POSTINGS

26-Jun-2025

Sell Out #1.2

VillaMauritius-202501

Today sees the final nails put in the coffin of UK national credability as we have the publication of the UK-Mauritius treaty on the Chagos Archipelago - by the House of Lords Library.

As such it is a relatively clear and accurate reflection of the sorry saga. But it makes the whole sell-out deal come across as an academic exercise with little in the way of long-term implications. Given that this is a 99 year treaty the long term really should be assessed. Also lacking is any credible security assessment ... or the suitability of the Mauritian Government as the islands’ new owners.

You can read all the details via the above link - but Grandad comes away from the whole shoddy episode with a feeling that our politicians have been out played by a lower ranked team through a combination of incompetence and a loathing of Britain’s historic achievements.

However the villas in Mauritius do look lovely for those that escaped the UK tax regime ...

Update 3-Jul-2025
Why do we bother with the House of Lords? Yesterday they went through a well practiced ritual of expending a lot of totally ineffectual hot air - in this case the need to surrender Chagos and blow billions in tax-payer cash to fund a third world regime and to protect our continued use of land we already control.

It seems like all the puffing and blowing will make no change to the bill - and so it will be passed to the KIng to be rubber-stamped through. And that’s even with the last minute disclosure that the US will not pay anything towards the inflated costs! No wonder The Donald was happy with the deal. And the UK defense will take a hit it can ill afford.

History will show just how wrong our useless Prime Minster has been. But then it is looking increasingly likely that the Chagos surrender will be a mere margin note in the Labour Government’s ledger of expensive mistakes ... Will the UK economy even last until 2029? Or be so far run down that no one will care?

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tags: weak, dishonest, under cover, sell-out, gutless

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21-Jun-2025

Midsummer Night’s Dreams

Sadly today’s mid-point to 2025 is a date when not many in the world are realizing those dreams that we all aspire to - peace, food, shelter and freedom. Instead we hear and see that Russia is still attacking Ukraine, Israel is still punishing Gaza and trying to remove the nuclear threat from Iran while China constantly harasses Taiwan - along with countless other unjust actions that stain the planet.

puck1954Back in the UK any similar dreams are tempered by the knowledge that we voted in the wrong politicians last year and still have four more years of poor management still ahead. Even though the management of the nation’s finances is so clumsy and misdirected that events may stop the government reaching its full term.

Meanwhile in the USA we have a president who seems to get personally involved in too many things - from domestic to world-wide. Throwing both world politics and national finances into a new convulsion with each pronouncement. If the world gets through 2025 without a nuclear disaster it will be a good result.

Here in Grandad Towers the mood is one of reluctant acceptance that time and tide wait for no man and soon the responsibility for making dreams turn into reality will pass on to the next generations - assuming that none of the current generation blow it all away before they can take over ...

How different it was in the 1960s ...

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tags: war, false peacemakers, debt mountains

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6-Apr-2025

Mad World

World economies have been battered over the past few days - and face the prospect of crashing into bankruptcy under mountains of unsecured debt.

TedHiVis2aThe instigators being chiefly the US president and his hit squad - the Capital Hill-Billies. They have gained so much power so quickly through the excessive use of presidential executive orders. A method allowed under the constitution to get a bill passed without going through any checks or debates by elected politicians. When used to bypass all the checks and balances of a democratic system it means that the US president becomes a de-facto dictator. And given that over 100 orders have already been issued by our golfing buddy don’t be surprised if some massive unintended consequences appear shortly.

But it’s not just the USA creating trouble for itself. The UK’s big protest vote against the Conservative government has provided the numbers in parliament to push through any bill that the Prime Minister and his team want. True there are more controls than in the US system - but with a big majority that just means they take a little longer to start.

And just like the USA the UK is dependent on the honesty and competance of its politicians.

Sadly some of the current ministers seem to lack the skills or judgement needed when appointed to high office. Having our national finances controlled by someone who seemingly fails to grasp the implications of her policies and having our energy policies set by a short-sighted fool are just a couple of examples. Throw in the obvious wrong decisions - for example giving away the Chagos Islands - and we will be very lucky to avoid a massive fall in living standards; or worse ...

But at least the sun is shining - for now.

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tags: world trade, power, dictatorship, depression, foolish

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4-Mar-2025

2 Cents Worth

Chicargo1939

It may now be history - but it’s worth digging up the 1930’s press coverage leading up to World War 2.

Just this one page from one newspaper from 31 Aug 1939 shows just how close we are to a repeat of history.

1. Hitler signs a peace pact  2. Cartoon shows European politicians from nations threatened by Hitler kicked out of the USA 3. Appeasement seen as the way to avoid war 4. Poland is urged to send a peace envoy to Berlin

Of course history records that the very next day Germany invaded Poland followed by blitzing through a string of other European nations.

Now we are expected to believe that Russia will stop its invasion of Ukraine  if there are a small number of US civilians (or US corporations) digging for minerals in the country (was already tried in 2022!). Or that the new US friendship with Russia would change if Russia invades the Baltic states. With no US support for Ukraine and/or NATO any peace deal would be a waste of paper ...

Update 8-Mar-2025
Russia makes a fool of Trump ... but the US President is making that easy!

Just look at some of the current media headlines - “Russia’s neighbours consider leaving weapons treaties as invasion fears grow” “Russian attacks show Putin has no interest in peace, EU says” “Trump considering pulling 35,000 US troops out of Germany” “This is what happens when someone tries to appease the barbarians. More bombs, more aggression, more deaths. Another tragic night for Ukraine,” etc etc.

Appeasement did not work in 1939 and won’t work in 2025. Learn from history!

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tags: weak, dishonest, sell-out, flawed, world war

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24-Feb-2025

Sell Out #2

In what must rate as one of the greatest sell outs of all time we have the USA’s new leader seeking to impose a draconian peace agreement upon Ukraine.

TrumpBB1sSome reward for three years of fighting for their lives against a super-power driven by a psychopathic dictator.

Suddenly the USA shifts from guardian of democracy to a partner in crime with Russia.

The terms and conditions of the USA plan are totally stacked in favour of the guilty party in this illegal war. Ts&Cs that could have been (were?) drafted by Putin himself.

The demands for Ukraine to be a dis-armed neutral state blocked from joining NATO and forced to give up its key  mineral resources - as well as compensation for the military aid it already has had would be harsh if Ukraine was the invader. In contrast the penalities for Russia - are none and it gets to keep the land it has taken by force. Not only that it would pay nothing towards reparations for the three years of deliberate destruction

It’s time the USA administration checked back on the peace agreement that the UK Prime Minister waved on his return from Berlin in 1939. This new peace deal will be no barrier to Putin taking control of the whole of Ukraine. The citizens of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia now face a NATO that is likely to lack US support for fighting Russia. The North Atlantic part of the alliance will be limited to the nations of the eastern Atlantic!

And the US president telling the Ukrainian president to flee to France while he can ... just stinks!

Don’t expect much good to come from our PM’s visit to the US this week - and we might be next to be targetted by an aggressive US regime. No more special relationship ...

1-Mar-2025
After days of changing deals it was expected that one covering control of Ukrainian mineral rights would be reluctantly signed on Friday. No ceasefire. No defense agreement. No Russian involvement.

In the event the world’s media witnessed a total breakdown of US-Ukraine relations, no deal signed and an early end to the Ukrainian President’s US visit.

Hard to predict what will happen next - but the US parties were upping the risk of World War III ...

Update 1-May-2025
The combination of repeated lies and delays by Putin, Russian attacks on civilians and continued backing for Ukraine by UK and EU leaders have made Donald T realize he was backing the wrong side. This has lead to a total change of approach and a much fairer minerals and energy deal with the USA.

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tags: weak, dishonest, under cover, sell-out

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16-Feb-2025

StarTroops1C

AI has corrected the image ...

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8-Feb-2025

StarTroops1B

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4-Feb-2025

Sell Out #1.1

BIOT1The Starmer-Lammy pairing are still pressing on with secretive attempts to reach a shady deal with Mauritius and donate to them our sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

Now there is a chance that so many concerned parties might be less concerned if the British government was more open about the costs and strategic consequences. No chance.

Their behind closed doors meetings and refusals to inform MPs of any meaningful details can only point to one conclusion - it’s bad news for British tax payers. It may even be bad news for the UK military in that the whole cost of the surrender will come out of the existing defense budget. Not good when they are already short of men, materials and funding.

There is so much wrong with the Chagos Sell Out that anyone reading the sparse facts for the first time would think it was some sort of sick joke. Even more incredible is that Grandad and the media has to resort to reading the online Mauritian parliament reports to find anything at all.

Even the people who used to live on the islands know little about the intended deal - or exactly who will benefit from the £90 million per year the UK tax payer will have to stump up - for the next 99 years. So that’s a financial drain on the next 20 parliaments irrespective of which party is in power.

As pointed out back in October the £90 million per year could be small change if the other UK costs are as reported in Mauritius. If you look at the islands via Google Earth you see that the only current infra-structure - roads, air strip, dock, power grid, housing, etc - is on the Diego Garcia support facility built by the US Navy.

Any resettlement on the other islands will require everything to be built - docks, housing, schools, hospitals, water treatment, power generation ... And all funded by that generous pair; Starmer & Lammy.

But there are more issues that none of the leaks or objections seem to have addressed. First the existing US lease with the UK only runs to 2036. So the US military have 11 years to come up with an alternaive location - and leave the UK tax payers with a liability for some 88 years more!

However the global warming predictions could end all that as these low-lying islands are predicted to get swamped by 2100 - 25 years before the lease expires!

Update 7-Feb-2025
Today’s published excuse re Chagos -The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that the "electromagnetic spectrum" at the base which "enables secure communications in the region" would not be able to continue to operate without an agreement.
Is this the weakest and least credible excuse put out by our political masters so far? Does Sir K have have a clue about electromagnetics? Clearly not!

Update 17-Feb-2025
News that the Mauritian authorities have launched an investigation into possible corruption has triggered and round of I-told-you-so comments in Westminster. We now havestatements such as  .. it would result in billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money "disappearing into what could be an unaccountable black hole where there are huge concerns about corruption”.

This news has further complicated the next round of negotiations - as Starmer & Lammy seem concerned at US representatives being dropped in by the Trump regime. Don’t be surprised if there is a total change of direction on the shady Chagos deal - perhaps even some free common sense!

Update 1-Mar-2025
Our PM’s meeting with the US President has come and gone with hardly a ripple - quite unlike the tempestuous meeting beween the US and Ukrainian Presidents that followed. Even before the storm broke the Chagos Islands were discussed - but with comments that can only be described as non-committal. The impression is that Chagos sovereignty is low on the importance agenda and will be handled further down the White House chain of command.

Update 1-Apr-2025
Today’s headline ... Trump has approved Chagos Islands 'surrender' deal, says No10, paving the way for £9billion deal to give strategic archipelago to Mauritius (Daily Mail Online).
Our permanent April Fools!

Update 1-May-2025
Another month on and still the details of the UK’s surrender deal in the Indian Ocean are cloaked in secrecy. Just how bad are the figures?

Update 16-May-2025
In a rare official update on progress the news is ... the UK Government is delaying concluding the Mauritius-Chagos deal. And in response both opponents and observers are asking the obvious question .. why are we doing this for the USA? Why not simply sell the Chagos Islands to those that actually need it - the US military?

Update 19-May-2025
Mauritius adds another cause for concern by announcing closer co-operation with .. Russia!
Surely this must convince Lammy and Starmer that Chagos cannot be given to such an unsuitable regime even if that villa is then off the table.

Update 22-May-2025
Just a few days on from the supposed delay we have ... Shambles as High Court STOPS Keir Starmer signing Chagos deal in 2am injunction - hours before PM was due to confirm British territory being handed to Mauritius [Daily Mail Online]. Looks like the “delay” was a lie and the temptation of free villa life was too great. Oh the abuse of power keeps getting greater and greater ...

Later the same day ... Keir Starmer surrenders the Chagos Islands: PM confirms he will hand UK territory to Mauritius - and taxpayers will pay £101m a YEAR for the privilege.

Update 23-May-2025
In a TV address last night, Mauritius PM Navin Ramgoolam hailed the 'great victory', saying: 'This is the culmination of a battle waged by the Mauritian authorities for more than 60 years, marking one of the last chapters in the process of decolonization of Mauritius, which began in 1968.
[Daily Mail Online]

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Starmy1-1a

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tags: weak, dishonest, under cover, sell-out, gutless

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13-Jan-2025

The Madness Spreads

Today the nation’s new technology expert, Sir Keir, announced that Britain is to become the world leader in AI (artificial intelligence not insemination). A big ask when the country is also going to be the world leader in Carbon Reduction technology and legislation.

Now there was a government paper on this in 2021 - so not new - and the UK ranks third in AI research world wide. However applying AI to public and private sector processes is lacking - and will be difficult to scale up from the research level. Sir K’s idea seems to be that a big spender like the NHS can use AI to make major savings and efficiency improvements.ai-yorkmanstreet1w

The trouble is no one seems to have any specific processes in mind - or even the most vague idea of how and where AI could help on that scale. The NHS is using machine learning to improve assessment of x-ray images for example. But that’s a process not far removed from its role in editing smart phone images.

Currently even domestic computers can use AI to quickly produce a scene like this from just a text description - saving hours of drawing, cutting and pasting. And even though this picture was produced without direct costs - it relied on a vast library of royalty free images, some serious computing power at the server end - and lots of electricity.

Like crypto-currency the AI servers will need major data centres consuming thousands of watts of energy to keep them running. Even if the AI engines are only churning out phone pics of cats in funny outfits.

So the AI data centres will need constant, power station sized electricity supplies and for it to be generated at the lowest possible cost. Data centres being the equivalents of our struggling steel making plants in their need for cheap energy to compete in world markets.

And this is where the UK (and others) faces the conflict between carbon reduction targets and AI energy consumption. The obvious risk being that the UK falls short all round ... and China and the USA retain control.

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tags: weak, dishonest, gutless, clueless

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7-Jan-2025

Government Madness

The first six months of the new Labour government have seen some classic blunders and miscalculations - many of which can only be put down to prioritizing political dogma over common sense.

Grandad does not need to repeat the long list of stuff-ups - but there are many. And some are going to prove very expensive millstones weighing down the vast majority of tax payers for years.

Lampoon1sOne particularly naive decision is hiding well down the disaster list - but could well prove to be up there in the premier league of goverment waste.

The few UK ministers in the know are desparately trying to keep the Chagos Islands madness out of the public eye - and out of the media.

But even the tiny bits that have leaked out spell out a massive financial black hole - that will apparently be filled by major cuts to the part of the defense budget actually spent on defense. Not ideal with Russia seemingly prepared to divert its entire economic output to invading Europe.

When the UK is lacking any meaningful missile defense system and sufficient troops, spending of a large chunk of the military’s budget on a base for the US airforce is madness.

The cost of keeping a US base on Chagos is apparently a British responsibility - even after sovereignty passes to Mauitius. Why? The normal situation would be UK cedes control to the new owners - then they lease the base to the US government. Britain has no involvement when its sovereignty ends.

The actual figures for this deal are being withheld from everyone - including members of parliament. But the new Mauritian government have leaked that they now want £800,000,000 per year for a lease on just the airbase. Just to give some sense of scale to this figure - that equates to over £2 million per day!

One financial fact actually released is that the lease will have a 99 year term. A point highlighted by ministers as good news (at least for the US). But the devil is in the detail. It’s not uncommon for any lease to have a factor to alow for inflation. If we use the Bank of England target of 2% then it’s easy to calculate the total cost of such a long term committment.

And Grandad had to double check here because the total payments came to £244,103,000,000 - that’s £244 billion!  [Since then it has been rumored that there is a UK counter offer of £90,000,000 per year - which with compound interest totals some £27,461,000,000. A big saving but still money-for-nothing and much more than we can afford!]

But that’s not all. As pointed out some weeks ago the official statement from the Mauritian government says the UK will collaborate with Mauritius to organise visits to the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, in addition to working together for the protection of the ocean and maritime security. ... the UK also recognises the tragedy experienced by the Chagossians and has consequently agreed to set up a trust fund for their welfare.

This, of course, is potentially an enormous cost - with no leaks to provide some figures. But the real question is why the UK has any need to pay anything at all ... After transfer of ownership that is the new owner’s problem. Why is Mauritius so desperate to take control of a string of tiny islands lacking any resources or inhabitants?

But then if some one is prepared to pay billions for you to take it - then who could refuse? But who in their right mind would be so crazy as to pay to leave a valuable asset? Now we know who!

Finally the Starmer-Lammy combine are attempting to get some legally binding agreement in place before Biden leaves office. Since there are only eight working days left that’s going to be difficult - especially if the full terms and costs get released. So expect secrecy and dishonesty in Westminster - again! [15-Jan-2025 Starmer-Lammy overtaken by events elsewhere - no sensible deal agreed]

Update 13-Jan-2025
UK Gov press release - Representatives from Mauritius and the UK held further productive discussions in London this week on the future of the Chagos Archipelago.
Good progress has been made and discussions are ongoing to reach an agreement that is in both sides’ interests
.

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tags: weak, dishonest, under cover, sell-out, gutless

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2025NewYear1

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Earlier postings ...

 

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