Fairy stories!

I have spent part of today playing the part of a small Lego character. Lego these days produces sets linked to Disney animation films. Consequently I was Jasmine. I have no idea which film Jasmine comes from but she was interacting well with Ariel, who is apparently the Little Mermaid. I had called in at my daughter’s so that she could sort our the transfer of my phone stuff from my old phone, also inherited from her, to a newer phone. She has just updated her iPhone contract and my old phone has been having battery problems so we were giving me an update as well.

Anyway, on arrival I was shanghaied into playing the part of Jasmine in an imaginative game with my small granddaughter. She is quite impressive in her ability to keep a game going. Also in her bossiness! In the background “Tangled” was playing on the tv set. “Tangled” is the Disney version of the Rapunzel story. When it came to an end and Rapunzel was returned to her real parents, along with a love interest who had been instrumental in freeing her from the witch who held her, and her hair, in thrall, my small granddaughter said, “Now they can live happily ever after!” Oh, boy! She has really drunk the cool-aid as regards fairy stories. But then, when you are three years old you should still believe in magic and happy endings.

Well within the world of fairy stories is the world of the rich.

Here’s a statistic I came across in today’s newspaper:-

33 - the number of hours it took the typical FTSE 100 boss to earn more than typical worker’s annual salary. The average boss is paid 117 times more than the median worker.

There’s a bit of a difference there! And then there are these, also from today’s newspaper:-

£5m the annual sum Prince Harry receives from his father’s Duchy of Cornwall estate.

£20m Estimated inheritance that Prince Harry received from his mother.

£4m Meghan’s estimated net worth having starred in the legal drama Suits.

You might think that was more than enough for Harry and Meghan to buzz off and live independently, even if they don’t find gainful employment. And even if the amount Prince Harry gets from his father’s estates were to be stopped, as 63% of a YouGov poll think.

I will never cease to be amazed at how much money some people seem to need to live on.

Here’s another bugbear of mine:

 P“The ‘most realistic’ plant-based steak to date has been revealed, mimicking the texture and appearance of a real cut of meat.”

To me it beggars belief. If you really think eating meat is wrong, morally, for health reasons of whatever, then why do you so crave to continue eating it that you need to eat a plant-based substitute?

Meanwhile, more serious problems are going on.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is still in prison in Iran.

Let’s hope people like Nazanin do not get forgotten in the middle of the conflicts and negotiations.