A Full Frontal Assault on Democracy - The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

Karel De Gucht

No not by terrorists but as a result of a more sinister threat from within!

Under a secret EU mandate written by the EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht and dated 17 June 2013, an agreement is currently being negotiated between the USA and the EU to remove both tariff and non-tariff barriers to transatlantic trade. 

Why is the EU Mandate Secret?

The EU Mandate has only ever been released in English and the document is marked “EU Restricted”.  Previous trade negotiations have failed when the terms of a potential agreement were leaked.  Releasing it only in English will make it more difficult to circulate among the EU member countries and more difficult to leak it to the public.  The document has, nevertheless, been leaked and is available to read here. 

The mandate includes various clauses which aim to protect the interests and traditions of the EU and its member states, but all of these can be overturned by the "Investor-State" protection mechanism described below.

Leaving aside, for the moment, any claims for economic benefits, and ignoring the clear cut advantages of the removal of import duties on both sides of the Atlantic, what will be the other effects of such a trade agreement? 

Removal of non-tariff barriers to trade

Non-tariff barriers to trade can be anything from product labelling regulations, to employment law, to state subsidies, to manufacturing standards - not forgetting Health and Safety requirements.  This Wikipedia article lists 28 different types.  

It would be virtually impossible to conduct multilateral negotiations in all of these areas and successfully remove the majority, or even a significant proportion, of such non-tariff barriers so the EU Mandate envisages a different approach.  It gives the power to private companies to identify non-tariff barriers, which adversely affect their ability to compete in a particular nation, and then to challenge the national government in an arbitration.  Clause 23 of the EU Mandate promotes the inclusion of "investor-state dispute resolution" clauses in the agreement which are intended to achieve this objective.

Investor-State Dispute Resolution Clauses

As the mandate currently stands any private company, which wishes to invest in another country in the TTIP trading bloc, will have the right to challenge national or local laws, regulations or standards if they consider that these put them at a disadvantage compared to the situation in their country of origin. This short video explains it well.

If you think that I’m exaggerating about the scope and power of this mechanism, it has already been demonstrated in the 20 year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and is about to happen under the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

Examples of Arbitration Cases under the NAFTA

1. In Canada, the courts revoked two patents owned by the US drugs firm Eli Lilly, on the grounds that the company had not produced enough evidence that they had the beneficial effects it claimed. Eli Lilly is now suing the Canadian government for $500m under the NAFTA provisions, and demanding that Canada’s patent laws are changed.  
2. The American chemical company Ethyl prosecuted Canada for a 1997 law which outlawed a diesel additive containing manganese in the form of MMT, a neurotoxin. This compound is banned in all developed countries and 85% of all fuel sold in the USA is free of MMT.  Under the NAFTA provisions, Ethyl was awarded $13 million in compensation and Canada had to amend the law and make a statement to say that there were no known adverse health effects of Ethyl’s product. 
3. An ongoing case against Canada concerns a toll bridge owned by the Detroit International Bridge Company, which links the American and Canadian towns, both called Windsor, on either side of the river Detroit.  The original bridge, which carries 25% of the trade goods between the two countries, was saturated. Canada obtained an agreement with the State of Michigan to build another bridge with public funds.  The Detroit International Bridge Company is claiming $3,500 million in compensation because it considers that it has the sole rights to a bridge crossing in that location and any toll revenues that might be generated. 

Independent Arbitrators and their Role

If the TTIP agreement is passed, in a form which mirrors previous US trade agreements, the mechanism for ruling on such “investor-state dispute” claims will be by means of an arbitration by three international lawyers. Under agreements which the USA has already negotiated, such as NAFTA, there is no appeal process, the meetings are held in secret, judgements do not have to be published and are binding.  There are no checks and balances, there is no transparency and the arbitrators are lawyers who usually work for private companies. They are paid by the hour. There is no supra-national body overseeing the selection, standards of independence and conduct of arbitrators, nor the way in which they function. 

It’s also a one way process.  The litigants have all been private companies and the defendants have all been nations. Under such an agreement a litigant cannot sue the government in its country of origin.

During 20 years of the operation of the NAFTA agreement Canada has had 30 cases brought against it by private US companies and it has lost 30 times. Mexico has had 5 cases against it by US firms and has lost 5 times resulting in compensation payments of $204 million. Canada and Mexico have brought 22 cases against the US and the US has won 22 times.   All together it’s an outstanding record for so-called independent arbitrators.

Juan Fernandez-Ermesto

Here’s what one of the arbitrators, Juan Fernandez-Armesto, says about his role.

“When I wake up at night and think about arbitration, it never ceases to amaze me that sovereign states have agreed to investment arbitration at all … Three private individuals are entrusted with the power to review, without any restriction or appeal procedure, all actions of the government, all decisions of the courts, and all laws and regulations emanating from parliament.” 

The Effect on Policy Making

But there's another danger. To quote George Monbiot in his article in the Guardian - 

“Even if these suits don’t succeed, they can exert a powerful chilling effect on legislation. One Canadian government official, speaking about the rules introduced by the North American Free Trade Agreement, remarked, “I’ve seen the letters from the New York and DC law firms coming up to the Canadian government on virtually every new environmental regulation and proposition in the last five years. They involved dry-cleaning chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, patent law. Virtually all of the new initiatives were targeted and most of them never saw the light of day.” Democracy, as a meaningful proposition, is impossible under these circumstances.” 

What are the Consequences?

A Race to the Lowest Standards

So typically, between the USA and the EU who has the lowest standards?  Of course you already know! 

Genetically modified crops; chlorine rinsed chickens and hormone treated beef and pigs are normal in the USA but have all been rejected by the EU.

So you might say we’ll choose not to buy US goods, but be aware that in March 2014 the Americans proposed that all markings of geographical origin should be removed from all consumer goods, including wines.

The Imposition of Fracking

Fracking to produce gas from schist is well developed in the USA, but following public pressure permits have been refused here in France. 
Under clause 37 of the Mandate, however, free and lasting access to raw materials, including sources of energy, must be granted to private firms.  In France everything from 100 metres below your property downwards belongs to the state, so one wonders how France and the EU will deal with this contradiction.

A US company Lone Pine is already suing Canada under the NAFTA investor-state protection clauses for US$250 million over a moratorium on controversial shale gas extraction (fracking) in Quebec. 

Health Services

Many US citizens consider the concept of the UK National Health Service (or the French Securité Sociale) to be dangerously socialist.  Remember the bitter fight Obama had with the Republicans when introducing his healthcare legislation?  
Public services are included in the scope of the EU Mandate. Under clauses 15 and 24, a private US healthcare company wishing to set up a hospital in the UK could demand central government funding on the same basis as an NHS hospital trust.  If this was refused they could launch a case for arbitration.

Alternatively they could demand compensation for unfair (subsidized) competition and demand that the state run institution be privatized.  Since health provision under the nationalized NHS in the UK costs around 5% of GDP and in the USA the total spend is estimated at more than 17% of GDP, it's clear that private companies would have a financial incentive to dismantle the NHS and push up fees and costs.

Fundamental US/European Differences Concerning the Role of Government

The US and Europe have very different ideas concerning the role of government. Reducing "BIG Government" is a rallying cry for Republicans. In Europe it is considered that governments and the EU are mandated to act in order to regulate and protect their citizens and the environment.

Retrospective Class Actions

In the US it’s up to individuals, after they have been adversely affected by a private company’s actions, to get together and mount a class action against the company.  They have to prove cause and effect to a jury, but when they do damages are colossal and can include a punitive element, which acts as a disincentive to similar companies to risk the same results.  The law firm, of course, takes their 40%.

Goodbye to the Precautionary Principle

In Europe we expect national governments, or the EU, to vet the safety of food and consumer goods before anyone has suffered injury or loss through inadequate testing or insufficient monitoring. 

Under the “Investor-State dispute resolution” clauses of the TTIP any such precautionary approach can be challenged and compensation demanded on the grounds that the risk of adverse effects is not proven. If the government loses, not only must it pay the compensation but also amend or repeal its laws. 

So because of its very dissimilar history and traditions Europe works differently from the USA and makes itself a soft target for any multinational US company seeking compensation under the “Investment Protection” clauses included in any eventual agreement. 

The Economic Benefits - London Centre for Economic Studies Report

So why would any government, not to mention the whole of the EU, give up their sovereignty and freedom of action in such a way?  Surely they must be expecting enormous benefits in terms of growth and employment!

Less than a 0.5% increase in GDP by 2027

In their comprehensive study report, prepared at the request of the EU commission, entitled “Reducing Trans-Atlantic Barriers to Trade and Investment”, the London Centre for Economic Studies in table 16 on page 46 predicts a 0.48% increase in Gross Domestic Product averaged across the whole EU by 2027 (the end date for the extrapolation of their economic model).  This is for the most ambitious scenario that they examined involving the removal of all tariff barriers and 25% of the costs of non-tariff barriers to trade.

Interestingly the EU Commission press release of 14 June 2013  quotes from 0.5% up to 1% of increased GDP (which don’t forget is not expected to be achieved before 2027). They seem to have added another speculative 0.5%!

Neither the LCES study nor the EU’s explanatory document “Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - The Economic Analysis Explained”,  issued in September 2013, attempt to quantify any overall employment benefits (see paragraph 2.2.3).  Although the LCES study does find that the disruption between employment sectors, i.e the transfer of employees from shrinking sectors to expanding sectors, will be well within the normal annual levels and not significant in a flexible labour market.

If you have the time listen to Karel De Gucht answer a few hard questions.

Conclusions

So the benefits from the EU’s own reputable economic study are minimal, representing less than 0.5% increase in GDP across the EU by 2027.  The risks to EU governments from arbitration claims and to European standards for the protection of its citizens and the environment are, on the other hand, high and these start from the moment the agreement is ratified.

Governments would hand over their rights to regulate and take decisions to private firms whose only concerns are profitability and which are only answerable to their shareholders.

If it succeeds in its present form, and the investor-state dispute resolution clauses are based on previous “Trade Agreements” involving the USA, it will be a charter for private companies to impose their narrow commercial viewpoint on national governments. At the same time they would profit by doing nothing except launching a case for arbitration.

So forget the centuries of measured and cautious development, under a democratic process, of European legislation concerning environmental protection, consumer protection, working conditions and public services.  Say hello to a Europe in which the standards in all those areas are driven downwards to the lowest level by private multinational companies in the name of free trade and fair competition.

I agree with George Monbiot that the negotiation of a treaty based on the current EU mandate is “A Full Frontal Assault on Democracy”. 

What Can You Do About This?

Firstly, spread the word to all your active friends and contacts.  The more people who know about this, the less likely it is that an agreement will be signed in its present form without significant changes to the Mandate.

Secondly, find out the contact details for your European Parliamentary Election candidates.  Write to them asking what they think about the secret negotiations for the TTIP and wait for their replies.  If they don’t answer, or you don’t think that their answer is well informed and shows awareness of the issues, you will know what to do on Election Day!

It’s not a Done Deal!

Under recently granted powers the European Parliament has to ratify any such agreement, and the agreement itself must be passed unanimously by all EU Member States.

The European elections are programmed for 25^th May 2014.

Raoul Marc Jennar
Thanks to Raoul Marc Jennar who is busy touring France to alert people to the risks of the TTIP using public meetings.  He calls it "Le Grand Marche Transatlantique - GMT".  He has published a short book on the GMT in French and he will make his Powerpoint presentation, which is also in French, available to anyone who asks for it here.  He speaks good English so if you don't speak French don't worry.

IDA - A Polish Film (2013)

Poland in 1962; outside, in shades of grey, a convent is set in a bleak and snowy winter landscape.  Inside it is Ida, a novice nun, who has lived there all her life; a place where no talking is allowed and the only sound at mealtimes is the muffled clatter of spoons on soup plates.

She is about to take her vows, but the Mother Superior calls her to her room to tell her that she has an aunt that she has never known about and who has never answered letters from the convent inviting her to see her niece.  Since she is her only family, the Mother Superior tells her to go and see her before she finally commits herself to Jesus.

Ida’s aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza) is a judge who has fallen out of favour with her superiors and takes solace in alcohol, cigarettes and casual sex.  She gives Ida a frosty welcome and she is sent on her way, but before she has caught her bus, Wanda has a change of heart, finds her, and takes her back to her flat to tell her more about her mother.  Together they embark on a journey into their past in rural Poland and the events and encounters on the way affect both their lives.

In this film Pawel Pawlikowski has co-written and directed a quiet gem, a masterpiece of subtlety and understatement, where even the most surprising events in the narrative are almost thrown away or hidden from view. Unlike recent Oscar winners he has admirably resisted the obvious temptation to sensationalize and dwell graphically on dramatic events and their emotional consequences. 

I will resist the impulse to tell you more of the story and I urge you to see it yourself.



I have only a couple of criticisms, which might have improved the film still further.  Most importantly Ida, played by Agata Trzebuchowska, shows almost no emotion throughout. I think that this was probably imposed on her by the director and, whilst it is consistent with the style of the film and with her repressed life in the convent, it doesn’t help to explain her choices near the end of the story. Some small indications of emotional volatility here and there, as the film unfolds, would work better later. Sorry to be so guarded about that aspect of the narrative but you will understand that I can’t say more. 

Something else also distracted me. We take it for granted that anyone can travel around confidently and catch buses but if you have spent all your life in a convent it’s not so obvious. Perhaps a brief verbal or visual reference to Ida outside the convent travelling to a nearby town would have helped.  It’s a much less important point, however, and I can understand why the director didn’t deal with it.

If the film, visually, is in shades of grey, the music chosen for the soundtrack is certainly not. One of the characters plays the saxophone and we are treated to superbly played jazz pieces written by the likes of Coltrane. Joanna Kulig also sings Polish pop songs of the period with professional confidence.

Ida is Pawlikowski’s first film in Polish. It has been a worthy winner of several international film festival awards and is in the best traditions of European films. If you like European cinema don’t miss it. I saw it in Polish with subtitles. Full details are here.

Making a Rocket Stove from a Beer Keg

Ludi cooking sausages

If anyone isn’t familiar with rocket stoves take it from me that for cooking outside they are excellent!  I use one in summer in the garden and in winter in the courtyard outside the front door.  We also use it for preserving soft fruit by boiling a sterilizer full of Kilner jars on top.

You won’t get barbecue flavours but, for any sort of pan or griddle cooking, a rocket stove gives a high heat, reaches its working temperature very quickly and can burn any type of dry wood cleanly. We always have offcuts left over from construction projects but we've also used branches picked up in the woods nearby.

The original rocket stove

In this family there are three rocket stoves which were bought from a charity. The original design was made from recycled small metal barrels and contains a right angle welded bend, in mild steel, to form the firebox.  They use wood ash as insulation, so they are heavy, especially if they are left out in the rain.  After three or four years of fairly regular use, and kindly neglect, the barrels and the bends of all of them have rusted away.

Click on any picture to enlarge it

For a long time I looked around to find something more durable to make replacements from.  I thought about a stainless steel rocket stove, which would be the Rolls Royce of outdoor pan cooking but I decided that cutting, shaping and welding stainless steel would be beyond my capabilities. Eventually I hit on the idea of using a 30 litre aluminium beer keg (37cm high and 39.5cm diam , 14.5 in and 15.5in) with a commercially bought 150mm (6 inch) stainless steel 90 degree bend to form the firebox.  After checking the dimensions it just so happens that they are perfect for the whole assembly to work well together. Via a family contact I was lucky to get two aluminium kegs for nothing from a small local brewery which has decided to switch to using only stainless steel.  

Beer kegs are pressure vessels so first carefully open the screw top to let out any residual pressure.  A beer keg has no lid, so to fit the bend inside it you have to cut the keg in half.  This is not very easy.  For any job like this you should always wear ear and eye protection.  After contemplating using a 9 inch angle grinder, I decided that cutting into a curved metal surface would be too risky with one of these dangerous machines. They have a nasty tendency to buck and jump and I’ve known several people injure themselves with them.  I settled on using a reciprocating saw and some aluminium cutting blades (10tpi).  You really need to make a jig to hold the keg steady but, however you do it, carefully consider the safest method of stopping the keg from moving around because the saw causes a lot of vibration.  For the cut I marked a line with a marker pen but it’s very difficult to cut it accurately, so it’s just for a guide.  As long as the two halves fit back together again it doesn’t really matter.

The holes for the bend are marked by holding the two halves of the keg together securely and drawing round the end of the bend.  Fabricated bends are rarely exactly circular and are often oval in section, so orientate it with the horizontal end pointing to the side where you want the firebox access. Then use a jigsaw to cut the 150mm holes out as accurately as possible.  Again this causes a lot of vibration and the saw often jumps, so don’t be surprised if you break a blade or two.  Use a file to shape the holes so that they fit the bend snugly.

The finished beer keg rocket stove

To fix the two halves of the keg together I bought a stainless steel hose clamping set (Ref Draper 55591).  For each keg there will be only a small length of the 3m of stainless steel banding left over. You could use any steel banding device but I used stainless because I hope that it will react less with the aluminium of the keg.

The bend needs insulation around it so make a two inch hole in the top of the keg, cut a flap like a keyhole cover and fix it to the keg with a bolt. Fill the keg through this hole with vermiculite.  This was chosen because it is resistant to high temperatures and chemically inert.  DON’T USE WOOD ASH because the highly alkaline residue will dissolve the aluminium if it gets wet.

The metal firebox grid was transferred from the old stove and it was lit.  We have a small oven which fits over the outlet pipe. 
This was bought from the same charity and, although it’s made from mild steel, it’s quite robust and hasn’t rusted.  Once the fire was burning I put the oven on the top and it reached 250 deg C in 10 minutes. You do, however, need to keep feeding it because it burns wood quickly!

For pan cooking, I use steel pans which I wash in the stream next to the garden.  They are sterilized before I start cooking by the high heat from the stove.  They sit on a grid which in turn sits on a steel ring supplied with the original stove.  This creates a gap around the pan which allows the fire to breathe.

I’m very pleased with the end result, which you can see in the picture above, it's light in weight, more stable than the original design, has built in carrying handles and should resist corrosion much better than mild steel.

Post Script
20th June 2016
The stainless steel bend gave up a few weeks ago and I have now replaced it with another of the same type.  It had holes in several places. It's interesting that 304 stainless is not very much better at resisting high temperatures than mild steel.  That's not what I expected.

Sumer is Icumen In

Our soprano is in Thailand for two and a half months, so we have been looking for three part songs that we can sing with Alto, Tenor and Bass.  Monteverdi’s Scherzi Musicali are well worth investigating, and of course there are also rounds that are entertaining and fun to sing with three voices.   

“Sumer Is Icumen In” was written in the early 13^th Century and the manuscript is in the British Library. On a misty January morning, summer seems a long way away but that doesn’t mean we can’t sing about it and just imagine what the coming of spring must have meant to the people of the medieval era.

The block of smaller text in black gives instructions on how to perform it.
The script in red is a sacred Latin text which is not a translation of the original.
.

In 13^th Century England they spoke Middle English, the language of Chaucer. 

Sumer is icumen in,

Lhude sing, cuccu;
Groweth sed
and bloweth med,
And springth the wode nu;
Sing, cuccu!

Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calue cu;
Bulluc sterteth,
Bucke uerteth,

Murie sing, cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu,
Wel singes thu, cuccu;
Ne swik thu naver nu.

Sing, cuccu, nu; sing, cuccu;

Sing, cuccu; sing, cuccu, nu!

Having heard, years ago, someone reading “The Prologue” to the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, I knew that its pronunciation was well understood and tried to find a pronunciation guide.  I found this.

But I quickly got lost in the plethora of scholarly explanations of how English evolved between the 12^th and 16^th centuries, including topics such as the Great Vowel Shift, as well as trying to read things written in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA.  

Pausing to look at this interactive teaching resource from Harvard I eventually I found the version of “Sumer Is Icumen In” by the Hilliard Ensemble, which sounded absolutely right.  I then later discovered that next to the manuscript in the British Library there’s an audio post where you can hear them singing whilst you follow the manuscript. That recommendation was good enough for me!

It’s surprisingly difficult to learn a new phonology of vowel sounds.  Singing in Italian, a language that I don’t speak seems much easier, although I’m sure it could be much better.  It helps a lot if you have some knowledge of other languages however basic. 

In our quartet "Le Chant de la Cère" our bass speaks several European languages and is managing well in Middle English by imitating me.  Our soprano is Dutch but has lived in France for most of her adult life and also knows some German and English so, when she returns in February, I’m sure she will get to grips with it very well.  Our Alto, although she usually speaks English in received pronunciation, keeps reverting to her native West Country (Somerset), which even though “Sumer Is Icumen In” was written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English, is not right at all!

There are several versions of the sheet music and midi files on CPDL. 

We start it on C. You could of course sing it in a translated modern version but it’s so much less fun!  The text below is a translation of the original and is not intended to be sung!

Spring has arrived,
Sing loudly, cuckoo!
The seed is growing
And the meadow is blooming,
And the wood is coming into leaf now,
Sing, cuckoo!

The ewe is bleating after her lamb,
The cow is lowing after her calf;
The bullock is prancing,
The billy-goat farting,

Sing merrily, cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
You sing well, cuckoo,
Never stop now.

Sing, cuckoo, now; sing, cuckoo;
Sing, cuckoo; sing, cuckoo, now!

Claudio Abbado - A Legacy for Future Generations

I consider myself lucky to have been to several of Claudio Abbado’s concerts.  I never had the chance to meet him but he had the air of a modest and gentle person and, although he was a public figure, he valued his privacy.  In his later years, after treatment for cancer, he was a rather slight presence on the podium and not at all conventionally charismatic and outgoing like Bernstein or (dare I say it) Karajan but, when conducting and with his supreme ability to convey what he wanted to his players, he didn't need any of the mannerisms of the great conductors of earlier generations. 

He earned the appreciation of music lovers worldwide with his empathy with Mahler’s compositions. His generosity of spirit and his sensitivity in interpreting their many twists and turns, as well as his supreme musicianship, created unforgettable performances. Even music critics were bowled over by his later concerts with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Fortunately, recordings of these are available on DVD and Blu-Ray. 

He may have been sparing with his public pronouncements, but whilst conducting he was very generous with his emotions.  It was his ability to explore and communicate the emotional content of musical compositions that set him above many others of his generation and made him loved by the public and admired by the professionals. 

As he said in an interview for Medici TV, Hearing the Silence. 

"In the last few years I have realized one thing very clearly: The more you give, the more you get in return. This is as true of music as of anything else".

Although his global reputation allowed him to conduct the major American orchestras, he worked most extensively with the best European orchestras and he was able to build long term relationships with them so that they knew exactly what he wanted.  He also created youth orchestras such as the European Community Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester and took them on tour.

He valued silence before and after performing a piece.  In 1994 I saw him keep the entire Albert Hall silent for more than twenty seconds at the end of Mahler’s 9^th Symphony.   It felt like twenty minutes and was followed by a standing ovation.

But it wasn't just Mahler that inspired him and he could bring his creative intensity to even the most well known pieces.



I was very sad to hear that he had passed away on 20^th January 2014, and I’m sorry that I’ll never have a chance to see him performing again, but he has left us a legacy of recordings and videos which will set the standard for interpreters of the late romantic repertoire for decades.

See also 
Mahler - A Trancendental Experience 
Two Reviews of Gustavo Dudamel's Mahler 9th

Black Scabbard Fillets with a Coriander, Garlic and Lime Pesto

Black Scabbard, known as Sabre in French, is a fish which is sometimes sold in our local supermarket in the form of long fillets without skin.  It is a deep sea fish with a rather frightening appearance.

I bought two fillets yesterday weighing a little more than half a kilogram in total.  Each one was about 18 inches long (500mm) and two to three inches wide (50 to 75mm).  I had intended to make a couple of roulades (rolls) holding them together with bamboo skewers.  Then I remembered another recipe that I enjoy, which makes use of grilled monkfish wrapped in pancetta and so I bought some thinly sliced, uncooked, smoked ham.  Passing the vegetable counter I bought some endives (chicory), a lime and some fresh coriander.

At home I decided that if I rolled up the ham inside the fish it wouldn't cook but go soggy, so instead I made a pesto of several large cloves of garlic, the zest of a lime, some finely chopped coriander, salt, pepper, with a little olive oil and the juice of half a lime, to spread on half of each fillet.  Then I folded them over and cut through the folded end to make two long “sandwiches” of fish.  I laid ham along the top and cut each of them across the middle to make four pieces which would fit in a rectangular dish in the oven.

I chopped up a large endive into smallish pieces, cut up some butternut squash into chip shaped pieces (not thin like French fries) and laid these vegetables in the bottom of the dish.  I put the fish on top and drizzled it all with olive oil.  I covered the dish with aluminium foil and cooked it in the oven for about 20 minutes at gas mark 5, then took the foil off and gave it about another ten minutes. (All times are approximate and depend on your oven temperature.  Check the fish and vegetables with a blunt skewer, if it goes in easily they are ready). 

The vegetables, the fish and the pesto made a lovely sauce which needed nothing else.  A few black olives would have added to the visual appeal.

If I had bothered to cook rice or potatoes the dish would have easily been enough for four, but as it was we finished it between the two of us.  The fish was quite firm, without bones and it was very tasty!

I later realised that I had eaten sabre in Madeira where it is known as espada (scabbard fish)  and was a favourite in the restaurants there.

Ingredients

Serves 4

600g Scabbard fish - in the form of two large fillets.

One or two Endives- depending on the size chopped into large pieces.

300g Butternut squash or pumpkin – cut into thick batons.

100g Uncooked smoked ham – in the form of thin slices.

4 or 5 chunky cloves of garlic – peeled and finely chopped, use a whole bulb if small.

Zest of one lime

Juice of half a lime

A bunch of fresh Coriander – finely chopped

Black olives – a small handful

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Hans Blix - Thorium can reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation

In his presentation to the Thorium Energy Conference - ThEC13 in Geneva on 29^th October 2013 Hans Blix stated that it is time for the nuclear power industry to move away from using uranium as its primary fuel towards thorium.

“Even though designers and operators are by no means at the end of the uranium road, it is desirable today, I am convinced, that the designers and the others use their skill and imagination to explore and test other avenues as well,” Blix said.

 “The civilian nuclear community must do what it can to help reduce the risk that more nuclear weapons are made from uranium or plutonium.  Although it is enrichment plants and plutonium producing installations rather than power reactors that are key concerns, this community, this nuclear community, can and should use its considerable brain power to design reactors that can be easily safeguarded and fuel and supply organizations that do not lend themselves to proliferation. I think in these regards the thorium community may have very important contributions to make.”

Thorium is a better fuel
Blix described the obstacles that are in the way of a shift to thorium and other nuclear alternatives as “political” rather than “technical.”  He compared using uranium in civilian nuclear power stations to the use of propeller driven planes which, "although they’ve served us well and continue to do so, have in general given way to a better technology, the jet plane".  He went on to describe other advantages that burning thorium brings, such as less nuclear waste which doesn't remain radioactive as long. It is also at least three times as abundant as uranium.

Hans Blix is known globally as the former United Nations chief weapons inspector at the time of the second Gulf War. 

Between 1981 and 1997 he headed the International Atomic Energy Agency so he understands the technical issues.

Not everyone agrees that thorium reactors are totally without proliferation risks since they require a start-up charge of enriched uranium or plutonium, but it’s very encouraging that someone like Hans Blix is promoting the advantages of thorium as a nuclear fuel and specifically because there is less risk of proliferation. 

Operation Teapot
Inside the breeder version of a thorium reactor fertile thorium-232 is converted to fissile uranium-233. Despite the ease of manufacturing uranium-233 from abundant natural thorium there has only ever been one operational nuclear weapon that has used uranium-233 as its fissile material. It was part of an American test series in 1955 called “Operation Teapot”.

When uranium-233 is used as a nuclear fuel, however, it is inevitably contaminated with uranium-232, which decays rather quickly (78 year half-life) and whose decay chain includes thallium-208, a “hard” gamma emitter. This makes any uranium contaminated with uranium-232 nearly worthless for both official and clandestine nuclear weapons since the gamma radiation would damage electronics and is easily detected because of its unique signature. For the bomb test uranium-233 with very low uranium-232 contamination was generated in special reactors at Hanford, but it cannot be produced in reactors that use the uranium-233 as fuel.