Disjunct

The Rise of the Rest | Print Article | Newsweek.com
More broadly, this is Americas great—and potentially insurmountable—strength. It remains the most open, flexible society in the world, able to absorb other people, cultures, ideas, goods, and services. The country thrives on the hunger and energy of poor immigrants. Faced with the new technologies of foreign companies, or growing markets overseas, it adapts and adjusts. When you compare this dynamism with the closed and hierarchical nations that were once superpowers, you sense that the United States is different and may not fall into the trap of becoming rich, and fat, and lazy.

I would argue it’s too late for that, and that significant portions of America have been rich, and fat, and lazy since at least the 1950s. But that shouldn’t stop you from reading this thoughtful and considered article.

 

falling into history

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | LSD inventor Albert Hofmann dies
Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died of a heart attack at his home in Basel at the age of 102.

There seems to be quite a die-back going on now. Not only Albert but Humph and Zawinul and Oscar Peterson and Gwinneth Dunwoody and, yes, my dad. Seems like the 20th century is falling further into history all the time. And how could it be otherwise?

And yet it seems so strange. I remember, not all that long ago, thinking about the year 2000 and what it would be like, and how far away it then seemed. It goes so fast.

A9 branded ‘Scotland’s deadliest’ road&ellip;for a given value of ‘deadliest’

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | A9 branded ‘Scotland’s deadliest’
“This is a sad accolade to hold and the A9 has been claiming too many lives for too long,” Mr Fraser said.
“Not only is the personal injury unbearable to the families affected by the accidents, but the cost on our public services to attend and sort each accident out is massive.
“I believe that if a train line in Scotland witnessed the same number of deaths as the A9 does then something would be done to reduce the fatality rate.

If vehicles on roads had strictly enforced speed limits, were kept apart by signalling which actually stops vehicles that pass red lights, and drivers were only allowed to drive on roads they were passed for, then there would be very few road fatalities either. In other words, it’s a lame comparison.

On the other hand, the A9 (and A82 for that matter) are awful. They probably should be upgraded. But drivers using them should be responsible, and not speed and take stupid risks. Those two things are the biggest cause of road accidents and deaths, not bad road design.

A final point for Mr Fraser to consider is that the upgraded part of the A82 on Loch Lomondside bears regular witness to fatal accidents. Upgrading the road is not the whole answer. Indeed, it may just exacerbate the problem as the locals go ever faster on their nice new road…

bean

Just started monkeying around with Bean, a wee word proccessor I’ve been updating, but not actually using for a while.

Well, I haven’t had much to write about, as the regular reader of this blog will know.

Anyway, the point is that I’ve just discovered that as you type text into Bean, it scrolls the window in such a way that the insertion point remains in the middle of the window, not right next to the bottom. In the old school fashion not unfamiliar to users of say, MacWrite II. This is a wonderful discovery, this is something that has bugged me about the Mac’s Cocoa text handling thingeys since, well, the beginning.

I might even start writing things now.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots beaches worst for waste

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots beaches worst for waste
The density of SRD in Scotland was said to be more than five times the UK average.

I find that a little implausible. Is it possible that someone, somewhere is exaggerating a little?

So you’re saying we should ban things before there’s convincing evidence?

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | MSP warning on power line dangers

“The risk is governments and other organisations wait until the evidence is totally overwhelming.”We should look at how evidence is building up.”

 

This is crazy. As far as I’m aware there is no convincing evidence that high tension power lines are a health risk. Even passive smoking is a lot less harmful than active smoking, unless you’re continually exposed to it.

or you could…

BBC NEWS | Politics | £10 licence to smoke proposed

Smokers could be forced to pay £10 for a permit to buy tobacco if a government health advisory body gets its way. 

 

No.First you ban tobacco additives. Then you raise the minimum age to 21. Then you restrict the points of sale, and possibly the hours of sale. Then you raise a wall between us and the rest of Europe… 

Snow in winter, who’d have thought it?

Forgive me a little cynicism. The weather in Scotland has been pretty appalling for the past few days, with rain, snow, and very strong winds. Today that weather moved south and suddenly the BBC noticed. Suddenly, a very dramatic five minute package on the News at 6, with live reports from here there and everywhere.

Apparently bad weather in Britain only counts as national news when it moves into England…

fuck off you small minded bigots

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | EU far-right groups to form party

In Vienna, the heads of Austrias Freedom Party, Belgiums Vlaams Belang, Bulgaria[']s Ataka and the French National Front said the new party would be a counter-balance to other political forces in Europe.”We say: Patriots of all the countries of Europe, unite Because only together will we solve our problems,” Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache said. 

I know, lets make the new Forth Crossing another bridge!

BBC NEWS | Scotland | High winds cause major problems

Pc Andrew Starkie, of the Road Policing Unit, said: “Motorists should expect long delays as the Forth Bridge has been closed.”There is currently a five-mile tailback from the Kincardine Bridge and there is a two-mile tailback on the M9 in this area.”