HRH

The Gorse Fox was delighted to hear yesterday's comments from Prince Charles on Climate Change... if ever anything was going to convince the Gorse Fox he is right to be sceptical - it is HRH taking the opposing the view.

Returns

The Gorse Fox had to head to one of Starfleet's country houses for a meeting. It was time to compare his staff assessments with those of other teams... and make sure we were fair and consistent. The meeting was long, and the Gorse Fox's assessments went well.

Leaving the country house GF stopped off at a gadget shop to return a power-pack that he didn't need. He timed this to perfection following a chap  into "Customer Services" who clutched a large plastic bag. Arriving at the counter first he emptied the contents of the bag on the counter. The ink cartridges formed a small avalanche as the chap pulled out a sheaf of receipts and asked for a refund. This meant that the assistant had to work through the avalanche cartridge by cartridge checking them off against the receipts. As the Gorse Fox's beard started to grow longer, and his patience got shorter he watched the glacial progress as they were sorted and checked. Eventually it was over and GF got to return his power-pack... a process that only took about 60 seconds.

Stopping by Starfleet HQ he returned last year's laptop and grabbed some lunch before heading back to his study.

Balanced BBC

The Gorse Fox had to write a note of complaint to the BBC over a lopsided report on "The One Show". He has no doubt the comment will be moderated out (i.e. not published) so in essence this was the draft... (though the final version was a bit longer but he forgot to copy it before hitting send).

What a travesty. How can the One Show give such a one-sided poorly researched piece on Climate Change. Ben Goldacre should be ashamed of his position. I don't know any climate "deniers".

I do, however, know a lot of sceptics. They have a perfectly valid right to question why $42 Trillion dollars (yes that is the estimated cost) is being wagered on a scientific hypothesis that is not proven nor "settled". Even one of the coordinating lead authors of the IPCC report has said "In the Fourth Assessment, the summary was quietly replaced several months after it was first published because some scientists who were involved complained of misrepresentation." I do notice that as more and more sceptics are examining the science and finding flaws in the data gathering, in the data, in the mathematics and in the shoddy and dishonest way in which it has been published that the "True believers" are becoming more and more vituperous, and unable to backup their position with reliable facts.

There are significant lists of scientists who refute the infantile claims made by Ben Goldacre, and it was a shame that the BBC were too cowardly, or too wedded to their biased position to allow the other side of the debate to be voiced.

Games

According to the BBC web site today there is a new arcade game that is proving immensely popular... "Whack a banker"...

With news that a March election may be in the offing, the Gorse Fox wondered if this was a spoonerism for Labour's election slogan?

MAD - Mob Affective Disorder

In a superb piece today entitled "Beyond Debate?" we see this question raised by Martin Cohen

Is belief in global-warming science another example of the "madness of crowds"? That strange but powerful social phenomenon, first described by Charles Mackay in 1841, turns a widely shared prejudice into an irresistible "authority". Could it indeed represent the final triumph of irrationality? After all, how rational is it to pass laws banning one kind of light bulb (and insisting on their replacement by ones filled with poisonous mercury vapour) in order to "save electricity", while ploughing money into schemes to run cars on ... electricity? How rational is it to pay the Russians once for fossil fuels, and a second time for permission (via carbon credits) to burn them (see box page 36)? And how rational is it to suppose that the effects of increased CO2 in the atmosphere take between 200 and 1,000 years to be felt, but that solutions can take effect almost instantaneously?

The Gorse Fox suggests that he is right on the money and that what we are seeing is a form of mob hysteria.

Age gap

The Gorse Fox got a call from the Silver Vixen. "I've got a problem with the laptop, can you help?".

The Gorse Fox leapt to his feet and headed into her study. He looked at the screen an immediately saw the problem. This would be easy to fix, he thought. It wasn't quite that easy though. The cursor was not responding to the Gorse Fox's administrations.

It was at that point that the Silver Vixen pointed out that GF was clutching her spectacles case, not the mouse!

It is clear that time is catching up!

Coercion

As the climate debate starts to get down and dirty we find that 1700 scientists have agreed to sign a statement defending the “professional integrity” of global warming research, according to The Times.
It then goes on to admit:

One scientist said that he felt under pressure to sign the circular or risk losing work. The Met Office admitted that many of the signatories did not work on climate change.

We will soon see this 1700 number quoted without clarification - though the 3000+ scientists who signed the opposing view last year are always questioned as to their "climate" credentials.

And we also find that in Australia, one sceptical newspaper reporter's kids have been targeted with mail villifying their dad.

What really troubles the Gorse Fox is that this is only necessary because there is doubt and these tactics are reminiscent of schoolchildren having tantrums because some disagrees with them.

Loose change

45Trillion dollars.

That's the UN estimate of how much agreement at Copenhage will cost. Just thought you should know...

Teaching

There is a rolling headline on the BBC today "Some state schools in England use underhand tactics to attract the most desirable pupils"... the Gorse Fox wondered what these might be: limousines to and from school, designer uniforms, school trips to the Bahamas.

Or maybe just teaching well and imposing some discipline!

Symphonic

The Gorse Fox has spent much of the day transferring some of his Excel skills to Symphony. This has not been without its little challenges but everything seems ok at present.

The nice man from DHL turned up mid-afternoon. The Gorse Fox is always impressed by the way these big delivery organisations work. He saw the records showing the pick-up from the warehouse, the transfer to the main distribution warehouse, the subsequent transfer to Brighton depot... and knew it was en route by the local delivery agent.

It reminds him that on TV last night they had a clip that showed how Ocado manage their distribution. Most impressive.

Freedom of Speech - cyber warfare

The Gorse Fox has always been troubled by the bad manners of people who shout down people who are giving their opinion (however daft). he sees that as bullying.

Over the weekend he was enjoying an online debate regarding Climate Change. There was a good exchange of views and it remained polite, reasoned and informed. Suddenly we saw retrospective edits being made, links and clips being vandalised, and non-standard views being clobbered. Another participant caught someone in the act and they exchanged messages. It would appear that the vandal has been paid to vandalise and "Waves" that discuss AGW until Copenhagen is finished.

Somehow this seems so appropriate - at a time when the leaked emails show the attempts made to suppress contrary views and data - we find a paid effort to suppress contrary views and data.

Dimanche

Another pleasant day... nothing too stressful. The Gorse Fox did manage to get through to Cousteau-cub on the phone. Things are obviously getting busy there (in fact tomorrow she has 3 separate dives scheduled). We have also been talking of going out to see her, so started to look for flight costs to get an idea what we need to save.

GF also played around with his WAMP setup, and in a stroke of genius managed to lock his phpMyAdmin out of the underlying mySql database... that'll be something to sort out during the week.

Gordon Brown and Climategate

It is funny to see that it is reported "Gordon Brown: [believes] climate-change sceptics are 'flat-earthers'. What a relief. He's been so right about everything else, after all!!!

In praise of our Government (?)

In praise of our Government.

Or, what has New Labour done for us.

• Robbed the UK of its private pensions by raiding the pension schemes - whilst maintaining the pension scheme for MPs
• Lied to us over Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Sent our armed forces into Iraq after being informed it had no legal basis
• Hounded Dr. Kelly to his death because he would not follow the party line on Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Sent the armed forces into Iraq and Afghanistan, but forgot to equip them
• Brought us Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman, the Dark Lord Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, and John Prescott
• Sold our gold reserves at the bottom of the market
• Presided over the massive recession and drove the country into debt that will last a generation to pay for it 
• Gave away our sovereignty as of 1st December 2009 when the Lisbon Treaty came into force
• Made the President of Europe our head of state
• Put our Prime Minister in a position where he is now obliged to promote the aims and objectives of the European Union over and above those of the United Kingdom
• Gave control of our financial institutions to (French) EU Regulators.
• Signed up to the Human Rights act without realising the real beneficiaries are solicitors and criminals
• Promised a referendum on the EU Constitution then reneged when it was renamed
• Neutered the House of Lords so there are no checks and balances on their legislation
• Disenfranchised thousands of children from university places by setting quotas that selected candidates based on background not education
• Charged students for the University education that previous generations had for free and thus plunged them into years of debt
• Set up secret "courts" to dispose of the assets of elderly patients
• Imposed unelected regional assemblies, after a referendum on the subject voted against them
• Presided over a greater erosion of the UK's Industrial Base than any previous Government (yes even more than Mrs Thatcher's).

And they created a country where:

• A country where you can be followed home and reported to social services for chastising your child in public.
• You are watched by CCTV cameras everywhere you go
• You can be prosecuted for speaking freely
• Council snoopers can wander round your house
• You can be taxed for improving your house without any warrant or judicial intervention
• You can be taxed for you view
• The Civil Service are rewarded for spending their annual budget - not saving it.
• Political correctness forms a destructive cancer at the heart of our society:

Political Correctness (def.) - a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
(with acknowledgements to the original author - whoever that was)

• The police can take your DNA for any reason (even a simple traffic stop) and store it for up to 6 years even if you are entirely innocent of any wrong-doing.
• If you ever see a child (or expect that you might see a child - even in the distance) you must have criminal checks.
• You get Government TV adverts about reducing CO2 presented as a series of facts - which are unproven

But hey, don't forget:

• You can sue other people for your own stupidity or clumsiness
• You can be given a flat or house for getting pregnant
• There's no need to work for a living
• You can suppress scientific opinion with libel laws

Just Waving

Another day of calls and reviews. Nothing too riveting.

What has been interesting though is the ongoing debate on climate change that has been going on across a number of web sites and Google Wave. GF has participated in the Wave discussion "Climategate - REFUSE TO BE FOOLED!-" - trying to bring a little sense and critical thinking to the process. Always amusing to see the polarisation of views.

Shredder

As Starfleet prepares to shred lose many of its more experienced designers and architects due to its treachery over pensions, the Gorse Fox has spent much of today looking at the new crop. These individuals need to be nurtured, encouraged, guided and seeded into the opportunities that help them grow their experience. It's been good hearing about these rising stars... but the Gorse Fox is concerned that we have a few rocky months ahead.

You may wonder if the Gorse Fox is one of those about to jump ship. Well, the answer is no. There's still too many problems that he wants to go out and solve, and he still wakes up every morning relishing the challenges the day will bring.

More smelling salts please

News at Ten have finally reacted to "Climategate" and started to report (several days behind the curve) on what's going on. Obviously the noise from the blogs around the world, the number of written comments, and the upswelling of comments from politicians around the world made the BBC increasingly isolated in ignoring the incident.

Please pass the smelling salts, the Gorse Fox feels quite faint!

Work

Busy day today. Project work, appraisals, telecons etc. Not much to see here.

Bring the Smelling Salts

BBC News has just admitted that 55% of people do not believe in Anthropogenic causes of Global Warming (or at least that it is not proven). They didn't give that any air time... but they have at least admitted it.

Gravity

The Gorse Fox has said it before - Gravity can be a bit of a bugger. The Silver Vixen went out to do some Christmas Shopping and whilst she was out she was attacked by gravity,. There she was walking past "Past Times" when gravity charged out of the pavement and mugged her. She has come home, having twisted her ankle, after succumbing to the attack.