{"id":8317,"date":"2026-06-04T18:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/?p=8317"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:37:58","slug":"thursday-4th-june-2026-day-2271","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/04\/thursday-4th-june-2026-day-2271\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, 4th June, 2026 [Day 2271]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I awoke yesterday to a gloomy day with a 90% prospect of showers across the morning which rather affects whatever plans I might have for the day. One does not get neurotic about the weather but I still continue to be amused by the imprecation in one of the many gardening books which I used to consult to ‘choose a fine day’ as though one was choosing an item of clothing from a clothes rack. Upon consulting Sky News <\/em>this morning, I saw a report which, despite any possible Western ‘spin’ was illuminating. This was reporting cracks in the Russian economy which is now in its 4th\u00a0year of conflict with the Ukraine. According to the report, 200,000 businesses had been forced to close in Russia over the past three months alone. The inflation rate is hovering between 5%-6% a year but is 10% in services. Russia’s high inflation rate is primarily driven by massive, war-related government spending, a severe labour shortage, and increased costs for imported goods due to Western sanctions. This combination of factors has overheated the economy, pushing inflation near double digits and forcing the Central Bank to maintain record-high interest rates. \u00a0The main drivers of this inflation include heavy government spending on the military-industrial complex and war efforts pumps vast amounts of cash into the economy without producing lasting, everyday consumer goods. This creates a classic scenario of too much money chasing too few goods, driving up prices. One of the reasons for the prolongation of the war is the way in which Ukrainian drone technology has improved dramatically over the past few months. A major improvement in Ukraine\u2019s air defence system has seen the number of Russian long-range drones being intercepted and shot down doubling in just four months. The new hi-tech interceptor drones are relatively cheap, and they are defeating thousands of Russian attacks. \u00a0In the past month Russia launched one of its most sustained aerial attacks on Ukraine, launching more than 1,500 drones within 48 hours. \u00a0But most were shot down as Ukraine gets better at defending its skies. Ukraine says its aim is to be shooting down 95% of enemy drones by the end of the year. Much as I am not a particularly keen follower of things military, what we have seen is the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine is modern warfare changing before our very eyes. The conventional Russian military forces may have been depleted by as much as 500,000 during the conflict (or ‘special military operation’ as the Russians call it) which is a staggeringly high figure and helps to explain why Russia itself is bombarding the Ukraine with almost hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles are launched almost every day. The war against Iran has diverted attention away from this conflict as well and even the USA’s own military stocks are feeling the adverse effects. I would imagine (and hope) that our own Defence ministry is observing and learning the appropriate lessons and whilst it remains hypothetical, I wonder how well our country would fare against a sustained drone attack in the decades to come? It is certainly the case that Ukrainian drone technology has made massive advances under the impact of war and a fight for its own survival, and one would hope that some of this would be shared with the UK defence industries.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I had breakfasted quite rapidly this morning, I made my way to my son and daughter-in-law’s flat which is some five miles distant and had to negotiate several lots of roadworks just to get there – but this is contemporary Bromsgrove.  We had several things to discuss but, quite fortuitously, some of the results of my pre-diabetic monitoring had been uploaded to my NHS app so we managed to discuss collectively some of the more obscure parts of the whole communication. I have another appointment with a practice nurse in a week’s time but I am pleased to have got this data uploaded to my app although I think that one or two crucial results still have to find their way onto the system. I stayed with my son and daughter-in-law most of the morning and I stayed for lunch which was very welcome before I took my leave and navigated my way home round the roadworks again) I then picked up a copy of my newspaper from the local garage and then went to do my weekly shopping which fortunately turned out to be quite a light week for me. Then after a rest, although the weather looked threatening, I turned my hand to the back lawn which badly needed a cut and just managed to avoid the rain, getting the mower cleaned up and put away in something approximating to sunshine. After a break fo a cup of tea, I turned my attention to finishing off the weeding of the communal driveway which was about 60% completed and which I desperately wanted to finish. It was my day for putting out the wheelie bins and I managed to help out my neighbour by offering space in my wheelie bin which was much less full than this. Then we had a good old chat, principally on  the subject of social interactions that we had enjoyed at the birthday party held last weekend and where I was fortunate to have my American friend by my side (she is a natural mixer so this only helped the party to go extremely well). I dare say I will sleep extremely well today after a much busier day than anticipated. Tomorrow looks as though it may be quite a busy day as well as I have Some Tai Chi in the morning as well as Conversational Spanish in the afternoon and for this reason it is satisfying to have got the shopping for the week done. I am anxious to keep my sugar intake as low as practicable as I wish to avoid getting into the zone where I am considered diabetic or even pre-diabetic. I do tend both to buy and also consume a fair amount  of fruit each week but, after discussion with my very well informed daughter-in-law, I may have to reconsider this. It is possible to eat watermelon in moderation as part of a balanced diet because it provides essential nutrients. Although watermelon has a high glycemic index, its low glycemic load means it has a minimal impact on blood sugar levels when consumed in appropriate serving sizes. Eating watermelon may offer other benefits, such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, a common diabetes-related complication, due to its lycopene content. So now I am much better informed about what may be good (or even bad) for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I awoke yesterday to a gloomy day with a 90% prospect of showers across the morning which rather affects whatever plans I might have for the day. One does not get neurotic about the weather but I still continue to be amused by the imprecation in one of the many gardening books which I used […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8318,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8317\/revisions\/8318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mch-net.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}