I find it extraordinary that Americans pride themselves on “free speech” when what they should be priding themselves on is “free, responsible speech”.

Free speech, as we experience it, is not free at all – it has costs, costs in terms of people’s reputations, peace of mind, self-image and even security. What may have been reasonable before the advent of the internet is quite unreasonable and socially harmful now. Anonymous cowards propagate false news, bully school kids, make false accusations, promote Nazi-type programs and slander immigrants and black people. We have never had a situation like this before. Some people, unschooled in civilised debate, seem to think that writing hurtful, scurrilous and fabricated things about someone is just fine. The Founders never foresaw the current misuse of social media and its use to influence the way we are governed.   As children of the Enlightenment, they never intended “free speech” to be the weapon of choice of louts and semi-literate hatemongers.

Were Epicurus alive I think he would support free speech, but would offer official help to those who are attacked and  unfairly maligned to identify the perpetrators, to to “out” them and expose them publically.  That so many seem to be resigned to the actions of bullies tells me we may be seeing the end of the relatively respectful public behaviour that used to be the norm . Free speech as practised in the United States is a cruel sham that is coarsening and debasing our cultures.  It only takes good people to hide away and say nothing and rapidly we cease to live in a civilised society. Are young people now so used to it that they think nothing of it?  The silence tells me that most people don’t seem to care.  That is very sad.

“Researchers Hal Hershfield and Cassie Mogilner surveyed more than 4,000 Americans to determine whether they valued time or money more, and how happy they were. A clear majority, 64%, preferred money, but those who valued time were happier. Nor was it only the those rich enough to not stress about money who preferred time; after they controlled for income, the effect remained. Older and married people with children were more likely to value time. But it isn’t just the availability of time that matters, it is valuing it if you’ve got it. ” (The Guardian Weekly, Nov 4, 2016)

What I find I resent is the way that companies are constantly finding ways of eating up your time, making you do things that previously they did. An example, on the blog itself, is Disqus. This software handles comments and presents strings of subjects you can follow and comment on. Fine. But have a technical problem and chances are that you can never resolve it. They apparently don’t have any customer service function. Recently I recently a straightforward question to other users on their blog. Three weeks later I still have had no answer to my query. I don’t blame the users, who are supposed to help you, instead of the company. They are probably stressed out too.

And then, companies want you to “tell them how they did” and fill in a survey.  Look guys, why don’t you do two things: look at your sales graph, which tells you most of what you want to know, viz: if it’s going down you have a problem, eh?   Secondly, actually go out with your sales force and talk to actual customers.  Duh!  Stop wasting our time!

Yes, I value time over money, as any Epicurean should.

According to figures published in August, there are 2.23 million EU nationals working in the UK – an increase of 238,000 on the same period in 2015. An estimated 850,000 Poles live in the UK.

In the part of London I know best it is quite rare to encounter British-born people working in shops, restaurants, banks or other similar places.  Sometimes I think it is rare to hear English English spoken on the street ar all.  This has transformed the city into one my grandmother, who lived nearby,  wouldn’t recognise. If you are a visitor or you don’t any longer want to find a reasonably well paid job it is great.  Personally, I love it.  But few English people can any longer afford to live there.  As far as resentment from the British-born population is concerned it has been a backlash waiting to happen.

Globally, 1 in 9 adults have diabetes, and by 2030 it will be the seventh leading cause of death, according to the World Health Organization.

However, the Washington Post reported on November 23rd that, although sodas, like Coca Cola, are known to be bad your health because of the danger of diabetes, it is the sugar-heavy drinks that threaten over-weight and diabetes.  The stuff without sugar does you little damage.

Walmart is one ne of the most profitable corporations in the world, current profitability $132 billion.  It is privately owned by one of the richest families in the world.   But if you need to miss a day of work owing  to illness, even if you have a doctor’s note, you may find your Walmart supervisor disciplining you — an “occurrence” in corporate Walmart speak – and you could lose your job.

Walmart, the largest employer of African Americans and Latinos in the US, has always focused on maximizing profit for the Walton family off the backs of its massive workforce.  Earlier  this year, it “streamlined” its sick leave policy, treating it as vacation time.

Even doctors’ notes — which can be prohibitively expensive for workers on a Walmart salary — are too often ignored by Walmart supervisors. In 2014, a pregnant woman fell ill from the harsh chemicals she used cleaning. Her doctor ordered her to stop because repeated use of the chemicals “could harm her fetus and herself.” She was fired.

Last year customers were complaining about empty shelves, filthy washrooms and endless checkout lines. And then,because of endless pressure by worker-supported organizations, Walmart capitulated and raised wages. Suddenly, stores improved and sales went up. Imagine what could happen if Walmart had a sick leave policy that wasn’t a complete disgrace. ( Adapted from the Sumofus.org website)

Nobody deserves to lose their job because they get sick. Every worker deserves paid sick days. Walmart workers across North America are asking for six — just six! — paid sick days.   If you treat your employees fairly and decently, they reciprocate, work better and harder and, lo and behold, profits grow.  Whether that lesson is internalized is another matter.

Ten years ago, in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in March 2005, Pan Yue, China’s eloquent, young vice-minister of China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) told the magazine, “the Chinese miracle will end soon because the environment can no longer keep pace.” Pan Yue added:

“We are using too many raw materials to sustain [our] growth … Our raw materials are scarce, we don’t have enough land, and our population is constantly growing. Currently there [are] 1.3 billion people living in China, that’s twice as many as 50 years ago. In 2020 there will be 1.5 billion … but desert areas are expanding at the same time; habitable and usable land has been halved over the past 50 years.

… Acid rain is falling on one third of Chinese territory, half of the water in our seven largest rivers is completely useless, while one fourth of our citizens do not have access to clean drinking water. One third of the urban population is breathing polluted air, and less than 20 percent of the trash in cities is treated and processed in an environmentally sustainable manner …

Because air and water are polluted, we are losing between 8 and 15 percent of our gross domestic product. And that doesn’t include the costs for health … In Beijing alone, 70 to 80 percent of all deadly cancer cases are related to the environment”.

That was ten years ago.  To be fair, the Chinese did try to rein in population growth with the one child policy, and it didn’t work. Or, rather, it produced a host of spoiled, single male offspring who are  apparently unhappy and must be a problem.  And then the Party went for helter- skelter growth, ruined their own environment, and are suffering from an oppressive, corrupt political system and massive debt that possibly threatens the whole economy.  We tend to loook at China as the successor to American hegemony, but is it really a temporary illusion?  Why is mankind incapable of moderation?

Trump is operating his transition  from New York.    I understand he has suggested that, once he becomes President, he will spend future weekends at Trump Tower, New York.  This may be unusual, some say unprecedented, but the good  news is that as long as he is in New York he won’t be doing as much harm as he would staying in Washington.

My wife and I decided not to talk incessently about the results of the election, but to calmly wait and see what the new President actually does.

Our resolve didn’t last long. Of all the many issues one could worry about, global climate change has to be by far the most important .  Other changes or mis-steps can eventually be corrected, but turning back the international consensus on climate change cannot be corrected, if Trump is as good as his word.  His official transition official chosen to deal with the Environmental Protection Agency is  Myron Ebell,  a fierce climate change denier,  dependent on the oil companies for his income and prepared to wreck the planet and the futures of our children and grandchildren is pursuit of private gain.

Of all the egregious anti-intellectual posturing in the election campaign the gainsaying of almost every respectable scientist in the world, all of whom are daily warning us about the effects of climate change, is the most troublesome.  Almost  every week the New Scientist is reporting mass extinctions of wildlife or the disappearance of glaciers.  Reading this material makes me despair of the stupidity of mankind.  For two hundred years we have been pouring carbon into the thin sliver of breathable atmosphere surrounding the Earth, while destroying the forests that at least absorb some of the carbon, and doing nothing to restrain population increase that requires the extra food production. Where do these deniers think the burnt carbon goes, and what basis  do they have for calling climate science a fraud?

Over one hundred years of public education has still left us with a gullible and anti- intellectual section of the public, ready to believe every deliberately bogus “news” item on social media.  Could we have the money back that was spent on their schooling and at least repair the potholes in the streets? (joke).