AN OUTSIDE VIEW

An article in the Guardian by an abuse victim refers yet again to abuse of “children”. But since the author of the article was fifteen at the time, this was not child abuse but under-age homosexual abuse. Indeed, this seems to be the nature of most of this abuse, which, technically speaking is not paedophilia but ephebophilia . Why, therefore, is this epidemic of abuse still being referred to as child abuse by critics of the Catholic Church? Is it because there is a desire to cover up another reality? If so, why? The author also states that the abuse continued for two-and-a-half years, which raises the question of why the victim allowed it to continue for so long? A punch in the face from a fifteen year old would have put a stop to this and no priest would have dared reported such an assault to the police.

The FT has run a couple of pieces on Sweden this week. The first was a report of the outbreak of car burning, the second, today, on the rise of Sverigedemokraterna (SD), described as a populist party with Nazi roots, which is probably not far short of the mark. Around ten this morning, there were about 150 comments, most of them reasonable; a few had been removed. By lunchtime, all the comments had been hidden and the article was no longer open for comments. The same phenomenon hit the Guardian a couple of years ago. Comment is Free is no longer free, with only the most trivial topics being open for comment. This is precisely the kind of thing which gives rise to a sense that the media is being controlled by an elite which will tolerate no criticism. Its main effect is to boost the populist right.

The last timetabled steam train on British Railways ran exactly fifty years ago, Saturday 3rd August 1968. That evening, Preston station was packed with enthusiasts and general public alike to witness the departure of the last two ordinary, timetabled steam hauled trains. The Blackpool train had already left at 20.50 behind 45212. Everyone now waited for the very last one of all, the 21.25 Preston (ex Glasgow) to Liverpool Exchange leave with LMS Class 5, 45318 at the head of a packed train. The driver of the train, Ernie Heyes died on 25th June 2010, aged 75. RIP. The following week, Saturday 11th August, ran the famous 15 Guinea special, and that was the end. British Railways enforced a total ban on steam, which in the event, and entirely unexpectedly, lasted for only three years, with the running, in the autumn of 1971, of a special train headed by the Great Western locomotive King George V. So disappeared as c...

An analysis of students in the US has found that those who have a certain type of brain parasite are more likely to be majoring in business studies. Toxoplasma gondii , a protozoan parasite carried by cats, can infect people through contact with cat faeces, poorly cooked meat, or contaminated water. The parasite forms cysts in the brain where it can remain for the rest of a person’s life. Some studies have linked infection with the parasite to slower reaction times, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, suicidal behaviour, and explosive anger. I wonder what the incidence of this disease is among politicians? It could explain quite a lot. Would it be a good idea, for the safety of the public, that they were screened? https://www.newscientist.com/article/2175045-business-students-more-likely-to-have-a-brain-parasite-spread-by-cats/

This project sounds like one of those environmentally friendly schemes which is almost certainly just the opposite. Just a few of the doubts concern... The embodied energy of the concrete structure. The effect on wildlife, including fish and wading birds. The long-term consequences of the scheme, eg silting and pollution. Maintenance issues eg marine growth on the turbines, and silting again. The uncompetitive cost of the electricity it would generate gives some indication of the embodied energy the scheme would absorb before any power was generated. I am inclined to think it is a good thing that the scheme has been abandoned.

Next week come the first major disruptions due to Västlänken. Major alterations to Gothenburg’s tram services are always a feature of the summer as the holiday season is set aside for renewal of track. That is a story in itself, because the fleet of Italian trams that came into service in 2010 are inflexible and cause additional wear on curves. However, on top of this, there are closures in preparation for Västlänken, and to crown it all, the road tunnel along the Göta Älv will be closed for six months in one direction for the same reason. That will cause horrendous and widespread delays and congestion. It is already proving to be a project too far, and that is just a month into the construction period. In addition, trenches are appearing all over the place, blocking the entrances to shops and restaurants, which cannot be doing their business any good at all. I wonder how many bankruptcies there will be before the wretched scheme is complete?

Microsoft’s underwater data centre idea plumbs the depths in several ways. The idea is to use cold surrounding seawater to dissipate the heat generated. This is of course low-grade heat, but it is perfectly suitable for the heating of buildings, hot water systems, etc, which adds up to a huge amount of energy use worldwide, especially in the colder parts of the world. A data centre in Helsinki uses the waste heat in this way, heating a group of adjacent buildings. I would be happy to have a data centre in our basement if it meant no more heating bills. There is a fibre optic cable in the street outside, so there is no need for an underwater cable. What are Microsoft engineers thinking of?