One feedback I had to my last digest was that it was too short. I was told that it was 550 words to be exact. I had not checked the number of words myself, so I was deeply touched by the concern. Everyone’s a critic. One way of making someone read to the end is to keep it short and sweet. We live in a world where being to the point doesn’t quite do it.
Writing my last digest or article of any type took me over 300 days, but just as with London buses, where there is one, there is another right behind. I am taking this metaphor or simile or whatever you call it at face value. I haven’t been on a bus in many years. My dad used to be a bus driver. I remember his mates letting me on the bus for free. Life is simple when you are a kid; things like a free bus ride make you feel like a king.
Now, with winter around the corner, the government handout of £100 household for those not living in a mansion seems a little light, seeing as the money-grabbing utility companies are hiking up their prices to take the hundred quid away before it reaches your bank account. Talking of utility companies, United Utilities contacted me this week. I had to call them to discuss my bill, a bill I had paid, albeit a little late.
I spoke to a professionally pleasant person and she got what is commonly known as “both barrels”. She agreed she was not qualified to either give financial advice nor help with mental health crisis both of which someone genuinely unable to pay their bills require.
She suggested I set up a direct debit, so they took the money every month to soften the blow. I refused on the basis I was being charged for a natural resource that falls out of the sky. Before I get berated for being a burden on society, United Utilities made an operating profit of nearly £1 billion in the last year, so they are not running a charity. As I told her, United Utilities will get my money when I am ready to pay them, not when they are ready to take it from my bank account.
Whilst on the subject of water, we are now being told to stockpile it. That ‘s if there is any left after the data centres take it all, another reason not to write AI slop, soon we will have to make the choice, drink water or write a self centred , self engradising LinkedIn post. Looking around at the state of the world today, I’d say we all dying of thirst whilst reading how some twenty something side hustled his way to a multi million pound business.
I was asked what I thought about the government’s advice to people to stockpile bare essentials, in case of war, climate change, zombie attack or Manchester City being relegated. To be honest, I hadn’t realised how globally widespread this advice had been. I can’t really put my finger on the reason as to why. The worrying thing is, does Andy Burnham know something we don’t? With recent British Prime Ministers, the answer would be they know less than a five-year-old, so we are all safe. But with dodgy Andy you never know. Maybe he going to war with the Russian’s.
Hackers have been targeting freezers across Europe to increase the temperature. No more going to the back of the fridge to get the coldest drink; so we will we not only have no water but if we do it won’t even be cold, this just gets better and better.
There were pictures of supermarkets throwing food out. I mean, they could have tried to give it away or reduce the stockpiling burden. If only the hackers could target the robot tills that gleefully overcharge you for everyday goods. At least when it was a person doing it, they were making a living out of it. If prices keep going up like this, there might be queues of people waiting for AI to end the human race just to put us all out of our misery.
I will be finishing off with the US midterms. The votes are still being cast, so we don’t have an idea about who will have won. The Democrats won apparently. I just realised I have no idea who the leader of the Democrats is, or even what the point of a midterm election is, don’t pretend you did.
According to the BBC, the Democrats now control Congress and the House of Representatives . Donny T is going to be reaching for the late night Whopper burgers to get over this one. His initial reaction has been to say
“I wasn’t on the ballot if I was it would have been a landslide”
Yes Donlad, if you were on the ballot the Democrats would have had a landslide. All fair and well, I guess, if it makes him sleep better at night.
There is a more profound point here: if the lunatics have taken over the asylum, does it really matter what colour the walls are?
After electing a paedophile, sex-offending fraudster to office, is there a need for democracy to give the illusion of choice? I make this point often: if Trump was the CEO of a company in the Valley, he would not have survived the scandals. Yet he was deemed fair and fit to stand for office.
The American political system has about as much due diligence as the Premier League and their fit and proper checks on club owners. Yes Manchester City I am talking about you.
Speaking of due diligence we should take a closer look at the foundations upon which America was built. America is a nation built on slavery, land of the brave , home of the slave.
Slavery has been in the news recently with King Charles, still feels strange him being King, he was destined to be the man who never quite became King. He has been saying that Slavery was a ‘shameless chapter’, well Charlie we all really touched by your shame. After Andrew one would have thought that word didn’t exist in the lexicon of your family.
The institution of the Commonwealth is another oddity, from the name it suggests that the wealth of the ex-British colonies would be common, alas the reality in 2026 is something different.
Britain’s GDP per person is 21 times higher than India’s and 47 times higher than Nigeria’s. All three are members of the Commonwealth. (World Bank, 2025)
The median British adult held 40 times more wealth than the median Indian adult and 101 times more than the median Nigerian adult. (UBS/Credit Suisse, 2022)
Not very common is it really? for shame Charlie boy for shame.
A little longer than 550 words, but not quite war and peace though.
Although under Capitalism there is only ever war and war.
In Trump’s own words, it’s time to “drain the swamp”.