From what I understand Kemkaran was parachuted into Kent from Bradford a couple of months before the election. Locals in Maidstone have been asking for proof that her residence is in Kent. She has a background in media and has an online history that is beginning to get some scrutiny.

From my perspective this is the start of a coup by some well-organised, well-financed right-wingers.

Who knows why that appearance was added to an already complex storyline (in terms of plot, the Doctor didn’t have to remember her). I guess it’s a case of clickbait (or whatever the term is for including something in a show just to cause online reaction).

And why can’t the power companies pay for this out of their eye-watering profits? I don’t understand why you think the BBC needs to be involved any more. (People I know have only had issues with smart meter installations that have caused just unnecessary stress. I’m pretty much waiting until I hear that they actually work better than half the time and that there are mechanisms to verify readings before I sign up.)

Surely cheaper than enforcing mass installations. (Although it’s customers doubtlessly picking up this cost.)

Wouldn’t it be possible just to replace the valve transmitter with a digitised version that sent out the same signal?

I can only agree with you.

There is also the corruption of the managerial class who collaborate in the erosion of public services. The management of schools, for instance, some of whom are recieving salaries of up to £500k.

You are completely correct.

Give it it’s clearest name: corruption. Permeating every aspect of life here. So normalised that it’s pretty invisible to 51% of country.

I’d not heard of this before. Most appropriate.

Not sure I understand what you mean er - dude - but thanks anyway. Be excellent.

Help me out here? Aren’t these the same groups calling for freedom of speech and against cancel culture. It’s all so confusing.

Episode was trash and a waste of talented performers. The show needs a rest for a decade and a complete overhaul with showrunners completely unconnected with RTD and his circle.

My 13 year-old son watched some of it. Said it was cringe and pissed himself when he saw the AI “face”. He thinks the show is stupid.

If you haven’t read it, Emily St John Mandel’s last novel, Sea of Tranquility, is excellent and tackles some of the themes if Station Eleven. It’s a time-travelling SF novel mixed with autofiction and ties in with some of her earlier writing. Super-recommended.

It’s all disinformation. We know that the Americans acquired the Ark when Professor Henry Jones Jnr retrieved it from the nazis in 1936. It’s in a massive warehouse somewhere in Area 51.

It’s interesting that terms like “Awful April” and “Cost of Living Crisis” are so rapidly adopted. I’m convinced they are thought up in something like a Civil Service or lobby group PR panel and then given to media. Both terms assure us that these things are short-lived and not usual when we know that “Austerity” (a less reassuring one) is now a permanent state of affairs. This is the way it’s going to be forever. Unless we go for the pitchforks and torches.

Doctor Who Derangement Syndrome.

It’s the condition of watching an erzatz version of a much-loved tv show and, despite it being mind-meltingly awful, believe that it is always amazing. Where objectively it is cringingly shit, they see profound comments on the nature of life, the universe and everything.

Doctor Who (rightly) ended on 6th December 1989. There were three incidents of a brief, distorted achronologous reversed polarity event with an Eight Doctor on 12th, 14th and 27th 1996.

Everything after that has been an ongoing fanfiction written by soap opera writers who could vaguely remember a show about a time-traveller in a blue telephone box.

The downside is that I’ve virtually stopped writing blog posts and rely on the “microposts”. Not sure if that’s why I started a blog.

I’ve tried all sorts of things and have settled on using Wordpress with a rss widget which publishes my rss feed from Mastodon (it picks up certain hashtags to avoid publishing everything - eg. #blog). It publishes pics and everything. It also works with Pixelfed (maybe not Bsky). There’s probably more elegant ways to do this - and ones involving activitypub - but this one works without much effort setting up.

Work kills. Those it doesn’t immediately finish off are made mentally ill. Only a society without Work would be a well and healthy society.

Thank you. You are absolutely right and it was right there in front of me!