Missing Child

The media storm over this missing child worries me. Now I am all in favour of parents being concerned for missing children, and hope that the child is found. However, I feel she is now, sadly, gone for ever.

The media coverage and the fact that an ex reporter from a tabloid paper is now giving advice to the family, is disturbing. Why? because we have gone overboard on one child while ignoring all the others who have gone missing.
Worldwide Unicef claims around 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. How come this is rarely mentioned? The reason is simple. Most of them are in Africa or South East Asia. One white middle class British child is worth more than thousands of little black ones from the third world. They do not sell papers, they do not make parents in the west identify with them. They are worth less.

But it does not stop there. This site, controlled by the police, informs us that 77,000 children go missing annually in the UK, 9000 in Scotland alone. While most will return how many disappear and for what reason? Adolescents have always ran away, sometimes to seek their fortune, often because of family problems. Just as often caused by themselves! Where do they go? Clearly they have no understanding of the dangers they face out there, clearly some will end up dead.

http://missingkids.co.uk/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_GB&PageId=0

This child has however a great publicity campaign on her side. An aunt persuaded Celtic and Aberdeen players to wear yellow armbands during their recent game. Videos are shown at the English cup final, thousands of posters are downloaded from, I understand, a dedicated website, TalkTalk add a message to every e-mail, and on and on. On one side I feel this is an excellent effort by dedicated family members, on the other, it is an imposition of their grief, and a demand is made for us to join in. It is impossible for most folk not to be concerned for this pretty little girl. It is however also possible to wonder what would happen if a working class parent, let alone one on benefits, were found failing to guard their child. Would we be so concerned? Indeed, if another big story came along after the first week, would we still hear from them? I wonder......

I wonder also about the emotional blackmail we, as a nation, are now under. It is a sad reflection on society today that if the nation mourns, or is concerned we must all join in. If we do not the nation is horrified, and we are blackballed. Another Princess Diana situation arises. far too often we are forced to join the nations emotions together. Not from concern, but form peer pressure. This is wrong and must be opposed. Nothing wrong in the nation being aroused by sympathy, and in this case we are, but something wrong in the insistence on obeying the nations mood.

This mood reflects the spiritual emptiness that is found at the heart of western society. The need for God, has been largely filled with empty celebrity. It was ever thus. We need a cause, as a nation we need a war to bind us together against the foe, as individuals the need is satisfied, but only partly, by a football team or a lover, a job or a political party. All too often, the UK, once so tight lipped, allows itself an orgy of emotion, the first big outlet was Diana, this weeks is Mandy. The child suffers and we use her as much as the kidnappers. What they do I do not wish to contemplate, our national emotion is fulfilling our needs, not caring for her.

Nagging women, or is it Woman?

Why do women nag? It appears that no matter what part of the world a person visits, you will find a nagging woman! Of course, you will also find she has no reason to nag? There never is. How can a woman nag when she is surrounded by men? Men are the most reasonable of souls. Men tolerate the most unreasonable girls, the most thoughtless behaviour, the needless routine questions about their appearance ('what haircut?'), and an an inability to be anywhere on time.
Yet women complain? Why?

One example of this is Blackberry Juniper. She ignores me for what seems like years, spends all her time concentrating on her man, never phones, never calls, never e-mails, yet complains when she is not mentioned on these ramblings! Now she has been mentioned in the past, but has not noticed. Did I complain? Did I hold my breath until I went blue in the face? NO! I did what all men would do in the circumstances, I just got on with watching the football. Now there's another thing! Watching football. How many women will complain that it's '...always the same...' then go of and watch some soap opera? Tell me the changes in any soap opera over the last ten years? You can't because there has not been any changes! This one is still the baddie, that one the womaniser, she still the bitch, that one the tart! IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME RUBBISH!!!!!

Yet the women who watch it week by week don't notice. Why? Yet, if you wear the same shirt to work you wore yesterday they ask why? I have known men forced to change ties because 'You wore that one last time you went there.' A toilet seat being up becomes war at home, while hoovering when the cup final is on is OK??????????

No excuse to nag exists, yet women do. The toilet seat, the shirt, the ignoring the hair ('what hair?'), forgetting a birthday ('you're 48, I thought it was tactful to forget...oh 45, sorry.'), the anniversary slipped the mind ('I thought I would take you out on Saturday, honest'). If a man so much as throws a paper on the floor, in his house, she tells him to put it where it belongs ( he would like to!), he opens the window she wants it shut, she panics because the child needs a new school bag and he is not panicking also, so she complains, long and loud. If she e-mails, and he does not respond within her time frame (which changes constantly) he is nagged, constantly. Forgetting to mention a woman on here (and I am always pointing out their foibles her ooh missus) and sly comments will pass, like. MENTION ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blackberry Juniper is of course a sweet young thing. Good looking, attractive, highly intelligent, capable of doing anything she chooses, wise (usually) hard working, good humoured, and on top of this a best selling novelist (tomorrow). Bet she nags me soon mind.........

Essex

Essex as a county is often treated with a great deal of disrespect. The image is one of the 'Essex girl' A lass who's ambition is to appear topless in 'The Sun' or reach the dizzy heights of being a high class 'model.' After that she will write her autobiography which, one day, she will actually get round to reading. The 'Essex Boy' of course has developed into a full blown 'Chav' these days. Burberry baseball cap, baggy trousers, and lots of cheap Argos jewellery. A shaven head and a gold ear ring helps to seal the image. Scars are worth extra points, and of course an ASBODagenham way.

However, while such folk do exist, and they do, believe me, they do, not all of Essex lives up to the stereotype. On the contrary, it is a place awash with cash! Many a pop star or movie hero will find a thatched or imitation Tudor eight bedroom house with several acres of garden to keep the residuum from the door. The election shows just how many Conservative voters can be found in this part of the world. Small country towns and villages are predominately Tory, and after the recent elections the county is almost all blue! Some areas remain, like Colchester, Liberal Democrat, and a few stay red for Labour, like Harlow. However, for the most part Essex is a moneyed place. The working class also tend to be Conservative in their outlook, lorry and taxi drivers have always been of course, the 'What's mine I keep' people. No concern for others, money first, until they can no longer work of course, then it is as many benefits as possible. many in Essex share this outlook. The 'Daily Mail' and 'Express' must do well here.

Essex is also a delightful place to visit. Historic castles, green and pleasant land, seaside, estuaries, bird sanctuaries and occasional sunshine. Narrow country lanes attract many motor cyclists in the warmer months, around nineteen died last year because of carelessness. But others stop to admire the churches which, in some cases, have stood on that spot for nearly a thousand years. All the requirements an individual needs for a few days out. On top of this Essex is one of the safest counties in England. Put aside the stereotype, leave that along the Thames coast, and let it remain there. or two will make you a hero down

Bank Holiday Monday

It was obvious this was a bank holiday Monday. The minute I woke I could here the rain outside.
The few cars that passed swished through the wet roads, and rain drops thudded slowly, but steadily, on the ledge outside. However, those walking the dogs in the park found the weather, while wet, quite warm. Summer type rain may come straight down but can be actually quite refreshing. Not sure the dog walkers early in the day thought this way mind.

Swifs

I saw the first swift of the year yesterday evening. A sure sign of summer approaching. Wonderful to see. Swifts, or bluebird's as we used to call them up north, are great birds to see. They spend their time flying around, sometimes high in the sky chasing one another, and then racing past the window at high speed. At all times screeching loudly and enjoying the moment. For a year or two they had a nest in the extractor fan outlet. Unfortunately the landlords man must have blocked their entrance in some way when he painted the outside of the building. Pity, but there were several places in the roof that allowed starlings also to make nests. These too appear to have been closed off.

Long bright days, except for the cloud that covers us at the moment, and swifts high in the sky. beasties crawling and flying around, birds sweetly singing in the trees, the fragrance of blossom. Simple things, but something that makes life so much better.

Elections in Essex & Scotland

O.K. it's bore time. Let's talk elections.

In Essex there is little surprise that the area has a blue tinge. In this town alone 42 out of 60 seats are Conservative. Service cut backs ahead I think. What services you cry? Ah yes, possibly another late night bus withdrawn, if it still runs. East Anglia has turned blue, but there is no surprise in this. For the most part the moneyed classes predominate, and while an occasional swing to another comes from time to time, most are happier with the party that worships cash as opposed to people. In one area they attempted to modernise using the equipment used in Scotland. It failed! Isn't progress wonderful? The Scots vote meant nothing to these folks of course. Too them Scotland is another county of England. But they do resent having to pay for it. In fact, Scotland has of course carried England for years, but facts do not stop race hatred do they? Some even demand an independent English parliament, ignoring the fact that Westminster has only ever considered itself English for three hundred years. Again such facts do not fit in this part of the world.

Scotland has given the SNP the best chance it has ever had for showing what it can do. It is not enough to demand independence, a party must be able to govern, and govern well. This will be difficult under proportional representation, as this does not give one party an overwhelming lead. Pity. I am not keen on the type of PR used in the Scots election. However, the SNP will probably join with the Lib Dems and work something out. What exactly, remains to be seen.
Emotionally most Scots want independence. Rangers fans and Tories do not. One because of a twisted view of Ulster, and the other fearing for their wallets. I wonder if the folk in Perthshire have houses in East Anglia?

What real difference will all this make for you and me? Little I suppose. More boring political half truths on the radio and telly. Much too much in the way of conjecture from the chattering classes. But overall, the man in the street will see little change. Prices rise, the economy fluctuates, his job may or may not continue, his wife will nag and feel she could do better elsewhere, his kids will rebel and cause upset, the cat will be sick on the bed.

Overall, life continues as normal for the most part. Hey ho. Isn't democracy great?