It has been announced on UK news today that there will be a ban on under 16s accessing social media , starting early next year. Many parents and teachers appear happy, many kids and social media companies don’t like it. The push for the ban has come largely from parents who have lost children thanks to social media and the lack of safety measures. This includes murder, suicide and death from copying on line challenges.

The ban will include sites like Facebook, Tik Tok, snapchat, Instagram and X. It wont include WhatsApp or Signal. The measures are to help children with their mental health as well as physical health. Hoping for children to access the outside world first hand, rather than through a phone. This law has already been passed in Australia, but with little success.

Kids have worked out how to bypass the blocks and the sites wont do enough to stop them. As they don’t ask for proof of age , kids just lie. Certain Chat Bot aps will be blocked for under 16s, especially those that offer faked romantic conversations.

The ban will need to be enforced by parents, government and the websites themselves. there are presently age checks for anyone who wants to access pornography in the UK, presumably this will be a version of social media age checks. Even these can be conned, they will need verified photo identification to work. A price that the social media apps will not want to pay. Although Instagram and Tik Tok have been advertising child safe versions in anticipation of the ban.

What some parents don’t know about(or care about) is that social media sites are already supposed to be age limited. The age limit is generally 13 years old as a minimum, although there are thousands of kids using the sites. Children aged between 13 and 17 should be only allowed a limited access to Instagram, that only works if they are honest about their ages.

not surprisingly the social media companies aren’t happy with the move, saying kids may try and use less safe apps to access friends and contacts. Maybe if they had policed their sites a bit better then this move might not be needed. Basically all the main social media sites have grown to fast for the owners, either because they weren’t ready or didn’t care. In fact, since X was taken over by Musk it has become far more dangerous, with saftey and human checkers virtually all gone.

Obviously the main question becomes, how to enforce and police this ban. Use of a VPN , (virtual private network) can be the simple way to avoid a ban. They are primarily used as a saftey feature, to stop online fraudsters being able to work out where you live. In turn therefore using them to access sites you shouldn’t is easy. Also accessing sites that aren’t blocked means that there will be more online fraud and possible child grooming and exploitation.

You can guarantee that kids will get links to ways to bypass blocks, probably to even more dangerous sites. There is also the risk kids might look for access through the notorious Dark Web. This accounts for around 97% of the internet avaidible to users, its used to access drugs, weapons and illegal pornography. The internet as a whole is a very dangerous place, especially if desperate or not educated on the subject.

The best chance is probably the internet and phone signal suppliers. They could block signals from certain places or give parents a way to block usage of certain sites. Even with this it will need parents to enforce this, also the kids to not try and bypass the blockages. Maybe there will be safer applications created in time, maybe the social media companies will offer a viable solution.

All the companies will know about children’s deaths linked to their apps. They just repeat the usual claims about how hard they are working in order to be safe and secure. With them all making millions every minute there is little a country can do to punish them effectively. Though there are around 25 countries that are considering bans or have enacted them already. Maybe a few more will lead to a change.

Another way to limit access to social media is to only allow under 16s to have a “child Friendly” phone. These would restrict access to content banned in their respective countries and would limit trying to get round the bans. This would mean parents would have to ensure that their kids don’t try and find a way round it. For example, while at medical appointments the internet blocks pornography and betting sites.

All computers that accessing the internet have filters that block adult content , unless you allow it to find the content. There could be enforceable limits set for children that would limit sites they could search for. This isn’t perfect, but could make it harder for kids to try and swerve any bans. What could happen though , is that kids would get sent emails with adult content, they click on the content and in some cases will be able to access all the content.

While I think this is a brilliant idea I can see it being hard to enforce. Also the big tech companies will create hell because of falling sales. How much money do phone companies, for example, make from under 16s. They would sell the limited phones but the high tech sales would drop. Computer firms would need to include enforceable limits in their machines, also with a probable sales loss. As always, money talks. Maybe if big tech paid proper tax in the UK they might be seen as less evil, not that I expect anything like that to happen any time soon.

Whatever you know or think you know about AI , beware, they aren’t all the same. Spell check on a document or offering you TV shows on your streaming platforms is safe AI. Recently certain systems, including Grok , have fuelled violence and risk to life and limb. The old journalists adage used to be, a story is only valid if it comes from 2 independent sources. The journalists can then decide what to write, what to say is true and what is claimed to be true.

AI and chatbots have more sources but not always more reliable ones, also they will still try and answer questions without enough information. They want to please, they want to appear helpful. They are basically a slightly advanced search engine, its what they search that matters. Grok is different to most AI systems in that it employs real time access to find information. This live information is usually things shared on the X platform. This means that when there is enough fake posts on a subject, Grok is then influenced by false information.

This false information gets shared and then reposted, it can then strengthen Groks answers even more. Search engines look through thousands of sources, you may get a few dodgy sites in your answer but most are ok. Also with multiple sites offered then you can look for common answers and weed out what looks wrong.

In its eagerness to please Grok has been putting lives at risk recently. Following the Henry Novak murder, certain people wanted to know the police officers involved. Using photos these people asked Grok and Grok got it wrong. Not that mattered once it had given its answers. Protesters 1then forced 2 innocent people into hiding , although they weren’t involved in the incident. In fact , one of the people targeted left the force over a year before the incident.

Following the Renee Goode murder earlier this year, protesters again went looking for the ICE agents involved. Using scant information and various photos Grok got it wrong again. Another individual was targeted, although not involved and not an ICE agent. Again the information gets shared and acted upon, before anyone tracks it for voracity.

One of the many problems for chatbot and AI systems is that their positive points and be used for negative use as well. There was controversy earlier this year about the pornography the site created to order. Pictures of anyone could be uploaded and any style pictures could be created. Even child images were made, in all forms of sexual imagery. Celebrities, ex partners and random strangers could share the indignity, with the faked photos being shared for all to see.

AI presently has no human conscious, no thought of outcomes and no thought on dangers. Any time someone non-white commits a crime in the UK certain people demand to know the perpetrators ethnicity, immigration status and name. Often the information is wrong or at best flawed. People like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson revel in causing division and therefore share the information. When the terrible murder of 3 young girls happened at a dance class Farage called for banning immigrants. The murderer wasn’t an immigrant and was born in the UK.

As these people fan the flames of racism , the information is shared far and wide. As x has a habit of limiting posts that follow Musk’s beliefs , Grok then scrapes even more lies. The information then becomes self fulfilling, with certain people believing everything they read and the agitators that speak the same rubbish. When you only get information from one source , you don’t get the whole story.

Every story in substack where I need to check information, I look in multiple places to confirm information. I also limit myself to certain sites and try and avoid the dodgier looking ones. Unlike many trolls I wouldn’t use one site as my backup to anything I said or claimed. Unfortunately many of the trolls that I argue with will discredit however many sites I show links too, while deciding their single source is correct.

While AI can be useful for certain things, its not a safe place for general information yet. Remember when GROK turned off its safety checks and started to say how wonderful Hitler was. The systems need to be open to as much information as possible in order to get nearer the truth.

The main search engines don’t search when you ask them too. They have collated the information from thousands of sources and gets your answer from there. They look for questions and then check they have the information to answer. A search program will then look for all information based around the subject. For example when Renee Goode was murdered there wouldn’t have been much information to hand. Therefore when people asked about her the systems predicted questions that would be asked and found the information it might need.

With sites like Grok just looking round the present on a single source the information would be thin at best. With Musk interfering in foreign politics and sharing dangerous stories Grok becomes even more unsafe. Musk is no more than a Bond villain, albeit one with a wide reach.

AI is great at checking x-rays, good at telling you what to watch, its not good with unbiased and factual information.

Autism is in its basic form a different operating system , a different way of processing the world. So, in order to learn something knew it has to be presented in a way that works for the individual. 25% of people with Autism have no learning delay, 50% have moderate to severe learning delay. Despite the different learning levels the things you are teaching have still to be delivered in a certain way.

Starting with my eldest, in supported living, he needs explanations and physical examples to learn new information. He has medium learning delay and cant learn by writing things down. Therefore he needs to see and experience things in order to take in the information. He couldn’t learn about the Battle of Hastings by sitting in class and listening, we took him to where it happened and he understood much better.

His first experience of death was with the taxi driver who took him to school with his brother. We went to their school to collect them, we sat them down and told them what had happened and what would happen after. My youngest ran away screaming and crying(he is also autistic and medium learning delay), my eldest shouted and lashed out. He announced that “ he was going to heaven and will beat up baby Jesus to get his driver back”

They understood the concept and had take in some religious studies they had done. Over the months after they begun to ask what had happened, why it happened and any other aspect they didn’t know. We drove past the drivers house a few times , they usually mentioned him. They also took a long time to accept the replacement driver they got, demanding the old driver back.

It took many months of explaining and giving examples to get them to understand a little more. My step dad died a few years after, then a neighbour and my grandmother. Although they died of health complications we stuck with age for 2 of them, the neighbour was in her twenties so we had to say she was poorly. They also begun to get the idea about their own mortality and that of us as parents.

My eldest is now at the stage where he sometimes wont talk about people that have died in case he upsets them. I always say its ok to talk if the person your talking to doesn’t mind. Hes therefore got the concept that it can be an upsetting time. When I took him out a few days ago he asked to visit his grandfathers grave. As it was my ex wife’s father he wasnt certain we would take him but I always will if able.

He took me too the grave and he calmly talked to his Bampy. He said “hello, I know its a bit strange to bring my dad. I hope your ok, will come and see you soon”

After that he calmly walked away and headed back to the car. As he was on holiday when he died he needed some explanations but he got the idea quite well. He will speak about people he has lost , always happy with things they did.

Meanwhile, my wife has autism but no learning delay, just the different processing system. She learnt the stages of dying by working with people who had dementia. I worked with her and I watched how she would process things, so I could help if needed. To work in that job you need to be a certain type of person, with the right attitude. You cant make favourites, you cant treat the residents as numbers, you need to be in-between. I learnt this from a number of deaths I had witnessed before.

You can usually predict with some accuracy when someone with dementia or alzheimer’s is near the end. As the brains come near the end they forget how to do the basics for life. The conditions destroy the brain in an initially random way at first, getting more predictable near the end. Most, not all, will become bed bound towards the end. A doctor will usually give end of life medication when the end is near. This doesn’t end their life but makes them comfy. They wont eat or be able to move as they decline, the meds help the pain.

As the decline carries on skin loses its elasticity, it will sink with gravity and become tight over the face. The person will look skeletal , also blood will start to pool on the base of the back , again taken by gravity. The end is now probably an hour away at most. Breathing will slow, a smell will come off that indicates the end and the person will then take a final deep breath before stopping.

This isn’t the way for all alzheimers or dementia patients, but is for those that become bedbound. On the evening one of my wife’s favourites became close to the obvious end. She was wrongly sent to be with her, she died later that evening with my wife there alone. I arrived in the building soon after and was told where she was. She was worrying about what clothes the lady should be in for her funeral, worried about what she had seen and was completely overloaded.

I grabbed her in a bear hug and she broke down. Exactly what I know she needed in order to calm a little. She had been forced to learn the stages I mentioned earlier, a good lesson but not aged 19 with undiagnosed Autism. I had a similar aged carer a while after and she also learned the best way of dealing with death. Unfortunately the people admitted to our house weren’t going to leave the home alive.

It also meant we had to be professional and deal with families. Some arrived soon after while some were there at the end. In one case a while after a nurse called me in to a patients room for a second opinion. She had been told this mans son had asked to be there when his dad died, the problem was he lived 45 minutes away. I looked for the signs I listed before, felt his skin and told her to call the son. The man died 10 minutes after the son had arrived.

I once requested the chance to prepare a lady that had just died for her family to visit. Initially on my own and then with help we got her ready. We changed her clothing and bedding, cleaned her and tidied the room. It was something I wanted to do so I could add experience and as something I thought I needed to do. You can also add that I had helped the lady into bed an hour before she died, so this was a completed process.

My wife learned to harden up a little towards death, to accept it and to be able to process it. I had got to the stage she was at in stages, seeing people in coffins at funeral homes and after they died in care locations. Its hard but its the best way to cope, especially if a number died in a short period. Always remember the ones you got on with but accept they will pass away at some stage.

I would say its better to have some idea of death for everyone, Autistic or not. It will be experienced at some stage and people will stop being there. My eldest’s best friend when 7 years old had a progressive disease that started to kill his muscles. He moved to another school and died a few months later. We decided to tell him what had happened, he had seen him get sicker so understood what was going on.

I have told people their partner of 50 plus years has died, my son his taxi driver had died and my ex wife her nan had died. Its never easy but is always the right thing to do. If you don’t tell someone then the lie will have to go on and on, you will be found out eventually. Whoever needs to be told , should be told in the way they understand best. If there is Autism and/or learning delay involved it may take longer. It will all take as long as it takes, even if weeks or months.

It comes to us all, it doesn’t need to be a surprise.

A few months ago a fairly well known British actor posted on X about a tv show he was making. It was a show about the benefits of fully electric cars. i commented that they weren’t work for me, I believed the distance they cover before needing a re charge would make driving to holiday too long. Within minutes the actor replied, he showed I was out of date with info and he showed me some links. I apologised and took note of the information he gave me. He knew more about the subject so I took my lead from him.

I have 37 years experience with people with Autism and learning delay, both my children and 16 years of work include this area. I am qualified to first year degree level, with numerous inhouse training as well. Yet if I try and debate in substack or social media I am a paid liar, working for big pharma or the government. In the last week I have been called brain damaged, moron and trascender( yes, that’s the spelling used). They never give an indication of experience or learning, but still they are always right.

The one who called me brain damaged wanted to prove me wrong using a 5hour MAHA video. If you use that as your source you instantly lose and credibility. Even when MAHA has been proved wrong so many times its still used as proof. From chemtrails to vaccines, too many people trust the bullshit and not enough the people who know what they are talking about.

There are a couple of people I follow in x, both trained doctors, one with multiple doctorates. Still they get more abuse than anything else, whatever it is they say. They are apparently liars, shills or being paid to lie. Because the trolls don’t like one source they decide that every source like that is wrong. MAHA deciding you shouldn’t trust experts was one of its stupidest policies , unfortunately too many agreed.

I know that many of the trolls that post stupid health information are foreign trolls, I am never sure if they are the ones replying to others though. I came into substack to partly escape the worst trolls, except they are now active in here. They are happily allowed to share lies and dangerous ideas. From starving can make you healthy to vaccines kill you through to zinc and vitamin C cures hantavirus.

The posts presumably have a similar effect to phishing emails, most people know they are wrong but a handful still believe them. Certain people call themselves doctors, which means to many they must be real and truthful. Even when you point out that many are banned from working in health due to their dangerous views, that means they were brave enough to speak out. If you point out that they may be a doctor, but in a different field, that also doesn’t matter.

It makes me wonder if the trolls went to school and argued with everything the teacher told them. Did they do a biology class and argue against how humans develop, in history did they deny there were 2 wars? Thankfully I have blocked much of the worst trolls, but some do appear if you dare disagree.

The battle cry of the troll remains “ do your own research” .The fact that in many cases ,thousands of much more qualified people have done this doesn’t apply. If you share 10 links to a subject, they will dismiss your sources and post their link to one discredited source. The more you post, the more they post, I once had something written by an American DJ given as proof of the source of Covid.

One of the reasons I block so many trolls now is that its hard to tell the limited sarcastic people from the trolls. I find myself arguing with the ones that agree with me, I get into too many arguments with the ones that deserve it. I tend to think I have won an argument when they begin to use abuse rather than debate. Unfortunately a few start with abuse and go from there.

Still waiting for the explanation of being called “transcender”, I know what he meant but have never had it as an insult. Though I keep being called female despite my grey beard in my photo.

Your on social media, a friend pops up, has a chat and starts to talk about a way he’s found to make money. He mentions how he found out about it, how much profit he makes and asks you if you want to try it. He shows you a link, asks you to click and then enter some details. You think that as its a friend suggesting it to you then it must be real.

What you don’t know is that your friend has had their social media accounts hacked, now they take over the conversations of your friend. They have access to all the persons friends so can often have details of hundreds. Also they can look for details of all the people they want to contact. That way they can start conversations , using details that makes them seem for real.

The hacker can have the same conversation with as many friends as he likes, using the same story to each. If you click on the link and confirm your details , there will be a request to invest some money for a quick return. A return , that of course never comes. The hacker now has your money, your account details and the email you use on your social media. Then he contacts all your friends and expands the con a bit further. I have around a thousand friends, they have friends, the friends have friends.

When you realise that its all a con you decide to warn your friends, small problem is that you no longer have contact as you have been locked out of all your social media. With my thousand friends, nearly every one is only contactable via social media. Your friends and family now believe that your telling them about this wonderful investment scheme. Even a tiny amount of people being persuaded makes it worthwhile for crooks.

Unfortunately this could lead to distrust among family and friends, something that could prove positive in the end. It might make you all a little more careful in the future. Also, there’s a chance the person trying to sell you the idea has been conned themselves. Being the block could save family and friends a fortune.

There are plenty of things that you can do in order to stop or slow down hackers.

1/Make all passwords unique and hard to guess. Use a password that’s is near the limit in size and make it only for one account. Maybe use 3 unique words and add numbers and a special character.

2. where possible use 2 step authentication to protect your accounts. It might mean a password and then the site sending you a code to type in before you get into the site.

3. Don’t trust the advice of one person without doing some checking yourself. Maybe say you cant afford it at present but will look for the future. You might end up saving yourself and them money.

4. Always report and attempts made on your accounts or anytime you lose money, to the police if a money loss happens.

5. If you have been conned or if someone tried to con you report it and include friends and family. The more people that are warned the more that shouldn’t get caught out.

6. If you get an official warning that someone has tried to access an account , change the passwords. Its recommended that you should change passwords every few months anyway.

7. Consider having more than one email address linked to social media, then a hack will have limited affect.

8. If it seems to good to be true then it probably is. If its a company you haven’t heard off then beware. If its so good a deal then more would be doing it.

Unfortunately scams have progressed from getting emails saying a random person has left millions in their will. Though these cons still happen, hopefully most peoples scam email folders will identify them. Don’t open any emails in your spam folders unless you are a thousand per cent sure they are real and safe. Its better to miss out rather than get conned.

The time with covid/long covid/fibro is now 5 and a half years. On top I have to keep an eye on slightly elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol. There is also the breathing problems that have been named Asthma until recently. The breathing specialist thinks I haven’t been breathing properly and need to relearn.

I have had chest pain since the start and he thinks I have stopped breathing deeply to avoid extra pain. Its possible, I now lie flat in bed and watch how much my chest rises and falls per breath. Its strangely harder to breath normally than it is to half breathe. Unless I focus I breathe only properly into the top of my chest, meaning lungs aren’t getting their full supply.

Of course , this leads to muscle pain as my neck and shoulder muscles try and pull in more air. With the constant pain I can miss things that are separate from the Fibro. Any new pain can be dismissed as Fibro and if anything is new I can decide its more of the usual pain. Also when it is fibro caused pain then there’s a fair chance its false pain and there’s nothing I can do to treat it. So, as I type I am taking exaggerated deep breaths, which will hopefully help release the pain .

Now is the time to start considering some degree of work. I can survive for another 6 months at least but don’t want to run out and then look. I am looking at training to be a driving instructor, roughly 6 months training and then a well paid job should come next. As I get a monthly pension and my body wont allow it, i will do limited hours. The hourly rate is high enough that around 7 hours works covers the franchise fees, the rest is profit after tax.

It is a difficult training regime, a possibly stressful job, nothing I haven’t done before. I have been driving on a full licence for 35 years, so may have learnt some bad habits. The UK method for new drivers is an exam, hazard perception test and finally a 60 minute driving test. Mine took 35 minutes and included no other tests. Modern drivers can be tested on certain parts of the engine, using sat navs and a far more in-depth driving test. I would need to teach people up to that standard, after teaching it to myself and after being tested .

Sitting for hours in a car isn’t something I will look forward to. Then again I hurt in an armchair or while lying down, so may as well earn at the same time. I have looked for things I can do from the seat I presently sit in, but no luck as yet.

To keep me a little entertained I have an interview with a charity that supports children and adults with extra care needs. Its something I have done in varying degrees for 37 years and don’t want to waste the experience. It will only be a few hours a so maybe can do alongside the driving instructor work.

I am quite happy attempting to lie in, to nap as required and to plan my day as I go along. That was always going to be temporary though, so maybe now is the time to make a few quid while body and brain allows me to. If it works I will do it for a few years, then maybe take my other pensions and retire properly. I stopped work 7 months a go and I haven’t missed it. By the time the instructor training is done it will be around a year retired.

Its very hot in the UK at present, so for the last few days I am happy to be now where any work. Happy mainlining ice lollies and bottles of water. As its the uk it wont last too long, probably thunder storms soon. Every time we get a few hot days, the next few are very wet. It would be nice to settle on one temperature range and stick to it. Not as hot as it has been, low 20s would be good. A present the 35c we had recently comes a few months after -7c. It probably explains how the roads are falling apart.

When I visited Canada a few years ago , we went to a free open air concert above Niagara Falls. It was minus 10c and the windchill took it to minus 20c, that is defiantly too low. Although , unlike the UK , pretty much everything carried on normally. Snow drifts, constant below zero weather and chill winds were manfully fought against. Many people we past had their own mini snow plows, otherwise they had snow shovels and cleared the streets.

So that’s the news so far, back to sunbathing before it rains.

Anyone who reads a few of my posts may have noticed a sharp change recently. My wife decided she wanted to go to Florida for her up coming big birthday. After hearing that our social media posts could be scrutinised, I decided to lay off the pieces about the slightly Paranoid president. Its been good to right different things and not focus where most of my pieces had been.

Then I thought that maybe that’s the best way to act. It would bankrupt substackers, social media and the American news and tv media. Just don’t post about him, comment or write about him. Even for a day might help, nobody show up for a press briefing, nobody shout questions as he buggers off to Florida yet again. This would be easier if American wasn’t so one sided, either for or against, never neutral.

He loves the attention, he loves bad attention nearly as much. He loves to justify his decisions, whatever there legality or logic. If he’s been found out he loves abusing female journalists or blaming someone else. He exists for the attention and adoration from fans and party supporters. He likes to be admired for threatening countries, starting illegal wars and abducting foreign leaders.

He appears to live in a parallel world much of the time, one where grocery’s are affordable, old diseases aren’t coming back, where you don’t need a bank loan to fill your fuel tank. Stop talking about either, let him dream and think he’s doing well. Nod, pretend to agree and then go and look for the grownups.

Its been said that when his fathers dementia took hold that a fake office was built for him. It allowed him to think he was in control and still making decisions for his businesses. In fact they were being run from another location by the executives. This seems a perfect like father, like son time.

A few years ago a British political party hired a team of advertisers who intentionally designed bizarre and hard to understand marketing materials. Buzz words that meant nothing, posters where the images were confusing and numerous bizarre online social media posts. The idea was that people would dig deeper to see what the message were supposed to mean.

The plan relied on people wondering if they meant that spelling mistake or the incoherent sentence. It seemed to work and to draw people to the party in question. A variation on Steve Bannon’s flood the zone, with this you had to wade through the crap to find the real ideas.

And of course more people reding or watching a certain subject means the media will keep showing it. Threatening journalists and making up information will get more eyes than an actual coherent policy. In the UK I haven’t seen many actual policy’s for this reason, illegal wars and fuel rises are the main theme.

Possibly I am giving him too much credit, maybe there are no hidden works of art and everything is him signing random bits of paper with his big felt pen. Maybe he’s getting the attention he wants and its all by accident. I am not sure anyone around him has much idea on media control either, even those who have more media experience than government.

Maybe if he wasn’t reported on or quoted he might try some sensible things to get the attention back. At the moment its a perpetual doom loop, he says something mad, tv repeats it, he believes its real because its on tv. I do wonder if there is a disconnect between him and the tv, there have been a few occasions where policies have come from tv shows he was watching the previous day.

Yes this is a wild dream, but it would be great if it could happen, just for a day. Maybe the day before the birthday celebrations or the day before the mid terms. Let him shout and moan as much as he likes, then don’t report any of it for 24 hours. Better still the blank day can be a reset, the day after start reporting news only from that day onwards.

I hope I got away with not saying any names.

The boys is loud, brash, ultra violent, series bad taste, dodgy jokes and the best thing I have watched in years. Now I have watched the last episode planned, what next.

I like my super hero’s dark, brutal and anti hero. This series has all that and more, especially if you watch the Gen V spin off. The majority of younger supes have 1 0r 2 abilities, many which appear pointless. Though some get used for different things, some worse than others. One has a Tardis type rectum where he can hide people, one can switch between being a man or woman at will. There’s one whose ability is to get old slowly, one has fire proof hair and another has acid laced vomit. The problem for him is that his body still reacts to the acid.

The ones with the best combination of skills end up as part of the hierarchy, founded by a dodgy conglomerate. At first they attempt to do good, but soon they are all in it for themselves. In fighting , abusing each other, occasionally killing each other and basically not being super. At the heart of the series is the main super hero, home lander. A egomaniac, without a conscious, dominates all others, deluded, believes he’s god and utterly evil.

As you can see home lander has strange, blonde hair and a god complex. No ideas if he was created in 2006 to resemble anyone. As the program has gone on the satire on American politics has ramped up in every series. In fact , in the last couple of series you can see where almost every phrase and action is repeated in the real world. If you like things dark, people exploding and dodgy superhero’s this is for you.

Another much loved series from a while back was the umbrella academy. Slightly less violence, less super hero’s but still rivals. Some ultra violence but left often, plenty of fighting and a lot of time travel. Skills include not getting any older and one who can convince people to do whatever she says, even if it means killing themselves. Well worth a watch, but like with The Boys, very hard to explain to anyone.

Much better known is the Deadpool films(not the Clint Eastwood one). Anti hero, trying to do good but often failing. Some extreme violence , lots 4th wall breaking and very funny.

Best known of all would be the long batman film series. All groups very different, and very different quality’s. The Dark knight trilogy are easily the best of them all. Christian Bale in the title role, perfect for a bleak tale such as this. Not anything like previous films, which have leant towards the tv series. All bright and shiny, just no story.

Even if you don’t want to see all the film look in utube for Heath Ledger as the joker. His performance was so frightening that Micheal Caine forgot his lines in one scene. He rightly won a posthumous Oscar for his performance, stealing the whole show. He tragically died from an accidental drug over dose, aged only 28.

Which doesn’t help me, i have told you what I love. Now I need suggestions for the next thing. I am making do with good omens at the present, great but not violent enough. Love the imagery and the good versus evil storyline, although often they help each other. I wont give too much away , but in the first episode of the latest series heaven loses someone very important.

If anyone has any ideas please pass the on. I have all UK channels, Netflix and amazon. Maybe not something ultra violent, weird and a little bit violent will do. ty.

firstly, I wont complain about any person that has a religious belief, whether born again or long standing. I will bite back at anyone that uses a bible, or other religious tract , to prove religion beats science.

I went to a church based school until I was 12, then with senior school came science and logic. I started to realise that penguins and polar bears didn’t hear about a boat they needed to be on, so walked thousands of miles across many lands and deserts.

Hello Mr inn keeper, I would like a table for myself and 12 disciples. Ok, so a table for 13 then. No thanks, a table for 26 so we can all sit on the same side.

This a common deception of Adam and Eve, apparently they were the first humans to ever appear on earth. Small problem with that, where did the belly buttons come from?

Granted these are some basic examples of religion versus fact, but there are plenty more beside. Evolution versus creation is one of the biggest, and where science has a large amount of its factual back up.

Evolution

This is scientific theory about how all living things came into existence and how they developed. This is possible with a time line and also location due to scientific testing. By studying bones and any hair avaidible science can calculate when they lived, what they eat and occasionally how they died.

It shows the process has taken billions of years to reach this point, provable by carbon dating. Its theories include natural selection, its where an organism adapts to its surrounding in its next generation. Maybe surviving on less food or coping with higher temperatures.

Creation

This is a philosophical and religious based theory. Theories that many religions have a version of within their beliefs. The theory says that everything was designed by a deity or intelligent designer. Everything was designed and planned, generally all arriving at the same time.

Versions of this include

Young earth creationism

This theory takes certain religious tracts literally, deciding the Earth is between 6,000 and 10,000 years old.

Old Earth Creationism

This version borrows part from each, science made the Earth when it said it did but religion made what was on it.

Intelligent design

This uses a common response from religious people for anything they don’t understand, its complicated so out deity did it.

using the bible or any other religious writing as basis for facts wont work for one major reason, you would need to be able to either prove or replicate what your trying to prove. If you boil water at sea level it boils at 100c, that is proved millions of time every hour of every day. Being able to walk on water is replicated by a couple of magicians.

The bible was written over a span of roughly 1500 years, by around 40 different people. It was started well before the Jesus figure is said to have existed. In fact the old testament was said to have been started 1400 years before Christ. So many people wrote so many parts over such a long time its hard to tie down what bit happened when. The old testament doesn’t use the name Jesus but is said to predict his appearance.

Another trait of many religions is to interpret what’s written and decide what it means. This is something you cant do with science and facts.

As said by among others Ricky Gervais, destroy all religious books and all science books. Come back in a thousand years and you could rewrite all science books as facts remain so, religion is a belief system. Also anything that’s changed or developed in the mean time can be added and explained. If theres a new discovery or change to a scientific fact the change can be explained in detail.

This why there are many tests and experiments done that end up proving what science already new. It happens to prove previous testing and to beware of changes, especially ones that might affect other areas. For examples after identifying the Covid virus , science kept testing and testing to make sure. When new strains or variants were detected the vaccines and treatments were changed accordingly.

If you want to accept Jonah being swallowed by a whale” even though its impossible as their throats are too small, then please carry on. Just don’t say people cant do something or say something because the bible says no. Equally don’t tell people what to do because the bible says so. If a man wants to have a romantic association with another man, so what. If a man wants a sex change to a woman, what’s it got to do with anyone else.

The biggest problem is when religion is used to pass laws. Abortion isn’t condemned or explicitly mentioned in the Bible. Its only when followers interpret what they think it says and uses that for facts.

In America abortion is controlled at a local state level. After Roe vs Wade was over turned the legislation changed. Some states have almost totally banned it, even for pregnancy from incest or rape. Some states ban it after 6 weeks of pregnancy, when many women wouldn’t know they were program. This has led to confusion, anguish and anger. Women are scared to go to medical facilities, doctors are scared to help and the courts are full. So if a 14 year old was raped and fell pregnant, in many states she would have to legally carry the child full term.

This is mostly because America sells itself as a Christian country and wants to appeal to followers, even if the law is dangerous and unwarranted. Try 1 fair law, send it to everyone and above all include women in the discussion. Don’t let preachers and church leaders tell you what the laws should be. Use facts, discussion and reality, dont use a book thrown together over many years to decide peoples lives.

Science is fact, religion is belief.

I asked the substack AI to give me a picture of AI, this is one of the pictures it chose. AI is everywhere but its not time to panic, not yet anyway. There are many hurdles to cross before it becomes what some people think it will become;

1. AI servers work at very temperatures, needing a form of cooling at all time. The plus is that they can be used to heat buildings, the minus is that most of the worlds water will be needed if the servers keep multiplying. Elon Musk plans to send servers into space in order to cool them.

   Some methods use heat transfer away from the processer, some use liquid cooling and some use a combination.

   There is also a massive amount of carbon monoxide involved in training AI systems.

2. Its still learning, often breaking copyright to do so. It scrapes information in order to provide answers. It is known to take information from books, music and art. Legal arguments could slow down the uptake of information or reduce the information being held.

3. It could also be open to abuse and leave data avaidible to hackers. There are plenty of ways to make search engines choose your site, if that hasn’t happened yet Im sure it soon will. In the future it could skew the results it gives, a political leaning for example. When Musk removed safety controls from his Grok AI it soon started praising Hitler and allowed users to produce naked photos of both adults and children.

4. if its brought into workplaces it will almost certainly cost jobs, or at best force retraining. there are some jobs that will only work with adults but some may incorporate humans and AI. It has the positive of being able to study medical results better then humans, but doesn’t have the capacity to allow for considering options or offering a soloution.

5. Its being used for bad reasons , more than for good at present. It can create conversations where both people aren’t involved. Its been used in politics to try and give a person an unfair and untrue taint on them. Equally it can write books and make music using data from real performers and writers. Just say you want a song that sounds like ……. and it will create it. In fact there are a couple of popular and well listened to bands that are totally AI.

6. Also beware of almost any pictures you find in social media. Many will be faked or altered to fit the users ideals. After the Renee Goode killing by ice agents there were AI photos showing her as guilty. The photos were faked and then shared by people who wanted to believe the faked images.

7. With a large amount of mistrust and dislike there will be problems if AI gets used more. people may decide a genuine photo is fake for example. If you share data it can be dismissed as fake, equally false data can be believed.

8. Its still learning, its basically a newer version of a search engine like google. It looks for existing information and uses it to give the interested party. Unlike a search engine it produces an answer based on what it finds.

   

   I asked for an AI server picture, the robot is nothing to do with me. I look for jobs often, mostly home based. Every day there are adverts for people to train various AI systems. The job depends on your qualifications, then you have AI conversations and look over what the AI then produces.

   At present I do my best to avoid using it unless I cant find a way without it. AI wants to write my emails and fill in my birthday cards, things I can still do.

   I know if I switch on a streaming service the AI is what shows me programs I might like. I will accept it, train it possibly but I wont embrace it outside where it works best. Checking medical tests is one area it helps. It works faster, with no distractions and similar accuracy. It lacks a doctors eye that can see something developing or a different condition the AI wasn’t looking for.

   I was tempted to ask AI to write a piece on what’s wrong with AI, it might make it explode if I did.

   A friends washing machine puts a note on the tv to say the washings finished. Fridges can tell you when your short of something, my wife’s tooth brush says the areas she’s cleaned properly. All AI based and about as much as we need at present. In order to double the power of AI would presently take the processing power of every computer on earth. Plus you need cooling, storage and components. All still a way off.

In case you were wondering, the above is known as Tommy Robinson. I phrase it like that as its not his name, on various court papers it says Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Presumably he changed it to a stage name to sound more English, or maybe to try and hide his past. He is a racists, agitator with the skills of a snake oil salesman. He gathers people together to protest things, whether they actually believe in the cause or not. many are there to get drunk and look hard in their union jack everything.

He is often described as a far right, Islamophobic activist, though he likes to claim to be a journalist. His journalism has led to jail time and abuse of innocent people he has slandered. Once he gets arrested he begs his followers for money to fund his court costs, then he pleads guilty and pockets the donations.

Officially a member of the EDL(English defence league) he was previously a member of the BNP( British national party), a British fascist party, from 2004til 2005.In 2012 he briefly chaired the British freedom party. He also in this time started making videos of his own content and advised others on his ideology.

Included in his videos are ones targeting grooming gangs. Included in these are proven defamatory lies against certain people. This has led to some of his 5 prison terms between 2005 and 2025. Other visits to jail have been for assault, threats, harassment and fraud, also contempt of court regarding the grooming gang videos. He was declared bankrupt in March 2021 and he also owed £160,000 to the tax man. In august 2024 The Times reported that he had debts of around £2 million. Probably explains his constant begging to his disciples.

In 2012 he was caught on a faked passport when arriving in America. As he was already banned from entry he used a different passport to get round the ban. He was finger printed and found not to be who his passport claimed. For this he was given a 10 month sentence once back in the UK.

What he fails to mention is that his Irish mother was an immigrant, also in his original status as Yaxley-Lennon he can have an Irish passport. In2021 he threatened the husband of a journalist that told him she would expose his dodgy dealings with donations from supporters. Even after being arrested over the incident he posted pictures of the husband on line and claimed there may be something dodgy about him. This wasn’t the last time he used threats or harassment in order to try and stop reports on his dodgy dealings.

i could write 3,000 words and still only cover his court dealings and legal travails. I would then only cover half, so will end this bit with one of his most famous crimes.

In 2017 he was charged with contempt of court after filming defendants in a grooming gang trial and posting pictures on line. He labelled them muslim child rapists , while the jury were still debating. Judge shot down his claims of free speech, journalism or freedom of the press, it was actions that could have ended the trial. He received a suspended sentence, which he triggered the next time he committed contempt.

Now onto yesterdays hate march. He and his friends like to claim millions attend, the figure is usually near thousands rather than millions, A few dodgy far right celebrities join him on stage and share his deluded views with the not very masses. Flags everywhere, union jacks on the clothing and a few playing dress up as St George. Who was probably a soldier in the Roman Army, he is the patron saint of 10 countries , including England. There are many stories about him and his life, many saying that as well as being not English he also never set foot here.

The marches yesterday have so far led to 43 rests and a bill for £4.5 million for police cover. As usually happens multiple marches happen at the same time, helping the false claims of millions attending. There was a march that was pro Palestine, and other smaller groups. There were 4,000 officers deployed to try and keep order, some from as far away as Wales. Included in the crowds were anti-racism campaigners, who appear at all of these type of rally’s.

There was a little controversy before hand , certain speakers were refused entry to the uk in order to join the protest. Also, he claimed he couldn’t find funding to cover the march so got money from America. Elon Musk is a fan but hasn’t said if it was his money. Robinson though did claim Musk was behind the funding.

Robinsons speech to the rabid crowd included mention of “prepare for the battle of Britain”. The crowd was estimated by police to be no more than 160,000, not the millions claimed. They lie about the figures to imply millions must agree with what he says. He rallied followers to go into politics in time for the 2029 general election in the UK. Some members distributed a leaflet with “ a future for white people” on it.

The key to his protests is to blame immigrants for everything and to demand forced reimmigration. for some this means all immigrants, for some its immigrants and all dark skinned people. It doesn’t matter to them that many are born here, they want a whites only country. Although kicking out all immigrants will mean many thousands of white skinned people.

Logic isn’t there strong point, our national health service is chronically under staffed and under funded, yet they want to remove around 325,000 staff who are here legally. Mention that fact and they will say white people will do the jobs. How these white people will replace staff with years of experience and qualifications isn’t answered. Mention that around half a million UK white people move abroad each year, so should they be forced home?

Some seem stuck in the late 19th and early 20th when UK ruled the world with its commonwealth . This was long ago and doesn’t apply now. We are no longer superior to anyone, we are an isolated island that needs immigrants to exist and thrive. Reimmigration is not the answer to anything , it would mean somewhere between 600,00 and 2 million being forced out. It depends on how extreme the policy would be to judge numbers.

The Reform party want to get rid off 600,000 if they get into power. How they will replace staff is vague at best, as with the health service they expect people to be instantly qualified. As many immigrants do jobs the natives wont do , how will they replace them. There would be an instant need for doctors, surgeons, cleaner, shop staff and so much more.

The usual claims are they immigrants are all serial criminals, sex offenders and so much more. While this is true for a small amount they are no worse than everyone else. The far right target hotels where immigrants wait to be processed, they tell lies about people to trigger protests and generally cause as much trouble as possible. In fact the percentage of immigrants involved in sexual offences in the UK is around 15%.

At the end of the chaos, Robinson without a hint of irony , returns to foreign climes where he lives. He has been seen living in Greece and Spain, presumably paid for by the mugs who thought they were funding his court fees. It is claimed he is worth between 1 and 2 million pounds. He claims he is a journalist but he seems not to have any other income stream.

In summary he is a dangerous, racist chancer. He is a thug leading sycophants, taking money from America to fund hate marches. He lies, cheats and breaks the law for fun, he represents a tiny amount of equally racist thugs. He doesn’t represent the Uk or any other country, he blames everyone else for everything that happens. He claims UK has an immigrant crisis whilst being an immigrant himself. Again , Logic fails.

If you got your information from social media or certain people you might think vaccines are going to kill you or hurt you. A certain few will claim they reprogram you, alter your body or have a chip in them so you can be tracked. The best response to these claims is to apply logic and ask “Why?”. Why are evil pharma giving you vaccines that kill you if their evil for making so much money? Surely the longer you live the more you will spend on their products?

Unfortunately logic doesn’t tend to work with anti-vaxxers. If you don’t agree with them either your being paid or as one said yesterday I must be vaccine injured. There are a few of their number who post lies in social media in order to get people to respond, although engagement farming is against x policy. The scary ones are the few that believe what they get told and abuse anyone that disagrees. One person told me in here that women that have vaccines produce green slime rather than milk for example.

The same person said I was wrong about vaccines not causing Autism. I have 36 years experience in the subject, she tried to prove her point with a 5 hour MAHA video. Using RFK to try and prove any points is beyond desperate. Someone who mainlined heroin for years doesn’t want us putting dangerous chemicals in us.

Another method used in order to try and prove their points is to use someone calling themselves a doctor. When you discover they have been banned from practising its because they were so brave to say things no one else did. So again 1 person is right and thousands aren’t, wether its the covid vaxx or Autism.

Science is biased and paid for by big pharama , is another standard argument. If you mention that there are around 200 countries in the world , so any conspiracy would include all scientist and doctors from all those countries. Again logic fails, its a conspiracy because they say it is. The microchip in the covid vaccine was surely the stupidest claim of all, no logic in the whole fairy-tale. Ask why Bill Gates would want to track you, still no answer given that fits the claims.

Vaccines-the beginning

Vaccines have saved 6 lives, every single minute since 1974. I should be able to finish with that fact but know it wont be enough. The number saved includes 101 million under 5. Vaccines are believed to be responsible for a 40% reduction in child mortality. Before the usual responses come, clean water and better conditions of living worked with vaccines, not on their own.

Before vaccines there was little to prevent against infectious diseases. In the 18th century small pox was consuming Europe, there was no cure and a death rate of between 10-30%. Early attempts to protect people in Asia, where smallpox started, was a technique called variolation. Small pox scabs were ground into a powder and blown in to peoples noses. This reduced mortality in those that went on to contract small pox by 1-2%.

By 1713 English doctors had learned about this practise but weren’t convinced the outcome was worth the risk. It took persuasion from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu for them to try it, after she had witnessed its practice. At this stage British medical practise was to inset pus or scabs into the patient with a needle. The added risk was that people could spread small pox still, also they could still die if they contract it.

Edward Jenner is given credit for the first successful small pox vaccine. He used small pox bacteria to inject 8 year old James Phipps. By 1853 having the smallpox vaccine was mandatory for all children in their first 3 months. Anti vaxxers existed even then, claiming the vaccines could change children into cows or give them cow parts.

In 1879 Louis Pasteur , while studying chicken cholera, discovered that weakened bacteria caused only a mild illness and a long term resistance against serious illness. He developed a vaccine for anthrax and a post exposure rabies vaccine. Studies elsewhere led to vaccines for diphtheria, plague and Typhus. Over times the vaccines were tested, refined and improved manufacturing was discovered.

Flu 1918-19

The killer flu was believed to have emanated from the American army base, Fort Riley. As the war was beginning and the USA was joining soldiers were sent overseas, ignoring military advice. The spreading caused by the troop movement killed between 20 and 50 million globally. The flu in fact killed more than the war itself. Patients filled hospitals and were even treated in mass wards created in warehouses. It took till 1933 before the influenza flu virus was successfully isolated. Studies allowed American researcher s, Thomas Francis jr and jonas Salk to create a vaccine. Realising this wasn’t the total package for stopping flu a vaccine was later created for the flu a strain.

Salk later developed the polio vaccine, US Cases went from 58,000 to 61.

Vaccines for all- NHS uk

The NHS was started in the UK in 1948. The nation wide service allowed mass mass vaccination to take part. The BCG vaccine was first, massively reducing infectious diseases. In 1901 36.2% of all deaths were from infectious diseases. With children this percentage was 51.5%. By 2000 the figures were 11.6% of all deaths were caused by infection, only 7.4% with children. In 1967 the world health organisation announced a plan to end small pox , this was achieved by 1980. In 1960s vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella arrived. These 3 were later combined to create the MMR vaccine.

Autism

I realise I am jumping forward a bit but want the anti vaxxers to keep reading. So I have jumped to one of their favourite conspiracies. Although they dont care , I should add my credentials at this point. I have worked with Autism for 36 years, it affects both my children and was the focus of the last 7 years of my working life.

It is a life long condition with no cure, it affects social communication, routine preference and how they see the world. Around a quarter have no additional learning delay, half have moderate to severe delay, a quarter need 24 hour support for all aspects of their life.

First things first, its not caused by vaccines, bad parenting or the child pretending. Every person with Autism was born with it. Almost every case is genetic, a very small grouping could be caused by complications at birth or be down to parental age. There isn’t a massive increase of people with Autism, there’s an increase of people being diagnosed. This increase is down to better testing and an increase of adults being diagnosed.

The only scientific paper to show different was created and fabricated by an English doctor, whose name I never use. Much like RFK, he had decided the answer and fitted the research to fit the bias. He created a link by fabricating evidence and lying about test results. He lost his medical licence, he can now be found in America, spreading the same lies.

Covid

Covid was the anti vaxxers wet dream, a chance to spread bull shit by the shovel full. Covid is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus Sars-cov-2. The disease spread world wide from the start of 2020, by march it was declared a global health emergency, this lasted as an emergency for 3 years. It can be a serious or life threatening condition still for some people. The vaccinations are given to those groups most at risk. It will reduce the risk of severe symptoms, help you recover quicker, reduce the risk of hospital, reduce risk of dying and will work against a number of variations.

Misinformation and lies were quickly rampant about the virus and the vaccine. From having a microchip injected to it altering your DNA. Other false claims include risks of death, risks of infertility, getting magnetic and the virus being invented so health companies could make money dealing with it.

These lies stemmed from social media, low trust in politicians and an existing belief in conspracys’s. This in turn has led to vaccines not being taken and more people dying as a result. This is similar to new cases of measles in America, with parents wrongly believing there was a risk from vaccines. It also doesn’t help when the president joins in , saying there were 72 vaccines and the first ones should be spread out.

In reality after a covid vaccine a few people will have a small fever or a sore arm. This usually lasts a few days at most. Very rare side effects can include myocarditis/pericarditis, anaphylaxis, blood clotting and Guilliam-Barre syndrome.

The heart problems are usually found in younger men, nearly every case will pass with bed rest .The condition is rare and occurs roughly 1 in 10,000 cases. Anaphylaxis will usually happen straight after an injection and it will be treated immediately.

Myocarditis occurs less for people with the covid vaccine than Covid itself. Covid can also cause strokes and heart attacks, something the vaccine would prevent. covid has killed millions, the vaccine saved millions, that should be easily accepted with a tiny amount of research. As long as you avoid social media and RFK to do this.

In summary

Vaccines are safe, catching what they prevent isn’t. Deaths have been recorded in the states where the governments confused vaccine policy put some people off. Vaccine hesitancy around the world cost lives when covid was at its height, many choosing to believe rumours and x posts rather than health experts. American anti vaxxers have decided its all down to Fauci and Gates, obviously with no valid proof.

You don’t take your car for repair at the butchers, you go to a garage.

Don’t get vaccine and health advice from social media, go to a doctor.

Experts are called experts for a reason, they know what they are talking about.

Nurses and doctors that are struck off isn’t because they were brave, its because they lie.

If I offered you a million sweets and told you one might make you ill what would you do, that’s the risk from the Covid vaccine.

Here I am, still retired but considering a little bit of work to top up the money left. The money has gone down, paying off the car loan and a few holidays have dropped it a fair way. One normal holiday coming up in a few weeks, one massive experience holiday coming up early next year. That will be the end of big spends for a while hopefully, unless I work a little.

Ideal would be doing a job sitting where I am while writing this. As ever when I have looked for work there’s always a downside to most of them. Qualifications I haven’t got, locations I cant reach or parts that my body cant complete. There are a couple of freelance things I have applied to, mainly training AI how to speak properly.

AI is still miles off being as scary as some like to make out. If it was dangerous it would know how to learn independently and think independtdly.

I asked the substack AI feature to show a picture of children at school. The kid on the left appears to be writing on the one in the middle. The right arm of the middle kid disappears in to the kid on the left. Another way to check AI photos is to count arms and legs of any people, I have often tried to create a unique photo. The one I used recently was a group of kids sitting on a floor, facing a teacher in school. If you counted there were more legs than the children needed, strangely there was one arm to few.

This teaching depends on qualification level, at what level you can get AI to count and to scrape information from the right sources. So, the next step might be to become a driving instructor. Training is long and fairly expensive but there is a fair bit of money possible at the end. Its just can I sit in a car that long, day after day.

I can actually carry on a good few months before it becomes more necessary to earn a little. It would be nice to be in control and to earn a bit with a self employed job where I dictate the hours and therefore the income. I would rent a car through who ever I worked with and then run my own franchise. Its a definite possibility, will see what else pops up.

If only people joined my site in here and gave me loads of money. I had hoped to make a few pounds in here but it hasn’t happened yet. Will still keep trying and will keep trying to work out what sort of content makes people part with their hard earned pennies.

In other news my Fibromyalgia remains a pain in the everywhere. Still giving me the game of what’s going to hurt today. At time of writing most parts hurt and to help I am going to the gym later. It could make things worse or not cause anything. I will play it by pain and see how much I can manage before I start crying with pain. I have been given a list of things to do but it depends how much my body will allow.

In other news I am finding it hard to do all the things I want to do each day, I have no idea how I ever had time to work. Granted writing in here takes time, depending on piece length and if I have to do research . Yesterdays piece was touching 2,000 words so took a bit longer than usual. I have also fallen behind with the online taster college courses I try and do. I have even started the book I keep trying to write again.

The idea of retiring was to rest and do all the things I hadn’t had time for. In theory I have 33 hours plus travel time in the bank, just wish I could withdrawal it all and use it. To compensate anyone who read yesterdays piece I will make this shorter. Will try and get on with the jobs I keep not doing or putting off. One job has already moved twice in my calendar just this week.

So thankyou and good night. An AI photo to finish.

If this doesnt get me hunted by the troll brigade , nothing will. To begin, trust experts, they are called experts because they have expertise with a subject. The clue is in the name, whatever a certain health secretary might claim. Science repeats sudies and tests in order to prove things that have allready been proven , or study something new in order to decide of saftey.

“Big pharma “ doesnt exist to kill people, make people intentionally sick or doesnt listen to Bill Gates in order to make decisions. If experts say a certain medication or treatment is safe then its pretty certain it is. Beawre anything tested as safe will continue to be safe, in case of changes or changes to what it treats it my change over time. If they say certain products arent safe then trust experts, not politicians.

Big Pharma

Apperentlt every time I say vaccines are safe or dont cause Autism it means I am being paid by big pharma. I really wish that was true, not that it would change my opinion. I also dont know the definition of big pharma, is it size, profit or medications made? An online search says it means global pharmacetical companies, the largest and most profitable in their field.

The accusations are that they put profits first, influencing medical research and charging high prices. While most of this is true, how do you make profits will a dangerous product? Also the troll angle is that every one big drugs company is crooked, they all sell dangerous drugs and they all fix test results. Claims include selling drugs that dont work as claimed , so people take them for longer. Also a common theme is to say cerian alternative medications cure everything from AIds to Cancer but are kept hidden.

The covid vaccine being brought out relativley quickly has been a focus for anti vaxxers. Blaming the vaccine for pretty much every sports person that died since its release, thousands of deaths from numerous conditions and even still the vaccines contain a tracking chip.

Back in the 70,s and 80,s Ann Wigmore made claims that eating raw food would cure cander and aids among others. These mad claims still appear to this day, detox diets and vitamin rich diets are other claimed cures. There was a claim many years ago that the AIDS virus was man made , to be used to kill homosexuels and African- Americans. Other claims say that the drugs that treat the condition are more harmful than the disease itself. Even more claims are that a cure has been found but is being kept hidden.

The same people that claim the drugs are dangerous pivot to the drug isnt being given. When AIDs and HIV were first diagnosed the people with the conditions almost always died. Today HIV isnt even seen as a fatal condition, thanks to the medication being given. The vaccine causes Autism will be disscussed later, vaccines reprogram humans or alter their DNA is another regular. The trolls dont want something with MRNA in it, then you point out every living thing contains MRNA. Sometimes they still complain.

Vaccines dont cause Autism

First I should point out I have 36 years experience in this subject, 2 Autistic children and have done many years research and studied most scientific data on the subject. Although when I told a substack writer this recently, they wanted to prove me wrong using a 5 hour RFK video. When I pointed out people with Autism arent rising, its the number of diagnosis that have risen. This is apperently wrong as she hasnt seen adults with Autism. Because every one should introduce them selves and say hello, I have autism.

The theories are linked to a single, faked study by a person I wont name because he deserves no publicity. The results of the study , shown in the lancet in 1998 made claims that spread quickly. The author claimed a link between vaccines and Autism based on his study. The results were found to be faked and manipulated, the person who studied was taken off the medical register. He now tours America repeating his lies.

I have been told by various people that he was struck off because he was right. In fact nearly every doctor used to prove a trolls ideas has been struck off or censured for their views. Again , they are right becuase they were punished and are brave to speak up. Usually the claims of the onr person supercedes the views of hundred of still employed experts.

Vaccines

Once claims about 9/11 calmed down the next subject was Covid and vaccines. The vaccines came out to quickly, why is there a vaccine for Covid and not cancer, vaccines will kill 20% of the world. The last one was a claim I saw a few times, I even saw claims over a billion would die soon, that would be 1 in 8 people dead for the whole globe.

Vaccines are described as being a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disesae. before usage all vaccines go through saftey and afectivness testing. The vaccines usually contain a microbe that resembles a disease causing micro-organism. Usually it is made safer by the microbe being weakened or killed outright before use. The bodies immune system sees the microbe as a threat and kills it, then remebers this test run if any live microbes are detected .

There are 2 main classes of vaccine, prophylatic and theraputic. The first trains the body to make a fututre infection less serious or effective. The theraputic version is used to fight a disease that is already present, for example cancer. There are a smaller group of vaccines that give a full sterlizing immunity, preventing infection.

Giving vaccines is the most effective method to prevent infectious diseases , the vaccination program is the main reason smallpox has gone, it also has slashed the numbers for tetnus, polio and measles. It is reported that there at present vaccinations for 25 different preventable infections. In the States there were 3/4 million deaths in 1958 from measels, post vaccine it dropped to 150 a year.

Covid and vaccines

Covid was first identified in 2019, til this day trolls claim masks didnt work, it was a conspricay, it never happened or that vaccines kill people.

1, The vaccine will alter your DNA.

The claim was made by an osteopath , Carrie Modej. She said it would turn as all in to genitacally modified organisms and connect us to an AI interface. There is no data,anywhere, to back this up or to explain why it might be done. No research is being done , no companies are claiming any intent and there is one person claiming this. This is one of many conspiracy therosists that may have led to deaths by putting people off taking the vaccines.

2,Covid vaccines will inject a micro chip in to you

One of the maddest but most popular of the early claims. Apperently bill Gates wants to track us all, so we have these minute chips installed. This is shared by people on social media(which is tracked), online( which is tracked), at a internet cafe( the route there will be tracked). Usually the best responce to this and similair claims is to simply ask the claimant “why?”

The chips would have a broadcast range of a few feet at best, they would have no power source and would cost billions if they existed. This usually leads to other bat shit claims about Gates.

3, a volunteer in the oxford based vaccine trial died

Claims often state the vaccine is unsafe due to being made to quickly . The reasons include prior knowldge of other Corona viruses, high funding and numerous volunteers wanting to be involved. Contary to some reports the first person who got a test vaccine didnt die, they are alive and well to this day. Pointing out that a large part of the vaccine has been in use for many years doesnt change the deluded minds. The change was the agent added to train the immune system.

4,Bill Gates believes huge numbers will die from the vaccine

I have no idea why Bill Gates gets so much stick about vaccines and covids. The claim was he said “the vaccine will no doubt kill 700,000”. His only claim regarding an older subset of people and side effects they may have,

5, The spanish Flu vaccine killed 50 million

for a start there wasnt a vaccine avaidible at the time. There were tests made by scientists but there wasnt anything effective made. People died from the disease, not an imaginary vaccine.

6, The vaccines cause blood clots, cancer, strokes and more

Many conditions , such as heart problems, are higher if you dont take the vaccine. There is no record of massive increases in any condition following the vaccines. There are tiny amounts of cases of problems after the vaccine, most are short lived, some more serious occasionally occur. There are for example some very limited cases of swelling around the heart, usually with young men. Thrombosis was claimed as a major risk early on, the reality is roughly 4 people in every 1,000,000 developed this.

Any discoveries of any side effects were researched , some countries decided to ban or limit certain vaccines. Also different vaccines were more suited to certain countries, longer shelf life versions went to continents like Africa where the population is more spread out.

7, the vaccines cause Covid

Again, not true. The vaccine may cause a short lived fever but its not Covid. The vaccines sont include live Covid, its dead or seriously weakened.

8, The vaccine will stop me getting pregnent, covid can be cured by diet, our immune system is all we need, its safer to risk covid than the vaccine, its caused by 5g masts and can I ingest bleach to cure covid?

No

Social media

As with many of the worlds problems, social media is front and centre. It shares anything with no checks, many sites doing awy with people that make the sites safe. X for example relies on a certain amount of people saying a posts is wrong then posting a note under the original post. The post with the lies remains in place, it is almost impossible to get a post removed.

If one person says something, 2 share, the next in line share and ever onwards the post multiplies its readers. Even if its quickly shown as false many people in many countries will see it. The belief that if one person claims something its true, if thousands oppose its lies happens repeatidly. As I said before, being punished and removed from medical practise is seen as a badge of honour and truth.

Every doctor, scientist and expert is labelled as being funded by big pharama, the pharma that itself is all about making money and killing people. So, the big pharama are killing people but also only care about money, so they are killing the source of the money?

Logic answers many claims but tends to get argued about anyway. There are roughly 200 countries in the world, so every conspriracy would have to involve scientists, experts and leaders from every one. The suggestions of high mortaility also makes no sense, i have seen claims 2 billion would die from the vaccine. The four year cull expired last year, I havent noticed 2 billion less people anywhere.

I have blocked many of the anti vaxxers, just leaving the ones claiming airplanes are spreading chemicals in the sky and the ones claiming Trump is the second coming.

I know we all want to hear and see everything quicker and in shorter format. Social media is not the place to look, on X for example many posts are engagement farming. They post controversial posts just to get high numbers of replies. The best way to test them is to reply, most wont as they dont want to get involved. This is in theory banned by X rules but they no longer care. Also there appear to be a lot of people called DR, many not medical doctors, a few not doctors at all. You can call yourself anything and make any claim you like.

Social media is good for games and contacting friends. Its no use at all for anything medical, scientific or important. Use your doctor or your health service, experts really are experts.

Let the abuse begin.

The famous phrase that comes to mind is”if it looks to good to be true, then it probably is”

Shein offers cut price clothing, make up and jewlery among other things. Usually the first page shows most items as free or close to free. One product on the front page I got has a squishy toy made up to look like a slab of butter. Offered for £1.42, every item showing their costs as being reduced. You wont see well known brands, but will see much that looks like official products. Everything I clicked on is shown as being sold and shipped by Shein.

As with many discount retailers the price is low because usually the quality is less. I have just seen 4 men’s watches being sold for roughly £5. The pictures look ok, the maker is shown as Geneva who I think only sell through Shein.

If you look at the reviews on their site all is wonderful, on trust pilot the ratings are lower but still ok. Problems include wrong sizes, wrong colours and wrong items. There is a returns policy but I would guess that if you get something dirt cheap you wont bother returning it to wherever you ordered it from. Meaning Shein still profit , even if they mess up the order.

Items that cannot be returned include lingerie, underwear, swimwear, jewellery, beauty products ,bodysuits, DIY supplies, pet supplies and anything marked non returnable or final sale. This will cover a fair chunk of the items that they sell, attractive by price but no guarantee of quality. The ethos seems to be that its worth the risk because of the price, this is also a large part of income for Shein.

Their method for selling clothes are based around third party sellers based in Guangzhou in China. They use a “test and repeat method”, suppliers hand over small amounts of a certain clothing item and wait to see if its popular. If the item sells well then suppliers will make more. The sales are analysed by AI to see what’s popular and whats not, meaning the items can be sold cheaply as there are initially low costs.

These low cost items are being sold in over 150 countries at present. Demand for manufacturers depends on the sales of their product, so many factories make many products in order to maintain need. One member of staff told the BBC “if there are 31 days in a month, I will work 31”. Many workers will do a 75 hour week, although its illegal under Chinese law.

In 2023 the company was valued at around £54bn, a swift rise from a tiny start up company only 5 years before. Along with the rise in value has come a fair amount of controversy. Treatment of workers , allegations of forced labour and use of child workers are some of the items raised. They are paid by item made, even if some are more complicated than others. One person told the BBC they get less than 1 dollar per t shirt made, she says that she can do 12 an hour. So although the clothes are hand made they may be rushed in order to make a decent wage.

Despite that there remain people who want jobs with the clothes makers. The company, not surprisingly, say the workers are looked after and millions are being spent on the factories and equipment. The reporter who got quotes says the working hours at the factory he visited are from 8am , past 10 pm finish. The basic wage without over time worked out to around 2,400 yuan, a third of what is called the living wage. Some staff are earning between 4,000 and 10,000 yuan by working excessive overtime on top of their excessive hours.

Chinese law says a working week shouldn’t exceed 44 hours and workers should have at least one day off per week, any extension of hours should only be for special reasons.

One of the biggest accusations against Shein is that it uses cotton from Chinas Xinjiang region. After once being a renowned source its appeal has fallen with most companies after accusations that the cotton was sources by forced labour from a small Muslim group.

To sell cheap you pay cheap, with so many factories involved Shein can demand lower and lower costs. This affects workers who will earn less while working harder. Shein profit because China can make all they sell within China. This cuts manufacturing costs as products can all be sent from one location.

According to Greenpeace there are still dangerous chemicals being used in some of Sheins clothing. 56 items were tested and 18 contained the chemicals , at a level exceeding European Chemical Regulation levels. These items include those made for children. The chemicals have been linked to various diseases, cancer, reproductive issues, growth disorders in children and a weakened immune system. The chemicals can transfer between people via skin to skin, sweat or inhaled fibres. When washed or disposed of the chemicals end up in rivers and the sea. You can remove some of the chemicals with washing but some will remain, those washed off endanger wildlife in and around rivers and the sea.

I know that there are many companies selling products made cheaply abroad. I know the making it cheap helps it to be sold cheap but this example is the worst I have heard. The garment you wear could be fine and safe, also it could be rushed in order to afford to live and be full of dangerous chemicals. There business plan works because people buying from them either accept or ignore the manufacturing process.

Excessive hours, forced labour and dangerous chemicals in order to save a few pounds. Is it really worth it?

I got into Substack because I was fed up arguing with people in various other social media sites. Then yesterday I was argued with by 2 people I had come here to avoid. If I argue with someone I can back it up with knowldge, experience, peer reviewed research papers and anything else needed. Yesterday somebody wanted to argue that Autism isn’t genetic and shared a 5 hour MAHA video for her proof. If RFK is your source then you have already lost, whatever the subject.

A selection of recent scientific data puts genetics at over 90% the cause in their test cases. The study groups are usually in their 1000s. As ever there are many people who think 100 studies are wrong , while their 1 u tube video is right. Usually I am accused of just being wrong, even if I mention 36 years experience and 16 years in care work. One person in substack says its not genetics because in her 80 years she hasn’t seen any adult Autistic people. Which helps prove the point that Autism cases aren’t rising, its the testing thats improved in detecting cases.

Its like my dad at the beginning of the Covid epidemic, he wasn’t worried because he didn’t know anyone had died. I don’t know anyone thats been shot but I am sure there’s thousands that have been. Which leads to covid, the infection and the vaccine. There lies the most lies, vaccines kill millions and other such bullshit. I haven’t seen many of the vaccines include a tracking microchip for a while. Bill Gates planned it and it wasn’t real carries on to this day.

Sometimes the best response to these claims is to ask why? Apparently the chips were so that Bill Gates could track you. Ok , why?. So he knows where you are. Ok why?

You are posting online, which is tracked. Your using your mobile, which is tracked. You go shopping and there are cameras everywhere. Also to pick anything up of a chip small enough to be in a vaccine you would need to be next to the person containing the chip, so you already know where they are.

Queen of lies Kate Shemarani occasionally shows up on my x feed when someone quotes her. She killed her daughter by persuading her not to get proper treatment for cancer, she was disowned by her son years before for her lies. She has moved on to the 3 people who have died from Hantavirus on the cruise ship. She doesn’t believe its real, says shouldn’t bring the sick inland as dangerous and says 5g caused it. She has also said kids have 100 vaccines, that the covid pandemic didnt happen, claimed the covid restrictions compared to Nazi war crimes, she says the hospital deaths were genocide and thats medical masks dont work. She was banned from working as a nurse for her crackpot claims, shes even had bans from Facebook. On x though she can still post anything she wants.

My main purpose for keeping x is to communicate with a radio show and about 3 other people. It doesn’t matter how many people I block, more appear. Its usually obvious who is a bot, who is from a posting farm and who might be real. of the real people many post just to get a response, which is against x policies. They all end to post inflammatory posts, rarely respond if you answer them and seem to stick to a certain subject. Some of the worst are also here in substack.

Trolls in case anyone is wondering.

I know what’s rubbish, what’s trolls, whats real and whats possibly true. The problem is those that don’t know the difference and treat x as somewhere to reearch. Social media is never a place to research anything, not even the hundreds claiming to be doctors. If you look closer many of the doctors have had their licences removed because of what they post. A few of the doctors are real, but are posting outside of their field. When there is a real doctor they end up with as much abuse as they do agreement. I follow an infection expert doctor , every other post is apparently a lie or he’s stupid or both.

One pile on was when he shared a post from someone claiming Ivermectin treats the Hantavirus. This is so mad I cant believe anyone would believe it, then again there are still posts claiming it cures Cancer and covid among many other conditions. To justify the abuse someone has shared a photo with the headline Moderna and a Korean university are going to work together to make a Hantavirus vaccine. Also I have just found a post saying the strain of Hantavirus has been genetically altered so that pre existing vaccines can be used.

The most prolific posters seem to be the ones promoting Trump. At least my feed is full of them. Personally I have given up trying to even read them as the official line changes so easily its hard for the Trolls to keep up. I presume his claims about his religion are why many of his x followers claim to be priests.

Equally bizarre is the amount of Musk , musk’s mum, musk’s assistants and musk friends there appear to be. They post something, they say thankyou and please follow me, often for a prize. It doesn’t matter what you reply and how much you abuse Musk.

Top of my feed is a “doctor” saying treat hantavirus with ivermectin, zinc and vitamin d. Its your vitamin d levels and immune system that will apparently cure you.

Another problem is deciding what’s real, what’s a joke, what’s sarcasm and what’s a true belief. The engagement farmers make it hard to know anymore. I have decided I am going to have another mass block on x, just leaving the couple of people I contact and a couple of sites I trust. I tried BlueSky and threads and just found the same people. I have a few blocked in here as well but its not too bad yet.

Not surprisingly x want people to post and therefore leave it to the community to police it. With so many people leaving the site there aren’t enough left with the sense to point out the dodgy stuff. Members can report a fault, then if enough people decide its a fake a note gets added. The problem is thousands will have already seen it. Social media has blood on its hands, they have all got big too quickly and don’t seem to care what gets shared and by who.

Unfortunately choosing what’s real and what’s not is hard if you look at social media. If something has been shared or repeated that doesn’t make it real. Having the word doctor in your onsite name doesn’t mean anything in most cases. I use a small amount of websites for information, often using multiple sites to check. These days to be sure you need to witness an event to believe it might be real.

Just remember, social media is evil.

As usual I thought up a reasonable title and now hope to write something equally reasonable. It came to me last night , while waiting to pick up my wife. I was watching various people passing in front of me, many holding hands or sharing hands with children. All ages, all races, all sizes and all together.

Some were roughly the same age, same height and similar looks and build. Some were tall man and small lady, one couple was the reverse. The youngest looked early 20s and the eldest 60s or 70s. All looked fairly happy going towards the shops, or leaving with their purchases. I think the phrase is” theres somebody for everyone”

I should add at this point that my wife is about a foot smaller than me and much, much younger. We have no problems and presumably some people look at us like I was looking at them last night. We met through a previous work and it all developed from there. In fact our becoming a couple anniversary is this Friday, 9 years together. Also next month is our 4th wedding anniversary.

It took me two goes to find my perfect wife, my dad 3 goes and presumably some take longer. Though saying that 2 of my uncles and aunties have been together for 40 odd years each. Do you know that early that this is the person you will spend all your life with? What’s the clues? Do you just say the wedding promises and hope for the best?

My first wedding was mainly work and helping kids, it got nasty quite early and I got out once the kids were old enough. I probably thought at the beginning that it would last, soon after I hoped it wouldn’t. I know my second one is the right one, it will last until the end of one of us. That’s something I knew very quickly, even while some questioned us and the age difference. We can sit together for hours, doing our own thing, nothing is said . Similarly we can drive for hours and barely speak, its supposed to be a sign of a strong relationship where you don’t have to force conversations to fill a silence.

We share some interests, we have some the other doesn’t like. We don’t like most of each others music tastes, film tastes or tv tastes, but we share a few bits of each as well. We read different books, use different social media and eat different food. She can be a sleep in seconds, I take ages, she is usually cold and I am usually hot. All the differences add to the mixture and work perfectly. It usually means one of us isn’t forced to pretend to like the others tastes. Though sometimes we try something and find it not as bad as we thought it may be.

I dont know what others do together, or do separately. I go to concerts alone, also some theatre nights, my wife comes to the ones she’s interested in. I have seen many people at concerts that look like they have been dragged there by their other half, I don’t see the point. Nobody someone being at an event they don’t like, a few hours apart shouldnt be such a crisis that it cant happen.

We choose events, restaurants and destinations we both like, then adapt as needed. We are going on a two week holiday soon, once there we will do plenty separately and a few things together. We will shop and probably eat together, maybe a few trips but that’s probably it. I like the sun, my wife prefers shade. I like beaches, my wife doesn’t, I want to sea swim and she doesnt.

I was never one for going to nightclubs to look for a date, though for some that might have worked long term. All serious relationships have come through aspects of different jobs, usually coincidences and random events. I never planned to end up the way I have, I go with the flow and see what happens. Thinking too much gives me a headache. There have been options on occasions, maybe in the past I chose the wrong one but its well in the past. I got the right answer in the end.

As I head towards the end of this I realise that as ever I have no answers. Maybe that’s the answer, no answers. Some pairings work and some don’t, some build over months and some are right after a few days. When I met my wife the first time we were introduced she didn’t speak to me. Luckily that changed over time and here we are 9 years later.

The couples I saw last night might have been together for weeks, months or years, there’s no way to tell. They were comfortable together, happy to hold hands in public and weren’t afraid to show some affection. I learned many, many years not to care too much what others think of me. So I quite enjoy holding hands with my wife in public, noticing the stares and second glances. In fact I occasionally do it to encourage others to be confused.

If anyone can distil the real rules of attraction they should bottle it and sell it. It would save a fortune on dates, dating aps and any other traditional methods. Though as we all prepare to live longer that there will be more chance to find the right one and to be together longer. Equally be wary if its the wrong one as equally you could end up together longer.

Anyway, here’s to us and any other pairings that work. It doesnt have to work for anyone but you and yours.

Another site I occasionally write on , launched a competition yesterday. It was to write your own memorium or obituary. Your chance to show how you would like to be remembered , and how you hope the rest of your life goes. You could include things you have already done, thing you wished you had done and things you hope to do before its too late.

I did mine with mostly the truth, maybe pretended I had written a few book and tv shows. The reality is the books are based on something I am trying to write. Its trying because I keep getting distracted, usually by substack. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I have the memory of an amnesic goldfish, at least til something triggers me. Its why I have written 2 parts to “my nans bench”. It was part one with memories from the day, part 2 being memories triggered by the previous memories.

Unfortunately bad memories appear just as quickly as good ones. For example I loved playing cricket for ten years, though it was at least partly to escape a horrible marriage. There have been some wonderful concerts and festivals, partly for the same escape. Although in my present and wonderful marriage there have been a few great concerts and now i am old, a few decent sit down events.

As shown elsewhere, short term memory is lousy, things I did at school 50 years ago are crystal clear. My earliest memory was sitting on somebody’s lap as we approached Weston super mare pier, I doubt many laps could take me for long once I grew a bit. I am guessing no more than 2 years old, then again that’s before back seat seatbelts were mandatory.

School was generally ok, while rarely thrilling. In junior school we went to The Isle of Wight for 4 days and France for the same. We had the occasional day out to look at historic things and places. As both of my parents were teachers we had holidays when everyone else did. Initially Devon and also Bournemouth. Many long days on the beach and a few trips while we were there. This has triggered a memory of my brother and I going on a coach trip to the fleet air arm museum.

I was the eldest at age 15, I also remember hearing news of a terrible plane accident in Manchester as we prepared to leave. A plane heading for Spain caught fire on the runway and 55 lost their lives. That memory is just as vivid as memories of what we did at the museum that day. We did get a chance to walk around the second ever concord and saw a harrier jump jet take off vertically.

For holidays with my first wife and kids we mainly went to Cornwall, a few years in we used my dads caravan. Both my kids live with ASD, and weren’t happy just sitting on a beach or by a pool. We did make the most of the nearby Pendennis castle, it was one of the places soldiers were trained for D-day. One of the best visits was to see a medieval display. It had jousting knights, falconry displays and some dangerous looking sword fighting.

All in all I think I have been a decent person to those that have been decent to me. Though I just checked comments on a previous posts and it quotes RFK as an expert in a condition I have 37 years experience in. Sorry got distracted again, my Dads ethos is “ be a good friend and a bad enemy”. I think I have followed that, I didn’t chase people who wouldn’t make contact back, they can talk to me as much as I talk to them. If they keep in touch , then I will happily recipricate.

In fact after too many years of not putting myself first enough I had a breakdown. It was while chatting to friends on line, 25 years later and I still haven’t met any of them. We knew each other inside out, we had Sunday quiz nights and even made a website that only we got involved in. One of them was creating a company and asked us for names. I suggested one based on her online nick name and that’s the one she uses to this day.

Putting myself first as much as possible was the plan from then on. Supported the kids as much as possible, staying in a disintegrating marriage until they were 18. Once I left and moved home things improved and maybe a few things happened that I might get remembered for. I worked in care for 17 years, a mix of dementia care and slightly more supported living for adults with ASD and some learning delay.

I have spent 5 1/2 years fighting the local council over the total mess its making of our town. Not managed to change too much but still trying. Making a few more enemies than friends , though that is mostly intentional. Fighting the good fight, with a Facebook group of nearly 2000 members.

I come first, my wife second, my eldest after and then the rest if I have time. I am severely restricted by disability, though it gives me an excuse not to over do anything. I do what I can, as often as I can. I come in here 4 or 5 days a week, try and write something interesting and then wander off to do more nice things.

I am now retired and hoping to find some more memorable things to do. Write a book maybe, though that’s been the plan for decades. Maybe I will sort my timetable out and start writing it. After all I have been retired 7 months and don’t have much else on.

Maybe I will be remembered as a famous author, I know the story, its just sitting down and writing it. I write a thousand words in here each day, so in theory I should be able to do it. If not I hope enough people think I am or was a decent person, helpful, loving and reliable. At least I hope the important people think that of me.

Just remember you could drop dead tomorrow and you will be remembered for how you are now. So be considerate, kind and decent, even if your not really like that.

To my dearest wife

I know it looks dodgy but I have told you all there is too tell. I went too west Wales to do a follow up courses . I met up with people doing a similar courses, the advanced security training was only done in that part of the world. It seemed better to go down there and do it properly. It was all free , so it seemed worth the trip, learned a lot and met some decent people.

love A

My dearest wife

I understand seeing a strange women wearing my coat looks bad. She was cold and I was being the gentleman. The training was nearby and we came out of the building for some fresh air and an ice cream. It was a very nice ice cream by the way, made with honey. All the flavours plus built in honey, used to go down their a lot when working on the trains, first time with added ice cream.

Its all totally innocent, I was warm and my fellow learner wasn’t. I know the coat is unique, I admit its mine . I wasn'tA hiding it, I was taking a photo of the ice cream shop and accidently included her in it. Never met her before this trip and sure wont see her again as she lives miles away.

That was the day we practised restraining people and evicting people from a premises, so we all got a bit sweaty and the ice cream was perfect.

Again, nothing to worry about

love a

To my wonderful wife

I know how this looks, that’s why I didn’t mention it at the time. I might have known the lady that wore my coat a little longer then I said before, but only a little while. We had chatted a little bit on line while playing the Farm game. It was all innocent, I told her I was doing the course and she popped down to see me in the lunch break.

We had only spoke about the farm game and that I was doing the course. Everything else I said was totally true, I swear. I didn’t tell you because I knew you might jump to the wrong conclusions. I wont be seeing her again as she lives miles from here, it would take hours to get there.

love A

Dear wife

I wasn’t hiding that disk, I could ask why you were going through my things. Yes there are a load of naked photos of that lady who wore my coat. Its an easy explanation, I told her I ran a few internet sites and I offered to set her up with a site where I would use her photos.

I didn’t see her naked first hand, her husband took all the shots. She will probably show him the results of me building the website. Obviously pictures of her naked and in various positions looks bad. She might be able to make a few quid from the site, she will run it once its up and I wont have any input once that happens.

She didn’t know how to set up an adult website and I said I could work it out for her. I will need to make sure it has the right age restrictions and the photos cant be stolen. Yes, there are a lot of photos of her naked but thats so I have a choice of what to put on her website.

love A

wife

There was no need to break the disk while I was at work. I told you what it was for and what I was going to do with it. I know seeing her in my coat and then in hundreds of nude photos looks bad . Its all a lot of innocent coincidences and simple explanations.

She’s married and I am married , she wouldn’t cheat on her husband.

love A

wife

Fine I give up, I’m moving to west Wales

A

The above was my senior school from age 13 till just before age 16. Through the doors in the middle was in front of you the hall, to the left kitchen and dining room, to the right classrooms. To the left of the building were some outside classrooms and the route to the PE changing rooms and then round to the playground. To the right of the main building was classrooms, woodwork and metal workshops and finally a full size running track. The question is was it all worth it?

Since I walk with my dad a week ago my long distance memory has woken up, memories triggering memories. I have told stories of school in “my nans bench” parts 1 and 2. As with all memories for me, 1 triggers more connected ones. Thanks to fibromyalgia my short term memory is still terrible, my long term is good for a while. School is meant to be the most important and formative time in your life. Was it for me, based on where I am now and how I got here?

Nursery, infant school and junior school were all close together, the nursey behind a small church. The 2 schools on 2 sides of a much bigger church, the one that gave the schools their names. Infant school was from age 5 till 8, in one large building with various classrooms and a hall in the middle. We had 2 large areas of grass and even a fair sized swimming pool. Not that I could swim and had a habit of sinking if I tried.

I have still limited memory of this time and just random bits stand out. I remember being impressed by a boy who knew how to tie his own shoes, a skill he used to show of. In the hall there was a few pieces of climbing equipment, used for games lessons. The ropes were in the middle of the hall and were hung from the ceiling. Just in case you fell the standard 1 inch thick rubber mat was placed at the bottom. As I never took up rope climbing for a job the exercise was slightly wasted, as well as being very dangerous.

Apart from that I remember running around the concrete play ground at break time, even using the grass when it was dry. The move up to the junior school wasn’t too traumatic as it was so close, and everyone I knew moved up with me. The junior version has most classrooms in one large building, with 2 others by the playground. We also had a large hall, used for games lessons and Christmas plays and concerts.

For reasons still alien to me, country dancing was one of the themes of many games lessons. Possibly as we needed to walk nearly a mile to the place we used for football. I think the dancing was to get boys and girls to do something together, otherwise no idea at all. We actually moved through the school by gradually moving away from the infants. The final year was spent in the classrooms by the playground, the furthest point from our first school.

The playground was busy at break times, with the kitchen and dining room to one side. between the classroom was where any bikes that had been brought in were parked. One of the boys from a different class decided to swing from the bar above the bike holders, he soon broke both arms and had to come to school with 2 large plaster casts. During one game involving throwing a ball round , I threw it a bit hard, my friend missed it and it hit a window in the dining room. Somehow the glass rotated in the frame but somehow didn’t fall or smash. A lucky escape for me and whoever was sitting underneath.

Things got more serious in the senior school, the first year was at an all boys school. The second year my school and the one half a mile a way combined. Initially they shared the facilities but soon all teaching was at the other school site. There still seemed to be enough room for all, teaching groups arranged by ability for main subjects. Maths, sciences, English and languages were arranged that way, things like games lessons were decided by tutor groups.

The outside areas were utilised for cross country runs, football, rugby, athletics and running on the full size running track. I played for a decent cricket team in later years, unfortunately throwing a javelin hasn’t helped me so much. I was never much good at the running, ok at the throwing events and enjoyed the football. The teachers joined in the rugby, I seem to remember enjoying flattening them a few times.

I believe I was above average in most subjects but not amazing in any. My highest qualifications were in History and physics, technical drawing and chemistry my worst. Falling asleep in the chemistry exam probably didn’t help, neither did working very quickly. Not a lot I learned transferred to later life, I suppose it gave me a way to learn new skills. I did a 2 two year work and training course after school, that helped me in my first 2 jobs.

I remember chemistry for the experiments, using a peanut as a heating element, trying to melt lead and ones where certain elements caught fire in water. In physics I learnt why wagon wheels appear to go backwards in films, how friction worked and probably much more. I was in the top maths group for a while but dropped down a level quite quickly. English language and literature were generally ok, especially with Mr Hobby. He asked us what scores we wanted for our work and he then used what we said. Languages were ok when just French, towards the end they added German as well. In fact for a year I had a morning of double English, single German and single French.

So was it all worth it?

I am writing original prose at this moment. I needed to supplement my kids education and so bits of other subjects must have appeared somewhere. I possibly used algebra when I did a training course on making spreadsheets. Technical drawing has proved fairly useless, as has most of the games lessons. history still interests me and has possibly been the most useful. Though none of my qualifications have had a direct affect on jobs I have had. Many places wanted a certain number but didn’t specify.

The lessons containing sex education and household skills probably helped the most, skills that were needed after school. I remember my last classroom day, my last exam day and three months later my first job. Now nearly 40 years later I am early retired, telling tales on my very long life.

My nursery, my infant school and junior school have all gone, all now houses and a health centre. The senior school looks the same when I pass, presumably a bit more modern in side now. All the teachers I can remember will be long gone, the heating will work properly and the single glazed windows will hopefully be double glazed.

If anything school has given me things to remember, good or bad. I moved away from my hometown a few years later and lost touch with nearly everyone. I have been back 17 years and see a few people on line. Here’s to everyone’s school daze.