Roses
TRUMPING
As ever the hyperbole exceeds the detail “”very successful, world-renowned, and unforgettable” was his description of the meeting. All we know so far is that Xi threatened over Taiwan, China agreed to buy USA oil and not to supply weapons to Iran. Press are loving the Labour Party leadership contest/non-contest. They do not need facts at the best of times, so now seem to have a free reign to speculate and lie with impunity. They manage to keep the slime ball Farage off the front page by ignoring his devios financial manoeuvrings.
GARDEN – just delivered rosemary, sage, thyme x2, marjoram, lemon balm, 2 types, bay, fennel to a friend. I am now repotting Vietnemese coriander, golden thyme, creeping red thyme, Mexican tarragon, and the following mints; ginger, orange, Hilary’s lemon, chocolate, basil, blackcurrant, mojito, pineapple, curry. Corsican mint seems to have died so I will look out for some. Wallflowers still in blossom as is the wisteria, honeysuckle will be next. Also the 6 new roses are in bud, my yellow bush rose is nearly 2m high and has at least 100 flowers or more, back gate guard is also blooming and the wild rose with its lethal thorns is spreading – I should restrain it but insects love it!
Fucking guardian – runs a 3/4 page article about British Jews not being safe in London without a mention of attacks on women, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ racist attacks.. Why do the papers give preferential treatment to Jews?
OBVIOUS REALLY!
An analysis of votes for reform shows that there is a direct correlation for voting leave in 2016 and voting Reform in the local elections. The stupidity does not disappear with time! What is clear is that the old 2/3 party system is defunct; however it is also interesting that Reform came joint second in Scotland with no candidates actually ‘winning’ the election in any constituency. Wales to seemed to have aa much fairer system. Young vibrant multi-cultural London also kept to the left with basically a swing to the Greens, only Havering (formerly Essex) fell to Reform. So the most viable, economically profitable part of the UK remains a bastian of the left. I suspect that there is also a correlation between voting Reform and GDP£ per head – turkeys really do vote for `xmas. Is there also a correlation between those on sickness benefit/leave and voting Reform (who want to abolish the NHS for an American style insurance system -Fuck me these people are so stupid? What is the average life expectancy of Reform voters? Whilst this could be a trick question as I find it hard to believe that they can feed themselves, I suspect that as the averge Reform voter is typically a racist skilled/semi-skilled manual worker it is lower than the average – yet they vote to abolish the NHS and the facilities their children rely on – to function with disfunctunal parents!
The British media have stopped reporting on Trump, maybe he has not made some outrageously stupid remarks for a couple of days – that seems unlikely – so maybe he just reeated the old ones? Or maybe the Epstein files debacle is quiet over the weekend?
Still chilli here – tomato plants are being slow to get going, roses are begining to bloom though.
TECHNOLOGY
The USA has spent at least $15 billion so far – probably a lot more. It has the freeedom of the skies and has destroyed the Iranian Navy.. It has said it has blockaded Iran ports – yet 28 vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz after visiting Iran ports with at least 2 loading up with oil at Kharg Island. How did they do that? Apparently by switching off their tracking devices! WTF! We are not talking about kayaks or canoes but merchant vessels. So either the technology of satellites and reconnaiscance aircraft is not all it is cracked up to be – or America is turning a blind eye – perhaps to allow China to get supplies? Is this an uptodate example of the economics of war espoused hilariously by Catch 22. trump announced after a few days of the war that ‘America had won the war”. In conventional terms he may be correct, but as the Vietnam experience showed – military dominence is only a part of warfare. So the rest of the world will continue to suffer as Trump feeds his ego. Will petrol at the UK pumps hit £2 litre? And will this lead to higher food prices. Maybe the capitalist economies of the west need something as drastic as this to reintroduce an element of sustainability into the market economy?
Only with a reintroduction into the EU can this be feasible. The UK is too small and can suffer from climate induced hazards that affect farms. Within Europe it should be a case of swings and roundabouts. The same goes for solar and wind power – it is highly likely that, given the infrastructure, power could be routed around on calm cloudy nights.
And the papers are full of the increase in anti-semetic crime and Starmers call for a halt to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Is he really that fucking stupid. A start would be with sanctions against Israel; then laws increasing punishment for inciting crimes of hatred. I would increase these crimes to include the press and internet companies. The press should not be able to pedal anti-migrant ‘facts’ without putting them in context. Of course there crimes committed by migrants, but as a proportion of those committed by white Britons they are likely to be proportionately fewer. These are not ‘news’papers – but pedallers of right wing bollox.
At home I have planted out cosmos seedlings and watered tomato plants – they should be able to go into big pots later next week. Greek basil is also sprouting. I am also making oat flour strawberry and lemon cookies.
GREEN PARTY
Did Polanski have an error of judgement? In my view yes and no. The no relates to footage showing a police officer kicking the attacker in or near his head – this is American ICE style policing and not one that should be condoned. The Yes relates to the timing – a considered response rather than a retweet would have been sensible, but surely not requiring a full page in the Guardian which becomes more like a beacon for Israel and zionism every day! It mentions at length the 3 potential candidates that are accused of anti-semitism whilst ignoring the huge number of Reform/Tory candidates accused of racism and no mention of Islamaphobic comments .
Meanwhile Trump continues to be unstable. he claims that he no longer needs Congressional support and agreement for the war in Iran as there is a ceasefire! He has also raised tariffs on UE evehicles again citing that the EU had reneged on the deal struck at Turnbery. He has also said he will cut USA troops in Europe.
NO MOW MAY – is upon us. This is my fourth year of not mowing (or NO MOW EVER!)! Wallflowers and fennel and chicory are thriving in the driveway and pavements (and even in the gutter along the street. Despite my immediate neighbours waging chemical warfare on their gardens, insects continue to be drawn to my haven for insects. Birds are rarer, although I did have a hungry goldfinch on the seeds of evening primrose in the autumn. Sage and rosemary and thyme are thriving, as are 10 rose bushes.
However the Guardian did have an article about declining birth rates in developed countries – something that racists and Reform chose to ignore. With my generation (the baby boomers) getting old and infirm, there is the problem of both an ageing population and then a falling one to contend with. The immigration of young adults into the UK over the past 10 years has mitigated the effect in the UK (and probably the USA?), but still the negative rhetoric about migrants continues. Who is in front of you at the queue for doctors at the surgery or in hospital? What colour is the doctor? It is not just the qualified jobs that migrants fill, who is the person at the till, serving your meal, driving your bus or cab?
MONDAY BLUES
OK, I am retired, but still get the blues occasionally. Today it was learning that a brilliant friend had had a fall and broken pelvis and elbow. But the sun is shining and one should not be morose about these things. Shit happens!
Starmer has to face Parliament today to see if he can bullshit he way out of his predicament. Will he resign or wait until after the humiliation of the May elections? Miliband is likely to announce plans to further green energy projects tomorrow.. In Italy Silvia Salis may offer a decent alternative to the present right wing government.
Tomato seeds finally begining to germinate but it was near freezing at 6am this morning. Washing out. Recycling back in after collection. I might make some cookies with oat flour, lemon and raisins? Boring today – sorry!
STARMER
I think he is on dodgy ground. There are two IF’s here; if he lied to Parliament he should resign; if he created a situation whereby civil servants felt they had to override a security check he should resign. If however he merely made an error of judgement the press should shut up! Political turmoil is not what we need as a country right now – Farage and Badenoch and their clans can hardly speak without lying – if their lips are moving they are telling lies!
Meanwhile in the UK hundreds protested regarding an alleged gang rape of a woman who left a night club between 2am and 4am. Commendable community response and concern? Or was the large turn out a result of racism? Statistically it is likely that nearly 50% of the male protesters (it was mainly men protesting) were known to the police for domestic violence. Rape of any form is serious and should be prosecuted regardless of the nationality or status of the perpetrators – however society has double standards- or no standards when it comes to sexuality. No Epstein perpetrators have been prosecuted – indeed I heard one knuckle dragger profess that Epstein and Andrew M-W were ‘just having a bit of fun”. Is there hope for my 3 granddaughters? Youth club discos where the room would be split between girls and boys with just a few brave (or over confident) souls dancing in the middle are long gone. Boys watch hours of semi-violent porn (at best) instead of communication with others. Schools are becoming mental institutions to cope with the mental problems of children deprived of wholesome childhoods. That was bit of a rant! Related to this topic – councils are now charging for fun runs in parks and yoga sessions. For fucksake – not everything has to be monetised; councils are under extreme pressure to cut costs – they could start with having a maximum wage of £80000. Children need to be able to play. My local park is locked due to “dog walkers allowing their dogs to shit” which I find unlikely in my village where a turd is unusual on the pavement., tennis is only available in private clubs, swimming pools have become rare and expensive. Even football and rugby clubs demand a sub. Local beaches are surrounded by parking meters and fees. Only the air that we breathe is free (although polluted if near fagash Farage!
Wet today but sunny weather on its way – hopefully my tomato seeds will germinate. More hanging basket plants have just arrived.
Garden
Today could reach 20C here so I have planted tomato seeds; Gardeners Delight, Alica Craig and Sweet Apertiff: also put in hot chilli seeds and a tray of Cosmos. Next will be greek basil; sweet basil and Canterbury Bells. andf random other stuff from last year! Strimming the grass tomorrow
JAMJAM
First jamjam of the year underway with 3.5kg of finest cheddar strawberries just purchased. I also have some elderflower liquor to jazz it up a bit. Still too cold to start planting but I have the seeds and the pots waiting. I also got some rhubarb for a crumble!
Thunbergs meadowsweet along with a wall flower in glorious blossom and bluebells coming through.
Meanwhile back to the war. Trump says talks have been positive and is suspending air strikes for 5 days. Iran says not talks have taken place! Has he run out of missiles or ???? Two days ago he was going to obliterate their whole infrastructure.
NATURE
First brimstone butterflies were seen in the garden last saturday and every day since. Definitely a spring like few days – temperatures upto 17C although chilly at 6am! Hopefully a resurgence of wildlife will follow.
Politics -Israel is killing as many people as possible before world opinion forces them to stop. Trump’s anti-terror chief resigns as public opinion in the USA turns against the war more strongly. Even Badenoch referred to the POTUS as childish! The Guardian does an expose on Farage and his fascist rhetoric and videos. Do many people know that Farage is owner of Reform plc, it is a private company masquerading as a political party? In general the voters in the UK have lost confidence in Parliament and Westminster. The government with its temporary huge majority should introduce PR and other rules relating to political donations and attendance in constituencies and Parliament itself. Reform seems to have peaked at 29% of the electorate. I guess it will be interesting to see how they get on in the council elections in areas where they control the councils!