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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2020 19:10:21 GMT
Signed. The petrochemical industry is such a dangerous and key group for the future of this planet. It is their need to keep us using their products that inhibits so much investigation into alternative fuel sources. They have always and will continue to buy up the patents and processes that could replace them. Many years ago Volvo designed a simple and inexpensive tweak to their diesel engines that would allow them to run on vegetable oil. They encountered problems getting anybody to supply the fuel at the forecourt. It always makes me laugh when I hear climate change deniers claiming that climate scientists are merely chasing research grants suggesting by implication that sceptical scientists are fighting for the truth out of the kindness of their philanthropic hearts...rather than because of the millions thrown at them by the likes of Exxon, the Koch brothers, etc. And this is an argument used by allegedly intelligent people. I recall a Technical Director for whom I once worked taking the proper hump when, having just come out with this old b*ll*cks I laughed at him telling him how pleased I was to know him because I'd hitherto thought that swivel-eyed conspiracy theorists were generally only to be found inhabiting the weirder fringes of the alt-right cyber world rather than wandering about in broad daylight. The problem is a serious one though. I have a 120 mile round trip to work. I drive. Whilst I'm happy that being a vegetarian mitigates my carbon footprint, I work in the aerospace industry. I'd love to buy an electric car but until vehicle designers abandon designs assuming traditional manufacturing methods using traditional (heavy) materials then they will continue to have a limited range. Lightweight composite materials are expensive but until batteries can be designed that store energy more efficiently, they'll not replace the IC engine. Better batteries require more exotic materials such as Lithium which are largely sourced from conflict areas of Africa, etc, etc.
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Post by gazz on Jan 30, 2020 19:59:02 GMT
That's a really interesting insight, Yorks, not to mention worrying.
It's not looking good for us, is it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2020 20:39:44 GMT
That's a really interesting insight, Yorks, not to mention worrying. It's not looking good for us, is it. It's not looking great. The last figures I have seen came from the Government's own statistics and in broad terms this country's CO2 emissions for 2017 were estimated at 34% from the transport sector, 29% from energy supply, 18 per cent from business and 17 per cent from the residential sector. These figures are a little misleading because the paper doesn't describe what it counts towards the transport sector for example but I believe that it includes private car usage. in that case there has been a large jump in that figure in recent years due to the popularity of gas guzzling SUV's in this country. Given that the technology that allows buildings to be designed with low energy consumption in mind is now quite old it remains a mystery as to why new builds are allowed to be designed and constructed without even a basic consideration for their incorporation, until that is, you consider the degree to which Government is in the financial back pocket of the major house builders (and if anyone is in any doubt about the degree to which the Government is in their back pocket I suggest they read up on the Grenfell Tower disaster and/or Carillion). Therein lies the problem, certainly in this country and I suspect well beyond our borders. The degree to which politicians have been suborned to the will of industry and/or other vested interests whether by direct financial benefit (cash contributions or payments towards the running of individual MP's offices) or the offering of very lucrative non-executive directorships when their political careers are over is astonishing.
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Post by gazz on Mar 25, 2020 22:29:59 GMT
Has anyone else been wondering if this virus was a deliberate piece of germ warfare intended to destabilise the West?
Not saying for one minute that it is, but for a week or so now the thought has been floating around in the back of my mind, so I just thought I'd get it out of there to stop it bugging me!
Now I can carry on enjoying Casino Royale!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2020 6:28:41 GMT
Has anyone else been wondering if this virus was a deliberate piece of germ warfare intended to destabilise the West? Not saying for one minute that it is, but for a week or so now the thought has been floating around in the back of my mind, so I just thought I'd get it out of there to stop it bugging me! Now I can carry on enjoying Casino Royale! No mate. It may have been caused because increasing amounts of hitherto virgin habitat has been destroyed to supply the west's insatiable appetite for largely pointless consumption and for land to feed the growing world population. www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoeIt was first spread to humans from meat sold in a wet market in Wuhan, see the article above for more details of that and the likelihood that it could re-emerge in a variety of different countries, in a variety of different forms, particularly in Africa. Knowledge was shared by the Chinese authorities as early as January 7... www.wired.co.uk/article/china-coronavirus...but not acted upon by a series of complacent Governments whose belated advice has been largely ignored until, again, somewhat late in the day they've had to enforce lockdowns on local populations. Add a whole bunch of other stuff, political dogma, social attitudes, etc, you could go on and on and what you get is where we're at.
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Post by gazz on Mar 26, 2020 9:10:09 GMT
Has anyone else been wondering if this virus was a deliberate piece of germ warfare intended to destabilise the West? Not saying for one minute that it is, but for a week or so now the thought has been floating around in the back of my mind, so I just thought I'd get it out of there to stop it bugging me! Now I can carry on enjoying Casino Royale! No mate. It may have been caused because increasing amounts of hitherto virgin habitat has been destroyed to supply the west's insatiable appetite for largely pointless consumption and for land to feed the growing world population. www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoeIt was first spread to humans from meat sold in a wet market in Wuhan, see the article above for more details of that and the likelihood that it could re-emerge in a variety of different countries, in a variety of different forms, particularly in Africa. Knowledge was shared by the Chinese authorities as early as January 7... www.wired.co.uk/article/china-coronavirus...but not acted upon by a series of complacent Governments whose belated advice has been largely ignored until, again, somewhat late in the day they've had to enforce lockdowns on local populations. Add a whole bunch of other stuff, political dogma, social attitudes, etc, you could go on and on and what you get is where we're at. I've no doubt that you're right mate. As I said, I wasn't for one minute saying that it's true but, you know, thoughts can't be stopped from entering your head - probably the result of a suspicious mind, borne out of growing up in a suspicious world. I just had to get it out of there, so I could make room for more positive thought!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2020 9:58:25 GMT
No mate. It may have been caused because increasing amounts of hitherto virgin habitat has been destroyed to supply the west's insatiable appetite for largely pointless consumption and for land to feed the growing world population. www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoeIt was first spread to humans from meat sold in a wet market in Wuhan, see the article above for more details of that and the likelihood that it could re-emerge in a variety of different countries, in a variety of different forms, particularly in Africa. Knowledge was shared by the Chinese authorities as early as January 7... www.wired.co.uk/article/china-coronavirus...but not acted upon by a series of complacent Governments whose belated advice has been largely ignored until, again, somewhat late in the day they've had to enforce lockdowns on local populations. Add a whole bunch of other stuff, political dogma, social attitudes, etc, you could go on and on and what you get is where we're at. I've no doubt that you're right mate. As I said, I wasn't for one minute saying that it's true but, you know, thoughts can't be stopped from entering your head - probably the result of a suspicious mind, borne out of growing up in a suspicious world. I just had to get it out of there, so I could make room for more positive thought! I know you didn't. I like to post attachments like those that I find interesting in the (probably forlorn) hope that I'm not the most boring bastard in the world
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Post by gazz on Mar 26, 2020 10:21:14 GMT
I've no doubt that you're right mate. As I said, I wasn't for one minute saying that it's true but, you know, thoughts can't be stopped from entering your head - probably the result of a suspicious mind, borne out of growing up in a suspicious world. I just had to get it out of there, so I could make room for more positive thought! I know you didn't. I like to post attachments like those that I find interesting in the (probably forlorn) hope that I'm not the most boring b*st*rd in the world Definitely not, mate!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2020 10:33:31 GMT
I know you didn't. I like to post attachments like those that I find interesting in the (probably forlorn) hope that I'm not the most boring b*st*rd in the world Definitely not, mate! Want a bet? lol. Working from home today which is a big mistake as I finished most of what I needed to do when I got home last night so, currently reading a book about slavery in early mediaeval England up to the 12th century. Far more interesting than developing a new product introduction process for a business whose technical director really doesn't follow what I'm trying to achieve.
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Post by ceefer on Apr 4, 2020 10:59:30 GMT
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Post by gazz on Apr 4, 2020 11:02:11 GMT
Cheers for posting, Ceef - duly signed!
I couldn't agree more, mate. With the whole of Europe at full-stretch, this really does need to be put on hold until the relevant parties can give it their undivided attention.
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Post by gazz on Apr 4, 2020 12:38:46 GMT
Am I the only one wondering if Johnson is looking at crashing out with no deal if the country is still busy washing its hands?
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Post by dudleyhatter on Apr 4, 2020 15:50:20 GMT
Cheers ceef, signed and Gazz he probably is...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2020 20:34:49 GMT
Am I the only one wondering if Johnson is looking at crashing out with no deal if the country is still busy washing its hands? No, the Tory Party remains in complete thrall to the swivel-eyed nutjobs on the right-wing extremes of the party who would happily crash the country out, decimating manufacturing and all so that they can gain financially. Aided and abetted by significant proportions of the population for whom cap doffing deference to money and privilege is an acceptable political position. I think that the only way we won't is if the present crisis becomes so bad that they judge that the damage to their reputation isn't worth the candle. Sadly, there are some indications that it could be that bad as the number of deaths reported to be from coronavirus appears to be accelerating at a rate greater than that of Italy, and it's already known that the figure doesn't include deaths in care homes, only hospital. Some economists are forecasting that the economy could shrink by as much as 15%, recovering to -4% within 12 months. To put that into perspective, the economic crash caused by the financial crisis of 2008/09 that we have arguably yet to recover from led to the economy shrinking by a mere 2%. In short, this is serious and we're led by a serial liar whose government gives every indication of not being able to plan a route out of the office car park never mind plan and manage the acquisition of something as simple as PPE for front line medical staff.
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Post by gazz on Apr 4, 2020 21:03:42 GMT
Am I the only one wondering if Johnson is looking at crashing out with no deal if the country is still busy washing its hands? No, the Tory Party remains in complete thrall to the swivel-eyed nutjobs on the right-wing extremes of the party who would happily crash the country out, decimating manufacturing and all so that they can gain financially. Aided and abetted by significant proportions of the population for whom cap doffing deference to money and privilege is an acceptable political position. I think that the only way we won't is if the present crisis becomes so bad that they judge that the damage to their reputation isn't worth the candle. Sadly, there are some indications that it could be that bad as the number of deaths reported to be from coronavirus appears to be accelerating at a rate greater than that of Italy, and it's already known that the figure doesn't include deaths in care homes, only hospital. Some economists are forecasting that the economy could shrink by as much as 15%, recovering to -4% within 12 months. To put that into perspective, the economic crash caused by the financial crisis of 2008/09 that we have arguably yet to recover from led to the economy shrinking by a mere 2%. In short, this is serious and we're led by a serial liar whose government gives every indication of not being able to plan a route out of the office car park never mind plan and manage the acquisition of something as simple as PPE for front line medical staff. I'd 'like' that post, mate, but it's too f***ing scary to be liked. It should not be considered to be political point scoring when people point out just how much this government have f***ed this up. Scariest of all, is the fact that they were warned by countries that were two weeks ahead of us to lockdown, but they ignored it and carried on regardless. The social distancing was a lightweight measure brought in by a man whose main concern was the interests of his party supporting business pals and donors. I'm convinced more people have died and will die as a result of this career politician's failure to do the right at the right time, in spite of his bare-faced bullshit claim to the contrary.
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