Knowledge can improve the world we live in

All the injury and doubts! …. Well done KJT!!

With the ongoing Women’s World Cup doing great as we all hoped for (and England are very likely to win the final tomorrow! yippee!!), many have been discussing the matter of gender pay gap and asking for equality in female & female pay at the World Cup. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances where people fail to do their homework

Last year’s men’s World Cup generated $7.5billion in revenue and cost the organisers $1.1billion to organise it. The men (footballers) were paid circa 6% of the revenue. England’s men donate all their earnings from the World Cup to charity.

The ongoing women’s World Cup has generated $570million in revenue and cost the organisers $510million to organise it. The women (footballers) are to be paid circa 15% of the revenue.

Let us say FIFA were to set an equal percentage of revenue generated as payment to both men & women (in the name of equality), and say that is 6%, the women will not be able to cover the cost of their jerseys.

FIFA do not have some other means of earning revenue to pay players outside of what the product generates…..

If both men & women football events generate the same revenue and men get paid higher, then that would be a travesty

It’s the bonus paid by the respective football associations that should indeed be exactly the same for men & women and should be based on how far you progress at each tournament, meaning the England women making it to the final (and indeed, if they win) must be offering a higher bonus than what was paid to our men, who haven’t made it this far in a while. No revenge generation explanation for that..

And in essence, if we say it’s all about economics and some common sense (and not another attempt to put women in their place!), then, is it possible for women’s football to generate $7.5billion at their World Cup? Men say that will be 30, 40 years from now as it took men that long to get there. Well, the answer is NO! With social media and all the technology advancement today, and assuming roughly half the world have female kids etc., it will not take that long, if the right steps are taken, to get the women’s game to become a mega-money business! This should never be a matter of men versus women. It is business, it is economics. In the construction sector you often hear of resource shortages, but hey, women cannot thrive in construction. Why? because we use some macho, unacceptable aggression to freeze them out. There are thousands of roles and job positions in construction that doesn’t require male muscles carrying blocks and bricks up a ladder: we now have equipment for that! The training, skill and expertise needed to operate those equipment can be readily mastered by both men & women, if we create a conducive environment for all! It is that simple! Women’s football is not at the same pace and style as men’s (and as many have been pointing out, teams of 15 year old boys have been trouncing the elite senior women’s team when they played), but it is a product and one that is enjoyable to watch for so many, and as such, it can be made commercially viable

Behind the men’s game with its billions, you’ll find women who took these big name footballers to weekend camps and training as boys, so, the men’s game was not some total male product that men sorted!

Nobody attempting to tackle global indecency is going to survive being daubed a psycho! The reason being: worldwide decency is impossible to achieve. It is that simple. We can hammer Presidents, Prime Ministers and other Western leaders all we want, but the reality is that the best any of them can ever do, is to try to be partly decent on balance! (that is what the likes of Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and a few others are trying to be, but occasionally, you get the likes of Donald Trump, who doesn’t even wish to attempt to be decent; he just plays to his crowd and all else be damned). They will always have some dirty decisions to make, they will always have to do some things that ain’t decent. It is what it is. There are so many out there, who will readily hurt us all, if given the opportunity, and decency is not always they available option in keeping those folk from inflicting hurt on us.

Sinéad O’Connor was an imperfect but decent soul who took on what was simply impossible to sort out! But she did her best! RIP Sinéad..

If there ever was a situation that require one to listen to both sides, it is this!

We all caught a glimpse of how we would behave in a slight emergency during the early stages of Covid, when the elderly were forcefully shoved aside in supermarkets as people rushed to clear the shelves to boost their stockpile of toilet roll! We may now of course conveniently blot it all out of our memory and move on. However, the simple reality is that we cannot afford emergencies and clearly cannot cope with it, without certain anarchy! So, while these supposedly extreme brand of protestors such as ‘just stop oil’ or ‘extinction rebellion’ may be seen as a nuisance by many, do we really want to face a major crisis/emergency, where we again get to experience the true nature of human beings?

You know it is time to worry, when oil companies are the ones trying to explain how some parts of the world will suffer absolute anguish if wealthier countries just stop oil. What did we do for those countries when oil was/still is booming?! Not much! But in truth, parts of the world that do not presently have access to electricity or safe drinking water, are hardly going to lose much sleep about the importance of wind turbines are they? We presently have the ability to provide solar panels to provide electricity to every household in poor countries but choose not to – afterall, they are not our problem? – but some of these extremely poor countries owe the very little they have, to oil or industries linked to the production of oil, if you take Venezuela or the delta region of Nigeria or the likes of Equitorial Guinea as examples – yes, thanks to widespread corruption, they are still in brutal poverty but take away the oil industry and you might as well just liquidate those hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken folk – it may be very possible to just stop oil in Europe, but has anyone considered the wider implications for those less fortunate folk?

There is absolutely no doubt that the world must avoid climate catastrophe! We simply cannot cope. If a much less severe threat such as Covid demonstrated just how unprepared we are in an emergency, just imagine what the situation would be, if we hit 60 degrees Celsius and trains, planes, vehicles and our infrastructure crumble? People will be tearing each other’s throats out nevermind shoving the elderly in supermarkets! We do not have the infrastructure to cope with a major climatic incident of the proportion we are heading for, if nothing is done about the climate threat. BUT these arbitrary measures ain’t going to crack it! We need technology to help us replace dependency on the identified causative factors be it the heavy use of fossil fuels or other sources of harmful emissions. We need to look at the speed and volume AND RELIABILITY of the alternative sources and find replacement industries for those poor folk in countries who will face the main brunt of the collateral impact of stopping oil! It simply cannot be a forced, unmitigated reaction!

That said, it is perhaps also easy to see why some are calling for these drastic measures, if over the past 50 years, calls to begin taking this matter seriously have been derided and as is always the case with humans, we have to face a catastrophe before snapping into action – by which time, it is usually too late – you again only have to look at the Covid death toll. And then the denials and conspiracy theories set in! I mean, let us for a moment assume Covid was a hoax, well, SOMETHING took thousands of lives right? And if climate change is just doom-mongering by bored middle class folk, OK. But what if they are right?! Why don’t we give them the benefit of the doubt by actually finding less harmful (to the environment) means of carrying on with everything we say they are trying to restrict/impact?! If we can replace clearly less sustainable fuels and sources of energy with cleaner, more sustainable ones, while ensuring we create new industries to avoid causing devastation to those who presently rely so much on the industries that will be impacted, why not?! But to just plough ahead and ‘just stop oil’ without first figuring out how to properly address all the consequences for the less fortunate, the less influential, who are already suffering as it were, would be tantamount to yet another era of colonial thinking. But also, to ignore the obvious signs out there and just keep needling with tiny bits of ineffectual tweaks, while we continue to churn out these harmful, unsustainable energy etc., is also clearly not acceptable! Meeting in the middle AND then accelerating technology, creating replacement enterprise etc., should be the way to go. There are so many brilliant people on both sides of this argument, who are just wasting their brilliance on trying to be right, instead of trying to find less drastic, impossible to implement demands!

Are we doomed? Probably. Unless all the needless bickering turns into more constructive dialogue with much wider considerations. If we haven’t been able to address global poverty – but have instead ended up with poverty turning up in supposedly wealthy countries such as the UK – what realistic chance do we have with this colossal climate challenge, which requires worldwide solutions and not lopsided actions

It’s like printing loads of money that ends up like the Zimbabwean currency a few years ago, with a trolley-ful needed to buy a loaf of bread!

Of course it is tempting to a politician who grew up on a council estate and lived on social welfare, to grow up thinking that higher taxes for the rich is the solution to getting the poor out of poverty. No. It doesn’t work like that. The rich are too resourceful! They’re too well networked. They will simply move their wealth elsewhere, move their businesses elsewhere and the result? worse poverty! And they know that!

To get the poor out of poverty, you will indeed have to create more opportunities, more wealth! And what that means, is that the rich will always get richer! What we need to do, is to improve the minimum standard of living i.e. drag the poor out of poverty, accepting the rich will remain rich or richer. You don’t drag one down to get the other up! Sounds logical, but it simple ain’t gonna work! What you do is drag both up higher, so that the poor come out of poverty!

The above is the reason why socialism fails. It is the reason that the Labour Party in the UK – with their noble ideals – have been out of government for so long! The posh, public school (privately educated) Conservative Party folk know that you don’t help the poor by stifling the rich! It’s just simply not how that equation works! They are often accused of lining the pocket of the rich, but in truth, perhaps the only other half of the equation that’s missing, is to drag the rest of the population up! There is absolutely no logical reason for anyone in the UK today, to live below the poverty line. We just need to create more opportunities for the poor instead of treating them with disdain and labelling them as benefit-seekers etc. YES, we have fallen into the trap of over-dependence on welfare. We now have a whole generation of young people who believe they must receive government help with everything! Their rent, their holidays, EVERYTHING!

If we can have a government that blends Labour’s noble thoughts with the Conservative’s ability to create wealth and channel it all in the right direction, we will be back as a superpower and the poor will be comfortable (and not forced onto food banks), the rich will carry on lining their pockets and create more opportunities for the poor, and life goes on…..

If you look at some of the instruments of torture that humans have invented over the years and how cruel we can be to each other in the name of ideals, religion, politics etc., there is no limit to our capacity to be cruel.

The treatment of Russian sports men & women since the Ukraine war is another highlight of just how cruel we can be. Ok, few would disagree that Russia attacking Ukraine for whatever they say their reasons are, is not right and military intervention should never have been a step they ever get to. But these athletes did not make that decision, did they? Most of them owe their career to the Russian state funding them, so what do we want them to do? Many of them probably also fear reprisals for themselves and their families, should they speak up in dissent. And in any case, why should they? They are not politicians! They may not have all the facts they need to take one side or the other. Wimbledon’s decision to ban them last year was not an issue; sometimes there are consequences based on association and right or wrong, it was Wimbledon’s prerogative and they took it, albeit, a little bizarre, given they have now allowed the Russians back this year (while the war is still ongoing – so, what changed?) and in any case, last year, while Russian athletes were banned, it was still a Russian representing Khazakstan who won the ladies event.

The issue of ‘Reparation’ regarding the circa 4 centuries of transatlantic slavery is just so DUMB! The context should be more logical. It should be transactional. America for instance, needs to make up its mind. What is the use of the ongoing discrimination and hate? It is so counterproductive. If descendants of slave make us say 10% of the American population, then having those folk banged up in jail for dealing drugs may well make some money for those running those private jails, but for the overall economy, having those 10% gainfully employed, properly educated and treated equally and as humans, is a lot more profitable to America as a whole and would be a massive boost to their economy.So, call it reparation or call it whatever else you want to call it, getting those 10% out of perverts and out of the housing projects and slums, into prosperity, should not be a matter for debate! But debate it has been and remains, while they have allowed all sorts of daft prejudices to influence what really should just be a sensible economic discussion that really is a no-brainer! And it is exactly the same for the situation in the Caribbean, Africa and those old colonies. Who gains from those folk wallowing in poverty? Who gains from them embarking on these risky journeys where they fall prey to people smugglers and drown at sea in their hundreds?
we are much better off pumping money and incentives into their economy and doing it in a manner where individuals there will not be able to embezzle funds or move it abroad. It is very doable, but won’t be done!

Some of the language being used to describe these unfortunate migrants (regardless of whether or not some of them are purely economic migrants or opportunists or criminals mingling in etc.) has been absolutely inexcusable. They are human beings! Much as we MUST secure borders and enforce the rule of law, with migrants coming in via due process and not forced entry via small boats across seas, to think that using humane language will lead to more and more coming, is just an excuse. We need technological solutions and means to secure our borders, it words and certainly not demeaning words such as what Trump used throughout the years 4 years he was in office.
The entire situation has been most unfortunate! Our governments do have a job to do, to ensure the rule of law is seen to be in place, which includes not allowing tens of thousands to repeatedly bypass our borders, but the politics needs to avoid fanning the flame of hate – yes, it is easier and simpler to command votes by whipping voters up into a frenzy, but somehow, decency must come into this and we all should take a step back! However, there are no examples in our history of humans being able to take that crucial step back. Instead, we will seek to justify and carry on

We continue to build more prisons, bang more and more people up; they come out and reoffend almost immediately and the crime gets worse or more violent and we do not know how to sort it! It’s the same conundrum! Can’t appear soft on prisoners by providing rehabilitation which would include stuff that will appear to make prisons soft and we may lose the deterrence….

The state of today’s world is just so sad.

French tennis player Alize Cornet has been having a moan about top players receiving more tickets to get their guests to watch matches at Wimbledon. I can’t recall her complaining nor handing over some of her allocation of tickets (when she was a top player) to the less fortunate lower echelon players all those years she played at Wimbledon as a top player…

Pathetic!

The ongoing public anger in France is quite understandable given the nature what happened to the 17 year old boy – and while some may try to bring in some bizarre equivocation, what we all must remember is that the police are employed by the public, by the taxpayer! Their job is to keep us all safe and they (the police) are extremely necessary in today’s society both as a deterrent but also to enforce the law. But they must never, ever become executioners or judge, jury and executioner. If the boy – as the videos suggest – was at no point an immediate danger to anyone, why not just let him drive away and then, go and pick him up at his home the next morning? Afterall, they say he was known to the police, they had his details, they could also follow the car at a safe distance. There were so many options and none should have come near to what ended up happening!

The anger felt by anyone who has seen that video would be quite understandable and the resulting public display of that anger, via mass protest, is also quite justifiable, but such protest should be limited to public disobedience e.g. all workers refusing to go to work, protest marches etc., anything but actions that cause destruction to own communities; burning or vehicles, looting etc. It is very difficult to see what such wanton violence will achieve. It has never achieved much in the past and is highly unlikely to achieve anything now.
For those asking why the family of the dead boy haven’t urgent calm, well, I doubt that is top on their grieving plate right now! They are presently in unimaginable pain. Words cannot possibly adequately express what the boy’s mother, his friends are going through right now, seeing how cheaply his life has been snatched off him! It really is deplorable. But the rioting & destruction of property is most unfortunate

It’s not about superiority of cultures. I do not believe any particular way of life is superior to another.
But if you look at basic principles such as attitude to litter and littering for instance, just as one simple basic example. You wouldn’t have to enforce laws in the 70s or 80s in the UK with regards littering. It simply wasn’t done and it simply wasn’t acceptable. Today, there are so many who do not actually know that just casually rolling down your winder as you drive along, and tossing out empty cans or bottles or other rubbish, is not right!

There is nothing wrong with cultural influences, new culinary experiences, learning new languages etc. But ‘when in Rome, act like the Romans’ really should be the principle applied in each and every country, with regards basic ways of living.

If undefined, each country should seek to define some very basic principles e.g. secularity of the state, should apply to all who come in to dwell in a country. Intolerance is at an all time high today, because of ill-conceived concepts that seek to abandon ways of life in the name of being welcoming, whereas, the impact is actually the opposite. I am not saying some haters won’t continue to hate regardless, but you have a significant opportunity to limit intolerance and hate to an exceptional handful, if all-comers seek to imbibe the way of life of where they go, as opposed to trying to create mini enclaves to carry on living as they would where they were prior to arrival.

Not suggesting that people do away with their culture when they move elsewhere. It is about embracing, respecting, understanding and adopting the local culture and societal requirements of the countries people move to. It should be similar to cars: you wouldn’t fill a diesel car with petrol just because your previous car was a petrol one would you? You put the appropriate fuel in the new car, but it doesn’t mean you have to rip the seats out!
Significant mistakes – many of those are now impossible to correct – over the years and have ended up in the boiling pot situation we now have, with intolerance and populism now at an all-time high and we now have societies where we are prepared to spend staggering sums of money to kick people as a preference to spending a lot less to welcome them in! But nobody is prepared to listen to the reasons why many say they have had enough and are embracing hate & intolerance. Yes, it is perhaps too late to fix all the issues, but we should start by trying to bring in the principle of retaining and maintaining the British way of life in the UK, with all those coming in, being required to embrace the British way of life, so we all pull together in the same direction

There was once a World War daubed: ‘the war to end all wars’. Touch of irony perhaps?
if you look at the history of military conflicts, the result is damning. The USA is as divided as ever in 2023 and has been for a while now, with most of the same old debates that their civil war from over a century ago, was supposed to have settled. We now have neo-nazis thriving across Europe, and governments that are using words and saying things (e.g. in Hungary) that are very worrying and reminiscent of Germany in the 30s; be it hurtful words relating to Jews or general intolerance of those deemed different or foreign.

If Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine felt bludgeoned, could there have been a deal to pay those folk to relocate to Russia? If you try to repeatedly redraw the map of a country to satisfy those in it, who wish to be elsewhere, where will you draw the line? Quebec, Scotland…..

Was it ever likely that NATO would attack Russia? You do not need to be a genius to know the answer is NO!
Yes, Russia May well feel hemmed-in, if all the countries around them join NATO, but none of those countries nor NATO would ever contemplate attacking Russia. Ukraine was not the epitome of democracy nor tolerance either (remember several unpleasant scenes at football matches involving Ukrainian clubs over the years) but the ongoing war should never, ever have been allowed to start! And what looks like possible in-fighting in Russia (although it sounds like an uprising that will be quickly put down) is not going to help anyone either – a group of brutal mercenaries taking over any country is hardly going to a winning development is it?

Where is the UN? there needs to be a stronger organisation that says NO to military conflicts and with the wherewithal to enforce it via whatever means!

Imagine if REMAIN had won the referendum! Everything going on right now will be blamed on us remaining in the EU. Even now that we have exited the EU, people still seek to blame the EU or the remainers who are supposedly frustrating Brexit efforts.

The only really sad part of this is that many have refused to exercise any individuality, but have decided to get entrenched! Nobody should hold immovable views about most things. There should be absolutely nothing wrong in being a brexiteer who has now seen the aftermath and accepts it was a wrong move or a remainer who now accepts we did indeed have no choice but to exit the EU. Seeing the outcome and doggedly maintaining a stance just for the heck of it, is what’s ridiculous

If the remainers had won the referendum then Britain’s standing in the EU would have gone from bad to worse. If we were previously unhappy that the EU never listed, it would have been a lot worse after remaining. The French and Germans will continue to think the run Europe and side with each other – well, until the French come running for our help…

The reality was quite simple really. Those who wanted us to remain in the EU – and there really should never have been a referendum anyway, we should have simply had stronger leaders who could have exerted more authority in the EU to get what’s best for the UK (it should never have come to us wanting to leave the EU) – should have put forward a stronger case but we’re simply too surprised that anyone would thinking leaving the EU was a good idea, when it was clear that leaving the EU would NOT:

1. Immediately reduce the number of foreigners coming into the UK; which was a big issue for many who voted to leave the EU as they felt their benefits were at risk and assumed – wrongly – that net migration to the UK was not in our favour. But 7 years after the referendum, we are now in 2023 and net migration is still way too high and a lot higher than what we had in 2016!
2. Exiting the EU has nothing to do with people using canoes to cross into the UK across the channel. In fact, the numbers have gone up exponentially since we left the EU and we are still trying to find a solution. Many who voted for exiting the EU had assumed the minute we’re out, we lock up the border and happy days! errr… no
3. Mean we scrap all EU-era laws and move back to a magical British law! Many who voted for Brexit do not know that English and British laws are not radically different in several areas, from EU laws, which is why they were largely compatible! The few areas of difference are not so radically different. So, the expectation of so new era post-Brexit was just not real…

But can one really SOLELY blame the EU for this debacle? Worth remembering that for several years prior to Brexit majority of the UK’s MEPs to the EU were individuals who got elected solely for promising to get us out of the EU. So, they were hardly collaborating to make the EU a success! The sad reality is that the EU went from what it was supposed to be – a simple, minimal complexity union of likeminded European countries seeking to simplify trade, cooperate where it makes sense etc. – and not a single European country where a couple or so countries collude to start telling everyone else what to do! Departing sharply from simplicity to mandating everything, in the name of ‘rules’. But where the EU really got it wrong, is in the horrible attitude they took to Brexit. Yes, they may have seen it as a deterrent, but it really was totally counterproductive. They should have just said: “you want to leave? fine, here’s a red carpet and fast-track rout out! You have been disruptive over the past few years anyway and we’ll be glad to see the back of you! bye bye”. Instead, they showed their true colours and wished to punish! It was all so pathetic really. They could have taken the moral high ground..

Unfortunately, we have now created yet another permanent divide in the UK!
All for nothing really!
Leaving the EU was and is very necessary. Forging sensible ties with the EU and both sides being reasonable, is also very necessary

Could we have been able to get the EU to listen, while we remained within the EU? The honest answer is NO. But the way Brexit was sold and how it is still being sold, is simply not true either!

Well, we are truly doomed, when the reaction to those elected to lead the country telling so many lies is: “the others lie too”…

Yes, we all lie and we all do so very regularly; whether it’s to tell kids there’s a tooth-fairy or Father Christmas or that they are doing great, when they’re not. We come up with all sorts of reasons to justify lying and we often classify lying into ‘white lies’ or ‘tiny lies’ but the simple fact is, we all lie. BUT the difference here, is that we do not all put ourselves forward to take up public office!

Surely, when individuals put themselves forward to be elected into public office and place their hands on the bible to swear oaths etc. as they step into their roles, it is condemnation-worthy, without what-about-ry when they are caught spewing lies rampantly! The minute the overriding reaction is an indifferent reference to others in public office lying too, we have totally debased what should be a minimum standard of those voted in to represent & lead…

Shame on us all!

Who started it? How did it start? None of those questions matter, when it is clear it won’t be decided. Everyone involved knows that. So the question is: why has it carried on?

You can see where this is all heading right?
Next set of headlines will be:

AI to brush your teeth before you even get out of bed!
AI to do your laundry while you’ve still got your clothes on!
AI to end the war in Ukraine even before it started! (I suppose we all thought it had already started?)

AI to show up on your doorstep with the perfect baby for you, even before you thought about having a baby!
AI to change your children’s nappy even before they have done a poo!

…. and so on and so forth

Very similar to ‘Blockchain’ a few years ago, which quickly became to remedy to everything and the ultimate sales pitch:

Blockchain fresh flower shop! (where you can buy the freshest blockchain daisies!). You get there it will be as ordinary as any other bouquet of daisies…

Yes, advancement of tech and AI is all good. But for goodness sake! It ain’t here to solve every human ill! Ultimately, it will amplify it, as humans do with everything we invent: how can we use it to demonstrate superiority?! how can it help us win more wars! kill each other quicker and better. Instead of: how can we use AI to level up societies across the world, so that everyone has access to clean water, electricity based on the most efficient source they have e.g. solar in hot climes, how can we educate everyone and give all easy access to education etc. oops! that just socialist rabble right? I’ll shut up now!!

At what point is it sensible to accept one has been outmanoeuvred? You’re the Prime Minister and got forced to resign, promising to “be back” and plot from the back benches of parliament; then you resign as a Member of Parliament, promising to “be back” and now, plotting from your conservatory or kitchen table. Surely, the handwriting has gone past being just on the wall? It is now tattooed to your knuckles right?

Even if one were to subscribe to ‘never say never’, I believe at some point, not saying it makes absolutely no difference, it still is NEVER!

Couple of decades ago, this was a description solely for 3rd world despots. Leaders without dignity, who would cling on and on and on, until they got killed in a coup or exiled.

It seems the west have only gone and learnt the wrong lessons from those despots!

What has gone on in recent years and is still playing out right now, is simply unimaginable for western democracies! How on earth could we end up with outgoing presidents who refuse to attend the inauguration of their replacement? or ex-Prime Ministers who continue to incessantly plot a comeback without any care for the consequences?!
This was all supposed to be primarily a call to serve right?
Of course few are naive enough to think there are no perks to serving in government, but majority was ok with it. For all the crap politicians take during campaigns etc., I for one do not begrudge them some of the benefits and influence they hold when in office and after. But for an individual to think they are the only one who can, and to bring shame on the entire institution, just to get their own way, really is indecent!

You don’t have to be a saint to be good at what you do!
Nobody is perfect!
But many tried to crush him when he was down. He never came out promoting anti-vax, he never said anything. He simply wasn’t winning to tell whether or not he took the vaccination. And yes, perhaps he was selfish and his actions were not helpful as it may have assisted some of the daft anti-vax arguments, but certainly no reason to try to crunch him!

Anyway, he continues to confound his critics! Best tennis player ever! (easily). And I’m not even a fan of his…

Well done Djoko!

Today an old colleague reminded me of his reasons for always used to complain about income tax going higher and higher for him and those of us who pay £hundreds of thousands in income tax each year and are not obese, never ill, have rarely ever used the NHS, use private heath services that we pay for, send our kids to fee-paying schools etc. While you read of benefits cheats and today there was a main story about a Kuwaiti guy who fled to the UK and was granted refugee status with his 5 children and wife, but instead of getting a job, he led a gang of people-smugglers to bring people into the UK illegally. He is in a £500,000 house in North London, with the rent covered by the government (taxpayers) and receiving £3,700 in benefits per month. It is very clear that we need an overhaul of our entire system to ensure the UK’s generosity isn’t so rampantly exploited

It is not grounds for us to become ungenerous or for us to start hating on people coming into the country, but it is definitely grounds for us to really fund and upgrade our processes, to ensure it is robust and not exploited. Many of the thousands who spew hate and promote intolerance are very low income folk who pay very little tax anyway. Moaning about benefits going to refugees etc., is just a deflection. What the government should focus on, is how we can come up with a very robust system and new fit-for-purpose processes. If/when we stop people coming in in small boats across the channel, they will find other avenues. Finding deterrents such as the much ridiculed Rwanda plan, isn’t going to solve the problem either.

There needs to be a system where all genuine local UK folk who need benefits such as housing etc., must get it and it: they should never be left in a spot where they feel that people coming into the country to seek refuge are getting those benefits ahead of them. So, we need to fund this properly. Then we need to tackle poverty and get people working so that we don’t have so many depending on benefits.

The government’s focus on sorting illegal entry into the country should never the centrepiece of all this. It is very necessary and needful, it must be sorted, BUT it should not be the main talking-point. The focus should be on investing heavily in hiring case-workers and loads of immigration staff to ensure there is never a backlog and we are ready to whittle through applications speedily, sort net-migration (the legal migration) to keep that within reason and then, alongside all that, fix our borders to ensure people only come in through the due processes and not illegally – you simply can’t have a porous border where people, regardless of their plight, can just keep walking in, unless the world agrees to scrap all borders and we ditch passports and everyone just goes wherever they please (the world is clearly not ready for that! as we do not yet have universally shared cultures, values, norms etc.)

I do not believe the folk who moan about immigration see the number of elderly people in the UK who require care. You see them being walked along the streets and it is usually (99%) by immigrants who work for the NHS. How would those elderly folk survive without that service? So, it is ok for us to sit about and moan about the influx of migrants, but the stark reality is that those who need some of these specific services understand better.

The government just needs to switch their focus to where it should be. The deterrence is clearly not working. Why not invest in a robust system and processes that gets the cases sorted promptly, remove backlog, allows for better planning, so that when we need more nurses, we prioritise that, and when we have too many fruit-pickers we reduce visas for those. Tackling illegal migration should not be tied-in with that and as it were, has taken over and covered up the more serious matter of fixing a broken system.

Yes, perhaps easier said than done, but a sharif of focus, with a clear intent, would indeed be a good start!

Not “has become”. Is!

When the death of a celebrity is announced and there’s no mention of cause of death, the social media probe and gossip begin! Do the dead care? Probably not. But hey! If it’s suicide or drug overdose, society can quickly judge those as dishonourable death and promptly move on to focus on the children and rest of the family, who are now tainted according to society?! Madness!!

Phillip Schofield, a TV presenter, and yes, perhaps he was a hypocrite but he is not a priest! He does not lead weekly Sunday sermons about honesty! If he had sex with an underaged 15 year old boy and then helped the boy secure a job, well, if that is proven, then the law will take its course. So far, the boy didn’t even admit to a relationship and indeed when Schofield had to admit to it, he claims it started after he got the boy the job and at which time the lad was 18. Now, if anyone wants to dispute the veracity of that timeline and can get the boy to challenge it, that is indeed a different matter, but is highly unlikely, as Schofield most likely did only start sleeping with the lad when he was 18. Yes, a 40-something year old married man going around sleeping with an 18 year old whom he helped secure a job (and whom he first met when the lad was 15),while keeping it all from his wife and denying it when his employer investigated, is all not great optics for someone whose daytime TV shoe is supposed to portray an image of decency etc. But surely, you take him off the show right? Well, that has been done. However, similar to the “cause of death” analogy above, it is simply not going to be enough for our rancid society!

If society really care about the truth (and not just about embarrassing someone or casting the first stone…) we won’t have most of the leaders we presently have and we wouldn’t have the extremely degraded societies we presently have, where scams, frauds and thefts – without a moment’s thought of the actual impact on the victims – have become a normal, day to day occurrence. So, why do we care so much that Schofield lied? Answer: we don’t. People just want to see his fall from grace. It seems to cheer people up to see others destroyed. Pathetic really! If he hasn’t committed any crime, he has his own shame to contend with, or not. But seeking to destroy him is not out of sympathy for his ex-wife: it is unlikely she wants him destroyed. Nobody is perfect and Schofield probably didn’t preach perfection. And if he did, well, those who chose to follow him are probably now just embarrassed they were so gullible!

Those complaining that Schofield’s behaviour and choices may now impact their career negatively, should surly balance that against the fact that what they are now, and the years of success was largely down to him and his success on the show. In particular, those who only joined AFTER the show was successful, largely thanks to Schofield

Give it a rest!!!!

Hats off to you Jeff on your final Soccer Saturday! Legend!!!

Anytime the subject of illiteracy is opened, people get defensive and assume you are talking about university degrees! Yes, in the UK, we have erroneously made it all about university education and those with university degrees are assumed to be the ones capable of leadership and high positions of office. I am not saying this because I do not have a university degree, I do. But the reality is that there are many people out there without a university education, who are extremely well-educated; be it through their journey through life, travel, work experience and other forms of training etc. These are people who have opened up their minds to be educated and are highly educated but without a university degree

Yes, it is perhaps easy to assume that someone who has made it as far as to complete a university degree is unlikely to be an illiterate, but the same applies to those who have been trained through travel, work experience etc. An uneducated person is quite simply put, someone who has not had the benefit of robust training or indeed, education.

The world is being slowly take over by gullibility! Is it traceable to the sudden decline in literacy? Absolutely. If you looks at a large proportion of groups who believe that Covid was never real and was just made up or that school shootings in America are just fiction, you will find a broad base of poorly educated folk who are barely literate. Along with a few education puppet-masters who are manipulating then for political gain, money or whatever else

We are in perilous times!!!

Society rarely assess the wider impact of white collar crimes such as what Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos buddy were found guilty of, because we do not see in front of us, the thousands of broke, poor individuals who lose their life savings in trying to make a few quick bucks investing in companies such as Theranos, only to find it all explode in their faces and off with their hard earned cash!
Holmes, smiling in photos taken on her way to court, holding hands with her parents and husband, like she is the one in need of protection and care, not those poor fools who have lost their money and even if she coughs up and they get bits back, after several years, it will never mitigate.

However, sending her to jail for the 11 years she has been handed, but letting her out after 12 – 18 months on an ankle tag to ensure she stays at home (and carting her off to Jail if she defaults) for say 3 – 5 years house arrest and a couple of years of unpaid community service e.g. cleaning the floor in a hospital, would be a lot more sensible than locking her up for 11 years, even if she only ends up serving 4 or 5 years. I mean, what is the purpose? punishment? as I very much doubt she would come out of jail after 11 years a reformed character. She simply didn’t see the impact or effect on the people who invested in her company and she is not alone in this. Thousands of startups seek public investment each year, many of them end up using all that fund to pay themselves huge salaries for as long as possible, caring less for the eventual fate of the business and investors suddenly receive a letter stating the business tried its best but didn’t work out and that’s that. In Elizabeth Holmes’ case, it is almost certain that her motivation was not to fleece investors; she was someone who sought the status of being reviled as some hot-shot genius inventor and wanted to be the next Steve Jobs and get talked about etc. It is also highly unlikely that she pocketed anywhere near the $450m or so that she and her buddy now have to cough up. No doubt she got paid $millions in wages but other than a net value based on shares in Theranos, it is unlikely that she was a billionaire in real terms.

Yes, deterrence is always necessary, so that other do not think they could get away with it, but many are anyway, they are simply not doing it at the scale she did or not based on the circumstances she was in. Some months in jail would tick the deterrence box and the rest under house arrest plus some community service should suffice. Nothing tangible to gain from locking her up for 11 years. Many politicians have been a lot more deceitful and caused a great deal more damage than she has and have not had to face the music..

An era where someone enjoys huge wealth and privilege merely due to the coincidence of birth, should be well in the past. BUT, is that not also true for the advantages – albeit not necessarily wealth or affluence- accorded a non-royal child born in the UK versus one born in Honduras?

Society must learn to be tolerant. I am not a royalist and quite frankly, fail to see the relevance of it, but when you see tens of thousands come out in support, even if they are no longer the majority, do their views not count?
It doesn’t matter what my personal opinion of the monarchy is, if so many people still derive such joy from a coronation, then they still want to be ruled by a monarch and that is indeed their choice and they are entitled to it

As for those opposed, their opinion is also valid and they are entitled to it. Some of their arguments are equally wonky. Are elected politicians any better? Some of them act like Kings anyway (or think they are; great example is Trump and he is not an isolated case). Human beings cannot exist without seeking to elevate some; be it pop stars or just ‘celebrities’ as they are now referred to, which could be anyone who appears on telly for 5 minutes, for whatever reason!
The royal family are a soft target for people to moan about, when they actually serve a much greater purpose than someone making millions for being an “influencer” on Tik Tok who is actively leading teenagers to a bunch of wrong choices in life!

If you ask the average Brit who think they are more British than others, why they feel so, they will state it is because of their lineage and the centuries of contribution their great, great great grandparents made to the country etc. Well, then perhaps the royal family are likewise entitled to their status as a result of what their ancestors did and the positions they held. An average Brit needs a holiday, ups and goes; these folk (royals) can’t just head anywhere. They can’t say what they think half the time, they have to exercise restraint all their life. Yes, some may say it’s their choice and they have so many perks, but you go and try living their life for a day! You’ll find it ain’t as easy as it looks…

I don’t see any need for hostilities. Whichever side you support (royalist or republican), it is what it is…

Way I see it, as long as some still clamour for it, what is the harm?
Some have been moaning about the display of wealth; well, ok. But is that not what various millionaires and billionaires do daily?

It remains a matter of opinion….

Perhaps when cavemen crushed each other’s skulls with rocks? or Ukraine today? Sudan? Countless wars in Europe? the era of the crusade? Spanish Inquisition?
the daily mass shootings in America?
And I won’t bother to mention those who have never been danger-free, through all eras, including the danger from some of those folk paid to keep them safe in America.

Guns don’t kill (the slogan of the feeble-minded): well, it just kills exponentially then? Well, perhaps the new one will be: A.I. don’t kill? But there may well be some truth to that. Last week I saw a demonstration of a special new technology that quickly and effectively extinguishes fire in burning cars. Technology should focus on noble innovation, but unfortunately, while you’re at that, someone else someplace else, is busy working out the next best weapon in a bid to take over the world. Then the race start for deterrence!

Few years ago, the buzzword was BLOCKCHAIN! Want to start a shoe-polishing business at a train station, just call it “Blockchain shoe polishing” and you’re in business! It seems the new buzzword is A.I.

Human beings. We’re our own worst enemies. Never mind the dangers of A.I.

What on earth is wrong with human beings????!!

A country like Sudan, where people are struggling to find food on any normal day, AIRSTRIKES?! How can they afford weapons, let alone use them??

Surely, this is the definition of insanity?!!!!!

What on earth can they be fighting for??

We can blame history all we want. Impact of colonisation with the lumping together of incompatible tribes etc. But for goodness sake!!!!!

Sudan’s got enough challenges without adding on a silly war!

Yes, soldiers have to follow commands, but there really must be an exception, when it comes to these sorts of mindless killing!

When people sit about criticising everything, we never take a moment to appreciate some things. This week a bunch of people trapped in Sudan, got evacuated back under perilous conditions! The men & women of our armed forces who risk their lives (yes, it is their job, but NO, they didn’t send the Sudanese-British fold who went off there, even with the obvious signs that things could kick off there!) to go and get people out! Many criticise the government all the time, but when these noble acts are carried out, we say it is just the basic minimum!

Today, the chairman of the BBC has resigned, because the investigation into the loan he allegedly helped Boris arrange, was not mentioned to the panel that interviewed him for his appointment. Yes, perhaps he should never have been appointed, BUT the reality is that anyone senior enough to get considered for such a position, is highly unlikely to be without any potential conflict of interest. Not coming clean earlier, is perhaps his only transgression. BUT most importantly, he has done the right thing in resigning and whether or not he made that decision or it was made for him, we should appreciate the ability of the society we are in, to bring people to account, no matter how senior they are. That is exactly what makes us different from those scary countries out there

Tucker Carlson, ex-Cable TV news guy released a video on twitter today, few days after his sacking and he spoke about “the truth”. It appears the poor fella confuses the word ‘OPINION’ with the word ‘TRUTH’. If you believe something to be true, and fervently believe it to be true, doesn’t mean it is true.

Before giving testimony, witnesses raise their hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But what is that truth?

Human beings have committed heinous crimes against each other since time immemorial. And we continue to do so. In all that time, there has been religion and the ‘thou shall not kill’ and the rest, but when someone picks up a weapon that has been made for killing, perhaps there’s a chance someone will be killed? But that seems to be a truth that many do not accept to be true.

We talk about the truth all the time. We want the truth. But whose truth exactly?

What really is the truth?

When someone says: “that is what I believe to be the truth”, they are usually lying. The truth is not what we believe to be the truth. So, what is the truth? And whose truth is it?

Of course the ideal scenario is for the planet earth to be a place where everyone can exist in peace & quiet. Unfortunately, at present, we do not have a universal agreement on all aspects of life; norms, cultures, laws etc. As such, to allow some folk to start practicing laws that are not UK laws in the UK, is not acceptable in any form. If I fancy the laws of a different country, then I will simply go and reside in that country.

The ability to debate is gone. Our politicians only wish to pander to one side or the other.

Yes, it is unfortunate that measures such as stop & search have been abused, leaving some groups feeling targeted and persecuted. If we can apply our laws fairly, it is clear that in the circumstances we are in today, such measures as stop & search are simply unavoidable. You only have to look at the number of stabbings each year….

The government should have taken a stand, 20+ years ago, to make it clear that our laws will be enforced and we will not allow the country to be overrun by folk intent on stabbing each other or harming others.

As for intolerance and the very human force behind it, that will remain for as long as parts of the world are left behind, forcing their people to seek economic relief in other countries. Intolerance will end, when it is clear that any different individual one encounter in society, is there as a preference e.g. on holiday, and not out of desperation.

The continued, mindless division of society into these crazy ideological groups is creeping into how we are supposed to perceive or react to someone charged with committing a crime….

Over the years many have resulted to blaming conspiracy theory spouting channels and news channels that no longer attempt to be unbiased or neutral, for the awful state of today’s society, where truth is a long discarded concept

If you’ve ever read a boring novel, you’ll know that it is rarely one that you save on your bedside shelf for a re-read. It’s the same with news; few will tune in to a factual, truthful channel that isn’t pandering to one wing of society or the other. Viewership dictates the value of the advertising slots or the merchandise (e.g. copies of publications sold) and truth and accuracy are no longer (or perhaps, have never been?) the measure. But never in history, has it become so blatant.

We naively expect pundits and commentators on TV to be objective and truthful, but if they are, we are bored. So, they get whacky and whackier, we stay tuned and keep watching. The more extreme they get, the higher the viewership. No different from 3rd century BC when crowds filled arenas to watch gladiators maul each other and get mauled right? Throw in the occasional lion or tiger, to draw in a few more spectators and the elite satisfy the peasants, everybody is a winner! Not much has changed over the centuries. It is society: we, us, you & I, that create the conducive environment for these situations to thrive. Be it the gladiator mauling of the 3rd century BC, today’s biased news channels who no longer attempt to put neutral facts out or indeed the harmful social media channels that bear a fair portion of responsibility for what their viewers get up to, but refuse to take any action to address hate, self-harm etc.

All these channels, magazines etc., are funded by us. No business thrives without customers. Society can never reach a unanimous consensus on anything and THAT, is what fuels those businesses and will forever do.

I know a chap who never owned a television. His kids never watched telly and they only had access to the internet to complete their school work, over very short time periods. They were largely oblivious to all the hate and madness out there, but such sheltering could also lead to naïveté. Seems to be a much preferred balance though…

Fix Africa, fix South America, fix SouthEast Asia! Outlaw wars! If migration becomes solely a matter of choice and not out of desperation or due to displacement, then the present feeling of intolerance will melt away.

It is naive to think discrimination or racism is solely from one singular race to another. It isn’t. Everyone has the tendency to discriminate. There isn’t a huge degree of intolerance towards folk on holiday as the host countries expect to benefit from their visit.

If Africa can sort itself out: eliminate corruption, drop archaic practices, educate all, mechanise agriculture, step up! Making it a continent nobody wants to leave, with only a few exiting for short periods to holiday around the world, the dynamics will change immeasurably. At present, sending people to Africa (e.g. Rwanda) is seen as an effective deterrent! That speaks volumes!

Same logic applies to the frequency mass migration from South & Central American countries to the US. If those countries can be transformed to safe, prosperous havens that nobody wants to leave, the value of their citizens will rise globally and so will their treatment when in the US, if it is clear they are only there by choice and not for survival.

There is nothing magical about this. We all know it is the only fix and it is very doable, but perhaps we are reluctant to improve those parts of the world? Perhaps we are reluctant to end wars? end displacement? Heaven knows why???!!!

Taxes continue to go up, prices up (today my wi-fi company increased the monthly bill by 20%), but we are frustrated when workers go on strike to demand an increase in wages…

Many of us do not work in sectors where we can go on strike, but I can definitely understand why those who can, are going on strike! Things cannot continue as they are!

It is a truly sad period for the UK. I have always said freedom of speech doesn’t come with freedom of consequence. Society must have zero tolerance for hateful comments that incite hate regardless of whom it targets. But to seek to punish or silence a sportscaster for drawing a parallel between speeches made by the government and that made in 1930s Germany, is stepping into an uncharted territory. We say we want to learn from history, we say we must learn from history, but when a comparison is made, we say “how dare he?”

The steps the UK government are trying to take, in taking control of the border, has nothing to do with pandering to the right. These are very necessary actions – but I still believe there are better tech-based solutions – and it must and will have to be done, sooner or later, unless we get rid of all borders and shift to a “whose land is it?” world, where we level the playing field, scrap currencies (find a global trading medium), mechanise agriculture worldwide and get the entire world working as a single equitable society – but we’re nowhere near that yet, and as such, for the moment, we must enforce our laws and that includes making our borders secure and getting all entrants to go through due processes and routes. BUT what is the need for the accompanying rhetoric? Do we need a government that sounds like illiterates having a rant in online chat rooms? There is absolutely no need to use the choice of words that’s been used to date. There is absolutely no justification for it. It takes so much away from the work the government is doing, in sorting a mess that people want sorted but nobody wants to be the one to sort it! It is a thankless job and you are damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Nobody in the UK will benefit from an uncontrolled border where people smugglers are exploiting their victims and boating them across. It means the government can’t prepare for them, it means they face a tough, uncertain future here, and their kids will end up growing up filled with hate. Intolerance will continue to brew as poor folk in the country will feel let down – a problem that has already led to several flashpoints this year. If the government can just quietly – without the horrible wording – get on with what they are doing, then criticisms from the likes of Gary Lineker, will focus on the actual context and he will have no reason to compare the words to 1930s Germany. Perhaps politicians deem it easier to move an agenda forward if they get the public behind it and perhaps in this instance, the government felt that borrowing words from what they see as the mainstream, is going to have that effect? But the government must surely try to rise above that. The government should not use words such as ‘invaders’ for instance. There is honestly, no need for those types of words. The government should just get on with doing what needs to be done and leave the colourful wording to others.

Calls for Lineker to be punished and indeed, his removal from his BBC programme tonight, shame us all. It is an action the BBC will regret, because even if they reverse the decision, it is already too late. BBC have lost public support this week. Even the right-wing folk who disagree with Lineker, know that the BBC’s action in punishing him, is not right. The BBC have gone down a slippery slope from which it is clearly impossible to climb back from.

I have always been a staunch supporter of the BBC and even after this saga, I still cannot see any press anywhere around the world that will ever be as decent as the BBC, even with its flaws – the BBC and the ethos behind it, is set up to be a force for good, but I suppose nobody is perfect. This situation with Lineker is a terrible mistake by the BBC.

The government should put an immediate end to the use of horrible words, while just getting on with doing the very necessary work they are doing and leave Lineker and others to comment on the context of the actions and we won’t have this distraction, which was caused by the insistence on descending into the gutter to find phrases that demean migrants who are a mix of folk truly fleeing persecution, some exploiting the system, some exploited by people smugglers and some caught up in it all. They are all still human beings and even if some people see them as invaders, those should never be the choice of words used by our elected officials. Their job should be to sort the mess out. Leave the flowery words to illiterates in online chat rooms

It is just so sad that we have allowed ourselves as a country, to descend into such farce! There is no coming back from this! The BBC have created a precedent that is now going to keep popping up to haunt them..

The world has certainly taken leave of its senses (if it had any to begin with?!)!!!

Yes, racism must be awful and yes, it exists as there are indeed many brainless people out there who would seek to harm or disadvantage others, simply because they do not look like them. And the convenient collective use of terms such as ‘white’ or ‘black’ to lump people together and just categorically state what they stand for, is obviously laughable. BUT, for goodness sake!!!! not every societal ill or any slight or disparaging remark is sourced out of racism!!

This morning, I read an article relating to the 11-Academy Award nominated movie that features Michelle Yeoh whom many will recognise from several Chinese films but in particular, Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon from 2000. The article complains that she found Hollywood racist and claim she was once told: “oh, so you speak English”!
Well, for goodness sake! If I was a known Bollywood superstar and one day show up in China, speaking fluent Mandarin, possibly some may be surprised and mention it?
I am not declaring that Hollywood is a racism-free zone, I am not in the movie business and couldn’t comment, but for crying out loud! How many Caucasians or Africans or Indo-Pakistanis have become superstars in the Chinese movie industry? Do they feature them? When Michelle was winning every award in Asia for her Chinese films, did she spare a thought for people who can’t be in Chinese films as they don’t fit in?
Yes, Hollywood should represent a free for all talent scenario, regardless of where people are from, if there’s a movie to be made, use the best qualified folk. But as it is in the U.K., if we continue to produce a bunch of “period dramas” supposedly based on the 1700s or 1800s, having an African play Lord Burnley or the Queen, is clearly not going to be realistic, unless we all ditch our silly spectacles and accept a play or film is not real, and even if it is biographical, and Matt Damon plays Mandela, then in the context that we all know he is just “playing” Mandela, what could be wrong with that? Who has seen God? (well, he’s been “played” by all sorts of actors and actresses over the years right?). Until we get to the point where people can understand that anyone can and should be able to play anyone, we cannot complain too much, if Chinese movies are not filled with Caucasians or if a Malaysian lady or Chinese lady finds there are not a bunch of roles to play in Hollywood (after she spent decades at the top of the pile in Hong Kong). To try to phrase this as racism is just bizarre

Creativeness or Creativity is what’s required. And perhaps, a bit of common sense from the viewing public, to break down the silly barriers that can open opportunities to actors and actresses where ever they wish to work, if they have the required skills to do so, same as for most vocation. But if creativity is lacking, and a period drama is only deemed authentic if Caucasians play Caucasians and the storyline must reflect historical fact, then the blame (and possibly stupidity) is on us all, the viewing public.

Everyone wants to have a moan! But given the opportunity, we are probably as bad as each other

The same may apply to some other essential services e.g. nurses and other medical staff, albeit, it could be argued that medical staff dealing with sick folk, pandemic or not, is a core part of their job description. But goodness me! I just read an old article that had pictures of our post-boxes overflowing with Covid test kits; these all had to be handled by postal staff, at a time when nobody really know for certain, how long the virus could survive on surfaces. Those brave postal workers – while the rest of us were hiding away in our homes to avoid getting infected – had to handle such potentially lethal mail, putting themselves and their families at huge risk.

Yes, the demands by every worker for increased salaries isn’t really going to solve anything, as the money has to come from somewhere; and the more money that’s handed out, the higher prices will soar. So, what would be the point?

The government should have looked into what it has in reserve and as the pandemic eased, every postal worker should have been paid a tax-free, life-changing sum of money in gratitude, as a bonus. Perhaps £30,000 each?
Now, that will also have an impact, as many may then choose to go and set up a business and stop working; so, there could be a condition to stay in service for at least 12 months after receiving the bonus – to train new postal staff

If we had all stayed at home during the lockdown, then this sacrifice made by some of the essential services that enabled our ability to stay at home e.g. those who got food to us, kept the electricity, water and gas going, should all receive bonuses. Yes, most of the country kept working from home as possible, but those whose work made it possible for the rest of us to be able to stay at home, should have been rewarded with such bonus.

We should not, as a society, now be locked in these incessant strikes and threats of strikes as workers demand pay increases that even if granted, are highly unlikely to make much difference for obvious economic reasons that really isn’t the fault of the government. One strike will simply lead to the next and the next…….

What is abundantly clear though, is that we don’t have any real thinkers left. All we have is a modern-era of leaders who worry more about opinion polls and tweeter feeds etc. We are in trouble!!!

If you googled El Salvador a month ago, it would have been a long list of homicides with some horrific images. Today, you google El Salvador and it’s been horrific images – perhaps meant to deter? – of human beings being bundled like sardines as they arrive at El Salvador’s new mega-prison. Is this the successful outcome they are after?

No, I do not have an answer or “the” answer to the problems El Salvador have faced over the years, but how long before some of the prison guards begin selling drugs and shanks etc to these supposed gang members?

Building a 60,000 capacity prison and banging up tens of thousands of heavily tattooed gang members in it is as much a solution as Puncho Villa printing Mexican money in an endless supply and thinking it will be worth the paper it’s printed on!

The cost of this mega jail and staffing it, maintaining it, would perhaps be much less than the cost of building schools, hospitals, creating jobs, giving hope to the poor, while tackling some of the social issues that drive people to join gangs. But hey! too simple!

But the images that have now circulated around the world, of human beings being packed up like sardines, can only surely paint a picture of hopelessness! How can this be a sustainable outcome? Yes, you may immediately get an impact in reducing crime for a couple of weeks or months, but then, you are brewing up a calamity! Several kids without their parents – some will say that perhaps this absence gives those kids a chance, as they would have been destined for the same gangs as their missing parents – but this will only ever be positive, if the El Salvador government has the Next Steps ready, following the mass incarceration. What’s next? Will the families of these incarcerated folks get some support, to help them exit this vicious cycle? will the incarcerated men we see packed like sardines suddenly have a change of heart in a mega-Jail in punitive conditions that do not seek to rehabilitate (and how successful has the rehabilitation of gang members been to date?)? You can’t lock them up indefinitely.

What happens when the popularity of the El Salvador president wanes (which is inevitable as I doubt the families of 60,000 incarcerated people will be rushing out to vote for him at the next election – if they ever have one…)?

Those images depict a human tragedy of epic proportion! The world must find a way to sort these situations out. Such a sad, sad period for El Salvador and that region.What can they do to turn things around? (the wave of crime that led to their president taking these drastic action was equally dreadful)

Well, Sir John, the colossal mistake was in calling a referendum on a matter so complex, that after so many years, we are all still trying to unravel it all. It’s like holding a referendum on how to cure cancer! What good would the outcome of such a referendum do?

But the Brexit referendum was called nonetheless. That, is the colossal mistake!

The exit itself was unavoidable. To overturn the result or try to undermine it, would have most likely led to a public revolt. To what end?

The sooner everyone (Britain, the EU) came to terms with this situation the better. We just have to make it work and get on with it. The EU of course, cannot let go as it will lose its deterrent and others will seek to exit, but in my humble opinion, the EU should not worry about deterrence; focus on making it the best choice for its members, get better and let Britain and any others considering exiting, see what they are missing. As for Britain, we all need to stop crying over spilt milk, so many mistakes got us to this juncture. We are there now, so, let’s just get on with it and try to prove the EU wrong by making post-Brexit UK work. This should all be a healthy competition to try to prove a point to either side. There is no need for malice! If post-Brexit Britain does well, fine. Kudos. If post-Brexit EU do well, fine, kudos. Unfortunately, that is perhaps too simplistic for us human beings to accept…

Governments can’t do it all.

where is parenting? where are the parents? Yet another teenager (Brianna Ghey) was stabbed to death in a park – No, not in Yemen or Somalia – here in the U.K.!
I dread turning my computer on these days as the news headline is always the same: a bunch of so called ‘county line’ drug dealers getting sent to jail or yet another stab victim or the recent trend is some angry person who punches another and they fall, hit their head on the pavement and die; effectively ending two lives as one dies and the other is lost to the prison system and reoffending…

Yes, our government (and others in our so-called developed countries) is distracted: net zero, climate change, ULEZ, shooting down Chinese spy balloons and other UFOs (with all the tech we say we have, can America not send up a drone to puncture a balloon and capture it intact, to confirm exactly what it is? instead, like a crazy cowboy film, out comes the missile and they shoot it down, then spend hours searching for it in the ocean? jeez! Come on Yankees, you need to up the tech! deflate the blasted balloons, get them analysed and let’s have an accurate position!), while all that’s going on, we are watching mindless killing, be it in needless wars or by knife-carrying kids on our streets, when indiscriminate zero-tolerance is what’s now clearly needed. Not random stop & searches, how about drones and cameras with X-ray vision, sensors and alarms that pick up knives and guns or other metal on anyone as we all move about and alerts the police. Yes, intrusive, but it is now clearly very necessary. Instead of ordinary CCTVs on trains, street corners etc, install x-ray type smart cameras that screen ALL of us indiscriminately anytime we’re out of our homes or mandate every home, every car to install sensors or cameras hooked to a police centre, put officers on round the clock (it will be cheaper and more effective than stop & search). Yes, there will be objections, but with the number of lives already lost this year alone, this really has become a pandemic!

“Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced that he plans to invest £8.5 million to tackle violence in the capital after 16 people were stabbed and one shot dead in the last five days” – in the news today. 16 in just the last 5 days!!

But we cannot sit back and blame the government. Where is parenting? How are these teenagers feeling so at ease about carry knives and using them?! It really is hard to contemplate! Parents must do more!!!

Many conspired against him, tried to hold him back. Yes, he isn’t without his faults, but a Serb from a tiny nation with no tennis history, continues to prove his point!
Well done Novak!

I cannot see any situation in which the Army would take over government in the UK. Why? because they have a basic, fundamental understanding of their purpose. In recent weeks, with the incessant strike actions in the UK, we have seen the army drafted in to help and when we have national emergencies, you see the army show up to help. The principle of the purpose of the military is very clear and the leadership of our military are never in doubt about that. Unfortunately, in developing countries, with coup d’etat as commonplace as early morning tea, that fundamental principle was either never instilled or poorly instilled. They probably mean well when they intervene, but the fact is that such a situation simply shouldn’t arise. The military should never step in to govern or attempt to do so; not even for a day! Any intervention (in those developing nations) if deemed as the only option, should always be followed by an immediate (same day) installation of a caretaker government ahead of a prompt election.

With the police in the USA, a very similar, basic fundamental is missing: the police should not manhandle their employer i.e. the public. It just shouldn’t happen! Race, affluence, location should have nothing to do with it. There is the police and there’s the rest of the population. One is there to serve the other. It really is that basic! One should never disrespect the other. They are each there because of the other! When you watch videos such as the latest one released this week, of a chap – now deceased – in the US, Tyre Nichols I think his name is, the questions are brutally fundamental. We may not be perfect here in the UK, but I simply cannot see a situation where someone who is not suspected for armed robbery or a violent crime, suddenly finds himself surrounded by that many cops. What are they doing there???? If assuming he was stopped by one police car for traffic violation and was not cooperating, he is only one guy! no sight of a weapon – as they had already dragged him out of his car – so, why cannot one or a maximum of two cops stay to tackle the situation? Surely they must have some standard procedure??? 1 x unarmed guy, move on, leave the two cops on the scene to tackle it, even if he struggles and they spend a bit of time sorting it – he would still be alive today!

It seems that in the US, driving is a cardinal sin or perhaps the most risky thing to do, as it appears driving offences is just a pretext for their cops to stop you and from that moment you are stopped, anything can happen. The manner in which they dragged the fellow out of his car say it all. In what job on earth, would an employee approach the employer in that manner? It is such a fundamental flaw in US law enforcement. Members of the public are the employer! If/when they err and find themselves on the wrong side of the law, YES, they should face consequences, but these extra-judicial killings in America by those employed to serve & protect, is absolutely unacceptable. But when people make statements such as “defund the police”, instead of a review of the fundamental issues, we fixate on the slogan and waste valuable time castigating the slogan, instead of dealing with the issues. The locos in American politics will shortly come out with their usual deflection…

How such barbarism can continue unchecked, in a supposedly ‘developed’ is just mind-boggling!!!

It really has got way out of hand!

The lives being so casually and callously taken! Each life touches on hundreds of lives; parents, siblings, friends etc. Some urgent action needs to be taken in London and this is not just about law enforcement! There’s only so much the police can do. This matter needs to become the only topic on every agenda, with programmes urgently put in place to explain just how much hurt, the taking of a single life causes.

I think we have all become so nonchalant about this topic!

We have allowed it to become normal in London.

Where is the public outrage?

Something must be done urgently. This cannot become London’s normal…

The matter is quite simple: if she was/is rubbish, at least she has the decency to step down, not dragged out or encourage her supporters to riot. But most importantly, where is the long list of others anywhere, male or female, who have not had any detractors?

There is absolutely no need to turn this into a battle of sexes. Wait till the announcement comes in a few days that she has been made the UN envoy to some place or the head of some international bank. Man or Woman, politicians never walk away for nothing or to nothing

I haven’t listen to her quit speech – unlikely I will – but people can make whatever they want from it, only she would know her exact reasons for quitting and it remains her prerogative

From the little I saw or read, she always held herself decently and was for decency; those are very rare qualities these days – and I am not just referring to leaders or politicians – we have failed as societies.

Good luck to her and hope she does well wherever she resurfaces.

I saw the article below online yesterday (some of the information was previously on TV):

It was only after George Michael’s death that it became clear that he was spending millions to help orphans, the homeless, the sick and simply troubled strangers. Some stories from eyewitnesses who will reveal the true face of George Michael:

A contestant on the TV show “The Deal” said on air that she needed £15,000 for the IVF procedure. The next day, Michael called and secretly transferred the full amount to him. (c) Richard Osman, television presenter.

George Michael worked anonymously at a homeless shelter where I volunteered. I didn’t tell anyone about it because he asked us not to say anything. That’s how he was. (c) Emelyne Mondo, actress.

A lady from a children’s charity told me that the only reason they still exist is because of George Michael. (c) Kate Waugh.

Every Easter year, when Chris Tarrant and I were hosting a Capital FM event to help the kids, George Michael would show up at 3.30pm and donate £100,000 (c) Mick Brown, DJ.

He gave £25,000 to a stranger in a café because she was crying over a debt. I wrote a check and asked the waitress to give it to the woman after she left. (c) Victoria vector.

He organized a free concert for the nurses who cared for his late mother. (c) Andrew.

His donations helped create a world where people living with HIV could live healthy lives without prejudice or discrimination. (c) Jane Barron, representative of Terrence Higgins Trust.

I wrote an article a long time ago about a famous man who tipped a bartender £5,000 because she was a medical student in debt. That man was George Michael. (c) Sali Hughes, journalist.

He was also the only star of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (as you know, the winnings of the stars of this game are transferred to charity), who said: “If I lose, I will deposit the money myself.” (c) Sali Hughes, journalist.

Since 1996, George Michael has donated all proceeds from the song “Jesus to a Child” to charity. He transferred millions who saved hundreds of thousands of children. For many years he was the most generous benefactor to give money to Childline. However, Michael was determined not to go public with his generosity, so no one outside of charities knew how much he had given to the country’s most vulnerable children. (c) Esther Rantzen, founder of Childline.

And hundreds of thousands of people are still alive because of him.

While majority run around hating on each other. RIP GEORGE MICHAEL!

Nothing wrong with constructive criticism relating to things that do need to improve. But when some individuals start spewing hate, in the name of whatever and for whatever reason, when they have the very easy option of heading elsewhere (and I don’t mean “go back where you’re from”. Nobody owns anywhere and we are all only here b6 chance and none of us will live indefinitely), it does make my blood boil! Yes, the UK is not a perfect place, but hate and negativity won’t improve anything!

If you don’t like it here, just go on Google, research other countries, find one that you consider to be better and just move there. The funny thing is, when things go awry over there, you will then hear such folk asking the UK government to hurry up and get them out!

If progress is slow, throw in more positivity!

I didn’t vote for Brexit but could see how the anti-EU hysteria got stoked over the years, to the point where people felt they can take any repercussion to get out of the EU. And the folk who should have commissioned a very thorough and accurate step-by-step of what the process of exiting the EU, cost, immediate, short-term and long-term impact etc., and communicated that clearly, instead chose to go down the “we will win any referendum anyway, as the ‘leave’ camp are bonkers” road and nobody really had the full facts. But all that is water under the bridge and not worth regurgitating

What is absolutely unconscionable is the continued fall-out! What do people want??
A return to the EU? Well, can someone gather the FACTS please?? timeline, cost, impact, and will it solve anything??

We are in a pickle and instead of wasting more time moaning about it talking about going back, why don’t we just face the music and get on with it???!!!

If Brexit was idiotic, attempting to undo it or sitting around moaning about its impact is twice as idiotic! What’s done is done. Let’s get on with sorting out a way forward and perhaps 5 years from now, there may be some side deals to explore with the EU, to get an associate membership of sorts, take on some of their stipulations, if that is all glaringly the only way we can stop people heading further into poverty as we have seen in the past 3 years!

Covid has had an impact. There is a global recession looming. It isn’t all just about Brexit!
Yes, the domino effect is perhaps the reason why are are seeing such a heavy toll in the UK, with more and more falling into extreme poverty.

Enough of the moaning though! We are where we are, it is time to focus solely on solutions.

A rail franchise Director said yesterday that we need to get people back out using the trains so they can survive. Well, funny that! Sort the incessant striking of the drivers, other rail union staff etc. and get reliability back and you won’t need to appeal to commuters to get back on the train, they will!

Mad times!!!!

Choice of words are so important! Why not just say: if you feel a sneeze coming or suspect you have a cold or any virus, please wear a mask in public, as a precaution. Or something along those lines….

The minute we make it sound like those wearing masks are those with a virus, few will choose to wear one!

I’ve seen people coughing and spluttering on flights saying: “don’t worry, it’s not Covid”. But if you ask them if they have recently taken a Covid test, they look away!

It doesn’t appear we have learnt much over the past couple of years! The government will sit by yet again till the only solution is another lockdown! Why not act now? Do the necessary now! So that we can avoid another lockdown!!

We head into yet another year, with the usual “the west is good” and “the rest bad” mentality that has defined the world for centuries. As I have repeatedly stated, I have absolutely no doubt that western intentions are generally set to try to do good and the advancement of women’s rights (e.g. to education, vote etc) and the quest for circular societies with democratically elected governments, freedom of speech etc., are all prime examples. But we have still not managed to eliminate and eradicate ‘hate’, ‘intolerance’, ‘inequality (and I don’t mean racial inequality, I am referring to the ever-increasing poverty) and disproportional targeting (e.g. sentencing, which keeps so many minorities in jail in countries such as the US or the focus on drug-dealers while the folk buying and consuming it are never pursued or prosecuted). However, even with the long list of issues we could do better with, millions continue to try to reach the west because we do not imprison people for insulting our heads of government or shut newspapers down because they dare to provide challenging views etc.

But circumstances and culture do matter. What works in the west is not guaranteed to work everywhere else. We have already seen that several times over the past millennium. Also, classing ‘difference’ as evil, is not correct. The west should be out to MOTIVATE and incentivise not strong arm. For instance, regarding Brexit, the EU should have applied incentives instead of threats of a dire aftermath. If we look at the Qatar World Cup as another example; yes, the LBGT and foreign workers situation is appalling, but do we think things will improve just because we try to shame them at the last minute? There were several years ahead of the event and opposition was muted, till the event kicked off! There is little to be gained from trying to embarrass Qatar; the issue should and must be raised as they were BUT respectfully and with pleas to their leadership for them to see why the world reacted the way we did. Their country, their laws, BUT asking the world over, means some compromises were required and I am sure they could relate to that. Now, the tournament is over, if the protests had been more respectful, now would have been the time to start fresh discussions to continue to push for those changes (respectfully!). The usual “we are good”, “you are evil” and you must change and do things the way we do approach has never and will most likely, never work

The ongoing war in Ukraine should never have started. Like most of us in society, I do not have all the facts and Russia’s reasoning, Ukraine’s logic, the west, etc. But of one fact I am very convinced, there was and is, nothing to be achieved through this war or any other wars! I read an article this morning that criticised Tony Blair for seeking to get Putin on the high table. We cannot continue to approach global politics the way we do. Other perspectives need to be taken onboard, even if they counter ours in the west! I am not saying Russia or China can be wooed into becoming exactly the same as a France or US, but who says which ones are good and which are evil?? It is clear that every country has its history of good and bad. The point is that we must try to keep everyone engaged, to see if that can prevent situations escalating to the point of war. But yes, appeasement also rarely work, we saw that with WWII.

But the present ‘good’ V ‘evil’ arrangement isn’t working either

By now, somebody, somewhere, should have got Putin and Zelensky to sit down to end the needless loss of lives in Ukraine. By now, discussions should be ongoing to end the madness in other parts of the world where other armed conflict are looking inevitable.

Unfortunately, everyone’s entrenched in their respective positions and there’s an all-round lack of trust, historical baggage etc. So, nothing’s going to change. It is what it is. Sadly

An additional 7 years has been added to Aung San Suu Kyi’s imprisonment, taking the total up to 33 years. She is now 77 years old I believe…

When you look at some of the charges she faced and has been jailed for, the implausibility is so obvious. What would someone like her do with embezzled funds? I mean, this is a lady who spent decades fighting for what she believed in. Unfortunately, it is doubtful many will come to her aid this time around. She had a chance to do the right thing when she was briefly in power – well, if she ever was really in control – and even if such power was limited behind the scenes, her words, her influence at the time, could have made a difference but she showed what many saw as her true colours and we saw what went on with those marginalised folk

Surely she must now see the precariousness of her position? Once someone the whole world respected and many campaigned selflessly for her freedom years back. Now herself a pariah and much as it is doubtful that the charges against her are fair or proven, she may now find her circumstances dire, with little to no international support this time around

Shortsightedness on her part?

What would it take for leaders to step back before falling off a cliff edge? So many of them over the decades, see doom coming, plough ahead and end up in peril! Seems a pretty persistent flaw…

As 2022 winds down, I sincerely hope – but doubt – 2023 will usher in better times.

It is so frustrating when you read about these so-called celebrities moaning about inequality? I am sure this John Amaechi chap is a great guy and all that. I am certain his is doing great things etc., but seriously!??? he gets selected for an extra or intensive search at Heathrow and yes, had he been Caucasian perhaps it would not have happened (as he and others have been stating) as I doubt Rod Stewart or Bill Gates or Elon Musk or Roger Federer would have been hit the same random selection jackpot, but if they had, they (like Reece Witherspoon did during her police stop some years ago) would have played the “do you know who I am” card, which is the exact same card John Amaechi should have played, if he wanted to play a card. To turn his experience into a racial matter and try to wrap it all into all the bias stuff, is just a little silly really! And if he is right and he has been targeted, what is the purpose of his outburst? to better his future trips or is it to help others like him avoid such an experience? The airports must do their jobs and try to keep us all safe! Yes, nobody wants to keep on getting selected for some additional, intrusive, humiliating searches, especially if you are a known celebrity who is highly unlikely to be a security threat, but the criteria cannot be based on that can it?

It has just become so dull and tiring! It is very ok for Amaechi to vent his frustration, if as he says, he is a frequent traveller and has not been a security risk, but keeps getting selected for these humiliating, supposedly random extra searches, I am sure that if he had just quietly raised the issue with the authorities, they may well ease up on him or check their random selection machine? But even if he felt a public outburst was best, it should have been made within the context of “why do you keep on selecting me??? I am a celebrity and a lot less risk than many unknown folk”. There was no need to try to imply the airport security staff or the system? select him for being black? or big? or whatever other reason he feels he’s been selected for. John, just say it as it is: you feel you are a celebrity and should be given special treatment! There it is! Simple. Others have said it, no problem with you saying it too. You are indeed a celebrity and if Federer has never been randomly selected, then perhaps you do have a case for being frustrated with your incessant random selection. Fair enough. But for goodness sake! don’t bring in the whole black thing! For starters, why are you black? (you are both black and white), half the world (China, India, Pakistan, rest of Southeast Asia, many Spaniards and Italians, some Caucasian Brits after a few weeks in Ibiza and many others are the exact same shade as you: are they also black?). But all that aside, every incident cannot possibly be down to discrimination! If I am wrong and it all is, then, what do I know??

No sadness, she was and is to be celebrated period! If more can see the world as she saw it, it would be a much better place for all….