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Happy New Year - War is Over!

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Since the overarching priority around the world now is to keep everyone 'safe', can I assume that there will be no more wars and the young and fit will not be sent out to fight and die on behalf of the bankers and globalists again, ever?

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Weddin

Wall

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There's an old saying, 'Good fences make good neighbours' which basically means take care of what is on your side of the fence and recognise where the physical and psychological boundaries or borders lie between you and your neighbours.  

There is a place called Wall in the film Stardust which is in my DVD collection and which I like to watch on a fairly regular basis.  It's a nice movie, ideal for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I might even watch it this week as I've a few days holidays to take.  So, sometimes 'wall' can be a good thing and borders too, especially when they are filled with flowers.  Even fences, when they are well built, the US is built on the ideal of the 'white picket fence' in the neighbourhood.

Trump is still looking to build his wall between the US and Mexico and threatening to shut the government down again if he doesn't get the funding from Congress.  I for one,am quite happy for Donald to build his wall...but with one condition.  He keeps the US military on their side of it and I mean all their military.  

Now that they have decided to pull out of the INF nuclear proliferation treaty, there is a real possibility of the US deploying their nuclear bombs in Europe as a defence against 'threats' from Russia.

Every time I hear about the US and their nukes, I go back about 3 years ago, to the morning I was listening to Radio 4 and there was a general on talking about the plan to go to war with Russia within 3 years because they had these new limited nuclear bombs which they wanted to try out.  I have mentioned this before on the blog.  John Humphries was interviewing him and basically said, 'that's insane!'.  But the election of Trump threw a bit of a spanner in the works, Hilary was supposed to get in which is why Obama had started to build up the anti-Russian rhetoric towards the end of his tenure in anticipation of the coming conflict.  

Unfortunately, it seems that Trump has now been leveraged by or sold his soul to the Halliburton's and the other corporate hawks (assuming, of course, that he had one to begin with!.) From here on in, there will be more and more anti-Putin and anti-Russian propaganda in the mainstream media.  Don't believe a word of if although, tensions have certainly increased now that Russia has decided to withdraw too. 

Those who make war, don't fight them.  They profit by them at the expense and with the blood of ordinary, usually poor and/or working class. For everyone's sake, don't let your children or your neighbours children be sacrificed for corporate profits!


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Art & the artist

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I just finished watching a great show on BBC4 about Russian art from the revolutionary period.  It featured many of the artists that were part of the exhibition, I went to see back in April, in the Royal Academy. 

It was very good, both the exhibition and the show.  Sadly, many of them suffered and died, or were forced into exile during Stalin's reign of terror.  However, their art is now being re-discovered and it proves something that I've come to believe.  No matter how many wars, warmongers and dictators that strut their way through history or how much destruction they cause; in time, it is the work of the artists and artisans that survives and outlives them all. 

Warmongers leave little of value and sadly, we still don't seem to have learned from all the lessons of history, that there are no winners in war.

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The Purge

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Sunday, 11 Oct 2020, 09:29

I’ve grown tired of the noise of modern life.  Not just noise in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense too, the visual ‘noise’ and the ‘noise’ of stuff that seems to be clogging up my life.  The audio pollution seems relentless.   I try not to listen to anything more than I have too.  I had stopped watching the news and I’ve stopped listening to the radio in the morning because I just can’t stand the daily drivel as I drive to work.  And there’s another thing that gets on my nerves, the over the top dramatics of everything, the news, interviews, even quiz shows.  You can’t get a straight answer anymore, there has to be a dramatic pause before everything.  I used to enjoy quizzes but the minute the dramatic pause starts, I turn over or as it is now, turn off.  Which explains why my TV watching is down to 3 shows, The Good Fight, the Grand Prix and Gardener’s World.  Monty Don on a Friday night is the most chilled out moment of my week.  Yes, I know how sad that sounds!  

The sound of silence is seriously under- appreciated and it’s only when you try to find a silent moment that you realise, silence is almost impossible to achieve.  Even when there is no one around, there is still the background noise of cars in the distance or planes passing overhead.  Even at the top of Gortin Glen, you can still hear the distant drone of traffic.

So, I’ve been cutting back and cutting out a lot of stuff recently, I’ve also cut back on my time online, again the ‘noise’ of constant advertising driving me away.   

I’ve been having a bit of a clear out too.  As well as trying to get rid of the audio and visual pollution, I’ve been clearing out my ‘stuff’ as well.  Actually, it’s been less of a clear out and more of a purge, getting rid of all the old stuff that has been clogging up my life and my house.  There is just too much of everything and I feel overwhelmed by it.  Too many clothes, shoes, books, creams, jewellery and all the other useless stuff I have accumulated in pursuit of…I don’t even know?   What is the point of it all?  I mean, what is it all for?  I’ve also found, the more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of, so I’m still purging. Minimalism here I come..

I’ve also called a halt to all spending.   It’s part of my life plan to try and bring capitalism down by not spending my hard-earned on anything other than the absolute necessities, like food.  So, I’ve set myself a weekly budget of £40, £20 for diesel (I need to travel to work, although I’m looking for something closer to home) and £20 for food, which is doable when you live alone.  I don’t have much debt and I’ll be rid of most of it within 20 weeks or less, although there is one loan that will run until next year, unless I get lucky and get a lift of money from somewhere. 

I was discussing the accumulation of stuff a few months ago with a good friend of mine and he recommended a great documentary called The Century of the Self.  It’s available to watch for free online, and was made by the BBC.  I highly recommend it.  It explains how government and business have basically being doing their level best to brainwash us all.  And they’ve been pretty successful at it too, I have to say.  We have moved from the concerns of the collective, to the promotion of the individual over all others.  It’s basically, divide and conquer by another name.  We’ve been encouraged to put our own individual needs, over the needs of the greater good.  Where we used to have neighbours, now we have competitors in the race to have and to own; better job, bigger house, fancier car, more stuff and more stuff and more... etc, etc. 

And what is all the spending for?  Profits, for the corporations.  The wars and misery in the world today are driven by profit for the few at the expense of the many.  The pursuit of money is a poison for humanity and the planet.  It has caused the most horrific damage, pain, death and suffering to the world and its inhabitants since its invention.  If we got rid of money tomorrow and instead started living by the maxim,’ everyone taken care of’, the world would become a very different place.  All we need is the will to do it…  To be continued

As always, comments are welcome..


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Orglondes

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Monday, 5 Sep 2022, 15:21

I was in France a few years ago and the journey back took me through Normandy where all the WW2 cemeteries are. I visited the British and Canadian one in Bayeux, and the American one at Caen and, after leaving Caen, I noticed a signpost for a German one at Orglondes, so I went to see it. Well, I have never experienced anything like the atmosphere of deep sorrow that hung over the place and, even now, when I think about it, it still gets to me.

I know some people might have a problem with that but I make no apologies for what I felt. When you walk around and see the ages of the young men who died and that goes for all the cemeteries, it really brings it home to you what an insanity and a complete waste of humanity war is. The average age was about 19 and, at the time, my youngest son was 21 and I thought about him and his friends going out to fight a war and, to be honest, you could hardly have left them alone with a box of matches never mind sending them into the battlefields of Northern France.

Orglandes 

In the Battle for Normandy, now long over,

this is the story of the losing side,

visible in the final resting places

of those known, and Known Only Unto God.


No glorifying memorials,

no quotes, no fine speeches.

Below a bell tower, an apologetic sign

Remains, a grey stone marker, six by one...

 

Onto the thousands, you fought and died,

you chased the dark dream, another ‘old lie’.

Youth sacrificed to an ideology,

that robbed so many of their humanity.

 

‘I did not think, I just went along’

‘My friends all joined so I did too

A boy’s own adventure, we thought’

‘I was afraid not to, I followed the crowd’. 

‘I believed in it, I was serving my country

I was proud.  I don’t believe now'.

 

So full of regret now, weighted in sorrow,

bearing down on me to grieve the tomorrow

that never came for this Lost Generation:

 

This is the story of the losing side,

that reveals the darkness that lives in us yet.

That negates the claims we make to civilization,

and reminds us to think:

Lest We Forget.

 

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Aideen Devine, Thursday, 29 Mar 2012, 22:27)
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