All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
personal

Ten Things

Something much more mundane for this month’s Ten Things, if only because I have numbness of the brain!


Some are obvious, some are not, but here are Ten Things on my Desk:

  1. Desk tidy containing pens, scissors, screwdriver, torch, nail clippers, emery board, 20cm rule, paper clips
  2. Mug of tea
  3. Watch
  4. Calculator
  5. Electric stapler
  6. Cheque book
  7. Hearing Aid Dryer
  8. Box of tissues
  9. Monocular
  10. Bottle of aftershave

And then of course there is the plethora of computer stuff. But no, no cat — the current set don’t seem to like my desk, but then I don’t have a hot desk lamp these days.

current affairs, ramblings, thoughts

Bexit Legal Thoughts

Another in our very occasional series thinking about some of the aspects of the “Brexit mess” the UK is now in.
[Note: What follows are largely my thoughts on the legal landscape as I see it, based on various legal items I have read over recent days and weeks. I am not a lawyer. This is not legal opinion. It is my ramblings.]
I am heartily sick of all the misinformation and stupid comment which is pervading the media waves at present. So in the wake of yesterday’s court judgement on the constitutional issues surrounding Brexit I thought a few (legal) facts about the mess we’re in were in order. These thoughts will be uncomfortable and unwelcome for the unthinking masses.

  1. We do NOT have a constitutional crisis. The UK constitutional process is working exactly as designed with the courts ruling on what is legally permissible and leaving the political shenanigans to Parliament and the Executive. Politicians may have brewed up a political crisis, but that is an entirely different kettle of fishcakes.
  2. The High Court judges are NOT against “the people” (a nebulous concept at the best of times) nor are they trying to stop us leaving the EU – neither is their role. If you read the Miller judgement the judges say this explicitly. Their role is to decide what is legally permissible under our constitution. Whether or not we leave the EU is a political decision on which the judges specifically do not comment.
  3. It is erroneous to say that the UK does not have a written Constitution. We do have a written Constitution (not my opinion, but legal opinion); it is all written down in common, statute and case law. It just isn’t codified (all tidily organised and in one place for easy reference); but it is written down.
  4. The Government does not HAVE to take us out of the EU. The Act enabling the referendum explicitly states (as both sides in the recent court case have admitted, and the judges agreed) that the referendum was only advisory. The Government is NOT bound by the result; they have made a political decision to follow it through.
  5. If there is a vote in the House of Commons, MPs are NOT bound to vote in favour of leaving the EU just because their constituents did. MPs are representatives of the people and are thus bound to vote in the way they believe is in the country’s best interests. (That does not mean they will, after careful thought, all come to the same opinion.) They are NOT mandated delegates who have to vote as their constituents tell them. Voting according to their own opinions and consciences is legally possible and allowed; whether anyone considers it politically expedient is a different matter.

Conclusion: What we have in the UK at present is a political crisis, of the Government’s making, and not a constitutional crisis.
Now will everyone STFU and act their age not their shoe size. Yes, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and others, I’m looking at you.

amusements, ramblings

Auction Amusements

We’ve not had any amusement recently from the catalogues of our local auction house. This is mainly because they have recently been relatively dull. But it’s time to catch up, so here are the highlights from the last two or three auctions, and as always it is not just the stuff that people sell but what gets lumped together to make a lot and sometimes the somewhat erratic descriptions. Presumably someone must buy this stuff or they wouldn’t sell it! Anyway, here goes (any emphasis is mine) …
A Venner time switch, a Metropolitan taxi meter, and a speed and power playback reel to reel tape deck
A treacle glazed pottery Toby jug, a dinosaur teapot plus three erotic netsuke in china and wood
A pair of cream ground elephant seats, a quantity of DVDs including Sex and The City, photo albums, a figurine of a rabbit, two modern dishes, wine bottle opener, and a coffee table
An antique native primitive bow of natural branch form with gut bow-string, and two quivers, one in bamboo with plain leather binding, the other in decorated leather, each containing bamboo arrows with barbed iron heads
A good collection of garden ornaments, incl. a dog holding a basket, a planter upon a cherub, vintage chimney marked Doulton & Co., Lambeth, and various cherub wall plaques and decoration, two male busts, mirrors, and a marble-topped table on metal base
A Suzuki MG25 marching Glockenspiel
[That’s worthy of Terry Pratchett; it must be a cousin of “The Luggage”!]
A charming Edwardian pram with Greek fabric detailing on inside of hood, a weatherproof covering for doll, and what appears to be a leather head support strap across the top of buggy, four spoked wheels on metal frame, a doll (one leg missing) with serial code AM Germany351/41/2 K on neck and rolling blue eyes, eyelash detailing, open mouth and in knitted blue dress and cardigan
[GOK why you would want a one-legged doll (though I guess it is politically correct); and are the spoked wheels part of the pram or separate items?]
A collapsible child’s micro scooter, also dumbbells, and a chest expander
A figure of Christ crucified
[Why?]
A pair of framed watercolours of birds, a set of old golf clubs, some hickory-shafted, vintage movie cameras, a Windsor model 71 voltometer, a collection of cameras incl. Kodak Brownie 127, a metal safety box, stoneware bottles, spirit levels, and a pair of aluminium ladders
2 hand-painted decorative saws depicting village scenes, a vintage lawn mower, a spade and a shovel
[Clearly an ancient art-form which has passed me by]
A pets bed styled as a miniature sofa in buttoned velvet, raised on shell carved cabriole legs
A bronze figure, Ancient Egyptian or later, on a stone base
[Basically it could be any date, but it looks Egyptian]
A Victorian stag hoof converted as an inkwell
A fine Victorian Indian ivory page turner carved with a pierced handle surrounding a maiden
An interesting lot of small items including an enamel-lidded glass jar, other jars, old buttons in a box, 2 old watches, miniature enamelled vases, a naval whistle, lizard claw, etc., all in a brass-faced box
An album of black and white adult photographs
A Lachenal & Co concertina, early 20th century, no. 160071, with 33 buttons to the pierced nickel-plated ends, wooden rests stamped with trade mark etc. and ‘steel reeds’, in ebonised wood box
[AKA a button accordion]
A one-string fiddle, home-made, with brass horn, and a violin bow
An impressive ceramic Quartz clock decorated with shell decoration and two handled on top
[A two handed what? Included also as it is so stunningly … impressive]
A leather Doctors bag and contents, plus a further leather Doctors bag complete with instruments, a Policeman’s helmet, and a Kodak Instant camera
[There’s a theme here, but I’m not at all sure what it is; maybe Agatha Christie?]
[And of course there had to be a collection of things stuffed. What is it about taxidermy?]
A taxidermy kestrel on rocky base enclosed in glazed wooden display case
A taxidermy kestrel on a mossy base in a glazed wooden cabinet
A taxidermy barn owl on rocky base enclosed in glazed wooden display case
A large quantity of china to include 19th century part tea services, a small collection of Wade figures including a lady and a blow up Dalmatian, further decorative wall plates, meat plates, ornaments, animal figurines, etc.
A Life Guard Trooper’s helmet, presumed circa 1900
A modern bronze group of two conjoined torsos
[Scrap metal?]
A wooden cased table organ with nine pull-outs and three and a half quavers, in aluminium carry case
[I suggest they mean 3½ octaves]
Three Union Jacks last displayed on VE day
[We know this?]
A cow skin, probably Charolais
A Laura Ashley red velvet quite with beaded trim edge, a Greek fabric national doll and a Spanish flamenco doll
Two 19th century powder-coated cartwheels
[Oh, really?]
Five vintage petrol cans …
More anon.

history, medical, science, topographical

Your Interesting Links

Science & Medicine
The medical profession has come to the conclusion that there are at least 40 common treatments which are not necessary (or don’t do any good).
In an interesting study, researchers conclude that there might be a relationship between migraines and gut bacterial species.
AIDS was brought to the USA by one promiscuous homosexual in 1980-81, right? Wrong; it had been there undetected for years!
So that’s how thy mummified the Egyptians.


Yes, cats obviously do get high on catnip, but not for long.
When is a monkey like a human? When it make stone tools. Yes, monkeys have been discovered making sharp stone tools, but do they know what they’re doing?
Lads, eat your heart out! This newly discovered millipede has four penises — but also 414 legs to get in the way.
OK, so from the animal to the mineral … Scientists have accidentally discovered how to turn CO2 into fuel.
As if we hadn’t guessed it, an ancient book confirms that the whole of the Himalayas is an earthquake zone.
Environment
The River Severn looks set to see Henry III’s favourite fish, the Shad, return after a project to install fish passes at a number of weirs gets funding.
History
A Stone Age dog’s tooth provides evidence of the UK’s earliest known journey.
The Museum of London has acquired a rare and unusual document: verbatim minutes of a report to Parliament on the Great Fire of 1666.
William Hogarth, entrepreneurial Londoner.
­
It seems no-one knew there were some huge holes underneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
London
What Is London’s Oldest Church? Define “oldest”. Define “church” even.
It seems that procrastination and fudge are not the preserve of modern major civil engineering wroks. Here’s a brief history of the Regent’s Canal.
And the same again for the Underground’s Northern Line.
London has a new museum. It’s out at Pinner and celebrates the illustrator William Heath Robinson. Diamond Geezer when to investigate. [PS. The chiropractor mentioned is my osteopath.]

A Heath Robinson landscape painting

Westminster Bridge holds some secrets; here are 11 of them.
And another well kept secret is St Paul Cathedral’s triforium. Yet again, IanVisits went to see.
There are many facts about London, and indeed many about the Underground. Here are some Underground facts that aren’t.
Somewhere near Perivale there’s a fighter plane on a rooftop. except tat it isn’t always there.
Finally for this section, a happy 10th birthday to one of our favourite London blogs, IanVisits.
Lifestyle
How to confuse yourself about nothing and also about emptiness. Well that’s Zen for you!
Food & Drink
You mean you didn’t know that you shouldn’t put tomatoes in the fridge? Tut, tut!
Shock, Horror, Humour
Following on from our first item, here are 40 worthless everyday things you can stop doing right now.
More next month.

amusements, pleasures, ramblings

Pussy Porn

Winter is coming, the cats are getting keener to be in rather than out — not that this stops them going out for a little light mouse-foraging! All afternoon I’ve had two of our three cats with me in the study, very asleep and both determinedly trying to make it rain.
Wiz has found the warm spot in front of the airing cupboard …

wiz_warm_spot_s

Meanwhile Tilly has a little cave amongst the piles of stuff and toot …
tilly_cave_s

Where number three is I have no idea, but doubtless in much the same state!

current affairs, environment

Oh what a surprise!

So, as usual it seems, we’re now being told that the bill for Heathrow Runway Three is going to be much higher than is being said. Worse, that extra cost is going to fall on the taxpayer and not on the private enterprise (the airport). Yesterday’s Guardian reported former Transport Secretary as the person raising the concern:

“There will be a number of specific things we will be doing for Heathrow. The government and Heathrow need to come clean on what the cost to the taxpayer is going to be.” … While the [Davies] commission report estimated a £5bn bill for new roads and rail links, Transport for London put the potential cost as being as high as £18.4bn.
Heathrow said it had earmarked just £1bn, and that it only accepted direct responsibility for works to the M25, which the third runway would cross, and a few minor roads. The airport contends that it will be cutting traffic, despite adding up to 55 million passengers a year, and that revenues could offset the bill.

Oh? Pray tell me how adding 55 million passengers a year will reduce traffic.
Moreover:

Heathrow confirmed on Wednesday that executives would be paid bonuses, for securing a new runway, that would be expected to run into several million pounds.

And there’s even more …

Campaigners have highlighted an apparent admission that pollution is likely to rise in parts of London with a third runway, which they say potentially makes the scheme illegal.
The report, produced by Parsons Brinckerhoff for the DfT, said that Heathrow was “at risk of worsening exceedances of limit values alongside some roads within greater London, but this would be unlikely to affect the overall zone compliance”.
However, this is likely to be contested. Legal opinion obtained by the Clean Air in London campaign, from Robert McCracken QC, states that worsening pollution in any areas that already exceed legal limits would break the law.

That’s alright then, bugger the law. Oh we’ve already done that.
And don’t you just love “at risk of worsening exceedances of limit values”. WTF language do they think they’re writing? Can’t be Vogon; we’d stand a chance of understanding that.
So as usual it seems we’re not being told the whole story; there are hidden vested interests and conflicts of interest. And the whole funding situation is being fudged so that in years to come it will be too expensive (financially and politically) to scrap the project so it is completed with money we don’t have, provided by central government and filched from the pockets of the already screwed taxpayers — or worse borrowed on the never-never. (See HS2 and London’s proposed Garden Bridge for similar current likely examples.)
It’s another plane crash (in so many ways) waiting to happen. And government don’t get it. In spades. FFS!
PS. I know I live near Heathrow (though not under the main flightpaths) but I don’t care where this runway is going to be built. We shouldn’t be doing it. And we certainly shouldn’t be doing it — like most major projects — in such an underhand way.

current affairs, environment

Heath-NO!

So yesterday, quite predictably and after years of dithering, the government decided that it is going to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
They still don’t get it, do they? See a number of earlier posts hereabouts.
So why do they do it? I suspect it is a combination of (A) vested interests (ie. the business lobby and politicians share portfolios), (B) the fact that governments (like senior managers) have to be seen to do something and almost anything will do especially if it distracts from the real problems they should be fixing, and (C) vanity. And that, of course, is all that matters. Bugger the environment etc. etc.
Not that any work is likely to be done for 4 or 5 years. There is still to be (another?) public consultation followed by parliamentary approval. Add to that all the planning decisions, every one of which you can be sure will be appealed by someone, causing even further delay. Meanwhile the whole of west London — already a disaster jungle of concrete — has another Sword of Damocles (in addition to that of HS2) hanging over it.
So there is still plenty of chance the third runway will never happen, and even by the time it can happen some people will have got the message that (a) it will be an environmental disaster (wherever it is sited) and (b) we really should not need to be flying people around the world the way they do.
As someone commented yesterday, we suddenly seem to be building big things — most of which we really don’t need (eg. runway three, HS2). Moreover we cannot afford them — we have no money, at least so we’re always being told. Nor do we have the labour to either build or operate these facilities as unemployment is at historic low levels. So where do we find the cash and the workers? Oh yes, of course: inward investment and immigrants, neither of which will happen after Brexit.
There is still time for common sense to prevail, but don’t hold your breath.
Gawdelpus!