Whatever I Fancy

Whatever I Fancy Blog

incorporating

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and 'living with'

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[Entries are in reverse date order, latest at the top. Comments and contributions are welcome to the email address at the bottom.]

2023 2022 2021 2020

Friday 9^th June

Climate Blog. I haven't written much on the topic in recent months and yet it's still the URL for these pages. I changed that from Coronavirus Blog when appropriate, so shouldn't I do that again? I think not, for two reasons. First, climate should be front and centre of our thoughts. Second, the earlier switch involved a huge technical effort which I don't have the time and inclination to repeat. I'm pleased therefore that today issues and news have popped up that require some attention.

The Sunak and Biden "Atlantic Declaration" contains some climate elements, such as UK access to US green funding.

Green MP Caroline Lucas has announced that she's stepping down: "As the threats to our precious planet become ever more urgent, I want to concentrate fully on these accelerating crises. I have therefore decided not to stand for parliament again at the next election."

Stroud and Ecotricity "tycoon" Dale Vince has been on the Just Stop Oil slow march in Westminster. After that he went to talk to LBC's Andrew Marr. It's a well-worth-watching cogent and compelling conversation, but long, so I'm putting it at the bottom of today's post in case you should have time. Meanwhile, here's a short clip (1 minute 5 seconds) of him with the loudhailer:

Then there's the biggest joke of all, the presidency of COP28 to be held 30 November to 12 December 2023 at Expo City Dubai. The president-designate is His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber. He's also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Here he is with his management team:

Looks inclusive, doesn't it?

How about these photos on the ADNOC website showcasing their work - a petrol station, the Shah gas plant expansion and a $245 million upgrade to their main oil lines:

They scream carbon-neutral, right? Still, Al Jaber is the UAE's special envoy for climate, so that's OK. There are really no links between ADNOC and COP28.

Back to Andrew Marr and Dale Vince in conversation. Although 9 minutes long and slightly affected by an annoying synchronisation glitch, it's a useful round-up watch, touching on Caroline Lucas's announcement, funding of Just Stop Oil and the Labour Party, the affordability of green energy and how our political system gets in the way.

Thursday 8^th June

We went to see the angel, legend and mistress of her craft Bonnie Raitt in Oxford last night. So much to say. To give you the idea, here she is on Jules Holland's "Later Live" in 2016. Three minutes of total command. She's 73 now and grooves as yesteryear. The band can play too. Turn the sound up.

I only heard about the gig on Monday. A music WhatsApp group friend had posted a piece on Howlin' Wolf and Bonnie which set me scurrying around the Internet, and there were the tour dates. Here are her words from the February 1999 edition of Guitar World:

"If I had to pick one person who does everything I loved about the blues, it would be Howlin' Wolf. It would be the size of his voice, or just the size of him. When you're a little pre-teenage girl and you imagine what a naked man in full arousal is like, it's Howlin' Wolf. When I was a kid, I saw a horse in a field with an erection, and I went, 'Holy shit!'. That's how I feel when I hear Howlin' Wolf - and when met him it was the same thing. He was the scariest, most deliciously frightening bit of male testosterone I've ever experienced in my life."

I spent much of Tuesday brushing up my Howlin' Wolf impersonation. Wore my loudest shirt. To no avail. Bonnie didn't see me.

If the above sounds a bit fruity, it's only part of the story. She can do raw, but she also comes across as kind and compassionate: a campaigner for social justice, supports poorer artists, treasures her friends, acknowledges her band and roadies, values other musicians. She must know everybody (the list of her collaborations never ends), and if they need a class singer or guitarist, they call for Bonnie. Effortlessly - or so it appears - at the top of her game. And I found out last night that she's very funny.

The audience comprised many of my age, inevitably. Conversation with those around me revealed that we'd all followed the same bands and players for 50 years. The man in front said: "We've been so lucky to live through this period of musical history." True. I'm grateful.

Wednesday 7^th June

Back from the nostalgic visit to Newhaven in East Sussex and a 24-hour hop to Dieppe.

The weekend was planned for Sarah and her brother Kevin to return to the scene of their childhood holidays, spent in a caravan called Gracie on Farmer Bowles's field behind the Newhaven cliffs and on the pebble beach below. They and their mother Sheila spent six weeks there every summer, with father Jack coming down for the weekends after he'd finished work in the Wimbledon NatWest bank. Electricity supplied by an "accumulator", lighting by gas, washing in the sea except for a weekly visit to the public baths.

I then hijacked the adventure by suggesting a ferry trip to Dieppe for a fish dinner on the Saturday night. How much time do you need in Newhaven? More on that as we progress. I draw my conclusions at the end.

We've done some Internet digging. This is how the campsite and its shop looked (the second picture courtesy of Francis Frith, and others below) back in the day:

Did we find it? You know the answer. Farmer Lewis Bowles (born in Dorset in 1896, died 1986) had, I hope, a happy retirement. Meeching Court Farm is now a gated community of 156 dwellings called Newhaven Heights, run by nationwide Berkeleyparks ("located in 21 counties throughout England and Wales, developing park home living since 1955") for the over-50s. On a mid-afternoon tour of the estate on a hot sunny day, I counted one person outside.

The beach promenade and cafe drew crowds in the 1960s:

The promenade is still there ... as a car park. The sandy beach is shut. The cafes didn't do any trade last weekend.

Kevin has written:

"A bit of research has revealed that Newhaven's concrete seafront area is owned by a French company based in Rouen - Newhaven Port and Properties. They are the people who closed access to the sandy beach, much to the ire of locals. Neither the company nor the Town Council can afford to repare the steps, and anyway the sea in that area is said to be unsafe for swimming because of pollution from the ferry operations."

Before I move on, a couple of positives. The Hope Inn is still going at the seafront; we had a decent fish-and-chip lunch on Friday. At the other end of Fort Road is the excellent West Quay Cafe. It was bouncing shortly after 8.30am on Saturday morning as we tucked into a full-cooked before the next stage of our journey. We met a retired couple from nearby Seaford waiting like us before opening time; they breakfast there three times a week.

On we go to the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry, the Côte d'Albâtre.

Transmanche Ferries it says, so you'd think with that and the name of the ship it would be French. No, it's Danish: acquired, owned and operated now by logistics parent Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (DFDS), translated as "The United Steamship Company", because it was founded in 1866 with the merger of the then three biggest Danish steamship firms. The Côte d'Albâtre was built in 2005 by De Hijos De J Barreras De Vigo, Spain. No English involvement at all.

I've not been on a ferry for over 20 years. It was a treat. Wonderful not to pass through an airport. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy the experience, above all being on deck to witness departure and arrival manoeuvres at the ports. Comfortable seating, decent bar and restaurant (our visit slightly shadowed by a gaggle of vocal British lorry-drivers). Competent and friendly administration at both ends, free parking (we travelled as foot passengers) right outside the Newhaven terminal building.

I was amused by one sign. Pre- or post-Brexit? A kinder migration policy?

Dieppe has an active seafront. Not a tourist-trap jewel, but popular and well-used. Later, on Sunday, we walked along the promenade, shared with early morning joggers and cyclists, friends in conversation, concessionaires opening up their stalls. There's an international kite-flying festival: Dieppe Capitale du Cerf-Volant.

Back to our arrival. A short taxi ride to our large, airy and tasteful Airbnb apartment in the centre. Ablutions and out for early evening drinks at the half-timbered Café des Tribunaux in Place du Puits-Salé, "Salt Well Square".

Now to my one error of organisation. The fish dinner. I didn't realise until we got home how much this had represented the pinnacle of the visit to me, particularly as Kevin is a committed gourmet. I'd earmarked a couple of promising places: the reciprocally-named Le New Haven and Le Turbot (and other fish, I presume). However, I didn't book, partly in an attempt to back off from over-orchestrating what was not really my weekend, and also because Tripadvisor indicated an array of options; we could stroll and I could let the others make the decision.

When we got to Le New Haven, it looked great - and it was full, even shortly after 7pm. Never mind. The restaurant is in a parade of fish eateries on the harbourside Quai Henri IV and we ate acceptably at another.

I got up early the following morning and went in search of croissants. I found two boulangers open at 7am (queue already formed) - yes, on a Sunday. Delicious.

Conclusions. Uncomfortable. Newhaven and Dieppe are 75 miles apart. The same sea, the same white-cliff geology. Yet one town is sadly run-down, the other prosperous and charming. There's almost nowhere to dine in the former, an embarrassment of choice in the latter. Newhaven High Street offers poor retail opportunities; Grande Rue in Dieppe has many, most of them local independents, very few chain stores. I'm baffled. Why should this be? Regretfully, the old slur comes into my mind: "What's the best thing about Newhaven? The ferry to Dieppe."

I'll finish with one story in which the poor old English port has the edge.

Wikipedia has lists of "notable people" for both Dieppe - about 35 - and Newhaven - only 7. However, one of those associated with Newhaven is a famous pastry chef:

I leave the explanation to the Sussex Express of 22 May 2013:

"The Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Quang Minh presented Newhaven with a three foot high bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh last weekend.

"It celebrated the links between the town and Ho Chi Minh, who worked as a pastry chef on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, before his rise to power.

"Hopes are high this could mark the beginning of a closer relationship between the port town in East Sussex and Vietnam in South East Asia.

"The Mayor of Newhaven Julie Carr said: 'This lovely, enjoyable event marked the beginning of what we hope will be a long and fruitful friendship between Newhaven and Vietnam, resulting in exciting business, tourism, educational and cultural opportunities for the town. This could significantly contribute to the regeneration of Newhaven.'"

Hmmm. Vietnamese investment for a revived Newhaven esplanade? Sounds like a proper global-Britain Brexit "opportunity". There's no sign of it a decade after Mayor Carr's expression of optimism.

11:30am

I've just had a thought. Three years ago none of this would have been possible. These pages were then titled "Coronavirus Blog". We'd reached the milestone of 40,000 UK Covid-related deaths. I had no confidence that we might escape the virus's clutches. The roll-out of vaccines lay six months ahead.

Thursday 1^st June

Suspending the blog for a few days as I head off on a brief excursion, to include, I hope, a fish dinner in Dieppe. I was ready with all manner of gloomy observations to make today when I was surprised by the gentle humour of "Vilnissimo" cartoons. Based in Newent, Gloucestershire. A much better au revoir. Here's a selection (click to enlarge any):

Visit the website for many more:

À bientôt!

Wednesday 31^st May

On and on and on ...

Tuesday 30^th May

A couple of local "fails".

First from the Green Party, the latest newsletter to drop on the doormat.

This was the second headline:

Hmmm. It can't be a big story, can it? Dead quiet. Or is this their voter demographic? Voices of support from the grave?

[OK, it's about a better future for the chapel in the graveyard at the top of town, a lovely spot with an unparalleled view of the hills, right across to the River Severn. Also "plans for cameras to monitor the cemetery's wide variety of wildlife".]

Meanwhile, Waitrose had a meltdown over the weekend. Little veg available due to a "distribution problem".

In fact, it wasn't local, but national. Not a shortage of supplies at depots, nor of lorry-drivers, but ... computer said no. A system update was delayed which prevented products from being picked for delivery in the warehouses.

Aha! An AI software module that shot itself in the foot? Stick to homo sapiens, Waitrose!

In the Stroud store's defence, they put a management person on the door to apologise for and explain what had happened. They also issued a voucher at the checkouts. I went in three times over the long weekend, mostly to get the free newspaper, so have these:

Beneath the large-print promise is the condition:

A bit cheap, I think. The idea of having to spend more - rarely do I reach £30 at a visit, maybe just at Christmas and Easter - to get the £5 seems counter to the spirit of an apology, their "little thank you from us to you".

One last thing and then I'm done (I can't believe I'm writing about shopping again). As I've said here before, my veg comes from Stancombe Beech Farm up the road (no supply glitches from field to shop, scant computer dependence) so I was unaffected by the Waitrose malfunction - and therefore undeserving of my £5 voucher, I suppose. When I first found out about the problem on Saturday morning I rang up the farm to suggest they put somebody in the Waitrose car park with a sign, a killing to be made. Farmer Ashley Dickenson said they were inundated - the thought had already got around.

Monday 29^th May

More news from Europe, this time Austria. Nikko has been spending the weekend in Velden am Wörthersee, a popular lakeside holiday resort - in a sea-free country you have to get your water fix inland. A train ride down from Vienna towards the mountains and the Italian border. His girlfriend Ahoo had an art exhibition in the town, so they were put up in a hotel overlooking the lake. [Writer's note: verb tense uncertainty issue here, as I'm not sure whether they're still there or have already gone home.]

During a stroll on the front, they spotted this, "Sunday service on the water" as Nikko called it:

It's clearly a popular ministry. Kirchenschiff means "nave" or "transept". Here's the same 2023 publicity taken from the website, promoting Saturday Geistliche Abendmusik ("Spiritual Evening Music") and Sunday morning open air GottesDienst ("Church Service"), and worship in progress.

Nikko's WhatsApp messages and photos have pulled at the heart strings. As he said, "only an hour and half's drive to Udine!" Indeed, I often made the reverse trip in 1975/6/7, up the old Strada Statale SS13, also named the Pontebbana because the town of Pontebba is at the northern end before you cross the Austrian border.

Here's a Google Earth map (3-country junction, borders in yellow: Italy, Austria and Slovenia), with Udine at the bottom left and Velden am Wörthersee top right. It's littered with stamping-ground place names (you'll really have to click/zoom to see the detail): Cividale just east of Udine, scene of the splendid wine festival and one of my favourite places in the world; Kobarid (in Italian, Caporetto) over the border in Slovenia (then Yugoslavia), where I'd go on a Saturday for half-price meat; Bovec, the site of a memorable New Year's Eve in 1975 at the Hotel Kanin (the name taken from the mountain behind, also marked on the map); Tarvisio, from which I coined the expression "Tarvisio Bus-Driver's Foot", derived from the twitchy - yet persistent and rhythmic - accelerator control of the said early morning ski-coach driver; and Villach, minutes from Velden am Wörthersee and whose significance to me I will explain below.

Those white-marked peaks have a special place in my memory. On a clear day you can see them from Udine, indeed from further away to the south in the Bassa Friuli, even from Venice. I vividly recall the moment I first saw them in late November 1975, when the sun came out after the dispiritingly grey and dismal days following my arrival. I'd never lived anywhere near mountains. "Wow", I thought, "this will be interesting." And it was.

So ... Villach. One late Sunday evening, after a day spent with my friend Gowan in Venice, I caught the last train out of Mestre to get back to Udine. It was the "Romulus", the Rome to Vienna express, which incidentally passed right behind the tall embankment wall opposite my flat. As I was tired, I climbed into the overhead luggage rack to sleep. Of course, I slept right through Udine. The next thing I knew an Austrian border guard was prodding me with a rifle, demanding that I get down. I didn't have my passport with me - it wasn't in the plan to go to Vienna - so he was less than pleased. He put me on the Italy-bound platform - yes, it was Villach station - with instructions to get on the first train back to Udine. It didn't come for hours, probably the early morning milk train. I got home about 6am.

Should you be interested, I've written - with contributions from friends - about all this in a memoir titled O Ce Biel, the name taken from the first line of the unofficial Friuli region's anthem O Ce Biel Cjiscjel a Udin, "What a beautiful castle at Udine". The plan when writing it was to get all this old stuff out of my system so that I could stop boring people with the stories. Oh dear, it doesn't seem to have worked. One word from Nikko and I'm off again. Anyway, here's the memoir:

Sunday 28^th May

I said yesterday in discussing AI that my concerns were not for me but for the next generations.

I'm not sure I should worry about son Ben. If you live substantially off-grid, how would AI ever get its mitts on you? His present home is a traditional Basque farmhouse on a hill outside Bilbao. It's squatted. Indeed it's not clear who and where the owners are, or even if it's owned. No rent. All the utilities are connected, but no billing takes place - at least, no demands ever reach Ben. Land to grow vegetables, chickens for eggs.

Yes, it looks scruffy - or shall we more generously say rustic? In mitigation, brother Nikko - whose hygiene standards are considerably higher than ours; on one visit to Stroud he went into town and returned with the gift of a new toilet brush (oh, the shame!) - has stayed there and given it a clean bill of health.

AI doesn't impinge on simple pleasures. Ben requested a cheese-making book for his birthday:

He sent pics yesterday of his first venture, making féta. Here are some of the steps.

Buy milk from the nearby town of Mungia. A departure from the traditional, using cow's rather than sheep's.

Add culture and rennet, start the separation process:

Drain off the whey and add salt:

Form shape and press ... before brining for a week:

Next day, use leftover whey to make ricotta:

AI is a threat created and delivered by technology. Steer clear of that and it ain't gonna get ya. There you are, problem solved.

Saturday 27^th May

Conscious of growing public awareness of and concern about AI, I've been stashing away relevant cartoons in my when-I-have-a-moment folder. Here's a selection I've found so far. Not only by the familiar British cartoonists in response to our national news but also from further afield.

From what we see here, why are we scared?

It all surely starts with the old anxiety about people being replaced by robots, becoming redundant, not being required any more. It's a big thing in a world where we often define ourselves by our work, paid or unpaid; it underpins our sense of usefulness and worth.

This fear intensifies when we get to thought. Not just doing, a machine taking over a practical function, but thinking ... that we can be out-thought by a non-human device, or replaced as thinkers (cf. Rodin above). It gets worse - this was expressed by Geoff Hinton when he recently quit Google - if you consider the multiplier effect, that you can link and scale up limitless intelligent devices to achieve greater speed and complexity of thought than we mortals can possibly achieve. It's one thing to lose our physical preeminence - but to lose our minds as well?

Then there's the what-if-we-don't-know, that we can't see the activity of AI. Like the robot above telling you that it's not a robot. Or the optician who believes that he's in command by running the eye test when actually his client knows that it's the tester who's going to die.

Falsification. Lack of authenticity. The painting ascribed to an artist that is really an AI creation. The convincing student dissertation produced by a content generator, undetectable to the human examiner. As a slight diversion, while we're on this subject, and because today has involved cartoons, I noticed yesterday that the Cartoon Movement - an online platform bringing together professional editorial cartoonists from all over the world - has joined a campaign to demand that media outlets refrain from using AI-generated content in their publications. Here's the logo:

Things are not what they appear to be. We don't know if they are or they aren't. It's like solid ground crumbling beneath our feet. Or a descent into madness, an AI-induced dementia.

There's the force-for-good-or-evil debate - one that's as old as time. Have the motorcar and the computer given more than they've taken away? The human race has made some abject cock-ups; could AI do a better job? One of the cartoons I found suggested that it might:

The underlying disquiet is about loss of control. Our core human assumption has always been that we're in charge, for better or worse. Is that about to pass? Our evolutionary process - see the from-ape-to-robot cartoon above - will conclude as the artificial ousts the natural. Game over for us primates.

Am I bovvered? Possibly, but for future generations. I will almost certainly escape AI's grimmest manifestations - if that's what they turn out to be.

Friday 26^th May

Tribute to Tina Turner by Spanish cartoonist and illustrator Joaquín Aldeguer

Yesterday I promised (threatened?) more of Tina. So here we go. There's a lot: photos, tweets, video. Pick what grabs you. At least you should be Tina-ed out by the end and will be able to let her rest in peace.

Tina Turner made everybody smile. The voice, the songs, the hair, the legs, the outfits, the stage presence, the survivor ... the radiance. She couldn't dance for toffee, but we loved her strut just the same. The volume and intense warmth of the tributes pouring in since Wednesday evening have left me in no doubt just how big a talent and phenomenon she was. "Global superstar" is a term tarnished by overuse, but it unequivocally applies to her. She packed out huge stadia from Amsterdam to Rio. Right now you could probably hear somebody humming a chorus from one of the hits anywhere in the world.

Peter Lindbergh photo of Tina on the Eiffel Tower in 1989

She kept illustrious musical company and was usually at the centre:

That's right, against all the odds Keith is the last one standing.

The Twittersphere has been the preferred forum for paying homage (aside: it still sadly remains THE vehicle, unlike Mastodon where I've seen nothing). Tributes above all from her peers: rock, soul and musicjourno royalty:

This sounds like one person, so it's presumably Otis Williams, the only original Temptation in the current line-up. Born in 1941, a couple of years younger than Tina - so he was there in the 60s.

Going back to the early days, here's Janis Joplin rooting for Tina on the Dick Cavett (what a numpty ... you'll see why) show in 1969:

Time for performance action. Quite lengthy chunks, so you may want to dip in and out.

She could make an entrance. Here she is arriving at the Divas Live charity concert at New York's Beacon Theatre on April 13th, 1999. Out of the limo and on to the stage for "Simply the Best" (5 minutes 38 seconds):

This is the all-time showstopper at the Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas on 28th October 2000. She invites devoted fan Donovan on stage to assist with "Proud Mary" (11 minutes 48 seconds):

I'll leave the final words to Tina, in a 2019 BBC interview with the then arts editor Will Gompertz (shortened version, 5 minutes 13 seconds):

"Thoroughly happy" ... "Death is not a problem for me, I really don't mind leaving."

Godspeed, Tina.

Thursday 25^th May

Where else can I start? This is a shock.

The tributes are pouring in. More to come from me, maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile - no shock - this is what I originally wrote for today. It's a cruel contrast. We've lost the radiant, life-affirming Tina ... yet this scumbag just won't go away.

He was in Las Vegas yesterday at the SCALE Global Summit:

35 minutes, eh? For how much?

What's SCALE all about?

Money, right? Where rich people meet other rich people and make even more money.

Wednesday 24^th May

The English novelist Martin Amis died last Friday.

This portrait by photographer Ulf Andersen stared out at me from Monday's article in The Guardian by Lisa Allardice titled "Damn, that fool can write!" - a quote from Irish writer and Amis fan Anne Enright.

It's an interesting face. Patrician, contrary, sensitive, sensual, a little seedy, dissolute? No wonder he's been called the Mick Jagger of literature. I was intrigued.

Since Monday I've ploughed through yards of tribute, obituary and review. A little explosion has gone off in my head, something hitherto buried or dormant. I've never been a great reader despite English and History being my strongest subjects at school and studying English Literature at Cambridge. In truth, I did almost anything but study English at Cambridge, burnt-out from intense study at school and mind-blown by a gap year spent roaming the USA just post-Woodstock. Amis was one of the "Class of '83", those honoured by the Cambridge-based Granta literary magazine in its inaugural "Best of Young British Novelists" list, alongside others such as William Boyd, Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan. I was only dimly aware of Granta while an undergraduate; in my defence it languished in the doldrums during the early 1970s due to financial difficulties and student apathy - including my own. I was more familiar with the Granta pub on the River Cam near Coe Fen.

His first novel, The Rachel Papers, was published in 1973, the year of my graduation. It passed by me, then otherwise occupied. He was only three years my senior; he has been a contemporary, we shared 70 years of life. In that time I've been aware of his work, but no more. As my grandmother once said of Belgium (actually, I'd been talking about Bolton, but she misheard), "I don't know Belgium, Charles, but I know OF it."

I've never read an Amis book and now feel compelled to do so. Yesterday I logged on to the Gloucestershire Libraries website and reserved three of his works: Money (1984, based on Amis's experience as a script writer on the feature film Saturn 3), London Fields (1989 comic murder mystery) and The Second Plane (2008, on the subject of the 9/11 attacks, terrorism and Muslim radicalisation).

I'm excited. His friend Rushdie said Amis was unique; "it was unwise to try to imitate him." I've come to him late, indeed post mortem. Rushdie reassures me: "He used to say that what he wanted to do was leave behind a shelf of books - to be able to say: 'From here to here, it's me.'" I can look forward to working my way along the shelf.

The library website revealed that there was one novel available in Stroud, but it couldn't be reserved. I went down there and spoke to a librarian. She said it was in the "Fasttrack" section which contains books that can only be borrowed for a week. We went over there and couldn't find it. She suggested I look at the adjoining "Returns" shelf, as it can indicate popular choices. There was Klara and The Sun by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro - who was also a member of the "Class of '83". "OK", I thought, "that'll do." And took it home.

Some proper reading after years of uncommitted dalliance. A new direction - or is it a re-awakening? - in my later years.

Amis said of writing: "It seems to me a hilariously enjoyable way of spending one's time." In a small and modest way, I recognise that. Although I'd incline towards "absorbing". As with riding Yellie the bike round town, it takes me out of myself.

Tuesday 23^rd May

Warm weather, out and about in the sunshine, trips planned to northern France and Corsica ... and the Tories on the run? The mood is lighter. It's not just me, is it?

Witnessing the last seven years has been an oppressively long haul. Can we really see the electorate beginning - the local elections said yes - to reject the meanness, disdain for probity in public life, support of vested interests, rules-for-them-but-not-for-us, Brexit insanity ... of a rotten-to-the-core Conservative party?

The concern is whether an opposition can really stick it to the Tories. We have endured so many missed opportunities to bury them. Starmer is terrified of alienating any and every voter, dares not present bold early plans that would clearly lay out the path to a fairer, kinder, more decent Britain. The risk of such a lack of clarity and courage is that you squander this pivotal moment to put the big things right, at precisely the time when the public may really want to welcome change, a departure from sleaze and inequality.

At a local level I'm worried. Last year I was dismayed by Starmer's rejection of the then Stroud District Council leader Doina Cornell's application to stand as the next Labour general election candidate. Highly respected - and much written about in this blog last year (if you're interested, click on the "2022" heading at the top and search the page for "Doina"). A waste - although she's now very active as Stroud Migrant Champion.

Simon Opher was selected as the safe - unlikely to offend - choice. I wrote here 10 days ago about his first pre-election flyer and its bodged (QR code and web URL failure) invitation to take part in a survey: 👉

He did reply to my by-return-of-post email - I thought they might like to know right away that their IT was buggered - informing him of the error ... but over five days later:

"Sorry about all this. I think the initial qr code on the first outcard do not now connect. We have printed new ones now. Would you like a link to the survey by email."

Great. The card on which you spent campaign funds and carefully put through my door doesn't work. And ... ok, I guess email is meant to be quick and dirty, but I reckon communication to a prospective voter should be accurate and grammatical. Was he in a rush? No time to read through, even once, what he'd written? Case doesn't matter? Can't be bothered with a question mark? It bodes ill.

I confirmed twice (no answer in six days to the first attempt) that I'd like to receive the survey link by email. He responded:

"Sorry I'm still trying to get the link from regional office. I'll send as soon as I receive."

Saints preserve us. If he doesn't get his act together, the Greens hack off their usual chunk of the anti-Tory vote, the Lib Dems return to the fray - they withdrew in 2019 - and incumbent Siobhan Baillie successfully re-woos the young farmers down by the River Severn ... I can't bear to think about it.

Nationally, what might we get? Prevailing wisdom says:

Oh dear, I started out all positive. I suppose that the Tories are at least getting squeezed.

Monday 22^nd May

Much as I applaud this weekend's Stroud food festival ... oh, to be in Bilbao. Son Ben has been making pintxos and of course sending us the pics (click to enlarge any).

Similar to tapas, Basque pintxos are traditionally served on a small slice of bread with a toothpick that pierces them through the middle. Pintxo means "spike" or "thorn". The Spanish verb pinchar means "puncture". The term has broadened out to refer to any small and tasty snack. The Casco Viejo or old town of Bilbao is crammed with bars serving them, as is the large Ribera market overlooking the river Nervión.

Various pintxos:

Various tortillas:

Octopus, potato purée and pimentón:

Octopus and prawn skewers:

Egg mayonnaise, prawn and olive skewers:

Deep fried chard stems stuffed with ham and cheese:

Tuna mayonnaise and red pepper tortilla:

Looking at these has made up my mind. Given that Ben is unlikely to return to this country any time soon and my heart lies in Europe, I'm going to have to visit much more often. The same goes for Nikko in Vienna and my friends in Friuli.

Sunday 21^st May

Yesterday morning the food festival was in full flow in Stroud. Town closed to traffic, party atmosphere, warm sunshine, street food, at least one dodgy stall name. I did a tour on Yellie the electric bike.

In the afternoon to grandson Marlie's post-birthday party for friends, first at Dursley pool and then for pizza at the wacky "Ionian" Greek-Italian restaurant on the banks of the A38 south of Gossington; you can see more detail and photos from our visit last year here: 👉. I'm pleased that they're still going, as they were under threat from Stroud District Council. Maybe our petition helped?

It's weird that as soon as you feel the sun on your back you can't remember winter anymore.

Saturday 20^th May

Reasons to be cheerful. The 52% is shrinking by the minute.

Sadly, if anyone could screw it up ...

Friday 19^th May

It's here again.

Talks, demonstrations - not that kind, the Public Order Act will see them off 😡 - and, of course, food and drink everywhere. Outlets open at 4pm today, from 10am tomorrow and Sunday. The Farmers Market runs as normal on Saturday from 9am to 2pm.

Here's the map (click to enlarge):

It'll be busy - the weather is set fair - particularly in Fawkes Place to the side of the Subscription Rooms, where the street food vans are found. Here are two photos from last year:

Here's the full programme guide:

Granddaughter Lola and friend Ava went down to Fawkes Place in 2022 and bought the place up (see my report and more photos of last year's event here: 👉).

Thursday 18^th May

Grandson Marlie was nine on Tuesday. We had a gathering of family and friends at his house in Bristol.

What do you organise for a boy who's captivated by world maps and flags? When he's with us in Stroud he draws them for hours. A whole lot better than a screen addiction, particularly as he loves the associated facts and figures. I've learnt masses from him.

The results end up covering the wall of the staircase up to the first floor:

His mother Ellie asked me to write a country quiz for the party. The participants would range in age from 9 to 79. Quite daunting to make it right for everybody.

Fancy a go? Here are the first 15 questions:

What is the richest country in the world? (GDP per capita)?
Which is the only country to have no white, red or blue in its flag?
What is the largest country in the world, by area/land mass?
Kimchi is the most popular food of which country (hint: or 2 countries)?
Which country's flag is white and red and has a large leaf at its centre?
Which country's flag is white and red and has a cross showing a dragon being killed?
What is the smallest (in land mass) country in the world?
Pho is the traditional dish in which Asian country?
Which country in the world has the most islands? a) Canada b) Greece c) Sweden
Which two nations share the longest land border in the world? a) USA and Canada b) China and Russia c) Brazil and Argentina
Only two nations have their country's map on their flags. Which? [2 points]
Which country's flag has two red stripes, one white stripe and a cedar tree at its centre?
Which country has the largest population?
What is the largest (in land mass) country in Africa?
Which country's capital is closest to the North Pole?

Thankfully, it worked. Marlie was in his element and nailed it. The adults sometimes struggled but were happy for him. He generously offered hints to them.

Here are the answers:

How did you get on?

Wednesday 17^th May

Tuesday 16^th May

A moment of quiet gratitude yesterday. Hot chocolate outside a café in town in peace and warmth. Not a car in sight, no oppressive bustle, sun on my face. It's not Tuscany, there was no Greek harbour-front promise of kalamári and retsina, but it's hard not to like a place where nobody bothers you, characters abound and you can see the hills from dead centre of the High Street.

Monday 15^th May

I keep an odds-and-ends folder on my computer where I put nuggets of interest that are not going to appear immediately in this blog. The plan is to return there when I'm less exercised by other pressing matters of church and state. I rarely do. Today is an exception. Sooner than I expected.

This has been nagging at me for five days, a phenomenon thrown up by nature, yet other-worldly, miles away - literally and spiritually - from the woes of Westminster, a welcome counter-balance.

Last Wednesday The Guardian ran a short piece on sound expert Jeff Rice. He's been recording a tree. Or a group of trees:

"Known as Pando - Latin for 'I spread' - the 47,000 genetically identical quivering aspens in south-central Utah are considered to be a single organism, with the 'trees' actually branches thought to be connected by a shared root system. A vast living entity, thousands of years old, that covers 43 hectares (106 acres) with a dry weight of about 6m kg, making it, putatively, the Earth's heaviest living organism."

So, if you fancy a little diversion, look no further than the "Friends of Pando" (FoP) website - click on the emblem:

Or here are the FoP guide and map .

Sunday 14^th May

It has a kind of symmetry, doesn't it? Sweden will host Eurovision next year, 50 years after Abba triumphed. Appropriate flag colours too.

Finland's second-placed Käärijä - Jere Pöyhönen at birth - deserved the top spot in my opinion by virtue of having eight dots above his stage name - more dots than letters - with a further four in his real one. It must be a record.

The first extraordinary thing about the contest is that an object of ridicule has become an international phenomenon and an expression of political solidarity. A royal even played the piano. Not content with last weekend, she had to get in on the act.

The second stand-out feature is that the competition is one of only two ways post-Brexit Britain can bear to collaborate with Europe. The other of course is war.

No tears shed for the UK's Mae Muller, I'm afraid. Dismal topic and lyrics.

When you said you were leaving
To work on your mental health
You didn't mention the cheating, yeah
You kept that one to yourself
I got so mad, was gonna
Cuss you out outside your house
For everyone to see
Wanted to trash your Benz, tell all your friends
How cruel you were to me, to me, to me

Nitpicking aside, it was a joyful hilarious event.

Saturday 13^th May

Friday 12^th May

This dropped on the doormat yesterday. Click to enlarge, also for the email further down.

Glad to see that an opposition to the Tories is already out on the streets. Decent sentiments, if tick-box obvious. I was sorry to miss the canvassers, because I had questions for them ... position on Brexit, Starmer U-turns, "Blair 2.0" ideological cleansing of the party. Luckily for them I wasn't there to answer the door.

I thought, "At least I can do the survey." It didn't go well, and I told him so:

Mind you, if they're struggling with IT comms, will he get the email?

Inauspicious start, eh?

Talking of surveys ...

Thursday 11^th May

Just over three weeks ago on Wednesday 19th April, I wrote about the anger felt by the Irish world-wide community towards cartoonists, mostly from the UK, who employed stereotypes - leprechauns, stepdance, pints of Guiness, cod Irish accents - to mock Joe Biden's visit to Ireland, particularly to his ancestral home of Ballina. See my report here: 👉

Last Tuesday was Europe Day, the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration signed on 9th May 1950. The declaration, presented by French foreign minister Robert Schuman, proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, whose members would pool coal and steel production. The ECSC (founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) was the first of a series of supranational European institutions that would ultimately become today's Union.

Martyn Turner of The Irish Times took the opportunity to recognise Europe Day while taking a swipe at those offending cartoonists. Click to enlarge.

Here are the top two countries in the world in terms of GDP per head of population as stated by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations. Again, click to enlarge.

That's right, funny old Ireland pushing right up the league table to jostle with the über-Eurocrats. I can testify to the wealth dripping from Luxembourg; see the account of my recent visit here: 👉. Curiously, Robert Schuman was a Luxembourg native, born in the Clausen district of the city in 1886. He seems to have known which way the wind was blowing.

And unshackled, liberated Blighty?

How in 2016 did 52% (of a 72% turnout), in precise numbers 17,410,742 UK voters, manage to make such a great decision? It has transformed the country. Unlike poor Ireland, languishing in the EU.

My Irish correspondent's son took this photo in Dublin two nights ago:

Wednesday 10^th May

I woke to a mild internal backlash against my own comments about the coronation, partly prompted by a note from my Irish correspondent, whose observations quoted in these pages on the treatment of Ireland by the English hardly demonstrate a flag-waving royalist devotion: "Whatever the pluses and minuses of the monarchy, I do hope that Charles will continue to speak out about concerns that we all share, e.g. Rwanda. After Johnson, Truss, Sunak and their demented supporters, Charles looks like one of the few safe pairs of hands around."

Stephen Fry, celebrity invitee to the Westminster ceremony, made related remarks on Saturday about the benefit of having a non-elected head of state. Its most likely alternative would be a political appointment, which - roughly - half the population might approve and the other half condemn. Charles will not be plotting personal advancement; he's made it to the top of his own tree. The only measure of his success, the inner sense of a job well done, will be one of which he is acutely aware: service to the nation. The monarch - yes, by an accident of birth, and there's nothing new in the argument - can stand above the putrid self-interest shown by too many of our recent elected representatives. He has already acknowledged that he cannot be so publicly vocal about major issues as he was when Prince of Wales, but it's improbable that he won't seek to influence.

He's going to be here for a while, so we'd better harness his undoubted desire to make a contribution for the good of all. His track record on climate, inter-faith harmony and support for the young is unchallengable. There's not a great deal we can do about him being a privileged toff. I stand by all my comments of yesterday. They come from my dislike of the imbalance and division in our society, of which the monarchy is a visible hereditary example. But there are other more dangerous offenders worthy of our protests.

Time to move on. A planet to save, a general election to be won. I like to think that there has been a brightening of the sky to dissipate the sleaze and incompetence of recent years. The local election results were a start. Trump got nailed yesterday.

The coronation cartoons have continued to dribble in, but they should stop now. I can do without Steve Bell's latest, exploiting the King's - presumably medical - condition of swollen fingers. A cheap shot.

Tuesday 9^th May

It's over. You may have noticed that I've been less than reverent about the coronation. We've not watched any of the television coverage in this household except for unavoidable news pieces. There's been little evidence in the People's Republic of Stroud that anything out-of-the-ordinary has been going on. Just a minimal attempt at bunting outside the Bisley House pub opposite which wind and rain blew down in the first hours of Saturday. I have read analysis, although mostly in the left-leaning press. Part of me hasn't wanted to be that grump who doesn't celebrate the history, pageantry and good causes espoused by the monarchy. I have no particular desire to be at odds with friends who draw pleasure from the whole malarkey. But it has made me uncomfortable at best. I try to understand my reaction here.

I don't identify with the royals. I recognise that they live and breathe and experience emotions like the rest of us, but little that they do bears any resemblance to my family. All those big houses on which they've never struggled to pay the mortgage. A flunkey always at hand, even when you have a meltdown over a leaky pen. The Wales trio of children groomed to a honed perfection with wealth and privilege. The adults wear clothes we'd never consider, tweeds and footwear that remind me of what you can glimpse at Cheltenham races, peachy corduroys and hacking jackets. Then the voices and accents. I find it hard to listen to Charles's strangulated vowels.

There's much to admire in the support of good causes. However, it feels like a donation from on high, a guilty obligation of the haves to the have-nots. The royals are locked in a perpetual struggle to connect to the "people" - because their lives are so different, a product of inheritance across the centuries. Little was earned through merit, much more a result of feudal skulduggery. It all goes against my guiding principle of how our country should be run: "private sufficiency and public wealth".

I have difficulty with the echoes of Empire in these events. My lifetime - which matches almost exactly the reign of Charles's mother - has arguably seen a decline in Britain from its perceived position of major world influence. That's only if you see Empire as a touchstone of Britain's Great-ness, if you view strength as dominion over others. Did we have the right to plant a flag in countries round the world in order to realise economic and political advantage? I don't think hanging on to the trappings of the past helps Britain to grow in new directions. I always felt that pre-Brexit we might have lost the Empire but we had gained Europe. Then - I hazard a theory - the very people who cherished all that pink on the map decided to abandon our hard-won place in the union of European states.

The ceremonials were impressively executed, the sense of history to be envied around the world. Charles and Camilla have had their day in the spotlight and - 'though I cringe to look upon Their Weirdnesses - I don't begrudge them that. I'm sure he loves her just as much as the day he married Diana.

Monday 8^th May

Top 4 Mastodon toots from my inbox this morning. No comment.

Sunday 7^th May

Coronation (and local election) cartoon roundup. Click to enlarge any image (or chart below).

Plus comparative analysis of the cost of European royals from Danilo Supino of Italy's Corriere Della Sera. Detail of how the monarchy is funded in different countries. Published this week, dates of data collection uncertain - Queen Elizabeth II appears in the last list, as does Harry. But you get the idea. Thanks, Mike.

Royal salaries from the public purse:

What does the monarchy cost per citizen head? Assume per annum?

How much does the Buck House operation cost?

How much do the English royals work?

Read the full article - most browsers will offer translation - here: . You could find out why there's a zero against Liechstenstein in the first chart.

Saturday 6^th May

In memory of the Friuli earthquake 6th May 1976

Friday 5^th May

Overheard in the estimable Cytek bike shop yesterday morning while I was having the brake pads on my Pedego replaced, another customer of my years said to owner Shane, "I don't want any trouble on Ventoux."

Eh?

That's right. Next week he's leaving St. Malo to ride to Nice, roughly 850 miles (~1,370 kilometres), taking in the 6,263 feet (1,909 metres) provençale Tour de France summit along the way. As you can see, the peak is above the tree line.

Those of you of a certain age may remember the trail-blazing British cyclist Tom Simpson. He died on Ventoux during the thirteenth stage of the Tour on 13th July 1967.

Cycling Today has this account:

"Near the summit of Ventoux, the peloton began to fracture. Simpson was in the front group before slipping back to a group of chasers about a minute behind. He then began losing control of his bike, zig-zagging across the road.

"A kilometer from the summit, Simpson fell off his bike. Team manager Alec Taylor and mechanic Harry Hall arrived in the team car to help him. Hall tried to persuade Simpson to stop, saying: 'Come on Tom, that's it, that's your Tour finished', but Simpson said he wanted to continue. Taylor said, 'If Tom wants to go on, he goes'. Noticing his toe straps were still undone, Simpson said, 'Me straps, Harry, me straps!'

"They got him on his bike and pushed him off. Simpson's last words, as remembered by Hall, were 'On, on, on.' Hall estimated Simpson rode a further 500m before he began to wobble, and was held upright by spectators; he was unconscious, with his hands locked on the handlebars. Hall and a nurse from the Tour's medical team took turns giving Simpson mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before Tour doctor Pierre Dumas arrived with an oxygen mask.

"Simpson was declared dead later that afternoon after being airlifted to Avignon Hospital. According to the autopsy, Simpson had amphetamines and alcohol in his body, which, combined with diarrhoea, oppressive heat and the gradient of Ventoux, contributed to his death."

Shane told me that he's done Ventoux half-a-dozen times. From Sunday he's cycling in the Pyrenees, in June the Dolomites.

I was plotting the flattest route for my 2-mile (3.2 kilometre) journey home on an electric bicycle.

Tuesday 3^rd May

So "Godfather of AI" Geoff Hinton - his great-grandfather George Boole invented the eponymous algebra, so he has previous - quit Google and can now speak freely. Some regret about aspects of his work on artificial neural networks, and anxiety that we've reached the tipping point where the computer genuinely becomes brainier than the human.

Hmmm. So anybot could produce this blog, right? In mild panic I thought I'd hunt down and test an online AI content generator. Top of my Google (sans Geoff) search was Toolbaz.com. I asked what it could do with four questions - and post the responses here verbatim. See what you think.

Question 1: "How do I get rid of the Tories?"

"If you're fed up with the Tories, there are a few steps you can take to make a difference. Firstly, you can get involved in local politics and attend rallies, marches, and protests. You can also reach out to your local MP and express your concerns with their voting record and policies. You can also get involved with local grassroots organisations and sign petitions and write letters to your local representatives. You can also join the Labour Party or Green Party and help to promote their policies and values. You can also speak out on social media and be vocal about the issues that matter to you. Finally, you can make sure you are registered to vote, and when the time comes, make sure to cast your ballot and use it as a way to make your voice heard. By taking these steps, you can make a difference and help to get rid of the Tories."

Not bad. A little anodyne, perhaps, all very well-behaved. What about the Molotov option? And the final sentence is childlike in its optimism.

Question 2: "How can I overturn Brexit and return the UK to the EU?"

"The UK's decision to withdraw from the European Union (EU) has left many people feeling disheartened and frustrated. However, the process is far from over and there is still a chance that Brexit can be overturned and the UK can return to the EU. To do this, a number of steps must be taken. First, a motion of no confidence must be passed in the UK Parliament. This motion would put the current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, out of office and open the door for a new government to be formed. This new government would be more likely to overturn the decision to leave the EU and return the UK to its previous membership.

"Second, a referendum must be held where the British public can vote on whether or not they want to remain in the EU. This referendum should be open to all British citizens and should include the option to remain in the EU. If the majority of voters opt to remain in the EU, then the UK would be able to apply to rejoin the EU and the process of returning to the EU could begin.

"Finally, the UK government must negotiate a deal with the EU that would be acceptable to both sides. This deal would include the terms of the UK's return to the EU, such as whether or not the UK would be subject to certain EU regulations and laws. Once the deal is agreed upon, the UK government would need to pass legislation in order to officially rejoin the EU.

"These steps are the only way to overturn Brexit and return the UK to the EU. Though it may seem like a difficult and daunting task, with enough public support and political will, it is achievable."

Oh dear, Johnson is still Prime Minister. That's a serious blunder by the data and algorithm custodians. Two PMs later, there is no sign that the government is "more likely to overturn the decision to leave the EU and return the UK to its previous membership." Again, a conclusion of some naivety, although one about which I dream: "it is achievable".

Question 3: "How can I stop the coronation of King Charles III?"

"The coronation of King Charles III is not something that can be stopped. Once the coronation of a new monarch is set in motion, it is virtually impossible to reverse the process. This is because the coronation is a long-established ritual that has been practiced for centuries, and is a symbol of the power and authority of the monarch. However, there are some steps that can be taken to influence the outcome of the coronation. Firstly, it is important to understand the role of Parliament in the coronation process. Parliament has the power to approve or reject the nomination of the new monarch. If the majority of Parliament members do not support the nomination of King Charles III, then they can vote against his coronation. Furthermore, the public can also use their voice to influence the outcome of the coronation. By writing to their local representatives and voicing their opinion, citizens can make their views known and influence the decision-making process. Finally, citizens can also sign petitions, write letters to the media, and take part in protests to show their opposition to the coronation of King Charles III. While it may be impossible to stop the coronation of King Charles III, citizens can still make their voices heard and influence the outcome of the process."

This doesn't cut the mustard. Parliament to "reject the nomination of the new monarch"? That's not going to happen before Saturday, is it? The AI engine hasn't got a grip of timescales; it's just inserted "King Charles III" in the placeholder for "monarch". And people might write "to their local representatives"? To get shot of the royals? Really?

Question 4: "Is there cream in 'spaghetti alla carbonara'?"

"No, spaghetti alla carbonara does not traditionally include cream. This classic Italian dish is usually made with eggs, cheese, pepper, guanciale or pancetta, and either spaghetti or bucatini. The eggs provide a creamy texture to the dish, but cream is not typically used as an ingredient. The eggs are mixed with cheese and added to the pasta and guanciale mixture. The heat from the pasta cooks the eggs and creates a velvety sauce that coats the noodles. The pepper and guanciale add smoky and salty flavors to the dish, making it a favorite among pasta lovers. Although some chefs choose to add cream to the dish, it is not seen as a traditional part of the recipe."

The best of the bunch, although slightly equivocal; there really is no cream involved, period. I'm impressed by the mention of guanciale and pancetta, a cut above the packet of smoked bacon bits from your local supermarket.

Overall, rather plodding and prosaic. I think I can rest easy. My own brain will see me out, like my 70-something garageman Brian down the street is not bothering with EVs. It's the next generation and beyond that's threatened with redundancy.

Which makes me wonder ... can AI yet do humour or irony?

Monday 1^st May

Happy Birthday to son Nikko!

Early celebration picnic in Vienna yesterday:

Birthday greetings also to our friend Geraldine 🎂🌼🍾💝

Welcome home and congratulations to the returning peregrinos:

They completed an 85km north-eastern Spanish section of the Camino Francés, from Pamplona to Logroño:

Saturday 29^th April

I got back from my Luxembourg trip late on Thursday evening. A delightful reunion with my friend Eddy, whom I met in the early 1970s when he stopped his bus to let me cross St. John's Street, Cambridge.

Over the years I've dropped by. Sarah and I cycled back to Ostende after a visit around 40 years ago. We stayed with Eddy and Diana (who was in Manchester this week supporting her sick brother) on the way to taking son Nikko to Berlin in 2007.

On those occasions I never really had the chance to see the city, but managed it this time. A stroll round the Haute Ville. Coffee and croissants. Elegant shops, many somewhat tokenistic as most people will shop in retail malls outside the centre. Prices to match. I spotted a greengrocer with asparagus at £30 a kilo; it's £9 in Asda. We went down into the Grund, the old quarter located in the deep valley that provided natural defences for the city through its history. Eddy insisted on a pilgrimage to the memorial in the central park for famous Luxembourgish cyclists, including Elsy Jacobs, who became the first ever women's Road World Champion when she won the inaugural race in 1958.

Now, if there's one thing I love when on a trip - if done well - it's public transport. In Luxembourg, it's FREE! Trains, buses and ... the utterly beautiful tram. That's if it's in service. Note the sign in the window. I assume that's not a general policy ;-)

We took some side trips, like out east to Wasserbillig on the Moselle river, the border with Germany. It's the birthplace of Jacques Santer, prime minister from 1984 to 1995 and president of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. Plying their trade on the river are flat-bottomed cruise boats, like the ones you see in the advert breaks during TV re-runs of "Midsomer Murders", the slots purchased by the programme sponsors because the viewing demographic is old people with disposable income, time on their hands and limited mobility.

On Wednesday we went to Germany on the train, to the lovely Roman city of Trier. You only pay from the border as the train's free in Luxembourg, so we splashed out on first class, riding high on the top deck, lording it above the ordinary punters down below. The 2-hour round-trip ticket cost £10.

The big treat was our only lunch out, at the Oechsle Wein und Fischhaus frequented by Eddy and Diana for years. Very popular, busy even at the early time we chose. You select your meal from a blackboard behind a fresh fish counter (you could probably pick out a fish if you wanted), pay - reasonable; I paid £58 for 2 courses each - and sit down.

Now we come to more thorny matters. Across the big red bridge over the Grund valley from the old Haute Ville is the Euro-area.

These are now half-empty as work-from-home has continued after Covid. Despite their relative youth, these buildings are regularly demolished and replaced with new ones. You can just see the cranes in the lower picture.

Overall there is a building frenzy in progress. Everywhere you look something's going up, particularly new apartment blocks - and I truly mean blocks, square boxes. Eddy maintains that it is speculation against a background of government intent to grow a population of a million (from an estimate of 670,000 today) to service the country's transformation into a (the?) major European commercial and financial hub. Per capita, the country has the highest GDP in the world (grandson Marlie told me this), neck-and-neck with Ireland. Money is everywhere, international banks occupy vast amounts of office space.

You really wouldn't want to send Brexiteers to the city. It would pour fuel on the fire of their abhorrence of the EU, its wealth and bureaucracy. Mind you, Eddy tells me Nigel Farage is still taking his MEP pension.

I put this to my friend Chris in Udine when we had an email exchange yesterday. He worked until his retirement from the University of Trieste on European and worldwide projects concerning language and translation. He wrote:

"Years ago I was in Luxembourg for the university on an EU research project. At lunchtime I was amazed by the sheer numbers of Eurofolk crowding into the canteen (restaurant would be a more accurate term) for their free slap-up meal. I must admit, however, that through such EU funded research projects I travelled all over the continent all expenses paid. I like to think we did some good as we researched and promoted audio description for the blind, but there was also a holiday element in there. Not that any of this moves me an inch from 'remaining'; the overriding purpose of the EU in terms of solidarity and collaboration is what is important."

Yep, I go with that. You can't make an omelette ... and so on. Union comes at a price. Separation is costing the UK much more, and not just in cash.

Sunday 23^rd April

Early morning alarms too for our brief European ventures this week. My trip to Luxembourg to see friend Eddy and cosy up to some corrupt Eurocrats, Sarah's to walk a stretch of the Camino from Pamplona with son Ben. Blog on hold.

Saturday 22^nd April

Just for a change, some of the bad guys have had their comeuppance.

Dave Brown on Dominion v Fox:

Ella Baron and Ben Jennings on the bully:

Kostas Koufogiorgos: "He did the same with Twitter."

We need to nail this one next. Christian Adams:

Reasons to be cheerful? It's not just been the last week that has allowed us some schadenfreude. We've seen the departure - for the moment - of stand-out bogeymen who have cast an unwelcome shadow over public life during the three years of this blog: Trump, Johnson, Hancock, Bolsonaro to name four. There are doubtless others queuing up to replace them. Witness the substitution of Silvio Berlusconi with Giorgia Meloni. It would be good to nip them in the bud. Do we have the collective awareness, will and clout?

Wednesday 19^th April

I reckon I was light in my comment on Sunday that the cartoonists were guilty of "well-worn cliché" in their depiction of Joe Biden in Ireland. My Irish correspondent has pointed me at responses from angered critics. First, from the US-based Irish Central website and Dublin's EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum:

Nathan Mannion, Head of Exhibitions and Programmes at EPIC, said to Irish Central:

"For some time the museum has campaigned to highlight the absurdity of the outdated and tired tropes so often associated with Ireland and its diaspora. Our rich cultural heritage cannot be reduced to a handful of common negative stereotypes and it is sad to see caricatures that would not look out of place in a 'Harper's Weekly' or 'Punch' cartoon in the 19th century still being propagated today."

Sinn Féin Seanad leader Niall Ó Donnghaile tweeted:

"The President of America doesn't even drink alcohol - but sure nothing beats lazy stereotypes & a bit of good aul paddywhackery eh @thetimes?"

Cambridge Labour Councillor Mairéad Healy, a native of Derry, tweeted:

"British broadsheet papers wheeling out their predictable racist Irish tropes. Ah well, it's better to be envied than to be pitied. #Specialrelationship."

The "trope" persists deeply to this day. Tomiwa Owolade, in an Observer article on 15th April titled "Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue", commented on the 2021 Evidence for Equality National Survey carried out by academics from the universities of St Andrews, Manchester and King's College London:

"The survey found that 40% of white Irish people reported experiencing some form of racist assault in their lives. This means that white Irish people are more likely to say they have experienced prejudice in Britain than ... all Asian ethnic groups."

Here's the accompanying graphic:

However, the last laugh lies firmly with Biden and Ireland. Here's the headline from Nick Ferris's New Statesman article of 14th April ...

... and comment from bagpiper and Burnley supporter Alastair Campbell:

Monday 17^th April

Out of the blue this morning, a cartoon (click to enlarge) in Punch by Trevor Holder, who drew under the pseudonym of "Holte", from 1984:

Should I recommend this to the Royal College of Nursing?

Sunday 16^th April

Cousin Joe has left now, Ballina drenched in Irish-American lurve. He certainly brought the cartoons out, often built round a well-worn cliché, sometimes a trademark gaffe. It's not difficult to spot Biden's allegiances and the satirists didn't miss. Not even $6 billion can convince the DUP. Obama - guilty of the geographical blunder at COP26 in Glasgow: "since we're in the Emerald Isles here" - warned the UK against Brexit. His vice-president has even more cause to distrust a post-referendum UK; Biden's beloved Republic is a valued member of the EU. Sunak and his europhobic mob don't fit the bill.

Saturday 15^th April

Sardegna-envy off the scale with the latest photos (click to enlarge any) from Ben and Soph: visit to Canyon Gorropu, festival in Aggius, Bitti and its wall paintings, the coast at La Caldetta.

Friday 14^th April

Joe Biden fever will reach its peak this evening in Ballina, Co. Mayo, as he addresses the faithful at St. Muredach's Cathedral:

Thursday 13^th April

Notable absentees from the Easter clan gathering in Stroud - Nikko and daughter Ellie return to Vienna today - have been son Ben and partner Soph. Suffering in Sardegna. They took the Grimaldi Lines ferry from Barcelona to Porto Torres on Good Friday and are now touring the island in their van. Our family WhatsApp group is notified regularly with progress. Click any image to enlarge.

Off the boat and due south for a mooch round the west coast city of Alghero, where a variant of Catalan - Algherese - is spoken; see the bit on dialects at the bottom of today's post. The city has been ruled by many: Phoenicians, Genoese, the Crown of Aragon (the period when many Catalan families arrived and settled), Spanish Habsburgs, the House of Savoy.

Back north for an unusual stay in the abandoned mining town of Argentiera. The mines, noted predominantly for silver (hence the name, doh!) and zinc, were exploited as far back as Roman times, passed into Belgian hands in the 1870s, mini-boomed in the 1940s and closed in 1963.

Then quite a hike east to the inland hilltop comune of Aggius - only little, a population of just over 1,500 at the September 2014 census:

Following in family tradition, Ben has an interest in European languages. He has sent this fragment of a dizionario comparativo della lingua di Sardegna. Seven dialect equivalents of Italian. Of course, the Sardi say they're all distinct languages. In their defence, some of the variant words in the two-page spread below are strikingly different. But not many.

Jealous, moi? Well, living vicariously anyway 😉

Wednesday 12^th April

Grandson Marlie has weathered the rain in the last two days here in Stroud by putting felt tip to paper. Definitely of their time. Check out the apps and their icons. A range of emoji emotions.

Monday:

Tuesday:

Tuesday 11^th April

Today's video is a hangover from last week, sent to me by my friend Ian at the peak of the Trump indictment coverage. It's by American comedian Randy Rainbow, titled "The Grumpy Trumpy Felon from Jamaica in Queens". I held back from posting in deference to the Easter festival - too unsavoury a parallel to "risen from the dead". Now the holidays are over and I'm free to do so. It's too clever, witty and rude to waste. Enjoy.

Monday 10^th April

How did you get on with the quiz? Here are family and friends results, in no particular order:

Eagles	Smashing Pumpkins	Police
Pet Shop Boys	Oasis	Arctic Monkeys
T. Rex	Radiohead	Alice in Chains
Guns 'N Roses	Thompson Twins	Cranberries
Salt-N-Pepa	Pearl Jam	Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cream	White Stripes	Four Tops
One Direction	Atomic Kitten	Texas
Garbage	Rolling Stones	Zombies
Beatles	Vines	Harmony Grass
Shed Seven	Pink Martini	Bewitched

Not sure about the last two. Indeed, the top right of the picture is problematic:

Answers/disputes on a postcard, please.

Sunday 9^th April

Happy Easter!

Here's a little quiz to try with family or friends to celebrate the occasion. My friend Doctor Ron sent this out to our old mates WhatsApp group yesterday morning and it kept us busy most of the day. The picture below contains 30 references to pop or rock bands. Can you name them?

Saturday 8^th April

Putting the blog second is going quite well. Yesterday was a truly lovely spring day, the sun actually warm on your back. I managed to do some of those pre-Easter jobs in preparation for the family visit: shopping for festive recipes to feed nine today, clearing the shed, hanging out washed bathroom rugs in the sunshine.

The true indicator of re-prioritisation was ... a trip to the estimable Pyke Quarry tip beyond Horsley. That special purgative satisfaction from getting rid of stuff that's been hanging around for ages. Not a huge load - a bag of garden waste, end-of-life toaster, the rancid doormat chosen by the cats as an indoor toilet, that kind of thing - but enough for a mild sense of achievement. With a round trip through the hills against a backdrop of the first flush of green on the trees.

You still have to book a slot according to the Covid rules, but it'll only be a few hours ahead. The website suggests that you familiarise yourself prior to arrival with the published site plan. You may know from these pages that I like a map, or chart, or diagram ...

I feel confident that few other blogs today will showcase a rubbish dump.

Friday 7^th April

My Irish correspondent has alerted me to the news that Joe Biden is taking a break from Trump madness to be celebrated by people who love him, at a healthy distance from the Orange Mussolini. He'll make a public address in front of St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina, Co Mayo (my correspondent's ancestral home, shared with cousin Joe), at 6pm next Friday 14 April as part of his visit to Ireland. Biden's great-great-grandfather, Edward Blewitt, emigrated from the town to the USA over 160 years ago. The Blewitts are still very much part of the Ballina fabric. This year is the 300th anniversary of its foundation as a garrison town in 1723.

Michael Carr has a bar on Garden Street: "We're delighted Joe is coming and we've built this podium for him to make a speech. This is his native street where his family was born."

The Ballina Costume Company is working flat out with scissor, needle and thread in production of American flags to meet the demand from businesses, says Jane Crean: "We've had huge interest during previous visits by Joe Biden but now that he's President of the United States the buzz is off the charts."

Better than this MAGA April Fool's slur:

Thursday 6^th April

Trump has brought the cartoonists out in numbers, several of whose work I've not seen before. It surely tells us that the USA is screwed. Not just the UK.

Tuesday 4^th April

Sunday 2^nd April

April, May, June - my favourite months of the year. I need to take advantage, so I think I'm going to throttle back on this blog. I've said it before, but this time I really do need to be doing other things. Less time at the keyboard, less time scrutinising the dismal antics of the Tory government. I started because of Covid, when we all headed indoors. Now I'd like to be outside more, both physically and spiritually. At the very least, blog after I've done everything else. A faint hope? I'll have to see.

I don't want to be an April Fool. Talking of which, here's my favourite cartoon from yesterday ...

... and a letter from the PM to Just Stop Oil (click to enlarge):

Saturday 1^st April

Friday 31^st March

Thursday 30^th March

Not much to report today except the start of consultation on the local Gloucestershire County Council parking review.

Our street WhatsApp group has livened up. Good news or bad? Fees to be introduced: 1st permit £61.80 per year, 2nd permit £123.60, two permits per household (£30 and £60 for "eco" cars). Nelson Street below us to be one way downhill, not so good for cyclists coming from town. I will watch the debate with interest.

Wednesday 29^th March

Dave Brown acknowledges his debt again: "After Goya". Namely to Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes and his painting "Saturno devorando a su hijo", (1819-1823). From the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (known as Saturn in Roman mythology) eating one of his offspring. Fearing a prophecy from Gaia that predicted he would be overthrown by one of his children, Saturn ate each one at birth.

But with the roles reversed, right?

In 2015 Corbyn appointed Starmer as Shadow Minister for Immigration, a role from which he resigned as part of the wide June 2016 British shadow cabinet protests at Corbyn's leadership. Following Corbyn's win in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election, Starmer accepted the appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. They did a great job with Brexit, didn't they? What is it about Labour and open goals? Rather than pepper the Tory target staring them in the face, they'd rather have an internal ding-dong.

Tuesday 28^th March

Pigs at the trough.

They were elected to govern in our interests. Then abused that privilege - within the "rules", good grief, they need to change - intent on a £10,000-per-day killing to go with the other fruity second/third/fourth job sinecures. Stupid too - that's what greed can do - as they were suckered by Led by Donkeys. The campaigners have made multiple variations of their porky South Korean exposé. I'm going to post just one here of Kwarteng at his interview with Hanseong Consulting, a "boutique advisory firm providing tailored and holistic consultancy services", the smug Chancellor who introduced with despatch-box triumphalism the brilliant mini-budget that tanked the economy for the rest of us. I could have chosen Hancock - too easy - or Sir Graham Brady - custodian of the Conservative Party's soul and integrity? - but Kwasi's unctuous self-promotion is simply too gobsmacking to ignore. The clip is just under ten minutes long but I can guarantee you'll have thrown up within three. Led by Donkeys set the scene first.

Hook, line and sinker. He's actually trying hard to get the job. Salivating at the cash, flattered to be approached? What he doesn't realise is that Sooyeon Lee, Vice President of External Affairs at Hanseong Consulting, is an order of magnitude smarter than him. A stellar performance, canny choice of language and terminology, so much so that Kwarteng pays compliment to her professionalism and manner.

The worry is that we may not see the back of these sleazeballs (I mean the Tories en masse, as neither Hancock nor Brady is seeking re-election). They should be a push-over, revealed in technicolour as corrupt, nest-feathering gold-diggers. Everybody must already have seen too much. But Starmer drops every catch as he tries to "Blair 2.0" sanitise the Labour Party, while Sunak - I always feared that he might have time to turn things around before the next general election - chalks up some wins.

Monday 27^th March

Just over ten days ago I wrote about the debt that modern cartoonists owe to artists, illustrators and caricaturists of the past. The example I gave was how Dave Brown had mimicked a famous political cartoon by James Gillray (see here: 👉).

This practice of acknowledging predecessors has turned up a lot this last week, so I'm going to post pairs of artwork, celebrating the link between contemporary satire and its historical inspiration. Click/tap on any to enlarge.

As you might expect, Boris Johnson is the most popular subject. A gift from the cartoon gods. We start at the House of Commons Committee of Privileges, with Peter Brookes:

Got it? Of course you have. "After Yeames" ... the 1878 "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" by William Frederick Yeames, which depicts the son of a Royalist being questioned by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War.

What next for Boris? The evidence is that his followers are slipping away. The Windsor Framework rebellion involved just 22 Tories, including the notable has-beens. He'll be looking for the next gig. Dave Brown has suggestions:

That's right, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Guessing the source for this is more difficult. It's "The Passing of Arthur" by Hawes Craven, an English theatre scene-painter, dated 1895. The picture title is shared with a piece by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the narrative poem "Idylls of the King", first published in 1859.

Is Boris facing exile? Andy Davey thinks so:

The acknowledgement is clear at the bottom, Hippolyte(-Paul) Delaroche. The painting is called "Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène", site of his exile from 1815 to 1821.

Then we have Martin Rowson's take on tax, interest rates and the Tories:

Rowson salutes Jimmy Sime, whose photograph "Toffs and Toughs" was taken in 1937 outside the Grace Gates at Lord's Cricket Ground after the Eton vs Harrow cricket match. Very Boris, very Bullingdon.

Finally, we cross the Channel with Andy Davey to the scenes of Macron's pension strife:

"After Delacroix", he says. "La Liberté guidant le peuple" by Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix in 1830:

Karl Marx wrote in 1852: "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." As we've finished here with a French event, there's also Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr's oft-quoted epithet from 1849: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."

Sunday 26^th March

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be writing about a shop - and on the Sabbath. Retail therapy is my least likely choice of go-to activity for improving the quality of life. I hardly buy anything except what's needed for everyday requirements.

Yet here I am ready to devote today's blog to Waitrose. 40 years ago a woman came to dinner who dominated the conversation with supermarket comparisons. I archly nicknamed her "Tesco Mary". Chickens home to roost.

In my defence, Waitrose plays a significant part in daily life. It's our local grocery store (excluding the corner shop), under five minutes away on foot or by bike. I use nearby Stancombe Beech Farm for the mainly veg part of our diet, Sunshine bakery for bread, the estimable Loose in the High Street for dry goods, Broomhalls butcher in Stonehouse for bacon - but Waitrose for everything else. We get free copies of The Guardian and The Observer, which renders a saving of just over £1,000 a year, as we very rarely miss.

What's the story?

"Partner and Chairman" Sharon White - I'm a fan of the Leyton-girl-made-good - is under pressure.

The annual financial results just published for the John Lewis Partnership on 16th March are poor. It made a loss of £79m, against a profit of £181m last year. Waitrose sales were down 3%. It gets worse when you add in exceptional items due largely to property write downs; overall loss before tax was £234m. No bonus for partners.

Sharon White ascribes most of the hit to inflation, which added £179m to costs. The cost-of-living crisis was noted in these results: "As inflationary pressures grew, customers shopped carefully on a budget so basket size declined by 15% in branch against last year." Even the better-off, eh?

It's a jolt, more so when you consider that the business expanded rapidly between 2000 and 2015, going from 151 to 379 stores.

However, this is not the point that has grabbed the headlines and indeed captured my interest. It's the revelation that there are "early stage" discussions about diluting the partnership model though the sale of a minority stake to raise £1-2 billion of new investment.

It's the partner thing that most attracts me to Waitrose. I swear you can touch the vibe that the staff feel they belong, or indeed the other way round, that the shop belongs to them. In a distorted world of bloated capitalism where energy giants make windfall profits in billions while others are having to strike to keep their earnings in pace with inflation, the idea of a member of staff having a stake in the success of the business is heartwarming. The London Road Stroud branch has been my store for 14 years. I greet and maybe have a chat with partners who have been there since I first went. That retention tells a story. Which is why the potential changes hit hard.

Retail consultant Mary Portas wrote an open letter on Thursday to Sharon White and - first ever - CEO Nish Kankiwala:

"I'm writing to you on behalf of the British nation. Does that sound overwrought? Maybe. But I feel the need to speak for your customers up and down the land because we all know the problems facing John Lewis and Waitrose are huge. You see, you are not simply chair and chief exec. You are custodians of one of the most valued, loved, and trusted retail brands this country has. John Lewis and Waitrose are part of the fabric of everyday British life ... built on shared employee ownership and shared accountability."

Does she really mean "overwrought"? Or over-the-top? And she's speaking for a particular kind of customer. The current uncertainty surrounding the partnership is definitely a first-world issue, and more specifically a middle-class subset.

Portas continues:

"Somehow, in recent years, you've let go of the soul. We've all felt the subtle, but powerful, erasure of what John Lewis is, a severing of what's always set your business apart.

"Right now though, all that is being slowly chipped away. From loud headlines to daily whispers.

"Every time I pop in, it's another little miss. The newspaper? Gone. The coffee? Gone. Now returned. (No doubt because of the uproar)."

She's wrong about the newspaper (it reads above like only the coffee has returned). You used to have to spend £10 (inclusive of the paper) to get one free. Now, with a Waitrose card, you don't have to buy anything else at all. I regularly do so and keep my receipt for £0.00. The self-service checkout is even bright enough not to ask you for your debit card.

I miss the point. She's really talking about the loss of the true partnership model, the ethos that underpins the daily operation of the store:

"This is about recommitting to the principles John Lewis was founded on: common ownership; the improvement of partners' lives; collective responsibility; and true enduring value. All this is what we used to feel pulsing through your brand every time we stepped onto your shop floor.

"So while you fight for the financial brain of your brand, never forget there's a battle for its heart and soul too."

A dramatic take from the "Queen of Shops", eh?

One small detail in contrast. Sharon White is showing no sign of abandoning the partners entirely. In her letter accompanying the financial results, she said:

"I know you're feeling the impact of higher inflation, and I hope the £500 (pro rata) cost of living payment and free food over the winter helped. We'll continue to help with the cost of living in other ways - the financial assistance fund will stay at £800,000 (a doubling) and there is support for travel, childcare and living costs."

Phew. Enough about shops. Particularly as the mooted change to the partner model hasn't happened yet. A rewrite of the John Lewis constitution would be required, to be ratified by the partnership council made up of around 60 staff.

Just the reference documents now. You know from these pages how I like source material:

John Lewis Partnership unaudited results for the year ended 28 January 2023 (20 pages):
John Lewis Partnership full year results 2022-23 presentation slides (14 pages):
Open letter to John Lewis Partnership from Mary Portas 23rd March (2 pages):

Saturday 25^th March

Friday lunch at the Trinity Rooms in Field Road around the corner from Middle Street is now the still point in a turning week. Local events have long been held there, in a building - when I last heard - owned by the church. Now it has gained greater prominence as the Trinity Rooms Community Hub. The Friday event - surplus food deliciously cooked by volunteers, all ages welcome, pay-as-you-can - has become very popular with residents and visitors.

Yesterday I was told by one of our number, Neil, that the Rooms served as a hospital in the First World War. I was obliged to go digging.

The "V.A." in the photo titles above stands for Voluntary Aid. Cheltenham-based local historian Rebsie Fairholm explains:

"During the First World War there was an urgent need for more hospitals to care for injured soldiers, and the existing infrastructure of military and civilian hospitals was not able to cope. The Red Cross set up a large number of Voluntary Aid (V.A.) hospitals across the UK, of which there were about 30 in Gloucestershire. Many of these were based in large residential houses loaned to the Red Cross by their owners. Others were set up in public buildings including church halls, community centres, schools, and even the grandstand at Cheltenham racecourse. Cash and trained medical staff were in short supply so the hospitals were run by Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs), mostly unpaid local women.

"The first Red Cross hospitals in 1914 were set up to care for wounded Belgian soldiers who were then being sent for treatment in the UK. However they soon became flooded with British casualties, and in many cases had to take soldiers who had come straight from the front line, often in a terrible state having received no treatment other than a simple field dressing on the battlefield.

"The Stroud Red Cross Hospital at its commencement had provision for 30 beds, 20 in Trinity Parish Rooms, lent by the Vicar of the parish, and 10 in the General Hospital a few yards away. In 1916 60 further beds were provided, partly in Roxburgh House, kindly lent by the Stroud Board of Guardians, partly by giving up the room hitherto used as an office, and also by the setting aside of five further beds at the General Hospital, making a total accommodation of 90 beds."

In 1919 the Red Cross reported that for the period of the war there had been 1,015 admissions - and only 6 deaths.

Back to the present. Today all this is going on:

Friday 24^th March

As we endured - I've heard from many that they couldn't muster the strength - Johnson's twists and turns, or were still in shock from Baroness Casey's report, the vote took place:

One of the qualifications for voting against the deal was being ex-something. Two ex-PMs, ex-leader of the Conservative Party, ex-Home Secretary, ex-Business and Brexit Opportunities Minister. Why won't they go away? Haven't they got the message? These discredited oafs hang like a malevolent cloud over the nation's public life.

Six DUP MPs voted against. The Guardian chart above shows eight, but two were tellers for the division and therefore not counted in the totals. The seven Sinn Féin MPs did not vote. One SDLP member voted for, one didn't vote. The Alliance Party member supported the motion.

The official parliamentary "Division List" varies slightly from the headline numbers. According to the parliament website, this discrepancy happens quite frequently for reasons that are not entirely clear. The list for this vote, the "Draft Windsor Framework (Democratic Scrutiny) Regulations 2023 Division 197", has a top-level result that matches the Guardian graphic, namely the "Ayes" at 515, the "Noes" at 29. However, the detail at the bottom of "members recorded" shows 512 for the motion, 3 less than the published outcome. Oh well. The total still adds up to 650. We aren't going to worry too much, are we? Here's the list for your perusal, how everybody voted or didn't vote, in alphabetical order by surname:

Thursday 23^rd March

A bad few days for probity in public service. If there are key aspects of our society that you'd want to be squeaky-clean and fully functional, two at or near the top of the list would surely be the integrity of our elected representatives and the even-handed maintenance of law and order. The people entrusted with the government of the country and those employed to protect us.

I grew up with this image of the police:

At your service, that's what the salute says, doesn't it? The face is approachable, kind, trustworthy. The uniform and helmet - complete with the badge and crown of the monarch - imply structure and stability.

The Met has fallen a very, very long way.

OK, Dixon is seen through a rose-tinted rear-view mirror - no bad apples, no Masonic handshakes, no prejudice in the good ol' days, right? - but Baroness Casey's report is as damning as any review I've ever seen. If you can face 363 pages, here is the official version:

Fortunately, most of the 10 "Chapters" of the document have a synopsis. Up front, on pages 9-18, there are the overall "Summary and Conclusions". The eight headings give a flavour:

There are systemic and fundamental problems in how the Met is run.
The Met has not managed the integrity of its own police service.
The Met's new leadership represent a welcome change of tone and approach. However, deep seated cultures need to be tackled in order for change to be sustained.
Londoners have been put last.
London's women and children have been left even further behind.
The Met lacks accountability and transparency.
Discrimination is tolerated, not dealt with and has become baked into the system.
The Met is in danger of losing its way - consent is broken.

Not an end-of-term report you'd want to take home to your parents.

And back to that elected representative:

Will he really?

Wednesday 22^nd March

A rather inward-looking day, but I'd like to celebrate it. The third anniversary of this blog, started on 22nd March 2020.

Some stats:

312,000 words (not all my own as I quote widely)
3,795 file items, including: PDFs of original documents, headline and Twitter screenshots, photos, cartoons, videos, audio files
750 distinct visitors (not huge, but enough to keep me on my toes)
Top 25 countries by number of visits in descending order: United Kingdom (85.21%), United States (7.95%), Luxembourg, China, Germany, Australia, Spain, Ireland, Guernsey, France, Netherlands, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Poland, Turkey, Egypt, Switzerland, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Czech Republic, South Africa, Belgium, Togo
3 Prime Ministers, 4 Chancellors, 3 Foreign Secretaries, 3 Home Secretaries (Braverman twice)

I'll pick some moments to commemorate the three years. Difficult when there have been so many. I'll go for people or events that have loomed large.

Five videos (out of 269 I've posted). There's quite a lot to watch. Pick and choose. Dip in, come back later.

Johnson interviewed by AC-12

Comedian Sarah Cooper tackles Trump and disinfectant

Honest Government advert explains net zero by 2050 (comes with bad language warning)

Sorrowful Moscow 'Queen of the Kiosk' Valentina

Patrick Stewart finds out about the ECHR

Ten cartoons (out of 363 - cripes!).

One song.

When it's not always raining, there'll be days like this
When there's no one complaining, there'll be days like this
When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch
Well my mama told me there'll be days like this

When you don't need to worry, there'll be days like this
When no one's in a hurry, there'll be days like this
When all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit
Then I must remember there'll be days like this

Thanks to all those who have contributed and commented. You know who you are.

Tuesday 21^st March

The IPCC yesterday announced the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report, the "Synthesis Report", at the conclusion of the Panel's 58th Session held in Interlaken, Switzerland. Possibly the last such document before it's all too late, as there won't be another until 2030. The IPCC website says the full version is still unavailable, "coming soon", but I was able to download the press release (4 pages: ) and the "Summary for Policymakers" (36 pages: ).

At 36 pages of dense technical detail the Summary itself is a challenging read, so I've extracted a selection of diagrams to provide an overview. Even they require an effort of close scrutiny. You'll have to click/tap/zoom/rotate to inspect each chart, as the detail is difficult to see at the top-level display resolution I've had to use below. Sometimes the shape of the graph shading helps, and there's a useful rule-of-thumb colour gradation: blue is good, red is bad.

In struggling to digest (I tremble at the thought of the full report), I've realised that it all boils down to three points: 1) the situation has got pretty bad; 2) what we have to do to fix it; and 3) we'd better be quick. Please feel free to skip the rest of today's blog.

Let's start with where-are-we-now and where-are-we-heading:

This is the one that really gets to me. My 70-year-old lifetime - and with it the blame for where we are - is shown in the group of people at the bottom. My children broadly fit into the next line up. And my grandchildren into the third.

That's the doom-and-gloom. Then mercifully there's the what-we-can-do.

These legends apply to all the subsequent charts:

Energy supply:

Land, water and food:

Settlements, infrastructure and health:

Society, livelihood and economy:

After I'd done this exercise, I asked myself: "What have I learnt?" My first response was "not much". Useful to be dealt a sharp smack of a reminder, but after that? We know all this stuff, have done for years. Then I looked at the charts again, particularly the last four, and was struck by the significance of the bars on the right. They remind us emphatically where to direct the bulk of our energy. Yes, the first priority is ... energy and its associated emissions. Hence the longest bars are next to solar and wind. They have a high proportion of blue, which means they are cheaper to implement, echoing Dale Vince's oft-repeated mantra that renewables are the way out of the financial madness of the gas markets and cost a fraction of nuclear, irrespective of their environmental benefit. So, not George Monbiot's "microconsumerist bollocks", organic drinking straws and their ilk, although we may as well adopt those while we're getting on with the important stuff. I have sympathy with the change-100-things-by-one-percent approach, but there are bigger levers to pull which demand the focus of our attention.

The growth of world population over my lifetime (trebled, 2.6bn to 8bn) and our acquisitive consumer lifestyles, ever greedier, have caused the mess. We have an individual duty to change. But it's government - so woefully feeble at COP27 - that has the critical role: to direct, enable and support a shift in action and attitude, above all to control powerful vested interests. That's why the UK leadership is so short-sighted and negligent in its continued investment in fossil fuels. It's a monetary sticking-plaster knee-jerk to Putin and energy insecurity rather than a sustainable long-term plan for humanity. And I won't even start on the Tories' refusal to address the energy company profits with windfall taxes. Rubbing each others' backs, noses in the trough.

UN secretary general António Guterres:

"This report is a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once."

Extinction Rebellion Global on Mastodon:

"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report insists there are multiple, feasible, and effective options currently available to slow the pace of climate change. Focusing on climate resilient development, with an emphasis on renewable energy and low-carbon electrification. But we need to do that NOW."

Kaisa Kosonen, Greenpeace International:

"This report is definitely a final warning on 1.5C. If governments just stay on their current policies, the remaining carbon budget will be used up before the next IPCC report [due in 2030]."

Monday 20^th March

You're accused of war crimes against children on Friday.

On Saturday night you visit a regenerated kids playground in the city you destroyed. Gleaming new apartments, a shiny SUV, pristine climbing frames.

This is proper Orwellian dystopia. A message to your own people that the "special military operation" has triumphed, an act of salvation, of renewal. In the land of Doublethink and Newspeak.

Sunday 19^th March

Saturday 18^th March

Stroudies, please join us this morning!

All you people in London, Glasgow and Cardiff ...

It's no wonder we all want to move to Ireland. Listen to president Michael D. Higgins talking on St. Patrick's Day about the link between the patron saint and migration (courtesy of national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann):

A compassionate statement from the head of state in support of migrants, delivered in the gentle language of empathy.

Ireland teaches us how to take a different direction to the approach of the Illegal Migration Bill. Going back as far as the ancient Brehon Laws, there is a spirit of kindness built into the culture. Having suffered oppression, displacement and discrimination themselves - "No Irish, no blacks" - the Irish can readily extend welcome to the stranger, the desperate and dispossessed. In practical terms, witness the country's rapid - in contrast to Westminster's laboured, delayed efforts - response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, enabled by its much-valued membership of the EU and the built-in provision of the 2001 Temporary Protection Directive (see my 2022 report here: 👉). The Irish diaspora was subjected to abuse and denigration in its adopted homelands. Now the country sets an example in human rights. And its rugby team, number 1 in the world, is poised to win the 6 Nations Grand Slam - as it beats England in Dublin this afternoon.

Friday 17^th March

An epilogue? Gary Lineker has changed his Twitter profile photo to one of him standing by the George Orwell statue and quotation at BBC Broadcasting House:

Orwell's words come from the proposed but never used preface to Animal Farm. British librarian and Orwellian scholar Ian Angus - he helped set up the Orwell Archive at UCL - found the original manuscript in 1972; it was eventually published in the Times Literary Supplement on 15 September that year with an introduction by political theorist and democratic socialist Sir Bernard Crick, with a title of "The Freedom of the Press".

The abandonment of the preface was all part of the struggle to get Animal Farm published. Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944. The manuscript was initially rejected by several British and American publishers, including one of Orwell's own, Victor Gollancz, which delayed its publication until August 1945. Too hot to handle. Orwell, a democratic socialist himself, was a critic of Joseph Stalin - parodied in Napoleon the pig - and Stalinism, which he saw as a corruption of the original socialist ideals. Curiously, given the current conflict, in the preface of a 1947 Ukrainian edition he explained how escaping the communist purges in Spain taught him "how easily totalitarian propaganda can control the opinion of enlightened people in democratic countries". The novella was politically uncomfortable for the powers-that-be at a time when WWII Britain and USA were allied to the Soviet Union.

Now, we don't want to get into trouble by replicating Lineker's 1930s Germany theme with comments on Stalin's atrocities, do we? Nor risk an "unpatriotic" reproof should we suggest that the Illegal Migration Bill smacks of totalitarianism. But, as Alastair Campbell said amidst the throes of #Garygate, there's more than a whiff of "creeping authoritarianism" in the air.

A cheeky snipe, Gary. I like it.

Meanwhile, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Joe Biden, of Mayo roots, gets this crystal bowl - made by master craftsman Seán Daly of Dingle Crystal - from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

All eyes on the 15:30 at Cheltenham 🏇🏇🏇

Thursday 16^th March

"Schrödinger's Rabbit" is a bit of a challenge, isn't it?

I didn't watch the televised budget proceedings, but caught up with the Hansard transcripts. The Chancellor delivered the bulk of his address without interruption except for two brief jabs from Labour.

On the importance of getting over-50s back to work:

Jeremy Hunt:
For too many, turning 50 is a moment of anxiety about the cliff edge of retirement rather than a moment of anticipation about another two decades of fulfilment. I know this myself. After I turned 50, I was relegated to the Back Benches and planned for a quiet life, but instead I decided to set an example by embarking on a new career in finance.

Sir Chris Bryant (Rhondda)(Lab):
How's it going?

Jeremy Hunt:
It's going well, thank you.

On the extension of childcare provision:

Jeremy Hunt:
From September 2025, every single working parent of under-fives will have access to 30 hours of free childcare per week.

Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield)(Lab):
You'll be gone by then.

Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing):
Order. Mr Perkins, stop it.

Here's the Hansard transcript of the Chancellor's "Financial Statement and Budget Report" (20 pages):

Wednesday 15^th March

At last some respite from #Garygate. Just before the story broke I was about to elaborate on my love of cartoons, their place and importance in British satirical history, when a complete coincidence materialised in my Mastodon account. I'll explain.

While ruminating on the topic pre-#Garygate, I was of course led back to James Gillray. A caricaturist and printmaker born in Chelsea in 1756, he was a pioneer. Often called the "father of the political cartoon", he was noted for works satirising George III, Napoleon, prime ministers and generals.

Here, in what Martin Rowson - whose 'toons I have posted frequently here - speaking in the 2005 TV series "The Secret of Drawing" called "probably the most famous political cartoon of all time", is Gillray's 1805 "The Plumb-pudding in danger; or State Epicures taking un Petit Souper", subtitled "'the Great globe itself and all which it inherit' is too small to satisfy such insatiable appetites".

The compelling quality of cartoons for me is how they capture the essence of a situation, political or social, in visual form. OK, yes, they would, wouldn't they? They're pictures. Doh! Seriously 'though, when you're struggling for words to make sense of world events, cartoons can cut straight through the fog. "Aha, that's spot on!" At the same time, a grim or angering piece of news is alleviated by humour. Gallows perhaps, but it helps navigate the day.

Gillray's print is a satire on the overtures made by Napoleon in January 1805 for a reconciliation with Britain, which came to nothing; indeed, the Battle of Trafalgar took place later that year in October. Much of the fun is in the detail. British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, wielding a three-pronged-trident-like fork to symbolise maritime superiority, is carving a chunk of sea to the west of the British Isles marked "Ocean". Napoleon, the "little corporal", is slicing off the land mass of Europe with his military sword.

Martin Rowson went on to say that the piece "has been stolen over and over again by cartoonists ever since." Which is where we come to the theft that dropped in my inbox.

As #Garygate took hold, Sunak was cosying up to Macron in a "moment of reunion". Sculptor, political cartoonist and drummer Dave Brown produced this, "Le Danger des Petits Bateaux or Where's the Beef?":

The debt is acknowledged at the top left beneath Dave Brown's signature: "after Gillray".

I don't need to go on, do I? Petits bateaux and all that.

Tuesday 14^th March

"Oh no, not another day of #Garygate?", I hear you say. You'd be right. But I'm bound to close it off with one more piece now that a deal, however interim, has been struck. I will, natch, illustrate with cartoons, of which there has been a huge number. To think that I ever said I'd give them up.

Yes, different perspectives.

It started here, although the card should be yellow:

I've posted material from the furore in the last three days. First thing yesterday morning Lineker published this quartet of tweets:

I'm disappointed. "Fight the good fight, together". Really? Thanks to Tim Davie? OK, Gary doesn't apologise, recognises the solidarity of his colleagues, repeats his concern for refugees. However, I'll admit to the hope that the BBC hierarchy and Tory influencers would get a right drubbing. Is there a chance that will come? I'm dubious. In the interview I posted yesterday, Lineker's mate John Barnes said:

"Well, of course a compromise will be had. They'll come back together. The profile of lots of people will be raised, the profile of the BBC will be raised, they'll do the right thing and the status quo will be resumed very shortly with everybody happy."

It's true that the BBC has had a shock. No broadcaster likes to see holes in the schedule:

Plenty of commentators have declared Lineker vindicated, to Gary the spoils. I suspect he's embarrassed by the episode; never intended to attract all this attention with his original offending - to the BBC - comment. And also broke one of his own three rules on tweeting, as he revealed in the 2021 interview I posted on Saturday 👉: "I don't tweet when I'm angry". There was at least serious emotion behind "immeasurably cruel policy". His 8.8 million followers, including the on-high-alert BBC thought police, will be watching closely to see how he abides by the guideline agreements, the degree to which he is muzzled.

On balance you'd probably say the BBC has come off worse. More criticised by the left, under greater threat from the right. Systemic and philosophical issues to resolve. Maybe an existential battle on its hands. If you suspend a favourite son for expressing his private opinions on a platform that has nothing to do with your organisation - he never implicated Auntie - you're gonna run into trouble. Dumb move. The BBC could have done without the last four days.

Storm in a teacup? Sound and fury about the utterances of an ex-footballer? The issues behind it all are much bigger that that and they may have come into sharper focus for many people through this face-off, although sadly not all. Refugees are dealing with lives that have been torn asunder and deserve the most humane consideration. They are demonised, and that is encouraged - even initiated - by inappropriate language. A point expressed by John Barnes in yesterday's interview, and what Lineker was actually saying in his reference to 1930s Germany.

Divided opinion:

Monday 13^th March

After two full days of blogging #GaryGate it's probably time to move on. Looks like it'll all be over soon, according to the Mirror and other organs this morning:

I do hope he doesn't climb down too far. Yesterday's Observer headline held such promise:

Still, quite an impact for a lad who helped run his dad Barry's fruit and veg stall in Leicester Market and was told by a teacher that he would never make a living at football. I can think of few, if any, other people who have given such prominence to the refugee question in 47 words.

As my last lengthy related item, if you've got the time (5 minutes) and haven't already tired of the matter, listen to the astute observations by another ex-footballer, the wonderful John Barnes. Remember his heady days at Liverpool, the 1984 Maracana goal, the Anfield Rap? Hmmm ... probably not.

As Barnes says, "This should not be about Gary Lineker and the BBC pundits supporting him, this should be about the refugees."

Sunday 12^th March

Gary Lineker in selfie with fan while watching his beloved Leicester City

Fan raises placard of support at Leicester City

Go to 38Degrees to sign the Mirror petition supporting Gary Lineker

Saturday 11^th March

Friday 10^th March

Just a bit more on this.

Look at the first page of the Illegal Migration Bill 262 2022-23, "[AS INTRODUCED]" ... on Tuesday last. (If you can't see the detail at normal resolution, click/swipe/zoom/whatever to do so.) Here's the full text of the Bill (66 pages):

She knew she was on dodgy ground, didn't she?

The Bill's preamble starts:

Here's a flavour of the section headings:

Duty to make arrangements for removal
Disregard of certain claims, applications
Powers of detention
Disapplication of modern slavery provisions: persons liable to deportation
Inadmissibility of certain asylum and human rights claims
Cap on number of entrants using safe and legal routes

OK, this is legislation targetting illegality, but still I'm struck by the tone and intent. It's all about capture, control, limit and expulsion.

In contrast (I posted the relevant documents yesterday) ...

Article 14.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Article 32.1 of the UNHCR Convention says:

Contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order.

These are about rights, protection and welcome.

There is no substantive emphasis in the Bill - it's no surprise, I know, arguably not even the right place for it - on the urgent support required by desperate people in small boats. It's mostly about the perceived threat they pose.

The government strategy is based on eliminating the people smugglers by dissuading their customers from the purchase of the cross-Channel service, because the help sought will not be available on arrival. But who suffers?

It's so back-to-front, inside-out, missing the point. I've been wrestling with a suitable analogy. My best stab is a trifle sinuous, but I'll give it a go.

Imagine a good old-fashioned milk round on a residential town street. A milk-snatcher has been at large, stealing bottles from the doorsteps. To combat the thief, the local bobby recommends that the dairy suspend delivery - there'll be nothing to take, no point in the snatcher trying any more. Who is worst affected by this action? Mostly the local townspeople; they now don't have any milk. Will the suspension inconvenience the baddie? Unlikely. He'll find something else to do, somewhere else to go, change his target to bread or children's sweets; the wrong 'uns will always find a way. What's needed is concerted focus on this offender, root him out and bring him to justice without further troubling the innocent. Meanwhile help the residents with their milk shortage.

I can't let this next pass without a mention. What have we come to when it takes an ex-England-footballer to make the front pages with his disapproval of government policy? Material courtesy of Lineker himself, cartoonist Peter Brookes and artist Cold War Steve.

Thursday 9^th March

I'm not qualified to comment on the legality of the Migration Bill. Others are. Like Chris Daw, King's Counsel at Lincoln House Chambers. Listen to his take on Sky News yesterday (1 minute 37 seconds):

Everything he mentions came into being in the aftermath of WWII, at a time when nations were determined to provide for a safer and more just future. As I've frequently mentioned in these pages, Britain's Conservative war hero Winston Churchill was a leading participant in such initiatives, among them what later became the European Union.

I'm going to post some of the relevant documents. Not because you're going to read them all - although that would be a salutory experience - but because they exist. They emerged in black-and-white from that post-war era in which governments were driven to build a better world. Hard-won gains for humanity.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (plain text from UN.ORG, 8 pages):
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217A Paris 10 December 1948 (facsimile reproduction of the above, 9 pages):
UNHCR Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 (56 pages):
European Convention on Human Rights Rome 4.XI.1950 updated to August 2021 (34 pages):

Braverman would rip these up.

The UNHCR asked her to re-think immediately after Tuesday's parliamentary session: "We urge the Government, and all MPs and Peers, to reconsider the Bill and instead pursue more humane and practical policy solutions." See the full text of the UNHCR statement (2 pages):

Wednesday 8^th March

There's a lot to digest from Braverman's House of Commons presentation of the Illegal Migration Bill yesterday. I built a PDF transcript from the Hansard website last night. Here it is, 42 pages covering the one-hour-50-minutes session of statement and questions: . If you have time, it's worth a browse. Braverman's bit occupies the first 3 pages, Yvette Cooper's response the subsequent two.

There were some very interesting contributions. I'm tempted to quote them, but I wouldn't know where to stop; you'd be better off reading the transcript yourself. So, just a few impressions. It was a very polarised debate. I guess that's the nature of adversarial politics, but this had extra bite and acrimony. An issue that divides the House and the country, fuelled by both ideology and emotion. Braverman did not hold back from pouring acid scorn on opposition naysayers. It's clear that the Tories are determined to "Stop The Boats" (a three-word slogan again) by whatever means fair or foul. Yes, it's one of their top five priorities. Put crudely, it reflects the Brexit split between keeping the outsider at bay and embracing the wider world of humanity.

As ever, the cartoonists capture some of the flavour that I haven't time to explore here:

Tuesday 7^th March

Home Office statement on 31st January:

"The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

"Our priority is to stop this illegal trade, and our new Small Boats Operational Command - bolstered by hundreds of extra staff - is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

"The government is also going further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country."

From Care4Calais yesterday:

"Tomorrow [now today] the Government is expected to launch its most draconian anti-refugee legislation yet, as Rishi Sunak bids to make the UK off-limits to any refugees other than those his government hand-picks.

"It is anticipated that under the new laws, people arriving on small boats will:

Have their asylum claims made automatically 'inadmissible'
Be subject to mass detention
Be removed to a third country as soon as practicable
Be permanently banned from returning to the UK
Be unable to use family rights laws to stop deportation"

Statement from the Fire Brigades Union, endorsed by 14 others including GMB, UNISON, RMT, NUJ, ASLEF, Equity and the Musicians Union:

"In recent weeks, we have seen an alarming rise in violence and intimidation organised by the far right against refugees and refugee accommodation.

"The government is complicit in these attacks. The Rwanda policy does not make sense as a means of stopping small boat crossings - and it is failing on its own terms - but it fits with a long-running campaign of rhetoric and demonisation.

"The people to blame are politicians, billionaires and big corporations, not migrant workers or refugees forced to live in temporary accommodation. The anti-refugee campaign offers no solutions to the real problems faced by the deprived communities they are often targeting. The answer is solidarity, not scapegoating.

"As trade unionists, we know whose side we are on when we see far right mobs attacking refugees and politicians playing the mood music. We send our solidarity to Care4Calais and all groups fighting for refugee rights, and we support the call for safe and legal routes into the UK. We call on workers and trade union members to show their solidarity and to mobilise against the far right."

Monday 6^th March

I was pleased to see that I'm not alone in my dismay - and, I admit, amusement - at the deposed and disgraced refusing to go away.

I stumbled across some surprising back-story to Sue Gray. She's married to Northern Irish country-and-western singer Bill Conlon. In the 1980s they ran a pub called the Cove Bar outside Newry. There you are, a seamless link to the Windsor Framework. Here's a January 2022 piece written by David O'Dornan in the Belfast Telegraph:

"Friends of Ms Gray say she is unlikely to hold any fears about taking on the Prime Minister and other senior figures, given that she stood up to armed republican terrorists in the past.

"They revealed that when she was running a pub in Newry, Co Down during the Troubles in the 1980s, she was not frightened when confronted with what was a potentially life-threatening situation. They explained that she said that one night she had a very heavy cold and one of her staff wanted to get off early and she closed the bar down. She drove the person home - the person lived out in south Armagh - and she was coming back in the Camlough Road after having dropped her staff member off.

"She came across a light in the middle of the road and was ordered to stop. She thought initially it was the Army; she didn't realise the guy was a paramilitary.

"He said to her, 'We want the car, get out.' And she just bluntly refused and said, 'No.'

"Taken aback, he replied, 'What?' And then he turned round and said to her, 'Oh, you're f***ing English as well?'

"And just as the situation looked like it was set to escalate, a voice came out of the darkness and said, 'That's Sue Gray from The Cove, let her go on.'"

You're never going to watch it all but I have to post this anyway. Bill Conlon sings "Irish Rambling Man". He has a good voice.

Their son Liam is the current national chair of the Labour Party Irish Society. He is also an active member and vice chair of Lewisham West and Penge Labour Party. Aha, a link to Sue's new job if it runs in the family. A left-wing stitch-up indeed 😉

Sunday 5^th March

Serious and silly today.

First, some further thoughts on the Windsor Framework. I posed the question of benefits for the EU to my Irish correspondent, who kindly wrote:

"I have no real idea what the EU is expecting to gain from the Windsor Framework. Perhaps the steadying of the Good Friday Agreement? Particularly since all Western European countries and the US need to be as stable and united as possible vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine. Could Biden and the US government have given Ursula von der Leyen and her team a gentle nudge in this direction? And the EU will have wanted to give its full support to the Republic of Ireland, now a much-valued member of the bloc. Or maybe it could be a first step in coaxing the UK to return to the EU fold? Especially given the disastrous free fall that the country appears to be in, what with 3 prime ministers, 4 chancellors, endless cabinet changes and an economy going down the tubes as a result of Brexit. Maybe it is more desirable for the European bloc to have a stable neighbour across the Channel.

"I found the 'Brake' part of the deal interesting because the DUP can only have a say in applying it on any new EU trade laws if they are actively participating in the Stormont government. And then only if a substantial number of other Stormont MPs agree to a need for applying the brake. The ingenious bit is obliging the DUP to be actively in government before they can call for the brake. If they try to carry on refusing to participate in the Stormont power sharing, they will be left out in the cold.

"This DUP business is making the Sinn Fein party in NI look angelic at the moment. They must be polishing their halos as we speak."

And later ...

"It has just occurred to me too that given the strong historic links between Ireland and the US, especially with the current President having deep Irish roots, Ursula and the EU team may see Ireland as the ideal go-between EU country for bolstering the European bloc's relationship with the US. Defence commitments apart, the Brexit mess has left the UK an untrustworthy, burnt-out shell of what it once was on the world stage. Perhaps a new special relationship could be emerging: US - Ireland - EU. With Ireland as the transatlantic stepping stone."

Very interesting.

See my brief November 2020 coverage of Joe Biden's County Mayo connection here: 👉

Back to the trivia. Hancock keeps on coming:

Not quite so comical once you consider his position and the pain through which Jane and Joe Public were going.

Quarantine? For the Health Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary/Head of the Civil Service ... it was a laugh-a-minute:

Social distancing with Gina. For Hancock and his media adviser ... it was all about being caught:

It gets worse when you see the longer exchange:

The benefit of these revelations is that we are reminded - like we needed our memories jogging, right? - of the true nature of Johnson and his mob: arrogant, contemptuous, self-serving, above-the-law, venal, incompetent ... a criminal waste of space. Lest we forget.

Saturday 4^th March

All-of-a-sudden it's Silly Season again. What's triggered the recent refusal of deposed leaders and their disgraced cronies to go away? A kind of Trump-follow-my-lead trend.

After Boris, none more so than the snogger.

No hint of apology. Such wounded umbrage. Betrayed by Isabel. Oh how they deserve each other.

Then the once irreproachably independent Sue Gray gets a new job.

And the royals are at it too.

For Stroudies ... on a completely different note ... Stroud Valleys Artspace (4 John Street) is holding a party from 3pm this afternoon, a fundraiser in aid of victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria:

Friday 3^rd March

I said I'd finish off yesterday's ruminations on the Windsor Framework. It feels like other news has already pushed it down the agenda - MI5 and Manchester, Hancock and WhatsApp, racism and Yorkshire cricket - but for the sake of completeness ...

I left it with Sunak's feverish sales pitch in Lisburn:

"Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position, a unique position in the entire world, European continent ... privileged access, not just to the UK home market, which is enormous, but also the EU single market ... nobody else has that. No one. Only you guys - only here, and that is the prize."

Greeted by mockery in some quarters ...

Labour MP Chris Bryant:

"Sunak says how wonderful it is that Northern Ireland gets privileged access to the single market. I'd like that for the rest of the UK."

Anti-Brexit campaigner Femi Oluwole:

"Rishi Sunak just spent 2 minutes boasting about how Northern Ireland is the 'most exciting investment zone on the planet' because it has full access to the UK and EU market. You know ... like we did before Brexit!"

Oxford foreign policy expert Dr. Jennifer Cassidy:

"You mean the 'extraordinary opportunity' that was available to the ENTIRE UK before Brexit. That opportunity?"

My final thought on this - for now - may well show ignorance. Why did Ursula von der Leyen shake hands on the deal? What's in it for the EU? Northern Ireland, Stormont Brake and all, gets to block EU laws it doesn't like. Does any signed-up member state of the European Union have that privilege? Is it just an act of generosity, to assist with peace in Ireland, to tolerate the absence of a "hard border"? In the interests of the Republic? I still have to find an answer. Help me if you can.

We wait to see how much objection the DUP can raise, the "odious flat-earthers" in the words of my Irish correspondent.

Thursday 2^nd March

So, will they? I took a look at their April 2022 document "Our 5 Point Plan for Northern Ireland: Remove the NI Protocol". Here it is for reference (8 pages, three of significant text):

Its primary stated ambition was: "See the Protocol replaced by arrangements that restore our place within the United Kingdom." These must meet their 7 tests:

Fulfil Article 6 of the Articles of Union, which requires that everyone in the United Kingdom is entitled to the same privileges.
Avoid any diversion of trade.
Not constitute a border in the Irish Sea.
Give the people of Northern Ireland a say in the making of the laws that govern them.
Result in no checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Ensure no new regulatory barriers develop between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom unless agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.
Preserve the letter and spirit of Northern Ireland's constitutional guarantee requiring the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland for any diminution in its status as part of the United Kingdom.

What do you reckon? Did you sneak a peek at the Windsor Framework (posted on Tuesday)? Looks pretty close to me. Needs Stormont back in operation, but that's part of the purpose of it all, right?

The DUP now scrutinise, taking their time I'm sure.

There's complexity, as ever with Northern Ireland, still to grasp - particularly for me. To my shame, I've realised that my understanding of the situation since Brexit has been thin. It probably shows. I've not been watching closely, my attention taken by all those other issues that have dominated these pages - Covid, climate, Trump, #Partygate and more. I have some catching up to do. And it's not just NI-centric matters, but also implications for the rest of the Union.

Let's start with Sunak's excited post-Windsor proclamations at the Lisburn Coca-Cola factory (27 seconds):

As my Irish correspondent has commented, "Scotland, and maybe Wales too, will be fuming at their own exclusion from the EU."

[Work in progress ... more to come, probably tomorrow]

Wednesday 1^st March

Tuesday 28^th February

They've been digging up the bottom of our street for over a year. Currently it's major sewage works. I've successfully negotiated my way past them on my bike all that time. Yesterday they finally got me. Came a purler on loose gravel. Some operator error involved, braking hard downhill as I hit the loose stuff. Nothing broken thankfully, bruises and grazing.

Sunak and von der Leyen shook hands on a Northern Ireland deal. There's still a twixt-cup-and-lip way to go. Convince the DUP.

We have to be pleased that the promise of the Windsor Framework (here you are - 29 pages: ) will make life better for Northern Ireland and hopeful that it will protect the Good Friday Agreement (another original document for your reference - 36 pages: ). To its credit Labour has said there'll be no playing politics with approval of the deal.

However, fanatically unrepentant "Remoaner" that I am, as far as I'm concerned it misses the point. None of this negotiation, none of the six years of disagreement would have been necessary had we stayed in the EU. Even with the trumpeted resolution THERE'S STILL A BLOODY RED CHANNEL.

Ireland to the south has already taken advantage of the UK's EU departure, responded to the unworkable shortcomings of the "land bridge". Just over two years ago (on 3rd January 2021: 👉) I wrote about the launch of a new Rosslare-Dunkirk ferry service providing a direct freight route between Ireland and France. Since then the ferries have multiplied. Journalists Jon Henley and Rory Carroll picked up the theme in last Sunday's Observer in a piece titled "'Brits are suffering but for us it's boom time': how Brexit boosted French and Irish ports". The article states:

"Rosslare Europort was an underused facility with just six sailings a week to the continent, all into Cherbourg. Now it has 30-plus, to Cherbourg, Le Havre, Bilbao, Dunkirk and Zeebrugge - a fivefold increase that has led to record overall freight traffic. Weekly sailings from Cherbourg to Irish ports, meanwhile, will by this summer have more than doubled to a round dozen, with Irish Ferries sailing four times a week to Dublin, Stena Line six times a week to Rosslare, and Brittany Ferries also returning to the Rosslare route after a long absence.

Retired Irish customs officer Colm Lambert said from his bench overlooking Rosslare port:

"They're coming in from France, Spain, Belgium, Holland - it's great to see. Brexit has made an awful difference to here. Boris Johnson did Rosslare a favour."

That's right. England bypassed, grayed-out. The Brexit opportunity was meant to be the UK's. It turned out to belong to Ireland ... and good luck to her.

This may be over the top, but I feel it strongly. Brexit didn't come with the warning that it was bad for your mental health. The last six years have filled me with a background sense of loss, of waste, of being ripped from the rest of Europe. My hope is that such gloom will lift as more and more people recognise the folly of wishing to be separate. One odd plus from the Windsor glad-handing was the apparent warmth between Sunak and von der Leyen. "Dear Rishi", she gushed. If it brings us all closer, I won't diss the sentiment.

Monday 27^th February

Bated breath:

I like the new Banksy Ukraine stamp. Except that it has only appeared because of a war and hardly cools the conflict. According to the Huffington Post, the exclamation at the bottom left is a contracted expletive which translates into English as "FCK PTN!" Hmmm ... has a postage stamp ever been issued before with such a message?

(I need help to validate this. The initial letter of each three-letter word is the same in Ukrainian, but not in translation. "PTN" is right according to Google Translate.)

Here are some other Banksy works around Ukraine. Each has a detail photo and an accompanying one of its setting. Click to enlarge any:

Sunday 26^th February

Rest day.

Visit of Vienna-based son Nikko to see brother Ben in Bilbao going well:

Saturday 25^th February

Friday 24^th February

Went to this event yesterday evening:

A heart-warming experience. A great turn-out, the Boston Tea Party café taken over completely for the quiz, maybe 70 people, all ages. There was bound to be a positive atmosphere, wasn't there? You wouldn't get naysayers turning up. No fans of Suella Braverman.

It was my first ever quiz. Not the point, but our team - I'd never met the others before - did OK. 70% right, a B+. The winners managed 80%. We had a clean sweep of British Prime Ministers 1945-1999. Couldn't name any popular music after 1980. The biggest frustration is half-knowing an answer. The winning jockey of the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup was Rachel ... yes ... Blackmore ... no. And I'd even won a few quid on her victory.

I must get out more. Cheltenham is only 40 minutes away, yet it felt - at least the grand Regency bits - like a different world.

Thursday 23^rd February

I taught IT to young adults at Stroud College some years ago. By mistake. When the new build was proposed I contacted the college to enquire whether I could offer consultancy help with the design and implementation of the computer network. As the IT director was extremely competent - I found this out later - he didn't need my assistance. However, the next week I got a call from an academic member of staff asking if I wanted to teach. It wasn't what I really wanted to do, but I still went to see the head of department and ended up teaching a bunch of young adults the next Monday - for three years. Just one morning a week. It turned out to be a privilege, to find out what was happening in the heads of an age group I wouldn't otherwise meet. They were also very kind to me, the old git, which took me by surprise.

We used to start the class with what I called "Small Triumphs". These kids were in a kind of last chance saloon after the school system had failed them - the old further education rescue mission - and didn't have a great sense of achievement, at least not in their studies. So, the idea was to drag something positive out of them, however small, of whatever description, from their experiences of the preceding week. What stories they had to tell.

In the midst of the UK's political madness and the woes of the wider world, I reckon we need to acknowledge these mini-wins more than ever. I had one yesterday.

Do you ever fall foul of auto-renewals? You know, like when your car insurance company automatically takes the next year's premium (increased of course) before you've made the effort to review - good old comparethemarket.com - whether you should stay with them. My electronic diary is densely and obsessively populated with reminders not to let renewal and contract dates sail by. Well, I allowed one past me two days ago. My website hosting provider took next year's domain name fee for coronavirusblog.uk, which I don't use any more. Dammit.

I emailed them to ask if I might revoke the renewal immediately and claim a refund. They'd obliged once before. This time I got a flat refusal, precisely because they'd already done it on that other occasion - as a courtesy, they said. I wasn't pleased, given the amount of business I have put their way. Time to get on my high horse, assume my most aggrieved and pompous tone. I wrote:

"I am seriously disappointed. I have used your domain and hosting services for my personal websites for around 15 years. Not only that, I have fulfilled all my customer website needs through you - which will not show on my account. This must amount to thousands of pounds/dollars. I have recommended your company to many other people and organisations. I think your refusal to accede to my £14.39 request is petty in the extreme, poor reward for my loyalty."

I expected another brush-off. But no. Result!

A minor victory ... so, OK, a minor celebration is in order. Sadly, I'm not convinced. I know I'm going against the point of our classroom strategy, but I really need to concentrate on bigger fish. Trivial fixes, no problem. The larger stuff ... why can I put those off? Beats me.

Wednesday 22^nd February

Perhaps I ought to concentrate on the sabre-rattling and truth-spin ...

... but not today; it's all too mad and I'm sure you've seen enough. So instead I give you four minutes of laughter and joyful brilliance. [Best to watch full-screen by clicking on the button (bottom right within the video player) once you've started. Or any other way you normally do this on a device with other than a desktop-sized display.]

He's Polish mime artist Ireneusz Krosny:

Tuesday 21^st February

Two weeks ago I posted publicity 👉 about the Stroud festival showing of the remarkable film about a remarkable woman, "The Seeds of Vandana Shiva". We went on Saturday. Everybody seated at the pre-screening meal was given this flyer (click to enlarge):

All about "The Big One", a change of direction for Extinction Rebellion, as explained on the XRUK website:

"XRUK has changed its approach to meet this moment. The Big One - in April in Westminster - is different from anything XRUK has ever done before; this time it's about attendance, not arrests.

"What is The Big One? Politicians would rather take fossil fuel donations than prevent climate chaos. It's time for us to let them know how we feel about this and that 2023 is the year for drastic climate action. In April in Westminster, thousands of people will gather peacefully around the House of Parliament to tell the Government that we can't afford this anymore. Thousands have already gathered at picket lines and demonstrations this year to demand fairer working conditions. Multiple world crises all linked by the crisis in governance. There are no fair conditions on a planet wrecked by climate and ecological disasters. It's time to demand an end to the fossil fuel era and for a citizen-led transformation towards a fair society that includes reparations."

Visit the XR Big One website here:

While we're talking about a change of approach - in this instance it's more a shift in sentiment - did you read the sentencing remarks of District Judge Wilkinson to Just Stop Oil Birmingham Esso Fuel Terminal protestors at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court last week?

"It's abundantly clear that you are all good people. You are intelligent, articulate and a pleasure to deal with. It's unarguable that man-made global warming is real and we are facing a climate emergency. Your aims are admirable and it is accepted by me and the Crown Prosecution Service that your views are reasonable and genuinely held. Your fears are ably and genuinely articulated and are supported by the science.

"When the United Nations Secretary General gives a speech saying that the activity of fossil fuel companies is incompatible with human survival, we should all be very aware of the need for change. Millions of people, and I do not dispute that it may be as many as 1 billion people, will be displaced as a result of climate change.

"No-one can criticise your motivations. You all gave evidence that was deeply moving. I certainly was moved. The tragedy is that good people have felt so much, without hope, that you feel you have to come into conflict with the criminal justice system.

"Thank you for opening my eyes to certain things. Most I was acutely and depressingly aware of, but there were certain things [I wasn't].

"I say this and I mean this sadly, I have to convict you. You are good people and I will not issue a punitive sentence. Your arrests and loss of good character are sufficient. Good people doing the wrong thing cannot make the wrong thing right. I don't say this, ever, but it has been a pleasure dealing with you.

"You should feel guilty for nothing. You should feel proud that you care, have concern for the future. I urge you not to break the law again. Good luck to all of you."

The defendants were convicted of trespass, given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of between £250 and £500.

Monday 20^th February

The NI Protocol idiocy rumbles on. Years of self-inflicted impasse, needless economic damage, discomfort and chaos for the northern Irish.

Listen to Michael Heseltine on the bigger picture in a Channel 4 interview from some years back (2 minutes):

From the mouth of a Tory grandee. Following in the tradition of Winston Churchill, co-architect of a united Europe.

The generational point makes my blood boil. You will know from these pages that I consider Brexit a personal affront. My family is European. Fortunately, our sons live that experience. This week Nikko from Vienna is visiting Ben in Bilbao. You can't stop them, Little Englander.

Heseltine's view is statesmanlike, isn't it? A sense of history, standing above petty insular concerns. I dream that one day Brexit will be seen for what it is, a mindless aberration. I certainly intend to behave as if it never happened.

Sunday 19^th February

I've written before how I semi-abandoned Twitter in favour of Mastodon. No regrets, particularly as I retained my Twitter account so that I could still hear from the bad guys. The best thing is the quality of "toots" that reach me from previously unknown sources. I don't yet know how the algorithms work, but they reliably pick up on my interests, say, in social justice and climate. Intelligent stuff, often well-written, a far cry from the plague of Twitter dross I used to endure. The content moderation is strong - I get nothing grossly offensive, no hate rants.

Here's an example that dropped on my e-mat yesterday from Canadian teacher Sylvia Duckworth, her take on a have-versus-have-not world:

It's not a perfect summary. You might disagree with some of the categories and examples. But it reminds me of how we need always to pay attention to the imbalances and inequities of our world, how they have an impact across all aspects of life.

Marginalisation. That's where the help is needed. OK, here's a leap that may be a bit of a stretch, also perhaps a little trivial. On Saturday morning at 10am we had a litter-pick to clean up the street - and a chance to rub shoulders with neighbours. I've never understood litter. Why would you go to an attractive place and then drop rubbish so that it was no longer pretty? If I watch what happens in Middle Street, the litter comes from those who don't have a connection, in most cases ... the marginalised. Buy a cheap portion of chips in the Big Fish in Nelson Street, eat them walking up the road towards the top of town, chuck away the styrofoam box as you pass our door. No connection to the comfortable residential area through which you're passing. Why should you care when you have little stake in society?

Back to the little pleasures of Mastodon. The daily poems of Brian Bilston. Light, quirky. They raise a quiet smile.

7am. An England victory early in the fourth day:

An extraordinary transformation under positive leadership. Not since 2010 have England won six Tests in a row. For Ben Stokes, this was his 10th victory in 12 Tests as captain. Only Lindsay Hassett, who succeeded Don Bradman as Australia captain in 1949, can match Stokes's speed to 10 Test wins.

Saturday 18^th February

08:00am. Cheerful news for this cricket lover from the other side of the world:

My only disappointment is that I'd hoped to ease into the day with Test Match Special and an early cup of tea. Instead ...

What can they be thinking?

Friday 17^th February

I've missed a few blog days through weariness of news. National leaders are cracking under the strain too, it would appear: first Ardern, then Sturgeon. If politicians - they chose to make it their business - find the profession unpalatable, what chance have we got?

Reporting of world events reaches even the very young. Grandson Marlie drew this diagram of the Ukraine-Russia war yesterday, off his own bat (click to enlarge). A conflict blend of flags in the middle, Ukrainian features on the left, Russian on the right, result at the bottom.

Congratulations to Christian Adams on managing to get two departures into one cartoon:

Sunday 12^th February

Still no time for proper blogging, so I'll have to borrow again from the estimable Peter Brookes.

World Leaders:

Zelensky visit:

Saturday 11^th February

Bit of a blog hiatus. First, I've found it difficult to comment on anything as we witness the tragedy in Turkey and Syria. Second, we're in the middle of a visit from brother-in-law Kevin, which demands maximum commitment to meal production. One seafood risotto successfully delivered, on with the next creation.

So much excellent material in the Zelensky visit. Time for just one cartoon:

One tiny detail in the above. Sunak's shoelaces are tied in neat little bows. Johnson's are undone.

Thursday 9^th February

I was ready with jokey topics today. Not after watching the news:

Wednesday 8^th February

Tuesday 7^th February

Time for some forward-planning. Stroudies, have you booked your tickets?

Stroud Film Festival partners - click to enlarge

The official dates are March 3rd-19th, with some early "preview" events starting on 17th February (I know, why not make that the opening day?). The programme is spread around venues: Lansdown Hall, Long Table, Wotton-under-Edge Electric Picture House, Trinity Rooms, Hawkwood, Stroud Brewery, Subscription Rooms, Goods Shed, Museum in the Park, Stroud Valley Arts.

To give a flavour, here are three of my choices. I already mentioned the first a week ago, but it's worth repeating.

Woman faces up to might of food corporations. No-brainer:

"The Seeds of Vandana Shiva"
Saturday 18 February 5:00pm to 9:30pm
The Long Table Brimscombe Mill GL5 2QN

"Just who is Vandana Shiva? How has one woman managed to have such a profound impact on the debate around agriculture, food, farming and bio-engineering? How did she become Monsanto's worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva explores the story of this extraordinary woman: agriculturalist, quantum physicist, activist and social justice icon, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the seed saving and organic food movements, and now is inspiring an international movement for change.

"This event is being held in partnership with THE LONG TABLE who will be offering a pre-screening delicious meal, Long Table style. Introduced by Cllr Robin Drury-Layfield, the evening will include a panel discussion with special guests chaired by visual artist Ritu Sood."

Anything with Mark Rylance:

"Inland"
Friday 24 February 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Electric Picture House Cinema Market Street Wotton-under-Edge GL12 7AE

"A special preview of the new film starring Mark Rylance and Rory Alexander, set and filmed around Gloucester. Inland is a modern folktale that explores the fractured identity of a young man after the mysterious disappearance of his mother. Guided by a father figure and old friends who care deeply, his journey through the dreamlike spaces of rural England bring him face to face with the loss that haunts him in ways he could never have expected.

"Afterwards writer/director Fridtjof Ryder and producer Henry Richmond talk about their stylish and enigmatic new drama, which received its world premiere at the 2022 London Film Festival."

Because it was made by my neighbour Holly Antrum:

"Yes to the work!" - Women's Art Library documentary
Saturday 11 March 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Museum in the Park Stratford Park GL5 4AF

"The Women's Art Library presents insights into the feminist links between art and education. Commissioned by Art360 Foundation. 30 minutes. The screening is followed by a conversation led by two locals - writer and curator Jean Boyd with the film's director, artist and filmmaker Holly Antrum."

For the full programme and tickets visit the festival website:

Monday 6^th February

Mostly random-ish follow-up today to bits I've posted recently.

The bid by John Lydon - aka Johnny Rotten - to represent Ireland at the Eurovision song contest has come to an end. He announced last month the hope to perform with his band Public Image Ltd a new song, "Hawaii", which is dedicated to Lydon's wife Nora who is living with Alzheimer's disease. Dublin's four-piece band Wild Youth won the vote on Friday night. I never thought 45 years ago that I would one day be writing this word sequence: Johnny Rotten ... carer ... wife Nora ... Alzheimer's. Sad. None of it part of the punk story.

The Shell profit scandal inevitably featured in Dale Vince's latest Zerocarbonista. It's always worth a listen. I've posted the full audio here (27 minutes) ... for when you're doing the washing up ... taking a break for a cup of tea ...

"We're a bit sweary today in this bumper episode as the world's gone bonkers. We review what's going on with the UK's latest Prime Minister and consider how the government became anti-wind at the same time as offering £600m to steel producers. Shell have made £32bn of profit when we're in an energy crisis - what the hell is going on? Then Bristol Airport got permission to expand this week too."

Although Forest Green Rovers have yet to win under their new manager, he can be pleased that the liberal chattering classes are now taking him to their hearts. If you read The Guardian you will have seen the Journal interview on Friday ( - 5 pages). The article reveals that we can reasonably expect a visit here in Gloucestershire from Real Madrid and their manager Carlo Ancelotti, 4-times winner of the Champions League:

"One of those Champions League winners was Carlo Ancelotti, who respected Ferguson's opinion. The two remain close and Ferguson recently visited his former boss at Real Madrid. 'I saw all my exercises on the training ground. Him and his son [assistant coach Davide] are like magpies - they've taken all my exercises,' Ferguson jokes. 'I've worked with Carlo a great deal.'

"Ferguson is not the only one at Forest Green with close links to Real. Vince has been advising the club on sustainability and use of pesticides. Could this lead to a friendly at The New Lawn? 'I would love that - it would be absolutely fabulous,' Ferguson says. 'Why not do it over in Stroud? If there is a gap in the calendar, I am sure Carlo would facilitate that.'"

So, no vegan burger yet. He needs to concentrate on that before working on a Real Madrid game.

Truss has started the process of justifying the actions that brought the country to its knees. This weekend saw her first major outing as self-apologist:

Blames everybody else. Claims she had the right idea. Fortunately, the rest of us know that she is a dim, incompetent, self-seeking and arrogant twerp.

One last thing today. On Saturday, I pondered if the Green New Deal and Labour's Great British Energy were "pie in the sky" ideas. Now, we know what the expression means - but where does it come from? The most common explanation I've heard is that it appeared in a 1911 song by Joe Hill, Swedish-American labour activist, songwriter and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, familiarly named the "Wobblies"). Called "The Preacher and the Slave", the song was written as a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet By-and-By", a dig at the Salvation Army's promise of reward in heaven rather than on earth. The "pie" reference is in the chorus:

Long-haired preachers come out every night

Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right

But when asked how 'bout something to eat

They will answer in voices so sweet

You will eat, bye and bye

In that glorious land in the sky

Work and pray, live on hay

You'll get pie in the sky when you die

If you fancy listening to the song, here's a live 2005 version by Utah Phillips. He introduces it with charming and informative bits of background - and rehearsal for the audience:

Holding a message for Sunak, right? Plus ça change.

Sunday 5^th February

Poor sporting outcomes for this household yesterday:

Except that I did my usual trick of placing a small wager on the opposition to ease the pain of an unwelcome result:

Saturday 4^th February

Campaigners Green New Deal (GND) must have known that I was raging against Shell yesterday because they sent me an email:

"Sickeningly, Shell has just reported its highest profits in its 115 year history. That's £32 billion made from fuelling the climate crisis and destroying people's lives.

"This display of corporate greed at a time when people can't afford their bills or to pay their rent shows that this Government has no interest in protecting us. Rishi Sunak and his pals are actively inflaming the crisis by green-lighting more fossil fuel projects and handing out tax breaks to polluters.

"It's hard news to digest. But we think this is the time to be speaking about solutions to fix this crisis, like bringing in a sustained windfall tax and democratising energy.

"We know these solutions are the antidote to the current profit-driven and climate-wrecking energy system. Because when communities have control, they can distribute energy in the interest of people and the planet."

Labour MP and GND Champion Clive Lewis explains why we should bring energy into public hands (1 minute 15 seconds):

Pie in the sky? Yet Labour has moulded its hopes around Great British Energy. "Nationalisation" is a difficult word in a Britain still shaped by Thatcher, a nation derailed by Brexit.

Friday 3^rd February

Apologies for gloom today, folks, but I'm oppressed by the overwhelming evidence that the wrong people are in charge. Fat cats, warmongers, xenophobes. Why do we let them? There are billions more of us.

Does it have to be this way?

As Elvis Costello sang (and Nick Lowe wrote), "What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?"

Alternatively - and with belligerence - I'll borrow from the words of Glen Matlock's new song that I posted on Wednesday 👉: "Ain't gonna let this go until there's someone's head on a stick."

Maybe both.

Thursday 2^nd February

Third birthday:

It's the conversation at the bottom-right that gets me:

"Who would have thought?"

"Anyone with a brain?"

It's one of the uncomfortable background effects of Brexit that I'm obliged to believe that more than 50% of my compatriots (maybe less now) are ... stupid. Everywhere I go in England I run the risk of half the people I meet not sharing a view of Britain that would make me proud. Not a good foundation for daily life.

I am however pleased that cartoonist David Squires of The Guardian finally caught up with us local folk (see the news here:👉) as he considered Everton's new choice of manager:

And this is a great drone (I presume) shot of the New Lawn in Forest Green with Amberley on the right hillside beyond and Stroud in the distance:

Wednesday 1^st February

There's no easy way to spin a positive escape from this. Unless you're Jacob Rees-Mogg: "When was the IMF forecast last right?"

Here's the published document, "World Economic Outlook Update January 2023", (11 pages):

Brexit is not mentioned. But this contrast is made:

"Growth in the euro area is projected to bottom out at 0.7 percent in 2023 before rising to 1.6 percent in 2024."

"Growth in the United Kingdom is projected to be -0.6 percent in 2023, a 0.9 percentage point downward revision from October."

Is that October comment an acknowledgement of the Truss meltdown and subsequent Hunt measures/U-turns, what the IMF calls "tighter fiscal and monetary policies"?

More entertaining and certainly more outspoken was Glen Matlock, original bass player with the Sex Pistols, interviewed early yesterday on BBC Breakfast. He has a new album coming out, "Consequences Coming", which carries the comments below:

"The album was written and recorded in Britain over the last 18 months or so with a posse of seasoned but on point performers. All done during the debacle that is Brexit and the rise and fall of the turgid Trump episode in the US. These songs reflect my take on the whole sorry mess that has ensued.

"Now the wheels of the music business can sometimes move at a lugubrious, glacial pace, and sometimes the moment might be lost but seeing no break in the clouds or clear light at the end of the tunnel, surely the only demand on people's lips should be that there are 'Consequences Coming' for the fat headed oafs who have foisted their asinine warped sensibilities on us."

He was on the programme to talk about the new single, "Head On A Stick". The BBC red sofa presenters desperately wanted to get him off politics, but he wasn't playing. Here's the official video, with some further words from Glen:

"Peeved at the predictable but ultimately pointless political lurch to the right that has happened in the West over the past few years, one which has been aided and abetted by the vested interests of a client press, I put pen to paper and plectrum to guitar to compose a song that's a call to arms, a wake up alarm and primal open your eyes scream.

"It might be easy to be wise after the event but some saw where we were headed and in the words of Pete Seeger attempted to hammer out a warning. We always thought it can't happen here but it sadly most definitely has and heads should justifiably roll ..."

He also reminded us during the interview that Johnny Rotten was/is a Brexiteer ... and, having become a U.S. citizen in 2013, voted for Trump.

Punk largely passed me by, as its heyday coincided with my residence in Italy. The Italians weren't a natural fit with the music and movement. What, dress badly, hold no views on food and pay little attention to good wine? It wasn't going to happen. I did however once cause a minor stir by going to an elegant and delicious Veneto fancy dress dinner as Sid Vicious. Who replaced Matlock as bass player when Glen and Johnny fell out.

Stop Press: My Irish correspondent has reminded me that it is St. Brigid's Day. Celebrate. From GOV.IE ...

"In Ireland, the first of February marks the beginning of Spring and the celebration of Lá Fhéile Bríde, St Brigid's Day. Like many of other feast days of the Irish calendar, Brigid predates Christianity - her roots lie in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, the feast of the goddess Brigid, celebrated at least five millennia ago. In old Irish, Imbolc means 'in the belly', a reference to lambing and the renewal Spring promises."

Tuesday 31^st January

This is uplifting, a beacon of light amidst the challenging gloom of climate threat and food poverty, a welcome counterpoint to the rotten antics of the government. We've just been invited by friends to an evening at The Long Table, as worthy a Stroud institution as you can get.

Stroud Film Festival
The Seeds of Vandana Shiva
Saturday, 18 February 2023 5:00pm-9:00pm

"How did the wilful daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator become Monsanto's worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the seed saving and organic food movements and is inspiring an international crusade for change. The Long Table are delighted to be partnering with Stroud Film Festival to host this screening of The Seeds of Vandana Shiva, a film which resonates so strongly with our aim of increasing local food resilience and putting food at the centre of the community.

"Pre- screening, we will be serving a delicious meal, Long Table style, which will of course be pay-as-you-can."

Here's some more blurb from the Long Table website:

"The Long Table was founded by Tom Herbert and Will Mansell in an old Brimscombe warehouse in 2018. This happened after Tom met with Will Mansell of The Grace Network, of which The Long Table is now a key part. They shared a mutual dismay of how society is doing food badly, leaving people unwell and lonely. Shamefully, one third of all food grown and produced is never eaten. And so a new kind of Community Interest Company was born, with a team from a variety of social roots that shared one vision. Our aim is to make locally sourced and lovingly prepared food available to everyone, regardless of their social or financial background. Something we now call Food Equality."

Visit the website here:

Monday 30^th January

How telling that the number one story yesterday should have been about the sacking of the chairman of the Conservative Party. Not news of economic progress, a break-through scientific development nor justice achieved for a deserving ordinary person. Nope. Just self-seeking Tory sleaze and dishonesty.

What a shame that I should have been scouring the GOV.UK website not for useful guidance or explanation but for the official #taxgate letters sent by Sir Laurie Magnus, Rishi Sunak and Nadhim Zahawi. Yes, they are there ... but what a waste of time and money, documenting the transgressions of our leadership rather than their achievements. I'm sure you've seen them but for the record here they are: Magnus to Sunak , Sunak to Zahawi and Zahawi to Sunak .

Sunak said:

"It is also with pride that I, and previous Prime Ministers, have been able to draw upon the services of a Kurdish-born Iraqi refugee at the highest levels of the UK Government."

Zahawi commented in reply:

"I arrived in this country fleeing persecution and speaking no English. Here, I built a successful business and served in some of the highest offices in government."

Which privilege he then abused.

This is the government hell-bent on making more difficult the lives of the desperate seeking sanctuary.

Sunday 29^th January

The joke's (almost) over now. No first match fairy tale victory, cruelly denied in extra time:

I reckon Big Dunc told the lads to get stuck in:

Meanwhile, I have the answer to my vegan question of two days ago:

"The earth is warming up, isn't it?" No shit, Dunc.

Would this have helped tired FGR legs in the dying moments of the game? Son Ben sent a photo of Thursday's birthday lunch in Bilbao:

Saturday 28^th January

Friday 27^th January

Football and Forest Green Rovers again today. Apologies to those not interested - but it's quite a story.

A bit of background for the uninitiated. "Big Dunc" - 6' 4" - was in his playing days a robust No. 9 for Scotland and most prominently for Everton. Good with his head, both on the pitch and ...

... off. Here's a chunk of his Wikipedia entry:

"Ferguson has had four convictions for assault - two arising from taxi rank scuffles, one an altercation with a fisherman in an Anstruther pub, and one for his on-field headbutt on Raith Rovers defender John McStay in 1994 while playing for Rangers, which resulted in a rare conviction for an on-the-field incident. The first incident led to a £100 fine for headbutting a policeman and a £25 fine for a Breach of the Peace, while the second resulted in a £200 fine for punching and kicking a supporter on crutches. He was sentenced to a year's probation for the third offence. For the 1994 on-the-field headbutting, he received and served a three-month jail term for assault."

Ferguson was burgled in 2001 and 2003. On both occasions the robbers were hospitalised. They clearly hadn't done their homework.

Sounds ideal. It's going to be a scrap to avoid relegation from League One, so we need a bit of a brawler. I like his second nickname even more: "Duncan Disorderly".

It gets better. According to ClassicFM and other sources, little-known Finnish composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä dedicated one of his works to the centre-forward. It's called "Barlinnie Nine", presumably a reference to HM Prison Barlinnie where Ferguson served time and his Everton shirt number. The orchestral piece was premiered on the same day in 2005 that Ferguson scored the only goal in a game against Manchester United, Everton's first win over ManU in 10 years.

It's true. Räihälä said:

"I got the idea for it when he was facing jail and had just become something of a cult figure for Everton. It takes into account the contradictions in him: he has an aggressive side but there is a lyrical undertone, as the fact that he keeps pigeons shows."

I don't expect you to listen to all 12 minutes of the premiere performance, but for the record here it is, on 20th April 2005 at the Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, played by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo:

The appointment has gone down well with the FGR faithful on the Twittersphere. Announced the day after Burchnall departed, Dale Vince must have had this in the pipeline. A canny move? I'm off to the bookies to find out what odds I can get on FGR escaping the drop. I should have gone two days ago.

Has anyone told him he's a vegan from now on?

Thursday 26^th January

Oh dear. Forest Green Rovers hit the buffers.

Manager pays customary price.

Too much red:

It didn't stop Dale making a trip to Vienna last week (OK, he went by train) to give Arnie some diamonds.

Maybe that's why FGR are bottom of the league. Distracted by bling.

Chris Taylor writes from Udine:

"Meanwhile Udinese have refound their winning ways (Sampdoria 0 Udinese 1) and are respectably well above halfway in the Serie A table. I and my son-in-law will be at the Stadio Friuli on Monday night to see what they can do against Verona. Watch this space."

Alè Udin!

Happy Birthday to son Ben in Bilbao!

Wednesday 25^th January

This poster went up in a Middle Street window two days ago:

As you can see at the bottom right, the Stroud Red Band will be playing. Their website explains:

"We are an extension of the London Big Red Band, which has been in existence since the 1980s. Like them we play music from the heritage of the labour, socialist and international solidarity movements. We play at demonstrations, marches and benefits when we can."

"Tunes in the repertoire: Di Shvue ('The Oath', the song of the Jewish Workers' Bund), Zog Nit Keynmol (WW2 Jewish Partisans' Song), The White Cockade (for which the words of the Red Flag were originally written), I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free, One Love ..."

Here we come, sadly, to some evidence of conflict in Stroud. I wrote in December last year about opposition to the peddling of The Light newspaper in the High Street 👉. You will have noticed in the poster at the top that certain groups are not invited to the memorial event on Sunday: "Everyone is welcome - except for Holocaust deniers, antisemites and their apologists". I saw on YouTube these placards displayed by supporters of the Stroud Red Band as they busked in town:

It will be deeply regrettable if the Stroud (Mis)InfoHub go large on this over the weekend (the official memorial day is 27th January, this Friday). They wouldn't show up on Sunday, would they? Please no.

To read more about this weekend's events you can visit the website of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), a charity established and funded by the UK Government, by clicking below:

The HMDT has a theme for 2023 of "ordinary people". It's a provocative thought:

"Genocide is facilitated by ordinary people. Ordinary people turn a blind eye, believe propaganda, join murderous regimes. And those who are persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocide aren't persecuted because of crimes they've committed - they are persecuted simply because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group (eg, Roma, Jewish community, Tutsi). Ordinary people were involved in all aspects of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution of other groups, and in the genocides that took place in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Ordinary people were perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, witnesses - and ordinary people were victims."

Here is the full text of the theme document (6 pages):

It contains a beautiful comic-strip image from the graphic novel "Irmina" by Munich-based Barbara Yelin, which I highlight here (click to enlarge):

Tuesday 24^th January

I've been trawling the international output of the political cartoonists on the topic of Jacinda Ardern's resignation. There has been plenty of criticism directed at her in words - jump-before-push, economic crisis, rising violence - but I can't find any from the cartoonists, apart from the two below (the first repeated from Friday), both of which are comments on other world leaders rather than an attack on her. The sketches of her are not very flattering, but the joke and disdain are firmly aimed at the rest. Very unusual. Normally - look at the stuff above targetting Sunak and cronies - any weakness, any whiff of hypocrisy, any incompetence is exposed with merciless glee. The absence of such scrutiny speaks positive volumes about her.

Sadly, we are left with the sleazeballs.

Sunday 22^nd January

My dreams get odder every night.

This time I was an airline pilot. On my first flight from somewhere in the Middle East I was forced to crash land. Also on the second. Before the third - there seemed to be no move to ground me pending investigation, I was straight back into the pilot's seat - I felt obliged to give the passengers a choice. "This is your captain speaking. I cannot reliably assure you that you will arrive at your destination in the normal fashion. All of you who would prefer to take another flight, please feel free to leave the aircraft now." On this occasion I landed in a New York suburb, the nose of the 'plane nestling in an apartment belonging to a large Italian family tucking into pasta and meatballs. They welcomed me with a generous portion. "Vieni, mangia!" No casualties at any stage, no drama.

I can't begin to find an explanation.

Saturday 21^st January

They don't get any better, do they? New crap every day.

The seatbelt error is just dim, isn't it? Broadcast a jolly levelling-up video that shows my mistake, why ever not? Zahawi and tax - we expect this kind of Tory slime. The car battery fiasco is, however, the long-term outcome of wilful, systemic and idealogical incompetence. Thatcherite destruction of our motor-manufacturing capability had already left Britishvolt with no national customers. Given the barriers to trade and logistics raised by Brexit, which European car maker would choose to buy from go-it-alone Blighty?

Friday 20^th January

Letter to 8-year-old Lucy - click to enlarge

Tuesday 17^th January

Absence from the blogosphere for a few days. I've had a lurgy. Not Covid, nor 'flu, just the common cold. Still reasonably debilitating. Unhelpfully, I've not been able to keep awake in the day, nor manage to sleep at night - connected, of course. Friends and neighbours have said that their dose went on for weeks. Mine's still here, but I hope it's fading now.

Grandson Marlie put up with me for the weekend. I barely went out. Fortunately his current passion is suitable for indoor activity:

He came up with all kinds of "extension" activities: guess-the-flag, draw-the-flag, how-many-flags-do-you-know-with-stripes. There's a whole lot of story and detail behind each flag, like date adopted or who invented it. What's behind the selection of colours and shapes?

Half of Marlie's ancestry is Jamaican:

The flag was adopted on 6 August 1962, Jamaican Independence Day. 60 years to celebrate this summer. There'll be a party, won't there? The 1962 interpretation of the colours - "hardships there are but the land is green and the sun shineth" - was updated in 1996 after a review initiated by then prime minister P. J. Patterson to (courtesy of Wikipedia): "Black representing the strength and creativity of the people which has allowed them to overcome difficulties, gold for the wealth of the country and the golden sunshine, and green for the lush vegetation of the island, as well as hope."

I thought I'd got Marlie with one question, but he knew the answer! It is currently the only national flag that does not contain a shade of the colours red, white, or blue. Hmmm, shade of white?

Here's a quiz question for you, the answer to which is contained in previous pages of this blog. What are the only two national flags that display the country's map?

Friday 13^th January

At the Goodwill evening before Christmas Stroud District Together with Refugees (SDTwR) ran a stall in Lansdown Hall. Visitors were invited to write a message of support to refugees and hang it on a tree. Ninety-one people did so. Here are two pictures, the first in the hall, the second after the tree was moved to the Christmas tree festival in the parish church of St. Lawrence (click to enlarge):

Jude Emmet of SDTwR has recently drawn this to the attention of Stroud Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie:

Dear Siobhan,

Firstly, may I wish you and your family a happy new year.

At the Goodwill Evening held in Stroud on 2nd December, our group Stroud District Together with Refugees (SDTWR) displayed a Christmas Tree and invited passers by and shoppers to write a message of welcome to refugees and asylum seekers who have overcome appalling hardship and difficulties to reach what ought to be the safety of this country. We set up our stall and tree in the Lansdown Hall and waited to see what the reaction would be from Stroud residents. We were there for about two hours.

During that time, just about everyone we approached wanted to write a message, and we were heartened to see that every single message was a positive message of welcome. By the end of our time, 91 messages were hung on the tree and we would like to share them with you (below).

I hope you will celebrate with us the kindness and outpouring of love that the messages show. We are proud that Stroud is so solidly supportive of the refugees and asylum seekers who arrive on our shores. We therefore urge you to commit to working towards safe routes to reduce the need for anyone to make these perilous journeys.

Yours sincerely,

Jude Emmet
(Stroud District Together with Refugees)

These are the messages that were hung on the tree:

1. Welcome to England. 2. Welcome to Stroud. Hope you feel safe and happy xx. 3. You are so welcome here; I hope you settle in well x. 4. Welcome to everyone who needs a home! 5. Assume good will / Judge others by the content of their character. 6. You are so welcome here in Stroud. 7. Dear refugees, wherever you come from you are welcome here. 8. I hope you find warmth and kindness. 9. You are welcome here. 10. Refugees always welcome here! 11. Welcome to Stroud💖. 12. Welcome to everyone seeking sanctuary in Glos! 13. Wishing you love and peace. 14. My heart goes out to you all, much love xxx 15. Warm welcome, may you always feel at home. We need you xx. 16. Welcome all. The people of this country are not the government. 17. You have been through so much - we are here to welcome you and support you. 18. We are all migrants💖! 19. We welcome refugees. 20. Welcome! Wishing you a warm and welcoming time💖. 21. We'll enjoy a colourful Stroud with contributions from lots of different backgrounds. 22. Hope you feel happy soon. 23. Rest in peace in Stroud. 24. Thinking of you all💖. 25. You are all WELCOME here x. 26. I love and I will look after you. 27. You are so loved x. 28. Thinking of you all with love and welcome arms. 29. Welcome and good luck! 30. Welcome in Gloucestershire! 31. Refugees, we don't care where you're from everyone is welcome here! 32. Love💖. 33. The warmest of welcomes to you xxx. 34. Make yourselves a home here! 35. A warm Stroud welcome to you all x. 36. Welcome home💖love💖. 37. Hello, you are safe here. 38. Welcome! We hope you enjoy your Christmas in Stroud. 39. You are welcome everywhere, be brave. 40. Thinking of you for a better 2023, welcome. 41. We welcome you with love and warmth xxx. 42. Love knows no borders / everyone always welcome x. 43. Our very best wishes to all refugees. 44. You're welcome to stay. 45. Welcome to Stroud x. 46. Welcome. 47. Hope Hope Hope and Love. 48. Warm wishes and welcome. 49. Good you are here. Welcome. May the new year bring better times. 50. Come on in💖! 51. We welcome you all into our hearts xx. 52. The warmest of warm welcomes to one and all with love x. 53. Refugees one and all we welcome you! We welcome your experience, skills, culture, language. You enrich us all! 54. Welcome to Stroud xx. 55. Love and peace this Christmas in Stroud🌠. 56. May Stroud be a place of safety, welcome and support. 57. Wishing all new lives filled with peace and happiness! 58. You are very welcome here - as a child of refugees I hope you feel safe and at home. 59. Welcome. 60. Welcome to this part of the world. 61. Welcome/Hello! A warm welcome to you. I truly wish you a bright day and joyous future. You are always welcome. 62. Welcome to the UK! Hope you find all the things you need here! Welcome. 63. Welcome to the UK, hope you like it. 64. Welcome and safe haven here. 65. We are all migrants. We welcome you with love x💖. 66. May all the luck and kindness come to you. 67. Hope you find safety and peace here. 68. Wishing you good luck and success. 69. Welcome to Gloucestershire. I hope you're made to feel welcome. 70. We love you xxx/💖💖💖. 71. Hope you find peace here. Lots of love xx. 72. We welcome refugees here! 73. May the rainbow appear for your thoughts x. 74. We wish you well you are welcome here! 75. Welcome to Stroud!💖Hope you will find peace and happiness xx. 76. All are welcome because we are all one - karibuni! 77. My arms are open to welcome you xx. 78. You are safe, you are welcome, you are loved. 79. Welcome to Stroud. 80. Goodwill to all refugees. 81. So many people welcome you here💖. 82. You are welcome to Stroud. I hope you stay safe and happy this Christmas. 83. Merry Christmas! Sending lots of love and care xxx. 84. Welcome to UK - may you find a good life here! 85. Season's greetings and welcome to all. 86. You enrich our country / peace and love x. 87.🌞There is always beauty around us🌱. 88. Welcome refugees, we love you all. 89. Refugees, good luck. I hope you find peace and happiness. 90. Selamat Datang [Malay/Indonesian: "Welcome"]. 91. You are so loved.

Stroudies, be proud. Refugees, welcome.

Thursday 12^th January

RIP Jeff Beck (24 June 1944 - 10 January 2023, aged 78). Remember the Yardbirds? Guitarist's guitarist: made an art of distortion, picked with his thumb, master of the whammy bar (aka grooving stick), tone to die for (and now he has). Here he is with another old diva performing one of my favourite songs, Curtis Mayfield's 1965 "People Get Ready":

People get ready, there's a train a-coming
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels humming
You don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

People get ready for the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers from coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There's room for all among those loved the most

Now there ain't no room for the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances are thinner
'Cause there's no hiding place from the Kingdom's throne

So people get ready for the train a-coming
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels humming
You don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

It's always the "diesels" that get me.

Wednesday 11^th January

Eleven days into the New Year and I'm going to abandon my self-imposed moratorium on cartoons. I admit defeat. A few have leaked into the blog in the last days, but here's a whole lot more. The cartoonists say it for me, save me wrestling with prose - and most of all make me laugh. That's a gift I can't spurn, a smile rather than despair or anger.

I wonder at how the English press busies itself with the really important issues. Harry, do we need to know? (With apologies to my Irish correspondent, who commented: "Good to see that the blog is a Harry-free zone.")

Then this charade bled across into ... the Virgin Orbit fiasco ... and threats to Sunak's authority:

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world the usual nutters are at large:

Tuesday 10^th January

I haven't written about Covid for a long time, except in a historical sense. But it's still around. We're "living with" the virus at a different level. Anecdotal Middle Street intelligence tells me that it's rife in Gloucester Royal and even in Stroud Hospital round the corner. After a lunch with 20-odd people from our walking group last Saturday, a friend tested positive, so others have done a lateral flow. I've got a mild cough and cold, but have had a negative result two mornings in a row. It's a while since I reported one of these:

Looking back through this blog, I counted occurrences of the words "coronavirus" and "Covid". In reverse order:

2023 - 3 (we've only just started);
2022 - 80;
2021 - 380;
2020 - 315 (I began the blog on 22nd March).

Consider this ONS report of causes of death in England published at the end of November last year:

Covid is in eighth place. Other conditions demand greater concern.

Contrast the above with three charts - not a like-for-like comparison, but indicative of the change - I posted two years ago in the first two weeks of January 2021:

At the time we were in deep shock. Very frightened. I didn't know how we'd get out of it all. Except the vaccines were just about to roll out. NHS staff were working round the clock at considerable personal risk. Baroness Mone had made £millions out of PPE contracts. Check out the red numbers below:

Monday 9^th January

Some minor reflections on social media, specifically related to the debate about the Twitter-monolith-owned-by-evil-Musk versus Mastodon-or-any-other-egalitarian-decentralised-uncorporate-platform.

I'm enjoying Mastodon. I like being part of the right-on sandal-wearing free-open-source-software community. However, as I've explained before, I've kept my Twitter account open for one passive reason alone - so that I can hear from or about people I don't like, horse's-mouth from the other side. I only actively "toot" on Mastodon.

For example, I learnt yesterday that you can buy this calendar, for £13.95 via Amazon. Don't worry, I definitely won't be making a purchase. Far too much for a relatively small joke, and Amazon? ... no thanks.

It was JR-M himself who alerted me to its publication through his Twitter account:

Beyond this, I benefit from direct unfiltered access to his views. Here's a selection tweeted in the last two months:

The ripe fruit of Brexit is ready to be harvested.
Boris Johnson was a great Prime Minister who ought to have stayed longer.
Removing EU law and igniting the deregulatory bonfire is the route to economic growth.
Dealing with the ECHR's overreach must be part of the solution.
Merely an anti-motorist, cash raising ploy:

Hmmm. You're right, maybe I really don't need Twitter at all.

Sunday 8^th January

I'm allowing myself one cartoon today:

There's a reason for this choice which you can't possibly guess.

Before going to university in 1970 I spent six months at a "prep" Ivy-League-feeder school - Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, USA - as an exchange student. Not an altogether comfortable experience, as I bridled at its smug sense of privilege, and shouldn't really have still been at school (you can read my account here: 👉). However, I made some great friends. One was a lovely young man, kind, caring, laughing, easy to be with. He had a dramatic mane of thick long black hair, a heavy black stubble on his chin. His name was Harry Cocaine.

Why "Cocaine"? His antecedents had migrated from Greece in the early 20th century. The story goes that the immigration official on Ellis Island looked at the family name Kokkinis, thought it wouldn't do and renamed them Cocaine. He must have had a good laugh with his wife when he went home.

Harry has since reclaimed the original name. In 2003 he - I don't know where he was in the intervening years, apart from studying at Amherst - joined the family firm founded in 1924, Table Talk Pies ("America's Favourite Pie"), in Worcester, Massachusetts. Yes, we shared the same home town name. He became chief executive in 2015 when his father Christo died. The company website suggests that he is still in charge.

Here's a Boston TV station report on a new factory they opened up:

I envy him - or I would have done in the 1970s when I was lorry-mad - the fleet of semi-trucks:

So here's the plan. Harry and I said an emotional farewell 52 years ago and haven't been in touch since. I have no idea why I failed to maintain such a friendship. Tomorrow I'm going to send him an email at Table Talk and follow that up with a 'phone call a couple of days later. There's a risk. If I manage to connect, will he still remember me? What the hell, I'm going to try anyway. Nothing ventured ...

Saturday 7^th January

No great desire to comment on anything today. Harry? Oh, pur-lease. Nope, it's time for the first Mapfest of 2023. In descending order, from serious to silly, informative to downright foolish. Click/tap to enlarge any.

Alasdair Rae - Map of global population density

Strategic Forecasting Inc - Population density map of China and Asia

Amazing Maps - Countries surrounding Poland pre-1990 and post-1993 - all change!

Amazing Maps - Parts of the Republic of Ireland are further north than Northern Ireland

Amazing Maps - Map of the Internet in 1969

Amazing Maps - Map Kiwi - Nobody lives here

Amazing Maps - Straight 13,500km line from Liberia to China without crossing an ocean

Terrible Maps - What pedestrians look like across Europe

Terrible Maps - Iceland to Ireland

Terrible Maps - Railway map of Antarctica

Terrible Maps - Roman air bases in 2nd Century AD

Friday 6^th January

Whoopee! The Iron Maiden postage stamps have been announced, available from 12th January. You can pre-order now - hurry! rush! - at the Royal Mail shop: . Click/tap to enlarge all images below.

Hmmm ... still with the head of Queen Liz II. Planned for some time, then? A whiff of hoax? Apparently not. Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood said: "It's incredible to think that Her Majesty, may she rest in peace, saw these and lent her iconic silhouette to them."

This is my kind of news, perfect for a lighter 2023. Not only snaps of band gigs over the years, but also a selection honouring "mascot" Eddie:

The Maiden website explains the four above:

'Iron Maiden' Eddie: The stare that started it all. Born in 1980 - on the cover of the band's debut album.
'The Trooper' Eddie: The unforgettable artwork for one of Iron Maiden's greatest hit singles and, more recently, the logo for their award-winning beer.
'Aces High' Eddie: Reimagined as a fighter pilot for a song honouring the RAF servicemen who defended Britain during the Second World War.
'Senjutsu' Eddie: Samurais, feudal Japan and flashing blades inspired this katana-wielding warrior, from the band's most recent album.

Just what you'd want to stick on the Christmas thank-you letter to Aunt Dorothy, right?

I have never wittingly heard an Iron Maiden song, nor watched a video, let alone been to a gig. BUT ... I have been flown to Corsica by lead singer Bruce Dickinson, who used to moonlight as a pilot for charter airline Astraeus in his music downtime. I discovered yesterday that we attended the same school; he was six years my junior ... and sensibly got expelled.

Maiden commissioned an Astraeus 757 as transport for their "Somewhere Back in Time" tour in 2008 and nicknamed it Ed Force One ... driven of course by Captain Dickinson:

Thursday 5^th January

Some days you need a little something to get going. Oliver Reed called his first drink a "heart-starter". I've listened to this the last two mornings:

"Don't ask me what I think of you,
I might not give the answer that you want me to"

RIP (25th July 2020) Peter Allen Greenbaum. Off his head, bless 'im. Danny Kirwan - typical of Green, the greatest English blues guitarist, that he let other people play the lead solos on songs that he had written - is also sadly no more. But I still have a copy of the "dustbin" album:

Jeremy Cedric Spencer - maracas in the video above - is still playing:

Wednesday 4^th January

Please indulge me today as I go personal and reflect on the family visit at Christmas ... and beyond ...

What pleases me as much as anything is how the children thoroughly reject in thought and action the mean-spirited concept of Brexit ... and embrace Europe, indeed the world. The boys also seem to have adopted my liking for offal (warning for those who are not fans of seriously anatomical food, see below).

Nikko was back from Vienna with his daughter, who is half Serbian Viennese. He returned to Austria in time to celebrate New Year in the wilds of Slovakia with his girlfriend, who is Iranian. The food included meze and Basque haggis, a present from Ben.

Ben and partner Soph are heading back to Bilbao today. They managed a trip while over here to remote Powys, staying near Machynlleth in the house belonging to our friends Liz and Martin Whiteside. To date there is no "hard border" at Chepstow.

Meanwhile, I'm still here in Stroud. But about to put my Christmas gift from Ben in the slow cooker ... morcilla and alubias de Tolosa:

To hell with the 2016 referendum 🖕

Tuesday 3^rd January

Just one map today. In 2022 the planet's (human) population passed 8 billion. Where are we all? Click/tap to enlarge this chart (courtesy of Visual Capitalist) - then zoom-and-scroll or whatever you usually do:

Monday 2^nd January

This new year I've decided not to do a summary of the previous twelve months. We all know too much about it already. Instead - the only looking back I'll do - I'm posting a charming and ingenious Sgt. Pepper "in memoriam" tribute by graphic artist Chris Barker to many (187) of those we lost in 2022. A picture, numbered key and list of names. You will have to "click to enlarge" to see the detail, preferably on the largest screen you own.

Sunday 1^st January

I hope you all had a good Twixmas.

Resolutions, eh? I've decided that I have only one, which I will apply to all of those others I have carried forward from previous years with consummate procrastination. "Do it differently". This means that when I falter, for example when tempted to break the promise I've made to go to the gym, I'll seek a way to get round my objections or substitute an equally beneficial alternative.

The Christmas break has been marked in this house by a notable absence of news consumption, with consequent lifting of the spirits. Kids, cooking, eating, visits to the local, breezy outings on the common. Precious little "doomscrolling". Although I've spoken in these pages about the effect of digesting grim media output in recent years, I'm late in coming to this term, which Mark Barabak of The Times defined as "an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of dystopian news." Odd, because it grew out of lockdown-induced Covid pandemic distress, which is where this blog started. It was one of the "words of the year" chosen by the Oxford Dictionary in 2020. Merriam-Webster had this at the time:

"Doomscrolling and doomsurfing are new terms referring to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing. During times of crisis and uncertainty, some of us pay more attention to the news, looking for answers. And this might not surprise you, but we have to say it: a lot of the news is bad. And yet we keep scrolling, keep reading article after article, unable to turn away from information that depresses us."

Guilty as charged. So ... do it differently.

I can't ignore world events, nor should I. That would be "news avoidance", another phenomenon I've missed that has grown in the nearly three years of this blog. It's a natural reaction for many - I've been tempted - but not necessarily a good thing, as evidenced in the title of a September 2022 paper I spotted - "How News Feels: Anticipated Anxiety as a Factor in News Avoidance and a Barrier to Political Engagement", by Benjamin Toffa, University of Minnesota, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, University of Oxford (19 pages): . No need to read this rather turgid bit of research, I've only posted it for completeness - it was the idea and title that caught my attention.

I don't want to be politically disengaged but I need balance this year. Concentrate on useful action rather than moodily over-observing, like giving support to Stroud's refugee campaign group, anything that will remove the Tories from office, mitigation of Brexit damage.

I may throttle back my love affair with political cartoons. Here's just one for the New Year, courtesy of Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher, cartoonist for The Economist and the Baltimore Sun. I intend to give less mental house room to these people (click to enlarge):