Stuff I consumed, pondered, and in extreme cases acted upon.
War 🔗
What to expect when Russia invades
Bizarrely, the cohort in greatest danger might be your surfers. The ideologue behind the “Russian world” concept, Aleksandr Dugin, assigns a special place in hell to them: “The most terrible ghettos will be made for surfers – this is the most impudent, the most anti-Eurasian phenomenon. There is nothing more revolting than riding on this disgusting board displaying a white-toothed smile.” And he is dead serious. You have been warned.
Finnish women train for war
Nasta has been running since 1997. Although its training is non-military, it is part-funded by the Finnish Ministry of Defence and receives substantial support from Finland’s National Defence Training Association. It has a membership of approximately 100,000. In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion on 24 February 2022, interest surged to unprecedented levels.
Views from reporters abroad, and warnings, about Trump
Has our world gone mad? It has. We look at America now and joke: should we do workshops for our [journalism] colleagues? It’s utterly sad.
Water 🔗
How citizen scientists are keeping an eye on UK water quality
Results from three days of testing by 4,531 volunteers revealed 61% of fresh waters in the UK were in a poor state because of high levels of the nutrients phosphate and nitrate, the main source of which is sewage effluent and agricultural runoff. England had the worst level of poor water quality in rivers, with 67% of freshwater samples showing high levels of nitrate and phosphate.
You can join the next round of testing yourself - go here.
Radiation 🔗
Road signs to follow for your own safety in the case of a radiological emergency:
The “MAINTAIN TOP SAFE SPEED” sign may be used on highways where radiological contamination is such as to limit the permissable exposure time for occupants of vehicles passing through the area.