Devastation in a Loire vineyard after frost of 27th April 2016
Source: BBC
Thursday 23rd Sterling @ 1.30 to Euro – 27.6 Sterling @ 1.97€
B. Johnson MP – « The pound has stablised. »
We are now nearly half way through 2016, which is proving to date truly a year to forget.
During the first six months we have been showered with frost, hail, floods in Paris and the Loire, rampant mildew and now that small island just off Calais last Thursday decided to declare UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) from the rather larger continent.
The negatives so far: frost in the Loire, Chablis and other parts of Burgundy in late April. Hail too then and further hail in late May hitting Chablis and Cognac and again last weekend hitting Beaujolais, especially Moulin à Vent, and parts of the Côte Roannaise.
Mildew is now a big problem in the Loire and a big threat in the vineyards of Jerez – probably in other European vineyards. Furthermore flowering in the Loire and elsewhere may well have been hit by the recent cold wet weather. Frost had already wiped out about a third of the Loire’s 2016 grape harvest, I fear that the vintage will be further reduced by poor fruit set.
Away from wine and the vineyards the news certainly no better. Starting with threatened Exit from the EU – will the next Prime Minister actually push the divorce button if sterling and the UK stock market continues their falls and financial jobs move from London to Frankfurt and elsewhere in the EU? The passions raised by this entirely unnecessary referendum probably prompted the assassination of MP Jo Cox.
Even more worrying Trump is the presumed Republican candidate to be the next President of the United States. The gun slaughter continues in the US with the appalling Orlando slaughter only the worst shooting.
I could go on but this is depressing enough, so on a very positive note I will shortly be launching a petition to cancel the second half of 2016 and move immediately to 2017 so we can make a fresh start.
Les 5 du Vin 
Hello, Don’t cry so much. I will send you a bottle of my stronger spicier organic Côtes du Rhône Sainte Perpetue. So you would forget all the bad news. Let’s drink a toast to men, women, world and cheers !
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The only problem with your petition, Jim, is that it won’t leave us any summer, and believe me, in Belgium, we are longing for it.
It’s high time we started unscrewing some good rosés.
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Thouroude – Bonjour. I am not crying I am very angry at the lies the electorate were told. However, there is now good news as Iceland won last last night and will play La France next.
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Les 5 – I can assure you that 2017 will see unbroken sunshine for 12 solid months. (Small print this is a Johnson promise, so untrue and entirely valueless.)
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Jim, do you want to review with me the promises of François Hollande (Monsieur Ca-va-mieux) or Nicolas Sarkozy at the eve of the latest presidential elections? « Les promesses n’engagent que ceux qui les croient »… And I am not so sure Mr Cameron’s promises were much more sincere than those of Mr Johnson… or Mr Juncker’s.
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Hervé – Johnson is a trois étoiles liar.
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Strangely enough, he announced today (June 30th) that he would not stand for the post of Prime Minister. No so ambitious, is he?
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Jim, I’m a realistic person in every respect. Some people call me « a pessimist » (not the Space Cowboy). Life is an ocean of shite (has always been), slightly sprinkled with little islands of happiness. That is the word as it is. Pessimism is a perfect synonym to objective conscience. Die Welt als Wille und als Vorstellung. And this « Vorstellung » (representation) has to be dark if one wants to remain honest. BUT, those small islets of joy, satisfaction, pride, and so on depend in a way upon what we make of them, and how we look at things. I’m AGAINST the stupid behaviour called « positive thinking » (a lie towards oneself and the others altogether, in the style of Dale Carnegie’s doctrine). But undoing evil whenever it is done, and creating the conditions for a real improvement (not just in the mind) in the near future is something I go for. So, I would back your petition, with one prerequisite: let’s BAN all politicians, all of them. Away, get rid of them. Let’s renovate Mr. Guillotin’s invention and give it a complete overhaul, a sharp blade and a solid scaffold. « Ah ça ira, ça ira » but with another target group!
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Not all Hervé. Naked ambition has destroyed Johnson. Knew that with Gove standing his campaign to be PM would be a humiliating failure. Had he backed Remain he would have been in a strong position when Cameron stood down.
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So we are ruled by bureaucrats Luc or the mob/Mob?
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We ARE ruled by the civil servants anyway. And some of them are doing a good job. We need to « draw » (odds) the « leaders », at random in the population of those with civil rights (i.e. no criminal records so far). They should rule for a short period of time, meaning control their administration, full stop. And their fortune (and belongings) should be checked before and after their term in office. I know there’s no way we can achieve that. As for the « mob », am I any better?
When I see the public alongside the TdF, I indeed fear about what a mob can be …
Yes, I’m pulling your leg. Long live Iceland! My brother goes there every year (sometimes twice) in order to do long horse trekkings. He told me he spotted a football pitch … once. Rumour has it they even have two clubs, each with an adult side, complete, including the goal-keeper.
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Petitions abound nowadays in Britain, it seems:
Should London declare its independence and stay in the EU?
Should Scotland declare its independence and stay in the EU?
Should the Brits vote again (or at least those who voted wrong)?
Should the right of vote be reserved to people aged less than 35?
Should we ban referenda?
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Most popular is: ‘Shall we have a glass of wine?’
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Le Commissaire européen Pierre Moscovici enrage de voir les jeunes Britanniques «souffrir durant cinquante ans» du vote de leurs aînés. «J’ai presque envie de dire que les jeunes devraient avoir deux voix dans un référendum sur l’Europe»…
C’est ce qu’on appelle la démovici, je suppose.
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Commissaire européen: synonyme = à éviter (Davignon, Moscovici, Lamy …). Il semblerait bien que ce terme soit systématiquement lié à des personnalités « douteuses ». Il existe des exceptions, j’en conviens.
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