That’s a wrap

.

Twenty twenty-four

it’s been a rollercoaster

memorable year

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by Scooj

Break over

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Shoulder to the wheel

twenty twenty five beckons

new resolve, new hope

.

by Scooj

Arsenal v Ipswich Town


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Second from bottom

potential banana skin

post Boxing Day match

.

by Scooj

Happy Christmas

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Twenty twenty four

merry Christmas one and all

Turkey and mince pies.

.

by Scooj

Happy Birthday

.

You know who you are

first day of a new chapter

happy day big man

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by Scooj

for PH

Not quite ready for inspection

.

VIP visit

hosting Christmas for mother

way too much housework

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by Scooj

Christmas party

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Team get together

London the preferred venue

another train trip

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by Scooj

Recent experiences on the rail network have not been good, but I am ten minutes into my journey from Bristol to London and all seems well.

Political brutalism

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A new government

grim-faced determination

ruffling feathers

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by Scooj

I woke at ten past four when the dog started barking at something in the street. Unfortunately I didn’t get back to sleep again after that and lay awake with my mind churning. One of the outputs from the unrest was this haiku. Another, was a long rant about the state that the last government left the country in. Broke with horrific debt and with public services hanging on by their fingernails. The rich, richer and the poor, poorer. Any new government coming into power picking up that mess would struggle. The loudest voices of complaint now are from the haves, not the have nots. I’ll leave it there.

The main preoccupation in my head was composing a speech for my mother’s 90th birthday party in February… I think I made good progress.

Goldfinger

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Memorable scene

Oddjob drives car to scrapyard

car and Solo crushed

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by Scooj

  • a scene that haunted and intrigued me for many years.

Algorithm (thoughts are not facts)

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Content provision

prompts confirmation bias

no need for the facts

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by Scooj

  • Reflecting on why we have such divided opinions and polarised societies like never before. My verdict… it is the digital channel algorithms and our unconscious attachment to them.
  • Before the general election I followed a few conservative MPs to see what they were saying in my desire to be well informed. Now my ‘X’ feed is bombarded with right-wing narratives (some quite extreme) all day every day, at the expense of the Labour streams and MPs I have been following for years.
  • Solution… regulate the algorithms – allow us to choose what we see, and not what AI thinks we want to see.
  • A conspiracy theorist might say that these platforms (‘X’ in particular) favour right wing narratives, although I don’t subscribe to that view. I think that there is more right wing disruptive/divisive content out there, much of it being produced by Russia and other nations looking to divide and conquer. They and the algorithms are having a profound impact in the UK, Europe and globally.