Ukraine is celebrating Christmas today, rather than on the traditional Russian date of January 7th.
Or maybe on both dates. Which they deserve.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67816987?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
The Labour leader is scared of what the Tories might say about the costs of environmental spending, so may cut back what is pledged. He’s too quick to make life easy for himself by avoiding the policies that will make life better for the rest of us.
Unless he really screws up, Starmer will be the next Prime Minister. A Labour government will be better for the country than a Conservative one. But that’s an incredibly low bar, and the current Labour leadership seem interested in only just clearing it. They have no aim but power, and no imagination about what they’ll do with it.
This article made me wince several times, so it’s only fair that I share the pain. Ti’s the season, and all that.
I’m single, so I guess I’m safe from the risk of this happening. 🙂 🙁 :-S
Risk of penile fractures rises at Christmas, doctors find | Christmas | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/dec/20/risk-of-penile-fractures-rises-at-christmas-doctors-find
People suffering from Illness Anxiety Disorder- what used to be called hypochondria- can die up to five years earlier than those without it, a study has found. There’s no conclusive reason why this happens yet, but increased stress may play a large part.
Wobbles of the Earth on its axis have created periods when the Sahara was savannah rather than desert. These periods recur roughly every 21,000 years, and the last one was around 10,000 years ago. Counterintuitively, the greeting happened when the tilt moved the Northern Hemisphere so it was warmer, which increased humidity and rainfall. It’s not clear whether climate change is going to have a similar effect, or if that would matter with all the other problems it causes.
I’ve not watched Brooklyn nine nine, so my memory of Braugher is from Homicide: Life on the Street. But he gave great performances in everything else I saw him in too.
Another turnout of great layouts. I hope I’ve caught all of them in this video.
Bonus- look out for the Spinneyworld product found on one of the layouts (I’m not subtle.)
My video from Manchester Model Railway Show 2023 will be edited over the next day or two, and published as soon as it’s finished. In the mean time, here’s an unboxing of the mystery bags I bought myself.
I don’t often think of stuff from the 70s as being historic, or consider the architectural and cultural significance of places like skatepark. But this piece looks at a few sites worthy of rescue and memorialising.
Growing up in West Cumbria, Sellafield had a big presence in everyone’s lives, and I worked there for a year before university. It is not reassuring to hear how vulnerable it may be to cyber attack.
An aside- the ‘golfball’ building, which I think was an experimental fast breeder reactor, gets used in so many reports on the site. But I think it was decommissioned before I even worked there in the eighties, and has been a mostly empty shell ever since.
Please subscribe to the Spinneyworld Models YouTube channel, and its little brother Spinneyhead Books.
As I’ve been a temp for most of my working life, I’ve never felt that there was a union that I belonged in. As my YouTube channel grows, it’s possible one of the nascent creator unions (though some don’t call themselves that) may be a match for me.
100 year old unexploded naval missile found in Welsh garden.
No, obviously not, because brain scanning is nowhere near powerful enough. But what if it were? This article gives a quick overview of the physical, biological, and philosophical questions around the subject.
It’s alleged that Indian intelligence operatives (or assassins hired by them) have been targeting Sikh activists abroad. The cases cited in this report were in Canada and the USA, but if it’s been happening there, it’s happened in other countries too.
Foreign kill teams on the streets is definitely thriller material, but I don’t think India’s religious turmoil is the background most script writers would run with.
The world is better for losing Kissinger, but MacGowan is a true loss.
Time for a new car project.
The Microace Honda City is a simple kit, so I want to add some extra details. The first parts to get this are the door panels, with 3D printed parts replacing the flat moulded in features.
You can buy the parts used in this build at Spinneyworld.
The door handles, winders and armrests used in this part of the build were designed by Denilsonvm model cars, and can be found on Cults3D.
The Microace Honda City is available from Hobbylink Japan (affiliate link).
So it seems the royal family grabs your assets if you die intestate, and King Chas has been using such funds to renovate his property portfolio.
That’s not acceptable, and we need the money back, with fines. Or he can sign over some of his buildings to be used in the national interest. Better still, we can seize Royal assets on the monarch’s death and cut the family’s unjustified wealth every time one of them pops their clogs.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the repeal of Section 28. Finding that out sent me to my bookshelf to see if I still have my copy of AARGH! – Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia – the comic put together to protest it.
It’s really sad that we’re in the position where a mutated zombie version of Section 28 could be unleashed upon us. It may be time for AART! – Artists Against Rampant Transphobia.
From a throwaway tweet over lunch on Tuesday-
I came home and had a play in Inkscape, and here’s the result. If you want to tell Santa what you want, the design is available on a wide variety of products at Redbubble.
The USV project stalled a while because of some of the materials I used, but here it is, done.