Try switching off your mobile phone and computer for a week. There is a chance that you will suffer from withdrawal symptoms almost on the same level as a drug addict. With no twittering or instant messaging, anyone hooked on technology is bound to feel incapacitated and impotent.

Most people wonder how effective they would be without their gizmos which are no longer considered a luxury and have become a bit like an extension of themselves. It’s got to a point where losing your phone is like losing a limb.

Guardian Journalist Tanya Gold, recently carried out a self imposed mobile phone ban for a week, which she found excruciatingly painful. According to Tanya, life without her mobile phone or laptop computer was terribly boring. When she finally turned on her mobile after a week, she was horrified to find no messages on her phone. This experiment shows us just how mobile phones have turned us into extroverts, who need to be constantly reassured by others that they are thinking of us.

In this day and age, it is almost impossible to have the strength of character to be weaned off a mobile phone. President Obama, who couldn’t ditch his BlackBerry despite being urged to do so by his security personnel, is a good example of how hooked we are on technology; not even the most powerful man on earth could resist the temptation.

Most projects aimed at carbon offsetting are “verging on a gigantic scam”. These evocative words were uttered by the renowned British Earth Scientist James Lovelock. Going green is all the rage in industrialised countries. Many companies are clawing up profits from industries that focus on carbon emissions reduction. Businesses are jostling for the spotlight to be seen as green.

Last month, major supermarkets in Britain voluntarily decided to stop selling 100 watt light bulbs which have for a long time not been considered eco-friendly. This caused an up roar by some critics who felt that this was a total waste of time. Many commentators felt that this would not make a difference because most products in our homes, tend not to be easily recycleable. It can be argued that even though this is a small gesture by big businesses to contribute towards carbon offsetting, it does make a difference and moves us one step further.

A good number of scientists have issued warnings that we will have to redouble our efforts in our fight against global warming. The question that is now on everyone’s lips is whether we can still save our planet. Is it too late?

In other parts of the world, the threat of climate change is more real and is a matter of life and death. Changes in the temperature of our planet are making food more scarce especially in the third world. According to the World Health Organisation, Africa bears the brunt of the approximately 150,000 deaths per year that occur globally because of climate change.

In 2007 the ICCP confirmed that the planet had warmed 0.74 degrees celsius since the beginning of the 20th century. The shifts in temperature that have occurred over the past few years can be attributed to mostly carbon emissions in the industrialised world. About 40 per cent of emissions in the United Kingdom are the result of decisions taken directly by individuals. Africa’s contribution to green house gases from vehicles and other industries is a minuscule 3.8%. Most carbon emissions released through slashing and burning - a method common in the third world - are mopped up by Africa’s vast forests which make up 17% of the worlds forests.

While the disastrous effects of climate change are being felt in the third world, there has been refusal by some individuals to admit that humans are the drivers in this whole situation.

Some commentators have maintained that climate change is a planetary cycle that has happened before and could correct itself.
Sammy Wilson a Member of Parliament in Britain recently made a controversial statement when he said that “spending billions on trying to reduce carbon emissions is one big giant con that is depriving third world countries vital funds to tackle famine, Hiv and other diseases”. This statement raised some eyebrows among environmentalists. What the distinguished gentleman fails to realise is that there is a link between our environment and how we thrive in it.

It’s quite startling to think that people can ignore the science which clearly shows the impact global warming is having on our planet.

Being indifferent and not acknowledging what is happening may be a big gamble that could accelerate this man made catastrophe.

As the recession deepens, social tension appears to be on the rise in Britain and other parts of Europe. The word went out for every skilled man to join the strike. Oil refinery workers across the country, have been staging wildcat strikes in protest of Italian and Portuguese workers - who have been brought by a construction company to do work - at Total UK’s giant oil refinery.

Gordon Brown’s famous phrase “Uk jobs for British workers”, is now being shouted back at him. Many do not realise the free movement of labour in Europe has a lot to do with what we are seeing. The European Union directive on “posting of workers” made it possible since 1996 for workers in the EU to move freely and seek employment in any EU country without restrictions.

As harsh as it may sound, the people of Britain will have to realise that there is not much the government can do to protect their jobs. At least 80 percent of our laws are made in Brussels. We may not have the European currency but we are in effect under the government of the United States of Europe. We have a British government but the majority of our “apparatus of state”, have almost been eliminated.

In the past 10 yrs, Britain and many other affluent countries in the European Union have seen an influx of workers from countries on the lower end of the European Union who seek low paid work. This has increased resentment from skilled workers in Britain who feel sidelined by the government which they feel should protect them.

As the government grapples with the problem which could escalate as the recession deepens further, there are fears that opting for a protectionist approach will worsen the economic situation in Britain.

Many economic historians are aware that continuing with free movement of goods and services in the form is labour, is the only solution needed to tackle this global economic problem. Protectionism could inevitably lead us into a depression. Are we seeing the end of globalisation as many countries seek to protect their own interests?

The current financial storm is finally hitting British print media and forcing many to move towards a digital overhaul. A recent announcement by the Financial Times newspaper to downsize,is an indicator that the year 2009 will be a “crucial year” for traditional print media.

At least 80 staff across the Financial Times global operations face redundancy. There has also been talk of outsourcing a good chunk of work done by in house staff. This will no doubt leave some journalists employed by F.T quacking in their boots. It is hoped that switching to digital media, will help the Financial Times expand their reach and make the running of their business more effective as well as less costly. Many media companies are putting plans for expansion on hold.

As was seen some months ago in the United States, print media is dying a rapid death. The vulnerability of print media could make blogs even more popular. Blogs which tend to be labeled as amateurish and inaccurate could emerge as a more acceptable brand of journalism.

For the more experienced blogger who focuses on opinion in a niche subject area, this may be the time when editors may come seeking for information in your specialised area. Newspapers have been known to commission well established bloggers to write feature articles.

Because print media has always been popular, we may not see a complete digital revolution. Firms in the media going through a difficult patch during this recession may hide online for a while and emerge back to print once the recession is over.

It seems to me the optimistic brigade is out in full force. All those happy clappy people who are paid to help us maintain a positive mental attitude. The psychoanalysts and hypnotherapists will have us believe that we have a tendency to respond excessively to any situation that may present itself as dangerous.

The anxious times we now face due to the recession have created a market for the self-help gurus who focus on the power of positive thinking and come up with phrases like “You are what you think”. Not that there is anything wrong with being optimistic but one would have thought being a realist and tackling our problems would be more suitable. When it comes right down to it, circumstances always force us to do things that are necessary to improve our situation.People in the world as a whole are fed up of being lectured to by those in authority who always second guess whats good for the masses. The average man on the street sees through the Machiavellian tactics used in politics and business.

Someone once said “crisis invites change”. We will certainly see plenty of it this year. There are signs that all the talk about going green to improve our environment is falling on deaf ears. All those little schemes people have been coming up with are now falling flat on their faces. This year we will see a reduction in the consumption of organic food which is often very expensive and sometimes over priced. Farmers who have been growing organic food for many years are already making necessary adjustments to switch to growing ordinary crops which cost less to cultivate.

Investments in the clean energy sector are dwindling as venture capitalists scale back on their commitments to the development of clean energy. This means that the ambitious goals by the British government to expand offshore wind and tidal energy have been thwarted at least for the time being. This will not go down well for the eco-warriors out there who feel that if nothing is done now, our planet is doomed.

Bryan Lovell a senior research fellow in earth sciences at Cambridge University recently stated that “profitable and mighty useful activity needs to continue vigorously in this century, but, if we are to remain carefree, we shall have to develop an associated industry, comparable in scale, that is devoted to pumping used fossil carbon back safely underground”. The words of this distinguished gentleman speak for themselves. We have not even come close to where we need to be in order to preserve our planet for future generations.

With all the carnage in the Middle-East that greeted the beginning of 2009,the fear of terrorism in the West will add on to our long list things that make us anxious. The optimism brigade sure have tons of work on their hands.

This recession might just make a visit to Timbuktu more attractive than usual. As the rate of the pound edges closer to Euro parity, demand for exotic holidays could rise. A change in travel trends in 2009 could spearhead an economic turn around for many African countries.

While holidays to exotic holidays do not come cheap, demand for these locations where exchange rates are more favorable is set to rise. Tourism known to be Africa’s largest foreign exchange earner will no doubt attract travelers from Britain. British travelers alone spent £3 billion holidaying in developing countries in the year 2000 about the same amount as their government gave in aid that year.

Parts of Africa that are relatively peaceful could see a rise in the number of foreign visitors. The violence that followed the presidential elections in Kenya in 2007 affected the country’s $1 billion a year tourism industry. There is optimism that confidence is slowly being restored and the industry will bounce back by the end of 2009. The “Obama factor” may attract tourists particularly from the United States to explore the Heritage of the new president. This is a niche being explored by some tour operators in America who are offering tours that cover the Maasai Mara as well as the village of Kogelo in Western Kenya where Barack Obama’s father was laid to rest.

One could argue that it’s difficult to see how the people in Africa as a whole have benefited from tourism. Most areas near tourist attractions remain undeveloped with no access to clean water or proper educational facilities.

Some progress has, however been made in villages near the Maasai Mara in Kenya where interactive tourism is being encouraged. Cultural visits to villages near the Maasai Mara have brought in some revenue managed by the villagers and used for community development projects such as the extension of schools and the provision of clean water sources. This has prevented some of the disruption which normally occurs as a result of tourism and has enabled the people to remain on their ancestral land. Interactive tourism also known as eco-tourism has facilitated a cultural exchange between the tourists and the indigenous people.

A boom in African tourism could help in the improvement of infrastructure such as roads most of which have been built on the back of foreign investment and aid. A collective effort by African countries to develop tourism an unspoiled export service product which most countries have, is needed to overcome the negative image the world has of the continent.

Now that the recession is upon us, it appears that this may be a time of reckoning for China which is now experiencing a slow down in it’s growth for the first time in seven years. The Central Bank of China cut interest rates for the fifth time in four months. The number of imports and exports has reduced. This could force a significant fall in commodity prices.

Those who applauded China as the rising giant are now raising concerns about the implications this may have on China and Africa at a time when the Chinese are moving towards changing the way they are viewed by the world.

Many in Africa remain skeptical about the effect the global economic crisis will have on their countries because it is widely believed that most companies on the continent do not have direct ties with stock markets in the west.

In his statement to Reuters news agency, the Finance Minister of Zambia said that he is “not worried about the recession in the West because I am looking to the East”. The situation in Zambia shows a different picture. The price of copper has fallen and there are signs that this has had an effect on the economy.

China is less likely to deliberately slow down it’s expansion. The demand for commodities such copper will continue to rise and there will be a price to pay for this continuous expansion in times like these. The Chinese could experience a boom-bust scenario similar to what Western nations went through during the 1980s recession.

In that recession, the western nations had indulged in excessive lending to developing countries with the expectation that commodity prices would rise. That of course never happened and the western countries suffered a banking crisis. Looking at the present scenario, commodity prices are less likely to rise and China is in for a rude awakening.

Aid to Africa is also likely to dwindle.The United Nations has actually raised it’s concerns regarding this. Philanthropists are tightening their belts by giving less or nothing at all. It all seems very grim. Many of us recall that the promises made by G8 nations in 2005 at Gleneagles aimed at debt relief have not been fulfilled. All that talk about making poverty history has come to nothing.

All this may sound mind numbingly boring but we have entered uncharted territory as many economists continue to say. Financial history shows that these things always sort themselves out. All we can do now is wait and see.

Who would have known that print journalism would be joining the ever growing list of industries facing bankruptcy? Not too long ago the company that owns the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times sought bankruptcy protection from creditors. One wonders whether technology has had a hand in bringing print journalism down or could it be that this industry is another casualty of the economic recession?

Statistics show that more people are reading the news online than ever before. We live in an age where technology has transformed the way news is reported. With constant breaking news and never ending exclusive headlines, print media is being sidelined particularly by news portals on the internet such as The Huffington Post and The Drudge Report. The Christian Science Monitor which is long time favorite for most news junkies has reduced it’s circulation to once a week. As for the New York Sun, their doors are closed. No one knows for how long.

The whole situation has been precipitated by businesses making adjustments in their spending. Systematic cut backs by most businesses in the present economic climate means that revenue from advertising which so many in the print media rely on has been greatly reduced.

As the future of print journalism hungs in the balance, a good number of journalists face an uncertain future and could soon join the great army of freelance journalists who have to fiercely market their work. Most writing work in some print media houses is now being outsourced to news writers in Asia who are supplied with press releases, transcripts of interviews and web videos which are then produced as stories ready to be printed.

There are fears that outsourcing will cause further damage to a labor market which has already been hurt by the recession. Out sourcing has in the past been used by various firms particularly in the tech sector as a way of having access to a “larger talent pool”.

Outsourcing may look like a great idea for businesses to make real profit by spending less in the production process but as time goes by companies that outsource tend to fall behind in their business targets and end up lossing on investments in real productivity.

The year 2009 certainly looks bleak as the commercial irregularities of many companies continue to be uncovered. So lets all brace ourselves for a rough ride ahead.

Televised images of sad-eyed bony faced children with distended bellies are a clear sign that Zimbabwe with its rich black soil is no longer the bread basket of the Southern region of Africa. As the countless voices of people across the world grow louder each day urging the appalling regime in Zimbabwe to step down, Mugabe and his cronies remain indifferent to the suffering of the people. His cries of conspiracy and propaganda by former colonial powers are becoming hollow.

Mugabe a well educated and articulate man, was at one time considered by many of his country men as a hero who fought the liberation struggle. If he had stepped down years ago while people still had a little respect for him, he would no doubt have qualified for statesmanship.

Dethroning Mugabe will be a long and hard battle because he is surrounded by a lot of “yes men” who out of self interest do not give him a clear picture of what is going on around him. Having said that, it is inconceivable that he is driven around in his presidential motorcade without noticing the degradation and poverty.

It’s a shame that not much pressure is being applied by African leaders who have for a long time been droning on about finding an “African solution to an African problem”. Comments by Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Odinga of Kenya for Mugabe to be removed by force have not been supported by the African Union. They insist on the establishment of dialogue which is a rather ridiculous suggestion. The opposition leader in Zimbabwe has made several attempts to negotiate with the Mugabe regime and most of the talks have not been fruitful.

The African Unions refusal to use force is a sign that many leaders fear this could set a precedent. A good number of leaders in the African Union are relics of the past who wish to cling to power.

Young people on the continent of Africa are waking up to the fact that radical changes are needed. Its time for those from the era of African nationalism to go. Young people now yearn for a more modern 21st century leadership that is in tune with their needs.

Many children have been robbed of their innocence, they comb rubbish dumps to find anything to eat. Most of us who were born and breed in the southern region of Africa know that Zimbabwe a country that once had a magnificent landscape, full of wonders and offered immeasurable prospects for its people has lost the beauty it once had.

As the global economic crisis continues to dominate the headlines, it is becoming apparent to many of us that this is not just a periodic economic episode. The problem is much deeper than previously thought and many economists are merely grappling in the dark with no rational solution in sight.

We are now in a nail biting situation. A large proportion of people are hoping the economy will eventually reach an equilibrium and every thing will return to normal as we have experienced in past recessions. The reality is that industries are so intricately linked from the stock market right down to the corner shop; we will continue to see many companies folding up. We have to brace ourselves for tougher times ahead.

What we are seeing now should have happened way back in 2001 just after the September 11 attacks occurred and interest rates were lowered to prevent an economic crisis happening at the same time as the terror attacks. Many problems that should have been addressed were swept under the carpet.

This of course gave the financial sector free rein. They became more relaxed with their credit regulations. More and more people who should not have been given credit got on the property ladder. Why should we be surprised now that everything is falling apart?

The stock market has for a long time been operating like one big casino. Most of the decisions made by stockbrokers are based on rumors, fueled by high levels of adrenaline and instinct. There is normally no concrete knowledge that enables the broker to predict how the shares of a company will perform by simply applying the rules of supply and demand. They gamble away innocent peoples investments - betting on future success. This concept of betting on future success is what led to Honda the auto makers pulling out of formula one, the worlds most expensive sport.

For those not particularly keen on motor racing this may not come as a blow but it spells trouble which has been brewing for sometime in the technology sector. The engineers who have helped maintain the formula one team for Honda and have constantly come up with innovative ideas in technology could lose their jobs. This could cause some major derailments in technological advancements.

Just last week, it was finally announced that America is now officially in a recession. This is quite baffling to say the least. Why it took so long for this declaration to be made is beyond me. The United States has been in a recession since December 2007. The rate of public spending and borrowing on the part of the government are clear indicators of a sick economy. There seems no end in sight and it looks like we are heading for more treacherous times.