Category: Climate

Is Trump being played by Putin?

The United States’ steadfast allegiance to Ukraine during that country’s three-year war against Russia appears to be rapidly eroding under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19, 2025, referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “a dictator” and inaccurately blamed him for the conflict that Russia instigated as part of a land grab in the border regions of the two countries.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said on Feb. 19 that Trump is trapped in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “disinformation space.”

Earlier this week, the US president claimed America had given Ukraine at least $200bn (£158bn) more than Europe has since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.

Mr Trump said: “I think Europe has given $100bn (£79n)… and we’ve given, let’s say, $300bn (£237bn) plus.”

There are a number of figures available for the amount of money being given to Ukraine by different countries.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker shows that countries in Europe have allocated a total of €132bn (£109bn or $139bn) in help for Ukraine.

The tracker shows the US has allocated around €114bn (£95bn or $120bn).

There is also a debate about how much money countries say they have given to Ukraine has actually gone to the country itself.

According to The Washington Post, some of the money given by Washington includes sending money through “drawdowns” from US weapon stockpiles and money to pay US-based defence contractors for equipment.

One thing that has fuelled the fires of anti Ukrainian sentiment by both those on the left and right is the belief that the whole war is a money making scam – the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine does not matter in this argument and their ability to self determination also unimportant, the more I think about it this perspective is very much one pushed by Putin onto the west and lapped up by President Trump and conspiracy theorists arguing the toss about money spent rather than a democratic right and mandate to defend and have ones own land.

Land, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—those once beautiful values all democracies believed in and aspired to. Such views, though claimed by the right to be at the heart of their ideals, are no longer really recognized, sadly, by Trump’s America or by other rising stars of the right across the globe.

When the Brazilian president offered a chainsaw as a gift to Elon Musk, it carried deeply troubling connotations for me: this was a gift from a country that is razing one of the lungs of the Earth, the Brazilian rainforest, and the president of Brazil presents Musk with the very symbol of what is being used to destroy his own country’s rainforests – it feels like a flagrant display of right-wing fascism, tasteless and defiant, a blatant middle finger to the world under the banner of hate, cuts, and a conqueror’s philosophy.

With the climate breakdown and global warming, there were those that believed that the breakdown of social norms and an increase in wars would occur as the planet warmed and climate change impacted our lives, but I had underestimated and underfeared the true nature of the changes now occurring right in front of our eyes. I knew there would be wars, but I thought they would be over mineral deposits in Africa or oil in the middle east and not economic wars over the sovereignty of whole nations in what was once seen as relatively stable or growing democracies such as Ukraine or even well established democracies such as Canada are not safe against Trumps trade wars. Sadly know where is safe anymore; it’s mental, really, what is happening.

World Economic War 1

So rather than World War 3 has Donald Trump started an economic war and how has he done this and why? Well in simple terms he does not like the fact that US tends to buy more goods and services from other countries than other countries buy from the US. Secondly because he is a moron willing to do as yet incalculable damage to the global economy in the name of the USA and Trumpism Economics (whatever they might be) by raising tariffs against other countries across the globe that are looking to sell their goods and services to the US. A tarrif is a tax added to imported goods. Trump has done this for a variety of reasons such as A) he does not like a country that boarders his attitude to emigration and so wacked a tariff on, or B) because a countries goods and service are simply better or more competitive on the global market so he hits a tax on those too. Or finally C) where there are taxes already charged to US goods in the way of such as in the UK where nearly all goods and services including its own are charged VAT (value added tax) as an income stream for the UK. So Trump is adding this 20% tax to all goods imported from the UK too.   

Trumps Tariffs might make the US a considerable amount of taxable income in the short term but it will increase inflation and prices to US citizens as well as other citizens across the globe and as yet in world history I am not sure if anyone has won a trade war it just tends to unnecessarily hurt those countries and citizens of those countries that get caught up in it.  

Ultimately Trump is detonating an economic bomb simply because he can.

It’s the economy stupid!

The state of a countries economy is one of the main headline topics in the news these days and it is judged by whether the economy is doing well by growth and stability and its very much a numbers game.  Economic growth refers to an increase in the size of a country’s economy over a period of time. The size of an economy is typically measured by the total production of goods and services in the economy, which is called gross domestic product (GDP). Economic stability definition is a term used to describe the financial system of a nation that displays only minor fluctuations in output growth and exhibits a consistently low inflation rate.

GDP in a country is usually calculated by the national statistical agency, which compiles the information from a large number of sources. In making the calculations, however, most countries follow established international standards. These types of financial measurement are seen and believed to be accurate.

Bigger question to ask might be what’s the point in these stats? How does a growing or stable economy effect our lives? Well in basic terms a growing and stable economy increases an individual living within that economy of having a job and prosperous opportunities to live and have a future.

So what are the strengths & weaknesses to this model and to an economy within this model. Strengths are the measurement are generally accurate and can be updated and corrected if and when needed, when the sums add up a country can be confident that it is doing something right.

Weaknesses of this model relies on growth of an economy as a sign of health and productive economy although a sustainable and environmentally non-destructive economy that provides value to its citizens and environment whilst not necessarily increasing profitability on a spreadsheet can still add tremendous value to its citizens and also enhance the environment of the country and people within that society but this is more difficult to measure on a spreadsheet but invaluable over time. A damaged and dying ecosystem can still be tremendously profitable up to a typing point where then the damage might be so catastrophic that the land or sea has no value or profit to it at all.

Adoption of circular economy principles can help in reducing the negative impact on natural resources as well as damage to our climate.

Imagine a world where our Earth’s vital ecosystems are legally protected from the severest harms

“Ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

What is considered ecocide?

Ecocide is committing any unlawful or detrimental act that one is well-aware will cause severe, irreversible long-term damage to the environment. Ecocide has a negative human impact on the environment by causing mass destruction to our delicate ecosystems that are imperative to sustain all types of life on Earth.

This has been a challenging start to the year and although President Trump is what I will most likely write about and his actions and inactions, have mostly been far from my mind. My lovely father has been incredibly unwell and it is serious, but the light and joy I get from him at this time gives me a shield of warmth and love in which to take on and cope with this world of ours.

President Trump just merely picks up a document and has to sign it into law in order to turn from reason to madness. He ordered the US to leave the World Health Organisation sighting mismanagement and poor decision making for this quick cash crab for America on a most important humanitarian organisation. This organisation does a great deal to internationally keep diseases from peoples doors and to withdraw money from it for administrative reasons is self inflicted wound on the world and utter madness. Though on the other side of a coin it will save people in the USA money and so means you have to pay less taxes – there will be a lot of this important activity stopping in order to save money, taking place over the next four years and no matter how much money you save and how much your stocks, shares and crypto currencies increase the world will be in a far worse place for these cash grabs by the Trump administration.

To live a love of money is that what the profits said?

Those whom are inadvertently or directly affected by Trump’s cash grab in the name of freedom (freedom from what, I don’t know anymore, as to free someone of a financial tax also enslaves and potential condemning others to death that would have benefit from the live saving healthcare and planning provided by the WHO).

Ca$hing in on the act!

 True there is never enough money to provide for the greed of this world it looks like Trump has chosen to take a rain check on America’s commitment and responsibilities to the needs of this world and itself – I wish someone could tell me how this makes America great again.

Back to my own perspective of humanity and how people should, could and do treat each other – at this challenging time for my family I have uttermost respect and goodwill for those that at this difficult time have shown me random acts of kindness, support and love –it really does mean the world to me and gives me strength to carry on, survive and hopefully thrive.

I hope that those forced into difficulty directly due to Donald Trump’s money saving and spending antics, wickedness and cruelty also happen to meet people along their way in their life that are able to offer compassion, comfort and warmth as well as the strength to carry on, survive and hopefully thrive along there way.

Political Echo Chambers

Just heard the phrase on a clip on my X website on the Peston show from tonight in the UK where Martin Lewis talks about ‘people living within their own fiscal eco-chambers’.

To me this really struck a chord and is so insightful to so many political expressions, opinions and perspectives. An echo chamber is “an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own.” The term is a metaphor based on an acoustic echo chamber, in which sounds reverberate in a hollow enclosure.

I often wonder why both in the UK and US why elections often appear to be so close and nobody really knows who is going to win or lose or even or by how much of a percentage and also why people seem to express certain strong held views or appear to disbelieve or not have an interest in or care about the views of others that can be considered to be an opposite to their own.

Well I still don’t understand why one would ever vote for Trump and over the next four years were going to see that political reality unfold. But as a businessman and salesman that made a pitch to multiple pockets of people with a wide spectrum of opinions and he was able to rally enough people in enough fiscal eco chambers to ultimately be able to now dominate the political landscape for the next four years in the US and beyond too.

Sadly in the UK the right have dominated our politics in terms of proportion of governments voted in over the years and an eco chamber of people that look inwards to what is in it for themselves when their lives are profitable or are sold a story or business model that looks inwards to making them wealthier and more prosperous, you can see the logic in why a majority would vote for this consistently on an election by election basis and then once elected our government and politicians fights for this ethos for our nations and fight to tell us that this is what they are doing for us and thus the cycle of inward looking self-serving politics continues.

Trumps political perspective might be an extreme perspective of such self serving interests and needs to be fulfilled and voted for but it is neither new nor in many ways an unexpected thing to vote for when given a choice to do so.

The main problem for me, which I mention from my warm, hobbit hole in the shire of Devon in what is after all considered to be a relatively affluent part of the planet and well looked after space and place is that the world aspires to be. A self serving place like many that looks after its own interest and needs but not everywhere in the world is relatively affluent part of the planet or a well looked after space and place on the planet. There are conflicting interest, desires and opinions and not everyone can have or should get their own way. There are not enough trees to be cut down, not enough rivers and seas to be polluted and robbed of life, not enough land to be bought and sold or mines to be dug out or shares to be bought and sold for everyone.

There are many in the wealthy areas of the world whose eco chamber of reality and political perspective often encourages them to ignore or turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, alien to themselves, to ignore and pretend that it does not matter to them because of who they are or what they have and where they live.

Foreign places to many that are experiencing great poverty or suffering in developing or underdeveloped or third world nations, due to lack of fiscal opportunities and jobs or due to wars (not caused by them) or climate change (not generated by them) or pollution (not produced by them), or political stagnation and corruption (also not their fault) are often seen as not our problems too.

Such people living under such circumstances will seek to possibly escape to a wealthy region of the world, safer from all of the above mentioned negatives, these people will be known as immigrants, both legal and illegal ones. Or if fortunate in the country they live in they might seek to work as best they can to provide their future generations with great chance of wealth and opportunities that they could never have had in their own lifetime, but this opportunity will not be there for all.

Imagine Dragons – Demons

Keeping warm during power cuts in storms

Devon has been battered by the elements this week. My mum lives in a new house in a village in Devon. With new build properties, there has been a move to make sure that the buildings are energy efficient and heating supplies are sustainable, homes well insulated, which are all a good things and help the planet and also should help bring mums energy costs down in the long run.

Devon also got hit by snow this week on Thursday and although there was enough snow to stop the buses running for a few hours where I live in Exeter, where mum lives the storm took out the electricity supply too.

She has an air pump at the garden which is run  by electricity where air pumps heats up hot water, that then go to under floor heating pipes under the floors downstairs and takes hot water upstairs to radiators and a water storage unit. Well the village that she lives in had this power cut and on Thursday her electric was off from 09:30am to 4pm and during this time the temperature dropped too and snow fell.

I was worried about her and unfortunately the mobile phone network also went down in the area at about the same time, for all I know also due to having no electricity supply too. When I managed to get hold of her just after 4pm she was ok but cold and the heating was able to come on as soon as the electricity came back on, but she was so cold that she had to spend much of the day in bed just to keep warm and comfortable.

So over the weekend I have been trying to research possible ways of providing electricity or other support for her during a power cut. On the weekend we also had our second name storm of the season, I was staying with my mum and at around 6 am this morning the wind was blowing and the rain was pouring down there was another brief power cut although this time the power came straight back on fortunately. It is likely there will be more storms and power cuts on the way this season too.

So I started to do some research into possibly energy or devises that could assist mum during a power cut and the first thing I started looking into was the possibly of what they call a power station its a kind of rechargeable large battery, that people take on holiday when they go camping. I though wouldn’t it be great if maybe it could power a kettle and a heater, while the electric is off in the house that would be an awesome comfort to my mum and the only worry then would be where to plug it in and how many cups of tea she could make and how long it could heat a room for.

But from what little research I have done so far it take a huge amount of electricity to heat up a kettle let alone an electric heater, which would use a huge amount of electricity that a simply battery powered station simply could not provide. If lucky you might be able to heat up a small camping kettle a few times a battery charge, whilst spending something like £500 or more on a battery power station powerful enough to be able to heat the kettle and not much else. I don’t think the technology of kettles heating up water has changed much in over 50 or more as there has not been seen to be a need for that kind of invention we just switch them on at the mains and they work.

My Dad also sensible suggested a thermos flask for her to keep hot water in, for what every hot drink she might want to make use of it for. You can get ones that are 500ml or 1000ml in size made by thermos that will keep water heated for potentially up to 24 hours. There are minor problems with doing this though. To provide hot water during a power cut firstly, you don’t know when the power cut is going to happen so you would need to fill it with hot water before any big storm is forecast, just in case. Secondly if you accidently forget to fill it up or don’t fill it up before the electric goes off its no use to you whatsoever.

Price wise though it’s much more realistic to by a thermos flask for £25 and make good use of it rather than spend £500 or more on a battery power station that is not powerful enough to heat up your home kettle. So it looks like Santa will be getting mum a thermos flask for Christmas and as for the electric battery power station although it sounds like a great idea sadly it’s just not practical or powerful enough for the budget that we have.

It feels like better minds than mine will need to tackle these issues head on as if we are planning to have properties more dependant on just electric for there power needs no more gas central heating systems or wood burners or oil heating systems in home then homes in communities which are vulnerable to the elements and power cuts when storms take place will also have to have some sort of back up system that can continue to supply electricity while the main power is off during winter months.

Were nowhere near investing in a solar panel roof for to be covered in snow or for the sky to be covered in clouds and she doesn’t have the land to place a working wind powered generator onto. If the batteries for home power stations could improve or if home electrical products became less power hungry then that is certainly an investment for the future. But for now I think we will stick to a thermos flask.

Sting – Soul Cake

Discovering Ai Image generators

A work colleague of mine was talking last week about the creative power of using ai writing programs he used it to generate a template for a questionnaire for work and was really impressed with its ability to write out a template for him.

So with that in mind I have started to look at Ai art generating software and I am absolutely amazed by the results just from some basic prompts that I included to generate those images.

I do hope to continue to use such software to express myself in future too. One old image I have that I find really cool and inspirational is that of a polar bear swimming through ice cold waters it’s a fairly old image so I assume it is real as I have had the image since 2010.

I love the image and have in the past dreamed about polar bears too and love the fact of where they live, how dangerous and majestic they are as well as able to survive and thrive in such a hostile environment. I tried seeing could generate similar images with Ai photo generator and got the following results just in word press, its such a cool tool.

I also had a go on a Microsoft image generator and got the following results.

I also tried to generate an image of a polar bear being stared at by a wolf. The image below is using WordPress image generator.

I am just amazed by how cleaver these image generators are. Though they don’t always know what they are doing!

But mostly its impressive to view. The below image was using the Microsoft image generator this time.

Smoke City – Underwater Love

For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful!

When your the chosen one put on this planet by your American Christian God and then voted into office on his second time round by about 51% of the voting US electorate. Is this a huge vote against the global consensus on what is needed for the environment?

The US now has Trump in charge of deciding what happens in the court of humanity on the future of the climate of this world, a supreme court judge for an issue he has no time for and frankly does not understand and who’s interest it serves, to not care or understand anything about protecting or preserving anything to do with it either.

In reality the policy is one of seeing the environment as a mere stock or commodity to be treated like everything else as something to be bought and sold on an alter of American capitalism and exploitation. Not engaging with the attempt to protect or preserve but to be bought or sold merely for profit.

What he does will be no accident or miscalculation. He can now act as judge and jury on the future fate of this planet, by making a conscious choice to destroy past international treaties with the environment being relegated to a mere commercial product and play thing for a few dollars more a capitalist’s wet dream on the alter of Christian capitalism, but at what cost to us all?

It’s just like playing a game and rolling dice with the globe, a game that can be lost as well as won. Trump will now pick up a set of dice and roll them to see what happens next at the expense of the planet and its populations. One roll could result in no serious irreversible climate damage over the next four years while pumping out black gold from the seas and ground just to reduce the price of gasoline for consumers and make him and his buddies a lot of money.

Whereas on an alternative landing of the roll of the dice it could result in destroying recognised globally established environmental treaties, designed to save this planet and stave of irreversible global climate catastrophise. It could lead to us reaching one of many global tipping points that would result in global climate collapse in ecological systems on the planet and then to the death of us all or a serious reduction in humans ability to survive in spaces on this planet or degrade considerable this planets ability to sustain life as we know it.

While Trump might be banking on the unlikely outcome and too busy counting his profits in his bank accounts to think that the American nation is to big and powerful to be lost to a global issue and might not be affected. If he is wrong, we will all end up counting the cost and paying the price. Just when many US citizens shout out that their prayers have been answered and that their god is good capitalist Christian god and the heir to the thrown of power is Trump, who is now their president elect. I fear the god of this earth to whom I pray to on this planet has yet to give their answer back and will most likely have the last word on this matter of the climate.

We are all now left with no alternative at this moment in time, but to hope that climate scientists are wrong and have miscalculated with all the evidence presented to them that the climate is in peril and so to our ability to maintain life on this earth unless we change course and the fact that we are seeing 100 year likely storms on a yearly basis and are just about to brake another climate record for hottest global temperature on record this year is inconsequential.

We all have to hope, whether we like it or not that exploiting the climate, degrading the environment and the dismantling of globally agreed climate treaties has no irreversible consequences or a bare minimum negative effect to this world or just merely consequences that can be witnessed and then circumnavigated or reversed in some as yet unforeseen way to prevent climate collapse and irreversible habitat and species extinction. I would rather not leave the future of my home, species and plant to Trump and hope, but I was not at the ballot box when his name was put on the card.

Mr President-elect for what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels

They go on strike and you say ‘that’s ok you’re all done’!

It’s rare for me to hear two rich and powerful people massage their egos, so much as when I had the  misfortune to listen to part of the Trump and Musk lowlights of Monday nights X interview. At one time it almost sounded like to the two men were tickling each other’s bellies in happiness and joy, while discussing the dismantling of workers rights in order to make more money from it for each other. Trump on musk over firing workers ‘You’re the Greatest!’.

If you believe that Trumps policies will be for your benefit as opposed to, the benefit of the rich and powerful that work hard to elect him then more fool you. The Ecological damage to your environment will be fierce as he deregulates environmental protections of habitats in order to guess what merely make a quick buck at the expense of the environment, and as for your rights as a citizen if they get in the way of him and his supports making money don’t think that you will have protection either.

A part of me wants Trump to be elected just to see what a shit show he makes of being in government the second time around, but that’s my dark and selfish side the other part hopes for the best and hopes that he loses in the election and a more progressive form of government is allowed to prevail. Its all up to US voters anyway so they will only be able to blame or congratulate each other on the outcome of their election and his next potential four years in government.  

Frank Turner – Be More Kind 

Open Letter for Whole Truth Five

Dear Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC,

This week has seen one of the greatest injustices in a British court in modern history. On Thursday 18th July, five people were given the highest sentences for nonviolent protest this country has ever seen. They were on trial for holding a zoom call, calling on others to take action to raise the alarm about the greatest threat humanity has ever faced: the climate and nature crises.

These sentences were handed down just days after the new government’s policy of no new licensing for oil and gas infrastructure was announced. In a world of sound, evidence-based governance, none of this needed to happen. With prisons at breaking point and the new government acting urgently to address this, how can these sentences be seen as anything other than insanity? The sentences, ranging from 4 to 5 years, are higher than those given to many who commit serious sexual assault. 

The defendants were denied the right to explain to a jury why they took the action they did, making a mockery of the right to a fair trial, with the judge saying that the Crown Prosecution’s agreed facts on climate collapse – including that the world has gone beyond 1.5 degrees for 12 consecutive months – were “neither here nor there”. These five brave, defiant people, like all nonviolent protestors, are fulfilling a necessary service by alerting the nation to the grave risk we all face, as scientists in their droves express their fear that many of the Earth’s systems are already at breaking point.

Immediately after the verdict, the UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders issued an extraordinary statement: “Today marks a dark day for peaceful environmental protest, the protection of environmental defenders and indeed anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” 

According to the Office for National Statistics, 74% of people in the UK want urgent action on the climate crisis. Until a couple of weeks ago that majority was blocked by a Prime Minister who used climate – an existential threat – as a wedge issue in an election he lost. This new government has inherited a suite of recent legislation that conflicts with International Human Rights Law, and has put everyone’s right to peaceful protest at risk. The new government can address this now, as they have with fossil fuel licensing.

The world stands at a crossroads and so does our democracy. We write in support of Chris Packham and Dale Vince’s request for an urgent meeting with you, to be recorded so it is transparent to the public, to discuss the jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court.

Sincerely, and with love for all humanity,

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?source=direct_link&