Mar 042024
 

I recently came across a post talking about how insane it was for a diesel generator to be generating electricity for an electric car charging station. Well, yes but it might not be quite as bad as it seems.

The first thing to bear in mind is that very few cars will charge here unless they really need to – most car users will charge at home and will only use public chargers when they have no other choice. And this one is undoubtedly in a remote location where a suitable electrical feed is not available. As a remote location, it’ll get even fewer users than most public chargers.

Probably only those who haven’t properly charged their car overnight and are ‘caught short’.

The second thing to bear in mind is that although it’s a more polluting solution, it is still almost certainly far less polluting than using a petrol car. For a start, most of the electricity used in an electric car is off the grid which whilst not completely clean is at least getting cleaner (the UK is currently generating 36% with renewables and is in late winter when demand is quite high).

Next, a diesel generator is a very efficient device – far more so than a diesel vehicle because it can always run at its most efficient (assuming a sensible load and it’ll have been picked to supply the load for an electric car).

But hopefully it is just a temporary solution until someone has enough nous to set up a solar farm and a battery backup.

Dawn At The End Of The Pier
Feb 182024
 

Nobody likes to hear their country isn’t the best country in the world – especially when said by a filthy foreigner. But the USA isn’t.

  1. The USA is ranked 59th by life expectancy.
  2. The USA is ranked 7th by GDP per capita.
  3. The USA is ranked 123rd by pregnancy mortality ratio (there are 180-odd positions and the lowest rate is best).
  4. The USA is ranked 12th by the World Freedom Index.

I could go on, and probably there’s a metric out there where the USA is #1. But I doubt reeling off metrics showing the USA isn’t the best is going to convince many.

But here’s another reason. Assuming your country is the best leads to complacency, which eventually leads it it not being the best country in the world. So even if your country is the best country in the world, pretend it isn’t and always strive to make it better.

The Bare Family
Nov 112023
 

I don’t usually wear one of those red poppies – not out of a lack of respect for the war dead or veterans of wars, but because of “poppy fascism“. It’s all very well choosing to wear the red poppy, but it should also be fine to choose not to wear the red poppy – even the Royal British Legion supports those who don’t choose to wear it: “If the poppy became compulsory it would lose its meaning and significance.”

Just look at the abuse those in the public eye who choose not to wear it receive.

And some of the reasons for not wearing it are perfectly reasonable – some politicians do use it as a means of promoting war and nationalism. Distasteful in the extreme. And very much associated with the far-right – the very kind of people many of the war dead were fighting against.

On the other hand, some of the reasons for not wearing it can sometimes seem inappropriate. It’s all very well being against some of Britain’s wars and even against some of the actions of British soldiers (such as Bloody Sunday), but the poppy is about remembering the war dead and veterans. A group who very rarely had any choice about where they were sent.

Oct 112023
 

Almost every time that something about Britain is mentioned online, there will be someone claiming that we all have rotten teeth. Seemingly unaware that British dentistry has changed over the last century; perhaps stuck with stereotypes learned from WWII soldiers stationed in Britain.

If you check, you will find that according to international surveys, British teeth quality (in terms of cavities) is actually quite good. The last link ranks the UK fourth compared with the USA’s ninth – it often seems that those saying the equivalent of “Ah! What about your teeth” seem to be Americans.

And we’re definitely not getting wooden teeth (just for once it’s a semi-relevant photo).

Wooden Teeth
Sep 222023
 

Now that Sunak has reversed a policy that didn’t exist in the first place – taxing meat – the question is whether it would be a good idea or not?

I can already hear the howls of protest from meat eaters, but bear with me …

Firstly there are all sorts of good reasons to discourage meat eating – environmental reasons and health reasons chief amongst them.

Secondly we should encourage the occasional consumption of high quality meat rather than constant consumption of low quality meat. This might mollify some of the British farmers – at least those who have very sensibly concentrated on quality rather than quantity.

So what we want is a flat rate per kilogram of meat – perhaps 25p per kilo of mince which would make Quorn mince a relatively cheap option, but not make much difference to quality mince.

Make meat a luxury not a necessity (because it isn’t).

Filthy Roaring Beasts Rushing Along The Scar