Our nasty nimbies claim to be 'Pro-Renewables'. Oh yeah? Actually, they're advised to make that claim by Country Guardian, a shady anti-wind group with links to the nuclear lobby.
But so 'Pro-Renewables' are they, they even have to tell lies about renewables in other people's countries. We saw recently how their claims that Denmark and Germany had given up on wind power simply fail the acid test of truthfulness - both countries are increasing their installed wind capacity, and you can hardly achieve that by putting a stop to windfarm developments.
Typical, though, that a mindless movement in the UK is prepared to rubbish the sterling efforts of other countries, just so that they can damage the national interest of their own country!
So what about Spain? In 2010, renewables supplied an amazing 35% of Spain's electricity - 16% from wind power alone (that's twice as much as dirty old coal managed to generate, and on very windy days, Spanish wind power provided over half of the electricity consumed!)
As a result of their fantastic strides forward, coal-fired power dropped by 34% and gas-fired power by 17% last year (22 gas projects were cancelled). That's excellent news for the environment and common sense - CO2 emissions from Spain's power system fell by 20% last year alone.
And what of that cretinous nimby claim that renewables (and wind) are expensive? Well, in 2009, Spain's renewables industry managed to reduce the overall costs of power generation by 4,830 million euros! Renewables contributed 8,525 millions euros to Spain's GDP and accounted for 3,042 million euros in exports.
In 2010, France became a net importer of electricity from Spain. See, nuclear power fails. Repeatedly. So the renewable nations are now supplying the nuclear nations. Take that, you nuke-friendly nimby nutters!!!
There is a tradition in Spain that, on January 6, children receive gifts from the three wise men. The most feared gift has always been coal - a sign that the child had been naughty. But coal is on the way out in Spain. On that very day - 6 Jan - this year, renewables supplied three-quarters of Spain's electricity needs. Coal accounted for just 4%.
So when one of our nimby jerks complains that ScottishPower Renewables aren't really Scottish - they're Spanish-owned - we can point out that, hey, so what? Spain's already miles ahead of us. If we had any sense, we'd be rushing to copy Spain's example.
Rather than making up stupid stories about windfarms to frighten the children and prop up the nuclear lobby.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
Members of VVASP have received new orders from High Command.
In the light of the Wychavon planning officer's decision to recommend refusal of the windfarm planning application, the planned VVASP demonstration on 25th January has been cancelled. So no re-enactment of all those old zombie movies, then, when the Councillors explore the site of the proposed wind farm. Nimbies have been ordered not to approach the Councillors and on no account to mention that stuff about receiving bribes which was the talk of the Lenches a week or so ago.
No, all drones are to be on their best behaviour - no 'people distraction', as VVASP's Minister for Propaganda quaintly puts it - and only a daft blimp will be allowed to fly, so that the Councillors get a completely misleading idea of what a windfarm looks like. Oh, and if anyone has managed to mislay their stupid NOOKIE placards, please let Dr Evil know and he'll replace them at no extra cost.
So - everybody clear? No snarling, swearing or hurling abuse at the Councillors, got it? Let's try and look like decent, civilised human beings (after all, it's only for one day, and even VVASP should be able to manage that, yes?) Everybody is to creep around their houses, not making a sound, and if a Councillor should happen to pass by, simply say, "Oh, lawks a lordy, master, what will become of us all if that there windy farm takes place?" and pretend that you live in Candleford.
Come the day of the planning decision, VVASP will be herded up at three separate locations and driven by coach to the Council building. Any demonstration outside the building will be entirely for the benefit of the press, as VVASP have noticed that the Councillors will actually be enjoying a light lunch at the time. It's quite possible, of course, that the Councillors will be discussing why a group which has badgered and browbeaten them for two whole years should suddenly disappear when they turn up to look around the area. Normally, VVASP go to desperate lengths to inflate their numbers, so why are they hiding behind the sofa, all of a sudden?
All very suspicious, eh? And all because the planning officer took the nimby arguments at face value.
It's amazing, isn't, what a difference a week makes.
In the light of the Wychavon planning officer's decision to recommend refusal of the windfarm planning application, the planned VVASP demonstration on 25th January has been cancelled. So no re-enactment of all those old zombie movies, then, when the Councillors explore the site of the proposed wind farm. Nimbies have been ordered not to approach the Councillors and on no account to mention that stuff about receiving bribes which was the talk of the Lenches a week or so ago.
No, all drones are to be on their best behaviour - no 'people distraction', as VVASP's Minister for Propaganda quaintly puts it - and only a daft blimp will be allowed to fly, so that the Councillors get a completely misleading idea of what a windfarm looks like. Oh, and if anyone has managed to mislay their stupid NOOKIE placards, please let Dr Evil know and he'll replace them at no extra cost.
So - everybody clear? No snarling, swearing or hurling abuse at the Councillors, got it? Let's try and look like decent, civilised human beings (after all, it's only for one day, and even VVASP should be able to manage that, yes?) Everybody is to creep around their houses, not making a sound, and if a Councillor should happen to pass by, simply say, "Oh, lawks a lordy, master, what will become of us all if that there windy farm takes place?" and pretend that you live in Candleford.
Come the day of the planning decision, VVASP will be herded up at three separate locations and driven by coach to the Council building. Any demonstration outside the building will be entirely for the benefit of the press, as VVASP have noticed that the Councillors will actually be enjoying a light lunch at the time. It's quite possible, of course, that the Councillors will be discussing why a group which has badgered and browbeaten them for two whole years should suddenly disappear when they turn up to look around the area. Normally, VVASP go to desperate lengths to inflate their numbers, so why are they hiding behind the sofa, all of a sudden?
All very suspicious, eh? And all because the planning officer took the nimby arguments at face value.
It's amazing, isn't, what a difference a week makes.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
THE ENEMY WITHIN
Dr Johnson said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
If he was alive today, maybe he'd change that to "Nimbyism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
One thing we can say about nimbies - no one is more unpatriotic than they are.
How can we prove this? Well, let's take a nimby myth that's been doing the rounds for a while. Germany and Denmark have made great strides in wind energy over the years, and both have considerably more windfarms than the UK does. But the nimbies have been telling everybody that Germany and Denmark have stopped building windfarms. Basically, they want to mislead everybody into believing that tired old nonsense about windfarms "not working".
In fact, if you look at the figures supplied by the Danish Energy Agency and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, you'll find that installed wind capacity in both countries is still rising.
How can that be, if they've both stopped building windfarms?
Denmark saw its installed wind capacity level out over a four-year period, between 2004 and 2008. During that period, old wind turbines were replaced by modern ones. And because modern turbine design means that they can harness the wind more efficiently, the total output remained constant even though there were fewer turbines operating in Denmark.
Then, from 2008 onwards, installed wind capacity began to rise again. And in Germany, it's been rising steadily since 1991.
Now, of course, if you're intent on misleading people into thinking (wrongly) that Europe's wind energy frontrunners have given up on wind power, just because you don't want a windfarm where you might be able to see it, then, well, you're lying in order to make sure that the UK lags even further behind its friendly competitors.
Another stupid myth. One dingbat wrote to the paper a while back stating that the consumer paid more for electricity in Denmark, and this was because wind power was expensive, and therefore wind power is wrong.
Well, Danes do pay a bit more for their electricity than we do. That's because of the Danish tax system. In terms of generating cost, electricity is in fact much cheaper in Denmark than in Britain. The reason for that is wind power.
So, as usual, the nimbies aren't only wrong. They're out by about 180 degrees. They couldn't be more wrong if they tried.
All this anti-windfarm nimby nonsense is guaranteed to hold the country back. Britain is currently third-from-bottom in the European wind energy league table. If the nimbies had their way, we'd be in last place. And saving our pennies in order to buy electricity off those European neighbours who had the decency and common sense to invest in renewables.
Why should anyone hate their country so much? We all know that nimbies are fundamentally selfish, as well as constitutionally dishonest and chronically misguided. But are they really so selfish that they would betray their own country's vital interests - as well as future generations - even though, by doing so, they gain NOTHING?
Do they have to tell pointless lies about other countries - countries which have at least bothered to generate lots of cheap, clean, green energy - purely in order to jeopardise their own country's economic future?
You'd think they were a bunch of fifth columnists, or something. Sleeper cells working for Al-Qaeda, maybe. Definitely spies and saboteurs in league with an enemy power.
Maybe that's what they are, at heart. Traitors. The enemy within.
If he was alive today, maybe he'd change that to "Nimbyism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
One thing we can say about nimbies - no one is more unpatriotic than they are.
How can we prove this? Well, let's take a nimby myth that's been doing the rounds for a while. Germany and Denmark have made great strides in wind energy over the years, and both have considerably more windfarms than the UK does. But the nimbies have been telling everybody that Germany and Denmark have stopped building windfarms. Basically, they want to mislead everybody into believing that tired old nonsense about windfarms "not working".
In fact, if you look at the figures supplied by the Danish Energy Agency and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, you'll find that installed wind capacity in both countries is still rising.
How can that be, if they've both stopped building windfarms?
Denmark saw its installed wind capacity level out over a four-year period, between 2004 and 2008. During that period, old wind turbines were replaced by modern ones. And because modern turbine design means that they can harness the wind more efficiently, the total output remained constant even though there were fewer turbines operating in Denmark.
Then, from 2008 onwards, installed wind capacity began to rise again. And in Germany, it's been rising steadily since 1991.
Now, of course, if you're intent on misleading people into thinking (wrongly) that Europe's wind energy frontrunners have given up on wind power, just because you don't want a windfarm where you might be able to see it, then, well, you're lying in order to make sure that the UK lags even further behind its friendly competitors.
Another stupid myth. One dingbat wrote to the paper a while back stating that the consumer paid more for electricity in Denmark, and this was because wind power was expensive, and therefore wind power is wrong.
Well, Danes do pay a bit more for their electricity than we do. That's because of the Danish tax system. In terms of generating cost, electricity is in fact much cheaper in Denmark than in Britain. The reason for that is wind power.
So, as usual, the nimbies aren't only wrong. They're out by about 180 degrees. They couldn't be more wrong if they tried.
All this anti-windfarm nimby nonsense is guaranteed to hold the country back. Britain is currently third-from-bottom in the European wind energy league table. If the nimbies had their way, we'd be in last place. And saving our pennies in order to buy electricity off those European neighbours who had the decency and common sense to invest in renewables.
Why should anyone hate their country so much? We all know that nimbies are fundamentally selfish, as well as constitutionally dishonest and chronically misguided. But are they really so selfish that they would betray their own country's vital interests - as well as future generations - even though, by doing so, they gain NOTHING?
Do they have to tell pointless lies about other countries - countries which have at least bothered to generate lots of cheap, clean, green energy - purely in order to jeopardise their own country's economic future?
You'd think they were a bunch of fifth columnists, or something. Sleeper cells working for Al-Qaeda, maybe. Definitely spies and saboteurs in league with an enemy power.
Maybe that's what they are, at heart. Traitors. The enemy within.
Monday, January 17, 2011
TROUBLE AHEAD
The report compiled by Wychavon District Council's planning officer concerning the Lenchwick Windfarm planning application was published today. A press release reported that the planning officer has recommended refusal of the planning application on the following counts:
Landscape
Noise
Residential Amenity
Highways
This, of course, was the same planning officer who was libelled by VVASP's head honcho last summer. On various nimby websites, Dr No stated that the planning officer was "biased" and "minded to approve" the planning application. It would appear that, as usual, the Chief Nookie was saying whatever he felt like with scant regard for the facts.
Anyway, while the planning officer's report might have nixed the planning application at the Development Control Committee stage - not a foregone conclusion, but a likelihood - the Council has in fact only stored up trouble for itself if, as seems likely, ScottishPower Renewables refer the application to a planning inquiry.
Take the first objection - Landscape. The problem with the planning officer's objection here is that it flies in the face of the advice supplied by the District Council's very own Landscape Officer. Early in 2009, the Landscape Officer observed that -
In purely landscape terms there may, therefore, be no special reasons to refuse wind turbines here any more than anywhere else in the district ... in the light of Government guidance on renewable energy and our own policy, and in the absence of any special landscape designation, I feel it may well be difficult to defend refusal of an application in respect of landscape issues at any planning appeal.
It will be interesting to see whether Wychavon can in fact defend the planning officer's recommendation when the Planning Inspectorate get involved.
And then, noise. Oh, boy. Wychavon really could have got themselves into a right pickle here.
Let's first take note of the representation filed by the usual solicitor on behalf of the six parish councils (yep - yet more tax-payers' money blown on dodgy objections!). Not for the first time, the solicitor argues that the "Parish Councils, through their joint working group, representing the overwhelming majority of their residents, submitted a 20 page detailed reasoned response to the application". Nice to think that the solicitor considers his own work to be both detailed and reasoned - especially when you look at the strangely vituperative letters he's been sending to ScottishPower Renewables.
But, hang on - what was that about the "overwhelming majority of their residents"? Sorry - whose residents? Church Lench managed a majority - 57% of households opposed - which can hardly be called "overwhelming". Of the other five parishes, two returned minorities of opponents and three didn't bother polling their residents at all.
So, as with most nimby statements, the solicitor's claim of an "overwhelming majority" is confidently stated but completely unsubstantiated. For the simple reason that it's not true.
Now, here's the rub. As readers of this blog will know, Wychavon chose its noise consultant on the grounds that there was "general concern" in the acoustic industry that the government's guidelines on wind farm noise assessment and rating (ETSU-R-97) were "unfit for purpose". Again - not true. But, on that mistaken basis, Wychavon chose to hire a consultant known for his oppositional stance to the established guidelines.
General concern amongst noise experts about ETSU-R-97? If that phrase rings a bell, it's because Big Chief Nookie has also used it. It's a sort of nimby mantra. But how the District Council formed the same misguided opinion is a bit of a mystery.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that unnamed representatives of the Anti-Windfarm Working Party were holding meetings with Wychavon's officers at the time. And one member of the "joint working group" - an ex-District Councillor, in fact - continued to badger Council officers in order to convince them, wrongly, that the government's guidelines on wind farms and noise could be "overruled".
Try telling that to the government.
Anyway, having secured the noise consultant they wanted, VVASP duly trumpeted his findings. No mention was made of the fact that the consultant in question regularly takes money from nimby groups and refers repeatedly to "research" that has never been peer-reviewed or, for that matter, seen by others in the industry.
One of the claims made in the MAS Environmental report on noise was that SPR's noise consultants had underestimated the noise output from the proposed windfarm to the tune of 5 decibels. But another of the noise experts initially approached by Wychavon has assured one of our correspondents that this claim is absolutely ludicrous. It was, as this expert confirmed, "impossible" that SPR's distinguished consultants could be 5 decibels out.
However, the planning officer at Wychavon has taken this "impossible" claim at face value. And, purely on the basis of that unsubstantiated claim, he has recommended refusal.
Reports by MAS Environmental don't tend to survive the Planning Inspectorate stage. And the fact that VVASP - via its Windfarm Working Party - was bending the ears of Council officers in order to mislead them over the status of the government's guidelines, a process which led to the retaining of a maverick noise consultant whose unsubstantiated and "impossible" claims provided the sole basis for the planning officer's recommendation ... well, it's unlikely that Wychavon will come out of the planning appeal stage smelling of roses.
As for Residential Amenity - well, that's a subjective opinion. And Highways? Come on - are they trying to say that transporting turbines along a major motorway can't happen? How on earth did all those other turbines find their way to their destinations?
So, all in all - it's unquestionably a blow for windfarm supporters, and all those villagers who have suffered at the hands of VVASP, that the planning officer has recommended refusal. But those very recommendations present an invitation to the Planning Inspectorate to criticise the District Council for being rather too ready to listen to the uninformed opinions of the nimbies.
At best, Wychavon has bought itself a bit of time and given the Development Control Committee an excuse to pass the whole problem on to the Planning Inspectorate. Which would mean more time, more stress, more money spent ...
And, on the face of it, Wychavon will indeed find it very difficult to defend these decisions at the planning appeal stage. It would appear that VVASP have made complete fools of them.
Landscape
Noise
Residential Amenity
Highways
This, of course, was the same planning officer who was libelled by VVASP's head honcho last summer. On various nimby websites, Dr No stated that the planning officer was "biased" and "minded to approve" the planning application. It would appear that, as usual, the Chief Nookie was saying whatever he felt like with scant regard for the facts.
Anyway, while the planning officer's report might have nixed the planning application at the Development Control Committee stage - not a foregone conclusion, but a likelihood - the Council has in fact only stored up trouble for itself if, as seems likely, ScottishPower Renewables refer the application to a planning inquiry.
Take the first objection - Landscape. The problem with the planning officer's objection here is that it flies in the face of the advice supplied by the District Council's very own Landscape Officer. Early in 2009, the Landscape Officer observed that -
In purely landscape terms there may, therefore, be no special reasons to refuse wind turbines here any more than anywhere else in the district ... in the light of Government guidance on renewable energy and our own policy, and in the absence of any special landscape designation, I feel it may well be difficult to defend refusal of an application in respect of landscape issues at any planning appeal.
It will be interesting to see whether Wychavon can in fact defend the planning officer's recommendation when the Planning Inspectorate get involved.
And then, noise. Oh, boy. Wychavon really could have got themselves into a right pickle here.
Let's first take note of the representation filed by the usual solicitor on behalf of the six parish councils (yep - yet more tax-payers' money blown on dodgy objections!). Not for the first time, the solicitor argues that the "Parish Councils, through their joint working group, representing the overwhelming majority of their residents, submitted a 20 page detailed reasoned response to the application". Nice to think that the solicitor considers his own work to be both detailed and reasoned - especially when you look at the strangely vituperative letters he's been sending to ScottishPower Renewables.
But, hang on - what was that about the "overwhelming majority of their residents"? Sorry - whose residents? Church Lench managed a majority - 57% of households opposed - which can hardly be called "overwhelming". Of the other five parishes, two returned minorities of opponents and three didn't bother polling their residents at all.
So, as with most nimby statements, the solicitor's claim of an "overwhelming majority" is confidently stated but completely unsubstantiated. For the simple reason that it's not true.
Now, here's the rub. As readers of this blog will know, Wychavon chose its noise consultant on the grounds that there was "general concern" in the acoustic industry that the government's guidelines on wind farm noise assessment and rating (ETSU-R-97) were "unfit for purpose". Again - not true. But, on that mistaken basis, Wychavon chose to hire a consultant known for his oppositional stance to the established guidelines.
General concern amongst noise experts about ETSU-R-97? If that phrase rings a bell, it's because Big Chief Nookie has also used it. It's a sort of nimby mantra. But how the District Council formed the same misguided opinion is a bit of a mystery.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that unnamed representatives of the Anti-Windfarm Working Party were holding meetings with Wychavon's officers at the time. And one member of the "joint working group" - an ex-District Councillor, in fact - continued to badger Council officers in order to convince them, wrongly, that the government's guidelines on wind farms and noise could be "overruled".
Try telling that to the government.
Anyway, having secured the noise consultant they wanted, VVASP duly trumpeted his findings. No mention was made of the fact that the consultant in question regularly takes money from nimby groups and refers repeatedly to "research" that has never been peer-reviewed or, for that matter, seen by others in the industry.
One of the claims made in the MAS Environmental report on noise was that SPR's noise consultants had underestimated the noise output from the proposed windfarm to the tune of 5 decibels. But another of the noise experts initially approached by Wychavon has assured one of our correspondents that this claim is absolutely ludicrous. It was, as this expert confirmed, "impossible" that SPR's distinguished consultants could be 5 decibels out.
However, the planning officer at Wychavon has taken this "impossible" claim at face value. And, purely on the basis of that unsubstantiated claim, he has recommended refusal.
Reports by MAS Environmental don't tend to survive the Planning Inspectorate stage. And the fact that VVASP - via its Windfarm Working Party - was bending the ears of Council officers in order to mislead them over the status of the government's guidelines, a process which led to the retaining of a maverick noise consultant whose unsubstantiated and "impossible" claims provided the sole basis for the planning officer's recommendation ... well, it's unlikely that Wychavon will come out of the planning appeal stage smelling of roses.
As for Residential Amenity - well, that's a subjective opinion. And Highways? Come on - are they trying to say that transporting turbines along a major motorway can't happen? How on earth did all those other turbines find their way to their destinations?
So, all in all - it's unquestionably a blow for windfarm supporters, and all those villagers who have suffered at the hands of VVASP, that the planning officer has recommended refusal. But those very recommendations present an invitation to the Planning Inspectorate to criticise the District Council for being rather too ready to listen to the uninformed opinions of the nimbies.
At best, Wychavon has bought itself a bit of time and given the Development Control Committee an excuse to pass the whole problem on to the Planning Inspectorate. Which would mean more time, more stress, more money spent ...
And, on the face of it, Wychavon will indeed find it very difficult to defend these decisions at the planning appeal stage. It would appear that VVASP have made complete fools of them.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
ARE ALL NIMBIES THE SAME?
Countryfile. BBC. Sunday, 16 January. Geoffrey Palmer, the hangdog actor, rails against HS2 - the high-speed rail-link promoted by successive British governments.
Mr Palmer lives in a pleasant and expensive part of the Chilterns and doesn't want a railway nearby. He claims that the economic case for the HS2 has not been proven.
Now, it would be churlish to point out that Britain's economic growth in the past was stimulated by mail coaches, canals and motorways. Oh, and railways, of course. The fact is that HS2 is simply the latest in a long line of developments which, by making it possible to travel and convey goods from one part of the country to another, brought us into the modern age. So the claim that the economic case for HS2 is unproven is - well, basically, it's nonsense.
It's the equivalent of the "windfarms don't work" argument - a line which collapses the moment you realise that windfarms do work. Pretty well, in fact.
But, like the ludicrous arguments deployed by the windy nimbies, the anti-HS2 arguments are fundamentally flawed, unsupported by any evidence and entirely self-serving. It's what we call "confirmation bias" - you decide to oppose something and then go hunting high and low for any "evidence" which appears to confirm your stance, blithely ignoring the great weight of evidence that proves you wrong. In the case of nimbies, up and down the country, what that means in practice is that you'll believe - and endlessly regurgitate - no end of claptrap, while bullying anyone who knows better than you do.
On the Countryfile report, they showed Middle Englanders holding their ears while a recording of a high-speed train was played to them at full volume.
Now, if you happen to be lying on the tracks, you might find the sound of a train passing overhead quite noticeable. Just as if you happen to be standing inside a wind turbine mast, the chances are you'll hear the sound of the mechanism working.
The point, of course, is that most of us won't be lying down between the HS2 tracks or standing inside a turbine mast - and anyone who's minded to do so really ought to think twice about it. But by playing recordings of that nature - and doing so at top volume - the nimbies are grossly distorting the reality of the situation. Let's face it: even Geoffrey Palmer isn't going to be lying underneath every high-speed train which passes by.
A very similar, equally shabby tactic was attempted by our very own nimbies. King Nimby reckoned he'd managed to get hold of a recording of a windfarm in Cumbria. He was apparently unable to say when this recording was made and where the microphone was positioned. He said it was the sound of a windfarm (yeah, right), and one of his witless drones tried playing it as loud as possible through a mobile amplifier until the police were called and told them to stop it.
Only a complete idiot (or VVASP-supporter, as they're also known) would have fallen for that one. Anyone who had taken the trouble to visit a real windfarm would instantly know that King Nimby and his VVASP clones were trying to pull a fast one. It was a cheap and shabby stunt - rather like flying a blimp which looks like nothing a wind turbine in order to give people a completely false impression (such behaviour has been criticised at planning inquiries, but that won't stop the naughty nimbies doing it again and again).
No, nimbies everywhere are remarkably similar. They are the UK's answer to the Tea-Party Movement in the US. Pumped up on hate-fuelled propaganda, desperate to lash out at anything and anyone, ruthlessly manipulated by dangerous demagogues, selfish, deluded and morally indefensible, these movements are a major threat to democracy, society, human rights and the environment. They are the last refuge of the swivel-eyed right-winger - the sort who think Sarah Palin and Eric Pickles are capable of cogent reasoning. The sort who would sell their neighbours, their communities and their countries downriver for thirty pieces of silver.
They are Flat-Earthers, each and every one.
Mr Palmer lives in a pleasant and expensive part of the Chilterns and doesn't want a railway nearby. He claims that the economic case for the HS2 has not been proven.
Now, it would be churlish to point out that Britain's economic growth in the past was stimulated by mail coaches, canals and motorways. Oh, and railways, of course. The fact is that HS2 is simply the latest in a long line of developments which, by making it possible to travel and convey goods from one part of the country to another, brought us into the modern age. So the claim that the economic case for HS2 is unproven is - well, basically, it's nonsense.
It's the equivalent of the "windfarms don't work" argument - a line which collapses the moment you realise that windfarms do work. Pretty well, in fact.
But, like the ludicrous arguments deployed by the windy nimbies, the anti-HS2 arguments are fundamentally flawed, unsupported by any evidence and entirely self-serving. It's what we call "confirmation bias" - you decide to oppose something and then go hunting high and low for any "evidence" which appears to confirm your stance, blithely ignoring the great weight of evidence that proves you wrong. In the case of nimbies, up and down the country, what that means in practice is that you'll believe - and endlessly regurgitate - no end of claptrap, while bullying anyone who knows better than you do.
On the Countryfile report, they showed Middle Englanders holding their ears while a recording of a high-speed train was played to them at full volume.
Now, if you happen to be lying on the tracks, you might find the sound of a train passing overhead quite noticeable. Just as if you happen to be standing inside a wind turbine mast, the chances are you'll hear the sound of the mechanism working.
The point, of course, is that most of us won't be lying down between the HS2 tracks or standing inside a turbine mast - and anyone who's minded to do so really ought to think twice about it. But by playing recordings of that nature - and doing so at top volume - the nimbies are grossly distorting the reality of the situation. Let's face it: even Geoffrey Palmer isn't going to be lying underneath every high-speed train which passes by.
A very similar, equally shabby tactic was attempted by our very own nimbies. King Nimby reckoned he'd managed to get hold of a recording of a windfarm in Cumbria. He was apparently unable to say when this recording was made and where the microphone was positioned. He said it was the sound of a windfarm (yeah, right), and one of his witless drones tried playing it as loud as possible through a mobile amplifier until the police were called and told them to stop it.
Only a complete idiot (or VVASP-supporter, as they're also known) would have fallen for that one. Anyone who had taken the trouble to visit a real windfarm would instantly know that King Nimby and his VVASP clones were trying to pull a fast one. It was a cheap and shabby stunt - rather like flying a blimp which looks like nothing a wind turbine in order to give people a completely false impression (such behaviour has been criticised at planning inquiries, but that won't stop the naughty nimbies doing it again and again).
No, nimbies everywhere are remarkably similar. They are the UK's answer to the Tea-Party Movement in the US. Pumped up on hate-fuelled propaganda, desperate to lash out at anything and anyone, ruthlessly manipulated by dangerous demagogues, selfish, deluded and morally indefensible, these movements are a major threat to democracy, society, human rights and the environment. They are the last refuge of the swivel-eyed right-winger - the sort who think Sarah Palin and Eric Pickles are capable of cogent reasoning. The sort who would sell their neighbours, their communities and their countries downriver for thirty pieces of silver.
They are Flat-Earthers, each and every one.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
NIMBY PSYCHOPATHY
Someone who tells lies and believes those lies - who sees nothing wrong with telling those lies - is a psychopath.
The Mental Health Act defines any personality disorder which results in "seriously irresponsible or abnormally aggressive behaviour" as a psychopathic disorder.
H. Checkley, in The Mask of Sanity (1976) described the syndrome of primary psychopathy. To quote from Faulk's Basic Forensic Psychiatry (Third Edition):
At first sight the subject appears normal, charming, intelligent and articulate with low anxiety. The history, however, reveals extremely egocentric, impulsive and bizarre behaviour, which, in the long run, is against the subject's interest. Legal confrontation may be avoided indefinitely because of the subject's intelligence and charm, and prominent positions in society may be attained until the true picture emerges.
Well, that true picture has emerged over the past two years. It is now plain and clear for all to see.
The VVASP campaign is being run by psychopaths. It is psychopathic to the core. It is based entirely on lies and fuelled by the egocentricity of the VVASP leadership. It is both seriously irresponsible and abnormally aggressive - and it has been from the very start. And it is bizarre, because a measured examination of the evidence reveals that the Lenchwick Windfarm is most likely to represent a positive benefit to the local community, to the region and the nation. So to fight it - and especially to do so using lies and thuggery - is clearly against everybody's interests.
Under any other circumstances, the behaviour of VVASP's senior figures would have been identified as anti-social, extremist, fanatical, deluded and dangerous to the fabric of society.
We at Wind of Change have identified the problem here before. There is one word for it, and word word only.
EVIL.
The psychopaths are running the show. And they're trying to turn the rest of the community mad in order to serve their own narrow-minded, egocentric and selfish interests. Which is why the entire community have and continue to suffer at the hands of these psychopathic personalities.
And now Wychavon District Council is beginning to get a taste of the insanity which these psychopaths have unleashed.
The Mental Health Act defines any personality disorder which results in "seriously irresponsible or abnormally aggressive behaviour" as a psychopathic disorder.
H. Checkley, in The Mask of Sanity (1976) described the syndrome of primary psychopathy. To quote from Faulk's Basic Forensic Psychiatry (Third Edition):
At first sight the subject appears normal, charming, intelligent and articulate with low anxiety. The history, however, reveals extremely egocentric, impulsive and bizarre behaviour, which, in the long run, is against the subject's interest. Legal confrontation may be avoided indefinitely because of the subject's intelligence and charm, and prominent positions in society may be attained until the true picture emerges.
Well, that true picture has emerged over the past two years. It is now plain and clear for all to see.
The VVASP campaign is being run by psychopaths. It is psychopathic to the core. It is based entirely on lies and fuelled by the egocentricity of the VVASP leadership. It is both seriously irresponsible and abnormally aggressive - and it has been from the very start. And it is bizarre, because a measured examination of the evidence reveals that the Lenchwick Windfarm is most likely to represent a positive benefit to the local community, to the region and the nation. So to fight it - and especially to do so using lies and thuggery - is clearly against everybody's interests.
Under any other circumstances, the behaviour of VVASP's senior figures would have been identified as anti-social, extremist, fanatical, deluded and dangerous to the fabric of society.
We at Wind of Change have identified the problem here before. There is one word for it, and word word only.
EVIL.
The psychopaths are running the show. And they're trying to turn the rest of the community mad in order to serve their own narrow-minded, egocentric and selfish interests. Which is why the entire community have and continue to suffer at the hands of these psychopathic personalities.
And now Wychavon District Council is beginning to get a taste of the insanity which these psychopaths have unleashed.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
If Limbo Dancing were an Olympic sport, you'd be forgiven for thinking that VVASP were in training for London 2012.
Now they're exploring whole new levels of lowness. Extraordinary subterranean depths. They have scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are frantically scrabbling in the earth with their ravaged fingertips.
Regular readers of this blog will be astonished to hear that the protesters have excelled on their previous efforts by visiting strata that few have ever plummeted towards. Or maybe not.
A full-page ad in today's Evesham Journal calls on the people of the Vale to rise up, march on the Council's offices and stand there threatening the elected members of the District Council until they obey VVASP's orders without question.
That's right. Having bullied and threatened and harassed and attacked and hectored and coerced their neighbours, VVASP are now trying to do the same to the Development Control Committee.
In a maniacal attempt at stirring up public panic, VVASP's latest claim is that "5000 trucks" will pass through Norton and Harvington, carrying concrete up to Bishampton Bank.
Forget the fact that haulage companies already operate out of the Lenches. Forget the fact that new houses built in Harvington mean that lorries carrying far more in the way of building materials than the windfarm will ever need have been passing through the village for years. And forget the fact that "5000 trucks" is a figure plucked out of thin air.
Oh - and you might as well forget the fact that when ScottishPower Renewables did a test-run of a low-loader to the windfarm site and back last summer, nobody noticed.
Blatantly, by lying their heads off (again!) VVASP are hoping to whip up a frenzy of mindless hysteria which they can then unleash against Wychavon District Council on the 27th.
Didn't we tell you that the nimbies are growing desperate? Doesn't this prove their absolute contempt for democratic principles, their preference for mob-rule instead of free speech, and their failure to win the argument (even after a torrent of lies), so that all they have left to try is the shameless intimidation of the planning committee.
The thugs and frauds are trying to make out that everybody in the Vale will find their "way of life" changed when five wind turbines appear at the top of Bishampton Bank. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
What they mean, of course, is that a handful of arrogant and aggressive individuals will be able to see a windfarm if they face in a certain direction. Hardly a change to the "way of life" of anybody in the Vale. And when they call on local people to "protect" their "way of life" by storming the Council offices on 27 January, what VVASP are really saying is - "Come on, all you who won't be remotely affected by this wonderful development - come and fight for our privileges! Come and defend our immoral, antisocial behaviour! Come and terrorise your councillors over something we've continually lied to you about! Come and help us overthrow democracy!
"And then we'll tell you what you can and cannot do or say or think in your own villages!!
"Altogether, now:
"'TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME ... !'"
Now they're exploring whole new levels of lowness. Extraordinary subterranean depths. They have scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are frantically scrabbling in the earth with their ravaged fingertips.
Regular readers of this blog will be astonished to hear that the protesters have excelled on their previous efforts by visiting strata that few have ever plummeted towards. Or maybe not.
A full-page ad in today's Evesham Journal calls on the people of the Vale to rise up, march on the Council's offices and stand there threatening the elected members of the District Council until they obey VVASP's orders without question.
That's right. Having bullied and threatened and harassed and attacked and hectored and coerced their neighbours, VVASP are now trying to do the same to the Development Control Committee.
In a maniacal attempt at stirring up public panic, VVASP's latest claim is that "5000 trucks" will pass through Norton and Harvington, carrying concrete up to Bishampton Bank.
Forget the fact that haulage companies already operate out of the Lenches. Forget the fact that new houses built in Harvington mean that lorries carrying far more in the way of building materials than the windfarm will ever need have been passing through the village for years. And forget the fact that "5000 trucks" is a figure plucked out of thin air.
Oh - and you might as well forget the fact that when ScottishPower Renewables did a test-run of a low-loader to the windfarm site and back last summer, nobody noticed.
Blatantly, by lying their heads off (again!) VVASP are hoping to whip up a frenzy of mindless hysteria which they can then unleash against Wychavon District Council on the 27th.
Didn't we tell you that the nimbies are growing desperate? Doesn't this prove their absolute contempt for democratic principles, their preference for mob-rule instead of free speech, and their failure to win the argument (even after a torrent of lies), so that all they have left to try is the shameless intimidation of the planning committee.
The thugs and frauds are trying to make out that everybody in the Vale will find their "way of life" changed when five wind turbines appear at the top of Bishampton Bank. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
What they mean, of course, is that a handful of arrogant and aggressive individuals will be able to see a windfarm if they face in a certain direction. Hardly a change to the "way of life" of anybody in the Vale. And when they call on local people to "protect" their "way of life" by storming the Council offices on 27 January, what VVASP are really saying is - "Come on, all you who won't be remotely affected by this wonderful development - come and fight for our privileges! Come and defend our immoral, antisocial behaviour! Come and terrorise your councillors over something we've continually lied to you about! Come and help us overthrow democracy!
"And then we'll tell you what you can and cannot do or say or think in your own villages!!
"Altogether, now:
"'TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME ... !'"
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