Remembering isn't going to deter authoritarians and dictators. Every war starts with a failure to deter aggression usually by a population and a political class that wants a peace dividend so much they forget that peace requires the price of aggression to be too high for the thugs to risk

www.politico.com/f/?id=000001... What's the story with this court case?

Restrictions were lifted a year ago I thought.

I didn't sign up for presales access until after the email went out at 8AM. Is there a way to still get access?

I know the history but it's history what matters is the future

There are lots of newspaper and journal articles on Ireland's arrangements with the UK for defense. On the surface these are mutually beneficial but they have led to Ireland being dependant. I am not Irish but that strikes me as a bad idea for all parties. Look at the size of Irish navy& air force.

The various agreements between the UK and Irish Republic for exchange the 1952 agreement that gives Ireland RAF air cover and the RAF the right to patrol Irish airspace. It's all designed to protect Ireland and the UK from Russia. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023...

UK military even in its current depleted state dwarves Ireland's. I think Ireland should take a bigger role in European defense. Cooperation is essential but everyone needs to pay their way.

How did the 2001 and 2015 agreements sit with your theories of colonialism?

Ireland's current security depends on agreements that allow the Royal Navy to secure her waters and the Royal Air Force to defend her airspace. In a broader context their is also the belief that without contributing that the US and/or NATO would come to her aid. Neutrality paid for by others

Funny, because Arkadiy Semyonovich told me that Putin wants all Russians to live in the Metro by 2033 and he is threatening to use missiles to make it happen.

Where are the free world's "red lines"? Why is liberty so lightly defended?

Welcome. Enjoy the fresh air. Long may it last.

www.ft.com/content/cc56... reported in the FT too. Better late than never. Justice is incoming.

On the 8th March 1981 BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of their dramatisation of the Lord of the Rings. I may have read the Hobbit a little before this and certainly read LOTR during 1981 or 1982.

Thematically obviously.

Including Valhalla? I would just stop at Origins. I love that game.

Thoughtless. My dad investigated brutal sex crimes, had to tell many parents their children had died in stupid accidents, & protected us against terrorists. It's only recently that I realised how much he is tormented in retirement by things he saw for us. We need people to protect us from the horror