Well. It's been a good week so far! After collecting the Disco – which seems to have been fixed and is now running better that it has for many months – I was pleasantly surprised that the bill was significantly less that the amount that was quoted. Rare to get this sort of good news I know, but when added to the unexpected commision that that fell into my lap things have all ended up rather well.
I am pleased to say that the year now ends on a high note and that I shall be giving the interweb a break and celebrating the season for the next ten days or so.
2010 is starting to look like being a prosperous year, I trust that yours will be too.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Monday, 14 December 2009
Prime minister snubbed
This guy didn't want the curse of Jonah rubbing off on him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQHebAqIY7E&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQHebAqIY7E&feature=player_embedded
Piss boiling bollocks - from the Telegraph
Parents face ban on smoking in front of children
A ban on parents smoking in front of their children is being considered by the Government. What a surprise, did anyone think that this was not somewhere on the agenda?
This is the sort of thing that revolutions start with. The level of chicanery, trickery and downright lying that lays behind this proposal defies belief. But even though it is has all the factual base of pixie dust; don't bet that it will not become another of those laws that do no good whatsoever and just make life a little more dull and unbearable.
Not so long ago a story like this would have the footnote that 'you couldn't make it up' added to it, you would need to see some thing way more outlandish to add that now!
Both Leg Iron and Dick Puddlecote have a take on this and I recommend them to you. (And this one!)
As for me, I'll respond to this later – once I've had a cigarette.
A ban on parents smoking in front of their children is being considered by the Government. What a surprise, did anyone think that this was not somewhere on the agenda?
This is the sort of thing that revolutions start with. The level of chicanery, trickery and downright lying that lays behind this proposal defies belief. But even though it is has all the factual base of pixie dust; don't bet that it will not become another of those laws that do no good whatsoever and just make life a little more dull and unbearable.
Not so long ago a story like this would have the footnote that 'you couldn't make it up' added to it, you would need to see some thing way more outlandish to add that now!
Both Leg Iron and Dick Puddlecote have a take on this and I recommend them to you. (And this one!)
As for me, I'll respond to this later – once I've had a cigarette.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Something must be done - really
Old Holborn has a good post, about the return to sanity, currently on his blog. You can read it here or visit the site from the sidebar. He has made some very good points and certainly provides some food for thought.
Which brings me to these thoughts:
If we vote out Labour by voting Tory we will get more of the same.
If we vote for minor or alternative parties we will get (possibly) a hung parliament and more of the same.
The supremacy of the european parliament in the affairs of our domestic government render the process somewhat pointless and we will still get more of the same.
If we want a true change we need to be prepared to fight for it, but how? A full scale armed rebellion is impractical as the majority of the population have been disarmed or had the right to be armed removed over the last hundred years or so. I would also question how many would want to take this option, as it would lead to an almost certain loss of life or liberty unless success was guaranteed. Probably the most important thing to consider is whether any action taken would have an effect and in examining that then the route of violence would, I believe, be counterproductive as we would most likely get a worse system than we have now.
So what other options are available? Civil disobedience is an obvious one, but that has its problems too. If not paying taxes or refusing to filling the required details on forms and registers the choice that you take the state has made sure that it can punish you severely, including the seizure of your assets and imprisonment.
Our options for sedition are greatly limited and there is no doubt that it is our own fault that this is so. There are some very effective things that can be done though and if enough people do them and our tormentors know why they are being done then and only then we will we see a change in the balance of power, one that shifts back to the public under a democratic principle.
I have some ideas about the sort of things that may be effective, but that is for another day.
Which brings me to these thoughts:
If we vote out Labour by voting Tory we will get more of the same.
If we vote for minor or alternative parties we will get (possibly) a hung parliament and more of the same.
The supremacy of the european parliament in the affairs of our domestic government render the process somewhat pointless and we will still get more of the same.
If we want a true change we need to be prepared to fight for it, but how? A full scale armed rebellion is impractical as the majority of the population have been disarmed or had the right to be armed removed over the last hundred years or so. I would also question how many would want to take this option, as it would lead to an almost certain loss of life or liberty unless success was guaranteed. Probably the most important thing to consider is whether any action taken would have an effect and in examining that then the route of violence would, I believe, be counterproductive as we would most likely get a worse system than we have now.
So what other options are available? Civil disobedience is an obvious one, but that has its problems too. If not paying taxes or refusing to filling the required details on forms and registers the choice that you take the state has made sure that it can punish you severely, including the seizure of your assets and imprisonment.
Our options for sedition are greatly limited and there is no doubt that it is our own fault that this is so. There are some very effective things that can be done though and if enough people do them and our tormentors know why they are being done then and only then we will we see a change in the balance of power, one that shifts back to the public under a democratic principle.
I have some ideas about the sort of things that may be effective, but that is for another day.
Dissent on climate change will NOT be allowed
It would seem that asking a reasonable question about something that is certainly pertinent to the whole matter of man-made global warming simply cannot be tolerated;
I'm not surprised. I think that we should expect more of this and we should not be expected to accept it. Anyone who values finding out the truth needs to ask questions, if those question are avoided or ignored then inference will be taken.
I'm not surprised. I think that we should expect more of this and we should not be expected to accept it. Anyone who values finding out the truth needs to ask questions, if those question are avoided or ignored then inference will be taken.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Legal High anyone?
I've just been trawling the interweb thingy and found this little gem!
'I am what the kids call "straight edge", meaning I don't drink, smoke or do any drugs but I am an advocate for the natural drugs that appear in nature. I especially advocate study of the same and the effects they can have.'
Yeees .............................OK but this was the bit that caught my eye;
'My suggestion would be to have a wank and hold your breath for a minute before spurting. You feel all over the show. Beats dope, as far as I know anyway. Never touched the stuff.'
So, who's going to try this then?
'I am what the kids call "straight edge", meaning I don't drink, smoke or do any drugs but I am an advocate for the natural drugs that appear in nature. I especially advocate study of the same and the effects they can have.'
Yeees .............................OK but this was the bit that caught my eye;
'My suggestion would be to have a wank and hold your breath for a minute before spurting. You feel all over the show. Beats dope, as far as I know anyway. Never touched the stuff.'
So, who's going to try this then?
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Puncturing the Climate Balloon
This is a pretty good perspective on the whole 'carbon dioxide will kill us' scam.
From here via Greenie Watch
Had I not devoted my entire career of over half-a-century to the study and forecasting of meteorological and climate events I would have likely been concerned over the possibility of humans causing serious global climate degradation.
There has been an unrelenting quarter century of one-sided indoctrination of the western world by the media and by various scientists and governments concerning a coming carbon dioxide (CO_2 ) induced global warming disaster. These warming scenarios have been orchestrated by a combination of environmentalists, vested interest scientists wanting larger federal grants and publicity, the media which profits from doomsday scenario reporting, governmental bureaucrats who want more power over our lives, and socialists who want to level-out global living standards. These many alarmist groups appear to have little concern over whether their global warming prognostications are accurate, however. And they most certainly are not. The alarmists believe they will be able to scare enough of our citizens into believing their propaganda that the public will be willing to follow their advice on future energy usage and agree to a lowering of their standard of living in the name of climate salvation.
Rising levels of CO_2 are not near the threat these alarmists have portrayed them to be. There has yet to be a honest and broad scientific debate on the basic science of CO_2 's influence on global temperature. The global climate models predicting large amounts of global warming for a doubling of CO_2 are badly flawed. They should never have been used to establish government climate policy.
The last century's global warming of about 1 degree F is not a consequence of human activities. This warming is primarily the result of a multi-century changes in the globe's deep ocean circulation. These ocean current changes have lead to a small and gradual increase in the globe's temperature. We are coming out of the Little Ice Age and into a generally warmer climate state. This is akin to the warmer global climate of the Medieval Period. We can do nothing but adapt to such long period natural temperature changes.
The recent 'ClimateGate' revelations coming out of the UK University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well organized international climate warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years. This conspiracy would become much more manifest if all the e-mails of the publically funded climate research groups of the US and of foreign governments were ever made public.
The disastrous economic consequences of restricting CO_2 emissions from the present by as much as 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 (as being proposed in Copenhagen) have yet to be digested by the general public. Such CO_2 output decreases would cause very large increases in our energy costs, a lowering of our standard of living, and do nothing of significance to improve our climate.
The Cap-and-Trade bill presently before Congress, the likely climate agreements coming out of the Copenhagen Conference, and the EPA's just announced decision to treat CO_2 as a pollutant represents a grave threat to the industrial world's continued economic development. We should not allow these proposals to restrict our economic growth. Any United Nations climate bill our country might sign would act as an infringement on our country's sovereignty.
by Bill Gray
(Gray is the renowned hurricane forecaster and Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University)
From here via Greenie Watch
Had I not devoted my entire career of over half-a-century to the study and forecasting of meteorological and climate events I would have likely been concerned over the possibility of humans causing serious global climate degradation.
There has been an unrelenting quarter century of one-sided indoctrination of the western world by the media and by various scientists and governments concerning a coming carbon dioxide (CO_2 ) induced global warming disaster. These warming scenarios have been orchestrated by a combination of environmentalists, vested interest scientists wanting larger federal grants and publicity, the media which profits from doomsday scenario reporting, governmental bureaucrats who want more power over our lives, and socialists who want to level-out global living standards. These many alarmist groups appear to have little concern over whether their global warming prognostications are accurate, however. And they most certainly are not. The alarmists believe they will be able to scare enough of our citizens into believing their propaganda that the public will be willing to follow their advice on future energy usage and agree to a lowering of their standard of living in the name of climate salvation.
Rising levels of CO_2 are not near the threat these alarmists have portrayed them to be. There has yet to be a honest and broad scientific debate on the basic science of CO_2 's influence on global temperature. The global climate models predicting large amounts of global warming for a doubling of CO_2 are badly flawed. They should never have been used to establish government climate policy.
The last century's global warming of about 1 degree F is not a consequence of human activities. This warming is primarily the result of a multi-century changes in the globe's deep ocean circulation. These ocean current changes have lead to a small and gradual increase in the globe's temperature. We are coming out of the Little Ice Age and into a generally warmer climate state. This is akin to the warmer global climate of the Medieval Period. We can do nothing but adapt to such long period natural temperature changes.
The recent 'ClimateGate' revelations coming out of the UK University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well organized international climate warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years. This conspiracy would become much more manifest if all the e-mails of the publically funded climate research groups of the US and of foreign governments were ever made public.
The disastrous economic consequences of restricting CO_2 emissions from the present by as much as 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 (as being proposed in Copenhagen) have yet to be digested by the general public. Such CO_2 output decreases would cause very large increases in our energy costs, a lowering of our standard of living, and do nothing of significance to improve our climate.
The Cap-and-Trade bill presently before Congress, the likely climate agreements coming out of the Copenhagen Conference, and the EPA's just announced decision to treat CO_2 as a pollutant represents a grave threat to the industrial world's continued economic development. We should not allow these proposals to restrict our economic growth. Any United Nations climate bill our country might sign would act as an infringement on our country's sovereignty.
by Bill Gray
(Gray is the renowned hurricane forecaster and Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University)
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Ho Hum
Still no date to get the Land Rover back and no final price, as they still may find more faults that need to be put right, no doubt at great expense.
On a lighter note; two small commissions this week that will certainly help to bouy up a traditionally slack period.
On a lighter note; two small commissions this week that will certainly help to bouy up a traditionally slack period.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
Reflections
A couple of weeks ago I posted up a short article about some old Mayfair magazines that I threw away and afterwards found that they were worth a few quid. Anyway, with the article was posted a picture of a girl* who may have appeared in the magazine, I can't check this as I have thrown them away of course. The reason that I chose this picture however, is because the girl in the photo bears a close resemblance to a girlfriend of mine, that I was dating in the early eighties. Its not the same girl, but the similarity is quite uncanny!
When I bear in mind that I was dating this girlfriend, lets call her 'Jane', more that 25 years ago it brings home just how different the world was then, especially in respect of attitude to sex and relationships and the responsibilities that accompany them.
Jane would come fishing with me and sometimes on extended trips we would camp out. Although she had no interest at all in the catching of fish, being outdoors gave her a sense of freedom that I suspect she did not have at home. Sex, such as it was, would be confined to outdoors, often infrequent and was, shall we say, of a furtive nature. Remember; that for most of us growing up at the end of the 70's early 80's we had our mums at home all day or maybe working part time – latch-key kids were a rarity and somewhat looked down upon, even though this meant that they were rather more free from parental interferance that the rest of us!
We spent a great summer together, one that I remember as being long and hot, but maybe that is just the bright stream of memory coming into play. She was a girl who liked to wear as little as possible and was always keen to remove what little she was wearing when we spent the day at the river. She was not what you would call a great beauty but she was a pleasant looking, sweet natured, down to earth girl who liked to enjoy herself, smoke a little dope, have a drink that kind of thing. At the end of the summer we just grew apart and I guess that this was a lot to do with not having anywhere private to go. We lost contact and I have only seen her once since, a couple of years after our split.
So, chancing on that picture to illustrate an earlier post just got me wondering.
What is she doing now?
Has life treated her well?
Could things have been different between us?
Would we have wanted them to be?
Never going to know am I?
*The girl in the picture is Roberta Pedon who sadly died in 1982 aged just 28. You can read a short biography of her here
When I bear in mind that I was dating this girlfriend, lets call her 'Jane', more that 25 years ago it brings home just how different the world was then, especially in respect of attitude to sex and relationships and the responsibilities that accompany them.
An uncanny resemblance to Jane
Jane would come fishing with me and sometimes on extended trips we would camp out. Although she had no interest at all in the catching of fish, being outdoors gave her a sense of freedom that I suspect she did not have at home. Sex, such as it was, would be confined to outdoors, often infrequent and was, shall we say, of a furtive nature. Remember; that for most of us growing up at the end of the 70's early 80's we had our mums at home all day or maybe working part time – latch-key kids were a rarity and somewhat looked down upon, even though this meant that they were rather more free from parental interferance that the rest of us!
We spent a great summer together, one that I remember as being long and hot, but maybe that is just the bright stream of memory coming into play. She was a girl who liked to wear as little as possible and was always keen to remove what little she was wearing when we spent the day at the river. She was not what you would call a great beauty but she was a pleasant looking, sweet natured, down to earth girl who liked to enjoy herself, smoke a little dope, have a drink that kind of thing. At the end of the summer we just grew apart and I guess that this was a lot to do with not having anywhere private to go. We lost contact and I have only seen her once since, a couple of years after our split.
So, chancing on that picture to illustrate an earlier post just got me wondering.
What is she doing now?
Has life treated her well?
Could things have been different between us?
Would we have wanted them to be?
Never going to know am I?
*The girl in the picture is Roberta Pedon who sadly died in 1982 aged just 28. You can read a short biography of her here
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Climate Change
Interesting what the great and the good get up to whilst telling us how we need to change theway that we lead our lives isn't it?
And here's an interesting overview of the climate change lobby trying to wriggle out of the mess that they have created on the eve of Copenhagen
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
A truly crap day
Miserable weather.
A distinct lack of work lined up for the new year.
£1500 of repairs needed to the Land Rover engine. That's before we even start to deal with the cosmetic damage that I've caused by driving into hedges and walls and things.
A distinct lack of work lined up for the new year.
£1500 of repairs needed to the Land Rover engine. That's before we even start to deal with the cosmetic damage that I've caused by driving into hedges and walls and things.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Railways
Today I have been on a train. More than one actually. What is more those trains were all operated by National Express. That is to say; the company that has been told that it will not have its' franchise renewed because it doesn't run a railway very well.
Well, the trains left on time, I was able to get a seat easily, journeys were trouble free and I was able to make my appointments in good time. OK, so this is a busy commuter route and I was travelling in the off peak period so maybe I was seeing it at its best, had I been travelling in the rush hour the trains would have been more crowded and the journey less pleasant, but what more could National Express do? There is only so much track and only so much space on those tracks and I am pretty sure that the logistics of train movements are convoluted to say the least!
On balance, I enjoy train travel, and would reccommend it. I'm not sure that the harrassed commuter would agree, but if you have the luxury of choosing the time that you travel, it can offer a simple, stress free alternative to the car.
On balance, I enjoy train travel, and would reccommend it. I'm not sure that the harrassed commuter would agree, but if you have the luxury of choosing the time that you travel, it can offer a simple, stress free alternative to the car.
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