In todays news...

[irie]

So over 7 times more EV charging points by 2030 than currently available. Sticking to my IC car for the for the forseable. A slo-mo debacle in the making ...

Figures released in February by the SMMT showed that just one new public charger was built for every 53 electric cars sold last year, putting the adoption of the green vehicles under strain.

There were around 37,000 public chargers across the country at the start of 2023, according to official statistics. The Committee on Climate Change has suggested that 280,000 chargers will be required to meet demand in 2030

Someone should probably do something about that.

Oh....

"By 2030, we expect there to be around 300,000 public chargepoints as a minimum in the UK, but there could potentially be more than double that number"

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... rategy.pdf

Great expectations.

[irie]

Well it just half irritates half amuses me.

"There's not enough charging, they're banning ICE cars without thinking about X Y Z"

Actually means "I haven't bothered to look into the government plan and assume there isn't one".

See above.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So when you say "The SMMT reckon this" that's a valid prediction, but when someone says "Government Planning is this" that is invalid.

What's your point here? No-one is planning things? No-one has identified the need for more charging infrastructure? You're the only one who's realised something needs doing? 'cause I'm confused about what you're trying to say.

[mangocrazy]

So when you say "The SMMT reckon this" that's a valid prediction, but when someone says "Government Planning is this" that is invalid.

What's your point here? No-one is planning things? No-one has identified the need for more charging infrastructure? You're the only one who's realised something needs doing? 'cause I'm confused about what you're trying to say.

That'll be because irie's confused about what he's trying to say, as well...

[gremlin]

Australian man charged over taking wild platypus on train

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65158947

Wild? It was bloody livid. Bloke had promised it a taxi ride.

[Screwdriver]

Wild? It was bloody livid. Bloke had promised it a taxi ride.

Gerald the platypus??

[Mussels]

Someone should probably do something about that.

Oh....

"By 2030, we expect there to be around 300,000 public chargepoints as a minimum in the UK, but there could potentially be more than double that number"

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... rategy.pdf

Sneaky buggers, no mention of them being working installations, just at least 300,000 installations

'We expect' isn't very reassuring either.

[Mr. Dazzle]

But the "suggestion" 280k will be required is written in stone?

[ZRX61]

I’m naive enough to believe that the Potus (or president or PM of any significant country) should be a person of reasonable integrity with a decent moral compass. I am. You are. Why can’t they be? I don’t have to agree with their politics, they just need to be a decent human being. That any significant portion of the US public supports Trump says something pretty alarming about America tbh.

And this isn’t a defence of Biden, surely the Democratic Party (and the GOP come to that) can find a couple of less tainted (and less doddery) candidates.

Some people judge him by what he achieved, not his personality or what he says.

Here's the list from the National Achives:

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/tr ... lishments/

[Mr. Dazzle]

"Before the China Virus invaded our shores, we built the world’s most prosperous economy."

He's prett6 diplomatic, isn't he?

[Screwdriver]

"Before the China Virus invaded our shores, we built the world’s most prosperous economy."

He's prett6 diplomatic, isn't he?

We all know it's true, why else is Fauci so determined to stop any real effort to establish the source?

Perhaps because he and the US were actually funding gain of function research in Bat derived corona viruses, in a lab in Wuhan, where the outbreak occurred, months before the CCP alerted the rest of the world to the danger. You know, there is that. Circumstantial of course but if you can't see the obvious connection, you'd have to be as blind as a...

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Wild? It was bloody livid. Bloke had promised it a taxi ride.

Gerald the platypus??

No Perry the Platypus, international semi aquatic mammal of action

[irie]

So when you say "The SMMT reckon this" that's a valid prediction, but when someone says "Government Planning is this" that is invalid.

What's your point here? No-one is planning things? No-one has identified the need for more charging infrastructure? You're the only one who's realised something needs doing? 'cause I'm confused about what you're trying to say.

That'll be because irie's confused about what he's trying to say, as well...

Planning to do something in 7 years time? Who's going to do it, the gubberment? Which one would that be? Don't hold back.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Why don't you go and actually read the government's stand point on this topic? First thing to look at is right there ^^^.

Who said anything about doing something in 7 years time?

[cheb]

"By 2030, we expect there to be around 300,000 public chargepoints as a minimum in the UK, but there could potentially be more than double that number"

Shifty Sunak &Co needs a bit of time to work out how to outsource all this to his mates.

That's assuming another two Tory terms in parliament. Yay, woot etc.

[Screwdriver]

But what he has done is gone around doing whatever he wants and then thinking that he can pay them off because he's rich.
I'd like to see an end to it and an example made.

Unfortunately, making an example of him (or Biden for taking Chinese money) won't work, because its endemic, all they do is occasionally pick out someone that they don't like and go after them, whilst a lot of other people carry on. Epstein and his assistant is a great example, he's dead, his assistant silenced, but what about all the high-rolling monsters that used his services?

It's funny, I was actually looking forwards to seeing something I could criticise Trump for so that it didn't appear I was blinkered. I've never met him and if I did, I probably wouldn't like him but that's not the test of a persons ability, it's more of a conflict of personality. Something that Trump seems to generate in abundance.

But it's been a couple of days and there's no concrete accusation you can get your head around. Just a sort of "wave the hands in the air, business fraud" rhetoric. It appears to still centre around Stormy Damiels being paid off, flagged as "election fraud" because it is alleged to transgress some rule/law/procedure (?) regarding how such payments are made/disclosed. <dunno>

There appears to be some doubt in that case whether or not they relate to an actual election. The Stormy cheques were made when he was already in the WhiteHouse (apparently). Paying someone off so you don't have to go to court and also pay off a team of lawyers is not illegal. Plus of course, how can it be "election interference" if he had already been elected?

On top of that the "34 business fraud charges" appear (to someone who has seen the detail) to actually be recurring payments (a monthly retainer) rather than 34 separate incidents. In either event, none of those "offences" would be sufficient to arrest anyone or stick them in handcuffs, fingerprint etc. They are, in the parlance of the US, "misdemeanours".

It all looks a bit wishy washy to say the least and yet the lasting impression will be that Trump has committed serious business fraud because y'know, no smoke without fire. Plus the mainstream media won't' stop talking about it non stop and they will use a brainwashing technique by using a particular phrase, exact same set of words, over and over and over again...

Almost eight years after the fact and "coincidentally" right before an election.

[mangocrazy]

Almost eight years after the fact and "coincidentally" right before an election.

To be fair, almost any time in America is 'right before an election'. They come round every 4 years and the hustings for the next one starts shortly after the 'new' president is sworn in. It's pretty much a perpetual electoral cycle.

[Ant]

Julie Burchill writes on how the Guardian wrecked itself....

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the ... 7e2m77bmJI

[weeksy]

Julie Burchill writes on how the Guardian wrecked itself....

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the ... 7e2m77bmJI

And what's your thoughts?

[Horse]

The Stormy cheques were made when he was already in the WhiteHouse (apparently).

"Apparently"?

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to a federal charge relating to a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald ... -rcna75082

Plenty more detail here:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/mi ... iminal-tax