Lavengro in Spain

Merseyrail – more than just a journey

I phone Merseyrail:

"When does your last train leave Liverpool for Chester tonight?"
"Our system closes down at 20.00."
"But when does your last train leave Liverpool?"
"Because of adverse weather conditions we're running a half-hour service across the network."
Are you saying that your last train to Chester leaves Liverpool Central at 20.00?"
"I'm saying that because of the cold weather you shouldn't leave it any later than that. I'm just giving you sensible advice."
"I don't want sensible advice. I want accurate information. When does your last train leave Liverpool Central for Chester?"
"20.41."
"That's after 20.00. So can I leave Liverpool at that time to get to Chester?"
"We're running a half-hourly service till 20.00. I can't forecast the future."
"Forecasting the future is what railway timetables are all about."
"I apologise for trying to help."

I ended the call at that point.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas – Feliz Navidad – Bon Nadal – Buon Natale – Joyeux Noël – Frohe Weihnachten – Nadolig Llawen

The Guardian and the real world

Guardianistas invent and inhabit a world that suits their ideological view of how it ought to be, and then they pretend that it is reality. This is from a letter in today’s Guardian:

Interesting to note how the municipally owned airports such as Manchester and Liverpool have coped with the big freeze, while Heathrow has excelled itself as an example of our superbly run private sector. Relying on the Salvation Army to provide assistance to those waiting seems to illustrate perfectly the Tory recipe for the country's future – let people lap up a little charity while big business preoccupies itself with ludicrous bonuses for incompetent managers.

John Strongman, Manchester 

In fact Liverpool airport was privatised in 1990. Moreover, John Strongman from Manchester really should be aware that Liverpool’s position near the coast gives it a climate that is usually several degrees warmer than the inland area, and that it is by no means unusual for the weather in Liverpool to be considerably better than in the south-east of England. The same is also true to a certain extent of Manchester – apart from the incessant rain there of course. Extremely low temperatures have been recorded there recently but that is most unusual, as is snow in Merseyside.

Mr Strongman might also like to know that I am sitting in Barcelona having had a flight to Liverpool cancelled twice last weekend. I am scheduled to fly tomorrow. As far as I can make out, the problems were in part due to the closure of Liverpool airport for a time. My return flight to Barcelona after last Christmas was cancelled because of bad weather at Liverpool airport, as was a flight to Liverpool just before Christmas 2001 or 2002.

El País y yo / El País and me

 English text below.

En El País de hoy la Defensora del Lector dice:

La publicación simultánea del contenido de los documentos facilitados por Wikileaks … ha abierto un gran debate que no ha dejado indiferentes a los lectores de este diario. Algunos de ellos, como Peter Harvey, para expresar su total oposición a la publicación de estos documentos.

Es cierto que tengo muchas dudas sobre lo que veo como un circo mediático montado para aumentar el poder de los medios más que descubrir los fallos de la diplomacia norteamericana (y sólo la norteamericana), y que estoy escéptico del valor de la información publicada, de la cual mucha no puede sorprender a ningún observador de la escena internacional que tenga el cinismo adecuado sobre ella. Pero el correo que envié al diario no dijo nada de este tema. Rezaba textualmente:

Tras el ejemplo de transparencia ofrecido por Wikileaks, espero ver, a partir de ahora, toda la correspondencia interna de El País colgada en elpais.es para que sus lectores puedan ver como se confeccione el periódico.

En el caso contrario, tendré que suponer que todo este montaje es un ejercicio de voyeurismo, sin base alguna en la gestión coherente de la información.

Y este aspecto del asunto queda ignorado totalmente por Sra. Milagros Pérez Oliva.

 

* * * * *

 

In today’s El País the reader’s editor says (Spanish):

The simultaneous publication of the contents of the documents provided by Wikileaks … has opened up a great debate that has not left the paper’s readers indifferent. Some of them, like Peter Harvey, have expressed their total opposition to the publication of these documents.

It is true that I have many doubts about what I see as a media circus set up to increase the power of the media rather than to lay bare the failings of US (and only US) diplomacy, and that I am sceptical of the value of the published information, much of which cannot be surprising to any observer of the international scene who is properly cynical of it. But the mail that I sent to the paper said nothing about that. It ran as follows:

Following the example of transparency offered by Wikileaks, I expect to see in future all the the internal correspondence of El País posted on elpais.es so that your readers can see how the paper is put together.

Otherwise I will have to suppose that this whole set-up is an exercise in voyeurism, with no basis in the coherent handling of information.

And this aspect of the matter has been totally ignored by Ms Milagros Pérez Oliva.

 

Property and theft

St Julian of Assange has said that he didn’t know that he might be refused bail and have to go to prison. I am reminded of the old Scottish joke:

In the old days ministers did not mince matters. One in the course of a sermon said, “A’ve kent o’ better folk than you, efter they were deed, in the place where the wurm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, callin’ out tae the Lord in their agony, ‘O Lord, A niver kent it wud be as bad as this.’ And the Lord, out of His love and tender mercy vouchsafed the answer, ‘Weel, ye ken noo.’

It is also worth remembering that his supporters in the Anonymous group of hackers (a name that says all you need to know about them) are the same people who recently organised a DDOS (denial of service) attack on the websites of the Spanish Society of Authors (SGAE) and Ministry of Culture for having the temerity to want to collect authors’ royalties.

Personally I have no sympathy with people who think they can take other people’s property whenever they want and make whatever use they want of it.