2018. A year of fire, eruptions and tsunamis - and that’s just in government! There’s the usual array of Honours given to the unremarkable whilst the true heroes, those who put their lives on the line for others, with no desire for publicity, are left with nothing. Meanwhile, the man in the street is busy contaminating the oceans with all that festive plastic. Globally, Merkel prepares her swansong, Macron has turned a ghastly shade of yellow and Trump fights a wall of his own making. Elsewhere, nations fight over whose land belongs to whom. My dream for 2019? Taking the criterion that land belongs to those settlers who have the earliest claim to it - e.g. the Jewish people residing in biblical Judea and Samaria, who were ejected by the Romans in AD 135, the Romans then renaming it ‘Palestina’ (the Hebrew word for which is Plishtin, the invader!) - that should solve all land disputes. At the first hint of fighting, a global committee of impartial, learned historians and archaeologists should publish academically-reviewed, historical timelines, the land awarded to the oldest known settlers. That should quench the fires.
A calm, soothing and healthy New Year to you all.
23rd December 2018
A tale of two tiny countries...
All hell was let loose inside the Commons over a sexist comment instead of concentrating on the Brexit chaos and the Irish backstop. And yet, if they had studied tiny Switzerland, they might have wondered how it is that an independent country, surrounded by 5 EU countries, does not have any hard borders. It’s because Switzerland is part of the Schengen agreement. But here’s the interesting bit. Switzerland has had a referendum about staying in the Schengen agreement and the Swiss overwhelmingly voted Leave. So why haven’t we heard about it? Because the Swiss government, in its wisdom, overruled the poll results on the basis that leaving would be too dangerous! And clearly the Swiss did not riot in the streets, going back to polishing clocks or whatever it is the Swiss do. And then came the drones, paralysing a major London airport. In came another tiny country, Israel which, despite its long, continued fight against illogical hatred, still found time to send London its supreme ‘iron dome’ expertise.
‘...It’s a far far better thing that I have done...’
All hell was let loose inside the Commons over a sexist comment instead of concentrating on the Brexit chaos and the Irish backstop. And yet, if they had studied tiny Switzerland, they might have wondered how it is that an independent country, surrounded by 5 EU countries, does not have any hard borders. It’s because Switzerland is part of the Schengen agreement. But here’s the interesting bit. Switzerland has had a referendum about staying in the Schengen agreement and the Swiss overwhelmingly voted Leave. So why haven’t we heard about it? Because the Swiss government, in its wisdom, overruled the poll results on the basis that leaving would be too dangerous! And clearly the Swiss did not riot in the streets, going back to polishing clocks or whatever it is the Swiss do. And then came the drones, paralysing a major London airport. In came another tiny country, Israel which, despite its long, continued fight against illogical hatred, still found time to send London its supreme ‘iron dome’ expertise.
‘...It’s a far far better thing that I have done...’
16th December 2018
Watching the Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars) final last night, I was struck by the fact that the public voted not on the dancing expertise but the personalities involved. The same with Brexit it seems. So, ignoring personalities, let’s focus. The crux of the Brexiteer argument: over the last 40 years, too many immigrants (first from Asia, then from the EU) landed on this tiny island, overloading public resources and changing the character of the nation. The Remainers love the free access to mainland Europe and to trade across the continent to maintain economic stability. What do I think? We need to find a way for Britain to stay in the EU for economic and trade reasons but then change its rules from within. We should work to add a necessary clause in the EU rules to recognise that nations of a tiny size like Britain but also an economic magnet need an absolute immigrant-limit in order to function. Otherwise we’re dancing with disaster.
9th December 2018
Order! Order! Pantomime season has arrived. First the French. Even though the President has totally scrapped the planned fuel tax rise, still the riots continue. Proof positive that once a momentum has started to roll, rationality flies out the window. And the British? Here’s what the Brexiteers have to say: ‘...feels like we no longer own our country; now just tenants, forced to take into our tiny island way too many unsuitable lodgers. Still reeling from Blair’s earlier policy. Feels like I’m living in a suburb of Bangladesh...’ And from the Remainers: ‘it’s the economy, stupid. Need to be part of the ever-burgeoning federal project of the United States of Europe...don’t care if we’re governed by former enemy Germany. For peace it’s worth it.’ So, what’s gonna happen Tuesday? For the Labour party it’s clear: their vote has nothing to do with Brexit: all to do with forcing out the government and ensuring a General Election. Oh what a circus, oh what a show!
2nd December 2018
200 years ago a little Frenchman with a beaky nose rose to fame but then tried to quell the flames of a French revolution....
Today a similarly-short, sharp-nosed, Frenchman has the same problem. The people may no longer be sans-culottes (trouser-less) but the whole world now know what gilets jaunes (yellow vests) mean. What on earth is happening in Paris, a city of culture, high ideals and philosophy? As with many ‘peaceful’ protest marches, it’s been infiltrated by the extremist hard-left, always trying to smash capitalism. And yet the original rationale for the march was understandable: workers earning the French average pay of c.€24k p.a. finding it impossible to live in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Properties there are totally unaffordable, even the appartements costing millions. And yet, the irony is that Macron’s party is neither right-wing nor left-wing, so which bit is it that the French are protesting about?
.....such irony that the present day revolution is fuelled by a party called En Marche! Don’t think somehow that was meant to be an instruction to the people!
Today a similarly-short, sharp-nosed, Frenchman has the same problem. The people may no longer be sans-culottes (trouser-less) but the whole world now know what gilets jaunes (yellow vests) mean. What on earth is happening in Paris, a city of culture, high ideals and philosophy? As with many ‘peaceful’ protest marches, it’s been infiltrated by the extremist hard-left, always trying to smash capitalism. And yet the original rationale for the march was understandable: workers earning the French average pay of c.€24k p.a. finding it impossible to live in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Properties there are totally unaffordable, even the appartements costing millions. And yet, the irony is that Macron’s party is neither right-wing nor left-wing, so which bit is it that the French are protesting about?
.....such irony that the present day revolution is fuelled by a party called En Marche! Don’t think somehow that was meant to be an instruction to the people!
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