This week I have heard that it is the warmest week of the planet in history. This indicates that we are definitely not doing enough to stop global warming or maybe we are really trying but maybe its too late! At any rate things look bad.
A different measurement that may indicate how the world is going and how we may have to adapt to live differently in different parts of the world is the migration of species due to global warming.
In previous years non native species generally arrived in countries due to human intervention and in fact almost half of the plant species in the UK are non native now due to the importing of plants from all over the world. Similarly in the animal world we have signal crayfish, red squirrels etc. that were brought here by humans.
Now we are starting to find that non native species are being driven to other parts of the world due to climate change including Great White Sharks moving north possibly looking for food that has itself migrated further north.
There are also of course species that travel the world every year to enjoy appropriate weather conditions, i.e. Swallows, Orca's, Moths etc. How will this change as the world warms up, will they stay in locations longer or maybe not migrate at all any more?
Life can be like a book or for those of the Netflix generation it can be like a TV series. Its full of different chapters or episodes following on from one to another.
Each chapter ends with either a mystery, a calamity or some cataclysmic change, maybe sometimes a happy halcyon state whichever the case it drives us to go straight into the next chapter, to see where we go from there.
We can accept our life like this, when something defining happens, you loose your job, you become ill, you break up a relationship, you start a new relationship then mark that as the end of that chapter and open a new chapter and go on from there.
As someone who loves my country and all its diversity of people and culture I have to say how dissapointed I am in the latest Royal Family fiasco.
I am not a great fan of the royal family, but many people are and thats absolutely fine, I wish them absolutely no harm, I do wish we could redirect some of their incredible wealth to the people in need in this country, towards food banks, social housing, more hospitals etc. but there are many wealthy people in this country who could do more.
I also largely ignore what you see wealthy people do, we have seen a lot of show in the past from many celebrities clearly designed to make them popular.
The problem with the Royals is that they have accepted a responsibilty to care about the people of this country and to lead by example and as such have to be seen to live up to that responsibilty, which may seem unfair to them but its how it is.
But lets ignore all that as my synicism, what nobody can deny that the latest scandal from Harry has futher embarassed this country and its not needed. If he has some evidence that the royal family is acting in their own interests and not the countries then he should focus on that, not on the family squables which frankly are doing nobody any good other than the American Netflix and CBS channels.
I just wish they would all just shut up and leave the reality stuff to the profesionals on 'Love Island'
Additionaly we dont really know if there is some other agenda here, there maybe still some Diana issues, there may be some family issues across europe, remember after the death of Victoria we became part of the House of Hanover and later part of the House of Saxe-Coburg and only renamed as the House of Windsor durring the first World War to detach itself from what was happening in Europe, it did not stop their family relationships though that still exist today. Maybe theres some sinister plot going on? Now that would make a good Netflix story!
The news currently is very much about the cost of living crisis that so many unfortunate people are facing in this country and without doubt its shameful with over 2 million people using food banks, with over 11 million people in relative poverty of which over 3 million are children. 100 thousand homeless etc.
The government has taken measures to try to help but it is clear that many have slipped through the net when you see reports about families choosing between heating and food, People who are ill not being able to afford to power the medical equipment in their home.
We currently see loads of industrial action where people are trying to get their pay adjusted in line with inflation, there are other reasons why people are striking but pay seems to dominate most of the discussions.
We seem to be heading to a perfect storm, where some people are getting inflation plus pay rises, there employers having to pass on those costs, raising their prices, this raises inflation which then further inflames the cost of living crisis. Add into this all of the other external issues of fuel and raw material costs going up then we are in a real bad situation.
It would help to understand the split between those who are in a cost of living crisis and those who are in a cost of lifestyle issue because I suspect many people in the private sector who have had good pay rises are only feeling some impact to there standard of living, people still seem to be able to spend, we are hearing that holiday companies are getting record bookings, the pubs and restaurants around where I live are full so it is clear that not everyone is suffering in this crisis.
In this country there are people who have and there are those that have not. This crisis to me is just extending the gap between the haves and have nots, I am not sure the statistics of how many fall into either camp but I suspect there are lots of people becoming have nots through this crisis.
We all fully understand why people want to earn more money and have a better life, that's just normal, we want the best for our families, but we should all accept the fact that there are some people who are not so lucky and may not have the opportunity to improve their lives, people who say its a land of opportunity and everyone has a chance are very naive and usually they are the ones that have been lucky but in truth if you look at the numbers then it is clear that's not how it works for everyone.
We know many of our public service workers are struggling, not all of them, I am sure many Consultants in the NHS are not feeling the pinch and would never say they were but that many of the nurses are really struggling and we need to recognize this in any pay awards
Those that are doing well may feel that they are covered by having private insurance but that's no good if they have a car accident and require the fire service to get them out, an ambulance to get them to A&E and the medical staff to attend to your injuries. So no matter where you are coming from you would be crazy not to realize that we need to keep these services running well.
So for those people who are successful either by working hard or having a valued skill We have to accept that we are going to have to raise taxes on those that are higher earners to pay for our services. We cannot continue with a low tax economy at the expense of the less well off.
Just how well off do you need to be? if you were a billionaire, can you live that much better a life than a millionaire? Is there a point where being rich is being greedy? I don't know, I do know that most people would not turn down a lottery win.
That's the role of government to balance the economy so that all of its citizens have an acceptable life. I guess that's easier said than done.
We also cannot just make sudden changes to the economy as we already see the impact on the hospitality industry if people stop going out so we need a plan that will ensure we have a balanced economy for our future.
We have to accept that this is our country, we all have a responsibility to ensure that it functions for everyone and we know there are some good people, some bad people, some hard workers some lazy workers, some smart people some stupid people, but they all make up our country and its important that the smart people educate the stupid people, the hard workers encourage the lazy ones. The good people grow and the bad people recede
Consumerism is obviously part of it I do see that demand for items that are scarce makes them more expensive (oil and gas for example) so maybe if we all consumed less and reduced demand that would help. Do we really need the latest phone, wouldn't it be great if particularly the younger generations, kept there phones longer, kept there old cars longer or got rid of them and walked or rode a bike, wore clothes until they wore out rather than became unfashionable, went on memorable working holidays rather than baste themselves on a beach that they will forget within a few months.
In fact it does not matter what I do as I am old, but wouldn't it be great if the young people took the initiative to reject consumerism and start a new way of being responsible for their country and their world.
No I don't mean me,the only thing I should be nominated for is Idiot of the year.
I am referring to a number of comments that Kevin Sinfield should absolutely have been given a knighthood in the new years honours list.
I completely agree that he should be knighted and the Mirror mentioned a petition which I searched for but the only one I found was a parliament one that was rejected.
I am not surprised that he was not honored as it takes between 6 and 18 months for the Cabinet Office Honours committee to verify and either approve or reject the nomination. Also I have heard that there is an unwritten rule that there has to be 5 years gap between receiving an existing honour and a new one although I have searched for this and cannot find any evidence that this is true.
You can search the web to see what an incredible guy Kevin is showing a personality that displays everything that we should all aspire to, showing such friendship and love for his best mate as well as selflessly applying himself to raise awareness for the horrible disease that MND is. A true hero by anyones standards.
I do hope that he does get the honour he truly deserves soon, although I am sure he is not really bothered and that its those of us who admire him that want him to be honoured.