This weekend

Yesterday we took my son to London for a treat. He had wanted to go to a particular restaurant there and do some other things. As the restaurant was not dog friendly we had to take Leia to the dog sitter before we left. The drive down was interesting due to fog, but that cleared up when we were in London.

We returned to Maltby Street market and had some breakfast before taking him to the shops he wanted to go to.  We made it to the restaurant in good time and had an amazing meal. We all loved the chicken, but our views diverged when it came to other dishes.  We also got to have an interesting cocktail (mocktail for me) before our lunch.  My Mum was not happy that we did not see her, but there was no time as after Lunch, we took my son to Spitalfields market where he loves to shop.

Today, we rested, though my son was working for his A-Levels. Sadly I have come down with a viral infection so I was  not able to do the long walk I usually do on a Sunday. Fingers crossed that I will be better for tomorrow! 

The failure of diplomacy involving Ukraine will benefit Putin

Well that was an interesting meeting.  The video analysis is one I disagree with in that I think that Vance made things worse rather than was trying to make things better.  It is a shame that so much has been thrown away after Macron and Starmer appeared to get Trump onside when it comes to the conflict.  

I suspect that the consequence of this is that aid from the USA to Ukraine will end.  If this includes stopping Ukraine accessing Starlink, Ukraine will not be able to defend its borders properly.  

We have already seen the US side with Russia over this conflict in the United Nations.  

The west is going to have to step up to replace artillery shells being sent to Ukraine.  On the plus side, doing so may create more jobs and stimulate growth.  

Cutting foreign aid

Starmer has announced cuts to foreign aid, this being to allow the UK to increase defence spending.  It is a horrible decision to make, but it is the least worst of the options.

We cannot rely on Trump to defend us, something I have posted about before.  He has shown that he is willing to ignore the Budapest Memorandum, an agreement signed to get Ukraine to disarm its nuclear weapons with a promise to respect and maintain its borders. His willingness to sell out Ukraine and follow, the line of Putin that Russia is not the aggressor shows that he is willing to ignore reality.

This means that in my opinion, the UK should move to a position where it is not dependent on the US. And that means no more US equipment. So instead of relying on F35’s, we need to produce our own fighters, like the Typhoon.  We will need to work with Europe on GPS navigation and an alternative to Starlink. 

Trump is hoping that the USA will benefit from the increase if defence spending. If we are to buy from abroad, it should be from nations like France, Poland and South Korea. We need more independence from the USA. 

Tik Toc and Darwin awards

Today, I learned about a trend called Vabbing.  Thanks that is to the video which I have attached to this post.  I know that people are under pressure to perform, but this surprised me.  It does make me think if the way to eliminate the world of gullible people is to flood Tik Toc with fatal fads...

I should be very, very angry

We are back at home. My son has college tomorrow and we spent some time watching Fresh Off The Boat together. My daughter, in Vietnam is looking after some of her travelling companions who have come down ill with gastroenteritis. Hopefully she will not get it.

Football, Arsenal lost against West Ham, which means I might be seeing a lot of West Ham fans this week.  We do not do well when we play before our rivals, this being no exception. Watching the highlights, I did not see the vigour that Arsenal normally play with. Which meant that while I was disappointed, I was not very very angry. 

Hambleton Bakery

Today is our last full day in Rutland. After breakfast I took our dog for a long walk. I had taken her on a bit of it yesterday. Today I took her on the rest of it. She loved it. Yesterday she came back a bit muddy but today there was a lot more mud. I guess that is what comes of the longer walk.  My wife was not too happy though.

Afterwards we went for a drive to get some lunch. My wife drove us to Oakham and while we did did somewhere to eat lunch, we could not eat there due to the parking restrictions. My wife and son found a record shop and may have bought a record. I took Leia to explore the town and started to explore Oakham castle, not that it is much of a castle, but the history that I did get to read was really interesting.

We returned to the Hambleton bakery which we had visited the day before. Then there was a lot more choice, but we arrived earlier yesterday. Today the first two dishes my wife wanted were sold out, but my son and I got what we wanted. After that it was a trip to a farm shop and then a drive to a supermarket to get items to clean our messy dog.

Our son is enjoying having a room to himself, and actually had loads of fun in the front of the car while my wife was driving. We have not heard from our daughter but we know she is alive as she responded to a message on the family WhatsApp group. She had been unwell earlier this week and we gave her some advice, but I presume that she is now better and is enjoying Vietnam, hence the silence from her.

Fingers crossed that dinner is a better experience at the hotel today! 

The art of the deal

First of all, the family. My wife, son and dog are taking a few days off in Rutland.  We arrived yesterday but today brought about some changes. We had arranged to have a room shared with my son, but he is taller than me now (just). He slept on a camp bed last night, but did not do well.  So we have paid for him to have a room of his own, but it is in a different part of the hotel.

Today we went exploring, getting some dog food for Leia (we had been told that the dog would be fed by the hotel when we booked it) as well as having lunch in a local bakery.  I went for a walk later with Leia, but came back with my shoes caked in mud.  Dinner has been nice, but my meals have not been as good as I had hoped. Yesterday my pasta was undercooked and today my son and I ordered steak to be served rare, for it to come as medium.  The steak was still good, but was not as good as we wanted it to be.

Now for Trump. He states that he believes Putin when Putin says he wants an end to the war. That is true, but Putin wants the capitulation of Ukraine, something he might get. With the relations between Trump and Zelenskyy worsening, the question arises as to if Ukraine will be invaded after all.  Trump stopping aid to Ukraine is one thing, ending the sanctions on Russia though will be even more damaging.  We saw what a great deal Trump agreed with the Taliban in 2020 about Afghanistan, a great deal that is for The Taliban. Back then he did not include the Afghan government in the talks, just as he has not included Ukraine in these talks.  Based on how well the last deal went, we can expect Ukraine to be speaking Russian in the next few years.