Is this sufficiently ‘nature-rich’?

 

 

From the important to the diligently overlooked to the sublimely silly: that’s the news at the start of this new week.

Let’s begin with the good news: Johnson told the nation that he trusts us to take responsibility for our lives again, announcing that he’ll scrap all covid restrictions from Thursday onwards (link, link paywalled). Well, that’s nice of him, I’m sure. I seem to recall that two years ago, when the scare and fear propaganda was starting to kick off, some bigwig said that it’ll take two years before we’d be through this. If you can find the quote and link, please post it in the comments.

There’s another ‘good news’ item which comes under ‘gives with one hand and takes away with the other’ (paywalled link, link paywalled). The DM has the most descriptive headline: 

“Biden and Putin agree ‘in principle’ to hold summit on Ukraine crisis: Macron sets up meeting to avoid war – but ONLY if Russia doesn’t invade, as White House says Moscow is continuing preparations’ for a ‘full scale assault very soon’. (link)

Macron set this up – has he learned from the mistake yon emperor made, the one on whom he models himself? He spoke to Putin and Biden on the phone. This is the ‘new normal’ for what was formerly known as ‘shuttle diplomacy’: make phone calls, don’t fly around.

Never mind that us peasants ask ourselves why such talks couldn’t have been set up earlier. Never mind that the situation cannot be that dangerous because the White House is still playing with fire, still peppering the international MSM with dire announcements. Clearly this is more about their saving face and climbing down than about defusing a ticking bomb, not when Blinken will only meet Mr Lavrov on Thursday:

“The White House said a summit between the two leaders would only follow a meeting between Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrow, scheduled for Thursday. That meeting is itself contingent on Russia not invading Ukraine, however, with intelligence reports suggesting that military action could begin within hours, as Russian troops gather in forward positions along with Ukrainian border [sic!].” (link, paywalled)

Interestingly, only now do we hear that actually, the USA has been busy beefing up their military presence, especially in the Mediterranean, but also elsewhere on the Continent because ‘the Russians did it first’:

“The US has amassed more than 20 warships in the Mediterranean to counter an unprecedented build-up of Russian maritime firepower. USS Harry S Truman, an aircraft carrier, has been told to stay in the Mediterranean “for the foreseeable future” and there are about double the usual number of warships patrolling the area. […] About a dozen destroyers, including four recently sent from US bases, are operating in the area, alongside at least one cruiser and a nuclear-powered attack submarine. The reinforcements have coincided with a steady increase in American fighter aircraft and bombers in Poland, Romania, the Baltics, Germany and Britain.” (link, paywalled)

If this ‘show of strength’ is meant to make us feel ‘safe’, then this remark by a US Admiral certainly doesn’t:

“Heightened tension means that any misunderstanding between American and Russian warships could have more serious consequences than usual, Admiral Mike Gilday, US chief of naval operations, warned. “Given the current situation, the chance for miscalculation is greater,” he said.” (link, paywalled)

Given the many instances of US ships which have been involved in accidents in the China Sea and the Black Sea, that’s not precisely reassuring, is it!

Closer to home most of you will have noticed that it’s been blowing a bit. This is ‘Storm Franklin’ – and unlike the warnings regarding yon ‘Great Storm Eunice’ on Friday it’s only now that the usual admonishments to be cautious and only travel if absolutely necessary are coming out. From my little patch I can tell you that this storm got going yesterday already, feeling and sounding worse than Storm Eunice.

Never mind – it was Sunday yesterday, so don’t blame the MSM for not giving proper, timely warnings. Their employees also need a rest! The DT started their ‘live report’ at 1.10am this morning. Was a multitude of their readers glued to their PCs at that time, eager to be told what was going on, waiting to know if they ought to ‘brace themselves’ for yon new storm (paywalled link)?

The Times and the DM helpfully point out that this is the third storm to hit these Isles within a week (link paywalled, link). I do wonder though why there are no calls for school closures or for telling people not to go to work. It couldn’t have had something to do with the fact that Storm Eunice hit us on Friday, at the start of the weekend? Ah – perish the thought!

Meanwhile, as predictable and as not reported in the US or our MSM, the nice Mr Trudeau will keep the financial ‘restrictions’ of his ‘emergency measures’ permanently (paywalled links to US ‘alt media’ here and here). The National Review writes that Ms Freeland, the Canadian Finance Minister, said that:

“[…] the government was using the Emergencies Act to broaden “the scope of Canada’s anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use.” That broadened power requires all forms of digital transactions, including cryptocurrencies, to be reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada. (I.e., “Fintrac”). […] She justified the move as a way to “mitigate the risk” of “illicit funds” and “increase the quality and quantity of intelligence received by Fintrac and make more information available to support investigations by law enforcement.” (paywalled link)

Note that this enlargement of ‘rules’ includes bitcoin transactions. Note also that this is about garnering ‘intelligence’ about digital transactions. The label ‘terrorist’ can now be used to justify governement interference in anyone’s financial transactions. Note that the Canadian Trucker convoy is just the ‘excuse’ politicians have been waiting for:

“Freeland said the trucker convoy, which had assembled to protest coronavirus restrictions, had “highlighted the fact” that digital assets and funding mechanisms “weren’t captured” by the Canadian government’s pre-existing surveillance powers. As a result, she said, “the government will also bring forward legislation to provide these authorities to FinTrac on a permanent basis.” (paywalled here)

But all is not -yet – lost. Early this morning I read in Dr Robert Malone’s email newsletter that the US truckers have now set up their convoy, ‘The People’s Convoy’, which starts rolling this Wednesday. Will Biden copy Trudeau? There are certainly interesting times ahead!

I leave you with news of a sublimely silly demand, from a campaign addressing Mr Gove, the minster for ‘levelling up’ (my emphasis):

“More than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations have written to Michael Gove demanding he provide funding for locally accessible nature-rich spaces, including extending the levelling-up fund to green and blue infrastructure projects. They are also recommending that Gove, the minister for levelling up, housing and communities, set legal duties in legislation for developers and public bodies to provide equal access to green spaces for everyone.” (link, paywalled)

What the fluff are ‘nature-rich spaces’? That expression comes straight out of advertising agencies designing labels for clothes, like ‘cotton-rich’. Is the government now told to ‘enrich nature’? And how, for fluff’s sake, can “we” have more ‘nature-rich’ spaces when “we” must build more housing for the ever increasing, “enrichingly diverse” population and for all those ‘deprived communities’ languishing in the inner cities? 

It’s not just lockdowns and the causes of lockdowns which have addled brains, it’s also green blobbery. Perhaps it really is time to look for caves to live in: one couldn’t possibly find something more ‘nature-rich’ …

 

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