nomadpete

I think that issue is steadily fading. We are noticing more and more EV's with interstate number plates. And now we are more likely to know somebody who drives one, and we get first hand feedback which is more reliable than any media blurbs.

You are probably still in shock after getting robbed at the servo.

Wait up! Didn't you say it is a 170 mile commute? Now you tell us it was "under an hour"? How fast were you riding?

Getting back to the US batteries in Iran..... I'd say Zelensky is chuckling about Donolds rejection of his offer to help combat Iranian drones. Donold would rather use Patriot missiles. Where is Dept of Govt Efficiency when you need it? A single Patriot (PAC-3 MSE) interceptor missile costs approximately $4 million. A full Patriot battery—including launchers, radar, and control station—costs over $1 billion, with individual missiles for export sometimes costing between $6 million and $10 million." $4,000,000.00 to zap a $35,000 drone. Gives a whole new meaning to "war of attrition". Presently USA is bleeding $1 billion a day on their "excursion" to Iran.

But in Texas they probably still think slaves are great.

Brace yourself Marty. Tas rego on motorcycle >125cc .... $792 About $100 dearer than a car.

No Marty. That was just the re registration. Previously paid $100 stamp duty and transfer of rego. I am looking into Special Interest registration to keep the cost more reasonable.

BYD has finished their factory in Brazil. For the local market. It saves 25 days shipping time from China. Last month marked the first time BYD sold more cars abroad than in China. BYD sold 89,590 cars in China and 100,600 overseas. Note that last year the same company got into legal strife for slavery. "Brazilian labor inspectors rescued 163 Chinese workers from the plant’s construction site, accusing their employer, a subsidiary of BYD, of subjecting them to conditions analogous to slavery." Wouldn't have been a problem if they set up in Texas!

Yes, it does include 3rd party injury insurance. Note that doesn't cover the rider though.

My Gripe.... I just re regustered a motorcycle. Cost? $750 p.a. Why does it cost that much? How much pavement do you think it wears out every year?

Cast your mind back to September 1, 1983. Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was on a routine flight from New York to Seoul via Anchorage. It accidentally crossed into Soviet airspace. At the time, NATO had a policy of continually flying its bombers directly at Eastern Bloc airspace and then diverting at the last possible moment. The Soviets were kept on perpetual high alert. When Flight 007 accidentally crossed over the line, the Soviets, fearing an American bomber incursion, shot the plane out of the sky. The 269 civilian passengers died. The world seemed to be teetering on disaster. On September 22, 1983, the Toronto Disarmament Network issued a public warning of the danger of escalating tensions: “A miscalculation, a computer error, an itchy trigger finger could lead to the murder of not hundreds but millions of innocent civilians.” (WW3) In the immediate aftermath of the Korean jetliner disaster, the Soviets anticipated a retaliatory action, and their radar crews were trained to respond quickly in the event of a serious incursion. The crews knew that if they hesitated, the Soviets would be wiped out in a first-wave attack. On September 26, 1983, Soviet radar crews detected a large group of incoming missiles. But Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov broke protocol by refusing to immediately launch the counter-strike. He suspected the blips on the screen might be some kind of computer error. Petrov was correct. Had the automatic rapid military response been controlled by A.I. You would not be reading this now. It is equally possible that human error might start MAD WW3. But I cannot trust computer to control it. In Iran, a missile landed on a park that was marked on the town map as "Police Park". It is alleged the target was chosen by A.I. Which begs the question "who targetted the school, human or A.I."?

There's an interesting through-line. Atwood's picture of Claude: Vonnegut's asshole in Breakfast of Champions looks like this:

This link takes you to a conversation between Claude (A.I.) and Margret Attwood. Totally worth a read. https://margaretatwood.substack.com/p/claude-you-are-a-cutie-pie?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1195719&post_id=190895157 Does A.I. have emotions? Is it a psychopath in sheep's clothing? Does it tell lies just to shut you up?

And exactly how would you find out? Your only source of information is Chat GPT Google search. And A.I. has a self survival algorithm. (Just like our frail human pollies)

I checked under my bed. No commies or yanks there.