Life is one long enigma

No idea how this post is going to go (hence the title) a little known track from the late great Hari Georgeson, music copyright is owned by his estate (Dhanni and Olivia Harrison) as well as Universal Music/Apple/EMI and video is courtesy of YouTube so apologies if it doesn’t play where you are.

I had an idea today for a post and wanted to share it with you, now it may not take long as it is a very short discussion when it is one sided. The thing with a discussion is that it grows, we share ideas and then bounce off each other. With a blog it is only one person’s perspective and then we can read it and comment so the conversation starts there.

Here we have had some really hot days, temperatures up in the high teens Celsius. Today it is cloudy, rainy and the temperature has dropped to 18 C. My wife has read out a post from facebook and I would like to share it with you since I find it funny but would like to know what you think of it, feel free to use the comments to let me know if it offends you, makes you laugh or however it makes you feel:

America has a President named tRump which, here in the UK, is a polite way of saying bottom burp. Britain now has a Prime Minister who is called jOhnson and this is an American polite name for a penis.

Going with the politics for a few minutes (I promise it isn’t going to be a long winded affair today). I just read that Robert Mueller III’s sealed records have been requested, unsealed, by the House Judiciary Committee to see if there is anything contained in there they can use for impeachment. About time.

OK, this is the area I wanted to discuss now that “I Am Cait” is back on British tv, why is it that not every LGBT+ person speaking out on behalf of others receives praise for their actions from the LGBT+ community? I am asking because I don’t think it is fair. Cait is outspoken and is fighting for the same rights as every woman in the US. She is a woman and may not have been born a woman but that has no bearing at all on her gender.

If you disagree with me then tell me why you disagree, but she has been through the operations necessary to become the woman she always was. If you think that gender assignment should never be changed then tell me why you feel that way. If there was never a case for someone to be born with one set of genitals feeling that they were in the wrong body then I would probably agree with you.

I have never felt that people were wrong to be gay, after all, love is love no matter where you find it. When one of my friends came out as gay to me when I was 15 I said okay, but why are you making it a huge deal? I didn’t realise how big a deal it was in 1969, even today it is kind of a huge deal. It seems to be a bigger deal for black men than white men today, similarly for trans people to come out and date someone it takes an awful lot for them if they are black than if they are white.

I couldn’t care less about the colour of someone’s skin, to me they are a human being and deserve to be treated as such. I hate that some people on this planet look at someone and judge them on their skin colour, to my mind there are as many white criminals as black, in the USA today the chances of being found not guilty still often depends on the colour of your skin. This may be the status quo but it is not true to life. I have known white people who feel ashamed to speak of their feelings, but more blacks suffer racism than white. In the time I was living and working in London I felt I could go anywhere since going to visit a workmate (a man I called friend) one Saturday afternoon and walking down the street he lived on bouncing to the Reggae Music blasting from windows on either side of the street, until he came out and asked me what I was doing on the street. I told him I came to see him but was enjoying the music. I hadn’t noticed the crowd beginning to follow me down the street.

It was only when he waved and I turned round that I realised I had a following because they were not used to white people wandering into their area AND getting off on the music. When they all gathered round us, Glen said I was cool and they sat down with us on his door step and we talked for almost half an hour about music and the artists from Jamaica. Then Glen invited me in for a cuppa and to meet his folks. One of the most rewarding afternoons I spent in London.

As I said before, if we were together, sharing a coffee then the conversation would probably keep right on going, maybe change of topic coming up but the conversation would not be stopping here. Anyway, if you want to keep the conversation going please leave a comment and I will reply to you.

Garbage In, Garbage Out — Not Sheep Minded

A professor of mine used to say this. Frequently. It was as if it was the most important thing he was trying to convey to us. I wasn’t fully sure what he was talking about at the time. Twenty years later I might be suffering from a full garbage dump. The rubbish I was seeing […]

Garbage In, Garbage Out — Not Sheep Minded

A love for each other will bring fighting to an end

A title which most of us can get behind ahead of the fighting which is happening everywhere today. Song is about loving each other and copyright is not owned by me, video is courtesy of YouTube so, as always, apologies if it doesn’t play where you are.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the moon landings beginning. In 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on another heavenly body. A lot of people on this small insignificant planet watched that first foot being landed on the moon. Of course people will say that it never happened, there have been conspiracy theories surrounding a lot of happenings in the 1960’s, from JFK’s assassination to the moon landings.

It was able to send the pictures back of Neil going down the steps from the Eagle because there was a camera on the leg of the Eagle which was turned on prior to the astronauts entering into the lunar module and flying down to the surface. That is also why you can see pictures from the outside of the moon’s surface growing in the camera lens.

I won’t get into the conspiracies here because I don’t think it was right to try and limit the level of the success for man. When you realise that most phones today (whether you call them mobiles or cells) have more computing power than the entire Apollo 11 event it really lets you see how determined they were to fulfill JFK’s premise of NASA, that before the end of the 1960’s America would put a man on the moon.

I was so proud to be alive in 1969 but on July 20, I was at my aunt and uncle’s home in Wallsend, their tv broke down and, being a Sunday, there was no way to get it repaired before the moon landing and the walk on the surface of another orbiting piece of rock. I missed the first moon walk and there was no chance of a repeat when the news showed the landing and walk during the broadcasts that day.

There were a lot of things which happened during the 20th century which are being repeated today, and not all of them are good. There were wars, there have always been wars right through human history. There were atrocities committed against human beings by other human beings, and this is still continuing today. There was genocide by a regime on a scale never seen before, but it is happening again today.

As well as all of this happening throughout the 20th century there were good things happening. There was a rise in the numbers of people who were against segregation (in the USA) and apartheid (in South Africa). Both of these were repealed. Blacks and Whites both bleed red when cut, everyone has the same basic human rights. There was also an idea which was brought out of the end of the Second World War to be fought on European soil. This was to unite countries together, make them dependant on each other so that they would not go to war again. Because of this there has not been another conflict in Europe which pitted European against European.

If we don’t learn lessons from history then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Britain and the British Empire used concentration camps to put down sedition in the countries they occupied. Germany, under Adolf Hitler, put this idea into practice in order to round up those considered dangerous by Hitler. More and more concentration camps were built (all of them by the inmates apart from the barbed wire around them to keep people in). In 1941 when the war was going against the Allies and with the Nazis, these concentration camps were changed to become extermination camps.

Where are we seeing modern concentration camps being built? On the Southern Border of the USA, that’s where. At the moment there is still a chance to stop these ever becoming extermination camps. In the 1960’s there was a war being fought on foreign soil which was as popular then as Iraq was in 2000’s. The battle was not over oil reserves, it did not involve evil people like the second world war had. What this war was fought over was ideology, Communists in North Vietnam wanted to bring the entire country under a communist flag. South Vietnam asked the USA for help and more and more troops were sent over to Vietnam, at first the role was to train and aid Southern Vietnamese troops to fight their countrymen from the North.

Within a few years it became clear that the South Vietnamese Army were reluctant to fight their countrymen from the North so more and more American troops were sent in to fight on their behalf. The conflict escalated quickly into a full war fought by troops from America, Australia and New Zealand. Our Government refused to get drawn into a conflict in such a far flung part of the planet. The war in Vietnam coincided with Americans getting television 24 hours a day seven days a week. There were correspondents sent over with camera crews to go out with the US Marines and the indiscriminate killing of villagers by these troops were reported daily on American tv which fuelled those against the war.

Would that happen today? More so, there is no longer any privacy so if atrocities are being committed it is very easy to film and show these. Everyone today has a smart phone and the ability to post videos on social media and once it is out there it is hard to get it back. More often than not it is not able to cancel a video once it is on the internet since it becomes shared by others very quickly. With all of the technology at our fingertips today why don’t we use this to promote peace more and end war once and for all? Could it be that war is profitable? Peace also sells but none of the major players want to buy.

May you always do for others

and let others do for you… A song that I have been humming for the last few days so it is posted here for your delight and enjoyment. Copyright belongs to Columbia Music, Sony Music Corporation and Bob Dylan. Video courtesy of YouTube and apologies if it doesn’t play where you are but this is out of my control.

When does a war become so expensive it is conceded that it can never be won? The war in Vietnam was deemed to be lost in 1975 when the US stopped fighting on two fronts and pulled the troops out and Vietnam fell to the communists in that same year. Who decided to pull the plug on a war which was only supposed to put American boots on the ground to train South Vietnamese troops? The President of the USA, that’s who. President Johnson no less since Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974 so his VP took over the reigns.

If we do nothing to prevent tRump from running in 2020 he will become POTUS again because he has made sure that the hacking door has been left wide open for “someone” to manipulate the vote again, exactly as happened in 2016. If the Democrats in the House won’t begin Impeachment straight away then 2020 will be the end of the greatest democracy since Rome. The end result of 2020 will be a manipulated win for tRump and his first act will be to declare himself Emperor, blackout the concentration camps at the Southern border and turn them into extermination camps.

If you don’t believe this is possible think about the latest reports from the border camps when VP Pence visited them and the looks of disgust on his face and that of every officer there. They don’t see the people interred there as people but as some kind of animals to be used and abused as they see fit. They have already started moving teenage girls from these concentration camps to Florida, 8 miles away from Mar-A-Lago, you should know these are not by chance. If you had any doubt about the relationship tRump and Epstein share you should be aware that Epstein was operating with the full blessing of the current POTUS.

Anyway, enough of this criminal now, every decent human being on the planet knows how to stop him but is becoming frustrated with the dragging feet of the Speaker of the House. Anyway, as I said, enough of him as there will be bigger scandals coming our way soon.

If we can have some semblance of normality in the dark days ahead then we should use that to illuminate our lives and give what help we can to those facing the full force of the dark times ahead we should know that we have still some light left to give.

You should always be who you are because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. A word of wisdom from Dr. Seuss. If we all pull together is there any limit to our power? Of course not, we can do more together than any one of us alone can achieve. What then of the dark days ahead, rain, storm and the weather deteriorating until we end the destruction of the planet – or the planet ends us? Or can we work together to bring the destruction to an end and make the planet healthy again? I believe that as long as we act before much longer then we can save life on this planet before the planet ends everyone on it.

The British Police are the best in the world

Today, for a change of pace, I have used a line from TRB and a song which is, thankfully, no longer true in the UK. That doesn’t mean that there is full acceptance of everyone here at home, with racism and other discrimination going on around us every day and too few police to deal with every crime being committed we are in a far worse position than we were when the album (Power In The Darkness) came out in 1977. As always I don’t own the copyright, video is courtesy of YouTube and apologies if it doesn’t play where you are.

Parts of the song have become untrue but the sentiment it conveys of police brutality, while no longer everyday in the UK, is still true in most of the countries around the planet. The law is changing so that everyone is being given equal rights with everyone else. Since it isn’t pie that doesn’t mean anyone is losing out on their rights. With so much hate and violence in the world today I am reminded of my youth and the demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, which the American Government refused to recognise as a war. Today we have the war against terrorism (which is a world war no matter which way you cut it). The war on drugs (which is failing) and other wars going on all around us.

If you don’t think I am right about the war on drugs take a look at how big and powerful the cartels have become and how much money their illicit trade generates for them. We should press our Governments to end this war and put the cartels out of business by taking over the drug production and distribution through legal channels. If they control the quantity and strength of the drugs available on the streets what will happen to the cartels in (so called) third world countries? Their power base will be weakened and their cash supply stopped overnight. The Government will then have increased revenue and the danger of an overdose will be lower.

The extra revenue can be ploughed into the economy in the form of additional funds for threatened services like police and fire. This will also prevent terrorists from making money from selling and distribution for the cartels. However, no Western Government wants to admit defeat even though they are losing this particular war with more and more drugs finding their way onto our streets. The people buying don’t know what it has been mixed with and play Russian Roulette with every injection and every tablet they pop.

As an example of dangerous mixers, I have heard of heroin being mixed with rat poison to make it spread further, while this will only kill in high doses do those idiot pushers know how much is safe? Do they know what the heroin they bought has already been mixed with? The answer to both of these questions is NO.

Some people in power know the war is not being won, for every reported bust recovering millions of pounds worth of drugs at ports, airports or in chemical factories, there are around another 90% out there making their way onto the streets. If we are unable to stop them all then we should hold our hands up, admit we have lost and do something about getting the income ourselves, ensuring the product is safe in the process.

Everyone is entitled to benefit from police and fire services being able to do their job and keep us safe. With numbers being reduced at every turn they have to decide what to prioritise and what to let go. This is not keeping anyone safe and it leaves crimes going unpunished. Yes there are different levels of crime at play, human life is not protected when criminals can get away with their crimes due to a lack of officers. Fires are started deliberately in order to cover up crimes and with so few firefighters around today a lot of these are being left to burn unless there is a danger from toxic fumes.

Successive cuts to services don’t help everyone, they only help those who follow a life of crime. Someone is killed today there is a very huge chance the killer will never be caught because there aren’t enough police to catch them. Someone is robbed today they can kiss goodbye to their memories since the police are too overstretched to chase down the items stolen. This is a sad fact of life in Britain in the 21st Century. The leading contender for the vacant position of Leader of the Conservative Party, and Prime Minister, is wanting to take the country out of Europe because a rigged referendum 3 years ago said that was what England wanted. A no deal was never put to the people and a lot of those who voted to leave will not accept a no deal exit. Now that the lies have been shown to be lies (the biggest one of which was that Europe needed us more than we need them) the majority now want to remain.

When the referendum and American elections were hacked by Russia in 2016 there was an outcry for an enquiry into both. Now the truth is known there is no guarantee it won’t happen again in either country. Russia is trying to destabilise the West so it becomes the only super power on the planet. Why is not yet known but you can bet on it not being to maintain peace and stability. Once it is done then it will be too late to go back.

If you got the money, honey we got your disease

Today’s song is from a mid 1980’s debut album. Welcome To The Jungle from Appetite For Destruction. Copyright is owned by Geffen Records, GNR not me, video is courtesy of YouTube and, as always, apologies if it doesn’t play where you are.

There is no strategy for this post, no theme going through it, no theme uniting it. It is just me sitting here thinking about nothing and writing my thoughts down on here for your delectation and enjoyment (at least that is my intention).

There is a lot of shit going on at home and abroad just now and I want to try and take my mind off that, so hopefully taking your mind off it as well in the process. If we were to chew the fat face to face over a coffee would we find more to laugh about than there seems to be at the minute?

I hope you are enjoying the music, if it is playing for you. Sitting down reading this with a cup of coffee, tea or something stronger if that is your poison. I haven’t been here for a while and that was remiss but hopefully this post will be a longer one and bridge the gap between my last post and this one.

I hope you are keeping well, nothing bothering you too much or giving you too much grief. I am quite well today, for a change, which means fewer meds today, hopefully this will continue tomorrow. Pain levels are back to manageable levels for the first time in several months. I hate having to take so many painkillers for the pain that I fail to function as a normal human being.

If we can do something to help another human being without going out of our way or giving more than we can afford, how many of us do that? I would do anything for anyone that it is in my power to do. I once walked 4 miles home to get some sugar and pain meds for a work colleague the day before pay day. She was diabetic and had a severe pain in her leg which was causing her severe pain along with her low sugar so she was about to go into a coma. After running all the way home and getting what I needed then running back to the house she was at I was too knackered to go home again and we shared a bed for the night. I was a complete gentleman and didn’t touch her but did keep an eye on her all night.

I would do this for someone I barely knew because she needed my help, or at least help from someone, and I could help. I don’t know if she would have accepted sexual advances from me or not that night but thought that given she had been seriously ill I would let her sleep and keep an eye on her overnight. Nothing else happened and her blood sugar was restored to healthy levels and I was so relieved by that. I know that helping her was the right thing to do, it helped her to maintain her health and it meant there was no late night visit to A&E in order to relieve her symptons.

If I had the opportunity to do it again I would without hesitation. I was trained to run towards gun fire and if, hopefully never but these days you never can tell, I was on a night out and some idiot opened fire on a crowd I would try and take them out before too many died at their hand. How many would do that? I hope those who had the same training I did would, but no one else would. If you haven’t been trained then you are better off lying under dead or dying bodies to avoid detection and stay alive.

Anything can be used as a weapon but only stand your ground if the gunman is directly in front of you. If he is looking right at you and you run away he will shoot to kill. Standing your ground will disorient him and put him on the back foot. He is a coward who prefers shooting people in the back so standing your ground and staring him down will startle him and make him panic.

If we do nothing against the criminals stalking our streets today then we will never be safe again anywhere. I would like to see a time when everyone is free to be themselves, living without fear. I doubt I will ever see that day but you never know.