Knowledge can improve the world we live in

The greatest footballer of all time: PELE.

RIP sir!

While he was alive, modesty leads to adding words such as ‘arguably’. The reality is that anyone with a half-decent appreciation of football will know that Pele was and will likely always the the greatest footballer – until someone else can surpass what he did. To date, nobody has. To begin with, he is the only man to have won 3 world cups. I doubt there is any child anywhere in the world, who knows what the round object called a football is, who doesn’t then know of the name ‘Pele’.

Essentially, you know football, you know the name Pele. Can’t say the same for any other past or present footballer

“Before the match, I told myself that Pelé was just flesh and bones like the rest of us,” Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich said after his side’s defeat in the final. “Later, I realised I’d been wrong.” (1970 World Cup Final: Brazil 4 Italy 1)

All that aside, the fact that he faced huge challenges (the usual) but rose above it all, to secure the respect of everyone across the globe, is in itself phenomenal. His attitude, the joy, his philanthropy…… need I say more? RIP Pele..

Just read the BBC article relating to a blind chap who uses taxis to get to work (he is an organist) and several taxis refuse to take him as they don’t want his guide dog in their taxi. But the pick drunks who regularly throw up in their taxi right?

All form of discrimination is awful, but I am not sure there has been enough focus on discrimination against the blind and other handicapped people in society. These folk are largely left to suffer indignity in silence as we get carried away with other more typical forms of discrimination

Appalling really!

A young Hungarian flees persecution with his family and moves to the UK in 1947. György Schwartz. Who? Exactly! What if I said George Soros? Yes. Clever chap

Was Soros ashamed of his Hungarian roots? No.
Only an idiot would be sentimental about a name, when it is a handicap. After studying at London School of Economics Soros wrote to the Managing Directors of every Merchant Bank in the country seeking a job and he got one. Doubtful he would have received any responses as György Schwartz.

Yes, it shouldn’t be that way, but that is how it is. Ruby Wachs’ parents fled the Nazis in Austrian in 1938 and once they settled in America, they changed Wachs to Wax to fit in. Helen Mironoff changed to Helen Mirren not out of disrespect for her Russian father or heritage, it was the smart thing to do. And she isn’t being sanctimonious about it. She isn’t sermonising about it. You don’t hit fame and make money as Thandie Newton and then years later, sermonise! By all means say you now want to be called Thandiwe, good for you. But please, please, leave out the sob-story. Leave out the sermonising! There are thousands out there today, who claim they do not receive invitations to job interviews due to the names on their CVs.

If your name is a handicap, ditch the idiotic pride, change the blooming name!! If we expect a woman’s surname to be her “maiden” name, which is readily tossed aside upon marriage, then it’s all well and good that Soros, Mirren and others who decided to change their names did so..

Many English names today are from Greek, Latin etc. they got changed. It happens!

Majority of us earthlings won’t change our names as we perhaps do not need to or we are not in situations where our name is a disadvantage. But for anyone who feels a name change will help them fit in better or help them avoid subconscious biases, good for them! Change the blooming name!!!

Perhaps one day the world will get smart enough such that it wouldn’t matter a jot whether you are Sabaku or Smith. Sadly, we ain’t there yet. So, for the Sabakus who are now Smiths or the Mironoffs who are now Mirren, good on ya!

A chap loses his house of rep vote to Lauren Boebert by just over 500 votes, he didn’t ask for a recount and graciously conceded and congratulated her. Kari Lake loses her gubernatorial vote by over 15,000 votes, says she won and that she can never lose, says it was stolen from her, takes the case to court, judge throws it out, will she now renounce her statements and congratulate the winner, Katie Hobbs? Nope, our dear Kari will continue her crusade and carry on saying the election was stolen. Why? well, the reasons are quite obvious. One of those, is that she will be hoping to increase her profile within the election denials in America, which has now become another group out there, another base, another reliable voting block whom you do not need to state any policies to convince to hand their votes to you. But most importantly, because she will hope Donald Trump will select her as his 2024 running mate, and even though Kari knows he is going to lose again, she just needs the national publicity

Quite deplorable really. But that, is indeed today’s democracy!

It is is madness! Every election cycle, there will be some voters who will find it difficult to cast their votes either due to arriving late or long queues etc., it is never isolated to a single party. Some will be deliberately misled via fake phonecalls stating the election day has moved etc., these dirty tricks abound, but they have never been the basis of any real challenge to our democracy. Yes, it ain’t perfect, but Kari, stop taking the piss! You lost, now go away quietly!!

The Republican Party has to find the resolve to root these maniacs out, clean slate and return to being a credible political party! Tough, but hopefully doable

This is why we are Great Britain!

Regardless of the direction others wish for, the decent folk in the country will always stand up and speak up against indecency!

Well done Brits!

I haven’t yet had a chance to read the full BBC report, but hats off to Lady Hussey!

Hopefully the people hating on Ngozi can now leave her be. She is British and we should be happy that she is proud to say that. It is up to her, if she wants to qualify that with where her ancestors hail from, same as any Brit wishing to state they are from Norman (French) roots or Saxon or whatever can provide that qualification if they choose to. And if anyone wants to go as far back to Adam & Eve and use that to qualify where they’re from, fine. But it shouldn’t be dragged out of them or expected

Now, let’s draw a line under this matter and hopefully, the next person that gets asked those questions can just ask whoever’s asking them the same. And leave it at that.

For any individual to make the decision to train as a nurse is in itself a decision to help others. It is a selfless decision

Yes, it is just a job like any other and it is a personal choice. But once you go into the detail of what they actually do, and how they impact our lives, nursing is nothing like any other job!

As nurses embark on their strike action this week, it is extremely sad to see what society value more and what we are happy to pay for entertainment e.g. footballer’s wages..

The giver must tear up existing pay structure for nurses. We need to create a brand new salary structure for nurses; one that will truly reflect their unparalleled contribution

This cannot be about avoiding a domino effect on other civil servants. We must do the right thing. The current salary paid to nurses is an absolute disgrace!

The Biden government get basketball player Britney Griner out of Russia and they get lampooned with abuse! Yes, it would have been great to get both Griner and Paul Whelan the other American out, but for goodness sake! Some gratitude first!

Yes Griner was caught with a tiny bottle of cannabis oil – and she has most likely now learnt her lesson – but she could very easily have been stopped for any other reason (given everyone says she was just a convenient pawn right?).
The argument that the Russian released in exchange (Victor Bout) was a lopsided deal is dumb. Do people think Bout is the only arms dealer out there? Has his incarceration ended the illegal arms trade?
He’s already been in an American jail for 12 years and using him as a trade to bring Griner or anyone else home, was good value, if as it were, it was the only available deal to be done. Hopefully they will soon find a deal to get Whelan out too – and hopefully, like Griner, he would have also learnt his lesson and spend his next holiday in Paris or Florida instead?!

I was reading statements such as “the maths just wasn’t right”. Maths? What is wrong with people these days??? We are talking about human beings here! Who gives a deuce about the maths adding up!? A young woman who should have at worst, received a small fine for being silly, got caught up in politics and a hostage situation, ending up in a penal colony. Getting her out by trading a spent arms dealer who has already been locked up for 14 or so years. Sod the maths!

In the past week the Royal family in the UK have been set upon by a number of issues that have all been taken out of context and probably deliberately. The first involved an aggressive questioning of the head of a charity at an event, by a royal household lady. The episode is bizarre because we are a country where we accused former boxer Amir Khan of divided patriotism when his camp carried a British flag alongside a Pakistani flag (even though he wears the Union Jack all the time), but when Ngozi Fulani (the head of the said charity) stated she is British and the conversation should have been left at that (especially as she was born & raised in London), she is accused of lacking pride in her roots for not wishing to agree that she is not British and must dig up where her ancestors hail from and provide that response whenever asked. Essentially, she is expected to say: I was born & raised in Britain, but my parents were from xxxx. That is supposed to be the only acceptable answer because she doesn’t fit the description? However, if Helen Mirenovski (or Helen Miren) was stood in her place, nobody would ask her where she’s from right? (Helen’s awesome by the way; excellent lady). Why? we all know why. So, yes, it was an issue. However, there was absolutely no need for the melodrama. There was no need for the lady in question, Lady Hussey I think, to quit her position. There must be consequences for such behaviour and hers is the outing of the matter. If we are ever to get to the end of such sagas, it will take someone like Lady Hussey coming out with a statement condemning those who have, in her name, made Ngozi’s life hell since the matter was exposed. Lady Hussey should come out and publicly state that what she did was awful and made Ngozi feel inferior in her own country, but perhaps it was unintentional (I doubt Lady Hussey set out to be horrible), but the effect remain as it usually is. If we’re going to be asking where people are from, and they confirm but we want it to be where we think it is, then why not just say so. Then, ask the same question of everyone regardless of what they look like. And volunteer the same detail for yourself first, as I am sure Lady Hussey herself could claim her roots are from the Middle East, if the Bible is correct, we’re all from Adam & Eve right? And if it is Darwin who is correct, then we are all from Africa?
The notion that a Brit can be the daughter of a Russian immigrant called Mirenovski or whatever, drop some bit of it and be Miren, play the Queen on telly etc., but the daughter of a Caribbean immigrant who arrived here well before Mirenovski must forever have to explain why she surely must be from someplace else, is the exact definition of the ‘ism’ that people have been having major issues with recently. As for the Harry and Megan stuff, the royal family is smart enough to know that Harry will never reveal anything major – he may be a unhappy with how he feels he’s been treated, but he will never really do anything to seriously damage his family – and in fact, all the storytelling is keeping a once almost forgotten institution constantly in the press. And given the seeming overwhelming public negativity towards Megan for whatever reason people wish to hate her, this is not doing anything other than helping the royal family. There’s nothing Harry and Megan can put out there that’s really going to cause much damage to the royal family – the reasons they have survived has little to do with lack of scandals, they will be just fine. So, people can stop hating on Harry and Megan, there’s no need to hate them. They have their reason for being unhappy, those who wish to listen to them should, and those who do not want to, do not have to. I haven’t seen nor listened to any of their stuff and do not intend to, but I also do not have any reason to hate on them – they are human beings too. It is very possible that Harry should have done more to put Megan in the picture; Harry is the junior brother and the one who was always going to have to be happy with second place – which will be 3rd, 4th etc, depending on how many kids William has – and Harry would have been groomed to understand that all his life and accepted it (and let’s be honest, he isn’t the first to find himself in that number two spot is he? It is what it is. It is still not a bad place to be is it?). Till he met a spirited American woman who couldn’t understand that and should have been made to understand it, but perhaps nobody tried to – she couldn’t understand why her man has to stand behind in line etc. Now they are intent on being number 1 on the internet if they can’t be in lineage. It will all blow over son enough. I hope they stay together as they clearly like each other and their kids need them. I also hope that after they have exhausted their stories and made enough from Netflix, they will just let go. Yes, we get it, they perceive ill-treatment etc. And I do hope everyone else have also learnt something from this saga and can all be better. As for the public, and the online trolls and abusers, no hope there; that’s never going to change. You give people an uncensored channel, and that is what you will always get. It’s their chance to lash out and be horrible – we are very horrible beings in general..

This morning I read some articles attacking Canada’s Prime Minister of being a woke lefty and all sorts. When you read the accusations levelled against him, you see issues common with most leaders: a bit of arrogance, a bit of “I know what’s best for you”, but all in all, he is a million miles better than the last Prime Minister Canada had (Stephen Harper), but it doesn’t matter what Trudeau does, the fact that he appointed a handful of different-looking individuals in his cabinet was the woke tab firmly affixed and he will forever be hounded by a certain kind of folk, who will never really state why they hate him so much. They will pileup all sorts or reasons – but never state that real reason – which when examined, amount to much less than the past several Canadian Prime Ministers have done.
Many want a return to how things were in the 70s? Clean streets, few people all looking the same, turn the telly on and everyone’s the same, including all the commercials etc., say anything about anyone and you’re fine, only hire people who look exactly like you without any challenge etc. But the reality is simple: the time we are wasting trying to force a return to the 70s could have been spent getting new plans in place, to get our streets clean again, get people integrated and accepting our way of life, getting used to seeing a variety of different-looking people in our TV shows and commercials and getting on with today’s reality.

We lost to France at the World Cup yesterday via a missed penalty and in contract to our recent European Championship loss also via penalties albeit following extra time, the reaction is that England fans say they are heartbroken for Harry Kane who missed the penalty. Few months ago at the European Championship it was horrible, hateful emojis barely minutes after. Need one explain the difference? No. We all get it. It’s all about what the folks who missed the penalty look like. But if you watched yesterday’s match, why should anyone receive abuse? They played their heats out and Kane was brilliant. Same as the European Championship match with the 3 missed penalties – they tried their best and didn’t deserve any abuse. But we live in a sick, pathetic world!
By this morning, people want the manages, Gareth Southgate, replaced! Seriously? It beggars belief! It’s like we’ve been winning these major tournaments left, right and centre over the years and Southgate failed to?
Southgate is the best we have. Yes, he is more defensive than attacking, but would we rather have attacked and lost to the US instead of the dour draw that got us through to the next stage?
Can Southgate change a little, to be less conservative in the bigger games? I don’t see why not. Instead, we just want to dump him??!

World’s in an absolute mess!

Yes they probably need the funds but a line has to be drawn at some point

What can be achieved via these endless storytelling?

If you don’t agree with your family and you wish to be estranged, just go your separate way and get on with your life.

Harry Winsor needs to sense the lopsidedness of his situation. He will have to beg for forgiveness sooner or later, as it is highly unlikely that his marriage to Megan will last – thanks to the ill-wishers slowly gathering around them, and the relentless pressure they keep on heaping on themselves with the storytelling. They need to cut their spending and make do with the Netflix fee they earn for the latest round of storytelling and just go quiet and leave those hating on them to starve of reasons to keep hating on them

I can understand their desperation to explain themselves, be heard etc., but this is now as bad as trying to talk a brexiteer around or trying to convince a MAGA Trump supporter that America now needs to move on. Harry & Megan can tell any number of stories they want and produce any number of Netflix docuseries; those hating on them will not relent. Those hating on them are not interested in any reason nor explanation, they won’t change their position. So, other than making some money – and that will soon change as people tire of the tales – it has become pointless

There are faults on all sides

To those out there dreaming to get rich or be famous, this sorry saga should be a profound lesson. These folk race round the year seeking validation. It’s like Roman Emperors having to put on entertainment for their baying masses. Who is in control? The gladiators losing their lives to provide the show? the Emperor laying the show on? or the blood-seeking crowd for whom the show is laid out?

Unlike the policies of many other developed countries out there (a good example will be the Belgian colonisation of Congo), Britain has never sought to harm. And that, is indeed the truth, even though modern history may seek to paint some of the gory details of several periods in history in a different light.
Yes, greed sometimes set in, but if you spend enough time examining British policies, acts and legacy across the world, even where it has ended up badly or left legacies such as tribal intolerance and hierarchy, for every self-seeking buccaneer out there, you will find individuals who robustly challenged and sought to defend our core principles.

Through history, Britain has always sought to be firm but fair. Yes, some heinous chapters such as the transatlantic slavery over centuries (but even that will be challenged by some who will point to the transactions at source, but it won’t explain the barbarism of overseeing birth into slavery) or aspects of the colonial era could be seen in poor light, but a lot of it comes more from a misguided desire to enlighten as opposed to outright avarice.

We must not move away from our sense of fairness.

Yes, there must be a firm response to the current and ongoing assault on our border, in particular, via the channel. But technology and effective collaboration is what’s needed, to put a firm end to it and get back to processing all entrants via the proper route. While all that is being sorted out, there must be an immediate end to the use of these hapless migrants for political point-scoring and the unacceptable rhetoric must stop.

This is Great Britain

We are not some new kid on the block democracy! Bravo Welby!

6 presidents in 6 years, but I am sure the 7th candidate is already waiting in the wings? Where do these conveyor belt of presidents come from? You would think that the next candidate dredged up would say: “hmmm, I’m not so sure this is a gig I want to be involved in..”. NOPE. On goes the presidential sash (they love those ridiculous sashes out there in Latin America, just as much as we love medals and brooches out here..).

The last el presidente was a rural school teacher from an impoverished part of Peru, high up in the Andes. He didn’t belong to any political party and needed to form alliances to survive, but coming in with a tiny mandate off the back of a runoff with only 44,000 or so votes to win, was not going to cut it. It’s surprising he lasted 17 months

His erstwhile Vice President has now hastily been sworn in as el presidente! and I am sure the former President will now get charged with all sorts of trumped up crimes and get banged up in jail.

We need to be better! Unfortunately, ain’t gonna happen. We are what we are…..

It really is puzzling that this particular senate race went to a runoff before it could be decided

For those who call themselves conservatives and christians – and you see many of the with eyes closed and arms stretched out in prayers at the Herschel Walker gatherings – and even the loser himself, Herschel Walker, gave a short speech that end in a call for “prayer”. But surely, the basic tenets of Christianity is to be humble (not sure he called the winner to congratulate him) and decent?

Something really has to change

When you see bible-totting, prayer-quoting people, say they support people who violently entered the country’s capitol building – an event that claimed 5 or so lives – you ask yourself where is humility and decency? But then, history will tell us there was religion, religious faith, teaching etc., during all those horrible periods in human history, where people we’re burnt at the stake for being witches (usually with very scant evidence), brutally tortured, centuries of enslavement (of all races) and heinous acts, some in the very name of religion. So, perhaps one should not be too surprised to hear someone say “let us pray” and then 5 minutes later, say well done to Kyle Rittenhouse for gunning a couple of people down (even if it was the right thing for him to do, surely, with lives claimed, it is nothing to celebrate!)

But when Biden won in 2020 and stated that he will rule for all and heal etc., the choice words. He now has 2 years to go, to truly try to do so. Yes, it is very difficult to try to be nice to people who are busy trying to dig up spurious charges against your son and just want to bring you down just for the heck of it (threats of impeachment just to settle scores etc.), but he has to rise above all that and come out strongly for all Americans and try to at least breach some of this mad division, if as we all know, he can’t end it as this goes back centuries but has never been this raw, not since their civil war.

The current situation is simply not sustainable! How long can the common-sense folk hold out for? If not Raphael Warnock today, it’ll be someone Els tomorrow. We cannot always hope common-sense will prevail. At some point it won’t. And the outcome could be devastating! Herschel Walker in senate is one example. It just beggars belief! It should matter what your politics is or what you believe in, when it comes to the highest offices of government, you simply cannot have a lack of decency. People refusing to concede election defeat, people not calling their opponents to congratulate them, an outgoing president refusing to welcome the incoming one and refusing to observe the requirements of handing over power (setting aside the attempts to derail the handover for a minute): these are not occurrences that should be happening in a democracy, let alone in the United States of America!

Warnock now needs to come out strong for ALL of Georgia, including those who supported Walker. He needs to come out strongly to state and mean that. This madness simply cannot continue!

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….