@wtg said: The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. There's irony. Heh!

I'd gladly share our rain if I could. We had three nice days this week, managed to seal our flat roof, paint a window, and mend a couple of drainpipes, then last night the rain set in again

I think very few folk could afford to buy & upkeep "Andy's grade 1 listed tower house with lift" or the beautiful estates mansions, rectories, that I link here. Though I'm certain many would withdraw from the world, and pull up the drawbridge of their moated castle, as it were. However, life is work, until age & retirement of some form beckons.

Did you like it or not? I'm curious. I've heard about it but haven't seen it

I like the radiators (perfect, imo) and fireplaces. I like that its stone built to keep out the elements. The closest we have to this in Florida is concrete block. Concrete block houses, apartment buildings, and hotels will stand up to hurricanes, if the there is no ground floor flooding, and if the roof doesn't fail, and both of these risks can be mitigated by researching the flood zone designation and the roof's age. In the case of ground floor flooding in a concrete block built building, the damage can be fixed. These buildings have the added advantage of being sound-proof. I'm ruling out any apartment building that's not concrete block built in the '60's or '70's. The only thing I don't like about this house is it's two stories without a stair lift or a small elevator like a tube elevator. It's not ideal for "age in place." I've observed that sooner or later, nobody can walk up and down stairs. I already mentioned living in a remote location, and especially on an island, isn't for the faint of heart. This is a nit-picking, academic criticism, since the chances of me being able to move to the U.K. and afford this house are approaching zero. Maybe it's perfect like it is because it was built this way.

@jon-nyc said: [image: 1772647741619-bbffc5fa-7bf7-4ca5-8d47-bee35a7e29ca.jpeg] This is great. It's like thinking recycling plastic will save the oceans. The problem is out of control. Plastic doesn't only wash up on beaches in South East Asia. It washes up on beaches on Hawaii Island. There's no way for the U.S. to stop it. How are much poorer countries going to stop it? Carry on.

[image: 1772753416428-img_0912.jpeg]

@steve-miller Apparently Ethan Gontar makes those “Irish” videos with AI. Which is disappointing to me. I’d rather have humans make art/music.

@bernard Looks great, and I can taste it in my imagination! I haven’t had that in decades…

It's all fun and games until the world explodes in a nuclear conflagration. They want to control the arts? Ha. It reminds me of the famous Jack Nicholas line in the movie where Nicholas' character is on the stand and the JAG attorney played by Tom Cruise keeps asking him-- "Did you order the Code Red?!" Nicholas' character finally reaches his breaking point and snaps-- "You want the truth?!; You can't handle the truth!"

I miss having one of these on the front of my car. [image: 1772667109914-img_0162.jpeg]

I guess it was a ruse. I have an idea . Let's declare war on every country and people on planet Earth except Israel. We could get the news in a single day. I know it would save me a lot of time. Does anyone know off the top of your head how many wars the US is fighting including all of the countries now involved in the Iran conflagration? I sure don't.

Thanks for your comments! By the way, the object partly seen on the left is the grand piano, still covered with moving blankets. The window recesses may be too shallow to accept Roman blinds. I will try to post a pic. Formerly we had light curtains suspended from cheap lightweight rods mounted on the side moldings. Never looked good, and the curtains themselves are torn and ratty.

I guess they didn't think of this happening. Link to video