Steven P

As far as I can tell, the deal is to buy Ukraine a place at the negotiations table. (Trump with his casino owning days where you have to buy a place at the gambling table... same thing). Negotiations and peace agreements are to happen later

I'd take his word of who are very nice people with a massive pinch of salt, probably a dump truck of salt. (His current pals, the drug fuelled billionaire (Musk) and the hired hitman billionaire (Putin) )

Less than Europe has... but it is the right thing to do as well. Got to split your head away from your apparent stance that money = morals. It does not. Doing the right thing sometimes costs money.

But it is a fantastic starting point for negotiations rather than Trumps opening gambit of Russia retains all that they have taken, no room for territorial negotiation after then. Plus the '500 billion' charge just to let The Ukraine enter the negotiating table in the first place. Preference opening gambit would be return their land plus pay for damages caused and work from there.

I've had all 3 to play with, a loan of the main saw and own the other 2 - domestic side of things but not supermarkets that sell everything in the middle quality (always a bit better) So Petrol if I have a big tree to look at, refuelling and power is a lot easier. Around the house I'd go battery, I can keep it charged and will generally cut what I can split as it recharges (there is coffee and tea factored into that). Generally rule of thumb with battery the more volts the better, and within the same volts the better 'names' are more powerful. 35CC-ish saw and 36V battery are on a par considering everything. Todays battery job (14" blade) was 16"-ish log in the river, coped well enough, a bit slower to cut than the petrol but... grab and go rather than grab, fuel, ear plugs, then go overall about the same.

If you have tonnes and tonnes of it best bet is to ditch it... my drive, any time... It's been sat where it is getting wet (on the ground?) start it drying and it will be fine. The rotten parts obviously have lost some fibres and so on so less energy dense but the solid bits are not affected

Wha't ?

Ahh you are going back to type and your argument "this guy is bad, but that guy is more badr" when the more bad guy is also an irrelevance in the current discussion. It isn't a discussion that works really. For all his Faults, whether he can put on a pair of trousers or not, Biden didn't phone Putin up and ask "What do you want to stop the war? No concessions? sure, we can do that"

On both sides the ones being shot at don't care for the morals. They just wish that they are not being shot at any more, thanks. However they are not the ones who can broker a peace deal - and one that will last. So in todays discussion about who, why and when politics will stop the killing they are an irrelevance really. I think for the US involvement the choice is: "Roll over and accept the aggressor, his war crimes" or "Try to do the right thing" I think we call all see that Trump is firmly in the camp of rolling over, let Putin tickle his tummy and say "what a good boy". I think this is a step change from Biden who was looking at the 2nd option. The rest of the world also appear to be siding on the do the right thing. Apart from Putin, his allies and puppets of course. EDIT Not sure if Biden thinking he is Irish, American or even Martian has any bearing on his morals.

I suspect that Bidens negotiation tactics wasn't rolling over to every Russian demand though, perhaps looking at international treaties and agreements, trying to go with the rule of established law, rather than "That boy is bigger, lets give him all the toys". Perhaps Biden had an awareness of history (and like Trump, when I say Biden I am mostly meaning his advisors), appeasing the aggressor has been shown so so well to bring a lasting peace hasn't it.

Not saying they do, not saying they don't but... in his earlier years he was best buddies with a sex trafficking paedophile... didn't do as any normal adult would do and go straight to the law but went along with it (never implicated himself with any of that.. but complicit in the others offending). He has been known to be a bit rapey and abusive in his past (and not so distance past at that either). Rumours of the odd party (odd: Strange activities going on and not 'occasional'). 'Honey Traps' being a well known tactic used by the old USSR... sexual misdemeanours coming to public attention... particularly those that one might not want to disclose to any background security checks. Russian Security Asset - not so much as in send us lots of secrets but perhaps "do as we suggest else Fox News might see a couple of photos"

If I am not sure and to remind myself, I'll stop and count the digits, kind of reminds me they are there and not to be complacent.

Sounds like the fence we fixed... just needed to dig out 4 post holes, screw on 8 rails, nail on the existing boards, but while we were at it just fix the block paving... which means dig out the oldest fence post concrete (several generations ago), which means move the old fence about 1' for access, so might as well cut that up so the bloke round the back can take it... and the old paving slabs just put over there to make a step (needs doing anyway).. and levelling, so now it is too late to let the concrete cure enough for the fixings, so might as well get dinner, and breakfast, 4 posts... and 12 / 26 hours later... we were onto the fence boards

The wind will blow high, and the wind will blow low,... and all the Lassies will say 'Hello'

Ahh, yes, where they electrocuted the elephant... I've got to pop out, back in later, but I think (despite digressing from rightly knocking Trump) we are agreeing the problem is how to get the power from A to B, but like the rest of the world not quite sure how to balance the load to make it work? Problem of what to do after generation still exists, what to do once the wind blows too much? (and if we 2 can work that out faultlessly then this time next year we'll be millionaires!)

If we had a predictable stable baseload then yes, the power grid could probably cope... if the generation is where it is located currently... but to transition away from an oil based system and ahead of the 30 years for new nuclear builds then the generation is going to be distributed where the power is.. and to cope the creaky distribution network needs - and indeed is being - upgraded to cope.. or we put in battery storage at the point of generation to easy the supply side of things. Been a while since I did any course on transmission and distribution, they were concerned with AC, that's what was being installed at the time. HVDC is the flavour of the month for long distances though, must be a technical improvement over AC, I was assuming losses would be less - a bit more in the infrastructure costs but winning with losses

Tidal is tricky - OK we have a large coast but it is also a bit aggressive to infrastructure (particularly moving parts). Get the reliability in there and we are good to go, north of Scotland has a lot of potential. There is an option for tidal on some rivers in the West like the Severn and Mersey - away from the actual coast and a bit more protected. Whatever the UK does though, the network is creaking a bit and needs upgrading, new generation and distribution network. Might upset a few NIMBYs along the way (flip side, the redundant power stations and pylons that are taken down for example will make an equal and opposite amount of happy people to those getting narky). Same as in the US, their network isn't far off rolling blackouts either - only takes a small nudge to create problems, old systems and networks that need 21st century designs and distribution to where the power is needed now (and not 70 years ago). Trumps January actions have in the background been very interested in power (and I don't mean political power) - Argentina with Musks chainsaw, Ukraine with their oil and Lithium and Greenland potential for oil and rare minerals.

Likewise, depends what I get on the drive, I'll cut the thinner bits down (generally 1") to 3 or 4" lengths, great firewood, burns quick and hot s you'd expect for the cold days, have to fill the fire more often as you'd expect but it does go well.... reminds me, when I get the barrow fixed, got most of a tree to do that to. (I don't have a branch logger, tend to use the biggest Fiskars loppers, far quicker than the axe I was using before)

25kW.... That is the power when the boiler is on max, of course there will be discrimination in the system (20 million houses arn't all turning on the bath at the same time). Heat pump heating again lowers the demand from a boiler too - the 25KW copes with heating and hot water. So it isn't quite as bad as that. 10KW is typical for a shower. However there are peak demands on the system, but to make the most and cost effective use of the 'free' energy sources - free wind, free sun (after construction costs) we do need to shift that way. The network controllers can then generate with the cheapest / best fuel source according to the time of day and what is out there. As it stands if we want hot water (as a country) the gas boiler goes on, no choice in the fuel, cannot switch "it is windy, use the electric boiler instead". Heat pumps... and hot water... since it is sunny in the day, peak solar production... we can cut back on overnight storage heating a bit and heat on demand... but needs an overhaul of domestic pricing systems to do that. It is no small task the world faces, the populations mindset also needs to think electric.

With any luck the world can distract Trump long enough so he doesn't do stupid things like withdraw from NATO (divided we fall and all that)

Argentina you say? With massive oil reserves locked out by a trade embargo to the US, suddenly becoming friends with Trump and Musk just at the time when Trump is needed an influx of cheap oil to reduce costs ( cents per gallon on the forecourt is a good visual of lowering prices). That is a massive coincidence.

Yes, but modern UK planning and NIMBYs, nuclear power takes about a million years of local planning enquiries and objections. Think we all accept that reducing our reliance on overseas oil and gas is a good goal, and that North Sea oil and gas has a shortening limited lifespan. I know I was flippant about the meteor hitting us, but that would also just about coincide with a new nuclear plant if we pushed really really hard. Think we need to be working on that sooner rather than our kids having an "Oh Shit" moment when the gas and lights run out. You won't like this bit but to utilise the green energy best, we need a transition to an electrical based society rather than a gas / oil based society - and that is going to mean electric boilers, heat pumps, cars and an equalisation of the tax on domestic energy (electricity in the UK (since this is POTUS thread, just thought I'd qualify that) is taxed at a higher rate than gas). Localised energy storage where appropriate (BESS systems or domestic 10-15kwh batteries). As for local solar and wind, true, over the complete country a national strategy, distribution network, storage and control equalises differences to ensure an efficient system. That does mean we need to upgrade the infrastructure to move electrical power from generation to supply, it is a price I think we need to pay to help society transition and future proof for our children and theirs. Again better do it now rather than wait for the rest of the worlds 'Oh Shit' moment and their repowering driving the raw material prices higher still. And where does this leave Trump (the current POTUS).... the US has about 5 years of proven oil and gas reserves - excluding shale gas which has an unproven quantity (could be a lot and a lot) - it is there and no one knows exactly how much, so Trump is OK, his oil paymasters will keep the dollars rolling in with shale gas... but like some in the UK and Europe, burying his head in the (shale) sand is not going to do his country any favours in the long term. And then to link up a few threads, The Ukraine has large gas deposits, Greenland is suspected to have some but both have minerals that can be used to power the green energy future (batteries and so on). Might explain some of Trumps interest* in both countries - carving up the Ukraine gas reserves, and the potential from Greenland. Looking to the Iraq war, the US gained access to a lot of oil and gas from Kuwait off the back of that, going to defend a country and being paid in cheap oil is a proven strategy for the US. Edity * : When I say Trump, I really mean his advisors, I suspect he doesn't have the knowledge, interest or intellect to work out what his country needs, but some of the people he employs do.

Not forgetting that Trump had a cosy behind closed doors one on one chat with Putin, often considered that Putin knows more about Trump than Trump knows about Putin, but also Trump can be read like a book a lot of the time. Says what he is thinking with no filters, priceless if you want to do a deal with him. I know this won't be a mega popular idea, but said it before, the UK needs energy security - green energy is fastest to bring online, nuclear as a base load takes 25+ year (needs starting now), and taking away our reliance of foreign supplied oil and gas - considering that the foreign oil is controlled by the more interesting countries and leaders (Putin and Trump included there), and the known supplies are running down (could be a close thing, oil runs out or a meteor strike in 2032)

As David sys, split first is usually the best bet with most woods. Drying in nets is asking for trouble - need an airflow, the used boxes cold be OK - perhaps fill each one only half depth. For sticks I have a slatted box outside that does the trick,

Sorry Gareth, despite having polar opposite political views I can normally rely on you to form a sentence and an eloquent argument (even when you are so very, very wrong). You're going down a slippery slope of just firing out insults to the detriment of the threads. Others have done that, and still do that, and don't get my respect for it either.