Best Of

This must now be one of the sunniest and maybe warmest summers on record? And spring was remarkably nice

Not 1976 but very pleasant

On Starmer's watch.

Feels like almost every day is “nice” or “really nice”

Not “nice but a bit fucking hot” like Italy or Spain or indeed Nice

Just highly agreeable. 25C and a few clouds

Anecdatish, but it doesn't feel it. It's nice - today was nice - but the last six weeks have been warm but not that sunny. Not unsunny - just no better than average for the time of year. And after a remarkably sunny Mar-Jun, it feels a bit hohum.
My solar generatiom for May this year was my biggest month ever - better than any June.
And there were very few days' play lost in the T20 Blast, and almost none before midsummer.

But today was a perfect summer's day. Oldest daughter has been to the park to meet friends and indulge in the teen summer pasttime of letting a chocolate bar belt and dipping strawberries in it. Younger two daughters have been off to the Mersey Valley to pick blackberries. The wifeand I did some gardening then relaxed in the afterglow of our exertions with a ginger beer. We are, today, living in an idealised 1950s England.

When Farage is PM every day will be like 1950s England.

Rationing, smog, hangings, power cuts, conscription. Looking forward to it.

This must now be one of the sunniest and maybe warmest summers on record? And spring was remarkably nice

Not 1976 but very pleasant

On Starmer's watch.

Feels like almost every day is “nice” or “really nice”

Not “nice but a bit fucking hot” like Italy or Spain or indeed Nice

Just highly agreeable. 25C and a few clouds

Anecdatish, but it doesn't feel it. It's nice - today was nice - but the last six weeks have been warm but not that sunny. Not unsunny - just no better than average for the time of year. And after a remarkably sunny Mar-Jun, it feels a bit hohum.
My solar generatiom for May this year was my biggest month ever - better than any June.
And there were very few days' play lost in the T20 Blast, and almost none before midsummer.

But today was a perfect summer's day. Oldest daughter has been to the park to meet friends and indulge in the teen summer pasttime of letting a chocolate bar belt and dipping strawberries in it. Younger two daughters have been off to the Mersey Valley to pick blackberries. The wifeand I did some gardening then relaxed in the afterglow of our exertions with a ginger beer. We are, today, living in an idealised 1950s England.

I've just been off blackberry picking with my daughter.

I then had a swift one, and am now cooking fish fingers for the kids and will shortly put on David Attenborough.

Perfect.

This must now be one of the sunniest and maybe warmest summers on record? And spring was remarkably nice

Not 1976 but very pleasant

On Starmer's watch.

Feels like almost every day is “nice” or “really nice”

Not “nice but a bit fucking hot” like Italy or Spain or indeed Nice

Just highly agreeable. 25C and a few clouds

Anecdatish, but it doesn't feel it. It's nice - today was nice - but the last six weeks have been warm but not that sunny. Not unsunny - just no better than average for the time of year. And after a remarkably sunny Mar-Jun, it feels a bit hohum.
My solar generatiom for May this year was my biggest month ever - better than any June.
And there were very few days' play lost in the T20 Blast, and almost none before midsummer.

But today was a perfect summer's day. Oldest daughter has been to the park to meet friends and indulge in the teen summer pasttime of letting a chocolate bar belt and dipping strawberries in it. Younger two daughters have been off to the Mersey Valley to pick blackberries. The wifeand I did some gardening then relaxed in the afterglow of our exertions with a ginger beer. We are, today, living in an idealised 1950s England.

I've just been off blackberry picking with my daughter.

I then had a swift one, and am now cooking fish fingers for the kids and will shortly put on David Attenborough.

Perfect.

Poor David. I am sure the fish fingers would have been enough.

Russia invaded the Baltic states three times last century, occupying them for decades after WWII.
It's not exactly surprising they're worried about a repeat.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia may become Putin's next target - because of this, the leaders of the Baltic countries criticized any attempts to force Ukraine to cede territory, writes FT.
https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1954123898296975865

It’s been a very long running piece of irredentism that any land that was ever part of the Russian Empire is part of the New Russian Empire (of whatever version)

The USSR had it as policy. Putin has made it the policy of his party.

Russia devastated the Baltics several times in the 20thC (twice playing tag team with the Germans).
Ideologically friendly Balts formed the backbone of the early Bolshevik Red Army, and the Cheka (and later died in Stalin's purges).

Others provided slave labour for various projects between the two world wars, or died in the gulags.

The hatred and distrust of Russia has deep and well grounded foundations.

As with Ukraine, history has inconvenient facts for anyone seeking one-dimensional heroes and villains, from Putin to each of us. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_collaboration_in_the_Baltic_states for the other side of the story.

Rather than rely on history, with nearly all the actors no longer alive, it's best to concentrate on the present. The Baltic States seem all to have large majorities who are happy to be independent, and we should support that, while reserving the right to be critical of treatment of pro-Russian minorities. Personally I doubt if there's a serious threat, because of their NATO membership, which makes them very different from Ukraine, but there's no reason why we shouldn't reinforce the commitment to supporting their independence.

The problem is Nick, I don't believe you.

When Ukraine was invaded (again...) in 2022, you blamed everyone but Russia. We shouldn't 'poke' Russia into invading, Ukrainian Nazi's, etc. Pure victim-blaming and whitewashing of Putin's fascism and imperialism.

I daresay when Russia does invade the Baltics or elewhere, you will be full-on excusing-Russia mode.

Eh? My post supported reinforcing the guarantees to the Baltics, and I don't think that invading them would have any justification. Putin needs to be clear that a threat to the Baltic States is a threat to NATO. We simply don't need to refer back to the complex politics of the 1940s, filled with crimes that used each other as justification. History is rarely clear-cut, but the current position needs to be clear - an invasion of a NATO country will bring in the whole of NATO. Some things are simpler than they look.

That's fair.

But the NATO 'guarantee' is no such thing with Trump in power. And it's a fair question how many European members would pitch in.

So not really very simple. Especially when you consider past guarantees which proved no such thing.

The reality is that the Baltics might be an easier proposition than Ukraine, everything else being equal.
Abandoning the latter is very much a gamble not in our interests.

Standing with Ukraine actively reinforces the credibility of NATO deterrence; abandoning it does precisely the opposite.

So far I don't think the war has reinforced the credibility of NATO. But so far NATO countries have neither properly stood with Ukraine, nor properly abandoned Ukraine.

NATO has done ok in Ukraine - it doesn’t have a remit but has been a part of the coalition of the willing discussions.

And more countries have joined as a result of Russian’s invasion

The accession of Sweden and Finland is hugely significant, as they have abandoned their decades-old policy of neutrality. Russian sabre-rattling ignored. Both possess capable militaries. Entirely shifted the balance in the Baltic Sea. It has significantly upped the risk for Putin if he tries his luck in the Baltics.

Putin has obtained new territory (I don't think there's any realistic prospect of it coming back), if less then he will have wanted, whether that was worth the changing situation in the Baltic I guess he will have to decide before he unfortunately dies peacefully as a rich, horrible old man.

Far too many "rich horrible old men" running countries if you ask me. It seems to be what you get if you dispense with democracy and sometimes (eg the USA) even if you don't.

Liverpool fans boo the national anthem then the crowd prevent the full minute silence for Jota

What have we become as a nation

https://x.com/BBCSport/status/1954547342440649136?t=30KveTdfBh6O3sRk7hK1Pw&s=19

I don't know how long you've been following football for but Liverpool have booed the national anthem since the eighties at least after the rest of the country, led by the Tories, left them to out to dry.

Seriously, you spend so much time clutching your pearls I'm amazed your fingers have enough strength left to type,

Given lots of the country suffered from de-industrialisation, why do you think it is only Liverpool that take this view?

Because of this, I don't think anything has emerged about similar being said about other areas.

Margaret Thatcher was secretly urged to consider abandoning Liverpool to a fate of "managed decline" after the Toxteth riots in 1981, official papers reveal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16361170

To his credit Michael Heseltine refused to countenance managed decline for Liverpool & has been, I think, proven right in the long term.

To her credit, so did Thatcher.

"She was urged" doesn't mean "she decided".

She was quite good at figuring out when the “experts” were being fuckwits.

In the aftermath of the Brighton Bombing, they advocated all kinds of idiocy. Most of which would have made things 1000x worse - reintroduction of internment?!!. Thatcher, with the dust on her from the bombing, initiated the twin track policy. Track one - peace process, Track Two - infiltrate and destroy the paramilitaries from within. Which culminated in double agents in the PIRA killing off those opposed to the peace process.

On the flip side, she went against her personal instincts to go with the highly effective socio-medical campaign against AIDS - because the medical advice was coherent and cogent.

Well, the pyroclastic flow coming off Arthur's Seat has made this afternoon's run a bit more exciting than usual. Extinct - yeah right!

I'm heading SW to avoid wrecking my lungs any further.

This was too flippant. It's now very significant from my vantage point and there are likely hundreds if not thousands of tourists up there.

At this point I would like to point anyone to my favourite novel, which is Stephen Baxter's Moonseed.

Alien nanobug destroys planet, starting at Arthur's Seat (via Moon and Venus).

Part of his "NASA Trilogy" - Titan, Moonseed, Voyage - written in the 1990s? He's gone off recently when he started rewriting the Xeelee sequence via time travel, but I still like him.

I have a weird relationship with Stephen Baxter novels - I often come away with a feeling they didn't really reach the potential of teh story, yet am never really discouraged from picking up another one. I found Proxima and Ultima to be very batty but absorbing.

I am curious how his authorised sequels to The Time Machine and War of the Worlds stack up.

I couldn't finish The Massacre Of Mankind. However the following are still worthwhile

• Flood/Ark (Flood, Ark)
  
• Time Odyssey (Time's Eye, Sunstorm, Firstborn)
  
• Time's Tapestry (Emperor, Conqueror, Navigator, Weaver)
  
• Manifold (Time, Space, Origin, Phase Space)
  
• Destiny's Children (Coalescent, Exultant, Transcendent, Resplendent)
  
• Dr Who (The Wheel of Ice)
  

...and some others

I would agree on Flood and Space, both I really liked. I'll add in a recent one from him - Galaxias.