Hi Everyone The very first week that I inflicted this Rubbish on you, I indicated that I supported Ukraine, saying that whatever the cost, the Russians should not be allowed to take over an independent and sovereign nation. I also pointed out that the wealth and life for the population are much the same as we enjoy here. Fortunately, many countries, including our own, have shown their consistent support over the last four years. Sadly, in my view, the US could and should have

Hi Everyone You will probably remember that I volunteer at our local library on one morning each week. All the small libraries in the county are run by volunteers, something like fifteen in total. Each library is offered to organisations to manage. Eighteen months ago, our library was put out for bids. The successful bidder already has seven other local libraries, so presumably the legal paperwork should be quite simple. Now, eighteen months on, our library is still waiting t

Hi Everyone If you could not resist reading this Rubbish about three weeks ago, you will know that I wrote a letter to our new friendly Prime Minister, Andy, who is trying to make our lives a little more comfortable, regarding the government sponsored solar panel scheme. Well, this week I received a reply, not from Andy himself, of course, as he was in New York, busy trying to cope with the ramblings of their President. Instead, my letter was referred to the Department for En

Hi Everyone One of those young AI wizzkids issued a frightening warning this week when he indicated that if AI progressed at the present rate, it could eliminate humanity within the next few years. You and I can do nothing to stop it. The next day, Captain Marvel said that “The only control needed is a strong and smart (high IQ) President, and the USA has that in spades”. So there in the same week, we have totally different views of the future of the world, and we can do abso

Hi Everyone No doubt there are a number of organisations that solely rely on public donations for their existence, with no help from government funds. Two names however, immediately spring into mind: the Air Ambulance and the RNLI {Royal National Lifeboat Institution}. The RNLI boats are manned almost entirely by unpaid volunteers to save lives at sea all around the coast of the UK while, on some occasions, putting their own lives at risk. Their rescue service is available 2

Hi Everyone Just about an hour away from our home is the National Memorial Arboretum. It is a wonderful site of national remembrance. It’s objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in our armed forces, and importantly, the associated civilian community. It was opened in 2001 and now welcomes about 300,000 visitors each year and about 25,000 students and young people to take part in educational learning visits. Visitors can explore ov

Hi Everyone You must be by now aware that our new friendly Prime Minister Andy, is keen to make our lives a little easier as we grapple with inflation and the cost of energy, which predictably is rising to its highest level for three years in October, just as we have to switch on our heating again. With that in mind and an issue I have with him about the free solar panels scheme that the government is offering until the middle of next year, I decided to find out how friendly

Hi Everyone Having spent the last seventy years staring at the road in front of me as a car driver, it is a rare treat to be just a passenger. One of those rare occasions happened this week when our daughter drove us across country with the added bonus that our trip took us across the Peak District National Park. Just for once, I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of our countryside, even though the landscape is currently brown and not the green that we are so used to, a

Hi Everyone The nearly man, you know he has nearly won the Iran war and nearly opened the Strait of Hormuz, has been very quiet this week except for hiding in a catering van. Perhaps he is upset because he has lost a couple of golf balls. Anyway, this week I was a nearly man. We were returning from our trip to the Peak District when I realised that we were low on petrol. A check on our son’s phone revealed that the nearest filling station was 6 miles away while the petrol gau

Hi Everyone Another slow trawl around our local supermarket this week with the trolley as my support. It was a slow trawl as the Main Contractor only ventures in about once each month, so is keen to see what is new, whereas I make a ten-minute dash (well, slow dash) for those things that we have run out of, lost or cannot remember where we put them. The slow dash revealed that despite many promises, packaging becomes more overpowering with many packaged items nesting in an ev

Hi Everyone Some say that growing old is not much fun, and for some, that is true. Fortunately, I am only just reaching middle age, so the Main Contractor and I are very fortunate. I mention this as the big debate this week is social care: how can we make radical changes, and most of all, how to pay for it and by whom. Also this week it is reported that there are 442,000 fewer millionaires in the UK than there were last year. There are no doubt a number of reasons for this, b

Hi Everyone The new kid on the block has showered us with goodies this week, with no VAT to pay on our electricity bill, a reduction from £3 to £2 for all bus journeys outside London and a 20% reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues. All this is designed to give us “breathing space” with our cost of living. Apparently the VAT reduction will reduce our annual electricity bill by about £45 but does not apply until October, while the reduced fares on the alm

Hi Everyone This week, our latest Prime Minister was consigned to history, receiving a standing ovation in Parliament from many of the people who had confined him to history. Also this week, Parliament packed up their shorts, sandals with room for their buckets and spades until early in September. Next Monday, we will now have a new Prime Minister who, just a few short weeks ago, was not even a member of Parliament. Also, next Monday, he will name his cabinet members in the

Hi Everyone This week in Parliament, a lady MP has proposed legislation to provide children at school with a minimum of 30 minutes of outdoor learning each day. It has apparently passed its first stage and will now be back in Parliament fot it’s second reading in the middle of October. Having passed that stage, it then goes to the House of Lords before coming back to Parliament, probably in early 2027, to be hopefully passed into law. Back when I was in the infant and junior

Hi Everyone I decided about five years ago not to get involved in Cryptocurrency as Trump informed me that it was a “scam” and that “It is a disaster waiting to happen”. The other reason that I did not get involved is that I had no idea what it was all about. Now I read that Trump made $1.40billion dollars from Cryptocurrency in just one year. That prompted me to consult that other con man AI. This is what he said :- Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual form of currency se

Hi Everyone It was probably a few decades ago when we laughed at Italy as they seemed to change their political leaders every few months. Now it seems that we have inherited the same disease. Some people think that we are becoming ungovernable, and with the evidence of a lawless social media, and news outlets pushing their own agenda, it is becoming a persuasive argument. Now our latest Prime Minister has been pushed out of office mainly by his own party. Now it is apparent

Hi Everyone I would hope that art, in whichever form you prefer, is part of your life, whether it is music, theatre, ballet, opera or art itself. Just last week a world famous artist died. David Hockney left us with a wonderful collection of dazzling work which will live on and decorate walls for many years to come. A few years ago, we were on holiday in his native Yorkshire, when we visited the village of Saltaire, which has a famous and lasting story of it’s own. The huge w

Hi Everyone Don’t you just love the headline I saw this week that said that Government ministers were promising to spend millions to ensure that 60% of schoolchildren will either walk or cycle to school by 2035 (yes that’s right nine years time). The money will be spent on cycle lanes and walkways near to schools. Does anyone really believe a statement like that? In nine years time we will have had at least one change in government, with probably at least one of the followin

Hi Everyone Events this week included the National Day in Denmark, Volunteers Week in the UK, and Fish and Chip Day again here in the UK. I mention the National Day in Denmark as our grandaughter is coming to the end of a memorable year at the University of Aarhus, Denmark's second city. It is reputed to be one of the happiest places to live, and from the experiences and friendships she has formed, it certainly seems to bear out that claim. Volunteers Week certainly deserves

Hi Everyone This week, two politicians who we thought had disappeared forever suddenly emerged with their ‘words of wisdom’. The first one talked about a lost generation of young people, with now approximately one million not in employment or further education, with the prediction that figure could rise by another 250,000 in four years' time. Back when I was looking for my first job, most left school at age fifteen, with some going on to sixteen and eighteen. In a typical cla