World Cup Anomaly

I was checking the fixtures for the knockout stages for the world cup and noticed it didn't add up and didn't make sense, they expanded the number of 4 team groups to 12 and they added a 32 team knockout stage. If there is twelve groups then only 24 would pass through, where were the other 8 teams coming from?

I turned to my ai friends to clarify what had happened. The ai explained to me that fifa wanted to add an extra layer of the knockout stage of the cup but they didn't want 16 groups so they would let the best 8 relegated teams pass through the group stage, this means some of the groups would have an extra team passing through. 

England are playing dr Congo on Wednesday, they came 3rd in their group so normally they would have been relegated from the next portion of the tournament but they are one of the 8 teams that played well and got enough points to squeeze through the back door. It will be an interesting game. 

I watched the Panama and England game on Saturday night. England were taking some long shots from the edge of the goal zone but the Panama defence was tight so in the second half they focused on keeping possession on their side of the pitch and shooting when there was an opening. To cut a long story short, they got their act together in the second half of the game and won 2 goals to 0. 

With an extra layer of the tournament to add a week of football to the world cup, things will be more interesting. 

Near 8 again

I learnt recently that there was another near 8 rickter earthquake; this time it was in Venezuela. I think it was 7.5 on the rickter scale. As you get close to 8, the power of the earthquake becomes too extreme, it can topple the strongest of buildings. The whole ground rumbles and shakes hard. This is the second time it happened this year, there was one in the Philippines and now Venezuela. If there is a third one in the year then it would show they're getting more and more frequent. At the moment there is about 2 near-eights every year. (I think I am the only person that calls them near-eights). 

I think the weather is affecting the fault lines, it is raining more often in various places and this may be lubricating the rocks so they can slide past eachother. 

I feel like the earth itself is reacting to the evil of mankind. It is like our wickedness is making the whole planet react like a conscious-being feeling sick. 

While this was happening, I was thinking what I could do if I had a workshop. I have no space time or money for such a hobby but I thought I could build a games console that doubles as a fake window. It would be a freestanding structure with a window inside it and lights that make it look like it is a real window. With the push of a button a roller blind would pop out the top and roll down as a screen with a projector in the window cavity. The fake window would have overlays behind the plexiglass panels to show a pleasant terrain and there could be yellowish and red L.E.D. lights to make fake daylight. There are so many spoilt rich people that feel sad, perhaps they just need a hobby that pushes their skills to the limits, a hobby that is very difficult and engaging. 

Heat Wave

It was very hot today, all the roads and concrete structures were giving off heat, they were storing it up and releasing it and it was humid. I can't help but think what it would be like if our homes were partially below ground and insulated from the elements, both the cold and heat. 

If the majority of your home was laid out as a basement with a similar ratio to an iceberg then it would be cool in the summer and hot in the winter. When you see an ice berg in the ocean, most of it is under water. 

There would only be a small portion of your home sticking out of the ground, the lobby and entrance. Everything else would be below the ground. You wouldn't know of it was raining, snowing or windy. Perhaps there would be some fake windows that always show nice weather, windows with a screen or lights behind them. 

UK Leader Resigns

Yesterday the Leader of the United Kingdom, Kier Starmer resigned as prime minister. Most the experts think Andy Burnham will take his place. There were a lot of signs Kier was going to resign, his party was losing a lot of seats in local council elections, the secretary of defence resigned because he thought the budget amendments were too tight to run his department and even his own party wanted him to step down. 

keir Starmer was the leader of the labour party, they tend to be public sector or civil servants like teachers and lawyers. Conservative party  tend to be business orientated like bank employees and business directors. There is some lee way between the two groups but they're both a fish out of water when running a county because it is a different landscape to navigate. 

Andy Burnham was the Mayor of Manchester so his role was similar to running a country. Running a city and running a country are similar I think, just on a different scale. Perhaps he will have better luck. 

I feel like we have been trying different things now, like we're navigating a labyrinth in the dark and every time we reach a dead end, the leader steps down. It has been like that for about 10 years. Will we find the exit to stagnation? I don't know. 

Drones Football and Trains

I watched the England opening game against Croatia on Wednesday night. England eventually won the match and rose to the top of Group L. There are two more group matches left for England. I found it amusing that Scotland are high up in their group and so is the USA. Imagine Scotland a small country with roughly 10 million people playing USA, a country with more than 400 million people. It's like a David and Goliath story. 

Drone warfare is becoming more popular in the world because they are very cheap and easy to deploy, if they are shot down, the weapon is usually more expensive so it's productive on different levels. An army would shoot down a £70 drone with a £100,000 missile and it would still feel like a loss because of the contrast in price. A swarm of drones with explosives can do a lot of damage. 

Unfortunatly an express train heading to Luton airport crashed during the weekend, the driver of the train passed away. We don't know what happened exactly, all they know is the train crashed into another train that was not moving. I'll continue to observe the findings as they come. 

Tomatoes in the Window

If you wanted to grow plants in your window, I would recommend growing tomatoes. I have two cherry tomato plants in a window box, I get fresh tomatoes for my sandwiches or salad. They taste delicious. You need to give them a cup of water every day in the warmer months they drink a lot of water. If they're not leaning against the glass, turn the window box around because the vine isn't strong enough to carry the weight of the fruit. If your window pane is on the outside, the tomato plant won't survive the frost, it is a tropical plant. 

Some of the material in the fruit is made from my breath because I breathe out carbon dioxide and the plant uses carbon dioxide to build plant tissue. The plant uses air, water and sunlight to build itself and produce fruits. 

A Bit Daft

I learnt recently that the prime minister has passed a law where people under 16 years old can't use YouTube and other video platforms. I thought to myself that he is being a bit daft. Does he not know that these platforms are on all the smart TV screens. Toy makers will stop putting adds on there and the company  values will go down, they will pay less tax. The platform will ask,  how old are you? 😂 

If they somehow pull it off and find a way to block under 16 year olds from using the platformss, they would be throwing content creators that make vids for children under a bus. 

I imagined a conversation with Kier Starmer and Blippy.  

kier :  Hello Blippy. 

Blippy : Hello Kier.

kier :  What's it like making children's  exploration vids

Blippy :  I work very hard and a burned a few bridges but it's worth it. 

kier : Well I have blocked children from your platform so your channel will die now. Have a good day. Cheerio. 

These guys need to come into the real world and think about what they're doing.