Just as the UK government starts to become convinced that nuclear is the only option for future power needs, renewable energy has started to become more affordable. This slightly US-centric article looks at some of the trends in renewable energy in 2005 that will lead to even more green energy sources in 2006.
January 2006 Archives
The BBC is running a story containing 100 facts we didn't know last year. Aside from the 101st fact that we did know quite a few of those things if we'd ever read a book before 2005, there were quite a few interesting nuggets in there, notably:
7. Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo.
29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.
50. Only 36% of the world's newspapers are tabloid.
53. It takes 75kg of raw materials to make a mobile phone.
65. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty, had a hand in creating the Klingon language that was used in the movies, and which Shakespeare plays were subsequently translated into.
99. The Japanese word “chokuegambo” describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street.
What better way to investigate the effects of binge-drinking than to binge-drink for a month?
To prove that bloggers and Google News robots can't do the work of trained reporters, Chicago Reader executive editor Michael Lenehan proposes a year-long journalism strike.
“I am urging reporters and editors around the world to put down their notebooks, close their laptops, hang up their phones. Lie down and be counted! Let’s have no reporting, no editing, no application of any human intelligence whatsoever to events public or private till January 1, 2007. I’m calling it the Year Without Journalism. Let’s all relax, let go, and float blissfully in the information-free state (excuse me, I mean free-information state) that our public awaits so eagerly. ... Let’s see if Wonkette can deal with the devious bastards in the executive branch any better than Judith Miller did.”
No salary for a year. I can manage that...
We try to be green in our house. We recycle. We try to reduce electricity consumption whenever we can. We walk, cycle or use public transport where possible. We try to buy products that use little packaging.
We've also tried using products from Ecover. For the most part, these are well worth using, assuming you can believe all thei company's statements about environmental friendliness.
But we've come a cropper with Ecover's washing powder. Despite the company's warm words about the powder not being irritating to the skin, we spent three of four sleepless nights scratching ourselves silly after using the powder on our bed linen. After re-washing the bedding in Pesil non-bio capsules, an uninterrupted night's sleep all round. Hooray. Not so environmentally friendly, but at least we won't go postal from sleep deprivation.
What gets me is that my otherwise sterling immune system, previously only allergic to penicillin and cat and dog hairs, should have a problem with the plant extracts used to make the Ecover washing powder. What plants are they using? Nettles?
If you think British taxi drivers are rude, how about this Parisian driver? I can't personally attest to the rudest of Paris' hire car industry, since the last time we tried to hire one, it didn't turn up.
Interesting legal note on Salon today, stemming from the coldly frothing pen of Sidney Blumenthal. In it, he points out that President Bush has pioneered a new tactic in deciding which laws to follow. By including in the presidential signing statement a clause on how the president believes it applies to the executive branch, he can more or less ignore it, it seems – think of it as a “I will/will not follow this law” checkbox. Very wily.
A system of checks and balances? Of laws, not of men? I don't think so. But if that's not what the American people want, who's to argue with them?
The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a leaflet claiming Chinese medicine is safer that conventional medicine and can cure 66 conditions, including lung cancer and depression, was both dangerous and misleading.
QFS.
While not up there with Mr Yous(o/a)ff in turns of silliness, that's a pretty dumb series of statements to make in a leaflet. Even China's clamping down on unsubstantiated claims from practitioners, although it only started to draw the line when people started to make claims for immortality.
I hope the Authority next turns its attention to Dr Gillian and others who make similar, albeit lesser unsubstantiated claims for their products. I doubt it, given Channel 4's and mainstream resellers' endorsements of the modern-day snake-oil saleswoman. But I can hope...
Highbury House is selling all its magazines, now the banks have stepped in. Can't say I'm too surprised. Here's hoping they and their staff all find good homes. And that I get paid.
UPDATE: Looks like Highbury is only going to be able to raise £8 million at most from the sale of its magazines.
So what's up with with Lib Dems? Charles Kennedy has been rubbish as a leader for years now, but it's only now they have some competition in the form of David Cameron they decide it's time to do something about it.
Charlie fights back by declaring he's an alcoholic, hoping the ever-so-nice Lib Dems will give him a sympathy vote come leadership election time. Now, my initial reaction is that you don't fire a guy simply for having a disease: I thought we'd moved on as a society from that point. However, he claims not to have had a drink in two months now, yet he's continued to be a rubbish leader the whole time, so I think we can conclude he's a rubbish leader and an alcoholic, not a rubbish leader because he's an alcoholic. So he should be fired, rather than using his disease as an excuse.
The problem is that the Lib Dems don't have any obvious replacements. They're all so nice. There's no Paddy Ashdown or David Owen equivalent, who not only really wanted to be leader but who had experience of leadership. Even that guy who has nine black belts (I dare you to name that Lib Dem politician!) is too nice and lacking in charisma. So before giving Charlie the push, I think a bit of searching needs to be done to find a decent replacement. Otherwise, the Lib Dems are going to be back in the also-ran position, without any to give their economic policies a much-needed modernisation or the British public the idea that they should be elected for any other reason than not being the Tories or Labour.
