Are the Arab States Going the Way of the Soviet Block?
One by one, the Soviet Union and its satellites, which were all controlled by a matched set of hideous dictators, fell to the power of the people and eventually got that most fragile of freedoms; democracy. Now, only a couple of the former hard-line Communist states are the sort of places that wouldn’t tolerate people thinking like me.
So are we now seeing a similar domino effect in the various Arab states?
I do hope so, but if we are, will the dictators go as quietly and quickly?
I suspect not!
My Alternative to Alternative Vote
I don’t like the system of Alternative Vote, especially in countries, where voters have little political awareness. One of the reasons is that many just vote, by going 1, 2, 3 etc. from the top. Now that means that a lot of people with surnames beginning with A get elected. It is good for Balls, Brown, Blair, Clegg, Cameron and Cable, but worse for those like Milliband or Wanker.
I would prefer some form of elimination and runoff system, based on the principle that no-one can get elected unless they have got fifty percent of the votes. There would also be a none-of-the-above box. After the first round, if the one with most votes, got more than fifty percent, then they are elected. If the none-of-the-above box got over the magic fifty, then all candidates are banned and the election is rerun with new idiots. In all other cases, any who got less than say five percent would be eliminated and a simple rerun is performed.
The permutations are endless and it would clog parliament up for months deciding what should be done. At least this would stop pointless legislation being passed.
Labour Makes Voting More Appealing to Younger Votes
According to Seven Day Sunday on Radio 5, the Labour Party is thinking of calling the ballot box, the X-Box, to make voting more appealing to younger voters.
I know it’s a show you don’t take seriously, but I like the idea. The trouble is, it’s the sort of idea, you could believe had been thought up by a bunch of self-opinionated politicians.
Ex-Wife Exorcises Peer
This headline was in The Times today and concerns the ex-wife of Lord Taylor of Warwick.
It probably shows you should keep religion and politcs separate. In fact religion should be kept separate from everything.
America Puts Guns Before Fighting Crime and Terrorism
The story of Steven Greenoe is a classic farce and it shows how the United States love of the gun, gets in the way of fighting crime and terrorism around the world. Afer the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, surely the country should do something to curb guns, which seem to be at the cause of much of the world’s troubles.
I recommend all United States politicians read my Abba Eban quote.
The Search for the New Ratfinder General
Rats have been seen scuttling around Number 10 Downing Street, for the first time since Cherie Blair was rumoured to have banished the last Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, Humphrey, to another place.
The real problem is not finding the cat, but giving the new appointee, a suitable name.
Abba Eban
I always like people who use English properly and thoughtfully. Abba Eban was one such person, although I may not always have agreed with everything he said and did.
The Times yesterday quoted him memorably in the second leader.
History teaches us, that men and nations, only behave wisely when they have exhausted all other alternatives.
Many of the world’s stupid leaders could improve their nations, by following the words of the man, The Times credits as the founding father of Israeli democracy
Boris Talks Sense
The unions are incensed that Boris Johnson has talked of introducing driverless trains on the London Underground.
But we’ve effectively had driverless trains on the Underground ever since 1967 on the Victoria Line. The so-called driver sits in the cab and when he’s satisfied that the doors on the train are shut, he effectively pushes a button and the train automation moves the train to the next station.
So as Boris said, everybody could drive an Underground train. Well not exactly, but any sane person, with a strong sense of responsibility and a degree of proper training could do it. I suspect that any bus driver could do it very well, especially as now, the average London bus, is probably almost as complicated as an Underground train. Remember, I’ve seen at first hand, what it takes to drive a train. But that was on a much more complicated line, at twice the speed and without the same degree of automation.
The unions are only delaying the inevitable day, when drivers on Underground trains, are only there for the rare times, when something goes seriously wrong. Even the announcements, when there is a problem could be done remotely from a control centre.
Nakd Bars
Good gluten-free snacks are hard to come by. But have the Welsh come up with something better than the ubiquitous banana?
Nakd Cocoa and Orange Bar
They certainly taste nice. My only worry is that they seem to be a bit addictive. They do say on the packet that the bars are “Gleefully made in Wales”
Is this another case of a food company being innovative to expand and get us out of the recession?
They are also following a trend of trying to make the packaging funny and very much worth reading. Humour is the greatest weapon in life and we don’t use it enough in marketing and business.
Perhaps the reason we got into the recession was have we ever had such a humourless bunch of politicians as Gordon Brown and NuLabor?
The Joy of Engineering
In many ways I am an engineer first, second and all the way to last.
In my troubles over the last couple of years, my reasoning and problem solving abilities have got me through it to a certain extent. I even cook like an engineer. And these skills I learned in my long training and experience as an engineer, from helping my father in his print works, through the vacation jobs at Enfield Rolling Mills, my degree at Liverpool University, the experience at ICI and then my years of programming, where I wrote planning and data management systems for a variety of industries.
So why are engineers different?
Many people like doctors have a theory and try to prove it, whereas engineers have a problem and try to solve it, whilst sticking to the best scientific and management principles. One of my principles is that you can’t ignore scientific correctness at any time. This is probably, why if you want to louse up a project, you just let politicians get their sticky fingers on it. Everywhere around you, you see good engineering ideas, that work, that probably had to overcome difficult obstacles from ignorant politicians to come to fruition.
There is a simple idea from close to me. Imagine the outcry if today, an electricity company said that they were going to lay 400 thousand volt cables underneath the towpaths of the Regent’s Canal and then cool them with water from the canal. After all water and electricity don’t mix! Do they? But that is what was done in the 1960s and as far as I can tell, there have been no problems. It would appear too, that the cooling system is being upgraded judging by signs beside the canal. So engineers are making a good idea even better.
Yesterday, the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at Liverpool University invited me for a coffee and I spent an enjoyable hour with him discussing the problems of the world, that engineers could solve.
Few were controversial, but time and again engineering ignorance of the great and good came up as the reason a proven idea wasn’t implimented.
We must give everybody at least a basis of a scientific or engineering education, so that when someone says he’s going to do something, the idea can be properly discussed and the correct decisions taken. As an example, the public in this country is very much against waste incinerators, whereas in some countries like Austria, they have had serious discussions and use the best engineering designs to get rid of the waste that can’t be easily recycled, often by incineration in plants designed to advertise what they do.
So it is to be welcomed in the news today, that JCB have got involved in an academy to give young people a proper science, engineering and business education.
Let’s hope it’s not the only one.
I’ve enjoyed my time as an engineer so far and I’m not going to give up on it yet.
The Anonymous Widower 