​The Good
 
House prices rose dramatically in January, which is not the brighter note! But 25,100 first-time buyer mortgages were granted that month - 4.6% up on 2018. Like it or not, the house market is a massive part of the UK economy. It’s not just the big things either, with things as small and as simple as a new cup hook all adding up and creating jobs. Not that there are many places you can buy just one cup hook now, so you buy 4,5,6 or whatever, then when you need one in the shed you can’t find the rest!
 
Another good…
 
I forget how many years ago the MMR vaccination was challenged which resulted in many parents being scared into not letting their children have it. Cases of measles soared and the data on which the challenge was made was found to be flawed. But measles is still on the rise, so I was delighted when looking at the public service promos I received for my Faversham Natters show this week that there was one from the Department of Health promoting the MMR jab. Measles in particular is a very dangerous and unpleasant disease but if you catch it as an adult it can be far worse than having it as a child. It can lead to epilepsy, fits and mental health problems. How does a measles infection develop? As soon as the virus enters the body, it multiplies in the back of the throat, lungs, and the lymphatic system. It later infects and replicates in the urinary tract, eyes, blood vessels, and central nervous system. Well done the DoH for promoting the use of vaccination. We need 95% of the population vaccinated as a minimum, and it is currently only 87%.
 
The Bad
 
Teenagers as young as 13 lacking in self-esteem and suffering with mental health issues are turning to Botox jabs. They seem to think (mainly girls) that they have to look like celebrities and are ‘solving’ problems that actually don’t exist. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics wants it to be illegal to have cosmetic surgery under 18. That would raise the issue of repair work after, say, a road accident, but why are parents allowing, one might even say encouraging, and certainly paying for such treatments. I was on TalkRADIO in January, the day Superdrug introduced a mental health questionnaire which had to be completed before treatment could be carried out… I was tempted to put this in the mad section!
 
Another bad…
 
The Sunday Times tells us that Donald Trump is nicknamed Pele of the golf course. Apparently, if his ball goes into the rough he kicks or even throws it out!
 
The Mad
 
Apparently one in six people will post pictures on social media suggesting or even claiming they live in a lavish house which isn’t actually theirs, in order to impress people. As the American Ambassador Lois Susman famously said when I was interviewing him and dropped in a question on Downton Abbey… “no comment!”
 
And finally…
 
I wrote recently how good it was that the British people were so generous with donations to Comic Relief. But we learn this week that while making political statements on the state of things like homelessness in Britain today, Comic Relief are sitting on £117million of unspent money - that’s nearly twice what we all coughed up this year. It is madness not to be using that to fight hunger and other major issues. I know you have to keep reserves for rainy days and I know you have to pay people. In 2017, £11.9million was raised with 30 people earning over £60,000 per annum. I wonder what they and the six earning over £100,000 a year actually do and how much value they add to the cause.

​The Good
 
Despite the political fallout and controversies, the dragging off stage of one of our great actors who was seriously miscast, all of which the organisers should learn from, the GREAT British public gave a whooping £63.5million to Comic Relief on Friday night. Down on 2018 and well short of the record set years ago, but we live in uncertain times and £63.5million is a lot of money. Well done Britain!
 
Another good…
 
And on the same theme, what about Azim Premji, 73, one of India’s richest men? He’s just given £5.65billion to charity. It brings his total charitable donations to £21billion. Where did it come from… vegetable oil and rice! Keeps himself to himself and gets on with his job, obviously rather well. Good luck to him!
 
The Bad
 
I commented last week on Facebook in ‘the bad’, and would no doubt have commented this week on the atrocity in New Zealand anyway… but have put the two together.
 
Just a week earlier I was at the Peace Symposium at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in South London, home to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It could so easily have been there and not New Zealand, which explains the high level of security that was in place. The Symposium had no answers but there were 800 people at least talking about how we try to find one. True, I wasn’t impressed with hearing from some people about all the committees they go to to try and solve the problems. They were talking shops and nothing more. I ran into Peter Tatchell who I interviewed a few years ago, who had a large clear cover over his left eye. I know he twice tried to perform a citizens’ arrest on Robert Mugabe, who I have also met! As he approached Mugabe, the heavies moved in on him. In London, the police took immediate action. In Brussels, he says he was badly beaten up and that’s what years later necessitated him having to have the recent eye operation.
 
But how was it Facebook didn’t close down the feed as soon as they knew what was happening? How was it that other platforms continued to push it around the world once Facebook had acted? Why is it that those to whom we allow free speech and expression try so hard and with such repulsion to prevent the freedoms that let them literally get away with murder? Social media platforms have a duty to be part of the fight against terrorism. That’s not me making the mistake of saying action needs to be taken, but having no ideas. I’d be as happy to be involved in solutions as I would be with knife crime in Britain.
 
Another bad…
 
A Northwestern University medicine study in the US says that if you eat more than three eggs a week, you increase your risk of a heart attack by 6 per cent. As someone who dislikes and never eats eggs, I’m not affected. Professor Tom Sanders is quoted in the Telegraph as saying: “Eggs in moderation – around 3 to 4 a week – is fine.” But four is 33 per cent more than three and numbers can mean many things!
 
The Mad
 
What do you do that’s different for your Dad’s 62nd birthday? Well, in Linwood, New Jersey, a man’s two sons rented a billboard and put a poster on it asking people to ring him and wish him Happy Birthday! 15,000 people did, and he’s now had to get a new phone… two days before his actual birthday!
 
And finally…
 
You might have noticed that Donald Trump uses his hands a lot when speaking. Nowt wrong in that, many people do, indeed I do! So does Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Congressman who entered the Democratic Primary race. Trump, when asked about him, said: “Well, I think he’s got a lot of hand movement. Is he crazy or is that just how he acts?” I don’t want 15,000 phone or email answers!

​The Good
 
A cleaner on a London bus found £300,000 in cash in a brown envelope and handed in to her employers. Good for her!
 
My London is alive and well… but who had £300,000 in a brown envelope on a London bus and why? All very odd but what a great lady! Makes me very proud of MY London!
 
Another good…
 
Octogenarian Alacia Elliott is still working as a fitness instructor at 88! She gave up working in local Government aged 59 and wanted to keep fit and active so joined a class. After 10 years her instructor suggested she become an instructor and she’s never looked back – most of her class are now younger than her! I’d sign up if I lived nearer but have obviously got to wait a few years until I’ll be able to qualify as an instructor as I’m only 90% of the way there! Power to you Alacia!
 
The Bad
 
Facebook has been trying to smile publicly in support of new rules and protection for users while lobbying politicians worldwide to limit the restrictions. I wrote an article on Fake News last week which you can read here.
 
Another bad…
 
I recently commented on how good it is that the Government has allocated additional funds towards parks. Research in Denmark has recently discovered that growing up with green space is good for mental health. Children growing up in areas that are green and healthy appear to be half as likely in later life to develop mental disorders.
 
Now I hear that Epping Forest Council want to concrete over a piece of grass used by locals as green open space to create a free car park, at a cost of £300,000, for Council staff.
 
Now, it maybe that the land belongs to the Council and more parking spaces are needed because there are more and more cars on the road, but why should Council staff get free car parking when working for us, when most of us have to pay to park when at work? That would apply anywhere, but Epping Forest Council are at the same time proposing to make people pay to park outside their own homes! I had some dealings with Epping Forest Council some years ago and it was an ongoing nightmare. So, make staff pay for their parking and make the open space officially parkland.
 
The Mad
 
Apparently, there are plans to ban ‘Dear Sir’ from the letter pages of newspapers!
 
There was a great Michael Heath cartoon in the Mail on Sunday using the caption “Dear Swine, Dear Dummy, Dear Loser, Dear Sexist pig…”
 
And finally…
 
The British Gymnastic Society has decided that men who identify as women can use the same changing rooms as women. Now, whilst there may well be genuine cases, it seems to me that a lot of dodgy geezers might see this is an opportunity…
 
But it doesn’t stop at changing rooms, it includes “accommodation”. No mention in what I’ve seen about women who identify as men doing the reverse. Come on! Whatever happened to common sense?
 
On the one hand we appear to be desperately fighting a much-needed rear guard action on child abuse, rape and sexual abuse, but “equality” and tolerance allows this. Total madness.

​The Good
 
How wonderful to see Olivia Colman winning the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Anne in The Favourite. Perhaps the PC brigade would prefer us not to have male/female awards anymore, but I think it’s great that we do! It was also amazing to see Ruth E Carter as the first black person to win an award for costume design.
 
Just touching on the Oscars, last Monday David Wigg was my guest on Faversham Natters and we spoke about his experiences as a reporter with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but most significantly (as it was the day after the Oscars) about his friend of many years, Freddie Mercury. He thought Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie was great!
 
Another good…
 
We may be close to actually knowing, roughly, what Brexit means. In fairness, any Prime Minister would have found Brexit a nightmare. The country used to split into two with people on the left and people on the right, but at the moment that water is muddied by leavers and remainers from both sides. The country at large doesn’t fully understand the enormous value the City of London has on us all of and what its taxes contribute to our wellbeing. So, it was great to read that the UK has struck a deal with the US to ensure the continuity of derivative trading after Brexit. A deal whatever the outcome of Brexit is a good deal! I don’t pretend to understand it all, but I do understand how important a deal like this is to our economy, as it means jobs across the whole country.
 
The Bad
  
Jon Lansman, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn and founder of the left-wing group, Momentum, has admitted that the “hardcore anti-Semitic” view is larger than they thought. Bunkum. They chose to ignore it, even encouraged it and have been caught out. I’m not a socialist, but had huge respect for Hugh Gaitskell and John Smith, both of whom made the Labour Party electable. Their untimely deaths when Number Ten beckoned was a blow for the country as well as the millions of decent centre-left socialists in this country. Corbyn, and MacDonnell, are a disgrace to this country and ordinary decent socialists.
 
Another bad…
 
One in ten adults over 40 probably have type 2 diabetes which is probably caused by being overweight or obese. Now I know I’m slightly overweight and my BMI is 28, but that’s not what overweight means in this context, and my blood sugar was all fine at my annual medical last year. I probably do drink too much beer and eat too much steak, but I’m about to hit 70 and still ride my bike and play cricket. OK, not like I once did, I can’t throw a ball flat and hard from the boundary straight over the stumps anymore, but it looks as if I do enough to stay the right side of the line! So, it doesn’t take much. I take stairs not lifts when I can, in fact, I walk from A to B. Three brisk(ish) ten-minute walks in a day is better than the 10,000 steps people have become obsessed with. That happens just by living a normal life!
 
The Mad
 
Submariners are getting too fat! And pilots are as well by the look of it! Submarine escape hatches may have to be made bigger and the ejector seats in fighter planes are having to be modified. Lord McColl, a former professor of surgery told the House of Lords, “By far and away the most serious eating disorder is the obesity epidemic.” I know international rugby players are on average 3 stone heavier than they were in 1955, but I don’t think that’s fat!
 
And finally…
 
Drugs are bad, full stop. Drugs in sport is cheating, full stop. But why would you take drugs to play Bridge? The cynic might say to stay awake, but I don’t buy that! The world’s number one Bridge player has tested positive for drugs and been suspended! Geir Helgemo, who is Norwegian but plays international Bridge for Monaco, said they were not performance enhancing. So, what were they? Well, they were synthetic testosterone and a female fertility drug. Too many questions at once spring to mind including why in a non-gender divided sport such drugs are tested for? Madness.
 
Films come to mind; Spencer Tracey’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and that great Second World War film about Arnhem… A Bridge Too Far!