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ISRAEL

The Israeli government is explicitly supprorting settlers who kill and maim Palestians (including children on the West Bank) and has the audacity to tell the governments of the UK, France and Canada, that they are on the wrong side of history. The British Consulate in East Jerusalem has been closed and the US Ambassador to Israel threatened retalitory sanctions – bring it on! Unfortunately Badenoch sought to make a political jibe at the government of the UK – she is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Various Jewish groups have condemned the Governments move on the grounds that it encourages anti-semitism. Instead they should be applauding the government and condemning the Israeli Government and the settlers who are commiting ethnic cleansing. Sir Edward Leigh and a long standing member of “Friends of Israel” said he wholeheartedly supproted the government thus supporting the argument that not all tories are complete morons!

Monty Don has called an end to his stint on Gardeners World – I am not a great fan of the programme as it points out my deficiencies as a gardener (or should I be more honest and say ‘in the garden’, but I have watched bits and appreciated his calm voice and practical advice.

A ‘technical issue’ halted flights into and out of the UK yesterday – a multibillion £ business. My first thought was not how/why the issue occured – but why did they not have back up – it reeks of cost cutting and profit margins! I was once phoned during the school holidays with a marketing questionnaire – and being the holiday I accepted the call; one of the questions was which airline do consider the safest! My reply was that I would not consider getting on a plane without feeling that it was 100% safe (I did not really think about safety when boarding a Fawcet Airlines plane from Lima to Cusco! despite seeing a mechanic giving the engine some wellie with a hammer!). However whistle blowers and passengers almost being sucked from planes do make me suspicious! My passport has run out and I have no intention of renewing it or getting on a plane again. And yes I do know that planes are safer than cars! (although that statistic, like many, is flawed!

At least 100 golf clubs breached their licences for the extraction of water but no prosecutions or fines have occurred – it make me want to get my hosepipe out and spray the road! Golf is just a way of spoiling a good walk. But this revalation proves that the agencies set up by the last government have no teeth, are possibly stuffed with compliant board members (paid by our taxes). A challenge – name one government regulatory agency that has any evidence of doing its job properly!

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WEATHER

the British are renowned for talking about our changing weather – but how many actually feel the weather. A dash from the house to a car and similar at the other end of a commute is the only exposure most people have to weather. Perhaps that is why many people are so complacent about the changes we are experiencing. Twat writers in the Mail, and presenters on GB’News’ are revealing that they have no connection with the weather – as we ourselves have not. If I asked a 100 people when was the last time they had experienced a storm in the flesh I would be surprised if it was above 1%! Many children refuse to wear a coat as it ‘is not cool’, in fact how many have coats ‘fit for purpose’ rather than style? Many may find out in the net couple of months what extreme weather means to individuals who are basically immune to weather. Heat is difficult to avoid without aircon contributing to the causes; but cold can be countered by central heating which has become ubiquitos since my childhood (I remember thick ice on the inside of bedroom windows when in my pre-teens), But how many people experience driving rain, snow, hail, high wind other than for a short car journey or from a warm shelter?

A government minister has stated that we should be prepared for power cuts – I am reliant on gas for heating – so I might find out first hand how to survive in the cold! I have food, blankets and hats – so should be ok! But I return to my thesis – most people are inurred regarding the weather and take little notice regarding it other than in a polite conversation.

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DOVER

At least the shit press did not overtly support the ignorant thugs on the streets of Dover yesterday. 2 points first – 1. crossings in small boats have fallen dramatically despite the great weather, thanks to joint efforts by French and British police. 2. The crossings have nothing to do with Dover and the thousands of legitimate passengers who use the port and had their travel disrupted. I support the actions of the local police – they were in no position to make arrests, however there was a serious breakdown in the intelligence which would have provided the info, and enabled the arrest of these intimidatory thugs. Questions regarding the effecctiveness of MI5 need to be asked at the highest level, not by inefficient journalists who manage to roll out comments from someone who has long retired! The impact was greater than Just Stop Oil supporters have ever done, and they got jail. By the way, the Sunday Observer failed to mention this shambles at all, concentrating on events in Malta, Palestine, Washington and anywhere but here!

And ha fucking ha, Farage said as his exxcuse for being part of a recoeded sting by Ch.4 that ‘frankly he was not listening’ – of all the excuses ever used, this must be amongst the most pathetic. I am at a loss for words – Sir Alec Ferguson claimed diaroeha as an excuse for speeding; Angela Rayner claimed dodgy advice whilst at the same time pleading guilty to tax dodging; But not Farage – he claims total innocence; I would have had some sympathy if he had said he was pissed after to much champagne.

Trump’s envoys are on their way from Moscow to Kiev – he desperately needs good news to counter the bad, the Guardian reported a growth in employment in the USA, but good news is often bad news to the markets – it is therefore unlikely that the Central bank in the US will drop interest rates, as Trump emplores.

And a kind of funny – Sabalenka asked for a halt in her match at the USOpen tennis – due to – the spell of canabis! legal in NY it seemed to be blown in by the wind from a nearby park – smoking is banned at the tournament. Must have been like W-s-Mare High Street!

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THICK AS SHIT

The protesters in Dover were trying to, and succeeding in intimidating. The government has cut crossings by small boats by 40%. These people would happily see desperate migrants drown. There are many reasons to try and stop the small boats, child trafficking, slave labour amongst them – but this sort of action is concerning – it was obviously organised, was intimidatory and against the democracy that we have held for hundreds of years. Bullies must never be allowed to prosper.

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MAPS

The United Nations has voted to use an equal area map projection in future, replacing the Mercator projection which distorts the size of countries making the African continent the size of Greenland, when it is actually 14 time bigger. There was only one vote against and 6 abstentions – which country voted against? USA of course without any sense of irony it called the move ‘superfuous’. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico ad Lake Ontario were not mentioned – fuckwits! Maybe Trump ws surprised to find that Greenland was smaller than he thought!

Staying international Badenoch attempts to score points against Burnham in a comment headlined by the Daily Shite “Argentina smells Burnhams weakness” – just what this is supposed to mean is beyond me! The Telegraph obscurely leads with ‘Stop the boats and the hecklers” – perhaps leading with a deal made by Farage with the leader of French fascists – the only deal that Farage can meaningfully make is with the Police!

Meanwhile Cambridge University has stated that it will conduct a review into the death of Jason Arday, who it subsequently appears to have done nothing wrong, having been hounded and misquoted by the evil right wing media. Some journalists should at least be fined or dismissed for their shameful behaviour.

And an environmental alert – please report any sightings of yellow-legged hornets as they may disrupt the UK’s food supply system in the future, as they displace pollinator bees.

Breaking news – masked men dressed in black have halted traffic to and from the port od Dover – the BBC has not reported on what they are demonstrating about – but the 30 or so men will presumably be arrested and prosecuted and jailed in a similar way to “Just stop Oil’ protestors. Presumably they are right wing extremists – will the police act forcefully and arrest? Doubtful.

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NEGLIGENCE

It would be negligent for me not to mention the Ch4 disclosure last night regarding Farage and Reforms fund raising. Other than bland words of witch hunt, and then 2 resignations, there has been no denial from Reform. Combined with a YouGov survey on words associated with Farage which found 71% negative with racist and liar, being the most common, it makes one wonder why there is any support for the weasel. Yet there is still 27% of people who used at least one positive word to describe him – does this translate into 27% of Britons liking a racist liar? Probably not but it is my view that he should be arrested for spreading, and supporting racist views, and therefore undermining the great British Society. Are 27% of Britons racist? At different levels – probably; many would deny it and claim to have black brown or coloured friends (these people are discounted by the pseudo non-racists), but whilst there is some doubt on the degrees of racism (and 10% could be a conservative estimate of hard racism), there can be no doubt as to the lack of cognitive ability amongst nearly a third of the population. Just ask ‘would you cross a road with 50% chance of death – even 5% or 0.05%; yet when all the scientists (who are not funded by oil companies) say that we are heading for Armageddon regarding climate change they are quick to support the politicans funded by the Petro-chemical giants and support doing nothing! Fucking idiots!

Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Trump is being childish stating that he would not support the UK as they did not support him with the illegal war with Iran, despite the Americans using 2 airfields for bombing raids on Iran! His soul mate in Argentina from the far right has made noises again. As this is totally about oil reserves in the South Atlantic I believe we should obey the wishes of the residents who were unamonous in their wish to remain British (apart from someone who subsequently moved to Buenos Aires). Thatcher had North Sea oil money to send a force out their and it was a relatively close thing at the time. The UK iss probably not in a position to defend the islands anymore, unless receiving support from NATO (If Greenland – why not the Falklands?). Then we have the real threat of Russia – maybe not to us directly, but a very real threat to allies in the Baltic states (inc.Finland). and other nearby states. I am also a bit mystified as to why right wing parties do so well in Eastern Eurupe – well not that mystified – just surprised!

Analagies – my friend Andy used the analogy of how New Yorkers were in favour of deals with the Indians whilst at the frontier the settlers were all for genocide. I feel this is not a good analagy as the frontiersmen and women were basically invaders. His analogy of growing up in sectarian Belfast is also a tad biassed! So to use these examples to justify Gaza is also a bit of a stretch. Yes Hamas were out of order in their attack, but maybe justified after years of victimisation and brutality both in Gaza and the West Bank. Again the settlers are the attackers and the victims the primary inhabitants. Finally I asked about an explanation for Jewish persecution over centuries throat the world. He stated that it maybe because they were always a minority, here I shoukd have intervened more strongly, why did they not assimilate? I wondered if there was any truth in global conspiracy theories about the jews? Google states that jews own 11% of the worlds wealth – including Zuckerberg, Ellison, Page, Brin and Ballmer; and that is before taking into account ‘old money’ and property – Rothschilds possibly worth one trillion dollars. All this wealth also comes with power. We discussed how we had no idea if any friends and colleagues (in my case former) were Jewish, and agreed that we did not care. So I can claim not to be anti-semetic, but like my analysis of racism earlier, do I have an underlying anti-semitism? God – I hope not!

Andy – I think I agree with you about the greens – Polanski has no chance of winning an election or even doin g better than the LibDems, but if they concentrated on the environment and climate change there are a lot of vote winning opprotunities out there. You said Polanski was .(shallow)………. not derogatory, but had no substance. A party with a one/two policy agenda will always be criticised for this (as Reform are for their racist nonsense). but I do sense a whiff of agreement with you – a flame that burnt bright but dimming rapidly. Will he win Starmers seat – possibly but if scoring it a la football I think it could be settled with penalties!

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LOGAN

Great to have a chat with Andy Logan after quite a while.  We do not agree on much but his different perspective is always interesting.  An example, he believes the Greens should concentrate on water and climate change rather than Gaza, where we have no influence.  On Gaza and Jews generally he pointed out that they have a siege mentality, whilst he condemned the actions of the Israeli military.  In many ways understanding the root mentality is the only chance of getting a peaceful settlement.  On Burnham we generally agreed, although his potential for actually delivering is minimal.  On Trump we agreed that he is insane.  We did not get onto the bigger issues! Of whether capitalism “as we know it” is doomed, and of course football- although we of course touched on it.  Other topics missed were migration/demography, and the EU.  Next time.

News today – the Environment Secretary has said that Britons should stock up with food and prepare for power cuts and a new word on the political scene – resilience.  Most, 83%, of the pop of UK live in urban areas – so with neighbourhood schemes should be ok, and I guess the majority of the rest live in villages with shops and therefore should be ok.  But there are still thousands who live in isolated settlements or hamlets – councils should have a duty too prepare lists of these people and their needs. (Medical, dietary and other).  Is El Niño over blown, and being used for political uses?  Reform and Restore would think so, and the Tories are as ever, following their lead.  I do not care if the scientists are wrong, I hope they are, but the warning signs are there; Pacific Ocean temperatures already close to records (2.6C at present, 3.1C is the record, but the peak is set to reach 4C), some areas have subsurface temperatures at a record 8C above normal.

At best it would seem that at least 50million will be forced into food poverty, food prices will escalate and the poorer will suffer most.  I know that Musk’s fortune is largely a paper one, but it surely does not help that the mega rich hoard so much of the earths wealth.

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AUTUMN

Not quite yet but a feel in the air says autumn is on its way. Tomatoes have just about finished – earlier than normal, and apples look smaller than last year, but brambles have done well! I ought to cut back garden – but last flowers on buddlea still attract bees, as do the remnants of chicory, Herbs and mints going to flowers, I must learn how to collect seed for next year. I just got some alpaca socks from NZ! not good for miles, but whatever. And latest birthday present from my kids is organic EVOO from Albacete, Spain.

Green Party leader Zac Polanski is hoping to stand for election in Keir Starmers seat in London. I just read about Jenies Jones who is refusing to pay her sewage bill to thames Water – obviously they are prosecuting her, but she has my full admiration for standing up against the corporate nonsense that have become our water companies. The majority of voters want them nationalised – but not a word from the right wing racists in the media, or the BBC which is also run by the right wing.

Macron and Burnham meet and I wonder how this will be reported by the tosspots in the Mail, Sun, Express, and Telegraph?

World temperatures. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62m4gpnp78o

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UN WARNING

The worlds global temperature is likely to increase by 1.8C and there are no good outcomes. Although GB News and Talk TV presenters have a different view from the 99% of scientists who actually study the data. When the UK Health Security Agancy reported that deaths had been 2877 higher than last year during the May/June heat wave, the reporters said this was absolute poppycock and the people were diving anyway, and also that warmer winters would reduce the larger number of people dieing in the cold – this is absolute lies and should not be allowed. These people are just talking bullshit to make political gains amongst the very stupid and gullible!

Meanwhile the Trump administration has apparently done a deal with Venezuela puppet government for 65m barrels of oil, that will help stop sea level rising and the melting of glaciers! Whilst Israel wants to oust all Palestinians from Gaza with American support. A did you know …. that Trump has used the 5th Amendment 440 times – so much for transparency!.. And the richest nation on earth has given just $3.6m to the Nepal appeal which is taking the piss! – probably less than the President pays to go golfing every month/week. What happened to Christian virtuals of humility, empathy and help thy neighbour? I am not religious but surely every sane person should abide by these maxims.

In the UK DEFRA is considering an extension of animal welfare rules to pheasant shoots – oh please, the Telegraph will be apolexic at this and the Mail and Express will follow. The rules would also prevent anyone associated with the killing/murder of protected birds of prey from holding a shoot. Like all cruel animal sports this has been going on too long. I really do not care about the loss of, possibly a few thousand jobs in rural areas. Alternative occupations could be found. Rewilding grouse moors would help control flooding and allowing public access would enable more urban dwellers to enjoy the great British Countryside. Hey you upper class twat, ever heard of clay pigeon shooting? And I am sure manufactures of clay pigeon machines could get inventive! However to balance thing a little, maybe deer could be culled sustainably and safely to ease the pressure on beef and livestock farmers – the population of deer is probably higher than at anytime in the last 2000 years, or ever!

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Why is it that politicians take a ‘pragmatic’ view on further exploitation in the waters around the UK?  Basically it is a class thing.  Poor people are concerned about paying the rent/mortgage rather than the esoteric thought of controlling climate extremes, as a human race we are very adept in prioritising our personal needs before empathy for others.   As ever it is the poor who suffer most from extremes of temperature in poorly insulated houses or concrete blocks of flats.  `it will be the poor who suffer most from floods, not the toff on the hill!  It will be the poor who face the brunt of price rises due to crop failures or poor harvests, not the rich or even the middle classes.  Got a pension? It will almost certainly have investments related to fossil fuels, so please explain this to your grandchildren, children understand the world better than adults.  Old people are nostalgic for their past and oblivious to the future of there offspring, I could call it selfish.  Perhaps storms Austen, Boelo and Chloe will make our politicians take notice?  It may not be the poor who are most affected but those who have bought their first house and are skint!  It seems that planners and house builders have not even studied Geography at GCSE, covering farmland with impermeable concrete and tarmac will result in floods – no shit! Oh but add in the water companies lack of investments it probably will result in shit!  

Solar and onshore wind turbines generate electricity at about £30 megawatt hour, much cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear.  Solar power is set to exceed 61% of world electricity generation by 2050 – so a lot of good news, it is just that sometime it needs bad news to stimulate action, Reform thrive on it but offer no solution just lies and propaganda for their fossil fuel donors.