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Diesel and Petrol vehicles to be banned from sale from 2040

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40723581

So this has finally hit the headlines, and suddenly everyone is an expert on electric vehicles. I’ve read so much misinformed rubbish today that I despair. The reality is that by 2040 most of the industry will only be producing electric vehicles anyway, Internal Combustion Engines will be seen the same as steam engines are now, well not quite, but heading that way.
If anyone wants a ride in an electric vehicle to see how quiet, rapid accelerating and comfortable they are, then I’d be happy to oblige. As for people that say they’re not practical – I use mine daily, go camping in the woods, do long journeys for work and pleasure and have very few issues.

I don’t visit petrol stations anymore as I have a fuel station on my drive. The fuel is generated directly from the wind and sun, and doesn’t need vast amounts of energy to refine it before it can be used. Yes the second hand market is a bit difficult as there aren’t many people getting rid of them, but it is there – I bought mine 2nd hand. Running costs are minimal, charging at home on a standard rate (not economy 7 that is much cheaper) I pay about 3p a mile. Servicing is minimal, no fluids to change apart from washer fluid, brake pads last years because you hardly use them, regenerative braking makes power to put back in to the batteries. Batteries are expected to last a long time – and when they “wear out” they are fully recyclable into new batteries. Nissan quoted something like £4,000 in 2014 to replace the battery pack in the £26,000 Leaf with a new one, so not particularly expensive if the body is still good after 10-15 years, whenever the battery range is reduced.

Battery technology is improving all the time, but we do need investment into the charging infrastructure, which is the major stumbling point at the moment – so please don’t buy an electric car yet, as you’ll just be filling up the charging stations when I want to use them – no, they’re rubbish and you should stick to your internal combustion engines.

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Don’t annoy Immigration Officers…

From Risks Digest:

UK Immigration Officer Puts Wife on the No-Fly List

Bruce Schneier
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:03:31 -0600

[From CRYPTO-GRAM, 15 Feb 2011. PGN]

A UK immigration officer decided to get rid of his wife by putting her on
the no-fly list, ensuring that she could not return to the UK from abroad.
This worked for three years, until he put in for a promotion and—during
the routine background check—someone investigated why his wife was on the
no-fly list.

Okay, so he’s an idiot. And a bastard. But the real piece of news here is
how easy it is for a UK immigration officer to put someone on the no-fly
list with *absolutely no evidence* that that person belongs there. And how
little auditing is done on that list. Once someone is on, they’re on for
good.

That’s simply no way to run a free country.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41372870
http://www.loweringthebar.net/2011/02/immigration-officer-puts-wife-on-the-no-fly-list.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351937/Immigration-officer-fired-putting-wife-list-terrorists-stop-flying-home.html

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Police and protests…

Looking around at the protests going on at the moment and the amount of violence evident being blamed on “anarchists” rather than the majority of peaceful protestors does make me wonder and draw comparisons with what was and is happening in Canada – see this video of the Montebello summit protests where police were dressed up and acting as protestors, but not peaceful protestors – the kind of protestors that carry rocks. And if you don’t think that they are police from the evidence presented in the protestors own video, then check out the news report. One really good way to check up on them is to see what footwear they have on, a still from Montebello (low Res, High res) shows that the police will dress up as protestors, but will still wear their issued boots with a little camouflage.

Why this blog post now though, well, today it has broken that undercover policeman Mark Kennedy has had a number of years in deep cover with environmental groups, planning, organising and executing protest actions, encouraging others when they wanted to call off protests, paying fines, hiring vehicles and driving vans amongst other things. This is happening in the UK too.

It has apparently backfired a little in that the story is focusing on the fact that he appears to be very sympathetic to their cause, but the real story is that the Police appear to be funding undercover protestors to the tune of £250,000 each per year and these undercover officers are allegedly inciting actions that otherwise wouldn’t happen.

Now far from it for me to speculate, but how much of this is about undercover information to stop violent protest, and how much is about the police inciting violent protest in order to use unnecessary tactics and further extend their powers.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea about me – I have a lot of respect for the regular PC who is trying to get through the day and uphold law and order, but someone, somewhere is getting worried that the populace is not happy with the job that the government are doing and the way in which they are spending our money and that a number of the government have forgotten that they are supposed to be working for us. This is leading to a growing backlash against the rich corporations getting richer whilst the little man has to put up with increases in his VAT. No wonder people are upset after they appointed Philip Green as an adviser on austerity.

Hmm, longer rant than I expected, and still no mention of tuition fees – looks like a busy year ahead.