tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post7600686661062044320..comments2023-10-18T16:25:13.593+01:00Comments on Famous for 15 megapixels: Time to go away nowStefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-64013804236027858032010-11-23T13:11:10.140+00:002010-11-23T13:11:10.140+00:00Brilliant stuff, stef. You have a great way with w...Brilliant stuff, stef. You have a great way with words.craggynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-17371894564375078112010-11-04T22:08:38.883+00:002010-11-04T22:08:38.883+00:00So many dead villages
Of course, there are those,...So many dead villages<br /><br />Of course, there are those, such as the Historiographer Royal, who argue that the climate and landscape of the Highlands and Islands couldn't support the indigenous population<br /><br />That's why they had to be moved to the lush, temperate pastures of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Breton_Island#Merger_with_Nova_Scotia" rel="nofollow">Newfoundland</a>Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-77383997786632090252010-11-04T21:51:22.398+00:002010-11-04T21:51:22.398+00:00From Prebble's Eraserpedia entry...
"Pre...From Prebble's Eraserpedia entry...<br /><br /><i>"Prebble makes a strong case that there was a conscious effort to remove Highlanders and Islanders from Scotland. <b>Others argue that it was purely economic and social factors which led to the population decline in rural Scotland</b>. The Historiographer Royal in Scotland Gordon Donaldson was particularly cutting in his criticism and declared Prebble's books to be "utter rubbish"</i><br /><br />Those would be the economic and social <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_%28Scotland%29" rel="nofollow">factors</a> who beat people onto the waiting ships and set fire to their homes in case they ever found a way to return from their imposed diasporaStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-41840505720960750922010-11-04T18:01:56.012+00:002010-11-04T18:01:56.012+00:00The people whose fate prebble described had a clea...The people whose fate prebble described had a clear understanding of what was happening and by whom.<br />Which is why they were dealt with using an extreme brutality unnecessary where people have been convinced of their own guilt and the justness of their fate.paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608591025225519578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-12125521598836773042010-11-04T17:48:02.548+00:002010-11-04T17:48:02.548+00:00"It's the Sheep wot' did it!""It's the Sheep wot' did it!"Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-59891105196759165772010-11-04T17:43:58.509+00:002010-11-04T17:43:58.509+00:00Mmmmmm .....Thinks of the Highlands being cleared ...<i>Mmmmmm .....Thinks of the Highlands being cleared for sheep and imagines people saying, prior to it happening</i><br /><br />I'm a big <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prebble" rel="nofollow">John Prebble</a> fan<br /><br />and the analogy with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_clearances" rel="nofollow">The Clearances</a> is a good one and one that had never occurred to me beforeStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-86264971677667813692010-11-04T17:39:31.264+00:002010-11-04T17:39:31.264+00:00My next FOI is going to be directed at those fucke...My next FOI is going to be directed at those fuckers at TFL who taunt their passengers will periodic accouncements on the London Underground that a 'Good Service' is operating<br /><br />This is one of the finest examples of Blair Era 'Spin rather than delivery' bullshit and needs a stake driven through its heart<br /><br />My questions will be along the lines of<br /><br />1. How often does TFL announce that a 'Normal Service' or 'Poor Service' is operating on the London Underground?<br /><br />2. What criteria must be met before a 'Good Service' is announced?<br /><br />3. How much did you pay the cunt who came up with this insulting attempt at mass brainswashing and where does he live?Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-19699632419722535872010-11-04T17:36:55.823+00:002010-11-04T17:36:55.823+00:00and as for your contention in your title, "Ti...and as for your contention in your title, "<i>Time to go away now</i>"<br /><br />I live in a rural community. Due to mechanisation in agriculture there are very few people around here, where once there were thousands.<br /><br />Mmmmmm .....Thinks of the Highlands being cleared for sheep and imagines people saying, prior to it happening, <br /><br />"That could never happen. Only a conspiracy nut would suggest such a thing."gyg3shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08295092807711672726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-30751432803224921342010-11-04T17:27:41.137+00:002010-11-04T17:27:41.137+00:00Just been thinking about Tate & Lyle's cas...Just been thinking about Tate & Lyle's case.<br /><br />They were whinging 'cos everyone else had been over subsidised due to a gov error in doing its calculations.<br /><br />Their whinge was that they were being treated unfairly by the gov 'cos they weren't over subsidised too.<br /><br />This raises the questions, who was over subsidised and by how much?<br /><br />FoI Request or question for MP?gyg3shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08295092807711672726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-80014288215102735902010-11-04T17:17:59.669+00:002010-11-04T17:17:59.669+00:00So it’s the machines wot done it!? Too funny Stef....<i>So it’s the machines wot done it!? Too funny Stef.</i><br /><br />I picked the example of RAF Lancasters because, down to the RAF being a relatively new branch of the armed servies and quite technically demanding, a lot of the aircrew who flew and died in them were non-commissioned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Sergeant" rel="nofollow">Flight Sergeants</a> with a lower middle-class/ working class Grammar School education<br /><br />Pop Quiz<br /><br />If the State still needed technically educated cannon fodder do you think Grammar schools would still be widespread?<br /><br />It's not the machines that did it. It's the fuckers who own them. Or rather, lent the money to buy themStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-33293704202364105142010-11-04T17:04:22.838+00:002010-11-04T17:04:22.838+00:00Anectdotal but...
I recently spent a couple of ho...Anectdotal but...<br /><br />I recently spent a couple of hours trying to explain how to use a film-based, manual exposure, 35mm SLR to a couple of 18 year olds<br /><br />They're both decent, intelligent kids<br /><br />The entire exercise was like drawing teeth. Deep down they had no interest whatsover in learning any of the stuff they needed to know how to use their cameras because, basically, they'd grown up with point and click camera phones<br /><br />Their photographs are shitStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-9032547280770237052010-11-04T16:09:31.703+00:002010-11-04T16:09:31.703+00:00So it’s the machines wot done it!?
Too funny Stef...So it’s the machines wot done it!?<br /><br />Too funny Stef.Wolfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05820269114208456064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-72066336231634440172010-11-04T09:42:38.148+00:002010-11-04T09:42:38.148+00:00Pilger:
"This is not to say Parliamentary pol...<a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26743.htm" rel="nofollow">Pilger</a>:<br />"This is not to say Parliamentary politics is meaningless. They have one meaning now: the replacement of democracy by a business plan for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope, every child born..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-54771134166736685742010-11-03T17:14:40.747+00:002010-11-03T17:14:40.747+00:00Of course, if you were to seek to eradicate all &#...Of course, if you were to seek to eradicate all 'unsustainable' means of energy producion, such as hydrocarbon and nuclear, it would be a relatively simple calculation to figure out...<br /><br />- how much energy someone requires to sustain a typical western lifestyle<br /><br />- how much acreage would be required per person to capture that energy from natural sources<br /><br />whilst I haven't crunched the numbers myself I'm sure that people who work for the land-owning class have and if you own less than the required acreage then, I'm afraid, you're shit out of luckStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-55015471342644580872010-11-03T16:02:20.449+00:002010-11-03T16:02:20.449+00:00and you've got to take your hat off to the env...and you've got to take your hat off to the enviromenalists<br /><br />with all that new technology and progress they've still found a way to make being a landless peasant as relevant as it was in 1381Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-81010048283319336112010-11-03T15:59:14.604+00:002010-11-03T15:59:14.604+00:00thanks for the Tates story
I spent a few years in...thanks for the Tates story<br /><br />I spent a few years in the Sugar business. A wonderful industry stacked full of the most humble, altruistic individuals you'd ever care to meetStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-69831422438466451092010-11-03T15:56:12.233+00:002010-11-03T15:56:12.233+00:00and the price of wind farms...
Queen set to reel ...and the price of wind farms...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2010/10/25/queen-set-to-reel-in-38m-a-year-from-offshore-windfarms-because-crown-owns-the-seabed-86908-22657254/" rel="nofollow">Queen set to reel in £38m a year from offshore windfarms.. because Crown owns the seabed </a>Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-16452775003453756322010-11-03T15:54:34.223+00:002010-11-03T15:54:34.223+00:00seen the price of sugar lately?seen the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575591971478795824.html" rel="nofollow">price of sugar</a> lately?Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-9203801003352260552010-11-03T15:48:50.667+00:002010-11-03T15:48:50.667+00:00Stef said, "And before We go away, that Syste...Stef said, "<i>And before We go away, that System would like to hoover up whatever crumbs of capital We managed to collectively accumulate over those last 100-150 years</i>"<br /><br />One of the mechanisms for doing this is illustrated in the recently reported case of Tate & Lyle Industries Ltd & Anor, R. (On the application of) v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change & Anor <a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2010/2752.html" rel="nofollow">[2010] EWHC 2752</a>.<br /><br />A straight reading of the case will tell you that it is a public law spat between Tate & Lyle (T & L) and the Gov.<br /><br />T & L modified their plant so that they were cooking on biomass fuel generators with a combined heat and power plant. For this the gov allocated them 1.0 ROC/MWh whereas they wanted 1.5 ROC/MWh. To see what happened read the case ... but that misses the point.<br /><br />The point is that it is illustrative of the mechanism of environmentalism being co-opted in order to be used as a wealth transfer mechanism.<br /><br />Fossil fuel energy generators have to buy Renewal Obligation Certificates (ROCs), these certificates are bought from <i>green</i> electricity producers.<br /><br />Of course, the fossil fuel generators get the money to buy the ROCs from the price they charge the electricity consumer: you and I.<br /><br />The people who are doing the renewable energy schemes are land owners / off shore owners (there's only one, the Queen) and large corporations (eg Tate & Lyle, plus a myriad of other corporations you can crappy windturbines in all sorts of places).<br /><br />It's a transparent wealth transfer from poor people to those who have land and/or capital.<br /><br />The legal mechanisms are found in the case cited above.gygesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-60797563558665736912010-11-03T15:31:27.317+00:002010-11-03T15:31:27.317+00:00=3.16 * 10^9 according to Archbishop Ussher=3.16 * 10^9 according to Archbishop UssherStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-70543530335153794022010-11-03T15:28:38.156+00:002010-11-03T15:28:38.156+00:00...I'm old enough to remember when people used......I'm old enough to remember when people used to joke about the Italians needing calculators with special extra wide displays because their money was so shit<br /><br />Nowadays, whenever I slot UK debt figures into a spreadsheet they're automatically converted into scientific notation - up there with the distance to Alpha Centauri in metres, or the age of the Earth in minutesStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-24053722538627212252010-11-03T15:20:46.252+00:002010-11-03T15:20:46.252+00:00and whilst I'm raving on about interest rates
...and whilst I'm raving on about interest rates<br /><br />The UK government is currently paying £20bn a year on housing benefit which essentially goes into the pockets of private landlords and the banks and helps sustain house prices at usurious levels<br /><br />with that £20bn at an interest rate of 0.25% the UK government could service...<br /><br />£8,000,000,000,000<br /><br />of borrowing which it could use to build and service housing stock<br /><br />which works out at something like £135,000 for every man, woman and child in the country<br /><br />and, unlike the current system, that government spend/ debt would be matched with tangible assets<br /><br />there are, of course, flaws in that argument but it does help illustrate the kind of bonkers maths that the current state of the UK's finances is now subject to<br /><br />A few billion on HE here and there doesn't count for dickStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-69350803577623303182010-11-03T15:16:44.199+00:002010-11-03T15:16:44.199+00:00Your first priority should be to relieve your torm...<i>Your first priority should be to relieve your tormentors of the means by which they are fucking you</i><br /><br />Amen to that!<br /><br /><a href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Expropriation+of+the+Expropriators" rel="nofollow">Expropriate the expropriators</a>!Anthttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Expropriation+of+the+Expropriatorsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-59217410342851363352010-11-03T15:07:37.823+00:002010-11-03T15:07:37.823+00:00and you've got to love the way that student lo...and you've got to love the way that student loans are now going to be charged at <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8049300/Lord-Browne-review-student-debt-could-soar-to-80000.html" rel="nofollow">'more commercial'</a> rates<br /><br />The last time I looked the British government was either giving the commercial institutions money for nothing or charging 0.25%Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-63564358993353019232010-11-03T15:01:25.925+00:002010-11-03T15:01:25.925+00:00Recently, I've had to endure a couple of peopl...Recently, I've had to endure a couple of people pouring forth about Mickey Mouse degrees in aromatherapy and the unsustainable (sic.) costs of state-funded higher education<br /><br />My response went something along the lines of<br /><br />1. What fraction of the amount used to support the banking system do you think is spent on HE every year?<br /><br />2. If all those kids doing Mickey Mouse degrees decided to switch to engineering who exactly would they go and work for after they graduated?<br /><br />Carlin was actually wrong/ out of date in his pitch. The System doesn't even need people smart enough to work the machines.<br /><br />Bar the colour-coded, monkey-operable jobbies in McDonalds, there ain't no machines. Not in the US/ UK anyway<br /><br />What the System needs now is debtors and that's what HE is being configured to produce<br /><br />Obvious enough to conspiraloons but a PoV that is not being articulated outside of LoondomStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.com