Afghanistan, Butterfly and GB News

Trapped behind the open window I found this man, a brilliant red 'Peacock' butterfly, turned into a dowdy, dirty, black 'Peacock' by my filthy sash windows.  As he was trapped between the two, as I moved one to set him free he flew up with the window.  It took an ages to get him out, and, when out, by flapping in a panic I could not get a proper picture, and eventually forced him down and out of the lower, open window.

It is nice to see such a creature flapping around the place but it does appear their numbers are shrinking.  The climate change caused by natural events and chemical abuse is having an effect.  The world is in a worse position than it has ever been, and politicians argue, from their holiday lets, about whether a woman ought to keep an Alpaca or not!  The world is heading for a bad place, save yourselves while you have the chance.

 

Finally Andrew Neil has recognised his limited Far-Right approach will not bring in the numbers.  So, he has been dumped back to the south of France (funny how GB News is paid for by Americans and other foreigners all living like Andrew abroad) while Farage and Dan Wooton takes over the lying for the Fascist Right.  

The numbers have been low, advertisers scared off, but government, that means Boris and his paymasters, have forced others to advertise there to support this limited station.  The polarisation of society, to the benefit of the rich, billionaire backed, Far-Right continues.  

Both here and in the US the same names are behind the push.  Murdoch runs Fox News, he refused to start one here as it would not pay, £65 million has been wasted so far by GB News, and yet the Billionaires in the US keep pushing for such stations to lie to the people and happily spend their cash.  Clearly they are making from it, either from the station themselves but most likely from the effect it has in influencing public policy.

Rich men getting richer by abusing the stupidity of the viewer is not new.  It will however continue as long as Boris remains in charge.

 

     Evening Standard

This cartoon tellsus all we need to know about Afghanistan.

For how many years we have sent our armed forces to fight an unwinnable war, losing men at an enormous rate, and for what?  

As I understand it, we went there to seek Bin Laden.  Naturally, led by the Americans, we were told to cover the exits.  Unfortunately he went out by the fire escape, one that US intelligence had not noticed.  Listening in to his phone did not help as he used pencil and paper to pass messages, so finding him was difficult.

UK expertise in Afghanistan was well known.  All remembered the 19th century wars on the North West Frontier, wars which we lost!  It was made clear then that this was not a land we ought to be fighting over, we would never win.  The Soviet Union forces fell into the trap, the one that fooled the Yanks in Vietnam, that heavy weapons, modern systems and paying the right people would allow them to dominate.  They failed.

So, the US, along with Lapdog UK went to Iraq and Afghanistan, both at the same time, both badly managed, both a complete failure costing millions of lives, including many of our own. However, the politicians die in their beds.

Now, having trained our forces for Afghan fighting, losing many for little if any success, we leave.  For some time we have been 'training' local forces, their quick defeat/surrender is a credit to our teaching, and little true fighting as British units has occurred. What 'special forces' may have done is unclear and possibly best left unclear for some time.  

Leaving in my view is inevitable and ought to have happened years ago, we cannot stretch to Iraq and Afghanistan, we are too busy delivering to Sainsburys.  Now we accept this, because the Americans are running away.  We leave a confused nation, run by the Taliban, though most of them are just locals fighting for themselves, and with possibly a warlord situation fighting for years may lie ahead.  In short, back to Afghan normal.  

The women?  What can we do?  

We abandon many translators and helpers to their fate so we will do nothing for the women.  Their education will fade, many will escape, some remain safe, but overall we can do nothing.  

What a mess.  

It is almost as if Boris designed this situation, it has all the hallmarks of his incompetence, however, it was other, proper politicians, who got us into the mess, now they take us out.  I wonder what soldiers who saw friends die or carry the effects of the conflict feel about this? 

Pah!

So much for getting out and about!
I got as far as the gardens!
Having forgotten to eat last night, I ate but not properly, I found I had no energy this morning for some reason.  Listlessly staring at the laptop did not improve things and only after a light lunch did I twig what was wrong.  Stupidity runs in my family but appears to stop at me.
The gardens were bereft of flying creatures, small kids were found aplenty spoiling the view, mums who need to diet strolled around with mobile clamped to their ears while little ones wondered whether to throw themselves into the pond.  I moved away at this point...

This boy posed for me however.
No idea what it is, don't say 'Butterfly' I know that but I know not what kind.  One or two other flying beasties were around as the chill in the air did not deter the Spring like weather.  In the next day or two it may get hot, probably because I am inside the museum tomorrow!

  
Daffodils.  Why more daffodils you ask?  Because there are myriads of the things blooming all over the place.  Most other flowers are as yet to small to make a real splash but they will soon enough.
There was little else to see as I passed by.  Too many kids to wander about with a camera these days. No activities of any sort to be worth taking pictures, nothing new in this small town today.
Of course most sweet little ones have gone back to school, the rest go back tomorrow.  This means the museum will be quiet and we have just finished one exhibition so there will be a mere half museum to see tomorrow.  It will take two weeks to set up the next one. 
I will sit and watch...

Dusk Phone Calls

With the dark blue sky at dusk, such a change from the fifty shades of gray that have covered us for days, I was strongly tempted to find a 'night' view somewhere.  The only one suitable was 'The Bull.' I admit this is not a picture I would take later in the evening, especially at the weekends, as the crowds leaving the premises are not always as sober as wisdom would hope.  There is something attractive about deep blue sky and bright lights.

Sadly after I wrote that I returned to watching Southampton play Manchester United and forgot to finish it.  I blame late nights and weak head.  The weak head gets many votes around here, just ask the man who brought an old fellow in a wheel chair into the museum today.  I made it clear the way to do it was charge the disabled one £1:50 and the carer goes free, other wise he pays £ and the chap goes free. This is the best way so I took his money and gave him change of £3.   It was as he questioned this I realised I had got it wrong.  I explained as I gave him the proper change that in this manner we often made money.  
I expected to be busier as Christmas is approaching and while some browsed and bought nowt I did manage to collect a good sale from one of the town's well known respectable gents.  I did my best to avoid the rest of the staff as they all suffered colds and I did not wish to add another to my year.  
I came home, ate and slept!  That indicates how hard I work, doesn't it...?

I almost forgot this again!
I just spent an eternity listening to my sister on the phone, how women talk! There is of course regular chat between us, I called only last July, and she dropped a note not long ago to me.  The communication would be better as she now has one of those 'Tablet' things but cannot connect it to anything.  If I receive an email she does not receive the answer, now he aged computer has died and her daughters husband is attempting to rectify the situation I reckon she will be computerless for a while yet.  He being a mere welder will know little about the gentle art of making computers work. 
The purpose of the call was to inform her her the huge parcel will be posted tomorrow, that is if I get it wrapped up tonight, and now the football has come on, what will I do I wonder......

Being bored at one time during this morning I attempted to capture the interesting sky in the distance by picturing the butterfly sticker on the window. All it shows it that the window requires cleaning!  I just remembered my back is aching, I'd better leave that to another....

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Flutterby

This boy has been sat here on my bathroom wall for three days now.  Sitting there, face down, as if he expects to be fed somehow.  What is he doing there? The door, a large wooden thing that fills a hole, is wide open, leaving a large empty hole through which he can leave, this is positioned only six inches from his face, yet he stays there.
His mate flew in the other night and fluttered about for a while in the bedroom banging his head on the window before he worked out to go through the open bit.  He flew out to join several other butterfly's fluttering by and yesterday there appeared to be a great many of the things around.  This can only be good as the beasties are suffering a lot with the muck we pollute the air with.
I may however have to call the bailiffs in for this visitor.

The BBC iPlayer is down!  It is impossible to get programmes to arise!  How can I live without listening to something I could not hear when originally broadcast? This great boon to mankind now lying broken somewhere in White City or wherever is more important than anything else to those of us off an intellectual bent.  And I have often been informed my intellect is very bent indeed!  I was listening to the 'Essay' on Radio 3 and it would not work. Last weeks was about the first world war and offered interesting insights as to how it effected people in various nations today, very clever programmes.  This week we have had A.L. Kennedy talking about Scotland!  You would not wish to miss this!  I canny agree with Kennedy on some things but I find her short talks very interesting and clever. Well worth a listen, once the blasted thing comes back up that is!!! Bah!!!  

No iPlayer and it's back to this.....

Fluttering Butterfly

The Tortoiseshell Butterfly is a handsome chap, or chapess I am not sure, but he, or she, is not intended to live in my bed chamber.  He came in through the open window the other day when the air was warmer than today, I discovered him on the curtains at night.  In itself this is not a problem as he normally would leave the next day following the route he took to get here however the light at night attracted him into the shade, possibly to cool off as you know it's cooler in the shade.  He rummaged around there ion and off, occasionally flitting about the room annoying me and generally being a pest. The last two nights he has lived there, rent free, so today I removed him from his temporary dwelling and after taking his photo for recognition purposes, his fingerprints were a bit more troublesome, I edged him through the window.  At this I felt guilty.  The weather she is cooler, he himself looked tired and weary after his tanning session, and I am now concerned in case he fell to the ground weary and became an evening meal for one of the local birds.  

I have spent many hours today researching a war memorial.  This involved finding, reading and copying bits of a book re an attack by the Welsh Guards. Hours I spent looking for the right bit, then followed this with more reading for another man who fell in the Sharon Plain.  All day I spent on this and have only got to the fourth man on the list when I discover someone already has done much of the work! Quite why he has not made this clear I know not the great lump! My efforts are not in vain as I a sure I can jazz it up a wee bit for him. Nice to know however that some people are willing to expend some time in researching their village history.

Monday Mumbling

The milder weather, only two pullovers on today, brought me a visitor this afternoon. Taking his ease on the grubby window a butterfly enjoyed the view through the dirt ingrained pane.  My pondering as to whether he was better off inside or out ended after I downloaded the pics I took, almost all out of focus, and returned to find he had disappeared.  I suspect he realised he would starve to death in here and hopped it towards the park.  Can he survive the winter I wonder?  Will such a frail creature endure the cold?  If only he had turned around and rested on the pane, then I may have obtained a better shot and worked out what he was called.  

You might have picked up from the news, if you had been listening carefully, that Mandela had died.  Being unwell, ninety five years of age, and quite famous I thought we might hear more about him hmmm?  I liked this man.  He was no messiah as some appear to reckon him, he was not even a great president, he was however a great man!  Having spent so many years in jail it meant his ability as leader was limited.  Others were in powerful positions and he himself was not as young as he had been, his close knowledge and awareness of his people were now limited by the long separation.  However with one magnificent gesture, offering forgiveness and reconciliation, he avoided a possible civil war, with the attending bloodbath, and set about creating a new nation.
It has not happened, with the present generation of leaders it will never happen, and the poorest still face unending struggles and dangers day by day. Many have found life much improved, others find life has more dangers.  I had a run in with a chap who considers all TV as 'anti-white,' this Afrikaner is willing to tell of the many whites killed by black folks, but forgets the oppression of the past couple of centuries.  He and I did not get on.  For many whites South Africa is indeed a dangerous place, not all see things his way however.
There has been a certain amount of idol worship around Mandela in the past few days, this is wrong, and he would object to this.  He ought to be seen as the man who saved South Africa, donning a 'Springbok' shirt to do so, encouraging reconciliation and forgiveness, which may well have been hard for him inside, and setting forth a positive view of a new nation.  This did not make him a messiah, but as I said, it made him a great man, and he ought to be regarded as such.

Saturday saw the town centre awash with Christmas shoppers. naturally a donkey, plus two sheep, appeared in town.  Cynics may say the last thing we need is another donkey wandering about here, but I say nothing.  As you do folks were attempting to pet the animals, and as they do they just wanted someone to shove hay in their mouths.  I think the animals came off best here.  I note that a 'Morocco Market' was arranged by one town but fell through at the last minute as the Moroccans could not get visa's, just in case they did not go home again, and the camels got stuck on the motorway!  Whether the brutes were walking or using the bus was not made clear, the camels I mean, not the Moroccans.     

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