Tag: Future

For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful!

When your the chosen one put on this planet by your American Christian God and then voted into office on his second time round by about 51% of the voting US electorate. Is this a huge vote against the global consensus on what is needed for the environment?

The US now has Trump in charge of deciding what happens in the court of humanity on the future of the climate of this world, a supreme court judge for an issue he has no time for and frankly does not understand and who’s interest it serves, to not care or understand anything about protecting or preserving anything to do with it either.

In reality the policy is one of seeing the environment as a mere stock or commodity to be treated like everything else as something to be bought and sold on an alter of American capitalism and exploitation. Not engaging with the attempt to protect or preserve but to be bought or sold merely for profit.

What he does will be no accident or miscalculation. He can now act as judge and jury on the future fate of this planet, by making a conscious choice to destroy past international treaties with the environment being relegated to a mere commercial product and play thing for a few dollars more a capitalist’s wet dream on the alter of Christian capitalism, but at what cost to us all?

It’s just like playing a game and rolling dice with the globe, a game that can be lost as well as won. Trump will now pick up a set of dice and roll them to see what happens next at the expense of the planet and its populations. One roll could result in no serious irreversible climate damage over the next four years while pumping out black gold from the seas and ground just to reduce the price of gasoline for consumers and make him and his buddies a lot of money.

Whereas on an alternative landing of the roll of the dice it could result in destroying recognised globally established environmental treaties, designed to save this planet and stave of irreversible global climate catastrophise. It could lead to us reaching one of many global tipping points that would result in global climate collapse in ecological systems on the planet and then to the death of us all or a serious reduction in humans ability to survive in spaces on this planet or degrade considerable this planets ability to sustain life as we know it.

While Trump might be banking on the unlikely outcome and too busy counting his profits in his bank accounts to think that the American nation is to big and powerful to be lost to a global issue and might not be affected. If he is wrong, we will all end up counting the cost and paying the price. Just when many US citizens shout out that their prayers have been answered and that their god is good capitalist Christian god and the heir to the thrown of power is Trump, who is now their president elect. I fear the god of this earth to whom I pray to on this planet has yet to give their answer back and will most likely have the last word on this matter of the climate.

We are all now left with no alternative at this moment in time, but to hope that climate scientists are wrong and have miscalculated with all the evidence presented to them that the climate is in peril and so to our ability to maintain life on this earth unless we change course and the fact that we are seeing 100 year likely storms on a yearly basis and are just about to brake another climate record for hottest global temperature on record this year is inconsequential.

We all have to hope, whether we like it or not that exploiting the climate, degrading the environment and the dismantling of globally agreed climate treaties has no irreversible consequences or a bare minimum negative effect to this world or just merely consequences that can be witnessed and then circumnavigated or reversed in some as yet unforeseen way to prevent climate collapse and irreversible habitat and species extinction. I would rather not leave the future of my home, species and plant to Trump and hope, but I was not at the ballot box when his name was put on the card.

Mr President-elect for what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels

Trumpism’s

Trump a successful misogynist who is now president-elect and leader of the free world in waiting, after beating two women at the ballot box.

We not only get the leaders that we vote for, we get the leaders that we deserve.

We live on a dysfunctional planet where you could ask 100 people what makes a perfect world and you would get 100 different answers. One man’s version of heaven is another’s living hell.

The Source Ft. Candi Station, You Got The Love – 1991

A Top Trumped America!

The art of politics will always amaze and intrigue. It’s looking like the majority of the people of the US believed in and voted for Trump. The Republican party look to have taken control of the Senate, the house of Representatives and the backing of the supreme court. It’s a huge achivement and things will never be the same again.

We live in a dangerous times in this world, we will have to see if Trump adds fuel to the fire or not. I stayed up most of the night to watch the results of the election, nothing like watching history being made right before your eyes, even when you cant believe what is unravelling before your very eyes. You want to try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt when you can, even Trump.

I could never vote how you have voted if you voted for him. But respect your right to vote in the way that you choose to do. There will be those that are now afriad, bitter, scarred and scared. You can not stop Trump being Trump and doing Trumpisms.

One of the most intriging political comebacks in American history is underway. If it was bought and will be sold it is all to late now to change.

I don’t really remember Trumps election when he was voted in the first time around, it just kind of happened. I dont think we will forget though the second time he has become electeted.

I still think Trump is a bad man and that is probably the majority view by many people I know and respect. You hope in a democracy that your government and like minded governments have the power and abilty to solve your problems and not make matters worse.

Bruce Springsteen – Streets of Philadelphia

US Decides 2024 Election

Nobody knows what is going to happen after the US election!

“2,000 years ago one man got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was nice to each other for a change.”― Douglas Adams

Most people know who they are going to vote for and why.

Nobody knows what the electorate will look like.

Most people know what they want to happen after the US election.

Nobody knows just yet how it will play out.

What happens tomorrow night will send a shock wave down the ages no matter what is the result that will happen.

Will America still be a functioning democracy if Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins?

Will your world be a safer place if Donald Trump or Kamala Harris are elected?

May god bless us everyone.

First Aid Kit – America (Cover)

Sowing the seeds of descent from the fruits of victory

Elections, winners and losers, are happening all around us. In a few days time there will be a huge global future defining election in the USA. Where as in the UK the Labour Party and what we like to think are a socialist leaning leftist side of our democracy won an election a few months ago and have just had their first financial budget in which they look to define who they are and what they will do to the nation of the UK, how they will invest in people, projects and public services. Whilst at the same time politicize issues such smoking as a social evil that deserves to be taxed, chasing and detaining boat immigrants that deserve to be processed and sent back from which ever version of hell they have been forced to flee in the first place and also the panto of continued punishment of those in receipt of financial benefit by the state.

One such potential new policy by labour is to have career advisors in mental health wards so after people that have had a major psychological breakdown for whatever reason or circumstance can then be provided a dose of patronising information and propaganda, on why they are a failed unemployable human being and what they need to do to be a good little take a pay packet home earner. Such a type of policy has no compassion or care about it and will more likely result in more deaths and pain through the front door of the health service a sort of culling of those in need by those in power.   

Another seriously damaging policy of Labour is to the inheritance tax changes for farmers taking money out of farming families on their death bed. This will result in many farmers no longer being able to hand down to the next generation an inheritance of a farm kept in families for generations. Admittedly farmers never vote for the Labour party and never will, but trying to rake in money by destroying family businesses is cold hearted and a brutal short sigted policy, that will very much come back to haunt the Labour party, probably quicker than it expects it to. There will be many farmers angry and potentially ready sooner rather than later to protest about this issue with the concept of taking money of dead farmers through an inheritance tax being taken over their dead bodies quite literally I’m sure there will be resistance to this and not forgiven by the farmers for the damage it will do to their farms and families.

The weird thing in politics though is that although those being targeted now who will may lead to the downfall of a future Labour government probably kept quite when the Conservatives were slowly destroying the walls, ceiling and foundations of our schools, hospitals, rivers and roads. The necessary evil about politics and human nature is people do not like to speak out, protest or show dissent unless or until they feel what is politically happening directly affects them.  

Frank Turner – The Next Storm 

Admin Bitch Extraordinaire

Yes that’s me, the one you give the jobs no one else wants to do to. The one that smiles at the challenge and appreciates the results of their own work, even if no one else does.

Well I ran into the milestone of being 48 years old, last month amazed that I got here with not too many regrets and still some joy and happiness and a definite zest for life. But it’s also another year of working for the man. My job role sounds almost exciting as a Projects and Support Officer but make no mistake about it, I was chosen in my interview and undertake the role on a daily basis of an office admin bitch extraordinaire. I answer phone calls into our department, I speak to people about a huge range of issues sometimes nothing to do with my job, but I quickly google their issue and give them the number for someone else that can help if needed, I respond to emails I make sure the bills get paid and other essential but low grade office stuff that keeps the wheels of the business turning.  

We have been informed and seen in other organisations the shutting of phone lines and streamlining of emails on a straight to a database email system rather than to a person first and with no one there to answer phone calls coming into a department in the office anymore my days appear numbered in the job I do and enjoy. I have been in my current job for 4 years from July and I would be ready to move on if there were any where for an admin bitch roles to move onto but sadly my days and skills appear at present to not be in demand.

Don’t get me wrong I’m busy I get results and work hard in my job it’s just that managers and those above them have decided my role will no longer be needed in the future and even though I am busy as ever their eyeing up those P45 exit papers for me and people like me. It’s not like the work wont still need to be done when I am gone they will just either hire someone after me to do the job cheaper or get in someone with a degree and pay them the same or more than me and call it a career.

In my present admin role over the last 18 months our office manager resigned due to ill health and we have been doing a considerable amount of her work since she left, when one of us now has holiday the other person does a hell of a lot in order to just keep things ticking over, its a bit of a nightmare. It has been to a point though a fantastic work experience and an opportunity to develop my admin/project/finance skills even more though. But they see our ability not to fail as almost a failure in itself. We have been pleading for extra support and a decision on what happens to admin bods in the office like me. That decision has been made in that are roles are up for redundancy and we might be up for redundancy too, if we don’t play our cards right and even if we do play our cards right we could still find ourselves out of a job – catch 22 situation, we will make you redundant because your job is to important to be done by you or not important enough to be done by you any longer. We will tell you which we decide when we hand you your departure papers.

To be continued or to be discontinued!

Distance, Light & Sky – Don’t Go Dark On Me (Official Video)

Hoping for an end to the January Blues

Well this month has been a strange one some nice things happened but some strange emotions and stressful times experienced too and I guess the January blues have just slowly creeped up on me as the month has gone on. I am normally good at providing support to others but not great at receiving support or asking for it myself. I often find it better to write about stress and challenges after the event when I have processed the event and come to terms with it myself.

I had just booked a week off over Christmas which did not feel long enough and then I booked off another week in the 3rd week of January. That was nice and relaxing but felt quite out of my depth when coming back to work, which had got busy and I started back with a very early start after a night of not sleeping well. There were things I had to try and deal with that were stressful and challenging as soon as I walked back through the door into the office. I am hoping that February will bring in a little more calmness, stability and cheer but there will be hard work ahead too.

I get restless sometimes at this time of year and want to try changing things that I don’t think are working or healthy for me.

Ella Grace – Wild Roads

A world in flux

The world is forever changing, for some this presents opportunities and for some it presents threats. It is not just about what is happening but it is about how you perceive it to be happening or how you are informed or misinformed on what is going on.

With increased technological developments taking place as well as a communications network like none ever developed on our planet prior to the last 20 years with the internet, TV and telecommunications.  We can now see, hear and be informed within seconds or minutes of developments on earth that we might never have been informed about or might have possibly only learned about after the event years later in history books or documentaries.

So our means of communicating changes has changed as well. Our climate is also changing, as again to our ability to be informed of those changes. We were not always aware of big earthquakes, volcanoes, storms and hurricanes affecting places around the globe. But now with 24 hour news it’s very much a news filler item to watch the suffering of others around the globe in these horrific condition and not only that but due to global climate chaos they are actually happening more frequently too.

Industrialisation of work force and artificial intelligence developments making AI better than humans at doing jobs we once thought we could do for life? So not only do we have to worry about will we earn enough to be attractive and provide for another partner or family, we now could end up finding that our career passion the job we love doing is ultimately not able to be done by us any more and has been outsourced to a PC or machine of some other type.

So these issues are happening and one main inevitability is that change is constant and continuous, you cannot stop change from happening but you can engage to what is changing and reflect on it, accommodate it, do your best to manage it in your life or try to understand it and how it effects you.

One way I get my head around understanding changes going on in the political world is by supporting and advocating for changes I want to see by joining a political party such as the Green Party, or becoming a member of a charity such as Moor Trees. Though my contributions may be small in the scheme of things, they still matter and contributing to a bigger picture for potential positive change in a way I would like the world around me to be shaped. Change is not always negative and great and beautiful things do come into this world when changes are able to be made and realised.

Another way to perhaps be aware of change and understand how it affects you is to read, listen and watch news articles and stories. Though not always a pleasant thing to do and best not to put your interpretations all into one basket of news sources but to take from a variety of sources. The newspaper review on BBC news or UK Sky (Not Murdock owned or dictated to news) can be informative when they discuss the next days headlines with some interpretations of what those headlines are. I tend to find the more you just listen to one persons perspective though the more chance you have of being misinformed, manipulated or indoctrinated into another’s view when its far more important to try and think for yourself.

One final little point is regarding if the world is changing for better or worse are we at the end of time? Or the end of days or is an apocalypse around our corner. Well I hope not but again that’s just a matter of opinion. People have feared, expected or written about living in the end of days, a war that will end all war or Armageddon being around the corner for thousands of years in religious circles and I can only assume if you believe in a certain deity then you have also had to be prepared that it’s only a matter of time before they call last orders at the global bar and closing time on all earth, man and existence as we know it. If you don’t believe in said god then you will alternatively think that’s an impossibility of a God that does not exist to call time on something that they have no power over because they are not here to do it! Finally on this point about whether we could be entering a time of growth, goodness, fear or darkness.

Well I don’t believe in a god that could destroy its own creation as a promise it made to its people. I don’t believe in a god that puts some people on the side of being good people due to where or who they were born from or came from and others on the side of evil due to where they were born or who they were born from or came from. I really just don’t accept that the god I pray to, believe in or work for and live by could be so narrow minded! The god I believe in is not fighting for Armageddon against an inherent enemy but fighting for justice for all of life and creation.

White Shadow by Coldplay

Planning to be in Ireland for St Patrick’s Day 2024

Between Christmas and New Year 2023 to 2024, me and my Dad made a decision to to go back to Ireland in 2024. I am so excited about the idea of going over there again. We have been on Holiday to Ireland in 2018 and 2019. Goodness those dates seem such a long time ago now and the two trips somehow have blended into one in my mind and some of the memories from those trips still feel like they happened just yesterday.

When we went to Ireland on our two journeys in the past we planned our holidays around horse race meetings and went to 3 different race courses which were Leopardstown, Tipperary and Tremor we were also supposed to go to a race course called Gowran Park but it was raining so much we never made it to the race course. When we went to Leopardstown we also ended up seeing one of my all time favourite bands playing at the race course who are called the Waterboys and they sang one of my favourite songs ‘Whole of the Moon’ on a moonlit night too which was just awesome.

Galway City – Ireland

This time when we go we are planning on being in Galway for St Patrick’s day which will just be magical. I am so excited about this, I just hope we can pull it off and go. The accommodation is already booked and the places we will be staying in look awesome, passports are also hopefully sorted now and we just need to make sure we can book our ferry over from Pembroke dock to Rosslare (and also hope the weather is good enough to allow us to travel across by Ferry from Wales to Southern Ireland! We plan to spend a few days in Dublin too where we will fly back to Exeter.

The trip this time around so far is all planned around the destinations were going to and the accommodation were staying in. No horse racing meetings to go to in Ireland for us this time although it just so happens that the biggest race meeting of the year is taking place in the UK which is called the Cheltenham Gold Cup, so we will be keeping an eye on that from wherever we are in Ireland.

Once we have got the ferry to Ireland we will head to Wexford which we have both really like and have stayed in before. After that we will then head to Cork where my Dad’s side of the family are from originally. Dad has never been to Cork but spoke about wanting to go there for years so it will be a really special place to visit and I have reserved a lovely hotel in the centre of Cork.

Maldron Hotel – Cork

We will then head to Limerick before arriving to Galway for St Patricks day. Finally head to Dublin to spend at least one night in the Temple Bar Inn Which I still have not worked out yet if it is next door to the Temple Bar pub in Dublin or whether it is actually the Temple Bar Pub in Dublin, I guess I will find out when we get there and then from Dublin we will catch a flight back home to Exeter.

Temple Bar – Dublin

I must absolutely promise myself to try and get some photos of where we are going to this time. I have taken so few photos of Ireland from my visits in the past and so really want to try and get some photos this time.

Fisherman’s Blues – The Waterboys

The gifts of 2023 & the hopes for 2024

This year has been kind of special for me with some good things happened in my life and I have found time and moments to appreciate the good things and not focus or live within the dark or negative side of what has and is happening having this type of focus has been a real plus for me.

I feel like I am a person that I in fact feel comfortable being! I am happy with my lot, I have some good friends that I know and respect and I hope they know and respect me. They help me when they can and I help them when I can too.

I have a good relationship with my mum and dad since my mother has moved back to Devon, we always try and catch up in person about once a fortnight, I feared this would tire me out as I normally enjoy sleeping on the weekends rather than going to other peoples homes, but going to my mums has worked out really well.  

This year I have seen that I am no saint and I’m not perfect and don’t beat myself up about this as nobody that I have met or got to know in life is, we all have our little quirks and imperfections, but we also can bring much joy to others and help or at least not hinder others when we can.

Sometimes when you have an understanding of what your weakness are you can always appreciate a weakness as a characteristic of yourself and maybe turn it into a strength. Although at the same time not be over confident in your own strengths or be aware of the good and bad you have the power to do. This year I have tried to embrace change as change is the one constant in anyone’s life and in a relatively good person year I have tried to aim to be optimistic concerning pessimistic times.

I do have conflicting emotions on life and my little place in the universe on the one hand I know the world is a cruel place and dark things happen on this planet and for the foreseeable future global actions and consequences shall continue to chip a little or lot more away from the world and the people upon it.

But within all that exists in places and with people that I cannot change in ways I can neither foresee nor prevent, I must still focus on the things that I can influence and that influence me, the people that I can help (including myself) and do the best I can with the time that is given.

A belated Happy 2023 and Happy New Year 2024 to you.    

The Parting Glass – Cara Dillon