Marilyn's Photos - Driverless Vehicles vs Stupid Drivers

 

We are skeptical of driverless vehicles.  Perhaps it is because we are comparing their driving to our own, rather than to the driving of stupid people.  No one considers themselves stupid, so it is about those other people. What do we mean by stupid people? And is that different than the worst drivers?  It seems that worst drivers is a more popular topic than stupid ones.  Stupid implies lack of intelligence, and worst points to their driving results.  Worst is so much easier to observe.  So on to the worst drivers. I found an article HERE that ranks the best and worst drivers in the world.  The best?  Japan, then Netherlands, Norway, Estonia and Sweden.  The worst? Thailand, Peru, Lebanon, India and Malaysia.  Where is Canada?  In the worst list.  Where is the U.S.? Also in the worst list.  The factors used for the rankings were road quality, speed limits, alcohol limits and traffic fatality rates.  Thailand is head and shoulders above the rest - known for speeding, reckless passing, and failure to obey traffic laws. Russia is known for the most viral videos of accidents.   Another article looked at male vs female statistics, age statistics and country statistics and amenities up with this conclusion:   "...if you’re a male teenager in Thailand thinking about driving, find you’re running late and start to feel aggravated…it’s best to just stay home." In comparison, driverless vehicles live a mundane life.  They don't pass on the right, speed above the limit, and so on.  The "worst" scenario is mostly missing.  Perhaps it is the notion of  "stupid" that applies.  Driverless vehicles seem to have fewer accidents under routine conditions.  They have higher crash risks when turning, or in dim light like dawn and dusk.  And this scenario? Driverless cars "roaming" the streets empty of passengers or cargo?  That was one headline.  I couldn't guess this future scenario.  And when I give it some thought - could it be that there's no honking, squealing of tires, cutting each other off, passing on the right, and all the myriad of human aggressions on the road? that was a tiny moment of bliss.  The futurists seem to think it is that time between the all driverless and the all human driver period that we have to watch out for.  They expect the human-drive cars to get more aggressive.  Here's the last paragraph of an interesting article tackling the topic: "Meanwhile, if you see a self-driving car coming down the street, be prepared for not what the self-driving car will do, but instead for what the human drivers nearby the self-driving car will do. Those pesky and inconsiderate human drivers will do what they do, including and especially when they come upon a self-driving car."

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Marilyn's Photos - July 5j 2025 - Pilotless Jets vs Driverless Cars

 

A pilotless jet is more compelling news to me than a driverless car.  However, a pilotless jet is less likely to directly impact my life.  MSN covered this news in the Daily Aviation youtube channel - it is a jet that has been modified into a full-scale target drone for the US Air Force.  The retired F-16s are converted into full-scale aerial target drones used for training to "help naval personnel practice air-to-air engagements."  They mimic subsonic cruise missiles in fleet training and weapons testing.   MSN makes things sound new but it turns out that this isn't new stuff:  "Other U.S. jet fighters, including the F-100, F-102, F-106, and F-4, have become target drones. Air Force experts use converted jet fighters as target drones to test sophisticated missiles and electronic warfare systems." "Although some of these retired jet fighter target drones are destroyed during weapons tests, often the drones rely on onboard sensors to calculate the point of missile detonations to record "kills" without destroying the target aircraft." That all seems like very expensive practice equipment.   Closer to home, the news announced in May that 20 driverless delivery vehicles are coming to Toronto as part of a pilot program.  It started at the end of June!  They will be under the observation of humans in cars.  The vehicles are operating within an area roughly bounded by Eglinton Avenue to the north, College Street to the south, Avenue Road to the east, and Parkside Drive to the west, with an additional deployment in the Junction neighbourhood.  Now that they are here for a few days, is there any news?  Only one headline from the Toronto Sun which requires a subscription.  Oh well.

I went to a Hamilton home show one March and this was out front on display.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 4th 2025 - Prison Wear

 

I wondered about the prison wear that Diddy Combs would be wearing during his upcoming short stay in prison. It made me think of the prison wear from long past - the big wide horizontal stripes.  They were more circus wear than prison wear to me. However, their intent was  to create humiliation. Articles in May 2025 said that Diddy Combs was allowed to receive non-prison clothing for his trial.  "The singer, 55, can have five button-down shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks, and up to two pairs of shoes without laces."   We won't see pictures of Combs in neon orange jumpsuits. Orange jumpsuits are for high risk prisoners.  And he's no longer a high-risk prisoner, is he?  The orange suits are also used for court appearances, but not Combs with his special privileges.   Famous and infamous have similar exemptions.  I might be cynical, but I think the view is that the sex trafficking was really just a bit of prostitution, that the "victims" must have consented.  Victim consent is still the norm in the public's mind. The tradition of giving of privileges to criminals is long-standing.  The U.S. is given to idolizing criminals. Think Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, John Dillinger, and so many more. They have been romanticized over the many decades. Is that all in the past?  What about these criminals right here and now?  The consensus is that Diddy Combs will stage a career comeback.  Donald Trump just recently did this.  All those criminal charges and being convicted were found to strengthen his political position.  But there's a difference between a comeback and being idolized as a criminal. Diddy Combs will likely fade from view. Donald Trump?  Given Americans know he is a criminal: a YouGov survey found that 2/3 of Americans say Donald Trump has definitely or probably committed crimes, then what?  Hie is in the "line-up" for idolizing and adoration. It is just a matter of time.

Isn't this great!  A picture from the past when we were in Toronto and I took pictures through the glass block window in the dining room.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 2 2025 - Which Country is up next

 

Which country is up next?  Celebrating or commemorating its existence.  There's quite a cluster on July 1st - Canada, British Virgin Islands, Burundi, Hong Kong, Madeira, Rwanda, and Somalia.  Up next is Curacao with their National Anthem and Flag Day on July 2nd, then Belarus on July 3rd.  Finally, the United States on July 4th (with its arguments over whether it should really be July 2nd).  It might be independence from France - that's Algeria on July 5th, Cape Verde's independence from Portugal and Venezuela's independence from Spain. All the differentiations of a Nation Day. Our celebration day is about a coming together.   The Wikipedia description:  "commemorates the creation of Canadian Confederation, the process by Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into one federation called the Dominion of Canada in 1867."  The Province of Canada became Ontario and Quebec.  Other countries celebrate their "independence from."  One looks at a list of conquering and colonizing nations such as Spain (Kingdom of Spain), Portugal, United Kingdom (or the British Empire), France, and so on.  Isn't France distinctive with Bastille Day - the storming of the Bastille on July 14th 1789.   Mexico celebrates its Independence Day on September 16th - the beginning of the War of Independence from Spain.  It probably took a while to complete. Not one country celebrates itself on December 31st, the last day of the year.  Turn to January 1st and there's more optimism. Cuba, Haiti and Sudan celebrate their national day. China seems to have a few days and it celebrates January 1st as Founding Day.  But then China has much history as a nation.  I wonder how long it takes to study their history in school. And what about Australia?  On January 26th it celebrates Australia Day, commemorating the establishment of a British prison settlement at Port Jackson in 1788.  It is also known as Survival Day and Invasion Day - lots going on there. And the United Kingdom?  It does not seem to have a recognized national day and celebrates the King's Official birthday.  Nothing for Wales or England.  Ireland has March 17th (of course) Saint Patrick's Day, and Scotland has the Feast day of Saint Andrew. With all the events in the world, one starts to wonder about the birth of a nation.  Some seem to  evolve, some are unifications of similar or disparate groups.  Others are declarations through conflict.  I wonder how these beginnings are embedded in  social fabric of a nation. Canada seems quite young.  Who is the oldest nation?  It is considered to be San Marino, tracing back to 301 AD with unbroken self-governance. There are older nations based on different criteria.  Look at Egypt - it was founded in 3150 B.C.E. - the estimated beginning the reign of Narmer.  And who but England would have the oldest constitution - the 1215 Magna Carter.   I seem to think that Shakespeare could only have come from England because of this historic start.

Here's something I created quite a few years ago - light painting with a sparkler in the dark  Seems like a good image for today.

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Marilyn's Photos - June 30 2025 - Strong Words

 

When we were children, if someone was going to have "strong words" with you - it meant trouble - a scolding or similar.  At least it was verbal.  Today strong words are called power words.  0- persuasive terms meant to evoke emotional responses and influence actions.  Trying to retrieve the origin is a dilemma, as the phrase isn't acknowledged as a phrase.   I did find 'strongly-worded' as in She sent a strongly-worded letter to the manager.  He received a strongly-worded email from his boss.  The committee issued a strongly-worded statement against the proposal. Do you know that when you search for strongly-worded jokes, Dad jokes is what comes up: What do you call a fake dad? A faux pas. Why do dogs float in water? Because they’re good buoys. What should you do if your puppy isn’t feeling well? Take him to the dog-tor. Why couldn’t the lifeguard rescue the hippie? Because he was too far out, man. Anything can be called a Dad Joke.

More roses from the RBG rose garden.

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