Bonuses to Harvest Votes

 The NHS do a great job and especially shine during the pandemic, as so do other essential workers such as police, fire service, prison officers... it’s quite an extensive list but let’s look at NHS staff in particular as our Scottish First Minister has announced at the SNP conference that she (well actually the U.K. tax payer) will gift NHS workers with a £500 bonus which basically adds up to about £180 million.

Now I don’t grudge anyone getting paid more for what they had to deal with but consider this .... Rishi Sunak gave Nicola Sturgeon additional funding to deal with COVID, she has withheld about a billion of this money as it’s has not recompensed the many small businesses it was ear marked for (many of these smaller businesses have since collapsed and the employees have now joined the dole queue) but instead sturgeon has decided to give public servants a bonus then asked the UK Govt not to tax it basically baiting the “Tories are selfish monsters” narrative again if the British Government do tax this money.... but as a spokesperson from HM Treasury said: "The income tax on these payments is paid to Scotland, not Westminster - and the Scottish government has the powers and funding to gross up the payment if it wishes."...but of course the Scottish government won’t as the SNP rely upon the ignorance of the electorate who don’t know this and will believe in the Westminster scare story they continuously peddle.

As I said, it’s not that I resent the hard working NHS workers benefiting from this payout but our economy is smashed, we already pay the highest rate of tax in the U.K. up here in Scotland and I do wonder what better uses the SNP could have put that £180 million (perhaps invest in cancer treatment as there will be a massive backlog once Covid starts clearing) and the much many millions more which has been passed up from Westminster to help out Scotland during the Covid pandemic which has not so far been handed out by the SNP as was intended by the U.K. government..... the one thing I am sure the money was not for and that is a blatantly hypocritical attempt to harvest votes for the coming elections next year and also to further deflect criticism from Sturgeon’s piss poor performance in Scotland over Covid 

Freebies bleeding us dry

 The Scottish government is now going to provide free sanitary products to woman, much trumpeted and heralded over the international media “oh what a progressive nation Scotland is” ..... well if only they were to look under the tartan veneer.

Appears every part of the body is now treated by the NHS except for teeth and eyes (is this the real meaning of “the body politics) other orifices are now being looked after my our kind and caring government, well perhaps I could recommend one for them to shove it!!

Incidentally I hear they are to be supplied to schools, colleges and universities..... considering the Scottish Governments previous failed plans to supply laptops to these said places I don’t hold out much hope but someone will certainly be creaming off the top of this plan.

A “free” product from the welfare state but actually the money comes from somewhere and this will be the generous tax payer, I have no problem for the government taking a chunk of our money to help the less well off in society but surely such money should be spent on treatments such as cancer medication some of which is not availability up here in Scotland on the NHS but still available south of the border in England. Sanitary products for woman are one of the cheapest products in the supermarkets, can’t help thinking the administration fees to implement this will cost more than the product alone, kinda like the free prescription for items such as ibuprofen which have cost (cost the NHS) over £4 in admin fees but can be bought for 60 pence in Tescos. 

And now it’s soon to become law in Scotland curtesy of our justice Minister Hamza Yousaf to accept that men bleed too despite what biology has proven to the contrary, and you potentially could go to jail under the forthcoming hate-speech laws he wants to bring into force in Scotland so if a “menstruating man” wants this freebie too then you will be breaking the law to say no. 

So next time the government wish to be so generous and offer something “free” perhaps they would like to consult the tax payers who actually pay for this “free” gift as perhaps we would prefer to see the money get spent of the lack of “free” medical treatment available up here in Scotland .... after all ... is Scotland we pay the highest taxes in the U.K., if it’s not baby boxes our money is getting spent on then it’s payments to Alex Salmond’s legal expenses due to the Scottish government’s ineptitude.

It appears that gradually Scottish people are put into the category of being dependant on the state for a natural function and paid for my the U.K. tax payer. Maybe one day (night), Nicola will legislate to tuck all people in so the government can guarantee a good night's sleep, I certainly feel my eyelids droop at that harpy voice of hers. 

USA presidential elections

 My USA election predictions from October where as follows ....

“ With the American presidential elections looming a couple of weeks away on the 3rd of November I’d thought I’d go out on a limb here and give my predictions but not necessarily my endorsements. 

I believe Trump will win another term in office but if Biden does get in then I don’t believe he will serve a full term, if he does win then before his 4 years are up I believe his Vice President Kamala Harris will be taking over the reins perhaps using the 25th Amendment (which if Biden wins then the 25th Amendment will soon become a popular search in Google) 

If Biden does get in expect the states to re-enter the Paris agreement and and Iran Deal to be put together again.

But, as I have said... I think, admittedly possibly wrongly, that Trump will get back i, Biden I think does seem more appealing than Clinton was 4 years ago as he does not seem as far left as her as a Democrat candidate but then the voters across the pond may realise (as I also think) that vote Biden get Harris and that could scare them off especially after all the riots and “defund the police” protests across there and not forgetting the bad taste over China than lingers on.

So in summary ... my (uneducated) prediction is Trump wins or if I’m wrong and Biden gets in then Harris will eventually be the first woman American president by the triggering of the 25th amendment within Biden’s term. 

Whoever wins I just hope it’s the best man (or ultimately woman) for the job (I do also have my thoughts about this but don’t want to say) as it will have repercussions across here I’m the UK with various things that are happening here, also with Scotland”

As I paste what I previously wrote in October is social media the counting as began across the pond with Biden in the lead but still some swing states to be counted.

I will stand with what I said .... perhaps I was wrong about believing Trump will win... let’s see... I just hope the American people get who they voted for and hope for a peaceful fallout without any riots once the final counts are in.... these two hopes I doubt will come true unfortunately 

Spend your Lockdown wisely

 Lockdowns are hard when followed correctly, isolation dues come at a price to our health both physical and mentally ... also to the economy but should we really complain about the hardship of lockdown? Consider this ....Anne frank and 7 other people hid in a 450 sq ft attic for 761 days to stay alive.  

I am sure we will be ok with our Netflix, internet and deliveroo .... feeling grateful yet? 

The shocking lack of perspective this generation has is scary. 

During lockdown we enter a phase of self examination and also a certain return to reality which the distractions.

When the gyms closed we missed our shot of endorphins and panicked ... yet we had the opertunity to rediscover the simple press-up, burpees and sit-up with toes tucked under the sofa.

When the pubs closed we could sit at home with a beer bought at less than half the price, what we lost of atmosphere we could gain by learning to enjoy our own company and the company of our own household.

When the restaurants closed we learnt to cook (if the interest took) 

When the cinemas closed we searched for on Netflix, Sky and Amazon Prime ... and found some classics old and new which before we never had the time or inclination to watch. 

We once complained about never having the time now we have plenty yet complain we are bored.

When the country went in lockdown we traveled around our little island discovering places we overlooked previously in favour for the more exotic.

We saw heros in everyday folk such as Tom Moore ... a impressive change to the shallow celebs and sports stars we usually look up to.

Our relationships were put to the litmus test so we could be more honest about their futures and act accordingly. 

There has been many negatives but some positives about the imposed isolations due to lock down, if we looked inwards during these times there are many lessons we can learn from.