Re: Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

[super_realist]

Can't see anything wrong with oil companies. Like every other business they are out to make money, but somehow it is frowned upon to make more than anyone else.
It is not the fault of the oil companies if there is future harm to the environment, as if there wasn't a demand or the product they wouldn't be continuing to invest in finding it. (if there even is an issue with the environment)
Oil companies probably put more money into alternatives than anyone else. Statoil in particular.

As for climate change, there is no doubt it is occurring, however considering the age of the earth is measured in billions of years and we are only able to go back as far as the last ice age (10-15000 years) to measure climate trends. I'm yet to be convinced of man's actual contribution. The number one greenhouse gas is not C02, CH4 or any other by product of our use, but infact naturally occuring water vapour, which our burning of fossil fuels barely make a dent in. Of course it's all about tolerances and thresholds, but with the likes of India, China and America being the worlds biggest polluters, I'm not going to feel guilty about European energy consumption. It seems very convenient that as people are reliant on fossil fuel then it is easy to tax it by both increasing it's price and the guilt associated with using it.

Anyway, all these lentil knitters who go on about the "evil" of oil have never ever given a viable alternative.
Personally I think Nuclear power is the way forward, but the uneducated hippies will never allow it.

[McLaren]

Despite the clean up costs I actually think nuclear is a very good option but it works poorly in conjunction with current renewable energy. It takes a long time to adjust the output from a nuclear power station so they are good for generating the base load of electricity demand but poor for filling short term gaps. So in the long term unpredictable sources of energy like wind and nuclear would pose a few issues. Although I see wind, at least on shore, as nothing more than a political tool.

The combination of gas and nuclear makes sense to me, adding things like wave when they become available. I think abandoning nuclear will look like a real big mistake in 50 years time.

[super_realist]

Mac,
You might be surprised to know that modern Nuclear power stations produce very little waste which can't be dealt with or re-used, but you are right, the long term production of power in this way requires much planning and construction, however despite the doom mongers and Guardianista hippies, there is enough oil to easily out see all of our lifetimes, and more being found all the time as exploration and extraction methods improve.
Tidal power, particularly in the UK is a complete waste of time. There simply isn't enough places with sufficient tidal heights.

I'm also of the opinion that wind power is a bit of a white elephant. I wouldn't be surprised if their production uses more natural resources than they actually save.

[McLaren]

Super

I think you refer to generation III type reactors. I only know this as after getting an essay back from my tutor at uni I found some unfavourable comments scribbled on it after I referred to them as “flat pack” or “IKEA type power stations”. I thought this was a clever nod to their standardised design and high uptake in some of the northern European countries. (finland I think)

Apparently not and the tutor did not see the funny side suggesting I had missed the point.

[Doon the Water]

Totally agree with you there Mac. To abandon nuclear power short term was a huge mistake. I think wave energy will make a massive difference but we are 20 years adrift.
The oil producing countries/companies control the world economy at present.
That's not right.

Here's a thought...........steam cars.

[super_realist]

Super

I think you refer to generation III type reactors. I only know this as after getting an essay back from my tutor at uni I found some unfavourable comments scribbled on it after I referred to them as “flat pack” or “IKEA type power stations”. I thought this was a clever nod to their standardised design and high uptake in some of the northern European countries. (finland I think)

Apparently not and the tutor did not see the funny side suggesting I had missed the point.

I hope that was a first year essay Mac.

[super_realist]

Totally agree with you there Mac. To abandon nuclear power short term was a huge mistake. I think wave energy will make a massive difference but we are 20 years adrift.
The oil producing countries/companies control the world economy at present.
That's not right.

Here's a thought...........steam cars.

It's the most valuable and useful commodity in the world on which every developed country's economy is pretty much based, of course oil producing countries are going to hold a lot of sway. I don't think they "control" the world though. Especially when you consider the countries who produce the most are hardly holding the world to ransom (just yet).

[JAS]

Hand luggage!! Why do airlines stipulate a maximum size and then let most passengers quite openly flaunt it. Basically if you need wheels on it the chances are it's NOT hand luggage so go check it in instead of holding up departure time by desparately trying to fit a big rectangular peg into a much smaller, not very efficiently shaped hole. Alternatively...airlines....do your flippin job properly at check in...sheesh!!

[McLaren]

Jas

Whats worse is letting fat people on at no extra cost then charging those of normal build extra when a case is a little over the limit.

they should stipulate the maximum weight a passenger can add to the plane which is made up of passenger weight and luggage weight combined. If you are skinny you get more luggage if you are fat then you will only be able to bring a tooth brush.

[BlueCoverman]

Can't see that idea catching on with the Yanks Mac...

[kwinigolfer]

I think this is the sort of thing you'd like to see penalised:

A man recently had to stand the seven hours' duration of his flight from Anchorage to Philadelphia "because a morbidly obese passenger sitting next to him was spilling into his personal space, making it impossible for him to sit in his assigned seat".

The owner of the Company that brought me to VT was similarly huge and it never failed to amaze that airlines wouldn't charge him for two seats as he inevitably spilled over to adjacent space.

Rude, inconsiderate, disgusting and the bloke I know is still doing it in his late sixties. Amazing he's lived that long, and one can only wish him the lacerated scrotum discussed earlier in this thread.

[super_realist]

Have to agree with you Mac, overly fat people should either be allowed less luggage or have to pay extra for their seat.

Though as Blue says, I'm sure the American's would be up in ( chubby) arms about it.

Be interesting to see by how much world fatness actually raises fossil fuel consumption.

[McLaren]

I do wonder if luggage that is heavier costs more because it adds to take of weight and fuel usage or whether it is because the airlines are charged by weight by baggage handing companies?

[McLaren]

Is there a worse wide combination in the EPL than Glen Johnson and Downing. Truly terrible.

[super_realist]

I'd be happy for football just to stop Mac, most over rated sport and sportsmen around.

[Diggers]

SR, as a Sunderland fan I couldnt agree with you less. Its a wonderful game....when you are winning.

[McLaren]

Super

Are you forgetting about rugby? Played be people who are less skillful than the bloke who writes the bbc's golf section.

[JAS]

Got to say I think I've finally grown out of a love of football... basically money has ruined it, from greed and corruption at the top through to some players having too much to know what to do with, to betting scandals, corporate jollies replacing the true fan, to clubs going to the wall I think it's a pathetic shadow of what it used to be and a indictment of the shady individuals who have ran the world game for so long (I'm thinking specifically of the Seaping Bladder himself).....and if rugby ain't careful it's about to track down the same path albeit a good few years behind.

[navyblueshorts]

Super

Are you forgetting about rugby? Played be people who are less skillful than the bloke who writes the bbc's golf section.

Mac, you really are a moron sometimes. Stop trying to talk about a sport you have absolutely no clue about.

[McLaren]

Thanks, but sadly for you I played rugby for at least ten years and managed to play for my county school team. Or at least the Scottish equivalent.

[navyblueshorts]

Thanks, but sadly for you I played rugby for at least ten years and managed to play for my county school team. Or at least the Scottish equivalent.

That true? In that case, it's even more amazing that you can spout such drivel.

[super_realist]

Mac, you've always struck me as a malnourished drip of about 7st ringing wet. Exactly what Rugby team would need someone like that?

[McLaren]

Navy

If i can be good at it, considering I am 5'9 and quite slim, anyone can be. Just never found the game challenging in the same way golf or football were. Or even other sports like tennis and skiing. In fact I am sure if you trawl through the rest of this thread, all 21 pages, you will find my thoughts on rugby somewhere.




Ok lets start a game. Guess the sentence for the Lawrence murders.


I will go first. Given they were juveniles at the time I will go for life with something like parole hearing after 8-10 years.

[navyblueshorts]

Navy

If i can be good at it, considering I am 5'9 and quite slim, anyone can be. Just never found the game challenging in the same way golf or football were. Or even other sports like tennis and skiing. In fact I am sure if you trawl through the rest of this thread, all 21 pages, you will find my thoughts on rugby somewhere.




Ok lets start a game. Guess the sentence for the Lawrence murders.


I will go first. Given they were juveniles at the time I will go for life with something like parole hearing after 8-10 years.

I think your thoughts on the difficulty of rugby are naïve at best. If you found it easy it doesn't follow that it's a skill-free zone. Maybe you're just pants at the others you've mentioned ? Your comparisons with the other sports above are pretty weak as well IMO.

On to your other point. They'll get 'life' by definition. I think they'll get a harsher sentence than 8-10. They've been enjoying freedom and a normal life (in the prime of their lives) for ~20 years since the event. I'm sure that'll be taken in to account.

[Diggers]

They will be judged as adolescents as that's the age they were when the crime took place so 8-10 is pretty much right I'd say.

[navyblueshorts]

Fresh from Beeb ticker:

Norris: 14 years and 3 months.
Dobson: 15 years and 2 months.

[Diggers]

Given them the full whammy. Don't think they will get top much sympathy from anyone. How long before the other guys are back in the dock ?

[navyblueshorts]

Dunno. I think if they had some physical evidence on the others, they'd have been charged already. Best bet is one of these two spilling the beans on the others.

[McLaren]

Dianne Abbot is even more of a legend than she already was, on newsnight yesterday she basically said that the average copper was of less than desirable intellect.

[super_realist]

Dianne Abbot is even more of a legend than she already was, on newsnight yesterday she basically said that the average copper was of less than desirable intellect.

Could say the same for MP's Mac. Is that really a helpful thing to say about the police?

Exactly why is she a legend?

[navyblueshorts]

Dianne Abbot is even more of a legend than she already was, on newsnight yesterday she basically said that the average copper was of less than desirable intellect.

Legend? She's an idiot. Actually, if that's what she said, she didn't really say anything did she? Hardly unexpected from a politician. What does the dullard expect? Beat coppers with a post-graduate degree in criminal psychology and race relations? She willing to countenance the money that would cost? No? Thought not.

[Diggers]

Why is she an idiot ? I'm not saying she's a legend either but she is one of the better inner city MP's IMO. Quite often used to talk a lot of sense on This Week.

[super_realist]

Saying PC's have lower than desired intelligence is not a very clever thing to say. I haven't seen the direct quote but for someone who has been in her position I thought she might have known better than to even allude to that.

If she'd alluded that squaddies were thick I'm sure there would have been an outcry.

[Diggers]

Most squaddies are thick. Nobody actually thinks the majority join the army to save the country do they ? It's because they are too dim to do much else.
And the coppers I've come across are not the brightest. In London coppers call themselves Job and they really think they are above everyone. Certainly not public servants.

[McLaren]

She basically said that the top of the police force were well enough educated and intelligent enough to understand the social and economic issues surrounding racism in this country, and where we are at with tacking it. She then added that the police on the street doing the day to day work were not in this position.

But I guess having a IQ just above a dogs and being of a certain height is no way to select an elite group of people.

[super_realist]

That may well be true Diggers, but it's one thing believing or knowing that to be true, and another thing to say it. An MP really ought to know better.
MP's have lost their jobs for less and while I don't care for ninnying about, she probably has thousands of coppers and soldiers as constituents (if she's even still an MP) and I doubt they'll take kindly to it. Even if it is true.

[Diggers]

I don't think they even have to be tall anymore Mac.

[Diggers]

That may well be true Diggers, but it's one thing believing or knowing that to be true, and another thing to say it. An MP really ought to know better.
MP's have lost their jobs for less and while I don't care for ninnying about, she probably has thousands of coppers and soldiers as constituents (if she's even still an MP) and I doubt they'll take kindly to it. Even if it is true.

She spoke her mind, as she usually does, to be commended for a politician.
Does she have a parliamentary political post to lose? She certainly won't be stripped of her seat for saying something like that.

[Diggers]

Also SR, most of her constituency is black or Asian so they won't be coppers.

[super_realist]

Also SR, most of her constituency is black or Asian so they won't be coppers.

[navyblueshorts]

Why is she an idiot ? I'm not saying she's a legend either but she is one of the better inner city MP's IMO. Quite often used to talk a lot of sense on This Week.

OK, maybe a bit strong. I have no respect for her as a result of her behaviour re. the private education for her son in the face Labour's education policy when she was running for Leader of the party. She also 'forgot' to declare quite a few thousands of £ as part of her earnings I believe...although that's nothing unusual for an MP.
And most squaddies don't join up because they're too thick for anything else. I'd imagine it's more to do with a steady(ish) job and career prospects. No-one claimed they join up to save the World.

Earth to MacLaren....come in MacLaren.....re. coppers' intelligence quotient. You need how many tens of thousands of basic coppers and you actually expect that they're all going to be the brightest, most socially well adjusted people in the Country? What Utopian world are you in? They're no better or worse than the average working man/woman in most places.

[Diggers]

The problem with the Met is they act like they are something special, they don't connect with the public and you rarely find anyone with much good to say about them. I've had a few particularly unpleasant encounters with them as have several friends.
And most squaddies does are thick.

[Diggers]

This is the worst Man Utd team the EPL has seen IMO. So many weaknesses and mediocre players.
I'd say Man City and probably Spurs will finish ahead of them.

[McLaren]

Steady on diggers, quite a few players missing including the best player in the EPL. You also have to consider the other teams are a lot stronger this season.

[Diggers]

Silva isn't a Man Utd player Mac. Ferguson needs to accept Giggs is shot. Even the strongest Man Utd midfield doesn't look great. Jones is having a poor spell. Hernandez looking ordinary. No obvious first choice quality keeper.
Nope, they have big problems to sort out. I honestly think its time for Ferguson to retire gracefully, he won't of course.

[Diggers]

As if to highlight my points re Jones and the keeper. Shocking.

[McLaren]

No but Vidic does.


Diggers, you were probably one of those people that wrote Wenger off a month or so back. With guys like him and Ferguson in charge of a team I would never try to predict what team to pick or what players need replacing. What is for sure is a player will go if they are not up to it. The current man utd squad is just fine.

[Diggers]

It is just fine. For third.

[McLaren]

Still, I would rather be relegated than have martin o'neil as a manager.

[Diggers]

Really ? Seems odd, careful what you wish for as they say.

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