Reliable And Unreliable Sources

Around the web sites, blogs and contributors come and go.  Some are missed, some not and some are not even noticed.  One site that I have been looking at regularly and reading which is to close to archive at the end of July will be missed.

                        

It is The Oil Drum which has drawn on a variety of expert knowledge and opinion on energy and fuel matters.  It has vetted the articles to ensure a good standard but has given open house to differing views.  Where else I could go now to see this kind of material easily available is not easy to work out.

It will be a case of hunting round the specialist journals and similar publications with less certainty of finding the material wanted or the nature of the study in relation to what is going on out there in the oil and related markets.  It has not been perfect but the time spent reading it has taught a lot about a very difficult and complicated area.

One source that I do not regard as anywhere near reliable and if anything acts as a benchmark for doubtful information, weak analysis and confused objectives and ideas is Her Majesty's Government.  Alas, other governments and related official bodies are almost as bad but lack the zany haplessness and idiocies of our own.

Given the choice of rubbish material it is difficult to single out one that is so much worse than the others and sometimes it almost seems that the Departments of State and Agencies are in fierce competition for the most outlandish schemes, explanations, and what laughable burbling passes for policy.

One matter raised in the last few days is just an example, how major or minor is a matter of opinion, but is about Wind Farms, those clumps of wind mills that are supposed to doing wonders for going green and getting our carbon emissions down by increasing them by other means.

John Ward is his wardslog claims that when the windmills were considered as one of the lead policies for future power requirements a great deal of work went into the financing and to the structural requirements of the projects.  Many being built out to sea needed careful work to make sure they could stand up and the greatest benefit would be gained by the financiers putting up the money.

The community would benefit by knowing that all the extra costs they would pay through taxes and fuel bills would be for a Good Thing according to the EU with the mantra of "growth" as well, that is extra money being churned round Westminster and The City.

                                                                                  

But Governments and those with power and access to big money have had a very nasty habit down the centuries of going in for big buildings of all sorts with ever looking at what might be the right maintenance costs, or indeed what work might be entailed in the future to keep these places going. 

In the case of the windmills it seems that our government forgot to look at the mundane matter of corrosion.  Big things stuck up high in the air in all weathers on land will have a lot of it.  The same big things stuck up on foundations below sea water and out to sea will have a lot more a lot quicker.  So all those lovely windmills are going to need a lot of money for upkeep, far more than was ever anticipated.

The terrifying thing about this one is that against all the other huge blunders and miscalculations it is a relatively small item. Another is that windmills are not exactly new technology, although the latest designs embody some new features.

Wherever you go in government now you are preached at about the wonders of The State yet it is incapable of dealing with a recent version of an ancient technology.

There are many academics who debate and wonder about how "civilisations" and communities of the past collapsed and why yet all they have to do is look around them and see what is happening now.  We are ruled by people who do not know what they are doing or why only that they rule.

And their peoples were obliged to rely on official sources and approved information.

Taking Soundings

In the "Evening Standard" a few days ago was an article about the coming shows in Hyde Park which were claimed to have state of the art facilities of the 21st Century.  One was that the sound in performance would mean that it would be impossible to hear the person next to you speak. 

This could seem to be an advantage in the case of having one of those chatty people who simply cannot shut up who might be next to you.  What is does mean is that both the decibel sound level and the mix of frequencies etc. are designed to have a huge impact.

In my own locality, some venue owners who have been told to limit their sound output have complained that it is akin to a human right to decide your own sound level and effects and that performance is impossible without this.  What happens to others is none of their business but the Council's problem.

A contact of mine took exception to this and mailed the local council and copied it to me for interest.  this blog has mentioned hearing issues in the past.

Quote:

For the attention of the Chief Executive, the Legal and other relevant Departments.

Reference to reports in the local media about Noise Abatement and the protests of some venue owners concerning orders issued relating to the control of sound levels.  To suggest that they "fall silent" is both inaccurate and misleading. 

I have been to very many performances of live music in various places, none of which were amplified, but which were far from silent.  The problem is not performance, it is the nature of the very high levels of amplification used in some forms of music.

The Council is to be congratulated on taking into account the potential consequences for others in attempting to limit the extent and effects of high decibel and other levels of sound in the vicinity of these venues. 

What is clear is that many people, including those wishing to provide high sound events have little or no understanding of what is involved and the responsibilities entailed.  There is ample information available from organisations that deal with hearing loss of the very real risks entailed in exposure to excessive sound that high levels of decibels can result in permanent damage sometimes to the extent of real disability and handicap. 

To suggest that venue owners can  be at liberty to ramp up the sound to well above danger levels not only to those present but also to others in the vicinity who are at risk is not simply foolish it is asking for trouble.

Because research into the effects of sound has benefited from the progress in science and capability in recent years the questions arising go beyond that of simple direct sound and the potential and risk of damage to hearing.  One notable field is that of neurology where recent scanning and related techniques have transformed both knowledge and understanding.

One aspect of this is that the loss of hearing is not confined to the ear drums but connects to the parts of the brain related to this.  This has long term effects on both behaviour and function.  Necessarily, where a person may already have any condition or potential, notably for aneurysms, then the excessive sound will materially increase the risk.  Also  people with particular other forms of cardiac or neural issues can be affected adversely.

But sound is not something essentially "ethereal" it is also a physical entity to which the laws of physics apply.  To put it crudely high persistent sound levels are said to induce a "high".  This is in fact concussion to one degree or another.  An effect of concussion is a disassociation and often loss of control.  Too much concussion too often can lead to permanent brain damage, as in boxing or other violent sports.   

In the period before health and safety regulation severe deafness and behaviour issues were notorious in many trades and works.  Also, many people were made vulnerable because of medical issues that affected the hearing and potential for damage, for example, infections either not diagnosed or treated late.

Beyond the human effects there are the potential effects on the actual venue building and others in the immediate vicinity.  This takes us into the physics of Collapse Dynamics a relatively new field of study although related to long known aspects of structures and geophysics.  Loud sound creates physical tremors which can move through earth and buildings. 

The effects are difficult to predict because of the necessary complexity.  However, recently the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, one of the more solid buildings of a past age, cancelled an amplified performance because of the potential structural risks.

If there are a number of venues each creating through the amplification systems varying and sometimes intensive bursts of sound and tremors over a long period of time then it would be difficult to predict, but it would be wise to assume that potential cost can arise.  Where then the liability might fall is a legal question for which expert advice is necessary.

Sadly, I suspect that those who believe that performance is impossible without high levels of amplification will not be persuaded and will not care about the risks and costs not only to those who take part but others who have the misfortune to be nearby.

Unquote.

What he failed to mentions was that these days among the young whose hearing mostly should be good and for whom treatments for infections or other natural hearing loss are available, very many are slowly and certainly losing their hearing without realising it.

Nor being aware of the long term consequences.

Chasing The Dream

The subject of domestic violence has been given a lot of attention in the media recently.  We have this issue currently in the cave of Demetrius.  Both of us rush about with weapons of mass destruction.  It's just behind you cries one, oh no it isn't cries the other, oh yes it is cries the one again. 

It is the season for bluebottles and ours are all too active.  They are very stupid creatures, hold the window open and they fly away from it.  Ask them nicely to leave and all they do is buzz.

We live in fear of a person from the council turning up and telling us we will be up before the judge as the local species of bluebottle is rare and protected and we are obliged to make special arrangements to house them once in.  Cheap mince will not do, it will have to be fillet steak.  Then there is the Bluebottle Liberation Front, or is it the Front For the Liberation of Bluebottles, its more extreme rival?

In respect of the Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi matter, it is better not to comment.  All I can say is that I would not like her coming at me with a rolling pin.  The other case is that of Roberto Alagna, the tenor, and Angela Gheorghiu, the soprano.  A whole canon of opera is about the tensions between tenors and sopranos and the media reaction to this latest one is mixed. 

At present the question in my mind is whether Angela might be related to John (do you dress to the Left or Right, Sir?) Bercow, currently appearing as Speaker of the House of Commons in a revised version of the old 1967-1971 ITV series "Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width".  Both are of Romanian extraction. 

His paternal family moved to London to become classic East End tailors. Perhaps  they needed to get away from all that noisy singing.  When the surge of expected Romanian and other Balkan people arrive next year will he be with Boris Johnson, another with family from the Bosphorus, at Dover Docks handing out the Social Security advice and contact details of letting agents, on commission of course?

Angela is the only one of all these to whom we have been adjacent a couple of times as well as seeing her in performance.  A couple of years ago in the Floral Hall at Covent Garden she took up position close to us with TV and other cameras and an entourage to do a video and photo-call in full stage kit.

In this case it triggered one of those lurches in the memory to the time when the Floral Hall really was floral as part of the Covent Garden market.  Almost in the same spot where Angela was standing flashing her gleaming white gnashers at the cameras was once the preserve of Big Winnie The Teeth who tended her floral exotics for sale.  

Winnie was roughly contemporary with the fictional Eliza Doolittle of "My Fair Lady" based on the G.B. Shaw play "Pygmalion".  A bright and able young lady she had the luck to be able to develop a specialism in the market which meant she dealt with buyers from the top grade shops and was respected for her work.

But like many people of the period before the NHS when her teeth began to go at a young age it affected her health and well being.  So some of the buyers clubbed together to send her to a good dentist to get a set of dentures. 

Their generosity was such that she had a top of the range set.  Those were the days when the difference in quality and origin of the false teeth in the dentures was all too evident and indeed not many at all could afford a full set, even at the lowest price levels.

So when Winnie talked and had begun to smile again people and especially the porters noticed.  Winnie lasted until the Floral Hall closed and moved on for a while to another spot. She made it into her 70's and was given a good funeral.  Unusually, for those days, her teeth went with her and were not numbered among the valuables of her limited estate.

There was no domestic violence for Winnie.  Her husband, one of the hard men amongst the porters who rose to be a Foreman, knew better than to start or continue a row.  He did as he was told.

Love All Or Making A Racket

In the plebian community of my youth tennis was a game for girls.  A bloke who had a preference for tennis did well to say little about it, a truth that dare not speak its name among others, such as eating fish and chips with a knife and fork.  The municipality did have courts in its parks, but at a cost to hire.  Then there was the cost of the kit and clothing.

These were essential if joining a club was in prospect, although in the limited number available the membership was restricted to the right people and there was a pecking order of clubs.  You were judged by your friends or contacts and sometimes by their families as well.  Other things might matter, notably then religion.

The result was that few made it into the sphere were there were regular facilities and from which competitions could be entered.  Also, it was an amateur game although quite how some players managed was always an interesting question.  A few became "professionals" in order to make a living from coaching and doing jobs in clubs.  Making serious money was never an option.

Around the colleges and universities most of which had their facilities it was never a game in which success might mark you out as someone special.  The result of all this was that the Brit's, especially the men came to be outsiders in international competition where dastardly colonials and foreigners did not adhere strictly to the British norms.

In any case many of the clubs had other functions which did not appear in their articles of association.  One was a marriage market in those ancient days before social networking or mass boozing events.  Sometimes even, marriages were almost arranged.  The club captain or secretary might arrange pairings with this in mind, or a clique would dictate who went with who.

One bloke I knew, a club member of one of the superior ones, realised that he was destined to partner X, a well built forceful lady.  He resigned from the club sharpish and joined a men only golf club.  She had already been round a few doubles partners already, and although well off, the intended was expected to be an accountant with her building contractor father.

This was an interesting gentleman, known to the tax authorities to be on £11 a week, but nevertheless having a Bentley car, a large alleged to be rented house, and many of life's other luxuries.  He did well out of council contracts, although critics pointed out that the relevant chairmen of the key committees had larger cars and better holidays than was usual.  Often his companies folded leaving substantial unpaid debts but his activities continued.

So whether the bloke was wise or foolish is difficult to say.  X went on to marry and divorce five men, which augmented her fortunes to their cost.  But despite the ups and downs, or perhaps ups and ups of her life she remained loyal to her tennis club and was eventually appointed to the committee.  This was the tennis world as I knew it.

What goes on now has passed from my consciousness or interest.  It is now a multi-billion pound international business enmeshed with wider commerce and the media.  For a few days each year our State Broadcaster, the BBC, demands that we watch and urges us to our patriotic duty to support those from our islands.  The satellite channels urge us on as well, if only to spend long hours watching the commercials that provide their incomes.

It is all a nonsense in the way so much was what is called "sport" is, basically just another racket to part us from increasing amounts of our money.  I do not doubt the skills and efforts of those involved or their desire to do well.  But I have long lost interest in most of it despite being active in sport one way or another for many years.

Time to look through the DVD's, where's the "Hobson's Choice"?

Time For Reflection

For some obscure reason this one appealed to me:

http://xkcd.com/1229/

Hope you get it in time.

Watt Shortage? The Peasants Are Revolting!

We were supposed to get unlimited cheap power supplies that would make life easier.  Now there is talk of rationing, which basically means someone is going to suffer, mostly those who can least afford to.  The costs are climbing faster than a major oil leak.

We were all supposed to enjoy the fruits and life and good health with as much good high quality food as we needed at prices we could all afford.  Now rickets and scurvy have returned along with obesity and a range of other problems caused by poor nutrition.

The age of the car and the motorway were supposed to give us all the freedom of the road on the way hand and distribution networks to meet our every need on the other.  Now between the expense, poor road surfaces and overcrowding journeys are a pain,

As for distribution, one effect of just in time mean that shops now keep almost nothing in stock and getting what they advertise or what you want can be an expensive hit or miss business.

The huge expansion in the education system and giving the young extended periods of learning many in universities was going to give us a prosperous, skilled and superior workforce.  Now many of our young are not just unemployed but unemployable and whole sectors of the economy depend on imported labour.

The National Health Service was to give us all hope for our futures and treatment for our illnesses.  Now  if we do go to hospital it is becoming more like a game of Russian roulette.  That is if you can get there because we are now providing an international health service free to all comers.

We were told we were going to live in an open democracy in which we chose our rulers.  We are now ruled by a self selected caste who control the media and the finances to their own advantage.  Just in case there are now secret courts, managed media and privacy for those who can afford the right lawyers.

It was going to be the case where we would be able to choose a great deal of things according to our needs.  But all we get a very limited or no choice dictated by government, some agency or a big corporation with effective lobbying powers.

Satellite television was said to give us a choice of viewing.  But  most of programmes are repeats, tarted up versions of old shows and unwatchable items with low production values.  Almost all have almost as many commercials as content.  Also there are special effects and background sound that make it impossible to understand what is going on.

There are many other things as well and it is not getting any better.

Trains Of Thought

With President Obama touring the American Not Really An Empire But More A Sphere Of Influence In Africa, if only to remind China and others as the British found out 132 years ago Egypt was always a place for trouble to brew up.  Then the ruler, the Khedive, had run up unsustainable debts and had made too many promises.  As the British, in The City, were the bondholders, in those robust days it was not the British taxpayer who was to stand the loss, Egypt was to be taken over in a hostile bid, new management installed, Barings inevitably, and the money extracted from there.

What should worry us all is that if The President is on tour who is following close behind to pick up on all those invaluable contacts?  Can Goldman Sachs and others be far behind and to what purpose?  As in the old days we can expect a series of grand projects and very large schemes to hit the media replete with promises of wonders to come.  No doubt that as in the past the losses will be large but largely disguised, the money men will take the cream and the taxpayer told he or she must do their duty and foot the bills.

One Grand Project of the past was The Cape To Cairo Railway.  Indeed Africa did have scope for many railway lines and connections, but Cairo to The Cape?  With thousands of miles of track going through country often with challenging terrain and limited or no real economic opportunities?  At a time when ships were becoming bigger, faster, more reliable and rather more flexible in use?

The USA is so broke doubtless it needs to get its hands on other people's money just as the British Empire did to get hold of whatever treasure or primary resources could be found to keep the Empire show on the road.  Britain is now just as broke, if not more.  But it still cannot wean itself off the need for big expensive schemes at any price to claim that something is being done.

So we are told in one breath that serious economies must be made along with sacrifice and restraint.  In the next, oh dear the HST2 Railway from London to the North of England is now running late at over £40 billion and rising.  Also, the Ministry of Transport costing of economic benefit has a basic premise that people on trains do not work so any time saved is worth any expense.  Eh?  Back in the 1950's I along with others had no trouble reading and even making notes on a journey.  Amazingly, it is easy to use a laptop as so many already do whenever I now travel.

The other part of all this is that if resources go in one direction then they will not go in another.  If the HST2 does go ahead along with a Crossrail2 scheme for London and other London works then there will not be much for the rest of the Network.  The Coalition government is essentially attracted by the "rental" benefits accruing to those near the lines, that is the property effect in the South East.

So those in The far North and over the Border need to take a closer look at all this.  My guess is that what nobody is saying is that one of the two West and East Coast lines may be run down and became a secondary link with relatively limited services.  At the moment the signs are that it could be the East Coast line which is going to need some serious work in the foreseeable future.

Which is ironic given the latest celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the world record for steam locomotives by "Mallard" a Class A4 streamlined loco' of the former London and North Eastern Railway.  It is now rested at York Railway Museum and has been joined by others of this class that have been preserved, some still running.  There were 34 of them dedicated to the East Coast Main Line, a tiny proportion of the total LNER stock.

Such were the needs of steam hauled trains at the time that at any given time a few of them would have been in works for major work with a number of others in their local engine sheds for routine maintenance and preparation.  Only about half would have been available for running.  Although alleged to be for non stop services most were not and according to the rostering of the period it was common to change loco's half way through a journey.

Quite why Britain was not at the forefront of effective electrification given its command of the relevant technology and skills and the existence of the National Grid for electricity is one of those puzzles.  The two major wars and Empire interests had a lot to do with it but why the government that forced the great 1923 "rationalisation" into four major companies each with an effective monopoly in its own areas did not demand more is one to debate.

But then as now the politicians where really only interested in the Grand Projects and big headlines.  The detail did not matter and nor did the real costs of botched schemes and operations.

Minutes after breaking the world record "Mallard" broke down and had to be towed to London.