Twisted and Sad Old World

[Grandad]

Not a very good Monday for news.

Sadly two ladies and three children died in a house fire last night in Sheffield. I am always saddened when children are hurt in any way.

Then on the news I heard that a lady teacher was stabbed by a 15 year old pupil and died.

A convicted multi-murderer who killed his victims with a machine gun has been awarded £800 for the loss of some personal items while being transferred.

Max Clifford has been found guilty of most of the charges against him for sexual harassment.

And the Cyril Smith investigation is moving on with an increasing number of people identified as being complicit with his actions. Sounds like another Jimmy Saville, somebody who thought they were beyond the reach of the law.

We have sent military aircraft to be closer on hand if the Ukraine situation really kicks off.

Perhaps Tuesday will be better.....

[Horus]

Your like me Grandad, the older I get the more disillusioned I get with the world and to top it all off on the news today they were on about a report regarding the amount of children in school who were still not toilet trained at the age of 5 and some instances of children were as old as 15. We are not talking about kids with some sort of disorder here, but of lazy parents who would rather stick their kids in pull up disposable pants and ignore them until they learn for themselves rather than doing the job of a parent and teaching their kids to use a toilet. We may also maybe imagine that these are kids from some sort of deprived background or of a low social grouping, but no, most are from affluent backgrounds where both parents go out to work and no doubt that is the nub of the problem.

[Grandad]

Yes I heard that too H. Unbelievable if you didn't know it is true.

My lot all got terry towelling nappies, no such thing as huggies or snuggies or whatever they are called, in those days. And that old nappy bucket that had to be cleaned out and the nappies laundered daily was a strong incentive for us to get them potty trained ASAP.

You raised the subject H and here to prove a point, number one son just a few months old 'feeling the potty on his bum'

[Choccy]

Britain's gone crazy I am afraid, what with violence on the streets, drugs, weapon carrying, and laws that do punish the offender, makes you ask what the place is coming to. I am really starting to think it is a Nanny State, with poor leadership that is out of touch with the real world. Hopefully next year there will be a single government in charge, that does not have to bow down to another party because it is a part of a coalition.

[Kiya]

Yes it's a sad sad world, if it gets so depressing listening to the news I just switch over

Grandad your photo took back a lot of memories of toilet training my own bairns, the girls used the terry towelling nappies & I used to love seeing their whites nappies on the clothes line.

Roy coming much later & being Huggies boy

[Horus]

It was the Terry Towel nappies for the first one, but my son who was born in Africa was lucky if he got a Banana leaf

[Grandad]

There is a lot wrong Choccy I must agree but, on balance, I still think it is one of the best countries in the world to live in.
I assume that when you said

and laws that do punish the offender,

you meant 'do not'. In my view penalties are too lenient in many cases and even some judges seem to have joined the 'soft, consider their human rights' brigade.
We DO lack strong political leadership, just as Egypt is now an unruly and unlawful country without a dictator.

As for the next government, whatever colour it is, I don't have any expectations of significant change. They are all truly out of touch with 'the common people' and none wins respect that our statesman like politicians of the past gained. They all seem to be in it for their own ends...

[Horus]

As you say Grandad there is a lot wrong with this country at times, but it is usually down to bad politicians and stupid rules or interpretation of them. However it is still one of the best places in the world to live when you take everything into consideration and compared to Egypt it is a dream when it comes to policing and law enforcement, utilites and service supplies, freedom of speech, health care, availability of goods and food stuffs and just about everything else one could name.

[Jayway]

In my opinion England compared to here is no match at all - we have better weather, better schools, better medical service, better shops and markets and so much BETTER PEOPLE. Todays word = BETTER !

[Grandad]

It's all 'BETTER' then Jay But taking price for price, and other factors, how does it compare with the UK when:

There is so much bureaucracy and 'devagar'

It can be as cold as the UK in the winter and the Atlantic can be very nasty.

Road discipline is poor with many RTA's

The highway network is expensive with the tolls

Consumer goods are very expensive compared to the UK

The language is very difficult for Brits to learn

Property in the more desirable areas is very expensive

[Choccy]

Sorry G yes "Do Not", there are fores and against's to living in the UK, everyone is different, I got to an age where I wanted to explore the world, so myself and wife set about it. I am sure what you say is correct about living in the UK, freedom of speech, good education compared to many Countries and a good democracy system, a half decent health system, to us though, at a certain age you get past this way of thinking and other things take over, politics we have no interest in, education, we are past it and learn things now has we go along, freedom of speech, well we still feel we have that not being interested in Egypt's political system, democracy well really its of no interest to us.

It would take a lot of changes that would make us return to the UK and I do not think they will happen in our lifetime, pensioners need to be better looked after, the tax system needs a rethink, prices for basics are a disgrace, the social system is in tatters, and the employment laws are stupid, we also think that the practice of agism is rife, and with age come experience, employers forget this. You pay all your life into a system for health and looking after in old age, only to have to sell your home, you have struggled to pay for, if you need long term looking after. Inheritance Tax??? Well you could go on really.

[Grandad]

Can't argue with any of that Choccy, there is a lot that is BAD but a lot that is GOOD. But living in the UK is not all about social and political shortcomings. We have one of the most beautiful countries on earth, we have an historical heritage second to none, and we have an agreeable temperate climate that I can live happily with. Those things alone make me happy to live here and certainly proud to be English, or to be precise, a Man of Kent.

With Jay, my response is a little tongue in cheek. We know about her lifestyle and it is to be envied...almost idyllic I will admit that the points I have raised are rather trivial when I know that Jay can ride her horse Glory on the beach, she grows and trades her own produce, is near self sufficient and is well integrated with the local community....if I was 60 and not 80 I could well be tempted.

[Horus]

I agree with Grandad about the UK being one of the most beautiful places to live for scenery and our heritage is the envy of the world, most others are a one trick attraction and once you have seen it that’s it. The social side of things is always raised, but to be honest I don’t think that many people are actually affected by it, I mean, they may not be rich under it, but our pensioners are far better off than some countries I could name, could be better yes, but where does the money come from? As for crime and antisocial behaviour, well I hardly ever see it where I live and I am sure most others are not really troubled by it. The biggest problem with the UK at the moment is that we have allowed our culture to be diluted by unbridled immigration and that in turn has raised the number of undesirables in our midst and put a strain on housing and other social services. Other things such as spiralling costs for basics are a world wide problem and not just the UK, at the moment Egypt is insulated from these high prices by subsidies, but soon they too will have to stop and then you really will see a change in Egypt regarding poverty and high prices.

[Grandad]

I have commented before about my opinions on minor groups persuading politicians to introduce laws to satisfy their minor whims. Again I won't go into details or I will be accused of all sorts of 'ism's

Today I learn that the Subway chain of sandwich bars has nominated 185 of its branches to sell only Halal meat products. I don't really have a problem eating Halal meat but would hope that the animal is stunned before slaughter. Not always the case regrettably.

My point in raising this is that this is yet another example of our tradional ways being changed to satisfy the whims of a minority, and I see it as the thin edge of a wedge that could well end up with ALL our meat products being Halal? Things change slowly and when you look back in due course you have to ask 'how did we get to this point'

And the same question can be applied to most of the things that are wrong with life in the UK at the present time.......and it is virtually impossible to turn back the clock.

[Horus]

.and it is virtually impossible to turn back the clock.

Vote UKIP in May Grandad

[Grandad]

.and it is virtually impossible to turn back the clock.

Vote UKIP in May Grandad

I already do

[Horus]

I reckon at this rate most of the country will be doing just that, I cannot wait until the results to see the main parties crying in their beer and making up all sorts of excuses, anything but face up to the truth of why they got hammered.

[Choccy]

You never know H and G it may be the thing needed to make these politicians put their hands on their heads and look what is stood underneath. I do not know too much about UKIP living in Luxor, but the party for some reason or other is certainly attracting votes from people.
To me, and I say this in all honesty, the UK does not seem to look after the people that made it great, and care more for how it comes across to other Countries, it is a small Country and no longer has an Empire and should look on itself has this. There are some great institutions in the UK, and they should be nurtured and open to the UK residents before all others.

Regarding the beauty we loved many places, the West Coast of Scotland with its wilderness's of Rannoch Moor, Glencoe, and West Sutherland, we loved the Lake District and the Peak District, we loved the Cotswolds, Cornwall and Devon, and we spent many times walking the Wolds of Lincolnshire, these places we miss. The places we do not miss are the big Cities of Birmingham and London, Manchester and Leeds. All our lives we lived in small villages the last one we lived in was near Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads, absolutely beautiful, and the peace and quiet was to die for. We used to take our classic cars on rallies around Norfolk and Lincolnshire during the Summer months.

[Horus]

That's the beauty of the UK Choccy, you are never short of something to do living here, lots of places to visit and things you can do. The biggest drawback is our unpredictable weather which makes any long term planning a bit hit and miss for outdoor events. With any luck I will be seeing some classic cars later in the month when I visit a Steam Rally where they have all sorts of things from Classic Cars & Motorbikes, Military Vehicles and old Lorries, plus of course several Steam Engines usually arrive, the last time I went (2 years ago) it was red hot that day, so here’s hoping.

The reason that UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) is attracting voters is because of its stance on our membership of the EU (which it wants to quit) and its views on unbridled immigration (which it wants to stop) so it has a lot of support for both these things. The problem is that all other political parties, Labour, Tories & Liberals all follow the same line and none of them seem to have any idea as to how the majority of people think and never discuss the issues, usually because they are frightened of being called racist if they do and losing votes from the big cities that you quoted because that is where the large immigrant populations live. The problem with the EU is that many people see all these regulations that come from that organisation such as 'Green' taxes that put extra costs onto the consumer plus lots of other regulations that we don’t want, but our politicians seem to accept without much protest.

[Jayway]

Grandad, Corruption, usually quite easy to deal with if you behave sensibly. Cold ? we never get frost here, not for the last 30 years anyway. Road accidents are mostly caused by tourists (bike crashes every year at the rally time ) and the medical service is fast and efficient. Hardly anyone uses the toll roads, mostly tourists. We may not have so many shops but they do give a good service and our goods are not expensive. The language is ridiculous, 27 different ways to say "speak" - but who cares, the nice people will always try to understand you and many speak english. Property, thats your choice if you want to live in a big drafty villa or a nice warm/cool apartment with all mod cons costing around 250,000 euros. The markets are great, lots of farm produce and the resturants are a lot cheaper. And we dont have any mosques deafening us -