The three-day G8 summit in Japan, with a record 22 nations participating, ended yesterday, with too much fluffy, evasive and idealistic talk and not enough balls-to-the-wall action.

Much like a flighty boyfriend, the world leaders failed to commit. Although developing and developed nations alike agreed that “deep cuts” were needed, they never agreed on setting specific targets. I nstead, they concluded that the reduction in greenhouse gases should take place according to the means of each country. Vague much?

True, they did commit to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But the leaders failed to agree on a base year with which to compare emission levels. In essence, they’re going to try to lower emissions levels — but with no tangible standards or base comparisons, this undefined action is a muddled exercise with good intentions. Some took this as evidence that big-boy polluters, aka China and India, were still not willing to commit themselves to internationally agreed cuts.

The Environmental Group WWF criticized the 2050 goal, citing the fact that many scientists say bigger cuts are needed to combat climate change. The nations also acknowledged that rising food and oil prices were an issue, but neglected to create any actionable means to help the problem. Awesome.

Our clueless leader, good ol’ GW, who was (fortunately!) attending his final G8 as US president said “(We had) a lot of meetings on important subjects, and we accomplished a lot.”

But someone clearly more than a few dozen IQ points above him, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven, saw it differently, “The G8 leaders have failed the world again. We needed tough targets for the richest countries to slash emissions in the next 100 months, but instead we got ambiguous long-term targets for the world in general.”

When the summit was held three years ago, the G8 promised to increase African aid by twenty five billion dollars a year by 2010. At present, the world’s richest nations are only 14% of the way towards hitting the target. Way to go, guys. They’re not living up to their own global poverty aid or African poverty aid goals. Could you imagine if you only lived up to 14% of what you promised your boss or professor?

Thomas Jefferson said, “Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.” More appropriately, Billy Madison said, “Just do it”. Leaders of the world, I beg of you: Please step it up. Cut the BS and commit.

But is it really all “Summer Lovin’”? Really as simple and sweet as we’ve been led to believe? The fact that I’m even asking these questions probably means summer flings are more complicated than 3 months of running hand-in-hand down the beach, but keeping a few things in mind can help make your next summer adventure as drama free as possible.

This edition of Summer Do’s and Don’ts brings you: Summer Flings.

Do use the summer to chat up different kinds of people. Your summer job or internship may lead down interesting paths and into interesting groups. Keep an open mind and use these months to reinvent yourself—in a good way, of course. Who knows? You might just meet a future hottie marching in a protest for Greenpeace or during your lunch break in the staff room.

Don’t fast forward the relationship just because the summer is short. Subtracting the amount of time you’d normally sleep with or get serious with someone because you’re moving or leaving in a few months is not a good idea. You could overlook key aspects of their personality (like a dominant asshole gene), or “forget” to do the STD talk. If this summer fling is meant to last, it will, regardless of how fast you jump in the sack.

Do take advantage of these warm summer nights and long summer days. Go on adventurous dates; hiking, rock climbing, driving without a destination, staying on the beach until the stars come out…use the weather to your advantage, and impress that special someone with your creative energy!

Don’t let the fact that the fall could potentially split the two of you up ruin your enthusiasm. Sure, it could happen, but stopping something good because you’re afraid of getting hurt is lame. Not to get all Oprah on you, but life is about living! Plus, we only get to do it once.

Do make sure to fill your flame in on your fall plans. No one likes to be ambushed, and lying about where you’ll be going or what you’ll be doing (or just “forgetting” to say anything) is a surefire way to mess up something good. Your sweetie won’t hold your fall plans against you, and if they do, well, they’re not really worth being your sweetie in the first place.

Don’t try to turn a fling into a romance if it doesn’t want to be one. There are such things as short, healthy relationships. You both know it isn’t meant to last forever, but you have a good time together, learn things from each other, and have fun in the process. Dragging out these types of relationships is painful for everyone. Just be truthful from the beginning, and go forward with a clear and agreed upon plan. When it comes time to end things, you might feel strangely emotional and attached, but give yourself some time to think things over before calling your fling up and asking for a commitment. You may just be suffering from the post-fling blues.

Most importantly, have fun and take care of yourself! All year you’ve written papers on someone else’s time clock, studied for someone else’s tests, and been told what to think by someone else’s mouth. Summer is about stretching and recuperating. Be good to you, and amazing things will follow.

…that last sentence was almost zen enough to be in a fortune cookie, huh?