23rd October, 2026: the International Day of the Snow Leopard.
OK …
I was hoping the AI generated thumbnail for the introductory short would make me look more like Dr Prunesquallor, than a Victorian gentlemen with a prune …
Right … I think panic or pickyness has done something!
Yes: it’s meant I’ve got up ten minutes before my alarm went off.
Which is mildly ironic.
I slept through it, yesterday … !
~≈⏰≈~
Yep: I officially had dinner with my nephew, last night.
After he made another video.
Feel free to hit the like button!
~≈🎥≈~
I follow the news, every-so-often.
You’d possibly guessed, haven’t you?
At any rate, something that floated across my attention, yesterday, was this piece: one that tells us an unnamed male celebrity is seeking to prevent publication of serious allegations by ITN and The Guardian.
Some of which are of a sexual nature.
Medical evidence submitted by the man says that he will attempt “… to take his own life”.
Hmmm …
I can understand someone not wanting to be named in these sorts of proceedings.
But … ?
I would also say that threatening suicide in this situation is …
Is an attempt to blackmail the court into behaving as the celebrity wants: rather than in the interest of a public who’d feel it should be reported … as a prelude to the man’s trial for whatever he’s done.
OK: if the unnamed celebrity is already undergoing trial, himself, I can understand a non-publication injunction happening.
Reports like this could prove prejudicial to someone’s defence.
But to ban publication because “I’ll kill myself if you do”?
Strikes me as an attempt to silence the press, as an attempt at blackmail … and just downright offensive.
Have you heard of a comedian called Russell Brand?
Well, I say comedian, but I’ve never found the man especially funny.
At any rate?
Over the past few years, he’s been accused of various sexual offences: and is now undergoing trial.
But, in-between accusations of impropriety, and the start of the trial?
He’s converted to Christianity: famously getting baptised in the Thames.
I like the line from that Guardian article:
“Thames Water is no longer responsible for the biggest piece of shit in the river.”
Which struck me as appropriate.
At any rate … did you ever hear the phrase, “on the swerve”?
If I’ve got it right, it means whoever the phrase is applied to, is trying to dodge a bullet, trying to avoid punishment: usually by making themselves look good.
Donating to charity, say.
Making a public apology.
Or converting to a new religion, in a desperate effort to look like a good person.
Rather than a potential rapist, undergoing trial.
Personally?
That’s what I’m thinking Brand’s doing.
He’s doing a public — and false — conversion, in an attempt to avoid trouble.
Right … it’s hopefully going to be a quiet Tuesday, today.
But … ?
I can take a certain amount of pride in a fact.
Yes: I’ve actually lost some weight, this week.
Four hundred grams: about fourteen ounces, in other words.
That’s not much.
But every little helps!
~≈⚖️≈~
If you ever wondered how right-wing the Reform party are, the latest news should tell you.
In a recent announcement, they’ve said they will close down the UK’s asylum system for a full parliamentary, should they be elected.
Outside of any humanitarian considerations?
I think that won’t work.
It won’t stop the boats: just as leaving the EU didn’t.
I can’t swear to this second thought: but think keeping the system as it is, is going to be cheaper than stopping it.
There’s another thing.
Reform frontbencher, Robert Jenrick, is reported to have said that — should Reform win an election — their government would deploy both the Navy, and the Royal Marines, to the coast.
With orders to use lethal force if necessary.
I know it’s a temptingly easy option.
But I’ve always felt that killing people in cold blood is not something I could do.
Nor, given that, is it something I could ask others to do for me: marines, soldiers or otherwise.
9th October, 2026: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
It’s officially official: it’s rained this morning.
And it’s going to rain, again, later today.
We need it … but as I’m planning a trip to the high street, later?
I’d better wear a hat … !
~≈🧢≈~
The USA allows the death sentence: both federally, and at state level.
It’s also got a fine tradition of botched death sentences: as Death Row inmate, ChristaPike, will no doubt tell you.
Personally?
I don’t like the idea of capital punishment.
I feel it’s too easy to botch the execution, it’s even easier to convict the wrong person — English history shows us that! — and sentence them to death, and frankly, from the little I know of the figures?
It’s cheaper to give someone a life sentence, than execute them.
Again, from the little I know, Death Row inmates have little to no funds of their own.
So their repeated appeals are publicly funded, and cost the tax payer much more than a hanging.
Should the US keep executing prisoners?
I, personally, don’t think they should: I wouldn’t want my tax dollars being wasted on the process.
I also think the country could make the death sentence morally worse.
By making executions public.
Nidal Hasan, who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, is due to be executed by firing squad.
And?
Pete Hegseth, the US Defence Secretary, has announced the execution will be live-streamed.
Would, effectively, be public.
How on Earth do you justify that?
Well, Hegseth says “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things”.
Given capital punishment in the US really hasn’t stopped people committing murder, I don’t see how Mr Hegseth can justify that!
And, given public executions are possibly the most immoral things going … ?
Hegseth could only make this execution more immoral, more objectionable, by selling t-shirts at the event.
There’s only so much of Funky Billy Chin I can put up with.
I might just change the record … !
~≈🥋≈~
A few days ago, intruders were spotted outside RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire: in vans containing lots of petrol, rather than the originally reported explosives.
The RAF base is leased out to the US Air Force: and used by the USAF in their current action against Iran.
Understandably, security is heavy in and around the base.
I have questions.
One?
Why were the suspects bailed?
Apparently, this was in what police called an “investigative decision”, one that was “grounded in experience and strategy”.
Hmmm …
OK … but I suspect keeping a group of terrorists off the street would be a good idea, but I’m not wearing the uniform.
Two … ?
Apparently, and according to The Times, one of the five suspects phoned an alert to the police, himself.
Why … ?
I have no idea!
But I’m wondering if the event — stunt? — was either some sort of training exercise: by, I don’t know, MI5, or the SAS.
Which means, of course, I’m going to encourage you to talk like a pirate.
Which could be fun … !
~≈🏴☠️≈~
I’m also going to discourage you from something.
I’m going to discourage you from downloading and installing TorBrowser.
And discourage you from downloading and installing Transmission, or something like it.
If — if — you install the pair, I’m going to discourage you from visit sites likePirate Bay, then using the files you find there with Transmission, to illegally download movies and TV shows.
Yes: I know I was planning to leave it for a couple of days: to get past the inevitable slow download speeds you get when a major update’s released.
But … ?
I had an afternoon, free!
There’s pros and cons to the OS, I think.
Visually, it’s gorgeous: window corners are far more consistant, the Liquid Glass language is nice, and the traffic light buttons have a nice, Aqua-style sheen.
On the downside?
On the downside, the system voice settings seem inconsistent, compared to earlier versions of the OS.
I’ve got one voice doing most of them: and one or two others doing the rest.
And can’t figure out how to change them.
There’s also space.
I had some seven hundred and sixty gigabytes of space left on my machine’s main hard drive: under Tahoe.
But now have some six hundred and eighty (~680) gigabytes left.
I’m assuming that space is chewed up by the large language model used by SiriAI.
I’m aware of a couple of things.
First?
I’m not sure what’s going on with the voices: but yes, I have filled out another entry on Apple’s feedback page!
Second?
The Golden Gate update is very big.
It’s going to give those of us with smaller internal drives a headache.
On a day you officially know to be Monday turn’s out not to be a bank holiday … you know it’s time to go back to your weekly weight management class!
As it was a bank holiday, last week … ?
It means I’ve had a fortnight’s gap between weight-ins: an ono idea how I’ve done.
I’ll find out, later today.
~≈🍓≈~
Oh, in case you’re on Bluesky?
This post should make sense of any crypto-banana references in the intro video.
Some Computer Delegates are visiting today.
Maybe me old fashioned, but me miss the days when they just wanted to take over the World.
WOTAN here keeps trying to sell me CRYPTO, while B.O.S.S. just wants to promote TECH START-UPS! 🙄
