bannork

Putin's losing on the battlefield so the hardliners advocate making Ukraine uninhabitable.

Braverman was at loggerheads with Truss's plans to grant working visas to thousands of Indians. So Truss appoints a Sunak supporter in her place as Home Secretary. Not so slowly but surely, Truss's Cabinet is turning into Sunak's.

Could one reason they're deporting the civilians is to clear the area in preparation for the use of chemical or tactical nuclear weapons on the advancing Ukrainian troops?

R.I.P. Noel Duggan

Explaining why neither the first nor second line of Russian infantry can retreat

Apparently the shooting of fellow soldiers in Belgorod was sparked by a religious insult.

The miserable life of the mobilised.

Footage of the underside of the bridge showed no damage post explosion, suggesting it wasn't a boat that caused the explosion

Technically I was wrong about the end of the rainy season, Owl! Did you experience the same cold light drizzle we had here from midday to 4.00 pm? Reminded me of Blighty, persistent dampness, though milder. Had to pop in to Ban Dung at 8.00 pm, it was very dead for a Saturday night. Can't be easy for any night time venues.

Road journeys

A wonderful song to sing along to when riding your motorbike sedately upcountry.

Send your son to die.

A dearth of teachers https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/10/12/entire-subjects-are-being-cut

Walter's song reminds me of Rory's 'Wayward Child'. Exuberant, lively rock.

More 'possessed by the devil' nonsense.

First they claimed they were going to rid Ukraine of Nazis, now it's Satanists and gay parades.

Cabbage is not the first vegetable that springs to mind when thinking of a lady's sexual allure, still it reminded me of the story of the northern Thai farmer and his cunning trick to smuggle amphetamine pills to Bangkok. He placed a pill or two or more inside a plastic bag and placed it in the heart of a young cabbage. As the cabbage grew, adding new leaves and layers, the pills became completely hidden. Apparently amphetamine pills are cheap nowadays, wouldn't a few pills be cheaper than a fully grown cabbage? After all, he could hardly sell them on the open mark et!

The end of the rainy season and Buddhist Lent. Lots of fireworks from dusk to 8.00 pm A wonderful full moon and stars. Upcountry, nights are an astronomer's delight during 'winter'. A complete canopy of stars, mosquitoes gone, light a fire of eucalyptus logs and enjoy the view.

This afternoon I was happily prepared to be proved wrong about the end of the rainy season. A large black cloud emerged in the east, accompanied by a large clap of thunder. Great, I thought. Sadly, Mother Nature was simply extracting the urine, a few drops fell, and that was that .

Putin's favourite track today

A beautiful mix of sweet volume swelling and blistering, lightning runs.