Category: Changinging climate

Trump announces “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed, Do not break it”. President Zelenski said it was the first he had heard of it, and then it was immediately broken by Russia causing power outages in at least 3 states. So the POTUS is lying yet again, but for what purpose? Maybe his bromaance with Vlady babe goes deeper -ugh!

The Lancet has published a list of the 17 main threats to humanity – and No.1 is …. climate change, with a stunning headline that “Humans face extinction by 2100 if global leaders do not act NOW.: If that figure represents even a 0.1% chance of happening, we should act now, a little loss of comfort would better than the life my grandchildren and great grandclidren may have to endure. We are already seeing government ministers warning about food shortages in the UK due to weather conditions. Worldwidee the conditions could be horrendous and the migration issue, rather than being an irritant could become a major concern – especially if aid from rich countries is severely curtailed. The band plays on as the Titanic sinks below the waves.

So the nasty party want to cut inheritance tax (help for the rich but not the economy, only 6% pay inheritance tax but it raises £6bn), stamp duty (help for the house builders) and no mansion tax for the rich; all paid for by cutting welfare. First off, lets look at making housing cheaper – it aint goin’ happen. House prices went up as more women entered the workplace, and families could therefore afford a bigger mortgage – and the house builders and their shareholders and the estate agents and banks all got much richer. House prices will not fall, negative equity is bad for the economy as a whole, So none of this is feasible, or going to happen. The so called mansion tax should be replaced by a newer version of council tax before the nasty party can even sniff a place in a right wing coalition (the best they can hope for).

Raising the minimum wage and income tax thresholds, and introducing higher ones would encourage more more people into work – why should the owner of a betting company pay themselves £350m and then complain about tax, whilst a nurse or even a doctor gets so much less than this. Tax companies on UK earnings as a straight, no cop outs or tax dodges, percentage. Even 10% would be a gain. let the rapacious bastards move to enclaves in Abu Dhabi or Dubai – from where they broadcast jingoistic nonsense and patriotic bollox.

jaguar release a new design of electric car – but do not understand the concept of an EV. Maybe it is me that is a fool; believing that EV’s are environmentally better I ignored the thought that many people believe they need a car that will break the speed limit in most countries (especially urban area). At £120k it is not cheap, is to wide and too long to fit into a UK standard parking space – but the rich fuckers who buy them will not care, or be concerned that their vehicle will act as a block for many small town roads – should small villages and towns, e.g. Fowey ban them?

A personal gripe – two people opposite my house park their cars on the road opposite my drive or inconveniently. I can appreciate the hassle of getting up to move a car to allow another from the driveway; ; but these two cars are there all week and only used at weekends, they coud easily park them in their drives, I have thought of saying something, but as our neighbourhood is not known for friendliness, I have defered, just waiting for karma and a lorry to scrape the sides of each on, and not stop!

with the party conferences. Inevitably they talk to their support base and only Labour have the power to do anything meaningful. Tories promise to cut taxes, build a dome over the UK and sunsidise walking sticks for the elderly, the greens have talked bollox that no one cares about, Reform and Regress parties had their conferences a while ago but I cannot remember anything memorable, and have the LibDems folded without trace. Badenoch has decided to ignore the polls and pretend we still have 2 1/2 party system, the odds on the tories winning the next election are similar to seeing Elvis dance on the Loch Ness Monsters nose! their only hope would be a party of fascist nasty people who deny demographic facts.

Weather is turning – it was June when temperatures last failed to reach 20c, and it might be only a short cold spell, I am old enough to remember wrapping up warm for November 5th celebrations around a bonfire – recently you could have got away without a coat! Things to eminence about – penny for the guy and scouts/cubs bob a job weeks.

Trump has tried to shore up his assertions that the Fairford 5 were ‘we knew everything about them adn would not hhave released them on bail’ by withdrawing a squadron of bombers from Fairford in panic, refuelling planes had to be scrambled to support them, stating that they had info on a threat from Iran. Bullshit – MAGA are losing support in US polls before the mid-terms and the war with Iran is unpopular, especially given rising inflation. He sowed the seeds of American patriotism and is now reaping the costs, Americans are not happy with thedeaths of their servicemen in a futile and illegal war, nor are they happy with the cost of fuel.

Meanwhile the Government seems set on a path of diplomatic war with Israel – the fascist government of that country has said it will close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem (a UN designated Palestian area; and in return our government has said it will expel one Israeli diplomat for every on e force to leave the Consulate. Israel seems to be losing a diplomatic battle in Europe. The Irish football team again refused to shake hands with the Israel team, and wore black arm bands in recognition of those who have died in Gaza. America will always be supportive, and in Europe Germany still reflects on its appalling genocide of the jews during WW2.

Elsewhere, Spains left wing government have called a snap general election over housing costs. France has riots (does anyone else riot like the French? over student claims of underfunding of education, albeit in a time of worrying French Government debt. In Brazil the right wing looks like it may defeat the present government.

Badenoch meanwhile has said she would develop a Britannia Sheild to protect the UK – for £10billion I guess she was just proposing to safeguard London. £10 billion is a lot, but did she think the Ukraine would not have raised this money to protect Kiev? Or was she thinking of an actual Iron Dome stretching for Dover to Carlisle, and have the added benefit of drowning asylum seekers.

And a maybe positive ending – there maybe no Atlantic hurricanes this year due to El Niño, what this means for the UK is unpredictable.

I know that we should all commend statements that decry Israels genocide in Gaza and its murderous intentions elsewhere, but really who cares what the party members think? They have no power or even influence, people on the streets according to those out canvasing. However where the Green Party does have a huge influence is on environmental and climate change issues. Apart from the knuckle dragging flag shaggers most people, especially the young have a deep down fear of what we are doing to the planet. So forget international diplomacy and issues that you cannot influence and concentrate on the 2 issues, that if Burnham gets to introduce some form of PR, the Greens could take alead on. This does not mean ignoring all other issues – everything comes down to economics; Social issuess such as racism and misogyny are also core beliefs for members of the GP.

Burnham has also played a master card regarding the EU. Public opinion is behind rejoining – small boat crossings only started after Brexit The economic cost of leaving was, is and will be horrific, the fishing industry is decimated, farming and manufacturing in decline, immigration has fallen back under Labour from nearly a million per annum. And I think I may be a bit racist when I say that the decline of EU immigration was to the detriment of an integrated society. Europeans have a similar history and sociological make up rather than the influx of people from the far east – there I said it! A large influx of people from Europe would not have the same impact of people from elsewhere. This comment is definitely not about colour but integration into a multi-cultural society. It is also apparent that ex-pats in places like Spain have not fully integrated. I wonder if there should be a nationality test after a residence of say 10 years based on a shared history and common culture. I think I have already said too much!

Warnings of an AI economic bubble/crash are growing stronger.- tec giants have invested billions, but are suggesting putting the breaks on future developments. The thing is, can AI be monetised in a meaningful way? There are obvious benefits to using AI, but at the cost of unemployment? Books and films can be made using AI and I am told they are very good, but will they have the same nuance and moments as those captured from isolated experiences. Would AI have created the iconic Pink Floyd or would we all be listening to perfect trash music?

Badenoch goes for the grey vote by pledging to the triple lock. I am sure that I read that pensions had gone up by 23% more than the average wage – the pension issue was dire, but now it is the young who suffer.

Oh, and El Niño is not expected to fully hit for a couple of months – look out for horror weather related news stories in the media – or here!

Its a no brainer , rejoin the EU or at least get much closer with regulations and laws. Only bogotted no brains would argue against it (latest survey says that means 28.5% of the population are thicker than shit!). Whether the EU would want us back is debatable, but a new Dublin Agreement would stop the bollocks from Farage!

The Greens should forget about Gaza – they are powerless and the public basically do not give a shit – let the Government do the hard graft on this. They should concentrate on the main threat to living standards and life as we know it, climate change.

Yesterdays post as my computer was being uncooperative –

What is Trump doing now?  Basically his illegal war has caused the cost of diesel to spiral and therefore inflation will follow.  So Trump is now panicking about the mid-term elections looming on his horizon, and the polls are not looking good for him.  It seems increasingly likely that he will not control Congress after the elections.  If there is a swing to the Democrats, it is quite possible that he will lose his present ability to act like a dictator, and possibly face criminal charges against himself and his family (he has been protected by sycophantic MAGA supporters in Congress).

Did you know that a Greenland Shark can live for 400 years.