Yes PJM!
(we shall sup some fine ale & single malt and talk politics sometime in 2009 I think)

People often comment after trips to Europe how much better organised their public transportation is. Little things that seem obvious like the same tickets being valid for bus and train travel, and buses leaving bus stops outside stations 5 minutes after trains arrive...

The Europeans in general do pay much more tax to facilitate this though. As a socialist (more or less) that's something I wholeheartedly agree with, but it'd never fly with the middle Englanders. On a slight tangent this relates to something I always bang on about, which is the absence of a coherent left wing scene in this country compared to a lot of Europe; my theory for this is the fact that we've never had a true fascist government. In Italy, Germany and Spain for example their experiences with fascists have created a more widespread awareness of the need for socialism.

Captain - yeah there are benefits to Li-poly batteries, but the downsides relating to the availability of lithium still apply.

Hydrogen is an interesting one but until someone comes up with a way of creating massive amounts of green energy it isn't going to be viable. Concentrating on technologies that will allow us to use the same amount of energy as we do now is something of a fallacy; whatever green sources come into use (I particularly like the kite farm one) are going to have to go hand in hand with massive energy savings, as nothing is going to have the same energy density as fossil fuels.

If I was Prime Minister in the current economic situation, rather than bailing out the banks, I'd be splurging public money on massive Roosevelt style social employment. Take the three million unemployed and train them up to fit extra insulation to houses, train unemployed builders to build wind farms, HEP, and other renewable energy plants, and offer this free of charge to give the country the kick up the backside it needs.

Would be a far better use of all the money than bailing out the uber-capitalists!

Sorry - I get on a bit of a rant whenever politics is mentioned :D
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 23 Dec 2008, 11:54, Reply)