I had my stuff stolen by some scruff on bikes in pure daylight. It was so brazen. I tried to give chase, which startled them as much as anything but couldn't catch up in end. The police later told me group had been going around with knuckledusters, so prob wouldn't have had happy outcome.

Why is Keir Starmer, et alstill dragging their feet on defence spending whilst offering up grand platitudes to Ukraine? A generational security challenge needs a generational rebuilding of UK defence. That will take a sizable increase in spending to just get started, and it's not 2.65%.

What is the maddest boat ever built and why is it Italian monitor Valente?

Watching Go For Broke reminded me how much better Hollywood could be when it came to representation. Yeah, many of the war films left a lot to be desired, but contrast something like Dunkirk or 1917 with a 20s US film like Lost Patrol that had British soldiers named Morelli and Abelson.

The little guy just woke up, stared into my eyes, and said: "what's the penis bag? I'm going to say penis bag. What's the megina bag?" Then, he closed his eyes and said "I love you."

This has been a rough few weeks for too many reasons to note and the sleepless nights aren't helping one bit.

The Ukrainian IED scooter is more combat proven than the T-14 Armata

The way the North Korean soldiers stare at the Ukrainian drones is wild. Like they are seeing a ghost or something. Must be strange to suddenly get transplanted out of a society stuck in 1950s Stalinism, and thrown into a 21st century battlefield.

Watched Forty Thousand Horsemen with the 3yo,who gleefully asked if he could look at the fighting and was thrilled that they were compatriots of Bluey. Oh, and it rekindled his fondness for Waltzing Matilda. He had me sing it for bed whilst he asked, off and on, to watch Matilda in the morning.

How it feels as an American seeing butter under lock and key in russian grocery stores because the price is up 30%

Exhilarating footage of the Ukrainian SOF Omega unit approaching a building with entrenched Russian militants, rigging it with explosives and blowing it up from a safe distance.

Oh, and doing the nightshift due to the newborn really having restless nights has given me the chance to catch up on #LOTRO and #STO. Sure, I can feel my body wither away, but it's been a blast getting the 11th anniversary bundle, river hobbits, and mariner class.

The little guy has been switching it up since his baby brother was born; he has now gotten into the habit of using me as a dada pillow like he did when he was tiny (but he is very tall for 3!). He thinks its hilarious and laughs manically everytime he says "that is so funny."

The Syrians are absolutely butt-railing Assad's forces and the Russians. The Georgians are about to drag the Russian collaborators out of their parliament and put them to the guillotine. The Ruble is in a state of free-fall.

Siri, play "Swan Lake".

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

My wife is American and put on a special dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving, but the 3yo was having none of it. He showed such conviction when he kept insisting it wasn't Thanksgiving before adamantly finishing up with the more nuanced "it isn't Thanksgiving here."

I love how randomly Scouse my little guy can be. Yesterday, he saw a Thomas toy train on the phone and said "boss. Is that boss?"Today, he saw a Ken Dodd mural and kept asking to hear his Happiness song until we put it on back home. He just called him a "silly goose" and said "he is a silly man."💜

Having a restless newborn and an infectiously high-energy toddler (who doesn't rest till 11pm) really seems to have amped up my night owl tendencies. Anyways, thats my way of breaking the bluesky ice and putting this 4:33am post into some kind of...context.