Relief for Carrick.

ive them another 20 minutes, maybe it’ll be more.

Only half an hour after I mentioned this season’s first goal (Bruno Fernandes) United scored 3 more goals in this drizzly local weather.

Who else?

reat to see this season’s first goal from Manchester United, but will there also be a first win? The first match was a very major disappointment and Ipswich should not be difficult to beat at home (Old Trafford).

For the time being, Manchester City still leads the league and the next match (against Coventry) should be straightforward.

Why stop?

asks and sanitisers are still available here in large quantities. Being masked isn’t something to feel shy about. In some countries, masks are still common and were common before COVID-19.

Masks and test kits are “back on shopping lists amid signs of Covid-19 resurgence in S. Korea” and I too was still masked this morning because in crowded places there are all sorts of airborne diseases and besides, masks keep us warm and help improve privacy (as long as many other people also wear masks).

Never make fun of masked people; they might simply recognise risks (better than others) and some are immunocompromised.  Add your comment(s) |  Send this to a friend

Life goes on

EPTEMBER is around the corner and before too long it’ll be the end of 2026, another year of drought and Ukraine war.

Life goes on and on. We’ve always had some sort of conflict somewhere (Cold War is not kinetic, but it impacts psychology). People need to find a way to keep healthy and happy, then move on from one task to the next.

Today it is “market day” and definitely too rainy to visit the birds at the park (in the afternoon as we hoped). Manchester United has a match it must win at 4:30PM.

ROSS distortion of facts is possible when the media is not functioning.

It tells us stories like “jobs replaced by AI”.

It says that layoffs are something to do with “AI”, not a failing economy.

It sometimes tells us that people who oppose datacentres aren’t really concerned but are just gullible.

When the media does not function only the liars stand to gain.

ne need not be a “conspiracy buff” to claim there may be imminent threat from Russia because even national broadcasters and mainstream media talk about it [1, 2]. “Russia always attacks,” a friend tells me, “it’s only ever a matter of when…”

The average person here (whatever “average” means) is busy with his/her daily struggles and won’t pay too much attention to world affairs. It’s weekend here, so many people just watch football^*. They cheer for “their team”. Looking further ahead, however, we have various issues like climate collapse and conflict over resources.

Just because it’s rainy again doesn’t mean climate change didn’t destroy crops (agriculture is food). Just because we don’t have direct conflict right now doesn’t mean we don’t spend billions arming Ukraine. This makes everybody poorer.

____

^* Top 4 at the moment (PL) is all northwest and northeast England:

Hours ago:

reenland was a warning sign. The US is not committed to the protection of Europe, it’s an ongoing threat to it.

In recent hours I was curating many links about the current confrontation with Russia and some reports about Germany and the UK, not just Baltic states, in relation to the war in Ukraine. It seems like growing risk of direct conflict (not just passing arms and other resources to Ukraine) means evolving mindsets are overdue. It’s not like Russia has a lot going for it, except nukes, but it can still impact daily lives for all Europeans. Suppose an undersea cable got cut every day or a Russian (sometimes Iranian-made) armed drone entered Poland and Germany every day. Suppose EU citizens were expected to spend hours in bomb shelters.

The world is not in a “good place” right now.