Political Ideas gone berserk...

There is a saying that goes as follows: Those who fail to learn the lessons from the past are doomed to repeat them. It is quite something to see Labour doing just that. There have been so many social experiments, just look at Russia and its satellite states, Venezuela just to name a few. On top of it all the misery and death that seems to follow these systems when established are beyond belief. Socialism tends to be just another word for a type of despotism. It seems to be a human condition to always look for power, one way or another. To govern a country is not about power, it should be about looking after well-being, proper economical systems bearing in mind the land, water and air.

It should be about establishing proper infrastructure, infrastructure that does not overburden the land by building too many houses and roads. It ought to be clear that building roads just begets more and more cars. Every action we take will have a reaction somewhere. Concreting over the land for more housing and roads will have a detrimental effect on wildlife. Also air fouling through fumes from cars and heating systems. Unbridled growth in population will almost certainly have an effect on water quality. Every action we take has a consequence.

Unfortunately as so clearly shown today in the UK undergoing a general election campaign, politicians have little idea about the real issues. Burbling mostly utter nonsense. One even stated that he would ensure 2 billion trees planted by 2040. It just defies logic. These words are so idiotic as to think the perpetrator needs to have an urgent appointment with a psychiatrist.

Because if you work it out then you will notice this. There are 20 years to go to 2040, there are 24 hours in a day, there are 365 days in a year (let’s forget a leap year for now), then we can easily calculate 365x24x20=175,200 hours. So in that time we will plant 2 billion, that is written fully as 2,000,000,000 trees. Dividing that by the hours 2,000,000,000/175,200=11,416 (rounded up) trees to be planted every hour for 40 years! You heard it here! Besides all of that what about the land? If you think of an acre you could possibly plant 20 trees? Trees like spruce or larch, no oaks or beeches these are too big! Well, that then would take 20 million acres. Wales where I live is about 5.1 million acres so four Wales sized areas will be planted by the Labour party. It shows though that politicians before opening mouth should avail themselves of the facts! Or go back to school to learn proper Maths!

Edit 30/11/2019
It may be that the report I read in a national newspaper concerning tree planting could be an exaggeration. If it is then no matter because there have been a few other parties who have said similar ideas. There was one with a promise of 30 million trees. If that was to be done by 2030, that's only ten years we're talking about 88,000 hours day and night. You'll see the same idiotic argument there.

State Terror? Who knows...

With the Labour party’s policies outlining its stance on immigration and coupled with their insistence on calling anyone who disagrees a racist, a xenophobe or worse I am sorry to have to tell you I could be a racist, a racist just because I am white, a Caucasian but in the summer I get another colour so I ought to despise white people. That is according to Labour. It is of course one of the reasons I will never vote and never have done so, vote Labour. Today it is basically a totalitarian party akin to Russian examples. Total State control and any well thinking person knows it might also mean State terror. Looking back at history you easily note the terrible damage totalitarian states did inflict on their own people. Millions died in Russian gulags, millions died in the German concentration camps. And as far as concentration camps are concerned, apparently it was Britain who invented them. 

Millions are still dying today. 

To be very frank the collective human history is one of continual war, extortion, power struggles, starvation and disease. If humanity stood in front of its teacher, like schoolchildren today, the report would be a resounding failure on all accounts. We would be lucky to get a D! Or in the new education systems, a 3! This is the situation that Labour intends to continue, in fact to enlarge. It is easy to become despondent, although we should not. We should always try to be better. So, this time I would say let’s look at the future, what type of world do we want to leave for our children, grandchildren. Will it be a desert? Will it be an ocean and seas devoid of fish? Will it be a world where humanity will have to live below ground, because of the summer heat? Or can we, will we, make a start finally to make all of humanity equal in all respects and through that save the planet for all creatures inclusive. The choice is ours today!

Policy makers? Yeah, in your dreams...

We should ask at this time, facing a General Election, who pulls the strings? I am referring to those people who stand next to and behind the party leaders. Going by last night’s TV debate between Boris and Jeremy, these two are not the shakers or the makers!

For those learning English it means these two are not the thinkers and makers of policies.

They are just the mouthpieces of the two main parties in the UK. OK, so far so good but what to make of John McDonnell, now that to me seems to be the guy to watch. If he gets his hands on the reins you will find the horse will be steered so far to the left it will be in danger to derail the state coach! Most likely disappear into the fast-flowing Thames. It sounds good doesn’t it, a pay limit of no more than £350,000 annually. Now that seems to me a carrot of great proportions! But it means nothing. There are so many ways to circumvent that stupid rule. Foreign payments to non-British banks, share options just to name a few of the hundreds of ways to pay people. It shows though a complete misunderstanding of the systems. These sayings are sound-bites to confuse the gullible. The danger is that we have too many gullible people in the UK, most of the students we have do not think further than where the next party will be. I remember an article from the Guardian (see excerpt below) -

An unofficial biography of David Cameron written by the Conservative donor Lord Ashcroft contains a series of allegations. They include that the prime minister spent time in a drug-taking environment at university, that he took part in a bizarre dinner club initiation ritual, and another claim about Cameron’s knowledge of the peer’s offshore tax status.

Which shows clearly the standard of student behaviour, generally speaking. It might make you wonder which University Mr McDonnell went to. In short, the standard of MPs is pretty low. In a way it reflects the general standards of behaviour in the country as a whole. It has become a more aggressive, self-seeking celebrity cult. Sad? Yes, it is but there is always time to turn round the ship.

Buildings and floods...

Just been listening to this Sunday morning's TV prog the Andrew Marr Show, one item got my interest. That of housebuilding and the present Yorkshire floods. It is a fact that floods mainly tend to happen in low-lying areas, such as floodplains of river systems. We don't have to be clever to figure that one out.
So, the point about government being slow to react and the failures to build adequate flood defences although fair on the face of it, it must be understood that planning is the remit of local councils. It is they that approve or disapprove planning applications. It is funny how things get interpreted in discussions, local as well as national. It is funny because in the main the councils in question are mainly run by Labour! Even so, whatever council it is the practice of building on floodplains needs seriously looking at. The demography of Britain is changing and changing fast. More single people, with and without children, the dispersal of people from the London/Kent conurbations (the great westward and northward  migration) all have begun to impact on local governments. As I have mentioned before looking at the largest city in South Wales, Cardiff, having begun a massive house building programme encompassing the farms to the west and north-west. This is not a flooding area but it shows the westward migration from England as local demand is not particularly high. Again, I must say that planning in this country and most likely in other places and countries as well, tend to be done via LDP's (Local Development Plans) but are there sufficient searches made as to suitability of the land, the needed upgrading of the infrastructure; doctor's, dentists, shops, roads in and out, sewerage and more. Sewerage is still of the Victorian era and has great difficulty in accommodating the demands now put on it. It is really high time to look at our country, how we want to use land, and how we need to be ready to accommodate the expected 80 million inhabitants! 

Bidding war, come and join!

Come and join the bidding war now raging in Britain! Great stuff, I am offering £10 to support the buy-out of BT! In reality this is a ludicrous situation. 

Some party offers to plant 30 million trees by 2025 and immediately another increases that to 60 million. Oh yes, you have heard it here. OK then, who offers 90 million? Let me know because I fancy D.Trump will want a piece of the action! 

This is how idiotic General Elections can be and usually are, loads of promises that are not going or just cannot, be kept. The problem though is that good ol’ Britain is full of brain-dead people who only hear the words ‘free’ and ‘tax the rich’. Actually everybody will pay more tax. Either in increased rates or less benefits or increased prices because companies have to fund these extraordinary actions and pay more tax as well. So, Mr McDonnell let me tell you to go back and learn proper Economics.

But he doesn't or needs to care. He is just another brain-dead rich kid who fancies himself a statesman by nationalising everything. It sounds so appealing to the students in universities and colleges, a real change in politics. Indeed it would be but not with the benefits they expect!

Insofar the trees are concerned, anyone know where we can buy 30 or 60 million trees before Christmas? This is what makes these promises so ludicrous, a soundbite for those who listen to the BBC with wondering eyes, thinking actually Prince Andrew is an alien. So much for improving education. Besides which nursery do we know have so many trees at such short notice? Trees from cuttings or seed need at least 5 or so years to become available for proper site planting.

Friends, it is really time to get to grips with our political systems. Let’s get real, if we want proper democracy a two party system (forget the LibDems, they are just an irritant) needs to transform into a proper proportional system. No voting for individuals in the main but just vote for a party. I have said before, look over the water. They have had such systems for over two hundred years. In that respect I would agree with Plaid, the Lib-Dems and all other small parties. It would be better for the country to have a sound coalition where such excesses as we hear now being promised are not possible or needed!

Majestic issues

Blimey, it never just rains but it pours. You might have noticed that we have a royal family here in the old UK. Like most families, including my own, there are differences of opinion or even rows. But they tend to get resolved or if very serious, people will just run away. That is what seems to be the case in HRH households. The problem a new husband faces is how to protect the sanctity of the marital home. It cannot be easy to live a stone's throw away from granny with all that includes. On top of that there will be the inevitable media intrusion. It would be much better to just ignore all that, unfortunately the little lady is an actress and used to calling on the media to 'show' off her inevitable good looks. You cannot have it all. A choice might need to be made. So, remember people, peace within the family is a precious thing. Worth keeping it.

A One-Issue Election...

I feel pretty let down, politically speaking. I used to be a member of the Lib-Dems until their policies about gender, i.e political correctness, became so weird that I left. Looking at their present range of ‘ideas’, ‘twas a good decision. But I wanted to be represented by a good party so I joined Plaid Cymru. Now it seems history is repeating itself. The party is anti-Brexit and now has made a ‘deal’ to step aside in constituencies it thinks it cannot win, in favour of either the Greens or the Lib-Dems. I am sorry I would have thought that a political party would fight to be seen and heard to showcase its ideas, particularly in a General Election! So in effect, it is NOT a general election, but a one issue election – BREXIT. This alliance has only one aim, stop BREXIT. What about the myriad of problems in this country? All I hear and see on TV, radio and other media is the amounts to be borrowed but no proper plans as to why! Then we have that Scottish virago (look that word up in the Oxford Dictionary) with plans to break-up the Union. In my mind that is treachery. I can’t remember what the punishment was for that but probably not pleasant. Why do we let this go on? Plaid now too has leapt onto the bandwagon of Independence. I agree that within the present political climate it is a lip-smacking idea. Mostly for those who are disillusioned with the weak system that allows corruption on a grand scale, cannot control crime and have misinformed ideas about human rights. Plus to top it all, is pretty powerless on the world scene. Well, I wonder how much a ticket will be after the General Election. A ticket to a sunny uninhabited Caribbean island. Probably will cost £2billion, yep supply and demand!

Election promises? Yes, believe it!

Yep, election time! And friends, we already have begun hearing the most ludicrous political statements. The (male) co-leader of the Green Party wants to borrow 100 billion pounds every year for 10 years and thinks this will save the planet. Sounds good? Yes, I think it sounds too good. In fact I will have a look at my bank account to see if I can help. God help us for this kind of idiocy. Apparently hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created, in other words a type of social engineering as these jobs will then be paid from the borrowing? Where in all honesty do these people live? Oh yes, we will concrete over the UK. This guy has evidently forgotten the UK is not just the only country combatting climate warming. It would be much better to reign in the likes of the US, Russia and China. Asia is still mostly powered by coal in huge, gigantic quantities. I would agree one thing he said, we need to combat climate change and we need to do it now. Forget targets like 2050, that’s too late. But also we cannot just borrow those eye-watering sums. Still with one MP why worry? Nevertheless I want to see and hear the good Boris say and speak more about the need to combat and how to pay for combatting climate change. 

Ed 7/11/2019
It is deeply worrying to hear all the parties' ideas that include borrowing hundreds of billions.
If the Labour party wins the election or wins because of a hung parliament we will borrow so much that our repayments of the interest  annually will exceed the £54billion we pay today.  
Interest payments for £100billion extra borrowing would be £ 2billion at 2%, more if the interest rates are rising because of our weaker position as far as the money markets are concerned.
But even more worrying is the debt we will put on to the backs of our children and grandchildren because the debt one way or another has to be paid back as well. Perhaps in stages but nevertheless it has to be done sooner or later.
I am afraid that we will begin to think of an eye-watering debt of up to £3 trillion!!!!  Some politicians we have in this country, they must have taken lessons from the Americans. Another simple question is - where does all that money come from? Yes, investors but there has to be an end somewhere? Anyone?

Ed 9/11/2019
And talking of borrowing through the medium of Govt Bonds they forget one of the most important issues. How can it be guaranteed investors will actually buy them? The amounts mentioned by the relevant political parties, we are talking billions upon billions assumes that the amount  of bonds to be produced will be taken up. Also one of the rules of commerce, supply and demand will come to the fore. Many bonds, lower returns and higher interest to make them interesting! Wow, some financial experts we have in political parties.

Democratic or what...

Are you or will you be unhappy about any decision made by others? Are you unhappy that the Liberal Democrats are not invited to speak in a debate that was organised for the two main parties in this country? Are you unhappy that Sir Lindsay was elected Speaker? Or are you even more unhappy with the local weather? Yes? I think you should take legal action. Well, everybody else does. The legal profession is wringing its collective hands in glee! Holding the political power now, yeaaah!

To be frank, I think the establishment has gone a bit potty. It is a show of powerlessness. Also probably an effect of the media storms all around. It is my belief that the present aggravation is media orchestrated. They probably don’t even know it, that’s the funny thing. The BBC has been called one-sided. When you look at the programmes you cannot help but think that it is the BBC in the forefront of political correctness. Rightly or completely wrongly! The newspapers are not far behind either. I read the main left-centre papers but do not hold my nose at a right-centre paper. Some of the editorials are pretty close to the mark. But it is fun. My favourite amongst the article wizards has to be Rod Liddle. He at least writes in a comical style that appeals to me. ‘Taking the mick’ as they say. Nevertheless he puts in a pretty serious note as well. Politicians generally speaking have been guilty of one thing – misunderstanding what democracy means. You can shout about it, cry even but democracy is in the end a political way to ensure the majority view and wishes prevail. May that long continue and politicians come to their senses because if they do not the situation if this country could become ‘treisgar’ (look it up in a Welsh dictionary or Google it!) Siŵr i fod.