|
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info] [main site] [f.a.q.] [blog roll + ...] Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in the "the auroran sunset" journal:
|
|
12:02 am
![[User Picture] height=](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/3328540/398316) |
new no2id poster
i tend to agree with abelard that ID cards are empirically unworkable and simply a form of make-work corruption. However, it is not the sort of make-work corruption i like to see. No2ID is doing good work causing Bliar and co. problems implementing this particular pork-barrel project. Here is one of their latest advert posters:
It is a fairly similar idea to this t-shirt, of which i have one. I don't think I'll be getting a t-shirt with the Bliar picture - the other one was acceptable because it had lots of pretty colours, even if i would have preferred it with a black background.
|
| |
03:48 pm
|
scathing report on political cowardice over nuclear power
8 page pdf report by bernard ingham on sustainable energy。 essentially nothing you won't know if you have read abelard's energy economics pages： we need to be building large nuclear powers stations and quickly。。 unless we want hundreds of millions around the world to die when the fossil fuels run down so far that they can no longer sustain civilisation， sometime in the next few decades。
the uk government is currently trying to claim that the problem will be solved by a tiny investment in renewable sources， which in the uk means wind power， and some sort of nebulous "efficiency"。 converting to renewable energy sources is not only not in fact 'clean' and at least twice as expensive as gas power generation， it is also woefully impractical：
The average [wind] turbine in Britain generates only about a quarter of its rated output. Turbines do not generate any electricity when the wind does not blow or when, for safety reasons, they have to be shut down when wind speeds exceed 55mph. Nor does nature routinely oblige with optimum wind speeds for generation. Yet consumers still need electricity if turbines are becalmed since it is not possible to store electricity in bulk.
They particularly need power during those mid-winter anti-cyclones that bring calm and plummeting temperatures. The gap has to be filled by coal, oil, gas or nuclear stations on “spinning reserve” standby. As coal, oil or gas stations are most often used for this purpose, wind, looked at overall, is anything but clean. [...]
The problem is that renewables are dilute sources of energy. To produce 1000MW – the output of an average conventional power station – wind (when it is blowing conveniently) requires the whole of Dartmoor, biomass a forest the size of North Wales; bio-oil a rape seed field the size of the Highlands of Scotland; bio-alcohol the whole of Devon given over to sugar beet or Yorkshire to corn; and bio-gas 800 million chickens with regular digestions on a farm covering a third of Dartmoor, following best husbandry practice that allows 10 to 11 chickens per square metre. In contrast, a nuclear power station takes up only 10 soccer pitches. And we need not just one 1000MW power station to meet peak demand but up to 60.
even when nuclear power stations are mention， they come with absurd lead times：
nuclear is no answer to short term needs if it takes – or the Government allows it to take – 10 years to build a nuclear power station from the drawing board to the first unit of electricity generated (China can do this in just five years).
china is actually talking of three years in cases i've seen recently， even that seems too long to me。 there is a train come down the tracks， ten years to maybe build a couple of nuke stations is totally unacceptable。 the uk needs at least 60 large power stations (this doesn't take into account growth in demand or the necessity to make replacement transport fuels)， and it needs those stations to run on fuel that is actually available。 securing our energy future is no joke or public relations exercise， yet blair acts as it is； meanwhile the british sheep slumber oblivious。
the document is well worth a careful read。
[lead from abelard]
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: Bonnie Tyler - Forget Her
|
| |
09:11 pm
|
blair speech item extended
i decided that my article on blair's speech could do with expanded comments。 click the link if you wish to read them。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Afroman - Because I Got High
|
| 09:07 am
|
ye gads! blair gets philosophy!
don't tell me blair is starting to think his way out of socialism！
The pace of change can either overwhelm us, or make our lives better and our country stronger.
What we can't do is pretend it is not happening.
I hear people say we have to stop and debate globalisation. You might as well debate whether autumn should follow summer.
taken from his party conference speech。 what with doing the right thing with iraq and speeches like that， one could almost start to grudgingly respect the bastard， despite the compulsive lying and breakneck destruction of british rule of law！ quite incredible。 is this really blair？！
a large part of the speech is dedicated to in turn telling different groups in britain and its labour party to grow the fuck up。 it is well worth a read and/or watch。
people get the government they want/deserve。 the british have made it very clear that they are unwilling to stand up for their liberty or take responsibility for their lives。 the inevitable result is a blair and a government determined to make it impossible for them to not behave as they 'ought'。 if you behave as a child， you will be treated as a child。 britain made its choice over a decade ago and continues to reaffirm that choice every day they fail to take their lives into their own hands and rejoin the adult world。
the british， however， seem to be incredibly lucky to have got themselves a largely benevolent dictator， one who seem determined to look after the sheep rather than just fleece them。 he even seems to think that one day he'll get them to grow up and stand on their own feet：
One day when I am asked by someone whose neighbourhood is plagued with anti-social behaviour; or whose local school is failing or hospital is poor, "what are you going to do about it?", I want to be able to reply: "We have given you the resources. We have given you the powers. Now tell me what you are going to do about it."
good luck to him！
of course someone like me might change that to "we haven't stolen your resources， all power remains in your hands， now what are you going to do about it？"， but then i am no socialist， nor am i running a kindergarten。 --_^
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Nas - U Wanna Be Me
|
|
|
