Scum.

This is what you get when you pander to extremists.

And we all know what religion he practises. Don’t we?

Islam if you were not sure.

I don’t bullyeve it.

Sorry about the title, but it’s a hint about this blog post content.

Apparently researchers have discovered that second hand smoke causes bullying in children. Think I’m making it up? Read on.

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial, according to Linda Pagani and Caroline Fitzpatrick of the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine hospital. No study to date has controlled for these factors. “Secondhand smoke is in fact more dangerous that inhaled smoke, and 40% of children worldwide are exposed to it. Moreover, exposure to this smoke at early childhood is particularly dangerous, as the child’s brain is still developing,” Pagani said. “I looked at data that was collected about 2,055 kids from their birth until ten years of age, including parent reports about secondhand smoke exposure and from teachers and children themselves about classroom behaviour. Those having been exposed to secondhand smoke, even temporarily, were much more likely to report themselves as being more aggressive by time they finished fourth grade.” The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on May 21, 2013.

I’m fucking gobsmacked. What will they blame SHS on next?

I was surrounded by wreaths of SHS when I was a kid (A long time ago), and grew up to be quite a shy child.

Now I find that smoking calms me down, so I suggest that instead of smoking around the cheeeldren, we should instead shove a lighted ciggie in the mouths of our new borns to prevent bullies of the future.

*For the anti-smokers out there. I’M JOKING*.

That’ll work. My studies of 97% of smokers in my household prove it (One).

You can read more at Junk science.

Plain packaging is the way to go.

I think not.

Plain packaging smoking materials, will not for one moment stop me smoking. I started smoking at school when someone offered me one. Although I went a violent shade of green and coughed for England, I was pleasantly surprised at the feeling of relaxation it gave me.

In all my life I’ve never been seduced by the colour or style of the packaging. It’s always been about the quality of the product and the price.

Of course now the price, is everything, and that’s why the antismoking Tobacco control industry and the government are heading into a world of hurt with the idea of plain packaging.

Which brings me onto why plain packaging should be abandoned.

Counterfeiting.

The health zealots insist that this is unlikely to happen. They have to say that as otherwise their whole premise falls.

Here are some facts about counterfeiting that I found interesting,  especially as it comes from the garden of England, Kent.

A recent survey by MSIntelligence revealed Gillingham topped the table for having the worst habit when it comes to smoking counterfeit cigarettes, with more than half being illegal.

It found 54.5% of packets thrown away in the town had avoided tax, while Poole in Dorset came second (50.83%) and Worthing in Sussex third (49.24%). Mr Turner, who has owned the shop for the past 18 months, said: “When I heard about the plans for plain packaging I thought it was loopy.

Now I don’t live in the Medway area so unfortunately can’t avail myself of a cheaper product. But I would if I could. (If there’s bootlegger in West Kent reading this then please let me know).

These counterfeit ciggies can’t be that bad as I haven’t seen any reports that the people of Medway are dying like flies yet.

It seems that the government will be making a rod for it’s own back if it introduces plain packaging as revenues from tobacco products will fall dramatically.

For those antismoker out there. Mull on this.

Supposed costs for all smoking ailments costs the NHS £2.7 billion per annum.

However, revenue from tobacco products is £11 billion. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. (Oh I forgot, you’re antismoking bigots).

Believe it or not, smokers are subsidising the ailments of the antismokers.

So what if all smokers quit tomorrow.

The government would have to make up the shortfall.

Working out on the back of a fag packet (Natch), it would work out that every man, women, and child, would have to pay £250 to make up the shortfall.

So a family with two adults and two kids would be taxed £1,000 more per year.

This is the price you will pay if you're an antismoker. I hope you can afford it. I shall laugh like a drain when I read that dreadful Arnott from ASH has has her house repossessed because she can;t afford her mortgage.

It will serve you right.

The green bubble

Interesting video in a meaured way explaining why renewable energy will wreck the Australian economy.

Tim Le Roy's Overview

Current

• General Manager Vic/SA/NZ at Scottish Pacific Debtor Finance

Past

• Regional Manager Victoria - Business Banking at St.George Bank Ltd
• Business Banking Manager at ANZ
• BDM at Scottish Pacific Business Finance

Education

• St. John's College, Johannesburg

That’ll work then.

More green technology ideas. Having realised that wind turbines only supply power when the wind is blowing, a company is trying to imply that they have a solution to the problem.

Gaelectric Holdings Plc, the Dublin- based developer, is in discussions with infrastructure investors for a 300 million-pound ($466 million) project in Northern Ireland to store surplus energy from wind turbines.

Sounds like a good idea. Or does it?

Gaelectric’s plant will use excess electricity from turbines to power a motor that will drive a compressor to store air in an underground salt cavern. When demand is high, the air is released to run a turbine generating power, burning some natural gas at the same time to boost output.

Now air compressors, even low pressure, high volume, require quite a bit of power. So they’re losing some of their wind energy straight away.

Then the laughable fact that they think that they can contain all that semi free air in salt caverns.

When I was a marine engineer in a past life we relied on compressed air for a number of purposes, such as:

Starting diesel engines. (Ship’s don’t have starter motors and huge banks of batteries).

Air operated control systems.

General purpose air, (Power tools etc).

My point that I’m going to make is all that air at different pressures had to be stored for use.

We stored that air in steel pressure vessels fed by steel pipes.  Guess what? We could never, ever, stop that pesky air from escaping. We had automatic air compressors that had to keep them topped up.

So when that article mentioned storing compressed air in SALT caverns I burst out in hysterical laughter.

If steel pipes and steel pressure vessels with their fittings can’t stop leaking, what hope have we with salt caverns. FFS.

Then the article goes on to state that they are going to use that stored air, you’ve guessed it, in driving another wind turbine. It’s ludicrous. When you consider the losses of efficiencies throughout the whole process, then we are in for even more expensive elektrickery than at present.

But that’s alright though, they’ll supplement it with gas.

FFS(again). Why not simply generate power in a combined cycle gas turbine in the first place?

Engineering simplified.

 

Topblog

My blog stats have shot up today. Now that would seem to be a good thing you might say.

Hundreds have been visiting  from a URL named:

http://topblogstories.com/

Sounds great doesn’t it?

Nope. Do not click on that link if you’re in the office or your other half is around.

This is where it actually takes you.

Sex datings in Hastings.

Very very graphic.

Tax Simplified.

 

Honesty

The most honest three and a half minutes of television, EVER...

It would be nice if some of our politicians talked in plain language like that clip.

My past life.

43 years, man and boy. It’s a pity there are so few ships left. When I joined there were over 60.

Incidentally when I left, I was the longest serving person ever to have served in the RFA.

Still. The pension is good.

PS. The sister ship to the Wave Knight, the Wave Ruler, was the last one I sailed in.