From Neil -
I went to the Stop the War Coalition Hustings last week. Though I hadn't been invited I was, after a bit of a push, given a place because the Tories & Labour had both decided not to come.
They didn't really know what to make of me since on the one hand I spoke strongly against both the Iraq & Yugoslav wars & got a rousing cheer for saying that, under the precedent of Nuremberg, Blair was guilty of war crimes & it was in the interests not merely of justice but international legality, that he be brought to trial.
On the other hand, being basically a coalition of socialists my freemarketsim didn't go down well & saying that we are going to have massive blackouts if we don't build new nuclear went unanswered. Finally my answer to question on whether the BNP should be allowed to stand my liberal commitment to free speech, even for people we disagree with went down like a lead balloon. Nonetheless I believe it.
At the end a nice young lady took my photo & said that while she was a left wing socialist her husband was a classic liberal & would almost certainly vote for me. I assume in that house they throw copies of Marx & Adam Smith rather than crockery.
---------------------------------------------
Unfortunately I have not been invited to any other hustings, mostly organised by the churches. I assume, apart from being more convenient, this is a handy way of de facto banning the BNP without discriminating against them. If so it is an example of how censorship, once started, tends to spread.
It is said that the public meeting is dead & I am certain I reach for more people on the net here & on newspaper online sections than I could at meetings. Nonetheless it is a bad thing for democracy that the choice of what people willing to make the effort of coming to hustings are allowed to hear is being censored. I am also convinced that I could speak as effectively on my policies as any of the others with the possible exception of Tommy, who does have an extremely effective form of bluster.
Friday, 27 April 2007
Here again is our full election address. Having seen the others it is quite distinct. Not merely because it isn't in colour on flash paper. Without picking on any opponents they do seem to run to lots of pictures of candidates, statements about being against poverty, crime , etc. which nobody could oppose & few give aways, without an attempt to say were the money comes from.
By comparison I am particularly proud of our 26 things we support & others oppose since they are indeed things the others overwhelmingly oppose & items 4, 12,13 &14 do show how we can pay for it.
We are trying to treat the electorate like adults - this may be merely niche marketing on our part & after all a niche on a PR system is OK. I even think, that with impartial media coverage it would be a majority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9% Growth Party – Neil Craig
Election Communication
1st (Regional) Vote - Glasgowhttp://9percentgrowth.blogspot.com/
BLACKOUTS ARE COMING In 2011 Hunterston nuclear power station is due
to close & Scotland will lose 1/6th of our electric power.
In 2015 new EU emission controls will come into effect forcing the closure of our high emission power stations. We will then be down to 2/3rds of current electricity generating capacity.
In 2023 the Torness nuclear station will close & 1/2 of our power will be gone. If we do not replace this, indeed if we do not increase curent capacity in line with our, hopefully, growing economy we are going to have massive & continual blackouts. In Britain we already have 24,000 deaths per year, mainly pensioners, because of fuel poverty but a further unnecessary massive increase in deathswill be inevitable..
The 9% Growth Party calls for immediate approval in Scotland of proven designs & proven sites & to allow the building of enough reactors to satisfy demand. Whether this is done by government investment or private enterprise is unimportant - what is important is that it is done before the lights go out.
If we do this the fact that France is currently producing 80% of the electricity it uses from nuclear at 1.3p a unit. This is half what conventional power costs, 1/4 what onshore windmills cost & 1/6th of offshore wind. To do so would virtually end fuel poverty in Scotland & massively improve our economy. Only we arefacing this problem.
PROSPERITY IF WE CHOOSE
In 1989 Ireland, which was then in an economic depression, cut corporation taxes & some regulations - immediately their economy boomed. Since then they have achieved an average of 7% growth per year with a peak of 11%. That is why Ireland has gone from 2/3rd our standard of living to 4/3rds & is now, per capita, as rich as the USA.
Our leaders should have noticed this years ago but it is not to late. If we cut our corporation tax, possibly in several steps, to Ireland's 12.5%, do the same with business rates & look at our regulatory regime, particularly the regulations which prevent housebuilding. If we do this we can reasonably expect to do better than Ireland since we have a stronger tradition of scientific & enterprise.
If we also allow the building of the sort of modern nuclear plants which are producing power in France a 9% growth rate is fully achievable.
If you would like to help this movement please email crgn143@aol.comor write to 9% Growth, 200 Woodlands Rd., Glasgow G3 6LNphone 0141 353 3975
Printed by Copy & Print, Gibson St,. Glasgow
Published by Neil Craig, 9% Growth Party9% Growth Party – A Philosophy
A century ago 80% of the metal hulled ships in the world were Clydebuilt. This is not a plea for going back to shipbuilding it is a plea for Scotland to regain the spirit of science, technology & entrepreneurship which allowed us to build the Clyde as the leader in what were then the world's greatest high technology industries.
Scotland has fallen to a political elite whose reaction to any form of new technology or new ideas is to regulate them out of existence. This drives the fruits of our science abroad, which is why so many of those who developed Dolly the sheep are now working in Singapore.
We wish to see our government support progress not decline further into the Ludditism of windmillery & dependency. We support human progress & absolutely reject the doomsayers who tell us the we have no future. In many was, in both engineering & philosophical terms Scots invented the modern world. The engineering of James Watt & the economic philosophy of Adam Smith should make us proud of our heritage, but also eager to live up to it.
The classic liberalism of Smith is sweeping the world producing growth from Ireland to China. We can & should learn from the nations we have taught.
Scotland's greatest days can be ahead of us IF we choose.
26 THINGS WE SUPPORT
1) Stop blackouts. Act before we lose 50% of our electricity.
2) 9% growth using the methods that gave Ireland 7% on average & 10.5% in a good year.
3) Reform planning regulations. In 1907 a house & car cost the same - the difference is that planning regulators restrict housebuilding.
4) Stop subsidising windmills. Save £1 billion.
5) The smoking ban is an illiberal restriction on individual freedom. End it.
6) End fuel poverty. France produces 80% nuclear at 1.3p a unit. We can do the same.
7) A needs based transport policy. The previous Executive were committed to spending 70% of their transport budget on public transport (code for railways) though it makes up only 3% of traffic.
8) Tunnels project. Norway built 740km of tunnels at £7 million per km. We should do the same making it a short drive from Glasgow to Dunoon, Rothesay, Kintyre, Jura, Islay & Mull etc.
9) Fully automate Glasgow's subway allowing it to run at lower costs, greater capacity & 24/7.
10) Fully automate the Glasgow-Edinburgh train with the same effect.
11) Ultimate aim of a fully automated Scots rail transport system.
12) 2% cut in civil servants annually.
13) 2% government efficiency savings. Almost any private business trys to increase efficiency at least that much & there is more scope in Holyrood.
14) Don't spend £610 million digging a tunnel under Edinburgh Airport. Make sure other government projects at least come close to making economic sense.
15) 3p cut in Scots income tax after funding of business tax cuts to provide growth.
16) No new politically correct vindictive bans. The smoking ban was NOT in manifestos at the last election.
17) A Holyrood committee to find & abolish counterproductive laws & regulations.
18) A schools vouchers system.
19) Allow schools to impose discipline.
20) Make a DVD of Scotland's history & post it to Scots, or those with Scots names, over the world. Include links encouraging Scottish tourism.
21) Establish a £20 million X-Prize to encourage space satellite industry to locate in Scotland.
22) Establish an X-Prize foundation funded from the Scots contribution to the lottery to encourage high technology in Scotland.
23) Widen & improve the M8.
24) If Gore's silly film must be shown to Scots schoolchildren let them see the alternate view, AS THE LAW SPECIFICLY REQUIRES.
25) 54% of all money spent in Scotland is government money. Cut this.
26) Instead of knocking down Glasgow's high rise flats they should be given, free of charge, to those occupants who don't prefer to be rehoused.
By comparison I am particularly proud of our 26 things we support & others oppose since they are indeed things the others overwhelmingly oppose & items 4, 12,13 &14 do show how we can pay for it.
We are trying to treat the electorate like adults - this may be merely niche marketing on our part & after all a niche on a PR system is OK. I even think, that with impartial media coverage it would be a majority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9% Growth Party – Neil Craig
Election Communication
1st (Regional) Vote - Glasgowhttp://9percentgrowth.blogspot.com/
BLACKOUTS ARE COMING In 2011 Hunterston nuclear power station is due
to close & Scotland will lose 1/6th of our electric power.
In 2015 new EU emission controls will come into effect forcing the closure of our high emission power stations. We will then be down to 2/3rds of current electricity generating capacity.
In 2023 the Torness nuclear station will close & 1/2 of our power will be gone. If we do not replace this, indeed if we do not increase curent capacity in line with our, hopefully, growing economy we are going to have massive & continual blackouts. In Britain we already have 24,000 deaths per year, mainly pensioners, because of fuel poverty but a further unnecessary massive increase in deathswill be inevitable..
The 9% Growth Party calls for immediate approval in Scotland of proven designs & proven sites & to allow the building of enough reactors to satisfy demand. Whether this is done by government investment or private enterprise is unimportant - what is important is that it is done before the lights go out.
If we do this the fact that France is currently producing 80% of the electricity it uses from nuclear at 1.3p a unit. This is half what conventional power costs, 1/4 what onshore windmills cost & 1/6th of offshore wind. To do so would virtually end fuel poverty in Scotland & massively improve our economy. Only we arefacing this problem.
PROSPERITY IF WE CHOOSE
In 1989 Ireland, which was then in an economic depression, cut corporation taxes & some regulations - immediately their economy boomed. Since then they have achieved an average of 7% growth per year with a peak of 11%. That is why Ireland has gone from 2/3rd our standard of living to 4/3rds & is now, per capita, as rich as the USA.
Our leaders should have noticed this years ago but it is not to late. If we cut our corporation tax, possibly in several steps, to Ireland's 12.5%, do the same with business rates & look at our regulatory regime, particularly the regulations which prevent housebuilding. If we do this we can reasonably expect to do better than Ireland since we have a stronger tradition of scientific & enterprise.
If we also allow the building of the sort of modern nuclear plants which are producing power in France a 9% growth rate is fully achievable.
If you would like to help this movement please email crgn143@aol.comor write to 9% Growth, 200 Woodlands Rd., Glasgow G3 6LNphone 0141 353 3975
Printed by Copy & Print, Gibson St,. Glasgow
Published by Neil Craig, 9% Growth Party9% Growth Party – A Philosophy
A century ago 80% of the metal hulled ships in the world were Clydebuilt. This is not a plea for going back to shipbuilding it is a plea for Scotland to regain the spirit of science, technology & entrepreneurship which allowed us to build the Clyde as the leader in what were then the world's greatest high technology industries.
Scotland has fallen to a political elite whose reaction to any form of new technology or new ideas is to regulate them out of existence. This drives the fruits of our science abroad, which is why so many of those who developed Dolly the sheep are now working in Singapore.
We wish to see our government support progress not decline further into the Ludditism of windmillery & dependency. We support human progress & absolutely reject the doomsayers who tell us the we have no future. In many was, in both engineering & philosophical terms Scots invented the modern world. The engineering of James Watt & the economic philosophy of Adam Smith should make us proud of our heritage, but also eager to live up to it.
The classic liberalism of Smith is sweeping the world producing growth from Ireland to China. We can & should learn from the nations we have taught.
Scotland's greatest days can be ahead of us IF we choose.
26 THINGS WE SUPPORT
1) Stop blackouts. Act before we lose 50% of our electricity.
2) 9% growth using the methods that gave Ireland 7% on average & 10.5% in a good year.
3) Reform planning regulations. In 1907 a house & car cost the same - the difference is that planning regulators restrict housebuilding.
4) Stop subsidising windmills. Save £1 billion.
5) The smoking ban is an illiberal restriction on individual freedom. End it.
6) End fuel poverty. France produces 80% nuclear at 1.3p a unit. We can do the same.
7) A needs based transport policy. The previous Executive were committed to spending 70% of their transport budget on public transport (code for railways) though it makes up only 3% of traffic.
8) Tunnels project. Norway built 740km of tunnels at £7 million per km. We should do the same making it a short drive from Glasgow to Dunoon, Rothesay, Kintyre, Jura, Islay & Mull etc.
9) Fully automate Glasgow's subway allowing it to run at lower costs, greater capacity & 24/7.
10) Fully automate the Glasgow-Edinburgh train with the same effect.
11) Ultimate aim of a fully automated Scots rail transport system.
12) 2% cut in civil servants annually.
13) 2% government efficiency savings. Almost any private business trys to increase efficiency at least that much & there is more scope in Holyrood.
14) Don't spend £610 million digging a tunnel under Edinburgh Airport. Make sure other government projects at least come close to making economic sense.
15) 3p cut in Scots income tax after funding of business tax cuts to provide growth.
16) No new politically correct vindictive bans. The smoking ban was NOT in manifestos at the last election.
17) A Holyrood committee to find & abolish counterproductive laws & regulations.
18) A schools vouchers system.
19) Allow schools to impose discipline.
20) Make a DVD of Scotland's history & post it to Scots, or those with Scots names, over the world. Include links encouraging Scottish tourism.
21) Establish a £20 million X-Prize to encourage space satellite industry to locate in Scotland.
22) Establish an X-Prize foundation funded from the Scots contribution to the lottery to encourage high technology in Scotland.
23) Widen & improve the M8.
24) If Gore's silly film must be shown to Scots schoolchildren let them see the alternate view, AS THE LAW SPECIFICLY REQUIRES.
25) 54% of all money spent in Scotland is government money. Cut this.
26) Instead of knocking down Glasgow's high rise flats they should be given, free of charge, to those occupants who don't prefer to be rehoused.
NUCLEAR COSTS
From Neil -
Another assertion of nuclear being more expensive on the Daily Record blog http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/messageboards/page.cfm?objectid=15649356&method=m2_msg_full&siteid=66633 which I corrected & brought no further dispute.
Duncan McFarlane from CARLUKE said...
Nuclear power is neither cheap nor safe nor CO2 free. .In order: British nuclear, currently owned by the government has provided the Treasury with £2.5 billion profit in recent years. This is not a government subsidy. France is 80% nuclear is producing it at .1.3p (2.6cents) a unit selling it to all its neighbours including the south of England - http://www.uic.com.au/nip08.htmTotal deaths in nuclear since Chernobyl are 2 worldwide, in Japan. By comparison coal kills 150,000 annually worldwide 20 people in Britain have died on windmills.Nuclear produces no CO2 by burning. It is a nuclear not chemical reaction. The CO2 opponents talk about come from employees breathing, concrete setting industrial processes. Since each windmill requires a base of up to 1000 tons of poured concrete windmills, by that definition, produce vastly more CO2 than nuclear. Sincere opponents must also oppose windmills.
Another assertion of nuclear being more expensive on the Daily Record blog http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/messageboards/page.cfm?objectid=15649356&method=m2_msg_full&siteid=66633 which I corrected & brought no further dispute.
Duncan McFarlane from CARLUKE said...
Nuclear power is neither cheap nor safe nor CO2 free. .In order: British nuclear, currently owned by the government has provided the Treasury with £2.5 billion profit in recent years. This is not a government subsidy. France is 80% nuclear is producing it at .1.3p (2.6cents) a unit selling it to all its neighbours including the south of England - http://www.uic.com.au/nip08.htmTotal deaths in nuclear since Chernobyl are 2 worldwide, in Japan. By comparison coal kills 150,000 annually worldwide 20 people in Britain have died on windmills.Nuclear produces no CO2 by burning. It is a nuclear not chemical reaction. The CO2 opponents talk about come from employees breathing, concrete setting industrial processes. Since each windmill requires a base of up to 1000 tons of poured concrete windmills, by that definition, produce vastly more CO2 than nuclear. Sincere opponents must also oppose windmills.
BBC INTERVIEW
From Neil -
Here is an interview I did for the BBC but purely to be delivered online.
It is the sole mention they have made of 9% Growth.
Considering that the BBC can be relied on to produce at least 2 items a day talking to the Green Party/Greenpeace/FoI spokespeople I think it is another example, like their continual news items about global warming being "worse than previously thought", where their political allegence lies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6567017.stm
Still I think it is an OK interview.
Here is an interview I did for the BBC but purely to be delivered online.
It is the sole mention they have made of 9% Growth.
Considering that the BBC can be relied on to produce at least 2 items a day talking to the Green Party/Greenpeace/FoI spokespeople I think it is another example, like their continual news items about global warming being "worse than previously thought", where their political allegence lies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6567017.stm
Still I think it is an OK interview.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE ON THEPC VIEW - WHEN THEY HAVE NO ARGUMENTS
From Neil -
I have been outed on the Herald forum [ http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1347061.0.0.php } so guess you had better know
Posted by: John McIntosh, Barrhead on 2:08pm Mon 23 Apr 07
================================================= 9% Growth Party member (only one?) Neil Craig, whose science fiction book and comic shop Futureshock is nearby, was handing out leaflets. "No blackouts. No vindictive bans", the leaflet said. I assumed he was talking about the pub: Don't drink so much you have a blackout, but even if you do, you should not necessarily be barred. But no, it transpired the "blackouts" is a reference to nuclear power, of which the Glasgow regional list candidate is in favour. Our Mr Craig is not very green. He thinks climate change is a myth; he tilts firmly against windmills; he thinks the Green movement has killed more people than Hitler. He proposes building a tunnel from Oban to Mull to make the island more accessible to fans of Balamory. It says on Craig's CV that he was chucked out of the Lib Dems for illiberality which, in itself, is quite an achievement. =============================================== All aboard the loony train.....
=================================================9% Growth Party member (only one?) Neil Craig, whose science fiction book and comic shop Futureshock is nearby, was handing out leaflets. "No blackouts. No vindictive bans", the leaflet said. I assumed he was talking about the pub: Don't drink so much you have a blackout, but even if you do, you should not necessarily be barred.But no, it transpired the "blackouts" is a reference to nuclear power, of which the Glasgow regional list candidate is in favour.Our Mr Craig is not very green. He thinks climate change is a myth; he tilts firmly against windmills; he thinks the Green movement has killed more people than Hitler.He proposes building a tunnel from Oban to Mull to make the island more accessible to fans of Balamory.It says on Craig's CV that he was chucked out of the Lib Dems for illiberality which, in itself, is quite an achievement.===============================================All aboard the loony train.....
I replied
Posted by: Neil 9% Growth party, Glasgow on 2:45pm Mon 23 Apr 07
Not only one & not handing out leaflets in Barrhead today but otherwise not far off. And yes I do think that when we lose 50% of our electricity we are bound to have blackouts. And yes i do think the smoking ban is a vindictive medically unjustified piece of political correctness . And yes catastrophic global warming (now being relabeled as climate change because the warming stopped in 1998) is a lie. And yes if Norway can build 740 km of tunnels in the last 2 decades then we could revolutionise the western highlands & islands by building tunnels. And yes the Liberal Democrats did expel me for opposing blackouts & supporting growth. So John if you would care to point out in which of these makes me a loony & the LDs sane I would be interested. http://9percentgrowth.blogspot.com/
Not only one & not handing out leaflets in Barrhead today but otherwise not far off.And yes I do think that when we lose 50% of our electricity we are bound to have blackouts.And yes i do think the smoking ban is a vindictive medically unjustified piece of political correctness .And yes catastrophic global warming (now being relabeled as climate change because the warming stopped in 1998) is a lie.And yes if Norway can build 740 km of tunnels in the last 2 decades then we could revolutionise the western highlands & islands by building tunnels.And yes the Liberal Democrats did expel me for opposing blackouts & supporting growth.So John if you would care to point out in which of these makes me a loony & the LDs sane I would be interested.
He didn't.
I have been outed on the Herald forum [ http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1347061.0.0.php } so guess you had better know
Posted by: John McIntosh, Barrhead on 2:08pm Mon 23 Apr 07
================================================= 9% Growth Party member (only one?) Neil Craig, whose science fiction book and comic shop Futureshock is nearby, was handing out leaflets. "No blackouts. No vindictive bans", the leaflet said. I assumed he was talking about the pub: Don't drink so much you have a blackout, but even if you do, you should not necessarily be barred. But no, it transpired the "blackouts" is a reference to nuclear power, of which the Glasgow regional list candidate is in favour. Our Mr Craig is not very green. He thinks climate change is a myth; he tilts firmly against windmills; he thinks the Green movement has killed more people than Hitler. He proposes building a tunnel from Oban to Mull to make the island more accessible to fans of Balamory. It says on Craig's CV that he was chucked out of the Lib Dems for illiberality which, in itself, is quite an achievement. =============================================== All aboard the loony train.....
=================================================9% Growth Party member (only one?) Neil Craig, whose science fiction book and comic shop Futureshock is nearby, was handing out leaflets. "No blackouts. No vindictive bans", the leaflet said. I assumed he was talking about the pub: Don't drink so much you have a blackout, but even if you do, you should not necessarily be barred.But no, it transpired the "blackouts" is a reference to nuclear power, of which the Glasgow regional list candidate is in favour.Our Mr Craig is not very green. He thinks climate change is a myth; he tilts firmly against windmills; he thinks the Green movement has killed more people than Hitler.He proposes building a tunnel from Oban to Mull to make the island more accessible to fans of Balamory.It says on Craig's CV that he was chucked out of the Lib Dems for illiberality which, in itself, is quite an achievement.===============================================All aboard the loony train.....
I replied
Posted by: Neil 9% Growth party, Glasgow on 2:45pm Mon 23 Apr 07
Not only one & not handing out leaflets in Barrhead today but otherwise not far off. And yes I do think that when we lose 50% of our electricity we are bound to have blackouts. And yes i do think the smoking ban is a vindictive medically unjustified piece of political correctness . And yes catastrophic global warming (now being relabeled as climate change because the warming stopped in 1998) is a lie. And yes if Norway can build 740 km of tunnels in the last 2 decades then we could revolutionise the western highlands & islands by building tunnels. And yes the Liberal Democrats did expel me for opposing blackouts & supporting growth. So John if you would care to point out in which of these makes me a loony & the LDs sane I would be interested. http://9percentgrowth.blogspot.com/
Not only one & not handing out leaflets in Barrhead today but otherwise not far off.And yes I do think that when we lose 50% of our electricity we are bound to have blackouts.And yes i do think the smoking ban is a vindictive medically unjustified piece of political correctness .And yes catastrophic global warming (now being relabeled as climate change because the warming stopped in 1998) is a lie.And yes if Norway can build 740 km of tunnels in the last 2 decades then we could revolutionise the western highlands & islands by building tunnels.And yes the Liberal Democrats did expel me for opposing blackouts & supporting growth.So John if you would care to point out in which of these makes me a loony & the LDs sane I would be interested.
He didn't.
EATING UP THE GREENS
From Neil -
I have had several discussions with a group of Green party activists on the Herald comments section, one at least of whom is either employed as a Grenn organisation advertising flack or has a boss who has no objection to him spending his woking hours being one.
You can read our discussion on carbon footprints http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1342474.0.0.php
After a considerable amount of rudeness on their part & more measured rudenss on mine I said
Yet again - I repeat "And you still haven't come up with a single eco-scare story which, over time, turned out to be truthful." Come on - 1 single catastrophe scare story out of hundreds which turned out to be fully & entirely truthful isn't a lot to ask.
It isn't but they couldn't
But the next day on a different thread [ http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1347061.0.0.php ] about nuclear power we got on of the same Green Party trio saying
Are you sitting comfortably as this might come as something as a shock to you:No one is interested in anything you have to say! There, I think that needed to be said. Every day you come on here and get shot down in flames. Even when people answer your questions you either choose to ignore them or deflect the question on to some other topic.I look forward to May 4th so we don't have to put up with any more of your annoying drivel and your demented belief that the answer to all of the worlds ills in economic growth.
I do not get bullied by the likes of that & replied
Again Susan i would say that getting richer is an answer to quite a few ills. As a Green with whom I have clashed before perhaps you would care to dispute your point with fellow Green Michael Stewart who attacked me for saying that you Greens were, at least in practice & often in theory as well, anti-growth.Or perhaps, having been shot down in flames you will decline to answer - again.
The Green Party activists on these threads have claimed not to be anti-growth, to be anti-growth & to believe that windmills are cheap & nuclear power is expensive. I have repeatedly challengedc them on the latter asking them to explain how France couls possible be solvent not only running 80% on nuclear power but selling it at competitive rates to all their neighbours. Not Once have any of them tried to answer yet time after time they come back on subsequent threads with the same statement which they clearly know to be lies. Clearly many, possibly not all, Green activists have absolutely no compuntion about telling any entirely blatant lie if it helps their cause.
I have had several discussions with a group of Green party activists on the Herald comments section, one at least of whom is either employed as a Grenn organisation advertising flack or has a boss who has no objection to him spending his woking hours being one.
You can read our discussion on carbon footprints http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1342474.0.0.php
After a considerable amount of rudeness on their part & more measured rudenss on mine I said
Yet again - I repeat "And you still haven't come up with a single eco-scare story which, over time, turned out to be truthful." Come on - 1 single catastrophe scare story out of hundreds which turned out to be fully & entirely truthful isn't a lot to ask.
It isn't but they couldn't
But the next day on a different thread [ http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1347061.0.0.php ] about nuclear power we got on of the same Green Party trio saying
Are you sitting comfortably as this might come as something as a shock to you:No one is interested in anything you have to say! There, I think that needed to be said. Every day you come on here and get shot down in flames. Even when people answer your questions you either choose to ignore them or deflect the question on to some other topic.I look forward to May 4th so we don't have to put up with any more of your annoying drivel and your demented belief that the answer to all of the worlds ills in economic growth.
I do not get bullied by the likes of that & replied
Again Susan i would say that getting richer is an answer to quite a few ills. As a Green with whom I have clashed before perhaps you would care to dispute your point with fellow Green Michael Stewart who attacked me for saying that you Greens were, at least in practice & often in theory as well, anti-growth.Or perhaps, having been shot down in flames you will decline to answer - again.
The Green Party activists on these threads have claimed not to be anti-growth, to be anti-growth & to believe that windmills are cheap & nuclear power is expensive. I have repeatedly challengedc them on the latter asking them to explain how France couls possible be solvent not only running 80% on nuclear power but selling it at competitive rates to all their neighbours. Not Once have any of them tried to answer yet time after time they come back on subsequent threads with the same statement which they clearly know to be lies. Clearly many, possibly not all, Green activists have absolutely no compuntion about telling any entirely blatant lie if it helps their cause.
PROPOSAL FOR A MAG-LEV TRAIN TO EDINBURGH
From Neil -
Our former Executive have been floating the idea of a bullet train or more fun yet a magnetis levitation (Mag-Lev) train between Glasgow & Edinburgh. Interest in this stirred when Nicol Stephen visited China & saw their train set & wanted to play too. Now normally I am entirely in favour of high technology projects but was put off by the price. I have commented on this previously [ http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/2006/07/bullet-train-from-glasgow-to-edinburgh.html }.
The idea was floated in the Herald { http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1345823.0.0.php ] & shot out of the water by all & sundry including myself.
Particularly interesting was this from an accountant Robert Fotheringay
The overall structured costs of this project are indeed in the region of £7.5 billion,startup costs to and including completion are estimated at between £1.7 billion and£4.8 billion depending on what figures and criteria you believe,what is not in dispute is that the overall all in total will be around £7.5 billion.As an accountant with knowledge of this proposal all I can say is that it is totally not feasable,the figures outlays and returns,are wishful thinking.
UK Ultraspeed posted a long justification which you can see on the link, if you have nothing better to do. It shows how much palpably untrue things a flack can believe. My reply 7 another commet are here
To reach £150 million from tickets at £8.95 single would (assuming there are no return tickets) require 16,759,776 travellers - about 10 times the current rate. Taking about half the traffic as going on weekday rushours (104 hours a year) we get about 80,000 an hour. Assuming a train each way every quarter hour each train would have to carry about 10,000 passengers. If this number was achieved it still wouldn't cover the subsidy to run the thing, let alone start to pay the cost of building it.These people expect the electorate to swallow this nonsense.
Posted by: Bill Forbes, Cambuslang on 1:29am Sun 22 Apr 07
Can’t disagree with your arithmetic Neil; but you should have taken it further: With £150,000,000.00 Annual Revenue @ £8.95 Per Ticket = 16,759,776.54 travellers p.a. With 500.00 Passengers/train = 33,519.55 Trains/annum There are 365.00 Days Which = 91.83 trains per day And a service of 8.00 trains per hour (four each way) Equates to 11.48 Hours of jam packed Maglevs travelling in each direction The big assumption (if those were not big enough already) is that there would be no competition to the Maglev, i.e. the existing train services and M8 bus services would simply disappear without as much as a whimper. The other big assumption is the time quoted of 15 mins for the journey. With a minute to accelerate to top speed and a minute to slow down this leaves 13 mins for the approx 73.5km journey or an average speed of about 340 km/hr. The Shanghai Maglev has an average speed of 250 km/hr and if this service is used as a comparison the likely journey would take closer to 20 mins. With a service frequency of 15 mins this means that bigger stations will be needed and more train sets as trains arrive at the station before the previous one has started the return journey. With that sort of arithmetic it is clear that someone should lend the SPT a calculator. But there is an easier way to assess it. The man from Ultraspeed admits that this will cost the taxpayer a subsidy of between £100m - £150m every year. That would buy a good sized hospital every year.
Can’t disagree with your arithmetic Neil; but you should have taken it further:With £150,000,000.00 Annual Revenue@ £8.95 Per Ticket= 16,759,776.54 travellers p.a.With 500.00 Passengers/train= 33,519.55 Trains/annumThere are 365.00 DaysWhich = 91.83 trains per day And a service of 8.00 trains per hour (four each way)Equates to 11.48 Hours of jam packed Maglevs travelling in each directionThe big assumption (if those were not big enough already) is that there would be no competition to the Maglev, i.e. the existing train services and M8 bus services would simply disappear without as much as a whimper. The other big assumption is the time quoted of 15 mins for the journey. With a minute to accelerate to top speed and a minute to slow down this leaves 13 mins for the approx 73.5km journey or an average speed of about 340 km/hr. The Shanghai Maglev has an average speed of 250 km/hr and if this service is used as a comparison the likely journey would take closer to 20 mins. With a service frequency of 15 mins this means that bigger stations will be needed and more train sets as trains arrive at the station before the previous one has started the return journey.With that sort of arithmetic it is clear that someone should lend the SPT a calculator. But there is an easier way to assess it. The man from Ultraspeed admits that this will cost the taxpayer a subsidy of between £100m - £150m every year. That would buy a good sized hospital every year.
On my previous discussion of this I thought this far more expensive than our automated rail proposal - I did not imagine that anybody would have the arrogance & idiocy to try to land us with this at a cost of £7.5 billion. I clearly overestimated our leaders.
Our former Executive have been floating the idea of a bullet train or more fun yet a magnetis levitation (Mag-Lev) train between Glasgow & Edinburgh. Interest in this stirred when Nicol Stephen visited China & saw their train set & wanted to play too. Now normally I am entirely in favour of high technology projects but was put off by the price. I have commented on this previously [ http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/2006/07/bullet-train-from-glasgow-to-edinburgh.html }.
The idea was floated in the Herald { http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1345823.0.0.php ] & shot out of the water by all & sundry including myself.
Particularly interesting was this from an accountant Robert Fotheringay
The overall structured costs of this project are indeed in the region of £7.5 billion,startup costs to and including completion are estimated at between £1.7 billion and£4.8 billion depending on what figures and criteria you believe,what is not in dispute is that the overall all in total will be around £7.5 billion.As an accountant with knowledge of this proposal all I can say is that it is totally not feasable,the figures outlays and returns,are wishful thinking.
UK Ultraspeed posted a long justification which you can see on the link, if you have nothing better to do. It shows how much palpably untrue things a flack can believe. My reply 7 another commet are here
To reach £150 million from tickets at £8.95 single would (assuming there are no return tickets) require 16,759,776 travellers - about 10 times the current rate. Taking about half the traffic as going on weekday rushours (104 hours a year) we get about 80,000 an hour. Assuming a train each way every quarter hour each train would have to carry about 10,000 passengers. If this number was achieved it still wouldn't cover the subsidy to run the thing, let alone start to pay the cost of building it.These people expect the electorate to swallow this nonsense.
Posted by: Bill Forbes, Cambuslang on 1:29am Sun 22 Apr 07
Can’t disagree with your arithmetic Neil; but you should have taken it further: With £150,000,000.00 Annual Revenue @ £8.95 Per Ticket = 16,759,776.54 travellers p.a. With 500.00 Passengers/train = 33,519.55 Trains/annum There are 365.00 Days Which = 91.83 trains per day And a service of 8.00 trains per hour (four each way) Equates to 11.48 Hours of jam packed Maglevs travelling in each direction The big assumption (if those were not big enough already) is that there would be no competition to the Maglev, i.e. the existing train services and M8 bus services would simply disappear without as much as a whimper. The other big assumption is the time quoted of 15 mins for the journey. With a minute to accelerate to top speed and a minute to slow down this leaves 13 mins for the approx 73.5km journey or an average speed of about 340 km/hr. The Shanghai Maglev has an average speed of 250 km/hr and if this service is used as a comparison the likely journey would take closer to 20 mins. With a service frequency of 15 mins this means that bigger stations will be needed and more train sets as trains arrive at the station before the previous one has started the return journey. With that sort of arithmetic it is clear that someone should lend the SPT a calculator. But there is an easier way to assess it. The man from Ultraspeed admits that this will cost the taxpayer a subsidy of between £100m - £150m every year. That would buy a good sized hospital every year.
Can’t disagree with your arithmetic Neil; but you should have taken it further:With £150,000,000.00 Annual Revenue@ £8.95 Per Ticket= 16,759,776.54 travellers p.a.With 500.00 Passengers/train= 33,519.55 Trains/annumThere are 365.00 DaysWhich = 91.83 trains per day And a service of 8.00 trains per hour (four each way)Equates to 11.48 Hours of jam packed Maglevs travelling in each directionThe big assumption (if those were not big enough already) is that there would be no competition to the Maglev, i.e. the existing train services and M8 bus services would simply disappear without as much as a whimper. The other big assumption is the time quoted of 15 mins for the journey. With a minute to accelerate to top speed and a minute to slow down this leaves 13 mins for the approx 73.5km journey or an average speed of about 340 km/hr. The Shanghai Maglev has an average speed of 250 km/hr and if this service is used as a comparison the likely journey would take closer to 20 mins. With a service frequency of 15 mins this means that bigger stations will be needed and more train sets as trains arrive at the station before the previous one has started the return journey.With that sort of arithmetic it is clear that someone should lend the SPT a calculator. But there is an easier way to assess it. The man from Ultraspeed admits that this will cost the taxpayer a subsidy of between £100m - £150m every year. That would buy a good sized hospital every year.
On my previous discussion of this I thought this far more expensive than our automated rail proposal - I did not imagine that anybody would have the arrogance & idiocy to try to land us with this at a cost of £7.5 billion. I clearly overestimated our leaders.
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