INTERESTING

Tessla down 4.9% after Musk pumped $47 million into the losing Texas Republicans funds, but Amazon and Apple and Microsoft were all up by more than 5%. Investors like certainty and an emphatic Democratic win gives them that, but will Trump calm down? He will see his legacy drifting away even ifthere are no lawsuits pursuing him or his family, plans for the White House may need to be shelved, and further actions internationally maybe curtailed. Looking at the demography it appears that males were split 49=49, whilst 58-40 of females were Democrat. That is interesting as it implies that married couples are at odds with who they vote for, and maybe the males are more attracted to misogynistic morons? In Florida the vote by whites was 60% republican, whilst the black vote was 88% democrats and the hispanic vote was 55% democratsnalysis of this kind is relevant to the UK as the public here are also less concerned about small boats and more interested in the economy – government please take note! I beleive that the environment would appear in a list of UK concerns and healthcare would be higher – I will now google it – only the cost of living and the economy and NHS stand out, desperate attempts to make us fear war are only having a minor impact on stats. I wonder if the pollsters are asking the right questions? I would like to have a smart arse answer to this, but sadly I am not bright enough to evaluate the importance of answers into my logic.

MIDTERMS – USA

So the result is … Trump is basically finished. He will get nothing radical through Congress with both House firmly in Democrat control, the Senate by at least 6 seats 53-47 (only a third of seats were up for grabs; and the House of Representatives by at least 20 seats, they are still counting in 68 seats. Geographically it looks as like the more urbanised states have voted democrat, whilst the more rural areas and less populated states are still Republican. The result is so strong that Trump has been quite civil, for him, so far, only haing a poke at Fox News and losing republican candidates, and stating obviously that if he had been on the voting slip it would have been a landslide victory for himself – berk! So his tactics of sending 1000 election monitors, altering constituency boundaries to favour republicans, attempeted intimidation of voters by ICE operatives, have all failed. Is there a mad rush to shred documents in Washington and the Trump households (a la Stasi Germany when the wall come down?). I am sure we can look forward to some interesting developments – especially regarding the illegal war with Iran, environmental legislation and health care.

The right wing press here are getting their knickers in knots over slavery. Basically if the government wants to say sorry – thats fine, repatriation of finance is as I said yesterday more problematic. Condemning the evil trade is excellent, condemning the payments of compensation to slave owners should also have an apology (and maybe a tax to retrieve the dosh). But ultimately it does not matter, how they (the countries and populations) are treated today and tomorrow is much more relevant. This government has cut the aid budget, which is basically a repatriation for the economic exploitation of resources and poorer countries.

Elon Musk states that he failed in interfering with the mid-terms, $500 billion wasted? he could have helped children across the world? People like him need to be taxed properly.

MID TERMS

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realised what you gotta do

American polls are notoriously often wrong – and if they are right will Trump embark on throwing his toys out of the pram.

Menwhile labour Home Secretary ShabanaMahmood has shown that she can be as cruel and illogical as her predecessors in the Nasty Party. Plans to make hard working, tax paying contributors to society wait 15 years for full citizenship are going ahead with row back for care workers. Most people are unaware of the contributions and sponsorship that many migrants have to go through – why does the government not spell out the facts? Oh they are trying to claim back the votes they lost to a racist and fascist party. Being tough on migrants is a new electoral ploy, and ignores economic facts and demography, and totally supports bigotry over integrity.

The King (not mine) is in the Caribbean for meetings and the role of slavery is of course top of the agenda. Of course we should acknowledge and apologise for our premier role in its practise. Should we give repatriations? It is a much more difficult question? Perhaps a better deal would be for the UK to fund development projects that benefit Caribbean Countries (before they are renamed the American Islands) – that could benefit their economies , and ours! How long does a guilt last? Many families became rich and powerful due to slavery, should their prodigy still benefit from the pain inflicted on others. I guess morality should ultimately succeed and economic gain be damned. But there is no point in the UK becoming an even more indebted country, which would not benefit the descendants of those who suffered the absolute tyranny of slavery. The situation is made worse by the skewing of trade profits to the former slave traders to the detriment of those islands. But wait a moment, can the same not be said of the children and women who were forced (by economics) down the mines of Britain. Will an apology actually mean anything? Well, the apology might nean something but repatriations is unrealistic.

Telegraph sacks Farage and Allison Pearson, he earned £4000 a month for a sporadic column – The Telegraph under new ownership is now moving to the centre right rather than the loony right.

And all the roads that lead you there were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don’t know how

RIOTS

Riots have spread to Germany from France, Spain and Italy., young adults are frustrated by the world around them, a high cost of living, fewer job prospects and greater inequality. Basically it is down to the globalisation of everything, massive profits are made by the few, and minimum wage jobs are being replaced by AI. In the UK students are saddled with ridiculous student loans with sky high interest rates. Silly university courses are expensive replacements for real jobs that gave satisfaction to workers. Capitalism needs radical realignment, Britain is too conservative to execute that, so we rely on the young of the EU to do the hard grind. My view on economics is that poorly paid workers need mass produced shoddy goods, whilst fat capitalists milk the system, avoiding tax, replacing workers with machines and robots. The robots are ok when replacing repetitive boring jobs, but not when replacing skilled artisans. Experience and competence should be rewarded. Generation X or whatever have been derided as snowflakes by the political right, but have overturned an authoritarian regime after 14 years in power in Serbia, students led the turnaround in the Brazilian election, and are leading the way in objections to Albanias coercian with Trump family on holiday developments. And maybe America will follow suit by electing fewer entrenched old capitalists, take Trump family wealth away, curb the power of the techno giants, basically do a Henry VII – he used to appear at barons castles with his entocharge and get sumpitious accomodation and and parties until the baron was broke! I would suggest the same for the likes of Musk, Bezos and Co.

CRYPTO HACK

Cryptocurrency Finance has been hit by a $6.5 billion hack and Reform want to encourage firms like this! It is the equivalent of a raid on the vaults of the Bank of England, except that your money is not backed up and bank rolled by the countries economy, There is something inherently dodgy about bitcoins, they do not actually exist, only on the internet – and when the internet goes down or is hacked what proof do you have of ownership. I am not advocating that we return to keeping our money under the mattress (too obvious!), but along with a government warning to keep supplies of food and water in case of an emergency, it does make one think? The internet at the shop and mine went down yesterday for a couple of hours, fortunately the cash machine was on a different system so customers could pay in cash, but again food for thought? It is similar to the scaremongering regarding AI, I have no clue as to what dangers it possess, apart from honest jobs and the possibility of it not working. What I do know is that £$billions are being invested in its development, values of unproven companies are being touted for £$trillions – looks very dodgy to me. I am still with the ‘Small is beautiful’ philosophy espoused by Schumacher. basically, big business corporations have fucked many aspects of our lives, our High Street shops are disappearing, clothing and almost everything is cloned – I first talked about cloned towns/cities (towns and cities where local outlets are disappearing30 or 40 years ago and the trend has developed. The most cloned towns are Cambridge, Exeter and Reading, and the least Whitable, and Weston-super-Mare is in the top 10 cloned towns (and what a shit hole it is).

Meanwhile Trump is having a tantrum – again! This time, and again, against Norway, for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize – the thick bastard does not realise it has nothing to do with the government of Norway – which has responded via their tourist board with photo compilation of the best loos/shitholes in Norway- well done Norway! But apparently the mid-terms are close, the democrats must be fucking useless if they do not sweep the board, despite Trumps attempts to rig the polls! It matters because 1. Trump is out of control and the Republicans are incapable of controlling him, 2. A democrat majority could impeach him for the Epstein files which could see him being jailed as a paedophile, 3. His families corrupt practises have been documented and should be prosecuted. 4. America despite all my negative thoughts and words is still full of lovely people (well maybe 35% full – like the UK).

NOTHING MUCH

Budget  – the papers are furious, all there predictions of economic collapse and gloom were soo wrong.  The budget was basically a non affair, little bits and pieces – I am sure the RW trash papers will find a host of people saying how angry they are, but they breed doom and gloom.  So no raising pension age, no huge tax on banks, no alignment of CGTax and income tax – although I hope these are retained as ideas in future.

Trump is not alone – his Health Secretary has also revealed himself to be a knuckle dragging small minded bigot in a vicious tirade against a muslim candidate in the mid-terms in Michigan.  His stupid and wrong assertions were that muslims contributed nothing to the world of science and literature – he obviously has no medical degree or Nobel Prize of any sort – in fact his only claim to fame is that a relative may have banged Marilyn Monroe!  He is also directly responsible for the deaths of children whose parents were encouraged to avoid inoculations – a true moron.

Thames Water – I am no accountant but it does not require financial genius to realise that the latest bail out of Thames Water by class A creditors known as Thames Valley consortium is not great news for customers.  The last loan of £3billion to stave off bankruptcy was at 9.75% interest, this time it is likely to be higher.  And who will pay the interest?  Customers of course.  Time for the government to step up and nationalise without compensation, it is a capitalist world folks, and bad investments = financial loss, although could there be a criminal case for liability, if not there should be a law against what was basically fraudulent machinations and greed.

Energy costs were not addressed properly by the Chancellor in the budget – if necessary put more money into upgrading the national grid – it will pay back soon. And link new contracts for offshore and onshore wind farms to existing ones that were too generous!  Rip off Britain was the norm under the last conservative government, it needs to stop – Now.

And interesting, to me anyway, is the way Chinese firms reacted to throwaway comments by Kylian Mbeppe regarding Chairman Mao.  Despite western views, Mao-tse-Tung is a revered figure in China and withdrawal of sponsorship deals and even La Liga matches from TV Cannes was unexpected.  We, in the UK have limited our knowledge of China to takeaways and now EV’s, with white goods thrown in between.  The Chinese Communist Party has lifted (internet down so not verified) at least 500 million out of absolute poverty. And for sure there policies in Hong Kong, Tibet and Western Chinese provinces are questionable at the very least, but weighing up progression for humanity there are few better examples.  

MID-TERM ELECTIONS

Trump is preparing for defeat, although for a $1m reward itmight be worthwhile to commit the frud nd get someone else to report it? what would the fine be? President Donald Trump has offered a $1m (£750,000) reward to people who report cases of voter fraud in the US which lead to a conviction. Ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November, Trump has been casting doubt on the security of the vote – alleging “rampant” cheating in postal voting and non-citizens voting. However, studies suggest actual cases of these are extremely rare.

Budget comments later!

STANDING CHARGES

We all pay standing chardges for electricity, water and gas, even if we are on holiday abroad and use none of them. Basically this is a blanket tax where the poorest pay the same as large users. Pay as you use would be much fairer, as would putting everyone on a meter for water, as it is for gas and electric – it would also encourage people to invest in solar panels and heat pumps. Removing the standard charge for electricity and gas would mean that the pre-nationalised companies would have to recalibrate their charges on domestic usage.

Consultant doctors are to go on strike next month in a despute over their pay – poor darlings only earn an average of £150000. We discussed wges this morning and the change in attitude in education and health, With greater observation and assessment comes the inevitable reduction and commitment – it is just a job to many. In teaching the rot started with Sir Keith Joseph (I think) proposing that teachers should work 1250 hours a year – at school at the time, I stated that if management were counting the hours, then so would I and parents evenings would cease after March! School dropped the idea of counting the hours. But the same happened with the National Curriculum, teachers with enthusiasm and experience of different areas were dictated to by faceless civil servants in Westminster. The joy of teaching has been undermined – every parental complaint logged and recorded, however unreasonable; my experience of parents was overwhelmingly positive, but my dispues with management were such that it was a standing joke that when a shipping container was delivered for theatre stuff, it was mentioned that it was for managements files on my disrespect for them! In my mind the manager who micro manages staff is not only ruining the job for employees, but also missing out on a lot of talent. I know nothing about the NHS, but suspect that much may be similar, but different there.

Anthropic is listing on the stock market and is estimated to be worth £1.1 trillion, META is going to the market to raise £71billion. All for a technology that is not proven, and may just employ computer/robots/AI instead of hard working employees. And where does this money come from? I guess it is from pension funds and bank, etc. All this potential collapse in employment and no proper discussion. Sounds like a disaster is waiting to hit.

ELECTION EARTHQUAKES

Two right wing parties have been defeated in what can be fairly stated to be political earthquakes. Firstly in Brazil where President Lula defeated the former presidents son (the father is in jail for plotting a coup attempt), this was a turn around as Bolsonaro was in the lead after the initial vote. This is good news for the environment as Bolsonaro was planing to free up development if the Amazon rainforest. The second quake was in Serbia where the ruling right wing party led by Vucic were defeated by a newly formed student led party. Serbia has been a stalwart of right wing politics for years so this move is a shock. Also in world news Maria Corina Machaado has returned to Venezuela, a move opposed by Trump despite her giving him her Nobel Peace Prize Medal! Trump has imposed Rodriguez on Venezuela, which is now seen as a US Protectorate.

At home Storm Boelo battered northern parts of the UK leaving 82000 properties without power – so the governments advice to stock up (mainly dune to protect emergency crews from calls where people could have easily helped themselves) was prescient. The press are getting angsty about calls for an honest discussion with regards to our relationship with the EU. I guess it is the call for an honest debate on the relationship that has them in a panic. The honest part has them floored- honesty does not sell newspapers or support the right wing, who are dependant on lies and fallacies. Immigrants are essential to our economy and employment. Rejoining the EU is probably unlikely as he EU would/should not commit to full membership with swathes of the British electorate in thrall to Farage and his gangster party.

The Bayeux Tapestry is proving to be to be extremely popular – even with £33 for adult peak time tickets – I hope the British Museum makes loads of money from this venture. Oxford Street to be pedestrianised – no doubt the RW will be incandescent with rage about the affront to drivers, but it seems sensible that shopping in Britains premier shopping district should be free of polluting hazards and traffic – well done Mayor Khan. Papers, including the Guardian, have been trying to undermine the work done by Burnham, as mayor of Manchester, in attracting foreign investment in the city, mainly due to the UAE investing in Manchester City. Is Manchester a better place to live now? Of course the £2billion invested has ruffled a few feathers but it has also undoubtably improved the city.

The government is putting money into a feasibility study for a bid to host the Olympics in the north of England in the 2040’s – brilliant idea. Obama has slated Trump in a speech where he called Trump the most self enriching and selling favours for his benefit and his families. Reform is dealing with more dire news – a candidate filmed offering to hire a hitman to kill, dick pics – people actually voted for this filth.

NEXT WEEK

We will find out the truth with the budget, after weeks of the RWP attempts to second guess it, and raise angst and concerns with blatant fictionalisation we will get the truth. After basically 15 years of Conservative incompetance and corruption, and then 2 years of Starmer (a tory boy without the dodgy dealings of his 5 or so predecessors, we now have a chance for radical change – here is not a lot of spare cash to play with, so the Chancellor will need to be radical., at least shining a torch in the direction of a brighter future.

Today is a lovely autumn day here in North Somerset with the sun shine of the leaves that are rapidly turning to oragne and gold, the wind is a bit fresh, but this is a perfect lie October day.

Apparently Musk has being playing God regarding Ukraine and after allowing a few Russian missiles to get through and kill children he has reinstated the computer links. How the west enabled one person to accumulate the wealth and the power is both nonsensible and frightening.

The UK is also doing well at the AI security game, it has set up regulatory frameworks and invested a few hundred million £ in development – where were the Tory politicians when required? Too busy lining there own pockets? The sale of wind-up radios has soared following the government announcement last week, I admit that I checked a torch had battery life and have stocked up on anchovies, mussels and cockles! i do like to taste my food!