22 September (Part 1) - Diesels, Dames, DVDs and Disposals
Is
there any Bexley news worth reporting right now? Probably not. There is no
significant Council meeting to report until 5th October and BiB is reduced to noting
that crime levels in Bexley have fallen to the point where the police who park
illegally have nothing better to do
than arrest van drivers who park perfectly legally next to TfL ULEZ cameras.
Presumably if you report a burglary or stolen car they will respond immediately and shoplifters
will no longer loot stores safe in the knowledge that they are immune from prosecution.
Yesterday I buckled to Khan’s ULEZ tyranny by arranging a lift into Bexleyheath for a diesel
driver and, separately, a Councillor reported how he had to sell his Euro 5 car and
unnecessarily spend money on a second hand Euro 6 compliant diesel. That’s the
second such Councillor I know of who has had to dispose of a perfectly good car
and thereby save 4,000 lives a year.
I briefly considered debunking some of the nonsense that circulates about
electric cars. It is really annoying to be told that I am polluting the air with my
brake dust while the truth is that I rarely use the brakes. It is fun to
demonstrate to sceptics how one can travel across town and beyond while never
touching the brake pedal. The motor in regeneration mode is good enough for all
but an emergency stop. After five years the brake pads show insignificant wear
and the battery health still registers 100% but the naysayers would have you
believe I will be shelling out £15,000 for a new one any day now.
There have been no fuel costs at all
(solar and Sainsbury’s powered) over the last 3,000 miles but unfortunately
the rip off insurance companies more than offset that saving so I fully accept
that EVs are not for everyone.
What else for a rant?
Not being well up in the realm of popular culture I did not really know who Russell Brand was
but he is in law an innocent man. Yesterday Dame Caroline Dinenage who is some
jumped up Tory MP no one has ever heard of, ignored Magna Carta and told the
Media companies to cancel him. That single act undid, for me, all the good Rishi
Sunak did with his Green speech the day before. Why has he not sacked her from Chairmanship of his Culture, Media and Sport Committee?
As gutless as I have come to expect.
In an attempt to educate myself on this Brand character I grabbed a 2008 DVD
off the shelf (†) and watched it last night. From what I have learned of Brand it
would appear that he was playing himself. The film was given a 15 certificate but included
full on willy waving - literally, but not Brand’s - and titties galore. I am not averse
to such things but it was the context and dialogue that got to me. It was cringe
inducing and embarrassing to watch even though I was alone. (My mother once told
me off for showing her Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’s Rain Man on tape.) If that is
Brand’s life he is likely to be guilty. But it was fiction; at least I assumed it was.
Can we get to the point now?
Why are the housing associations flogging off their property at a rate of knots?
What do young renters think about it and why are all our Councillors silent about it?
Three more to add to the six
already reported over the past four weeks.
Image 1 - Rightmove website
Image 2 - Rightmove website
Image 3 - Rightmove website
† For the perverts, the film was Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Rain Man contained one use of the F word.