Seen in the News

[PanBiker]

For Friday the 13th, the news has been quite uplifting so far this morning in a perverse kind of way. Dominic Cummings is to quit his job and bugger off from Downing street. Peter Sutcliffe has died gasping for breath in prison from Covid and Donald Trump has been told by the courts that there was no evidence of electoral fraud so no case to answer. Can it actually get any better under the present circumstance?

[Tizer]

You can add to that the FT report today that: `Three of the world’s top central bankers predicted the breakthrough on a coronavirus vaccine would lift the uncertainty weighing on the global economy.'

[Stanley]

Plus the fact that Cominic left with his obligatory cardboard box before the end of the day. As Ian says, not a bad day at all!

[Tizer]

This article is concerned mostly with potential shortages of goods in the shops at Christmas but I've picked out bits that I think are more important - the covid PPE is sitting at the port instead of being moved to where it's needed...

`Shops warn of Christmas stock shortages as PPE shipments clog key UK port: Retailers blame surge in Christmas imports, Brexit preparations and vast backlog of NHS equipment at Felixstowe' Guardian
`Retailers are warning a logjam at the country’s biggest container port could result in product shortages this Christmas, as it emerged 11,000 containers of government-procured PPE is clogging up Felixstowe....The backlog is filling 3o% of the inbound container space at the port. The PPE was a “significant factor” in the current congestion at port, according to one source who suggested the government did not have anywhere to store it. “There is a big build up of it,” they said. Felixstowe said it was “proud to support the government and to play a small part in helping ensure the NHS does not run out of vital PPE during this pandemic”. But a spokesman for the port said some of the PPE containers “have been at the port since August, which does create additional pressure on top of a more general spike in volumes being experienced worldwide. We are working with the contractors to the Department of Health to remove these containers to off-port depots as quickly as possible"..'.

[Tripps]

The backlog is filling 3o% of the inbound container space at the port

Brings the word 'demurrage' immediately to mind
"Demurrage is issued when your cargo exceeds time allotted sitting at the terminal, and detention/per diem is the fee associated with keeping the equipment past the contractual time frame or could also mean the fees for making truckers wait extra time when loading/unloading containers."

[Stanley]

And in my experience David, demurrage was never paid and claims for it were always ignored at my level and never supervised. It was a joke. Think of what the dock queues would have cost. Dock Road in Liverpool was a permanent car park!

[Tizer]

`New Sentinel satellites to check the pulse of Earth' LINK
`Yet more Sentinel satellites are to be built for the EU's Copernicus Earth observation network. Contracts have been announced with industry to procure spacecraft that can provide information on a range of parameters - from the extent of Arctic sea-ice to the condition of soils in drought-hit regions of the world. The new satellites are expected to launch towards the decade's end. This depends, however, on sufficient further funding being identified. Copernicus, with its Sentinel spacecraft, represents arguably the most ambitious EO [Earth observation?] programme in the world right now..'.

[Stanley]

And are we walking away from it?

[Tizer]

`Australia drought: Capturing spectacular storms in the outback' BBC
`The town of Broken Hill in outback Australia has endured an intense drought since 2017, but it is finally seeing some longed-for rain. Spectacular images of recent thunderstorms have been captured by local photographer Jacob Vlatko. He tells the BBC how, after so long, it's been "amazing" to witness.'

[Stanley]

Loved the Sturt Peas.....Amazing how stuff can lie dormant and then respond to rain.
See THIS BBC report on the FAA intermission to fly which will be given to the Boeing 737 Max once they have been modified and pilots retrained. (That is if there is any traffic for them to carry.)
Now the certifying authorities in all the other countries have to make their decisions. There is also the question as to whether anyone will want to trust it?

[Stanley]

Seen in the news this morning and to avoid raising my blood pressure I shall simply report, not voice an opinion. I think you can guess what that would be.
Priti Patel is expected to be found to have bullied staff and broken the ministerial code. Normally this is automatic resignation. We wait and see.
Rishi Sunak has flagged up the fact that despite one of the hardest economic climates we have ever seen he is going to impose a wage cap on public sector workers. Nice one....
I am going to bed for my second sleep.

[plaques]

Rishi Sunak has flagged up the fact that despite one of the hardest economic climates we have ever seen he is going to impose a wage cap on public sector workers.

Its well established by Keynesian economics that the worst thing a government can do during a slump is to apply austerity measures. On the well known fact that 'my spending is your income and your spending is my income' taking more money out of the system only serves to aggravate the slump. Forget the balance of payments and the notion of national debt if all the advanced countries cut back then there would be a world wide slump something the IMF is already warning about. The alternative to austerity is to tax the super rich which even the American Democrats are advocating.

[Tizer]

This doesn't bode well for Christmas and Brexit - an example of the Felixtsowe Fiasco!
`Port troubles leave UK bookseller with no books' LINK

[Stanley]

And I have just seen THIS report that Boris Johnson's adviser on the ministerial code has resigned after the PM backed Home Secretary Priti Patel over a bullying inquiry.
The government's standards adviser Sir Alex Allan found that Ms Patel's behaviour had breached the code. But Mr Johnson rejected Sir Alex's findings and said he had "full confidence" in Ms Patel.
It's yet another Cummings Eye Test.
Felixstowe, PE forecast this 4 weeks ago Peter. Hutchinson's, the port owners, appointed Grayling to advise them, remember?
I'll lay a small bet that care workers will not be included in the NHS freedom from the wage cap.

[Tizer]

If it were Donald Trump at least he would have simply sacked the ministerial code adviser on Twitter instead of going all round the houses by defending Patel to force him to resign.

[Stanley]

What isn't in the news is that with only 40 days to go there is a curious lack of interest in Brexit.....
Question. Has Reality been suspended?

[Tizer]

Brexit? What's that?

Building wind turbines on peatlands?
`Donegal: Ministers shocked at peat slide devastation' LINK
Who was responsible for that mad decision? The article doesn't tell us but I can - Invis Energy LINK

[Stanley]

"There had been opposition to the wind farm development with anglers and others claiming it could lead to instability in the bog where the 19 turbines are going in. Planners had decided it was not a risk."

That's the key sentence for me....

[Tizer]

Me too, just like the planners letting houses be built on flood plains. Sometimes I think we're in the hands of idiots!

[plaques]

Ground vibration from wind turbines is a well known problem. Vibration
There is a need to verify the propagation of soil vibrations, because for points located on
the same substrate this correlation is maintained and I indicate the damping of vibrations,
while the change of soil and soil properties do not give such an unequivocal conclusion.

I would have thought that damp peat would have been high on the agenda for investigation. Remember Aberfan?

[Stanley]

And the well-known phenomenon of liquification of the ground when shaken by an earthquake.

[PanBiker]

In Iceland on the way down to the power station a Keflavik there is a reinforced concrete bunker which covers the borehole and tapping point for the geothermal super heated water that feeds the power station. It exits the ground and into the pipes under such pressure that all the surface of the car park is constantly moving with the vibration. It's a surreal place as the ground moves under your feet. You can't stay there long either as you get nauseous fairly rapidly.

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report makes very reassuring reading after the chaos of the last four years. Plenty to worry about here I know but at least we haven't the additional problem of a maverick in charge of the US!

[Tizer]

`Spending Review: Will the Treasury go green?' LINK
`The Treasury has long been planning a £27bn programme of road-building that will actually increase emissions by attracting more cars on to the roads. It’s part of a long-term £90bn roads investment that appears to run contrary to the wish of even the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps for people to drive less to combat global heating. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has stated that his priority is creating jobs and getting the economy back on its feet. But recent analysis suggests that the labour-intensive task of insulating homes, which reduces emissions, creates at least four times more jobs than highly mechanised road building. Using government data, the think tank e3g calculated that every job created in highly-mechanised road building costs the taxpayer £250,000, whereas a job in home insulation costs £59,000..'.

`BBC News asked the Treasury if it has even calculated the amount of carbon that would be emitted as a result of its spending programme. So far, after many hours and phone calls, we’ve had no reply… not even a “no comment.”

[PanBiker]

Not good news for Rolls Royce in the town.

Unite North West - Rolls Royce to close from this Friday

Remaining employees will be furloughed from the companies own scheme.