Only a Fraction

“Only a fraction“. It’s a phrase that is in very common use. What does it mean?

A quarter, an eighth, fifteen sixteenths or maybe seven sevenths?  Or is it even vulgar, like twelve tenths?  

After a long investigation, taking only a fraction of the time, and using only a fraction of the resources that a prestigious university would use, I have found the answer.

Actually there are two meanings

1. The writer or speaker does not have a clue about the real figure, and can’t be bothered to find out.
2. The writer or speaker does not want you to know the real figure.

 I can now state categorically, and without fear of contradiction that:

• Only a fraction of our MPs are not imbeciles.
• Only a fraction of our security services are not in the pay of the Kremlin
• Only a fraction of our journalists are not employed directly or indirectly by Donald Trump.
• Only a fraction of our energy payments do not go straight into the personal bank accounts of the directors and shareholders of Shellenergy.

It’s a handy phrase, and one that can be used, if you are bothered, (only a fraction are actually bothered)  without actually telling lies.

Ribchester and Settle

 On May 15th I collected the Van from the farm two days before we were to leave and found the brakes hardly worked. I also found the leisure battery was flat. I charged it up but it was on its last legs

On May 16th Fishers pulled us out of the dodo be replacing the brake discs at very short notice the next day, but when I drove it back I found the handbrake did not work.

On May 17th I took it back to Fishers next morning and they got it working (sort of) and we set off in the afternoon. The intention had been to get to Wigan Folk club, but we were far too late setting out.  We parked overnight at a small rural lorry park at Alveston.

May 18th we drove to Ribchester and found that the car park where we have parked for many years, no has a "No overnight camping" sign with a picture of a motorhome.  But, as we were having a meal at the white Bull, the landlord let us stay in his parking area.

We had a nice meal with the family.

May 19th we set off to Settle and got an overnight parking slot in Greenfoot carpark. We bought some meat and potato pies and had sone coffee at the Naked Man and went to a nice Singaround at the Old Oak.

May 20th, the Festival started.  No more Singaround - just an open Mic in the Old Oak and an Irish Session in the Golden Lion yard.

Saturday May 20th, we booked in at the Golden Lion for three days.

Tuesday 24th May we stayed at a motorhome carpark in Kirkby Lonsdale.  Found public loos that charge 40p and pay by contactless credit card only. I Ordered a new battery for delivery to Ribchester

25th May we were running out of water - so we booked in at a certified Location.  We were charged £20 and they had no showers or toilets, just water, waste disposal and a hook up which we did not need.

26th May - we drove back to Ribchester to pick up the battery, then back to Settle to see an old school friend and his wife who were visiting via the Carlisle-Settle Railway.  Then we found our Aunt who were were due to visit next day had registered positive for Covid. 

We drove to Fleetwood, stayed overnight in the central car park and went to Fleetwood folk club to do a few songs.

27th May, we had breakfast in Fleetwood with our cousin and daughter, took Meg for a walk on the beach, and stayed overnight at the central car park again

28th May, we had breakfast with our cousin and partner in St Annes, and stayed overnight at the Punch Bowl Inn Lower Bentham. I had ostrich steak.

29th May, we stayed in Ingleton Community centre and had dinner in a local pub

30th May we drove back to Ribchester, tried to park ar the Social Club, changed our minds and parked in the Ribchester arms car park.

31st May was the canal boat trip. That night we stayed in Todmorden car park

1st June we decided to head back home.  We stayed overnight at the red lion in Malvern.

2nd June we drove back through Wales to home

Lies

This post was originally posted on 2nd April 2020, but todays events are simply staggering.

Boris Johnson, a consumate liar to the core, is now in danger of losing his job after been proven to have lied and to parliament which breaks the ministerial code. This IS a resignation matter. But Johnson’s response is not to resign, but instead to change the ministerial code.

It’s so simple – commit a crime with a mandatory sentence – change the law – no sentence.  OK, it’s not an actual crime, or a sentence but the principal is the same.  This turd of a man thinks that because he lies all the time, so does everyone else – so what’s the big deal?

What is even more outrageous is that his party still supports him.  This says more about the non existent integrity of his supporters than it says about him.

Craig Murray’s in depth (by my standards anyway) post on the effects of media lies is a fascinating read.

The original post continues:-

---

I got a letter from my bank this morning telling me my email was wrong and asking me to log onto the site and correct it.

I logged on and my email was correct!

I tried to find a contact email but they only communicate by phone, Facebook messenger or twitter!! (yes hard to believe)

So I contacted them via messenger.  Below is a copy of the conversation (with personal details removed)

09:53
Hello I got a letter from you saying my email is wrong. It is not wrong. The letter asks me to update my contact details. But they are all correct. I do not want to phone you and wait for ages for someone to pick up the phone. Please advise.

Thanks for messaging us. If you haven’t, then please provide your name, date of birth, postcode and, if it’s insurance, your policy number and we’ll get back to you. How we handle your data is available at
[redacted address]

Hi, thanks for getting in touch. You don’t need to call us, this is a standard letter that is sent out to customers to make sure we have the correct details on file. Apologies for any inconvenience – Fred

The letter said “We recently tried to contact you about your account. However the message couldn’t be delivered because it appears we don’t have a correct email on file for you” So this was a lie?

We’re not saying it’s a lie. We send these letters out to make sure we have the correct details on file – Fred

No Fred. It’s not true. If it’s not a mistake it’s a lie. Did you try to contact me by email about my account or not?

We don’t communicate via email. If you would like to discuss this further, I’d recommend calling our team, available Monday to Friday 8am-10pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm, and they’ll be able to discuss this further – Fred

It gets worse Fred. If you don’t communicate by email why do you need my email address?

If you opted in for marketing preferences, then we’d communicate via email – Fred

 OK Fred, we’ll leave it there, but routinely telling lies to customers is not a good business practice. If you wanted to check an email – send one and get a reply. Don’t send out untruthful letters making them waste their time and yours. Please pass my comments up the tree.

What struck me is that the letter sent out by a bank to a customer contains a lie.  And this is sent to all customers!

The deluge of fake news and out and out lies from politicians, the media, and in particular social media is turning us into a society of automatic liars.

Who, reading this, has not checked a box saying they have read the terms and conditions without actually looking at the 28 page closely typed document at all?

We know that newspapers, politicians, churches, social media, the police, etc.etc. all lie. Is there anyone we can trust at all?  Certainly, the further up the social and power tree we look the more lies we find.

OK it’s not all politicians, or churches, or police personnel, but how the hell are we supposed to tell the difference?

Do we care?  Donald Trump and Boris Johnson have been proven to be consummate liars but they have been elected to the highest positions of power democratically.

When people can’t distinguish between what is true and what isn’t then they will tend to gravitate to what they would like to be the truth.   

And then when other people gravitate to their different version, then they must be stupid, or have ulterior motives for saying they believe the lies.

And then arguments or even insurrections and revolutions start.