DRONES
We tend to think of drones as military bits of kit, that are used in far away places such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, technology is technology; and once the genie is out of the bottle, it is hard to put it back in.
This week saw the first conviction in Denmark of someone breaking the drone laws. These are in fact quite extensive; drones must fly at least 150 meters from any building or public highway, cannot fly higher than 100 meters, must be at least 5 km from a civilian aerodrome and 8 km from a military one, and must not put anybody's lives or property in danger. In built-up areas and similar (such as festivals, campsites etc) they are forbidden.
The man in question, who was fined kr.3,500, had got his drone to fly around his neighbourhood and look in through people's windows. It was the first such fine in Denmark; I suspect there will be many more in the future.
Walter Blotscher
Friday, 31 October 2014
Thursday, 30 October 2014
ELECTRICIANS
The electrician was here today as part of the kitchen project. Electricians have the most difficult job in a building project, in my view, since they tend to do things in small bits. A builder builds a wall for a whole day, and then rings the electrician and asks him to put in a socket somewhere, which probably takes five minutes. Then he is sent away again.
Anyway, I was very pleased that he did come. He put cables under the floor of the TV room, so that we can hang the TV on the wall. He put a light in the shower above the shower head, a job which has been pending since we built the new bathroom in 2002. And he fixed the wall socket in the bathroom, which had a tendency to come out whenever the vacuum cleaner was attached to it.
All in all, a good day's work.
Walter Blotscher
The electrician was here today as part of the kitchen project. Electricians have the most difficult job in a building project, in my view, since they tend to do things in small bits. A builder builds a wall for a whole day, and then rings the electrician and asks him to put in a socket somewhere, which probably takes five minutes. Then he is sent away again.
Anyway, I was very pleased that he did come. He put cables under the floor of the TV room, so that we can hang the TV on the wall. He put a light in the shower above the shower head, a job which has been pending since we built the new bathroom in 2002. And he fixed the wall socket in the bathroom, which had a tendency to come out whenever the vacuum cleaner was attached to it.
All in all, a good day's work.
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 29 October 2014
GUY SCOTT
White people in positions of political power in Africa are one of the rarest breeds on the planet. After the way in which the European powers carved up the continent and then exploited it, that is perhaps not so surprising. So I applaud the appointment of Guy Scott to be interim President of Zambia.
Mr. Scott, an economist and farmer, has been Vice-President of the country since 2011, after serving as Agriculture Minister in the 1990's. The reason for his current appointment is the death in office this week of President Michael Sata, who appointed him to be his deputy. The vice-presidency doesn't hold much power, and Mr. Scott's main job is to hold things together until fresh elections are held within the next 90 days.
In those elections, Mr. Scott is unlikely to be a candidate. That is because the constitution bars people from the presidency unless they are "third generation" Zambian, which Mr. Scott is not. The clause was not put in to stop white people from running, but to debar former President Kenneth Kaunda from trying to get re-elected (Mr. Kaunda's father came from Malawi).
So Mr. Scott's tenure will not only be unusual, but probably very short. This has all the makings of a Trivial Pursuit question in 20 years' time.
Walter Blotscher
White people in positions of political power in Africa are one of the rarest breeds on the planet. After the way in which the European powers carved up the continent and then exploited it, that is perhaps not so surprising. So I applaud the appointment of Guy Scott to be interim President of Zambia.
Mr. Scott, an economist and farmer, has been Vice-President of the country since 2011, after serving as Agriculture Minister in the 1990's. The reason for his current appointment is the death in office this week of President Michael Sata, who appointed him to be his deputy. The vice-presidency doesn't hold much power, and Mr. Scott's main job is to hold things together until fresh elections are held within the next 90 days.
In those elections, Mr. Scott is unlikely to be a candidate. That is because the constitution bars people from the presidency unless they are "third generation" Zambian, which Mr. Scott is not. The clause was not put in to stop white people from running, but to debar former President Kenneth Kaunda from trying to get re-elected (Mr. Kaunda's father came from Malawi).
So Mr. Scott's tenure will not only be unusual, but probably very short. This has all the makings of a Trivial Pursuit question in 20 years' time.
Walter Blotscher
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
BRIDGE (13)
On Sunday I played in my first ever gold tournament. In Denmark, you get bronze, silver and gold points for winning various things, with silver being worth 10 or more times bronze and gold ten or more times silver. At the weekly club meeting, you can only win bronze points, so you have to play a tournament outside the club if you want to earn the other goodies.
After accumulating a certain number of points, you get a different title. and a different coloured etui for your bidding system card. My partner and I used to be Club Masters, then 1* Club Masters, then 2* Club Masters, all green. Now we are District Masters and have a red etui.
Some years ago, we won a tournament that was worth 15 silver points. Back then, the system was not digitalised, so I received a piece of paper. Not really knowing what it was worth, at some point I must have thrown the piece of paper away. So although my partner only ever really plays with me, he has a higher ranking because of those extra 15 silver points. I am currently ranked 2,999 in Denmark; he is ranked 2,775.
In the gold tournament, there were 36 pairs divided into three groups of 12. We were in the top group, which was both good and bad. Good because we were up against some strong players, who were challenging; bad because everybody else had a different coloured (and higher ranking) etui. 55 boards over a day is quite taxing, but we did OK, with 6 top scores, more than the average would predict. Unfortunately, we also got 12 bottom scores, and ended up last.
Still, we came home with a bottle of wine for our efforts, having won a "sprint" prize. On one board, we were the only people to bid and make 6 spades, whereas everybody else in the room bid 4 spades, which made with two overtricks. I enjoyed that hand.
Walter Blotscher
On Sunday I played in my first ever gold tournament. In Denmark, you get bronze, silver and gold points for winning various things, with silver being worth 10 or more times bronze and gold ten or more times silver. At the weekly club meeting, you can only win bronze points, so you have to play a tournament outside the club if you want to earn the other goodies.
After accumulating a certain number of points, you get a different title. and a different coloured etui for your bidding system card. My partner and I used to be Club Masters, then 1* Club Masters, then 2* Club Masters, all green. Now we are District Masters and have a red etui.
Some years ago, we won a tournament that was worth 15 silver points. Back then, the system was not digitalised, so I received a piece of paper. Not really knowing what it was worth, at some point I must have thrown the piece of paper away. So although my partner only ever really plays with me, he has a higher ranking because of those extra 15 silver points. I am currently ranked 2,999 in Denmark; he is ranked 2,775.
In the gold tournament, there were 36 pairs divided into three groups of 12. We were in the top group, which was both good and bad. Good because we were up against some strong players, who were challenging; bad because everybody else had a different coloured (and higher ranking) etui. 55 boards over a day is quite taxing, but we did OK, with 6 top scores, more than the average would predict. Unfortunately, we also got 12 bottom scores, and ended up last.
Still, we came home with a bottle of wine for our efforts, having won a "sprint" prize. On one board, we were the only people to bid and make 6 spades, whereas everybody else in the room bid 4 spades, which made with two overtricks. I enjoyed that hand.
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 27 October 2014
MOVEMBER (3)
I am growing a beard again, in order to be ready for Movember.
Nothing unusual in that. Though I can already tell that there are more grey streaks in it than before. I am ageing.
Walter Blotscher
I am growing a beard again, in order to be ready for Movember.
Nothing unusual in that. Though I can already tell that there are more grey streaks in it than before. I am ageing.
Walter Blotscher
Sunday, 26 October 2014
AFGHANISTAN (3)
Britain has ended its combat operations in Afghanistan. Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the U.K. has seen 140,000 soldiers serve there, at a cost of some £19 billion. 453 troops have died, many more have been wounded, a sizeable proportion for life.
Politicians have been scrambling over themselves to say that the cost has been worth it, and that Afghanistan is now able to stand on its own two feet. This is one big lie. The country was a mess when the West went in, it is still a mess today.
The arguments I made back in 2010 are still valid today. All that blood and treasure was a complete waste of resources. Future historians will judge it very badly.
Walter Blotscher
Britain has ended its combat operations in Afghanistan. Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the U.K. has seen 140,000 soldiers serve there, at a cost of some £19 billion. 453 troops have died, many more have been wounded, a sizeable proportion for life.
Politicians have been scrambling over themselves to say that the cost has been worth it, and that Afghanistan is now able to stand on its own two feet. This is one big lie. The country was a mess when the West went in, it is still a mess today.
The arguments I made back in 2010 are still valid today. All that blood and treasure was a complete waste of resources. Future historians will judge it very badly.
Walter Blotscher
Saturday, 25 October 2014
BRITAIN AND THE E.U. (2)
The sleepwalking to the exit scenario that I mentioned back in June looked a touch more likely today. That is because the U.K. has just been presented with a £1.6 billion bill from Brussels, as an additional contribution to the E.U.'s budget. Cue lots of frothing from the mouth. And not just from the usual suspects on the Conservative Party's backbenches, but also from Prime Minister David Cameron himself.
The reason for the bill is the adjustment to national accounts that all countries, not just E.U. Member States, are currently undergoing. With respect to Britain, that exercise has made the economy larger. Since contributions to the E.U. budget are made on the basis of the size of their economies, that means that Britain has to pay more.
Under normal circumstances, finding out that you have a bigger economy than you thought is a good thing (France, for instance, has discovered that its economy is smaller, and so gets £801 million back; Denmark gets £253 million back, an even greater amount relative to population). However, anything to do with the E.U. does not constitute normal circumstances in Britain, even though in this particular instance, the E.U. is getting about Euro 420 million less overall than it did before.
What is surprising is not so much the public reaction, but the fact that David Cameron didn't see it coming. After all, the contribution rules were agreed by all the Member States, and are very clear; and he must have been briefed by the Treasury about the economic statistics, not least because he will have wanted to brag about it. Somehow, though, the two things became disconnected in his brain. As I say, sleepwalking.
Walter Blotscher
The sleepwalking to the exit scenario that I mentioned back in June looked a touch more likely today. That is because the U.K. has just been presented with a £1.6 billion bill from Brussels, as an additional contribution to the E.U.'s budget. Cue lots of frothing from the mouth. And not just from the usual suspects on the Conservative Party's backbenches, but also from Prime Minister David Cameron himself.
The reason for the bill is the adjustment to national accounts that all countries, not just E.U. Member States, are currently undergoing. With respect to Britain, that exercise has made the economy larger. Since contributions to the E.U. budget are made on the basis of the size of their economies, that means that Britain has to pay more.
Under normal circumstances, finding out that you have a bigger economy than you thought is a good thing (France, for instance, has discovered that its economy is smaller, and so gets £801 million back; Denmark gets £253 million back, an even greater amount relative to population). However, anything to do with the E.U. does not constitute normal circumstances in Britain, even though in this particular instance, the E.U. is getting about Euro 420 million less overall than it did before.
What is surprising is not so much the public reaction, but the fact that David Cameron didn't see it coming. After all, the contribution rules were agreed by all the Member States, and are very clear; and he must have been briefed by the Treasury about the economic statistics, not least because he will have wanted to brag about it. Somehow, though, the two things became disconnected in his brain. As I say, sleepwalking.
Walter Blotscher
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