On 01/05/2019 14:34, Tim Streater wrote:
This is the Soviet model. Build many more planes than you actually
need, because maintenance is rubbish and your fleet of *working* planes
is far less than you've built. A massive waste of society's resources.
The same applies to massive overcapacity for wind and solar (your
words).

Also tractors, combine harvesters and orange carpet remember,
all 'socially useful'.

The More4 series Deutscheland86 is well worth watching on
more 4 if anyone has missed it. It may be drama, but I
suspect it is quite close to the truth.

In last fridays episode, one of the party 'leaders' has
suddenly noticed that background radiation as measured by
his thermionic-valve equipped meter is four times higher
that normal, after hearing reports on foreign news stations
of high readings. He tries to stop a colleague from eating
fresh strawberries, and wants to know what stocks of iodine
are held and if they can be handed out.

More bigwigs then arrive and pour scorn on his meter, suggesting
that he gets a better soviet one, pointing out that the last thing
they need is a panic and everything is 'normal'.

Then later in the program someone rushes in to the meeting to
say Gorbachov is on the TV announcing that Chernobyl is in
meltdown.....