Rick's b.log - 2024/07/01
It is the 18th of December 2024 You are 3.142.194.204, pleased to meet you!

Less power today?

Power consumption.

I plugged in at quarter past five. When I went out at quarter past six, it was fully charged. I meant to see how long it actually took, but, yeah, got sidetracked.

I've noticed a cool feature. CustomRadioPlayer puts metadata into the Bluetooth stream and the car's media player gizmo can pick up on it. So now I can see what is playing. Nice.
I usually listen to Love '80s on the way home for the news that's on the hour.

What is playing.

Telephone lines in the air

A tractor blocking my way.

The tractor was stuck between the turn and the electric pole, and the big muck spreader behind had slid off the road due to the recent flood weakening the edges. It's massively dumb to bring such a thing down the access lane, but, hey...
Note that there are two wires there.

I should say, he told me he was stuck firm and wasn't moving any time soon. So I backed up a bit, then drove down off the road onto the field where the road and field were more the same level... along the field (as he was watching open mouthed), and then back up onto the road. Two honks and a cheery wave and I was off. It was my annual interview day, hell if I was going to be late because some dude was like "yeah, it'll fit".

What I saw that evening...

A crushed metal phone pole.

This was, thankfully, before the fibre got fixed, as I wasn't sure if it might have been broken. Remember I said note the two wires? Well, the copper one, the ADSL, got torn apart. It was left lying on the side of the lane.

My registered letter

The world is falling apart

Or, allow me to put this a different way. The national front has a big thing against Islam. They're a bunch of people from someplace else coming here causing trouble what with their weirdo religion and not wanting to fit in with our christian culture and way of life. Right?
Problem is, about ninety years ago some far right nutjobs had a big thing against Judaism. A bunch of people from someplace else coming here causing trouble with their weirdo religion and not wanting to fit in with our christian culture and way of life. Thing is, they were very good at their hate so that particular event did not end well. For anybody.

Now, I don't want to Godwin's myself here but I think it is worth pointing out that the far right playbook of pointing at a marginalised group of people and saying "it's your fault" is never a solution. The economy is shit, wages are shit, everything is shit. It's not the fault of Jews or Muslims or gays or boys-who-think-they-are-girls or even a bunch of random half-deads clinging to a boat. If you think that, you are utterly blind to the rampant corruption all around you. Yes, immigration is a problem and yes, foreigners should adapt themselves to their host country and absolutely not the other way around. But some bloke called Mohammed who walked here from Africa getting a minimum wage job in a caf' making coffee while reciting interesting verses from the Quran in your language so you understand? That's not going to improve your life. Taking out all of your frustrations on him? That's not going to improve your life either. All of this is a smokescreen. It's like "hey! look here!" so you get angry about this issue and ignore the massive issues that are the real reason things aren't great and everything costs the earth.

Meanwhile, across the wet bit, the radicalised Supreme Court has just handed down what might be the most ridiculous and batshit crazy ruling ever to come from such a blatantly corrupt institution. They have ruled that the President has legal immunity when in office.

I shall quote the liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor (who dissented) as her words say all that needs said about the utter stupidity of this ruling:

The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority's reasoning, he will now be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy's Seal Team 6 to assassinate a policital rival? Immune. Organises a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

Which means, Joe, this is your chance to do something good for the United States. Clean house. Get rid of those powerful Republicans who do not have the interests of the country at heart. After all, the Republican justices have just ruled that you, in your capacity as President, would be immune...

Your comments:

David Pilling, 2nd July 2024, 02:48

"yet it took slightly less power to do today?" - is it not like a ice car, how you drive controls how much energy you use. Faster roads, roads with more curves, more hills. Put it another way miles per gallon is not a constant.

C Ferris, 2nd July 2024, 09:31

Hmm - uncle Joe let two vicious wars start under his watch - million or so in one and thous in Israel/ Gasa.

Rick, 2nd July 2024, 10:07

Arguably the Ukraine situation was prompted a lot by support of Putin by the previous incumbent.  As for the Palestine situation, it's a tricky subject given America's general support of Israel whatever. Israel has been taking liberties for decades, now a more right wing government has kicked off a mass destruction of Gaza and, well...... where's the outcry? Oh, yes, students. Who get branded as "supporting terrorists". Uh-huh.

C Ferris, 2nd July 2024, 15:58

Perhaps they couldn't wake Joe :-/    Savage wars are difficult to stop :-(

jgh, 3rd July 2024, 16:59

A couple of years ago on the way home there was a sudden blizzard. I could see several cars ahead of me that had skidded around, and were spinning their wheels trying to make progress.    I shifted my *automatic* car into D1, and carefully drove my *automatic* car past them at walking pace.    ...but then, I took so long to pass my driving test that my lessons went from autumn, through winter, through summer, and back into the Scottish autumn, in the mountains in the snow. ;)

jgh, 3rd July 2024, 17:02

Order the assassination of Osama Bin Laden? Immune.

Rick, 3rd July 2024, 21:02

A bunch of years back, mom came to pick me up from night shift in a snowstorm. By the time she reached me, they made a "do not travel" announcement.  She, who didn't like automatics, carefully drove the entire way back through frozen slurry (that had already caused cars to spin off and end up at crazy angles in the ditches) in second gear. Following us was a dairy tanker, who was quite happy to wait behind.  As we turned off the main road, he honked a bunch of times and pulled over. We stopped. He came over and asked if we were going to be okay. Which was really sweet. Mom lied and said we lived just a short way down the road as the guy was willing to follow us in case we needed help, but we figured there's no way he's getting that truck anywhere down these little roads in such weather.    So we went our way, he went his, and that was that.    The trick is to be very deliberately slow and anticipate any steering well ahead of time to ease into it. To much steering, to sudden change in speed, and you'll lose traction and it'll all go wrong.    I really don't understand those people who get stuck and spin their wheels as fast as they can. What do they think they're going to achieve?