The Coup Has Taken Place

It was clear, as if we did not know, that our Labour Prime Minister has been bought by big business. The recent conference of money men in London gave stark evidence of his selling out to corporates and equity, for the sake of national growth!  

This has been followed up by more demands in the media for cutting 'welfare' and implementing the cut of the Winter Heating Allowance ('WFA') from 'rich pensioners.'  Tat is those bringing in more than £13,000 a year!  The Tory Woman Chancellor claimed £5000 to heat her own large mansion recently.  Maybe she does not understand how other people live?  

Press outrage at the young not being able to buy a house while the aged live happily in a large one continues.  No mention of these young earning more in a year than the aged ever earned.  No mention of the aged taxes paying for those young 'uns education or the roads they drive their cars upon, the aged did not have cars back then, they did not earn enough!  The right wing press, owned by billionaires living abroad to avoid taxes, attacks the benefit scrounger while keeping the dim witted eyes from noticing their tax dodging.

As yet, nobody mentions those FreePorts, the ones the corporates and big business will own, avoid tax on for 10 years, and keep all profits to themselves.  No mention either of their new lawgiving status where they control that area, not the government close by.  Unions beware! 

The BBC have announced the end of another programme, 'Hardtalk,' on the BBC World Service.  This was a programme that asked deep and honest questions of many politicians and others.  Now it has been ended.  The entire BBC new output has been silenced now.  No interviewer who asks a question that does not fit with Tory and Labour policy is allowed.  Joseph Goebbels would be pleased.

Those rich people behind the scenes who now run the country have control over the government, the press, and now the BBC.  They already have ITV and SKY under control.  However, most people still trust the BBC in spite of this damage in the newsroom.  

Here we are, a coup has taken place, one that gave us Brexit, which killed the nation economically and lost all sovereignty, gave control to the wealthy, blinded the stupid by offering them 'boats,' while taking all their 'rights.'  The noose is tightening, most still do not perceive this.  

Our Kenny Vargas, he who cannot score against a goalkeeper in a 'one to one' situation, scored against a goalkeeper in a 'one to one' situation for Costa Rica last night.  The team beat Guatemala by 3 goals to 0 and our Kenneth did his job.  Now he had better remember how he did that for the next time while at Tynecastle!

Moonshine...

Last night, they said, we would see that full moon again, the bright, yellow Harvest Moon.   All we saw was cloud!  I had noticed the moon the night previously, it is often seen hanging around in the eastern sky here, and I got a shot or two of him then.  He did not appear to be any brighter or happier than when he last appeared, and |I doubt he cared about the Harvest, he does not have one himself these days.  It is however, good to have a clear sky in which to see the moon, unlike last night, even though the temperature drops accordingly.  Much cooler this year than last year, Global Warming I expect?    

There were those who used to say 'Lloyd George was on the take.'  But I suspect they could never prove this.  He certainly found the women when required but did he find the money?  I know not, but I read that Keir Starmer has indeed found the money.  Indeed, he has found over £100,000 worth of cash, all  in the form of things given to him by 'friends who wish him well.'  Tickets for major football matches, well Arsenal, Taylor Swift, clothes for him to look like a PM and for his wife to get her hands on the best available stuff, donations of items outnumbering that which no other PM has ever received, and not one iota of shame while allowing the old to freeze to death!  

Some question these gifts.  Some think PMs ought to refuse such things, but in fact the law of the day states they must pay for things received, however, it appears these 'gifts' arrived before Keir became PM, so he can keep them!  The question most ask is 'What's in it for the donor?'  Donors do not donate for love of the individual in politics, they are offering bribes, not gifts.  Quite why a Labour (and I use that word loosely) PM would not comprehend this confuses me.  Lord Ali, his donor for clothes and other things, was given a key to Parliament.  An outcry got this withdrawn.  He however, is still around Downing Street, possibly by the back door?  

We are owned by Corporate figures, the man in the street does not count.  The only woman who counts is Sue Gray, she counts £170,000 as a salary, which she asked for.  When it was suggested she had less than the PM she declined!  Hmmm...

Overfed

I wandered out to have my haircut again, it was only done about four months ago, and after the helpful young lass had cut all the grey stuff off and blown it away I headed towards Tesco.  This being a Wednesday made it Market Day, though hardly any stalls could be seen, the cold air had mostly put them off.  However, the Albanian lass with her bread and cakes was there!  Jolly good, thought I.

Tesco was quiet for a Wednesday, again the weather had left all the old folks indoors practising for the loss of the 'Winter Fuel Allowance.'  I therefore strolled around, avoiding the trolley pushers, and quickly paid my debts to the young man at the checkout.

Back at the stall, I bought this Italian bread, wondering if it was big enough for one?  Indeed, it was!  I could not manage the other items I bought, however, and doubt I will need breakfast in the morning.

 

Shorn and overfed, I trawled Twitter looking for interesting items.  None were found.  However, Keir, Thatchers true Son, has been at PMQs again and following on from all previous PMs since 2010 he did not bother answering questions, a point Sunak the ex-PM mentioned, apparently.  The irony there!  Keir appears to consider answering questions the job of someone else, certainly not Rachel, both she and he did not attend the House while the WFA was debated, and had no intention of answering any today.  

The die is cast, as someone once noted, the 'Lower Orders' can die, they do not matter.  What matters are the Corporates and Private Equity people, big business and the billionaire movers and shakers behind the scenes, the ones paying for Rachel and Keir.  They are certainly paying for Rachel, and I cannot see Keir being strong enough to oppose her.  Concession bus passes to go next.  It’s kill the old to save the rich time!  Blatantly and with no opposition from Labour.

 

Dreich Time

It's been a bit of a bind in recent days.  My knees not being good, overdoing it on the front and scunnering myself for over a week, then as that eased I fall flat on my face and do my arm.  That will take a while to go, possibly months, and twice today I have screamed after I did this aaaaaaaaaaaaagh, and what is left of the muscles in the arm did not like it.  Ice packs aplenty in here.  I have only been to Sainsburys and Tesco, and that's too far, and now I just wish to sleep all day.  Mind you I am happy with that.   

What limited hope has been from watching England fail.  Sadly this has not happened.  Russian VAR men and a German referee threatened by England before the game saw the officials miss hand balls and gave penalties that did not exist.  5 million Scots very unhappy, let alone the Dutch and the rest of Europe!  Only Rangers fans and a handful of Scots Tories support the colonial imperialists.

Viva Espania I say!

One man heading for the final will be England's Prime Minister.  And I mean 'England's.'  Just in the door and he is already stopping them drilling for oil, his 'Scotland at the heart of Government reveals one cabinet minister only, and Keir's promise to women that he would protect their private spaces has gone out the window as he has installed three women and one man all of whom support the trans lobby.  One calls herself not Miss or Ms but 'They,' the man Kinnock's son, has a son who dresses as a girl, and the rest have no idea about life!  Scotland and women down the drain, I await a 'U' turn soon.

Twitter has been as mad as always, however, most of the Reform bots have gone.  It is interesting to see how many claim to be REFORM, joined Twitter 10 or more years ago, have lots of emojis alongside their name, and have 25,000 followers!  Somehow I fell these are as false as the REFORM candidates that did not exist. 

I also clicked somewhere on a catholic post, I know not which, and have been inundated with people arguing about the Latin Mass.  It was tempting to join in and upset many but I just blocked them all, though others still arrive.  

The algorithm sends hundreds of posts because you 'liked' or commented on one.  No matter what you are then inundated with them.  At least most are UK, up till now they have always been US led and of no use to me.  

Book reading has been slow.  Not helped by more coming through the letterbox, and more on the way.

There is no time to read them, or am I just slowing up?  

I noticed today some 'WhatsApp'  posts I have not answered, and other things are being left undone. Partly this is because of movement difficulty and I suspect too much football at the wrong times and a great deal of sloth could be involved.  Football is however, slowing, and less will be available for a while.   

' O to go down to the sea again,

The lonely sea and sky.

I've left my shirt and socks there,

I wonder if they're dry?'

Spike M.  

I feel like that also.  Though I suspect the beach we see here will be mobbed by hundreds and thousands at this time.  A little bit of sun and warmth and the UK population rush to the coast to get away from it all, and are stranded among millions getting away from it all.  It would be nice.

Gerald Taylor, yet another Costa Rican international who has joined the world's most important football club.  If he is as successful and his predecessor Vargas we will be on to a good thing indeed.  I am not sure where his finica will be in Gorgie...

New Blood, Same Story

So the new boy is greeted by the old boy after the previous boy had run off to California.  How jolly.

A massive vote, but actually smaller than it appears.  Less people turned out to vote at this election than at any other previously.  Many Tories remained at home, similarly many SNP would not vote for this lot or the opposition.  Many just got fed up with all of them.

The truth is no-one voted for Labour, they voted against the Tory and SNP.  Clearly the Labour vote stood strong but all others fell apart.  This included many Labour members being imported from England to represent the party.  Even Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy voted for Labour and an English female MP!  Quite what Willie Gallaher, the Communist MP from 1935 - 195 would have thought about that is not clear.   

The SNP fell apart because of the 'Stonewall' love in.  Putting men guilty of rape in women's prisons because the 'identify' as a woman and allowing such men to use female toilets has not gone down well outside of activists, and many remain within the party.

Our Home Secretary won his seat once again.  The 'Reform' wide eyed loons failed to remove him, though they did dent his majority, and far too many Tories forgot what he had done to them and came out, possibly at night when twilight fell.  Now, he retains his job of ignoring us and fighting for the leadership of the rump of the Tory Party.  Soon the main names will dominate the pages, I hope they all lose!

Enough, it's over now, we await the cabinet, we await the press attacks, we await the future.  I remain glad Jesus is still in control and he has seen much worse than this before.

O Happy Day?

It has become a wee bit tiring this awaiting an inevitable election wipe-out of the Tory party.  Today, just before PMQs, another Try defected to Labour to save her skin or possibly land in the Lords.  To accept someone so unsuitable for Labour office reveals the depth to which Keir has sunk.  This woman, who has stood out loudly objecting to immigrants arriving in Dover, her constituency, and attempted to interfere with the courts while her husband was on trial as a sex-pest, grumbling that the women just could not resist a man so attractive to them, now pretends she is for Labour.  I wonder how the constituency will react? 

I long ago ceased to watch PMQs, Boris's lying ended that for me, and Sunak sinking weekly is not an attractive viewing.  It would be worth having a Labour government majority in England just to end all this nonsense.

I realised just how tired I was today when trying to 'cut & paste' something from one place to another.  Back and forward we went, it worked, did not work, missed a bit, and all the usual flops!  Eventually, after a great many rude words it was finished, and now I see the mistakes.  Too much running around this weekend, not enough sitting around eating, and my tiredness may well have been noticed by those at the edges of town!

Still, I have found a tool to make working with Microsoft easier...

Slow Friday

I was loitering without intent around lunchtime today when the Amazon driver appeared.  This is a good guy, he often calls, rarely for me, and was struggling with his phone.  The lass next door has allowed the number to fall from the bell and he must have been confused by this.  Normally they just ring mine.  He is a gentleman and attempted to call her, receiving no answer as she is working, so eventually rang my bell.  Another box for next door, quite light, which is just as well, and I am happy to take them in.  

I even saw our dim postman walking dreamily in the rain yesterday, no mail for us obviously, but it could be he has put it in next door.   We wait and see.  Royal Mail is awful these days, all because of privatisation and the greedy bosses trying to make the parcel side succeed.  This, some say, is because they wish to buy it themselves!  The more I look at Keir Starmer the more I realise there is no chance of this privatisation being reversed.  Indeed, I winder if anything will change.  The more I consider Starmer the less I like him.  If only we had a sensible 3rd option.

A Trudge to Get Bread

As expected we rose to a white landscape this morning.  Slow traffic edged its was along the highway, occasional workers coughed and muttered as they slipped their way past.  Occasional dogwalkers muttered also while trying to find a clear spot for the dog.  Clearly, not all succeeded.  

Much against my better judgement I joined the cheery throng, once the schoolkids had passed by.  Whether they were off to school or off school I knew not, but I let them go first.  By the time I got fed, dressed and had my boots on, the traffic was beginning to flow normally.  Clearly the majority had remained indoors and only the workers and the desperate went out.  I needed bread... 

To get bread I trudged through the snow, being reminded of how hard this could be.  A few inches lay there, pathways already clear down the middle of the path, and at the side areas where children had sought to be the first to leave their footprints in the large white expanse in front of them.  Who can blame them?  Did we all not wish to do that?  And some of you still do!

One man, dressed for the front room, hurried across the park, pulled out his phone, took a quick picture, and ran away back from whence had had come somewhat guiltily.  The rest of us, warmly wrapped and slow moving, ignored him.  Most offered a rueful remark as we passed one another, one woman annoyed at being 'called in' to work when she wanted to take pictures also.  How cruel life is.  I bet her pictures would be better thought out than mine.

At the far end I snapped a shot from an area dominated by the early, and frozen, dog walkers.  I have taken such shots for years yet little changes.  To think that once this was a school ground, and before that a rich man's house?  Before that it appears to have been a field, an old painting shows this in the 1800s with a cow happily wandering about.  All things must change.

 

I had hoped to see the birds behind the church but clearly they were struggling for food at the moment.  None bar an occasional wood pigeon flew by, and they were not stopping.  I wondered how they would feed themselves today, though I suspect peoples gardens would be places to find free offerings in this weather.  Not much I can do to help these days.

My route took me past the freezing Town Hall and the old water fountain, it no longer works of course, but there are less horses, pigs, sheep, cows and buyers these days.  Bottled water appears uppermost today.  Council workers were spreading grit around the area, clearing a safe path, and working up a sweat.  Sadly, we have no equipment that allows me to do this here, just an old stiff brush which merely spreads the stuff and makes it slippier!  I will not tell you how I know this.

The only splash of colour comes from the Post Box.  Note the 'Sat' for Saturday tag, indicating nothing was collected that day.  I suspect it was not collected today either.  Vast quantities of mail fills the Royal Mail offices, little of it finds its way to me however!  I am all in support of the striking workers, however, Royal Mail and this grubby government are not willing to do the deal, the failing attempt to turn the people against the strikers has not yet led to a climbdown by government or their men.  I note however, the nurse will not strike in Scotland as the government their has found a solution to the problem.  Why can the English not do the same?  Simple answer, they do not want a solution, they wish to sell off the NHS to their American friends, line their pockets, and care nothing for the people.

Keir Starmer and the 'Tory Two' Party has failed the workers by refusing to back them, calling for an end to strikes, and even claiming it is impossible to pay the NHS staff more.  This is no longer the Labour Party, this is a man desperate for the top job and he will say anything to get it.  It is time for Starmer to go, he could do nothing when the failing Boris was PM, he failed to remove Liz, and now fails with the latest failing PM, it is time for Keir to leave the show and allow a member of the Labour Party to take over.

The Labour of Hermes

 

 Sky News

 

Today Keir Starmer delivered his first speech to the Labour Party conference.  I didn't bother to notice it. I expected little and it appears that is what we have been offered.  He did not say anything revolutionary, offering some leadership, or suggestions to take the nation out of the mess into which it has sunk.  My reading of the far from enthusiastic responses to his speech indicates no changes from Labour regarding opposing the Tories.  The nation will continue under this inept government for some time, another, possibly 'snap' election is possible soon, and after that Boris victory the Tories will reign supreme for some time because Labour have failed to oppose him or offer solutions.

What a mess.

What should he have said?

Had Keir made clear Labour would return to the EU, nationalise the main society supports, the buses, railways, NHS, gas, electric and water, for a start, he would have found a strong support from millions fed up with private profit while their fares and costs soar under any excuse that fits.  This however, is not something he would ever contemplate.  I understand there were no references to Clement Attlee in his speech.

Clearly supported by Lord Mandleson of disrepute, he instead just wishes to continue as a 'Red Tory,' teaching the youth to learn 'how to live with it,' and 'make the best of it.'  Super!  Nothing planned to change the way things work or find a better way for the future?  Get used to Boris, he will be around for ever if Keir remains in charge of Labour.