Here I am at the edge

Anthrax- the hidden menace. One of the reasons I am not concerned over the Coronavirus is I know there is a far deadlier menace in the land of the UK . I am not talking about ordinary anthrax  which is curable and can be controlled; I am talking of a genetically mutated variant that has no cure and cannot be controlled once it is released into the air. Back in the days of the Cold War with Russia, when there was a threat of Communism, the scientists at Porton Down worked on a virus that could kill. To this day, no antidote has been found, there are hundreds of canisters buried on disused airfields around the Coventry area, what used to be called "Little America. They are buried deep underground, but time rots the canisters and seepage occurs, all it needs is a small quake and the cans will split.  I know about this because in the 70's I used to read science magazines; this is not one of my science fiction stories, though I was tempted to include it, this ...

Three years wasted. Three years ago, I applied to the The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund  for a small loan to buy a wheelchair so I had some mobility. Instead they told me I was allowed to have an EPV (like the opne above). They then forgot about me for two, and now thy have caused a bigger mess by erecting a shed without permission, so now after three years I am back to were I was, only my health has worsened and I will now be all but housebound as my legs cannot stand the strain of walking for any length of time.

Is Paypal worth the trouble? I know many people trust Paypal because they feel that sending money via another account, and not from their account gives an extra layer of security; I am not so sure as all I have had in the last three months is problems from Paypal because I cannot prove who I am to their satisfaction. I ask you, who else is going to put money in my account? Now, they have cost me another £90 to get a new passport, that I will never use, to prove my ID. If you try to ask a simple question, you never get a straight answer as tghe virtual agent is programmed to answer certain questions, and they are not usually the ones you wish answered. I have no problems buying items and sending the money from my account to the seller, why should I pay a fee to a holding site?

Not what I expected to read. Last night, before I decided to write my romance novel with no Spanish in, I did a check on where my e-books were selling; other than in the USA . I honestly did not know what to expect as I rarely sell in the UK, I guess I thought perhaps Australia would be the next market after the USA to buy my works. Though my first sale (the above book) got its early sale from a lady who lived outside Bonn , I never expected Germany to be my next big market.

UK to ban 5G from Huawei It has been announced that the Huawei 5G is being phased out in the UK.  China is recognized as one of the main sources of cybercrime in the world, and to my mind I am still not convinced the Coronavirus outbreak is not part of a greater plan to bring the West to its knees. The whole coronavirus outbreak connected too well with the 5G acceptance in the EU to make me feel that it was NOT planned. More news about how China is attacking the West. Last year (2021) they sent hundreds of giant hornets to infest the UK bee hives, and this year (2022) they have sent thousands of venous spiders to Europe . I am in agreement with Donald Trump 's decision to ban Tik Tok as a security risk; I think all apps from China should be banned for this reason.

The culture destroyer. There is no doubt that life in Spain during the Franco years was miserable; one of his greatest crimes was dragging back the culture that the country had to the Middle Ages by banning most of the artists/ writers to exile if you were lucky to escape. Some like Federico Lorca (shown above) were executed like dogs, his body has never been found. The exception to this rule is Salvador Dali who thrived during this period. There are two stories called El Hombre Oculto, one tells of a man who hid in house for the period until Franco died, still believing someone would betray though his family told him that people no longer cared about what he was doing. The other is about a man who hid in a cellar under his house until Franco died. Very few of the ones fortunate to afford the price of an escape returned, if you were in your 20's you would have been at least in your late 50's when Franco died, and what would you come back to; a country you don...

News headlines I can see the headlines now "Boris relaxes lock down to celebrate July 4th," that will be followed by detractors pointing out the obvious; Boris Johnson is an American, and July 4th is the celebration of American Independence. But, the reality which will be missed in the haranguing of the Prime Minister by the media and social media fanatics is simple to realise for those of us who look at the bigger picture. The decision has nothing to do with America.  Already smaller seaside resorts have said the lock down has driven them to the point they may never recover, and the longer this goes on the harder it will hit our economy; the tourism trade has already lost billions of pound from a lack of trade since losing the Easter trade that signifies the start of the seasonal work, if we lose July, that means this year is over for seasonal trade and town like Blackpool , Scarborough , Brighton , and Bournemouth will be hit hard.

The Spanish dictionary. The oldest book I own is a 100-year-old Bible; I have a rough estimate of its age because it uses the term Levant to describe what we now call the Middle East, the term Levant has not been used in western term not in use sincee the 1920's. I did own two dictionaries that are older, but as I am no longer writng short stories I have no need for foreign language dictionaries.