Smoke Screens and Beautiful Games

The New Normal Is Already Here

Re: 'The threat is here': searing US heatwave bad news for wildfire season and water supply

In another article I read yesterday, there was scientific consensus that we are reaching the brink of irreversible climate change — therefore events such as this will not be stand-out headlines in the future but condition normal. Good thing we are so actively engaging in a ground war in the middle east over oil access instead of investing in alternative energy sources like wind and solar.

Records broken in 14 states. Arizona hitting 112°F in March. Snowpack that feeds the Colorado River basin all but gone. And the forecast says it's not going away. But sure — let's keep fighting over the fuel that got us here.

The Five-Day Shuffle

Re: Trump describes 'productive' talks with Iran but Tehran denies contact

It is deliberate obfuscation and short-term market manipulation — along with flooding the mix so we aren't hearing about the Epstein files. Overnight 2,500 marines were activated for deployment to the region. They will coincidentally arrive in the area at the end of the five-day waiting period he declared yesterday morning.

Trump claims "productive talks" and "major points of agreement." Tehran says there have been no talks since the US began bombing Iran 24 days ago. The pivot came hours before US markets opened — just in time to soften what looked like another punishing round of trading. Meanwhile Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran, and at least 1,500 Iranians are dead. The smoke screen is the product.

Greed Is the Beautiful Game

Re: Manchester United fan, 76, feeling 'helpless' as family seat is given to VIPs

Greed is the Beautiful Game. Global audiences and the scale of revenue they bring warp local traditions and connectivity to the communities which produced the "product." I don't know what solutions are for this situation but stories like this are disheartening.

Tony Riley's family has held their seat since 1949. His father-in-law played under Matt Busby, taught Nobby Stiles, worked with a young David Beckham. Now he's being evicted so someone can pay £315 for a three-course meal at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant and take selfies instead of watching the match. 1,100 lifelong fans displaced for the prawn sandwich brigade since Ratcliffe arrived. "It's going more like American football," Riley says — top clubs banking on big-spending visitors rather than the people who built the thing.

Three stories. One thread: the people who create the value — who breathe the air, who live in the war zones, who fill the stands — are the last ones consulted about what happens to it.