Voices from the past on the radio. John Prescott has died, and those who may respect are a medley of times past. Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, even Michael Heseltine and Lord Mandelson. I strive to understand the voice of Prescott from the clips and I also have the same problem with Brown's strong Scottish accent. They talk of provincial mayors, we have them, hurrah.
John Prescott was a man of his time, the era of unions and strikes, but with a desire to make the world better for the working class. This idea of class often erupts in argument in this household, the children will argue they are working class because they work but as everyone knows to use the term 'working class' is to bring up strong memories of Margaret Thatcher and her use of force against the miners and the printers. Did she try to beat them down?
But there was other news that shows the shifting of change within the last months. There is not enough money to pay the bonuses of the CEO of the water companies - Oh dear, weep!
Also this morning the Charity Commission has called out the family of 'Captain Tom' who so magnificently in old age walked up and down his driveway and raised thirty-nine million pounds for the NHS. His book earnings though the family took. Did they profit on the back of the charity, should they have? They seem to think they were innocent of any crime the Commission thinks otherwise.
Also good new from Australia, the banning of young children under fifteen years old onto social media. How this is going to be worked out I do not know, heavy fines on such places as Twitter, I refuse to use the term 'X' it has bad connotations. But the stupidity of much of what you read on the net, with people polarised, sometimes violently verbal, to either left or right is not a good thing. And then when manipulation comes into play, think Musk here, danger signals begin to blink.
I have fed the black crows this morning for it is cold once more -3 degrees, they sweep down like the harbingers of death they are but they bring back the memory of long ago. Going to visit my horse at I think Wood Green centre for animals, she had been taken there after an accident. I drove into the car park and got out of the car, as I did so a black crow swooped from the trees and landed on my shoulder, its claws digging into my bones. I turned and looked at a large sharp beak, inches away from my eyes and felt really scared. Obviously he was a tame bird out for food but it was a shock.
When my granddaughter went to the Tower of London, she was able to walk right up to a raven. He's sitting on some sort of wall, and she's right there having a word, her mother hovering close by. It really was an amazing picture. Your encounter with the bird would have scared the life out of me.
ReplyDeleteElon Musk is repeating his warnings, that Americans need two years of hardship. He seems to think after that, that the country will move into a new prosperity. I sincerely doubt it. We are battening down the hatches here, our goal being to prepare as much as possible for whatever comes next. I am concerned for Europe.
Putin so far hasn't moved and I wonder whether we are reliving a 'cold war' episode Debby. Two main wars happening, tragedy unfolding every day. I think, from my rather uncomplicated viewpoint, that should Ukraine fall, then Russia will be triumphant and head for more land grab. But there are so many soldiers dying that commonsense on the part of his generals will call a halt.
ReplyDeleteAs for that jumped up billionaire, I refuse to use his name, his reign will be short. Always the optimist;)
They should have had a 'Beware the Crow' sign! - what a strange thing.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about animals is never to be frightened around them but I felt completely vulnerable with that sharp beak six inches from my eyes.
DeleteI'm not sure about children under a certain age being excluded from the worst social media in Australia.
ReplyDeleteCertainly children should be protected from racism, sexism, Fascism and criminality. But how can parents control everything their teenagers crave?
Surely it should be in the hands of the big platforms to have rules as to what participants write. At the moment it is a free for all Hels. I am not sure where lines should be drawn, or if any. But making 12 year old stand naked on the internet or a child in America taking a gun to the nearest people they are fed up with should be addressed. I think the biggest thing wrong with the internet is all the untruths out there, we shall have to start teaching children from an early age about not to believe everything they read.
DeleteI've never listened to news on the radio, Thelma, just rock and roll (as we used to call it)! It sounds like radio news is popular where you live. I'm guessing that Australia will not be able to keep young people off the internet. I can think of some of the crazy things that young people of my generation did that we were not supposed to do but did it anyway!!??!! I think that many of today's young are tech-savvy and know ways around the blocking...
ReplyDeleteI am very fond of the BBCs radio 4 for general items and BBC 3 for music Ellen. Of course the teenagers will get round blocking - they like challenges. But the internet arrived on the scene like the Wild West and now it has to be tamed.
DeleteThat the water company CEOs should receive bonuses is the first outrage.
ReplyDeleteWe have ravens down south in Australia and I would be terrified if one landed on my shoulder, both by the bird itself and the symbolism.
The water companies are ruining our rivers by running sewage into them and now they are doing the same to the Lake District. Massive chicken farm is ruining the beautiful River Wye. Seems like the CEOs should be asked to resign.
DeleteI think the main issue with social media is its seductiveness, making it easy to compare yourself with others, and making children feel inferior. But continuing to allow games means there will still be those spending huge amounts of time online. That's what does the real damage. There was a recent report that many teenagers are spending up to 14 hours a day.
ReplyDeleteYes I suppose the time spent on games is wasted, there again it does develop skills to a point. Games are entertainment of course, just like television watching is. What to put in its place?
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