+I’ve read the New York Review of Books for over 20 years and I’ve noticed a certain deterioration in standards. Not in the articles themselves but in the classifieds. There used to be two pages of classified adverts at the back, but this has now reduced to just one. The main casualty seems to be in the personals. Once upon a time those seeking relationships would write long paragraphs extolling their intellectual and cultural virtues, often, to my mind in the most unaware, flowery language, which suggested that the attention seeker had spent hours if not days crafting a sublime but rather ridiculous picture of themselves. But now two or three lines is the most on offer, inevitably leaving one no wiser as to the character of the advertiser. In the current issue, what is one to make of ‘LOS ANGELES MAN, 78, is ready to get married. Let’s talk.’ Admittedly, that is the most succinct of the current crop of lonely hearts on parade, but gone are the days of mini self-deprecating but deeply profound expressions of an enviably charming personality (one of the standard expressions of which was always a love of Paris and travel, etc., etc.) Perhaps the cost of advertising in the NYRB has become too expensive compared to what one (I imagine) could get on the internet. Most of those who do advertise seem to be in their 60/70 plus age range. Including ‘I am a 90 year old man looking for a partner for my next life. If you believe in re-incarnation write me a letter.’ Even for a Buddhist I imagine it would be quite hard to predict what one might be re-incarnated as. But at least you may not have to wait too long to find out.
+A story on the Fast Company website says: 'We found that drivers who used Autopilot drove an average of nearly 5,000 miles more per year than those who didn’t. In interviews with 36 drivers of partially automated vehicles, they generally said they were more willing to sit in traffic and took more long-distance trips, all because of the increased comfort and reduced stress provided by semi-automated systems.' I’ve often wondered what the supposed benefit of fully driverless cars is. It’s certainly not got anything to do with tackling climate change. In fact, I can’t think of any new developments relating to cars and their infrastructure which reduces congestion, emissions, pollution and waste.
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A story appeared on Sky News today which almost had me in tears. Here’s the headline: US intelligence accusing Russia of planning a fake attack to justify an invasion of Ukraine is "shocking evidence of Moscow's aggression", Liz Truss has warned. You can put your trust into Truss of course, on her hoped-for journey to the top job, in this particular case seeking a headline at the same time as ‘Dishy’ Rishi Sunak is delivering the government’s miracle cure for rising energy costs. The ‘story’ that Truss is dutifully regurgitating from her top secret sources read as follows: “The foreign secretary tweeted: "This is clear and shocking evidence of Russia's unprovoked aggression and underhand activity to destabilise Ukraine. This bellicose intent towards a sovereign democratic country is completely unacceptable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. A senior Biden administration official told Reuters that Russia is coming up with several options to give it an excuse for an invasion. One is a fabricated video showing the graphic aftermath of an explosion, including equipment appearing to belong to Ukraine or allied nations, according to the unnamed official. In response to claims reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post, US deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said: "We don't know definitively that this is the route they (Russia) are going to take. But we know that this is an option under consideration - that would involve actors playing mourners for people who are killed in an event that they (Russia) would have created themselves." (emphasis added) To help illustrate the ‘threat’ Sky News kindly accompanied the story with this photo (left). You’d think these troops were creeping up on Ukraine in the context of this story. But you’d be wrong. The photo caption tells us they’re training in Nizhniy Novgorod. At bottom is a map which tells us where Nizhniy Novgorod is. Yes, Nizhniy Novgorod is roughly 150 kilometres east of Moscow. Moscow is 755 kilometres from Kiev. As ever, this little story of disinformation will be liberally pedalled by our media—I notice that the Telegraph has picked it up. By the by, in the middle of this map is the town of Vladimir, where the BBC’s Moscow correspondent went yesterday to do a vox pop. Naturally the general view is that Putin is not necessarily the bee’s knees in his namesake town. We must wait and see to discover whether there’s a village in the UK called Boris. God help us if there’s one called Truss. +The Western media and politicians’ drip feed on the Ukraine situation unrelentingly demonises the Russians. At a time when diplomacy should be at the forefront, we hear how NATO forces in the east are being beefed up, albeit not in Ukraine which is not a NATO member. Johnson flies out to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky (I wonder if they had time to reminisce about their careers in comedy). Johnson gives Putin a telling off. In such times, it is refreshing to get an alternative view, and there is an excellent summary of events in this article ( America Is Reaping What It Sowed in Ukraine - CounterPunch.org ) on the Counterpunch website, which I strongly recommend. Oh dear. It’s an analysis which shows some understanding of the other side. One doesn’t have to agree with the other side to understand it—but understanding seems in short supply these days, just like gas.
+The British media are pre-occupied with the question ‘how many Tory MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson?’ When will the pile of letters reach the magic 54 that triggers a no-confidence vote? So far as we know, around 20 may have been submitted so far. This aspect of ‘Partygate’ by now should have told the pundits something: if it’s taking this long to garner sufficient letters, even if there were to be a confidence vote Johnson would likely win it. His ministers will be running around like dutiful lickspittles corralling backbenchers into line, with the old refrain ‘now is not the time’ and of course what can I do for you? Things may change after the May local elections—that will be the real test for wavering Tories who still harbour a few brain cells. But unless Labour with our lack-lustre leader and broken party management gets its act together the May elections outcome could be quite indecisive. |
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