Heating Your Greenhouse in Europe This Winter

[Bern]

Today nuclear is the least worst option

Sadly - Three Mike Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima.

[David Pilling]

Sadly - Three Mike Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima

"
So, how does nuclear power's safety rank?

It comes in second, with 0.03 deaths per terawatt hour of electricity, behind solar power's 0.02 deaths per terawatt hour, but ahead of wind, which offers 0.04 deaths per terawatt hour.

And that's including deaths from Chernobyl and Fukushima, the latter of which has a direct death toll of one possible death, but thousands of indirect deaths due to the stress of relocation, many of which were exacerbated by the tsunami.
"

[Martin Bohnet]

it may be relatively safe on its own, but it is such a wonderful target for terrorism and, likely these days, hacking.

[fierycloud]

Today nuclear is the least worst option

Sadly - Three Mike Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima.

At least, there seem to be only foods which related to Chernobyl, Fukushima are regulated by the EU and UK.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2020/1158/oj
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1158of 5 August 2020on the conditions governing imports of food and feed originating in third countries following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/1533/2022-05-03
  Consolidated text: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1533 of 17 September 2021 imposing special conditions governing the import of feed and food originating in or dispatched from Japan following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/6 (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance

[David Pilling]

The weather in the UK mostly comes from the West, off the Atlantic. During Chernobyl (1986) there was a short spell of weather from the East. As a result sheep grazing on the Welsh hills were kept out of the food chain until 2012. That is how big and widespread the mess can be.

[Bern]

Things will be hot today in Miami, not radioactively hot thankfully, as former President Trump is arraigned there in Federal Court.

Here's a photo of a demonstrator outside the courthouse this morning. 

What would George Carlin say about this? 

"Osmani Estrada, 40, poses with a severed pig head outside the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. He said he's there to show support for the democratic process working as it should."



Carla Santiago Csantiago@miamiherald.com

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article276334556.html#storylink=cpy


   

[David Pilling]

At least one UK news anchor (Sky's Anna Botting) has decamped to Miami to report on proceedings. I'm not sure why.

Here in the UK, former Prime Minister but one, Boris Johnson has been driven from parliament this week over breaking the law (parties during lockdown), Nicola Sturgeon (former Scottish First Minister) was arrested over the weekend.

Is it the laws are getting harder to obey, that all these figures are challenging the establishment, or that politicians are poorer quality/more reckless.

Making excuses for them, previous politicians did worse things and remained well respected.

Prime Minister Eden invaded Suez and lied about it. Tony Blair invaded Iraq on the basis of false information.

[Bern]

Is it the laws are getting harder to obey, that all these figures are challenging the establishment, or that politicians are poorer quality/more reckless.

I think that all three of the above are now in play.  But, in addition and very recently, the longstanding tacit agreement between parties and within parties of not using the justice system to remove an opponent has vaporized.  Going forward, there will be retribution for this and it will probably become more common, especially between parites.  Time will tell......

Here in the UK, former Prime Minister but one, Boris Johnson has been driven from parliament this week over breaking the law (parties during lockdown), Nicola Sturgeon (former Scottish First Minister) was arrested over the weekend.

I always thought of Boris Johnson as a jolly, avuncular character who probably characterized some archetype in British society, reminiscent of Shakespeare's Falstaff, or Dicken's Ghost of Christmas Present.  However, upon learning more about his life and his career, he seems to have destructive and mendacious qualities also. 

The arrest of Nicola Sturgeon was surprising; her stern demeanor always made her appear as a perfect example of rectitude.

At least one UK news anchor (Sky's Anna Botting) has decamped to Miami to report on proceedings. I'm not sure why.

Perhaps Anna can inform us where one can procure a pig's head in Miami!

[Bern]

I get house for sale listings from a realtor in Sarasota, Florida on a regular basis. Look at what showed up in a recent post. That's one ugly house.  What a bargain at only $445K!



https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/M5544855355

[David Pilling]

...somebody's home, which they decorated with love.

Make's me think my garage door could do with some pink flamingos. The King's home, Buckingham Palace has flamingos in its lake. Have to keep feeding them shrimps to keep them in the pink, and watch out for frosts.

$445K - not cheap even by UK standards - I'd imagine you have a lot more land in the USA. ISTR UK average house price is now approaching £300K.

[Bern]

Bank of England hikes rates to 5% in surprise move to tackle stubborn inflation

https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/bank-england-hikes-rates-5-surprise-move-tackle-stubborn-inflation-2023-06-22/

Inflation appears to be stubbornly resistant so far to the interest rate hikes by the BOE and the FED.  Inflation is even more resistant to the blather by the central bank staffers who are trying to talk it down. Interest rate yield curves are inverted signaling recession. Interesting times are ahead.

[David Pilling]

A lot of sadness and a lot of sadness yet to come.

It is now standard wisdom that inflation will only be beaten with a recession, which will involve people losing their jobs and homes and companies going bust.

Things are bad in the UK, but it is interesting to see how seriously people in the USA are taking an inflation situation which looks a lot better than here.

I could rant about the behaviour of the Bank of England these last dozen years, but as with the reaction to Covid, it has been doing just what its peers have been doing.

The Eurozone is already in recession.

Time to show your skill at catching falling knives.

[Bern]

It is now standard wisdom that inflation will only be beaten with a recession

One can take some small comfort knowing that the BOE and the FED will always do the right thing - but only after every other possible alternative has been completely exhausted. 

[David Pilling]

Possibly the Bank of England has not encountered this situation before - it was only made independent in 1998, before that politicians set the "bank rate". All the previous horrors with inflation in the 70s were with the old system.

[Bern]

The freakish spectacle of the Wagner mercenary army in Ukraine rebelling against the Kremlin was an amazing development in the sad saga of war there.  The owner/leader of this army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is now in exile in Belarus.  What was he thinking?  I'm sure he knows that the Russian government is unmerciful to those it considers traitors.  There were two very well publicized acts of revenge in the UK by the Russians. The first was the grisly Polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.  The second was the Novichok poisonings of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018.  There may have been others in the UK that were less well publicized.  Will Prigozhin encounter a similar fate?