Offshore Construction Work Resumes On Revolution Wind After US Judge’s Ruling
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
A US judge in Washington has cleared the way for work to resume on the 704 MW Revolution Wind offshore wind farm after granting a temporary injunction that lifted the federal stop-work order imposed in August.
These two paragraphs add details to the post.
On 22 August, the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order halting all offshore construction activities on the 704 MW project, which is already 80 per cent completed, according to its developers, Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables.
A few days later, the joint venture challenged the stop-work order in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, while Connecticut and Rhode Island filed their own lawsuits against the decision on the same day.
I’ve written about this project before in ‘This Has Nothing To Do With National Security’ | Revolution Wind Halt Leaves Connecticut Leaders Demanding Answers
Farage Faces Questions Over Who Funded £885,000 Clacton Constituency Home
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage faces pressure to account for how his partner paid for a £885,000 home after a BBC investigation raised further questions about his previous explanation.
These two introductory paragraphs, give more details.
The Clacton MP has denied avoiding more than £44,000 in additional stamp duty on the purchase of the constituency home by putting it in his partner Laure Ferrari’s name, saying that she bought it with her own funds.
He suggested that she was able to afford to buy the four-bedroom home, which was bought without a mortgage, because she comes from a wealthy French family.
The BBC appears to have fully investigated the deal and doubt the veracity of some of the tale, that Farage told.
I notice, that the house in question is in Frinton.
My late wife was a barrister and once acted for the Co-op to get an off-licence in the town.
- Up until this action the town had been dry.
- C told me, that the Co-op had appointed a charming Asian gentleman as a manager.
- She used all her legal charm to get the action through.
- She also joked afterwards about hate mail, but I don’t think it was serious.
It appears that you can still buy alcohol in Frinton.
Vape Ban Isn’t Working, Says Waste Firm Boss
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The ban on disposable vapes is failing to stop millions being thrown away incorrectly, and the devices are still causing chaos for the waste industry, a boss at a leading firm has said.
These three introductory paragraphs add more detail.
“We’re seeing more vapes in our system, causing more problems, more fires than ever before,” said Roger Wright, the strategy and packaging manager at Biffa.
Vape firms have launched cheap reusable devices, so instead of refilling and recycling them, people were binning them and buying more, he said.
A spokesperson for the vape industry said the June ban had been a success, and any rise in devices being thrown away was likely due to black market trade.
It looks to me, that the government didn’t get the legislation right.
Are Disposable Vapes Available On The Internet?
To find the BBC story, I typed “Disposable Vapes” into Google.
I found headlines like these.
- Cheap Disposable Vapes | From 50p | Free Delivery
- Disposable Vapes – Multi-Buys & Free Next Day Delivery
- Legal Big Puff Disposable Vapes on Sale in the UK
Why aren’t these adverts being taken down?
18-State Coalition Sues Trump Administration Over Block On Wind Energy Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
A coalition of 18 state attorneys general has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s directive to stop federal approvals for both onshore and offshore wind energy developments, warning that the policy could seriously damage the wind industry and hinder progress on renewable energy.
These two introductory paragraphs add some details.
The coalition alleges that the administration’s directive and federal agencies’ subsequent implementation of it violate the Administrative Procedure Act and other laws by offering no reasoned justification for reversing federal policy and freezing all approvals.
The lawsuit, led by New York state, also alleges that the sudden halt on all permitting violates numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals.
As New York state is mentioned, I wonder if this case could end up in front of The Lady On The Train, who turned out to be a New York State Supreme Court Judge.
New York Governor: ‘I Will Not Allow This Federal Overreach To Stand’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Following the order of the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to halt all construction activities on the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she would fight the federal decision.
This fight could get very nasty.
In the green corner, we have the New York governor; Kathy Hochul, Østed, Denmark and probably a lot of workers who thought they’d retrained for a new growing industry.
And in the orange corner, we have Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and all the other useful idiots.
Interestingly, I may have met one of referees to this spat.
In The Lady On The Train, I describe a meeting with one of the most powerful justices in the United States.
As she either sat on the US Supreme Court or the New York State Supreme Court, it will be interesting how she would judge this case, given the liberal scientifically-correct conversation we had a few years ago.
The fight in the Courts would be very hard against a whole bench of formidable adversaries like this lady.
The Lady On The Train
One of the most amazing people, I’ve ever met was a New York State Supreme Court Judge. It is wrong to guess a lady’s edge, but she was about my age; late seventies, black, well-dressed and sat down next to me in Second Class with the biggest smile on her face on the train between Cambridge and London.
She was at a legal conference of senior judges from all over the world at Cambridge University and was going exploring in London.
The reason for the smile was extraordinary. When she went to the ticket counter, she was surprised that the Pakistani-as-she-described him ticket guy asked for her age. He then asked, if she would be doing any other travelling in the UK and when she said yes, he sold her a Senior Railcard as well. She had found it such a surreal experience, that would never have happened in the States that she was still laughing, when the sat down.
She could of course have been not just a New York State Supreme Court Judge, but a full United States Supreme Court Judge and I’d misheard, although I doubt she would have been one of Trump’s picks last time around.
I do hope that when Trump finds himself in the United States Supreme Court as he inevitably will, that she is there to give her verdict.
Dr. David Owen And The NHS Infected Blood Scandal
I am writing this post, mainly using Dr. David Owen’s Wikipedia entry.
This paragraph describes Dr. Owen’s early days as a minister in Harold Wilson’s first government and the early days of Harold Wilson’s second government
From 1968 to 1970, Owen served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Navy in Harold Wilson’s first government. After Labour’s defeat in the 1970 general election, he became the party’s Junior Defence Spokesman until 1972 when he resigned with Roy Jenkins over Labour’s opposition to the European Community. On Labour’s return to government in March 1974, he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health before being promoted to Minister of State for Health in July 1974.
There is also this paragraph describing his involvement as Minister of State for Health in the NHS Infected Blood Scandal.
As Minister of State for Health he encouraged Britain to become “self-sufficient” in blood products such as Factor VIII, a recommendation also promoted by the World Health Organisation. This was principally due to the risk of Hepatitis infection from high-risk blood donors overseas who were often paid and from “skid-row” locations. David Owen has been outspoken that his policy of “Self-Sufficiency” was not put into place (although he was, himself, Minister of Health) and gave rise to the Tainted Blood Scandal which saw 5,000 British Haemophiliacs infected with Hepatitis C, 1,200 of those were also infected with HIV. It was later described in the House of Lords as “the worst treatment disaster in the history of the National Health Service”.
So why did Dr. Owen’s and the World Health Organisation’s view of making the UK “self-sufficient” in blood products such as Factor VIII not prevail?
Did Sir Brian Langstaff and his team go through minutes of cabinet meetings, when Dr. David Owen was Minister of State for Health?
Did Harold Wilson or the Chancellor; Denis Healey overrule David Owen’s view, as they needed what little money we had for other purposes?
I must admit, that if I had been in Dr. Owen’s position in 1974 and the Government were proposing to something against, my engineering experience, I would have resigned. Note that Dr. Owen did resign in 1972, over Labour’s opposition to the European Community.
If any doctors are reading this, who were qualified at the time, I’d like to hear their views.
Conclusion
One way to ascertain the truth, would be to charge Dr. Owen with something serious and led the Law decide.
Japan Expands Offshore Wind Development Into Exclusive Economic Zone
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Japanese Government has passed an amendment to the “Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas”, expanding the area for setting up offshore wind to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
These two paragraphs give more details.
The Japanese government aims to deploy 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, including floating wind, as part of its target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The new legislation would allow wind farms to be installed further out to sea from current territorial and internal waters, according to a joint statement by the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Japanese seem to have devised a simple bid process, that gives rights to generate electricity for thirty years.
But then as a Director of Lockheed told me thirty years ago, the Japanese don’t have the same high levels of lawyers that the US, UK and other countries have, so they can move a lot faster and are easier to do business with.
This Wikipedia entry is entitled Wind Power in Japan.
This is the opening paragraph.
In Japan’s electricity sector, wind power generates a small proportion of the country’s electricity. It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 gigawatts (GW) for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity. As of 2020, the country had a total installed capacity of 4.2 GW.
From the potential of 608 GW of offshore wind capacity, it looks like Japan is in a very similar position to the UK and the Japanese can also reap the wind.
Teen’s Killing Raises A French Policing Issue That Dare Not Be Named
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on France24.
This is the sub-heading.
The killing of 17-year-old Nahel M. during a police traffic stop this week was a depressingly familiar addition to France’s list of police brutality cases. But when the UN called on the government to address racial discrimination in its police force, the official reaction was just as familiar and depressing for France’s minorities.
These are the first five paragraphs.
On Friday, just a few days after a French police officer shot dead a teenager during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb, the UN Human Rights Office urged France to tackle racial discrimination.
“We are concerned by the killing of a 17-year-old of North African descent by police in France,” UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.
“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement,” she added.
Shamdasani’s comments echoed innumerable statements released over the past few years by international rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, calling on the French state to address “systematic discrimination” particularly “the use of ethnic profiling” during identity checks.
If the UN human rights office believed the police killing of the teenager of Algerian descent, named Nahel M., could be the “moment” for an official French reckoning, it proved to be mistaken.
These are a few choice paragraphs.
Many Cases
Nahel’s killing in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre was the latest in a string of cases of police violence in France’s deprived, multi-ethnic banlieues, or suburbs. These include high-profile cases, such as the 2005 deaths of two young men in Clichy-sous-Bois, a Paris suburb, and the 2016 death of Adama Traoré in Val d’Oise, a banlieue further north. The victims were all non-white young males.
France And America
“Of course France and America are very different countries, but they have a common enemy: racism,” a demonstrator told FRANCE 24 at a June 2020 “Justice for Adama Traoré” protest. “Nothing will ever change until people are educated about racism. Starting with the police.”
One Bad Apple, Not The Orchard
Several French officials and security experts conceded that the video footage appeared to show the policeman acting in breach of procedures. But they insist it’s a case of one bad apple, not a rot in the orchard.
French Police And Military Voting
A July 2019 study by the left-leaning Fondation Jean-Jaurès found that more than 50% of French military and law enforcement personnel said they voted for far-right politician Marine Le Pen’s party in recent elections.
In the first round of the 2022 presidential election, 39% of police and military personnel voted for Le Pen while 25% voted for another far-right candidate, Éric Zemmour, according to polling institute Cluster17.
France Police Union Tweet
“Congratulations to the colleagues who opened fire on a young 17-year-old criminal. By neutralising his vehicle, they protected their lives and those of other drivers. The only ones responsible for this thug’s death are his parents, who were incapable of educating their son,” it read.
France’s “Licence To Shoot” Law
The law, which was passed following a spate of terror attacks in France, has been slammed as a “licence to shoot” legislation. In 2022 alone, 13 people were shot and killed by police in cases of non-compliance. While French authorities have not released the racial or ethnic identities of the victims, sociologist Sebastien Roche told a local French daily that there was an “overrepresentation of ethnic minorities among those killed during refusals to obey” police traffic stops.
The article is worth a full read.
Ed Sheeran Wins Thinking Out Loud Copyright Case
The title of this post, is the same as that pf this article on the BBC.
This was the sub-heading
Ed Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On when composing Thinking Out Loud, a US court has ruled.
It certainly looks like justice has been done, after a court case urged on, by unscrupulous lawyers, who would probably have got millions of dollars in fees, if they’d won.
It was an example of the American legal system at its worst.
I was probably about fourteen, when I went to a Scout camp on the Verulam Estate near St. Albans. I can remember we walked from East Barnet to St. Albans with the trek cart.
One evening at the camp around a wood fire, a Scoutmaster from another troop, entertained up on his guitar, playing various songs of the day. He showed us how most songs were created using the same chords and rhythm. He also gave us a few pieces of his own.
It was fascinating. But it seems to me that Sheeran has used a similar line and argument in his defence.
I don’t have much respect for American lawyers.
One of the companies, that I helped create was taken over by an American corporation. I can remember at dinner one night with one of their senior managers, some of the best legal jokes and advice being offered.
On the other hand, I would defend one of my ideas in the US Courts, if I had an idea, that someone had stolen. But in that case, I would make sure, I’d got my case correct.
I suspect, it could be a good way to protect an idea.
I have sold two companies and ideas to Americans and one to the Germans. Only one American deal ended up in the Courts and that was one of these opportunistic cases, dreamed up by sharp lawyers, that was thrown out.
The German deal was for several millions and it was interesting, as the Germans were happy to do all the negotiating in the UK, with the contract being wholly written in English law.
The Anonymous Widower 