Britain getting Screwed

[guohua]

I understand that your Government wants to do away with the Traditional Vehicle.
They want you all to go to a Hybrid or all electric.
I'd like to see a Hybrid or Electric Tractor Trailer pull 80,000 pounds!

New diesel and petrol cars banned from UK roads by 2040, as Government unveils new pollution tax on drivers in busiest areas

Really? Your air that bad?
Besides, new Diesel engines are less polluting that Gas engines.

Diesel drivers on congested roads in towns and cities across the UK face new pollution taxes under Government plans which will ultimately herald the end of the traditional car.

Ministers have identified 81 major roads in 17 towns and cities where urgent action is required because they are in breach of EU emissions standards, putting people's health at risk.

The Government will also commit to banning the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars by 2040 in a bid to encourage people to switch to electric and hybrid vehicles.

The air quality strategy urges local authorities to first try to reduce emissions by retrofitting the most polluting diesel vehicles, changing road layouts and removing speed humps.

However it concedes that as a last resort councils will be allowed to impose tough restrictions on the most polluting diesel vehicles as soon as 2020 to bring down the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions.

There is so much more to this article and if you want to read the Lies, here : Source

You know, we own a 2007 Dodge Ram 4 Wheel Drive 2500 (3/4 ton) 6.7 Cummings Diesel to pull our 28 ft. Fifth Wheel Camper.
Here in Arizona we have to go every year to the County Emissions Testing station and have our truck tested for Smog to renew our Plates.
The guys there just shake their heads, they'll tell you, any 2003 and Newer Diesel Burns Cleaner than a Gas Engine.
BUT,,,,, the local politicians got the passed and get that extra $28. per year per vehicle and they have that spent on their pet projects and won't let it go away.

Modern diesel cars emit less pollution generally than cars that run on gasoline, says a new six-nation study published today in Scientific Reports whose groundwork was laid in part by an American chemist now working at Université de Montréal.


And since diesel is so much cleaner than before, environmental regulators should increasingly shift their focus to dirtier gasoline-powered cars and other sources of air pollution, says the UdeM scientist, Patrick Hayes.

"Diesel has a bad reputation because you can see the pollution, but it's actually the invisible pollution that comes from gasoline in cars that's worse," said Hayes, 36, an assistant professor at UdeM."

The next step should be to focus on gasoline or removing old diesel vehicles from the road. Modern diesel vehicles have adopted new standards and are now very clean, so attention needs to now turn to regulating on-road and off-road gasoline engines more. That's really the next target."
Source

[gordi]

It is EXACTLY this kind of UK Policy that makes me personally want Scottish Independence.
Decisions are made in LONDON for LONDON, but these decisions affect all of the UK.

Why should a person driving through the Scottish Highlands, in some of the most natural, clean, fresh, un-spoilt areas of the entire world be FORCED to drive an unsuitable Electric/Hybrid vehicle instead of a Diesel/Gas one, because London and some of the other major cities have pollution/congestion problems?

Notice anything about the list of "UK" cities they cited in the article?

A new analysis found that 48 of the most polluted roads are in London. Others have been identified in Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton, Bristol, Bolton, Manchester, Bury, Coventry, Newcastle, Sheffield, Belfast, Cardiff and Middlesborough

NOT ONE of them is in Scotland, but yet again we will be dragged into their stupid, costly and unnecessary meddling.

I would like INDEPENDENCE FOR LONDON.

Let them F*ck Off and govern themselves.
The rest of us will get along just nicely thanks,

G

[BIAD]

Gordi's right, the problems that London have carried -from even before the EU
told them to shut up about them, are now slowly bringing them back in the name
of control.

'Keep Britain Tidy' was used a couple of months ago, a slogan from another time.
The subject of hens eggs keeps showing up in the MSM, a product that slipped out
of vogue when the Common Market became sexy.
I've even heard the expression 'Beans Meanz Heinz' recently!!

Vehicle exhaust pollution has either always been there in Britain or it hasn't... so
why is the gong being beaten now about it?!
........................

Without meaning to dilute Gordi's comment on how policies of the Westminster
bubble are constructed around concerns that politicians can only see from the
lead-lined windows of Parliament, I'll be surprised if any investigations on this
subject has actually taken place in those cities listed.

I suggest they're merely token names and sadly to confirm Gordi's point,
Scottish cities/town didn't even get a mention!!

As far as electric vehicles in Britain...? It's just a silly idea with the possible connotations
of sabre-rattlings towards Germany during the Brexit talks.
In my view.

[guohua]

I think it's all Bull Shit, just a way to exert more control over the Little People.
Also to show a Just Cause for the Overly Costly and Restrictive Paris Accord.

[BIAD]

I think it's all Bull Shit, just a way to exert more control over the Little People.
Also to show a Just Cause for the Overly Costly and Restrictive Paris Accord.

Of course it is! Imagine implementing a ban on petrol/diesel vehicles...!
Let's say Gordi drives his Morris Minor to a vintage car festival, is he committing a crime?!
If he decides to keep it in his garage, is he storing an illegal object?!

It's stupid, this is just whiny Southerners chuntering on about the abundance of taxis
(Uber/Knife attacks?) and the vague promotion of electric Minis being built in Oxford.

Isn't it a coincidence that Macron from France said the same thing earlier this month?!

[BIAD]

And by the way, these 'annoying' reports are written in such a way to obtain the maximum
duration of a topic because it's silly season and many Journalists are on holiday.
(And readers, of course!)

Hence we have 'piglet get's road-cone stuck on it's head' or 'Hedgehog blows up like balloon'...
it's easy reporting that doesn't need serious commentary.

That's why the 'Russia-Collusion' story and the overall verve seems to have has lost it's momentum,
I know it sounds silly, but it's true.

Sometimes simple reality logistics are the real reasons!

[BIAD]

...And there it is.

Car production falls almost 14% as UK sales dip.

'UK car production fell by 13.7% in June compared to a year earlier - the third month in a row that output has fallen.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the UK market was cooling in line with forecasts,
following a long period of record growth.

The industry is likely to fall short of its ambition to produce more than two million cars a year by 2020, it said.
The SMMT said uncertainty over Brexit was an added cause for concern.

But a spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union said the government was determined that
the UK would continue to be "one of the most competitive locations in the world" for automotive manufacturing.

The fall in production mirrored a decline in UK car sales.
Over the first six months of this year, sales were distorted by a rise in Vehicle Excise Duty in April, which prompted
drivers to bring forward purchases of new cars.

But comparing the first six months of 2017 with the equivalent period in 2016 still showed a fall of 9.5% in UK sales,
the SMMT said.

Overseas demand for British-built cars has remained broadly steady in the first half of this year, falling only by 0.9%
compared to the same period last year. As a result, total output for the year is 2.9% lower than a year ago.

Independent forecasters are predicting output will pick up in the second half of the year, thanks to new and updated
models coming into production. However the SMMT warns that output could fall in 2019, if the UK fails to secure a
deal with the EU, or at least an interim agreement, that maintains current trading conditions after Brexit...'
SOURCE:

[gordi]

Here's the thing...

The majority of Southern England (around London) is what I'd call "urbanised".
There are a large number of towns and cities within relatively short distances from one another.
(You'd never be too far from an Electric Vehicle Charging Station if you needed one, and most of the new charging points are rapid-charge which take (maybe) an hour or 2, rather than the 8-10 hours charge time for most "domestic" charging systems.)

The vast majority of Scotland (outwith the central belt) however, has large distances of remote wilderness between towns and cities.
You'd never be anywhere near a charging station (even if they were installed in EVERY petrol station) on many of these roads.

The electric cars which are currently available can't be used for travel between towns & cities which, in practical terms are more than 40 or 50 miles apart because their range is very limited. (see below)

MAXIMUM RANGE of ELECTRIC CARS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE in UK
(Data from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_el..._available)

RENAULT ZE 84miles
KIA Soul EV 93miles
NISSAN LEAF 107miles
BMW i3 114miles
VW E-Golf 118miles
MERCEDES B-Class Electric 124miles


ACTUAL DRIVING DISTANCES (One Way Only) between towns and cities in Scotland.
GLASGOW - DUMFRIES 76miles
GLASGOW - DUNDEE 81miles
GLASGOW - ABERDEEN 145miles
EDINBURGH - INVERNESS 155miles
GLASGOW - INVERNESS 168miles
DUMFRIES - ABERDEEN 209miles
EDINBURGH - ULLAPOOL 210miles

If I live near Glasgow, but have to visit.... let's say Aberdeen?
It's 145miles by road.
NONE of the vehicles listed above could even get me there (never mind back!) whereas in my diesel car or van I can be there in 2hrs45mins and drive back again (easily) on the same tank of fuel.
Am I supposed to drive my electric car to Dundee (81miles) and find a charging station... then wait a couple of hours for it to charge... before continuing to Aberdeen (66miles)... finding another charging station... waiting there a couple of hours... then returning home via Dundee again... finding a charging station... waiting.... etc ???
A 5.5 hr round trip becomes what...? at least 11.5 hrs??? (with 3 x 2 hr charging stops.)
That's IF you can find an available charging point among all of the other electric vehicles needing charged up...

IT IS MADNESS to even discuss the banning of "fossil fuel" vehicles UNTIL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY IS AT A STAGE WHERE IT IS PRACTICAL, AFFORDABLE AND FIT FOR PURPOSE.



BigG

[BIAD]

Here's the thing...

The majority of Southern England (around London) is what I'd call "urbanised"...

We perceive the world the way we perceive ourselves.
And you're dead-on with your statement.

The infrastructure to even get this idea off the ground only 'works' if one looks on it as a
'city' idea. That's why it's being tested in the Westminster environs, probably because of
lobbying and the notion 'if they see it here, they'll perceive it as working everywhere'!

It's a bunch of air-heads sh*t-posting a fluff-piece during the holiday period.
It's baiting with it's lack of rational proposing, the initial idea contains no pragmatic suggestions
and I'd seriously wager it's political in nature for uses that have nothing to do with the population
of this country.

The whole culture around transportation would have be changed and it would have to be profitable
to those who'd be effected. If this is a serious proposal, do you think the oil-countries/companies
would allow this to be even tabled?!!

As far as the BBC reporting on it, I'm surprised they didn't have a disabled, trans-gendered lesbian
of colour wheeled on to give their opinion.

[guohua]

I read some more about it yesterday, it sounds very political and they are wanting ALL of the E U nations to change over, Germany and France are Jumping With Joy and Wetting Themselves, of-course American is an Outcast and Pure Evil.

[BIAD]

I read some more about it yesterday, it sounds very political and they are wanting ALL of the
EU nations to change over, Germany and France are Jumping With Joy and Wetting Themselves,
of-course American is an Outcast and Pure Evil.

If it was up to me, I'd bring these below back into vogue.
The bullsh*t rhetoric about vehicle pollution and the harm it's done doesn't add up when
placed against the fact that manufacturing companies continue to build cars and even lie
about how 'healthy' they are.

That's okay, it's a big-boy world and we'll be needing big-boy cars.
Like these.

[gordi]

It's the FUTURE I tells ya! LOL

[BIAD]

...IT IS MADNESS to even discuss the banning of "fossil fuel" vehicles UNTIL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
IS AT A STAGE WHERE IT IS PRACTICAL, AFFORDABLE AND FIT FOR PURPOSE...

This comment goes towards showing how little this subject has been looked into by the media.
This new technology would have to be able to hold it's merit in a market where the customer would
drive the preference for the product.

This means all of Gordi's concerns regarding distance would be alleviated well-past any negative
worries. The infrastructure would have to be constructed in such a way that the manner you think
about a gas station would be the same in regards refuelling electric cars and overall, the transition
would have to guided so professionally, that any job losses, companies closing down because of the
competition and global financial effects, would be minimum.

The media's comment of 'banning' is ridiculous, Al Capone would agree with me!

[BIAD]

You're right, I mean look at the headlights on it.
Those are the eyes of a sexy, yearning partner who wants to take a journey with you!!

Big fins, bullet brake-lights and sh*tty gas mileage... I wanna go back!

[Ninurta]

You're right, I mean look at the headlights on it.
Those are the eyes of a sexy, yearning partner who wants to take a journey with you!!

Big fins, bullet brake-lights and sh*tty gas mileage... I wanna go back!

I saw a couple of weeks ago where "electric cars are the wave of the future". It mentioned that either Saab or Volvo - I can't recall which, and all Swedes look the same to me, even the Arab ones - are moving away from building fossil-fuel powered cars altogether in favor of electric cars, and the US auto industry was expected to follow suit, with the entire conversion to be complete between 2020 and 2040, coincidentally enough.

Fine by me. I was looking for an excuse to buy a horse and get my "horse power" right from the source anyhow. Additionally, I've found through life that a hungry person will seldom walk more than 3 days distance from their home base, and there aren't any cities within 3 days walk of here, meaning that when the Apocalypse comes, I'll have to shoot fewer marauding starving city hordes trying to invade the hinterlands out here and take our stuff.

But the ones I DO have to shoot, I'll be able to shoot from horseback, a decided advantage over their horselessness (ya don't find many pastures, or horses, in cities these days).

I dunno. Maybe I'm just a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I'm seeing advantages here, and it looks like a win-win to me!

.

[BIAD]

...But the ones I DO have to shoot, I'll be able to shoot from horseback,
a decided advantage over their horselessness (ya don't find many pastures,
or horses, in cities these days).

I dunno. Maybe I'm just a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I'm seeing
advantages here, and it looks like a win-win to me!

Er... I understand your cautiousness in protecting ones property and I also
appreciate your evaluation of horse-power-influence to assist in such security.

But -and I mean with this with the utmost of respect, there's a tone of relish
in your words when relating 'how' you will admonish any trespassers and urge
them from your property.

If I may, I'll go further and suggest there's a tendency for you to shoot first and
then... go back indoors.

There was a time when oratory discourse came in at a quick second.

You making your own ammunition again, aren't you?


(And thank you for the Eddie Money song!)

[Ninurta]

Er... I understand your cautiousness in protecting ones property and I also
appreciate your evaluation of horse-power-influence to assist in such security.

But -and I mean with this with the utmost of respect, there's a tone of relish
in your words when relating 'how' you will admonish any trespassers and urge
them from your property.

Umm... er... well... see, I got this shiny brand new Black Rifle. It's never really been stress-tested, so I'd have to put a little stress on it and test it, just to make sure it's fully functional. Purely Quality Control testing, I assure you - and that requires a bit of stress to bring out it's best, and show any failures that may occur in materials and workmanship.

If I may, I'll go further and suggest there's a tendency for you to shoot first and
then... go back indoors.

Well, uh, yeah... there's nothing else to do after the shooting, and there might be something good on the telly, y'know?

There was a time when oratory discourse came in at a quick second.

I see what you did there - "quick second" - as in "the quick and the dead". I like that!

You making your own ammunition again, aren't you?

Yuh huh. I like it a little zippier than most. Looking at getting an old black powder revolver, so I can pack it to order as the occasion arises.

(And thank you for the Eddie Money song!)

No problem - we all enjoy a little nostalgia every now and then!

[BIAD]

Umm... er... well... see, I got this shiny brand new Black Rifle. It's never really been stress-tested, so I'd have to put a little stress on it and test it, just to make sure it's fully functional. Purely Quality Control testing, I assure you - and that requires a bit of stress to bring out it's best, and show any failures that may occur in materials and workmanship.

This why certain rural areas of the United States get a bad name, yer' know.
Ever since you decided to no longer be a colony, this focus on firearms seems to have become part of your
heritage and in my view, that's fine... property is property and must be cherished.
As a side-note, this type of weapon-brandishing at the drop of a hat also continues over here in the UK,
primarily with the farming community.

But what about the Ramblers...? the country walkers who leave the hustle and bustle of the cities and come
out to soak in the rich tapestry of the places politicians don't know exist?
What about them?

Oh, it's noble to stand guard at the entrance of one's home and warn passersby that you'd prefer it if they
didn't trample across your crop or scare your livestock. Just as it's perceived as just and valiant for a land
-owner to clear unwanted predators from his patch too.

But announcing with the serious tones that a problem you're dealing with in regards of a new rifle, can only
be alleviated by suggesting one of these gay, light-hearted travellers of the byways taking a step onto your
property o solve said-dilemma, is -in my view, brusque to say the least.

Blowing holes in tourists is bad, Ninurta... you should say it to yourself once a day.
But to be candid, the delight you seemed to have mustered when contemplating doing this on horseback
makes me wonder if this may be a chant without conviction.

I cede that it is private property and I understand the need to maintain one's own, but chasing down
city-folk on a horse -just because they jauntily romped across your land singing 'A-rambling we will go'
and then executing them with a 'shiny brand-new black rifle' doesn't exculpate the excuse of trespass.
It's just not cricket.

Well, uh, yeah... there's nothing else to do after the shooting, and there might be something good on the telly, y'know?

I will not favour this caustic comment with a reply... Well, okay then.
'Detente, middle-ground' do these words mean anything to you in the 21st century?

Again, this is why people-of-society from the suburbs could be seriously believing that the majority of
those who don't enjoy exhaust fumes, scrawled graffiti and urban foxes, are 'red-necks'... brambly and
rugged villagers who see a simple error of taking a short-cut across a field as a prime reason to contemplate
loading nails in with their buckshot.

My God, man... whatever happened to civility, your flippancy about watching television instead of burying
the poor soul that dangles from the fence you blasted him against, isn't something the EU or the United Nations
would applaud, I can assure you.

I see what you did there - "quick second" - as in "the quick and the dead". I like that!

You're mocking me... I can see that now.
It's either that or your view of life tends to lean towards seeing your surroundings down the barrel of that
ominous firearm you boasted... the shiny black one that's probably near your laptop as you're reading this.

This isn't the way to enter a new era, a century where we will go to another planet and look back at our own
fragile blue one. What sort of message are we sending to those we haven't met yet?
How will a species see us when we will place a human footprint into the cosmos for the first time?

What...? 'Mess with me and 'ah'll gun yer' down like a dog'...?? How about 'We come in peace and I'm gonna
count to five, now get runnin'?'
And on horseback -to boot! It's enough to make Nancy Pelosi swoon.

Yuh huh. I like it a little zippier than most. Looking at getting an old black powder revolver, so I can pack it to order as the occasion arises.

I'm not convincing you, am I?

[Ninurta]

I'll beg your forgiveness. You see, I have a friend here who is an author - a real author, unlike my pretense-ridden self - who shot me a message a few days ago intimating that there is a character in his most recent novel that I might find excessive interest in, so I've been reading his series. I've not gotten to the introduction of that character yet, but the series, being of a post-apocalyptic, SHTF nature, may have crept into my thinking somewhat, perhaps coloring my thought process just a bit.

Now, I wouldn't hop astride a horse and shoot the average sight seeing passer-by, not even in my befuddles state, but I might make it forcefully known that they ought to KEEP ON passing by. I mean, the county IS trying to promote tourism, and I wouldn't want to attract the sort of tourist that is looking for a gun fight, y'know? It's just the ones who might stop at my gate and beat it with a stick that would disturb my normal calm enough to bring out the irritable side of me.

Besides, everyone knows that you don't leave them hanging on the fence. that's what scarecrows are for. It's common knowledge that you take the unsightly corpses and drop them in abandoned mine shafts before going back in to see what's on the idiot tube! Why, if I were going to leave bodies laying about, I might as well put a few rusted and abandoned cars up on blocks in my yard too, to complete the effect!

Too much work to bury 'em - whether cars or interlopers - but that's what we have abandoned mine shafts for!

One of my great ambitions in life is to make Nancy Pelosi swoon. There's always hope!

P.S. - you know me too well, methinks. Said Black Rifle is indeed propped against the wall next to my throne - erm, I mean chair - while I sit typing, always within easy reach in case of a disturbance of my calm.

[BIAD]

I'll beg your forgiveness. You see, I have a friend here who is an author - a real author, unlike my pretense-ridden self
- who shot me a message a few days ago intimating that there is a character in his most recent novel that I might find
excessive interest in, so I've been reading his series.

I've not gotten to the introduction of that character yet, but the series, being of a post-apocalyptic, SHTF nature, may
have crept into my thinking somewhat, perhaps coloring my thought process just a bit...

I do understand and please forgive me for my pompousness, fellow-Rogues come in all shapes and sizes... and moods.
If I may, I'll take it this character of the story is short on temper and long on personnel-halting-and-stimulation-response-rifle
and Multi-functional Night Eyes?
*(I have to admit, I cut and paste these without knowing what they are!)

I'm not judging you understand, it's just that the brief comments from BIAD regarding his and yourself's past history leaves
me with the feeling that any interaction you and he have been involved in, usually ends in a the smell of cordite and those
stunted cigars you smoke.

Maybe I'm being rude and I know I shouldn't be. It's just I worry about BIAD''s only friend and his outlook of his fellow planet
-dwellers. Up there on that mountain, a man can see differently, I assume.
Anyway, I think I understand.

...Now, I wouldn't hop astride a horse and shoot the average sight seeing passer-by, not even in my befuddles state,
but I might make it forcefully known that they ought to KEEP ON passing by.

I mean, the county IS trying to promote tourism, and I wouldn't want to attract the sort of tourist that is looking for a gun fight,
y'know? It's just the ones who might stop at my gate and beat it with a stick that would disturb my normal calm enough to
bring out the irritable side of me...

I know that this is one of the things Boy In A Dress admires in you, your civic duty. That -and the way you tend to go for a
leg-shot before trying to take out any fancy logo on a tourist's backpack. Tourism is important and goes a long way to
generating diversity of opinion from those who seek and those who meet that seeking.

As you've indicated, travellers from afar may come to see you up there and it just wouldn't do that when they're marvelling at
the hovering hummingbirds, to see you strapping one of those old nasty guns to a gatepost for better balance.

...Besides, everyone knows that you don't leave them hanging on the fence. that's what scarecrows are for.
It's common knowledge that you take the unsightly corpses and drop them in abandoned mine shafts before going back
in to see what's on the idiot tube!
Why, if I were going to leave bodies laying about, I might as well put a few rusted and abandoned cars up on blocks in
my yard too, to complete the effect!

Too much work to bury 'em - whether cars or interlopers - but that's what we have abandoned mine shafts for!...

We have cemeteries now... not everything is seen as carrion. I can appreciate your concern for keeping up an appearance
for any hiking-folk or ramblers, but there is a system that many counties adhere to when it comes to dealing with the somber
situation of death. Nobody thinks a rusted clunker on blocks in a yard is a good idea, just as nobody believes tossing
intruders down a mine-shaft is okay.
You'll get letters.

...One of my great ambitions in life is to make Nancy Pelosi swoon. There's always hope!

Me too!

P.S. - you know me too well, methinks. Said Black Rifle is indeed propped against the wall next to my throne - erm, I mean chair
- while I sit typing, always within easy reach in case of a disturbance of my calm.

Ruining the 'oh-I'm-so-conceited' attitude, I'm seriously proud that I hope I do know you! You're a good man.
(Back to it though!)

Have you considered exchanging the rifle for a fidget spinner to assist in keeping your thoughts calm?
Granted, the carnage will not be the same, but at least it's less strain on one's spine than filling mineshafts with... prey?
It's just a suggestion.