Well blow me down. Phillip Schofield gave the PM a list of supposed paedophiles. A list gleaned from that most reliable of source: The internet. Almost as reliable as the tabloid media.
Now just imagine, your name is on that list. Not you, but some other bloke with the same name. Now, he and you are innocent. (in law at least, until proven guilty) But your name is on the list. In Stalin's Russia, or Hitler's Germany, a name on a list could spell a long spell in the gulag, or worse. Here, you have more to fear from the ill educated lack wits who cannot tell the difference between paedophiles and paediatrics. Even worse, even if only one person so named is proven guilty of something, then all the others will be cheerfully tarred with the same brush. Just because their names appeared on the same bit of paper.
This puts it so much better than I do...
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100188769/burn-them-burn-the-funny-looking-the-strange-the-loners-they-might-be-paedos-all-of-them/
Friday, 9 November 2012
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Well, I am pleasantly surprised.
Not being very cultural, finding new music and all that, is a bit
behind me. I don't have a record collection, as such. Pink Floyd,
Genesis, Marillion, Yes, and that is about it. The rest is BBC Radio 2!
However, whilst browsing ICHC (I can has cheeseburger? http://www.cheezburger.com/) in 'WIN' I found a track by Lindsey Stirling. Blimey I wish I could play any musical instrument that well. I can't even play a recorder, not even a tape one.
Another talented bunch are Blackbeard' tea Party. http://www.blackbeardsteaparty.com/ they busk around and have even visited the capital of sunny Flatshire. Hope they come back soon. I would rather stand in the rain listening to them than being dragged around the shops.
Another talented bunch are Blackbeard' tea Party. http://www.blackbeardsteaparty.com/ they busk around and have even visited the capital of sunny Flatshire. Hope they come back soon. I would rather stand in the rain listening to them than being dragged around the shops.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Wind Farms
I am in two minds about these wind farm thingies.The same argument can be put for solar Photo voltaic panels too.
On one hand, if you take them at their face value; they are fairly efficient, they don't produce pollution, they are not that ugly, especially compared to huge cooling towers and plumes of smoke. They don't smell, and birds do not fly into them and die.
Solar PV, are not efficient enough as yet. Not at UK latitudes anyway. I don't care what the 'greenies' say. The manufacture of PV panels uses more power than the panels will produce in their usable life time (current state of the art). Unless you need to power a satellite, which can be in sunlight 24/7 (nearly) if in the correct orbit. In the UK, however, that's not happening.
On the other hand; if you take the energy used to manufacture wind farms, energy wise, they almost certainly will not 'pay' for themselves Unless they last for years without failure. Which they won't. Failutes will be commmon Manufacturing them does cause pollution.Repairing them does too. In the wrong places, they are pig ugly. And because they have movement, they stand out. You can get used to a big ugly building, they stay put. But something as dynamic as a wind farm?
Really, wind farms are a stop gap. Not a panacea for profligate energy usage. And without some form of energy storage, barley any use as a local source. Think about it, the wind is howling around the house. It's 03:00. You are in bed, asleep, in your gas fired centrally heated home. The only electricity being consumed is by the standby functions on the TV etc..( but as a good 'greeny' you have turned them off). Unless you have electric storage heaters, you are getting nothing from these things. Ok, other businesses could be using the total output from them, all well and good. But then what happens on a flat calm?
Batteries are not practical as energy storage. The state of the art is improving, but is still not good enough for a really practical car, let alone a house. Of course, you can get around that with money. Huge batteries are available. Purchase a used SSK, remove batteries and use. However, the batteries don't have a long use life, need regular, highly skilled (If not skilled, just remove the 's') maintenance. And are incredibly none green to make.
So what we really need is a constant, reliable, power supply. Well, that isn't happening until fusion power comes on line.
Ok, if you want to run your Nintendo, Playstation, what have you, you will have to go nuclear. Yep, Nuclear. For those that do not understand nuclear power, and have a computer with intertubes, use it to do a bit of research. Don't be thick and believe what others tell you, make your own mind up. There is NO excuse for ignorance. Here is a pointer- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor . Not perhaps the answer, but better than wind farms. Or is it?
On one hand, if you take them at their face value; they are fairly efficient, they don't produce pollution, they are not that ugly, especially compared to huge cooling towers and plumes of smoke. They don't smell, and birds do not fly into them and die.
Solar PV, are not efficient enough as yet. Not at UK latitudes anyway. I don't care what the 'greenies' say. The manufacture of PV panels uses more power than the panels will produce in their usable life time (current state of the art). Unless you need to power a satellite, which can be in sunlight 24/7 (nearly) if in the correct orbit. In the UK, however, that's not happening.
On the other hand; if you take the energy used to manufacture wind farms, energy wise, they almost certainly will not 'pay' for themselves Unless they last for years without failure. Which they won't. Failutes will be commmon Manufacturing them does cause pollution.Repairing them does too. In the wrong places, they are pig ugly. And because they have movement, they stand out. You can get used to a big ugly building, they stay put. But something as dynamic as a wind farm?
Really, wind farms are a stop gap. Not a panacea for profligate energy usage. And without some form of energy storage, barley any use as a local source. Think about it, the wind is howling around the house. It's 03:00. You are in bed, asleep, in your gas fired centrally heated home. The only electricity being consumed is by the standby functions on the TV etc..( but as a good 'greeny' you have turned them off). Unless you have electric storage heaters, you are getting nothing from these things. Ok, other businesses could be using the total output from them, all well and good. But then what happens on a flat calm?
Batteries are not practical as energy storage. The state of the art is improving, but is still not good enough for a really practical car, let alone a house. Of course, you can get around that with money. Huge batteries are available. Purchase a used SSK, remove batteries and use. However, the batteries don't have a long use life, need regular, highly skilled (If not skilled, just remove the 's') maintenance. And are incredibly none green to make.
So what we really need is a constant, reliable, power supply. Well, that isn't happening until fusion power comes on line.
Ok, if you want to run your Nintendo, Playstation, what have you, you will have to go nuclear. Yep, Nuclear. For those that do not understand nuclear power, and have a computer with intertubes, use it to do a bit of research. Don't be thick and believe what others tell you, make your own mind up. There is NO excuse for ignorance. Here is a pointer- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor . Not perhaps the answer, but better than wind farms. Or is it?
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Belief
I am totally puzzled as to why a 'belief' trumps a fact.
Now I expect that you, dear reader, will be familiar with such diverse words as; wapentake, resurgence, honesty...
In nuclear physics, the tiny words (if you like) of the particle zoo maybe a mystery to you, and me too, up to a point, and yet we can carry out experiments at home that confirm that our world is stranger than we think.The double slit experiment, for example, showing diffraction, can be carried out on your own kitchen table. Any flat surface will do. Particles or waves?
Atoms are made of mainly nothing, and yet we can touch things, alter our environment, sit down. Type on a keyboard, modulate pressure waves to make sound, see wavelengths at around 400–790 THz ! You can perceive sound from nearly 20Hz to 20 Khz (that is if you haven't been stupid enough to expose ones hearing to sounds so loud as to permanently damage your hearing). This doesn't take much to damage, trust me. I used to work with Firestreak air to airM> s, most of my contemporarys lost their high frequency hearing due to the air turbine generator noise of M> s under test. Those who think they are 'cool' with their car audio thumping out loud beats, are screwing their hearing up. Which of course , will make them turn it up more... And then the NHS pays for their stupidity. But of course, the NHS doesn't pay for their care, we do. We pay for the NHS. Taxpayers. *Note*, Taxpayers pay for the NHS. We pay for the police too. But I bet that taxpayers receive less, and a poorer service than those that do not.
We had the misfortune to visit the local A&E recently. A family of absolute awfulness, whom we have the pleasure of maintaining with our taxes, had the run or the place. Demanding this that and the other. For amusement, they were having wheelchair races around A&E. As most of them were smoking, (Including barely teenagers) and it wasn't raining, they were outside. Thank fuck. Their 'rights', in their minds obviously trumped everyone else's. Fortunately, for us, our youngest only had a sprained ankle. Not a break. And we left after excellent service and patience from the staff. We left with relief, they were stuck there dealing with the scum, who pay nothing in voluntarily contribution. No, tax on tobacco does not count as a voluntary payment. The 'illness' of their poorly family member was indeed smoking related, COPD was mentioned. Now I had a friend die of COPD due mainly to smoking. And a sad loss too, she worked until she could not. She knew what caused it, and blamed no one else but her own stupidity for her condition. Dignity she knew. These, however, knew nothing of dignity, or of waiting lists, or of triage.
This is a bit of an aside from my first thoughts of the evening. Apparently, a bunch of god botherers have taken it into their tiny heads that killing someone because possibly, someone else has made a mockery of something that never existed, would bring peace. Or some shit. Now I know there is, and never was and never will be a 'super being', unless of course we evolve into it. Look around you, do you think we will? Really, no. Thought not. There is no god, allah, buddha. Just us. Actually, Buddha probably did exist, as did Jesus, I know at least one Jesus. And he drinks more alcohol than I do.
Now I expect that you, dear reader, will be familiar with such diverse words as; wapentake, resurgence, honesty...
In nuclear physics, the tiny words (if you like) of the particle zoo maybe a mystery to you, and me too, up to a point, and yet we can carry out experiments at home that confirm that our world is stranger than we think.The double slit experiment, for example, showing diffraction, can be carried out on your own kitchen table. Any flat surface will do. Particles or waves?
Atoms are made of mainly nothing, and yet we can touch things, alter our environment, sit down. Type on a keyboard, modulate pressure waves to make sound, see wavelengths at around 400–790 THz ! You can perceive sound from nearly 20Hz to 20 Khz (that is if you haven't been stupid enough to expose ones hearing to sounds so loud as to permanently damage your hearing). This doesn't take much to damage, trust me. I used to work with Firestreak air to air
We had the misfortune to visit the local A&E recently. A family of absolute awfulness, whom we have the pleasure of maintaining with our taxes, had the run or the place. Demanding this that and the other. For amusement, they were having wheelchair races around A&E. As most of them were smoking, (Including barely teenagers) and it wasn't raining, they were outside. Thank fuck. Their 'rights', in their minds obviously trumped everyone else's. Fortunately, for us, our youngest only had a sprained ankle. Not a break. And we left after excellent service and patience from the staff. We left with relief, they were stuck there dealing with the scum, who pay nothing in voluntarily contribution. No, tax on tobacco does not count as a voluntary payment. The 'illness' of their poorly family member was indeed smoking related, COPD was mentioned. Now I had a friend die of COPD due mainly to smoking. And a sad loss too, she worked until she could not. She knew what caused it, and blamed no one else but her own stupidity for her condition. Dignity she knew. These, however, knew nothing of dignity, or of waiting lists, or of triage.
This is a bit of an aside from my first thoughts of the evening. Apparently, a bunch of god botherers have taken it into their tiny heads that killing someone because possibly, someone else has made a mockery of something that never existed, would bring peace. Or some shit. Now I know there is, and never was and never will be a 'super being', unless of course we evolve into it. Look around you, do you think we will? Really, no. Thought not. There is no god, allah, buddha. Just us. Actually, Buddha probably did exist, as did Jesus, I know at least one Jesus. And he drinks more alcohol than I do.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Sports
Well, I for one hate all, yes hate all, spectator 'sports' . I honestly do not give a single solitary damn about the current meeja fest.. I don't like the fact that so much public money was spent so pointlessly. I hate the fact that so many take it as read that because they like something, so does everyone else. All that money pissed away on what is in reality a big party. Ok whatever floats your boat, but don't come to me with your hangover. I would have preferred perhaps; fighting cancer, or maybe Alzheimer's disease, third world poverty, HIV, something useful like nuclear fusion. But no, it has to be on sport , so damned frivolous.
Don't get me wrong, if you like to kick a ball about (for example), fine, it's good for you to get exercise, but if you want funds for kit, say, dig into your own pockets, form a club. The public purse should not be used to pay for sport. I want my money to go to those who actually deserve it. As far as I can see, the most pointless people on the planet are professional 'sports persons', professional god botherers, and politicians. If the whole lot were shot, no one would really notice. Well, maybe their NoK, but no one else.
On a similar vein, I notice that certain companies are 'sponsoring' the current crap going on in London. These companies are not privately owned, but are owned by us TAX payers. Ie; you and me. Whether we want to or not, our cash is being wasted on something we did not choose. For example; Lloyds are giving our money away sponsoring something I would be embarrassed to be involved with. I have had my money saved with this bunch of shysters for years, they then fuck up so monstrously and have to be bailed out, not only by me, as a customer, but by you and me as a taxpayers. And for some reason, it's ok for them to give OUR money away? Well Mr Lloyds. Goodbye, I will be taking my money else where. Maybe the 'Bank of Dave' is a better bet.
Don't get me wrong, if you like to kick a ball about (for example), fine, it's good for you to get exercise, but if you want funds for kit, say, dig into your own pockets, form a club. The public purse should not be used to pay for sport. I want my money to go to those who actually deserve it. As far as I can see, the most pointless people on the planet are professional 'sports persons', professional god botherers, and politicians. If the whole lot were shot, no one would really notice. Well, maybe their NoK, but no one else.
On a similar vein, I notice that certain companies are 'sponsoring' the current crap going on in London. These companies are not privately owned, but are owned by us TAX payers. Ie; you and me. Whether we want to or not, our cash is being wasted on something we did not choose. For example; Lloyds are giving our money away sponsoring something I would be embarrassed to be involved with. I have had my money saved with this bunch of shysters for years, they then fuck up so monstrously and have to be bailed out, not only by me, as a customer, but by you and me as a taxpayers. And for some reason, it's ok for them to give OUR money away? Well Mr Lloyds. Goodbye, I will be taking my money else where. Maybe the 'Bank of Dave' is a better bet.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Puzzled
It's a mystery to me, the games commenced...
Apparently, global warming is caused by human activity, so, anything that can be described as a frivolous addition to the CO2 levels it the atmosphere should be stamped on. So you greeny smokers of recreational pharmaceuticals, you should be first to be shot. With a reusable arrow ( and a yew bow ) of course. The current Olympic nonsense would, of course be classed as frivolous, as would any 'professional' sporting activity. Good bye ball kickers and your pointless hangers on.
The reality is totally different though. Human recorded history only covers a tiny fraction of one percent of the existence of our planet, which is about 4.3 billion years old. Yes, 4.3 BILLION years, get over it god botherers, the bible is wrong. Again. As usual. The temperature world wide has varied a lot over that time, from the whole planet being totally free of ice to an almost complete covering of snow and ice in the coldest months. In fact, fact lovers, not so long ago, where I am now sitting was a warm, shallow sea, that eventually laid down enough limestone to create Flatshire!
Apparently, global warming is caused by human activity, so, anything that can be described as a frivolous addition to the CO2 levels it the atmosphere should be stamped on. So you greeny smokers of recreational pharmaceuticals, you should be first to be shot. With a reusable arrow ( and a yew bow ) of course. The current Olympic nonsense would, of course be classed as frivolous, as would any 'professional' sporting activity. Good bye ball kickers and your pointless hangers on.
The reality is totally different though. Human recorded history only covers a tiny fraction of one percent of the existence of our planet, which is about 4.3 billion years old. Yes, 4.3 BILLION years, get over it god botherers, the bible is wrong. Again. As usual. The temperature world wide has varied a lot over that time, from the whole planet being totally free of ice to an almost complete covering of snow and ice in the coldest months. In fact, fact lovers, not so long ago, where I am now sitting was a warm, shallow sea, that eventually laid down enough limestone to create Flatshire!
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