Mark Dingman
@mark-dingman
Liberal democracy & the rule of law, science, clean energy. Reformed hard rock exploration geologist. Canadian living in Blighty & elsewhere.
It was sheer madness at every turn. I recollect thinking that our fear of the soviets was deeply misplaced: they couldn’t make an escalator work at GUM Moscow.
I worked in the USSR inn’88 onwards. In point of fact I was one of two that had “permanent” visas & access to restricted areas. I can state with confidence that the sov system was utterly broken in every measure. Genius scientists with outdoor toilets, crushing machinery to meet steel targets.
38,600 tonnes is a trivial amount. Greater London emissions were 28.62 million tonnes in ‘23. Meanwhile the ‘23 forest fires in Canada emitted 647 TgC ~ 2.37 billion tones CO2 equivalent, nearly 6 orders of magnitude more than the peat example you quote. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
85 seconds to midnight is far from “never was going to be a nuclear war”. That said I admire your great optimism. thebulletin.org/doomsday-clo...
Sunk cost fallacy. I did something really stupid which has cost an inordinate loss. So much so that I couldn’t possibly call it all a terrible mistake & waste. Afghanistan wars, Vietnam wars, Iraq, Ukraine. No doubt there will be bang more.
And then there is the Thomas Edison quote which applies to us all: “genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration” From my experience this maxim applies to any endeavour from science, to art, to music to literature to athletics and so forth.
There are many great things about the UK. The irreverence of many is among them. Take “Boaty McBoatface” winning the public naming of a UK arctic research vessel (5th choice was “It's Bloody Cold Here”) And lest we forget the competition to determine if PM Liz Truss would outlast a lettuce!
Yup: zero understanding of thermodynamics. Let’s face it: most (57%) Americans read at or below 6th grade level. They behave accordingly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literac...
“… maybe the shape relates to the content” That’s not necessary: the fish jug is still popular here in 2026 without any specific piscine use! www.taliesinantiques.com/en-GB/britis...
5 Eyes: US, UK, Canada, Oz & NZ. I can state with utter confidence that being a part of 5 Eyes does not confer a deep alliance with the US.
“Had enough yet?” Not a chance: US voters love this. US voters voted en masse for Trump 3 times. US voters want this so they will definitely get more of it. Meanwhile the rest of humanity will move as far from the US just as quickly as they can.