Seen in the News

[PanBiker]

When that's sorted - get up to speed on Gemma Collins as featured on the BBC website. She recently lost three stones in weight, don't you know. Not for the first time I may add.

That device she is promoting is bordering on the Snake Oil Salesman Dyson's, digital motor, invisible dust detector and £500 hair dryers and fans.

There is another one doing the rounds, not Snake Oil man this time but a company with the same ethics. Its multiple devices to plug into ring main outlets to "clean" the electricity! Closer inspection reveals a small choke, and a resistor network to light up the LED to tell you that it's working. Apparently all your electrically driven appliances will be a lot more efficient, right!

I am going to start a company for my SNR's built in recycled baked bean tins, empty of course, power your house on the cheap at £1000 each.

[Tripps]

Someone in this Chinese company has put a great deal of work into proving that dirty power exists.

Clean versus Dirty power

[Stanley]

How can one possibly doubt a company that justifies itself by saying "CHINT has always focused on industry and brand building, deeply implemented the strategy of "Industrialization, Technologization, Internationalization, Digitalization and Platformization","

Meanwhile, in the world of real news we find THIS.....
What do monkeys, wolves, pelicans, goats, cats and elephants have in common? We’re not at a zoo - these are all animals that Banksy has painted around London this week. Each day, the elusive street artist has unveiled a new artwork in a different location in the capital, posting it on Instagram at 13:00 BST. Banksy, famous for his enigmatic, often powerful artworks, has chosen not to caption his animals online. He also hasn't explained why they're all painted in the same black stencil style. All his agent would tell the BBC was that there was "no comment on the theme", adding there "may or may not" be more animal paintings to follow. This has left people to speculate about their meaning.

[Tizer]

I expect the cure for dirty power is linked behind the scenes to that clever chappie in Yeovil who developed the empty box that could detect bombs!

[PanBiker]

Indeed Peter, I firmly believe that all promoters and entrepreneurs or whatever they want to call themselves that develop and sell such rubbish should be in gaol. However in the case of Mr Dyson we give him a Knighthood. Invisible dust and the expensive means to deal with it, (non existent digital motor driven) tipped the balance for me.

[Tripps]

It's comforting to have a figure to hate - I'm a bit that way with Jeffrey Archer.

Google doesn't seem to know what a "digital motor " is either, but Sir James seesm to have convinced a hundred million people that he knows . digital electric motors It's not compulsory to buy his products,and there is a great deal of pre-purchase information available.

Caveat emptor and all that.

[PanBiker]

Google doesn't seem to know what a "digital motor " is either, but Sir James seems to have convinced a hundred million people that he knows . digital electric motors It's not compulsory to buy his products,and there is a great deal of pre-purchase information available.

Caveat emptor and all that.

Aye but his advertising is clearly untrue whereas adverts are supposed to be factual about the products they represent. He has made a fortune out of conning hundreds and thousands of people by peddling lies.

Caveat emptor, OK if you have a technical background and know that a digital motor is an impossibility. Nearest thing outside of Fairy Land is a clock or stepper motor but neither will give the required power output.

I have some magic beans (as all beans are) but if I market them as such, I doubt they will catch on as a fortune maker.

[Wendyf]

Still the best vacuum cleaner I ever had, digital or not! I've got a Shark now which is lighter but nowhere near as effective.

[Tripps]

Aye but his advertising is clearly untrue

Your remedy - if as it seems, you feel that strongly about it - then would be the Advertising Standards Authority.

Personally - I couldn't be bothered, life's too short. I am not the guardian for the consumer protection of the wallets of dim people, who of course constitute the overwhelming majority.

What next - are Apple iPhones phones worth the money they cost? I doubt it, but if people choose to pay their prices - so be it. No one dies.

PS - Just saw Wendyf's post. She of course does not feature in any of the categories above. It sounds like they are powerful electric motors and the word 'digital' is used for marketing to an 'analogue' badly informed customer base.

[Big Kev]

If I'm reading it right they replaced motor brushes with a magnetic 'pulse', the advertising blurb days
replaced the brush with digital pulse technology, added neodymium magnets and built a ceramic shaft that's three times stronger than steel.
We replaced our DC08 with a Shark Liftaway. A quarter of the price but, as Wendy says, doesn't quite have the suck of a Dyson.

[PanBiker]

We have a Shark and it does all that we need and splits down to a hand held to do the car. Doesn't beat the living daylights out of the carpet but that doesn't seem to be a problem either.

[Stanley]

I still have a Hoover..... Cost £50 and does the job.
News this morning is equally split between silly questions like 'Who won the Olympics'? and the fact we might have thunder today.

[Stanley]

When politicians make decisions like imposing austerity and cutting funding for vital services it has consequences. This BBC report highlights one of them.
A review has found "a series of errors, omissions and misjudgements" in the care of a killer who stabbed three people to death in the Nottingham attacks. Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates were killed by Valdo Calocane, who was psychotic and suffering from paranoid delusions, on 13 June 2023. The review, published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on Tuesday, said without action, the issues identified would "continue to pose an inherent risk to… public safety".

[Tizer]

`Trump falsely claims Harris crowd was faked' LINK
Donald Trump has falsely claimed a crowd which gathered to see Vice President Kamala Harris speak in Michigan last week “didn’t exist” and an image showing it was AI generated. The picture in question shows a large crowd at the Democratic presidential nominee's rally in Detroit. Mr Trump, the Republican taking on the vice-president in November's election, said on his Truth Social platform, external that it was a fake and there was “nobody” there waiting for her. However, in multiple other images and videos, some taken by people present but also by TV news teams and agency photographers, you can see a large crowd of people at the event.

[Stanley]

Trump doesn't seem to care about small matters like being truthful Peter......
See THIS report from BBC Verfify on his conversation with Musk......
In a two-hour discussion with Elon Musk, on the billionaire's platform X, Donald Trump made a number of questionable and false claims - which went largely unchallenged. The Republican presidential candidate returned to some familiar campaign themes, such as illegal immigration and rising prices, but he also talked about climate change. BBC Verify has been checking some of his claims.
There follows details of the statements in question. All of them at fault in some way.
I heard the other day that he even lied about the number of floors on Trump Tower in Manhattan.....

[Tizer]

Yes, in that discussion Trump claimed that sea level would rise only an 1/8th of an inch by 2100.

[Stanley]

Meanwhile, at home.... LOOK AT THIS,
The Metropolitan Police is failing in almost all its areas of work, the police inspectorate has said. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) assessed the force's performance across nine areas. In its report, it graded the force as "requires improvement" or "inadequate" in seven of the nine - including investigating and preventing crime. The Met said it was "reflecting" on the report but was "using every available resource to deliver more trust, less crime and high standards". HMICFRS inspected the force for the 2023-25 period.
I have only one question.... "WHY!"

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report of reaction to incentives being offered to students by universities in the current round of clearing.
Potential students are being offered the chance of rent-free accommodation and cash prizes as part of universities' attempts to encourage them to apply through clearing. At St Mary's University, Twickenham, students were offered entry into a cash prize draw for applying early. While at University of Gloucester, the prize in a similar draw was a year of rent-free accommodation. These are "inappropriate inducements", according to a university staff union. A spokesperson for the University and College Union (UCU) said students should be able to choose the best courses for their needs rather than being swayed by marketing ploys. "The chaotic scramble to hoover up students through clearing shows why universities need a new funding model," said UCU General Secretary Jo Grady. The clearing process kicks in once the exam results are out. It matches students with university and college courses which still have spaces. Students can use it if they fail to achieve the grades for their conditional offer, fail to receive any offers they want to accept, decide after 30 June to apply for university or achieve better grades than expected and want to change universities.
If anyone is interested in my opinion I agree with those protesting against these offers. Nothing should be done to try to influence students beyond the range and quality of courses offered.

[Tripps]

I advocated harsh sentences to get the current rioting under control, and some judges seem to have been listening - perhaps too intently? It seems to be working. However - take a moment to think it through your honours. A month in prison, or a suspended prison sentence with more to come in the event of repetition would surely have been enough?

I think we may be about to see an "I'm Spartacus" moment in the near future.

[Stanley]

I too believe in swift punitive action to force a rethink perhaps but reverting to full Braverman 'hang 'em and flog 'em' may be a step too far. Have a look at THIS BBC report....
Two men have received the longest prison sentences yet in relation to rioting that erupted in parts of England and Northern Ireland after the Southport stabbings. David Wilkinson, 48, who was jailed for six years, and John Honey were part of a "baying mob" who attacked a car containing three Romanian men in Hull on 3 August. Honey, 25, also looted shops including the cosmetic store Lush, and received a sentence of four years and eight months. More than 1,000 people have been arrested so far over the disorder, with some 480 charged and at least 99 sentences handed down as cases continue to be brought to court. Spotting the car as they marched down the street in Hull, a "baying mob" surrounded it and began to attack, attempting to drag the men from inside. Hull Crown Court heard how Honey pulled the passenger door open as the man inside tried to close it to protect himself, while Wilkinson was seen damaging the windscreen of the car, which was left with £1,500 of damage. The men, in fear of their lives, eventually left the car with their hands raised, before fleeing to a nearby hotel, the court was told.
There is much more in the report and then there is the small matter of who they let out of prison to make room for the ones they are sentencing now.....
I think I'm right in saying we imprison a greater proportion of our population than anyone else in Europe....
Could it be that we need to think this one through?

[Tizer]

`UK military satellite launches to boost space power' LINK
This sentence caught my attention...
One interesting feature is its propulsion system which manoeuvres the satellite using water. "The water goes through a thruster that heats it up to make superheated steam. That's how we get thrust and do station-keeping," explained chief technology officer Andrew Haslehurst. "Tyche carries 10 litres. It's enough to get five-to seven years of in-orbit life."
Heating water to create steam to power motion - whatever next?

[Stanley]

They'll be using the solar wind and big sails Peter....

[Stanley]

See THIS for news of five deaths in Derbyshire....
Five motorcyclists have died in two separate crashes near the same Derbyshire town. Three Ducati motorbikes, a van and a car were involved in the first crash on the A53 near Buxton at about 09:45 BST. The bikers, all men in their 50s, were pronounced dead at the scene. Then, at about 10:20 BST, two motorcyclists died at the scene of a crash with a car on the A6 near Tom Thorn, between Buxton and Dove Holes. A Derbyshire Police spokesperson said of the deceased in each crash: “Their families are aware and our thoughts with them at this time.”
This is a depressingly familiar story on summer days out on the country roads. Cold weather has a similar reputation locally.
Without commenting directly on the circumstances, the mix of young men, good weather and powerful motor bikes isn't a good one.....
Later.... It struck me this morning that the Tories are reverting to their old favourite bogey man when Labour is in power, the unions. They are in full union bashing mode as they fight amongst themselves for the leadership....

[Tizer]

`Sir Brian May says badgers not to blame for bovine TB' LINK
What isn't mentioned is the farm slurry that leaks into streams and rivers which could then infect badgers that were previously free of the disease.

[Stanley]

He's right of course but so are the farmers who support the cull.
when TB in cattle was first attacked after the war in the fight to produce Tuberculin Tested milk as a standard tremendous efforts were put into a close monitoring of cattle that was run by the Milk Marketing Board Recorders who went to every farm recording the output figures for individual cows so as to identify the best ones to breed from. The result was that eventually infection rates were driven down and vigilance was relaxed because it was an expensive policy.
What we see now is the natural result of letting our guard down. When will we learn?

See THIS for the lead news story this morning....
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter are among the six people missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning. The 56m (183ft) vessel was carrying 22 people including British, American and Canadian nationals. Fifteen people were rescued, including a one-year-old British girl, and authorities are continuing their search into the night. Local media reported the yacht, named Bayesian, capsized at about 05:00 local time after encountering a heavy storm overnight that caused waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, to appear over the sea. Mr Lynch, known by some as "the British Bill Gates", co-founded software company Autonomy, which was later bought by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn).
Read the rest of the article for a spooky coincidence revealed at the end......