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.
quotes

Monthly Quotes

This month’s selection of quotes which caught my attention …

No one ever commanded a cat. You can shout at a cat, and it may vanish through the window, or ignore you and begin washing its tail, or stare at you in pained surprise. But it will never apologise, never promise not to do it again.
[CR Milne]

Three articles of Civil Service: it takes longer to do things quickly; it is more expensive to do them cheaply; it is more democratic to do them in secret.
[https://twitter.com/YesSirHumphrey/status/1384965488317435911]

[T]oxic masculinity is stopping the servant day labourers of a dying empire from picking out the right avocados for me.
[https://twitter.com/SzMarsupial/status/1387525646658777093]

… the normalisation in big cities of getting a grocery servant to pick out whatever you want to cook for lunch that day …
[https://twitter.com/SzMarsupial/status/1387476900499570691]

Freckles, moles, scars, cellulite, scabs, pimples, textures, broken capillaries, stretch marks, loose skin, pigmentation, redness, dark circles, birth marks, hair … all belong as a part of the experience of skin. Our skin is alive, dynamic, changing, fascinating and weird. Our surfaces are unique works of art just as they are.
[Ashlee Bennett]

My goal is not just to feel comfortable in my skin. My goal is to feel *so* comfortable in my skin that the patriarchy gets confused, can’t compute, malfunctions, and spontaneously combusts.
[@EmilyDFitness]

Date someone you can be weird as hell with who at the end of the day still wants to get naked with you.
[unknown]

[There’s been] this separation of humanity from nature, mind from body, spirit from intellect, and that we had moved away from this more holistic, spiritual way of seeing the world. Lovelock’s idea of the biosphere as a self-regulating system was antithetical to the view that we could dissect the world and understand all the parts in a deterministic way.
[Suzanne Simard; https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25033320-900-suzanne-simard-interview-how-i-uncovered-the-hidden-language-of-trees/]

Everything had to always be as it is, Parmenides reasoned, because nothing could come to be out of nothing – nonexistence could not produce existence, because there is no such thing as nonexistence, by definition of existence. Reality consisted in an ever-present, unchanging, unmovable mass of undifferentiated sameness that filled all of space.
[Tom Siegfried; https://www.sciencenews.org/article/anaxagoras-science-athens-history-philosophy]

The one who plants trees, knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.
[Rabindranath Tagore]

None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an afterthought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.
[Anthony Hopkins]

You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.
[Often wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein, but who first said it?]

A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.
[Edward Teller; Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics]

Humans are not optimized for intelligence. Rather, we are the first and possibly dumbest species capable of producing a technological civilization.
[Eliezer Yudkowsky]

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
[unknown]

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man’s self-respect is a sin.
[unknown]

Being naked starts with your spirit. If you are not allowing yourself to be naked spiritually, being naked physically is significant.
[Stephanie McManus]

Sex is more than an act of pleasure, it’s the ability to be able to feel so close to a person, so connected, so comfortable that it’s almost breathtaking to the point you feel you can’t take it. And at this moment you’re a part of them.
[pleasure_portraits; https://www.instagram.com/p/COyilOuBpDD/?igshid=xbn7yul1eb9z; NSFW]

amusements, personal, ramblings

The Village. VIII.

The Village – A Story in Eight Pieces

VIII. King George’s Oak

Abundant the Acorns, cached by the Jay,
While well furrowed Bark keeps fungus at bay.

Cork’s from an oak, it’s preserving our wine,
The Dove’s in her nest, a love bird divine.

Look there’s our Ellen, snuggling her swain,
Ripe for the Fuck, that they’ll soon entertain.

Old Billy Goat’s browsing anything low,
Turning Herbs to manure, and helping things grow.

Ever green is the Ivy, hiding a drey,
While the old Jay’s still caching away.

Katt is the cat who’s stalking the Jay,
While thousands of Larvae are munching all day.

Growing the Moths which make food for the Bat,
And leaving the Nuts which make Squirrel all fat.

Over the Orchard, grow apples to munch,
By agéd Piers Ploughman, who’s eating his lunch.

Pretty’s the Quince, with pink flowers in Spring,
While later a Robin Christmas greetings will bring.

Slyly the Stoat’s on the lookout for prey,
While circles of Toadstools, grow in the hay.

Shady the Umbra, we all sit beneath,
Not knowing the Vixen’s her den underneath.

Wispy the Wool, from the sheep of the croft,
While woody old Xylem, sends water aloft.

Here there’s a Yew, that great tree of old,
Protecting our Zzzzleeps, more precious than gold.

Well I hope you’ve enjoyed this little drollery. Watch this space in case there are further developments.

amusements, personal, ramblings

The Village. VII.

The Village – A Story in Eight Pieces

VII. More Village People

First there is Alice, whose surname is King,
her husband is Bert, who can mend any thing.

Clive is the one who tends to our hair,
He’s living with Dana, exceedingly fair.

Starchy is Ellie, she’s really a prude,
While Fanny relaxes, sunbathing nude.

Gary and Greg live as husband and wife,
And then there is Hannah, the vicar’s young wife.

There’s Arthur’s girl, Izzy, living alone,
With twins Jane and Jemima, father unknown.

Here is Nurse Karen, who tends to our ails,
And lazy old Leslie, who lodges at Gail’s.

We all love Matilda, a Master of Wine,
But no-one likes Norman, a breeder of swine.

There goes Orlena, who lives by her snatch,
While Pete the Policeman watches our patch.

Quaintly old Queenie lives down The Streete,
And Robin the farmer, grows barley and wheat.

Susy the sculptor carves objects in wood,
Her Toby’s a terror, mostly up to no good.

Doctor Umberto’s an expert on soils,
He lives next to Vikki, a painter in oils.

Old Walter’s a wonder, he’s still mending clocks,
Next to Miss Xandra, a stitcher of frocks.

Yanko is ancient – he came in the war,
and lastly there’s Zoe, our expert on law.

Piece VIII will appear on Tuesday 18 May.

amusements, memes

Ten Things: May

This year our Ten Things series – which surprisingly appears on the tenth of each month – continues concentrating on the amusing, both real and fictional. So this month we have …

Ten Oddly Named Animals

  1. Alston’s Singing Mouse
  2. Annamite Striped Rabbit
  3. Jackson’s Climbing Salamander
  4. Malabar Whistling Thrush
  5. Penis Snake
  6. West Indian Whistling Duck (right)
  7. Zigzag Elm Sawfly
  8. Screaming Hairy Armadillo
  9. Raspberry Crazy Ant
  10. Striped Pyjama Squid
amusements, personal, ramblings

The Village. VI.

The Village – A Story in Eight Pieces

VI. The Duck Pond

Andy the Angler, is trying his luck,
While bumble-y Bees, at the flowers they suck.

Cunning the Carp – a fish cannot drown,
Unlike the Ducks, all dabbling down.

There is Old Eb, who sits on the bench,
He’s watching the Fox, just seen jumping the fence.

There’s gaggles of Geese, they’re just flying sheep,
And then there’s old Heron, who’s off with a leap.

Winter brings Ice – see the skating is free,
Surprising the Jogger who stops for a pee.

Look! – a Kingfisher – just flashes of blue,
Zips past the Log we use as a pew.

Merry the Mermaid, we never have seen,
But here is a Newt – this one’s called Jean!

O are the ripples caused by a rock,
Thrown by the Parson, ignoring his flock.

A Quern Stone has made a step at the edge
Of the tall Rushes right next to the hedge.

A babbling Stream, with its water so clean,
Houses the Toad, all swarthy and green.

Running, the Urchin’s evading his Mum,
Ignoring a Vandal, fly-tipping – the scum!

Wet was the Witch they once ducked in the pond,
But saucy young Xena swims the millpond.

Yo, there’s a Yob, forever a pest,
To even the Zephyr which blows from the west.

Piece VII will appear on Tuesday 11 May.

current affairs

Ever Given

I’ve been reading these two items (and a few others) on the situation of the Ever Given, the giant boat what got itself wedged sideways in the Suez Canal a few weeks ago.
Ever Given in a Nutshell
Ever Given – What Happens Now?

The position seems to be a Byzantine minefield of convoluted international law, contract law and insurance. At least that’s how I read the two articles, viz:

The cause of the problem is still under investigation. Was the ship exceeding the speed limit? Was there mechanical failure? Was there human error? How much of a factor was the weather? Someone will likely be able to work this out as the ship carries an equivalent of an aircraft’s “black box”.

The ship, having been re-floated, was safety checked at anchor in the Great Bitter Lake. It was found to be sound and passed to continue up the Canal to Port Said at the northern end for further checks, before being cleared (or not) to continue to it’s destination in Rotterdam.

However the Ever Given is still at anchor in the great Bitter Lake and cannot move as it has been arrested by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA, an Egyptian government agency) pending settlement of the SCA’s claim for $916million in compensation (including $300million as salvage bonus, and $300million for loss of reputation).

But who pays what is, to say the least, complex as:

  • The hull is owned by Japan based Shoei Kisen Kaisha, and insured in Japan.
  • The ship is registered in Panama.
  • It is leased and operated by Taiwan based Evergreen Marine Corp, who will own much of the ship’s “fixtures and fittings”.
  • It is managed by German based Bernard Schulte.
  • Protection & Indemnity (P&I) insurance is by UK based UK P&I Club.
  • The Ever Given is crewed by 25 Indian seafarers.
  • It is apparently 85% loaded with around 18,000 containers of multifarious goods, owned by we know not who, on route from the Far East to half the western world.
  • At the time of the accident the ship was being piloted by SCA pilots, who are ipso facto defined as part of the ship’s crew.

The P&I insurers have failed to agree a compensation payment with the SCA and the ship’s owners have reputedly filed an appeal in the Egyptian courts against the ship’s arrest on the grounds that the SCA’s claim is excessive. This is scheduled to be heard tomorrow, 4 May 2021.

Meanwhile the crew (who are apparently being fully paid) are apparently free to leave the ship, and to be replaced, providing there are always sufficient crew to maintain the ship’s safety. Only the ship’s Master cannot leave as he is the ship’s legal guardian.

The estimated value of the vessel and the property on board is:

  • Vessel: Approx. $125million
  • Cargo: Approx. $500-$600million (and maybe more)
  • Containers: Approx. $30million

A total of $655-£755million and perhaps more; but likely less than the SCA’s compensation claim.

However it is reported that while the SCA can arrest the ship, it cannot legally arrest the cargo. But without the ship the cargo is going nowhere. Consequently it has been suggested that the cargo owners could launch a class action (but in which court?) to get the cargo released. But even if they did that, and the legal challenge succeeded, the ship cannot be unloaded: neither in situ nor at any port along the Suez Canal as none have the infrastructure to handle such a massive ship.

Even if it could be unloaded, and the containers transferred to other vessels for onward movement, this would be time consuming and very expensive – for which presumably the cargo owners would have to pay (unless they managed to claim the cost as compensation or against their insurance).

All that is without even thinking about the consequential losses and delays to other ships, some of which will have opted to go the long way round via the Cape of Good Hope, and others who sat it out in the traffic jam. Either way they’re incurring extra expense and delay to their cargoes.

That, my friends is the very simplified version of the simplified version. While it makes for interesting reading (I’m sad like that!) it makes me very glad I’m neither a lawyer nor an insurer!

amusements, memes

Things to Think About: May

This year we’re beginning each month with a (potentially logical) oddity to think about, and to keep the brain cells active. This month:

If you replace “W” with “T” in “What”, “Where”, “When”, you get the answer to each of them.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

current affairs, medical, personal, ramblings

Horrible Times 21: Lockdown 400

Today, Friday 30 April 2021, is our 400th day of Covid-19 Lockdown. And not a lot has changed since my last report on day 365.

  • In 400 days I’ve been off the premises just seven times: three to the dentist (one just to have some paperwork signed), for a flu jab, twice for vaccination, and one for blood tests. It really has been all the fun of the fair!
  • Noreen and I have now had both our injections of the Pfizer vaccine. Noreen went again to the Town Hall, whereas I went to the centre in deepest Southall. My experience was that this was not as well run as the Town Hall, and I seemed to spend most of the time moving from one queue to the next. Even so I was in and out in about 30 minutes. And Southall itself was grid-locked (well it was some Sikh holy day) and still the same dump that it always was. We now just await out booster in the autumn.
  • In less good news, I’ve had a really annoying bladder infection (I know, TMI already!). Yet again I’ve been impressed with our GPs’ being able to work with patients over the phone rather than face-to-face. This infection has resulted in two rounds of antibiotics (turns out the nasty little organism was resistant to the first antibiotic I was given), three rounds of urine tests and a visit to Ealing Hospital for an armful of blood tests (most of which were overdue for my annual diabetic check-up anyway). Amazingly most of the blood tests turned out to be OK.
    Ealing Hospital is the same appalling place it always was: a dismal ’70s concrete bunker which was never fit for purpose; badly signposted; and apparently staffed by the downtrodden. I hate the place and avoid it if at all possible; I just hope I never have to be treated there for anything serious.
  • Along the way I’ve also has two (different) Covid tests; both for research studies I’m signed up to. Luckily both were negative. Noreen has done one as well.
  • In good news the days are lighter, brighter and with longer daylight and the fruit trees and lilac are in flower. We’ve even had some warm sunshine, although it is still rather chilly unless the sun is out. The downside of this is that we’ve again suffered the daftness of changing the clocks. The garden was looking very ragged, but is coming under control now our friend Tom is allowed entry again and has done after several days work – although nothing much has been pruned over the winter.
  • Meanwhile the country continues to go to Hell in a handcart as our increasingly despicable government lies its way from one pathetic charade to the next. They keep getting caught out lying but seem not to care when any self-respecting government would have resigned long since and been banished.


Who knows what happens next?

I suspect the government will continue to ease the restrictions (regardless of the data) and I fear we’ll see a further spike in Covid cases over the summer and/or autumn when the great unwashed return from Costa Plenti. I can’t see us being clear of social distancing and mask-wearing this year. And we might even have another Christmas in lockdown – although I sincerely hope we don’t.

One tries to remain optimistic and cheerful through all the gloom, but as my father would have said “it’s hard to be optimistic with a misty optic”!

amusements, environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

It’s again time for our monthly round up of links to items you may have missed. And there’s a lot in this month’s offering, so let’s get in …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Matter is complex, but that complexity has given rise to the good and the bad of nuclear physics. [LONG READ}

The secret of a rat’s sense of touch is all to do with the whiskers.

It seems a surprising number of sea monster sightings are actually whale boners.

Health, Medicine

A new understanding of how our ancient immune system works could help fight future pandemics. [£££]

On the strange cases of healthy children who won’t wake up.

Why are so many women ill-prepared for perimenopause? And how they needn’t be. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

As a special treat this month we have a collection of articles on medieval sex (and how it relates to our modern ideas) from our favourite medieval historian, Dr Eleanor Janega of Going Medieval …

On dildos and penance

On women having sex with themselves

Back in the day cuckolding wasn’t just a thing, it was a thing thast was bound to happen (for the rich, at least). [LONG READ]

On sexualising the “other”, ie. anything except cis white men!

On the medieval acceptance of sex work and the fallacy of “rescuing” sex workers.

Environment

The cherry blossom in Kyoto is earlier this year than ever previously recorded, and the trend over the last 100 years is for earlier and earlier dates.

Without the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs, we likely wouldn’t have the Amazon rainforest.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A slab of rock, engraved in the Bronze Age, is thought to be the oldest 3D map in Europe.

On the Ancient Egyptians and belief in the after-life.

Archaeologists have uncovered an important Roman site in Scarborough.

We’re going back to Going Medieval for the next two items …

On canonical hours, comfort, and daylight saving time.

On the commemoration of royal death.

Medlars were popular fruit in medieval times, but have fallen out of fashion.

John Spilsbury, the engraver behind the first jigsaw puzzle, a “dissected” map, died on 3 April 1769.

Anti-Vaxxers are nothing new: they’ve been around since Edward Jenner invented the first smallpox vaccine.

Dhaka muslin is an ancient Indian fabric which no-one knows how to make, but which a few weavers are trying to resurrect. [LONG READ]

London

The short stretch of the Hertford Union Canal in east London has been drained for repairs and is giving up its secrets.

When is a river actually a canal? When it’s the New River.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Nudity at home has become much more common during lockdown, so can naturism become the new trend?

Lockdown has changed quite a few women’s views on bras – both for and against what seems to this mere male to be nothing but a garment of torture.

Going Medieval (yes, again!) considers Jezebel, makeup, and other apocalyptic signs.

How to declutter your home as lockdown eases. Hint: you’ll need the biggest cardboard box you can find.

How the pandemic changed our hygiene habits: we bathe less, but are no more smelly.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

The mystery of the man who fell from the sky. [LONG READ]

And finally, it seems that big boat that got stuck in the Suez Canal is partly to blame for the UK’s shortage of garden gnomes.