Wittering

 Radio Caroline, I bet that takes you back!  Pirate Radio, illegal music no less, how far we have come from those days.  Glastonbury rules the big concerts of music today, and even manages to squash in some oldies  as well.

I remember a book I bought my young son 'The Way Things Work' and was fascinated by the mechanical action of machinery. 

Well onboard Radio Caroline they had a generator to make things happen in the 1960s.  So old fashioned. Apparently there are still plenty of illegal radio shows around.

When the young descend on this household, this time Matilda and Lucien, the talk revolves around music, films and celebrities they meet in the clubs.  Lucien is intrigued by the 'olden days'. My one and only clash with the famous 'Rolling Stones (before they were famous) on Eel Pie Island is all I can offer up.

But how the ship Radio Caroline worked is discussed and that old method of radio waves, they are still around, worked.  Now we have satellites cluttering the space around Earth, a digital paradise of knowledge.  Always up for expansion but draining our world of precious water.  And, I think our brain power.

I see Burnham has taken the 5% VAT tax of electricity whilst allowing the Rosebank (field of oil?) and another oil source free run.  Apparently they do not pay tax on the enormous amount of money they profit from the oil.  It was always thus. But I am getting political - yikes.

So I shall write of something else.  Which is 'wokeness', apparently it follows on from socialism and not empathy.  We had got round to discussing words not allowed now.  I had been mulling over mental asylum.  Now I can use it in a 19th century context with no fear of being leapt on.  For instance, the famous nature poet John Clare ended up in a mental asylum.  

But there is stigma attached to the words which makes it offensive today.

So phones were addressed to see how we would call a medical centre for people with problems.  So I mentioned Wakefield Hospital, I had read a book on someone from Hebden Bridge ending up there and he had given a perfectly normal report of it.  So asking Wikipedia about it, and it came up with this answer.

A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. 

I am rather worried about the restriction of words by today's measures but it is also fascinating to see how words are replaced by modern thinking.  We have all railed against the misogyny and racist appeal of old comedians and their jokes in the past and it seems to have fallen by the wayside thank goodness.  But it has taken me a long time to use the word 'they' for him or her.  

A happy edit:  Tom Stephenson left a comment below on the blog before this one. It is lovely to see him around still!