Have you noticed that as you grow older and wiser, you start to see problems in the logic of politicians and the media when they discuss important issues? Alan James of UK Ultraspeed is categoric that the German transrapid system will deliver advantages in virtually every area over conventional rail for high-speed lines yet for some reason, there are still people who are unconvinced. Of course, anyone can understand the risk of a wholesale change in something so large and important but I want to return to my initial point.
I have read various articles about why people legitimately think maglev is not to be preferred over conventional rail and here is where the problems are. Firstly, people compare the UK to Japan. In many ways we have similar issues, similar population densities and a love of trains except for one important detail: Japan has earthquakes and their maglev trains need a much greater distance between train and guideway in order to avoid serious damage in the event of an earthquake, generating strong magnetic fields over these great distances takes an enormous amount of power. Or the media compare the UK to China. Sure, China have an actual maglex system running every day and this is useful to prove it is technically workable but the Chinese system does not run into the centre of Shanghai (an irrelevance at best) and also the whole society in China is different, its economics are different, communism and state ownership dictate low costs to the public which makes it seem like a financial disaster. Again, ticket pricing could be calculated on running costs to recoup the outlay in, say, 10 years and this can be considered at the planning stage.
At the end of the day, I still cannot see any reasons, other than the practical concerns of building guideways or their aesthetics, to say that conventional rail is in anyway better. As I read before, it is like the Canal owners telling everyone that these new fangled trains would move so fast they would melt your eyeballs.
Technology has moved on, its a shame we can't.
Friday 28 May 2010
Victory in Christ
I know lots of people who are committed Christians but who seem to suffer in different ways in much the same way as someone who is not. This might include physical or emotional problems and for many, they just accept that this is the way it is for reasons that might be unknown or simply guessed. These problems then lead to guilt, fear, low self-esteem and more importantly a lack of ability to further the kingdom of God in whatever ministry you are gifted in.
I want to tell you however that this is not the way that God wants your life to be, He wants you to have victory against opposition, "it is for freedom that Christ has set you free" Gal 5.1
The next verse then tells us what we need to do, "do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery". What does Paul mean by a yoke of slavery? Well he is talking about religious slavery - wanting to improve yourself by good works - but I believe this is closely related to a Christians salvation from a sinful nature into a new kingdom where Jesus is in charge. The link is simple, when God is removed from the equation, you either have the state we are all born into (i.e. sin) or we have religiousness, a form of Godliness but denying its power (2 Tim 3:5). Either way, what the Bible teaches is that the life for a Christian takes 2 stages, as found in Romans 6: Death to the old life and a new life in Christ. These are talked about in terms of death and resurrection and are related also to baptism, the way in which we pass from justification (being forgiven) to salvation (living a new life). I think the church often teaches a single state conversion experience when it is very important that as well as accepting forgiveness - a free gift of God in Jesus - that we also are baptised into a new life.
OK, many people have been baptised but still suffer in themselves why is this? Well the salvation or new life talked about in Romans 6 leads to a state where we should no longer be slaves to sin (remember Gal 5) and to then count ourselves dead to sin (Rom 6:11) but alive to God. This sounds like an accusation but we need to have a more rounded or complete view about sin and its effects. No-one likes to be told they are sinful (even if its true!) or even that the sin they commit has a large effect on their life, especially if they have been prayed for etc but sin is not just personal, it is not always conscious and it doesn't always have immediate or complete affect. Our entire world is in a sinful state and this affects the physical world as well as our lives. We interact with people who are sinful, our close friends and family could be affecting us, things that have happened in the past, particularly things that might seem fairly mundane like rejection or unforgiveness, can also have an effect. The best way to see all of this is actually simple. Life comes from God, initially when we are created and daily as we exist. If we are separate from God, we are separated from that life, our own life given to us by God slowly degrades and we experience sin and death. Sadly, this is also true of the believer who either dabbles in sin, does not have past issues dealt with or more importantly for this article, who does not "count themselves dead to sin".
Jesus' death has been accomplished - it is fact. The victory over sin and death is accomplished - it is fact, this victory available to believers by repentence and baptism is a fact. We need to take hold of this and live it! It is not an accident that Romans 6 and Galatians 5 tell us to actively chose against the sinful nature, not just our actions but our thoughts or our orientation towards it. If we chose to believe God's truth instead of the devil'l lies, we actually have the power in Christ to throw off the oppression we face.
Suppose you suffer from headaches. You have had prayer and have decided there is nothing specifically wrong from your past experiences and that to all intents and purposes you should not have them. What do you do? You keep praying but when you get a headache, you allow yourself to feel guilty about your lifestyle (which you think might be causing your headaches), or insecure that you are not a good Christian or even bad that you are being spiritually attacked for no reason. This way of thinking then just makes things worse, the headaches come more frequently because you allow sinful thinking to dominate your mind (or rather thinking in a way that relates to the world and not God) and then you can't find a way out.
As a believer you have a very specific way out. When you start getting headaches, you take a break, you ask God to show you if there is a cause (e.g. maybe you're simply tired!) and if not, you claim the promises of God from the Bible and you do NOT allow yourself to feel oppressed or under attack. You trust God to teach you and keep you through it. You do not tell yourself that because you are not a good Christian, you have brought these attacks (for sure we reap what we sow and God might allow something to teach us but if He doesn't reveal his teaching then there is no teaching to be had). We claim victory, we align our thoughts with the victory of Jesus as described in the Bible and then we praise God that He is amazing!
I want to tell you however that this is not the way that God wants your life to be, He wants you to have victory against opposition, "it is for freedom that Christ has set you free" Gal 5.1
The next verse then tells us what we need to do, "do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery". What does Paul mean by a yoke of slavery? Well he is talking about religious slavery - wanting to improve yourself by good works - but I believe this is closely related to a Christians salvation from a sinful nature into a new kingdom where Jesus is in charge. The link is simple, when God is removed from the equation, you either have the state we are all born into (i.e. sin) or we have religiousness, a form of Godliness but denying its power (2 Tim 3:5). Either way, what the Bible teaches is that the life for a Christian takes 2 stages, as found in Romans 6: Death to the old life and a new life in Christ. These are talked about in terms of death and resurrection and are related also to baptism, the way in which we pass from justification (being forgiven) to salvation (living a new life). I think the church often teaches a single state conversion experience when it is very important that as well as accepting forgiveness - a free gift of God in Jesus - that we also are baptised into a new life.
OK, many people have been baptised but still suffer in themselves why is this? Well the salvation or new life talked about in Romans 6 leads to a state where we should no longer be slaves to sin (remember Gal 5) and to then count ourselves dead to sin (Rom 6:11) but alive to God. This sounds like an accusation but we need to have a more rounded or complete view about sin and its effects. No-one likes to be told they are sinful (even if its true!) or even that the sin they commit has a large effect on their life, especially if they have been prayed for etc but sin is not just personal, it is not always conscious and it doesn't always have immediate or complete affect. Our entire world is in a sinful state and this affects the physical world as well as our lives. We interact with people who are sinful, our close friends and family could be affecting us, things that have happened in the past, particularly things that might seem fairly mundane like rejection or unforgiveness, can also have an effect. The best way to see all of this is actually simple. Life comes from God, initially when we are created and daily as we exist. If we are separate from God, we are separated from that life, our own life given to us by God slowly degrades and we experience sin and death. Sadly, this is also true of the believer who either dabbles in sin, does not have past issues dealt with or more importantly for this article, who does not "count themselves dead to sin".
Jesus' death has been accomplished - it is fact. The victory over sin and death is accomplished - it is fact, this victory available to believers by repentence and baptism is a fact. We need to take hold of this and live it! It is not an accident that Romans 6 and Galatians 5 tell us to actively chose against the sinful nature, not just our actions but our thoughts or our orientation towards it. If we chose to believe God's truth instead of the devil'l lies, we actually have the power in Christ to throw off the oppression we face.
Suppose you suffer from headaches. You have had prayer and have decided there is nothing specifically wrong from your past experiences and that to all intents and purposes you should not have them. What do you do? You keep praying but when you get a headache, you allow yourself to feel guilty about your lifestyle (which you think might be causing your headaches), or insecure that you are not a good Christian or even bad that you are being spiritually attacked for no reason. This way of thinking then just makes things worse, the headaches come more frequently because you allow sinful thinking to dominate your mind (or rather thinking in a way that relates to the world and not God) and then you can't find a way out.
As a believer you have a very specific way out. When you start getting headaches, you take a break, you ask God to show you if there is a cause (e.g. maybe you're simply tired!) and if not, you claim the promises of God from the Bible and you do NOT allow yourself to feel oppressed or under attack. You trust God to teach you and keep you through it. You do not tell yourself that because you are not a good Christian, you have brought these attacks (for sure we reap what we sow and God might allow something to teach us but if He doesn't reveal his teaching then there is no teaching to be had). We claim victory, we align our thoughts with the victory of Jesus as described in the Bible and then we praise God that He is amazing!
Thursday 27 May 2010
500 kph high-speed trains
I have been following these guys for a while. They are called UK Ultraspeed and are a lobby group trying to convince the government that rather than spending vast amounts of money on conventional high speed rail which, because of their designs and limits, provide moderate benefits at best, for the same money you can install a very high speed system capable of running trains at 500 kph which is around 310mph.
Essentially we are talking about magnetically levitated trains running on specially built concrete guideways. They have superior acceleration, braking, quality of ride and safety compared to standard trains and of course extremely high top speed.
What I am particularly impressed by is that Ultraspeed are not simply pitching high-technology which is expensive but worth it, they are instead saying that not only are you getting better equipment for the same money but that there are major economic advantages to cities outside of London, something that sadly is not currently true. For instance, the standard high speed rail systems have separate east and west coast systems because of the pennine mountains, which cause either expensive tunnelling operations or would require gradients that are quite simply not possible on standard rails. If you want to travel from Manchester to Newcastle, you either have to get a slow train across to Leeds and then up to Newcastle or go up to Glasgow and back across Scotland. Any new lines are not going to be able to use the existing tunnels and will not spend the 100s of millions to bore new ones. Ultraspeed on the other hand can support steep gradients because of the magnetic drive system so that a new line could indeed cross the Pennines without tunnels. Imagine Liverpool to Manchester in 20 minutes, Manchester to Newcastle in 30 minutes and Newcastle to Glasgow via Edinbugh in 40 minutes. Imagine what that would do to encourage investment in these areas with a massive workforce and little employment.
The only objections can be that the guideways are elevated and not attractive. The system requires less land to be bought, has been tried and tested elsewhere, requires less trains, less staff, less control equipment and ties the country together in a single high-speed line for the SAME money as other proposals. The idea that standard systems can re-use existing rails is a red herring. There is simply not the capacity for any additional trains to use most parts of the current system and the delays and problems you encounter are frequently due to level crossings, freight trains and local trains, things that do not exist on the transrapid system. There really is no reason to go backwards with conventional rail any more.
Essentially we are talking about magnetically levitated trains running on specially built concrete guideways. They have superior acceleration, braking, quality of ride and safety compared to standard trains and of course extremely high top speed.
What I am particularly impressed by is that Ultraspeed are not simply pitching high-technology which is expensive but worth it, they are instead saying that not only are you getting better equipment for the same money but that there are major economic advantages to cities outside of London, something that sadly is not currently true. For instance, the standard high speed rail systems have separate east and west coast systems because of the pennine mountains, which cause either expensive tunnelling operations or would require gradients that are quite simply not possible on standard rails. If you want to travel from Manchester to Newcastle, you either have to get a slow train across to Leeds and then up to Newcastle or go up to Glasgow and back across Scotland. Any new lines are not going to be able to use the existing tunnels and will not spend the 100s of millions to bore new ones. Ultraspeed on the other hand can support steep gradients because of the magnetic drive system so that a new line could indeed cross the Pennines without tunnels. Imagine Liverpool to Manchester in 20 minutes, Manchester to Newcastle in 30 minutes and Newcastle to Glasgow via Edinbugh in 40 minutes. Imagine what that would do to encourage investment in these areas with a massive workforce and little employment.
The only objections can be that the guideways are elevated and not attractive. The system requires less land to be bought, has been tried and tested elsewhere, requires less trains, less staff, less control equipment and ties the country together in a single high-speed line for the SAME money as other proposals. The idea that standard systems can re-use existing rails is a red herring. There is simply not the capacity for any additional trains to use most parts of the current system and the delays and problems you encounter are frequently due to level crossings, freight trains and local trains, things that do not exist on the transrapid system. There really is no reason to go backwards with conventional rail any more.
Monday 17 May 2010
Budget Deficits and the unfairness of government
I was reading a Peter Oborne column about the challenge that the new government faced. Well a challenge would be walking up Kilmanjiro while this is more like the north face of the Eiger in pyjamas.
He said that the current amount that was being overspent was equivalent to around £500 million per DAY. Yes, every day, we are spending around £500M more than we get into government coffers. This equates to around £600B per year and how does anyone reduce that? Well the government have already announced £6B worth of savings but incredibly, despite this being a huge amount, it doesn't sound much compared to £600B but presumably some of that must be projected and could be removed on paper before any money is spent but still.
That makes me then realise how unfair government is. A government can basically run up a massive bill by spending too much, grabbing all the "look at us supporting the NHS/education" headlines and then leave the next government to have to clear up all the mess. The amount we spend on interest every year could replace the whole rail network practically! They then suffer the childishly ignorant headlines of some of the media such as the Daily Mirror whose headline was basically, "vote for the Tories and they will cut all the important spending" as if that decision was taken for no other reason than presumably to give money to rich people! Probably my biggest regret of the recent election was that many people in the country still either believed the half-truths of the Mirror or simply decided that it is only worth voting for people who will give you the benefits you want regardless of the knock-on effect.
Whether you like the Tory-Lib-Dem coalition or not, at least they understand that we need to reduce wasteful government spending that ballooned under Labour and encourage businesses so that they can employ all these people who bemoan the lack of jobs. They have an impossible task and possibly will need to raise income tax but then alas, after 5 years, no doubt everyone will accuse them or incompetence and Labour will be handed another clean set of finances to go and spend again grabbing all the headlines.
What can be done? No idea but I would like some regulations that can legally prevent government from borrowing when the economy is strong and from creative accounting that would be illegal in the real world. hmm
He said that the current amount that was being overspent was equivalent to around £500 million per DAY. Yes, every day, we are spending around £500M more than we get into government coffers. This equates to around £600B per year and how does anyone reduce that? Well the government have already announced £6B worth of savings but incredibly, despite this being a huge amount, it doesn't sound much compared to £600B but presumably some of that must be projected and could be removed on paper before any money is spent but still.
That makes me then realise how unfair government is. A government can basically run up a massive bill by spending too much, grabbing all the "look at us supporting the NHS/education" headlines and then leave the next government to have to clear up all the mess. The amount we spend on interest every year could replace the whole rail network practically! They then suffer the childishly ignorant headlines of some of the media such as the Daily Mirror whose headline was basically, "vote for the Tories and they will cut all the important spending" as if that decision was taken for no other reason than presumably to give money to rich people! Probably my biggest regret of the recent election was that many people in the country still either believed the half-truths of the Mirror or simply decided that it is only worth voting for people who will give you the benefits you want regardless of the knock-on effect.
Whether you like the Tory-Lib-Dem coalition or not, at least they understand that we need to reduce wasteful government spending that ballooned under Labour and encourage businesses so that they can employ all these people who bemoan the lack of jobs. They have an impossible task and possibly will need to raise income tax but then alas, after 5 years, no doubt everyone will accuse them or incompetence and Labour will be handed another clean set of finances to go and spend again grabbing all the headlines.
What can be done? No idea but I would like some regulations that can legally prevent government from borrowing when the economy is strong and from creative accounting that would be illegal in the real world. hmm
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