Author: R J Adams

^{“Is it a gun?”}

How do we manage to get such total prats into our governments. I’m referring in this instance to the pathetic character, Michael Fallon, who landed himself the job of Defence Secretary to the British government, despite his only qualification being a Master of Arts degree from a Scottish university, after reading Classics and Ancient History.

The BBC reported today:

A British warship and three RAF Typhoons will keep “a close eye” on a Russian aircraft carrier and other ships as they sail past the UK.
The carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and other Russian ships are passing through the English Channel on their way back to Russia from Syria.
A Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS St Albans, was dispatched to meet it as it neared British waters.
The Ministry of Defence said the ships would be “escorted all the way”.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people.
“We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe.”

I’m sorry, I must have been somewhere else at the time. I never heard the declaration of war. Apparently Mister Fallon did, otherwise why would he have a Royal Navy frigate ‘escorting’ the Russian aircraft carrier. It’s rather a puny force if he wants to ‘keep Britain safe’, given that the carrier is also escorted by the Pyotr Velikiy, a nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruiser.

It was only last October these same Russian ships passed through the English Channel (an international waterway) on their way to the Eastern Mediterranean. Fallon stated then: “…the UK would “be watching as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe”. ^[2]

He does have a penchant for repeating himself.

And what’s with all the, “…ship of shame…” and “…as it skulks back to Russia?” It doesn’t look to be either ashamed or skulking in this picture:

What utter drivel these politicians spout. Who do they think they’re fooling? Their ‘steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe’ entails sending out a puny frigate against an aircraft carrier and a battlecruiser. I bet the Russian sailors are laughing their socks off.

A Navy spokesman said the British craft were deployed to “provide reassurance to the nations which border the North Sea and English Channel”.
He added: “Remaining at a respectful distance, but keeping the Russian warships clearly visible, Royal Navy sailors keep watch on every movement through their binoculars and use state-of-the-art radars to track the course and speed of the ships as they pass close to the UK.”

Thank God for the Royal Navy! The good folks of France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden will sleep safe in their beds knowing those nasty Russians can’t pillage and rape them all.

As for keeping “…watch on every movement through their binoculars and using state-of-the-art radars to track the course and speed of the ships as they pass close to the UK…” the bloody channel’s only twenty-five miles wide. A blind man and his guide dog could track them going by! What do they think these fiendish Russians are going to do, anyway? Invade Bournemouth? Blow up the pier?

Bournemouth Pier is the town’s most iconic landmark, providing one of the best advertising opportunities in Bournemouth! The pier is home to an 11 metre wide LED screen which operates from 8am-11pm every day of the year. Adverts can be displayed for 10 or 15 seconds and a wide range of packages are available for short & Long term advertising. For more information and to receive a quote, please contact 01202 237915 or e mail [email protected]

AN ELEVEN METRE WIDE LED SCREEN FOR ADVERTISING?

Oh, please, Mister Russian sailor, please blow it up. Oh, PLEASE!

Darn! They’ve sailed right past the thing.

Hands up all those who think Michael Fallon is a TOTAL PRAT!

^{[1] “UK warship escorts Russian carrier in English Channel” BBC, January 25th 2017}

^{[2] “Russian warships pass through English Channel” BBC, October 21st 2016}

Springtime has come early to Britain. No, the birds haven’t started nest-building; the bees aren’t busy collecting nectar for their honey, and tulips aren’t yet in bloom, but for Prime Minister Theresa it’s truly May in January.

Note this BBC website report from earlier this month – the 6th to be precise:

Theresa May is to visit US President-elect Donald Trump in the spring, Downing Street has said.
In December the PM’s joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, travelled to the US to build links with the incoming president’s team.
A source said Mrs May “looks forward to visiting the new president in the spring”.
The meeting is expected to take place at the White House and could be as early as next month, it is understood.
The December trip by Mrs May’s closest aides was part of efforts to build a relationship with Mr Trump ahead of his inauguration on 20 January.
The president-elect first invited the prime minister to visit in a phone call shortly after his election victory in November.
It had been expected that she would visit Washington in the early months of 2017. ^[1]

And today, sixteen days later:

Prime Minister Theresa May will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington DC on Friday, the White House has said.
Mrs May will be the first foreign leader to meet the new president after his inauguration.
A post-Brexit free trade deal is thought likely to be high on her agenda as she travels to the US for talks.
Confirmation of the meeting came as hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined women’s marches to protest Mr Trump’s presidency.
Mr Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer gave details of Mrs May’s visit in his first briefing to journalists at the White House on Saturday.
Earlier, while visiting the CIA’s headquarters, President Trump said the PM “is coming over to our country very shortly”. ^[2]

It seems she couldn’t wait till spring and Donald’s already calling her “my Maggie”. It all conjures a certain reminiscence of Gilbert & Sullivan’s clownish figure Ko-Ko, portrayed by the Donald, when he learns he has to wed Katisha, a rather unattractive lady from the Mikado’s court:

(sung by the good people of Britain):
The flowers that bloom in the spring,
Tra la,
Breathe promise of merry sunshine –
As we merrily dance and we sing,
Tra la,
We welcome the hope that they bring,
Tra la.
Of a summer of roses and wine.
And that’s what we mean when we say that a thing
Is welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring.
Tra la la la la la, etc.
Tra la la la, etc.

TRUMP: The flowers that bloom in the spring,
Tra la,
Having nothing to do with the case.
I’ve got to take under my wing, Tra la,
A most unattractive old thing,
Tra la,
With a caricature of a face,
And that’s what I mean when I say, or I sing,
‘Oh, bother the flowers that bloom in the spring.’
Tra la la la la la, etc.
Tra la la la, Tra la la la, etc.

Trump’s only been president for a day but already his narcissism is ballooning out of control. “My Maggie” is an obvious reference to Ronald Reagan’s relationship with Margaret Thatcher. Presumably Trump sees himself as another Reagan. Anyone who’s studied the Reagan presidency knows he’s really not paying himself much of a compliment, though to many of the more ignorant Republicans, including most at the red side of Congress, Reagan’s been elevated to the level of a Republican god. Well, he was a ‘B’-movie star, after all.

May’s impending visit is to obtain a trade deal with the U.S. that’ll allow her to boot the E.U. to the touchline once and for all. Those pesky European ministers have cocked their snoots at her for the last time, or so she thinks. NOTE for Americans: in place of ‘cock a snoot’ please read, ‘the five-fingered salute’.

The Donald wants May to persuade NATO countries to pay more towards their defence. That’s likely to be the deal before any trade agreement is forthcoming. Whether May has sufficient clout to twist the arms of NATO ministers up their backs is a matter still open to debate. If not, she may find herself adrift in mid-Atlantic and denied landfall in either America or Europe.

Thatcher had a low opinion of Reagan’s intellect (she could sometimes be astute!), but May had better not underestimate the hard-boiled Trump, or she may well find her springtime rapidly reverting to winter.

^{[1] “Theresa May to visit Donald Trump ‘in the spring'” BBC, January 6th 2017.}

^{[2] “Theresa May to meet Donald Trump on Friday – White House” BBC, January 21st 2017}

Frankly, I’m not a great one for spectacle. At the tender age of six I found Queen Liz II’s coronation a total bore – mind, it was in black and white on a nine inch screen and our living room crowded with neighbours. We had the only set in the street!

Apart from America always needing to do everything bigger and (no, not necessarily better) than anyone else, I fail to see why it has to be such a long, drawn-out, bit of theatre. After all, no other country in the western world makes such a fuss whenever it’s government changes. Let’s be honest, in Britain it’s one out and one in, and all over. Even Mrs Thatcher only managed half a saintly ode before being whisked into No 10 and the door closed firmly behind her.

I suppose it’s all about stirring the patriotic fervour. Get ’em all going with a good rendering of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” a few hefty speeches on how the ‘Shining City on a Hill’ rules the world and is hellbent on spreading freedom and democracy, then they can go back to bombing the shit out of us all knowing the citizenry aren’t going to complain too much because now they’ve had the affirmation that it’s their God-given right.

Trump, Clinton, whoever…they’ll only cause more trouble and strife in the world. Obama, Bush Jnr, Clinton, Bush Snr, Reagan, Carter – have any of them managed four years without bombing some country to bits? That’s okay, you can take your time…

Let’s be honest, they’re all wannabe dictators. The only difference between the previous and the new is that this latest addition doesn’t care who knows it.

I hope I’m not coming across as too cynical?