Catalonia: nationalism or regionalism?

The Catalonia issue burns hotter. Recently, adoptive Catalonian Simon Harris argued here the economic and historical-cultural case for independence. Even a proposed proto-referendum run by volunteers has been suspended by the Spanish Government's Constitutional Court.

It's clear that identity is a powerful driver in these matters. Yet, as "JD" counter-argues today - in a way that certainly won't please Catalans, but the substantive point has to be addressed - breaking up Spain (there's more than one region that has separatist movements) into cantons makes the whole country easier to swallow. This is, after all, the EU's plan for the UK, with its "regions" including a trans-Channel "Arc Manche".

As with the Scots, the question has to be asked, what is the point of gaining national independence only to be ruled by an even remoter and less responsive power in the form of the European Union? Does this not play into the hands of those who divide in order to rule?


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Spain: Corruption...

JD writes:
____________________

Last week the Guardia Civil in Spain, after a couple of years quietly gathering evidence, arrested 51 regional politicians. Although corruption among officials and businesmen is a well known, but unspoken , 'fact of life' in Spain, the suddenness of the action came as a shock to everyone. The newspapers have been full of little else ever since.

But 51 people taken in for questioning is just the tip of a very large iceberg - I have just been reading this-

"The figures for corruption in Spain show that there have been more than 1,900 people charged in prosecutions for corruption and at least 170 have been convicted of such crimes in the last legislature. However, most of those convicted are not in prison, either because they were given suspended sentences or were disqualified from public office or fined or they still have appeals pending.

"According to data gathered by Europa Press, among those accused and convicted are people who have held positions in political parties or in public administration at all levels as well as businessmen, lawyers, trade unionists and families of all of them, mainly for urban planning corruption , tax fraud and illegal recruitment of both personnel and business."
http://www.elimparcial.es/noticia/143987/nacional/Radiografia-de-la-corrupcion-en-Espana:-mas-de-1.900-imputados-y-al-menos-170-condenados-en-130-causas.html

The corruption is widespread and convoluted. The leading figure in Catalan politics for the past 30 or 40 years (Jordi Pujol) is being investigated along with his two sons, Francisco Granados deputy mayor of the Madrid region has been arrested and it appears that his family are all part of his 'scam', the miners' union chief has been asked to explain where he got his millions from, Mariano Rajoy is desperately doing a damage limitation exercise as most of those arrested are from his party, the Bankia chief is in jail (I think, I'll have to go and check the papers again)

I was told this morning that Valencia is the worst region for 'backhanders' from property developers and the 'white elephant' that is the new Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport would seem to confirm that. However, I'm not the only one who is lost! This is from the newspaper El Mundo-

"The avalanche of cases makes it difficult to track down those involved in the corruption that span the country. ELMUNDO.es offers an interactive map that lists all cases at regional and national level as well as the largest municipal scandals of this century, focusing on the political class and senior officials linked to parties, making up 80% of the listed in this sample involved. This is a work in progress and we would like your cooperation. If you have any precision or suggestions, please write to elmundo.datos@elmundo.es http://www.elmundo.es/grafico/espana/2014/11/03/5453d2e6268e3e8d7f8b456c.html "

As you can see they are asking for people to email with stories which sounds like an invitation to crash their server as I am sure everyone, including me, can give an example of how the wheels are oiled.

If you check the map at the link you will see that there are 38 names in Cataluña, 80 in Valencia region, 74 in Madrid region and a staggering 111 in Andalucia! Aragon, Navarra and Asturias are the only regions with a 'score' of zero (so far!)

As they say, this is a developing story but it looks as though it will run and run. There are cases which are already 'out of time', which have passed the date before which a case must be brought to Court which means they will have to start again. The lawyers will be the only winners here, as usual.

The fall-out continues and we are seeing new stories emerging all the time.

I not sure that these people are wicked as such, it is very easy to lose sight of core values when one is in a position of authority or even close to those in such positions. The actuality of helping friends and colleagues happens all the time to a greater or lesser degree in all walks of life. I can testify to that with a tale of my own: Some years ago I was working in Venezuela for a very big construction company (French company) and they had a 'Mr Fixit' who would help with administration, to liaise with officialdom etc. When I had completed my work there, this Mr Fixit took me to Caracas airport and within about ten minutes of arriving at the front door I was sitting in the 1st Class departure lounge. No check-in, no security check, no queues, no passport control (Mr Fixit took my passport and came back with it stamped)

Now, if that sort of thing were to happen all the time, as it does with politicians and businessmen, it would be very easy to become detached from reality and gradually drift into a position of expecting it to happen as a matter of course.

So it is easy to see now and why they are merely giving in to temptation and are blinded by the sin of avarice.

This is happening in Spain now. To what extent is it happening in the rest of Europe? How large a problem is it in the UK?

Is there anything that can be done about it?

As I say above, it happens all the time at all levels of society, even in small ways - you scratch my back... etc. Is there any way of amending human nature?

Shakespeare knew all about human nature-

"but man, proud man,
Dress'd in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd—
His glassy essence—like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep."

[JD adds:]

You are welcome to add your own observations. I am more forgiving of the failings of human nature; some of those implicated are out and out villains, but some of them are just giving in to temptation. It is easy to be seduced by the preferential treatment you receive. If I could pass through every airport as easily as I did through Caracas, life would be far more comfortable and expectations would rise accordingly to the point where it would seem like an entitlement. Which is why politicians actually genuinely believe they have 'done nothing wrong'.

At what point does 'doing a favour' turn into corruption? Should the Parliamentary Lobby be allowed or banned for example? Life is complicated, is it not :)


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UKIP and UKIT

David Hickman writes on The Conversation not only about the forthcoming and likely controversial C4's "100 Days of UKIP" programme, but about how independent TV in the UK has changed in the last 10 years.

"In 2004, Ofcom fundamentally altered the balance of power between British broadcasters and independent production companies with the introduction of new “terms of trade”. This happened pretty invisibly to anyone outside the industry, but the effects were profound.

"Under these terms, indies retained more of their rights – meaning, among other things, that the most successful of them became richer. And the richer they became, the more attractive they were as takeover targets. The results were a weakening of the broadcasters’ budgets and power, and the creation of super-indies. The results were a weakening of broadcasters’ budgets and power, and the creation of super-indies which became ever more dominant suppliers to those broadcasters. These conglomerates of production companies were (and are) themselves sometimes owned by some the world’s biggest media players."

Unintended consequences...

But since the media are our collective eyes and ears, liberty for all must also involve restricting the power of "overmighty subjects" (and non-subjects).

Will tomorrow die?

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Dogs and cynics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_of_Sinope

The Daily Mail and caveman talk - an expert writes:

 

"‘Kuon’, meaning dog, evolved to give us canine, kennel, and also cynic — a word coined for a sect of ancient Greek philosophers, who believed life’s luxuries were a sham.

 

"They earned their nickname because they had sex in the street, like dogs."

Not quite what I always understood. Perhaps the Mail was editing the extracts down a little too hard.
Wikipedia quotes an ancient commentator:

"There are four reasons why the Cynics are so named. First because of the indifference of their way of life, for they make a cult of indifference and, like dogs, eat and make love in public, go barefoot, and sleep in tubs and at crossroads. The second reason is that the dog is a shameless animal, and they make a cult of shamelessness, not as being beneath modesty, but as superior to it. The third reason is that the dog is a good guard, and they guard the tenets of their philosophy. The fourth reason is that the dog is a discriminating animal which can distinguish between its friends and enemies. So do they recognize as friends those who are suited to philosophy, and receive them kindly, while those unfitted they drive away, like dogs, by barking at them.^[7]"

The IEP says:

"The precise source of the term “Cynic” is, however, less important than the wholehearted appropriation of it. The first Cynics, beginning most clearly with Diogenes of Sinope, embraced their title: they barked at those who displeased them, spurned Athenian etiquette, and lived from nature. In other words, what may have originated as a disparaging label became the designation of a philosophical vocation."

The cynics mocked not only social rules but also the pretence of knowledge, so they barracked philosophers, whom they regarded as bullsh*tters. For example:

"When Plato gave Socrates' definition of man as "featherless bipeds" and was much praised for the definition, Diogenes plucked a chicken and brought it into Plato's Academy, saying, "Behold! I've brought you a man.""

It is easy to imagine them yapping at the profs holding forth, indicating that their noise made as much sense as what was coming out of the philosophers' mouths. Radical honesty, that's a cynic.

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The wisdom of Scott Adams

http://search.dilbert.com/search?w=the+natural

"P.S. Yes, I am in a bad mood this week. Why do you ask?" snaps the famous cartoonist.

Sometimes it takes losing your rag to get at a simple statement of the truth:

"The loser worldview is that whoever is causing the problem needs to fix it for you.

"The problem with the loser worldview is that in many cases the only person who CAN fix the problem is you, even if you had nothing to do with causing it. A winner in that situation fixes his own problem. A loser sits indefinitely waiting for others to solve it for him, even knowing that won't happen. [...]

"If others are at fault, and they have the ability and motivation to fix the problem for you, by all means take a run at it. But if the only person who can fix your problem is you, and you choose not to do it because the fault is with others, you have taken the loser path. You literally chose the path you know will fail because of some misguided sense of rightness."

- Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert)

And one way to assess solutions, he says in "The Joy Of Work", is to formulate them as newspaper headlines. For example, if you think what you need to do in your job is use your time more efficiently, the story would be "Cubicle Worker Becomes Billionaire Thanks To Careful Scheduling".

Brilliant.


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A lament for All Souls

This lament by Iain Dall MacKay was composed on hearing of the death of Patrick Og MacCrimmon - a family famous for its piping tradition whom I first saw mentioned in the writings of George Macdonald Fraser.

A commenter to the above notes that MacKay was mistaken, so that his friend heard the lament. A 1927 recording is here.

UPDATE (21 January 2021): Historical and musicological information here:

https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10170/148/MacDonald%2C%20John-Hugh.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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Scotland's independence: like I said... (2)

"Labour is paying a heavy price for leading the recent campaign against independence, and persuading the Scottish people they’d be better off voting ‘No’. Its core voters in cities such as Glasgow and Dundee felt betrayed by the party standing on a platform with the hated Tories.

"Having done so, Labour is now held accountable for delivering the cross-party promises of further devolution made in that frantic fortnight before the vote. Every day those promises remain undelivered, the clamour grows that Miliband’s party has deceived Scotland into rejecting independence.

"Accusations of treachery and trickery have a special potency in Scottish history, from the betrayal of William Wallace to the massacre at Glencoe. Now, however unfairly, Scottish Labour finds itself cast as the perfidious enemy within, and its poll ratings have plummeted. On the latest projections, at least three-quarters of Labour MPs in Scotland would lose their Westminster seats to the SNP if the Election were held tomorrow – the equivalent of the Conservatives losing every one of their MPs in Essex and Kent.

 

"That would eliminate any chance of a Labour majority, and – one way or another – it would guarantee a second referendum on Scottish independence, which next time the SNP would comfortably win. Goodbye Union. Good luck, Scotland. And goodnight Labour."

 

- Damian McBride in today's Mail on Sunday

"I think it's coming anyway. The panic last-minute promises from HMG are a gift to the Yes camp, who can say, "Would they have offered these concessions if they didn't think we'd leave; will they keep their promises if we don't?"

"Then later, if the promises aren't kept, it'll be let's vote again, now we know; and if the promises are kept, then it'll be like one of those I-need-some-space "trial separations" that end in divorce proper.

"Salmond's done it, with the assistance of an incompetent and negligent Westminster."

- Sackerson, "Salmond has done it!" (9 September)

(Source: The Independent, 30 October 2014)

(Hat-tip for the heads-up to John Ward.)


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Impure as the driven snow: pollution in the Arctic

From Jason Box's Dark Snow Project.


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Eco light bulbs, uselessness of

 

(source)

The nights are drawing in and I switch on the lamp to continue reading. It gives just enough light to advertise its presence, but not enough for me to see the words in my book.

Great. I'm saving energy, but wasting what I'm using.

(pic source)

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The politicians' clock

(pic source)

Ed Miliband on abolishing the House of Lords:

"It's time to reform the way we're governed, it's time every part of our country had a voice at the heart of our politics, it's time to have a senate of the nations and regions which serves our whole country so that we can truly build a Britain that works for all and not just for some."

Where do politicians get their sense of time?

And how will this (latest) enormous change to the Constitution be decided? By a Parliamentary committee? On a whim of the Prime Minister - as with the attempted abolition of the Lord Chancellor? By Order in Council?

Whose country is it, anyway?


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FU Power

Prototype

Fradley University in Staffordshire recently announced an internal joint venture between its Sustainable Engineering Facility and its Green Genes Department.

Briefly, the university envisages a radically new form of power generation called the Fradley University Sustainable Eco Green Gender-Neutral Anti-Racist Diverse Power Initiative, snappily condensed to FU Power. It is based on genetically modified hamsters.

The Green Genes Department has been tasked with using the very latest genetic techniques to splice elephant genes into hamsters to create giant one ton hamsters, the biological engine of this exciting new energy source. David Cameron is said to be very interested.

The huge new eco-hamsters will be used in specially engineered power generating treadmills designed by the Sustainable Engineering Facility.

As the eco-hamster rotates the treadmill, it turns a high efficiency turbine to generate electricity, effectively converting hamster food into sustainable power. An interesting wrinkle in this ambitious project is to modify the hamster gut to tolerate low grade cellulose materials such as straw, dried vegetation and even old books.

“Apart from their main feed, we hope our hamsters will consume old books to help with our demanding new recycling targets,” confirms project director Dr Baz Broxtowe during our brief chat in the university dining hall.

“Books?” I ask.

“Yes books - absolutely. Of course we are thinking of books nobody reads these days such as most of the university library. Also books such as old Bibles, encyclopaedias and those great thick novels by Dickens and that Russian guy, Warren Peace.”

“What happens when the eco-hamsters get too old to work the treadmills?” I ask.

“Great question,” Dr Baz replies with enormous enthusiasm. “We intend to recycle them into Power Burgers for local schools. Should be a very acceptable addition to the school meal.

“I’m not sure if schools...” I begin but Dr Baz is on a roll.

“Because our current eco-hamsters are still far too small and much too dozy to work the treadmills we’ve pushed things along and already come up with a few recipes to ease the pressure on project timescales.”

“Really?” I reply, peering anxiously at what I assume is a beef burger.

“Yes. How’s yours?”

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Mechelen

Martin’s Patershof breakfast room

Last Christmas Mr C and I didn't really want anything in the way of presents so we decided to treat ourselves to a relaxing weekend away instead. This ruled out flying because that would mean several (non-relaxing) hours in an airport waiting to fly…

As luck would have it an email arrived from the Belgian hotel chain that we used when we stayed in Bruges. It gave us inspiration and I fell in love with one of the hotels in the chain. The Hotel, Martin’s Patershof, is a converted Church. I researched the hotel’s town, Mechelen (Malines in French rather than Flemish), and found that it had many things of interest. The guidebooks describe it as a beautiful medieval town, with charm and outstanding architectural treasures.

We decided that the best way to travel was by train. The ‘end to end’ journey could easily be booked via the Eurostar site. As well as travel to Brussels by Eurostar, we also booked travel by rail to London and onward from Brussels.

The Town Hall viewed from the Grote Markt

The journey to and from Mechelen by train including Eurostar was enjoyable and relaxing. We had the luxury of being served with meals and drinks on both inward and outward journeys. On arrival in Mechelen we quickly unpacked our bags before setting off to explore the town. During my stay one thing I couldn’t help but notice was the abundance of bicycles both with and without riders. I will always remember Mechelen as the town of bicycles. This inspired me to purchase a Dutch style bicycle shortly after I returned home from my travels.

The hotel lived up to expectations. Architectural features and stained glass windows are prominent throughout the hotel and our room had a stained glass window and stone pillars. The breakfast room is quite stunning being situated in what was the choir of the church. The breakfast buffet was one of the best I have ever seen. There was even a decadent option of having a complimentary glass of Cava; I decided not to indulge so early in the morning.

St Rumbold’s Cathedral from the Grote Markt

Although this hotel is no longer a place of worship there are many historic churches still in use and eight are promoted as especially worthy of a visit. St Rumbold’s Cathedral with its wonderful architecture, artworks and stained glass windows was on our ‘to visit’ list but it was difficult to decide which others to include. We settled on the Beguinage Church (which we found to be full of amazing artworks and treasures), Church of our Lady Hanswidj (whilst there we learned that it would shut for renovations in just two weeks’ time for four years), and the Church of our Lady across the Dyle. The custodians of each of the churches were very proud of their churches and keen to point out the special features of each to us. Being English we were somewhat of a novelty to them, with Mechelen not being an obvious choice for British travelers.

Kazerne Dossin military barracks viewed from the museum

Mechelen played a sobering part in the history of WW2 so the Kazerne Dossin museum and military barracks were also on our ‘to visit’ list. The barracks and museum serve as a permanent history and memorial to the Jews who were held there awaiting deportation. I found the museum thought provoking. It serves as a poignant reminder that atrocities still occur today and invites the visitor to ask questions and look for answers. Alongside the barracks is a restored railway goods wagon that had been used to transport the Jews from the barracks to Auschwitz Birkenau.

Haverwerf on the banks of the River Dyle

We visited many other things of interest; the garden of the former palace of Margaret of Austria (Belgium was, at one time, a part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was ruled by the Austrian Habsberg dynasty), an art exhibition of the work of Rik Wouters which is housed in the Schepenhuis, the toy museum, the Beguinages and we strolled through the botanic garden to see the ancient wooden fulling mill and also along the River Dyle passing the Haverwerf and three noticeable houses from the sixteenth and seventeenth century. We were even lucky enough to find ourselves next to the Grote Markt when the annual carnival was in full flow. The town has its own brewery as do many towns in Belgium, although we didn’t go inside we passed it on more than one occasion as we explored Mechelen.

No visit to Belgium is complete without sampling some chocolate. We came home with a box for ourselves and some as gifts. The lady in the shop guided us through the different options and helped us to choose a bespoke collection for someone who has nut allergies. The delicious chocolates didn’t last long…

I enjoyed my stay in Mechelen and the Hotel Patershof; there is more than a passing chance that I may return there one day.

You can read the unabridged version of my travels in the following links; Mechelen Day One, Mechelen Day Two, Mechelen Day Three, Mechelen Day Four and Mechelen Day Five.

The best place to find out about the attractions of Mechelen is the official tourism site.

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The robots are coming

Asimo

It is often said that robots, computers and automation will eventually destroy great swathes of employment. There will be little left for humans to do as the machines take over. 

Fear of automation has been common since the Luddites of course, so how should we react to these concerns? 

One response is that new businesses will spring up as old ones die, providing new goods and services as the old ways are automated into oblivion. Human ingenuity is boundless it is said. Nobody should bet against it.

Certainly human ingenuity deserves great respect for its sheer fecundity. Economic optimists have been right so far, although millions of unemployed in the eurozone may have a different perspective. 

Perhaps as the future is unpredictable we may as well extrapolate from the past and remain optimistic. It’s healthier for one thing.

And yet...

Suppose we turn the question around and ask how many worthwhile human activities there are and how many are suited to financial transactions. If the number, however inexact is limited, then we’ll eventually run out of worthwhile things to do for money. We’ll have to base at least some new businesses on things that in one sense or another aren’t worthwhile.

Well that's not new either. Patent medicines for example, psychoanalysis for another. So perhaps it doesn't matter anyway. It all depends on how we choose to define worthwhile activities, how relaxed we are about creating new needs for the sake of creating new needs, whether exploitation really matters if the exploited are happy.  

If customers can be found then maybe it's not for anyone else to judge. Tattoo studios? Nail bars? Recycling? TV soaps? War?

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Ever Decreasing Circles

Number 11, 1952

Written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, Ever Decreasing Circles was a popular BBC situation comedy running through four series from 1984 to 1989.

The main character is Martin Bryce, an obsessive middle class suburban fusspot married to Ann, his loyal stay at home wife. Martin’s orderly existence is continually threatened by Paul Ryman, the witty, charming and effortlessly capable next door neighbour.

To my mind Martin says something about the modern world, but I can’t tell if it is what Esmonde and Larbey intended. He is a figure of fun, a caricature of the domestic control freak nobody ought to like. Yet Martin is also a decent and honourable man, painfully so in many episodes because he is not unaware of his oddities and failures.

So why would anyone set out to make fun of a decent and honourable man, especially as his controlling behaviour is so risible and so often unsuccessful? Martin may be silly, but he is no bully and no threat to anyone.

For example.

In one episode (Jumping to Conclusions) Ann has to write an essay on Jackson Pollock for her Open University course. Martin decides to help her – it’s his contribution to steering her towards a more fulfilling life. True to his character, Martin has a rock solid faith in his wife’s intellectual abilities in spite of his equally firm faith in his capacity to direct those abilities.

After about a second’s consideration, Martin’s contribution is that Jackson Pollock couldn’t paint. He airily assumes Ann will follow this line in her essay simply because it’s so obvious to him that Jackson Pollock couldn’t paint. Ann, being more modern, is bemused by Martin’s dismissal of Pollock and her bemusement is later shared by neighbour Paul who offers clandestine help in writing the essay.

Martin finds out about the clandestine help and assumes Ann is having a fling with Paul. He packs his bag and leaves her a note saying he has gone for good and hopes she will be happy with Paul. The point here is that true to Martin’s character, he genuinely hopes Ann will be happy. His love for her is essentially selfless and in its bottomless decency probably beyond most of us.

Not only that, but in the grand scheme of things it is by no means obvious that Jackson Pollock’s work was anything more than a series of worthless daubs. Martin has a point, but not one suited to the world of Ann, Paul and presumably those who made the programme.

It’s a fascinating contrast. The unsympathetic yet thoroughly decent Martin isn’t allowed to add a single atom of cultural value to the modern world. He belongs to a narrow, blinkered and culturally impoverished past and it is no surprise that he fails so dismally to see Pollock's artistic merits.

Of course situation comedy characters are two dimensional and bolted together for the laughs so we shouldn’t read too much into their construction. It’s not as if decent characters haven’t been used for their comic potential either. 

Even so, there is a dark side to our willingness to laugh at Martin Bryce.

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A hundred flowers

From ChinaSMACK:

We Must Sternly Repress Counter-Revolutionaries (1951)

前三十年毛把中国弄成了人间地狱，后三十年拔乱返正，逐步走上正轨和理性！
The first 30 years turned China into hell on earth, the later 30 years has brought order to disorder, and now we are gradually getting on the right track with reason/rationality!

这里让评论吗，好害怕
Is commenting allowed here, I’m so scared.

查水表
"Here to check your water meter." ("Often used in responses to posts or comments that may be considered subversive or “inharmonious” by the government, suggesting that the police or authorities will be coming to the original poster’s home to arrest them under the guise of “checking their water meter”.)"

Ha, ha. And yet...




"Careers for linguists at GCHQ"

 

From The Guardian, 21 October 2014

 

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The rise of Homo bureaucraticus

...and the evolution of the precautionary principle.

The rise of the precautionary principle since 1900
source

The precautionary principle is a defining characteristic of Homo bureaucraticus, a gender-neutral offshoot of Homo sapiens. Along with its symbiotic partner the expert, a species of hominid parrot, Homo bureaucraticus is now common all over the northern hemisphere.

The traditional definition of the precautionary principle is as a post hoc justification of actions and policies already decided, but it works even better as one of the keys to rise of Homo bureaucraticus.

Most of us are acutely sensitive to personal, family and tribal risk. It’s an ingrained feature of our survival antennae, part of our animal nature. Homo bureaucraticus takes this a step further. If it sees a risk, any risk, then bureaucraticus instructs an expert to slap a precautionary principle on it – the favoured one being avoid and blame.

Bankers go a step further and engineer negative risks for themselves and their cronies – ie other bankers, but that's another story.

Risk wasn’t always so amenable to manipulation though. Before Stonehenge was built, when even the most upmarket kitchen utensils were made of flint, risk was a far more serious business than it is today. Although...

What was the risk of not building Stonehenge? Is Homo bureaucraticus an older species than we have hitherto supposed? It’s an open question.

Anyway, among many other disadvantages our technical civilisation has made risk rather less risky. We may get away with stupidities but Homo bureaucraticus always gets away with stupidities. Much like banking in fact, only with bureaucraticus the risk is parked on voters...

Nope on reflection it’s not much like banking, it’s exactly like banking.

Even so the system copes. It may sag a little but on the whole it seems to cope. Not that we’d ever know if it couldn’t cope. Not until afterwards when bureaucraticus claims it’s all our fault for electing idiots. Which admittedly is something we do rather often.

So without the lure of a very substantial gain Homo bureaucraticus isn’t prepared to take risks under any but the most compelling circumstances. If it ain’t worth it don’t do it – that’s the bureaucraticus mantra.

Doing isn’t the whole story though because doing includes thinking and saying and telling. In other words bureaucraticus doesn’t take risks with language either, not even with that covert language trickling through its head as it reads the report it told an expert how to write.

So it is no surprise that the rise of the precautionary principle has seen a parallel and very energetic promotion of risk-free language. Political correctness we call it. As usual the risk of not speaking plainly is bound to fall on the peasants – not on bureaucraticus.

Ironically it could turn out to be a risky business not taking risks. 

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Energy Policy: Large-scale Unintended Consequences

Wherever you look, 21st century energy policy has been hatched by people who know far less than they need to about the subject in hand.

It's sometimes necessary to diagree with the 'experts'.  Prior to liberalisation of the energy markets, the experts - all wedded to the extremely comfortable monopoly model - declared with absolute certainty that gas and electricity were inevitably and essentially matters for monopolies to control.  Not really commodities at all: something magical and different.  Competition ?  Trading ?  No, these were simply impossible.  Trust us.  We are as efficient as it is possible to be. (© Denis Rooke, 1985)

On that, the experts were utterly wrong.

But that doesn't give a licence to greenish, or green-appeasing politicians and civil servants, to announce that electricity grids can be run on windfarms and wishful thinking for zero CO2 emissions, when people who genuinely know better can prove otherwise.  Sadly this is not enough to stop them giving it a try, armed with vast amounts of our money.  But it ain't gonna work: and the harder they try, the more bizarre will be the unintended consequences.  To list a few that had already made themselves apparent a year or so back:

• Germany, which has gone further and faster than any country (and, some would say, with the least planning) has seen record levels of expenditure on renewables, record high power prices to residential customers, and, yes, rising CO2 emissions
• ... and, yes, rising CO2 emissions in the UK also
• ... and around 50% of 'renewable' energy in the EU coming, not from the antiseptic, sunlit windfarms / solar farms / hydro plants of the brochures, but filthy biofuels, whose only claim to reducing CO2 emissions comes from the fact that they are deemed to do so, irrespective of the truth (which is that in most cases they don't)

And now we have the UK 'capacity market' in the electricity sector, being introduced this year to rectify the problem that in an era when no-one moves without a subsidy, no-one seems willing to build unsubsidised power plants to relace the coal stations that are closing with each passing year.  I may write on the technicalities of this 'market' another time, but for now we need simply to look at the recently published details of who are bidding into the auction process for being awarded 3-year or even 15-year wads of 'capacity payments' (i.e. standing charge contracts) for the 'new capacity' they promise to bring onto the UK grid.  

A fair chunk (by volume) of the bids are made by would-be developers of new CCGTs (large gas turbines in their most efficient configuration).  This is what the government hoped for.  But new CCGTs are costly, and unlikely to win at auction, because even more capacity is on offer from other sources, e.g. bids from companies offering to put old, mothballed CCGTs back into service (again, anticipated and welcomed by DECC).

Then come the unintended consequences.

• one of the largest 'new build' CCGTs is in fact two-thirds already built, and starts up next year anyway, whether it gets a capacity contract or not!  (The capacity payments don't start until 2018)
• a large chunk of the bids comes from owners of existing coal plants, offering 'new capacity' by way of eking out extended and better performance from their ageing kit
• the biggest bidder is bloody EDF, hands out again, pretending that its long-announced life-extension projects for its existing UK nukes are also 'new capacity'.  Again, these are money-for-old-rope projects that will go ahead anyway

Needless to say, this is not what DECC or the greens initially expected from the capacity market, though the logic of it had begun to dawn on them over the summer.  The howls of outrage greeting the coal projects in particular are hilarious to hear.  Anyone could have told them: it's always cheaper to refurbish existing capacity than build new plant.


Looking back at several years' worth of energy postings, I find I have invoked reductio ad absurdum several times: and it is time to roll out this venerable tool of formal logic once again.  The absurdities are there for all to see.   The logicians' answer is that the original assumptions must be wrong.  That's the correct conclusion, and one we urgently need DECC to draw.

Nick Drew

This post first appeared on the Capitalists@Work blog 


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Plug ugly

(Japan Times)

 

"Created by Paul McCarthy, an American artist, as part of his exhibition Chocolate Factory, the installation is officially described as a Christmas tree. Social media wags, however, have suggested that it looks more like something rude (ask your mother)," says Ellen E Jones in the Independent on Sunday.

 

1. I don't know why it is your mother you'd have to ask. If Ms Jones can't tell the difference between a dildo and a butt plug she may not be as sophisticated as she pretends.

 

2. It's not a commentator's jest: the resemblance to the latter is entirely intended by the artist. Here he is in Le Monde:

 

"As the bright green plastic canvas "tree" is completing its installation beside the Vendôme column (the most phallic monument in Paris), we interviewed the artist, who specialises in disturbing and provocative works, about the nature of his piece.

 

""It all started with a joke: Originally, I thought that an anal plug had a shape similar to the sculptures of Brancusi. Afterwards, I realized that it looked like a Christmas tree. But it is an abstract work. People can be offended if they wish in relating to the plug, but for me it is more of an abstraction.""

 

Not entirely surprising, then that he got punched in the face and that the guy ropes were cut, so that the "artwork" had to be deflated. He had indeed "disturbed and provoked".

 

(Japan Times)

How much longer will we have to endure cheap stunts justified by highfalutin' nonsense and boosted by a louche and jaded commercial commentariat? Is there really no distinction between art and a smoking-room joke?


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Simon Harris on Catalonian independence

(Pic source: RT News)

Readers of George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia” (1938) will remember the author’s strength of feeling for the cause and for his fellows. Catalonia is that kind of place, even now, for there are a number of English people living there who see themselves simply as Catalans born abroad. In the wake of last month’s rallies, expatriates met to discuss the implications of secession from Spain.

 

(Pic via Brett Hetherington)

One of the participants was Simon Harris, who gives an account of the issues and feelings of Catalans in this email interview:

Please describe the October 1 expats meeting, and the fears and hope of attendees.

The October 1 meeting was held at the Antiga Fabrica Moritz and a couple of hundred foreign-born Catalan citizens attended (We don't really like “expat”. It certainly doesn't tally with my experience in Barcelona and smacks of people talking English and drinking G&T on the Costas. We live here and get on with our lives much like the locals despite having been born elsewhere.)

 

The four people on the panel talked of a more prosperous future with a greater degree of social justice.  

The main concern is a possible frontier effect causing a decrease in trade with Spain. But I believe the confrontational style of central government exaggerates this. 47% of Catalan exports go to Spain. Many of the commercial relationships go back decades and are often with multinationals so it’s actually quite difficult to tell where things have been produced. Even the boycott on Catalan cava of a few years ago didn't last long (the alternative was French champagne that doesn't taste the same and costs three times as much). Ultimately, consumers care about quality and value for money so after a period of instability the trade relations will settle at a slightly lower level but at the same time, Catalonia will find new foreign markets. (The area of the economy that will be worst affected is the Catalan banks, La Caixa and Sabadell. Once you've changed your account you don't go back.) 

Our other concern is the general lack of debate. This is partly a cultural problem but also because since the referendum isn't allowed, there's been no real campaigning on either side. People who are active, such as most of those who attended the meeting) tend to be pro-vote and pro-independence. 

What are the arguments for Catalonian independence? 

Firstly, cultural-historical: like Scotland, Catalonia used to be a separate country and was gradually taken over by its neighbour. It still has a strong sense of its identity, which is why the Spanish government has always tried to suppress Catalan language and culture. Catalan was illegal after 1714 under Felipe V and you could be arrested for speaking it under Franco. As recently as 2012, education minister José Ignacio Wert said that he wanted to 'españolizar' Catalan schoolchildren and has since introduce a new education law called the LOMCE which attempts to do so. Although the language of education is Catalan, all Catalan kids are bilingual and in PISA tests (independent EU university tests) Catalan schoolchildren always score above the national average in Castilian Spanish! So the LOMCE is a repressive rather than an educational measure. 

There are also economic arguments. To start with, Catalonia pays far more in taxes than it gets back in investment from Madrid. Yet central government obstructs development in our region and is prepared to accept national disadvantage in order to keep us down. For example, the European Corridor Freight Line which would run from Algeciras, Malaga, Cartagena, Valencia and Barcelona into northern Europe is constantly blocked because it doesn't go through Madrid. Even though it would benefit the whole country, it would benefit Barcelona/Catalonia most. 

Look also at access to airports. Madrid Airport's Terminal 4 has metro, train and new roads - and they plan to spend €16 billion on an AVE (high speed train) connection serving a handful of passengers a day. Meanwhile, connections to Barcelona airport's T1 terminal need improving and Iberia Airlines have just cancelled intercontinental flights from Barcelona. It’s mad. 

The fact that everything in Spain is run by national agencies disincentivises efficiency. For example the hugely profitable Port of Barcelona subsidises the unprofitable ports and hasn't money left to reinvest in its own infrastructure. And so on. 

How has the movement started and grown, and what is the degree of general support? 

Things came to a head when Catalonia's new Statute of Autonomy, which had been watered down and passed by Spanish Parliament and voted on in referendum with 75% in favour in Catalonia, was declared unconstitutional by the national Constitutional Court in July 2010. 

The first demonstration under the slogan 'We are a nation. We decide' took to the streets with more than a million people in Barcelona. Just prior to this informal ballots on independence were organised in villages and towns and the 'Barcelona Decides' ballot took place in the early summer of 2011 with a festive atmosphere and a massive vote in favour. 

The extreme right-wing Partido Popular (they say they're conservatives but the party was founded by former Franco ministers and current leaders have ties with the fascist Falange party) came to power in Spain in the autumn of 2011 and tension increased. In 2012 on La Diada, the Catalan National Day (September 11^th) more than 1.5 million took to the streets of Barcelona under the slogan 'Catalonia, New European State' and for the first time independence for Catalonia became a majority opinion. 

The 2013 Diada demonstration was the “Catalan Way” in which 1.5 million people joined hands from Catalonia's southern border to its northern border with France, and in this year's “V” 1.8 million people created a human mosaic in Barcelona. Both events were perfectly organised and there has been no violence of any kind. 

Current support for independence stands at roughly 50% in favour with 25% against and 25% undecided. These figures vary by 5% in either direction, depending on the poll. 

What is the attitude of the Spanish Government, the EU and supranational bodies? 

The Spanish government has refused to negotiate on the main issues.  

A few days after the 2012 Diada, Catalan President Artur Mas met with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy to discuss changes to tax policy. Catalonia currently pays €16 billion in taxes (net of inward investment) to central government; this is 8% of Catalan GDP, making it the most highly-taxed region in Europe. Rajoy refused to discuss the issue. 

The other complaint involves language and education. Under the Education Minister’s LOMCE plan to 'hispanicize' Catalan children, it will be possible for students to go through their whole school career without learning any Catalan. The Spanish Constitutional Court also obliges the Catalan government to pay for private education exclusively in the Spanish language to any parent that asks for it. Yet even in the atmosphere of tension only 40 families in a population of 7.5 million have requested this. Why? Because the Catalan education system is very good as it is and guarantees a high level of integration. 

In Autonomic elections in November 2012, 4 parties included a pledge to hold a referendum in their manifestoes, so now 86 members out of a Catalan parliament of 135 deputies are committed to this. The Catalan government presented a proposal to hold a referendum on November 9 in the Spanish congress, which was voted against by all the major Spanish parties and defeated.  

The Catalan parliament then drew up a law of 'Non Referenderary Consultation' (a non-binding question to find out how many people are in favour of independence and also allow debate from both sides); the Constitutional Court decided that too was unconstitutional and threatened to suspend for life any civil servant who engaged in any sort of organisational activity. 

As a result last Tuesday (14 October), President Mas announced a 'participative' vote would take place without using the census (voters will register using their ID card on voting day), volunteers rather than civil servants would be involved in the organisation and polling stations would be restricted to facilities owned by the Catalan government. 

The Partido Popular government in Madrid is considering taking it before the Constitutional Court as I write [15 October]. It should be noted that many see the Constitutional Court as biased in favour of the Spanish government: some of the judges are former Partido Popular activists and only gave up membership after being elected. 

The attitude of the EU and other supranational bodies is that it is an internal Spanish issue. 

Could you comment further on the November 9 “consultation”? 

Because the consultation is organised by the 'Yes' camp it is unlikely that many Noes will bother to vote, but if as expected 2 million Catalans vote 'Yes' this will be a very strong message to the world. Either way the Spanish government lose. If they ban even this watered-down consultation, they'll look like fascists. If they let it go ahead, the world will see a festive peaceful Catalan society make a powerful democratic statement. 

What are the movement’s chances of success, and what processes would be involved in legal and economic separation? Would Catalonia choose to remain in the Eurozone? 

I think there are high chances of success. Although the participative vote on November 9 isn’t a referendum, the message will be clear if there is a massive turnout. This will be a prelude to 'plebiscitary' elections in which pro-independence parties form a single candidacy with the promise that if they win, independence will be unilaterally declared the following day. 

The Catalan Commission for National Transition has been meeting for the last couple of years and has produced 18 reports on different aspects of the future state of Catalonia. They published a 1,000-page white paper 10 days ago so many things have been considered. 

As there won't be agreement with Spain there will be difficulties, principally in setting up a Treasury and collecting taxes and Social Security. 

Obviously, international recognition will be crucial but if everything is done in a clear and transparent democratic process there shouldn't be too many problems, apart from anything else because Catalonia has a large economy with international exports and is home to multinationals. 

How would you view Catalonia’s economic and social prospects afterwards? 

Obviously, there would be an unstable period before internal infrastructures are in place and international recognition comes. If we can get through that I'm highly optimistic. 

Catalonia has a strong economy centred on its vibrant capital Barcelona. Catalans are creative, gregarious and above all peace-loving. As the demonstration of only 38,000 people in favour of staying in Spain showed last weekend, the strength of feeling in the anti-independence camp, whilst it exists, is not as bitter as Spanish politicians would like us to believe. 

Originally from Nottingham in England, Simon Harris arrived in pre-Olympic Barcelona in 1988 and immediately fell in love with the language, culture and history. He has now lived half his life in Catalonia, where he first earned his living as a musician and then as a teacher of English at the British Council and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and translator of Catalan and Spanish. He published his first book 'Going Native in Catalonia' in 2007 and since 2011 has run the tourism website Barcelonas.com. Simon is an active campaigner for Catalan independence. Find out more on Simon’s blog - http://independence.barcelonas.com

“Catalonia Is Not Spain: A Historical Perspective” by Simon Harris will be published by 4Cats Books in early November. Buy from:

4Cats Books

Carrer Mallorca, 299
Pral 2a
08037 Barcelona
books@barcelonas.com

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