OK everybody knows that the oil and gas will run out one day and sure as hell the greens won't want that dirty messy smelly coal. So what is the answer from our greens, environmentalists, politicians? Electricity.
And of course there are super green ways of making it - wind farms, tidal barrages (although they will fuck the ducks), nuclear, ideally fusion because it creates little nasty waste. But electricity unlike carbon based fuel is notoriously difficult to store when on the move.
Sure we can use the old tricks like keeping the water behind a tidal barrage and only using it when demand warrants it. And yes we can pump water to the top of the hill at low demand and let it down again later. The latter always seemed wasteful to me.
But if it has to be portable, then as far as I can see it has to be batteries. (Yes I know you can use capacitors but they are for things of low energy for a small amount of time such as torches.) Even batteries have limited storage density compared to fossil fuels and batteries fade over time. Yes, so do internal combustion engines but I'd like to meet the battery that could take so much punishment over time and work in such a wide range of temperatures.
And then there is the problem of disposal. Batteries contain an array of quite noxious substances which are complex to separate and recover. Of course we could simply throw them away but in time that would cause more pollution and never forget we would be chucking away another non-renewable resource.
I don't know the answers but for transportation we might focus on liquid hydrogen engines. We are years away from them being practical and realistic. What is more, hydrogen is currently produced by electrolysis so that's more electricity consumption from various sources. Best we accelerate the development of fusion which I understand will produce more energy than it consumes. But fusions is years away from being a practical solution.
Anyone got any brighter ideas?
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Handling people
Women are far more difficult to handle than men in life and in business. Tell me about it. You can reason with men and they can be calm or discuss things. Women are just so emotional and predjudiced you can get nowhere with them.
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Empire & legacy
Was watching the cricket, England v Sri Lanka and once again, I hear the phrase 'colonial masters.' I am weary of this harking back to the past: it's an excuse.
USA got independence in 1776, Canada and Australia say abt 1900. They have got on well since then. Much of the rest of Empire got independence around 50 years ago and many have done fuck all with it since then.
My parents were poor and so was I but I do not see that as an excuse for not trying to be better.
Was watching the cricket, England v Sri Lanka and once again, I hear the phrase 'colonial masters.' I am weary of this harking back to the past: it's an excuse.
USA got independence in 1776, Canada and Australia say abt 1900. They have got on well since then. Much of the rest of Empire got independence around 50 years ago and many have done fuck all with it since then.
My parents were poor and so was I but I do not see that as an excuse for not trying to be better.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
Hypocrisy
So a US aircraft carrier captain has been sacked for making derogatory comments and videos about gays. He would have got a mere reprimand if he'd shit on the Bible. I am tired of the rights of the majorities being ignored in favour of the minorities. I do not wish the latter to be persecuted but they need to understand their rank in society.
As I have said before, I am white, male, heterosexual, English, Protestant (well, by upbringing) so you can piss on me with impunity.
As I have said before, I am white, male, heterosexual, English, Protestant (well, by upbringing) so you can piss on me with impunity.
Interbreeding
This is a big ‘no-no’ for human beings on religious grounds and supposedly genetic grounds too. Despite a lack of desire, indeed no impulse, to have sex and babies with my wonderful and beautiful daughter, I still have to question the logic of the opposition to interbreeding.
I am not a geneticist. Don’t know much about it but it seems to me that both genetic disabilities and benefits would multiply rapidly with interbreeding. So that way the bad guys would be quickly wiped out in a few generations while the good guys would be successful. Seems to work with animals. Several species have been restored from a small breeding stock to healthy populations.
Yes, I do know about biodiversity; even travelled with a lady who did a Ph.D in the subject. All I am doing here is asking a question.
I am not a geneticist. Don’t know much about it but it seems to me that both genetic disabilities and benefits would multiply rapidly with interbreeding. So that way the bad guys would be quickly wiped out in a few generations while the good guys would be successful. Seems to work with animals. Several species have been restored from a small breeding stock to healthy populations.
Yes, I do know about biodiversity; even travelled with a lady who did a Ph.D in the subject. All I am doing here is asking a question.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Alternator Suppresor Module
Maybe 15 or 20 years ago, Jaguar cars asked us to make a component called an Alternator Suppressor Module. (I think it was about 1992.) It was a dumb idea for it was designed to filter out the audio hum caused by defects in the alternator. My attitude was to say fix the bloody alternator but these people never listen so we developed it.
As Sales & Marketing Director, I made sure that they paid well for they were desperate. Think we got a 40% gross margin on it. It consisted of a bloody large capacitor with a small pcb, all housed in a plastic case. The capacitor was huge, say 1.5 inches in diameter and 6 to 8 inches tall. Note that if you short circuit that, you will get an explosion.
So here I am, in the age before the cell phone, innocently driving on a routine journey to Jaguar. I get there and check in to the Purchasing Dept and a man comes out, a Buyer, and grabs me by the throat with some question like ‘What the hell do think you fuckers are playing at?’ Seems like our Chief Electronics Engineer had faxed him whilst I was enroute saying that any water ingress could cause the unit to explode. I can understand that. We tried our best to make products reliable but you simply don’t put observations like that in writing. The press will hang you for it if anything happens.
So we made our modifications. Inhibited water ingress but that’s all you can do when rain is flowing under the bonnet at 100 mph; water will get in anywhere. Sat the module on top of a punt and provided drain holes at the bottom.
And so to volume production. Our MD at the time was very concerned about quality and assigned each member of the Management Team to be the ‘champion’ of each new Jaguar product. I got the Alternator Suppressor Module.
First stop, the two girls who were making it. Nice young ladies so I asked them how it was going. They told me that pretty much was OK but that they did not like the heating equipment that shrunk and sealed the terminals: they thought it was unreliable. And so it was for it was later to be revealed as a major source of failure in the field.
Well, cutting a long story short, we worked together and over a few months got it all sorted. Thereon, for 2 or more years, we never had a single failure on delivery or in the field. Perfection. The only subsequent failure came when some dumb arsed team leader switched the girls for an untrained team on night shift.
I bought my girls Christmas presents (from my own money) and they got ribbed by that from the other girls.
So what’s the lesson? If you can build a team be it big or small, you can win!
As Sales & Marketing Director, I made sure that they paid well for they were desperate. Think we got a 40% gross margin on it. It consisted of a bloody large capacitor with a small pcb, all housed in a plastic case. The capacitor was huge, say 1.5 inches in diameter and 6 to 8 inches tall. Note that if you short circuit that, you will get an explosion.
So here I am, in the age before the cell phone, innocently driving on a routine journey to Jaguar. I get there and check in to the Purchasing Dept and a man comes out, a Buyer, and grabs me by the throat with some question like ‘What the hell do think you fuckers are playing at?’ Seems like our Chief Electronics Engineer had faxed him whilst I was enroute saying that any water ingress could cause the unit to explode. I can understand that. We tried our best to make products reliable but you simply don’t put observations like that in writing. The press will hang you for it if anything happens.
So we made our modifications. Inhibited water ingress but that’s all you can do when rain is flowing under the bonnet at 100 mph; water will get in anywhere. Sat the module on top of a punt and provided drain holes at the bottom.
And so to volume production. Our MD at the time was very concerned about quality and assigned each member of the Management Team to be the ‘champion’ of each new Jaguar product. I got the Alternator Suppressor Module.
First stop, the two girls who were making it. Nice young ladies so I asked them how it was going. They told me that pretty much was OK but that they did not like the heating equipment that shrunk and sealed the terminals: they thought it was unreliable. And so it was for it was later to be revealed as a major source of failure in the field.
Well, cutting a long story short, we worked together and over a few months got it all sorted. Thereon, for 2 or more years, we never had a single failure on delivery or in the field. Perfection. The only subsequent failure came when some dumb arsed team leader switched the girls for an untrained team on night shift.
I bought my girls Christmas presents (from my own money) and they got ribbed by that from the other girls.
So what’s the lesson? If you can build a team be it big or small, you can win!
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Irish dancing
I do find Irish Dancing totally erotic. Maybe, it's those flashing legs and short skirts.
My daughter did it once and it had little effect on me. So maybe it's a case of growing older. Today, I do find them quite ravishing.
My daughter did it once and it had little effect on me. So maybe it's a case of growing older. Today, I do find them quite ravishing.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Assemblies of government
I am talking here about governement assemblies, plenary sessions. You know the ones where they all get together - House of Commons, European Parliament, House of Congress - in the spirit of democracy with the intention of debating issues for the public good. They talk for hours at times but little or nothing changes the outcome for that is decided by the majority of the government of the day.
You get local interest questions like, 'Will the Minister comment on the need for better child care facilities in Doncaster?' He answers politely but in your heart you know he doesn't give a shit about Doncaster, its kids, its people or anything else in Doncaster. Why should he? It's solid Labour and as a Conservative, he knows that nothing he says will change the vote.
Then you get some other bloody idiot (only really interested in getting her question in the local newspaper) asking the Prime Minister what he is doing about new bus stops in Barnsley. He answers politely but in his mind, he thinks, 'Fuck all.'
Bottom line is that politicians should only pay attention to marginals. Fuck the rest.
Nowadays we get hypocrisy in the House of Commons about Afghanistan which is sickening. Prime Minister - 'First let me express my sincere condolences to the family of Lance Corporal Harry Williams, tragically killed yesterday by a land mine.' Widespread nods from all parties none of whom know bugger all about Harry Williams or his family. No one dares to stand up and say, 'Get the fuck out of Afghanistan and leave the bastards to kill each other.'
And that's the point really, it has all got rather too genteel. Not only that but the vast majority of Parliament are passengers seeking to appease their constituencies and with no great involvement with the world at large. I see little evidence of a desire to change the wider world for the better.
We need to go back a couple of centuries when Parliamentary members spoke their mind. This was something I always encouraged in Management meetings. Let's have more of this:
Bollocks
Absolute fucking crap
Talking through your arse
Cunt face
Shit on you
Maybe we could do with a little violence too. Nothing too harmful but a bit of shoe throwing wouldn't come amiss.
But it won't change will it? And that is why I am not in politics
You get local interest questions like, 'Will the Minister comment on the need for better child care facilities in Doncaster?' He answers politely but in your heart you know he doesn't give a shit about Doncaster, its kids, its people or anything else in Doncaster. Why should he? It's solid Labour and as a Conservative, he knows that nothing he says will change the vote.
Then you get some other bloody idiot (only really interested in getting her question in the local newspaper) asking the Prime Minister what he is doing about new bus stops in Barnsley. He answers politely but in his mind, he thinks, 'Fuck all.'
Bottom line is that politicians should only pay attention to marginals. Fuck the rest.
Nowadays we get hypocrisy in the House of Commons about Afghanistan which is sickening. Prime Minister - 'First let me express my sincere condolences to the family of Lance Corporal Harry Williams, tragically killed yesterday by a land mine.' Widespread nods from all parties none of whom know bugger all about Harry Williams or his family. No one dares to stand up and say, 'Get the fuck out of Afghanistan and leave the bastards to kill each other.'
And that's the point really, it has all got rather too genteel. Not only that but the vast majority of Parliament are passengers seeking to appease their constituencies and with no great involvement with the world at large. I see little evidence of a desire to change the wider world for the better.
We need to go back a couple of centuries when Parliamentary members spoke their mind. This was something I always encouraged in Management meetings. Let's have more of this:
Bollocks
Absolute fucking crap
Talking through your arse
Cunt face
Shit on you
Maybe we could do with a little violence too. Nothing too harmful but a bit of shoe throwing wouldn't come amiss.
But it won't change will it? And that is why I am not in politics
Friday, 15 October 2010
My earliest memories
These are obviously very vague but I think they are true because when I recounted them to my mother in later years, she said I was probably right. So here goes:
1. It is dark and I am outside in my pram. There are bright lights and fire crackling but I am OK. My mother says it was the street bonfire party for VE Day so that makes me just less than one year old. She said she pushed the pram into someone's garden.
2. It is dark but I can see the glow of the fire. I am wet and uncomfortable but no one is around. My mom says that would have been the cast iron cooking range and maybe my nappy was wet.
I can see these faint images even now.
1. It is dark and I am outside in my pram. There are bright lights and fire crackling but I am OK. My mother says it was the street bonfire party for VE Day so that makes me just less than one year old. She said she pushed the pram into someone's garden.
2. It is dark but I can see the glow of the fire. I am wet and uncomfortable but no one is around. My mom says that would have been the cast iron cooking range and maybe my nappy was wet.
I can see these faint images even now.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Koran burning
Dunno what the fuss is all about. Is it perhaps idolatry to regard such a book as so sacred. It's pretty much the same with flags.
As far as I am concerned, you can burn the Bible, shit on it, piss on it. And the same goes for the Union flag. Do what you want to it. I don't really care.
You see, it's very simple. We are stronger than the abusers. We shall prevail long after you are gone. And we don't fucking care about you. Got that?
As far as I am concerned, you can burn the Bible, shit on it, piss on it. And the same goes for the Union flag. Do what you want to it. I don't really care.
You see, it's very simple. We are stronger than the abusers. We shall prevail long after you are gone. And we don't fucking care about you. Got that?
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Superstitions
You'd think, wouldn't you that having no belief in any God that I would have no belief in superstitions. But this is only partly true. Superstitions are buried in your mind from your childhood and despite all your adult logic, you cannot get rid of all of them. There are some that remain and frighten you and make you remain cautious.
Friday the 13th? Couldn't give a shit. Ridiculous.
Walking under a ladder? In my case I look up to see what the workers are doing and assess the possibility of injury before making my choice.
Black cats? Love them, see nothing strange there.
Magpies? Far too many of them now to notice how many. I do not find them sinister.
BUT:
I don't ever cross knives. Comes from my mom.
I will not pick blackberries after Michealmas because the Devil owns them.
If I see a hole in a fire, I will break it.
Irrational isn't it?
Friday the 13th? Couldn't give a shit. Ridiculous.
Walking under a ladder? In my case I look up to see what the workers are doing and assess the possibility of injury before making my choice.
Black cats? Love them, see nothing strange there.
Magpies? Far too many of them now to notice how many. I do not find them sinister.
BUT:
I don't ever cross knives. Comes from my mom.
I will not pick blackberries after Michealmas because the Devil owns them.
If I see a hole in a fire, I will break it.
Irrational isn't it?
Friday, 10 September 2010
Probabilities
People like certainty and I am no different but the basic fact is that the world we live in far from certain and dominated by probabilty.People need to come to terms with that. Scientists, politicians and their like need to come to terms with that and explain things more clearly to people.
When I was a kid at school, our teacher talked about half lives of radioactive isotopes. I was confused. I mean if half a gram of cobalt 60 decayed in 60 years, why didn't the other half go in the next sixty years. Got nothing out of the teacher but later I came to understand that no atom has a definite lifetime, it just had a probable lifetime and that's why half of cobalt 60 goes in the first 60 years and half of what is left goes in the next 60 and so on and so on.
So let's go to weather forecasts. They tell you that there is a 60% chance of rain tomorrow afternoon. What they do not realise is that many people do not understand percentages. Many years ago, I did a presentation to my workforce on quality and I was rabbiting away about percentages. A brave lady put her hand up and said she didn't understand percentages. Stopped me in my tracks.
So I took time out to explain them. You see for the public at large, it would be far clearer to say we have 6 chances in 10 of rain tomorrow but we have 4 chances in 10 of no rain. Folks gamble on horse races and understand the odds so why not portray it in those terms.
But we must go further and make people understand that the whole world is uncertain and little more so than in the world of economics or even in their home life.
Ask anyone what time they will serve lunch next Sunday and they will answer with something like around 1pm to 2pm. Point out their uncertainty and imprecision and ask them why they expect the weather forecast to be any better. You will find that they understand if you are patient.
When I was a kid at school, our teacher talked about half lives of radioactive isotopes. I was confused. I mean if half a gram of cobalt 60 decayed in 60 years, why didn't the other half go in the next sixty years. Got nothing out of the teacher but later I came to understand that no atom has a definite lifetime, it just had a probable lifetime and that's why half of cobalt 60 goes in the first 60 years and half of what is left goes in the next 60 and so on and so on.
So let's go to weather forecasts. They tell you that there is a 60% chance of rain tomorrow afternoon. What they do not realise is that many people do not understand percentages. Many years ago, I did a presentation to my workforce on quality and I was rabbiting away about percentages. A brave lady put her hand up and said she didn't understand percentages. Stopped me in my tracks.
So I took time out to explain them. You see for the public at large, it would be far clearer to say we have 6 chances in 10 of rain tomorrow but we have 4 chances in 10 of no rain. Folks gamble on horse races and understand the odds so why not portray it in those terms.
But we must go further and make people understand that the whole world is uncertain and little more so than in the world of economics or even in their home life.
Ask anyone what time they will serve lunch next Sunday and they will answer with something like around 1pm to 2pm. Point out their uncertainty and imprecision and ask them why they expect the weather forecast to be any better. You will find that they understand if you are patient.
Friday, 27 August 2010
Wait until your father comes home
How many children have heard that? Millions, I suspect. And what happens when you do get home, tired after a long day, stuck in a traffic jam for 45 minutes and just wanting some peace and quiet. Maybe read the paper, watch the news.
But no. What you get is a screaming wife and a toddler looking bemused because at his age he is quite unable to relate his minor crime of 4 hours ago to the hysteria he is now witnessing.
‘Do you know what he did this afternoon?’
‘No, did he microwave the cat?
‘No, worse, he pulled up all the border plants I planted yesterday.’
(I should point out at this stage that when my mom gave me a little patch of garden in which to plant seeds, I pulled them up regularly to see how the roots were going. I soon realised that they didn’t like this. MY mother, being my my mother let me get on with it. She knew I would learn, maybe the hard way.)
‘Well replant them then’
‘OK but what are you going to do about it.’
Fuck all was the obvious answer. If you cannot handle it at the time of the incident, then there is nowt anyone can do later. There is a lesson here. Children and animals can only associate the consequences of their actions over a very short time span. Punish them quickly or they will never learn.
And don’t put the burden on dads. That is demonising them.
But no. What you get is a screaming wife and a toddler looking bemused because at his age he is quite unable to relate his minor crime of 4 hours ago to the hysteria he is now witnessing.
‘Do you know what he did this afternoon?’
‘No, did he microwave the cat?
‘No, worse, he pulled up all the border plants I planted yesterday.’
(I should point out at this stage that when my mom gave me a little patch of garden in which to plant seeds, I pulled them up regularly to see how the roots were going. I soon realised that they didn’t like this. MY mother, being my my mother let me get on with it. She knew I would learn, maybe the hard way.)
‘Well replant them then’
‘OK but what are you going to do about it.’
Fuck all was the obvious answer. If you cannot handle it at the time of the incident, then there is nowt anyone can do later. There is a lesson here. Children and animals can only associate the consequences of their actions over a very short time span. Punish them quickly or they will never learn.
And don’t put the burden on dads. That is demonising them.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Going back
People say never go back and by and large I would agree with them. Certainly, I would never attempt to rekindle the relationships that I have had with several women. Sure we can be friends (most are) but you can never recapture the magic of the first time and, sure as hell, the reasons why you split will resurface. If you do go back, my advice is 'Fuck them' literally.
Then there are experiences like the time a Peacock butterfly came out of its pupa in the warmth of my hand; like to see that again. Same with the Golden Eagle on some pine in Scotland - the evening sun shone on his head and then you understand why they call it the 'Golden Eagle.' I have been to 2 total eclipses of the sun - 1st was in Plymouth but it was cloudy so the sky went dark and that was it - 2nd was in Turkey on a cloudless day, utterly magical. Yep I'd do that again tomorrow. Trouble with eclipses though is that they do naughty things like appear in the middle of the Pacific where you can't get to.
Places? Been to many several times but they were kinda casual visits. So where to go again? Antarctica - been twice - the most beautiful place on Earth. Sit with the Mountain Gorilla - oh yes for that is unforgettable. New Orleans? I love the feeling of being surrounded by sin. And London and New York get me buzzing like nowhere else in the world.
BUT, no really big urge to go back. I want to see new things!!
Then there are experiences like the time a Peacock butterfly came out of its pupa in the warmth of my hand; like to see that again. Same with the Golden Eagle on some pine in Scotland - the evening sun shone on his head and then you understand why they call it the 'Golden Eagle.' I have been to 2 total eclipses of the sun - 1st was in Plymouth but it was cloudy so the sky went dark and that was it - 2nd was in Turkey on a cloudless day, utterly magical. Yep I'd do that again tomorrow. Trouble with eclipses though is that they do naughty things like appear in the middle of the Pacific where you can't get to.
Places? Been to many several times but they were kinda casual visits. So where to go again? Antarctica - been twice - the most beautiful place on Earth. Sit with the Mountain Gorilla - oh yes for that is unforgettable. New Orleans? I love the feeling of being surrounded by sin. And London and New York get me buzzing like nowhere else in the world.
BUT, no really big urge to go back. I want to see new things!!
Monday, 23 August 2010
Women in uniform
I have heard that many men find women in uniform very sexy. Can't say it ever aroused me except in one case - nurses. They are quite irrirestable. The rest just leave me cold. I mean look at those butch army women - horrible. Nurses are like mothers - maybe that's why we like it. Mind you they can be buggers but weren't mothers?
Missed my vocation in life
My former boss told me that I missed my vocation in life. I should have been a barrow boy in the East end of London. There's a grain of truth there: I think I would have loved it. Think about it. You get the chance to talk, you get an audience, you can bullshit and you can make money. (I tell you there are days when I even believe myself.)
OK, OK, next. A full set of towels, two bath towels, two hand towels and two face cloths.
Feel them darling (to the woman at the front). Bet you'd like a rub down with these?
Lovely aren't they. Finest Egyptian cotton (which they are not). How much you reckon? You there, the one in the pink blouse at the back, what you think? Come on love, give them a feel.
I know what you are thinking, all of you lovelies. Worth every penny of 25 quid. And you're right cus that's what I paid for them.
Trouble is, I am short of readies and her indoors wants to go up West tonight so I gotta sell them. Only 10 sets left.
What did you say my darling? 5 quid? You are pulling my plonker, ain't you?
OK, let's be serious. What do you want to pay? You love, the pretty one. What you reckon?
A tenner? Gor blimey, I am losing my shirt here but you're pretty so done.
etc etc
OK, OK, next. A full set of towels, two bath towels, two hand towels and two face cloths.
Feel them darling (to the woman at the front). Bet you'd like a rub down with these?
Lovely aren't they. Finest Egyptian cotton (which they are not). How much you reckon? You there, the one in the pink blouse at the back, what you think? Come on love, give them a feel.
I know what you are thinking, all of you lovelies. Worth every penny of 25 quid. And you're right cus that's what I paid for them.
Trouble is, I am short of readies and her indoors wants to go up West tonight so I gotta sell them. Only 10 sets left.
What did you say my darling? 5 quid? You are pulling my plonker, ain't you?
OK, let's be serious. What do you want to pay? You love, the pretty one. What you reckon?
A tenner? Gor blimey, I am losing my shirt here but you're pretty so done.
etc etc
Friday, 20 August 2010
Women and their feet
As you walk this world, you see most men walk on their own two feet and when they are standing, they have both feet placed squarely on the floor, sometimes apart, sometimes together. Sometimes they are at angles; sonetimes they are parallel but they don't fidget with them.
Women are entirely different. There are endless varieties with feet placement and in general, they cannot keep them still. Girl in the bus stop today sat with crossed legs and constantlty wiggled her right foot. Girl yesterday stood in the bus stop on the outer heels of her feet with the soles facing each other - didn't look comfortable.
Then you get the slipping out of the shoes - partly. Why? Are they so uncomfortable? And if you go to the cinema, you will be very familiar with their scrabble for shoes when the lights come up.
And you also get the feet crossed while they are standing or alternatively they stand with one foot on the other. Next there is the backwards cross whereby they stand on one foot and the other is behind. And then you get the standing with the toes pointed inwards towards each other.
The list is endless. And I just don't understand it.
Women are entirely different. There are endless varieties with feet placement and in general, they cannot keep them still. Girl in the bus stop today sat with crossed legs and constantlty wiggled her right foot. Girl yesterday stood in the bus stop on the outer heels of her feet with the soles facing each other - didn't look comfortable.
Then you get the slipping out of the shoes - partly. Why? Are they so uncomfortable? And if you go to the cinema, you will be very familiar with their scrabble for shoes when the lights come up.
And you also get the feet crossed while they are standing or alternatively they stand with one foot on the other. Next there is the backwards cross whereby they stand on one foot and the other is behind. And then you get the standing with the toes pointed inwards towards each other.
The list is endless. And I just don't understand it.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Badgers
There is a lot of fuss down here in Wales right now over a proposed cull of badgers in West Wales. There is even more fuss now that the Court of Appeal has declared the cull unlawful.
On the one hand you have the farmers who believe that they carry tuberculosis and infect their cattle. On the other hand, you have the usual bunch of greens and conservationists who simply shout ‘No.’ Truth is that badgers carry TB and so do cattle and they cross-infect each other and I cannot get a straight answer out of anyone about which is the main culprit. Indeed, there may not be a main culprit; maybe they infect each other in equal measure.
Then you have to ask yourself if the problem is really serious. Of course it is serious for the farmer who has his herd quarantined but let us look at the wider picture. In 2009, in Wales, 1.8 million cattle were tested for TB and there were 1,175 new incidents. Of cattle taken to slaughter, 9,951 were classified as reactors meaning that they showed a positive response to a TB test. But guess what? If you like me had a TB vaccine as a child, you would be a reactor because you carry the antibodies all your life.
I spoke to a vet about this and uncovered the real problem. We could inject all cattle with a TB vaccine although more trials are needed. The problem lies in the subsequent testing. All cattle will then show up as reactors and as yet we have no way of knowing if they really have TB or are just reacting to the injection. No solution expected until 2015.
I have another problem here. We in the West berate the poorest people of the world not to harm their wild life even when a child has been killed by a tiger or gorillas have raided the banana crop. Yet we seem unable to tolerate a little attrition of our domestic livestock when even the cause is in doubt. Hypocrisy, I call it.
But I am biased. I have sat in a little dell at sundown and watched them all around me.
On the one hand you have the farmers who believe that they carry tuberculosis and infect their cattle. On the other hand, you have the usual bunch of greens and conservationists who simply shout ‘No.’ Truth is that badgers carry TB and so do cattle and they cross-infect each other and I cannot get a straight answer out of anyone about which is the main culprit. Indeed, there may not be a main culprit; maybe they infect each other in equal measure.
Then you have to ask yourself if the problem is really serious. Of course it is serious for the farmer who has his herd quarantined but let us look at the wider picture. In 2009, in Wales, 1.8 million cattle were tested for TB and there were 1,175 new incidents. Of cattle taken to slaughter, 9,951 were classified as reactors meaning that they showed a positive response to a TB test. But guess what? If you like me had a TB vaccine as a child, you would be a reactor because you carry the antibodies all your life.
I spoke to a vet about this and uncovered the real problem. We could inject all cattle with a TB vaccine although more trials are needed. The problem lies in the subsequent testing. All cattle will then show up as reactors and as yet we have no way of knowing if they really have TB or are just reacting to the injection. No solution expected until 2015.
I have another problem here. We in the West berate the poorest people of the world not to harm their wild life even when a child has been killed by a tiger or gorillas have raided the banana crop. Yet we seem unable to tolerate a little attrition of our domestic livestock when even the cause is in doubt. Hypocrisy, I call it.
But I am biased. I have sat in a little dell at sundown and watched them all around me.
BNP
This acronym stands for the British National Party a group of white supremacists who want no truck with people of darker skin. Recently, it was revealed that all members’ names and details have been posted on the internet. Well tough fucking shit. If it were up to me, I’d brand ‘BNP’ on their foreheads and maybe on their arses as well.
Regrettably, the names of kids with family memberships have been published too; that’s not nice and I hope they don’t suffer. As for the adults who are members, I couldn’t give a shit.
In the past week, the Chairman of the BNP, one Nick Griffin, had his invitation to one the Queen’s Garden Parties revoked. He got an automatic invitation because he is an MEP but the Palace said that his invitation was withdrawn because he had used it for ‘political purposes’ on his blog. Maybe they were telling the truth from their perspective and given their position I guess they had to be nice.
I am constrained by no such limits so my message would have been a little different – ‘Look, you racist scum, we don’t want your or your like here. The sooner you die in the gutter, the sooner the better.’
Maybe if the Nazis had been nipped in the bud like that we would not have had WWII and the holocaust. I don’t know and I certainly do not know if I would have had the courage to speak out.
What I do know was written 200 years ago by Edmund Burke:
‘All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’
So fuck off Nick Griffin and do not pollute my world nor that of my children and my grandchildren anymore.
Regrettably, the names of kids with family memberships have been published too; that’s not nice and I hope they don’t suffer. As for the adults who are members, I couldn’t give a shit.
In the past week, the Chairman of the BNP, one Nick Griffin, had his invitation to one the Queen’s Garden Parties revoked. He got an automatic invitation because he is an MEP but the Palace said that his invitation was withdrawn because he had used it for ‘political purposes’ on his blog. Maybe they were telling the truth from their perspective and given their position I guess they had to be nice.
I am constrained by no such limits so my message would have been a little different – ‘Look, you racist scum, we don’t want your or your like here. The sooner you die in the gutter, the sooner the better.’
Maybe if the Nazis had been nipped in the bud like that we would not have had WWII and the holocaust. I don’t know and I certainly do not know if I would have had the courage to speak out.
What I do know was written 200 years ago by Edmund Burke:
‘All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’
So fuck off Nick Griffin and do not pollute my world nor that of my children and my grandchildren anymore.
Monday, 26 July 2010
Food rationing
During and after WWII, food was rationed in Britain. Understandable because we were fighting a war and quite a bit of food came from abroad. Supplies were limited and the ships that carried it came under attack especially from German submarines. Many were sunk and many lives lost.
I cannot say that I noticed it from the start for I was only born in 1944. However rationing continued until 1951 and was well aware of it by then. For those of you unfamiliar with this I should explain that you were rationed on pretty much everything foodwise and it was prescribed in detail – x ounces of this, y ounces of that, so many eggs etc. all per week. It was probably meagre by today’s standards but I do not recall going hungry and since the rations were balanced, we probably had a pretty good diet. I do recall being particularly fond of the little bottles on concentrated orange juice. Don’t think I ever saw a real orange for years.
In order to prevent corruption (which happened anyway) families were issued with coupons in a booklet and coupons were cut out for each purchase. I don’t remember the details but I recall that there were different coupons for each type of commodity. You had to go to a distribution centre periodically to obtain a new ‘ration’ book as it was called. The place was packed and the queues were long so I would wander off around the hall. The world was pretty safe for little children then.
One time I got lost amongst the crowd and for this one and only time in my life, I thought I had lost my mom. I screamed and screamed and my mother soon found me.
I have few other memories apart from one. At the top of the road was a sweet (candy) shop run by a lady called Miriam. My mother used to give Miriam the whole sweet coupon page and if I bought sweets, Miriam would cut out the relevant coupon after I had left. Sensible arrangement I think with hindsight. You don’t want your little child wandering around with a complete ration book.
Apparently, (and I only knew of this later) some woman watched me buying sweets and not handing over a coupon. She reported Miriam to the authorities but it all came out in the wash and Miriam was exonerated. Pity the woman didn’t check things out before she made the accusation.
Over all, I cannot say that rationing did me any harm.
I cannot say that I noticed it from the start for I was only born in 1944. However rationing continued until 1951 and was well aware of it by then. For those of you unfamiliar with this I should explain that you were rationed on pretty much everything foodwise and it was prescribed in detail – x ounces of this, y ounces of that, so many eggs etc. all per week. It was probably meagre by today’s standards but I do not recall going hungry and since the rations were balanced, we probably had a pretty good diet. I do recall being particularly fond of the little bottles on concentrated orange juice. Don’t think I ever saw a real orange for years.
In order to prevent corruption (which happened anyway) families were issued with coupons in a booklet and coupons were cut out for each purchase. I don’t remember the details but I recall that there were different coupons for each type of commodity. You had to go to a distribution centre periodically to obtain a new ‘ration’ book as it was called. The place was packed and the queues were long so I would wander off around the hall. The world was pretty safe for little children then.
One time I got lost amongst the crowd and for this one and only time in my life, I thought I had lost my mom. I screamed and screamed and my mother soon found me.
I have few other memories apart from one. At the top of the road was a sweet (candy) shop run by a lady called Miriam. My mother used to give Miriam the whole sweet coupon page and if I bought sweets, Miriam would cut out the relevant coupon after I had left. Sensible arrangement I think with hindsight. You don’t want your little child wandering around with a complete ration book.
Apparently, (and I only knew of this later) some woman watched me buying sweets and not handing over a coupon. She reported Miriam to the authorities but it all came out in the wash and Miriam was exonerated. Pity the woman didn’t check things out before she made the accusation.
Over all, I cannot say that rationing did me any harm.
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