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March 29, 2006
Climate: a confused debate
Almost everybody is now talking about climate change and it’s a confused debate.
What exactly do we make of the Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, telling us we will fail to meet the target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2010, and then hopping into her Jaguar? Meanwhile according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, God is sending us a warning and we should take notice.
Chris Huhne got it right when he said, “Even the modest progress made on the Kyoto basket of greenhouse gases is largely an accidental result of the switch from coal to gas-powered electricity generation, and has nothing to do with government policy.” The government has never prioritized climate change except in Tony Blair’s speeches.
Mark Lazarowicz, the excellent Edinburgh North MP, is quoted as saying, “Nuclear power is neither safe, secure, cheap nor renewable. As long as the debate remains focused on the fors and againsts of nuclear power, the full potentiality of renewable energy will not be realised.”
This states the Labour government policy in reverse: the full potentiality of renewable energy will not be realised (because of all the tedious problems involved with planning, bureaucracy etc.) so we will have to build new nuclear power stations.
This is defeatist. If the public were presented with concrete policies (road speed limits, energy saving in homes, clean fuel incentives, air travel taxes etc.) they would be support them. People are not indifferent to the issue of climate change. Many things can be done now, relatively inexpensively, before we tackle the harder, more difficult and more expensive questions.
Meanwhile what about the international context? What does climate change imply for our relationship with the USA? Is the alliance still viable if America refuses to take measures to reduce emissions?
www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1741461,00.html?gusrc=rss
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=484112006e
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:30 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
March 27, 2006
‘The primacy of the Commons’
With renewed interest in the reform of the House of Lords, the catch phrase of the week seems to be the ‘primacy of the Commons’. Blair, Brown, Kenneth Clarke and probably a number of others have referred to it in recent days.
Members of the House of Commons are determined to maintain the power of the Commons, i.e. their own power. They have the difficulty of trying to reform the Lords (in a seemingly democratic way) and at the same time making it subservient.
However for those of us who are not in the Commons, ‘primacy’ is not an issue. We just want effective democractic institutions. The relative power of an elected lower house vis-à-vis an elected upper house is not a problem. Indeed it seems entirely natural that an elected upper house should become more powerful than an unreformed, unelected, and basically corrupt assembly.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4848618.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:46 AM | TrackBack
March 26, 2006
Public smoking ban starts today
No smoking in public places from today. All concerned should be congratulated. This measure alone has made the Scottish Parliament worthwhile. If only other political issues were so easy to solve! Will 140 pubs close? I doubt it.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:15 PM | TrackBack
March 25, 2006
Petition for free access to European geographical data
The Public Geo Data site is organizing a petition to the European Parliament asking for state-collected geographic data to be made freely available to the public.
Geographic data is of considerable economic, social and political importance. It’s vital that the public have free access to information that has already been funded from taxation.
Please sign!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 10:21 PM | TrackBack
Audio scanning/skimming
I’ve had an iPod for about a year. At first it was for music, but gradually I’ve been using it more and more for spoken voice. One of the big advantages of (time-shifted) mp3 over radio is that you can scan/skim (which is the right word?) audio, rather as you scan a newspaper, extracting what is value and passing over the rest.
According to someone on the PodTech podcast, there are still only about 100,000 people in the States are listening to podcasts. The number in Britain may be higher (relative to the size of the population) as the BBC has so enthusiastically embraced the medium for recycling radio programmes like the ‘Today Programme’, ‘In Our Time’ etc.
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:43 PM | TrackBack
March 24, 2006
Nicol Stephen not to compromise with Labour
Following his article on the David Steel Commission, Hamish Macdonell reports that Nicol Stephen’s policies on local tax and (anti) nuclear power are diverging more and more from those of Labour.
“We would make it clear [in the 2007 election campaign] that we are absolutely determined to use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to prevent a new generation of nuclear power stations being built here… . I am absolutely committed to local income tax for councils replacing the council tax. We will fight very hard for that issue - this is one of the core issues we will be fighting the campaign on.” Nicol Stephen
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=458162006
Posted by Simon Holledge at 10:34 AM | TrackBack
March 23, 2006
Another vote for 'Auld Lang Syne'
Yes, Scotland should have an anthem - so long as it is the right choice. We need a well-crafted tune that people will enjoy singing not just today, but also in the future, not something that everyone wants to change in 20 years time.
So which song is easy to sing, universally known, expresses warm and friendly emotions, and has a text by our national poet? ‘Auld Lang Syne’, of course. Not choosing it would be like the Australians failing to pick ‘Waltzing Matilda’.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4837078.stm
www.theherald.co.uk/features/58519.htm
kirkelder.blogspot.com/2006/03/scotland-has-no-need-of-anthem-for-it.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:56 PM | TrackBack
March 22, 2006
More on the David Steel Commission
Liberal-Democrat supporter DocVee, the writer of a smart Edinburgh (?) blog. picked up my 7 March posting about the David Steel Commission. Perhaps I might make a few points in response?
We can look at the Steel Commission’s list of recommended powers for Scotland, noting what is there and what isn’t. The detail is important. ‘Scottish national security’ is in. For the SNP this is good. In almost all federal countries this power is not devolved. Control over taxation and immigration are also in, although foreign policy, Europe, defence and the armed forces are off the list.
I believe the Liberal Democrats and the SNP could negotiate a common programme around these proposals - after the 2007 election. Much would depend on the actual election results.
Looking further ahead, a vigorous Scottish parliament in charge of its own finances might be in a position to claim control of foreign policy etc., but the Steel Commission is also asking for a written constitution for the UK which would presumably make changes more difficult. This would be less attractive to the SNP.
My own preference would be for a Nordic Council type of arrangement that included Ireland as well as Scotland, England and Wales as members, rather than a UK-based state.
www.doctorvee.co.uk/2006/03/07/steels-scotland
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:53 PM | TrackBack
Micro-generation
Friends of the Earth Scotland have an excellent page on micro-renewable energy - which means do-it-yourself clean electricity generation.
This includes a system for absorbing heat from the ground which I hadn’t heard of before. It is being used in the Orkneys.
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/nation/microrenewables.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:25 PM | TrackBack
March 17, 2006
Upgrading Edinburgh Parks
According to the BBC this morning, Edinburgh City Council intend to bring the city’s parks “into the 21st Century”. I don’t really understand this. Are our trees out of date or something?
Councillor Ricky Henderson is quoted as saying that “A world-class city needs ‘world-class’ green space”. What exactly does he mean? What is a “world-class green space”?
The establishment of new parks in areas which don’t have them is obviously desirable, but the language of ‘upgrading’ the existing ones rather than ‘conserving/preserving’ raises suspicions. After all, the council has an appalling record when it comes to new architecture.
If they want to upgrade they should start with the performing arts facilities used by the Edinburgh Festival. A lot of money is needed there and until it is spent the Edinburgh Festival will continue to decline.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4814368.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 13, 2006
The 'no foreign language rule' of the BBC
One of the stricter rules of the BBC is that no more than two words of any foreign language should ever be broadcast.
I remembered that when I was listening to the clip of the immensely-entertaining Signor Berlusconi storming out of a TV studio. It was frustrating. I wanted to know what was going on, and I couldn’t do that without hearing the voices of the Italian Prime Minister and his opponent interviewer. Of course the BBC didn’t allow this.
What is the reason for this policy? To make viewers think the world is universally English-speaking? That the BBC and its loyal viewers are in the centre of that world? Leaving aside the influence this has on the non-teaching of modern languages in schools, one of the results of the policy is an over-concentration on the politics of English-speaking countries, and a negative attitude to Europe.
I want to see video clips of politicians speaking in their own languages - with English subtitles.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4800356.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 05:42 PM | TrackBack
March 07, 2006
Eliminating MRSA
And now some sensible advice from the Scottish Infection Standards and Strategy (SISS) Group about getting MRSA out of Scotland’s hospitals - but will the Scottish Executive take it?
news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=303&id=342152006
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:06 PM | TrackBack
Welcoming the David Steel Commission
“No self-respecting parliament should expect to exist permanently on a grant from another parliament.” David Steel.
Heartening to see the Liberal Democrats moving towards recommending full powers for Holyrood! The Lib Dems may talk about federalism, while the SNP use the word independence, but if the details are 95 percent the same - David Steel and company want Holyrood to have full control over taxes, with the key areas of immigration, national security, and energy to come under a Scottish Government (not Executive) - there is an excellent basis for common action.
As I’ve noted before, an SNP/Liberal Democrat alliance makes sense because of the geographical distribution of support for both parties. They are strong in different areas.
My sense is that a large number of Liberal Democrat voters would be happy to see the party end power sharing with Labour, while a bold centre left policy initiative would serve to pre-empt any kind of Tory revival in Scotland.
Bravo David Steel!
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=342882006
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:14 AM | TrackBack
March 06, 2006
Current TV as a model for Scotland
Should we be taking note of Al Gore’s (cable) Current TV?
Mainstream British media are out-of-date. The newspapers are dying. The London-based, centralized BBC is becoming ever more powerful, enjoying huge internet resources that no-one else can match.
Television will change dramatically within the next ten years. Some of the experiments taking place on Current TV will undoubtedly become important features of future broadcasting. Rather than trying to grab a slice of the BBC, (unlikely to be successful and problematic if it was), I’d argue that it would be better to develop something entirely new, contemporary and Scottish.
media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1724582,00.html?gusrc=rss
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:37 PM | TrackBack
March 01, 2006
Scotsman videocast - why did they bother?
The Scotsman is claiming to be the first British newspaper to produce a video (pod)cast, or as they call it, ‘a vodcast’. (It’s a term unknown to me, I think they mean a ‘vlog’.)
They may well be right about being first. Unfortunately newspapers have a poor record when it comes to new media - publishing sterile, comment-less blogs, and barely-audible podcasts by journalists lacking speaking/interviewing skills. (Anyone who doubts the latter should listen to the dire Guardian efforts.) (Undoubted) excellence with the written word obviously doesn’t automatically translate into high standards elsewhere.
The Scotsman ‘vodcast’ is contrasty (half the picture is blacked out), shot with a cheap camera and accompanied by a bland clichéd commentary (“Edinburgh’s Royal Mile is popular with visitors and locals”) and some banal off-the-shelf muzac. It appears to be a bit of recycled tourism video, probably made by Visit Scotland.
Why did they bother? Have they seen Rocketboom? No? Rocketboom uses high definition video and the New Yorkers are kind enough to tell you exactly how it’s done. Someone at the Scotsman should check it out.
heritage.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=499&id=284112006