Right, quite right, you’re bloody well right

No music to accompany this post because which version to choose? The original Studio album track from Crime of the Century? A Live version? Or maybe the single edit from the USA single? Because it is such a tremendous song I will leave it up to you to find for yourself. The group? Supertramp, and I have rediscovered these gems hidden away in my music collection very recently.

Unlike the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the music of Supertramp was not definitive of any era, it always seemed to be outside time. If I learned nothing else in my journey through life it is that some music speaks volumes of the times when it was created. Others seem to be outside time and space and just are brilliant pieces of music. Some classical music is definitely like this, some classic rock from the late 1960’s and 1970’s speaks of the turmoil of the time, others speak of a world to come which is better than the one we have.

If we have to learn something from the current state of the world it has to be that things have to change and more quickly than our leaders want them to, otherwise we are going to destroy this planet we call home and there is no planet B. Listening to music has always been able to transport me away from the cares and worries of the world, take me to a better place; or else to make sense of the troubles in the world at the time.

When you look around today, what is happening in the USA and the UK in particular is very reminiscent of the situation in Germany between the wars. The rise of the right, concentration camps, slogans (like every problem can be laid at the feet of the Jew/Muslim/Black/Gypsy). The similarities with the rise of the National Socialist Party of Germany in the late 1920’s and 1930’s to the rise of tRumpism and Brexit is worrying to say the least.

The English Defence League members are flocking to join forces with the CONservative party in the UK, this would have been unheard of in the days of Thatcherism when the EDL was known as the National Front. Like the National Front the EDL is a white supremacist faction hailing Adolf Hitler as the wisest leader ever in recent times. Everyone should be getting worried as the far right are rising up to dominate the politics in the West, aided and abetted by Russian oligarchs and Vlad Putin.

It is time my friends when we have to make a united stand to remove the cancer before it takes a firm grasp of every free thinking nation and installs tin-pot dictator’s answerable to Russia and not the people they are supposed to represent. If we can do nothing else then we have to at least make our voices heard. The silent majority cannot remain silent for doing that will destroy the way of life we deserve and expect.

On a less frightening note, there is a movement growing in strength within Europe to stamp out the far right (Macron in France is the biggest example) and to moderate the political climate. If we can do the same in the UK and USA then we will have a chance to avert the catastrophe which is coming more quickly every year.

Let’s hope it’s a good one

Music today is from that perennial favourite John Lennon, wishing everyone a very happy time of year (before the messy brown stuff really hits the big whirly thingie). Apologies if the video doesn’t play where you are but that is YouTube for you, works in some areas and not others.

Well, another year is almost gone and the new one is coming in soon. If we overdo things at this time of year no one points a finger and says anything bad. It’s such a shame though that the trolls are still out in force. They blame anyone and everyone for the ills they bring down on others. Is impeachment justified when the current POTUS tells everyone on twitter that he is a criminal and the crimes he is committing daily? I would say yes and I’m not even American.

I never heard anything from my son in response to my texts to him last month and the emails I sent him until I had a go at him this morning. Is it wrong to feel neglected at this time of year when you haven’t heard anything in 5 months? Your texts and emails go unanswered, when all you really want is to hear that he is doing well? If he got in touch with me to say he was fine and ask how I was doing then I wouldn’t be sarcastic because there would be no need but when I text him and hear nothing back so I email him and still hear nothing back, it does kind of upset me.

Is that not what he expects? Sarcasm, because it’s the only way I ever get a response. I never hear anything back from my daughter, but at least she was up front telling me never to contact her again. If I didn’t care then it probably wouldn’t hurt so much to never hear anything from either of my children. Still maybe I should just leave them to their own devices since I probably won’t be here for much longer since we have another 5 years of taking from those least able to give to give to the wealthy who don’t need it.

I wonder if there is anything worse than family at this time of year. It’s just a pity you can choose friends but not family.

There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave

Music today is from the Turtles (featuring Flo And Eddie) with a song they covered which, I think, is more valid today than it was in 1965. Apologies if the video doesn’t play where you are but it’s courtesy of YouTube who have different policies in different territories.

It didn’t take long, did it? Those who voted Tory last week because they wanted more money, working fixed hours every week or just thought they should avoid an honest man who was torn to shreds by the Tory press, the BBC and Downing Street has been told that the grass is just as brown as it was over the last decade.

They ruined it for all those of us who saw through the lies, preached the truth but were not believed, and no one should be surprised to find that the biggest liar in politics today lied through his teeth to win a victory not seen since the Falklands conflict with Argentina led to a Tory landslide for Thatcher. In the words of Gove and Demonic of course we lie, we tell absolute whoppers but we will continue to do this because it wins us elections.

People on zero hour contracts can be offered £75 an hour but if they don’t work what’s the point? I know people who work one or two hours a week and don’t have a leg to stand on because they are on zero hour contracts. Because they have a job (?) they are not allowed to claim benefits so are threatened with eviction every month unless family and friends bail them out but there is a limit to how often that can happen. So they move back home, and that’s why you find so many 40 and 50 year olds living with at least one parent.

In these dark days we can see what the Tories are doing to make sure they win every election in the future, they are redrawing the boundaries making for fewer seats in Westminster and introducing Voter ID in order to exercise your democratic right to cast a vote in an election or referendum. The more they tighten the screws the harder the fight back will be, we have not seen darkness like this in Europe since the beginning of the 1930’s (in Italy and Germany). The EU has prevented European Wars since 1945, there is a global war being fought today by Russia, interfering in elections and referenda in the West in order to bring down democracy and put in place Governments who will aid Russia on the world stage.

There was a report produced and submitted to Downing Street ahead of the prorogation of Parliament for the election. This was not released because “two weeks wasn’t long enough” and a promise given that it would be released “after the election”. Now that BoJo has won a landslide victory that report will never see the light of day unless it is published on the internet.

We are still hearing horror stories of people who are dying in the UK being told by a medical “professional” – often a trainee nurse – that they are fit for work and having their benefits stopped often weeks before they die. This Government don’t care and they are telling people that these are the enemies of everyone, shirkers who don’t want to work (attending hospital 6 days a week is no excuse for not having a job) taking money out of the public purse which could have been used to make life better. What they don’t say is that if there was more money around it would go into the pockets of the few not the many.

I am still a staunch socialist, I care what happens to others and couldn’t care if I get locked up for protesting against injustice, just like Jeremy Corbyn. The pacifist loving, racist hating, planet loving human being who cared what happens in this country totally destroyed by the few because he posed a threat to them being able to hang on to their offshore wealth.

No one I think is in my tree

The title of this blog post is from a song by Messrs John Lennon and Paul McCartney but the video is not being posted because this post is addressing some serious concerns I have for the planet, for the people on the planet and, more importantly, for the animals on the planet.

Greta Thunberg, as I’m sure everyone knows, started on her own with a school strike for Climate Action. If she got people talking about the scientific evidence which is being added to day by day then that was a good thing wasn’t it? She has Asperger’s which is a type of autism and it gives her the strength to focus on the important issue of getting the climate emergency talked about while ignoring what some people are saying about her. She is a terrific young lady and I, for one, am pleased that my concerns over the direction we were heading (I first started demonstrating against war, pollution and other environmentally bad aspects of life in 1969) was being brought front and centre stage again.

I know Greta has her critics with big mouths and deep pockets but that doesn’t make her wrong, in fact it makes her right. The far right, who still seem to be dominating the political agenda for the West (and Russia) are trying desperately to discredit everyone who holds up science FACTS against their science FICTION. If you want to know where we are headed just ask yourself is your Government interested in stopping hate crimes, or in supporting them? If your Government is supporting hate crimes (racism, misogyny and antiSemitism) then they are Fascists in waiting.

Here in the UK people voted for the CONservatives in their droves without reading their manifesto, which said on page 48 (an interesting choice of page but more on that later) that if elected with a big enough majority then they would do as they please without worrying if it was legal or illegal because if the courts tried to stop them they would sack any judge making a ruling against the Government. They will implement ID voting, no ID no vote, which is not going to affect the wealthy because they will buy the necessary ID. The poorest on the other hand will not be able to afford the ID and will therefore lose the right to vote.

They also said that they would encourage more employers to offer zero hour contracts in order to get people off benefits. The thing is, if you have a job where you get zero hours you get zero pay. This will mean people being evicted for non-payment of rent, jail time for non-payment of council tax, homelessness and death. This Government doesn’t care as long as they are ok in their multi-million pound homes with houses bought cheap, not being renovated and therefore unfit for human habitation being rented to people for £1,000’s a month. The Tory policies of the 1980’s being brought to fruition in the 21st Century, along with putting minimal amounts into our NHS and asking businesses to make up the shortfall turning hospitals from places caring for the sick into businesses designed to make profits for their shareholders.

We can see how well that has worked out in the United States where people can’t afford medication so they are dying, people following horrific accidents and long term stays in hospitals being made bankrupt because of the high bills they are left with when their insurance companies refuse to pay up. The Government know Scotland will vote for Independence in another referendum so they are refusing to allow one to take place. This will lead to unrest in the parts of the UK which voted to Remain within the EU and they will leave the UK with or without a referendum.

If we are not careful our freedoms will be eroded completely and we will have to fight tooth and nail to get things looking anything like they should. Democracy is dying on its feet, tRump admits to carrying out impeachable offences then criticises the House of Representatives for daring to impeach him. BoJo is going to do away with the fixed term Parliament in order to remain in power with a majority as long as he can. Believe me when I tell you a war is coming, it’s closer than you think, because when you try to put the poor down and kill them off, they will let you get away with it for a while but then they will blow up like a powder keg and things happening then change lives for the better, apart from the wealthy as they tend to lose their lives.

I said I was going to let you know why page 48 was relevant, didn’t I. In Germany after the end of World War I in 1918, the Government enacted a Clause 48 which said that they could do what they wanted without any interference from the courts or the Chancellery. This worked in their favour for almost a decade until the rise of the Nazi Party.

We all leave before the morning light

Once again the lying cheating bunch of CONservatives have got into power with a landslide, which will destroy the United Kingdom and leave England alone in a sea of destruction and hatred. However, I won’t dwell on this and instead focus on the better aspects of the week gone by. Music is from the 1980’s (more modern than some I have featured) video is courtesy of YouTube and, as always, apologies if it doesn’t play where you are but the copyright is not owned by me and different regions have different policies.

No one where I live could believe it when they found out that the party of lies, misinformation and creating an autocracy had won the election. That’s the last I am saying about that.

I woke up on Friday morning feeling a little apprehensive about my appointment at the General Hospital. As I am in my 65th year it was time to go for a simple scan to see if I had an aneurism in my Aortic Artery. If I did it would mean going back to hospital for follow up visits to monitor it – or even surgery to have it removed. To say I was looking forward to this simple screening would be denying the truth.

Any way, I didn’t know exactly where I was going so I left plenty of time to get there, arriving at the Cresta Clinic at 11:15 for an appointment at 11:50. After giving my information to Reception and a nurse in the waiting area I settled down for at least a 30 minute wait. Ten minutes later my name was called and I went in to have the procedure explained to me along with details of follow ups (if needed). I was then taken into a separate room where I was told to lie on a couch, pulled my shirt up and had a tissue put into the waist band of my jeans.

The attending squeezed gel onto my stomach and then put the scanner into the gel and moved it around to get an image of my aorta at my abdomen. Suffice to say it was painless and within 5 minutes I had been given the all clear, after taking a few pictures to put on my medical file I was allowed to leave. Heading out of there ahead of my appointment time. I felt a lot better on my departure than I had felt on my arrival. Can’t explain why.

Anyway, the whole ordeal took me a few minutes and once it was over I knew that I didn’t have an aneurism and wouldn’t have to return for any follow ups. God Bless our NHS staff and hospitals who can still manage to offer screening at the moment, to find and correct problems before they become life threatening. I can’t see this continuing to happen here in the next 2 years never mind 5.

If you don’t live in the United Kingdom then you will not know how marvellous a job our doctors and nurses are doing without the necessary funding to keep the service running as it was designed to. If you have to pay for medical treatment then I am really sorry that you will never know how it feels to be able to see a doctor when you feel ill, attend hospital for free in order to be screened early for life threatening ailments.

Places where the cobwebs blow away

Just for a change, music from Paul McCartney (with Linda and Wings supporting). Video is courtesy of YouTube and, as always, if it doesn’t play where you are then humble apologies. I chose this song because it’s the eve of the General Election to decide which direction this country heads over the next 5 years.

I have been out and about in my local area telling people why I am voting for my local Labour candidate. This is being hailed as a Brexit election by the MSM and the CONservatives but it is about so much more than that. If we get stuck with BoJo for the next 5 years then there will be more suffering and death as the last segment of the NHS is sold off to private companies and will be run to make a profit.

People are believing that the LibDems want to see Brexit Gone as they are promising in their election manifesto, they can promise anything they want to because they haven’t got a hope in hell of winning outright. All they will do is split the anti-Tory vote and allow BoJo to win, or, if there is a hung Parliament they will refuse to work with Jeremy Corbyn and form a coalition with BoJo allowing a hard Brexit to go ahead. This will result in the dismantling of the United Kingdom since Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Remain they will not stand for a Brexit that is not in their best interests.

Once Scotland and Northern Ireland have left the UK, the Welsh will push for Independence as well, this will mean that England will be left alone and tRump wants Scotland and Wales for himself in the event of a BoJo win. He will not be happy once they both apply as independent countries to join the EU in their own right. What about Europe? Will they take back into the fold the Scots and Welsh? Once the United Kingdom is dissolved you bet they will. Scottish First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon) already has the support of 25 of the 27 other member countries (UK is the 28th and doesn’t count once it has left).

Northern Ireland will leave the UK and both parts of Ireland will re-unite which means it will be like East and West Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s. So what of England? You can hear the people in the North of the country clamouring for less involvement in Westminster politics, devolution by area. Each one trying to distance themselves from the rhetoric of division and hatred politics which has been rife since the 1979 General Election. The only political party which does not slag off their opposition or the leader of those parties is Labour.

A Labour party which is proposing, against the same tide as 1945, to improve our country by kicking out the private sector from the NHS, transport and fuel, bringing them back into public ownership so they are run for the good of all and not the shareholders. They were stolen from us by a CONservative Government led by Thatcher the Snatcher. She also wanted to sell off the NHS but was blocked by the will of the populace. Under BoJo she will finally get her wish, which is why he has to be stopped. Of course, he has hidden the report into Russian involvement in British politics and people are wondering why. What has he got to hide and why duck into a fridge to avoid being interviewed and allowing his minder to swear on live morning tv.

If we, as a nation, want to save our NHS and take back control of our country then the result on Friday will be that Labour have won a landslide victory not seen since the 1997 election. For anyone who doubts the logic of this being a two horse race, take a look at every election in this country since the end of WWII, either the PM was a Tory or a Socialist. The LibDems have never formed a majority Government but have propped up Tory Governments during the darkest of times.

I turned my face away And dreamed about you

With the onset of Xmas, following Britain going to the polls again in a week’s time (third time in 5 years) I wanted to bring a little Xmas cheer into everyone’s life and let you know what has been happening with me this week.

What a week I have had, on Sunday morning when I was tidying up ahead of going to bed the electric tripped the main fuse board. All I did was turn the kitchen light on and the electric tripped. In order to get some power back on I had to turn the ring main off, along with the downstairs lights and run an extension lead from upstairs (the sockets on the landing were on a separate circuit) to keep the fridge freezer on.

When I got up at 9 on Sunday morning (after 5 hours in bed or 4 hours sleep) I contacted the landlord and reported the situation to her. They came over (landlord and her husband) while I was cooking Sunday dinner, they started playing with the fuse board and knocked everything off, including the cooker and all the downstairs lights, upstairs lights and heating. With the temperature dropping they arranged to get the electrician who looks after all their properties to agree to call in the next day.

He turned up at 8:30, tried all day to find out where the fault was, without success and admitted defeat at 17:30 after leaving us with the lights (upstairs and downstairs) and heating. He could not come back until later in the week so asked the landlord to get someone else to call in on the Tuesday. In the late morning I was told that she couldn’t get anyone round until sometime on Wednesday. About 13:40 I received a text saying that the electrician could spare an hour between jobs and would see what he could do. He came round and said he would get working what he could in an hour.

He left us with the sockets on the landing working, so the fridge freezer could be connected to that and we could charge phones and iPads. Following this he told us he would come back round the following day (Wednesday) to try a few things and see what he could work out but the job was probably going to be too big to fully resolve in a half day which was all he could spare. On the Wednesday he came round spent a lot of time checking the work done on the Monday, about an hour before he told us he was going to have to leave he told us he would connect the power supply but would have to take a chance with the fuse board by disconnecting the trip fuse and would tell the landlady that he had made a temporary fix to last for a couple of months and to arrange for someone else, or get him in January, to come back and finish the job by rewiring the entire house.

Now we have power back, the internet is on and everything is working fine, but my wife is wondering how long it is going to prove safe for. Still as long as it works she is happy to use the power.