(no subject)
It's NOT hot!
Honestly, it isn't. Well, not hot hot hot as it has been. Just that we were getting reaccustomed to temperatures in the lower 20s°C. Today the northerly breeze has veered more westerly. w00t! We can benefit from that. (Our house will catch breezes from South East & West, not North, except in the depths of winterrrrr!) The thermometer reckons it's only about 25°C. The hygrometer reckons it's up in the "uncomfortable for that temperature range". With any luck rain will blow in from the Atlantic, which will cool things nicely again.
Meanwhile we break out the iced drinks, the fans (thanks so much to Isobel for this hand one), draw the blinds & curtains & stay still! The football season started yesterday. WTH? It's only the first weekend in August. The temperatures are too high for football, not that Pompey were playing at home yesterday. Didn't the Authorities learn anything from the World Cup? Like it's too hot for European footballers in the summer. Hmmm, perhaps that's why Mandaric et al are signing players from Nigeria etc?
And the warring madnesses continue (see eg: the BBC News website). I don't know. The Human Race puts so much money, effort & other resources into killing itself & destroying the enviroment. Then we have to spend more on re-building, re-educating ex-soldiers, removing mines & other unexploded ordnance. Not to mention educating whole generations of people who missed out on formal schooling due to war - either because they were involved (often pressganged) as soldiers or because they had to flee to refugee camps! Then there's all the expenditure on sorting out Immigration.
Is it me being naive, or would it be so much better to cease the wars & work to establish stable, safe governments (of a form approved by the local people), providing access to sources of safe, clean water and cancel international debts so that countries could spend the repayment money on healthcare and education for their people, etc? Am I the only on to think that if people could live in their own countries in safety, security, stability, reasonable econmic growth and PEACE then far fewer of them would want to migrate to chillier but economically more attractive countries?
OK, so armies are needed for defence, to help restore order (sometimes) before handing over to a civilian law & peace-keeping force (and for ceremonial purposes!). I still reckon that the real heroes are those who help make things better for others. There are sufficient challenges involved in living at peace with everyone, & combatting geological and meteorological disasters without 'inter-tribal' conflicts. Ah well, continue supporting, and plugging, Tearfund.
There, off to try to find somewhere cooler to sit/lie down. Y'all have a good day now!
Honestly, it isn't. Well, not hot hot hot as it has been. Just that we were getting reaccustomed to temperatures in the lower 20s°C. Today the northerly breeze has veered more westerly. w00t! We can benefit from that. (Our house will catch breezes from South East & West, not North, except in the depths of winterrrrr!) The thermometer reckons it's only about 25°C. The hygrometer reckons it's up in the "uncomfortable for that temperature range". With any luck rain will blow in from the Atlantic, which will cool things nicely again.
Meanwhile we break out the iced drinks, the fans (thanks so much to Isobel for this hand one), draw the blinds & curtains & stay still! The football season started yesterday. WTH? It's only the first weekend in August. The temperatures are too high for football, not that Pompey were playing at home yesterday. Didn't the Authorities learn anything from the World Cup? Like it's too hot for European footballers in the summer. Hmmm, perhaps that's why Mandaric et al are signing players from Nigeria etc?
And the warring madnesses continue (see eg: the BBC News website). I don't know. The Human Race puts so much money, effort & other resources into killing itself & destroying the enviroment. Then we have to spend more on re-building, re-educating ex-soldiers, removing mines & other unexploded ordnance. Not to mention educating whole generations of people who missed out on formal schooling due to war - either because they were involved (often pressganged) as soldiers or because they had to flee to refugee camps! Then there's all the expenditure on sorting out Immigration.
Is it me being naive, or would it be so much better to cease the wars & work to establish stable, safe governments (of a form approved by the local people), providing access to sources of safe, clean water and cancel international debts so that countries could spend the repayment money on healthcare and education for their people, etc? Am I the only on to think that if people could live in their own countries in safety, security, stability, reasonable econmic growth and PEACE then far fewer of them would want to migrate to chillier but economically more attractive countries?
OK, so armies are needed for defence, to help restore order (sometimes) before handing over to a civilian law & peace-keeping force (and for ceremonial purposes!). I still reckon that the real heroes are those who help make things better for others. There are sufficient challenges involved in living at peace with everyone, & combatting geological and meteorological disasters without 'inter-tribal' conflicts. Ah well, continue supporting, and plugging, Tearfund.
There, off to try to find somewhere cooler to sit/lie down. Y'all have a good day now!