Metro

I'm watching Happy Valley. This means I get to resume learning funky British words but just now I learned a gesture that the main character referred to.

"The quintessential British offensive gesture for most of the 20th century, formed by holding up a hand with the middle and index finger upright in a V shape, the thumb and other two fingers curled into the palm; the palm facing towards the gesturer. If asked, most people would gloss the meaning as ‘F—you’ or something similar, and it was certainly a very potent offensive gesture until recent years when it seems to be losing its ability to offend."

So if your palm faces you, it is offensive, and if it faces the viewer, it is the peace sign. I think I'm in danger of giving serious offense.

I visited the woman who had the accident and brought her some food. My colleague brought her chocolates. She's not really hurt and all alone in a strange and expensive country, because coworkers who value her immensely are here, but I understand feeling that way. It is also a really lousy trip. She should have been enjoying herself in the wonderful Washington DC, walking around, seeing museums and other sights, not holed up in her room with her foot elevated and iced. 

Apparently I did pull exactly the right people into it to help solve things she was going through and there will be policy changes made. 

Two independent Russia media outlets have determined that Russia spent 10 billion rubles on trenches and anti-tank concrete blocks to block Ukraine from Belgorod. The raid by paramilitaries showed that this was just ineffective. They just went around them. Drones just go over them. 

The head of the Wagner Group seems to be doing everything he can to get into fights with the Russian military. In May people in Russia looked him up online twice as often as Putin. Newsweek suggests this means he's twice as popular.