Big J

That as the case may be, it still compares massively favourably to almost any other developed nation. Just because a nation tops a list such as this, doesn't mean it's perfect. I'm just back from a week in Norway. Spectacular place, stunning mountain cycling, hideous main road traffic and very expensive. I'm grateful that it's close for me to get to, but also that I don't live there. I wouldn't fancy the idea of spending all my time hanging off the side of a mountain! 😄

You failed to answer my questions. Scandinavia is far more liberal than any iteration of any major political party in either the UK or US. It is of course capitalist, but it is also collectivist. Scandinavians understand that society functions better when no one is left behind. There are no gated communities here (as per the US) as there is no need. People feel that they can trust their government and that their politicians have their best interests at heart. Yes (as is the case in much of the world at the moment), there is a rightward swing of the political pendulum. A right leaning Sweden is still a good way left of Labour though. The tax rate is higher than 25%, for your information, and people don't generally mind that because it's obvious that it's being spent (for the most part) wisely and for our benefit. Now please answer my questions as regards Trump's heinous remarks/actions.

Pick any Scandinavian country. Always top the lists for quality of life, equality and happiness. I don't post here as much as I used to, but I'm always a little surprised and saddened by how right leaning some members are, and how callously heartless they come across online. Trump represents the very worst of American culture. Uneducated, cruel, self-serving and greedy. Those that vote for him wish to emulate him. They've been mislead into thinking that he has their interests at heart when he couldn't give a sh!t about them. I'll ask for a response on a few specific points: how would you defend Trump when he refused to visit WW1 war graves in Europe for fear of his hair becoming disheveled and stated "why would I go to that (American) cemetary? It's filled with losers" And Trump mocking a disabled reporter whilst on stage. These are but two of literally thousands of examples of him acting like a total piece of sh!t, but I'd ask that you defend him on these two specific counts.

There are a whole host of issues with democracy, but particularly the US democracy. It's systemic and I don't think we'll ever see significant change in our lifetimes. I'll run through a few points: The electoral college is anti-democratic. It allows for and encourages minority rule. The Republicans haven't won the popular vote since 2004. The state system, and the number of senators allocated to each state is also antidemocratic. Wyoming has 1 senator for every 290k population. California near as makes no difference 1 for every million population. The nature of the electoral college means that almost all votes in almost all states are irrelevent. It comes down to about 100,000 votes in a handful of swing states. Money plays far to massive a role in American politics. Allowing such collosal sums to be spent means that the truth is always bent, obfuscated or even hidden. There are 12,500 registered lobbyists in Washington - that's more than 20 for every senator or congressman. Gerrymandering - a practice normally undertaken by Republicans involving boundary changes to make it easier for them to retain or create electoral majorities in their districts. Political appointment of judges. There is no separation of political and judicial power in the US. Take the supreme court as an example. The extremely partisan nature of public broadcasting. People tune into the news network that they feel most comfortable in and consequently find an echo chamber reinforcing their world view. Obviously, that's true across the developed world, but the US is especially bad. I make a point of watching both MSNBC and Fox and find both to be pretty awful. I do not claim that the Democratic Party is anywhere near perfect. There is a great deal that they do that I find to be at best lacking (standing up for women's reproductive rights) or worst objectionable (continuing to support Israel), but under Biden they have had a productive and progressive administration (especially on the domestic front). It's right that Biden is not standing again. Would I have liked a contested primary? Yes, of course. But there isn't time. Harris will be fine, and certainly a million times better than Trump. The issue with Trumpism (which is what it is) is that it is so far from Republicanism that the only thing you can say it is now is an anti-democratic, authoritarianistic cult of personality. Trump's only interest is Trump. He has demostrated countless times that he will only act in his own interest, or aligned with his own prejudices. Many of the people from the fringes of the GOP that he chooses to surround himself with are frankly terrifying. His continual lying against overwhelming proof is shocking, and worse still that his loyalist MAGA devotees take it, hook, line and sinker. I sincerely hope that common sense prevails and that Trump is given the boot in November. Perhaps then all his legal issues will finally catch up with him (the legal system in the US is clearly two tier, depending on your net worth) and he does some time. He's an absolute disgrace.

You and I am in complete agreement. MA teach a form of discipline and respect that is largely lacking in society (not just kids). I did Taekwondo for a few years from 16-19. I was an absolute beanpole at that age (6ft 6 growing to 6ft 8 in that time) having cycled competitively, and self esteem wasn't very high as a result of bullying. But I had always been very athletic, and my height and speed meant that I was extremely good at sparring. I trained and competed in a semi contact federation, so power was not as important as speed. I eventually moved on from Taekwondo into weight training, but that discipline and self control is something that's stuck with me ever since. Great that your children have embraced it so fully and so astutely.

I would say that Hunter Biden's addiction struggles are perhaps resultant of surviving a car crash that killed his mother and sister. Any rational or reasonable person would have deep trauma from something like that. Though I stress, I'm not defending his actions. Just offering a possible explanation.

In Norway this week cycling. My view this morning:

Morning everyone. In Norway for a week with my bikes for some alpine climbing fun. It's raining though, so day one is going to be wet. Ah well!

I still pay keen interest to the UK political landscape, even if it doesn't really affect me anymore. I also closely listen to the US election coverage too. I have a lot of time at work on my headset to listen to podcasts. The UK election result is (for the most part) a foregone conclusion. The Tories will be booted out, Labour will have a massive majority, the SNP will lose overall control in Scotland and the Lib Dems will regain a fair few MPs. Reform will take a massive chunk out of the Tory vote, a bit out of Labour, and still (due to first past the post) might not get a single candidate elected. Sunak is fighting the campaign like he's trying to lose. Starmer is saying and committing to virtually nothing as all he has to be is not a Tory. There isn't much air between Tory and Labour policy, sadly, and I hope that Labour move left after election. It'll be great for Scotland to have the Nationalists unseated, though I must admit that I do think Stephen Flynn is a sound guy (even if I disagree with his Nationalism). Farage, whilst a talented orator and populist, is devoid of moral fortitude, and his attempts to get elected to parliament are entirely self-serving. He doesn't give a flying f**k about anyone or anything except for himself and has absolved himself of playing a pivotal role in the clusterf**k that is Brexit. It's all someone else's fault, apparently. How much will change in the UK after the election is debatable. I doubt it'll be much. With rampant inflation, widening inequality and a general aversion to paying tax, it's difficult to plug the budgetary black hole in the UK and address the core issues that voters regard as important. I think one of the biggest issues really is the NHS too. In 1990, the NHS budget was 5% of GDP. It's now 11.3%. With health care inflation far outstripping actual inflation, how on earth is it sustainable? I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty fattist, but I really have no sympathy for people who through lack of exercise and healthy eating ruin their health and then expect the NHS to pick up the tab. But equally, I wouldn't want to see a US style system, which is patently unfair and represents terrible value for money. It's certainly going to be an interesting 4 weeks. And then a week later, the orange turd gets sentenced. What entertainingly awful times we live in.

Haha! A very amusing thread There is a niche within the UK for low impact forestry. Mike does it far better than I ever did, in terms of marketing and sticking to his niche. I kept getting distracted by all sorts of different kit to expand my capacity, which ultimately didn't work. The niche here in Sweden for small scale forestry is more limited to forest owners. It's too commercial here for anything under 5t really, and even then, some areas (like ours) are really too rocky for machines as small as that. The issue with the really small machines, like Logbullet, Kranman and Alstor is that yes, you can run them very productively and they also cost next to nothing to run. But run them hard and they will break. If I were to summarise it: Small machine pros: easy to transport, low running costs, light footprint, good public perception, cheap to repair Small machine cons: break a lot, limited capability, relatively low productivity Big machine pros: can do virtually any job, very productive, reliable Big machine cons: heavy footprint, bad public perception, cost a fortune to repair when they break (often due to propriatory parts), high running costs, high transportation costs For the record, I no longer work in forestry. I run a resaw line at a large sawmill. I still spend a lot of time in the forest, but it's mainly on my gravel bike. I much prefer it that way.

Hot as fook today. Out with a friend for a leisurely bike ride this afternoon and it got up to 24c in one sheltered spot. More typically 19-22c. Hotter tomorrow. I expect that I'll be in the lake again (jumped in this morning after getting sweaty felling and processing a couple of trees in the garden). The water was only 12c this morning, but will likely be over 14c by the end of the tomorrow.

Summer has finally arrived. It's currently 21c, sunny and with a fairly decent breeze. I was up on the ski slope earlier working on the MTB trails and it felt quite ridiculously hot. Our forecast going forward is very pleasant:

It's been a chilly week or two here. We've had frosts every morning this week, and the occasional dusting of snow. It's to markedly warm up from tomorrow though, and next week is 15-19c with the long term prospects looking warmer still. Finally!

It's been quite nice here this week. A dusting of snow on a few mornings (really only a few flakes) combined with some decent frosts. I've been taking the gravel routes to work on my bike and the wildlife count has been through the roof - the cranes are back in great numbers now, and yesterday I saw 22 deer on my way into work and 25 on the way back. The gravel tracks are still a little damp, but they'll dry out soon enough. It's funny to note that some of my colleagues at work follow English football and they've all remarked on the fact that it always seems to be raining when they watch matches! The climate here is so dry by comparison - especially in the cooler months.

Winter is still trying to cling on. Cold for the last couple of days, a decent easterly and a dusting of snow this morning and yesterday morning. To be up to 11c by next weekend though. Spring will be welcome when it takes hold

Lovely weather here at the moment. Every night a few degrees below freezing (no frost though as too dry) and every day sunny and 4-8c. A little greyer, windier and colder at the weekend, but back to more of the same next week. Feels like spring is coming.

Yep, crack on! Josh has a wealth of knowledge too, having been here much longer than me.

Where abouts are you? As an adult, I've lived in Scotland and Devon, so not the driest places!

That's honestly how I felt after the winter 19/20. Trying to run harvesting sites through constant rain on Devon red clay and Somerset green clay was almost impossible. It started raining on (if memory serves) the 7th or 8th of September and didn't stop until the third week of March 2020. Longest dry period in that time was 3 days and my fairly crude measurements at the house indicated an average of nearly 200mm a month. We had to shut our site down for three weeks in February due to waves of liquid mud sloshing around the site. People complain about the rain here sometimes, but they've got no idea! 😄 All I can suggest is either find another line of work where the weather doesn't play such a large part or emigrate to somewhere with a better climate. No doubt it'll just stop raining at some point in March and by the end of May the farmers will be crying out for rain. Interestingly, a great many fields here are irrigated as a matter of course. There is just the assumption that there will be the need for watering, and infrastructure is in place in the fields to provide it. I don't recall it being commonplace in the UK

Fairly accurate, with the usual drifts in timescales and severity. Being more of a continental climate, it's a lot less changeable and extreme. We genuinely haven't had a single storm over the whole of the winter season, and no wind speeds over 8 m/s sustained. Precipitation is much lower over winter than summer (56mm last month, as opposed to 182.6mm in Cullompton, where we used to live) and even though it can be quite cold (down to minus 22c this winter), it doesn't generally get in the way of getting outside. Total annual precipitation is 480-550mm, with about 100-125mm of that over winter falling as snow. Summer rain is usually short lived and heavy. Still looking forward to spring though. I really love the routine of cycling to work and stopping for a swim 1200m before I get there at the lake. The lake only lost it's ice this week. I might start next week - there are changing rooms and a nice jetty.

Drizzling here this morning. 4c. Due to return to daily frosts on Monday. No precipitation forecast for a couple of weeks at least. Should be quite pleasant.

At least they're doing something proactively. I agree with you though - drainage is the way to go. The geology and landscape is totally different here. Quite a few bits of forest are flooded at the moment with the snow melt (usually planted with alder and birch in those areas) but the sandy soil means there is almost no mud. I went for a 6km walk up the ski slope and back through forest tracks with my wife this morning and the shoes were just as clean when we got back as when we left. It was about 4c and thick mist/light drizzle. It's not just the UK though. I've got friends who cycle in Germany, and their photos on Strava look pretty similar to that footpath.