Thursday Sunlight

It is a great delight to wake in the morning and note the lightness in the sky.  The sun has not quite risen but the sky these past couple of days has been bright and cheery.  All this indicates that in spite of the cold outside Spring warmth awaits us. Only the other day it was dark still at 7:30, now it is light before then, cloud cover permitting.  All jolly good for the 'mental health' as they say these days.

 

 

I had a quick look regarding elections, it appears the 5 year election remains but there is one or two options remaining.  I found this on Here

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) introduced fixed-term parliaments to the United Kingdom, with elections scheduled on the first Thursday in May of the fifth year after the previous general election, unless the previous general election took place between 1 January and the first Thursday in May, in which case the election takes place on the first Thursday in May of the fourth year after the previous general election.^[16]

Removing the power of the monarch, on advice of the prime minister, to dissolve parliament before its five-year maximum length,^[16] the act permits early dissolution if the House of Commons votes by a two-thirds supermajority. Parliament is also dissolved if a government loses a vote of no confidence by a simple majority and a new government is not formed within 14 days.^[17] Alternatively, a bill requiring just a simple majority in both Houses could be introduced to establish in law an earlier date for the election, which is how the date of the previous general election was set in 2019.^[18]

Thus, the next general election is due to take place on Thursday 2 May 2024, unless it is triggered earlier.^[19] Under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 parliament would be dissolved 25 working days before this date on Tuesday 26 March.^[20] Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister may schedule polling day up to two months after 2 May, subject to approval by both Houses.

 

Sadly this appears to mean we cannot have an election soon, the gangsters would avoid this today.  That sad news sets the sun on my day.  Now off to bed and football!  What more could you want?

Bye the way, I have been banned again on facebook for 'encouraging violence.'  This from an organisation that refuses to remove white supremacist, racist, porn and other 'stuff' that appears decent?  Tsk!  I suppose algorythms cannot tell a joke from a threat.  Bah!

 

 

 

Lies will Succeed

It appears to me, sitting here in my garret, that there are two reasons for the debacle that has occurred to the Labour Party in England.  One is the poor leadership of Keith Starmer.  Though at heart a talented Barrister and determined to make a better society than the one offered across the Despatch Box he has failed to make a mark on the gangster Boris Johnson and his cohorts.  

The other is the acumulation of anti-migrant and anti-EU propaganda spewed out by the Conservatives for the past 30 years.  Constant attacks, usually lies, in the Right-wing press on the EU and migrants, often from Boris Johnson himself, with little if any evidence to show, has led to the lower middle classes and white working classes feeling 'Left out' by Labour policies which are perceived to be in favour of incomers at the indigenous populations expense.  The result is the 'Sun,' 'Daily Express,' and 'Daily Mail' reading public convinced they are on the losing side, so they reach out to the Tories to save them.

 

The Tories have learned much from Goebbels, possibly with the help of Steve Bannon, one of the neo Nazis of today.  Point the finger over there - at the Jews in the Nazis case, and if you repeat the same lie long enough, a simple straight forward lie, people will become convinced of its truth.  It worked in the 1930's it has worked again here.  The thinking middle classes, usually University educated and full of themselves, are less likely to follow the Tory line.  Electricians, engineers, small shopkeepers and artisans, often wise and sensible people, however see some substance in the Tory message, one perpetrated via the press and the Tory run BBC, the channel the majority watch.  With no mention of Boris's corruption, no questioning of Brexit, no desire to make politicians accountable the man in the street has little knowledge of what is going on.  Many are happy with this, the effort to seek out varied opinions does not trouble them.  

The results will soon burn the voters.  Tory councils will be approached by many wishing to build houses in the voters backyards, objections will get little support.  The disabled, the hungry, the unemployed, the local NHS will soon start to show the cracks of Tory policy.  

The question then will be, can the nation recover from this?       

Duty Done

I did the dirty deed and entered the rather quiet polling station and placed my cross in an appropriate box.  The pace had been steady, busier early on, but voting was proceeding quieter than I expected in UKIP land.  The rain which had started just before I entered I hoped would put the sheep off voting and give our man a chance to remove our sitting MP.  Little chance as I see it, his majority might be dented but too many sheep for him to lose sadly.  We await the result trembling as always. 
Before voting I coughed my way up to 'Biscuits' to meet my museum friend.  Over expensive coffee and chocolate cake, she had a brown lump of something, I avoided this, we then put the world to rights, exposed faults at the museum, blamed the correct people but avoided the discussing the vote.  She sadly is a sheep, blind to anything other than Brexit like so many around here.  Logic does not change them, emotion leads, nothing Boris can do will alter their vote.  This is beyond the normal pattern of voting for a party, this runs much deeper and is a kind of blindness.  I talk here of thoughtful, wise, intelligent souls, many in the church are included, who follow blindly whatever the result.  A most interesting situation. 
Tonight I will lie awake, possibly brandy sodden, while listening to the drivel on the radio as results begin to arrive.  This may lead to more brandy than I stock!  My friend met me this morning as she is one of those who counts the vote.  So she will be abed by now, resting while preparing to count sheaves of papers correctly.  As our man is James Cleverley, a minister, they have been informed to wear white as the TV will be on hand to record the result. 
I thought the combination of 'Polling station' and 'Dinosaurs' went together rather well myself... 

The election, morning coffee, feeding myself and sleeping off the stress of voting has meant nothing else has been done.  There again there appears to be nothing happening elsewhere, the rain does not help, it is teeming down, and with no political mentions on TV because of the vote, I fail to see this stopping the right wing press offering advice as to how to vote however, there is little of interest occurring.  I think I will go back to bed....

Surprise at Work

Several surprises at work today, the worst being made to transfer the kitchen stuff elsewhere while the builder rebuilt it!  Long before my starting time I was lugging things about and sweating in a manner not known for many a day.   This is not a situation I wish to repeat.  It does show however how much is contained in a small kitchen and questions must be asked about most of it.  Still the builder is a good guy and soon we will have more space in their yet I bet the majority continue to dump everything in the sink and do a runner as always.  
Good job I am not one to complain or I may have had to when the first visitor arrived as I opened the door intending to sit, drink tea made in the cleaning sluice, and instead I was forced to chat in an inane manner while she looked for gifts.  I just wished to lie back and breathe without gasping.

   
As we are in a mess at the moment, one exhibition comes down and the second begins to claim space, the museum is flooded with helpers running around with little idea what to do.  I help by keeping out the way or removing white 'Blutack' from the back of information cards.  The woman in charge muttered something about me 'finding my place,' stole some of my chocolates and disappeared in a whirl of waste paper and exhibition stuff.      
I however continued with my work, two male visitors, one Museum Friend and two more helpers for the clean up, two phone calls booking events, all this while attempting to read one of our books and doing without tea as mine went cold and no-one was free to aid my distress.  So I filled in time by taking pictures of stock with a small and not too good camera to see what I could get from it.  This entertained me if not being very productive.  

 
Another surprise came at lunchtime when one of the women Generals came out of her interminable meeting with the big boss to inform me of Theresa May's decision to have a General Election on June 8th.  Naturally this is interesting news and reveals something of the impotence of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.  Had he been a successful leader she would not risk this.  
It is right that the Brexit farce requires a General Election not a referendum in which the people were lied to as a mandate for Brexit.  However as the Conservatives are 20 points ahead in the polling it suggests she will win, wipe Labour out for years and bring about an even greater chance of Scots independence.  The Conservative policy of making the poorest face the burden of austerity will keep them out of Scotland, other troubles such as the 'Rape Clause' will lead to the Scots Tories suffering badly up north.  I forsee a Tory win but elections are not referendums, voting for Brexit does not always mean voting Tory, especially as the cost will come home to roost soon enough and the Labour voter will suffer much more than the middle class Tory.

 
As we have local council elections on May 5th folks are not happy about another election a month later.  In this area it matters little, this part of the nation is Conservative controlled at local and County level with little room for opposition to show.  Not only do we have the country peoples who are often the bedrock of the Tory Party but we also have the 'Working Class Conservative' who votes  for them because he thinks they give him more money in his pocket.  ON top of this UKIP the loony Conservative voters abound in this area, a mixture of 'little Englander' and 'Racist,' these folks will not even eat curry in case they fail the Empire!  So whatever way we vote the Tory MP will be returned, the majority of local and county councillors will be Conservative and nothing will make much difference for me.  Already the local Labour Party have dumped leaflets on us and in a few weeks we will be flooded by them and the recycling bag will be overflowing with lies, half truths and desperation!
Oh joy!  Two months of this to look forward to.

Once I had hobbled home I was confronted with more surprises.  The boys were fixing the broken flooring in the hall, the flooring that has been broken for nearly 20 years!  I expressed my surprise and was confronted with demands for tea!!!  This I managed to ignore as I pleaded weariness from my mornings endevours.  This obtained no sympathy, workmen I find often fail to empathise with those who do less than they.   Nonetheless I made tea for me and left them to it.  I bet I find the floor totally taken up tomorrow when I go down, just for spite!

Now important things are at hand, Real Madrid playing Bayern Munchen!

Sick!

In three months time one of these two, George Osborne the incompetent Chancellor and Boris Johnson the man who as Mayor of London sold it to the Chinese and Russians, will be leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister!   This is the result of the referendum in which the little englanders with their fear of immigrants roused voted for Boris and to leave the EU.  From what I could gather, and it is not easy to gather EU info, we were better off inside attempting to change things.  Now we are out, the trade deals worse and they will change the EU without us.  Scotland will soon attempt another referendum on independence.  This will be a 99% success if Boris or George come to the throne.  Neither know where Scotland is, neither care.  The only good thing about all this fuss is the removal of David Cameron.  From now on he tours the world getting paid extortionate fees. 

I am thinking of joining the thousands who at this moment are heading north to Scotland and a fairer society.  Nothing can stop this bar the lack of money and rain, I am sick of rain!

At least it is over, however after October we will possibly have a general election  and go through all this again.

Another Election

London decides which lying, worthless, no good becomes the new mayor, replacing the lying, worthless, Boris Johnson a man now intent or removing the lying, worthless David Cameron as Prime minister.
We however have nothing so exciting as we like much of the country get to choose the Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC).  The what?  Yes we don't really know either.  This new post was introduced a while ago by the economic stupidity of the Conservative Party in an effort to save money and improve the Police.  Quite how they worked that one out I know not but I suspect it was merely pandering to tax dodging Tory voters who somehow considered this would save them money.  It didn't.  
On top of the expense we find several such commissioners have had their hand in the till and one or two have been found wanting in other areas also.  This is worrying as they control the police budget and possibly explains where all the cash is going.  These people have strong powers but who can tell if any of them are either strong enough or used properly.  These kind of things are kept from the man in the street in case he realises what is going on!
Anyway we had five worthless candidates looking for a payout today, one from four of the English parties and one independent.  The UKIP man has already been caught out claiming he was once a Labour Party minister, which he was not, and the Independent chap implied cunningly on his spiel that he was an ex-police chief, which he was not, and the others, Conservative, Labour & Lib-Dem just spew out the usual party line indicating how worthless they are as individuals and how tied to the party line they remain.  No independent thought to be found there.
Elections are ongoing in Scotland for the Parliament there, Wales also and Northern Ireland.  In England local councils in 120 places occur as well as the PCCs being chosen by a handful of enthusiasts like me.  Yippee!
I voted after being asked by the girl what my name was even though I had given her the polling card with my name on it.  As the vote is held in the museum hall our boss was in charge and pointed out she has to ask, quite why I know not but maybe some folks don't know who they are?  I asked the girl where on the form was the Scottish Nationalist to be found but she failed to comprehend, the boss just forced me into the voting booth instead.  I placed my cross, added the second on the second row for the second choice who will not win either, and made my weary way through the museum and began work.
I made tea.

The sun is out and ignoring the chill in the wind people are running around dressed for summertime.  This I can tell you is heartwarming as in this part of our island the warm air from the Sahara Desert has at last made its way to us.  Naturally it is not quite so good further north and naturally while people here sit around in the sheltered spots of the park I had been trapped indoors at the museum.  Not that I am one to complain about this of course, that is not my style in spite of it all.  No not me I just got on with it with no murmuring.  
Nothing happened.

Oh yes, did you notice that the USA may soon have that nice Mr Trump as President?

Now tell me you think the world is not nearing the end?

Sick of it Already

I had a close shave today.  Passing though town happily clutching the two books I purchased for ten pence each from a charity shop I was approached by a man in a suit.  This is always worrying.  He handed me the leaflet above and proudly boasted this man was in attendance in town today!  
I think I was supposed to be impressed.
You see the UK is having an election.  One of those events that stirs up so much apathy amongst those who have seen it all before or have felt themselves left out no matter which bunch of lying expense fiddlers takes office.  There is indeed a feeling that this government, opposition and other hangers on are indeed far from the people, an emotion I have sympathy with.  
The reason is simple, we are wealthy! 
Now I realise we have millions on low pay, a million unemployed (and I know how much suffering that causes) many on 'zero hours contracts,' and an abundance of 'food banks' offering emergency handouts to those in desperate need.  I am aware of the difficulties of many in this world, the gaps in the 'welfare state' and the abuse many make of this.  I realise that there are a great many on limited incomes working as carers for family members (£66 a week I think they get) and this removed if they make money elsewhere.  I am aware of all these things just as I am aware our present Prime Minister informed us "This is a rich country" when  explaining he could do something about the floods in Oxfordshire, near his constituency!  The failure to do anything for those suffering greater floods in the south west was not mentioned at the time.
We are indeed wealthy but the government, an unelected coalition thrown together to enable the Conservative Party to run the roost five years ago, the government has decided on years of 'austerity' instead of following the US manner of escaping the great worldwide recession, 'spend the way out.'  The Yanks avoided 'austerity' and kept going well enough, we saw millions dumped on the street, indeed many lost homes, a bedroom tax on some of the weakest and a dreadful mismanagement of the welfare system in which those most in need were losing out.
All the while the banks continued to pay excessive bonuses, Vodafone, Starbucks & Google made millions by avoiding paying any tax, and MP's voted themselves an eleven per cent pay increase. And men such as this from all parties rented out the flats in London paid for by the nation near the House of Commons to others while claiming expenses of thousands of pounds for hotel accommodation.  In short the rich have got richer while the rest suffer.  Today the Conservative papers tell us business leaders are afraid of the Labour Parties ideas, no wonder, they have had huge increases while the workers have not!

On top of the usual rhetoric (that is a Greek word which today means 'Lies') we now have a different situation at this election.  It is possible you may have noticed the referendum last year in which Scotland was asked to vote on Independence from the imperialist English.  This would mean Scotland becoming totally independent and leaving the UK to sink into it's own morass.  However the Westminster government, the opposition and all in London got together to lie through the media to the Scots people and forced a rejection of this fine idea on Scotland.  Promises and vows were made, the day afterwards they were instantly broken!
Now however the reaction to the treatment of Scotland from these broken vows has led to an upsurge in support for the Scottish national Party (SNP).  It is now expected that instead of a handful of seats in the Westminster House of Commons the SNP may have up to FIFTY members there!  
Add to this the closeness of the debate in England with the Conservatives under David Cameron the unwanted leader struggling to gain support and with a dying Liberal Democrat Party (the other member of the coalition) the fear is that the SNP and Labour might win a majority in the House.  If so it is likely they will work together to improve the UK by changing the world by seeking an equilibrium of wealth. The rich paying more tax hurts the Conservative media, caring for the poor and ensuring a fairer welfare state upsets those who wish to keep what they have no matter how others suffer.  
Worse still is the racist attitudes that abound in the 'Daily Mail' and 'Daily Telegraph.'  Both these papers are screaming that it is wrong for a democratically elected party like the SNP to govern England!  These being the very people happy for unelected Conservatives to govern Scotland! 
Even US politics is not so absurd as this!
One Scottish MP who helped construct the Scottish parliament announced that 'We structured it in a way that would stop the SNP gaining control."  However the people gave the SNP control of the Scottish parliament with a massive majority, now these same people are afraid it will happen in London.
Shame!
I look forward to the seats filled with cheering SNP men demanding Independence in the face of the imperialists who stopped it by lies once before!

In my own constituency we have a new man whatever happens the previous MP standing down after being caught waggling his willie over the internet to pretty girls.  This above is the man most likely to win this seat, the previous man had an 18,000 majority, and I suspect he will have a good win also. However the feeble Labour support will come out I suppose, the Lib-Dem will probably lose his deposit, as will the Independent and the Green candidate will get a handful of votes. However the biggest danger to this man is the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) The 'Tea Party of England!    
This is a collection of individuals, mostly xenophobic Englishmen, who consider the nation to be overrun with foreigners, that England, sorry Britain, should leave the European Union and stand alone and be great again as in times past. Fair to say most of their support comes from the districts with less immigrants than anywhere else and that these people are always happy to have a curry at the weekend.
Many of these candidates and their supporters are one time members of the Conservative Party who disagreed with Cameron's approach, especially lumping same-sex marriage unwelcome on the nation. Some it is clear are so far to the right and make Margaret Thatcher appear Communist but most are decent enough folk who long for a past that never existed.  It is true to say the world they grew up in has long gone, although it would have changed anyway with or without immigrants, and the PC approach calling them 'racist' because they questioned immigration treated them with a great deal of disrespect and has led to many far right groups, mostly thugs, walking the streets.  A fair and balanced approach never occurred and the 'Daily Mail' and others have encouraged anger by lurid headlines, sometimes based on facts and always slanted to what the reader wished to see.
A balanced approach has not been heard in public at any time.

At the last election I was embarrassed to vote for any of them, but we MUST vote, and looking at this motley lot lined up so far I am going to be embarrassed again.  If only the 'Official Monster Raving Loony Party, ' or maybe the 'Church of the Militant Elvis party' were standing, I would certainly vote for one of these! 

I avoided speaking to this erstwhile candidate today, asking him how much he hoped to make on expenses might have sounded rude.  Asking why he keeps his present councillor job (at a good rate) for a year would be a question he already has a lie lined up for and may end up with the conversation descending into farce as his heavies shoved me away.
I just came home and looked at my books, twentypence for two slightly damaged books is good.   

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Shop the Politicians

Rather pleased that while Tesco have made a hash of their accounting procedures, or fiddled the books very badly indeed I should say, they are not closing any of the THREE shops in the town. Only one is withing walking distance but as we also have Sainsbury's, Lidl and Morrison's it is interesting how they manage to make so much money.  All claim to be losing profit, all customers claim to be broke, yet the shops are always full and the people fat! There are two small 'metro' Tescos also, one already open and another being built, who will use them?
I find it difficult to comprehend how a store of this size could mismanage the cashflow so badly. Can it be the other supermarkets are innocent of such accounting?  I doubt it.  Can other businessmen be less guilty?

You may not have noticed but there is an election occurring.  A brief nod at the media will reveal the present Prime Minister 'Vowing,' 'Promising,' and 'ensuring' things will be done.  The things that appeal to the Tea Party that is. So far none of the 'vows' made in the last five years have arisen but they will not notice.  Ed Milliband struggles to appeal having no idea what he stands for. For a while the failing Lib-dem ledear Clegg was never out of the media telling us of his marvelous deeds and actions, none believed him, and all the others keep appearing with smiles on their faces and lies in their mouths.

I fear for the UK after this.  Whoever wins the only hope lies in a massive turn towards the Scottish Nationalists getting around forty seats in Westminster. That way they can influence all that occurs to the benefit of the entire nation. A Tory victory will be disastrous as  the rich only will benefit and 'Dave' will still be there, and even the Tories want rid of him.  It looks dire, the future is bleak.

If only a Gladstone would arise!

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Sunday

In the many meaningless items found in the UK press today we note that letters and emails that went between Tony Blair and 'Dubya' Bush, mostly from Tony to his boss, these letters appear to be locked away and one in particular is 'lost!' How interesting.  The Chilcot enquiry has been hindered by the refusal of those concerned to hand over these documents and now one is lost, the most important one.
How long before we obtain the evidence that shows Blair followed like a puppy to his owner and sent men to die needlessly in Iraq for a needless invasion? How long before he stands trial as a war criminal? Will this report ever be published?

Good news for Cowdenbeath who defeated close neighbours Dunfermline to ensure their place in the Scottish Championship for next season.  Little Cowdenbeath, population around 12,000, have as a part time side managed miracles to stay in the division.  My late mother, who was born in a miners cottage that overlooked Central Park, would be proud.  As a child she used to scramble into the ground by use of holes under the fence, I suspect these may still exist.  Her brothers often clambered up onto the roof so they could watch from a distance - for free, sixpence then was a lot of money for a miner!  

The European elections take place on Thursday.  This is the day we elect yet another goldigger as they fly off to line their pockets and disappear into obscurity.  Which waste of space to elect?  No idea!  I don't want any standing in this area, they are all bad.  What a depressing situation.  Interesting to note that the 'Daily mail' as well as other Tory papers continue to inform us of the latest UKIP loony.  They do not offer the Conservative policy, just point to others faults, what does that tell us eh?  

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Bank Holiday Monday Again

This is a scene in Edinburgh's Granton area a couple of weeks ago, it may still be there.  The UKIP poster, (United Kingdom Independence Party with the UK to leave the EU, and many consider them racist for not wanting high immigration) is found planted alongside an advert for tents claiming 'No Poles Required!'  There has in recent years been an influx of young folks from Poland into the UK leaving some to demand whether these posters placed side by side was a deliberate act on someones part.  I doubt it, but even so, it is quite funny.
There can be no doubt immigration is a big issue today.  However who knows what the actual numbers of immigrants actually happens to be?  Government figures cannot be trusted, even by governments, UKIP or any other lobby group certainly will not tell the truth, and the only fact is that the entire UK is overcrowded.  However, once Scotland becomes independent you will note only England, and Wales, become crowded, Scotland having masses of highlands bereft of life bar English incomers looking for a better world.  UKIP remains an England First Party, probably some members are racist, some certainly a bit loopy, however many similar remain within the Conservative Party but the papers do not mention that, certainly not during the lead up to an election.  
The European Election is with us in 20 or so days.  We ave the opportunity to send people into obscurity on vast wages, huge expenses, long hours of wasting everybody's time, and changing not one iota of life for you and me as far as I am aware up to this point.  The EU is such a farce. The accounts have never been signed off for 20 years, nobody knows where the money goes, few if any care or understand the financial side, yet nothing is done!  Talk is loud now, action unseen tomorrow.  Laws are passed, ignored by France, yet important here!  It is time for a rethink.  Let us work with Europe, but not in a Federal state.  Let us trade, help, aid, develop the poorer parts, but first let us remove the millions earning vast sums in Strasbourg, Brussels and wherever else they dwell.  I'm thinking of voting either 'Green' or 'UKIP,' as both would serve them right and keep them away from us!
   

Being a bank holiday, in which everyone bar supermarkets and greedy shops take the long weekend off, there was nothing happening today.  This made no difference whatsoever to this small town!  Actually it does, most shops shut, businesses closed and many took advantage of a reasonably warm day to clean the car, go visit in-laws, or even have a happy time.  I did nothing, so no change there.  The bright blue sky caused me to cycle up the old railway however, puffing up that slope far more than any F5 engine ever did I can tell you.

     Pah! You call that steam!

Clearly this is doing me good health wise, or so they say, but it did not feel this way at the time. There were few about, which always make it worth while.

The morning sun makes me want to take pictures but there was nothing but this aged gate, once entrance to a busy coal depot, the only interesting object on view.  I can tell it bores you, it did little for me.  However this depot must have been important in the coal fired days.  Every house required coal, all stations along the line had similar layouts busy with bags of coal being transferred to lorries and taken to almost every house in the area.  I say almost as with all the woods around in the past I suspect many chopped their own for the fire, saving money and keeping fit.  Today we just turn the switch and grumble at the power companies ripping us off. Where are all the old coalmen now?  Dead I suppose. Any living will be well into their eighties, probably older, but I suspect still fit! Jobs come and go with the change of lifestyle yet as far as I know few tears were shed for coalmen who lost out to the Clean Air Act.  Yet for well over a hundred years such men kept the nation warm, industry working and when stocks were low suffered the abuse for something they could do little about. Now they are forgotten.  So many old jobs once commonplace have gone in fifty years.  Factories, railway sidings, once the employer of thousands now turned into small shops, scout huts or out of town supermarkets.  How quickly we forget.    

Do you know muscles used rarely hurt when used?  As I write this rubbish my muscles are informing me of this very fact.  When I rise in the morrow I wonder if they will remind me then also.....?
  
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It's Curtains for Me.

Life was hectic this morning.  I was out on the rusting bike by five past six, cycling slowly around as I refound muscles unused for a month.  Before seven I had cleaned the window.  That is I moved the plant, books and other detritus that have blocked it since Adam was a boy and mucked it out.  Then I replaced the curtains after their annual Spring wash, or is it bi-annual, I forget?  How long does it takes to place the brutes on the runner?  Why on earth does the bit to stop them running of the end not go back on?  What woman designed this thing anyway?  After almost killing myself hanging on to the brute, screwdriver in hand to turn the screw that would not turn, I gave up and am happy to let them hang badly until the next wash.  I then went for veg, had breakfast, had a 30 minute kip, far from curtains, and it was not even nine by the time I had finished grumbling my way through the online papers.  The light mornings do make it easier to get things done.

Later I decided to wander through the town watching the citizens rush about eager to get the shopping done.  Quite why such folk go shopping when the town is busy I never understood, and it's always the same people!  Try shopping early, or late even, and then you need not fret so.  I meanwhile smugly promenade.  This eventually took me past the cricket ground where the local team were struggling to beat their opponents.  I still find this a strange game this cricket.  One man throws a ball at another, he in turn swings a big stick at it.  All around a dozen others loiter in the sun.  A man wearing several hats and a white coat every so often makes strange hand signals, possibly Morse code I suspect, and after every thrown ball missed by the one with the big stick the others cry "Well done," and applaud even though nothing has happened.  You quickly realise this game was invented by an Englishman!  "Play up! Play up, and play the game!" This is what it says on the mural outside Lords Cricket Ground, once the home of cricket itself, until India nicked the game.  Yet the English have always cheated.  I watched the excitement for a while, none of the gentlemen noticed me, and I was impressed by the response of the other team members gathered around the scoreboard, they too were happily ignoring the, er, action!

One interesting aside from the County Council election came in the constituency for the other half of town.  The UKIP candidate was named as Philip Avramovich Maximenco PALIJ.  This made me laugh, as do those folks called Conneletti or Patel who stand as candidates for the Scottish Nationalists!

You may find this LINK useful at some time.

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Vote! Vote! Vote!

Around half past nine this morning I joined the happy throng of concerned democrats crowding the entrance to the polling station.  Having opened at seven in the morning the four members of the council controlling the station had been overwhelmed by the twenty individuals urging a rethink of county council and government policy.  One of them put down her book to attend to me and having noted my name on the card which I proffered to her asked if I was who I was.  You cannot defeat democracy when such security is in operation!  It crossed my mind to return later with the card belonging to an ex-neighbour who returned home to India, and informing her I was Mr Salivati.  It might have worked.  

The selection was simple, insert one cross beside the name of the individual you wished to be your chosen representative.  At this point I wished to insert a name of my own choosing, but this is not allowed.  In front of my dim eyes lay five names about whom I knew very little.  The Conservative is smugly sitting in the council at this moment and expects to stay there, the Labour man was removed some time back, the UKIP, Green and LIb-Dem are perennial also-rans but someone keeps appearing on their behalf.  How I longed for a 'Pro cycling and anti smoking,' or 'Monster Raving Looney Party,' representative, alas they were not available.  Maybe I should stand next time as the Scottish Nationalist?  It would be interesting to see how many votes I gathered.

Having selected my numpty I then sat in the park while the sun warmed me and the east wind chilled me at the same time.  I exchanged words with pretty scantily dressed girls as they passed by, I used several words, they used two.  The blue tits flitted among the trees chewing at the new budding leaves, a dog or two wagged its tail, the newly cut grass gave off a fragrance unlike that given off by the brats who litter the place later in the day.  Men wore shorts and dark glasses (why do men wear shorts in public?), silver aircraft reflected the sunshine as they passed by on their way to exotic places or Majorca, and one passerby stopped, stared and put ten pence in my hand so that I could "get a cup of tea mate."  

Now I sit alongside the list of things to do that await doing.  

Much later, I'm still sitting........ 

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Thursday, Voting Day

Billions of dollars were spent on the US election in recent days, considerably less has gone into organising today's electoral vote in England and Wales.  Scotland of course runs things differently as you will understand. No president is being sought, nor are we voting for either members of parliament or local councils.  The vote is a new one, we are choosing a man to head the local police!  Until now a local police authority has called the police to account, checking into the cheif constables behaviour and accounting for the cash spent. The Conservative government, sorry Con/Lib-Dem coalition, have decided one man is required instead.  To be frank I doubt anyone knew who was on the previous committee unless there was reason to contact them.  I suspect Cameron and his hordes believed the local authorities were all communists and require changing so he could tell them what to do, so the one man accountable to the people is introduced.  You will of course realise that few of those standing are known to the nation, fewer still are known in the locale, some may be unknown in their own house even, however the stand anyway.  A website has been laid on to supply some details of those standing, a picture, basic details, a statement of intent, and answers to some questions.  On such basic  details most of the electorate will decide.  No-one knocked on doors, no leaflets were given out, and one meeting in Chelmsford was the soul outreach I heard off.  I was the 20th person to vote early this morning, and the lowest ever turnout is expected by evening when the doors close.  Will this individual receive a mandate that makes much difference to me or most others?  No.  Still, it's democratic I suppose. 

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Rest Easy!

The world rests easy tonight.  Around the world leaders of all nations, bar one, have been congratulating Barack Obama on his success in regaining his position as President of the United States.  Memories of Ronald Reagan's disastrous adventures in the middle east, Bush seniors Kuwait expedition, and the needless invasion of Iraq led for reasons as yet unexplained by George 'Dubyah' Bush junior caused the world to fear when they realised a man even less able, less intelligent and less knowledgeable than than those who had gone before becoming president.  Mitt Romney, a man who thought Iran wanted Syria to reach the sea when Iran lies on the Persian Gulf, a man who thought the United Kingdom which he calls 'England' could not run an Olympics, a man who closed his factories and outsourced the work to China then criticised Obama for losing jobs to China, this was a man who wished to spend trillions on increasing military hardware and once again oppose the Soviet Union while not appearing to notice the Islamist threat. Such a man as president?  It would be like having Dave Cameron as.....oh!  Romney is a Mormon yet has not realised that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, was a scam merchant and a fraud, surely his is a fit hand to be on the nuclear button?

The world rests easy but does not sleep!  The world will never be safe and many dangers lie ahead.  Islamic extremists, economic collapse, nuclear fears with Iran and Korea, and the growth of China as a world power all offer a slippery slope. This however is why these men take office.  His problems at home come from a rising number of young liberal voters.  Too liberal for me, these believe abortion, the murder of the unborn child, is acceptable, they also see nothing wrong with sexual perversion such as homosexuality, the women also appear to think that being female ought to give advantages not offered to men.  The racial element is less about 'Blacks' sorry, African American's today,  Hispanics flooding over the border appear to be a more urgent question.  Advantages for these also appear to help gain votes.  Meanwhile what is often referred to in the UK as the 'Right wing Republican Christians,' or 'Tea Party,' appear to be demographically losing out.  You of course realise that biblical Christianity is somewhat different from their biblical view.  Their numbers may be failing, hopefully a reading of their good book will change their worship of mammon to worship of God!

What happens now?  The Congress has to work with this man, although they are mostly Republican but the Democrats do control the House.  If they fail to agree the whole world may be affected, including the second most powerful economy China!  Already that nation is suffering from the west's economic slowdown, jobs are being lost and some millionaires there are beginning to almost worry about their next bottle of single malt whisky.  A new leadership in Beijing arrives shortly, how will they deal with Obama?  

As always the world is full of 'wars and rumours of wars.'  Natural disasters will continue to occur, political events will surprise us in the way the Arab Spring has,  and none of us really know what will occur tomorrow - and the majority of the world will just get on with life and make the best of it, there is no other choice.  

The one man who does not rejoice at Obama's success? Premier Netanyahu of Israel.  he it seems has already attempted to drop a nuclear device on Iran and been stopped by his own people.  He  would have been happier with Romny I think.

The election cost several billion dollars, however one facts today indicated the States spend $3 billion on Halloween outfits!  The election seems cheap at the price!

Vote!

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I did my citizens duty this morning and participated in the referendum on the voting system. I entered the Polling Station around 7:30 and was directed by a gentleman seated at the door to the row of cheap tacky tables on my right. Behind them sat three tacky women with paper and pens at hand. On the other side of the room two, or was it three more women fussed over the arrangement of their tacky tables. No-one else was in sight!
"Form a queue," said one of the girls. And I obeyed.
After making my cross, and spelling it correctly this time, I placed the two paper forms in the box which if not empty did not as yet possess many others. To echoing footsteps I took my leave and came upon no eager voters crowding the doors demanding to vote in this important referendum. This I thought strange even for that time of the morning. While local elections, and the second form represented this, fail to inspire the locals it has to be expected that a referendum on the manner of electing culprits parliamentarians has to be regarded as important. I wonder just how many will have bothered to find their way to a polling booth today? 

As I dragged my bulk towards Tesco and their bargains, the 'Own Brand Honey' has gone up 4p in the last week and they only made £3 billion profit this year, I pondered on our reaction to democracy.  In some places in this world people queue for hours to enjoy the right to elect an individual to a position that enables them to immediately forget why they have been elected in the first place. However in the UK we care little unless there is a major talking point involved. We have the attitude all to often that 'There is nothing we can do' or 'It makes no difference' and this is very sad because by deselecting a sitting member the rest get a wake up call, and numbers are required to make this happen.

One problem is the wealth in the nation. While many of us are unemployed and purse strings are tight we still have vast wealth! Many on benefits are (the 'Daily Mail' keeps telling us) are better of than those working. Indeed some are but I for one can assure you (and how!) many are not. Outside my door a line of expensive, often new or large, cars trundle slowly home in the evening 'rush hour.' So poverty is not like it once was. Fifty years ago the road would have been quiet apart from those occasional cars or business vans, a number of motorbikes, with sidecars maybe, and a plethora of bicycles! Those passing by would also be considerably slimmer than the fat rich (and poor) folks around us today, and can I just point out that this is a very baggy shirt! In short nobody cares enough to vote because we have enough, even if we have not got work. While this is good the lesson of history is clear, wealth brings sloppiness to morals and selfishness rules, precisely what is happening around us now. A liberalism that puts the individual first replaces a society that, in general, looks to improve the nation around them. Of course the choice lies (in the UK parliament) is poor. The leaders and most of their followers come from the punk generation, and it shows! Well educated and rich with no experience of real life, unlike the majority of those who have gone before.  There are also no great political divides outside of the Independence movement in Scotland. I wonder if we will be so reluctent to vote at the next General Election after the number of unemployed increase, financial collapse and much gnashing of teeth?

Still, at least we are not talking about that wedding!


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Exhausted

I'm exhausted, I have been attempting to understand how our newly elected government works and am finding it all too much. They were all bad, all full of promises, all expected victory  and what happens, disaster. 'Dave' thinks he has won but in truth has failed to win because he through away a huge majority and has been left short of victory, even Tories don't want him really. Clegg expected a huge boost and got nothing except a chance to be used by the other two. Brown was to lose and yet still remains in office and might continue for years yet. The English blame the Scots and Welsh for not voting Tory - in spite of what the bitch Thatcher did to them - and some cry for an English parliament, ignoring the fact they have one at Westminster. A shambles and I told you it would be!

May 6th Voting Day

One thing that annoys me, and I am not one easily annoyed, one thing that annoys me are the people who must always be first in everything! You see them everywhere these days, standing at the front when the sales are on, pushing though the crowd to board a plane first, buying the latest technology or fashion just so this capture can be paraded before the awe struck world, all this for empty pride! It's a disgrace and this annoys me. It annoyed me even more this morning when I went to do my citizens duty and cast my vote at 7a.m and found four such people there before me! Typical! I imagine they got up early just to be there before me!They just had to be first to make me wait while they collected their voting slip, and then watch them vote for the wrong man! It's a depressing sight.


There again while doing the 'YOUGOV' survey this morning I found myself asked, "Who will you vote for" and I had no answer! I didn't want to vote for any of the names, or parties, on the slip. Six candidates from established political parties, no numpties applying this time, although an anti tax on fuel chap was considering this. When I took my slip and entered the voting booth I still had no answer! Six candidates and whatever one I voted for was going to leave me feeling guilty about selecting them! They are all bad, both the individual candidates and the parties they represent. However it is vital we all vote and this I believe ought to be compulsory so at times like these we need an extra space on the form, preferably marked 'Abstain' or 'I reject them al!' I made a selection and have been carrying the guilt all day, and when the result comes through I imagine I will feel no better. This is a poor election and the enthusiasm some have shown is a sad reflection on this nation.

What do you think this drink is made of? 
Will it really be made of 'Birds Nests?

A 'landmark' study has announced the astonishing 'fact' that many of us human beings carry within us the genes of Neanderthals! The BBC report goes into this at some length and it appears some scientists have been surprised by such findings. Of course there are those among us who have had experience of 'face to face' meetings with such creatures, either humans who contained Neanderthal genes, or full blown Neanderthals of a type often seen at Ibrox or Celtic Park. Such beings are easily identified, whether wearing blue woad or green. Look out for them.

The Cloud Hanging Over Us All!

BBC

Today, the world rejoices, is the last day of electioneering! Tomorrow we go to the polls and choose one or another mediocre failure to lead the nation into the great anti-climax that lies ahead of us. Now I am not one to complain as you know, and I am not cynical in any way, but this is the worst election I can remember, and whoever wins will be a disappointment! Even worse will be a 'hung' parliament (and what a good idea hanging parliamentarians sounds) is also bad. Either winner will chase the Lib-Dems for support and they will encourage daft ideas, not that they could be worse than many already filling our world. 

The futures bleak, and none of this lot will provide the answer!