The Taw valley on Saturday morning
‘I don’t need international law’: Trump says his power is constrained only by ‘my own morality’. These words and the actions that have accompanied them should lead to Trump’s impeachment. However, his allies and much of the media continue to indulge him. Robert Wilkie, a member of the first Trump administration, feebly interviewed on the BBC World at One, described the Venezuela attack as ‘flawless’. And how many times have we heard politicians and commentators say they would ‘shed no tears’ over the removal of Maduro from power, as if it were a bloodless coup. It wasn’t though, was it? Venezuelan officials estimated that more than 80 people were killed in the attack, including the 32 Cubans of Maduro’s guard. There have also been 35 known strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters since early September: these killed at least 115 people. Killed? No, murdered, but their deaths as ignorable as those of Palestinians. Should we now refer to the US administration as the US regime, the word we use for rogue governments. Lock him up.
Where would we be without America’s late night comedians? I liked this crack from Ronny Chieng: ‘That’s right, Greenland — because the only thing we hate more than a brutal authoritarian regime is whatever the complete opposite of that is’.
First snowdrops in a hedgerow in Swimbridge
There has been widespread anger after the image tool for Grok, the AI element of X, was used to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions. Should we ban X? No. Force it to follow regulations? Yes. Legislate if necessary? yes. Stop using it? Definitely. I gave up X soon after the Musk take-over. This week I signed a petition asking the Green Party to stop using the platform.
Photo: Robin Ravilious about to cut the ribbon to open an exhibition of local documentary photographs in Chulmleigh Town Hall, organised by Cllr Keith Davies and friends.
Rather than the familiar exhortations to stop drinking, diet, take up yoga or running, there is an overwhelming body of evidence - the Guardian reported last week - to suggest that joining a choir, going to an art gallery or learning to dance should be added to the new year list. Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, brings together numerous research projects confirming that art is good for us. I think we knew that anyway but it’s encouraging to have the evidence: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/09/the-guardian-view-on-living-more-creatively-a-daily-dose-of-art
I enjoyed giving a speech to open the exhibition at Chulmleigh, which included three fine works by the late James Ravilious (acquired for the Town Hall). On Saturday morning I also had the pleasure of hearing the poet Jane Lovell read from her compelling new collection Tipping Point at the North Devon Poetry Stanza in St Anne’s Chapel and Community Centre, Barnstaple.
Photo: from video by David Sharratt
I myself read, at our weekly Vigil for Gaza, from the anthology From Dust We Rise by young Palestinian poets, which I mentioned last week. The genocide continues in Gaza and the West Bank. Steve Reed, minister for Housing and Local Government, warned local councils not to boycott Israeli goods: councils could face prosecution under procurement regulations because there are no trade sanctions against Israel - but shouldn’t the government have imposed trade sanctions on lawless Israel - a fitting partner for Trump - long ago?
Photo: Camellia blossoms on the kitchen window-sill
A heads-up about an event I’ll be speaking at in a few weeks time. The North Devon and Torridge Climate Forum on Water Quality, that was postponed from November, will be held at Barnstaple Library on Saturday 7th February, 10.45 to 13.00. I’ll give a short talk about the key role of the poet laureate Ted Hughes in setting up the Westcountry Rivers Trust. More info here: https://mailchi.mp/2641d93a5512/water-quality-and-biodiversity-the-way-ahead?e=6534e45580
Finally, I was pleased to learn that the Camellia, which originated in south east Asia, has been called the ‘Japanese rose’. The first living Camellias seen in England were a single red and a single white, grown and flowered in his garden at Thorndon Hall, Essex, by Robert James, Lord Petre, among the keenest gardeners of his generation, in 1739. Thank you for reading.