It has been a mild summer in our part of the world. Just as we were getting comfortable, February arrived, along with mid-thirties temperatures and soaring humidity. We’ve had the air conditioner on for a couple of days, first time this year.
You’d think the folks in the media have never experienced summer before. ‘Old people’ are being warned to stay hydrated and stay indoors in the air con. It’s a ‘heat wave’, see. Ho hum. Dudes, it happens every year, round about this time. Fifty years ago private homes didn’t have air conditioning. Neither did the shops. My parents managed to survive. I’m sure we will, too. Meanwhile, it’s snowing in the Australian Alps and Melbourne’s top temp might struggle up to 17.
I see Czar Vladimir has used the anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad to rally his subjects, warning of more German tanks invading ‘Russian’ land. And, of course, warning he’ll stop at nothing to keep ‘Nazis’ out of the Motherland. I recently read a review of a book Killer in the Kremlin: The explosive account of Vladimir Putin’s reign of terror by John Sweeney. That’s an Amazon link but I think it would be available elsewhere. I suspect it’s worth a read. Here’s a quote from the review.
“Sweeney marshals fairly persuasive evidence that Putin is seriously ill with some kind of cancer that is being treated with steroids. He worries that the man, a psychopath on drugs, losing face and possibly dying, may “push the button” and take many of us down with him. He reasons that this, surely, will not happen, but the worry is one we would do well to share. Had Hitler possessed nuclear weapons in 1945, there is every reason to believe he would have used them, regardless of the consequences.” [source]
Sweeney’s right about Hitler. By 1945 he was quite demented but at least in that time the wide-ranging consequences of using nuclear weapons was not as well known. Putin knows. But I don’t think he cares.
At AU$16.99 the book’s price is a bit steep for Kindle in my opinion. But it’s published by one of the Big Names. They can get away with that sort of price. You gotta wonder. Once they’ve produced a digital copy the job’s done. No paper, no ink, no covers, no packaging, no transport costs, no cost to display the book prominently in bookstores, no returns if the printed copies don’t sell. The paperback’s AU$19.50. I’ll see if I can get it from the library.
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