Some may notice that I try not to post that much about US politics now Trump is in charge. He changes his mind so much that it is not worth posting. But the shutdown in the USA, or more importantly, how it has ended needs to be commented on.
The Republicans want to improve healthcare in the USA by ending subsidies to insurance companies, allowing money to go to the consumers so that they have more choice about insurance. Many think that this will mean higher costs for the consumer which means people being priced out of the market. I understand their anger. But I think that the Democrats have played this right. They have made a stand for healthcare and I honestly think when it comes to a vote, many Republican politicians will decide not vote for higher bills for voters.
Actually, most of the time, the BBC tries not be be biased, and most of the time, it succeeds.
Last week, I was talking to someone about the BBC. They did not like it. In the discussion I talked about how it is soft power, not just BBC news being seen abroad in every hotel I have been in, but also the BBC world service and TV shows like Doctor Who and so many others. I forgot to mention how the BBC is also seen as biased by many on both the left of politics as well as the right.
The bottom line is that the BBC, even with its current board, has an ethos of trying to be unbiased. Those on the left and right of politics who wish to defund it or get rid of it are fools, not just because of how it promotes Great Britain, but also because most of the time, it is a balanced source of news.
Labour are in a terrible position in the polls. At present, they are so toxic that nothing they can do will win over the public. Which means that they can take advantage of this to break the promises they made to get elected. That means, among other things, raising income tax.
Come the next election, the only salvation Labour have, be this with or without Starmer in power, is to deliver on making people feel better. I have discussed how I think that Labour should stick with Starmer, the main reason being what he has done for the nation when it comes to trade talks, but also how The City has faith in him and Reeves as borrowing costs would be higher without her in charge. (Yes I know one of the video's is about how Labour are likely to get rid of him.)
Labour are going to fare poorly in the elections before the General Election unless people feel better about themselves and the nation. Labour do need to talk better about what they have done, they do need to point out the economic nightmare that the Tories left them, but the most important thing that Labour needs to do is to actually deliver a nation that is in a much better place in 2029.
Sunderland fans may be thinking of how Leicester won the Premier League. I knew it would be a tough game and I would have grudgingly accepted a point if you asked me about this on Friday. But we drew and we still have a six point cushion at the top of the table, but that will only be so if Liverpool are able to take points from the team that rhymes with City. Fingers crossed…
I normally do not know the score before I watch Match of the Day, but we had guests round for food, drink and a game of Linkee. Later their son joined us, a Chelski fan, who told me the result after I sang about being to of the league.
Like it or not, a lot of the UK economy is dependent on thing which are not as ideal as we would like. Some of that is finance, which despite Brexit, still contributes huge amounts to the finances of the nation.
Another contributor to the finances, both in taxes and jobs is defence. I do not like how we supply arms to nations like Israel (other than F35 parts) or how British weapons have been used to murder civilians in Sudan. An ethical foreign policy is hard to enforce however.
Your Party and the Greens feel that less should be spent on defence. My concerns are our ability to defend ourselves, but more importantly, our ability to defend our NATO allies. We cannot rely on the USA to protect us anymore, which means sadly, that I feel we need a nuclear deterrent, however one that does not depend on the USA.
An example of how our weapons have been used to protect human rights and democracy is how they have been used in Ukraine. Without it, Russia would be finding it easier to invade its neighbour.
I am interested to hear the views of others on this and feel free to comment if you wish.
Nigel Farage, along with other politicians, want us to have less human rights than those in Europe. The ECHR has been used to win cases for those seeking justice. The Hillsborough families were able to get justice because of our membership of the court.
I like having human rights. I do not want to have more human rights when on holiday in France, Italy or Spain than I have living in the UK. I do think it needs reform, but that is best done with other members of the court, not by leaving it.
Farage brought about Brexit, which has damaged our nation. He should not be allowed to harm our great country again.
On Wednesday last week, my son and daughter were watching Scooby Doo. My wife and I joined them offering to watch the film from the beginning, the sequel or another film. They decided on Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. I have to admit that I watched it with low expectations, but my wife and I enjoyed it. I think that it was true to the cartoons, my wife did, and the children were both surprised that we liked it. It is not a clever film, but it is true to Scooby-Doo. If you like the cartoon, you should like the film.
As for family, our daughter returned to Bristol on Friday. The kids got on well, it was nice to have her back at home, but the house appears quieter without her in it. If my son goes to university next year, I don’t know how we will adapt.
Last of all, Arsenal, we are top of the league still. I went to work for a few hours yesterday and found this message on my desk. Someone was using the room for the flu clinic earlier in the day and must have loved the Arsenal clock and picture in the room! I have posted this on the work group chat but no one has owned up to this. Yet…
