Rick's b.log - 2025/01/22
It is the 23rd of February 2025 You are 3.14.248.61, pleased to meet you!

He's ba-ack!

Who could I possibly be referring to?
Image generated by CreArt AI, post-processed by Rick.

This time it's personal.

Yeah, it sounds like a stupid movie cliché, but the sad fact is that his team have not only experience of how the gummint works (or doesn't), but plenty of time to prepare for a Presidency like no other.

That being said, it was an inauguration like no other. I'd put up some screencaps and commentary, but I can't be arsed to get the portable hooked up to the satellite receiver. Another day.

The time since inauguration can still be counted in hours and... You can say bye-bye to global medical competence, the US is no longer in the WHO and the person heading up the health sector is... not ideally qualified for the job. In fact, "not ideally qualified for the job" describes all of them, from the guy at the top who just pardoned people who used violence in mounting an insurrection against their own government, the second in command who gives serious used-car-salesman vibes, and the rest of that utter shitshow.

I would love to say "I'll grab a bag of popcorn and watch", but what happens there affects everywhere else. It's not like we can build a wall around the country and keep them contained and away from harming the rest of us. Plus, do note, there are plenty who didn't vote for this and are surely watching in dismay as a bunch of rich Christofascist dickheads are flushing years and years of progress down the toilet.

Tariffs

What you can look forward to.
Image generated by CreArt AI, post-processed by Rick.

Let's get one thing straight. This is an additional tax on your purchases. Trump may call it "tariffs" and a "levy", but do not delude yourself into thinking that the billions and billions of dollars are going to come from <hand waves> over there somewhere. No, it'll be coming out of your pocket, adjusted into the selling price of the goods.
So, while he may complain about Europe/China/Canada/Mexico (and some crap about fentenyl, if I've spelled that correctly), this is a stealth sales tax.

Tariffs get applied to imported goods, the price goes up, you pay more.
Countries retaliate, as they are quite liable to do, and put on equivalent tariffs, stuff from your country costs more (but you don't get the cash) and overseas purchasers may decide to either do without or source alternatives.

If you want to look at this in practice, look at the United Kingdom. Right up until the end the Tories were touting the benefits of relatively insignificant trade deals to try to cover over the massive self-own that was Brexit. No longer being in the EU customs union not only gives La Poste carte blanche to start scamming us ex-pats, it also makes British goods considerably less attractive (on a commercial and industrial scale). I said before, the place I work used to buy bags of "BRITISH SUGAR". Like, a palette load of 20kg bags. Plus some other stuff. That carried on until the date of the withdrawal and then it all ceased. Not cost effective to get British sugar with tariffs and importation paperwork when they can get German sugar dropped into a truck and brought over effortlessly.

There probably isn't much that the United States makes that is a necessity. So if Trump wants to go the route of starting a trade war, yeah, we'll be inconvenienced, but it's Americans who will suffer. Other countries may do what happened after Brexit and see opportunities.

The state of the NHS

Just another day at work.
Image generated by CreArt AI, post-processed by Rick.

I kept the image full-sized (rather than cropping to 4:3 aspect) because it was just so... atmospheric.

Yes, this is referencing the dilapidated state of many hospitals, the patients dying in the corridors, and her expression which is "please put me out of my misery" which is, sadly, a sentiment shared by quite a number of nursing staff, particularly those of the verge of a burnout or breakdown.

This is something Labour needs to sort out as a priority. Not well-intentioned platitudes "but", actually fixing the NHS. Actually fixing the sorry state of the roads. Actually fixing the vast wasteage going on in British local councils (how about y'all start with the millions pissed away to the likes of Oracle for bespoke ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) that is literally infeasible due to the council changing the spec every five minutes (and Oracle happily taking the money for doing so) - things like that are a shameful waste of taxpayer money and heads should roll over it.

You see, while people may "identify" as politically somewhere from the left to the right, and may wish to vote for parties representing their views (ie I think my views on the scumbag Tories are pretty well known to my readers), when you get down to it, most of the "pressing issues" aren't.
Take, for example, an issue that crops up on the left side of the political spectrum, namely "define what a woman is". Now, there are a miniscule number of very vocal people who feel quite passionately about this (and, coincidentally don't fit the traditional definition), but you'll find the rest of us actually care very little about this particular issue.
A guy wants to put on a dress and call himself "Sarah"? What the hell does that have to do with me. The things that concern me, and many people, are the basic questions: Why is there such a disconnect between how much things are going up in price and how much pay goes up? When the hell did electricity get so expensive, and why? Why the hell is it our fault (and responsibility) to pay to sort out the mess of the complete wilful neglect of the water distribution network over the past decade or two? Why are you letting private parking companies get away with massive legalised fraud? Stop talking bollocks about AI, it's a hype-bubble that'll burst leaving people with their dicks in their hands. Can I go and see an actual doctor in person without a ridiculous palaver? How about a dentist? Will my child's school collapse? When they're inside? Who's going to pay for the repairs to my car from driving on these awful roads?
Those are real world problems experienced by real people. If Labour fails to do useful things there, the next election, people might just vote for that muppet-faced demagogue twat when he promises that he can fix these issues.
After all, the inability and inaction of the Biden administration is likely a large part of why that orange bloke and his sycophants are in the process of wrecking the major world economy. People voted for them because, as mad as they are, they said what people wanted to hear, they promised to fix what's broken, they promised to make things better - "Make America Great Again". So let that be a lesson to Labour. Don't court the right. Don't waste time on touchy-feely nonsense. Fix what's broken.

This is getting ridiculous

HOW many "partners"?

Britain reclaims America!

For your enjoyment:

A leaked letter to the American administration...

Your comments:

jgh, 23rd January 2025, 11:20

If Bob wants to put on a dress and call himself Sarah, I. DON'T. CARE. It's your life, do whatever *YOU* want to do with *YOUR* life.    But for the vocalist minority, anything other than overwhelming obsessional support is hatred. No, I *DON'T* hate you, I just DO. NOT. CARE.