Monthly Archives: May 2024

They Have Done Their Part. Now They Look To You USA

Posted on by
14

Statue of LibertyLady Justice

Yesterday a fellow who thanks to a freak of the voting system occupied the Whitehouse between 2016 – 2020 was convicted of a number of felonies. Of course being the spoiled brat that he is he did  not conduct himself throughout the trial with any dignity and now throws a tantrum at the verdict.

He can consider himself fortunate he was not in 2021 arrested on charges which cover sedition and treason.

And yet the media show is not yet over. Nor do the ranks of those who by a communal effort elevated the fellow to a position far beyond his capabilities and certainly not his sense of maturity, if any, rest. There will be howls of protests, the social media will be filled with their vitriol and everyone who took part in the trial will be targets for them. While those whose politics thrived on this episode of American history will seek out ways to personally profit and advance.

Twelve American citizens have displayed great courage. They did not falter, they did not try to avoid their duty. They sat with great patience and fortitude through what at times was stripped of the dignity of court procedure. (You might have to go back to the trial of the Chicago Seven to see something comparable as a media hoop-lah.). They sat then in a small room and deliberated amongst themselves and then took a unanimous decision which they knew full well would impact on their personal lives and those of their families. They and those closest to them will know always have a concern that some individual or group will be trying their heaviest to seek them out, harass, abuse or subject them to worse. They did not flinch though, they did their duty.     

Uncle Sam

 And now what shall be done for them?

If House Speaker Mike Johnson’s doublespeak hypocrisy about a shameful day for America is anything to go by then this indicates there is one wing of the Republican party which has no respect for the due process of Law. This wing will say anything to suit its purpose; what limits it has on the ‘doing’ is a grim question indeed. One thing is certain of a grouping that stands by a person who tries a clumsy coup to stay in power, who insults servicemen and refuses to display any dignity in a court process they have no great concerns for the nation has a whole.

Therefore what shall be done for that jury and court officers. How shall they be protected by the vitriol of The Right? For this grouping has proven it has no respect for the ballot box either. It is a menace to any American who simply wishes to get on with their own lives for it will demands obedience. It will now turn of those involved in the trial and will do all it can to make their lives miserable.

We owe them. Not just respect but support. 

I leave that to each and every one of you to consider how best to formulate that to your own ways and means.

We, whether we are American or not owe them.

Dreams and Duties #Blog Battle : May – Revest

Posted on by
14

Meeting on a Mountain Side

Cross-cut thoughts with no focus, rushing down upon the conscious, running down a steep hill with not even the wild companionship of The Carefree to act as a nullification to being here, out-thought and cast out from his throne. No opportunity to reflect, respond, react. Grief and shame would not allow him space for anything constructive. Wretched and rain-soaked fool in a cave; trying to rally the last elements of his self-respect, hoping from such a modest gathering he could build confidence again. He was not going to think beyond those small goals. This was no environment to nurture Ambition; for therein might lay a wrong turning into Delusion. He looked out onto the steady light rain, the soft impact upon the land did bring a type of comfort to the ragged senses, and that aside no one would bother to scour these remote lands for him. He could take some rest. Savour Isolation. And find a way to ease his back, aching from the cold and damp. His old tutor, ever practical might have approved.

The comfort was quickly snatched away, as through the mist brought by the easiest of rain he perceived a figure trudging up the hill, their cowled head bowed down and the laboured gait gave him the brief hope they were not actually looking for him, but by some mischief of coincidence he had happened upon a place familiar to him. Trying to stay within the shadow of the cave he peered out, the rain making true observation difficult, giving the impression the figure was fading in and out of view. When they did come into view and thus closer he saw they limped, and leant heavy on a staff, at each step their breath ragged. He reckoned them to be some one of equal ill-fortune albeit with age as an added burden. At least, he reasoned he could share with them shelter and some of the staling bread he had by careful economy retained.

They stopped at the cave entrance, head slightly raised, breath laboured.
‘Ah. Already taken. Might you have some room in there?’
‘Oh yes. This is not a time to wander these unforgiving hills,’
Thanking him the traveller stooped in and slipped down against the cave wall, legs stretching out while breathing forth a long heavy sigh.
They drew back their cowl, regarding him, their long tangled russet hair framing thin very pale feminine features.
‘Colonel Myrea Dreswech late of the Zerdat Cavalry Regiment,’ she said as an introduction.
At those words, her being seemed to fade a small measure, causing him to reach out in an reactive urge to keep her there, his fingers brushing against the sleeve of her cloak, in turn resulting in her bemused smile and returning to a more solid being.   
‘Why thank you sir. I thought I was going to get lost in that desolate and dry sparse land again,’ her smile was rueful ‘There doesn’t seem to be much simple about being dead. Leastways not in my case,’ 
‘You’re a ghost?’ the words were loose, into the air before his mind could still the embarrassment of stating the obvious. Although her response did mollify his discomfort. There was a puzzlement on her face, her reply slow, of one trying to grasp a concept.

‘I suppose so. I was commanding a cavalry rear guard. We’d done a good job, cost us though. Then there was this punch, and looking down I see this crossbow bolt b ‘twixt my girlish charms. Frib, I was annoyed, just as we were falling back I get caught by some stray shot. It goes dark. When my eyes seem to open there’s a familiar face over me, picks me up, puts me in a cart, takes me back to our camp. I try to thank him, tell folk I’m alive, but no one hears me. It goes dark again. Next time I open my eyes it’s all desolate. I feel so wretched and alone. Start to cry she looked around ‘Then here in this wet forlorn place. At least it’s lush and natural. No bolt,’ she touched her chest ‘But it still hurts. Don’t take for granted The Dead are at peace. If I am properly dead that is,’ an open questioning face ‘What about you?’  

‘I was a prince. One who didn’t pay enough attention. Didn’t spend enough time learning the craft form his father and observing those closest to him at court. He died I ascended the throne and assumed those still there would help me, never thinking they had their own ambitions and agendas. I still do not understand. My own uncle, The Learned Council and The High Trustees, and turned against me. By good fortune my dearest friend Verräter dashed into my apartment, warned me and helped me escape through a window, pushed me actually. I took the fall badly into a outside greenery, was stunned but came too undiscovered and just wandered, shaken and still stupefied, and found myself here. When I was younger we used to visit the mountain fastness of a loyal Duke, I grew fond of walking its way. It did not seem safe to announce myself to him though. All trust gone,’   

Dreswech had been listening without interruption. Then with her teeth worrying her top lip, she spoke in a low intense voice of one used to giving commands and expecting obeyance.
‘Don’t get excited by this. I want you to take off that cloak and shirt, and turn around,’
He did not feel the need to question, the direct manner of her instruction caused a fear to rise within him, one which hissed for an answer. Having done as requested he waited, while cold fingers traced quickly up his back, the following click of her tongue echoing in the cave.
‘I can’t keep talking like this,’ were her first words ‘What is your name? Never mind titles lost or misplaced,’  
‘Beyragen,’ he blurted in a hurry to hear what she really had to say.
‘Well, Beyragen, I have to tell you, there is a deep sword wound here. And you are, also. Dead,’

He should have been shocked, but her slow steady plod up the mountain, her frank admission, the concern on her face as he had told his tale, and then her command, in that instance of time and place there was on reflection an inevitability to this assessment. After all his tale of how he had escaped and journeyed here had been a vague thing.  
‘Oh. I see. The ache in my back is not through the cold and damp then,’
‘That’s a solid reply. I commend you on that. Just don’t ask me any Whys, Hows or What-Do-We-Do-Nexts. Not only am I still trying to get used to being Dead and Alert there is also the small matter as to why I was drawn here,’ 
‘Or,’ mused Beyragen ‘Did I arrive here to await your arrival? There’s not much difference between the two circumstances I will grant you. Where are you from? I am not familiar with your regiment,’
‘Faymorgel in Rutheder,’
‘But they are lands from history, surely. I was Prince of Eienstarr,’
‘Never heard of it. If I’m from your past. You must be from my future. Oh scraith. What a tangle,’
With this the two lapse into a communal silence and stared out at the rain. 

Very carefully Beyragen placed one hand upon her shoulder, saying to avoid offense or embarrassment.
‘You were starting to fade. You’ve stopped now. I wonder how this works?’
Her smile was warm, and eyes alight with gratitude. Her own hand settled upon his.
‘You’re a good man Prince Beyragen,’ she said and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Beyragen opened his eyes. He lay in a bed, in a room. candle lit. The suddenness of change from one reality to another had him out of bed and standing, facing a window silhouetted by  the greyness ahead of dawn. Two sets of memories sharper than anyone other dream he had known. He felt up his back, all was smooth and no ache. Good. Without much thought on the action he dressed into functional clothes attention moving between door and window, his principal motivations fuelled by the vividness of where he had been. Grasping for reason and rationale he fixed on his tutor’s views on dreams.

‘Some say they are visions, I would nuance that. Part of that mystery The Mind still works in sleep and dreams are that part sifting and analysing and imposing on the waking part, which being muddled by this interruption sees its work in a different way,’   

Those I trusted, betrayed me? He blew out and threw down the candle, finding comfort in holding the large, thick functional candle stick. Some sort of weapon.  

The officer. She had been so precise. He closed his eyes and her pale sincere face was there, everyone else sinister shades behind her. She may have been a thing of dreams, yet in that cold, solitary space she had become a reality he could trust. He judged he had little time to forestall what was coming, but with calm, careful, selective investment of what might be just days he could. Innocent he had been, but he was his father’s son. He rolled the candlestick in his hand. Yes, she had been just like one of those scouts who bring you a warning afore a battle. And there was no panic. The warning had brought from its sleep another part of Prince Beyragen. He found he was smiling. Relishing the challenge. How swift Life could change. He sat and planned.

In the cave one of many places where pieces of Creation met and merged, she also sat and smiled.
‘Well done Prince Beyragen. You listened to the scout,’
Of course she had had to play a bit on a man’s preferences that when it came to it a woman would always melt a bit and lean on him, and she’d told him a lot more about this side of Nature than she had done to others. But a princedom’s well being was at stake. Plots always turned to wars between plotters. All down to him now, to change his and his realm’s Future.
She felt she was getting better at this. Going up and down, here and there, drawn this way and that. Slipping into to folks’ minds and hearts at random. Convince  a young lady not to be part of her father’s plans and instead embrace her own importance, steering confidence back a veteran bounty hunter after she had been cheated by comrades set on a course that mattered. Girls were less trouble, more willing to accept the subtle whispers and unseen nudges to set them on the right course.

What drew her to this role she still did not know. Maybe because of a life mostly in the light cavalry, moving swiftly and ahead, scouting? Whatever. She was content with spending her afterlife this way. She was rather pleased with her new curled hair. Who knew? After a set number of successes she might even be celestially promoted? And then maybe get an insight into the business of skipping back and forth through Time. Now there was a puzzler. Was there Time? 

Rising she winced. Yes, battle wounds still hung around. Stretching she looked out into the rain. Along came the by now familiar parting of this particular reality. A pretty, blonde with a roguish smile and a travel worn uniform, she sat joking with other soldiers. Unseen to them all brooded a town surrounded by tall thick walls down which blood ran, Dreswech heard cries, screams and the rest which went with battle, her own experiences warned her this one would be long a siege, the sort that twisted or broke some soldiers, submersing their senses until only killing raised feelings. She studied the woman, there were ethereal lines coming from another direction moving towards her, then halting, waving about her, almost uncertain.
Myrea Dreswech late of the Zerdat Cavalry Regiment tutted to herself.
‘I see. No, that will not do girl, not at all. I’ll have to toughen up you for your road,’

And set to her own planning.

 

Footnote:
In trying to avoid seeming to be repeating a theme, and clarifying matters for a reader new to my entries in this blog, there is something of a linkage going on with previous posts 
To add background to this story please refer to others as follows:

Dreswech’s Death Places We’d Rather Not Go #Blog Battle : November – Nervous

The Blonde SoldierMore Than Faith October #BlogBattle-Dream 

Cause and Effect. This Time in Papua New Guinea

Posted on by
28
Papua New Guinea Landslide

In this photo provided by the International Organization for Migration, an injured person is carried on a stretcher to seek medical assistance after a landslide in Yambali village, Papua New Guinea, Friday, May 24, 2024. More than 100 people are believed to have been killed in the landslide that buried a village and an emergency response is underway, officials in the South Pacific island nation said. The landslide struck Enga province, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, at roughly 3 a.m., Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. (Benjamin Sipa/International Organization for Migration via AP)

Here is the BBC’s update on the situation as at 8am BST UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckkkyxvdv5eo

In this BBC link the toll of dead, injured and missing has risen to 670, as is often the case when more information comes to light. A landslide, and thoughts will likely focus on the possible environmental issues be they de-forestation, other mis-management or unusually heavy rain fall. Landslides, mudslides call the event what you will. Suffice it to say large and sudden movements of not just mud, but rocks, stones, trees and other dangerous debris cutting a swathe through populated areas, and not just isolated villages are a regular news events. Another warning.

I would ask you to read this and then pause at the last passage which I make no apologies for highlighting here below:

“But Care Australia, the humanitarian agency which is helping with relief efforts, warned that the number affected was “likely to be higher” because of an influx of people escaping tribal conflicts in neighbouring areas.“

Yes, the other blight which we see countless news items on. Inter communal violence. Those who work with incredible courage and dedication will have seen this aspect time and time again. We will of course not seen much in the main news about the myriad of ongoing situations

And here is a link from the International Red Cross page on the situation

https://www.icrc.org/en/papua-new-guinea-tribal-fights

And an extract from the Wikipedia page on Ethnic Violence in Papua New Guinea

“In 2021, approximately 30,000 people were displaced by tribal violence around the Highlands region. In Enga Province, fighting between the Yalingin tribe and the Yambalekin tribe that costs the lives of 80 people and began the year prior ended in a peaceful settlement.In the 2022 national election about 89,000 people were displaced nationwide, with most being from the Highlands region”

It is distressing. It may cause you anger. Despair. The eternal cry of anguish ‘But What Can I Do?’ . Yes you, I also of us may feel helpless at yet another news items of tragedy, indicating not just one but two sources. What can we do? For Pity’s Sake, we cry.

Well – If there is an appeal site and you feel you can manage even a small amount. There is that. The IRC has it’s own donation’s tab.

Also- When encountering, as we all must these days, those who make abusive aggressive comments or in the case of Charities those negative conspiracy heavy nonsense excuses, tell them they are not helping anyone, they are making things worse not just for others but also themselves, and then do not engage any further….let them think on that- it’s called sewing doubt- sometimes it has to be done.

You may also care to post up news items about these (God forgive me for using this word) ‘relatively’ minor incidents and highlight the message that unless we constructively address both problems all across the world, eventually there will be no ‘world’ left for our descendants.

Yes, I know these seem small, almost inconsequential steps but if enough millions to make say a billion or so take this approach, it is a start, a push back. Right? 

For who knows when the equivalent in one form or another will come knocking on our own door?

Stay alert. Stay active. Stay caring. Stay compassionate. Stay.

More Than ‘Just an American Holiday’ This Year

Posted on by
17

Rishi Sunak

Rain sodden and competing with an anti-social source blasting out something which might have been music Rishi Sunak spoke with defiance and some gravitas but looked in the still photos like a fellow pleading ‘Give me another chance. I can fix this. Honest,’ And thus the UK ‘s political classes, pundits, news teams and Facebook heroes leap forth with either desperation or undisguised glee to fill the airwaves, media streams and letter boxes for the next 6 weeks. It’s General Election Times folks! Be prepared for thrills, spills, pyrotechnics, polemics, off-the-cuff errors made in public, uninformed biased trash from both Right and Left, and for the media to find a deluded someone who is going on holiday to ‘get away from it’ . Somewhere in there there will be policies and matters of importance mentioned by the major parties, but you’ll have to listen, watch or read carefully because the sound and fury will be loud. And sorry then my good American friends your election will take a back seat for a while. This year 4th July is General Election Day in the UK!!

To start off with I have to admit, personally I find it hard to actively dislike Rishi Sunak, which says more about those in the Conservative Party who have made headlines over the past ten years and also a few in my supposed homeland of the Labour Party.  That said to matters practical or more to the point Realpolitikal. Because against the backdrop of the past ten years  this is an age of choosing the Acceptable not the Perfect.  Something to Build On other than Sold to The Lowest Tender, or worse  Gesture Politics, or Pretending That Extremist Views are the answer, or thinking that Not Voting in the UK is smart.

For folk outside of the UK here is my own summary of the current parties you will hear about. At the risk of causing apoplexy amongst some fundamentalist Little Britains, the UK political scene has gone quite Euro in the past decades, no longer Two Parties and a few minor influences who fortunes rise and fall. Small parties can make an effect, either by diluting the vote of the Big Two or snatching a few seats. So in some sort of order these are

The Conservatives– Came to government in 2010 when Labour ran out of direction and drive. Started off as business as usual, the then PM David Cameron made the mistake of calling a referendum over EU membership and its Right came bursting forth. Since then its leadership has changed several times lurching further Right. Thanks to the special incompetence of Johnson and even more so Truss along with their own version of Labour’s self-destructive in-fighting it has lost much confidence of the public. Sunak tried to play the Sensible Card, but the rabid  side of the Right won’t let things be. The Polls suggest disaster. That’s an old song. The Conservative Party can be Stalinesque when determined to survive. An 80+ majority has to be quite a turnaround. File them under ‘We Shall See,’

Labour – Specialises in visceral in-fighting between what might be taken for in the USA as pragmatic Democrats with liberal leanings and a Left Wing who has a MAGA like fixation with giving Moscow a free pass, conspiracies and vitriolic social media assaults and threats on anyone who upsets them. Their tenure under Corbyn was a long term disaster at a time when the Conservatives own disarray would have been a gift to old Labour hands of the 1960s. Currently under Stammer, a pragmatist on policy and an authoritarian on internal party discipline. Not a favourite of mine but the alternatives are worse, Democracy is often about voting against as voting for. Worst worry- currently an large lead in the polls, lots of words being written about WHEN and not IF Stammer will be PM and a deluded group who might appear thinking not voting for Labour will help Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.  

Pause: The increase in smaller parties votes and disillusionment with the Big Two can lead to a ‘Hung Parliament’, which means neither have a clear cut majority of seats. This happened in 2010 and 2017. The following parties will all benefit in some way from such an event as seats in Parliament could make them king makers. 

Liberal Democrats (generally known as The Lib-Dems)- Formed out of the ashes of the old Liberal Party and a brief Social Democrats. Basically the third party, whose fortunes rise and fall. Under Nick Clegg in 2010 made a disastrous coalition with the Conservatives and lost public credibility, since then have been trying to build back. Currently profiting from those voters who have abandoned the Conservatives but won’t vote Labour. Looking to do well on that traditional theme. Aside from public recognition and trust its big problem is the internal split between the Financial / Economic wing and the Fair Deal for The Public wing (my terms). Also very few folk know any important or high ranking Lib-Dems. Current leader Ed Davey steering a basically steady course between every other party.

Scottish National Party (SNP) – Once the dominant force in Scotland but as suffered internal disputes over whether to go for full independence or stay with the ‘Federated’ stance. They are a force in UK politics in that they are the government in Scotland with a strong presence of 43 seats in the central UK parliament. However personal problems and scandals have dogged the party along with leadership tussles and blunders. There may also be a feeling in Scotland that for too long the SNP have taken the Scottish public for granted.  Both Labour and Conservatives smell SNP blood in the water and are circling like benevolent sharks to ‘save Scotland’  

Plaid Cymru -The Welsh Nationalist party has a long history, with mixed fortunes. Currently the third party in the Welsh Assembly (Senedd) and holding 3 seats in the UK Parliament. At one stage considered the main foe to Labour who traditionally held most of Wales in recent years they have lost ground to the Conservatives whose base in Wales is strongly anti-independence. They could however benefit from the perception of poor showing of the new Conservative MPs who came in during 2019 when said party made inroads in NE Wales. There again could lose out to a Labour revival. A generally Left of Centre party, they battle on. 

‘The Greens’  – The environmental party in the UK. They have doggedly held onto 1 seat in the UK Parliament since 2010. and have a tendency to be looked on ‘fondly’ by a noticeable portion of the UK population, managing to have 2 members on the non elected House of Lords, and 800+ local authority councillors. There has been a split within the party which saw the Scottish Greens go their own way. This reflected the ongoing dispute between some in the Trans-Rights movement and opposite numbers within Women’s Rights groups. Most other parties managed to bury this but in a small party which espouses tolerance and rights in all directions this stands out as an issue. They carry on though, hoping maybe that the success of the Scottish Greens in having a brief power sharing agreement with the SNP might be duplicated in the House of Commons.   

And then we have these two. Although they both have a seat in the current House of Commons, personally I hope that is redressed in the General Election. Their danger being both could dilute the votes of both of the Big Two and even remain the House of Commons. I should warn you I have no time for either, so my comments are not even slightly objective.

Reform (UK) – After UKIP fell apart Farage re-invented it as this one. Basically right-wing, anti-immigration, populist and constantly embarrassed by possible candidates for elections or elected councillors making inflammatory remarks. That said it is making inroads into the right-wing sentiments of sections of the population and could damage the Conservative vote.  Their 1 MP being a Conservative who switched sides. Personally I worry about that as it could influence some Conservative sections to move even further right to hold onto their voters. Although lead by one Tim Rice, Farage lurks ready to ‘do his bit for them’. The final word of the subject involves Farage who is apparently giving most of his attention this year to getting his friend Trump re-elected. Do you need to know any more about Reform UK?

The Workers Party of Britain – A party created by George Galloway, once a left wing Labour MP who now espouses the ‘Arab cause’ and Palestine in particular to the extent of a revolutionary fervour. It is difficult to separate the party from the man. Someone who conducts his political career with a Lawrence of Arabia / Sanders of the River / Paternalistic zeal over his adopted constituency. Won a seat in a recent bi-election through an outpouring of local Muslim anger at the Israeli action in Palestine. You might think, some in the UK do, that this is a revolutionary left-wing party (with a traditional section of the UK far-left anti- semitic ideology masking as concerns about Palestine writ even larger). Then you have to look at the record that he is anti-abortion, anti-LBGT+ and ‘socially conservative’. So forget a radical liberal stance there. A threat to Labour Vote and if the Conservatives do get back in, folk should examine where this apparent party’s vote affected the result. I now cease my comments.  

I have left out the parties of Northern Ireland who have representation in the UK Parliament because of Norther Ireland’s unique approach to elections long and deep in the sectarian question, and its own rules. The republican Party Sinn Fenn might win seats but as a matter of principal will not take them up whereas the Unionist parties can be as much of a problem to Conservative governments as any Labour Party efforts. Even so as in 2017 the latter can be power-brokers, if only for a short time. 

Then there are the usual hodge-podge of fringe parties, some of whom spring up now.

Overview 

Nothing should ever be taken for granted  in an election, those within Labour will look back ruefully to 1992, when only the efforts of John Major and the complacency of Neil Kinnock caused the result to go Conservative against the polls. Those of us with longer memories can hark back to 1970 when Labour was eased out of government against all the odds. A great deal can happen in six weeks.

As you can see from the above parties in the mix there are variables and also possibilities which could knock any party’s focus off course. Aside from the economy and the myriad of social issues, for once there are outside issues. Again, some think that by not voting or voting for extremists they will help the folk in Palestine, the logic of that escapes me, I can only assume they are very innocent of how politics works in the UK, and also know little of what is going on in the outside world in general; they leave themselves open to my eternal question…‘Where were you when the ….. (fill in the blank)Muslim populations were being slaughtered, persecuted in…..(fill in the blank)?’ . Then there is the issue of a full scale conventional war taking place not so far away in global terms from the UK. If Putin does something even more so than he is doing now, that may have some bearing, particularly if some other nation in say the Baltic is drawn in.

Overall this one is about dissatisfaction with a government. It cannot fight very well on its record, as its record is the problem. It might play a fear factor of the unknown to a great degree, and that sometimes works. There are those within who feeling this is a lost cause will settle down for a Long Game, lose this one, purge out the Right and go back to the middle ground; the danger being the party might split, something the Conservatives are usually able to avoid but we live in uncertain times.

Labour might be on track to win outright. but that will be something of a chalice with a dubious mix of beverages. The current government has been borrowing at rates which might be giving some economists and financiers nightmares. What Labour might inherit and what policies they might decide to forgo is a nightmare all of its own. You can only blame the previous government for so long, and in this unsettled unhappy realm ‘long’ will be short indeed.

I would normally say, simply Vote. It is vital for your future and those after you. However since there has been a revision of the voting system with the need to produce identity there and then, and the rules are not the clearest a number of potential votes might go by default….Why even an ex-Prime Minister got caught by that and could not vote…Boris Johnson…Who else?

I would not recommend betting on this outcome, much less the aftermath. 

Standing Your Ground With Your Eyes Shut Tight?

Posted on by
26

Greg_Abbott_official_portrait_2024Daniel Perry

There are times when anger or outrage does not suit the intention. Maybe the writer gets lucky and is standing far enough back to be able to feel just enough ‘Detached’ (ironically that is) to write with simply a large cloud of Sigh hovering above them. With mass slaughters making place across the world, what does one governor being political over one killing matter? After all this is the USA in an election year where polarisation carries on at a High Summer pace. Bound to happen somewhere, somewhen.

And it’s not as if Governor Abbot has not been open and straight forward in the past about his views. He defended the right for the Ten Commandments to be displayed on a public monument. He opposes gun control. He has stood his ground in court against same-sex marriage. As Governor he has supported Trump. Now although I personally have to give him his due for 2016 action which banned aborted foetus from being disposed on a sanitary landfill and required burial or cremation, he, nonetheless, has worked hard to limit abortion rights and thereby putting women’s lives at risk, whether he will limit pregnant women’s rights to travel we shall see . He stated that guns are not the problem it’s ‘Hearts Without God’ or mental health; how he proposed to police these factors he did not say. He also seemed to favour the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theories. There’s more but you get the general idea.

Well, so far, so clear. What you see is what you get. An unashamed. unapologetic Governor with Right Wing, Strong Fundamentalism Christian Views, and Guns. So we should not be surprised at all he was quick to pardon Daniel Perry, because “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defence” That’s what Governor Greg Abott said. You can’t argue with that stance can you know? Right up there, in Texas you have the right to defend yourself when threatened, you can shoot someone down, if you feel your life is threatened.

OK, let’s back up just a bit.  We have ‘The Letter of the Law’ and ‘The Spirit of The Law’. Now just think about that one, because it is a place filled with trip-ups and unintended consequences. Along with leaving the person making the decision open to all sorts of problems down the road.

Firstly let’s consider the next part of the Governor’s quote……“that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” . So firstly does that mean that a jury’s verdict can be overturned by a Governor’s say-so…well ‘Yes’- I mean that is what ‘Pardon’ is about. But ‘progressive District Attorney’. Now that does sound like an open political biased statement attacking a official…. which may be fair game in the US since folk run for the office. However I’m not done yet . I wish to look at the case of the person being pardoned.

Daniel Perry felt threatened. OK. But Daniel Perry had:

Begun searching for the locations of Black Lives Matter protests weeks before the shooting and messaged friends on social media, comparing protesters to “a bunch of monkeys flinging [expletive] at a zoo”. 

In May 2020, shortly after George Floyd’s death, he sent a text message saying: “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”  

He also sent messages about “hunting Muslims” and about killing a daughter if she had a crush on “a little negro boy”.

Therefore it can be argued we did not have one hapless driver who took the wrong turning, blundered into the wrong crowd and panicked, We had a man who reacted out of anger? Deep seated rage? Letting loose? 

And the Governor  act out of pity for the hapless frightened man who panicked, or did he pardon him out of sympathy for his stance of standing his ground as a matter of principal, in defence of his home, not his house, but his turf, his own cultural home. The Governor is versed in the law, politics and the laws of politics and I bet could comfortably get out of those questions. A professional and a very astute one too. Me? I’m just some guy who might be standing my own ground? Well, yes I am in the UK. But hear me out now.  

The Governor has established support for ‘Stand Your Ground’, firmly. Will he be comfortable when a liberal activist when in their home and being harassed by a group of right-wing opponents hammering on their door and yelling abuse, comes to the door with their own gun, and opens fire? Suppose there is this fellow taking his pregnant partner or spouse to the airport on one last visit pre-birth to a relative out of state and has been followed by a car of pro-life extremists who have been keeping a watch on this suspected pair, force the car to the halt, but to protect his pregnant partner or spouse the driver comes out with his gun and seeing weaponry in the cars, opens fire first? 

I can give worse troubles than that. Within Texas state someone ‘Without God’ or with ‘Mental Issues’ decides that the whole state is their Home and goes out into the night, just happening to be wearing a Biden T-Shirt in the hope they might, by chance come across a group of Opposition and left that group make the first move, but that person makes the first shot.

Then there may be the LGBT+ couples who meet at their usual social gathering. Only thing is now they are armed, openly, which is bound to attract opposition, armed. And the next thing you have is two lots of folks ‘Standing Their Ground’

I am afraid  it can start with one incident, one relatively small incident and then can spread. It is not necessarily bound to happen. There is always the risk. Because you do not know who ‘is packing’ and on Defcon 4 (Above normal readiness)

I might not be able take Governor Abott on in court, I daresay he would shred me. He would Stand His Ground. But I can sure raise the flag of warning, because he has no more idea of what the future might bring than I do. On that we are equal

A Comprehensive Warning Not Be Ignored But Studied.

Posted on by
11
Global macro trends – looking forward from 2012

Keith is a blogger I have long admired. His approach is mature and thoughtful. He brings together facts and marshals them into powerful arguments for his point of view.

In this post he looks back over the recent years and our still too modest approach to environmental concerns. This post is at a challenge, a steady yet remorseless case for more constructive action.

Please read and share. For our futures and our descendants

Thank you Keith

An Open Essay To The Current Protestors of The USA On And Off Campus

Posted on by
47

US protests

Foreword: For those not familiar with my site. Just a brief introduction. British. 73 years old. Christian (slightly heretical- I’ll square it with God when the time comes) . Left Winger but not of a type you would be likely to recognise. 65 years with an interest in and an affinity to the USA. 60 years interest in politics. A possible affinity to Martin Luther of Eiseben without the vitriolic antisemitism common to his time. OK. That’s me. Let’s get down to issues.

Warning
There will be harsh statements, there will be very uncomfortable points of view, there will be a number reminders about The World, there will be questions asked of the reader, directly. And there will no simple arguments or points of view or answers 

Overview
It has to be accepted that the current one of the many outbreaks of full scale violence between Israelis and Palestinians has attracted the attention of the world. Emotions are running high as well as broadly justifiable feelings at the violence and the loss of life. Looking out from my allegorical window you must accept me thinking. ‘What a pity such demonstrations had not been expressed in other recent times for other peoples in their own sufferings through violence. The events were on accessible on the news and received sustained coverage on the Internet,’ I am not just discussing Ukraine here. Just check the word ‘Genocide’ and look back over the past twenty years. That said we must move on, for there is a future to discuss. We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Next, something about The Past and The Nature of Events.

Events, Reactions and ‘Causes’. The Shadows and Shrouds of History
Political and Social Events which make the news do not have simplistic backgrounds, they have complex histories, and History has a way of extending itself back and back and back. There is no sudden start point. Back into the deep past there will be a gradual build up of a momentum which at some juncture reaches the Deluge or Avalanche or Earthquake stage and from there on those Earlier Events will have a strong resonance in the causes of Subsequent Events, and so on. Each one causing its own set of ripples or fault lines, criss-crossing the Human Geography of Peoples and their Communities, while calling up the echoes and resonances of the Past at a pace and frequency which leaves the observer possibly embracing the notion that Time is not linear or moving in one direction.

To witness October and onwards and put these in full focus requires what some would call an unsatisfactory and arguably heartless approach. Some would in the spirit of outrage at the loss of life simply deny. Usually these opening words of mine would be a conclusion of a paragraph. In this case just take them as warning of where we are going, a place where Death and Ruination have often walked, and the participants comfort themselves with many justifications, which depending on your view can appear strong but reasonable. We start in A Place which will have a focus in History. 7th October 2023. A concerted incursion by Hamas into Israel causing a very heavy loss of Life.

Of those protesting ‘Regrettable’ some might say. Even condemnatory. However they will add, for there is often an ‘However’ in these matters ‘Just look at the way Israel has treated the Palestinians. That is terrible and has been going on for so many years’ . Well in the harsh prism of History, yes that is an understandable, even acceptable outlook. Treat a people badly and there will be a violent reaction. There is a problem though with that line. The Jewish peoples of Europe (Russia gets included whether it likes it or not) for one thousand years or more were subjected to similar treatments and killings. When they finally get back to what they call their lands they have a long history of their own justifications. They learnt from ‘Europe’ (since there still appears to be a majority of American citizens who can trace European ancestry that includes You too). Therefore the tacit acceptance argument which is used for Hamas gets comparably morphed with a bloody swiftness and ease into one of ‘understanding’ the Israeli approach. Still be horrified? By all means be so? Tell me I am distorting the position? Be outraged. Point out that the death toll in Palestine exceeds that of Israel 30 fold. That is your right. Of course.

Now dip into the bloody, wide, deep, tribute river of War, one that ever flows from the larger River History.  350,000-500,000 German civilians in the allied strategic bombing campaign of WWII. 70,000 British civilians in the German aerial campaigns by bomb or rocket. True that is ‘only’ 7 fold. At the time the governments accepted the other sides losses- ‘they started it’. Thus do not be surprised at the Israeli response. It is one that takes place with regularity throughout the world throughout the ages, and no one seems to have a solution which puts an end to it.

You may now, if you wish express more outrage, only please do not accuse me of justifying Israel’s response. I am merely pointing out to you the Horror. This is how it works. I cite a few others. Ask the Syrian’s. Ask those Chechen folk not in a warlord’s pay, ask the Tamils, ask the Uyghurs, ask The Iranian Women and the Afghan Women (although the latter two were not bombed or shelled, just beaten up and locked up, only ‘a few’ died the other thousands upon thousands only live in terror and cohesion, and being locked up ). Ask the Women where Rape is used as a weapon of war. Keep on asking. You should. Keep on asking. For if you have taken up the Palestinian Cause, it does not end there, not in this troubled turbulent dangerous world. Marching on one Embassy, up and down one street is not going to trouble the worshipers at the Triple Altars of Death and Ruin and Oppression

“We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future.”

Into Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Now to you. You who have taken up a Cause. You who have felt the need to protest. What will you do now?
Pack up and say ‘I did my bit’, then go onto the ‘rest of your life’
Continue with the Palestinian Cause
Or sign up for the Great Struggle.-The one where the Oppressors, Merchants of Violence, Hate Mongers, and Opportunists With Guns are legion. The one where the victims are counted in their millions, be they dead, dying, sick, injured, terrorised, brutalised, violated and ever on the move or sitting in hapless squalor. All located somewhere on the inside pages of a newspaper, maybe mentioned as a filler on a news channel, or when some anniversary comes along, or to be found by following a few links on the net. Those dead and those anguished faces, along with those dulled-eyed with the whole horror, forgotten. What comfort do they have? A few dogged journalists? Charities working ever hard?

If you are truly honest, if you truly care, you will learn a lesson from this time in Palestine and in the South West of Israel. You will realise there is no respite, there is no time to congratulate and go home to Sunshine and Lollipops. Hate. Violence. They never rest. They are never cowed permanently. If you are not ever alert, keeping a weather eye, willing to challenge not just your government but the ones who gave the acquiescence to pull the triggers, then somewhere, somewhen Some Folk will be suffering. One episode of protest does not cut it. If you care, you do not get to select the Cause. The Causes will come to you and ask for at least some attention.

Just take some time out and take a lot at the Amnesty site, or Medicins San Frontières’ or UNHCR, or – you just look.

Did you? Will you? When you do, be prepared for the shock and the feeling of absolute helplessness. Be ready to say without thinking ‘But I Can’t Be Everywhere!’.

No you can’t. Nor can those in the charities which work through the world. They try and they spread slender resources. I know how you feel. I challenge myself every day. As I write this the nagging thought  burrows deeper. ‘Fine Words. Now What Else Are You, Roger, Going To Do?’ and ‘Do you know you are in danger of sounding like John Bolton. An old guy demanding younger folk sacrifice themselves for your ideals?’ 

But I am not trying to stir the passive or the complacent or the apathetic. I am addressing You, those who have seen it right and just to take up a Cause, remember it is but one piece of a larger, bloodied ghastly picture where blood, tears and body parts are the paints and the canvas is human skin.

This in Palestine, as it did in Ukraine, in Syria will pass from the headlines, it already has started. At least it made the headlines. Learn then from this which will become the Past and realise there will be more of the same next year and the year after and so on. Unless we all in same way, somehow, some-constantly do whatever we can, how we can, where we can, when we can.

My generation with its flowers, face paints, gaudy clothes and music which at times was over-long and self-indulgent, we quite frankly failed. We went to a music festival or two, we might have marched, most certainly purchased the right albums, and then? We in the UK voted in Margaret Thatcher, You in the USA did likewise with Ronald Regan and two Bushes (the elder Not So Bad, The Younger in Comparison with now…?). And in our later years We welcomed Boris Johnson and Brexit and  You let Donald Trump, the Action Toy of MAGA be placed in the Whitehouse. Don’t fall into the trap of complacency or that curse of ageing which tends to set in in the 40s the ‘Huh! In My Day’ response as if what will take place will be nothing to do with us ‘We did our bit’
Yes, about that

One Final Message, Wrapped Up In Fable, A Warning And Even Admonishment

And this year. This possibly fateful year. The one which made decide whether the USA carries on, stumbling as do all nations, or slides off that time-honoured road, down the one where there are always storms and you can only just make out the sign-post ‘Warning. Rock Slides Ahead’. You have seen the intentions of the Right, you have heard the ravings of the spolied Brat who did not forgive for losing the last Presidential Election. To elaborate let me tell you that fable:

There was this guy. A man of simple Christian Faith, who prayed every morning, noon and night. He did not doubt God for a minute.
One day he hears on the radio a severe weather warning, storms are on their way, bringing heavy flooding. At once he gets down on his knees and prays to God to protect and deliver him. The rains start, the worst he has ever seen. He prays. A little later, a knock at the door, a police officer is there ‘Sir. You’re house is in danger of being hit by the flood. You best evacuate,’. The man assures the officer God will protect him, he will pray. The officer doesn’t argue, he’s got more houses, anyhow the fellow will soon change his mind when the waters come. The waters come, his house is cut off. An emergency crew in a boat turn up, hailing him. He tells them the same thing. They get a call on the radio, a woman not far off is in labour. Well she comes first. Off they go. The waters rise. The man is now on the roof, still praying. Along comes a rescue helicopter. He waves them off calling up that God will protect him. The crew have been on a long shift, the storm is getting worst. They can’t hang around, they got kids to save. So the house is swept away and he drowns.
He arrives at Heaven’s Gate, greeted by and angel with a clipboard. The man complains at sound length about how he prayed and yet still was drowned, How does that figure? Why didn’t God listen and  help? The angel consults his clipboard.
‘Well dear friend. God sent you a radio warning. God sent you a police officer. God sent you a rescue crew. In the end God sent you a helicopter. What more did you want?’

So then, I ask you, in all sincerity. What is this business about not supporting Biden? Have you not had enough warnings about what the Right has in store for you and the rest of the USA? They’ve made it very clear, give them that. They are going to roll up their sleeves and they are going to do their level best to sweep away liberal reforms. They are going to display their ignorance of socialism, squawk about this ‘woke’ word like crows with indigestion, get hysterical about what other folk do in their privacy, pick bits out of the Bible like stale crumbs and their followers are going to love it, then as a special treat they will throw minorities to the mob.

I would ask you, do you think, not just for one spasm of angry thought, but as a whole agenda that your selective punishment of Biden over Palestine is going to help those folk? Must I remind you that the alternatives are locked into an style of Christian Fundamentalism that is quite content for Israel to do this? If Trump gets back in the Whitehouse and you still stuck with your own fundamentalist agenda then you in part will be responsible for any more Palestinian deaths. Yes. Cause and Effect are terrible twins. In this ever tightening world none of us are actually free of them, but some choices can have more bitter effects than others. You do not get to try and parse your way out of this one. It is Biden or it is Trump. You cannot hide from that brutal truth. This World I have to emphasise is ever complex, nothing is easy, nothing is straightforward, nothing has but one answer. It is all hard work and dirty words like Compromise, Accommodation, Acceptance, Deals, Manoeuvre, Politics and all the rest that get the job done. You might wish for a better one, you might even be working for a better one, but in the meantime, you have this one.
There are other implications to punishing Biden and the danger of letting Trump in. Other aspects you will have to take in part-responsibility. You will have to explain to the LGBT+ community, to women living in fear of getting pregnant, to librarians, to minority groups, to teachers, to the future casualties and families of mass killings how your stance in punishing Biden was the right moral choice.

I am aware I appear cutting, but there is no other way. Implications hang heavy on the shoulders of anyone taking up a cause. They have the challenge of getting the balance right. and the challenge which turns inevitably into a responsibility. There is no way out. Nothing is simple. Ever. You might call me cynical. You are mixing that up with Realism. If I was cynical I would not have taken ten hours over four days out of my time to work on this. (That doesn’t include the thoughts running through my head while doing chores). I would have ‘let them get on with it, they’ll find out in time,’

In Conclusion
You will, I expect be holding fast to your beliefs that your opposition to Israel is the right course for you to take, that this is not a passing phase in the summer of 2024. If this is your choice may I make a plea in these points.

Remember the target is the current Intolerant Fanatical Government, whose brothers in Hate reside in Tehran, who gifted Trump the playbook on how to get The Big Seat. The target is not the Israeli people. And curses upon those who tell you it is the Jews. The target is the government, don’t forget.

Reach out across the distances to those in Israel who are angry at their government and wish to be rid of it. Support them. If they are demonstrating , then you should be in sympathy to. Have them realise there are friends out there, that they don’t have to circle the wagons with the unsavoury fanatics. Israeli politics is another complexity, one shove in the correct direction can bring change.

Research just who are the internal oppositions in Israel, the ones who for long years have tried to preach the creed of accommodation and partnership with Palestinians who also tread that dangerous road of recrimination and violence from within their own communities. For too long The Western Groups supporting Palestinians have not taken that road. When it is the blindingly obvious one.

We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Looking Through A Perspective of Rational Understanding

Posted on by
6
My Thoughts On Recent Campus Protests

Brief foreword: I was this going to write a post on this subject. I am glad I did not because Jill pulled the rug completely from under a post potentially heavy with judgemental stuff that would not have been truly fair and deserved to the majority of protesters. A very hard line of socialism was getting hold again. As the saying goes….My Bad. Thanks Jill for holding me back.

Jill has taken a supportive, but balanced view of these protests which have been taking hold in USA places of education. Whatever your views are it is worth a read and a reflection. Her words from the heart should make you step make and draw breath and think just for a moment. There is already a great deal of Sound and Fury on this topic. Read Jill’s take on this and ponder.  

Anti-Abortion Movements. Are You Socialists Or Not? Make Your Mind Up

Posted on by
3

The Annual March for Life

Here is a thought. Well actually more of a stroll down the wander trails of reasoning of, in this case the American Right and their alleged Pro-Life Stance. The following is not based on a newly discovered accusation, more a case of taking matters a few more steps into the paradoxes and hypocrisies which, if not careful can lead folk just where they did not want to be.

According to current information the following states have total bans abortion:
Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia with Arizona and Florida on their way.
Thus these states have legislation which will enforce a woman to carry through a pregnancy and give birth to a child. A small living being whose rights these legislators and their supporters were so concerned about while the child was in a womb.

And what comes after birth?  All being thankfully well Mother and Child will be alive. Therefore Postpartum Maternal Health you might think.

Just to clarify that for you, here is a link to a Medicaid.gov page on the subject based on events 2021:

https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/quality-of-care/quality-improvement-initiatives/maternal-infant-health-care-quality/postpartum-care/index.html

In 2021, you will note from the first page from Medicaid the following states were named:
‘Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Montana and Wyoming participated in the action-oriented affinity group where teams designed and implemented a postpartum care quality improvement (QI) project in their state’ 

Move on

And here is the HHS Launches Postpartum Maternal Health page on Feb 14th 2024 regarding the current initiative:

https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/14/hhs-launches-postpartum-maternal-health-collaborative.html

On reading this, notice there were representatives from:
Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Hats off to Alabama and Missouri for having a certain level of consistency. As for 2021, that was a long time ago there was the 24th June 2022 overturn of Roe vs Wade.

Before going any further we have a movement which is concerned over the rights of a child in the womb. We have a state which is intending to monitor where a pregnant women is travelling, just in case she tries to skip over the border (Hey there Texas) And we have those 14 to 16 states with total ban on abortion.
Therefore it would seem rational to assume that in regions which place a very high premium on the protection of the unborn child, this concern would carry forth once the child is born? And it would also be reasonable to expect the campaigning groups to divide their time between pregnancy and Postpartum interludes, ensuring both are equally catered for. By law, there is strict imposition for the former. Is there equally strict imposition for care of the born child? Of course we have to be fair, in so far as it takes time to set up these systems and ensure they are correctly resourced? The question is are the campaigners who worked so hard in the states where there are total bans, doing the same for the welfare of the child, born? And further on as they grow.

We now move to the question of implementation. A state imposes a law that the restricts the options of a person for the good or well-being of another person, in this case the unborn child over the mother. The legislation concerns itself over ‘rights’ and turns an action (abortion)  into a crime. Next step, comparison. Now we know, accept that certain acts such as theft, assault, fraud, death through careless behaviour, murder are considered universally to be acts which carry penalties, the logical being for the stability of the society. When we move into an area where an act is to be considered a crime because it is deemed to be one through application of a social outlook, be that religious, philosophical, political then we are looking at the area of Social Engineering, and that friends is where we come to the ‘S’ word – Socialism . At least by the definitions being bandied about by the US right when it comes to Gun Control, Funding of Medical Aid, Environmental Protection and so forth. And yet they are willing to impose anti-abortion legislation, as well as control of books in public libraries. There seems to be an inconsistency. A lack of freedom, or liberty, both words which Right-Wing groups seem inclined to use.

Personally speaking as one who has been known to lurch to the authoritarian socialist tendency on several occasions (mostly to do with racism, other acts of prejudices. we’ll leave the rest out) I recognise a certain familiarity here with my own thought processes on those matters which cause strong personal feelings.

Therefore I must ask. Anti-Abortion Groups? Banning Book Groups? Maybe you ought to check your socialist credentials, for there is certainly something of the authoritarian within you.

And will you, aside from purging books from libraries be campaigning for the welfare, well-being and safety of children throughout all of their childhood?