Donald And Boris: The Trump Effect

When Donald Trump was the president of America, many of us here in England found him to be an unusual choice as leader of the ‘free world’. His strange hairstyle, the make-up that made him look permanently orange, and not least his regular comments, tweets, and outbursts that seemed to be far from presidential. He had a bad attitude to women, could be rude and insulting on a daily basis, and it was no secret he had an admiration for people he regarded to be ‘strong’ leaders, like Kim in North Korea, and Putin in Russia.

As time went on, he was not afraid to make openly racist remarks about illegal immigrants from centtral America, Mexicans, and Chinese people. He was happy to be offensive to all of his political opponents, and many of his former friends and advisers too. Then during his handling of the pandemic, he went so far as to suggest that scientists and doctors had no idea what they were talking about, and advised people to take horse medicine or inject themselves with bleach instead.

I hold no brief for either side in US politics, but had to admit there were times when I thought Mr Trump was insane.

However, at least 50% of the people in America thought he was marvellous. Many loved him, some even idolised him. For them he could do no wrong, and for most of them he still can’t.

And now we have Boris johnson running Britain. A man who has fathered children with many different women, is openly boastful about his upper-class education, and also has a strange hairstyle. His appearance is unkempt, his speech little more than blathering, often incomprhensible. He has lied to parliament, and to the electorate, and shown no remorse when those lies have been exposed. He has consorted with Russian oligarchs, taken millions of pounds in favours from them, and awarded lucrative contracts to his best friends, costing the taxpayers billions over the last two years.

During the pandemic lockdowns he ignored the rules and laws others were prosecuted for not following, and has recently suppressed reports and investigations into his own behaviour. His friends have been rewarded with top political jobs, Knighthoods, and elevation to the Peerage. He travels around the world embarrassing this country with his bumbling and spouting of nonsense, and he has used Brexit to feather the nests of many already obscenely wealthy businessmen and political colleagues.

Yet at least 50% of the people in this country think he is doing a good job, and want him to stay on as leader. He may be booed or ignored on some walkabouts, but on others he is cheered and adored. Many of his supporters think he is the greatest thing that has happened to this country, and if he is ousted as leader by his political enemies, they will no doubt be calling for him to be reinstated.

I call this ‘The Trump Effect’.

The Shame Of Britain

News today of an incident at Calais that rightfully shames the current despicable government running this country.

150 Ukrainian refugees escaped from their war-torn country. They spent days heading West, crossing through Poland and Germany into France. Their aim was to seek refuge with members of their families who were already legally resident in Britain.

But the UK Border Force post at Calais refused them entry. They were told to travel to Paris, 300 miles away, and apply for a temporary visa at the British Embassy there.

Heartless, bureaucratic, shameful in the extreme.

Poland has welcomed over 500,000 refugees.
Hungary has welcomed over 140,000 refugees.
Moldova has welcomed 98,000 refugees.
Slovakia has welcomed 73,000 refugees.
Romania has welcomed 52,000 refugees.

Even Russia has allowed in 48,000 refugees to flee the war it started.

And noble Great Britain, that renowned Monarchy and self-professed seat of Democracy will not allow in 150 people who already have somewhere to go when they get here.

How can anyone claim to be ‘Proud to be British’, faced with this international shame?

Putin Rolls The Dice

I like to be the first to admit when I am wrong. I didn’t think that Russia would invade the main part of Ukraine, but now they have.

It seems that Putin is less concerned about any financial repercussions than the many billionaires and millionaires in his country are. And after making a lot of noise about ‘strict sanctions’ last week, those sanctions proved to be rather lukewarm, and ultimately toothless.

This is especially true in the case of Boris Johnson, who made a great deal of the puny sanctions he imposed this week by limiting the activities of three Russian-owned banks in London. Refusing to go after billions of pounds of Russian money invested in property in Britain, he claimed that everyone who owned them was ‘on the electoral register as a UK resident’. This despite the easily-proven fact that most are owned by shell companies fronted by Russian oligarchs and registered in foreign tax havens.

All of this lukewarm response to sanctions must have assured Putin that he was free to do anything he liked, as long as his troops did not cross the border into a NATO-member country. Add to this the constant reports that no western country was prepared to assist Ukraine militarily, other than to supply them with weapons and munitions.

So, the dice has been rolled, and has not yet reached the end of the gaming table.

Boris and Ukraine

Remember not so long ago, when the political future of Boris Johnson was hanging by a thread?

The public didn’t trust him, many of his own members of Parliament wanted him gone, and the vultures were circling as others vied for his job.

As for the media, they churned out endless reports about his lies, the Sue Gray investigation, and featured many people who were adamant that Boris had to go, for the sake of the nation, and to reinstill some credibility in the government.

Boris disappeared, claiming a relative with Covid for his self-isolating absence.

He was waiting for the dust to settle.

The same day that he was back on our screens, the media only had one thing to tell us about. Russia was going to invade Ukraine. World War Three was not only a possibility, it was imminent.

Our chief liar got busy, flying around Europe to make it look as if his presence was important in any discussions about the Ukraine situation. He went to Ukraine too, giving away £88 million of our money, and pledging to support the Ukrainians against Putin. He has also been to Poland, Germany, and Belgium, as well as France and America.

His carbon footprint has been disregarded in his efforts to be seen as a world leader, and a man of the hour.

As soon as things seemed about to calm down in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss asserted that Russia was going to invade Ukraine ‘at any moment’. America jumped back onto the invasion bandwagon, and even Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to pour water on the fires faded in a burst of jingoistic fervour on both sides of the Atlantic.

Step in the helpful media, showing out of date photos of Russian troops and tanks, and giving wildly fluctuating estimates of Russian troop numbers on the border with UKraine.

Vladimir Putin had better watch out. Boris the Liar is so desperate to keep his job, he may well get his front bench cronies to invade Ukraine wearing Russian uniforms.

“Don’t Ask For A Pay Rise”

Discussing the economy and the forthcoming increase in interest rates in Britain, the Governor of The Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, urges workers not to ask for any pay rises in 2022, to help keep down the rising inflation rate.

Can you guess how much that man earns? Fortunately, it is a matter of Public Record.

£500,000 a year. ($679,000) Plus benefits.

The national average annual salary in this country is just over £30,000. ($41,000)

The ‘minimum wage’ annual salary, paid to a large percentage of workers, is £18,535. ($25,000)

Bailey earns as much as 17 people on the national average salary.

Bailey earns as much as 28 people on the ‘minimum wage’ salary.

I don’t know about you, but I find his remarks to be both offensive, and sickening.

Andy Thrown Under The Bus

Breaking news!

The disgraced Prince Andrew has had his royal titles and duties removed by the Queen.

He has also had all his military ranks and honours taken away.

According to Buckingham Palace, he will no longer be addressed as ‘His Royal Highness’.

They also state that he is now a ‘Private Citizen’.

I only have three words to add.

Not before time.

(And I am chuckling with glee, which you can’t see of course.)

Boris On The Back Foot

In Parliament today, Boris Johnson finally accepted personal responsibility for the parties held at 10 Downing Street during the 2020 lockdowns.

And he apologised unreservedly.

He wasn’t his usual ebullient and truculent self, oh no. To be honest, he looked ill, and there was a sense that he knew his time was almost over. Not only public opinion had forced his hand, also the outrage of members of his own party who had begun to write him off long before he stood up to speak.

Depending on what you read, and where you read it, the absence of Chancellor Rishi Sunak indicated that he is being groomed to take over. Or if you read someone else, Liz Truss is set to become the new Margaret Thatcher, a new ‘Iron Lady’ for the 21st Century.

As far as I am concerned, all Tories are liars and parasites. Whether it is Sunak or Truss, the only change is the hairstyle and clothes.

High time we got shot of them all.

Afghanistan: The New Refugee Crisis

Since the final departure of the western military and diplomats from Afghanistan, what happens in that country has dropped off the news, in the main. Instead we get reports about government sleaze, the COP 26 Climate Crisis conference, and the occasional mention of the new ‘fishing war’ with France.

Fortunately, the BBC still has a very good correspondent in Afghanistan, a local man who has stayed on to send reports.

After the Taliban assumed power, they sacked almost everyone who had a job under the previous government. Most women employed in any job were told to go home, schools became institutions that taught only the Koran, and only to boys. Salaries outstanding from the previous administration have not been paid since the takeover, and assets have been frozen by the simple act of closing down banks.

This has triggered a massive refugee crisis, as tens of thousands of Afghans flee the country, most using the land route to try to get into Pakistan or Iran. Few have a valid passport, and none have the required visas. That means they are exploited by people smugglers who charge them most of the money they have left to drive them across borders in rickety old pickup trucks, crammed with refugees.

Most want to get to Turkey, where they believe they can find work. Some see Turkey as a stepping stone to other countries in Europe, their eventual goal. Meanwhile, up to 5,000 people a day, including women and children, are leaving from just one town on the border with Iran. Some are detained on the other side by the Iranian authorities, and returned to Afghanistan. All they do then is to wait their turn to try again.

And what of the Taliban? Are they trying to stop the people smugglers? Are they worried about this exodus of people from their fundamentalist utopia? Many of those leaving are well-educated, and experienced in the administration and infrastructure of running a country. You might think the Taliban would be doing its best to keep them.

But no.

Instead, they stand and watch, charging the people smugglers $10 per pickup truck for each one that passes their checkpoint.

This must be what counts as ‘Income generation’ under their rule.

You Couldn’t Make It Up…

A veteran (Conservative) member of Parliament has taken to the newspapers lamenting the fact that he finds it difficult to ‘manage’ on his salary of £81,932 a year. ($111,300)

Tory MP reveals grim reality of living on just £82,000 as he asks for payrise

He compares himself to qualified family doctors, who currently earn more than £100,000 a year from the NHS. ($136,000) He forgets to mention all the years of study at university, medical school, and post-graduate qualifications required to be a family doctor in the UK. The only qualification a member of parliament needs is to get enough people to put a cross next to his or her name on election day.

This is without considering his expenses allowance of course, which is currently an average of £150,000 a year for each member of parliament. ($204,000)
(Family doctors do not get expenses, but he didn’t mention that)

That expenses figure (often greatly exceeded) is supposed to allow for a residence in London, secretarial help, entertainment, and travel. And on top of all this, they get access to a very generous pension scheme, a subsidised restaurant in the Houses of Parliament, and long holidays each year when the parliament closes.

Compare that to the national average salary, which at the moment is estimated to be £29,000 a year. ($39,500) And consider those working on the national minimum wage of £8.91 an hour, ($12) equating to an annual salary of £18,500 for a 40-hour working week. ($21,140)

These parliamentary parasites make me sick to my stomach, and interviews like the one featured in the link go to show that they have no concept of what life is like for ‘normal’ people, and no regard for those living on low wages, or struggling to survive at the bottom of the social ladder in Britain.

I would make them all live on the national average salary, not a penny more. You would soon see them campaigning to increase salaries and hourly rates of pay.

The Taliban and The Saudis

I have just been watching the lunchtime news on BBC The British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has announced that the UK will not recognise any Taliban government in Afghanistan, and we will have no diplomatic relations with whatever they end up calling what we formerly knew to be Afghanistan. I can see why that might happen.

The Taliban has a terrible record when it comes to human rights, and the brutal imposition of their kind of fundamental Muslim Rule of Law has long been criticised by most other countries in the world. Let’s look at some of what we know about how they operate.

*Women are second class citizens who have little or no rights.
*Public executions are the norm. They include stoning, beheading, hanging, and shooting.
*Punishments for minor crimes include chopping off hands in public.
*They do not believe in a wider kind of education for children, only religious schools.
*Their form of government is based on extremist religion only, and is not democratic.

In the 21st century, this is unacceptable to us in the West, and borders on barbaric.

But hang on a minute…

Many of the same rules apply in Saudi Arabia. That is also a country dominated by religion, and ruled by a dynasty that accepts no protests against its rule.

But the UK not only recognises that country it also considers it to be a great friend of the West, and of Britain in particular.

So, what’s the difference between the Taliban and The Saudis?

Yes, you guessed it. Oil.