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Written by Bob H
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Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:47 |
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I've been following the growth of interest in Thorium as a source of energy, it seems to me to be one of the best ways of producing large quantities of energy in a consistent way with a balanced ecological impact. Baroness Worthington was Raised to the House of Lords in February 2011 and as an ecological campaigner she brings something interesting to the mix. She made her maiden speech in the House recently and having seen it I thought I should send her a message sharing my views. Don't know how it will be received by her (I used http://www.writetothem.com to do it) and if she will accept what I have to say, but without input Politicians can't be representing the people. Bellow is my correspondence for your consideration and yes I am terrible at finishing correspondence:
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Read more... [Letter to Baroness Worthington]
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Written by Bob H
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Friday, 25 March 2011 10:00 |
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Each year for the past twenty years I recall someone mention the idea of moving the UK's time zone to CET, or changing daylight savings or some other such tinkering with the clocks. As I have come to understand time more and more this confuses me more and more. Not that I am confused by the concept of changing a clock, I've done that enough that it doesn't matter to me, but my confusion is to why we need to change a unit of measure rather than changing our attitudes. One of the arguments for changing timezones or using DST is for "safety", the idea is that if it is too dark in the mornings people going to work or school are more at risk. It is also said that energy can be saved because people wouldn't use so much lighting if the clocks were different.
What this fundamentally ignores is the fact that time itself is not really variable, not on a scale that matters to our daily lives anyway, in each SI day there are 86,399, 86,400 or 86,401 seconds (yes there are not exactly 24 hours in a day because the earth isn't perfect). When people talk about fiddling with the time they are really just doing it for political reasons, to assert themselves and their own importance. If it really mattered about the time at which children went to school then schools could open earlier or later, businesses can make their own decisions about when to open and operate. I currently work at a business that opens at 08:30, but I have started at 05:00, 08:00, 09:00 and 10:00 in differing jobs. Delivery drivers, bakers, presenters and many more people get up at a time that suits their work (Shift Work). I once worked with a team that didn't even assume a 24 hour day, they worked on a short but intensive cycle over many days, living on site and then had a long period off at home.
I imagine the counterpoint to the argument is that if schools started earlier then people would be in difficulty if their employer didn't change the hours. But already it is difficult for people who are constrained by employers who enforce archaic working practices, changing the clocks isn't going to make better employers and if children went to school earlier then it wouldn't be as bad for parents worrying about getting to their 8am start at work. There is supposedly evidence that indicates that some deaths on the road, especially those of commuting school children, can be attributed to poor light levels. Well, I would point out that if the children were to leave school when it was more light (irrespective of clocks) then they would be equally likely to be outside on the streets (doing whatever children do) afterwards which wouldn't make it much more safe. |
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Written by Bob H
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Tuesday, 15 March 2011 15:12 |
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Dear Readers,
I know I have neglected this blog and website for some time, but now is probably an opportunity to use this page to explain myself in more than 140 characters.
Four years ago I was a moderately disgruntled Senior Lecturer at Ravensbourne College, I was referred to speak to a head hunter by a friend on the basis of my broad experience and knowledge. As a result of two interviews I was able to obtain the position of Chief Technologist at Humax Electronics in the UK. Humax is one of the top five manufacturers of set-top boxes in the world and the UK's top manufacturer of digital television recorders. This role has seen me drink a great deal, socialise a great deal and most importantly it has seen me gain a great deal of knowledge about a sector which I had very little experience of; in addition it is perhaps worth saying that as a broadcast engineer by training I had very little appreciation for this industry which I now see differently. I have a better understanding of commercial issues as a result of my work with my colleagues and most especially my boss, Graham North, who is among one of the most respected people in the business.
Now, four years have passed and it is time to move on. It is not for me to explain here the motivations for my moving on, but I have opportunities that I can follow. I hope I can reveal further details about my mysterious new employer once I have started but for now I must concentrate on doing the best for Humax until I leave.
I will miss my colleagues, I will miss my work and the opportunities that it brings to meet new and interesting people. But as one door closes another one opens and I have little doubt that I will meet many of those that I know again because this is a small business.
Yours,
Bob |
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Written by Bob H
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Saturday, 20 November 2010 09:24 |
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My brother saw a link I posted about Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story from Channel4 and was inspired to Blog about it:
http://blog.hannent.eu/2010/11/holidays-paid-for-by-me.html
I was so concerned when I saw the original video and now I am absolutely flabbergasted that this MP believes we should be using our money (the taxes we pay) to fund holidays for those on benefits. If the old adage is that "a change is as good as a rest", then these people don't need a change because they already have a rest. I am sorry if this seems mean, but while my brother hasn't had a real holiday in nine years and we (my partner and I) have to work long hours for our breaks.
I feel that we cannot continue in the way we have for the past three or more decades, and none of the governing parties are offering anything more than just squeezing everything we have (and didn't really ask for). And while we are at it, just because the children ask for something doesn't mean you should give it to them, so if we did ask for the extent of government involvement we shouldn't have been given it because at the end of the day 'the people' are children! The government doesn't need to tighten budgets it needs to do what any company in serious trouble would do, reduce its scope. If you aren't successful as a company (we do call it UKPLC!) then you don't just slim down the budgets, you should downsize!
So, where is the proposal from a serious politician to deal with the national debt and not just the budget deficit?! Where is the proposal to deal with the £4,800,000,000,000 of debt? (count those zeros!) The £77,000 that is on the head of ever man, woman and child in the UK!? I want to see some serious action, no matter what the political difficulty. I was really ashamed of the way the government dealt with Lord Young recently:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11798366
This is a man who has seen so much and has so much experience, if he says we've 'never had it so good' then I am inclined to agree. With all the social services, and this massive government debt how could the nation have anything but an easy life. Especially as the minority of the population are actually paying for the majorities lifestyles (watch the Channel4 documentary if you don't know). The government couldn't publicly support Lord Young because the media wouldn't let them, the media wants to pounce on any deviation from the previous message of austerity and drama. Quoting Gary O'Donghue, Political Correspondent for the BBC:
"...his unguarded comments threatened to undermine months of carefully-honed strategy aimed at persuading the public that ministers felt your pain and that we were all in this together."
So, driven by the journalists, the innocent man was hung out to dry because the government couldn't admit to the public he was right. The news hounds shape the politics and the politicians are too fearful for their jobs to do what needs doing.
How can we resolve the situation? What can be done to solve the trillion pound horror story and give it an outcome that allows us to sleep well at night!? |
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