Whaaattt?

And the US is any different, your infrastucture, certainly in the bigger cities, is of a similar age and can it really cope with the increased population and the changes in rainfall experienced in recent years.

 

And Musk has probably fired all the people responsible for monitoring environmental pollution, seashore protection, and food safety standards, so likely to be a lot worse in future.

 

And the French

 

Mark Carney appears to have pulled off a win. That might not have happened without Trump's take-over threats. Hope @CanadianLori thinks this is a positive result. The BBC certainly will. It's rare we get much news of Canadian politics, but they have been all over this like a rash, when they have a moment's break from funerals attended by elites, of course. You could be forgiven for thinking we had suddenly become a Catholic nation from the extensive coverage. But, of course, it is not the religious aspect per se that attracts the BBC's worship, but the displays of power, wealth and pomp. Irresistible to the bosses and presenters ... despite being an absolute yawn-fest for those of us paying the licence fees.

 

We often had cockles and laver bread for tea in my gran's house on a Saturday, there's nothing like it. The 'cockle woman' from the Gower would come around and call in through the door "MISSES !" and my gran would buy the cockles in their shells, and laver bread.
She boiled the cockles in a big pan, then she'd put them on the table with fresh bread and butter and everyone would help themselves ...
I don't know what she did with the shells, but many people used to crush them and throw them on the garden path (no posh slabs in those days ... not where we lived anyway)

 

That's more politely expressed than I would manage.

Re Carney, I think this is another example of an election where voters have no good option, so they go for the least worst in the current cirs. Democracy only works if the candidates/parties are high calibre with ideas that actually improve life for ordinary folk and can actually be implemented. Anything else is posturing and hot air.

 

"posturing and hot air " - there's certainly plenty of that about these days. It's hard to think of any recent election campaigns anywhere in which there is much choice re viable opposition. In fact, it seems to be more and more difficult to find true "democracy".

 

I was a little perplexed by some of the comments about our election. Our conservative was a great choice and should have won however, the NDP party effectively backed the liberals again. This time directly with many dumping the NDP to support the liberals directly and not through the NDP coalition. Shameful. I don't trust Carney. This sudden and short election run and the way leaders were switched out was underhanded. The leadership race was carefully engineered to bring in Carney and Carney has still not revealed where he pays his taxes. Probably not paying them in Canada, his "own country", since he's keeping it secret!

It may seem petty but even though I like most of my neighbours, but those that voted for the carney group will never ever get my baked goodies, or Christmas trays of cookies or will ever receive a helping hand from me. No borrowing tools either. Flat tyre, no you cannot use my compressor. etc etc .

I'll be pleasant but not helpful. And that is how it will work with the rest of like minded people on my street. They will be less than helpful to these people too.

If they can afford to vote liberal, they can afford their own damned stuff and don't need mine! And after all, I don't owe them anything.

 

At least Carney understands finance and economics and will, one hopes, use sensible measures and policies to get Canada's economy working well with new, trustworthy trade partners. Trump has definitely shot the USA in both feet in that respect and is losing both export and import markets thus putting production jobs at risk and raising prices thru limiting supply of goods. Even the people who haven't lost their jobs, social security and pensions thru Musk and Doge will be feeling the financial pinch as inflation takes hold.

No idea what our figs are and I won't be netting the big one. It's a beautiful shape now we've raised the crown and I'm happy for the starlings and other wild critters to feed and shelter in our plot tho I do take measures to keep cabbage whites off my brassicas and the hens off my strawberries. I never use insecticides and rely on garden birds to hover up the aphids to feed their young. Working well so far.

We've even stopped using weedkiller on the drive after I spotted goldfinches eating wildflower buds and seeds and green woodpeckers eating ants.

 

@CanadianLori, we didn't hear a lot about the Conservative candidate as the BBC is heavily pro-Carney. Plus Carney is well known here, so got a lot of coverage.

I can see it must be disappointing for non-Liberal voters as you have already had 3 terms of them (with Trudeau making a fair mess of things) and were on the verge of ousting them when Trump butted in. Carney is a fully paid up member of the global elite, which is problematic, IMV. I don't know the background of your Conservative contender. I do think tactic moves by parties to manipulate the results are despicable and a subversion of democracy, so I completely see how annoying that is.

Re your neighbours, I think you can like people who vote differently from you. It was the same here after Brexit, with families split over the Remain or Leave question. But life is more than politics. The media etc aims to divide us. I think we should thwart them and stick together.

 

@CanadianLori I'm sorry you're disappointed and feel cheated. Not sure you should risk neighbourly relations over it but always good not to be taken for a sap when offering help or lending tools. You'll probably have to live with them longer than with Carney.

As @ViewAhead says we know very little of the Conservative candidate here or what is wrong in Canada other than the lack of desire to become the 51st US state.

 

@CanadianLori Yes, there wasn't much info over here about the opposition candidate - Carney got the coverage ( probably as we "knew" him due to his role in the Bank of England ). I guess it was also overshadowed by Trump's ongoing antics. Just hope Carney works out to be a better bet than you fear.

 

@Obelix-Vendée, I know housing availability and cost is a huge issue in urban areas in Canada, and the cost of essentials has seen living standards drop for all but the wealthy ... who just get wealthier and wealthier. Carney is one of the super-rich, of course, so whether his agenda is improving things for everyone remains to be seen.

 

Re the Figs........ I think the Brown Turkey used to be the most popular/widely available variety here in the UK years ago but like every other plant, new varieties seem to pop up every day !! I wouldn't bother to net mine either if I had one here. Live and let live