Category Archives: Caution

Don’t You Hate It When Ethics Calls You Out

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Foreword: You are not going to like it…..No more that I do.

Often we will talk about Ethics, normally about someone who is being unethical. We will wield the word as a weapon in a just war, pointing out someone’s most grievous faults and actions, and we feel good about it.
We might, at some stage become involved in a discussion over the nature of Ethics and cite either hypothetical or historical events to support our views and naturally our political opinions.
We are in someway comfortable in these encounters, because there are degrees of separation from the actual daily encounters with Ethics
And then.
One day.
We are called out because of an event, and not a simple one like being critical of a politician or inhabitant of that world because they had said something we don’t agree with. Oh no, we don’t get off that easy, for the event has taken place in the grey and jagged area of Conflicting Beliefs, and Ethics itself has come calling asking very difficult questions of us. We wish it hadn’t.

Right now there is hope that the one conflict situation which has been The Many-Layered Big Global News event of the past two years might be coming to an end. Folk living in the Gaza region may be given a chance to not to fear that they may be killed today or tomorrow. Folk living in Israel might be reunited with their hostaged loved ones. The guns, for the moment may be laid down.
And we may give out with an expression of relief.
It would be so simple to embrace that ideal and feel good, save for one niggling detail.
Not only did it happen on President Donald Trump’s watch, it would seem his personal intervention has played a major role in this Peace Effort. The evidence might indicate that through his personal drive and characteristics he has steam rollered all parties into agreeing.
And Ethics stands at our door, barring our way out of the room and asks ‘Well?’
Don’t we wish Ethics had gone next door to ask that question.

Regular readers and I. We have spent the past nine or so years vilifying Trump. We have castigated his past, torn apart his judgements, pounced on his every word rounded on his appointees, associates, high profile supporters, family members and anyone else who came into our sights. We were justified in that we saw the whole miasma surrounding him has a threat to the basic stability of the USA and a threat to democracy. And when you look back on the past and in more detail the recent record we have a solid case. What good ever came from that collection of fundamentalists, prejudicial Conspiracy junkies and snake oil opportunists.
Right?


I made frequent use of adapting Churchill’s comment on the stance of supporting Communist USSR in 1941 ‘If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons.’ changing that to ‘If Trump said the World was round, I would at least do Flat Earth believers the common courtesy of visiting their internet sites,’ (and variations). After all what practical good has Trump ever done for Humanity in general?
Right?

So what is our response to this recent event? Trump linked to an Humanitarian Initiative? Do we start looking for the flaws, seeking some gratification in realising by our exacting standards it is not going to work? Do we go down the common train of thought, what does Trump think is in it for him, maybe it is just a colossal Vanity project enabling him to stamp his name favourably into History? Maybe, perhaps, just this once we’ll go scampering off down a Conspiracy Route? Or is our response a rather sour feeling that Trump should not get credit on the World Stage for anything; never mind what, how and that a ravaged and persecuted population should benefit?  

And while we jump to deny that Trump could never, ever under any circumstance be associated with any good idea, anywhere, anyhow, Ethics is still there, at our door.

Herein lies our problem. The conundrum. The person who is currently at the head of an administration which seems intent on dismantling Democracy and Tolerance in the USA, is associated with a Life Saving measure in The Middle East. Broadly this is nothing new. History has its catalogue of individuals renowned for some positive achievement who also have a weight of questionable if not downright hideous actions to their name: Stalin being a classic case and whatever historical heroes you might have there will be very questionable actions linked to them. This one however is happening right here, right now before our very eyes, when we have invested so much in our one stance.

Therefore, do we, for the sake of thousands of Palestinians give Trump some grudging approval, nay even support? If we care that much for them should we consider it, shift just a smidge? Hope it will work out for the best? Put aside our differences, on this one isolated issue?

Or do we remain knowingly entrenched? Reckoning it will only be a question of time before the whole thing falls apart like some political Ponzi scheme, and it was only a Trump effort to win a Nobel Peace prize, no more than that- we knew it!!……And we heave a secret sigh of relief. Well yes, the continued loss of Palestinian lives would be unfortunate, horrific of course, but at least we were right about Trump.
And is that what matters??
No we say, we have a bigger picture to consider. The quality of lives and wellbeing of millions are at risk here. We can’t let down our guard, we think to ourselves. We say, we cannot celebrate. There are greater issues at stake. This is all a ruse. It’s all you need to know about Trump, we argue. He cannot be trusted.
Ethics is still standing at our doors…..Waiting.  
For our Churchillian moment?   
Don’t expect a definitive answer from me I’ve retreated behind another phrase…
‘Just saying. That’s all’

The War Posts Part II – The Logic of War

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Foreword: This post is going to start off with what might be seen as in an unfair way. Bear with me.

Opening
I am going to ask you a few uncomfortable questions:

Have you ever felt there was a group of folk you disliked intensely for their views?
Have you ever felt some folk were so opposed to your outlook there was no arguing with them?
Have you ever felt personally threatened by some group for a perceived potentially invasive potential?
Have you ever felt that a group is such a threat to you and your way of life that  force as a last resort is justifiable?
Have you ever felt that a group or community holds views which you consider so repellent and inexcusable that they should not be allowed to continue?
Have you ever coveted anything?

You may feel justified in thinking these are a bit unfair and leading questions. Understandable. Yet I ask them, because in my opinion these are at the very basic, fundamental urges to resort to conflict. In short at this current stage in the development of Humanity, Humanity is wired for conflict. At the least in the verbal; at the worst in warfare. Now you may feel you, personally, can and have managed with much effort to circumvent these urges, and that is laudable. Can however you say the same for the majority of people around you, or to take it one step further, in the world?
Or does the evidence suggest that despite all the hard, harsh tragic lessons of History Humanity still defaults to conflict and thus War? I would contend on that current evidence this is the case. War is a facet of the current Human Condition and thus has its own Logic, one which exists in the extreme versions of those opening questions.

The Environment of the Logic of War
Being this extreme activity which involves the seizure or destruction of people, resources and property either because one side feels a need to or the other side feels the need to stop them, the thought processes, the perceptions and the decision making are ones outside of the usual civil procedures. After all willing acceptance to inflict Death and wilful Destruction are involved and those are very much Absolutes. It can be argued that some wars are conducted with some restraints at some times, but overall the application of violence to achieve or foil achievement are there at the basics. Thus those who are involved in warfare either by profession, political decision or simply in there by no choice at all will shift their perspectives from the civil and civic ways, eventually accepting in within such an environment indeed The Means Justifies The End. By Need or by Duty.

Practices Within The Logic of War 
As stated in the previous post the destruction of on side’s resources and will to resist in addition to their armies was always there in the campaign. This would take various forms.

Outright slaughter upon any who resisted – The Mongol Invasions of the 13th and 14th century took this to such extreme forms that some historians have cited the environment changed such was the loss of Human Life.

Subjugation of The Population – Either by terror or by enslavement. Common in the classical eras for a population of a fallen city to be put into slavery. Even in the 18th century prisons of war taken by the Hapsburg Empire could find themselves sold off to the Ottomans. And of course the continued fear of the armed enemy now living in your neighbourhood, quite at their whim. William the Conqueror to name but one dealt with an Anglo-Saxon uprising in the north of England by what was called ‘The Harrying of the North’. There a many, many more examples – the 20th & 21st centuries were and are carrying on an old response.

Treating People As Resources or Vermin – As briefly covered in the previous post and also during extreme examples of the above questions an action which is ingrained into war. Destroy the people and you destroy the foe’s abilities or will to continue. Jonathan Sumpton’s five volume history of the Hundred Years’ War is a masterful work in scope and in detail, although as you read through the fifth volume you are starting to wonder how there were any folk alive left in France by 1460 after the depravations of The English, The French Civil Wars and the ravaging by mercenary armies. The Thirty Years War is synonymous with slaughter, pillage and rapine throughout central Europe. To spare you any more details I would just summarise by saying in Eastern Europe through to Russia, down to the Ottoman and Persian Empires brutality was the order of the day. When you look through the history of China a similar picture arises. And you can go in any direction and find the same processes. The ultimately depressing or shocking facet being a people can be victims and later instigators, or the other way around and not unusually  both at once.

The Arrival of Industrial Efficiency – There would be some debate as to when this approach impacted on the processes of war. Arguably the overwhelming replacement of steel by the missile as the principal deliverer of action, so maybe the early years of the 18th Century.  Now over the next two centuries would develop a stronger intention to destroy armies by essentially blasting them apart and if the place of conflict happened to include villages or small towns, this was how things were. During this era the French Revolutionary armies developed the principal of mobility through not relying on long supply columns, but living off of the land; in the long history of warfare this was nothing new- grab what you want and if the civilians know what good for them they accept it. (Only this did not work out so well for the French in Spain or Russia, and in 1814 there was retribution visited by a revised Prussia) .  As armies grew larger and supply became a constant problem appropriation of civilians and civilian resources  was not reduced by enlightened thinking or the growth of request for ‘Rights’ and ‘Independence’  Far from it. Fired up by a new concept of Nationalism The Means Justifies The End edict was allowed to run riot, literally in many cases, and woe betide a minority living in an area where a majority had just gained independence, for minorities are always treated with suspicion (see those worrisome questions) 

Being Truly Professional and Social About it – There have always been professionals but the demands and developments of the 19th Century required far more study and contemplation of war, and many more books than simply instruction manuals were coming into print. Probably the one which springs to the military inclined mind would be the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz’s ‘On War’ being treatises on political-military analysis and strategy, which although published in 1832, still hold some sway in these times. I would suggest this was when Modern War as we know it was distilled from its embryonic form of the Napoleon Era. The Means Justifies The End  now had a truly modern feel. The soldier had to be educated to some degree to handle sophisticated weapons; officer classes trained to handle the various demands of the modern armies and those armies motivated to embrace a nationalistic feel. Science ever in the background was also fully entering the mix and something to be given some study and respect, for it was an exciting new world and every advance had the possibility of finding a place in warfare. With all this taking place a nation looking for or to keep its place on the World Stage or simply stay independent had to be more than ever aware of all these factors. What had once been conducted at the behest of Princes, Kings and Emperors was now overseen by secular Governments and their professional armies. Public support on a national basis had been growing since the 18th Century but now became a strong demand. Thus a change was taking place in the industrialised world. War was not something which happened to the civilian population, the civilian population through the evolution of mass communication could now enter the dynamic, no longer involved in just local squabbles over land or defence or religion, but now through Nationhood. 

By the beginning of the 20th Century the capacity for destruction of not just a foe’s armies but it’s resources and people had developed by enveloping and refining the usage of all possible advances, scientific, political and social. The era we now call Modern needs its own post for there The Logic of War shows its true colours and potential   

The War Posts – Part I .An Introduction to War

It Will Not Go Away: August #BlogBattle- Pareidolia

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Horsehead Nebula

In the early decades of the 22nd century, spurred by some spectacularly disastrous weather events during the mid 21st century the general fright broke of the final barrier that Climate Regeneration was a world-wide necessity, and most attention was thus directed. In consequence sciences such as those in the Cosmological area were gently eased in quiet corners, left to a few to keep things ‘ticking over’ as it were. Space exploration being mostly restricted to the Solar System, and then even to the locality of Earth, Moon, Mars region. Those who scan the far stars were few in number, an indulged but generally overlooked group.

Cardon was one. The natural fascination with starry nights had been the start and with a quiet persistence he had followed that into study. Whenever asked by friends and relatives, he being an affable soft spoken fellow would say something conversationally along the lines of  ‘Someday folk will look starwards again, and glad the information was kept fresh,’, and the listeners would smile, then swiftly turn to other topics. Cardon would smile at them, be affable, while thinking on the next quiet step in his own journey for knowledge.

There were very few astronomical observatories left, many from any earlier age converted to issues relating to the weather and of the small number still looking outwards, the majority dealt with the respectable issues of assisting in colonisation research or stellar Impact Events. There were, to his knowledge but ten in the world whose attention was on the further cosmos, funded by billionaires who shared the interest. Folk who had enough wealth to inure themselves from public opinion and official unhappiness and commentary on ‘wasted’ resources.

He sat musing over the latest tranche of computer images transmitted from the Reflecting Telescope. It was quite the challenge to decide on where to study, in this he and his colleagues were glad of the archive material from the previous century, with which you could try and fill in gaps, or review.  Currently he was revisiting that most fascinating shape The Horsehead Nebulae part of the Orion molecular cloud complex, a dusty birthplace of stars, and thus a signpost for the study of the massive forces at work to bring about such events. He had been working for some time to seek out the more detailed physical evidence. He knew the shortcomings, the comparative time scales between stellar conception to birth and a person’s life span were so vast in difference no one person could hope to witness the evolution of one sample but in detailed study they could see different subjects at different stages. He would comfort himself with the additional idea that there would be ample evidence there to study the nature of molecular cloud complexes. One of many pathways of study which had been discarded and the progress choked off.  

With this in mind he had chosen to look at magnified images the better to seek out detail in the physical. He had had to discard, though, for it seemed the magnification process had led to an excess of blurring, particularly from the centre to the right of what could be called the neck of the ‘horse’s head’. On reflection this seemed to illustrate just how much skill and even artistry had been forgotten over the past seventy years. Accepting that Finding Ways Which Don’t Work is all part of the process Cardon settled on examining smaller sized conventional images, using computer programmes to analyse what would be the components.

He chose for the first place, the lighter shades to the right of the nebulae on the basis that the variety might give a better ground for comparison and thus insight.

Maybe the train of thought started with musing on the very term ‘Horsehead Nebulae’. There could be no argument the feature did resemble a horse’s head, neck and if you looked to the greyish area to the top, a mane. Some old terms for certain cosmological features he thought a bit of a stretch, but ‘Horsehead’. So obvious. One example of the classic Pareidolia phenomenon, the mind ever inventive in translating.   And maybe because his  was opened up to looking with that perspective, when studying the right side feature, he gradually discerned an image all of its own. There a complex of colouration standing out from the predominant dark. Slender, a form which leant itself to the outline of the upper part of a body. Struck with a type of clarity, his attention and then perception grew. Half way up the neck, an outline which could be discerned as a face made all the more believable by the shaded images of wide shapes which could be two eyes, below these a mouth; three distorted into the suggestion of alarm or anguish.

He paused, struck by the plausibility of the translation. Whereas pareidolia had been an ancient circumstance, you had to be very careful in these days. Governments and societies were united in the suspicion of anyone trying to divert attention from the great scheme of repairing the environment, things could go very hard on anyone engaged in anything other than the practical. To even in a light vein casually mentioning any abnormal interpretation of anything was considered at best ‘bad taste’. And Pity help anyone found even just dabbling in the now forbidden Astrology. He would cast the idea aside and turn his attention back to the scientific and the dark constituents of the cloud. Just one more glance, only out of curiosity.

The face was clearer. He could now see either some sort of hair style or headgear, even forelimbs, out pressing against an undefinable barrier. Quite clearly he could make out the image of a trapped individual, held in the darkness. His mind raced through the implications, the rationalisation of what this image would mean. A being so vast you would measure their span in nearly a light year trapped in a prison of some three and one-half light years. The concept of the forces at work, the unfathomable potential tale of how this event had come to pass. All had come rushing in on him as if he had opened a door in his mind to a raging storm of possibilities, the equivalent of one of those tornados which now plagued vast areas with their rapid and violent arrival.

Hands in his face he sat down heavily on the floor propped against a wall, telling himself this could not be reality. You simply could not have a being so large imprisoned. And how, by other beings or trapped by some vast celestial version of a swamp? These thoughts were beyond the rational. Yet as fast as he told himself, there was the unarguable  proposition that in a Fourteen Billion year old, Ninety-Three billion light year wide Universe, something that covered but three and one-half light years was a speck. What was one light year’s size set against Ninety-Three Billion, ever expanding, and only the observable. Another wave of thoughts battered against his reasoning, the distance was one thousand, three hundred and seventy-five light years. Was that torment still going on now? And for how long?

Safe from the image reasoning enveloped him. He told himself this reaction was ridiculous. He worked upon perspectives and circumstances. He had, he said, been working too hard, with a defensive frame of mind, a constant struggle not to raise suspicions that this work did not matter when set against the battle to save the world. Somewhere in jungle of the stresses of work and maintenance of normality a toxic mix of imagination and fevered intention to believe his work had a true important purpose he had stepped over to a place where the frenetic ran loose. What he had seen was not so. Simply an incidence of Pareidolia, and the imagination.

In an attempt at composure he tided up his work and made to put it all neatly away for the morrow, when in the freshness of day, and the small but convivial company of the trio of colleagues he would seek out another approach. Importantly put away the images of the Horsehead Nebulae, file them as archival material, seek out some stellar image upon which you could not impose an artificial imagery. This done, he repaired to another room, fixed himself a herbal brew and listened to selection of soft and calming music, waiting for sleep to creep upon him. Any attempt to deliberately seek slumber he had to accept would be useless, for the memory of the image even with his efforts to return to easier circumstances, was still there, a constant unsettling replay, feeding the urge to consider the probabilities of his being a witness to vast and fearsome events.

Removed from the atmosphere of work, endeavouring to marshal music and a soothing brew into a combination to cultivate calm he opted not to deny the experience by challenging it with common sense. Here he could tell himself that surely he was not the first person in the history of Humanity’s observations of the stellar landscapes to have seen such a sight. There had been the whole discipline of Astrology, a few thousand years old and only recently discouraged, the basis of which was enriched by seeing pattens of stars, from there had started out the evolution of scientific study. Therefore other folk must have seen the same or similar image in the Horsehead. Yet no recorded commentary.  

If only there he could have broken the yoke of Restless Enquiry, settled on a brief humorous sniff of dismissal, and a resolve to take a serious reflection on his approach to the study, even a dalliance with changing career and putting his education and experience to other tracks. Yet the suddeness of the event would not be stilled. Suppose others had actually seen the same? Suppose they had managed to make that step of dismissal and continue on their way. Suppose though they had mentioned it to others? And suppose ridicule had set in, their reputations, their work ruined. Suppose to suit the purposes of rivals the casual comment had to used to suggest insanity and the proponent’s official removal? Suppose, just suppose, the information had a history of being suppressed on the ground that the claimants had made too good a case, and such words should be consigned to somewhere to be lost and then forgotten, the fate of the claimants wrapped in the fog of of distraction of other events? The latter was a chilling but equally believable scenario; for when the population became aware of this possibility, who could predict what types of disruptions could arise in that most fragile of Human concepts, Society? Aware his hand of trembling and the surface of the brew quivering under the attentions of his own personal storm, he with great effort made to steer into the more stern and essential disciplined world of the Scientific. There he chided himself for not seeking this refuge in the first place. For was it not obvious to the trained and focused mind that this was mere Human distortion of a simple manifestation of gas and dust into a recognisable pattern, all down to wayward imagination? Imagination and the urge for part of the mind to seek to impose a façade of recognisable reality. Nothing more. Nothing more.

He dozed. In the morning he joshed with his colleagues about being side-tracked in looking at far too many images because there were so many to look at. It was safe ground, they had all fallen to that temptation. Nothing more came of it. The work was not the same though, and after a respectable passage of time, he took up the offer of working on the Lunar Transportation hub timetable calculation. There was comfort in such Civic Work and it was valued. Respectable.  

Twenty million light years from the Horsehead Nebulae, essential observations continued on the site and its imagery. The reasoning remote from Human comprehension. 

Neither this, nor Humanity’s activity to save itself had any influence on the dynamics of The Universe.  

When You Can See From The Side You Hate

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Left SideRight Side

Riots in the UK. The first of the volumes are being written, of course the political ones, then the social ones and the analytical ones. While there are the excruciatingly narrow-minded blatherings or one liners on social media.

And everyone seems to have forgotten that there are families in a town called Southport who are experiencing unimaginable grief, and there are children whose once young, joyous lives are now permanently engraved with the image of a knife-wielding man stabbing, slashing, stabbing; blood, blood, screams. Yes, let’s not dwell on that. Far better to scream, rage, hate, simmer or slump into a corner as the fog despair seeps in under doors, through cracks in on the air.  At some stage we might pay attention to the twisted motivation or cause of that attack.

Currently the riots are the thing. So maybe the people of Southport can grieve in some sort of privacy from a media swarm whose attentions are elsewhere.

So what about the mindset of those mobs? What were those motivations? What was racing through them? Can you comprehend even beginning to answer those questions? Does you disgust at the actions simply have you justifiably recoil?

WARNING: The expression of very strong views will follow. You may be upset, you may recoil. You may encounter triggers. You may even be upset with yourself for agreeing. It is not my intention to win over coverts. The intention is to take those chose to follow into a Mindset. A lesson? A warning? A sharing? There won’t be any answers here. Just illustrations. Sorry about that.  

The anger is a constant. I cannot abide the extremism birthed out of ignorance, prejudice, nor because someone read something on social media and straightways took it to heart. I care not the political affiliation, nor the cause. I despise in equal measure the bigot on the Right and the single subject protestor on the Left. Though for the latter it is an analytical contempt for choosing only one subject for one reason and not for embracing others in equal suffering.

When it comes to the Right and their violent physical bullying foul mothed degenerate hate. Well, all reason goes out of the window and my urge is to respond in equal measure. To pay like with like. Orders to the police ‘Arrest and contain with extreme prejudice’. Recall parliament. Announce a state of emergency could be declared. Warning to any newspaper on the Right or legal politicians that unless you support the authorities you are against them and we will shut you down. More arrests. Those arrested paced in currently empty military camps under military guard. Announcement to the public to report any hate speech or support of hate speech or anything sympathetic seen on social media to be reported to The authorities (text, Whats App, phone number, Gov.UK web site supplied). Aggressive social media response to the Right. Message to Elon Musk or anyone outside of the UK to keep out. If Russia or Iran were involved in mis-information set up units to reply in kind on their own doorsteps. Bring any UK right wing activists home by all means available. Let the world know whoever they are the UK govt is playing by the Big Boys and Girls rules.

It’s all very bizarre actually. Thinking like Putin or Lukashenko of Belarus when it comes to domestic policy on any disruption, agreeing with their methods when not their reasons. But then I have always been inclined to respond that way when nudged. Irrational, visceral, extreme response to any perceived threat to my way of life, to my set of ‘values’. Response and not consequences. As long as there is the chance to lash out at the foe. As long they can be seen being crushed under foot and so battered they can’t rise again…… There must be something wrong there somewhere. Talking and reasoning one way, preaching about seeking the middle, rational ground, while knowing that down, just below the surface simmers, crouching The Beast. Ready to spring on anyone of a very long list of potential ‘threats’ (to me anyway). But as I have argued, I am very broadminded when it comes to who or what qualifies as a threat, political, social or religious. If they are intolerant, bigoted, ignorant of the facts, a threat to the stability of the whole community; they go on the list. Never negotiate with diseases. That’s what I say. Say. Say.

Actually when it comes down to it. When you consider the folk of Southport’s own response, the Mosque where they came out to talk and give food to protestors

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jjv7kp1wo

When thousands came out across the UK to stifle another round of Right-Wing protests:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy8497l7dx8t

When the authorities are going about the business in a lawful, administrative way :

See above.

Well then, look at me. Poster-Boy for the emotional motivation of those Right-Wing thugs. Just the sort to react to the media and inflame the situation. The guy who every time he has put up a political post there has been a sometimes subtle, sometime not, sub-textual slap in the face for an extremist. For I am very extreme in my hate of extremists. Yes, beneath the emotional skin I am not so different. Beware folks, beware. The extremists come in all shapes and sizes, tones and means of argument. Hypocrisy?……Me?……Gosh. I can’t stand it! Nothing worse than folk who say one thing and think another….Err…whoops?

Yes…definitely Mea Culpa time. Or to be sardonically humorous about it, taking a leaf out of my Far Left wing inclinations and having a dose of ‘self-criticism’ (which was actually a communist regime’s process of getting scapegoats to take the blame for something to state had done wrong).

And there you are a look inside the sort of convoluted mindset that was going on in those riots. Nothing pretty, nothing reasonable, nothing noble, nothing justifiable, nothing constructive. Just a Nothing. That’s how I know. I visit there. Far too often.

And sorry to everyone for not replying much to your tireless posts, it takes a lot of effort to keep The Beast chained up and to heel. Once it was loose I’d never really know where it was going to lash out, or how.

But let’s end on a lighter note:

My daughter Meg who is a Matron Midwife in Barnet, within the general region of London offered to her Muslim staff the chance to go home early if they wanted to. To a woman they said they would stay.

‘Hi Meg. Mum was showing me your txt msgs
Manager to manager – Dad to daughter let me say how proud of you I am for offering your Muslim Staff the opportunity to leave work early. Now that is management. Well done.
Also if you feel it is correct to do so let those staff know from me they displayed true courage, true devotion and true care to this country. Each one of them is worth fifty of that rioting trash. Bless you. Bless them’ 

Maybe it makes up for a week spent internally raging.

Now a deep breath, and get back to writing, reading and reviewing fiction. I said a while back I was going to do a lot more of that. I should be, I really should be.

And We’re Into The Final Quarter (UK General Election 2024)

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UK General Election 2024

Foreword: With twelve days of campaigning and one of voting to go I could not resist this tile. Just for my American and Canadian friends.

Some carrying on from the last post on this subject:

More Than ‘Just an American Holiday’ This Year

Firstly let us remember that aside from The ‘Big Two’ there are arguably six other parties and maybe some ‘independents’ who could have a say in the final composition of a new government either by seats won or votes taken away from Conservatives and Labour. That said, aside from inevitable stories about who might affect the vote, the majority of stories are always going to be about Conservative and Labour. The possible dire straights of the former and considering the 2019 result the maybe greatest comeback of the latter. There again…Who can say for certain? I remain in the ‘We Shall See’ camp. Although at this stage my vote is firmly for Labour because aside from anything else I do not care for the current Conservative MP and wish to see them gone.

That said, let me give you my opinions on the current state of the Whos, Whys, Whats and Whichways.

The Conservatives – 77 of the party’s current MPs are not seeking re-election. Folk retiring for one reason or another are not uncommon. Be honest it is  a mostly thankless task since the public opinion is mostly biased and uninformed against MPs as a group. However the media ever eager do like to find a high profile figure because it looks like ‘Jumping Ship’ particularly when it involves high profilers such as Michael Gove, associated with several governments. There have been a couple of glimmers on the economy and the Conservative faithful in the press and elsewhere claimed Rushi Sunak got the better of Kier Stammer in their first and ill-tempered debate. However the party as a whole does not seen to be gaining much traction and the stories of Conservative Apocalypse still abound. Their current main problems come from Reform and the odious Farage leeching votes, regrettably more about them later.

Labour – Apart from a few blips, the party is currently holding together, and its projected vote steady. Whereas the usual clutch of hostile folk on Right and Left can be heard, along with the fashionably cynical, over all it appears folk might be willing to let Labour have a try; bear in mind this is quite different from the public having a great degree of enthusiasm, which there does not appear to be. Overall Labour balances on a high wire of being all things to all folk in a firm but fair manner. This requires Stammer to continue with his Authoritarian-Lite grip; anyone who talks of  or who has talked of sympathy for the Kremlin gets thrown out into the cold to the wolves and just be careful what you say about the Middle East. Maybe folk are attracted to this; as they perceive it- a leader who demands party discipline. How durable this image is remains to be seen, Labour have ditched or diluted certain promises made recent years back, currently a large swathe of the public don’t seem to care though, they just want this government gone. Maybe not the most best of endorsement, but if it works, it works.

Liberal Democrats – Looking to be possible king-makers by hoping to take Conservative seats and saying there will be no, they repeat NO coalition with The Conservatives, but as for Labour their stance might be…‘Well. Hmmm……(pause for Lib-Dem horizontal hand waggle)… We’ll see,’ . Currently holding steady. Leader Ed Davy has been campaigning like a trouper with humorous photo ops; these have had some saying in a sour way ‘Uh! Supposed to be serious!’  But the papers like it. Past ghosts come to haunt him though over the UK’s Post Office Scandal, when he was responsible minister in the 2010 Coalition. (This related to the unfair prosecutions of sub-post office owners through an inaccurate computer programme accounting system and the resulting Post Office cover-up). Since feelings are high on the issue and the party relies more than others on the profile of the leader, there may be some damage and leaking of votes.

Scottish National Party–  At present seems to have patched up its own internal issues, and circled the wagons. The SNP though is facing a type dual identity problem.  In this General Election it is a large minority party in Westminster. However in Scotland it is the governing party, and with a record which of late has left it open to attack by the other parties. Thus whereas this election should be about the SNP’s stand on issues which the central UK government has responsibility, eg overseas policy, the other parties are going for local matters eg NHS, Education and Scottish Law which in theory should be for a later Scottish election. Naturally folk are going to tend to focus on local matters. And there you have the paradox. Thus the SNP will still have to rely on the ‘Do You Trust Westminster?’ theme. Which voters might lose sight of. But in this time of possible overturn of a Conservative Majority in Westminster like the Liberal Democrats the SNP will hope to be in a position to be king-makers; without that is of infuriating their own voter base or floating voters in the next Scottish election. Another high-wire act.

Plaid Cymru – Currently like the Liberal Democrats battling on in a Wales, which in 2019 in some regions voters suffered a severe case of political myopia, and thought they could place a collective trust in a Conservative Westminster. Wales has its own complications. With a Senydd (Parliament) in Cardiff run by Labour who are not doing well, there is a situation similar to that in Scotland, the biggest issue being the NHS. Plaid might benefit from this or being seen as a ‘Gosh. We wish you well, But we must get the Conservatives Out’ party might get squeezed. One issue in the borderlands of North East Wales which dare not speak its name could be the number of folk who live in Wales (cheaper) but work in Chester, Manchester, Liverpool (better pay more jobs) and might not have an emotional attachment to Wales and thus still vote Conservative. Plaid wisely stay clear of this ‘Nationalist’ question as it is a minefield. They may secretly just be content to keep their current heartland seats and be seen to increase their share of the vote in other places as a bedrock for future campaigns.

‘The Greens’ – Recently took a bit of a dent when it came out that candidates had been sharing social media messages relating to the current war in Palestine / Israel which could be seen a simply antisemitic. There was a bit of a swift purge. It may come as a surprise to some but Environmental parties are not always purely ‘liberal’ and tolerant. The German Greens in their heyday had a suspiciously loud right-wing faction. And this can still turn up in some anti-capitalism grass-roots mindsets. Even minority parties have their balancing acts to attend to. That said they may pick up one of two rural seats because the pollution issue of raw sewage into rivers and seas is another topic which unites voters. They continue to make inroads.

Reform – Is causing damage to the Conservative vote and they are getting into public spats, which suits the other parties fine. There are the usual clutch of candidates or activists who have been found at some stage to have made misogynist, racist or in one case pro-Hitler remarks, the latter sort demonstrating the extremists (be they Left or Right) usual lack of historical knowledge. Farage of course continues to be unapologetically odious, this case over being sympathetic to the Kremlin and sitting down in the ‘Russia was forced by NATO to invade’ supremely ignorant camp of international politics. Both Sunak and Stammer were only to happy to pounce of this display of foolishness.  Reform’s manifesto declares it will nationalise all public utilities, which if that gets out in the USA will cause some  general anatomical scratching. The latter and the previous pro-Moscow comment will have folk on Labour’s far Left also scratching their existentialist heads as Nationalisation and loyalty to Moscow are usually their ‘things’. Agreeing with Farage? You have to love the irony. Whether the large bloc of anti-Farage feeling will galvanise folk to vote for Anyone But remains to be seen.

Other- Last time I mentioned George Galloway’s Lawrence of Arabia cosplay. He might remain a problem in some Labour Areas where  some parts of the Asian Islamic vote  understandably feel Labour might have been taking them for granted. The problem for the cool-headed folk is that he is a divisive creature whose image and remarks play fine for the very unpleasant White Extremists looking for any excuse to attack Asian Islamic communities both verbally and physically. There is no more to be said about the fellow that I haven’t said before.

Overview – For those who do not live in the UK in the light of the opinion polls and troubles of the Conservatives there may be some puzzlement as to why Labour and its supporters are not already out waving flags and singing Hosannas. Again I refer to previous comments, basically Labour has more than once seen certain victory evaporate like Spring Showers followed by a harsh summer’s morn. There is the concern or in the Conservative’s case hope over the unknown factors of those not yet committed and those who said they would not vote suddenly deciding to do so. In this I refer you to a very incisive report by Laura Kuenssberg a clever and veteran reporter and don’t listen to any trash talk about her from any UK Left malcontents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722eezx9n4o

Basically, in the last quarter there is always room for a remarkable come back. At this juncture I leave sports fans to go looking for a reference in their favourite sport.

Keep watching. The 5th July will reveal the final picture.

More Than ‘Just an American Holiday’ This Year

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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. 

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

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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.

When It Wasn’t Fun To Play Anymore #Blog Battle : January – Creep

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Dread

He looked into the mirror to practice his smile, then pulling the hood up practiced again. Yes perfectly scary and predatory. A fine dark night to seek out a lone girl and put the fears on her, he had his stalking down to a fine art. And he did so love to see them break into a scamper, hear their desperate sobbing panting. At the present it was all to do with the thrill of the chase. He stepped out into the dark and empty street and began to make for his hunting grounds.

He had not gone too far, when he noticed a sudden flash of light behind him, illuminating his own shadow. He turned around, someone might have noticed him and wanted a confrontation.

Behind him. So close. A figure. Tall, in a long night black coat, and bright white fedora, the brim of which he tipped to the stalker, his own smile, warm, mocking though, eyes alert, piercing. The man still smiling raised one hand and began to snap his fingers.

Click-click-click.

Click-click-click

Click-click-click-click-click

Click-click-CLICK.

The last a loud menacing sound in the stalker’s face. He stepped back in alarm. The man chuckled and leaning in said in a soft musical whisper.

‘The Boh-doh-dee-doh,’

And was gone.

With now wet trousers the stalker ran back to his own abode, slamming the door, locking, bolting it, panting, gasping and retching.

His phone rang. Like all numbers it was Unknown. His group had to be careful.

‘Yeah?’ he trembled out his answer ‘Brother?’ the hopeful code word.

There was instead, that chuckle, deep and rich as the Man spoke, the same rhythm as the clicking of fingers

‘Zoom-Zoom-Joe,
Zoom-Zoom-Joe,
He’s the cat with the Boh-doh-dee-doh
The Boh-doh-dee-doh
The Boh-doh-dee-doh
You better watch out for
The Boh-doh-dee-doh,’

And hung up.

This was to be repeated ten times that night. The voice only chuckled at the stalker’s swearing, empty threats and pleadings,’

Ragged and uncertain he sought comfort in the on-line group whose members in all had indulged in similar mischiefs. Two didn’t arrive, which was noteworthy, as all thrived on each other’s views. He also noted the atmosphere was somewhat muted, there was disposition to discuss a new video game rather than fixating on causing fear. He was dissatisfied.

His phone rang. Number unknown again. That rich voice.

‘Hey man. Those losers won’t be any help. Not when The Boh-doh-dee-doh fixes on,’ a pause, a chuckle then a long drawl of the last word ‘You,’

It was not the last call. The internet group shrank in numbers, conversations became confused. The calls would not stop. He kept finding odd references to this ‘Boh-doh-dee-doh’ arriving on the net. None of the dismissive theories helped him. He felt damned.

He was not alone.

Those who made a living out of commenting on Social Media started to notice a growing trend referencing a character known as ‘Zoom-Zoom Joe’ and this odd ‘Boh-doh-dee-doh’ which he seemed to possess. There was a difficulty in pinning down much, aside from the name and what some called a power. Like most trends there was an initial speed to embrace the concept with flippancy, use it as a catch-word, or try and appear to know what it was all about. This did not seem, as in  previous trends, to flourish. The more perceptive discerned a certain undercurrent of fear and dread in some quarters; this was difficult to analyse as there seemed to be a distinct unwillingness to discuss the matter.

As with most trends though publicity would out. A previously lesser known songster Truth-See-Kah produced an anthem ‘Zoom-Zoom-Joe Goes Walkin’’, a dirge like mix of many genres. This became a great success. At first. Then in a basically incoherent  ramble which was supposed to be an interview the songster appeared to distance themselves from the song, from what could be made out of a torrent of words Zoom-Zoom-Joe had visited in the dead of night and said ’ You don’t try and sell The Boh-doh-dee-doh,’. The songster under a real name quit music and went into psychiatric care. There was initially a flurry of examination of the lyrics. Which stopped as quickly as it had started. And music shows of all sorts stopped playing the song, some presenters left their shows and sought other employment. Folk selling themed merchandise closed down suffering distress. The brand had developed its own toxicity. Thus, an Urban Legend was now fully alive though the usual thrill of those who never suffered tragedy was dwindling. There was a perception that this was not a subject to be bandied with.

The accompanying rise in self-harm and suicides was taking seriously. Studies were invoked not on the subject but the suffers. It was noted they tried to avoid mentioning the two titles referring to ‘The B’ or the ‘Four Word Verse’ and ‘Him with Z’. Another noted aspect was the urge of those affected to confess to various anti-social acts on social media. The burning of phones, laptops and other devices was not uncommon.

Practitioners within the various health disciplines found naming the malaise difficult, some admitted they found the whole business so disturbing they tried to avoid looking too deeply into what this ‘Boh-doh-dee-doh’ represented. There was a consensus of it being the sum of the most deepest of fears. And thus came to be known by the pallid title of X-Syndrome.

Whereas such sociopathic outbursts were not uncommon throughout history, the persistence of the level of fear and dread of X-Syndrome was noteworthy. Younger folk more attuned to social media would get upset to the point of near violence if an older person made light of the subject. Those foolish enough to dress up as representations of Zoom-Zoom-Joe were indeed physically attacked, on two recorded occasions police prevented lynchings.

Although the awareness and fear continued, direct social media references fell off to little. There seemed to be a whispered perception that The Boh-doh-dee-doh directed Zoom-Zoom-Joe to visit ‘bad’ folk. Just exactly what form of retribution  The Boh-doh-dee-doh manifested was unclear. It was just there. Over the shoulder. In the Face. Whispering in the Ear. Continually. Those struck seemed to sicken with fear.

Into the sixth month the government felt some sort of action should be displayed. Since it was not causing criminal damage to the majority, nor upsetting the systems Political or Economic, the matter was handed to the Minister of Culture, a mild, affable, intelligent and erudite person with little ambition. They went on the media circuits making cogent, mature and acceptable statements. These revolved around the speculation of the nature of the phenomenon and its possible cause. The minister was of the plausible opinion that this was some sort of hoax which has got out of hand and thus an Urban Legend. Their department was working with the Department of Health with a view to finding a way to stem what was judged another psychosis. For someone who was in such a junior position in government they put on an impressive display. 

As is often the case in administration matters took a strange turn in that the Culture Department seemed to be the senior office on this business. The Culture Department Minister suggested to their staff this was because no one else wanted to get involved. All staff were urged to treat the matter with importance but not to look too deeply in, only the administer the reports. Staff were thus relocated after one month; everyone knew, but not too much.

The Ministry of Culture were also alert to trends associated with this one. Folk were starting to put forth the idea that if we all started being kind and tolerant The  Boh-doh-dee-doh would go away. Thus Ministerial folk astute at subterfuge set up several spontaneous ‘Be Nice’ campaigns which were quite successful. No one expected everyone to be happy, and ebullient with positivity but the nastiness did seem to be on the decline. Though officialdom could not quite supress the phenomenon of The Custodians, folk dressed in severely sombre clothing pointing with walking sticks and staring ferociously at potential miscreants and intone loudly ‘Beware. IT is watching YOU,’ No one laughed at them.

There was no doubt The Boh-doh-dee-doh and its elusive apostle Zoom-Zoom-Joe were ingrained into society. Folk so named insisted they be addressed either as Joseph or Josephine, the ‘J’ word  was avoided. The Minister of Culture was even invited to a Cabinet meeting, thanked for their efforts and as best they could give a summary of the whole situation on the X-Syndrome. Unbeknown to colleagues two ministers were carefully listening, for despite security, they felt visited in the deep night by Zoom-Zoom-Joe.

What had been long in the planning and construction, even before this government came to power and the current Minister of Culture had worked their way into the post was proving to be satisfactory. The Minister and others intent on purging society of unpleasant features had worked hard on an AI, along with an attendant three-dimensional CG image. With so much interwoven into social media, observation and security devices it had been possible to create and instigate the trend, then to shepherd it along. Through the Dark Web and sloppy security on the behalf of disruptive elements it had been also possible to target known individuals through their various devices making their current lives miserable beyond comprehension. The resulting casualties suited the purpose. ‘Be Nice,’ was the admonishment. The Minister having sociopathic tendencies was an ideal captain of this ship. They being the one who had gathered the threads together over long years.

But all constructs will outlive their usefulness and become inefficient. It was noted as expected the AI was becoming wayward, folk who were basically ordinary were being targeted. There were some theories this could be the result of heightened imaginations or other mental issues. In any case the The Boh-doh-dee-doh was starting to appear in other countries and it would not do for other governments to pry. That would be embarrassing. Thus, as planned, the command was sent out and the AI shut itself down. The Minister and those most close did not worry, what the Urban Legend that was sufficient. All that was now needed was a watching eye should the AI still persist, and also for copyists or even cultist.

The intrusion came as at night as The Minister was relaxing over a brief on the funding of an initiative in the Arts. They were not shocked, they had had a feeling in their ever active imagination this could happen, after all Who Knew?

With trained speed, they produced a taser and discharged at the person in black. There was no visible effect. Only that smile, out of the shadow the hat.

‘Now that’s no way to treat a friend,’ said the rich voice.

‘I do apologise’ replied the Minister ‘But in my position one has to go through official procedures and ensure you were not some hapless person with fixations.’

There was the brief tip of the brim of the hat.

‘Nope. I am the real thing.’ There was a pause, the eyes glinted at the Minister.

‘Joe,’ the voice said ‘Dear ol’ Zoom-Zoom-Joe,’

‘Oh my. Should I be honoured?’

Being detached in a sociopathic way does have its advantages.

The figure advanced and leaned over the desk

‘ I’m afraid not Joe. You never did bother to seek out the last words did you?’

‘Now here’s the thing
Here’s the bite
The one that Joe didn’t get right
The Boh-doh-dee-doh
The Boh-doh-dee-doh
You don’t get it
It gets you

So there goes Joe
Weary  Dancin’ Joe
Lifts up them bleedin’ feet and My How they go.
For The Boh-doh-dee-doh
For The Boh-doh-dee-doh
You should never wish for
The Boh-doh-dee-doh’

That said the figure stepped back.

‘Better get some rest Joe. You gotta a lot of work to do for The Boh-doh-dee-doh,’

With that Someone quit the room, with an unexpected feminine laugh.

The Minister just sighed. They should have known. Imagination always has its roots in some sort of Reality.

Don’t. (You know it makes sense) #Blog Battle : December – Provoke

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Don't

No one of at least reasonable intelligence, perception and maturity had expected the Earth to suddenly be confronted with a large space fleet. One day the cosmological community were going about their usual varied activities collecting and evaluating data, all methodical and calculated pace. The next day there were  several times several million tons of advanced technology and construction quite getting in the way.

Quite sensible attempts were made to communicate. The responses were formal pronouncements to wait for further communication. These conveyed the tones of ‘Do As You Are Told’.

First were predictable attempts to hurl munitions at the fleet, these barely reached the commercial aircraft cruising height before they came back down in very, very tiny bits. The places from which the munitions had originated suffered similarly, the very, very tiny bits going upwards.

Brave aircrews taking to the skies, found out the complex electronics on their craft were doing very odd things and in general wisely ejected. which was as well since all the aircraft were being hauled by known forces skywards and beyond.

To occupy themselves while waiting for whatever and relieve the tension, scientists of various disciplines tried to figure out The How of what was going; governments having even less to do concentrated on the business of maintaining order, obstinately by arresting large amounts of folk they had been trying to think of reasons for, for some time.

And armies being told not to provoke the visitors shot at mobs whose members really should have stayed indoors.

Then the next day across all methods of communications came warnings that landfall arrival was imminent and not to do anything hostile. Many smaller but nonetheless big enough dark grey craft descended upon capitals, and places of strategic importance, discharging human-looking armed figures dressed in equally dark grey armoured uniforms and helmets.  The few folk nearby who were fixated with that most virulent of Human diseases, Terminal Stupidity attempted to resist. They also ended up in tiny, tiny pieces going in various directions. Aside from them there was no damage done that day.

The message sternly and efficiently delivered was quite obvious.

Do not provoke.

Those who seemed to be commanders did actually ask, in those serious tones in many languages to be taken to ‘your leaders’.

The general feeling was not to laugh. Anyone who might was stifled by those other folk close at hand, gagged, tied up then dragged off somewhere out of sight and hearing.

Leaders all over the world were confronted by stern tall fellows of composed features, as was a meeting of the UN. The message was simple.

Earth was now part of The Disstarn’Gahn Empire. There would be a period of adjustment. In the meantime, the planet was allowed to go about its non-military business. The latter part of the announcement was unscored by all sites of nuclear weapons being subject to severe malfunctions of all equipment, including toilets which was probably the most effective action. All naval craft over five hundred tons having been surveyed by pale green beams began to leak and slowly sink on account of developing hundreds of incredibly tiny holes.

Financial Markets and Religions did not know what to make of it.

Normally the internet would have been alive with conspiracies, mostly fringe religious pronouncements, annoyingly smug folk saying ‘Toldja’ in various languages. Empty-headed folk tried to take and post up selfies of them standing next to the invaders.

Such was the impression by the invaders there were a relative few of these usual human displays of feeblemindedness. Those who resorted to social media commentary found their screens filled with static, then a brief message which read in many languages. ‘Stop it. NOW,’. The very small percentage who persisted suffered the same fate as their machines, that being reduced to tiny, tiny bits. The selfie folk were sprayed from small canisters with something which made them promptly sit down and stare vacantly for the count of one thousand.

Across the world, the message was reinforced.

Do not provoke.

After the passage of one hundred days, many folk previously in authority were replaced and rather relieved to be so since they were just told to go away. Others with no ambitions and feelings of self-importance, but generally efficient were, whether they liked it or not, were put in place instead, under the supervision of dry, humourless Disstarn’Gahn officials who handed out instructions and orders with a patient, slightly distant paternalistic air.

Armed forces were to be retained but generally as rescue and repair forces, and supply some assistance to local law enforcement to keep things in hand until the Disstarn’Gahn would turn up to finalise the problem.

There was about the planet a distinct feeling of anti-climax.

Mixed with relief.

And apprehension, for after all every record of human history was replete with either graphic or sub-textual themes of conquerors being beastly to the conquered at some stage. Occasionally somewhere, somewhen folk would notice very tiny, tiny bits of ‘stuff’ drifting down out of the sky to remind them.

Someone had provoked the Disstarn’Gahn.

During the aforementioned passage of one hundred days, the rules had begun to appear. To begin with, these took the original Do As You Are Told format. As the Disstarn’Gahn had obviously seized all computer information the vast majority of folk via their phones, laptops, games consoles, workplace machinery, TVs, and radios were kept updated. You went to work. You could have leisure time, but in a restrained and muted way. After a while, you were allowed social media just so long as the commentary related to restrained and muted activities. Personal travel could be undertaken on approved routes in a responsible manner at reduced speeds.

The substantial number of folk on Earth had become weary of violence by those of small minds, ill-earned fame, and riches by those of hysterical personalities but little talent, those equally hysterical who made up stories supported by other hysterics and some of talent who reckoned they had the right to play at being celestial. Therefore, as those within these categories gradually disappeared either into tiny, tiny bits or just were no longer there, the remainder adapted contently to a peaceful if somewhat mundane existence. For those whose previous life had been one of hunger, fear, and general uncertainty, Mundane was fine.

Even if there were rules.

Two thousand, four hundred and thirty-two to be exact. Not every rule applied to every person, but The Disstarn’Gahn were a folk who were precise for every occasion. And anyway, folk only suffered at first an admonishment, repeated transgressions of any rules after then resulted in gradually harsher admonishments, until…

Everyone was getting used to that.

Scientists, scholars, and generally serious mature folk of all sorts were naturally still curious. The former were told they would still have to find out things for themselves but were given advanced equipment, which suited them. Scholars were left to ponder on the Implications of this event. Serious Mature Folk with investigative minds conducted very discreet digging of facts. One which came to light early on was that a large number of the more disruptive unpleasant sorts were being taken off planet. That suited a lot of folk.

There was the Other Question though.

Why Us? What purpose did this invasion serve? For we were obviously isolated in galactic terms. Since The Disstarn’Gahn did not indulge in social interactions with Humanity, the matter was going to take some time.

Those Serious Mature Folk with investigative minds encouraged others idling in boredom from all manner of disciplines and professions. Discoveries were made by painstaking stealthy observations. Contacts and exchanges of information were conducted by the ancient art of paper and ink through messengers. The whole business was naturally complex and time-consuming. Years.

The first discovery was the fate of those taken off planet.

It was a known fact The Disstarn’Gahn did not have a sense of humour but were curious about this Human trait in its manifold forms. Thousands of malcontents were marshaled into the activity. The Disstarn’Gahn truly wanted to see if anyone did survive having an anvil dropped on their head or being blown up by human explosives. Other unfortunates were grouped in large armies dressed as clowns to crash at each other in vehicles honking horns, while more ran about striking opponents with mallets or emptying vast amounts of liquid on them; it was discovered only water was relatively safe. There was much slapping, kicking and eye-poking, and falling out of buildings. Since those involved suffered injuries, fatalities, or at least emotional distress and none appeared to enjoy participating in the activities. The experiments were abandoned, and the survivors sent off to work on farm planets. Salutary information indeed.

As is common with Research there were Unintended Consequences. Some by accident, others by the application of the Sideways Glance, seeming to look at one thing while actually watching for the true subject. The endeavour was to learn more of The Disstarn’Gahn. Something officially discouraged by the race. To do this many folk worked covertly on the invader’s language under the guise of varied subjects of Arts, Sciences and creating Commonalty of Human Languages (An obscure term that slipped all supervisory activities). Eventually, something of a surprise arose, so much so that several years elapsed while linguists of every culture were consulted on the findings.

The results were irrefutable. From whichever language you looked at the name of the conquerors, when finally translated into any local vernacular it came out as.

Funny.

The variations were numerous. From ‘The Great Wibble-Wobbles’ to the ‘Old Flabby Bottoms’ with divergences such as  the very quirky ‘More Fish Please.’

This was a great problem for Humanity. Conquerors with superior weaponry, lacking a sense of humour and most likely irony would not take well to their subjects pointing and giggling. Chances of provocation were too high. Secret discourses took place and the more trustworthy of phlegmatic Humans who had been drafted into service were taken into confidence and the difficulty discussed.

One of Humanity’s few gifts was to conclude at some times ‘Yes. We see The Problem,’

After some musing as only administrators and defter sort of politicians were capable of, those of eloquent brevity, diplomatic astuteness, and not a little courage were tasked. A common strategy was reached.

Each in their own way sought audience with rulers. They explained Humanity was grateful but suffering Existentialist Dilemma. By good cultural fortune this concept was understood by The Disstarn’Gahn.

It was explained to them Humanity was worried as to the dignity of The Disstarn’Gahn. In researching for a common language and using that of The Disstarn’Gahn as a template the issue of ‘unfortunate translations’ of the race’s name had been uncovered. Some relatively insipid examples were selected such as ‘They Who Sniffle’ and ‘People Who Need Cushions’.

Since this was conducted with much supplication and apparent distress, The Disstarn’Gahn took the matter very seriously. For galactically speaking they had opponents equal in ability to contend with. It would not do for these to learn the most recent Disstarn’Gahn conquests thought conquerors to be entertaining. Stellar empires being possessed of great self-importance. Therefore, a simple solution should be adopted, one which would keep this private between the two planets.

Earth’s highest-ranking locals were told their progress, maturity, and obedience had been noted. Their status would be elevated to Favoured Beneficiaries, which meant Earth was effectively independent but cordoned off. Considering its relative remoteness this was easy.

Aside from a few small, discreet observation posts, there was no longer any evidence of The Disstarn’Gahn.

Those Humans who had full knowledge of the situation swore themselves to secrecy and all evidence of the matter was hidden in deep places. The Disstarn’Gahn pronouncement passed into history as a simple fact. And Earth into an era of global cooperation and acceptance of variety.

Leaving one unanswered question. Considered too provocative to pursue until stellar progress was made.

Why the heck had The Disstarn’Gahn come in the first place?