We need to do better on fuel consumption
RE: ‘Fuel prices must go up, says watchdog’ (Mail) – the world, including Western nations, desperately needs to be smarter with vehicular fuel consumption; therefore, we need to forgo purchasing the most gratuitously environmentally hazardous of vehicles.
Yet many drivers of superfluously huge and over-powered, gasguzzling vehicles seem to consider this a basic human right. It may scare them to even contemplate a world in which they can no longer readily fuel that ‘right’, especially since much quieter electric cars are no substitute.
Meanwhile, I see parked vehicles idling for many minutes in moderate weather.
There’ll also be the odd chokingthick-exhaust-spewing vanity vehicle, a metallic beast with the signature gratuitously large body and wheels that don’t at all appear intended for work or family transport. They appear as though they might get 25 gallons to the mile. They’re the same gratuitously huge monsters that when parked roadside hazardously block the view of short-car operators turning or crossing through stop-signed intersections.
Inside each is the operator, typically staring down into their lap, probably at their smartphone. They may be some of the people posting protestations onto various social-media platforms about a possible fuel price increase, however comparatively small.
Canada’s carbon tax manages to induce some the shrillest complaints – even though it’s more than recouped (except for very high-income earners) via federal government rebate. And once again the disturbing mass addiction to fossil fuel products by the larger public is exposed.
Trump card?
WHEN the self-proclaimed great business leader Donald Trump produced his latest creation, the golden shoes, they sold out almost immediately. I was interested to see what else he was licensing, and Google supplied many examples, including the following:
Trump urine test kits – it seems like he was taking the p**s out of the purchasers. Trump steaks – probably full of fat. Trump aftershave – useless to someone like me who sports a beard as well as real hair. The last one was the Donald Trump playing cards – not a full pack, no aces and a lot of jokers.
The real worry is that he is trying to sell one more dangerous product to the country: himself. There will not be a refund for faulty service or no service. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne, Australia.
Navalny’s legacy
I’M reading Declan Moore’s letter (Mail) in which he says Alexei Navalny should be seen as a hero and a medal struck in his honour.
All deaths are tragic but we must look at every aspects of a person’s life before bestowing such awards. Navalny once preached hatred of Muslims, describing them as cockroaches that needed to be exterminated. Maybe a bit of thought is required before putting anyone on a pedestal.
MARK LIVINGSTONE, Belfast. ... DECLAN Moore is correct: Navalny’s bravery in returning to Putin’s Russia was of a rare kind indeed. It puts one in mind of the actions of the White Rose antiHitler activists in wartime Germany and of the handful of courageous Germans who attempted to kill Hitler, knowing full well the fate they faced. True martyrs all.
MIKE ROYCROFT, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
Sin bin problems
BLUE cards for ‘sin bins’ are to be trialled in soccer, yet the governing body, IFAB, has not thought about referees at grassroots level.
At a higher level, the time that sin-binned players leave the pitch and when they are allowed back on will be recorded by the fourth official. At grassroots level, we don’t have the luxury of a fourth official (you’re often lucky to have a linesman). That means the referee will be badgered by coaches to allow players back on the pitch – an unwanted distraction, especially if you have two ‘mouthy’ sides to control.