Remain or Leave

Tomorrow will be one of the most important days in the history of the United Kingdom. Whether or not you vote to remain in or leave the EU. I have followed most of the televised debates with a sense of alacrity, only to become disenchanted with the appalling abuse thrown by both sides towards the other. I am left with the same feeling of despondency over the behaviour of so many individuals on social media. This ‘debate’ has polarised our nation. Knuckle-draggers have emerged on both sides, hurling vitriolic comments at each other. If you are in the ‘Remain’ camp you are prepared to surrender every last vestige of our sovereignty to Brussels, if you are in the ‘Leave’ camp you are a racist. Where on earth do these confounded arguments come from? Those of you who cannot debate without dissolute finger pointing should perhaps reconsider your behaviour when it comes to posting on social media. I have read so much unfounded, ill-conceived comment from both sides, enough to make me wonder if perfidy is rampant in our society. I have yet to read any comment on social media that is not at least condescending or at worst, derogatory to the ‘other side’. I know my own mind and I know how I have decided to vote in this referendum. We do live in a democracy (well, just about) and if you are a friend of mine I respect your decision to vote either way. I trust that you will respect mine. I will be voting to Leave and my decision is based upon my experiences of dealing with EU bureaucracy during my tenure as Managing Director of a company in Brighton. I built a thriving company (and it still is after me) by importing materials from disparate countries such as China, India, Indonesia, South America and Canada. Those same materials sourced from EU suppliers were too expensive and often subjected to insurmountable EU restrictions. My export markets were developed along the same lines - to build markets outside of the EU, although much sales business was conducted with UK customers. UK supplier to UK customer. During my tenure as Managing Director I wrote on several occasions to the EU Commissioner on subjects of EU doctrine that concerned me. Not once did I receive the courtesy of a reply. EU diktat destroyed an opportunity I had developed for a product that realised over £200,000 in sales, to countries outside of the EU. Not a decision made here in the UK but one I had to reluctantly accept. That decision came from Brussels. I am not therefore surprised that so many owners of small businesses believe that we have better prospects when we shake off the influence of the mandarins of Brussels.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

I have just joined the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. Membership includes a digital subscription to the award-winning quarterly journal Living Bird.

The journal features stunning bird photography and fascinating articles on bird biology, behaviour, conservation, art, humour, travel and reviews of birding books and equipment.

Whilst I live in the United Kingdom I do not limit my interest in birding to these shores. The USA enjoys a wealth of magnificent birds that we do not see amongst our residents or visitors and Living Bird is a marvellous means of expanding my knowledge of ornithology overseas. 

More information here 

The North American Bird Guide 2nd edition

Today I took delivery of "The North American Bird Guide 2nd Edition" written and illustrated by David Sibley. This bulky 600 page edition weighs in at 1.4kg. Not a pocket guide then. Far from it. This supreme book is the most comprehensive guide to the birds of North America. It covers the identification of 923 species and includes nearly 7,000 paintings digitally remastered from original art.

So, what is a bloke doing, who lives on the south coast of Britain, buying a guide to North American birds? You might well ask. Well, I own many guide-books to birds from various regions of the world, but particularly the United Kingdom and Europe. This is my first, and will be my only, guide for North America. We actually share many species and 'vagrant' American birds do turn up 'over here' at times of inclement weather across the Atlantic.

I will probably spend hours looking at the astonishing artwork of David Sibley and reminding myself of the wonder of birds that I saw recently in the delightful movie "The Big Year" starring Steve Martin, Jack Blake and Owen Wilson; three amateur bird watchers who compete to become the ultimate 'birder' by spotting the greatest number of species within a single calendar year. Highly entertaining.

And just maybe I can convince myself that the long haul flight would be worth it to participate in some birding in America.

I just need to convince my wife....

Scottish Independence

I watched the second debate tonight between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond on BBC2. Both camps entered this evening's debate hoping for a late break of opinion in their favour. Darling wants Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Salmond wants an independent Scotland, a nation state in its own right.

A Guardian/ICM poll suggested Alistair Darling beat Alex Salmond in the first debate. On tonight's viewing I reckon that Salmond came out on top. This seemed to be confirmed by the audience's reaction.

Much of the argument has been about an independent Scotland's right to retain Sterling as its currency, joining a 'currency union' as it were with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sterling is supported by the Bank of England and Scotland would be remiss to turn its back on this safe harbour. But the other UK countries might disagree to such an arrangement. Salmond was challenged throughout the debate by Darling as to what his 'Plan B' was. He did not seem to have one.

The 'debate' descended into the anticipated rhetoric with both sides scoring points on such key issues as currency, the National Health Service, oil revenues, Trident, jobs, the welfare state, etc. etc. etc....

Salmond bases a great deal of Scotland's fiscal future on oil revenues. Depending on which NGO's financial forecasts you care to consider, this could be sound or indeed foolhardy. Salmond places significant trust in these revenues providing 15% of an independent Scottish economy. Darling, on the other hand, said that the revenue figures were alarmingly overstated. And so it went on.

As an Englishman I have no influence whatsoever on the outcome of the Scottish Independence referendum, which takes place in three weeks time. As an Englishman I am tired of listening to Alex Salmond, who clearly dislikes anything British that is not Scottish, who is prepared to turn his back on a United Kingdom that has helped in many ways to provide jobs for thousands of Scottish people. He maintains an arrogant air in front of the camera, with a smug look and a dismissive wave of the arm when Darling says something that challenges Salmond's position on any point. And he has still not come up with a 'Plan B' concerning the currency issue.

So, here's my position Mr Salmond, as an Englishman, who has many Scottish friends. I don't give a fig. Stay in the United Kingdom, leave the United Kingdom. I don't give a fig. I will continue to put my support behind Westminster, the house of government for the United Kingdom. And if the good people of Scotland are convinced with your arguments and vote 'Yes' for independence, I won't loose any sleep over it.

But if Scotland does vote 'Yes' in three weeks time you might just find that a lot of chickens come home to roost.....    

A Year on Blogger

I cannot let my first anniversary on Blogger pass without a few comments and observations. I reckon my blog is at best, modest. Nevertheless I have published 248 posts that have been viewed 24,456 times. I know that there are bloggers out there who receive far more hits on their sites but I am pleased with this number.

Some interesting statistics (well, interesting to me!):

Of the page reads to date 14,974 have originated from the USA. That's 61% and I am a Brit living in Brighton, England. Thank you American readers for your encouragement. 2,869 page reads come from the United Kingdom, 457 from France, 246 from Russia, 181 from Germany, 153 from China, 149 from Ukraine, 136 from Canada, 115 from Belgium and 64 from the Netherlands, plus sundry others.

Page-views by Browsers is interesting: 74% from surfers using Firefox, 11% using Chrome and only 8% using Internet Explorer and 3% Safari. Many years ago I used Explorer, migrated to Firefox and now use Chrome.

Data on page-views by OS (if you have read this far!) show 82% still using Windows, 11% using Macintosh (I am a Mac user), 2% Linux, 2% Android and 1% iPhone.

So, there you have it. My year on Blogger. Thank you for reading my ramblings; I wouldn't do it without you.

European MEP Elections

For readers in the UK, will you be voting tomorrow to elect MEPs in your area? There are 31 parties putting up candidates for these EU elections tomorrow, 22nd May. Yes, that is thirty-one.

Those parties who had candidates elected in the 2009 big yawn event included Conservatives with 25 MEPs, UKIP with 13 MEPs, Labour with 13 MEPs, Liberal Democrats with 11 MEPs, the Green Party with 2 MEPs, the BNP with 2 MEPs, the Scottish National Party with 2 MEPs, zzzzzzzzzz..... sorry, almost nodded off there for a moment.

What is my point? Well, I guess my point is that most of us do not know what the fuck these 'elected' MEPs do for us apart from turn up in Brussels or Strasbourg or wherever else the fancy takes them, earn ridiculous salaries, draw untold expenses, keep their heads down and have no influence whatsoever on the legislation that matters to us because that has already been decided upon by unelected EU Commissioners. 

Nick Clegg would have you believe that you are unpatriotic if you do not want the United Kingdom to stay in the EU. Unpatriotic?! I know where my patriotism lies Mr. Clegg...

Do you know how much the United Kingdom pays into EU coffers? Britain's payments to the EU have soared to an eye-watering £53 million a day. Even taking into account Britain's receipts from the EU we taxpayers are still contributing a net figure of £30 million to Brussels every day. These figures show just how much we are being bled dry by our membership of the EU. Can anybody show me the benefits? After Germany, the UK is the second biggest net contributor to Brussels of the 27 EU member states.

If you would like to see an end to this, like me, get out to your polling station tomorrow and vote, or, if you are happy with the status quo, don't bother but please don't put your faith in the promised EU Referendum offered by David Cameron. Pipe dreams...