Interesting Links for 23-01-2018

[andrewducker]

The Lightning Network Could Make Bitcoin Faster—and Cheaper

(tags: bitcoin )

Top architect insists Scotland - Ireland bridge is feasible

(tags: bridge scotland ireland )

Whatever happened to the Brexit talks?

(tags: uk europe )

'Terrifying': How a single line of computer code put thousands of innocent Turks in jail

(tags: turkey internet OhForFucksSake )

The (almost) complete history of 'fake news'

(tags: fake fraud reporting news media )

Once you start engineering Earth's climate you can't stop

(tags: engineering globalwarming Technology thefuture )

How to deal with Twitter trolls

(tags: troll advice harassment twitter )

New York *literally* has a "get out of jail" card. What The Fuck is going on over there?

(tags: police newyork WTF corruption )

In Colorado, a glimpse of renewable energy’s insanely cheap future

(tags: renewables GoodNews thefuture )

Why Churchill was a vicious racist villain

(tags: history UK Africa India racism afghanistan )

Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage Experiment Is a Success

(tags: minimumwage usa )

More on “Get Out of Jail Free” Cards

(tags: police corruption usa )

One in three women miss cervical screening due to embarrassment

(tags: health women uk )

Driver behaviour transformed by A90 average speed cameras

(tags: speed driving safety Scotland cameras )

Nursing Home Recreates Communist East Germany for Dementia Patients

(tags: dementia age care germany memory history )

Trump puts 30% tariff on imported solar cells and modules

(tags: solarpower china usa trade )

Europe's central banks are starting to replace US dollar reserves with the Chinese yuan

(tags: china europe usa finance )

Want a healthier population? Spend less on health care and more on social services

(tags: health money society )

Can You Buy A License to Speed?

(tags: speed crime police )

English NHS accused of fiddling A&E figures to downplay extent of crisis 

(tags: NHS fail OhForFucksSake )

Comments

Want a healthier population? Spend less on health care and more on social services

[alithea]

Or, the alternative headline:

"Want a healthier population? Reduce poverty" which is what they actually mean.

Re: Want a healthier population? Spend less on health care and more on social services

[andrewducker]

I do hear that that helps.

[calimac]

Quibble: They're not literally "get out of jail free" cards, since nobody is claiming they'd work on anything you'd actually get arrested for. What they can get you out of is traffic tickets, which are technically a court summons for which you can forfeit bail by paying the fine. It's still as corrupt as fnck.

The "Churchill as racist" rant doesn't tell the half of it, or even a quarter of it.

[andrewducker]

True, it's not corrupt enough to actually get you out of jail. Still much moor blatant than I'd ever considered.

Being British, all of the media I'm exposed to showed Churchill as a good (if grumpy) thing. I've been slowly learning more.

[alithea]

Lucy Worsley did an excellent programme on the partition of India as part of her 'British History's Biggest Fibs' series - unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available on iplayer at the moment. Hopefully they'll repeat it at some point.

[danieldwilliam]

Given how wrong Churchill was about lots of things I'm a bit surprised he did so well during the Second World War.

I think the British people of the 1940's had a good handle on him given how quickly he was dumped in '45 for Attlee and socialism.

[calimac]

In one of his election broadcasts, Attlee actually thanked Churchill for, in his own broadcast, having claimed that Labour would have to enforce socialism with some sort of Gestapo. About his close colleagues of 5 years' standing it was astonishingly dismissive, and it showed, Attlee said, the difference between the war leader and the party politician.

(And I think it was David Low who drew a post-election cartoon featuring a cheerful war leader Churchill saying to a grumpy party-politician Churchill, "Cheer up, they'll forget you but they'll remember me.")

Churchill, of course, didn't get the point at all, and referred to his war victory as having been rewarded with the Order of the Boot.

[danieldwilliam]

I think one of Churchill's main problems was that he couldn't see that things were not always about him.

[calimac]

I think it just has to be put in the hopper with all the things he did do right, which were considerable.

It's a pity that his warnings against Hitler were dismissed, for instance, but it wasn't just because the other politicians were obtuse. It was because, through long experience, they couldn't trust Churchill's judgment. At the same time he was denouncing Hitler, he was - in terms equally apocalyptic - also denouncing Gandhi.

And this after both major parties had agreed to move India towards self-government. Churchill was incensed about that.

Colorado Renewables

[danieldwilliam]

On the cost of renewables in Colorado.

Generally good news and (I think) part of a continuing and accelerating trend that will see more and quicker renewable uptake in more places.

I think a word of caution. I don't think the bids for "wind + storage" or "solar + storage" are for large amounts of storage. I don't think we're looking at replacing a CCGT. What I suspect is being offered is some renewable generation with a relatively small battery that does electricity condititioning, balancing services and provides enough back up storage that the generators have time to cover their position in the event of a fall off in production. They might be aiming to time shift some supply to match peak demand.

I think it's great that more batteries are being put in to operation because I think the driver of cost reductions are economies of scale and learning curve effects, both of which are in turn driven by volume. I wouldn't want anyone to get the impression that solar + storage could provide power 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for about 10% more than the base cost of solar PV.

Re: Colorado Renewables

[andrewducker]

Not entirely renewables - but a fair bit of it:
"The proposal would shut down two coal plants in the state and replace their output with roughly 700 MW of solar, 1 GW of wind, and 700 MW of natural gas by 2023."

Re: Colorado Renewables

[danieldwilliam]

Aye - of course they are replacing a couple of coal plants with other stuff.

I wonder if they are at the solar PV / wind is cheaper to build than the gas costs to burn stage yet.

(Or as I have decided to name it the Sutton Gas Inflection Point).

Re: Colorado Renewables

[andrewducker]

From the article:
According to Carbon Tracker, based on these bids, new wind+storage energy in Colorado is cheaper than energy from the state’s existing coal plants; solar+storage energy is cheaper than 75 percent of the state’s coal energy. This is worth repeating, because it’s a significant milestone: In Colorado, getting energy from new renewable energy projects with storage is cheaper than getting it from existing coal plants

Re: Colorado Renewables

[danieldwilliam]

So, it's sounding like the renewables plus modest storage is cheaper than the non-capital costs of coal in Colorado.

Which takes you down a CCGT route.

Tarriffs

[danieldwilliam]

Like a lot of things to do with China I'm not sure if they have accidentally over built manufacturing capacity because their statistical agencies are flawed, or are dumping as a deliberate act of policy using subsidies from the Chinese state or if they are just cheaper than the rest of world.

Re: Tarriffs

[andrewducker]

I think there was a case for dumping.

But as of last year the EU started phasing out its tariffs on Chinese solar panels. So either we decided it wasn't dumping them any more, or that we didn't care, we'd take them cheap.

Re: Tarriffs

[danieldwilliam]

There is certainly an argument for "I don't care if you are manipulating the price, I'll take as many solar panels as you are prepared to sell me at a loss".

Re: Tarriffs

[andrewducker]

Of course that means ceding expertise in solar panels and their manufacturing to the Chinese. Which might be problematic in the long run.

But might not be. Or might be inevitable. I guess we'll see!

Re: Tarriffs

[danieldwilliam]

I recall a German solar PV factory that was almost entirely automated. It could compete on price with Chinese rivals but basically employed no one. Paid a decent amount for the IP for the super solar panels and the robots.

Perhaps there is some secret deal between the EU civil service and the US civil service to take turns imposing tarrifs on Chinese solar panels. We'll ration their exploitation so they can't establish too dominant a global position whilst milking their subsidies on a turn and turn about basis.

If so, well done to the US Department of Commerce for getting some coherent policy by Trump.

One problem for the US tariff policy is that unless Mexico is also imposing tariffs then it just becomes cheaper to make things in Mexico. This seems to be a big problem in the US. I'd chuck already doomed US coal miners under a bus so long as that bus was made in the USA and not Mexico if I were Trump.

Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

I quite like the idea of a bridge to Belfast. I'm in favour of interconnectivity.

But £15bn sounds like a lot of money. It is a lot of money - about half of the Scottish Government's entire annual budget.

I think the bridge would end up making Dumfries and Galloway a suburb of Belfast. Again, not bad. In fact probably a net benefit for southern Scotland and for Scotland as a whole. But something that would happen.

It does support post-Brexit Plan Number 6 - that Northern Ireland reunifies with the Republic and then Scotland joins the Confederacy of Ireland.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

I approve of Plan number 6.

Bits of south west Scotland are already suburbs of Belfast to an extent - a lot of 'questionable' people moved over when the troubles finished...

A bridge would certainly save me having to go on ferries, but yeah, that is a *lot* of money.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

I'm not adverse to Plan Number 6. It has lots of merits. I'd prefer us just to declare independence in 2018 and revoke our part of Article 50 and let the EU sort it out but Plan Number 1 might not be on offer.

But it would have to be a Confederacy with Ireland. I'm not sure I exactly want to be in a fully bound up Union with either the old Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. They both have some political problems in their history that I think Scotland would be all to willing and able to import if we got the chance. A beard marriage to get round Rajoy and the PP in Spain.

I'm am not at all surprised that people with a colourful past have moved from Northern Ireland to Dumfries and Galloway.

The acccountant in me is wondering how many houses would have to be built in D&G to pay for a £15bn bridge (the answer turns out to be about half a million).

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

I would much prefer Plan 1 too. And definitely no importing of NI's crazy politics to Scotland (although we already have more of it lurking in corners than I'd like).

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

We do seem to have more NI-type crazy here in Scotland than we'd like to admit. Probably. No one will admit to it. MLW did some work on sectarianism a few years ago. Lots of dark talk about how it continued to influence thing in the Central Belt but not a lot of concrete examples that people were prepared to talk about.

And we've had MSP's sent bullets for daring to wear Celtic shirts.

As an atheist Aberdonian and Edinburgher and an immigrant to both from England I'm a little flummoxed by the whole thing.

My only direct experiences of it are being viewed with suspicion by the local policeman in Limivady and the being visited by Orangemen looking for a toilet during the annual Orange March from the Meadows.

I'd quite like to avoid the Republic's cronyism too. That's something I fear Scotland could get really bad at.

Combining the two would be toxic.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

Yeah.

We have an Orange march that goes past our flat every year - much to the Boy's delight, being an Irish Catholic by birth :( Although last year there were more police marshals than marchers, and there weren't that many of them!

I get the impression that it's worst in Glasgow and some parts SW of it. Certainly the Boy has bad experiences of being Irish in Glasgow when Rangers are playing.

A yes to the cronyism too, it's definitely something I got whiffs off from the SNP when Alex Salmond was in charge, less so now, but I suspect it's just moved down a level and therefore become less obvious.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

Salmond was definately chummy with a number of people who perhaps got more influence over policy than they ought.

Or just got free golf courses.

The Orange March here seems to have moved. When we first moved in it was very large and right on the Meadows and there seemed to be hundreds of buses coming in from all over Scotland. If you half closed your eyes and didn't listen to the speaches it looked quite jolly. Until you remember what it is actually about.

There is also a limit to the number of bad covers of The Sash My Father Wore that one can listen to before one starts reaching for Spotify and a list of reggae covers of the Spice Girls Greatest Hits or Songs of the Venga Boys Re-imagined by Julio Inglesiaz and Ricky Martin.

Anyhow, I haven't seen it recently. Perhaps we have been away when it happened. Perhaps it has moved to some other park. Perhaps it has stopped happening.

The other stranger march was a march in commemoration of some Irish socialist nationalist (Tom Connolly). I've only seen that once but there was definately a lot of police compared to the number of marchers.

Aye - Irish Catholisism and Rangers home fans are not a happy mix.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

I'm neither Irish, Catholic nor a football follower but it seems to me like the only times there is ever trouble in Dundee over football it is because Rangers are playing. We've had riot police outside our flat on at least 3 occasions and the front of the building egged once.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

Rangers are not a class act. Neither the club nor the fans contribute positively to the nation. I was delighed when the were liquidated and relegated to the lower divisions. The best thing that has happened to Scottish football since Aberdeen won the European Cup Winners Cup.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

Agreed! The only time I've been cheered by football news in my life ;)

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[skington]

I've heard it said in Glasgow that the only reason the Troubles didn't spread to Scotland is that that's where people's grannies lived.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[alithea]

That sounds entirely plausible.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[skington]

One problem with a crossing - bridge or tunnel - is Beaufort's Dyke.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

A problem in terms of the engeineering needed to get over it or the munitions at the bottom of it? Or both?

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[skington]

Well, it depends on whether you're building a bridge or a tunnel, I imagine ;-) .

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

I'm thinking of some kind of hybrid device combining the key features of both a tunnel and a bridge.

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[skington]

Sounds like... a “ferry” ;-) .

Re: Bridge to Belfast

[danieldwilliam]

A ferry would combine both the experience of being inside with the practicallity of not being under the water.

Seatlle at $15

[danieldwilliam]

The Seattle $15 minimum wage success is heartening but I think there is a caveat that Seattle is a bit of boomtown. How well a $15 minimum wage would work in Alabama is a slightly different question. I think what we've established is that $15 is not too high a minimum wage in a city with strong economic fundamentals.

[nancylebov]

It seems weird to me to say that Churchill was a mass murderer and therefore(?) he had no good reasons for opposing Hitler.

[andrewducker]

I can't see the bit where he said that. Could you point it out to me?

[nancylebov]

Kind of ambiguous, but

"So before my mentions start filling up with people defending him saying BUT WHAT ABOUT WORLD WAR II??????!
These actions here show how they were motivated solely by the paranoia fear and hatred for communism."

[andrewducker]

I do think that's a little unfair on Churchill. Who was clearly very attached to Britain, believed that the British were better than everyone else, and that protecting Britain was of the utmost important.

I do think that his reasons for opposing Hitler were largely selfish though, in that it wasn't about preventing a racist maniac from doing terrible things to people, just about protecting Britain.

[nancylebov]

As a general thing, people underestimate how bad Hitler's habit of invading his neighbors was. Even if there had been no Holocaust, Hitler's war was a crime against humanity.

[heron61]

Once you start engineering Earth's climate you can't stop

I like adding iron to the oceans far more (assuming it works, which is less clear) than sulfur dioxide spraying, since it doesn't result in acid rain. However, given the options of massive global climate change and geoengineering, I know which I want. Yes, any form of geoengineering will cause problems, but not doing it looks to be far worse. The world is headed for sustainable carbon neutral fuels, but we're not going to get there in time to prevent a fairly large temperature rise, unless we use geoengineering.

[danieldwilliam]

Yeah, I'm more comfortable with iron in the oceans than sulphur dioxide in the air. If only for the side benefit that it seems like oceanic iron might provide a food boost for creatures that I like. My other favourite is massive, deep-sea robot assisted kelp farming.

I'm not convinced that we are going to be too late with renewable energy. Or rather, that we are already too late. I think it is likely that we will be too late but I don't think it's a write off quite yet.

[jack]

I thought something like "yes, we definitely need to be fully briefed on the risks of riding the tiger, but I want to be clear *how much* worse they are than standing around in front of the tiger not getting on, and if we can survive that."