Utopia, you are standing in it!

Most of you have probably heard that HBO Max has decided to temporarily pull the famous movie “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming services, later to replace it with a version that has an explanatory introduction by University of Chicago Cinema and Media studies professor Jacqueline Stewart.

This New York Times article gives the details:

When I first saw this movie as a teenager, its racism was palpable: not only was slavery whitewashed, so to speak, with the slaves depicted as the usual “happy darkies” of that era, but the two black supporting actors, Butterfly McQueen and Hattie McDaniel (the latter winning an Oscar for her role) seemed to me stereotypical blacks as depicted in that era (1939), shown as groveling, happy-go-lucky, slow-witted toadies, though I have to admit that McDaniel had a bit of nuance in her role. (Another example is Stepin Fetchit, who starred with…

Many people are increasingly worried about the slow pace of school reopening in the UK. The focus has mainly been on the harms done to the welfare of children and their families. But there are also rising concerns about the wider impact on the economy. This blog summarises both the social and economic issues, and suggests some ballpark figures for the economic costs.

For most children, and their parents, the novelty of home schooling has long since worn off. On top of the deficit in formal education and structured routine, children are missing their friends and all the social and sporting activities that are part and parcel of normal school life. This is adding to worries about mental health and food insecurity. Many parents, especially working mothers, are having to take on an even larger burden and step in as teachers too.

What’s more, there is now a…

Author JK Rowling has caused a sensation by defining women as biological females. She recently tweeted “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” In response to belligerent and threatening reactions, she has responded in detail on her website, in a piece simply called “J.K. Rowling writes about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues” 10 June 2020.

She says: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman… then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.”

She also challenges the “argument of many current trans activists” that “if you don’t let a gender dysphoric teenager transition, they will kill themselves”. She quotes comments from psychiatrist Marcus Evans, a former…

Wind power outfits still claim their turbines run on the smell of an oily rag and last for 25 years or more, needing little more than a hug from time to time.

However, the operations and maintenance cost of these things, as reported by Australia’s Infigen, is around $25 per MWh (hardly the zero marginal cost claimed by wind cultists!). And, as we’ll detail a little later in this post, wind turbines are unlikely to have an economic lifespan beyond 10 years.

But first this, from Energy Wire (a renewable energy propaganda site) – indicating that the only thing that keeps them running is an endless stream of taxpayers’ money.

DOE lab: Turbine power plunges when tax credits go away
Energy Wire
David Laconangelo
21 May 2020

Wind farms often produce less power when they age past the 10-year mark because the loss of federal tax credits halts maintenance –…