SCAM

I think I have been scammed? I am generally careful, I do not answer phone to unknown callers, i do not give out bank details, etc. But when I checked my bank balance (a rare occassion in itself!) I found some debits for £34.95 – when I contacted the bank they said i had done a deal for £2 on 2 Nov 2024 and should check emails for a confirmation. I have cleared my emails since then! Still £140 worse off is better than thousands! I guess I will discover if it is important when the next payment is cancelled! I have no idea – could £2 have been added to a bill for Corinnes Birthday present without me noticing? Oh well, if not a scam I will find out!

In politics Starmer has made an announcement regarding AI – I do not pretend to understand it! It is not the absolute nutters who are of concern (the planet matters more than people brigade), but the rich bastards who will manipulate things for their own ego’s – and there are a lot of them from Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg,etc. down to thelikes of Murdoch and family and other low life.

LA continues to burn – cost estimated at over £200 billion – I guess that some insurance firms could go bust (Florida’s 2 hurricanes were not cheap) and the rest of us will also pay – even in the UK! And Trump blames officials, firefighters, anyone other than the perpetrators – the oil and gas industries. In this country the RW papers blame green initiatives for the gas shortage, not the government that shut the storage facilities!

Then to Zuckerberg who is stopping fact checking in the name of ‘freedom of speech’. What a fucking knob! What is wrong when little men with little penis’s sit in their bedrooms and spout such vile shite. Havetz’ wife said she has had posts hoping they lose their unborn child due to her husband missing a penalty! What should their penalty be? Prison maybe, community service – not enough? Castration? This is a possible solution!

We live in a patriacal society whatever people say. Women are not treated equally in our society. Token women in politics, who have to act like men to succeed, do not count. Economics, especially business economics is a fantasy created for, and driven by men. The Public School system is designed for men. The House of Lords is what it says on the label!

Iceland now has a co-alition that has women in every main position of power. In this country we congratulate ourselves by having Thatcher as PM but she was surrounded by men. But have we actually had a government department actually run by women? The civil service is dominated by pseudo aristocracy, power remains in mens grip. The structure of firms is designed for power based dickheads! Labour should insist that all companies have employee sharing of profits.

Oh well – that is enough rant! Cold again, keep warm and feed the birds – I had a bullfinch in the garden but very few other species! Where are all the tits?

2025

Morning on the 6th I ought to take decorations down but it is too wet and cold! Snow is missing us and is forecast to miss us on Weds – just the bit arond the Bristol Channel is snow free. But damp cold is not pleasant! I made some maslin bread which is a bit rubbery (perhaps due to the inordinate length of time is had to rise (I forgot about it on both risings!), but I gave the loaves away to people who had never had it before, thus they will not know that it is not meant to be like that! Goldfinch on Evening Primrose again. It is appropriately a female!

I went shopping but rather uninspired! I might make some wraps with a little heat? Beef or chicken fried with chilli, then mixed with salad of lettuce, tomatoes and scallions in garlic/basalmic vinegar sauce?

Political news is non-existent. Musk thinks Farage is not good enough for Reform – he may be correct as it is a party that solely relies on him. Musk should just stfu! How he can blame grooming gangs on Starmer and Phillips is beyond me, but the guy is psycho! Should we be pleased and grateful that he devotes his precious time to the UK? Although he has made comments about Germany too. I suspect Tesla is largely fucked and he will need to rely on SpaceX, X formally Twitter is also struggling. SpaceX is also facing competition from Amazon with mini-satellites for mobile phones (both have plans for 2000+ satellites).. Space junk is multiplying!

Chief executives of FTSE100 companies will have earned more by 12 noon today than the average British worker will earn this year! How can any of them justify this? Economics and efficiency are debateable concepts that have ruled for too long! We have seen how these concepts applied to education and health have fucked them both. Tax should be welcomed and paid with the self-satisfying glow of altruism! I aim this at mega corporations rather than small business owners – although they should listen and be aware! Near here there was a thriving cadbury chocolate factory making a profit. It was bought, closed down and business transferred to Eastern Europe for a bigger profit. Jobs lost, families decimated, and for what? Bigger profits for CEO’s and shareholders. I know there are often pension providers depending on these profits. The system is totally fucked!

So 2025 will bring what? Climatic disasters, a Labour Party bending to the RWPress, an opposition that cannot decide how far right to go? A frustrated public. Why are is there no competition for the likes of Corbyn? His views were generally liked and popular. However he was not a great leader and certainly made too many PR gaffes on foreign policy. Competition for the left is stiffled by the ghosting of the press.

Britain needs a vision for the future that is not immediately undermined by the Mail/Telegraph/Sun/Times/i/Express and to a lesser extent Guardian (not an innocent bystander!). Many doctors were horrified by the birth of the NHS but a bold and confident government could lead the way – however this Labour government does not seem up for it!

PS. My mac has someone reportedly down loading my files – they have been doing it for a week now! So they must be fucking useless or the advertisers should look for a better way to scam people!

LISTS

For a very disorganised person I love lists! Not things to do obviously, but longest, most popular type of lists.

I was thinking threfore of the most iconic British things! Not in order

  1. Talking abouth the weather
  2. Archers theme tune
  3. Shipping forecast
  4. Criticising people who have ‘made it’!
  5. Ignoring the class system
  6. Fish and chips maybe?
  7. Police mens helmets
  8. Top of the Pops
  9. Coronation Street
  10. Desert Island Discs

BANANAS

I can sort of understand how a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape can sell for $6.24million. The fact the purchaser was a tec crypto currency geek with more money than sense. he hs got lots of publicity worldwide. Others must have been bidding too! The certificate of provenence is where the money goes! But what i totally fail to see is why 20 (at latest look) people have paid over £30 for copies on Etsy. If you want a copy just do it yourself or ask any secondary school pupil to make it for you!

CLIMATE CHANGE

So we have had the budget. Personally it seemed OK, But nothing much on the environment – only an increase in tax on private jet passengers which no one should have a cause to complain about (who the fuck actually needs a private jet of their own?). Fuel tax remains unchanged which is probably sensible for businesses. The only controversial one I have seen is the cut to inheritance credits for farms? However the elephant in the room – climate change was not mentioned. I was expecting the announcement of a major investment in the Green Energy Bank or whatever it is called. Just investment in carbon capture which is purely to appease the oil companies – carry on polluting and we will invest in the clean up. So it was an economists budget which will appease most of those who voted Labour.

FERTILITY RATE

Something I am qualified to comment on! So Uk rate is 1.44 which is half that from 1963. Add in a further complication about the age of mothers and we have a demographic problem that has epic implications. Let me simplify this – women are having fewer kids, woman are having kids later, the % of working aged people is shrinking quite rapidly. Add in long covid and mental health issues and this becomes a crisis.

AI and robots may help with the job scenario. But fortunately we are not the first country to face this situation, South Korea, Italy, Hungary and others are already facing up to the problem. The immediate answer that comes to mind is migration? Some areas of London already have nearly 100% of births to non-white parents. Not a problem to me but some will object.

I also have an environmental concern about the growth of our population – both UK and world. So we have fewer workers and more old needing aid. The economics need to be spelt out – and fast.

THE RICH

What is it about them that makes them so obnoxious? And I am talking about the mega rich mostly! Sir Jim Ratcliffe is part owner of ManU and has just spent over £100m on the Americas Cup Challenge. He also sponsors cycling. Whilst there are worse things he could be doing with his money it seems such a waste? Musk has splurged $45b on Twitter. Where is the humanity and compassion? Footballers get a lot of criticism for their wealth but many support charities in a big way.

Tax the bastards and let the public (via voting in GE’s decide where to spend the money?