Short one today for the usual reason. 

Stay well

Somebody asked the question should Boris and Carrie get married in a Catholic Church? Who cares whether they get married or not they seem to deserve each other! The better question is should Boris Johnston be allowed to be PM? The answer is obvious! I know I write a lot about my dislike of him and his government but when you passionate about something it’s hard not to. 

There is a pervasive mood in the country, which has been around for a long time, more than the usual complaining, more than the usual me first, more than I deserve more, it’s a subtle yet palatable underlying feeling that if this goes on for much longer the country will collectively scream no more and rebel. Not in open hostility but with a weary we have had enough and we are not going to take any more. Even those who voted for and still support the Conservatives will have had enough. Think what we have been through for the last 10 odd years. Mismanagement, recession, austerity, the ridiculous Brexit campaign, the stupidity of leaving and all the harsh economies and bureaucratic nonsense that has given us and then the pandemic. It does not make for a happy Britain does it? The SNP desperately trying to get Scotland to leave and if it were economically possible you can bet that Wales would follow if they could. Who would want to be part of a Union that has no idea where it’s going or it’s place in the World? Europe rightly dislikes us after we rejected them, perhaps unfairly but understandable. We are not alone and lots of other countries have had and have problems far worse than ours! 

I am sorry if I am a doomsayer but look around and tell me if things are going well? If they are for you personally, then I’m delighted and more power to you and yours. I am fine, easy life, so why should I keep complaining about the state of things? It’s because I see it all around me from the poor state of our services and social support to the poor conditions of the roads. There is a village near to me, Boughton, how the residents put up with the patchwork quilt that constitutes their roads is beyond me. I have ridden through a number of times on the bike and it a bone shaking experience and in a car it is uncomfortable. I understand our councils have no money and are struggling to provide all the repairs and services we would like. 

If the government wanted to provide, they could do worse than the regeneration of our local roads! After all they have wasted money on many things that have had no benefit for anyone. We are the 6th or 7th richest country in the world, which begs the question why can’t we look after our poor and hungry, homeless and those worse off. Capitalism may have many benefits but it has massive faults and no longer serves for the common good. Our obsessive pursuit of wealth and obsession with those that have it, has warped society. Equality is a fantasy and will never be a reality but we could at least try to help those who need help? Maybe I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one!

Stay well

 Call me a cynic (really!) but do you realise that this government is now using the pandemic to control us. It’s bad enough they have handled it with scant regard for the science in spite of a success with the vaccine rollout and their insistence that it was guiding their pronouncements but now they are using it to carry on restricting us. I have said it before we need our complete freedom and the virus will do what the virus will do. The use of masks is now a waste of time. What logic is there in being able to hug someone but having to wear a mask and still social distance? The muddled advice and seesawing instructions are about as useful as flip flop for a one legged parrot. Do not be fooled by the prevarications of these fools, they are not above making you afraid in order to control our lives. Reality, well I’m sure you’ve been out and about in you town and seen that “normality” has all but returned. We eat breakfast in a cafe yesterday and very nice it was to! 

Deaths are inevitable from Covid (as if there have not been enough needless ones) and the virus is bound to mutate, that is normal and natural! It is one more of our human frailties that we have to live with. It is tragic for those who loose loved ones to this virus but it is tragic to loose anyone to any condition and it happens every minute of every day, it’s called life! Do not misunderstand me I am not advocating a wholesale rush back to zero precautions and certainly if the virus gets out of control once more then we must heed the warning.

Watched the penultimate stage of the Giro de Italia yesterday afternoon. I know I wax lyrical about the toughness of these pro cyclists but never was it more evident yesterday as they climbed and climbed. It rained, snow at the side of the road, gradient of up to 17% plus and on and on they rode with the leaders at the front setting an unbelievable pace for kilometre after kilometre! Bernal the pink jersey leader never once faltered and controlled his team and the race to the very end. There is a 30k Time Trial today to finish, which will not change the top places. It is a joy to watch and is now by some distance my favourite sport, particularly as nearly all the other sport has been hoovered up by Sky. Admittedly I pay a yearly fee to watch the cycling ad free from the GCN app, so I suppose that is rather hypocritical!

Stay well

Today is our 41st wedding anniversary. We did not get to celebrate out 40th for obvious reasons. I am taking my darling Wendy out for breakfast and then we are going to go food shopping. I know how to show a girl a good time! She has been my rock and my best friend for nearly 45 years and I hope I have been hers! We’ve had good times and bad, just like everyone. We row, we laugh, we cry, it’s never been dull (well most of the time I’m glad to say) We have learnt to accept most of each other’s idiosyncratic ways and those little annoying habits that all people have. If could have told my freshly married self one thing it would have been patience, though I doubt at that age I would have been able to listen. Marriage is not easy, dedicating yourself to one person for most of your life has to be worked at and worked at! There have been times when either of us might have walked out, although as Wendy often says she would not have the patience to break another partner in! We have taught each other a lot, we are both curious  and love learning though she is far and above me when it comes to academia. Where did the time go? In her latter years Wendy has be plagued by constant pain and has Fibre Myalgia, an incurable condition that from day to day can cause all sorts of debilitating effects, both mental and physical. How she manages is a mystery to me and whilst I to have my own aches and pains compared to her it is nothing. I am sure Wendy won’t mind me telling you that she has suffered and still fights depression, an insidious black nasty mental fog that can stop you in your tracks. I have tried my best to be supportive but as a partner there is little you can do until the condition is acknowledged by the one suffering from it. It never goes away and you can easily slide back into the depths. She has successfully fought it with a little bit of insight from a nurse who she sought some help with. Like so many event from her childhood have had a long lasting and profound affect on her adult life. If I could take even 10% of her pain, I would do so in a heartbeat! 

I would not change a thing about the last 41 years (even if it were possible) because that have made us the people we are and frankly although I in particular have many faults, I’m happy with who we have become. We are so in tune that she often says the exact thing I was about to, we are not unique in that but it is spooky!

Marriage has had it’s up and downs over history and human behaviour is never straight forward but it survives as the one partnership that most people aspire to and continue to commit to. It is not easy but in my opinion if you find the right partner it is an enriching and wonderful way to for two people to live together for life. I am lucky I found the right woman and I love her more now than I ever have!

Stay well

Do I really have to repeat what I have been writing for what seems like forever? If you had even the slightest scintilla of trust in our Government then surely it has now evaporated? We are being governed by the worst sort of hypocrisy and the deceit is rampant! These so called leaders will say or blame anyone else in order to deflect responsibility. It is sickening how the misleading and incompetence has left the health of our country in such a mess! The pandemic is an unprecedented event and no government would have got all of it right but the blatant assertion that they did all they could to protect the public and particularly the more vulnerable section is a dereliction of care that is unforgivable. Yet this government motors on seemingly undisturbed and still riding high in the ratings! What have they got to do before the electorate to realise that are incompetent blustering fools? Wendy has personally heard many a tale of the mess that was made by the indecisive and muddled advice to care homes and hospitals from those who experienced it and sadly lost relatives who could have been saved! The care home we were her mother resides was free for some time because they took steps over and above the government guidelines, although Covid did eventually get in. Fortunately because of their own precautions the risk was minimal. 

This is just one area where this government has failed (vaccine aside). The headlong rush to leave the EU with a deal that was at best rubbish and at worst fudged into a disaster, has lead to the inevitable shortages that particularly the building industry is facing. No concrete, materials in short supply and even if this was not the case there is nobody left to carry out the work because they have all gone home! Tell me you have not noticed shortages of certain products in supermarkets? I went into Morrison’s on Wednesday to find there were no satsumas, I asked an assistant if they had any and she replied they had not for days and it was Spain’s fault. I refrained from any comment, which for me was quite an achievement! The was the feint hint that the shelves were not as full of the normal selection one is used too, I suspect it will get worse? Go on the internet and tell me whether all sizes are available or how many items are not in stock? Now of course the government are not responsible for Brexit, only the referendum and we voted to leave. The arguments about how and why that lead up to such a choice are no longer of any use, it’s done but this bunch are far short of all the promises and optimism they shouted about as we built up to the legal separation. Unfortunately there is no solution other than a complete radical overhaul of our democracy and capitalism, as I have written many times. The current first past the post system failed long ago. They say you get the representation you deserve. It does not reflect well on us that they are who we have chosen!

Stay well

 Another short piece today for the same reason as Tuesday. 

Cummings what a laugh, the man is a hoot, fancy saying that about his form are colleagues, what an ungrateful little toad he is. I mean fancy someone who used to be associated with the Conservatives and an advisor to Boris telling the truth, it’s unheard of! The trouble is that you just don’t know which lies to believe anymore!

Hancock will be the fall guy, Boris will make him fall on his sword, he will do everything he can to avoid any shit sticking to him! Wake up Britain these are the uncaring, corrupt, fuckers who are in power and we are letting them get away with anything!

Stay well

 A couple of words today:

ONOMOTMANIA The frustration caused buy being unable to remember a name!

EEDLE-DOODLE A muddle headed individual who shows no initiative in a crisis!

I am desperately trying to avoid writing about the news. It is not easy when you read the awful things and stupidity that takes place each day and every day! I have written previously how I try not to “care” and have failed miserably! I sometimes envy those who have no interest in world or domestic events, it must be wonderful to live in blissful ignorance. The worse thing about sitting on the sidelines ranting about all the terrible things that go on, is feeling helpless and knowing you’re voice is never listened to. One person rarely changes anything no matter how much they try and my common sense is an opinion that many others would argue against just as forcefully. I console myself with the thought that as I am reaching the final chapter of my time, it will not be to many years before none of this is going to affect me anymore! I doubt I will stop writing about, injustice , prejudice or any of the other many wrongs in the world, it is just not in my nature. We live in a world where strong views are frowned upon and controversial opinions shot down in flames even if there is truth in the content. Every “minority” group want their fair share of equality and are more an more strident about how they go about it. The vast majority of the liberal minded no longer have a voice or any representation and sit frustrated knowing their opinions count for little. Extremes have the floor and shout their from every conceivable platform, telling us what we should be scared of. I know what we should be scared of and it is not what they spout but those who spout it as more and more extreme views take a grip in more and more countries!

I write this in splendid isolation and realise that few if anybody reads it. My ego is such that it does seem a shame to me that more people don’t read this page, after all I write such a lot of sense and have years of wisdom to draw on! It is only my modesty that stops me from saying so!

Stay well

Short one today as I’m playing golf.

A word about the variant, you fucked up Boris you should have closed the border immediately so stop making out it’s someone else’s fault!

Printing Patel have we ever had a more venomous Home Secretary, a woman with all the morals of serial killer.

Stay well

You may have noticed that I am avoiding politics at present and for good reason, the subject makes me angry.

I have been watching my favourite sport Cycling. There are a lot of races on at present because Covid has affected the race calendar. I am watching the Giro each day. For those who don’’t know The Giro de Italia is the first of the three Grand Tours ridden each year and as it’s name suggests this one is around Italy. The other two are the Tour de France (which is next) and later the Vuelta around Spain. Each Tour is three weeks long (two rest days) and each days stage can very from a short time trial to well over 200 kilometres and averages 150k. They ride over every type of terrain from flat roads to mountains with over a 20% gradient! They ride at speeds of up to 70 kilometres an hour and average 35 to 40 kilometres an hour. Each team has 8 riders, usually a sprinter (for flat stage finishes) a number of “domestics” and a team leader who the other riders protect and support hoping to get them as high the General Classification as possible. The subtleties of the tactics are too many to explain here but suffice it to say it is not as simple as it might appear. Their years Giro is being lead by one of the favourites Egan Bernal from team Ineos (used to be Sky). He has the strongest team and they try to control the race protecting there leader, his team mates riding in front and keeping him out of the worst of the wind. 

As I write this, today’s stage is on it’s way and the rain is horrible, especially as they are climbing the highest mountain on this one. Professional cyclist have to be one of the toughest athletes there is. There have been a number of crashes and 30 odd riders have abandoned the race. Broken ribs, dislocated shoulders, saddle sores, general illness, take there toll! I have crashed several times over many years and I can tell you it’s no fun and I certainly can’t ride any close to the speed these guys go!

I am a poor climber and these riders go up steep roads much faster than I ride on the flat. They can, as they say “run out of legs” and lose any contact with the Peloton or “breakaway” Heartbreak or joy if you are just pipped or finish first. Eventually after three weeks the cider with the fastest overall time wins and in the Giro claims the MagliaRosa, the Pink Jersey. Over a thousand kilometres in all conditions these cyclists are a breed apart and true sporting heroes.

Stay well

 Well my iPad went on the blink las t night and just had a white dashed line going round and round and round and round. Left it all night and it seems to have sorted itself. 

What were the bands and singers that stirred your very early years? For me the first band I became aware of and still are my favourite to this day and always will be, is of course The Beatles. My first ever single purchase was She Loves You, I would have been about 10, I think it was 1/6p in old money. Their work over the next years until their break up in 1969, was incredible and varied and they innovated and rightly are responsible for much that has come since. I remember two main highlights, the first being on holiday with a youth club and Sgt Pepper being released, listening to it and being blown away by the imagery. The second is buying Hey Jude in Kingsbury north London and for some reason going in the phone box outside the shop to look at it, although my excuse was, I was with the prettiest of twins Jill and Jane, Mary quant hair and mini dresses, me in Levis and Ben Sherman shirt, yes I was at that time a Mod. And sis if your reading this you were I think you were about a year old, it was August “68, I’m sure you’ll tell me. There were many other bands and solo acts that I could mention but the list would go on for many pages but here are just a few honourable mentions The Who (who I first saw in Harrow having sneaked in to a pub at the age of 14 in 1964) The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, Dylan, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Animals, Joni Mitchell, The Move, Amen Corner, The Bonzo’s, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix to name but a few! I still have my vinyl records both 45’s and LP’s and I still play them. It is often said that vinyl gives a much better warmer sound than digital tracks and I would agree, although I am not precious about it. For me life would be unbearable without music, all music be it classical, rock, pop, soul, blues, easy listening, r & b or any other category. As I’ve got older music that in my youth I would not consider, I have grown to like and artists I would not have listened too, are now are some of my favourites. I still listen to new artists and try to get to grip with the latest sounds. I’m afraid I’ve never really liked Rap and have no idea who the current big names are (with a few exceptions) I find most current pop music, too angst ridden and miserable for my taste but I suppose it is a reflection of the times! I could do without the constant ear worms that filter through my brain especially at night and usually a tune that I don’t like. Last night was “They don’t know” by Kirsty Macoll, who I love but not all night!

Words of the day from Susie Dent:

FLENCHED a Scottish word that means weather that looks like it is going to improve but never does

SNUDGE To nestle quietly and snugly with little attempt to move.

Stay well

 I have written about her before but I never understood all the fuss over Princess Diana when she was alive or after her death? The unprecedented scenes of supposed grief when she died baffled me. She was just a girl who married the heir to the throne and came from a privileged family. Now all this fuss over one interview in 1995 by the BBC, who cares. She’s been dead 26 years, is it really an issue? Who really care whether she was duped into the interview? You cannot tell me she didn’t court publicity fuelled by her obvious resentment to how the Royal family had treated her. sure the circumstances of her death were sad and to leave her sons at that age is not something you’d wish on any child but is it really important, no! And as for the tabloids taking the high ground when they mercilessly harangued her and have published every type of gossip and slander over many many years would be laughable, if it wasn’t so reprehensible and hypocritical!

The Royal family are an antiquated institution, privileged, rich and outdated! There are those who believe that their worth to this country is immeasurable. I could care less about them personally but your all entitled to your opinion. Given a referendum about whether we should continue to support them I would vote no! They may put on a good show but the subsidies that are paid to them could be better spent elsewhere and they don’t need the money! I would agree that no royal can help the accident of their birth and perhaps the world wide fascination with them (Harry and Megan for instance) has some merit but they have not portrayed themselves in the best light for years. I understand they do a lot of good work and much of it selflessly but so do lots of people and with far less privilege than they have! Britain is unique in it’s Royal family and the status they command but be honest with yourselves if they were no longer there would you really miss them? Would it really affect you in anyway? Would their supposed contribution to British life make any difference? We have enough history and culture in this country that the tourists would still come (when they are allowed again). I care little if they remain, it makes no never mind to me but I am entitled to my opinion.  

Stay well

Nearly fell victim to the Safe Accounts Scam. I pride myself on being vigilant about phone scams but this one draws you in by claiming fraudulent use of your account. It’s sophisticated, with even a call back to a number that said it was my bank and gave all the right security questions. Later I rang the number again to check it and it said it was a different bank! The man/two men spoke in a soft Scottish burr and baffled you with long rambling explanations of how these frauds are done whilst making no sense. Eventually they want you to transfer an amount of money to a safe place at which point the scam is obvious and I strung them along shouting and raving at them for some minutes longer just to see what they would do. They remain calm and just continue hoping to trip you up. I terminated the call. I will be going into my bank today and have frozen my card. I feel very foolish having been drawn in but I must say it came across as very plausible. Hindsight of course, tells you that it was implausible and there were so many things that just didn’t ring true and that your bank would never contact you that way. I feel stupid for even falling for it for a short while and it was very upsetting and wasted most of the evening and upset Wendy as well! Be warned!

I have just be reading about a commuter who pays £9000 per year to travel from Peterborough to London! That is an obscene amount and is ridiculous. It’s works out at £150 per weekday journey. We can go to Birmingham from Northampton for less than £20 return? London from the same station is over £50 why? Does it cost more to travel to London than any other stretch of comparable rail journey. Logically London should be cheaper it carries far more passengers than any other route. Let’s face it is the railway companies way of making more money from those who have to work in the the capital. It is yet one more unfair burden the public has to bare!

I actually like to travel by train (if you can get a seat) it’s quite a nice way to go places but if the fares are this expensive then it will not persuade many to abandon there cars!

Stay well

 Todays word from Susie Dent: THUNDERPLUMP A heavy thundery shower that comes from nowhere and soaks you in seconds!

So what to talk about today, so much to discuss I almost don’t know where to begin. Israel continues to bombard Gaza and they continue to fire rockets back. Denmark is informing their Syrian refugees they must return to Syria despite settling in Denmark, educated there and running businesses, paying taxes and taking citizenship?Johnson and his ministers can’t decide if we can go abroad, should we stay or should we go? Mind you, Johnson and his ministers would say black was white or vice versa if it suits them or they are covering up yet another lie! This was not a time in politics to have a weak opposition one that seems unable to hold them to account? The Labour Party has so many problems of it’s own and Starmer, has disappointingly, turned out to be an ineffectual leader, mired with all the same shit that has followed Labour for so long!The other parties are too small and have no voice and the SNP are obsessed with Scottish independence (which I suppose is what they were formed for) As seems to be the norm (Covid or no Covid) this sceptred isle is a mess, unable to move forward and constrained by a history of glory and empire (falsely). with an Etonian in charge whose own school principal back in 1982 wrote a damning letter to his father stating that Boris could not understand how he was not thought exceptional despite his underwhelming performance!

Many thought that the pandemic might make the world more co-operative as it was a shared fight, it seems the contrary is true and far from uniting us has caused even more separation and conflict. It appears that the well worn path of me first applies to countries as well as individuals. I know that is a sweeping statement but if you read about the state of the world it would not fill you with hope?

Still I am optimistic that we will get through all of this and we can live in peace and prosperity for all?  

Stay well 

I am a fan of talent shows only BGT (I don’t watch any of the others like X factor). I only watch the auditions and never watch all the background stuff and anything in between the acts. These are the only shows on TV that actually give a chance to a variety of acts from singing, jugglers, comedians ,magicians, acrobats dancers and other acts big and small doing all sorts of strange things. It is heartening (even if it is contrived) when an unknown comes on the stage looking nervous and then produces a great performance. Naturally they have a lot of singers both individual and in groups. I am sure many are there just to put themselves in the public eye to get support or to have their 15 minutes of fame. I often watch the clips of these acts who wowed the judges and the audience. There are many people who have great singing voices from 9 to 90. The professional world of entertainment is a tough one and they could not all make a living doing it if that is their ambition. However I wonder what happens to some of these performers who get further in the completion? Do any of them go on to have a career in entertainment? We know of a few that do, Susan Boyle as an example. Do recording company execs pick them up and give them an opportunity? There is little other chance of appearing on TV these days. The variety show of days gone by died a long time ago. When I grew up they were popular and often fronted by the pop stars of the era. From Sunday Night at the Palladium right through to Morecambe and Wise etc you could see a huge variety of different performers. In the 80’s these types of shows faded away and by the 90’s had all but disappeared. With so many mediums on which you can watch almost anything available today there is no room for them. YouTube and others have an archive of much of the history of those shows and if you want to see real variety entertainment go look. All types of acts still exist so one assumes there are still venues and places they can perform. What ever you think of BGT or it’s many franchises across the world at least it is keeping the flame lit for variety. 

I love a good juggler or ventriloquist, acrobats and shows of strength and illusionist’s. Sleight of hand or magicians who baffle you. I can’t sing or dance or play an instrument or have any entertainment talent of any kind except of course my sharp wit! I love watching a members of the public hoping they are as good as they think they are and discovery that they are! Some of the younger performers are amazing and you wonder how a voice like that can come out of someone so young? 

Stay well

Closed the border in time, what a load of shit from this corrupt useless government! With all the news from India the border should have been closed immediately at the slightest hint of any strain of the virus getting here. More mismanagement from the kings of sleaze, corruption and hopeless governing! We were banned from travelling and yet people were combing and going from all sorts of places that were just as dangerous. More needless deaths simply because they haven’t learned any of the lessons. Wake up Britain we are be governed by a bunch of fools and idiots, that the majority of those who voted, elected, we should be ashamed!

Vaccine passport, what a complete waste of time! Just because you’ve been vaccinated does not prevent you from getting Covid or spreading it, even if you show no symptoms! Follow the science, they couldn’t follow a revolving mirror with a flashlight, the useless bastards! We are not safe and we won’t be ever, so we just have to live with it and react fast when the need arises! This government not only waits until the horse has bolted but has a jockey on board whipping it to run faster. How are so many fooled by so few? You can fool some fool the people some of the time, you can fool some people all of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time! This government thinks we are all fools! 

A word of congratulations to Leicester City winning the FA cup. I have a soft spot for them, having worked opposite their stadium for two years. Saturday home games were always interesting as fans streamed across our pitch and gathered in the road outside. there was no point in going out and the police used to shut us early just before the crowds were released from the stadium. I even went to a pre-season match and saw them play against Real Madrid with Ronaldo. It had been probably 20years plus since I had been in a stadium watching football. (Not been since either) Good to see a team that aren’t one of the “big” six succeeding.

Stay well

What do you want to be scared of next? Oh of course it is the Indian variant. Don’t think for one moment that Boris isn’t using this next scare, to deflect from his governments relentless march towards re-writing our rights and freedoms. If had not been so cavalier with our borders (funny that considering the fuss the leavers made over them before the referendum?) then we would not be worried? We have to be let loose and what will be will be! Perhaps that too is cavalier but how long can we keep hiding? 

Just read an interesting article where a rather eminent professor postulates that far from having a desire to improve the lives of their constituents, most MP’s want to be elected because they see it as a path to improving their own careers and wealth. There are many well intentioned MP’s who genuinely care about their voters. I suspect they are in the minority? We are living in an age where an integrated society is no longer a desirable ambition, it is all about the individual and what they can gain? It is ironic that as the general standard of living has risen, the gap between rich and poor has dramatically widened and we have more people than ever living in poverty and homeless! There have always been charities and volunteers set up to help those in need but did you ever imagine we would have so many food banks? Have you ever seen so many sleeping rough in town centres (Although there is precious little evidence in Kettering, maybe Covid related?)?

And while we are on the subject of town centres, when did so many places for food open up? Kettering has a disproportionate amount cafe, pizza, fish and chips, chicken, kebab and every other variant you can think of. Not to mention the usual suspects, Subway (3), Greggs, MacDonalds(3) etc. The variety of menus is diverse and the ethnic choice welcome but surely they can’t all survive? You can stop every hundred yards for a coffee, or in places just nip next door! Now not all are open for obvious reasons but one assumes at one time they all believed they would make a living? They are closely followed by places to get your haircut! Barbers and hairdressers seem to spring up everywhere. So I ask this simple question, are we the public frightened we might not get food or find a way of keeping our hair under control? I did frequent the Italian coffee place with Peter, Wednesday and very nice it was too but these other crap food places, as I call them, no chance, no wonder we have an obesity problem in this country. Walk down around any town and observe the amount of overweight people you see. We used to call them fat but I believe that is now politically incorrect!!!! I am not the slimmest person in the world (big boned!) but the size of some beggars belief! I suspect in an age where the plethora of cooking programmes and competitions and disproportionate to the actual amount of the population that can cook, why bother when it is so easy to order a takeaway? I admit I did use the Just Eat app to order a bacon salad sandwich yesterday whilst helping Adam and Alex to move house, it was very tasty!

I hope that supplies enough controversy for a Saturday, discuss 

Stay well

 Several words today. 

Phoelm The stringy bits on a banana 

Ferrule The tip of an umbrella

Zarf The cardboard sleeve on a takeaway coffee

Tittle The dot above an i or a j

Philtrim The groove above the upper lip

Linule The white crescent at the base of the fingernail

Sequacious: prone to slavish following of others without any independent thought or judgement

It grieves me to keep repeating myself ad infinitem but if you listened to the Queens Speech, you will have heard our government eroding our right to protest, restrict legal challenges against it’s policies and decisions and suppress our democratic right to vote! A government with unassailable majority running rampant over our rights to impose their distorted views upon a sleepwalking public. All hail though because apparently we don’t care, they delivered the vaccine! I know I am not alone in condemning this Johnson lead joke of an administration. I do not know one single person who thinks Boris is fit to be PM and yet it seems he can do no wrong and is Teflon coated. How many scandals does this man have to be involved in before he is considered beyond the pail? How many lies or broken promises before most people finally acknowledge him to be the charlatan that he so obviously is? If this is a free democratic country then why is it beginning to have all the smell of a dictatorship. Here is a man who professes to love the UK and all it stands for and yet is slowly eroding all of those rights and hard won freedoms. A man who promises one thing one day and then when called out over never doing it claims that he did not say that or he was misinterpreted! The public seem oblivious and apathetic, unable, unwilling or just not caring that we are being governed in this way. I know I rattle on about this day after boring day but it is  vital that we do not let them run rough shod over the electorate. It is easy to call Boris an idiot but I suspect all that bluster, bluff, buffoonery, bumbling fool act, hides a sharp, if not warped, intellect and man with little patience, paranoid, with little trust for those around him, who can change his mind within the same sentence. He has to go. 

By the way did you know he is also suggesting they will undo the 5 year parliamentary term so as it easier for him to call a general election or stay in government longer!!!

If you care at all I urge you to do something, any thing, write to your MP, support those who are bold enough to continue to voice their critics and fears about the reckless govt.

Stay well

 On the days that I write this missive there is always some tragedy, fight, political mess, corruption, injustice and many other wrongs that I cannot help myself from commenting on. I suppose, had the mediums we use now, been available throughout history, it would have been no different, every day some tragic story or event would merit reporting. The world has never been a peaceful place, never mind the damage nature can wrought we humans seem to be unable to live in peace! The reasons are obvious and continues to be the same ones repeated time and time again as though we would have learnt nothing from those first hand accounts that history might have blogged about. For me the past shows we get to a saturation point of one type of civilisation and then it implodes or can no longer cope with it’s own momentum. I think we have or are rapidly reaching that point. I can honestly say that personally I have never been better off or more comfortable and although we have a few problems, mainly physical, we have few worries. Generally the planet is more peaceful than at any time in it’s history, we have thus far since WW2 managed to avoid any major conflicts, even though there have been a number of wars, many of which have been started by the West apparently in the name of peace or against terrorism? It is ironic that those countries which purport to protect peace have been responsible for so much violence, at a cost both monetary and in human lives that is beyond imagination. Hopefully we have learnt that our interference has proved, to only make a bigger mess of the situation even if it has curbed aggression and removed some very nasty dictators. We have tired of mobilising our forces to take on more “peace” keeping, we no longer have the resources either militarily or can afford such folly! The last 40 years have seen many battles that we are no longer prepared to fight, fatigued and with no family, rightly, willing to risk their loved ones lives on what seems to be a fruitless task. My youngest son was in the Army for 8 years and although he never saw combat or went anywhere dangerous, he can tell you of the heartache and tragedy that affects everyone connected. When there was a possibility that he would go to Afghanistan, we tried to be sanguine and accepting of the situation after all he was a soldier but the worry and fear of what could happen was ever present, fortunately it did not happen. 

I have no answers, never have, am not well informed enough to understand all the subtleties of the situations but from an ordinary observer and I hope a man with some common sense, it seems to me that the motives for most violence is never as simple as it is often portrayed and is motivated by greed, wealth, religion, power and they fear of losing the supplies that keep all of those things going. Occasionally  it is for genuine humanitarian reasons but think of the many times the West has declined to help because there is nothing that they need to protect for themselves! 

Stay well

 I return to an old subject, a well worn path, that no doubt will be trodden again and again.I read there has been yet another shooting in America this time in Colorado. Six adults shot including the gunman who shot himself. At a birthday party on a trailer park. Each time we read about these shootings, Wendy and I trot out the same old observations and struggle to understand a nation where even the liberal element have a fierce determination to hold on to their guns! Of course shootings happen elsewhere in the world, some more tragic than those that take place in the States. South American countries, Mexico, Columbia have terrible murder rates mostly to do with the drug cartels and other criminal activities but only in America do random shootings take place with no other reason then the mental instability of the shooter and the easy access to all sorts of weapons. European nations are not completely free of these shootings but by comparison they happen so rarely, we are even more shocked. What is the difference? The free availability of guns. It does not take a genius to work out that if you are able to buy a gun easily, then there will be more deaths! You would think that a nation where so many deaths are gun related that a sensible nation would ban there purchase (of course the horse has long long ago bolted and you would have to say it is to late) but it seems the desire to own a gun is hard wired into the American psyche? When the constitution was written is was a different time and there was a need for the population to be ready to defend their fledgling nation and the possession of a gun was required to quickly do so. Shows the disadvantage of a written constitution that becomes like a holy rule of a countries rights! America has been discussing gun restrictions ever since I have been old enough to understand and nothing has been achieved by either party. The Democrats get some restrictive legislation through and then the next Republican administration repeals that law. I suggest that much of the population accepts that if you have guns then people will die and see it as an occupational hazard. Spare a thought for the trauma of those who survive or witness a shooting, they are also victims and have to live with the tragic events for the rest of their lives!

Stay well

I don't often write about Israel, it’s a touchy subject full of traps and pitfalls. I have Jewish ancestors, although I have never practised the religion (any religion) or identified myself as such. It is clear that the animosity between the Israelis and the Palestinians is one that cannot be easily solved. I am quietly going to suggest that Israel needs to look back to the reason they have a homeland at all. The Holocaust was possibly the greatest crime of the 20th century and the allies at the end of WW2, felt they had to give the Jews a homeland in, what once was Israel. They carved it up as the western allies tended to do and suddenly no Palestine! Whilst i would not even faintly compare what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is anything like what the Nazi’s did to them , it is ironic that the lesson has not been learned. You are wrong if you try to impose your will on another community even if they swear they are your enemy. The Israelis are aggressive, no doubt based on their tragic history, they feel they are still persecuted and react accordingly. The current bout of violence does neither of the parties any good and just perpetuates even more violence and intransigence in each side! Yet again violence and war seems to be the only solution to an dispute over territory. The Palestinians are Muslim and funded and supplied by other Muslim neighbours. The Israelis continue to claim parts of their land for themselves and the circle of death continues. I have a radical solution which I have suggested before over violent disputes of this kind. If you want to stop the death toll make peace and live together even at the cost of ceeding land. Indeed I would go further if I was the Israelis and allow Palestinians to  expand their border and have access to all the Muslim places that are in Israel itself.  Better to live in peaceful co-existence than to keep piling up the bodies, year after painful year! There are risks, fundamentally they have different views of how you worship God, even though it is the same God! Which only goes to show the stupidity of people divided by religious beliefs. I know the answer is not easy and there is far more to it than the simple view I have taken but if you have the will to try then who knows what could be achieved. 

Stay well

 Are we mad, are we fooled so easily, do we no longer take any notice of what is actually happening? It appears we do not! We continue to vote for a party that is corrupt, conniving, lies, misleads and generally fucks up! Oh they have done such a good job with the pandemic, no they fucking haven’t, they spent billions on track and trace that did not work, did not lock down quickly enough the second time or indeed the first and made statements in private (and public) that were at best misguided and at worse callous.Oh but Boris has done such a good job rolling out the vaccine, bollocks, he had no choice once it was available and besides it is the NHS and volunteers who should take the credit and of course the actual pharmacy companies. Now I appreciate that the opposition are collectively rubbish at present and have all the charisma of a magnolia painted wall! It beggars belief that those who vote are still enamoured with this fucking idiot and his party. Now I know there must be some Tory councillors who are decent and try to represent their wards with genuine motives. However one assumes they all buy into the Johnson ethos and are willing to support this charlatan of a PM. Perhaps I am the one who has it wrong? No I know I am right! This party of government has all the integrity of a car thief who claims they were just borrowing the vehicle! I am lost for words (all evidence to the contrary) and as you can tell angry that I live in a country that has almost by default become a one party state! I despair that any opposition will ever be string enough to overturn this crowd of wankers and cheats? The wheel will eventually turn it always does but by then the damage to our country will be irreversible. If your happy with the last 11 years of Tory governing then you either don’t care or have no understanding of the monumental fuck up they have made of governing! I have never voted for a candidate that got elected in my whole life except once and he turned out to be a right tosser and why because it was the one time I voted Conservative! I am ashamed I was a traitor to my own principles! Well you fools you’ve made your bed and now you are going to have to lie in it, the sheets won’t be changed, the quilt is threadbare, the pillows limp and faded, bed springs sagging but it’s your choice!

Stay well

We really do have our priorities wrong, our government is cutting funding for the arts to Universities by 50% because and I quote “they are not among the strategic priorities” When art, dance, music, theatre etc are no longer a strategic priority then we are all in much bigger trouble than the shitstorm we exist in now! On top of this monumental stupidity, schools curriculums are cutting history teaching to a  minimum! Not only should we not be cutting funding, it should be increased. More over this will lead to the wealthier being able to choose these pursuits and will inevitably penalise the poorer student. Why in a country steeped in culture which has given so much to the world would any government cut its funding. Typical of a capitalist society whose appreciation of arts has been sacrificed to the all embracing need to make profits! When are we going to learn (never it seems) that artistic skills and talent in whichever strand is as worthy as any computer or scientific degree? I do not diminish the importance of other subjects but emphasise that they equally as important. As for history , this continues a trend that has been going on for some time, students are taught the minimum of history as it is. I’ve said this numerous times but without an understanding of our past we have no reference for the present or the future. Perhaps Boris is laying the foundation so that his disastrous tenure as PM, is never referred too in history lessons, for future students!  I understand that priorities have to be made but these are the wrong ones and we will come to regret it. I hope the very real protests and objections have some traction and minds can be changed but I doubt it, this government is deaf and stupid!

We did not vote in the local elections because having moved we were not yet reregistered in our local ward. I don’t know any of the results yet but lets hope the Tories get a wake up call and are soundly beaten everywhere. Disappointingly the Hartlepool by election has gone to the Conservatives. I will not tread over old ground regarding the incomprehensible hold they currently have over the country.

Stay well

 

 The headline about investment into funding to target new Covid variants is welcome  but don’t think for a second is not yet another tactic by this deceitful government to distract us from the all the corruption they are involved in! This lot will do whatever they want want because we keep letting them get away with it. Good government is no excuse for dodgy deals and “donating”public money to your “friends”!

I see Trump is launching his own “communications” platform, “Straight form the desk of Donald J Trump” with the tag line “A place to speak freely and safely” How wonderful, only an idiot like him could launch a website where he will be insulted, abused, trolled and have all sorts of vitriol and nutters who despise him make comments. I firmly predict it won’t survive long because it will quickly be full of crap, even his supporters will make the site intolerable and abusive. He may believe it will brings his many “supporters” together and build a platform for another tilt at the Presidency but he will soon be disabused of that idea. The man lives in a world so crammed full of his own importance that he has little understanding of how the internet works. The fact that he was banned from both Twitter and Facebook should have been a warning and although that was the right thing to do, the comments he posted were mild compared to the Pandora’s box he is about to open. No matter what protocols they put in place people will get through it. I await the progress with amusement and anticipation, of how joyous it will be, when like everything else he touches, it will be yet another failure!

So things are gradually getting back to “normal” and there are reports confidently predicting no more lockdowns and that the vaccine rollout is having a massive effect? I hope that is true and there is scientific evidence to support it? We can’t continue the same pattern we’ve been subjected to over the last year and a half. I have said before it’s time to let is run and whilst that has it’s risks, it is the only way we can adapt and live with it. There will be unnecessary deaths but then there always are and for many reasons which we accept all the time, like smoking, drinking, obesity, drugs and many more abuses! We seem to have learned to live with all of those in spite of all the support put in place to help. They collectively over a long long time have put more pressure and drain on the NHS than anything this pandemic has done. The virus is never going away and we will have to live with it but we must not let it overwhelm all the other health risks that plague society.

Stay well

 I don’t know about you but I am not a fan of podcasts or audio books. I’ve tried to listen to both and find them irritating. I have not listened to many podcasts but those few I have just seem to be two people droning on about whatever subject they have chosen fro 15 to 20 minutes without saying very much. Perhaps I need to listen to a few more but so far they just bore me. Audiobooks have a similar effect, especially if they are read by the author. I am so used to hearing my own voice express the text and reading the words that someone speaking them just doesn’t sit right with me! I started to listen to Eddie Izard’s autobiography and whilst he did warn he would go off on tangents and ramble, for me it was actually painful listening to him read his own book and it put me off reading it myself. I suppose I should not have expected anything else from Eddie!

I went for my second vaccination yesterday, which was fine, apart from a very mild headache, I have not suffered any after effects from either jab. Am I protected from the virus now, probably not but hopefully it will help to build an immunity? I found the mask to be restrictive when answering a number of questions and felt my answers were muffled so started to speak louder, emphasising my pronunciation.  I know there is a lot of conflicting information about the vaccines and I venture no opinion as to what is or isn’t true, all I know is, for me, better to have than not. I suspect like so many things these days we are told what those in power want us to hear, it is very difficult to get to the truth about almost anything. I am sure it has always been the case but with so much more platforms to use for information the waters are so much more muddy. 

Stay well

 I still read the BBC website each morning but it has to be said that their reporting specifically their political news is weak, non-confrontational and no longer asks the tough questions, hasn’t for a long time! I’ve just read an article by Laura Kunesberg the political editor about Boris, it is so bland and tame one wonders why she bothers. There was a time when the BBC was full of hard hitting journalists who asked tough questions and held our politicians to account even if they could not get a straight answer. Now the Beeb is so fearful of it’s own shadow it no longer can be relied on to be impartial or hard hitting. Those reporters from the past would be horrified, Robin Day, Jeremy Paxman etc There is a huge amount of news and much to hold to account. To me it seems they are collectively frightened to venture an actual opinion especially if it may prove controversial. I understand we are a society that is more litigious than in the past but this weak, scratch the surface, writing is cowardly! The facts as understood must be reported and naturally you cannot make false accusations, stories must remain alleged until proven to be true. The BBC is far too cautious with it’s approach and has lost their neutrality and any edge that once had. It could be said that they are not the only ones and whatever you may think of the tabloids at least they say what they mean however abhorrent it maybe. I want intelligent informative reporting that tells me the facts but for goodness sake, say if you believe whether its true or false and don’t sit on the fence!

Stay well

I have been writing all week about Boris and his terrible premiership. The list of the things that have been done under his watch is too long to go over once again. so here is an article that does it for me and far more eloquently than I ever could

https://t.co/TFEmkNEXmp

I am going to be controversial (for once) and tackle a subject that has been highlighted in recent years, transgender. First let me say that if an individual feels more comfortable as the opposite gender than the one they were born as, fine. What I object to is the notion that if they trans they are considered as the opposite sex. If your born a male, your male, if your born female, your female. Herein lies the problem if you transition, naturally you want to be considered as the gender you transition to! Perfectly acceptable but human physiology is hard wired, you are what you were born as! No amount of “transitioning” will change you from a male to a female or vice er versa. Therefore no matter which way you transition, in sport you cannot compete fairly. The case of women transitioning to a man and competing has not been highlighted as much as the other way round. If you were a man, you have a male physic and a huge advantage in some disciplines over other true female competitors. The rules to qualify are all to do with hormones or more precisely the lack of them and only drug treatment will lower the natural hormone level of a male to qualify for some sport, such as Olympic events. If your are uncomfortable in your skin then of course you should have the right to present as a female or male. The obsession with gender politics at present is way over the top and trans issues are corrupting feminism because surprise surprise trans females are reported to be more aggressive in their behaviour, I wonder why? My wife and I joked yesterday that we foresee a day when a the distressed cry of a new born baby will be interpreted as a cry that they are not happy with there birth sex! Our ability to understand the human body has come a long way and who knows what the future holds, maybe in the a full genetic change will be possible but at present your birth sex is your birth sex and no amount of medical transition will alter that DNA! It pains me to say this because I believe i am very open minded and liberal in my attitude, I try to see all side to a story, so I hope this is temporary as an issue of controversy and it will fade away but at this moment in time it is overblown and frankly it pisses me off!

Stay well