tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77290952264846472692024-02-19T06:52:26.561+00:00Lord Barry Mellish's Musings and Family NewsWelcome to Lord Barry's Blog and my ramblings on various current events and family news.Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.comBlogger453125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-86515777892698314102023-12-27T11:36:00.003+00:002023-12-27T11:37:58.304+00:00 Barry and Julia Christmas Letter 2023<div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1l90r2v x1swvt13" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":rgr:" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 4px 16px 16px;"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We are all still the right side of the grass! As we get older this is sadly not always the case with our friends and family. Early in the year we travelled to Norfolk for the funeral of our cousin Barbara. Sadly she was not the only one we lost during the year. We pray for those we have lost and offer our love and prayers to their family and friends. As we get older, we are susceptible to aches and pains! Julia has been diagnosed with <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). She is having therapy for this and hopefully by the New Year there will be an improvement.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Our year continued much as always. Various trips to our lodge in Devon. Meetings with our friends from college days. A family lunch in Stratford–upon-Avon (more or less equidistant for all of us). Church was somewhat busier than usual as our parish priest was ill for several months which meant we all had more to do. Hopefully he is well on the road to recovery and will be back in harness before Christmas. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The ultimate event of the year was the surprise family gathering for Julia’s “21st” birthday celebration which we held on the last weekend of October. She knew that Lawrie, Emma and the grandchildren were coming down as it was Henry's and Georgia's half-term. What she did not know was that Hélèna and Sam were also coming down from Stockport, staying with Andrew and Gaew. Julia and I had celebrated the actual day with a few days away in Norfolk.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We all gathered at our place on the Friday. Then on Saturday/Sunday we had a family party, helped along by a large delivery of food and drink from Waitrose. The Monday saw some of us at Horniman's Museum at Forest Hill - well worth a visit if you have not been. The unexpected highlight of the trip was meeting the pest controller!! He had a Harris Hawk which was being used to keep the pigeons away. He was a lovely guy and let the children get close to the bird. Tuesday Lawrie and I took Henry and Georgia to Greenwich Park, the Maritime Museum and a walk under the Thames, a great day. This coming Christmas and New Year will be spent at “Mellish Mansions” along with the family for all or part of the time.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas with Good Health and much happiness for 2024.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">With all our love and prayers, Barry and Julia</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="May be an image of 7 people" class="x1ey2m1c xds687c x5yr21d x10l6tqk x17qophe x13vifvy xh8yej3 xl1xv1r" height="482" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://scontent-lhr8-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/411068364_10160210037456243_8553115271679994489_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=8BizlYIzm9sAX-q7Gc1&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-2.xx&oh=00_AfCeyCojzpTCVzfXq4qzpvuUgezkMIKmSDPq_XKDCoIeiQ&oe=659144EE" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: normal;" width="488" /></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-3644431445961887282023-12-10T21:23:00.004+00:002023-12-10T21:30:35.465+00:00The Boat People<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">The news is full of stories relating to boat people, Rwanda, International Law, has Rishi done enough or has he gone too far? There is no doubt that there are lot of problems in the good ship the United Kingdom: There are not enough houses, the NHS is struggling with not enough beds and not enough staff. We are bursting at the seams and it is all the fault of the boat people!! </span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we stop the boats we solve the problem, at least that is the narrative that is being portrayed.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>The only trouble with this is that the migration figures do not stack up. The provisional estimate of total long-term immigration for year ending (YE) June 2023 was 1.2 million, while emigration was 508,000, meaning that net migration was 672,000; most people arriving to the UK in the YE June 2023 were non-EU nationals (968,000), followed by EU (129,000) and British (84,000).</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Net migration for YE June 2023 was 672,000, which is slightly higher compared with YE June 2022 (607,000) but down on our updated estimate for YE December 2022 (745,000); while it is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend, these more recent estimates indicate a slowing of immigration coupled with increasing emigration.(Figures from the Office for National Statistics website).</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So all the focus is on circa 50,000 boat people out of a total net migration number of 672,000. There is a lot that the politicians, of all parties, are not telling us. Blaming migration is an easy way to avoid confronting the reality that for years we have underfunded the NHS, that we have not built enough homes and that it is overlooking the fact that many in the caring porfessions are migrants.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of the systems in the UK need a complete overhaul, we need a long hard honest discussion about the type of country that we aspire to be - but is is so much easier to blame the foreigner!</span></div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-42100981777081127212023-09-20T09:49:00.007+01:002023-09-20T10:09:49.198+01:00Russel Brand<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It<span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;"> appears that he is/was a loud obnoxious character who glorified in "bedding" as many woman as possible. We may think that his behaviour is reprehensible and that he should be avoided at all costs, particularly by women. But these are not criminal offences. I seriously wonder if it is possible for him to obtain a fair trial if criminal proceedings are brought against him. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">So far there are "allegations" and these </span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">might</span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);"> well be true. But there are no official criminal charges. Yet in the "Court of Public Opinion" he is guilty! I do wonder why Channel 4 </span></span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">Despatches and the Sunday Times didn't go to the police, perhaps making a profit and creating a "buzz" was more important to them than justice and the criminal law.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">It is also interesting that so many people are now saying, "I always knew he was a bad one"; "It was common knowledge in the industry how he behaved". Yet nobody did anything at the time. It would appear that when he was about thirty he was able to use BBC car to ferry a sixteen year old girl to and from his bed. Not illegal but why did the BBC go along with it?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">We are living in amoral times.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5);">PS - Where is Albert Pierrepoint when you need him?</span></span></span></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-27575106854722349822023-09-20T09:43:00.001+01:002023-09-20T09:43:21.121+01:00Unhappy Times<p> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem;">These are not happy times. Across the West, the vast majority of voters</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem;"> </span><a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/21/clueless-tories-may-soon-driven-to-extinction-by-new-party/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">are fed up</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem;">with the status quo, furious at the political class and desperate for alternatives. They believe society to be broken, that the post-industrial economy and globalisation generally aren’t working for them, and are angry at the vast cultural, social and technological changes that they feel have been foisted upon them. </span></p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost wherever one looks, from New Zealand to the Netherlands, hundreds of millions no longer feel in control, valued or even consulted by the self-satisfied ruling class. In the UK, 70 per cent believe the country is moving in the wrong direction, a YouGov poll reveals. An NBC poll found 74 per cent of Americans saying their country is on the wrong track. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We have entered the lengthiest period of prolonged popular disenchantment since the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of democratic politics, a disturbing state of affairs that urgently requires addressing if countries aren’t to fall prey to demagogues. It has become rational <a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/31/used-optimist-2022-changed-things-bad-going-get-worse/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">to be pessimistic</a>, especially when elections don’t change anything. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Life expectancy may have peaked; economic growth has been feeble for years, as have real wages; certain groups have seen their prospects plunge especially severely; home ownership is increasingly out of reach; the family is under extreme pressure, and women are having far fewer children than they tell pollsters they would like; loneliness is exploding as it becomes harder to form and stay in long-term relationships; secularisation has left an unfilled spiritual void across the West that is being met by dysfunctional ideologies and social movements; and crime is far too high. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In many countries, university over-expansion has created a toxic two-tier society, fuelling elite overproduction. Woke storm-troopers have <a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/09/britains-passive-surrender-to-a-woke-minority-risks-cherish/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">seized control</a> of culture, education and business across the English-speaking world, imposing nihilistic gender extremism and critical race theories. The governing classes have got it shockingly wrong on many other issues, from foreign policy to Covid to money-printing, and never atone for their mistakes. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In Europe, including Britain, there is a popular consensus that there has been and remains too much immigration. In France and several other countries, integration is widely understood to have failed. There is growing scepticism of the rush to net zero: while Western publics are very concerned about climate change, they aren’t prepared to see their living standards decimated to deal with it. There is an increased suspicion of the surveillance society and of the war against cash, and a growing urban-suburban <span style="caret-color: rgb(73, 73, 73); font-size: 1.8rem;">his sense of alienation is especially prevalent among the working and lower middle classes, as well as the young, but no element of society is immune from it, other than perhaps multi-millionaires. As ever in times of dislocation, a small minority has embraced outright conspiracy theories (such as on 9/11) or despicable prejudice (such as anti-Semitism), fanned by rabble-rousers with no real solutions. </span></p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But even for the sensible majority, the belief in progress that used to define the Western psyche has faded, with hope replaced by despair, bitterness and fear. The political phenomenon of our times is mass discontent, and yet this crisis continues to be largely ignored by an unempathetic ruling class. Its only answer is more of the same: <a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/01/tax-burden-hits-highest-level-70-years/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">higher taxes</a>, more social-democratic tinkering, more power to unaccountable bureaucracies such as the EU or WHO, increased immigration, and even greater social engineering. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the past, when the ruling elites were conservative, such estrangement might have led the public into the arms of the Left. Contemporary elites are centre-Left utopian technocrats, and today’s counter-revolutionaries are on the Right. Almost everywhere, that is where the populist energy, the desire for change, lies. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In America, Oliver Anthony, a previously unknown musician who has shot to fame with <em style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rich Men North of Richmond</em>, symbolises this shift. He rails against low pay, welfarism, state-subsidised obesity, woke social control and rich Left-wing elites. His song, now number one on Apple ahead of Taylor Swift, encapsulates how Right-wing populism has become the anti-establishment movement globally. It is no wonder that the Republican party has been taken over: even if <a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/15/donald-trump-georgia-indictment-could-be-most-fatal-yet/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">Donald Trump</a> is destroyed, his second and third-placed rivals, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, are revolutionaries. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The latter two are great, but not all of the Right-wingers riding the international populist wave are good news. Some would be a disaster; others fantastic. Some rising parties are anti-capitalist, a grave error. In other cases, public concerns about the volume of immigration are being hijacked by politicians with an atavistic hatred of the other. Germany is in deep trouble, thanks to Angela Merkel, but it is hugely troubling, including for historical reasons, that the AfD is getting 22 per cent of the vote. Marine Le Pen has moderated her policies, but I’m unclear how her statist economics would save France. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yet the global Right-wing revolution is gaining ground regardless. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni is <a class="ck-custom-link" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/26/giorgia-melonis-victory-puts-italy-collision-course-eu/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-underline-offset: 2px; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;">prime minister</a>. In the Netherlands, the anti-net zero farmers’ party has surged. Across the Continent, including in Scandinavia, mainstream parties are adopting once unthinkable policies on immigration. In Spain, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a rising star, is advocating Thatcherite populism. In New Zealand, the centre-Right is ahead in the polls and the libertarian ACT party has rocketed. In Argentina, one leading presidential contender is an anarcho-capitalist. In Paraguay, the Right-winger Santiago Peña has won the presidency. Benjamin Netanyahu regained power last December. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are, of course, exceptions to the global shift to the Right: Brazil, where Lula’s neo-communists are back, and, of course, Britain, thanks to Tory uselessness. Brexit was the first domino to fall, the start of what will prove to be many international counter-revolutions against the Blob. The Tory party had a golden opportunity to channel this insurgency into a mainstream yet drastic programme of renewal. Boris Johnson could have been in power for a decade, yet he, together with Rishi Sunak, blew it, embracing net zero and social democratic profligacy and failing to control immigration and the public sector. </p><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Austin News", georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-variation-settings: "wght" 300, "opsz" 9; line-height: 1.55; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Keir Starmer will win, and then seek to impose Left-wing solutions on to an increasingly Right-wing world. </p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-35552614147902120242023-06-14T07:58:00.001+01:002023-06-14T07:58:05.390+01:00House Prices<p> <span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a great deal in the media about the decline in house price inflation and the fact that in some areas the price of housing is in decline. I couldn't give a damn about the valuation of my house. Why? Because it's all a complete con and I am an house owner of 52 years. 'So your house has gone up £25k (or whatever), well what are you actually doing with it?' The great drawback about the one house I live in as an investment is that I can never get access to the money </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(unlike other assets like bank accounts, equities etc. that can be drawn out and spent) - and that seriously limits its use as an investment. And I am not interested in downsizing or Equity Release. The main beneficiaries of house price inflation are bankers, estate agents, housing investors, house builders and the government. House price inflation does not benefit most of us. Throughout our lives it amounts to nothing more than an unrealised paper profit, making us feel they are richer than we actually are. The way most of us eventually cash in on our one house is by dying - and that is generally not considered a win.</span></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-11099681613029476802023-06-04T06:38:00.002+01:002023-06-04T06:38:51.019+01:00My Godson is Fund raising - please help if you can.<p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Godson, Joseph Taylor, is raising funds to enable him to go to the World Scout Jamboree in Korea. He needs to raise £4000. The money is not only to pay for his trip, but also to part fund a less well off scout from Hampshire and scouts from third-world countries. If you are able to spare a "Couple of quid" please donate; <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/rz6rt-world-scout-jamboree-south-korea?guest=5c1fdc25-04c3-452f-9874-3775b00aff25&referrer=post_donate" target="_blank">click her for the link to GoFundMe page</a></span><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/rz6rt-world-scout-jamboree-south-korea?guest=5c1fdc25-04c3-452f-9874-3775b00aff25&referrer=post_donate" target="_blank"> </a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-12689428744703122112023-05-28T08:33:00.000+01:002023-05-28T08:33:00.467+01:00Phillip Schofield - A sad reflection on life today<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phillip Schofield - I wonder what is driving the widespread tabloid coverage? Why the prurient interest in his life? What has his brother's conviction got to do with things - he appears to be convicted of the crime of guilt by association. He is "just" a TV presenter after all - is he really the most important thing on the planet? Judging by the press coverage the answer is yes!</span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Personally I have rarely seen him on TV. The shows that he has presented do not interest me, and <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>if I watch breakfast TV I prefer the BBC offering. Therefore I cannot comment on how good he is. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It just seems to me a sorry reflection on the current state of the country that so much time and effort are spent on the personal life of one person. In all honesty the only people that should have any interest are his ex-wife, his family and his close friends. On that point am I any better posting about him?</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">On that note I shall end and say a prayer for him.</div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-61472800210303161382023-05-26T07:49:00.003+01:002023-05-26T07:49:46.352+01:00A Reflection on Pope Francis<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">During the past hundred years the proportion of Catholics has remained fairly steady at about 16% of the world's population which has more than trebled. However, the centre of balance of the Church has dramatically changed. In 1910, Europe was home to about two-thirds of all Catholics, and nearly nine-in-ten lived either in Europe (65%) or Latin America (24%). By 2010, by contrast, only about a quarter of all Catholics (24%) were in Europe. The largest share (39%) were in Latin America and the Caribbean.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This change was reflected by the installation of Pope Francis, the first non-European pope for over a thousand years with his different, non-European, cultural background. Additionally. as the first Jesuit pope <span style="background: white; color: #202124;">with their charisms of being </span><span style="color: #202124;">grounded in love for Christ, focus on discernment and animated by the spiritual vision of their founder</span><span style="background: white; color: #202124;">, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to help others and seek God in all things it is not surprising that his modus operandi has come as shock to many in the west. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">What has Pope Francis done? To start, the pontiff has achieved a great deal by living simply, speaking his mind, promoting frugality, and working for peace and justice. Pope Francis makes the news regularly with his latest reforms and proclamations. He has simplified annulment rules that have been overly complicated for centuries, threatened to shut down the Vatican Bank if it didn't embrace transparency and reform, and moved toward liberalizing the Vatican's stances on the environment, and the economy. He has also placed women in high positions within some of the departments. It must be noted that he has not altered or changed doctrine or dogma rather he has modified the way it is implemented.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the process, he's angered conservative Catholics around the world, and traditionalists who feel he's going too far, too fast. But the reforms continue apace, and likely will for Francis's entire papacy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">His first encyclical published in the year 2013 the Apostolic Exhortation “</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html"><span style="color: black;">Evangelii gaudium</span></a><span style="background: white;">”, is the true ‘guiding manifesto’ of his Pontificate, in which he calls for a new evangelization characterized by joy, as well as the reform of ecclesial structures and the conversion of the papacy, so that they may be more missionary and closer to the purpose intended by Jesus. For this reason, also in 2013, the Pope established a “</span></span><a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2013/09/30/0622/01386.html"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Council of Cardinals</span></a><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">” whose task is to study a project to revise the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor bonus” on the Roman Curia, dating back to 1988.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">Since this beginning he has published other encyclicals dealing with the family, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“<a href="http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia.html"><span style="color: black;">Amoris Laetitia</span></a>,” <span style="background: white;">and the duty of care that we owe to the world, </span>“<a href="http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html"><span style="color: black;">Laudato si’ on Care of our Common Home</span></a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">Like all of us Pope Francis is not without fault, but nobody can doubt his determination and zeal to carry on with the work and mission of his predecessors who have sat in the Chair of Peter to evangelise the world. His determination to carry on with his work can be seen by the start of his “Synod on Synodality” that will come to fruition later this year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-6928721789734315562023-04-25T08:32:00.001+01:002023-04-25T08:32:06.666+01:00Virgin to Sky!<p><span style="font-family: arial;">For various reasons, mainly increasing in price I decided that I was leaving Virgin Media and joining Sky for TV, Broadband and TV. I am now, eventually, on Sky and this is the Saga!!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaving Virgin was not easy to say the least. The first telephone call ended with me completely losing my rag, and slamming the phone down. The issue being that the person at the other end of the phone kept trying to persuade me to stay, questioning the details of my new package with Sky and refusing to listen to what I was saying (I probably wasn’t listening to him either). The second call went much better and I thought that we had agreed a disconnection date; but the next day I received a letter (printed not email), detailing my new revised contract with Virgin. On the third call we did agree a disconnection date (a couple of days after the sky installation date, just to be safe).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">What I hadn’t appreciated is that there are really only two main providers of broadband and telephone infrastructure. Virgin Media who have an all-fibre infrastructure and currently do not let other companies use it or sell it. The other is BT/Openreach who use a mixture of fibre and copper and do let third parties, including Sky, sell it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">Install day came. The TV dish etc were installed ok and work perfectly. As always there are differences in how things work but we now, more or less get easily get what we want. My main gripe is that being red/green colour blind I cannot tell whether the Sky box is on or off.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">The broadband/phone is another story. The first installer was a subcontractor to Openreach who said that for various reasons he needed a cherry picker to get to the top of the nearby telegraph pole and then left. Eventually on the 20 April (install date was meant to be 3 April) a crew that included cherry picker, mobile hoist on the back of a truck plus engineer arrived and everything was installed and now works ok. My main complaint, and I have raised this as an official complaint is that I ended up managing it all including asking Virgin to keep my service active for another few weeks. If Sky sell it then they should have been on top of the process. The Sky help desk team have been very helpful, but my non-installation should have been picked up and someone should have been contacting me, not me doing the chasing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">Broadband so far has been reliable, albeit much slower, around 35 mb/sec compared to 200 plus that I was getting. As I am not a gamer or run a home business what I get is quite fast enough for me and the household. That is one thing that Virgin do not understand; that for oldies like me superfast speeds are not needed. If we had five or so heavy active users than maybe 200 plus is required. Putting my prices up by around £40 per month, then offering 500mb/sec by way of compensation is not for me.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">Now the pains of leaving Virgin and getting the new system installed are behind me I am reasonably happy. I am due to get some money back from Sky/Openreach due to the delays. I will report back on how easy this process is!!<o:p></o:p></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-80945950476418603392023-04-19T08:35:00.000+01:002023-04-19T08:35:02.964+01:00Rugby - a once great game slowly fading away<p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I think that one aspect that many forget is that rugby was never designed to be a spectator sport. I know that we cannot go back to the "good old days". But when my dad was taking me to Twickenham back in the fifties the vast majority of the crowd were either players, former players plus some wives or girl friends and children. The vast majority knew and understood the laws of the game and were appreciative of the finer points and the "dark arts". This was also true of the brave few who stood on the touchline at their local ground on a Saturday.</span></p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I would suggest that the majority of the crowds today have never played or not played since school. Do not understand the laws (not sure if I do anymore) and just want a spectacle with lots of "hits" and some occasional deft ball handling. The administrators see ££notes rather than wanting to see people playing the game no matter how ineptly My own playing was not that spectacular to say the least, but I loved it.</span><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(18, 18, 18); color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">What I would love to see from the RFU is a clear concise statement of their vision for the game at all levels. I am also waiting for the pink pigs to come flying past my window.</span></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-4356519431475705242023-04-18T06:50:00.003+01:002023-04-18T07:12:08.042+01:00The slow ending of Amateur Rugby?<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For sometime now it has been my belief that the Rugby Football Union wants to do away with amateur rugby. That it would like to move to the American Football model of the game just being played at school, college(university) and then a relatively small number of professional clubs.</span></p><div data-block="true" data-editor="b07gk" data-offset-key="a3mhf-0-0" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a3mhf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="a3mhf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I doubt if they will do it overnight, but this article in the Guardian suggests that they are moving along that track.</span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="b07gk" data-offset-key="2ntb0-0-0" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ntb0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/apr/17/rfu-accused-of-running-down-championship-with-fears-over-promotion" target="_blank">Click here to read the article</a><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ntb0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span class="x1fey0fg" color="var(--blue-link)" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ntb0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span class="x1fey0fg" color="var(--blue-link)" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-31619988382332941582023-03-15T07:58:00.007+00:002023-03-15T07:58:54.106+00:00Thought for the Day!<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's a thought for the day - if the world needs to go green before 2030/50 </span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1) have you stopped to work out the tonnage of: Silver, Copper, Lithium, Gold, Platinum, Palladium and rare earth minerals its going to take to make the solar panels, wind turbines, EV cars etc? </span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(2) Have you also worked out the amount of fossil fuels and mining that its going to take to extract, process & transport those metals and minerals? </div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(3) Have you also worked out that the major metal <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>deposits are on diminishing returns/grades and the average time for a new discovery, say in copper, to come online and produce is over 20 years? </div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(4) Regardless of whether you're pro "green revolution" or not there's a lot of fossil fuels and mining that's going to happen before the new tech is even useable & it would be refreshing if the media actually told those facts to the populous who seems to think the tech comes "guilt free."</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-1396433080466035492023-03-15T07:57:00.001+00:002023-03-15T07:57:04.524+00:00Budget Secrets<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back in the day" nobody but a few close advisors knew what was going to in the Chancellor's budget. The cabinet were only told a few hours before and people resigned if a "budget secret" was accidentally revealed prior to the speech.</span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today it seems as if the world and his wife know what is in the speech days before the main event. </div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why did this come about and is it a good thing? Answers on a postcard please or alternatively as a comment to this post!</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-50571703046826582052023-01-07T09:34:00.001+00:002023-01-07T09:34:38.892+00:00The Harry and Meghan Saga<p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); white-space: pre-wrap;">I have </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); white-space: pre-wrap;">desperately</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); white-space: pre-wrap;"> being trying to avoid the Harry/Meghan soap opera. But with publication of Harry's book "Spare" it is impossible as it seems to fill every type of media and all the news broadcasts..</span></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the (many)things that puzzles me is why Harry felt the need to talk about what he did in Afghanistan, particularly saying how many people he killed. I was born in 1947 and my dad, like many of his generation, fought in the war. Again like many of his contemporaries he had <a style="cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a>many stories to tell - but none of them had anything to do with fighting. Walking through Blackwell tunnel at night to visit my mum in the Mile End Hospital following her massive leg injuries in an air-raid - dad was at Biggin Hill at the time. Playing "international rugby" for the Shetlands v the Orkneys! A guards drill instructor trying to teach him to change step whilst marking time, he was at an RAF OCTU in Devon at the time. Having his first Chinese Meal (in India)… the list goes on. But never anything about fighting. Whenver I asked him anything about what he really did regards fighting he adroitly changed the subject. All of my friends dad's did the same. According to the stories you would have thought that the war was one long holiday camp interspersed with trips abroad- we all know that the reality was very different. But they never spoke about it.<br />So why did Harry feel the need to tell? I guess that we will never know why, but in my book it diminishes him.</span></p></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-2219253410902843362022-11-22T04:50:00.002+00:002022-11-22T04:50:51.148+00:00Is it just the Arabs that we don’t like, or perhaps just some Arabs?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I am not sure when I have heard so much cant and hypocrisy over anything as the hot air and virtue signalling that is taking place over the Football World Cup which is taking place in Qatar. Let me begin by making my position clear.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">It should not be taking place in Qatar. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">There is no doubt in my mind that it is only as a result of industrial scale bribery and corruption that it is taking place in such a hot country in the middle of the football season in many leagues across the world. There is also no doubt that several thousand people died constructing the stadia and that the living conditions of the construction workers was and is appalling.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">However, the argument now seems to be focussed on the treatment of those who are LGBT+. We seem to be quite happy to deal “normally” with other countries whose position on LGBT+ is similar to Qatar. According to Human Rights Watch, as reported on the BBC website: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-43822234" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-43822234</a> , there are 69 countries that have repressive LGBT+ legislation. These include many African countries and some Asian and other countries. We seem quite happy to play Pakistan at cricket and LGBT+ legislation doesn’t get a mention.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">Some American states still have anti-gay legislation on their statue books. The US Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional although one Supreme Court Justice has said that the ruling should be looked at again!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;">So why are we so “hot & bothered” about the LGBT+ issues at this event, whilst we let other events pass by without notice? COP27 has just taken place in Eygpt. <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Contemporary<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_judicial_system" style="color: #954f72;" title="Egyptian judicial system"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">Egyptian law</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">does not explicitly criminalize same-sex sexual acts.</span> Instead, the state uses several morality provisions for the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34);"><span style="color: #202122;">de facto</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">criminalization of homosexual conduct.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Any behaviour, or the expression of any idea that is deemed to be immoral, scandalous or offensive to the teachings of a recognized religious leader may be prosecuted using these provisions. These<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_morality" style="color: #954f72;" title="Public morality"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">public morality</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_order" style="color: #954f72;" title="Public order"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">public order</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">laws have been used against LGBT people, in addition to the supporters of LGBT-reform</span>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span class="apple-converted-space">Perhaps it is just some Arabs that we don't like?</span></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-87386538311427140612022-09-12T11:12:00.001+01:002022-11-22T04:49:25.120+00:00Constitutional Monarchy - Time for a Change?<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Following the death of Her Queen Elizabeth and the accession to the throne of her son Charles there have been calls, in some quarters, that an hereditary monarchy, albeit a Constitutional Monarchy, is an anachronism in the 21st century and should be replaced by an elected president. Some calls, such as that from the Irish hobgoblins known as Jedward are frankly risible. Then there are the demented ravings from some North American harpies. Some are more reasoned and deserve some careful thought; but what I have not seen is a comprehensive proposal suggesting what alternative form of government is proposed. It is as if we simply replace the hereditary monarchy with an elected president and keep everything else the same. Yet if events of the last few days have shown us anything they have shown how the monarchy is woven into the fabric of our parliamentary democracy. You cannot simply change one part of it without having to change how the rest of it works.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are some key questions that need answering. <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;">Do we go for something like the American system where the president is all powerful or a symbolic head of state as in Ireland?</span></span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If a symbolic head of state then how are they chosen? (Personally I would exclude any person who has held elected pubic office). If we go with an elected all powerful president is the election for her/him held at the same time as parliamentary elections? What happens if we get a Labour President and a Conservative House of Commons (or vice-versa)? If we have an elected Head of State logic would dictate that the House of Lords should be an elected body not based on hereditary peerages and the munificence of the prime minister. When would these elections be held? Should the whole of the House of Lords be elected in one fell swoop or say one third every two years? What power would they hold over the HofC?</span></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If my memory is correct despite most Australians favouring repulicanism the last Australian referendum on who should be head of state instead of the Queen/King fell because they could not agree on an alternative. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There will probably only be one chance to change things in my lifetime (aged 75 next birthday) so whatever is proposed needs to be well detailed and well thought out. I shall not be holding my breath</span></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-45452193101828425602022-09-12T09:03:00.001+01:002022-09-12T09:03:33.916+01:00The times they are a changin'<p> Since I last posted we have had the resignation of Prime Minister Johnson. The unedifying spectacle of a seven week campaign for the Conservative Party to elect a new leader. The queen appointing Liz Truss as Prime Minister followed swiftly by the demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, Prince of Wales appointed King Charles III. </p><p>As a country we now await the funeral of the late Queen and, no doubt in about a year or so, the coronation of the King. Meanwhile we in the midst of a major energy crisis, a cost of living crisis, an environmental crisis and the "non-war" in Ukraine rumbles on.</p><p>I am not sure how many shopping days until Christmas, but I suspect that it will be bleak for many.</p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-29849062127043369312022-07-13T06:54:00.002+01:002022-07-13T08:11:55.901+01:00Rugby is Doomed<div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love the game, spent many happy hours playing it, some not so happy hours in A&E, and even more very happy hours in the bar talking about it!!! The older I get the better I was, although truth be told I wasn't that good. But I loved playing it, as did thousands of others, and we all have a bond of friendship whenever we meet irrespective of our actual standard of play.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So why do I say that the game is doomed? This article, to me sums up all that is wrong with the game. It talks about attracting spectators, trying to attract increaed funding. I would rather they focussed on attracting more players. Of filling the void by schools not playing the game. I would like others to have the same fun that I had. But the administrators of the sport seem to have abandoned the grass roots game.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Personally I think that the sport is losing out by this relentless focus on the top level. Sport is to be played not to be used as a money making machine. </div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess that I am just an old has-been stuck in a time-warp hankering after the "good old days". Still I cannot help but feel that young people are missing out on something that was good - I am simply glad that I was a part of it.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/12/rugby-cannot-overlook-contact-issues-and-stoppages-undermining-game</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-29725815309113555142022-07-12T21:30:00.006+01:002022-07-12T21:30:57.597+01:00Is Racism still alive and kicking in the UK?<p><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking my life into my hands - Would Sir Mo Farah have been treated the same if he had been Joe Ordinary from Somalia?</span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What happened to him was awful, horrendous, we do not have words to describe what he went through.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sad reality is that thousands endured the same horror as he did, but I sady suspect that they wee treated differently once the facts were known!</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-91629101467080670842022-06-09T16:57:00.002+01:002022-06-09T16:57:09.810+01:00Reflection from a year or so go that is still relevant<p><br /></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Apart from being engulfed by the CV-19 pandemic we are now caught in the maelstrom of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and all the protests initially caused by the murder of (black) George Floyd by a (white) policeman Derek Chauvin. The protest movement appears to have taken on a life of its own and in a few instances has been subverted by people more interested in rioting and looting than by those trying to right a great wrong.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Nevertheless the vast majority of the protesters are focussed on righting the wrongs of the past and those that are still happening today in many (all?) countries across the globe.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">One of the symbols of the protests has been focussed on removing statues and place/street names honouring people who were slave traders. It has been pointed out that some of the slavers did many philanthropic acts; this is countered by so did Jimmy Savile but we don't erect statues to him. It should of course be pointed out that what Jimmy Savile was illegal whereas slavery was, at that time legal (still abhorrent and an affront to any decent human being). Slavery might now be illegal but if anyone believes that it is abolished they have not being paying attention to events around the globe.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So this leads onto the question of should we judge the past by the standards of today? There are thousands if not millions of people who were punished for committing acts that were illegal at the time but which are legal today. Homosexual acts spring to mind; over the centuries may people were imprisoned for carrying out these. Some have been posthumously pardoned, Alan Turing springs to mind. He did break the law and was cruelly punished. Should he have been and should all the others that were similarly barbarically treated be pardoned? They knew that what they were doing was illegal at that time and were caught and punished. In some cases the cruel incarceration gave rise to great art, De Profundis and the Ballad of Reading Gaol are two works by Oscar Wilde that spring to mind.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Many people were transported to Australia for committing acts that today would warrant no more than a slap on the wrist at the local magistrates court. Turing and some 50,000 others including Wilde have been pardoned, but this doesn't ease the pain and degradation that they suffered at the time.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Cecil Rhodes is now coming under attack and there are increasing cries for his statue to be removed from where is is sited in Oxford. Oriel College decided not to remove the statue in High Street in 2016 and said the figure "was a reminder of the complexity of history and of the legacies of colonialism".What will happen today is anyones guess, although if I were a betting man I would bet that it will be removed.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So how should we judge the past and how we should we teach it? How many today are taught about the Tolpuddle Martyrs? Their great bravery helped lay down the foundations of the trade union movement and the great reforms in working practices that are still prevalent today, although under constant threat. The present is built on the past for good or ill. We most certainly should not forget it or else we will be destined to repeat it.</div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-57209646600922583502022-04-29T09:04:00.003+01:002022-04-29T09:04:34.641+01:00Why we played (Rugby that is)<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the battle scars have faded</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the truth becomes a lie</span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the weekend smell of liniment</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Could almost make you cry.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the last rucks well behind you</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the man that ran now walks</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It doesn’t matter who you are</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mirror sometimes talks</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a good hard look old son!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The melons not that great</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The snoz that takes a sharp turn sideways</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Used to be dead straight</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’re an advert for arthritis</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’re a thoroughbred gone lame</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then you ask yourself the question</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why the hell you played the game?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was there logic in the head knocks?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the corks and in the cuts?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did common sense get pushed aside?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">By manliness and guts?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you sometimes sit and wonder</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why your time would often pass</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a tangled mess of bodies</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With your head up someone’s......?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With a thumb hooked up your nostril</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scratching gently on your brain</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And an overgrown Neanderthal</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rejoicing in your pain!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mate – you must recall the jersey</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was shredded into rags</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the soothing sting of Dettol</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a back engraved with tags!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s almost worth admitting</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though with some degree of shame</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That your wife was right in asking</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why the hell you played the game?</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why you’d always rock home legless</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like a cow on roller skates</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After drinking at the clubhouse</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With your low down drunken mates</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then you’d wake up – check your wallet</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not a solitary coin</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drink Berocca by the bucket</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throw an ice pack on your groin</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Copping Sunday morning sermons</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">About boozers being losers</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">While you limped like Quasimodo</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With a half a thousand bruises!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes – an urge to hug the porcelain</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And curse Sambuca’s name</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would always pose the question</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why the hell you played the game!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And yet with every wound re-opened</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you grimly reminisce it</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comes the most compelling feeling yet</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">God, you bloody miss it!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the first time that you laced a boot</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And tightened every stud</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That virus known as rugby</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Has been living in your blood</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you dreamt it when you played it</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">All the rest took second fiddle</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now you’re standing on the sideline</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But your hearts still in the middle</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And no matter where you travel</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can take it as expected</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There will always be a breed of people</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hopelessly infected</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there’s a teammate, then you’ll find him</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like a gravitating force</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With a common understanding</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And a beer or three, of course</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And as you stand there telling lies</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like it was yesterday old friend</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ll know that if you had the chance</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’d do it all again</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see – that’s the thing with rugby</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It will always be the same</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that, I guarantee</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is why the hell you played the game!</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Rupert McCall</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credit: Sutton & Epsom Bs</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-12642763027787155382022-04-13T19:13:00.001+01:002022-04-13T19:13:26.696+01:00The Prime Minister must go<p> <span> The number of times that we have changed PM during wars:</span></p><p><span><br /></span></p><p><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><img alt="May be an image of text that says "The changed PM four times in the war in Afghanistan in the Iraq War in the Gulf War in the Korean War in the Second World War in the First World War in the Second Boer War d-in the Second Opium War in the Crimean War twice in the Peninsular War"" height="210" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/278221164_5793027137380541_8424304023633849574_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=dbeb18&_nc_ohc=CyqKrquPNT0AX8bpTar&tn=vGxnaElunAVicpDd&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.xx&oh=00_AT_MXdJU_CDFF_AHDV8ubCUYMj2yxX5xMzebvvdo1ZwCjA&oe=625CAC7F" width="241" /></p><p>and these were wars in which we were fighting rather than supporting.</p><p><br /></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-43450912894280553892022-03-31T14:40:00.004+01:002022-03-31T14:40:40.822+01:00Freedom<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One old lady wants to go outside. Her cries grow ever more plaintive: “I need some fresh air, help me.” Then, more urgently: “I’m dying! Let me out!” The carers are endlessly patient: “We’re doing the medicine round, Edna. You’ll have to wait a minute.” She’s just been out for a cigarette, but is restless again.</span></span></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: arial;">I reflect that this will be me, if I end up in a care home. Driven mad by the sweltering rooms, frustrated by the combination lock on the door. Just before I leave, Edna is taken outside in a wheelchair and I pass her on the patio sitting alone, clattering a table to be let back in. She doesn’t want to be inside or outside. She wants the freedom, which infirmity has stolen, to choose.</span></div></div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-39714641627881506972022-03-24T11:07:00.000+00:002022-03-24T11:07:07.177+00:00What has happened to Putin?<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What has happened to Putin? Why has he flipped? The major question of the day is how can he withdraw Russian forces without losing his job/head? </span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both Sir John Sawyers, former head of MI6 and Donald Trump who met Putin on several occasions agree that he has changed from a strong, rational leader with a deep sense of Russia and its proper place in the world to an irrational leader doing very strange things. It is reported that Tump thought that the massing of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border was a negotiating tactic and one that he could see the sense of.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something within Putin has changed over the last two years; what is it? We need to understand Putin so that he can be persuaded to withdraw his forces whilst appearing to have gained something.</div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If he cannot do that then he will say and more and more innocent lives on both sides will be wasted.</div>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7729095226484647269.post-9361944644988529482022-03-13T11:28:00.002+00:002022-03-13T11:28:56.732+00:00What happens to former dictators? Where does Putin go?<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The reason for asking this is that sooner or later, and I hope that it is sooner, we have to start thinking about the end-game of the war in the Ukraine. From what I have read Putin is stubborn and can be brutal. He will not voluntarily give up on the course of action that he has started. I suspect that currently the chances of a "palace coup" in Russia and replacing him are very slim; particularly if he feels that he has no where to go, no escape route apart from death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the seventies I took a Diploma in Management Studies. I still remember the module on negotiations. One of the key points was to see things through the eyes of the people that you were negotiating with and to leave them with some "wiggle room" so that they have a positive view of the end result. As a supplier you can screw a customer just the once, as he will never come back. Work out a settlement that he is happy with and you have repeat business. Similarly from the customers perspective if you have a good supplier who makes what your business needs you want the supplier to remain in business to keep on supplying you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What does Putin really want? If we do not understand this we have no hope of any settlement. I am not saying give him what he wants, but we need to understand what motivated him to start the conflict. If the conflict does not end in some form of negotiated settlement then there are, as I see it three possible outcomes:</span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Putin keeps shelling and bombing Ukraine and its cities until they are completely uninhabitable. Then he takes them in a somewhat Pyrrhic victory.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The war keeps going for many years with the Ukrainians/Russians living in a state pf perpetual conflict.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">We slowly but surely drift into a major global conflict that engulfs us all.</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There are some that say that World War 2 was a result of the punitive damages that were imposed on Germany at the end of the First War. Somehow Putin has to be persuaded that ending the conflict is in his best interests, that he has a way out. A mighty difficult task but if we do not succeed we are doomed to years of conflict and suffering.</span></div><p></p>Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14234034111126169326noreply@blogger.com2