From a dog to social media...

Hullabaloo, what’s going on babe? I hear you ask... Well, nothing much that you don’t already know. The various reports on the Corona virus beating a retreat from humans (I want to do that as well, if I could), the continual U-turns by the government AND their advisers, those brilliant scientists. Mind you, there are different opinions on that and people wondering where those scientists got their degrees from. Recently I was talking to a friend who thought that Home Economics had now included medical subjects like virology and how to kill bacteria and viruses with something called Domestos, but I digress. Then we learned to my inevitable amusement that the PM’s dog Dilyn has been caught ‘humping’ every leg he can find. No wonder the dog cannot attend the weekly meetings in Buckingham Palace, I’m sure. By the way the PM’s attempt to speak a bit of Welsh does not go as far as the dog’s name. Dylan would be the correct spelling. Yep, that’s my question for Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament. Dilyn in Welsh is a verb meaning ‘to follow’. Well, the dog surely follows his instincts! Problem is everyone’s legs are in the way!

Now I had thought that the Rooney’s had drawn a line under their behaviour and would be excellent citizens from now on. You know the type I’m talking about, steady, glasses on nose reading the national sleaze in the papers whilst drinking the morning coffee. I always liked to read about Wayne’s wonderful life-style, money rolling in for very little effort, screaming girls who are desperate to marry you and on a Saturday scoring a few goals. Great stuff. I can only dream about that now, I missed my chance. Go to church every Sunday, do the garden and stare at the night sky thinking where is God. But enough about me, and then we look at Rooney’s wife, the long suffering Coleen. Long suffering? My *rse. She is one lady who knows which side of her toast is buttered. She needs that because I am afraid her world might yet collapse all around her. If she loses her court case with another footballer’s wife it could cost her (and the hubby) thousands. In the meantime let’s hope sense prevails. Although sense in today’s Britain is pretty hard to find. You would not believe what that is actually all about. Something stupid on social media. Why bother? As it is, if you put things on social media, everyone under the sun can read it and comment. Fun, fun, fun (and a headache at the same time).

Immigration, yeah why not....

And so the saga of the boats crossing the Channel continues unabated. It is rather interesting to read and hear about the government squirming. The Home Secretary (one of the better ones we’ve had) continually offering to solve the crisis but it is just words by a politician without real power. She is quite capable but thwarted by the ineffectual British Civil Service and the French inability to police their borders. Even worse, the French intransigence by accepting millions of pounds of our money and promising this and that but quite clearly having no intention to do anything bar a few token pick-ups and a slap on the wrist. It has been reported that the French absolutely prohibit British warships or even normal ships to pick up migrants and return them to France. The word is a firm ‘NON’. As a result the criminals who organise the migration business are just happily increasing their take, even promising different grades of pricing. Apparently one can now go ‘Business class’ or ‘Economy class’ or for that matter you may also swim with a vest supplied. Very soon I suppose they will begin to charter flights to various countryside airfields that have no official status. Watch out, you flying clubs!

It must be said I cannot blame the migrants themselves, who would not want a better life? If you are born in the desert with not a bit of green in sight, have to walk for half a day to obtain some brackish water, or even water p*ssed in by camels and then see the village TV with pictures of what must seem absolute heaven, what would you do? I know what I would do. I would be on those dinghies before you could sneeze and get a hankie. Well, there you are Mrs Patel, that’s your problem. But if I were you start bullying again because the halfwits you have to work with need a stick laid across their lily-white botties! Or whip them into shape with the cat-o-nine-tails. Yeah, why not otherwise they just wouldn’t move! But give them a warning first. By the way, we have a navy, use it!

Who was Cicero? Oh that one...

It is good to remember sometimes there were great people around in the distant past. People who had a very good idea what humanity is like! One of these guys Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher and academic Skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics, and he is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. I picked this up from Wikipedia. So, what did I find so good about him? Well, he said this:

1. The Poor – they work and work…..

2. The Rich – they exploit the poor….

3. The soldier – Protects both….

4. The Taxpayer – Pays for all three….

5. The Banker – Robs all four…..

6. The lawyer – Misleads all five…

7. The doctor – Invoices all six…

8. The Goons – Scare all seven…

9. The Politician – lives happily on account of all eight...

He apparently wrote this in 43BC, showing a good or even an excellent understuding of what the world of human work is like. Putting the political world in a proper spotlight.

It is rather poignant wouldn’t you think? It beautifully puts all the various elements of human life in its proper state and order. It makes me want to read more of his works! Call me mad, if you wish. Probably correct!

Money troubles ahead? Perhaps....

There may be trouble ahead.... I remember that lovely tune. But reports are showing that there may be trouble ahead for real! Financial trouble that is. I have said quite a few times that money seems to grow on some trees in the UK. Not sure how other countries pay for all the excesses but in the UK we just keep on borrowing. How does all this work then? Where does all this money suddenly come from? Quantitative Easing? Have a look on Google and explain it to me. It has something to do with what is called ‘Money Supply’. This is the amount of money circulating in the UK. In January 2019 it stood at about £2.4 trillion but shot up to nearly £3 trillion by January 2021. Eye-watering amounts but where did the extra come from? Don’t think it is all fivers or tenners or coins, these only represent some 3 to 4% of finance, bank accounts and reserves adds more. Anyway, you can see that if the central bank (The Bank of England) increases the money supply through more loans (gilts and bills) to banks, pension funds and insurance companies plus many more and print more money, the whole economic system ‘loosens’ up. But loans, as we all know very well, attract interest. These are very low at present so make it ‘profitable’ to borrow. But and there is always a but, there is a limit at how much can be borrowed. The national debt i.e the amount ‘borrowed’ stands at just over £2 trillion and rising. Over 85% of the Government’s total debt has been raised by selling gilts and bills, mainly to financial institutions. The interest charged, probably at 0.1% means that annually quite a number of billions of pounds go back into the system but out from the government coffers.

It is interesting how it all works but in the end there is an end to it. You cannot indefinitely just print money or sell gilts. Because if the interest payment are more than you can get by selling gilts or ‘bills’ the country can face economic collapse. Hyper inflation can set in, money will be worthless. Just look at what happened to the poor Germans after WW One.

Thinking about possible solutions.....

When everything has been said (or not, as the case may be) the fact remains that we, as humans, are woefully unprepared to combat global warming. The problem as usual, is that not many of us are prepared to change our lifestyles. I believe that this is the case in the western world. Particularly so in western Europe! How would we do it anyway? We have 67million plus inhabitants in the UK alone, of which some 32million are employed. It can change but it seems a figure that recurs. The occupations that would be under severe stress would be those concerned with transport, travel, if you want to curtail CO2 emissions quickly.

Obviously just saying that we would have to accept that because of transport loads of other occupations and activities would be affected. Food transport, shipping, aircraft ie holiday travel. It would take some thought but something must be done, somewhere we have to start. Moving into completely electrifying transport will be of help. Transport hubs will need to be set up, electrifying the rail system and enlarging the network. There would be no petrol or diesel cars, and lorries allowed in cities at all. Transport hubs must be outside the city perimeters and inward transport carried out by electric vans, no exceptions. Steps must be taken to see whether coastal lagoons can be set up in order to generate electricity. One of these plans is still being investigated, the Swansea Bay barrage. Also the Cardiff Bay dam could be adapted quickly. House building should be carefully planned as green spaces are absolutely necessary and need to be expanded. Fossil fuel burning to be banned within two years. Trees to be planted where possible. Population expansion should be controlled as much as possible. Just to make this clear, this needs to happen WORLD WIDE!!! But it is to be expected that much unrest will follow. There will be demonstrations, as we can already see. There are simply too many people who do not want to change their lifestyles. Rich or poor, people tend to be pretty conservative. Yes, so am I but I think about my children and now grandchildren and even future generations, should they have to suffer because of our mistakes and unwillingness to change? The situation we are in is akin to the beginning of World War Two! We shouldered that, so this time it should be somewhat easier as no bombs are falling.

The relationship between noise and pollution...

Has anyone noticed how much more noisier the world has become? In my little backwater it seems younger people purchase motorbikes and take off something from the exhaust system. The noise is unbelievable! Some cars as well, they have modifications that increase the sound. I live sandwiched between two very busy roads. One is the local main street and the other is the A road that streaks through the valley. Sitting outside you cannot hear the birds any more. I believe the birds cannot hear themselves either. When the traffic noise dies down in the later evening but only during the summer, you might hear a song thrush or blackbird.

I purchased a piece of measuring equipment. Measuring the dangerous exhaust particles called PM 2.5. These are particles that can go deep into the lungs and also can get into the bloodstream. The WHO (World Health Organisation) states that anything over 12 on a regular basis– meaning 12 particles per cubic metre - is dangerous to health. On our local road it frequently goes over 30 and I have pictures of it showing 50! Particularly when we have high pressure systems. It is not so bad when it rains but can still hit the 20 mark at particular times of day. Such as the school run and going to work.

As was said before, it has implications for global warming, more cars, dirty exhausts. Another problem is that here we are right under the flightpath between Heathrow Airport (London) and the United States, New York mostly. The exhaust gases slowly percolate downwards exacerbating the problem. Yes, this is 2021! Kids have already died, especially in London but might well have also in other large cities from this pollution. PM 2.5 is deadly and cannot be reversed. It just accumulates. Has anyone noticed the incidences of Asthma? No? Here it is quite common, I wonder why? 

And of course the noise also has an effect on life. Sleep is disturbed. No longer is it silent at night, traffic goes on. Someone I already hate tries to fill his or her motorbike up at 6 in the morning. Just wondering if the just born baby next door will get used to it? 

Calamity because of idiot politicians

You have got to laugh but it is just tragic how politicians, those halfwits, have failed their populations. Record rainfall has devastated large areas all over Europe. Particularly Germany, Belgium and now also the Netherlands. Three massive rivers have their outlet into the North Sea, the Rhine (Rijn), Meuse (Maas) and the Scheld (Schelde). All are in flood. We all are now pretty well aware why these things have happened. These are well-known facts, warmer air holds more moisture and is more active! That is it in a nutshell. The planet has been warming up for a long time now. But our politicians just do not believe it or want to know. For fear of economic collapse. Even now the UK government said that people should fly, they do not need to reduce flying as technology will solve the problem. Yes, that’s the ‘intelligent’ opinion of our government, you wouldn’t believe it but it’s true. The Advisory Climate Change Committee did tell ministers that the nation was even more unprepared for extreme weather than it was five years ago (as reported by the BBC). Friends, I think with leaders like that, we need to order our life insurance, except who are we going to leave the money to? Governments being too afraid to make the harsh decisions. I can understand that but frankly it is time unless it’s already too late because the warmer climate is now not just because of car driving or flying. The developing world cutting down the rain forests, worse burning (!) it and because of the warmer oceans and seas methane deposits buried for aeons are now thawing out as seen on the taiga. There is only one way, we need to stop flying all over the place, sorry but if you want to live you will have to. Reduce car driving forthwith. Even electric cars are a problem. But I think governments despite wonderful assuring words are not going to do anything bar slowly convincing us, electric cars are the answer. These are the people we look up to, we should send them their cards and P.45s immediately. Let's get some people in who have a sound idea about how to solve the conundrum. Keep the economy afloat whilst taking proper steps to reduce Climate Change.

Scammers abound, everywhere. Watch out....

The scams that are around, the number is quite astounding. Martin Lewis (the finance guru often on BBC TV was answering a query from Eamonn Holmes about a Royal Mail message that said a parcel was waiting because a small charge needed to be paid. Only £1.99. I had something like that as well but it was an Amazon parcel who used Hermes to deliver it. HaHaHa, people must be thinking we are stupid. But you know what, people ARE stupid and too many fall for that one. First of all, the Royal Mail do not send out messages like that AT ALL. If a parcel cannot be delivered they put a note through the door and with that you can either select another day or take it to the nearest sorting office and pay if there is a charge. From my own experience they accept cards too. If there are charges you will have to go to the sorting office as postmen do not usually collect money. So, simply this, these messages are scams, 100%. Also Amazon will already know your details and would not contact you in this manner AT ALL. If you deal with Amazon you will have an account. The price you have to pay has already been paid! Simply because they have details of your cards already. Other delivery companies are paid by whoever sends the goods. There are NO surcharges! So, what happens if you fall for this scam, as thousands apparently are? You will answer this email and you will see a realistic looking company form. This will ask for your details and yes, obviously your credit or debit card details! Guess what happens next? If you’re lucky your credit/debit card provider might ring you to check purchases it has detected that are not the usual type you make or the amounts are unrealistically high. If they do not ring you, I am afraid because you have VOLUNTARILY given your financial details, you will be liable to pay. This could be hundreds or even thousands of pounds. SO, best just to delete these emails, isn’t it?

Who was Hancock again?

The righteous furore in the national press (The Sun on this occasion) leaves a sour taste. Why? It is about the (in)famous ex Secretary for Health, Matt Hancock. He was recorded kissing his amour (his personal aide, not his wife). Along with half the UK’s population who were doing the same (if they could). However, there are some unpalatable issues about this affair. The whistle-blowing has some dark edges. First of all, it was already well-known that he had an affair with his aide. Well-known in political circles. So, he should have been carpeted by the Prime Minister or whoever else is in charge of public behaviour within the Westminster political bubble. The problem though is that he had made his position difficult as he publicly ordered the whole population to abide by the rules enforced because of Covid-19. He himself forgot those whilst in the throes of passion! That and a few other gaffes made him a bit of an idiot. Well OK so far, in should have stepped the PM and sacked him but he didn’t. No-one knows why. In the end sexy Matt tendered his resignation. But now the IO (Information Office) is chasing up the person(s) who gave the recording from an office security camera to the national press. That frankly is correct, these cameras are for security purposes, not filming trysts! If what was filmed was such a mind blowing national security issue then there are watchdog people enough (like the Whips) in Westminster and Mr Hancock should have simply been got rid off. This, in the way it was done, smells of someone or other in the office wanting rid of Mr Hancock but in the most public of ways! Whether instructed from on high or not, they wanted to demonise Mr Hancock and were quite successful in that effort. So, I applaud the IO trying to find the culprit(s). Whistle-blowing is a fair activity but on this occasion quite wrong. If we are going to whistle-blow every sex scandal we will be busy till 2199 to read the newspapers full of sordid but funny details! No, this just sounds of dirty underhand political machinations. So, step up those, him or her, who gave the recording to the papers. I want to know the in’s and out’s! Otherwise I won’t sleep another night!

Yes, what about the News?

Has anyone ever noticed the daily news on the BBC or for that matter on ITV as well? It is like a never ending feast of organisations reporting how bad they are dealt with. Invariably the main gist is, we need more money! Well, yes so do I. This is not news, it is just reporting the sorry state of management across all these sectors of business. When you look at a lot of these organisations you find the salary levels of the top people unbelievably high. It was reported some time ago that the CO of a well-known charity trousered over £150,000 per annum. Nice work if you can get it. When challenged about that the usual words coming back to you are ‘You have to pay top whack to get the best people!’. Excuse me, best people? Why then is your organisation in financial trouble? The levels of charitable giving are pretty stable in this country, it can go up or down pending the occasion. Like for instance when a natural disaster strikes, Aberfan or a hurricane or something like that, then charitable giving peaks. But management needs to be very aware of trends and as they say, ‘Cut the cloth according to its width’! Perhaps it is time to have a sharp look at salary levels, in particular the white collar top!

But the real news of which you hear very little is the Afghan situation. It seems that all the effort, the money spent, the dead bodies, were all for nothing. Despite our commanders stating that we did not lose the war, I am afraid we did lose the war. The Taliban will once again rule with bloody hands. So, this time send the Chinese. That will be fun to see how they will fare, how good they are on the real battlefield! Did anyone say, the world has gone stark raving mad? Friends, it has always been stark raving mad!

Football? What is that....

Football. what is it? Oh, just a game. But if you watch the news this morning (12/7/2021) you would think the world had come to an early end! England lost on penalties (again).
To Italy and at Wembley, the national edifice to the game in London. You could ask but I'm not asking, what is it about penalties and the England team? But it is true, there will be only one winner at the end. That is the way it is. Although I strongly feel that to get as far as a major final, is already a winning place! To get that far against some of the best teams in Europe (as it is an European competition and not worldwide) is an accolade of excellence.

It is therefore galling to hear about the abuse levelled at the three young players who missed penalties. That is grossly unfair. It is not the three players who missed, but the whole team. That's how the game plays, as they say. So to the 19 year old Saka, and the brilliant Marcus, well done boys. There will be more times to show your excellence with the round ball! As I am of Dutch extraction I know how the game can go. From my youth I have seen so many defeats and wins, especially against the Belgians which were real 'We'll show those patat (chips) munchers how the game is played!' games, but quite a few times we didn't. Now I'm living in God's own country, Wales known to me as Cymru. The losses again mount up but there again, I also watch the rugby and feel a bit better. Hurrah and all that. So, the pain will pass people, let's look forward to the World Cup in a year's time and believe we can get to the final again! Against Germany our old friends and win on penalties! And that is just Wales of course!

A little foretaste of what is to come? Possibly....

We do watch the Smithsonian Channel from time to time (Channel 175 on FreeSat) and today there were a series of very interesting scientific programs – ‘The Yellowstone Supervolcano’, about what could occur when such a volcano erupted. ‘Earth under Water’, about the sea-levels rising and the results for the earth’s coastlines. Very interesting and ‘Mass Extinction: Life at the Brink’. Now, you must not think I have a predilection for disaster programs but nevertheless it is historical fact brought to life. Furthermore, it can give some indication as to what could happen if we as a species do not change our lives. All these long-ago disasters seem to have one common thread and that is CO2, plus sulphuric compounds. SO2 (sulphur dioxide) tends to form acid rain. It is also quite upsetting to see how fast these things can occur. Rising sea-levels do not just mean a lot of coastlines receding but with most of the planet’s 7 billion people living near or at the coasts it would create a mass exodus towards higher ground. Imagine New York or London having to be evacuated? It is NOT fanciful thinking but a real possibility! If I was still living in the Netherlands I would really worry to hear it will have disappeared by 2100! Global warming due to careless actions by humans will ensure at least 10 feet of sea level increase by 2050-2070. And depending on humans not taking drastic action might mean up to 70 feet by the end of the century. There were some very interesting measures being talked about, like building a dam between Europe and Africa in the Straits of Gibraltar. This would safeguard the flooding of many important population sites. But it would also entail the drying up of the Mediterranean basin. So safeguarding against that would entail sluices and pipes in the dam possibly making electricity by building-in generators. Then again if the planet is going to experience a massive volcanic period with the Yellowstone super eruption and perhaps a big earthquake which all have happened before and will again at some time, this will release ash and chemicals in such quantity we might experience years of chill and crop failures. Again the extent of which makes little sense to stockpile supplies. There just will not be enough. Well, it all seems to come together. The cause is clear, it is US, humans. The answers are less clear because of the things we would have to do. Like eating much less meat, driving and flying less or none at all. Stop all burning of fossil fuels. Curb population growth, in fact lessen it drastically. Perhaps nature will do that itself with the next pandemic! Have a nice day now!

A good message? Well, what about it...

I often try to get into the mindset of those who lived more than a thousand years ago and were what you could call, spreaders of the Word. People like the Welsh saints, Tyfodwg, Dafydd, Cynog, just a few among hundreds. What made these men (and some women also) travel away from home to embark on a perilous journey and a very unsure future? What made them do that? Obviously, parental influence will have played a big part, giving a foundation on which can be built a strong faith. In Dafydd’s case (Saint David of course) his mother was by all accounts the prime reason. Non (a saint herself) was taken advantage of by a local prince and the result was Dafydd. Non never had a relationship but seemed to have devoted her life to her son, prayer and solitude. Probably farmed as well or had to. Is this just a story to validate the sainthood of Dafydd? We might never know. There seems to be no doubt that Dafydd was a saintly man. In my personal opinion there are too many saints, I think most might have been good people but a sainthood? We must remember that basically the Church is not a saintly organisation. Like all organisations it needs a structure, that structure needs managers and some of those are definitely not saints! I have become more and more perturbed about the Church’s inability to portray the message given over 2000 years ago. That message has never changed in real terms but somehow we have managed to weaken it by nefarious actions, murder, avarice and corruption. So, who today could be equalled to Dafydd? There must be something about the message that Christians try to give to the world. About peace, about working together, reminding ourselves about the responsibility we have for the planet. It is not about harvesting or as I call it denuding, the world of its resources. It is about sharing that which we all need. But at the same time remembering that any intrusion into the natural balances can be harmful. It is about management, not just taking God’s statement, ‘You are given supremacy of all animals of the land, the sea and the air’, as a free ticket to take anything we want and destroy what we don’t want. It is going to be very difficult to balance because to be cruel and honest not many of us want to change our life styles. But the hard truth is, we have to if we want our grandchildren to have a good and healthy life as well. The Christian message is a good and fair message. The old saints knew its importance, the question is, do we? Really? Let’s hope so.

Continental opinions? Forget it... it's mainly rubbish.

It is a funny thing you know, I was born in Holland and am a naturalised Briton. With a Welsh flavour of lamb! I read the Dutch Question and Answer website – Quora (and the German and English ones as well). I hope I don’t sound a bit of an idiot, I just am able to speak and write in those languages (as well as Welsh). I suppose some people have a flair for languages, I just like them. Anyway, on the Dutch website I am horribly aware of some people I would call plonkers, who have some opinions about how the UK is faring after Brexit. And not only that but seem to think we here live in abject poverty! These people tend to have had a good education but their knowledge of people is sadly lacking. They speak and write in platitudes, Wikipedia says this - A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, often used as a thought-terminating cliché, aimed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The statement may be true, but its meaning has been lost.

They are convinced that we are suffering, destitute, thinking about our ‘Empire’ all day long and wanting to restore it. We are overblown nobodies that should disappear within five years due to inbreeding. Haha, if that is how the continentals, those in Holland, think I don’t give a jot about the coherence of the EU. Coherence in the sense of sticking together of course. Yeah, I like platitudes as well! Obviously these characters are a minority. I fail to believe everybody is like that or thinks like that. Remember there are political streams in good ol’ Holland that are akin to fascism. The PVV of Geert Wilders is one such reactionary party. But characters such as the writers on Quora do not mention that. They make no comparisons. Frankly no wonder the EU is in a bit of trouble. Let’s hope they can survive.

The cost of going green? Yeah, only a few trillion....

It was reported that the cost of going green could be as high as £1.5 trillion. Just pocket money then. Actually that equates with some £20,000 per citizen in the UK. That is £1,500,000,000,000 divided by 67,000,000. No problem for me then, I have that money ready stashed away in a small tin in the kitchen cupboard. We need to ask some questions though, are we the fair citizens supposed to pay for the government's delays and prevarications on this issue? Besides all that, how is this costly sum calculated? What does it entail? Just coming up with such ludicrous statements is not particularly helpful. I think that by now we are all aware of the damage that global warming is doing and still will be doing, ask the unfortunate citizens of western Canada. Frankly, if the government here is thinking that all will be well if we all drive electric cars they will need to go back to school. Making electric cars is just as problematic with the release of CO2 in the production processes. The batteries needed use cobalt, a rare mineral found mostly in the Congo. What do you think is going to happen? I will tell you, first of all the Chinese are already trying to corner the process of controlling the excavation and manufacture of the batteries, secondly the rainforest will be a goner. So, who is saving CO2? No-one, it is just as bad as it was if not more so. There is only one way to reduce CO2, well maybe two. First we need to curb our appetites and human expansion. That means looking at all production, in particular goods we do not need. Driving and flying must be reduced to pre-war levels. Secondly we will need to find methods to capture gases like CO2 and methane, CO2 is part of the earth’s cycle of life. But like everything else there are balances to be maintained. These balances have been greatly disturbed by humans. We now need to rectify them. Methane could be used as a fossil fuel although it produces CO2 albeit half as much as coal does. But to get methane in the quantity needed means drilling the seabed and that might release methane deposits which are 20 times more powerful than CO2 as a global warming gas. So, not really a good solution. I am afraid humans having caused the problem need to solve it themselves. Let’s get on with it!

ED I am not a scientist but I think and even if my opinions are not heavily scientific I believe the main crux of the argument is correct.

Snowflakes at it again.......

Snowflake Central (London) has come up with yet another snow storm. They have now decided we are no longer capable to judge our own film preferences and have upped the classifications. Bambi now is classed as 18 and over because dad gets killed in the bushfire and there are those dastard hunters trying to kill everything. Cinderella now will be classified as 15 because those sisters aren’t nice you know. Am I permitted to ask whether we have gone absolutely and certified stark raving bonkers? Can someone tell Snowflake Central that people actually do die? That death and aggression are part of this world’s make-up? I am not sure what they teach in schools nowadays but it does seem iffy! My grand-daughter who is below 10 has to learn about sex and relationships. What the f...? What happened to a carefree youth? There is something unpalatable going on in this country, can someone also have a word with those who are coming in by boats from France to not bother? Unless they have had at least a year’s education in whether they are actually male, female or non-binary. Anyone who has had a sex-change is welcome immediately and may receive a £10,000 handout plus a four-bedroomed mansion in the countryside. Yeah, that’s the UK today. God help us all.

Even so, we will have to start thinking a bit more about what life is all about. Nature itself does not care a hoot whether we live or die, the rules are simple. It is not complicated. It is that the make-up is complicated. Being a snowflake does not help either, in fact makes it much worse. Being a snowflake is akin to not understanding what life is all about. Not understanding the physical and mental make-up of the human being. But above all, not understanding the relationship that living beings have with the environment. How dependent we all are on the environment. Time then to let the snowflakes melt. Let the harsh sunlight shine on them and so hopefully will disappear without a whimper.

Intolerance? What is that....

One of the questions that seems to arise today is – Are young adults the most intolerant and woke people? Some research indicates that indeed young adults, that is to say below 25, are very intolerant of opposite views. That is rather interesting as this is something that happened in Germany as well and evidently gave life to the Nazi party. As a matter of fact intolerance can be found in far left or far right political parties. Just remember the Corbynista take-over of the Labour party. Fortunately for us living in the outer extremities of the great UK, as for instance Wales, it has been confined to London or Wokestan as I call it. The once great Labour party in Wales has been emasculated but it is still alive, just. Of course the right side of politics has its violent activists as well. It is funny though we supposedly live in a democracy but with politics so sharply divided we could well be termed the new Russki nation. Perhaps we should name that political streaming, soft communism. However, back to the youngsters, it seems that relationships between couples also tend to break up if one of the partners expresses a different view. Well, I have a very great difference of views, political in particular with my wife who is more liberal. Not woke liberal whilst myself is more argumentative and is tending to say ‘I am always right’. Silly I know. But I live by two rules as shown of the wall in my study ‘Rule 1 – H. Is always right’, ‘Rule 2 – If H. Is wrong, see Rule 1’. This never fails.

Why not have some cosmetic surgery again?

Anyone thinking Katy Price (aka Jordan) has lost the plot? Interesting reports in the national rags saying she’s had (again) cosmetic surgery. I would say this woman is courageous in some silly way. To undergo liposuction, face lifts, and bum injections with fat all at the same time, she deserves a medal!

But how about this, get all that done in Turkey! No doubt at a reduced price. You know what the Turks are like. Perhaps this will put meaning to one of our sayings – she has a screw loose. Blimey, just waiting reports then of one of Katy's legs falling off. OK hope she will recover and not have after effects like sagging boobs, fingers that no longer bend, permanent eyelid paralysis, and lumpy stomach because the fat has not been taken out properly and uniformly. Well, what do you expect at these sort of discounted rates? For all we know it was the beggar from the corner outside that performed the operations?

Does anyone think, like myself, that cosmetic surgery like that described above should be banned? Unless there are medical reasons? Or dangers to health? I have no objection to surgery performed to help those that have had burns or severe accidents, that should be done if at all possible but for women’s desire to have glowing skin, a bum seven times too large, or t*ts that would kill you if she turned suddenly? Nooooo! Besides all of that, I would definitely not go to Turkey to have cosmetic surgery. Even though they give you a free holiday with it. I’d rather trust the excellent education and professionalism of the British surgeons.