Wednesday

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'The Lochaber' stands at Mallaig after depositing a trainload of tourists. The journey through the West Highland Line found most of us queuing up to shove our heads out of the windows, take pictures and receive eyefuls of soot to enhance the joy. None complained! Mallaig itself is a mere fishing village and departure point for the ferry to the Isle of Skye. Whether this still runs I know not as the bridge at the Kyle of Lochalsh has been opened for some years now. The steam train runs during the summer months and well worth the time and trouble I must say! Head for Fort William and spend a day pulled by steam!

So the lunatics have won the US election! The 'Tea Party,' a group of mentally unstable fascists with no understanding of the world, have forced themselves into Congress. The 'Tea Party' of course covers a large number of different people, almost all white, and a large number of differing policies. Andrew Neil had a programme on them the other day and it as very worrying, especially when you consider that most of them have guns! In fact one interviewee claimed he was living in a 'tyranny.' When Andrew indicated that he was free to speak to him, that no secret police watched his house, that there was no Stalin or Hitler dictating too him, the 'oppressed' was somewhat stuttering. He eventually pointed out that in Washington they wanted to "Initiate gun laws!" This he thought was 'tyranny.' The ageing son of one time potential president called 'Wallace' (I canny mind his full name but I remember him as a racist thug in the 60's,') complained there was "Too much government and why do we need government anyway?" He also demanded to know why the government should tell him how to educate his children, and left me wondering if insanity was in the genes? The programme was full of such people, all with more than enough cash, talking of 'Socialism' because Obama wished to have a proper health service, and 'Communism' because thy had no understanding of what this means. Gathering in their thousands on the anniversary of Martin Luther Kings famous speech the 'Tea Party' abused his memory while making the leading members of the movement very wealthy indeed. Gary Glen (?) one of the main men appeared like a salesman more used to selling second hand cars, along with his books and videos, etc, has made millions, it appears, out of his screaming opposition to Obama, and yet not once has he admitted the basis of the opposition is racism! Let's face it, a black president, and a resentment of paying taxes (without which no society can exist) lies at the heart of the 'Tea Movement.' The most frightening was the church minister telling his congregation which way to vote! Clearly biblical truth and middle America are strangers to one another. Watching the programme and listening to Sarah (look at me) Palin, observing the blogs and US papers it leaves us wondering in the free world just what goes on in the minds of Americans? The worship of the Constitution, written by a man who had 200 slaves, means more than the bible to the minister and his people. The misuse of the early ideas to suit passing fashion lines the pockets of lawyers and does nothing for the people themselves, most Americans are far from rich it appears. Thousands losing their homes yet one man wished to end all welfare, no matter what happens to the people! America, land of the free?  These people not only have guns they have nuclear weapons. Aren't you glad their presidents can lose the code numbers sometimes? 

  

Of course the United Kingdom, with the high education standards, some of the oldest and best universities in the world, can find that watching soap operas, and daytime television can blunt the thinking processes somewhat! There again, she is just a woman of course.....

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