Waterstones that bastion of thespians and lesbians has changed.

It was always a place where I disliked buying books primarily due to the "langers" that worked behind the counter. Many if not all were college graduates who had the ambition and drive to work in a shop,albeit a book shop. They always looked unkept and could'nt resist having a peek at what you were reading and then snootingly packing then into a bag before handing them back to you.

On Tuesday I was in Dublin and decided to call in to the Waterstones shop on Dawson Street, as I had never paid a visit. On entering at approximately 11am I was overcome with a strong smell, I said "whats that". It was so powerful it stopped me in my tracks, I looked around and realised that it was the smell of vegetable soup, thats right vegetable soup, wafting in the air from the restaurant on the second floor.

Christ it was terrible, the pong filled the air so preventing you from having a good browse. Additionally would'nt you think that due to the "higher intellect" of its staff they could have cooked a nicer smelling soup, for example tomato and basil.

Why cant we live in a world where book shops sells books, coffee shops sells coffee, and cafes sells soup.

Needless to say I did'nt stay very long and I certainly w'ont be back

I noticed an awful lot of middle-aged men, of which I am one, now d'ont tuck their shirts inside their trousers anymore. When did this become a fashion statement?.

They look feckin stupid with their shirt tales hanging out over their arses and the front hiding the substantial girth that they has amassed over the years. They look like walking marquees.

Christ when I was growing up,tucking in your shirt was a must, my father used to say "show a little respect for yourself and tuck your shirt in ". I continue to do it today,and insist that my own son tucks his shirt in .

Would these people wear a suit with their shirts out? no, so why do it when you are wearing "casual" clothes.

Whats next no trousers?

For feck sake tuck your shirt in you look stupid, and no, you d'ont look 20 years younger either.

I have decided to entitle this post "Carbon Arse Print" because I cannot see the point in calculating my households carbon footprint.

For those of you that wish to carry out this exercise, here is the Irish Calculator and here is the UK Calculator

When I was filling in all the information on these websites, I was amused on the level of detail that they were requiring, for example,

• "How many light bulbs in the house?"
• "What is the energy rating of your washing machine ?"
• "How many kms/miles do you travel by public transport every week?"

Unknowingly I began to answer these questions as best I could, I even got off my arse and looked at the washing machine for an indication of its energy rating, but to no avail. This is when the light bulb, a non energy saving one, went off in my head "Whats the feckin point of doing this?", there is no point, its all bollocks.

The reason why governments wants the ordinary person to calculate his/her carbon footprint is to deflect attention from their policies and strategies on waste management,traffic congestion, and the hefty profits that Bord Gais and the ESB make every year, whilst being semi-state companies.

For feck sake my green bin is only collected once a month,when I remember to put it out, everytime I go to the recycling bottle bank, its full.

Whats even more annoying is the fact that the largest polluters in the world, USA, Russia, China did'nt even sign up to the Kyoto agreement, so why the f*#k so the ordinary joe public be shamed in calculating his/her carbon footprint?. Is it going to be the topic of conversation down the pub on a weekend ?, I doubt it.

Anyway even if you did reduce your CO2 would you be any better off financially?. No most of the gas companies are putting prices up by 20-25%, so you use less and you still pay more, whats the feckin point?.

What does being "Carbon Neutral" mean?, the only way I can see anyone not contributing CO2 is by being dead, and a long time dead, as I'm sure decompostion must add some methane to the atmosphere.

This is a scam on a global level for someone else to make money as our expense. Carbon Emissions credits are traded on the ECX on a daily basis, thereby enabling business and Government to buy offsets, the cost of which will eventually find its way into your pocket.

Energy saving light bulbs are more expensive than ordinary light bulbs, in Ireland we pay a recycle tax on any electrical goods that we buy, even if the goods are at the highest energy rating, again showing that someone, somewhere is making money out of this.

If Governments want us to lower our CO2 emissions, they could, make energy efficient goods cheaper and make recycling easier for all.

Why are "Fair Trade" goods so much more expensive than un-Fair Trade goods?.

Take for example a cup of coffee, there are a number of places that you can buy a cup of coffee where I live, additionally there are as many prices but generally they range from €1.50 to €1.95 a cup.

The only exception is the coffee shop selling "Fair Trade" coffee at €2.95 a cup.

Why is the coffee from the Fair Trade coffee shop so much more expensive?. I understand and appreciate that the growers are, or at least are meant to get, a better price for their coffee. You can be assured that they are not getting the 50% premium that you and I are being charged.

Are you meant to feel better about yourself when you buy free trade coffee?, I certainly d'ont , I feel ripped off.

Next time you are in the supermarket look for the "Fair Trade" section, most of the multiples have them, and carry out a simple comparision purely on price. Then ask yourself are you willing to pay that much extra? I know I'm not.

One final thing what have penguins got to do with "Fair Trade" ?

There is to be a push in Ireland to get students to study Latin. In 1971, 9061 students took Latin as part of the Leaving Certificate, this reduced to 117 students in 2007.

Reason, Latin sucks.

Simple.