Has Chris Huhne been brainwashed?

Chris Huhne's 'performance' at the memorable Shell/Daily Telegraph Energy Scenarios event in London back in 2010 was impressive. He indicated strong commitment to energy efficiency, renewables in general and in particular a European supergrid for renewables, major study on which was translated by the HE Translations team and published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Notably, Chris Huhne told the audience – in direct response to a question I put to him on this subject – that he was "completely sold on interconnection".

Equally impressive  was Chris Huhne's passionate broadside against anti-wind pontificators at the Renewable UK 2011 conference in Manchester, during which he referred to an "unholy alliance of short-termists, armchair engineers, climate sceptics and vested interests ... selling the UK economy short by their refusals to acknowledge the benefits that renewables will bring".

Sadly, his performance in an interview about the Hinkley C madness on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning was lamentable. In complete contrast to his previous enthusiasm for renewables, he pontificated about the variability or renewables in a manner one is used to from unenlightened renewables sceptics and about the alleged need for new baseload (which is an outdated concept), verging on enthusiastic support for the Hinkley C white elephant. A classic Victor Meldrew moment! Tom Burke, on the other hand, was in his usual excellent form on the same programme.

Chris Huhne at the Delabole windfarm in Truro, England, c.2011.
Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Virtual Reality

Memorable comment from John Humphrys at the end of a piece about Virtual Reality on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning:

We've had VR on the wireless for ages, of course – you just shut your eyes...

Wir sind nur Gast auf Erden

The other day The Flowing River sculpture at Harlow Lock by Anthony Lysycia (see photo below) was brought to my attention by a fellow narrowboater. It reminded me of the wording on my father's gravestone – see photo below. When we chose the wording for the gravestone, I knew that "Wir sind nur Gast auf Erden" is a hymn, but I didn't know much about its history/origin – it just seemed very appropriate, and it still does. I assumed that the hymn is 'quite old', and that there may be an English version, but it turns out that it was only written in 1935. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the theme is said to be critical of the Nazis, as were other works by the author, Georg Thurmair – see here, for example.

Feel the Power

Following the Brexit debacle and further depressing news and developments in  the UK and elsewhere on a daily basis, there is a sense of disillusionment amongst some campaigners, and one could be tempted to use the recent Feel the Power Savage Chickens cartoon for 'guidance'.

Sanity at stake

 

Update 16/01/2021

Quote from an email a friend wrote, with reference to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in the UK: 

"... I hope you are keeping sane under the current house arrest situation. ..."

Quote from my reply:

"Sanity has been an issue long before Covid – see cartoon from 2016 (just after the Brexit referendum) [pointing to the unreferenced cartoon above]. I should have credited the source really – will try and find it and rectify in due course. I think it's actually American, possibly New Yorker, but it perfectly summed up my Brexit-related feelings at the time."

Further research some time ago revealed that the cartoonist is David Sipress. According to his New Yorker article from February 2017 under the heading "How to stay sane as a cartoonist in Trumpland", the cartoon is the most published, republished, tweeted, retweeted, liked, shared, or stolen and reprinted without his permission. Oh dear, sorry for having featured the cartoon here without reference or permission for several years – I hope this postscript makes up for it. Anyway, said Trumpland article is depressing and highly entertaining at the same time, and as topical as ever. Not to mention the fact that in 2019 it inspired me to take out a New Yorker gift subscription for one of my translation team members during a sojourn in Florida.

Incidentally, the word 'angst' in this sentence: "Ironically, it’s a 'good' story that has caused me the most angst: 'Dow reaches 20,000'" triggered an entry in our "German words in the news" collection.   

And by the way, David Sipress' short bio is well worth a read too, as is Juan Astasio's article from 2018 under the heading "Why this cartoonist keeps pitching the New Yorker – even after 100 rejections".

 

 

Experts

During the EU referendum propaganda battle, Michael Gove (in)famously declared: "the people of this country have had enough of experts". One can't help wondering how many Leave voters wish they had realised that "being anti-expert is the way back to the cave", as Prof Brian Cox put it the other day. See below for further reading.

Michael Gove before a Sky News interview with Faisal Islam

• Professor Michael Dougan on the EU Referendum
• EU referendum: who needs experts when we've got Michael Gove?
• Should we listen to the experts on the EU referendum?
• There's a sinister strain of anti-intellectualism to Gove's dismissal of 'experts'
• ‘Being anti-expert – that’s the way back to the cave’

Royal Enfield

If one was going to resurrect one's enthusiasm for motorbiking (abandoned some time in the last millennium), Royal Enfield would be an option.

On that note, in February 2015 the Leicester Mercury reported: Royal Enfield motorcycle firm to create design centre in Leicestershire

Update January 2018: Unfortunately the above article seems to have disappeared from the Mercury archive. A truncated version is available here.

A further article appeared in the Leicester Mercury in December 2017 under the heading: Leicestershire at heart of global expansion plans for Indian motorbike giant Royal Enfield

Energy Institute

Attended Energy Institute events this week in my capacity as Treasurer for the East Midlands branch:

• AGM
• 2016 Melchett Award Lecture by Sir David King
• Branch Forum

The home of the Energy Institute was recently refurbished to an impressive standard – see photos below. Note the plaque commemorating the eminent Alfred Waterhouse, architect for the Natural History Museum and described as "probably the most successful of all Victorian architects" (financially speaking).