I was hopeful that yesterday morning when I awoke at about 7.30am was to be the last of the ‘cold snap’ But my smart speaker informed me that the temperature outside was -1\u00b0 but was predicted to rise to about 2\u00b0 in the warmest part of the day which at about midday. After that, we should expect a period of warmer but extremely wet winds rush in from the Atlantic so any last vestiges of snow will be swept away but I imagine that some communities will be badly affected by the ensuing floods. My son and daughter-in-law ere due to come around for lunch and I indicated that would cook them a meal which would be the first ‘meat and two vegetables’ meal I will have had for several days now. This morning as I get up and look at the international news, sone extraordinary statements are being made about the future of Greenland, the territory whose foreign relationships are under the jurisdiction of Denmark. Trump has indicated that he will acquire Greenland ‘one way or another’ although every analyst seems agreed that the USA already has a base there and the ability to bring back into use many other bases that are spread across the land. The Trump argument, certainly specious, is that if America does not ‘acquire’ Greenland then either China or Russia will step in and seize it but America needs Greenland for its own defence. But the real reasons are probably related to the vast store of rare earth minerals that the landmass contains if only they can be exploited (which may be difficult and expensive which is why this has not happened before) But given that Trump is governed by symbolism, I think he is dreaming of a standard map where it looks as though the USA will appear so much bigger if it incorporated Greenland. But the total U.S. Area is approximately 9.8 million sq km (3.8 million sq miles) whereas the Greenland Area is roughly 2.1 million sq km (836,000 sq miles). Thus Greenland is about one-fourth the size of the lower 48 states. but Greenland is roughly 2.5 times bigger than Alaska. The problem with our views of all of this lies in the Mercator projection in which the standard flat maps stretch areas near the poles, making Greenland look similar in size to Africa, when Africa is actually over 14 times larger. So if the USA does ‘acquire’ Greenland, no doubt the USA authorities will continue to display land masses using the Mercator projection. But an extraordinary statement came from the Danish government overnight. After detailing how Denmark had been a loyal member of NATO and friend to the United States over the decades in a whole series of international conflicts, nonetheless the standard instructions given to the Danish army that they shoot any invading forces on sight ‘with no questions asked’ So we have the prospect of heavily armed American troops invading Greenland being shot and returning fire killing whatever lays before them. In the history of colonial America, this will have happened before with the original native peoples as well as Mexico. In the case of Mexico, in the major battles in which Mexico was acquired by force of conquest the Americans lost 50 men but estimates are that the Mexicans lost 1000 which is twenty times as many. Of course such a conflict would be the death of NATO in which the MAGA (Make America Great Again) ideologues would rejoice whilst the Russians and the Chinese would not be able to contain their glee than an important alliance dissolves in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The planned midday meal with my son and daughter-in-law did not materialise as their car was snowed in and they would have to wait for a thaw to occur before it could be released. In the next 24 hours, there is predicted to be a rise in temperature by 10\u00b0 and some heavy bouts of rain so this ought to wash away much of the snow and slush. I filled my day with writing some emails to people with whom I wanted be in contact and a big sort out of the newspapers where about a week’s worth of papers needed perusing for interesting articles. At the start of the year, quite a lot of newsprint is devoted to makeovers and the typical subjects at this time of year are finances, diet and exercise. But during the course of the day, I did come across a very interesting piece of video from a British physiotherapist giving some practical advice on how to exercise if one is experiencing any osteoarthritis (which may apply to one of my knees after I was run over by a car decades ago) The physiotherapist was not impressed by the response of most doctors which was ‘fair wear and tear – hare are some pills’. He argued that even cartilage could repair itself over time and all that was needed was a gentle but consistent exercise programme with one or two exercises but performed two or three times daily. This approach may save me a trip to my own doctor so I shall put the recommendations into effect almost as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do not normally follow domestic football very much (internationals are another matter) but an extraordinary victory was gained by non-League Macclesfield over Crystal Palace who won the FA Cup last May. The difference if league table positions between the two sides was 117 places which is itself a new record. Every year in the FA Cup there are the so-called ‘giant killers’ where a smaller club knocks out a much larger and more prestigious one but this particular victory seems to have rewritten the record books. What is not often appreciated is the little ‘giant killers’ will almost certainly be knocked out in the next round but they will receive a big boost in gate money and TV fees when they play more prestigious opponents in the next round and this one time boost an help to stabilise the club’s finances which, in the lower divisions, are often precarious. Formerly known as Macclesfield Town, the Cheshire club was wound up in 2020 with debts of more than \u00a3500,000 and reformed as Macclesfield FC the same year, playing in the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL) Premier Division. The shock scoreline has echoes of other famous upsets by non-league teams in the world-famous tournament, such as Hereford’s 2-1 win over Newcastle in 1972 and Blyth Spartans’ 3-2 victory over Stoke City six years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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