Each morning I sit bewildered and shaking my head as I read yet more about the situation in our world. The overwhelming feeling is helplessness and despair. We write our small meaningless comments on the world around us, fully expecting someone of a different opinion to contradict what we say, some getting extremely vitriolic. In the comfort of suburbia it is easy to have ready solutions, as you sit in the warm comfort of your own kitchen, you wonder if they could only listen to you, if only you had a platform that gave you access to those in power, you could talk some sense into them all! Perhaps it is better not to care, perhaps one should cut yourself off from any news or report. Ignorance could be bliss! 

I have hope and as the old joke goes it is, bob hope, no hope and fuck all hope! Really I do try to keep some optimism that eventually we will, as history shows, come out of this nasty, violent period and we may settle into some kind of “peace”! There are so many issues and problems facing just our own country. One can understand the West’s reluctance to get involved in any meaningful way. Usually when we have it has caused nothing but chaos and turmoil that has repercussions for decades. We no longer have the appetite to police the world and when we have, we usually fuck it up! 

We could confront Putin? We could put a stop to the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza? I suspect the home audience would not be happy if we did, our countries have suffered to many losses trying to stop conflict!

I do not claim to know the answer or even any great understanding of the issues but one thing I am sure of, naive as it might sound, surely it easier to try to create peace and live together, than what we read each and everyday?

Stay well

£240 million “given” to Rwanda and not a single person sent there! It’s a disgrace, an outrageous waste of money that could have been spent on far more important issues! This ridiculous, illegal, stupid plan, has no merit, no humanity and no chance! Had the government,  spent this money on improving and speeding up the processing of immigrants, so as they could know their future or be rejected,  for legitimate and legal reasons! Instead we have the worst of all worlds, peoples stuck in limbo, a plane to send them to Rwanda, patently unworkable and a much needed work force that could contribute and pay taxes “housed” in poor conditions unable to do anything. Why , why, why, is this government so fixated on a policy that most of the public do not support and view as intolerant in the extreme? They say it will stop the “boats” (which the winter weather has effectively done anyway) but it will not. The only way to “control” immigration and/or stop the boats is to address the fundamental problems but the world’s powers seem unable, unwilling or incapable or helping to do this! 

When the general election is finally called, if you vote for this Conservative Party, then all your voting for is more of the same and we already know what a mess that has caused

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After 13 almost 14 years of Conservative government, can you name one thing that has improved or to put is another way, not gone to shit? No government is perfect or even necessarily competent but the Tories have taken mismanagement, incompetence, lies, deviance and corruption, to levels, never seen before in British politics. Politics is a dirty game, full of ambition, backstabbing and for some an easy way of lining their pockets or making sure their mates profit. Sweeping as that is, we know there are genuine MPs who care and struggle to do their best for their constituents and the country. It has become so complicated, so full of bureaucracy, red tape, that it must seem at times impossible to get anything done! Legislation isn’t always easy to get accepted, after all that is what a parliamentary vote is for and even if the it gets through it is often difficult or unlikely to be enacted or used. 

Let’s take the hideous policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. I hope I am right in writing that most people in the UK see this a s a monstrous, unfair and mad way of dealing with a problem that this govt. in particular, despite their declared aim, has failed to address in any meaning full way. Whatever you may think of immigrants, it is obvious that our present system is not fit for purpose and all this govt, has succeeded in doing, has made it ridiculously complicated! Surely it is in the interests of no one to have so many people waiting interminably to find out their fate. Unable to work, unable to function as a normal person, can’t go forward and no going back! It seems this has become a huge problem throughout Europe and has been a big reason, for the prominence of right wing populism in a number of countries, many of whom we have always believed were never likely to have such parties rise to prominence. As usual the fundamental issues that cause much of this, is never addressed. We only have to look across our globe to see the damage being caused and understand the desire of people to move some where they hope they can live a decent and safe life. Would we not do the same if it was happening to us? The world is shifting and unless we understand there are many factors that cause movement of people, climate change, war, ethnic rivalry, famine, persecution and much more, until we, collectively start to except that this is now an unstoppable problem and that we can only solve it by working together, the better off we will all be!

Stay well

Never a week passes without some new crisis or unspeakable violence. I was born in 1952 and spent my formative years in the sixties. The optimism and harmony seemed palpable and although horrible things were going on, The Cold War, Vietnam etc. we “baby boomers” thought we could make the world a nicer more inclusive place! For a few brief moments it seemed we could succeed but like so much it was a false dawn and now as we reach old age, it seems we could not have done a better job of making the world worse. 

The litany of poor decisions and bad policies are endless. Humans have made enormous progress in the short span of time I have lived, probably more than at any other time in history. Technology’s, medicine, health care, education and much more has advance at a huge rate and spread further than ever before. The”west” no longer dominates, Asian advance has radically changed the way we trade and do business. We were for more than 50 years part of a large trading block and much more as part of the EU, which sadly was unnecessarily torn from our grasp by lies and fear and an antiquated desire to be a “sovereign” state! What fools we are, for even one second, to think we can go it alone in today’s global markets. Nobody talks about it, well certainly not in Parliament but we all know it has been a disaster and our country has suffered. 

There is no confidence in the government and voting Tory would be like shooting yourself in the foot and yet we know so many will still waste their vote on this busted, divided, mismanaged party. So we rumble on, more confused, less safe and with a permanent sense that it all could have been so different and maybe, just maybe, it still can?

My generation has a lot to answer, I can only tell you we meant well but after all we are  all flawed ! I still have optimism but it’s damn hard to hang onto!

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I have been moved to write one of my periodical blogs. There is little I can write on the state of our nation and as for the rest of the world, it is a fearful place full of leaders who are bent on telling their people only what they should be afraid of!

But let me get on to my main thrust, on which I will not be alone, Suella Braverman. In my long life I have experienced many hideous, unfit, divisive, repulsive people, not all of whom were or are politicians but this woman is one of the worst fucking ones ever! Her rhetoric is bad enough, her lack of shame or any vague sympathy is a crime. She is our Home  Secretary, a position that essentially governs the rule of law in Britain. This is not a woman who is pandering to the right wing of her party but is firmly so right wing she is on the tip of it! In previous period she would have rightly been labelled a facist. The Tory party has many unfit and repulsive members (not all of whom are in Parliament) Braverman is by far the worst. She has all the charm of a warthogs arse, with a smarmy expression and total disregard for the rights of anyone. If she had her way nobody would be aloud to protests, say or even think anything that might be construed as critical of anything she deems as unacceptable! She wants to be sacked, she sees it as a position from which she can gain the leaders mantle after the inevitable demise of Sunak! What a disaster that will be should her plans come to fruition. Imagine a Conservative Party lead by this hateful woman? Mind you it could be lead to the complete destruction of this tired divided party and that would be delightful!!!

Stay well 

It is the supreme irony that the Israeli government, desperately stung by their intelligence failure, are now carrying out genocide against the Palestinians. The Nazis tried to eradicate the Jews in Europe and murdered 6 million. Now it seems that Israels government are hell bent on doing the same. Yes they were attacked, yes many of their people were killed and kidnapped, it was and is a tragedy. The whole situation in this part of the Middle East is a powder keg that can and does explode at any given moment. Lebanon is a mess. Syria is still a war zone . Libya still a troubled state! Iran backing everyone and anyone. The Saudi’s not helping with their destruction of Yemen. Most if not all of it, the historical fault of the West and primarily the UK! We cannot turn the clock back. The lack of condemnation of the Israeli by almost  all of the world, is a shocking failure. A further irony is that the majority of the Israeli people do not back Netanyahu and his right wing govt. He has backed himself into a corner by getting the support of hard line ministers in order to retain power and now he has to acquiesce to their demands! I have no idea how this will be resolved and it saddens me, that as always, so many innocent people, on both sides, who just want to live their lives in peace are the victims!

Here is what I don’t get, it is obvious that Trump is a criminal, we know it, the world knows it, he knows it and yet in the USA, he is still allowed to go about his business and still campaign to become President! Innocent until proven guilty must be upheld  but here is a man who is being pursued by the law relentlessly and yet he remains a massively divisive figure in American public life and should he be elected for a second term a huge danger to the world! The USA is a sad pathetic shadow of it former self and unless the people get a grip on their country it will only get worse! The need credible younger candidates in both parties and not these old men!

I am not ignoring the shocking state of our country. There is little left to say about that I have been saying for years, one cannot only hope it can and will get better but I may not be around to see it!

Stay well

 I have every sympathy for the people of Gaza and frankly I have no time for the Israel response to being attacked. The Palestinians are not Hamas and Hamas does not give a fuck about them, they are fanatics who want Israel destroyed and if their own people get caught in the crossfire so be it! All Hamas care about is going to what they believe is heaven and damn the consequences for anyone else! 

There have been big marches showing support for the Palestinians and there is nothing wrong with that but if only the British people could show the same passion about their own politics! In the middle is reading Rory Stewarts book Politics on the Edge one can understand why! Whilst his view is a personnel one, it makes you wonder why anyone would want to be an MP in the first place. Our conception of being represented and therefore “listened to” is a fantasy, they do what the whips tell them and woe betide you if you do not support the government. It seems most new MP’s are desperate for promotion and that it hangs solely on your ability to support the govt. no matter what your own view might be and even if you vehemently opposed to their legislation! So much for independent democracy! One would be naive to believe otherwise but it reveals the deep uncaring nature of those at the top as they pursue their never ending quest for power and to implement an agenda that almost always has nothing to do with the facts or the issues involved.

It is easy to condemn our people for showing little interest in our own political establishment and there are many who are very engaged . I sincerely hope that younger people are more aware of their country. You can understand why we are sick and tired of our political system, apathy towards our politicians is understandable, particularly with the lot we have now, with not a single statesman like figure among them. Our choice is between the bland and the blander!

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 What a world! Peace an ephemeral ghost of dreams! Whilst it is terrible what Hamas and Hiz Bola have perpetrated against Israel, what did they expect after all the destruction Israel has caused on the West Bank? Did the Israelis think they could carry on with impunity and have no fear of reprisal? It is a tragedy but one could easily argue that it was brought on by their own arrogance and constant aggression towards Palestinians! 

The West naturally throws their hands up and almost unequivocally supports Israel, in spite of the many reports over recent time of all the atrocities carried out against Palestinian. The Israeli government is extremely “right” wing and their hard line attitude has hastened this conflict and now many lives have been lost. Their response, perhaps understandable, is to retaliate in as an aggressive a manner as possible. 

We a have never ending number of conflicts, wars, fighting and simmering tensions, al over the world. We are seemingly unable to learn from history! The Ukraine war is stumbling into another winter, with neither side able to make any progress. Discontent is the prevailing atmosphere in many countries in Europe, not least our own, as the interminable Conservative govt. clings to power and pronounces more stupidity every day and the doubles down when challenged, which happens far to little. I am rapidly com to the conclusion that Sunak, is actually worse than the four PMs that preceded him and when you consider two were Johnson and Truss, that is saying something!

On a brighter note we are enjoying being grandparents, Hanna is 15 months today. She is an absolute delight, although Wendy and I flop down exhausted after our two days a week of caring for her!

Stay safe

I have not written for some time simply because I am so angry and frustrated with everything that I no longer know what to say! I have spent much time bemoaning the state of our politics over the interminable time the Tories have remained in power, feeling as though I have been howling into a vacuum! You can’t believe that our country can get any worse and yet it does. 

The coronation this weekend is an insult to all of those struggling, what a colossal waste of money to inaugurate a King and frankly who cares. It is just more shit to empower the privileged. An accident of birth is the only reason we have this family and if they really cared for our country, as the profess to do, they would show a modicum of sensitivity to the plight of their citizens. We are governed by the privileged, the wealthy and they only care about maintaining their position. 

I pointed out right at the beginning, that Boris was only supporting the leavers at the referendum because he saw it as a route to No 10! Now suddenly everyone is surprised that he did not really support leaving or that he was totally useless as a PM! There is not a decent Tory minister or candidate for leader and Sunak is only there to take them through to the net election, which no matter who you support, we can only hope they lose massively. 

It will take years and years to unravel all the damage the Tories have done, if indeed it can be? I am not convinced by Starmer or his party but anything is better than another Conservative govt. We are faced with an unpalatable choice but Tories out as to be the main priority! 

Stay well

There is only one conclusion you can come to………………it’s all bollocks! On and on the news drags everyday with yet more nonsense and such unbelievable shit, you’d think we were living in an alternate universe where reality has folded in on itself and spewed out nasty horrible people who think they can dictate to the rest of us. The sad thing is they are and we let them, our pathetic and feeble voices drowned out by those that shout the loudest!  A depressing summation of our current status. Okay there are good things happening it’s not all doom and gloom but it sure seems that way. We can only hope that the despicable personages who have loomed large in the headlines for the last few years are defeated, in some cases jailed and we can have some sensible balance back in power. I am not hopeful. The problems are so large it will take years to even scratch the surface of recovery! 

I am sorry to sound so negative and depressing but each day I read the “news” and am exhausted by the litany of hopelessness and stupidity that is reported (or not reported!)  Never has there been a cast of characters that you just want go away and never darken our history again. Not just in our country where the list is long but throughout the world. What did we do to deserve this lot? Did we get too comfortable, too complacent, too apathetic, too caught up in our own lives, all of the above.? At the very least we should expect our government to look after those who need help most, not screw all of us and help the wealthy . Okay it’s the Conservatives and we should know better, which begs the question why? Why do so many vote for the uncaring bastards?

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Won’t vote for the Conservative Party? Not that impressed with the opposition? Feel as though no political party represents you? Or there is one it is not going to win enough seats to make any difference? Finding it difficult to view politics  with any trust or truth? All of the above? It is difficult to comprehend but I would advance the theory that a vast majority of our citizens fell the same way. How has it come to this? How did we end up living in a “democracy” where we we have no say in our own system? We are lead by figures who have little or no understanding of the lives of the people they govern or represent! Yes that it is a broad sweep of a statement! By the time any help is is given to us it is already too late and it is never enough. We see our taxes being wasted day after day, spent on useless projects or on projects that never happen. The Tories are appeasing us with money for potholes! Assuming the councils are checked for spending this money on doing that, it is an impossible task. We all know how bad the disrepair of the roads are and it has been going on for years and years. We have all seen the pathetic attempts to fill in the holes and how quickly the holes reappear! Since the snow there is a pothole near the main Kettering roundabouts that you would need a rope and climbing equipment to get out of. 

This is minor compared to the myriad of issues that beset our island. The list is long and will grow longer. We live in a country where the prevailing mood is one of anger , despair and unfortunately apathy. Who can blame us for being apathetic, we are exhausted by the continual drop in our standards and services. We just about have enough energy to keep our lives going! We we do protest the news media no longer reports it of gives it minimal coverage. Apathetic we may be but I have a feeling that the current unrest has only just started? 

Wendy and I have been continuously ill since the beginning of 2023 as all the bugs that were had taken a back seat to Covid. The worse one is the “stomach” bug. to say it was debilitating would be an understatement. The head cold has left me with a dry cough I can’t shake off ! Yet I am still better off than most and certainly anyone fleeing hunger, persecution, racial cleansing, war, or any of the many other hateful things that make you abandon your home. I am not going to write what I think of our governments immigration bills , suffice it to say I am with Gary on that one. What a storm over nothing that was!

Stay well

 I have not written for a while due to illness and sheer distress at what is going on in this country and the world in general. I’ve felt so helpless that I could hardly bring myself to write for fear of filling the page with just a string of profanities and yet again expressing my deep hatred of the government. It has become so tedious and yet not surprising the each and every day they do or say or propose something, anything, everything that is obnoxious or just a plain lie. 

I sure those who have read my blogs will understand that commenting on the Lineker situation is odious, my view on free speech is well known and naturally he has my full support. I have been very critical of the BBC for a long time and this is just more evidence of an organisation that has passed it’s sell by date and rapidly descending further into becoming a tool of the government propaganda machine! They have massively underestimated the solidarity of ex-footballers and the strength of support they would give to Gary. After all this could happen to any of them if the employer deemed they had written something vaguely controversial! It is censorship, plan and simple and they have seriously misread the anger of the public as to how they have reacted! There are so many more important issues going on in the world which are not even being reported. Israel is using ethnic cleansing to destroy Palestinians, Georgia’s government has had to back down with their support for Putin or face a rebellion, Putin is still bombing Syria and the myriad of stuff going on in some African countries is never ending! Do we get reports on these and other world news? If we do you have to search hard for it. 

I am considering banning the BBC TV and refusing to pay my licence fee. I watch little of their content though ironically I do watch MOTD, however these days highlights of all the Premier League matches can be found on You Tube so it is easy enough to see them. Of course as my darling wife has just reminded me I would also have to stop listening to the Radio programmes I like! 

Stay well

I am mystified, most of the time, I cannot wrap my mind around the events that continues to happen and the comments that splash all over the media everyday? I shake my head in disbelief as yet another stupid, idiotic statement is made and I wonder how any of these people ever got the oxygen of a public forum? I know the is a wide breath of human personality but I am perplexed how so unsuitable ones   rise to positions of prominence? How do people get duped into voting for them if they are standing for any election? What is the correlation between being entirely unsuitable to do a job and yet getting promoted to do it? I am no angel or necessarily the most intelligent person but I am damn sure I have the brains to do a  better job than most of them. I feel we are living in some alternate reality where chaos reigns supreme and the world is run by fools and liars who have nothing but contempt for the people they profess to represent! Worse is the knowledge that we are not listened to or really have any control! I sit with Wendy and almost everyday as we peruse the news, we exclaim that we commented on a story months ago saying, that is exactly what  would happen. If we can predict, then why can’t those who are supposedly surrounded by all sorts of experts do so? We have become a reactive country and no longer understand the pro-active! We have been following for so long, dragged kicking and screaming by events we seem unable to control, that nobody knows how to lead! What a shambles! Do you have the distinct feeling, that Covid aside, most of the last decade or more could and should have been much much better? Do you like me think that we have so badly conned and mismanaged that any of us could have done a better job and things could be a lot better!

Stay well

Has Brexit been a success? The very loud answer is no! Since we left the EU can you think of one thing that has become better or is a success due to no longer being a member? Much has been written and said about this stupendously appalling decision , not least by me and most of it has been negative! As things have unwound we have come to see what a terrible mistake it has been and many of those who were firm supporters of this madness have now seen the error of their ways. Not all of our troubles are down to Brexit but I would hazard that the vast majority of them are! The Northern Ireland border is a typical example of the ridiculous situation we have placed ourselves in since “leaving” . The amount of problems engendered by going are too long to list here but we all know what they are. Nothing is a perfect or even a halfway decent way of being governed but the simple truth is that our “independence” was never at risk by being in, any more than any member. Enough people were fooled by the usual suspects into fearing stuff that was and never has been a threat. Can you honestly say we have are better off? Has one advantage that all those Brexiteers told us, come to pass? Now, should there ever come a time when we are united enough to ask to re-join, in some form, how do you think the EU will react? Would the welcome us with open arms back into the fold and just forget that we had left, not a chance. We certainly would not have the same influence and power within the block we enjoyed originally! We are now a tiny, weak, pathetic country whose trade and influence has waned into misery and divisiveness. 

This is the country you live in after 13 years of Tory governance. We will not even vaguely recover in my lifetime if indeed we ever will. Ironically, I have never been so well off since Brexit, although it has nothing to do with leaving. I still deeply resent loosing my European citizenship and the ability to travel freely throughout the EU. My plans were radically altered because you cannot reside for more than 90 days at a time in an EU state. To say we shot ourselves in the foot is an understatement. I hope you’re enjoying your independence?

Stay well

 I haven’t smoked since i was 32, which is 38 years ago. I grew up in a different time and we were not yet so aware of the dangers! Once my first son was born, that was it and I never smoked again. Naturally I became anti smoking and now can’t even stand the smell. What I fail to understand is vaping? What a waste, just a dying tobacco industry, way of continuing their profits, as smoking cigarettes declines. Why both are not banned is beyond me? I know it would not stop and be driven underground. It still generates substantial revenue for the government. Why do people want to engulf themselves in some concoction of sweet smelling smoke? More importantly why do they want me to be enveloped in their perfumed trail of puffed vapour? In Kettering there are at least 4 Vape Shops! There is now evidence that the youngsters are vaping as a fashion and of course, surprise , surprise it is not as safe as had been predicted. Surely it is obvious that inhaling any kind of smoke is not good for humans! Why are all the vape shop owners bearded hipsters?

So we are smack bang back into a Cold War, as Putin postures and threatens. In the 90’s as the old Soviet Union collapsed we lived with the hope that the West and Russian enmity would virtually disappear but Putin obsessive need to recover territory that he believes should be Russian has blown any chance of peace to bits! If he succeeds in Ukraine where will he go next? don’t think for a second he will stop at Ukraine. We have stop him, we have no choice. Nobody wants to fight him, nobody wants to contemplate the consequences but sanctions and empty threats will not deter him. He is bound and determined to continue. He cannot stop or all his power will evaporate. Lies and spin are being peddled and any hint of protest ruthlessly eradicated. I fear that worse times are ahead!

Stay well

What a shallow pathetic miserable apathetic country we have become! Our development has become static and moribund. What happened to our dynamism, ambition, drive and happiness. We languish in a fog of dread and muted hatred of our situation all engendered by our own stupidity and a ruling class that keeps us nailed down in case we do something they don’t like! Like most if you I am sick of our politics, it is a cesspool of dirty tricks, wasteful, mean, nasty and with few redeeming traits. The odd person who seems decent but generally speaking the poison seps into our politicians and the fall prey to the disease of being in a position of power. Starmer, whom I once had some hope for has become so fixated with the middle ground, so as not to upset anyone and loose, what should be a clear cut win at the next election, has forgotten that Labour is a socialist party with deep roots in working class Britain. I have said many times I am not a natural Labour voter but our main priority is to get rid of this disgusting Tory stranglehold and see them suffer a huge defeat. I am concerned that Starmer lack of policy and unwillingness to promote Labour values will drive people back to the status quo and continue to vote Conservative. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to write something positive about our politics, to say from once what a good job they are doing and how much it has improved my life. That they are really looking out for the “ordinary” people and we are living in with an enlightened government that understands what is needed to improve our country! Tell me the last time you read or heard positive news about them? We have become collectively miserable and our complaint quotes is through the roof. It is true that the British are a nation that likes a good moan (and I am living proof!!!!) but we are in a  “golden” age of complaining!

One last thing, today, I saw some of Question time yesterday, a home office minister was rattling on about the asylum seekers crossing the channel in small boats provided by the traffickers and saying that by tightening our stance on preventing people to come, we will stop their criminal trade. It made me laugh (not because it was funny)  criminals could care less about laws or blocking of routes, they are only in it for the money and will continue to take these peoples money no matter what the circumstances are! They could care less about rules and regulations, they are fucking criminals!. The only way to stop them is to catch them! I am sure this is being done but that is where the resources should be spent. Refuges, asylum seekers and criminal element will keep coming no matter the circumstances, if this is where they want to be! 

Stay well

 I joined an art gathering yesterday at the Kino Lounge in Kettering. A group of amateur artist who meet each month to compare notes, chat and drink coffee. It was no surprise that most if not all were, shall we say of a more senior age! They were kind enough to compliment my efforts. I did not see much of their art but as usual comments were expressed regarding their lack of confidence in their own ability, even though their pictures were good! Like many who draw and paint, in splendid isolation, it is easy to be hypercritical of your work. As you might expect I have no such qualms, I have no illusions that i am a great artist but that is no the point. Do you enjoy it? If the answer is yes then what does it matter how good or bad you are! I can assure any budding artist that with time and practice you will always improve. I have now completed 3 art courses on a site called Domestika. My skill level has increased immensely. Art is a therapeutic, meditative skill, which I can attest to as I have burnt the dinner twice while absorbed in a drawing! 

I would encourage anyone to draw, all you need is a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and you can start creating whatever comes into your mind. It could be a scribble or complex architecture, it does not matter. I have often just drawn a few random lines and then turned them into a patterned drawing. I would call myself a “gifted” doodler. You will be amazed that once you start, with an open minded attitude, you will soon be drawing on a regular basis.

Stay well

 It is quite remarkable how we have witnessed numerous Conservative MP’s involved in corruption and fleecing us the tax payer to line their own pockets. To the best of my knowledge not one of them has yet been prosecuted let alone sent to jail for these criminal acts? If it was an “ordinary” member of the public we’d have been banged up without hesitation. You can commit fraud and theft with impunity if you are an MP, no matter how often the facts are broadcast nothing happens! I would name all the culprits but it would be boring and the list is too long. It is beyond my understanding and yet in no way are any of us surprised! It is not exclusively limited to Tory politicians and I am not ignoring that others are guilty of misdemeanours, the temptation to dip into the filthy pool of greed is to great for many at their level to ignore. The proportion of millionaires in Parliament is way above the level in the rest of society. These wealthy men and women blame all the ills of the country on those who have much less and are just trying to live their lives the best they can. how dare they strike or ask for better conditions and pay? They are holding the country to ransom? It is easy to condemn when you have plenty and are getting a pay rise or an uplift in expenses every year! Yet there is a proportion of our electorate who vote Tory no matter what, I expect it from those who are protecting there own status but I fail to understand why ordinary working people do. I know the reasons are not always about standard of living and can range from tough on crime to keeping immigrants out and other reasons. It is baffling! Well there you are  a conundrum wrapped in a mystery clothed in an enigma! My mind is discombobulated by the whole messy nonsense! We seem incapable, unwilling or just plain apathetic to do anything about it?

Stay well 

 I am limiting my exposure to the news and social media platforms. I have bored with the content. The news is depressing and the social media platforms full of people, like me, who have nothing good to say and are stunned beyond belief at the nonsense generated. History will reflect this was a time of massive change in both social and political attitudes. Whilst we have generally become more enlightened, the same enlightenment has shone a light on those who hold every kind of prejudice  and twisted view. they want their 15 minutes of fame and are from the safety of a keyboard able to spout their vitriol and send it out into the world. This is not the first time I have written about this subject, I must have done so many times. There is a simple answer and an obvious one, stop looking at it! This is advice I have given often to those who moan and complain about stuff and yet I am loath to follow it myself! 

An iPad is such an easy thing to use and alongside the mobile phone a screen is always within easy reach. My phone is not used other than for its primary purpose, to speak to people. I do take photos and text but generally I don’t look at it, other than perhaps to read a book when out and about. Yet here I am again writing on this page, which I too will send out into the ether, brandishing my opinion, as though my sage like advice is the stuff of legend! I use this medium to clear my head of the all the crap running around, although I have become adept at switching it off. When drawing or riding a bile etc.  can be a meditative state and you think of little else other than what you are doing. I do have a habit when cycling of having a tune persistently going round in my brain and no matter what I try to substitute it with it won’t go away!  

We live in a mad world full of mad people and strange events but it has always been thus.

Stay well

 My darling wife and I have recently pondered on the absence of observation. For instance how often do you look up when walking through your town? If you do you will notice all sorts of architecture. The buildings in Kettering are very interesting, once a wealthy town the diversity of design is wide. Everything from large town houses to wonderful Victorian factories. We have spent a lot of time walking around the streets and the variation of design is huge. We have at the top of our road a massive church with a tall spire, against the background of a clear blue sky it is spectacular! There is a fifties built Bus garage around the corner and the station at the bottom of our road is a handsome building of the classic style. The town centre like so many, is tired and tatty, with a number of empty shops, a deserted cinema with the homeless camped on its entrance and of course the obligatory deserted M&S! I am curious as to why these days there are so many barbers, hairdressers and in Kettering, vape shops? We still have a library and it has recently had an extension. the original building is a large brick built building probably Victorian. If you go anywhere try to take in the architecture and always look up, you will discover a great deal of interesting facades. For instance we have been to Stamford a number of times, it is a wealthy town and its mixture of medieval , Georgian and Victorian architecture is an absolute delight. Typically built with the local sandstone, the local town streets have a solid look to them. 

We miss so much in our daily lives, don’t!

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 Will you vote in the next general election? Can you be bothered to make your mark in a voting system that does not actually elect those who get the most votes? First past the post is redundant and it certainly does not reflect the way votes are cast. It seems inevitable that we will get a Labour government, remind you of anything? If you are old enough and lived through the eighties into the nineties you may remember a certain Maggie Thatcher had been PM for some time and it all ended when John Major realised Britain was tired of more Conservative government. Resonate in any way? Tony Blair came in on a wave of popularity and much of the country cheered as they anticipated change for the better? He did some good things but ultimately he was a man who could slip under a snake wearing a top hat! 

The political merry-go-round spun again and in came a coalition, which ended up destroying the Liberal Democrat’s and sending Nick Clegg into the wilderness. We got Cameron and more austerity until his disaster, needing to pacify the Eurosceptics, in his party, leading to a referendum and his resignation based on the result. Since then it has been chaos as they desperately tried to impose Brexit. On the way it tripped up May and gave us Johnston, we all knew what he was like and yet! A massive majority has meant that no matter how disastrous our, corrupt, scandalised, sleazy or lying the Tories have been, they have retained power and imposed draconian policies that take away our rights. They have failed to live up to any of their “promises” and along the way all our lives have become worse. Not withstanding the pandemic, which they mishandled badly (I not sure any govt. would have handled it well) mired in one controversy after another, charges of bullying, ministers and PM fined, corruption on an industrial scale, we now have a situation where enough of us will send them packing, or so the polls suggest? The Labour opposition has been poor and they have not handled themselves well but the Conservatives have damaged themselves so badly that any opposition would look good by comparison! I do not envy Labour if they win, they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t! How do you reverse all those years of Tory destruction?  Starmer is playing a role, to be as uncontroversial as possible, not committing himself to to much, how can he, he and his party are not in power and until they get behind the wheel, they won’t know!

In my humble option we have to start the path back to rejoining the EU, they maybe corruption at the top and rules and regulations we don’t like but ask yourself has really been any better being out than in? Within we could have engineered change, we were after all, the second most powerful voice after Germany, that would no longer be the case as our economy is a shadow of the what it was before we left. the damage done will take years to repair assuming it even can be.

One last thing today, if I see another fucking word about Liz Truss and some kind of comeback I swear I am going to scream! She needed to fuck off and never be heard fo again. Mind I could name loads of Tory MP’s who need to do the same. How you doing Uxbridge!!!!!

Stay well

 Yesterday I accompanied my son and the lovely Hannah to a petting farm near Naseby. Full of “yummy” mummy’s and their offspring ( made me feel very old!!!) it had a menagerie of all sorts of creatures. Goats, Shetland ponies, Al packers, Llamas, more goats, pigs, rabbits, Angus cattle, turkey’s and much more. Hannah is only 6 months old so not quite able to get it yet, however my 38 year old son Adam enjoyed himself immensely. It took me back to when he was a toddler and we took him and his brother to see animals. It was delightful. There is a pleasure, that is hard to describe, of wheeling your grandchild’s pushchair, with your own child! Nothing unique about that I am not the first grandpa to feel like that. Hannah is the most well behaved, happy baby, hardly ever cries and seems to content all the time. We put on a baby swing for the first time, she did not seem too impressed but I pushed her gently backwards and forwards and it was a delight! There is little in the world these days that make you smile but animals will do it. I recommend everyone takes the time to see some, it will make your day.

We have a small family, very small, we could easily fit round an average size dinner table but I could not be happier that we do. After the trials and tribulations I hear about other families, who have a larger array of relatives, I am grateful. 

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 It is disturbing that each day, particularly since Johnston came to power, that  another Conservative MP and/or minister is mired in sleaze and scandal. I have written about this many times and am sick of the the sound of my own voice.  I have never expected any MP to be squeaky clean, they operate in an environment that has more temptation than almost any other. They are approached by all sorts of pressure groups and private companies and individuals, all of whom have some angle or agenda to sell. The further up the greasy pole you climb the more tempting and sleazy it becomes. This is not to make any kind of excuse for their behaviour or for dipping their noses in the trough! So many of them have philosophies so alien,  that we fail to understand how they were ever elected in the first place?  Worse we fail to understand why they retain their positions, unless the pressure from the media and social platforms reaches such a crescendo that it cannot be ignored. Yet there are still ministers and MP’s who retain their position how ever much is reported about their misdemeanours, in many cases proven ones! It is a merry-go -round of get sacked and then make a comeback as it appears is now being reported regarding Liz Truss? Wendy and I sit here wondering how such a dishonoured woman could possibly do so and yet we know that it could happen. Look at the disgraced Johnston parading himself around the world like some great statesman,  under the illusion that he is still the PM! 

I hope the projected win for Labour is real, not because I am a great supporter of their party or believe they can turn things around and improve our misfortunes but simply because a heavy defeat for the Conservatives would be wonderful. This Conservative Party needs a long time in the wilderness and hopefully should never be elected again after the damage that have caused and continue to perpetuate. They have become desperate and knowing that they are unpopular (to say the least) are reckless with the legislation they are passing after all why should they care anymore, they never have!

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Surely nothing highlights the gap in wealth more than the amount of money the Premier League has spent in January? At a time of the one of the worst cost of living crisis they spent £600 million! It is simply obscene! The disparity between those who pay to watch and the Premier League clubs themselves is a stark reminder of how wealth is distributed in this country. Most Premier clubs are owned by billionaires or  foreign Sheiks and princes. I have no objection of the players earning obscene amounts, that is the going rate. It is far removed from ordinary working people but they are not the ones who stack the pay structure although they are savvy enough to have agents who jack up their wage demands. You will never see a current Premier footballer who retires poor! Many professional sports Golf, Tennis, Formula 1, have wealth beyond anything that is imaginable to the average working person. Not everyone involved in those sports are rich or highly rewarded but there is a lot of money washing around. 

I got a reply to my enquiry to my MP Philip Hollobone who voted to allow water companies to keep pumping sewage in our rivers for the next 15 years. His reply was long and detailed, quoting lots of figures and percentages. I had to read it more than once to understand it and cut out the bullshit! Whilst he made some valid points the upshot is that private capitalism has triumphed once again over the health of our country. Yes there is a problem with too much sewage and how to treat and dispose of it but there are many proven solutions that can be used other than dumping it in our environment. Naturally these are costly and there in a nutshell is the problem, we could do it but it would cut into our profits and money for our shareholders! I have never had a reply, from an MP, that was not full of meaningless numbers and so called facts or that did not tow the party line. Never has anything brought into stark relief the gap between the public perception and the doctrine that politicians believe! It seems impossible that any one of them would actually express their own opinion even if they do not actually support the policy in question and that says everything you need to know about our MP’s.

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 Only one thing to write today. If Zahawi has been dismissed for breaking the Ministerial Code, then why have most of the front bench of government not also been sacked?

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 I have written many times that the world is a strange place full of strange people, odd behaviour and weird events! Is it as strange as we often think? There are now approaching 10 billion people inhabiting our planet, it comes as no surprise that the breath of human madness is so diverse. If we are not convinced by the evidence of our own eyes then surely history provides enough evidence of the bizarre and mad behaviour of the human race. That is the way it should be, explore your own mind and tell me there is not madness or the weird lurking there? We keep most of our “weirdness” in check. Too many cannot control their inner demons or perversions and so we have all the nastiness the we see and read about each day, shaking our heads in disbelief! It is difficult to understand the minds of those who perpetrate violent acts, other cruelties and acts of brutality. We try to rationalise and explain away their behaviour often based on the premise that we would never act like they have.I often have dark thoughts that surface with no intention of ever acting upon them but I wonder how smaller step it would be to actually do so? The mind is complex and often unfathomable, the final frontier. It is a place full of knowledge, fun, intellectual curiosity, love, hate, emotional turmoil, darkness, madness and every example of weirdness. 

We look at the behaviour of those we have in power and wonder what what the hell some people were thinking in order to allow them any where near high office? Even those who appear moderate can be seduced by the desire for power! Trump is about to launch his campaign to run for President in 2024. My mind cannot comprehend that he would be accepted by the Republican Party as their candidate. It makes me believe in mass hypnosis or brain washing that so many can still support this utter horror of a human being! It is bad enough we have had the bumbling corrupt bunch of useless twats in power in this country! We can only hope that the wheel will turn and good sense will prevail. 

The human mind, unpredictable, strange and wonderful!

Stay well

 It’s Friday and my turn to rant! It is remarkable that particularly since Brexit we have suffered a corrupt self-enriching government and Conservative Party that no civilised democratic country should have to deal with. Yet howl and shout as we might, no matter how many times they prove themselves to be unfit to govern, what happens? A few changes of leadership, resignations by the bucketload, the odd fine, a few MP’s so beyond the pale they have lost the whip but the same old faces change musical chairs and continue to be ministers or prominent figures! To say it is frustrating would be an understatement! It is as though no matter how appalling they are (and they are) we cannot get shot of them. Naturally I am all for the democratic process no matter how unfit ours currently is when it comes to elections but there have been times when I truly believe an American style shooting of the Tory benches might be the solution! I do not condone violence of any kind but this lot engender nothing but shame and hatred! Each day another Conservative MP makes some kind of crass statement that is so horrific and lacking in any kind of compassion that wonder how they ever got elected in the first place? My own MP is amongst over two hundred Tory MP’s who voted to allow Water companies to keep dumping sewage for the next 15 years!!!! Here is a party who boast about their “green” policies and yet they literally don’t give a shit about our rivers and beaches! 

It is easy to spew forth vitriol against this Conservative regime, they are such easy targets. No doubt if Labour were in power we would be shouting about all the things they were doing or not doing? Do not misunderstand that is not a defence of this government, they have no defence, they all should be utterly ashamed of the havoc they have reeked upon us. Even with the excuse of Covid and the devastation that caused their neglect has been monumental! 

It is no obvious that Brexit was a thinly disguised tactic to avoid the tax laws that the EU ways about to approve, which would have severely curtailed the wealthy Conservative base and many rich MP’s. What stronger evidence is there, than self-serving men and women who put their welfare first. If you believe that the Tories have ever cared for all its citizens then you have not been living in the same country as I have!

Stay well

At the risk of repeating myself (when have I ever!) it is fantastic how you really are never to old to learn. For those of you, like me who never considered themselves “academic” or “artistic”  it is never too late to start. I have found the last third of my life to be the most productive. I have discovered later in life talents that only briefly surfaced in my younger years. Admittedly I have the time to indulge in these activities. When you are in the first years of adulthood one is concentrating on earning and looking after ones family (if that is your path)! You have leisure time but it is limited and if you have children they become your priority. Do not misunderstand I would not change a thing. Family is the most important! I always knew I had some literary and artistic capability buried inside me but it has only flowered in the last 10 years or so. In the younger years, there would be a brief flurry of attempts but they would quickly fade as daily life dictated. Time is precious and when eventually you have more of it to spend on your own interests do not squander it. If an activity gives you pleasure ( stop it!) do it! I appreciate there will be activities that might be beyond your means but simple ones like writing and art are within everyone’s compass, all you need is a pen and paper! You will never know if you have any affinity with a subject if you don’t try. 

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There are many many issues we need to solve in our world. sometimes it seems impossible to imagine they will ever be addressed let alone eradicated. It is the human condition that we are constantly in a state of flux, a seemingly never ending battle with those who behave in a manner that most of us know is wrong , dangerous, harmful or purely evil. Even collectively we fail to stop the madness that engulfs the world. The focus shifts from one tragedy to another and a never ending litany of brutality and death. We ignore much of it, it’s not our problem! Ukraine is on our doorstep so naturally it has become the most important conflict for the West. Yet there are many that have been festering away for years and years and never get reported. It has been said many times and not just by me that the so called Western powers are responsible for much of the unrest in the world, the sins of history reflect badly on many so called civilised conqueror’s. Britain has a long history of assisting countries and in recent times joining our “partner” the USA in invading and fighting against injustice and terrorism. What good has any of this “interference” resulted in? Afghanistan back where it was, a brutal misogynistic regime under the Taliban. Libya a mess of civil unrest and collapse. Syria rife with civil war and many factions who want their cause to prevail! Wherever we poke our nose in, a bloody trail is left as when we withdraw because political pressures or just plain fatigue has brought to the point where support is no longer our priority. 

As individuals all we can do is keep our families and friends safe. If we do not wish to get involved then we must I suppose keep quiet. Which is why I write. It is my way of expelling the thoughts and opinions that would otherwise swamp my tired observation of world events and clog my mind!

Stay well

I seem to have become enamoured with Instagram videos showing you how to fold clothes neatly. Trousers, shirts, woollens etc. I tried one method out and spent some time yesterday folding my jumpers and tops. It works and has saved a lot of space as well as being much neater. I used to wiz through Instagram, not really paying attention to much of the content but it has become my favourite channel. There are a lot of adverts and I admit I have made a few purchases. You have to refine your content and eliminate lots of stuff that is uninteresting. I watch art videos and follow many artists who post. Some of you will have seen posts of my drawings. It is an example of how a social media channel can actually be informative and educational. Instagram has no nasty content or bitter feuds and is all the better for it.

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I have got to the point where I barely scan the daily news anymore. There are so many events and stories of importance or interest that are not reported. For example there have been many a large protest against a number of policies this government are implementing but hardly, if any reporting is done on the main news sites. Our media has become passive and impotent, no longer able to report on events that are a disruption to the status quo! We have a generation of reporters whose are too comfortable in their own cosy world, to be controversial in any way! We have news channels whose blatant agenda is overtly right wing and give air time to some of the most obnoxious presenters. The simple answer is not to watch or read any of their output, find news outlets that report without fear of favour. They exist but you have to look for them and they are almost exclusively from outside the UK. 

Social media has allowed us all able to comment on anything and everything (me included) but it has served to dilute and minimise our thoughts on the ever increasing corruption, lawbreaking, bad behaviour and poor judgement! We send our comments out into the ether and hope that our opinion might have some effect on events, knowing it does not. It is true that social media has brought to light many important stories and influenced the outcome of a number of issues but in reality most of it has little or no effect. You could argue that it is a lot of fuss over nothing? I limit my exposure these days. They can be amusing and often make me chuckle with the silly and the witty but more often it just makes me sad or angry!

It is a reflection of the widest possible cross section of human communication and totally proves the oft quoted idiom  (and I para phrase) “of defending those whose opinion you would fight with your last breath”! 

We live in strange complicated times, technology and human endeavour at its peak, whilst human interaction is largely conducted through the medium of a screen. It has huge advantages for many purposes but one wonders if it’s all embracing grasp is more damaging than the progress it provides?

Stay well

PS I swear one day I am going to punch some idiot who insists on walking down the street with their mobile phone held firmly in front of them not having a fucking clue what is in front of them!!!!!

I like to think that I have some artistic talent. I do, we all do but like all talent some have more than others. I have written before that I am a “doodler” who loves shapes, lines, triangles, circles, boxes and any combination of all of them. I certainly have a style all of my own though there are thousands of “doodlers” out there who draw similar designs. I draw to relax, to loose yourself in a pattern or shape is therapeutic and without sounding too pretentious, meditative! 

Last week I decided to join an online art course called The Art of Sketching: Turn your Doodles into Art. The course is presented by a Swedish guy Matthias Adolfsson. He is an illustrator and to my great surprise he draws much like I do in a very child like yet adult way. I don’t profess to be anywhere near his standard but practice, practice, practice! He advises not to care about mistakes or if you think you have gone wrong or don’t like what you have drawn. He says, you may not like your work but another person might think it’s great! That sums up art, one persons hideous picture is someone else’s masterpiece. Finish every drawing he says. He has revolutionised my attitude to drawing in less than 6 modules none lasting more than 14 minutes and I can’t stop drawing. Like me he is a fan of the fountain pen. There is an accuracy and clean line you get with a fountain pen that no other ink pen can quite replicate. 

I have hundreds of drawings, mostly graphic designs and recently I have drawn a few in a circular format. If you go on Instagram you will find hundreds of artists posting every sort of art everyday and it is useful tool, showing you many types of drawing techniques. You are never too old to learn!  

Stay well

If you are not sure whether we are living in a Facist regime, read the latest bill that gives the Police powers to curb any protest if the deem it to be “unsafe”! The Tories are gradually eroding all of our human rights, that we enjoyed from being a member of the EU. It is bad enough that people of “colour” are randomly stopped and hassled by a Police force that is becoming more like their counterparts in the US now we all face the increasing removal of our freedom!

I would never condone the type of protesting we have recently experienced but the right to peacefully protest over what you believe is an injustice, is a fundamental freedom, that we in the a democratic country have enjoyed for a very long time. Naturally there will always be an element of unrest or opposition to any protest. We know there are always factions who wish to take advantage and disrupt or cause violence and the Police have laws which allow them to arrest troublemakers. How the hell do you decide if a protest is “unsafe” surely any protest has an element of being unsafe! 

We only have to endure this Conservative governing for another year and then they can and will be voted out of office. It must happen because we can’t go on like this. You may not relish the prospect of a Labour government but under our present voting system they are the only alternative and sadly we have come to a point where anything is better than what we have.

At the last election 70% of the votes were not for the Tories, which sadly demonstrates how our first pass the post system is outmoded and not fit for purpose!

Stay well

I have not had a good rant for a few days. My normal target is our Government a bigger bunch of incompetent losers you could not find anywhere. I wonder what the motivation to want to become an MP in the first place. For instance Sunak, he obviously is not doing for the money, he’s a millionaire, so why? Is it power, is it because he actually believes he could help people, perhaps he thought he knew better than us, maybe he had did not know what to else to do? He has no idea how most of us actually live, how could he! There are I’m sure many MP’s who go in to politics for genuine reasons, a real desire to serve. If you look across the House of Commons you would see precious little evidence of this selfless behaviour. There are over 650 members, so we do not hear or see much about most of them. It appears almost everyday we get reports of yet another MP, usually Tory but not exclusively, having got involved in some form of corruption or deviant behaviour. Parliament is a cross section of the the general population, so they are bound to have members who fall prey to the temptations that we all do! It makes you question the selection process, were they corrupt or badly behaved before becoming a candidate, or has the taint of Westminster changed them? Certainly in my lifetime we have never had such a poorly behaved and ill judged bunch of representatives as we have at present! 

The list of crass and insensitive comments made by a serious of out of touch front line ministers is bewildering. Each day that passes, they are almost guaranteed to say something to insult the very people they should be placating in a bid to stop the general unrest pervading this country! Instead of diplomacy and understanding all we get is blame and finger pointing and yet more threats to legislate against anyone and everyone who may express a different view! The current governments refusal to take part in any mediation of strikes is a dereliction of duty. Do not think for one moment, that we are not aware of their deliberate tactics, in order to justify more legislation to curb our rights. We are not fooled by their neglect as they force our public services into the hands of the capitalist money makers!

We are in the hands of a party not fit for purpose, who since forcing through a shocking Brexit, cannot and will not admit that it was a colossal mistake which they have continued to perpetuate at all costs!

Stay well

Current music and mainly “chart” music baffles me! Little in the way of melody, full of angst and vocal gymnastics that frankly hurt my ears! I appreciate I am 70 years old and todays tunes are not aimed at me. I was brought up on 60’s music, The Beatles, Stones, The Who etc etc: I have an eclectic taste, I listen to almost any kind of music and am always interested in discovering music new and old. I confess most of what I listen to is pre 1995. Music has progressed, like everything else. Current stuff is repetitive and tedious. I have never been a big fan of Rap, not all of it, some is very good. Most however, seems aggressive and tuneless.

If I sound like a grumpy old git who hankers after the good old days, well so be it! It isn’t that I haven’t tried, I have. I was in the barbers the other day ( a rare occurrence for a man with little hair) and a commercial station was playing, every song sounded the same, each singer sounded depressed and it was obvious there was not much in the way of “real” instruments backing them! So I am out of touch and sounding like every preceding generation as music moves on. I want to stress I am only talking about what I hear in the charts on the very rare occasions I listen. Here is a question, what happened to bands and by bands I mean pop bands, not the big rock bands that constantly tour in order to earn? Perhaps I just have not heard enough or any artist who actually appeals? The indie scene seems to be thriving and there are performers,  I have heard who are interesting and still produce music that for me is recognisable. 

Nostalgia is big business. There are many radio shows dedicated to playing the music from a specific decade. Thousands still flock to see those performers from their youth, who still tour, even in their 80’s. It would be impossible to keep up with all the music that is out there, even now, I discover artist from the past, who at the time I was unaware of, or knew but never really listened too. It is a joy to suddenly find a recording that makes you heart beat faster, gets your toes tapping or pulls at your emotions. Many a song from the past, that I would never have listened to then are now some of my favourites, the prejudice of youth fading as one gets wiser! A prime example is September by Earth Wind and Fire, when released I would have ignored it, now the joyous beat will get me dancing around the room!

Stay well  

I seem to be on a roll this week so I will continue to write. 

How do you feel about our planet? Humans are diverse and espouse opinions that range from the outright deranged to eminently sensible and every shade in between. Those who considered themselves well balanced, despair at the views of those on the extremes of society. What we sometimes fail to understand is that people with these extreme opinions believe they are just as well balanced as we are and cannot understand why we don’t share their view! They would be just as offended by your dislike of them as their’s of you. Someone who believes passionately in their stance is unlikely to be swayed by your opposite but equally passionate view! We are all labelled, tagged, sorted in our little boxes. My darling wife is just filling in a GP Patient Survey which asks the every question imaginable but those which actually allows answers that give your feedback on the actual surgery. 

We have to be “something” black, white, mixed race, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, right wing, left wing, far right, far left, racist, gay, straight, this gender, that gender, you get the message! I have said it many many many times while we continue to divide by “label” we will never view ourselves as one race of humans. I know this is unrealistic. If you have a particular view it easy to know who your target is if you can give them a title! 

I suspect that the vast majority of the worlds population are not bothered in the slightest by an extreme view, they just want to get on with their lives and do their best. I have labelled people for years, I am no exception. In my case it ‘s more to do with privilege, power, corruption and lies! In my defence, whenever I do rant and rave (often) I never mention my targets ethnicity, sexual orientation and most of the time religion. 

There are many many issues which we are all aware of and know deep down are real, there will always be those who deny them, keep hold of your balance and keep fighting!

Stay well

I am not good at maths, never was, never have been but I have learnt the practicalities that one uses in daily life. I had no need of math for anything I wanted to do. Naturally in my work life I had to add, subtract, multiply, measure and weigh. I understand speed, distance, fractions, division, even equations! I know quite a few “math hacks” example:

You can work out percentages 70% of 90 is 7 X 9 = 63 Times any number by 11 by placing that number like so 11 x 55 add a 0 to times by 10 and add 11 = 550 +11

I am not quick or clever I can’t  work out too much in my head but then again I do know how to use a calculator and we all have one on our smart phones!  

I left school at sixteen, actually I was expelled but I was leaving anyway. I then proceeded to educate myself, by lots of reading but mainly by doing. If you’re good at a subject and enjoy it great but most of us learn as we go along in life because we need to understand what it requires. I had no qualifications or ambition to go into anything that needed maths or science and yet I bet I could run rings round most young of today on any of those subjects and many more. I am naturally intelligent and I learn what I have too in order to address the practicality of whats needed. If I want to cook I have to understand fluid ounces, weights etc: If I want to build shelves I need to understand how to measure and make sure they are level. You get the point! School did teach me the fundamentals but if they had told me I had to learn maths until I was 18 I would have told them to get stuffed and probably not with those words! Instead of forcing students to learn a subject most of them don’t want, we should be encouraging them to use their imagination to explore as much as possible. You cannot engage every teen, life is not that simple. People are like firecrackers, they go off in every direction and follow any path, whether it’s right or wrong, you cannot make them follow one path just because you think it’s right!

Stay well

Generally I am not interested in the shenanigans of our Royal Family but this constant media output over Harry and Megan has become utterly ridiculous! I could care less who likes who, which brother punched the other or how much she is disliked by her royal relatives. We have many many problems so why is this drivel taking up media space when there are so many more far more important subjects to talk about? I appreciate that this rich privileged bunch of nobodies hold a deep fascination for our tabloid press and social media, why I have no clue. Obviously Harry is a deeply disturbed individual who to say the least has issues! In our modern society there seems to be a preponderance for “celebrities” to sort out their family problems in the public eye, it appears that without the desire for the oxygen of publicity, they are unable to come to terms with whatever personnel issues they have. We have encouraged the royals to be more “open” but now it has reach a point where they are only damaging themselves probably beyond the point of recovery? No doubt this will all fade away, as most stories do until the next “sensation” gets a reported and more ink is wasted reporting their lives.

While we are on the subject why is Prince Andrew not be held to account more forcefully than is the case? He obviously was involved in the sexual assault of a young lady. He should have faced prosecution and had the opportunity to “clear” his name in court! To say there is one rule for a Royal and another for us, would be an understatement!

Stay well

I have not often written this blog for three days in a row. I have shied away from writing, because I knew I would just continue to repeat myself! Sadly as each day passes things have got worse! We live in unprecedented times! Far from our infrastructure and social care, as you would have expected, improving, it has fallen into such a state of disrepair that we are rapidly loosing any sense of normality. We may have faster technology, more TV than you can shake a stick at, smart phones that do everything but as seemed to be inevitable we have lost that spark of humanity that provided our human interaction? We have lost sight of why we use technology or whether it should be implemented, does it anctually improve our services? It is a mystery how technology now provides an app for just about any situation, there are website for every conceivable purpose and yet we can’t get appointments, we can’t resolve issues or ever get to speak to a representative without enormous effort or to be told that “our lines are very busy at present please try later” ! We have fallen for the same old trick, your lives will improve with the march of progress but you will loose something precious along the way. I am no Luddite, on the contrary I am in favour of technology and it’s benefits, I am not advocating that technology should be curtailed, without it I might not be here! We need to be smarter how we use it, it is not a cure all for every human interaction, every inquiry, every problem. Sometimes we forget that at the beginning and end there is a user who is human! 

We have a number of experiences, where far from being helpful, technology has been designed to make it more difficult to get the answer you require. You can write as many standard answers as you like but you can almost guarantee that what you want to find out is not among them or when you click on that subject it does not answer your issue! I am all for technology that saves me time or makes my life easier. Self service check outs, pay at the pump, passport control, checking in baggage etc but there are so many applications that are poorly designed , hard to navigate and ultimately useless!

Our rights are being eroded by a right wing government that cares little for a problem other than to make it illegal, lets us not let them use technology as a barrier to make our lives even worse!!!!

Stay well

Well how is 2023 going for you so far? Do you think it is going to be an improvement on the one just finished? Already politicians are making bold statements, which we all know will never be achieved. They are merely a rehash of previous promises wrapped in shiny tinsel for the new year. They hold the public in contempt and we let them! I am certain that not a single target, promise, aim or ambition will be reached. Later this year the media will come alive as they realise, once more, that nothing has been achieved and in fact it has only got worse. I take no pleasure in this pessimistic view. Look around the damage is so severe, even if we started to prosper at an unprecedented rate it would take years and years to fix all the problems. We live in a capitalist world gone rampant, the prospect of social change and a state that cares for its citizens is a long way off. Wealth and power are king, nothing new but now running at a rate, like never before! 

Can you name one single system that we all use that is not broken or strained to such a degree it cannot cope? I am confident my granddaughter Hannah will get a rounded education but not just because she will go school. She has a family who will see to it that she learns about our world and it’s history, it’s dangers,  about art and music, literature and much more. She is lucky to be surrounded by highly intelligent and well informed relations. I do not envy her growing up in the world as it is but none of us chose when we are born. She will have to deal with life just as we did, given the time we are thrust into! I am determined to make her life happy but informed! 

Stay well

If I was a braver man I would give up reading the news and social media! Each day you read things that as Billy Connolly would say want to make you spit your breakfast out! You think, it is impossible for the Tories to became any more crass or ignorant but everyday they prove you can sink lower than the day before! I sometimes think I am going mad and perhaps it’s me, who is out of step with events and I have it all wrong? Living in a country under Tory stewardship is like waking up each day and banging your head against a brick wall. You keep hoping they will just go away and yet each day it just gets worse and worse. I know I am not alone and I hope the reports of their unpopularity are correct. It is as though we all see and read what they are doing, with some of the most despicable people in charge, we have ever seen in the UK but collectively we are unable to stop them. Brexit has been a disaster and we live in denial, with those in power keeping their collective fingers crossed hoping against hope that it will all turn out “alright in the end”. 

I have run out of words to that express my disgust with absolutely everything they say and do. We have watched as our country and more importantly its people has been dragged lower and lower into misery! There are so many holes in our social fabric it is always impossible to believe we will ever be right again!

Now to Mr Sunak latest missive to make all students learn maths up to the age of 18. If that is his key message for the new year then all I can say is WTF! I was poor at maths (still am) but once I was put into a working environment where you had to use it I learned. Most of us need to know how to add, takeaway and multiply. Perhaps if the education system was geared to actually giving our children a well rounded education that prepared them for life and not how to take exams they would all be better off! Of course I am generalising and I understand the very difficult job teachers have. A good many years ago I applied for a job as a truant officer. I went to the local comprehensive for the interview and it was one of the most rigorous and tough I have ever done. Having not been in a school for many years I found it a most intimidating place with all  these teens wandering around. I did not get the job and having seen the interaction between staff and pupils was actually quite relieved!

Stay well

Happy New Year lets us hope that 2023 will be much better than its predecessor. For us it was a landmark year with the birth of our wonderful granddaughter Hannah and a more chilled happy girl you could not find, she is a delight.

For the world, not so great. Putins invasion of Ukraine yet another in a long history of dictators who believe their own invented bollocks and cant control their paranoia! The effect it has had on the whole of Europe has been unpleasant to say the least and of course completely fucking unnecessary! The West have supported Ukraine but much as I hate to say it, fear stopped them from engaging with a coward, who in my humble opinion would have backed down immediately had we confronted him directly?

As for the UK, what can one say? Just one long year of horror perpetrated by a Conservative Party and government that are the most inept and corrupt of all time. I was delighted to see Johnston resign, little did I know the shit show of governmental merry go round that would follow his departure. We even had the laughable prospect that he might after only a few months return to no 10! It feels like we are living in a banana republic run by people who have no idea what they are doing and worse do not undertake any  of the actions that a government is “elected” to do! 

Read this governments agenda carefully they are hellbent on wiping out all of the EU laws and removing all of our protections and rights as citizen's. They are rigging the electoral system to suit their party and unless we vote them out in a heavy defeat the ruination of our health service and much much more will continue until we have nothing! Not for one moment, do I believe that Starmer and the Labour Party are going to be our saviours but they are the only credible alternative. If the do gain power I do not envy the task ahead of them as they try to correct the disaster that has been the last 13 years of Tory rule!

I for one would like 2023 to be free of any mention of (in no particular order)Putin, Trump, Johnston, Farage, Gove, Coffey Rees-Mogg, Braverman, Lee Anderson, Phillip Hollobone (my MP), Cleverly, Raab, Hartley-Brewer, Clarkson, Megan and Harry, Hancock and so many others the list is too long to write here but you get my drift!! 

I hope 2023 will be a better year but I am not that optimistic. I hope on a personal level all my family and friends have a good year.

Stay well