Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has agreed to pay up to $17.1bn (£12.57bn) to settle claims brought by 29 US states that its platforms harmed children. What is sad is that it could have done something to protect children before being forced to do so, and that the settlement is all small change to the $trillion business. It is still subject to the courts approval.
CONFUSED
The trash papers tell us that we must prepare for an attack by Russia; I know it probably sells newspapers but really! It would appear that Russia is struggling against the Ukraine. Why do right wing newspapers and parties want to increase military spending, whilst all the time complaining about taxes and welfare. Anybody under the age of 80 in this country has not lived under war conditions – what are they afraid of?
Water compaanies have said they will fight any change to the insolvency laws – But Parliament makes and passes the laws, so the greedy hedge funds will just have to suck it! Just as Trump will have to do in negotiations with Canada. Canada can open trade links with other countries and benefit from the tariff war, Similarly China can do the same if Trump gets uppity about Irans exports of oil to China. The world is not a peaceful place at the moment with Trump, Netmanyahu and Putin strutting like old cocks in a farmyard.
Will we finally get a fair voting system in the UK? Whilst I shudder at the thought of more toss pots from Reform and the other ones, in Parliament, in a democracy they deserve to have their racist incoherrent lies heard. Argumentsabout the need for FPTP and strong government have been totally washed away by the ineptitude of the last government, and to some extent the large majority of the present one.
Fuel bills rise again – and no dumbass, opening up fields in the North Sea will not help, but a war like effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels would, jobs would be created locally, especially if combined with insulation. Data centres are a difficult problem – we are increasingly becoming dependant in AI and the super computers (until a hacker takes one down!). They use vast amounts of water and electricity – climate change should determine that they are always sited on the coast – the finance these companies make is humungous – so they should have to pay extra to ensure that local people never lose their power supply before an AI company.
Floods predicted across the country. Hey guys, what were you doing in your Geography lessons! I fear that more will become aware of ‘infiltration rates’, ‘saturation point’, ‘overland flow’ and the need for beaver in preference to grouse moors. If it means job loses, so be it.
Burnham also seems ready to speak out about Israels annexation of the West Bank – will he stand up and be counted.
STUPIDITY
War is stupid. Trump and Putin and Netmanyahu are stupid. Thousands die, many of them innocent children, all salve their gigantic egos and deflect attention from thair criminal activities. So should the UK be aiding Ukraine – yes, should we be aiding Trump, absolutely not. Should we take sanctions against Israel – certainly (although there may be hidden costs here!). Trump is also upping tariffs with Canada – the man is a childish moron.
I still have not made my mind up on Andy Burnham – has he the balls to take on Israel, halt new developments in the North Sea, truly sort out the NHS and education in the UK, provide an alternative way of providing for the care sector and asylum seekers. Take on the City of London’s monopoly of, and financial distortion of the housing market. He has the majority to do it all!
Reform have said they will evict tennants in social housing who do not keep their gardens tidy – ha fucking ha! A tidy world is a boring world – perhaps they would use agent orange of wildlife areas? The Telegraph also has a very strange article about paddle boards ruining rivers! 96% of rivers in England deny access to the public and paddle boarders. 75% of river banks are forbidden zones for the public. So the Telegraph runs an article with a header on its front page, for one or two individuals who are put out by paddle boarders. Fucking ridiculous. Surely a responsible journalist would have referred to every river in England being polluted and most a hazard to health.
Trump, again, has IndyCars racing around the streets of Washington – there were no reports of children taken to hospital with breathing difficulties resulting from the pollution (suppressed no doubt). ULEZ has been a great success for London – wood burning stoves are a greater hazard! – with childrens lungs recovering. Wood burning fires in London seems a bit daft! Does London produce much timber for burning? Or are they stripping the area around it for their pleasure? Smog was common during my teenaged years – I think we should have moved on.
TRUMPIAN ECONOMICS
Like everything else he does, his economic policy is both childish and chaotic. American National Debt has exceeded $40trillion (40000000000000), that is over $100000 per man woman and child in America! and by comparison per person the UK national debt is half that. and his war with Iran is costing lots more. His latest tirade with Canada is also fueling a loss of trade and hitting the economy. Companies can cope with a crisis if it is defined, not so easy when the parameters of the problem keep moving. Many parts of the world are moving, increasingly rapidly, to a carbon free future and America is missing out. To a large extent poorer countries have moved from no telephones to MOBs miising out land lines completely, will they do the same with the internal combustion engine and fosil fuel energy production? Most have a solar surplus to exploit – Morocco has been suggested as a source of energy for the UK. The dollar is not seen to be the safe haven it once was (partially due to the ever increasing US debt), for how much longer will commodities be priced in dollars? To suggest that the US economy is faltering would be false, but it is not the fortress it once was. Mid-terms are coming up soon and his blustering is increasing – however America is very conservative and traditional in many ways. It remains red vs blue in most areas. Democrats are under threat from within – Democratic socialists of America are gaining nominations from traditional democrats; MAGA republicans are less dominant but whilst Trump is in power (and functioning reasonably well with his illness), they will continue to occupy the main seats of power. So can we expect a radical change in November? Probably not – knuckle draggers are unaware of their stupidity until too late!
DISRESPECT
The Sun referring the two Police Officers killed in a crash with a cra going the wrong way down a dual carriageway, called them ‘cops’, this is disrespectful. ‘Cops’ is slang and the death in the line of duty should be treated with respect and gravity. This is the second crash of this sort in days – the last was in ireland and has been blamed on TikTok, if this is correct, social media must be made to be responsible for its misdemeanours, either banning or heavily fining. The case in California against Meta is expected to last 6 weeks. The outlook for Meta is not good, they have already been fined $942m in New Mexxico and have also settled out of court with a school district in Kentucky and have another 6000 case being pursued in the courts in the US. The fines could become $billions!
Of course the Mail is still preoccupied with Meghan and Harry! The Express concentrates on concerns regarding the green belt, whilst the Telegraph has a big pic of Harry and leads on a cyber attack on a power plant that has been attributed to Iran. If you play with fire, you may get burnt! (Halt the planes feeding Trumps war from using the UK as an offshore base).
Applications for onshore wind turbines have increased in England, half the cost of gas produced electricity, it makes sense. Most applications are relatively small scale “small is beautiful” and would increase manufacturing and employment in the UK, and strengthen our independance.
FOOTBALL
The season is underway. Arsenal step up first with a stunning display and beat newcomers Coventry and Frank Lampard 3-0. Next up Sunderland who have been predicted 18th by the BBC pundits, losing at Ipswich, also newcomers. Everton are wining 2-0 at Crystal Palace. There are 9 teams with new managers so I suspect that it will take a little time to settle down, and probably mid-November before the first sacking! The main issues are will anyone challenge Arsenal this season, will ManC recover from losing Guadiola, will ManU gel, will Liverpool regroup, will AVilla and Newcastle recover from losing their best players and will Spurs justify their £330mill spend this summer? Will Brentford and Brighton retain their impressive form of the last few seasons? Will the 3 up be the 3 down? Who have I missed? Fulham – mid table at best, Everton, Leeds and NForest should make decent attempts to get into Europe whilst Chelsea remain an enigma! The Championship started last week with 5 teams that have never been in the Premiership – can you name them? Preliminary round of the FA Cup – who shall I pick this year to follow – I think Litherland Remyca – Prescot Cables !
Lovely afternoon – garden does not need wtering for a change and no rain until midweek- hopefully my neighbour will leave me alone as the chance of my garden spontaniously combusting is fairly remote! I have started cutting back the bay tree – it would have got too big to decorate with my christmas lights.
Lando Norris on pole in Zandvoort – could we actually see some racing for a change, instead of a procession with commentators talking bollox to try and create an interest – rain helps, but unlikely!
M.P.S FREEBIES
The newspaper was full of the £400000 worth of freebies accepted by MP’s, however there should be some caution. Free tickets to pop concerts and top sporting events should be shunned, however a local MP attending a cup final or such llike is reasonable (although being able to write off against tax would be fairer?). Basically if attending in a private capacity they should pay..
El Niño – politicians are out of touch with the public. Surveys put environmental issues at no.4 of concern and climate change was blamed for the recent heatwave by 86% of voters as the major factor. It is not another boring policy decision on which views can differ – action is fucking essential and should be a priority. Wankers like Tice should be told to shut up for making stupid comments about British Champagne – what a prick. The Daily Mail, swimming in damages monies should also shut up if it has nothing sensible to state (if it ever gets over Harry and Meghan (15 pages on Friday!) and stop making accusations about Nature Reserves being a fire hazard – they may well save many people from the effects of flooding. Whilst predictions are notoriously difficult, it seems that we may experience more extreme weather events over the next few months – time to call a COBRA meeting?
A SORRY PLACE
The UK is a sorry place at the moment, racism and sexism are on the rise. Reform and Restore are blatently racist and senior Conservatives have joined the band wagon, even Labour have been afraid to criticise for fear of losing the racist which used to form its base. The police have been slow to pursue rapists and domestic abusers of women. How is thiss happening? The racist ideology of the right wing wankers has been promoted across the media, including the BBC, most people on social media are in echo chambers where there outlandish and horrid thoughts are supported and amplified; I forget how many times I have heard that something is “all over the internet”, where in reality it is only their friends and most used sites, most of the time I have to actually search to find out what it is that “is all over the internet”. People are more isolated than before – the pub’s are shutting or rarely used (and Westminster Council want to ban ‘vertical drinking’! the social interaction is disappearing, individual conversations become “everyone says …”. Empathy has receded as we, as a society, become more selfish and people become more bigoted. How many people actually know meghan and and Harry>. yet that did not stop a phone in from airing the veiws of the bigoted and small minded from repeating the lies pedalled by the Mail, Express, Telegraph and Sun. Basically I could not give a shit about royalty, I wish they did more, for the less endowed and perhaps were a humble example for everyone.
Solar panels and heat pumps and batteries could be rolled out cross the country quite cheaply with 90% low interest loans repyable via the energy bill (to avoid non-payment). With savings in excess of £900 per year repayments could be manageable for the majority of home owners and landlords.
Trump is not wining the war against Iran, Israel contnues to be despicable, and mid-term elections are looming. What ridiculus prank will he pull next? Invasion of Greenland is an easy option militarily but has dire consequences diplomatically,; invading Cuba might be difficult, militarily and politically.
PARKING TICKETS
It is reported that motorists have been issued with 16.9 million parking tickets in the last year costing them £4.6 m per day, no wonder the High Street is dying. Parking is expensive enough anyway, and free parking virtually non-existant. With bus fares capped at £2 it would make sense for more use of public transport? Cheaper train fares would also help!
OK – so most politicans are on holiday so the ‘news’ of their stupidity is restricted. However 55% of the public think that government should be doing more to combat climte change. Dickwit Tice says we should embrace climate change and enjoy the English Champagne whilst baskinking in the high temperatures and fumes created by wild fires – damn nature reserves and moors – concrete over them (my neighbour would!). How do these people get elected to Parliament? The British public can be very stupid with opinions based on almost religious fervour. However a fairer system would allow bigots to proliferate! Most voters have access to at least a mobile phone- so individual decisions could be made? Like bringing back capital punishment and cutting health care and benefits for the poor and disadvantaged. Basically that is Reform and Restore politics in a nutshell. Ask what people want and then promise to deliver it (however outlandish and cruel – selfishness seems to know no bounds).
Raining again, water butts full again. My apples that are late harvesting are still small, but reports say they should be sweeter. Is it a co-incidence that my local cider factory Thatchers, made profits equal to motororists fines last year? Just sayin’! They have also just increased their cost in local shops.
I had the misfortune to tune into a phone in, and it was about royalty and Megan and her man, but I was amazed by the stupid of people phoning in with considered comments based on absolutely no knowlege based on only media bollocks. Do these people have no relatives or friends who advise them not to air their ignorance and stupidity on national media.
PUTIN THREATENS THE UK
Should we be worried? I suspect not at the moment – Russia has enough problems trying to protect itself from Ukranian drones, which are increasingly effective. However we should not be complacent – the UK is also allowing US Military to use airfileds in the UK on bombing missions to Iran. So a double threat and Trump is capable of not passing on intelligence via NATO.
In the USA Meta are defending a case brought by 29 states that allege that Facebook and Instagram collected data on children under the age of 13. The case will obviously go to the Supreme Court and the predicted fine is likely to be in the region of $200 billion if Meata are found guilty. The real question should be why is it that they can afford a fine even 3x as big!
North Sea gas supplies will run low in 10 years a report states. So we need to to move quicker on alternatives. It would seem that we have the capability to prove electricity from alternative sources to fill the gap, but not the storeage capacity – yet. I suspect that I could be just about self sufficient in energy with decent battery storage.
We had some rain, which I would classify as Goldilocks Rain! Not too heavy, not too light, just right. Enough to water the garden, but not much runoff – except on the roads! A report states that some of our ancient oak trees over 9m in circumference maybe at peril – just water them then! There are only 114 in England and 98 in the rest of Europe (including Scotland and Wales). An oak tree supports over 250 species of insects.
Meanwhile a study of children in Ulez areas has shown a significant improvement in lung recovery and basically death – So well done Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and I hope that those who took action against the ULEZ are suitably ostrasized by their communities.