Eye to the main chance?

So this VW emissions test business.  Apparently the company have put several billion Euros aside in anticipation of being sued by those who have bought their cars.  But is this reasonable?  I would imagine that the vast majority of people who buy a car choose it on looks and performance rather than on emissions.  That's not to say that they pay no regard to the emissions figures, but that that aspect is way down the list of what is important to them.  I'm sure there will be plenty of people queuing up to sue VW but I'm equally sure that most of them will be looking to make a quick and easy buck rather than genuinely feeling they have been conned into buying a car they might otherwise not have bought.  Such is human nature.

What about the bowler hat?

If I asked you to name a racist symbol, I imagine many of you would go for the swastika, or maybe a defaced star of David, or perhaps a KKK burning cross.  But, a sombrero?  I'd be surprised if anybody came up with that - unless, that is, you had any connection with the University of Norwich, where a local Mexican restaurant has been forbidden from giving out free sombreros to students, and students have been forbidden from wearing them.  And, according to University officials, this has nothing to do with the restaurant looking to boost its sales, but because "at all events we try to ensure that there is no behaviour, language or imagery which could be considered racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or ableist.”  As the sombrero is so clearly associated with Mexico, it can only be presumed that they see it as racist. Strange...

Ha ha.

I asked my University friend what his plans for the day were.  "Well" he said "I'm going to my philosophy lecture, and then I'm going down to the local brothel to get laid".  I looked surprised.  "Yes, I know" he said "You think I'm putting Decartes before the whores".

Uh??

It seemed a bit strange when Corbyn appointed a vegan as shadow minister for environment, food and rural affairs - particularly as it appears that he didn't realise she was a vegan, but it's become even more bizarre now that she has declared that her policy is that meat should be treated like tobacco, and steps taken to discourage the public from eating it.  Her reasons seem to be partly environmental - animals, particularly cows, add to the amount of methane in the atmosphere - and partly animal welfare - slaughtering animals for food is cruel.  She is, of course, entitled to her personal opinions on the subject, but as a shadow minister she has a responsibility to speak and act in the best interests of the country as a whole, and this "I don't like it, therefore you shouldn't be allowed to do it" approach smacks of naïvity, and frankly, unsuitability to hold the post

Piggate?

So David Cameron may or may not have done some silly things at University?  So?? Take a walk down Broad Street in Birmingham any Friday or Saturday night and you will see young people of a similar age doing all sorts of stupid things.  So what makes Cameron's peccadillos - if indeed they exist - so special? Is it because he's the PM? Or is it. as I suspect, because he's seen as "posh" and posh people are not expected to behave like that?  It's sort of reverse snobbery - the "upper classes" are supposed to walk round with their noses in the air and treat the rest of us with disdain, but above all are supposed to be aloof and behave with dignity and raise their little fingers when they drink a cup of tea.  And somehow when they turn out to be just like the rest of us (albeit with a lot more money) it comes as a shock.  Feet of clay is the expression that springs to mind.

Am I missing something?

So Volkswagen have installed software on their diesel cars which can reduce the amount of pollution they produce.  This apparently only kicks in when the car detects that it is being tested.  But if the software is there and, it would seem, works, why on earth don't they have it running all the time? I've a feeling that somehow I'm not seeing the whole picture?

Clever!

What do you make of this?



The square root of -1 doesn't exist - that is there is no number which, when multiplied by itself (squared) = -1.  However mathematicians sometimes find that it is useful to pretend that it does. When they use it this way they designate it as "i" - standing for the imaginary number,

2 cubed = 2 x 2 x 2 which equals 8

The Greek letter sigma is used in mathematics to signify "the sum of" or just "sum"

And the final Greek letter is of course "pi" and is used to represent the number of times you can divide the diameter of a circle into its circumference.  This is a famous irrational number - meaning it cannot be expressed exactly - the decimal places go on for ever.

So - the expression reads "I ate some pie".

Oh no, not again!

I find it depressing when I have to return to the same subject over and over again. The Court of Appeal have upheld a longer than usual sentence imposed on a rapist because the girls he raped were Asian and thus, the argument goes, the act brought particular shame on them and their families and devalued their worth as future brides. The unstated, but obvious corollary is that, had they been British and white, a shorter sentence would have been appropriate as, among other things, virginity in a prospective bride is not so much looked for or expected in our culture.  Why is this so very, very wrong? Because, as I've said before, the criminal law should not be concerned, in matters of guilt or innocence or sentencing, with victims.  Please read my post of 5/1/06 to save me having to rehash what I said then. Like I say, I find it utterly disheartening that I am having to repeat myself.  The status, worth or otherwise of the victim of a crime should have no bearing on the sentence, which should simply reflect the extent to which society's laws have been broken.

An Inspector Calls

I studied it at school, studied it again when one of my kids had to do it for GCSE, and believe it or not, now one of my grandkids has it as a set book (well, play).  I've seen it on stage, and saw the film (Alistair Sim), so what did I think of the recent BBC adaptation?  Well, disappointed, I have to say - why didn't they just stick to the script?  You got the impression that they thought that as it was television, they had to be different somehow.  The film suffered from much the same problem but at least it didn't keep interrupting the action to do it like the TV did.  J B Priestley wrote a tight, claustrophobic little drama and how do you improve on perfection.  Answer - you don't even try!  Just as a point of interest, this play - seen as quintessentially English - was given its first performance in Moscow.

Tick tock - bang?

Story from across the pond of a young boy (who just happens to be a Muslim) who made a home-made clock and took it to school.  The teachers thought it was a bomb (apparently it ticked) and called the police, who arrested him.  He was later released without charge, so you would think that was the end of that?  Not a bit of it - President Obama, perhaps somewhat unwisely, invited him to the White House, so it all became political.  Sarah Palin - never one to miss a chance - is on record as saying "Right. That's a clock, and I'm the Queen of England".
        PLEEEZE - don't let it be a clock!!

The Lazy Cook

My recent post about peanut butter covered bananas wrapped in bacon tickled a memory I had about reading somewhere that you could make ice cream out of bananas.  Yes really!  If you cut up bananas and freeze them and then blitz them in a food processor and keep blitzing and keep blitzing they will eventually turn into ice cream.  Not real ice cream of course, but it has the consistency and mouth-feel of real ice cream.  Great for anybody with dairy intolerance, and delicious for everybody!

We're coming through, ready or not!

Anybody else feel uncomfortable about the pictures we're seeing coming from Hungary and Croatia? And just who do we side with?  The migrants, many of whom seem to be acting more like a mob storming the battlements than people simply looking to find a friendly country to settle down in, or the police and army who are in danger of being seen as overly heavy-handed.  And which is cause, and which effect? Can't help feeling that Germany - acting with the best of intentions - must bear responsibility for effectively throwing open its borders to the migrants with perhaps insufficient thought being given as to what the practical results of that might be, and then backing off when those became clear. Interesting that eastern and central Europe is now experiencing what we've been having to put up with for years with those trying to get here from France. Perhaps they might be a bit more sympathetic to our problems in future?

Words, words...

Back in the 13th century there lived a man who went by the name of John Duns Scotus.  He was a philosopher and was considered one of the cleverest men of his time.  The "Scotus" part of his name simply indicated that he came from Scotland, so his real surname (to the extent that they had such a concept back then) was Duns. Why is this interesting?  Because, despite being such a clever man and a brilliant thinker, his name has given us a word for those who are exactly the opposite.  His ideas fell out of favour in the 16th century and those who espoused them were considered outdated and silly. They were known as Dunsmen, or Dunses - and so gave us the word "dunce".  It is said he favoured a conical hat, which is why the dunce's cap is so shaped.

Jez we can???

So what do we make of Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the Labour party?  I think he's going to have the same problems as Ed Milliband, only more so.  He is a creature of the unions and the hard left and that isn't going to play well with the electorate at large.  So, like Milliband, he is caught between a rock and a hard place.  Does he act so as to appease those who voted him in, which will not win him any elections, or does he seek popular approval, which will alienate those who voted for him?  His choice of shadow cabinet certainly seems to suggest that he's going for the former, in which case it's probably going to be Michael Foot all over again.

Which is which?

We're celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and there will be flypasts by the few remaining aircraft of that generation.  Pride of place of course will go to the Spitfires and Hurricanes - but can you tell them apart?  As a child of the war, I could of course, and still can, although it's not as easy as it was.  In the early days it was simple - Spitfires had rounded ends to their wings, Hurricanes had straight ends.  But then you began to get Hurricanes with round ends, so that didn't work any more. The one definitive way of telling them apart was, and still is, by the canopy - if you can see it. Spitfires have a canopy made of a single piece of perspex, whereas Hurricanes have what I always think of as greenhouse windows - separate individual panes.  It's the one sure way of telling one from t'other.

God save her.

Thanks to a great site called what-if.xkcd.com for this little gem.  It used to be said that the British Empire was "The empire on which the sun never set".  The point being that at all times it was daytime somewhere in the Empire.  Well, the Empire is long gone, but apparently the saying is still true, if only just.  What is left of the old Empire is still sufficiently scattered around the globe that it is always daylight somewhere. Go to the site and click on "Archive" and look for "Alert the Queen!!" for a full explanation.

Labour leadership.

It all seems to be about Jeremy Corbyn, but am I alone in thinking that we should pay more attention to Tom Watson, who was elected as his deputy.  I've a feeling that he will be the front man, while Corbyn stays more in the background.  Does it matter? Well, yes I think it does.  Corbyn is a conviction politician - we know exactly what he stands for, and he's unlikely to change his position. But Watson is a career politician - he will always have his eye on the main chance and what best suits his ambitions - and I'm sure he would say what is best for the party. And that sort of person is always more difficult to read.  A lot will depend on what sort of team Corbyn chooses as his shadow cabinet, but my feeling is - watch Watson.

The Lazy Cook

OK - I've pinched this off the Net, but it's quick and easy and oh, so good.  You will need bananas (peeled), crunchy peanut butter and rashers of streaky smoked bacon. Once again, I have left quantities up to you, but I found 2 bananas and 6 rashers satisfied me.  So - smother one of the bananas in peanut butter. Lay out a sheet of clingfilm and put down 3 rashers on it so that they slightly overlap.  Put the banana at right angles to the rashers and use the clingfilm to roll the rashers tightly round the banana. Unroll the clingfilm and secure the "swiss roll" you have created with a wooden skewer,  Repeat with the other banana and the rest of the bacon.  Put them under a hot grill and cook, turning regularly until the bacon is crisp all round.  And there you have it - yummy or what?

Ageism?

So Parliament has voted decisively against the Assisted Dying Bill.  Was it me, or did it appear that those opposed were mostly younger, and those in favour mostly older? I'm now 78 - what right have those in their 30s,40s and 50s to tell me what I may or may not do?

Ha ha

Must be time for another joke.
Why do elephants drink so much?
...to try to forget!

Waiting....

At some point yesterday, the Queen became this country's longest serving monarch, but in the matter of "longest" records she has to give best to her son.  Prince Charles became heir-apparent at the age of three and has held that position now for 63 years. The previous longest-serving Prince of Wales was Queen Victoria's eldest son, who became William VII.  He had to wait 59 years to ascend to the throne, so Charles took that record some years ago.

They who live by the sword...

Why are we agonising about the death of these two British men who were killed by a deliberate missile strike carried out (at arms length) by the RAF in Syria.  If you take up arms against this country, then you must expect retaliation in kind.  This has been described by some critics as an "extra-judicial execution" but this confuses the justice system with the rules of war.  If they could have been brought before the courts then the law could have taken its course, and doubtless they would have spent the rest of their lives in jail, but as this was not possible then they had to be stopped by whatever means are available. They chose to tread the path they did - their choice, not ours.

Change of heart.

So should we bomb Syria?  A couple of years back Parliament voted against taking military action in Syria, and I supported that stance.  But that was then and this is now - back then the target was seen to be the Assad government which, whatever your views on it, was the legitimate government of the country, so we would have been supporting revolution.  But now the enemy is ISIS or whatever we're calling them these days.  They have no legitimacy, and pose an existential threat to the area and indeed the world at large.  So the argument has changed.  By attacking them, we would in fact be helping Assad, and that doesn't sit all that comfortably with me, but need must...  I think Parliament must reconsider its decision, as I have reconsidered mine.

Never on a Sunday (or Saturday)...

Try not to get admitted to hospital at the weekend - your chances of survival will be worse than if you are admitted during the week.  This is in fact nothing new, and the difference has traditionally been put down to the reduced staffing of hospitals at weekends, particularly at consultant level.  And there have been constant calls for hospitals to switch to a 24/7 schedule, with Saturdays and Sundays treated no differently from any other day.  But - just a thought - could it be that weekend admissions tend to be the more serious and emergency cases and therefore because of that more likely to have a negative outcome?  Bit of both, maybe?

50 shades...?

Black is black, right?  Well, no apparently.  A school in Prestatyn has punished some children for wearing trousers that were the wrong shade of black.  At the beginning of every school year we get these silly stories of children being sanctioned for failure to comply with school rules relating to personal appearance - but it's usually hair styles, or length of skirts or types of shoes or something such.  But this must rank as one of the silliest.  Oh, for the days when schools saw their function as simply to teach.

A picture is worth...

We've all seen that harrowing picture of the body of that little boy washed up on a Turkish beach. Desperately sad - and I am sure that your reaction, like mine, is "something must be done".  But what?  Let's face it, lots of people, including young kids are being drowned every day in attempting to cross by sea into Europe, but we don't hear about them and certainly don't see pictures of them. Should this one incident be such a call to arms?  Is it because what we see is more powerful than what we are simply told about?

Crazy weather!

Apparently they had snow in Birmingham on Wednesday night!

Queen of crime

I once subscribed to a collection of the complete works of Agatha Christie.  Many of them have now gone to other homes, but I still have a few.  I always thought she was badly served by the critics - her books were certainly not high literature, nor ever pretended to be, but they were straightforwardly and well written, and of course brilliantly plotted.  I was interested to read that my favourite story of hers also came top of a poll of the general public.  It's now known as "And Then There Were None", but those of my generation will remember it as "Ten Little (a word I'm not allowed to use these days)". The "plot twist" has been repeated several times since, but she was the first to come up with it.  That and "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" were her two most superb plot inventions.

Brngg, brngg....

Whatever you think about the current problems with migrants, you have to award some of them ten out of ten for ingenuity.  Many have made their way to the Russian/Norwegian border.  The Norwegian immigration controls forbid entry to anyone on foot or in a motor vehicle who doesn't have the necessary papers.  So what are they doing - they're crossing on bicycles!  Respect!!

Get a move on, Mum!

Well, hooray - I hope.  The Schools Minister has said that siblings should be given the right to go to the same school.  Which of course always used to be the case - why did it ever change?  It can be a nightmare for parents.  I know of one mother who has two kids in different primary schools about 6 miles apart, and in order to get them both there for registration, she has to leave the elder child, who is 8 coming 9 standing on the pavement outside the one school waiting for the gates to open, while she takes the younger one to the other school.  She's very unhappy about "abandoning" the elder one in this way, but has no choice if the younger one is not to get a late mark.  She's told the council of her problem but it seems they couldn't care less.  Hopefully this move by the Minister will improve matters - if not for her, then at least for future parents. I certainly hope so.