Politician’s election promise actually comes true

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I know. I know! A politician’s election promise coming true. Incredible scenes.

Politicians are known for being somewhat dishonest and duplicitous at the best of times, but when there’s an election coming up, it’s easier just to take everything they say with a large shovel of salt. Especially when they are unlikely to win the election, and therefore don’t have to deliver on the fanciful promises that they made in the run up to the vote.

The recent US election was actually very close (until it wasn’t), with wild pledges and assurances being flung around by everyone concerned.

[An aside: there are numerous examples of people believing election promises (or believing that those election promises didn’t apply to them) on this subreddit. So many heartaches, so much schadenfreude.]

But how about this? One of the surely more outlandish claims from the eventual losing candidate has actually come to pass! She didn’t make an election promise for herself to deliver upon, though. She told us what the other guy was going to do. And the right-leaning press said it was nonsense:

Yeah, I mean, it does seem a bit much.

But then what we think of as reality has been horrifically skewed and rearranged over the last few months.
And yesterday, the orange shitgibbon said this:

He then went on to praise the National Guard for restoring order in LA before they’d even got there:

I love the line “For those keeping track”, because to be fair, a lot of people have understandably given up on that right now.

But then they did get there:

…fulfilling Harris’ election promise.

I know. I know! A politician’s election promise coming true. Incredible scenes.

You’ve got whale

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Humans aren’t great when it comes to looking after other species on the planet.
We’ve known this for a while.

One of the most exploited animals are/were whales. A lot of whaling has now been halted, but only after we reduced their populations to near extinction. But while the harpooning might have subsided, we’re still running them over with our boats.

Thousands of whales are injured or killed each year after being struck by ships, particularly the large container vessels that ferry 80% of the world’s traded goods across the oceans. Collisions are the leading cause of death worldwide for large whale species. 

If this sort of thing was happening on land, we’d all be up in arms, not least because whales shouldn’t be on land.

But you know what I mean.

That said, it’s really difficult to spot whales in the oceans, and then even more difficult to spot them in time to make an evasive manoeuvre with a 300m long container vessel.

Step forward WhaleSpotter:

An artificial intelligence-powered whale detection system that aims to transmit real-time alerts to ships to prevent them from colliding with whales.

And that link is to a really interesting article about the design, implementation, challenges and goals for this system, which aims to make ship strikes a thing of the past.

Go give it a read.

Weird bug?

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Anyone else ill, but… not?

I’m a bit sinussy, but nothing horrendous. Muscles and joints are a bit achy, but not really debilitating. Mild headache, but almost unaware of it.

Nowt that you’d notice, really.

If it wasn’t for the getting out of breath from routine stuff, that is.
Sore eyes. A little concerning.

And the full on fatigue…? Blimey.
Legs like lead with feet of stone. Flattening.

So weird.

It’s like (very) selective Covid symptoms.

I’m definitely not ill. But I’m not completely well, either. I’m just very confused.

Fear, Fish & Iron

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Not that my brain wanders when I’m tired, and not that English is a weird language, but is there any particular reason why only these things are mongered?

There doesn’t seem to be any obvious link between them.

Other than the mongering, of course.

UPDATE: A turophile has been in touch: “Cheese. Cheese is also mongered.”

It still doesn’t assist with any sort of link though, does it?

Robben Island closed for the winter

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Robben Island Museum (RIM) announced this morning that the popular cultural tourist attraction set to close for 2½ months for renovations in the lead up to South Africa’s hosting of the G20 summit later this year.

This will be a huge blow for anyone visiting Cape Town in the winter months, as this is a unique place to visit. And imagine if you have timed a quick break with us at the end of July, and the Cableway is shut as well.

Eish!

The good bit about these announcements is that the facilities and safety of these iconic attractions are improved and maintained, keeping them in great condition for guests and visitors in the future.

Just a bit unfortunate if you are turning up in our little corner of Africa and braving the winter weather, and you don’t get to see the (top of the) Mountain or do the Robben Island tour.

Thank goodness there’s still the wine route(s).