Seems to be a little unrest in Paris. They are saying the protesters are made up of both left and right groups venting their anger again their President and Government. It didn't take much time for mob mentality to take over before the damage started. Just like at one of those English soccer games. lol

Veganism is a mental disease. As for bug eating, I think that's for the "look at me, aren't I wonderfully different" tossers.

The crucial vote in Parliament on Mrs May's deal will be held on 11 December. It's likely to be rejected, after that it's all unknown territory; hers is the only deal on offer.

I suspect those in her own party who'll vote against (I expect the opposition parties to vote against as a matter of course) will do so in the expectation that a new deal can be negotiated. But there isn't time for that; it's taken eight months to get this far, there's no way they'll get another deal starting from scratch in the three months left before we're out on 29 March. The choices if the vote fails are between no deal (very bad) or no Brexit, serve the waverers right if the whole thing is called off.

If the scale of the defeat is large enough Mrs May will resign I'm sure and get some other sucker to take on the thankless task.

Nothing worse than a starving pussy I always say. You have to throw them some meat just to hear them purr. Crickets contain protein and are becoming a big thing now. Chocolate coated ants were all the go a few years back but were more of a dessert than a food replacement.

Canada - doesn't really count, but out of respect to our resident "tanker." Alberta is coming on hard times with the oil thingy, but due to global warming the growing season has increased along with the mean temperature which will enable the pool souls inhabiting the Province the ability to grow something besides wheat.

No quite accurate Tommy because with the warming comes less rain and usually hail and wind storms. Remember the dirty thirtys.  All will make the crop yields smaller, not larger. Wheat is only part of the equation because rapeseed, flaxseed and soy bean are also grown in large quanities in the west. Most of Alberta's beef ends up on Americans dinner tables. With Alberta turning the tapes down will this mean higher prices for the States? 

Over half the 9 million tonnes of canola produced in Canada was exported in 2006 (Table 2). In 2006, Canadian rapeseed production ranked second in the world behind China and ahead of India, Germany and France

Question to the Islanders: George H.W. Bush is just about being canonized in the press now that he is gone, but I remember during his tenure he was severely chastised by the same press. Baby Bush was abused as well & of course now there is Trump. Nixon left with the simple refrain: "Now they won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore." Of course B.O. was untouchable because of his color. How is the British press treating Mrs. May over this debacle?

Badly. Most are in favour of Brexit and don't like her deal saying it's only half-Brexit. I read the Tory leaning Daily Telegraph and it is very anti May criticizing her "giving in" to the EU. What they fail to grasp is that a full Brexit that they and others want is IMPOSSIBLE due to the Northern Ireland situation.

Obama wasn't above the news reports harsh questions and the same CNN that you blame for bashing Trump were bashing him when he was President.

That vote to leave the EU by the Major is coming back to haunt the whole Empire now.

Well by the agreement you made with them in the first place you can't without it costing Britain billions of dollars.

That's quite an affair going on in France, which has a number of reasons for it but I must admit to really enjoying watching Macron and his gang of lefty nation destroyers now running for cover, after first collapsing to the demonstrator's demands. He's that most illusive and devious of politicians, a lefty from the oppressingly right wing banking sector. Notice how the freedom loving lefty establishment, right around Europe, the champions of the ordinary man, are always the ones who mobilise the most force when those they are championing don't do exactly as they are told? Macron put 80,000 police and troops onto the streets around the country, including tanks, yes tanks, in the heart of the glorious, freedom utopia of the EU. This is the European dream in action, do as we say, as we know what's best for you. As I mentioned previously, Macron was an establishment insider, rushed in to oppose LePen at the last moment. Young, handsome, the women voters loved him and he supplied an alternative to those who were just too nervous about LePen's anti Islam, pro French policies. I don't think they would be too concerned about her pro French policies right now but what you might see in Paris is nothing to what is going on around the country, which of course, your pro EU media will not report on, especially the BBC. Europe is beginning to swing to the right, with all of the consequences that entails. I'm not saying they will be any more authoritarian than the left, as nobody in history is, but the European left are not averse to using the might of the state to interfere in politics. Macron got carried away by his own inflated opinion of his value to France and the world and now he's on TV grovelling and collapsing for all he's worth. Welcome to the real world pal. 

You keep going on about the left but the way it is being reported over here is it's a mixed bag of both left and right doing the protesting. 

Today in Strasbourg some nutter shot and killed one and wounded 10 others but it sounds like this was not related.

They have rolled back the tax on fuels and promised more money to the people like they wanted but still they aren't satisfies. Sounds like the commies are behind it the same way they divided the yes and no's during your Brexit runups. What the commies want is a divided EU. Same as the want for the States.

That and when you mix a terrorist with middle east leaning in, you just don't know who to blame first.

I was thinking the same Mark but no way am I going to mention the big blue wave to her.

China has now picked up and detained a 3rd Canadian in China over this Chinese female CEO. If we played tit for tat with them and started picking up just any old Chinese person like they are it might be a problem because we had 1.3 million Chinese as of 2006 living here to chose from. I imagine since 2006 that 1.3 million has increased by at least 500,000 more. If you go into any cemetery here the first thing you notice now is the amount of big fancy Chinese head stones. Not one or two but whole large sections of them.

Picking on the Chinese! Ha! Don't make me laugh. The Canadians don't pick on anybody and if they inadvertently do so, they immediately apologise and prostrate themselves, begging for forgiveness, led from the knees by Trudope. The Chinese have the Canadian economy by the bollocks now, so better not to piss them off. Mind you, they hold financial power in Canada, not political power, like the muslims do and they won't ever grovel to the muslims like the Canadian institutions do. Maybe they're Islaomophobic! One day, in the future, I see the Chinese actually rescuing what's not already been surrendered by the Christian Canadians to Islam and keeping alive what once was for you. The Chinese do not surrender their culture in any way and we should learn that lesson from them.

Generally speaking we are a high wage, high tax economy. Most people won't fall into the 40% income tax bracket, you have to earn well above the average to pay that much. We all pay VAT at 20% on certain goods and services, although, as Major says, some items are exempt.

Many people think that the reason we have so many foreigners trying to come over here is because of the welfare state, but in reality most come because of the higher wages than in their own countries. Most Poles, Romanians etc come here to work, earn good money (even after tax) then go back home after a few years.

And a Happy Christmas from me too, even to Shula who has gone AWOL again. I'll be on briefly tomorrow before going to my sister's for the usual family gathering.

I've got a strategy to tempt Shula out next year with proper history, the Mediaeval kind.