A stray

An unlabelled stray - at least from the back - the other day on the top of West Hill.

But Google Images comes to the rescue, telling me that it is a Porsche Boxter, 'a mid-engine roadster produced between 1996 and 2004'. A fact which is confirmed by Carcheck, which also tells me that this particular car was made in 1999. In which case, it is in remarkably good condition visually. Our Ford C-Max, from 2009, was very battered by comparison. In fact, no comparison at all.

On the other hand, it has a very chequered MOT history, with lots of item failures and some test failures. Has is been the subject of a  make-over?

Not impressed to see this morning at reference 2 that faith has powered its way into the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the Iran war began on Wednesday, praying for "every round to find its mark" against the nation’s adversaries.

The service, livestreamed to a wider audience, saw Hegseth tell gathered civilian employees and military personnel that it was "all the more fitting this month, at this moment, given what tens of thousands of Americans are doing right now".

During the service, Hegseth read a prayer he attributed to a military chaplain, stating, "Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy".

He also quoted from the Psalms, declaring, "I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed".

The sort of thing one expected to find at the time of the First World War, perhaps in the pages of reference 3. Perhaps the next president should appoint a Muslim to the post to give things a bit of balance. Presumably there are already a fair number of Muslims serving in the US military - and presumably they do prayer facilities in the way of the Civil Service (and no doubt others) here in the UK. On HMS Queen Elizabeth (not forgetting her role as the head of the Established Church)?

While a few days ago, I was intrigued to read at reference 4 that glib talk of releasing oil reserves is not as simple as might at first appear. Not something that we need to worry about here in the UK as, if gas is anything to go by, we don't have any significant reserves.

Regular search doesn't seem to be able to get through the sort of reserves that you have to drill for, but Gemini turns up a good story. It seems that, unlike the US which maintains a federal reserve (references 5 and 6), here in the UK we delegate the matter to the private sector.

The usual small prize for any reader who can convincingly claim that he knew what the DESNZ was before reading the above snap.

Perhaps something that the MAGA crew need to get onto. Can't have the UK being more private sector than the US.

PS: I don't care for this US usage of putting periods before close quote, rather than after. Corrected in the foregoing.

References

Reference 1: https://www.carcheck.co.uk/.

Reference 2: Pete Hegseth prays for violence 'against those who deserve no mercy' - Tiffany Stanley, Independent, MSN - 2026.

Reference 3: The Good Soldier Švejk - Jaroslav Hašek - 1921/3. Confused this morning by the 'd' of soldier morphing to a 'g'. No doubt a phonetician could explain to me what is going on here.

Reference 4: Could the US really release more of its strategic oil reserves: Desperation, thy name is Scott Bessent - Robin Wigglesworth, Financial Times - 2026.

Reference 5: https://www.spr.doe.gov/.

Reference 6: https://www.energy.gov/hgeo/opr/spr-reports.

Group search key: 20260314.