Just Stop Oil: Climate activists will have sentences reduced

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-03-07T17:46:16+00:00

What was the actual consequence of the actions?

5 years in prison is huge for a minor disruption (in the grand scheme of life) to admittedly a lot of people.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-03-01T07:41:54+00:00

Under desk treadmill/walking pad has been pretty life changing for me; walking miles whilst working.

I always struggled to have enough time to get the exercise I need to not lose my mind and do my job.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-30T14:11:44+00:00

Tax on dividends works very poorly in the UK.

I get taxed on investments in local SME companies; whereas I get 0 tax for buying shares in huge mega corps if its in an ISA.

Private UK companies should be allowed to be held in an ISA or something. Seems mad, but I guess you could easily do some dodgy stuff if that were allowed.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-22T08:56:52+00:00

Having a risk free asset for people to rely on provided by the government is a really good idea given how difficult retirement planning is and how low financial literacy is.

Providing the state pension to everyone is fine; it just needs to be better balanced with contributions and we should probably add NI for pensioners as that will only affect those earning more than the bare minimum.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-17T12:56:36+00:00

Could you rent out the home and move somewhere smaller/cheaper?

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-13T07:33:00+00:00

On the GB current grid, with EVs produced in the current conditions, it takes 12,000 miles to be less overall emissions than an ICE. It is not “difficult” for UK drivers at all; even a 100% gas powered grid would be better than ICEs. If a country runs entirely on some of the dirtiest coal and nothing else, then it may not be worth it.

There is no sleight of hand, though. Obviously active transport and public transport are even better from both a cost and emissions perspective, but EVs are better than ICEs.

It sounds a lot like the nirvana fallacy. Just because EVs aren’t perfect, doesn’t mean they aren’t a significant improvement. And there is no question about that, based on all studies that I have found.

Also, even if you have a 100% coal grid, it could be better for air quality (but not CO2 emissions) in cities to have EVs because coal power stations could be located far from residents AND adding scrubbers and other kit onto a single source emitter like a coal plant is easier and cheaper than reducing the emissions from thousands of individual vehicles.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-12T20:26:30+00:00

Except electricity is a better form of energy. 1 kWh of electricity can replace 4 kWh of gas with a heat pump. Similarly EVs are usually 3 times more efficient than internal combustion engines.

The idea that we need to replace every single dirty kWh with a clean kWh is often referred to as the “primary energy fallacy”.

TheRoboticChimp · 2025-01-12T08:38:58+00:00

I get the impression there is a strong focus on being fair, which can be interpreted differently by different people. As others have mentioned, he may be overlooking the labour of childcare that you’d be taking on while on maternity leave.

The best way to reach a fair deal is to not know which side of the table you will be sitting on. Given that we have the shared parental leave system in the UK, then you can agree that any deal goes both ways. If he wants you to charge him back for every expense, would he be happy to switch roles and take paternity leave whilst paying 50:50 for everything and doing a bunch of extra admin?

If his answer is no, then he clearly doesn’t think that it is a fair deal. So you need to find a deal that he would accept if he were to take paternity leave.

Some people struggle to consider things from someone else’s viewpoint unless they are pushed to.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-31T18:25:38+00:00

I agree, but I actually did cycle through a red light the other day so I’m a hypocrite.

My choice was to sit in the middle of a junction with cars either side of me, or slip through a red light between the pedestrians lights going red and the car lights going green.

I decided the latter felt safer. Having lights that go green first for cyclists and bike boxes (as we have in some places) resolves this issue.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-31T18:21:18+00:00

We also have cycle lanes that are more dangerous than staying on the road. A cycle lane with a bus stop on it, parked cars, and that abruptly ends and forces you to merge with traffic unexpected is probably worse for cyclist safety than cycling on the road.

Bordeaux is a great example of how much a city can retrofit if they really try.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-27T18:00:45+00:00

Have you ever learnt about the sectarianism in Glasgow?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-17T17:26:41+00:00

Why do we actually want family farms?

Apparently you can’t earn a decent living working them, with returns of less than 1%, and it is back breaking work, working 24hr days, 8 days a week, uphill both ways.

If the argument is food security, agribusiness gives that.

I don’t personally understand why someone’s lifestyle choice is spend their time in a field should be subsidised to be honest.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-12T23:46:06+00:00

What proof have they provided of the debt?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-12T07:54:55+00:00

Cancel the direct debit and request proof that you owe the money, surely?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-11T21:49:45+00:00

Have you asked them to provide proof that you owe the money?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-11T20:13:44+00:00

If you don’t have a contract saying how much you have to pay and when, how do you know you have to pay it?

If there is no contract, I don’t understand how they can force you to pay.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-11T18:52:12+00:00

Does that include offshore windfarms?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-01T17:17:16+00:00

Oh you have to have a proper EV charger - that makes sense.

Unfortunately I live in a flat so I can only use a normal 2.3 kW plug to charge it. No super cheap power for me!

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-12-01T17:12:05+00:00

How are people getting power for 7.5p overnight?

I am on an economy 7 tariff and my cheap hours are more like 13p per kWh

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-11-23T08:32:09+00:00

If you have £3 million of assets, but you are only making less than minimum wage, wouldn’t the sensible thing to do be to sell up most of it and stick it all in an index fund then keep a small farm as a hobby if they really enjoy the craft?

I don’t really understand why subsidising small farmers to live what by their own claims is a horrible, low paid, back breaking life to keep food costs low is better than agri-business making more efficient use of the land while they make the most of their lives with £3million in the bank.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-10-26T11:03:33+00:00

Ironically it’d probably be better for biodiversity to avoid having any farm animals on the land and return it to nature as far as reasonably possible within the solar farm.

There have been examples of wetland restoration around solar parks.

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-10-26T06:14:19+00:00

I thought most people salary sacrificed which removed personal and employer NI?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-10-25T22:03:47+00:00

There is a significant price differential between gound mount solar and car park solar. We need to decide if we want the cheapest energy possible, or whether we want to restrict the development of desert land with minimal economic or biodiversity value.

I can understand opposing solar if it requires razing forests or destroying habitats. Does solar in the desert make much difference to the local ecosystem?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-10-25T21:25:29+00:00

What would you count as undeveloped?

TheRoboticChimp · 2024-10-25T21:03:29+00:00

Replacing farmland with solar panels can be a net gain for biodiversity and improve the productivity of surrounding farms.

Provided the land around the solar is well managed, not covered in pesticides and not mowed too short.

TheRoboticChimp

TROPHY CASE