The Mexile

The UK’s Covid Inquiry has released its findings. They’re sort of what you’d expect them to be, which includes what was obvious from day one - we weren’t prepared for a pandemic. Quite the opposite. Still, we’ve learned plenty since 2020. Quality masks worn properly are very effective at slowing spread. Lockdowns work. The vaccines were safe and effective and prevented millions of deaths. And lastly, that the number of folk who are detached from reality and will believe absurd things they read on the internet is disappointingly high. Conspiritidius Theoritius spread almost as rapidly as the coronavirus, and is itself a lasting legacy of Covid19. Such is life. A friend recently shared a quote by Lao Tzu. " Those who have knowledge don't predict. Those who predict don't have knowledge ." But I shall boldly poke Mr Tzu in the eye and predict that when the next pandemic comes along, we’ll be similarly unprepared because we’ve learned nothing. But I digress from my real po...

My Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner died. One day it worked fine. The next day it did not. It’d had a good innings I suppose. We’ve been sucking dust out of our carpets with it for over a decade. I had to get it a new battery about five years ago, and I also needed to buy a new motorhead when I accidentally dropped the original one into a bucket of water. Other than that it’s worked wonderfully. And I’d buy a new Dyson to replace it with, but alas, James Dyson is a Brexit supporting buffoon. So I’m not buying Dyson products. I needed to look elsewhere. Bosch make superb cordless vacuums, but bloody hell. It’s a German brand. Don’t mention the war and all that, but we’re not quite ready to buy Jerry just yet. Too soon. Same for Panasonic. The Death Railway is too fresh in the memory. I’d have considered a French vacuum, because France passed the ‘British Grudge Time Limit’ a few weeks ago. The misadventures of Joan and her Arc can now be overlooked. But the French don’t seem to make any de...

I like Sir Kier Starmer. He’s a decent bloke. Smart. Boring. Boring should be a good quality in a politician. All politicians should be boring. It should be a box on the application form. If politicians and politics isn’t boring, things have gone terribly wrong. That’s how I see it. Kier saw Corbyn out the door. Kudos for that. And he guided Labour to a landslide election win on a small vote share without promising anything beyond ‘we won’t raise income tax’. He banked on an electoral policy of do nothing while their opponents repeatedly committed acts of huge self harm. It worked. Sort of. It worked up to the point of election day. Having assumed power, the expectation of Labour voters was that their own personal manifestos would all be fulfilled. Everything and anything from rejoining the EU, or the customs union, to massive benefits spending and on to executing the rich. Future disappointment was baked into the win. In the event, the most important thing Starmer’s party has needed t...