Category: elections

Still grey

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Apparently, there’s a chance of some sunshine tomorrow, but for the moment, the rain keeps falling. Almost 350mm in the last 10 days now. It’s pretty miserable. This photo isn’t from today, because I’m here, not there, but I’d guess that it’s a fairly accurate representation of much of the Western Cape at the moment. Especially the bit with that lighthouse on it.

Even the much vaunted Hungarian goose down duvet has failed, and we have required additional coverage for the past couple of nights. Sure, 10 degrees or so won’t seem like a big deal to many readers, but we’re just not set up for that here. And with good reason: it really doesn’t make sense for 90% of the year. So no central heating, double glazing, warm carpets etc etc. And when it gets cold at night outside, it gets cold at night inside too.

Trump shot a bit this morning. Footy final a bit later today.

That line just for context when I read back about how much more important the crappy weather is to me than politics or sport, when I find this post in 5 years time.

Blog posts from other people

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Sometimes, people send me stuff and I just have to blog it.

It’s UK election day today, and there’s basically no question in my mind who would be best at leading the country:

If you know, you know.

And, because I did a Manx post here and I did a Tour de France post here, this week, I was sent a suggestion that I had to combine the two and do a Mark Cavendish post here today.

I don’t follow cycling, but apparently he did a thing yesterday. And yes, he did:

Incredible scenes.
3:20 if you want to cut to (beyond) the chase.
And with many apologies for the errant apostrophe in the thumbnail.

Thanks Footy Group

Wednesday ephemera

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Several bits of small stuff to share, so here it all is.
Knock yourselves out*.

Things are going all right

After yesterday’s post, this:

That’s quite a movement, ironically suddenly making illegal “small boat” immigration across the English Channel a whole lot harder.

Home Affairs is a mixed bag

Two tweets, just a few pixels apart on my laptop screen:

and:

And yes, I’ve experienced both ends of this spectrum.
Delightfully astonishing at the one end, but oh so frustrating at the other.

SA Mpox outbreak causes first death

Indeed:

Nothing to panic about here, but certainly one just to keep an eye on…

Explore your adventurous side

A recent advert on the web:

Ah yes. The silver self-defence spike. A true Camping and Outdoor Essential. And… does it really say “Thank you for choosing [manufacturer]” on the lanyard? That’s amazing.

I despair

A local page I follow on Facebook got hacked and started posting all sorts of weird stuff, including (but not limited to) a lot of AI generated content resembling American cities. In fact, the only local thing it posted was this range of images depicting (allegedly, at least) Cape Town, some lions in the Kruger, and some KhoiSan rock art in an ancient cave.

The worst bit was the comments though, with people from Cape Town fawning over the picture of their city. And this, despite all those new mountains, the sun setting on the wrong side, and that frankly weird extension bit coming out of Green Point.
Compare and contrast…

Also, while we’re on the subject, that is clearly not KhoiSan rock art, and WTF has happened to those lions? Our jobs are safe from AI for a while yet. But whether our lives are safe from idiot commenters on Facebook… well… that’s another story.

Winter in the vineyards

In more genuine pictures of Cape Town…
We took a walk around Groot Constantia a few days ago, and it was lovely.

Go and see more of the yellowing vines and lush, green grass on Instagram. And drop a follow if you haven’t already. Thanks.

* simply a turn of phrase, not an instruction.

Another German map

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You’ll probably want to go and look at this post to see why this is “another” German map.

But, this is another German map, this time detailing the results of the recent European Parliament elections in that country.

That’s the Centre-Right CDU/CSU in grey and the Far-Right AfD in blue. And you’ll note that the country is – once again – divided up right down its historic East/West border. The weird bit here being that the ex-Communist Bloc East is voting for a far-right party that supports Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is all for reliving those halcyon days when the USSR and Eastern Europe was all powerful.

Well, in the USSR and Eastern Europe, anyway.

Still, the Western side is holding onto parties with far less extreme policies.
So I guess things could be worse.

See what I mean?

Ouch.

“This results are rigged.”

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Amidst the demands for a re-vote following the bizarre claims from the MK Party that the recent elections were rigged – a move many experts believe is not to actually based in any fact, but more to undermine the authority of the IEC – there was this:

And he offered the following screenshots as proof. One for the Western Cape:

And one for KZN:

I must admit, when I first read his allegations, I was a bit dubious. But the evidence is absolutely there.

How on earth can a bigger number be a smaller percentage? Something dodgy is clearly going on.

Jeez. Tiktok maths.
These people walk among us.
And look the way they voted.