Fuck me. Klein has always been trash but this is a whole new level even for him.
Queensland's Parliament is currently considering a bill which would effectively ban ebikes. They would be unable to go more than 10 km/h on footpaths and shared paths, which make up over 90% of the so-called "bike paths" in Brisbane. It will also force you to have a driver's licence to ride an ebike, ban under-16s from riding them at all, and increase the penalty for riding without a helmet for both ebikes and analogue bikes.
There's also the niche fact that it will require ebikes be compliant with the EN 15194:2017+A1:2023 standard, instead of just the basic EN 15194 standard. This is a specific niche change that means all older ebikes and even most currently-sold ebikes will be non-compliant with the technicalities of the law, even though they fit within the basic premise of being: (a) pedal assist, (b) 250 W maximum, and (c) incapable of going more than 25 km/h with motor assistance. One of the cycling advocates in Brisbane went to a local major bike store and checked their inventory. They only sold one model that complied with this new standard. And it was a child's bike, and thus de facto illegal under these laws regardless, since children cannot ride ebikes.
Next week, Aldi's specials will include a folding ebike. It will almost certainly not be compliant with the 2023 standard.
The details of the bill and the committee can be found here: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=272&id=8575
Or you can contact the committee directly here: SDIWC@parliament.qld.gov.au
Submissions to the committee close at 10 am this coming Friday . So get them in by Thursday evening!
Greens MP Michael Berkman has created an easy-to-use form to help with making a submission: https://www.michaelberkman.com.au/emobility
I fucking hate the way Facebook changed how the site works so that clicking on an image no longer puts it in your browser history. Earlier today I saw a post where the swimmer whose track was shown in this specific image responded to the comments. It was actually quite an amusing interaction and I wish I could go back and share it here.
But also: the swimmer was a she, not a he.
edit:
wait I found it:
Sophie's link: https://sophie-adaptive-athlete.com/2023/01/18/2023-channel-swim-introduction/
Text transcription
A series of Facebook comments.
Claire Fletcher: He didn’t make it. Is he ok or he still swimming? [attached is a close-up of the path, showing that it ends some distance away from the coastline]
Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete: Claire Fletcher I did make it, the GPS transponder was on my pilot boat but the beach was too shallow for it to come in close enough so instead my pilot launched the small RIB boat to accompany me to shore 🙂
Melissa Dupree Haws: Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete wow! The real swimmer here! I’m so amazed at this feat of athleticism.
Claire Fletcher: Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete omg the actual swimmer is here AND a she not a he! That’s amazing! What made you want to do it? Was it a personal goal or for charity? Full respect to you by the way, well done!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Robert Mothersole: Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete so while you're here, if you dont mind me asking.....Why didn't you go straight ?
Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete: Robert Mothersole I did, in the English Channel the tides move up and down rather than across so you get 6 hours up, then 6 hours down. I swam on a Spring tide, which is a bigger tide to start with and I'm not a super fast swimmer (around 2 min 15 per 100m). So i was pushed up the channel for 6 hours, then down the channel for 6 hours twice...so i was swimming forwards but going sideways, if that makes sense?
Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete: Claire Fletcher its a long story...it was a personal, life changing goal, it raised money for charity and that money went to training swimming teachers to become specialist disability swimming teachers. If you want to know more then I write a blog and during the year of my channel training I documented my training each month. This is the first one explaining about me/how I got to where I was at the time - https://sophie-adaptive-athlete.com/.../2023-channel.../ If you scroll through my other blog posts I wrote multiple blogs about my actual swim too 🙂
Claire Fletcher: Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete that’s truly amazing! Well done you! Should be very proud of yourself! I am going to binge read your blogs now with a cuppa lol
Robert Mothersole: Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete it does make sense, it's a bit different from the local swimming baths, thanks for your answer and congratulations on swimming the Channel. Brilliant achievement 👍
Sophie Etheridge - Adaptive Athlete: Claire Fletcher hope you enjoyed them and your cuppa!
We can blame the religious organisation as much as we want, but the fundamental problem here is payment processors. They should be common carriers. Content-neutral middlemen who facilitate payment to anything that isn't literally unlawful. This is no different to an ISP throttling access to Netflix because they operate their own streaming platform. If the storefront, the developer, and the buyer are all ok with a transaction, there's no good reason for a fourth party to stand in the way of that.
Fake and gay.
No way the engineer corrects the mathematician for using j instead of i.
The CIA wrote a manual on how to do this. It's a bit old and parts of it are outdate for some times of work, but a lot of it is still useful.
And I hope youhave learned to ~~sanitize your inputs~~ not fucking use generative AI for grading
Ftfy
apparently he didn’t even get paid and covered his own travel costs
Holy shit that's bad. Can't even try to claim the excuse of "a job is a job" and claiming there's no politics to it.
the feminine species
Anon is a Trans Inclusive Radical Sexist.
Safe, sure. Efficient? Not even close.
It's far, far more expensive than renewable energy. It also takes far, far longer to build a plant. Too long to meet 2030 targets even if you started building today. And in most western democracies you wouldn't even be able to get anything done by 2040 if you also add in political processes, consultation, and design of the plant.
There's a reason the current biggest proponents of nuclear energy are people and parties who previously were open climate change deniers. Deciding to go to nuclear will give fossil fuel companies maximum time to keep doing their thing. Companies which made their existence on the back of fossil fuels, like mining companies and plant operators also love it, because it doesn't require much of a change from their current business model.
The meme says "IRS", so it's obviously intended to refer to America.
But outside of that context, they'd fucking deserve it for their shitty dark pattern UX trying to export American tipping culture into the civilised world. If people want to tip, they can do it using cash (so the money actually goes to the person you intended it to!). Or at most, there could be a little "tip" button in the corner somewhere that then takes you to a page like this. It shouldn't be shoved in our faces like this.
Fuck me. I've just tuned out after that one. Don't even care anymore.