Big Brother is coming -1984 is on the way.
Thought for the day “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” Phyllis Diller
“The mystery of government is not how it works but how to make it stop.” P. J. O’Rourke
I picked up an interesting story on YouTube today, posted by an American lawyer, Ben Hart, who is resident in Thailand. There is a proposal in Thailand by one of the big political parties there, to give citizens there a 10 000 THB payment (about 265 euros) together with a new digital savings account and digital I.D. Even worse is the proposal that this digital money will have to be spent within a 4km radius of the resident’s home.
This is a very dangerous move if it does actually happen. What government has the right to tell a citizen where he/she can spend THEIR money ? And the linking of your digital identity to your money is a very dangerous move, as then governments will have total control over both you and your money. Say something wrong (politically incorrect) and your digital money is locked. If your ‘social credit’ is too low your digital money might also get locked.
There is a lot of news from England about Nigel Farage having his bank accounts at the Coutts Bank (part of National Westminster Bank – partly government owned) closed because of his political views and political associations. This is one sign that governments may already be taking control of people’s money.
But the proposal in Thailand to even limit somebody’s use of money to a 4km radius of their home is very worrying. No government should have this sort of control over where somebody spends their OWN money. It will become even worse if this is also linked to the ’15 minute cities’ idea, as then governments will also be to effectively limit spending and movement, all controlled by the digital I.D and linked digital money. Frightening.
If you would like to see the video by Ben Hart on YouTube, the link is –
The photo today is an early morning local train from Interlaken to Meiringen waits at Oberried in Switzerland.
And another photo from the archives….the lakeside at the town of Pembroke Wanaka, New Zealand.
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Censorship and Freedom of Speech
Thought for the day….”Turn your face to the sun and the shadow falls behind you.”
“Striving for sucess without hard work is like trying to harvest when you have not planted.”
People often criticize countries such as China for restricting freedom of speech and people’s freedoms. But now the governments around the World are being just as bad as any dictatorship. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are now censoring posts which do not comply with the official government line or which question vaccines or controls. So even when there is scientific evidence, people are being stopped from publicly questioning governments. And governments now are using coronavirus as an excuse to introduce all sorts of controls and restrictions on freedom that would never have been accepted before. People fought two World Wars so that generations could have freedom, yet now those very freedoms for which they fought (and sometimes died) and being taken away by politicians. Many, many years ago, I was taught in school an important lesson which I have never forgotten….that is to never believe everything that people tell you. Very good advice. So now when I see statistics then I am careful. And when I see the likes of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube removing posts which go against what the politicians are promoting, then I am very, very suspicious. We are already well down a very slippery slope.
Great light and mood in this photo from Glenorchy in New Zealand, looking towards the Mount Aspiring National Park and both the Dart and the Rees valleys.
and another photo from the archives, Zebras drinking at a waterhole in Namibia –
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RESPECT, CONSIDERATION & FAIRNESS
Censorship by Booking.com
Thought for the day…”Chocolate is ground from the beans of happiness.”
“The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.”
Free Speech. Something that is very important, but something that is disappearing fast in Europe. Political correctness has already gone far to far, but now the online travel agency (OTA) Booking.com is also at it.
I recently stayed in some accommodation in Zurich which I booked online via Booking.com The property was not good (badly run, dirty and with poor facilities) with poor security. Not only was the property not clean, but it appeared to have many problems, one of which was what appeared to be asylum seekers in the accommodation. So after my stay, I wrote a TRUTHFUL review to help other people in deciding whether or not to book. One of the things that I wrote in the review was that the property appeared to house asylum seekers. I did not make any statements about the rights or wrongs of this, nor did I mention nationalities, skin colour or race. No references were made to immigration policies or criminality, just a statement that there appeared to be asylum seekers housed in the property.
But Booking.com refused to publish my review because I had used the words ‘asylum seekers’ which they said could cause offense to some some people. I would argue that the words described (truthfully) a situation, and were just reporting what I had seen and experienced. Despite emails to Booking.com the review did not get published. So it seems that Booking.com also want to be politically correct, even if this means distorting the truth.
The result of this….I cancelled a lot of future bookings with Booking.com and now try to book direct with hotels etc. where this is possible. I am not going to have Booking.com tell me what I can and cannot say in a review. It also makes me think that the other reviews on their website may also have been edited too. So if you are reading reviews there then be aware that the reviews may have been edited for suitability. George Orwell’s 1984 is here, just a bit late. Booking.com is in the same group as Priceline.com and Agoda.com
Today’s photo comes from Glendhu Bay on the South Island of New Zealand. The valley in the photo was until recently one of the homes of the Canadian country-pop singer, Shania Twain. Nearby is Mt. Aspiring National Park and the Southern Alps.
and another photo from the archives….a SRN-4 hovercraft seen here in Boulogne in France. These hovercraft had a top speed of 154 km/h and crossed the English Channel in as little as 22 minutes. The record is held by the hovercraft in this photo, the Princess Anne.
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RESPECT, CONSIDERATION & FAIRNESS
Political correctness – something is wrong here.
Thought for the day…”Why does a round pizza come in a square box?”
“If electricity comes from electrons, then does morality come from morons”
If you have visited Sweden recently then you will have seen the large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers in the cities and in the train and bus stations. Whilst normal tourists need to apply for a Schengen visa to enter, it appears now that the borders to Europe are open to all, and without limit. Swedish Television has now issued instructions to it’s staff that they are not to use the words ‘immigrant’, ‘black skinned’, ‘dark’ or ‘African origin’ for fear of insulting people. The use of words such as ‘white skinned’ is still allowed though. Is that fair? Is it not discrimination?? Even worse is that anyone accused of racism by an immigrant is not going to be allowed time on TV or radio to defend themselves. And whilst people in Sweden have had to put their names on waiting lists for sometimes several years in order to get public housing, asylum seekers are being put into housing quickly. Across the border in Norway, asylum seekers are housed in hotels (at public expense) and are given a daily living allowance, whilst Norwegian people have to pay to stay in hotels and are taxed on the priviledge. Is that fair?
The photo today comes from the lakeside town of Pembroke Wanaka, on the South Island of New Zealand. A typical morning view of the lake from near the town centre.
and another photo from the archives….window cleaning in Ljublana, Slovenia
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