I don't agree with his anti-GM message - I think it's just another aspect of the anti-growth ideology that is a typical enthusiasm of the snootier sort of rich guys - and I have never been able to tolerate Charles himself, the Twit Who Would Be King. His public speaking style comes across to me as a uniquely unpleasant mix of obsequiousness and superciliousness, as if he's both sucking up to his audience and looking down his nose at them at the same time. And what is with that tendency to dress up in costumes? He's always popping up at events wearing sailor suits, Scottish highlander garb, regimental uniforms encrusted with dubious medals, and I don't know what all else."I think it's heading for real disaster," he said. "If they think this is the way to go....we [will] end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness."
Still, I have to admit I'm full of admiration for whoever wrote that wonderful phrase "conurbations of unmentionable awfulness." It's so visually compelling, making you see some horrible devastated cityscape in your mind's eye. It has such nice meter, and is so compact, that it's practically Haiku:
conurbations of
unmention'ble awfulness
coming someday soon
The staffer or speech writer who coined that one is wasting his talent. He has a bright future in the advertising business, or political consulting. As for HRH the Prince Charles, well, he's just lucky to have a mother who is willing to financially support him into his old age.
8 comments:
"what is with that tendency to dress up in costumes? He's always popping up at events wearing sailor suits, Scottish highlander garb, regimental uniforms encrusted with dubious medals, and I don't know what all else."
As an ex-military man you will recall that "for every occasion there is a correct uniform."
Pr. Chas's umpty-great uncle Kaiser Wilhelm (yes, that Kaiser Bill) was so notorious for such an extreme version of "wear the proper uniform for all occasions" that he wore his admiral's uniform when he visited an aquarium.
Point well taken. Charles is so thoroughly prepared for every possible sartorial occasion that I can't imagine how much luggage his staff must have to bear along in his wake.
I recall one picture of him at Balmoral castle with his boys (they were much younger then); as he always is there, wearing a kilt.
What killed me was that he was wearing what appeared to be madras shirt with a Balmoral tartan kilt.
Madras cloth originated in the British Indian Empire city of the same name, so maybe HRH the Prince Charles intended the tartan-and-madras combination as a pan-colonial tribute?
I should say "a pan-Imperial tribute" vice pan-colonial, Scotland never having been a colony of Britain.
The point Charles missed is that GM is for Monsanto to take ownership of everything.
Monsanto's got a lot to answer for. I encourage everyone to read all about it in News of the News (http://notnews.today.com/nks).
While there are those of the Scottish nationalist persuasion who would doubtless confirm Scotland to have suffered from England's colonial and imperial ambitions, the United Kingdom of Great Britain comprises both England and Sctoland together, at least since the Act of Union.
I'm not discussing either Wales or Northern Ireland at this time.
As far as madras cloth goes, if/when Pr. Chas. visits Chennai (the city in Tamil Nadu formerly known as Madras), he will doubtless don madras.
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