"Smoking disease costs NHS £5bn" has been the headline repeated all over the main-stream media for the past couple of days. The report that came to this conclusion was funded by the British Heart Foundation and led by a Dr Steven Allender. Curiously, all the reports I have read state that Dr Allender is a senior researcher at the University of Oxford and that the BHF funded the report. Both of these statements are true but the one fact that is omitted* is that Dr Allender works for the BHF in the BHF funded Health Promotion Research Group. I am not suggesting anything untoward; I am just fascinated that this arrangement is not made explicit.
Anyway, the point of this diatribe is that it may cost £5bn to treat smoking related diseases but the total revenue from raised from tobacco product sales in 2007 was £9.9bn. Since I believe that people should have the freedom to choose to smoke if they so desire then I think the country comes out of it rather well and the reports of this report are remiss in not mentioning the fact that smokers more than pay for their own treatment. Incidentally, some people believe that if nobody smoked we would all live longer and cost the NHS a lot more than £5bn in treating age related diseases.
Dr Allender has a qualification I have not heard of before, to wit a Bachelor Applied Science (Human Movement) from the University of Ballarat.
* Except here
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Monday, 8 June 2009
Off-site on shoring
I work in IT as a programmer. It is a job I love but work is becoming scarce and this is in part due to those very clever Indians. I don't have a problem with work being off-shored, moving production to a place where it can be done cheaply with no loss in quality is an obvious business decision and anybody who finds capitalism acceptable cannot argue with that. However, there is another aspect to off-shoring called on-site off-shoring. To give a parochial example, assume that Acme Business Solutions has a need for a team of programmers. Acme Business Solutions contracts Indian Outsourcing Ltd to supply the programmers. The key element of the contract for this example is that Acme Business Solutions insist that all the work is done on their premises due to the confidential nature of the data the programmers will be exposed to. Consequently, Indian Outsourcing Ltd move a team of Indian programmers to Acme's premises. In order for these programmers to work legally in the UK they are issued with what are known as intra-company visas.
So far, so ordinary; I would be surprised if anybody in the IT sector wasn't aware of this happening. What I wasn't aware of until I heard Radio 4's File on Four (website here, transcript here and listen again here) last night, was that intra-company visas should be used where staff have specific company knowledge or distinct skills which were not available in the UK. According to Keith Sharp, marketing director of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM*), "Government guidelines are very clear that there can be no cost advantage in bringing in an Indian IT professional on a temporary assignment as opposed to a local contractor." In other words the Indian IT worker should be paid the same as a UK based contractor. According to Ann Swain, head of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, there are "about 35,000 IT professionals coming into the UK frankly in a market that is not short of IT professionals in the incumbent workforce".
All of which leads one to ask the question "If it is not a cost saving then why are companies doing it?"
* An Indian Chamber of Commerce that serves as an interface to the Indian software and BPO industry.
So far, so ordinary; I would be surprised if anybody in the IT sector wasn't aware of this happening. What I wasn't aware of until I heard Radio 4's File on Four (website here, transcript here and listen again here) last night, was that intra-company visas should be used where staff have specific company knowledge or distinct skills which were not available in the UK. According to Keith Sharp, marketing director of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM*), "Government guidelines are very clear that there can be no cost advantage in bringing in an Indian IT professional on a temporary assignment as opposed to a local contractor." In other words the Indian IT worker should be paid the same as a UK based contractor. According to Ann Swain, head of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, there are "about 35,000 IT professionals coming into the UK frankly in a market that is not short of IT professionals in the incumbent workforce".
All of which leads one to ask the question "If it is not a cost saving then why are companies doing it?"
* An Indian Chamber of Commerce that serves as an interface to the Indian software and BPO industry.
Friday, 5 June 2009
Words
I like words. Amongst my favourites are cadence, tmesis, mellifluous and boustrophedonic.
Whilst discussing words and books with a colleague at work I mentioned the outline of a book which was recommended to me many years ago but whose title I had forgotten. I did recall, though, that it sounded the same as someone chanting the letters l, m, n, o, p. Entering the search string lmnop on Wikipedia returned a page about the very book I was after namely, Ella Minnow Pea. Even better though is the description at the top of the Wikipedia entry which describes the book as "a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable". What a wonderful sentence.
Whilst discussing words and books with a colleague at work I mentioned the outline of a book which was recommended to me many years ago but whose title I had forgotten. I did recall, though, that it sounded the same as someone chanting the letters l, m, n, o, p. Entering the search string lmnop on Wikipedia returned a page about the very book I was after namely, Ella Minnow Pea. Even better though is the description at the top of the Wikipedia entry which describes the book as "a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable". What a wonderful sentence.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
For Whom Should I Vote?
I know it is a bit late in the day but if you haven't voted already and you are not sure who to vote for then you might like to try these websites, votematch and euprofiler. Both sites present you with a list of statements to which you indicate how much you agree or disagree. This is followed by a second section where you say how important you consider the various topics that the statements have covered are to you. At the end they indicate which party your opinions are most closely aligned. A bit of fun that might surprise you. It certainly surprised me.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Connections
Pierre mentioned this. I replied that I thought this was cleverer but in searching for that article I had come across this which mentioned the Leibniz formula. Looking up the Leibniz formula in Wikipedia here led me to discover that it should really be known as the Madhava-Leibniz series and that this is an example of this.
Who would have thought that a chance remark by Pierre would have led me to discover Stigler's law?
Who would have thought that a chance remark by Pierre would have led me to discover Stigler's law?
A Horse's Tale
I knew most of this story already but I have to admit it still made me laugh out loud.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Guinness is good for you....
Guinness has 126 calories per bottle... less calories than a 16oz. glass of milk.
Is a natural semi-laxative, due to the live yeast.
Guinness is thought to be a natural aphrodisiac.
Guinness is very high in Iron, and in Ireland has been given to blood donors, post-operative stomach, and intestinal patients.
The hops used in Guinness prevent excessive calcium build-up, as in kidney stones.
Is a natural semi-laxative, due to the live yeast.
Guinness is thought to be a natural aphrodisiac.
Guinness is very high in Iron, and in Ireland has been given to blood donors, post-operative stomach, and intestinal patients.
The hops used in Guinness prevent excessive calcium build-up, as in kidney stones.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
The Mash
Guys,
If you haven't seen it and are not offended by sharp satire and naughty words, check out the daily mash:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
It has brightened up many a drab working lunch in my otherwise dull existence!
If you haven't seen it and are not offended by sharp satire and naughty words, check out the daily mash:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
It has brightened up many a drab working lunch in my otherwise dull existence!
I am above average
Seeing as this is Paul's blog, I guess I should start with a post about maths. That will make the old chap happy, and also make my head hurt a little. Here goes....
If I ask you what the likelihood is that the next person who speaks to you today has an above average number of legs, I imagine you may say something along the lines of "not bloody likely". However, you would be WRONG. The vast majority of us have an above average number of legs.
How so I hear you say?
Well - lets say for simplicity's sake that a desert island has 500 inhabitants. 499 of these people have 2 legs. However, a retired pirate sporting a peg leg also lives there. This makes a total of 999 legs on our fictional island.
So the average number of legs is 999/500 (legs/people) = 1.99 legs
There you have it me hearties. The moral of the story: always look at the figures! If you want a better explanation, check out asymmetric distributions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wobegon_effect#Asymmetric_distributions
Are you bored yet?
If I ask you what the likelihood is that the next person who speaks to you today has an above average number of legs, I imagine you may say something along the lines of "not bloody likely". However, you would be WRONG. The vast majority of us have an above average number of legs.
How so I hear you say?
Well - lets say for simplicity's sake that a desert island has 500 inhabitants. 499 of these people have 2 legs. However, a retired pirate sporting a peg leg also lives there. This makes a total of 999 legs on our fictional island.
So the average number of legs is 999/500 (legs/people) = 1.99 legs
There you have it me hearties. The moral of the story: always look at the figures! If you want a better explanation, check out asymmetric distributions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wobegon_effect#Asymmetric_distributions
Are you bored yet?
The Bradley Goodwin Super Amazing Guest Blog
Hello all,
So - Paul is off sunning himself or something similar that involves not being at work. Hence, I have been invited to guest blog on grasp the mettle for the rest of the week....
Well, I don't really know what I will blog about; if it will be rubbish, or if anyone will actually read it or care. So I apologise if all my posts are actually just a stream of my strange consciousness....but hey rubbish in, rubbish out as they say.
A little about me, for those who haven't had the dubious pleasure of making my acquaintance. I'm a 27 year old guy who works in the same office as Paul. My favourite things are Guinness, Haribo sweets and penguins. I also like marking things out of 10, foreign films and the band Bloc Party. I dislike spiders, mushrooms and mullets.
Introduction over, I'll blog something later whilst I'm supposed to be doing work!x
So - Paul is off sunning himself or something similar that involves not being at work. Hence, I have been invited to guest blog on grasp the mettle for the rest of the week....
Well, I don't really know what I will blog about; if it will be rubbish, or if anyone will actually read it or care. So I apologise if all my posts are actually just a stream of my strange consciousness....but hey rubbish in, rubbish out as they say.
A little about me, for those who haven't had the dubious pleasure of making my acquaintance. I'm a 27 year old guy who works in the same office as Paul. My favourite things are Guinness, Haribo sweets and penguins. I also like marking things out of 10, foreign films and the band Bloc Party. I dislike spiders, mushrooms and mullets.
Introduction over, I'll blog something later whilst I'm supposed to be doing work!x
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Mathematical Aspirations
The government wants us to value science because "… it creates thousands of jobs that keep Britain at the leading edge."* To help to promote the importance of science it has created a website. It uses some examples of how science can help us do things. Which example do they use to illustrate how mathematics "is the key to our prosperity"? This one.
* Clearly, not at the leading edge of grammar.
* Clearly, not at the leading edge of grammar.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
So Gordon Brown believes "that the keystone of any reform must be to switch from self-regulation to independent external regulation". I believe that this would be a monumental folly. What he is saying is that the very people who are charged with running our country are not responsible enough to devise a remuneration system that is perceived to be equitable and fair. The government cannot and should not create a body that is independent and whose remit is to apply rules back to parliament. This is creating an entity that is above parliament. Who will it answer to? It clearly cannot answer to parliament because it is independent.
This proposal also removes accountability. I will have no say on who serves on this independent body whereas I do have a say (too little and too infrequently but that is another story) on who serves in parliament.
The allowances saga is but a symptom of the malaise that has infected parliament for the past forty years. A self-induced illness caused by handing power to the EU which has made its existence increasingly irrelevant. Creating an independent body to oversee MPs remuneration would be yet another step along the way to complete loss of sovereignty of government.
This proposal also removes accountability. I will have no say on who serves on this independent body whereas I do have a say (too little and too infrequently but that is another story) on who serves in parliament.
The allowances saga is but a symptom of the malaise that has infected parliament for the past forty years. A self-induced illness caused by handing power to the EU which has made its existence increasingly irrelevant. Creating an independent body to oversee MPs remuneration would be yet another step along the way to complete loss of sovereignty of government.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
I Feel Dirty
It is being reported in today's Daily Telegraph that taking a shower during the day helps employees become more productive. The report states that there was a 42% increase in productivity and a 33% increase in creativity. Unfortunately, the original report, by a PR firm called Lucre, does not appear to be on the Internet so one can only speculate on how one measures an improvement in creativity. I wouldn't know where to begin. However, when it comes to productivity I expect that a measure would be along the lines of produced so many Xs in Y hours, the change in the value of X giving a value of the change in productivity. The problem is that the four businesses involved in the study are not easy ones in which to measure productivity.
Three of them, an advertising agency in Leeds called Horne, a company of designers called 3s in London and a company of lingerie designers called Simone Perele in Surrey all suffer from the problem of what product is it that one might one measure?
The fourth place is a restaurant called The Chancery in London. I suppose that the number of meals produced per hour or the average time taken to produce a meal would be a good start. Great care would have to be taken that all other factors such as the number of customers, the type of meal ordered and how many people were working in the kitchen were taken into account.
So, without further information, I feel that the above statistics are dubious to say the least. This is exacerbated by the later statement that "Employees generally felt that they had done a better job during the showering phase, with a 16 per cent increase". A 16% increase in what?
Thus, one concludes, that this is all a PR exercise but PR for whom? All is revealed in the last line of the report which states "The survey was conducted by Lucre for their client Mira Showers". Nuff said.
Three of them, an advertising agency in Leeds called Horne, a company of designers called 3s in London and a company of lingerie designers called Simone Perele in Surrey all suffer from the problem of what product is it that one might one measure?
The fourth place is a restaurant called The Chancery in London. I suppose that the number of meals produced per hour or the average time taken to produce a meal would be a good start. Great care would have to be taken that all other factors such as the number of customers, the type of meal ordered and how many people were working in the kitchen were taken into account.
So, without further information, I feel that the above statistics are dubious to say the least. This is exacerbated by the later statement that "Employees generally felt that they had done a better job during the showering phase, with a 16 per cent increase". A 16% increase in what?
Thus, one concludes, that this is all a PR exercise but PR for whom? All is revealed in the last line of the report which states "The survey was conducted by Lucre for their client Mira Showers". Nuff said.
Mervyn King
Mervyn King is the governor of the Bank of England which makes him a civil servant. He is therefore on a final salary pension scheme. His current salary is £297,920. Having worked at the bank for twenty years he is eligible for a pension equivalent to two-thirds of his annual salary which I calculate as £198,613 but is being reported as £198,200. To support a pension of this size you need a large pot of money so it really should come as no surprise that the governor's pot is a massive £5,356,500. That is the amount of money you and I have paid to be put on one side so that this one civil servant can have a retirement where he receives from his pension in one day what a man on a median salary earns in a week.
Monday, 18 May 2009
A Sign of the Times
I am immensely grateful to the people who look after the building that I work in, for the signs that they put up. There have been a number of times when I have set off to spread rubbish around the toilet and generally make a mess. Every time I have been brought up short by the sign on the door that reminds me to Please keep this toilet clean and tidy.
Today I notice that they have gone further by erecting notices that tell me how to wash my hands and how to sneeze. I am not sure how I managed to do these things correctly in the past without being reminded. My only worry now is that I won't know what to do if I feel a sneeze coming on and I am not near the gents toilet.
Today I notice that they have gone further by erecting notices that tell me how to wash my hands and how to sneeze. I am not sure how I managed to do these things correctly in the past without being reminded. My only worry now is that I won't know what to do if I feel a sneeze coming on and I am not near the gents toilet.
Euro Quiz Answers
1) How many Members of the European Parliament (MEP) will represent the UK after these elections?
There will be 72 MEPs representing the United Kingdom. This is a reduction from the 78 we currently have.
2) What constituency are you in?
A difficult question for me to answer since I do not know where you are but the constituencies in the UK are:
London
South East England
South West England
West Midlands
North West England
North East England
Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands
East of England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
3) How many MEP are elected to represent that constituency?
* One seat less than in 2004.
Compare this with the table at Wikipedia
4) How many votes do you have?
If you are eligible to vote then you will be able to cast one vote.
5) What will you see listed on the ballot paper?
You will see the names of the parties that are fielding candidates. Unlike national and local elections you will not see the names of the candidates.
6) How do they determine who will represent you when all the votes have been counted?
The system is known as the d'Hondt method, d'Hondt being the surname of the Belgian mathematician who devised the technique. The best way to explain the method is to work through an example. Don't be put off it is really quite simple.
There will be 72 MEPs representing the United Kingdom. This is a reduction from the 78 we currently have.
2) What constituency are you in?
A difficult question for me to answer since I do not know where you are but the constituencies in the UK are:
London
South East England
South West England
West Midlands
North West England
North East England
Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands
East of England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
3) How many MEP are elected to represent that constituency?
| Constituency | Seats | Pop. | per Seat |
| London | 8* | 7.4m | 925k |
| South East England | 10 | 8m | 800k |
| South West England | 6* | 4.9m | 817k |
| West Midlands | 6* | 5.2m | 867k |
| North West England | 8* | 6.7m | 838k |
| North East England | 3 | 2.5m | 833k |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 6 | 5.1m | 850k |
| East Midlands | 5* | 4.1m | 820k |
| East of England | 7 | 5.4m | 771k |
| Northern Ireland | 3 | 1.7m | 567k |
| Scotland | 6 | 5m | 833k |
| Wales | 4 | 3m | 750k |
| Total | 72 | 58.7m | 819k |
* One seat less than in 2004.
Compare this with the table at Wikipedia
4) How many votes do you have?
If you are eligible to vote then you will be able to cast one vote.
5) What will you see listed on the ballot paper?
You will see the names of the parties that are fielding candidates. Unlike national and local elections you will not see the names of the candidates.
6) How do they determine who will represent you when all the votes have been counted?
The system is known as the d'Hondt method, d'Hondt being the surname of the Belgian mathematician who devised the technique. The best way to explain the method is to work through an example. Don't be put off it is really quite simple.
Click on image for larger version.
Nothing New Under the Sun
I have seen it quoted a number of times recently in various blogs, see here, here, here and here. I was thinking of using it myself but I have been trumped by no less an organ than The Sun. It is of course Oliver Cromwell's speech to the rump parliament which goes thus:
It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.
Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?
Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd; your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse the Augean Stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings, and which by God's help and the strength He has given me, I now come to do.
I command ye, therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. You have sat here too long for the good you do. In the name of God, go!
Apposite, definitely but do we really need another Oliver Cromwell?
It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.
Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?
Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd; your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse the Augean Stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings, and which by God's help and the strength He has given me, I now come to do.
I command ye, therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. You have sat here too long for the good you do. In the name of God, go!
Apposite, definitely but do we really need another Oliver Cromwell?
Friday, 15 May 2009
Euro-quiz
There are European elections on June 4th. I wonder how well you will get on in this Euro-quiz?
1) How many Members of the European Parliament (MEP) will represent the UK after these elections?
2) What constituency are you in?
3) How many MEP are elected to represent that constituency?
4) How many votes do you have?
5) What will you see listed on the ballot paper?
6) How do they determine who will represent you when all the votes have been counted?
I look forward to seeing your answers.
1) How many Members of the European Parliament (MEP) will represent the UK after these elections?
2) What constituency are you in?
3) How many MEP are elected to represent that constituency?
4) How many votes do you have?
5) What will you see listed on the ballot paper?
6) How do they determine who will represent you when all the votes have been counted?
I look forward to seeing your answers.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Give and Take
The current rates for the national minimum wage are listed on the HMRC website as follows:
· £5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older
· A development rate of £4.77 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
· £3.53 per hour for all workers under the age of 18, who are no longer of compulsory school age
These will go up in October 2009 to the following values:
· £5.80 an hour for workers aged 22 and over
· £4.83 an hour for workers aged 18 to 21
· £3.57 an hour for workers aged 16 to 17
Now that is all well and good isn't it? This modest increase of 4p, 6p or 7p per hour depending on your age shouldn't hurt anybody. That is what I thought until I read the Low Pay Commission Report 2009 on the national minimum wage which, at point 8.97, states "We estimate that in total the Government will gain around £100 million from the 2009 minimum wage upratings". Table 8.4 on the next page lists the estimated exchequer yield and savings as follows:
Income tax £38,000,000
National Insurance £20,000,000
Working tax credit £22,000,000
Child tax credit £6,000,000
Income support £3,000,000
Housing support £3,000,000
Council tax benefits £9,000,000
Quite apart from the fact that these figures add up to the nice round figure of £100,000,000 I think it shows quite nicely why the government brought in the national minimum wage in the first place. After all, every little helps.
· £5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older
· A development rate of £4.77 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
· £3.53 per hour for all workers under the age of 18, who are no longer of compulsory school age
These will go up in October 2009 to the following values:
· £5.80 an hour for workers aged 22 and over
· £4.83 an hour for workers aged 18 to 21
· £3.57 an hour for workers aged 16 to 17
Now that is all well and good isn't it? This modest increase of 4p, 6p or 7p per hour depending on your age shouldn't hurt anybody. That is what I thought until I read the Low Pay Commission Report 2009 on the national minimum wage which, at point 8.97, states "We estimate that in total the Government will gain around £100 million from the 2009 minimum wage upratings". Table 8.4 on the next page lists the estimated exchequer yield and savings as follows:
Income tax £38,000,000
National Insurance £20,000,000
Working tax credit £22,000,000
Child tax credit £6,000,000
Income support £3,000,000
Housing support £3,000,000
Council tax benefits £9,000,000
Quite apart from the fact that these figures add up to the nice round figure of £100,000,000 I think it shows quite nicely why the government brought in the national minimum wage in the first place. After all, every little helps.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
My Mother
My Mother was in hospital earlier this year having suffered what was initially thought to be a heart attack. Naturally, I dashed up to see her the moment I knew. It turned out that she hadn't had a heart attack and she was discharged a couple of days later. Whilst I was there I had little interaction with the nurses but those that I saw appeared to be smiling and coping. I am glad in someways that I hadn't read Militant Medical Nurse's blog, in particular her latest missive, Militant Medical Nurse: Ginny did not get her pain medication on time. Not good. I urge you to read it and encourage others to read it as well.
Friday, 1 May 2009
Some are More Equal Than Others.
Harriet Harman, the Equalities Minister, has been talking about the Equalities Bill. In particular she has been talking about the gender pay gap. In my ignorance I thought the gender pay gap referred to the difference between what a woman was paid for a job and what a man is paid for doing the same job. It seems I am wrong. This is what the Office for National Statistics has to say "The gender pay gap refers to the difference between the hourly earnings of men and women. It is determined by calculating women's overall average pay as a percentage of men's." It is that second sentence that is new to me. It is a comparison of average pay.
Let us assume that there is a computer software department that consists of
2 project leaders, one male and one female both earning £65,000;10 developers, 8 male and 2 female all earning £50,000 and2 ladies in charge of configuration management cum software building who earn £30,000. In this department the mean male wage is £51,666.66 whilst the female average is £45,000. The median wages are the same at £50,000. If a junior programmer was taken on at a wage of £25,000 the females' average would reduce to £41,666.66 and the median to £40,000.
With the median value in particular you can see that the lower value occurs because there are more women in the lower paid jobs. Is this what you thought of when you heard of the gender pay gap? Me neither.
Is it wrong that there are more women in the lower paid jobs than men or that there are more men than women in higher paid jobs? Do we need legislation to correct it? I don't know at the moment so I will go away and ponder it. Do let me know what you think.
Let us assume that there is a computer software department that consists of
2 project leaders, one male and one female both earning £65,000;10 developers, 8 male and 2 female all earning £50,000 and2 ladies in charge of configuration management cum software building who earn £30,000. In this department the mean male wage is £51,666.66 whilst the female average is £45,000. The median wages are the same at £50,000. If a junior programmer was taken on at a wage of £25,000 the females' average would reduce to £41,666.66 and the median to £40,000.
With the median value in particular you can see that the lower value occurs because there are more women in the lower paid jobs. Is this what you thought of when you heard of the gender pay gap? Me neither.
Is it wrong that there are more women in the lower paid jobs than men or that there are more men than women in higher paid jobs? Do we need legislation to correct it? I don't know at the moment so I will go away and ponder it. Do let me know what you think.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
A Pig of a Lot of Leaflets
According to the BBC, 'Leaflets about the swine flu outbreak and how to prevent its spread are to be delivered to every UK household.' I am amazed that we apparently already know how to prevent its spread but leaving that aside, how much is this going to cost? Has anybody done a cost –benefit analysis?
Scrap
It transpires that one car in seven sold in the UK is built in the UK. This means that the Government's £1,000 per car subsidy is effectively a £7,000 per UK car subsidy.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
All Round Good Egg
I asked for and received the book Bad Science by Ben Goldacre for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would recommend it for anyone who receives the majority of their scientific information through the main-stream media rather than having the luxury of being able to study the original scientific papers. I also visit his website which is normally updated on a Saturday with a copy of his column from Saturday’s copy of the Guardian. Unusually, his website has been updated today, Thursday and it contains a little bonus, to wit the ‘missing chapter’ from the book. So, take a look, read the chapter then go out and beg, borrow or steal a copy of the book.
P.S. I wish I was as good as him at coming up with clever titles.
P.S. I wish I was as good as him at coming up with clever titles.
Regurgitation
It would seem that I am not the first to notice the problem with wind turbines. To be honest, I knew that I wasn't but I was surprised to come across Jonathan Leake's article from the Sunday Times a week last Sunday. For those that don't know Mr. Leake is the Environment Editor and I have gained the impression, possibly unfairly, that he is an advocate of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). This common-sense article means that I will have to look more closely at his articles in future.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Green Around the Gills
Doesn’t your heart sink when faced with headlines such as “Gordon Brown plans an environmentally friendly Budget” and “PM heralds 'green economy' Budget”? You just know that this will mean taxing everything you already consume to meet the spurious, twin objectives of making us greener and subsidising the ‘green’ economy, whatever that is. Is it my cynicism or is it years of experience that lead me to believe that this budget will leave me worse off? How come in times of recession the tax take doesn’t reduce? Why, in these difficult times, do I have to reduce my expenditure but the government doesn’t?
We are then faced with the nonsensical statement that “Electric cars are to be introduce[sic] en masse across Britain”. Since when have electrical cars been green? The electricity has to be produced somewhere. If you think that fluffy ideas like windmills will solve the problem then you don’t understand the weather or economics. Windmills don’t turn when it is not windy. As an example of this, on January 1st 2009 there was not enough wind anywhere in the whole of the UK to turn a windmill. Where is the electrical power going to come from on a day like that? The article in the Telegraph goes on to say that “the Government [is] relaxing planning rules to allow the building of more wind farms to ensure Britain hits its target to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020”. From the latest statistics I can find (Section 7.17 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics) in 2007 we produce 4.98% of our energy requirements from renewable sources of which 27% is produced by the wind which means that the wind currently produces 1.34% of energy requirements. If wind is to be used to “ensure Britain hits its target” then it will have to produce 10.02% or a further 8.68%, of our energy requirements. The 1.34% is produced by 2,033 turbines. Even if all the new turbines have twice the capacity then we would need 6,127 new turbines. That is a rate of 1.56 turbines to be built every day between now and 1st January 2020. Just supposing that the erection of wind turbines could be achieved at that rate there is a world-wide shortage of wind turbines. It is just not going to happen is it?
We are then faced with the nonsensical statement that “Electric cars are to be introduce[sic] en masse across Britain”. Since when have electrical cars been green? The electricity has to be produced somewhere. If you think that fluffy ideas like windmills will solve the problem then you don’t understand the weather or economics. Windmills don’t turn when it is not windy. As an example of this, on January 1st 2009 there was not enough wind anywhere in the whole of the UK to turn a windmill. Where is the electrical power going to come from on a day like that? The article in the Telegraph goes on to say that “the Government [is] relaxing planning rules to allow the building of more wind farms to ensure Britain hits its target to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020”. From the latest statistics I can find (Section 7.17 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics) in 2007 we produce 4.98% of our energy requirements from renewable sources of which 27% is produced by the wind which means that the wind currently produces 1.34% of energy requirements. If wind is to be used to “ensure Britain hits its target” then it will have to produce 10.02% or a further 8.68%, of our energy requirements. The 1.34% is produced by 2,033 turbines. Even if all the new turbines have twice the capacity then we would need 6,127 new turbines. That is a rate of 1.56 turbines to be built every day between now and 1st January 2020. Just supposing that the erection of wind turbines could be achieved at that rate there is a world-wide shortage of wind turbines. It is just not going to happen is it?
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Gluttony
I am overweight. My BMI is just over 30 which means I am obese. I have given up alcohol and I swim for five hours a week but, even so, I have barely lost 2 kilograms since the beginning of the year. Notwithstanding all that I found myself seething when I read that ‘Everyone aged between 40 and 74 will be called in to their GP for a 'fat test' and prescribed weight management and exercise if they are found to be overweight, under a new Government drive on obesity.’ If I want help from my GP then I will go and ask him for it.
My faith in Doctors was restored when I read the latest epistle from NHS Blog Doctor. I agree totally when he says that ‘there is no such thing as “health food”.’ I read the whole article, agreeing with every point he makes, including the one where he says “They all over-eat”. I cannot escape that fact that that statement is referring to me.
My faith in Doctors was restored when I read the latest epistle from NHS Blog Doctor. I agree totally when he says that ‘there is no such thing as “health food”.’ I read the whole article, agreeing with every point he makes, including the one where he says “They all over-eat”. I cannot escape that fact that that statement is referring to me.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
That's Dedication
How dedicated are you about your work? I suspect that you are not as dedicated as Laura from Shakeaway in Reading. A colleague, who is a recent convert to the delights of Shakeaway, directed me to their website where I learnt that Laura, the multi-lingual manager of the shop, is so dedicated that she has a tattoo of a milk-shake on her ankle.
Now, where could I fit a discreet tattoo of a keyboard?
Now, where could I fit a discreet tattoo of a keyboard?
Any Publicity ...
Martin Salter, incumbent Labour MP for Reading West, and Anneliese Dodds, the prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate for Reading East, are pictured in the online version of the Reading Evening Post holding a sign and looking glum. This photograph accompanies a story titled ‘Our town is not pig ugly – it’s beautiful’ which is in response to this article by Tom Dyckhoff printed in the Guardian last month. Ms Dodds complains: "It seems to me from this article that the journalist concerned has never visited Reading. Far from being ‘pig ugly’, Reading is full of heritage areas, harbours a beautiful riverside and canalside [sic], and is situated right in the middle of some of the most stunning countryside in England."
I am prompted to respond with: "It seems to me from this article that the prospective politician concerned has never read 'Let's move to... Reading'." The original article is an honest, even a complimentary, resume of Reading and it's attractions. Given the time lapse between the two articles one can only presume that this is just a cynical attempt by the two Labour party members to gain some publicity. Nothing new there, then.
What confuses me most is the message that the photograph imparts. It shows two people who do not look at all happy about the fact that they are in Reading holding a sign which says 'ONE TRIP to READING'. Every time I look at that I find myself finishing that sentence with the words 'and you'll never come back!'
I am prompted to respond with: "It seems to me from this article that the prospective politician concerned has never read 'Let's move to... Reading'." The original article is an honest, even a complimentary, resume of Reading and it's attractions. Given the time lapse between the two articles one can only presume that this is just a cynical attempt by the two Labour party members to gain some publicity. Nothing new there, then.
What confuses me most is the message that the photograph imparts. It shows two people who do not look at all happy about the fact that they are in Reading holding a sign which says 'ONE TRIP to READING'. Every time I look at that I find myself finishing that sentence with the words 'and you'll never come back!'
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
The Fishermen's Tale
It is not often one gets to read about Reading in a national newspaper unless one is reading the sports section. So it was with surprise that I came across this article in The Daily Telegraph about three fishermen at Southlake in Woodley. However, this story is not the hoary old fisherman’s tale of the one that got away but one of suspected terrorism, arrests and confiscation. The story in short is that three fishermen were arrested during the evening of Friday 20th March under the Air Navigation Order 2005; they were not charged but had their green light laser pens confiscated. I urge you to read the Telegraph article or the Reading Evening Post version for the full story.
My problem is that the story generates more questions than it answers. We start with an image of three people fishing in the gloom of a Friday evening when a local police officer accompanied by two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) arrived, told them about people shining lasers into the cockpits of aircraft, took the names of the three fishermen and then confiscated the laser pens. Where did these police come from? It cannot be that they were on a patrol because the whole raison d’être of PCSOs is that they replace the requirement for a policeman to be on the beat. One can only conclude that the three members of the police force were sent there but sent by whom?
Then there is the follow-up; the two accounts differ they do agree that a number of police officers arrived some time later and arrested the three fishermen. That these police officers were called be in by the first three is clear to me but why they were called is not. PCSOs do not have the power of arrest but a police office does. One can only presume that they considered the three fishermen so dangerous that a larger number of bodies were required to effect the arrests. One of the three fishermen was released almost immediately, the other two were held overnight but were then released without charge. If there was no charge then why were the laser pens confiscated? Do the police have powers to remove items at will despite there being no evidence that these items were being used in an illegal fashion?
Finally, we have the statement from a ‘spokesman for the Thames Valley Police’; “Three men were arrested in Woodley on March 7 on suspicion of endangering an aircraft and were later released without charge.” I have a friend who is a pilot and he tells me that planes landing at Heathrow are at about 3,500 feet (1,066 metres) above the ground as they turn over Reading prior to their final approach. I have a problem believing that a £20 laser pen can keep the beam of light coherent over a distance of two-thirds of a mile. However, let us assume that it can, we are then asked to believe that a hand-held beam of light can be trained accurately on a target moving at around 200 mph. Even if we accept this we then have to consider how this beam of light is to enter the cockpit of the aircraft. You will recall that the cockpit is normally sited on the top of the fuselage with the windows sited in such a way that the ground immediately below an aircraft cannot be seen. Taking all this into consideration I do not see how these gentlemen, from their position at the side of a lake surrounded by trees could possibly shine a beam of laser light into the cockpit of an aeroplane.
All in all, this all seems a bit fishy (pun intended) to me. It is yet another example of how the police are drifting away from the force they were set up to be and losing public support as a consequence. This lack of support is best demonstrated by a cynical friend of mine who commented ‘I bet it was a police helicopter that flew low and slow overhead so they shone their lasers at it. I would have done the same!’
Today, 25th March
Today is the day I know as Lady Day. I am reliably informed that this is the traditional name of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. Lady Day is one of the four quarter days, the other days being Midsummer Day, June 24th; Michaelmas Day, September 29th and Christmas Day, December 25th. You will note that these days all fall close to either a solstice or an equinox.
Lady Day, coming as it does at the beginning of the farming year, was the traditional day for farm workers to take up new employment. Thomas Hardy reflects this in Tess of the D’Urbevilles. This significance remains to this day. If you had heard the business section of the Today programme at 6.16 am this morning then you would have heard a discussion regarding the issue some businesses have with the fact that three months rent becomes due today. It goes further than that. When we changed the calendar from Gregorian calendar to Julian in 1752, it was necessary to lose 11 days. However, it was decided that the tax year would run to 365 days, thus the end date of March 25th, Lady Day was moved eleven days later to April 5th where it remains to this day.
Finally, Lady Day used to be the first day of the year; dates would be recorded, for example, as 24th March 1657 with the following day being 25th March 1658. I am indebted to Wikipedia for furnishing the reason for this; ‘The logic of using Lady Day as the start of the year is that it reckons years A.D. from the moment of the Annunciation, which is considered to take place at the moment of the conception of Jesus at the Annunciation rather than at the moment of his birth at Christmas.’ This practice stopped and January 1st was taken as the first day of the New Year, in the manner of the Romans, when the Julian calendar was adopted in 1752.
Lady Day, coming as it does at the beginning of the farming year, was the traditional day for farm workers to take up new employment. Thomas Hardy reflects this in Tess of the D’Urbevilles. This significance remains to this day. If you had heard the business section of the Today programme at 6.16 am this morning then you would have heard a discussion regarding the issue some businesses have with the fact that three months rent becomes due today. It goes further than that. When we changed the calendar from Gregorian calendar to Julian in 1752, it was necessary to lose 11 days. However, it was decided that the tax year would run to 365 days, thus the end date of March 25th, Lady Day was moved eleven days later to April 5th where it remains to this day.
Finally, Lady Day used to be the first day of the year; dates would be recorded, for example, as 24th March 1657 with the following day being 25th March 1658. I am indebted to Wikipedia for furnishing the reason for this; ‘The logic of using Lady Day as the start of the year is that it reckons years A.D. from the moment of the Annunciation, which is considered to take place at the moment of the conception of Jesus at the Annunciation rather than at the moment of his birth at Christmas.’ This practice stopped and January 1st was taken as the first day of the New Year, in the manner of the Romans, when the Julian calendar was adopted in 1752.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Ada Lovelace Day
It transpires that today is Ada Lovelace Day. As a programmer I am well aware of Ada’s pioneering work in computing. Following some research I now also know that she was born on 10th December 1815 and she died on 27th November 1852. So why is today, 24th March, Ada Lovelace day?
Innumeracy
I was only half listening to the Today programme’s business report at 6.15 a.m. this morning so I didn’t catch the name of the lady that the reporter was talking to. I think she worked for a firm that advised on investments. Even if I had millions to invest, which I do not, I would not waste any time seeking out this ladies company. It was a throw-away comment that she made at the beginning of the interview which annoyed me, it was something along the lines of ‘trillions, whatever they are.’ This is so exasperating, how can one be so ignorant?
A trillion* is 1 followed by twelve zeroes it looks like this 1,000,000,000,000. It could be referred to as 1 million million. It is an enormous number. If you shared it fairly amongst every one of the 17.1 million families in the UK they would each have over £58,000. Assuming that each family lives in an average priced home, which they don’t, and each family has a 100% mortgage, which they don’t, then this money would pay-off close to 40% of the debt.
Actually, the average household debt in the UK is approximately £59,730 (including mortgages), thus this much money would virtually clear that debt at a stroke.
* This is the American version. My feelings on the demise of the superior British system will be the subject of another blog.
A trillion* is 1 followed by twelve zeroes it looks like this 1,000,000,000,000. It could be referred to as 1 million million. It is an enormous number. If you shared it fairly amongst every one of the 17.1 million families in the UK they would each have over £58,000. Assuming that each family lives in an average priced home, which they don’t, and each family has a 100% mortgage, which they don’t, then this money would pay-off close to 40% of the debt.
Actually, the average household debt in the UK is approximately £59,730 (including mortgages), thus this much money would virtually clear that debt at a stroke.
* This is the American version. My feelings on the demise of the superior British system will be the subject of another blog.
Resigning the Whip
When a member of a political party resigns the whip this is often followed by a call for a by-election. There then ensues a debate, at least there is one amongst those that concern themselves with these matters, as to whether a politician is there to represent the constituency in Parliament in which case there is no need for a by-election or the MP is representing the party in which case there is a need for a by-election. In Christopher Beazley’s case the debate is slightly different.
Christopher Beazley is the Conservative MEP for the East of England and he has just resigned the whip apparently because Mr. Cameron has announced that the Conservatives will leave the European People’s Party grouping in the European Parliament. The difference here is due to the method of election that we are subjected to for European elections. If you don’t know then it is all explained at here at http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/, where it pithily states that the voting system is ‘Proportional representation – closed list.’ Later, AboutMyVote, an Electoral Comission website, explains that to vote one ‘put[s] an X (a cross) next to the party … that you wish to vote for.’ Under the title ‘Who is Elected?’ it states that ‘The first seat that a party wins goes to the first person on its list, the second seat to the second person, and so on.’ So, you vote for a party, not an individual. With a closed list system you do not know, when you are voting, who the person is who will get a seat as a consequence of your vote.
Mr. Beazley has resigned the party whip. This means that he is no longer in the party that the people voted for. Surely, logic dictates that this man should be ejected from the European Parliament and a by-election should be held?
Christopher Beazley is the Conservative MEP for the East of England and he has just resigned the whip apparently because Mr. Cameron has announced that the Conservatives will leave the European People’s Party grouping in the European Parliament. The difference here is due to the method of election that we are subjected to for European elections. If you don’t know then it is all explained at here at http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/, where it pithily states that the voting system is ‘Proportional representation – closed list.’ Later, AboutMyVote, an Electoral Comission website, explains that to vote one ‘put[s] an X (a cross) next to the party … that you wish to vote for.’ Under the title ‘Who is Elected?’ it states that ‘The first seat that a party wins goes to the first person on its list, the second seat to the second person, and so on.’ So, you vote for a party, not an individual. With a closed list system you do not know, when you are voting, who the person is who will get a seat as a consequence of your vote.
Mr. Beazley has resigned the party whip. This means that he is no longer in the party that the people voted for. Surely, logic dictates that this man should be ejected from the European Parliament and a by-election should be held?
Monday, 23 March 2009
Think for Yourself
I was chatting to the receptionist this morning and a chance remark by her brought together some thoughts I had been mulling over triggered by two disparate articles that I had encountered over the weekend. The first article was a report on the radio about hung juries increasing, a written report is available online here. It transpires that there were 116 hung juries in 2008 compared with 52 in 2006. The increase, large though it is, means that in 2008 just 0.7% of all cases that came to court ended in a hung jury. What is more telling is one of the reasons suggested for the change which I will come to shortly.
The other article was in this morning’s Daily Telegraph. It refers to a part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act that was passed in May 2008 and which comes into force sometime this year (if anyone could enlighten me on when, I would be interested in knowing). The part in question makes it an offence to incite hatred base on sexual orientation. I am not going to debate the pros and cons of this legislation (Rod Liddle does it better than I could here) but I do think that it is one of those abysmal pieces of legislation that tell us how to think.
The comment that the receptionist made was to follow up the use of the phrase ‘half-caste’ with the apology of ‘Oh, we are not supposed to use that phrase now are we? I don’t know what we are supposed to say instead.’ You will notice that she twice referred to ‘what we are supposed to say’. I suspect that this sort of comment is not new to you and I admit to having used it myself but it doesn’t say a lot about freedom of speech does it?
One of the reasons given for the increase in hung juries was; ‘I do think that we live in an era when people are much more nervous about being judgmental.’ Doesn’t that tie in with a society that is told how to think? Isn’t this an example of how, when faced with a situation that requires a decision, that we, as a population, are finding it increasingly difficult to come up with an answer? Are we not being taken down a road that increasingly despises individual differences?
The other article was in this morning’s Daily Telegraph. It refers to a part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act that was passed in May 2008 and which comes into force sometime this year (if anyone could enlighten me on when, I would be interested in knowing). The part in question makes it an offence to incite hatred base on sexual orientation. I am not going to debate the pros and cons of this legislation (Rod Liddle does it better than I could here) but I do think that it is one of those abysmal pieces of legislation that tell us how to think.
The comment that the receptionist made was to follow up the use of the phrase ‘half-caste’ with the apology of ‘Oh, we are not supposed to use that phrase now are we? I don’t know what we are supposed to say instead.’ You will notice that she twice referred to ‘what we are supposed to say’. I suspect that this sort of comment is not new to you and I admit to having used it myself but it doesn’t say a lot about freedom of speech does it?
One of the reasons given for the increase in hung juries was; ‘I do think that we live in an era when people are much more nervous about being judgmental.’ Doesn’t that tie in with a society that is told how to think? Isn’t this an example of how, when faced with a situation that requires a decision, that we, as a population, are finding it increasingly difficult to come up with an answer? Are we not being taken down a road that increasingly despises individual differences?
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Punctuation is Important
My son, Andrew, told me that there is a sign at his school, an all-boys school, that states:
No boys are allowed to queue in this corridor.
One of the boys has added a comma and an underline with the result that is now states:
No, boys are allowed to queue in this corridor.
Isn’t that just the perfect example of why punctuation is important?
No boys are allowed to queue in this corridor.
One of the boys has added a comma and an underline with the result that is now states:
No, boys are allowed to queue in this corridor.
Isn’t that just the perfect example of why punctuation is important?
The Catlin Arctic Survey
Maybe you have read about this; an expedition being undertaken by three people to measure the thickness of the ice around the North Pole. To do this they will have to walk 2,000km (1,200 miles) from Point Barrow, Alaska, to the geographic North Pole; a journey that will take approximately 100 days. The three people are Ann Daniels, a member of the first all-women teams to trek to both the North and South Poles; Pen Hadow, the first explorer to trek solo and unsupported from Canada to the North Pole and Martin Hartley, a specialist polar photographer. They started on February 28th and details of their progress can be found on the BBC website, here.
What I am confused about is why in all the reports that I have read it says something to the effect that they are doing this in order to discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting and how long it might take for the ocean to become ice-free in summers. Since nobody has done this before how can they discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting? Surely all they can do is determine a baseline for future comparison. However, I am then confused because I know that the ice at the North Pole is floating and it moves. So when somebody in a few years time measures the thickness of the ice at 81°55’N, 129°52’W will they be able to compare their measurement of the thickness of the ice at that point with the one taken on this expedition and be able to come up with a meaningful conclusion?
What I am confused about is why in all the reports that I have read it says something to the effect that they are doing this in order to discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting and how long it might take for the ocean to become ice-free in summers. Since nobody has done this before how can they discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting? Surely all they can do is determine a baseline for future comparison. However, I am then confused because I know that the ice at the North Pole is floating and it moves. So when somebody in a few years time measures the thickness of the ice at 81°55’N, 129°52’W will they be able to compare their measurement of the thickness of the ice at that point with the one taken on this expedition and be able to come up with a meaningful conclusion?
Tax Avoidance
This is a phrase that we are going to hear more of and every time I hear it is going to rankle. It is always used in a pejorative way, insinuating that the person or business is cheating. Yet Lord Tomlin as long ago as 1936 said in the UK House of Lords case IRC V Duke of Westminster (1936) in TC 490, (1936) AC I:
“Every man is entitled if he can put to order his affairs so as that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or his fellow tax payers may be of his ingenuity he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.”
In other words legal tax avoidance might seem unfair but it is still legal. So you can begin to imagine my surprise when I hear Mr. Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, spouting forth on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning where he stated that it was "incongruous" and "offensive" that banks that rely on state support should avoid paying tax. I would suggest that far from being offensive this is in fact the sign of a well run bank. I would go further and propose that Mr. Cable’s comment is the one that is incongruous. Why would I want to see the government plough millions of pounds of tax-payers’ money into a bank only to see a percentage of it come back to the government as part of a tax bill. That would seem to be completely pointless.
Mr Cable's comments can be seen here.
“Every man is entitled if he can put to order his affairs so as that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or his fellow tax payers may be of his ingenuity he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.”
In other words legal tax avoidance might seem unfair but it is still legal. So you can begin to imagine my surprise when I hear Mr. Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, spouting forth on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning where he stated that it was "incongruous" and "offensive" that banks that rely on state support should avoid paying tax. I would suggest that far from being offensive this is in fact the sign of a well run bank. I would go further and propose that Mr. Cable’s comment is the one that is incongruous. Why would I want to see the government plough millions of pounds of tax-payers’ money into a bank only to see a percentage of it come back to the government as part of a tax bill. That would seem to be completely pointless.
Mr Cable's comments can be seen here.
Friday, 6 March 2009
CynicusEconomicus: The Bank of England - The Printing Presses Start Turning
Since writing the previous blog I have read the latest offering from CynicusEconomicus: The Bank of England - The Printing Presses Start Turning. This, I would suggest, should be required reading for every tax payer in this country.
The fact that the main stream media are apparently not capable of reporting the situation adequately means that there cannot be an informed debate over the BoE latest policy.
The fact that the main stream media are apparently not capable of reporting the situation adequately means that there cannot be an informed debate over the BoE latest policy.
Quantitative Easing
Well, last December I did not know what this strange phrase meant but it was all explained in far too graphic detail by Cynicus Economics. The phrase is now beginning to enter common parlance and becoming a phrase to use when describing topics other than banking, see the fifteenth paragraph in this comment piece. My problem is that I didn't like the prospect of quantitative easing last December and I m no more enamoured with it today. Daniel Hannan agrees with me and I am worried.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Elephants
I have picked this story up from the excellent EU Referendum website and I thought I would pass on the bare bones of the story. It starts with a question during Prime Minister's question time where Ms Harman was deputising for Mr. Brown:
Q3. [260226] Ann Winterton (Congleton) (Con): Will the deputy Prime Minister confirm that the real reason for part-privatising Royal Mail stems directly from European Union postal legislation, which forced Royal Mail to divest itself of its most profitable business, thereby handingit over lock, stock and barrel to European competitors? What sense is there in that?
Ms Harman: The real reason, and the basis on which we are bringing forward the Postal Services Bill, is the analysis in the Hooper report, which we commissioned as long ago as December 2007. It made it clear that we need to take action to put Royal Mail, which, as the Prime Minister has said, is part of the fabric of our society, on a firm footing for the future. That means that we have to ensure that the pension liabilities are met. We have to ensure that the unfair regulation is tackled. We have to ensure that there is legislative underpinning of universal postal services, and also that we get into the organisation—so that, as well as meeting its pension liabilities, it can also modernise—considerable public capital investment but also private capital investment. When we bring forward that Bill to support the future of Royal Mail, I hope that the hon. Lady and all other hon. Members will support it.
If one looks at the Hooper report then we find that the reason we need to 'put Royal Mail ... on a firm footing for the future' is stated in Box 12 on page 81 where it says 'European directives require that all European postal markets must be fully open to competition by 2012.'
So why couldn't Ms Harman say so? Now you know why those back-benchers who are against this bill will quietly disappear when it comes to the vote. They, like you and me, have no choice in the matter.
Q3. [260226] Ann Winterton (Congleton) (Con): Will the deputy Prime Minister confirm that the real reason for part-privatising Royal Mail stems directly from European Union postal legislation, which forced Royal Mail to divest itself of its most profitable business, thereby handingit over lock, stock and barrel to European competitors? What sense is there in that?
Ms Harman: The real reason, and the basis on which we are bringing forward the Postal Services Bill, is the analysis in the Hooper report, which we commissioned as long ago as December 2007. It made it clear that we need to take action to put Royal Mail, which, as the Prime Minister has said, is part of the fabric of our society, on a firm footing for the future. That means that we have to ensure that the pension liabilities are met. We have to ensure that the unfair regulation is tackled. We have to ensure that there is legislative underpinning of universal postal services, and also that we get into the organisation—so that, as well as meeting its pension liabilities, it can also modernise—considerable public capital investment but also private capital investment. When we bring forward that Bill to support the future of Royal Mail, I hope that the hon. Lady and all other hon. Members will support it.
If one looks at the Hooper report then we find that the reason we need to 'put Royal Mail ... on a firm footing for the future' is stated in Box 12 on page 81 where it says 'European directives require that all European postal markets must be fully open to competition by 2012.'
So why couldn't Ms Harman say so? Now you know why those back-benchers who are against this bill will quietly disappear when it comes to the vote. They, like you and me, have no choice in the matter.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Square Root Day
I have been reminded that today is one of those days when you can do mathematics with the date. In this particular instance the day and the month are the same and when multiplied together they make the year. Well, only if we consider the last two digits of the year. To be specific if we write today's date as 03/03/09 then we can see that 3 x 3 = 9. There are only nine dates that exhibit this property each century so enjoy square root day while it lasts, it's another seven years until the next one.
Monday, 2 March 2009
I have been spotted
Well, someone other than the friends that I have badgered into looking at my blog has visited. This is the strangely named Oranjepan who runs the Reading List blog. He has invited me to answer his questionnaire which I have duly done and you can see the results at the bottom of this page.
Science in the Media
Do you receive the Sunday Times? I do. In yesterday's edition the magazine contained a large piece titled "What turns women on" accompanied by a number of pictures of naked women (not in the online version) oddly adorned with words such as desire and what women want. Being a fumbling, ignorant male and desiring elucidation this was one of the articles that I had noted for reading some time later this week.
Quite separately, I subscribe to tweets from such luminaries as Stephen Fry, Maggie Philbin and Ben Goldacre. Last night I received a tweet from Ben Goldacre who is the author of an excellent book titled 'Bad Science' and writer of an equally excellent blog by the same name. The tweet pointed me to this blog. I don't think I will bother reading the Sunday Times article now. However, I do think I might read Dr Petra Boynton's blog in future.
Quite separately, I subscribe to tweets from such luminaries as Stephen Fry, Maggie Philbin and Ben Goldacre. Last night I received a tweet from Ben Goldacre who is the author of an excellent book titled 'Bad Science' and writer of an equally excellent blog by the same name. The tweet pointed me to this blog. I don't think I will bother reading the Sunday Times article now. However, I do think I might read Dr Petra Boynton's blog in future.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Contracts
I might have got this wrong but I thought that there was a limit to the size of a pension fund before tax is applied . The Pensions Advisory Service seem to be saying the same thing here. So does this mean that Sir Fred Goodwin has an arrangement that leaves him with £693,000 after the tax has been paid? In which case the situation is worse than it first appears.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Perfect Pancakes
I was going to point out how stupid this formula is and how it demeans science but others have done it better than I could so I urge you to read this.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
LDV Vans
Ever since the government bailed out Northern Rock I have pondered whether this was a good way to reduce the impact of the banking crisis. When the automotive manufacturers came asking for money, I pondered some more. In both cases my natural free-market inclinations inclined me to believe that letting them fail is the best route. However, I am very aware that I do not have all the facts to hand with which I could make a considered decision. This is more than adequately demonstrated by the story behind LDV vans which I learnt here. Have a read and see what you think.
Friday, 20 February 2009
A small recess opening off a larger room
As I walked to the train station this morning I looked at the large, possibly between-war, houses that line the south side of the Oxford Road. Each house is different but they share some aspects of their design. Clearly, they all have roofs, doors and windows but the also all had a bay window. Which set me wondering why? Why do so many houses have them and why were they created in the first place? The more you look at them the more they defy explanation.
I was going to leave this blog at that but I looked up the definition of bay and was fascinated to discover that http://www.onleook.com/ define one of the meanings of bay as 'an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf.' Isn't that just fantastic? I never suspected that cove, bay and gulf could be listed in order of size.
I was going to leave this blog at that but I looked up the definition of bay and was fascinated to discover that http://www.onleook.com/ define one of the meanings of bay as 'an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf.' Isn't that just fantastic? I never suspected that cove, bay and gulf could be listed in order of size.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
People Watching
My normal commute is a drive along the M4 with a mix Radio 4 and Radio Berkshire for company. Human interaction is, therefore, passive. This week I am commuting to Hammersmith and I get to travel on public transport. I love it. I can read whilst someone else worries about getting me to me destination. Not only that I can look at people. This is an activity that is endlessly rewarding, I just don't get an opportunity to do normally. This morning was even more rewarding than usual. A young lady sitting a few seats down on the train had what appeared to be an involuntary, repetitive action for which, I am sure, there must be a proper medical term. Every so often her left hand would stray to her hair and she would twiddle it, then she would pull the strand across her lips then across the skin above her upper lip and then let it go. This was performed twice with hair from the left side and then twice with hair from the right side of her head. How absolutely fascinating. I am afraid I couldn't stop watching this performance.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Inconsistent
The BBC informs me here that "£165m will be paid out of a profit share scheme to 80,000 front line staff." Now I reckon there must be something missing in this story because I know that the people in question work for a bank that announced a £28 billion loss last month.
Keep Calm and Carry On
It would appear that those of us that worry about our liberties being eroded are not paranoid. No less a person than Dame Stella Riddington, the former head of MI5, has said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper that “It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties" , see here.
Whilst we wait for the political consensus to swing back to our way of thinking we could do worse than encourage politicians to follow the edict illustrated on this wartime poster. It would seem from the article that even in the second world war politicians did not have the courage of their apparent convictions since they pulped the entire print run although Mr. Manley, the owner of the poster, is more generous because he believes that "It was never distributed because things never got bad enough." Since Mr. Manley has decided to reproduce it on mugs, T-shirts, mouse mats, tea towels, postcards and a facsimile poster, available from here, I suggest we buy copies and encourage others to do the same. At worst it will make us feel better and at best the sentiment might catch on.
Whilst we wait for the political consensus to swing back to our way of thinking we could do worse than encourage politicians to follow the edict illustrated on this wartime poster. It would seem from the article that even in the second world war politicians did not have the courage of their apparent convictions since they pulped the entire print run although Mr. Manley, the owner of the poster, is more generous because he believes that "It was never distributed because things never got bad enough." Since Mr. Manley has decided to reproduce it on mugs, T-shirts, mouse mats, tea towels, postcards and a facsimile poster, available from here, I suggest we buy copies and encourage others to do the same. At worst it will make us feel better and at best the sentiment might catch on.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Where are the howls of indignation?
A further erosion in our civil liberties takes place today as new counter-terrorism laws come into effect. Under the new Counter-Terrorism Act it is an offence to take pictures of officers "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." We all know that that now means that we can never take pictures of the police. Not a big deal you might think but why the hell can we not take pictures of the police? The are our servants. Have you heard of an atrocity that has occurred because pictures of the police were taken? No, neither have I.
I despair of this country.
I despair of this country.
Friday, 13 February 2009
The NHS
I went to the Royal Berks yesterday for an ultrasound scan of my liver. Apart from the abysmally designed car parking facilities which resulted in me arriving only ten minutes before my appointment rather than the fifteen that had been requested, it went well. I followed the signs to the X-ray department without any problem as the letter has explained that that was where the ultrasound department resided. I checked in at the reception, I walked down to the smaller waiting room when I was asked to, I waited until I was called and then I obediently exposed my midriff to the nurses probing. Twenty minutes later I was out. Everybody that I had dealt with had been pleasant and courteous. I would have preferred not to have had to wait in a small room with a number of other people but that is my problem not one for the NHS. So nothing remarkable then except when one reads blogs like this. I don't know how they manage.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Turning Wine into Water
The EUs tendrils creep a lot further into our daily life than we imagine. It transpires that there is an official designation for what can be called wine. As is always the case defining something like this is not easy. More often than not it seems to result in an unintended consequences. The need to define what is a cake comes about from the fact that cakes are zero-rated for VAT whilst chocolate covered biscuits are not. This led to a 13 year long dispute between Marks and Spencer and HMRC over the tax status of M&S chocolate teacakes, see here, which was only resolved last week.
Today we have reports of the EU example regarding wine, see here. Is it wine or isn't it? I think it is and I also think that the law, which increasingly means the Eu, is an ass.
Today we have reports of the EU example regarding wine, see here. Is it wine or isn't it? I think it is and I also think that the law, which increasingly means the Eu, is an ass.
Free Speech
I am not sure why this is not splashed across the front pages of all the newspapers but I think it is a clear indication of how this country has lost its way when it comes to standing up for those principles I was bought up to respect such as the right to free speech. Refusing entry to this country to a politician from another EU country is not what I expect my government to be doing.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Fitness to Practise
Reading blogs elsewhere led me to this which is a list of all the hearings at the GMC during February which will be investigating allegations questioning a Doctors fitness to practise. It is not as many people as one first thinks. Closer inspection reveals that the Doctors are 'striped' across the week so, for example, Dr Valentine EDEMA-ROSE is listed every day from 2nd to 13th February. It is still an awful lot more Doctors than I thought there would be. It is a good job that there is not an equivalent council for computer programmers, they would be booked up until the end of the decade.
Monday, 9 February 2009
Who am I?
I am not keen on the proposed ID card so it was with some amusement that I discovered that the identity card scheme seems to have a serious flaw in its implementation. ~As revealed by an FOI request by silicon.com it transpires that although we have already spent £4,700,000,000 on producing ID cards there are no card readers. Not only that there is no budget for the card readers. Does this make sense to you?
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Snow
I have been inconvenienced by the snow on three occasions already this week so I have first hand experience about how this country seems to be incapacitated by a snow fall. There have also been many comments in the newspapers, on the television and on the radio about how we seem to be dis-proportionally affected by it but, for me, the best comment on all this comes from Frank Chalk under the title Let's Grind To a Halt.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Highly Uncertain
I just love this quote
The outlook for the climate over the 21st Century is highly uncertain. There is a word in the English language to express high uncertainty. That word is "ignorance". And ignorance is not a basis for responsible government action
This is part of appendix 2 of the paper produced by Drs. J. Scott Armstrong and Kesten C. Green which I referred to here. The appendix of the paper can be found at the end of here. I recommend reading it.
The outlook for the climate over the 21st Century is highly uncertain. There is a word in the English language to express high uncertainty. That word is "ignorance". And ignorance is not a basis for responsible government action
This is part of appendix 2 of the paper produced by Drs. J. Scott Armstrong and Kesten C. Green which I referred to here. The appendix of the paper can be found at the end of here. I recommend reading it.
Only in America?
On February 10th a new law comes into effect in America called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Now with a name like that I am sure you are thinking what on earth can one find to complain about? Well, the consequences of this law would seem to imply that either children will be banned from entering libraries or millions of children's books will have to be destroyed.
This law requires that all products for children under 12, including books, games, toys and clothing, must be tested for the presence of lead. It is estimated that the testing required for a book would cost between $300 and $600. Presumably, for a new book, this cost would be borne by the publisher but what about all the existing books in the libraries? The American Libraries Association says that they cannot afford to test every book and that, as a consequence, millions of books would have to be taken off the shelves and destroyed in order that children will be able to enter a library.
My question is "How many children have suffered from the lead content of books, games, toys and clothing? Is this a problem that needs fixing?" My thoughts are how long before the EU enacts something similar. See here for the story.
This law requires that all products for children under 12, including books, games, toys and clothing, must be tested for the presence of lead. It is estimated that the testing required for a book would cost between $300 and $600. Presumably, for a new book, this cost would be borne by the publisher but what about all the existing books in the libraries? The American Libraries Association says that they cannot afford to test every book and that, as a consequence, millions of books would have to be taken off the shelves and destroyed in order that children will be able to enter a library.
My question is "How many children have suffered from the lead content of books, games, toys and clothing? Is this a problem that needs fixing?" My thoughts are how long before the EU enacts something similar. See here for the story.
It is not a consensus
Curiously news items that do not support man-made or anthropogenic, global warming do not seem to make it to the main-stream media so I will do my bit to raise the profile of two quite astonishing pieces of news. In short Dr. James Hansen's* supervisor, Dr. John S. Theon, has stated publicly that Hansen “embarrassed NASA”, he was never muzzled” and his “climate models are useless.” Read the story here. Then Dr J. Scott Armstrong** makes a statement which states that there are "eight reasons as to why the current IPCC computer models lack a scientific basis." Read that story here.
* Dr. James Hansen is the chief climate scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and is the man who originally raised the alarm on global warming in 1988 in an appearance before congress.
** Dr J. Scott Armstrong is the founder of the International Journal of Forecasting, Journal of Forecasting, International Institute of Forecasters, and International Symposium on Forecasting, and the author of Long-range Forecasting (1978, 1985), the Principles of Forecasting Handbook, and over 70 papers on forecasting.
* Dr. James Hansen is the chief climate scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and is the man who originally raised the alarm on global warming in 1988 in an appearance before congress.
** Dr J. Scott Armstrong is the founder of the International Journal of Forecasting, Journal of Forecasting, International Institute of Forecasters, and International Symposium on Forecasting, and the author of Long-range Forecasting (1978, 1985), the Principles of Forecasting Handbook, and over 70 papers on forecasting.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Biased BBC
For some considerable time I have believed that the BBC was biased. The news no longer appears to me to be impartial. I wasn't sure if it was just due to me growing older and becoming more cynical. Perhaps the news had always been like that but I had just not noticed. Anyway, it would seem that I am not the only one to be disturbed by the journalistic integrity exhibited by the BBC.
In the same way that I would not expect an image in a newspaper to be enhanced in such a way to show something that had never existed. By that I mean something like the Iranian photo-shopped missiles. What then if an editor at the BBC spliced together different parts of Obama's inaugural speech, would that be ethical? Have a read of this article at Stinky Journalism and see what you think.
Incidentally, I love the word fauxdio suggested by the bloggers at The Pool Bar.
In the same way that I would not expect an image in a newspaper to be enhanced in such a way to show something that had never existed. By that I mean something like the Iranian photo-shopped missiles. What then if an editor at the BBC spliced together different parts of Obama's inaugural speech, would that be ethical? Have a read of this article at Stinky Journalism and see what you think.
Incidentally, I love the word fauxdio suggested by the bloggers at The Pool Bar.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Unintended Consequences Again
The EU thinks that it needs to save the planet from excessive CO2 emissions so it has introduced a carbon trading scheme. The idea is that permits are handed out to industry to allow them to produce CO2. If you need more permits then you have to buy them off somebody else who doesn't need all their permits. Thus a fixed amount of CO2 is discharged into the atmosphere.
Each year the number of permits is reduced which has the twin effect of reducing the total amount of CO2 emitted and forcing up the price of the permits. The latter effect is designed to encourage recalcitrant industries to reduce their CO2 output.
The only problem is that this whole scheme is based on a growing economy. Now, you may have noticed that European economies are not growing. In fact production by industry has declined so much that the output of CO2 will be below the amount this years permits allow. Thus companies are selling off excess permits to make a few bob and, in doing so, they are depressing the price of the permits.
It doesn't encourage one to feel good about the EU does it?
(H/T EU Referendum)
Each year the number of permits is reduced which has the twin effect of reducing the total amount of CO2 emitted and forcing up the price of the permits. The latter effect is designed to encourage recalcitrant industries to reduce their CO2 output.
The only problem is that this whole scheme is based on a growing economy. Now, you may have noticed that European economies are not growing. In fact production by industry has declined so much that the output of CO2 will be below the amount this years permits allow. Thus companies are selling off excess permits to make a few bob and, in doing so, they are depressing the price of the permits.
It doesn't encourage one to feel good about the EU does it?
(H/T EU Referendum)
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Climate Change
I am neither convinced that man is the cause of climate change nor that climate change is a significant problem so I am amused by the antics of politicians desperately trying, as they see it, to save the world. The latest farce is reported on the excellent Watts Up With That? blog. It would appear that since 2005 all diesel fuel sold in Minnesota has to contain 2 percent biodiesel. The problem is that below 10 degrees F (12 degrees C) this form of diesel turns into a gel like substance and the engines will not work. This became an issue on Friday 16 January when the school buses wouldn't run and, as a consqequence, all the schools had to be closed. The best bit, however, comes in a comment from the district's spokesman, Rick Kaufman, who said that some school districts keep their buses in temperature-controlled garages, and that the First Student bus service, which contracts with several metro-area school districts, keeps its buses in garages or idles them through the night.
I just hope that the phrases 'temperature-controlled garages' and 'idles them through the night' will cause every green Minnesotan representative to consider the so-called law of unintended consequences before they next legislate to save the world.
I just hope that the phrases 'temperature-controlled garages' and 'idles them through the night' will cause every green Minnesotan representative to consider the so-called law of unintended consequences before they next legislate to save the world.
That Inauguration Again
I think of all the articles in all the newspapers this one is the definitive record of yesterday's historic events.
A short quiz
Who is the President of the United States of America?
Who is the President of the European Commission?
Who is the UKs representative on the European Commission?
Of the following three institutions which one creates the majority of the legislation that is enacted in the UK?
a) The Congress, i.e. the Senate and House of Representatives, of the United States of America.
b) The parliament of the United Kingdom.
c) The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
Who is the President of the European Commission?
Who is the UKs representative on the European Commission?
Of the following three institutions which one creates the majority of the legislation that is enacted in the UK?
a) The Congress, i.e. the Senate and House of Representatives, of the United States of America.
b) The parliament of the United Kingdom.
c) The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Political compass
Apparently I plot (4.00, -4.10) on the political compass. I think it should really be called the political axes but perhaps that is being a bit picky. Anyway, have a go and see where you end up.
A reason to watch the inauguration
An intriguing comment on EU Referendum which might make me actually watch the inauguration:
The inauguration of a new President is always exciting and I have watched several in the past on TV, urged by my father to look out for the man with the briefcase that supposedly contained the code that could unleash a nuclear war. As the incoming Commander-in-Chief was sworn in, he maintained, the man quietly detaches himself from the old one and positions himself behind the new one. I never managed to notice the crucial moment and have no idea whether the instructions were accurate.
The end of the Euro?
This article about Ireland's economic woes, this one about Spain's and this one about half the countries within the EU leads one to believe that the Euro is definitely under pressure. Curiously, I heard recently that the only country that has a clause that enables it to leave the Euro is ... Germany.
Other people's politics
I listen to the radio on my forty-minute commute between home and work. Mainly Radio 4, Radio Berkshire and Radio 5. I have to say that I have been dreading today because of that inauguration. Will I be able to escape the coverage? I certainly wasn't able to escape the never-eding primaries. I may even revert to listening to CDs.
Incidentally, isn't it racist to say that Mr. Obama will be the first black president? By pointing out the persons colour isn't that being discriminatory? I don't recall lots of hype about Mr. Clinton being the first president from Arkansas.
Incidentally, isn't it racist to say that Mr. Obama will be the first black president? By pointing out the persons colour isn't that being discriminatory? I don't recall lots of hype about Mr. Clinton being the first president from Arkansas.
Monday, 19 January 2009
The end of my support
To be honest I haven't been sure who I would vote for in a general election for some time. I harboured some hope that the Conservatives would show some anti-EU colours. Following the election of Mr. Cameron as leader I started to lose hope. Now I hear that Mr. Clarke has been brought into the shadow cabinet and all hope is lost.
Who does one vote for if one wants to get out of the EU?
Who does one vote for if one wants to get out of the EU?
Friday, 16 January 2009
What are they there for?
I did not intend to do political blogging but I find the following tale encapsulates everything that is wrong with the leadership of this country.
The headline is that 500 jobs are to go in Anglesey. Not a surprising headline in the current econoic climate. However, this is nothing to do with the credit-crunch (where did that awful phrase originate from). This is due to the climate-change obsessed government that is incapable of doing the its job. The 500 jobs are at the Anglesey Aluminium Metals Ltd which cannot find anyone to supply its power when the current power supply agreement runs out. Despite working "intensively with Uk and Welsh government authorities and agencies to find a sustainable alternative to the power supply needs of a smelter, [it] has been unabel to reach a feasible solution".
The long and the short of it is that the Wylfa nuclear power station which currently supplied the plants needs is due to be de-commissioned in 2010 and there is no immediate replacement in the offing. Now, nuclear power stations are de-commissioned but what has this government done about replacing them? Approximately one-fifth of the electricity produced in the UK is from a nuclear power station. 56% of that power they produce will be de-commissioned by 2016, 100% by 2035. Of the existing power stations, according to the BBC, one-seventh will come out of service before 2012 due to the european Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD). Where is the power going to come from. Oh, I forgot, the wind-farms. Did you notive that during the recent cold spell the wind just wasn't there? Note then when I say it wasn't there I don't just mean inone place withion the Uk I mean the whole of the UK. As was pointed out on the excellent EU referendum website there was not enough wind in the Uk on January 1st to turn any turbines. What use is that?
Between the governemnt and the EU we have got ourseles into a situation where we cannot produce the power that we need. The point at which demand exceeds supply is curretnyl estimated to be around the time of the 2012 Olympics.
I hate this governemnt, I anot see any releif from either of the opposition parties, I detest the Eu and I don't beleive that climate change is a probelm or that it is a preblem caused by man. Is it wany wonder I spend a lot of my time being a grumpy old man?
The headline is that 500 jobs are to go in Anglesey. Not a surprising headline in the current econoic climate. However, this is nothing to do with the credit-crunch (where did that awful phrase originate from). This is due to the climate-change obsessed government that is incapable of doing the its job. The 500 jobs are at the Anglesey Aluminium Metals Ltd which cannot find anyone to supply its power when the current power supply agreement runs out. Despite working "intensively with Uk and Welsh government authorities and agencies to find a sustainable alternative to the power supply needs of a smelter, [it] has been unabel to reach a feasible solution".
The long and the short of it is that the Wylfa nuclear power station which currently supplied the plants needs is due to be de-commissioned in 2010 and there is no immediate replacement in the offing. Now, nuclear power stations are de-commissioned but what has this government done about replacing them? Approximately one-fifth of the electricity produced in the UK is from a nuclear power station. 56% of that power they produce will be de-commissioned by 2016, 100% by 2035. Of the existing power stations, according to the BBC, one-seventh will come out of service before 2012 due to the european Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD). Where is the power going to come from. Oh, I forgot, the wind-farms. Did you notive that during the recent cold spell the wind just wasn't there? Note then when I say it wasn't there I don't just mean inone place withion the Uk I mean the whole of the UK. As was pointed out on the excellent EU referendum website there was not enough wind in the Uk on January 1st to turn any turbines. What use is that?
Between the governemnt and the EU we have got ourseles into a situation where we cannot produce the power that we need. The point at which demand exceeds supply is curretnyl estimated to be around the time of the 2012 Olympics.
I hate this governemnt, I anot see any releif from either of the opposition parties, I detest the Eu and I don't beleive that climate change is a probelm or that it is a preblem caused by man. Is it wany wonder I spend a lot of my time being a grumpy old man?
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder
Well, I am back. Back at work, back on my feet, back blogging and no longer on my back. For those that don't know I have spent most of the last two weeks trying to reduce the sewlling on my right knee by lying on my back with my toes above my nose. Since this didnt work the GP diagnosed gout in my knee and prescribe the usual anti-inflammatory tablets that are beginning to have the desired effect. I am also getting a better nights sleep. The only long term solution that makes sense to me regarding my gout problems appears to be giving up alcohol. I have not had any since January 4. I wonder how long I will manage?
So now I am back on my feet in all senses of the phrase I will start blogging again.
So now I am back on my feet in all senses of the phrase I will start blogging again.
Monday, 8 December 2008
This scares me
Take a look at this CynicusEconomicus: Money Printing Economics - US and UK as the New Zimbabwe?.
I cannot remember how I got to this blog (I think it was from a comment on EU Referendum) but having read it I am worried, particularly following the comment about the new Banking Bill. Let me know what you think.
I cannot remember how I got to this blog (I think it was from a comment on EU Referendum) but having read it I am worried, particularly following the comment about the new Banking Bill. Let me know what you think.
Advent Calendar
I cannot recommend highly enough this web-site here. They are adding a new picture every day in the manner of an advent calendar. The images are quite stunning but it is the text below each image that continues to astound me. One can glibly talk about 120,00 light years but just take a minute to ponder quite how big that is.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Internet
At last I am back on the internet. All the problems with our access have been sorted and we are back online. One doesn't realise how much one uses it until it is not there. The only downside is the terrible service I received from our ISP which resulted in me spending two half-days at home waiting for an engineer who never came. It transpires that it was a local area fault, not an individual customer fault, but they omitted to let me know that I didn't need to wait. To make matters worse, when I asked for a gesture of good will they responded by saying that I could have a rebate for the length of time I had not had any service. I expected to get that without having to ask for it since I am not in the habit of paying for something I don't receive.
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