If Russia and the US were genuinely willing for NATO states, including the US, to provide an "Art. 5-style" security guarantee they could just suggest that Ukraine joins NATO. They are doing the opposite, which tells us all we need to know.

Also samite, as worn by the Lady of the Lake when bestowing Excalibur!

This is a great story. It squarely matches my expectations and tickles my schadenfreude gland, so I find it easy to believe.

Is it true though? The only hits I get are a couple of articles on usmidia.com which have no references. I'm reserving judgement.

Duo was great for starting from scratch with a new language, but it got irritating after a while. I'm listening to slow podcasts in Russian and French. I've found a great podcast called Easy German but I'm not quite up to it. I haven't quite got the hang of Scots Gaelic orthography!

I haven't looked at Duolingo for a while, but if I had to guess, it's to make you spend more time in the app. (That's their goal, not yours!)

Which language(s), btw?

According to this, they haven’t. No licences for asbestos removal applied for. Quelle surprise. The report also notes that the West Wing was laced with asbestos, until a 2019 removal programme - but that no such work has been undertaken in the East Wing.
www.rawstory.com/amp/white-ho...

link: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Not an issue, they're already moving to deregulate asbestos.

If you're an oligarch who will dodge taxes, drive up property values and twist our politics to your own advantage, your presence is negative.

The end point of this policy is a Dubai style hellhole where guest workers have no rights and have the threat of deportation hangings over their heads.

The Tayport swans, with Waverley in the background.

Nice to see the swan family doing well. I first saw them by Boat Brae in the spring. There was also an oystercatcher family with 3 chicks there. There's another swan family with 8 cygnets (7 at last count) by Tayport, often in the harbour.

There's been a few fields of Phacelia around here too, planted as a pollinator-friendly green manure, beautiful blue fields this summer.

I've been wondering the same thing! Quite a few fields of this in Fife. I've thought it is a green manure crop of some kind. Not sure about the flax identification, it's much taller than blue flax that I'm familiar with, unless it's a very different variety.

We reached that point even before Trump's inauguration, given his uncharged crimes, never mind all the other lawbreaking since.

Dundee gets quite stabby, I suspect weekend/night time would be v different. NHS Scotland has been great so far.

You've got the walking wounded from Friday night. I walked into Dundee A&E on a Thursday morning, no wait at all, seen by a doc and a consultant, X-rayed, brilliant service.

Hope it's short! Morning is usually the quiet time, but with full staff.