Good Riddance To The Sixty Watt Light Bulb!
People have a lot of misplaced love for the old sixty watt light-bulb, as this story on the BBC shows.
It doesn’t bother me, as I won’t have an incandescent bulb in the house because of the safety risk, when they fail. An A & E doctor once told me, that they’d had several people come into hospital after falls, where an incandescent bulb had failed and this had tripped out all the lights, which meant they had fallen over the cat, dog or whatever.
But the lights I hate are those halogen MR16 and GU10 bulbs. There average life span is very short and the light they give out, used to give me headches until I went gluten free. I have a lot of those size of bulb in this house and all have been replaced with LED versions, which are brighter, use less energy and rarely fail.
My real problem in this house is finding some lights to replace some of the awful ones that Jerry installed to boost his profits.
Some Truly Hideous Lights
They really are truly hideous. Some of the lights he used were even worse and when I left them on the front patio for someone to take if they wanted, they didn’t remove one. But they did take a couple of old incandescent bulbs!
Rolls-Royce Move Into Tidal Power
It is being reported that Rolls-Royce has moved into tidal power generation after the acquisition of Tidal Generation Ltd. There are some details here.
I know I keep bringing the Balaena up on this blog. But this surely is another place where the technology could be used. An appropriately sized column-like Balaena could be an ideal mount for the turbine.
Farce Start
What is going on at the World Athletic Chanmpionships in Daegu?
For a start there is no live pictures in the UK and we have to do with just the radio commentary.
I’ve just found that the pictures have been on Channel 4, but as I never watch that channel normally, how was I to know? I didn’t see anything in the papers and searching for details on the Internet didn’t seem to work.
Would I have watched it, if I’d found it? Probably the pictures only, with sound from BBC Radio 5.
But the starts of the various races seem to be bordering on the farcical. Here’s a typical report.
Let’s hope they all get this sorted by the Olympics next ear!
West Bengal To Change Name
I really don’t care what the Indian state of West Bengal is called, but it would appear that they are thinking of changing the name because the W put it at the bottom of lists of Indian states, so they get less inward investment. The Times of India report it here.
The interesting point though is that being at the bottom alphabetically a bad thing? Do more Prime Ministers and Presidents have names beginning with A, B or C say?
G4S Tags Offender’s False Leg
I like this story.
The offender’s surname was Lowcock, so perhaps G4S should have realised he wasn’t your normal customer.
Perhaps they should tag criminals round the neck, with an electronic sign on the front, detailing their offences!
We Should Let al Megrahi Die in Peace
I’ve just heard the father of one of the Lockerbie victims say this on the BBC. He is right, as Megrahi does really seem to be close to death according to this typical report among many. After all as the victim’s father said, Gaddafi has killed a lot more of his own people than the number that died in the PanAm jet at Lockerbie.
However, we shouldn’t let up though on finding out who was ultimately responsible for Lockerbie. It is all too convenient to put the blame on Gaddafi, who surely will soon be dead, as I can’t see him being captured alive or escaping to a safe haven. And if he did the latter, he has made enemies, who would not hestitate to assasinate him.
After I saw Lockerbie: Unfinished Business at the Gilded Balloon last year in Edinburgh, I posted this. I stand by every word I said.
The Untold Story of Hurricane Irene
I do find it strange to hear of a hurricane with the same name as my mother, who was a rather placid woman. In fact, I suspect too much so. On the other hand, I think she was rather calm under pressure!
I have just been reading a piece about how New York will be treating the city’s prisoners during the hurricane.
“We are not evacuating Rikers Island,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference this afternoon. Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, including a shutdown of the public transit system and the unprecedented mandatory evacuation of some 250,000 people from low-lying areas.
But in response to a reporter’s question, the mayor stated in no uncertain terms (and with more than a hint of annoyance) that one group of New Yorkers on vulnerable ground will be staying put.
New York City is surrounded by small islands and barrier beaches, and a glance at the city’s evacuation map reveals all of them to be in Zone A (already under a mandatory evacuation order) or Zone B–all, that is, save one. Rikers Island, which lies in the waters between Queens and the Bronx, is not highlighted at all, meaning it is not to be evacuated under any circumstances.
According to the New York City Department of Corrections’ own website, more than three-quarters of Rikers Island’s 400 acres are built on landfill–which is generally thought to be more vulnerable to natural disasters. Its ten jails have a capacity of close to 17,000 inmates, and normally house at least 12,000, including juveniles and large numbers of prisoners with mental illness.
We were not able to reach anyone at the NYC DOC for comment–but the New York Times’s City Room blog reported: “According to the city’s Department of Correction, no hypothetical evacuation plan for the roughly 12,000 inmates that the facility may house on a given day even exists. Contingencies do exist for smaller-scale relocations from one facility to another.”
So hard luck guys and gals!
Hopefully, they won’t have to endure the horrors of when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. This report is from the ACLU.
A culture of neglect was evident in the days before Katrina, when the sheriff declared that the prisoners would remain “where they belong,” despite the mayor’s decision to declare the city’s first-ever mandatory evacuation. OPP even accepted prisoners, including juveniles as young as 10, from other facilities to ride out the storm.
As floodwaters rose in the OPP buildings, power was lost, and entire buildings were plunged into darkness. Deputies left their posts wholesale, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests …
Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan. Even some prison guards were left locked in at their posts to fend for themselves, unable to provide assistance to prisoners in need.
When is the United States justice system going to raise its standards to the level of the civilised world?
I suspect we’d be hearing more of this if Dominique Strauss-Kahn was still in prison on Rikers Island.
Mrs. Robinson Cleared
It would appear thast Mrs. Robinson has been cleared of any misconduct according to this report on the BBC.
But the Alliance Party weren’t happy! I’m not either and I agree with the use of the Alliance Party of the word; railroaded.
But then I’ve never understood Ulster politics! So what do I know? Nothing!
Ipswich Nimbys Object to Swimming Pool
Most Nimbys usually object to something large and of great importance to the nation like a new railway or port, a power station or refuse incinerator or new housing. But not in Ipswich. According to this report in the East Anglian Daily Times, they are objecting to the reopening of a swimming pool. Their main reasons seem to be concerns about car parking, which means my sympathies are with the swimmers. Not that I can swim, but I know of many who have enjoyed the pool at Broomhill. Especially, as the pool seems to have a lot of architectural merit.
Obesity
A report today says that we must take action to prevent obesity.
The government is just dithering, as it doesn’t want to lose votes.
I am only a bantamweight and I like to think that over the years, I’ve kept myself fit. Even after my stroke, I still exercise appropriately and have started to play real tennis again. I’m the same size as when I left University and got married in 1968. I also wear the same made-to-measure morning suit that I had made in about 1975.
My weight and core strength are just two of the factors that helped me survive the stroke. The most important one was that in Hong Kong, I was put on a clot-busting drip within an hour of the stroke. That now happens in many parts of the UK.
So instead of dithering the government must take drastic action to cut obesity.
Taxes on junk food, alcohol,tobacco and other unhealthy foods must be raised severely.
In addition, I would inspect all food shops, cafes and restaurants. Those that had a too sold a too high proportion of unhealthy foods and drinks, would have to reduce that level or close.
I would also introduce a yearly medical for everybody. If you are outside of certain parameters, then your driving licence would be suspended until you had reformed.
In an ideal world tobacco would be banned, but why not make sure it is only available from specially licenced government-owned shops, as alcohol is in Norway? Remember, I believe that my youngest son died partly because of his smoking. Are smokers selfish enough to wish all of that grief on others, by continuing with their vile habit? Every time I pass an obese smoker partly blocking the street, I make an appropriate rude remark. One day someone will try and hit me, but even in my state, I still feel I could outrun most of my targets.
Much of this post has just been read out on BBC Breakfast. I bet that lost them a few viewers.
But if we don’t take action, more and more of our taxes will go to subsidise those who abuse their bodies.
The Anonymous Widower 