Why does everything have to be divisive? I am no fan of M. Macron and even though his message might have been delivered in a manner to upset all those opposed to him and always wanting to find fault with our leaders, is he not trying to make sensible suggestions and lead by example? We didn’t have central heating when I grew up in southern England. Hardly anyone did. Scraping ice off the inside of the windows in the winter mornings was common. Hot water bottles at night and Gran kept herself busy knitting, yes, turtle neck sweaters for all the grandchildren. These days, it seems many think it is their right to swan around their homes in shorts and T shirts in the winter, with thermostats set at selfishly high levels.
Nicky Samengo-Turner
1 year ago
he does what ” mummy’ says!
Steve Jolly
1 year ago
Macron’s exhortations have about as much chance of success as I would have if I stepped outside and kindly asked the sky to provide some rain. The only ways to influence human consumption are with the invisible hand of prices in a free marketplace, or with force. Macron gives speeches because that’s all he can do. He doesn’t have the power to control consumption by force and his people are unlikely to give him such power. Western populations will not accept totalitarianism in order to decarbonize, nor will they accept abject poverty without protest. Net-zero and other green prerogatives will either be accomplished with violence and over violent objections, or more likely, they won’t be accomplished at all. Somewhere deep down, Macron and others like him probably know this, so they give pleading speeches and prostrate themselves before their voters just so they can say they did something.
Last edited 1 year ago by Steve Jolly
Iris C
1 year ago
Wearing warm clothes helps to keep out the cold but they can only go part of the way to keeping warm in the winter.
Our night-time temperature here dropped to minus one degree overnight. I shivered in bed until the central heating came on, a luxury which will not be available to most Ukrainians or, indeed, those in the UK and Europe on minimum incomes. It is time our politicians sought a solution to the problems that their populations will have to endure once the winter really takes hold…
A lot of people in the UK need to be taught how to make their winter bed. You don’t need to keep the whole of the mattress warm – just the section you are lying on. Before my wife died we didn’t need much in the way of central heating – she used to use me as a hot-water bottle. Now, aged 79 I don’t use a top sheet – just a 10 tog dooner/duvet/eiderdown. If the indoor air temperature drops below 0 degrees I use the central heating just very low for a few hours for the house fabric and I roll myself in the duvet, often leaving my feet outside. If you have to shiver until the heating comes on then you are not shivering hard enough. Although shivering is a natural reaction you can shiver-to-order with a little practice. I’m not a ‘hard’ man and I don’t join some of my younger aquaintances who go ‘wild-camping’ over christmas (tents frowned upon – “softies” not invited.) Britain is going soft. No! Britain has gone soft.
Sue Whorton
1 year ago
In Charente, I had to show my form just once. I held the attestation up to the window as the police woman was not masked or gloved. She made me open the window, took the attestation, read it and handed it back. They went on strike quite quickly after that for lack of PPE. Police suicides, especially the women , rocketed in the first lockdown.
Why does everything have to be divisive? I am no fan of M. Macron and even though his message might have been delivered in a manner to upset all those opposed to him and always wanting to find fault with our leaders, is he not trying to make sensible suggestions and lead by example? We didn’t have central heating when I grew up in southern England. Hardly anyone did. Scraping ice off the inside of the windows in the winter mornings was common. Hot water bottles at night and Gran kept herself busy knitting, yes, turtle neck sweaters for all the grandchildren. These days, it seems many think it is their right to swan around their homes in shorts and T shirts in the winter, with thermostats set at selfishly high levels.
he does what ” mummy’ says!
Macron’s exhortations have about as much chance of success as I would have if I stepped outside and kindly asked the sky to provide some rain. The only ways to influence human consumption are with the invisible hand of prices in a free marketplace, or with force. Macron gives speeches because that’s all he can do. He doesn’t have the power to control consumption by force and his people are unlikely to give him such power. Western populations will not accept totalitarianism in order to decarbonize, nor will they accept abject poverty without protest. Net-zero and other green prerogatives will either be accomplished with violence and over violent objections, or more likely, they won’t be accomplished at all. Somewhere deep down, Macron and others like him probably know this, so they give pleading speeches and prostrate themselves before their voters just so they can say they did something.
Wearing warm clothes helps to keep out the cold but they can only go part of the way to keeping warm in the winter.
Our night-time temperature here dropped to minus one degree overnight. I shivered in bed until the central heating came on, a luxury which will not be available to most Ukrainians or, indeed, those in the UK and Europe on minimum incomes. It is time our politicians sought a solution to the problems that their populations will have to endure once the winter really takes hold…
A lot of people in the UK need to be taught how to make their winter bed. You don’t need to keep the whole of the mattress warm – just the section you are lying on. Before my wife died we didn’t need much in the way of central heating – she used to use me as a hot-water bottle. Now, aged 79 I don’t use a top sheet – just a 10 tog dooner/duvet/eiderdown. If the indoor air temperature drops below 0 degrees I use the central heating just very low for a few hours for the house fabric and I roll myself in the duvet, often leaving my feet outside. If you have to shiver until the heating comes on then you are not shivering hard enough. Although shivering is a natural reaction you can shiver-to-order with a little practice. I’m not a ‘hard’ man and I don’t join some of my younger aquaintances who go ‘wild-camping’ over christmas (tents frowned upon – “softies” not invited.) Britain is going soft. No! Britain has gone soft.
In Charente, I had to show my form just once. I held the attestation up to the window as the police woman was not masked or gloved. She made me open the window, took the attestation, read it and handed it back. They went on strike quite quickly after that for lack of PPE. Police suicides, especially the women , rocketed in the first lockdown.