leicsmac

I believe @bovril is our resident expert on the various groups within that organised religion and their viewpoints.

Are there any other nations in the "developed" world that have so many places within them so beset by poverty, fundamentalism and deterioration? That shameful meeting in the White House was the nadir of that. The Ukrainians have done incredibly well to stick to their guns both diplomatically and in the field and while they may well not get everything they want from a future negotiation as a result, I'm pretty sure the outcome of any such negotiation won't be a "loss" for them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0n8nd6645o Welcome to small-town southern US and the attitudes that are prevalent there... which end up having an effect on the entire world, including us in the UK.

Don't worry guys, if things continue as they are, there will be quite a few other factors that will serve as true class equalisers.

Meteor showers are, pun unintended, very hit and miss.

There have been reports with this outcome as a possibility, but yes, point taken.

Just looked the one I watched up - Toxic Town, on Netflix.

Right. And climate scientists and science communicators everywhere are caught between worry, exasperation and anger at things coming rapidly to fruition pretty much down to the dotted i. And therein lies the problem where scientific policymaking is open to every part of "democratic debate".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cn8n9pg54m1o This summer is on course to be the UK's hottest since records began, according to the Met Office. Only average conditions are needed for the remainder of August to surpass the record set just last year. Provisional Met Office statistics show that the UK's mean temperature for meteorological summer so far (1 June to 10 August) currently stands at 16.48C (61.66F), which is 1.88C above the 1991-2020 average. In summer 2025, the mean temperature across the country - which includes overnight lows as well as daytime highs - was 16.10C (60.98F). It is in line with evidence that summers are getting hotter and are likely to become drier because of climate change.

Yes, I believe there was a dramatisation with Jodie Whittaker in it? The real tragedy, as appears with lots of such problems, is that those responsible have the resources to dodge accountability long enough for it not to really matter. Sadly no mutations and evolution leaping forward resulting in X-Men from this one, no.

Fair to say, I do think the whole thing did seem rather episodic in terms of plot delivery, but as per above the acting and stunt work were very good imo.

Yeah, Sink being (redacted) was one of the few beats I definitely didn't see coming from that one. Guess it does tie in well heading towards Doomsday.

Come on man, please don't even try to sugarcoat this shit in any way. Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice. And this certainly falls exactly under that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czekx5g39elo Michael Phillips spent his childhood in the 1980s playing with friends at a lagoon, firing air guns at rusty barrels that released clouds of coloured powder - completely oblivious to the toxic chemicals within. Decades later, several of those friends and Phillips himself have developed rare cancers, which they believe may be linked to this. Researcher and whistleblower Douglas Gowan tried to raise the alarm about 14 such sites - 12 of which were in Wales - but died before his warnings were heeded. "What he told me made my blood run cold," said Hollywood actor Michael Sheen, who spoke to Gowan just months before he died and has now continued his investigation in a new BBC iPlayer documentary. The legacy of rushing along the science tree without doing the due diligence. I remember seeing something about so many problems in Corby, but I never knew there were many other places too. Also, Michael Sheen is a really good example of someone with power using it to advocate for people who need it.

It would certainly go a long way, that's true.

The above being said, I fear that it will take more than water company restructuring to reduce the worst effects of the problems on the horizon and closing very, very fast.

And I have absolutely no reason to doubt that at all.

I have no reason to doubt that at all.

I'm presuming that's because you're in an area that is classified as frequently water stressed? Or is it another reason - new build? Found this article rather insightful: https://www.rics.org/news-insights/water-meters-a-turn-on-or-turn-off For what it's worth I'm very ambivalent about the idea for broadly similar reasons to you, but additionally given the times we're already in and going towards more, there really needs to be no individual household exceptions to restrictions on resources like this; especially exceptions made by money.

Short answer: Looks like not. Long answer: clearly it's a matter of conscience whether such a fundamentally critically vital and (at the moment) limited resource should be more available to those with more ability to pay anyway.

Oh.

My own feelings on the matter tend to veer between anger and simple determination to see accountability done.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70gk2dl5jyo Drought officials have declared 71.3% of England is now in drought, after the nation recorded its driest July since records began in 1836. The East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs moved into drought status on Monday, joining half of England and the whole of Wales. The National Drought Group – made up of regulators, government officials, water companies and agricultural bodies - made the decision after a meeting on Monday. A total of 45 million people are now living in a drought area in England, with more than 27 million facing water use restrictions. It comes after an exceptionally hot and dry summer, with heatwave conditions set to return for many this week. No problem... "just summer".

... the more time passes, the more the Chinese approach to social media makes sense.

Well, IMO those huntsmen are doing a sterling job in Aus and they should stay there.