Thursday, April 20, 2006

I used to be a Hippie

I used to be a hippie. I really believed in flower power, love and peace. I had long hair, a beard and an Afghan coat.

Now I'm nearly bald. I've got a mortgage and I've lost the Afghan coat. I've still got my Che Guevarra badge though.

Local Elections

Today I got my polling card.

What the hell am I supposed to do?. I am one of the thousands of totally disillusioned voters. History will judge this to be the legacy of the Blair years. They have managed to turn us all off completely. I simply can't vote Labour again either on a national or a local level. I don't believe them, don't trust them and frankly don't have a clue what they believe in anymore. I could never vote Tory especially on a local level where reading their campaign literature actually makes me feel slightly ill. The Lib Dems seem to have vanished into thin air. For a while I thought that could be my new home but now I am certain it's not.

So I feel unrepresented and disenfranchised. After years of feeling highly politicised I am now becoming apathetic. I am cynical about statements, claims and promises. I am slightly paranoid about the intentions of ambitous politicians. Far from admiring, I now tend to despise people directly involved in politics. What has happened?. Is it because of Blair, his lies, his war etc? Is it because it feels as if we are being controlled and manipulated? Is it because it seems as if there is an erosion of our freedoms? I don't know what the answer is but sometimes I feel as if Democracy has run its course. They are so good at manipulating the media, the facts and the way we vote that it has almost become pointless.

What should I do? Does anyone know of a party worth voting for.

Nick Cave

Definitely one of my favourite musicians. Who else would open a song with the line:

"I don't believe in an interventionist God".

Now that is not the kind of music you hear in the shopping centres on a saturday afternoon.

Success at last.

Good day at the football on saturday. My team (Reading) continue to win week after week and moreover win easily!. This is quite an unusual experience for me. Having spent approximately 20 years watching them achieve nothing, we are all having to get used to success. It is great but there is a price to pay. Next season, ticket prices will be so high that I simply won't be able to get a season ticket anymore and now we get sucked into the sort of premier league corporate world. I'm not really sure if this success is politically correct for me.

I don't want to give the impression of being too much of a 'blokey' bloke but I do like football which does make me a bit 'blokey'. Actually I also like beer, pubs and fags so maybe I am a bit more 'blokey' than I like to think. Also I do tend to get over excited at the football and sometimes even embarrass myself. My language is appalling especially when it concerns referees and linesmen at whom I hurl abuse regularly and compulsively. Obviously this is all related to my inherent dislike of authority figures. I can't shout abuse at policemen or politicians (at least not without getting arrested) so the football is great beacuase it is perfectly acceptable to berate referees. In fact I love the football so much that when Reading finally got the points to guarantee promotion I actually thought I was going to cry and had to work hard to hold it all in. I must get out more.

In the meantime, I heard Patricia Hewitt being interviewed on the radio. She assured us there were no plans to close any hospitals only plans to reassign services to GPs and other community bodies. Eh?

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Easter Eggs

Didn't get any.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Perfect Clarity.

A couple of days ago, I went to visit my old Dad. He lives alone in the same house he's lived in for the last 50 years. He suffers from Alzheimers. Of course, this makes life quite tricky sometimes, for him as well as me, but it also makes visits quite entertaining. He rarely remembers what we talked about on previous visits so one tends to go over the same old ground. Also from time to time he says astonishingly random things as if he is sleep talking. This time, when discussing my eldest daughter who has gone travelling in Australia, he suddenly asked if she had remembered to take her slide rule with her. This led to a discussion about logarithms and log tables that used to be used in Maths classes. I was crap at maths and had no idea what the purpose of this was. Dad expained it to me with perfect clarity. Now I know what all those numbers were for. Not so mad after all!!

On the way home my car nearly got rammed by someone in one of those big 4 x 4s. Selfish git!. They should be banned but presumably this poor excuse for a Labour Government considers them perfectly acceptable and the sort of car we should all aspire to.

Also heard Margaret Beckett (I think) say that Bliar using the Queen's private jet was cheaper than using Eurostar. Jesus Christ! Politicians on drugs again. She probably had ways of proving this but back on planet earth even 5 year olds know that using a private jet is NOT cheaper than using a public train.

Friday, April 14, 2006

The trouble with Popes

is that they are always too old. I've never known one to be younger than seventy.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Are they all on drugs?

Yesterday I heard Jack Straw insisting that there was no civil war in Iraq. This is just another example of the absurdity of politicians. Don't they realise nobody takes them seriously anymore. They seem to see the world in a completely different way from the rest of us. So we see daily attacks in Iraq by (we assume) Iraqis on Iraqis and to most of us that would suggest a civil war. But oh no, not to the politicians. They see something entirely different. Maybe they are all on drugs.

It's the same here on a local level. I know some of the local councillors and they are constantly telling me that what I see with my own eyes is not technically the truth. If you complain about the traffic, they will tell you it is better than it used to be. If you say the schools are oversubscribed, they tell you that technically that is not the truth. When you complain about the demolition of beautiful buildings, they will reel off a list of beautiful buildings they have not destroyed. It is all very confusing.

This 'politic-speak' is very weird and I am now convinced they all live in some different reality to the rest of us. Well as far as I am concerned that's fine. I don't want to be part of their world. But why are they always trying to encroach on my world?. Leave me alone and for God's sake don't expect me to take any of them seriously!. Maybe a few honourable exceptions but most of them are a complete joke and should be treated as such. When they make speeches, maybe we should all roar with laughter as if they were comedians. They would have no idea how to react.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Iran and the Middle East

Many years ago, I lived in Iran. Indeed I lived in many different parts of the Middle East and know the region well. In many ways, these were some of the happiest times of my life. It depresses me to see how the West now views that region and some of the ignorance that is spouted by our politicians is simply breathtaking in its audacity.

The notion that Islam and/or Arabs are inherently violent and aggressive is absurd and ignorant. Believe it or not, this is an idea that is articulated openly in the western media and by politicians. As a westerner living in the Middle East I never encountered hostility, prejudice or aggression. On the contrary, my abiding memoery is of kindness, hospitality and generosity. I would add that this was over 20 years ago and I imagine I would encounter more hostility now. But there is no inherent disposition to violence or aggression.

For the last half century and probably longer, western superpowers have manipulated, interfered with and controlled the politics of the region to such an extent that bitterness and mistrust were inevitable. The appalling and blind support of Israeli aggression was bound to have consequences. The economic control of the region to support our own way of life was not going to be accepted forever. Even then, there was no systematic aggression aimed at us by Middle Eastern governments. The alleged support of terror networks is not quite the same thing as the mobilisation of a full military opposition.

How low have we sunk?. A country was invaded, the infrastructure decimated, countless thousands killed. All on the basis of LIES. Proven lies. And still the liars are in power in our democracy. And who has gained?. A few American corporations have got fatter. It disgusts me.

And now?. Well the rhetoric is all about Iran. What has Iran ever done to us?. What have they done to threaten us?. Nothing. Two of the countries that border them are under western occupation, Israel is openly hostile, Pakistan has a nuclear capability. Should they not feel threatened and isolated?. How can that imbecile Bush and his henchmen talk in veiled threats. All supported by the weasel Blair and sycophantic Straw.

Be afraid because this is no Iraq. Iran has a well established mature middle class that is largely behind their democratically elected leader. Militarily stronger than Iraq, this could end catastrohically for us. As far as I am concerned the real danger to our civilisation comes from Bush, Blair, and their acolytes. Let's get rid of them and get life back on track!.

Welcome

Welcome to the rainbow inside my head. It might be a slightly odd place. Who knows?. All sorts of things go on inside my head. Sometimes it's like a rainbow and sometimes it's darker. We'll see.