Friday 20 December 2019

IT IS STILL A BEAUTIFUL WORLD - HAPPY CHRISTMAS



UPDATE - HAPPY CHRISTMAS









I deliberately sought out an inspirational Christmas message, for myself as much as for my loyal readers.  Not so sure about the 'tenderness for the past' bit especially, I doubt I will ever forgive all those who voted Conservative, and I will never learn to accept and live with the rise of far right ideology.  For now I am broken, more accurately, trying to recover from a broken dream with Python Lee Jackson singing in the background.

I have dipped a toe in politics many times over the years, well on and off, more off than on to be honest, because I don't have the emotional constitution to deal with defeat.  My heart breaks for Jeremy Corbyn, no one could have done more.  But sadly, Jeremy rose up at a time when we are all used to the instant gratification that our capitalist world brings, and those with all the goodies can play us however they want.  The masses, given an opportunity to create a more equal society, rejected it.  Something I will never understand.

But, tis the season to be jolly, and it's compulsory.  We can't put it off for a couple of months, or pretend it isn't happening.  And that's probably a good thing, it brings people together and reminds us of how much good there is in the people and the communities all around us.  For a couple of weeks at least, we can allow ourselves to be happy, we can take time off from worrying about the things that stress us in the other 50 weeks of the year.  Our priorities change, the right present, the most succulent turkey, the booziest Christmas pudding, matter more than the bills piling up and the job going nowhere.  

Broken dream or no, it is impossible not to be uplifted by the prospect of a brand new year, I'm still not focused, but at least one path is now closed off.  I will leave politics to those with the backbone and tenacity to rise up again and again, they are much stronger than I.  I shall return to my roots, and from now on, will only insert my politics, via subtext.  Maybe not as subtle I think, ha ha, I managed to send at least 3 forums into a frenzy.  

But I am genuinely looking forward to the new year and a new start.  I accept that I am powerless to change the world around me, I can only change myself.  That's a bit of a mantra I have been chanting these past few years, and it usually works.  The hardest part is accepting I can't change things.  That unfortunately has been leitmotif throughout my life.  I'm still the 5 year old girl who believes she can do anything and being told I can't hurts just as bad. Getting to the acceptance part can be eased by Buddhist quotes a bottle of wine and songs by Patsy Cline. 

Which brings me nicely back to the Season of Giving.  It is the 'giving' that makes us feel good and that is a very strange, alien, feeling for the tight fisted and the hard of heart.  They are not used to it, but they like it, as long as it has the proviso of 'for a limited time only'.  But fear not brave readers, who have stuck it thus far, I am not going to ask you for anything financial or anything that will take up your time.  All I am asking that you give, is a warm smile and maybe a kind word to all the strangers that you meet, especially to immigrants who now face such uncertain times.  Most of us are, I think, descended from parents, grandparents and ancestors who arrived on these shores similarly, as strangers.  Let's give them the helping hand our forbears received, from some, at least.  Let their memories and stories for their grandchildren be filled with the kindness of their neighbours.

Ok, ok, on reflection, it would appear I have overdosed on feel good Christmas movies.  Tis true.  I have been unwell (missed my flu Jab) and have been incapacitated, though still managing the full red carpet look, one must make an effort.  I'm hoping, should I end up on a machine, a kindly nurse will apply the Clinique lipstick, around the ventilator.  But I digress, I have been captivated by the number of ordinary American girls who take a vacation in Europe and meet a genuine Prince!  None of whom have the Hapsburg 'jaw' or the Windsor 'ears', happily.  The princes, not the girls.  The girls of course, are clean living, family loving non gold diggers, who also enjoy country walks on vast estates, riding horses, wearing tiaras and saying up yours to all the mean girls when they move into a castle.  The plots are crazy, but they kind of work.  You can see what's coming, but they always end with sumptuous feasts, fabulous fireside Christmas settings and spectacular snow scenes - what's not to like?  I do lean more towards Christmas films with dogs in, but that's just personal choice, for me,  'Hotel for Dogs' was a classic, right up there with Citizen Kane and Raging Bull.

I jest of course, but my ask that you give is quite sincere.  It takes guts, ambition, determination and hard work to start anew in a foreign land.  Immigrants are seeking opportunity, and thank heavens they are, because our high streets would be desolate without them.  A warm smile and a kind word costs nothing but it can lift the spirits of someone who has been treated, shall we say, not so kindly.  The foreign people in our midst are people just as we are, we all share the same love of family, the same hopes and the same dreams. I am devastated by the election result, as I am sure I have made clear, but my pain is nothing, compared to the pain that must be felt by all those 'strangers' who have made England their home.  But I, we, still have power in that we can show those who would be ostracised that we stand with them and beside them and always will.   We are a multicultural society, and that is something to celebrate this Christmas.  With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.




Ps. To anyone who cares, I have long forgotten and forgiven (probably because I've forgotten) the rants and raves against me over the years.  I don't think I have ever taken it personally to be honest, let's just say, as a bit of an err, outsider, it is something I have been accustomed too my entire life.  When my family introduce me they always proffer an apology before I open my mouth, hoping perhaps to avoid explanations later (coy smiley).  I don't know what it is about me that incites such hostility, lol, but whatever it is, I've never been arsed to sort it out and not likely to now.  

To be honest, I quite enjoyed the detailed psychoanalysis of my 'disturbed' mind, by such luminaries as tigger, Verdi, bennett and the sociopaths in the cesspit and myths' forums.  Flattered actually, that I occupied their heads for so long, ha ha.  But to be fair, even though their main subject was 'me', even I got bored with it.  They are a zillion ways in which to insult someone, they found about 5 and put them on a repetitive cycle.  Not once, you slimey b'stads did you put up someone capable of taking me on with the much mightier than a sword, pen.  Yes, I have indeed, drunk an entire bottle of wine and off to throw up.

Pps.  With my Christmas fairy wand, I absolve you all, hic.  Times, circumstances, waves of opinion, the 'zeitgeist' can carry people off in all sorts of bizarre directions.  Not because they are bad people, but because they have made a judgment based on majority opinion, even if it runs contrary to their own.  They believe the 'majority' knows better than they do, as an individual and they don't have the confidence to assert their opinion.  It is far, far easier to take the road well travelled, the one the majority takes.  Maybe it will be the right one, maybe it will never come back to haunt you, but if you follow your instincts and your own moral guidelines, you will never have those fears, you will never have any explaining to do.  Honesty and Integrity works every time.



Happy Christmas!

Thursday 12 December 2019

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

I take everything back, I fecking hate the English.  

______________________________

OK, I'm a little bit drunk and high as a kite on hope.  I have, intermittedly for sure, been involved in many (Labour) campaigns over the decades, but I have that same feeling I had in 1997, when, after 18 years of tory rule, we had that break through with Tony Blair.  I raised a glass of champagne to TB that night, for sure.  But turned out, Tony Blair wasn't anything like Jeremy Corbyn.  He didn't just snuggle up with the tories, he got into bed with them.  It was Blair, remember who introduced ATOS.  

He wanted to represent all sides, the working classes, the upwardly mobile and the established elite.  He divided Labour, as never before, New Labour represented the workers, but they represented the bosses too.  His naïve, ill thought out, legacy, bizarrely still inspires those who would could themselves, the Centre ground.  Blair contributed to the destruction of the few powers the working classes had, and indeed inspired the tory government that followed him to take them further.  Ergo we have had over a decade where the dominant ideology has been to blame the poor and the immigrants for all of the UK's woes.

Historians will know that leaders throughout every age and every government, has used the politics of blaming ethnic and religious minorities for everything that goes wrong.  Divide and rule.  If all we diverse people, joined together, we could overpower them in a nanosecond.   But we haven't.  Mostly because we are educated (indoctrinated) to believe that a certain section of society knows better than we do.  As a child of the 60's I would have said newspapers, politicians, the BBC, don't lie - now I laugh at my former naivety.   

Tonight, the YouGov polls, and indeed all the polls owned by Tory ministers and newspaper barons, are saying the Boris et al, are heading for a majority.  Do we believe them or our 'lying eyes', the massive number of young people (bless you) queuing in the rain to vote.  The record turnout, even in areas like mine where the tory old gammon has had way too long in power.

Tonight will be a Night to Remember, my plan A is to stay up and watch every result as it comes in and hopefully chat to those similarly minded during the night.  I know all those with their fingers and toes crossed right now, won't dare to hope for more than a hung parliament, but I honestly don't think that will happen.  Labour will win.  Decisively.  When hardened old tories like Peter Oborne state they will vote for Jeremy Corbyn, we know the tide has turned.  All over the country, even tories who despise JC, will vote Labour rather than hand the nation to a right wing bigot.  For all our differences, class, ethnicity, religion, etc, etc, the British have history for pulling together in the face of adversity, and we have never liked fascism.  

Tonight, will be a difficult night for many of us, hope is much more difficult to deal with than acceptance.  With hope, there is still 'what might be', it is so destructive, that we are taught to ignore it, not let it sprout any roots, we only suffer more when that hope doesn't reach fruition.  Better not to expect anything.  

But hope gives a kick just as great as cocaine, it allows us, even if only for a few hours, to imagine what might be, what could have been.  For the all the naysayers, tonight I am full of hope.  Yes, we can do it.  The biased polls tell us one thing, but our wide open eyes tell us the complete opposite.  Jeremy Corbyn is cheered, Boris Johnson is booed, yet mainstream political pundits ask 'why is JC so unpopular?'.  

Tonight reminds me so much of '1997', in the sense of 'something in the air'.  In 1997, they predicted a tory majority, but it ended with a Labour landslide.   Those of us out there on the front line knew it, and could feel it.  I feel the same tonight.  After a long, long day sat outside a polling station, my dear old dad and I watched the results coming in.  We were drinking, but didn't open the champagne until Michael Portillo lost his seat (actually like him now).  

Tonight, Boris Johnson is in real danger of losing his seat, the best moment this century according to one tweeter, let's hope.  Also Jo Swinson, who totally reminds of that little girl in the Clarkes shoe adverts who was going to grow up to be 'a right little madam'.  Johnson, Swinson and IDS - all in danger of losing their seats tonight,  Let's hope.

Meanwhile, hic, I am going to tuck into lots of European delicacies, whilst praying the UK will not cut itself off from it's nearest friends and neighbours and become Amish.

I'm here live, if anyone can make it through it the night...…...


Tuesday 10 December 2019

THE CHOICE IS CLEAR #VoteLabourActually

Having spent 9 or is it 10 years taking the country back to the Victorian Age, Boris Johnson is now promising a new beginning with investment in the NHS, the police and the public services.  The reality, even if he fulfilled his promises, which he won't, he will merely be replacing a fraction of the services his heartless government cut.  

Boris Johnson defended the greedy bankers who brought about a world depression, and he has used his time in power to recoup those massive losses from those who had nothing to do with it, and could afford it the least.  We weren't all in it together, the tories' driving force, 'austerity' made the rich richer and the poor poorer.  No magic money tree they said, as they stood by and watched people die on our streets from lack of basic food, shelter and medical treatment.  Like Joe the crossing sweeper in Bleak House, Johnson, May, Rees-Mogg and the entire odious mob of them, would step over his dead body in their desperation to keep all the riches to themselves.

The tories have taken us back in time, and not in a good way.  All across the UK, shops are boarded up, all the traditional working class jobs are disappearing.  OK, not entirely the tories' fault, but they have refused to acknowledge that times they are a changing.  Being hellbent on austerity at all costs, they have to failed to invest in, or even acknowledge the changing needs of society in the 21st century.  People are living longer, single person households are the fastest growing demographic.  

It's the economy stupid, as Clinton famously said.  Creating jobs boosts the economy, because people with a wage have disposable income with which to boost industry.  The more they earn, the more they buy luxury goods and services, thus boosting the retail and leisure industries.  Our high streets have boarded up shops and tumbleweed blowing the streets, because people, ordinary people, don't have any money to spend, and those who might have started up new businesses have no incentive in times of austerity.

The truth is, we need more hospitals, we need more schools, we need more doctors, more nurses, more teachers, more care workers, and that need is not going to go away.  The population is growing, and it's like the tide that disobeyed King Canute, nothing can stop it.  The tories have, this past 10 years gone with the idea that a firm stand and punishment, I think some voted for the Cat-O-9-tails, has not stopped the feckless poor increasing in numbers.

The other way in which the tories have dealt with our evolving society is to simply cut the services available and pile twice the amount of work onto existing employees.  A kind of two for the price of one gift to themselves and their supporters.  It is essential that they feed the mentality that no-one should get something (eg food) for nothing.  They must do something in return, even if it is breaking rocks with a hammer for the sake of it.  Ideally, they are a source of free labour to pack shelves for unscrupulous get rich quick tycoons who are friends of the Conservative party.  Used to threaten existing workers with how easily they could be replaced. It depresses me, as a life long slacker, to see the workers in supermarkets doing manual work non stop without a break.  As a short sighted shopper, my Smart Arsed Son calls me Mrs Magoo, I fear interrupting them to ask where anything is.

Life doesn't have to be this way.  For the first time in history, we have all the facts and (pretty much) all the information available to us.  We can, on Thursday, choose a bright new future, we all have the power to immediately lift the pressure on all those NHS workers, all those policemen and firemen and all those vital community services that were sacrificed to pay for the bankers' greed.  Imagine waking up to a country that actually cares for all it's citizens with a government, ready, willing and able to invest in the needs of the majority.  A government that embraces and caters for our changing needs.  A government that invests in science and technology, why don't we have a 'Silicone Valley'?  We have the talent, we have the enthusiastic young, we would have talent coming in from all over the world, if we didn't have a stop sign at the border.

The Labour Party are not blurry or unclear in any way on their proposals for the country and for Brexit.  They are promising a new deal, a huge leap forward in this country's evolution, a programme as radical as that of the Clement Atlee's Labour government after WWII.  And Labour are the only ones offering the people another vote on Britain's future.  Labour are offering the nation another referendum on leaving Europe.  Those who voted to leave can vote to leave again. Having seen what Brexit entails, many may have changed their minds, and of course, vice versa.  Everyone gets another vote, there is nothing 'blurry' about that.

The self enriching policies of the Conservative Party have brought this once proud country to a crippled ship caught in a storm and heading towards the rocks.  Imagine waking up on Friday morning to learn that a strong and stable leader has taken the helm of the good old ship Brittania and is steering it right back on course.  Both leavers and remainers can breathe a big sigh of relief.  That period for buyer's remorse has been reinstated, phew, now everyone can think again.


A Christmas Poem  :)

Twas Christmas Day in the workhouse
the season of good cheer
the pauper's hearts were merry
their bellies full of beer

The pompous workhouse master
as he strode about the halls
wished them a merry Christmas
and the paupers answered 'balls'

This angered the workhouse master
and he swore by all the gods
he'd stop their Christmas pudding,
the dirty rotten sods

Then up stood a bald head pauper
his face as bold as brass
he said you can your keep your Christmas pudding
and stick it up your 'arse'.

Monday 2 December 2019

HOW JEREMY CORBYN BROUGHT ME BACK TO LABOUR

I was curiously told on my last blog by an anonymous poster, that I hadn't voted Labour for as long as they had.  My response.

LOL, how do you know you have voted Labour for longer than moi? I remember campaigning for Neil Kinnock and I had a little dabble in Militant Tendency (they threw great parties). 
Tis true, at the tender age of 18, I was a conservative - for which I blame my convent indoctrination. But I was terribly naïve, I thought Margaret Thatcher was a feminist!  By the age of 21 I had strong socialist leanings, but I worked in a tory environment for tory bosses (lawyers).  Happily I was gorgeous and very charming, so many of those said bosses would take me out to lunch to change my opinions.  Whilst my heart lay with the picket lines, I also developed a penchant for fine dining at the Wig and Pen.  Of course, they didn't succeed and I even managed to 'turn' a few of them, one gave up the Law and went off to Indonesia to become a Buddhist Monk.  I still feel guilty about that.

So I have voted Labour since about the late 70's, early 80's, unless you are an Octogenarian I doubt you can beat me.  For the sake of truth (honesty and integrity), I confess I went right off Labour and politics generally after Tony Blair's betrayal. My usual head buried in the sand practice when anything stresses me.  It's a terrible coping mechanism, but one I am sure that will be familiar to sufferers of depression.

It is Jeremy Corbyn who has re-awakened my interest in politics.  Sounds cheesy, but he is kind of a Messiah, he is speaking the kind of words my disillusioned socialist soul has been waiting to hear for so many years.  Finally a Labour leader who will stand up for the masses, the employed and the unemployed. A leader who doesn't take account of the millions he could make for his mates, but who's sole objective is to make life better for the many, not the few.

The Tories are taking this nation back to the Victorian Age where there was a massive divide between the very rich and the very poor.  It is shameful that those very same conditions are prevalent now.  Any sane, logical person, knows that you cannot berate, beat or starve another person into submission.  History has shown, it never works.  The tories, for the past 9 years have berated (multiple TV shows about benefits scroungers), beaten (work capability assessments) and starved (sanctioned), the lower classes - basically, anyone who is not a tory btw.  Have they achieved what they wanted?  Well yes, zero hours contracts are the norm, and there are agencies all over the country filled with lists of manual/menial units (people) who can be forced to work for nothing for tory donors. The working classes have effectively been crushed.  Laws designed to protect people at work will be swept aside without the oversight of a European Court.  Longer hours, inhuman tasks, danger created by the demand for increased targets.  And here is the even better news, for employers, every employee knows how quickly they can be replaced if they don't follow orders.

At the turn of the last century, the aristocracy were suffering the effects of the industrial revolution, in that they 'couldn't get the staff'.  Their usual supply, the starving and desperate had options other than domestic servitude.  They could work in the factories, the offices, the schools that were springing up and any of the multiple new trades that were becoming available.  Parliament actually brought in a law at that time, stipulating that working class girls could only be educated enough to prepare them for domestic servitude.  I had a terrific book about, but it has been sadly mislaid.

Why do I throw in this snippet of information other than I love throwing in snippets information?  Because I think it demonstrates how a ruling party can manipulate the workforce (the units) in whatever way they like.  And they have.  This tory government has the working class on it's knees.  Those in work have no protection, those not in work are fodder for their show trials for those who think those without a wage, just don't suffer enough.  They have been merciless in their treatment of the unemployed, the sick and the disabled, if they win again, they will have a green light to take all that cruelty up a few more notches.

In your response to your argument that I should be campaigning for Labour rather than being fixated on Jeremy Corbyn.  As mentioned earlier, yes I do see and hear him as a voice coming out of the wilderness.  Oops, terrible English there, points to anyone who spots what I did wrong, lol.  He has always been against austerity because he has the intelligence to see how it benefits no-one but the super rich.   They are not affected by waiting lists, homelessness, or having that magic £400 available in case of emergency, but millions are.  Millions are just £400 away from destitution.  Crazy huh?  And I just checked, yep it is 2019.

I now it appears to be leitmotif throughout my political blogs, but if the post war Labour Government could build (from scratch), the NHS and the Welfare State, the education system, housing etc, etc, with literally nothing in the bank, imagine what a creative thinking new Labour Government could do now?  We are literally on the brink of a new Golden Age, one which immediately addresses poverty and homelessness (for shame tories!) and raises the expectations for every child in this country.  Imagine a government that invests in every town and every community.  A government that will tackle the problems of antisocial behaviour and crime at their very root.  The Nigel Farages in the Dog and Duck knocking back large gins, cannot and will not, accept that most crime starts with poverty.  Steal a loaf of bread because you are hungry and it's off to the colonies for you.  Destroy an entire eco system and we will give you a knighthood!

Imagine a post tory Britain relieved from the deliberate stress inflicted by a rabid, far right (and going further right) tory government.  Imagine your boss being told 'hey cut it out, you can't treat people like that'.  Imagine your local hospital (5 hour waits, even for kids), getting the money it needs for more staff and more facilities?  The tories believe that if they starve a service of cash, the need for that service will go away.  For example, let's stop looking after the elderly, that will teach them to get old!  Let's stop them reproducing kids, limit them to 4, that they have already done, probably because The Sun ran a series of articles on single mums with multiple kids.  Just one of many examples of how The Sun stirs up the hate.  Terrifying how much impact the views of Rupert Murdoch, or indeed whoever gives him the nod to target a minority, can have on public opinion.

But let's get back to the imagine scenario, imagine a Prime Minister and a government not in cahoots with foreign millionaires and oligarchs?  A government that cannot be bribed, extorted or pressured to put the needs of individuals above the needs of the many.  Yet another, may come in handy one day snippet, the super rich are never happy.  Yeah they have loads of mansions, but where do they go from there?  Gold toilets?  How much luxury is too much luxury?  Or, heaven forbid, when is it too much?  For greedy bastards, the answer to that question, is never.  That their greed causes others to suffer is irrelevant.

True happiness, as multiple sayings from the Dalai Lama will tell you, comes from serving and helping others.  The smile, the appreciation, the knowledge that you have done a good deed, is reward in itself.  I think most people discover this along the way. Praise a mean person when they have inadvertently done something kind, and see their face light up.  I always think people who are angry at people other than themselves, are deeply unhappy.  The accusations they throw out are projections of feelings they are battling within themselves.  But I wandered there.  Jeremy Corbyn has no need for gold toilets, multiple homes and self indulgent (golf) hobby.  He exudes hope, happiness and contentment.  He has an allotment.  He makes jam.  No castles to maintain no desire for personal enrichment.   That alone should win this election.


Saturday 30 November 2019

JEREMY CORBYN'S NEW DEAL

Franklin D. Roosevelt is best remembered, well by me anyway, for rescuing America from the devastating, crippling, financial depression that followed the crash of the stock market in 1929.  His plan, his New Deal, was summed up by three 'Rs' -  Relief, Recovery and Reform.  He built new roads, new homes, new hospitals, he invested in science and education and he brought in social security.  He took America from the dustbowl days of mass unemployment and food queues, to a new golden age of growth and prosperity.  In a nutshell, he invested in the Nation and he invested in the people, he spent taxpayer money to improve the lives of everyone.  And it worked.  Not only did American citizens live well, the rest of us around the world, could see how well they lived on the Silver Screen.  We all aspired to be just like them.

What Roosevelt did in the USA, Jeremy Corbyn wants to do here in the UK.   We have had 9 years of Depression,  9 years of Tory inflicted Austerity.  All to pay back some imaginary debt that we all owe yet did not benefit from.  So has this debt been paid back? No it's tripled, so too the number of billionaires, ha ha millionaires, you are now the poor relations.  The tories, to be fair are still stinging from the fact that poor people, who don't do an honest day's work, breaking stones for the sake of it will do, receive any cash at all.  Even those lying prostrate on a hospital bed could use their free hand to paint portions of a wall.  Putting every benefit claimant on trial was a stroke of genius, I mean, who doesn't moan about their job, drink gin and complain about scroungers having large screen TVs?   At one time the TV networks churned out nothing but 'benefits' programmes.  And just for anyone's information.  I was one of the kids who had to queue up for 'free' dinner tickets. I'll just leave that there, because I know there will many other '60s' kids out there who know how that felt.

For 9 years we have all been indoctrinated to believe that we are still suffering the effects of the world bankers' greed that kicked off the last depression.  I don't even know when that was, because Depression is now the dominant ideology.  We can't get a GP appointment, we have to wait hours in A&E, our kids are in classes that are way too big, all our services and communities are decimated.  My heart goes out to those good and kind souls who keep all our emergency services going so smoothly, but more and more is being put on their good and kind natures, it's like the mistreatment of poor old Boxer in Animal Farm, who's remedy was 'I must work harder'.  They are too noble to withhold their treatment and services, we must fight for them.  

Great Britain is desperately in need of refurbishment - it looks tired, worn and run down.  If the UK were a house for a sale on a street with a house representing each of our European neighbours, the UK would be the one with an overgrown lawn, chipped window frames, and a plumbing and electrical system held together with gaffa tape and poor quality glue.  Johnson like his predecessor has no shame at foreign leaders seeing on English streets the tragic human consequences of his heartless, greedy, grasping policies that have for 9 years been targeting society's most vulnerable.  Gandhi said it better 'A Nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members'.  Right now, the UK is looking pretty shoddy.

How sad that we have become a nation so terrified of change that a kind, decent, non racist, non anti-Semitic, genuinely nice guy creates more fear than a proven liar/ self serving, racist, misogynist, bloated elitist, who has never hidden the fact that he prefers bankers and billionaires to ordinary people with whom he has absolutely zilch in common.  Boris Johnson, let's just call him Johnson, has been part of a government that continually cuts vital services that keep communities going.  Literally, lifelines to those who need them most.  Now, after all these years, weeks from an election, he promises to restore that which he took away.  

In Jeremy Corbyn I see hope for the future, hope especially for the up and coming new generations.  Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor, are not taking a leap in the dark.  They have done their homework, they have done their sums.  Economists will have recognised the Keynsian economics of Jeremy Corbyn's New Deal. His policies are not too dissimilar to Relief, Recovery and Reform. All over the country there are people, agencies and community projects that are in need of Relief.   So many people's lives have been devastated by the cruelty of the Tories cuts and the Tories manufactured spectacle of putting the most vulnerable on trial to justify their need for assistance.  How shameful that in a civilised country, in the 21st century, people are having to queue at foodbanks.  That the United Nations are calling Britain's sanctions policies inhumane.  Of course they are inhumane, they are resulting in actual deaths.  

Recovery.  We are evolving so quickly with technology etc, that the lives of future generations will be totally different to those of us over a certain age.  We went from school straight into jobs, secretary, hairdresser, builder, plumber.  Retail, a major employer.  Traditional jobs are disappearing fast.  Newspapers for example, the print industry is under major threat.  Nothing we can do, say the Conservatives, that's life, tighten our belts.  But they are Conservatives, they dislike change, they also dislike philanthropic ideas designed to make the lives of the plebs, easier/more comfortable.  Their philosophy is, make the blighters work for it!

The reality is, we have evolved, and are constantly evolving.  If we had the same spirit of adventure of the great Britains of the 1900s (I have the book), we would be investing in exploration, science and technology.  A more luxurious life for all, not just a few.  And, it is often the case, that being philanthropic, can also be profitable.  It is not necessary to screw or hold hostage to cash, those who need the products most.

We have more leisure time.  There are some among us who like to proclaim that their diaries are full and they don't have a free moment.  Actually, I would say the majority.  Maybe it's because we learn at a very young age never to volunteer our free time, you never know what kind of situation it will get you into.  Instead of celebrating this free time by dossing on the couch binge watching 'The Crown'  and eating Ferrero Rocher (I only buy them in months that end in 'er'), we feel we should justify those lost hours by proclaiming we got a good job done, as in 100 sit ups, repainted the bathroom, served a meal with 15 vegetables, scrubbed the doorstep.  Leisure time is an industry that has not yet been tapped, mostly because we still feel guilty about it.  But in saying that, I should specify, it could be just be me and my accursed catholic upbringing.

So we don't have many of the traditional working class jobs anymore.  A good thing because they were mostly boring repetitive and soul destroying.  This is where we need an imaginative government who can create the jobs for the future.  A government who will invest in education, science, technology, the Arts - what good is woodwork is 2019?  How about 'Green' issues, ways in which to save the planet?

Reform.  Everything needs updating.  From building facilities that keep up with the demands of the population, to fine tuning existing public services and ensuring they have enough staff to cope with the growing needs of every school, hospital and public service.  People are ready, willing and able to fill these desperately needed posts, it is shameful that the tories are unwilling to pay for them. 

The 'need' is there, and it is growing.  We are living longer, those of us who should have popped our clogs are still here.  The care industry must grow in order to keep up with the increase of those in need.  Employing more people by the way, doesn't lead to a drain on our resources.  It means more people have an income and spending power and are thus able to boost other industries, luxury goods for example.  That is the gift of the New Deal, it has a knock on effect.  If you spend on the youth of today (I'm hoping all kids will get free meals), you will reap the rewards in the future.  In the sense that they will be healthier, happier and fully enlightened. 

 And here is what should be deal breaker, especially for those of us who grew up in our allotted place in society.  Working class kids are indoctrinated to accept mediocrity, they are not taught to aspire to greatness, that is the domain of the public schools, like Eton.  They are educated to be leaders, regular kids are educated to accept their menial roles in life.  We may not have an overt class system, but it is still alive and well.  

The thing about Jeremy Corbyn's New Deal, is that we finally have a government ready, willing and able to make life better for everyone, even potential millionaires who have had few opportunities during all these years of austerity.  The England of Harold Wilson saw the rise of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, working class heroes and rebels.  John Lennon especially, who had the audacity to talk about Peace as if it were a good thing.  'Imagine' is the most subversive song ever written!

Jeremy Corbyn is a man of peace.  I am sure John Lennon would have heartily approved.  A Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn would take us onto the next 'huge leap' for mankind, the choice of the majority to make things better.  Young people get it, it's their future, they like the freedom to travel, the friendship and camaraderie of their European friends and neighbours.  Where Johnson is a blubbering heap of upper class noises when dealing with our friends and allies, Jeremy Corbyn is crystal clear and erudite, he offers the hand of friendship and reasonable statesman like talks.  Johnson is incapable of agreeing anything acceptable to the vast majority of British voters including Northern Ireland who he is about to ditch, with the European negotiators.  First hurdle, he can't be trusted.  And that should be reason enough not to vote for him.  

There is nothing confusing, duplicitous or unclear about Labour's intentions.  They are offering the country another chance to vote on leaving Europe now they are fully aware of what it entails.  And they are the only party to offer this.  The Conservatives, Johnson, if he will wins the General Election will take the UK out of the European Union of January 31st.  That's it.  The Defcon 1 situation where the military guard vital resources and the body bags come out.

Jeremy Corbyn wants, first and foremost, Defcon 1, No Deal, off the table, basically because it is insane.  He wants to take the referendum back to the people - the only logical thing to do where parliament have failed to reach an agreement.  People can and do change their minds, especially when new information comes to light.  Not only is JC offering hope for the future, he is also offering everyone another chance to vote on the most important issue of our lives, this time around with all the information in front of us.

Thursday 21 November 2019

LEADERS' DEBATE, HANDY ANDY and Oh yeah, I'm fine (a pic)



For the concerned, and those wishing me misery and fear, as you can see above (today), I am fine.  Some might be relieved to know that I do a lot more joking about drinking than actual drinking, adding a 'hic' after an outrageous statement can soften the blow.

As for the Prince Andrew interview, I did indeed watch it and my first reaction was 'oh my gaw'd'.  It was indeed so much more than car crash TV - a plane crashing into a petrol tank kicking off a tsumani and an earthquake as one commentator put it.  I don't particularly like to watch a person squirm, nor do I like squirming on their behalf, but there was a small amount of satisifaction in seeing the most twattish of the Windsors hoisting himself up by his own petard.  His arrogance clearly knows no bounds, he went right ahead and said what he wanted to, in the firm belief that he (with his royal honourable blood) knew best.  I say that because I can't believe any lawyer would have told him the 'not being able to sweat story' was a good idea.  His pretend surprise at 'new revelations' was excrutiating to watch, we would laugh out loud  if it were a 6 year old, not so much with a 59 year old prince of the realm.

The Debate!

Was absolutely delighted that tory suck up Jo Swinson wasn't give the opportunity to waste everyone's time.  Borish Johnson.  A boarish oaf as usual goes for attack, attack, attack.  If he had any ground breaking ideas and policies, that's what he would have used his time for.  Note, that's what JC did.  After years of crippling the British Economy with draconian austerity policies that targeted public services and the poorest among us, Boris suddenly has a magic money tree and for the first time in 9 years he promises to invest Great Britain.  That this magic money tree has appeared just in time for the next election is pure coincidence.  Any suggestion that it was just sitting there as every public service went from crisis to crisis and people were starving and dying on the streets, is unfair to the privileged elite.  They always throw coins at the bundles in the doorways on their way to the Opera.  Ultimately, Boris Johnson had only one line, 'let's get Brexit done' (my life depends on it), anything else for him is fluff.

Jeremy Corbyn on the other hand.  JC is, I think, a prime example of why the tortoise beats the hare in the race.  He doesn't need signature ruffled blonde hair or the stature and blustering demeanour of an overstuffed tory landowner demanding his right to an extra pie.  JC is the embodiment of 'speak your truth, quietly and clearly'.  He is where he is through hard work and perseverance, he gets knocked down, he gets back up again, and he returns stronger every time.  He has devoted his life to public service, stood up against injustice, and stood side by side with the oppressed.  He has a beautiful vision for the UK, yes, A Brave New World, where, like the Labour controlled post war Britain, no-one will be left behind. Nine years of tory austerity has left Britain divided and neglected, many of our cities look like ghost towns with rows of boarded up shops and run down buildings.  We need not just a new broom, but a complete refurbishment.

Trump

Apologies to non Trump watchers, but I am completely enthralled by the antics of the buffoon in chief and the gripping testimonies of the impeachment witnesses.  Something I am struggling to get my head around is the way in which Trump announces everything, straight forward losses, such as governorships in towns where he held rallies and devastating impeachment evidence, into an out and out win for himself.  It really is straight out of '1984'.  Truth is lies, war is peace, love is hate.  You can kind of see why his form of leadership 'works', in that those sucked into it his madness, where bad is good etc, must become as mad as him in order to survive the bat shit crazy environment.  On a bigger scale, North Korea, where the population must cry, laugh and applaud to order.  

I think I have mentioned, once or twice, lol, that I have spent a lifetime trying to discover what evil is.  I began with, perhaps something happened in childhood? a dysfunctional home? An unhealthy belief, a form of defence, the questions are unending.  Is there a trigger?  Perhaps it is genetic, nature rather than nurture?  I still don't have a definitive answer, maybe there isn't one.  Trump is a compelling study on the whole 'evil' question, I don't think he has one single redeeming feature.  From a psychological perspective, my first question would be 'what the hell happened to him', but I think I already know the answer.  He is plagued by jealousy, and my guess is, it has been lifelong.  He was the fourth of five siblings, so was usurped as the youngest.  I imagine if he were grilled by Freud (Sigmund not Clement), he would eventually break down and accuse the youngest sibling of stealing his mommy.  

Friday 8 November 2019

FINALLY, THE ANTITHESIS (HOPE) IS IN SIGHT

How the heck do you get across the message that Jeremy Corbyn is a genuine, decent, kind and compassionate man who has devoted his life to fighting injustice and inequality.  How on earth does the mainstream media convince those who need Jeremy Corbyn's compassionate policies the most, that wealthy old Etonians are their best bet for the future.  

The tories did not suffer under austerity, the working classes did.  And it began with a systematic negative, propaganda campaign against the disabled and the unemployed waged by the right wing press who can take a bow for all their 'benefits' programmes and the highlighting of the undeserving poor.  Oh and the tories.  The word 'scrounger' came back, claimants were assumed to be pulling a fast one, unless they could prove otherwise. 'Make them work for their benefits' cried the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade, we can get them do all the menial stuff we now have to pay £10 an hour for.  And we don't have to call them people anymore, they are now units.

They took away EMA, the £30 a week students got for attending classes, a lifeline for students from poor families, and an incentive for them to get an education.  They slashed SureStart, a vital service for young families offering friendship and advice, having been a lone single mum, I know how vital such a helpline can be.  

The Nasty Party slashed benefits and put every claimant on trial, building on the negative energy they created.  They made the poorest in our society pay for the financial crash they caused, and by they there, I mean the bankers.  Yet somehow, they convinced the majority, that our economy was being drained by benefit cheats and the unemployed.  They created a climate where it became acceptable, normal even, to send desperate families to food banks, rather than give them the cash they need to feed themselves.  Less than 0.5% of benefit claimants are actually cheating the system, and the amount lost is miniscule in comparison to tax that should be paid in the UK, but isn't.  And it is sad, but true, that it is easy to persuade the average taxpayer that they would have more in their take home pay, if a certain demographic had less.  It is not a very altruistic way of looking at your payslip, but we all do it.  We have a little moan, then accept it as the price we pay to live in a civilised society.  A society where our children are educated, our rubbish is collected, our fires are put out, our illnesses are treated.  We do not fear being bankrupted by medical bills.

If I were asked to sum up what socialism is, I would say it is about raising the standards for everyone.  Whilst I get that there are those who would like a two or three tier system, they should be able to use their hard earned cash to 'get to the top' - wouldn't life be less stressful if there were no difference between the top and the bottom? Just putting that out there.  

After years of 'austerity', more accurately punishing the poor and dismantling all the public services put in place by previous Labour governments, Boris Johnson et al are now pretending (some aren't) that they care about the NHS, the Police, and the Fire Brigade who they are currently trying to blame for Grenfell.  Don't forget the tenants of Grenfell were warning the tory Council that the cladding was a tinderbox, long before the tragedy occurred.  

The tories have lied to us again and again.  Just like their predecessors they have us fighting among ourselves instead of fighting them.  They now have the working classes and the middle classes exactly where they want them.  Those in work, and further up the class scale, are now hostage to their employers.  Zero hours contracts are the norm, zero protection of workers rights, means that those who live paycheque to paycheque (most people) have no job security or means to secure a loan or a mortgage.  It's an employers' market.  Do as you are told, or you can easily be replaced.  The UK is already violating human rights with benefit sanctions, once the European Courts are gone, employers can do exactly what they want.  

In decades and centuries to come, students will look back on these times and wonder at the mentality of the first generations to be blessed with enlightenment.  Access to all the information we could ever want or need.  History repeats itself, we have seen what happens when a population blames a designated group for all that is bad.  It becomes dictatorial and cruel and it never ends well.  We are now at the thesis stage of the dialectic, finally (after 9 fffing years), the antithesis is in clear sight.  Forgive me for comparing 9 years of tory austerity to the war years, but these tories have run Great Britain into the ground.  The antithesis is long overdue, a rebellion against the the heartless policies of the Eton front bench. Cameron, May and Johnson have zero shame that other world leaders see the number of homeless people sleeping on the streets of London.  Thatcher wanted to take us back to Victorian Times - her spawn have achieved it.

By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn wants to end homelessness, food banks and the degrading ATOS assessments.  He understand economics, he and John McDonnell, have spent a lifetime studying.  The New Deal worked for Roosevelt, and JC and JM have worked out in detail how it will work here.  They will do the opposite of the conservatives.  That is, they will plough money back into the economy by investing in infrastructure (we really need a lick of paint), public services, education, the sciences, the arts, all those industries that will boost the public's spending power which will in turn create new jobs.  Britain at the end of World War II needed a boost to revive the country's morale.  Winston Churchill, the hero of WWII, was still a tory, and the UK were crying out for change.

We are crying out for change now, just as much as we were at the end of the War.  Our country is dragging behind our more progressive European counterparts.  With tories at the helm, we are on the outside, Brexit or no Brexit, old imperialists who cannot accept the world has evolved.  Of course, JC and JM are not spring chickens, but they are woke and listening to the movers and shakers of the future.  They want to bring in the kind of major changes that their predecessors brought in in the 1940s, changes that made England swing like a penudulum doo, in the 1960s.  My generation grew up with dozens of jobs to choose from and homes that were affordable.  Something the present generation have never known, or will ever know under the tories. 

The world has changed.  The kinds of jobs available to me, are not available now.  That is, 9 to 5 in an office, shop or factory.  Instead of punishing people for not working in jobs that do not exist, a government should be creating jobs.  I don't mean out of thin air - but out of the growing need for more care/health workers, we have an aging population,  investment in education, science, technology and yes, leisure.  We really need to get past the mentality that breaking rocks or scrubbing your doorstep is more morally sound that bingewatching the Walking Dead.  We all have leisure time now, even the undeserving poor.   

Jeremy Corbyn has devoted his entire life to improving the lives of others.  He is not looking to enrich himself from leading the country, he has no businesses to prop up or gold toilets to upgrade.  His lifestyle and tastes are modest, cyclying, an allottment and homemade jam.  No playing tennis with the wives of Russian Oligarchs for £250,000.  No allocating of public funds to attractive female pole dancers.  He doesn't even fiddle his parliamentary expenses, unlike most of his colleagues, nor does he appear in Parliament coked up to the gills, yet still the British public think he is untrustworthy.

For those future generations, it is our duty to show that as the first enlightened population, we choose a government that is progressive and forward planning.  A government that will genuinely represent the majority and who will genuinely act in the majority's interests.  A government that will put climate change, poverty and homelessness at the top of the agenda. And a government that ensures every citizen, employed, unemployed or disabled is treated with dignity and respect.  It doesn't have to be this way.


Saturday 26 October 2019

Please can we choose a Brave New World

It is very hard for me to comment on the state of British politics right now, because it's too close to home and too personal.  In Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, I see a brave new world in which these two good men steer the good ship Britannia onto a whole new course towards a brighter future for everyone, as their predecessors, the Labour Government who took control after WWII.  

After 9 years of austerity and the tories running down our NHS and public services, not to mention their crazy idea to make Brexit a billionaires free for all, we are again at a point in history, where we need adults and genuine experienced and diplomatic Statesmen to step in and sort out the mess.  JC and JM have prepared for this moment their entire lives, their ideas and policies have evolved from years of research and discussion, not the cocaine fuelled cabinet meetings of old Etonians who still think they are in the Bullingdon Club.

The pain for me lies in the 'hope', which rightly deserved to stay at the bottom of Pandora's Box.  Hope gives a tantalising glimpse of what might be, what could be, a final last peep before the lid closes down forever.  I remember being mightily moved by John Cleese in the movie Clockwise, wearing a monk's habit and with every chance of his dreams rapidly disappearing, complaining profusely that it was the 'hope' that hurt the most.  I hear you Brother.  

As much fun as it is watching the odious Boris Johnson rightly hated throughout the UK and losing (almost) every vote, I can't rid myself of a niggly feeling that the snidey git will find a way to the pull the UK out of Europe on the 31st and clean up at the bookies.

We are living in a bizarre age, where lawlessness and deception at the highest levels are practiced in plain sight.  'Get over it' says Mick Mulvaney, White House Chief of Staff, 'I'll just lay across this parliamentary bench as if I were in a opium den', says Jacob Rees-Mogg.  We are not even going to try to pretend we are working for and on behalf of the people.  

Unfortunately, the alt right sickness, appears to have hit everyone who has never picked up a book or read a newspaper.  All those who think their lives will be mightily improved if others are made to suffer.  The kind of people who believe the NHS should not treat people in need unless they are a British taxpayer.  That's so unkind I will refrain from commenting.  But I should add, the same applies to public housing, everyone needs a roof over their heads.  

Housing shortages, queues in the NHS, are all down to lack of investment.  If the government doesn't invest enough money to keep up with needs of the population, the government is at fault. The NHS needs massive investment, not fewer 'customers', more homes need to be built.  These 'desperate needs' that have been ignored for so many years by the tories, but will be immediately implemented by Labour, will not only provide the services that should be available to everyone in one of the richest countries in the world, but it will boost employment and boost the economy.

As a child of the 60's, I enjoyed the massive transformation of working class life brought about the Labour government of the 1940's.  A full nutritionally balanced meal every day at school, albeit with free dinner tickets and the shame that entailed, and a bottle of milk in the afternoons.  And yes, I too chanted along to Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher, when the old witch took away our free milk, I believe it was popular in most playgrounds.

But England, in the 60's, was buzzing like a pendulum doo, whatever that is.  It was the 'in place', not only for the glitterati, but the illuminati, the literati, the papparati and all the 'atis' that were popular at the time. 'Arold Wilson' who I'm not sure had an 'aaati' bone in him, turned England into the legend of Austin Powers, it was all about the Jaguar E type, Carnaby Street and the Kings Road, Baby.  On the drama front, 'Cathy Come Home' hit the heartstrings of every liberal, and indeed, every tory, kindness began to replace the cruelty of 'undeserving poor'.  Pop stars, like John Lennon began highlighting novel ideas like kindness, peace and no religion and immediately went onto the FBI's most wanted lists.  Who the fuck wants peace when there is so much money to be made with hostility?

But we are still in the 'hope' phase, but I am scared to look.  I applaud all those warriors out there every day, they are brave and focused.  I am especially cheered by the young 'woke' (not quite sure how to use that word yet) new generation who are making such tremendous waves with Momentum.  Finally, the right wing do not have total control of the airwaves, literally everyone has instant access to the truth.  Gone are the days when Rupert Murdoch could tell the UK masses how to vote via the front page of the Sun.  There is hope.  Which brings me back to where I began.  

I'm over 60 now, I get knocked down and I get up again, becomes tougher and tougher.  Where I used to think 'nothing's gonna stop us now', I now think, yeah, it probably will.  I even, kind of, accept that I am powerless to stop it.  I haven't felt this level of powerlessness since I was a young teenager in the care of demons.  I couldn't change the nature of the people around me then anymore than I can change it now.  Not a happy place to be.

But we are on a precipice, we don't have to be rushed towards the cliff's edge.  Safety switches and dead mans handles are all in place, the masses can see right through Boris Johnson and his get rich quick backers, everything is stacked up for a glorious revolution, I'm just too scared to look.

Saturday 19 October 2019

THE MADELEINE CASE NOW

I have lost interest in the Madeleine case, it would be true to say, but it is not a forbidden topic.  I happen to think most people would understand the 'McCann Syndrome' reference quite easily.  Gerry and Kate have not quite got off scot free, they have become almost an urban legend for child neglect, and offloading responsibility.  In many people's eyes they will never be cleared, and I guess they will just have to live with it.

I think all hope I had that Operation Grange would clear this matter up once and for all, is gone.  Not that I particularly wanted to see retribution against the McCanns, but I did want all those who interfered with the course of justice brought to account.  Unfortunately,  as Goncalo Amaral once said, it will only be solved when the political will is there.  I am not so bothered that the parents will never be charged, in all sorts of ways, they have suffered so much more than if they had, for example, just 'fessed up' to an accident. I doubt any one of us would want to be in their shoes.  I personally, could not live one day without the freedom to be myself. That is the freedom to say, do and write whatever I want.  If you are trying to deceive people, you do not have that freedom. For my sins, I spent my formative years in a convent where lying was essential in order to survive, not just to protect yourself, but to protect your friends. I remember lying in my bed at night trembling in fear that my 'lies' would be found out.  It scarred me mentally, I never wanted to feel like that again.

My honesty has got me into trouble my entire life, see my McCann blogs, lol, but of course, it far precedes the Madeleine case.  Not that I am ever blunt or coarse, heaven forbid, but I would rather be alone and ostracised than join a herd.  But forgive me, I have gone back to my favourite subject, me, ha ha, but only to accentuate how imprisoning it can be having skeletons in the cupboard. I am of course speaking metaphorically and generically here should Carter Ruck still be looking in.

I did however take a quick peek at 'latest Madeleine news' as I saw the subject revived in a few posts, and there isn't any.  It would seem all those I spent so many years arguing with, were right, Doh!  That is, this case will never be solved.  Irks a bit, as it means handing victory to those ghouls in the cesspit, but ce la vie, I'll get over it.  

My interest in the Madeleine case, stemmed from my interest in human behaviour, and with Gerry and Kate McCann, and several characters within their inner circle, there are endless resources.  It almost never happens that you have a subject who has given so many videoed interviews plus a blog and a book!.  Like many students of psychology, I am interested in spotting deception.  I speak as one who often has been, and occasionally still is, deceived.  Again doh!  Probably because I prefer to look for the good in people, even if they are lying to me.  I feel pity for them if they have to lie, and I take no pleasure in seeing them squirm.  That's what I mean about freedom, it means you never have to squirm.

When people lie on a national and global scale however, the sympathy comes to an abrupt end.  It is one thing to save your own skin, another thing altogether to make a profit out of your own irresponsibility.  Every parent who loses a child blames his or herself, even when it is obvious they are completely blameless. The McCanns have always done the opposite, they blamed everyone else from start, beginning with the Portuguese police.  I don't know what alerted everyone else, but for me it was the uncomfortable feeling of being manipulated, not only by the parents, but by every 'get rich quick conman', and indeed, news agency, out there.  

My eyes were opened by going into higher education, but my mind was blown when I started to look deeper into this case.  That quaint English sense of justice and fair play was, to my disgust, long gone, that lovely 1960's world of the Carry Ons, was some kind of mythology that I was carrying around in my head.  'I say old chap that's just not cricket' no longer applied.  The Madeleine case was as a much a learning curve and water shed, as my quest for a degree.  It gave me deep, deep, insight, not into into psychopathy, narcissism, forensic linguistics, but also micro-expressions and of course duping delight!  But more, it also led me delve much deeper into the dark side of corruption within our so called respected public agencies, institutions and charities.  All a tad too dark for me, but plenty there for the young and enthusiastic journalists and psychologists who still want to put the world rights.

Sadly though,  all blockbuster, film or book, potential in the Madeleine case is now gone - the interest simply isn't there, the world has moved on.  Students of psychopathy, narcissism, sociopathy, media manipulation, conspiracies, etc, etc, have the far more entertaining (and terrifying) antics of the US President and the UK Prime Minister.  Madeleine would literally have to turn up 'Anastasia' style and be recognised and blood tested to grab the front pages.  Sightings and ex detectives opinions just aint gonna cut it.

For now, in the spirit of Maya Angelou, when someone tells you how this will end, believe them.  Ok, not verbatim, but when a police commissioner and an ex police commissioner suggest the case may never be solved, that's the option they want to stick.  Maybe too many reputations are on the line, on both sides of the aisle, too many big names who would be humiliated if the parents turned out to be involved.  VIPs who pulled strings here and there to help the parents and their friends avoid justice?

It is not a proud moment for the UK, but in an era where we have a corrupt far right government leading us all towards the cliff at Beachy Head, it is the least of our worries.


Sunday 6 October 2019

HE'S A FILTHY PIECE OF TOE-RAG

Trying to write some kind of account of the craziness that now engulfs the western world in 2019, my head is so scrambled I feel like Picasso staring at a blank canvas in 1939.  So I'm just going throw a bunch of unrelated inanimate objects together, linked by crazy faces and naughty bits.  I'll just go put a head in the corner there, and top it off with a few unexplained tits.

Inexplicably, we the UK and the USA, for decades at the forefront of progressive, compassionate, governing, have 'elected' as our leaders, two of the worst human beings ever to walk this planet.  As simple as the people of BC (Before Christ) were, they knew at least to follow the guy who preached justice and fairness for all, even for the lepers and immigrants.  The first JC, Jesus Christ was of course crucified for his socialist preachings, the present JC, Jeremy Corbyn is experiencing similar.  Christians have of course, been torturing themselves for centuries for not following the original JC at the start.  That is, not standing up to their oppressors (the Romans) more aggressively, and for accidentally assisting their oppressors in crucifying their saviour.  On the face of it, most of the blame of course lies with the Jews, Christianity was pretty niche at that time and the Jews were already the scapegoats in the ancient middle east, probably because, even before the AD Roman calendar kicked in, the disciplined, cultural hard work ethic of the Jews had (in the ancients' minds) established them as superior, elite even.  Money makers, which was bound to incite envy.

But I am not looking for a theological debate.  My question, and indeed terror, lies in how the f*ck did we, the most informed, most enlightened mass populations in history, get to a position where our two countries are being held to ransom by two sociopathic lunatics?  Has democracy gone wrong?  Because it's looking that way and alarm bells should be going off everywhere.  Both the UK and the USA are on the verge of Civil War.  And the majorities, in both countries, are fighting the rise of the extreme Right.  As in Hitler's time, the extreme right demographic rarely goes above 30%, but sadly they are the loudest and most destructive and they are supported by the richest.  And that makes it all the more repugnant. Tommy Robinson may look and sound like a representative of the working classes, but he is working on behalf of their oppressors, the Eton boys who through nature and nurture instinctively know how to get the plebs to do their dirty work.  Be in no doubt TR wants a 'class system', one in which he moves up a few notches on the social scale on the basis of being white British.  Clearly, he has never been able to scale those few notches through academia or achievement, so he has opted for kicking those he perceives to be below him, those who arrived in this world via a different geographical location.  Who knows what tf happened to him, who hurt him so badly, and very few sane people, I imagine would care, but he is a danger, who ramps up the chaos, the first in line to form a new SS, should Boris give the nod.  

Happily, this time around, the people of the US and the people of the UK are aware of the dangers of fascism and are not afraid to point out it's evils and to fight against it.  But on the flip side, both countries have demographics where education and information just isn't getting through.  They have generation after generation who swear 'the old way (whatever that might be) was better'.  I'm never quite sure if they are referring to Angleland (land of the Angles) or the hat doffing days Queen Victoria.  In the old days, the words 'but we've always done it that way' always featured in my disciplinaries and firings for some reason.  Boris is toast, all his crimes are catching up with him and he is despised by the British public, booed and jeered wherever he goes.  He is not the Emperor, he's not the Saviour, he's not the chosen one, he's a very naughty boy, who should spend the rest of his life standing in the corner for all the lies he's told.  

Mob Boss Donald Trump is being exposed hourly as a 'mob boss', a cheap two bit hood, who would sell out the USA as quickly as he sold out his ex wives and ex friends and yeah, his kids.  I doubt he has a single close friend or family member, his wife clearly despises him, his kids seem to have much to hide.  They are not even attempting to save him right now, even as the world watches every cringing, embarrassing tweet and public appearance.  That's cold.

As much fun as it is watching the downfall of these two present day monsters, I still fear that they each, will somehow survive being caught with their hands in the cookie jar.  They are committing their crimes in plain sight!  Something has got to give.  Bizarrely, at this same juncture in history, the USA and the UK are fighting to hang onto democracy because they have elected to power, leaders crazier than Hitler or Caligula.  Imagine a group of Roman senators, 'so yeah', 'these free un-enslaved people with access to every form of communication imaginable, chose tyranny and corruption over reason, logic and their own personal well being'.  'Go figure' said Seneca.  

These are tense and anxious times for all of us who are watching the news, but the hardest part for me is the 'hope', finally there is a real beacon of light within touching distance.  The UK desperately needs a genuinely strong stable leader who will reach out to every community and bring us all together.  The only leader who respects the rights of all the British people to have the European Union options put before them again.  With Jeremy Corbyn there is no fear that he will sell the NHS, London Bridge, or indeed any of the UK's assets to Donald Trump and Russian Oligarchs.  Hope is literally there, on the horizon, in the form of a Jeremy Corbyn Labour government. Where Boris Johnson has been winging it all his life, never bothering to do his homework, he is up against a man who has spent his entire life studying.  

The UK is potentially on the brink of a whole new beginning just as it was at the end of WWII, with a Labour government ready to introduce sweeping new changes that will benefit the many, not the few.  Jeremy Corbyn differs from the tory politicians who have attempted to negotiate Brexit, because he shares similar values to many of the EU leaders.  On top of which, he is a Statesman, a good communicator, he treats everyone with equal respect, he is the kind of Prime Minister we need right now to clean up the botched job the tories have made of negotiations with our European friends and allies, and to somehow restore the UK's reputation.  We may be a popular destination for hardworking, talented, immigrants who still want to come here now, but that could change.  In centuries, maybe even decades, to come,  other more progressive countries will become more appealing to those hard working, skilled and talented immigrants.  It is not beyond the realms of possibility that in years to come countries will be competing for new citizens because they simply don't have an indigenous population big enough to keep the wheels of industry and society turning over.  It is worth remembering that the Windrush generation were invited to the UK and welcomed into the British workforce.  

Watching the downfall of the US tyrant, and the UK tyrant, simultaneously, gives us a fascinating insight into the goings on of the Western governments.  I very much doubt Trump's 'quid quo pros' are anything new in the backscratching world of international politics.  Not that I want to give Trump's defence team any tips, but if they had any historians among them, it would not be hard to pull 'quid pro quos' from every government that has gone before.  The trouble with Trump's quid pro quos, are that they are blatantly just for himself.  He is also too dumb to realise that going after Joe Biden's son, takes any 'leave my kids out of it' arguments he might have had, as his enemies now hone in on the money his own kids are making out of him being the President.  He really should add Homer Simpson's 'Doh!' to every public statement he makes.  

As for our own PM, logic and reason would dictate that the tousled white head of Boris Johnson will not be emerging like a phoenix from the ashes.  He is engulfed in proven lies, personal scandals and the revelation by his own sister that is working on behalf of billionaire backers.  But I will leave the last word to the lovely lady trending on twitter so eloquently put it 'he's a filthy piece of toe rag'. She speaks for all us.  


Thursday 26 September 2019

TORY GOVERNMENT DRUG ADDLED

Boris Johnson is behaving like a raving lunatic now, to be fair he was always unstable, but his recent meeting with the tyrant in chief, seems to have ratched it all up a few notches.  He is desperate, in the fullest sense of desperate, for the UK to leave the EU on 31st.  It's almost as if his life depends on it, like he will end up dead in a ditch if he doesn't.  

OK, there is no evidence that the mob boss in the White House actually has people killed (Epstein?), but it would appear that there is no level he won't sink to in order to get leaders of other countries to do as he wants.  Just putting this out there, but Trump is the former owner of a model agency that imported European girls to the USA, he also owned the Miss Universe Pageant.  He also has quite a sniffing habit himself.  I expect he knew a lot about kompromat even before he began courting Putin. Dumb enough to get caught in it himself, but there you go.  The Ukraine wanted/needed the assistance of the USA to keep the Russian forces out of their country.  Naturally, he used this to manipulate them.

With the UK, it's maybe not so clear.  Obama advised us to stay in the EU, so is Trump in toddler mode, by saying we should leave?  I doubt he had anything on Theresa May, she's so feckin boring, I doubt anyone has.  With Boris Johnson, it's like Trump's henchmen have just been handed a sack of duplicitous mad frogs.  Digging dirt on Boris Johnson is like being handed a trolley for a supermarket sweep.  Now this is where I will give Trump credit for the only talent he has.  He knows how to hone in on an achilles heel.  Whatever hangup his opponent (or even potential friend) has, will become Trump's obsession.  It's his way of grabbing men by the balls, he wants men, white men, above all, to admire him.

Of course, the biased BBC and the biased mainstream media, have probably hidden or buried, the juicier, more outrageous of Boris Johnson's antics, he has been the Establishment's PM in waiting forever.  Nice boy, went to Eton you know.  Unfortunately for him, Trump is not known for his observance of society's rules, seeing his new friend Boris squished under the wheels of bus, will probably fill him with glee.  He is probably the only person in the world who can truly empathise with Kim Jong Un.  They are probably already planning a joint 'lets blow up everyone we don't like' party.

Boris Johnson's need to leave the EU on the 31st October, is beyond reason and logic.  He is trying to lead the UK into a charge off a cliff.  Why is he so desperate?  He lies when he says he wants to deliver Brexit for the people.  Only, 17.5 million voted to leave, out of a population of 66 million.  He is clearly not doing this for the people, he is doing it for himself and for those who are putting pressure on him.  

I'm not letting him off the hook in saying that, but Boris Johnson is the posh equivalent of Trump's Hill People.  Because he can't be arsed to listen or learn, he only hears the key points as they pertain to him.  Ie. a MAGA hat would really suit you and think of all the money you will make from a chain of Trump/Boris Towers in every UK City?  Trump's way of bedazzling other narcissists, is to let them know he understands them and will cater for their every need.   So what has he got on Boris?  As horrible as he is, on which we are all agreed, including his brother and sister, what has Trump got that equates to a gun pointed at Boris Johnson's head?  Boris is sweating like a man on death row, he's already said he has no other option but a ditch.  I hate the man, but I think he should be on suicide watch.  I'm now trying to think what's worse than Trump's pee tapes?  Yuck!!!!!!

Again, no sympathy, Boris has sailed through school and his parliamentary career, by mimicking.  He mimicks every posh old fecker he has ever known and admired.  He has nothing original.  Not one iota of the home haircut, blustering, faux philanthropist character is real.  No-one is buying it.  OK, they did for a while but, now the country is calling on his deep, imbedded, character, there isn't one.  He is a pretentious man in a pretentious world.  He cites the people as though he were one of them, a rebel against the establishment. As if!  He has been fed, clothed, nourished, taught to speak posh and groomed to be PM by the establishment!  When did he last go visit a foodbank?  Has he ever visited a foodbank?  He is not a man of the people, he is a product, designed and produced to appeal to a popular audience.  Look how well Trump did with his mad hair, we've got a winner here, said Dominic Cummings.

Sadly my mother (who I have said many times was crazy) loved Boris, for purely shallow reasons I might add.  It was the hair, the playful faux rebel.  We argued often, obviously.  She was a babyboomer, an immigrant from Ireland, voting tory was a sign she had moved up the social ladder.  She was a product of her past, her background, her environment.  Added to which, she was extremely cantankerous and quick to anger.  I jest, with me she took the time, and I have stored her wisdom, which I should add, mostly consisted of the right occasions on which to use the word 'feck'.  With some people the only words they understand is 'feck off'.  Don't bother explaining, don't bother teaching, just say 'feck off' and walk away. Wise words indeed.

Those few remaining tories who are now the government of the UK are a shambles and some of them are using some pretty hard drugs to perform.  Yeah, I know, explains a lot.  Jacob Rees-Mogg treating the HOC front benches like an opium den and take a close look at Gove struggling to stand still, sniffing and grinding his jaw.  Classic signs of cocaine use, I am reliably informed.  If any nurse, lorry driver, factory worker or employee of any kind turned up for work off their tits on coke, there would be repercussions.

These are the people leading us off a cliff!  

Sunday 22 September 2019

THE CASE FOR JEREMY CORBYN


Sadly, I too, was among those eejits who thought I knew all about politics, but didn't really.  For me Margaret Thatcher represented a bravo step in the right direction for feminism.  I was that stupid.  Now I could give you a gritty, kitchen sink drama about my slow awakening to socialism, but a General Election may soon be upon us, so I will try to get straight to the points I often hear raised.  

1.  I've got the foreman's job at last, so the working class can kiss my arse.  OK, rarely verbatim, but among the fecks, you get the gist.  

Answer:  Sadly a Labour government creates Tories.  Sounds a bit of an oxymoron, but ordinary people do well under a Labour government, and move up to the middle class level of the social ladder.  Tory now, but their favourite line is 'I was born in a Council house'.  Pointing out that said Council house was probably provided by a Labour government, rarely goes down well.

2.   Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite

Answer:  Usually put forward by people who do not understand what anti-Semite means.  Opposing Israel's inhumane treatment of Palestinians has no connection whatsoever with the antisemitism of Europe in the 1930's, those who try to make a connection are despicable.  What happened in WWII does not excuse Israel's cruel and barbaric treatment of the Palestinians.  Those turning a blind eye to it and shouting anti-Semitism should be ashamed.  Nice Jews, and there are millions of them, also oppose what Israel are doing.

3.  Jeremy Corbyn will go on a spending spree

Answer:  Oh God, yes, yes and yes.  Ffs, we have had 9 years of Tory inflicted Austerity, we have seen our country, our infrastructure and our NHS run into the ground by a government more concerned with paying off bankers' debts than the health and wellbeing of it's citizens.  Pumping money into the economy revives the economy, it gives it the kick start it needs to boost every industry a thriving society needs to flourish.

4.  It is the Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party's fault we have been put on trial by the Benefits Agencies, had our money sanctioned and been subjected to humiliating interrogations.

Answer:  Oh no it isn't!  Jeremy Corbyn throughout his long political career, has opposed every tory benefit cut.  Among his new policies is a Legal Agency of specialist lawyers to represent the sick and disabled to ensure that everyone gets the benefits they are entitled to.  The Tories have waged war on the sick and disabled, Jeremy Corbyn has opposed them every step of the way but he hasn't had the power to stop it.  As PM, he would.

5.  I don't want a Socialist/Communist/Nanny State.

I hear you my friend, and neither do I.  I'm already locked and loaded, should any do gooders try to bring in sugar and alcohol taxes.  Imagine the poor kid in a sweet shop with his rich mate buying whatever he chooses.  I was behind a little lad in a sweet shop last week, who didn't have quite enough to pay for his carefully chosen hoard.  The shopkeeper took one sweet back, and my heart was touched. Oh give it to him said I, I'll pay for it.  'Fanks' said the little lad, 'I only had 3p left'.  'We've all been there' I assured him, whilst feeling very pious and making a mental note to tell everyone about my good deed.  My fantasy however was shattered less 30 seconds later, when I exited the shop and saw the little git refusing to share his sweets with his friends.  I was tempted to go over and shout, 'oy, I did you a good turn, now pass it on'.

But I digress.  Labour's hardest job right now is getting through to those who do not spend their lives on social media.  For those of us who use it constantly, that is hard to imagine, but it's very real, and it is a huge demographic that is largely being ignored.  Probably because it involves actual legwork as opposed to the hope of creating a tweet that goes viral.  The 'grey vote' may swing elections, but it is not enough to drag wannabe political media stars away from their laptaps.  A 1,000 likes means more than 100 votes yeah? or we'll pretend it does.  UKIP, the BNP and all like minded nutters, do at least go out and knock on doors and take the time to reassure the old dears and all those away with the fairies, that Britain First is the only way to go. 

Tony Blair was the first Labour Prime Minister to stop listening to the grey vote.  He represented the Young Upwardly Mobiles, the Yuppies, the PLU (People Like Us), the generation born in Council houses, but who went to University.  He didn't work his way up through the docks, mines or unions, he was a career politician, born and bred for a leadership position.  He changed the face of the Labour Party, from donkey jacket wearing Michael Foot, and corduroyed trouser wearing, pipe smoking Tony Benn and bearded, hand knitted sweater wearing Jeremy Corbyn to sharp suited American Psychos that they named New Labour.  

New Labour quickly discarded all those working classes who protested against the tory systems that oppressed them.  In fact they took up those very same oppressive systems and improved on them.  It wasn't the Tories who brought in ATOS, it was Tony Blair.  Something Blair supporting MPs Tom Watson and Jess Phillips should be reminded of.  Often.  Happily those Tony Blair days are gone now, and in the past they should remain. The people have voted overwhelmingly, twice, for Jeremy Corbyn, a man who truly represents ALL the people, not those seeking personal advancement from being in government.  

I urge all those who's impression and understanding of Jeremy Corbyn is based on tabloid headlines and biased media reports, to take a few moments to watch and listen to Jeremy Corbyn and base your judgement on that.  There is a good reason for the young people to sing 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' wherever he goes.  They are inspired by him because they know he will do everything in his power to ensure they have a brighter future.  This terrible era of Tory oppression is so close to it's end, we must all do everything in our power not only to vote, but to make sure all fair minded, forward thinking friends and neighbours get out to vote too.  Our children's futures depend on it.