Grandson Number One, 19 years old, has a good job, maybe not well-paid enough to pay rent on a flat of his own but enough to contribute to his mother’s household expenses and to be able tomput money away for the day when he decides to become completely independent. He’s feeling quite wealthy. When I last saw him, he proudly showed me the watch he had just purchased, £250, reduced from something even more extortionate to wear on his wrist! Then there were his trainers £300 reduced from £500. Goodness! Were they lined with gold? I wanted to know. I’d be afraid to walk down the road for fear of being mugged for my footwear. And he’s buying hoodies from Australia - expensive but free shipping, he told me. Are there no decent hoodies sold locally? Suddenly he’s developed expensive tastes. But I suppose it’s one way of asserting his independent adult status.
I have learnt a new word, or set of words: chuggers chugging chuggees.
Chuggers are those (usually young) people who stop you on the street and try to persuade you to sign up for a direct debit payment to whichever charity on whose behalf they are chugging you - a kind of charity mugging. The people accosted in this way are chuggees. According to Zoe Williams, writing in the Guardian, the chuggers are seriously exploited, paid very little, set impossible targets, and dismissed quite arbitrarily when they fail to meet those targets. Here’s a link to her article.
On the radio news they are talking about the Israeli government ruling that UNWRA is banned from operating in Israel and the occupied territories. The whole business with Israel and Palestine is a huge socio-political oxymoron: on the one hand Israel has long been responsible for making sure the occupied territories receive the humanitarian aid they need; on the other hand they bomb and shell the goodness-knows-what out of them! A crazy situation that has been going for decades but which has made a quantum leap in the last year! And there is no way that effective peace talks can take place while the bombing and shelling continues.
We let it begin to happen decades ago, we’ve turned a blind eye to the situation over all that time, and now it’s come to this.
Here’s a Michael Rosen ‘King and his Tutor’ post on the international situation:
'What actually is the Emperor's job?' said the King to his tutor.
'Good question,' said the tutor, 'and I'll try to answer it. The Emperor's job is to make sure that the Emperor's power and control carries on.'
'Fair enough,' said the King, 'and how does he do it?'
'Yes,' said the tutor, 'let's get down to basics. First thing he does is try to make sure that as many countries as is possible have Kings who think that he's a good and kind Emperor.'
'Just as we do,' said the King.
'Exactly,' said the tutor, 'and then, the Emperor backs people.'
'What's that?' said the King.
'Well,' said the tutor, 'if the Emperor thinks that this or that leader or group is going to help the Emperor's power and control to carry on, the Emperor sends them money and spears.'
'That's good,' said the King.
'Well, yes,' said the tutor, 'it is good, but the snag is that sometimes, that leader or group is not the leader or group that the Emperor likes anymore.'
'Oh dear,' said the King, 'what then?'
'The Emperor backs someone else to get rid of that leader or group,' said the tutor.
'You mean that the leader or group he was backing, is now the leader or group that he tries to get rid of?' said the tutor.
'Exactly,' said the tutor.
'But don't people point this out and say that the Emperor is being inconsistent or hypocritical?' said the King.
'They do,' said the tutor.
'What then?' said the King.
'We call people who say those things about the Emperor, traitors and subversives,' said the tutor.
'And that deals with them?' said the King.
'Mostly, yes,' said the tutor.
'Marvellous,' said the King, 'but what about the scribes?'
'Ah the scribes,' said the tutor, 'no problem there. The scribes say, "We are realists!" and that all things considered the Emperor is probably right.'
'And that the traitors are traitors?' said the King.
'Of course,' said the tutor.
'And life goes on,' said the King.
'Indeed it does,' said the tutor.
Closer to home, we have problems with the right to protest:
“Hundreds of health workers have called on the General Medical Council to stop suspending doctors imprisoned for peaceful climate activism ahead of a trial which could see the first jailing of a working GP for a non-violent climate protest in the UK.
Two retired GPs have been suspended by GMC-convened tribunals this year after receiving short sentences for non-violent offences during Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain protests in 2021 and 2022. The medical regulator did not express concerns about the doctors’ clinical capabilities but said their actions undermined public confidence in the profession.”
Those two were retired GPs but apparently it’s still a threat which hangs over doctors who are still in practice. We have a shortage of doctors, so surely we should not be suspending them for matters unrelated to their professional competence. But doctors and health workers, like teachers are not supposed to express opinions, let alone go on demonstrations!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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