Saturday, June 13, 2009
MILOSEVIC MURDER - EVIDENCE IS CLEAR OF MI6's GUILT
Part of a more extensive article all worth reading:
MI6
Given the above it came as no surprise when an article in the Birmingham Post in September this year, revealed that Ashdown had worked for M16, part of the British Intelligence Service.
Moreover it was revealing to study the recently published list of M16 agents, which appeared on the cryptome website, who were active in the Balkans during the 1990s and in some instances then moved on to work in The Hague. This would obviously suggest that there is a link between M16 and the ICTY, an association that many people have long suspected, and a link, it appears, that covers all levels of ICTY employees.
In his book 'Web of Deceit' author Mark Curtis exposed the unsavoury history that MI6 have in regard to the 'assassination' of Slobodan Milosevic. Assassination options put forward by MI6 included; an SAS bomb or sniper ambush, a road crash using strobe lighting, and in 1999, the use of Nato aircraft to target him during the bombing campaign. (Interestingly Curtis also exposes the links between MI6 and 'Osama bin Laden's supporters').
As to the question of what control, if any, do British intelligence have over the ICTY, it is worthwhile to consider the following:
The ICTY is supposedly an international court that was established by the United Nations Security Council, however since this body has no legal authority to establish such a court it is in fact illegal. Moreover there are 191 Member States represented at the United Nations, yet the key personnel at the ICTY are exclusively British. The leading judge is British, the lead prosecution is British, the defence counsel imposed on Mr Milosevic against his will is British and the bulk of the 1300 staff working at the 'tribunal' are either British or
American. Furthermore, when judge Richard May passed away, unlamented, he was replaced by yet another British judge, Bonomy, who we presume is trying desperately to avoid the same fate as his predecessor. Are we to assume therefore that there is no competent judiciary in the remaining 190 countries, or is it more the case of the necessity for political control of this 'tribunal'?
Apart from the fact that Britain was one of the main aggressor nations against Yugoslavia and therefore has a vested interest in the outcome of the 'trial', the overwhelming exclusion of other nationalities from these positions can do nothing but confirm the allegations that this is a tightly controlled and illegitimate tribunal, and a politically motivated court that cannot risk the presence of even one objective voice.
When he appeared at The Hague in March 2002, Ashdown made the claim that the British Army would never engage in actions which targeted the civilian population, yet if we examine the kind of activities engaged in by the UKs Special Forces, the SAS and the SBS of which Ashdown was a commander, we come across a world of assassinations, provocation, double agents, murder and bombings. (See for instance globalresearch.ca and the investigative articles by Michael Keefer and the book 'Web of Deceit' by Mark Curtis).
Countering Ashdown's assertion Mr Milosevic, in an attempt to expose Ashdown, highlighted the 'extraordinary level of activity' that Ashdown, a leader of a small opposition party in Britain, was engaged in. He further tried to raise the question about the events in Northern Ireland and particularly Bloody Sunday but was cut off by the judges and told he could not follow that line of questioning because it was 'too political'
Since that article was written in 2005 we have had the Diana inquest in which it was admitted that there had been an MI6 plot to kill a "senior Serbian politician", almost certainly Milosevic but perhaps also Karadzic. About this we know:
Some of the SIS officers' identities can be deduced from Richardall of whom are therefore implicated in a criminal conspiracy to murder Milosevic. Tomlinson's full letter is here (sect 3 being crucial) & as he says the similarity between the intended murder of Milosevic by using a strobe light to make his car crash in a tunnel & the death of Diana ia remarkable.
Tomlinson's letter to his solicitor, available here:
http://www.inside-news.ch/shayler/!milosev.htm,
in which he writes that:
"The minute was approximately 2 pages long, and had a yellow minute card attached to it which signified that it was an accountable document rather than a draft proposal. It was entitled "The need to assassinate President Milosevic of Serbia". In the distribution list in the margin were P4 (Head of Balkan operations, then Maurice Kendwrick-Piercey), SBO1/T (Security officer responsible for eastern European operations, then John Ridd), C/CEE (Controller of east European operations, then Richard Fletcher or possibly Andrew Fulton), MODA/SO (The SAS liaison officer attached to MI6, then Major Glynne Evans), and H/SECT (the private secretary to Sir Colin McColl, then Alan Petty)."
Milosevic was poisoned & blood tests on January 12 2006 revealed the presence of the Leprosy drug 'Rifampicine' in Milosevic's blood, this being a particularly sophisticated drug which destroys heart muscle but would, without the blood sample, have disappeared by the time he died of a heart attack, as he duly did. None of this is disputed though obviously it is ignored by our media. This is a very sophisticated form of poisoning designed to look like natural death & so must have been committed person or persons with very sophisticated knowledge of murder, a strong incentive to make it look natural & the knowledge that the judges weren't going to allow him to receive medical treatment in Russia where it would have likely been spotted. Since the murder was committed by poisoning him over a period of time they must have had access to his food, in the prison, over a long period. That limits it to his ICTY jailers & in particular to secret service agents among them.
American law specifically makes it illegal to assassinate national leaders & while I am sure that if necessary they would no more be restrained by the law than Clinton was by the War Powers Act which prevents making war as Clinton did against Yugoslavia there is a way apparently used to circumvent the restriction. The British & American secret services are in fact siamese twins so closely linked to be effectively 1 organisation, however wearing their British hat they can do things which are illegal under US law & vice versa. The case of British intelligence planning the missile attack on Milosevic's home during the NATO bombing is a case in point.
Though the CIA has a long track record of assassinations, its claws were drawn by successive US administrations with their fear of damaging publicity and international anger, ending with a legal ban on such action which has only recently been lifted. Britain on the other hand has no such legal complications as long as the killing takes place on foreign soil. Under the Intelligence Services Act of 1994, MI6 officers have immunity from prosecution for crimes committed outside Great Britain. Although The Criminal Justice Bill of 1998 makes it illegal for any organization in Great Britain to conspire to commit offenses abroad, Crown agents still have immunity. With the end of World War II the SOE's (Special Operations Executive) undoubted ability in both subversion and assassination was absorbed into the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), and for many years afterwards Britain is believed to have made regular, if sparing use of assassination to further its foreign policy aims.
Of course such murders would have to be authorised by the Prime minister otherwise the organisation would wholly be moved out of British control.
I think it clearly proven, at least to the standards used to convict the "Real IRA" of the Enniskillen bombing, that Milosevic was murdered by British intelligence officers, serving in the ICTY, under the direct authorisation of Tony Blair. I am confident that if an actual genuine investigation of this murder were done this would be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
UPDATE Sept 09
Surfing I read this in an unrelated site "Britain does have agents with a "license to kill" and, more importantly, laws protecting these men and women from any later prosecution for dirty deeds they were asked to do for Queen and Country" (the article being about America not having this boon) - I don't know what laws that refers to but certainly it fits with MI6 officers in the ICTY, & not CIA ones, being licensed to murder Milosevic. Since Nuremburg decided "I was only obeying orders" was not a defence I assume protecting authorised murderers would, themselves be unlawful.
Friday, June 12, 2009
DALGETY BAY - FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - SEPA SAY ZERO MONEY SPENT INVESTIGATING DALGETY BEACH
SEPA say;
"The enquiry was passed to Regulatory colleagues who confirmed that SEPA has undertaken a series of investigations at Dalgety Bay where radioactive particles (point sources) have been detected on several occasions.
SEPA's assessment available on our web-site & peer reviewed by notable bodies such as the Health Protection Agency demonstrates that the specific activity of the particles recovered at Dalgety Bay can give rise to doses in excess of those arising from background & from those encountered by the people in Aberdeen.
SEPA consequently considers that nothing has been spent "investigating a level of radioactivity smaller & less dangerous (under the LNT theory) or less beneficial (under the hormesis theory) than the radioactivity encountered by everybody daily in every street in Aberdeen".this being the wording of my query
----------------------
This is clearly designed to match the level of obfuscation achieved by Sir Humphrey Appleby & the fact that they are so very anxious to keep secret the amount they have spent, not even daring to attempt a partial figure using only the costs of investigations farmed out on this scare story strongly suggest the real figure is many times higher than the "millions" I had suspected in my press release. 10s of millions, possibly as much as a hundred million.
However due to not knowing their case properly they have made an error. They have not just discovered "point sources" but also rocks of which "attempts were made to disaggregate these samples to pinpoint more accurately the location of the radioactivity. The result showed that .... it was not possible to subdivide the sample further without loss of identity to its constituent parts" which is, by definition not a point source; is wholly incompatible with it being radium paint particles; exactly what background radiation is like; & clearly an examination of background radiation not just "point sources". A more competent Sir Humphrey would have tried to divide it into 2 figures, 1 for point sources & 1 for everything else which could be argued as upholding the letter of their fraud.
Instead they have simply, yet again broken the Freedom of Information Act maintaining their previous position that whatever the law says "Neither SEPA nor its officers are under a duty" to answer questions posed under it. My reply:
-----------------------
"Thank you. I accept SEPA's claim not to have spent anything at all investigating this as representing the very highest standard of both honesty & respect for the law to which SEPA aspire.
I cannot accept it as being in any way truthful. Since you feel it advantageous to tell such an obvious lie I must assume that my previously published estimate that you had spent "millions" is low & that you have spent at least £10s of millions & possibly as much as £100 million on this false scare story. You may, of course, dispute this with facts if you wish, if not a reasonable person would have to assume my new estimate broadly correct.
May I also point out a further lie in your response - that your investigation has not been limited to point sources but also that "attempts were made to disaggregate these samples to pinpoint more accurately the location of the radioactivity. The result showed that .... it was not possible to subdivide the sample further without loss of identity to its constituent parts" so not purely point sources & thus caught lying again.
You may be pleased to know that I have had far more difficulty getting an answer from SEPA than from the FO on a matter of more apparent delicacy.
-----------------------------
I will contact the Scottish Information Commissioner & put in an appeal on this but it seems clear that SEPA consider it more in their interests to keep repeatedly breaking the law than to answer. The response to my appeal on their refusal to answer the original question is due shortly - where are the scientific tests which SEPA claimed had proven the radioactive particles to be paint. Obviously, with not only Mr Tilly having said on national radio that these tests had been done but SEPA having now deliberately maintained them for, now, 4 months & the head of the Scottish civil service & First Minister being informed, such results must exist if SEPA is in any way whatsoever honest. We will see.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
DALGETY BAY - DUNFERMLINE PRESS ARTICLE
SEPA's Bay beach claims dismissed as 'scientific illiteracy'
by Matt Meade
A PRO-NUCLEAR campaigner has accused the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) of “scientific illiteracy” over radiation claims at a Dalgety Bay beach.
Neil Craig (55) claims radiation being found in the area is likely to be natural and not from luminous dials from dumped war aircraft in the Forth, as widely held.
He also quoted SEPA’s own report which revealed the highest reading for background radiation recorded at Dalgety Bay was still lower than that found in a typical Aberdeen street.
He said, “Since the radium paint is water soluble there must also be some doubt if it would still be in place on a Scottish shore 64 years later.
“They claim to have found ‘radium and its associated daughters’ mixed together.
“They are clearly ignorant of the fact that the ‘daughter element’ produced by the breakdown of radium is radon, an essentially unreactive gas which could not possibly be found mixed with solid radium.
“The scientific illiteracy of this untruth is staggering and not only disproves the claim to have found man-made radium but shows that SEPA lack scientific competence.
“SEPA’s latest assertion about the radiation at Dalgety Bay is inconsistent with previous assertions and more importantly cannot be reconciled with the laws of physics.
“If their announced readings mean anything it can only be that this is natural background radiation.”
The Press reported recently that the MoD estates department has begun a comprehensive investigation to discover the source of the radiation.
This will include partly submerging a 1500 square metre membrane, or “blanket”, into the water at the beach to catch particles.
SEPA this week defended their research, saying that many items had been recovered from the beach, including dials and a vial of active material, and that there was “strong circumstantial evidence for there being luminised paint items on the beach”.
A spokesperson added, “We are also aware that the small particles or flakes that have been found on the beach are similar to those described to us by someone who worked on the airfield after the Second World War, when luminised instruments were still being made and repaired.”
SEPA believe the solubility of the paint could have been altered during the break-up of aircraft when it was common for old luminous dials to be burnt.
She added, “This change and resultant variability in the chemical composition caused by burning also affects the solubility, and this could be a reason why the residues of the radium are still being detected after all this time.
“The radium contamination at Dalgety Bay is believed to have originated from historic MoD operations.”
Regarding Mr Craig’s highlighting of SEPA’s research which showed an average Aberdeen street contained more radiation than the beach, she added,
“The figure of one-third less than Aberdeen is for the background radiation – at Dalgety Bay we are concerned with the potential dose from point sources.
“People in Aberdeen do experience natural radiation but they do not have the chance of encountering small point sources of a higher radium contamination.
“In 2009 HPA (Health Protection Agency) provided advice on the sources retrieved from Dalgety Bay stating that some of them, if ingested, would provide doses in excess of 50msv.”
That figure is typically the lowest dose at which there is any evidence of cancer being caused in adults, according to the World Nuclear Association.
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Happy with that. Emphasis from the original. Note that their claim to have tested the radioactive particles & found them to be paint, which they officially still maintain & certainly represents the highest standard of honesty to which they aspire, has been reduced to finding flecks of what look like paint in the area that bear an uncanny resemblance to paint flecks - paint having been used by the RAF during WW2 & arguably by others before & since. It is disgraceful that while the Dunfermline Press, the Courier & the P&J have mentioned this the Edinburgh/Glasgow press haven't. Even assuming the Scotsman don't consider Dalgety Bay in their catchment area the fact is that a Scottish government agency has been caught blatantly & repeatedly lying apparently to build their bureaucratic empire & has shown they can't even lie in a scientificly credible way. This would be a matter of serious news value if their journalists weren't in bed with the politicians & bureaucrats. I have put up this comment:
"As regards the claim about point source radiation may I quote from another part of a SEPA report " "attempts were made to disaggregate these samples to pinpoint more accurately the location of the radioactivity. The result showed that .... it was not possible to subdivide the sample further without loss of identity to its constituent parts" or to put it another way - no point source. Caught lying again then.
Regarding the "vial of active material" found. If this is really radium paint as bringing it in to the discussion implies then finding it lying on Dalgety beach would be finding something considerably more valuable than a diamond necklace lying there. SEPA have not displayed this publicly & indeed not referred to it in reports in the last 10 years & it would be interesting to see it properly examined. Since the RAF did not paint their own aircraft dials there is no reason why such a vial should have been there & I suspect "active material" is a totally meaningless, though deliberately scary, term & that it contained something about as dangerous as dirty water.
I see SEPA have not disputed their scientific illiteracy about the daughter element of radium with which they alleged it was "mixed" being actually a gas.
It is quite clear that SEPA have lied continuously over many years to produce a false scare story & keep themselves in business. Unfortunately most of the "environmental" industry works on this basis. The product this industry manufactures is fear & their only customer is the taxpayer.
To maintain their story SEPA have repeatedly refused to answer questions which they are legally obliged to do under the Freedom of Information Act. That the head of the Scottish civil service & the leaders of all the main parties are unwilling to even comment on this scandal shows how deeply government feels (to quote HL Mencken) ""The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
SEPA's radiation scare is imaginary."
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
GOVERNMENT FUNDED THE FAKECHARITY THAT ATTACKED THE BNP & THE POLICE WHO LOOKED THE OTHER WAY
Yesterday Nick Griffin the BNP leader was holding a press conference outside the Mother of Parliaments when he was attacked by a mob of fascists. The police, who are always present there did nothing & must be presumed to have been unable to identify any of the thugs.
In a discussion about how to achieve the final solution to the BNP problem no BNP spokesman was invited. Whether you like the BNP, or indeed know anything about them from any honest source, is not the point. The point is that if the BBC, whose corruption nobody can deny, is allowed to get away not only with engaging directly in party politics but in inciting fascist violence, then nobody is safe.
The UAF fascists say they represent all 3 parties & certainly they have been endorsed by Cameron & I assume by the other 2. None of them have made any move to dissociate themselves from these thugs. In this case, as over Yugoslavia, global warming, previous eco-Nazi scares, maximising economic success, the EU & immigration generally all 3 seem to be effectively 1 party with limited nuances. All 3 are, by any objective standard, corrupt racists thousands of times more supportive of genuine Nazism than anybody in the BNP. All 3 are protected by corrupt lying journalists who will tell absolutely any lie & censor absolutely any fact to promote their fascism.
Looking at their list of publicly acknowledged supporters they are largely civil servant unions which makes UAF at least half way to being a government fakecharity (which means that while you can get fired as a teacher simply because you are a member of the BNP, there is no problem with union employees using teachers money to pay thugs on the other side).
So we live in a society where 75% of the economy is state controlled; where the state owns the largest part of the media & uses it to promote war crimes & party political propaganda; where the police look the other way as government funded thugs attack people, where all the allegedly separate parties are funded by government & conspire together to lie to the people to frighten them & thus make them tractable; & where the political leaders are, under their own laws, guilty of mass murder, child rape, genocide & dissecting living people & where the judiciary ignore their legal duty.
Fascism: 1 - often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation ...above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
They were not just passing. This venue was not announced by Simon Darby, National Press Officer, until the morning of the shoot. The protesters were therefore given the location and time by someone with a vested interest in depriving the British National Party of the right to freedom of speech.As a result on Newsnight the BBC interviewed the leading brownshirt (actually white sports shirt) would be Himmler & Simon Hughes, a man who supports genocide, child rape, war crimes & organlegging in the Nazi cause. These 2 fascists were supported by Paxman, a racist whore who will tell any lie & censor any fact to promote atrocities that would have shamed Hitler, so long as he keeps trousering his half mill.
In a discussion about how to achieve the final solution to the BNP problem no BNP spokesman was invited. Whether you like the BNP, or indeed know anything about them from any honest source, is not the point. The point is that if the BBC, whose corruption nobody can deny, is allowed to get away not only with engaging directly in party politics but in inciting fascist violence, then nobody is safe.
The UAF fascists say they represent all 3 parties & certainly they have been endorsed by Cameron & I assume by the other 2. None of them have made any move to dissociate themselves from these thugs. In this case, as over Yugoslavia, global warming, previous eco-Nazi scares, maximising economic success, the EU & immigration generally all 3 seem to be effectively 1 party with limited nuances. All 3 are, by any objective standard, corrupt racists thousands of times more supportive of genuine Nazism than anybody in the BNP. All 3 are protected by corrupt lying journalists who will tell absolutely any lie & censor absolutely any fact to promote their fascism.
Looking at their list of publicly acknowledged supporters they are largely civil servant unions which makes UAF at least half way to being a government fakecharity (which means that while you can get fired as a teacher simply because you are a member of the BNP, there is no problem with union employees using teachers money to pay thugs on the other side).
So we live in a society where 75% of the economy is state controlled; where the state owns the largest part of the media & uses it to promote war crimes & party political propaganda; where the police look the other way as government funded thugs attack people, where all the allegedly separate parties are funded by government & conspire together to lie to the people to frighten them & thus make them tractable; & where the political leaders are, under their own laws, guilty of mass murder, child rape, genocide & dissecting living people & where the judiciary ignore their legal duty.
Fascism: 1 - often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation ...above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
BIG ENGINEERING 33 INFLATABLE 200 KM TOWER
7 metre tower
Temporary tower put up over a century ago
A giant inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket... If built from a suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20 kilometres, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism, telecoms or launching spacecraft.
Pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower
The team envisages assembling the structure from a series of modules constructed from Kevlar-polyethylene composite tubes made rigid by inflating them with a lightweight gas such as helium. To test the idea, they built a 7-metre scale model made up of six modules. Each module was built out of three laminated polyethylene tubes 8 centimetres in diameter, mounted around circular spacers and inflated with air.
To stay upright and withstand winds, full-scale structures would require gyroscopes and active stabilisation systems in each module. The team modelled a 15-kilometre tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 metres tall and 230 metres in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 metres across. Quine estimates it would weigh about 800,000 tonnes when pressurised - around twice the weight of the world's largest supertanker.
"Twenty kilometres up is about as dark as outer space. You can see about 600 kilometres in any direction," Quine says. Tourists could get a view almost like that from space, but without the difficulties of coping with zero gravity. He calculates the tower could be extended up to low Earth orbit at 200 kilometres.
I have previously written about building a space elevator - a tether that reaches all the 36,000 km from geosynchronous orbit to Earth. That is a nicer idea than this with the minor disadvantage that we don't have materials that could do it so it is currently impossible. This, on the other hand, while state of the art, is possible. We could start building it now. We should.
Now lets fairly admit this alone will not get us into orbit. It is possible to orbit at 200km because there is no air but to stay up you have to be going about 14,000mph (actually orbit is free fall - what you are doing is falling as much as you move forward so that when you have fallen as far down as the Earth you have also moved that far forward as the radius of the orbit so you are still at the same distance from the surface). If you aren't at orbital speed when you leave the tower you will simply fall. However be the penultimate tourist trip (perhaps ultimate since it will be more comfortable than Virgin Galactic or if you lijke parachuting), will be invaluable for scientific experimentation, as a communications centre & possibly for vacuum manufacturing.
It has been said that the engineering achievement of the Eiffel Tower helped restore French self confidence & prestige after the Franco-Prussian war & this is a tower which could be seen not merely from every window in Paris but from different countries.
I can think of 2 technical ways it could be used to get to orbit;
1 - Launching a rocket from it - since it is already up there & beyond the atmosphere it would be much easier but I suspect it would be impractical to build a rocket at the top of this structure.
2 - A Skyhook Sky Hook is a satellite with two huge spokes that 'rolls' along the equator. Tie something to a spoke when it touches earth and up-it-goes. . This is part way to a full elevator but much shorter & can therefore be built with current technology but still requires us to have space industry. To do this would also require great flexibility & control of the "hook" at the end of the spokes so that when it came down close to the top of the tower it could be steered there. A Skyhook has been proposed for lifting things directly from Earth, or a high flying aircraft, but to do that the tethers have to be continuously moving through air which causes frictional losses.
I think the way to finance this is with a series of prizes for achieving particular building heights. Whether this would make a direct financial profit or not (the Eiffel Tower was not intended to do so but did) I think it would push the science, technology & human spirit in a way beyond money.
Hat tip to Al Fin for reporting this today
UPDATE - Jerry Pournelle has mentioned this as, the following day, did somebody else - they don't anticipate it as near term or as a direct way into space.
Temporary tower put up over a century ago
A giant inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket... If built from a suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20 kilometres, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism, telecoms or launching spacecraft.
Pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower
The team envisages assembling the structure from a series of modules constructed from Kevlar-polyethylene composite tubes made rigid by inflating them with a lightweight gas such as helium. To test the idea, they built a 7-metre scale model made up of six modules. Each module was built out of three laminated polyethylene tubes 8 centimetres in diameter, mounted around circular spacers and inflated with air.
To stay upright and withstand winds, full-scale structures would require gyroscopes and active stabilisation systems in each module. The team modelled a 15-kilometre tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 metres tall and 230 metres in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 metres across. Quine estimates it would weigh about 800,000 tonnes when pressurised - around twice the weight of the world's largest supertanker.
"Twenty kilometres up is about as dark as outer space. You can see about 600 kilometres in any direction," Quine says. Tourists could get a view almost like that from space, but without the difficulties of coping with zero gravity. He calculates the tower could be extended up to low Earth orbit at 200 kilometres.
I have previously written about building a space elevator - a tether that reaches all the 36,000 km from geosynchronous orbit to Earth. That is a nicer idea than this with the minor disadvantage that we don't have materials that could do it so it is currently impossible. This, on the other hand, while state of the art, is possible. We could start building it now. We should.
Now lets fairly admit this alone will not get us into orbit. It is possible to orbit at 200km because there is no air but to stay up you have to be going about 14,000mph (actually orbit is free fall - what you are doing is falling as much as you move forward so that when you have fallen as far down as the Earth you have also moved that far forward as the radius of the orbit so you are still at the same distance from the surface). If you aren't at orbital speed when you leave the tower you will simply fall. However be the penultimate tourist trip (perhaps ultimate since it will be more comfortable than Virgin Galactic or if you lijke parachuting), will be invaluable for scientific experimentation, as a communications centre & possibly for vacuum manufacturing.
It has been said that the engineering achievement of the Eiffel Tower helped restore French self confidence & prestige after the Franco-Prussian war & this is a tower which could be seen not merely from every window in Paris but from different countries.
I can think of 2 technical ways it could be used to get to orbit;
1 - Launching a rocket from it - since it is already up there & beyond the atmosphere it would be much easier but I suspect it would be impractical to build a rocket at the top of this structure.
2 - A Skyhook Sky Hook is a satellite with two huge spokes that 'rolls' along the equator. Tie something to a spoke when it touches earth and up-it-goes. . This is part way to a full elevator but much shorter & can therefore be built with current technology but still requires us to have space industry. To do this would also require great flexibility & control of the "hook" at the end of the spokes so that when it came down close to the top of the tower it could be steered there. A Skyhook has been proposed for lifting things directly from Earth, or a high flying aircraft, but to do that the tethers have to be continuously moving through air which causes frictional losses.
I think the way to finance this is with a series of prizes for achieving particular building heights. Whether this would make a direct financial profit or not (the Eiffel Tower was not intended to do so but did) I think it would push the science, technology & human spirit in a way beyond money.
Hat tip to Al Fin for reporting this today
UPDATE - Jerry Pournelle has mentioned this as, the following day, did somebody else - they don't anticipate it as near term or as a direct way into space.
Labels: Big Engineering
Monday, June 08, 2009
EU ELECTION - THAT WAS FUN
Conservatives 28.3%
UKIP 17.5%
Labour 15.4%
Lib Dems 14.0%
Greens 8.7%
BNP 5%
A disaster for Labour whose vote has crashed from a previous lowest ever of 22.6% & are now in 3rd place. Other than that the strange thing is that the other parties have shuffled around a point or 2 up or down. Well OK the fascists of the Green party went up 2.9% which is unfortunate & may be the result of them having no MPs & thus no fraudulent MPs. LibDims 0.9% down cannot be good news for them since if they had managed even a small recovery they would have been able to have claimed replacing Labour as the 3rd party in British politics. The relatively slight changes suggest that this is not a flash in the pan for any of them but represents a definite trend. Mark Wadsworth says that where UKIP put up council candidates the same night they got the same sort of vote. Nobody votes for their councillor to influence Europe & knows the councillor will have some direct influence on them probably doesn't do it as a pure protest. So probably UKIP have a solid core vote they can call on in general elections. I suspect that if in the general election they put all their effort into a hit list of about 50 seats where the demographics looked good, the local MP or prospective Tory wasn't eurosceptic & openly admitted they weren't trying elsewhere they could at least match the LibDims, who are in for a disaster, in the next Parliament.
Despite the Conservative glee this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for them. 28% looks good only by comparison with 15%. They are clearly not popular either.
Interestingly only 44% voted for the 2 main parties together which is less than either of them got in their best days alone. Also, since they are the only ones who support the corrupt FPTP system that means a clear majority voted for parties favouring proportional representation.
This reinforces my previous post about Alan Johnson, who supports PR, being able, if he can be credible about it, to get Labour back in on a platform of a PR referendum. The conservatives presumably think most UKIP voters will go to them in a general election but if PR is on offer, but not from the Tories, they won't do so. I think Cameron would be wise to spike Labours guns here by calling for a referendum on it now & that his party would respect & legislate the result. The other thing he should do is start looking through UKIP's policies, particularly a referendum whether the constitreaty has been ratified or not. His original tactic was to be Blair Lite positioning the Conservatives on "moderate" Labour ground to achieve their popularity on the assumption that "right wing" Tories would have nowhere else to go anyway. Well their popularity has gone & so have many economic liberal Tories.
Best moments of coverage were the BBC interviewing Nigel Farage & Dan Hannan, who got in in South East England (Labour 8%), together. There really wasn't a paper between them except that Farage was pro-PR & Hannan was fighting in the within the Conservative big tent. If the Conservatives had any internal party democracy in policymaking they would both be in the same party. Other best moment was the BBC interviewing the eco-Fascist leader & sympathetically asking her if it wouldn't be better if the voting system was more proportional so that they would get more seats while not asking BNP leader Griffin the same.
In Scotland the SNP trounced Labour 29% to 21%, the Tories took 17%, LibDims 11%, Greens 8%, UKIP 5.6% & BNP 2.5%. Not a bad showing for UKIP (half the LibDims who were the 2nd party in Scotland back when I was expelled) when you consider they not only have no history here but have handicapped themselves with a ludicrous opposition to us having a Holyrood government. I think UKIP should reorganise as a separate party (UKIP-Scottish Progressive Association or something of the like) to include some known Scots. Our Conservatives are so Blair Lite that at the last election their main policies were more council house & more money to fight drugs. Scotland needs a party willing to stand unabashed for economic sanity & UKIP have nothing to lose by franchising out.
And Alan Johnson should get off his ass & challenge Brown either to go immediately for PR or to go.
UKIP 17.5%
Labour 15.4%
Lib Dems 14.0%
Greens 8.7%
BNP 5%
A disaster for Labour whose vote has crashed from a previous lowest ever of 22.6% & are now in 3rd place. Other than that the strange thing is that the other parties have shuffled around a point or 2 up or down. Well OK the fascists of the Green party went up 2.9% which is unfortunate & may be the result of them having no MPs & thus no fraudulent MPs. LibDims 0.9% down cannot be good news for them since if they had managed even a small recovery they would have been able to have claimed replacing Labour as the 3rd party in British politics. The relatively slight changes suggest that this is not a flash in the pan for any of them but represents a definite trend. Mark Wadsworth says that where UKIP put up council candidates the same night they got the same sort of vote. Nobody votes for their councillor to influence Europe & knows the councillor will have some direct influence on them probably doesn't do it as a pure protest. So probably UKIP have a solid core vote they can call on in general elections. I suspect that if in the general election they put all their effort into a hit list of about 50 seats where the demographics looked good, the local MP or prospective Tory wasn't eurosceptic & openly admitted they weren't trying elsewhere they could at least match the LibDims, who are in for a disaster, in the next Parliament.
Despite the Conservative glee this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for them. 28% looks good only by comparison with 15%. They are clearly not popular either.
Interestingly only 44% voted for the 2 main parties together which is less than either of them got in their best days alone. Also, since they are the only ones who support the corrupt FPTP system that means a clear majority voted for parties favouring proportional representation.
This reinforces my previous post about Alan Johnson, who supports PR, being able, if he can be credible about it, to get Labour back in on a platform of a PR referendum. The conservatives presumably think most UKIP voters will go to them in a general election but if PR is on offer, but not from the Tories, they won't do so. I think Cameron would be wise to spike Labours guns here by calling for a referendum on it now & that his party would respect & legislate the result. The other thing he should do is start looking through UKIP's policies, particularly a referendum whether the constitreaty has been ratified or not. His original tactic was to be Blair Lite positioning the Conservatives on "moderate" Labour ground to achieve their popularity on the assumption that "right wing" Tories would have nowhere else to go anyway. Well their popularity has gone & so have many economic liberal Tories.
Best moments of coverage were the BBC interviewing Nigel Farage & Dan Hannan, who got in in South East England (Labour 8%), together. There really wasn't a paper between them except that Farage was pro-PR & Hannan was fighting in the within the Conservative big tent. If the Conservatives had any internal party democracy in policymaking they would both be in the same party. Other best moment was the BBC interviewing the eco-Fascist leader & sympathetically asking her if it wouldn't be better if the voting system was more proportional so that they would get more seats while not asking BNP leader Griffin the same.
In Scotland the SNP trounced Labour 29% to 21%, the Tories took 17%, LibDims 11%, Greens 8%, UKIP 5.6% & BNP 2.5%. Not a bad showing for UKIP (half the LibDims who were the 2nd party in Scotland back when I was expelled) when you consider they not only have no history here but have handicapped themselves with a ludicrous opposition to us having a Holyrood government. I think UKIP should reorganise as a separate party (UKIP-Scottish Progressive Association or something of the like) to include some known Scots. Our Conservatives are so Blair Lite that at the last election their main policies were more council house & more money to fight drugs. Scotland needs a party willing to stand unabashed for economic sanity & UKIP have nothing to lose by franchising out.
And Alan Johnson should get off his ass & challenge Brown either to go immediately for PR or to go.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
DEMOBILISING MILLIONS - LESSONS FROM THE GI BILL
During WW2, seeing that they were going to be faced millions of soldiers being demobilised the US passed the GI Bill.
Officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was designed to provide greater opportunities to returning war veterans of World War II. The bill, signed by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, provided federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in the areas of hospitalization, purchase of homes and businesses, and especially, education. This act provided tuition, subsistence, books and supplies, equipment, and counseling services for veterans to continue their education in school or college. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act included the following:
1. The Federal Government would subsidize tuition, fees, books, and educational materials for veterans and contribute to living expenses incurred while attending college or other approved institutions.
2. Veterans were free to attend the educational institution of their choice.
3. Colleges were free to admit those veterans who met their admissions requirements.
Within the following 7 years, approximately 8 million veterans received educational benefits. Of that number, approximately 2,300,000 attended colleges and universities, 3,500,000 received school training, and 3,400,000 received on-the-job training. By 1951, this act had cost the government a total cost of approximately $14 billion.
The effects of increased enrollment to higher education were significant. Higher educational opportunities opened enrollment to a varied socioeconomic group than in the years past. Engineers and technicians needed for the technological economy were prepared from the ranks of returning veterans. Also, education served as a social safety valve that eased the traumas and tensions of adjustment from wartime to peace.
It is widely accepted that this played a major part in America's post war growth.
And contrary to most expectations, the grade-point averages at most colleges went up with the influx of veterans, and dropout rates went way down. Professors at the time said that the veterans were the most serious and disciplined students they'd ever seen. The cost to taxpayers for the GI Bill was about $5.5 billion, but the result was 450,000 engineers, 240,000 accountants, 238,000 teachers, 91,000 scientists, 67,000 doctors, 22,000 dentists, 17,000 writers and editors, and thousands of other professionals. It helped spur one of the greatest economic booms in American history.
There is a counter argument that this money allowed government politicisation of universities. However so long as (A) the decision of what to study is the individual's & (B) it is a limited time programme I do not think this matches the clear advantages to the programme. It is also important that experience that while there is not a correlation between education & GNP there is a single exception, namely that tertiary education spending on adult males is associated with higher growth (pdf p38), & adult male education was precisely the area affected. I assume that this is an effect of adult males having been highly incentivised to study & to study something that will give them a living. In modern developed countries where female employment is high the effect should not be limited to males but in most of the world & for most times, where work has been highly physical, it will have been.
The reason I am doing this article is that it strikes me that if, to run our economy successfully it is necessary to substantially cut British government & spending, which it is, then we are going to have to "demobilise" a lot of civil servants. Not only out of niceness but also to minimise unrest & to maximise turning them into productive workers a Civil Service Person's Readjustment Act on very much the same terms would be extremely desirable.
Officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was designed to provide greater opportunities to returning war veterans of World War II. The bill, signed by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, provided federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in the areas of hospitalization, purchase of homes and businesses, and especially, education. This act provided tuition, subsistence, books and supplies, equipment, and counseling services for veterans to continue their education in school or college. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act included the following:
1. The Federal Government would subsidize tuition, fees, books, and educational materials for veterans and contribute to living expenses incurred while attending college or other approved institutions.
2. Veterans were free to attend the educational institution of their choice.
3. Colleges were free to admit those veterans who met their admissions requirements.
Within the following 7 years, approximately 8 million veterans received educational benefits. Of that number, approximately 2,300,000 attended colleges and universities, 3,500,000 received school training, and 3,400,000 received on-the-job training. By 1951, this act had cost the government a total cost of approximately $14 billion.
The effects of increased enrollment to higher education were significant. Higher educational opportunities opened enrollment to a varied socioeconomic group than in the years past. Engineers and technicians needed for the technological economy were prepared from the ranks of returning veterans. Also, education served as a social safety valve that eased the traumas and tensions of adjustment from wartime to peace.
It is widely accepted that this played a major part in America's post war growth.
And contrary to most expectations, the grade-point averages at most colleges went up with the influx of veterans, and dropout rates went way down. Professors at the time said that the veterans were the most serious and disciplined students they'd ever seen. The cost to taxpayers for the GI Bill was about $5.5 billion, but the result was 450,000 engineers, 240,000 accountants, 238,000 teachers, 91,000 scientists, 67,000 doctors, 22,000 dentists, 17,000 writers and editors, and thousands of other professionals. It helped spur one of the greatest economic booms in American history.
There is a counter argument that this money allowed government politicisation of universities. However so long as (A) the decision of what to study is the individual's & (B) it is a limited time programme I do not think this matches the clear advantages to the programme. It is also important that experience that while there is not a correlation between education & GNP there is a single exception, namely that tertiary education spending on adult males is associated with higher growth (pdf p38), & adult male education was precisely the area affected. I assume that this is an effect of adult males having been highly incentivised to study & to study something that will give them a living. In modern developed countries where female employment is high the effect should not be limited to males but in most of the world & for most times, where work has been highly physical, it will have been.
The reason I am doing this article is that it strikes me that if, to run our economy successfully it is necessary to substantially cut British government & spending, which it is, then we are going to have to "demobilise" a lot of civil servants. Not only out of niceness but also to minimise unrest & to maximise turning them into productive workers a Civil Service Person's Readjustment Act on very much the same terms would be extremely desirable.