Returned home!! Good to be back!!

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Well, once again we are back home! Expect more posts!

It has not been a brilliant week. We went away visiting relatives and friends in the deep south past the Thames Delta. I wanted to share my book with Nick Harper so that we could get it published for this Autumn, we saw my sisters and some good friends in Birmingham and Brighton as well as my son in London.

It seemed like a good idea but firstly the turbo went on the car and it was towed off. We did get a courtesy car though and managed to pick up a parking ticket on that! All told an expensive trip!

I am now awaiting the return of our car and a hefty bill. We are picking up the pieces. Still we got to see people and that was great!

It’s good to be back though! No place like home! We’re picking up the pieces!

A senior’s perspective of Facebook – humour

Posted on by Opher
Friends sent this through to me and I found it extremely amusing:
A SENIOR’S PERSPECTIVE OF FACEBOOK.  AIN’T IT THE TRUTH!
For those of my generation who do not, and cannot, comprehend why Facebook exists: I am trying to make friends outside of Facebook while applying the same principles.
Therefore, every day I walk down the street and tell passerbyes what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I have done the night before, what I will do later and with whom.
I give them pictures of my family, my dog, and of me gardening, taking things apart in the garage, watering the lawn, standing in front of landmarks, driving around town, having lunch, and doing what anybody and everybody does every day.
I also listen to their conversations, give them the “thumbs up” and tell them I like them. And it works just like Facebook.
I already have four people following me: two police officers, a private investigator and a psychiatrist.
Thanks Ian and Liz

What will happen if we leave Europe. The sequence of events.

Posted on by Opher

This is, in my considered opinion, what will happen if we vote to leave the EU.

  1. Cameron resigns
  2. Boris and Gove take over with a new hard-right government (for them it is all about power)
  3. That signals more austerity, privatisation and the decimation of public services (Schools, NHS, local government) – more tax breaks for the rich
  4. We have 7 years of economic turmoil in which we attempt to create trade deals with other countries
  5. The market retracts  as it reacts to the uncertainty and we lose billions on the stock market – makes the EU saving look like peanuts
  6. Many businesses/banks/insurance leave to go to Berlin and the centre of Europe – we have no production and our income drops substantially
  7. Scotland demands another referendum and leaves creating further economic woe
  8. The economy heads into a great recession
  9. House prices drop as money pours out of London
  10. Wages drop as the economy shrinks (the poor get hit hardest) – unemployment shoots up
  11. The EU is thrown into turmoil and heads into recession with further impact on Britain
  12. The USA takes advantage of the turmoil
  13. In order to access EU markets we have a worse deal and have to abide by EU rules anyway (all the EU legislation and movement of labour) – migration problem is the same
  14. The new hard-right government strips out Human Rights and Labour legislation and opens up a charter for bosses. More low wage and zero hours jobs, more low paid workers from abroad – more profits for the very rich
  15. Britain declines from the seventh biggest economy to a second-rate status
  16. Without Scotland, with the boundary changes (coupled with control of the BBC and media) we are saddled with a very hard-line Tory government forever.
  17. With the fragmentation and recession there is turmoil in Europe and the further rise of fascist parties
  18. Russia is gleeful about the turmoil in the EU and exploits it
  19. ISIS exploits the weakened surveillance and intelligence – They love disorder – more terrorist attacks
  20. War in Europe?? – a possibility.

All this as a result of wanting sovereignty, to curb immigration and a fear and hatred of ISIS.

A. it hands sovereignty to the hard-right

B. It does nothing to solve the migration crisis

C. It makes us more vulnerable to ISIS

These are my conclusions based on serious consideration of all the various experts. Giving considered, intelligent warnings of the drastic outcomes of any action is not scaremongering.

Scaremongering is building up the threat from ISIS and migration, putting out scare stories and lies about the EU bureaucracy and human rights/workers rights, and telling lies about the cost of the EU – as has been pouring out of the Tory media – that is scaremongering.

All Boris and Gove are interested in is getting into No. 10. They don’t care about the effect on the country. In my opinion they are criminally culpable. They have repeatedly lied.

I want migration managed and know it can be done within the EU. It is not rocket science.

I want ISIS defeated and know that more cooperation is the best way of doing that

I want the bureaucracy of the EU curbed and think that we should do that from the inside

I believe that the EU makes us stronger and more prosperous, protects our rights and freedoms and, despite all its faults, is by far the better option.

I have no doubt that being in the EU is good for Britain.

Now – if you don’t agree with me I’d be interested to hear your considered reasons.

The prospect of a far-right take over through Brexit and the effect on my country frightens the hell out of me!

The real Brexit agenda – my opinion

Posted on by Opher

The real Brexit agenda is for the Right Wing of the Tory party to seize power.

Behind a series of lies and deceit they are selling a pack of untruths.

Leaving the EU will not solve the immigration crisis – it is too complex and requires a lot more than that.

It is not about sovereignty. They want power for themselves.

Brexit is run by a number of extreme right-wing Tories and supported by fascists on the continent.

All Johnson (the opportunist) has his eyes on is power. Fox, Gove and the rest are obnoxious extremists.

A vote to leave will put them in control, signal a programme of austerity and privatisation, throw the country in chaos, cause a dip in house prices and a fall in the economy. An unmitigated disaster.

Their whole campaign is based on fear and hatred.

I have a real fear on this one. The result could be abysmal – worse than any general election.

Howlin’ Wolf – Great YouTube link

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My friend Rog sent me this great link through for this great live performance by the one and only Chester Burnett.

My greatest fears should we vote to leave Europe.

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  1. We end up with a rabid right-wing government led by Johnson, Gove and Fox.
  2. That would spell mass privatisation and the decimation of our public services (schools and NHS are already suffering under the more moderate Tories with creeping privatisation and reduced funding)
  3. Human rights, workers rights and conditions and pay would be undermined.
  4. Deregulation would run slip-shod over environmental and health and safety in pursuit of profits.
  5. Our economy would drop through the floor causing decades of austerity and further excuse to decimate public services.
  6. The banking and insurance sectors might up sticks to Berlin to be at the centre of Europe which would bankrupt us.
  7. Other businesses might uproot to the mainland if we are no longer part.
  8. We would still be subject to the same bureaucracy and legislation if we wish to trade with Europe but we would have none of the advantages of free movement and no tariffs.
  9. We would have an increased risk of terrorism due to worse cooperation and intelligence exchange.
  10. We would create havoc in areas of the economy requiring free movement of workers.
  11. Our position on the world stage would be reduced. We would not carry much clout.
  12. Europe would be weaker and might split into bickering factions, protectionism and even conflict.
  13. We would have no unified defence against the Soviets.
  14. Our trading position with China, India and others would be weakened.
  15. I think the UK would split up – Scotland would go first.
  16. Our country would be ruled by a bunch of Eton old-boys who would look after their own at the expense of the rest of us. I’d much rather be governed from Europe.

We might descend from being the world’s seventh biggest economy to being a minor island on the fringe of Europe. We produce little, have no resources, no empire and no voice. Our children would live in a Third World country.

That’s my view – what’s yours?

 

Things I like about the European Union and things I don’t like

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Things I like:

  1. It has brought peace in Europe for the longest period in history
  2. It has brought in legislation to protect the environment and wild-life
  3. It has brought in legislation to protect workers rights and conditions
  4. It has brought in legislation on essential human rights
  5. It has unified countries in the fight against crime and terrorism
  6. It has created greater cooperation with intelligence gathering
  7. It has greater clout on the world stage and can negotiate better deals
  8. It supports the weaker countries and has helped raise their standards
  9. It has allowed free movement of goods without hindrance
  10. It has allowed me to travel, live and work anywhere in Europe without hindrance
  11. It has opened up European universities to British students
  12. It has opened up European jobs to British workers
  13. It has stimulated the economies of European countries
  14. It has brought prosperity

Things I don’t like:

  1. The freedom of movement has increased our immigration
  2. There is a wastefulness
  3. Corruption and bureaucracy
  4. Opening borders enables criminals and terrorists to move more freely
  5. It costs us money

I come down strongly in favour of staying in despite the negatives.

I think we should work hard on the inside to put a stop to the wastefulness, bureaucracy and corruption and stem the ‘gravy train’.

I think we should finance greater security and intelligence work to track down and arrest criminals and terrorists.

I want freedom of movement but we have to deal with the consequences.

I believe that as the present inequalities in Europe even out there will be less migration. We should focus on the inequalities. We should also look at ways of preventing such large numbers of migrants. I would like to see us working with our European colleagues to solve this (unemployment benefit etc).

Crime, terrorism, pollution, environmental destruction, wild-life protection, human rights and social conditions know no boundaries. They can only be dealt with internationally.

I want a move to global legislation and government with universal laws on environment and human rights.

I have no doubt that we are stronger and safer in and that the present problems can be dealt with through cooperation.

Photography – Martin Luther King – assassination in Memphis

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On April 4th 1968 a sniper shot Martin Luther King while he was standing on the balcony outside his room in the Motel he was staying in.

He had gone to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. White workers received pay if conditions were poor but black workers did not. Consequently black workers were forced to labour in blizzards and other terrible conditions which had resulted in deaths.

Martin Luther King stood for equality in the face of hostility and death threats. He suffered abuse, physical attacks and lies from the media. It did not deter him. He was a brave man.

The white supremacists had assassinated many civil rights leaders and supporters. They still, in 1968, wanted segregation and viewed black people as inferior.

It takes a determined man to stand up in the face of death threats that you know have a foundation.

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This is the building that the sniper was in. The shot that killed Martin Luther King came from here.

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Behind the wreath if the balcony on which he was shot. His room can be seen behind that.

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The Lorraine Motel has been turned into a museum/shrine for Martin Luther King. The room has been left as it was. Even the ashtrays. The cars are parked outside as they were on that night.

We have come a long way in our quest for equality. We still have a long way to go.

It is a journey best taken in love and friendship.

The possible break up of Europe? What would the USA be like if it had split up?

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As we surge towards a conclusion to this unnecessary referendum on Brexit or Bremain I cannot help ponder some of the other unknowables.

I have grown up in a world with two superpowers – America and Russia – who took us to the brink of annihilation. I lived for decades with a series of nuclear warheads pointing at me – still do. America dominates the world economic stage and pulls all the shots. It controls the markets.

America is made up of fifty States all of which are really autonomous countries. They are vastly different in culture, geography, size, population, climate, racial mix, resources and wealth.

If they had operated as separate countries would any of them have been a major world player?

If those 50 States all secede from the Union what would happen to America’s power?

Nick Harper book – another snippet.

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A little more epilogue

I find it hard to believe that we live in an age like this. How did we get here? Nick was only partly right: it’s like punk, the sixties, blues and reggae never happened. Once music used to mean something! It was the centre of our culture. It was a living, mind-expanding rebellion. Now it is a piece of Muzac to be shunted from iPod to iPod and played as background. Now the mindless zombies are screaming en masse, with their American whoops, for bland pop crap. Now festivals are things to be consumed like circus jamborees.

What happened to the gathering of the tribes? The endless hours of wonder, lowering the stylus into the groove and sharing the experience, the intense discussion? What happened to the vital importance of it all? When did it cease to be a motivator of young minds and become a product to be consumed?

Real music – it’s still there. It has been pushed to the periphery but it still exists. There are the numerous acts that still create and produce music with integrity, passion and purpose. But for me Nick is leading the way.