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| Iran is often called "The Head of the Snake" |
In January, Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistan, who then retaliated a few days later. In both cases people were killed.
Following that, "Iran fired missiles into northern Syria saying it was targeting IS bases, and into Iraq, aiming at what it claimed was an “Israeli espionage headquarters” and “terrorist groups” near the US consulate compound in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.'' The Guardian January 15th 2024
On Sunday January 28th, an Iranian drone killed three US soldiers in Jordan, near the border with Syria. The US has vowed to retaliate and Iran denies any involvement. This is a potential massive escalation point.
We already know that Iran is largely responsible for the Israel Hamas war as it encourages, trains and arms Hamas. Additionally, the current war in the Red Sea in which the Yemen Houtis are attacking and disrupting international shipping has drawn a powerful response from the US and the UK. The Houtis are also armed and trained by Iran.
This undeniable Iranian aggression is creating considerable unease across the Middle East. And whilst public opinion in much of the world is uniting against Israel, in part because they don't really get the full picture, there is a big shift in country leadership against Iran. Let's not forget that in 2014-15, the Saudis were engaged in a war against the Houtis in Yemen. The US refused to help them so they more or less gave up. Look where we are now! And, yes, the Saudis have refused to join the US in the current Red Sea conflict.
Remember that Israel has been warning the world for many years that Iran is the real enemy. That warning has largely fallen on deaf ears.
“Iran must be identified as enemy number one,” Mr. Alpher, then an adviser to Yitzhak Rabin, told the New York Times. From then on, Israel and its allies in America continued to accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Mr. Shimon Peres warns the “international community” that Iran would possess the atomic bomb in 1999."
Le Monde February 2009My Energy Prices
They are no longer in the news, perhaps because we have accepted that the prices we pay for our gas and our electricity are going to remain high. It's one way of reducing our carbon emissions, perhaps the most effective.
Here is how it has impacted on my household over the last 5 years:
Total usage and cost of gas and electricity combined in kilowatt hours (excludes standing charges)
2019 31,310 kWh £1,611
2020 30,370 kWh £1,382
2021 31,195 kWh £1,352
2022 20,893 kWh £1,901
2023 17,021 kWh £2,021
So over the 5 year period, we have reduced consumption by 45% and despite this, our costs have risen by 25%. Wow! But you can see that the huge rise in costs has really made us reduce our consumption. I think this is the only way that the world is going to de-carbonise fast.
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| What a waste of electricity! |
The data we get from our energy provider via app and website is so good that the smart meter is pretty redundant now. In fact I have unplugged it to save the electricity it wastes!
Government's Absurd Rwanda Asylum Policy
The government's policy of outsourcing UK asylum applications to Rwanda took another step into the land of the absurd when the i revealed that over the last two years the UK has accepted 6 applications for asylum from Rwandan citizens!
How can the UK government's flagship bill to outsource asylum processing to 'safe country' Rwanda be legal when we have been accepting Rwandans here because we recognise that Rwanda is not safe???
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| The i Front Page 15th January 2024 |
The i goes on to say:
'Accepting Rwandan asylum seekers in the UK threatens to deal a fatal blow for elements of the Government’s Rwanda bill, experts have claimed.
i has revealed that six people from Rwanda have been granted asylum since ministers signed a deportation deal with the country in April 2022.
The Home Office did not disclose the reasons for granting asylum to each individual, however Government data show at least one decision was based on sexual orientation.'
The government's insistance on proceeding with this absurd bill shows we are in the final throws of a bunch of mutinous selfish cretins who care so much more about themselves than their country. Bring on that election!
Quote for the Month
I was a human rights lawyer for 20 years. I believed those values of dignity, equality and non-discrimination were a given. I believed the only question in my lifetime would be - how much further do we extend those values? I did not think in my lifetime we'd actually be having an argument about those values.
Sir Kier Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party
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