajendra Pachauri is Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and his message was very simple "Eat less Meat". He was speaking on his own behalf, and he made it clear his views were not shared by members of the IPCC panel but none the less there is whole scale approval for his comments. His comments are the most controversial advice to come from any member of the IPCC panel on how individuals can help tackle global warning.