Problem -> Reaction -> Solution. The UK started arresting people for liking FB posts. Arresting people for what is free speech. Now the UK has scrapped trial by jury for crimes with sentences less than 3 years. Slippery slope folks. When will the people rise up? Oh yeah, they took the guns in the 80's. We all live in what we believe is a Constituional Republic or Democracy. But make no mistake as the noose tightens the mask will come off.

The UK has saturated the court system with so many cases involving free speech that they have decreed they can put you in jail for 3 years solely on the order of a judge. Gulag archipelago anyone???

Jury trials scrapped for crimes with sentences of less than three years
Dominic Casciani Home and legal correspondent and Tom McArthur

Jury trials in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years will be scrapped, the justice secretary has announced.

The reforms to the justice system include creating "swift courts" under the government's plan to tackle unprecedented delays in the court system.

Serious offences including murder, robbery and rape will still go before a jury, and volunteer community magistrates, who deal with the majority of all criminal cases, will take on even more work.

David Lammy said the reforms were "bold" but "necessary", but the Conservatives described the plans as the "beginning of the end of jury trials".

Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with a series of proposals to reduce the backlog in the courts, in a process which began back in December 2024.

These proposals included jury-free trials and more out-of-court settlements like cautions.

In July, Sir Brian said "fundamental" reforms were needed to "reduce the risk of total system collapse".

What's happening in the UK?

So wie DDR tagen...

After over a week of no sunshine, we got the batteries to 90% today....

More work on the green house today... no signifcant progress... put up a few girts on teh end walls. Slow going because each 2x2 tube I cut, I'm spraying with galvaizing paint.

Yes please! I will take a dozen!

My system finally hit 100% battery after 11 days. The victron smart shunt recovered with an error of 1.6%. At various times several of my 7 JK BMS units varied from 1% to 24% when the Victon said the battery as a whole was 20%. The JK BMS is wonderful for managing a battery and it's cells. It is not nearly as accurate as Victon Smart Shunt for SoC.

Outdoor project today... while we have some warm (and dry) weather, I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and pour some concrete threshholds for the greenhouse doors. The rear door will be used to store hay in winter so I made that threshold a little thicker and I put rebar in each. That way the weight of the tractor won't crack them.

Spoke to my sister tonight about walk in coolers. She's had a lot of them thru the years running restaurants. The wall panels are 4" thick and I'm thinking SIP panels can be had with ZIP siding on them that I could turn toward the inside. She mentioned that I should get the cheapest, low tech mini split unit I can find and leave the thermostat OUTSIDE the cooler so the inside is running "open loop". Then install an INK BIRD $20 thermostat to switch the mini split power on and off.

Background info... our house is kinda unique... it has a 8' wide wrap around concrete porch. Under that porch is what we call the outer ring of the basement. It has 10' ceiling and we use it as a mech room and storage. We're thinking of building a couple of heavily insulated walls in this room to make a cooler. That way we can hang meat in there for processing.

I got this email this morning from Congressman Kim Schrier regarding the extreme flooding that's taking place in our State of WA.  Dear Neighbor,

My office is continuing to monitor the severe flooding and dangerous weather impacting our community. Please sign up and monitor your county's flood and evacuation alerts. Extremely dangerous flooding conditions are expected in the coming days. Please take note of all emergency instructions as flood waters are expected to reach record-breaking levels across the state.

Emergency alert systems for each county:
Snohomish County Emergency Alerts: https://snohomish-county-public-safety-hub-snoco-gis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/51965e89fcc8478aa5f87f2d3696efd7
Pierce County Alerts and Notifications: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/ready
King County Flood Alerts: King County Flood Alerts
Chelan County emergency alert signup: https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/emergency-management/pages/emergency-alerts
Kittitas County Sheriff Facebook: Facebook
Kittitas County Emergency Management: Kittitas County Sheriff | Emergency Management
Below is a list of helpful resources, and our office will continue to update this page on our website, which has more county-specific resources. For emergencies, please call 911.

FOR EMERGENCIES, CALL 911 OR TEXT SHELTER to 4FEMA (43362).
Safety Resources

Washington Emergency Management
American Red Cross Flood Safety Tips
National Weather Service - Hazards
NWS Weather Prediction Center
NWS Water Prediction Center
My office is here to help. Please reach out if you have any questions. You can contact my office in Issaquah at (425) 657-1001, my office in Wenatchee at (509) 850-5340, or my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-7761.