am seeing sharp increases in food prices and this news headline from yesterday helps explain a key factor: Britain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warn

My dad asked me about this yesterday. Everyone can see the increases, but many politicians focus on something else.

Yesterday we purchased a great deal of fruit. It’s considered vital to organs’ function and it has gotten exceptionally expensive until or unless one knows where to find a good deal (either in bulk or as standard).

For people who are poor, a healthy diet is priced out of reach.

For more and more people food banks have become a necessity. If we have homeless people and many empty homes, our society is failing. If we have billionaires and people who are hungry, our resources and not distributed properly…

ith Daniel Pocock mentioned again today (in the mainstream/local media), ahead of an election race that is due 10 days from now (we had ours last week) let’s examine what he is proposing: “In 2024, I contested the European Parliament election for the most disadvantaged region in Europe, Ireland’s Midlands North West. On 6 June 2024, the day before voting, members of the Debianism cult distributed a falsified legal document in contempt of court. The timing of the malicious publication was clearly an attack on the democratic process. In 2025, it was revealed that a key member of the group engaged in that vendetta is a registered sex offender from Florida. Other members of the group have repeatedly and publicly expressed support for violence. Subsequently, I published a detailed history of the dispute, demonstrating how another collaborator in the group died on our wedding day in 2011. His wife became the mayor of Basel. Imagine having that death on your mind on your wedding anniversary every year. As with everything in Switzerland, there is extreme embarrassment about the whole affair because it was part of the Debian suicide cluster. Many people in Clacton-on-Sea are deeply concerned about the risks of social control media for their children. If this online culture is not even safe for the people who created it, how can it be safe for kids? Mental health, in general, is a big issue for the region.”

Mental health aside, there is hostile foreign intervention.

AM reminded today that the Clacton by-election is 11 days away because the BBC has updated its article about it. The election has many candidates on the ballot. “In a statement on his website, external, Pocock, who is a software engineer, is asking voters to
read about his work on ethics in technology, safety of children online, artificial intelligence,
cryptocurrency and cybersecurity,” the BBC says.

This is “short and buried among the loonies,” a friend told me, “but at least he is mentioned [...] how does the math work out in regards to splitting the vote there? If all the anti-Farage and protest votes are spread too thinly…”

Well, it’s very unlikely that Pocock will win and many of the rest cannot win, either. The more potent contender can lose votes to the marginal candidates, but so can Farage.

The outcome will be interesting.

From the home of the Pankhursts [1, 2, 3]:

“The 41-year-old is the first ever female Mayor of Greater Manchester and was the first LGBT leader of the city council.”

Crossposted from Tux Machines

oday, August 1, we have a new mayor. It’s the one Rianne and I bot rooted for. It’s a good start for a new month.

This coming week we’ll be rather busy with leisurely affairs and Rianne celebrates her mother’s birthday.

Image source: Manchester in Christmas 2019

e’ll soon know who replaces Burnham for Manchester

“Five candidates have now been eliminated from the contest,” as reported, “Geraldine Coggins (Green Party), Phil Eckersley (Conservative Party), Marcus Farmer (Independent), Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats) and Marlon West (Restore Britain).”

Results likely out soon: “The way that it’s going to work is that for anybody who didn’t vote for Sian Astley or Bev Craig as their first choice, counters will now start looking at who they put as their second choice and those votes will be reallocated. It means that both candidates may pick up some more votes as second preferences.”

Percentage turnout: less than 25%

Very low.

can see election information, but results aren’t known yet, not even preliminary estimates (no “exit polls”).

It does look like gravity is being shifted away from London: