Seen in the News

[Big Kev]

Britishvolt goes into administration. That went well then, I was under the impression this company was struggling last year when the government wouldn't give them £30 million as they hadn't reached targets. One of Boris's ideals of great British engineering? The big push for electric vehicles seems a bit of a white elephant to me. I'll stick with my oil burner for now.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303149

[Stanley]

The energy to weight ratio of a battery is light years behind that of a tank of diesel. That's why applications like agricultural tractors where pulling power is at a premium are still all diesel....
I think you're right Kev, electric vehicles have a long way to go yet.

[Tizer]

Apparently Musk's dramatic cut in the price of a fancy Tesla electric car means one can now be bought for the same price as an all-electric Kia, Mind you, a Kia EV-6 is nearly £45,000!

[Stanley]

See THIS report of a trial that starts next Tuesday.
"Musk claimed in a August 7, 2018 tweet that he had lined up the financing to pay for a $72 billion buyout of Tesla, which he then amplified with a follow-up statement that made a deal seem imminent. But the buyout never materialized and now Musk will have to explain his actions under oath in a federal court in San Francisco. The trial, which begins on Tuesday with jury selection, was triggered by a class-action lawsuit on behalf of investors who owned Tesla stock for a 10-day period in August 2018."
Elon Musk is very hard to assess. For a financial genius he seems to have an uncanny knack for getting into trouble and losing money..... An old saying comes to mind, 'Up like a rocket and down like a stick'.

[Tizer]

From the `i' newspaper's front page today under a headline `Prepay meter scandal grows: 99% of court warrants are waved through'. It reminds me of the Post Office Horizon scandal...

[Tripps]

I stumbled across this yesterday -

People also ask
Does the Russian gas pipeline go through Ukraine?
After more than seven months of full-scale warfare, about 42 million cubic meters of Russian gas still flows through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe each day, sustaining an economic artery for Moscow's sanction-riddled wartime economy while also providing Kyiv a source of revenue worth about $7 billion over five years.5 Oct 2022

[PanBiker]

It's similar to us paying Krupp's for the fuses in the bombs we dropped on Germany. Some one always makes money out of war.

[Stanley]

Then as now we got the price reduced but still paid Ian.
I think the first Russian gas pipeline ran to Ukraine because Russia supplied them and a couple of other small countries as they were closely allied to Russia in those days.

[Tizer]

The British Volt collapse offers Starmer a good opportunity to get one ahead of Sunak...
`Starmer: UK car industry 'needs to be saved'' LINK
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And another way to get get ahead of him... (Front page of today's Guardian)

[Stanley]

I hope that the MEPs are correct and that Starmer is a good bet. Unfortunately a party or it's Leader have to have many more things going for it than simply cooperation with the EU. Before he can do any of these wonderful things, Starmer has to convincingly win the next election.
Even though the Tories are in such a mess I am still not convinced that Labour can do it. Sorry, but they do not fire me up like they used to. I believe in the principles of social democracy but can't see the towering figures we need to win the prize.
Perhaps I'm just getting old and have lost faith.....

[Big Kev]

Barnoldswick to get a 'banking hub'.
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... aves-town/

[Tripps]

Beat me to it. . .

You are lucky - there are only four in the country. I hope it satisfies the banking requirements of the townsfolk.

Hub is on my long list of words to be wary of.

[PanBiker]

If not it will be the Post Office and I believe they have a limit on the number of bags of coins they will accept. They only take full bags no random amounts. Might have a knock on to our charity shop paying in We deal in relatively small amounts and all in cash. We have looked at a card machine but the costs are prohibitive.

[Big Kev]

We have looked at a card machine but the costs are prohibitive.

My son had one of these for basketball subscription. £39 to buy and 1.69% per transaction.
https://www.sumup.com/en-gb/welcome/hom ... u-EALw_wcB

[PanBiker]

Thanks Kev, we have only looked at the mainstream stuff. We also take payments as low as 50p in some cases. We could of course put a reasonable minimum spend for card transactions. The other consideration also has to be that a lot of folk like all of their contributions to go to the charity.

I have circulated your link to our other trustees.

[Big Kev]

Thanks Kev, we have only looked at the mainstream stuff. We also take payments as low as 50p in some cases. We could of course put a reasonable minimum spend for card transactions. The other consideration also has to be that a lot of folk like all of their contributions to go to the charity.

I have circulated your link to our other trustees.

Good stuff. I believe they used the same machines for the bar at BOTS. You install an app on a smartphone and the card reader connects via that.

[PanBiker]

Different volunteers, some without smart phones so WiFi would be best.

[Big Kev]

Different volunteers, some without smart phones so WiFi would be best.

The device needs a smartphone, or a tablet, for the app. The actual card reader device isn't 'standalone.

[Stanley]

Sounds as though I shall still find it easier to post my cheque to Northampton each month.

[Big Kev]

Different volunteers, some without smart phones so WiFi would be best.

There is a standalone option available, they are more expensive at £79 and they use WiFi.
https://www.sumup.com/en-gb/solo-card-reader/

[PanBiker]

Yes Kev saw that one. Good response from our other trustees, we may try one for the centre where we have WiFi and regular coffee mornings.

[Big Kev]

[Tripps]

Private eye is OK this week - it includes this from the Duke of Sussex's book "Spare"

"My memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it sees fit, and there's just as much truth in what I remember as there is in so called objective facts. Things like cause-and-effect are often just fables we tell ourselves about the past."

I'd say that classifies him as a high functioning moron.

There are still three more books to come as a part of his contract. Deep joy.

[Stanley]

I agree. He would never have made a good wagon driver.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report. Then reflect that some matters are more important than others, especially when it is men making the decisions.
Ministers have rejected a proposal from MPs to introduce "menopause leave" pilots in England, arguing it could be "counterproductive". It also dismissed a recommendation to make menopause a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. The suggestions came from the Women and Equalities Committee, which accused ministers of making "glacial progress" on menopause support. The government insisted it had an "ambitious" plan to improve help.
However, in its response to the report, published on Tuesday, the government rejected outright five of the committee's proposals, including a recommendation for the government to work with a large public sector employer to "develop and pilot a specific menopause leave policy".
I have a question.... If the people making this decision had been women, would the outcome have been different?
I suspect that if these man had the same handicaps endured by many women they would be scrambling over each other to get some protections in place.
We do not live in an equal opportunities world.
Later.... See THIS BBC breaking news of yet another mass shooting in California.
"A gunman killed seven people before being arrested in California on Monday, just two days after a shooting claimed 11 lives at a popular dance hall. The latest attacks occurred at two separate locations in the coastal city of Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles (50 km) south of San Francisco. The attacker was identified as 67-year-old Zhao Chunli, a local resident. "
Gun control laws anyone?