Green mugging from the Tories.

Diposkan oleh Zainal Arifain

Every time politicians mention renewable energy I feel my hackles rising, they like to point out that it's freely generated and that it's clean. They're lying of course, but that's what politicians seem to do these days in order to generate revenue schemes to pay off previous bad decisions on their part or simply to balance the books as welfare costs and public service pensions eat into budget that the government has to play with.
First off wind power is inefficient, no wind, no power. So far the government have spent billions of pounds on building just over 2,000 wind turbines - and yet they contribute barely one per cent of all the electricity that we need.
The combined output of all those 2,000 turbines put together, averaging 700 megawatts, is less than that of a single, medium-sized conventional power station! They're ugly, they kill and as for environmentally friendly has no-one noticed the huge concrete blocks that have to be dug out of the ground to stand one on? They're also a total bugger to service if they go wrong, you can't lower them to the ground and if their bearings go it costs about £1.5 million to replace them. Cheap energy? Don't make me laugh.
But despite its best efforts to conceal the fact that wind turbines expensively and unreliably generate only a derisory amount of electricity, the Government keeps on telling us of its green plans to build thousands more of them at a cost of up to £100billion!
The prime reason for this is that we are legally obliged by the European Union to generate 32 per cent of our electricity from 'renewable' sources by 2020.
The lunacy will continue under the Tories, except that they intend to saddle communities with the cost.

Telegraph.

Residents who allow wind farms to be built in their area would be given ownership of individual turbines and the profits from them under Conservative energy plans.

The Tory plan raises the prospect of residents owning a “village turbine” in the same way some have a community shop or parish hall.
The Copenhagen summit on a new global deal on climate change policies begins next week amid growing signs of popular scepticism about scientific and political claims that urgent action is needed to cut carbon emissions.
Greg Clark, the shadow energy secretary, told the Daily Telegraph, people should be given more incentives to adopt low-carbon technologies.
Labour is changing planning rules to allow the number of onshore wind turbines in Britain to rise from 2,500 to 6,000.
Many rural residents are hesitant about the turbines, which are often more than 100 feet high. The Tories say the final decision on each site should rest with residents, but would offer financial rewards for those backing new wind farms.
There are no profits to be made from wind turbines, the only reason they are economic now is because the government subsidise them! I wonder what will happen to any hamlet who does take up this fools offer when the government is finally forced to cut back? No subsidy and huge costs, the damn things don't pay for themselves, never have, never will!

This is all due to the EU and we see the idiot Tories falling right into line after Labour.

Sooner we're out the better, we're sitting on 300 years worth of coal, nuclear power works fine but we're running out of time and the EU stands in our path for our energy needs with it's carbon emission controls. But our politicians are convinced green power will meet our needs, any engineer will tell them differently, but ignoring inconvenient truths is what being a politician is all about.
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Interesting defeats

Diposkan oleh Zainal Arifain

By-elections often throw up interesting results particularly at local levels. Still you'd have thought a swing to the Tories would be a possibility particularly from Labour. Still that wasn't what happened in Thanet, there was an 8.5% swing to Labour from the Tories, it may have been a protest vote though as Stephen Broadhurst, the ex Thanet councillor for Dane Valley in Margate, had been asked to resign because of the amount of time he spent looking after his business interests in Panama. Still not a good result though and it shows how fickle the public can be over political parties who upset them over issues that are important to them but don't seem to be to politicians (Referendum on the EU anyone?)

Independent.
Tories crashed to defeat against Labour in the latest council by-elections.
The loss at Dane Valley in Kent's Thanet District follows last week's triple disaster for Conservatives when Liberal Democrats gained three seats from them.
Labour's Thanet victor Sandra Hart scored a net 8.5 per cent swing from Tories who slumped into third place behind Lib Dems.
She is the wife of her party's group leader on the council.
Counting is under way in a second by-election at Ormesby, Redcar and Cleveland Borough with a result expected about noon.
The Liberal Democrats easily defended their Ormesby seat, taking nearly three-quarters of the votes.

The Tories finished last with just 77 votes - behind Ukip.

RESULTS:
Redcar and Cleveland Borough - Ormesby: Lib Dem 1084, Lab 210, Ukip 103, C 77.

Thanet District - Dane Valley: Lab 318, Lib Dem 260, C 222, Ind 130.
Ormesby was far more interesting, not that the Tories or Labour had a chance, but look where UKIP ended up, 26 votes ahead of the Tories. Now that should set alarm bells ringing in the Tory bunker. There's no reason whatsoever for UKIP to be getting more votes than the Tories in local elections unless the local Tories are disillusioned with national policies, and there's only one real national policy that the Tory grass roots really disagree with and that's the leaderships position vis the EU.

I may be wrong, but it does seem that the issue of the EU will cripple the Tory party, the idea of a referendum in or out is gaining ground at grass-root level as people realise just what our treasonous MP's have given away. This is why the minor parties are now gaining votes too as the big 3 ignore voters wishes, sooner or later a tipping point may come and the peoples wishes are recognised, sooner the better really.

Immigration, the EU, an English Parliament all being ignored by the big 3 and all costing them votes. I can see it, they can see it, yet still they ignore us, it does make the conspiracy theories seem more valid by the day.
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Goodbye Subrosa

Diposkan oleh Zainal Arifain

Seems a bad time to be a Scottish blogger, first Wardog, then AMW and now Subrosa.

She was (and still is no doubt) a great supporter of Scottish nationalism, as she put it in her own words.
"To help promote interest in independence for Scotland and to keep the Westminster government's misuse of our armed forces in the public domain."

Her reasons though were forced upon her,
"My identity has been exposed. Not only do the person(s) know my name they also know my full address .. why would any person .. go to the trouble of finding out my name and address for any other reason than malicious intent?

"[the person] is well known to be a great supporter of certain Scottish unionist bloggers or ex-bloggers"
Her blog is now private at least until legal moves have been completed. This isn't paranoia on her part either, one of the joys of blogging is the privacy to say what you think to a wider audience anonymously, even if it's something they don't want to hear and makes them angry.
Unfortunately there are some who take anger far too far and begin what looks awfully like stalking and that is every anonymous bloggers fear. Not to be named so much, but to be approached, targetted and your family endangered by someone dedicated enough to track you down. There may be nothing to fear, it may just be scare tactics, but by God it works and by God it would frighten me, though not for myself, but for those close to me who might be affected.

Whoever did this is a disgusting excuse for a human being, they may not have liked what Subrosa had to say, may have been seriously offended, however it wasn't against the law or you'd have legal redress, but you don't track down someone's name and address because of words, not now, not ever.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S[tephen] G. Tallentyre.
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