String

A piece of string.
This is the one used by Kim Jong-Un on the end of which he keeps the President of the United States of America.
Sleep safe in your beds people...

Tyrants...

Trump has been having a good time.  Since moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, I wonder what the staff thought about that, and pandering to the rednecks who he thinks will ignore the tales of women abused, many wives, lie after lie, the loss of staff daily he has now made a mess of both Iran and North Korea! 
Moving the embassy because of US political electorate and because he is being pulled by a string the Israeli President is holding is one thing, not a good thing, but ignoring the consequences of such action and indeed taking a one sided view as politicians always is is clearly a bad thing.  While agreeing God has placed the Jews back in their homeland, thanks to the British, it is not always right to rush ahead thoughtlessly by following the will of an ungodly Israeli leader.  All Israeli leaders since 1948 have been secular, not religious Jews.
Trump must be pleased with the report that Prince William (which one is he?) will visit Israel and go visit the West Bank also!
To add to this the ending of an agreement which the majority of EU nations thought wise, and indeed the best possible at the time, just to play the tough guy is reckless at best and plain stupid at worst.  Iran is not just another Arab nation, Iran goes back, in their own mind, to Cyrus the Great some 2500 years ago and see themselves as a big nation in that part of the world.  They do not take bullying from the west easily, especially after the treatment the UK and Russia have given them in the past.
Here the US follow Israel and Saudi in their fear of Iran.  Because of that already the Saudi's have broken Syria with the west's backing, who knows what would happen had Russia not intervened, and a region already overflowing with refugees now has millions more, but we do nothing about this.  Being Arabs and far away they really don't count do they?
Quite how Trump has gone from 'bigging up' his meeting with the North Korean leader to blowing it in such style I fail to understand.  It could be China have intervened, the trade with the US is important here, and we never know what is going on behind the scenes,especially in North Korea.  
Two nuclear nations, so called, yet Trump plays games and offers an impression of not really knowing what he is doing.  The comments made in the media may of course have been deliberate, the whole thing is likely a game Kim is playing also, but we are left wishing a more sedate, indeed intelligent, President lived in the White House.  Is there no chance we can have one soon?

Today Europeans face the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into existence today. This is an EU rule that is intended to give individuals control over what facebook and Google and the like make of your data.  So for a while lots of emails from many companies have arrived demanding we 'accept' or not, or in facebook and Google's case 'take it or leave it!   
In short a great deal of fuss from folks who will not rob us, a great deal of words from the main ones who do!  These will continue to use our data, the weird people in charge gathering the cash, the power and who knows for what reason while our precious data is transferred into adverts for those daft enough not to download 'adblockplus.'  
I am not sure it is worth the fuss but someone somewhere will continue to make money and get around these laws.  The intention is good but while these folks are now open to huge fines if found guilty of avoiding the law it will take years to sort that out and they will have the data until then.  Most of us will not see much difference.  If we don't like it we can always dump facebook and Google and that will hurt them.

Trump Cruising...

Apparently World War Three broke out last night.  A handful of spare cruise missiles fell on parts of Syria and Russia has now declared a 'Red alert.'  I suppose it would be a 'Red alert' wouldn't it?  
In fact, according to a BBC man whom I usually don't believe, this was stage managed for the people. The Syrians, well the Russians, would have been told where the missiles would land, no Russian, almost no Syrian would be hurt, little real damage would occur and, as the last time the west responded to chemical weapons being used, nothing changes.
However the media will shout and scream with almost as much ignorance as I, political lightweights will appear spouting the party line and most folks will go out and enjoy the sunshine, such as it is.
I was impressed by the appearance of our local MP spouting the Boris Johnson line, he is one of Boris's lackeys and now has a good job out of this, he was telling us we do not require a vote in the house by MPs who have no information on the circumstances of the situation. That means MPs are ignorant or info is withheld, I don't know which.  Either way the MP ought to spend more time answering constituents letters, which he does not, and less time brown nosing for promotion.

With the Heart of Midlothian taking the weekend off as it is cup semi final weekend I have spent time listening to the end of season promotion and relegation battles featuring teams with delightful names from out of the way places. The image offered by football team names is intriguing, 'Queen of the South' is a famous name even amongst people who have no idea they come from Dumfries in the Scottish borders.  'Partick Thistle' are much better known even though they do not play in the 'Partick' area of Glasgow.  At the end of the 19th century they moved between two or three grounds, as most clubs did, until they received help from Rangers football club to move to the new district in the north of Glasgow called Maryhill.  This allowed Thistle a good crowd in the new area and Rangers then obtained all the fans in the shipbuilding parts of Govan.  This also gave them the 'Ulster loyalist' approach as pretend protestants which in itself meant little until Celtic arrived in Glasgows east end and made a play for the Catholics in that area.  Both clubs have used sectarian bull to gather crowds ever since.  But you ask why is the name pronounced 'Celtic' with a soft 'C' and not 'Keltic' with a hard 'C,' nobody appears to know but stupidity might play a part.
Based in Paisley 'St Mirren,' pronounced and spelt 'St Mirn' by many,  are named after a man called Mirin who founded a church where Paisley Abbey now stands, he became the Paisley patron saint.  On the other hand 'St Johnstone' did not get their name from a saint directly but from the church in Perth where they originated.  This was dedicated to St John the Baptist and Perth was often referred to as 'St John's Toun' and the name came from this.  
Raith Rovers come from Kirkcaldy on the Fife coast but there was no town called Raith in times past.  Instead there was an area stretching across a few miles across Fife reaching to the west of Kirkcaldy area.  A Battle of Raith took place here in the late 6th century and a Raith Tower and Raith House sit close by.  'Raith' itself comes from old Scots and means a 'fort.'  A common tongue in cheek comment is to refer to 'Dancing in the streets of Raith' as this was said to have been announced by a sports commentator years ago, he might have been using sarcasm.
'Brechin City' come from Brechin a small town in Angus with a population of under ten thousand.  However having a cathedral, once a Roman Catholic and now belonging to the 'Episcopal Church' allows the townsfolks to make use of the word 'City' although this has now no official use.     
The Heart of Midlothian I must point out were not named after a book by Walter Scott!

One day I will be fit!  Since the turn of the year every time I attempt some form of exercise something, the bug, funeral, sloth, gets in the way, however this time I will get on with it and improve life.  For a start I have actually cleaned the fridge, as I said, and the oven is next, maybe, and as the weather appears to be improving I must get out and about making use of the bus pass and rail card.  I need to see the sea again, I forget what it looks like.
Of course last week was a washout but as the kids were on holiday it was not a time for wandering abroad.  From Monday, or Tuesday most of them will be locked up inside where they ought to be  allowing decent people to prowl the land upsetting other decent people doing similar.  
One problem here is that all the best attractions to visit are not on the bus line or train line, this is great of you have a car but not if you are impoverished and inept like me.  I also don't as yet feel like walking miles to see things but we will get out soon and find some better pictures than what we find now.

 

Blogger, Trump and Farage, What More Could You Ask...?

Is it just me or is Blogger slow?
Several times when attempting to press 'Publish' the thing has 'hung' for a while before posting.
This laptop is not very good, the buttons are not doing what they are told and often do what they wish so it makes me wonder if it is me or they?
It works but there is a delay.
A couple of days ago everything ceased for a few minutes, nothing would come up and all halted.
I am beginning to wonder if 'Firefox' is to blame?  I went over to 'Chrome' for what I wanted and this worked but it may be things returned to normal by then.
All in  a days grumble...

Poor old broke Nigel Farage is even more broke now.  The EU investigated his claim for an assistant and have decided the assistant was not assisting Nigel in the EU but working on UKIP party work.  This is not allowed under EU rules and Nigel knows this. 
Such a shame the EU have decided to withhold £35,500 from him, half his assistant funds because of this lapse.  He must be feeling ashamed to have made such a mistake, he must be embarrassed by such pilfering of funds and feel really repentant.  Ha!  Some chance!  I suspect he will appeal and blame anti-English EU staff for attacking him.
Poor lad, hasn't he suffered enough...?

Poor Donald Trump, another political success story, he has been getting grief just because he referred to peoples from Haiti and Africa as 'shithole nations' and wished for better, whiter, people from Norway instead.  Norway it must be said has indicated they are doing OK thanks and Haiti and Africa, those that bothered to listen, have responded with an amount of disagreement with him.
It just could not get worse but then it did!
The 'state visit' which gave Donald the impression he would cavort about with the english queen, has been put back and the short visit to open the new American embassy, moved south of the river and based on an idea by Geirge W. Bush, this visit also has been canned.  
The idea of lots of helicopter rides above the traffic avoiding UK citizens indicating their displeasure at his visit plus the truth that he was never going to drop in just to open an embassy, has led to his breaking off any visit to the UK at this time.  Pity, it might have been interesting to see peoples reaction.
Worse still, our own imitation Trump, one Boris Johnson, has risen to his man's defence slighting the Labour Party by claiming it is their fault Trump is not coming.  The Labour Party, who are not at fault, would do well to proclaim this to the rooftops.  Boris is no doubt lying in his teeth, something he does often and is very good at, but he intends to show the UK stands with the US.  Actually we all know this and we also know that Boris considers Trump a liability and awaits the nutter gunman who is scheduled to end the reign of Trump, whoever that may be.  In the USA the chances of someone taking a pot shot at Trump must be high, I just cannot believe it has not yet occurred.

Satire...

It is almost Christmas and in spite of everything Trump is still in charge.
Near war with North Korea, loss of a senior director every week, at war with FBI because they know about him, friendship with Putin, tweets to upset someone daily indeed hourly and playing golf rather than work.
It is even more surprising no one has tried to shoot him yet in gun rich, shoot first America.  Surely some nutter with a telescopic sight would have tried by now?  Maybe they know he will inwardly collapse soon enough.

Of course my Christmas card list is complete  it is just that I found the need to buy four more cards today as someone appeared who was not there yesterday.  I must be finished now, some have begun to arrive at the destinations thereby inflicting guilt on those who have not yet begun to start their Xmas list.
Good O!

Nothing Happened

All day Saturday nothing happened again.
I mean I bought bread and cheap soggy fruit but that's not exciting is it?
So I sat in the park and awaited six O'clock so I could watch the rerun of the football.
Nothing happened in the park.
Not a thing.
The weekend holiday may have taken many away, it may be their shopping was done, it may be nothing was happening but nothing happened.
And my dinner was lousy...

So I mused.
Why, thought I, why has Donald Trump not been shot yet?
He lives in the USA where thousand shave already been gunned down, many fatally, so why has this notorious man not been shot?  The population of the USA contains more headbangers per square in than anywhere else on earth and all are armed to the teeth so how come no-one has tried this yet?
I can understand normal enemies not killing him, you know, North Korea, Russia, China etc, as he is doing more for them being alive than he would dead.  It is well known that British intelligence had been working on ways to kill Adolf Hitler when it was realised it was better to keep him alive as he was as his decisions were working in the allies favour.  So also with Trump.
But surely there is one nutter there who might try?

Books: I thought of a book that might benefit another and ordered it!  I think I have become obsessed!  At one point today I accidentally found myself in a charity shop looking at books.  'Go home' said a voice in my head but my feet remained there until I had searched all shelves.  That reminds me I must look up Amazon to see if they ha...

Worryingly the first sign of Autumn has been sighted, in that there tree.  The leaves are losing their colour and beginning to fall.  Certainly it gets darker earlier, though the clouds don't help, and already people whisper the 'Christmas' word to much chagrin all around.
Did summer happen this year?  I suppose it happened like it always did but I may have been sitting in here watching football that day.

I asked Bert here how things were going, and he was going before he bothered answering. Tsk!

Frittering Away Friday

Having spent all Wednesday in futile wait for delivery, well at least it arrived so it wasn't actually futile, I spent all day Thursday catching up on things undone.
Friday has been a day where my brain closed down altogether.
Some say no change has been noted.
I tried out my new and exciting (they say) exercise regime and indeed this made a difference.
I woke up, my brain began to work anew, my breathing was considerably deeper and my body responded by aching in all the right places and soon afterwards I fell into a deep slumber.
On waking I found nothing of interest anywhere in the world and have slowly returned to the state of sloth that I found at 07:30 hours this morning.
It's been that sort of a day.

 
I could have read some of the books piled up in various places around the house but did not have sufficient vim to concentrate on them for long.  (By 'vim' I mean 'energy' not the old scouring powder we used to use.)  There was a thought that hoovering the floor might be a good idea, that was soon pushed aside.  Instead I watched a video of a train crossing the country in the snow at a pace that my brain could follow.  

 'Borrowed' from facebook.

How relaxing train journeys can be!  I can really enjoy a trip by rail, provided it is not overcrowded.  I have endured a commuter train on occasion and this was not a pleasant experience, outside that however such travel is comfortable and relaxing.  
Out side the window we see parts of the country we often miss when travel is by car, railways offer country views as well as the rear end of industrial sights which can on occasion offer something to contemplate also.  Comparing the 'Blue Circle' Cement works (If it is still called that) to the view if the Firth of Forth that lies on the other side of the track is worth comprehending.  While cement has its uses the view of the open sea refreshes in a way a concrete bridge never shall.
Quaint country rail stations can be glimpsed often decorated with flowers by the staff.  These are becoming rarer as cost cutting now offers a bare efficient platform and a glorified bus shelter all to often.  When I used Dunfermline station (Lower, not Upper) there was a complete set of buildings on both sides.  Today while the entrance remains extant the far side platform has a bus shelter for the commuters to Edinburgh and while a view can be seen now quite clearly the absence of proper station buildings is disappointing.  I believe Dunfermline Upper is now a  supermarket or a B&Q!
Maybe I ought to get on a train tomorrow, I better check the weather.

 

Numpty Donald

Donald is in the Middle East at the moment.  He is on a mission to end wars there by selling Saudi Arabia and Israel $100 billion worth of weaponry.  This will help.  Of course he is not the actual salesman, he just takes the credit while others bribe sell the goods so they can bomb children in Yemen or bump of another Palestinian or two.  What does Jesus really say about this I ask?

Anyway our boy is still tweeting, carefully in a land where they cut bits off, and revealing to the world the reason he is considered mentally unbalanced, rash to the point of dangerous and unfit for the office of President of the United States of America.  

However, there are those who would say that he is no worse than many others who have held this esteemed post, indeed he is clearly more capable than some.  While I agree that he is a danger to society, that nuclear war will be avoided only by the US military chiefs ignoring his commands and the Russians backing down Khrushchev like, that North Korea might soon be a blackened wastlend and while it is true that he is likely to fall out with the leaders of Japan and France and possibly attempt to seduce Merkel if he ever gets to meet her this man still remains no worse than many who have sat in the Oval Office before.

Lets peruse some.

Abraham Lincoln.  Abe is seen as a great man.  His standards were high, his integrity great, these combined to get him shot while watching a play at the end of the civil war.  This was inevitable as Lincoln had failed in almost everything else he did.   In 1832 he lost his job, in 35 his sweetheart died, a year later he had a nervous breakdown.  He was however elected to the Illinois House for the Whigs.  He tired for Congress and failed, eventually being elected three years later, he later lost the nomination for this.  In 1849 he was defeated for Land Officer, 1854 defeated while attempting to enter Senate, 1856 defeated as Vice President, 1858 defeated again in attempt to enter Senate.  He did however become President and cause a major civil war.  He then got shot dead.

Andrew Johnson.  While Licoln lay on his deathbed Andrew Johnson the vice president arrived, Mrs Lincoln, like Abe no friend of their associate, screamed at him to get out.  This he did and wandered off to get drunk.  When Lincoln was pronounced dead Johnson had to be woken from sleep to be sworn in as President.  His first speech as president abused the beaten South, though he himself was senator from Tennessee and agreed with slavery, and was somewhat thoughtless.  He had his own slaves, his first, a woman, had three children who were somewhat light skinned it was said, hmmm.  He handled the rebellious southern states roughly possibly because he was one of them, he survived attempts at assassination and soon fell out with both Republican and Democrats, the Republicans had him impeached but acquitted but he was acquitted by one vote.  Tact was not his greatest talent.

Warren Harding.  Some say this was the worst President the US ever had.  Women had just received the vote in the US during 1920 and he was chosen as Presidential candidate because of his good looks.  I know how he must have felt.  Harding himself did not bother to be there when the vote for such emancipation was taken.  This was not because he did not like women, indeed he liked them so much he often mde use of them, women are attracted to power.  That explains why I do my own ironing.  He also favoured drunken parties at the White house which was considered unfortunate by some as Prohibition was then at its height. Scandals abounded, possibly behind his back his chosen helpers being not as nice as he and while he probably did not know about them till later he probably didn’t bother much even then. 

Ronald Reagan.  None in the free world outside of the United States could ever imagine electing a ‘B’ actor of such limited intellect as this yet the Americans did so, twice!  Famous for doodling (or was that drooling) during cabinet meetings and stuffing down jellybeans while his wife searched astrological charts to inform him of what days he ought to do certain actions he was however remarkably good at communicating with the American people.  His stye would have him laughed out of office in any other nation but he knew how to appear before an American audience and many loved him for it.  He reigned through and possibly did not notice, the Iran-Contra affair, war in the Middle East, the shooting down of an Iran passenger jet leading to the downing of Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie awarding the US captain who shot down the Iran jet a war medal!  

We know all about him so let him speak for himself: -  

''I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.''   

''Well, I learned a lot....I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries'' 

“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.”  

It is not known if he was joking.

George W. Bush.   George became Governor of Texas and managed to do very little.  Following on from Dad George entered the White House with a desire to emulate and possibly better his father in his job, this however was somewhat spoiled as he was aided by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, two of the more murky characters ever to be found in Washington, and that says something.  Tony Blair’s aids indicated that at no time was he left alone with George, Cheney was always there a strange presence at George’s side.  We know about the needless Iraq war, the huge deficit increase, 9/11 and all the rest, too soon to have forgotten, but have we forgotten his statements.  These were delicious even for a US President :-  

''You work three jobs? ... Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that.''—President George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three in Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005. 

''Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.''  

"You don't need to be smart to be president"--Republican Congressman J.C. Watts - said at a February campaign appearance on Bush's behalf. Washington Post, 6/11/00 "I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating."
--U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000.                                                          "Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning" --Florence, SC, Jan. 11, 2000
"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." -George W. Bush

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000
"I think we agree, the past is over." --On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2000.

I have not bothered to mention Richard Nixon as he was more sad than bad, too stupid to really appreciate how bad he was. ''When the President does it, that means it's not illegal.''  A great phrase which he probably believed.  To avoid upsetting some I ignore George Washington who never told a lie, he said, and who failed at every battle he fought yet with French help defeated the failing English redcoats.   

I will however mention one or two clever Presidents.   

Thomas Jefferson.  This man spoke French, Latin and Greek, knew his History, philosophy and maths, and became a competent architect.  He was a competent musician also as well as a keen gardener, he studied ancient life and wrote poetry.  In between he managed to come up with "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal."  Beat that!

I doubt he would be elected to Congress today.

James Madison.  Another who would not get the power is James Madison.  This president also became fluent in Latin and Greek adding Italian and Spanish also.  He put his mind to History, maths and science also and was influenced by Aristotle and John Locke concerning liberty.  He was influential in developing the US Constitution, so blame him!

John Adams.  As you know this president was the great, great, grandson of Henry Adams who with his wife and seven children emigrated from Braintree in the heart of Essex to the New England Colonies in the 1630's.  John Adams was famed for his oratory as well as working with Madison on the Constitution.  They say his speeches pushed this through the then parliament.  He worked well with Madison and they got on spedidly together, they got on so well they both died on the same day in 1826, the 4th of July! 

   

There are many others to mention, both good and bad, but the point I am making is that Trump is dangerous and illogical but no better or worse than what has gone before.  The chances of nuclear war are slim, but always possible, the chances of him being impeached much greater.  

We need worry only about Mother May dictating to her cabinet and forcing them to follow where she leads them and us, even though she does not know where she is heading.