Slightly lazy blogging I know, but I think this conversation between  Slavoj Zizek and Owen  Jones is worth checking out. It’s pretty fascinating to hear them discuss what is currently going on in the world, from Trump to Brexit to Corbyn. There’s some really interesting analysis, but I think deep down both men are just as aghast as the rest of us.

I’m just flagging this story up simply because it’s so bemusing  and random. The fact that it’s on the bbc news website in the first place makes me chuckle. David Schwimmer has been forced to deny stealing beer from a shop in Blackpool after cctv appeared to show a Look-a-like  nicking cans from a shop up there. People on  social media identified him.  I find that funny on  two fronts: firstly, that it was allowed  to go so far that Schwimmer was obliged to make such a denial;  and secondly I find it funny that Schwimmer now knows of the existence of Blackpool.

Surely after reading this you’ll agree  the Outists have lost any grip on reality they ever had. With austerity measures driving more and more people with disabilities to suicide and Brexit about  to have a major impact on the economy, they’re now suggesting a new £120 million royal yacht  Britannia, presumably to  pander to their egotistic nationalistic image of  brand Britain. The dumbass Liam fox said:

“We believe that now is the time to commission a new Royal Yacht Britannia as a new symbol of global Britain, designed and built domestically to showcase the best of UK shipbuilding and industry, and as a platform for promoting trade.”

It would be quite funny, if it wasn’t so obscene. It’s as if they still believe Britain is a great empire ruling the  waves. Surely anyone so  deluded, whose grip on reality is so  obviously tenuous, cannot be allowed to rule and should be removed from government.

It is the monday morning after a great weekend. Seeing Steve and Jenny was terrific. I honestly don’t think I had seen Jenny since graduating our Batchelor’s eleven years ago. They make a lovely couple, and their two little daughters our bright as buttons. As Steve rolled me onto the train yesterday (I’d gone in my manual chair as Steve needed to use his car) I decided to go back up there again soon. Those days at the MMU campus at Alsager now seem an age ago, but it’s great that I haven’t lost touch with my old friends from there. I suppose, due to the internet, keeping in contact with people is easier than ever; but even so the occasional trip to go visit my friends is very welcome.

Mind you, part of me feels guilty that I didn’t go to the Brexit protest on saturday. From the look of the photos it was enormous (700,000 at the ‘People’s Vote march, compared to a piffling 1500 at the pro-brexit gathering of morons). Part of me wishes I went to that, but friends come first. And besides, there are bound to be more and more Brexit protests as the mountain of shit gets higher and higher. Not only did I get to see my friends and their two bubbly young daughters, but I also got to explore York. In all, not a bad weekend at all.

Not only is this spot on in it’s politics, but it struck me as such a great piece of creative writing that I just had to nick it.

This entry finds me sitting in a coffee shop in York city centre. I’m up visiting my friends Steve and Jenny, with their two adorable daughters, for the weekend. They live in Hambleton, a small Yorkshire village, and Steve and I have come in to explore York. It’s great to see my old university friends, although truth be told the trip up yesterday wasn’t so good: it turned out that the train I was supposed to be on was cancelled, and it took me about seven hours to get here. Anyway I’m here  now for a long overdue catch up, and it really feels good.

Like most people I suspect, I see Brexit as a project of the right: it does nothing but feed into a worldview of nationalism  and xenophobia, where nations are pitted against one another in petty rivalries. Surely humanity should be coming together rather than reinforcing our borders. Apparently, though, some on the left of politics are Outists too. According to this LSE article, such people argue that the EU is too neoliberal, and that it’s  regulations ensure private enterprise takes precedence over the state.  I know what they mean, but  I thought the article was worth flagging up because it shows what  a mistake such assumptions are. Brexit serves only capitalism: it is all about  breaking free of EU regulations and letting the most perverse form of capitalism flourish. As the writer puts it “Like many on the left, I oppose European directives requiring competition in the provision of public services, court decisions that imperil international collective bargaining, as well as its suppression of Greek democracy. However, these are problems and policies that are best opposed from within the EU.” Yes, the EU might have it’s problems and neoliberal leanings, but outside of it  we will lose the ability to control such tendencies and greed will  be allowed to run rampant.

Yesterday I took myself to go see First Man. I don’t go to the cinema enough, especially for a guy who professes to be a cinephile.  It was a really intriguing film. If perhaps it was a bit slow at times, it nonetheless gives us an insight into a crucial moment in American scientific and cultural history. The moon landings where when the American myth came of age:  as a country,, this is one of the primary stories that Americans tell about themselves. I think it is telling that we have a film like this released at this moment, with America struggling with it’s identity and uneasy about it’s place in he world. While much of it’s focus is on Aldrin, armstrong, and the interpersonal drama leading up to the Apollo mission, this is essentially a story of how the nation triumphed over all others, proving they could overcome all the drama to set a milestone for all others. Critics like Kermode have suggested that this film is not so much about space than about grief, with Armstrong struggling with the death of his young daughter, that plays into the notion of refinding one’s place in  the world. Yet to retell  this particular cultural tale at a point when americans feel laughed at or mocked, or when they no longer feel they have the prominence they once had, says quite a  bit about how things stand.

I know I’ve been posting these short, link-based entries quite a bit recently, but I just came across a video I think everyone should watch, disturbing though it is. This is a short consideration by a Yale philosophy professor of why Trump may qualify as a fascist. It’s very even-handed: he admits that the  word fascist is, more often than not, an overused political insult hurled at anyone whose politics we dislike, left or right. But in his analysis he looks at what trump is doing and the rhetoric he uses and compares it to the fascists of the past, showing they are frighteningly similar. It makes for very disturbing viewing. We may joke,  or wring our hands and write blog entries, but what is currently happening in the world is starting to become very frightening indeed.

Just in case anyone needs a  bit of cheering up (and who doesn’t these days?) check this video out of Eric Idle’s quite fascinating account of where a certain famous song originated. Yes, you could just dismiss it as him promoting his new autobiography, but I found  it an interesting insight into a fragment of seventies cinema and cultural history, which also brought a smile to my face. All together now…

I suppose it’s fair to say that I like hyperbole as much as the next man. In fact, Lyn has started to take the piss at how I tend to accuse anyone I dislike of being a fascist. Yet, scarily, I’m afraid to say things have reached a point where such accusations are no longer hyperbole, or a reaction to anyone whose views I find vaguely illiberal. Fascism is indeed returning: we are seeing it in brazil.  In America, I’ve seen reports of devious schemes to bar African Americans from voting. Trump also seems to be trying to generate a  personality cult around him, so that his  supporters believe what he says over any other source. That is exactly what Hitler did. Things are becoming very, very dangerous. It’s no longer  hyperbole – fascism has returned.

My sentiments entirely

When will we realise we are one civilisation,  put our divisions (but not necessarily our differences) aside, and start working together?

I just want to note that today marks ten years since Lyn first came to visit me at Alsager. I still remember the day vividly: I remember trundling over to campus reception in my powerchair to wait for Lyn and Zita. I was starting to get slightly worried that they weren’t showing up, and was just setting off to look for them, when a taxi came around the  corner carrying the woman who would become my partner.

That was how I met Lyn. My first real sight of her was through the back window of a Crewe taxi. It’s strange how you remember such details. The following ten years have, of course, been some of the happiest of my life. They haven’t always been  easy,  but when I think about all the incredible things which we have done  together – the 2012 Paralympics, watching Monty Python Live, going to a Star Trek convention and meeting Sir Patrick Stewart – my  mind is blown at the thought of how I could be so lucky.

If, like me, you have ever wondered where the expression ‘O.K’ comes from or what  it originally stood for, just check this video out. It comes from an 1830s american fad, apparently – who knew? A bit of a weird subject for a blog entry admittedly, but at least it clears one mystery up.

Something very, very scary is currently  happening to the world which I think we should be very, very worried about. I just came across a link to this article on my PA Paul’s facebook page. Paulo is Brazilian, but has been living in the uk for  about twenty years. Like a lot of Brazilians, and  a growing number of non-Brazilians, he has been watching what is going on there with deep concern. It now looks increasingly likely that Jair Bolsonaro will be elected as  Brazil’s next president. From what I read, the man is a disgrace to civilisation if ever there was one: He  thinks criminals should be shot rather than face  trial; he is deeply homophobic; he has eugenicist views on Brazil’s indigenous communities. How  Brazil could even be thinking about electing such a vile man is beyond me.

Yet it is happening more and more. In america Trump was elected; in the uk we voted for Braxit. Far right parties and views are on the rise all over the world. I wouldn’t like to speculate about the causes, but it’s probably connected with the global economic crash of a decade ago. It might also be a backlash against globalisation, or bigots might be taking advantage of people’s apprehension and ignorance over immigration. Whatever the reason, it’s starting  to look uncannily like what happened in the 1930s in Germany. As the article points out, Bolsonaro is using precisely the same tactics to woo people that the Nazis did. That  history is now repeating: full-blooded fascism is returning to world politics, and unless something is done about it quite quickly, I fear things will get very dark indeed.

I  just came across this clip from the James Corden Show with  Eric Idle, and instantly knew I had to link to it from  here. You can tell what’s  coming from the beginning, but I think it turns out to be quite a witty, funny and timely variation of a classic song.

The timeless children’s story of a twat who, turning up to Sally and her brother’s house one  day, proceeds to cause chaos with his tricks, helped by Thing 1 and Thing 2, aka Boris and Jacob.

I just got this exciting bit of info on the new Picard Star Trek series via the Google alert I set up. It now appears that it will be an ongoing series with multiple seasons, rather than a shorter stand-alone series;  and it will probably  hit our screens in Spring 2020. For  a trekkie like myself, that is very, very exciting news. While I know that there are one or two reasons to  be cautious about this new Picard series, which I touched upon here,  nonetheless I’m looking forward to seeing Sir Patrick Stewart back in that role more than  anything of it’s kind before. Please bear with me: I know I should be looking for other things to write about on here, but you can’t deny an old  trekkie the chance to geek out  once in a while, surely?

As in favour of positive discrimination as I ordinarily try to be, I must say that I agree with this news that James Bond will remain male. Fleming wrote him as a man; indeed he is an utter misogynist who treats women despicably. To suddenly turn Bond into a woman, for whatever reason, would be a complete departure from who the character essentially  is. That is not  to say I don’t think Bond shouldn’t change at all – I still say he can and should one day be played by a black actor  – but making  007 female  would necessarily mean giving the character female characteristics which would depart too far from what Fleming created.

Although it makes for rather uncomfortable reading, I think this essay in the New York Review of Books is worth a look.  In it, leading holocaust historian,  Christopher Browning, compares Trump to Hitler. While that is usually the preserve of ill-informed internet trolls, the points Browning makes  are valid and well measured:  while what Trump is doing does not equate to the type of full-on fascism we saw in the thirties, there are comparisons to be made which are very concerning. While Trump certainly has right-wing authoritarian pretensions, as Browning points out, the american system is such that it will stop the idiot going too far – we hope.

I know I said yesterday that I was going  to try to avoid politics from now on (as if I could!), but I just came across this article which I think is a must read. It spells out precisely what Brexit is all about, and has been all along: the deregulation  of the  uk and the imposition of the most sickening form of capitalism onto it. The referendum was won based on lies pouted by those bent on turning the country into a free market hell I’ve been saying that for ages: our human and consumer rights are now in grave jeopardy. No matter how pissed off I  get, the fact is this insult to democracy cannot be avoided, and has to  be resisted.

How much longer do we have to endure the spectacle of these embarrassments to human civilisation, dancing onto stages as if they own the place, telling us how wonderfully they are doing? I just watched the news, and hearing May’s speech made me so furious that I was ashamed at  the rage I felt. The tories care about nobody  but  theirselves. That they  pretend otherwise, even as statistics show 120,000 people have died as a result of their cuts, makes my blood boil. And don’t get me started on Brexit: the tories should all be on their fucking knees begging  our forgiveness for deliberately misleading the country, not trying to paint theirselves as some kind of heroes.

What I saw on the news this evening made me very, very angry; I felt powerless and frustrated, and it pushed me into such a rage that I embarrassed myself, so much so  that I think I better try to steer clear of politics from now on.

On Friday at school they began a new drama project with the kids based around superheroes, so I thought it would be cool to brush up on the subject by finally getting some of the Marvel films watched. I just finished watching the third in the 2004-2007 Spiderman trilogy. I wish I could write something more positive here: I was  expecting a serious, mature film, albeit one requiring some suspension of disbelief, about a character with extraordinary powers fighting crime. What I just watched, however, was some kind of puerile adolescent drama about a whiney little teenager who claims to be both a photographer and a physics student and his relationship with his next door neighbour. I found these films utterly nauseating and insulting to my intelligence. As a character, Peter Parker is a self-centred, arrogant little wanker; the actor who plays him, Tobey Maguire, is almost as irritating. We’re supposed to side with this guy, yet he treats his friends despicably. As for the script, I honestly think I could pull a better piece of writing out of my arse: the dialogue is pure cliche, the  plot nauseating.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I found these films dire. Like Star Wars films, they are kid’s films pretending to be for grown ups. The thing that most interested me  about these film,  though, was their use of New York: all three are set entirely in the metropolis, so the city becomes a stand in for the world itself. I wonder whether anything has been written  about that aspect  of films like these, and now intend to look into it. Apart from that, however, based upon the films I just watched, I have to say I am very disappointed: they are just a derivative, adolescent mess which I’m struggling to engage with at any level. Admittedly, I’ve just whizzed through them in three or four days, but they made me cringe so much that I rather doubt they would improve with further viewings, especially the third. On the other hand, these films are just one adaptation/interpretation of the original Marvel character. What I’d like to do now is seek out other screen incarnations of Spiderman to see how they compare, and that way build up a better idea of the character and his relationship with New York city.

I’m hoping this is genuine, and not the spoof I suspect it is.

Can something so amusing be real? I hope so.

If anyone is  is after something to chuckle at this evening, check this out. A poll  conducted by outist in chief Farage himself has backfired spectacularly, with 63% of respondents now saying they would now vote to remain in the EU. How delicious! And what greater sign can there be that the tide is turning against this shameful farce?

I’ve recently started to think about the olympics again, and whether Manchester could host them in 2032. It seems to me that if there’s one sure way to get a city onto the global map it’ hosting an Olympic Games. (The  notable exception being New York, the only truly global city yet to host). While I am now  firmly a Londoner and adore the metropolis, living down here has given me a fresh affinity for the nearest big city to the town where I was born. I now  want Manchester to thrive and throb as London does. A couple of questions present themselves though: for one, would this idea actually have any traction up in Manchester itself? And how on earth could I get this idea off the ground, rather then just remaining my whimsical daydream of repeating the glories of 2012 up north? Any suggestions how I could take this forward?

Blackadder, like say,  Monty  Python and One Foot in the Grave,  is one of those cornerstones of British comedy which everyone gets nostalgic about but which we assume are long gone. Most people probably take it that we saw the  last of Blackadder and Baldric thirty years ago when they went over the top at the end of his fourth incarnation. However, it seems that may  no longer be the case: just before  bed last night I came across this Metro article. Tony Robinson has hinted that the old cast may be getting back together for a fifth Blackadder series. He reportedly said: ‘We’d have to get the old group back together again. ‘I know everyone is busy doing wonderful things, but we all have fond memories so I’m sure we would work it out.’ Before now, I’d have just dismissed such stories as wishful thinking, but after James Bond’s incredible appearance with the Queen in 2012 turned out to be true, and the 2014 reunion of Monty Python proved equally awesome, I wouldn’t rule anything like this out any more.

I  still don’t see what is so wrong with the notion that humanity should be trying to outgrow nationalism. Why can’t we see beyond state borders and try to work as one? Does nationalism not just ferment rivalry and bitterness  across essentially arbitrary lines on a map? If the planet has limited resources, shouldn’t we be working together to ensure those resources are used in the best way possible? I know many people derive  much of their identities from their nationality, taking pride in the  fact that they were born into a particular state; but would it not be better to take pride in the fact that one is human, and in what humanity as a whole has achieved. Granted, nations add to human  variety; but, now more than ever, borders are irrelevant to cultural diversity. We no longer need to segregate ourselves to remain unique or maintain diverse identities. Indeed, maintaining division only perpetuates friction between cultural groups. Thus I ask with increasing exasperation, why are we maintaining national borders, resorting to nationalism and shunning international cooperation? I may be british, I may be English, but those are just two of a plethora of identities which make up who I am. Far more important to me is the fact I am human.

We are all unique, so getting rid  of the lines on the map which currently separate humanity won’t diminish human diversity: now more than ever, culture exists independently of geography. And taking inordinate pride in the fact that  one was born in a given piece of land only serves to perpetuate the rivalries which  have lead to the most shameful episodes of human history. Isn’t it time we all started  coming together?

A while ago on here I wrote that I wanted to  get back into psychology again, having taken it at A-level gut going no further. I was thinking about that again today: as a writer and film-maker, I mostly focus on my own experiences as a  guy with a physical disability. But it occurs to me that, in terms of disability and disabled people, physical disability is only part of the story. These days, the term ‘disability’ covers a hell of a lot more than conditions like  cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or spina bifida. There are also many more people, marginalised by society for all kinds  of reasons, who  I could be writing about. Until now, my stories and scripts have attempted to convey what life is like for someone like  myself; but there’s another group, arguably even more marginalised than physically disabled people, whose stories need telling just as much.  That is an area I now want to expand into as an artist. It will take quite a bit of work, but I think it could be fascinating.

It now looks  like I have something else to keep an eye on, alongside the return of Captain Picard. Late  last night, just before bed, I came across something about another Monty Python comeback. It wasn’t much:  just Micheal Palin saying that the pythons are planning something to mark their fiftieth anniversary next year, but it was enough to send my mind  racing. Today  I consulted the Monty Python fan facebook page. Predictably, no one knew much, but there is talk of an exhibition up at the V and A. I was sort of hoping for another full-on reunion show,  although that might be unlikely due to Terry Jones’ Alzhiemers,  and it probably wouldn’t have been at the   o2 (or indeed  in the uk) again, so I knew that the prospect of a repeat of that epic night in 2014 would have been too much for me to hope for. Nonetheless, I was  directed here, to the exhibition site. There isn’t much to go on at this point, but it certainly looks like they once again have something interesting in the making, and all being well  I’ll be able to make my way up there to check it out when it’s on. Monty Python had an enormous  impact on British comedy and culture, and it is good to see that  legacy being properly marked.

I just came across something rather interesting on facebook. On one of the  anti-brexit pages, someone had posted a link to a poll on Farage’s facebook page asking whether we should Leave or remain  in  the EU knowing what we know now. Expecting it to show a large majority favouring leave (his fb page will mostly be visited by outists) I clicked Remain. To my surprise and joy, the poll showed a 61% majority for remain, as of six o’clock. Surely that must be a good sign.  I just hope it stays that way.

I just rewatched the first episode  of Michael Palin’s new channel Five series on North Korea, because I missed bits of it when it was on tv a couple of days ago. I must say I found it quite intriguing – I didn’t think Channel five were  into making programs like that. They have obviously taken a format they know works on channels like bbc1 and applied it to the most despotic country on the map, so that we glimpse a place so foreign and frightening that it quite beggars belief. It was fascinating to glimpse a country we all know so little about. Palin makes his usual show of being the affable middle-class Englishman abroad, attempting to be both serious and vaguely comic simultaneously, but below that we get a glimpse of something truly puzzling. What we are being shown here might well be propaganda, but the question is ‘whose?’ Are we seeing what the North Koreans want us to see, or are we  seeing what Channel Five want us to show us about North Korea? Through Palin this program projects the image of the quintessential Englishman abroad exploring what we have all been told  is a brutal despotic country, but to what extent is that in itself a contrivance? How can we be sure that in itself is not just as manipulative as the North Korean regime is supposed to be? or am I being over analytical? It’s a fascinating program either way, and one I look forward to watching more of.

The sparks are really starting to fly over this travesty. All we can do now is sit back and watch. I’m now pretty sure that sooner or later brexit will be cancelled: May and the tories know full well the damage it will do, but can’t admit it. They’re continuing what they know is folly for ideological reasons. But on the  other hand,  guys like Macron are starting to lose   patience pointing  out that the Leave campaign lied to us two years ago.

Any reasonable person can now see how stupid Brexit is getting and what damage it would do to the  economy. Even the tories know it’s stupid. But I also think they – or at least the cabinet  – know why    the 27 other members  had to reject their silly plan yesterday, and were forced  to push it forward or risk losing all integrity and authority.  Any intelligent, informed person can see why the remaining 27 cannot give the tories  what they want, or the entire project would become meaningless.

Brexit has always  been a charrade. CaMoron only called  the referendum to get rid of UKIP; he probably thought he would win it easily. But his plan backfired, and the tories have no choice but to  give  the appearance of honouring  the referendum’s outcome. They know that, if they don’t, they would become a laughing stock; they also want to keep the nationalist nutters  who actually believe in brexit in the Tory party happy. But they know too what damage leaving the EU will  do, and why the remaining 27 rejected the plan yesterday; they just can’t admit it or they could kiss goodbye to any authority they ever had. Their image as stern authoritarians would  fly out the  window and they would never win an election ever again. Thus they have no choice but to keep up the appearance of continuing with something which they know full well will damage the country, and which they know full well will end up in no deal. It would be an utterly hilarious situation, if it wasn’t so dangerous, frightening and infuriating.

The question  is, how do we end this charade?

While it is rather long, I think I need to flag this video  up. It is a discussion of the return of Captain Picard, and why Picard is exactly the character we need at the moment.  In it, Steve Shires looks at some of the best Picard episodes, arguing that he is  precisely the figure of   wisdom, patience and tolerance we need in the current political atmosphere. I think it’s worth a watch, even for non-Trekkies. Star Trek has always had the ability to show us an optimistic, hopeful vision of the future built on tolerance and respect – two things which  the world seems quite short of right now. While of course it remains to be seen whether the return of Picard isn’t just a gimmick to coax fans back, it is also true that he was always a figure of wisdom, who helped make Trek great. At the end of the day, you can be as cynical as you like: seeing Picard sat in the captain’s chair or ordering an  Earl Grey again is enough to fill any Trekkie with glee.

I have come across something very interesting indeed. On sunday my PA Mitchel suggested that I checked out a series called Atypical on Netflix. I’ve been wanting to get into something new for ages, so I thought I’d give it a go. Having now watched the first three episodes, I think I’m a fan. It’s about an American teenager with quite severe Autism  and  his family;  it also touches upon his school and  social life. I’d say it was more of a drama than a comedy, although it has comic moments. Yet the way it portrays autism,, disability and the social consequences of being part of a family with a severely autistic young man is unlike anything I’ve seen before: the way it explores the language surrounding disability issues, for example, tells me that this program was written by someone who knows what they’re talking  about. It also goes into some of the social issues involved, and the characters are certainly not the whiter-than-white generic staples one usually finds on this sort of program. I’m very impressed with netflix indeed – you seldom come across this kind of thing on conventional TV. I’ll certainly watch the rest of it, including the recently released second season, as I really want to see where they take it.

I just rewatched the first episode of Trust. When it first aired on telly last Wednesday, it didn’t quite  have my full attention, so I thought a second viewing was in order. This time I found it much more interesting and certainly worth getting into.   It gives us a  glimpse of an episode of social history I had  heard of but didn’t know much about: one hears fragments of stories about the Getty family, but nothing very in-depth. This film illuminates that  story, and I can now see why the Getty family was/is so  renowned – they were complete pricks, weren’t they?! To have so much wealth yet refuse to pay any tax is utterly, utterly selfish. The way they lorded over the oil industry, recklessly using up the Earth’s resources as if they owned the entire planet was utterly vile. Danny Boyle paints a picture of how dire capitalism can get, and it isn’t pretty.

What is pretty, though, is the scenery Boyle uses.  I loved spotting parts of Charlton House I recognised just now. Boyle uses quite a bit of it, especially for interior shots. I recognised rooms I visit quite regularly;  one of them is where wee have our film festival meetings. It’s cool to think this show was made just around the corner from me, and by one of my favourite directors.

The next episode airs on Wednesday, and of course I’ll watch it. I want to see how  the story evolves, whether John-Paul Getty III survives, and how Danny Boyle continues to handle his portrait of these detestable capitalists. More to the point,  though, I’ll be watching for more glimpses of Charlton House.

I don’t  usually post this sort of entry, but this Tweet from Andrew Adonis is so  spot on – in part echoing what  I wrote on here yesterday – that I just had to pop it on here.

Note he said ‘when’ rather than ‘if Brexit is stopped’. Surely  that is a  clear sign this embarrassing debacle is in it’s death throes.

It definitely seems like things are, at last, starting to go in the right direction with regard to Brexit. According to this Guardian piece, “The body in charge of ensuring the EU referendum was fair gave out the wrong advice and helped Vote Leave”, clearly biassing  the vote in the Outists’ favour. The result the farce of 2016 produced must surely now be in doubt. Calls for a second referendum are now growing louder; surely it’s now just a matter of time before Brexit becomes nothing more than an idiotic, temporary mistake.

If you want to see just how sickeningly arrogant  the scumbag who the Americans call their  president is, just watch this Late Show clip. Trump even disputes  the number of deaths in the Puerto Rican hurricane disaster to make himself look better. That such a  loathsome person can rise to such prominence embarrasses us all. Yet I think what is telling about this clip is the sheer amount of contempt Stephen Colbert shows for him. He mocks trump openly, with a disdain  far beyond normal political satire. It’s clear that many Americans  think, as most of us do, that Trump should not be president, and they are obviously extremely unhappy that they have to call this arrogant idiot their leader.

“007 holstered his Walther PPK. The flames rose up around him, blofeld’s  body at his feet. Bond had saved the world once  again. He sipped his martini,  surveying the wreckage he had just made. Two police officers suddenly approached him.

‘Who are you?’ one breathlessly asked.

‘Just a tourist.‘ Replied 007″