Thursday morning catch-up

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1. The Telegraph report that:

'A huge off-shore wind farm is to be built off the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England’s only geological World Heritage Site, prompting concern for tourism and sea views.

About 250 450ft tall turbines will be built across a 76 square mile area of the English Channel , making the development twice as big as the world’s largest offshore wind farm, which is currently 100 300ft turbines off Kent.

The turbines, which will be sited in a depth of 120ft of water, will provide enough energy to power up to 820,000 homes.

But protesters claim that the wind farm could spoil the view and effect tourism.

The turbines will be situated just eight miles east of Swanage, Dorset, which makes up part of Britain's World Heritage Jurassic Coast and will be seen from the shore.

It will also be 10 miles from Bournemouth and visible to the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit its beaches every year. The horizon is 17 miles away from the resort's cliffs.

They will also be lit up at night-time so they don't present a danger to shipping. '

2. The Daily Bayonet reports that:
'Ontario’s green energy numbers don’t add up:

'Wholesale Average Weighted Cost (YTD) of Ontario electricity: 3.35 cents/kWh

Guaranteed 20-year contract price per kWh for solar panels (ground level): 64.2 cents/kWh

Guaranteed 20-year contract price per kWh for solar panels (roof-top): 80.2 cents/kWh

Guaranteed 20-year contract price per kWh for wind turbines: 13.5 cents/kWh

Cost to the province in 2011 to reduce bills by 10% to hide increases caused by green energy programs until after the election: $1.1 billion'

3. Bella Gerens thinks that '‘electoral reform’ is an issue so utterly pointless in the modern British polity that it deserves me taking the piss.'


4. Ows Blog says that 'Bad things come in three's, so the saying goes: 3 billion, 3 million, 3 hundred thousand...' and explains why:

'The first is the increasing size of the 'black hole' in MoD procurement which "increased by £3.3billion in Labour's final year in office alone to reach around £36billion". [Link]

The second is no real secret and I've certainly banged on about it for years: 'Immigration Under Labour – Chaos or Conspiracy?' from Sir Andrew Green's Migration Watch press release: "It is no exaggeration to say that immigration under New Labour has changed the face of the country.":

"Every country must have firm control over immigration and Britain is no exception." Labour election manifesto 1997

From the Migration Watch briefing paper (PDF). Net immigration to the UK quadrupled under Labour, bringing more than 3 million immigrants to Britain (more than this arrived but of course some others left and also a million British citizens emigrated)...almost literally 'changing the face of the country'. Pressure on housing, pressure on schools, pressure on services. Pressure on spending.

The third, ... handing responsibility for the decision to media secretary and Conservative Jeremy Hunt - it cost the government (the taxpayer) £300,000'

5. Climate Depot reports that:

'A $200-million wind farm in northern New Brunswick is frozen solid, cutting off a potential supply of renewable energy for NB Power.

The 25-kilometre stretch of wind turbines, located 70 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, N.B. has been completely shutdown for several weeks due to heavy ice covering the blades.'

Another good reason why wind power is not the answer to the world's power problems.


6. David Davies at Conservative Home has 'A layman's guide to the difference between debt and deficit - and why the Government is right to be cutting it (the deficit)'


7. Front Page lists some 'Leftist Dupes: From the Communist Brotherhood to the Muslim Brotherhood'. Here are some examples:

'“I’ve never met a man more candid, fair, and honest,” marveled author H. G. Wells upon his return from a meeting with Joe Stalin in 1934, at the start of the Great Purge. “Everyone trusts him.” Wells had likewise been impressed by Vladimir Lenin, whom he called a “frank,” “refreshing,” and “amazing little man,” who had “almost persuaded me to share his vision.”

Fully persuaded was Wells’ fellow socialist, George Bernard Shaw, who piped up with an even more outrageous assessment after meeting with Stalin: “[W]e cannot afford to give ourselves moral airs when our most enterprising neighbor [the Soviet Union] … humanely and judiciously liquidates a handful of exploiters and speculators to make the world safe for honest men.”

Shaw was deadly serious; this was not sarcasm scribbled for some tasteless stage comedy.

...

“I’ve never met a man more candid, fair, and honest,” marveled author H. G. Wells upon his return from a meeting with Joe Stalin in 1934, at the start of the Great Purge. “Everyone trusts him.” Wells had likewise been impressed by Vladimir Lenin, whom he called a “frank,” “refreshing,” and “amazing little man,” who had “almost persuaded me to share his vision.”

Fully persuaded was Wells’ fellow socialist, George Bernard Shaw, who piped up with an even more outrageous assessment after meeting with Stalin: “[W]e cannot afford to give ourselves moral airs when our most enterprising neighbor [the Soviet Union] … humanely and judiciously liquidates a handful of exploiters and speculators to make the world safe for honest men.”

Shaw was deadly serious; this was not sarcasm scribbled for some tasteless stage comedy.'

8. The Times of India reports on 'Device turns PC into porn TV':

'Pornography from around the world for free is the promise of vendors selling a new device at one of the popular markets of electronic products in China's business hub of Shanghai.

Customers who buy the device are told that the television USB flash drive can receive pornographic channels, reports the Shangahi Daily.

Once plugged into a computer, a television USB flash drive automatically scans the internet for more than 5,000 channels across the world, including news, sport and movies.'

9. Tory Aardvark informs us that 'The Dutch Lose Faith In Windturbines, Comments Please Chris Huhne', here's an extract:

'As Chris Huhantic prepares to make wind power a major electricity generation source for this country with all the dangers that entails for both energy security, and cost, the Dutch are fast losing faith in wind turbines and so called renewable energy sources.

The new Dutch government is cutting back on subsidies for most forms of renewable energy, and ending subsidies for wind power, solar power and biomass'