Tell Us The Truth!

 About 2 years ago we were just getting the first reports that something was amiss in Wuhan.  Later intelligence "revealed" covid could already have been in Italy Dec 2019! (Tests on sewer matter),

 We are still dealing with it now. Thousands of daily cases in the UK alone, hundreds or thousands of deaths daily Worldwide.  More lockdowns (in Europe - Austria, Netherlands) as a Fourth Spike is announced.  We are still vaccinating, and boosters for those 6 months after their 2nd jabs.

Legislation in the UK to "force" front line NHS and Care Workers to vaccinate or face being fired.

Most supermarkets are still recommending wearing masks indoors.  I know I wear my mask if I shop, and I hand sanitise everywhere I go.  It makes sense to me.  Prevention is better than cure, right?

I wonder where we'll be next year?

Then there's climate change.  We've just concluded the COP26 talks in Glasgow.  From what I read in the news it's a positive step forward... but I watched The Day After Tomorrow on TV yesterday - filmed in 2004, and 17 years on we've not heeded that warning one little bit!

I'm a bit rusty on my Nostradamus, but I'm fairly sure he "predicted" the end of the world would come from the Middle East (or at least that's what his "interpreters" chose to suggest).  What if our demise wasn't from war (or terrorism) which is what we immediately assume, but from our dependence on oil? 

A friend of mine is very religious and recently posted some threads about this being Biblical, Revelations type scenarios.  One of his posts on FB had an "independent fact-check" reply/overlay on it refuting his info, and that lead me to wonder about who we can really trust - because his original post about covid data integrity seemed to come from a valid source - the URL looked legit, but the refute seemed to come from the same source!

We really don't know who to trust - our politicians spin one way, our religious leaders another.  Covid, Brexit, Climate Change - how do we know what we're being told is the truth?  We don't!

If we "fact check", how do we know what we're reading is the truth or a counter-lie?

We live in uncertain times - as a Nation, the UK is going through a lot - and what we really need right now is someone to trust - someone that will tell us the honest truth - no matter how harsh, so that we can face it head on and deal with it.

Truth, Justice and the [insert country name] Way!

I have always been a bit proud to be British.  I'm not saying Britain is better than anyone else, that other countries are in any way inferior.  I'm just saying I'm a bit proud to be British.

I think we are a very tolerant nation, on the whole, and I like that. I think we tend to accept people for who they are, and as long as you're happy to live with our quirks and foibles, we'll live with yours.

Our islands have been invaded often - sometimes from abroad - the French, the Vikings, the Romans to name a few - and we've done a bit of invading ourselves - which is how we became the UK in the first place!

The United Kingdom of Great Britain.  I do like that name!

To me, Britain (to use it's short name) is Great because it's people are made up of many cultures and creeds, many beliefs that co-operate and co-exist in relative harmony.  We accept new ideas, we offer equal opportunities to all.  We look after each other - and in times of crisis we work together for the common good.  We have friends all around the World, and I have always felt that the rest of the World see us as an honest nation - hard working and just. 

I might be wrong though.  I don't know how the rest of the World sees us now.  I went to see a comedian recently who joked that the World views Britain as a bit of a joke - and I'm afraid to say Brexit has done a lot to destroy our credibility - our desire to leave the EU has been plagued from the start, and our attempts to break free are laughable on occasion.  I don't think the EU want us to go and are making things difficult for us - I think they hope we'll change our mind.

I'd like to think it's because they value us as a member state, but I think they just want to keep the money we contribute - and to be fair, I think that's why we need to leave.  If you have a relationship with someone that only wants what you can give to them, and doesn't care about your opinions, or what you want - would you stay?

So, are we a joke?
I don't know.  But despite it all - I'm still proud to be British!