It’s hard to know what to write about? Over the years I have spouted on about many subjects, many of which (almost all) I know little or nothing about! The problem is that so often these days we don't look past the headline or post. Our attention span has become erratic. Only this morning I started reading an article and got about two thirds through it and just could not be bothered to finish! We hear and read so much, see so many social media posts that tell us so much conflicting information, it is hard to know the fact from the bullshit! I try to research  some subjects just to make sure I’m not talking or writing rubbish but even the experts seem to have differing views, confusing conclusions and opinions? Human existence is a shared experience and one which, we all, no matter how ill informed or ignorant have some idea of the state of our country and the world? We all have differing views and fast held opinions and has time has gone on we seem to more and more entrenched in those? The longer I longer I live the more I realise how ignorant I am and how my views are affected by my age and experience. Only the other day I was talking to a much younger neighbour who runs his own business and as we discussed the budget, I understood that his priorities were much different from mine. He is concerned that all his hard work is not diminished by taxation and having to support those who are unwilling to support themselves. what he earns through hard work is for him and his family to maintain and hopefully improve their lives and I totally understand that. 

I often bang on about a fairer more equal society and they huge gap between those who have and those who don’t but I rarely consider the consequences. Society is unequal and there is much evidence to support that view? We have to acknowledge that there will always be a section of our population who for whatever reason have no intention of working and hope to live off the state and others generosity. Often tainting those in genuine need with a reputation that is undeserving! It is a complex and difficult subject. I know I am woefully ignorant in my understanding of it all!

Stay well

I may have missed it but in all this debate about water companies dumping raw sewage, I read or heard little about the damage it does to our wildlife? Of course the real problem is the old infrastructure which can no longer cope with our much larger population and the increase in heavy rainfall. Water companies make billions of dividends and profit and we are constantly told they need time to invest in our infrastructure. They should be forced to spend their profits to improve the infrastructure as fast as possible. I wonder how much money is wasted on repairs and not upgrades? I am going to write to my water company Anglia Water and ask them. 

I shall no longer be alive once most of the proposed “targets” to reduce the environmental impact are met. Well most of them anyway. This is not an excuse for not doing anything to help in my tiny way but more a sadness that I will never know how it turns out. Probably for the best, I am optimistic but in a very pessimistic way!

Stay well

I try very hard to keep an open mind about most things trying to understand each sides point of view and opinion. I have refrained in recent weeks from commenting too much about our government, after all it is pointless, it will make no difference. 

The problems we are experiencing are a direct consequence of Brexit. Nobody wants to hear it. We don't want to acknowledge our foolishness but that is the reason. 

Another thing that seems to be a “hot” subject at the moment is the Transgender community and all the nonsense that surrounds it. The problem mainly stems from men who wish to identify as women. Biological sex cannot be changed. If you born male your male, if your born female your female. Be whoever you want to be but it is an immutable biological fact that cannot be disputed. Perhaps if we all stopped banging on about it, we might just accept it all and the whole thing would go away. 

Leaders gathering in Scotland for the climate conference COP26. They all jet in on planes. 

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Need one say that the government has taken, rightly, a real bashing over the sewage dumping. However why aren’t the water companies getting far more flack, after all they are the ones who are doing it? Yes the government have made it easier for them to continue to do what they have been doing for a long time but it is the water companies who are doing the dumping? The government have to take responsibility but sometimes we target our outrage in the wrong direction!

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Football as they say is a funny old game. The Premier League is full of riches both monetary and in skill. Watching Manchester United get thrashed by Liverpool, was as bad as I have ever seen them play and yet they are full, of some of the best players who earn millions! Liverpool were very good but United made it far to easy for them. You can only beat who is put in front of you but that array of expensive talent were a shambles! I have always enjoyed football and have followed the Hammers (West Ham) since I was a young boy. It is overblown, made to be far more important than it really is and yet it is strange how it can affect the mood of the country, especially the national team. There will be millions of Manchester United supporters waking up today wondering how they could have capitulated so easily to a team, whom the view as their biggest rivals? 

I do admire the skill and athleticism, todays players are fitter and faster than ever. I was a mediocre player in my youth and like most sports I’ve tried pretty average. I suppose if the going rate of pay is to earn millions per year then you cannot blame the players for taking the money, they don’t set the salary levels. Having said that the money involved is mind boggling and bears little relation to ordinary working people. 

Now Newcastle have been purchased by a Saudi consortium they are going to have to be very careful how they conduct themselves, lest they do not get tarnished with the appalling record the Saudi’s have on human rights! There is a contradictory stance here by the Premier League, Black Lives Matter but it appears a poor human rights record is no barrier to becoming the owners of a club? It smacks of double standards and shows how unlimited resources can get you what you want?

Football is not important, though it can be a welcome distraction for many. At its best it is exciting, emotional, has breathtaking skill, can lift a nation but like all sport we have to realise it is only a game!

Stay well

I don’t know about Plan B, I don’t think there was ever a Plan A! If you are a member of the general public, do you feel protected by our leaders? Do you care? Naturally we all want to live our lives in the easiest way possible but the last two years have proved that you can’t tame nature. The highlighted “new normal” has come to pass, except that there was no “normal” in the first place! We spend our lives, in ever changing times, all the time. From one day to the next we never really know what to expect or what will happen? We try to run our lives with as little drama as we can but tell me the last time a week went by without something unexpected happening, no matter how trivial it might be? We protect our loved ones and friends the best way we can. I strongly believe in kindness and helping others when you can. The world often seems an unkind place full of violence and cruelty and sadly there is to much evidence of that but acts of kindness are carried out every day however small they might be. I read a post from a mother who had just given birth and was out with her new born for the first time, she realised she had forgotten her purse and a lady at the checkout seeing her plight paid for her items. She said it restored her faith in human nature! These small acts of support are the simple help that can make the difference to all societies. Kindness does not get reported in the same way as the bad stuff and perhaps that is the way it should be but it happens all the time. It costs nothing to help people and in my life has been enriched by those who helped us and by those we have tried to help. Lets be selfish for a moment and acknowledge that it makes us feel good when we carry out an act of kindness! 

Be kind and stay well!

Do you strive to be “green”, recycle, try to do your bit to save the planet? Do you think our governments are doing enough? Is big business really invested in being environmentally responsible or are they just playing lip service to appear that way? Is what we are all doing, enough?

We have recently seen protesters blocking roads and motorways in order to highlight the problem with insulation in homes. We may not agree with their methods but we might support their message. I think there are more important issues to be highlighted but that is not to dismiss their point. Would you protest in support of green issues? Perhaps you think they don’t t really affect you. Perhaps you are not aware of the effect our planet is suffering? There are still many who deny climate change or environmental problems? 

Yesterday the conservative majority voted against an amendment to stop water companies dumping raw sewage in our rivers and the sea! What does that say to you about a government that promises so much and then does that?

The problems of our world can only be solved by all of us, we cannot rely on others doing it for us. Sometimes it seems that problems are so huge, they can’t be solved and that is true for some of them but if we give up they never will be!

Human progress has always been fraught with contradictions and mistakes but we have always moved forward and we need to keep trying to make things better, it isn’t easy but then nothing worth doing ever is!

Stay well 

I know longer know what to say! I am exhausted with the whole thing. Get fucking vaccinated you ignorant fools. I am sorry but I can no longer play devils advocate and stand by while the infection rate remains horrific and deaths continue at an alarming rate. Where is the irrefutable proof of the harm this vaccine does. Millions throughout the world have had it and where is the evidence of the health problems it has caused? If it was so dangerous do you not think the news would be brimming over with the consequences? Or is this yet another crackpot conspiracy that it this news is being withheld?

I have enough of pussy footing around the subject, get the jab and make sure your children have it unless there incontrovertible evidence that it would harm you get the vaccination! You have no longer any excuse and if you won’t have it then keep yourself isolated and out of everyone’s way! 

Stay well

I am an artist. Those of you who have read my blog will know that from time to time I post some of my art. I have no training and certainly can’t draw a or paint with any realism. I am obsessed with shapes and in particular triangles. Sitting drawing is a pleasant way to spend time. I listen to music and get lost in the design. Those who have seen my work seem to like it, like me, it is unique. There are drawings I produce which I am not so keen on but others really like them, which proves that art is in the eye of the beholder. 

I doodle really just glorified doodling! What is art? Art I suppose, is whatever we say it is? I think we all know great art when we see it, the big artists, Van Gogh, Turner, Da Vinci, Caravaggio etc, we collectively recognise that these are painters of great works of art. Did they know they were great painters, they certainly had recognition in their lifetimes? 

A few years ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery. I watch Portrait Artist of the Year on Sky Arts and was fascinated how each contestant produced their work within 4 hours. Overall, while there were some fantastic paintings, I was disappointed. There was little of a contemporary portrait and I found a lot of the painting rather dull! 

So, art is what you like but even if it is not your thing it is still art!

Stay well

 I have spoken to several parents who are reluctant to have there children vaccinated and other whose child has decided for themselves not to have it. Yesterday our infection rate accounted for 20% of the worlds cases! We have 2000 deaths per million, China for example has 5! I am sure there are some discrepancies in all figures and statistics but ours remain way too high. Having done some research the consensus of medical opinion is that the infection rate is highest in the young. Britain has fallen out of the top ten of countries providing the vaccination and we seem to be much slower providing the booster than the initial doses? Yet this seems to be news, that is never on the front page or hardly written about. The rules have been relaxed and guess what the infection rate remains high! The vaccinated are less likely to end up in hospital or die but that has not stopped them doing so. I have said many times I am all for freedom of choice but if me or mine catch Covid because of the reluctance of others, then that is just plain irresponsible. There are still many adults who have not been vaccinated. If you had a disease and went to the doctor or hospital and they said take this medicine, it will help you recover, you would not hesitate for a moment. You would not stop and read conspiracy theories or look up all the possible but minimal side effects before taking it? What happened to the mantra, prevention is better than cure? Are we now more interested in our freedom than our protection? Very soon you’ll have far fewer freedoms than ever before based on what our government has done, is doing and proposing, do you want to be too ill or lost a loved one just because your to stubborn or ignorant to protect both yourself and others. Frankly I am fed up with those who continue to endanger both themselves and me! We can’t beat this virus but we can sure do something to protect ourselves. 

Get you and yours vaccinated and stop all this nonsense!

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/why-are-covid-cases-so-high-when-vaccination-is-widespread.html

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 I’ve just read a very long article in the New Yorker about McCartney and the Beatles ahead of the release of Peter Jackson’s trawl through all the footage from the Let it Be sessions. I am sure I have mentioned before, that I am a huge Beatles fan. Nothing strange about that I am juts one of many millions who grew up with their music. The first single I bought with my pocket money was She Loves you (I still have it). They were a large part of the soundtrack to my teenage years in the sixties. I can remember waiting for their latest single to be released and the anticipation as you wondered what they would do next? I was on holiday with a youth club in 1967, in Devon, when Sgt Peppers came out, I rushed to the local town to see if I could find it and managed to buy a copy. My next search was for a record player to listen to it on. It was an old machine and I was reluctant to play my brand new LP with its old stylist but my excitement to hear it overcame that and with a couple of like minded friends, we listened in awe to one of the greatest albums of all time. I vividly remember buying Hey Jude in Kingsbury North London and taking it out of the brown paper bag as much pleased with myself because I was accompanied by Jill and Mary, identical twins, who every lad in the school fancied, proper mods with their Mary Quant hair and black eyeliner! 

I remain a fan of both their collective and individual work, though I confess I have not kept up with much of the later stuff from McCartney or Starr. In some ways I feel sorry for McCartney who has to be the voice of the the past but at the same time he irritates me with his humble I am just an ordinary man act. I cannot be to harsh, the rarified atmosphere in which he is held is something none of us could possibly understand and there is no doubt he is very talented. My favourite post Beatles album is All Things Must Pass from George Harrison his outpouring of songs that he never got on Beatles albums, it is a true masterpiece! 

Music is a huge part of my life (not alone in that) Without it I would be bereft. I have to say most of the music I have heard from todays charts seems to be so angst ridden that I often say it is “music to cut your throat to” it is awfully depressing and there is far to much vocal “gymnastics” Still i am old and i know much was said as pop and rock music developed in the sixties by the older generation. It is the a natural progression. Who would have thought back then that so many of these great rock stars would still be around and still playing, certainly not many of themselves!

Stay well

Oh dear, good news is in short supply and has been for a while. Do you feel bruised by the constant stream of disaster and brutality? Has the last few years been a tsunami of hurt and betrayal? Do you keep wondering when it will end and you can breath again knowing the world has actually calmed down? There will always be tragedy, wars, disasters and all the other horrors that humans seem either to bring upon themselves or nature does in order to wipe us out! In recent years it feels like it has been non stop and just when you think you can mentally relax something else hits the headlines! It seems natural to me to engage with the world and care and yet I have a sneaky envy for those who don’t! Try as I might, I cannot switch off my outrage and disgust at the events that unfold. You can understand why people love pictures and videos of cats, dogs and other creatures doing silly things, its a relief from all the other crap they see! It is not all doom and gloom, there is always good and happy stuff going on but it sure does not feel like it a lot of the time!

If anyone doubts Climate Change then they are fools, plain and simple. you do not need to be a scientist, environmentalist or metrologist to see the changes to our planet, it is blindingly obvious! Those who deny it or question its validity have either an a profit making agenda or are just idiots. Governments talk and talk but seem to make little progress? The rate that we are ruining Earth is so far ahead of the rate in which we are trying to save it that I wonder if we can ever catch up? The young must despair at the state we have left their home in?

So there you are, cheery Sunday, have a good day.

Stay well

It is very sad that a sitting MP (or anyone else) has been murdered and sympathy and outrage are the correct reactions but his death pales in comparison with the continuing death toll from Covid. We seem to have become immune to the the still very high infection rate and the deaths. Ours is still the highest in Europe? We had this wonderful rollout of the vaccine, the government were praised for one of the rare things that it got right. Why are we not raging in outrage over this toll of human life? You think the pandemic is receding, think again? We are not back to “normal”, yet seeing people out and about you would think we are? I understand we want to put this tragic time behind us, move on, have our freedom back but let me tell you the figures do not reflect our complacency. This virus is still as dangerous as ever and now we have the flu season coming, with strains that we have been isolated from. The NHS is still under enormous strain, as it was anyway even before the pandemic. This virus can still get you, the vaccine is some protection but do not think for a minute that we are safe, because the evidence shows we are not and wont be for a long time! 

Stay well

 I have another question? Why is no news reported anymore? Why do I want to know that Adele has released new music when there are so many more important stories happening around the world? Why are the opposition not thumping the table and shouting to the rooftops over this governments behaviour? 

This trumped up panic over Xmas, is a nonsense, so you won’t have all the normal trimmings maybe there will not be enough presents, perhaps a tree will not be available, if these things are concerning you then I think you have missed the point of the festival in the first place! I am all for a celebration and people enjoying themselves but really, is it that big a deal?  From what I have seen there appears to be little shortage of anything and certainly not toys! And I object in October, when even our packet of tea has a Christmas label on it! 

It is no wonder many are turning away from engaging with politics, or bother with the news. When little is reported that is good news and a lot of news is not reported at all, what is the point? Many have decide, understandably, to not take any notice and just get on with there lives and I confess that even I am coming to that conclusion! We have to look after ourselves and reading about just what is going on in the UK, is enough to send you screaming into the night! 

It is difficult to “switch off” after a lifetime of engaging but I think it is better for our mental health, I am not suggesting we divorce ourselves completely from our responsibility as a citizen but it is tempting to do so! The people of this country must hold our leaders to account and I for one will always do so, after all if we do not, who will? Having said that I am trying to “back off”, it’s a difficult thing to do when there is so much injustice!

Stay well

Can you imagine the restraint I am exercising in order not to comment on the latest damning report on our government?

Any way moving on what shall we discuss today? We are debating the merits of swapping our two cars for one electric one? At present full electric vehicles are expensive and the range still not that good. Having said that for us we do not need a large range we hardly use the cars as it is. One has to be careful, as the speed you drive at, ultimately dictates the full mileage range of the car. To get the maximum range you have to drive at a steady speed under 50mph. The future has to be about riding ourselves of fossil fuels, the will not last forever and the environmental problem is well documented and needs no further comment here. I am not convinced electric is the long term answer and I know that many alternatives are being worked on such as Hydrogen. I wonder about the environmental impact of the manufacturing process of electric? It is all very well having an environmental end product but if the production, is not just as “clean”, it rather defeats the object?

We have to all be responsible  for our planet no matter how little our individual contribution seem. If collectively, we all try it must have an effect? 

Stay well

I have a question? Let me preface it by saying I know times change. We are less formal and more relaxed in our social interaction, which is as it should be but when did the young stop being respectful to their elders? I understand that respect has to earned. When I was young (admittedly a long time ago) we were taught to have respect for our elders and treat them with deference. It was a natural respect born of the fact that they were older and had simply lived longer. I am not suggesting the young are beholding to us (indeed I have written many times how we have let them down and especially the mess that is Brexit, after only 54% of those who voted took us out) no certainly they have a lot to hold us to account for. The question is one I pose simply to understand the attitude of those who are  younger, to what is now, a much larger ageing population? I do not interact much with the younger generation since I retired. In my last job at Curry’s there were many youngsters working there often on a part time basis. A few were hard working and interested in the job but most seemed to be there simply because they needed to earn some money and did as little as possible and only when they had to. They were lazy and disinterested and although one or two were prepared to listen, many seemed to care little about the knowledge that could be passed on. One or two had far greater knowledge on specific subjects especially computers but that was to be expected, technology is largely in their hands. I found them to be uneducated in particular about history or the world and especially about politics (having said that at their age I had no interest in politics either) They were woefully ignorant about many things, perhaps my expectations were to high! Let me clear, I am not saying they were stupid, quite the reverse most were highly intelligent and had studied or were studying at University. They just lacked any real interest in the world in general. There are many younger people who are interested in the world and do engage in it and many, I am sure who have a deep respect for their elders but the prevailing attitude from my experience is one of a “couldn’t care less” attitude, which saddens me! In the end I suppose that attitude is one that we, their elders have given them and lets face there are precious few examples of anyone older to whom they can look up to in public life!

Stay well

To my surprise the flu jab kicked in last night and made me feel wretched. sleepless night whilst fighting for bed space with Madame Roxalanna. Usually I remain unaffected by vaccinations but this one suddenly crept up on me. Still better to have some protection than none. 

I have made my views very clear regarding vaccines and especially the Covid vaccines. I think everyone should have the jab. I have read many of the conspiracy theories and anti-vax propaganda and it is all nonsense! I understand the fears but some of the rubbish that has been written has been irresponsible and just not true. There are some genuine health risks and there will always be people who for what ever reason will react badly. That would be true of any vaccine. Covid 19, is a seriously invasive virus and has killed many hundreds of thousands. The infection rate continues to be high, especially among the young people. What we find hard to believe, in our country where the vaccine rollout has been good why we still have such a high infection rate, even if the deaths have significantly dropped? We must not become complacent, just because the restrictions have been lifted and we appear to be returning to “normal”. Wendy and I still wear a mask when we go shopping and in Crete, it is still mandatory to wear one in the shops, however the policing of it is lax and it is often ignored! 

I support your individual choice not to have the vaccine but don’t agree. We are not protecting just ourselves but all. We have seen far to many examples of those who rejected the vaccine end up in hospital and die, along the way saying they wished they had had it! Indeed the notion that you would not protect yourself seems a perverse selfishness. Would you truly reject a protection or even a cure against other potentially fatal diseases or conditions?

As for those who believe god will save them, it reminds me of the story of the man on the roof of his house because of flood, two guys appear in a row boat and say they can help him, he says no god will save him. A motor launch comes by to help but he remains on the roof and says god will save him. Finally a helicopter hovers above and they urge him to grab the ladder and climb, no he says god will save me! Well he drowns and standing before god he asks why he did not save him? God says what do you mean I sent a row boat, a launch and a helicopter!

Stay well

I was going through Kettering town yesterday and the God shouters, as I like to call them were out with their table full of religious pamphlets and continually spouting their nonsense in an effort to persuade people to follow whichever denomination they are? I have no objection against anyone who believes in a God and has a faith that comforts and helps them through life, providing they don’t try to impose their views on others. I was tempted to engage with these two middle aged men in order to understand why they felt the need to stand in the street preaching but I knew i would get nowhere and it would probably get heated! 

There should be no word for those who do not believe in any god. The norm should be those who do believe, providing proof of a gods existence, rather than than the other way round. I suspect there are as many non-believers as there are believers but Atheists , by definition, don’t preach about their beliefs. I’m staggered that there is even a debate about the existence of a god, when is has clearly been proved by science, of the impossibility of a supreme being. There is money to be made and people to control, power to lose, so it perpetuates and continues to con people into believing. 

As one of my heroes, Richard Dawkins says, your religion is largely an accident of birth. Depending on where you are born dictates whether you are Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish etc: 

For me the idea that there is a better life beyond death, seems to be a ridiculous notion and can curb living life to the full. We only have one life, it is beyond hubris to think you could live forever in the grace of a god! 

There are those who believe that if you have lived a life of sin and/or committed terrible crimes, you will go to the fires of a hell. Where you will be tortured for eternity. Don’t get me wrong there are many people who deserve such treatment and indeed the idea that they could be, is not a bad one but it is a manipulation for  putting fear into believers to get them to follow the “righteous” path! It does have a weird juxtaposition with a god who supposedly loves you, that an alternative place exists for those who do wrong! It’s not much of an advert for all forgiving supreme being? 

If you follow a particular religion and believe in god and it brings you comfort then fine, just don’t try and persuade anyone else! I am not trying to tell you your wrong (you are) just pointing out, from my perspective, how contradictory and unbelievable it all is! There is much to be admired in much of the life rules, from many religions around the world, they are just common sense and often specific to the region they originate from, for health and wellbeing.

Follow your god if that’s your thing, just allow me to follow my own belief!

Stay well

I am retiring from further comment on our government. I am sick of my own moaning and intend to live a life free of the constant criticism I have been giving them. It is too tiring, especially as not a day goes by when they have not done or said something so outrageous that it is impossible not to! 

There actually is no need because if you have any sense at all you will by now have realised how appalling they are!

No doubt this will be a temporary hiatus as they are bound to ignite my ire and I will not be able to resist but I am going to try!

Stay well

 How dare our deluded PM now try to tell us that the current problems besetting our country is what we had to expect from Brexit. The unashamed bollocks this man spouts when it suits him is beyond belief. Here is a man who jumped on the Brexit bandwagon simply because he saw it as a way of grabbing power and becoming PM, a position he hungered for with undisguised ambition and a position he is completely unsuitable for. A man who among others in the Brexit campaign promised all sorts of economic independence and advantages and whilst the Global pandemic blue a large size hole in any countries future plans, what do we have, well I hardly need to tell you, do I! 

Farage and his UKIP party put the Eurosceptics in the Conservative party into a frenzy whilst stirring up fear and xenophobic rhetoric and Cameron running scared lost his nerve and pandered to a minority baying for a referendum. The irony is that we were the second most powerful force within the EU, with no Euro and a veto over anything we did not like. Had we held our nerve we could have wrought change from within and help move forward, the largest world trading block, into the future. Half the country still rejected this madness and now sit bereft of their European rights and citizenship, having been repeatedly told to stop moaning and get on with it. Well are you enjoying the sunlit uplands of post Brexit prosperity?

Now Boris, tells us through glib slogans and patriotic rhetoric that we will march into a bright future of higher wages and country that has equality for all no matter where you live. what world is this deluded, lying idiot living in? the North/out divide will not be solved by “levelling up” after decades of destroying communities, years of austerity and a bias towards the South East that will never be changed! The only people who the conservative government will help are their mates and donors, their elite, privileged lives no nothing of the way most of us live our lives. He promises economic prosperity on one hand whilst the Tories raise N.I and hand out pathetic wage increases to those who did the  most to keep us healthy and supplied. 

What are “skilled” workers, is the immigrant who picks our fruit any less skilled than a engineer, simply because of what they do? How does he think someone re-training is going to find time to do it, whilst they still have to make a living or work the “longer “ hours to make up for the extra tax they are taking. Are they not supposed to have a life? They are thousands upon thousands of people without whom this country would grind to a bigger halt than already is! Boris and his group of right wing ministers are sadly so out of touch, they are unwilling, unable or just to plain ignorant to understand the damage Brexit has caused! As for our Home Secretary, this is a woman who borders closely to being a Facist. I urge you to read her bio, it does not make pleasant reading.

The money required to ease the burden, from the consequence of the pandemic must of course be paid for. We cannot magic money up out of nowhere, even if it seems the Tories managed to do so for so many of their “friends” during the last two years with favoured contracts and mismanaged projects. 

We have been governed by decades of poor government, from Thatcher, through Blair and Brown and now another ten years of misery under a Conservative lead country, culminating in the worst of decisions and now controlled by the worse government we have ever had and the most inept PM of all time. 

This is our country, riven by division and inequality, I fear there is worse to come but I remind optimistic that the British people will come together and do what we always seem to, survive!

Stay well

Oh joy, we return later today to the home fires, that is Britain. As always, our time here has gone to quickly and as always has been fabulous. Friends, sun, good food and lots of laughing! We spent a great last evening with our Cretan “family” at one of our favourite places and the love and friendship shown to us is a treasure. The only downside has been the constant discussion of events unfolding back in the U.K. , which I have written about almost everyday of the three weeks of our stay. 

I have downloaded two other sources of news coverage as the BBC pathetic, weak, reporting has become intolerable. Their cosy non confrontational fear of upsetting a government, who clearly have them under their control, has tarnished their once proud independence. 

We return but with little enthusiasm. Our country is divided, unhappy, fragile and no longer a place where fair mindedness and liberal freedom can flourish! Countries always change, nothing stays the same but I no longer recognise a Britain that is respected and envied. I am not nostalgic, I do not hanker for past days, nor do I wear rose tinted glasses, I simply despair at the direction we are going in, supposedly guided by a government whose mandate is effectively a dictatorship and cares little for the vast majority of it citizens!

Stay well

 We will be returning home tomorrow and what sort of country will we be returning to? You would think listening to the Conservatives conference that we are heading towards an bright future full of promise and prosperity for all! All evidence to the contrary. Prosperity will as always benefit those who have and not those who do not! Society cannot “level up” unless the balance is tipped so far over and the wealthy are actually sharing. This is generalisation and it is not a simple equation. Who will do all the jobs that have to be done in order for everything to work? This government does not understand the fundamental way our workforce operates! If a hospital Porter retrains for a better job because they don’t get a living wage, who then does their job? It is nonsense to espouse the idea that we can retrain for higher paid jobs the jobs people are already working have to be done! Naturally the simple answer is for those jobs to be paid more! Under our current economic model this will not happen, far from a time of unprecedented wage rises, wages have not kept pace with inflation. Boris says nothing matters but this “metric” he says whatever pops into his head in an effort to appear clever and Prime Ministerial, only to end up looking anything but and indeed just looking like a bumbling moron! You should watch some of his tweets about Build back better! They are cringingly embarrassing and beyond belief, I urge you to find his Twitter feed to see your PM, you will not believe it! I was speechless! 

My hope is that our people will tire of this man and finally see him for the clown he so obviously is. The alternative is not wonderful but it has to be more palatable than this horrific bunch of privileged out of touch, right wing, tossers!

My greatest fear is they won’t!

Stay well

 On the eve of the Conservative Party conference it is a good time to reflect on their last ten years in power. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! That’s my reasoned well though out opinion, your welcome! 

I’ve often portrayed Boris as a bumbling idiot, which does him a grave disservice, in truth he is a very dangerous man whose agenda is set to establish his grip on power and curb any right we have to protest or legally challenge his government. I am at a loss what to say anymore about the Tories, if there isn’t sufficient evidence by now to understand how they mismanaging just about everything then I don’t know how to persuade you of how completely unfit they are to govern! Before you counter with all the things they did during the last two years because of Covid, they had no choice, their hand was forced. 

The only place where no one will admit that the current cause of our problems is Brexit is here! Everywhere else they report it as the single largest reason for our shortages. We have two choices and I leave it to you which one you choose, keep fighting, writing, protesting or ignore it all and just try to live your life. Personally I’m beginning to lean towards the latter!

Stay well

On a brighter note, no just kidding, there is no good news, sorry! Glad you voted for Brexit, happy to reject the vaccine, delighted to be a citizen of the stupidest country on the planet, governed by a bunch of clowns? I am at a loss to understand how even people who cannot ignore the mess we are in, still support this idiot? No other country in Europe is experiencing what is happing in Britain, in spite of the constant reference by minister that there are shortages across the continent? This maybe be true but there is only one country that is struggling, us! We are in Greece, a country that has been through economic turmoil, the like of which we have never suffered and yet never were there the problems we are having and we should know we’ve been coming for 17 years! The hubris of this government is staggering as we lurch from one mismanagement to another, the poor get the rough end and the rich get further away and richer, bolstered by their mates in government! We are a joke and our neighbours must laughing up their collective sleeves, as we continue to prove the foolishness of “Britain’s bright future in the sunlit uplands” As for “Levelling up” this government would not know one end of a spirit level from the other! It will never happen but wouldn’t it be refreshing if they just admitted they made a giant fuck up of the whole thing and actually asked the people what we wanted to do? Unfortunately most Brits would not have a clue and the rest would spend to much time arguing. We have become our own worse enemy, so divided and bitter, we no longer actually work as a nation. If this all sounds doom and gloom, well I cannot apologise, I have felt this way for some time and even though I try to be positive, the daily tsunami of bad news has almost eroded my usual optimism, to where it barely registers any more.I want to be proud of our country and not have conversations where I shrug and laugh with resignation at the state of Britain. 

Sadly the problems just seem to increase and judging by my latest insurance renewal quote so do the prices!

Stay well

Wendy and I, sitting here in Crete, are not encouraged to return to the U.K. Each morning as we read the news it is nothing but bad. We certainly have no desire to return to a country, which appears to be in chaos? It is evident that some of these issues are a global problem but it is evident that for Britain, the combination of Brexit and Covid has caused an huge strain on both our economy and our people. We are not alone, the pandemic is world wide and every country has suffered but for a country as “advanced” and wealthy as ours, we appear to have quite quickly and far to easily fallen apart! The reasons are both simple and complicated but listening to the contradictory explanations and meaningless rhetoric, you would think that nobody has a clue , why it has happened? Talk, as they say, is cheap, from this distance it appears that the action is far to slow and full of political manoeuvring. As with all crisis, the reasons are many but it seems to me there is far to much discussion and precious little urgency in doing something, anything, about it! Introducing even more legislation is pointless, bring the army in should have been mobilised immediately, though some training had to be factored. On the upside, being unable to drive our cars will help the government meet its carbon targets! As for temporary visas, well need I repeat myself.

We have faced bigger crisis and at a time when we were nowhere near as advanced as we are now! Still it seems with all our progress, humans go into panic mode at the slightest hint of shortages.

Stay well