This is Northumberland Calling 25.10.24

The why the term Global South and the attempted diminishing of Churchill are on the same agenda edition

Hello America (Particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland Calling

Much attention is currently being paid to the US election. But basically it is a coin toss for the pollsters and Harris appears to be losing momentum (but who really knows). If you can vote, do. The couch option should not be taken this year. I predict the counting of votes will take longer than anyone currently thinks and the outcome will not be on the day and that is my only prediction.

The Charity Commission report in Mermaids has been published and they did improperly hand out chest binders. Also they have had to alter their guidance to comply with Cass. Systemic failings in its governance and management were also found, but not so serious that the charity would have to be closed down. Mermaids have tried to put a spin on the findings which are at odds with the findings themselves. Trans charity Mermaids gave children chest binders without telling parents

This is what Chris Kaba and the 67 gang were up before Kaba was shot by a police marksman when trying to use his vehicle as a lethal weapon. After a trial, the police officer was found not guilty. Before Kaba’s background was known, certain Far Left tried to make him into a martyr. How Chris Kaba’s 67 gang brought carnage to London’s streets or the archived version

Is the term ‘Global South’ ill conceived? One of the latest and greatest terms for what used to be called the Third World (a term coined by the Soviet Union btw) or even the ‘developing countries’ is the Global South, but as this report from the Policy Exchange argues – it is very misleading and anti-Western. It is at best ‘strategic essentialism’ writ large.  “The concept is an amalgam of anti-imperial, Marxist and postcolonial critiques of the world order – and specifically, of the West’s standing within it. It therefore projects a narrative of world history which pitches ‘the Rest’ against a domineering West”.  Why should a thriving African country feel any kinship or good feeling towards a Latin American country with a failing economy? The report is well worth a read. https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/the-myth-of-the-global-south/

A diet of only  ultra processed food which has few vitamins and minerals has led to an increase in scurvy in Britain. This is particularly true of people who have had gastric bypass surgery and no longer take the vitamin supplements (regardless of the reason). One would have thought that people knew enough to eat oranges, lemons and limes. Vitamin C is important. There are reasons why British sailors were called ‘Limeys’ https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/poor-diets-mean-scurvy-is-making-a-21st-century-comeback-6zcjwg38b or https://archive.ph/zkKW2

Channel 4 is intent on furthering the ‘Cancel Churchill’ project. They aired a programme which was provocatively titled to make it seem like Churchill favoured segregation when the US troops were station in the UK during WW2. Reader, he didn’t and in fact opposed it. There were racial tensions between US troops. The vast majority of the incidents were caused by white soldiers. Janet Murrow was involved in sorting some of the problems out (part of the excuse she gave not to report on the D-day landings like the head of CBS wanted her to).  The reason for trying to smear Churchill is that if they can succeed with him, a truly great personage who died in 1965, then history can be altered.  Although Britain did not handle the Bengali famine correctly (Walney should bear some blame for this as he caused Bengali boats to be burnt in an effort to halt the Japanese – see Holland’s Burma 44), Churchill was suffering from pneumonia at the relevant time and was in fact at death’s door. He later spends many weeks recovering in Tunisia, a fact which is often overlooked. The sheer paucity of global shipping was also a factor. Operation OVERLORD commanded most of the global shipping available to the allies. Churchill is not perfect and very much a man of his times, class and indeed experience but what he did in ensuring that Nazism and Japanese aggression were defeated  was truly heroic. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/21/channel-4-criticised-suggested-churchill-oversaw-apartheid/  or https://archive.ph/fYmHV

This is an essay on how history is being used as a weapon (something which shocked me when I first read the director of the Smithsonian openly state that it was something he endorsed). If you notice, no one bothers to rebut the assertion that Churchill was a racist. Whose standards? One can be nuanced about a historical figure without invoking presentism in my humble opinion. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/21/left-wing-smears-against-churchill-reveal-agenda-peddlers/ or https://archive.ph/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/21/left-wing-smears-against-churchill-reveal-agenda-peddlers/

Farming had the 2^nd worst harvest (after 1948) in England. It has basically been raining for a long time and this has prevented the fields from being cultivated and indeed the yields have been down considerably.  Britain does have to import a significant proportion of its food. There are reasons why the discovery of the New World and the ability to ship produce made such a difference to Britain and indeed to Europe in general. But I wish the rain would cease for a time and allow the fields to dry out. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/20/a-year-from-hell-how-farmers-are-facing-harvest-crisis/  or https://archive.ph/PBRBz

October has generally been wet, but not a lot of wind. I suspect this will mean a colder winter for Northumberland. Generally I have noticed when October is very windy, the winter is more likely to be colder and snowier.  I tend to notice the wind because of the way the Aga behaves as it is oil-fired, rather than electric and in the wind, runs colder so I have to turn it up. Agas are always on. There is no gas on this side of the Tyne. My Aga dates from the 1950s and was solid fuel when we moved in. It makes the house much warmer in general.

This week I discovered that if one stores fresh apple juice for any length of time, it ferments and becomes what in the UK is called cider and in the US is called Apple Jack. I went to open a bottle of the apple juice I had made a few weeks ago and it was like taking the cork out of a champagne bottle. Spray everywhere. The remaining liquid was very pleasant and indeed I have quickly drunk the other bottles as I did not want them exploding in the basement. I did learn to open gently to prevent the spray. But this is why the discovery of fermentation was most likely accidental. Sometimes you have to laugh.

Paddy had a good week. He is consistently returning these days when called in from the garden which is brilliant. August 2023, readers may remember it took me about 3 1/2 hours to get him in.

My editor has promised her thoughts by the end of the week as she was Overtaken by Events. I have just continued with my writing of the first draft.

If you want to find me during the week, I have started putting things on Celia M’s Jottings in Purple  

which is where a number of refuge FP commentators are hanging out as they dislike the current FP policy on comments. The discussion is usually lively as you might expect from former FP commentators. Depending on how firmly my Procrastination Princess tiara is attached (aka how well my actual writing is going), I may end up getting distracted.

Hopefully everyone else’s week was a good one. I look forward to seeing you in the comments.

If you like what you read on here, why not subscribe? It’s free and I don’t have any plans to put in a paywall. If you want to ‘reward me’, why not buy one of my books? Currently a number of them are on special at $1.99.  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michelle-Styles/author/B00288QUJM?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1729240286&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true