Still cold … but maybe less so soon! The benefitsmof drinking coffee. Destruction of property one way or another

 Today began  crisp and cold with a clear blue sky and bright sunshine. It was still cold. The pavements around here are still covered in compacted snow which has frozen into a lumpy but slippery surface. I’m still not running!

In the early afternoon I caught a bus to Uppermill and from there walked to the Greenfield Tesco. The pavements in Uppermill are much clearer. Perhaps they have just been walked more frequently … by tourists who enjoy visiting charity shops and cafes. The temperature had allegedly gone up to 3° but I find that hard to believe. My weather app says we will remain above freezing tonight. However, the gritters have been out just in case. And so it remains to be seen. 

I’ve just made us a late-afternoon coffee and then remembered this that I found the other day:

“People who get their coffee hit in the morning reap benefits that are not seen in those who have shots later in the day, according to the first major study into the health benefits of the drink at different times.

Analysis of the coffee consumption of more than 40,000 adults found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die of any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease during a 10-year follow-up period than those who went without.

But the benefits to heart health appeared to vanish in people who drank coffee throughout the day, the researchers found, with medical records showing no significant reduction in mortality for all-day drinkers compared with those who avoided coffee.

“It’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but the time of day when you drink coffee that’s important,” said Prof Lu Qi, an expert in nutrition and epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans. “We don’t typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future.”

There you go! 

Fires have been raging out of control in Florida. Photos of the destruction of whole communities look like photos of war zones. It’s hard to imagine losing everything in that way. When ordered to evacuate, how do you decide what are the important things that you cannot do without? 

Which brings me to this by Michael Rosen:

“I can see it now:

politicians welcoming the 'transformation'

of Gaza

into what they'll call a 'new development'

and a 'regeneration'

and when people say 

that the foundations of the hotels 

and new apartment blocks

are built on blood,

they will sigh 

with the sigh

that has been heard again and again,

ever since

many of the first nations of America and Australia,

'disappeared'

and they will rush to remind us

of how good and kind they were,

'We called for a ceasefire,' they will say

knowing full well

that these were merely words,

said while they were busy 

supplying the kind of help,

that ensured  that the foundations of the hotels

and new apartment blocks

were built on blood.”

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Setting free the lynx.

 Here’s some environmental stuff. 

Someone has been releasing lynx into the wild in Scotland. Two were captured earlier this week but two more have been spotted, supposedly of the same family grouping, apparently. This unauthorised release has upset farmers and gamekeepers and angered conservationists who have their own project for a controlled release of lynx into the wild in Scotland. Members of the public are advised not to approach them if they see them. 

The native Eurasian lynx was made extinct in Scotland through hunting and habitat loss more than 500 years ago. And research suggests the Highlands has the habitat to sustainably support around 400 lynx. But does Scotland want/need to do so and how do you make sure they stay in Scotland.

Apparently there is a bit of a problem with deer; there are too many of them all over the place. There are certainly more of them around here than ever there used to be. At least that’s what I’m told although I’ve only ever seen a few.  

Experts say that lynx are a keystone species which play a vital role in maintaining healthy living systems, and biodiversity is negatively affected by their absence. They are shy and elusive woodland hunters and pose no danger to people and have successfully returned to European countries such as Germany, France and Switzerland. As regards Scotland, they say, “Scotland is one of a handful of European countries still lacking a large terrestrial mammal predator. If we are serious about tackling the nature and climate emergencies, we need lynx back. A lynx reintroduction would require Scottish Government approval, with habitat assessments and full public consultation.”

Hmm! Lynx are beautiful creatures but I am rather dubious about tinkering woth nature too much.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.

Cold weather views. Buying countries - is this part of Black Friday?

 It’s still very cold. We hit a high of 0° in the early afternoon but today began with -6°. One of the back roads which was moderately slippy yesterday looks as though it might be turning into a glacier today. And we have some rather picturesque icicle developments on the wall of the local textile mill. 

Later in the day Granddaughter Number Two and I walked to Greenfield to collect the two smallest from primary school. We walked along the rather frozen Donkey Line and along Den Lane, looking down on Uppermill, snapping photos of icicles and fungi as we went.

Freezing fog seemed to have descended on the hills, giving the impression that the sun was just trying to rise at about 2 in n afternoon. 

About-to-be-inaugurated-as-president-again Donald Trump wants to make Greenland part of the USA. He’s offered to buy it and has been turned down. The USA, of course, has form for buying places. In 1867 they

 bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $129 million in 2023). Before that they bought Louisiana from France in 1803 and Florida from Spain in 1819. As recently as 1917 they purchased the Danish Virgin Islands (excluding Water Island) from Denmark. 

Here are a couple of cartoons in reaction to this proposed move. 

More seriously, he has apparently mentioned that it is not beyond the bounds of possibility to take Greenland by military force! Frightening stuff!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Out and about. Canals and Romans and wildlife stories.,

I walked up the hill to Dobcross this morning and down the other side to Uppermill. The road to Dobcross looked as though it was still very icy. Cars coming down the hill were being driven very slowly and gingerly, less so those going up! My weather app told me it was still -3° but it was bright and sunny - a good morning to be out and about, provided you were wrapped up against the cold

The sun trying to come up over the distant hills was quite picturesque.

As I predicted, the market in Uppermill was seriously depleted, only the fishman in splendid isolation! 

Now my weather app tells me it’s 0° but the sunshine has completely disappeared. And I just tried to take some recycling out to the various bins in the garden, all to no avail as the lids are frozen shut! 

I’ve not been past the millponds today - last time I did that the slush inundated my boots and I ended up with wet feet - so I don’t know how frozen they are. The bits of the canal I have seen this morning don’t appear to be frozen; maybe the water is moving just enough to prevent freezing.

According to this article, we need to be careful:to protect and preserve our canals. Those of us who live near them tend to take them for granted, a good place to go for walks along the old towpaths. The recent heavy rain caused a serious collapse in the Bridgewater Canal in Cheshire, not too far from here. And from time to time we notice erosion in our bit of the canal system, which provides boat trios in the summer and is regularly used by narrowboat enthusiasts. But it seems that canals are not just ornamental; they keep cities cool during heatwaves and can even provide drinking water (presumably cleaned up, I hope!) during perids of drought.

The Romans knew a thing or two about water distribution systems. However, according to this article, as well as spreading technological advance throughout their empire, the Romans also reduced everyone’s IQ. Lead pollution in the air, coming from the various metal workings they introduced, was breathed in by everyone, with resulting IQ damage. Just imagine how bright we might have been if the Romans had stayed away - our roads might not have been so straight, we might still have been pagans but the average IQ would perhaps be higher!

I’ve come across a new bit of terminology, well, new to me: sleep divorce! Apparently this is the term used for couples who sleep in separate beds, as opposed to sleeping snuggled together like spoons. Who knew? Maybe it’s a way of preventing an actual divorce!  

Now for a couple of wildlife stories. The first of these might become relevant to Greater Manchester as the city centre is rapidly filling with very tall glass fronted buildings. These can be a hazard to migrating birds, or perhaps just birds flying around at dusk. Birds crsah into the glass fronts andmostly die as a result.,

“In the US, it is estimated that more than a billion birds die each year this way.

About 60% of birds that collide with windows are killed. Sometimes, a single building can be deadly: more than 1,000 birds died on a single day in October 2023 from colliding with the McCormick Place skyscraper in Chicago.”

There is an organisation called FLAP  (Fatal Light Awareness Program). Their Canada branch, has about 135 people patrolling the streets across Toronto

“At the end of the season, the 4,000 dead birds collected by Flap volunteers are laid out in a display showing the scale of the damage. Volunteers can record their findings on the Global Bird Collision Mapper. So far, more than 100,000 birds have been reported as colliding with a window – 73,000 of which died.”

Here’s a link to an article about it.

And in France Brigitte Bardot is campaigning to save the life of a wild boar, raised as a kind of pet after being found a an abandoned piglet. Baby wild boars are rather cute and appealing. Grown up ones less so but they are intelligent animals. Living in the wild, they can cause damage to property and plants. They can be a big problem in parts of France and Spain, even “invading” town centres. Now someone wants this one put down. Ms Bardot, a great animal rights supporter has joined the campaign. So it goes.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well  everyone!

Ongoing annoying slush! And the mystery of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.

As the slush-covered pavements make running more than a little hazardous, I was planning to walk to the library in Upoermill this morning, a good brisk walk replacing a jog. However, all day the sleet and snow showers have come and gone. I am resigning myself to putting off the walk to the library until tomorrow when I can combine it with a trip to the market. Somehow though I suspect that the market will be very depleted. I seem to remember the fishman saying he would not be back until January 15th and Jenny-Biscuit is often reluctant to turn up if the weather is bad. Tomorrow is forecast bright and crisp and very cold but I’m not sure how far Jenny-Biscuit travels to set up her stall. We shall see!

Now for some more serious stuff. Here is a photo I have posted once already. It’s the last photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, detained after refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients.    

Up to a couple of days ago nobody seemed to know what had become of him. Here’s a report from Mondoweiss on January 3rd

“Where is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, and what is Israel doing to him?

It has been one week since the Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, was detained by Israeli forces. Reports indicate he is being held inside a notorious torture facility, but Israeli officials won't confirm where he is.

His white coat stands out in stark contrast to the gray ash and rubble surrounding the hospital he had been fighting tirelessly to defend for the past few months. Two massive tanks, their guns pointed in his direction, stand ready to fire. A voice calls out from the tank, calling the name that has now become a symbol of steadfastness, heroism, and tragedy in Gaza: Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.

This is the scene that played out on December 27, as the Israeli army made its final move towards the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which it had been besieging and attacking for weeks as part of its ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign in north Gaza.

Upon being summoned by the soldiers, Dr. Abu Safiya ventured out amidst the rubble towards the tanks, in a now viral photo, which supposedly caught the last moment he was seen before being abducted by the Israeli army. Eyewitnesses in the hospital say that Dr. Abu Safiya, despite the imminent danger awaiting him, did not hesitate to go out to the army – once again, putting himself on the front line to protect the hospital and the patients and staff inside.

The Israeli military would later release recordings documenting the moment Dr.Safiya approached the tank. Through the loudspeaker from inside the tank, the soldier orders the doctor to lift his sweater for inspection. The soldiers then open the door for him; he lowers his head to enter and extends his hand to shake hands with the Israeli officer, who shakes his hand and says to him in Arabic: “Good morning. Come in. Come in, doctor, how are you? Is everything okay?”

The footage, published by Israeli media, went on to show Dr. Abu Safiya leaving the tank back towards the hospital, with a series of shots purporting to show patients, staff, and emergency services being “safely” evacuated from the hospital. What the Israeli army footage did not show, however, is that once the cameras cut, Dr. Abu Safiya, and a number of other patients, journalists, and hospital staff inside Kamal Adwan were abducted, beaten, and abused by the soldiers. “

And here’s Michael Rosen on the same topic, also from a good few days ago: 

“How normal can they try to make it

that at this very moment

we are waiting to find out

whether a hospital doctor has been arrested

or is being incarcerated 

or being hurt?

How difficult can it be

for the authorities to tell us

what is happening to the hospital doctor?

How much doubt and mystery

can they spread about this moment

so that enough people in the world

might think that the hospital doctor

is a terrorist in disguise as a hospital doctor?

How many social media posts

can announce that the hospital doctor

is dangerous

because he has treated terrorists, 

as if it's the job of hospital doctors

to prosecute, try and sentence people,

so that, if they find someone guilty,

they should leave them to die? 

How normal is this

that we watch this 

and the story should leave us

being suspicious of the hospital doctor

and thinking that the army officers

who've ordered the hospital doctor 

to be arrested

are doing good things?”

In the meantime, there is no more news. And we are distracted by snow here, reports of snowstorms in the USA, reports of excessive heat in Australia. All this and rich men trying to tell us how to run our country. 

Standing in the snow-covered path near the millponds on Sunday morning I got into conversation about the state of the world with one of my dog-walking nodding acquaintances. We agreed that today’s world is a good deal crazier than the world in which we started our careers back in the early 1970s. Full of idealism and optimism, we thought then that the world could only improve, become more tolerant, more just, more egalitarian, generally better! Little did we know!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!