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?
JUST SHUT UP
I am tired of stupid old people – and in particular hearing that in the summer 1976 everybody just got on with life and ignored the heat. An estimated 150 people died per day due to the heat. Swimming pools had not been closed due to Tory austerity, and the plethora of shiny glass covered schools and other buildings built to resemble greenhouses had yet to spread like a fungus across the country.. Toilets could not be flushed due to a water shortage, unless one took a bucket to the standpipe at the street corner and carry the ever increasing weight! back home and up the stairs to the bathroom. Yes you old fogey’s – you were 50 years younger, less stupid? fitter? less dogmatic? Presumably you did not have selective vision and view everything via those tinted glasses. Presumably you also forget the cholera scares and seeing people suffering from the impact of other diseases. Racism, homophobia and misogyny were the norm. Oh what a jolly time we had! Just see me coming and STFU! And yes the trains did stop running. At least cities like London with ULEZ are more bearable despite the heat (a recent study showed air pollution deaths down 40% since its introduction- yet another way Reform want to kill us by abandoning these schemes. In the 50 years temperatures across the south of England have risen 3C – for the dumbass 35C is 95F, body temp is 37C, so a little hotter and we cook- it is well known that white anglo-saxons love to cook on beaches – they even baste themselves in oil – makes a nice crusty skin! and enhances the chance of skin cancer. But never fear folks – you will no longer need to pay £1000’s for the pleasure of going to the Mediterranean – the heat will come to you!
If Labour could stop their internal squabbling for a moment and actually make some plans for for next years weather – possibly very cold in Jan/Feb and then a scorching summer. I realise it takes time to build a reservoir – but all buildings with x roof space should be compelled to have water storage tanks – at the very least they could spray car parks in drought conditions.
And of course we all get introverted in a crisis – me me me! But I llike to think my front lawn (and back – I am not doing it for show!) may provide a haven for wildlife in times of drought and heat; it also absorbs rainfall and replenishes the water table beneath, rather than cause run off to overwhelm seawge works which then pollute our water supply. It is not brain science, I am not that clever – just ordinary fucking common sense. TWO WILDFIRES hit GREENLAND in a week – Greenland is supposed to be covered with ice which in places is over 1km thick. Is America and Trump behind the fires? Nothing would surprise me less!
So most people in Iran beleive they have won the war with USA/Israel despite cost of living horrors, how many Americans think Trump won? Oh well they are more concerned about a pond in Washington! Israel found guilty of murdering Palestinian children – we know what Starmer thinks – will Burnham be different.
DROUGHT
This heat wave is not accompanied by a drought like in 1976. However it is likely to be fiercer; so the water companies have no grounds for complaint. Schools should close to protect the students and staff – it should be easy to switch from uneducational visits to nothing! Parents could off set the cost of childcare where necessary – but where is our community spirit? Churches and other buildings that are traditionally cool could be opened up.
And then my garden – I have planted several rose bushes and a few herb so my former lawn is in average 1m high – all has a cooling influence despite the plethora of neatly clipped lawns that dominate 95% of the street. No one ever plays on the neat lawns, a few may be used for parking, but wasted energy – in mowing and then without the impact of cooling. And the joy of butterflies and bees.
OCEANS
11% of the worlds population live less than 10m all, 30+% live within 100 km of the coast. Relevant why? The rate of sea level rise has more than doubled from 2mm in 2015 to 4.3mm in 2023. You do not have to be clever to work out that this 16% rise is of concern! Just stupid to ignore it! So in 10 years we may expect a 50mm rise in sea level – not a big deal, until there is a storm; or you live in an area of coastal erosion; or on islands like Marshall Islands, Maldives, Kiribati or Tuvalu. There will be no quick fix available – water takes longer to warm up (and thus expand). Ice on land in the form of glaciers is continueing to melt adding to the volume, Greenland’s ice cap is melting – farming is taking place where ice once ruled – mining is now possible and the lion riding clown who is arguably the most powerful man on the planet is a climate denier. So the seas that cover about 75% of our planet are getting warmer – that means more storms and most importantly a disruption to ‘normal’ weather. Extinction Rebellion and other protestors have received jail terms for protesting in a peaceful, yet disruptive manner – racist rioters protesting about non-existent perceived wrongs go unpunished as do those who incite them. How many children in the future will ask their parents and grandparents ‘What did you do in the climate crisis?”. People do care – 75% say they recycle (although practise means that only 46% of waste is actually recycled! despite us not having mapped even 30% of the ocean floor – our oceans are vitally important to our existance!
Is there a republican plot against Trump? There must be! Whilst he has surrounded himself with fools and sycophants surely some one could tell him not to be an ass? 95% of republicans are still voting in his favour? Hopefully many will find themselves unemployed in November? The only British Prime Minister to completely humiliate themselves was the lettuce (Lis Truss). All others have at least had a modicum of decorum?
Last thought – will Trump celebrate FIFS’s award of a Peace Prize, by launching missiles against Iran, or just enhancing the misery on Cuba? Or maybe invading Greenland or buying the Chagos Islands, or maybe with another exillerating AI induced patheticogram?
EL NINO
Scientists are forecasting a ‘very strong’ El Niño in 2027 based on measurements so far in the Central Pacific Ocean. So far away and whilst it may not have a major impact on the UK it seems likely that it will influene our weather. The Committee for Climate Change has advised the government to prepare for 3 eventualities; heat, flood and water shortages. We have already had water outages in the south east this year and it is not really hot yet and the “heat wave” was just a few days! Hospitals and care homes may find that air conditioning is not an option, but essential. Schools could conduct lessons outside, but with little shade they may need to invest heavily in sun block. How about funding schools to cover playgrounds at a height with a solar panel roof that would provide shade, heat in winter and air con in summer? Tax deductable for local businesses if they also provide work experience. Flooding is likely, and whilst some extreme storm events are inevitable and unavoidable, people in at risk areas, probably at least 5 million homes! should be advised on how to protect their properties and mitigate the damage. Weather forecasting is excellent on a regional basis but small differences occur between juxtapositioned villages! So crying wolf is to be avoided. Storm damage in coastal areas is also likely – warmer temperatures will cause sea level to rise. So the three P’s possible options are Prevention (not generally possible within the present time frame; Protection (possible individually but not possible if widespread) and Prepare?Mitigation (always the last option).
And meanwhile a report suggests that net zero is worth £100bn a year and employs over 300.000 people whose earnings are 11% higher on average than the countrywide average. So fuck of Farage and doomsayers! Reports also suggest that youth unemployment will hit high levels next year – why not offer firms a tax break to employ youngsters to instal solar panels, heat pumps and insulation – the maths is beyond me, but taking the young off benefits, and training them at the same time would seem to be a no brainer?
WEATHER
A couple more days of very warm and then back to low twenties/ high teens here. I am sure my tomato plants have grown an inch overnight!. So everything is watered – just the bedroom plants to go!
Water company woes continue with South East Water customers being denied supply in several areas. I accept their argument that if everyone in an area uses a hosepipe at the same time, pressure will drop. So what do they do about it – absolutely nothing but whinge. Perhaps supplying water butts and asking people to stagger use would be an idea? Time to nationalise the lot!
Elsewhere – Trump is desperate for a peace with Iran, Israel wants to continue fighting as its supporters in the USA want. Ebola is spreading due to local agencies being overwhelmed – Common Donald do something useful for just once in your life!, Fot that measure also add in the tecbros! they all have a few $billion to spare. Farage is digging himself into a hole of his own making as he claims to have been hacked. My immediate answer is – did the hacking reveal that you have been lying? and secondly – show the evidence! If Reform were a true party he would be vulnerable; but it is solely owned by Farage, so they cannot get rid of him until he finally destroys himself with his pedalling of hatred. With Farage gone his lieutenants will also flee to Dubai or wherever. The thousand or more councillors will be faced with the insurmountable problems their forebears faced, but without a philosophy or any idea about how to cope! This is based on evidence from numerous councils. Elected on basic racism, they have no clue.
So labour should not panic MrNiceguy, but oh so boring, will go. Andy Burnham is the only one with a hope of creating the hope the public want/demand. If he does not win the byelection I really believe Zak Polanski is our only hope of a better future.