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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Peter Sullivan's LiveJournal:

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    Saturday, May 26th, 2012
    5:07 am
    Back In the Saddle
     About to find out — possibly the hard way — whether six hours' cycling (2h today, 4h tomorrow) is TOO MUCH for one weekend.
    Sunday, May 20th, 2012
    6:32 pm
    Thursday, May 17th, 2012
    8:28 pm
    You know things are really bad when...
     Austerity measures begin to bite in Greece, as the caretaker cabinet members realise that there's only the one bible left for all of them to take the oath of office on.

    Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
    3:17 pm
    An Epic Time-Lapse Map of Europe Over the Past 1,000 Years
     The word "epic" is, for once, an understatement.
    Full article here.



    Current Mood: impressed
    Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
    11:18 pm
    Mood: accomplished
     Resolved my own little local essay crisis, with a 1500-word article for a science fiction fanzine written from scratch and e-mailed off. Of course, these things are much easier than university essays, in that I don't have to get my head around Harvard (or indeed, any) referencing.

    Current Mood: accomplished
    6:47 pm
    Phone-hacking police charge Rebekah Brooks
     http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18062485

    According to Radio Five Live, the cost of the investigation so far is £9m, with a further £20m expected to bring the case to a conclusion. That's almost £30m of public funds (that could have gone to the NHS, education or overseas aid) being used to determine whether or not the News of the World was a seedy, amoral publication. Unless, of course, they divert the funds for this from the Annual Ursine Defecation in Arboreal Environments Study instead.

    Current Mood: frustrated
    Monday, May 14th, 2012
    7:46 pm
    6:06 pm
    De fault of De Bankers?
     OK, this is something that I've been meaning to ask for a a while. But, since it seems to be becoming potentially critical at the moment, I guess now's the time.

    There seems to be an implicit assumption in all the discussion around the Euro crisis, for at least the last 18 months or so, that if Greece defaults on its debt, then it must, at that same point, leave the Euro.

    To which my immediate response is: Why?

    I like to think I'm reasonably clued up on such things. I even have half an Economics 'A' level, after all. (Yes, half. That's a story for another day.) But I can't see any technical or logical reason why "A, therefore B." Where A is a Greek government debt default, and B is the currency of Greece having to shift to the New Drachma, or whatever.

    Euro notes are, of themselves, government bonds of a sort, of course, as is any national currency. An odd sort of government bond to be sure, with no fixed redemption date and a 0% coupon, but a bond nevertheless. A limited company could, in theory, default on its class B debentures, but still keep paying the class As. (This could have all sorts of generally negative consequences, but different classes of debt are, when all's said and done, different classes of debt.) Likewise, a nation state could say, "You know those x% 5 year gilts with a repayment date of next week? Afraid it ain't gonna happen. But, you can still bring your five pounds notes in to the national bank and we'll give you five shiny pound coins for 'em." For the Euro, this is even more the case, in that the currency is no longer exclusively national in any case.

    So, why would a default on Greek government debt imply that Greece would have to leave the Euro?

    Current Mood: puzzled
    Sunday, May 13th, 2012
    12:34 am
    Awards Season, again
     Many congratulations to Spark Sunderland for getting three nominations in the international New York Radio Awards, including "Best Student Radio Station in the World."

    Of course, technically it should be "Best Community Radio Station (that's run predominantly, but by no means exclusively, by students) in the World." But I guess they didn't want to have a plaque three times the size of the actual award...
    12:10 am
    OMFG Dogs!
     Warning: Doesn't "contain flash photography," but still probably not very good for epileptics. Cute, though.
    Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
    10:35 pm
    "It Gets Better"
     A Texas city councillor speaks out against homophobic bullying.

    Saturday, April 21st, 2012
    1:30 am
    Corflu Guest of Honour announced
     The Lady [info]fishlifter was randomly selected as the GoH for Corflu Glitter.
    12:36 am
    Corflu webcasting
     Details of how to watch the webcasting planned from Corflu this weekend are here.
    Thursday, April 19th, 2012
    5:21 am
    Moderation in all things, including moderation.
     Does anyone know who the moderator of the [info]corflu community might be? I've just tried to post a copy of the announcement about the webcasting coverage this weekend, and got a "your comment has been held for moderation" message. I'm absolutely certain I've never had this before when posting to this community.

    (Title of this post is, of course, an Oscar Wilde quote.)
    Monday, April 2nd, 2012
    8:34 pm
    Eastercon webcast
     Details as per new post on [info]tuckerverse, here.

    Current Mood: fannish
    Saturday, March 31st, 2012
    4:59 pm
    Radio for Sunderland, from Sunderland
     Not, not Spark Sunderland for once. Radio Sunderland for Hospitals is actually Sunderland's oldest radio station, having started covering football matches from Roker Park in 1953. It's now marking the start of the national Hospital Broadcasting Week by moving to broadcast on the internet, as well as on the Hospedia units at Sunderland Royal Hospital and Monkwearmouth Hospital. The intention is to keep the web stream up for at least a year; hopefully more if they can find a sponser.

    I know that the idea of hospital radios broadcasting on the internet can be a controversial topic - some people (including some inside the hospital radio movement) see it as a bit of aggrandisement and diluting the commitment to the core hospital audience. Me, I think it's an excellent idea - not least since one of the most frequently asked questions from relatives asking for requests for patients is "Can we hear it too?" From now on, the answer can be Yes!

    Current Mood: pleased
    Monday, March 12th, 2012
    6:07 pm
    Corflu Memories 2
     The second issue of Corflu Memories has gone in the post, and is also available on Bill Burns' efanzines.com website [135k PDF]. This issue's interview subject is Mark Plummer, talking about his memories of Corflus past, as well as any other fannish topics that spring to hand.
    Sunday, March 11th, 2012
    9:46 pm
    Who could hang a name on you?
    I'm told it's only been nine months, but it seems much, much longer. On Tuesday night, the uber-talented Grace Wakes returns to the airwaves, with Ruby Tuesday, a new radio show devoted to "bringing you the best in Mod, Northern Soul, 60s and Britpop." People unfortunate enough to be out of range of 107 FM can listen in on the intrawebs.

    Hmm, the show's called "Ruby Tuesday" and it airs on a Tuesday. I think I have just the picture to go with that:

    Monday, March 5th, 2012
    8:49 pm
    Awards Season
    Have submitted both FAAn Award votes and Hugo Award nominations tonight, and am feeling somewhat accomplished.

    Current Mood: accomplished
    Thursday, March 1st, 2012
    3:02 pm
    ZheZhe
     Frank the Goat makes it to the front page of the BBC News website. As a long-time LJ user, this makes me happy.
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