I am wondering what a Labour Prime Minister is doing when fawning to a want-to-be facist dictator? I totally agree that we should join arms with our European neighbours to ensure that Putin and Russia cannot even contemplate invading democratic countries on our eastern flanks. However he seems to have gone over the top in his reaction to Trump’s negotiating nonsense. The USA has several $trillion invested in Europe – Trump will not pull out! (the figures are $3.5 trillion at end of 2023).
DRESS
An interesting discussion this morning – a friend mentioned that he and his boyfriend has been shocked to see so many young girls wearing very little at 2am in Bristol. His comment was ‘what were they thinking being dressed like that’ and secondly that they were ‘asking for trouble’. On the first point I countered that they were not dressing provocatively (in many cases) but were just reacting to societies demands and social media and peer pressure. On the second point – men/boys should have more respect and control. I am sure there is an element of being commented on positively and even hoping for a snog/cuddle at the end of the evening. But not sexual assault. There is also a time and a place – a bikini on a beach and a miniskirt in a night club are ok, but walking home at 2am is, whilst not asking for trouble, foolish. Our society, social media and pornography have a lot to answer for..
So I think my friend was right and wrong. Thus an excellent discussion. This is where debating societies and competitions get it wrong. It is not about winning but becoming aware of the nuances involved
TIDY
It appears that the situation for wildlife on Earth is deteriorating. I am not a great lover of bugs and flies but … they are important to the ecosystems we rely on. We live in a world obsessed with tidiness. Neighbours are even putting screnes around their recycling bins! On which, I have a couple of comments. Firstly why do people put their rubbish in black bin bags? We are supposed to be cutting down on plastic waste – not creating it! Second – and I am not sure about this. There are getting on for 30 million homes in the UK, most of whom will recycle waste food or at least bag it. This presumably went in a smelly bin in the past which would have been lovely for flies and insects? Third – We are now being encouraged to recycle soft plastics – surely the film covering take aways and other products needs washing – thus increasing water usage and energy? Can they not find a decompsable film that can be put in with food waste?
BATTLE READY!
What is going on? Why do we need to be battle ready? I know Putin has a wish that he could rebuild the USSR – but Ukraine has not toppled and the latest attack by drones on Russian jets has proved that this is not achievable in his life time? (I hope). Then we have China, which has converted some of its wealth into advanced weaponry – however apart from Taiwan and the deserted islands of the East and South China Seas it has not shown any threat to the west militarily. Then we have the USA which is a threat economically and by default. Reducing their commitment to NATO IS a threat to our security. But do we need to be battle ready?
UKRAINE
How to assess this latest event is difficult. Russia has been firing drones and missiles into cities for months. Ukraine has it seems hit back big time. I think however am pissed off! This is not just an escalation between Russia and Ukraine- it threatens every one. UK government says it will up Defence spending to 3% , why should we need to is the question. Diplomacy has obviously failed and the primeval gruntings of populist dictators means that money has to be diverted to producing weapons of death rather than nuturing our children. What a fucked up world we live in.
JUNE – DIARY
is nearly upon us. Will it be ‘flamin’ June”? High pressure is steady across much of Europe casing record heat waves in Spain, Portugal and southern France. TBH this year has been perfect for me in Somerset, enough rain, lots of sunshine and not too hot. First raspberries should be ready tomorrow with sunshine today, ready for the grandchildren to pick. Tomato plants are looking healthy – I need to get some canes for them and think about deleafing them near the pots? They will definitely be earlier than last year when first pick was not until July – Aaron has tomatoes on the ones I gave him already! Roses are lovely with the old red one and the new yellow bush one competing, although the purple one is very/too fragrant!
My birthday meal tomorrow – Maz is very busy, Adam half way through GCSE’s and Erin just started new job so I have told them I will see them later (another excuse for a feast!). I may have gone over the top – last year we all went for a meal and I paid £250 for a meal that was OK. So this year I have spent £200 on – well a JamJam preference! I have beef, pork and lamb which I will marinade and serve with tortilla wraps and salad; oh and wine! And, well lots of salad!
I CAN’T SEE IT SO IT DOES NOT MATTER!
The childs view – or if we talk about ostriches – I bury my head in the sand and all you can see is my arse – oh, sorry that was about Farage and his mates.
The statistics are beyond frightening. Inevitable loss has risen from 20% to 39% – sea level rise predictions vary, as inevitable with the variety of scenarios and spread of glaciers across 6 continents. Of course the different geographic and climatic factors affecting each glacier is different. As is the impact on coastal regions. Sea level was both lower and higher in the past, and coastal erosion and deposition has changed coast lines significantly. I am sure that communities will take measures to resist the rising sea levels, but the combined effects of tides, winds, rainfall and temperature may cause huge disasters in the near future as we have 20% of the worlds population living at or near sea level. Could the Thames Barrier with stand similar conditions to 1953? Is the migration that so occupies the right wing wankers just a wavelet on the shore compared to what may follow?
I really, really, really do not understand why people are so dumb?
BLATTEN
A swiss village was devastated when a huge chunk of glacier nroke off causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock. One person was reported dead. Is this a start of a trend where melting ive and reduction in permafrost releases ice and rock? Already this year we have serious consequences of our warming climate. The Northern Hemisphere is affected more due to its greater land mass, but we are seeing an increase in temperatures in the Atlantic with resultant changes to marine life. But Farage and the Lunatic Party want to stop a move to net zero, Trump wants to decrease electric vehicles and drill for gas and cut down more forests for lumber. Absolute fucking madness!
Why should the UK pay for mitigating measures when China and the USA continue to pollute the atmosphere. Firstly China is developing a greener energy production market but it will take time. They are also leading manufacturers of EV’s and solar panels. The USA will catch up after Trump ‘s his clogs. Can we get a world lead. Martin told me of the Oxford University battery that had worked since 1840. A great deal of research is going on and I can be hopeful that a solution will be found. Burning fossil fuels is just plain stupid. London passed a Clean Air Act in 1956 after several thousand deaths caused by burning coal. there are about 34 million cars in UK, of which less than a million are EV’s. This has almost trebled since 1970 (13.5 million). No wonder our cities are polluted and breathing problems increasing.
It made me think about supermarket deliveries and air pollution. Firstly they should all have EV’s but even so a delivery van could have 10-15 deliveries and be I would guess at least 8X more efficient. Home delivery of food is probably no more efficient as they teand to be 1 x 1 although a moped/bike delivery will be cheaper. Which makes me realise that we all/most use cars too much.
Tate brothers will face rape and trafficing charges if they return to UK. This again made my poor brain think! Has the world become more misogynistic since I was young. Whist the macho male dominated society has changed in the work place (out of necessity?) and the man as the bread winner concept, al but disappeared. The attitude to woman per se seems to have deteriorated. The Tates have millions of followers who revel in their masochistic attitude to women. Pornography on the net is freely available, and is often not nice! In my childhood smut was finding the sexiest advert in the Economist magazine of the National Geographic. Institute never thought myself better than the girls I knew. I think ambitions for girls may have been lower – but no one I knew would mistreat them? I even remember going into a pub in Scarborough (under aged) and being told that women were not allowed in the Public Bar. Times have changed but I wonder whether for the better.
AT LAST
At last the Guardian had a front page spread on Yaqeen Hammad, aged 11, who was killed in an Israeli genocide mission. At last they are putting a face to the slaughter of the innocents rather than just reporting numbers. Other papers have been quick to report in detail about the hostages and Israeli deaths – but Palestinian deaths are reported as just numbers. The photo of Yaqeen and her lovely smile brought the horror of the slaughter home.
916 infants under one have been killed.
4365 aged 1-5 murdered.
6101 aged 6-12 slaughtered by Israel.
5124 aged 13-17 slain by the state of Israel.
And Trump is passing laws making it illegal to boycott Israeli goods. Ireland has moved to ban goods produced in Occupied Palestinian Territories, about time; The rest of Europe may follow their lead (well the western countries anyway). Netanyahu has surrounded himself with arse licking thugs who do not deserve to be treated as human! Basically FUCK ISRAEL.
SEA TEMPERATURES
This is phenomenal.
Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It’s the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.
It’s the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe. More details from the BBC follow on next page. Warmer seas cause expansion and thus coastal flooding. Todays Guardian also has a report on octopus catches booming from 200kg this time last year to 36.000kg last Thursday. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/26/the-seabed-is-full-of-them-english-fishers-enjoy-surprise-octopus-boom.