I awoke yesterday morning to the strains of a Braham’s symphony, courtesy of ClassicFM and a sound which turned out to be rain. When I was well and truly up, I opened the front door to ascertain that we had, indeed, just had a welcome shower but for how long it lasted, I cannot say. However, it was prescient of me to get my critical bit of weeding done yesterday which seems to have been done just in the nick of time. But I suspect there are many dormant weed seeds just waiting for the rain and the sunshine only to sprout again. I have my own home-made weed killer solution which I have deployed to good effect and is particularly effective at those small pesky weeds that can be difficult to handle. It is ridiculously simple and just consists of white vinegar (usually of the kind used for pickling) and a liberal dose of washing up liquid. The whole concoction is usually enhanced with some common household salt which has the effect of intensifying the desiccating effect of the vinegar but this can be somewhat more harmful to the soil and neighbouring plants. However, if the weeds are on a gravel bed (which many of mine happen to be) then you can use the salt with impunity. This mixture is best sprayed onto the weeds quite early in the day when you know it is going to be sunny later on in the day. If the sun is sufficiently hot, then this home-made solution can be effective within hours and, indeed, as well as being super cheap and environment-friendly, often works faster than its commercial counterparts. It is true that this home-made solution does not attack the roots as such but with the green top destroyed these often wither away as well. I must admit I have not tried this home-made remedy for about a year now and I do prefer hand weeding and getting rid of weeds by the roots if this is possible and they are large enough but, in the meantime, I have found this works very well.
When the history of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is finally written; it will certainly feature attack drones as the weapons of choice. These can be manufactured cheaply by their thousands by both sides and it has proved invaluable to the Ukrainians. But Russia is advancing fast in this technology and developing (with the assistance of the Chinese for their supply lines) a drone guided by a thin fibre optic cable which is less likely to be detected and shot down, The use of drone technology is probably changing the nature of modern warfare and has been given a massive impetus by this conflict. The drones can be manufactured and hand assembled in their thousands quite easily and cheaply so it is easy to move production from place to place making the factories that produce them hard to identify and thus to destroy. The latest information I have on this subject reads as follows. So far, drones have helped Ukraine to hold the line against Russia’s invasion. But holding is not winning. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is catching up. Indeed, rapidly growing domestic production of ‘Shaheds’ and un-jammable fibre optic drones have recently allowed Russia to seize the initiative from Ukraine in the drone war. In order to reverse this trend and open up a pathway toward ending Russia’s invasion, Kyiv’s Western partners must help Ukraine dramatically scale up drone production. This year, Ukraine aims to produce around four million drones of all types, more than double last year’s total. Partner countries also plan to expand deliveries. A twenty-nation Drone Coalition co-chaired by Latvia and the UK has pledged €2.75 billion to supply an additional one million drones in 2025. However, progress has been slow as members rely on their own limited drone production capabilities. The so-called Danish model of military aid offers a faster and more cost-effective alternative. Under this approach, Copenhagen pools donor funds, including windfall interest from frozen Russian assets, to procure drones and other military equipment directly from Ukrainian manufacturers. Total disbursements via this streamlined pipeline are expected to reach €1.5 billion in 2025.
After I made my journey down to town, I collected my newspaper and then communed with two separate groups of friends in Wetherspoons. Then I made my up the hill, checking that one of my friends was still on holiday, and then set about preparing myself some lunch which was very easy as it was a couple of mackerel fillets on a bed of salad so only took minutes to prepare. Then I dozed a little after lunch which is my wont and then we were treated to a burst of sunshine. I thought that this would be an opportune time to complete a weeding job in between the stones that mark the transition from the public to the private driveway. I thought I would only complete one half of the job and leave the rest until later but then my neighbour turned up in his car (we often have to utilise some of our neighbour’s space to get our cars pointing in the right direction) We had a good chat as we often do on the madness of American politics and then I felt emboldened to finish off my weeding and threw in some pesky weeds in front of the garage door for good measure. Before I went out to weed, I indulged in some of the liberal websites on ‘YouTube‘ which are all of the same opinion that President Trump is completely deranged. However, here are dark forces all around him to ensure that some of the vestiges of American democracy are quietly dismantled. Several Republican states are redrawing of the political districts in their respective states so as to maximise Republican support and minimise that of the Democrats, a process well known to the Americans as ‘gerrymandering’ It is thought that these practices should give the Republicans 10 extra seats in the next Congressional elections which may well prove critical for them. Another contentious move is to send in the National Guard into cities such as Washington DC and Detroit, in theory to quell a ‘crime wave’ (which has actually reduced since last year) but with guns pointing in their faces this may be a reminder to the black populations of those cities not to get too ‘uppity’ and to know their place. The Civil War has not really ever ended in America but is taking on new and pernicious forms.