CancerCop

It’s important to have a distraction technique to help avoid all the depressing UK politics stuff.
So on this weeks schedule, we have the Dirty Harry Collection, Bullitt and All the Presidents Men.
All physical media as nowhere streams them for free
#filmsky
#dvdsky
#bluraysky
#PhysicalMediaForLife

I see Mel Stride wants to kick the vulnerable whilst they’re down.
£47bn savings, of which most comes from those who need it most.
Not pensioners though (as they’re protected via the triple lock) or child support (2 child cap) - that’s about 60% of the welfare bill. So it’s everyone else to suffer

I mean, who looks at the USA right now and goes ‘that’s the gold standard right there’?
IF we pulled out of the ECHR what human rights would YOU give up and would you be happy with the gvmt deciding for you?
Especially when they decide you don’t fit, and deport you.

Jeez Uk politics is depressing. It’s not even a race to the bottom (which would imply some sort of dynamism), but a slow spiral into oblivion.
If 1 of the ‘major’ parties had a ‘Stealing Candy from a baby’ stall at conference, the rest would compete to see who could make the child cry the most!

New music Sunday:
Leave Your Mark by Holly Carter
Loving her work, if you’re a fan of acoustic steel guitar you’ll enjoy this
#vinylsky
#musicsky

www.hollycartermusic.com

Generation Terrorists, because that’s where I started with them.
Specifically a 7” of You Love Us in 1992 bought from whatever the record shop in Taunton was called, just along from Waterstones.
Anyway, it’s the only band still making 5* music from back then that I was on board with from Day1!

Re: Manchester

"Understanding is not the same as excusing"

Erwin James

There’s enough ill informed speculation & amateur ‘analysis’ re Manchester without adding mine
Suffice to say I have my own thoughts and they’re mainly with the family & friends of those killed & injured and with brave police & CST volunteers who ran towards & helped contain an unknown terror threat

Channel surfing and landed on DaveJaVu with QI with Sean Lock and now HIGNFY with Janey Godley.
2 of the best comedians, who I miss as a comedy consumer, and who raised every show they appeared on.
If I was their family/friends, I’d be extra proud that their back catalogue is still shown

Anyone who hasn’t suffered with chronic illness doesn’t fully appreciate how stressful the whole ‘booking a test, waiting for a test, having the test, waiting for the Dr to confirm the results’ cycle is!
I’m not normally a ‘what if…’ person but this evening I’m ‘what if… but…’ with the best of them.

Hopefully, the Gvmt will improve on visa (& asylum) applications so that more people CAN apply for work legally and then contribute via NI contributions. Currently we trap people in a grey zone where they are ripe for exploitation if they want to work and don’t allow them to contribute voluntarily

I used to think ‘Illinois Nazis’ were the worst, but recently the DC ones seem to have upped their game

Catching up on Alien Earth and I’m reminded how good an album Metallica’s Black Album is.
Wherever I may roam was always my favourite track…
#CDSky
#MusicSky

I see pictures of “war ravaged Portland”, then compare them to the daily pictures of Gaza and Ukraine and I can see they are *almost* exactly the same.
What gets me most is the footage of columns of traffic heading south on the Pacific Coast Highway to safety.

Sorry, meant ‘not at all happening’

Nvidia and Microsoft bosses hail huge UK AI investment Microsoft, Google and Nvidia have announced investments as part of a £31bn UK-US

1. £31 billion investment in the next 5 years?
Just in case you wanted to know how much your personal data is worth…

Ps. I know this will be Europe/World wide but, you know, it’s not EU… & especially if you can force them to have a new digital ID card to your own specs
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

But of course, the EU doesn’t have an issue with illegal migration or with illegal workers in a cash based black economy…
Or criminals looking to exploit undocumented migrants or people smugglers & sex traffickers…
Nope. All good. That ID card thing really works.

Kier Starmer to announce that everyone is to have Lego scattered over the floor for people to stand on in new bid to further annoy everyone.

It’s madness.
And IF you believe the poll (I don’t) it would lead to either a Reform/Tory coalition or a Minority government led by Reform.
Either option is not at all a promising or desirable outcome.

‘Centre left’ when the median is skewed by the ‘Far right’

New poll*: England are going to win the men’s rugby World Cup in 2027

I know there’s 6 Nations, Autumn Internationals, players arriving & retiring, injuries, scandals & rule changes..

*Poll results can go up as well as down. Your country is at risk if you don’t keep up with the current polling

Keir Starmer to announce plans for digital ID scheme The prime minister believes a new scheme would help crack down on illegal working in the UK.

The devil is, as always, in the detail.
However, I’ve never been a fan of compulsory ID or digital ID.
I don’t see it improving anything - if you’re working illegally, you’ll find a way, and be exploited more, not protected

Starmer to announce plans for digital ID scheme www.bbc.com/news/article...

For me, money works in £5, £10, £100, expensive car repair, new car, mortgage.
Past that it’s hard to quantify the huge sums quoted.
£90 billion is 150 King Charles’s!
Better to think of things in moral terms.
This policy is morally bankrupt, would decimate hospitality and NHS and destroy families.

Some people know more about medicines than DJT & RFK (who’d have guessed?)
NB: Paracetamol has been around for 70+ years & is very well studied globally.
If you’re worried about anything during pregnancy speak to your midwife/GP rather than some idiot who thinks Albania and Cambodia are at war.

Jess's Rule: GPs to re-check some patients for deadly 'misses' Jess's Rule urges doctors to 'think again' if they cannot diagnose a patient's illness after three appointments.

Cancer can strike at any age (otherwise we wouldn’t need a @teenagecancertrust.bsky.social)
Be body aware: check for lumps (breasts&testicles), unintentional loss of weight, night sweats, chronic fatigue, a persistent cough, enlarged lymph nodes.
All red flag symptoms.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

I tend to view claims made by politicians with a degree of scepticism:
Eg “their plans would save £234bn over several decades.” Reform on restricting migrant access to benefits.
A few years back, 1/3 of the world was going to be an Elvis impersonator…
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

If I was an economic migrant and my family didn’t come with me, I’d be sending the lions share of my salary back to them.
If, on the other hand, my family lived with me, that money would stay here and get spent here.
Just saying…

Everything that’s wrong with the UK in a single image…
The previous user of this glass can’t possibly leave the premises without having to walk past the entire length of the bar, but is content to leave their empty glass behind for someone else to collect.
“It’s someone else’s job…”
cf: Littering

Well that’s disconcerting to say the least.
You’d think BBC news might have mentioned something…
Obv, after something about Farage/ReformUK but ahead of Davey/LibDems
#WintersComing

I don’t really understand why an extra runway for Gatwick is a good thing over, say for example, extra capacity at Birmingham or Manchester airports?
Surely, it’s just concentrating traffic, pollution, passengers/freight and of course money in London and SE.
It’s not going to help house prices…

UK, Canada and Australia announce formal recognition of Palestinian state - live updates PM Keir Starmer says the move will

UK formally recognises Palestinian state.
Which is good.
The whole Palestine-Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah-Lebanon-Iran-USA-Houthi-Qatar relationship was in danger of becoming too easy to understand.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp...