Here we are at Week 558 which is just before the special 559. I’ll mention this later.
I had my usual look at the papers this week and a few things tipped my interest…Or should I say poked my anger!!!!
I normally view a paper the same way that I’d view a comic book but I’m more than sure that these stories are correct!
First off, I saw a report this week that states that Mr Musk (AKA Dr Evil) is now worth £374 Billion.
I wondered why I felt so much revulsion and wondered if it was jealousy. I looked back at that sentence and read it and then knew. It wasn’t jealousy that I feel, it is total revulsion.
How much money is needed for how many lifetimes?
Instead of dancing with a robot, he could lose more than half of that to certain causes, not to make more money for him or any share-holders but to enhance life. I’ve always thought that money goes to the wrong people. I think Mr Musk and his ego prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt!
I also saw that The scottish government has been slated for spending 250 million on a protocol five years back on trying to drastically reduce drug related deaths. It’s been a spectacular failure. I checked the figures. In 2021 there were 1,295 drug related deaths in Scotland, up until June this year we have 607. (I can’t find any more up to date figures but we are around half way there!) We are still the killing ourselves leaders of Europe with the Irish in second place. (One third of our numbers)
Us Celts stand together in our own self-destruction.
Now there are only five million or so folks in Scotland, so five years back, the government could have given us all fifty quid. We would have appreciated that. And those poor souls who are addicted, at that time, could have bought five safe bags!!!
And the last thing that caught my interest was a letter in The Daily Record. The person stated that we should bring back the tawse to discipline those little angels that have been spawned from all-sorts of show-offs and snowflakes.
This wouldn’t work in this day and age simply because of the offspring that has sprung. In my day, you were shit feart about getting the belt. But here’s the thing, it was sod all to do with the pain, (Although it did fucking sting a bit!) it was all to do with the humiliation of crying in front of your pals.
Tears were your enemy and unacceptable in those days.
Now-a-days, we have so many wee scrotes screaming the house down to get what they want that there is no humiliation attached, more a new Ipad or a pair of trainers.
These-days tears are their friend and essential!!
Okay, onto this week’s stories. We only had one new writer, three well established writers and Leila.
As always our initial comments follow.
First up on Monday was Mick Bloor for the twenty-sixth time. Mick also comments and has had many a weekend special.
‘Willie The Postie And The Humpbacked Bridge’ was his offering for Monday.
‘Amusing!’
‘…With Mick’s usual infectious charm.’
‘No-one does this type of story as well as Mick.’
On Tuesday we had J. Bradley Minnick returning for the tenth time with, ‘Most Of The Things He Remembered Took Place Long Before He Was Born’.
We need to send congratulations to Brad as there are fewer than three percent of writers who manage double figures!
‘Enjoyable.’
‘Well written as always!’
‘Judged just right.’
Next up was our brilliant Co-Editor, Leila, with an eye-watering tally of 137!!!!
This one was entitled, ‘The Saragun Civil War’.
‘This one cheered me up.’
‘So many imaginative things going on.’
‘There are some really clever and pointed comments throughout.’
On Thursday we had Steven French. He is a brilliant commentator, supporter of his fellow writers and a wonderful story teller.
‘A Nobel Ending’ was Steven’s fourth story for us.
‘Very well done.’
‘It’s great to see Steven in the limelight once again.’
‘He is a skilled author who writes effortlessly.’
We finished off with Ena Kaitch. Ena was our only new writer.
We extend a warm welcome and we hope that we see more of Ena’s work very soon.
‘The Wood Places’ was our last story of the week.
‘It’s best to read this a few times.’
‘The events that this is based on caused a huge furore in the UK.’
‘The background to this is terrible and heart-breaking.’
That’s another week away to the Bye-Bye.
Keep on doing what you are all doing. The site is trundling along nicely.
Hope you can all stop by next week as we will be celebrating our eleventh year.
It’s been a good twelve months since our tenth!
We had Remembrance Day this week and I hope that there was the suitable respect shown. Not sure how it will go at certain football matches!
I read that it was Demi Moore’s birthday on the eleventh.
She actually was in two of my favourite films, the first being ‘A Few Good Men’. I hate to say that as she was playing second fiddle to wee Tam who stinks up everything that he’s in. But her good self, Mr Nicholson, Bacon and Pollak saved the day.
The other film was ‘The Seventh Sign.’ It was clever and thought provoking. I liked the character of Cartaphilius who was an envoy of the Vatican. He lied to them all and stated that it wasn’t end of days. He craved this as he was slightly pissed off continually watching the suffering that man was doing to man…No change there then!!
It’s an older film, maybe late eighties but it’s definitely worth a watch.
Just before some music, here is a wee riddle type thing:
This sentence contains exactly threee erors.
I only heard this song last week on one of those compilation stations. I’m glad that I did!
I give you, ‘Could Have Been Me’ – ‘The Struts’ And Bryan May
literally stories 
Hugh
I miss big sing along rock as much as the newspaper. For me it was the comics and puzzles. I prefer doing puzzles by hand and it was great for ferry commutes. But the daily, slim and culled from outside, sources is not worth two bucks.
The two spelling mistakes and the statement of having three errors could be three, in a nitpick sort of way.
The Seventh Sign was a great film panned by American critics. Not up to the legendary Bergman Seventh Seal but I liked it.
Another winning post!
(I can hear fans singing that song at the football matches in my mind)
Those are beautiful flowers
Leila
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Hi Leila,
I will always enjoy a paper until there are no more which I think might happen soon.
I don’t know if this is a UK thing but I’ve always loved help ripping up old carpets as there is normally a lining of old newspapers. It takes twenty minutes to lift the carpet and two hours to read all the papers!
There are more anthem type rock songs 60s-80s than there will ever be!
Yep,you got the riddle.
I saw The Seventh Sign not long after it came out. It has stuck with me going on forty years now.
Thanks as always!!!
Hugh
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Hi Hugh
That is interesting about the carpets. I know of papers being used for wall insulation. And I was always attracted to the collections of past newspapers I saw at Goodwill. It bothered me seeing somebody’s stuff (likely a dead somebody) tossed out like that. I understand hard goods, even books but personal photographs and collections felt wrong. I guess Goodwill was better than the bin.
Leila
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I really, really, believe me, was going to say the same thing about three errors. That was a lot easier than the cartoon in our paper that wants me to find five errors. Being unobservant in more than one sense, I quit after three.
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Great song.
I strongly believe there should be a limit on how much money someone can have. I know all the arguments about it having to be worth while to strive and what not but pure greed is thoroughly unpleasant and when there are so many things that could be helped with just a fraction of Musks money it just makes me dislike him intensely. Sorry. Another nice Saturday rant. Thanks – dd
I liked the flowers because they have the poppy for UK and cornflowers for France. I am pleased that remembrance day is widely celebrated nowadays. It got a bit lost a while back, I thought, but now it’s where it should be – front and centre.
thanks – dd
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Hi Diane,
I totally agree with you regarding musk and his money. I’ll need to research wealth in the world and the proportion of it that the twenty richest have.
I’m not sure if the figures show the likes of Sultans and Who-Have-You. I think the hidden will be even more disgusting than the announced!!!
The poppy and the eleventh will always be remembered in our house as Gwen’s mum Irene’s birthday was the 11/11 and her middle names were ‘Eleanora’ and ‘Poppy’ That means ‘Peace’ ‘Shining Light’ and the ‘Remembrance Flower’ Seems nice until you know that Irene’s mother was a hateful auld shrew!!!!
Love the colours of both those flowers. Our kitchen walls are painted poppy.
Thanks as always.
Hugh
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A whole heap of hear-hears on reading that. The kind of bare-knuckled eloquence that makes for a bracing read – not to mention an entertaining one. As for those whose backsides knew the belt or strap, they’d surely agree: bruises were the least of it. Terrific stuff.
Geraint
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Hi Geraint,
The most sadistic auld bastard of a teacher that I had was a woman called Mrs Hendricks, we affectionately called her ‘Hitler’ due to her re-working of that style of moustache. She would rattle you over the knuckles with a wooden ruler! And that was at Primary School.
Thanks so much for your time and comments – Much appreciated.
Hugh
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It has been an entertaining week for me having read all the contributions. As for Hugh’s thoughts on Musk and his renumeration package and Scottish drugs, well unless there is a revolution nothing will change.
I wonder if the Scottish MSP are on some form of drug enhanced crazy as they seem to repeat and repeat as they whittle away our public money.
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Hi James,
I think all politicians are on some self-centred drug that we don’t know about. Maybe you can’t over-dose on it, just fill in more expenses!
Thanks as always my fine friend.
Hope all is well with you.
Hugh
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Good post and roundup. I didn’t know May was a musician, but don’t follow him very closely. I think Leila nailed the riddle. Reminds me of this one:
What has 4 letters
Never has 5 letters and
Always has 6 letters
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Hi Dave,
‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ is my favourite song written by Brian May. Freddie does his usual and sings it to perfection…However, Andrea Bocelli needs a tip of the hat for his version with Brian May. I can’t play it without Gwen crying – So when I need cheered up, guess what I put on!!!!!
HAH! It is a misconception calling that statement a riddle!!
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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David – I confess I may have see this before. Not a riddle, statements of fact.
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I forgot to mention Musk. No one person should have that much. He has and has had the power to save many people and chooses not to. That, in my mind, is evil.
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Hi Leila,
All I can say about those type of folks is ‘Just remember, death is the only true leveller!’
All the best.
Hugh
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Hugh
What you’ve discussed in this post can be seen in the USA through the homeless problem here. I saw a statistic this week which revealed that the US has almost 700,000 people living on its streets (in their cars and in tents, etc). In the Chicago area where I live, there are vast rows of luxury high rise lakefront condos – and the parks all around the rich folks’ condos are filled, jammed, overflowing with homeless people encampments, tents and other such makeshift shelters, rows and rows of them. Mr. Elon could take a tiny fraction of his dough and buy everyone in America who needs it a room (including the undocumented immigrants, who are, after all, human just like the rest of us), from now until they no longer need it. How ironic to think it. I wonder, I really wonder, if this kind of thing ever even crosses his mind.
When one adds in all the other people in the US who are not necessarily on the streets, but ARE homeless (having to couch surf and live with relatives, etc) then the amount of homeless people in the US is in the many, many millions.
I know enough about homeless people to know that some would remain homeless, even if you gave them a million dollars. They would still return to the streets, because they like the rags and the freedom and the bottle. But the US didn’t used to have 700,000 people living in its streets, many of them women and children. It’s a horrible problem that’s getting worse and worse every day with no solution in sight. Worse, no one is even trying to do anything about it. That goes for the politicians especially. Then again, all of them are well-housed, well-fed, and well-paid, so why should they care? (And that kind of thinking is what has gotten us into this mess in the first place.)
And the homeless problem is only part of a larger problem, which is unemployment. No jobs! And those who can find jobs can find only the worst sort of low-paying, demeaning, generic, temporary jobs with no benefits. There are hundreds of thousands of Americans working full time at fast food restaurants and living in their cars.
It remains to be seen how all this will play out in the end, but it surely isn’t good!
It’s wild to think that Scotland only has 5 million people. The country has a very large cultural footprint in the USA given its tiny population. Scotland’s influence on American music and poetry, as just two examples, has been massive.
Dale
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Hi Dale,
I despise South Ayrshire Council for so many reasons – Most of them due to them screwing me in one way or another. However, they did state a few years back that they wanted to house all rough sleepers. They came up with a system of homeless to Bed and Breakfast to Hostel to Temporary Furnished to their own accommodation. That did help some of the poor souls and ‘probably’ the only ones out in the open chose (??) that.
Don’t get me wrong, this made money for a lot of unscrupulous land-lords but the majority were the good kind.
But then the council changed the system, they paid the rent to the person and not the landlord and expected the person to pay the landlord – It wouldn’t have taken a genus to work out what would happen. Because of that, they lost a lot of private landlords.
They then decided to confound the matter by stating that they wouldn’t use B&B’s or private hostels. That closed businesses and made more Homeless homeless.
To alleviate this they took from the councils rented accommodation and made them Temporary Furnished. I can’t speak for now but a few years back there were around 1000 registered homeless from a population of around 112 000.
The problem is, there were only around 300 temp furnished.
Long story short – council sorted a problem and then caused it again!!!
I need to mention wee Paula Cane – She was a Community Nurse who dealt with Blood Borne diseases. She went out three times a week along the seafront with blankets donated from the Sally Army and gave them to anyone who was there.
My point is – I wish Paula had musks billions!!!!!!!!!
Cheers Dale – I am always interested in what you write!
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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Hugh
This sentence contains exactly threee erors.
Because I suspect a double backflip dangling tautology of some sort from you, I’m thinking of ways for it to be true and not true at the same time. Because of the 2 spelling errors and the error in meaning, that’s means there are exactly 3 errors — so that means WHAT?! The sentence is true after all. So ….
Another one to take with me to the Caledonia Brewery. Thanks Hugh for either making or ruining my day. [Or bothly together.] — gerry
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Hi Gerry,
Yep, you got it.
Next week I have three riddles which are the simplest to solve but I’m not sure if anyone will get them!!
Now, is that a riddle or a statement??
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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Fine post and fine header. The 3 mistakes puzzle had me beat (solved by Leila). But I did crack David’s puzzle: the answer is What, Never, Always.
bw Mick
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Hi Mick,
Thanks so much for the read and comment.
This may seem like a bit off the wall or random but do you think your mobile listens to you??
Gwen told me a while back that after she had mentioned certain things, adverts for those certain things pinged on her phone. I reacted with ‘Pish!’ but when I was talking to her about posting a riddle her phone pinged and there was a riddle of the day – And it was the very riddle that I posted!!!
Get rid of those phones Mick – Get rid of them!!!!
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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WOOOAAAH. That’s more than creepy. Hasn’t happened to me yet, but I have a cheapskate phone (bought because it doesn’t shatter when I drop it. Anyway, the secret is safe with me (and we never had this conversation). bw mick
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Hi Hugh
Yes indeed the rich get richer and the government always throws the poor tax payers’ money away. It would be nice if the super rich gave back a bit. After all they are destroying the planet at a much greater rate than the little guy in his sandbox.
“Tears for Fears” for sure in the past, it was the humiliation station. Now I’m not sure what’s happening.
Christopher
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Hi Christopher,
You are spot on.
Folks were duped when percentages were mentioned. They thought it was fair that they were getting the same percentage as the rich. But percentages change depending how much you have. And even if we go back to basics, two percent of a million is a damn sight more than two percent of a tenner!!
Thanks as always my fine friend.
Hugh
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Great week of great stories as always. Happy 11th coming up!
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Hi Paul,
Thanks as always!
Hope you can drop in next week!!
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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