“The most aggravating thing about the younger generation is that I no longer belong to it.”

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one learned at school.

“You teach me baseball and I’ll teach you relativity…..No, perhaps we shouldn’t…..You will learn relativity faster than I learn baseball.

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

A new manual designed to help prevent clerical sexual abuse in Chile has triggered further outrage by listing a host of instructions that critics say should be self-evident. Among other things, the manual – which was published on the website of the Archbishop of Santiago, but which has since been withdrawn – advised priests not to touch children’s genitals and to refrain from “expressions of affection” such as patting buttocks and hugging from behind. It also warned priests not to kiss children on the mouth. The document, signed by Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, was posted online one day before Pope Francis defrocked Fernando Karadima – one of the priests at the centre of Chile’s clerical abuse scandal.

I would prefer a Catholic to explain how the church got itself into this appalling mess. For a non-believer to do so seems inappropriate.

Postal workers and their allies are demanding that the country’s mail service stay in the hands of the public. This comes amid increasing threats to privatize the postal service, including a proposal from President Trump this summer to examine selling U.S. Mail off to the highest bidder.

Many may think that in the internet age, the Postal Service has outlived its usefulness, and that the decline of letter mail is the cause of the Postal Service’s financial troubles. But the Postal Service actually turns a profit on its deliveries.

The USPS’s problems were largely created by Congress which passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which forced the USPS to pre-fund future retiree health benefits 75 years into the future! That means it had to fund retirement benefits for postal employees who haven’t even been born yet, a crushing burden that no other agency or company — public or private — is required to meet, or could even survive.

The mandate drained $5.5 billion a year out of Postal Service funds and accounts for more than 90 percent of its losses. In fact, if it weren’t for this manufactured pre-funding crisis, the USPS would have reported profits in four of the last five years — all without receiving a dime of taxpayer money. The reason is that package volumes have exploded with the e-commerce boom. Companies of all sizes, including Amazon, rely on the Postal Service. USPS delivers 30 percent of FedEx Ground packages and 40 percent of all of Amazon’s many shipments. Vitally, the USPS is at the heart of a $1.7 trillion mailing industry that employs more than 7.5 million people. 88 percent of Americans view the USPS favorably.

What could the public expect if the Postal Service were sold to off to private interests? Higher prices, slower delivery, and an end to universal, uniform, and affordable service to every corner of the country. In the UK, postage costs are up nearly 80 percent since 2007. The privatized Portuguese post has closed nearly a third of their post offices.

The US postal system postal system is older than the country itself. It was a vital component of our country’s public good then, and still is today. It never belonged to any president, any political party, or any company. It has belonged to the people of the country.

My comment: Here they are, at it again – spot a public organisation and the far right money-grubbers realise they have another source of private profit. Privatise it, raise prices, fire a third of the staff, reduce the level of service, and, of course, skim the profits off into offshore bank accounts that can be used to bribe congressmen to deliver yet more public operations into private hands. They call it “shrinking government”. Clever, isn’t it? Some would call it legalised theft. How can they live with themselves? Oh, by the way, do look at what has happened to the once terrific British postal service. Half the mail delivered is wrongly delivered – at inflated prices. Epicurean situation? No!

1. Distracting yourself by dedicating time to work, study or hobbies. Drawing or painting is particularly absorbing. It doesn’t matter if the result is lousy. Singing in an amateur choir can be fun, and it doesn’t matter if your voice is a bit weak or you can’t read music.

2. Joining a social club, but this also appeared in the BBC list of the top three unhelpful things that other people suggest. If you feel isolated, then joining a club might help, but if you find it hard to trust people, you might still feel lonely in a crowd. other ideas are: joining a book club, where houcan get to know people gradually. Joining a gym is a possibility, although you might wait a while to meet someone sympathique!

3. Trying to change your thinking to make it more positive. This is easier said than done, but there are cognitive behavioural strategies which could help people to trust others. For example, if someone snubs you, you might assume it’s because they don’t like you, but if you ask yourself honestly what evidence you have for that, you might find there isn’t any. Instead you can learn to put forward alternative explanations – that they were tired or busy or preoccupied.

4. The next most common suggestions were to start a conversation with anyone, talk to friends and family about your feelings and to look for the good in every person you meet

5. People told the survey that the most unhelpful suggestion is to go on dates. While many respondents feel lonelier now they are not in a relationship, it is also clear that meeting someone new doesn’t necessarily solve everything. “It’s important to remember you can be lonely even when you’re in a relationship,” one respondent remsrked.

6. Arranging for a volunteer to phone you every Sunday for a long chat.

Loneliness survey, BBC oct 2, 2018

To the White House:

Mr. President,

Over the last week or two the nation has been more divided than I have seen it in my lifetime. While I am honored to have been chosen by you for a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, and to have had the heartening support of the Republican members of the Senate, the fact is that the issue has become about me, my past and my suitability for the post. While I stoutly maintain my innocence of the charges made against me, I love this country much more than I love power and prominence. My overwhelming wish is to bring our country together, not to divide it, and certainly not to serve on the Supreme Court with a shadow over my reputation.

I am therefore writing to withdraw my name from contention for the post and indicate my wish to return to serve the country on the DC Court of Appeals.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh

(Thinks: Sounds weak. Mmmmh. Oh, to hell with Epicurus, goddam moderation, and the country, let’s go for it!)

In February 2018 The BBC Loneliness Experiment was launched on BBC Radio 4 in collaboration with the Wellcome Foundation. People from 237 different countries, islands and territories took part in the survey. A summary of the main findings:

Loneliness is said to mainly strike older, isolated people – and of course it can, and does. But the BBC survey found even higher levels of loneliness among younger people, and this pattern was the same in every country. The survey was conducted online, which might have deterred some older people, or attracted people who feel lonely. But this is not the first study to see high rates of loneliness reported by young people: similar research was conducted earlier in 2018 by the Office for National Statistics.

There are several reasons why younger people might feel lonely. The years between 16 and 24 are often a time of transition where people move home, build their identities and try to find new friends. Meanwhile, they’ve not had the chance to experience loneliness as something temporary, useful even, prompting us to find new friends or rekindle old friendships – 41% of people believe that loneliness can sometimes be a positive experience. Other young people who feel lonely told us they felt ashamed about it.

– Those who told us they always or often felt lonely had lower levels of trust in others and higher levels of anxiety, both of which can make it harder to make friends. They look inwards and question people’s motives, wondering whether people spend time with me because they want to, or because they feel guilty. There is some evidence that if people feel chronically lonely they can become more sensitive to rejection. You are dealing with so many things alone that when people do take an interest you can be quite defensive. It can be debilitating being lonely.

– 83% of people in the study said they like being on their own. A third said that just being alone for a while makes them feel lonely, and in some cases isolation is clearly at the root of their loneliness.

– Loneliness is worse if you have lost a spouse or a companion who was close.

– Lonely people use social media for entertainment and to connect with people. On the other hand, watching people put up on social media only the fun, glamorous stuff – photos, new clothes, fancy holiday venues – can heighten feelings of loneliness.

– The survey also found that people who feel discriminated against for any reason, like their sexuality or a disability – were more likely to feel lonely. Blind teenagers, for instance, have a bad time feeling left out of chat about boys, music, clothes etc. and are often ignored in class. They can’t make eye contact or use body language. If someone who can see comes into a room they will gravitate towards someone who smiles at them. You can’t smile at someone unless you know they are there. Even an assistance dog is a mixed blessing
people fuss over the dog but don’t engage with the human being.

– people who say they often feel lonely score higher on average for social empathy. They are better at spotting when someone else is feeling rejected or excluded, probably because they have experienced it themselves.

– Sometimes it’s suggested that people experiencing loneliness need to learn the social skills that would help them to make friends, but the survey found that people who felt lonely had social skills that were just as high as everyone else’s. So instead, perhaps what’s needed are strategies to help deal with anxiety.

– The type of culture you live in has implications for loneliness. People from cultures which put a high value on independence, such as Northern Europe and the US, said they would be less likely to tell a colleague about their loneliness. In these cultures relationships with partners seem to be particularly important in the prevention of loneliness.

– In cultures where extended family is often emphasised, such as Southern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, older women in particular were at lower risk of feeling lonely.
(Loneliness survey, BBC October 2, 2018)

My observation:
After university and travel in the Americas I went to live in Central London, only to become aware that, in fact, I knew no one there. It came as a shock. I was very lonely and sorry for myself. But after a while I told myself to buck up, and I joined a choir, took singing lessons and joined a group that put on musicals. That did the trick. But it was an act of deliberate will.

The Tune

The Tune, just like it’s friend, the Rhyme,
Has had its era and its time.
Rodgers, Hart and Hammerstein
Now seem as quaint as Auld Lang Syne.
And big bands that were once the rage,
Are relics of a bygone age.
A booming sound in deep bass clef
Now satisfies the future deaf.
The “melody” that kids applaud
Is eight bars on a single chord;
And juries give ecstatic votes
To songs strung out on single notes —
The words, however subtle, drowned
In thumping, unrelenting sound.
Am I too old, perhaps ungallant,
If I suggest a lack of talent?
Can the young recall or croon
A modern song without a tune?
Could it be composers now
Would write a tune, but don’t know how?

Robert Hanrott

On April 24th the New York Times reported that Mick Mulvaney – then interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the following to a group of bankers:

“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”
This is one of those things everyone in the political establishment knows but few dare say aloud. It’s both appalling and common knowledge at the same time. But most Americans know it. It’s quite obvious.

And we talk about corruption in Africa, India etc! It’s hard to cultivate peace of mind knowing that the level playing field has vanished and the fox is in charge of the henhouse.