"Saudi Arabia budget deficit swells on oil price fall
Saudi Arabia's budget deficit soared to $98bn (£65.7bn) this year as the world's biggest oil exporter counted the cost of falling crude prices. In the first budget under King Salman, the kingdom said revenues reached 608bn riyals (£108.7bn; $162bn), down 15% on official expectations."
When the history books are written, George Mitchell - who pioneered the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (and thereby sparked a massive increase in US oil production) - will be regarded as the true hero in the war against islamic extremism.
Do you really think these floods - on this scale - are anything to do with a bit of dredging? Rivers would need massively and artificially deepened channels, they would need to be changed on a major scale into artificial channels - not least as they pass through built up areas. What would happen downstream then is anybody's guess but my guess it it would need major works to ensure that water flushed out to sea without hindrance as well. Then it would not rain again for decades.
Let me tell you a secret.
The world is really complex, and people peddling simple solutions are - in general - either stupid or liars.
Dredging is no panacea. If you dredge one part of a river, but not another, then you can cause significant issues. And this is one of the reasons why rivers are one of the few areas where there have been supra-national bodies with meaningful powers that long pre-date the UN or the EU. (I would point people to the Commissions of the Danube, among others.)
In mainland Europe, all the EU did was consolidate the various mechanism for the management of river basins. (These ensured that one man's dredging didn't cause another man's flooding.)
But it is by no means clear why we are a part of this scheme. British rivers do not flow - as the Danube or the Rhine do - across many, many countries. While our inclusion is more likely accidental than Machiavellian, we have found ourselves involved in a system that brings us no benefit, and much cost.
If flood management and dredging was solely a national affair - as far as the UK was concerned - we would at least have "one throat to choke". It should be returned to our purview.
Hence the issue of the scale of dredging is not related to these floods which follow large sudden rainfalls. Rivers in the UK cross county boundaries just as they cross country boundaries in mainland Europe. As A matter Of Interest - How do Ireland manage their rivers?
According to the link below two reservoirs in the south-east are only 75% and 60% full (although the data is a bit out of date). Why can't the excess water from the north be piped down there? It ought to be a doddle compared to many other engineering projects currently underway around the world.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
Good point. It's not like George Osborne made the tax regime so attractive that Star Wars VII was filmed in the UK instead of Australia or Eastern Euro...oh, wait a minute...:-)
I could add the old legislation that had drainage channels cut into peat moorland in order to improve drainage. This had an unfortunate side-effect of massively eroding the delicate moorland. That policy has now been reversed and landowners now receive payments to block such channels and promote 'natural' growth on the uplands.
But they're essentially meaningless against the amount of water that's fallen. It's a help, but a small help. Just look at the pictures from one slipway in the Peak District that have just been broadcast. This is especially true when flood defences in one area can easily make the situation worse in others, both upstream and downstream.
My view on this is similar to my view on climate change: mitigation is better than trying to prevent any flood anywhere, especially in a country like the UK. Make sure floods don't endanger life, and make it so people can move back into their homes as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
As an aside, I wonder how unusual this sort of event really is.
They are not meaningless that is the whole point. The rain that fell on Cumbria and caused all the flooding was less than an inch more than the previous record - about 8% up on the record which goes back about 100 years. Such rainfall has happened in the past and will happen again. The idea that it is something new and unusual and that we are therefore unable to do anything about it is complete rubbish.
I agree with you about mitigation but in this case there are genuine policies that have a proven track record and that we have stopped following because of EU directives.
How is more than the previous record something that has happened in the past? Whether its an inch more than the record or just the same as the record, it is a record amount of rainfall.
Being realistic flooding will sometimes happen. That is why we have insurance, the key is to do what that can be done to mitigate it but if there is a record amount of rain then flooding is more likely than normal. Especially after a wet few years so water levels are already higher than normal.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
Yep, generally excellent performances all round, Aidan Turner (when he was acting rather than just posing topless), Miranda Richardson, Charles Dance and Maeve Dermody were particularly good and it kept the suspense until the end. An excellent drama for the bank holiday weekend and well worth the licence fee!
I've been reading a moderately interesting report on dredging that I do not know the provenance of ( http://blueprintforwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bfw-publications/Floods and Dredging - A Reality Check [2014 02].pdf ) which suggest that although more dredging was done in the past it was done badly ( dredged material was dumped on river bank where it would be swept away easily so re-silting the river or dumped on the flood plain reducing the capacity of the flood plain) and that the reason why dredged material is sometimes considered toxic and has to be disposed of is not "crazy EU rules" but because it can accumulate a decade's worth of toxins that have flowed down the river.
The TLDR version of the report is that dredging is not a silver bullet and must be combined with multiple other approaches and many, many times would not stop flooding taking place simply speed up draining of flooded areas post-fact.
At least part of that report is bollocks though it may not be meaningful in terms of the whole thing. It states:
"the Met Office’s statistics show that Southern England had its wettest January, 200% of its long term average, in records going back to 1766."
That is garbage given that monthly records for anything other than England and Wales as a whole didn't start until 1873. It says so clearly on the Met Office website.
Whilst I can't for the life of me see why flood-control and water management in the UK should anything whatsoever to do with the EU, I'm also struggling to find the evil things in the EU's policies on this which have been mentioned here today. There's actually a lot about flood prevention.
My favourite Charles Dance performance was in the 1988 BBC TV series "First Born" (which I think is available to watch on YouTube). One of the creepiest things I've ever watched.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
Who says the left blame the Tories for everything...
Got to feel for The Guardianistas. Tories listening to their own ghetto music, watching their art house movies, marathoning on their private box set viewing...they can't go anywhere to hide. Bwaaaaah.....
All we need is for Gove to say his favourite film of the year was Duke of Burgundy and their misery would be total.
My favourite Charles Dance performance was in the 1988 BBC TV series "First Born" (which I think is available to watch on YouTube). One of the creepiest things I've ever watched.
Christ, I thought I was the only one who remembered that!
I need to thank Mr Sparrow for writing such a good article. Panel polling is popular because it's cheap and quick, but it's not a proper random representative sample and is prone to problems. These problems have been elided by weighting but not solved, and if they don't find a way to cope with differential non-response - and they might not be able to - then panel polling may continue to have unacceptably high errors, with notable betting implications.
I now return you to your sincerely-held discussion about whether the EU causes flooding. As opposed to, say, rain.
Having come very late to this, bing 7 hours ahead of UK, can I say that as non-specialist in polling matters I found Mr Sparrow's piece very interesting and most infomative. Goes a long way towards providing an explanation of recent events. I'd like to add my thanks.
Yep, generally excellent performances all round, Aidan Turner (when he was acting rather than just posing topless), Miranda Richardson, Charles Dance and Maeve Dermody were particularly good and it kept the suspense until the end. An excellent drama for the bank holiday weekend and well worth the licence fee!
Well, I wouldn't go quite that far w.r.t. the fee, but it was very nice to see...
Ntokozo Qwabe claims university is eductaing a generation of futire world leaders with a ‘skewed’ and ‘Eurocentric’ mindset and urges it to ‘atone’ for colonial legacy
The student leading a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from an Oxford college has turned his fire on the university itself, accusing it of spreading “injustice” around the world by educating future leaders with a “skewed” and “Eurocentric” mindset.
Ntokozo Qwabe, a Rhodes scholar from South Africa, claimed that students at Oxford endure “systemic racism, patriarchy and other oppressions” on a daily basis.
The 24-year-old also said that the university’s admissions and staff recruitment systems “perpetrate exclusion” and suggested that even Oxford’s architecture is laid out in a “racist and violent” way.
How is more than the previous record something that has happened in the past? Whether its an inch more than the record or just the same as the record, it is a record amount of rainfall.
Being realistic flooding will sometimes happen. That is why we have insurance, the key is to do what that can be done to mitigate it but if there is a record amount of rain then flooding is more likely than normal. Especially after a wet few years so water levels are already higher than normal.
Interesting you should mention insurance. Bear in mind that one of the consequences of recent changes as I understand it is that we all pay extra on our insurance now to cover people in flood hit areas. In the past if you lived in a flood hit area then you basically couldn't get insurance for flooding. This had the effect of limiting the amount of development on flood plains. Who wants to buy a house that is prone to flooding against which you can't get insurance. Now that the scheme is in place to ensure they have flood insurance there is no longer market forces at play to limit building in high flood risk areas.
And the official records only go back 100 years. Do you really think that is a true reflection of the whole of history? Nor has it been an especially wet few years. Both 2013 and 2014 were fairly average for rainfall in the north west according to the Met office figures.
My favourite Charles Dance performance was in the 1988 BBC TV series "First Born" (which I think is available to watch on YouTube). One of the creepiest things I've ever watched.
Christ, I thought I was the only one who remembered that!
According to the link below two reservoirs in the south-east are only 75% and 60% full (although the data is a bit out of date). Why can't the excess water from the north be piped down there? It ought to be a doddle compared to many other engineering projects currently underway around the world.
It is something I mentioned earlier today and which was proposed about a decade ago when we were suffering from droughts. There is far too much water extraction going on in the South East and a transfer system would be a great idea. I would suggest it is a scheme that should be part of the infrastructure remit of the Government but can't say how it would work with the separate water companies.
My favourite Charles Dance performance was in the 1988 BBC TV series "First Born" (which I think is available to watch on YouTube). One of the creepiest things I've ever watched.
Christ, I thought I was the only one who remembered that!
John Loony is a big fan of it as well IIRC.
He also did a good turn in White Mischief, and as Guy Spencer, leader of the "Friday Club", a fascist group, in the second episode of Foyle's War.
My favourite Charles Dance performance was in the 1988 BBC TV series "First Born" (which I think is available to watch on YouTube). One of the creepiest things I've ever watched.
Christ, I thought I was the only one who remembered that!
Whilst I can't for the life of me see why flood-control and water management in the UK should anything whatsoever to do with the EU, I'm also struggling to find the evil things in the EU's policies on this which have been mentioned here today. There's actually a lot about flood prevention.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
I thought the Lannisters were already knights, lords and whatnot.
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
Yep, generally excellent performances all round, Aidan Turner (when he was acting rather than just posing topless), Miranda Richardson, Charles Dance and Maeve Dermody were particularly good and it kept the suspense until the end. An excellent drama for the bank holiday weekend and well worth the licence fee!
Well, I wouldn't go quite that far w.r.t. the fee, but it was very nice to see...
Certainly one of the better BBC dramas of recent times, goodnight
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
I thought the Lannisters were already knights, lords and whatnot.
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
Indeed. But then the story has had a rather obvious title change since it was originally written and the original markers were more reflective of the original title.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
I thought the Lannisters were already knights, lords and whatnot.
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
Why?
It adds nothing to the plot, and might cause offence.
Even by the 1960s, for instance, the title of "ten little n*****s" had been replaced by "ten little Indians". I think it's been further updated (IIRC to "And then there were none" which carries the same message the author wanted to refer to without the outmoded language)
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
I thought the Lannisters were already knights, lords and whatnot.
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
Why?
It adds nothing to the plot, and might cause offence.
Even by the 1960s, for instance, the title of "ten little n*****s" had been replaced by "ten little Indians". I think it's been further updated (IIRC to "And then there were none" which carries the same message the author wanted to refer to without the outmoded language)
Indeed. In fact the title was changed with Christies' blessing only a few months after the UK release in 1939 for rhe US first edition and she also rewrote a number of sections of the book to reflect the different sensibilities in the US. This is not a case of PC gone mad, simply a realisation that giving unnecessary offence on purpose is not a good way to win over ones readership.
Ntokozo Qwabe claims university is eductaing a generation of futire world leaders with a ‘skewed’ and ‘Eurocentric’ mindset and urges it to ‘atone’ for colonial legacy
The student leading a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from an Oxford college has turned his fire on the university itself, accusing it of spreading “injustice” around the world by educating future leaders with a “skewed” and “Eurocentric” mindset.
Ntokozo Qwabe, a Rhodes scholar from South Africa, claimed that students at Oxford endure “systemic racism, patriarchy and other oppressions” on a daily basis.
The 24-year-old also said that the university’s admissions and staff recruitment systems “perpetrate exclusion” and suggested that even Oxford’s architecture is laid out in a “racist and violent” way.
I'm sure he'd be happier at the university of Bongo-Bongo land.
If only there was one...
Can we start a campaign to have his Rhodes scholarship withdrawn - because he clearly lacks the intellectual capability - and ability to think clearly - necessary to be a scholar at any institution?
It shames Oxford that he is actually a student here.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
Agatha Christie is damn-nearly impossible to do wrong, altho' ITV gave it a good go with their Marple f***wittery. I really liked the BBC ATTWN: lovely atmosphere, good cast (if you overlook Toby Stephens), a good palette...arguably you could have improved the sound design, but that's just me being a t**t. Can we just stop messing around and give Charles Dance a knighthood?
I thought the Lannisters were already knights, lords and whatnot.
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
Why?
It adds nothing to the plot, and might cause offence.
Even by the 1960s, for instance, the title of "ten little n*****s" had been replaced by "ten little Indians". I think it's been further updated (IIRC to "And then there were none" which carries the same message the author wanted to refer to without the outmoded language)
Indeed. In fact the title was changed with Christies' blessing only a few months after the UK release in 1939 for rhe US first edition and she also rewrote a number of sections of the book to reflect the different sensibilities in the US. This is not a case of PC gone mad, simply a realisation that giving unnecessary offence on purpose is not a good way to win over ones readership.
Soldiers was a very poor choice of replacement. It just doesn't work for me. I would have gone for something like Hunters or something that fits the original rhythm a little better.
Quitting in 2020 achieves nothing. They need to act now. 50 resignations now - 50 by-elections with them standing as Independent Labour. Now that would be a challenge.
This is probably the end of the beginning for Corbyn. He can have his purge next week and then we enter the next phase.
I can really recommend the documentary series that Dair mentioned. It's full of fascianting stuff - including my facourite statistics that not only does Scotland have over 90% of all of the mainland UK's fresh water but Loch Ness alone holds more water than all of England and Wales combined.
Indeed, the particular documentary on Water has the absolutely stunning closing line "Scotland's Water, beautiful and dammed" which I still think is one of the best lines I've heard in a nature doc.
I'm sure Scotland's topography is helpful but the scale of water management appears massively larger than any that happens in England. The Forth Valley, especially around Stirling should flood every single year (and much of it is so low lying that any attempts at flood defense would be near impossible requiring Levies over 5 meters at least over huge distances). It doesn't because the water is moved from that watershed to the sea lochs and Clyde watersheds.
The key is that once the water is in the river, it is too late to effectively prevent or reduce flooding. From the TV coverage, it seems shoring up the rivers is the focus of the Westminster government policy instead of them telling the water companies that management of water between watersheds is their responsibility.
The idea of Privatised Water seems ridiculous to me, and clearly it does not work. It is strange that re-nationalising Water seems to be so low on the agenda, well behind much less critical choices like Mail, Railways and even Electricity.
Do you really think these floods - on this scale - are anything to do with a bit of dredging? Rivers would need massively and artificially deepened channels, they would need to be changed on a major scale into artificial channels - not least as they pass through built up areas. What would happen downstream then is anybody's guess but my guess it it would need major works to ensure that water flushed out to sea without hindrance as well. Then it would not rain again for decades.
The rivers were always maintained in the past. It is only since 2000 that that has become impractical because of the EU regulations. I know you don't like to accept anything that conflicts with your very blinkered world view but if you actually knew anything about the history of river maintenance in England you would not make such stupid statements.
Rivers are a canard. Flood prevention has virtually nothing to do with how well rivers flow, it is almost entirely the result of the amount of water entering the river. If you want to prevent flooding, you need to manage the amount of water entering the river.
According to the link below two reservoirs in the south-east are only 75% and 60% full (although the data is a bit out of date). Why can't the excess water from the north be piped down there? It ought to be a doddle compared to many other engineering projects currently underway around the world.
Transferring water on the scale necesary over the distances required is a very non trivial task. If you aren't using gravity (so you need pumping stations) it is a tough prospect.
Hopefully not too many liberties will be taken, however I thought the BBC's 3 part adaptation of 'And Then There Were None' which finished tonight was excellent
When people talk about the brilliance of War and Peace they do, for some reason, forget to mention the 25% of the book or so that is devoted to really bad philosophy on the nature of free will that clutters up and otherwise marvellous read.
Lex Luthor: "Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe."
Lex Luthor clearly hasn't read War and Peace. The philospohy is just dumped willy nilly into the text, is of a poor standard, rambling and mostly focused on trying to explain why Napolean was an awful general but the Russian were brilliant despite doing similar things.
It's not subtly interwoven or anything or expressed through subtle thematic development, the story just stops and then Tolstory does 20 pages on whether we have free will or not. Repeatedly.
Comments
http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/our-environment/our-reservoirs
https://www.southernwater.co.uk/reservoir-levels
Being realistic flooding will sometimes happen. That is why we have insurance, the key is to do what that can be done to mitigate it but if there is a record amount of rain then flooding is more likely than normal. Especially after a wet few years so water levels are already higher than normal.
http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
"the Met Office’s statistics show that Southern England had its wettest January, 200% of its long term average, in records going back to 1766."
That is garbage given that monthly records for anything other than England and Wales as a whole didn't start until 1873. It says so clearly on the Met Office website.
If you're interested, look for yourselves:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/index_en.htm
I rather suspect that any failings of policy or daft priorities (if there are any) are home-grown, in the Department of the Environment.
All we need is for Gove to say his favourite film of the year was Duke of Burgundy and their misery would be total.
If only there was one...
And the official records only go back 100 years. Do you really think that is a true reflection of the whole of history? Nor has it been an especially wet few years. Both 2013 and 2014 were fairly average for rainfall in the north west according to the Met office figures.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/flooding-cause-government-would-keep-10580092
A decent production for these PC days. If only they had the courage to place the the event and time as A. Christie wrote it. In the original I think gollies were used instead of those green plastic thingies to denote the passing of souls.
It adds nothing to the plot, and might cause offence.
Even by the 1960s, for instance, the title of "ten little n*****s" had been replaced by "ten little Indians". I think it's been further updated (IIRC to "And then there were none" which carries the same message the author wanted to refer to without the outmoded language)
It shames Oxford that he is actually a student here.
Daily Mail: Get rid of Corbyn or we'll quit! Dozens of moderate Labour MPs 'ready to leave Parliament'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3376857/Get-rid-Corbyn-ll-quit-Dozens-moderate-Labour-MPs-ready-leave-Parliament.html
This is probably the end of the beginning for Corbyn. He can have his purge next week and then we enter the next phase.
I'm sure Scotland's topography is helpful but the scale of water management appears massively larger than any that happens in England. The Forth Valley, especially around Stirling should flood every single year (and much of it is so low lying that any attempts at flood defense would be near impossible requiring Levies over 5 meters at least over huge distances). It doesn't because the water is moved from that watershed to the sea lochs and Clyde watersheds.
The key is that once the water is in the river, it is too late to effectively prevent or reduce flooding. From the TV coverage, it seems shoring up the rivers is the focus of the Westminster government policy instead of them telling the water companies that management of water between watersheds is their responsibility.
The idea of Privatised Water seems ridiculous to me, and clearly it does not work. It is strange that re-nationalising Water seems to be so low on the agenda, well behind much less critical choices like Mail, Railways and even Electricity.
Once it's in the river, it is too late.
It's not subtly interwoven or anything or expressed through subtle thematic development, the story just stops and then Tolstory does 20 pages on whether we have free will or not. Repeatedly.