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.
current affairs, ramblings

Brexit Scrutiny

Law and Lawyers reports that the House of Lords EU Select Committee has issued a new report, Brexit: Parliamentary Scrutiny.
There are three key findings:

  • It would be in the interests of Government, Parliament and the public for Parliament to vote on the Government’s Brexit negotiation guidelines before Article 50 is triggered.
  • Too much is at stake — including many key aspects of domestic policy — for Ministers and officials to be allowed to take decisions behind closed doors, without parliamentary and democratic scrutiny.
  • Allowing Parliament to provide timely and constructive commentary throughout the negotiations would increase the likelihood of Parliament and the public accepting the final deal.

But critically, as Law and Lawyers quotes from the report:

The forthcoming negotiations on Brexit will be unprecedented in their complexity and their impact upon domestic policy … it seems … inconceivable that [the executive] should take the many far-reaching policy decisions that will arise in the course of Brexit without active parliamentary scrutiny.
[The government must] recognise a middle ground between the extremes of micromanagement and mere accountability after the fact.
Within this middle ground, Parliament, while respecting the Government’s need to retain room for manoeuvre, should be able both to monitor the Government’s conduct of the negotiations, and to comment on the substance of the Government’s negotiating objectives as they develop. Only if these principles are accepted will Parliament be able to play a constructive part in helping the Government to secure the best outcome for the United Kingdom. Such scrutiny will also contribute to a greater sense of parliamentary ownership of the process, strengthening the Government’s negotiating position and increasing the likelihood that the final agreement will enjoy parliamentary and public support.

Which, in my view, is quite correct. However I perceive two flies in the ointment:

  1. There is an underlying assumption that government will actually listen to, and act upon, the views expressed in Parliament and not just ride roughshod over Parliament’s wishes. Governments (of whatever persuasion) don’t have good track record on this.
  2. Having full and open Parliamentary debate and scrutiny perforce puts the content of that debate in the public domain, and thus exposes, in advance, the likely negotiating strategy to “the enemy”, thus allowing the EU to easily negate the UK’s position. That is unlikely to bring about the best possible outcome for the UK, although it is the only strategy which is likely to provide buy-in from the electorate without accusations of fudge and the protection of the elite’s vested interests.

Honest, open and considered Parliamentary scrutiny is essential.

quotes

Quotes

We’re not doing very well at posting this month, mainly because everything is both manic and upside down. However here is this month’s collecton of interesting/amusing/thouyght-provoking quiotes.
If organic chemistry was easy it would be called biology.
The planet does not need more ‘successful people’. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.
[Dalai Lama]
As much of the history of England has been brought about in public houses as in the House of Commons.
[Sir William Harcourt, 1872]
I don’t have a solution, but I do admire the problem.
[R]omantic relationships are tricky because they are so clearly a nest of mutual delusion. A romantic relationship is a collaborative delusion with someone else in which you encourage the other person to think that you will, can, or should make them happy, and vice versa. Even if your relationship is more subtle and nuanced than this, the hidden subtext is that you expect the other person to make you happy, or at least less unhappy.
[Gesshin Greenwood at http://thatssozen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/get-unstuck.html]
I have not read a work of literature for several years. My head is full of pebbles & rubbish & broken matches & bits of glass.
[James Joyce, letter to Harriet Shaw Weaver, 24 June 1921]
As I’ve grown older I’ve learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.
A real girl isn’t perfect and a perfect girl isn’t real.
[Harry Styles]
In the morning you beg to sleep more, in the afternoon you are dying to sleep, and at night you refuse to sleep.
Oh you want to have your cake and eat it too? Darn right, what good is cake if you can’t eat it ?
Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.
It is so shocking to find out how many people do not believe that they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult.
[Frank Herbert, Dune]
Anyone unable to understand how useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.
[Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle]

personal

Ten Things

Ah, yes, it’s Ten Things time, so here goes with this month’s instalment …
Things I’ve Done Today:

  1. Read my email; also Facebook, Twitter and several weblogs
  2. Wasted time — on what I don’t even know
  3. Written the slides for AP Soc AGM in 10 days time
  4. Helped clear bedroom for decorating; and did some hindering too
  5. Read news items online — and wondered why I bother
  6. Slept — not enough when I wanted to, and too much when I didn’t want to
  7. Scanned lots of my mother’s paintings to make a calendar and our Christmas card; must get both off to the printers soon
  8. Revised the talk I’m giving on Wednesday evening
  9. Not gone to a meeting this evening
  10. Added more to the “to do” list than I’ve managed to take off
links, science, sexuality, topographical

Monthly Interesting Links

You just can’t get the staff these days. This month’s issue of interesting links to items you may have missed is late again. Apologies. And there is a lot in this month, so let’s get going.
Science & Medicine
Our first item is a bit technical, but interesting … It seems that neural networks (models for what makes our brains work) have a deep connection with the nature of the Universe.
And now to some much easier topics …
We all get paper cuts from time to time, but why are they so painful?
Something else we all get from time to time is bags under the eyes. But why?


And in another BBC magazine story here’s something slightly scary … just what does live under our fingernails?
There’s a very odd and rare condition where people’s internal organs are arranged the wrong way round, in mirror image — it’s called situs inversus. This piece is about what it means and what it’s like if you have it.
One of the most demanding, important, and mostly unseen, medical specialisms is being an anaesthetist. No surgery can happen without them and your life really is in their hands. This is what it means to be an anaesthetist.
Sexuality
The clitoris is so often not understood and doesn’t get the attention it should (from its owner as well as from men). This piece talks about why this is important.
After a change in the law, Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled that public masturbation is not a crime as long as it isn’t done in the presence of minors. This could <cough> get interesting.
So why do polyamorous people fear ‘coming out’? Spoiler: mostly misunderstandings.
Lest anyone doubt it, sex workers are ordinary people like the rest of us. This was realised by a New York Times reporter who was investigating whether prostitution should be a crime (in the USA).
Environment
OK, so now for a complete change of tone. Here’s a forester and environmentalist who ​thinks trees talk to each other.
Things have always come in standard sizes, haven’t they? Well no, the concept of standard sizes really only starts with a German architect in the 1920s.
Social Sciences & Business

In case you’ve not caught up with it yet, here’s a piece on the UK’s new £5 note.
London
Did you know that London’s Monument (to the Great Fire on 1666) contains a secret laboratory?
Here are ten secrets about the Thames which you probably didn’t know.
And equally fascinating, just how do London bus routes get their numbers?
OK, so more secrets: here are ten places in London you’ll probably never visit.
Lifestyle
Not all of us see them as a necessity, so why do we bother with clothes? And no, it isn’t all about keeping warm.
Here’s another take on the health benefits of being a nudist.
Food & Drink
I bet we all do this, but here’s why you shouldn’t wrap food in aluminium foil before cooking it. Yes, its the appliance of science!
The Five Second Rule. Myth or not?
Here’s the latest finding: against all expectations it seems that hard-fat cheese is good for us.
Chris Leftwich is the one man in London who knows everything about fish and seafood. Londonist has the story.
Shock, Horror, Humour
And finally for this month, here are the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes for research which makes you laugh and then think.
Toodle, pip!

books, history, topographical

Book Review: Bomb Damage Maps

Laurence Ward
The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps, 1939-1945
Thames & Hudson, 2015
During WWII the Architects Department of the London County Council (the LCC; then the local authority for what are now the central London boroughs) set about documenting the cumulative bomb damage in the capital city. This was an area from Woolwich in the east to Hammersmith in the west, and from Crystal Palace in the south to Highgate in the north. Detailed maps were produced showing every property, from the smallest cottage to the large factories. Teams of surveyors soured the area to assess any bomb damage to properties. The damage was graded from “total destruction” down to “minor blast damage” and areas marked for clearance. The sites of V1 flying bomb and V2 rocket impacts were also marked.
The task required 110 maps at a scale of 1:2500 (that’s 25 inches to the mile), and each measuring roughly 75x106cm; these were based on the 1916 Ordnance Survey maps, updated to 1940. And they were hand-coloured according to the level of destruction found. Each of the maps is reproduced here at roughly 1/3 size. And boy do they give a vivid picture of the destruction wrought by the Luftwaffe. Every map contains something interesting — just look at the map for the area of the City around Farringdon and Holborn: it is one big swathe of purple, meaning “Damaged beyond Repair”, from the river to Hoxton and from Bank to the west of Blackfriars Bridge. Overall, getting on for 50% of the Square Mile must have been demolished!


This is just a part of the destruction in the City of London.
The map is centred on St Paul’s Cathedral.

The maps are part of the LCC archives, now held by the London Metropolitan Archives. They were first compiled into this book back in 2005 by the LMS in conjunction with the London Topographical Society. And now they’ve been published for everyone.
Given the number of maps, it is no great surprise that this is an enormous tome measuring 37x27x3cm and weighing in at only just under 3kg! Despite the size, it is definitely not a coffee table book; nor is it a book to read front to back, or even back to front. It is a reference for anyone interested in the history and topography of London, and that will include family historians who may wish to research where their ancestors lived. As I say, every map contains something of interest.
In addition there are 30 or more pages of introductory material, documenting the maps, the surveyors and rescue teams, and a detailed listing of all the Luftwaffe raids; and another almost 50 pages of photographs documenting the destruction.
All in all this is an absolutely stunning collection for those interested in London or WWII. Just don’t try reading it in bed!
Overall Rating: ★★★★★

books, topographical

Book Review: Kent Smugglers' Pubs

Terry Townsend
Kent Smugglers’ Pubs
PiXZ Books; 2014
This is not a book you would generally think to read from cover to cover — and I haven’t. It is a guide book which one dips into to find somewhere interesting to visit.
It is a well produced guide book which does what it implies: provides a couple of page of information on some of the most interesting and picturesque Kent pubs which have particular associations with smuggling. As the introduction says, pretty much every pub in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries would have had some involvement in smuggling, even those which were far inland, as there had to be trade routes for contraband goods from the coast to London.
The book features just over 30 pubs, many (but not all) on the Kent coast, but all of which have well established connections with significant smuggling. Each pub gets 3 or 4 pages of history and description with copious amounts of illustration on good quality, heavy paper. This makes for lots of suggestions for days out, but the book would do this better if there was a map or two.
My only other real complaint is that (like so many books these days) the board covers have very sharp corners, which make reading in bed uncomfortable.
All in all a useful little book which includes a handful of pubs I know.
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

current affairs, environment, science

Hinkley Point

After halting everything for a few weeks to allow time for a review, Prime Minister Theresa May has now given the go-ahead for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.


And I have to say, about bloody time too!
While I accept that nuclear power presents us with long-term waste storage issues, we desperately need nuclear for electricity generation. Renewables, in my estimation, aren’t going to hack it even if we do cover the country in windmills and manage to constrain our thirst for ever more energy.
No, nuclear isn’t without its challenges, but it is a whole bunch cleaner, less productive of “greenhouse gases”, and indeed overall safer, than coal, oil, gas or even biomass generation.
And yes, like many, I’m not entirely happy with the major involvement of a French energy company (EDF) or the need for Chinese funding and technology — but then we go longer have the skills etc., largely due to past government neglect of science and technology. So I still believe this is, overall, the right decision for both the country and the environment.