There is no new news...

I was in the gym today and noticed a young girl (these things being relative so she could be anywhere from mid twenties to thirty something but I digress...) who had self-harm scars on her arms, actually only one arm, her left. Mainly on the upper arm but some on the lower arm as well.

My first thought was why am I even looking it is none of my business but she was cute and that kinda hooked my attention for a minute. Then I felt a little sad for her having gone through whatever it was in her life that made her feel so bad that she needed to self-harm.

But ultimately, before I stopped noticing, I felt really proud of her for having put this behind her, guessing by the age of the scars, and not just accepting her past but also wearing the scars like a badge of honour. Not sure whether that's quite the right phrase for it but I think it is brave and really cool that she didn't just cover up and feel ashamed of this part of her life. Also, I'm not sure I can feel proud of a complete stranger but that's not the point...is it!

Then I stopped noticing and got on with causing myself pain which I seem to have been doing all my life and I suspect I will continue to do so until I have a nurse who won't let me out of bed!

In other news, well, news, the latest on Brexit is the economic predictions are for the UK to become the most indebted it has been for sixty years. So, as a little guessing game, given the current government believes debt is the worst thing that can happen to a country other than thermonuclear war, and, as the current government believes in low taxation especially for the highest earners as as it believes if they are taxed too highly they leave the country... or run it, then guess how the current government will get around that particular dilemma... it begins with an A! And the people that it will hurt most will be the people that can least afford it and also the people that proportionately voted in highest numbers for the hurt that is coming their way. Some people must be laughing all the way to their villas in Provence!

I admire the extinction rebellion protesters. Dramatic change only ever comes about by dramatic action and yes it will inconvenience people and that's the point. After all if it did not inconvenience people then it would not be news and if it were not news then people would not know about it and then they would not think about it. And that, is the point! To make people, in general, think about the crisis we can all see occurring in our climate.

The thing is, it does not have to be devastating and hugely costly to meet the targets that are being demanded. It just depends how it is managed. Imagine if the UK government committed huge amounts of money, in a Keynesian way, to create everything from a EV charging network throughout the UK, pour money into technology companies looking to answer all the questions that exist in battery and charging technology, taxing people by the mile travelled and higher tariffs for the highest polluting methods and encouraging different ways of working including home working, working via technology and not by physical proximity, investing in all sorts of infrastructure especially public transport. Add to that subsidies for green solutions for energy extraction and for insulating homes, these things will, one way or another, pay for themselves... and will a Conservative government ever do that... not a hope!

As an aside, I saw a daft film from the 1970s the other day and in that film they referred to ecological planet wide disaster being brought about by human action... so it is not exactly new, it's just getting worse. Personally, as Fawlty said, I should let you all burn...

Now I am going to settle down to a quiet night of TV watching, especially Bake Off :)