Business as Usual
Manchester is back open for business. They've hosted an athletics event in the city already and will be having the Great Manchester Run tomorrow. There are festivals, the FA Cup and various other major-crowd-drawing events on across the UK over the Bank Holiday weekend - list of some here.
There is heightened security, though the Prime Minister has just announced that the terrorism threat level has been reduced from 'critical' (highest level) to 'severe'; with armed police* in place at major events. Some people will doubtless choose to stay away, just in case. Others will be going with an attitude of,
"Stuff you, terrorists! We're British and we're carrying on (like we did during WWII and when the IRA was bombing us) and you can lump it!" I expect Birmingham Pride will be demonstrating this in spades!
People attending various events have been asked to either take as few bags as possible, or no bags at all. It'll save time with the searches. So we are all being vigilant, but it's otherwise Business as Usual. Yay!
Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has pointed out a potential link between British (& US) foreign policy and the rise of 'so-called Islamist' terrorism. For all various others (mainly of other political parties) have promptly vilified him and called him 'a supporter of terrorism', he has a point.
There was a stable government in Iraq (I said it was stable, I didn't say it was good!) The UK, US and a few others attacked Iraq (Second Gulf War) and removed Saddam Hussein. Iraq is now an unstable state with unstable government, with suicide bomb attacks on civilians are an all too regular occurrence.
The UK, US and others attacked Libya and removed Colonel Gadafi (sp?). He had a stable government (I didn't say it was good, just stable.) Now there is effectively civil war in Libya and it has become a training ground for IS and a major route for people trying to get into Europe.
Dear Reader, like it or not, there is a link.
* * *
We're at home this weekend - washing to do, gardening to do. Did I say I put the 'Front Garden' out last Saturday? The 'Front Garden being a couple of wall baskets which this year contain pink pelargoniums (geraniums) which have large chocolate brown blotches on their leaves, and pink/mauve trailing fuchsias. These are burgeoning and will, in time, I hope, trail down and cover the black plastic linings of the baskets - which currently don't look too pretty, but there we are. The plastic helps keep the compost moist, vital as the front of our house gets the sun all day, often with a breeze.
Apparently there's a garden event on at the Roman Palace Museum at Fishbourne (that's Fishbourne near Chichester.) That'll be Roman-style gardens. We might try seeing that, and it will be a 'try' as train services on the island (Portsea) have been replaced by buses for the long weekend. I can see I'll be finishing the second work sock for H (current 'travel' project) at this rate. I've started turning the heel, having knitted most of the foot travelling to, from and around London on Tuesday.
Thunderstorms have been forecast. Well, after the highs of 29°C in places yesterday . . . They appear to have missed us, so far. Though it definitely rained overnight. Rain, and cooler weather (yay) is forecast for the beginning of next week.
And Finally (and Whatever Next) - the man from Del Monte, he say pineapples will be pink! Apparently the new pink pineapples contain lycopene, a photochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruit and vegetables. Not only will you be getting one of your 'five-a-day', you'll be getting a valuable phytochemical and they look pretty!
Right, I'm off to round up the towels and get them washed and dried before any forecast (or unforecast) rain hits. Y'all have a good day now!
*You know what they say about police looking younger as you get older? Thinking about it, I'd rather have armed police (in their 30s and 40s) at 'events' than soldiers (aged 18-25-ish.) Hopefully the police, being older, would be less likely to fire their weapons out of sheer nervousness and/or inexperience. That's an important thing about the UK police forces; they're civilian services not extentions of the armed forces.
There is heightened security, though the Prime Minister has just announced that the terrorism threat level has been reduced from 'critical' (highest level) to 'severe'; with armed police* in place at major events. Some people will doubtless choose to stay away, just in case. Others will be going with an attitude of,
"Stuff you, terrorists! We're British and we're carrying on (like we did during WWII and when the IRA was bombing us) and you can lump it!" I expect Birmingham Pride will be demonstrating this in spades!
People attending various events have been asked to either take as few bags as possible, or no bags at all. It'll save time with the searches. So we are all being vigilant, but it's otherwise Business as Usual. Yay!
Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has pointed out a potential link between British (& US) foreign policy and the rise of 'so-called Islamist' terrorism. For all various others (mainly of other political parties) have promptly vilified him and called him 'a supporter of terrorism', he has a point.
There was a stable government in Iraq (I said it was stable, I didn't say it was good!) The UK, US and a few others attacked Iraq (Second Gulf War) and removed Saddam Hussein. Iraq is now an unstable state with unstable government, with suicide bomb attacks on civilians are an all too regular occurrence.
The UK, US and others attacked Libya and removed Colonel Gadafi (sp?). He had a stable government (I didn't say it was good, just stable.) Now there is effectively civil war in Libya and it has become a training ground for IS and a major route for people trying to get into Europe.
Dear Reader, like it or not, there is a link.
* * *
We're at home this weekend - washing to do, gardening to do. Did I say I put the 'Front Garden' out last Saturday? The 'Front Garden being a couple of wall baskets which this year contain pink pelargoniums (geraniums) which have large chocolate brown blotches on their leaves, and pink/mauve trailing fuchsias. These are burgeoning and will, in time, I hope, trail down and cover the black plastic linings of the baskets - which currently don't look too pretty, but there we are. The plastic helps keep the compost moist, vital as the front of our house gets the sun all day, often with a breeze.
Apparently there's a garden event on at the Roman Palace Museum at Fishbourne (that's Fishbourne near Chichester.) That'll be Roman-style gardens. We might try seeing that, and it will be a 'try' as train services on the island (Portsea) have been replaced by buses for the long weekend. I can see I'll be finishing the second work sock for H (current 'travel' project) at this rate. I've started turning the heel, having knitted most of the foot travelling to, from and around London on Tuesday.
Thunderstorms have been forecast. Well, after the highs of 29°C in places yesterday . . . They appear to have missed us, so far. Though it definitely rained overnight. Rain, and cooler weather (yay) is forecast for the beginning of next week.
And Finally (and Whatever Next) - the man from Del Monte, he say pineapples will be pink! Apparently the new pink pineapples contain lycopene, a photochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruit and vegetables. Not only will you be getting one of your 'five-a-day', you'll be getting a valuable phytochemical and they look pretty!
Right, I'm off to round up the towels and get them washed and dried before any forecast (or unforecast) rain hits. Y'all have a good day now!
*You know what they say about police looking younger as you get older? Thinking about it, I'd rather have armed police (in their 30s and 40s) at 'events' than soldiers (aged 18-25-ish.) Hopefully the police, being older, would be less likely to fire their weapons out of sheer nervousness and/or inexperience. That's an important thing about the UK police forces; they're civilian services not extentions of the armed forces.