What’s Up
Rant: Valentine’s Day Sucks!
Of all the naff annual events on a typical western-civilisation calendar, Valentine’s day has gotta be top of the list of all but the most stupid and gullible.
It’s a day when men (and women but mostly men) all over the world are compelled out of some kind of misguided sense of obligation to make largely empty gestures and spend a small fortune on overpriced crappy flowers, sickly chocolates and naffly sentimental cards.
+21Rave: They’re Waking Up!
Interesting news article on the Beeb website today – apparently the UK is now able to produce over 2GW of electricity from wind power – only one of eight countries in the world to be able to do so.
This is of course good news and a small, but significant milestone in the move away from our over-dependence on oil/fossil fuels. What I would like to see however is a similar level of investment by the energy companies in the development of other “green” energy technology.
I’m specifically thinking of both solar and wave power. Wind turbines provide a reasonable return on investment and can be erected fairly quickly, allowing both energy companies and the government to show that they are moving towards their targets in good time. But if history has any lesson to teach about energy generation and usage, it’s that it is never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.
+17RIP Jack
Was sorry to read in the news today about the death of Jack Palance.
Few actors of his caliber ever graced the silver screen – especially in the western genre and his portrayal of a long string of tough guys was difficult to match (perhaps only Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood come close and neither was as good as Jack at playing the villain).
So long Jack – here’s hoping your last ride into the sunset will lead you to somewhere happy…
+15Up Yours George!
Welcome news about the US mid-term elections which saw a massive protest vote turn the tide significantly against Dubya and his cronies.
Although Dubya can still use his presidential veto to override the will of Congress, it will at least mean that the White House won’t be able to get a republican controlled congress to rubber-stamp everything that comes down the line.
The news the Democrats manage to regain control of both houses of congress was made sweeter by the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, who may even face charges in Germany for alleged abuses in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. Here’s hoping…
Isn’t it nice to have something in politics to smile about at times?
+28Farewell to Centrex
Well – time to say farewell to the Centrex crew.
After spending 15 months working on the Centrex Website and Intranet, it’s time to move on.
It certainly was one of the most interesting and challenging projects I’ve worked on for a good many years and the opportunity to work at a site as spectaular as Bramshill doesn’t come along very often.
Here’s hoping the future is every bit as bright as the past and that you all find a suitable place inside the new and improved police authority/infrastructure that the Home office is busy cobbling together.
What else can I say except so long…and thanks for all the memories!
+14Bush Assassination? Not today…
Today’s supposed row over the TV drama “Death of a President” was a small but meaningful 40th birthday gift for me.
The drama on More4, uses actors and computer effects to portray “president” Bush being shot dead during an anti-war rally in Chicago in 2007.
I won’t go so far as to say I wish it had been an actual news story instead of a piece of fictionalised TV, but for the first time, I actually found myself regretting the fact that I was not a TV subscriber!
+17