Big J

The issue is that in order to be part of a complex union of countries, you have to accept that sovereignty cannot be absolute. You can't expect to trade freely within a market if your rules don't adhere to those of the market with which you're trading. The problem with referendums like the one held in 2016 is that the majority of voters are ill-informed or just stupid (the problem with democracy more widely, it could be argued). The British public was asked to vote on something so complex that they intricacies were largely beyond the majority of the electorate. The experts said that it would be an act of self harm. It has proven to be the case. I'm fairly well informed compared to the average voter, but I still do not feel remotely qualified to have had the choice that I had in 2016. Fundamentally, I believe in cooperation not competition, respect not domination, equality not power (that's a line from an outstanding song by a long forgotten British punk band called Five Knuckle) and being in a Union with our European neighbours is no bad idea in this increasingly fractious world.

Pretty integrated, yes. My Swedish is OK (90% of the time i use Swedish at work). I speak German with the Germans and English at home and with most of my Swedish friends here. It's nice to live somewhere that is incredibly multicultural. Our school is 30% non-swedish born, and loads of the kids are multilingual. My kids are now bilingual. Much can be improved with the EU, but nothing will work to the UKs advantage if it's on the outside looking in.

In fairness, Brexit was a shit idea implemented terribly by morons. The world has changed hugely since 2016, and closeness to our European neighbours is more important than ever. Reintegration cannot come soon enough.

You haven't answered the question. Should be pretty simple. What good has Trump done?

The "Trump Effect" seems to be in full swing now across the western world - first Canada, now Australia. The candidate seen to most align with Trump is thoroughly rejected. I suppose that is a silver lining

Trump, elected in large part due to his perceived strength on the economy, has single-handedly caused a 0.3% contraction in the US economy, worth approximately $740,000,000,000 versus the expected 2.4% growth.

In the UK at the moment, so checked on (and took the tree guards off) my 2021 planted nitens. They really have rocketed up. The larger one is 9m, 12cm DBH and flourishing. The smaller one a couple of metres behind. My understanding is that from about year 4-5 they really start to shoot up, so I fully expect it to hit 20m before it's 10 years old. Nitens is quite apically dominant, so the central stem will just keep pushing up. They'll be bloody substantial by the time someone at the council notices them and wonders how they got there! 😄

I honestly don't think that it crosses his mind that he's shit at his job and loathed by half the population.

No, not at all really. The odd bit is, but on the whole no. It's just really heavy. You think it's still wet, but it's just dense.

The sawmill I am contracting into at the moment cuts/processes exclusively Scots Pine. About 57,000 cubic metres last year, apparently. They pressure treat almost everything they cut and rate it for 20 years durability in contact with the ground. The pressure treatment only permeates the sapwood, so the heartwood must be naturally really durable. It's maybe worth considering though that Swedish grown pine is considerably slower grown than UK sourced timber. It's even notable that pine grown locally to us (in the SE) is faster grown than the premium grade stuff that they buy in and process from the middle of Sweden (Dalarna). Either way, it is really surprisingly heavy and dense compared to any other softwood I've dealt with, and once planed, is quite beautiful too.

Haha! I'll take the same route again in the morning and see if he's there again.