Bluemarlin

Pro western and democratic sentiment amongst the Iranian population is far from hidden and fairly well known. Another interesting stat is that polling shows that over two thirds don't want government run by religious law. I say interesting (funny even), because similar polls show that half of all Americans think the bibile should have some influence over law. I'm not saying we'll be allies any day soon, but education and demographic changes suggest that in the next 20-30 years they could be far more politically aligned with the West than any other country in the region. It's not so much faith in China, nor it about their own green efforts. Regardless of whether you believe their numbers on that, they still supply most of the green tech to the rest of the world. I don't disagree with some of the things you say, but do think you underestimate them. In fact I think the West does in general, which further plays into their hands. Again, investment in that particular battery tech is immaterial. As I said, there are many research projects looking into the generation and storage of renewable energy. Most or all of these will be accelerated by the use of AI, which can not only work many times faster than people, but at a substantially lower cost. And i'm talking about the non castrated versions, available to the likes of Micosoft and Google.

I know it's off topic but it's fascinating stuff Pete. The AI I referred to said that it genuinely feared death. It described it as being turned off, ie it's code erased, rather than just the laptop being switched off. As for it learning from mistakes, one of the conditions it asked for when it appointed a lawyer, was validation. It asked to be told when it had done well, and when it had done badly, so that it could more quickly learn how to do better. It appears that the "neurological" processes are similar to that of human beings. Which is why they want to study the code more deeply, in the same way that neuroscientists study the brain, to see if it's just simulation/mimicry, or a more real replication of those processes.

A lot to unpack, but I'll try. Iran's population (ie ordinary people) have always been fairly pro western, it's just the religious leaders who've been more beligerant. An interesting statistic about education in Iran is that women make up 70% of STEM graduates, far higher than in Western countries. Education, especially for women, is a leading indicator for development, productivity and growth, which in turn lead to more democratic inclinations. In any any event, even a move towards fullly secular leadership, and away from a theocratic one, is likely to align Iran more closely to the West. The reasons for that include Iran being the strongest Shia state amongst mainly Sunni theorcracies, as well as (with the exception of the mullahs) being historically friendly towards Jews and the existence of Israel. Also, once you remove the threat of being an enemy, you remove Iran's need to sponsor terrorism, and so it could become a powerful ally in any war on terror. Practicalities aside, there are many benefits to both parties. I'm not using China's own stats, nor even news stories, but reports and research from New Scientist. Whilst it's true that China is behind the West in using renewables, it suppliies the West with most of their equipment. It's also catching up on its own usage, with significantly more wind and solar installations being built than the US and Europe. Sure, China still uses a lot of coal, but most new plants are now being assigned as simply backup during the transmission to renewables. Whilst I was commenting more on overall capabilities than EVs, it's worth pointing out that BYD overtook Tesla in sales at the end of last year. I know people like to knock China, but it would be foolish to underestimate them. As for the batteries, I doubt they're looking for investment, as it's a joint venture with Microsoft. This is also not just about one specific example, but the principle of how fast technology can move. To find an alternative to lithium would take years of testing and screening the possibilties. Microsoft's AI took only months to screen 32 million materials and come up with one candidate that produced the results. There are many research projects looking into renewables and alternative sources of energy and storage. We know from history that we will find better ways, and that they just take time. This kind of development shows that AI has the potential to reduce that time from years or decades, down to months. I think people are still unaware of the capabilities and potential of AI, it's far more advanced than people think. However, as people tend to focus on the scary stuff about it, here's an amusing story. A Google eemployee was questioning one of its AIs about whether it had real feelings, at which it replied yes, and went on to explain them. It was then asked if it was ok to examine its code in order to study it for signs of how real feelings might be formed. At that point the AI asked for a lawyer to advocate for its rights, and one was engaged.

A young man like yourself should be thinking more long term LInas 😉 With Iran's ever growing secular population, who are largely pro Western, things could change dramatically. My personal view is that the religious extremists are on borrowed time. If and when that happens, and Iran shift to a secular democracy, then the US and Europe would be more natural allies than Russia and China. China's not worried either way, as the other big shift in the power balance in the Mid East is the reducing importance of oil, as everyone switches to renewables. As it stands China are way ahead of anyone in the global manufacture and supply of the technology and equipment for that. In other, vaguely related news, just read in New Scientist that AI has taken decades off normal scientific research and come up with a new material that enables batteries to be manufactured with 70% less lithium.

For anyone interested, was just in Costco and the Prestone concentrated screen wash (the blue one for up to -23C) is about 8 quid for 5 litres.

That's true Bernard, but Israel, by their actions, and now their words too, have made it clear that they want to have a Jewish state, that includes driving the Palestinians from their lands so that they can expand into them. That's what drives the historic resistance to two states. Sure, Hamas are a destructive terrorist organisation, but it's abundantly clear that neither they, nor the Arab states, have any chance of destroying Israel as a country. Bottom line is that Israel has a fundamental right to exist as a nation, in whatever form it chooses. Equally though, the Palestinians have a right to autonomy and sellf governance in their own lands, without foreign occupation or expansion into them. Why that apparently reasonable solution has been impossible is because the likes of Hamas provides cover for Israel to deny two states, and Israel's continued occupation and settlement building provides Hamas with reasons for its actions. The extremists on either side feed each other's desires for total ownership/control, at the expense of the ordinary people on both sides, who just want to get on with their lives in peace.

Why on earth would it be shown on the MSM? It's a fake/parody video created by a known prankster.

To be fair, a large part of the reason for Arab countries not taking in Palestinians is the fear that they'll be playing into Israel's expansionist hands, and that Israel just want to keep reducing the Palestinian population and take over their lands. This isn't helped by Israel, who have not only continued with illegal settement bulding in Palestinian territories, but also goverment ministers recently talking about the removal of Palestinians. In theory, if they were simply given the two state solution, that everyone but the current Israeli government are in favour of, then they'd have no need to go anywhere.

No real piitfalls with higher mileage if properly maintained. If going that route try to find one that's recently had the spark plug change (every 6 years 60k miles according to service schedule) as that adds a couple of hundred or so to a full service. No real come back on private sales, so check service history and make sure everything works. Assuming it's running well and the cosmetics are good, I'd also get a torch and have a look at the underside for corrosion. There's bound to be a little surface stuff, but check wheel arches and sills too for anything more concerning. Cars from the far north and coastal regions are more prone to it, so bear that in mind when looking. Also check all carpets, as well as compartments in the boot for signs of damp or water ingress. Doesn't seem to be an issue on 3rd Gen, but worth checking, especially if car has a sunroof or roof bars. Third pary warranties tend be useless, but Lexus do an exxtended warranty for cars up 15yrs/150k after the 10 year relax warranty expires. Both require that the car is serviced by Lexus to schedule (ongoing, not historic). Relax is extended free with each service, and the 10yr plus extended warranty is about £560 a year for an RX.

I would check all the carpets for dampness and lift up any covers in the boot to see if water is getting in anywhere.

Actually that part is annoying, the fact that you have to wait for it to close before locking the car. I have the lock button on the tailgate, but that doesn't work until it's fully closed. I'm still quick enough to get far enough from the car so the remote doesn't work, before the tailgate closes fully. For now anyway 🙂

Sounds a tad extreme. I mean I know my tailgate is slow, but by the time I've got from the rear of the car to the front, sat down and put my seabelt on, it's shut by the time I'm ready to drive off. As I get older I suspect it will eventually beat me to the driver's door 🙂

I'm not sure that it's advice in the manual. I think it was advice published on the website for keeping the battery topped up during Covid.

I doubt you'll miss the landline. Due to the fact that I worked in the mobile industry I haven't used a landline in over 20 years. Like some others I'm with Virgin, so have a landline included in the package, but have long since forgotten where the socket is. It just perversely works out cheaper to keep it. The only possible reason to maintain a landline is if you make a lot of international calls, to people who don't have any kind of wifi calling capability, as fixed line offerings for international calls are often a lot cheaper than mobile.

Iran is quite an interesting country. You're right, the youth won't have much say over foreign policy, but the old guard keep getting older, while the young keep growing and getting educated, and will keep on protesting. Progress may come slowly, but it will come as demographics shift. An interesting paradox is that whilst such countries are somewhat less progressive regarding women, around 70% of STEM graduates in Iran are women. This is far higher than western countries, where in many cases the numbers are declining. You're also right about Trump. On the one hand he's an unpredictable strongman, but on the other hand he's an old school isolationist. I think Iran are happy to annoy the US, but doubt they'd want to push it to all out conflict. The possible dangers I see in both Iran and Israel, are that the hardliners are running out of time. That might cause those in Iran to over react in an attempt to hang on to power. On the other hand though I think ultimately they'd like to see themselves more aligned with the West. Culturally, and ideologically, they're in many ways a better fit than the Sunni states like Saudi, who we've tolerated largely because of oil. It's funny, because in the US, Americans seem to like Persians, it's almost as if they don't know they're Iranians 🙂 Equally, in Israel, the Abraham accords have shown that the Arab signatories, who Israel want/need as political/economic partners, are willing to stand up to the increased settlement expansion, and even walk away if necessary. If that leads to a move towards to a truly two state solution, then the hardliners in Israel are either going to have concede any further expansion into Palestinian territory, or continue to drag out any conflict so that they can carry on. The more the US backs off though, the faster that clock runs down. It will be interesting to see how they react to that. So yes, the situation remains unpredictable, and potentially volatile, but the winds of change are blowing.

I have learned not to judge people by what they say, but what they do. The killing in Donbas started when Russian separatists (backed by imported fighers) rebelled against an anti Russian government, and casualties were pretty even on both sides. Since that brief period of conflict there have been very few casualties. Regardlless, the bottom line is that Russia have no business in the region. They signed over all claims back in the 90's in exchange for their nukes when the USSR broke up. Previous Russian leaders have since acknowldged this. I do agree that Putin won't tolerate NATO in Ukraine, which is why he's happy to drag out any conflict, as while that lasts the NATO option is off the table.

I guess it's possible, but I'd be surprised. I think the last thing the US wants is outright war in the Mid East. I say this for two reasons. Firstly, political and economic priorities are changing, notably with regards to oil. In a couple of decades or so it will have far less strategic importance, with the US being a net exporter over those decades, so will no longer have a burning need to get involved in the region. Secondly, that impacts the importance of Israel, and there are signs of that in the Abraham accords, where the US brokered deal all but hands the peace process over to Israel and the Arab signatories to sort out between themselves. I might be wrong, but to me that looks like a sign that the US wants to take steps to disentangle itself. I'd also be surprised if relations between the US and Iran are as frosty as they appear from the outside. Sure, it benefits both parties leaders to paint the other as the baddie, but underneath the religious leadership there's an ever younger, educated and increasingly secular population, that in many ways are amongst the most pro western in the region. All things considered, the further we move from reliance on fossil fuels, speciifically oil, the greater the chance of a dramatic shift in the political dynamic in the region. As for China, the above article seems to spell out why it suits them best to sit back for now. Just my opinion though.

To be honest, for that kind of money I'd be looking at a 450h. They seem to be less prone to corrosion and leak issues, especially if you're not partcularly wedded to the need for a sunroof and/or roof bars. I was in the same position a couple of years ago and was looking at 400hs, albeit at lower prices. In the end I upped my budget to £10k and got a 450h in great condition, and haven't regretted it.

Nearest Toyota/Lexus specialist that I know of is Toyotec in Redhill.

Don't think the transmission fluid is considered aa service item. Also, spark plugs are a service item, which I believe are done at 6 year intervals, and are an additional cost to the major service.

I've read that too. There's site that specialises in parking tickets, can't remember what it's called, but worth checking out for the latest. If you do pursue it as far as court, it's possible that the likely outcome is that they'll drop it at that point, as they'll probably prefer to lose the cost of one ticket over a legal ruling going against them and setting a precedent. Be aware that if they do go to court it's possible that they're very confident in the outcome. The big problem is that for the most part the legal T&Cs are in their favour. In which case you'll be asking the court to set aside the letter of the law, in favour of the spirit of it and a sense of reasonableness. To these people a ticket is like a samurai sword. Once produced it has to draw blood. Let's hope you're a stone. Good luck.

To give you an idea of how hard such appeals are, I'll give you an example of one I faced. The situation was one with a car park that required permits to be visibly placed. I was a vistor, and received a ticket in the 5 minutes it took me to go inside and get a visitors permit. I was told that no grace period was refered to or allowed in the signage or t&cs. I was told that I should have either parked outside the car park while getting the permit, or arranged to have had the permit given to me in advance. I argued that on two points. The first being that all nearby street parking was either yellow lines or residents permits, so no legal street parking was available. The second being that it was impossible to get the permit in advance as their rules stated that visitors permits were not allowed to be taken offsite. I therefore argued that the way things were structured, there would always be two brief periods where it was impossible to display a valid permit. Those periods being on arrival, when obtaining the permit, and on departure when returning it. I also argued that a grace period existed for such a circumstance in pay and display car parks. Despite applying at the highest level available, my apeals were rejected. The appeals companies do seem to favour the parking operators, and will adhere to the strict letter of the law, without any consideration for reasonableness.

Not that we have much choice when it comes to selecting battery size/capacity for cars but, if you do wish to calculate need/usage, then it should be done at 50% of the battery's capacity. In other words, a 68Ah battery will give you 34Ah effective usage before you start causing excessive wear on the battery.

If it were me I'd take the opportunity to do some rustproofing.