Utopia, you are standing in it!

‘[Dr Livingstone] left an obligation on the civilised nations of Europe and America, as the shepherds of the world, to extend their care and protection over the oppressed races of Africa.’
(Henry Morton Stanley in his obituary of Livingstone published in the Graphic magazine, 1873)

Expeditions covered in the second half of the book

• Stanley’s expedition to find Livingstone, 1871 to 1872
• Livingstone’s final expedition, 1872 to 1873
• Stanley’s great expedition across Africa from East to West, 1874 to 1879
• Stanley working for King Leopold II of Belgium, 1879 to 1885
• The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, 1886 to 1889

This is the third version of the meeting between Welsh workhouse boy-turned-American journalist Henry Morton Stanley and famous Scottish missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone which I have read, and arguably the most effective.

This is because, in the preceding chapter (chapter 18) Jeal had given a clear and vivid description…

Next week MPs debate the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill, which seeks to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) and revive the former prerogative power of dissolution. Meg Russell, Gavin Phillipson and Petra Schleiter, all of whom gave evidence to the parliamentary committees considering FTPA repeal, argue that the government’s bill is flawed. It seeks to keep the courts out of dissolution decisions, but risks drawing them in, and risks politicising the role of the monarch. Removing the House of Commons power over when a general election is held, and returning it to the Prime Minister, would be a retrograde step.

On 13 September, MPs debate the remaining stages of the government’s Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill, which seeks to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) and revive the former prerogative power of dissolution. Three parliamentary committees have considered FTPA repeal, to which all of…

In previous post, I left off concluding that the displacement of nuclear by natural gas will increase emissions. This based on the notion that displacing a low emission power source by one with a higher emissions will logically result in more emissions.

The big question is of course by how much? Not all nuclear capacity will be replaced by natural gas and solar and wind capacity will increase. To summarize, this is the change that is proposed:

• Solar/PV: from 4787.56 MW now to 11 GWp by 2030
• Wind
  • Offshore wind: from 2,254.4 MWp now to 4,000 GWp by 2030
  • Onshore wind: from 2,578.809 MWp now to 3,500 GWp by 2030
• Natural gas: from 5,300 MW now to 5,600 MW
• Nuclear: from 6,000 MW now to 0 MW.

Although the needed capacity of dispatchable power decreases very slowly compared the rapidly increasing peak production, the total amount of electricity produced by…

Elizabeth I(September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603)wasQueen of EnglandandIrelandfrom November 17, 1558 until her death in 1603. Sometimes calledthe Virgin Queen,GlorianaorGood Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of theHouse of Tudor.

Elizabeth was the daughter ofHenry VIIIandAnne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was 2 1/2 years old. Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brotherEdward VIruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown toLady Jane Greyand ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, theRoman CatholicMaryand the younger Elizabeth, in spite ofstatute law to the contrary.

Edward’s will was set aside which did not have the consent of Parliament. Mary became queen, thwarting the attempted usurping of the crown by John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandKG(1504– 1553) who unsuccessfully tried to installLady Jane Grey on the throne.

During Mary’s reign, Elizabeth…

Language

One of the most obvious effects of the conquest was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French with limited Nordic influences, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Norman French words entered the English language, and a further sign of the shift was the usage of names common in France instead of Anglo-Saxon names. Male names such as William, Robert, and Richard soon became common; female names changed more slowly.

The Norman invasion had little impact on placenames, which had changed significantly after earlier Scandinavian invasions. It is not known precisely how much English the Norman invaders learned, nor how much the knowledge of Norman French spread among the lower classes, but the demands of trade and basic communication probably meant that at least some of the Normans and native English were bilingual. Nevertheless, William the Conqueror never developed a working…

Seeing babies in incubators nowadays is a fairly common sight.

Infant incubators are used to provide a warm environment for babies born prematurely or for other infants who are unable to maintain a normal body temperature. The infant incubator is a relatively small, glass-walled box that may have portholes fitted with long rubber gloves through which nurses can handle and care for the infant. Most infant incubators are fitted with special devices that can control the concentration of oxygen inside the incubator; this is necessary because some infants need either greater or lesser amounts of oxygen owing to particular diseases they may have. Infant incubators also regulate the humidity inside the enclosure.

The concept of the incubator was developed in France as early as 1857. The first device in the USA was built by William Champion Deming at the State Emigrant Hospital on Ward’s Island, New York.

The device was…