D Monday, November 23, 2009 METRO 17 Into the Blue: Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches the International Space Station in an image captured by an Expedition 21 crew member, against a back-drop of Earth Picture: EPA/Nasa The Big Picture Poor farmers lead At the cinema: Stars of Twilight As world leaders prepare to gather in Copenhagen for a summit on climate change, thousands of miles away the poor farmers of Africa are showing the leaders the way. Their landscape has changed dramatically with long droughts followed by floods. These are people who live on a knife-edge, with little or no savings to see them through hard times. Crop failures can, quite literally, be fatal for them. Ethiopia and Kenya, to take just two countries, are now experiencing prolonged drought conditions that have pushed more than 8million people to the brink of starvation. The greatest irony is that climate change was mostly caused by us, in the developed world. The people paying the price for it are among the lowest carbon emitters in the world the small farmers of Africa. They are battling back and introducing new ways to be able to continue to farm from irrigation, to new crops, to changes in livestock management. But they cant do it all on their own they must be supported to adapt. Ray Jordan, Self Help Africa I know everybody has their cinema and theatre pet hates: phones ringing, people talking, stinking food, latecomers, tall people, dirty cinemas (I once had the misfortune of sitting in a tub full of nacho cheese sauce in a darkened cinema). But Ive recently come across an annoyance that seems to be growing in popularity: people who breathe loudly through their noses. Nose snorters seem blissfully unaware of the racket they create. At a recent production of The Shawshank Redemption I had one such whale beached behind me who hammered away through her Dublins best-read letters page Metro Mail E-mail letters to mail@metroireland.ie with a name. Or text us. Text MAIL followed by comment and name to 53131. *Texts cost 30cent per message + standard network charges. SP. Oxygen8 Communications, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 talk to us Sorry service: Is the phrase Sorry Im late simply un-utterable by Dublin bus drivers? Forty minutes waiting in the wind and rain yesterday morning for a phantom 14A to come along and not a hint of an apology when it eventually did. My only wish this Christmas deregulate the bus service! Ill Get over it: Steve, you are so right. So much for cheats and fair play when even Duff admits in his post match interview he or Robbie would have done the same. Hope you also heard our beloved Roy Keanes comments on the all- handball story. It is unfair but get over it. Arnaud Scraps top 3: My top three albums of the decade: Wilco A Ghost Is Born, Radiohead In Rainbows, The National Alligator. Scrap Rockin: In response to Scrap, my three favourite albums are: Greenday American Idiot, Greenday 21st Century Breakdown and Airbourne Runnin Wild. Rock must live on! Tad in Meath In Brief blowhole for the entire performance how the actors performed Ill never know. I kept swivelling and staring, but she carried on unperturbed. Last night, I went to see Twilight: New Moon in the Mez in Swords, where I fully expected the whoops, screams and howls from the hordes of teenage girls that had turned out to see Team (Shirtless) Edward and Team (Shirtless) Jacob. What I did not expect was another behemoth sat beside me panting through her nostrils, who then had the cheek to turn and stare indignantly at anyone who made a noise! I tried plugging my left ear; I tried clamping my nose almost shut and breathing loudly through it in the hopes that she would cop it all to no avail. She continued to snort like a pig in heat until it was all I could think about. I appeal to all cinema and theatre goers please check if your nose sounds like a punctured lorry tyre, and if you find it does, open your god-damned mouth. Thank you. Captain Ahab Sendusyour txt How embarrassing to hear FF raise cheating and an incompetent football decision at an EU summit. How about a replay of the last 15 years without the FF cheats? Mary, Ashford A French beret 6, a croissant while in gay Paris 4, a The Fighting Irish scarf 10, match ticket 60, match programme 7... watching Thierry Henry play gaelic football f***ing priceless! TNT When Metro and Herald AM merge, will it be called Hetro? Grolschevik Oh Metro how Ive missed you! I used to get the train into town from Rush & Lusk every Thursday and read your paper on the journey in. Delighted to get back into my old routine. Blthnaid Lay off Henry. The real crime here is the inability to spot a blatant offside, two handballs and Fifas refusal to embrace technology. Unfortunately, in todays professional sports; if youre not cheating, youre not competing! Jon, D3 txt MAIL to 53131* index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html