Empty Shelves
Tesco Hermiston Gait, Edinburgh, Monday 16 March 2020
No Deal Strikes Back
The odds of No Deal at the end of 2020 have shortened considerably in the past week or two, even if the government is refusing to call it that. It’ll be more or less certain if we pass 30 June with no UK request to extend transition, but given the tone of current government rhetoric it’s already the way to bet. Why would Johnson sacrifice his reputation among Leavers by accepting a compromise deal when he can look tough by rejecting one? (The major betting sites don’t seem to have this on their radar at the moment. All they’re taking bets on is when the UK will rejoin the EU and which country will leave it next.)
Hangover
I saw in 11 p.m. last night by watching Rocketman. In hindsight, it seems appropriate to have been watching a movie about someone who started out full of talent and promise, grew insanely rich, spent a few years going off the deep end in a coke-fuelled frenzy, and ended up in rehab.
The Ashes
Our scientific predictions are coming to pass. Why climate change deniers are irrelevant. The Australian public’s obsession with arson is being fueled by another social media disinformation campaign.
How a bank undermined Jimmy Carter’s Iran strategy forty years ago. We are in uncharted waters without a compass.