Old Uncle Moon Will Shine
Another week gone, though I’m not sure where or how it’s happened so quickly. I’m not going to say I have a lot to show for it–a handful of blog posts written and some old, familiar pulp science fiction read. That’s about it, really. The consequence is that I don’t have much to say for myself tonight.
Tomorrow, by contrast, we have a socially-distanced Christmas thing in the street for which I’m providing gluhwein and orangenpunsch, weather permitting. I’m rather looking forward to that. There is a certain irony in having got to know more neighbours in the last nine months than in the last twenty-four years.
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If you have five minutes and are so inclined, there’s a brief paper I read today that I thought was very good. This direct link is to a PDF in The Lancet by Monica H Green on the current understanding of the origins of the Black Death. It isn’t morbid, and gives food for thought on where we are now and what might be coming along in the next decade.
There was also something I read that I half thought about discussing. It was about Brexit, and I decided against it. It was a thread by Alex Andreou (@SturdyAlex) on Twitter on European thoughts about our PM’s supper in Brussels. He writes:
This has led people to split into two camps: There is one school of thought that Johnson really is utterly clueless. His behaviour at the UVDL dinner last night (a car crash, apparently), has fed that impression. This makes people not want to do business with this government.
The second school of thought is that Johnson negotiated in bad faith throughout. That his aim was always No Deal and he simply strung 27 countries along, at the expense of a huge amount of work, effort and expense. This makes them not want to do business with this government.
Note that the conclusion is precisely the same under either theory. That whether idiot or fraudster, Johnson is best kept at arms length. Polling in most EU27 shows that being tough with the UK yields a big favourability boost. So, I’m afraid, nobody is riding to our rescue.
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Music: well what a surprise, an oldie (from 1975, although the production date on the album is 1974)There was a time when I only really knew of the Strawbs because of Part of the Union. Then, on a whim, I bought Ghosts on cassette in a sale and heard this. I don’t think I have the cassette anymore, though I have the CD, so that’s OK. I thought I had the vinyl too, but it seems not. I used to play this a lot, and still do from time to time.
Strawbs: Sweet Dreams/Night Light/Guardian Angel
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