tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:07:51 +0000politicsclimatesocialsarcasmbehaviourincompetencetechnologyEphemeraHumourtotalitarianBBCHistorymediapolitical correctnessDerbyshirehealthEUsciencespoofgovernmentsustainabilitybureaucracypsychologyNorth KoreadeclineenvironmentphilosophylanguagewritingpropagandaeconomicsLyinginternationalSantayanacelebrityeducationpoetrybloggingenergyArnold BennettcensorshipPolicingWalpoleZolacultureDostoevskyScott FitzgeraldEliotUNartSpinozafoodGissingG K ChestertonAndersonLawrencecomplexityWhartonDickensSkinnerAmbrose BierceReligionFord Madox FordGalsworthyGracianWilkie CollinsSenecaStrindbergBuchanLe BonwordplayHippolyte TaineDork of the YearJohnsonKindleMaughamVictor HugosportBooth TarkingtonDreiserWiggiaLeacockProustde la MaretwaddleHawthorneWalkingFristonLe FanuadvertisingBlackmoreChekhovFreemanStendhaldriversentertainmenthoroscopeConfuciusOrwellSartonapolitical politicsauntfascismmoralityHardyHuxleyIslamSakiThackerayUFOchessBalzacCraneJeromeQuineTurgenevprogressrecent readsArthur MorrisonFlaubertKantMolesworthMooreTeyTrollopeintelligenceConnollyE F BensonErasmusHowellsSherlock HolmesThorne SmithVeblenWodehousesuperstitionAgatha ChristieAnthony HopeBairnsfatherBoethiusCalvinoGoncharovLucretiusMacKaySpectatorSpencerTolstoyZamyatinlogicBastiatChinaConan DoyleForsterFreudHuysmansJoseph ConradMalthusMorley RobertsPlatoPoeRichard JefferiesShakespeareSinclair LewisSkaggfordSocratesVirginia WoolfWittgensteinWusslandXenophoncorporatismevolutionfictionreadingthoriumAristotleArrianAustenAyerBarrBesantBromfieldBronteBurkeBurttC. S. LewisCrawfordCroninDavid LowFather BrownFergus HumeGogolGrahameHemingwayHerman MelvilleJepsonKahnemanLoderLoftusLouis Joseph VanceMarxNevil ShutePunshonR L StevensonRidleyRuskinStracheyTrotskyWhitechurchWordsworthlegalnihilismparodyA K HaartReligions may disappear, but religious feelings will always create new ones, even with the help of science. Emile Zolanoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)Blogger8256125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-7863308051229989020Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:17:17 +00002026-09-29T17:17:17.039+01:00Scott FitzgeraldA new tool for the versatility of madness<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Corporations claim their fossil fuel emissions are a drop in the ocean. </span></b><a href="; target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">But what if we could count the real cost?</span></b><br /></a><br />The biggest coal project before authorities in New South Wales, the Hunter Valley Operations mine, will emit the equivalent of about 809m tonnes of climate-warming carbon dioxide if it wins approval.<br /><br />That number, for most people, will carry little meaning, as might the calculation that adding that amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere will cause an extra 0.00036C of global heating.<br /><br />But what if the public was instead told that that amount of carbon dioxide would expose almost half a million people to unprecedented heat, or kill nearly 15 million coral colonies on the Great Barrier Reef every time it bleaches, or lead to more than 100 additional deaths from heatwaves in Europe to the end of this century.<br /><br />All those statistics come from a new tool that translates the emissions from burning fossil fuels into estimated real-world climate effects taken from peer-reviewed climate studies.</span><br /><br /><br /><div><i>But the brilliance, the versatility of madness is akin to the resourcefulness of water seeping through, over and around a dike.</i><br /><br />F. Scott Fitzgerald - Tender is the Night (1934)<br /></div>2026/09/a-new-tool-for-versatility-of-madness.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-8508467210128379683Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:24:37 +00002026-09-29T09:24:37.745+01:00behaviourlanguageThe greatest orator of our time<br />Is she entirely sober? Maybe a Democrat voter would know. <div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="; title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div></div>2026/09/the-greatest-orator-of-our-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-3911404093459185842Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:01:08 +00002026-09-28T14:02:01.421+01:00languageNorth KoreaPuppet speech crackdown<br /><br />A longish but interesting <a href="; target="_blank"><b>Daily NK</b></a> piece on remarkably obsessive North Korean government efforts to prevent the spread of popular South Korean slang. <div><br /></div><div>It's an interesting example of a totalitarian government understanding the power of language and how difficult even the most extreme efforts at official control can be.<br /> <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Puppet speech crackdown gains new legal weight from North Korea’s constitution</span></b><br /><br /><i>Years of harsh punishment failed to stamp out South Korean-influenced speech, so authorities turned to the constitution itself</i><br /><br />North Korea’s 2026 constitutional amendment protecting Pyongyang Cultural Language has fueled a renewed puppet speech crackdown. Schools, workplaces and neighborhood organizations have stepped up enforcement.<br /><br />South Korean-influenced expressions such as “jagiya” (honey), “oppa” and “jjokpalrida” (embarrassing) are not treated as harmless slang. “Oppa” is a term South Korean women traditionally use for an older brother or close male friend, popularized abroad through K-dramas. North Korean authorities view all three as a political and class threat to the socialist system.<br /><br />Daily NK examined the situation in Pyongyang and Sinuiju through sources in Pyongyang and North Pyongan province. Both cities held lectures and study sessions in late July through party organizations, workers’ groups and schools. The sessions stressed use of Pyongyang Cultural Language and elimination of what officials call puppet speech, a derogatory term the regime applies to South Korean-style expressions.</span></div>2026/09/puppet-speech-crackdown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-8576927017057336377Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:34:12 +00002026-09-28T09:34:12.432+01:00behaviourConspicuous Imitation<br /><br />When UK Prime Minister Andrew Burnham met US President Donald Trump recently, the contrast between the two men was stark. <br /><br />Burham comes across as a professional politician with little to mark him out as a distinct individual behind the obscuring veils of ambition, party politics and his place as the government machine’s regimental mascot. A shadowy shell of a man compared to Trump who certainly is an individual. <br /><br />Apart from his presentational style, Burnham imitates Keir Starmer. He leads the same party and fronts the same government machine. In private he may project himself as a Fabian sophisticate, but that’s imitation too. <br /><br />As for his presentation style, Burham could be any bland presenter familiar with public speaking. Perhaps he tries to imitate Tony Blair, yet imitation is one those aspects of life which becomes problematic if we follow it too far. <div><br /></div><div>We all imitate because we have to imitate whatever isn’t inbuilt from birth, including roles such as Mayor of Greater Manchester or UK Prime Minister. We know it too, we see children doing it and we see ourselves doing it throughout our lives - imitating. <br /><br />We imitate language from a very young age because we have to, but it never stops. Life offers so many advantages if we continue to adopt useful new words, phrases, expressions, arguments, explanations, information and insights. Even facial expressions and hand movements. Via language we imitate thoughts and beliefs too – social, political or professional viewpoints, attitudes, religions, biases. We even imitate emotions. <br /><br />We imitate styles and trends – in clothing, hairstyles, music, entertainment, food, drink, interior décor, cars, motor cycles, bicycles, holiday destinations, sports, games, literature, arts, cinema, TV, online entertainment, travel, shopping, health, nutrition, clubs, societies, politics. Even careers, ambitions, bucket lists. Even body shape - until we look in the mirror. <br /><br />The reason why imitation becomes problematic is obvious to all, the problem of locating a unique individual buried in the impossibly complex maze of imitation. Yet a curious aspect of imitation occurs where people over-imitate to become followers, fans, acolytes, believers or merely fashionable. It’s one of life’s oddities where conspicuous or even wildly conspicuous imitation is used to assert individuality. <br /><br />At a basic level we have the imitation of important criteria such as true and false, good and bad, real and unreal, fact and fantasy. Natural sceptics tend to pull back from conspicuous imitation when it clashes with basic criteria and this seems to be a route to individuality. <br /><br />People who know how to value their individuality seem to develop and enhance good/bad, true/false criteria throughout their lives, partly by avoiding conspicuous imitation. Andrew Murray Burnham hasn't done that.</div><div><br /></div>2026/09/conspicuous-imitation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-8142598563390268074Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:10:44 +00002026-09-27T14:10:44.228+01:00censorshipA Ministry of Truth is coming<br /><br /><a href="; target="_blank"><b>Adam James Pollock</b></a> has a very interesting Critic piece on the latest UK government attempt to establish a Ministry of Truth, recently announced by Andy Burnham (real name Andrew Murray Burnham).<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A Ministry of Truth is coming</span></b><br /><br /><i>BBC Verify shows why Burnham’s Ministry of Truth won’t work</i><br /><br />This week, the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, told the United Nations that his Government would create a new National Centre for Information Defence to counter the threat of disinformation online. Burnham argued that this new body would allow “stem the poisonous tide” of disinformation that arose largely from Russia, claiming that the United Kingdom’s government could act as an “honest broker” of such arrangements, protecting the truth.<br /><br />This new Ministry of Truth — as it may as well be named — would do no such thing, which has already been proven by numerous prior failed attempts at regulating information. To achieve similar ends, the Government already runs the National Security Online Information Team; the Government Communication Service; the Cabinet Office’s Media Monitoring Unit; the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit; the Foreign Office’s Hybrid Threats Directorate; and the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit. Not to mention whatever goes on within the intelligence services, the British Army’s intelligence units, and the National Cyber Force. </span><br /><br /><br />The whole piece is well worth reading as Pollock offers repeated failures as an interesting angle on the issue, particularly the ludicrous BBC Verify.<div><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">The limitations of such a vehicle’s aims can be summarised most coherently by none other than the most famous of all failed attempts at countering “misinformation”: BBC Verify.<br /><br />Launched in 2023 with a team of sixty taxpayer-funded zealots, BBC Verify <a href="; to bring “radical transparency” to, er, the news, by “pulling back the curtain” on its own staff’s journalism. What it revealed, more than dedicated and documentable disinformation campaigns, was a failure of both the BBC and BBC Verify to accurately report the truth.</span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>2026/09/a-ministry-of-truth-is-coming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-6925020028632320110Sun, 27 Sep 2026 10:27:37 +00002026-09-27T11:27:37.487+01:00sarcasmStand and Deliver<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">‘I can deliver’:</a> Burnham pledges radical change on eve of Labour conference</span></b><br /><br />Exclusive: UK prime minister says delivering fiscal stability would be ‘crucial’ to be able to fix bigger problems<br /><br />Andy Burnham has said he can deliver on his promise of radical change for the country despite severe economic headwinds, telling the Guardian: “There’s always things you can do; it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”</span><br /><br /><br />More low grade twaddle, particularly low when we consider the level of confidence which must have induced Makerfield voters to go skipping off to the polling station or faithfully fill in their postal vote(s). <div><br /></div><div>Nothing about bus fares in there, but Burnham makes an unusually good point when he says -<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">“There’s always things you can do; it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”</span><br /><br />Two good points in one really, there are always things he can do, but it is a question of whether a leader with his party background and remarkably modest abilities would be prepared to do them. </div><div><br /></div><div>The answer is 'no'.<br /><div><br /></div></div>2026/09/stand-and-deliver.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-7888608127778696010Sat, 26 Sep 2026 17:10:24 +00002026-09-26T18:10:24.224+01:00incompetenceStrewth, this is poor stuff<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Andy Burnham pledges to set UK on ‘<a href="; target="_blank">new course</a>’ a decade on from Brexit vote</span></b><br /><br />Andy Burnham promised to set the UK on a new course because the decade since the Brexit vote had resulted in “drift and division”.<br /><br />The Prime Minister vowed to set out how he will deliver “good growth in every postcode, hope in every heart” as he arrived in Liverpool for his first Labour Party conference as leader.<br /><br />Mr Burnham said: “We’re going to make this a really important week where we set out a new direction for the country.</span><br /><br /><br />Let us rummage through the twaddle. Ah, here we are -<div><br /></div><div>Bridget Phillipson manages to come across as even worse than Burnham, she speaks of 'taking things to the next level'. Perhaps in a sense they are, but it's not a level up. <br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday, Ms Phillipson said Labour recognised it had “a massive fight on our hands with Reform, with the Tories”.<br /><br />She expressed caution about the latest polling, “because the only poll that will matter is the one that happens on election day in 2029”.<br /><br />The Labour chair added: “But what we have seen with Andy Burnham is a real sense of connection with the public, taking things to the next level. That hope, that optimism, that sense that Britain’s best days lie ahead of us.</span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div></div>2026/09/strewth-this-is-poor-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-212556556068556411Sat, 26 Sep 2026 13:34:08 +00002026-09-26T14:34:08.097+01:00bureaucracyGive a bureaucrat a bone<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Responsible</a> Dog Ownership taskforce report</span></b><br /><br />Defra commissioned research from Middlesex University (<a href=" Middlesex Report</a>), to investigate measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership, which was published in 2021.<br /><br />The Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce was established in 2022, to consider these findings and make recommendations on measures to encourage responsible dog ownership. The taskforce includes representation from the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations. The taskforce is comprised of a steering group and four subgroups, which focus on four key areas: enforcement, data, education and communications, and training (for both dogs and their owners).</span><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>The whole thing is worth reading for anyone who has trouble falling asleep. Alternatively any reader could zip down to the official conclusion before reaching their own unofficial conclusion. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Conclusions<br /></b><br />The taskforce concluded that dog attacks and dog control issues should be considered as complex and multifactorial issues, affecting different communities across the country in different ways. There is no single policy solution that could be seen as a ‘silver bullet’. As such, a range of interventions, both legislative and non-legislative, is required, from a range of parties working in partnership at national, regional and community levels. <br /><br />The taskforce hope that Ministers will consider these recommendations in detail and take action to progress them. Meaningful change will require collaboration. It is clear that everybody has a role to play, including government, police forces, local authorities, dog owners, animal welfare organisations, the wider public, healthcare providers and safeguarding professionals to name but a few. It is hoped that the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce can continue to play a role in coordinating these groups to ensure significant improvements in responsible dog ownership over time.</span><br /></div>2026/09/give-bureaucrat-bone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-1695063173946603591Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:50:06 +00002026-09-25T18:50:06.512+01:00incompetenceThe best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men... but it's mainly mice these days<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Launch of UK’s 'largest AI supercomputer' delayed by <a href="; target="_blank">power supply problems</a><br /></span></b><br />A huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-2030s.<br /><br />The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in 2025, but power supply problems mean it now faces a lengthy wait before coming online.<br /><br />Doubts had already emerged about the scheme after the Guardian revealed in March that the planned location was still an operational scaffolding yard...<br /><br />Keir Starmer’s government cited the Loughton project when announcing the UK’s AI strategy in 2025, describing the site as the “largest UK sovereign AI datacentre”. Datacentres are the central nervous system of AI technology such as chatbots.<br /><br />Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, has warned of a logjam in applications for electricity connections. In June, it revealed there were 315 datacentres queueing to connect to the National Grid, representing 73GW of demand – compared with the peak energy demand for the entire country of 45GW.</span><br /><br /><br /><div><b>Translation</b>. <i>Yes we had a scheme because it is true that we wish to build a significant number of AI datacentres here in the UK. An excellent and well thought out scheme it was too, but we didn't claim any of it was plausible.</i></div><div><br /><div><br /><i>Probably the first trick acquired by any Stone Age schemer was to give his enemy certain truths so that he should not regard the balance as lies. </i><br /><br />Christopher Bush - The Perfect Murder Case (1929)<div><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></div></div></div>2026/09/the-best-laid-schemes-o-mice-men-but.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-4284948406126934166Fri, 25 Sep 2026 15:04:06 +00002026-09-25T16:04:06.821+01:00governmentWhy should we trust them now?<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Tories had 14 years</a> to change Britain and they failed - why should we trust them now?</span></b><br /><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #cc0000;">Tax-Free Shopping Flip: Tory leader Kemi Badenoch announced bringing back tax-free shopping for tourists, despite having scrapped the VAT Retail Export Scheme in 2021, which she previously defended.</span></li><li><span style="color: #cc0000;">Policy Failures: Over 14 years, the Tories failed to address immigration, IR35 rules, Brexit issues, and ECHR obligations, while also neglecting schools, hospitals, and crime control.</span></li><li><span style="color: #cc0000;">Legacy Concerns: The party left the UK with record debt, low productivity, a crumbling NHS, and rising street crime, raising doubts about their ability to fix problems they created.</span></li></ul></span><div><br /></div><div>A very common question of course, but we could also ask - </div><div><br /></div><div>The UK government had decades to change Britain and it failed - why should we trust it now?</div><br />We shouldn't, obviously, but too many voters do. <div><br /></div>2026/09/why-should-we-trust-them-now.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-4378942718743309950Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:49:38 +00002026-09-25T11:49:38.241+01:00politicssarcasmIf you have no drying paint to inspect -<span style="color: #cc0000;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="1248" height="258" src="(1).jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="; target="_blank">Zack Polanski</a> says he can pull off 'one of biggest upsets in British political history' and win Holborn and St Pancras by-election</span></b><br /><br /></span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Exclusive: Green Party leader rejects suggestions his party has reached the limits of its recent surge in popularity<br /><br />Zack Polanski has acknowledged that he is the “underdog” in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election but insisted that the Green Party can defy expectations and take the safe Labour seat vacated by the former Prime Minister...<br /><br />This is <a href=" a YouGov survey this week suggested the Greens would win zero MPs in the capital </a>if a general election was held tomorrow amid a “Burnham bounce” for Labour across the country.</span></div></div><div><br /></div>2026/09/if-you-have-no-drying-paint-to-inspect.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-4238148193853374028Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:34:30 +00002026-09-24T12:34:30.724+01:00declineThe system working as intended<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="; title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>2026/09/the-system-working-as-intended.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-8519486189513297170Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:39:58 +00002026-09-24T09:39:58.641+01:00declineTwo Headlines<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Tesco’s slow retreat</a> from Europe is depressing</span></b><br /><br /></span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Tesco is shrinking, and <a href=" to be retreating</a> from all its European operations outside the UK and Ireland, following reports the supermarket is in talks with the owners of Lidl to offload operations in Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which together account for a little under a tenth of its total turnover. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Retailers urge Healey</a> to unwind national insurance hike to boost jobs</span></b><br /><br />Retailers have called on Chancellor John Healey to unwind some of the national insurance reforms made by his predecessor in a bid to tackle the youth joblessness crisis. </span></div>2026/09/two-headlines.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-2267153449176015465Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:32:03 +00002026-09-24T09:32:03.032+01:00technologySpeed limit of 145mph<br /><br />Mrs H recently heard about problems with a new Alfa Romeo and its speed limit warning system. On a stretch of 30mph urban road it showed a limit of 145mph for example. <br /><br />Not an unknown <a href=" -<br /><br /><i>My Tonale is now just over a year old and from new has coped very badly with recognising speed limits.<br /><br />I have it showing 10mph in 40, 45mph in 20, 145mph in 40 - you get the idea.<br /><br />This is every day not just every so often.</i><br />2026/09/speed-limit-of-145mph.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-7980198104215933371Wed, 23 Sep 2026 11:51:44 +00002026-09-23T12:51:44.677+01:00propagandaThe UK is a climate-science superpower<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">UK to join new <a href="; target="_blank">EU ocean science scheme</a> amid El Nino concerns</span></b><br /><br />Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will today announce Britain is joining the scheme, Sky News can reveal, sharing much more data from bodies like the Met Office with counterparts in the EU and Canada than previously.<br /><br />Her department said the initiative would help inform future flood defences and coastal planning, helping to protect the country from extreme weather like storms and flooding.<br /><br />She told Sky News the UK is a "climate-science superpower" and said joining the alliance would "allow us to work with our allies to better protect our oceans and shield communities from the impacts of climate change".</span><br /><br /><br />Merely another reason to regard UK government-sponsored science as a bleak, diseased wasteland of political posturing, dishonesty, lost opportunities, squandered resources, and endemic corruption.<div><br /></div>Merely another reason to pull out an Arnold Bennett quote about conspicuous ritualistic waste by the leisured class, because that's what it is. Nobody expects this game to have any value apart from handing out unearned status and remuneration to those who play it. <div><br /></div><div>In that sense the UK certainly is a climate-science superpower, a major player in a dirty game.<br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i>The great principle of conspicuous ritualistic waste had been illustrated in a manner to satisfy the most exacting standard of the leisured class; and incidentally a subject of talk was provided.</i><br /><br />Arnold Bennett - The Roll-Call (1916)</div></div></div><div><br /></div>2026/09/the-uk-is-climate-science-superpower.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-1333461739748128661Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:54:54 +00002026-09-23T09:54:54.586+01:00propagandaUN Twaddle Exhibition<div><br /></div>I couldn't see anything to enthuse about in this brief Evening Standard report of Andy Starmer's UN speech, but here are some bits and pieces I've picked out to suggest he's no improvement on Sir Keir Burnham.<div><br /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="; target="_blank">Five key points</a> from Andy Burnham's first major international speech</span></b></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Russian disinformation</b><br /></span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">He used the speech to announce a new National Centre for Information Defence to fight Russian disinformation.<br /><br /><b>AI</b><br /><br /></span></div><div> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Mr Burnham said the UK would work towards agreeing a set of global principles and standards to ensure transparency, access to AI models, and that development happens safely.<br /><br /><b>New national security deal with the US</b><br /><br />The Prime Minister said the meeting was “excellent”, while Mr Trump said that Mr Burnham was a “man he could do business with”.<br /><br /><b>‘Decade-long plan’</b><br /><br />Mr Burnham confirmed that his government will unveil a new decade-long plan for the country later this year.<br /><br />The plan will focus on getting more people into work, especially young people, as well as easing the cost-of-living crisis for most people,<br /><br />The Prime Minister did not announce any specific measures during the speech.<br /><br /><b>Middle East</b><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Mr Burnham concluded his speech by saying: “You can count on us to stand up for those long standing British values of fairness and justice.</span><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>2026/09/un-twaddle-exhibition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-6379184381120614574Tue, 22 Sep 2026 21:03:38 +00002026-09-22T22:03:38.562+01:00politicsBurnham bows<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></b><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="; target="_blank">Burnham bows</a> to Trump over Chagos deal</span></b><br /><br />Andy Burnham is reviewing the Chagos Islands deal after Donald Trump said it was “terrible” in their first face-to-face meeting.<br /><br />The Prime Minister said he was doing “everything possible to find a resolution to the issue”, opening the door to scrapping the deal he “inherited” from Sir Keir Starmer.<br /><br />Mr Burnham reversed his position after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in which the US president suggested he should review the “ridiculous” agreement.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div>It should be interesting to see what happens to this when Burnham returns to base.<br /><br /></div>2026/09/burnham-bows.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-3820263015944176136Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:52:31 +00002026-09-22T11:52:31.465+01:00incompetencesustainabilityI see no cliff<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="; target="_blank"><b>Ted Newson</b></a> has a useful Critic piece on what he calls 'Britain’s energy cliff edge'. Nothing we don't know, but a worthwhile reminder that Andrew Burnham seems intent on driving us over the cliff while denying its existence. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Britain’s energy cliff edge</span></b><br /><br /><i>We shouldn’t sacrifice energy security for social security</i><br /><br />Recently PMQs, Andy Burnham said the quiet part out loud. “National security can’t come at the expense of social security,” he told the chamber, to roars from the opposition benches. With the welfare bill expected to reach £400bn by 2030 and Burnham unsteady on a 3 per cent GDP target for military spending, it’s a startling admission but reflected in public spending. <br /><br />He didn’t have to wait long for a response. Just a week later, at the Global Warming Policy Foundation’s annual lecture, Sir Richard Dearlove — former head of MI6 — used Burnham’s own words against him, warning attendees of the risks facing our current grid system. The ex-spy chief said Britain has “negligently wandered close to a cliff edge” and hearing the PM’s remark left him “in a state of pessimism and extreme concern.” </span><br /><br /><br />The whole piece is well worth reading as it emphasises yet again the serious nature of the situation. It's not something we can expect to survive as a developed country without major policy changes. <div><br /></div><div>So far, Andrew Burnham seems keen to avoid making those changes and relaxed about the likely consequences - the UK ceasing to be a developed country for example.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Moving Britain towards a safer energy system, as Sir Richard advocates, will likely cost money in the short term — switching from a wind-heavy grid to one powered by reliable sources doesn’t come free — but securing the future of the grid requires drastic action. Dearlove put the stakes bluntly: “We have very little industry left to protect and we cannot rebuild non-existent industries which lie in foreign jurisdictions beyond our reach.” A resilient grid is what keeps that industry here at all.</span><div><br /></div></div>2026/09/i-see-no-cliff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-192714814406347355Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:48:00 +00002026-09-22T08:48:00.666+01:00incompetencesustainabilityGroundbreaking stuff here<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Labour’s race to net zero</a> is driving up bills, warns IFS<br /></span></b><br />Labour's race to net zero is driving up household bills unnecessarily, a think tank has warned.<br /><br />A goal set by Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 risks "exacerbating" rises in energy bills, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)...<br /><br />Taxes and levies on energy bills, excluding VAT, surged by 59pc in real terms between 2017 and 2025, the IFS calculated.<br /><br />By 2025, these charges made up 23pc of an average household's electricity bill. The Government has since reduced this share to 17pc by shifting some net zero costs to general taxation.</span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Anyone paying attention knows all this, but the underlying message is that the government machine doesn't care.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which we also know. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's policy and policy comes before reality until it doesn't, and possibly not even then. Until voters realise they could be more effective voting for and against major government policies rather than major political parties, then nothing will change.</div><div><br /></div><div>But we know that too.</div><div><br /></div>2026/09/groundbreaking-stuff-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-5595330518041836545Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:44:37 +00002026-09-21T15:44:37.552+01:00declineeconomicsQuaint<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="Chancellor of the Exchequer" target="_blank">Chancellor’s headroom</a> to halve because of Iran war inflation and weak growth</span></b><br /><br />Chancellor John Healey will face pressure to raise taxes or cut spending at next month’s Budget, as soaring borrowing costs because of the Iran war and weaker growth has wiped nearly £12 billion off the Government’s fiscal headroom, according to a new report.<br /><br />The latest KPMG economic outlook estimates that Mr Healey could be left with headroom of about £12 billion in the autumn, down from £23.6 billion at the time of the spring forecast.<br /><br />It said rising borrowing costs on the UK’s debt after the Middle East conflict has already cut about £9 billion off the headroom, with sluggish growth and expected downgrades from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) likely to to reduce it by about another £2 billion.</span><br /><br /><br />Surely referring to John Healey by the quaint olde worlde title of 'Chancellor of the Exchequer' has become an embarrassing anachronism. With a UK national debt of about £3 trillion, His Majesty's Treasury must be knee-deep in IOUs and very little treasure.<div><br /></div><div>It would more honest if we were to replace the title 'Chancellor of the Exchequer' with some reference to a role which eschews plundering the economy as an answer to everything. A role tasked with cutting government waste, enforcing budgetary control, abolishing Net Zero, eliminating the patronage network...</div><div><br /></div><div>Nope, that's all too fanciful.</div><div> </div>2026/09/quaint.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-8386712065682913582Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:23:21 +00002026-09-21T09:23:21.846+01:00sarcasmLib Dems not struggling for relevance says Ed as he struggles for relevance<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Davey: Lib Dems not <a href="; target="_blank">struggling for relevance</a>, but MPs 'frustrated' at the system</span></b><br /><br />Sir Ed Davey said one of his MPs was wrong to say the party is “struggling for relevance” and called the Lib Dems “the most united” party in British politics.<br /><br />He said he understands how MPs get “frustrated” after they are elected to their posts and realise the limits of what they can achieve within the political system.</span><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It's a pleasant Monday morning here in Derbyshire so it's worth admitting that Ed Davey is entertaining at times. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a serious aspect when we remember how the ridiculous charlatan leads the equally ridiculous and always unpleasant Lib Dems in the House of Commons. Quite a few live voters are persuaded to waste their vote on them too.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the absurd chancer is entertaining at times.</div><div><br /></div>2026/09/lib-dems-not-struggling-for-relevance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-2087975496420762540Sun, 20 Sep 2026 11:07:44 +00002026-09-20T12:07:44.817+01:00propagandaDistorted<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Make voting compulsory to prevent ‘<a href="; target="_blank">distorted</a>’ results, Kinnock urges Burnham</span></b><br /><br /></span><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">The former Labour leader and mentor to the Prime Minister said the move would help strengthen ‘democracy and citizenship’ in the UK.<br /></span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It may be obvious, but as nothing democratically enlightened ever oozed out of Neil Kinnock, let us see what this is all about... </div><div><br /></div><div>Ah yes...<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Alongside the parliamentary efforts, academics from the US, Australia, South America, the UK and Europe are poised to send a letter to No 10 urging the Prime Minister to act.<br /><br />The letter says: “Inequalities in turnout mean those who do vote do not reflect the wider population, but are richer, older, whiter, and more economically secure than the UK public at large.<br /><br />“This has warped British politics, and risks a crisis of democratic legitimacy.”</span></div>2026/09/distorted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (A K Haart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-114392963935760937Sun, 20 Sep 2026 06:34:50 +00002026-09-20T07:34:50.584+01:00behaviourLe FanuIt is not easy for a looker-on to define the point of insincerity<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><a href="; target="_blank">Davey says</a> Lib Dems won’t give up fight against ‘nasty populism’</span></span></b><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br />Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said his party “won’t give up the fight” to defeat “nasty populism” as he issued a rallying call to members on the first day of the party’s annual conference.</span></div><div><br /><div><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Midlevel", sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="; imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1048" height="206" src="; width="365" /></a></div><br /></span></div><br /><i>The histrionic element was strong in Miss Marlyn. When she played a part, she entered, as the phrase is, thoroughly into it. Miss Bateman grows pale in Leah; Miss O’Neil used to shed real tears in Jane Shore. It is not easy for a looker-on to define the point of insincerity