[dilemma for the day] new series, part one

After the coup, the loyalists crammed on board four mini-subs and fled for the uninhabited island they'd predetermined to secretly live on ever after. The island was so configured that cover was excellent, in the form of caves in the hill, there was wildlife and they'd brought seeds and the necessities of life. The subs were well armed but those remaining twelve missiles had to be used sparingly and only on genuine 1st world targets, when absolutely necessary.

They surfaced in a little bay and a reconnaissance crew went ashore to ensure the island was as deserted as they'd calculated. To their dismay, they found four war canoes and soon found the warriors. In their parley, by sign language, a surly type indicated that they were an advance party from their own island a thousand kilometres away and this island had been chosen as the place the tribe would settle.

The fugitives had a problem.

The surly type picked up on this, began making demands, then got nasty. Spears were raised and were about to be be thrown when the Lieutenant whipped out a handgun and shot the surly one in the leg. The warriors appeared stunned, then all fled further inland. The crew returned to the sub and communicated on secure channel with the other three subs.

Immediately, they looked outside and the warriors were swarming all over the subs, hacking at the surface with their spears. Enraged, they jumped into their long war canoes and started paddling at great speed for the open water.

'Sir,' said Captain Laurence Sanders to his superior officer, 'if even one of those canoes makes it back, our cover is blown and either we'll have a whole island full of warriors to contend with but even more likely, GPS will pick up their return, at speed. That will interest our former nation's new rulers greatly.'

'What do you suggest, Laurence?'

'You know as well as I do, Sir,' he answered. 'We have to take out every last one of them before they get too far out to sea. If we take them out right now, they'll drift back to shore. Past the point, they could drift anywhere.'

'NO!' screamed the senior officer's wife. 'No, that's pure genocide.'

'Emma,' said her husband. 'What would you suggest?'

'Talk to them, let them see how much damage we can inflict if we wish to, destroy their canoes but don't kill them!'

'If our missile hits their boat, the boat and crew disintegrate.'

'Sir,' advised Lieutenant Adam Brothers. 'At a minimum, it would take four of our twelve missiles - total wastage. And what if we really need them for the usurper's fleet later?'

'We'll put it to the vote immediately. There are six men, six women and I retain the casting vote. We either fire in the next two minutes, before the lead boat reaches the point or we don't fire and we'll have to try to ram their boats and save some of the crew.'

'Which would leave us in permanent danger on the island from their attack, especially at night and if any escaped, we'd be right back where we were,' muttered Laurence.

'Right, no time to lose,' snapped the superior officer. 'If you vote to shoot, the ultimate responsibility is mine because that is what I'm voting to do. So, all of you. To shoot or not to shoot? Come on people, no longer than a minute to decide. Any hesitation I'm going to count as a yes.'

What is your decision, reader?

[alcohol] which nations drink the most

Now here's a big shock - the most alcohol soaked nations on earth are below. Are those vodka soaked Russkies and Finns near the top? Are the German and Australian lager lovers? Take a stab at the top ten in your head first, then check below and here.

# 1	Luxembourg:	15.5 litres per capita
# 2	France:	14.8 litres per capita
# 3	Ireland:	13.5 litres per capita
# 4	Hungary:	13.4 litres per capita
# 5	Czech Republic:	12.1 litres per capita
# 6	Spain:	11.7 litres per capita
# 7	Denmark:	11.5 litres per capita
# 8	Portugal:	11.4 litres per capita
# 9	United Kingdom:	11.2 litres per capita
# 10	Austria:	11.1 litres per capita

[small business] poisonous atmosphere inimical to it

You've all seen it:

Charles Clarke and Jacqui Smith, two former home secretaries, had said they expected to reach a “tipping point” of 80 per cent of British people using ID cards by 2018, at which point their use would have been made compulsory by law. However, when asked yesterday whether that was still the case, Mr Johnson stated a categoric “no”.

Yeah, yeah, more of the same. Yada, yada. We've all commented on this government, on its wastage, on its ludicrous pies in the sky, while we lose our jobs or can't find one we would have walked into a couple of years back - the sheer ignominy of going for positions one used to offer oneself a few years back.

What Smirky Brown and Peacock Cameron, [strutting about making very witty comments about Brown], have no concept of, in their very clubby atmosphere, is that the chances of anyone setting up a small business in the UK are zilch. Nada.

This is exacerbated by the crippling tax code, the prohibitive council rentals, the total power they have to determine what your business must be and how it must be run and the total lack of room to move. - the contentment to grind a business down until it's bust and then wait hopefully for the next one to do the same to.

'Oh dear,' the sharks shake their heads at each other. 'No one's tried to start a business in the last few months.'

'Wonder why that is?' says Shark 2.

'Must be the worldwide economic climate,' nods Shark 3.

There is no 'we'll get behind you and cushion your first year', no concessions, no incentives, no schemes in place which are not undercut by taking from you in another area, no effing leadership from the top! Just the dead hand of socialism.

You see a boarded up shop front and think, 'I could make a go of selling XXXX here.' Then you learn they want £5000 up front, plus this, plus that, before you've even started. I know. I've checked it out in the area.

From the banks to the councils, when you walk through those doors, it's all about how much money they can make out of you, to infinitesimally offset their own losses due to their profligate and criminal incompetence. Anyone at all stupid enough to try to float a company - the sharks see him coming. All the forms come out to be signed - a percentage for this, a percentage for that ......

The small business climate is poisonous, lethal, prohibitive. A company I know the head of went to the wall on Friday and it really came home to me. This is a company where money was coming in and quite reasonable money. The money going out was crippling. A change of EU regulations meant that new systems he'd installed were now 'illegal' and had to be replaced at an all up cost of £13000, including having to divert staff to this completely meaningless drivel.

They made one too many demands on him and he folded. Unbe-effing-lievable!

Doesn't this country want any small business at all?

Sorry.

[airbus] yet another down

Another Airbus down. Add that to the list. Anyone planning a holiday via Airbus?

[wrong women] peter principle illustrated

Veronique Morali


The parallels between Sotomayor and her era of new appointees is striking. I had a post ready to go on Sotomayor earlier and didn't run it because it was boring. However:

The Supreme Court's reversal yesterday of a decision endorsed by Sonia Sotomayor as a federal appeals judge provided fresh ammunition for her conservative critics two weeks before her Senate confirmation hearing, but also allowed defenders to cast her as a judge who respects precedent.

She'll be nominated of course because this is the Era of Wrong Appointments - witness Gordon Brown and David Cameron. Precisely the wrong 'new women', talentless in leadership but with a lot of lip, are also getting appointed under 'positive discrimination' - people like Flint in the UK, Lynch in Canada and Sotomayor in the States.

It's Fiorina and Dunn all over again - a lot of mouth, really good at sacking people and appearing efficient to adoring hangers-on but appointed above their station.

Monica Conyers was in a different role but the story is the same. No matter what anyone says, gender is a factor here. There is a particular type of woman whose efforts to Force those around her to bend to her will and the way she flies off the handle when she doesn't get her own way, like a spoilt child, is going to make powerful enemies, particularly among male colleagues. This is not the way to go in an environment which doesn't fully accept you in the first place anyway and is looking for you to fall.

This was how Sarkozy cut the Segie magnetism in that debate - by provoking her to anger. Veronique Morali, of Force Femmes, is another who should not be let near a boardroom for her obvious bias. If there was her and another woman beside her of equal accomplishments but without the chip on the shoulder about her gender, then you'd appoint the other, on the grounds that she could give 100% to the company.

I'm not going to balance this to avoid being called sexist, by listing a lot of unsuitable men. There are so many. Take your pick of males who should never have been appointed, from Goodwin to Brown himself. They infest the public world, these non-comps but there IS a type of woman too, such as I've described and she should never be let near the reins of power. Merkel is one such person. Remember, a high flyer is just that - a high flyer and into high flying. A high flying woman complicates the issue by bringing gender into it.

The right person to put in is someone with a deep understanding of structure and process, with no real chip on the shoulder and not having to prove him or herself. I can think of two women straight away who are of a type and of a temperament which lends itself to running organizations. One runs a department at a university in Russia and another runs a blog group here. I tell you, honestly, that I would follow where these women led although they're cunning enough to make me think I'm doing the leading. [I also know of another woman running a different association who shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the reins but that's another matter.]

They are into consensus, politeness and warmth but insist on reasonable targets being met and have the ruthlessness to cut the dead wood away, albeit with tact.

I know men like that too but one thing for sure - these Sotomayors, Conyers and Lynches are most certainly NOT the ones who should be there. What should be done with them? Well, HP did it wrongly, in that you do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. If they refuse to stay on in an advisory capacity, then access their expertise professionally and pay for it that way. They do have great skills. Running organizations is not one of them, that's all.

[tadpole trike] recumbent, wind assisted

Here's the solution to the problem, folks. I'd design the sail differently, crab claw with more rake but it's a good combination - tadpole recumbent trike with wind assistance. Way to go.



Thanks, Gallimaufry, for the tip!

[minstrels] go well with morris dancers

I don't quite know what Tom is getting at here but if it's what I think it is, then this youtube is offered in support [click on the pic]:

[cyclists] and the problems that dare not speak their names

Confession time - some distances are just too great, even for Super-OAP

Professional cyclists should consider freezing their sperm before embarking on their careers, say researchers. They found sperm quality drops dramatically with rigorous training. However, a UK expert said the average man cycling to work would be unlikely to suffer fertility problems because of their time in the saddle.

Having a bit of trouble reading this about the UK expert. 'The average man' suggests singular number but then the article uses the 3rd person plural 'their'.

Strange.

Anyway, the sperm count, I should have thought, is the last of our worries. More worrying is the shape of the hard, narrow leather seat. Now I haven't wanted to raise this issue but when one has a certain normal size of ... well, I can't mention their name ... um ... where exactly are they supposed to go when you're riding? Either side?

This is a bit embarrassing but as there are so many men cycling, there must be a solution to this issue.

[weekend poll] closed, results here

Sexiest Man Over 43
Which three do you vote for?

1. Omar Sharif [77] (4)	8%
2. Giancarlo Giannini [66] (8)	17%
3. Pierce Brosnan [57] (8)	17%
4. Denzel Washington [54] (5)	10%
5. Nick Faldo [51] (1)	2%
6. George Clooney [48] (10)	21%
7. Jon Bon Jovi [47] (3)	6%
8. Mikhail Khodorkovsky [45] (5)	10%
9. Brad Pitt [45] (1)	2%
10. Darrin McMahon [44] (3)	6%

Total Votes: 48

11. Armand Assante ... 1 vote

Thanks you all for voting. See you hopefully this Friday.

[electricity] at a fraction of the cost

Now this looks very interesting.

There are two inventors who claim [yeah, I know everyone and his dog claim this] that they can produce dirt cheap electricity.

Look at the vid and see what you think.