Category: that’s a bit mad

Just Dorset things

Posted on

We all like to live in nice houses. Or churches.

And we all differ in what special touches we apply to our houses to make them stand out from the crowd.

I’m not sure we’d all go for this sort of thing, though:

Dorset is weird.

Oh. Hang on.

Apparently, it’s not for interior design. It’s an annual community occasion:

She said: “What happens is we get these poo fountains shooting up in the street and in people’s houses. It’s becoming an annual event.”

“People need to take notice of this because we’ve got more housing coming along and Dorset Council has made this a development area.”

Like the church fete or some Morris dancing. Everyone can join in. Candy floss, ice cream vans, a coconut shy and some poo fountains. Lovely.

All the fun of the fair.
Yeah. Dorset is weird.

The same voting rights as you

Posted on

Ah, democracy!

As Winston Churchill once noted:

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.

But it isn’t perfect, as… er… Winston Churchill once noted:

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

Both statements can be true. And both statements probably are.

The issue of allowing every vote to count the same is – of course – both the biggest strength and the biggest weakness of the democratic system. Because everyone should be equal, but then you end up having the same voting rights as… well… as this person:

Honestly, who inconsistently capitalises the word “Vinegar”?

OK. OK.
Obviously, that’s not the real problem here. The problem is ethanoic acid fumes.

No, no, no. The problem is not that either. The problem is that this person’s vote is going to effectively nullify your vote in any upcoming election. Because it’s unlikely that you’ll be intelligent enough to read this blog, but stupid enough to vote for the same party that they do.

And the worst bit of it? They are not alone. Remember this?

More fuel load incoming. Heavy metals via Geoengineering. Today are heat warnings danger to humans and environment….hmmmm I wonder why…….metals create a magnifying glass effect burning everything with the sun rays and absorbing all the moisture.

All for “climate change” and the “sustainable goals”. The WEF/UN/BILL GATES ERADICATION OF ALL LIFE ON THIS EARTH. DOWN TO ZERO EQUALS ZERO LIFE ON EARTH. That will eventually also include all the politicians who execute the devils orders.

And this?

Weather manipulation and gas like artificial fog is what is making people sick and this combined with 5G is killing all trees, insects and nature, contaminates all water sources.

And this?

Many people have been having dreams lately but as always umlungu [white people] will say “it’s climate change” and the sheep will believe umlungu over us.

And all of these people?

All those evil pilots spraying us and never ever ever telling anyone about the poison. And the airport people that load the planes. Those dudes are evil.

And suddenly, your vote is worth absolutely nothing. Worse than nothing, if such a thing was possible in an election process.

Yes, Churchill was absolutely right. The only issue being that no-one in their right mind would waste five minutes of their precious time on any of these Vinegar-inhaling moonbats.

On Märket 

Posted on

Märket is a lump of rock between Sweden and Finland. It’s only 3.3 hectares in size and there’s really nothing there apart from a lighthouse. Originally, no-one claimed the island as their territory, and so Finland built a lighthouse on there back in 1885. They built it on the highest bit of the island, which was the logical thing to do.

However, when the island was divided between the two countries (because everything has to be owned by someone, right?), the lighthouse ended up on the Swedish side – basically the Western half of the island.

But it was a Finnish lighthouse. Built by Finland and operated by Finland.

So in 1985, the border was moved the reposition the lighthouse back onto Finnish territory.

But you can’t just give up land merely because there’s some other country’s lighthouse on it.

Thus, the adjustment was carried out such that no net transfer of territory occurred, and the ownership of the coastline was unchanged so as not to interfere with each country’s fishing rights.

Which means that the border now looks like this:

The interlocking idea does stop the two countries drifting apart. Which is nice.

And in real life:

Åland (representing Finland here) being the autonomous, demilitarized region of Finland located in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. It lies just to the east of Märket and they speak Swedish there, even though it’s actually Finnish territory.

The border is regularly resurveyed every 25 years by officials representing both countries. In case… it changes?!?
The last such joint inspection took place in August 2006. The border is marked by holes drilled into the rock, because the seasonal drift ice would shear off any protruding markers.

Because of the Nordic Passport Union and the Schengen Agreement, there have been no passport checks or other border formalities at the border since 1958, so intra-Nordic/intra-Schengen visitors may visit the island freely.

I’ve still not managed to find out why there is an additional county border on the Swedish side. This seems unnecessarily bureaucratic.

Despite the name, there are no shops on Märket. In fact, there really only is the lighthouse.

But that, and the crazy border, makes this a great place to learn about for the nerds that read this blog.

And you, obviously.

Beware of Bottlenose Dolphins

Posted on

Spotted on a Facebook post earlier today: this beautiful image of two Bottlenose Dolphins (either Tursiops aduncus or Tursiops truncatus – it’s complicated) in the waters off the South coast of the Western Cape. The ‘tog call it Yin and Yang, and yeah, fair enough, you can see why.

Close enough.

But the photo isn’t the reason I’m sharing this. It’s… it’s that weirdly specific comment by Viola Inches (r/toastnames, btw) that made me want to blog it.

What?

Bottle nose dolphins are very friendly however don’t be fooled because they can turn on you like Roman Emperor Son that turned on His own father.

What?!!?

I’m no expert on Roman history (my knowledge of this period is almost entirely garnered from to watching Monty Python’s Life of Brian in the mid-1980s), and so I don’t know the particular emperor father and son combo to which Viola is referring. I guess that sort of thing was probably amongst the many risks you took as part of the hierarchy back in those turbulent, classical times.

But whoever it might be (or even if it’s just completely made up – but then, why would you?), I’m going to be very, very careful next time I encounter a Bottlenose Dolphin.

How embarrassing would it be if one of them turned on me like Roman Emperor Son that turned on His own father, after I’d read this comment?

No. Safety first.