Russian Spy Ship Diving on Wreck of Russian Cargo Ship.

Interesting news this morning, in that the Russians have found the sinking of the Ursa Major cargo ship in the Med important enough to investigate. They are diving on the wreck.

The Ursa Major sank after an explosion in the engine room. 

Now, that may not sound that strange, but there a what-if. What if the explosion wasn't INSIDE the engine room, but was OUTSIDE it? 

The difference is really important. The first could suggest sabotage of some kind. The second could infer that the ship was attacked by a remote controlled drone vessel, as used by Ukraine in the Black Sea. 

Either are serious. The sabotage theory infers someone got access to the engine room and planted an explosive device. Even an external explosion could be sabotage, where the device was attached to the hull. 

The unmanned surface vessel attack infers that Ukraine have now expanded their use of USVs into the Med and Russian ships are not safe in International waters. Therefore safety has to be stepped up in all waters, not just close to Ukraine and the mothership that launched the USV needs to be identified, tracked and neutralised.

Of course the third option could be a simple equipment failure in the engine room with no involvement from outside agents. 

I doubt Russia will release any information, unless it suits them. But there may be lots to learn from the wreck. If a USV was used, then the wreckage of that may be on the sea floor as well as the Ursa Major. 

Interesting they are making the effort to investigate. It shows they have their suspicions that all is not as it seems and requires clarification. Information that will inform operational requirements in the future.

Or they may have some cargo on the vessel they want to recover before anyone else does. Wonder what that could be?

Farage Cements his Status as a Distraction

So, for the second time we have Nigel Farage, darling of all centre-right old people screwing the pooch for a second time.

Yesterday he announced Charlie Mullins (OBE, he likes to mention that), the ex-owner of Pimlico Plumbers and rabid lockdown enthusiast is joining the Reform party.

At that point, I'm out, I will not vote Reform, I will instead vote UKIP if the opportunity is offered. 

The reason being, I hate Mr Mullins with a passion. In my opinion, he's not fit to be part of a party that allies itself with the working class. There are plenty of reports about Mullins' business practices and his treatment of his workforce when he was boss of Pimlico Plumbers, but the icing on the cake for my hatred of Mullins was his attitude during Covid.

His opinions regarding unvaccinated people was clear for all to see on various videos. That sort of rabid authoritarian streak has no place in Reform. I though the leadership of Reform were better.

But obviously not.

I can see that Reform aren't the freedom-loving party we think they are. There is a dark side emerging.

So, I shall vote UKIP now. I can see that Farage and Reform are just in it for the power, the money and the profile. Victory at any cost is not what I personally want to see. It is just the same as the Labour party who lied to us to get into power and then did exactly the opposite of what they signalled whilst in opposition.

Are Reform lying about their intentions once in power? I don't know, but I now have enough doubt to preclude me voting for them.

Farage has yet again got within a hair's breadth of gaining power and thrown it away. This comes after the shock of his interview where he dithered on deporting illegal immigrants already here.

I'm now convinced that Farage isn't the saviour of the centre-right. I believe he is a distraction designed to split the right leaning vote so the two main parties get in power again. 

How else can you describe the mismanagement at UKIP, allowing Tory MPs to defect and then poison the party. 

The same is happening at Reform. Tory MPs defecting (no, resign and then get re-elected on a Reform ticket), and now allowing people with dubious histories to join the party with high profile celebrations.

I'm not liking what I am seeing.

Headlamps in the News.

In the latest media distraction thread, to steer the public away from the Pakistani Rape gang issue, is the issue of headlamps that are too bright.

Whilst we all have had problems with dazzling white headlamps, the law already caters for the illegally fitted bulbs that are not designed for the headlamps they are fitted to.

The MOT test is supposed to pick up illegal LED and HID headlamp bulbs being fitted into Halogen headlamps. The reason being, the wrong headlamp bulbs will not put the light source in the correct position and the beam pattern will be wrong. In most cases making a broader beam to dazzle oncoming drivers.

However, even the legal LED, HID and Laser headlamps have their issues: they rely on a level sensor, usually fitted to the rear of the vehicle that senses the position of the rear axle and therefore the squat of the vehicle. It should then move the headlamp aim down automatically if the nose of the car aims up.

But, most systems are too slow, or they fail over time. I think I've only ever driven one car where the headlamp beam stayed stable as the car went over bumps. The system was responsive and quick enough to move the headlamps in real time to keep the beam at the same height. Most systems can't react quickly enough even though they may pass regulations. The regulations just test the ability of the system to (eventually) level the headlamps, I assume not the speed of the system in real-time.

Therefore in the car goes over bumps, you can see the headlamp beam rise and fall with bumps in the road, rather than saying level.

The other thing is, this is another level of complication that fails over time. The level sensor may stop registering the height of the rear of the car internally, or the linkage to the suspension may actually break. 

These are things that I assume are not tested at MOT time, or if they are, the vehicle can be driving for weeks or months with headlamps that don't automatically height-adjust. 

But really, have the media not got bigger fish to fry? I mean there's legislation in the MOT test to deal with illegal installations, I assume that faulty height adjusters are dealt with at MOT time. There's not much else that can be done except go back to dim orange headlamps. 

It's a distraction. One that yes, appeals to most people out there, but there are no quick solutions. Lighting technology has moved on. 

Unless the media is whipping up a fake storm with which to beat drivers again. could they for instance bring in new legislation to fine drivers that dazzle? Another tax on the motorist cash-cow?

Or is it just a distraction from Rape gangs? You decide.