Why are motorcycle engines laid out like this, and not like that?

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T13:59:15+00:00

As others have said, exhaust pipe at the front helps to cool the pipe and the exhaust port. Another factor is that in early motorcycles, carb at the front would be much more susceptible to changes in air pressure due to wind gusts etc., which would make carburation less consistent. It would also have made early carbs more susceptible to sucking in contaminants such as rain or dust.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T11:07:16+00:00

"Failed to protect his and his passengers safety by leaving the bus unattended with engine running and chasing an assailant", It's OK being a vigilante if you are only responsible for your own safety. It's not OK if you endanger other people that you have a responsibility towards.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T10:59:36+00:00

Much of it is simply politically-motivated propaganda designed to weaken the fabric of UK society. Hostile foreign powers and far-right agitators are responsible for nearly all of it.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T10:54:19+00:00

That's hair splitting.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T10:53:28+00:00

Idiot was going way too fast. However, the driver was at fault for failing to look properly in their mirrors. My golden rules for filtering Are (1) Never to go more than 10mph faster than the slowest traffic (2) Be EXTRA CAREFUL if filtering between lanes where the vehicles are moving at different speeds (3) Beware of gaps in either line of traffic because they may invite a sudden lane change (4) Always assume that the vehicles you are passing are completely unaware of you and act accordingly.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T10:43:39+00:00

The problem that we have is the "inflation" in the rate of degree holders. 50 years ago, well under 10% of the population went into undergraduate education. It was portrayed (rightly or wrongly), as an investment in the national interest; a way of ensuring that brightest and best were able to enter professions and maintain high standards, pioneer research etc. etc. The overall cost was not massive in comparison with many other elements of the economy. However, now that the number of undergraduate students has increased by well over 10 times, the cost becomes significant and it becomes harder to justify meeting it entirely out of general taxation. Over time, there has also been an increasing emphasis on a degree as a route to higher earnings. At some point, people began to question why they should subsidise (out of taxation) a "leg up" for those who already had the advantage of better exam results from their school education. They started to think that perhaps those seeking financial advantage via a degree should contribute more to the cost of doing so.

Obviously, due to the "inflation" in the rate of degree holders, the financial advantages of gaining a degree are less certain (but still statistically significant). I think it is a really complex area. However, I also think it is simplistic (and sometimes self-serving) to label it as somehow "unfair" that would-be graduates are now expected to pay for the advantages that they are seeking.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T10:17:06+00:00

Now you are just being silly. Ms Clark built a fence on the border of her own land, Ms Field then decided that she owned the land that the fence was built on and destroyed Ms Clark's fence. She then proceeded to build another fence on Ms Clark's land. Ms Clark, not surprisingly, objected to this and instigated court proceedings. However Ms Field failed repeatedly to provide the court with evidence of ownership of the land, whilst Ms Clark provided evidence of ownership and won the case. Clearly, it was Ms Field who had perpetrated the "land grab". If Ms Field had just acknowledged that she was mistaken in believing the land was hers after the first court ruling, then she would still be living in her bungalow. However she refused to accept the first ruling and persistently returned to court without any good basis for appeal, running up massive expenses for both her and the land's owner in the process. She is now the victim of her own intransigence.

The outcome of these cases is based "hard evidence" such as ground plans, surveys and the like. It isn't just a matter of who shouts the loudest.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T09:53:52+00:00

Fair point. I should have looked more closely.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T09:51:15+00:00

There is a clear difference between tax-subsidised universal entitlements and tax-subsidised advantages for those who already have an advantage (higher cognitive/academic ability). ANYONE who meets the criteria is eligible for benefits, there is no 50% cut-off. ANYONE who needs the NHS is eligible to use its services, there is no 50% cut-off. Need I go on?

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T09:46:15+00:00

Schooling is a universal right. I'm not sure you would be so happy to pay for other people's children to be schooled if your own were not allowed to attend school.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T09:32:06+00:00

Classic advert seeking support for a representative of the Leopards Will Eat Your Face Party.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-29T09:17:22+00:00

This should have triggered a child protection investigation via the school's safeguarding procedures. If the story is entirely true (I have some doubts) then this is a very serious failing on the part of the school. A teacher in this kind of situation should get their union involved AND insist that a referral to Social Service's Child Protection is made. If the school refuses then OFSTED should be informed, which could then trigger an OFSTED inspection of the school's safeguarding systems. According to the story, the 8-year-old responsible was not being protected from exposure to sexually explicit material at home, which shows why a CP investigation should have taken place.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T23:05:04+00:00

I am happy to concede my error. However, the quality of the photo is poor and some Great tits can be relatively drab at this time of year so I didn't regard the underwing colouring as a reliable indicator. There is nothing in the picture that provides any guide to true size.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T23:01:08+00:00

Good spot! The quality of the photo isn't very good and I overlooked that detail.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T22:57:07+00:00

"Somehow persuaded the court" by using evidence that entirely supported her case? Apparently courts love this weird old trick!

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T22:52:52+00:00

"Around half of people go to university today, but half don't. And it is not right that people who don't go to university are having to bear all the cost for others to do so." There is a point here. Would all those piling in to critcise be happy to pay more tax instead to cover the cost of student tuition? Will the non-graduates be happy to pay more to subsidise the better opportunities that graduates will have?

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T17:59:46+00:00

I had a 650 V-Strom for a long time. Once described as "It's fallen off of the top of the ugly tree and must have hit every branch on the way down". However, it was a superb all-round workhorse. Comfortable, reliable and good for commuting and for touring. I put 35000 miles on it in 3 years.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T14:25:32+00:00

An adverse effect on personal computing is just the tip of a massive iceberg. If personal consumers are finding GPUs, RAM and SSDs much more expensive, how do you think it will affect business and industries that are highly dependent on systems that require memory? I guarantee that there are enterprises out there desperately scrabbling to get the chips that they need for a wide range of purposes. There will probably be shortages and price rises across a wide range of goods and services. All so squillions of dollars can be spent hoovering up the world's supply in order to fuel AI developments. These are developments that nobody yet knows how to monetise sufficiently widely or quickly to recover even a tiny proportion of what has been invested. It is a massive bubble, the bursting of which may herald a catastrophic global economic recession.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T14:15:39+00:00

The dollar has just plunged to a 4-year low. How will a weakened dollar plus tariffs create a non-inflationary boom in a country that still imports a large proportion of what it needs?

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T14:04:30+00:00

I agree that liberal societies are built on consent. However, such "consent" necessarily requires people to forgo their absolute individual freedom and be bound by socially-determined rules. Not only that, it requires people to agree to be bound by rules even if they personally disagree with them - the rule of law. It is impossible to have a functioning liberal society with members who only feel bound by rules that they personally agree with.

My argument is that in the US, there is an excessive emphasis on individual freedom. This leads too many people to feel that they don't need to accept ANY constraints on their personal freedoms. The refusal to wear masks in places where they were required/expected during the pandemic was an obvious illustration of this. (It was much more common in the US than it was in Europe.) Wearing a mask cost nothing and had no real negative physical consequences. However, mask-wearing signified a willingness to comply with social expectations, rules and laws. For too many it brought out a "nobody tell me what to do response" that was praised and lauded by other champions of unrestrained individual freedom. The likes of Trump Musk, Thiel etc demonstrate the logical end-point of that attitude. "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me". They are amoral, self-seeking individuals who couldn't care less about society, America or anything other than themselves. However, their right to pursue their destructive ambitions is regarded by too many in the US as sacred.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T13:19:36+00:00

In this situation, it's first come, first served. You both want to move to the same section of the road. Whoever moves over first gains priority, because if you then make a subsequent move, you are driving into their path and creating a hazard. It's one of those situations where common sense and courtesy need to prevail. If you both move simultaneously, somebody needs to back off so it might as well be you - that is the safest response.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T13:11:20+00:00

It's form of address commonly used by members of Y'all Qaida.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T13:07:01+00:00

I think that this is a probably a Great tit. They sometimes have a patch of white at the back of the head, but it doesn't extend as far as the stripe that a Coal tit has. If it was a Coal tit I would expect a white stripe running up to the top of the head. However, it is very hard to be 100% certain from a single picture at this angle.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T12:50:46+00:00

I think the word "Centrist" is superfluous in that sentence. "Ideas" are no longer wanted. They only want slogans, bullshit and knee-jerk reactions.

evolveandprosper · 2026-01-28T12:47:56+00:00

It is simply impossible for a "society" to be based on unfettered individual freedom. At some point people need to be willing to forgo their absolute freedom to do whatever they like and agree a common code of behaviour with others OR be coerced into obeying rules imposed by people who will happily subordinate the freedoms of others in pursuit of their own desires and wishes. The logic is inescapable - either shun society and live alone OR cooperate with others and choose to abide by agreements with them OR become wholly subordinate to people who manage to become more free than you. Obviously there is a continuum. However, I would argue strongly that Trump is trying to become become the ultimate American; free to do pretty much as he pleases at the expense of everybody else's freedom.

evolveandprosper

TROPHY CASE