Knowledge can improve the world we live in

Dumbest reporting ever! Trouble didn’t begin when her Chancellor….

Her Chancellor only implemented what she had spent weeks saying she would do – and for which she got elected by her party to be Prime Minister!

Now, everyone will place all the blame squarely at her doorstep. Our politics and democracy is broken!

If someone campaigns on a promise and wins, then tries to deliver those exact promises and gets beaten up and dumped! What does that say of those who elected her?

It is evidently time for a general election!!!!

We appear to be in a vicious cycle of individuals vowing to address illegal migration, economic crisis etc., only to get sacked or quit a few weeks later!
It begs the question: whose policies are presently being implemented by the civil service???

Any Prime Minister not elected via a general election should be called “interim Prime Minister” till the next general election and not listed as a past PM if they fail to win the general election. That may hopefully dissuade some of the folk who keep jumping into these governments roles even though it is clear they ain’t going to last

There should also be a limit of the number of cabinet roles an MP can take on in any calendar year.
It is all getting absolutely laughable! It doesn’t matter how clever an individual is, you can’t go from spending 4 month being a lawyer and then be a doctor for the next 3 months and off to being an accountant 3 months later!

We must restructure our politics! It is fast becoming a joke!

You can only choose from what’s before you

For a number of reasons, many individuals with the honesty, decency and capability choose not to put themselves forward – hard to blame them as today’s public service is largely a thankless and often dangerous job as we have seen with the recent mindless killing of a couple of MPs in the last few years

To hear Liz Truss on BBC stating yesterday that she is going to lead the conservatives to the next general election, is just incredible. Why do people put themselves in such positions!? She has tried, failed and would be well-remembered if she just said: “everything I did was in good faith, but it got frustrated by others” and I’m sorry and quit. Why cling on???

But more importantly, here we go again!!! We haven’t learnt a thing! A new chancellor is appointed and takes the most obvious steps in reversing what Truss had promised and was doing – a step any 5 year old could have taken – and he is now being showered with praise! This is the same guy who couldn’t cope with the NHS as Health Minister very recently. We need to learn to try these folks out before swooning!
They swooned for Truss, even though she had scant experience and had little past success, but the minute she uttered the password “I support Brexit” she was good enough. We are in dire times!

Even a general election won’t save us. We do not have alternatives to opt for. It is a rock or a hard place for us. But clearly, better to try labour as they may at least give us a moment of respite – the present merry go round has become tiresome! Either way, a general election puts the onus back on the electorate, even if the menu remains so unappealingly limited!

It really is unbelievable that a Prime Minister who spent weeks campaigning with a set of policies, then implements those policies and within a matter of days, has now done two major u-turns!

Why did she not ensure wide and open support for those policies? And how did she secure selection as PM? It would seem she may have been used as a fall-guy here?

If people insist she resigns now, then all the MPs who supported her bid for PM, which was based on the same policies that everyone is now crucifying, should all resign!

But for her to fire the Chancellor who was faithful (or foolish?) enough to do her bidding, and hope to keep her job as PM, is foolhardy. She is definitely toast. I for one would have preferred it if she stuck to her guns and ploughed on, as I am certain nobody else has a plan. It is just the classic, wait for the first fool to table a plan…

It is hard not to pity Liz Truss. She genuinely believed her plan will work, and it could have, if she had taken a few days to consult with her party, the banks, BoE and others, before rolling it out. She was convinced that the fact she had already used it in her campaign for PM and got the job, meant she had a mandate. A very foolish assumption when it comes to politics and she should know that

We are now stuck in a downward spiral. Heaven help us!

….and this is exactly why we continue to have wars! When leaders should see the bigger picture and get us to a NO WAR (any kind of war, for whatever reason) scenario. Instead, they bicker! they attempt daft oneupmanship! Does Macron now think he’s the voice of reason? Just look at the absolutely pathetic waste of human life in the various wars or conflicts across the world….

There should be no delusions about the use of nuclear weapons. Nobody should have them to begin with. But as we know, once someone’s got them, others had to have them (presumably to deter) and so it continues…

It is just unthinkable that in the year 2022, we have to worry about the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons or of civil war in America. Seriously?!!!!

But these are the mad times we find ourselves in.

We should have strong leaders who should focus on making warring totally unacceptable and unfathomable. Such that it is never an option. Instead, it is veiled threats or silly rebukes

As the UK public continue to vilify Meghan Markle for goodness knows what reason – as I have stated in the past, she can be a liar, a gold-digger or whatever it is people accuse her of, at the end of the day, nobody is perfect and Harry chose her, so let them sort all that between themselves – what is more striking, is the situation with her father and her half siblings. Seriously??! Those people should sit themselves down, look in a mirror, shake their heads and put an end to this madness!

They can make a lot more money from Meghan’s royal status by ending the hostilities and even if they have to pretend, by being nice to her and ending the endless washing of their dirty linen in public, they will make a lot more money over time and get more recognition than through their present strategy of trying to gouge her eyes out and spewing hate, telling tales, sueing her for defamation etc.

It is such a no-brainer.

Yes, the crazy headlines and acrimony sell newspapers and they could get some publicity and money that way, but they will make a lot more money by reconciling, shutting up and keeping whatever takes they have been telling to themselves. Present an air of semi-decency and then write books etc about growing up with her….
It is a cleaner, less embarrassing route than what they’re presently doing

Who needs a family that acts with such utter contempt for everything a family is supposed to be about???

Elon Musk made some suggestions on twitter this week, which has been roundly derided. But in truth, what will Ukraine see as victory?

How do you exert authority over people who do not feel part of a country?

It is a very difficult conundrum

Take Scotland for example. We are led to believe Scotland want out of the union. Ok, so they get a referendum and those wanting to leave the UK lost the referendum. Now, they want another referendum. Where do you draw the line. At some point, those wishing to leave the UK will win a referendum right? So, what about all the referendums they lost? As circumstances change and sentiments change, outcome of votes could also change. Now, is the solution to continue to deny them another referendum? Why not set some rules? —— only one referendum in any 50 year period for instance, if the outcome of a referendum is at least a 10% margin, the result should stick for at least 50 years. If David Cameron had set some rules for the Brexit and Scottish referendums that he presided over, we wouldn’t be in the mess we currently are in.

But back to Ukraine. Ukraine can never defeat Russia. It is that simple. I am not a Russian-sympathiser as I do not support war in any way, shape or form, BUT, if you look back in history, you will see just how resilient Russians are. They are very tough. I do not see any scenario in which Ukraine will win a war against Russia. And if Ukraine begin to receive too much in support, this will become WWIII and surely NOBODY sane wants another world war. So, what is the solution?

First there needs to be a ceasefire. Everything needs to be on the table. But the needless and pointless killings – which war is – need to stop, and then go from there

If as Russia allege, many Ukrainians want to be part of Russia as they are being ill-treated in Ukraine, well, why not invite these folk to move to Russia and become Russians that way? Offer them land, help them relocate, build new towns for them in Russia etc. I fail to see how annexation can be the solution. Now, if for any reason, offering Russian citizenship and relocation is not what those folk want, then perhaps a discussion can be had around granting them real autonomy within Ukraine. But some will argue that has already been attempted with Crimea

I am not sure that the world will remain stable, if countries begin making moves for land in other sovereign nations just because there is a claim that some folk want out or feel they are being ill-treated etc. Russia could be the “big brother” to Ukraine by helping them to improve the lot of the east Ukrainian, Russian-speaking folk who perhaps feel a little unappreciated in Ukraine.

If Ukraine retake all 5 annexed cities today and manage to kick the Russians out from every inch of Ukraine and also retake Crimea, how is that going to end this war? How many months before some of those folk kick off again and claim they feel they are not being treated fairly in Ukraine? And why should they have to relocate?

Neither side appear to have a solution.

Ukraine was having internal issues well before the Russians attacked. All those issues should be brought to the table and a lasting solution found. But first, Russian need to end the military intervention. This situation cannot be solved by military intervention.

Nobody forced us into Brexit, we walked in eyes wide shut (but people were simply fed up with EU dictates) and nobody planned in advance for Covid and its aftermath; it came as a shock to the entire world. So, much as I do not like these passing of the baton i.e. having a Prime Minister that wasn’t selected via a General Election, it is what it is. The lady thought she had to do something and she did! Ok, perhaps she should have allowed the budget review watchdog and others to have their say first – noting we already know what they would have said, from what they are saying now – and granted that perhaps removing the 45p tax was seen as her rewarding the rich – but the rich do employ others and in any case, they poor always aspire to be rich right? – whichever was you look at it, this rush by seemingly all and sundry to plunge the knife into Liz Truss and her government as if she created Brexit and Covid and the energy crisis! None of these pathetic buffoons criticising her did anything last year when the average household heating cost went from around £75 a month to a staggering £375 per month!!!
So, now she comes in and tries her hand – and yes, it may well end up being too aggressive or the wrong hand to play – but for Pete’s sake she at least pulled her thumb out and tried something! Yes, she did it to try to see if she can get popular ahead of a general election and it backfired spectacularly, but I for one still credit her for the guts in trying

The pound is currently taking an absolute beating, BUT, it is a resilient currency. It will bounce back. To try to force yet another Prime Minister out now, and what? put another one in without a general election? Come on people! Come on! Let’s stop being so frigging stupid!!!

Give the mini-budget a couple of weeks and if the pound doesn’t show any signs of recovering, then, feel free to get your daggers out. But to stab Liz in the back a day after the budget is just churlish!

Give it a rest!!!!!

Stevie Wonder was his turning point; to allow the sampling of his track, Stevie mandated removal of foul language from Coolio’s hit and that got it mainstream and became an eye opener to rappers that rap can become mainstream with a few sensitivities. Rest is history.

Shame Coolio died today at just 59.

Incidentally, the same disregard for each other and for human life that his hit lyrics talk about, is presently at an all time high…..

I am not one to outrightly condemn how some nations choose to rule their people. It should always be up to those people to decide whether that is how they wish to be ruled. But by the same token, I am very grateful to have been born in the UK (we don’t choose where we are born) as I doubt I would be happy under some of the regimes out there.

But when you look at the ineffectual position of organisations such as the United Nations – and yes, they are probably trying their best – it is very clear that if America is not around, posturing and relentlessly building up military might, we will all be in trouble. When you look at the behaviour of some of these other would-be super powers and their intentions, I for one, would hope to never ever have to live in a country governed by those folk. Yes, America has its faults and with all the crazies presently popping up at the helm of their politics, worrying times, but at least they do not have an agenda to rebuild some long forgotten empire. The world has to learn to move on and leave people to self-determination. If a country has formed and its people wish to stick with what they have and carry on with life as they have it, LEAVE THEM BE!!!
There are greater problems out there that these supposed super-powers can seek to solve: eradicating poverty globally, creating means for everyone to access education, ending all wars and mandating that there shall not be military conflicts anywhere on earth – sounds far-fetched, but imagine if sale of weapons to third world countries is replaced with provision of grain and agricultural machines only. If the US, China, Russia, and others say there must be no war globally, they have the means to enforce that easily. There’s so much good that these super-powers can do, if they decide to.

But essentially, while the focus is elsewhere, it is clear the POSTURING is sadly, the only means of keeping us all from being overrun by one or the other of these so-called super-powers….

Yes, the tax cuts are drastic and the sort of solution tried without success in Latin American countries. BUT, this rush to condemn the measures as foolhardy is hugely premature….

… a man was asked to keep an eye on a neighbour’s property as they went on holiday and he went by to water their flowers, he was busy watering away, hose in hand, when a neighbour apparently called the police and this being in the United States of America of course, the police showed up and at this juncture, you would assume that even the dumbest of cops would take into account that surely a burglar wouldn’t first find a watering hose, connect it, water all the flowers before breaking in and stealing the valuables right? or what’s next after breaking in? he’ll trim the hedges on his way out and empty the bins?

But hell no! This is the land of the free; so, what did happen was the man got barked at in the usual US police style and they handcuffed him, took him to jail – even after his wife showed up at the scene with his identification AND even after the person who called the police confirmed he is a neighbour and accepted they made a mistake. But no, common sense is not acceptable is it?

You can Google the report: “pastor watering neighbour’s garden arrested by police in Alabama”

Now, I am not drafting an article on this story just because of what it is, let’s be honest, this is a daily occurrence in America and is no longer newsworthy, but when we all sit in our armchairs and say: “why do they run?” well, they run, they get shot in the back, they don’t run, they get shot in the face, they lay in bed (like Breonna Taylor) they get shot in their sleep. It really is an absolute farce!

Now, after the water hose chap above got booked into jail and posted a $500 bail and was let go, the police later cancelled the charges against him, without an apology. But the sad thing is that a month from now, some administrative error would mean they still have a warrant on him and he’ll be driving home from church one nice Sunday evening when the police will stop him for this outstanding warrant, he will reach for his glasses in his pocket and they will shoot him 200 times.

I mean, how pathetic can we get as human beings???

I do not know what training they give the police in America? But I can only hope that somewhere in America there are some cops who would have arrived at that house, saw the guy with the hose watering away and laughed out loud with him and politely ask him to point out his house on the street, left him there (with a colleague) to carry on with his watering, stroll across to the house, knock on the door, chat with his wife to confirm he lives there, stroll back, apologise for wasting his time and drove off. The matter should never in any circumstance been anymore than that. Instead, several police cars turn up, the junior officers that were chatting with the man were being polite, then their superior who should know better, turns up and starts throwing his weight around. He, like so many cops in America, forgot whom they work for. It just never ceases to baffle me how so many law enforcement officers in America treat their employers with such disdain. Members of the public are your employers cops; is that so difficult to grasp??? It really is a pitiful society where some part of the population feel immune and use the police to threaten and harass others. When you have a society where some people are terrified of a service they pay for (via their taxes) and some people use those services as their personal harassment wand; just picking up the phone and repeatedly calling the cops on others like they’re ordering takeaway! That really is a broken society!

Everyone should be happy to see a law enforcement officer. They should represent assurance. They should be respectful to all in society – even to ex-convicts – anyone in society should be equally respected by the police and in return, the police should be respected by all and seen as the employees we have all paid for, to keep us all safe – it’s like hiring a security guard and worrying when he intends to shoot you dead – madness right?. It really is, a very simple context. But unfortunately, the training has either deliberately or sadly, not been able to remove the same ills of society and what we have is a mix. You can only hope that one day, that mix will be in favour of a greater number of decent law enforcement people versus a minority of rotten apples. Something just eats in their heads I think. Because I just cannot understand, from watching that video clip(which is from the police body cam) how on earth anyone can fail to see that a guy with a hose (which he didn’t suddenly scramble for) and huge sections of the plants were wet; so, he has clearly not just started watering them, can be anything but what he said he was. The owner of the house later appeared on CNN devastated at what happened to the pastor. It really is just truly mind boggling

Humanity has failed. And we continue to stand by, as it continues to fail….

Without law enforcement, we are worse than animals. There will be absolute anarchy. As such, the police are an absolutely crucial service and as it is not a job I would consider doing – it is a thankless job – they get my absolute praise and respect. BUT seriously, there has to be a total reset of this situation. This should all be such a friendly arrangement: the police are there to do the job we all hired them to do, and in doing it, they should always remember who their employer is….

wishful thinking? probably…

I am not a royalist but that’s nothing to do with it: this is a lady who gave everything for her people. It really is that simple. RIP Elizabeth II

Truly sad day…

What is there to chuckle about?

Ok, Liz Truss has made it well past her wildest dreams to become Prime Minister, but is this time to be laughing out loud in parliament??

I have said this before and will say it again: which country out there is better than the UK? it doesn’t matter what you compare, I believe the UK is better than any other country out there. BUT, we are on our knees! We have a high number of homeless people, intolerance is at an all-time high (higher now than in the terrible 50s and 60s! who ever thought we could go that far backwards?!), poverty and child poverty is at all-time high, people are about to freeze to death in their own homes the coming winter – thanks to unaffordable energy prices, stabbings have become a daily pastime! We gave the world the manga carta then followed it promptly with heinous acts and now, we want to pull out of the European Convention for Human Rights, instead of sitting down to find an effective solution to stopping people abusing our border by rowing across the English Channel, we have politicians wasting time attacking the ECHR.

I turn the computer on today and I see a wide-open-mouthed toothy grin from our new PM and I just cannot imagine what could be so funny in these perilous times

Imaging a doctor telling you you have deadly cancer while watching a short comedy on his phone and laughing out loud as he gives you the devastating news.

… we are too obsessed with who or what we think we are!

if/when we ever get to the point where nobody give a hoot (that’s where I’m at presently) about who’s what colour or race or who’s history’s what.. (some people were… not some black people or white people…), that is when the current madness will abate..

…everyone’s jumping in with an opinion…

The opposing political parties criticising Sanna Marin are right to do so. That is their role. A few months ago she was caught out going clubbing after she was informed she may have contracted Covid. She apologised, as politicians do when they’re found out.

Those saying it’s her private life and she can club as she wants, are also correct. It is indeed her life. BUT, who leaked the pictures? If you want a matter kept private, you ensure none of your mates go about leaking your photos right?

Misogyny? Don’t be silly! We are about to lose a Prime Minister in the UK on the back of his partying. Many a politician have been ridiculed for weeks in our newspapers for partying. Most recently, Michael Gove, with his shape-cutting dance floor moves. As for being only 36 years old? Well, good for Sanna, but I don’t know many 36 year olds who have so much time to party. 26 yr olds perhaps….

Finland is a country that only a few weeks ago, we were being told “the Russians are coming”! These are frightful times for most countries around the world. Climate issues; drought etc., energy crisis and the rest. Private life or no private life, should a Prime Minister not have just that bit more to do at this perilous moment? Ok, we all need to wind down and I don’t know how small or large the Finnish PM’s residence is? But could she not get the best DJ in and party at home, with mobile phones taken off her guests at the door? She could just be a little less reckless, to save her country these daft headlines!

Surely, the distraction alone, is a good reason for her to either cut back a bit on the partying or try harder to ensure these pictures stop getting in the wrong hands

As for those criticising the media; seriously? The only group worthy of criticism in this silly saga, is person or persons who leaked the pictures. They need to cease and desist! There is no benefit to anyone sane, in leaking such private picture. And if you’re a Finn, do you need this silliness? it must be getting tiresome for Finns. Every time they hit the headlines, it’s about their PM clubbing! Jeez!!!

How do you enforce the rule of law in an era where any move you make can be so easily distorted???

Firstly, you need good people. But there will always be some rotten apples in the mix…

But surely, when you go into battle and those you are up against are using human shields (i.e. hiding behind a crowd) you have to adopt a very different strategy right? I am not going to stand in judgement of Donald Trump; the guy is over 70 years old and has never been incarcerated for any crime. He has been twice impeached as president, been investigated so many times but never locked up. So, what really is the point in both sides (Trump and his supporters and the folk on the other side pursuing him) carrying on, when others are the ones paying the price? The people who lost their lives during the Jan 6 storming of the US Capitol, the guy shot dead last week as he tried to storm an FBI office etc. Trump apparently said: “people are angry, temperatures are rising, how can I help turn the heat down?”. Well, how indeed? When a sitting president of the United State holds campaign style rallies while in office (those should be banned by the way) and incessantly tweets (all presidential comms while in office should be via a professional press office, vetted properly before release, as the impact is so significant), the result is simple: you get a cult following that becomes a very convenient human shield. Now, it doesn’t matter whether this was by design or just an unfortunate coincidence, but the minute people are prepared to take up arms on your behalf and are prepared to die for you and what you say, for the love of god! you must moderate what you say!!!

As for those in pursuit of Trump, be it the Attorney General or anyone else: FBI, Special Counsels (Mueller previously) etc. I believe these are all decent, honest people trying to do a decent job. They are not on a witch-hunt, BUT, when you gauge public opinion and rightly or wrongly, so many Americans are being told and believe Trump is being unjustly persecuted, to avoid a situation where Americans become a human shield and begin dying as they get caught in the middle, the strategy CANNOT possibly be to keep on with a standard modus operandi such as raiding Mar-a-lago regardless of the efficacy of such move! If they are worried Trump is about to hand Nuclear data to the someone or that some enemies could access the data he has there, then setup a sting and use that to demonstrate how unsafe it is, for him to have those documents. Don’t go charging into his home to retrieve documents he has held for months and then say you can’t provide detailed explanation right now, as it may prejudice your ongoing investigation! Seriously? Have some duty of care to your country men & women whom you know will be prepared to pick up their guns when he puts out his next statement that he is being persecuted – rightly or wrongly, we know that is what he will do. So, for goodness sake! why endanger lives? Trump supporters may be as rigid as people say they are, and won’t listen to reason, but they are still American taxpayers!

It is foolhardy to continue as it is! Either be ready with real data and proof etc., or stop this madness! The timeliness is crucial or more American lives will be wasted

Gone are the days when just doing what we think is right is enough. Look at the matter of asylum seekers and illegal refugees crossing the English Channel in droves – you can’t have countries with no borders (it is where human being should aim but at present, it is not advisable) because of compatibility of religion, way of life, need for integration, application of laws etc; you simply cannot have thousands of people walking in without due process. Unfortunately, the people who should look for sensible, humane and lasting solutions are busy flogging populist idiocy like sending people to Rwanda, which clearly isn’t really going to work. We need a global response: an end to silly wars that displace so many people, global biometric systems that are mandatory for everyone (so that nobody can turn up anywhere without identification) – the money being wasted on Rwanda can be spent on getting biometric recognition set up in all countries where majority of the refugees tend to come from etc. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but surely, we can do better…, also Look at the matter of increasingly uncontrollable knife crimes in the UK or school shootings in America. These are all matters requiring guile. If 70% of knife crimes are committed by a specific demographic, you don’t just jump in there and start strip-searching just those folk on the street! Populism, public opinion and twitter will turn it all ugly, no matter how needful or urgent the actions are. Throw in the mix, the truthful concern that some rotten apples in the mix, could also exploit the situation to wrongly profile and target some folk. You have to make a clear case before taking any steps, because the wrongful manhandling of even just one individual is not good and cannot be written off as collateral damage; lives are impacted significantly by such traumatic experiences. Just put yourself in the shoes of a 5 year old seeing his parent slammed against a car and searched needlessly..

We have to rethink this..

Presently, we continue to repeatedly get this wrong.

The human shield pay the price

Fingers crossed that America don’t get dragged down a disastrous path. This is 2022 and some mention of civil war has been made. Seriously?!!!

If off-shore wind farms and solar panels were the solution, we would have seen that solution years back. We keep kidding ourselves! One look at fossil fuel consumption and it is clear to the dumbest person around that it ain’t something wind turbines can impact. I read an article this evening about some new idea of floating off-shore solar panels. Seriously?
we have at least 2 continents (Africa and Asia) where the intensity of the sun for most part of the year, is there to see, but half of Africa is in darkness, with no access to electricity. The time and money we’re spending out here, on these costly ideas that generate minuscule amount of energy, we could invest a fraction of that, on tapping into solar or wind energy in those most ideal locations.
But sensibly, we need bigger ideas!
These isolated innovation ain’t gonna get us anywhere fast enough!

Just read about a nurse who works 13-hour shifts and gets circa £60,000 per annum salary. Saves lives all week long. Now relies on food banks to feed her children. But we have football players earning £500,000 a week. Free market right? madness!!

Energy crisis: monthly household energy bill that was £100 is now £400 and set to rise even further. But energy companies are declaring record profits and paying hefty bonuses to their leadership. Now the government must use taxpayer’s money to hand out some money to help people pay their bills: how can any of that make sense? The government might as well just write a cheque to the energy companies…

It is clear that the ongoing crisis was not caused by the energy companies and they cannot be expected to bail an entire country out. But surely, we need a new strategy…

Still can’t think of an era that worked out well for everyone….

When an individual seeking the highest office in the land (Prime Minister) is willing to use words such as “lefty woke nonsense”, you know we are in a bad, bad place!
Those are the choice of words one would expect to read in internet chat rooms where everyday idiots think they can just utter anything that comes to mind. They should never be the choice of words for someone seeking to rule an entire nation, because at the end of the day, once you attain that office and you become Prime Minister, you are funded by every taxpayer in the country, including those that chose not to vote for you or disagree with you, or indeed those lefty wokies! You job as Prime Minister is to lead the entire country, not just this who agree with you.

The UK is still one of the safest countries on earth, even with recent increases in knife crimes, intolerance and abuse on the streets etc. And for minority groups, which country is safer than the UK? I don’t know if any. People have a moan about the UK all the time and yes, intolerance is at an all-time high (largely due to the rise of illiteracy and populism) but still, can you name a safer, better country for minority groups? No. We are still a nation where for each and every idiot/bigot, we have people who will stand firmly against intolerance. Albeit sometimes their voices are not heard.

But our politics is presently in such a terrible place. We have regressed way back to an era perhaps in the 1700s. We now promote and encourage divisions. The Brexit referendum was 6 years ago but we want to permanently label our citizens as leavers or remainers for political expediency. “WOKE” is now anything we feel populists will applaud us for, if we say woke is nonsense. Somebody says: “let’s provide for the poor”: woke nonsense! Let’s stop wars and spend more effort on diplomacy: woke nonsense! Let’s stop hurling abuse on people because of the colour of their skin: woke nonsense! Let’s do something about the harmful climatic conditions: more woke nonsense!
Funnily enough, the ones who will suffer most, are these same populist anti-woke folk who are largely low-income earners being repeatedly manipulated by wealthy politicians

Lefty, Righty, Woke, anti-Woke… WHO GIVES A DAMN???! We need to return to a semblance of decency. Let’s find politicians who realise their job is to heal divisions and not encourage it! Yes, we will always have people with differing views etc., but for someone seeking high office or already in government to pander to populism by using words that belong in a gutter, is reprehensible. We need to concentrate of addressing the cost of living crisis and helping the poor, energy crisis etc. All that require togetherness!

Yes, wasting my breath! I know…..

Who’s wrong? Who’s right? Does it matter, if the outcome is thousands losing their lives yet again!!???

Call me a naive pacifist, but seriously??? This madness needs sorting!

Nobody has a divine right to any land on earth! We are all here temporarily!

I personally do not care who’s right or wrong, can we not just avoid another mindless conflict???

The countries who own strips of land that aren’t anywhere near their territory – you look at where Alaska is to mainland USA and you wonder what the deal is? but fine; they paid for it, it is what it is. You look at the various British Overseas territories and you say, ok, they used to rule those parts of the world and if those folk are ok with remaining part of Britain, fine. There are 25 million or so people in Taiwan and they are happy with how they are; can we not stop the sabre-rattling? Don’t arm them, don’t threaten them! Can both sides just please leave them be?? Please!

China can continue assuming they are still part of China and theUS and others can continue assuming they are a sovereign state and not part of China. And we all just leave them (Taiwan) to continue living their lives as the have. Nobody wins from this tug of war!

Hopefully, one day we find another planet that is habitable and if we can’t learn to live together in peace here on earth, perhaps some folk can relocate over there?

It is madness really! The world needs a much stronger organisation than the present “United Nations”. Yes, you can’t police the world. And if you do, who polices that police? However, perhaps a stronger organisation that drives ZERO tolerance to wars? Perhaps a fresh charter where every country on earth agree that regardless of the situation, war must not be an option? I don’t have the answers, but humanity needs an urgent rethink. This is becoming absolutely farcical!

Congratulations to the lionesses!

Many detractors are saying it’s not the same and that the USA female national team lost 5 – 2 to a team of under-14 boys when they (the US national female team) were the number 1 ranked female team in the world. Ok. So, that being the case, then the various teams at Euro 22 female championship concluded today, are level pegging right? who cares whether or not they play at a level of quality we expect of men? they still had to get out there and win

They faced the best female teams in Europe and won! That is more than our male team has managed in decades. So, well done to them!!

I am sick to my teeth of reading about the recrimination! All our energy should have gone towards blocking David Cameron from initiating a pointless referendum, when it was so clear to any sane, educated human being, that Brexit in whatever form it took, would be horrendous to begin with, as the EU will make it as painful as possible for us. I mean, what else could anyone expect? The EU countries feel slighted. Many of them wish they were the ones exiting the EU and that doubles their bitterness towards the UK. Just imagine, if you really quietly wanted something and then your neighbour got it and you can’t…

The reality is that nobody knew what the full impact will be – and I doubt anybody knows now either. They are all finding out with each day. That is indeed very bad for businesses, which need to know what to plan for. But the sad thing is that both sides (those who opposed and those who supported Brexit) do not know either. But what was certain, was that the first few years would be tough and as such, was it ever going to be worth all that pain? Just for a bunch of poorly educated Brits to say ”we got our country back”, while they are the ones who will suffer the detriment most, but are not clever enough to know that. But when they begin to suffer the impact, they will of course blame that on refugees and immigrants who are always of course responsible for all our problems. And those who know better – politicians – fan the flames and exploit the illiterates in that belief, to exert control over them and get their vote. As a nation, are we not resilient enough to cater for our people? the simple answer is: YES we are. Should a few thousands of refugees crossing the channel on boats be enough to cripple our economy and destroy our country? we all know the answer is NO. Instead of focusing on processing them speedily, expelling the bogus ones, integrating the ones we deem genuine and getting them to imbibe the British way, we waste resources on hateful plans such as creating a hostile environment or shipping them to Rwanda, daftly thinking those will deter them, while the hate builds up incrementally within the country, further wasting energy that could be devoted elsewhere. Unfortunately, this idiocy has now become so pervasive and it has become a potent vote-gathering ploy…

Back to Brexit: the referendum is done and the LEAVE vote won. Whether we like it or not, that was the outcome. Continuing to wast energy and resourcing in trying to prove that it was a wrong decision, is counterproductive. Trying to undermine it or change it, is disingenuous. If we can just concentrate on fixing whatever needs fixing to make the detrimental aspects of Brexit less painful and just get on with it, it will be whatever it is! I was sat on the much longer non-EU queue at the airport in Sweden recently and you deal with it! it is what the country chose and the long queues in Dover this past week, as the French try to exert as much more pain on us as possible, is what it is. Continuing to blame Brexit and say we are victims and it is so bad for us, is a waste of time. Nobody saw Covid coming, and that has had a profound impact too. We need to stop the bickering and get on with it!

If we didn’t want Brexit, we should have prevented the dumb referendum. We didn’t. Wasting time and energy opposing Brexit and building up more negativity isn’t helping anyone. We need to move on, get on with it. Accept there will be some hardship, get on with it. Use or innovativeness and resourcefulness to make the best of it and it will all be fine! If the EU was such a great thing to be part of, they should just get on with enjoying their great thing and stop trying to make us pay for leaving. Unfortunately, it would seem that the EU feel that the only way to show they have a good thing going for them, is by making anyone who leaves them suffer? that in itself is most unfortunate and it shows in very poor light. Yes, they had to protect themselves, as you can’t have an exclusive club if it is an open door. It will be exploited. I get that. But there is absolutely no need for the type of singular venom that the likes of Macron keeps doling out; using it as a political card to please his british-hating base, to gather votes.

Anyway, time to forget about the past and make life outside the EU work. And if it remains indefinitely painful, well, so be it. Then that is our new reality. Continuing to look back and blame Boris or whoever else sold it, is silly. Should it not have been very clear to us that nobody could have known all the details? (not even the EU know!). it is what it is! GET ON WITH IT!!!!

Don’t laugh folks, these are all real catchphrases that we have had to endure over the past couple of weeks and will still have to endure till the new PM is announced on Sept 5

That is indeed the dire state of our politics right now. They are not even trying anymore. They have found out how powerful soundbites are, in a society where we are no longer interested in substance!

The window dressing appear to be enough

Cost of living has shot through the roof. Taxes are at an all-time high, intolerance and hatred has become openly acceptable. But what do we have to choose from folks?

..”Ready for Rishi” or ”Liz for Leader”! sad, sad state of affairs!

Both senior members of the current Boris government, if they had solutions, why didn’t they offer it to Boris? And if he rejected it, why didn’t they resign a year ago?

Heaven help us!!

…. then take a look a month after one of them is PM…

it will be smugness and know-it-all-ness….

Looking at some of the pictures over the past couple of weeks since Boris’ ousting and it is quite clear why we always end up at the same juncture.

You see the pictures of a group of MPs gathered around their chosen candidate to replace Boris and the pictures are all the same: not an ounce of seriousness or focus on the immediate plight the country’s in. A plight they have all sat back to watch build-up as these are the same individuals who have been in government up to the moment. But we are now supposed to hang the entire mess on just Boris. The pictures showing an individual in the middle – as if any individual ever have enough to sustain a country – with the adulating, smiley faces gathered around them, usually clapping at the time the photos are taken, depicts exactly what is wrong with our society. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix. If we focus on a group, then everyone dodges responsibility. if the focus is on the aides – who are the ones who do all the work by the way – they get heady and we’re back right where we started!

But something needs to change.

The excessive focus on an individual is what leads to the mindless power grab that in turn leads to too much attention on an individual, when the rest of his or her team probably dropped the ball. Power must be decentralised. It is the same reason so many regions are asking for autonomy. If you hand all power to an individual, what you find is that he or she is beholden to some puppet masters behind the scenes anyway. Devolution to a point where it doesn’t matter so much who’s in 10 Downing St and whether or not that individual flaunts rules, is what we need to get to. Scotland doesn’t need to breakaway from the UK, just devolve powers to their leaders so they can remain within the UK but be able to make their own key decisions for themselves etc.

This idea of vesting so much power and faith in an individual is always a recipe for disaster, as nobody is perfect and more importantly, nobody can be perfect all the time!!

we are now seeing the legacy of covid…

any challenge is now met with: ”stay at home folks”. only come out if absolutely necessary.

heat wave expected next week in the UK and instead of coming up with ideas e.g. spray mist of cool water on trains and at stations, install fountains? anything… NO. there are tens of emails telling us to stay at home!

what next?

too windy next month: stay st home folks. only commute if absolutely necessary

too many leaves on the ground this autumn: stay at home folks…..

goodness gracious!!!!

Scenes of rioters storming and burning the Prime Minister’s residence in Colombo, the capital of the tiny island south of India (Sri Lanka) and later entering the Presidential mansion and splashing in the President’s swimming pool must have been chilling for American’s to watch as it unfolded last weekend. A poignant reminder of how debasing it was, for the United States of America, the supposed home of the braves, land of the free etc.,to have witnessed very similar scenes on Jan 6, with their leaders fleeing down the back corridors as insurrectionists ransacked their capitol.

The rest of us remain truly shocked. We may have found it not so surprising in Colombo, but Washington DC.?!! To think any American would find that acceptable, regardless of whatever it is that they thought they were hoping to achieve, is truly astonishing! and remain so to this day…

Wake up America!

As for Sri Lanka, sadly, it will all achieve very little. Yes, they may succeed in removing their incumbent President and PM (both have agreed to stand down), how many years till their replacements begin basking in the sun and swimming pool, while their population starve and sit in long queues to buy petrol? it’s a vicious cycle that keeps spinning round and round…..

Many wrongly think arrogance is behind Boris Johnson’s repeated reluctance to sack his ministers or take action when his staffers were caught breaching the rules he set, his reluctance had very little to do with arrogance

One of the biggest human flaw is our belief that what we just did to others cannot happen to us. When Boris ousted Theresa May on the back of her supposedly awful Brexit deal – bearing in mind he himself (and all his chums whom he later appointed to cabinet posts) was part of Theresa’s government – and also bearing in mind that nobody had previously done a successful Brexit deal for comparison (it was all going to be unchartered territory), the power base that Boris needed to oust Theresa May was not one he could later freely chastise, even when they erred. These were not people he could sack or berate in public without grave consequence to his position

In essence, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t

It was only a simple matter of time, before he was certain to face the music.

He wanted to be Prime Minister, he saw his opportunity via Brexit, took it, and then quickly found out that when you dine with the devil, you can find the longest spoon available, it is unlikely to prove to be long enough….

The sad part of this episode is the detriment to the people. Theresa May’s Brexit deal was not better nor worse than what Boris had and now, 3 years on, we are no better off and people are starving in their homes and many will freeze to death this coming winter, while the folk who should be busy trying to solve these problems are focused on their power-play…

What is government?

We know what it isn’t. Government is not just one man! So, when we try to pin all the blame on one man; bizarrely, the very same team he had working for and with him, who held key roles and headed departments in charge of some of the key issues leading up to the present cost of living crisis etc., now say they are here to fix it???……

Seriously?!!

Ok the electorate can’t really do much about the ongoing process to select a replacement for Boris Johnson as it will be the Tory MPs followed by the 160,000 or so registered members of the conservative party making that choice and they can only select from the final two options put before them. But surely, if Boris is being removed for a supposed catalogue of failings, how can past members of his cabinet who had a choice to have resigned but didnt (only doing so, when they rounded on him) be fit for office? None of them ought to be eligible to replace him!

Love him or loath him, Boris was not government! He was the leader of the party and PM, but did not run a solo show. Neither did he elect himself when they ousted Theresa May. So, how come he is now left to take all the blame on his own??

There’s nothing I like better than to see people the world tell us to hate do well.

We have to hate Djoko because we’re told we have to. We have to hate Kyrgios because we’re told we have to…..

Well, I like both of them! (for their tennis. period). Amazing sportsmen

Watch these folk for the sport and not their lifestyle…

Awesome final, albeit a fairly predictable result…

I mean, it isn’t rocket science.

Yes, the west must do better. Developed countries must do better to address biased laws and application if biased laws, BUT, when someone flee a war, gets taken in and then starts moaning about stuff he/she never had access to, grates with their host (naturally)..

The skin bleaching industry is apparently booming. Why?

I read an article this morning that was written by a black lady complaining about a white interviewer whom she alleged was racist to her. In the article she wrote: ”even though I am light-skinned”… So, it would appear a light-skinned black lady expects better treatment than dark-skinned black ones?

We are supposed to accept that racism is a one-way thing…

It isn’t. It has become a mindset plaguing even those who allege they are victims of racism

We all have biases. Yes, some have faced the brunt of it for longer, and when you rope in the impact of awful laws and daily issues, yes, we do have some work to do. BUT, people are beginning to take the piss! Black celebrities being shocked when faced with what many non-celebrities face on a daily basis and they throw a hissy fit! Yes, nobody should be subjected to nor have to put up with racism or racist abuse, but fir goodness sake! STOP THE BLOODY WHINING!!! abuse is abuse: be it racist or non-racist, religious etc. Decent folk refrain from abusing eachother, but I do not see anyone immune to hurling abuse, if suitably provoked. Now, whether that abuse then take into account, the appearance of the person they are about to insult, is just conjecture

The non-stop moaning has become such a distraction, while crucial issues around disproportionate response to people seeking sanctuary (based on where they’re from) and other serious disparities continue to slip through the net. Someone attends an interview and gets rejected, it has to be because of their race! Yes, racism is still rife and yes, people are stripped of opportunities, BUT for godssakes! it is not the reason each and every time!!!!

Same for sexism! does it mean every female CEO is going to be excellent? Yes, nobody should be denied an opportunity because they are female. But I am sure that not every female handed an opportunity will excel

You don’t.

How do you end racism and bias by constantly moaning?

You don’t 

People just need a pinch of reality. 

Take the law (and enforcement of the law) out and you will see that we are all barbarians! We are all worse than animals. No other species is as selfish and self-centred as humans.

The Russia-Ukraine war is just so dumb! As the Pope stated last week, was it necessary to provoke Russia? The protagonists haven’t lost their children I’m sure. It is easy to mouth off and say you’re bold, when it is the children of others to the slaughter!

If one side show the good sense to climb down, the other may also be embarrassed to climb down. Is it so difficult for Ukraine to have backed off seeking to join NATO or seeking to keep the want-away eastern regions who want to be closer to Russia? Surely, the threat of attack from Russia is better than an actual attack and the ongoing mindless loss of lives?

If Ukraine had asked the world for a loan to build new hospitals, schools etc., the world would have said no. But when it comes to war and supply of war equipment, we seem able to send $billions worth of weapons….

War must be totally outlawed! how? I don’t know. But the world must work towards that: putting war in the same classification as some of the heinous crimes that few would want to be associated with. 

The incessant moaning by celebrities in particular, about being called this or that, is a bore! The more people continue to show that some type of abusive language gets to them so much, the more it will continue (unless laws are brought in to stamp it out – and such laws will have to be enforced properly and indefinitely). You don’t change people through moaning….

A senior female member of parliament in the UK (Angela Rayner) was horribly accused of “crossing and uncrossing her legs on the parliamentary benches to distract Boris Johnson” in what has been widely and rightly rubbished as pure misogyny and in addition, her working-class background was flung at her but bizarrely, if you read some of the online chatter, it is indeed the working-class, council estate dwellers in the country who are raining insult on her online. It really is unfathomably confusing!

Equally confusing is a similar phenomenon of billionaire/millionaire politicians being able to convince a crowd of low-income members of society that they – the billionaires – are one of them, that they understand them, get them and are there to fight for them. The billionaire will drop by from his mansion every now and again, use the language the blue-collar, low-income folks want to hear, tell them what they want to hear, tell them everyone else things they’re stupid and nobody else care about them. Whips them into a frenzy and they begin following him/her where ever…

I simply cannot understand it.

Could it be, that poor people simply find it less envious to follow a rich person? Same as an illiterate would pretend to dislike someone with a posh accent but deep down, just wants to be that person?

One would expect solidarity from the working class when a working-class person makes it as far as to become a Member of parliament, but bizarrely, ire is what Angela Rayner appears to be drawing from our low-income folk. Truly baffling…

War historians gush about tactics and manoeuvres etc., and we all read about it and some enjoy watching war films, but is there anything fanciful about war?

As Russia pummel Ukraine and the west send in weapons to help Ukraine defend itself, the minute this conflict turns to Ukraine launching attacks on targets in Russia – even if justifiable as part of Ukraine’s effort to defend itself – supply of weapons to Ukraine will have to be reassessed or the world may risk kickstarting another world war!

These wars solve nothing.

We all need to appeal to ALL involved: Russia, Ukraine, the West etc., to PLEASE, PLEASE, bring this bloodshed to an end. This war is slowly heading in the direction of escalating into a world war. With the kind of weapons some of these countries now claim to possess, the loss of life on all sides will be truly awful. Yes, life is not indefinite and human beings appear not to give a sh*t about life anymore – with the daily stabbing on our streets etc, BUT the loss of life in this ongoing Russia – Ukraine war is so pointless. If those involved can just take a look at the faces of some of the helpless children being killed or displaced. The issues between Russia, Ukraine and the west, can be resolved to everyone’s relative advantage round a discussion table

This desperately needs deescalating NOW!!!!

Is anyone out there honestly trying to achieve EQUALITY? where do you begin?

As Confucius said: ”five fingers are not created equal”. To achieve equality, it will mean bringing some down, while helping some up. I see no willingness from anyone to do that. I won’t bother going into the fact that we remain comfortable with seeing some born into man-made affluence such as royalty and we delight in watching TV shows such as Downton Abbey, with servants milling around – but, hey! that’s just a TV show? well, No; delighting in it, indicate our lingering preference, after all, TV shows based on what’s not deemed popular flounder.. Anyone asking questions about levelling up society is seen as a crazy ”leftie”… (I am certain those born into royalty and the rest, have no issues with it, and I am not sure what their idea of equality is? but I daresay it is closer to reality, than the lipservice crap the rest of us spout about equality)

Today’s fight for equality typically boils down to one dissatisfied group seeking to replace the incumbent. And if/when that is achieved, that new incumbent set out to repeat the exact same mistakes of the group they replaced.

There has never been an era in human history where equality was achieved. Can one venture to think that it is today’s generation that will achieve this impossible feat? With the present bottomless desire to show off on social media? obsession with ”selfies” etc. I won’t hold my breath…

We’ve seen the current reaction to global conflict, which as many have pointed out, even our charity is biased.

Creating Equal Opportunity is perhaps slightly more feasible. But even that, will require overcoming the impact of geography, some religious beliefs etc. Put a group of children through the same access to education, financial security (send them on the same holidays etc) and you will end up with a very similar product. But in our present dog eat dog world, it is more convenient to laud the prowess of those with access to education, low stress (as their parents have jobs etc) while asserting the dumbness of those who simply never got a chance. And it is not just about building schools. You see athletes with funding, no need for second jobs, vying against others who have no funding, poor gear, can only practice part-time as they have to keep second jobs, and we speak of Olympic champions and World champions… laughable really..

Nobody is willing to give up what they have. An even when they do, e.g. monks or nuns, it is still only possible thanks to some degree of privilege and I am sure even those vary by location

We should face reality. Focus on trying to create equal opportunity as the myth that equality is, is little more than a pipe dream…

Given that it is presently not possible to make the world an equal society, such that people can travel abroad if they wish to, and not out of desperation, I see no reason in taking any side. Those with intolerant anti-migration views are where they are, due to misinformation and manipulation by those who want them to remain that way. And those who support free movement of people do not seem to understand nor care that you do need to have the infrastructure to ensure such movement doesnt end up being detrimental or perceived to be burdensome or damaging either. And in any case, this supposed free movement only seem to apply to a selective few e.g. EU free movement doesnt include less privileged non-EU folk.

So, let’s have an unbiased point of view shall we?

1. People with anti-migration views in the UK vastly outnumber those interested in asking the Prime Minister about partying during Covid lockdown (i.e. Partygate). So, timing of the Rwanda move is being questioned. But what do people really expect? that politicians are just our slaves and they give their life to attain positions within government but we can just toss them when we want to? (what are they supposed to move on to?)We all get a lot wrong in our workplace (you only have to look at the state of services we receive these days: how many of us resign? I am not trying to defend Boris, but society does need to get a grip. He was useful when people wanted Brexit, now he is expendable? Well, he knows the buttons to press and is clearly doing exactly that..(he is unlikely to want to allow himself to be used and then discarded).
2. We are in 2022! but people still know they can get a reaction by putting flyers through doors in the UK warning that whites will soon be a minority in the UK – and presumably, that is supposed to be a worry? Even though, outside of London, you can likely count the number on non-whites. But more importantly, how do we think the natives in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and several other countries feel? Those natives (Maoris, Aborigines, First Nations etc.) are now a tiny minority in their own country and also now make-up majority of prison inmates in some of those countries, for falling foul of laws and ways of life imposed on them by the people they welcomed in as visitors years back. Same people who quickly outnumbered them and stuck them in reservations… YES, integration is the major issue. People coming into the UK should be willing to be brits and live as we do. Nobody will be desperate to come to Britain if we allow people to come in here and turn the UK into the countries they fled from. The focus should be on that dilemma, not daft statistics and idiotic scaremongering…
3. But what is truly sad, is the fact that in 2022, telling people they will be sent to Africa, appears to be an effective deterrent! Jeez!!!! That is so sad. Unfortunately, it is truly an effective deterrent as I am not sure any of those folk risking their lives to cross the English Channel in a rubber boat will do so, just to end up in Rwanda (well, until the no-win, no-fee lawyers step in and nobody gets sent to Rwanda anyway). But what is the long term situation here? if Rwandans can’t see it, should the rest of us not spell it out? Look at Liberia, Sierra Leone… decades on, the newly settled folk live separate lives and the various civil wars have been along that line of division. You will either end-up creating a new British money-backed elite in Rwanda, who will become hated by the locals; and in a country with a very recent history of genocide…. it was only a few years ago that we used to dump our plastic waste in China for them to sort it and we paid them for that service and it was all they had. Today, we are buying virtually everything from China; they sat up, worked hard and they are now indispensable to the rest of the world. Rwanda needs to find their way out of poverty – becoming the dumping ground for illegal migrants that Britain doesn’t want here, is not the way to go. People can blame Priti Patel all they want, she hasn’t done anything illegal, albeit, morally shaky; if we have £120m to give away, why not hand it to Rwanda in the form of agricultural equipment so that they can mechanise their farms and build industries around that. Instead of turning them into our dumping ground for our unwanted illegal migrants..
4. How can the world continue to look on? This is another imminent disaster down the road for Rwanda..

But this matter is less about the UK but more about Rwanda. How can this ever be a sensible arrangement to sign-up to?

Honestly, I didn’t think the UK would ever try to make such a move, as we used to be a nation of ’think tanks’ and one would like to think there are other solutions out there. But I doubt any solution would be without detractors. We don’t have an opposition party! instead of them coming up with their own better alternative to this Rwanda thing (an alternative that will stop the deadly Channel crossings), they are forever fixated on partygate!

If we develop all corners of the world (will never happen! I know…), then we can eliminate most if these problems. Unfortunately, what many people in the UK are saying, is that they feel exposed, helpless, as they pay their taxes (or claim their ancestors did) while our border has become non-existent! 6000 people have crossed in via the Channel this year alone. How do you prepare fir and get facilities ready, to welcome and integrate people, if you have no idea of numbers as they just come in without any processing? If the border is enforced (and clever people have to figure that out; unlikely this Rwanda thing will be that solution as legal processes are likely to scupper it) and the influx is via due process, chances of integration etc., will be higher and they will face less intolerance. If you look at the present UK government cabinet, many of them are in this country because their parents were taken in. There is no shortage of empathy in this country (and yes, there has been and will always be an element of hate too), it’s the lack of control (with the porous border) that is grating with many..

What an awful, pointless waste of lives!!!

Russia invading Ukraine is inexcusable. Invasion should never, ever have been an option. But why on earth Zelensky didn’t offer this neutrality thing BEFORE the invasion, to preempt it and avoid this needless war, is baffling.

Russia say they do not want their antagonists (NATO) camped next to them. They say they would see Ukraine joining NATO as a threat etc. why a compromise wasn’t pursued sooner, to prevent this mindless bloodshed is just baffling!!!

I’ve never watched the Oscar and probably never will. But I read this morning that the host, Chris Rock, cracked a mean joke about Will Smith’s wife’s hair and Will got up, walked up to Chris and slapped him on live TV. Seriously??!!! How dumb can Will get? These folks go around complaining about being labelled ”angry black men”… well, perhaps smacking a guy for doing his job (cracking jokes) on live TV probably doesn’t do much to quell such stereotype…

I can never understand violence. If you feel you are physically stronger than someone, hitting them simply makes you weak and a bully. Will Smith’s action was inexcusable….

Smith could have made his point by getting up and walking out or if he had a pair of gloves, thrown it down and asked for a duel in their private time in jest. Smacking someone in the manner he did, was not only daft, it sends the wrong message to kids out there.

You don’t go around hitting people because they cracked a mean joke…

In the messed up world we are in today, it is just simply amazing to have someone like Ash Barty, World Number 1 female tennis player, come out today at just the age of 25! to say she’s had enough, she’s spent and that’s it. Bye bye tennis!

Yes, her coaches, trainers, sponsors and all those who expected to make $millions more out of her over the coming years must be gutted. But I am sure they have made a fair bit anyway, so, all good. And yes, some will query her mental toughness, as she has quit before (in her teens) only to return in 2016. Some will even suggest she nay be back, and well, who knows. However, my hat’s off to her for making this bold step. if you’ve had enough, step away, instead of staying on to get ripped apart. Naomi Osaka should take a cue from this. Either know you can take it, or walk away. Life’s too short.

We have turned sports into a misery for these athletes. They get paid well, but everyone wants a pound of flesh off them…

During the quarter final of the Indian Wells Masters in California, Kyrgios asked a vocal spectator in the crowd “Are you playing?” as he got ready to serve.

The Australian player, 26, added: “Are you good at tennis?”

In video footage of the encounter, a faint “no” can be heard from the stands.

Kyrgios responds: “Exactly, so why are you speaking?”

Referring to Ben Stiller (American actor who was at the match), he continues: “Do I tell him how to act? No”, drawing a laugh from the crowd.

At the Indian Wells tennis event earlier in the week, a female spectator yelled out ”Naomi you suck”! Osaka went on to lose 6-0, 6-4 and was in tears, saying this brought back memories of the year the Williams sisters and their dad received racial abuse at the same venue. Ok Naomi!

Had the spectator shouted “Naomi you suck because you’re black!” then, perhaps conjuring up the Williams’ situation would make sense. Even if the ”Naomi you suck” shout was motivated by the spectator’s racist disposition, the fact remains she did not make any racist comment. Etiquette is what’s lacking BUT, in sport, when a packed arena chant one sports person’s name and we say it’s supporting that athlete, and he or she wins and thanks the fans for their support – how do we think that ”support” impacted the opponent? So, when athletes channel that support, to the detriment of their opponent, is that unfair? is it wrong?

Osaka needs to get a sports psychologist and toughen herself up or go and find some other vocation. Getting reduced to a gibbering wreck and crying profusely because some idiot in the crowd say you suck, is not what one would expert of any sports man or woman at any level of sport, let alone the level Osaka’s at. I am very concerned for her, she appears to be heading for a tragic end and although the signs are there, nobody is helping her! Her team need to assess her and if she is this fragile, they need to protect her immediately, by perhaps advising her to quit the sport. Otherwise, all her future opponents will simply need to plant a relative in the crowd to yell out ”Naomi you suck!” and they are guaranteed an easy win, as she crumbles into tears

If sports men & women enjoy the adulation, the rockstar status, they have to be equally prepared to blank and ignore the heckling. Surely, that is what they are trained for?

To try to link every negativity to racism is not a healthy position to be in. In any case, once you’ve shown that this is your weak point, it will be savagely exploited. Bullies don’t stop because they see you crying. They are encouraged…

I don’t know what sad satisfaction any fan or spectator would derive from yelling out ”Naomi you suck!”, but if the yell had been ”Naomi you’re the best!” and it made Osaka smile and perform better, then, that’s the scale tipped in her favour? I mean the reaction from Osaka is just bizarre. She needs to focus on her tennis and part of that, is learning to shut out the crowd..

It is depressing but not at all surprising that women still need to hold events such as the International Women’s Day this week, to try to continue the push for equality etc. The same group of men who were eagerly doing the crossed arms ’X’ or W symbol all week, are the same who need to face reality…

I just cannot understand why we can’t just keep life simple. If a woman wants to be a bricklayer and she acquires the necessary skill, let her get on with it. If there are male-dominated or female-dominated professions, FINE! provided such domination is coincidental and a matter of choice and not as a result of one sex blocking the other or ganging up on the other or squeezing the other out. There are some things that many women (won’t generalise by saying ’all’) simply do not like to get into and same for men. Nothing wrong with those fields being dominated by one or the other, provided it is totally a matter of choice

There are inconsistencies everywhere. Some people want the tradition of being ’walked down the aisle’ by their fathers, but wonder why some of these barriers have been impossible to remove. You can’t have it both ways. If you are religious and believe in the ’man is the head of the family’ doctrine in the bible verbatim and refuse to accept that perhaps some of those teachings have passed their use by date, because the world has moved on – it is not amoral to try to move with the times a bit, but there will have to be a secularity needed, without necessarily depriving religious folk of what they believe in – it is the attempt to bring all that into a secular society that has led to the continuation of the bias out there. Is it possible for a man who believe he is the head of the family and all that, to try to keep that attitude to his own domain at home, if assuming his family choose to go with that, but when he gets to the office set that aside and see/treat his female colleagues as equals and relate to them exactly as he would his male colleagues? – highly unlikely. That is why we still see women being paid less in some jobs, getting boxed into only some type of roles and the handful who buck that trend are set up as an example that the problem no longer exists.

It is such a complex problem.

Where we should get to, is a society where we can all disregard our differences and simply focus on relevance. If some folks want to celebrate their differences, FINE! it should be about them desperately seeking equality, it should just be another celebration, if they wish to. Right now, these various groups have to keep on fighting for equal treatment. The problem is: WE ARE ALL GUILTY. A woman fighting for equality for women today, could be the same woman typing up homophobic stuff on twitter tomorrow, or the LGBTQ person fighting for LGBTQ equality today could be the same person shouting out racist slurs at a football match tomorrow. There are too many ’courses’. The only possible solution will be a ’live & let live’ policy, where we all just ignore our differences, without giving a hoot about differences and just letting people be, letting them succeed in whatever they are skilled in, without trying to box them off. But who can get this reset done? You look at a sport like darts; why can’t women compete against men? well, now they do. But if women decide the atmosphere isn’t what they fancy, do you change such atmosphere? or let women set up a separate league? the dilemma remains the same. Asking women to box against men or play tennis against men etc., isn’t fair right? but perhaps let people give it a go, if they want to. Don’t make it a taboo. But then, there would be the Health & Safety concern….

I don’t know! I don’t have all the answers, but eliminating the focus on differences may well give us a better chance as a society, than what we have today..

Either way, it would be good to get to a time when groups such as women can celebrate whatever day they wish to celebrate, as just a celebration and not a desperate need for awareness of their continuing plight/challenges they still face. We each have to mend our ways! There us no monster out there, WE ALL are the monster(s), it is each and every one of us responsible for these problems!

Nothing demonstrates just how pathetic human beings are..

This was on BBC’s Question Time programme. Much as Nadhim Zahawi may have misspoken, WHO REALLY BLOODY CARES who is ’leading’ or not??? people are dying, a meaningless war is ongoing! The focus should be SOLELY about getting this situation back to the negotiation table, ceasefire and seeing what can be done, to get this to end

Instead, Helle Thorning-Schmidt was sat there trying to made a needless point! I doubt the mothers and fathers losing their kids as we speak, give a monkeys about whether or not it is the EU or the UK leading efforts…

There is simply no real leadership anywhere these days!!!

Should Zahawi have said what he said? No. But is that really what anyone should really care that much about? SERIOUSLY?!!!

Pathetic!!

There are no heroes in this skirmish! It just needs getting back to a discussion table before thousands more die needlessly..

First piece of common sense I have read in weeks! As reported on Sky News this morning…

All the bravado crap is just costing innocent lives! The minute the war kicked-off, the only objective should have been every effort to de-escalate. There are no winners, no heroes in war! So many children have died – do they know who is wrong or right? what was their crime?

The usual daft: ”I vow this or that” that leaders utter, all the way to being captured and often times killed (Saddam, Gaddafi)… they’ll keep on vowing to their last breath. Madness!

Ukraine was never going to hold Russia. And if the rest of the world were to back them, millions more will die. Can we not for a minute just try to avoid the obvious!?

Do I have a solution? NO. But it doesn’t appear any of the folks we selected as leaders do either. That’s the pity…

The statement from Grant Shapps this morning is the first piece of common sense. Don’t hand weapons and aircrafts to Ukraine. Spend all effort on securing a temporary cease fire and get everybody back to the discussion table! enough blood has been shed! whatever point was intended has been made! neither side has lost face. Stop the fighting and killing now and talk this madness through! PLEASE!!!!

As people fleeing Ukraine and their relatives who are already based in the Uk demand charity, demand entry into the UK, I recall a football match a few months ago, where really vile abuse was being uttered by you know whom…

In time of need, the UK will always stand up to be counted. But one can only hope that these Eastern European countries take some lasting lessons. Hungary, Poland and others all flooded the UK seeking work when they were desperate, but give it a few years and what you see is rarely ever a show of gratitude..

Awful as our politics, social care etc., have been in recent years, it must not be taken for granted that this is still one of the safest, most secure and fair (especially our judiciary) countries in the world and we will continue to endeavour to expunge hate and those who would like to turn the UK into a third world country

Social media has been buzzing this week trying to paint the picture of a hero (Zelensky) and a villain (Putin), setting aside the most important and most expedient matter: getting the incursion to end!

Humans lack the capacity to learn. Let’s send weapons to Ukraine now, and 10 years later, it will be Ukraine attacking some other country with those same weapons.

Yes, we all know or partly know who started this war in Ukraine. It was Putin and even if he says he had good reasons, they should all have remained at the negotiations table. There is no reason good enough for this kind of bloodshed AND that does not apply solely to Russia. No country or organisation should head down this road…

Unfortunately, there is NOBODY out there thinking this through. Sanctioning & isolating Russia will not lead to an uprising or the ousting of Putin. in fact, the outcome will be the opposite. Russians who are presently unhappy with this war, will change their mind if we crash their economy and their children begin to starve. THE ONLY ANSWER is to try to get everyone back to the discussion table to try to figure this thing out, and in the meantime, get Putin to pause the unnecessary conflict and bloodshed

If you look at the likes of Saddam Hussien and Gaddafi who ended up hiding away in a culvert and met a very undignified death, when it was amply clear that such an ending was very predictable and in Gaddafi’s case, he already had a very recent example. And there are so many of those examples out there. But they perhaps thought they at a point of no return? Such is human pride…

Was it necessary to address the situations Saddam, Gaddafi and others were creating and the wider threat, I think many would say: YES. Will there be others like them? of course. The chap in Syria is an example, even though, he has limited his antics to his own patch and as such, likely to get away with it till his people have had enough.

What is missing, when the world head out on these missions to save humanity, is the kind of financial packages that was assembled to get post-war Germany or Japan back on their feet. If we’re going to go out there and seek to better the lot of these supposedly oppressed people e.g. Syrians, Libyans, Iraqis etc., it has to be done properly and seen through to the end, with huge finances to help them properly get back on their feet – and not the abandonment seen in Afghanistan recently – that is what will halt this awful human trafficking and mass migration of people desperately looking to leave these conflicts behind. It is not enough to go in, them dash off, leaving these regions to clean up a mess they didnt necessarily ask for

Fortunately for Ukraine, they are in Europe and funding will likely come, to get them rebuilding, once the ongoing madness ends..

There’s no perfection out there, and personally, I care less about who is wrong or right, we just need to refuse military solutions. All sides need to refuse to provoke the need for war at any scale. If/when wars occur anyway, then the world (perhaps via a global levy that all UN countries pay into) must fund reconstruction of the desolated societies. Perhaps if that bill hurts us all, we will show a bit more reluctance, a bit more restraint? ah well…..

World leaders should focus on de-escalation. It won’t be seen as appeasement, if handled properly. They can help Putin pull back and out of Ukraine without losing face.

The war in Iraq (desert storm) to topple Saddam Hussein came after he was accused of bullying his neighbour (Kuwait) and hiding huge weapons of mass destruction, not after years of allegedly brutalising parts of his own country (e.g. the Kurds) – that was supposedly acceptable? Well, or rather, was seen as strictly internal business..

I wonder what the global reaction would have been, if Russia had said their intelligence told them that Ukraine had weapons of mass destruction and that is the reason Russia had to attack them? After all, that was the acceptable reason Iraq got pummelled and those weapons of mass destruction were never found, because they didn’t exist – and Saddam turned to be all bark and very little bite! —- oops! But what a very costly (in terms of human lives on all sides involved) way to find that out…

Ukraine could be accused of a similar aggression to their want-away regions – supposedly Russia-leaning parts of Ukraine – that Russia claim to be defending in similar manner to how we all went in to supposedly help Kuwait? Before that turned into a full war to find Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction….?

I tried hard to think of reasons that could differentiate and excuse the Saddam pummelling (and outcome) when compared to the present Russian pummelling of Ukraine and I couldn’t find many differentiators, other than the fact that Putin hasn’t told the world he’s out there trying to locate Ukraine’s weapons of mass destruction – which he doesn’t necessarily have to find…

Although some conspiracy theorists would link the wars in Iraq to oil, I personally believe America and their allies meant well and truly believed they were trying to help Kuwait, oppressed iraqis etc. And I believe it was the same with Libya; the intention was noble. The purpose was to help. But the outcome, which is the same in Syria and other places, make it clear that these military interventions, including Russia’s ongoing incursion into Ukraine – for whatever reason Putin has – is never the correct thing to do. Global reaction is always muted when some countries do the exact same thing that Russia are doing right now, with equally spurious excuses, but when others such as Russia do it, hypocrisy set in: where were FIFA, UEFA and all these sporting bodies who are now banning Russia, during previous incursions that the UN didn’t sanction? That is why it is simpler to just BAN wars/military incursions entirely..

What Russia are presently doing in Ukraine is inexcusable and should not happen – and will hopefully end urgently – but the global reaction to this or any other wars or military incursions should be the same. The world MUST stand firmly against all wars. Countries with a grievance must find other means of settling their grievances! Military forces should only be used in defence or deterrence. But this has to be a universal convention that NO EXCUSES, NO COUNTRY should be able to contravene. Consequences must be the same in all instances and not as selective as it presently is.