All Copped Out

Is this the real Running Man?.*

A planet consumed by the rich, a playground only for those who can afford it, and the slaves left behind to fight the plague.

So, I might be hitting harder than necessary — except when fossil fuels still ignite the future and repercussions of a global nature keep causing catastrophic results, who can blame me.

True to Fogy form, the unrelinquished slide into a forlorn future keeps flaming the fires of disaster.

What has to be seen, of course, is the effort put into highlighting the plights of the less fortunate and the more than perceptible threats global warming represents. The scene, the responses, with indigenous peoples protesting the collapses of their own worlds through the selfish choices made by a world oblivious to the importance of balance.

Although not unexpected, there were high hopes that enough resolve would be found to begin laying more groundwork behind the introduction of — and the monitoring of — measures that would reduce this world's dependency on petroleum as a sole source of combustible energy.

Alas, the power of those nations enriched through such a prolonged need extends to world economies becoming more and more dependent on the vast consumer mass that drives growth and lending, fulfilling selfish nation-centric advancements forced forward on an express train of “get it done now while the iron is hot” mentality.

The inevitability of future measures becoming obligatory weighs on the minds of those still endeavouring to make the most of a present-day uncertainty, until that certainty collapses.

Underlying all of this must be that false hope that technology will find a way — in the near future — to reverse the course of global warming, where temperatures will begin dropping to more forgiving levels and future generations will not have to step out of frying pans into an ever-hottening fire.

Shame on them. Shame on those short-sighted individuals that place wealth and power above everything else.

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Carfuffle November #3

Rolling the Dice – Las Vegas.*

Who could have imagined the Ham starting from his lowest ever grid slot — officially 20th until Yuki’s pitlane demotion? Redemption of sorts came when Hamilton dragged himself to 10th, though it hardly felt like a champion’s drive. His own mood made that obvious.

So what were the odds?

It was hardly surprising that Norris and Max lit up the opening laps. Norris threw a blocking move, ran wide, tried the double-back, and essentially handed first place to Max, with Russell gratefully slotting in behind.

Behind them, Russell’s partial lock-up unsettled Lawson, who corrected by bouncing off the front of Piastri. The Aussie somehow survived, though he still bled two crucial positions — killing any chance of attacking the lead. The Butterfly and Stroll were long gone anyway. Bortoletto just can’t catch a break (or brake) lately, locking up and pitching Stroll, Gasly and others into unwanted also-ran territory.

With clean air and a compliant car, Max simply controlled the pace and let everyone else wrestle for the leftovers.

“Pushing like an animal,” LeClerc radioed — pure Alonso déjà vu — while Norris, frustrated, pushed his team into telling him what to do. And McLaren, looking every bit like a squad still adjusting to life at the front, simply told him the obvious: win.

Midfield standouts were plentiful. Sainz dragged the Williams into a deserved 7th, Hadjar took 8th, the Hulk grabbed 9th, and Ocon finally bettered his teammate to sit just outside the points.

But that was how they crossed the line. Fast-forward three hours and both McLarens were disqualified for running too low — classic skid-block infringement. Everyone shuffled up two spots: Sainz to 5th, Hadjar 6th, Hulkenberg 7th, Hamilton 8th, Ocon 9th, and Bearman 10th. A tidy haul for Haas.

Norris had coasted through the final laps, losing more than three seconds per tour. Speculation went wild — surely not the skid blocks? Yet that’s exactly what it was. Ferrari did the same in Hungary with LeClerc, running too low for too long and paying the price. Had McLaren backed him off five laps earlier, the wear might have stayed inside the limit and salvaged at least fourth. But by then it was simply too little, too late.

Max now sits tied with Piastri, both 24 points behind Norris with 58 still on the table. Shades of 2021, when the title fight arrived at the finale on equal points. Could 2025 end with a three-way tie at the brink? Only Qatar will tell.

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Carfuffle November #2

Another Race to Remember*.

And why, you might ask.

Well, perhaps it was the continued dominance of the papaia kid, the unpredictability of the weather, or perhaps the simple genius of the flying Dutchman.

On a weekend where the WEC championships went the way of Ferrari, the greatest of team failures in this weekend’s F1 also fell at the feet of the same marque.

The butterfly (Bortoletto), goaded into taking more risks by a rookie-hungry team, found that flying from wall to wall is an invitation to disaster — and found a Stroll on the track to make it race-terminating. A pity on all sides.

With the Bulls prepared to scramble, their just reward of some very important points made the future of Formula Indy seem even closer for the struggling Yuki. Team or driver? It doesn’t really matter. Nothing is coming together.

George had to bow to the young pretender, as did Max — admitting that Kimi’s drive was one to be admired and celebrated.

Success too for Alpine and the Hulk, both able to scramble for the last of the points.

Oliver, Oliver — proving once again he Haas the power to turn it into a firm points finish.

And the Aussie assault — not exactly erstwhile, but possibly still near enough on track to remain a threat.

And the winner is? I personally would like to see a fifth championship for Max, only to place him where he richly deserves to be — among the elite of his sport. But 49 points behind seems an impossible task with only three and a half races left.

Norris is probably odds-on favourite, and deservedly so, with the fortitude he has shown and the consistency that seems to have escaped Piastri. Only a short time will tell.

I guess the winners are the fans, who have been treated to quite a year of this final format. Perhaps the minds that be were right in forcing through a new one for next season — this year might have been too difficult to replicate otherwise.

Cheers.

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The Flying Dutchman

Living in the Dark Ages

Taking Further Steps Backward.*

In July 1925 (yes, more than 100 years ago) a trial was held in Dayton, Tennessee that challenged the right of a teacher — any teacher — to teach the theory of evolution in their classrooms.

This trial (a trial that became a full-blown public spectacle) often referred to as the “Monkey Trial” pitted two hard-baked advocates, both more interested in disproving each other than in enlightening anyone — Bryan waving scripture as his answer to evolution, and Darrow dragging that scripture into the light and stripping it of its certainty. While the verdict still favoured the censorship of such teachings, the trial became memorable for exposing how easily a nation’s beliefs and conservative positioning could be challenged under the glare of the public spotlight. (The Scopes Trial "Monkey Trial")

One hundred years later — post-segregation, post-suffrage, and post what should have been good-sense decision making — it would seem that this very backward nation is intent on dragging its people back into an ideological ice-age.

Recent headlines from this week include:

Supreme Court Denies Request to Revisit Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Gay Americans and their allies had been on alert since the Court’s conservative majority eliminated the nationwide right to abortion after 50 years, showing a willingness to undo longstanding legal precedent.

NYT

Texas A&M Tightens Rules on Talking About Race and Gender in Classes
The university system will ban advocacy of “race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” without approval.
NYT

Indiana Professor Removed From Class Over White Supremacy Lesson
A university professor will no longer be able to teach a class on diversity after she showed students a diagram that included the “Make America Great Again” slogan as an example of white supremacy.

NYT

And what, you might ask, is the significance of such headlines? The answer lies in the fact that these questions still exist.

When people challenge the rights of others to think or believe in concepts that do not match their own, then any talk of freedom becomes meaningless — completely contradictory to a system that has spent so long boasting about the “freedom” its united people supposedly enjoy.

Yet what is freedom? Is it the freedom to accept a single-minded national need to rule, to dominate, to enrich itself at the expense of humanity itself?

It is no accident that so many of the world’s wealthiest companies and individuals happen to be American. That other oil-rich nations have fostered similar wealth principles only proves how readily they have adopted the same ambitions and policies.

This planet has become the hunting ground of the very wealthy, prepared to sacrifice anything to further their own ambitions.

A decade-long, trillion-dollar pay packet guaranteed on results obtained is one hell of a way to make an indecently rich man even richer.
(Tesla shareholders approve $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk.)

I am a strong believer in equality for all. That is, everyone should have the same rights as anyone else — independent of what they believe, what they look like, or how rich or poor they are.

If humans were actually intelligent beings, then debates over the rights of so many minorities would become moot.

We are what we want to be — not what society tells us they want us to be.

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Cop30

Cop30 – Copping IN or Copping OUT?*

With Brazil hosting this edition of the Cops, the world’s plight now lies squarely at the feet of its leaders — and the media that shadows them.

Hardly the place for a mass invasion of self-righteous ‘tourists’ challenging the sustainability of an already stressed biome, the state of Pará and its primary claim to fame — the river Amazon — are transformed into a 21st-century horror story.

Debatable though it may seem, holding the event there must have looked like the perfect idea: a way to drive home the ecological peril that defines the region. Yet such peril is echoed across the planet, offering little consolation to member nations whose main goal remains the same — to distance themselves from responsibility while paying lip service to recovery.

To their credit, Nordic nations have stepped forward with tangible contributions, and one hopes, a more direct means of support. Their own territories appear well-managed, and their insistence on measurable action might yet nudge their more reluctant neighbours.

On a more positive note — reported by Reuters — was the absence of the US delegation, long a heavy-handed presence at previous summits. Their one-sided “America First, and blow the rest” attitude has hampered progress since Paris. Their withdrawal may be a blessing in disguise.

Still, with such economic dominance, many nations dependent on the US find no alternative but to COP OUT, appeasing their negotiators’ archaic whims — fossils filling fossil-fuelled follies flippantly. (Try saying that quickly while eating a protected-species sandwich!)

Yep, the old Fogy sarcasm to the fore — but this is Sunday, and Fogy is just getting started.

Hopefully, all mirth aside, more of the right nations will COP IN than COP OUT. Platitudes are not enough; only action and commitment can make this Amazon delivery complete.

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Carfuffle - November #1

F1’s Fomenting Future — Mexico’s Maze of Mayhem.*

And right at the head of the line, the Ham just cannot seem to catch a break. When the red mist rises, the wrong is misunderstood. LeClerc to the fore — yet should he have been?

By corner three, half the grid was skidding across the grass, escaping the shambles bearing down on them. LeClerc emerged in front, having been a shade behind the Ham before going wide, then redressed to let Norris through. Max thundered down the long straight, flirting with the wall before re-slotting just behind the Ham.

A lap later, Max lunged at Turn 1 and ran wide; the Ham countered at Turn 2, forcing Max off again. Following the race director’s guidance, Max rejoined ahead — legally — of an already furious Ham. Then, in karmic symmetry, the Ham smoked his fronts into the next corner, shortcutting the grass and returning well beyond the designated entry point. Two seconds gained, ten seconds lost — and a festering sore in his boot.

The fighting Bulls have found a simmering peace, though year’s end may yet reignite their civil war. Perhaps Takuma’s Indy acumen is what Honda’s prodigal son requires.

MAXimising potential has turned a 104-point deficit into just 36. The Papaias must feel that squelching softness inside as the winged warrior closes in.

Elsewhere, the Haas pair deserve mention for double points, and the Mercs salvaged pride if not glory. The Ham’s eighth was scant reward, and Piastri’s measured damage control kept his loss to a single point.

The thin air of Mexico humbled nearly everyone; only Norris seemed to find full altitude advantage, winning by a remarkable thirty seconds over LeClerc.

Roll on Interlagos — the race between the lakes!

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A Chat eyed view - pretty neat isn't it?

Dick Cheney

Man or Myth.*

Dick Cheney died yesterday at the age of 84.

When he and his daughter Liz Cheney clashed swords with Donald Trump, the man was slain and the myth was born.

Perhaps the last of the GOP stalwarts, from Ford to Bush, he continued the underlying ambitions of a Republican ideal only now thwarted by a return to the slave owning policies of the president in power (sic). 

The craftiest of puppeteers, he wielded the authority entrusted to him to orchestrate the greater beating around the “W.” Bush — enriching and expanding the reach of an already mighty nation and its corporate cohorts.

Having done what power allowed, he spent his later years brokering what remained of his influence to safeguard his daughter’s future.

Then January 6th reared its ugly head, and what had seemed a formidable Republican legacy was driven into the dustbowl of the Duck’s revolt.

His wings, like his power, were trimmed; and though respected and feared for most of his political life, there was always an undercurrent of misdeeds beneath the surface.

A veteran of several administrations, his interlude as a CEO served as a convenient pause before assuming effective command at the dawn of this century. While not the elected president, his shadow role in the Bush administration suggested that a leader disinclined to complexity could be steered by the subtler hand behind the curtain.

Watching George W. Bush act from that distance only convinced Fogy further that the power wielded in Washington was, in truth, Cheney’s own — his the masterstroke of policy and ambition.

If speaking critically of such a man seems crass so soon after his death, Fogy offers no apology.

The darker days of his tenure seemed far behind us — until even darker ones arrived. And perhaps not even Dick Cheney could have imagined the depths to which a great power might sink under those who followed.

R.I.P., Dick.

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Puppeteer-in-Chief: Dick Cheney, the unseen hand that shaped an age.

SNAPped

The Many Ways Trump is "SNAPped".*

What is a snap election?

A SNAP (Special) election is an unplanned vote, called to replace an official felled by death, incapacity, or scandal.

But, as is the case with the current US administration, SNAP has taken on a number of unintentional meanings.

SNAP, the government program designed to supplement poorer households and individuals by providing them with food stamps that make basic necessities more accessible, is somewhat similar to Brazil's Bolsa Família in its intent. It is also heavily criticized in much the same way by exactly those people who have no understanding of what it is like to live on the breadline—where work is scarce and underpaid while consumer goods prices rise rapidly due to a government’s ill-conceived plan to rattle world trade markets.

As of early November 2025, the administration has threatened to halt SNAP payments until Congress ends the government shutdown, though federal judges have ordered partial continuation of benefits through emergency funds [1][2].

 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

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SNAP is also what appears to have happened to the patience of a greater proportion of Americans than the Duck may have counted on.

Results just in from recently held (almost SNAP) elections show success across the board for Democrat-led, or now leading, districts. In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger captured the governorship, while New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill and down-ballot Democrats expanded their majorities—widely described as a “Democratic sweep” [3][4].

This is the kind of result many disillusioned voters may have been hoping for, but is it enough to SNAP the stronghold that the Duck holds over the nation?

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SNAP is also the ransom the Duck holds under Congress’s nose—a government shutdown now at Day 36, surpassing the 35-day 2018–19 record [5]. With both sides refusing to capitulate, no end seems in sight.

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SNAP is what’s happened to the hypnotic trance the Duck has wielded—now broken by the Supreme Court, many Republicans, and of course Democrats already questioning the legitimacy of sweeping tariffs, immigrant expulsions, and the obvious ignorance of legally applied sanctions against this administration to force them to comply with the law.

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SNAPPED—is probably the best way to describe the nation as a whole under the Duck. But even snapped can be cured with enough DUCT tape. DUCT taping the DUCK may be the only way for the world to SNAP out of the mesmerizing apocalypse playing out before our eyes!

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Citations

[1] Politico — “Trump threatens to withhold SNAP funding until shutdown ends,” Nov 4 2025.
[2] AP News — “White House walks back Trump’s SNAP threat; partial payments to continue,” Nov 4 2025.
[3] The Hill — “Democrats sweep Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races,” Nov 5 2025.
[4] Politico — “Spanberger, Sherrill victories mark major Democratic night,” Nov 5 2025.
[5] AP News — “U.S. shutdown passes 36 days, the longest in history,” Nov 5 2025.

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Reflections

Inconclusive.*

As Fogy peruses the work already done here—his development progress and system engineering—he can't help but reflect on the steps that brought him to this moment.

And yes, there have been many steps, many changes in direction, many newer understandings of preconceived notions of what life had presented to him all those years ago.

We are all taught, in some form or another, what is generally understood or interpreted by those around us, which then becomes the root of most future learning. These indoctrinated concepts foment and expand around us, with very few of us willing to question the whys, wheres, and hows.

Total acceptance of even the most absurd ideas has led us to this point, where even fake news is believable, where fake heroes appear to be legitimate, and where the future is rosy when present trends suggest otherwise.

Many of my posts emphasize the need for better critical-thinking skills and a concerted effort to ask important questions rather than simply digesting what is fed through dubious channels to the unfortunately obsequious majority.

With so many octogenarians dominating world leadership—at the top or simply giving guidance to those there—it is no wonder that the planet seems to be floundering under the weight of outdated constructs, where pure wealth and power dictate the future lives of its peoples.

Human nature has a lot to do with this, without doubt, with man's selfish desires at the forefront of the lack of progress evolving around human growth and understanding.

Empathy is but a flickering candle in a wind of climatic uncertainty—hovering, uncertain in its acceptance on a planet catapulting toward self-destruction.

There is good sense out there. There are a few whose ideas stretch beyond the magnetic attraction of habit, prepared to reinvigorate a better future, but who also feel the weight of such a predominance of negative lovers of all things for now, this moment.

And who can blame this majority? As mentioned earlier, the future seems all but certain; a world strung along an ever-tightening intolerance, easily thrust into combat, does not bode well. A world where resources are being decimated at an alarming rate hardly appears to be an example of the resilience necessary for future generations to survive.

And reflecting on all of these points, we have been constantly warned of a future such as this.

All the signs pointed to what we are experiencing today.

And just like today, we chose to ignore each and every one of these signs and warnings.

Are we ever going to learn?

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