Options

Out for coffee today and Mrs S and I got to talking about travel. Agreeing that it’s always good to have options. A fallback plan if you will. Always to have a plan B, or C, or any number of letters or the alphabet. Never putting all our eggs in one basket, nor relying on one source of income etc. It’s like having a spare tyre and jack, or a first aid kit. You might never use it, but when disaster inevitably strikes, at least such items will prevent said disaster being a showstopper.

Have just been through the costly process of renewing my UK and Canadian passports, and noted that the new blue UK one is still from ‘Her majesties government’. I’ll be getting an Irish passport too when naturalisation time comes around in about four years. Which as an expat is always a good idea because some passports will get you on a fast track through specific customs and immigration posts where another might get you seriously delayed. For me this has had the advantage of not joining the queue for ‘outsiders’, just up to the scanners and you’re out of the airport or shipping terminal in jig time, enjoying a nice lunch while everyone else is still in the queue having their entry visa checked. Having more than one passport gives you options.

And it never hurts to have a secondary form of ID, just in case. Less pressure on the blood pressure when travelling sort of thing. It gives you more options. Less fuss with visas when visiting friends and family all over the world. I’ve used my Canadian passport for extensive visa free travel across the USA, and my UK passport has got me into other places, including the Emerald isle. So as a travel strategy more than one passport has much to offer when local politics threatens to get in the way. Might need ‘South’ to sponsor us for entry to the fabled land of Oz, as she has recently obtained citizenship down there, but we’re not due to go again until 2024, when she’s a bit more settled and brother and sister in law have finished rebuilding their new place near Brisbane.

As for any sense of ‘loyalty’, as I have remarked before, my country (The UK that is) left me, not the other way around. Somewhere around 2004 (or before) I think. I used to be an unquestioning Queen and country patriot, but now I am getting older and ever more cynical, well, I don’t think this lot are worth fighting for. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll fight for what I believe in, but on my own terms.

Not that I care much for what Canada has become either. The stain of fascism is deeply embedded there too, especially in the major urban centres. So for the moment, the wilder west of Ireland will give Mrs S and I safe haven. If the Eejits in Dublin, London or Brussels ever think about rescinding the common travel area treaty (Ratified in May 2019) between the Republic and the UK, then millions of expat Irish living and working in the UK will suffer. Mrs S and I won’t because we will, by the time any such legislation gets sent to the scrapheap, have three passports to help us slip past potential roadblocks.

So I work hard ensuring my family have options, as a safe haven in a neutral country, or otherwise. Especially when the powers that be seem intent on reducing far too many into a 21st century form of serfdom. I’m not relying on the power of protest, although will always support the need for others freedom, even if it proves futile and the bad guys get their way. Even if I have to file tax returns in three differing countries. Yes it’s a pain sometimes, but like having the right tools in your backup kit, it’s often a bloody good idea.

Another day…

And a bit of good news. Both my colonies of bees have survived the cold weather and have been foraging in the gorse and heather in the garden and hedgerows. Work has started on the greenhouse project and we’ve chopped most of the bloody Ivy down.

Elsewhere the globalist projects of unchecked illegal immigration and ‘fifteen minute cities’ are under pressure with protests popping up all over Ireland. The ordinary people are getting upset. Not the media myth of the ‘far right’, but everyday, ordinary people without a political thought in their head. Until now.

That’s right. Ordinary people watching familiar streets being invaded by outsiders at a faster rate than the outsiders can be comfortably assimilated. As an outsider myself, I’m always at pains to observe the social norms of anywhere I happen to end up. Within reason.

Like with the wilder west of Ireland. I’m not a Catholic, but many of my new friends and neighbours are, so you respect that.

However, for the people who do not respect our ways of life, there is a way to at least make your voice heard, at least in the UK, See below for pushback strategies on three critical ‘consultation documents’,

If you can’t be arsed, then don’t whine about it later. The path is lit but requires a little effort. On the other hand, if you don’t want your liberty, all you have to do is stay quiet, like a good little citizen in your pod. Owning nothing and unable to take a shit without permission.

To those that argue “They wouldn’t do that, would they?” I would reply “Oh yes ‘they’ bloody well will. Because ‘they’ can if you let them.”

That’s interesting…

Right. We have a new hedge all planted up. There’s more to do, but I’m looking at building a wall to contain… wait for it.

Another bloody shrubbery, And me with only a past it’s sell by date Kipper, not even a Herring. This shrubbery will contain Gardenias, Camellias and a few other flowering shrubs to brighten our view from the south facing rooms.

On the plus side of life. Mrs S went to the Doctor for a quick walletotomy and some blood tests just before the festering season. She was told by the quack that her cholesterol was ‘too high’ and that he was considering putting her on statins. My good lady, having a distaste for such things, with a little assistance on the culinary front from yours truly, made a few lifestyle changes.

Yesterday we got the result of her second set of tests; Cholesterol was now heading well below the upper ‘safe’ threshold. In just over six weeks Which is better than most Statins can acieve without all the fuss over pills, potions and liver function tests.

How was this mini-miracle achieved? Simple. Increased physical activity (Two hours a day) and a significant reduction of refined sugar products and starches in the diet. Very little potato and wheat products and a month on the wagon.

Result; Doctor is happy, for a given value of ‘happy’. Mrs S is chuffed, as it means she doesn’t have to shell out for pills and potions, with all their attendant side effects. As am I as the side effects of statins are well known, and like certain other treatments, seem to me that the ‘cure’ is worse than the ‘disease’, like the one in eight hundred risk of serious side effects, and a one in eight thousand or so of dropping down dead for another.

And this boost in my wife’s metabolic health was derived from a good mixed diet, fresh air and moderate exercise. Good ‘ere, innit?

Update: It appears the AI spambots don’t like this post as my spam filter has flagged up a number of the ‘Source’ one word comment spam. Look, if the spambots had the brains to follow the link provided, then they would have found the information on Statin side effects. As for giving the ‘source’ of Mrs S’s reduced LDL cholesterol, well me bucko’s, you’ll just have to take my word for it. I don’t post that kind of personal information just because some lame brain thinks demanding them makes their point. They can just go stew in their own unpleasant juices.

This is why we can’t have nice things….

Mrs S wants a hedge to back up the front wall. I thought she meant privet, but she says no, she wants a flowering shrub. So I’ve been scouring various horticultural sources for an evergreen that flowers. At present the smart money is on Gardenias. Although this may change.

Highly amused by the Yanks shooting down balloons at 40,000ft. Maybe the Pentagon isn’t aware, but there are companies who use Radio-Sonde type balloons to take giftware up to the edge of the atmosphere before retrieving it and selling the giftware items, like here. Is this what the Yanks have been shooting down? I could have saved them the cost of those three missiles by pointing them to this site for weather balloon tracking too.

The Redacted crew (See below) says it’s a probably distraction for the Yanks blowing up the Nordstream 2 pipeline. Not aliens.

Frankly it’s embarrassing. The western media have been beating the war drum so hard that everything is a ‘threat’. Everyone is shouting. No one’s really listening, and important information gets lost in the emotion. It’s why we can’t have nice things because the current US administration has less control than a thwarted spoiled brat.

Shades of 1984 methinks.

Cutting back

Oh, the Holly and the Ivy, when they are overgrown, of all the trees that are in our yard, the holly is a feckin’ pain in this eejits arse. With the Ivy not far behind.

Today dear reader, I have been cutting through dozens of Ivy and holly stems thicker than my wrist. Sometimes four or five of them on each tree. The last owners must have ignored this infestation for at least twenty years for the vegetation to get this tangled. Then there are the Laurels I’m still killing off, bloody things. At least the roots are getting attacked by drilling half inch holes in the base and said holes being attacked with good old Epsom salts. Now Epsom salts is normally good as a fertiliser and soil conditioner, but packed into a hole close to the roots is supposed to kill said rootstock.

However, I’m going to let things run their course, but the next attack on these unwanted plants will be with salt and boiling water. I’m also trying it on the remaining rootstocks of our Rhododendron and Laurel hedges, Bloody things. Along with the Leylandii, which is about to be decimated by a firm of landscape gardeners. Oh they may look nice and green from a distance, but they provide no wildlife habitat, and any nectar from these plants may prove problematic. So they’re going. Permanently.

Took a look at my hives as well. I have a feeling at least one colony has fallen victim to the recent cold snaps. If I’m wrong and at least one colony of bees are still alive and kicking I’ll just plant some bushes around two metres from that hive to give my workers a bit more shelter. The other ’empties’ can be moved and I’ll have to shell out for three new colonies. I’ve also managed to pick up some Lemon or Bee balm seed, which I shall pot out for germination, then put in a largish planter near to the new hive location to attract a swarm or two, if I’m lucky.

Then there’s the greenhouse. Fortunately I have the timber and glass on site, so it’s just a case of some assembly required.

Still angry about the unnecessary pandemic deaths. At the time I too dismissed the whole “Midzolam” story, which I too thought was a conspiracy theory, but now see that there was a huge spike in prescriptions during the worst of the pandemic.

There has to be a reckoning, or there is no justice in this world. Unfortunately this is a state of affairs which I have long suspected. That there is no justice, just unjust laws.

“The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella;
But chiefly on the just, because
The unjust hath the just’s umbrella.”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/50924-the-rain-it-raineth-on-the-just-and-also-on

Information laundering

Layered scientific studies referencing other peer reviewed studies which don’t say what we’re told they say. Yet the mainstream media want us to take them as gospel?

Make your own judgement.

Getting your own back

Busy clearing trees and shrubs today, opening up the garden a bit more and getting ready for the removal of about ten overgrown Leylandii. While Mrs S was telling me how to cut down trees, a task I have successfully performed on various occasions for several decades without supervision, my mind wandered onto the topic of these insane ‘fifteen minute cities’ and how to fight back against this insult to liberty.

Protesting seems to do no good, as the eco-zealot instigators seem so convinced of their rightness that they will ignore any heartfelt pleas and go ahead anyway. If pressed they may simply label the opposition ‘domestic terrorists’ and carry on regardless.

However, one idea that did occur to me while hauling branches was to surreptitiously obtain the vehicle registration numbers of the people responsible for instituting and enforcing these unfair regulations and stick copies of them over the number plates of several random other vehicles in the area, or perhaps the next zone over.

Now given how rarely most people actually look at their own vehicle registrations, this would seem a wizard wheeze if well done. It would certainly make a nonsense of the automated camera enforcement. Because if offending councillors / officials vehicles start racking up multiple fines without going anywhere it might give them cause to reconsider their ill judged authoritarianism.

Those intent on making mischief for the offending instigator might even simply walk past a few ANPR cameras with a copy of an offending councillors number plate emblazoned on their back while walking the dog, identity perhaps concealed by a large hat and scarf. If the cops show up, the number plate sign could be readily discarded, or even left in a place where the ANPR cameras would keep registering the number, and the rest left to the automated system generating thousands in fines for the net zero advocates, overloading the system. Interested parties might even share number plates so that the eco zealots get fined from multiple fifteen minute cities.

The glory of this jolly jape is that a crime will not have taken place. Well, not really. Knowing what I do about how these systems work, it is apparent to me that all sorts of entertainment might be had without going anywhere near the offending eco-zealot, or anything which might be construed as stalking. All that needs to happen is that their own systems are turned against the most deserving.

Bankrupt the net zero bastards, say I. It’s only what they deserve. For those unfortunate to get caught in the fifteen minute trap, it’s called getting your own back.

Let the games begin. This could be fun.

That Trans question

While clearing the last of the old decking and prepping the area for the new rose beds, I found myself pondering about this whole trans business. All the agonised cries of ‘misgendering’ and so forth. Also the desire to be considered ‘real women’ and be allowed into hitherto inappropriate places like women’s changing rooms. That and protecting biological women from the predations of the faux-trans, i.e. males who just put on a dress and claim this is all it takes. It seems to me there is a logical and relatively low cost solution that can be applied to the satisfaction of all. Well possibly.

This may upset some people for various reasons, but upsetting a few people seems to be a hobby of mine. And in my perambulations through YouTube comment threads this becomes ever more common. However, in the spirit of tolerance and equity I would like to say that I feel the vociferous male to female trans lobby has a point, and that they should be allowed access to women’s spaces, but only on one unbreakable condition; they have to give something up first. Specifically their sexual impedimenta, because those are the bits that cause the problems for women.

In medical terms it should be stipulated that if these ‘trans’ people want to join the desired club or clubs, then they should at least be willing to pay the basic membership fee of becoming at least half way female. Specifically a penectomy and bilateral orchiectomy before being allowed to access said spaces. Or to put it more crudely;

As for going the whole hog. Well I’m afraid unless a new technology is developed that can totally alter your XY to XX, superficially neuter is about as good as anyone is going to get. Brow ridges and superficial features can be altered, sexual organs removed surgically, organs can be shrunk by hormones, but our biology is immutably linked to our sex at birth. It’s no use simply calling yourself Loretta one gay morning and walking through the distaff door. This isn’t people being cruel or ‘hateful’, it’s simple anatomy and physiology. It’s just about safeguarding those (on average) not as physically strong or robust.

Women and men think differently too, that much cannot be denied. It’s biologically baked in. Our endocrine and reproductive systems have evolved our brains for different functions. Males tend to be larger, faster and heavier too. There is, admittedly, a little crossover, but only in extreme cases, and no amount of social conditioning will make it otherwise.

There is also the simple point that since time immemorial men have formed male only groups and women have formed female only peer groups. This is natural. It is a function of instinctive human behaviour for those who fit certain personality and gender subtypes to seek out those who most resemble themselves and what makes them comfortable. Like football clubs or various special interest societies. Or even simply a loose social group who wish to use a particular social space at a given time. They all have a common thread and no amount of busybody social engineering can change that.

So my point is that women need exclusively female spaces / company, and men need exclusively male spaces / company to fully relax and function well. It’s a social / emotional need as much as anything. If you are one of that tiny minority of inbetweeners then you’ll just have to form your own exclusive spaces and leave everyone else’s alone. No-one is really excluding the inbetweeners, it’s just that the inbetweeners are busy painting themselves into a corner and a lot of excitable and ignorant people are trying to hold a tiny mirror up to reality and chop off all the bits that won’t fit. Which never works.

Personally, I think the Who nailed it back in the 60’s.

As for the whole pronoun business, there is an important bit of wisdom that was vouchsafed to me by a one time boon companion; You are who you are, but nobody else is. Don’t expect them to be. This axiom has passed destruction testing and I think it applies here in spades.

Anyway. That’s enough pontificating from me for the moment. There is work to be done outdoors and it is my function to do it. I don’t care that the UK 77th Brigade were told to monitor and harass those critical of the lockdowns and masks. Or may even now be assisting the UK Police in finding people who they think are saying subjectively ‘offensive’ things. We knew it was our own military and law enforcement being weaponised against us., and the suffering those units have induced is real. Which means governments all over the world are criminalising dissent, no matter how well founded that disagreement is.

I did say at the time that there was a section of the ruling class pushing these crazy ideas. Like the strange idea is that you can alter human behaviour by suppressing it. Well you can, for a while, but only as long as the suppression is dialled all the way up. Think of what the powers that be are doing as stretching our social elastic all the way to it’s limit. At some point said social elastic will snap, and those doing the stretching will get hurt.

This situation could be avoided by simply dialling back the suppression, but I don’t think certain parties have the simple common sense to desist. They seem too arrogant for that.

What can you do in….

What can you do in fifteen minutes, and why are these policies being implemented right now? It’s been a rainy day, Mrs S is fiddling with indoor pot plants and the weather means work outdoors (For me) has shut down. So I’ve time to ponder the social and economic insanity coming down the track. Being country dwellers we fall well outside the boundaries of these insane restrictions, so they won’t really affect us much. Yet.

If the restrictions look like coming our way, I’ll do like one ex-employer did, which was to install a thousand litre diesel storage tank and buy my diesel in bulk. As I recall one tankful was enough to get a fully loaded Mercedes van to most places in the British Isles and back, and we carried a 5 gallon jerrycan for emergency use. He saved a couple of hundred per thousand litres by paying wholesale prices, and we stopped having to mess around with fuel cards and the like.

Then there’s the news that the UK 77th Brigade intelligence unit was spying upon it’s own citizens during the pandemic, relaying reports to politicians who then set the dogs on them via online platform providers. Well colour me not surprised. Our ruling politicians and states seem to be deep in the pockets of the Davos party and pharmaceutical companies pushing their dodgy under-tested (and emergency use only) products. So really we shouldn’t be that shocked.

The science in support of both pandemic and forthcoming ‘fifteen minute cities’ and attendant lockdowns has become deeply politicised and corrupted. Those entrusted with the powers of state have been abusing that trust by effectively criminalising large swaths of their populations for the sin of objecting to being imprisoned in their own homes (Yet again). No doubt the states crimes against the public will go unpunished for the moment, so long as the public keep voting for the usual suspects. However, protests are gathering sway, and if silenced may well build into a roar that will shiver the cosy sinecures out of their comfortable lives.

We know that the powers meant to protect us are being used against the public. How long that will continue is down to those whose blind compliance is allowing everyone to slide ever further toward societal breakdown. And that will get really messy when the shit eventually hits the fan.

Call that democracy? Because I don’t.