AN OUTSIDE VIEW

There seems to be a problem with the routine upgrade of the latest Ubuntu 20.04. It is a known bug. It is probably best not to waste time trying to fix it but to wait until it is sorted out. This is the error message. =================================== (Reading database ... 277670 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../linux-modules-5.4.0-28-generic_5.4.0-28.32_amd64.deb ... Unpacking linux-modules-5.4.0-28-generic (5.4.0-28.32) over (5.4.0-28.32) ... dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-modules-5.4.0-28-generic_5.4.0-28.32_amd64.deb (--unpack):  unable to make backup link of './boot/System.map-5.4.0-28-generic' before installing new version: Operation not permitted dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe) Errors were encountered while processing:  /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-modules-5.4.0-28-generic_5.4.0-28.32_amd64.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) A package fail...

Long ago I used KDE which was a simple and efficient desktop much like Windows95 in appearance and mode of operation. Then it got more complicated with the introduction of Plasma, making the computer sluggish, and so I switched to Gnome. Then Lubuntu came out, using LXDE, but it had problems at first, including no way of configuring a mouse for left-handed use. Eventually the problems were ironed out and I have used it for about the past ten years. It is distributed as the lightweight version of Ubuntu. It does the job and does not overload the computer, which normally runs at around 37 degrees. It used to be the case that as you went from one version of Linux to an newer, or even changed distributions, your desktop remained unaltered. Unfortunately the Lubuntu developers have made fundamental alterations which are not an improvement. Instead of using the LXDE desktop, they have now changed to LXQT. Unfortunately, it has some very ugly panel widgets, and the display manager, sddm, of...

Groyneshower - Brighton Swimming Club Promflood THE FILM AGE The best camera in the world is the one you have on you when you see a photograph waiting to be taken. These days it would be a mobile phone. “Gryoneshower” and “Promflood” were taken one stormy winter morning twenty years ago. I used to carry an Olympus Trip with me which I had picked up for a few pounds and regarded as expendable. It was small enough to keep with me most of the time. With sea water spray flying around all over the place I would not have risked a good quality camera in these situation. The pictures are not sharp but they are among the more appreciated of the pictures I have taken in over sixty years of photography. It is perfectly possible to take good photographs with an ancient Box Brownie taking roll film. If the light is right and the subject at the right distance, they will be fairly sharp and clear. These days, pictures taken with such a camera will automatically take on a vintage char...

The financial crisis which the epidemic is bringing in its wake will require drastic measures, including the injection of huge amounts of money. The Rentenmark is the model. This is the currency that was introduced in Germany in 1923 to put an end to the hyperinflation of the previous year. It was based on the yield from a land value tax. The concept of a currency based on the yield from a land value tax cannot be faulted. Land value is solely due to the presence and activities of the government, paid for out of taxation. The primary purpose of government-issued currency is for the payment of taxes (“render unto Caesar”). Its use as a medium of exchange is secondary. The Rentenmark completes a cycle which is otherwise dangerously open. Even gold is subject to inflation risk.

The creation of money by banks - ie credit - is a necessary part of the economy and has been for hundreds of years. However, historically, it was found that the amount of credit created should be limited to about 12 times the value of deposits. A further issue is that credit is abused in at least three ways The legitimate use of credit is to finance the production of physical capital, which will thereby increase productive capacity. This is essential for an economy to function. When credit is used for land purchase, as most of it is, no additional capital is produced and there is no increase in productive capacity. It is dead credit. Credit should be secured only on the goods that the credit is given for eg the part-built ship. Interest should not be charged. The bank's services should be paid for by an administration charge and some kind of insurance bond, which is not the same thing as charging interest. The banking system has been perverted. A major proportion o...

There is now talk about the need for a widespread period of austerity after the economic shock of the epidemic. Such a policy could not be more wrong. It is exactly what is not required. Those who advocate it could not be more wrong. It is time to think outside the box which has constrained economic thinking since 1945. Keynesian theory identified what he called ‘shortage of aggregate demand’. Wages are apparently too low to enable people to purchase everything that they produce. If you stop and think about that, it is an absurd proposition, but leave it to one side for the moment. From 1945 until 1974 the ‘solution’ was monetary expansion, which gave rise to accelerating inflation, a housing price bubble (in reality a land price bubble) and a crash, precipitated by the oil crisis. Recovery eventually occurred by bank deregulation, which resulted in another land price bubble and the crash of 1992. Further expansion of credit generated a recovery of sorts, resulting in a th...