STORM BOELO

I am addicted to the weather – The MetOffice latest yellow warning was not issued until 9.05am toady for 11am – not a lot of warning there, however a look out of the window would have served jus as well! it now looks as if we will have heavy rain for 9 hours and then some more on Monday for 5 hours. People in flood areas need to stock up, despite the Mail decrying the ‘nanny state’ it is plain common sense for everyone to ensure they have a stock of food and water. i guess some people are reliant on takeaways? The Governments recommendation that we all stock up is way behind other countries that have had recommendations for years – maybe the Mail is just mightily embarrassed that 15 years of Tory chaos did not do this, The main task is to get the overprividged wankers away from the emergency services, we should all be able to cope for a few days, and the emergency services should be able to concentrate on real need, not the wishes of the unprepared. PS. I must get batteries for thee torch.

A quiz in the i Paper today asked who was the grandmother of Jesus! Was this a trick question? if JC was the son of god how could he have a grandmother? I am fairly sure I know about conception, not so great on contraception obviously ! Did God have a mum and dad?- that would make a great film.

WEATHER

Last week I looked at the MetO web site and posted that it looked unlikely to rain much for another month. Well here in the West Country there must have been a lot of raain dances practiced successfully – it now looks like it may rain, albeit mainly ‘light rain’ for the next 8 or 9 days. Sunny at the moment here.

Internationally Israeli settlers, presumably supported by their government have beaten an American journalist and attacked European diplomats – time for the condemnation to stop and action taken. France is in chaos and it has spread to Italy, a lot of it is the rent a mob crowd, both left and right who wish to settle their grievances with violence and looting- democracy is being threatened more now than at anytime in my life. Thugs attacking RNLI heroic volunteers in the UK wearing masks and in black to make them more menacing -and they are mobilising in many areas. Reform councillors and others, all who. Farage states have been ‘vetted’ think it is ok to show female workers their sad dick pics and making vile racist comments. When will the majority of fair minded democratic Britons stnd up and banish these thugs?

What is it with watch advertising? The Times on saturday regularly has a glossy supplement dedicated to watches, the saturday Telegraph also had a watch supplement and todays Guardian has a double page spread on pages 2 and 3 for Rolex. Me I have not had a watch 9apart from sporadic gifts) for the last 55 years, never needed oneI. And with phones why would anyone spend over £5000 just to be a target for a robbery, or is it just badge to say how wealthy they are?

SURPRISE

What a joke the right wing press are. On a day when the head of MI5 reported on the growing threat from right wing extremists the Daily Mail gleefully adds to the hatred by leading with 4 out of 5 new jobs have gone to ‘foreigners’ in the last decade, no where has it pointed out that the greatest influx of migrants was under a Conservative Government they supported. They also fail to comment on the positive input these migrrants make by having employment and paying tax, to the extent that in the past year the UK has been the best performing economy in the G20 – that information was also hidden! The Telegraph leads with a half truth by saying that the Head of MI5 stated that Russia did not influence Brexit, what he actually said was that their interference was largely ineffective. He also stated that Russia was the biggest threat to to the UK.

Meanwhile Scotland could be hit by a cyclogenesis, or weather bomb with high winds and rainfall whilst the rest of Britain is still suffering from drought conditions, many reservoirs are at or below 20% capacity. (Wimblehall Lake in Somerset is at 17% whilst Coddiford on Bodmin Moor is at 37%). It has been damp here without proper rain, my water butt off the conservatory is still empty. Water companies are asking for more stringent regulations on car washes, public schools, golf courses and industry generally. The Met Office forecast for this area does not predict any real rainfall in the period to 11 November! Could we have a serious problem by then?

HOW THE RIGHT WORKS

As relatively sane person I am interested in how the right creates such virulent aggressive people. I blame the News outlets. They run a never ending diet of depressing stories and put a negative twist on others. This creates an of depression and ‘who shall we hate today’. The victims of this hate campaign are often women who they perceive as incapable of fighting back (Meghan and Angela Rayner are examples). Then they promote someone who pretends to offer reform and a better future (often by appealing to the hazy mists of years gone by. Minority groups are also easy targets, migrants, people of different skin colour, the disabled, the unemployed, and sometimes just the young – never the old, they have the money and power. Fortunately for them the people attracted to this vision of the futurebased on the past are generally not very bright, lacking empathy for others, selfish and not very bright! (the bright ones are in charge of the narrative and making money out of it (Trump,Farage). If the youths in the car that killed 2 police officers had been black/migrants there would have been riots in Middlesbrough – insstead the area is left to stew in its crime and poverty, Brawn manipulated by brains. Why else would people vote for rich twats living abroad and funded by dodgy money? Oh my god – what a rant for early on Sunday morning1. So a positive – lovely article in the Observer on St,Gary Lineker, he really does seem to be a nice guy, but also ordinary.

But I have more venom to air! This time the Met.Office. I am fully aware that weather forecasting is a notoriously difficult task. That said – why publich a rainfall radar map if it is palpably wrong1. I will illustrate – Friday morning I looked at the map, I dismissed small pods of light rain, but it looked like decent rain at 11.15’ish – it did not rain until the evening. Tody the map shows little rain until this evening, but the forecast has 80-90% rain all afternoon. And what does the 80% bit mean, I am told that it means there is 80% chance of rain in the area – but it does not say what the area is! The site lets me pinpoint my location to within a kilometre, the map marks my locatioon accurately. I would rather that they used statistics to predict the certainty of their prediction, or better use words! “Todays forecast is a bit iffy, there is rain about for North Somerset but exactly where is difficult’. Or even analogies – like ‘a good day to put washing out, go for a long walk or have a picnic’ or stay in and get a good book to listen to the rainfall”. Temperature wise they are almost always accurate. So should I do the washing? It is 16.22 and it has not rained!

My herbs are all doing well on the patio and its table – I have trouble finding room for my chair and a glass of wine on the table! They should be fine for another month or so – then I will bring them in, or put into greenhouse cleared of tomato plants. Then next spring I will try and sell some offshoots at the shop.

NO NEWS TODAY

The papers have lost the plot – the front pages were characterised by their lack of news. It was all conjecture and guesswork. Anne Widdicombes murder was ‘politica’ was suggested as a fact when all that had happened was the investigation was taken over by counter-terrorism police, who presumably have more knowledge and expertise than Devon & Cornwall police. Tonights football match also revealed a great deal of hot air and rumblings about past misdemeanours. A study of the last heatwave also revealed that the right wing press were reporting on it without a mention of climate change. there was even conjecture about the price to be spent by someone with, too much money, for a T.Rex dinasaur skeleton. In the past philanthropists would have created a museum and endowed it with scientific research teams, but now – we will see, or not see it again! The farce that is Trump’s war (with huge casualties) continues – here again the facts are hard to ascertain. Do the verbal vomit that comes out of his, and his pals, mouths mean anything at all. His latest is to charge a 20% tax on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz – illegal, but like he cares about that, he has probably forgotten he said it,nor has denied he said it.

Of greater concern is the lack of awareness regarding wildfires, there have been outbreaks across England and Wales in the last couple of days, and with no rain expected for the next week or so, it would seem sensible to issue a public warning against BBQ’s in vulnerable places – a ban on disposable units would also help. Perhaps councils should set up free BBQ sites in urban areas, or at least charge a no profit fee to ensure safety and clean up. Many people live in flats and would love the opportunity for a bbq party somewhere safe. Lostwithiel council has provided a BBQ by the River Fowey which is free to use and kept unlittered by appreciative users (as far as I know).

Everything seems to be monetised now – even scrubby Sand Bay at W-s-M has car park charges, it used to be just the NT to help pay for the upkeep of Sand Point which has free access, but now walking by the sea is seen as a money making exercise. Like all sports – there is a price to pay, when in my teens, my neighbour Ann and I would cycle into the tennis grounds provided by the council and charged a couple of bob and hour for the privilege, now it is ‘join the tennis club – darling’. A local field with goal posts is surrounded by a 8ft fence and locked – it seems always.

Where is the love? Has society turned into insular units of selfishness?

NASTY

So lots of MP’s take money from oil and gas companies- why? To ensure that no further restrictions are put on our warming climate – why? For fucking money! Across Europe thousands will die due to the heat, the stupid papers will start a furore about aircon, whilst pleading for more fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea! We need more solar, wind, hydro and wave and tidal power asap. The cost of oil is rising again as Trump continues to react irrationally to talks with Iran’s despicable government. But America has over 900 (men mainly) worth over £1.000.000.000 – fucking insanity! Is life better for all because of this? What have any of these people done to make life better on this planet (which Musk is plotting to leave!

YEAH – BUT

Parts of the British public are too stupid! A recent opinion poll revealed that 24% of the public support the creeps decision to resign and then restand in Clacton, yet only 12% beleive he has been honest. Just look at why he has decided to inflict the cost on the public – he knows he has been dishonest, and like many egomaniacs he refuses to admit it, so he will stand again claiming a witch hunt against him, and if he wins he will claim vindication and want absovement. However the process against illegal actions will continue regardless. 60% beleive him to have been dishonest (29% do not know or do not care). If people want to stick two fingers up at the establishment they should vote for Count Binface – I would! So 24% support him, despite saying that Putin is his most admired world leader, despite cosying up to the senile and neurotic Trump, yeah but his racist beleifs are what I beleive in, and his misogynistic ones, yeah!

The end is in sight for Ford and General Motors if they scale back on Ev production. EV’s are the future and development costs run into $billions, There is unlikely to be an ability to ‘catch up’ if they do not invest now. Chinese manufacturers are leading the way with low cost models, and are set to dominate. As in the past we saw Toyota and Honda steal a march on traditional manufacturers, followed by others, we will see their % market share fall if they lag further behind.

Again a pleasant start to the day at 04.30 when the temperature is lovely and the mist is just begining to clear. It is forecast that we will have no rain for at least 10 days – will my water butts hold out – I have 350ltrs in total but am using 20-25 ltrs a day. Tomatoes showing no sign of embarrassment yet, and herbs all looking good. I had a random ash tree sapling growing in the middle of rose bush territory – but I got it!

IMMIGRATION

Labour have announced plans, or at least have said they will, to open up safe routes to the UK for approved asylum seekers; I guess that means that all those crossing in small boats can be returned to France or wherever. My only question is why has it taken so long to do what has been bloody obvious? On saving money the welfare bill is too high – it is ridiculous that people do not take jobs as they are better off on benefits. As ever there are the rightful claimants and those who are not – but what to do about the latter? Counselling and respect should be shown and employers offered incentives. I suspect the future welfare cost will spiral – presumably those on benefits are not paying into a back up pension?

GAIA IS NOT AMUSED

The Greek goddess who personifies Mother Earth is pouring scorn on Trump; firstly the pond in Washington which he blamed on saboteurs (if the Crown Jewels were nicked I guess he would blame the school parties!) and now the awful earthquake in Venezuela.

And Europe ignore the warning signs of Gaia at your/our peril. The present heat wave is waning in the UK, but it will not be the last this year. Britain’s and indeed Europes infrastructure was built for a different climate. So the first act of Andy Burnham as PM should be to create a Department of climate emergency and borrow the billions to fund the necessary improvements to infrastructure and buildings, including private ones. Bonds could be issued to pay for it – we always find money for weapons, why not to fund public safety and resilience? Strict rules will need to be in place to prevent the cronyism of the covid debacle. He could even do something about that by at least banning certain individuals from Parliament. “A stitch in time saves nine” is a maxim that the public will understand. Newly nationalised water companies could be given leading roles. Whilst on the issue – all council nd government contracts need to be verified to prevent over-charging – I know of people wanting to invest in care homes due to the massive profit margins, and perhaps a cap on government council salaries; the same gos for education – how can a headteacher justify a salary in excess of £150000 – sma hours, same responsibilities as others earning half that. And I am not against capitalism per se, just the jungle that has been created. I have not ranted against Farage & Co yet – I wish they would just fuck off some tropical island and then Gaia could create a tsunami!

World Cup is troubling – the nights are sweaty enough, and sleep disturbed, without having to wake up and work out who played in the hours of European darkness. Hydration breaks in an air conditioned stadium for the benefit of advertisers and TV channels – it disrupts the flow of games and is not necessary if the games are played at sensible times – America – keep your hands off our football (ours forever! the publics game).

DON’T BE FOOLED

Even stupid fools agree that the climate is changing, well some of them. The science is that temperatures have risen 2-4C in the last 50 years, every 1C increases the capacity of the air to hold moisture by 7%, this hot weather dome originated over the Atalantic and thus the humidity and uncomfortableness is higher. Oh, and it is only June – higher temperatures can be expected in July and August, and next year with an `El Niño we can expect 40+C. I have got my fans – have you? So is the government preparing a plan to meet a predictable crisis next summer? Kent Water suppliers have already imposed a hosepipe ban – and summer only officially started 4 days ago! The Telegraph had a front page story about air cons being ripped out? I did not read it as online it has a firewall, and I would not be seen dead reading the disgusting rag! However there may be an argument here – air con should be installed in association with solar or offset. Data centres are making it all worse and need legislating centrally. AND CAN WE HAVE OUR SWIMMING POOLS BACK! This area has seen the disappearance of Cheddar Pool (which was fantastic), the Tropicana in W-s-M, Churchill School pool. Now the alternatives are Hutton Moor or private clubs. Fucking Tory austerity! and the situation with Libraries is worse, youth clubs – what youth clubs?

Will Trump and Vance lose patience with Israel or is their support bound by greater ties? Same could be said about Starmer and Burnham, over a hundred Lablour M.p.s have supported Israel. Conspiracy theory?