Brown and Bush

During the summer, when our new PM was settling into the job, I saw a snippet of TV news which angered me. At the time, no-one seemed to see it in the same light as I did, and indeed subsequent government disasters seem to have eclipsed this marginal observation. But I thought I would record it anyway...

Brown's first visit to Bush was obviously going to be a difficult event. Blair had been his mate, spoken his language and fawningly colluded with one of the most ruthless projects of belligerence in recent history. I observed that Brown had a very different personal style. Indeed, my sense of him is that he is further along the autistic spectrum than most of us: managing himself in interpersonal situations seems to be a baffling project that he doesn't quite have a handle on. He reportedly had to be trained to smile and give the appearance of connecting at an emotional level before he was considered electable.

I expected that Bush - the archetypal frat boy - would have problems in dealing with him. What I did not expect was that he would do what frat boys do with the new kid on the block - to subject him to a finely-tuned bit of humiliation.

When Brown arrived in the USA, Bush arranged to transport him from the plane to the waiting press pack (as in "wolf pack" - and guess who is "top dog"...) in a golf buggy. As he set off, he threw the buggy into a tight circle so that Brown was subjected to centrifugal force on the outside of the curve and, without a steering wheel to hold on to, had to tense his body and grab for support in an undignified way.

I remarked on this to a German friend, and he pointed out that Bush had put Angela Merkel through a blatant and abusive piece of intimidation in his "playful" alpha-male way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfrHT8o-0A

But back to the golf buggy - I have looked around for media comments:

"If Brown was deferential, Bush was playful -- from the very beginning of the visit. When Brown arrived at Camp David on Sunday, Bush invited him into a golf cart labeled 'Golf Cart One' on the front. The president started to head off but then threw the cart into a 360-degree turn, smiling mischievously for the cameras, before speeding off. Brown, in this AFP photo, looks a bit aghast. But he went along for the ride."

source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/30/BL2007073000950_2.html?hpid=topnews

"The hacks here are divided about whether to call this the 'roast beef summit' (after the food served to the president and prime minister) or the 'golf buggy' summit (after the vehicle Mr Bush took Mr Brown out for a spin in, producing a look on the PM's face that said 'this wasn't in the script'!)"

source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/gordon_brown_usa_07/


I didn't detect much negative comment at the time, but it evoked in me a surprising and totally unfamiliar sense of patriotic outrage that my prime minister should be subjected to such treatment.

Well, I suppose that's what happens when a country allows its military-industrial subculture to engineer the results of an election...

Altrustic Driving

I've been fascinated for some time by traffic dynamics - especially standing waves on busy motorways. A good introduction to this interesting phenomenon is this BBC report.

The report makes use of Bill Beaty's observations (note - not theories!) which can be read here - and anyone interested in science will enjoy wandering round the rest of his site.

My Right Foot

I've been experimenting for some time with fuel economy since buying a car (Skoda Octavia 1.9 diesel) which offers a display of the instantaneous fuel consumption. This is a useful feature which offers feedback on driving style - and I confirmed the established truism that a heavy right foot on the accelerator lowers consumption.

To step back from this observation - there are of course many other factors which reduce economy:

• short journeys (especially in a diesel, which takes longer to reach efficient operating temperature)
• getting from A to B as quickly as possible
  
• maintaining speed up hills

...and I assume that anyone who is keen to reduce consumption of our fossil fuels will be aware of the basics. My intention is to take this interest forward.

The right foot in a car is placed on the pedal in a way which makes it able to apply large force (using the calf muscle). This is very useful in braking - although this is nowadays not necessary due to power assistance. The fact is, however, that this arrangement does not make fine control very easy. The large muscles of the leg are designed for locomotion - fine muscular control is available only at the end of the limb. An analogy would be to imagine having to do what you normally do with your hands if they were encased in a shoe.

"Dynamic Tension" (with apologies to Charles Atlas!)

Another observation: when driving the right leg is typically held in a position of tension - the antagonistic muscles of the calf and shin maintain and vary the angle of the ankle. This is fine when standing or walking, but I wondered how it might be if the major leg muscles could be allowed to be at rest. Of course, the right foot must always be available for instant action to operate the brake - but I haven't found this to be a problem.

So - I made a rounded “platform” or ledge close to the right hand side of the pedal. On this I rest the right side of my foot, and the left side of the foot touches the pedal. In this way, rotating (or to use the technical term, everting/inverting)the foot rather than using the gross movement of the ankle produces much more controllable pressure on the accelerator.

I experimented with various materials, and finally built up laminations of carpet tile with a glue gun. This is shaped to fit the contours of the car interior and attached with Velcro to the carpet lining.

(A digression – when people have shown an interest and asked how they might do it, I have found that some cars do not have a lot of room to the right of the accelerator pedal. I’m just thankful that the Octavia does!)

Taking care to get the right arrangement, the result is a foot-rest which enables me to have fine control of the accelerator. Since I have installed it the overall MPG of the car has risen to around 57. Using care I can get 70+ and indeed even short quick trips are rarely under 50.

Raw competitiveness
It's quite easy to develop new habits and get used to the lower average speeds which result. And I've also found that my competitiveness (which used to manifest in seeing how fast I can get from A to B) has now shifted. The pursuit of economy can substitute for more destructive urges - I'm sure it's all part of the macho spectrum, but less damaging to the planet.

And it's catching - my wife will come back from a trip in the car glowing with pride and punching the air announcing "I got 60!!" It might be something to do with the ageing process, or perhaps an evolving awareness of our global responsibility - but playing games like this is fun!

I'm grateful to Charlie, a physiotherapist friend who discussed this project with me.