Balaclava

As has been noted, however, it was the tragic losses caused by extratropical cyclones that induced governments to take over the job of hunting storms and issuing warnings.

In France, the first country to take positive action, the immediate cause was the catastrophe which struck the Allied fleet in the harbor at Balaclava in 1854 during the Crimean War.

Ships of England and France were caught in this desperate position because of jealousies and hatreds which have abounded in Europe for centuries.

In this case, the Tsar of Russia seized a pretext to try to gain control of a part of Turkey.

In fact, the Tsar had said that his best generals were January and February, and that remark should have carried ample warning.

Actually, the Allied attack began in September 1854.

The British had taken possession of the harbor at Balaclava, and in the beginning, the invasion seemed to promise success.

But in October, the heroic but ill-fated charge of the Light Brigade, made immortal by Tennyson, marked the turning point.

And look, before it moves us as Christians to mission, it ought to kill any sense of pride or self-righteousness that we might feel this evening.

Because sometimes, particularly if we've been a Christian any length of time, we can begin to look at the lives of people around us and think, how can they live like that? Balaclavas and e-scooters.

Oh, how can they believe that? Celebrate that? How can they make those choices? Paul says, remember your before shot.

You weren't naturally wiser than them, more spiritually switched on than them.

Yeah.

So it's a difficult situation, isn't it? So are they virtue signaling? And I do wonder, this leads us on to all the different, we had the protesters over the last couple of weeks that turned up, was it at the different coastal ports in Balaclavas? Yep.

So is that virtue signaling? We've had the resurgence of net zero protesters once again walking the streets and gluing themselves to them.

Is that virtue signaling? Because it doesn't seem to actually benefit or gain any momentum.

It looks like Indy's settled in really, really well over there as well, Austin.

I think she had a winner there yesterday at Balaclava, if I'm not mistaken.

It looks like she's taken to it like a duck to water.

Yeah, definitely.