Author: Richard

So the stuffed shirt brigade are up in arms about the rebranding of the Brecon Beacons National Park with its wWelsh name – which sounds nice. Actually it matters not an iota. The right wing bigots will continue to call it the Brecon Beacons, and that matters not a jot either.

With languages worldwide disappearing every day it is good to see Welsh making a stand (I think it is down to 17.8% of the population, or 538000. Homogenisation of our culture is sad – Estuary English now covers about half the population of England. Long may local names and accents prevail. e.g. emmets in Cornwall and grockles in Devon!

23 arrests according to the Observer although henumber being 118 according to BBC.

Firstly I would think it was obviously cruel considering the height of the fences and the nuber of horses that fell- although this was not reported in the Observer, (3 horses died during the 3 day Aintree Meeting, including one in the Grand National), there were certainly a lots less than 40 at the finish!. Do the horses enjoy it – it is claimed that they do, I am sure they do not enjoy falling. But hey, who am I to judge from a position of total ignorance. There is the matter of what happens to those horses that do not go onto stud farms after a short ‘pampered’ career. The League Against Cruel Sports said the death toll at the Aintree festival was now 62 horses since 2000 – with 16 killed in the Grand National, including two last year. The League called for “much more stringent” safety measures in horse racing, including banning the use of the whip.

I have long argued that this subject is not based on fundamental truths – the rules change at the will of the main players. Proper subjects exist in an interconnected world which includes the science and maths, but also the environment, social aspects, demography, urban/rural, health,transport networks, etc.etc.. Economics as practised by modern day hedge funds, corporations, bankers, only exists as a means to make a profit. Hedge funds £2 billion ontrading grain and soya beans after the Ukraine crisis, an oil trader paying out £billion to 300 employees due to the same crisis. Firms that fund the tories making millions on PPE during the Covid episode. Supermarkets making large profits and paying out to shareholders amd management staff due to inflation.

Braverman is being criticised from senior tories forracist comments. About time, but the Conservative and Nationalist Party is, and always has been, the home for those with racist and nationalistic tendencies (and misogeny). In the past Enoch Powell thought he had the support of the nation, or at least the party, to make his “Rivers of blood speech” – fortunately he was dismissed from the Cabinet double sharp. Todays tories have to counter the attractions of Farage, Brirain First, UKIP and others. So Sunak is not brave enough to call out the inherent racism of traditional tories but panders to the diatribes of Braverman and others.

James O’Brien Show today discussed a Manchester University report that time spent with children aged 7-11 had little difference on educational achievement, whilst wealth and parents achievement had a greater impact.

You know, the one where the people of Hartlepool supposedly tried, found guilty and hung a poor monkey for being a French spy. It seems that the Conservative Party is relying on their supporters being similarly stupid and ignorant. From Raab possibly facing contempt of court charges, Braverman lying about child grooming gangs (on a day when 20+ white English males were convicted of child grooming, to tje various lies told on TV every morning by patsies doing the studio rounds with rehearsed answers (regardless of the questions.