"Wind farms were paid up to £3 million per day to switch off their turbines and not produce electricity last week, The Telegraph can disclose.
Energy firms were handed more than £12 million in compensation following a fault with a major power line carrying electricity to England from turbines in Scotland.
The payouts, which will ultimately be added onto consumer bills, were between 25 per cent and 80 per cent more than the firms, which own giant wind farms in Scotland, would have received had they been producing electricity, according to an analysis of official figures.
The payments have prompted questions in Parliament, as one charity warned that consumers were having to fund the consequences of an "excessive" number of onshore wind farms, which can overwhelm the electricity grid...."
First off, my sincerest apologies for the nonexistent blogging of the last couple of weeks. The old monster (Multipel Myeloma aka Kahler's Disease) is back. I am again under the competent care of Dr. F. The five years he envisaged in 2013 for PFS (Progression Free Survival) turned out to be six. I am undergoing a DRd regimen now (Darzalex Revlimid Dexamethason) plus some radiation for a nasty spot in the pelvis. Most difficult thing however is to keep running the company. Well, there's no other way than to sail forward into the storm. MM is still incurable but I must stay hopeful. That, using the brains the good God gave me to the fullest extent, and pray. Pray a lot. I don't ask for support but if you can spare a (figurative) clap on the shoulder, thx!!!
Then it's time for Talking Heads with And She Was. Album Little Creatures (1985).
Decent song. Great video.
U2 with One Tree Hill. Album The Joshua Tree (1987).
The lyrics were inspired by the tragid death of U2 roadie - and personal assistant to Bono - Greg Carroll, only 26 years old, in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. The band flew to Carroll's native New Zealand to attend his traditional Maori funeral.
Prolly the last truly authentic U2 album. That it was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno will have played a role in that.
Jan - if you are still out there - I've been unable to reach you ever since my laptop crashed and I lost all Outlook mails. If I have never again replied to mails you sent thereafter, it's not because I chose to ignore them. If you read this, get in touch via the comments. Hope you're doing fine.
Leo - same. Hope you're doing fine also.
Goede nacht. I'll try to post some better material shortly. I feel better, treatment in its third week by now, and DRd is possibly the best I can get right now.
So the original Ford Mustang from Peter Yates' 1968 movie sold::
The new owner paid the now ex-owner Sean Kiernan a whopping $3.4 million for the iconic Ford Mustang GT. No bad deal for Mr Kiernan, as he himself paid $3,500 for it... in 1974.
Apparently Steve McQueen's own bids were never enough, since father and son Kiernan time and again turned down the actor's numerous offers. With just 46,000 miles on the counter ('just', cause I just sold my trusted silver Audi A6 station wagon after almost 480,000 kilometers), the Kiernans parked the Bullitt Mustang in 1981 and it never surfaced again, so that people began to think it had perhaps been scrapped. Until now, that is.
But what a beauty! I remember that as a kid growing up in the seventies, I was smitten by Ford Mustangs. We barely saw them over here in Europe - at least in my neck of the woods - but even so the car was a legend!
Quiz: what Mustang exactly is Steve McQueen aka Frank Bullitt driving in the movie? If you ain't sure, go over the specs of the three versions available back then. If you ARE sure, immediately skip the specs:
1.) Ford Mustang GT Hardtop 302 Challenger Special V-8 4-speed (man. 4) , model year 1968, version for North America U.S. (up to September)
At a time when the West is rocked by turmoil, for which it is to a large degree itself responsible, a Great Conservative Mind has left us:
But his parting gift offers a ray of hope:
"We have entered a spiritual limbo. Our educational institutions are no longer the bearers of high culture and public life has been deliberately moronised. But here and there, sheltered from the noise and glare of the media, the old spiritual forces are at work. Popular culture contains pockets of gentleness and melody. Architects, writers and composers produce works which are neither kitsch nor 'kitsch'. Prayer and penitence have been interrupted, but not forgotten. To those who wish for it, the ethical life may still be retrieved. Ours is a catacomb culture, a flame kept alive by undaunted monks. And what the monks of Europe achieved in a former dark age, they might achieve again."
If you ever wondered who the beauty on the cover was, it's Canadian model Paula Turnbull.
Marathon, from the 1985 album Power Windows.
Further use of synthesizers, first introduced massively on Signals (1982) and Simmons electronic drums, which Peart first used on Grace under Pressure (1984).
Dreamline, album Roll the Bones (1991).
From the beginning I found the cover art intriguing. It's designed by Hugh Syme, a Canadian Juno Award winning graphic artist. Btw, that's the guy waving in the background on the cover of Permanent Waves.
So... I'm guessing it's Rush no more, although that was effectively the case since 2015 already, when Neil Peart (his real name, as opposed to Geddy Lee who is really Gary Weinrib and Alex Lifeson whose real name is Alex Zivojinovich) stopped on account of severe pain in shoulders and limbs. Pity they never toured in Belgium.
Fair winds, guys. Thanks for close to a half century of great music and thanks for staying normals throughout.
"A big influence on me was John Steinbeck’s The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, which he never finished in his lifetime," Peart told Rolling Stone in 2015. "It opens with a little preface that said, ‘Some people there are ... .’ I said, why? Strange turn of phrase. But he had obviously deliberately chosen it. And some of those formal phrasings were because I was very much driven by rhythm of words – and still am. A line will strike me just because of its drumming rhythm."
Rush had already put out a self-titled debut album before Peart made his performance debut with them, when they opened for Uriah Heep on Aug. 14, 1974, at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. But that concert marked a critical turning point for Rush, for their gangly new 21-year-old drummer – and for rock.
"Among the many memories of that life-changing experience, I would never forget standing on the floor beside stage left while Uriah Heep played 'Stealin'," Peart said in his 2006 book Roadshow – Landscape with Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle. "The big dark building, colored lights on the heroic figures up on the stage, the roaring audience, the sheer electricity in that place. Halfway through their show, the retractable dome of the Civic Arena had peeled back, open to the summer night."
He'd almost given up on this dream, resorting to working at the parts counter at his father's farm equipment dealership in St. Catharines, Ontario. Peart memorably arrived for this tryout driving his mother's Ford Pinto, with his drums packed into garbage cans.
"I remember thinking, 'God, he's not nearly cool enough to be in this band,'" Lifeson said in Beyond the Lighted Stage. "And then he started playing, and he pounded the crap out of those drums. He played like Keith Moon and John Bonham at the same time."
Peart's studio debut on 1975's Fly by Night is now recognized as the group's true starting point. That kicked off a creative then commercial juggernaut marked by critically lauded triumphs like 1976's 2112 and multi-platinum smashes like 1981's Moving Pictures.
Peart provided a steady presence through stylistic changes, as the '80s saw Rush move into then-modern synth-forward sounds, before a return to their sturdy bass-guitar-and-drums trio approach. Personal tragedy also played a role: Peart's first daughter, and then-only child, died in a single-car accident in 1997, just after Rush ended their Test for Echo tour. Her mother died of cancer 10 months later, and Peart's professional life ground to a sudden halt.
Peart hit the highway. He said he racked up 55,000 miles on his motorcycle during the lengthy sabbatical that followed, roaring throughout North and Central America in a journey chronicled in his 2002 book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road..."
Well, this hurts. I got to know Rush sometime around 1981, via John D, still one of my best friends...
... who made me listen to their then brand new album Moving Pictures...
...which features a.o. Tom Sawyer...
God bless Neil, and Rest in Peace. You are now reunited with Selena and Jacqueline. May Carrie and Olivia find the strength to carry on. And... thank you from the bottom of my heart for your contribution to GREAT music.
In Strasbourg, some 220 cars were set ablaze, more than double that of the year before.
Ghastly images from the aftermath:
Surreal crazy video footage showing you the aftermath of some vehicles been burned at a community neighbourhood in #Strasbourg in #France, where around 200 vehicles were burned on #NewYear's eve.
* In Noeux-les-Mines a grocery was torched (photo above)
* In Vénissieux, around 12 cars were torched in the night of Tuesday of Wednesday
* Limoges: at least 36 cars set ablaze, in several neighborhoods in the city
* Valence and Montélimar: several cars torched, somewhere a security perimeter was established following a gas leak
* Roubaix: a pedestrian died after having been hit by a car
* Toulouse: a New Year's Eve in turmoil, several cars and garbage bins set ablaze
* Côte d'Azur: several cars torched and a fire in an apartment
In Besançon, 127 cars were torched by the ubiquitous 'youths'. Only mass deployment of all available fire crews, who fought 18 hours straight to contain the fires, prevented much worse:
Culture Enrichers deliberately set fire to vehicles in the underground parking lot of an Intermarché supermarket:
Here's an (incomplete) summary of the carbeques by Marc Moriandini:
"La nuit de la Saint Sylvestre a été agitée pour les forces de l'ordre à Strasbourg, où près de 220 véhicules ont été brûlés selon l'Alsace et des fonctionnaires blessés. France inter évoque une vingtaine de personnes blessées à Strasbourg, mais aussi Colmar. «La nuit a été très chargée», a résumé cette source, faisant état de «plusieurs fonctionnaires blessés» tout en soulignant que ces blessures n'avaient pas de caractère de gravité.
Des violences urbaines s'étaient déjà produites dans plusieurs quartiers de Strasbourg le week-end dernier puis dans la nuit de lundi à mardi. Des voitures et des poubelles avaient été incendiées. Pompiers et policiers avaient été visés par des tirs d'artifices. «On a assisté à une montée des incendies de véhicules depuis Halloween et depuis deux week-ends le phénomène s'est accéléré, avec également l'usage de mortiers, des engins qui peuvent blesser très grièvement des policiers ou des pompiers», avait souligné mardi soir la directrice départementale de la sécurité publique du Bas-Rhin, Annie Brégal, faisant état de «groupuscules d'individus souvent cagoulés», composés de mineurs ou jeunes majeurs
Un premier bilan officiel pour le Haut-Rhin, cette fois, selon l'Alsace: Le bilan en fin de matinée s’établirait à près de 70 véhicules incendiés dans le Haut-Rhin. Département : 17 véhicules incendiés plus 3/4 de voitures touchées par propagation (secteurs police de Colmar, Wittenheim et Mulhouse). Mulhouse: à 3 heures du matin, le bilan était de 14 véhicules détruits.
La nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre a été également été agitée dans l’agglomération bordelaise. Dix véhicules ont été incendiés la nuit dernière dans le centre de Bordeaux, rue Drouyn selon Bordeaux Actu. Les pompiers sont intervenus à partir de 3 h 30 pour éteindre les flammes, en déployant deux lances. Au total, huit voitures et deux camionnettes ont été très dégradées, par cet incendie, qui semble volontaire. Pompiers et policiers ont dû intervenir sur plusieurs incendies sur la voie publique, notamment dans le quartier des Aubiers, à Bordeaux selon Sud Ouest. Des feux ont été allumés sur la voie publique et des policiers ont été pris à partie et ont reçu des jets de projectiles à leur arrivée sur les lieux. Un agent a été blessé.
A Marseille, des feux de poubelles ont été allumés la nuit dernière à la cité des Rosiers, chemin de Sainte-Marthe (14e). La police et les pompiers sont toutefois rapidement intervenus.
A Châlons-en-Champagne, six voitures ont été entièrement détruites par le feu et au moins trois autres partiellement endommagées selon l'Union
A Vénissieux, les incendies avaient commencé la veille, avec une douzaine de voitures brûlées dès le 30 décembre. Les véhicules ont continué à flamber pendant la nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre. À Villeurbanne, dans le quartier du Tonkin, au moins trois voitures ont été brûlées, avenue Allende. « Un peu avant minuit, j’ai entendu une détonation et je suis descendu sur le parking de la résidence. Sur les trois voitures brûlées, une Audi récente, et deux étaient totalement calcinées." raconte un habitant à France Bleu
A Soyaux que plusieurs violences urbaines ont éclaté jusqu'en milieu de nuit, rapporte la Charente Libre : plusieurs bennes à ordures puis des voitures ont été incendiées dans cette ville de la banlieue est d'Angoulême.
A Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, une douzaine de voitures ont été incendiées et des policiers ont été caillassés à leur arrivée dans le quartier de Kellermann, d'après Vosges Matin.
Dans la Drôme, à Montélimar, deux voitures ont été incendiées. Le feu s'est propagé à deux coffrets de gaz situés sur la voie publique. Une dizaine de personnes a dû être évacuée dans la nuit par les sapeurs-pompiers et plusieurs logements du secteur ont été privés d'électricité et/ou de gaz, précise Le Dauphiné Libéré.
A Limoges, selon France Bleu, au petit matin, le service départemental d'incendie et de secours de la Haute-Vienne dénombrait "au moins 36 voitures brûlées à Limoges". Les interventions des pompiers ont du être sécurisées par les policiers car ils ont essuyé des tirs de projectiles à leur arrivée à La Bastide et à la ZUP de l'Aurence. La préfecture condamne fermement ces actes et indique que tout est mis en oeuvre pour retrouver ces bandes d'individus.
Vingt-sept voitures ont été incendiées et quatre autres ont pris feu par propagation dans les Yvelines. Mantes-la-Jolie et Mantes-la-Ville ont été les plus touchées avec respectivement huit et quatre véhicules brûlés. On en dénombre trois autres à Saint-Germain-en-Laye, quatre à Trappes, deux à Chanteloup-les-Vignes, deux à Limay et enfin une voiture à Carrières-sous-Poissy, Guyancourt, aux Mureaux et Vernouillet.
La nuit a été également agitée à Toulouse. Selon La Dépêche du Midi, 28 feux ont été recensés, dont 18 concernaient des véhicules et 10 des poubelles.
"Vers minuit au Mirail, des jets de projectiles ont été projetés contre les pompiers et les policiers qui intervenaient pour éteindre des feux de poubelles à même les voies de circulation et des voitures incendiées. Là aussi, du gaz lacrymogène a été utilisé", précisent nos confrères qui rappellent que l'année dernière, 50 voitures avaient été brûlées en Haute-Garonne au cours de la nuit du Nouvel An."
In 2018, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb hinted at the possibility of a civil war in France. And he was a socialist.
Looking at these images, it's hard to escape the notion that civil war may come sooner rather than later. And it will be ENTIRELY the fault of the Left, the Greens, AND their lackeys in the 'traditional' parties.
We just knew how our MSM would react to the sudden demise of the great philantropist, influencer and avid Lonely Planet reader General Soleimani. Stacks and stacks of Kleenex boxes were seen being delivered to the offices of the Dutch and Belgian state broadcasters. This, for instance, is how NOS, Dutch public TV, placed the item: Soleimani was a "state official" who was "popular with resistance groups":
Het #nosjournaal noemde #Suleimani zojuist een “overheidsfunctionaris” die populair was bij “verzetsgroepen”.
In werkelijkheid was hij een van de ergste Iraanse staatsterroristen die populair was bij de islamitische slachters van Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad en Hamas. #NepNieuwspic.twitter.com/1Cu827ppRy
It might be useful for the leftist loons there to remember the following, via Newsweek:
"Iran was responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to a newly revised casualty estimate produced by the Pentagon.
Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told a State Department press briefing Tuesday that Tehran is to blame for 17 percent of all U.S. service personnel deaths between 2003 and 2011, having supplied weaponry to Shiite militias fighting U.S. occupation.
Hook noted that the U.S. figure is in addition to the "thousands" of Iraqi troops and civilians killed in attacks by Iranian proxy forces.
The special representative explained that the new numbers are taken from recently declassified U.S. military documents. The numbers are significantly higher than the roughly 500 confirmed deaths attributed to Iran by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford in 2015.
At that time, Dunford acknowledged that the true figure would likely be higher. "We were not always able to attribute the casualties that we had to Iranian activity, although many times we suspected it was Iranian activity, even though we did not necessarily have the forensics to support that," Dunford told Congress during a confirmation hearing.
Tehran provided military and financial support to Shiite militias in Iraq as the country was convulsed by waves of sectarian and anti-U.S. violence following the toppling of Saddam Hussein...."
Oh wait, they couldn't care less about the deaths of US troops. Well, how about this then? The respected Dutch Professor of Iranian extraction Afshin Ellian writes in Elsevier that:
All of this is known, also the dirty role Soleimani played in the Syrian civil war, his support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen, his crushing of Iranian dissenters... and still, from the coverage on NOS, VRT, or our newspapers you would think the guy was some sort of Nelson Mandela at best and Pancho Villa at worst.
Anyway... of a less laughable nature is the reaction of a special category of New Belgians. Posted on muslim social media in Belgium two days ago:
... a commemmoration service for Soleimani!!! Yes, so that was yesterday, Friday 3 JAN, in the "Rue de Bone 101" in...
... MOLENBEEK of all places!!! Who would have thunk it??
I checked it out. It's actually not "Rue de Bone 101", that doesn't exist. It's "Rue de Bonne 101". They are integrated so damn well they can't even get the street name right. Anyway, I checked it out on Google Earth and guess what, it's here: "meshkaat", a "religious institution":
Here's a close-up:
And here's a pic of the interior:
Hey Creech AFB, ain't too late yet for a New Year's present!
Today, De Standaard helpfully offered some coverage of the serene commemmoration for the good general...
... and whadda ya know, on the pamphlet they got the translation wrong!!! It was not 'an entire world will avenge you' , it was 'the entire world mourns Soleimani'. De Standaard:
"Wat op de uitnodiging staat is een slechte vertaling,’ zei Mohsen Rahnama in naam van de aanwezigen. ‘Er wordt bedoeld: de hele wereld treurt om Soleimani. We zijn hier louter om te rouwen.’ Rahnama benadrukte dat van geweld geen sprake is.
Translation (a good one this time, but then it's from moi, Outlaw Mike):
"'What's on the invitation is a bad translation', said Mohsen Rahnama on behalf of those present. 'Meant was: 'the entire world mourns Soleimani.' 'We are only here to mourn'. Rahnama emphasised that there was no question that violence was advocated.'
Golly, thx, De Standaard!!! And I suppose that if we don't believe that, you will want to sell us a bridge across the Tigris for 10 EUR, is it not?
Yes that's in The Netherlands. More precisely Rotterdam. The Erasmus Bridge across the Nieuwe Maas. The distinctive building across the river is "De Rotterdam" by renowned architect Rem Koolhaas.
Anyway, you can see how well-integrated these Turkish assholes are. NOT.
These are NOT Dutchmen. This a fifth column.
To get an idea how far the Turkish state has come in exerting control in The Netherlands, just look at this map:
Islam is a cancer. You either cut it away or kill it with chemo. Absent that, a long and painful death is to be expected.
The big news of the day is obviously General Soleymani saying his goodbyes to this mortal coil, and tomorrow, inch allah, there will be a post about that, including the reactions to his passing by the esteemed followers of the prophet in Molenbeek.
As per usual, 'youths' wreaked havoc on New Year's Eve in Brussels, more precisely Molenbeek and Vorst:
16 cars and a scooter torched, 1 person knifed with a life-threatening injury, 211 arrests...
Fire crews had to deploy 110 times, ambulances almost 300 times, often with police escort...
De brandweer moest vorige nacht 110 keer uitrukken onder politiebegeleiding, ziekenwagens bijna 300 keer, meer dan 15 wagens zijn in brand gestoken, meer dan 200 jongeren zijn opgepakt.
All of that is small beer compared to France, where:
...Besançon : 127 voitures brûlées, l’incendie de la fourrière maîtrisé après de longues heures de lutte des pompiers
Limoges : au moins 36 voitures brûlées, les pompiers attaqués
Montpellier : tirs nourris de kalachnikov (vidéo)
Lattes : une jeune femme retrouvée morte, une balle dans la tête
Strasbourg et sa région : au moins 220 voitures brûlées, les pompiers violemment agressés...
— Sebastian Jabbusch 🇪🇺 - Kommunikationsberater (@SebJabbusch) December 31, 2019
In all these cities and elswhere throughout Europe, the extreme violence is NOT the work of Jan, Piet en Klaas or Dirk; or Jean-Pierre, Louis and Hervé; or Hans, Fritz and Horst.
It is the work of Alis and Mohammeds.
They are turning the dar-al-harb into the dar-al-islam.
Here’s a scene from downtown Mogadishu. Hang on, I MEANT to say here’s a scene from Shoreditch, London, from yesterday. Can you feel the diversity? Have you had enough of it? pic.twitter.com/7ajNqjZcYM
By far the most pleasant and rewarding holiday we ever had was our trip in the States in the summer of 2017. Some four hectic but fascinating days in Washington DC were followed by a trip over Gettysburg and Bethel to the White Mountains in NH (another four days), and we spent the remainder of our fortnight in Hyannisport, with a couple of hours in Boston before boarding the plane back to Europe again.
On the first leg of that journey we visited the National Art Gallery in Washington, and it must be said, they have a mar-vel-lous collection (in particular with regards to impressionist works). Here's just three paintings at random we admired there:
Portrait of a Young Woman in White - Jacques-Louis David
Probably by a pupil of Jacques-Louis David (1748 – 1825) though. David's career spanned cataclysmic changes in French society as he was preeminent during the latter days of the Ancien Régime, during the Terreur (he was a friend of Robespierre), while Napoleon was Empereur and even during the restoration (be it in self-exile in Brussels). David's severe neoclassical style constituted a clear break away from the frivolity of Rococo.
The Corinthian Maid, by Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797), was an English landscape and portrait painter and has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Two important patrons were Josiah Wedgwood and Richard Arkwright. Wright is notable for his use of the chiaroscuro effect, which emphasises the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects. As for this painting, the inspiration came from Pliny the Elder (23/24 - 79 AD) who claimed that the first drawing in history was made by a young Corinthian woman. Knowing that soon her husband will be off to war, she draws a line on the wall containing his shadow, so that she will have something to remember him by. Apparently Ole Pliny never visited Lascaux or Altamira.
Lambs, Nantucket (1874) by Eastman Johnson
Jonathan Eastman Johnson (1824 – 1906) was an eminent American painter and co-founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. He is best known for his genre paintings, paintings of everyday life and of everyday people, but just as well of prominent Americans such as Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. In his day he was known as the 'American Rembrandt'.
The Dutch authorities are not shy of letting Biodutchmen and -women know their days as a majority are numbered. Here is a screenshot of a Dutch government website where one can consult the weekly 'asielinstroom' (asylum influx) numbers:
Go back all through 2019 and you will see for yourself that the (official) influx of asylum seekers in The Netherlands is give and take 600/700 per week. Not 30. Not 3,000. Always 600/700. There is a system behind this, that's for sure. There are organizations that are providing resources, that do the planning, the advertising, there's contacts with Dutch and European agencies.
A year ago I wrote on these very pages about the scandal that is the UN 'Global Compact for Immigration', arguing that this horrible document would de facto posit that boundless immigration towards Western countries would become a right. And here it is. The Netherlands are even 'lucky', it's only give and take 700 a week. The numbers for Belgium are appalling.
What we are seeing is Population Replacement on a big scale, in a not even hidden attempt to quell the emerging unrest among autochtons. The most visible aspect of that unrest is the rise of rightwing, anti-immigration parties all over the continent. It is litterally a race against time. Traditional parties - socialists, greens, liberals, 'Christian' 'Democrats' who have practically all embraced the vile ideology of multiculturalism, are all frantically facilitating and organizing Umvolkung as a tool to block the rise of VB in Belgium, Lega in Italy, AfD in Germany, SD in Sweden.
And in their 'Quest for Cosmic Justice', as Thomas Sowell would put it, they have convinced themselves that by ridding Europe of deplorables, they are not only doing Europe a favor, but other continents and regions, especially Africa, a favor.
Consider Africa, for instance. Importing enormous numbers of Africans serves the multiple purposes of:
a.) blocking the rise of what they see as 'xenophobic' parties
b.) realizing the multicultural utopia in the West
c.) atoning for the White 'crimes' of colonization and, wait for it, 'racism'
d.) solving the problem of overpopulation elsewhere, especially in Africa
We have adressed the follies of a.), b) and c.) many times over, but as for d.) one should first of all acknowledge that it's LEFTIST policies that have very significantly contributed to Africa's woes. Indeed, as societies grow more prosperous, so the number of children in a family will gradually decline. Because the most successful export product of the left towards Africa have been its economic recipies, in particular the concept of the centrally guided economy, large parts of Africa have remained destitute. EVERY African country that adopted socialism has failed: Tanzanya, Zambia, Moçambique etc... Consequently, they have remained (very) poor. Consequently, they have runaway population statistics. Of course Africans are themselves to blame just as well, what with tribalism and endemic corruption and all. But Botswana e.g., which never fell for the leftist siren songs and has a solid economy based on capitalistic principles, does not have the problems of most other African countries. Seretse Khama was no closet communist like Julius Nyerere, and Botswana's economy grew at 9per cent per year for thirty years straight since 1966. Today, it is still one of the fastest growing African economies, with a GDP per capita of about $19,000 a year. Botswana has tech hubs and a standard of living comparable to that of Mexico (without the drug wars), and consequently, Botswana has no runaway demographics and there are no Botswanians among the 'refugees' flooding Europe.
It's a different matter for most of the continent however, as its demographics will push world population 10 billion by 2050, and its share in world population is projected to be ... 39 per cent by 2100:
Africa's population conundrum is of such a magnitude that it CANNOT BE SOLVED by siphoning off part of it towards Europe, as our socialist, green, liberal and 'Christian' 'Democratic' politicans seem to think. Africa's population problem has to be solved on African soil. And to illustrate that, to date I have not come across someone who did it better than Roy Beck in this timeless classic of 2010:
Would viewing that video change the minds of our moral betters?
No.
Because they are insane.
We will have to hammer sense into them via other ways.
"(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — Boeing safely landed its crew capsule in the New Mexico desert Sunday after an aborted flight to the International Space Station that threatened to set back the company’s effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year.
The Starliner descended into the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in the frigid predawn darkness, ending a two-day demo that should have lasted more than a week. All three main parachutes popped open and airbags also inflated around the spacecraft to ease the impact.
“Congratulations, Starliner,” said Mission Control, calling it a successful touchdown.
A test dummy named Rosie the Rocketeer — after Rosie the Riveter from World War II — rode in the commander’s seat. Also returning were holiday presents, clothes and food that should have been delivered to the space station crew.
After seeing this first test flight cut short and the space station docking canceled because of an improperly set clock on the capsule, Boeing employees were relieved to get the Starliner back.
Recovery teams cheered as they watched the capsule drift down through the air and make a bull’s- eye landing. The touchdown was broadcast live on NASA TV; infrared cameras painted the descending capsule in a ghostly white.
As the sun rose, close-up views showed the large white and black capsule upright — with hardly any scorch marks from re-entry— next to a U.S. flag waving from a recovery vehicle. The astronauts assigned to the first Starliner crew — two from NASA and one from Boeing — were part of the welcoming committee.
It was the first American-made capsule designed for astronauts to make a ground landing after returning from orbit. NASA’s early crew capsules — Mercury, Gemini and Apollo — all had splashdowns. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which made its orbital debut last winter, also aims for the ocean at mission’s end.
Minutes after touchdown, top NASA and Boeing officials poured into Mission Control in Houston to congratulate the team.
The capsule’s first trip to space began with a smooth rocket ride from Cape Canaveral on Friday. But barely a half hour into the flight, it failed to fire its thrusters to give chase to the space station and ended up in the wrong orbit.
The problem was with the Starliner’s internal clock: It did not sync up with the Atlas V rocket, throwing off the capsule’s timing.
The capsule burned so much fuel trying to orient itself in orbit that there wasn’t enough left for a space station rendezvous. Flight controllers tried to correct the problem, but between the spacecraft’s position and a gap in communications, their signals did not get through. They later managed to reset the clock.
Boeing is still trying to figure out how the timing error occurred. The mission lasted nearly 50 hours and included 33 orbits around the Earth.
Last month’s parachute problem turned out to be a quick fix. Only two parachutes deployed during an atmospheric test because workers failed to connect a pin in the rigging.
NASA is uncertain whether it will demand another test flight from Boeing — to include a space station visit — before putting its astronauts on board. Boeing had been shooting for its first astronaut mission in the first half of 2020. This capsule is supposed to be recycled for the second flight with crew; each Starliner is built to fly in space 10 times..."
It all began so well:
Quite a setback for Boeing, and I suppose that there may have been some Schadenfreude at SpaceX. To recap:
NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing to design a spacecraft for ferrying crew and cargo to the ISS. For reasons unknown to me, Boeing got almost double that from NASA vs SpaceX under its commercial crew program ($4 billion plus compared to $2.6 billion). Despite that discrepancy (discrimination?) SpaceX took the lead in the race to develop the new shuttle vehicle. SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule successfully completed its first orbital demo last March. You have to hand it to them: such a young company beating an old giant like Boeing, kudos. And not only that, but the Dragon was launched atop another SpaceX product as well, the Dragon 9. The only serious setback was the destruction of a capsule on a Cape Canaveral test stand. But if a launch abort test scheduled for next month goes well, SpaceX may well begin ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS by Spring, thus convincingly beating the competition. It would also mean the end of nine years of relying on Russian Soyuzes to do that.
If Boeing catches up however, and there's every reason to assume they will, it's unclear - at least to me - how the two designs can exist together. Let's compare the Starliner and the Dragon Crew capsule:
First the Starliner:
* Pricetag: Up to $4.9 billion
* Heritage: Apollo, Space Shuttle Boeing and its corporate predecessors have long experience manufacturing space vehicles. North American Rockwell built the Apollo Command Module.
* Seating Capacity: Up to 7. NASA required that each vehicle be able to transport four people to and from the station. A fifth seat is available on both vehicles. Each company advertises a seating capacity of seven.
* Head / Leg Room: Diameter: 15 ft. Height: 16.6 ft. Dimensions include service (propulsion) module.
* Engines: Aerojet/Rocketdyne Engines for abort and for maneuvering the Starliner in orbit are located in the disposable service module.
* Reusability: the crew capsule can be reflown up to 10 times. The service module will be discarded after each flight.
* Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 422 /Centaur Will be compatible with other rockets in future.
* Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 41
* Landing Site: Western U.S. Starliner will parachute to dry land, like Soyuz, and use airbags to cushion the impact. Landing sites at White Sands, NM; Dugway Proving Ground, UT; Edwards AFB, CA; Willcox Playa, AZ.
The Dragon:
* Pricetag: Up to $3.2 billion. Numbers for both companies include total NASA contract awards for developing, building, and certifying vehicles, two test flights, and up to six ferry flights to the ISS through 2024.
* Heritage: Dragon Cargo Vehicle SpaceX has been launching supplies to the space station since 2012. Crew Dragon is based on the Dragon cargo craft.
* Seating Capacity: Up to 7
* Head / Leg Room: Diameter: 12.1 ft. Height: 23.6 ft. Dimensions include Dragon’s cargo “trunk.”
* Engines: SpaceX Draco / Superdraco Engines are onboard. Superdraco engines are used for abort only.
* Reusability: Yes, Dragons are reusable, although test flights will fly new vehicles. Cargo trunk is discarded after each flight.
* Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 Block 5
* Launch Site: Cape Canaveral LC 39A (same pad used for Apollo 11 and the space shuttle)
* Landing Site: Atlantic Ocean
I'm at a loss as to why NASA is even contemplating to use both systems, since, despite it being probably a marvel of engineering, a Starliner is no match for a Crew Dragon. It's not only that a Crew Dragon has, apart from room for the astronauts, also plenty of space for (unpressurized) cargo - it started out as a cargo vessel after all. It's the price tag, with the Dragon costing about 3/4 of a Starliner. In my humble opinion, the only thing that the Starliner has going for it is the ability to land on solid ground instead of somewhere on the Atlantic, where anything can go wrong. That, and its compatibility with other launch vehicles. But why a cash-strapped NASA would still be willing to consider a spacecraft on which a seat would cost even more than on a Soyuz is beyond me. Indeed, last November NASA's Inspector General found that a Starliner seat will cost "slightly more" than a seat on a Soyuz, while a Dragon seat will cost only half of that!
Is it perhaps the desire to have at least a modicum of redundancy? So that in case of failures showing up only after a substantial number of flights of either craft, necessitating its grounding, the other type still remains to continue, without having to rely on Russian craft again?
Via MDR Sachsen (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk), 25 DEC, 2019:
"In Aue-Bad Schlema ist es am Heiligabend in einem Pfarrhaus zu einer Messerstecherei mit zwei Verletzten gekommen. Die evangelisch-lutherische Kirchgemeinde St. Nicolai hatte am 24. Dezember Bedürftige ins Pfarrhaus geladen. Keiner sollte allein den Weihnachtsabend verbringen müssen. Wie die Polizeidirektion Chemnitz mitteilte, gab es jedoch Streitigkeiten mit einem 53-jährigen Mann aus Syrien, der daraufhin der Veranstaltung und des Pfarrhauses verwiesen wurde. Offenbar hatte es eine Auseinandersetzung während der Ausgabe von Geschenken gegeben.
Schlichtungsversuch endet blutig
Kurze Zeit später tauchten mehrere Männer aus dem arabischen Raum im Pfarramt auf. Es entfachte sich ein erneuter Streit, welcher in Tätlichkeiten gegen einen 34-jährigen Iraner eskalierte. Ein 51 Jahre alter Mitarbeiter der Kirchgemeinde wollte den Streit schlichten und wurde dabei niedergestochen. Bisherigen Erkenntnissen zufolge wurde ihm ein Messer in den Bauch gerammt. Er wurde schwer verletzt. Der Mann sei noch in der Nacht notoperiert werden, sagte der Außendienstleiter der Polizeidirektion Chemnitz gegenüber einem MDR-Reporter vor Ort. Der Iraner erlitt leichte Verletzungen. Die Polizei fahndet nach den flüchtigen Tatverdächtigen..."
Gist of the story:
* the evangelical-Lutheranian church community Saint Nicholas of aue-Bad Schlema invited the needy in the preacher's house on DEC24
* a 53 yo Syrian showed up, and got into a word fight with the preacher or his helpers when they distributed stuff to those present
* he was told to knock it off and got out...
* ... only to return shortly thereafter with several arab men. There was again a fight, only this time not only with words. There was physical violence between the arabs and a 34-yo Iranian
* a volunteer who was distributing presents to those present wanted to intervene and tried to talk sense in the arabs and the Iranian
* for this, he was rewarded with a knife in his stomach.
* he was gravely wounded and rushed to a hospital, where he underwent an emergency operation
* the Iranian was lightly wounded
* Police is looking for the perps...
And good luck with THAT.
I want to apologize for the very light blogging over the past couple of months. There's several reasons for that. First of all, I discovered Twitter, and although that medium doesn't allow for in-depth stories or elaborate posts, you can quickly reach huge numbers of people with the multitude of alarming stories re islamization/immigration now so rampant in Europe. Time spent on Twitter is time not spent on Blogger.
Secondly, more than anything else biz has been consuming my time. We have gone thru very, very hard times over the past couple of years - in fact, since autumn 2012 (not that before that, it was easy). I hope we'll be out of the red by the end of March 2020, when my company's fiscal year ends. Normally we should be.
Thirdly, I am having some health issues again.
Anyway, I loved the blogger medium from the start and I don't think Twitter will ever replace it. If I had to choose between the two, it would definitely not be Twitter.
The important thing here is to keep in mind that the absence of blog posts does not mean things are looking brighter in Europe. Totally not. If anything, it's far worse. Europe, at least Western Europe, is dying. And it's a death of its own making. The story above is not a fait divers. It's ALL OVER THE PLACE. The fabric of our society is mercilessly being torn apart.
