FEMINISM NOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgp9MPLEAqA

I have an interesting reader who often poses interest questions.  A bit of a welcome break from Covid-19, I think, 

Thank you for your post Bjorn, (on the previous blog) there is much to digest there, particularly with applying the feminist perspective to everything, which I think probably applies to most western countries, not just Sweden.   I should perhaps explain to readers that students of literature when deconstructing a text will examine the text from a Feminist, Marxist, Psychological etc, perspective.  For example, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein from a Feminist perspective; The creature had no name -  neither did women, male obsession, 'workshop of filthy creation'.  From a Marxist perspective - the creature was made up of many parts and more powerful than it knew.  From a psychological perspective, obsession, narcissism, batshit crazy.  Applying a feminist perspective (thinking) when reading a text means actively seeking anything that highlights womens' subjugation and male patriarchal dominance.  Of course, quite rightly, 19th century literature is littered with it, even to the point where talented female authors had to use male pseudonyms to get published.  As Virginia Woolf pointed out, history is HIS-story, all the records of our past were recorded by men.  Even up until the last century, women (working class) were only educated enough for a life in domestic service.  Shakespeare's sister Judith (imaginary) would never have earned a living as a playwright, more likely she would have ended up in prostitution and penury.  

I have always described myself as a feminist, simply for the fact that I have never considered myself in any way inferior to any man.  Not since, I was 5 year old and learned to fight twice as hard! But I have never felt inferior, I have never felt I didn't get a job or indeed anything I went after because I wasn't a man.  That of course may all be down to attitude, I had a crazy mother who didn't accept any of society's rules, so it was probably nature and nurture. That's not say I don't acknowledge blatant inequality and that societies still exist who treat women as second class citizens.  But my answer to every question along those lines is education, education, education.  

So what is feminism now?  It's used by the right to promote corsets, high heels, botox and looking good on a man's elbow - see entry requirements for WH female staff.  The Left embrace all forms of victimhood and nothing makes you a victim more than being born the wrong sex.  I wish they would stop telling young girls that they are disadvantaged, or somehow weaker than their male peers, but that is the dialogue that has been established.  How about telling girls how great they are, and how they can change the world?

Real feminists for me, are women who celebrate and embrace their gender, women who achieve their goals without whining about the opposition and asking for concessions because they are women.  It's like trying to get an advantage by claiming you have a physical handicap, and it irritates me intensely.  I don't know how any woman can claim a victory if they didn't compete on a level playing field.  I think it is heart breaking that talented young men (geniuses waiting to be discovered?) who are discarded from opportunities because of their gender.  How can we find the best among us unless opportunity is truly equal?

When I think of feminism, I think of the most prominent 'Feminists' of today.  Those who have attached the label to themselves, or had it attached to them by the media.  Ivanka Trump, desperately in need of a 'cause' when she entered the Whitehouse, thought I'm a woman, in a cabinet predominantly made up of rich old white men, I'll be the representative of women, the successful ones.  To be honest I have a big problem with Ivanka's female entrepreneur schemes.  She is going into extremely poor societies who's cultures she does not understand and is offering cash only to women.  What about the men?  What about the husbands and fathers, the traditional breadwinners? How does her brand of philanthropy work in patriarchal societies?  Does she think she can change their culture with cash?  I really don't think you should fight gender discrimination by creating a new brand of it by discriminating against men.   

On this side of the pond, we have Labour MP Jess Phillips, not nearly so glamorous or interesting, who thinks women should be more man like.  Or, perhaps that should be more lad like in their speech and behaviour, louder and more offensive but ready to cry  'anti women' the minute she starts losing.  To be honest I don't know what her feminist causes are, other than the right for middle aged, middle class, middle income, foghorns like herself not to be offended or chatted up (as if!).  I've always had a problem with many of the prominent women who pitch and campaign on behalf of women everywhere, because when you start to dig a little deeper, you find that their pitching and campaigning relates only to issues that affect themselves.  How many of us, for example need a panic room?  You don't see them p&c ing for working class mothers, women who can't for love nor money, get the feckless fathers of their children to pay child support.  When young, frightened mothers were being fitted with ankle tags for not handing their kids over to potentially dangerous dads, Janet Street-Porter was writing about leg room on luxury airlines.  

Feminism won't reach down into the masses until it applies to the majority of women in the form of equal pay, equal opportunity, free childcare,  free school dinners for all, those very real, very basic, practical obstacles that make the playing field unequal for women.  But they are not headline grabbing issues like 'Lesbian MP has brick thrown at campaign office window', or 'Labour MP threatened by trolls on twitter wants a panic room'.  I think of those suffragettes who stood on orange boxes and chained themselves to railings, who went before her and sigh.  

The majority of working class women, and the majority of women are working class, do not like, or indeed take any notice of ardent feminists, mostly because, they have never, in any way, been relatable to their lives.  For the two parties, the distain is mutual.  Unfortunately for radical members of any cause, whilst they are able to get themselves all worked up into a frenzy over something trivial, passing that frenzy on is not so easy.  Especially as we love, with all their faults, the enemy we are supposed to hate.  Most women don't hate men. they have fathers, husbands and sons that they love.  They have never been on board with making men the enemy.  They actually like men, the non PC ones, the confused ones (the majority) and even the cheeky chappies.

Given the long or is it short, history of Feminism (200 years?), we have probably made a giant leap to about half way there.  That is, within just a few generations, most of the wrongs have been put right, but there is still a long way to go.  In my opinion there is still a debate/argument to be had as to which path we take.   The problem the most radical feminists have, is that the women they are trying to influence, Do we carry on much the same as we ever did, especially as it was probably being non PC that got most couples together, or do we veer towards the sensitive feelings of those who just can't make their minds up?  I have no problem with anyone being whatever gender they choose, indeed I always celebrate those brave enough to embrace their uniqueness.  

Those who upset me are the androgynous, 'how dare you gender assign me' ones, who I fear want us all sporting short, back and sides and sporting grey onesies.  No pink toothbrush and blue toothbrush, let alone miniature kitchens and baby dolls for the girls or plastic grenades and A47's for the sons.  Now you can buy my little ponies for your sons and tanks for daughters, a giant step for mankind.  Parenting must be hell these days, but my heart especially goes out to those with 'woke' parents.  But the gender assigning deserves a whole blog of it's own, so I will put it aside for now.  

Returning to the points you raise Bjorn, because as you say, Sweden is known for it's freedom and egalitarian ways, I don't think anyone seriously thinks Swedish women are oppressed in any way.  I personally think it is a good thing that men and women are so different, vive la difference (wish I knew how to do symbols), it's what makes the world go around, ultimately, how can any government legislate against human nature?  Misogyny still exists, as it always will, but a wise woman knows how to turn that misogyny back on the man enough to make him squirm.  She teaches her daughter how to do it too.  Like most of the unpleasant beliefs and practices from the past, open misogyny will simply become socially unacceptable.  

I don't stand by, with, or anywhere near the so called Feminists of today.  I think the 'Me Too' movement is a huge step backwards.  Those turning trivial, instantly forgettable instances of inappropriate touching as life changing traumas are the weakest among us, not role models.  Their sensitive, fragile, natures, I would imagine, have taken all of the fun out of the workplace. The young and flirty and even the old and flirty were always the most fun to work with. When you take all that away from an office environment, what's left?  What makes you go in every day at 9.00am?  A love of typing and filing?

Feminist thinking I fear Bjorn, accompanies a clampdown on our language, our Anglo Saxon vernacular (the swear words), our innate humour, our lawful right to laugh out loud at situations we find funny.  If we go by Orwell's vision of the future, we have a dark and gloomy world ahead, one in which we all wear androgynous grey suits and sport 'back and sides'.  Who on earth wants that?

JOIN THE DISCUSSION, COVID, BORIS AND IS THE WEST MOVING TO THE RIGHT?

This week, I feel we have gone even deeper into the Twilight Zone.  I have been following the statistics for Covid-19, and even I, a non scientist or expert, can see we are still at the peak and likely to go very much higher.   If  over 2,500 people  are testing positive each day, then how many people have those 2,500 infected?  How do you trace the contacts of 2,500 every day?  It's an impossible task.

I feel the government is trying to woo us into a false sense of security in some kind of Orwellian way.  It began with the VE Day celebrations (first in my recollection) with people quickly abandoning all their weeks of quarantine to go party with their neighbours.  This week has seen the beaches packed and the streets come back to life.  It's like 'social distancing is so over'.  Why?  When I first starting checking numbers, Kent, for example, had 18 confirmed cases, now it has nearly 5,000 and I'm supposed to feel safer?

Within this blog there are those who think this global pandemic is an almighty hoax, seriously.  But they can have their say.  My first question to them is however, why?  Accusations have been thrown at Bill Gates for example, he apparently, wants to inject every citizen of the world with some kind of microchip that will turn us all into automatons. Unfortunately, that is not even a good plot for a bad sci fi movie, for what purpose for example?  And of course, Bill Gates, has never shown any signs of wanting to rule the world, no diamond collared white cats or gold toilets.

But I won't rule conspiracy theorists out altogether.  There has never been a better time, for those so minded, to harvest masses of private information about us.  I was surprised to learn for example, that all those with access to mobile phone data can literally check an area on a map to see if the population are staying inside.  I found that mind blowing, but of course, right now, there are all sorts of computer whizz kids working on 'apps' that will track and trace the infected (sorry about that, watch way too many zombie films).  We literally won't be able to go anywhere without being tracked and traced.  Scary huh?   

To be honest I gave up on privacy a long time ago, almost as soon as I joined the internet.  It's just not something I would obsess over.  I don't care that my laptop keeps me offering me personalised adverts for fat, fifty and funerals, and I don't care that the Co-op knows I occasionally treat myself to a box of fine chocolates or that I have a penchant for googling 'spooky movies'.  Stores know what our tastes are, as do banks and the machine that dishes out tickets in the car park.  They also know this is the second bottle of pink gin I have bought in 4 weeks.  All that personal information has been harvested by political parties and wanna be despots for decades.  Just for a bit of useless information, buy avocados regularly and you move up a demographic.  

Anyway, we have a good discussion going, Covid-19, Boris, Donald and is the West moving to the extreme right?  Come join us.

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How much do I hate Trump?

I know I should be talking about English politics at the moment and the hapless case of Boris Johnson and our own soaring Covid-19 cases, take it on the chin he said, you too can have a stay in ICU with a team of physicians watching you constantly, followed by a sojourn at Chequers and a short spell of paternity leave for your sixth, or is it 7th child.  Could you imagine Churchill taking time off during WWII to learn how to make bottles and change a nappy?

But as much fun as it is having a dig a Botchit Boris, he is not half as interesting as the as the lunatic in the White House.  I miss his nightly briefings, you literally never knew what was going to happen.  What dumbass idea he was going to come up with.  And tis true, I secretly hoped that at some point the men in white coats would appear, or the Cavalry at least.  Trump loves the verbal sparring and it's funny because he thinks he is winning.  His capacity to delude himself must break all previous records.  Step aside all you Napoleon Bonapartes and Julius Caesars, Donald Trump has spoken; 'I alone can fix it'.  And I suspect, if it wasn't for the Evangelists, he would push God aside too.

Now it shouldn't be entertaining to watch someone have a nervous breakdown, and I feel bad about it, but I'm going to watch anyway, I'm not going to avert my eyes.  We are all living in a time of huge change and huge turmoil, our descendants will wonder how we felt and what we saw.    How we, living in a democracy, came to elect the absolute worst of humanity as our leaders.  We haven't been pressured, we haven't been threatened or bribed, we are here as a result of free will.  How will our descendants interpret that, will they see us as greedy, selfish, inhumane?

We Brits had our opportunity to choose unity, compassion and equal opportunity, but we (not me) voted for a government that we already knew to be heartless, manipulative and probably corrupt.  For my readers in the USA, you still have hope!  That is, within a few short months, you can vote in the grown ups.  Donald Trump's toddler brain is not cute in any way, it is downright dangerous.  You have, waiting to take over and fix everything that has been broken, compassionate statesmen and stateswomen, who understand how government works and how legislature affects ordinary citizens.  Will Trump for example, be held to account for the chaos that ensued following his instinct to ban all flights from Europe?  The thousands trapped in crowded airports for hours on end?  Trump doesn't think.  Johnson has the same problem.

It is bizarre on every level, but especially from the perspective of an onlooker from across the pond.  Your leader has abandoned his leadership and is pretending the coronavirus isn't happening.  True, our leader has also abandoned his leadership, but at least he doesn't think it is a hoax foisted on us by the Labour Party and China.  He also, hasn't as yet, suggested we inject bleach.  I suspect Trump's delegating his powers to the States is because he can see disaster coming and he would prefer the Governors to be held accountable and not he.  Globally, 50million died as a result of the 1918 pandemic, 675,000 in the USA, so right now he is a man with a lot of wriggle room.  Handing responsibility for the pandemic over to the Governors individually, is probably the weakest and most cowardly tactic he could come up with, but he has no idea how to lead and he doesn't have the humility to ask for advice from others.  If Hilary Clinton were President right now, she would have Bill, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and probably George Bush as well, to turn to.  Trump has no-one, because he thinks he is a stable genius and he alone can fix it.  That's scary, see his business history.

But Trump has 100% faith in his ability to bullshit.  More particularly his ability to bullshit the uneducated, who he professes to love.  But he doesn't love them enough to ensure they have the same testing and protections that he and his White House staff have.  Not that they even got that right, as I write this, two members of staff close to Trump and Pence have tested positive for coronavirus.  If the hapless Trump administration cannot keep the virus away from the President and the Vice President, how does that bode for the rest of the USA?  Trump's main tactic, it would appear, is to pretend the virus has gone away.  All his wishes haven't come true, but he is acting as though they have.  There is a sad little boy in there somewhere, but there are a lot of bigger problems to cope with right now.   

I don't judge the American people by their ghastly President and the deplorables that follow him.  I love them for their confidence, their honesty, their sense of fair play (most of the time), I never miss Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, the two Jimmies, Kimmel and Fallon, and not American born, Trevor Noah.  I love their writers, their actors and comedians, and of late, their glamour.  And of course, I love everything Hollywood.  All the cool people, it would appear, hate Trump and his destruction of culture.   It's weird how those on the right always want to destroy art rather than celebrate it.  Perhaps because art, literature and music carries the history of their wrong doings.   Trump will do all in his power to cover up the number of deaths, the number infected and the number unemployed.  Whilst he has all the power he can alter public records.  That won't help anyone, but he will argue, China did first.

He can't however distort the truth in the way he would like.  He has tried 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain' a couple of times, and it's never taken.  Journalists are fact checking him on every lying word that comes out of his mouth and it irks him.  Some say he is constantly off his head on Adderall and Sudafed, maybe even cocaine.  He certainly sniffs a lot and his eyes look as though he has hayfever, so it's a possibility.  To me, he brings to mind, every time I have ever been cornered by some drunken, braggadocious old man at a party.  When I was younger, obviously. That is, they/he repeat over and over again for fear you did not fully take in details of their large apartment with room for a pony. Err, yeah, heard that several times - still don't like  you.  I swear if I were in that press gaggle I would get everyone to question him about ventilators, just to take the pee and off script.

My kindest wishes to all my readers, wherever you may be.  Take care.  

JUST MUSING, ROYALTY, STREET PARTIES AND HOW NOT MAKE RICE PUDDING

 One of my readers has taken umbridge at my praise of Sweden's Princess Sofia as a role model and the response from my scholarly Swedish contributor, Bjorn.  This lovely, modern, 21st century Princess responded to the corona crisis by quickly taking an online course and going straight to work in a hospital caring for Covid-19 patients.  

His anger, I think, was the notion of a Princess being a role model, that is ordinary people are doing every day what she does, why should she be singled out for praise?  Is that right?  I wonder dear Reader, if you have ever come across the expression 'it is as it is'? I confess, I did not come across it, or pay any heed to it, until I was in my 50's.  The younger me wouldn't have tolerated that at all, to me those words and 'that's the way we've always done it' was fighting talk.  I wanted to change things and I knew I was right, (but not popular), but I would push ahead regardless. The aged, experienced, wiser me, says go make a rice pudding instead.

But back to Royalty,  being role models is pretty much all they have these days, well that, and diplomatic relations.  The Swedish royal family live lives much closer to ordinary people, than the Windsors, but they are still of interest to their nation and worldwide.  Your neighbour dear reader, or friend (if you have one) may be working 16 hour shifts and be deserving of praise, but, putting it bluntly, ordinary people are not of interest to the general public. It is as it is.

The idea of royalty being role models probably began with Queen Victoria who wanted her family to be seen as the ideal model family, something every British citizen should aspire to.  Being respectable, not (getting caught) committing adultery, not getting drunk in public and not saying anything controversial.  It is their strict family code.  They cannot risk becoming unpopular.  And we, a collective we, do look to our Royal families, perhaps more than we look towards celebrities and media stars, for guidance, or at least a nod, as to how we should behave.  If a royal princess dons rubber gloves and joins those on the front line fighting this pandemic, it sends a powerful message to millions.  I won't say it glamourizes the menial, humble, tasks she has taken on, but for many young people, they may think if a princess can do this, so can I.  

For me, it brought to mind our own Merry Monarch, Charles II best known for his dalliance with a certain buxom seller of oranges, Nell Gwyn.  Lesser known, is that he was a veritable hero during the Great Fire of London in 1666.  He jumped straight into action. Not only did he utilise the full powers of his office, sending troops to control the spread, he worked on the scene day and night fighting the fire directly and instituting and managing aid for the hungry and homeless.  I try, whenever I read anything about him, to remember that.

I agree Bjorn that what Princess Sofia is doing comes straight from the heart.  She could have chosen a 'safe' job but she chose to endure what ordinary Swedish people are enduring in the hospitals, she has quite literally, gone straight to the front line.  That's pretty awesome.  I was also quite touched to see the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, delivering food parcels with her children.  Now there's a 'Diana' influence!

I have to say I like our own Royals, the Windsors, far more than I used to. My change of heart happened literally within one lightbulb moment.  Sadly, it was following the bomb at the Arianna Grande concert in Manchester.  I watched the Queen (90+) visiting, the mostly young, victims in hospital.  I was mesmerized by the power of her presence, the positive, glowing effect, her smile had on the patients and the staff.  All my viva la revolucion went out the window, I was deeply touched that a lady of such a great age came to offer comfort to the victims and the NHS staff caring for them.  Now as we are in the midst of this century's Great Plague, I find myself heartened and reassured by her words.  The Queen endures, the Monarchy endures, England endures.  I am picking up all those messages, and yes I know they are carefully planted there by spin doctors, but I'm OK with that.  For once they doing something for the good, they are boosting our morale, a strategy that worked during WWII and a strategy that works now.

I was sorry to see however, that loving Queen and Country, went to such crazy lengths yesterday to celebrate VE Day.  Months of lockdown and a day of lunacy!   Now I am not normally a purveyor of doom and gloom, but fffffs sake, have any of those people partying yesterday, even glanced at what happened the last time the world was hit by a global pandemic?  For their information, we have gone through the first wave, now we are just waiting for the big one.  Think of all those people standing on the beaches in Indonesia when the tide went right back and everything went silent.  That's where we are.  

But I don't want to end on a sad note, I am currently enjoying my new OCD, a scientific approach to cooking!  The lashes have been abandoned, it is difficult enough to read recipes through a magnifying glass, throw in a pair of 'thick and flirtys' and I'm working blind!  There is also something a tad ridiculous in wearing full camera ready makeup with PJs and an apron.  True, Barbara Cartland used to do it, but sans the apron and lounging on a chaise longue.  I don't have a chaise longue.   But I digress, I have spent many years moaning about all my dishes that went wrong, now I am on a quest to recreate them, no matter how many tries, or how many failures.  The most recent, a basic rice pudding ffs, and I'm gulping back tears here, was a disaster.  I baked it in the oven for two hours as directed, but I missed the bit where it said stir halfway through!  The result?  Not a soft, creamy, happy memory of school dinners but what can only described as a slab, think breeze block, with a pool of gone off milk around it.

Oops, and there's another sad note, but my kindest wishes to all who look in, it's hard to imagine that we are all pretty much in the same boat just now, albeit socially distanced, in that we are looking for ways in which to keep ourselves occupied and a lot of people have turned to cooking.  I can finally, after decades, put a tick beside perfect Quiche Lorraine (60s bacon and egg pie) and Lemon Meringue.  I think we are all now being more creative because we have to use what we've got!  I'm getting more obscure items online, one vanilla pod for £4 (I know!), gelatine and presently awaiting 3 nutmegs.  I am still recovering from the trauma of the last rice pudding, but I will try again!  Take care everyone.      

ON MAKING PASTRY

In response to a charmless poster on my last blog who seems personally affronted that I am spending my days putting on makeup, binge watching Netflix and cooking.  Forsooth!  What outrage, perhaps I should go outside and break a few stones just to make the Methodists feel better.  

As it happens, cooking is my main preoccupation these days.  The make up not so much - it's impossible read to my faded Delia book through false eyelashes, no matter how natural they are and I always fear they will off and land in the batter.  Reading the small print of a recipe is an ongoing problem, and I've never got used to my bifocals, they make me feel permanently drunk without the fun bit.  Happily I have a large magnifying glass that I got in the pound shop, it was handy for checking fat and sugar contents as I used to go round the supermarket.   

I have now spent several days trying to make perfect pastry.  True, I have treated every pastry shell I have baked as 'it', the 'yeah I done it' moment, but it's not true.  The first looked amazing but had a soggy bottom :(  The next, burnt around the edges with a bottom that would break teeth.  Picture perfect, but dentists would not recommend.  I think I know where I went wrong there, apart from the over cooking.  A slip of the hand while adding the water and the addition of more flour to soak it up, destined it to be hard in the first place.  Doh!  All those basic lessons I learned in the Domestic Science class room, why can't I get it right?  I feel very much like Dr. Frankenstein, I'm not giving up until I achieve my goal!  Should point out my own workshop of filthy creation is more covered in flour than blood and guts.  

I haven't mentioned the quiches and flans that went before, but the above were made after watching every perfect pastry video I could find. I have discovered that if you take the pastry case out of the oven before the outer edges burn, you will have a soggy bottom.  If you cook the bottom, you will have burnt outer edges.  The solution, I'm hoping, tin foil which I was not able to get but have now.  My plan, to cover the outer edges of the pastry case with tin foil before they begin to burn, foolproof huh?  Watch this space.

On the plus side.  I have discovered I can make good (though not yet tasty or divine) pliable shortcrust pasty with minimal involvement of my hot little hands - the fault of all my pastries from years gone by. The solution, I no longer rub in the butter and flour, I use a mixer.  This has opened up a whole new world on the cooking front for me.  I no longer have to plan quiches and flans in advance by buying shop bought pastry, I can rustle it up whenever I want and make something yummy out of whatever I've got in the fridge!  A small step for mankind I know, but a giant leap for me. 

In case any pastry makers are looking in, and just musing here, I was taught, at school, half fat to flour and the fat should be half butter and half lard.  The butter for the flavour, the lard for the shortening effect. Most recipes now call for all butter, which I have been doing, but something's not quite right.  Could be, musing out loud, that I am using salt free butter, but not sure that's it.  Perhaps the lard does have it's place?  On the taste front, I'm sure I do not add enough salt, that is, I use a literal 'pinch' and unsalted butter.  The lard I think, will be trial and error to find the correct ratio.  

Next week I am expecting via ebay and Amazon, vanilla pods and gelatine.  I have never used actual vanilla pods before, so looking forward to giving them a try.  I have always had a bit of a mental block with gelatine, having grown up with cubes and quick jel, but I would love to learn how to use it.  Panna Cotta is one of my favourite desserts, definitely in my top ten meals on death row, but I have never attempted it due to lack of vanilla pods.   I love foods with a soufflé, mousse like texture so looking forward to trying some out.  

It would seem from social media, that making do is bringing out our creative sides, especially on the cooking front.  I would love to hear about your efforts.  

For now, my kindest wishes to everyone, I hope that you are keeping amused and finding new or even old interests to amuse you.  Try not to let down your guard, even for a moment, you are safe because you worked towards staying safe, never forget that.  Take care.

DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THE SECOND WAVE AND MAKING CHIPS

So what have I been doing during this long sojourn, an angry reader asks, implying that my absence from my blog is some kind of insult to my readers.  It isn't of course.  I appreciate my readers, because when you are a struggling writer it is very difficult to get anyone to read your work, let alone provide feedback!  That people return again and again is a wonderful compliment.  As long is someone is reading me, I will carry on writing.

Most of my time and attention has been focussed on the craziness of Donald Trump.  I listen to and watch news all my waking hours, even when exercising and making jam, which I have now taken up - I only make small amounts as I need it, sooo much nicer than preserves.  But tis true I should be focussed on the craziness of Boris Johnson, and in the past I would have been, but Trump has taken lunacy to a whole new level.  I have been watching his nightly press conferences in fascination, actually in shock and awe. I despise him, but I can't look away.  There is nothing he will not do to grab attention and headlines, he is, in his head, smashing his oppoponents for the entertainment of his base.  Like Jerry Springer, he is just 2 seasons away from removing the chairs so they will have more room to fight.  He is empowered because he has got away with not revealing his tax returns, Russian interference in the 2016 election and impeachment.  He feels free to do whatever he wants.

Right now the USA is in the midst of the pandemic and all the science shows it is not going away.  The infection rate is slowly going down as a result of the shut down.  Re-opening would start it up again.  The same thing happened during the 1918 Spanish flu - when people started to go out again there was another wave, much bigger and far more deadly, and it wasn't the last.  The scientists, those not watched over by Trump, are very clear, the pandemic is far from over.   

Trump has said that other people, not himself, would advise 'get back up on the horse', 'take it on the chin', 'let the virus do it's worst', after all most people get over it.   It is obvious those 'other people' are indeed himself, and he is just using it as a ruse to get those ideas out there.  And it's working, some of his supporters protesting the shut down carried banners that said 'Sacrifice the week' (sic).  The weak are a sacrifice Trump is willing to make in order to re-open his hotels.  Unfortunately he was told that 2 million lives lost was a worse case scenario, ergo, anything below that he will consider a success.  

I am hoping that before Trump fully launches his genocide, that the doctors, generals, scientists et al, who waste 2+ hours each day standing behind him, or sitting on the sidelines during these critical times, will face the fact that the President is stark raving mad.  That his promotion of untested drugs is wrong (and dangerous), that encouraging civil unrest is wrong, that claiming the coronavirus is going away is wrong.  I always wonder what Trump has that demands such grovelling and subservience from his underlings.  All I can think of is, he's got something on them.  That's a tough one with Dr. Birx, but he may be holding her family hostage.  

Boris Johnson is convalescing in Checkers, a stately home for the relaxation and enjoyment of Prime Ministers, a place where they can take a break from public and media scrutiny.  Lucky him, I am sure our reporters have quite a few probing questions, my first would be 'so how do you feel about taking it on the chin now?'.

My kindest wishes to all who still look in, and I hope that you are keeping healthy, mentally and physically.  I am trying to stick to healthy foods, 7 fruit and veg a day!  Not easy given the bare shelves and all, but achievable if you put your mind to it and like lentils!  And yes, I am counting my homemade jam as one of my 7 a day!  So too the piece of dried up old lemon I added to my G&T. Where previously I would have turned up my hooter, I am eating bread hovering on the eat by date and a weird variety of soups/stews, chillies and curries, all a mystery until I defrost them because I didn't bother to fill in the convenient labels when I froze them.  I really want to throw them out but my conscience nags me, they were in fact put in the freezer 'in case of an apocalypse', and deh, here we are.  

The shortages are actually making me creative on the cooking front.  I can get potatoes, I can get cooking oil, I have a heavy bottomed saucepan - I can make homemade chips!  Egg and chips has always been in my top ten of meals to have should I find myself on death row with multiple menus.  And we kids of the 60s know that homemade chips can turn anything into a scrumptious meal.  My dear old dad mastered the art, and declared that forever more, chips should be cooked 'his way'.  That is, they should be cut into chip shapes, raw, dried off a bit with kitchen roll, then plunged into oil so hot that it bubbles when the chips are added.  They should be fried for approx. 5 minutes, until just before they begin to turn brown, then removed from the oil from a couple of moments. allowing the oil to get back to maximum heat, then the chips should be plunged back in, for approx. 2/3 minutes.  They will brown immediately at this point.  Take out, drain on kitchen paper, then keep warm in oven while you cook the next batch!  

I had hoped to end this blog with something poignant and meaningful, instead I give a recipe for chips!  Should you attempt them, that is making chips without a bespoke chip fryer, as we did in the old days, ha ha, make safety your top priority.  That is put the pan with oil on a back burner and never leave it alone untended, even for one moment.  Dry the chips off with kitchen towel before lowering them into the oil, water makes hot oil splash.  And make sure you turn the gas off when done.  Making chips takes 15/20 minutes, give it your full attention and the result will be delicious.




If you are looking in Bjorn, I was heartened to see Princess Sofia volunteering to help health professionals in a local hospital with coronavirus patients.  Not the glamorous stuff, but the cleaning, cooking and care, what a wonderful example she is!

COVID-19 and TRUMP'S CRAZY PRESSER

I am struggling just now to find the kind of news I want about Covid-19.  I want to know, with examples, how the virus spread, the beginnings of each cluster and how the virus was passed on.  Was it through the schools, the shops, the physical contact or simply sharing the same air?  Did the UK do contact tracting?  Is there a crack team investigating how the virus works, where are the most likely places to come into contact with it?  Is it on trains, buses, in taxi cabs, shops, on the paper and plastic bags we collect our food in?  Is it on our food, should we disinfect our salad and tins?  I want to know the nitty gritty.  I want to know the hot spots in my area, I want to know where the contagion originated, where it came from, how it will spread.  I want to know how all those people who are staying in are doing?  Have any of them caught the virus, even though they have stuck to all the rules?

I looked at carehomes for the elderly as an example.  I wanted to know how the virus spreads so rapidly between patients who are, presumably confined within their own rooms.  Is it brought in by visitors?  Or is it being spread by doctors, nurses and carers who are not being tested and who are not being supplied with PPE?   Sadly, it is more likely to be the latter.  Those countries that have flattened the curve, have been meticulous in making sure their key workers on the front line have the protection they need.  

To be fair, I have not researched these questions too intently, I'm not absolutely sure I want to know the answers.  Silly of course, because once you have all the information you can calm your own fears.  Information gives you the power to make your own choices, to assess the risks 

If I were younger, I would probably be eager for life to return as it was.  During my twenties and thirties, I would literally weep when I could not go out.  I guess I even enjoyed going to work every day, I mostly worked in the City of London as a temporary secretary for decades, spent nearly two of them in one firm alone!  I didn't understand the philosophy behind 'Greed is Good'*, but I was fully onboard with the partying.  I worked in an area where the lunchtime pubs were filled with derrivatives traders on manic highs, it was hard to tell their ages as most were burned out by their thirties.  Always up for a good party though!  Young people must be going demented, at the prime of their life they are stuck indoors.  Thank heavens they have social media.  They must be suffering far more from the social isolation than their elders.  For we elders I think, the staying in will be months rather than weeks.

As my regular readers know, I am obsessed at the moment with US news and the antics of Donald Trump especially.  In a world that is becoming increasingly unreal, his being President of the USA is perhaps the most bizarre.  I watched his press conference last night, his worst to date, astonished that his wall of enablers didn't bat an eyelid, as he claimed to have absolute power and raged at journalists.  I only caught the tail end so didn't see the campaign ad, as fascinating as Trump the Insane is, his rambling off of statistics and tributes to himself are repetitive and boring.  I usually just opt for the highlights on twitter.  Will Trump ever reach the point where he should clearly be taken away in a straight jacket? And will the people lined up on the Praise Trump wall acknowledge it?  Will Ivanka and Jared hold onto an elbow each and prop him up 'Weekend At Bernies' style, when he starts dribbling and talking about the old MAGA days?  Has anyone checked to see if he is actually alive?  He keeps repeating himself over and over, the tape may be stuck?

But I wandered.  My kindest wishes to all who keep popping in, even the grumpy ones.  These are strange and surreal times, and it is hard to stay strong when there is so much to fear.  But, as every disaster film will tell you, staying strong is the key to survival.  Healthy food, daily exercise, reading facts from reliable sources will keep the fears in perspective.  Take care.  





*Gordon Gecko, Wall Street

LIFE DURING AN APOCOLYPSE - JUST MUSING

Unfortunately, my blog attracts more than it's fair share of raving lunatics and conspiracy theorists.  It always has, for obvious reasons, but even after I had dropped the favourite topic, the weirdos, as I call them, have hung on.

Now they believe the coronavirus is a big hoax, a way in which to rush in draconian new laws that will infringe our personal liberties and lead us into a totalitarian Communist state.  The 'our' in this case is the United States and the United Kingdom, two countries presently ruled by fat cat billionaires who don't even pretend to want equality, the, err, binary opposite of communism  Whilst I agree we will probably lose many freedoms along the way, now is not the time to stir up rebellion, stopping the pandemic must take priority.  They assume that the majority of us are stupid and brainwashed because we are taking government guidelines seriously.  They mock that we applaud all the front line NHS workers, suggesting our next trick should be to roll over as if we were compliant dogs.

To be fair, I don't have any actual English blood in me, but as a child of the 60's I was raised to be proud of my British home.  Proud that we alone stood up to Hitler, proud that our predecessors stood side by side with their neighbours and fellow countrymen to fight the enemy on the beaches and the landing grounds, in the streets, fields and hills.  That's what we need right now.  The will, and clever organising people, to get the world back on track.

They are this century's equivalent of Lord Haw Haw, not Germany calling, but predatory sharks looking for a financial killing on the deaths of society's most vulnerable.  Both the sharks and the vultures are hovering.  The Western world looked on the coronavirus as a challenging new way to make billions.  Race you to the patents office, say the Kushners to the Trumps.  And in the UK, herd immunity - what a great new way to reduce the benefits bill?

Comparing the statistics for coronavirus in China, the Far East and Russia, it would appear that the communist countries have contained the Covid-19 far more effectively than the capitalist countries.  Meanwhile, Trump and all those minions propping him up, couldn't care less about the lives of American Citizens and here in the UK, our PM has just awoken from an up close and personal experience with the virus.  Hopefully this awakening will force him to do the right thing.

History has shown us that major catastrophes bring about major changes, WWI for example had a huge impact on class divisions - the aristocracy were dying alongside the coalminers in the trenches.  The aftermath of WWII saw the launch of the Welfare State and Homes for Heroes, a huge surge in care for the working classes.

At the moment we are in the middle of the pandemic and we don't know how bad it is going to get.   We need the spirit of Wartime, another Churchill (Jeremy would have achieved that), that feeling of all pulling together to fight a common enemy.  I despair of these malcontents and ingrates, who are so eaten up inside by whatever evil possesses them, that they will gripe and whine about those who are doing their best to help us.  Wtf is wrong them?  I cannot thank enough all those people who are ready to take care of us and those who are making sure we get food and medicines.  The doctors, the nurses, the paramedics, the delivery drivers, the shelf stackers, they are the heroes this time round.  If Churchill were alive, they would be the 'few'* we would be thanking.

These are miserable times and we are all scared, but what I find more scary is the way in which all our demeanours have changed.  Everyone is tense and grumpy.  Even I am supressing my inner urge to spread sweetness and light. I don't want to smile, I don't want to get into conversation, I'm suffocating from my black ninja mask because I tied knots in the ear elastic to shorten it, and now I can't get them out.  If I go blue and keel over, it will probably be the mask.

I am now getting bored.  I have watched The Tudors and Versailles hundreds of times over and have almost finished every episode of Project Runway.  If I had a genie in a bottle I would ask him to take me back to age 15 and get me into couture.  Having said that, I will now feel a bit of a phoney asking for 'No Regrets' in my funeral songs.  

Much as I don't want to go to the dark side, it's hard not to think of your own mortality at this time.  I've never feared death, because I, like William Blake, believe it is a door to another paradise, I also draw in a bit of Buddhism, because I believe if it was shit this time round, you come back as something better.  I'm torn between wanting to be an Egyptian Queen or a pampered cat, the couture loving me, would pick Cleopatra, but look how that ended?  Totally worth it for a night with Richard Burton (it was the voice!) btw, but a lifetime of tummy tickling and finest smoked salmon.....hmm.   In any event, I am very much in the plus side with the karma, it is my nature to be kind, it's why I sleep well.  

I suppose at a time like this it would be a good idea to have a proper God, a proper religion.  Perhaps I should just sum it up by saying 'faith', faith in something, anything.  I had a very unstable mother, so to be fair I have never really had faith in anything.  But I kind of envy people who do have faith, they are able to switch all their cares and woes to an unseen entity that is more powerful than them.  Sticking with power as the optimum word, I have never in my life been able to hand my power to anyone, certainly not to a mythological being that no-one has ever seen.  My stubbornness, as I may have mentioned, led to a very unhappy time in the convent.  To be honest, as a kid, having to attend church every fecking day, I would stare at the priests and nuns in all their medieval garb with gormless looks on their faces and their hands clasped.  Did they really believe I would ask myself, or were they were putting it on like great big phonies?  I always opted for the latter and the inevitable battering.

Now, I am more philosophical.  I understand that people have different needs, for some they live more contented lives by belonging to a community or congregation.  Some people like to hand over responsibility for their lives to a God or higher power, that is more bearable than taking responsibility for themselves.  I once read, many years ago, that the two biggest evils in the world were capitalism and religion.  I had not at that time gone into higher education, and thought it a bit harsh on religion.  I was a lapsed Catholic, but Catholicism one of the two greatest evils?  It puzzled me, I needed to know more.  I want to compress all I learned into one or two sentences, suffice to say, my God's bigger than your God.  Now the word 'herd' is politically correct, how about herd mentality?

But religion for many provides family values, community spirit, a sense of belonging, I can't knock it.  We have gone 2000 plus years and still haven't replaced the life and family guidelines set out in the Old Testament, except now we sacrifice immigrants rather than goats and livestock.  The biggest argument religious Christian zealots have is that we wouldn't know how to behave without the rules set down by their God.  That is, we would all be killing, stealing, disrespecting our parents and coveting our neighbours wives/partners, if the good Lord hadn't told us not to.  I can't say I have ever had inclination to murder, steal or covet, even without guidelines, and frankly find it a bit odd that people need to be told not to do that.

Now I have described myself as a lot of things.  First of all a Roman Catholic (no choice), then atheist - be gone you god botherers, anti-theist - anti God worshippers, agnostic - hmm, there might be something....  back to RC, there is something very comforting in lighting a candle and accompanying it with a prayer.  Besides, I've always thought of confessing all I can think of as I draw my last breath, just to hedge my bets.  

But mostly, I am agnostic.  That is I believe there is an afterlife of sorts.  During life we have people with whom we have connected, our souls have entwined, we love them more life itself.  And I think they are watching over us and I think we will meet again.  I should hasten to add, I do not believe in spiritualists, mediums or any other con artist who sets out to deceive people.  I think they are very cruel.

We don't need spiritualist and mediums, we can see our loved ones, in the faces of all their descendants, in one way or another.  They may have the same facial features, gestures, crooked smiles, sparkly eyes, those lost, live on.  Be it nature, or nurture, the genes are there and they carry on from generation to generation. 

Well that ended up very deep, but I have annoying habit of speaking out loud when I really shouldn't.  Regardless, my kindest wishes to all who still look in.  I vowed to carry on writing even if I had only one reader left, and maybe now I should step up to the plate for those who have kindly hung on.  Right now, I pray to all the Gods there may be (especially fond of the Greek ones) to take care of all us.  Please, please, be kind and thoughtful, and if you can, give a smile to the person who crosses the street to avoid you. For the narcissistic sociopaths out there, it's not personal.





*Never has so much been owed by so many to so few.