Madness "is far too polite a word" - by Richard... Sunday, August 21, 2011

Madness "is far too polite a word" - by Richard... Sunday, August 21, 2011

At the moment, writes David Shukman, BBC Environment & science correspondent, "price is the great weakness of offshore wind". Right now, he continues, in a report about the new Ormonde wind farm, "it's the most expensive means of generating electricity, costlier even than nuclear".

Then, and only then does he concede that the power companies "earn" an attractive subsidy for power produced this way, adding that "the costs willfind their way on to household bills". Not he, but "critics" then warn that this could make offshore wind highly unpopular (my italics throughout).

And that is as good as it gets from the BBC. You will get no figures, and nothing but these carefully crafted, anodyne statements, which are hardly calculated to inspire the outrage that £40 millions of annual subsidy –114,000 wide-screen plasma TV equivalents – should provoke.

Enter, therefore, Booker, who fills the gaps left by the feline Shukman, asking: "What is the maddest thing going on in Britain today?" And while I did the comparisons with nuclear, working out that the capital cost of wind is six times that of nuclear plant, Booker does it on gas, working out that the capital cost of offshore wind is 22 times that of a gas-fired power station.

Actually, Booker is wrong on this, as his calculations are based on gas and wind equipment lasting the same time – whereas a gas plant will last at least twice as long as a wind farm. On that basis, offshore wind costs a staggering forty times more than gas to build.

In fact, even that may be over-generous. As this report indicates, wind turbines are not even lasting the planned twenty years – most requiring expensive gearbox repairs after 5-7 years.

This explains why that, despite a 200 percent subsidy, wind operators are still looking for more subsidy, and it is highly likely that the offshore operators will be hit by massive repair costs to keep the current generation of wind farms running. But then, how mad is it parking highly complex and sensitive machinery in one of the most aggressive and dangerous environments in the world?

Madness, Booker concludes in his piece, "is far too polite a word". We could venture "criminal folly", but even that would be too polite. The more appropriate description, however, would be probably be unprintable – for those who prefer words to action. But it is action that is needed, to bring home the malevolent nature of this criminality. By comparison with the subsidy harvesters, the plasma TV looters are pussycats.

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Manchester looter keeps job - by Richard... Saturday, August 20, 2011

Despite forcing citizens, under threat of violence and imprisonment, to pay for translating a guide to pigeon-feeding into Urdu – just one of the documents which contributed to a bill of thousands for translation services last year – looter Sir Howard Bernstein is to keep his job as chief executive of Greater Manchester Council.

Bernstein, who is ripping off council taxpayers to the tune of £230,00 a year plus perks – 650 wide-screen plasma TV equivalents (PTEs) – is in the top regional league for pocketing taxpayers' dosh.

Amongst his other crimes, he has overseen the payment of £2,000 to sixteen no-hopers, for them to try stand-up comedy, "in order to help them develop their confidence and make friends". He has also pumped £120,000 into B of the Bang, Britain's tallest public sculpture, later nicknamed "Kerplunk" after its giant metal spikes began falling off.

Not content with this, he has also spent £8,000 on a sex guide for the over-50s, featuring advice including watching a "sexy movie", sending out around 5,000 copies of this "extraordinary and misguided pamphlet". And, to add to this round of piss-taking, he allowed his staff to advertise three communications posts on salaries of up to £39,000 in October despite a recruitment freeze.

Yet this stain on the fabric of British society not only gets to keep his job but also presides over "swingeing cuts" in useful public services. He is to close all but one of the council's public toilets, five libraries, three leisure centres and two swimming pools. He will then force motorists to pay parking charges on Sundays and halve rubbish collections. Some 2,000 town hall jobs will go, and he will end funding to all youth centres and Sure Start nurseries.

When it comes to personal looting, however, "givvus-a-job" Bernstein is by no means top of the league. His counterpart Colin Hilton, chief looter of Liverpool, rips off £279,000 a year from unwilling council tax payers (800 wide-screen plasma TVs), the head of Lancashire County Council, Ged Fitzgerald, steals £254,000 (725 TVs) and Cumbria council boss Peter Stybelski walked off with £464,000 last year (1,325 TVs) - three-quarters of that in back-dated pension appropriations.

All of this has been achieved from the comfort of council-furnished offices, with not one of them having to soil their manicured fingers or duff up recalcitrant council tax payers. They have a staff of serfs to do that for them, and keep their cheques flowing. Only honest looters have to smash windows to get their TVs.