Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Burnham’s Net Zero Secretary Wants to Raise Tax to Stop People Flying
Now the Energy Secretary, she called for the taxes while chief executive of the New Economics Foundation think tank between 2017 and 2023.
During her time there, the think tank proposed in 2021 adding an escalating levy to tickets which would increase for every subsequent flight taken within a year, replacing the current Air Passenger Duty system.
Her appointment on Monday is likely to raise concerns that some of her previous policy proposals may be taken forward.
The think tank’s work has been incorporated into Labour policymaking in the past, including work on green industrial strategy and energy.
Richard Holden MP, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said families were already paying some of the highest flight taxes in the world “just to get away for a well-earned break”. “But Andy Burnham’s pick as Labour’s Energy Secretary wants to pile another tax on top,” he said.
He added British families were already being “taxed through the roof” and claimed the new taxes on air travel represented a punishment for “anyone who dares to fly for a holiday”.
Under the frequent-flyer tax proposal, the first flight taken by any individual in a given year would be exempt. The proposal was designed in part to keep costs neutral for lower-earners, who typically travel less, and to also protect family holidays. However, costs would then ratchet up in increments.
Under one model, for example, the tax on the first flight would be £0, the second flight £25, and each additional increment would increase by £10 thereafter (£35, £45, £55) for each subsequent flight. By the 10th flight the total green tax bill would come to £585.
The costs would be even higher for those travelling for business, representing a significant cost to companies.
It would be felt most by higher earners, who fly more, with models suggesting the highest 20% of earners would cut flying by around 30%, while the lowest 20% would be unaffected....<<<Read More>>>...
The applause for Burnham scrapping Starmer’s digital ID arrived before anyone checked what survived it
The new UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is in Downing Street, and he has spent twenty years telling you exactly what he wants to do to the internet. He won the Makerfield by-election on 18 June 2026. He then collected the backing of roughly 349 Labour MPs, more than 85 per cent of the parliamentary party. By the time he walked through the black door, the job had been settled for weeks.
His first big announcement was the one privacy campaigners had been hoping for. Starmer’s digital ID scheme for all adults is dead, scrapped before Burnham had finished unpacking, the money moved to the cost of living. The applause came quickly. Perhaps it should not have.
This is a read on a government barely a day old. On speech and privacy, the early signals point one way, and it is not the way that loosens the state’s grip. He is not about to tear up the settlement he inherits from Keir Starmer. The open question is how much further he carries it.
Burnham arrives with a long record on all this. He is one of the few senior British politicians with a documented, two-decade appetite for putting the government closer to what you can see, say and read online....<<<Read More>>>...
Coming Back Into Balance
Centering yourself means that you are working from or being aware of the core of your being in the solar plexus area of your body. At first it may not make sense, but as you progress you will understand what this feels like. We naturally know how to center ourselves when we take a deep breath — for example, before making a big announcement or doing something big. Another way to center ourselves is to sit down and engage in breath meditation. We can start by simply getting into a comfortable upright position and noticing as our breath enters and leaves our bodies. Our breath flows into our center and out from our center, and this process can serve as a template for all of our interactions in the world. In conversations, we can take what our friends are saying into the center of our beings and respond from the center. Our whole lives mirror this ebb and flow of energy that begins and ends at the center of ourselves. If we follow this ebb and flow, we are in harmony with the universe, and when we find we are out of harmony, we can always come back into balance by sitting down and observing our breath.
When we sit down to center ourselves, we can imagine that we are gathering our straying thoughts and energies back into ourselves, the way a mother duck gathers her babies around her. We can also visualize ourselves casting a net and pulling all the disparate parts of ourselves back to the center of our being, creating a sense of fluid integration. From this place of centeredness, we can begin again, directing ourselves outward in a more intentional way. (Daily OM)
A Look at the New PM
So we decided to undertake an oracle spread using THE LIGHT OF TRUTH ORACLE CARDS on Andy Burnham and the situation with The Labour Party etc etc. Above is a visual view of the spread.
CHALLENGES - The Hanged Man in the tarot - "I do not identify with the ordinary contemplations of the human self. I need to be redefined”. “Life‟s challenges now stand before me. I will attend to each every obstacle in the best way that I can. I make a promise to my inner self that I will approach these challenges as truthfully as I can. I accept that in some challenges I will fail. But fear not … I know I will prevail if I persist in my spiritual integrity and remain true to my own self.”
NEW BEGINNINGS - 8 Of Cups - “In this moment in which you find yourself realise the intrinsic quality of all that is around you ”. “Don‟t let past failings and disappointments ruin your passage through life. At this time be aware there is the potential for success all around you. It‟s merely a case of re-scheduling your perspectives and realising where you placed those discarded ideas. Possibilities abound. You merely need to seek and you will find!”
RISK - 8 Of Swords - “Risk, risk, risk … to potentially gain, gain, gain … sometimes it pays to take the gamble.. This could be that time! “Being faced with a good opportunity may not always be the most pleasant of stances. Especially if it means stepping out of a comfort zone. Be the observer and witness all that can be gained from taking the opportunity. If it is seen to be worth the risk then seriously consider your options. But know it is only you that can decide to make that choice.”
LOSS - 5 of Swords - “Conflicts have appeared on the horizon. It is not time to make any quick
decisions. Wait for a better time". “Have you ever regretted not listening to that first gut
instinct? Making a series of fateful decisions which have been very much to
your detriment? A chain reaction of life changing events which could have
been prevented by acting on that insistent inner voice? If this is one of those
times … really think carefully before you make a decision. Listen to the inner
voice.”
ABUNDANCE - 4 Of Coins - ”I am the primal plan, the emanations of all the spiritual laws … which is replicated and reflected by your physical world “ “Remember, you are a perfect replica of all that there is. Your form on earth is a reflection of your essence on higher realms. For you to truly manifest yourself on the physical plane as the highest aspiration that you most surely can be you need to exhibit the virtue of obedience. That is the obedience to self and to trust your own judgements.”
CONSCIOUSNESS - King Of Coins - “True consciousness exists only in the now experience. Thus be in the now and experience it consciously.” “Now is the time to REALLY BE. To really live life to the full. The purpose of consciousness is to experience the moment to the full. There can be no holding back from this purpose. You owe it to your true self to fully experience human existence and to be truly grateful for your existence. Fear not what has been or what will be …experience the NOW to the maximum extent …”
TRADITIONS - The World - “Enter the inner world of the psyche at your peril. For here is a world with a different language and a different agenda to your own” “No matter how mundane the outside world might seem, it is important to remember you are a spiritual being in a physical experience. It is vital to be aware of what your inner voice is telling you. Though its language is not the same as in the outside world, it can be listened to just the same. Your task is to honour the wishes of your inner self when you can”
THE KEY - “I am the mysterious light … the first light of being; the limitless and the eternal light.” “So much of human life is inexplicable and unpredictable. It happens by the simple fact that there is no reason as to why it shouldn‟t. When we make any plans we always assume we can account for the foreseeable based on the known parameters in life. We cannot account for the inexplicable or the unforeseeable. We must accept the unforeseeable exists”
So, what do we make of the oracle spread? Andy Burnham appears to have a superiority complex/meglomania and is a dangerous sociopath... The Key is a clue. Plenty of empty promises. He has no intention of telling the truth or sticking to the pledges he makes. Many of the insights should be read in reverse as a reverse of the meaning. NO new beginnings, NO abundance .... the spread indicates danger and folly ... more of the same as Starmer. Same hidden hands pulling the strings. The theme is deception. Very much the Fabian wolf in sheep's clothing. Beware Britain. - Matthew James
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Is Life Just Different?
In 1993, a team led by the planetary scientist Carl Sagan tentatively concluded that there is life on Earth. Not much of a deduction, you might think — except that the researchers confined their evidence to observations made by the Galileo spacecraft, which had flown past our planet three years earlier on a looping journey to Jupiter. So great is the transformative power of life that its presence can be detected just from the light and radio waves our planet emits or reflects into space. Today we scan the cosmos for some of these telltale signatures light-years away.
Life leaves a mark, yet even now there's no scientific consensus about what makes living things so different from inorganic substances like the rocks, gases, and oceans that are the sole components of dead worlds. Many scientists cite properties such as replication or metabolism. Others speak in more abstract terms about the way life is out of thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings. But some give another kind of answer. Living organisms are different because they do stuff for reasons...<<<Read More>>>...
Study of 13,000 adults links six artificial sweeteners to faster brain aging
High consumers experienced a 62 percent faster decline in memory and thinking, equivalent to 1.6 years of extra brain aging.
The strongest effects were seen in adults under 60 and people with diabetes.
The problematic sweeteners include aspartame, acesulfame-K, erythritol, saccharin, sorbitol, and xylitol.
Researchers caution the study does not prove causation but raises serious questions about artificial sweetener safety.
A sweeping Brazilian study that tracked nearly 13,000 adults for eight years has landed like a bombshell on the health food industry, revealing that six common artificial sweeteners are linked to faster cognitive decline and memory loss. Published in the journal Neurology, the research followed 12,772 participants with an average age of 52 and measured their thinking skills over time. The findings should alarm anyone who believes swapping sugar for chemical substitutes is a harmless health hack.
Participants in the study who consumed the highest amounts of artificial sweeteners averaged 191 milligrams per day, compared to just 20 milligrams for those in the lowest intake group. The difference in cognitive decline between these two groups was dramatic. People in the high-consumption category experienced a 62 percent faster decline in overall thinking and memory abilities. Researchers calculated this drop in brain function was roughly equal to an extra 1.6 years of brain aging.....<<<Read More>>>...
Signs You've Already Reached the Sophia Stage - The Final Stage of Awakening | Carl Jung
Most people believe spiritual awakening is the moment everything finally makes sense. But according to Carl Jung, awakening is not the arrival. What comes after is something far quieter — a stage the ancients called Sophia. Sophia is not enlightenment. It’s not healing. And it’s not spiritual superiority. It’s psychological maturity. In this video, you’ll explore 8 subtle signs that suggest you’ve already entered the Sophia stage — where the spiritual ego dissolves, the body becomes your compass, solitude feels full, and the ordinary begins to feel complete. These signs are not dramatic. They don’t announce themselves. But once you recognize them, you can’t unsee them. This reflection draws from Jungian psychology, shadow integration, embodiment, and the end of unconscious seeking. If you’ve ever felt that the search quietly stopped — this video may help you understand why.
UK’s Net Zero costs are soaring out of control
When the National Energy System Operator (“NESO”) produced their plan to deliver Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 (“CP2030”) goal, they said that all the planned transmission grid expansion works must be built on time and that “involves twice as much in the next five years as was built in total over the last decade.” From the outset, delivering on that part of CP2030 was always a tall order.
I have been contacted by several people over the past few weeks highlighting several issues that indicate these ambitious plans (some may say fantastical) will probably not be achieved. For those of us sceptical of Net Zero generally and Clean Power 2030 in particular, this represents both good news and bad news.
First, the good news: Slipping schedules means they will not spend all the money earmarked for grid expansion, which ought to mean our bills do not go up as much as feared. The bad news is that, based on the limited data available, it looks like the costs of this work are soaring out of control.
Let’s dig into the details, beginning with the bad news so that we can end on a high note....<<<Read More>>>...
2026 Crop Circle #16
Crop circle sighted at Wanborough Plain, Nr Liddington, Wiltshire. Reported 21st July 2026 ...<<<Read More>>>...
Of Course Heat Pump Use is Going to Be Rationed – What Did You Think a ‘Smart Meter’ was For?
As the heatwave hysteria somewhat subsided, the Telegraph revealed that in the future, use of heat pumps might be rationed at times of energy shortages.
The Guardian, meanwhile, reported
that the Prime Minister’s replacement, Andy Burnham is considering
proposals to “make heat pumps cheaper to run than boilers”. The occupier
of Number 10 may have changed but a profound unreality is still driving
the policy agenda.
The main problem afflicting the green agenda
was always physics. The second was economics. And the third was
democracy. Heat pumps capture this sequence of problems perfectly. Green
technology attempts to convert diffuse, ambient energy into useful
energy – heat, in the case of heat pumps. And it does this in place of
using a dense energy resource such as gas. But the relative density of
these energy sources means that the machine that collects ambient energy
must be so much larger, plus its capacities do not fully overlap with
what it purportedly replaces.
Consequently, a heat pump is at least six times as expensive as a gas combi boiler, occupies a much larger part of a home, responds less effectively to a household’s needs and requires the making of substantial alterations to the home and the behaviour of the occupants in order to function as expected. For those many reasons, most people have rejected them.
And for that reason, successive governments have said that homes will have heat pumps whether they’re wanted or not, because the superior product that they replace will be ‘phased out’....<<<Read More>>>...
Monday, 20 July 2026
Reconnecting With Nature
Though you may plant a garden to grow food or herbs, or for the pleasure of seeing fresh flowers in bloom, you will likely discover that the time you spend working in your plot feels somehow more significant than many of the other tasks you perform each day. Whether your garden can be measured in feet or is a collection of plants in pots, tending it can be a highly spiritual experience. You, by necessity, develop a closer relationship with the soil, seeds, water, and sunlight. Nurturing just a single plant means cultivating a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that permit it to thrive. A true healing garden is simply one where you feel comfortable plunging your hands into the Earth, lingering over seedlings and plants to observe their growth. Creating beauty and giving yourself over to the awe of nature is truly wonderful.
The partnership that is formed when you collaborate with Mother Nature through gardening is wonderful in that it provides you with so many opportunities to be outdoors. You will be reminded of not only your connection to the Earth but also of your unique gifts that allow you to give back to the Earth. (Daily OM)
Narrative Control: The Collapsing Authority of the State
Crucially, this differs from previous attempts to maintain ideological hegemony – that is, to win the societal ‘battle of ideas’ – because ideological warfare was always related to the real world. For example, Stalinism’s ideological success was demonstrated in defeating the Nazi industrial machine at its own game, capitalism defeated communism by offering unparalleled standards of living, social democracy was ideologically effective to the degree it demonstrated you could balance both the demands of organised labour with those of economic growth.
By contrast, the attempt at narrative hegemony treats the political realm purely in the domain of information management. This is a political class that has given up on shaping the world and instead looks to shape the narrative....<<<Read More>>>...
The FULL STORY of The Kybalion - Every Spiritualist Must KNOW This
Reality isn’t what you think it is. You’ve been taught to believe that the world around you is solid, fixed, and objective—that what you see is what’s real.
A 1957 book by Ayn Rand describes the plan to declare war on “fossil fuels”
He served as a high priest in the “Council of Thirteen,” a group he said was subordinate to the Rothschild family, whom he alleged were demonic entities. Todd said his family lineage, the Collins bloodline, had been involved in witchcraft for generations.
In 1973, five years before Todd spoke at the Elkton Maryland Baptist Church, there was an oil crisis, which was caused by an embargo by Arab oil-producing nations in response to US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
There had been a decades-long struggle between the governments of oil-producing nations and the large US oil conglomerates for control over the global oil market. Until the 1970s, OPEC, formed in 1960, had kept a relatively low profile, mainly negotiating with international oil companies for better terms for its member countries. OPEC saw the Yom Kippur War as a way to make its geopolitical power known and to strike a blow at the US oil giants.
Also in 1973, the world economy was in recession and the Bretton Woods international monetary system was formally ended. The Bretton Woods international monetary system was established in July 1944 at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire....<<<Read More>>>...
AI-driven system discovers six new metal alloys that could reshape jet engines and nuclear power
The system functions as a self-driving laboratory, using AI to select promising metal combinations, directing robots to manufacture and test them and feeding results back into the model to speed up discovery in just weeks.
One alloy composed of 12% nickel, 62% cobalt and 26% chromium demonstrated exceptional hardness at temperatures up to 1,112 F, outperforming industry-standard Inconel 625 by 4.5%.
Another alloy made of 36% nickel, 14% cobalt and 50% chromium showed 85% better oxidation resistance than Inconel 625 at temperatures reaching 1,832 F, targeting hotter sections of jet engines.
The research team plans to increase complexity in future work, aiming to develop alloys with up to 10 or 12 different elements, demonstrating that AI can compress years of materials discovery into weeks.
Researchers at the University of Toronto's Department of Materials Science and Engineering have used an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven discovery platform to identify six new metal alloys that retain strength under extreme heat and pressure, a breakthrough that could lead to more durable parts for jet engines, nuclear power plants and other demanding applications....<<<Read More>>>..
Sunday, 19 July 2026
Officials urge people to stay inside from the US Midwest to East Coast as toxic smoke from wildfires spreads
According to a report from The Associated Press, officials issued urgent advisories for residents to remain indoors or wear protective masks when venturing outside, as air quality deteriorated to unhealthy and even hazardous levels.
The smoke originates primarily from fires burning in Canada, with additional contributions from blazes in northern Minnesota. A persistent high-pressure system has been holding the haze close to the ground, intensifying its impact. In Detroit, where air quality ranked among the poorest globally for major cities, National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Freitag described the situation as extreme....<<<Read More>>>...
Huge network of cities built 2500 years ago was found in the Amazon jungle
For the first time, archaeologist Stephen Rosten came across ancient mounds and remains of roads in the Upano Valley region of Ecuador, and this was more than 20 years ago.
When he began excavating, he found a variety of colorful pottery, including jugs that were tested to contain maize beer. Radiocarbon dating showed that people settled here about 2,500 years ago and lived for approximately one thousand years (from 500 BC to the 600s AD).
At that time, according to Rosten, he did not yet understand that in fact it was a very large complex of settlements, in fact a huge city, closely connected by roads.
Due to impenetrable thickets, intense heat, the risk of contracting malaria and other dangerous diseases, and remoteness from civilization, archaeological excavations in the Amazon region have always been very difficult....<<<Read More>>>....
France 4-6 England Highlights 🇫🇷🏴 | THRILLING BRONZE FINAL | 2026 FIFA World Cup
Highlights of France v England in the Bronze Final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Miami Stadium.
The ancient seed in modern medicine: Fenugreek’s promise and peril in the quest for wellness
Fenugreek is an ancient spice now under serious scientific study for its potential to address modern health issues like Type 2 diabetes, lactation support and male vitality.
It is a well-supported
galactagogue, with studies showing it can increase breast milk
production and improve infant weight gain, making it a common
recommendation from lactation consultants.
A key area of
research is its role in managing Type 2 diabetes; clinical trials show
soaked seeds can significantly lower fasting blood sugar, triglycerides
and LDL cholesterol.
Research suggests possible supportive
roles in boosting testosterone (when combined with exercise) and in
areas like appetite control and inflammation, but these findings are
often preliminary or require specific extracts.
Effective
dosage varies greatly by purpose, and side effects (like digestive
issues or dangerous interactions with diabetes medication) underscore
the need to consult a healthcare professional before use....<<<Read More>>>...
Met Office Heatwave Records Are Based on Junk Stations
For the last year or so, the Daily Sceptic has been warning about the increasing reliance of the Met Office on junk weather stations, which are so poorly sited that they can overestimate real temperatures by as much as five degrees. At the latest count, 88% of the Met Office’s 400 sites fall into this category....<<<Read More>>>....
Saturday, 18 July 2026
The Sumerian Tablet That Says the Flood Was Not Meant for Humans — And What It Erased
In 1893, the University of Pennsylvania cataloged a fragment from Nippur as CBS 10673. For decades it was classified as another flood narrative — divine wrath, rising waters, one righteous man. But when Thorkild Jacobsen published his full transliteration in 1981, he noted something the catalog description had missed.
The tablet did not say the flood was sent to destroy humanity. It said humanity was preserved deliberately. The flood was sent to destroy something else.
The tablet says what.
The standard Sumerian flood account is clean and familiar. Humanity became too loud. Enlil proposed extermination. Enki warned one man. The flood came. The world was scoured. Humanity began again. This is the version taught in every ancient Near Eastern studies program from Philadelphia to Munich.
It is also, according to the oldest textual evidence, incomplete in ways that change what the flood was for.
The Eridu Genesis — the oldest known flood narrative — uses different language than the later Akkadian Atrahasis Epic in the fragmentary lines preceding the flood decree. Where the Atrahasis uses huburu, meaning clamor or noise, the Sumerian original uses vocabulary that multiple scholars including Miguel Civil at the Oriental Institute have read as relating to mixture or contamination rather than acoustic disturbance. Not noise. A condition. Something wrong within the human population that required elimination.
This video traces the full editorial trajectory — from the Eridu Genesis through the Atrahasis Epic, through Tablet XI of Gilgamesh, through Genesis 6, and into the Book of 1 Enoch — mapping what each retelling removed. The pattern is not random. Every version keeps the flood. Every version keeps the boat. Every version keeps the single survivor. What is stripped away, consistently, across every culture that inherited the story, is the reason.
We examine the Apkallu — the pre-flood sages classified in the Bit Meseri incantation texts by Akkadian biological determinative into three types: fully divine, hybrid, and fully human. The hybrid Apkallu, born from unions between divine beings and human women, held administrative positions in the pre-flood cities. They had authority. They had offspring. And by the time of the flood, the pre-flood population carried a lineage that had diverged from its engineered specification.
The Atrahasis Epic describes three attempts to reduce the human population before the flood — plague, drought, famine — each thwarted by Enki. Read operationally, this is not divine frustration met by divine cunning. It is targeted elimination, repeatedly blocked by the engineer who designed the organism and chose to protect it.
Then Enki's preservation protocol. He did not simply save one family. He saved the seed of all living things. Craftsmen. Knowledge. Curated biological material. If the flood was punishment for noise, saving biological stock is disproportionate. It suggests Enki knew what the flood would erase — and selected what would carry forward and what would not.
The Sumerian King List records the partition: before the flood and after it. Post-flood, kingship descended from heaven again. The word is again — as if the previous installation had been corrupted and required a clean deployment. The pre-flood kings reign in multiples of 3,600 years. The post-flood kings reign in decades. The flood is not a natural disaster in the King List. It is a system partition. And the reinstallation implies the original was compromised.
Genesis 6:1-4 preserves the last visible trace — four verses about the sons of God taking human wives, producing the Nephilim, placed immediately before the flood decree and never explained. The Book of 1 Enoch, preserved in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition and confirmed at Qumran, keeps what Genesis compressed: divine beings descend, interbreed, teach forbidden knowledge, produce hybrid offspring. The flood is sent to eliminate the results.
The editorial trajectory spans 1,500 years. The vector points consistently away from the biological reading and toward the moral one. Away from contamination and toward punishment. Away from a targeted operation and toward universal divine wrath.
The flood was not sent to erase humanity. Humanity was the medium in which something else was growing. The question the tablets raise — sitting in climate-controlled cases in Oxford, Philadelphia, London, Paris, and Baghdad — is whether the erasure worked.
Or whether it floated, sealed in bitumen, into the world that came after.
This Is What Total Control Looks Like
Families are reportedly being forced to sell their homes to make way for massive AI data centers.
New projections warn that AI data centers could add $6.3 billion in electricity costs across 13 states, raising concerns about the future of America’s power grid and who will ultimately bear the financial burden.
Modern vehicles are becoming rolling computers. We discuss seven ways tomorrow’s cars could monitor, restrict, or control more than just transportation, from software updates to remote access and data collection.
Flock Safety cameras are rapidly expanding across the nation, creating an ever-growing network capable of tracking vehicle movements. What does this mean for privacy, freedom, and the future of mass surveillance?
While these technologies may offer legitimate benefits, they also raise serious questions. Could the convergence of AI, smart infrastructure, digital identification, surveillance networks, and connected vehicles become part of the technological framework described in Bible prophecy?...<<<Read More>>>...
Ultra-processed foods leave a measurable metabolic fingerprint in your blood, new research confirms
A major European study found that people who consume ultra-processed foods carry a distinct metabolic signature in their blood, detectable through 22 circulating compounds and eight blood fats.
Higher
ultra-processed food intake was linked to lower levels of DHA, a
critical omega-3 fatty acid essential for brain health and inflammation
control.
Industrial trans fats, known as elaidic acid,
appear in the bloodstream at measurable levels after consuming processed
foods, confirming these fats remain in circulation.
Protective
cell membrane compounds called sphingomyelins and phosphatidylcholines
declined as ultra-processed food consumption increased, even in people
who were not overweight.
The World Health Organization
recommends limiting trans fat intake to less than 1% of total energy, or
about 2.2 grams daily for a 2,000-calorie diet...<<<Read More>>>...
2026 Crop Circle #15
Crop circle sighted at Roundway Hill (2), Nr Devizes, Wiltshire. Reported 18th July 2026
How Long Will Burnham Last?
As the Labour Party slowly coalesced around a consensus that Starmer simply had to go there was an oft repeated refrain of, ‘We have to get this right first time if we are going to do it, we only have one chance.’
The theory here seems to be that ditching a leader – however unpopular – and finding a fresh one is not the sort of thing that the electorate approve of. They have passed their judgement at the ballot box and are usually unimpressed when the powers-that-be decide to second guess that decision.
More generally, ditching an incumbent leader against their will gives the impression of chaos and instability. It gives such an impression precisely because chaos and instability are typically what have brought about the decision to make a change.
The circumstances around removing a Prime Minister are always different but can be broadly batched into three categories – they are based on aesthetics, ideology or health. The last two are easier to explain to the public than the first. Margaret Thatcher was removed for ideological reasons – she was unwilling to retreat on the hugely unpopular poll tax and was also pursuing a European policy that a large chunk of her party disapproved of. On the basis of needing to wholly reset our approach to the EU, David Cameron jumped and Theresa May was pushed....<<<Read More>>>....
Friday, 17 July 2026
The Fear of Being Yourself
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The universal need to be accepted by others can be a barrier that prevents us from being ourselves around them. When we fear that the people we encounter will perceive us as inept or not intelligent, we frequently try to flaunt our grasp of large words or clever witticisms or our professional expertise in an effort to convince them that we are smart and capable. The simple desire to be judged smart by both new and old acquaintances can cause you to reject your true self and adopt an affected persona.
This fear can also cause you to consciously avoid speaking your mind or asking questions. You may feel uncomfortable participating in activities or discussions if there is a chance that you won’t excel. In essence, you become ashamed of who you are and attempt to encase your identity in a veneer that others will find pleasing and impressive. It is, however, a common fear — one experienced by almost everyone at some point in their lives. The simplest way to combat it is to make a personal commitment to being yourself in your home, your workplace, and among strangers. Ask yourself how you believe the individuals you encounter will react should you speak awkwardly, need clarification, or fail to be the best at some activity. By being yourself, you will discover that others will like and respect you because they recognize the goodness in your soul.
The fact that you are willing to be yourself, letting your many affirmative attributes express themselves naturally, will help you make a positive first impression on everyone you meet. Your confidence and easygoing manner will say, "this is who I am, and I am proud of the person I have become." (Daily OM)
New analysis suggests deeper health benefits in orange juice
The most significant finding was a reduction in interleukin-6 (IL-6), a major inflammation marker, in both healthy adults and those at elevated disease risk.
The analysis, funded by the Florida Department of Citrus, concluded orange juice consistently showed beneficial or neutral effects on these health markers, with no studies indicating it made inflammation worse.
Researchers emphasized strong caution, citing limitations in the existing evidence, including a small number of participants, a "low strength of evidence" and a "moderate risk of bias."
The study is considered a starting point that highlights the need for larger, longer and independently-funded clinical trials to make definitive conclusions about orange juice's health role.
In an era where every grocery purchase feels like a health decision, a new scientific review has reignited the debate over a breakfast staple: 100 percent orange juice. Published in the journal Advances in Nutrition, the analysis suggests that the simple act of drinking orange juice may help combat two silent enemies within the body—inflammation and oxidative stress—which are fundamental drivers of chronic diseases plaguing modern society. Conducted by researchers from the Think Healthy Group, Tufts University and George Mason University and funded by the Florida Department of Citrus, the study offers a cautious but intriguing glimpse into potential benefits beyond basic nutrition, while simultaneously exposing significant gaps in the existing science...<<<Read More>>>...
Why They Erased The Unlimited Food Forests After 1900
What explains how humanity abandoned the most efficient food production system ever devised — forests mathematically layered across continents, engineered across generations with a biological precision now being rediscovered in regenerative ecology — and replaced it with a centralized, commercially dependent food infrastructure, without a single serious public reckoning about what that exchange actually cost us?
The standard explanation — that modern agriculture simply won out through scientific advancement and institutional logic — collapses when you examine what it actually replaced: not a primitive or superstitious subsistence tradition, but a system apparently built around the relationship between human communities, perennial species, and designed landscapes operating at continental scale. Forests so deliberately composed that early colonial surveyors kept struggling to describe them, because they had no framework for what they were looking at. Not wilderness. Not farms. Something in between — something we lost the language for, because the practice was erased before the vocabulary could survive with it.
As I investigated the botanical record — from undocumented food forest systems documented in pre-1850 colonial surveys across Europe to identical clearance patterns appearing simultaneously in South America, West Africa, India, and the Pacific Northwest — a disturbing pattern materialized. These weren't parallel coincidences across unconnected cultures. They were the same underlying erasure, executed within the same thirty-year window, across every continent where this older food infrastructure had taken root.
And the knowledge came down with the trees. Displaced. Dispersed. Gone — with gaps in the archive that cluster, with unsettling precision, around the exact decades the new centralized food economy was being institutionalized.
Because here's what the replacement also did. It didn't just reorganize how food was produced. It may have severed something older. The relationship between human communities and perennial food landscapes — between generational knowledge, polyculture design, and genuine food sovereignty — that appears embedded in pre-industrial land management across dozens of cultures was quietly superseded. Not debated. Not disproven. Just demolished. Enclosed. Made institutionally invisible. And the generations that had lived inside that system died without passing the knowledge forward.
The American chestnut alone — four billion trees, feeding every human being in its range for free, every autumn, without labour or purchase — was gone within a single lifetime. The terra preta food forests of the Amazon were cleared before any European naturalist thought to document what they actually were. The Royal Forests of England, the sacred grove systems of West Africa, the parklike managed landscapes of Indigenous North America: all of them entering collapse in the same compressed window of history, under administrations that shared no known channel of coordination.
This investigation examines whether the food system we inherited was designed not to feed human beings more effectively — but to replace a system that may have understood something about feeding people that cannot be patented, cannot be centralized, and cannot be made dependent on purchased inputs. And whether something older, something that required no infrastructure but time and knowledge and trust across generations, was deliberately lost in that replacement.
The material on this channel presents exploratory interpretations of history and imaginative speculation, conveyed through narrative storytelling rather than precise historical documentation. Viewpoints and visual representations are dramatized or intentionally constructed to support alternative narrative exploration. Visual elements may at times be created using automated or generative tools. The content shared should not be considered factual.
The Narrow Focus on Babies Explains Britain’s Birth Rate Collapse
Where once all families were set up in order to further the prospects for their children and their children’s children, now nepo babies are thought disgusting and every generation is expected to graft individually from scratch. The brilliant series Succession encapsulates our current carelessness about our descendants: emotionally neglect children to the extent they become unworthy of inheriting their father’s empire. The results for our demography of this immediacy focus and inability to think generationally are devastating.
The provisional fertility rate for England and Wales fell to 1.39 children per woman in 2025, the lowest level on record – this needs to sit at 2.1 children per woman to sit at replacement levels....<<<Read More>>>...
The UK’s latest dystopian censorship plans could spell the end of UK independent content creators to save the BBC
Andy Burnham’s government is proposing statutory changes that force
digital service providers to prioritise its preferred sources of “news,”
such as the BBC.
YouTube, an American company, is warning that
the UK government’s control over its algorithms will make it harder for
independent UK content creators to be discovered on its platform.
The
UK government is proposing regulatory changes that force social media
platforms to prioritise content from established public service
broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.Currently, the
public is being softened up to the idea through a government
consultation on a Green Paper titled ‘Watch this space: A new strategic
direction for UK media’ published by the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport (“DCMS”) on 23 June 2026. The consultation, which takes the
form of a survey, closes on 31 August 2026...<<<Read More>>>....
Thursday, 16 July 2026
2026 Crop Circle #14
Crop circle sighted at Odstone Barn, Nr Wayland Smithy, Oxfordshire. Reported 16th July 2026
Summer Warmth and Renewal
Rituals specific to the summer season empower us to attune ourselves to the changes that take place in nature and within ourselves as the weather grows warmer. At its core, summer is a season of light, and by opening ourselves and our spaces to this light, we honor all the joy associated with the coming months. Unbolting windows and doors, arranging bright-golden blooms in a vase, and turning our faces toward the sun become a celebration when done with intent. Summer is also a wonderful time to practice focused listening, as the air is filled with beautiful sounds particular to the season. To begin, find a quiet, solitary spot. For 10 minutes, pay attention to the workings of your mind, and allow it to wander at will. Then turn your attention to the sounds resonating around you, and note what you hear — the buzzing of bees, children's laughter, and birds singing in the trees.
Delight in the joys of summertime by immersing yourself in its pleasures. Wake up with the sunrise, take a day trip to the beach, indulge in an ice cream cone, or simply sit quietly in nature's embrace. The season will pass quickly, but while it remains, you can revel in the richness of life and renew yourself in the wonder of the light. (Daily OM)
Upstate NY school district to deploy humanoid robot teacher this fall
We certainly didn't and we didn't make the choice.
The choice has been made by those out to replace us.
++++++++++++++++++++
According to a report from New York Upstate, a small rural school district in Western New York is set to make history by introducing a humanoid robot into its classrooms when students return this fall.
The Salamanca City Central School District, located on the Seneca Nation reservation, will become one of the first in the nation to use the advanced technology as a learning support tool alongside human educators.
The district approved the purchase of the robot, named Sally, from the tech company Realbotix at a recent board meeting, along with an accompanying artificial intelligence teacher’s assistant program.
Students will be able to interact with an avatar version of the robot on their laptops, creating new opportunities for personalized academic assistance in a community serving roughly 1,300 students, many of whom face economic challenges.
Realbotix CEO Andrew Kiguel described the significance of the project. “This deployment in a working school district represents a landmark moment for both AI and humanoid robotics,” he said. “Salamanca marks the beginning of a new era where humanoid robots and intelligent AI assistants become standard tools in STEM education.”...<<<Read More>>>...
How your gut’s collapse is poisoning your brain and fueling the autoimmune epidemic
When the "tight junctions" in the intestinal lining open too wide, harmful substances like undigested proteins and bacteria enter the bloodstream, triggering inflammation and immune responses.
The immune system attacks the body due to "molecular mimicry," where undigested proteins from a leaky gut are so similar to the body's own tissues (e.g., thyroid) that the immune system mistakenly attacks itself.
The breakdown of the gut is caused by common factors such as antibiotics in food, environmental toxins and chronic stress, which pry open the tight junctions.
The episode argues that healing requires going "upstream" to repair the gut and close the gates, rather than using drugs to suppress symptoms...<<<Read More>>>...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)