ANYONE FOR COMPULSORY NUCLEAR POWER ?

As a long time campaigner against nuclear energy and "that monstrosity in Cumbria known to many as Sellafield" I can strongly endorse much of the atatement from Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth's Exec Director who said....


" building new nuclear reactors is not the answer to the challenges of climate change and energy security.

"Nuclear power leaves a deadly legacy of radioactive waste that remains highly dangerous for tens of thousands of years and costs tens of billions of pounds to manage. And building new plants would divert precious resources from developing safe renewable power, while doing little to bring about the urgent emissions reductions that are desperately needed within the next decade."

"Ministers must develop the UK's huge renewable energy potential and embark on a massive national programme to cut energy waste. This will create tens of thousands of jobs, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, cut emissions and make Britain a world leader in developing a green economy."


Sadly of course anything of even the slightest use from Gordon Browns continuing New Labour Project, soon to disappear under the fast rising waters of Political Climate Change comes with a sting in the tail and of course a reduction in democracy. This will be felt most notably in the changes the Gov have made to the planning process which allow them to fast track major projects such as Nuke Power Plants, Airports etc etc.

The previous planning system may have had some weaknesses or been a little slow but surely its better that all interested parties should have a say in the decision making when health and safety of the public are concerned and surely, few things can have a more disasterous effect on the environment than a new Nuke Plant or the "safe" (sic ) disposal of Nuclear waste.

Daily this appalling government are becoming more authoritarian and use any excuse to increase their powers and reduce our freedoms. If we vote this appalling bunch of shits, then we sure are like Turkeys voting for Christmas. Unfortunately the other bunch of nonentities show little sign of being an improvement. Nuclear Power No thanks, Not in Anyones Back Yard.

NEW LABOUR LIES NOW NEW TORY LIES

After nearly 12 years of New Labour porkies, involving WMDs, War mongering, the NHS, and finally a referendum on Europe, we have become accostomed to what we all really knew already, ie; our Government cannot be trusted and any promises made are just hollow posturing. Now we find that Camerons New Tory project is coming apart at the seams even before they get to Government.

At least New Labour waited till they got in power to begin breaking their promises to the electorate, but now, not to be outdone, Cameron has already broke his promise for a referendum even before he gets in. There will now be no referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Of course he must have known this before he made the promise, after all its easy to make promises when you know you wont be able to keep them. At least we now know that we definately cannot trust either New Labour or Camerons Conservatives and will have to look elsewhere for someone we can vote for.

Obviously Griffins bunch of thickos are beyond the pale and other than a small handful of worthy independents, we are really left with either the Lib Dems or the Greens. Both of these are unknown commodities other than at the local level but I am fairly sure that neither of the above will lead us into another senseless and unwinnable war which is at least a step in the right direction. And, they are also much more likely to approach Green issues with a bit of practicality and common sense rather than the "do as your told, not as we do approach of the two major parties.

Common sense is needed most of all at this time because not voting is not an option if you believe in any kind of democracy and want to see it realised for a change. The internet is playing an important and growing part in the electoral process. Face book and its childlike offspring Twitter are being taken seriously by politicians because of the damage the can do to political reputations in no time at all. but in the case of Twitter i am not sure that rule by text message is a step forward rather than merely another example of the dumbing down of the population.

Certainly bloggers can do a lot of damage to old myths and misconceptions and some of them are actually very good although my own efforts are probably below average except in my areas of expertise. Even if i cannot be a mover or shaker of governments and a catalyst for regime change, at least i can get a lot of my chest and clear my psyche for more ennervating matters.

MUSIC INDUSTRY SCORES OWN GOAL OVER ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING

Research published by Demos today shows that the Music Biz has got the wrong end of the stick yet again over people who are allegedly illegally downloading. It turns out that those who admit to illegally downloading are actually spending much more money on music than those who claim they dont download music illegally

.

People who illegally download music spend more on official releases than those who obey download laws, a survey suggested.
The think-tank Demos said it found illegal downloaders spent an average of £77 a year on genuine music, £33 more than those who claim never to have wrongly accessed music for free.
Nearly two thirds of people who admit to downloading music illegally also said that new and cheaper music services would encourage them to stop accessing illegal services.

The results come amid warnings from the Government that people who persistently download illegally face being disconnected from the internet.

The average "spend" on music by normal Joes and Josephines, is around £44 per ye

ar whilst those who admit to illegally downloading spend and average of £77 per year

Lets hope that this is not yet another bit of expert advice which our no nothing government ignores.