Posts

To Unlock…Or Not to Unlock – That is Burnham’s Question

  Andy Burnham is in the process of finding out the true meaning of the word 'dilemma'...if he hasn’t already. His self-declared major policy objective at the party conference this week – to introduce a Social Care System free at the point of need – has introduced a degree of consternation into his party’s faithful, to say the least. Here’s why… Such a scheme for the UK would go much further than the scheme already introduced by the SNP in Scotland. The implication in Burnham’s speeches is that the English scheme would include residential care, and would not be means-tested. This would cost many billions (up to £18Bn for a full scheme including residential fees) to fund annually - which the Treasury simply doesn’t have right now. Burnham’s answer to this funding shortfall is to abolish the Pensions Triple Lock (i.e. the guarantee that the State Pension will rise annually by the rate of price inflation, wage inflation or 2.5% whichever is the higher), and use the cash ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Could AI Prove to be Humanity’s Salvation ?

There has been much angst voiced in the media recently about the risks of AI being harmful to our species, most notably by the very people involved in developing it.... This is perhaps a reasonable 'gut' reaction to a technology which is developing faster than many of us expected, and has turned out to be a powerful and transformative tool in a number of areas already. Its very power could certainly create havoc in the wrong hands.... Personally, I’m not an ‘AI risk denier’ any more than I am ‘climate change denier’…both of these trends are now abundantly evident, and only the cognitively blind could fail to see the risks and accept them as fact. What’s important is how we assess and deal with them….and more to the point, how we act to mitigate, and preferably prevent, their worst effects. There are risks, certainly, in allowing AI to continue to develop virtually unfettered as we appear still to be doing now. We should of course regulate…and on a worldwide basis, with...
Post a Comment
Read more

Garendon Park, Loughborough - Public Access Developments

Image
  I’m publishing this post to provide interested users with a link to my website’s Garendon page, where you’ll find some useful information on public access to the Garendon Park development . Just follow the link. Herewith also  some recent developments..... Update 12.9.26:   Persimmon's failure to honour their commitments under the S106 Planning agreement is now becoming something of a joke..and an annoying one at that.  Despite promises from the developer relayed by Leics. Highways in June that the Link between Hathern Drive and the main estate road at the Bavarian Gate would be opened 'by the end of this summer', nothing has happened, and the cabling work that was reputed to be the only cause of the delay appears still to be 'in progress'. An inspection yesterday showed little sign of any progress since the last inspection in mid-August. By contrast, housebuilding on the northern side of the estate is proceeding rapidly and the distributor road which is intend...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are We Alone in the Universe ?

Image
  I first published this blog in February 2022, just before Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Given the mess we seem to be making of our home planet at present, a look at the possibilities of life elsewhere might be appropriate....  A    report   last year of  the possibility of life existing on another planet in another solar system also presented a good opportunity for a fresh look at the question. This seems even more relevant now, given the increasingly fragile state of our planet's ecosystem and our own continuing descent into resource-driven conflict. Present indications suggest that our society may not have long left, and all in all,  perhaps it's a fitting time to consider whether there might be a possibility of alternative accommodation for humans elsewhere in the universe.... The combination of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), CO2 and methane in the atmosphere of  exoplanet K2-18b in significant quantities is seen as a possible 'biomarker' for life t...
Post a Comment
Read more