...Like everyone else I was struggling with X especially as it had to fit my garden theme. Then I realised that gardens are full of hidden X's! Nearly as many as in the X Men films.
In theory, adding a second is as easy as flipping a switch; in practice, it rarely works that way," says Dennis McCarthy of the US Naval Research Laboratory, which provides the time standard used by the US military.Most likely to be affected are IT systems that need precision of less than a second. In 1998 - two leap seconds ago - cellphone communications blacked out over part of the southern US. Different regions of service had slipped into slightly different times, preventing proper relaying of signals.So now you know, if something weird happens on New years day you are not entering the 'Twilight Zone' it is just the leap second causing trouble.
| You Are Basil |
 You are quite popular and loved by most people. You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive. You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good. |
A Merry Christmas to all, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.I certainly raise my glass to that! Cheers to one and all.
Gardens + Water = Tranquility - Enjoy, you know you deserve it ;-)
The latest edition of Private Eye reports on the recent announcement which stated that Land Trillium were dropping out of the Metrix consortium. The Metrix consortium are lined up to deliver the PFI deal that will lead to the privatisation of defence training:
Land Securities was to convert a "super-hangar" at St Athan, South Wales, into a huge new defence academy for around £1bn, but it seems the credit crunch has put paid to it raising that kind of cash. Whether another property company - most of them struggling to raise money - steps forward looks uncertain. The problem with the private finance initiative is that although the profits are great, they come over a long period and not many firms are in the mood for splashing out and waiting for their cash. If the Ministry of Defence can't persuade another company in, the whole scheme could collapse.
Meanwhile the list of compromises on quality that will be made if the deal does go ahead lengthens by the week.
Tory MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard, whose constituency will lose out when aeronautical training moves from RAF Cosford to St Athan and who has described the scheme as "a privatisation too far", recently raised a host of concerns with the National Audit Office.
This latest Private Eye article on Defence Training (DTR) which was part of a 'Defence Special', can be viewed here along with their full report on recent Defence news.
In related news 'Wales on Line' reports on the £100m plus plan that is being considered, to build a new road to Cardiff International Airport:
It has been suggested that the road would be to serve the St Athan training academy.
Personally, I think it would be an outrage to spend such huge amounts of Welsh public money on feather- bedding the training academy project.
This is a scheme of the UK government and will be provided by a consortium of private companies. It will cost £12bn.
They will understandably want to make a profit but why should Welsh taxpayers subsidise private organisations?
The full article entitled 'Why Subsidise Private Profit' can be found here.
More information on DTR from a Shropshire perspective can be found here.
There are some beautiful formal gardens in Vienna and also a lot of scaffolding on the buildings. So I need to go back to get some better photographs ;-) Well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!
I raised my concerns in Parliament, explaining that with 2 million unemployed, the country facing the longest and deepest recession in decades and also according to Gordon Brown a lack of affordable childcare, the Government has sacked 30,000 workers in the Department of Work and Pensions. These are the very people who are supposed to help and advise people get back into work.He also questioned the government's priorities:
This recession was caused by a small group of very rich speculators in the banks and financial institutions who brought our economy to its knees but who have walked off with huge bonuses and massive pensions. We now know that between £20 billion to £100 billion a year of tax payments is not paid by many of these companies and individuals as a result of tax evasion and avoidance.John McDonnell interviewed Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary on the Welfare Reform proposals.
In my view the Government should prioritise tackling this tax evasion by the rich rather than attacking the poorest in our society.
Yesterday a friend sent me this link to a new social networking site for Trade Unionists. I was tasked with figuring it out and adding a group that would be linked to our local action group. It seems quite a powerful tool, the union equivalent of Facebook without the advertising and without dubious way that Facebook regards your personal data. Amongst other things you can add blogs, groups and something called the wire which seems to be a bit like Twitter.
