2549 - Power, corruption and lies

Terrible events in Syria, Ukraine
What is the common factor, it's Putin
I won't say Russia, it can't be to blame
As if all Russians approve of his sin
Though many do, but nationalism
Is a tool used by some politicians
To create fear or greed, yes, used by some
Not all. Look at Kiev, all those who've come
To state their case for real independence
Like Scotland, thinking money falls like rain
From North Sea oil located just within
Their territory. They hope tax will belong
To them from its extraction, but the same
Applies, leaders just want to take them in

2038 - Faith, hope but no charity

I'm at TV21 once again
In Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter
Watched Janet's old Jewish comedy turn
Though cold, it was still light when we got here
Hectic week at work, we've had to prepare
For a national fuel shortage, a crisis
If the fuel drivers strike after Easter
There's just been an altercation, a fist-
-i-cuff, a disagreement, some business
About the band's mates not being willing
To pay the charity entrance fee. The
Band didn't get paid. Serves 'em right, the dicks...
Tomorrow I'm on the bus to London
Looking forward to seeing son and daughter

Wed 4 April

2033 - Fuels rush in

It kicked off today, workwise, not with rows
Falling out, divisions, cliques, bullying
No, none of that - I mean the petrol queues
And the future fuel shortage, following
The Government's somewhat careless scaring
Of drivers nationwide, saying 'Fill up!
And more besides! Fill jerry cans!' - leading
To panic at the pumps. The unions up
To no good again... or should drivers stop
The endless tax rises on fuel somehow
Even by striking and so disrupting
The supplies of fuel they bring to top up
Petrol stations? My job's to try to ease
The fuel shortage - for that, we're preparing

2010 - Turkey trot

The tallest building now stands in Dubai
The Haiti earthquake destroys Port-au-Prince
Polish president's plane falls from the sky
Iceland eruption removes pilots' wings
BP oil well blows, causing huge Gulf slicks
EU bailout for Greece, Spain wins World Cup
In South Africa. Many Wikileaks
Pakistan monsoon floods, miners brought up
In Chile. What is North Korea up
To? EU loan for Ireland - that's where I
Drive to with two mates - Sheep's Head, West Cork - it's
Pretty in summer. An Amsterdam trip
Then Athens, Delphi, Thessaloniki
And Istanbul by bus, carpets, mad flings

1979 - Apocalypse postponed

Bantry Bay French oil tanker explosion
Shah of Iran flees, hi Ayatollah
Airey Neave, Warrenpoint, Mountbatten bombed
Carter/Brezhnev SALT II in Vienna
Manchester tragedy, the Woolworth's fire
Pope goes to Poles, shows solidarity
Afghans invaded by USSR
China begins its One Child policy
Maggie Thatcher, union-basher, Tory
PM. First Euro Parliament election
Films - Muppet Movie, Apocalypse Now
Alien, Manhattan. Music - at ten, the
John Peel Show, with Banshees and Fall sessions
Joy D, Ruts, Jam, Two-Tone and Gang of Four

1974 - Haile and farewell

Half-days at school, OPEC oil embargo
Lasts til the spring, til Abba's Waterloo
Portugal's people say it's time to go
To those stuffy old men who've ruled for too
Long, and won't leave their colonies. The U
VF bomb Dublin, and Monaghan. It's
The World Cup in Germany - England, you
Stayed home, knocked out by Poland, but the Scots
Are there - the eventual winners, the Krauts
Ali beats Foreman in Zaire, Turks flow
Into Cyprus, Nixon resigns - crooks do
Get away with it sometimes - and Ford trips
(Literally) into the hot seat. Bombs blow
Up Birmingham... Jaws, Tinker Tailor too

1973 - Well oil be damned

UK, Ireland, Denmark join EEC
Elvis live from Hawaii via satellite
US ends its war, Paris Peace Treaty
World Trade Centre and Sears Tower reach full height
Skylab launched, but more leaks on Watergate
Deep Throat and White House Tapes start spilling beans
Allende suicide and Pinochet
In US-backed coup in Chile - oh, please
Kissinger Sec of State, Agnew resigns
Ford new VP, Yom Kippur War, Sinai
Back to Egypt, Sadat more westernised
From now til his death. Slow, the oil pipelines
As crude doubles in price, OPEC turn the
Screw. Sydney Opera House. Blanco's demise

1953 - Climb every mountain

In '53, Godot at last arrives
The hydrogen bomb is the latest wheeze
Tito's top in Yugo, Uncle Joe dies
Malenkov, then Khrushchev now have the keys
To the Kremlin. A flood in the North Sea's
Drowned lots, DNA's described (Crick, Watson)
Everest Hill's climbed and Edmund Hillary's
Most pleased, while Fleming's written of James Bond
The Korean fighting comes to an end
The States agrees to help MI-6 spies
Keep the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's
Oil flowing from Iran, and imprison
Mossadegh, while the Shah runs off and hides
And Ike likes nukes - the States need more of these

1938 - It'll be Snow White on the night

It's Christmas Day today must I must write
About history, as still is my wont
As I go through the years. This silent night
I'm up to 1938, which won't
Bring peace or joy to mankind, but the sound
Of goose-stepping troops first in Vienna
Then before long in the Sudetenland
Not only that, but Jews were forbade a
Passport to freedom by exterior
So-called democracies...and Crystal Night
Wasn't enough to change that. Underground
Oil reserves found in Saudi Arabia
That hitherto nomadic tribal site
And we see the first screening of Snow White

1629 - Arab Spring

In the beginning was Tunisia
Then Egypt overthrew old Mubarak
Now everywhere from Yemen to Libya
Is rising up, people on the attack...
Of course, the haves would push the have-nots back
In Manama and Benghazi, bullets
And tear gas are used by regimes we back
For strategic reasons. People take hits
Like they have done for decades from tin pots
Democracy is a minor affair
To western policy-makers. Don't sack
Strongmen who use our own guns to win votes
And rig elections to guarantee our
Oil supplies without a major price hike

1369 - Crying over spilt oil

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
That began in April, an explosion
Killing eleven, causing oil to flow
From the exploded well, goes on and on
20 to 45 million gallons
Have leaked so far into that bright blue sea
And not till August can they envision
An end to the pollution, say BP
When relief wells are drilled to lessen the
Pressure at the blowout site. It's a low
Point for BP shareholders; value down
By 34% on the FTSE
Obama's hopping mad; won't even go
Abroad till the threat to the coastline's gone