h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Morning rg

Coffeebreak

boxer/125: Not sure that a big boxer would be the best option for your type of commute or an urban commute. 125 might be a good option for you.

I tried it as an urban option. A bit of a nightmare and I only lived 3 miles from work with excellent public transport (door to door bus with stop opposite house and work) so it wasn't really worth the bother.

Evening in: Jigs of little use though I have got one set cut, rebated and drilled. Gluing tonight.

On early comment that you don't like political coalitions. IMO almost always out come of PR.

Minor 'sucked in event' with Britannia. Noticed that 'bus pass' thread about immigration

must

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'Day Bx4

I'm about to rush out for the day (and most of tomorrow) myself so will be brief. Why was the big boxer a nightmare? Was there an issue with the clutch or overheating, or was it pure frustration at not being able to give the machine its head?

I agree that formal coalitions are almost inevitable in PR. I also think that the junior partner should resist the temptation in order to avoid being associated in the voter's mind with being in the pocket of another party. There was something posted on the "out of touch" thread about a site where Joe Public can "vote" on individual issues this painting a map of the will of the people (if such a thing were possible). Of course the voters would be self selecting in this instance though this illustrates that perhaps we don't always have to be ruled by the vision of a minority clique.

My late evening wasn't spent building anything. Instead the cat and I did some more work on the coat hanger which has morphed into a piece of bent wire so as to get R3 and R4 with better clarity. I think a weekend crawl around the loft with a bit of aluminium tubing will net even better results.

Britannia a very minor event though too tempting to miss the chance at pot shot. There is also an immigration thread going under the "out of touch" heading.

Be seeing you.

afternoon rg.

nightmare: Not big boxer but 125 runabout. Not good in heavy multi-lane urban traffic. Nearly had (only) serious accident (not my fault) on it.

coalitions: Mostly LTR1 which I will post on while you are away. Two points though. In UK politics minor party may say they will not take part in coalition though of course they will. Also PR situation may be different - voters know that a coalition is most probable outcome.

Britannia: Another daft thread. Britannia will return. The Evil that is Skippy has spoken. Role of Britannia as symbol of the UK doubtful. Look at Roman origins.

Aerials: This may replace burner fiddling as TS scenario.

Catch you later

Evening rg.

I am suffering flu-like symptoms - occasioned no doubt by being picked up in open top ragtop.

I am convalescing at home. However, I have been sucked in to the, of all things, 50p thread. Odd because it is a topic I have absolutely no interest in.

I just thought I would mention my fall from grace before you did.

Bs(y)

I am sufficiently recovered to return work to-morrow though I have had a break from all things wood.

Although I have not avoided being sucked in (on the Christian Topic board ) to a disagreement with Clintists of the 'Richard is wonderful' variety) I have finally posted a reply on LTR1

Boxer: I did explain by aversion to use of light burners in an urban environment but I didn't really take to using a heavy tourer either.

This was not so much because of mechanics as you suggested earlier but more physics inertia to be precise. I just found them to lack the manoeuvrabilty that would make them a good choice for nipping in a out of heavy traffic,

May be the ideal bike for this situation is something in the 250- 350cc but I have no experience with either

bs(y)

This is a brief return to the ether as I am metaphorically snowed under here. I'm very sorry that you have not been well. I've been reconsidering the 125/600 commute issue and have decided that the smaller capacity would frankly be a danger on motorways. (In fact I'll have to check what the legal minimum is). I have some experience of a 250 though not on fast commutes. I agree lack of inertia is handy for low speed manoeuvrability and parking.

Hope you are fully recovered and be seeing you. I'll catch up with other postings. There is nothing wrong with being sucked in.

Thank you for posting in LTR1. The board is closed just now though I will try to reply later.

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Ein bischen mehr

"…In UK politics minor party may say they will not take part in coalition though of course they will. Also PR situation may be different - voters know that a coalition is most probable outcome…"

If a coalition is the most probable outcome why don't potential partners share the costs of campaigning? Post election coalitions seem like the sordid backstreets of politics where principles are discarded for the comfort of a John Lewis kitchen. The honourable way would be for each party to vote for what they believe in and let's see what we get.

Only briefly on myself

Health: Much improved thank you for asking. Not it appears cold flu. More general 'weariness' as a result of overdoing it. Denial of decrepitude.

Capacity. I think our commuting situation was/is different. Until we moved to the Island we mostly live in biggish cities with a heavy multi-lane traffic which seems quite different from your commute.

Moreover since we mostly lived 3-4 miles from workplace with good public transport,bike commuting wasn't worth it. I agree that a 250 is not the best option for your commuting needs.

Sucked in: No but I am trying to avoid it as much as possible. This time it was a your usual Clintist zealot twittering on about how wonderful 'Richard' was to be taking the message to we benighted Scots. Despite the fact that there the % of non-believers in the population is twice that in England.

Of course all the other acolytes were spouting the usual Clintist guff so I decided to amuse myself by pointing out that Clint had no peer reviewed publications so couldn't be be considered a proper evolutionary biologist and anyone who believe in memes was delusional.

Shelves : The first vinyl stack has been built and I'll probably start on second tonight.

hi rg

Coalitions:

First thing I think is that you have to accept that a PR system will mostly produce coalitions. The situation in Scotland where a minority government seems to be surviving is fairly unusual.

Second the situation may vary depending on whether a 'clone' party situation exists or not. If it doesn't then the minority party in a coalition may legitimately consider that agreeing to take part in a governing coalition may be a way of getting some of its policies implemented.

LTR1: No hurry quite busy myself

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Hi Bx4 it's good that you are in better fettle

"…the minority party in a coalition may legitimately consider that agreeing to take part in a governing coalition may be a way of getting some of its policies implemented…"

Is this with or without their voter's agreement? Or once a vote is won can a party do pretty much what it likes?

MDT

Evening rg.

Voter agreement. I wonder if this is a FPTP problem. In countries with more sophisticated electoral system and, IMO, a more sophisticated electorate I am not sure that it is perceived as a problem.

Presumably if one votes for a minority party then one must either be doing it for tribal reasons or because one assumes that they know that their party will be in a coalition.

Is it just distance or is their no coverage of the HoL debate on the LT?

Heard an odd R4 package on the Irish referendum. Much made of the fact that a 'no' result might happen because of resentment because of the trousering activity of the Taoiseach(?). Three hours later he resigns. --IP Dave won't be happy.

Shelves Vinyl stack routed, bored but not glued.

I trust the lo-tech aerial is working?

bis später

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'Morning Bx4

Voter agreement; I've been dwelling on this in an idle moment and tried to think of a way to convey my thinking. Suppose the "New Purple" party contests an election. They support A, B and C and are against X, Y and Z. The NPs come third in the election and the winner invites them to join a coalition. The cost to the NPs is that they get their way on A and the winner won't do Z though B, C, X and Y will all go the wrong way (so far as the NPs are concerned).

Are the NPs acting dishonestly? Should the NPs have stuck to their principles and voted accordingly in the new legislature? I certainly wouldn't want them to abandon their principles for then they'd be no different to the lot we have now. I also stick to my view that being junior partner in a coalition is the perfect way to be derided as a "little helper".

I have tried to find coverage of the HoL LT debate without success. I'm puzzled as to why you suggest Cameron should be worried by the lack of a referendum in Ireland. If the Treaty is ratified how would it be his fault? As to whether he offers a referendum in a future manifesto; no doubt he will do whatever to gain electoral advantage. Unfortunately Johnny Come Lately can't undertake to offer one thing before an election and then do the opposite. Blair and Brown have already soured that well.

I'm pleased you have recovered sufficiently to reach the glue stage of the vinyl stack. The low tech aerial has been given the heave ho and I have recycled a disused a loft rig to good effect. I've had the odd pop on the Tibet torch protest thread where I notice a reborn cronyblatcher has been holding court.

Happy gluing and don't forget the ventilation!

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Hi again Bx4

"…Is it just distance or is their no coverage of the HoL debate on the LT?"

I did find this…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7324901.stm
[Conservative hopes of forcing a referendum on the EU treaty have taken a further blow after Lib Dem peers said they would vote against one…former Tory Home Secretary Lord Waddington said: "Respect for Parliament will continue to decline so long as our leaders don't play straight with the British public. It is our plain duty to hold the government to its promise about a referendum. If we are not prepared to, we might as well pack up and all go home.]

Morning RG

I was going to post this on LTR1 but it has been shut down. Unfortunately I don't have link to LTR2 so I'll post here:


Purple: Except of course that in most cases the Parties seem to form coalitions with parties of broadly the same political stripe.

Not always of course though the position of British 'clone' parties seem somewhat ambiguous. I still haven't found out why the Nucleggies previously formed a coalition with Nulabour in Scotland but haven't this time.

Derided dishonesty: I think you may be being a bit idealistic here. To quote Bismarck:

“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best”

I still wonder if you are seeing this through FPTP conditioned eyes. PR systems make it almost inevitable that coalitions will form.

If the Nupurples calculate that they will get some of their policies in place by joining a coalition of parties with broadly similar outlook then is it more rational to do this than to stand on one's 'principles' and not have any of your policies in place.

Of course if the cost is excessive in terms of principle then a coalition may not be possible. This seems to have been the situation in Scotland where the NCs didn't form a coalition with the SNP because the 'cost' was a referendum on Scottish indepedence

Dave: Not Mr Potato Head UKIP Dave. Apparently Nige, the top Faragista is of too Ireland to campaign for a No vote. That'll go down well in Eire

Of aerials and glue. Glad you have got it working though I find distance is further reducing my interest in the output of R4.

Glued and firmly clamped. Ventilation not a problem as I am using a (mostly water base glue). Ventilation mostly for varnishing which I don't do. Work on second stack begins to night.

Sucked in. I didn't at all yesterday, despites mostly cutting code. I noticed that cb was back - another obsessive

Coverage: Thanks for link. I had found it almost nothing else. The propaganda organs of the Rebel Alliance. I notice though that Baldy Man 1 is still fulminating.

I have a link somewhere where you can listen to/ read whats going on in the HoL but I haven't actually looked.

Do you have link for LTR2?

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I have a link somewhere

LTR1. False alarm. Forgot MESZ, Pre 0900 your time

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'Morning Bx4

An short reply as nose needs to be to grindstone. I'll note that LTR1 appeared to be open just now? As a general point yes I'm being idealistic about principles. This is a good opportunity to flag up ideas and your closer experience of PR is a useful counter. I'm seeing New Purple's abandonment of principle through the prism of our discussion about giving people more control over their country.

Are NP obligated to their voters? Does this obligation mean rigid adherence to their manifesto or are they simply obliged to strive to do their best with the hand they are dealt? It seems to me that if the latter is the case then this is how the disconnection between party and voter starts. Not every voter will be pleased with their party selling out.

Be seeing you.

There is happier ring to this than GMT; a hint of a connotation of Messe; happy days.

Evening rg

Principles;

Does this mean you will not vote for any party whose position is not precisely the same as yours in all respects?

What would you do if we had PR-STV system and two parties had complementary views that closely matched yours?

Control:

I don't quite see how this would happen if people voted for a party that that matched their principles but had no chance of exercising power.

Disconnection.

Not sure I agree isn't optimistic that any party will be able to honour all its manifesto commitments.

Selling out: So presumably they would oppose PR since this increases the likelihood of coalitions.

Shelves. The SO is varnishing the first stack as I write. I am a bit surprised that this has not resulted the purchase of a technically advanced sprayer and face mask

bs

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'Evening Bx4

"...Does this mean you will not vote for any party whose position is not precisely the same as yours in all respects?"

Good point. No this is impracticable unless I quit my career and strive to become a politician in my dotage. Of course no one could know whether I voted for the NPs because of X, Y or Z or because they opposed A, B or C. If two parties had similar views I still wouldn't like them to go into coalition. You also make a good point about control of losing parties. Once in parliament they go their own way; a recall election would be impracticable.

I agree it would be impracticable for a party to be held to all their manifesto commitments though I don't think this could be carte blanche to act in the opposite manner to that stated in their manifesto. PR; don't misunderstand, I think that the current Scottish parliament may be a model for what I want; the most popular party forms the executive and parliament decides according to where the support for each measure lies.

If it helps Bx4 SO is welcome to my airbrush kit. Borrower collects. I don't plan to Kurust spray Rice Burner's hard to get at bits again till the winter. I'm sure it would work a treat with thinned varnish provided that time is not an issue.

MDT