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#NoMasks #KBF

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Well, I managed to get the whole way to the South of England, and back again, without a mask and without much hassle too, I have to say.  Had a lovely few days enjoying the sunshine and heat with visits to Brighton and Littlehampton, where the beaches were busy with people out and about and enjoying themselves, and barely a mask in sight. 

However, on the journey itself, I was one of the very few flying (or using the trains, or shopping) without a mask, and I never saw the airports as empty as Heathrow and Gatwick were. The travelling was actually quite depressing, normally there is a buzz around the airports and London, but not this time. There was a general air of despondency hanging over everyone which is sad to see as I love London/England. I wonder how long the trains can run like this too. On the way back yesterday, I was the only person in the carriage and the one next to me was empty as well. This was the Gatwick Express going to Victoria and there were barely 15 people on it, a train that is normally full to bursting, especially, at this time of the year. 

As I was travelling, I was thinking about England and the English. England is not a very big country geographically, but in spite of that, and I'm addressing this to the people of England, you started the Industrial Revolution and led the world in manufacturing, science and technology. Just take a walk around Highgate Cemetery to see the names of the many scientists buried there, many of whom escaped persecution in other countries and found a home in England. 

A hundred years ago, you had conquered most of the world with the 'sun not setting on the British Empire' and I'm not going to get into a debate on the historical rights or wrongs of that, at least not today. You fought two world wars and were on the winning side each time, you built your country back up afterwards and created the welfare state and the NHS which lifted millions out of poverty and gave them a higher standard of living. This led to a rise in social mobility that, in turn, created the explosion of talent in music, art and technology that was the 1960's when Britain led the world in manufacturing, fashion, culture and innovation. Political debates raged and London was the centre for all that energy and enthusiasm which promised so much for so many. 

And how many times in your history have you fought back against invaders? Spanish Armada, Battle of Britain, anyone?

So, what happened, where has it gone? Travelling around Southern England I can only shake my head in despair to see the people of England so low, muzzled and depressed by a 'virus' and a government that doesn't give a damn about your health and is nothing more than the puppet of the corporate and banking empires that now rule the world. If they really cared about your health, would there be a mental health/obesity/poverty/social care crisis that has been building up for 40 years?

But it's not just England, look at Scotland, home of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, presided over now by a woman who is becoming more like Stalin with every passing day. Where is the heart of Scottish rebellion now, locked down and masked in tyranny by Nicola Krankie over a bad case of the flu?

And Ireland? I came back to find that the Sinn Fascists have made muzzles mandatory in shops here too. The great Irish rebels, the great freedom fighters of Ireland are now the foil of the Tories, Maggie Thatcher's old party. Excuse me, while I pull the craw of hypocrisy out of my throat! Their compatriots in arms terrorised the country for 30 years, with their masks and guns, and have left behind a legacy of severe social and mental heath problems in their wake. We don't have the highest suicide rate in Europe for nothing! 

Not to mention, the thousands who left or were driven out by them since the 1960's. If they really cared one iota for the 'health' of the people here, tackling that legacy might be a good place to start and maybe they could begin by removing all the memorials to death and murals, to what was 30 years of hell, instead of constantly raking up the past and playing the victim card when the truth is, they were the biggest terrorisers of the nationalist community. I know because I lived through it and it galls me to see them self-righteously pontificate to the rest of us now. 'There is no one more pious than a reformed whore', as the saying goes. But then Sinn Fein were always fascists dressed up as freedom fighters, and have become everything they railed against Unionism for, before they 'reformed', and it's jobs for the boys and their families and friends. Nepotism/cronyism rules!

And lets not forget Owain Glyndŵr of Wales, another fighter for freedom, he must be spinning in his grave with the rest of them, and all over a flu that has negligible impact on the fit and healthy, that has seen a fascist agenda imposed across the world with every little tinpot dictator having a field day. If only Adolf, Mao and Josef had known that all they had to do to impose a complete totalitarian/authoritarian dictatorship was to yell 'Virus' and then sit back and watch as the people capitulated, and not just capitulated but actively report and police those who would dare to defy the 'authorities'. 

And don't even start with the 'you're going to kill granny' propaganda. Honest to God, you would think that no one ever died before! Did you think we all lived in some airy fairy dreamland, some utopian oasis where we all lived forever and no one ever got sick and died? Like the US before Donald Trump became president, wasn't it such a paradise??!!! 

Good God, what planet are you living on? Where is your fight and your spirit? What did all those millions fight and die in two world wars for, especially those in the First World War, in the mud and dirt of France, conditions you could not even begin to imagine in your worst nightmares - FREEDOM!!! FREEDOM FROM TYRANNY! And you're sitting at home with your mask cringing about a 'flu', shame on you!

It's a sad fact of life, we're all going to die, REALITY!. And as I said before, it is not about dying, it is about how you lived. Now seriously, grow up and deal with it!

THEN, GET OVER YOURSELVES, GET BACK OUT THERE AND TAKE YOU LIFE BACK, FFS!


Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Aideen Devine, Tuesday, 1 Sept 2020, 09:27)
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Weddin

Atom Heart Floyd

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Sunday, 11 Oct 2020, 09:44

I took my life in my hands and headed out on Friday night to see Atom Heart Floyd in the Balor Theatre, in Ballybofey.  I didn't realise at the time, I was taking a chance with my life by going.  Storm Eric was forecast, it was raining and a bit windy but nothing overly tempestuous.  However, by the time the show was over, Eric had arrived in full force.  Between the howling gale and the torrential rain, it was a treacherously slow drive home, much of the time on the wrong side or in the middle of the road, to avoid the pools of water.

Was it worth it?  Definitely!  A great time was had by all!

Atom Heart Floyd hail from the south of England so keep an eye out for them if you're a Floyd fan, they put on a good show and if they come back this way again, I'll definitely be there.

They started off with some early Floyd from the Sid Barrett era and finished the show with Comfortably Numb.  They had a large circular screen and throughout the show, there were mini films projected on to it featuring, among others, Sid Barrett and other surreal graphics and images.  During Brain Damage, from the Dark Side of the Moon album, they showed film of politicians from the 80's, Maggie Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev and a few other less notables.  While listening to the lyrics and watching the screen, I was struck with the thought that at one time these people were all giants on the political world stage, inspiring admiration and loathing in equal measure.  Now, practically all of them are dead.  

Considering the state of politics in the world at the moment, this was a comforting thought, because it made me realise that no matter how big they are politically or how much power they might wield, eventually, their time will pass, things will change and they too, will become a footnote in the history books or an image on a screen, reminding us of the past insanity of our 'leaders'. I can safely look back now to all the anti-Russian rhetoric of the 80's and the threat of nuclear war that hung over us like a cloud of lead and see that it was nothing more than egotistical grand-standing by idiots with too much power and not enough sense to realise the limits of their time on earth. They could have done so much good but most of them wasted it.  In a thousand years, who will even remember them?  So, if you're worried about Trump, Putin, Brexit or anything else in the world, political or otherwise, take comfort in the fact that it won't last forever or as Shakespeare so brilliantly put it - 

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

 

 


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Tories, U-turns and the NHS

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Monday, 7 Jan 2019, 19:19

So, Theresa May has a grand new plan for the NHS which involves making health care more 'community-oriented' instead of hospital based.  Back in the 1980's, we had lots of small community-based hospitals and I was lucky enough to give birth to my youngest son in our local hospital; he was one of the last children to be born there.  I say lucky because back then you stayed in for 5 days after giving birth (10 if you had a caesarean) and the nurses looked after the babies at night so you got a well-needed night's sleep.  The food was really good too; we had home-made scones for breakfast and good dinners in the evening.  I was so well looked after; I didn't want to go home!  Now, you're out in 24 hours and once the baby is born, you're basically on your own.  As for the food, after my recent stay (on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 the best) I'd give it a 3 and that's being generous!

Then, Maggie Thatcher closed them all and centralised everything in the larger hospitals.  The thing about this is that over here, they built 2 huge hospitals, one in Omagh and one in Enniskillen, at a cost of millions under PFI schemes which we're going to be paying for, for the next 20 years.   

Now it's all change again! Maggie may not have been for turning, but it seems Theresa may!

 


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