Agenda 2019

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who has taken his fourth F1 world title (it should have been his fifth but for some skulduggery a few seasons back) to become the UK's  most successful Formula 1 driver ever , ahead of Stewart, Clark, Hill and Mansel. Like him or loathe him, he is a great driver who in my opinion stands with Fangio,  Prost and Senna.(I still do not rate Schumacher as a "great" driver). Again congratulations to Hamilton who takes the title with 2 races still remaining. The mystery surrounding the assassination of J F Kennedy remains even after more than 50 years. I have always held the view that any enquiry or report which raises more questions than it provides answers or explanations, has to be suspect and taken with a large pinch of salt. Thus it was with the Warren Commission Report, presented to President L B Johnson on the 24th September 1964, less than 12 months after t...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/27/release-jfk-files-fbi-warning-oswald-soviet-missile-fears CIA and FBI block release of Kennedy assassination documents. I have always held the view that any inquiry or report which raises more questions than it provides answers or explanations, has to be suspect and taken with a large pinch of salt. Thus it was with the Warren Commission Report, presented to President L B Johnson on the 24th September 1964, less than 12 months after the events in Dallas in the previous November when President J F Kennedy was assassinated. The same criticism can be leveled at practically every report, inquiry, congressional review or other examination of those events of November 22nd 1963 which invariably conclude that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination and that there was no conspiracy. In fact, within minutes of Kennedy being pronounced dead and even before Oswald was arrested at the Texas Theatre, a governmen...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. "Brian" arrived and has now passed into the North Sea. The storm did not, fortunately, cause as much wind damage and flooding coupled with the rain and Spring Tides as was intitally predicted but never the less did cause great inconvenience to many. Brian followed  Hurricane Ophelia  which lashed Ireland, killing  at least three  people and which I commented on last week. This is but the latest in the severe weather phenomena which seem to be occurring more frequently  not only here, but around the world. Today, the sun is shining but is is very cold. The predictions are that this will give way to very warm air from  the South during the week, with temperatures likely to be in the mid to high twenties. The man on the BBC weather forecast says that this is unprecedented for late October in the UK. Now all this raises the question, with me at least, whether this all is due to "Global Warming"...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/20/eu-breaks-brexit-deadlock-save-theresa-may-amid-fears-could/ EU breaks deadlock to save Theresa May amid fears she could be ousted This is incredible. Moreover, it is dangerous and anti democratic, but this Prime Minister knows all about "deals" which are anti democratic. Theresa May resorted to a seedy backroom deal with the DUP which contained a £1.5 billion bribe for the Unionists to keep her and her and her sordid "government" in power at Westminster. She now pleads with the EU for them to soften their stance on Brexit in order to save herself being ousted from number 10. We have yet to establish what inducement she has given to Michel Barnier, Jean-Claude Juncker, Angela Merkle and the other European "negotiators", but it is evident that the "policy" of bribe and kickback has again rescued Theresa May, at least in the short term. Again, self interest and graft so common amongst conse...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/19/theresa-may-seeks-brexit-deal-she-can-defend-from-eu27 Theresa May pleads with EU27 for Brexit deal she can defend I have written on previous occasions about "Questions to the Prime Minister" or PMQ's as it is commonly known.The way in which the Chamber invariably conducts itself with interruptions from the Speaker with,  "Order, Order" and the not infrequent admonishments to individual members for their behaviour or shouting, have often drawn comments from me that Wednesday PMQ's brings this House of Commons procedure into disrepute with members behaving more like very unruly children than adults who are responsible for the government of this country. On Wednesday, (18th October 2017) however it was different. True there were the interruptions from members, the baying and shouting, the noise of unruly behaviour and John Burcow seeking to keep some sort of order, but this PMQ's session was dif...

https://archive.org/details/TheWarGame_201405 An article in Newsweek under the heading of "Worried About Nuclear Explosion? Here's What To Do", caught my eye this morning. It brought to mind a television programme made in 1965, but which was immediately banned from being broadcast. This ban remained in place until 1985 when the film was finally released for screening. If you have never seen it you may wish to watch on this link. Even today, although obviously now dated, it is probably the most powerful argument against nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare that has ever been made. "09:16am. A single megaton nuclear missile overshoots Manston airfield in Kent and airbursts 6 miles from this position. At this distance, the heatwave is sufficient to cause melting of the upturned eyeball, third degree burning of the skin and ignition of furiture"

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/867191/Brexit-Brussels-Theresa-May-divorce-bill-EU-Theresa-May-Michel-Barnier May and Juncker agree to ACCELERATE talks amid negotiation deadlock Why is Sky Television News, some "pundits" on BBC news and the usual suspects in the media, so euphoric about the "agreement to accelerate Brexit negotiations"? Everyone knows that the "negotiations" are in chaos the whole question of Brexit is a complete mess and that the government are fractured as to where we are and more importantly, where we should be going. There is not even agreement as to what "accelerate the discusions" actually means in any case. Rather than hailing Theresa May's meeting last night (over dinner of course) as a victory for the Prime Minister's diplomacy, this jaundiced corner of the British media should be more concerned as to how we can extricate ourselves from this chaotic mess and achieve a settlement ...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. Last week, the Daily Express was forecasting "heavy snow". They were wrong (again) it is, in fact a hurricane. Well, almost a hurricane as it "barrels" (why do the media use that word?) across the Bay of Biscay, heading towards Ireland. By the time it reaches County Cork and Kerry, sometime early on Monday morning, it will have lost its category 2 status and be "no more than" a severe storm. The South West will feel the effects of the 90mph winds and heavy rain, so if you live in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset etc, the advice is batten down the hatches and stop buying the Express. Prime Minister Theresa May, completed the "hat trick" on Wednesday at "Questions to the Prime Minister". Following the disaster Turin speech and the even worse speech to Conservative party Conference, Theresa May probably came to the Commons with high expectations of dealing heavy blows to the La...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-eu-federica-mogherini-netanyahu-israel-a7999556.html World leaders have pledged their commitment to the  Iran nuclear deal  after Donald Trump withdrew his support for the landmark agreement. I am becoming increasingly irritated by the finger glued to thumb gesture from the blonde/sand coloured hair (just about covering the grey), orange coloured skin megalomaniac who currently resides at  1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington,  DC.  Following reports of the most recent temper tantrum reverberating around the corridors of the White House, Donald Trump appeared on television screens around the world ranting about how evil Iran is and how they are reneging on their commitments to the Iranian Nuclear Agreement. He is wrong of course since none of the other signatories to the deal, China, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom and the European Union agree with him and have all stated ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-theresa-may-philip-hammond-no-deal-spending-split-a7995616.html Conservative splits reopen after Theresa May slaps down Philip Hammond.  Prime Minister Theresa May, completed the "hat trick" on Wednesday at "Questions to the Prime Minister". Following the disaster Turin speech and the even worse speech to Conservative party Conference, Theresa May probably came to the Commons with high expectations of dealing heavy blows to the Labour opposition with the support of a united cabinet and the baying, howling ranks of backbenchers as is normal at PMQ's behind her. Alas, in this expectation she will have been sadly disappointed as first Jeremy Corbyn and then her own back bencher's ripped into her on the question of Universal Credit and the hardships that this is causing both in delays in payments and the subsequent effects that this is having on families and rental payments and then...

  https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/10/theresa-may-refuses-to-say-if-she-would-vote-for-brexit-in-fresh-poll  Theresa May has refused to say if she would vote for Brexit if another referendum were held today The question everyone that everyone has been asking, is "Where are we on the road to Brexit?" The answer is "no where". Theresa May delivered a speech in Florence on the 22nd September and said precisely nothing. On Monday, the Prime Minister made a statement to the House of Commons and again said nothing other than to confirm that the "negotiations" with the other members of the EU are no further forward than they were since Article 50 was triggered at the end of March. She did however indicate that the United Kingdom should face the possibility or even probability, that this country may leave the European Union without any "deal" at all. This may well be exactly what Cash, Johnson, Gove, Duncan-Smith, Grayling, Patt...