424. Storm Boris – an ill wind…

Like many in the UK, I was stranded away from home at the end of last week because of weather disruption to our crumbling, privatised rail infrastructure.

 

The real perfect storm however, was not Eunice or Franklin but permanent ill-wind Johnson.

 

Few but the most deluded now deny that Brexit is a catastrophe. And this social, economic and diplomatic calamity was served up by the same walking destructive entity that brought us partygate, the early, fatal mishandling of the pandemic and all the associated financial waste, plus the proroguing of parliament and the complete degradation of the office of PM. Add to this Johnson's clowning, lying and smirking, trivial demeanour and we see why he has so devastated the UK's already diminishing international standing.

 

When Storm Boris passes Britain will be clearing up for decades.

 

And that is really it this week. What else is there to say. In the 40 years since homophobic, worker-bashing Thatcher, an almost unbroken succession of posh blokes has further trashed Britain home and abroad, squandering everything from the much celebrated post-war infrastructure – sacrificed at the altar of privatisation and profit and the international degradation as a result of the Iraq invasion, Brexit and now the full grubbiness of Russian money-laundering welcomed by London and the Tory party and now laid bare by the Ukraine crisis.

 

So – I’ll stop there this week.

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Do check out - 

My BOOKS

Audio

Kid's fun poetry videos linked to Fun Poems for Children

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NB I am not on any social media but i'm fairly you can link this blog. I have an upcoming comedy gig which I'll post details about as and when.

423. Banking bigotry and bad behaviour.

Someone explain to me PLEASE why privileged white racists and misogynists and a war criminal are feted by the British media. Why are they constantly given lucrative platforms and extensive room to monetise their vileness in a way that would not be acceptable for ordinary mortals? And – yes – I know on one level it’s because it’s good for ratings but DEAR GOD…

Take one of the examples listed below. The vile, half-witted and inadequate posh bloke and some-time 2^nd rate actor Lawrence Fox. Who had even heard of this guy outside the luvy circles of London before he became the self-proclaimed Anti-Woke Warrior – euphemism for racist misogynist? Suddenly he is given way more air time than his acting career ever warranted.

I get the screeching about cancel culture. Another handy media phrase mixed up with ideas of free speech but often used to protect those who have many platforms across a wide range of media. Increasingly this whining is used to protect those saying vile, damaging things and harming the lives of those who do not have a voice or a platform. So, in the interests of balance it would be nice to see and hear much less of some of the worst of that ilk. Don’t ‘cancel’ them; just stop actively PROMOTING them and helping them bank their bigotry and bad behaviour.

Dear UK Media – please platform and pander to these privileged men LESS In 2022

Boris Johnson (no explanation needed)

Tony Blair (war criminal and now knight of the realm!)

Nigel Farage (who stood for election to the House of Commons SEVEN times and never won but was treated as if he had and was regularly platformed by the BBC, among many others, even on issues no one would ever associate him with like the climate)

Jimmy Carr (for consciously using racism successfully to gain attention and  prop up a mediocre talent)

Lawrence Fox (a bit-part nobody until he discovered that coming out as racist and misogynist and bashing Meghan Markle got him lots more TV time)

Piers Morgan (One-time Trump toady and ongoing MM basher also)

The media are often equally obliging the other way. Though clearly it’s hard to bury the hideous Prince Andrew shit – the media are doing a pretty good job. At the moment we are being swamped with slop about perfect royals – The Queen and The Cambridges. And now strenuous efforts to shine up Camila ahead of the possible accession of Charlie-the-tampon. Celebrity and shine mags are at it with this type of stuff Off limits to the cambridge children  by Cosmopolitan. And of course the obvious answer to what is off limits to the Cambridge children surely has to be PRINCE ANDREW.

So, I appeal to the media – stop helping these vile men to bank their bigotry. Stop letting them off the hook for their bad behaviour.

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Thanks for reading and as always do check out My BOOKS.

422. Space Junk

 Elon Musk and other money junkies are trashing space – well we’ve already trashed the earth and the oceans…

Yes – haphazard and hazardous and multiplying satellites and satellite junk in space are literally blocking out the stars according to astronomers.

 How Stuff Works

 Live Science

And this would be bad if it were for essential stuff. It’s not. It is so that even more people can troll each other more efficiently on social media and use Elon Musk’s gadgets. Yes – the ones that don’t work REUTERS and no one asked for.

The high priests who direct our worship of constant consumerism and the all-seeing deity of social media are now literally blocking the firmament – dimming real stars. They are obliterating the heavens so that – astronomers claim – even things humans might be interested in when they don’t have their faces in their screens – like dangerous asteroids – may not be visible due to the glare of the ever increasing and unregulated number of random satellites.

Is the process of turning humanity into an uncritical, cretinous cult almost complete?

You pay obeisance and enjoy a semi-mindless (uneasy) sense of being part of things or – like me – not. And maybe, like me, you have a horrible sinking feeling every time someone else good humouredly smirks or rolls their eyes indulgently at the fact you don’t have a smartphone and are not on any social media platforms because – the fact is – the stars are literally going dim on humanity.

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Talking of rich, entitled white men doing whatever the hell they want regardless of the good of the rest of us. Check out my letter in the New European (longish letter near the bottom)   

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As always I invite you to check out my My BOOKS including print and e-version of the environmental story advertised in the previous post. Thank you.

421. £3 for ME – because I’m not the puerile, partying PM or the ‘problem’ prince.

BANDCAMP Friday – this Feb 4^th

Midnight to midnight PST (8am Friday to 8am Saturday GMT).

This week is the first  bandcamp Friday of 2022. So, this week, instead of a full bloggy rant with a footnote I am JUST flagging the ‘me’ stuff. These promo days started in 2020 to support artists whose work dried up during covid.

I, like many solo practitioners, was not a beneficiary of government covid funding – unlike many fraudsters who, thanks to government incompetence – mopped up multiple millions of that money – never to be seen again. But don’t worry – the vile Therese Coffey – Work and Pensions secretary - is on it. She is making the benefits system even more draconian, attacking the poor at a time of self-induced crisis (Brexit) and when the cost of living is skyrocketing.

But back to bandcamp. As someone who is not on any social media platform – you know the ones – where you ‘earn’ $millions by playing games or insistently posting about your fake perfect life or creating fun situations where others degrade themselves – lack of real life work opportunities impacts on my book sales. And I’m not a celebrity so no one is going to buy my stuff based on a photoshoped pic of me on a beach in a bikini (heaven forbid) next to a plucked, orange-skinned, veneer-toothed reality TV star with glossy abs.

So – I am asking my bleaders (blog readers) – in fact anyone who finds their way to this blog – even accidentally – to check out the my Casey & the Surfmen audio on bandcamp. Do please purchase a copy knowing that the ENTIRE £3 will – this Friday – come to me and not be eaten up in commission. Buy it, even if a magical, uplifting, epic poetry story about people power in the face of the criminal destruction of the environment for profit is not your bag. Think of it as a tip if you have – at any time over the last decade engaged with my posts for free. So – yeah – the looming environmental disaster – just one of the many pressing issues not getting full media attention because of the circus surrounding our puerile, partying PM and the ‘problem’ prince.

 If you enjoy the audio of C&tS, there is a paperback version (also a bargain e-version) check them out HERE. The majority of my books are now on expanded distribution so there is a good chance you can buy from your favourite online bookstore.

And remember – when considering whether to spend what is often referred to as the price of a coffee (I dunno –I’m the woman on the train with a flask…) I definitely deserve it and will spend it wisely. Talking of coffee also remember, I’m not Therese Coffey and I am not Boris Johnson and not Prince Andrew and they get LOADS of your money…

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My blog is each Tuesday. Last week I was away looking after grandchildren and pre-scheduled my blog post but for some reason best known to google (or my incompetence) it posted itself on Monday instead of Tuesday… BGOTR is Tuesdays. AND there are buttons at the bottom of each post to share this blog.