MICHAEL JACKSON - BEHIND THE MASK

D DAY PLUS TWO

According to the hospital, no cause of death has been registered for my father which means he's either walking around the Royal Berks and no one's noticed or we'll be informed after an autopsy? I don't know because the NHS doesn't do death over Easter.

It's two days since he 'passed' and I'm not sure it's fully registered yet? I know he's gone and I'll never see him again and I seem to have taken that for granted which in turn makes me feel guilty.

CARIBOU - SILVER

MY DAD

Last weekend my father was taken into hospital. He's had Parkinsons for some months and the medication has never quite got it under control. To add to that he had a heart attack about twenty years ago after which a pacemaker was fitted.

The reason for his latest stay in hospital was a urinary infection which was making him hallucinate and talk nonsense.

When I got home from work yesterday (18/04/2019), there was a message on the answering machine from my mum saying the dad had gone down hill and was really not good.

I rang the hospital ward. The phone was answered by someone (I'm guessing  a nurse) and I introduced myself and told the nurse that my mother had told me my father was not good and I asked her if his condition was really that serious. She replied "I'm terribly sorry, he's just passed away". I wasn't expecting that!

INDONESIA - PALM OIL

Grow more durians Jokowi tells struggling palm oil producers, with rural votes in balance.

President Jokowi’s comments were a response to growing concerns about uncertainties rattling through one of the country’s most important sectors. The government is scrambling to find a fast but lasting solution to the vagaries and fluctuations of the palm oil market.

More of this article - click HERE.

ARE TRAINS GREENER

Is it really greener to go by train?

As a rule, taking the train instead of the plane will substantially reduce your carbon emissions – perhaps by a factor of five to ten on a domestic trip.

The benefits will be somewhat reduced as the journey gets longer. That's partly because shorter flights are more polluting per passenger mile than longer ones, but it's also because long train journeys usually necessitate sleeping onboard.

Sleeper cars usually carry fewer passengers than regular carriages, so their emissions per passenger are higher. If, as is common in some countries, the train is powered by diesel rather than electricity, then the emissions will typically be higher still. Indeed, an old diesel sleeper train travelling a long distance might emit nearly as much CO2₂per passenger as a plane.

Even then, the train will typically be greener once you consider the plane's non-CO2 warming effects, but the fact remains that long-haul rail is not by any means inherently eco-friendly.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/apr/06/aviation-q-and-a

DIVINE - SHAKE IT UP

EU TELLS UK TO FO

European governments dismiss Theresa May's 30 June Brexit delay request

In a letter to Donald Tusk on Friday, the Prime Minister "reluctantly" asked for a further extension to Article 50.

But responding to Mrs May's request, European governments have attacked the proposals, dismissing their viability.

Amelie de Montchalin, the French Europe minister, said that the UK could not continue to ask for extensions without “clear and credible political backing”.

“In the absence of such a plan, we would have to acknowledge that the UK chose to leave the EU in a disorderly manner,” she continued.

Spain and Belgium are also thought to back France's hardline stance, paving the way for a no-deal Brexit on 12 April.

GROUNDHOG DAY

The embarrassment we have as a Prime Minister, Teresa the useless May has now laughingly declared that she's prepared to discuss Brexit with the embarrassment we have as the leader of the opposition, Jeremy the useless Corbyn. 

As we have seen over recent months and years, the current pathetic crop of idiots in parliament will yet again vote in their own interests, for what they personally want regardless of what is desired or best for the people of the UK.

The EU has demonstrated that it will do everything it can to hinder our departure and inflict maximum damage and humiliation upon us, the British people.

For once we can only hope that the EU maintains its contempt for our democratically chosen path and tells May and her idiot government to stop wasting everyone's time and bugger off.

PLASTIC IN TEA

Many tea bags contain plastic. Ruth Walton from The Green Shopper, explains why this hidden plastic is significant, and what we can do as consumers.  

Many of you will have heard that some teabags contain plastic. Consumer awareness is growing fast, following the 2017 BBC2 documentary ‘Inside the Factory’.

More on this HERE.