26 replies »

1. Interesting how some have reacted to the injunction!

   Production of lanterns to show the “alternative” to electricity-not sure the symbolism of a return to the dark ages will be missed by the media and wider public.

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   • …yet again more sarcasm and nothing useful to say…yawn

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2. Martin, you surely know by now, that renewables do not lead to the dark ages, as latest research report from Stanford University USA shows https://news.stanford.edu/2018/02/08/avoiding-blackouts-100-renewable-energy/#

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   • The fossil fuel industry tries to promote renewable energy at some time in the future but not now. That is to give them as much time as possible to sell their remaining allowable reserves. They compete fiercely against each other.

     What they didn’t see coming was the speed of the technical advances of renewable energy. Their hopes that renewable energy prices would remain high allowing the argument that the public would be un willing to pay high prices has disappeared.

     We now have proven high output grid compatible renewable systems at costs comparable with fossil fuels. Proven stand alone systems are becoming readily available, more efficient, and cheaper.

     Although renewable energy is working fine without storage the advancement of commercial lithium batteries is making the renewable energy market even more successful with the big players keen to get involved.

     Our Government sees this and is already investing £250 million for battery storage alone and more commercial storage to go on line later this year.

     Our North sea oil and gas industry has cut it’s production costs to a quarter of industry predicted onshore shale costs. Our secure Norweign pipelines provide us with cheap imports. We have absolutely no need for another new expensive dirty fossil fuel as we move to maximise on high tech renewable energy to provide cheap clean power.

     The suggestion of looking for shale gas in 2018 in Sherwood Forest is complete madness.
     .

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3. Explain to me Linda how wind turbines and solar panels would function in the deep dark woods of Sherwood.

   Oh, not a problem, they have been felled to provide timber as the local population grew.

   (I’m not sure if there is a league table but comments to myself, friends and relatives who live in the area, from visitors would suggest Sherwood Forest is about top for promising much and delivering little as an attraction.)

   There is very little Sherwood Forest left, INEOS have no plans to frack in Sherwood Forest so how will this do anything to save “the forests of England”? It is a silly PR exercise and if the mainstream media were at all interested they would also see how nonsensical it is, with lantern building and then back to home to fire up the wood burning stoves.

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   • ‘Explain to me Linda how wind turbines and solar panels would function in the deep dark woods of Sherwood’

     There sees to be some early morning confusion

     The wind and the sun are not restricted to just Sherwood forest…….. it can be found in other places as well and can be found easily without a map.

     Might be worth a trip out if you are not sure

     .

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     • trees ARE solar powered, they synthesise sunlight, water and nutrients into more growth and strength, they do that with photosynthesis which is the most remarkable natural advance in trapping sunlight on the planet, we are now beginning to understand that and use it for ourselves, the result will be 99% efficiency, this is how nature does it:

       “The term photosynthesis means “putting together with light”. It is a manufacturing process that happens within cells of plants and within tiny bodies called chloroplasts. These plastids are located in the cytoplasm of leaves and they contains the green colouring matter called chlorophyll.”

       This process defies conventional physics, because no chemical reaction should be more than around 60% efficient, however chlorophyll does it with 99% efficiency.

       It uses quantum physics to do so, think about that for a moment, a plant that uses quantum physics! we dont even know what plants know and use every day. The process is as astounding and as inspiring as it gets.

       Each cell containing chlorophyll traps as many photons of light as the surrounding tissue allows and then does a trick that is almost magical if it wasn’t so real.

       Each photon has a path through the surrounding plant tissue, one say, gets lucky and finds its chlorophyll host, many others try but get blocked by other atomic and tissue membranes.
       So what does the chlorophyll do? It quite literally reverses the nanosecond time stream and somehow instructs all the other photons to take the most successful route! They all reset their own time and space reference and reroute to take that most successful route! It does that for every photon it encounters. The result is that the chlorophyll receives 99% of all the photons and is hence THE most successful natural organism on the planet. Not us!

       Have you heard of the double slit experiment? Well this is how that really works.

       And we think we are clever? We haven’t got off the potty yet!

       Trees and plants have been doing this for hundreds of millions of years.

       We are barely conscious children in a universe of astounding creatures that solved all the riddles hundreds of millions of years ago.

       So we either learn natures way and become at last equal to the task of following their lead, or we continue to thrash around in the mud like angry children using such pathetic sledge hammer techniques as fossil fuel fracking and acidisation like a fool in a universe of geniuses.

       Nature itself understood more than us hundreds of millions of years ago, and our miserable 2.5 million years of childhood has taught us nothing but greed and avarice so far, but we are learning.

       Dont kill the trees, learn from them, they could teach us how to live on this planet without destruction, greed and avarice, none of that was ever necessary, and that is the actual truth of the matter.

       Time to grow up and get out of this pathetic childish temper tantrum stage.

       If you don’t believe any of that, look it up.

       [Billions corrected to millions at poster’s request]

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       • The age of the earth is approximately 4.54 billion years and the earliest land plants are first observed in the fossil record during the Ordovician Period 450 million years ago…… not the hundreds of billions of years you cited twice. If you are going to request people to look things up it may be advisable to do so yourself first.

         (The errors this comment refers to were in the previous comment and have been corrected at the poster’s request]

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         • Yes, saw that and duly corrected.

           The oldest fossil algae is estimated to be 1.9 billion years old, give or take a millennia or so. There is no fossil record yet discovered of single cell creatures, so who knows? The age of the earth is not certain in absolute terms and may be unknowable since it was molten for an unknown time period. Also time and space are relativistic and associated with mass and probably all sorts of stuff we don’t know about?
           Interesting about the photosynthesis of chlorophyll though isn’t it?
           Thanks have a nice day.

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       • Hydrothermal vents? Now there is a free source of energy! And no one owns it!

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         • Thanks Paul, good of you to leave the hydrothermal event reference in there.

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         • The oldest stromatolites date from about 3.7 billion years. The age of the earth (4.54 billion years) is dated using data from meteorites, and current estimates are accurate to within 1%

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           • Yes amazing aren’t they? i used to live near a beach where there were ancient stromatolite fossil colonies covered in coral and barnacles, fascinating things. Cyanobacteria based werent they?

             Is there any evidence that they were chlorophyll based organisms do you know?

             http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses01/papersmarineecologyarticles/stromatolites-thelongestl.html

             There is some evidence that there was, and perhaps still is life in meteorites?

             Dating of rocks and meteorites is interesting too isn’t it? I think we use the decay of various radioactive isotopes over centuries into other elements.

             Fascinating stuff!

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       • This is a great little video that illustrates the photosynthesis conundrum, great music from Hans Zimmers score for “Inception” too.

         ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15pOr1E6hvc )

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4. I thought one point (perhaps there isn’t one) being proposed for this event was to “save the forests of England”?

   (I can understand the confusion, as there is hardly a “forest” you could call Sherwood and it is not within the plans of INEOS.)

   Oh, I see John. As they have already been cut down across much of the country, including this area, then there is plenty of space for turbines and solar. But then, in your eagerness, you have destroyed the purpose of this “event” as the same then holds true for on shore oil and gas exploration.
   Yep-there certainly is early morning confusion. Suggest you don’t read today’s headline “Cracked it: US eyes top oil spot thanks to shale revolution,” and the comments from the IEA. Confusion can lead to despair.

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   • Yes Martin, the key word is oil, black gold, Texas Tea; but we have missed the point again:
     https://www.theccc.org.uk/tackling-climate-change/reducing-carbon-emissions/carbon-budgets-and-targets/

     You cannot eat computer generated money; and although they are doing a bloody good job of packing it into our food, oil derived plastic.

     Trees are a natural carbon capture system.

     Time to rub those sleepy eyes and wake up, you’re surrounded by feculence and need to dig you way out!

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5. Ohh, I see Sherwulfe, you are just in disagreement with John and there are all those trees that need protecting around Sherwood?

   Well, actually there are not, and those that are left are in no danger from INEOS. But, where there are real forests then wind turbines and solar farms are still out of the equation.

   Interesting that the antis are concentrating so much on opposing, they are spending an increasing amount of time opposing each other!

   Sitting up late at night massaging oil derived plastic can do that.

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   • Well, I think you just nailed it Martin. You are truly a wonderful person. Goodnight and sweet dreams for the world is still spinning and no one will remember you……..

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6. We are all like a finger in a bucket of water, Sherwulfe. When the finger is gone, there will be a ripple or two which will vanish quickly and then no one will see that the finger was there in the first place.

   It’s what the finger does whilst it is here that is important-this one is just about to press the oil derived key. Don’t stay up too late.

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   • make sure you pull it out of your ear first 🙂

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7. Comment made on behalf of Cindy Rosengarten, who describes herself as anti-fracking:

   I teach my son that Robin Hood was a thief. The generosity of his redistribution does not eliminate the fact that he was a criminal.

   Glorifying Robin Hood leads to Communism, which is where Corbyn is leading the country as well.

   Funny how relevant yet dangerous it is to use popular culture to justify its upheaval.

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   • Thanks Ruth for passing on Cindy Rosengarten’s comment.
     There is a wider view however about the Sherwood Forest legend and Robin Hood, and that is the legend derives from much the earlier era of Roman occupation, and later in the Norman occupation and relates more perhaps to mythical figures. There were certainly outlaws, one in particular was certainly a murderer, however the much more ancient concept may have been confused with actual figures in medieval times and the literal interpretation may be little more than a contrived coincidence.

     It is always interesting to look at the historical and mythological aspects of Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood, there are some very good links on the subject and these are below.
     The character Robin Hood, far from being a single person turns out to be a pagan figure from pre Roman times and goes back into the mists of antiquity and has been remodeled over the ages to suit the recent history of the times, plainly there were people called Robin Hood and some were outlaws though many were also noblemen who had issues with the kings and local landowners.

     http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Robin-Hood/

     http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/robin_01.shtml

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood

     The King of the Wood
     and the Battle between Summer and Winter
     To begin his masterpiece, The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer relates the story of the ancient cult of Diana at Nemi, and the priest who stood guard over her sacred grove and bore the title Rex Nemorensis, or “King of the Wood”. He was the consort of the virgin goddess of the hunt, the divine lover/son who died only to return again, as the greenery does each year.
     The Green Man
     We may gain some clues to Robin’s mythic nature if we analyze his habitual form of dress. Why is Robin so frequently described as wearing green? Likely because he is associated with the mysterious Green Man of art and folklore. Like the Green Man, Robin possibly represents the ancient pagan god of vegetation and fertility, a primordial “Lord of the Trees”.

     Because of the similarity in name, Robin Hood is often thought to be a manifestation of Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous hobgoblin also known as Puck. Jacob Grimm apparently noted the close association of the two Robins, but did not elaborate upon it.

     Robin Hood is a clearly a trickster figure, and may have indeed taken on attributes associated with Robin Goodfellow. He is often content to publicly humiliate a foe, rather than kill him. Moreover, he is a master of disguise and enjoys misleading his enemies.

     Marian represents the Goddess in her maiden aspect. According to Robert Graves, the name “Marian” is a variant of “Mare”, one of the most ancient names for the Lady, dating back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Sumeria and Minoan Crete. In his masterpiece of mythological interpretation, The White Goddess, Graves equates Maid Marian with the goddess of the sea and sensuality, variously known as Meri (as in Mermaid) Mari, Miriam, Marianne, Myrrha, Marina (of the sea) and Mary Gipsy (Mary the Egyptian). This goddess was Christianized as both St. Mary of Egypt and the Virgin Mary.
     Graves suggests that the name “Maid Marian” is a sort of cultural pun on the term ‘mermaid’ (literally, “maiden of the sea”), also formerly written ‘merry-maid’. This may also be the origin of “The Lady Of The Lake” and Launcelot Du Lac etc.

     Sherwood Forest –
     The Major Oak, Sherwood Forest
     There is much debate as to where Robin’s forest really was. Although Nottingham has the strongest literary tradition, Barnsdale Forest in Yorkshire and Plumpton Park in Lancashire also lay claim to the legend. Sadly, the Sherwood Forest near Nottingham is greatly diminished in size, increasingly encroached by human settlement. To learn about the efforts being made to conserve what is left, check out the Sherwood Initiative homepage.

     Within the remaining forest of Sherwood is a huge, ancient oak tree, known as the Major Oak. Once thought to be 1000 years old, it is the fabled meeting place of Robin and his men. The tree is now propped up to prevent it succumbing to age. Modern dating techniques suggest the tree may actually be only 300 years old, but it is symbolic of Robin and the Greenwood nonetheless. As we have argued, Robin is the Oak King, and any such venerable tree would be sacred to him.

     The name “Sherwood” derives from the term “shire wood”, meaning the forest local to a shire or region. As such, it is a fairly generic term. Rather than being a single physical place, Sherwood is more likely an abstraction, representing “the wilderness” as a whole.

     Within the legends of Sherwood, time stands still. It is perpetually May Day inside Sherwood forest. The Wheel of the Year has ground to a halt. Robin and Marian are the eternal springtime divine lovers. They live happily ever after together without needing to marry, have children, work or grow old. Although there is a ballad telling of the death of Robin, the character will not die. Rather, he is continuously reborn, like the Sun at the Winter Solstice. The tales of Robin & Marian continue to be rewritten and retold even to this day. Perhaps, just as Arthur sleeps in Avalon, to arise when Britain has need of him, so too does Robin sleep in Sherwood, ready to awake and return.

     http://hesternic.tripod.com/robinhood.htm

     What i suppose is most significant in this, is that since the shires and the hundreds were imposed by the Norman invaders, the pagan legends have become synonymous with the latter real life characters and in a synchronistic way have become fused with the earlier pagan mythology.

     Reading this shows something more rewarding than just the legend, and that is that we as a nation are brought up on the need for justice in spite of overbearing power bases, be they kings and queens, government, councils, shire reeves (sheriffs) or Industrialised processes imposed against the wishes of the people, or the results of partitioning of the free land to the rich and powerful and theft of lands and property to suit some local or countrywide power base.

     The Shire woods are generic and therefore Sherwood Forest in any shire anywhere in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales is worthy of our protection regardless of its present state of disrepair, and if that protection needs to be by a process confronting local and governmental power oligarchies with the truth of their representative democratic shortcomings regarding our need for justice above a law which has been high jacked to suit the few above the many, then so be it.

     I suspect the deeper back ground behind the legend actually strengthens it and gives it more of a cultural aspect than a single outlaw Robin Goodfellow (Godfellow) and his “Meri” men, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and actually takes on the role of an archetypal figure that has meaning in the wish for justice above mere human law imposed by those who would benefit from monopoly of control. To disrespect the whole Sherwood Forest legend is an offense to English hearts and souls, any such ignorance will only lead to offending the very heart of every English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh person alive today. Legends are one thing, archetypes are a far different aspect of human consciousness, to disrespect such an deep aspect of English culture can only lead to disaster. Essentially it represents the power of good above evil.

     Protection of this land goes for any forest, any village, town city or beauty spot, that is our duty as people of this still fair land and will be so forever. In a very real way, every sacred woodland is a Sherwood and we all represent Robin Hood in our fight for freedom from injustice.

     Like in any such legend, we either take it at face value, or we look at the deeper aspects of history and the origins of our relationship with nature, and it is that perhaps which enables us to see a much more complex story, that perhaps can be related to modern events?

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     • Thanks for that Phil, very interesting.

       A bit of a stretch from Cindy regarding the link from Robin Hood to Communism to Corbyn, but hey, everyone to their own logic.

       I guess that the movie version of Robin Hood is what most have in their head; but for my children, rather than stealing from the rich I would say taking back what was stolen from them in the first place?

       And of course, fun days aside, it’s about the protected woodland at the end of the day, not a man in green tights 😉

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       • Hi Sherwulfe, it was worth expanding the concept into the archetypal beyond the narrow confines of modern divide and conquer political simplicities?

         I think that there are deeper currents in human consciousness than mere party politics?
         The Corbyn and communism diversion from subject could be countered with May and fascism, but that is just as depressingly simplistic and ignores the deeper currents and undertows in human interactions. The Corbyn reference is more notable for it’s irrelevance to the subject, than it’s relevance which was why I ignored it and decided to explore some more interesting connections.
         Fun, isn’t it?

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         • Ps, you are right about this issue being more about recovering what has been stolen, which is democracy and human rights, than anything else.

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8. The Prime Poisoner is a secret ally of The Sheriff of Frackingham – http://tapnewswire.com/2018/02/the-prime-poisoner-feels-the-force-of-anti-fracking-opposition/

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