Another non-progress.

I live in a region of cattle farms. After centuries, the meadows conform perfectly to this activity. But there is a problem arising from the re-use of the same lots of land again and again and it becomes very obvious the moment that you stop letting cows graze there : Field sorrel, which is just « Rumex » or « Doche » to the autochthones.

This plant is the curse of Normandy. The cows will not eat it, we do not (yet) know, what else it may be good for, but if left alone, it will very quickly cover wide areas and is a chore to root out. If you just cut it down, it is as if you had not done anything at all. If you use chemistry it is very much the same, but you surely did something, be it to every other species living on this parcel. The reason for this is an immensely long and robust root which can reach a full meter and more down into the ground, even if the leaves that you find are sometimes unsuspectingly small.

But a long time ago, the Normans have found an ingenious tool: the « Tir-Doche » (draw-sorrel). It consists of two long, very pointy and slightly curved spikes that you can force into the ground around the sorrel, then use the shaft as a leaver. It is surprisingly easy to unroot even big sorrels this way. The process may be long on a field, but the effect is permanent. You may have other sorrels the next year, as the plant's semen can wait for ages for a chance to germ. But after a few applications of the utility, you are definitely free of the pest. No other technique is equally efficient.

Then, chemistry has arrived and the tir-doche has been forgotten by many. You find it on jumble-sales, if you are lucky, and I got one. You have to be lucky to find the tool, because it is becoming again popular with all those who wish to abandon the use of aggressive and finally useless substances.

And now the industry begins to offer new « tir-doches ». Oh my...
The “new” revolutionary tool is cut out of a thick metal board while the spikes of the old were forged. In consequence, there is a risk of deformation when the soil is hard and you try to unroot many sorrels in a row. The designers react by enlarging an area above the spikes, so that the leverage effect is not directly applied to the spikes but to this part of the tool, which resists more. But you are still forced to push it completely into the ground and the additional distance (which serves nothing) will block your action, when you use the leaver. This renders work much harder and it is yet to be proven, that the metal board will not ply anyway.
Edit: In addition, as one of my wife's awesome uncles points out, the new version of the « tir-doche » risks to cut the root of the field sorrel, meaning that you are booked for another bout with the new sprouts next year.

I guess it's cheaper to produce. Yet they ask you to pay 50€ for this crap!
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Now this was almost expected.
In the morning, the reports about the network of financial filth which concerns several state-governments of the world.
At noon, the other right-wing minister warns about a growing thread from salafist networks in France. An automatism, like input-output: Put in any inconvenient situation for the government, get out some arbitrary terrorism-thing...

And now, you have the choice between three fascist parties, one extreme right-wing the others just right-wing and larded with some towering idiots. France has to pass there, now. See ya on the other side...

Huh!

Talking about the “Club of Rome”: What is pogress?