Best newspaper headlline of 2023: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-do-the-liberals-even-understand-what-a-conflict-of-interest-is-does-a/23:

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Still time to add my novel to your Xmas stocking: https://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-murgatroyd/becoming-audrey-hutchins/ebook/product-84zzery.html

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So, COP28 was a bust: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/15/cop28-president-sultan-al-jaber-says-his-firm-will-keep-investing-in-oil

Thinking about goals for next year:

Thanks for the heads up. I'm based in AB (Edmonton)

A new Substack walk around the world: https://open.substack.com/pub/stephenmurgatroyd/p/pope-francis-and-the-impeachment

Very sad news. Hope she fights and makes it. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/entertainment/big-bang-theory-kate-micucci-cancer/index.html

Its time for us to stop the UN COP meetings - 70,000+ people spend two weeks talking and drafting an agreement which the world then ignores: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/14/cop28-fossil-fuels-deadly-expansion-plans-what-now

Hunter Biden showed up willing to testify to the House in an open, public meeting. Instead, he is to be held in contempt for not agreeing to a contemptuous closed-door process. This is another pantomime.

Gift giving idea for my eldest son:

With no serious work on the agenda, the US House is about to vote to impeach President Biden for not being Donald Trump. The pantomime season is in full swing. Next Jack and the Bean Counter.

Lovely music on this CD

Two great TV series on at the same time. Slow Horses (Season 3) and Vigil (Season 2).

Russia's military losses in the war with Ukraine are huge, according to the New York Times. At the start of the war, the Russian army had 360,000 troops. Russia has lost 315,000 of those troops, forcing them to recruit and mobilize new recruits and convicts from their prison system. Equipment is also a problem. At the start of the war, Russia had 3,500 tanks but has lost 2,200, forcing them to pull 50-year-old T-62 tanks from storage.”

Some of you may be interested in my substack column. Here's the latest: https://substack.com/home/post/p-139698333