Hidden Features

 I was watching a YouTube video about cat features that most owners do not know about because they are not in the manual (or at least at least the quick start guides that many manufacturers use instead of the full War & Peace manual which I bought for my CT5.

Some are in the "Is that not obvious, why sre allowed out doors without adult supervision?" category.  The little arrow next to the had two filler icon means, gas nozzle goes here. They claimed only 10% of drivers know this. 

The first surprise was a feature my 2014 Jaguar had that I was disappointed not to have on the CT5. On the Jaguar, hold the unlock button for the seconds and all the windows roll down and the sunroof opens. Hold lock down three seconds and they all close. 

It is in the CT5 War & Peace manual. Double click unlock and hold unlock for three seconds and all the windows roll down. Double click lock and hold it for three seconds and all the windows roll up. There is an annoying chirp when it does this, but I am not planning to use this feature while engaged in covert operations. 

The other feature I vaguely knew about from the window sticker: Intellibeam. While driving in the dark, this will detect oncoming headlights and reduce from high to low beam and back again to high beam. I looked through the manual carefully and found no mention.  You turn it on when you start the car by pressing a button at the end of left stalk. I guess having on by default might be a problem in city streets.  There is an icon on the stalk but it is not all clear what it means. There are times when a picture is worth a thousand words and times when ten words are worth multiple icons. I am still trying to imagine the icon string to explain Intellibeam.

Do Not Let the Race-Baiters Blind You to American Unity

My wife and i were at Home Depot yesterday. While off looking for something, my wife struck up a conversation with a black woman who works there. (My wife can strike up a conversation with a telephone pole.) Being of a similar age, they were exchanging warm memories of the Bicentennial, which for me involved firing beer cans out to sea from a friend's homemade mortar. (Still rising when lost to sight.) This led to a sentimental discussion of D-Day and the sacrifices of those who served on Omaha Beach.

We have more in common than not.  Ignore race-baiters like Ibrahim Kendi. 

An Implausible Explanation

 6/3/26 DW:

A hotel in the southern German state of Bavaria came under heavy criticism for a message refusing a reservation to an Israeli guest that included a message reminiscent of the Nazi era.

The case came to light when Israel's consul general to southern Germany, Talya Lador, posted the rejection message on X.

"Have we returned to the 1930s?" Lador wrote in German.

A screenshot in her post shows an English-language message from the Hotel zum Hirschen in Bavaria telling the recipient that "there are no Jews allowed in our hotel." 

Funnest Collection of Memes Yet

Here.

A few/examples 

Some Satire is Too Close to Eurocrat Reality

Elon Musk is about to become a trillionaire

If he agreed to pay just 80% of that as a wealth tax to the EU, the EU government could use its efficient operating experience to fund bicycles with solar panels attached to them for over 40 residents of the Netherlands

Elon is being selfish by not paying the wealth tax

Vast numbers responded to you as a serious proposal.  

The Continuing Saga of the Explore Scientific Mount

I do not have the latest firmware. This explains the problems with using the latest control software. I will update it tomorrow 

I installed the latest firmware in the mount. The ExploreStars Envision app now connects at least with WFi but not Bluetooth. Even without doing a 2 star alignment, its attempt at goto Sun was close enough that I am convinced the problems is solved 

U. S. "Dark Fleet"

Not to avoid sanctions but to circumvent the Irsnian blockade. 6/10/26 CNBC:

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military has secretly helped 200 commercial ships and more than 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

I have found the relatively low price of oil globally with the Strait of Hormuz closed.  The amount moved (at night without lights) is a fraction of thr normal transport so oil is still tight but at least our allies (Australia, Japan, South Korea) should get some benefit.  Our erstwhile allies even benefit. If only they were helping! Of course, the Royal Navy is now not even a shadow of its former self, more like a shadow of a ghost so expecting their help is unrealistic.  Besides, they have emerging impolite opposition forming.