Daily archives: January 31, 2013


(Not) Going Underground 1

BBC News – Cumbria nuclear project rejected by councillors.

About twenty years ago I had a Summer job entering and editing geological data from boreholes in West Cumbria.   Working on five (or possibly ten, it was two decades ago, I can’t remember every detail) metres of core sample at a time, a team of geologists were noting every vein, fissure and fracture and detailing thickness, angle etc..  They were drawing up an image of the geological stability, and therefore suitability for long term nuclear waste storage, of the rocks under the Lake District.

At the time, I was of the opinion that Cumbria would get the deep storage even if there were more suitable places to put it.  The area was resolutely Labour and the Tory government would be less worried about pissing off people who weren’t going to vote for them anyway.  When the Summer was over I went back to university and more or less forgot about the problems of long term nuclear waste storage.  So it was something of a surprise to find that it was still an issue, and that a decision hadn’t yet been made.

Given that one of the proposed locations was Ennerdale- just over the hill from my parents’ house and unspoilt but for a bit of forestry- I’m glad that Cumbria County Council have said no.  The declaration by Copeland Borough Council that they might “go it alone” is disappointing, though.


Może powinienem nauczyć się języka polskiego

(Headline brought to you by Google translation)

So, Polish becomes England’s second language, according to the census. Though the opening paragraph of the Guardian article tells us-

Polish is now the main language spoken in England and Wales after English and Welsh, according to 2011 census data released by the Office of National Statistics.

I get the impression that someone doesn’t speak basic maths.

Some folk are going to tell us that it’s a big problem that there are people in the country who don’t have English as their first language. But, really, if we’re all supposed to speak the same, then what are regional accents for?

English is the dominant language in England (conveniently) and it’s going to stay that way, so I don’t have any time for the shock and horror stories a bunch of xenophobes are going to make of this news.