Howard Flight States the Obvious
Howard Flight has been quoted on the BBC as saying this.
We’re going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it’s jolly expensive.
“But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that’s not very sensible.
I could also add to the first part of his statement, that young children stop you going on those long-haul holidays, as every one needs a ticket. As to the second part, it may or may not be true, but I think it probably isn’t.
On that issue though I refer you to Peoplequake. which shows that unless there is adequate provision for flexible working and a female-friendly society, the birth rate falls drammatically. Just look at Italy, Russia and Iran for a start.
Book Burning
It is being reported that a fifteen-year-old girl has been arrested for burning a copy of the Koran.
My father was a printer and bookbinder and to me, all books are to be treasured and not defaced or burnt in any way. Perhaps, when a book has been fully read, it should be passed on, but only in the last resort, should it be burned and then to do something positive like generate heat.
So the girl was wrong in what she did and arresting her for what was probably a childish act, will only encourage others to do similar things.
We need a lot more tolerance and common-sense.
Especially in these days, where we have had the Sunningdale and Milton Keynes murders and the Derby sex attacks to keep the Police busy, with more much serious problems that could be considered to a racial dimension.
Complexity is Fraud
PJ O’Rourke is another favourite author of mine. He said the title of this post and it is a nice simple quote on Radio 5, this afternoon, whilst discussing his new book, Don’t Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards
You could argue that the quote is the corollary of Occam’s Razor, which states that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one.
He also said this about the American healthcare system, “When I go in for my tennis elbow, I’m paying for someone else’s gunshot wound.”
Matt Ridley on Shale Gas
Matt Ridley is one of my favourite authors. I first read his book,Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
He has written an article for the Times today about extracting gas from shale rock and how it could solve the energy gap.
Here’s a couple of paragraphs.
Whether Mr Huhne likes it or not, a dash for gas is coming. What’s more, it is almost all good news. The discovery of how to exploit huge global reserves of gas encased in shale rock is causing epochal change in the energy scene. Shale gas is like any other gas except that it is everywhere: from Poland to Pennsylvania, from Queensland to Sichuan. There is even some in the Wirral and the Weald, but don’t hold your breath that the Nimbys will let much of it be tapped.
America, where the shale gas revolution began, has 50 years, probably more, of increasingly cheap supplies. The US is not just turning away liquefied-natural-gas tankers from Qatar (hence the current low price of gas), but considering turning gas-import terminals over to exports. Shale gas is popular with those who do not like being dependent on Putins and Ahmadinejads, so unpopular with those two martinets.
I’ll add my thoughts to his on the various ways of generating electricity or heat.
- Coal – Dirty, polluting and kills those that mine it, either directly or slowly with nasty lung diseases.
- Nuclear – Clean, but unloved by the greens and many of the general public.
- Wind – Loved by the greens, but unsightly, very inefficient and needs to have some form of backup generation.
- Solar – Alright in the Sahara, but problematic elsewhere.
- Oil – Works, but too valuable for other purposes to burn.
- Tidal – Expensive and unpopular.
- Gas – Clean, less than half the CO2 of coal and doesn’t need unsightly overhead lines, as you can distribute the gas by hidden pipes.
So as Ridley says gas from shale has a lot going for it.
I agree for now! But who’s to say something even better won’t come along in a couple of years. Never underestimate the ingenuity of the human mind and the politician’s ability to always look up the backside of a gift horse, rather than check the important parts, like the legs, heart, lungs and temperament.
The Masons Arms
This pub in Devonshire Street played a major part in my life in the 1970s.
The Masons Arms
It was just round the corner from the offices of Time Sharing Ltd., the company we were all associated with in the early 1970s, so often if you needed anyone they were drinking in the Masons, as it was always called. One of our staff, who later joined Metier, even developed a long-term relationship with the landlord, which still flourishes today.
But it’s not just me, that has pleasant memories of the pub One of my friends, who sadly died a few years ago, had a part-time job in the pub, whilst he worked for AEI. He claimed that someone from AEI New Zealand, the landlord of the Mason’s and himself, enjoyed themselves immensely on a spree in London. Now this was after AEI had been taken over by GEC and all expenses had to be approved by Arnold Weinstock‘s office. It was queried by asking who they had taken out for the evening. The reply was that it was the New Zealand High Commissioner. And to prove it he gave the office, the personal telephone number of the Commissioner. The expenses were paid.
Business is very different these days, but I’ll always remember the Masons Arms with fondness.
The London Transport Lost Property Office.
After lunch yesterday, my friend needed to go to the Lost Property Office to collect a bag, that her husband had left in a black cab a couple of weeks ago.
I’d lost something myself years ago, and then it was very much the haunt of the jobsworths!
But yesterday it was a totally different experience and after paying a reward for the taxi driver, the bag was efficiently and politely retrieved.
It all went to show that putting in a good and well-thought out system can bring significant benefits to both your company and your customers.
Cambridge Ipswich Trains
At last something is being done, but it will be too late for me!
From December 10th, there will be modern two coach, Class 170 trains, with extra services at night.
But last night it was cramped as the 18:43 out of Cambridge didn’t run due a train failure and the 19:43 was just one of the awful single carriage Class 153 trains, which struggled to accomodate all of the passengers.
A Crowded Cambrdge Ipswich Train
The picture shows just how bad it was. It was lucky, as I only had two stations to go.
Roll on December the 10th!
A Very Much Better Day!
I should say I had a very good day yesterday, as although I had a slight problem caused by my stroke on Monday, the Keppra that the doctors have put me on have made my life infinitely better. I met an old friend in Hampstead and we had a good lunch. I then spent an hour or so walking round the shops and I have found that my gammy left hand and my eyesight are both almost back to normal. Just typing this is very easy, but for the last few months, it has required endless corrections. So I did make three, but two weeks ago, I’d have made 33!
I caught the six forty-four home and even got a seat from Royston!
Brian Cant has Parkinson’s
There is sad news that Brian Cant, the former BBC children’s presenter has Parkinson’s Disease. But he is also to get a richly-deserved Children’s Bafta.
The Anonymous Widower 