Interesting proposal by the Government has got the usual suspects getting their knickers in a twist and throwing teir toys out of the pram! I am not sure what I think! I was a smoker for 50 years and gave up totally 4 years ago. Is it a personal freedom issue when the smoke impinges on the enjoyment of others? The4 ban in inside areas was excellent and only diehards complained with conviction (A former Minister fro Health amongst them!). Maybe pubs and venues should be able to, and encouraged to, offer smoke free areas/times. I would certainly back the banning of smoking within an area open to, and used by children. Pub gardens could be smoke free until 9pm? Some pubs could decide to be totally smoke free, others could ban children!. This would appease the freedom of personal choice (and fuck the rest of you) cohort. But then there are still morons who complain about using seat belts – but they are not the ones scraping remains of humans from the bonnet!
TYPHOON SHANSHAN
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/japan-typhoon-shanshan-damage-deaths-kyushu
The development of Shanshan may precede activity in the Atlantic as moist air from Africa seeds hurricanes. Since Ernesto there has been a quiet perion in the Caribbean – but things are predicted to change! Hopefully Mar-a-Lago gets a good walloping! No doubt Trump would boast about it! He is just so weird!
But the climate emergency is still being ignored by, well everyone! Record rainfall in the Sahara and still the press are obsessed with the death of a rich fucker in his yacht! Mediterranean ares has less rainfall this summer, India has had floods, 1.3ha of Panatelndestroyed by fire, 100+ die in mexico due to extreme heat. JUST STOP OIL!
PARIS
Time for us to follow the French and ban pesticides from cities, including private gardens. Paris has been pesticide free since 2019. My garden is pesticide free and full of food plants for insects, bees and birds. I have a large area of raspberries and I expected the birds to beat me to the harvest – but it is largely bird free although there are plentiful insects. Yes I have seen the odd bee and butterfly but they too have been disappointing in their general absence. I guess that whilst in a rural village the other 80 or so houses in my sunurban road have only token flowers, and 80-90% mow their lawns with enthusiam every 2 weeks. Next door neighbour even sprayed an escaped wallflower that managed to flower close the wall of her house! I will admit to using slug pellets occasionally when planting out young plants from the greenhouse, but once established they are on their own! Butwhere are the birds – the bird feed in the feeder went rotten and the seeds started sprouting?
TELEGRAM
Ceo Pavel Durov arrested. My son argued that this was unfair, and I had to plead ignorance about the medium. Then Farage spoke out to condemn the arrest saying “who next – Elon Musk”. Charges include fraud, drug trafficking, organised crime, promotion of terrorism and cyber bullying. I guess the same could be levelled at Musk, Meta, etc. If this is the first attempt to regulate social media then I am in favour. French Courts are independent and the case will be examined in full glare from the press. This would not happen in Russia.
TIME FOR A LITTLE LOVE
At last a topic that I am well qualified to speak about. Education sold its soul, or had it abducted by the small minded accountancy driven ideology of the Thatcher years. If it cannot be measured then it must be worthless resulted in the fatuous league tables that destroyed many a good teacher and school. No I was not one (at least not until the bastards finally drove me to retirement12 years ago. But I digress. Latest figures show that expulsions are rising across the country, especially in deprived areas (and also in strong Brexit supporting areas!).
VAPES
I just do not understand! Yet again. Sandford Stores sells around £100000 a year? Why? I smoked for 50 years – to start with it was cool, then rolling tobacco became kind of therapeutic. But what is cool or therapeutic about a vape? To do it in public as I saw at a fpptball match just identifies the person as a knob! those who convert to a vape instead of tobacco have my full support – but the evidence is that it is becoming a trendy thing to do? Are some stronger in nicotine than others? Gaulloise were cool for a while, and then Sobraine? and then Consulate menthol before I got the rolling habit. But what is cool about a vape???
THE SUNDAY STUMBLE
I thought of more professional terms like the Sunday Surmise, or the Sunday Sermon, or even the Weekend Wankfest. But a stumble through events seems most appropriate!
Firstly I have made a strawberry sponge – the test will be in the eating! Basically a sponge recipe with home made strawberry jam in the middle topped with stewed strawberries and lemon. I might add double cream for complete decadence! and then sprinkle some nuts on top! Pickled onions – first 2kg done, and pickled garlic up next. Baguettes – Millie is doing her bit at the moment, so this evening or tomorrow morning. My baguettes with herbs went down well, next time I will try with some flaked chilli, or even homegrown chillies. Tomatoes are very slow at the moment – not enough sun? I still have breakfast of raspberries when I go down to water the greenhouse, and have left the mulberries for Martin who is coming tomorrow. Apple harvest also looks good this year.
Well enough about me, int he News. First off, the sinking of the super yacht. This is very disturbing! Mainly because of the absurd amount of publicity it has received. He was said by a friend to be a lovely unassuming and grounded person. So unassuming and grounded that he owned a million £ boat with worlds largest mast. Not exactly bashful then! The drowning of his daughter aged 18 is obviously very sad – but as I did not know her, no more sad than the deaths of desperate people travelling across borders all over the world. It is a fucked up world!
Then Kate Allsop – front page again as she let her 15 year old son go inter railing. I had no idea who she was or that her family has close connections with Diana’s – did this help her get a job on TV? So basically a rich and connect mum lets her privileged son, aged 15 go inter railing with a 16 year old mate. Let us leave aside the rich and privileged bit (I am fairly certain he will have stayed in hotels rather than roughing it on park/railway station benches around Europe. Personally I think tat if he was mature enough I have no problem. I would not have been happy if it had been my son at 15, but like me he took a while to mature (and others seem to regress like Donald Trump! – is he even let out alone?). However I would have been happy for either of my daughters (Maz will say different, but she had to teach me to be cool – and I did put her on a train from Weston-super-Mare to Newhaven alone and aged about 12! Tams at 18 went to Africa with a pal and without the financial or societal backup. One of my memorable moments. Tams would use my credit card to buy clothes and always paid me back. I was a tad surprised when she told me she had just put £££ on it which was for a flight for her and Sofia to South Africa and the Buzzbus and a safari! So I back Kate Allsop all the way.
INTERNATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT
So a UN report criticises the UK for its racism in government, Parliament and the media.
It does not name names, but we can be clear that most, if not all the Tory candidates to suceed Sunak will be on the list along with Reform and most of the published and broadcast media, the Met Police and other public bodies. Labour should also be concerned – Starmers initial speech on Gaza was horrendous!
However racism has become so mainstream that even a family member can say “I am not racist but ….” with no sense of irony! I can give explanations for this but not excuses. For my parents generation (and their influence over my generations thinking) the war was a good reason for xenophobia. This was amplified by the media, controlled by the upper classes and rich who really only supported the war effort once it became apparant that Hitler would use (please do not fact check this – I can be as guilty as any of converting a random thought into fact! Was I thinking of Remains of the Day”). TV had the Black and White Minstral Show (although even in my pre-teens this was embarrassing) and then “some mothers do have them” which was funny, very racist and I (sounding like Donald Trump) sided with the long haired scoucer trade unionist).
So my generation were indoctrinated at every opportunity – no lessons about the slave trade for me, just hearing about our racist heroes of the past like ‘Clive of India’, Captain Cook, Drake and Churchill. No mention of Winston sending the troops in against strikers or his role in the Indian Famine. Signs were up in B&B “No blacks, Irish or queers”. A very intolerant society. But it also gave birth to the Sixties and rebellion against the conformity of austerity. Hippies opened their horizons whilst the Mods and Rockers craved for the lost norms of the past. Then along came the skinheads – a tribe for the failures and those failed by society. Being and acting like a moron became the norm for a sector of society. 30p Anderson and Farage and the others realise this is a fan ase neglected by the main parties. In the days before Thatcher when we had an industrial base these guys (and they are mainly men) had jobs in factories and identified with their trade union. As the Trade Unions lost membership so the football Ultras and yobo’s proliferated. As hooliganism was cut back on, then these people had no ideological home. Car theft also lost its shine as it became more difficult.
But my relative is not poor – home owning and well off. Former mod with a police record to prove it. He and I suspect his family have become radicalised by the media of the Mail, Sun, GB News etc. Their fear, bigotism and paranoia defies logical explanation. Their paucity of ideas and ideology craves a symbol to follow (Flag, badge, club) basically anything to hide the fact that they are pathetic morons who can only articulate their views via the sound bytes of the rich and wealthy.
BYLINE TIMES
I just received this months copy of the Byline Times and want to give it a shout of approval. Yes it is an echo chamber for my views, but I challenge anyone to provide me of any wrong facts that are in the paper.. And no I do not fully agree with all analysis – e.g. Sonia Purnell’s analysis of the riots was I believe too simplistic.
SUPERTANSKII
I try to articulate my thoughts on topics, but sometimes I read or hear something which says what I think so clearly that I just have to post it! So here it is
I also must say that I am in awe of this capable young woman, and I am also aware of the abuse she has suffered from internet low life. I have 2 daughters 1 son, 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson and 1 step grandson so I am extremely pleased to see an independent, comprehensive educated young woman creating a wonderful role model.