Reform Just Tories 2.0

Is there no former Conservative MP that Nigel Farage wouldn’t accept as a member of Reform. OK, he might draw the line at Liz Truss on the grounds she is deranged and Boris Johnson might be a problem but those two aside, it seems that anyone is welcome from the Party that was unceremoniously booted out in record numbers 18 months ago.
Today, making it a round 20 sloppy seconds is Nadhim Zahawi who has made the step across from right wing Conservative to even further right wing Reform and as he was unveiled at the Reform Conference and immediately journalists gave a  run through some of his career highlights so far.
A successful businessman turned Tory politician who thought it was just fine to claim the heating for his stables on parliamentary expenses and then being appointed chancellor by Boris after the resignation of Rishi Sunak, only to stab him in the back and call on him to step down less than 48 hours later, a loud backer of both the economic disaster that was Truss and then the Covid Partying Boris and then the infamous sacked as chair of the Tory party for having forgotten to mention he was being investigated over a £5m unpaid tax bill when he was in charge of the Treasury, a fact he and failed to mention this to any of the three prime ministers he worked for!.
As Reform becomes a convalescent home for former Conservatives whose political careers had reached a dead end, mention was made of previous comments that Zahawi had made about Farage, mainly that he only offered division and that he could never live in a country run by Farage as well as the observation that under Reform’s immigration proposals, Zahawi’s family would have been deported on arrival into the country.
Nadhim only shook his head sadly, Nige said all was forgiven and the notoriously thin-skinned Nadhim began to get a bit tetchy and obviously wondering why did these damn journalists people keep bringing up the past?
Reform voters must be wondering if by the time of the next election, the whole party will consist of the previous Government which they grunted about so angrily.

Iran Next For Regime Change?

It is being reported that over 2,000 protesters have been killed in Iran as the demonstrations which started out as Economic protests ave evolved into political ones, reaches its 15th day and the Iranian Government crackdown on any dissent.
Now that Donald Trump has a taste of regime change in oil rich nations, he is threatening to send his military to Tehran and posted last night that 'Help is on the way' and told the protesters to keep going and we may have seen a sign of what to expect with troops begin evacuated from key US military bases in the region.
When the Pentagon launched strikes against Iran’s nuclear site last June, it hastily removed troops from it's bases which did receive retaliatory strikes by Iran and Tehran are saying they will again target US military bases in the region in retaliation for any strikes from Washington.
The last thing we want to see is another war in the Middle East, the last one America started in neighbouring Iraq only ended recently after decades but  if America do attack, and if Iran respond and if Israel take time out from their ongoing Genocide in Palestine to join in, then all bets are off as the potential for escalation grows.
Defence experts are not expecting a rerun of Venezuela with an American patsy put in charge, the Iranian Government is not expected to fall easily and cleanly, but a limited strike to encourage the protesters and threaten the Regime that there may be worse to come although if even a limited strike is responded to, then off we go into the unknown again.
Unfortunately, it does seem that by moving their military out of harms way, things may be happening soon. 

Turning Off The Internet?

More and more I am hearing older people say with all the problems the Internet is causing, especially Social Media, why don’t we just turn the whole thing off and go back to a previous world of landlines, letters, engaging with the real world and face to-face-contact which was fine before it all came along.
As a famous Supercomputer once said (which admittedly did go mad and try and kill everyone but let's gloss over that): 'I can’t let you do that Dave' because the problem isn’t the internet, it’s the people.
I imagine questions about television, radio, newspapers, the printing press off and books were raised after their inventions also.
Today I have read a newspaper from around the world, looked up within seconds what a Fungible token is, emailed people on a whole other continent, looked up the Lyrics to 'Ant Rap', booked an MOT  and i will later do some grocery shopping online and  without Google Maps I would probably still be driving in circles in the middle of Cardiff although in some regards, it was  thanks to Google maps that I was driving around in circles in the middle of Cardiff in the first place.
It is hard to argue that the internet has done a lot of harm with Social Media and allowing dingbats with a keyboard to post misinformation and nonsense conspiracy theories but it is a magnificent technological achievement which allows access to knowledge, connected people and transformed learning so rather than ban the internet, we should civilise it by just banning the social media companies that spread hatred on it.
The internet is a communication medium, it is not the communication itself. Blaming “the internet” is like blaming the post office if you get a nasty letter and anyway, it’s far too late to put the genie back in the lamp so should make social media responsible for the accuracy of what they publish, in the same way that the media (in the UK anyway) is responsible because yes  it can be a bit of  a cesspool at times but we can't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Not Defending Your Right To Free Speech

Every now and then the idea of protecting Free Speech crops up and I admit that I have never really understood the freedom of speech thing or the demands to defend to the death the right for someone to say it because to me, if you are about to say something ridiculous, insulting or just plain ignorant i would prefer it that you kept your big fat gobs shut and said nothing at all.
Speaking to other people (freely), it seems that I am not the only one confused on what it actually is as everyone claims to support it, yet few agree on what it actually allows what you can and can't say and where and when can you say it.
Legal experts point to Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that: 'Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers' which seems to be saying you can say what you want where you want but hang on, the UK's Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, guaranteeing free expression but has restrictions for public safety, preventing crime like hate speech, incitement, harassment, defamation, or national security, with recent laws like the Online Safety Act 2023 and rules for universities balancing expression with preventing harm and ensuring campus safety.
So we can't say what we want because there are limitations unless you are in a University which are protected by a specific act, the  Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023) so a good rule of thumb is if you are about to say something ridiculous, insulting or ignorant make sure you are in a University first although us British do have our own way of dealing with it, say something absurd and we won't defend the right for you to say it, we will take the piss out of you mercilessly, which also seems to work.

Artemis 2

Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed capsule to and from lunar orbit, Artemis 2 will send a manned crew around the Moon and pave the way for Artemis 3 which will see humanity back on the Moon for the first time since 1972 and most excitedly, pave the way for a permanent base on the Moon.
The second Artemis Mission is penciled in from anytime between February 6th and April 6th pending any problems after they start testing the rocket on January 17th which is when they wheel it out to the launch pad and rigorously put it through it's paces before they allow four humans to sit atop 733,000 gallons of fuel, ignite it and send it upwards at 24,500 mph.  
Even if it does pass all it's pre-launch checks, there is still the weather to worry about which is why NASA have given 15 different dates between February and April so it ultimately could be down to Mother Nature if a leaky fuel pipe doesn't mess it all up as it did with Artemis 1 which pushed back the whole program as Artemis 2 was penciled in to launch September 2025.   
Though it won't land on or even enter orbit around Earth's nearest neighbor, Artemis 2 is a test that all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space and if that goes well, will see humans bouncing around on the Lunar surface again although NASA will only give the date for that as no earlier than 2027 and the reason for the vagueness is that Space X, who were tasked with designing the upper stage to carry the astronauts to the surface, are having issues with their design.
If NASA doesn't make it then the Chinese are seemingly full steam ahead for planting the flag of the People's Republic of China in the Moon dust in 2030 and their own moon base when their own human landing mission lands which is penciled in on President Xi's Calendar for 2030.
I have always thought it was absurd that we just stopped after 1972 and didn't build on what we knew then and start building moon bases and using the Moon as a launch pad for further exploration but after waiting over 50 years to go back, hopefully we are back into the Space Age again although i'm still hoping that someone can get the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) going again which would see us grab an asteroid, tow it along and place it in orbit about the moon, because our own pet Asteroid would be really cool.

Iran Under Fire

Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iranian authorities kill protesters although the Ayatollah Khamene hasn't yet threatened to intervene in American over Trump's  Blackshirts shooting protesters in the face at point blank range but that may be on its way.
Obviously being a ruthless theocracy, we should all be hoping the rulers in Iran are overthrown as all theocracies should be and they have already shut down the internet and reportedly killed 45 protesters as what started as economic protests, spread across the country and what the supreme leader said was instigated by America who all but admitted it by Trump who said that: 'The US is ready to help protesters in Iran'.
In the background is the exiled son of the former shah of Iran who called for protesters to take to the streets and seize control of their towns so we could be on the cusp of regime change in Iran but then we thought that after nationwide demonstrations in 2022 when the last mass protests erupted and they ended with 551 dead, tens of thousands arrested and the Government still in charge.
As of today, the 14th day of the latest protest, 217 protesters have been confirmed killed and hospitals across Iran are reportedly being overwhelmed by injured protesters, many with gunshot wounds but if Trump is saying he will come guns blazing on the side of the protesters and change the leadership of yet another oil rich nation, that death toll will be eclipsed on the very first day.

Bye Bye X

The UK Government has asked the media regulator OFCOM to consider 'all options' related to X including banning access to the site over its AI, Grok, generating sexual images of women and young girls.
Under the Online Safety Act, OFCOM can block the social media platform or fine them tens of millions and are deciding what to do about X's artificial intelligence chatbot digitally undressing people without their consent and they were less than impressed when asked to stop it, X just limited the use of the image function to those who pay a monthly fee with a message that: 'Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers and users can subscribe to unlock these features' which Downing Street called 'insulting' and urged OFCOM to reach there decision in days, not weeks.
Elon Musk, being a complete tool, responded by saying that the UK Government were 'looking for any excuse for censorship' and 'They just want to suppress free speech' and including an AI generated picture of Prime Minister in a bikini which is sure to help his case.
The EU are currently investigating X for breaches of their Digital Services Act and Australia, who recently banned the use of social media for under-16s, are waiting to see the outcome and may impose their own ban but Indonesia banned the AI on Saturday but how easy would it be for the UK to ban X?
A tech expert said that it would be pretty straightforward to do as ISP's would just be ordered to block traffic to X's domains and apps but since America and Musk went full fascist, the problem may be political.
X has approximately 17 million users in the UK and that is a good swathe of users to lose if as hoped, OFCOM does pull the switch but if the EU do the same, that would be a further 102 million users lost so fingers crossed X will become a thing of the past and then we can look at the other Social Media firms who may well have their minds focused by the action.

Storm Goretti

Going to be a bit wild, be careful people. The Met Office issuing a red warning is rare and people 'need to take it seriously', according to the Met.

Severe weather conditions on Snowdon have led to "areas of unstable snow" in several areas which could "lead to serious falls or trigger localised avalanches" and people on the Channel Islands have been warned to "stay home" between 8pm and midnight tonight and "Only call the emergency services overnight if there is a risk to life".

 

Met Office wind warning in Cornwall upgraded to red 'danger to life' alert

The Met Office has upgraded its wind warning for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly from amber to red, saying the weather will now pose a "danger to life".

It says Storm Goretti will bring "dangerous stormy winds," starting from 4pm until 11pm today.

The forecaster adds that people should expect "damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down" and "flying debris resulting in danger to life". 

Near the coast, very large waves are predicted with potential for beach material to be "thrown onto... roads, sea fronts and homes".

Power cuts are also expected and may affect mobile phone coverage.

The Met Office adds the storm will bring "a period of exceptionally strong northwesterly winds" to the Isles of Scilly and parts of Cornwall," with peak gusts of 80mph to 100mph or more.

 

 

American? Nah Canadian Eh!

To think of all the trouble Tony Blair had got himself in by inventing weapons of mass destruction just so that he could have a legal pretext for invading Iraq. These days, he would just have said: 'Look guys, let's take out Saddam and get our hands on the oil' but wars for oil were done differently back then and World Leaders felt they had to try and at least make up something to justify it but seemingly not so much now.
What the Iraq War in 2003 did lead to, apart from ISIS, over a million dead and a reported $2 Trillion cost burning its way through bank accounts, was anti-American sentiment. Blair we made such a Pariah in his own country that not only was he forced out but when he popped his head up decades later to sell his iffy book, people threw shoes and eggs at it and he had to be bundled out the back door for his own safety.
Keir Starmer was at pains to point out that Britain was not involved in any way, shape or form in the kidnapping and latest warmongery by America in Venezuela but what this does return us to is the point in 2003 when Americans abroad adopted the strategy of 'pretending' to be Canadian to avoid confrontation.        
There has always been an undercurrent of anti-American feeling swirling around Britain and Europe since i can remember but it was always low level and not particularly powerful however after GW Bush and Tony Blair's Middle East adventure, it snowballed into such proportions that it even rated a question in the House of Lords.
A 2005 Pew Trusts research poll found that then anti-Americanism was deeper and broader than at any time in modern history and back then it was found the main reasons that the rest of us outside of the USA failed to hold up America as a shining example was Bush, Iraq and Israel.
Today it would be Trump, Venezuela and Israel and although it is wrong to label all Americans, how safe might they feel venturing into a hostile resentful world even if they don't support Trump? As soon as they open their mouth to speak their accent will give them away, unless they say they are Canadian because to our ears they sound the same.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with the Carrot coloured man of peace bombing and kidnapping leaders of oil rich nations until time he is no longer in charge and as i just read that despite being morbidly obese, each day he eats two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fishes and a chocolate milkshake, plus 12 sugar free diet cokes so it may not be that long anyway and then American's can stop pretending to be Canadian because as my Canadian friend told me 'It's like trying to pass off a Robin Reliant as a Porsche'. 

Picking Cure Over Prevention

Climate science has made one thing clear, global heating is behind today’s extreme weather and it is almost certain that greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet will lead to catastrophic weather again this year.
Unfortunately we have been too stupid to stop the planet warming while we still had the chance so all we can do now is adapt to it and minimise the risks to life from such events where the result is paid for in lives from floods, storms, droughts and deadly heatwaves.
We had COP30 in November but nothing came out of that but it is not the Earth that is danger, that will happily carry on turning whether we are on it or not and with deluded rightwing governments extremely hostile to fazing out fossil fuels, a raging Mother Nature will make sure there will be less of us this time on the Planet next year than there otherwise would be.
It isn't just the poor countries that will suffer, so will the rich ones because it isn't until an incident which kills many people, such as the floods in eastern Spain that killed 230 people, that the politicians actually do something because the investments needed to defend communities from flood, fire and heat are not attractive to Governments.
Due to the missed opportunity over decades to limit the damage and deaths that extreme weather will cause, it is case of us trying to now somehow live with it and adapt to it but the changes which have been made with things such as flood defences and dredging rivers will not be enough when the warming climate really kicks in,  a UN report put the figure it would cost globally to secure ourselves against the worst effects of Climate Change at £310bn annually.
That is on top of the cost of Net Zero and redusing our emissions so the humans on the planet are not in a good place at the moment and we only have our own stupid selves to blame.