money

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well I hope you find your way
Through every heart wrenching day
With all those shitty decisions that you make
Hell I know the games, I know the games you play

So do you think you got enough time
To open all of your uranium mines
Before yes you go and you poison us all
You know your profit man it's gonna take its toll

And I don't know who you are
I don't know where you come from
I just know it is to hell you're going cos
You pollute everything with you big business
And i know it's all for your money
Hell yeah, all for your money
All for your money
Tell me man it's all for your money

So go now you go and you rape this Earth
You take her for what you think she'd worth
But you take and you take and you
take til there's nothing left
I don't call that business, I call that theft

So who do the Hell do you think you are
Why do you got to take things so far
You know you screw the Earth and then
you look towards the stars
Tell me man why do you got to take things so far

And I don't know who you are
I don't know where you come from
I just know it is to hell you're going cos
You ruin everything with you big business
And i know it's all for your money

All for your money
Sweeter than honey
All for your Money
Tell me man can you eat your money
Tell me man can you eat your money
Cos that's what's gonna be left,
that's what's gonna be left
So tell me man can you eat your money

Business man with your uranium mine,
will you gain a conscience
Politician man, there in your Government,
will you gain a conscience
Media man with all your newspapers,
Who lies must gain a conscience
Prime Minister with all our apathy,
will you GAIN A CONSCIENCE!

John Butler rules.

Fire In The Sky

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fire in the sky
out of the blue
and into the red depths,
Time for you and I
to try and fall asleep
in the bed they've made us,
All came crumbl'n down
tears in our eyes
as it rained confusion
the whole world has changed

I don’t understand
how one can kill a man
in the name peace,
that’s ridiculous

They say eye for an eye
so they fire from the sky
and they come out of nowhere
Time for you and I
to turn on the big screen
see what’s happnen'
And as those children die,
pawns in the game of
collateral damage,
The whole world goes mad

Standing here on quick sand,
the more we fight we sink
And vengeance gives us hope,
at least that what we think,
at least that what we think cause

As we make amends by
getting our revenge,
We sort nothing out,
just add to the doubt
and with God on both sides,
if death is justified,
whatever the name,
then we're all to blame

so as the spirits fly,
to honor those who've past,
we've got to get along,
while the time still last
Bury the hatchet deep
so we all can weep
and heal all this pain
so,so we can live again,
so,so we can live again 'cos

as we make amends by
getting our revenge,
We sort nothing out,
just add to the doubt
and God on both sides,
if death is justified,
whatever the name,
then we're all to blame
But I don’t understand
how one can kill a man
in the name peace,
that’s ridiculous
But I understand
that I will defend
my family from
both sides of misery

Frickin' WORD!

Muntadar al-Zaidi is punkscience's "Hero of The Year"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is so awesome! Such a shame he missed both times. His words are poignant.


Addition:

Muntadr has been arrested, is being tested for drugs and alcohol and will be interrogated to determine whether someone put him up to this heinous crime against genocidaires. Fuck! Imagine if everyone went round throwing objects at people who were responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths! No really! Imagine it! (dribble)


Addition:

Muntadr's brother claims that he has sustained a broken arm and ribs in custody. If you watch the video of the attack you can't hear him screaming when he is restrained, as he would if the injuries were sustained at that point. This suggests they were sustained after his arrest. Clearly Iraqi justice is as perverse and brutal as it ever was under Hussein. Nice work, Blair et al.


Addition 16-12-08:

In light of the suffering Muntadar has been subjected to for his heroism, punkscience would like to upgrade his status from "Hero of The Day" to "Hero of The Year".


Addition 16-12-08, 12:08:

As I insinuated above, it is now clear that Muntadar has suffered brutality at the hands of the Iraqi security services.


Addition 19-12-08

A judge has confirmed that Muntadar was beaten either during his arrest or during his detention. There are no reports that Muntadar is looking to press charges- or even whether he can.

Rajendra Pachauri is a dude

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Google News.

"(Yet) here, you've got agencies, you've got organisations that are not only responsible for their own failure but the failure of the entire economic system, and they get cheques worth 2.7 trillion dollars. I find this amazing... What can you say, what can you do?"

Rajendra Pachauri shared the Nobel Peace Prize along with the rest of the IPCC.

energy insight

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greenpeace published a review they commissioned on the 2020 renewable generation target. Its got some interesting bits, chief among which is that we won't be experiencing blackouts any time soon, despite what the tabloids say. What it does propose is the eminently sensible idea of a long-range plan for building renewable capacity to replace retiring generation and the establishment of just exactly what comprises "security of supply".

government hypocrisy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"when the US and some other countries gave a trillion-dollars-and-still-counting in low-interest loans and other subsidies to their own banks, it constituted just the kind of unfair competition and non-tariff barriers to trade that they were busy condemning at the G-20 meeting"

Word.

Eon royally suck ass

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Googlebombing session. Please click the following link:

Eon


(From Merrick).

good music

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Punkscience is listening to Joey Nightmare. Enough distortion and guitars to satisfy, great vocals and funky beats.

real punkscience from Science Punk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This site rules.

as previously observed, nuclear generation sucks big, floppy donkey dicks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merrick rules:

"No British nuclear power station has ever been built to budget. The last one, Sizewell B, cost more than twice the estimate. The first of the new generation stations, Olkiluoto in Finland, found itself more than a billion pounds over budget and two years behind schedule at only two and a half years into construction.

Even with the taxpayer coughing up for a load of British Energy's debts, it couldn't stay afloat on its own. In 2002, just six years after privatisation, the government bailed it out with over £5bn of taxpayer's money.

These days, our government assures us that the owners will pay for all the decommissioning. They are lying. In order to get the industry and investors to sign up, the government agrees a set maximum price for waste disposal and decommissioning when it gives approval for the station. Any over-runs in cost (and when has the nuclear industry not delivered those?) will be paid for by the taxpayer."

free electricity across the globe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. Check it out. The MIT report is a big download (pdf). Table 9.8 gives the cost of electricity generated from EGS to be $0.05kWh to $0.074kWh. That's pretty fucking cheap.

Monki Punk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Punkscience is listening to a CD from this bunch.They are freakin coool as fuck!

Labour rebels try to save the world

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needless to say all here at punkscience hope they succeed.

oil price plummeting

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you look at the widget embedded on this page displaying records of oil prices for the last year or so you will notice that it has dropped below $70 for the first time in a year. This is because of the economic collapse so I'm optimistic that it won't herald a wave of sudden skyrocketing oil consumption from the US. One of the welcome side-effects of this is that tar-sand extraction has become uneconomical, with a break-even point of $70 per barrel. Sweet.

"Arms for Peace"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Such a sweet-sounding slogan for an arms fair. And Her Majusteez guv'ment is balls-deep in the human rights fuck-pile.

"Clearly, the arms industry has lost much of its privileged access but the business remains the same: promoting arms exports. [The UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (the DESO's replacement)] is offering to take UK arms companies ‘under its wing’ this November at IDEAS Pakistan, an arms fair operating under the slogan ‘arms for peace’, which has previously hosted delegations from North Korea, Myanmar (Burma), Zimbabwe, Iran, Sudan, China and Indonesia."

Sarah Waldron rules.

this is what I call "art"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word.

why sustainability makes sense

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just read this article. The $2-5 trillion loss every year that they calculate for ecosystem services and functions lost to "development" dwarfs the banking crisis and continues each and every year unabated. This astounding annual loss from the planet's balance sheet is simply ignored by the neo-classical economic dogma that sees fit to pay failed business executives hundreds of millions. That this level of dystopia is the product of the prevailing dogma has been publically proclaimed by figures such as Karl Polanyi and Ernst Schumacher for decades. Its pretty much the whole reason the environmentalist movement exists. Back in the 1970s environmental economics was created as a discipline in order to put prices on the various externalities and services the ecosystem provides but this eminently sensible and egalitarian way of doing business has simply been marginalised by those in power at the behest of those who stand to gain fat bonuses and hefty dividends. This research reveals how unsustainable and unjust those practices are as they are based upon the exploitation and pillage of our collective, mutual heritage for the exclusive benefit of a small percentage of society.

So, do you want bankers to continue to earn multimillion bonuses for failing to perform or would you prefer the entire financial industry- that contributes and produces little tangible benefit for society- to continue to plunder our children's heritage.

I may sound like a tree hugging hippy but the facts to support my position are available for anyone who cares to see.

rave reviews for punkscience

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Bishop Hill's Centre for Climate Change Denial:

"I was reading the posts and then came accross this piece of filth:

http://punkscientist.blogspot.com etc


I do so hope that anyone offended by this ignorant piece of garbage hiding behind blogger dot com will press the "flag blog" button at the top of the site - I am sure Google's TOS has something to say about the crudity of language even if the crudity of its mental process is allowed through their filth filter.

Press the "flag blog" button often enough and this POS will have to wipe his mouth elsewhere."

- "Henry Galt"

Henry, this might be of interest to you.

Lick a dick, rat-bitch.

quote of the day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If we had those forty million [aborted] children that were killed over the last thirty years we wouldn't need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today."

- Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay



Addition:

Get Your War On

snigger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Get Your War On


Addition:

more sniggering

my new fighting technique is unstoppable

not-quite-weekly bible quote

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A spicy little passage today- mmmmMMMmmmmmm . . .

"Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled."

Ezekiel 23:11-21

More News, Less Views

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written by Greg Philo, Glasgow Media Group, via the boys at Media Lens:

News is a procession of the powerful. Watch it on TV, listen to the Today programme and marvel at the orthodoxy of views and the lack of critical voices. When the credit crunch hit, we were given a succession of bankers, stockbrokers and even hedge-fund managers to explain and say what should be done. But these were the people who had caused the problem, thinking nothing of taking £20 billion a year in city bonuses. The solution these free market wizards agreed to, was that tax payers should stump up £50 billion (and rising) to fill up the black holes in the banking system. Where were the critical voices to say it would be a better idea to take the bonuses back? Mainstream news has sometimes a social-democratic edge. There are complaints aired about fuel poverty and the state of inner cities. But there are precious few voices making the point that the reason why there are so many poor people is because the rich have taken the bulk of the disposable wealth. The notion that the people should own the nation’s resources is close to derided on orthodox news.

When Northern Rock was nationalised, TV news showed us pictures of British Leyland and the old problem ridden car industry. Never mind that it was actually privately owned when most of the problems occurred and that company policy had been to distribute 95% of profits as dividends to shareholders, rather than to invest in new plant and machinery. This is all lost in the mists of history and what is conveyed is the vague sense that nationalisation is a “bad thing”.

We showed how this affects public understanding by asking a sample of 244 young people in higher education (aged 18 –23) about the great spate of privatizations which had taken place in the 1980s. We asked whether the industries involved had in general been profitable or unprofitable. Actually, the major ones of gas, electricity, oil and telecommunications were both profitable and major sources of revenue to the state, but nearly 60% of the sample thought that the industries had been losing money.

This is especially poignant now that energy prices are being jacked up and the foreign owners of many of these companies are not interested in passing on their windfall profits to the British people. Countries such as China, Venezuala and even Russia keep key industries very firmly in state hands, but where are the critical voices in broadcasting here, who are given space to raise these arguments? They can be heard in the outer reaches, occasionally on Question Time, Channel 4 News or Newsnight.

But is this what the population want? At the start of the Iraq war we had the normal parade of generals and military experts, but in fact, a consistent body of opinion then and since has been completely opposed to it. We asked our sample whether people such as Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Naomi Klein and Michael Moore should be featured routinely on the news as part of a normal range of opinion. Seventy three per cent opted for this rather than wanting them on just occasionally, as at present.

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is another area of great imbalance in the views that are heard. Our study of the main TV news output showed that pro-Israeli speakers were featured about twice as much as Palestinians. This year BBC News covered Israel’s ‘birthday’ of 60 years since the setting up of the state. This was of course also the anniversary of what, from the Palestinian perspective, was the great disaster when they were forced from their homes and land. Israel’s superior public relations machine meant that they set the agenda on broadcast news. The Palestinians were featured, but rather less and as a sort of afterthought. As a presenter on BBC’s Today programme put it, “Today Israel is 60 years old, and all this week we have been hearing from Israelis about what it means to them”. Quite so.

We commissioned YouGov to ask a sample of 2086 UK adults whether they thought that more coverage should be given to the Israeli point of view, or more to the Palestinians, or equal for both. Nearly twice as many people thought that the Palestinians should have the most as compared with the Israelis, but the bulk of the replies (72%) were that both should have the same. Only 5% of the population supported what the broadcasters have actually been doing in the main news output.

Politicians and broadcasters say they are worried about a growing lack of interest in politics especially amongst the young. Our work shows there is no lack of interest in lively critical debate. The problem is that a news which largely features the views of two political parties with very similar free market policies at home, and an international agenda which follows America, does not provide this.

nuclear power stations are shit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More evidence to add to the mountain.

gullible.info

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love this website.

• Teenagers who have pledged themselves to an abstinence program are 28 percent more likely to try drugs.

• Among American adults who believe in Creationism or Intelligent Design, 14.6 percent believe the Bible was originally written in english.

undo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why is it that when I am typing an email or a blog entry or a comment and I use ctrl+z to undo something it sometimes cuts a massive block out of my text that I then cannot retrieve?

THIS IS THE MOST ANNOYING FUCKING THING IN THE FUCKING WORLD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!

algal biofuels

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had dinner tonight with a researcher visiting our lab, who works in the field of algal biofuels. He told me that they are far from commercial reality. The numbers you see in the press are extrapolations from lab studies and attempts to scale them up to commercial scales suffer huge losses in efficiency, producing ~20% of the frequently quoted figures, probably due to the need to keep the cultures on a knife edge balance between lethal stress and rapidly reproducing.

Eg.

"diatom algae needs silicon in the water to grow, whereas green algae requires nitrogen to grow^. Under nutrient deficiency the algae produced more oils per weight of algae, however the algae growths also were significantly less."

From here.

I can't help but be disappointed as I had fallen under the spell of the PR and was poising myself to spring into this line of research and save the world. I haven't abandoned that idea, I'm just going to have to work a bit harder for it. But then a slightly demented man once said "nothing that's worth having in this world comes easy".

manifest awesomeness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PhD blues

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I intend to complete my lab work by Wednesday. I'm not going to make it, especially as I am going out for pre-emptive celebratory beer on Monday with NMR girl. Anyhoo, I am spending 20 hours a day in the lab and will be spending ~16 hours a day writing up for the next 4-5 months so don't expect lengthy, lucid prose from me. Not that you do, but I reckon I occasionally put a few good words together. Like 'cock' and 'weasel'. Or 'goat and 'fnarr'.

Word.

this I want to see

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Religulous. Checkit.

Campaign to Elect Michael Palin as Vice President

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Royal Society sky-pixie fan resigns over support for "creation-science"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About time too. Talk about mixed messages!

Its interesting that one of the RS Fellows and Nobel laureates, Harry Kroto, who wrote to the Society asking for the sky-pixie fan's removal stated his opinion that if Reiss had been an atheist his comments would have been acceptable. This suggests that under certain circumstances Reiss's comments might be acceptable.

Well they're not. Religion is nonsense.

Just because some people choose to ignorantly or wilfully attempt to mix science and religion doesn't mean that religion can be brought into science lessons. Quite, quite the opposite. What should be happening here is that science should be deployed in religious education lessons to quash all the farcical mumbo-jumbo that religious people hold to be true. Walking on water, an afterlife, miracles, visions, natural disasters as evidence of some god's wrath, religious proscriptions. All of these and many more need to be put into the context of our society and laws. Islam prescribes death for apostasy- this is illegal in this country. Christianity proscribes adultery but there is no law against it in this country. Your relationship might not last too long if your partner finds out but its not illegal. Paedophilia features heavily in Abrahamic religions but that doesn't make it any more acceptable than hammering a tent peg into someone's temple (Judges 4:17-24 NLT)?

Rich Dawkins- another RS Fellow, wrote in to New Scientist to weigh in on the argument and suggested that, rather than resign as Director of Education for the Society, Reiss might resign his clerical Orders instead. Its certainly a scenario that I would love to see.


Edit:

Thanks to Rossinisbird who pointed out that I had written that Islam proscribes death for apostasy when in fact fundamentalists believe it prescribes it (as usual the evidence and arguments for and against a specific interpretation of sky-pixie literature are irrational and opaque).

READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~ READ THIS ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As humanity teeters on the brink, the corporate media are sure to give increasing coverage to these dubious and risky "technofixes." Influential business lobbyists will make ever-greater efforts to push for lucrative, but diversionary, "solutions" to climate chaos. We need to be alert to such self-serving manoeuvres and willing to expose them.

This much is clear: after more than twenty years of ever more urgent scientific warnings, and government and corporate obstructionism, we really have arrived at the edge of the climate abyss."

Fucking WORD!

good music

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was really up for going to Recydrate The West but PhD says "no". I checked out some of the bands on the line-up, besides the usual suspects like Babyhead and Yes Sir Boss ! ! !.

The Scrub and Smerins Antisocial Club really stood out in the way of live appeal. I just ordered the former's EP off the Cider City Records website. I suggest you do the same and get your knees up right good an proper, like. Or better still- catch the buggers live, get wrecked up on the best cider money can buy and get down to the skanking sound!

WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!

metabolomics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Punkscience has been doing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysis of his worms. The results look like this:


Each peak is a compound, some are in there twice or more. What this means I currently have no idea but its pretty impressive.

the Battle for Bolivia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The US is up to its old imperialist tricks in Latin America. The continued push by Latin American countries to divest themselves of the malignant influence of America and its proxies suh as the World Bank has reached a new level of intensity as the Bolivian President, Evo Morales, has asked the US Ambassador to leave the country and accused him of promoting seperatism and inciting violent opposition. The country's right-wing minority, which politically dominates the Media Luna region, have been charged by Morales with mounting a 'civil coup' against the poor, 60% indigenous majority of the country. Morales recently won a two-thirds majority in a referensum to confirm his leadership and is attempting to push through sweeping progressive reforms including land redistribution and distribution of revenue from Bolivia's extensive gas reserves to the population. The violent right-wing minority, in line with the "Washington Consensus" dogma of free trade and elimination of government services in favour of tax breaks for wealthy foreign investors and corporations seem to be fighting to keep the country in the 19th century.

Naomi Klein's awesome history of US disaster capitalism, "The Shock Doctrine" is particularly essential reading to understand the history of US imperialism that is driving its violent, anti-democratic support of the right-wing factions.

productivity killer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love New Statesman. It may be at, various times, bizarre, hypocritical, factual, progressive, insane, amusing and a variety of other adjectives, however it also appeals to me in an intellectual way. Their latest CultureTech offering is little short of genius. For anyone who's ever enjoyed the game Lemmings, this is for you.

This one was particularly rewarding to complete but I am most proud of this little beauty.


Addition:

Check out the Weasel Tank in action!

a challenge to climate change denialists

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is primarily aimed at the racist CCD David Duff and the CCD Bishop Hill but I'm happy for anyone to chip in. I might regret this but we'll just have to see.

Duff et al, I invite you to post a peer-reviewed reference supporting your position of denial. I'll make a special exception for it. That's a promise.

However- and do take note of this Duff as your cherry-picking of references makes me very wary of offering you any sort of licence to abuse others' ignorance- your reference cannot simply be methodological critiques a la McIntyre & McKitrick (2005). I am talking about original, peer-reviewed research that demonstrates that anthropological forcings are negligible in comparison to natural ones.

I'm actually interested to see what you come up with.


Addition:

Anyone interested in entering the discussion should focus on this paper, as preferred by Duff.

replacing a mobile phone

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I got wrecked at a festival and lost my phone. Shit. I'd had my Nokia 5140i for a couple of years. Its the rubberised, dust & water-resistant model that they discontinued because they weren't making any money from replacing broken ones because . . .well . . . it didn't break. I'll leave that little market failure alone as I can't discuss it using more than four letter words.

Anyway, my phone was gone and I was distraught. Really, I was! I loved that phone with its built in LED flashlight (the most useful add-on to any phone I've yet discovered), sound meter (useful for working out whether my car stereo was loud enough to damage my hearing- it was), compass (utterly useless but great to impress people with). But most of all I loved it for its rugged nature and all-round sturdiness. I am an abuser of technology. I believe that it is entirely possible to build electronic devices to a reasonable standard of resilience. The people who developed "design obsolescence" need to be shot. I use stuff like I mean it and things that aren't up to scratch inevitably suffer. My Nokia 5140i (and the 5140 I had before that) were both awesome. I could have happily drop-kicked them over rugby posts. Did I mention that you could use them as telephones too?

So, having pined the loss of my 5140i I started to search for my wife's old 5140, which I knew to be lying around the house somewhere as a 'spare' phone. I found all of it except the keypad. Bugger. Seeing the need for a new shell & keypad- you can't buy them separately- I ordered one from ebay. The phone still worked without the keypad, you could push the contacts underneath but the case got in the way so I took to carrying around without its case on so I could stay connected. Unfortunately the case also protects the screen which ended up getting cracked in my pocket. Double bugger.

I imagine this would have been the point where most people would have jumped onto the net and started looking for a new phone. I confess I did browse around ebay looking for another 5140i but as these phone's were no longer being manufactured and other people seemed to appreciate its position at the pinnacle of mobile phone design, new ones from Hong Kong were going for at least £45 and even 2nd hand ones carried a premium and weren't much cheaper. As I had already shelled out £16 for a new case- I had ordered a genuine Nokia one as the keys on the cheap replicas had a nasty feel- I was loathe to fork out good money after bad. At this stage I also suffered a wave of eco-guilt as I realised that I had already consigned the cracked-screen job to the recycling bin. This reflected the worst influence of consumerism over common sense as I hadn't even looked to see how much a repair would be. A little googling indicated this would be at least £30, not much cheaper than a new phone but the old one wouldn't end up in recycling/landfill. Joy to the world!

I pondered this awhile whilst staring at the poor, shattered screen of the faithful old handset. The 5140s comprise a chassi like any other phone but with sealed gaskets around all the ports and I/O devices, covered by a rubberised case to make it shock-resistant. The chassis looked to be a fairly straightforward dismantling job with 6 screws around its edge and no nasty internal clips that are designed to break when you try and take them apart (new Ipods!).

There's even a step-by-step guide online to dismantling them! A couple of googles later and I had located a vendor for a replacement screen for the princely sum of £12.50, including p&p. So now I am replete with a fully functioning mobile for a fraction of the price of a replacement!

I rule.

punkscience goes to the beach

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its bank holiday so me and punkwiff are off to Sennen. The surf's shit but I'm taking my kite as the wind will be good. I will finish putting all the RENs and climate change denialists in their respective places when I get back.

Word to all your mummas.

just another day at the office for Laird

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fucking hell.

a little philosophy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

-Anon

more XKCD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Snigger.

Johann Hari is awesome

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His article on child-marriage and Islam got rather predictably flamed to shit. His response is mature and balanced and I have utter respect for him.

Jesus is a junglist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shit, I laughed!

Ciderpunk!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just so awesome I might actually spiff in my pants.

Now I know what 'casus belli' means

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I found out from Spinwatch's take-up of the story about Dick Cheney planning to have a bunch of Navy Seals dressed as Iranians attack a US warship in the Persian Gulf to provide an excuse to attack Iran.

Dick Cheney is a monster and needs to be locked away.

high-grade tunage

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These guys are playing at Recydrate. They're gonna rule.

this is ultra-rad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

late night entertainment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No, not porn. This.

A few corkers:

• Hanlon's razor — A corollary of Finagle's law, normally taking the form "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.". As with Finagle, possibly not strictly eponymous. Alternately, "Do not invoke conspiracy as explanation when ignorance and incompetence will suffice, as conspiracy implies intelligence."
• Hofstadter's law — "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law." It was created by Douglas Hofstadter in his book Gödel, Escher, Bach.
• Littlewood's law — States that individuals can expect miracles to happen to them, at the rate of about one per month. Coined by Professor J E Littlewood, (1885–1977)
• Poe's Law — Without a blatant display of humor, it is impossible to tell the difference between religious Fundamentalism and a parody thereof.
• Sturgeon's revelation — "90 percent of everything is crap."

"Free Trade" is an oxymoron

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, anyone who's read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine knows what a bunch of inhuman monsters the WTO and World Bank are. Johann would like to remind us of this.

the festival experience

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark and wet; soaked in the fermented juice of a million apples. I spent hours with my eyes closed and inhaled the charred fumes of exotic spices. There was a roaring fire around which dark shapes cavorted bizarrely. I feared them and retired to the bosom of the psy-trance bunker. Later they played dubstep, which suited my state of inebriation well. The following day I had the most amazing veggie burger that has ever slid past my tonsils. The mud got deeper and the tea stronger. Nell appeared and we danced and laughed like wild gypsies, drunk on the beauty of life. I had a wee in front of one of the most beautiful panorama's I have ever seen. The mud got even deeper.

Iran calls moratorium on stoning

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This is pretty good news for the eight or so people currently lined up for this most hideous of deaths.

drugs are good

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Word. A wonderful piece of writing.

Pure Energy Systems Wiki

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If you're as fascinated by renewable generation as I am then you should love this Wiki. I found my way there through their algal biofuels page, which is awesome!

the CBI is sociopathic

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They rather predictably want the government to ignore the unions' demands for flexible working hours for parents and are forecasting doom, gloom and general plagues of frogs if the government gives in. Wankers.

This is a typically one-sided argument from the corporate whores, completely ignoring the benefits to society of parents being able to spend more quality time with their children. Of course the CBI will claim that they don't deal in 'intangibles' such as 'theoretical' benefits. However, evidence exists to demonstrate the benefits of such policy. For example, the Scandinavian countries who already implement such policies have far higher education standards and lower juvenile crime rates. Social studies of parent-child contact also reveal the potential for this policy to provide much benefit to our society.

This seems obvious to me but the corporate whores of the CBI don't seem to realise this or they don't want it made known because its another nail in the coffin of their demands for global corporate slavery. So they are either stupid and have no place commenting on policy or they are deceitful and sociopathic. I wonder which . . . ?

another step closer to sustainable biofuels

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science puts an end to racism

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Nice work.

Demonstrating once and for all that racism is purely a product of prejudice, arrogance, bigotry and selfishness.

sodding HPLC . . . .

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Punkscience just destroyed another £400 HPLC column.

Bugger.

I'm trying to quantify metallothioneins in my beasties according to a method adapted from these two papers. And its not working.

I can't seem to get a peak from the derivatised metallothionein, no matter what I do. The derivatising agent, 6-IAF, should bind happily to thiols such as those on the MT. I've tried pre-incubating the MT with cadmium to ensure the thiols are saturated, there's EDTA in the labelling mixture too which should pull those metals off and allow the label to bind. I've also tried adding a reducing agent, TCEP, so that the thiols aren't oxidised and unable to bind the metals/label. Still no peak.

I've varied the gradient, I've extended it to silly lengths just in case the MT peak was being masked by one of the other peaks that come out. Still nothing.

I'm using the gradient version of the HPLC protocol with acetonitrile/methanol and water and when I go to clean the columns after a busy day's cocking around and getting no peaks I ramp the organic eluent up to 100% to clean all the crap off the column. The first time I tried this with one of my bitch columns a load of cloudy white stuff came off as I ramped the organic phase back down again. Oh dear. That would be the stationary phase being stripped off the silica particles then. Exit first column.

I then tried using my uber-bad analytical column I bought a couple of years ago for my crab-urine work. This should have improved separation and resolution of any peaks. It didn't. No.

Instead, after taking great care not to ramp the solvents up and down too quickly and to rinse the column with milliQ I ran the wrong gradient program one day and got another nasty little white cloud in my waste bottle, just like before. I almost cried that time.

Then yesterday, using my last column- a random C8 one I 'acquired' nefariously- I switched from the stupid, shitty MT analysis to another piece of work I was planning, which also used an acetonitrile-water gradient and managed to fuck that column too, first time I tried to wash it.

Bastard fuckbollock goat cock. Now I am out of good RP columns and still have no data.

this site is awesome!

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Word.


Addition:

Here's mine.

research careers - an exercise in exploitation

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Careers in research suck. Not because of the work but because of the nature of the contracts that research is carried out under. Typically these are less than 3 years and often just one. Competition is high and wages often low (a typical "hirers' labour market). Whilst working on one contract it is often near-impossible to set yourself up for another to start immediately after the first has ended. For example, one of my supervisors spent 8 months unemployed between her last position and this one- and that is not an unusual spell. She told me she met a guy at a conference recently who worked in his Dad's hotel for four years before being able to pick up another contract. This isn't to say there isn't work out there- I know people who aren't suitable for the projects they are on but got the job through favouritism or by picking up the reigns from someone who had quit. And who wants to relocate every two years or so just to stay in work? Try maintaining a relationship in those circumstances, or buying a house (not that you'd want to right now).

This Guardian article outlines the situation well.

new wave powered generation technology

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PFC.

(PFC = Pretty Fucking Cool).

busy, busy, busy

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Punkscience is going to a conference in Marseille so won't be around for a few days. You can rest assured that while I am away I will be working hard to disseminate my cutting-edge worm science to a wider audience and when I'm not doing that I will be working on my thesis. Not swanning around Marseille and getting pissed. No. Not at all. Honest!

new page feature

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Either of my regular visitors (Hi Rossinisbird and Bryan!) might notice the new page feature on the left. I thought it might feature as a poignant reminder of the utter stupidity of voting for 'grey' parties. The spiralling oil prices, climate change and global strife that they are perpetuating have the potential to ruin the rest of our lives. It doesn't have to be this way.

PhD blues

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I am reaching the end of my PhD and will run out of money in ~3 months time. If I work my arse of for those three months I should end up with almost all of the data that I set out to collect at the start of my PhD. This is not a little impressive, I should point out. As I have been living in Plymouth and working in ~~~~~~ I have been losing three hours a day travelling. To remedy this unproductive situation I decided to buy myself a van, build a bed in the back and sleep up at ~~~~~~ during the week to give myself some highly concentrated and much needed work time Punkwiff is wholly supportive as she's fed up of me being grumpy when I crawl in at 2200, only to have to get up the next day and head back up country.


The upshot of this narrative is that I have the considerable luxury of a whole 16 hours or so of working time available to me. Being human I tend to spend at least a couple of those hours cocking around in t'interweb, which is good news for you lucky blog fiends out there as I get to share more of my fascinating life with you.

Anyhoo, I have spent the last few days quantifying lipid, sugars and protein in polychaete oocytes and preparing my talk for the SEB Annual Conference in Marseille. Consequently, I have some nice data and am going to share it with the world.

I rule.

Chinese public transport

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Its an incredible thing to watch. I don't know what I'm appalled by most: The way that people surge forward into the train or the way that the 'porters' manhandle them so that the doors can close. It must be thoroughly degrading to have to subject yourself to such an experience every day. To me, this is a prime example of how humans can become 'desensitised' to their plight. I wonder what the Swiss make of this? If you've ever been on Swiss public transport you would know what I'm talking about.

Johann is right, but for the wrong reasons . . .

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Equality. Johann explains why its a good thing with his usual eye for telling statistics. Why this otherwise intelligent bloke continues to support the Labour Party I do not know.

""we will remember this Bill in dark times as one of the reasons to fight for a Labour government"

No, Johann, we will not. We will remember- as you yourself observe, that equality in the eyes of the law is a good thing and vote for whoever enforces it. As you noted, this legislation has been effectively castrated by the Labour cabinet. Why you continue to delude yourself that Labour is, somehow, the party of social justice remains beyond my ken. Labour will surely be remembered for failing to address climate change, despite Sir Nicholas Stern's best efforts, for the economic suicide of PFI- for which my unborn children already hate them- and for the genocide of over a million Iraqi civilians.

Vote for a future. Vote Green."

I'm working at my computer today, BTW. Can you tell?

weekly bible quote

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Genesis 38:

⁸Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.’ ⁹But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰What he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.

corporate sociopathy

infotainment

believing in god gives you the right to do this:

.
Evil.

Inhuman.

Ignorant.
.

weekly bible quotation

No, really.

Deut 25:11-12

Various Commands

11 If men get into a fight with one another, and the wife of one intervenes to rescue her husband from the grip of his opponent by reaching out and seizing his genitals, ¹²you shall cut off her hand; show no pity.

Coldplay suck goat cocks

Andy Gill's review of their latest formulaic shite for the Independent is awesome.

"But for me, it's the band's anguished professions of supposed political concern, while simultaneously indulging the rampant self-pity of the most cosseted, comfortable constituency of music fans the world has ever known – that's the most irritating aspect of Coldplay. Rock'n'roll used to be a rallying cry, a clarion call; now, in their hands, it's just a palliative."

Chris Martin is definitely a candidate for what Motorhead said.

Polly sees through Cameron as if he was made of glass

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Word.

"He dangled an extraordinary array of un-Conservative ideas. "People haven't understood the scale and depth of the family-friendly reform we want," he said, "getting family finance right" by "redistributing money to poor households", "giving families more time to spend together", "affordable child care" and "taking on the unrelenting commercial influences on childhood". On all of these, the Tories opposed every measure Labour brought in - tax credits, childcare, flexible working and anything the CBI disliked. So is this real change or just a wise acceptance of things already done? Cleverly, there was not one bankable promise."

Clever, but in an evilly calculating way.

today's statistic of interest

The Lazy Environmentalist quoting Phil Woolas MP.

""UK economic activity accounts for 15% emissions worldwide" . . . (note: this is a rarely alluded to fact by our government . . .), "2% of which comes directly from within our shores.""

model corporate sociopathy

"The head of BP said today oil prices are unstable because markets are not well supplied, and attacked higher taxes in oil-producing countries for holding back investment in new output.

"The problem is not below ground, the problem is above ground," Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said at an oil and gas conference in Malaysia." (my bold)

BP posted record profits of $16.2 billion in February. That must really hold back investment. Yeah.

doublespeak

Read this article and see if you can spot it.

Hint: Its a comment about something that Switzerland and Germany have been doing for over a decade . . . .


WRAP sounds alright- I approve of their key objectives- . Its just their executive dirtector talking complete shit, that I object to.

UK government buries head further in sand over climate change

The government refuses to adopt meaningful targets- even the lproposed increase from 60 to 80% emissions reductions by 2050 is useless. They have no power on the international stage to push others to adopt similar emissions becuase they have lost all credibility over Iraq. And the closing paragraph to this article states this:


"Department for the Environment officials said the bill had been 'strengthened quite significantly' by the amendments, but 'remains largely unchanged', both raising and dashing hopes that they have accepted some or all the changes. Some campaigners fear the government, under pressure over rising oil prices not to introduce what are seen as expensive 'green' policies, are not ready to bow to the demands in full."

You see? Head In Sand. The government still fears to take effective action because it might cost a lot. Its as if the Stern Report had never been produced.

Government teams up with Virgin media to disseminate propaganda

I use P2P sites and I love them. It has revitalised music and pulled the rug out from under the mass-produced shite that the industry pumps out. I also advocate supporting local upcoming artists by buying their music wherever possible, preferably at their gigs so that all of the money goes into their pockets and none gets skimmed by Amazon or some other distributor.

For example:

Babyhead
Yes Sir Boss!
Kat Marsh
Albenaza
Circus of Sound
Martin Harley Band
Black Friday
etc.

The industry hates P2P because people get to listen to more music than you get from the radio or the cable music channel- all of which, apart from the Beeb's efforts, are controlled by the same parent companies as the music industry slags.

I don't approve of paying £15 for a CD either. It costs a few pennies to print up a CD and case. I don't want to belittle the creative efforts of bands such as these above. I just feel that there's a massive difference between seeing the band in the flesh and 'doing their thing' and listening to a recording that about two hundred thousand people also own. I think a CD should cost about £3.50 and a ticket to a live gig at least £20. I'm not a tight-arse and I love live music.

DBERR report supports feed-in tariffs for microgeneration

I don't agree with microgeneration- I'm into HVDC and supergrids- but its a step in the right dorection. I can't wait to see the government eat its own words on TV. This report advocates feed-in tariffs, which microgeneration advocates have been screaming for for years.

An interesting point is made clear in the final paragraph of the report:

"The report offers a very different future, as do the Tories, who see microgeneration as central to their philosophy of redirecting power to individuals. David Cameron sees "decentralised energy" as "a key part of our political vision, energy for the post-bureaucratic age". He believes microgeneration could make Britain, and individual communities, "self-sufficient in energy"."

Here we see the Tories passing the buck of energy poverty neatly onto the free market. Those who can't afford electricity through the grid are hardly going to be able to install the several-thousand pounds worth of PV panels, micro-hydro, wind turbines, current inverters and battery arrays necessary to become energy-independent. Instead the rich fuckers are going to be doing this in droves as grid electricity spirals up and up in cost, leaving the rest of us to resort to reducing our own consumption.

high oil prices are awesome!

People are driving less- even Americans, business class only airlines are going bust (woohoo!) and public appeals for efficient public transport as an alternative to private are growing. Sweet.

George knows it too.


Addition:

So does Johann.

ecohackers 2 - the revenge

Someone's managed to do something decent with all the wondrous technology we've developed. Its simple enough to be practical and theoretically viable. Watch this space . . .

do you want a new nuclear power station at Hinkley?

You can register your opinion with the Western Daily News.

punkscience is now a union member

I just joined Unite-Amicus. I thought it was the right thing to do and Peter Tatchell agrees. We shall see how this pans out . . . .


They happened to offer new members the chance to register their political position in the form of a questionnaire. Unfortunately I am physically incapable of turning down any opportunity to slate the Labour party. Hence:

interesting renewable generation factoid

According to Caroline Lucas, research shows that wind energy creates over 2000 jobs per terawatt of energy produced, compared to just 75 for nuclear.

I'd be very interested to find that research. A quick google failed to produce anything tangible.

Green Vehicles

They make this little gem (credit to EcoGeek). Its very similar to something that I want to build myself, originally inspired by the Aptera. The reverse trike layout, the side-by side seats for two. The main difference between the TRIAC and the Aptera is that the latter has an internal combustion engine powering a generator as well as conventional battery storage so that although it can be used as a true BEV it can also be used as a hybrid, achieving 250mpg. That's pretty damn sweet!

The reason this phenomenal mileage is achievable is simply that the Aptera is so thoroughly streamlined that it doesn't have to waste >80% of the energy in its fuel pushing air out of its way. I can't begin to compete with that but I did want to put together a BEV at home that would allow me to scoot around town cheaply and with minimal emissions. So I've been researching suppliers thet hree main components needed for a BEV: The batteries, a speed controller and the motor. The chassis can be a straightforward welded steel job (I looked into a bamboo frame too, BTW) and the running gear can come off bikes. The best bits I've come across have been these guy's speed controllers and motors from China. As for batteries, I had the idea of using recycled lead-acid batteries from a scrap yard- often these are perfectly serviceable (unlike the vehicles they were in).

Whether this turns into any more than a pipe-dream remains to be seen but its fun to research and in a few years I have a nasty feeling that incentives to move to electric powered transport will be particularly prevalent.

Addition:

Another reverse trike. Not very green but highly badassss!

Michael Meacher

He voted for the Iraq invasion and, therefore, is a git. However, he's bang on with this CiF article about UK politics.

Vote Green.

punkscience is back . . .

. . . and he's struggling to come to terms with the world he's returned to.

Bombs in Exeter (where he works).
Oil at $135 a barrel.
Nu Laybur in meltdown and the prospect of a Tory government (can it be worse than Labour?)



The saga continues. Watch this space . . .


P.S.
Thanks for the love, chaps. Much appreciated.

punkscience is going on a cruise . . .

. . . in the North Sea, for two weeks. So you will have to arrange for other sources of anger and vitriol to inform or entertain yourselves, or to disgust yourselves with, if that's why you're here (I dunno- it takes all sorts).

Whatever you do, I can assure you it will be much less fun than playing with crabs for two weeks- for which, I offer my sympathy.

Ciao!

Noam rules

“If the left means anything, it means it’s concerned for the needs, welfare, and rights of the general population.”

Word. I wonder where Noam's political compass lies?

The Media Lens massive are pretty rad too:

"In the last decade of corresponding with journalists we have found that they often do behave as though they were living in a police state, or at least in a state policed by corporate power. Many are privately supportive and helpful. Indeed, many journalists who might be expected to be fierce opponents of our work, are in fact enraged by the mendacity and destructiveness of the media employing them. But they tell us their comments must be off the record; that they are not willing to comment over the internet (which is surely monitored); that they will help us only on condition that their names be concealed. Could it be more obvious that journalists do not feel free to write the truth about Alton and Kelner, and much else, because of the likely professional consequences?"

Peter Mandelson is a sociopathic cockweasel

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Word.

I've had a shit day and to come home to face this neo-classical economical, ecocidal mania is just too much for me. I need a drink.

And a spliff. I'm really not much of a reefer-fiend, preferring a glass of good rum when I'm in company. But tonight I just feel the need for that warm fuzziness and the welcome absolution of short-term memories.

Self-medication rules.


Addition:

I changed the epithet in the title. I regret my original term, which was designed for maximum offense and was a product of my earlier bitterness.

Anyway, how's this for an interesting observation:

" . . . arable land would store more carbon year on year for many decades if just left to revert to a natural ecosystem . . . . If we grow biofuels "on previously unfarmed land" we will obviously incur the opportunity cost that the land would (or already does) store more carbon if we DON'T grow biofuels on it than if we DO."

It was a comment from SteelyGlint below Mandletwat's article. I'm not sure how right it is but it certainly rings true to me. Carbon fixed in biofuel production on arable land is rapidly released back into the atmosphere. The obvious problem is that letting arable land 'return to nature' results in a loss of food production capacity, just as the conversion to biofuel production does.

religion is a byproduct of the evolution of imagination

Word.

New Scientist rules.

Murdoch criticises the BBC for being great

James Murdoch, clone of his BBC-hating, right-wing extremist father, has decided that the BBC's iPlayer service is a bad thing. Unsurprisingly really, seeing as his company BSkyB has completely missed the boat on internet TV and is now unable to compete with the BBC's visionary service. This is the second time in a month that the iPlayer has been criticised by corporate figures, who are clearly rattled at its success. Personally, I've never used it, but I can see how I will soon come to rely on it as I loathe the pre-programmed format of modern television almost as much as I hate the mindless shite that is perpetually broadcasted. Basically, these guys are assaulting the BBC because of what it is, not what it is doing. They simply can't stand having to compete with an organisation with a prescriptive mandate for objectivity and balance, however poorly that may be implemented. It clashes directly with the corporate media's goal of homogeneity, elimination of real news and the dissemination of nationalist and corporate propaganda.


Addition:

More lies and propaganda from the little shit in this CiF post. Read the 3rd comment. Word!

The Spectator: A mouthpiece for US and Israeli propaganda

Compare and contrast these two reports of the Israeli air strike on September 6th upon a target inside Syria.

One of them presents balanced perspectives and attributes its sources. The other is hysterical and makes extensive use of unattributable, unnamed sources.

Which do we think is the most accurate? Hmmmmmmm?

Middle Eastern insight

This ZNet interview with Norman Finkelstein is an amazing insight into the forces at play in the ME.

Dominic Lawson is a climate change-denying cockweasel

For someone who writes for the Indy he's remarkably stupid. He has utterly failed to contemplate the trend for rising fuel prices that will make renewable generation profoundly competitive within a few years. He is stupid enough to not have learnt anything from The Stern Report. He also makes no consideration of the apocalyptic consequences of rejecting sustainable development and renewable generation. In fact, this article misses so many glaring chances to point opinion in progressive directions- that is, directions which would lead to progress- that you have to wonder at the man's motives for essentially advocating the end of our society as we know it.

Take the economic point Lawson makes: That the economic downturn turns people's concerns away from environmentalism and towards economic stability. What he has missed completely is that the economic system itself is sick and in dire need of reform. The banks, whose idiocy and greed produced the economic crisis, aren't mentioned at all. Neither is any proposed changes to the system that might allow economic concerns to be mitigated.

That's just one example of an elephant in Dominic's room. Another would be his justified assault upon micro-generation. Damning David Cameron's poxy little turbine is entirely correct and Dominic throws some good figures in there. But this is after he has slated the EU's proposals for renewable energy generation, observing that they will cost the consumer £10 billion in total. The fact that such capacity will produce essential reductions in carbon emissions, increase energy security, generate thousands of jobs, shield us from subsequent rises in fuel costs and another million good reasons also pass mention, as does the fact that we should not be footing the bill for it- the government should be using our tax money to stabilise our economy and energy security!

But the worst piece of misdirection is Lawson's observation that "the British public . . . need educating about [the inconsistency of wind generation]" using the Texan example. His tone implies that, if the public knew about this flaw in the technology's reliability to generate electricity, they would reject such technology whole heartedly.This implication that renewable generation is flawed, uneconomic and inappropriate runs through the whole article. And, of course, it is entirely incorrect. As I have demonstrated time and again on this blog, renewable generation is perfectly capable of powering the world as long as it is applied intelligently.

Finally, and most damning of all, Lawson fails to extrapolate from his condemnation of renewable generation and covert endorsement of unsustainable development to the future: If we don't move to a sustainable society then catastrophic climate change will be inevitable and millions will die, our society will be crippled by food-poverty and mass migration of climate refuges and the economy will collapse. Dominic seems to imply that this is an acceptable alternative.

He is, clearly, a fucking cockweasel.



Addition:

Case closed:

“The burning of fossil fuels sends about seven gigatons of CO₂ per year into the atmosphere, which sounds like a lot. Yet the biosphere and the oceans send about 1900 gigatons and 36000 gigatons of CO₂ per year into the atmosphere – ... one reason why some of us are sceptical about the emphasis put on the role of human fuel-burning in the greenhouse gas effect. Reducing man-made CO 2 emissions is megalomania, exaggerating man’s significance. Politicians can’t change the weather.”

A dirty little propagandist cockweasel.

Israeli Defence Force tortures children

I'm not a fan of the Israeli military, for various reasons. This is one of them. There are several others.

manufacturing consent

So, evidence has surfaced revealing the extent to which the BUsh administration has used ex-military characters, many with conflicting corporate interests in defence contracts, as expert commentators on US television to disseminate propaganda and disinformation regarding their terrorist and torturing activities.

children aren't stupid

A notable social phenomenon is that of the disgruntled teenager. I was just thinking about this and I wondered if its a result of modern children seeing beyond the hypocrisy of modern educational discipline, whose mandate states that "if you conform, you succeed". Most children develop the perceptiveness to analyse their own, and other children's, parents' degree of conformity to this dogmatic principle and perceive the utter lack of correlation with wellbeing, affluence or happiness.
Therefore- they reason- if it is clearly unrelated to real-life success, why is it enforced with such zeal and conviction?

Seriously, kids are way more perceptive than most people give them credit for. I am reminded of a quote from The Guide:, that one where the guy who runs the universe is explaining how he interprets things he sees . . . the exact one escapes me but its all about saying what you see, not what you think you see. Its a perception thing, yeah? Like seeing a British soldier shooting an Iraqi youth and thinking "wow, he just shot a kid", instead of "wow, he just saved me from a terrorist".


Final comment: Yes, I am drunk.

English racism

Really quite laughable.

Putin's latest trophy?

He emphatically denied it. It has to be true.

Tyrannical piece of sleazy shit.

shite internet and Ubuntu

I'm spending my Friday evening in front of the TV sharing my mind with you, my totally awesomely random readership and I'm getting frickin frsutrated with Virgin broadband because every page I try and access through Windows Firefox hangs halfway through downloading. I figured this was just Friday night internet access in the 'Muff and then, out of curiosity I switched to Ubuntu and tried it through that and wow! All pages came through straight away, except for my staple reference site, WIkipedia. I don't know if their suffering server issues but I can't get anything from them or other Wiki sites, like Wikiquote (I'm looking for a Churchill quote from this shit).

Anyway, I'm impressed with this access thing but remain ambivalent towards Ubuntu, despite my early hopes for it.

BTW- Lethal Weapon (the first one) is probably one of the best films ever. Its depiction of '80s society and its failings is poignant and touching, despite Rigg's homophobic lines.

a model of corporate sociopathy

No, I'm not talking about PFI. This is new. And its another prime example of how mega-business can exist beyond the law- does anyone imagine for one moment that the fine ultimately levied against these morons will come close to covering the true sum they have extorted from the nation?

marine ecology blog

Interesting. And amusing!

"Its costly having a carbon conscience" - NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!

The Guardian ran this story. "Fucking weak as fuck!", I thought. Not a mention of any need for government legislation to drive people toward the serious changes in life style that any meaningful assault upon climate changing emissions demands.

A personal example: I have to be on an island in the Netherlands next month for a research cruise. I could get there by flying with FlyBe (£30) direct from the city I work in . . . OR I could get the train to London, Eurostar to Brussels, Thalys train to Amsterdam, a local train to a coast town, a bus to the ferry port, a ferry to the island and a taxi or bus to the ship. Guess which I chose?

Ha! BOOOOOOM, sucker!

I am the ultimate responsible citizen, because I chose the train marathon. Actually its only a full day's travelling, leaving on a 5am train and getting there as the sun sets. But the cost? A cool £250. I really can't crow about this too much because the money comes from my budget but I really do try and get everywhere I can these days via the Eurostar. Its not just that I hate airports and flying generally- besides the trauma to my conscience its a god-awful mess standing in lines to be patronised by blank security robots with hand-held metal detectors- but I just hate the process of taking off and flying over hundreds of miles of obscured countryside. I'd rather have my soul connected to the land I'm traversing through the medium of my eyes.

Anyway, this is not a first. In the past couple of years I have only flown to Lanzarote. I have been on the Eurostar to the continent twice. If I have to go anywhere other than Europe- I will fly and I will make the most of the experience. But if I am heading into the civilisation of the continent, where trains, trams and efficient bus services exist in abundance, why scorn it? Why not experience life as it should be!