Words are flying out like rain into a paper cup

A week in Scotland with my dad was a whole seventeen days too long. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing him and my brothers however, there is a limit to how long you can talk to someone without any feedback to keep the conversation going. He seems to spend all his time thinking about himself, if you try to add him into a conversation (we were discussing Harry Potter as there is an exhibition in London I would like to go to and parts of the Franchise were filmed near me at Alnwick Castle) but when anyone asked him a question he would go off on one of his own topics (himself mainly) and attempt to steer the conversation to talking about his time in the RAF when he did his National Service, or how the Fife MP of the sixties would repeat Prime Minister Wilson’s words as that was Labour Party Policy.

He had no interest in learning what was being discussed by the family and joining in the conversation. It was very hard for me to get him to say anything at all, according to my brother that has only started recently but he will never shut up when either of my brothers pay a visit. My youngest brother said that he can go round and say that he’s going on holiday with his wife without either of his daughters, and dad will say something along the lines of “The ambulance will have to pick up 3 people after I get on, so it’ll be almost dinner time when we arrive at the hospice.” He’s never interested in what anyone else does so never asks where they are going or what they will be doing. This only bears out what my mum told me when she was alive that he is very selfish and self-centred and I think she would have left him before she died if she had somewhere to go. I did offer to put her up until she found somewhere of her own but being old school she wouldn’t even consider living with me and my family in our house, her house would have been different but not in ours.

She kept saying that she wished she was as brave as me and could walk out and get a divorce, but I never thought she would die living a lie, of course I was the only one of her three sons she ever had that particular conversation with so I never mention it to either of my brothers or their wives. She never even discussed it in front of my second wife or my daughter so there’s no-one I could talk to without it sounding as though I was trying to get my own back on my dad for treating her so badly. I know I should be able to forgive him for all the pain and hurt he caused to mum and I but somehow I can’t and I think he knows he will never really be forgiven for all the times he would beat me and tell me how useless I was and how much of a disappointment to him I was. How I would never amount to anything and would always be struggling to make ends meet. I think that has a lot to do with my moodiness and lack of self-esteem. It’s probably also the reason why I often think everyone would be better off if I were dead, especially since my children seem to be doing so much better without worrying about me.

Anyway, this is becoming maudlin which always brings me to tears so I won’t continue with this and hopefully I can be more upbeat in my next blog post, dear reader.

All you need is Love

Following on from the recent cowardly attacks by “Muslim” militants, it has become clear that a British man has followed suit and cowardly attacked a group of Muslims outside a Mosque in London. This escalation has to stop before it gets out of hand and honest decent hard working people are right to feel outrage because of all these terror attacks.

Any attack against the citizens of this country is an attack against every single one of us. I make no bones about condemning this incident as I did every other terror attack in Manchester and London. We have to unite to make sure the escalation stops and innocent people are protected, regardless of their religious beliefs and the colour of their skin. This is part of what makes this such a terrific country to live in, our humanity and love for our neighbours is second to none. Any attack against one of our citizens is an attack on us all, we have become very strong by reacting to violence although some would see our compassion as weakness, we know it is a strength.

If we continue along this path (choosing our enemies by the traits that makes them different) then we are no better than savages, who choose to fight by instinct in order to survive. However, if we choose to embrace our neighbours and fight to protect everyone living peacefully in this country then that makes us stronger than our enemies who hide in plain sight because they are too frightened to wear a uniform and stand out among us. Any act of terror threatens everyone of us and we have to unite behind the law enforcing bodies to prove that any terrorist act, regardless of who perpetrates it, will be dealt with to the full extent of the laws governing everyone in this country.

I add my condolences to those affected by the terror attacks to the others they have already received. I stand shoulder to shoulder with every law abiding citizen of this great and united kingdom of ours. If we remain united in condemnation of all acts of terror then together we remain strong, undefeated and unbowed by conflict, and this will continue.

There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done

Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung…

Well half way through the 6th month of the year, it also happens to be Gay Pride Month and I think that with all that’s going on in the world just now we should be celebrating our humanity alongside our friends. Love is love, it knows no colour, no prejudice, no sex, and certainly unites us all. Love is all you need and there is a definite shortage of it around just now so let’s join together with our LGBTQ comrades, wear something rainbow coloured and stand shoulder to shoulder with hands held and humanity on show for the world to see.

If we can share some love with our neighbours and friends then can’t we find it in our hearts to share some love with all of humanity? This planet is capable of supporting life, but it is struggling to do so. Let’s not waste our energy on hate and fear, find something to love and let love rule. Come together right now, over me.

I started a joke that had the whole world laughing

In all seriousness, dear reader, I have noticed that I have attracted more readers to this humble blog. I have noticed that several of them are black and I would like to express my eternal gratitude that they have been blessed with the same non-racial expressions as myself. I don’t consider myself white (I may be white skinned but I am not white). I am a human being and as such feel that I can condemn the actions of the few as long as I only offend those people and not the rest of society then I have achieved everything I’ve set out to do.

There are people being stabbed, shot, killed all over the planet and yet some of our leaders still insist this is not world war 3 (Drumpf for one). Wake up people, while the first two world wars started in Europe before spreading outwards, this one started in the USA on September 11, 2001. Since then we have been trying to ride the wind and fight an enemy who chooses to stay hidden in plain sight. They refuse to wear a uniform and fight openly, because they are cowards.

They claim to follow Islam but the Qoran preaches peace and love, The Bible also preaches peace and love yet Christians have fought religious wars for centuries. The time to stop the spread of hatred is now. Fear breeds violence and hatred so isn’t it about time we stood up for peace, love and tolerance? If there is a God somewhere He knows what is happening and if we don’t stop it soon will he destroy this planet to stop us doing that ourselves?

If there is a God then why doesn’t he talk to anyone today? If you believe the stories in the Bible and Scriptures, he used to talk to people 2000 years ago. Or is that all just one huge lie? Does God really only exist in the minds of His followers? I really don’t have any more answers than those men who preach to dwindling congregations, if you do then where did you get your information? If God gave us free will then we have the right to stop violence, we have a duty to protect this planet from those who will destroy it. We have to protect our children and leave them something to sustain them when we have gone.

To paraphrase a truly great man of peace who was killed on the steps of his home building on 8 December 1980, Imagine there’s no country, nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. If we are tolerant of others it makes us stronger, not weaker. If we love our neighbours and would die to protect our community that makes us stronger not weaker. There is strength in numbers but that isn’t the strength I am talking about. I am talking about the strength from our humanity, if we learn all we can about our neighbours and teach them about us, wouldn’t that be better than shouting at them or fighting them?

What do you think would stop the violence? Stop the spread of evil across this entire planet? I, personally, believe that our best defence is our humanity, our love for one another and respect for each other that will help us all to sleep at night (although sleep is over rated somewhat).

Hello Mrs Jones, how’s your Bert’s lumbago?

With all the cowardly attacks going on at the moment, I heard about a post on Facebook from an ex-military person. He (or it may have been she) offered the services of those who have served to protect our cities. While I wouldn’t condone the action suggested (they wanted guns and ammunition for these older people) it struck me that others feel as I do.

I am ex-Navy and would willingly give my life to save others, however, my eyes are shot so I wouldn’t feel safe with a gun. A vest and nightstick (baton) would be enough to protect me from a knife and standing up to these cowards may well be enough to allow others to escape the attack. I am willing to die protecting others, with that in mind, I’m not alone and others would also be willing, apparently.

Whoever wins today should bear that in mind when they think about the state of the world and how best to protect ourselves from attack. More police marksmen, more armed police and an increased presence from the army and marines is good, there are some amongst us who will jump in as well to help out because these cowards will not steal our freedom. They will not win because they cannot win, terror has never worked in Europe and will never work, to subjugate our people.

These cowards may call themselves Muslims, but they’re not. They call themselves terrorists, but they don’t scare us. They shall never prevail as long as we stand united as one to prevent this World War escalating to Nuclear Holocaust.

Here we all are sittin’ in a rainbow

Once again the cowards have struck in London, breaking news cowards: We are well aware you ARE NOT following the teachings of any religion on this planet. The most well respected Muslim of our generation refused to go to Vietnam on religious grounds because killing was against the religion of Islam. He fought for his beliefs every day and suffered injustice in his home country of America, yet he refused to go and fight for the country he loved because that was against his religion. He suffered segregation, violations of his human rights (just the same as you are attempting to do now – denying us the basic human right of freedom of movement and speech). We will not give in to you, or any other coward – after all we fought two world wars which started in Europe against stronger enemies than you – and won.

If you think these cowardly attacks will turn us against good Muslims you are very much mistaken. We know better than to allow you to turn us against honest god (whatever name you give Him) fearing people who want to live in peace amongst us and will never turn to violence towards the rest of their community. We are a tolerant people but don’t mistake that for cowardice, you are the only cowards here today. Killing innocent people while they enjoy themselves will only strengthen our will to fight. You claim to be soldiers fighting a just war against the infidel so make yourselves known by wearing a uniform and fighting against our armies.

I know, as do all the people you target throughout the world, you won’t do this as it will remove the element of surprise from your attacks. The element of surprise is what makes you cowards. Hiding in cars and vans to begin your attacks of hatred then cutting people down after you have hit them with the cars or vans to slow them down. Show yourselves for the cowards you are and hide in plain sight, keep doing what you have started and we will become more vigilant and our armies will hunt you down and then you will have a choice to fight against those trained to kill or surrender. If you surrender then you will be sentenced for your crimes and if you are killed don’t expect a Heaven full of virgins for your pleasure because if you believe any religious teachings you will not be going to Heaven but you will end up in Hell suffering for your crimes against humanity. You better hope that neither Hell or Heaven exist and when we die that’s it story over. But, somehow I don’t believe that is the end. I may not be a Christian or a Muslim but I was brought up a Catholic and didn’t like the fighting caused by religion which is why I no longer follow any set religion but try to live my life full of love for everyone, regardless of which religion they follow or how evil they may actually be.