July 30, 2010
Last night I think I slipped into a timewarp...
Walking back to the car park from an evening out I came across this slice of Olde England blocking the road. Lacock village is owned by the National Trust and often used for films. What the Morris Dancers were doing there I have no idea...
Posted by The Englishman at 8:02 AM
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Slop Buckets For All
Cutting waste to landfill will mean incinerators and slop buckets - Telegraph
The UK has to reduce landfill by 75 per cent on 1995 levels by 2013 or face billions of pounds worth of fines from Europe.
The waste review suggests a ban on dumping biodegradable waste like food in landfill. This will mean slop buckets in most people’s homes as food waste will have to be collected separately. Already one in four councils collect food waste separately and more are expected to follow.
It also means the Government will have to build 500 new energy from waste plants to deal with the biodegradable waste.
Alan Whitehead, the Labour MP and chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group, said communities will have to accept more waste plants if the UK is to meet targets on cutting landfill.
“Something is going to have to change in terms of how we manage our waste,” he said. “You can do that by telling people they are going to have a great big waste plant next door or you can do it by discussing it with the local people and encouraging community ownership.”
But Julian Kirby, Friends of the Earth’s resource use campaigner, said communities would not accept incinerators.
“Suggesting people will accept incinerators if they come in pretty buildings with a cash reward belittles the valid arguments that communities have against them,” he said.
“Incinerators trap councils in decades-long costly contracts and belch out climate changing gases.”
So if it wasn't for the Eu we could just put it all in a hole in the ground out of sight, cover it over so it wasn't offensive, trap the methane and produce power with it and lock up the rest of the carbon in the rubbish for hundreds of years, as it is underground. And not spend millions on new systems and have to have slop buckets under the kitchen table. So why are we doing it again?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:24 AM
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The Real Cost of Conservation
Rosaleen Duffy investigates the world of nature conservation, arguing that the West's attitude to endangered wildlife is shallow, self-contradictory and ultimately very damaging. Analysing the workings of the black-market wildlife industry, Duffy points out that illegal trading is often the direct result of Western consumer desires, from coltan for cellular phones to exotic meats sold to Londoners. She looks at the role of ecotourism, showing how Western travellers contribute - often unwittingly - to the destruction of natural environments. Most strikingly, she argues that the imperatives of Western-style conservation often result in serious injustice to local people, who are branded as 'problems' and subject to severe restrictions on their way of life and even extrajudicial killings.
Duffy stresses that her intention is not to persuade people to stop supporting conservation schemes. "Wildlife is under threat and we need to act urgently," she acknowledges. Instead, she says, she wants to encourage environmentalists to examine what the real costs and benefits of conservation are, so that better practices for people and for animals can be developed.
Looks interesting - I've not read it, and I'm not sure it is all Whitey's fault. But ruffling a few feathers in the "conservation" crowd and pointing out the cost to the locals can't be a bad thing.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:11 AM
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Nutkin Nuts
Squirrel meat flies off supermarket's shelves | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The owner of a local Budgens supermarket has defended selling squirrel meat as a sustainable way of feeding people and says it has a "lovely" taste....claimed that squirrel meat is more sustainable than beef. "It takes about 15 tonnes of grain to produce one tonne of beef, which is not sustainable.
"Squirrels will be culled anyway. You have two choices. Either you dispose of them or you eat them."
The animal welfare group Viva accused Budgens of profiting from a "wildlife massacre".
Its founder and director, Juliet Gellatley, said: "If this store is attempting to stand out from the crowd by selling squirrel, the only message they are giving out is that they are happy to have the blood of a beautiful wild animal on their hands for the sake of a few quid."
ELVIS' SOUTHERN FRIED SQUIRREL
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds squirrel meat; 1 t ground pepper; 1 t parsley flakes; 1 t seasoned salt; 1 c flour; 1 1/2 c cooking oil
Boil squirrel until tender; remove from water; pat dry. Season & coat with flour. Place into hot oil & cook until brown. If desired, make brown gravy.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:09 AM
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July 29, 2010
7 Years and 2,789,092 unique visitors later - nothing has changed
An Englishman's Castle: July 2003 Archives
Thanks
(I don't do statporn, having sold a company for $5 a visitor I know a little about how the figures work... the 2,789,092 is from my server logs, it misses some out and double counts others, but it will do.)
Posted by The Englishman at 6:53 AM
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July 28, 2010
Roll Up For The Well Funded Show
Obama must take a lead on climate change – and soon | Jeffrey Sachs | Environment | guardian.co.uk
May was the warmest month ever. Intense heat waves are currently hitting many parts of the world, yet still we fail to act
(There is a)...problem in addressing climate change, which stems from a combination of the economic implications of the issue and the uncertainty that surrounds it. This is reflected in the brutal, destructive campaign against climate science by powerful vested interests and ideologues, apparently aimed at creating an atmosphere of ignorance and confusion.
Major oil companies and other big corporate interests are also playing this game, and have financed disreputable PR campaigns against climate science. Their general approach is to exaggerate the uncertainties of climate science and to leave the impression that climate scientists are engaged in some kind of conspiracy to frighten the public. It is an absurd charge, but absurd charges can gather public support if presented in a slick, well-funded format.
Well funded? Compared to the pittance the noble warmists get? You're having a laugh, or is it that my bank details have got lost in the post? I can supply them again if needed.....
Posted by The Englishman at 11:21 PM
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Fryer, Fryer, Pants on Fire.
Global warming pushes 2010 temperatures to record highs | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Publishing the newly collated data in London, Peter Stott, the head of climate modelling at the UK Met Office, said despite variations between individual years, the evidence was unequivocal:...
One key data set omitted was sea ice in the Antarctic, because it was increasing in some areas and decreasing in others, due to reduced ozone causing changes in wind patterns and sea-surface circulation. This data set showed no clear trend, said Stott.
Brazen, they even admit they leave out inconvenient data. "No clear trend", compared to the clear trends made up else where I suppose...
Posted by The Englishman at 11:15 PM
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Wheat Yields 2010
Click for bigger Very early wheat harvest has started here, averaged over 10t/ha - 4Ton/acre. Where the moisture held on in the bottoms it was doing over 15t/ha. Straw was too short and it died rather than ripened but the bushel weights are good and should make milling quality.
"Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together”: J Swift.
Posted by The Englishman at 10:58 PM
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Henge - Old English for Hanging Stones..
Interactive graphic: Marden Henge – Stonhenge's big brother - guardian.co.uk
+ I've marked where the pub is, if you want to know more follow the link...
Posted by The Englishman at 10:53 PM
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Tomorrow this blog will be seven...
I haven't got stats from its youth, and Google Analytics doesn't count all the pages but I find it extraordinary, and very humbling, that so many people continue to visit The Castle in its declining years.
Many Thanks.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM
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Snow Job
Householders who clear snow "should not be sued" - Telegraph
Troubleshooters called in by the Department for Transport have called for the creation of a “snow code” to provide protection against litigation.
Householders who stuck to the code would have a defence if they were sued.
“The scale of the task requires citizens to be mobilised into clearing footways outside their properties as quickly as possible,” the report noted.
“We believe that this can be done without the prescriptive legislation of Germany and we see a solution in which the public are encouraged to undertake this role in a voluntary way, but guided by clear Government instructions on how the work can be done in a safe and efficient way.”
The recommendations are contained in a report written by a team headed by David Quarmby, currently the chairman of the RAC Foundation and formerly the chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority
So the DofT had to employ outside consultants to come up with these brilliant ideas? No one inside the office had a spare half hour? It all stinks of the Europeanisation of our legal system. If what you do is reasonable then it is defensible. We certainly don't need fat cats demanding that the Citizens need to be mobilised and made to follow strict Government codes as they help their neighbours.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:58 AM
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The Huhnetics are in charge of the Asylum
UK businesses face steep rise in energy bills | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Government plans to secure energy supplies and cut carbon emissions means higher energy prices and bills for businesses
Brilliant plan for recovery chaps! But with the Guardianista swallowing the "it will only be a £13 rise for householders" lie (It will only be £13 if you turn the lights and your bloody heating off) then the Huhnetics are getting a free pass on this nonsense.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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Punishment Fits The Crime
Penniless lorry driver is jailed for trying to sell Ritz in £250m scam
THE fraudster who tried to sell the Ritz for £250 million in a "outrageous and elaborate scam" despite the fact that he never owned it was jailed for five years.
Conman Anthony Lee, 49, promised his victims a deal on the hotel and casino in London's Piccadilly which was "too good to be true" but the building was owned by the billionaire Barclay brothers.
Sentencing him yesterday, judge Stephen Robbins: "This scam can be compared to those fraudsters who tried to sell the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and London Bridge."
BBC News - 'Happy slapping' youths detained for grandfather death
Two teenage members of a "happy slapping" gang who fatally beat a retired care worker in front of his young granddaughter in south London have been detained.
Ekram Haque, 67, was attacked in August 2009 in Tooting as he left a mosque. He died from his injuries a week later.
Leon Elcock, 16, and Hamza Lyzai, 15, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June at the Old Bailey.
Elcock was detained for four-and-a half years and Lyzai for three-and-a-half.
Five years for trying to separate some fools from their money, four years for killing a grandfather in front of his three year old granddaughter, a culmination of a series of gratuitous attacks aimed at Asians. (As the criminals are black this doesn't seem to be classified as a racial crime though).
As some great philosophers once said on the subject:
I hear the bells of freedom chiming
And inside my heart I feel I'm dying
Wise guys never compromise
Then they loose their rights and they act surprised
Jail really cuts ya down to size
Let the punishment fit the crime
Posted by The Englishman at 6:24 AM
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July 27, 2010
The lights are going out
Energy revolution could put bills up by a third
Householders face a £300-a-year rise in their gas and electricity bills and significant cuts in how much energy they use if Britain is to “keep the lights on” and meet its climate change targets, the Government has said.
In the Commons, Mr Huhne promised “a clear strategy for creating the 21st-century energy system that this country urgently needs for an affordable, secure, low-carbon future”.
Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, outlined plans to transform Britain’s power system and cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent within the next 40 years. He announced 32 separate measures, from the use of smart meters in all homes to a major expansion of renewable energy sources, including a new generation of nuclear power stations and up to 44,000 wind turbines.
He admitted that the cheapest way “to keep the lights on” as energy prices rose was for people to “cut energy use”.
To keep the lights on turn them off.....
Posted by The Englishman at 10:24 PM
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Dorset Folk Shown How It Should Be
Cerne Abbas Giant 'inspires' fertility boom - Telegraph
Now the women in the surrounding towns and villages have the highest birth rates in the country. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the women of North Dorset have on average three children each – nearly double the national average and nearly three times as much as the city dwellers of Westminster.
Standing erect for locals to see the giant could be having an inspirational effect on couples in the area said locals.
See, marrying your cousin isn't bad for fertility as long as a giant willy is waved at you...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:22 AM
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Quango Hunting
The great quango cull
Related articles
Steve Richards: The Tories are running the show
Economic Quangos: English regions will suffer
Education Quangos: Who will monitor the curriculum now?
Health Quangos: £180m of cuts 'a blow to the NHS'
Arts Quangos: A threat to our cultural life
Environment Quangos: Green initiatives in the firing line
My heart bleeds....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:16 AM
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Keeping your neighbourhood crime free.
Theresa May unveils radical police shake-up plans - Telegraph
A document released by the Home Office to accompany the reform plans stated that the Government wanted more citizens in communities to help play a greater role in crime-fighting in their area in keeping with the Tories’ notion of a “Big Society”.
Unfortunately it seems to be less Magnificent Seven more Part-time Plastic Plod. Why not just introduce a bounty for every Citizen's Arrest that results in a successful prosecution?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:15 AM
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July 26, 2010
Real Environmentalism Call
Real conservation, real problem solving has been losing out to its fashionable illusory sister for too long. But judging by the first responses to requests to identify problems in the British countryside - the need to reintroduce bears and wolves and ban factory farming - there are plenty of other phantasms out there.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:05 AM
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A Degree that is worth the money paid for it
BBC News - First private university in decades to be created
The UK's first new private sector university college for more than 30 years is being announced by the universities minister.
David Willetts will allow London-based BPP, which has 14 regional branches, to become a university college.
"The education landscape is changing, and over the next decade we will see a different picture emerging, where both students and employers will drive demand for their preferred method of study and training," says BPP chief executive, Carl Lygo.
"We see ourselves as a pioneer in this field, and hope that our unique status and self-funding model will lead the way in which other providers will be able to operate in."
It is especially hopeful that they plan to over teaching degrees.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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Speed Camera Turn Off
BBC News - Speed camera cuts 'mean disaster'
Campaigners have said it would be a "disaster" if council cuts in England and Wales mean speed cameras are scrapped.
The government is just stopping central funding , the local councils have the choice to continue to fund them or not. They might look at the results of the Swindon experiment The number of accidents on roads next to Swindon's shrouded speed cameras is the same now as when they were active, according to council figures.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:50 AM
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July 25, 2010
In Tellytubby land the sun always shines and the windmill turns....
BBC News - Wind turbines 'set for increase'
The number of UK wind turbines is set to rise to avert a power crisis, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has indicated.
Speaking ahead of a key policy statement to the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Huhne identified Dogger Bank in the North Sea as a prime area for further offshore development.
"It's relatively cheap to put wind turbines in that shallow area," he said.
"It's beautifully windy so it does actually produce a lot of electricity - that is a really important natural resource for us."
Mr Huhne said the UK needed to become more independent in energy production to allow it to withstand "shocks from the outside world".
"The lights will not go out on my watch," he said.
The Energy Secretary said it was feasible for Britain to be totally self-sufficient thanks to renewable sources, which also includes wave power and harnessing tidal streams.
Buy a generator is the only rational response for a home owner....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:57 AM
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Oxford should remember Pecunia Non Olet
Students and academics at Oxford are angry that their university has accepted more than £3m from a foundation established by a founder of the controversial oil trading company Trafigura to fund a new summer school at the University of Oxford that will aim to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Yesterday, students and staff at Oxford urged the university to reconsider accepting the donation. Peter Oppenheimer, emeritus professor of economics at Christ Church, said the university had a history of being "naive" when it came to accepting donations. "Oxford's central fundraising effort has long been an undirected mess – they will happily take money from anywhere," he said.
As Peter relaxes in his sumptuous surroundings of Christ Church does he rail against the injustice of Henry VIII escheating Wolsey's property which he had "acquired" from the church is circumstances that might not be considered entirely fair? Do the spoilt students already within the machine consider how their "ethical outrage" will hurt the disadvantaged outside? Prats the lot of them. Graham Sharp is a good and generous man, and the ungrateful curs should be kicked, and kicked hard.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM
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Pc David Copperfield is on the case
Free the police and save billions - Telegraph
Simples
Posted by The Englishman at 6:32 AM
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July 24, 2010
Booker on the Warmists
Desperate days for the warmists - Telegraph
Warmists may be winning the big grants, but they're not winning the argument, says Christopher Booker
Posted by The Englishman at 7:39 PM
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For When Failure Is Not An Option
Unbreakable Army Boot Laces - Black or Brown - 20% to Help for Heroes
I guarantee them for life. You won't regret buying them, and we are doing a tiny bit to help as well.
Posted by The Englishman at 11:15 AM
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I've got a woody this morning....
I yielded to temptation. Mine, all mine. I may be some time just stroking my precious...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:10 AM
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July 23, 2010
Early Morning Prayer - Lead me not into temptation
Off to The Game Fair with Mr & Mrs Free Market and a couple of empty slots on my ticket.
Posted by The Englishman at 5:27 AM
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Friday Night is Music Night (Something ElseEdition)
That one might be better without the video....
Posted by The Englishman at 4:51 AM
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July 22, 2010
The Flavour Thesaurus
The book follows the form of "Roget's Thesaurus". The back section lists, alphabetically, 99 popular ingredients, and suggests classic and less well known flavour matches for each. The front section contains an entry for every flavour match listed in the back section and is organised into 16 flavour themes such a Bramble & Hedge, Green & Grassy, and Earthy. There are 980 entries in all and 200 recipes or suggestions are embedded in the text. It covers classic pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli, lobster & vanilla, and goat's cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster.
I haven't been asked to review this, I bought it with my own money and I suggest you do too.
If you have progressed from slavishly following recipe cards, or you want to, then this is the best book for the kitchen you must have. It inspires you to think and try, and is well written, like a conversation with a knowledgeable friend. Her demolition of the overrated beetroot and chocolate cake combination is worth the money alone.
My copy is already stained and grubby, never trust a cookbook that is clean and hasn't been propped open with weights alongside the mixing bowl and flour shaker.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM
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Defra - Climate Change at Sea - We just don't know
Climate Change: Charting Progress - Defra
Click for full size Figure 6.2 Temperature changes relative to the corresponding average for 1901-1950 (°C) from decade to decade from 1906 to 2005 over the Earth’s continents, as well as the entire globe, global land area and the global ocean (lower graphs). The black line indicates observed temperature change, while the coloured bands show the combined range covered by 90% of recent model simulations. Red indicates simulations that include natural and human factors, while blue indicates simulations that include only natural factors. Dashed black lines indicate decades and continental regions for which there are substantially fewer observations.
Reproduced from IPCC AR4 WG1 Chp 9 FAQ 9.2 Figure 1, page 703
Nice to see an old friend make a reappearance in today's report from Defra about the state of the Oceans. I just can't get past the bottom left graph which shows that the historic global temperature in the 1940s is well above what the models say it should be. Either the record is wrong or the models are. And if the models can't get it right for the past what use are they?
As they say:
While many of the changes we observe are consistent with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and a warming climate, for example rising sea temperature and increasing acidification, we still do not understand many of the causative links to climate change. In particular we struggle with the rate and magnitude of future change for factors such as sea-level rise, Atlantic circulation, sea-ice extent, acidification and stratification. In other cases, for example the extent to which the oceans will continue to take up CO2, or changes in storminess or salinity, we are not even sure which direction the change in marine climate will take.
Furthermore, there are often insufficient data to draw robust links between climate change and impacts on marine ecosystems, and in some cases we do not sufficiently understand the underlying effects of climate change on the physical environment.
That confession of ignorance can also be read as a cry for more research funding....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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Camp Cameron
National Citizenship Service for 16-year-olds launched today - Telegraph
Every teenager in the country will today be invited to take part in a two-month summer residential course under plans for voluntary programme of national service....
The Times reports from its bunker that the CameronYouth will cost the taxpayer £1400 a head. The official line is that "Funding for the Citizen Service is being provided through the scrapping of a community cohesion programme run by the Department for Communities."
Savings are not income, by not spending money you don't create it, it is still funded by mulcting the taxpayer.
Will today's troubled teenagers give up their summer holidays to join the "Blackshirts-on-Sea" camps? Or will it be just subsidised holidays for the middle classes?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:32 AM
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July 21, 2010
The State of The Nation's Finances
Pressure rises to cut debt as £14.5bn borrowing revealed
A Treasury spokesman said: "The UK is forecast to have the largest deficit in the G7 this year and is borrowing £1 for every £4 it spends.
"The figures for June demonstrate the urgent priority tackling the deficit represents, with borrowing higher than last June despite higher tax receipts."
"In fact", he continued, "we are as stuffed as Finnegan's turkey on Christmas day, I'm running round in circles going blubber blubber blubber with my lips, it isn't helping, but at least it isn't making anything worse....."
Posted by The Englishman at 6:56 AM
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Don't mention the climate
Mongolia: How the winter of 'white death' devastated nomads' way of life | World news | The Guardian
Herders leave the steppe after losing a fifth of their livestock. Now foreign firms are to exploit Mongolia's vast resources...Analysts at one investment bank have predicted it could unleash an unstoppable transformation and create a "Mongolian wolf" economy.
For its citizens, such prospects are long overdue. The former Soviet satellite has been hailed as a success story of post-communist political transition, moving with relative smoothness to democracy. But its economy has taken it close to disaster in the last two decades.
Extreme weather causes death and disaster, story in the Guardian, which two words are missing? Because it was extreme cold?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:55 AM
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My Sort of Olympiads
The 6th Annual Chap Olympiad 2010 in pictures - Telegraph
Chaps, bounders and cads gathered in Bedford Square in central London on Saturday for the 6th Annual Chap Olympiad, featuring sports such as Cucumber Sandwich Discus and the Martini Relay. Described as being for 'the perfectly dressed, under-achieving dandies with no interest in sport', the event is organised by The Chap Magazine
Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM
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