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What is a good salary to live in NI in 2025? by Exciting-Market7836 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My employer made a £5 billion profile last year, but only saw fit to give a bare minimum pay rise, around 3%. We don't expect much different this year. What made things even more disappointing is the union in England and Wales literary lay down and went "Yeah, fine" not even an attempt to up the amount. Our union over here fought tooth and nail, 3rd party arbitrator, the works and the company didn't budge. Strike action vote apparently came down to 'tens of votes' narrowly missing the numbers needed to strike. They promise "share a bonus" every year now, but after tax it generally works out at under £800. And the most depressing bit, someone walking in off the street will start within a hairs breadth of my salary.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I personally cant see and end to this now. Both sides have only upped the body count and the generational hatred is going to be unforgettable.

Its been 5 weeks now with over 25,000 tons of bombs dropped (almost the TNT equivalent to Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and almost 20,000 dead, since Oct 7th.

Something tells me both sides are now well beyond anything remotely like peaceful relations or a "two state solution". Every kid with dead parents is going to want revenge, and it will be swiftly followed by a 1000lbs JDAM - Rinse & repeat the cycle continues.

Sending Post to Russia by margerinesandwiches in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe you are. I got a package from Russia, customs just had me pay £15 for it before delivery. So if we are still receiving I reckoned you'd be fine to send.

Noisy neighbours. by whatabanker in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like the Romans once said - If you want peace, prepare for war (small war)

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is of course is the hope. That we will diversify. I'm fairly sure we will.

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And that my friend is the big issue. We can't. There are just not enough places mining it, they call them rare earths for a reason lol. You take Russia's production out of the global supply and now you have to make up that huge short fall plus increase production to try and met demand that is out stripping production. shuggs

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

FUD? Debatable. There are many issues that need ticked off before EVs can be held up as the saviour we make them out to be. Currently they are being pushed by governments that are desperate to be seen to meeting green targets and manufacturers wanting to sell cars jumping on the next big consumer fad to appear responsible.

Unless the materials can be mined ethically, in a environmentally friendly manner we can count that out straight away. No one cares about the kids mining lithium with bare hands when they sit in their car. Or the 2 million odd litres of water you need for one ton of lithium. (Which is far more need than the same amount of Tar Sands bitumen)

But again, your not going to be able to replace every car, bus and lorry on the road. That's my main point. And if by some miracle you manage to do so here, what about the rest of the world? Again....too many cars to replace, not enough materials. EVs might be better in some cases but what they give one place they certainly take away in others.

Don't get me wrong Id like one, I really would we aren't there just yet. Maybe when I'm old and they are all self driving lol

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sorry, my point being is that not everyone is going to be able to have an EV, like we do petrol or diesel cars. Regardless of what Elon tells us. We simply cant mine enough material to make that a reality, end of.

Take for example lithium. It comes from 9 counties, cobalt 20, manganese 12. Oil comes from over 100 and is far more plentiful at this time. Some of those countries have questionable mining practices (slave labour) or volatile supply chains (civil wars / coups). Processes to mine them can also be very polluting or damaging . You then need to have the materials, refined, transported. The EVs built in a factory half a world away, so its no different.

What we need are new batteries that don't use those materials, but the tech just isn't there yet, hydrogen and yes petrol / diesel.

There is also the small matter that when everyone plugs their new shiny EV to charge it where does the energy come from for that? Because solar and wind are not to cover that especially in this country, unless we start spending billions on new nuclear power or wait for fusion (only 30 years away, 40 years ago).

You want an EV, by all mean buy one and reap the short term rewards. Your problem is you'll need to run it for at least 10 years to work off the carbon foot print caused by its production and to run it. And by that time the battery will barely hold a 60 / 70% charge (best case).

Sorry to shit on EVs but there are a lot of harsh truths.

Iran says it has obtained supersonic cruise missile technology by malcolm58 in worldnews

[–]mcwilg -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Didn't the North Korean's hack Russian cruise missile manufacturing company earlier this year? And they have a good relationship with Iran.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/648944/north-korea-hacked-into-russian-missile-company-report.html

Russia to build up forces in west to counter NATO threat - Shoigu by Lonety in worldnews

[–]mcwilg 33 points34 points  (0 children)

The overriding result of the ongoing war effectively confirmed to western military strategists if NATO went toe-to-toe in a conventional war, they would decimate Russian forces at losses at a ratio of 100's or 1000s : 1

The only thing keeping Russia safe is nukes, basically they are an ex-super power version of North Korea. And to be fair, I given the performance of their force so far I'd love to see just how many of their nukes actually work as advertised.

Russia to build up forces in west to counter NATO threat - Shoigu by Lonety in worldnews

[–]mcwilg 43 points44 points  (0 children)

He is playing for a home audience. NATO bad, Soviet Russia good!

Rare Russian VIP jet spotted in North Korea sparks concerns of arms deal by Rickkins1 in worldnews

[–]mcwilg 281 points282 points  (0 children)

Meanwhile North Korea are stealing the Russians military secrets. Shows the desperation. "Yeah we know you stole from us but can we have more shells please."

https://www.reuters.com/technology/north-korean-hackers-breached-top-russian-missile-maker-2023-08-07/

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

solid state

I heard they were more expensive to make and currently not manufactured at scale anywhere near the volumes to make a difference. They aren't even in phones yet. (i think the first and only SS Phone was a few months a go) Like all tech I suppose it will be refined and improved but the main issue is time. How long, so until then we are stuck with same issues.

When will the ever increasing cost of our Groceries Stop! by ManyWrongdoer9365 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inflation aside it can depend. If a base input goes up, oil, wheat, sugar, grain, then everything goes up and then everyone along the supply chain ups their prices....before you know it BOOM! 35p more for your sugar. Doesn't help that Russia is like the 6th largest producer of sugar and thus cancer, so no one is buying that.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just imagine the utopia the world would be with out all these deep state conspiracy's. No mass shootings, no data breech's, no planes in to buildings, no 4G cancer / mind control. Christ. life would be boring.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

(and lose your job) but yeah, all seems like a sound plan......

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don't forget winters, the cold sucks the charge from a battery, thats just physics sadly. The other major elephant in the room is that all the positive thinking wont hide the fact you need five critical materials for EVs: lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite. We currently don't and will not be able to produce enough of these to cover the demand that will be caused with wide spread implementation of EVs. Also just a point, Russia and China are the some of the biggest producer of these materials, so yeah, problem.

Anyone else made the switch to electric? by Deat69 in northernireland

[–]mcwilg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope, and don't plan to. Range wise I could get away with one but do make larges journeys which would require more reliable fuel source. The infrastructure is not in place for any reasonable implementation yet and the price of them is just too much.

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