You can access any book you want for the low price of $15 per month. For example, A Tale of Two Cities; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it’s the next season of the Rings of Power, available now on Amazon Prime.”

Although Greece has closer ties with Ukraine, due to the whole Orthodox thing, Ukraine has less missiles to spare. Especially not in the time frame the Israelis are offering. I googled, should be operational within 3 years.

Israel also has plenty of experience fending off the kind of drones the Russians use too, like the Shahed.

In any case, from what I’m reading the Greeks are buying a fully layered Air Defense system, part of the money they’re going to spend will flow back to Greek manufacturers, Cyrpiot manufacturers may also become a production location, and they’re also getting access to the source code, etc. etc. The whole thing will also integrate with their own systems and allow them to develop related industries in Greece and Cyprus.

Alternative is for example buying from the US, but they’re not exactly reliable, and if you ever get what you ordered, you’ll end up paying too much for something that arrived a decade too late.

As the likelihood of war increases, I’m afraid you’ll see more of this kind of thing in the coming years. Israel does have good products to sell, if you’re willing to look the other way.

Necessitas non habet legem - Necessity has no law.

TLDR: Yup. Realpolitik.

70 seconds a day. However do I manage?

Reagan aka one of the most popular presidents America has ever had.

It’d be kinda funny if Dolly made the US go tits up.

I’ve always suspected the US is uniquely susceptible to the worse effects of climate change and a changing world.

Population too spread out to make public transport or cycling viable in the event of fuel shortages or distribution problems. Electricity also has to travel longer distances. Too reliant on AC, rather than passive insulation. A problem when fuel shortages and heat are combined.

And you’re taking too long to go full in on renewables. For example, even ignoring the environmental benefits, solar panels are great at reducing power consumption when its hot/sunny. Hell, on a sunny day it’s possible for a house to be giving back to the power grid, even with the AC on full.

Europe’s also fucked, but at least the houses are well insulated, and solar adoption and AC use is skyrocketing. So when cities as far north as Paris hit 50C(122F) by 2050, as is possible assuming an unfortunately plausible 3.5C global warming, the number of deaths won’t be catastrophic.

Of course, once agriculture’s hit, shit’s going to hit the fan globally. We’ll get a taste of this in the coming year. Farmers have been suffering badly from climate change, high fuel prices, and high fertiliser prices also due to Hormuz.

But only in America. Outside America, we continue to pretend that we’re somehow different, a comforting lie we tell ourselves. Like children who think a night light will keep away the monsters. But outside through shadow of the setting sun, they steal past the windows of the blissfully dead, looking for the victim shivering in bed. Creeping closer now, closer to the foot of the bed.

Not at all ominous.

Greece and Turkey are historic enemies and the latter’s relationship with Israel has worsened, there’s gas and pipelines to think about, the whole Cyprus thing, Israel has expertise on anti-drone technology at a time Russia is an increased threat, etc. etc.

It makes perfect strategic sense, even if the Greek public are increasingly critical of Israel.

TLDR: Realpolitik. Amoral, unethical, but rational and pragmatic.

Honestly, at 45 with a very patchy CV because I was forced to become a full time carer more than once (fuck cancer), I’m probably fucked.

Feel like I might as well flush my degrees down the toilet. Luckily I live in Europe, so I didn’t have to go into a huge amount of debt for them.

That’s life I suppose. Sticking around for the life ending asteroid Hollywood has promised us.

If it pays ok, why not volunteer?

You get to socialise, you get to feel a part of your community, you get to feel like you’re making a difference, etc.

Taxus baccata (English yew) and Rhododendron aren’t great either.

Agreed. I think they would have been in a very strong negotiating position.

I think they can’t fathom a changing world where the US or other powers might threaten them or push them around, and couldn’t grasp why joining the EU would make them safer. They’re reliant on NATO for protection, but don’t seem to realise that the US might pull out of NATO sooner rather than later.

They also didn’t seem to understand how being part of a larger whole, could have made them more and not less autonomous. Which is understandable, because it does sound counter-intuitive.

Replicator, not incinerator.

The raktajino you drink in Ten Forward, is likely 10% Lieutenant Barclay cum.

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Is that the ad with incest in it?

Bit of a tangent, but it’s honestly astonishing how many common garden plants will kill you.

And just in case someone’s wondering, not in a quick and easy death way, more in days of unfathomable pain and shitting out your intestines way.

TLDR: wear gloves when gardening and don’t just burn stuff without doing a quick google first.

I wonder if he’s still drinking heavily. I assume many members of the administration are drunk or high, at least some of the time.

Hegseth, Patel, … Maybe I imagined it, but I think Bessent referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the Strait of Vermouth.

Would explain a lot. Sobering thought.

US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White condemned Cofnas’s suspension and said the Trump administration would review its relationship with the university.

The US will never recover from the diplomatic damage this administration has done and continues to do on an almost daily basis.

Highly unserious people.

The problem is that when graphics become to realistic, you enter the uncanny valley, which makes things seem off.

IME it’s better when they (slightly) stylise the graphics, which makes the game look less realistic, but you weirdly end up noticing it less.