Colchester foodbank gala

My wife and I went with Nick and Lyndsay to an event last night which was to raise money for the Colchester foodbank. While there I was talking to a couple who volunteer there who asked why we came. I will always remember the sacrifices my mother made when she left my dad and it is thanks to charities like this, that we could. We were in that we never starved back then. Now, far too many people depend on foodbanks. I would love it if we could return to how things were before 2010 when there was far less need for this, but while there is a need, it should be supported. 

Night Hunter

This film has not had the best reviews, but I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much, I stopped watching it to start over and watch it with my wife. Like many women, she loves series’s like this, examples being Criminal Minds. My wife was about when I was watching it and said that this might be a film she would like. While I found it to be new and interesting, she did not and worked out bits of the plot before I did.

While the film had a few issues, one being the change in how the character Rachel changes when interrogating the suspect, I liked it.  I have in essence watched it again and while I doubt I would do so in the future, I did enjoy it and disagree with the review in The Guardian.  I loved how, in bits, how twisted it was.

The Invitation

I would rate this as an average film.  Not the best when it comes to horror and not the best when it comes to Vampire films, but what makes this an average film despite these shortcomings are some little touches relating to race, class and privilege which make this a better film than others.  

If you are watching this film to be scared, do not bother, it is not scary at all.  It is intriguing though as I did want to see what the mystery was and how the film unfolded.  Despite not being frightening, it was engaging.  I do not think that I would watch it again, but I am glad that I did watch it.  

How Labour destroyed homeownership for everyone – even the wealthy

I just thought that I would post these screenshots of a headline on Bing, and the article that is shown once you click on the link.

The bias shown against Labour in the media is not something I expected to see on Bing.  Many would consider me to be silly for having that view.  I suspect that I will be sharing a lot of things like this in the next few years.

How a Trump presidency may show the failings of Reform UK

The USA, when presented with a competent woman decided to elect a man who tried to overthrow democracy. Over the last four years, we have not had to deal with headlines detailing insane ideas in The White House.  It looks like the Republicans are to have a clean slate in that they are to take The Senate and The House of Representatives.

This means that from January, for two years, there will be no obstacles to Trump doing what he promised when it comes to tariffs on goods produced abroad as well as deporting illegal immigrants.  He has made lots of other promises.  There should not really be any reasons why he is not going to deliver.

We have seen how Brexit has stopped political parties in the EU for arguing to leave the European Union, because they have seen what a nightmare it is for the UK.  We will get to see how Trump and his policies will affect the USA.  If they are the disaster that many predict, then parties which make similar promises like Reform UK may face electoral consequences.  

Child's Play

I thought that this was an enjoyable film.  Not too scary though, and if you want a frightening film, there are better ones out there.  It had an enjoyable plot, though I was left wondering how Chucky got back from some of the murder scenes.  I have not watched the original, so cannot compare it to what it was based on, but has a fun gore film, it is worth watching.  Just do not watch it if you want to be scared or are expecting a film with an astounding plot. 

Not being able to avoid inheritance tax by buying a farm

There has been a lot of controversy because of the changes in inheritance tax laws for farmers. Basically, some people have bought farms to avoid inheritance tax. An example of this is Jeremy Clarkson who has been quite vocal in speaking out the changes.  While he has made a TV series about farming and a successful one at that, he did buy his farm to avoid inheritance tax. I obtained quote below from this article, but it was originally in The Times. 

"Land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The Government doesn't get any of my money when I die. And the price of the food that I grow can only go up. "But there is another, much more important reason: I can now have a quad bike. "I have always loved the idea. They are like motorbikes but they don't fall over when you leave them alone, they look great and they bring a bit of civilisation to Britain's rather dreary green and brown bits."

Apparently other have bought farms as a way of avoiding this tax, something I never knew until I heard about it on BBC Any Questions.