leicsmac

Not sure that they have closed the gap more than Peaty has lost just a tiny bit of his edge - he still has 14 set times faster than anyone else, Qin included. If he brings back some of his old form, he'll beat all comers at a canter. But I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

But a part of a country with the cornerstone of freedom of speech provisions is that those possessed of a monumental lack of empathy can air those unempathetic views. Of course, the flip side is that they can, and should, also be called out for it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmj2r1403jpo Olympic organisers have issued a "deep apology" after South Korea's athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony in Paris. As the excited, flag-waving team floated down the River Seine, both French and English announcers introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" - the official name of North Korea. Oops.

Coming back to this because a. it is seriously accurate and b. someone smart better figure out an answer fast because the consequences of it all are only going to get worse.

Further to the above: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crg7pen1xj7o The record for the world's hottest day has tumbled twice in one week, according to the European climate change service. On Monday the global average surface air temperature reached 17.15C, breaking the record of 17.09C set on Sunday. It beats the record set in July 2023, and it could break again this week. Parts of the world are experiencing powerful heatwaves including the Mediterranean, Russia and Canada. Climate change is driving up global temperatures as greenhouse gas emissions released when humans burn fossil fuels warm the Earth's atmosphere. "While fluctuations are to be expected, as the climate continues to warm, we are likely to keep seeing records being broken, and each new record is taking us further into uncharted territory," says Prof Rebecca Emerton, a climate scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The naturally-occurring climate phenomenon El Niño also added heat to the climate in the first six months of this year but its effects have now waned. Extreme heat is a serious health hazard, with thousands of deaths attributed to high temperatures every year. In 2000-2019, almost half a million heat-related deaths around the world occurred each year, according to the World Health Organization. China has issued heat alerts this week, with central and northwestern areas of the country recording temperatures higher than 40C. Russia has been battling wildfires in Siberia, and Spain and Greece also endured days of high temperatures. In the US, more than 40 million people on Tuesday faced dangerous temperatures, and wildfires have broken out in western areas of the country. ... and this is barely the start. Unless action, meaningful, unified action, is taken.

https://climate.copernicus.eu/new-record-daily-global-average-temperature-reached-july-2024 Yes.

Well, if one wanted to view it incredibly simplistically rather than viewing the full range of extreme consequences across the board (such as drought in sub-Saharan Africa, flooding and drought alternating across parts of tropical Asia, melting of ice that then results in shifts in ocean currents that then raise or lower temperatures by location, among others), I guess that point could be made.

Something like this one: https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2024/05/02/the-atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-in-a-changing-climate/ What kind of impact and on what timeline is still rather open to research. What is certain, is that there will be an impact and it will be at least significant.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/net-zero-will-only-make-you-poorer-and-china-richer/ Never mind guaranteeing the future of civilisation, this Telegraph talking head will happily see the world burn before letting the Chinese even look like taking the lead on this matter, then. Edit: Of course it's Bjorn "let me count my oil and gas money for libelling my brothers in science" Lomberg, too.

The ridiculous craze around the energy drink Prime being a good case of that, I think.

I thought that the Olympics was Category A in the UK and so it had to be shown on free to air TV?

There's something in that. Both important but somewhat abstract issues. The consequences for not focusing on either will be quite severe, too.

Not sure a lot of women and ethnic minorities would agree with that particular sentiment tbh, but each to their own.

I'm not entirely sure it's an argument so much as a statement of fact given the current world situation, mate.

@Sampson WRT what you said elsewhere: Putin is on record as saying that the collapse of the USSR and Eastern block was the worst thing that happened for Russia, but he has also said that "whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain". So I'm not sure if we're looking at a wannabe Bolshevik or a wannabe Tsar here. He's not exactly a poster boy for communism given his vast personal wealth and oligopoly. Definitely agree that Ukraine needs to be shored up and cannot fall, naturally, though I think he knows there's a big difference between going into Ukraine and going into a country that will trigger NATO Article 5. Unless that article is no longer worth the paper it's written on, that is.

Bloody difficult dilemma. On the one hand, the idea of restrictions on such things goes against all the ideals I think of regarding freedom of thought and action. On the other, I see people like Andrew Tate using that freedom to directly incite immense harm both physical and mental, and I wonder how far a civilisation can run freedom of thought and action before someone, or somefew, use that freedom to destroy it. And what is that freedom worth then? Zilch.

Thank you, Andy.

Then they have grossly underestimated the scale of the consequences and grossly overestimated their own ability to survive such a changed world in the luxury they are accustomed to. I don't believe that so many people - or at least the smart people advising them who would have their own personal stake in the matter - would be that stupid.

There's definitely a factor that causes this to happen in that place and nowhere else, perhaps it's the pressure, perhaps it's something else, perhaps it's a combination of factors. Should be good to investigate - and, at least for now, tell the money-grubbers with their dredgers to stay away.

Tbh if you saw any chemical element being produced through a process entirely novel to scientific knowledge, the standard procedure is to wait for extraordinary evidence to prove it and not jump to conclusions until then. We knew about chemosynthesis creating other elements, but had no idea it could happen with oxygen, particularly on this scale.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cne4vw1x83po "Online influencers like Andrew Tate are radicalising boys into extreme misogyny in a way that is "quite terrifying", police are warning. Senior police officer Maggie Blyth said young men and boys could be radicalised similarly to how terrorists draw in followers. She was speaking as the National Police Chiefs Council published a report into violence against women and girls, external, which it is calling a "national emergency". The NPCC estimated at least one in 12 women in England and Wales would be a victim of violence every year - or about two million women. And it said the problem had been growing, with "more complicated types of offending". Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said officers who focused on violence against women and girls were now working with counter-terrorism teams to look at the risk of young men being radicalised. Speaking about harmful content online, she said: "We know that some of this is also linked to radicalisation of young people online, we know the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing of particularly boys, is quite terrifying and that's something that both the leads for counterterrorism in the country and ourselves from a VAWG [violence against women and girls] perspective are discussing." Sometimes - just sometimes - I think that the internet and social media regulation places like China use actually have a point.

....all I'm saying is that there is a reason a lot of natural disaster movies begin with human hubris looking for a quick profit while not really mapping out the consequences of messing with complex natural systems.

"Vance is now talking about prioritizing American energy, repeating the common Republican refrain "Drill baby drill" - a reference to support for oil and gas drilling. The crowd responds to the line with loud applause. The vast majority of Republicans support the continuation of fossil fuel use in the US, while many Democrats want to see fossil fuel use decreased or phased out." Every other policy position, every other one short of full on nuclear release, pales beside this one in terms of consequences. And culpability. Someone who "cares about people", as Vance put it, wouldn't risk hundreds of millions of lives in various places (at a minimum) through this policy decision.

Posting not just because the highlights are pretty well put together but the comment section is (remarkably rarely for Youtube) a great read. There are so many people in a lot of places who respect Test cricket in England and want to see it continue, which is heartening given the ascendancy of shorter forms of the game.

What makes you think that a while after a victory for that patriot there will be any currency worth anything other than bottlecaps?