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Newsletter 11th May 2018

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  • Newsletter 11th May 2018

    For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
    http://www.electricscotland.com/

    Electric Scotland News

    CapX was founded to make the case for popular capitalism: now more than ever, it is vital that the case is made for markets, innovation and competition, and for policies that deliver for the masses as well as the elites.

    To that end, their team monitors thousands of news sources, blogs, academic papers and think tank publications to find the day’s most interesting ideas and most important facts and trends. They also commission opinion and analysis pieces by leading experts – though the views contained in any such article are entirely the author’s own.

    Since finding this company on the web I'm increasingly using them to site stories of interest. It seems to me that on the whole I share their vision of the world. You can find them at: https://capx.co/

    Here is the video introduction to this newsletter...

    Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
    Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish.

    Warships pay respect over Islay war dead site
    Warships from Britain, America, France and Germany have gathered over the wreck of a World War One troopship to pay respect to the 700 men who died in two disasters off Islay.

    Read more at:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-west-43988158

    Donald Trump could address UK Parliament under peers’ support
    Donald Trump could address Parliament despite Commons Speaker John Bercow’s opposition.

    Read more at:
    https://www.scotsman.com/news/donald...port-1-4734630

    New luxury fragrance inspired by whisky aroma
    Kingdom Scotland launches this month with three limited-edition Eau De Parfums - Metamorphic, Portal and Albaura - all inspired by Scotland.

    Read more at:
    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...hisky-12468263

    Exposed and dependent: Germany desperate to avoid trade war
    As Europe’s biggest exporter to the United States and with more than 1 million German jobs at stake, Germany is desperate to avoid a European Union trade war with the United States.

    Read more at:
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ge...-idUKKBN1I51WS

    Forget Brexit, the EU may be on the brink of collapse
    Brexit may soon be seen as a mere footnote in an era of massive upheaval

    Read more at:
    https://capx.co/forget-brexit-the-eu...k-of-collapse/

    15 famous songs every Scot will know
    FOR the typical Scot, there are some songs which don’t even require an introduction. In fact, you’ll probably be able to recite every last word.

    Read more at:
    https://www.scotsman.com/news/15-fam...know-1-4365681

    Scottish police dogs and their handlers take top honours
    Dundee-based PC Peter Gargan and police dog Dale, a three-year-old German Shepherd, scooped top prize in the 58th National Police Dog Trials.

    Read more at:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...ntral-44024307

    Scotland's most powerful microscope unveiled
    It is expected to open up new approaches to treating cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more.

    Read more at:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-44033681

    How the SNP baby-boxed itself into a corner
    IN AUGUST 2017, the SNP Scottish Government introduced its baby box scheme for newborns

    Read more at:
    http://www.thinkscotland.org/todays-...ead_full=13537

    China Won’t Wait
    China’s rise is both unambiguous and unstoppable, whether the West likes it or not.

    Read more at:
    https://www.project-syndicate.org/co...p-h-yu-2018-05

    A New Economy for the Middle East and North Africa
    Despite its geopolitical challenges, the economies of the Middle East and North Africa have vast untapped potential in their young, educated, and tech-savvy populations.

    Read more at:
    https://www.project-syndicate.org/co...anem-1-2018-05

    We must back Trump’s withdrawal of support from the Iran deal
    Unsurprisingly, the Iranian nuclear deal was not without its detractors, who claimed that it fell short of guaranteeing that Iran could not develop a nuclear bomb

    Read more at:
    https://www.conservativehome.com/pla...iran-deal.html

    Freeloading Europe unprepared for Trump’s America
    Old Continent can’t do much more than watch and wait.

    Read more at:
    https://www.politico.eu/article/dona...trumps-america

    Meghan Markle waxwork revealed by Tussauds
    Madame Tussauds has completed its waxwork of soon-to-be royal bride Meghan Markle.

    Read more at:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-44051779

    Sell the May and walk away
    May is the classic careerist type: someone who all her life wanted to be something rather than to do something, and finding when she finally gets there that she lacks the vision necessary for leadership. That is her personal tragedy: it is also Britain’s.

    Read more at:
    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/...and-walk-away/

    Electric Canadian

    Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers
    I discovered a lot of volumes of these transaction which are very detailed and note that they are very popular downloads so assume civil engineers are enjoying the details given in these transactions.

    I've added the 1937 volume and will add others each week. You can view these at
    http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rial/index.htm

    Some of the topics discussed include Advances in Electric Welding, Air Conditioning in a Northern Climate, Beet Sugar Factory at Picture Butte, Bridge Building, Chemical Engineering, Coal, Development of Radio Communication in the Bush, Fifty Years of Canadian Achievement in Engineering and Industry , Freight Hauling, Geology, Industrial Chemistry, Investigation of Canadian Coals, Irrigation Engineering, Locomotive, Motive Power, Obituaries, Notable Figures in The Institute's Past, Power Developments, Speech and Music and their Relation to Transmission Problems, Story of The Engineering Institute of Canada, 1887-1937, Waterways Development, etc.

    Grand Priory of Canada
    Got in a copy of the May 2018 newsletter which you can read at:
    http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...terMay2018.pdf

    Canada in 1864
    A Hand-Book for Settlers by Henry T. Newton Chesshyre (1864) (pdf) which you can read at:
    http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...canada1864.pdf

    French Canadian Life and Character
    With Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Scenery and Life in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Surrounding Country edited by George Munro Grant, D.D. (1899) (pdf).

    You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nadianlife.pdf

    Conrad Black

    An inability to be a leader on pipelines will be the ruin of Justin Trudeau
    http://www.conradmblack.com/1388/an-...elines-will-be

    State of the Resistance
    http://www.conradmblack.com/1389/sta...the-resistance

    In defence of our brave and honourable Vice-Admiral Mark Norman
    http://www.conradmblack.com/1390/in-...onourable-vice

    Electric Scotland

    Commonwealth of Australia
    Historical Records of Australia published in 1914 in 19 volumes. Intending to put up 1 volume a week until complete.

    Added volume Volume 7 - January, 1809—June, 1813 to this collection at:
    http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mmonwealth.htm

    Banks for Savings in Great Britain and Ireland
    Including a full account of the origin and progress of Mr Gladstone's Financial Measures for Post Office Banks, Government Annuities, and Government Life Insurance by William Lewins.

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...oryofbanks.pdf

    The Laird of Logan
    Being Anecdotes and Tales illustrative of the Wit and Humour of Scotland edited by John Donald Caerick, William Motherwell, and Andrew Henderson.

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...irdofLogan.pdf

    The Law of Creeds in Scotland
    A Treatise. The Legal Relation of Churches in Scotland established and not established, to their Doctrinal Confessions by Alexander Taylor Innes, M.A. (1867) (pdf)

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...awofcreeds.pdf

    The Life and Military Character of Maj. Gen. Scott
    Together with his Views upon the Principal Moral, Social and Political Topics of the Age, With full Particulars of the Surrender of the Castle and City of Vera Cruz. (1847)

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ajgenscott.pdf

    The Transactions and Journal of Proceedings
    Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. Added a link to this book at the foot of our Dumfries page.

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/dumfries

    The Picts
    Added a video about the Picts and the latest research which you can view at:
    http://www.electricscotland.com/history/picts.htm

    Woodworking
    I selected three books for you to get started in learning about working with wood which you can read at:
    http://www.electricscotland.com/agri...oodworking.htm

    Prarie Traveller
    A Hand-Book for overaland expeditions, with maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the pricipal routes between the mississippe and the Pacific by Randolph B. Marcy (1861) (pdf)

    You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ndoverland.pdf

    The Story

    To illustrate the divisions in Britain about Brexit I thought I'd bring you this story...

    Sell the May and walk away
    By Andrew Cadman - May 10, 2018 writing in Conservative Women [The Philosophy not the Party].

    We have reached the endgame for both Britain and Theresa May. Caught between Brexit hardliners and the Tory voting electorate on one side and Remain Ultras on the other, whatever she does seems to guarantee a serious constitutional crisis through either reneging on Brexit or defeat in Parliament. Moreover, if we don’t confront the EU now, there will no time to prepare for exit on WTO terms. Once that deadline has passed, national humiliation of our country will be sealed as the EU wrings concession after concession.

    Oh, how we pine for Margaret Thatcher in this situation! – not that she would ever have allowed herself to get into it in the first place. The comparison with our hapless Prime Middle Manager is almost too painful to make. As one below-the-line commentator put it when preliminary negotiations were under way, if Barnier had tried it on with a £40bn payment demand, Thatcher would have walked out with a £50bn rebate and his b***s as a keychain. Moreover she would, unquestionably, have seized the initiative on Brexit from the very beginning, prepared aggressively for WTO rules from day one and stared the EU down.

    Mrs T was, of course, a woman in what was still very much a man’s world, and no doubt had to learn early on to mix it with the best of them. And boy, did she. She was, as Ronald Reagan famously described her, ‘the best man in England’. That said, it’s far too simplistic to say that Thatcher was simply an honorary man, macho in macho times: history tends greatly to underplay her feminine side, and there is a strong argument that what made her so effective a leader was the right blend of both masculine and feminine qualities. She had masculine qualities of risk-taking courage, single-mindedness, singular vision and the ability to engage in highly confrontational situations when necessary. However, she was also capable of cautious pragmatism. The risks she took were calculated, and at least until the final years of her reign she never let wounded pride stop her making tactical withdrawals when necessary in the way that her successor John Major did.

    May, in contrast, is the classic careerist type: someone who all her life wanted to be something rather than to do something, and finding when she finally gets there that she lacks the vision necessary for leadership. That is her personal tragedy: it is also Britain’s.

    Very often such mediocre people lack self-awareness. They also tend to lack moral courage. Getting to the top is everything, so life becomes a dreary zero-sum game. Responsibility for difficult decisions is shirked if possible and vengeance taken on anyone who stands in their way – hence May’s despicable behaviour during the EU Referendum and her reputation for personal vindictiveness. Bullies are always cowards, and May is undoubtedly one of those: ducking and putting off the difficult decisions from day one, she has thrown away a strong hand and manoeuvred herself, her party and her country into an almost impossible position. The only way out seems to be under a new leader who believes in Brexit with a stronger electoral mandate and who is prepared to go to WTO rules. Someone, metaphorically and perhaps literally, possessing the grandes cojones the hour clearly requires.

    Our current leader can clearly never be that person. She must go – now.

    To adapt the investors’ adage, it is time to Sell the May and walk away.

    And that's it for this week and hope you have a great weekend.

    Alastair

  • #2
    Re: Newsletter 11th May 2018

    Alastair,
    I enjoyed all articles as usual, the article on the Islay War dead ceremony was particularly interesting.

    Gordon.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Newsletter 11th May 2018

      I liked it as well as I knew nothing about this part of our history.

      Alastair

      Comment

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