The media will be awash with Johnson and Partygate. In the real world climate change seems to be accelerating. Governments are idle. Macron – raising retirement age to 64 will not stop the sea level rise. Sunak – stop giving the rich more money and tax their planes out of existence. Biden – halt the oil drilling.
COTON ORCHARD
1000 fruit trees to be cut down by Cambridgeshire CC for a new road – madness. Road to cost £160 million – just ban cars from the city and use existing roads just for buses and bikes and pedestrians.
WILD ISLES
BBC censor national treasure Sir David Attenborough’s latest series. The Telegraph complains about partial sponsorship by WWF and RSPB (2 charities previously criticised for their political lobbying), and the BBC has pulled the episode which themes the destruction of nature because of a fear of a backlash from Right Wing Politicans and the RW Press. BBC is also cancellinng Autumn watch. How dare they question the integrity of Sir David Attenborough to pander to the ERG!
Is this the end, or the begining of the end, of free speech in this country. Gary Lineker was 100% correct but was criticised in Parliament andd by a Shadow Minister from Labour. What does Labour stand for? Yes people care about the economy and prices – but deep down we are, or were, proud of our democracy and freedoms.
On last nights “The last leg” the presenter read out a vile message he had just received on social media – the government and its lies and cruel rhetoric emboldens these morons!
UN TREATY TO PROTECT THE HIGH SEAS
After long debates over a decade a treaty has been agreed – it needs something like 60 signatures before it becomes international law (I think I read?). The so called 30/30 policy to conserve 30% of the Oceans by 2030 is politicans playing the numbers game! I guess that 70% of the worlds oceans could be put into a conservation zone with no benefit to the ecosystem. With it being estimated that the weight of plastic in the ocean will exceed the weight of fish by 2030. It is time to act to save our planet.
TOMATOES
Why they are being rationed. 1. Coldweather in Morocco and Spain. 2. War in Ukraine hiked fuel costs for growing in the UK and Netherlands. 3. Government has been warned about supply chain issues and refused to do anythingto help home grown produce. 4. BREXIT – plentiful sipplies across EU (and Ukraine) but wholesalers find it so simple to sell their produce across the EU. 5. Related to. Brexit – labour costs and shortages.
I am sure prices have risen in the EU but not to the ridiculous level here. But we have a government that puts ideology before practicality. Perhaps giving tax breaks for farmers to invest in solar panels on their greenhouses , or barns might be better, and wind turbines. We certainly need to grow more in this country to alleviate inevitable climate hiccups. We also need to lower housing costs to enable sustainable food costs.
Turnip face Coffrey has no clue. Her only mantra is the free market – an excuse for doing absolutely nothing and blame others when things go wrong.
I am getting ready to plant tomatoes and hope a bumper crop will allow me to dry more. Seasonal produce from Europe makes sense too. I make strawberry jam in the summer to consume in winter.. It makes sense to be sensible about eating in season and local. i love mango and pineapple and olives and apricots and papaya. So a mix of frozen, preserved and imported should give a healthy diet. And whilst I have cut down on meat – we should be sensible about this too!
COFFREY IN USA
Over there trying to get a trade deal, any deal will do, to bolster the flagging morale of Brexiteers. She announced that she will not go vegetarian or vegan. Silly woman. We all need to reduce meat consumption for the sake of the environment. American chlorinated meat will be on our shelves soon (undercutting British farmers with more sustainable farming methods). North Carolina has the UK as the biggest market for sweet potatoes – I get mine from Spain with a much lower carbon footprint.
Elsewhere in the USA the rail accident in East Palestine, Idaho is at last making the news in the UK, 2 weeks later. The train company did not attend a public meeting due to concerns over the safety of their employees if they attended. This is the lawless USA nowadays! Norfolk Southern Corporation, the train operator, has made massive profits and has a history of cost cutting. There were 150 carriages on the train which seems a bit excessive? Presumably more than one engine was used – probably many, and I bet they were minimally crewed!
WIND TURBINES
A deprived area of Bristol (Lawrence Weston) will soon have a huge wind turbine which should generate approx £100.000 a year to the local community. The community raised the cost and got some grants to help. The question is – why is this not happening everywhere? Energy company profits (generated solely in the UK) would pay for thousands of such schemes. The big companies and National Grid will not allow this to happen as it would stop their mega profits. It would not be practical everywhere, but community run schemes could cut our dependancy on fossil fuels rapidly, and cut energy bills too.
CHRISTMAS DAY 2022
Warm and wet – well 10C. North America suffering from record cold temperatures. I think I have got the analysis correct. Cold air has been brought south throughout the centre of the continent by the jet stream shifting south to the Gulf of Mexico. This is bringing very cold conditions to the Prairie states, although Manitoba has yet to declare a weather warning as -40F temps are not that unusual!! There is also low pressure system over the NE of the continent which is also bringing cold air from the Arctic, but also moisture and high winds – snow, blizzards and freezing rain and icy conditions. Low pressure in the Pacific Region is also bringing snow to Vancouver and British Columbia. Just as temps fell quickly they may do the opposite over the next few days. The following article from Bloomberg, whilst being full of hyperbole, suggests that climate change is responsible for the erratic changes in the jet stream.
LA NINA
For the second successive year La Niña is expected to exert an influence on the worlds climate patterns. In the UK the Environment Agency is predicting rainfall at 180% of normal in February; the dry summer may also result in drier surfaces and less infiltration than normal, thus exacerbating flood danger. If the current weather pattern persists through the next couple of months flooding would seem to be inevitable.
MIGRATION
It is not illegal to migrate, therefore there is no such thing as an illegal migrant. It may be illegal to cross borders without the correct paper work, so an illegal act has been committed. If you break the speed limit you have committed an illegal act, but you do not become an “illegal”.