Offering solutions!

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the young American politician who could perhaps teach our Theresa how to dance (video-clips of her dancing as a student were much talked about) has been trying to push the USA towards the use of renewable energy.

Republican senator Mike Lee spoke against her ideas, against the whole Green New Deal, which he said is ridiculous. You see, he’s a brave man, not afraid of stuff:-

“Unlike some of my colleagues, I am not immediately afraid of what carbon emissions, unaddressed, might do to our environment, in the near-term future, or our civilisation or our planet in the next few years. Unlike others, I am not immediately afraid of what the Green New Deal would do to our economy and our government. After all, this isn’t going to pass.”

Maybe it’s living in a big country with lots of wide open spaces that makes some of them, like Mr Lee, disregard the bigger planetary problem.

According to Mr Lee the solution to the problem is simple: “The solution to climate change is not this unserious resolution, but the serious business of human flourishing – the solution to so many of our problems, at all times and in all places: fall in love, get married, and have some kids.”

That’s all right then!

He’s clearly not heard of overpopulation either!

I find the solutions conservatives offer to problems quite surreal. Here’s another example. The Conservative MP Christopher Chope has apparently suggested that a good way to reduce knife crime would be for the possible victims to get fitter. They should learn judo or taekwondo. Presumably this gives them the choice of disarming/beating up an assailant or running away.

Maybe if you could get all the potential assailants and inculcate them with the philosophy of martial arts it might do some good but I doubt that that was what Mr Chope has in mind.

We should also remember that Christopher Chope is perhaps best known for blocking attempts in parliament to tackle upskirting and female genital mutilation.

Not really a good record for an MP.

Putting MPs to one side here is something else. A few years ago now, my eldest granddaughter and I went through a period when we would go to the art gallery in Manchester and then have a bit of a snack at Pret a Manger. We liked the place. The food was not at all bad if you just wanted something snacky. And it had a clever name, even though the pedant in me wanted to put accents on - Prêt à Manger.

It’s had some bad press in more recent times though with the failure to label food properly, neglecting to warn about possible problems for people with food allergies. Not good at all!

Despite it’s French name (well, sort of, if you disregard the lack of accents) Pret is owned by a German family called Reimann. They also own Krispy Kreme Donuts. I suppose it’s just another kind of snack food! Anyway, it seems that the Reimann family is planning to donate a huge sum of money to charity after learning that in the past family members were keen supporters of Hitler and used forced labour. A German newspaper has published a report on the family although or seems it was the family who initiated research, wanting to know more about their ancestors. And now they feel the need to make amends.

But how did they not know? Surely in the family archives there must have been clues. Or maybe that’s waht prompted their original investigation.

What an odd world we live in!