srober47

Live within the blue ring of death, heart on Dartmoor.

Criminology graduate, 40K, matelow, food, design and exploration.

[srober47 @srober473]

#firstbird

[srober47 @srober473]

Looks blueberry flavour...

[WarTranslated @wartranslated]

More footage of the burning Wildberries in Novosemeikino, Samara region, Russia.

[srober47 @srober473]

@peterrhague He looks absolutely shattered just from flexing! 🤣

[srober47 @srober473]

@rawlimark My god! They could be the same person.

[srober47 @srober473]

@LukeTryl This north south divide is unhelpful in understanding how the nation will feel about the new PM in the future.

[srober47 @srober473]

@LukeTryl @LukeTryl I'm in West Devon, and I feel that if you ran that polling here, and broke down the definitions of mort v South to be more nuanced (South West for instance) I'd say you'd have a different result I'd wager.

[srober47 @srober473]

@LukeTryl If you say the north to me, I'd picture Manchester and that is better off than Devon. This isn't just recency bias though, as I've done my fair share of time there and love the city. You mention the south, I think of London and the SE.

[srober47 @srober473]

@DomAdlerUK @AppleTV I need to find my copy of that book and read it before I watch this!

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

The House is scheduled to vote this week on a National Defense Authorization that would integrate our military tech & supply chains with Israel’s.

Today, the Rules Committee will decide whether my amendment to strip section 219 will get a vote.

RT to support the Massie amdt.!

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

An unelected PM throws money at expanding selection in schools with no mandate for it. And we wonder why people are fed up with Westminster. https://t.co/IzJjNU1jen

[Dominic Adler @DomAdlerUK]

The Argentinians call the English "pirates", not realising English people think pirates are very, very cool. We've even been known, on occasion, to fly a pirate flag.

[srober47 @srober473]

The only thing that will make up for this summer is a @CountBinface victory in Clacton!

[Pete North @FUDdaily]

I don't know why I found myself browsing through Autotrader last night. It's not as though I can afford a new car any time soon. One of those deep procrastination modes I suppose. What struck me, though, is how eye-wateringly dull modern cars are. You could deposit £20k in my account this morning, and I wouldn't be in a desperate hurry to go out any buy anything specific.

As much as anything, I don't understand why everything has to be an SUV now. Everything now has to be a road hog despite them being wholly useless as off-road or utility vehicles. They're not even sporty.

What also struck me is that I don't understand cars anymore. There was a time when the acronyms used to mean something vaguely relatable. GTi and ST used to mean a bit more perky and quick, and AMG meant fast, but now they slap the badge on any old piece wheezy of shit. I seriously can understand why Jeremy Clarkson has quit motoring journalism.

Buying a new car now is about as exciting as buying a new phone. There was a time when buying a new phone was a bit exciting because you'd be getting a capability upgrade, but we've now reached a plateau where you're just buying a replacement black rectangle. I don't even bother learning what all the specs mean now.

As much as anything choice paralysis is a factor. There are so many variants of the same thing to the extent that it's hard to care what the differences are.

This is one of the more tiresome facets of modern life. Just as an example, I thought I would do something considerate and replace all the bedding we have that's looking a bit tatty. I went on Amazon to buy pillows. That can't be too hard, right? Wrong. Go on Amazon and there's a bajillion different types, all of different shapes, sizes and material specs.

I just do not have the bandwidth to learn the technical specifications of pillows. I don't want to make space in my head for any more technical trivial. As a political pundit it is my job to form opinions on things whether they are interesting or not, from the latest MoD procurement to wind turbines, but even my brain capsizes when asked to form a detailed opinion on home furnishings. I just want a soft rectangle to sleep on. Why is this hard all of a sudden??

And it's not just cars and pillows. It's everything. Coffee machines, washing machines, desk fans, computers, televisions. I almost pine for the Soviet experience where you don't have to make complex choices because there's only one washing machine company. How many do we actually need?

But cars are even worse for this, because while you have a million different choices, they are all exactly the same, but the only thing you can be absolutely sure about is that anything you do buy will be bit more expensive, a lot less exciting, slower and heavier. Any residual fun there was to be had from motoring was eradicated years ago.

It's at this point I have to ask if this is just middle age creeping in, but it's not. Things are objectively shitter than they were. I do not want to go deep into a touchscreen menu system to find out how to adjust wing mirrors. What was wrong with a lever? Why do I have to wait twenty seconds for the electric motor to adjust my seat setting? Why have they complicated things that didn't need to be complicated?

The only thing this idle browsing of Autotrader has accomplished is to make me look at my ageing Vauxhall, with its agricultural levels of technology, with a certain fondness and regard, to the extent that I would rather look after it and keep it going another ten years rather than take on the exhausting chore of deciding which boring identikit pseudo SUV is the right fit for my needs.

But then I'm reminded that if I don't get my skates on and buy something in the next few years, I won't even have the luxury of choosing something I actually control. I will only be able to buy a mobile grid back-up battery that will report me to the state if my Greggs pasty exceeds my daily calorie intake, and call the police if I'm momentarily distracted by a passing aeroplane. The future is too depressing to even contemplate. We're going to get to a point where an early Ford Focus that just works without digital state supervision and surveillance will be Categroy A contraband, and people will mourn the Fiat Multipla because it's be the last car they can remember that looked even remotely different to anything else.

There was a time when I genuinely feared death through the fear of missing out - and intended to live forever, but the more I learn about the future techno-dystopia the more at ease I am with my own mortality. Eternal damnation and torment in Hell is a walk in the park compared to an eternity of this bullshit.

[srober47 @srober473]

@DomAdlerUK Is it more likely related to the increase in numbers of females policing, therefore the odds of a wrong un being in the police and female, increases?

[Tim Walker @ThatTimWalker]

👎 Murdoch like Musk has decided it’s over for Farage. It’s not inconceivable he’ll end up behind bars which would of course preclude any further globetrotting.

[srober47 @srober473]

@CultureExploreX Iconic how?

I will wear my bias on my sleeve here being British, but having visited both, I think ours is better.

[Defence With A 'C' @defencewithac]

What in the Flight Simulator '05 is that CGI?

[srober47 @srober473]

Clacton, get in the bin! @CountBinface

[Count Binface @CountBinface]

On my way, Clacton.

[srober47 @srober473]

@Aella_Girl Venus dimples too?

[srober47 @srober473]

@rawlimark A/L booked 😊

[Mark Urban @MarkUrban01]

I shouldn’t be surprised after 40 years reporting defence - but it’s amazing to see how easily the commentariat & Westminster can be diverted into talking about drones when the real Q is whether the nation is ready to accept the peace dividend is over, & scale of spend needed now