Syria needs fixing!

I am no politician, but Syria is being torn apart by civil war. An end to the conflict has to be ironed out or the deaths and displacement of millions will go on. The refugee crisis now unfolding is a symptom of the deep unrest in that troubled nation.

It is high time the major powers (USA and Russia in particular) worked together with all sides to forge a fair and lasting peace. No vested interests please, just the well being of all the people in Syria.

It still puzzles me why not a single Gulf state has taken any Syrian refugees.

Butterfly

This morning we did a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey (NT).  I think this butterfly was dying as it allowed me to get very close indeed without moving. It was on a bush in the herbaceous border.

Weather

According to the Met Office records we had 10% more rain last month than average for August. We seem to have had a very dull summer here with few settled periods:  we seem to have had a few good days followed by rain and yet more rain. We seem to have had no big blocking high pressure systems that give good weather for several weeks.  Maybe we will see this in the autumn?

China and the FTSE 100

Despite the bad times in China that are rocking markets around the world, the UK FTSE 100 share index is currently up 2.11%. It seems like it wants to recover lost ground but is being held back.

My own view is that what is happening in China is deadly serious and we are heading for another huge crash that, especially for the average Chinese, will make the Wall Street Crash of 1929 seem tame. This could result in revolution in China and real turmoil over there. We will not come out of this unscathed. The world is just shutting its eyes and pretending it is "business as usual". It is not! 

The age of low cost imports from China is gradually ending and the world has to adjust. No doubt sweat shops in other poorer countries will replace China, but personally I hope it means more real manufacturing in the EU and USA.  At the moment almost everything you buy is "made in China".

Mr Cameron

Yet again Mr Cameron talks out of his backside WRT refugees. We should be doing our part alongside the rest of the EU to help genuine refugees. Does he REALLY expect the rest of the EU to be on his side when thinking of changes ahead of the referendum? He is doing everything to alienate most EU countries.

More spooking by China

This afternoon the FTSE 100 share index is down by around 3.5%. The main reason is weak economic data from China. The markets are getting clear signals that China's economy is far from healthy and this is well and truly spooking the markets. It could still fall further in later trading.

More stroke artifacts

Yet another stroke artifact seems to be an inability to spot spelling mistakes as easily as before. Sometimes it takes me ages to think how a word is spelt (or is it spelled?). Often it is hours (or days) later that I notice the mistake! In writing this short piece I made at least one mistake whilst writing it.