This Means War (on the DWP).

I have fallen through every crack in every system and hit every branch of the incompetence tree on the way through. I will post a copy of the letter I have written to my MP, The DWP minister, The Health Secretary, and the housing minister, describing the events of the last eight months, in a subsequent post. I wasn't going to, but I don't really have a choice now.

I stand here today in a state of disbelief at how catastrophically badly run our civil service systems are run. How convoluted, complex and short-sighted they are. How narrow the bandings are? How inflexible they are. How little, people from department to department ... desk to desk, seem to know about the systems they administer. The absolute absence of integrity or taking of responsibility for errors and omissions and the subsequent catastrophic results for external parties (me).

You speak to people, and all have their own view, or interpretation and there is no consistency. And if you hit a habitual gatekeeper or petty bureaucrat, by crikey are you going to struggle. Never mind "Computer says NO", find someone who just wants to do the minimum and bounce out calls for the flimsiest reasons but hit their KPI for answering a phone, and then hides behind "it's not in my remit." "That's a different section." "no one is available." etc etc

You are told things that are entirely contradictory, by people in the same place/department or organisation on the same day. People who are blithering on, from their stock set of responses, without looking further than the end of their noses. To then be forced to; only to find that now their noses are going rubbed in it because they weren't willing to look when first asked. Once this is done, all you can hear is the sound of back-pedalling and excuses.

Systems shut you down with no chance of appeal and no room to move, and the people that manage these systems apparently have no control over them (there is the "the computer says No." aspect, in addition to intractable people). There is a deliberate and conscious effort and cultural imperative to; Back-cover, deny, and clear evidence of failure ... bad luck I keep every email.

I count myself fortunate, that I have a certain intellect, and have kept notes for eight months, because, had I not; then I have not the first clue what I would do. 

As I have said in the letter that I will publish on my blog. It is easy to see why people (I am positive I am by no means alone) when confronted with such overwhelming crass stupidity, end up committing suicide. And I don't say that lightly or for dramatic effect, feels or likes. Lesser minds, less well organised, who may have blindly trusted a system to find themselves where I am today, could easily crumble, and I get it 100%. The mind truly boggles. 

To suggest that it's all just an aspect of the pandemic, and therefore no one is to blame, denies utterly the structural failings of pre-existing systems, and the government's inability to get its people working from home while imposing that condition on millions of people and companies UK wide. I am not going to be collateral damage. I am going to be dishing it out.

I am going to be creating some very big waves going forward. 

Stellarator performance for fusion energy. Scitechdaily article

The holy grail of almost completely clean, limitless energy takes yet another step forward.

From the articles top line: Stellarators, twisty magnetic devices that aim to harness on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars.

Scitechdaily Fusion article

Hinckley-C to the Sea ... and back again.

This is the longest walk I've done in eight months. I am suffering from it a few hours later: Paraesthesia (pins and needles) down the whole of my left leg, stiff as board generally, peripheral neuropathy, lower abdomen, outer thigh, and calf (I will need to stay warm tonight, or I will risk hideous cramps). 

In terms of just work muscle ache ... not yet.

I am glad I took the walk, enjoyed some headspace and challenged myself. The last eight months have been a pig. The last two weeks shambling round fields and increasing my swimming from 400mtrs to a kilometre seems to have made some difference. However, it could just be coincidental, after all, eight months with a severe strain of the lumbar spine is excessive.

I hope I haven't been a twat taking a risk. However, no risk, no rewards. Monday will be here soon enough, and I'll know if I have overegged it.

Hinckley-C to Sea the movie

The end-line, think about it: Energy is not just another product: it’s what makes civilisation possible.

Viscount Matt Ridley's recent article in the Daily Mail linked below, sums up how we have ended up in the current energy crisis pickle.

Link to the article.

It's daft, and to think a dozen Hinckley C's would solve the issue of energy and probably go a long way to meeting UK emissions targets. But as he points out, the use of SMR's (Small Modular Reactors) civilian versions of the types of reactors found on nuclear submarines, would be an even better solution.

From the National Post, Wuhan scientists sought to infect bats with coronavirus 18 months before first case, documents show

 At some point, the smoking gun is going to be visible to all except the emperor and his adherents.

I guess that at some point down the line as people retire or die, the truth will out, but I suspect it will be many years before that happens. And while it is, leaping to a conclusion without all the necessary evidence to support the hypothesis. The rest of the world should frame emergent pandemic awareness going forward in the context of the "Captain Trips" methodology. Rather than looking exclusively for a natural origin from the outset. 

That's a terrible way to operate even if it's necessary, because it casts suspicion, muddies the water and causes tensions. However, in terms of risk management, it's quite clearly sensible.

Nationalpost.com wuhan-scientists-sought-to-infect-bats-with-coronavirus-18-months-before-first-case-documents-show