MrsDoyle

From the Guardian: "The export figures from Heard Island and McDonald Islands are even more perplexing. The territory does have a fishery but no buildings or human habitation whatsoever.

"Despite this, according to export data from the World Bank, the US imported US$1.4m (A$2.23m) of products from Heard Island and McDonald Islands in 2022, nearly all of which was “machinery and electrical” imports. It was not immediately clear what those goods were.

“In the five years prior, imports from Heard Island and McDonald Islands ranged from US$15,000 (A$24,000) to US$325,000 (A$518,000) per year.”

So my best guess is that someone is running some kind of money laundering scheme involving fictitious imports… I have no idea how this would work, but those figures are insane.

The Norfolk Island tariffs are also barking.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/03/donald-trump-tariffs-antarctica-uninhabited-heard-mcdonald-islands

My sister moved house and noticed a weird smell from the kitchen sink. Plumber found a mini fatberg down the drain. The old bloke they bought the house from had been tipping everything down the plughole. For years.

Exactly. Everyone in Scotland knows what town former prime minister Gordon Brown lives in. Thanks to Google Maps, we know the exact address. It’s the only blurred-out house.

SparQ! (1Gb cartridges, I was never going to fill those suckers.)

There’s a character called Titty in Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons”. The BBC changed her name to Kitty for the TV adaptation.

They also look amazing, with a stunning variety of forms and foliage.

When I think of crypto I think of that bloke grubbing through landfill for a lost hard drive. I think of Sam Bankman Fried. I think of Trump’s meme coin. Yes, I’m sure someone must be explaining it wrong to this old lady.

Get in before the backlash - “bloody Americans, coming over here, taking our jobs…”

pleasant texture

I’d go with “rubbery”.

He’s only 60 - I thought he was much older than that.

Cheap to buy maybe, but expensive to moor and maintain. A friend who bought a small second-hand yacht said his new hobby was tearing up £20 notes in a cold shower.

“I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like his passengers.”

I look like that mouth-hanging-open emoji right now. Convoluted for sure!

Our municipal taxes are paid directly to the local council. Education is funded by central government.

School taxes? What is that?

It’s the same in the UK - employer deducts the tax and National Insurance (which pays for health care, state pension etc), and most of the time it’s correct.

This year I had to do my own tax calculation because of an inheritance, and it was such a pain! But I got some guidance from the HMRC phone line and filed the return online. It turned out I owed a lot less than I’d thought.

Well there’s always the play Toussaint Louverture, written in 1934. Paul Robeson played the title role in 1936 in London. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture:_The_Story_of_the_Only_Successful_Slave_Revolt_in_History

The playwright, CLR James, later wrote a book about the revolt, and revised his play, which went on the stage as The Black Jacobins.

From the Wiki: “In 2018, it was announced that the book was going to be made into a television programme thanks to Bryncoed Productions, with the assistance of Kwame Kwei-Armah.”

Bryncoed was founded by Foz Allan. I did a bit of poking around but found nothing linking either of them or Kwei-Armah with The Black Jacobins. I would love to see a TV series on the revolt, I hope something comes to pass. CLR James was an interesting fellow too, his achievements deserve more recognition.

I’m not really up on the Bible, but wasn’t it Joseph who was allegedly descended from David? Joseph, who definitely wasn’t the father of Jesus?

Ski goggles. https://sfstandard.com/2022/12/25/the-worlds-only-private-ski-resort-where-mark-zuckerberg-and-bill-gates-hit-the-slopes/

Some of my non-techie friends were complaining about how rubbish Google search is now and I suggested Duck Duck Go. They couldn’t get past the name. I know it’s based on some childhood game in the US but it makes no sense to anyone here in the UK.