Today the thirteenth:

• Day of July 2016,
• Prime Minister during Queen Elizabeth II's reign,
• Stone was added to my collection of weights.

I once tried to read Stephen Hawking's book 'A Brief History Of Time'. I made the conscious decision to fail to complete it right about the time I attempted to balance an apple and orange on a ruler – a ruler suspended on nothing.

Failure: not specifically mine; the book is impenetrable to most readers without numbers, mathematics.

I'm deeply enmeshed in this post-Brexit English political realignment. Peripherally of course; an interested observer.

Realising that an email to my MP and a tweet asking a direct question aren't going to get me anywhere, I'll find it easy when the time comes to admit defeat and go back to my days of blissful ignorance.

Unless…

Looking over the shambles that English politics has become I'm better off not bothering to understand; just as a final state of apparent idiocy is attained – a plateau – someone comes along and ramps it up a notch!

Excellent for political commentators, pundits, sales of newspapers and, of course, building on a sense of outrage.

Dust settled after the vote for the Labour leadership ballot admissions? Why not change the expectations of a new generation of Labour supporters keen to have a say in the election of the 'next' leader – by excluding the last 6 months of signups?

To be honest, after the Brexit lies I'm surprised if anyone will take politicians seriously again – let alone vote next time they're eligible to!

Happy days.

Eh‽

Well, here goes!

Ordinary people haven't voted until this referendum. Protest votes aplenty skewed the result away from everyone's expectations to a nightmare scenario no-one had envisaged.

'Remain' were expected to win, 'Leave' were expected to have fought a valiantly English fight and to then go on to better things, safe in the knowledge they had respect from those on their side.

Lovely. Everyone's happy see?

Damnit if this carefully-thought-out plan didn't go titsup – causing this unholy meltdown we'll be suffering with for years to come.

If only…

Theresa May was asked today if she'd like to be Prime Minister today – once David Cameron formally resigned of course. The incoming rookie will be the 13th Prime Minister of Queen Elizabeth's reign, appointed on this 13th day of July.

Definitely an indicator of SOMETHING this 13 thing, especially if you're interested in coincidences, fate, and you're looking askance at the future like I am.

Back in the real world: Emperor Akihito of Japan wants to retire; Strictly Come Dancing's Len Goodman will retire after the next series; the US Presidential election is heating up nicely – the Republican candidate having promised to pick a VP/running mate by the end of the week…

Extraordinary circumstances all.

Some more positive mews, er… news: Larry the cat keeps his No.10 job despite the rumours the outgoing Prime Minister wasn't a cat lover.

Here's hoping the incoming PM is a cat lover – a redeeming quality, something for ordinary people to relate to.

I just heard the government's House of Commons majority is only 12.

Time for a coalition of like-minded political bodies? Naah, it's more likely time for that centre-left party to be formed. You know, just like the Liberal Democrats but made up of cast-off from Labour and UKIP, and… (shudders.)

Oh dear. I wrote to my MP 2 weeks ago, hopeful of a quick response (even a brush-off) to my Brexit-related question.

Zero reply subsequent to the automatic acknowledgment. So much for democracy.

Yes, yes I did expect something in return. After all, "We aim to beable [sic] to do so within 5 working days." is pretty clear.

Maybe she's not made her mind up about quashing Brexit? Maybe my expectations, low as they are, are still too high? Maybe I expect that when someone makes a statement that that they'll follow through. Nobody's perfect though.

Ahhh… but my MP first voted for her leader, then when (and this is an assumption) external pressure was applied, she stepped away from both her leader and shadow cabinet duties. But still…

Now I know I'm being unfair. The workload imposed by her constituency duties must be immense. As a constituent with a very real fear of the unknown situation into which we've been tossed, I'm sure a response will come eventually; just not to be directly.

Damnit though, it seems I gave away my name, home and email addresses for nothing.

I… What was I thinking‽

At the end of the day no leader nor system lasts forever. Everything is replaced by something better…

Sure it is.

Why is everyone who's anyone (and a lot of those who aren't) dealing in certainties, in absolutes, these days?

How has it got to a point at which an insubstantial, purely emotional case can trump any number of facts, and be accepted as reality?

It pains me to see the moral high ground taken by winners at the expense of losers, and unachievable objectives put forward as eminently possible by authority figures then lapped up by people desperate for change.

Perhaps the only certainty remaining is that death and taxes will catch us up eventually.

Perhaps.

Engineering is my trade, that's something to which I've referred in the past. Engineers don't deal in absolutes, in certainties. Engineers reduce the possibility that edge cases can ruin a successful outcome. Engineers take facts and… It's very rare indeed that 100% certainty intrudes into our world.

Discovering that vast numbers of people cannot begin to take on board and process even simple facts, cannot search out alternative sources and make choices independent of those handed to them on a gold platter (platter retained by those dispensing the advice) – it's now just a part of this journey towards political awareness I started in May this year.

Criticism?

Regrettably, yes.

Everyone has the right to offer an opinion, especially after a vote that's gone against them.

Anyone want to point at a worrying development: that two candidates for very high office (leading a country!) have seemingly exaggerated their competencies to lead, based their campaigns on the understanding that pandering to raw emotions will triumph over cold hard facts, and say it'll be alright?

Meanwhile, in the real world, it was the school Summer Fair today. Stalls selling stuff, stalls offering games of skill and chance, face painting, glitter tattoos, a (non-traditional but fun) dance part-way through the afternoon, a stall selling bags for the children to decorate, and food and drink and, well, lots of fun!

From a purely personal perspective, the very best thing about today was the greatest of male achievememts: me tossing two out of the three hoops over a thing, and thus winning prizes for my girls. Tossing. Testosterone restored!

Unusually for me, I took something odd away from the decision by the PTA and school to setup indoors to beat the wet weather. Was it the soft toy as big as daughter 2? No. It's adaptability, something that defines how successful an enterprise can be; a willingness to make plans to get the very best from a situation. Our political classes have failed to do so; preferring a Monty Python approach to responsibility: "Run Away!!"

Next up, a PTA takeover of British government. Don't discount it.

Censorship is something we're likely to see more of as time passes, as the illusion of democracy intensifies. Paradoxically we'll know about it due to the limited 'sense' inherent in our laws.

Ok, 'sense' might be overstating things a bit.

We live in an age of Super-Injunctions denying even the reporting of a legal action, DMCA takedown notices requiring immediate content removal without the luxury of rebuttal, and censorship by weight of numbers of uninformed and excessively antagonistic comments (don't read the comments on web sites!)

An initiative coming from the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) – the organisation documenting and influencing the standards upon which the Internet relies to work smoothly – looks quite interesting.

Brand new status code HTTP 451 (in honour of Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' novel) should serve a notification indicating that the requested page is unavailable due to a block imposed as a result of a legal demand.

Unfortunately only time will tell how useful this will be. Actually no, scratch that dismissive response; it will be at least an indicator of the 'freeness' of 'our' 'society'.

Now, tinfoil hats arent required here, just common sense.

Grab a friendly politician and…

Ah, a flaw.

tl;dr

Formulating government policy or a political manifesto is very much like making up a typical Facebook scam. Create a convincing document, pass it about a bit, and word-of-mouth accelerates its uptake.

The problem is simple: there's nothing substantial about the thing. Attractive photos? Check! Lots of testimony from interested parties? Check! But try to get in touch with anyone concerned – to attempt to delve deeper, and there's nothing there.

The political stuff has at least the illusion one can contact someone, whereas the Facebook stuff has zero contact details, at most 3 posts to establish provenance.

Where policy and FB scams differ: any company giving stuff away has the competition as a loss-leader. They have adverts for their products liberally interspersed with the competition details. They take a conservative approach to the giveaways; independently add their physical address, telephone number, email address, Facebook and Twitter usernames, and web site details. They'd have to be absolute loonies to miss out on the chance of a sale.

National and international advertising campaigns reliant on word-of-mouth do well, with minimal outlay.

A question: which has the biggest impact on identity?

Is it giving away one's Facebook details to a faceless entity which won't be around for longer has it takes the site administrators to catch on?

Or is it the voluntary subscription to an ideology which one has and almost-zero hope of influencing, and which alters dependent on the whim of that most capricious breed, the politician?

Which of them brings the most real disappointment?

It's obvious.

Yet how can people's hopes and dreams, and the constant let-downs be stopped? Conventional wisdom says that voters don't care to vote because votes are wasted.

Well,THAT one's been well-understood truly debunked, HASN'T it!

So wherever we go from here?

Fact-checking.

Its easy, requires only seconds (or minutes) and a very limited knowledge of how to formulate an Internet search.

Don't believe the hype.

(Nothing to see here.)

Have you read the preamble to the Liberal Democrat Constitution?

Everyone should, especially those new to politics. And that's a LOT of people.

Look, it doesn't take long. It contains a lot of things other parties SAY they'll do but never QUITE getting around to doing. Think 'Big Society', 'Northern Powerhouse' for starters. Where's the balance in politics?

Look, it's not some kind of cult, setup to make you feel better about yourself.

Ok, I rejoined the party today. It was easy.

"We need a change," the people said a couple of weeks ago. The people spoke.

Onerous as the RESULTS OF the 'choice' the people made still remain to me, the people spoke.

Roll back a few months, to when the Libdems, in coalition, curbed the worst excesses of a Conservative government hell-bent on ignoring the great unwashed masses and pandering to big business and vested interests. A bit like the Chancellor of the Exchequer wanting to reduce corporation tax from 20% to 15% to attract businesses – or maybe to retain them.

Let's examine the universal revulsion heaped upon the Liberal Democrat party as a direct result of the compromises they HAD to make, and the perceived crippling of its electability – seen as collaborators thus tarred with the same brush as the Conservatives. Or let's not think about it, it sounds hard.

Damnit, I wish people would wake up and switch their minds on. Heck, I don't even care if it hurts for a while as long as those brain cells fire a BIT more frequently.

++++++++[>++++[>++>+++>+++>+<<<<-]>+>+>->>+[<]<-]>>.>---.+++++++..+++.>>.<-.<.+++.------.--------.>>+.>++.

Politics; it's all a load of old bollocks really, isn't it.

A man spends his entire political career campaigning against a thing, and 'wins'; decides to retire from campaigning against the thing, having no plan, no alternatives to it; ultimately though decides to carry on being paid by the political thing against which he fought for his entire political career.

No consequences? Well, the man now has a place in history – what every politician craves.

Jam tomorrow, WE were promised. Most people would like it sooner. On toast.*

Ahhh… I thought I could stop writing about important (important!) things, but no. Focus. It gives me focus on what is ultimately important.

No longer a monologue about self and family, this blog, thank goodness. Should I get back to writing about the small things though? Is THIS a healthy pursuit?

[Damnit, I originally missed ‘D’ from the post, too distracted watching the telly!] <- An edit.

Rhetorical question; my mind doesn't work thus… Yes, of course it's healthy. We humans, we're inquisitive, insatiable, incompetent at times, but otherwise indefatigable.* Is it enough?

Under this spell, this compulsion to learn about this phenomenon, I believe a week and a half isn't enough to explore deeply-enough.

Man learns about stuff; man fills head with stuff; man's belief system ultimately remains unaffected.

*Yes, I probably AM trying too hard now.

I've spent far too long this last week attempting to make sense of the post-Brexit vote. I've looked at both sides of the argument and concluded that, though my vote is on the 'losing' side, I did the right thing.

Pointless me going over that again, I'm not a prolific blogger, my recent post history speaks for itself.

Reading lots of informed, ill-informed and decidedly un-informed and thus blinkered commentary on this unique situation in which we find ourselves brought home a number of facts.

Everyone who voted did so to attempt to make a very real difference in the way this country works. Regardless whether this was the time to protest or not, from what I've seen, most think it's enough.

Do you know, I'm inclined to agree. But only upto a point.

I can't see everyone who voted 'Leave' OR 'Remain' voting in the next election. I say next election because, obviously, this vote wasn't one. An election. It would be wonderful if the UK could grow the level of support for our newly-discovered sense of democracy. My fear is simple, that turnout will be in the 30%-40% range at the very next opportunity. It's a real possibility unless a General Election is called.

Challengers to Brexit have appeared today in the shape of the well-known law firm Mishcon de Reya. Operating on behalf of a number of companies opposed not to the vote result itself but to the insistence that the government and Parliament simply HAS to accept it, the firm has already been in touch with the government's lawyers.

To me this at least pauses the steamrollering of common sense. Whether the challenge is accepted and allowed to progress remains to be seen.

A number of challengers for the Tory Party leadership battle appeared quickly. I've heard a fair amount from The Backstabber, from I've Real-world Experience (in the finance industry), little from the Home Secretary, zero from the Man Who Thinks Homosexuality Can Be Cured, and zero from the Disgraced Former Minister.

Repairing the bridges between Leave and Remain won't be easy, and may prove impossible dependent on future government policies. Repairing the balance between the regions, or maybe CREATING a balance between the regions must be a priority, whoever wins whatever trivial leadership battles we see unfolding before us.

In the grand scheme of things, who wins these contests proves irrelevant. Policy changes little whichever party is nominally in control of our money. Er… whichever party has our best interests uppermost, sorry about that slip.

Over the last few days I've thought carefully about joining the Labour Party. Yes, simply so I could vote in its leadership election – for that principled man Jeremy Corbyn. Not some fly-by-night politician changing his ideals dependent on which way the wind blows or from which direction the money comes (though the Labour Party, like any other, does indeed have some pretty influential groups throwing loadsamoney at it), he seems genuinely committed to making things better for us.

The bottom line though, in this uncertain climate I just can't expose my wallet to the current fees. At £3 it would have been a no-brainer. At a one-off £20, yeah, why not. At just shy of £50 though it merits serious thought.

Kaiser Wilhelm, the last German Emperor, believed that Germany's place was at the top of the pile.

A sentiment I'm sure echoed by the British (English!) throughout all the years the empire expanded. Who could argue with any country's desire to influence, to control others?

I found a particularly appropriate quotation; the Kaiser's letter to The Telegraph: "You English are like mad bulls – you see red everywhere! What on earth has come over you, that you would heap on us such suspicion as is unworthy of a great nation… I regard this missaprehension as a personal insult… You make it uncommonly difficult for a man to remain friendly to England."

Sure I've picked that out of many available at WikiQuote. Heck, I don't even know to what situation he is referring let alone when it was penned! But if you bring that across to our current situation it's what Europe is saying about us and, eventually, what we will be saying of them.

Er… Yeah, this'll end well!

Rubbish as I am at picking winning Lottery numbers and resisting the temptation to bet just that little bit more 'next time', I see unwelcome changes ahead. Some might be tempted to say gathering storm clouds. Me, I'm not good at melodrama so…

Children, run for your lives, it's spitting!

Hopefully we won't awake tomorrow to World War III; to a collapse of our, Europe's, the world's financial markets; to a devaluation of the Pound that throws the FTSE100 into a slide, to a… No, these things take time to brew, need lots of careful stirring, tender manipulation, a gradual increase of the heat…

I still can't believe that some think it's all over; that there are no necessary trade-offs to be made when we're negotiating for a free-trade deal; and that we've no-one with experience of what's to come.

Essentially no-one's been through this before. We STILL don't know what to do to get the best out of this.

For once we need to admit we're not in the driving seat. We need to treat the negotiations like a job interview; first researching the situation into which we wish to inject ourselves, stressing what we can offer, what we're GOOD at, and then, then, to compromise on pay. Ah, crap analogy.

Sure other nations' leaders want the best for THEIR people, it's common sense. We must go into this respecting their wishes, sovereignty. Saying that only someone who voted to leave Europe is capable of getting the best deal is complete madness! Look at Brexit's Chief Architect's utterly reprehensible behaviour last week in the European Parliament – this is not how we must be seen.

Central to any further advancement out of Europe is putting the very best we have to offer into positions capable of influencing which way we head.

Luckily we have a civil service the rest of the world looks upom enviously. Don't we. Right?

Ahhh…

Screwed.

Hmmm…

"London calling, here are our votes… Europe: null points."