Seen in the News

[Tizer]

`Ukraine war: UK criticised for 'lack of understanding' of Wagner's activities in Africa' LINK

I'm glad the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has criticised the government on this topic. It seems Ministers never read the newspapers or BBC News reports. I've been aware of all this for years and I only read one newspaper (the Saturday issue of The Times) and BBC News reports and listen to authoritative Radio 4 programmes.

By the way, Russian and Chinese political delegations are meeting with Pyongyang today in North Korea.

[Tripps]

Another ship on fire - probably due to an electric vehicle battery.

Ship fire

It's time to revisit all fire regulations - remember the elctric scooter fire indoors recently. The usual spin put out after such an event is that they had replaced the battery with a cheap version from ebay. That won't wash here - I guess the cars were brand new from the factory. Interesting that there were only 25 electric cars on board out of nearly 4000.

These vehicles will be the only ones you can buy after 2030. Mr Gove just confirmed that yesterday.

***************
In case you hadn't noticed - and that's the idea - China are already engaged in WWIII. They're not actually shooting anyone yet - there's no need - but they are engaged in all fields on a world wide basis. They are re-colonising Africa - which may be a good thing - and for example did you read about the naval base in Argentina? Ushuaia

The phrase 'Indo Pacific' has entered general use in our military quite recently. That's probably where it will all kick off eventually. Remember the Spratley Islands.

The ongoing free settlement of tens of thousands of Hong Kong Chinese is a minor concern. I heard that Crewe for example already has a Chinese population of three thousand. The ones I have seen and heard on TV seem like a welcome addition, but they may not all have our best interests at heart.

This is a twist on Lenin's quote that - "When time comes to hang the capitalists, the Capitalists themselves will sell the rope for that." We are funding the Chinese expansion by becoming dependent on their manufactured goods.

Where was the computer on which you are reading this made?

[Tizer]

In the BBC story on the car ship fire the last sentence adds: `Last year a cargo ship carrying 4,000 luxury cars caught fire and sank off the Azores. Lithium-ion batteries in the cars caught fire and firefighters needed specialist equipment to put out the fire.' I wonder how many more, perhaps smaller, such incidents have been missed by the news media?

Thanks for flagging up the Ushuaia article. China probably sympathises with Argentina over the Falklands, the issue will resemble the China-Taiwan situation from their viewpoint. But not to worry, we've still got one Vulcan bomber and the Sir David Attenborough and Boaty-MacBoatface are probably in the region.

[Stanley]

Lots of vids about air cargo fires on Youtube and most of them started by consignments of batteries. Quite a few of buses burning, I didn't know the batteries are in the roof.......

[plaques]

EV transport is bad news and probably so dangerous that insurance companies will wash their hand of them. The slightest damage to a battery and it becomes a potential time bomb. EV cars that have been exposed to salt either by sea flooding or general corrosion can spontaneously ignite with temperature reaching 5000C high enough to melt steel and impossible to extinguish. They seem a good idea until reality kicks in.

[PanBiker]

EV transport is bad news and probably so dangerous that insurance companies will wash their hand of them. The slightest damage to a battery and it becomes a potential time bomb. EV cars that have been exposed to salt either by sea flooding or general corrosion can spontaneously ignite with temperature reaching 5000C high enough to melt steel and impossible to extinguish. They seem a good idea until reality kicks in.

Quite a few years ago I was removing a supposedly dead lithium battery from a small Google tablet that Sally had. It had given up holding charge and to all intents and purposes it was dead. I checked the remaining potential of the battery before removing it, only a few volts, nowhere near its full capacity. I don't know why but made the fatal mistake of using a metal screwdriver to help it out from the back of the case. Of course I damaged the corner of the flat lithium battery pack. Dramatic to say the least, a sharp flash and then it started to smoulder from the damaged corner. I managed to suppress the burn before it burst into flames. I emptied nearly a full can of freezer spray onto the mistake which fortunately arrested the reaction. It wrecked the tablet which ended up as bin fodder down at the dead electronics recycling at the skips.

[Tripps]

The phrase 'Indo Pacific' has entered general use in our military quite recently. That's probably where it will all kick off eventually. Remember the Spratley Islands.

Rather spookily I came across this later that same evening. Can't vouch for its accuracy, but looks credible.

"According to a document obtained by The Manila Times titled "Planning of Construction Projects on Pearson Reef and Pigeon Reef in Spratly Islands” Vietnam is constructing defensible ‘structures’ on Hizon (Pearson) Reef and Pigeon (Tennent) Reef in the Spratly Islands. The document was produced by Rear Admiral Tran Thanh Nghiem, commander of the Vietnam People's Navy, and dated March 27, 2023.
Such structures would be a direct challenge to China’s claims to sovereignty over the territory, which are themselves regularly challenged by the United States and other Western countries. Vietnam and China’s rivalry in the area have led to armed conflict in the past. Other countries, including the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia also have claims over part of the disputed area."

[Tizer]

And spookily on the other matter above I've just read this...
`E-bike battery fires prompt call for better regulation' LINK

[Stanley]

Susan and Mick have bought E-Bikes to go with the mobile home and I warned them about the bike fire after it was flagged up on here.

[Tripps]

Skipton lamb sale

This nonsense will soon be a distant memory and qualify to be a 'Forgotten Corner' when the countryside is 'rewilded' and the nation goes fully vegetarian, to cope with the climate crisis..

[Stanley]

Can't think Why you call it nonsense David. It's simply an essential part of our lives and an integral part of regional agriculture. Without sheep the uplands and fells would soon revert to reed and bog. At the moment they are producing food. We may be glad of that shortly!

[Tripps]

Can't think Why you call it nonsense David.

That was another attempt at irony and mild humour - failed again.

I should have included this link to show what the rewilders are after - and it doesn't include sheep farming.

Rewilding

[Tizer]

I'm not sure whether Stanley lacks an irony detector or he simply doesn't like it and chooses to respond as he does.

[Stanley]

I simply react badly to anything that detracts from my spiritual home for so many years, the great livestock marts of Britain!

[Big Kev]

We've had the 'irony' discussion before, at the end of the ironic statement has been known to help

[Tizer]

Or perhaps just the readily available `wink' emoticon?
(But when you start using emoticons you are entering Bruce Springsteen's `Jungle Land'!)

[Tripps]

I think it wasn't available on this board to everyone, only the clever switched on ones like Kev.

I've just looked at emojipedia - no me neither - and decided not to bother any further. Life's too short. The Springsteen reference is quite beyond me. I surrender.

I will carry on (or not) as before. and take what comes.

[Tizer]

The Springsteen reference is quite beyond me. I surrender.

I find that there's now a danger in using emoticons. The meanings are forever changing and it's easy to offend someone when you meant only to be humorous. I happened to have Bruce Springsteen in mind and his song Jungle Land is about the urban backstreets of a US city where you might get a bullet for making the wrong remark.

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report caught my attention. (Note the reporter's name.... )
The HS2 rail line has been given an "unachievable" rating by an official watchdog. It has been given a "red" warning for its first two phases - from London to Birmingham then onto Crewe - by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. The project aims to create high-speed rail links between London and central and northern England, but has faced major delays and criticism. The government says it remains committed to delivering HS2. The red rating came in the IPA's annual report on major projects, which was published on 20 July and gave a snapshot of progress on 244 projects. The IPA describes itself as the government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects, and reports to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. Under the IPA's grading system, a red rating implies: "Successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable." The rating also means there are "major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable". "The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed."
When you factor in the opinions being widely expressed that the economic case for spending the enormous cost of the project was always doubtful and since Covid and other matters has become unsustainable it makes you wonder why we are carrying on with the line.

[Tizer]

The man interviewed on the Today programme at about 08.15 this morning gave the HS2 project a comprehensive drubbing!

Now I see this news story. The company gets away with this because it's based in the US although it's very popular in the UK...
`Etsy accused of 'destroying' sellers by withholding money' LINK
Online marketplace Etsy has come under fire from sellers for putting 75% of their takings on hold for 45 days. Hundreds of small businesses recently got an email from Etsy notifying them it was actioning its "reserve system"....

[Big Kev]

I think it wasn't available on this board to everyone, only the clever switched on ones like Kev.

Just type upside_down with a colon at either end

[Tizer]

More on the Etsy upset. The company seems to have shot itself in the foot...
`Etsy sellers call for strike after money held' LINK

[Stanley]

I saw the reports. It's the Elon Musk syndrome. It must be contagious.

[Tripps]

The BBC has come in for some stick today after one of their TV presenters described the Dam Busters raid as "infamous". which means "well known for some bad quality or deed." The simplest explanation is that the person writing the script didn't understand the meaning of the word. Other more complex explanations will surely emerge.

Infamy, infamy - they've all got it in for me as Kenneth Williams was once heard to remark. Infamy

[Stanley]

Not surprising David. The number of malapropisms on air rises as the calibre of news editors falls.
And I heard a BBC apparatchik on air yesterday telling us how well the BBC is doing. This despite the reported fall in ratings and the discovery that lots of people don't watch BBC TV any more. Surprise, surprise!
Could the fall in quality have anything to do with it?