Mid-term blues

In 2016, the American electorate voted for Donald Trump as President.

They decided against a second term in 2020, and on 6th January 2021, Trump intigated an armed insurection that nearly saw his Vice-President, and several members of congress killed. As it was, several police were killed.

Despite Trump's claims, there was no evidence of a stolen election. Each time such claims were brought, courst across the US rejected them, and many of Trump's council did not repeat his claims, lest they be disbarred.

The Democrat controlled lower house impeached Trump, the upper house did not.

He got off.

Even after all this, the electorate thought that was was needed was a second term for Trump.

Trump on stilts.

The first two years of the second term has been wild. Elected on a ticket of no new wars, he started wars in Nicaragua and Iran. Fishing boats were attacked nearer to home, with no evidence the fisherment were also drugrunners. ICE has been killing and kidnapping at will, though there has been resitance, and meanwhile, the war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil and gas prices to surge.

In the mid-terms, the much expected rout of the GOP took place, as many once red states, like Texas, turned blue.

Vote like my name is on the ballot Trump told voters.

They did.

Although Trump takes no responsibility for the defeat, its always someone else.

But.

The US electorate has voted for Trump twice, the second time knowing what he was like, and did it anyway. If they vote for a Trump twice, they will a third time, though not the Donald. Probably.

And the Democrats suggest changing laws and maybe the Constitution to ensure this cannot happen again. And yet there are laws and ammendments to the Constitution that should have prevented the excesses of Trump. Congress cluld and should have stepped in, but the GOP stood on the sidelines and cheered as Trump imposed trariffs over and over again, then abolished them, then reinstated them.

Trade policy is the role for Congress.

The Supreme Court should have trimmed Trump's wings, but they allowed clearly unconstitutional acts to take place. Allowing gerrymandering, and errosion of voter protection.

If the GOP can get round or just ignore the coursts, flout the Constitution, with no consequences, then tey will do it again. Passing new laws and new ammendments is a waste of time and paper for the GOP will just ignore them.

Trump has tried to annex Canada and Greenland, but has succeeded in annexing Nicaragua and stealing their petro-chemical dollars. It has played games with Ukraine, and pivoting to supporting Russia invasion and expansion plans. The US is no longer a trusted ally, even with a weakened Trump and a friendly Congress. Trump and the GOP have sacrificed decades of global policy on thirty pieces of Russian silver, and that betrayal will never be forgotten of forgiven.

The only thing to do is to prosecute those who have broken the law and constitution, giving no quarter. Otherwise, in two or six years time, the US will be at the same point.

Meanwhile the Democrats need to show America that it can govern better, to make America heal, to make people's lives better. I don't know if they can do that, and if they can't, the next, less stupid Trump, is waiting round the corner.

Tuesday 3rd November 2026

I went to bed so early Monday night, that I was awake before half four Tuesday morning.

With cats to sort out and coffee to make before going to the gym at ten to six, I got up and got dressed, making my was down the stairs, trying to avoid various cats whose job, it seemed, was to trip me up.

I got down safe, and sorted Scully out, then fed them all, while at the same time the kettle was boiling, so once done with the cats, I could top the pot up, add coffee and let it do its thing on the hob.

I turned the heating on, as it was cold in the house, this meant cats would find a spot to sleep either above or next to a radiator, so hopefully avoiding the usual hisses and spats when one wants the others favoured spot.

I left on time, maybe a few minutes early, so I got a parking spot, then by the time I walked to the entrance, staff were considering opening up, what with it being a minute past six.

I do my session, then drive to Folkestone along the Alkham Valley, to visit the larger branch of Sainsbury's, hoping for a big bottle of beer I saw being reviewed on Sunday on YouTube.

The Valley was a riot of colour, even if it was overcast and a drizzle already falling.

The store was quiet, I got a trolley and whizzed round: no big bottles of beer, but cans of others, and more stuff off the shopping list.

Back to the car, and out into the early morning rush hour traffic, though turning back towards Dover rather than where most were going, towards Ashford.

The closure of the High Street through the village is complete, and cars are parked where they can, making traffic even harder to get through.

I turn away from the there, down the hill to home, where I can put away the shopping, wash up and clear up after the cats.

Chores done!

So I could have breakfast of an orange, for the fibre, and the last of the shortcakes with a brew.

Not enough fruit and veg I had thought on Monday. Too much on Tuesday as it turned out.

Rain continued to fall through the morning, meaning I didn't go out for a walk. Tracks and byways would be muddy now, and having done 9,500 steps and peddles first thing, I believe I had done enough.

The last two episodes of Gone Fishing were watched and enjoyed. The second one with a brew and some shortbread fingers as Scully slept beside me.

The afternoon dried up outside, and near to sunset the clouds cleared, and the autumnal colours along the Dip made it appear the trees were on fire. Again.

No actual fire this time, of course.

Supper was lamb steaks and some defrosted tagine, which was very nice indeed, and easy enough to cook.

The evening had football.

Lots of football.

Champions League on the radio as Barcelona beat Villa and Utd came from behind, somehow, to beat Roma. While on the TV, Norwich beat a very poor Derby 4-0, and it could have been ten. Should have been ten.

But we'll take that result, and with it, move into the top half of the table.

The beginning of the end of Brexit?

First of all, it's important to state, that the decisions of a previous Parliament cannot stop a future Parliament from acting. Unless that act would be unconstitutional.

So that we can say that the result of the 2016 advisary refenendum on whether to remean or leave the EU was satisfied by the 2019 election in which Boris Johnson's Brext deal was confirmed in a landslide.

The problem is that many people, Johnson inculdued one suspects, saw Brexit as an event, when in reality it was always a process.

Leaving the EU was always just an event in the process.

As time went on, talks between the UK and EU take place to discuss any changes in relationship, standards, and so on. As well as regular negotations as per the exit agreement.

While the UK under Johnson ummed and ahred about standards and regulation, the EU carried on, so even by inactivity on the UK there was a drife between the two parties in terms of regulation and standards. That gap had to be closed, otherwise there would be more nd more cmplaince checks at borders. As well as the UK wanting to exercise its sovereinty, so should the EU, no matter how petty Brexiteers make that sound.

This week a framework agreement on food standards was accepted, though yet to be approved by either side, meaning that many compliance checks at the border would be swept away, and allow UK producers, large and small, to have unfettered access to the EU again.

Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister now, said that this could add as much as 0.4% onto the UK's annual GDP, and it was his top to increase growth.

Such an agreement does not negate or ignore the referendum, nor is anyone being betrayed. Time has shown how bad the Brexit deal was, a deal that Johnson, the Conservative Party, and Farage and his then party approved of.

The electorate has moved on, and there is now about a 60/40 split on those who want the UK to rejoin. That in itself is not enough, it needs a political cross-party agreement that this is the right thing to do, and an election won by a party proposing this.

That time is a long way away, just asking to rejoin now without an election of such corss-party agreement would fail, as the EU would have to be sure we didn't have our fingers crossed, and a change in Government would bring Brexit 2.0.

A small step in the right direction, then. One that brought much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects.

Monday 2nd November 2026

I woke up having been home alone for 21 hours.

And in that time I hadn't burned the house down, nor killed any one of our four cats.

But there was still two and a half days to go.

I was up at five, as my brain had woken me up, and because I now have to test and jab Scully, feed her and the rest of the cats, then make my own coffee.

It is dark at ten to five in the morning, but apart from some caterwauling by Mulder at some point in the wee small hours, there was no trouble from the feline foursome.

Cats fed. Scully tested and jabbed. Then time to make coffee.

And once that was all done, I could sit down and check on the world.

Not much had changed.

Anyway, that morning I had errands to run.

First of all drop Mike's birthday card off, so I left at twenty to seven, driving to Pilgrims Way and finding his house, I post his card through the letterbox.

Then, back up to Whitfield, past Tesco, and into Deal, first to do some shopping at Sainsbury's. As I had seen a guy I follow on YouTube say that he bought a magnum of good French beer at his local branch.

No such beer at our local branch, but there is a larger branch in Folkestone. Maybe I'd go there on Tuesday after phys?

I then had an hour to kill, as i was going to see the podiatrist for my eight-weekly check.

So, I parked on The Strand, then walked up to the promenade, where the rain of earlier had cleared, and the light sparkled.

The sun was up, and shown from behind clouds in a most photogenic way onto a freighter on the horizon.

Then along the prom, passed the small fishing fleet hauled up on the beach, past the time tower and roundabout to the pier, snapping shots along the pier from beside and on it.

Lovely.

I then had to find a cash machine, as I had the window cleaner coming round later, so onto the High Street, and wait in line at the machine.

Still forty minutes. So, into Greggs for a Festive slice, which some rave about.

I say it's bland and not that good, nor was the tea, but that might have been me putting too much milk in it.

Then a ten minute walk to the surgery, up the stairs and wait on the landing until called in.

All good apart from a new outbreak of athlete's foot, so more spaying needed from now on.

Back to the car for ten past nine, drive back through Walmer and Ringwould and to Chez Jelltex.

Signs were out as the gas board, or whatever they're called now, are digging up the mains on the main road into the village, and would be closed for two weeks.

Our house is before the closure, so all good.

Back home, put the kettle on and have a cuppa with breakfast.

The cats slept on, still breathing: I checked.

Then the whole day to fill until the evening when there was some football.

I watched more Gone Fishing, had jam and crisp sandwiches for lunch, then wrote and listened to music in the afternoon.

I did learn there is more to baseball bats than a piece of wood, so watched a guy tattoo ball out of the ballpark for half an hour, comparing bats.

Dinner was nachos and chilli. The latter left over from Saturday.

I also made two beers vanish, so all was set for the football.

But I was tired, and the discussions annoyed me, so despite being home alone and with lots of booze in the house, I went to bed before eight, and slept through until morning.

Sunday 1st November 2026

A few months ago, Jools booked to go on a crafting retreat in Hitchin.

Hertfordshire.

Where hurricanes hardly happen.

Apparently.

She was given a list of materials, and videos on that YouTube to watch, so for the last two months she has been watching and beading.

Not just beading, but beaded crochet.

She is going to make a box, or something, and a dodecahedron, which somehow I spelt correctly correctly first time.

Then, on Saturday, she did loads of gardening and stuff, so was tired and achy, so she decided not to go to the gym early Sunday morning.

Ian did, though.

While I got up and drank coffee, Jools had a shower, packed and got her stuff together, ao that when I returned from pumping lard, I would take her down to the station to catch the quarter to nine train.

Meaning I would be home alone for three and a half days!

I had parties arranged, obviously, and a tanker called round to drop off several gallons of vintage whisky.

In reality, once I had taken her to Priory station, I came back via Jubilee Way, without incident, back home to put the kettle on and have a brew.

Now, I must remember to feed the cats and not burn the house down.

I listened to RadMac until ten, then half an hour of Huey. Then, looking out at the lawn, I saw that most of it needed a trim.

Best get it done.

Down to the shed, mangle the mower out, then wrestle the box on the back, and have a good tug.

On the starter chord.

It spluttered into life, just like me, and in ten minutes the job was done, and that was the hardest task of the day.

It was warm enough to sit outside with Scully, and look at the birds on the feeders, making sure they were ready for winter.

And this was the first day of winter. Possibly.

Anyway, I need to turn the calendar over.

Instead of a meal, I bake a small batch of shortcakes, which were all done by just gone midday. So, I have a shave and shower to allow the cakes to cool, then down to make a brew and quality test the baked goods.

Good news is that the first one passed, but thought it best to have a second, just to make sure.

As I could lollygag in front of the TV all day watching fitba, there was just one game on, and that didn't kick off until half four, so I found something to watch on the i player, and tried not to fall asleep.

It was Liverpool v Arsenal, a top drawer game. On paper. Though its played on grass, Brian. And was pretty good. Won by Arsenal with the only quality move of the game. 1-0.

The evening was watching stuff on YouTube and listening to music, going to bed just after nine having had a glass or two of vin rouge.

Saturday 31st October 2026

We made it to the last day of the month: All Hallows Eve.

And it was a Saturday, we needed little shopping, but it was a phys day.

Up at half five, and do the usual chores with the cats then make coffee.

Outside it was a glorious morning, dawn was showing, and would be glorious.

I took shots from the back door and waiting in line at the sports centre.

We go in and do out fifty minutes, I had a new PU to listen to, so time flew, listening to the news and music of November 1976, and was long enough to listen to the second half on Sunday.

Then to Tesco, where we needed little, but silly Ian had left his wallet and shopping list at home, so we shopped by memory, and remembered most things. And it came to just £27!

Jools is away for three and a half days from Sunday morning, so I am looking after the house and cats.

We return home, where there is a brew, and quickly put the shopping away.

There was a railtour to snap. But it would pass through Dover in the middle of the second half of the Norwich v Watford game. I decided I would go if things were going bad on the pitch.

And go badly things did.

In the first half.

Despite not playing too badly, two simple straight through balls spit the City defence, and we were 2-0 down somehow.

Sigh.

And then, in the second half, Norwich woke up, and scored one. And like last week, you could see the confidence drop of the opposition, and City were emboldened.

Two goals in little over ten minutes completed the comeback, and the fist time Norwich had won from 2-0 down in twenty years!

Meanwhile Man Utd were losing at Chelsea, and has me thinking its some kind of art experiment, as to how badly a team with so much money, fans, and media attention can actually be.

Turns out they could be very bad indeed, losing 2-0 and having a mouthy defender sent off.

Then to the sofa to follow the scores on Final Score, and by Radio 5 on my phone.

Scully slept beside me.

Jools went out at half four, to take a friend, Twiggy, to Hythe for a meal, then an Abba tribute act at St Leonard's church.

I stayed home, fed the cats and watched football, as it doesn't watch itself.

Spurs won a third in a row, 2-0, the Milan beat Inter on BBC 2.

While I waited for Jools to return, I rewatched Sir John Betjeman's A Passion for Churches, as the toured round the great and lesser churches of Norfolk.

It's always a joy.

Jools returned at half ten, all well with the world. And no trick-or-treaters had called either.

Friday 30th October 2026

Its nearly the weekend again, and for me that means a lay in.

In fact I sleep so long I was only woken by Jools leaving n the car for yoga at quarter past six. By then Cleo had eaten breakfast, and had made a nest next to my legs, and was fast asleep.

So I get up and dressed. Downstairs there were all the ingredients for a cup of coffee, so I boil the kettle, fill the pot, ass the grinds, then pack the assembled pot on the hob to perculate through.

Add sugar and a splash of milk. And perfection.

I drink that, then do the bins, put them at the top of drive in case the trucks are early, like they used to be.

But no.

No hurry.

I had a twinge in my knee, so do little through the morning. Jools comes back, has breakfast then is out to take her ladies to the library for knit and natter.

Its so warm, I could sit in the garden without jumper, and soak up some vitamin B from phoebe.

I get a message from my friend, Andy, would we like to meet up for a beer near Bekesbourne?

We would, but which pub?

None in Bekesbourne, and the easiest thing would be to meet in Bridge at the Red Lion, which was agreed.

I make sausage rolls for lunch, with the free sausage meat that Paul supplied us with a couple of weeks back, so when Jools came back they were made, baked and cooling down. Just needing a brew to wash them down.

We had half for lunch, saving the rest for supper with some soup, then out in the car, along the A2 to Bridge.

The trees and hedgerows have suddenly turned to gold, and looked wonderful with the blue sky and strong sunlight.

I would take shots on the way back when Jools would be driving.

The pub was fairly busy, but we took a table in a corner to wait for Andy and for me to start on my pint of Harvey's Best, which went down a treat.

Even better Andy bought a second pint, so I sent that down to keep the first one company.

We dropped Andy off in Canterbury as there was delays and cancellations on the trains, then back home along the A2 to home, when I tried to take shots of the colours.

Back home and time to edit more shots, write, and then prepare for the quiz; in which I again did poorly.

But no mind.

Later, there was football. Sheffield Utd v Wrexham, but I lost interest at half time again, so went to bed.