I like windfarms

I have been reading some blogs and comments about people protesting the building of wind-farms near their homes and villages in South Wales. Personally, I don't understand the fuss and the furore about wind-farms. Why don't people like them? Ok, so that is why I was reading these commentaries but I am still none the wiser, the arguments don't make much sense to me. They spoil the view, apparently. Well, maybe but no more than pylons do already surely? And no more than the view will be spoiled when climate change floods the plains and food security goes down the toilet and millions starve. Somehow I think in that nightmare scenario very few people will stop to enjoy the view.

But, climate skeptic or not, I cannot help but disagree with the aesthetic problem people have regarding wind-farms. And it seems I am not alone. An offshore wind-farm in Ulster is something of a tourist attraction in its own right. On clear days folk congregate in a coffee shop on the shore and enjoy the view, or so I am told by a local resident I know personally. They might be lying and in the pocket of the evil green energy corporations. I know Donald Trump hates them. After being a little too cosy for my liking with the SNP for years he has had a massive falling out with Alex Salmond over a proposed offshore wind-farm next to his half built golf course. I know the Scots invented the game but really, Aberdeenshire seems like the worst location for outdoor pursuits of any kind. Particularly because it is a bit windswept at times. Ideal for a wind-farm really you might think?

Let us not cover the globe in them, I think a nice mix of Tidal (I note Swansea might be building its own Tidal Lagoon soon which is very cool, click the link above to see what it will look like. Perhaps a tourist destination in its own right too? Solar power where appropriate and whatever else the brightest and best minds of the world dream up in the future. I have no problem with nuclear either by the way, but that is for a separate blog post I suspect.

I think a clean, cheap, renewable source of energy that does not leave us at the mercy of OPEC, Gazprom or whatever is fairly sensible and they have to be in someone's back yard! And, that backyard usually gets a nice amount of money in grants to improve the community too. Many of the new wind-farms are being built in the Welsh Valleys and, fair play they are beautiful, but these are depressed communities following the collapse of the coal mining industry (another blog post in itself) and a bit of inward investment seems like a good idea and fitting that these regions still produce the energy for the nation?

So, yes. If you wanted to build one in my back yard, or near my home, or in my local beauty spot you would hear no complaint from me. Like the mobile phone mast protests of the 90s I think that we will seriously regret making such a fuss in the future. Plus, they look pretty! Serene! Graceful!

Twitter: Under the Bridge

Twitter is where the trolls live, apparently. I thought they were all on Reddit, forums and message boards but not twitter. Trolling in 140 characters or less is tough. It takes skill. Twitter it seemed was therefore the home of the seasoned troll, the professional wind[-up-merchant annoying the likes of Donald Trump and pompous blowhards the world over who could use a bit of pedestal knocking. Or, again, so I thought.

The recent waves of misogynistic shit being directed at female tweeps be they bloggers, critics or MPs (many of whom I disagree with on a daily basis, mind you) is revolting. But threats of violence, rape, murder - bomb threats!?! This goes well beyond 'trolling', this is just small boys with big egos and the sort of reactionary idiots you might expect at the average EDL rally. Thankfully there are laws against publicly threatening someone with violence and there definitely are laws against making bomb threats both of which, I hope, are pursued by the police (not often I say that). But it reminds me that once again twitter is in trouble, because twitter doesn't have a report post button.

I can't say how many times I have seen a tweet that goes too far. Not the sort of thing that pushes the boundary of comedy, I don't mind that, but threats of rape and violence against women and, indeed, children. Pictures of things that, probably, incur the wrath of the police force, or intelligence agencies, but which I have to look at, and then - when I look for a little "report me" button - I remember that Twitter, for reasons I can't begin to fathom, is completely unmoderated. Like any anonymous public forum Twitter needs to police itself, I would prefer that to the likes of MPs and the actual Police decided what we can and cannot tweet. So, I hope that this is the final straw and that Twitter starts to take itself and its responsibility as a facilitator of free speech and starts to remove the tweets which shout "Fire!" in a crowded building (and twitter is VERY crowded these days).