What more is there to say other than
‘Haste Ye Back Scotland’
January 29, 2020
January 12, 2020
People Trapped but a Little Hope
It’s hard to be sanguine, enlightened.
“Soil is carefully dug and then brushed away and the bags removed from the ground. Inside are bones but also small items that give a touch of humanity and threads of stories where flesh – and names – are missing. A little note. A half-drunk bottle of water. Prayer beads, a soft toy.”
But the UK is no better: ‘vetting’ all applications for children stuck in Calais wanting to join their parents and relations already in the UK.
There is hope and action from the young
“Texas State University graduate students lift the remains of a migrant from a gravesite at La Grulla cemetery on 17 December 2019 as part of the project Operation Identification. Photograph: Gabriela Campos”
I note that there is the UN
Declaration of the Rights of the Child Law and Legal Definition
But this is ‘none binding’
Surely in an ‘enlightened’ world the UN Declaration of Human Rights should be extended to include the Free Movement of All Peoples.
And be binding.
After all, we live in a so called ‘Global World’
December 28, 2019
The Observer View
A short summary of the year ahead by the Observer.
It would be nice to follow Antony Newley’s ‘Stop the World I want to get off’
But that’s not in our gift.
We all have to do what we can to work towards a more democratic and tolerant world.
December 27, 2019
Will the English Language remain a Lingua Franca
I used to think that the world wide use of English was because it is the language of the US but here is an article that suggests that English will be used as a lingua franca for many years to come independent of the US adoption.
BTW the US’s second language is Spanish
And the author thinks that leaving the EU will not bring about an automatic change to say French.
December 25, 2019
The Trail of Charles 1
A three-part series on BBC 4 on the Trial of Charles 1.
The Trial comes to a climax on the decision as to whether Charles 1 raised an army and a bloody civil war against the people of the UK (well mainly England) and against his oath on his Coronation to protect the people.
He is found guilty, as we know, by what were in effect a chosen selection of the Proletarians. Charles 1 had ignored the will of Parliament and had ultimately gone to War to prove that he was King by Divine Right and was therefore omnipotent.
Charles was ultimately defeated by Cromwell and Fairfax, captured and had to be put on trial – the series makes no attempt to show that the trial was a show trial; rather it makes the case that the King is Not Above the Law and as such it set the precedent for the numerous examples across the World since. We shall see whether, as claimed by the lawyers interviewed, the Trail affected UK Parliamentary Democracy ever since. A bold claim and one that looks dubious in the light of the recent UK Election where the Executive has assumed the mantle of the Devine Right of Kings .
As at 25th December the Series is still available on BBC4
The Modern Day Santa Claus
Happy Christmas
But a cautionary story. Not just Santa Claus knows what you want
And the Guardian itself knows me that I have read 16 stories on line this week – I’m surprised it is not more!
Not quite 1984 but getting that way.
December 22, 2019
An Independent Scotland or 10 years under the Control of Boris Johnson
Two articles in today’s Scotsman on Sunday (22/12/2019) by Euan McColm and Dani Garavelli
McColm berates Nicola Sturgeon on yet again pressing for a 2nd Independence vote. McColm makes the point that the votes of SNP together with the Greens in last week’s general election didn’t make the 50% mark ie taken together they wouldn’t win the vote for Scottish Independence. In any case he stresses the point that even with the matters derogated to Scotland the SNP has made a mess of them eg Education and the NHS
Read Euan McColm here:
Dani Garavelli comes from another direction. We have Johnson for 5 years at at least and probably 10 years. During that time, he is likely to move the UK drastically to the Right. Already he has gone back on allowing child refugees entry into the UK to meet up with their parents. He is also considering making appointments to the judiciary on a political basis (as in the US). And Heaven knows what will happen to working conditions.
Read Dani Garavelli here:
Comment
In my view McColm is correct in that the SNP Government has not made a good job of the opportunities afforded to it over the last 10 years. But his article dwells on the SNP continually pressing for a 2nd referendum which is unlikely to succeed and, in the meantime, the SNP failing to tackle the outstanding Scottish problems; rather than the devastation that a Johnson Government could make to the UK Social Fabric as a whole. Surely it is better for Scotland to go its own way, free from the Social destruction under Johnson. As the expression goes, Scotland ‘to take back control’.
Johnson’s Vacuity
Ken Clarke on Johnson’s Vacuity
Clarke said Johnson’s policy vagueness was particularly acute on Brexit: “I could never get out of Boris – and nobody so far could get out of Boris – what he has in mind for the eventual deal. To say they’re generalities is an understatement
Remember: Roger McGough
I wanna be the Prime Minister
I wanna be the Prime Minister
Can I be the Prime Minister?
Can I? I can?
Promise? Promise?
Yippee I’m the Prime Minister
I’m the Prime Minister
OK what shall we do?
December 20, 2019
The Dictator’s first move
John Crace
‘Brexit was done. Even if it wasn’t. And anyone who dared whisper the word Brexit again after 31 January would be arrested for thought crimes. Boris had hoped he would feel more elated than this, but instead he could only feel disappointment closing in. He had gained the world, but had long since lost both his family and his soul. His narcissism would inevitably destroy him. In the beginning is my end. Now the light falls.’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/20/to-johnson-the-brexit-spoils-and-the-amnesia
One might add:
‘Beware the Ides of March’
In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar’s rule in Rome was in trouble. Caesar was a demagogue, a ruler who set his own rules, frequently bypassing the Senate to do what he liked, and finding supporters in the Roman proletariat and his soldiers. The Senate made Caesar dictator for life in February of that year, but in truth, he had been the military dictator governing Rome from the field since 49. …..that the next 30 days were to be fraught with peril, but the danger would end on the Ides of March.
December 18, 2019
Enter Johnson the Dictator
Under plans made by Theresa May, the incorporation of all EU case law made by the European Court of Justice into UK law after departure would have left the supreme court as the only body able to overturn these decisions.
But asked about reports that Boris Johnson had ignored concerns from some ministers and decided to allow lower courts the same power, his spokesman confirmed that this would be part of the new withdrawal agreement bill.
Mike Vickers' Blog 