My Life on this planet.

Cameron did not think EU referendum would happen, says Tusk (see more in the Guardian article). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/21/donald-tusk-warned-david-cameron-about-stupid-eu-referendum-bbc?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger Whether then PM David Cameron or someone else, the referendum would have happened one day as after 40 year membership the discussions continued to divide the country and weakened Europe. But then President Hollande's comment: " This would not be the first time that a commitment made at an election had not been kept afterwards, but he wanted to show he could negotiate successfully with Europeans .” Such a comment at the start of his sentence illustrates why the public no longer trust politicians and show little respect. And thus, yes, PM Cameron did as he promised. But indeed, as the second part shows, threatening with a referendum in the hope it will force changes in the EU that favour the UK is not how to negotiate, certainly not when the...

Four in 10 UK first-time buyers will retire with mortgages, FCA warns As was predictable (and as I wrote about before, see here ) houses become much too expensive so that people, in order to be able to buy a house, need to take ever higher mortgages that with ordinary salaries need to be repaid over ever longer periods and now for a growing number of people well into their retirement. A house, ones regarded as a good investment for later, now seems to become a burden for many. I think people should stop buying houses to force a correction or prices may continue to increase until a new crisis may hit and those who bought now will impoverish. Yes, after the financial crisis that was a result of among others inflated house prices whereby too many people were no longer able to repay, some people warned against uncontrolled housing markets but it may all repeat itself. And, even as an investment, when houses become too expensive, also the rent will go up and more difficult to let. ...

Although we're not yet there, I think society and scientists will more and more cooperate whereby most ordinary people are genuinely interested in sciences and proud to contribute to it by collecting data that later can be analysed by scientists who communicate the findings to the public, not only in specialist magazines although this is important so other scientists can judge whether the science was done properly but also communicate via popular scientific magazines for the interested non-scientists and even via "women" and "men" magazines as interesting subjects on for instance health while scientists should also edit publications such as Wikipedia without necessarily rewriting the article that "amateurs" wrote. Certainly when climate change predictions were accurate and medical progress continues as it will do will the numbers of people interested in science continue to grow. This Guardian article describes examples how scientists and field wor...

This Guardian article should be read by anyone who hopes a new referendum will be organised but doesn't acknowledge why people voted to leave. Those who think such a referendum will keep the UK inside the EU and solve all problems should not hope before its result is known. Even then is the question, can it return? This quote summarises it: "I would vote to leave now because the way the EU has treated the UK on its exit has opened my eyes up a little bit. I've seen what they have been doing to other countries, particular Greece." Here my analysis why I think many, mainly English, voted to leave the EU. Indeed, someone in the article blames PM Thatcher and yes, even today many British politicians, often Thatcherites, continue the destruction of the social cohesion in their own country. And thus it is not the EU who should be blamed that even slowed down this destruction by introducing workers and environmental protection. Still, many voted for the Tories who...

Israeli writer Amos Oz died . It seems he was an important Jewish writer who spoke and wrote about peace between Jews and Palestinians whereby he believed that, because the current troubles, the only solution is that they live next to each other in a two state solution. However, he was realistic enough to understand this would not be in his life as too much hate is building up although he believed this may happen between now and the next 50 years, even when he couldn't imagine how this hatred for each other can be resolved. As his own God prophesied, this peace is probably only possible after a major war that will bring shame on all and, unfortunately, will not only be between both groups in Israel but already results in increasing tension worldwide since countries will choose one or the other side. Temples, Churches and Mosques. Throughout history worshiped by people as symbol of their God and often built by cruel rulers who want to leave a legacy so people forget their ma...