Knowledge can improve the world we live in

I read a BBC article on Haiti this morning and it paints a vivid picture of what lawlessness looks like!

When people complain about law enforcement measures such as ‘stop & search’, yes, it is unfortunate if it is wrongly used or perceived to target some groups. But given the current spate of stabbings and shootings, it is clearly a very necessary measure and technology is what’s required, to remove the embarrassing aspect of it. Can we not have a knife/gun detection satellite of sorts, that can accurately detect and pinpoint those carrying weapons, so that stop & searches are specifically targeted instead or random?

But back to Haiti. What a tragedy! The levels of crime and homicide has apparently become impossible to police. Instead, people are fleeing the capital. Just imagine that!

Unfortunately, a very complex situation. Brings back memories of articles I read years ago, relating to South Africa. The article surmised that when a group of people have had to live through decades of being made to feel their life means little and they are not worth the effort, they begin to believe that themselves and develop an uncaring attitude to life, and when they can, they unleash the most unthinkable violence on each other.

One can only imagine that following years of poverty and deprivation, the various gangs that have now pretty much taken over Haiti’s capital city, are groups with little care for the taking of human life. Is there a solution?

Law enforcement on its own, cannot be expected to solve these situations! This is a socioeconomic problem. We simply cannot watch on, till people get to that point, where they can just stab or shoot someone else and casually walk away, and off to stab or shoot their next target! If you look at the recent and ongoing spate of violence in many parts of the world, it tends to follow on from deprivation and hopelessness. While that is never a tenable excuse for mindless violence, it is where the solution can be found. We have to avoid situations where people get to a state where it doesn’t bother them to just casually take a life. Whether the reason is evil or mental health or whatever society would like to call it, we have to find a way to avoid leaving sections of society to rot to such levels.

With all that Haiti’s been through; earthquakes and the rest, one would expect a high degree of people caring for each other, but unfortunately, combined with years and years of deprivation, it’s flipped the other way and the gangs that have taken over their capital, appear very willing to unleash horror!
If the Haitian government could sort itself out, find the means for a socioeconomic revival, create jobs, bring back hope; then train and equip law enforcement and as many community groups as possible for a robust stand-off to clear out these armed gangs, then they could take steps to chart a new path for Haiti. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to happen and theirs will be a continuing story of mindless violence. How sad…

Richarlison (Brazil) scores an awesome individual goal at the World Cup yesterday (Nov 24) and the BBC commentator says: “what a wonderful goal…”. He could have stopped there but later continued: …”what this Brazilian shirt does! he isn’t scoring many for Spurs (his UK employer) but can’t stop scoring for Brazil”…

That, in a nutshell is what we are.. (Brits)

And that is why our social media is riddled with abuse and horrid words..

We just can’t help ourselves. We have to add a sly dig every time..

Our glass is never half empty, it is always half full..

But it is what it is and we are what we are….

when people get used to that, they get to understand us. It’s usually without malice…

It is a real shame that the people most detrimentally impacted by Brexit are the same ones erroneously supporting it for the very wrong reasons! And the people least impacted by immigration are the ones whipped into a frenzy and made to believe it is the source of every evil!

A right shame indeed!

After years and years of watching the bureaucratic drama that is the EU, and hundreds of unelected bureaucrats turning each and every aspect of life within the EU into a needlessly messy, complicated mountain to bureaucracy, seemingly attempting to strip member states of every ounce of self-determination (and I use the word “seemingly” as that is indeed not the intention of the EU, it just feels that way, as the paper-pushers have made it so, albeit, unintentionally) while centralising every minute decision, which is not the way Brits like to live our life, it simply got too much for many Brits and they had had enough of the EU. But had they had all the true facts presented to them, no Brit would chose to exit the EU, if it meant their children could go hungry and conditions worsen in the most deprived parts of the country. There were talks of hard Brexits and soft Brexits etc. Leaving the EU should have been in stages, to test the impact first, then re-consult (could even be another referendum after the first stage) to ensure Brits have a chance to decide how much hardship is worth it, just to get away from a bureaucratic organisation. Even if taking the full impact in one blast, is the most expedient option, the impact – that few could accurately predict as it was simply not known as nobody had quit the EU before now – needed to have been fully understood and mitigated, but the EU was unlikely to sit about for us to figure all that out, given the way Brexit unfolded. There are faults on all sides. Brexit should never have descended into such acrimony. If the EU believe what they have is a good thing, then they should have just laughed off Britain’s decision to leave and said good riddance. Instead, they wanted to make an example of us, in order to deter others from leaving. As for Brits, if a majority of the country (and it was a very slight majority, which should not have been an acceptable margin to embark on such a critical move) had had enough of the EU and the bureaucracy, past governments should have listened to the growing concerns are forced the EU to pay attention 15, 20 years ago, to ease-up on dictating the type of light bulbs people can use within the EU and the ridiculous level of detail to which they were seeking to impact or dictate everyday life in member countries! (which is what grates with many Brits). Instead, past UK governments treated dissenters with disdain and we saw them as a tiny minority with unfounded anti-EU sentiments. Well, that minority grew to a majority – thin or not – and shocked the establishment with the outcome of the Brexit referendum, whether or not there was a number of falsehood peddled by some.

Rejoining the EU cannot possibly be an option at this point in time. It will be too problematic. Explaining the real impact of Brexit without trying to say “told you so!” is what is needed. Nobody knew the full impact – not even those that opposed Brexit. Either way, neither side bothered to apply diplomacy. It appeared to be more about who’s right. At this point in time, what needs to be made clear, is what’s attributable to Brexit, Covid, war in Ukraine etc. And then, finding a way forward. The ill-conceived notion that the poor work harder than the rich and as such, deserve better, is a fallacy. Elon Musk working odd hours is not to be discounted because he is the world’s richest man. He may well be working out of choice and in a comfortable office compared to a toilet cleaner, but work is work!

The reality of Brexit is that the low-income folk clamouring for it, are the very ones facing the hardship that it brings and yet, fail to realise that. The people who sold Brexit to them (Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and co) will always be able to feed their children…

The situation with immigration and illegal entry into the UK via the English Channel is not hugely dissimilar. It needs explaining. Needs honesty. The present and past government and/or politicians who repeatedly used this topic to win votes should not have done so, as it has simply made the situation toxic. Honest action is what’s required and was required. Demonising human beings is never a way forward. The reality is that nobody could deliver what was being promised, because there were rules that could not and humanely should not be contravened e.g. you can’t go and upend the rubber boats and leave illegal migrants to drown. All the time spent making empty promises should have been spent making housing available to British people who require it and benefits, so that when it came to helping to settle migrants – once processed – people won’t hate on them. Technology and coordination with France is the only way to end the channel crossings, not empty promises – as we have now finally realised. Years wasted creating a ‘hostile environment’ supposedly to deter illegal migrants have been an absolute waste of time and resources and has totally backfired, with the hostility created now being visited on each other. The topic has become so toxic that there were some people celebrating the drowning of human beings trying to cross the channel – we (Brits) never used to be so uncaring! People can loath illegal migration all they want, but you have to draw a line, when the body of a children washes on shore! It is simply not human to wish that on any parent!
The reality is very simple. We must end illegal entry by using technology and other humane means; fast processing etc. End wars and displacement of people. But above all else, change the toxic rhetoric! Our economy is suffering and struggling right now due to lack of migrants with many of the skills we simply haven’t got. That is being mixed up in the Brexit and illegal migration mess and toxic rhetoric. We also need to do more – a great deal more – for low income earners in Britain and Brits who are presently struggling to make ends meet. In return, Brits need to turn back to reality and turn our back on dishonest, hateful rhetoric: the 60,000 Albanians or Syrians or whoever, rocking up in boats across the English Channel are not the reason we have failed repeatedly over the years to build more council housing or to maintain (mould everywhere!) existing housing, create jobs for underprivileged and sort out a number of issues such as knife crimes, other crime, anti-social behaviour etc. We have dropped the ball in many areas and sousing these unfortunate illegal migrants as the all-encompassing excuse is just not right nor decent!
We can fix it. We just need honesty and a stop to hateful rhetoric used to mask inefficiency

Yes, many of our Members of Parliament these days lack credibility and are just in it for themselves, BUT, the abuse they receive via Twitter and the rest of social media is absolutely reprehensible!

It is a job and nobody should have to put up with this sort of abuse at any job!

The BBC article today, which states MP receive thousands of abuse daily, is so sad. It has to be addressed and addressed decisively. Whatever it takes. It must be stopped. Whether or not an MP is deemed to be performing or not, they were elected by a majority and it is a job!!!!

The technology is there, to block, find and penalise these abusers. Society has not just become so rotten, it always was rotten, but these sad abusers can just laze about in the rooms doling out abuse by the minute! There must be consequences!

Many MPs now work in fear. They can’t really debate key issues properly. Either way, nobody deserves such abuse in doing their job!

Personally, I couldn’t care less whether or not people wish to use colour to differentiate one human being from another. afterall, we use the same logic for cars, bags etc.

However, why not get it right?

How is you-know-whom white? (perhaps orange?)

How is Megan Markle black? (perhaps pasty-cream?)

It can’t be that difficult to define an accurate spectrum to fit everyone. It may even help the police apprehend fleeing criminals better…

And if some folk still think they are white (ghosts will likely be offended, but ok..), fine.

I would presume there will be some shades of pink, some shades of brown, perhaps some shades of black too, orange of course (for you know whom) and some other interesting colours

That should get some accuracy into it and give the world some breathing space from the presently suffocating white v black crap! It is just too bloody convenient!

I always feel for the Chinese, Japanese and a few others whom the world just conveniently leave out like they don’t exist?! They have been left out of the colour option. And then you have Southeast Asians who are now regularly referred to as non-white! seriously?! “The UK gets its first non-white Prime Minister”. Poor fella. We couldn’t even do him the honour of giving him a colour. I wonder what the motive would be (or has been, over the years), not to adopt this broader, wider, more accurate range of colour-coding of humans? Strength in numbers? your guess is as good as mine!

It is definitely time to get this correct, so we can stop alienating people who are neither white (ghosts are fed up!) nor black

Homes and parents are frequently blamed, but when you look at the volume of time children spend at school and when you look at recent WhatsApp exposés of heinous messages many teachers were caught exchanging, it is clear that what kids are taught and how they are treated in our schools is a contributing factor to the ongoing mess

When we were kids and went to football matches at the weekend and you see the raw hate between rival fans, most of us left it at singing insults etc., but when you leave the stadium and see pools of blood by the roadside and cars keyed, shops vandalised etc., you begin to notice that some of the hatred encourage during matches have been allowed to go too far

I do not believe there is a more severe mental ailment than hate. But the dilemma today, is that it has now become so brazen and there are no consequences. Hate is now acceptable. It’s all over social media and in our politics and I am not referring to any specific form of hatred such as racism or antisemitism, I am referring to all forms of hate, regardless of who’s directing it or to whom it’s directed. You look at the matter of migration or more specifically, illegal migration: yes, it must be sorted, as it is simply not good for anyone (including the illegal migrants) as the world cannot presently operate in a format where people can just barge into any country without due process. BUT for goodness sake, there is no need to treat them like animals or pile on the hate. They are still human beings. It is the government’s job to find a means of sorting it, and I am certain technology is what’s needed to put an end to illegal migration. But the rhetoric has become so dangerous that we are endangering lives

At present, the situation looks hopeless. Hate is winning massively everywhere you look. I honestly do not know how one can take just one look at someone and build up so much hate towards them; has to be a mental illness for sure.

These are dire times!!

I do not have all the answers, but some of these issues have clearly not been treated to any basic reasoning:

Rwanda – how can it ever work? Surely, for it to be an effectively deterrent, then it will need to fail and Rwanda will need to be an absolute hell-hole of a destination right? Because if it works, and people trying to enter the UK illegally without just cause get deported to Rwanda and end up with an awesome life and do well there, then many more will be happy to make the journey to the UK illegally, to get deported to Rwanda. Now, if Rwanda doesn’t work and it becomes a hellish nightmare for anyone sent there, then, you do have an effective deterrent BUT, is that what we would want to spend taxpayers money on? But if assuming Rwanda works, we have already seen what happens in African countries where newcomers thrive e.g. Liberia, Sierra Leone; it riles the locals and you could end up with genocide or wars due to the discontent of those locals. As such, to make this Rwanda thing work, you would first have to lift all Rwandans out of poverty so that they do not risk getting jealous of what the UK-deportees get. But the minute you succeed in improving life for existing Rwandans, surely, they will then not be interested in their country being the dumping ground for migrants deported from the U.K. right? So, I simply cannot see any positive outcome here…

What do migrants come to the UK for? surely not the weather! So, safety, and for some (economic migrants, which is nothing illegal) to make quick cash. Many of those in government today, have parents who came to the UK for either of those reasons. So, what can reduce migrants coming here? Could it be that perhaps if they find safety elsewhere and are able to make money elsewhere? —— could that “elsewhere” be where they are from? ——- I think sooner or later, it will be clear to the whole world, that the only way to deal with illegal migration, people smuggling etc., same as dealing with drugs, is to address the source; address the reasons behind it. With drugs, we do not wish to address the source of ‘demand’, but spend effort trying to address the supply. Similarly, with illegal migration, or migration in general, we know that if we make wars illegal and totally unacceptable and if we can help the whole world develop and progress, more people will be happy where they are and won’t get displaced etc. But hey! Nobody wants to hear that. It’s too leftish! It’s socialist thinking. Let them fend for themselves. Let the markets dictate. Let the strongest survive etc.

One thing is clear, it undermines the UK, if people can just cross in via boats across the channel. It is a breach that must be addressed. Could technology be the answer? There must be a way to secure our borders, perhaps a mid-sea or mid-channel floating processing centre and drones with cameras and other gadgets that detect entry and we can get people duly processed at floating centres (safe, secure and healthy conditions) on the channel. Or come up wi5 a global satellite that remotely maps and collects all our details remotely (so we don’t have to tag people) and as such, can remotely confirm where each individual have been and where they have come from etc. (so that applications can me processed accurately and quickly). While in parallel, we try to resolve the wider issues.

There must be humane options to address this, without us losing our humanity. Afterall, these are people too. The terms ‘migrant’, ‘illegal migrants’ etc., need not strip their humanity away. Yes, it has been a headache and there doesn’t appear to be a solution, but we must try to find a humane solution…

……those Jews

……those blacks

……those gypsies

the minute we generalise in this manner, we begin to display our bias.

if you are angered by a Jewish person or a black person (that is why the recent story relating to actor, Liam Neeson faced some backlash but could have been a lot more, had he not been one of those who tend to be upfront) or any other grouping, take umbrage with the individual. Visiting your anger on an entire group of people is just an excuse to be horrid

unfortunately, this is where society is today. we generalise. ‘migrants’, any type, regardless of their situation, are now tarred with how illegal migrants are perceived.

the ongoing furore regarding Kanye or Ye West. “Jews” does he know every Jew? but clearly, it is a mental health issue. he can’t possibly be right in the head.

it is the same problem affecting policing the the US and many other countries, where we write off certain groups and build up an image of what we automatically expect a drug dealer to look like (but we forget about the buyer…), we automatically expect a whole group to be one way or the other, and that ideology becomes accepted

such generalisation needs to end..

Every time I log on my computer, there is a story of a machete attack in London or elsewhere in the UK!
Unfortunately, this coincides with public trust in the police being at an all time low, for a number of incidents involving social media posts by serving police officers etc. Our police must urgently find a way to cleanup within its ranks, to restore public trust, which should increase the volume of information they receive and assistance from the public, to crack down on crime

The current spate of machete attacks is embarrassing really! Who makes these machetes?! It’s now like a dressing accessory in the UK. Get your shoes on, your wrist watch, grab your iPhone and oh, don’t forget your machete!
Seriously??!!!

There needs to be a total crackdown on knives, machetes, guns etc. And if people want to beat each other up going forward, well, they need to go and get boxing lessons!
This incessant knifing in a supposedly developed country has become an absolute aberration! Just read about yet another machete incident this evening, which was just a random, unprovoked attack on a bus!

Heaven help us if this is allowed to become normal!

Today everyone’s setting on the new Prime Minister! Yes, some of his appointments to cabinet are perhaps questionable, BUT for goodness sake! What would people have him do??? If he doesn’t appoint some of the people he has, they will have an issue with him and the in-fighting will continue

He isn’t going to call a general election as the result will be awful for his party. If the opposition can force a general election by going on strike? could be the right move. But before that, we cannot choke yet another prime minister for the conservatives to appoint another???!

The prudent move would be for people to back off him unless they can force a general election

…. well, now we know who’s in control! what’s the use of a general election, when market factors can depose a Prime Minister….

What the feck does that mean????

The press eagerly use “white”, “black (even for individuals such as Barack Obama and Megan Markle)”, is “brown” a taboo then?

What the heck is “non-white”? does red, green, indigo etc all count as “non-white”?

We might as well just use “white” and “non-white” then? why bother with naming any other colour? Jeez! What is wrong with the world today????

More importantly, who cares what colour he is? If the party he leads go on to win a general election, that may well be worth some trumpeting. At this juncture, we have a lot more important stuff to sort..

… Not about loyalty to an individual

Unfortunately, we are in troubling times, which tests democracy to its core

was Rishi Sunak disloyal to Boris Johnson? Simple answer is YES.

was Sunak’s disloyalty to Johnson due to Sunak’s decision to be loyal to the country instead? Only Sunak can answer that question

In my humble opinion, Boris was the architect of his own downfall. However, it may also be down to too much wheeling & dealing, leading to a situation where he becomes so beholden to his mates that when they err, he cannot bring himself to deal with them. Anyone thinking partygate was what brought Johnson down has it all wrong. Yes, partygate was damaging, but majority in the country were willing to accept that it was not a sackable offence, but in combination with his attempts to change rules in order to hand his buddies a free pass when they were caught misbehaving….

But had Boris not tried to strong-arm Sajid Javid the then Chancellor, leading to Javid’s resignation, Rishi Sunak, would have remained a junior minister in the shadow of Javid for several years to come. But it was Boris, who after dispensing with Javid, promoted Rishi to the lofty height of Chancellor. The rest as they say, is history

Between them all, they’ve done irreparable damage to the country (with the division of Brexit and the rise and rise of intolerance, to such heights that we thought we left behind in the 80s and years before that) and to the Conservative Party. They could all have supported Theresa May and she could also have tried to be less forceful. Instead, they schemed and schemed, plotted and plotted, and now, we have a musical chairs scenario and our reputation as a sensible, financially stable country is left in tatters!
From David Cameron who should have not looked down on the people asking for Brexit and simply gave them the facts, to the people who exploited Brexit to their own ends even though they knew it was never going to be readily implementable, to the schemers who could have helped Theresa May instead of ousting her, to the cluelessness on the last 3 months; I do not see what Sunak can do to avoid being forced to call a General Election by the end of March 2023, which will result in the Conservative Party becoming the 3rd party in the UK, behind Labour and the Lib Dems. The die is cast. The people have had enough and will have their say.

To rebuild, the Conservative Party will need to start from scratch and it will need to be about loyalty to the country and its people, over loyalty to a Party Leader or any other individual.

Most will perceive it as bullying and it often is or turns into exactly that. But we tend not to take each other too seriously in the UK and you throw as much as you catch. But the present generation, perhaps with social media, which can amplify and intensify banter to a point where it clearly crosses the line from just words, to very harmful words with horrid endings (there’s been a recent spate of suicides etc.) has soured this British pastime

I recall during university days up in the north of England, how our generation – unlike the present generation – savaged each other with banter, with everyone giving as good as they got, and there were few lines. Everything was up for grabs: race, gender, the whole lot. And in reality, have we actually made any true progress with all the present hash-tags and toppling of statues?

Self-deprecating words were always popular; you hit yourself hard so others are left with very little to hit you with. It is the British way. But today’s society has taken all that away. Anything you say can cause offence with one group or the other. And that is quite understandable that all utterances have consequences, if in poor taste. But it has all been taken too far and largely way out of context. People have not improved. It would seem shootings and stabbings have simply taken over from what used to be frank exchanges of words…

After Conservative party MPs (duly elected by their constituents to represent them) voted overwhelmingly for Rishi Sunak in September only to have that decision overruled by some 200,000 or so registered members of the party, who are largely, ill-informed semi-illiterates who only wish to hear terms such as ‘Brexit’, regardless of the impact, the Conservative party elites knew they couldn’t take that chance again, as clearly, anyone but the most sensible choice for the country (Sunak) – in the absence of a general election – was what the conservative members would have gone for, out of some misguided loyalty to Boris Johnson or more honestly, because they cannot see how a non-white chap can be UK PM (mad ain’t it? you would think that with the mess our economy is in, who cares what blooming colour the PM is!? as long as he can get some decisions made and reverse the mad direction we were heading in as a country, with the pound tanking so badly!). He could be green for all I care! Majority of Brits also do not care; could be a woman, man, white, brown, black, whatever colour, we are just fed up with crap and we would vote for any capable folk – given the two options of Sunak or Mordaunt, and given the circumstances, it simply has to be the one with the most senior cabinet experience and in any case, he came second the last run! So, they made the requirement such that whichever candidate secured the most MP support would sail through and make it difficult for any challenger and avoid having to go to the members vote; who can blame them, after the September result from party members that gave us Truss?

Ok, it is possible that Sunak will turn out to be as incapable or hindered as Truss, but goodness me!, at least he was selected by the people elected to be clever enough to make decisions; the people who have the most facts and information to make that decision (MPs) and not a bunch of semi-illiterates who are hellbent of imposing their stupidity on the nation

So, whichever way you look at it, we’ll done Sir Brady and the 1922 committee. Phew!

We still must have a general election urgently though. I predict that will be the case by Feb

Everyone saw Boris Johnson as a buffoon for years, before he became Mayor of London. He was never a buffoon; he was simply a text-book wheeler-dealer who seeks to relive what he sees as classic English politics, but unfortunately, he finds himself in a wrong era. We are no longer in the 50s…

If Boris could (but he can’t) cut out the wheeling and dealing, to simply serve in government, I don’t see anyone cleverer than he, in the present UK political set-up (across all parties). Going around staying at friends’ villas etc., is never without implications. How would you later deal with those individuals were they to cross the line? That has always been his Achilles Heel. His reluctance to deal with his erring buddies makes him vulnerable as a leader.

His supposed decision to make a comeback is really not the issue right now; the issue is all about those MPs who are coming out in support of that decision. What happens I& the Privileges Committee conclude their investigation in a few weeks and confirm Boris misled parliament? These MPs presently stating they want to reinstate him would have surely demonstrated their inability to make the right judgement? They should all lose their seats in parliament at the next general election surely!

Do the Conservative party presently have any candidate that’s better than Boris? Simple answer is: No. Even with his flaws and alleged lies, he is smarter than Rishi, Mordaunt and others put together. Why? because he got the nation to believe he is a buffoon, for years, while he plotted his path to the premiership!

A general election is the only solution and it is where we will end up shortly, despite ongoing efforts to avoid it

….. some plotting ludicrous returns…??
jeez!!!!!

….now, that’s more accurate! her mini-budget…

If his decision not to run (again) for PM, then, bravo to him! Correct decision. And not because he probably won’t succeed yet again, but because he said earlier in the week that he wouldn’t. Refreshing that someone finally say something and stand by it…

Well done

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…