Is Everybody Keeping Calm And Carrying On?
Perhaps, I should have excluded the Welsh from this, as they may be carrying on, but they certainly haven’t kept calm, as the Dragon rampages through France.
I ask this question because since the Brexit vote on June 23rd, there has not been much real news.
There has been no mass redundancies, the financial markets have settled and there have been no pro- or anti-Brexit riots on the streets.
The only real news from the Government was from George Osborne, who made the decision not to balance the budget by 2020.
It’s reported in this article on the BBC, which is entitled Osborne abandons 2020 budget surplus target.
The national media is obsessed with who will be leading the Labour and Tory parties.
I’m actually taking a practical attitude to these elections.
- Who leads the bitterly-divided Labour Party, is about as relevant these days to the UK, as who is the captain of the Mongolian football team.
- When the Tory party is in crisis, a leader usually appears, who although unfancied does at least a competent job for a few years.
The Tory party will still be here in a decade or so, but without the Sword of Europe hanging over it.
As to the Labout Party, who knows? Party members don’t!
We are facing a fascinating remainder of this year, where these important questions will be answered.
- Will Wales win Euro 2016?
- Will Andy Murray win Wimbledon?
- Will Leicester City carry on next season as they did last?
- Will Mo Farah complete a double-double of the five and ten thousand metres?
- Will Chris Froome win a third Tour de France?
- Will the weather improve and the sun break through?
- Will we ever see any electric trains running on the Great Western?
We will just carry on and apply an appropriate demeanour.
Is A Secondary Effect Of London’s Air Pollution Making Me Ill?
There is no doubt, that i am suffering from a vitamin D deficiency, as it has been measured and I have several of the classic symptoms. Several of my friends seem to be suffering too!
As a coeliac, I get no or little vitamin D from my food, as vitamin D is not added to gluten-free food, so I rely on the sun for my vitamin D.
And there has been very little of that over the last few years in London and the South East of England.
I take vitamin D supplements and these help, but if say I get half an hour in strong sunlight, I feel a lift and a lot better.
I got to wondering, if London’s pollution is cutting out the UVB radiation that I need to generate vitamin D in my skin.
I can’t find any scientific paper, which shows the effect of airpollution on UVB radiation.
Now my health has got worse over the l;ast decade or so, which is a time that corresponds to more diesel cars polluting the atmosphere.
I may be talking sabsolute claptrap, but if I could find a scientific paper, I might be able to be proven wrong.
But I can’t get iot out of my head, that all these diesels are producing pollution, that is cutting the UVB radiation. As my health was appalling in the 1950s, during the legendary London smogs, I wonder if there is a connection.
Unfortunately, to many UVB radiation is an evil as it causes skin cancer. So anything that cuts UVB radiation levels is to be welcomed.
Is This How To Do Small Business?
Opposite Ed’s Shed in De Beauvoir Town is an old factory block of indeterminate age, with little architectural merit.
So what is happening?
It is being turned into a series of units for small businesses called the De Beauvoir Block.
Surely, we need more initiatives like this?
I should say, that although De Beauvoir Town is mainly residential, tucked into lots of the nooks and crannies , there are small business units.
Like the De Beauvoir Block, many have been created by the landowner, the Benyon Estate.
The estate are not distant, like many of the owners of large parts of our cities, but seem to want to create a vibrant and prosperous community.
After all, modern economics says they would make more money by flattering the block and building tower blocks of buy-to-leave flats.
The biggest tragedy of the area is that parts of De Beauvoir Town were demolished in the 1960s to build anonymous local authority housing, some of which has already been rebuilt.
The good thing though, is that there are still more nooks, crannies and factories to do some more creative development.
Ed’s Shed
This house is in the heart of De Beauvoir Town, which is the area of London, where I live on the Northern edge.
Ed’s Shed
It is an unusual modern house to sit amongst all the Georgian ones. It is not the only one in the Conservation Area.
It’s called Ed’s Shed and there is a web site.
I like it!
Why don’t we get more adventurous modern houses? Architects are creating the future and we don’t want uniformity!
Community Toilets In The City Of London
I saw this sign on the door of a pub near Liverpool Street station in the City of London.
Community Toilets In The City Of London
Read more about it on this page on the City of London web site.
If you look at the page, you’ll see something rare on a web site – The author of the page is credited.
Does your council have community toilets?
The web page does say, that there is a payment from the council for providing the service.
Corbyn Courts The Jewish Vote
This article on the Jewish Chronicle is entitled How the unveiling of Labour’s antisemitism report turned into a Corbyn calamity. This is the first paragraph.
It was the political equivalent of running into a burning building with a can of petrol and liberally chucking the fuel over anything you could find.
What Jeremy Corbyn did this morning almost defied belief. Even in these extraordinary times, it was an act of such reckless abandon that veteran political correspondents watched open-mouthed.
Mr Corbyn came to the launch of his party’s report into antisemitism, conducted by Shami Chakrabarti, after the worst week of his decades-long political career.
I’d gone to their web site to get a digest after reading the various tweets after the Jewish MP; Ruth Smeeth was abused.
I’m not Jewish, but I have Jewish genes, so I certainly wouldn’t vote for the Labour Party, even if they were the only non-Fascist candidate.
The Diamond Light Source And Ebola
The headline of Ibuprofen ‘disables’ Ebola virus, drew me to this article on the BBC’s web site. This is said.
The painkiller ibuprofen and the cancer drug toremifene can disable the Ebola virus, say researchers.
Scientists used the UK’s national synchrotron facility – Diamond Light Source – to analyse the virus in incredible detail.
They revealed the two drugs could bind to the crucial part of Ebola that the virus needs to infect cells.
It may be only a starting point, but it looks like a success for the Diamond Light Source. I am indebted to Wikipedia for this description of the Diamond Light Source.
Diamond Light Source (“Diamond”) is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. Its purpose is to produce intense beams of light whose special characteristics are useful in many areas of scientific research. In particular it can be used to investigate the structure and properties of a wide range of materials from proteins (to provide information for designing new and better drugs), and engineering components (such as a fan blade from an aero-engine) to conservation of archeological artifacts (for example Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose.
This is a UK-funded and based facility, I hope that, after Brexit, this type of scientific machine, which cost £260million will still be able to be funded.
SNP Seeks To Replace Labour As Official Opposition At Westminster
This is the title of a story on Politics Home today.
I listened to Prime Ministers Questions today from start to finish and it is worth comparing the performance of Angus Robertson and Jeremy Corbyn.
Robertson’s performance was workmanlike and professional, but Corbyn’s contribution was not of the best quality.
I have not really listened to Corbyn’s contributions much in detail much before, but I got the impression, his heart didn’t seem to be in the debate.
I also thought that he was more long-winded than most other party leaders I remember well. Is he always like this, or is it because he has something else on his mind?
He is certainly not fulfilling his royal of leader of Her Maject’s Loyal Opposition.
If he doesn’t want the job, then I’m sure Angus Robertson could fill in!
After Losing 2-1 Roy Hodgson Resigns, So What Does Corbyn Do After Losing 172-40?
I think one man is honourable,
I’ll let others judge JC!
Who Will Join Corbyn’s Shadow Saddle-Bag?
The pool is getting smaller by the hour!
The Anonymous Widower 