As a Labour supporter i'm worried that Jeremy Corbyn, as much as i agree with his policies, hasn't got the support in the country to win any upcoming General Election and we will be lumbered with a Conservative Government for another five years and as the previous eight years haven't been a success, another half decade of the Blue side in power and even more ideologically driven austerity cuts should scare us all.
What doesn't help Labour is people like the Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbot, who has come out and blamed the BBC for making her look bad on Question Time on Thursday and: 'legitimising mistreatment, bias and abuse against Ms Abbott as a black woman in public life'.
It's absolutely ridiculous that Fiona Bruce made Diane Abbot look bad because Diane Abbot did a good job of that herself.
As any half decent journalist would do, the host kept interrupting Abbot and tried to get her to answer the question the studio audience had asked.
If Abbot had set out Labours plan for Brexit rather than trying to answer the uncomfortable question by avoiding answering it at all then she would have not been interrupted for an answer at all.
That Labour and the Conservatives are equal in the polls despite the absolute debacle of the Conservatives Government reflects badly on Labour but whining and moaning that you are given a rough time because you are a black woman rather than because you were caught out being ill-prepared and unable to steam-roller the new host in front of the Television camera's does nothing to help.
Sunday, 20 January 2019
Saturday, 19 January 2019
Super Blood Wolf Moon And Perigee Syzyg
You don’t have to do much to prepare for the Lunar Eclipse just before dawn on Jan 21, just be awake at 5.15 am and look up at the full, red Moon although if you sleep through it bear in mind that the next one is not until January 2037.
This is not just a Super Blood Wolf Moon but also a Perigee Syzygy if you please but just what is all that?
The Super bit is because it's a Supermoon which is when the full moon coincides with a perigee which is the point at which the moon comes closet to the Earth during its orbit which makes it look 14% bigger.
The blood part is the reddish tint of the moon during a total lunar eclipse and a Wolf Moon is a full moon which occurs in the dead of winter when it’s coldest so when they all occur together we get a Super Blood Wolf Moon
A Syzygy refers to an alignment in a straight line, of three celestial bodies and on January 21 we have the Sun, Moon and Earth all in line (which is why we have a lunar eclipse) and as the moon is at it's Perigee (closest point to earth), it’s called a Perigee Syzygy.
Just set the alarm for 5am, make a coffee and stick your head out the door and gaze in wonder at a spectacular astronomical event, then go back to bed because 5.15am is ridiculously early.
This is not just a Super Blood Wolf Moon but also a Perigee Syzygy if you please but just what is all that?
The Super bit is because it's a Supermoon which is when the full moon coincides with a perigee which is the point at which the moon comes closet to the Earth during its orbit which makes it look 14% bigger.
The blood part is the reddish tint of the moon during a total lunar eclipse and a Wolf Moon is a full moon which occurs in the dead of winter when it’s coldest so when they all occur together we get a Super Blood Wolf Moon
A Syzygy refers to an alignment in a straight line, of three celestial bodies and on January 21 we have the Sun, Moon and Earth all in line (which is why we have a lunar eclipse) and as the moon is at it's Perigee (closest point to earth), it’s called a Perigee Syzygy.
Just set the alarm for 5am, make a coffee and stick your head out the door and gaze in wonder at a spectacular astronomical event, then go back to bed because 5.15am is ridiculously early.
Brits Freeze As Aussies Bake
Winter has well and truly arrived in Britain as blizzards blow in and temperatures plunge below -9°C in parts of the UK.
The MET Office has said that the current cold spell will continue into February with most places seeing sleet and snow and the reliable weather singularity has February 8 through to February 16 as the coldest period in the UK so it looks like scarfs and bobble hats will be the fashion item for a few weeks yet.
Somewhere that doesn't need gloves or thermal underwear is Australia which has just started a forecasted 10 days of above 40°C temperatures and already a daytime 48.9°C has been recorded in South Australia with night-time high of 35.9°C.
As someone who swoons like a Victorian lady when the mercury nudges the mid twenties, i can't imagine what 48.9°C feels like but i know i wouldn't like it much.
One Aussie said: 'You’d be crazy to sit outside on a day like today' although she was being interviewed while sat on the beach which undermined her statement slightly .
New heat records are being broken almost daily and the Australian MET Office recently had to add an additional colour to their heat index for temperatures above 50°C which they expect to hit in the coming days.
Seems strange that as the Australians bake we are shivering in -9°C and buying snow shovels but i know what i prefer and it doesn't include the lingering smell of sun screen.
The MET Office has said that the current cold spell will continue into February with most places seeing sleet and snow and the reliable weather singularity has February 8 through to February 16 as the coldest period in the UK so it looks like scarfs and bobble hats will be the fashion item for a few weeks yet.
Somewhere that doesn't need gloves or thermal underwear is Australia which has just started a forecasted 10 days of above 40°C temperatures and already a daytime 48.9°C has been recorded in South Australia with night-time high of 35.9°C.
As someone who swoons like a Victorian lady when the mercury nudges the mid twenties, i can't imagine what 48.9°C feels like but i know i wouldn't like it much.
One Aussie said: 'You’d be crazy to sit outside on a day like today' although she was being interviewed while sat on the beach which undermined her statement slightly .
New heat records are being broken almost daily and the Australian MET Office recently had to add an additional colour to their heat index for temperatures above 50°C which they expect to hit in the coming days.
Seems strange that as the Australians bake we are shivering in -9°C and buying snow shovels but i know what i prefer and it doesn't include the lingering smell of sun screen.
Friday, 18 January 2019
Trump Literally Has A Lot On His Plate
Donald Trump has tweeted that he is the most unfairly and worst treated President since Abraham Lincoln which is a bit of a stretch as three other Presidents were killed in Office since Abe which is slightly worse then being mocked for being a racist idiot but there is so much to mock about him it would be criminal to not make fun of him.
Something which doesn't seem to get as much mockery as his hair, temper tantrums and small penis hands is his weight, especially as he is the third fattest President ever to sit his wide load behind the oval Office desk.
The fattest President was 340 pounds or 24 stones of William Taft followed by Grover Cleveland who broke the scales at 280 pounds or 20 stones and then comes Trump at 239 pounds which is 17 stone although looking at his pictures i think that may be fake news right there.
Although he has a long way to go to catch up with the Tubby Taft, if we suspend sense and take the 17 stone figure as true, Cleveland is an achievable 3 stone away and if he keeps tucking into the burgers and cola's like he does, then he may be able to add second fattest President to his already impressive CV of seconds including second dumbest after George W Bush, second most perverted after John F Kennedy and very soon if the rumours are true, he will be the second President to resign in disgrace after Richard Nixon.
Something which doesn't seem to get as much mockery as his hair, temper tantrums and small
The fattest President was 340 pounds or 24 stones of William Taft followed by Grover Cleveland who broke the scales at 280 pounds or 20 stones and then comes Trump at 239 pounds which is 17 stone although looking at his pictures i think that may be fake news right there.
Although he has a long way to go to catch up with the Tubby Taft, if we suspend sense and take the 17 stone figure as true, Cleveland is an achievable 3 stone away and if he keeps tucking into the burgers and cola's like he does, then he may be able to add second fattest President to his already impressive CV of seconds including second dumbest after George W Bush, second most perverted after John F Kennedy and very soon if the rumours are true, he will be the second President to resign in disgrace after Richard Nixon.
Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Second Referendum
Looking into my crystal ball i see a second referendum and Brexit being overturned and the whole sorry mess being forgotten and we live long and happy lives staying in the EU but that is an affront to Democracy i hear time after time.
Democracy, the act of placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and can cause untold lasting damage to every corner of our lives.
So 52% voted to leave against 48% wanting to stay but that was in 2016, we are now in 2019 and opinions have changed and moods have swung especially now we know the consequences of Brexit.
We held an election in May 2015 and had another one in June 2017 after 26 months to elect a Government which is less time than between June 2016 and today, 43 months.
Short of a revolution as in Ukraine, we are stuck with them and 5 years until Democracy wheels its way back again.
Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days and no way to remove the party if its breaks its promises or make u-turns on the manifesto it was elected upon.
It seems that the thing the Brexiteers are praising the highest is really not that praiseworthy and is completely movable depending on whether your side won or not.
A second referendum is the way to go, mostly as we now know the far reaching consequences of what will happen if we go ahead with it, but also because so much has changed in the 43 months since we made the fateful decision so let's give the Leavers a chance to reflect on their previous decision.
Democracy, the act of placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and can cause untold lasting damage to every corner of our lives.
So 52% voted to leave against 48% wanting to stay but that was in 2016, we are now in 2019 and opinions have changed and moods have swung especially now we know the consequences of Brexit.
We held an election in May 2015 and had another one in June 2017 after 26 months to elect a Government which is less time than between June 2016 and today, 43 months.
Short of a revolution as in Ukraine, we are stuck with them and 5 years until Democracy wheels its way back again.
Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days and no way to remove the party if its breaks its promises or make u-turns on the manifesto it was elected upon.
It seems that the thing the Brexiteers are praising the highest is really not that praiseworthy and is completely movable depending on whether your side won or not.
A second referendum is the way to go, mostly as we now know the far reaching consequences of what will happen if we go ahead with it, but also because so much has changed in the 43 months since we made the fateful decision so let's give the Leavers a chance to reflect on their previous decision.
Tuesday, 15 January 2019
The Brexit Vote Today
After Theresa May delayed the original Brexit vote date in the face of a significant defeat, they will get the chance to either accept or reject her agreement today.
As usual, it's not straight forward so here is a breakdown of how things could pan out.
Looking at the numbers, the way things are almost certain to go are:
1 - House of Commons debate Theresa May's current Brexit plan and once finished the House of Commons Speaker will ask those in favour of the amendment to shout 'aye' and those against the amendment to shout 'no'. Plenty of MPs will shout 'no' so there will be a vote and MPs will then go off and register their vote.
2 - MP's then all file back into the Chamber and the results are read out.
3 - Mrs May loses and then has three days to come up with some next steps and present them to MPs.
The option for Theresa May are then:
4a - After three sittings she can just put the same deal to the House of Commons all over again.
4b - She can go back to Brussels for more negotiations and present an amended deal.
4c - The Opposition can table a no-confidence vote and trigger a general election.
4d - Mrs May calls another referendum with the options of her deal, no deal or remain in the EU.
4e - She could follow the David Cameron route and just resign
The first three are almost guaranteed, it is almost impossible for her to get the number of votes for her deal as it stands to go through so it's looking at the 5 options with 4b the most likely and it's back to the House of Commons on Friday 18 January but 4c and another Election a strong contender and 4d the most likely if she gets turned down again on Friday.
Hold onto your hats because this week could be very exciting times as Mrs May has ran out of long grass to kick Brexit into.
As usual, it's not straight forward so here is a breakdown of how things could pan out.
Looking at the numbers, the way things are almost certain to go are:
1 - House of Commons debate Theresa May's current Brexit plan and once finished the House of Commons Speaker will ask those in favour of the amendment to shout 'aye' and those against the amendment to shout 'no'. Plenty of MPs will shout 'no' so there will be a vote and MPs will then go off and register their vote.
2 - MP's then all file back into the Chamber and the results are read out.
3 - Mrs May loses and then has three days to come up with some next steps and present them to MPs.
The option for Theresa May are then:
4a - After three sittings she can just put the same deal to the House of Commons all over again.
4b - She can go back to Brussels for more negotiations and present an amended deal.
4c - The Opposition can table a no-confidence vote and trigger a general election.
4d - Mrs May calls another referendum with the options of her deal, no deal or remain in the EU.
4e - She could follow the David Cameron route and just resign
The first three are almost guaranteed, it is almost impossible for her to get the number of votes for her deal as it stands to go through so it's looking at the 5 options with 4b the most likely and it's back to the House of Commons on Friday 18 January but 4c and another Election a strong contender and 4d the most likely if she gets turned down again on Friday.
Hold onto your hats because this week could be very exciting times as Mrs May has ran out of long grass to kick Brexit into.
Sunday, 13 January 2019
Don't Get Well Too Soon Piers
Good Morning Britain presenter and all round irritant Piers Morgan has issued pictures of himself in hospital with tubes in his nose.
Immediate thoughts were to wonder how the operation to get his head surgically removed from Donald Trump's backside went but it turned out he was suffering from stomach gastritis and inflammation of the small intestines.
The good news is that it means he will be off our screens for a few weeks as he is too ill to go back to interrupting Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain but the bad news is that he will only be off our screens for a few weeks unless the doctors can find another reason to keep him in.
Maybe the medics can find something else, nothing bad obviously, but something that requires 12 months recuperation and definitely no appearing on TV until at least January 2020 if not for him, think of our mental health at having to wake up to his inane chuntering every morning!
As for Good Morning Britain, give Richard Madley a call and try and get him back while Piers is having an NHS bathwash, he at least didn't make me want to throw my bowl of Cornflakes at the TV screen at 6am.
Immediate thoughts were to wonder how the operation to get his head surgically removed from Donald Trump's backside went but it turned out he was suffering from stomach gastritis and inflammation of the small intestines.
The good news is that it means he will be off our screens for a few weeks as he is too ill to go back to interrupting Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain but the bad news is that he will only be off our screens for a few weeks unless the doctors can find another reason to keep him in.
Maybe the medics can find something else, nothing bad obviously, but something that requires 12 months recuperation and definitely no appearing on TV until at least January 2020 if not for him, think of our mental health at having to wake up to his inane chuntering every morning!
As for Good Morning Britain, give Richard Madley a call and try and get him back while Piers is having an NHS bathwash, he at least didn't make me want to throw my bowl of Cornflakes at the TV screen at 6am.
China Banning Religion
My usual reaction to anyone who tells me that they are religious is to smile politely, pat them on the head and then completely ignore them but they are going a bit further than that in China and are actively trying to banish the practice.
Considering the bloodshed and persecution the Church performed thrusting their beliefs on other nations for centuries i should not care and in all honestly, i don't particularly but as my beef with the Church is the way they force their beliefs on people i guess the way the Chinese Atheist Government are going about it doesn't feel particularly right.
Forcibly closing Churches, jailing religious leaders and intimidating churchgoers is not the way President Xi Jinping should be going about things because that stinks of the intolerance of others beliefs that is usually preserved for the religious and atheists are better than that.
Far better to leave them to their own beliefs and try to educate them that their beliefs are as misguided as belief in the Tooth Fairy or Father Christmas but if they haven't got the braincells to work that out then they aren't that much of a threat anyway.
The Communist Party plan is to retranslate the Bible to 'establish a correct understanding of the text' although in all probability the reason behind it all is that Christianity is on the rise in China and Christianity is seen as a Western ideal.
I am all for removing religion but i would rather people thought about it long and hard and rejected it themselves then have it imposed on them because that's what the Church does and that is just as wrong.
Considering the bloodshed and persecution the Church performed thrusting their beliefs on other nations for centuries i should not care and in all honestly, i don't particularly but as my beef with the Church is the way they force their beliefs on people i guess the way the Chinese Atheist Government are going about it doesn't feel particularly right.
Forcibly closing Churches, jailing religious leaders and intimidating churchgoers is not the way President Xi Jinping should be going about things because that stinks of the intolerance of others beliefs that is usually preserved for the religious and atheists are better than that.
Far better to leave them to their own beliefs and try to educate them that their beliefs are as misguided as belief in the Tooth Fairy or Father Christmas but if they haven't got the braincells to work that out then they aren't that much of a threat anyway.
The Communist Party plan is to retranslate the Bible to 'establish a correct understanding of the text' although in all probability the reason behind it all is that Christianity is on the rise in China and Christianity is seen as a Western ideal.
I am all for removing religion but i would rather people thought about it long and hard and rejected it themselves then have it imposed on them because that's what the Church does and that is just as wrong.
Friday, 11 January 2019
Brexit About To Get More Fun
More and more i hear people moaning about Brexit and how they are bored with hearing about the whole damned thing but now that we are getting to the sharp end of things, its anything but boring and becoming more fun the closer we get to the March deadline.
Just when we all thought that there wasn't any the advantages of Brexit, we are now finding out that actually the main advantage is that we can climb out of bed with the EU and get into the one where Donald Trump is ready to flood our Supermarkets with poisonous chicken from the USA. Yummy.
Theresa May has done the impossible and come up with a deal that nobody on either side of the argument likes, the remainers don't like it because they want another referendum which will reverse Brexit and end all the silliness while the Quitters on the other side read the line 'Leave the EU' as 'tick here to kick all the bloody foreigners out' but May's deal leaves them here still doing the important jobs like nursing.
As the end crawls closer and the Government face more and more losses in the House of Commons, if you are not enjoying watching the Conservatives tear themselves apart over a mess entirely of there own making then you must be either dead inside or Theresa May.
Even Trump called it political turmoil and that's Trump speaking, a man who you wouldn't trust to face the right way on the toilet so enjoy it because the Conservatives are falling apart in some cosmic karma for being so awful and it's going to get worse before, as we all know deep down in our hearts, Brexit gets pulled and we all carry on as before and it would all have been for nothing.
Just when we all thought that there wasn't any the advantages of Brexit, we are now finding out that actually the main advantage is that we can climb out of bed with the EU and get into the one where Donald Trump is ready to flood our Supermarkets with poisonous chicken from the USA. Yummy.
Theresa May has done the impossible and come up with a deal that nobody on either side of the argument likes, the remainers don't like it because they want another referendum which will reverse Brexit and end all the silliness while the Quitters on the other side read the line 'Leave the EU' as 'tick here to kick all the bloody foreigners out' but May's deal leaves them here still doing the important jobs like nursing.
As the end crawls closer and the Government face more and more losses in the House of Commons, if you are not enjoying watching the Conservatives tear themselves apart over a mess entirely of there own making then you must be either dead inside or Theresa May.
Even Trump called it political turmoil and that's Trump speaking, a man who you wouldn't trust to face the right way on the toilet so enjoy it because the Conservatives are falling apart in some cosmic karma for being so awful and it's going to get worse before, as we all know deep down in our hearts, Brexit gets pulled and we all carry on as before and it would all have been for nothing.
Thursday, 10 January 2019
How America Has Not Been A Force For Good In Middle East
Much of what comes out of the current American Government is laughable but i had to get some extra strong stitches put into my splitting sides after US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, called the US 'a force for good in the Middle East'.
'The United States under President Trump has reasserted its traditional role as a force for good in this region' he said before referring to the US as 'having always been a liberating force, not an occupying power' Pompeo quipped while keeping a commendable straight face.
Such a shame that something like evidence and facts gets in the way of Pompeo's huge whopper, like backing the known Al-Queada operatives who had fought against the USA in Iraq to topple the Libyan government, essentially providing air cover for these jihadist to run rampant across the country, that wasn't particularly a good thing.
Before the Libyan horror show there was the highly misguided and mistaken Iraq war which filled the country with terrorists who made the short trip into Syria and were the grateful recipients of American weapons and financial backing until they crossed back into Iraq when they became the bad guys again, only bad guys now armed with American weapons.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the first American invasion is still ongoing and Yemen is being razed to the ground by Saudi Arabia with American backing and Israel continues to poison the whole region while it goes about its deadly business of killing Palestinians who object to their land being stolen and the population held under military occupation.
Then there is the Iran deal which they have pulled out from which was stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons so how we are supposed to believe that the words 'force for good' could ever be attributed to a nation responsible for the suffering of tens of millions of civilians?
A force for death and bloodshed in the Middle East certainly, but a force for good is a stretch to far for even this appallingly awful American Government.
'The United States under President Trump has reasserted its traditional role as a force for good in this region' he said before referring to the US as 'having always been a liberating force, not an occupying power' Pompeo quipped while keeping a commendable straight face.
Such a shame that something like evidence and facts gets in the way of Pompeo's huge whopper, like backing the known Al-Queada operatives who had fought against the USA in Iraq to topple the Libyan government, essentially providing air cover for these jihadist to run rampant across the country, that wasn't particularly a good thing.
Before the Libyan horror show there was the highly misguided and mistaken Iraq war which filled the country with terrorists who made the short trip into Syria and were the grateful recipients of American weapons and financial backing until they crossed back into Iraq when they became the bad guys again, only bad guys now armed with American weapons.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the first American invasion is still ongoing and Yemen is being razed to the ground by Saudi Arabia with American backing and Israel continues to poison the whole region while it goes about its deadly business of killing Palestinians who object to their land being stolen and the population held under military occupation.
Then there is the Iran deal which they have pulled out from which was stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons so how we are supposed to believe that the words 'force for good' could ever be attributed to a nation responsible for the suffering of tens of millions of civilians?
A force for death and bloodshed in the Middle East certainly, but a force for good is a stretch to far for even this appallingly awful American Government.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)