So the American truce that Trump put on his Truth Social post is meaningless, Russia has attacked Ukraines energy facilities and has said it will respond, and then Saudi Arabia has hit Houti controlled oil facilities whilst the Houtis have responded by hitting Saudi pipelines and its main airport. meanwhile Israel keeps quiet, no doubt collecting info and plotting a major strike against whoever. Whatever, the price of fuel will continue to spiral. The government in the UK should stop faffing around and support solar and wind - very school, hospital and government buildings should have solar panels and batteries where appropriate, as should every new home.

I am loving the way that the Right Wing Newspapers and media are getting themselves all worked up about a "Brexit Betrayal". Quite why they are soo worked up about it is another puzzle to me. They purport to be pro-business, but the facts show that Brexit has harmed businesses across the country, and the lies they told about the EU have been proven to be untrue. As for taking back control - what a laugh, we live in a global economy where the decisions made by Trump, Xi and Putin have a greater impact than Brussels (where we used to be a major player in decision making).

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.

I was discussing international situations and it occured to me that we all take sides very quickly, whether it is a football team with whom we have no connection, or a country with whom we have no connection. The Grand National is a classic example where people bet £millions because they like the name, I support sunderland and have never been there or have a connection. The idea of taking sides becomes more pertinent and dangerous when discussing international affairs. We all have access to multimedia, and I have heard the term, all over facebook or 'the media', when actually the truth is that it is all over the friends that have been selected - basically an echo chamber.

Trump sinks to a new low with an execution tobe aired on TV live. there so many things wrong with this. I cannot put them in order as they are all sick. Only 54 countries have capital punishment and most have not used it in the last 10 years, these countries are not the paradigns of virtue and safety. 2 other countries that use public executions are Iran and Afghanistan - the USA wants to join this club! With 47 executions last year America has one of the highest rates in the world.

So Polanski came second, a respectable result but he will be gutted that his party let him down. I have come to appreciate party discipline - he was basically torpedoed by the very left wing who voted for the Zionism = racism motion at the party conference. Areturn to the environment is essential for a Green Party that has made inroads since the general election. If party members want to be in a very left wing party, they should fuck off and join one, I might even vote for them in a proportional representation situation!

My local school is having w death making session so i picked a laundry bucket of stuff for them, including lots of rose hips - bright red, but my holly tree is a bit weedy so I supplemented it with bay branches - both evergreen and shiny!; and then i added some rosemaries that is in flower with small blue flowers. I might have a go at making one myself with the rosemary, and may be some sage for contrast? Whatever it would smell great. I now need to empty the greenhouse of the tomato plants - what to do with the soil in the pots - maybe i will add it to the compost bin? Apple and mulberry trees need pruning, and maybe the apricot although it is not tall, it could do with spreading out.

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.

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!

Too many people are avoiding facts about, well just about anything. It has become very easy to avoid arguements based on hard evidence. Do people demonstrating about small boats care if numbers have come down significantly, as have the number of legal migrants; do they care about the number of women raped by white men - or believe the nonsense about migrants; do they care about the facts regarding climate change; I could go on, and probably will. When did ignorance become so widespread, and even virtuous? Was it due to the disaster that Brexit brought, and people denying they were conned and wrong.

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.

So the tories would axe the Environment Agency and Natural England - the reason given was that these organisations prevented homes being built (to protect them from flooding and to protect wildlife. You see the tories believe in rapacious capitalism and these orgs. add a cost that eats into their profits (Barrets make an average of £50000 per house!), At the same time they have gone for the grey vote by pledging to retain the unsustainable triple lock. Perhaps they plan to raise the retirement age to 75? They claim they are the party of common sense, and we know that all safety legislation is in place due to a lack of common sense.

Looking at the Met. Office predictions it looks like a typical autumn here - bits of rain and sun, bit cloudy but warm - I seem to remember that Nov 5th was cold, wearing gloves to hold sparklers, and being warmed by the fire with a guy on top. Guy Fawkes, along with bob a job week seems to have disappeared from our cultural activities. I am digressing, but so what, other things that are disappearing 'giving the bumps' on ones birthday, a pinch and a punch for the first of the month?

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.

I cannot not mention one of the best England performances ever, albeit against a rather poor Crotian side, but it was still Croatia! Bellingham, Kane, Saka and Gordon were outstanding. And so nice to see the explosive power driving forward for a change. Let us hope they can keep this momentum going.

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.

This government has made a positive start to ensuring that the UK has an environment fit for the future with a pledge to plant at least 500000 trees. Trees can reduce temperatures in cities by up to 4C in summer, they also have a warming input in winter, a mature tree can intercept 15000 litres of rainfall whilst the roots enhance infiltation and thus reduce flooding. At least 150 different species of insects can live on oak trees thus being brilliant for wildlife. My road would have been wooded at one time, but now has only a half dozen trees, plus my two mulberry trees!

The farce of Fairford continues. Apparently one of the arrested men dialled 999 well before the farmer did so. No explosives or weapons were found, just a quantity of fuel/. It seems likely that the guys in the 3 vans were up to no good, probably stealing diesel from farms. They must have been well shocked to find that they had attracted global notoriety and had armed officers arresting them at gun point. However the police are still looking for evidence of major espionage, probably at the behest ofthe Americans who were very fast out the blocks to blame Iran.

goings on in Welford near to RAF Fairford. The base did not answer a phone call from a concerned local, the police took 15 minutes to arrive (surely they would have alerted the base and the response would have been quicker. Only 5 men arrested when the witness said there was a large group of men with balaclavas - and 3 vans surely they would have shared the lift? They were then bailed by the court - not terrorists presumably? Marco Rubio, American Secretary of State said that there was obviously a foreign player involved, but refused to give further details, probably due to him making a political statement rather than a factual one; Trump siad he was surprised that the 5 men had been bailed (in America they would have been shot or at least fitted up with false evidence!

So, despite Trump's assertion that he had had the possible assailants 'under view' for a long time, it still took a local resident with a seeming 6th sense, in the early hours of the morning to be suspicious. She tried calling the base - who did not reply - and then dialled 999, the police arrived in 15 minutes (which would seem to be rather tardy in the circumstances?). It appears that no prior intelligence was involved and the police must be commended for a brilliant job. So Trump is talking out of his arse again!

Yep, and the world is settling down for a quiet day, I hope. New York and New Jersey have declared a state of emergency as a nor'easter brings havoc and coastal flooding. What I meant by the opening sentence was that Trump and his followers have not thrown up any bile so far today. Although ... apparently Trump has invited Putin to the G20 hosted by the USA in December - the UK and EU should refuse to attend, simple. Weather is decidedly autumnal today, overcast , damp and windy, but not cold.

All the talk is about what happens next, well it has taken a very long time already but League rules state that any appeal, and there will be one, should be done in 14 weeks. Why does it matter to non-football lovers, well two players at ManC paid over £35 million in tax between them, so the squad between them pay at least £100m in income tax, without the taxes paid bybthe club itself. So football lovers of other teams should not be too hasty in wishing the teams demise; livelyhoods of many in Manchester are dependant on the team.

I expect the papers and TV to show weeping people indignant that their houses have been flooded, it will happen, and is reasonably predictable. So unless a dam bursts or there is an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm, people should not be surprised. How many will have taken mitigation measures - moving valuables up a level, laying in flood supplies like water and dried fruit; ensuring safety of pets. Afew simple measures will not prevent a flood but could mitigate the damage, at least mentally. Past photos have shown that new housing can be particularly vulnerable, build by people and planners with no understanding of georaphy and hydrology.

To paraphrase the late, great Manny Shinwell when called out by the Speaker for calling all Conservatives 'liars', "Not all Reform voters are ignorant, racist, morons - just most" - I am not sure the first word and the last two apply truthfully! I suppose applying the sentence to 25% of voters is a little extreme - but justified! Google estimates that 22.7million litres of fuels is used to mow UK lawns - use of electric mowers lowers this but still results in tens of thousands of CO2 emissions per year.

So the tories want to stop benefit recipients spending the money on fags, alcohol and betting. This may seem virtuous, but for those addicted it will be cruelty and cause more crime and domestic violence. Oh the rich really do have a control freak syndrome. Basically we need a certain level of unemployment and it is well known that the Thatcherite policies pursued by various tory governments meant that our manufacturing base was destroyed and hard working people put onto benefits. Their children and grandchildren now have the choice of unskilled work at minimum wage levels in call centres or shopping warehouses, often on zero hours contracts.

So the United Nations is his choice of venue to state the quandary he has 'whether to do a treaty with Iran or annihilate it". Irony has never been in his lexicon! He also failed to see the irony of asking Zelensky to stop bombing Russian oil facilities as it was putting up the cost of petrol/diesel, when it is his illegal war with Iran which is hiking up the cost of oil products. All the while boasting that the USA and Venezuela control 60% of the worlds oil i am puzzled!

Farage refuses to condemn his parties leader in Wales, who is accused of coersion and assault - no mention of the victim (presumably a woman). Most women in the UK have experienced, or theire mothers, sisters, daughters, friends have experienced behaviour that would be unacceptable to men. We live in a misonogynistic society, perhaps worse than when I was young, when wolf whistles were common but there was a measure of respect, in my experience anyway. How many girls would fear for their safety when walking home late at night? The women demonstrating at the silly little village in Oxfordshire should be more concerned about their male relatives and neighbours, than asylum seekers it is not the AS responsible for the deaaths of over 100 women by men in an average year, interestingly the number has dropped slightly despite the huge influx of migrants under the last government.

Grading a school is unessecary, parents of the children will know if they are engaged or not - and for the majority who are unaware of this, the children themselves will reveal the quality of the establishment themselves. Inspections are fine if done from a supportive stance - if there is an apparent problem then OFSTED should have powers and resources to help remedy the problem, not just give it a black mark and be self-satisfied. My last head, Dr.Horrible, applied to be an Ofsted Inspector more than once and was rejected as he was basically a bully who wanted to criticise others.

Taxing the rich is absolutely essential to saving our economy and our democracy.Don't believe me? Look at this chart.

There is so much BS being bandied about regarding the Defence budget. This morning on R4 there was an expert explaining that the only defence we had against drones was a type of frigate, of which we have 6, 4 out of service and 1 in the Middle East. This is absolute bollocks. The Army has tested laser weapons (£10 per fire) called Dragon Fire; an weapon called Wolfhound and one referred to as RFDEW, the miserable old jerk was just scare mongering for political ends, he did not mantion any of these weapons.

Manchester United stake holder Ratcliffe has bemoaned that the UK is on the slide due to high taxation and immigration - yet he did not shout out when immigration reached almost 1 million under the last government, and as for taxation - does he pay a fair dollop of his £15 billion piggy bank? Despite Trump and his wars, the UK seems to be doing OK thank you. Rathole is just another example of why we should tax the rich more, much more. I guess he is moaning due to the upcoming budget and the fact that ManU despite spending large amounts, are still mediocre at times, and despite Ratshits attempts at cutting perks for staff.

A debate that is splitting the Green Party. My first thought was 'why the fuss?' it is obviously true. My second thought was ' why are the Greens debating tis at all'. The Green Party can call out Netmanyahu and Israel and it will make not a jot of difference, but either way it falls it will cost it votes. They should just concentrate on issues where they can make a difference, other parties will take note if elections are held on green issues like climate change, pollution, water quality. I also realise that now the Greens have become a semi/mainstream party that they need policies on a wider agenda - Reform are faltering when they seemed to have power in their grasp, due to the vacuous nature of their economic and basically all non-racist policies.

Hardly mentioned in the British Press new advances by Houti forces may force the price of oil up again. That these forces are well armed is not to be doubted - they shot down a Saudi Arabian fighter jet, and damaged a Saudi pipeline trying to beat the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Creating hassle in the Strait of Bab-al Mandab between Yemen and Djibouti would create major problems for the oil industry (or at least major profits as the price could spiral). Previous attacks by Israel, Saudi Arabia, USA and Britain seem to have had minimal impact on Houti ability to hit back.

I guess that when a family accepts privelege and a heap of money from peoples taxes, it is reasonable that they are scrutinised closely. The rift between Charlie and Diana is proving to be a long standing show. The Daily Mail loves it! they are serialising a new book by Di's old man, or is it er brother? Washing dirty underwear in public seems to appeal to the great British public. Basically I could not care less, although the headlines provide amusement. There are other more interesting questions like is Harry his son?

Trump has turned from being a dangerous fool into a really evil threat to humanity. not only does he start wars, back genocidal ghouls, but now the Pentagon has admitted that it has deployed weapons in space, both defensive and aggressive. It was known that development of these weapons was actively being pursued but the deployment can only be bad for humanity. An arms race will ensue with Russia, China and possibly one with impossibly rich politically motivated tec billionaire (trillionaires?) joining in. This is the stuff of sci-fi horror movies.

I am not wishing it, just wondering! His deputies are even worse as they seem to believe in the distopian future portrayed by the old man. He posts at the rate of one per hour (last 6 months) and has not been coherent in any! In many ways I hope he survives to the end, then gets locked up for crimes against children, women, humanity generally. His sicophants should follow him to the lock up! But back to the begining - it is a very real question - his ramblings are becoming ever more incoherent - I would not give him long!

Are going up and up. £170 ltr, and likely to rise more as 3 of the most used seaways are all limiting traffic. The Strait of Hormuz is virtually closed on a haphazard basis; the Bab al Mandab Straight looks like it may be closed by Houti fighters supporting Iran and the Panama Canal is limiting the number of vessels passing through it to 29.5 per day. So world trade is being hampered and oil prices do not look like coming down any time soon. This will have major impacts on farming with fertilisers risinng in cost, let alone the transport costs.

The latest boll*cks to come out of Trumps obscene orafice is that the only guardrails that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ) PRESIDENT. The use of the word strong presumably means bigoted; and as for smart - all the evidence points to the opposite (Iran, tariffs, economy, world status, etc.). It is sad that so many hard working Americans have such tiny ..... cognitive powers that they are sucked into supporting him. Being warned by OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, Google DeepMind chief, and SpaceX boss Elon Musk is obviously 3 experts too many for the orange man child.

A much used term which has come to mean knuckle dragging, flag shagging, racist, misogeneric bigotry. I am sure that I missed a few things out. Basically it is white nationalism and based on ignorance and stupidity. I heard people in Portsmouth complaining that their girls were being raped all the time by asylum seekers and migrants on small boats (it is more likely to be their fathers and brothers!). These so called patriots are blinded by their own ignorance. Patriotism should mean, amongst other things, paying taxes without going offshore, supporting the 4 nations in sport, respecting the emergency services, and being proud of being British.

Am I jealous that. Reform has received £72m in 2 donations, just offended. TBH I am not, but I do not have the answers to what is a real problem. Apparently Musk has said that Restore can have whatever it takes, he will find a way past the law that prohibits it. We have seen in the USA how elections are bought via copious TV ads. In the UK without union donations Labour would be finished, especially in a post industrial phase. Of course the rich will donated to a party that promises less tax for the rich, and if that means lower spending on welfare and the NHS - so be it - they do not need either, they have private health care, their children have a private education and they have over generous pensions.

How do you get to be a billionaire? Either inherit it, win it, be lucky or buy friendships seem the most viable options. The last being the main reason parents cough up loads of dough to send their sprogs to places like Eton. So why would not, one, but 2 or more billionaires donate £millions to Farage? It has to be because they want something in return - most billionaires are notoriously tight with their cash. Recent donations have been from crypto-currency billionaires. the BoEngland and other traditional financial institutions are hesitant in backing currencies based on ....

What should we do about people addicted to something that will ultimately kill them? I suspect you think I am talking about drugs, and of course they are serious, but society recognises the need to help those addicted to them. No, what I am on about, is the addiction that makes people support those who would cause them harm. The right wing parties are supporting the Petro-chemical industry, yet also supporting the privatisation of the NHS which would harm the working classes. Climate denial is becoming more ridiculous by the day, and yet parties that are sponsored by oil companies, gather more supporters.

So America has a clown or a liar for President- probably both. First he says that he was saved from the possible collapse of One Liberty Plaza by two firemen (he was nowhere near - fact, and I am certain he would have mentioned it before, he has never been short of self aggrandisement); then he makes a speech stating that he would make $5000 come to every American as long as they spent it in America - is he going to increase the national debt by another few $billion.? and how will he know how the money would be spent.

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.

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%!

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.

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.

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!

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?