Quotes from another Welshman

Neil Kinnock comes from the same part of the world as me, just up the valley in Bedwellty. As a past leader of the Labour party he was much maligned as a old-fashioned socialist and as a threat to the British way of life. Some of this antipathy was based purely on snobbery - he was from working class stock and he did not sound like someone who could be taken seriously as a senior politician. The perils of having a Welsh accent! Despite having a tendency to liking the sound of his own voice and never knowingly using one word when ten were available, he was an extremely good orator and, on his best days, could hold an audience in the palm of his hands. Here are a couple of quotes from him:

Relevant to my post of yesterday: "Do something that makes a difference - because, by God, there's a lot to make you angry".

As relevant to Cameron today as it was when he was talking about the Thatcher government: "I warn you not to be ordinary, I warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, and I warn you not to grow old.

Perhaps one day we'll come to appreciate the prescience of the man?

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

I've always thought that Dylan Thomas's poem was so expressive and nowadays the sentiments seem to be particularly apt. The older I get, the angrier I get and the more I rage. It's NOT GOOD because the list of targets for my rage seems to increase daily.

Mostly I am angry at injustice in its oh-so-many forms and at the people who perpetuate it.

I am angry at the willful ignorance that passes for politics these days. I am angry at a citizenry that won't do its homework, makes gods of lying "entertainers," and rewards politicians for negative and downright dishonest proclamations. (And on that last, I'm talking about ALL of them. Not just one party, even though there is a bunch that attracts especial venom from me). MAKE . IT. STOP.

I am angry about people who promise the moon and have absolutely no intention of delivering. I am particularly angry about people who do this while asking for my money, my time, my vote and my compassion.

I am angry about a society that puts profits before people, and actually rewards the robbers while it throws people out of their homes into the streets. I am angry at the selfishness of those who "have" and who seem determined to deny their fellow citizens a decent standard of living and some security because it might mean they have to give up some frills in their lives.

I am furious with people who have the power to help others--and refuse to do it.

I am angry with people who say "Have patience". People who don't have to worry about being homeless or having a job or going without medical care or being denied basic services. People who can afford to "wait" for justice for others because they already have all the "justice" they need.

I am angry with people who were born privileged but who have somehow convinced themselves that they have advanced on merit. Who believe that they have earned what they have, without ever once examining the unearned privilege of the socioeconomic status of their family and upbringing.

I'm angry about racism, sexism and homophobia. I'm angry at people who use these prejudices to oppose caring for the least among us and who bully, lie, and hate to oppress the weak and dispossessed.

I am angry about a society that celebrates vacuous celebrity and seems to be happy with a permeating meanness that impoverishes us all. A society that elevates the trivial and demotes the important.

Finally, I'm angry at myself. For not doing more. For allowing this impotent rage to bleed into my life and for allowing my rants to impact upon my relationships with the people I love.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Back in Cornwall

Here we are sunny Cornwall - not! More rain down here than in Scotland and it looks as if it's been that way all week.
Decided today to use Facebook to give some publicity to causes I support. If just one person is introduced to the issues, it will be worth it.

From Scotland #7:The wisdom of Groucho Marx

"Why should I care about future generations? What have they done for me?" And so said Groucho Marx. This just about sums up our attitude to the environmental mess we are leaving as an inheritance to our children and grandchildren. It's a pity that David Cameron and his cronies do not apply the same urgency to this as they do to reducing our debt deficit. Was it ever thus - chasing the money?

From Scotland #6: Blog Blitz!

Entries on 5 days out of 6; a first! When will I next do this?
Last day of the hols with a trip to Leith Hall gardens and woodland walks. A very nice garden - probably the best weeded garden we've ever seen - and an extremely pleasant shortish walk across fields and through mature pine woods. The rest of the day was spent reading and generally relaxing.
The situation in Libya continues to get worse. Yes, Gadaffi's regime is in terminal decline but he's still evading captivity and still acting as a focus for resistance. No doubt everyone would prefer that he's taken dead rather than alive but wouldn't it be great if, for once, a dictator was actually brought before the highest court in the world - the International Criminal Court? I don't think Hussein's trial and execution were particularly edifying, neither was the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Let him face his international accusers and let the world see how paper thin the man is. Perhaps if people could see how ordinary and insignificant these 'great' men are, they would be less in awe of them and less likely to be duped in future by similar despots? Pie in the sky, some will think, but it's got to be worth a go. What is the point of having an agreed legal process at that level if we are not going to use it? Would the fact that the USA is not a signatory hve something to do with it?
On a lighter note, Nick Clegg was paint bombed whilst on a visit further south in Scotland earlier today. Not that I condone violence, but I do approve of giving our politicians a hard time. The closer they get to the voters' anger, the greater the chance that they might actually get the message. What they, the ConLibs, are doing is not OK

From Scotland #5: Double figures reached for castles

Another two castles under our belt yesterday - Drum and Crathes. Both National Trust of Scotland properties and both still lived in until comparatively recently. Carthes Castle has a large estate associated with it and we had a very pleasant 4 mile work in the woodlands there. At Drum, we followed a 1 mile trail. In neither case did we see any red squirrels. Neither did we see Colonel Gadaffy.
Whilst I remember, I did see a Golden Eagle yesterday whilst we were driving along on a fairly secluded piece of road. Definately not a buzzard (nicknamed the 'tourist eagle') and there's no other bird of prey that big around these parts.

Why do I blog?

Here's my very first blog entry:

January 6th 2010. The first day of my entry into the blogosphere. Why a blog? Certainly not because I think I've got anything particularly erudite to say. Certainly not because I want to inflict my views upon the rest of the world, although I will probably have a rant about certain things every now and again. Why? Simply because I've wanted to keep a journal for a while and keeping a blog seems to be as good a way as any of doing this. How often will I make an entry? As often as makes sense and with no commitment to make an entry-a-day.

All of that still holds true. I've just looked back over my entries of the past 20 months and I'm surprised by the number of events I've forgotten the details of. It's been quite illuminating doing this and I'm glad that I made those entries. A good enough reason to keep plugging away at it. I did say that I did not want to inflict my views on the rest of the world and I've certainly succeeded in this. I've had all of 4, yes 4, comments in that time! Rather pathetic and maybe I'll put the address on my Facebook page.

From Scotland #4: A castling we will go!

We wake to glorious weather. Sunny and clear and, unbelievable though it is, absolutely no sign of midges or any other flying, biting thing!
For the record, here is a list of the castles we've visited so far:
Craigevar
Fraser
Kildrummy
Glenbuchat
Huntly
Balvenie
Auchendoul
Corgraff
They range from the fully restored and furnished to the ruinous. All interesting in their own ways and all a testament to the violent history of this part of the world.
A couple more today? Very probably. I'm sure we can reach double figures without too much effort.

Libya and tenuous connections to song lyrics

Walking anywhere (and we are presently in the Highlands of Aberdeen) is a good time to let the mind roam free. Yesterday on a fairly strenuous 7 miler, I was thinking about the current events in Libya. Specifically, I was hoping that those doing most of the fighting and bearing the brunt of the casualities would get their just rewards in the type of society that eventually emerges from the chaos. I don't know for certain but I would surmise that these people are predominantly from the lower/working classes. My problem is that my analysis of past 'revolutions' indicates that those who come out on top are the middle and upper classes and that, for Joe Ordinary, not a lot actually changes. Such thoughts brought two song lyrics to mind. The first comes from around the time of WW1 and was apparently very popular with the troops (you'll need to research some of the verses to understand why!)

It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame.
It's the rich what gets the pleasure.
Ain't it all a bleedin' shame?

The second comes from The Who's 'Won't get fooled again'.

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution.....
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss........
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We won't get fooled again.........

We won't get fooled again? We will; we will. 'Twas ever thus. And it will take a seismic shift in the political system to make it any different. Sadly, not in my lifetime - but I'll go down trying!

From Scotland #3: Tilting at castles

Another clear day and one that we spent visiting a couple of castles - Craigevar and Castle Fraser. Both very good examples of a Scottish tower castle and both well worth a visit. We enjoyed going around them as we had not done 'castling' for quite a while. In fact, I can't remember the last castle we had visited.
All that after a very lazy start to the day.
Oh yes, we had a Skype call with Laura in late afternoon - it's amazing how quickly babies grow.
Haven't heard the news today; who can tell what is going on in the rest of the world.

From Scotland #2: tilting at windmills

Yesterday Jan and I went for a walk. We left directly from the cottage and traced a circular route taking in fields, open moorland and heather covered hills. An invigorating 6 miles and one that was tough on the calf muscles as walking across heather is not the easiest of paths. A couple of things on the walk stuck out:
1. How useful a GPS was. I'm still not used to the one I've just bought and it's still a novelty. To be honest, under most circumstances it's probably an affectation with little practical utility. But, yesterday, on featureless moorland (without a map), it was extremely useful to be able to track the direction of the walk against the satellite position. It certainly meant that we were able to know where we were and navigate correctly.
2. How many wind turbines there are in this part of the world. When we had a break, I surveyed the panorama and noted six separate clusters dotted around. What do I think of them? From a distance they are not too intrusive and blend into the scenery reasonably well. It's a different matter close up; as they are pretty big. And the noise! I've never been that close to one before and the constant hum and swish of the blades was annoying. A necessary evil? Yes, that's how I'd describe them. It's good that they are becoming greater in number, with the implication that more of our energy is being generated from renewable resources. It's a shame that they can't be made much smaller. Perhaps that will come.

From Scotland #1

I write this on the first full day of a week's break in Scotland. We've just had a rather hectic time - Joshua's birth (and all its sequelae), Ellen and Roo for a few days, the Palmers down with us etc - and we are intending to recharge our batteries by not doing a lot.
A flight from Exeter to Aberdeen, with a short stop in Leeds/Bradford, followed by a 45 minute drive took us to Mar Lodge. A cottage down a track in the middle of not a lot. Comfortably appointed. I think this will do us very nicely.
Lots of walking is on the cards but, conversely, so is taking it easy. Which will win?
I haven't blogged for a while (laziness), despite so much going on in the world. But nothing changes - it's still a mess. Here are just a few of the things which cause me to get hot under the colour:
* The machinations of our coalition government. How many people expected what we have got? How can the Lib Dems continue in government with them?
* The situation in Libya, Afghanistan etc etc.
* The same old/same old situation in Israel/Palestine. And no sign of any movement towards a settlement which is anyway favourable to the Palestinians. I'm just reading a book called 'The Blood Never Dried', subtitled 'A people's history of the British Empire', whch deals with our involvement in the establishment of Israel. Yet anothe shameful episode in our colonial past.
* Starvations and violence in Somalia.
* The seeming impotence of President Obama in the USA to get real change in that country. I suppose that the attention will now swing towards re-election, with various vote grabbing headlines.
There are so many other items and causes on this list but I won't go any further. Quite frankly, it's too depressing for the first day of our holiday.