Greens say no to nuclear, yes to luddism.

On a wonderfully green piece of paper which was stuffed through my door, Alison Johnstone gleefully tells us that she, as the Green candidate for Meadows / Morningside, says "No to nuclear".

"This report clearly shows we can reject the UK government's proposals to build new nuclear power stations and succeed in reducing emissions. By switching to locally produced power, Edinburgh can lead the fight against climate change."

Where, exactly, do these people think we're going to get our electricity from? It sure as shit ain't the electricity fairy. Just how, exactly, do they intend to make up the energy gap between renewables, fossil fuel plants, and nuclear in the next decade or so, when our existing nuclear stations go off-line?

I expect we'll hear that we are to cover all our buildings, and green spaces with mini-windmills, whilst we are to catch our farts for a bio-gas plant, or some other crack smoking idea.

Quite simply, build more nuclear plants now, or you will not be switching on your lights in a couple of decades time.

I will not even start on the mention of mobile phone masts in the leaflet.

Are these people luddites, or are they actually expecting us to take them seriously?

Drunk and incapable woman avoids jail for assualting a paramedic

In the Metro today, it was reported that an 18 year old girl, who was drunk and incapable, collapsed in a drunken heap and was attended to by an ambulance. As the girl was falling unconscious, a paramedic proceeded to give her a sternum rub. (Where you rub your knuckles on the person's breast bone, relatively hard, which usually has the effect of waking people up a bit). The girl proceeded to punch the paramedic, and then kick him. She has been given 150 hours of community service by Perth Sheriff Court.

First off, why was she so drunk she couldn't remain in a state where she could get herself home?
Secondly, there's a massive difference between a paramedic applying the old sternum rub, and someone trying to feel you up. I know what a sternum rub feels like when sober, and it's not pleasant.
Thirdly, will she actually learn anything from this 150 hour community service order?

I would like to see her sent to assist the paramedic she assaulted for 150 hours, and see the sort of abuse they take. I think that would be a worthwhile experience for her, and would perhaps make her appreciate just what these people face, and do on a day to day basis.

I have never understood why people assault folk from particularly the ambulance service and fire brigade? Don't they realise these people are putting their lives on the line for us?

MSPs expensive expenses overhaul...

The BBC reports that George Reid has called for an overhaul of the expenses system for MSPs. This begs the question, how can a system that's only a few years old require an overhaul already?

Would that be for these reasons -

"Some MSPs have been criticised for making money by buying and selling properties part-funded by the taxpayer.

The allowance scheme has also drawn criticism for allowing members to make claims for council tax and TV licences."

The dishonest people who are elected MSPs are exactly the reason why we do not need more layers of government. One parliament in Westminster is more than enough dishonesty for our nation! They are supposedly representatives of the people, for the people, by the people - and yet they have higher salaries than many of those they claim to represent, yet still feel the need to swindle us, the tax payers, out of more money from fraudulent or immoral dealings with expenses.

I expect the overhaul will tell MSPs they need to try harder, and cost us a hell of a lot of money in the process, achieving absolutely fuck all.

Sack the lot of them, the work-shy bastards!

Scottish Green 12 step plan...

The Scottish Green Party have a twelve step plan - a plan for a "low carbon" economy.

The trouble is, any time I read about these people, I can't help but wonder who votes for them. Oh yes, nobody. That's the beauty of the party list system.

Anyway, looking at this latest claptrap from the hippy party -

"irrefutable evidence" if you repeat lies often enough, they still are lies.

Scottish carbon output is a fraction of the UK's, and is a fraction of Europe's and is a fraction of the worlds output. Will it really make a difference, when we are already producing less carbon than so many other places?

"Act locally as well as nationally" how does this work with regards to the above?

The greens by scrapping the airport extensions are likely to cause financial harm to Scotland.

We produce more emissions in 3 days than a Malawian does in a year - and the Malawians intend to stay at that level of development do they?

"Personal carbon quotas" which are utterly meaningless when compared to other nations.

"High skill, low carbon economy" would that be similar to the 50% of school leavers in higher education? Utterly unworkable. As has become abundantly clear for anyone in high-tech industry, the far east can compete much better than we at manufacturing on the cheap. Just ask the thousands of people made redundant from Scottish electronics manufacturing, before you go as far back as heavy industry.

Renewable buildings - how many people are living in new builds, versus old, stone built properties that are difficult to retrofit with insulation?

Chemical fires on aeroplanes

The Register reports that "Only you can prevent airline battery fires".

Apparently you're to take laptop batteries into the passenger cabin because fires are easier to deal with in a metal tube full of people.

"In May, a spare li-ion battery stowed away in a passenger's computer case, neither entombed with insulating tape nor placed in a separate protective case caught fire. A flight attendant was able to remove the burning case from the passenger cabin and toss it onto the ramp."

Which is clearly fuck all use at 30,000 feet.

One has to ask, just what would they have done when a metal / chemical fire breaks out during a flight? One can only hope they have a class D fire extinguisher on board, since they can't just open the door and pitch the burning laptop out!

Iran, we-ran, they-fucking-well-should-run

I can't hold back any longer -

What the fuck are Iran up to? Do they not realise there are people itching to bomb the fuck out of them? Do they have any idea what the consequences of their actions could be?

I am, of course, referring to the imprisonment of 15 Royal Naval servicemen, who Iran claims had crossed into Iranian territorial waters...

On the one hand, you've got to applaud Commander Woods, of HMS Cornwall, for not opening fire on the Iranians. On the other, you've got to ask, why didn't he let loose a volley from the rather nice four and a half inch gun that is mounted on the type 22 frigate he commands... I expect that would make even the most hardened nut case check his trousers after a shell from that whistles across your bows...

Even if these British sailors were in Iranian territorial waters, when you're already pissing off the international community with your nuclear aspirations, and general posturing over international affairs - perhaps it's not in your best interests to hold 15 people hostage.

Iran are also in the bad books for restricting the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors as a response to the latest sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.

One has to ask how long it will be before we send people in to kick ass and chew bubblegum. (And we're all out of bubblegum).

10 reasons you should (not) buy a mac

... 10 reasons you should fuck off.

The Register has a lovely wee article, with 10 reasons you should buy a mac...

Here are 10 why you should not.

1. Mac owners are insufferable bores
2. It's a fashion accessory, not a computer
3. They look like a Fisher Price toy
4. They are not "just better" than a PC
   
5. They don't crash - my arse.
6. Ripping the pish out of the worlds richest man (Bill Gates) doesn't sell more computers.
7. Have you ever tried replacing the HDD on one of those clamshell ibooks?
8. You can get "blah" for the mac - guess what, you can get it, and more, for other platforms too!
   
9. Intel Inside - hang on, wasn't Power Inside the reason you should buy one a year or two ago, and Intel was crap?
   
10. Mac owners are insufferable bores...

I get the distinct impression the mac is like that stunning blonde... Lovely to look at, you might even stick your dick in her, but otherwise, utterly useless, and not worth spending any quality time with.

As Charlie Brooker wrote in The Guardian -

"Better at "fun stuff", my arse. The only way to have fun with a Mac is to poke its insufferable owner in the eye."

As they say in the scary devil monastery - "All hardware sucks. All software sucks. All users suck." Which is too true...