Open Thread!
The staff are busy again behind the scenes doing stuff which means that we can’t serve you at the bar. Help yourself to the drinks, but please leave some cash on the bar. In the meantime please talk amongst yourselves.
Say anything, write short stories, post a poem or two, repeat some Internet meme, share a joke.
If you feel like writing a short article please let us know. You can see our contact details in the About/Contact link at the top of this page. Anything from a 100 word quickie up to a 1000 word essay are welcome. Just let us know your byline (to keep your anonymity) and a suggestion for a picture to use.
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1
November 15, 2011 at 15:14 -
I always find these open threads awkward. I can never think of anything to say.
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2
November 15, 2011 at 16:11 -
This is exactly what happened to me when I stayed in Gozo. The local bar owner told you to help yourself and pay him at the end of the evening; consequently, everyone was honest!
Car hire was the same, oh pay me at the end…..happy days! -
3
November 15, 2011 at 17:12 -
OK, something to get your goat. Probably.
A couple of months ago I visited Murmansk, arriving by sea. Shortly before arrival, at about 7.30am, we passed an impressive looking (aren’t they all?) aircraft carrier upon the deck of which the ship’s company was assembled ‘on parade’.
A quick spy [sic] with the bins revealed the carrier to be the ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ &, out of interest I resolved to ‘Google’ her (Ooh, Missus!) when I got home.
In due course this led me to the following. The ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ was built based on an earlier carrier, the ‘Admiral Gorshkov’. After the end of the cold-war, Russia couldn’t afford to run the Gorshkov so arrangements have been made to sell it to…………..India. You know India, the space-programme, thriving economy, nuclear Asian super-power which still benefits from shed-loads of UK foreign aid.
The ‘Admiral Gorshkov’ is re-badged as ‘INS Vikramaditya’ (‘Brave as the Sun) and, after delays and cost over-runs (natch), is to be delivered in 2012.
In truth, India is getting the carrier for nothing. But the deal is that she will pay US$800 million for a refit, US$1 billion for 16 MiG-29s and 8 Ka-31 naval helicopters, and an additional US$1.2 billion for the cost over-run. Oh, and there’s an option to buy an additional 14 MiGs, not included in the deal above.
Now I don’t have a problem with India feeling the need to defend herself, nor how she chooses to do it. But the idea of broke Britain subbing her at the same time is, how shall we say? a little irritating.
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4
November 16, 2011 at 12:03 -
In addition to building a large navy (mainly to counter Chinese colonialism) India has a space programme, and is developing nuclear weapons too.
India also 450m people living in poverty – that’s just like having 750 Glasgows (although I do concede that the Indians drink less, work harder, study more and speak better English).
Meanwhile UK subs the Indian government £300m p.a.
Goodness gracious me!
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5
November 15, 2011 at 18:19 -
The Occupy protest
A lot of infantile people shouting stop the world I want to get off?
How many people would you say they represent? They claim its 99% but I would suspect they represent more like the 1% who remain unreformed socialists. The whole movement fails to recognise that there are now c7bn people in the world and the fact that the world can in any way support this number is due to capitalism. Billions have acheived standards of living a few decades ago they could never have dreamed of due to capitalism.
Now don’t get me wrong I think capitalism has many flaws but it in a modified form (as to a large extent exists currently) is probably our only hope of having a world that can support its population and deliver, on average, gradually improving standards of living – this latter may not be the case for the western world.
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November 15, 2011 at 19:32 -
A short post about recent developments in the climate change saga.
There’s been much hyperbole about ocean acidification from rising CO2 levels being a great threat. (How the undisputed rise of CO2 levels in the atmosphere might affect global temperatures is not the issue with this post.
See Jo Nova’s excellent site, joannenova.com.au for an illuminating recent article by Brice Bosnich, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
It contains some (fairly basic) chemistry & maths, but is clearly written and debunks assumptions about marine life facing great changes in habitats, or even extinctions; which are the usual scare stories put about by Greenies/BBC pseudo-science reports. As marine life is extremely important to the health of the oceans (& us), it’s reassuring to see there is little to be concerned about in relation to CO2 levels, especially with coral reefs. Coral is often said to be very sensitive to ocean acidification & temperature changes: his findings debunk this assumption.He also has extrapolated the average change in ocean temperature from the data set and found it is not as large as usually stated. This is partly because previous ocean temperature measurements have been more localised and therefore it has not been easy to obtain a global average.
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7
November 15, 2011 at 20:04 -
Even as a lifelong veggie, I’m struggling with the logic of the animal rights fundamentalist.
The argument goes that we should not eat meat, experiment on animals etc. because animals are of equivalent moral status to humans. If this was true, then it must also follow that humans were of equivalent moral status to animals – and therefore should be free to enjoy their meat as much as the next carnivore.
The next thing that makes no sense is the terrorising of the man who works for the company that delivers feed to the farm which breeds guinea pigs to be used in medical experiments that save human lives. That seems like a lot of hard work to me when there are a good thousand people within a stone’s throw of the terrorist’s house who like to wear leather and eat meat, for no other reason than sensual pleasure. While we are at it – what makes guinea pig farmers worse than beef farmers? You never hear of them getting done over?
I suppose the psychological explanation is that if you can change the world by force, you can remain in your sentimentalised comfortable bubble.
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November 15, 2011 at 20:10 -
Following the somewhat icy conditions of last winter, and not wishing to be caught out again without a decent scarf, I have invested in several winter essentials. A pair of very smart heavyweight moleskin trousers, a pair of genuine leather gloves, several caps, a cashmere scarf, a rather fine cashmere pullover and three pairs of long woolly socks (long! I can very nearly tuck my plums in the tops of ‘em!). With two brand new front tyres on the car and a resoled pair of heavy brogues, I think I’ve covered most of the angles, and my credit card has gone limp.
I therefore confidently predict the mildest winter in decades.
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November 15, 2011 at 20:47 -
Just in case you are wrong I can highly recommend shoe chains, these are made much like the ones for car tyres, last year they kept me upright while walking my three greyhounds. RUD is the brand, go for the more expensive ones. Your postman will have a set, it is part of their kit.
Now with both of us owning them it’s bound to be Christmas lunch round the barbie!
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12
November 15, 2011 at 21:43 -
That’s what I did 2 years ago. I bought THREE pairs of snowboots and predicted it wouldn’t snow if I was prepared. And it didn’t. Then I had three pairs of unused boots and didn’t buy new ones and it snowed early [november!] last winter and for two months [we normally have 3 weeks of winter here]
Should I buy new boots again??? -
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November 15, 2011 at 22:35 -
The safest option is always to fit the new tyres on the rear end, regardless of which are the driven wheels.
If the front end loses grip you can’t steer but the car will continue in a straight line. If you try and change direction and the rear end can’t resist the sideways force the car will spin.
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14
November 15, 2011 at 22:44 -
My safest option is to mount my 4 winter tyres. In case they’ve been worn, I invest in new summer tyres, which are actually as good if not better and will serve through to the next winter. Jeez, I sound like a boy …
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15
November 16, 2011 at 16:03 -
A smarter trick is to reduce the tyre pressures to around 20psi on the few really snowy days – that’s enough to keep the tyres on the rims, but boy does it improve the grip.
But remember to re-inflate (cheap battery pump) before any moderate speed use, otherwise the tyres over-heat and handling is compromised !
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November 16, 2011 at 01:25 -
Given the price of energy, those purchases would seem to be very cheap insurance against a harsh winter.
I see no mention of long-johns, always a pre-requisite for Canadian winters, though given your description of you socks they might be superfluous.
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November 16, 2011 at 09:21 -
Many years ago and long before I retired, I had an outside job often working on nights. During winter, when it was really cold, ladies tights worn underneath trousers (I am a bloke) were the bees’ knees.
You just had to hope that you weren’t knocked over by the proverbial bus and didn’t end up in casualty. Nowadays, I suppose, nobody would blink, and just assume it was your live-and-let-live thing!
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18
November 16, 2011 at 12:47 -
I thought I’d be prepared and buy a towing strap for the 4×4, incase I could be of assistance to any snowbound motorists in their little cars.
Unfortunately, a few days later the 4×4 broke down and my wife kindly agreed to tow me to the garage in her little car using said strap.
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