Best wishes to us all in 2025

I anticipate more of the same this year. Rich people grabbing more and more while the less wealthy continue licking their boots.

I hope for better in 2025

Is there a name for that feeling of depression, revulsion which comes after an election result you despise?

The United States has become so detached from decency it is terrifying.

They cannot differentiate fact from fiction. At least not in the majority of cases. They will bobble along and survive but they are only going to get so many second chances. They have appointed money as God and Hell as their holiday theme park.

It’s like watching an abusive relationship – as a friend of the person being abused. No matter how well you wish things for them you know they are in for a rough time and you will likely be ignored. And part of you is angry with them for putting up with it. Angry at them for no good reason other than their inability to escape.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water,

and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

by Wendell Berry

More on Wendell Berry on Wikipedia

159 phone number – Stop Scams UK

159 is a phone number operated by Stop Scams UK that you can call if you receive a suspicious or unexpected call about a financial matter: 

• How to use 159
  • If you receive a suspicious call, you can:
    1. Stop the conversation and hang up  
    2. Wait a few seconds  
    3. Call 159  
    4. State your bank’s name when prompted by the recorded message  
    5. Your bank will ask security questions and direct you to the best department  
    6. You can ask your bank if what you heard is true  
• Features of 159
  • 159 is a secure number that connects you directly to your bank:
    • 159 can’t be spoofed  
    • 159 will never call you  
    • Most major banks are connected to 159, including Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Chase, and more  
• Stop Scams UK’s goals
  • Stop Scams UK’s goal is to have Ofcom make 159 a mandatory number, like 101, 111, or 999. They also work on projects to better understand the scam problem and build solutions

Petrichor is the smell of rain. The word comes from the Greek words ‘petra’, meaning stone, and ‘ichor’, which in Greek mythology refers to the golden fluid that flows in the veins of the immortals.

petrichor noun

pe·​tri·​chor ˈpe-trə-ˌkȯr 

: a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period and that arises from a combination of volatile plant oils and geosmin released from the soil into the air and by ozone carried by downdrafts

(Merriam-Webster)