Category: Uncategorized

This time in Turkiye, and howis our government preparing for it? By slashing targets for Ev’s by 25%, this will temporarily appease car manufacturers, although pressure on them to up their game would benefit them in the long run. Chinese manufacturers are steaming ahead in the market for EV’s. and European and American manufacturers who do not invest heavily will become as obsolite a s barnds like Morris and Wolsey, Austin and Triumph and Jensen. The market and car buyer have little respect for brand loyalty,, my own cars have included a Mini, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Volvo, Mazda and Ford. Inovate and invest or disappear like Woolworths. I have stated that I am not against the development of Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in the waters around the uk – we benefit from employment and tax revenues, whilst we we still have demand for oil and gas it makes sense to exploit our own reserves while scaling back domestic demand with the profits.

COP31 will again see rich countries benefiting from climate change emissions whilst the poor countries suffer. China is a major polluter but seems to be trying to get better, India is run by the rightwing so will probably ignore environmental concerns – on this I do not understand why so called ‘populist’ parties are anti-environment – unless they are funded by oil companies? With democrats wining Cogress we may see America change tack, although apparently Trump can still make executive orders, but many Republican losing candidates will become aware of the concerns of the public regarding climate change . America will not officially attend COP31 due to Trumps intransigence, but members of Congress will. Reasons to be hopeful? Brazil has elected a President who is greener than most in South America, China imports of oil are 12% down, a consumer led movement in Pakistan now produces 25% of the countries electricity. Where there is a will there is a way. The negative is that the 1.5C limit agreed in the past will be passed easily and earth will heat up. And the suits in power will line their pockets – read Ben Eltons Stark!

to shut the stable door on Artificial Intelligence?. Reports by Byline Times suggest that there are 28 toys on Amazon and elsewhere that, have not been tested, use sexualised language and can be programmed to to replicate parents voices – surely this is bad? So not only are they destroying jobs and futures, they are also interacting negatively with our children. But the bad news does not stop there, data centres are proliferating across the country (and in America the blame for this plague is said to be accountable for the loss by Republicans), and these data centres are greedy for water and electricity and land. I have a new dishwasher after 20 years and it can be operated from my phone, presumably via a data centre – what is the fucking point, I have to load the dish washer, and switch on to enable remote access – and I can’t do this whilst standing at the machine! Too many sci-fi films?

On the radio this week they were talking about things borrowed and not returned – I would like my coffee table about the 1966 World Cup victory back please (I do not remember lending it!), and Sarah can I have my weather book back please!

Todays program was about annoying sounds. I have no particular gripes here, I suppose any loud and unnecessary sound would qualify Although I lived in a house in Lewes which had a railway tunnel underneath – my mum visiting spilt her tea as the rumble went underneath – but we had stopped noticing. So, and I am now partially deaf, I doubt I will find any new ones. But being positive what are the best loved sounds? Being inside when it is raining hard and windy outside? Maybe a child proclaiming an absolute truth? Nice music (by my definition!) and also all forms of laughter rather than sniggering – one for worst sounds! I also loved the Laotion comment of how they differed from the Vietnamese, they plant it and we listen to it grow! I might have got that a bit wrong. I once cried in Brussels Cathedral when the choir started singing – the sound made me cry, I have no idea what the words meant. Some languages are seductive – I like both Irish and Scottish brogues for different reasons, but also like Spanish. This could be a good debate!

200 dead and another 800 missing; (revised totals on Friday am are 400 dead and 1300 missing) another result of climate change; warmer weather may have allowed a big chunk of rock and ice to plumet onto a glacier causing it to break and send a wall of water, ice and debris down a valley. An avalaunche a few weeks ago killed mountaineers in the `Himalayas and a village was destroyed in the alps last year. These events will beome increasingly common as the temperatures warm. Wildfires are sweeping across Northern Algeria. But fires are old news! Next up are floods in the UK as the earth has been baked hard and infiltration lowered. Interesting that a hosepipe ban comes in tonight in this area, they are blaming low flow in the R.Severn – that could be ironic if floods hit the normal places like Tewksbury! Average water use pp in the UK is about 140 ltrs., so add in 10000 houses and 2 per house and we get an extra 1.4m litres per day needed at least? And they have built zero reservoirs and their pipes are still leaking! And all this without considering data centres, but of course it is the citizen who will have to pay, price of water is rising, whilst the fat cat investors who ensure investments are not given priority over their profits. When will our politicans come clean on the need to spend money now, to prevent further crisis.

I have just done some calculations Population increase in the last decade in Bristol and North Somerset is 62000, and @ 140 litres per day that is over 8 million litres a day – what have Bristol water done about this? And it is projected that the increase will be similar over the next 10 years without new data centres (and there are a few proposed).

I just had a neighbour complain about my front garden being a fire hazard! Oh well, another one who will not send me a Christmas card! Yes, I could, and should cut back the longer bits of grass, but she wanted me to clear the herbs and roses, the rosemary just itching to ignite, the bay tree was full of oil! The Daily Mail hs a lot to answer for – the wild fires are apparently due to the nature reserves rather than people!

I will of course do what I usually do – nothing! I may strim the longer grass? But wildlife needs some shade from the sun too.

Our government has banned two media personnel from America from entering the UK. Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker have both spoken out loudly about the genocide in Gaza but the Home Office have decided that their prescence might ‘not be conducive to the public good’ whatever that means? – unlike the slimy toad faced virus that is free to encourage violence against immigrants and the police. There is no threat to the public good, but maybe the influence of Israel is paramount in the government? Both men will now speak at an Oxford Union Society event virtually. Their comments will therefore be more widely heard and garner national interest rather than the limited platform they had originally planned at SXSW. We seem to have yet another right wing government in awe of Israel.

On a different topic: Sir Gareth Southgate has spoken of the need for education to treat boys and girls separately – whilst not agreeing entirely, he has a point in that we do not have equality of opportunity in this country (although things have got better in my lifetime). Boys do mature later – both physically and mentally. Therefore it is likely that if genders are taught separately that girls would do better than boys! But education should not dismiss his comments lightly, the introduction of coursework over the last 50 years has definitely favoured girls. However it is a societal problem , the macho male image has moved successfully to business and finance, but worth of skilled workers with brawn has not transcended employment changes. Boys need to be able to use their brains rather than their muscles and bollocks, Of course these are generalisations and girls/women can be just as stupid and ignorant as men, I was surprised to see so many women at a far right demonsation in Southampton this week. I would not avocate a return to single sex schools, but the use of single sex lessons in some subjects could be worth exploring – although I am far from advocating this!

First raspberry eaten today, relatively warm and wet weather is great for plants of all types! I hesitate to call some weeds, and hesitate even more as I am aware that this is a rather woke comment! Many of the plants I appreciate, wherever they spring up are treasured, like fennel, chicory, wallflowers, and evening primrose, others I fight relentlessly like brambles, but others I have a give and take relationship with like nettles and budlia (great for butterflies both, but the nettles need to avoid areas frequented by my grandchildren). The raspberries have spread over the former lawn – lovely. Roses are good, the yellow one fantastic and the others brilliant too, I am hoping bush roses will grow in size too.