We Are Not Doomed

 

Stephen Hawking has been reported as saying that life on earth will end, unless we can move on.

I'm a scientist and engineer and know that in all the previous crises in the past several thousand years, man has always adapted, improved and survived. The world has usually been better for it.

For instance, there is masses of technology on the point of being developed or available now, that will save us large amounts of energy and reduce or even reverse global warming; LED light bulbs, ground source heating, wave power, solar power, high insulation materials, smart control systems etc.

The Internet too in the next few years could mean that offices become a thing of the past for many. I've worked at home since 1972 and created two world-class technology businesses in that time. Working from home saves energy in many ways and if we all did it on average two days a week, we probably wouldn't need any new major transport systems.

People will lead the energy revolution not politicians.

Not Enough Violence of the Right Kind

 

I grew up in North London in the 1950s. The primary school, I attended was very rough and several of the pupils didn't stay the right side of the law.

Years later, whilst serving in the local pub, I came across one of the roughest of the rough. He appeared to have reformed and when I asked him what he did he said he worked for a demolition contractor.

There is violence in us all and it should be challenged into difficult jobs. Unfortunately, most of these have disappeared or sanitised by Health and Safety, so is this a reason for more violence?

After all, we hear lots of stories about how the Army turned me from a thug to a decent bloke.

So perhaps next time a building needs to be taken down, why don't we just say to the local youth. It's yours! And it needs to be taken down. Health and Safety would go mad, but a lot would learn the true meaning of danger.

The Pace of Technology

 

Most of my important programming is done on a Dell which is about five years old. Am I mad?

My mobile phone is a Nokia 6310i, which is probably as old.

But they both work well, so why should I change them? They also are familiar, so instead of learning a new system, I spend the time working.

I've also found someone who can keep the phone going for another three or four years. At the grand cost of £25.

So who needs new technology?

Being Mugged

 

Am I alone in never being mugged or attacked on the street in my nearly sixty years? I may live in rural Suffolk now, but I've lived in places like Liverpool 8 and wandered purposely around many cities. I still do! I've also been to large numbers of football matches and have never even been threatened.

But I did suffer horrendous bullying at Minchenden Grammar School in Southgate, which in the end led to my arm being broken. From what I read and hear bullying is still a major problem. As is domestic violence.

So I would argue, that we should not be concentrating on just mugging, but all forms of violence, which permeate our society.

ITV

 

The real problem with ITV is that the programs aren't continuous and are constantly being broken up by adverts in which I have no interest. Consequently, programs on ITV have to be twice as good to persuade me to watch.

Interestingly the only thing I watch is football, which is NOT broken by adverts. As soon as the action stops, I turn to Radio 5 Live.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

 

Bob Spink has been criticised for his statements on the ethnic origins of criminals.

He is more right that you think, but not in the obvious way.

When answering the sort of questions he asks, we need access to all of the statistics, so that we can all make proper reasoned judgements. For instance, there are large numbers of prisoners with Alzheimer's and other serious diseases. Where is that information?

Speedbandits

 

This is a very interesting way of trying to get people to slow down.

Speaking to a Danish friend, the view is that it is working, even if some might object to the method.

Independence For Scotland

 

Labour seem very worried that Scotland might get a Scottish Nationalist parliament in the elections in may. I'm not!

Scottish independence will undoubtedly be a good thing for England, both politically and economically.

For a start, the injustice that Scottish MPs at Westminster will not be able to vote on purely English issues. We also won't have to subsidise them any more and they'll have to raise their own money rather than pinching ours.

It is also very likely that Scotland's parliament will be very left wing and raise business taxes, which will drive solid Scottish companies to England.

So all in the all, if Scotland wants independence, I have no objection. It's just a pity that Ulster doesn't have the same enthusiasm for it.

Mobile Phones

 

Celia has just got a new Samsung SGH-E900 mobile phone.

All she does is use a phone as a phone. No text messages, pictures, Internet or downloading of anything. But this phone has loads of features like that.

But this phone is a complete waste of time. It has a sensitive touch screen, that means you can't use it sensibly if you're in anything moving like a car, train or bus. It also has no text menu, can't be set properly to vibrate only etc.

I could go on.

And yet everybody else thinks it's a good phone.

It's no surprise that I hang on to my Nokia 6310i, which may be four years old now, but has everything I want and very little I don't.

Security Guards on Trains

 

Some years ago, WAGN used security guards on trains from Liverpool Street to Cambridge. The outcome was that the problems that were started disappeared and many more people felt safer travelling late at night. Now, if you travel on that line, there are more late night trains and they are busy, with people returning from an evening out in London.

The security guards choked off the problem early and now they are not needed.

Polonium 210

 

There are statements that Polonium 210 has been used to murder the Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko.

It's an interesting, but terribly noxious substance if you get it in your body. You have to ingest it in some way, as the skin actually provides protection from its high radiation.

Search for Polonium 210 on the Internet and you'll find that it is strongly linked to lung cancer. Apparently, tobacco farmers use phosphate fertilisers, which when they are mined bring lots of encapsulated radon from the rock. This decays to polonium 210 and gets into the tobacco crop. Then the high temperatures in a cigarette vaporise this element and it gets in your lungs, where it does the damage.

Some reputable commentators say this is responsible for the increase of lung cancer since the 1930s, despite a drop in the number of smokers. Before then they didn't use phosphate fertilisers.

It is just another reason not to smoke.

Virgin Trains Advert

 

So the ASA has ruled that the advert for Virgin Trains where they are attacked by Indians is non-racist. Probably correct as most see it's rather tongue in cheek!

But that doesn't affect the fact that the ad is crap.

100,000 Jobs at Canary Wharf

 

This is what will create all the wealth for us in the future.

So never knock the City, even if like me you think it's a gigantic fruit machine.

The Cost of the Olympics

 

Let's get this into perspective. It was put so well in the Financial Times today.

The next Chancellor has some very large expenditure in the next few years. £3bn plus for the Olympics, £10bn-£16bn for Crossrail, £3.5bn for Thameslink and up to £25bn for the Trident replacement.

So it's obvious then. We won't replace Trident!

We might have a few nuclear-tipped missiles and bombs for hitting some rogue state, but long range missiles. Forget it!

The NASDAQ Takeover of the LSE

 

This takeover must be resisted at all costs, as the two long arms of American law and economic imperialism will make sure that the LSE is neutered and no threat to their interests. We have seen how the NatWest Three, gambling executives and others have fallen foul of US law, without committing any offences in the UK or in many cases the rest of the world.

America must also get its own financial house in order.

Every day, I get about 6,000 spam messages in my spam trap, which I analyse for threats, frauds and crooks. About 2,000 of these are promoting worthless US stocks in so-called "Pump and Dump" scams. Far from stopping this perversion, the US seems to be turning two blind eyes, as the number has tripled in the last six months.

America is ruining its own financial markets by its behaviour and now it wants to ruin ours.

Haynes and Roberts

 

Danny Haynes is going to be a real star. He's much better than Darren Bent was at the same age. He just needs to get a bit stronger. He nearly scored a goal against Leeds last year where he went round the defence with the ball on the wrong foot. It was only a brilliant save by Sullivan that stops him scoring a goal which would have made George Best proud.

You may think that was hype, but just watch him next year. Remember when he was at Charlton he was a central defender. He's only been a striker for a couple of years.

Gary Roberts is also destined for the top. He seems to have invented more fiendish ways of beating people, than the Marquis de Sade.

The King is Dead Long Live the King

 

Desert Orchid died last week and he got a proper obituary in The Times.

It all goes to show how the British and Irish love their racehorses. And especially the greys!

And then on Saturday Kauto Star won the Betfair Chase at Haydock to be installed as gavourite for the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. To say he was impressive would be an understatement.

An Unlikely Alliance

 

Take Iain Duncan Smith and a Christian Socialist community leader called Bob Holman and put them on a sink estate in Glasgow and you'd expect sparks to fly.

But this unlikely alliance seems to be producing sense about what to do with disaffected male youths.

Read about it in The Telegraph.

Paedophiles

 

Peter Allen on Drive observed that he never encountered any paedophiles when he grew up.

Obviously in Peter's part of Essex when he grew up, everything was sweetness and light.

I grew up in Barnet in the fifties and sixties and Hadley Wood had a notorious reputation. Kids always made sure they never went alone. I mentioned this to an old school friend and he told me of a shop in Southgate, where he used to get sent to buy cigarettes for his father. Again you were very careful. These aren't the only stories I've heard.

I'm not saying they were everywhere, but you passed the information around for protection. And you never ever told your parents, as they would have stopped you going anywhere interesting.

An Unusual Sory from the Darfur

 

The lady was on BBC Radio today. Very much the caricature of the English Lady in the mould of someone like Emma Thompson or Kate Winslet. But somewhat tougher.

The full story is in The Times.

There's Talent Everywhere

 

Connie Fisher was chosen to play Maria in the Sound of Music on a BBC television program called What do we do about a Problem called Maria.

The reviews have been outstanding. Check this one in the Guardian.

It just shows how many good people are out there.

Advertising on Television

 

I rarely watch any television or listen to any radio with adverts, as they annoy me so much.

There are two things to note about ITV and Channel 4 at the moment. There seems to be more and more promotions for other programs, which probably is due to the lack of advertising and also the racing on Channel 4 contains lots of adverts for toys. Perhaps the latter is aimed at grandparents rather than the children themselves.

Oxfam Shops

 

We were at Royal Ascot about twenty years ago and remarked to a well-known racing celebrity, that her jacket was rather superb. She giggled and said we weren't the first to congratulate her on her purchase at Oxfam in Newmarket High Street.

Stress and Diet

 

I am a coeliac, which means I need a gluten-free diet. One in a hundred of the UK population is like this.

But I was not diagnosed until I was 55 and when I was, the diet cured dandruff, bad skin, tiredness, migraines, wind, diarrhoea, joint pain etc. I feel ten years younger now.

Interestingly there is a strong link between coeliac disease and stress and as the moderator of a Yahoo group on the disease I can confirm this.

So before you look for a mental problem for stress, try a diet first.

Interestingly Marcus Trescothick has reportedly had severe migraines. I would not bet against Marcus having coeliac disease. The trouble is when you have a mental problem, you don't see a gastroenterologist. And many specialists don't look outside their sphere.

As an aside, my first endoscopy was done by the Mr. Hardwicke at Addenbrookes who removed the sisters' stomachs to stop cancer. He is one of the calmest doctors you could wish to meet! Excellent and I think the way the sisters have come out of their trauma so well is probably partly down to him.

Ken's New Congestion Charge

 

As a stud farmer we don't have a gas guzzling 4x4, as there are much better ways of working. I drive a medium-sized diesel estate.

So I'm pleased that Ken has increased the tax on pointless gas guzzlers for London. Only a few need such a vehicle.

Protecting Children

 

I'm married to a family barrister and have several friends who are judges who sit in Family Courts.

The basic problem is not enough money is put in to Child Protection by the Government.

1. Legal Aid is being cut, so often cases are badly represented, as new barristers with large amounts of University and training debt can't afford to do the work.

2. My wife, who has been doing this work for many years, retires in a few years and so do many of her colleagues in the legal profession. Who will do this important child protection work in the future?

3. The Government is not appointing enough judges and cases are often delayed because there is no judge. How long before a child is murdered because of this delay?

4. Social workers are badly paid and there are not enough of them.

What would we do without the good work done by charities?

Tobacco, Spirit and Wine Duties

 

In 2006-7, these duties are as follows :-

Tobacco £8bn, Spirit £2.3bn, Beer £3.2bn, Wine £2.4bn

This gives a total of £15.9bn.

Lets assume 20% of this disappears because of Internet sales, that means the Government will have to raise £3.2bn in other ways. Most would come on tobacco duties especially as smoking will be banned in public places. Traditionally, 1p on Income Tax means that we'd could all pay 3p more.

Why should I as a lifelong anti-smoker subsidise other peoples habits?

Women Boxing Officials

 

Eva Shain was a judge in the US, who judged World Championship fights including Mohammed Ali versus Ernie Shavers.

Owlstone

 

Owlstone was featured on the East Anglian news on BBC Breakfast Time.

They have developed a detector that smells tiny amounts of chemical in the air. Their applications at present5 are mainly miliatary, but I think that they will play a large part in medical detection. After all, work in California has shown that dogs can be trained to sniff people's breath and tell if they have cancer.

Yet again, we have another story, that shows we may well be getting to grips with this complex world we live in.

Poppies and Other Symbols

 

I give but I never wear any symbol of any charity.

I'm not sure why, but I also never buy clothes with a logo on them.

Perhaps, it's because I feel that such things are personal.

So I'm with Peter Snow on this one.

George W Bush

 

Thank goodness that the Americans have finally seen sense and put one of their worst Presidents in a straight-jacket that may cut the damage he does to the rest of the world.

But then is the War on Terror that he created, which was in fact pouring petrol on the flickering flames of nutters all around the world, the major cause for many of the troubles we are now experiencing?

Would the London bombings have occurred without Iraq?

I shall never forgive George W. Bush, who started as a figure of fun and rapidly showed that he was no fool, but a complete idiot.

Bus Deregulation

 

It's funny but David Milliband has to blame the Tories about the problems with buses. If this is the problem, then why has it taken nine years to do something about it?

The fact is that the bus is the least preferred mode of transport for most people and you will only get people to travel on them with investment. Look at Cambridge, which has the best Park and Ride and other good bus services, but doesn't work within a London-style regulation.

If Cambridge can create viable bus services, then so can other cities in the UK.

Black Cover Girls

 

Trisha Goddard was complaining about the lack of black cover girls on womens magazines, so I've just looked at the last sixty or so covers of Maxim on the Internet.

Only three black girls are featured and two of those did not have the cover to themselves. There were no women of a distinct Asian origin.

So it's just not womens magazines.

One does wonder though that when asked to choose, people will choose their own race. After all weren't the first two voted out from this years Strictly Come Dancing both black?

Maktoums and George Lucas

 

The Times yesterday has two interesting stories.

In the first, the Americans are less than happy about Sheikh Mohammed and his brother buying up all the good horses and winning one of the top prizes at the Breeders Cup. So what! It's their money and I think if you analysed their spend clinically, you'd find that it wasn't the best commercially. But if they choose to do that, who am I to say they shouldn't? After all, as someone involved in breeding racehorses the big players benefit us all!

On the other hand, we have George Lucas, using the power of the American Courts against the designer of the Storm Trooper suits for Star Wars. There is probably interesting copyright issues here, where probably the US and UK courts will disagree.

I'm afraid the Americans can't have it both ways. If they object to the power of the Maktoums, then they not be surprised that when they do exactly the same thing, they get bad publicity.

Wheelie Bins in Bury St. Edmunds

 

We don't have any problems with our recycling and the bin men are always very obliging. I even got a honk from the cart, because I'd forgotten to put the bins out.

Supposedly though Bury St. Edmunds is near the top of the recycling league.

Is there a connection to politeness and good manners?

Good Luck To Monty Don

 

Just heard Monty on the Radio and agree with him wholeheartedly. Although, I may be in a different part of the political spectrum.

We have a stud here at Newmarket in Suffolk. One of the problems, that many studs have is staff to muck out and feed the horses. Consequently, there is a lot of flying in of staff from Eastern Europe and other parts. The Maktoums bring in their staff from Pakistan.

But just down the road at Haverhill we have the prison at Highpoint. Why or why can't we take the men from there and give them proper work, the payment for which can then be used to support their families?

We must treat criminality, drug addiction, mental health and all the other similar problems of society holistically, so that they all get the chance to become fully-functional members of society.

I shall be watching! Both on TV and the results.

Identity Cards

 

My father ceremonially burned his ID card in 1950 saying that only Fascists and Communists have things like that!

What happens if say 100,000 people refuse to have ID cards? Will they all be sent to prison?

How also will you persuade the single mother with four kids to buy her required ID cards, when she can't afford food?

Saddam and the US Elections

 

Is there any connection between the fact that Saddam has been given a death sentence just before the US Elections?

It should certainly please the rednecks in the Mid West!

London and the North East

 

So the North East thinks London gets special treatment. What rubbish!

Reports have shown that there is resentment in the North East about the amount of money spent by govenment in London and the South East.

Look at the figures. About 60% of all spending in the North East is government spending. In London, the South East and East Anglia the figure is 30-35%. Check this with the Office of National Statistics.

So our enterprise and entrepreneurialism is used to fund worthless projects in the North East. People just get fatter and fatter and focus all their anger on their useless football team. Perhaps, if they knew what success really was, they'd get off their fat backsides and create new businesses to take on the world, just like the Armstrongs and Parsons did all those years ago.

As it is there is only one new successful high-tech business in the north. And that's Sage. To be fair they are in Newcastle.

So let's get real and invest money in London and the greater South East, where it will be appreciated and used to create wealth for us all.

Ouija Board

 

Lord Derby's amazing mare does it again.

She has just won a Breeders Cup race for the second time after being second last year. Surely we will never see such a brave and good mare again.

But then they said that after Pebbles!

Improving Cashpoints

 

Now that many of us have on-line bank accounts, it would be very easy for us to set a profile on line, that limited where and how much money we can withdraw.

For instance we might set that the maximum withdrawal on our account is perhaps £200 a month. After that withdrawals are refused. Or you might allow an emergency £10.

Processes such as this would mean that the maximum our account could lose if it was compromised by any method of skimming would be very much reduced.

Perhaps though this would help us to budget better and the banks wouldn't like this as they make too much money from overdrafts.

Climate Change Common Sense

 

Too often we have people promoting doom and gloom on climate change.

Mike Hulme of the University of East Anglia has published an interesting article on the BBC's web site. He is very much against the promotion of catastrophic climate change, by the media, activists and politicians.

I agree with him.

We should all cut emissions of carbon dioxide now! But I do not believe this would cause the average person much trouble. Those that would squeal would be those who have large 4x4's with blacked-up windows, shop out of town, never walk and never use public transport.

Take my wife and myself. I now drive a car with twice the fuel efficiency of the last one, high insulation of our house has cut heating costs and we are just about to change our boiler for a ground-based source and a heat pump.

Chuggers

 

Look at the Harassment Act. If someone does something to annoy you three times, they are in breach of the Act.

Someone ought to try it!

If a charity I support uses chuggers or charity muggers, I stop supporting them.

Mary Ann Seighart

 

Mary Ann Seighart had an interesting piece in The Times today, in which she talked about the attitudes of young Muslim men. It was a well-written measured piece.

I worry that things will get worse.

Most non-Muslims, be they Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Atheist like me or whatever, try, but if you're me not always successfully, to treat all women equally. In fact in certain racial groups, the women have become more than equal. Even in the Roman Catholic faith there are prominent and influential women.

But where are those Muslim women, who anybody would be proud to follow?

The younger generation of Muslim men seem to be getting more arrogant. My wife and I stopped going to the local Indian restaurant because the owner's son kept telling everybody about his drunken weekends in Paris with his mates, whilst his non-English speaking Bangladeshi wife sat at home. An old school friend, educated at the same liberal North London Grammar School, as Lord Puttnam, Alan Coren, Lynn Franks and Peter Kellner, gets fed up with the attitude of his male Muslim students where he teaches engineering.

Muslim men are getting further from the norm and we are rejecting them, because they do not adhere to the common decencies of a civilised society.

A sad incident illustrates their problem. Our daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby in the Royal London Hospital. The baby was born with a hole in her diaphragm, had surgery at a day old and now is a healthy four year old. But that's another story. Whilst standing around waiting for things to happen, we asked a nurse why the waiting room was locked and everybody stood in the corridor. We were told that if it were kept open all the local men sat there and the women had to stand outside. So they decided it was fairer if everyone stood.

Somehow we must change those attitudes.

My only hope is that twenty years ago we despaired of the attitudes of some West Indian men. Many of those thought to be beyond the pale are now valuable members of society.

Let's hope these Muslim men see the light and change before it is too late.

08702 401435

 

I have received a lot of calls from this number recently. I don't think they were silent calls, but as I wasn't there, I didn't know.

Finally, I was in this morning when someone phoned and I answered it. It was from Nectar. As I'm registered with the Corporate Telephone Preference Service, I know they shouldn't have phoned it. So I told him, I wouldn't be talking to him and could he go and annoy someone else.

So that others will know this number when they see it, I'll put it in alternative forms.

0870 2401435 - 0870 240 1435 - 08702 401435 - 08702 401 435

Keeping Up with the Joneses

 

As someone with one of the commonest pair of names in the world, I've always wanted about fifty of us to book into a hotel and see what happens. I think if Mr. Fawlty ran the hotel, he would blow more than one fuse.

Goal Sizes

 

You couldn't change them.

Take the Japanese, Koreans and other countries where people tend to be smaller. This would put their teams at a disadvantage, so FIFA would never agree.

Years ago there was a goalkeeper who played for Brentford called Gerry Cakebread. He was very small. And good!

The Catalina and the Walrus

 

The Consolidated Catalina was one of the ugly ducklings of World War II. The other was the Supermarine Walrus, which was as far in design from a Spitfire as you could get.

I passed Duxford today and their Catalina was sitting there in all it's glory. What a sight!

In common with several other successful aircraft of the WW2, the Catalina was thought to be obselete before the war started. But like the Fairey Swordfish, it had that characteristic of being fully run in before the war started.

Catalinas did everything that a naval flying-boat bomber could do. The RAF used them for patrol, to sink U-boats and also to keep these submerged so they couldn't recharge their batteries. The Americans used them as dive-bombers, mine layers and perhaps most spectacularly as matt black-painted Black Cats, which searched out Japanese shipping by radar in the dark and then sunk them. Not bad for a slow aircarft flying at under 180 mph. Mosquitos did 380!

As an aside here, the US have found that the slow A-10s are ideal in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to support ground troups. Speed isn't always everything.

You must not forget the Supermarine Walrus, designed like the Spitfire by R. J. Mitchell. Nicknamed the Shagbat or Steam Pigeon, it was without doubt the ugliest aircraft ever built. (The many pilots who it rescued from the sea, think it is the most beautiful!) Like later variants of the Catalina it was an amphibian capable of landing on land or water. It could also be catapult-launched from a destroyer and then recovered after landing in the sea. It primary use was as reconnaiscence for the Navy.

But what does this uncommon pair have in common?

They both had the capability of landing on the sea and picking up pilots or others who had ditched and were the supreme air-sea rescue aircraft of their day. Remember that helicopters were not feaible for this role before the early 1950s.

So where are the air-sea rescue successors to the Catalina and the Walrus?

M25

 

On Thursday, I drove round the M25 to Reading. What a nightmare!

I actually was only on the road from the M1 to the M4. But it was in the rush hour. Things would have been fine, but for the fact that an accident at Potters Bar meant that all the would and his wife used the one alternative through St. Albans and also that someone decided to have a crash at Chorleywood. In one case I did six miles in an hour.

Methods of improving the M25 inevitably talk of more lanes. But this doesn't get over the problem, where if you have an accident instead of three lanes getting blocked, you get four five or even six!

Yesterday we drove to Bicester Shopping Village. As the A14 was possibly shut at one point, we decided to take the A428 from Cambridge to Bedford and then take the A421 through Milton Keynes towards Bicester. Surprising the time it took was the same.

Now this route which is a southern alternative to the A14 is being further improved and could become a solid route that takes traffic from Cambridge and East Anglia towards Oxford, Newbury and points west without using the M25. It just needs improvements to be made around the M1 and perhaps aroudn Buckingham.

Would it not be better to spend money on improving public transport, providing better parking at train stations and stategic dual carriageways, than billons on improving a road that will still remain choked?

Proposition 89

 

Johann Hari is one of my favourite columnists.

In the linked article he has brought my attention to Proposition 89 in California in the US elections of next week. Simply put it stops big interest groups funding US politicians. This has already happened in Maine and Arizona and has transformed the political landscape in those two states.

I shall be watching the results with more interest than usual.

Politicians and Planning

 

They interfere and always muck it up!

I have been involved in planning projects since 1972. My software was used on such projects as the Jubilee Line, Space Shuttle, Chevaline, Eurofighter, Channel Tunnel etc.

You can look at projects that are on time and on budget, like the DLR extension to Lewisham. That was just a design and build for a fixed fee and politicians stayed out of the way.

Look at Wembley where all the world and his wife has a say.

Politicians must define the limits and parameters and they stay out of it. Unfortunately, their DNA doesn't allow it. Perhaps that's why they're politicians. They aren't any good at anything creative, so they just destroy the good work of others.