How to become completely crass and lose the plot.

 Recently, the British Prime Minister likened the struggle of the Ukrainian people, against the Russian invasion, to the vote of the British people to leave the EU. In his opinion both peoples were struggling for freedom. His comments were insulting to the Ukrainian people as they wish to be free to join the EU and are losing their lives to defend that freedom They were also insulting to the millions of British electors who voted to remain or abstained in the "Brexit" vote. His opinions on Brexit are crass and indicate to me that he has lost the plot in this matter. 

Brexit will not bring suffering to the British people who will survive and continue to flourish, however, Britain will become more isolated and less influential on the world stage. The nation will become inward looking and will be less vibrant. The EU did not infringe upon our liberty and democracy; it protected it. It was set up to prevent what is happening to the Ukrainian people at the moment. It was set up to prevent war in Western and Central Europe and to avert tyranny. It was set up to improve the economic prospects of millions of families, including British ones.  Divisions will weaken Britain and the EU which is exactly what the Russian government wants. We need to correct this because liberty and democracy can easily be lost in the fog of war. We need to support the Ukrainian people to get their liberty back and join the EU, if they vote for it in fair elections or in a fair referendum. Britain will be watching developments for the outside with a much reduced influence to shape European policy. Brexit was a major geopolitical and diplomatic error and Brexit voters will realise this, but too late.

War causes human beings to lose their sense of proportion, reality and reason

 War causes human beings to lose their sense of proportion, reality and reason, or perhaps I am seeing this the other way round. Human beings have lost their sense of proportion, reality and reason and this causes war. Or perhaps, more disturbingly human beings never had a sense of proportion, reality and reason.

The Ukrainian war shows us that some human beings as being unworthy of being considered as humain. There is absolutely no justification for the barbarity being shown towards the Ukrainian people. This war like all others will achieve nothing that is of any good. It will only achieve death and destruction, where are the generals and senior  politicians who are brave enough to put a stop to this tyranny? Where are the soldiers who are brave enough to refrain from breaking the Geneva convention to stop firing at civilians?

This war is showing up the worse aspects of human nature; so even in the midst of the carnage, "racism" and prejudice is showing its ugly head. It seems that some border guards and armed forces in both Ukraine and Poland are singling out black refugees for bad treatment, this should stop immediately all refugees should be treated with the same humanity

We are seeing the British government putting bureaucratic obstacles in the way of refugees from Ukraine entering the country. I never thought I would see this. It is all very pointless. All refugees from Ukraine should be let into Britain whether they have papers or not. This is what Britain did during the 1930's and 40's to help Jewish refugees. We can do it again. It is no excuse to say that the refugees are a security risk as they are mostly women and children or men over 60. The average Briton is much more at risk from Covid 19. Reason and risk assessment have gone out of the window. Let the refugees in and check them out when they arrive. All refugees deserve to be treated the same as well. There are thousands of deserving cases from Syria,  Afghanistan and Iraq. After all we did bomb them; so why should they have to risk further  depravation by making dangerous crossings of the English channel to reunite with their families. 

War causes the refugee crises so let's not start them in the first place.

Every human deserves respect, so  the tyrants should be controlled and restrained by those who have power too. Any western politician who is just being nasty should be voted out of power. You as an elector and a citizen  have the power to make changes at the ballot box, especially if you have the privilege to live in a Western liberal democracy. Use your privilege well by respecting humanity when you vote. 

Ukraine crisis and how far we have not come

 If anyone had any illusion that the world was becoming a better place then they should think again. We are faced with another unjustified war with the invasion of Ukraine, and coupled with threats to use nuclear weapons. The threat and actual use of force is nothing new in the 21st century, just as it was in the 20th century and much further back.

In recent times we have seen the invasions of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and now Ukraine; all of these wars could hardly be justified by objective truths. The justification of these wars is often based on lies. 

Western governments really cannot claim the moral high ground anymore than Russia can. The West  chose to arm Iraq against Iran. Then when this policy failed they chose to invade Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein on the basis of lies. Similarly, Russia has no cause to invade Ukraine and its justification is based on lies.

This latest war is embarking on dangerous territory, there is the veiled threat of the use of nuclear weapons. The USA, Britain and France, which are nuclear armed countries, are facing up to Russia which has a considerable nuclear arsenal. No nation can afford to let this cruel and brutal war get out of hand and escalate to nuclear confrontation.

I often ask myself what would happen if nuclear weapons become controlled by a psychopathic tyrant who would actually be prepared to use them; we are not in that position yet but it is a distinct possibility. It would have been better if nuclear weapons were not developed in the first place, but it seems that the human species cannot control itself either from making these weapons and in the final analysis using them. They have been used before, albeit against a nation that could not retaliate. The human species is a danger to itself. Let's hope that peace can be restored not just in Europe but everywhere: we need this as it appears that humans are unwilling to give up weapons of mass destruction.

Ukraine crisis and patriotism.

 The Ukraine crisis shows how important that there is unity in the Western World as our security, peace, democracy and wealth depends upon it. Since 2014 the people of Ukraine have sought the same values as the Western nations and to a certain extent they have succeeded. They knew that joining the EU would be key to meeting their objectives. The Ukrainian people were concerned about really important issues.

What were substantial numbers of British people worried about at the same time: the free movement of labour and keeping EU workers out of the country? They were also believing lies that the the EU was imposing straight bananas upon the British nation. They were also opposed to the standardisation of vacuum cleaner motors. Such is the decadence of Brexit thinking.

The decision to leave the EU was a big mistake and it has left the UK without a substantial voice to influence international events. It has also weakened our economy when it needs to be strong during the Covid 19 Pandemic and now European war.

Who are the true patriots?

May peace, democracy, wealth and security return to the people of the Ukraine.

There is something wrong with our political life

Once again I despair about our political life. Yesterday we saw the leader of Britain's opposition party being mobbed by a crowd who were shouting insults at him and repeating slurs and lies about him. These slurs and lies have been repeated by government politicians. The mob has been wound up. It goes to show how easily people who hate can be stirred up into taken violent action. We need to be careful that we don't fall into a populist hatred of one another.

It's my opinion that no-one should be shouted out or abused, be it a politician, medical officer, policeman, the man or woman in the street, your family member or friend.

I am on friendly terms with people who have political opinions which are diametrically opposed to mine and we handle those differences by showing respect for one another. Some of my best friends had opinions which were opposite to mine but one thing we had in common was that we had respect for one another and were opposed to abuse and mob rule.

I have been on a number of large demonstrations all of which were peaceful. I did not feel the need to shout abuse at anyone. When these demonstrations got near Downing Street  some of the crowd felt the need to shout at the Prime Minister, I didn't do this; the discourse could and should be better than that.

We need to be careful, the recent Balkans war saw politicians inciting the mobs to abuse people who were once their neighbours. We don't want Britain  to descend to that level or even worse.

It is time for all politicians to recognise the dangers of slurs and incitement to abuse , if only for their own self-preservation as the anger could be re-directed towards them.

Naughty Boy - Boris

 Naughty boys are often perceived to be full of charm and to have beguiling smiles. That is, until they burn the house down, and then........

That's right, use the shotgun to protect game birds

 The law has been changed to allow gamekeepers, who breed game birds to be shot for money, to kill crows and jackdaws who might predate the landowners property.

This is crass and inhumane, crow species such as carrion crows, rooks, magpies and jackdaws are naturally occurring indigenous species They hardly do any harm. There is no need kill them or prevent them from carrying out their natural lives.

Pheasants are an introduced species so what harm does it do if a carrion crow or a jackdaw takes a pheasant chick?

I am not an animal rights activist so I won't be making a protest but I hope that readers will see the reason for my objections. Why should the gun be used to overcome a minor problem for landowners whose game animals will be killed anyway?

The whole idea of culling species which are part of the natural environment is completely egregious and shows what a vindictive animal we have become. The survival of the human race relies upon maintaining a natural equilibrium with all the other species that we share the planet with. There is no need to reach for the shotgun.

I won't be going out on the streets to protest but I shall vote accordingly and I hope that you will agree with me when you next cast your x at the ballot box.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/03/law-change-allows-wild-birds-killed-protect-game-birds-england