It’s February. A number of people have told me that January has been a long month. I really don’t think it has had any more days than its usual 31. My daughter says she thinks it has seemed longer to some people because this year it began on a Monday. I suppose that if it had begun, for example, on the Saturday, then there would only have been 4 Mondays, rather than 5. But in the end it’s all down to people’s perceptions. February, on the other hand is going to be longer than usual because this is a leap year. But January is over. I know someone who has been doing “dry January”, apparently to prove to herself that she is not an alcoholic. I find myself wondering if, as a rule, she drinks wine every single night. If so, she can now resume the habit.
I used to work with someone who would announce a couple of times a year that he was having a month without alcohol. He regarded it as a way of cleansing his system and, besides, when he resumed drinking alcohol he could get drunk much more cheaply - a rather dubious way of reasoning in my opinion.
Others who might rejoice the arrival of February are the Veganuarians, those people who decided to keep to a vegan diet throughout the month of January, some because they believe a be good for their bodies, others believing they are thus doing their bit towards saving the planet, and yet others just because it gives them something to talk about with everyone.
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This morning I read about a restaurateur who has decided that being a totally vegan restaurant isn’t working for him. He’s just not getting enough custom and so he will be serving a “thoughtfully curated selection of high quality, responsibly sourced meat and dairy options” in the coming weeks in order to stay afloat. Of course, he has received all kinds of hate mail and bad reviews as a consequence. However, according to this article, his is not the only restaurant having to abandon total veganism in order to be financially viable.
Diet is a topic in the news at the moment because someone has revealed that Rishi Sunak regularly does a 36 hour fast. From 5.00pm on Sunday to 5.00am on Tuesday nothing passes his lips but water and black coffee. Dietary experts have been consulted and given the arguments for and against fasting: it seems to be generally agreed that within reason fasting is okay so long as it is not followed by binge-eating once the fasting is over. So now we know what Mr Sunak does to keep trim, not that it’s really anyone’s business but his own, unless it clouds his judgment and decision-making faculties. Mind you, that did not stop my daughter commenting, “I bet he’s a grumpy so-and-so in Monday meetings!”
In the wider world I hear that Ukraine is still asking for weapons, and there’s some frightening talk about the USA and “small” nuclear weapons, whatever they are. How anyone can even contemplate deploying nuclear weapons on any size is beyond me. And the ICJ may have told Israel to stop killing Palestinians but I have read that Israel plans to move forces into Rafah.
This is from The Irish Times:
“More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now homeless and crammed into Rafah. Tens of thousands more have arrived in recent days, carrying belongings in their arms and pulling children on carts, since Israeli forces launched one of the biggest assaults of the war last week to capture Khan Younis, the main southern city, just to the north of Rafah.
If the Israeli tanks keep coming, “we will be left with two choices: stay and die or climb the walls into Egypt”, said Emad (55) a businessman and father of six, reached on a mobile phone chat app.
“Most of Gaza’s population are in Rafah. If the tanks storm in, it will be a massacre like never before during this war.”
“Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said late on Thursday that troops would now turn to Rafah, which along with Deir al-Balah just north of Khan Younis is among the last remaining areas they have yet to storm in an almost four-month assault.
“We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us,” Mr Gallant said in a statement.”
And here’s a bit of Michael Rosen:
'We don't know what's going on, do we, sir?' said the King's tutor.
'Oh I think we do,' said the King.
'You missed my wink,' said the tutor, 'I was winking when I said that.'
'I don't get you,' said the King.
'We know what's going on but we don't show that we know what's going on,' said the tutor.
'What do we do when people say, 'Look what you're doing!', said the King.
'We say that the people saying such things hate us,' said the tutor.
'So even if what they are saying could just possibly be right, it can't really be right because they hate us?' said the King.
'That's it,' said the tutor.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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