Anniston 15 July 2024 - Lego build day 2 and a visit from friends

Today is primarily a Lego Build Day

	Timestamp: 20240715_100835. Stickers are something that Robbie does not like.  Neither do I, so he has decided to only apply the essential visible stickers.  We start today by building the stand for the shuttle.
	Timestamp: 20240715_104211.  The stand is complete.  Time taken: 34 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_112614.  Now we have built the first part of the wing Time taken:  44 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_114718.  After a short break, we begin work on bag 6.
	Timestamp: 20240715_121002.  Bag 6 has completed the base frame for the shuttle, and we now have a good idea of its overall size.  Time taken:  23 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_131853. After a break for lunch, we are about to get underway again.
	Timestamp: 20240715_140251. Some of the wing has been filled in. In a later bag, the fixings of these blue plates would cause us a problem, and the removal of them and some re-work to re-position pieces under them would make the wing more solid. Time taken: 44 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_140755.  Bag 8 had been opened in error earlier than it should have been.  We had attempted to separate out the pieces correctly, but this bag really had us holding our breath.
	Timestamp: 20240715_143606.  Bag 8 was completed without incident. Time taken: 29 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_173555.  Time for bag 9 - with a dot under the number to distinguish it from bag 6.
	Timestamp: 20240715_175918.  The wings are now completed, but one side does not sit completely flat.  The reason for this is noted above. Time Taken: 20 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_184255. Now the engines have been added. Time Taken: 42 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_204129.  The rear infrastructure behind the cargo bay has been added.  The start picture is missing, but this bag was not too difficult, so I am going to estimate 30 minutes. Time Taken: 30 minutes (est)

Total time building the shuttle today is 266 minutes or 4 hours 26 minutes. 

Other things that happened today:

Two of Karen's teacher friends visited us.  It was good to meet them and to know that she has already made some good friends during her short time in her new school.  Karen had made scones, and we discussed cream teas a little.  Jam first, or cream?  The answer is here https://www.seriouseats.com/british-cream-tea-correct-order-5225936 part of which is repeated below:

Devonians lay claim to the first ever cream tea being served in Tavistock Abbey in the 11th century. Following Viking raids in the year 997, the Abbey was damaged and had to be restored. Fragments of manuscripts written by monks from this time, and discovered by local Devonian historians, tell us that the Earl of Devon, Ordulf, rewarded his workers with bread, clotted cream, and a strawberry preserve. At some point down the line, the bread was replaced with scones and the cream tea was realized. This, according to Devonians, was the original cream tea and was served cream first and then jam, and still is today—the right way, if you ask me. Devonians say the cream is like butter and forms the base of the scone “sandwich.” 

Which ever way you choose does not affect the taste, and all of us agreed the scones were very good.  Other English topics were covered a little, as was our general family history, but I'm not going to repeat those stories here!

There was also a little discussion of ex-president Trump, as he was shot yesterday.

Referendum Result - Leave - First Thoughts

Thursday night I went to bed, as did anyone who was following the coverage, expecting the status quo to prevail.  52% for remain.  So I was surprised when I heard the result when the radio started this morning.  52% for leave.  I should have taken my predictions from Twitter - where the feeling was that leave were in the ascendancy.
Today on Twitter and in other places there have been cries of agony (that is not too strong).  My future is destroyed!  We won't be able to ...  (insert anything, or everything here, that we might lose).  I understand the reaction, it's what a sudden, unexpected dose of the unknown does to people - especially younger people.
It was no surprise, then, when the stock market and currency markets took a hit - especially as the traders had all gone to bed having 'bet' on remain. Suddenly there were losses to try to recover, which leads, inevitably, to more losses.
Right now we pray for those who really are suffering as a result of the shocks - those who can't change sterling into the currency they need, those who are having to pay inflated prices from suppliers in other countries (not just EU countries).
However bad it looks now, it won't be that bad in reality, because we see the worst very easily.  There will be a period of instability, that will hurt some more than others.  For now, we are still IN the EU - none of our laws that we have as a result of treaties can change.  Over the next few months we will get a new government and exit negotiations will begin.  That process should be complete in a couple of years.  Much will change, the country will look very different, and changes will continue once we have left.  The exit process gives us the opportunity to get things right, but it also gives us the equal opportunity to make things worse.  Hopefully our politicians will have a more intelligent dialogue with their people than has occurred so far.
Now, whether you are celebrating, or in shock and denial, or sad, or mildly disappointed, the thing to do is to "Keep calm and carry on".

Some particular reactions bear further comment.
Somehow trying to invalidate the result (the majority is not big enough, people didn't understand what they were voting for ...), is about as unhelpful as it gets.  A referendum result is valid if there is only a 1 vote difference.  If people understood so little that they thought a protest vote was a valid thing to do, then I hope they have learned a lesson.  That's OK in a by-election, not in a referendum.

Blaming your grandparents (and parents) by saying things like 'you have stolen my future', 'don't you ever listen to your kids', 'you don't have to live with this', just shows a certain level of immaturity.  Perhaps, if I am kinder, lack of experience.  Those with the experience, especially those who were old enough to be politically aware in 1972 (the year before Britain joined the EEC), have some idea what it is like to live independently, and may also remember the recession that was caused when we joined.  Many of them will have been thinking of their children and grandchildren and asking what's best for them, as well as what's best for us, before they decided how to vote.

The reaction that a vote to leave is down to poverty as part of a Guardian article I saw on Facebook suggested is also unhelpful.  There are many reasons to vote leave, and some of the people I know who voted that way cannot be described as being in poverty.

The future
I cannot tell what will happen any more than anyone else.  Short term predictions are likely to be quite accurate, long term ones are rarely any good.  We know only this for certain: the way our country is run is going to change.  That gives us an enormous opportunity to do good, so here's my vision:

• to set up government systems that are fair and open.
• to be compassionate and lead the world in helping others to develop (we do a pretty good job now) and taking them in when we need to (we used to do a pretty good job of that too)
• to care for the dispossessed, disadvantaged and those who fall into need
• to invest in research and development and grow our already impressive science base 
• to lead the world in environmental responsibility
• to create a British bill of responsibilities (not rights)

much of this was already being done, and will continue, let's hope and pray that we can make more of it happen.

If you like my vision, please don't elect me a prime minister, but please do push your MPs towards those goals.

If you read 'Should I stay or Should I go' that I wrote on Tuesday, you may be wondering how I voted. Well, after much deliberation I decided I was about 55% in favour of remain and voted accordingly.

So I didn't vote for this, but I'm going to try to make it work well.

Should I stay or should I go?

Or, more properly Should I vote stay or should I vote go?  Just some notes to help me think through the decision.

I am still undecided and the information I'm getting is well propaganda or just plain insults really.  Neither side has said anything really convincing.  Each of us will have our own issues.  Mine is primarily around our Identity.  Are we first British, or are we first European?

But I'm not voting for me only, I have 4 grandchildren (perhaps more) to think about. So there are other aspects to consider - it is a decision for the long term, or is it?  If we vote 'leave', I expect there to be another referendum once the exit terms are negotiated, say in 2 to 5 years..

Before we get to that what about:

The economy?
"Its the economy, stupid" - that's what wins elections, but here there is so much doubt.  The markets will react, in the short term there will be some pain, but in the longer term when we can trade with the whole world who knows.  Our trade with other EU countries is currently in decline, but that will not always be so.  We have a strong economy, theirs is weaker, but I can remember being the 'sick man' of Europe.
My conclusion is that we British have been traders for hundreds of years and we're mainly good at it.
The cost of being in the EU is about £8.5billion a year according to FullFact, not a great deal of money in the grand scheme of things.

Immigration
We need immigration.  We have too many immigrants.  Both can be true, in some places where there are many immigrants the locals feel swamped. In other places there are people desperate to employ people with particular skills that don't exist in this country.
The answer to high numbers is not about controlling immigration, but making adequate provision - houses, school places,  doctors surgeries - INFRASTRUCTURE.  Probably the single thing we are worst at.
The answer to lack of skills is training and planning for it long term.  Probably the thing we are next worse at.
Neither of these things really relates that much to the EU, although when large migrations occur they could provide some financial help.

Sovereignty
Who makes our laws? Who can tell us what to do?  The EU is undemocratic in as much as the agenda is set by an appointed commission.  These people are largely sponsored by businesses, and have their own agenda.  The EU courts can tell the UK government what to do, and can override British court judgements.  The first principle is that the law should apply to everyone, individuals, corporations and governments.  I believe the European courts system, largely set up by the British is generally a good thing.  All courts make (seemingly) wacky judgements from time to time.
Majority voting can mean that we get some rules we don't like, but that is true for all the countries.

Ever Close Union
The European Federation, or United States of Europe will eventually arrive, although now that there are so many countries it will take a lot longer to get here.  A well structured federation, with proper directly elected politicians could be a very good thing for Europe, but we are a long way from it, and Britain has (or is promised?) an opt-out, so we can stay on the side lines if we wish.

Predictions
There have been way too many predictions of doom, especially by the remain campaign.  Third world war - I doubt it.  Economic collapse - I doubt it.  No-one can tell what the world will be like next year (what did you think in 2007?), so predictions for 2030 are spurious guess work and can be safely ignored.
Where though is the vision? Neither side have told us how good it will be, what we can gain.

Identity
The final and most important issue for me is our identity.  Are we, as a people, a good fit for a European Union.  We are certainly geographically part of Europe, but also geographically split from Europe. That means that in so many ways we are different.

• We did not live under Napoleon, as much of Europe did, so our outlook and ways of doing things are different.  
• We broke away from the Catholic Church and as a result establish protestantism here, it was a difficult time, and some other EU countries have a similar experience, but none so dramatic or 'final'.
• We came first in the 'Age of Empires' game that ended around the beginning of the twentieth century, and that has left its mark on us - it gives us a certain expectation of leadership in the world.  That is a role we can still fulfil, but can we do it better out, or better in?  It is also a role that is diminishing, with the rise of China and India and ...
• We have not been occupied by a foreign power for over 1000 years.  Someone will tell me if another EU country can also claim that, I can't think of one.  We have, of course, imported foreign kings when it suited us.

Very little of what has been said in the run up to the referendum so far has been helpful or edifying.  One sound bite I remember from William Hague saying that there is much wrong with the EU, but now is the time to be fixing it from within, not getting out.  That I have to agree with.

Or perhaps I should take this view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37iHSwA1SwE

Conclusion
Still a don't know, maybe I'll write again on Friday.

Comments: Please comment, but please be balanced, and no doom and no propaganda please.

Civic Service

We gathered at 3pm, or in our case 5 minutes late, we had not allowed time to park in the overflow car park.  The recently formed community choir were singing.  We heard about all the event that the town council and churches together have been running, from Street Pastors to litter picks, and very briefly from the youth town council.  We were reminded that we were 'the salt of the earth' and that it is our generosity with our time that allows others to experience God's love and that makes Billericay a very nice place to live.
We took a vow to keep it that way, and even to make it better:
"We pledge for the future before us;
to respect the fragile earth and defend all who are weak;
to promote the ways of peace and heal the wound of conflict;
to make the sacrifice of service and honour all that is good; to build a safer and securer future for our children and show reverence for the gift of life.
This we pledge in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
We sang some great hymns, which when led by the choir were even better, and verses 1 and three of the national anthem (I was hoping for verse 6).
It was very different, I have never been to anything like it before.  It was good to hear all that is going on in the town, and to realise that there is a close community beginning to develop. If there is another one next year I will definitely attend.

Margaret Thatcher - My part in her downfall

Sorry Spike for stealing you title.

Margaret Thatcher is remembered for just one thing.  The defeat of the miners and in particular the NUM strike.  It is seen in some quarters as the defining moment of her career and a vindictive and unnecessary act.

Let's first remember where the UK was in 1979.  After the last few years of dithering governments, the country appeared to be in terminal decline.  Headline news was the number of days lost in strikes.  We were known as the 'sick man of Europe'.  Even the IMF who had bailed us out a few years before had not really set us on a new path (Note to southern European countries: a bailout doesn't solve anything - we've been there and suffered that.)  Before the election, rubbish was piling up on the streets, there had been power cuts and a three-day week.  Inflation was out of control. Something needed to be done.
I was considering emigrating - not that seriously, though.  Others did.  Losing the top tier is one thing, but when the middle tier starts to desert, the ship is truly sinking.

Margaret Thatcher did it.

Margaret Thatcher is remembered for two things.  Smashing the NUM and there's also the Falklands War. Britain had been following its usual careless approach to foreign policy, assuming that no-one would really dare to threaten us, even our little back water in the southern Atlantic.  Argentina wanted them back (odd really as they had never settled them in the first place).  The few islanders were British, and were invaded.  Many British politicians used to ignoring the high ideals they shout at other countries about, recommended brining the population back to Britain and leaving the Argentinians to keep the islands.
I finally found that there was a war I could be for.

Margaret Thatcher stood up for her principles and sent a task force.  We won the war - but only just.

Margaret Thatcher is remembered for three things. Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war and opening up the financial markets. The swinging sixties had not really affected industry, much of which was still owned by the state. Following on from the World War (part 2) that ended in 1945, little had been done to return the huge corporations to private hands. 
Some called it selling off the family silver, some, who embraced the opportunities and had a modest amount of capital, made a real killing.  At last there was a share, ownership was spread far and wide. That should have made things better for lots of people.  Around the same time, the restrictions on financial transactions were lifted, and the banking industry was forced to become less of a closed shop (old boys network) and live in the market economy with the rest of us.
I was working for a bank, it changed from being paternalistic and highly structured to aggressively competitive and had a'devil take the hindmost' attitude.

Margaret Thatcher is remembered for four things.  Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war, opening up the financial markets and the 'right to buy'.  Another huge change in the Market Economy that was being generated was the 'right to buy' granted to Council house tenants. This had two effects:
1) Council estates stopped being drab run-down places no-one wanted to go to and started to look more like streets in other places.
2) The proceeds from the sales were not used wisely by the councils, so there was very quickly the start of a housing shortage, which continues to get worse even now.
I was buying my own home and saw the value rocket - it was only later I discovered the downside of this.

Margaret Thatcher is remembered for five things. Smashing the NUM, winning the Falklands war, opening up the financial markets, the 'right to buy' and the Poll Tax. This final one was the real cause of her downfall.  There are some things that the British (or perhaps English, I'm not sure) people just will not take. The Poll Tax.  The first attempt in 1377 cause the Peasants Revolt.  The revolt in 1990 was not just rioters on the streets of London, but even refuseniks in middle-England.  No government in a democracy can survive the alienation of its core supporters.
I paid the Community Charge, but didn't approve.  At the time of the riots there was a big company 'do' in London, getting through the rioters and protesters was interesting and probably not as dangerous as it felt.

Margaret Thatcher suffered the same fate as any leader who ignores the lessons of history.

And I haven't mentioned the EU rebate - the exception Anglais - which we still have.
And I haven't mentioned her successful dealings with the USSR.

If these few points don't give an indication of the importance of her premiership, then I have failed.  She didn't get everything right, but she did change things more than any other peace time leader.  Britain changed from a country in terminal decline to a country that was able to pay off much of its debt.  The process was dramatic and painful. That pain is still felt, so I can understand some of the comments.  It doesn't explain why there is so much hatred among the young - who were not there!

Without those 11.5 years, Britain would be an insignificant island off the western coast of Europe, probably the recipient of EU aid, run down and heading towards the classification of 'third world'.

RIP Margaret Thatcher, job done.

Budget: a personal response

I've had a few days to let the budget changes sink in - or to find out about them at least.  According to the BBC's calculator (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12773565), I'm going to be £26 a month worse off.  It won't break the bank.  Here are my comments on the changes.

Fuel Duty Cut - 1 (new) penny
It makes a nice headline when the petrol price is rising 10 pence per litre per quarter.  The real effect as we all observed was nothing at all.  To say that the corresponding tax increase on oil companies cannot be passed on was clearly rubbish.  Do we import petrol (refined and ready for the car) from outside of the EU - no we don't - it's all made locally.

Personal tax allowance rises by £630 to £8,105 in April 2012.
A year is a long time to wait.  I'm also waiting for the National Insurance (NI) & Income Tax merger, which I'm broadly against. NI should be a ring fenced fund for pensions, NHS etc. - so we can all see how much it costs us.  Income tax (which should be scrapped, in favour of higher VAT) should mean that anyone on the minimum wage (£5.93 per hour @ 40 hours per week = £12,334.40 per year) should not pay income tax, so £12,334 should be the personal allowance.  This would take many people out of the tax system and save money on expensive tax inspectors. This is a step in the right direction.

Corporation tax to be cut by 2% 
Instead of the one planned, and is now targeted to come down to 23% by 2015.  Probably helpful for small businesses.  It might stop a few companies re-locating overseas.

Gift Aid & Charities
Some relief on the administration side but little incentive for the 'Big Society' to pick up new roles and take over government functions.  Gift Aid means that tax is refunded to the charity from the Income Tax I paid on the money I earned and gave to a charity. Now up to £5000 of unaccredited donations can be used to claim back gift aid.  In theory it should be at the basic rate of income tax, but when that was last reduced charities could still claim the 21% back.  So If I gave £1 they got £1.28.  Now they will get £1.25, that relief should have been extended.
As someone who respects the requirement to tithe and does it from Gross income, not Net income, this change will have an additional impact on me. I haven't calculated the cost of that yet.

Overall
If I was in as much debt, proportionally, as the country is and still borrowing to keep my life afloat, as the country is then I would want it fixed as quickly as it could be.  So I have to support the cuts and I expect them to hurt.  Time like these should be use to re-structure and set the foundations for the next decades.  I haven't seen much of that, if any.

Has all political debate dried up?

There is an election in Billericay (for the town council) in a couple of days. Normally by now I would have received various pieces of paper from the candidates encouraging me to vote for them. This one is different though. There is a BNP candidate. They seem to be making the running. I have received papers from them, and another from a campaign to stop them. "Unite against fascism", who ever they are, tell me the world is a dangerous place to live - because of people who don't do anything about evil. Then they tell me that Albert Einstein was a refugee from Nazi Germany.

I think he also had something to do with building the Atomic Bomb.

What has all this to do with Billericay Town Council, where the debate is more usually at the level of tidying up the War Memorial, putting up bus shelters, or protecting the green space. These are the things I want to hear from the candidates. What will you spend my money on and how will it benefit the residents?

I have no answers to those questions, so why should I vote?

I will vote (if I can get to the polling station), I almost always do. I've missed just one since I was 18. It is both my duty and privilege. I will be less informed this time than usual - thanks to the BNP, and the puerile response of the mainstream.

The Lords is dead

We hear this morning that the government are proposing another constitutional reform bill. It seems to amount to another couple of tiny steps making the farce that is the House of Lords even worse. If the bill is passed it will mean no new hereditary peers, it will also allow for peers to resign. Thus making it possible for Peter Mandelson to return to the commons. Far be it from me to suggest that this may be an important reason for the clause.

The problem with this bill is that it adds nothing to the democratic process. The Lords had their teeth removed long ago (before they would have fallen out on their own). They have no power. It is time to take the plunge and have a properly constituted second chamber. Elected peers are the only answer, but the elections should not be at the same time as general elections, nor should they be at the whim of the Prime Minister. I suggest a fixed term - say 7 years, for some continuity. When it done, its done - no re-election. If you resign the next person gets 7 years from the 'by-election'. There should be no bar on ex-peers standing in another constituency.
Election should be by proportional representation (particular flavour is TBA).

If the second chamber is to retain its 'traditional' role, it should have the power to throw out legislation altogether, but more importantly it should have a strong revising role. Then perhaps the mother of parliaments can start teaching the children again.

Otherwise its just tinkering - as usual.