leicsmac

I do hesitate before making the point again because the difference in attitudes towards the refs in football and rugby is both critically important and valued - but I think it's reasonably simple to judge that the officiating was the critical difference in that match. There's a fair few people who should feel hard done by tonight.

Guess they didn't want to risk giving away a penalty in that area, kicking it would force France to make territory of their own in the few seconds remaining - which unfortunately they did.

Well, that was daylight robbery. England definitely raised their game, feel for the Irish who should have the title right now.

Well, Pollock didn't score but...

Glad Pollock is on to stir things up tbh, France need to be reminded that the ref is the only reason they're still in this.

End to end stuff.

It would be hilarious here if Pollock were to come on, score and then do something to massively bait the home fans.

That one decision has pretty much decided the game, it would seem.

And the thing is that France would still likely win if it was 15 v 15 rather than 14 v 16 anyway.

Well, not sure about that reffing decision at all.

Yeah, big if. Still, let's see if they can keep matching the French score for score instead.

If England could actually defend, they'd be dangerous here.

Hopefully the response from the international community is as follows:

It's fun to live in unprecedented times of change, isn't it?

And the largest part of the problem is too many people believe this unironically.

Right, and that's one part of the solution. Personally, I was thinking very big, very simple picture, viz. "Transition away from carbon emissions as a species as soon as possible or changes will happen at a vast financial and blood cost that will mean vastly more human war and death at best, and the end of human civilisation as we know it at worst". There's still far too many people who can influence policy who either don't accept this very simple, inevitable causality, or do accept it and don't care due to self interest. Both sentiments require neutralisation.

Considering how simple both the problem (it's a very straight "if/then" logic gate) and the solution are (and how consequential), you do wonder why it is all so complex.

They would, as would any nonrenewable energy infrastructure. Fission plants would be the real wildcard on that one. It seems - mostly, and thankfully - that is a line even the most awful warmongers won't cross at the present time.

And also because the people working on the transition know something that appears to be lost on a few people who can't see the wood for the trees; if such systems aren't put in place to make that transition smoother, all of us will end up in a world where money means nothing at all.

Dead: Terry Pratchett Alive: Sir David Attenborough.

I hope a leading UEFA or CONMEBOL team might say similar. That would start the ball rolling. But I don't think it will happen.

This one had honestly slipped my mind. Superb win for Jack the Ripper. Here's hoping he can duplicate it in more matches against the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz.

Something a bit different: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/arts-theater/20260310/8800-km-apart-towns-in-england-and-korea-ask-how-culture-can-revive-declining-regions Never thought I'd see Stockport and Chungju referenced in the same article. But I think there is a fair bit that both the UK and Korea can learn from each other in terms of surviving among a changing world today.

That could well be a corollary that he and his backers are looking for. Personal gain of money and therefore power being the only thing that matters to him, naturally. But there are other self interested reasons that he let it go ahead, too. One thing is for sure - it's certainly not out of any sense of altruism whatsoever.

Right. The casual ignorance of science and how it appear to bleed over into policymaking right now is... well, interesting. The next time nations base policies on such ignorance, the cost might not be so low as it has been (so far) for things like this and Covid, for instance.