Today Is...International Overdose Awareness Day

International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.
I assume the overdoses implied are drugs but the saying is that you can never get too much of a good thing but try saying that to someone who has just eaten 1,800 cups of rice because they would be too busy dying to hear you because that's how much rice you will need to eat in one sitting to overdose and die.  
Scientists at ASPScience have crunched the numbers and have compiled a list of just how much of something is enough to overdose and actually bring your living to an abrupt end.
You may want to stop at that 24th Green Potato because 25 is the number to have you turning up your toes and you would need to have a massive fruit bowl to hold the 11,000 Oranges you would need to eat to die from a fatal Vitamin C Overdose.
Cherry Pips are deadly but only if you eat 588 of them so far more achievable is the 100 apple pips or the 480 bananas you would need to digest to get 'death from fruit' on your death certificate.
Tuna is so full of Mercury that 4 tins of the fish in one sitting would bring down the curtain early as would 80 cups of coffee, 6 litres of water, 40 energy drinks or 13 shots of alcohol.
You would need to like your tea sweet to be able to handle 6 cups of sugar in it but it would be your last as would the 40 bars of chocolate or the 29 tablespoons of pepper, 48 tablespoons of seasoning or 47 teaspoons of Salt.
Just to round it out if you somehow accidentally ate 24 tubes of Toothpaste you would have lovely smelling breath for the funeral director and we all know that cigarettes are bad for your health if you smoke them but if you decide to eat them instead, keep to munching under 5 a day (or half a cigar) if you
want to stay alive.
Stay healthy and while an apple a day may keep the doctor away, eating 100 of the cores won't keep away the undertaker.

Today Is...Mikhail Gorbachev Dies

I always had a bit of a soft spot for Mikhail Gorbachev because it always seemed to me that the whole Soviet Union break up thing was a situation that he began rolling which kind of got away from him and before he realised what was happening, it had snowballed and he had done himself out of a job.
As a Cold War kid in the 80's, i remember the quick turnaround of Soviet Leaders from Brezhnev to Andropov and Chernenko who all seemed scary men in a nation armed to the teeth with nuclear missiles and then along come Gorbachev in 1986 with his Perestroika and Glasnost and meeting with the Western leaders to reduce the Nuclear Arsenals and finally it seemed that the insanity which was Mutually Assured Destruction was a reducing threat.
He has to take the credit of meeting up with the acrimonious Ronald Reagan and his equally odious sidekick Margaret Thatcher at summit conferences to limit nuclear weapons and playing a major part in ending the Cold War and ending the Soviet Union in the process.
It was Andropov who realised that the Soviet Defence budget was crippling them and he started the reformations which Gorbachev continued although during later interviews, he admitted that he envisioned a gradual change to a form of Socialism over the course of a decade or two, relaxing things in the Communist Soviet Union and moving towards a more gentler social democracy but as you probably noticed, this plan had one fatal flaw, and that fatal flaw was the entire plan and within a few short years the Soviet Union had broken up and Communism was falling all around Eastern Europe.
It may have earned him the Nobel Peace Prize but as the USSR crumbled, his powers were transferred to Russian President Boris Yeltsin who's political endeavours are best summed up by the story that he once was so drunk while flying to a meeting in Scotland that he couldn't get off the plane. 
Gorbachev never made any secret that events just overtook him and my memory of him will always be in my minds eye, as he cleared his desk that final day in 1991, he looked around him and thought 'How the hell did this happen?'
He did spend his new found free-time winning a Nobel Peace Prize, starring in Pizza Hut advertisements and making an album of love songs before dying aged 91 with a good legacy which is very rare for leaders from that side of the former Iron Curtain.

Today Is...International Day Against Nuclear Tests

The United Nations General Assembly declared today as 'a time to increase awareness and education about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world'.
There are nine countries that possess nuclear weapons, the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea but even more countries have given up their nuclear weapons programs believe they were more of a liability than an asset for national security.
The apartheid regime in South Africa built six warheads before dismantling them in 1989 while Sweden had an advanced plan to build up to a hundred warheads, but gave up the project as too expensive in the 1960s.
Argentina and Brazil have both pursued covert nuclear weapons programs in the 90s as did Taiwan and South Korea who began developing plutonium production programs until the US persuaded them to halt and rely on Washington for security. Japan has has all the materials and know-how to build a nuclear warhead quickly if it decided to follow that path.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq dismantled their nuclear weapons program after the first Gulf war in 1991, and Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi handed over his nuclear weapons program to the US in 2003 which as it turned out later was a massive own goal by both and a warning to any future despots considering giving up their atomic dreams.
America hold the dubious honour of being the only country to use nuclear weapons but with India and Pakistan not as stable as they could be, North Korea making regular bellicose statements and Israel in a constant state of warmongering with its neighbours, they may not be the last.
Throw in the horror of an accident, and recent examples show just how close we have come to wiping ourselves out with our own nuclear weapons, and it appears that we are holding on to these extraordinarily dangerous weapons not out of necessity but because of the cachet and feeling of superiority it gives us.
With some unstable countries having a nuclear arsenal and some very unstable leaders in charge of the nuclear button, it does seem a huge risk to hold onto weapons we will never likely use at huge expense and massive danger to us but we can consider ourselves fortunate that these insane devices of global destruction are only in the custody of responsible governments who only have the interests of humanity in mind...hmmm.

Today Is...St Moses the Black Day

Back in his day blacks were treated by some as sub human and a lower order than the whites (obviously that view has not changed much for some over the next 1700 years) so not unexpectedly he went off the rails sometimes and he was considered a bad apple on account of all the murdering and robbing he got up to which is exactly why he lost his first job as the slave of a government official in Egypt.
In order to make ends meet he became the leader of a gang of bandits who would roam the Nile Valley, spreading terror and violence and as he was a large, imposing figure, not many people resisted when he waved my knife in their face and demanded their money.
On one occasion a man caught him making a getaway which annoyed him immensely so he ran back but seeing a huge man waving a knife screaming that he was going to kill him gave him a clue of what was about to happen and he had the sense to make a run for it to fetch the authorities so instead he killed four of his sheep and legged it.
Obviously, a big man ugly enough to make an onion cry covered in sheep's blood wasn't going to be that hard to find so he hid out amongst some monks in a colony in the desert and they fed him and accepted him so he asked to join them, became a Christian, was baptised and joined the monastic community.
Some years later a group of thieves wanted to rob the monastery where they were living but he caught them off guard and singlehandedly beat them all to a pulp and dragged their bloodied bodies to the chief monk to ask what to do because after-all it wasn’t a monkly thing to kill them and the head of the monastery said to forgive them and send them away, which surprised the robbers so much that they all apologised, converted and became monks too.
His death at 75 was a noble act, another group of bandits attacked the monastery and the brothers wanted to defend themselves, but he told them to retreat rather than take up weapons and he would stay behind to fight off the warriors so he stood there alone and prayed for Gods arse kicking help.
Now God might be good but he isn't that good because a 75 year old man screaming 'come on then, you want a piece of me' to a horde of tooled up warriors ended about as well as you imagine.

Today Is...First Edition Of Guinness Book of Records Published

Us Humans have accomplished some truly remarkable things in our short time on this planet but we have also done some wacky things and from today in 1955 we were able to read about the most impressive, extreme, and strangest records humanity has achieved.
You can set a world record for anything these days and there are some very honourable and serious records to the downright stupid and to be fair as impressive as some are, we all really like the downright stupid ones.
Here is a collection of the World's most bizarre fastest, highest, largest, longest and general most records.

Fastest marathon dressed as an elf - 2 hrs 58 mins 16 seconds.
Fastest time to push an orange one mile with the nose - 22 mins 41 secs.

Highest Jump by a Guinea Pig - 20 cm
Highest tightrope walk - 3,150m (10,335 ft)

Largest natural breasts - 102ZZZ bra size
Largest penis - 9.5 inches flaccid and 13.5 inches erect

Longest Ear Hair - 13.2cm.
Longest time breath held - 24 min 37.36 sec.
Longest duration balancing on one foot - 76 hours 40 minutes
Longest fingernails - 28ft, 4.5in
Longest moustache - 14 ft
Longest kiss - 58 hrs, 35 mins 58 secs.
Longest fart - 2 mins 42 secs
Longest burp - 18.1 seconds
Longest marriage - 86 yrs, 9 mnths 16 days
Longest tongue - 10.1 cm (3.97 in)

Most live Snails On a Face - 43
Most Eggs Crushed with the Head in 60 seconds - 80
Most People Brushing Their Teeth Simultaneously - 10,800
Most Married Person - Linda Lou Taylor married 23 times.
Most children delivered at a single birth - 9
Most feet sniffed - 5,600
Most separate lightning strikes survived - 7
Most female orgasms in an hour - 134
Most cockroaches eaten in 60 seconds - 36
Most body piercings - 4,225
Most watches eaten - 5 in 1 hour and 34 minutes.
Most people in a Smart car - 20
Most nails hammered with the head in one minute - 20
Most sexual partners in 24 hours - 919

Prigozhin Putin's Latest Victim

As soon as he turned on Vladimir Putin and was accused of stabbing him in the back, it was never going to end well for Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin who was last seen falling from the sky in a flaming plane above Russia along with nine unfortunate victims who were literally in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Prigozhin then joins a growing list of critics of the Russian President who met untimely deaths including the former Russian FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko who was given tea at a meeting poisoned with radioactive polonium-210.
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot four times at close range during a shopping trip after reporting on state corruption and Boris Berezovsky fled to Britain from Russia to escape Putin after criticising him although putting distance between them didn't stop him being found dead in his bathroom and fleeing to Britain almost never worked for Sergei Skripal who was accused of spying against Russia and had the deadly poison Novichok smeared on his houses door handle and was found slumped on a bench although he survived.
The Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, was gunned down outside the Kremlin as he walked home and a human rights campaigner was kidnapped and shot in the head when she began compiling evidence of Russian war crimes in Chechnya, a theme picked up by journalist Paul Klebnikov which led to the same murderous conclusion as he was gunned down outside his office.
Denis Voronenkov spoke out against Putin and was another recipient of a Putin ordered hit after he tried to flee into Ukraine and Ukraine was also the place where Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russian oil producer Lukoil, who criticised the war in Ukraine and then found himself 'falling' from a sixth floor window, the former top Lukoil executive, Alexander Subbotin's body was discovered in the basement of his country house.
Prigozhin should therefore probably have finished the job he started and gone all out to remove Putin from power because if we know anything about Putin, it's that he really, really holds grudges.

That Trump Mugshot

My photographer friend called it the Kubrik stare and the Director used it to great effect in films such as A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket to show a character was an unstable deranged individual although personally i think Trump went with it to hide his double/triple chins.
Trump's indictment for his activities in trying to overturn the 2020 Election makes him only the fourth former American President to achieve the accomplishment with the other three being him also but it is sure to become one of the images of the 21st century which, depending on which side of the fence you are on, has been great for some and not so good for others.
As excited as a monkey with the key to the gates of a banana plantation are those who think of Trump as something they would scrape off the sole of their shoes and even better of you have a passing knowledge of Photoshop because i have seen some brilliantly funny meme's of the orange buffoon.
Not so keen on seeing their hero treated like a common criminal are the Trump supporters who continue to act the useful idiots and swallow the lies he craps out denying he has done anything which you would need to be considerably thicker than a submarine door to believe but these are people who aspire to have an IQ as large as their show size so, what ya gonna do?    
Obviously Trump is keen to regain the White House so he can pardon himself and avoid jail time and someone as narcissistic and awful as Donald J Trump being in charge of anything has proven to go together as well as drinking copious amounts of Whisky and driving but to his supporters he is leading the fight against a corrupt left wing dominating American politics but to everyone els he is just a pathetic, obese man child who has been convicted of sexual assault and crimes against hair and self tanning lotion.
Not my President so i don't really care but wow it's funny watching his demise.

Luis Rubiales Victim Blaming

It really shouldn't be a debate but the Head of the Spanish FA, Luis Rubiales, continues to defend himself by saying he did nothing wrong by grabbing and kissing the female Spanish player, Jenni Hermoso, full on the lips during the medal ceremony of the World Cup Final.
Pathetically the Spanish FA and the European Football body did nothing and it was the World Governing Body, FIFA, who has suspended Rubiales and the Spanish FA have actively defended him and have said they will take legal action against Hermosa for lying after she said that at no point did she give consent for Rubiales to kiss her.
As part of the defence the Spanish FA have released 4 photos showing Hermosa lifting the Spanish FA Head up and agreeing to a little kiss although the TV Pictures watched by 80 million viewers show that at all times during that moment Rubiale's feet are on the floor which means the photographs have been obviously doctored which only add another layer to this sorry saga of unwanted sexual attention by a powerful man.
On the Final whistle of the World Cup Final victory over England, Rubiales is seen to grab his crutch in a crude victory gesture for which he has apologised for but it is his refusal to not only resign but admit he did anything wrong by kissing Hermosa and trying to blame her for instigating it that had forced  
11 coaching and technical staff across Spanish football to resign and the entire Women's team to refuse to play for their country while Rubiales remains in his job.
FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has come out with his 'unconditional support' to Hermoso and 'condemns the intolerable behaviour of the Spanish football chief'.
Former Arsenal star Hector Bellerin summed it up when he said: 'What is happening is truly shameful. From representing our country with that level of vulgarity, misrepresenting the victim's statements and, on top of that, having the audacity to blame her, going on to victimise her for having committed an abuse, are facts that no one would do. The narcissist never believes he has made a mistake, he is capable of lying, manipulating the truth and making the victim guilty in order to maintain his power above others'.
Such a shame that the brilliant achievements of the Spanish Women's Team are being overshadowed by the shameful and misogynistic actions the very people they were representing who are doing so much to smear the victim.

Today Is...Edmond Halley First Observes His Comet

Edmond Halley did stand on some pretty impressive shoulders when he observed the famous Comet which was named after him and said, Hey, i'm sure i've seen that one before.
Aristotle, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Sir Isaac Newton all tinkered with the ideas of Comet's but it was Halley who did the maths and stated that the Comet's which had been observed since 240BC was in fact, the same object returning about every 76 years and his reward was to have the Comet named after him and in turn a one eyed country and western singer named his band after him in the 1950's.
It last appeared in our skies in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061 but it does leave behind a couple of impressive meteor shower's, the Eta Aquariids in early May and the Orionids in October. 
Edmond Halley predicted the return of his Comet in 1758 but missed it on account of him dying in 1742 but it will be zooming by for quite a few years yet as the peanut shaped 'dirty snowball' 9.3 miles long and 5 miles wide which photo-bombed (Embroidery bombed?) the Bayeux Tapestry when it flew by during the Battle of Hastings in 1066 will be visiting us for either the next 10 million years if it stays intact or 10 thousand years if it breaks up or not at all if it gets too close to Jupiter or Saturn and gets kicked out the Solar System although Mark Twain may have wished that happened a while ago.
He famously said that as he was born within hours of Halley's Comet passing the earth, he would go to the great big steamboat in the sky with it also and it must have come as much as a surprise to him when it showed up and hours later he died of a heart attack.

Today Is...Saint Louis of France Feast Day

Quite impressive that this guy managed to get a city named after him in a place that didn't exist for another 500 years but between fighting the British and making his way onto multiple Crusades he managed to get himself a Sainthood.
When his father died he inherited the French throne and was expected to continue his strict religious oversights as the 'lieutenant of God on Earth' which came with the crown but knowing that a bit of a pray wasn't going to cut it, he introduced new laws which made blaspheming punishable by mutilation of the
tongue and ordered the burning of some 12,000 manuscript copies of important Jewish books but the Pope wasn't satisfied and suggested that he join in on the crusades against the Muslims currently going on in the Middle East.
By the time he got his act together the Christians were on Crusade number seven and with hindsight maybe he should have asked more questions about what had happened at the other six but off he we went to Egypt with a thousand men and they were swiftly captured by the Egyptian army and more than the entire yearly revenue for all of France had to be paid for his ransom.
Being that massive ransoms for captured Kings who make almighty cock-ups of Crusades are expensive, he kicked out all the Jews who were charging interest on loans in France which now had to be paid to him instead of them so he put away the Francs he earned and the Pope came along again and said such a shame about the seventh crusade but i have a feeling that an eighth would be super successful.
Probably to nobody’s surprise, number eight worked out even worse than the first time and after attacking Tunis, Louis promptly came down with a fatal case of dysentery and died.
With all the mangled blasphemous tongues and the faint smell of burning Jewish books in the air all in the name of God, he managed to get myself venerated as a Saint, one of a few Saint's ever who died of the squirts.

Today Is...British Troops Burn Down The White House

Donald Trump, never the most cerebral of men, once accused Canada of burning down the White House but as much as i am happy for someone else to take the blame for what us brave Brits do, it's not easy to pin that on Canada, considering that Canada didn’t exist then so hands up, it was us back in the day when the British solution to American's playing up used to be sending over a drop-dead gorgeous British force to burn down the seat of Government and a few other places for good measure.
The courageous and chivalrous Brits did plan to burn down all of Washington, President James Madison had run off screaming like a big girls blouse when the strikingly handsome Brits turned up with the matches but they were foiled by a heavy thunderstorm which kept putting out the fires so the daredevil's gave up the plan and content with what they had done, returned back to Blightly triumphantly for tea and crumpets.
It all came about when in 1814, as part of the 1812 war, to be fair the heroic army did have to travel there by sea as airplanes hadn't been invented so explains why we were two years late and the attack was in retaliation for American burning the Administration Centre in York, Canada.  
With an army of 4,500 fearless and well fanciable men, the lionhearted Brits docked, stomped 50 miles inland and sparked up Washignton like a Christmas Tree and then returned to their ships only after pausing to heroicly defeat an American army at the Battle of Bladensburg on the way back.
Madison, after wetting every pair of pants he owned, waited three and a half weeks to make sure the gorgeous and indomitable Brits had left before returning and held a special session in a Hotel, one of the few buildings the dishy invaders left untouched and worked out their response which amounted to a
strongly worded letter to the British Authorities condemning the destruction of the public buildings as needless vandalism.
The Government Buildings were rebuilt but it is a myth that the building was painted white to hide the scorch marks as the stout-hearted Brits burnt the place to the ground and all that was left was a couple of exterior wars which then had to be pulled down anyway so there were no scorch marks.

Today Is...WWW Released To Public

What i know about the workings of computers would have to be written in a very large font to even fit onto the head of an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Dual Core 2.6 GHz CPU so when the guy who spent most of one afternoon faffing about behind my PC to upgrade my broadband connection mentioned the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web my second thought was that if he spent less time yakking and hinting for cups of coffee he would of finished hours ago.
My first thought was how to subtly mention he needed a belt so every time he bent over i wasn't greeted by what reminded me of two, very white space hoppers trying to escape his jeans.
Apparently, the Internet is the hardware which runs the World Wide Web Software but Tim Berners-Lee called it 'Mesh' which evolved into the World Wide Web which revolutionised the World but reminiscing on his invention decades later, he wasn't too pleased with what his baby has become.
His concerns were over how the Web had created opportunities for scammers and given a voice to those who spread hatred and made all kinds of crime easier to commit but while the WWW seems to be a bit of a Wild West, obviously there are some words and phrases that if typed into Google will bring you to the attention of the authorities such as Assassination, Dirty Bomb, Militia, Terrorism, Anthrax, Ammonium Nitrate or How To Assassinate a World Leaders but there are a host of innocent words that could also see you bundled onto an aeroplane and landing in Cuba wearing a fetching orange jumpsuit.
The more of the 'alert' words the shadowy types find in an email or electronic communication, the further up the list of potential evil-doers you rise but some of the words on the list are seemingly Innocent but hide evil intentions, such as Drill, Authorities, Stuck, Recruitment, Aid, Watch, Blizzard, Salmonella, Cancelled, Agriculture, Exercise, Subway, Recovery, Southwest, Landing, Cloud, Pork, Wave, Electric and Worm and the mention of North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, El Paso, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, China, Colombia, Mexico and San Diego which must play havoc with the Authorities email system.
I don't understand why the number 2600 attracts unwanted attention but if you are STUCK in the SUBWAY with a bad case of SALMONELLA from a PORK chop whilst on the way to a
RECRUITMENT Day in the SOUTHWEST during a BLIZZARD, you may want to rethink sending that text or email.

Today Is...Captain Cook Claims Australia For Britain

After two years of sailing, British Captain James Cook landed in Botany Bay where he has stuck a Union flag in the soil and said nice place, we'll take it.
What the natives thought is anyone guess and King George III must have thought, hmmm, what are we going to do with a land half a world away but of course the resourceful Brits did find a use for it, they sent their criminals there and look what they did to the place, let the local nursery school name their towns and cities so you can visit Nobby, Bong Bong, Wagga Wagga, Cocklebiddy, Coo Wee Rup, Humpty Doo, Iron Knob, Koolyanobbing, Mount Buggery, Wooloolmooloo or Tittybong.
It's amazing they did as well as they did considering the clientele and not to mention that every animal in Australia was trying to kill them, jellyfish, octopus and sharks in the sea while on land you have to dodge deadly spiders, crocodiles, dingoes, ants and giant centipedes.
Cook was later killed during an exploratory voyage in the Pacific while attempting to kidnap the Island of Hawaii's monarch, Kalani'opu'u, because he nicked one of his ships.
Unfortunately he got clobbered over the head with a coconut and disemboweled, boiled to remove his flesh and his bones were returned to his crew for a formal burial at sea which apparently is an honour but i doubt that it felt much like one at the time.

Right Wing Nightmares

It must be tough being a Right Winger, for one almost every report i have ever read has found them to be not that bright, have no sense of homour, are easily fooled and are negative and on top of all that they suffer more nightmares than those of us on the left.  
Dr Kelly Bulkeley, of the University of Santa Cruz, California, tells us that right-wingers are much more likely to dream of relatives being murdered, or unwanted babies being born, or going bald, or fighting with a bear in the bathroom than left-wingers who dream mostly of nice things.
I know what you are all thinking, serves them right as bad people should suffer bad dreams from their twisted subconscious but the Doc says nightmares keep us on our toes and alerting to the perceived threats in the waking world which could make the nightmare-plagued conservatives the realists while we lefties and our dreams of rainbows and cute teddy bears and not Grizzlies murdering us while we take a shower means we are living in a unrealistic bubble.  
Obviously wrong on that point Doc but it does show why the Tories and their other right wing nasties always campaign appealing to our fears and insecurities and offering themselves as saviours with more police and tougher penalties and i assumed it was because the people who vote for Right Wing parties are just morons but their seems to be some science behind it, but mostly because they are morons.

Today Is...International Day of Remembrance For Terrorism Victims

Terrorism across the globe has led to far too many deaths this century and the question should be did our recent foreign policy, wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, lead to an increase in terrorist attacks?
The Government's involved always attempt to deflect any sniff of controversy that they could be in anyway complicit and berate anyone who equates the two which is to ignore the many reports by the World's intelligence committee's who assessed that the threat from terrorists increased at the onset of any military action in the Middle East, reflecting intensified anti-Western sentiment including among Islamic communities in the West.
The Defence Academy for the Ministry of Defence concluded that: 'The war in Iraq has acted as a recruiting sergeant for extremists' and an ex-MI5 boss told the Iraq Enquiry that MI5 had asked for a doubling of the MI5 budget in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion to counter the forthcoming increase in UK terrorism.
Australia's Office of National Assessments said: 'Iraq has been clearly used as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups around the globe' and a US national security analyst, said: 'Our study shows that the Iraq conflict has shown a rising number of terrorist attacks from London to Kabul, and from Madrid to the Red Sea'.
Tony Blair, the junior member in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, admitted the spate of terror attacks sweeping Europe that: 'You can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation' so to answer the original question: Has our foreign policy heightened the threat of terrorism?
If you listen to the Government desperate to avoid an iota of blame, then no but if you listen to the intelligence community of the major nations of the World, it's a resounding yes.
So we should condemn terrorists and remember and pay tribute to the for too many sad deaths of innocent people because some fruitcake religious nut who decided they should act in their Gods name but we should never forget the people who are directly responsible for putting turbo chargers under their ignorant causes.

Tossed Salads And Scrambled Eggs Callin' Again

I was excitedly reading about the reboot of the brilliant Frasier and was humming 'Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs' while reading about who will be coming back from the original show (only Roz and Lillith) and disappointed that the star of the show for me, Niles, won't be but the silver lining to that is no Daphne and her mangled English accent (despite being English) and her awful family who really stunk up the show but in the list of new roles was one that i had to read about three times before it sank in.
Playing the role of university professor Alan Cornwall and Frasier close friend is our very own Nicholas Lyndhurst. Yep, THAT Nicholas Lyndhurst of Butterflies, The Two of Us, The Piglet Files, Goodnight Sweetheart and Only Fools and Horses fame.
Apparently Kelsey Grammer worked with Lyndhurst in the West End cast of Don Quixote musical Man of La Mancha in 2019 and thought he would be perfect for the role of the British, boozy and larger than life character he had in mind for his series.
I wouldn't have thought many Americans know Nicholas Lyndhurst, it it unlikely the excellent Goodnight Sweetheart about a time travelling TV repairman made it across the Atlantic but Lyndhurst was not one i had on my turning up in an American show Bingo Card although i am more than happy that he is.
The Frasier sequel is due to be shown in the UK October this year and sees the psychiatrist in Boston although the original Frasier was so good that i fear after 20 years away it won't live up to its previous high standards as one of the most successful sitcoms of all time.
Frasier will still be a radio psychiatrist only in Boston so we may see some old Cheers buddies drop by having moved from Seattle and Grammer promises the new show will pick up from where it left off which if memory serves, saw Martin move out and Niles and Daphne get married and Frasier on an airplane but as Fraiser is till shown on TV here, i am hoping that i catch the last series before the new one starts.
Those tossed salads and scrambled eggs are thankfully callin' again.

The Moon Got In The Way

Disappointing that the Russian Luna-25 craft which was due to touch down on the Moon's South Pole tomorrow has discovered that hitting a huge Space rock at high speed means no more Luna-25 or as the Russian's put it: 'ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon'.
The craft was meant to spend a year collecting rock samples and trying to get a sense of whether the moon craters contained water which could support a permanent base for humans and now we will never know, well not until mid-week when the Indian lunar lander Chandrayaan-3 hopes for a more successful landing at the Moon's unexplored South Pole.
It was probably due to Russia racing against India to make the landing that the necessary checks to make sure the thing could land after its 250,000 mile trip were cut but to me it doesnt matter who does it first, as long as someone does because a human colony on the Moon is the natural next step to us humans going boldly where no man has gone before.

Going Underground

With heat records edging ever upwards it feels like we will have little alternative but to retreat underground and that is exactly what they have done in some parts of the Australian outback where Summer temperatures are a stifling 52C (126F) so they have created a town under the ground in old mine shafts.
In one town of 2,500 people, the high street is full of bars, restaurants and shops which once you step inside lead down via tunnels to the subterranean amenities where the temperature is a constant and much more manageable 23C (73F) all year round.
Apart from a much more reasonable climate, another bonus is that you don't need to spend a fortune on air conditioning and zero biting and stingy insects attacking you and also lack of sound and light pollution.
In China, the Government opened up underground WW2 air raid shelters for citizens to shade themselves from a two week heatwave and in Turkey there are hundreds of ancient cave dwellings which people live in during the summer months and are used to store fruit and vegetables to keep them cool while when the Sun gets a bit to hot in Kandovan, Iran, the whole village shifts into caves that have been hollowed out into houses.
You may be wondering why the rest of us are not turning up at the South Downs with a pick axe but the London Underground's battle against black mould shows that the UK is just too much damp and rainfall for us to retreat mole-like underground.
Maybe it isn't a viable option in the UK until the dampness problem is sorted out but due to Climate Change, going underground may be the way of the future.

Matt the HanCock

 Brillaint story this and the short version goes like this:

The Daily Mirror described Matt Hancock as a 'failed health secretary' and a 'cheating husband who broke the lock-down rules he wrote.
AN outraged Matt Hancock made a complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) stating that he demanded demanded an apology and written corrections accepting the articles were inaccurate and make assurances that the Daily Mirror would not repeat the claims in further coverage and remove all references to this false narrative from all historic articles from the publisher.
After and investigation Ipso decided calling Hancock a failed Health Secretary and cheating husband who broke his own lock-down rules was not misleading or inaccurate.
Never the sharpest knife in the kitchen drawer, Hancock at least had the sense to not appeal it and dragged his sorry backside back into obscurity with Gina Coladangelo, the aide he was caught on CCTV canoodling with during lock-down while ordering the rest of us to stay in our homes and avoid meeting people.
Maybe if he had spent more time concentrating on keeping people alive and not messing around behind his wife back with his employee's then he wouldn't have been such a disastrous Health Secretary but he didn't so the first syllable in his surname will forever be silent.

Today Is...World Mosquito Day

Why on earth we have a Day to celebrate something which has the title 'the World's deadliest animal' which causes over 700,000 deaths worldwide every year is beyond me and i can't think of any other living thing that i would happily wipe out and would happily send the metaphorical rolled up newspaper into action without a moments thought to these critters.
Scientists have discovered a 100-million-year-old mosquito perfectly preserved in amber so they have been annoyingly around for a long time and i was determined to find some good they have done over the many millennia but all i could find was that they are a great food source for many animals such as birds, bats and fish which seems a rubbish trade off for so many deaths when there are plenty of other less malaria spreading things they can snack on.
Rather than celebrate the nasty little things today is actually about commemorating British doctor Sir Ronald Ross's 1897 discovery that female anopheline mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine holds Mosquito Day celebrations every year, including events such as parties and exhibitions, a tradition dating back to as early as the 1930s and state that while mosquitoes may not be the most beloved creatures in the animal kingdom, they play an important role in the ecosystem and maybe next time you swat at a mosquito, take a moment to appreciate all that these tiny insects have to offer.
Nope, i am just going to smash it against the wall with one of my husbands size 9's. Not like i'm going to use one of my own because squished mosquito on the sole of a Slingback is not a good look.

Today Is...World Humanitarian Day

An Humanitarian is a person who is involved in or connected with improving people's lives and reducing suffering based on the view that all human beings deserve respect and dignity and should be treated as such.
You would think that being a humanitarian would then be a default for us all but unfortunately us humans are just as capable of creating things of immense beauty as well as being capable of depraved cruelty to each other and create inventions which can immeasurably improve all our lives as well as invent horrific weapons to wipe out millions of souls in the blink of an eye.
We really shouldn't need a day to remind us that as humans, we all should have basic human rights and treat each other equally where everyone has the same rights and opportunity to thrive regardless of sex, colour, race or sexual orientation and recognise the pain, struggles and aspirations of those around us.
We should all be willing to help others who are in need, whether that be in our own community or across the globe and care more about our planet and the environment especially with climate change becoming an ever-increasing threat to large swathes of the Global population.
Humanitarianism advocates for social justice on all levels and by raising our voices against inequality, discrimination, oppression and injustices, standing up for those who lack the means to be heard.
By thinking beyond our immediate needs and considering the needs of others, promoting human rights, helping those in need, showing empathy and compassion and protecting our planet, we can make a positive impact and create a brighter future for ourselves, others and the generations to come.
If you are too selfish or self centered to be a Humanitarian then this is not your day but i am really not sure when World Complete Tosspot Day is.

The Perfect Day

As there are only 24 hours in a day it is important to pick the optimum time to do things and experts have planned a timetable for us to make the most of the waking hours.   

MORNING
Have sex as your energy levels are higher and you will boost your oxytocin levels and leave you stress free for the rest of the day.
Write a novel as you are closer to the dream state before the day kicks in
See a therapist as the therapist won’t yet be bogged down with other peoples problems.
Do the Housekeeping as nobody likes doing it and it gets it out the way.

AFTERNOON
Go on a date as they tend to be shorter so you can be more flexible with how things develop.
Have a nap as you energy levels are lowest mid-afternoon

EVENING
Wash your face to remove outdoor dirt and revive yourself
Water the plants as the air is cooler and it helps the water soak into the roots
Go to an Art Museum as the fading natural light subtly changes the shade and colour
Exercise as testosterone increases as the day goes on and by evening they are at their optimum level.

NIGHT
Read a book as the things are quieter and calmer so you will take it in more
Listen to music as less ambient noise and sensory distraction

So for the perfect day it's sex, novel writing, therapy and vacuuming in the morning, date and a snooze in the afternoon, wash face and plants in the evening before the gym and gallery and finish the day reading a book and listening to your MP3 player.

Today Is...National Fajita Day

As we know Hawaiian Pizza is Canadian, Swedish meatballs came from Turkey and it was the Belgian's who gave us French Fries but we are on safe ground with the origin of Fajitas which are as American as Egg Rolls and German Chocolate Cake because the grilled meat in tortilla came from Texas.
Texas ranchers in the 1930s, being tightwads, paid their Mexican cowboys partially in less desirable cuts of beef so making do they whipped up something they called Arracheras and became anglicised to Fajiti's.
As i don't eat anything like that i asked at the local Take away and it quickly became complicated as you get Taco's which are Tortilla's (either corn or flour) stuffed with something as are Quesadillas and Burritos while Fajitas are just strips of beef or chicken with chile, pimento, tomato and onion served with flour tortillas.
He then asked if i wanted to try one and i politely said 'Nah, just the usual portion of chips please' and walked off wondering when National Chip Day was and a quick Google showed it was June 2, so damn i missed that one. 

If It Is A Fairytale Sarina, Stay Asleep!

Since our ancestors replaced fins and gills with legs about 350m years ago men have been kicking things and around the mid 1850's someone blew up a pigs bladder and they kicked that around instead and in 1966 the English men were the best in the World at kicking it into a net but the last 57 years have been barren for the men until the English women said 'Here, hold my beer' and joined in the bladder booting.   
Now it is only the castanet-clacking Spanish that stand in the way of Milile Bright being hoisted onto her team mates shoulders waving the trophy because England are in the World Cup final.
In front of an crowd of 80,000 baying Aussies and only a handful of English supporters, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo bounced the Matilda's out of their own Competition which is some small revenge for the recent cricket and the netball scores but credit to the Australian crowd, they went the full Flamin' Galah to try and put off the English girls but as we are in the Final and they are cracking open a few tinnies to drown their sorrow while whinging about how it's so unfair dinkum, obviously it never worked.
So it's on to Sydney and the whole of England will be in front of the TV for Sunday's 11am kick off to see if England’s pride of Lionesses can beat a very good Spanish team and make the serious faced manager Sarina Wiegman smile even wider.
In her post match interview she asked the interviewer: 'Am I in a fairytale or something?' but Sarina, if you get home to find three bears sleeping in your beds or a Prince turns up asking you to try on a glass slipper, than keep quiet and stay asleep until Sunday afternoon because we are enjoying this.

Pass Me The Wrigley's

I have posted before but how the Medical World has been pulling the wool over our eyes with things plucked out the air by doctors to give people a target such as eating 5 piece of fruit a day (eat MORE fruit, not necessarily 5), don't swallow your chewing gum (will just pass through like anything else) drink 8 glasses of water a day (most of that will come from our food anyway), wear a hat as you lose most heat out of your head (you lose it just as quick through any exposed skin) and don't go outside with wet hair or you'll catch cold (viruses and bacteria cause colds, not a low temperature) so it turns out i had been walking around in my youth munching apples, spitting out my gum at boys i didn't like and arrived late everywhere because i had been blow-drying my hair and all for nothing, thanks Doc.  
We can now add to that the 10,000 steps a day because that has now also been exposed as a number which was plucked out of some Japanese pedometer salesman's backside and the real number is 3,967 to reduce your risk of early death from any cause and if you only do 2,337 steps you still decrease your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease according to Cambridge University.
Another study using data from fitness trackers shows that 'brief bursts of vigorous exercise' throughout the day such as climbing stairs, carrying your heavy shopping home or running for the bus can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
As i live in a flat with a lift, own a car with a big boot and am very much a 'sod it, ill catch the next one' type of person it was the next line which caught my eye: 'Increasing how much energy you expend on anything that may have an impact on mortality. Even chewing gum can increase your energy expenditure'.
That's it, i am starting a Juicy Fruit Fitness regime.

Today Is...International Geocaching Day

When i asked someone about this they asked if Geocaching was still a thing and i replied obviously as they have a day for it although i have managed to get this far in life without ever hearing of it before.
Apparently it began in the 1850's when people would uses clues and references to landmarks embedded in stories and became the outdoor recreational activity we don't know today although it became really popular in the early 2000's.
The participants hide containers, called 'geocaches' at specific locations and give out clues where the Geocachers can find them and each cache contains a pen and paper so the finder can sign their name although the rules state that only terrestrial caches are allowed because placing them on the Moon or Mars would be a tad unfair.
At one event in Yorkshire, England in 2011, a group of Geocachers were seen to be acting suspiciously and reported to the Police who called in the bomb squad and exploded the box which it turns out is quite a regular occurrence in America where Geocaching is more of a thing with a number of caches being
destroyed in controlled explosions and South Carolina has passed a law stating that it is illegal to geocache in a cemetery, historical or archaeological site just in case they damage the site blowing it up.
According to the Geocaching website, in 2022 there was 3.1 million geocaches hidden in 196 different countries worldwide and hunted by 1.9 million Geocachers who this year will be desperately trying to get to the site before the local bomb squads.

Today Is...National Roller Coaster Day

When you go to an Amusement Park and you get pinned by a bar into your seat on the Rollercoaster then consider yourself lucky because the first rollercoasters didn't have any concerns about safety and if you survived then you were having a good day.
The first Rollercoasters appeared in the 17th century, when something (probably copious amounts of full strength vodka) convinced the Russian's that constructing massive five stories high wooden scaffolds, coating them in ice and pushing their children down them at dangerous speeds was a great way to spend the day.
Calling them Russian Mountains, they did build bumps and lay hay at the end to stop the person hurtling down the slide which to them constituted a stopping mechanism which must have impressed the Russian Empress Catherine the Great as she decided to have her own personal slide built in her back garden but as it was ice based and therefore only suitable for half the year, she asked for wheeled carts and invented the modern roller coaster.
French invaders caught sight of it during the Napoleonic Wars and brought the idea back to their home country and gradually the Roller Coaster spread around the Globe to empty the pockets of unsuspecting riders everywhere when it flips upside down.

Today Is...National Relaxation Day

It's all too easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind and let the stress pile up so if you're looking for a way to escape, here are some scientific backed ways to de-stress and relax.
A massage loosens muscles which lowers your levels of the stress related hormone Cortisol or you could meditate which lowers anxiety and lifts your mood or if you have a bit of energy you can grab some weights as some scientists say that the key to a relaxed mind is a relaxed body and working out can help the body release mood elevating hormones like endorphins and reduce levels of stress hormones like adrenaline.
Taking a hot bath helps increase blood flow, thereby reducing stiffness and pain in your joints while a sauna alleviates the body from stress-inducing tension by triggering an anti-inflammatory responses in the body or you could spend time with a pet as stroking a dog, cat or rabbit releases the feelgood chemical, oxytocin and reduces your blood pressure.
Kissing helps reduce levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol or if your husband or wife has a face like a bag of spanners then you could try taking deep breaths which is called a 'super stress buster' as it increases the supply of oxygen to your brain which stimulates the parasympathetic
nervous system and slows heart rate, increases intestinal activity, and relaxes certain stomach muscles.
Tensing and relaxing your toes for five seconds apparently works or just close your eyes and picture your favorite vacation spot or even better go there or just try yoga or listen to music which stimulates the nervous system and causes you to relax or paint or draw something, art therapy is actually a thing
so break out that adult coloring book.
You could get away and spend some alone time to slow everything down and allow your mind to rest but if all else fails grab that big bar of Dairy Milk as researchers found that chocolate contains phenethylamine which causes the brain to release dopamine and norepinephrine and triggers relaxation, elation and euphoria. Chocolate it is then!

Today Is...National Financial Awareness Day

As my pension plan includes either winning the lottery in the next few decades or surviving on food i find behind the fridge, i am not one to ask for financial advice but a report from Censuswide says that like me, there are an amazing number of people who said they didn't understand money and lack basic financial skills and knowledge.
When i was a lecturer i was forever having to explain the tax system to the teenagers who were finding part time jobs and not understanding their tax codes or what National Insurance was for but i do have some free advice which is rule number 1, don't pay for advice when you can get it for free.
HMRC has 20,000 advisors who you can telephone and they will make amendments to your tax code, explain National Insurance, work out and send you a tax refund and help you complete your Tax Return so you don't need to pay hundreds of pounds to an Agent each year when you can get it done for free. 
Rule 2 is the difference between what you want and what you need. Advertisers will send images into your eyeballs making you believe that the new item they are trying to hok you is a must have thing, it isn't, if you didn't know you needed it until you were told you did on TV then it isn't that important.
Rule 3 is only spend what you have. Credit is the work of the devil, you should only spend what you have, if you haven't got it then save for it, buying it now and paying for it later is a ruse which will see you paying twice as much for it and sometimes it will be in landfill and long forgotten by the time you have finished paying for it.
Rule 4 is never, ever, EVER take out a payday loan, up to 4000 % interest will see you taking out another loan to repay that last loan and then another loan to pay off the previous loan and each payday a good portion will be taken to repay the loan for the money you borrowed for that time you needed money to stretch to that first payday. If you really are that desperate, ask your parents, most won't add an absurd percentage to it and then take you to court if you default.
Rule 5 is if it sounds too good to be true, you can guarantee it is. Unfortunately there are unconscionable people around who won't think twice about emptying your bank account. That email may look official but if it is asking for bank details or personal information, you are one message sent away from having your identity stolen or looking at a £0.00 balance in your Halifax Account.
Rule 6 is the World turns, birthdays come and go and at some point you will be 67 and receiving the state pension which in the UK is notoriously stingy and the alternative is as you close in on reaching the pensionable age, you are reliant on a lottery win or surviving on food you find behind the fridge to sustain you in your dotage.

Things Soon To be Forgotten

The World changes and the gap between generations' experience of the world is growing wider and wider. There are already so many things millennials will never understand such as pre-internet life, the old style dial phones and especially Vinyl Albums which my kids do like to chuckle about, especially as i haven't owned a record player since 1998.
Today's millennials could be about to feel the same way as things from my youth which have been forgotten and find themselves explaining to their children how we used to carry our shopping home in Plastic Bags which are one of a few things i can imagine will be a memory within the next couple of decades.
Where only a few short years ago we had a wide array of mobile phones attached to charging cables, the only things on the end of charging cables now are my e-cigarettes as various wireless phone chargers are dotted around our place and where we once had remote controls on a cable, they become sleek controllers which became lost down the back of sofas but the new TV's have voice commands so you don't even have to hunt down the remote to turn over the TV, you just stay in your seat and shout 'BBC1' at the tele.
Where once you had almost had a conversation with a reluctant cashier at the supermarket, now the only thing you hear is 'unexpected item in the packing area' as self-checkouts replace supermarket checkout staff and shops are starting to offer emailed receipts rather than paper ones so not for much longer will we know the joy of scrunching them up and tossing them into the bin outside the shop before realising that's us knackered if we need to return it.
The stunted conversation with right wing Taxi Drivers moaning about the weather/current Government/illegal immigrants could be condemned to the past as driverless cars become a thing but at least we won't have to hear them moan about how Internet shopping is forcing shops to go out of business because shopping centres could be a relic as businesses decide they don't need a bricks and mortar shop and shopping centres become massive Amazon warehouses instead.
Pay phones have been in decline for years although there are a few desperately hanging on but not for long as everyone has a mobile phone in their pocket along with key fobs and car keyless ignition systems which probably do look far more enticing in the fruit bowl at those type of parties.
Technology moves on, the world changes and sometimes it's not a bad thing and as for the kids mocking my 12" Frankie Goes To Hollywood Vinyl collection, they could just as easily be sold to pay for a Cruise as be your inheritance so think about that next time you laugh at them.

Fascist Left At It Again

Apparently the left are in cahoots with World Governments, banks and faceless corporations to impose a fascist Cashless Society on us which throws up a few questions.
Firstly, being a left winger following a hard right wing ideology makes about as much sense as an Atheist turning up to Holy Communion every Sunday or a bald man going to the hairdressers but then this is being put out by the Conspiracy Theorists and they are not considered the most cerebral people so mixing up their ideologies is one of their least concerning attributes.  
If those of us on left are in cahoots with these people then nobody has bothered to tell me or any of my lefty buddies but then i guess we would say that so i should bring it up at the next meeting that we need to keep our heads down on this as it is being noticed.
The claim is that we are trying to impose a cashless society to allow governments to control people’s spending and track their movements.
If you have cash, so the conspiracy goes, your spending habits cannot be traced and your funds cannot be frozen, in the way they can with a digital currency and they use the Chinese social credit system as an example, in which peoples’ money, is controlled digitally, by the government and access is linked to good behaviour.
'You could be lose access to your own money for something like littering, getting drunk, not being up to date with your vaccines or some other perceived crime' so says the email before going on about not being able to put cash in Birthday cards or leaving tips in Restaurants and a link to sign a petition to let the Governments know they are on to them.
Obviously, as i have a least two working brain-cells, i did not sign up to tip off my fellow Left Wing Facist's that our cover has been blown but i imagine some did but rather than proving that you are in possession of, as the email states, 'the inside scoop on how the left are trying to dictate your lives' it says that you are unlikely to trouble any Brains Trust meetings.
Now burn all those bank notes in your purse and request your new Debit Card because i for one want to know where you are and suspend your bank account because you were seen dropping that crisp packet in the High Street.

Tories Culture War Debacle

In more excitable countries Environmental issues have been forced into a Left v Right position but thankfully not in Britain where it is completely void of ideology except for those trying very hard to make it an issue which is working about as well as anything else this clueless mob try to do, Climate Change is very much a concern for all sides regardless of the colour of the rosette you wear.  
Deciding they are not onto a winner with that one they have tried the NHS and how left wing Doctors are ruining the NHS and making it impossible to cut waiting lists but as one Doctor said, Rishi will be furious when they find out who had been running it, and under-funding it, for the last 14 years. Include the headlines that they have paid over £1m so far for Agency Doctors and Consultants to cover the strikes which is more than if they had just paid the regular staff the raise they were asking for to end the strikes then you can see why they don't particularity want the spotlight to fall on that issue.
After much head scratching at the polls showing they are facing a royal kicking at the next Election, the latest choice of issue to stoke an ideological difference is immigration and last week they announced a 'small boat week' to show the tough line they are taking with illegal immigration and force Labour into taking a position which they can then attack.
The special week ended the week with 39 migrants being taken off a barge in Dorset because of Legionnaires Disease, an uptick in channel crossings and the total number of people recorded making the journey passing the 100,000 mark and six people losing their lives in the Channel after their boat sank in the Channel.
As for Labour's position, they said that they would be forced to keep the Barge's because of Conservative Cuts to Immigration Staff, they will inherit such a mess that it would take time to sort it out so they would have no choice but to use them at first.
The best Downing Street can hope for is that by the time of the next election, the economy, healthcare and migration will have improved but such has been the disaster of the Conservatives since 2010 and the nation is in such a state that any stones they throw will be coming back in triplicate to their glass house.

Not Totally f$%@ed But Far From Unf$@%*ed!

Environmentalists are being accused of creating scary stories about the environment creating Eco-anxiety and environmental existential dread and for one i don't see a problem with that as we shouldn't downplay it because we ARE in a crisis and people should be anxious about it because we may have already fallen over a few tipping points and the less we trip across the less worse it will be for future generations so while there IS a lot to be worried, we mustn't lose hope that finally the penny has dropped and mankind is doing something about it.
Last year, worldwide spending on clean energy from wind, solar and nuclear energy passed £1 trillion which equals the amount spent on fossil fuels and next year it is estimated that renewables will be supplying 25% of our electricity and by 2030 over 80% and carbon emissions, still too high, are slowly reducing.
In 2022 global carbon pollution related to energy rose by under 1% , less than the 5% rise originally feared and renewables will become the world’s largest electricity source within three years, providing 35% of the world’s electricity and overtaking coal.
Data from the EU shows that the use of heat pump units avoided releasing 8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and wind and solar produced 22% of Europe's electricity in the EU in 2022.
Following the 1987 agreement to ban CFC's, The UN have reported that the hole in the Ozone layer is healing itself and should be back to full health by 2066 and sales of new electric vehicles are also taking off, increasing by 80% since 2020 with 5.6 million sold in 2022 as new models are introduced and the price reduces with the EU predicting by 2030 30% of all new car purchases will be zero-emission vehicles. 
The world is, by any measure, still dramatically under-reacting to the rising risks which are hitting home this year with extreme heat waves, droughts, famines and floods as we creep towards the catastrophic 2.7°C which the United Nations Environment Program say is heading our way based on current projections but if the Global leaders can get their act together then we can reduce the impact or as one Environmentalist scientist said more colourfully: “We won't no longer be totally f$%@ed but we’re also be far from totally unf$@%*ed!'

Today Is...International Left-Hander's Day

Famous left hander's include Ringo Starr, Justin Bieber, Phil Collins, Ricky Martin, Sylvester Stallone, Celine Dion, Uri Geller, Jack The Ripper, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Prince William and President George Bush which isn't a great list but today is all about honouring the 10% of the Global
Population who are left-handed and ponder on the struggles that lefties face in everyday life which the rest of us power through without noticing by encouraging right-handed people to do activities with their left hand. 
The medical term for being left handed is sinistrality (where we get the word sinister from) and studies found that individuals who are left-handed score higher when it comes to creativity, imagination, daydreaming and intuition. They’re also better at rhythm and visualization and apparently are good at complex reasoning, resulting in a high number of lefty Noble Prize winners, accounting for a larger than expected share.
According to myth, giving a toast with your left hand is the same as placing a curse on the person you’re saluting. When Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, depictions showed her as being left-handed, in order to appear more evil. Left-hander's were also harshly discriminated against during the 18th and 19th centuries, and it was often beaten out of them.
Ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were all biased against left-hander's as their Gods used the right hand for blessings while they set aside the left for cursing and inflicting punishment and even Christianity favours the right hand, stating that the left side belongs to the devil as he baptises his followers and greets witches with the left hand, and watches you over his left shoulder.
As the world matured people put aside such simplistic prejudices, right? Psychologist Wilhelm Stekel, wrote in 1911 that being left handed made you more likely to be homosexual, indulge in incest and other perversions so maybe not then.

Today Is...The Glorious 12th

From the same people who brought you the sport of chasing a fox across the countryside until it is exhausted and then condemning it to death by being ripped to pieces to dogs, we present 'The Glorious Twelfth'.
Of course the event is not quite so glorious if you are grouse, but for some sections of the community, the opportunity to prove themselves by blasting a defenseless bird with a double barrelled shotgun is far too attractive.
Part of these chinless wonders who have to kill the wildlife to get their kicks, is our very own Royal Family with many of the Nations top family regulars on the shooting circuit.
Queen Elizabeth was once even congratulated on her kindness to the victims of the shotgun pellets a few years ago when she wrung the neck of one poor bird that dropped out of the sky and landed at her feet. Of course, the fact that it was the Queen who had blasted the damn thing in the first place was skimmed over.
So if you big brave gunmen want to run around blasting at things, why not pack your bags and pop off over to Ukraine and see just how brave you are with your guns when the target is not quite so defenseless.
You actually prefer to shoot at defenseless things is that? Thought so. Cowards.

How's That Barge Idea Working Out?

Someone somewhere doesn't want the immigrants housed on barges but it isn't the Government who have rushed to fill it up with immigrants while they deal with the applications so lets see how that's going.
Firstly they overlooked the protests from the locals in Portland and Weymouth and then dismissed fire safety concerns from the Fire Brigades Union that the vessel was a 'death trap' by saying it was 'perfectly decent accommodation for 500 people' and moved in 15 people on August 7 and 24 more on the 9th but then had to move them all out again today because Legionnaires disease was found in the water supply.
As part of his reassurances that it was 'perfectly decent accommodation', the water was tested on the 25th July and the results came back on the 7th  to say Legionnaires disease had been discovered and the Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was made aware on the 9th August so the Government moved people in before the results of the checks had been known.
Obviously, due to all the negative publicity around the poor advance planning and preparation, the Government had wanted to get everybody onto the barge as quickly as possible but as with everything this Government touches, it turned into a catastrophe with the plan for two further barges postponed and returned to their owners due to  not being able to find a town or city willing to allow them to dock.
To add further to Rishi Sunak's discomfort, the number of people who have illegally crossed the English Channel in small boats since 2018 has now passed 100,000 which is almost a tenth of the 950,000 immigrants who have arrived legally in the UK in the same period.
Might be worth remembering next time the racists and bigots start shouting about us not having any room for the 100,000 who risked their life to come here and escape persecution and war because the 950,000 is the number the Government can control and allowed into our green and pleasant land.

Today Is...Saint Clare of Assisi Day

I'm not sure whats in the water in Assisi in Italy but they have two saints and it was after hearing Francis of Assisi preach during a service that Clare decided to dedicate herself to God and she approached him afterwards and asked him if she could join his order so he cut her hair, exchanged her clothes for a plain robe and veil and he sent her to a convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, near Bastia.
Her father wasn't best pleased and came to drag her back home but she clung to the altar of the church screaming and Francis intervened and peeled her off the masonary and sent her miles away to another monastery in Subasio out of the reach of her father and given a small dwelling.
News soon spread and women would come to live her enclosure and she founded the Order of Poor Ladies and considering this was the early 13th Century, it was a full time job and while many of the poor's only worldly possession was a pot which had Do Not Fill With Urine written on the side of it, what they did have plenty of disease and she would often come down with whichever unpleasant malady was doing the rounds at the time.
It was during one of these bouts of sickness that she was laying in bed wiping snot and flem from her nightdress and wondering how the mass she was too sick to attend was going when she heard chanting coming from the corner of the bedroom.
Setting her vomit bucket aside and staring into that corner, she saw the Mass being performed right on the wall of her room in glorious technicolour which is why she was named the Patron Saint of Television, obviously that came later as the TV wasn't invented until 700 years later.
Unfortunately nobody invented it earlier, it would have probably made those nights in the monastery go a lot more quicker but they had enough excitement when the Roman Emperor Frederick II sent his army to attack them.
She prayed for the local's to defend them and they did although not long afterwards she endured a long period of poor health and she died on 11 August 1253 which presented a problem for the Church when they granted her Sainthood because that day was already the Feast Day of Saints Tiburtius and Saint Susanna so they considered moving hers to the next day and then thought bugger it and bumped the Saintly pair off the saints calendar and moved her to today.

Welcome David Raya

As an Arsenal fan i am more than happy that we are going to get a second choice keeper as good as Brentford's David Raya but i am in agreement with former Chelsea Frank Leboeuf wondering why he would leave a team where he is the number 1 goalkeeper to move to a team where he will be number 2 and only play in the few Cup Games and when the main keeper, Aaron Ramsdale, is injured.
Frank Leboeuf has pointed out that Raya, who is the Spanish National Teams goalkeeper, should look to move to a club lower down than Arsenal where he will get starts if he wants to leave his current club
'Really, what’s the point? You play in the Premier League and have been outstanding. And now you are going to sit on the bench so what’s the point?'
You will have some clubs coming up, and maybe you can sign for, maybe not a club as big as the Gunners, but at least you will play. You will play football which is the essence of being a football player'.
My first thought is why do we need another Keeper but then Matt Turner moved to Nottingham Forest so we needed a back up and dont get me wrong, we will be very happy to take someone as good as Raya and welcome to Arsenal and all that but even i can see that he is too good to be a back up unless Arteta has an idea up his sleeve for Ramsdale in the 38 Premier League and Raya in the League, FA and European Cup games but after last season, i am more than happy to go along with whatever Arteta thinks and if he thinks we need a decent back up goalkeeper, and Raya is happy to warm the bench, then onwards and upwards.

Not Quite A SpaceCraft

I really hate to be a pedant about it but stuff it, i'm going to be anyway because i can't allow the headlines that Virgin today flew people into Space because he never, he flew them very, very high but not technically into Space.
Richard Branson's space tourism business, Virgin Galactic, made it's virgin flight into the upper reaches of the atmosphere today, an altitude of 49.7 mile which is short of the Kármán line which is the internationally agreed-upon border at 62 miles that marks the border where outer space officially starts.
To Virgin Galactic 02 Spacecraft is therefore not a Spacecraft and according to Virgin itself it is not designed to reach the Kármán line so we can't put it down to a test and it will gradually fly higher and reach 'Space' so to be more accurate it's a very high-altitude aircraft.
Given that commercial flights are between six and eight miles above sea level, reaching a touch off 50 miles is still amazing and the view of the Earth must have been magnificent but i don't want to urinate on Branson's campfire too much as with his other venture, Virgin Orbit, on the rocks having filed for bankruptcy after it's first and only UK launch failed in January, i hope it is a success because the more people we have attempting Space Flight the better but for the more pedantic amongst us, like me, Virgin Galactic 02 Spacecraft really should be renamed the Virgin Galactic 02 AlmostSpaceCraft.

Today Is...Lazy Day

Ah, the joys of being lazy! There's just something so satisfying about sitting on the couch, binge-watching comedy shows and ignoring all your responsibilities.
I mean, why bother with chores, errands, and responsibilities when you can just lay back and enjoy the moment but there are some people who think that being lazy is a bad thing. They might say things like 'you're wasting your potential' or 'you need to be more productive' but honestly, who cares? As long as you're happy and taking care of yourself, that's all that matters.
In fact, being lazy can actually be good for your health. Studies (i really can't be arsed to look them up) have shown that taking breaks and giving yourself time to rest can reduce stress, improve cognitive function and boost your creativity. So there you have it, even science says it's okay to be lazy.
One of life's simple pleasures is lounging around in your pyjamas all day. Sure, you might get a few judgmental glances from family members and work colleagues when you walk into the office with a Pokeman onesy but they obviously just don’t understand the beauty of giving in to your laziest instincts, consider it a form of self-care.
Now, don’t get me wrong – there are certainly downsides to being lazy. Your productivity may suffer, and you might miss out on experiences that require some effort on your part but in those moments of sweet, blissful laziness, those drawbacks are irrelevant.
Life is short so why waste it being anything but being delightfully lazy now if you'll excuse me, I think I need a nap.

Go England But If Not Japan

Not sure how but England Women are still in the World Cup when better teams have packed their bags, picked up the ball from seventeen gardens away after some awful penalties and are sat at home watching it on TV but there we are staring anxiously at Colombia in the Quarter Finals.
Due to the time difference i haven't managed to see many of the games but those who have seem to be gushing about Japan who are facing Sweden and the Netherlands who up up against Spain seem to have hit a bit of form but as that game is being shown in the UK at 2am Friday morning, they will have to do it without my eyes on them as they will be firmly closed a that time.
Hosts Australia will be going up against France and then the quarter finals round off at 11.30am on Saturday morning with England against the South American's which will only be going one way unless England improve because they haven't been anywhere near where you would expect for the European Champions.
I generally cheer for the European teams after England but i do fear that we will be struggling to get past Colombia so if we find ourselves packing away our England tops Saturday afternoon then i will switch my allegiance to Japan who seem to play with a smile on their face and who doesn't love the Japanese so it could be 日本に行く Nihon ni iku from Sunday onwards.

Today Is...National Book Lovers Day

Technology has bought about many changes in my lifetime, once where i had a cassette Walkman which would play an album of the standard eight songs one side and the same on the other, i now have an MP3 player, a quarter of the size which can hold thousands of songs and no having to stop and turn the tape over or wind it tight with a pencil because the tape has stretched.
The MP3 player is used daily but the other technology change which has become part of my day to day life has been my Kindle Book reader which the bumf explains, can hold 6,000 books.
I have always been a constant reader and whereas taking a book everywhere with me was a thing since my teenage years, for the past decade i have carried hundreds of books on a 7" thing which is as slim as the thinnest paperback and fits neatly into my bag.
As handy as the Kindle is, i have always preferred to have the physical version which i can hold in my hand and place on the bookshelf after i have finished it but my friend has a weird way of reading books whereas she reads the first chapter, then the last chapter and if it seems exciting, she will go back and read it from the start. If not she puts it down and starts again with the next novel.
In some ways her method makes sense as i have spent far too long plowing through books thinking it must get better soon only to get most of the way through to realise it won't.  
Of course there is no right or wrong way to read a book but some people don't even do that, they watch the film of the book instead and then say they have read it.
Always a dangerous exercise especially as most films stray from the book they are based on, i did that with Blade Runner based on 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' and it was years until i bothered to pick up the novel only to find it was almost nothing like the film and i had denied myself a great read for over a decade.