This somewhat distorted view from my seat this morning was the result of two things. First I was getting bored as being half term people take off for a holiday, not by BA I hope, and the town is quieter than usual. The other reason was playing with the wee camera and trying to get something out of it, this is not really working for me. I suppose I am too used to the big one and this is a wee bit fiddly point and shoot affair.
This is not to imply nothing was happening, sixteen children attended the workshop this morning and all were very happy as they left, two grannies being the happiest as they appeared to enjoy things more than the kids! The parents who left their and went off to other duties were clearly happy to have two hours to themselves, one managing to get so much done she struggled to comprehend what was happening! When the kids are not around things are so quiet and housework gets done! Lovely kids all of them today I must say, and the owners are good folks also.
The other pictures were not up to much also and when the museum is quiet like this it gets a bit wearying. Occasionally there are things to do that fill time but there was little to accomplish today as most of it was up to date. There was of course dust to remove from the shelves and window ledges but somehow I managed not to see that until I was going home...
There is an election ongoing at the moment and the media, owned by right wing barons, appear to consider Theresa May the one who will win. The fact that those who saw her performance on TV being questioned by a journalist and then members of the audience say she revealed her weakness and inability. Poor girl I feel sorry for her Another who was desperate to be PM and desperate to hold on to office but has not got the personal and political ability to sustain her desire. She probably means well but has little comprehension of how the world sees her and the fawning Tories around her do not help here. While the Conservatives may well win the election with a majority I suspect she will soon be stabbed in the back and exchanged for a better man...if there is one.
Two bombs went off in Baghdad the other day, one at an ice cream cafe and a car bomb not far away. Altogether twenty seven people so far are dead and many wounded. More than died at Manchester, more that died in many outrages in Europe in recent days.
Where is the media coverage?
Certainly it has been mentioned, certainly people 'tut-tut' about Arabs and bombs, certainly it is condemned but where are the people 'Standing with Baghdad?' Where are the 'I Love Baghdad' badges and social media support? Do football teams hold a minutes silence?
When a bomb goes off here we over-react, vast column inches are given over to somewhat ignorant speculation re the cause and who was at fault and 'why was nothing done' type articles. When it happens in the middle East we just shrug our shoulders and say 'typical Arabs.'
It is right to support your own, it is not right to ignore the suffering of others even if they have been doing it for thousands of years. The West cannot claim a high ground when much of recent trouble began with ignorant European and US involvement in the Middle East. I offer no simplistic answers, there are none among a people who hate one another as Sunni and Shia Muslims do, we could however attempt to help rebuild broken nations and encourage peace rather than sell billions off dollars worth of weapons to them to continue their wars. Or is there something in all this for us...?
