Lies and money ...

9 December

Oh goody, goody, our feathered lodger is going home today. Maxi will probably miss her quite badly though, and I suppose we will too for a while. Maxi has been encouraged to come and land on us while she was here. My scalp might not get pecked so either, that will be a pleasant change.

Bonkers Boris may have upset the Saudis, how dear, how sad, what a pity, never mind. What he said really the truth of what is happening in the region, what makes it sensitive is that we have trade deals with them as well with them being allies in the War on Terror. And don’t forget what he said about the Russians. At the time of his appointment I was concerned that he was a loose cannon; he is, but his straight from the hip shooting doesn’t go down well when it comes to diplomacy. That is why I would never be of any use in the job, thankfully for me at least.

I once read a description of diplomacy as being the art of calling someone a liar without using the word itself. That pisses me off; if a person is a liar, then they are liars no matter what word you use. And that is really why the world is such a state as it is. No-one will say out loud what needs to be done in clear unambiguous language for fear of upsetting the others being spoken to. Nobody likes being called a liar, of course they don’t; the answer is for the liar to stop telling their lies, not in being taken to task in flowery language. Everyone knows the truth anyway, liar are bullies write large, and nothing more.

Apart from the WoT, the perhaps the most urgent problem facing the world is that of climate change. No one nation wants to pick up the bill for cleaning the up the environment. And yet it is highest polluters that are paying the lowest proportion of that cost. The US refuses to increase fuel costs to their full price because the people of America would shot load and long over it. But I wonder just how many lies are told at the summits that are held every couple of years or so. Loud statements are given by what look like proud and happy leaders, claiming success in doing their bit, and usually it is just a bit too.

And yet what some of the poorer countries of the world complain that they are facing the larger cost which will harm their economies. Pointing out that they cause more pollution than the more industrially advanced countries, don’t really help. It also forgets that when those same industrial countries were first beginning their march to success, they too caused mass pollution as they did so. So maybe the advanced nations should pay more towards the clean up – or should they I wonder.

Looking at some of these ‘poorer’ nations we find that their armed forces are mainly well financed and up to date equipment. I stumbled on the Indian Death March as it’s called. Thousands of service personnel march at a steady pace, all exactly in the same time and all in perfect formations. While all this posturing, all this show of power tells its neighbours that they would unwise to attack them. China also has its own Death March too. And while all this is going on people are dying of hunger and disease just around the corner. Some of all that dosh being spent in showing off, could be better used in ways than that. But what of the UK, are we any different?

In a way, no we are not. Every year we spend thousands, maybe millions of £s in over the top military displays like Trooping the Colour, honour guards for visiting VIPs and so on. While all this is going two or three battalions of infantry and cavalry are tied up. How much do it take to take them away from that and back into combat mode? Yes, it’s all tradition, but like I keep saying, ‘Do anything in the same way twice and you have a tradition. Leaving that to side for now, how many people in London are homeless? How many are living below the poverty line? And some of those homeless and hungry people are scrapping by in the parks beside where the parades are being held. As a nation, we are no different to any of the so-called poorer nations. We have two new 60,000 ton air-craft carriers, but no airplanes to fly off them for another three years so much money wasted!

Don’t forget our own contributions to the environment; how many times do we travel on our own in our pollution makers? How many of us use more power that we need to on a daily basis by boiling too much water for just one or two mugs of tea of coffee? How many of us go out shopping and end up throwing away around half the food we buy? How many of us have our heating turned up higher than we really need it? And on it goes my friends, and I for one am guilty of all of the above; how about you?

Today’s photo …

Getting a new roof.

Today’s funny …

A plumber was called to fix a blocked pipe. He arrived, banged on the pipes for 15 minutes, and said to the homeowner, well that'll be $35.
The homeowner said "thirty five dollars!!!!- why thats $140 per hour!! I'm a lawyer and I only make $100 an hour!!"
The plumber replies, "yeah, thats what I got when I was a lawyer."