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34 comments on Is this Cowes Week? Or the return of a happy memory.

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TN Granny on May 30, 2006 - 4:20am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
Great post on Scotland! I visited Galloway once and loved the pace of life there. Being basically of lowland Scotch descent, it was a sort of 'return to roots' vacation.
Last night I briefly watched a portion of a program on the Home Improvement channel about a 'concept' car show. Most of the vehicles shown were huge with many totally worthless gadgets attached. There was one GM Tahoe which had everything in it a normal den has including a refrigerator in the dash. One car featured a pop-up coffee maker in a second console in the back seat! One huge 4WD SUV was peominently featured as 'able to run on ethenol.' They would briefly show (about every third or fourth vehicle) some of the really interesting inovative fuel-efficient cars that are being designed, but the coverage of these lasted 3 to 4 seconds at best and told very little about them. Actual MPG on these vhhicles was never mentioned for the most part. I soon got disgusted and turned it off.
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Valuethinker on May 30, 2006 - 8:32am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Scotland has some of the lowest life expectancies in Western Europe.

In fact a couple of suburbs of Glasgow have the lowest life expectancies in Western Europe.  The home of the deep-fried Mars Bar

So whilst it is a pretty country, with very nice people (albeit blunt to a fault), not all is roses.

On the Home Improvement show, I suspect product placement by the manufacturers?

I don't think gas prices, in and of themselves, will encourage people to do enough for fuel economy, without further government regulation.

I think I have seen estimates that petrol (gas) is only about 20% of the lifetime cost of owning a car.  So even really big increases in fuel costs have a small impact.

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BrianT on May 30, 2006 - 9:36am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Life Expectancy : Scotland 78.38  USA 77.85
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Not ManCon on May 30, 2006 - 2:51pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
According to this article, Glasgow has a lower life expactancy (72.9) than the Scottish average. Note that Inverclyde, West Dumbartonshore and North Lanarkshire all ajoin Glasgow City.

As mentioned above, it is probably the diet more than a predisposition to drive everywhere - car ownership in Glasgow, at 218 per 1000 people, is quite low. (for comparison, Greater London (excluding the inner boroughs, where ownership is low; extensive public transport probably helps here) has between 360 and 410 per 1000 people.

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BrianT on May 30, 2006 - 3:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Tried to find USA life expectancy by city. Gave up. Discovered that some neighbourhoods of Chicago have a male life expectancy at birth of just over 50 years.
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BrianT on May 30, 2006 - 3:14pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Tried to find USA life expectancy by city. Gave up. Discovered that some neighbourhoods of Chicago have a male life expectancy at birth of just over 50 years.
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Valuethinker on June 2, 2006 - 7:57am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Low life expectancy in parts of Scotland:

  • diet - very low in fresh fruit and veg, high in saturated fat
  • smoking - high incidence compared to the rest of the UK
  • alcohol consumption - high relative to the rest of the UK (which is the highest in Europe I think).  Also a preference for binge drinking which is much more dangerous
  • unemployment - morbidity in men is very correlated with long term unemployment
  • poverty - ditto

There may also be a genetic factor.  There might be a weakness in terms of heart disease, as the Celtic population shares a relatively small number of common ancestors.  There are some quite distinct geographic areas of the UK which have very high heart disease, suggesting (alternately) a gene inherited from the Vikings.
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Valuethinker on June 2, 2006 - 7:54am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4424608.stm

lowest life expectancy in the UK
MEN
Glasgow City 69.3
Inverclyde 70.3
West Dunbartonshire 70.7

highest life expectancy in the UK
MEN
Kensington and Chelsea 80.8 (central London's poshest bit)
East Dorset 80.8 (south coast retirement centre)
Hart 80.1 (affluent London suburban county)

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Nick Rouse on June 2, 2006 - 11:13am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
 
The home of the deep-fried Mars Bar

Not to mention Irnbru a carbonated drink that tastes like a saturated solution of saccharin in metal polish.
How do they make it to 69?
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