On birthdays and protests.m

 Today is a day of multiple birthdays. Well, all right, every day is a day of multiple birthdays but as a rule I am not acquainted with many of the birthday boys and girls. But we do joint birthdays in my family: my sister was born on my mother’s birthday: our daughter was born on my father’s birthday; Granddaughter Number One was born on our son’s birthday, which is today. So today our Granddaughter and her uncle have birthdays, as does my Italian friend Guido, the daughter of one of our daughter’s best friends, and the Dalai Lama. Well, I’m not personally acquainted with him but that’s how it goes; he is the oldest of the bunch, hitting 90 today, or so I am told.

Oh, and tomorrow is Granddaughter Number One’s best friend’s birthday. So today the two girls (I think I should call them young women now) are coming to dinner with the rest of the family. But not our son as he lives near London. We’ll see him some time in the summer. In the meantime we might do a family call and show him the cake he is missing. There is, of course, cake as it’s a kind of family tradition that I bake a cake for birthdays. 

Out in the wider world, there have already been repercussions about the bill to make Palestine Action a proscribed group. Zarah Sultana posted this:

“27 people — including a priest, professor and health workers — were arrested today under terrorism laws.

Their crime? Peacefully holding signs opposing genocide.

This is how we sleepwalk into fascism.”

The priest, a woman, is very old, maybe even in her 90s. She perhaps won’t be sent to prison to end her days. Who knows?

Michael Rosen has said this: 

“Are we moving to a moment when it's legal to say this:

'...between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. —Likud Party Platform, 1977'

but  illegal to say that there could be any other kind of sovereignty or governance 'between the Sea and the Jordan'?”

So it goes. 

Here’s a link to an article about photography of protest over the years. And the photographer did get arrested at one point. Plus ça change … etc.

With that, I’m heading back to the kitchen. I have a birthday dinner to organise.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

A dull and damp Saturday. General gloom and doom. And some cartoons to cheer us up.,

 It’s been a mostly grey and gloomy Saturday. Following my dentist’s instructions I have avoided vigourous exercise and strolled calmly around the village instead of running this morning. It started to drizzle on me as I returned. 

Later I went out to return my library books. It was fine when I set out. By the time ai reached the bus stop it was drizzling gently. I think I missed the heaviest rain while I was on the bus but it was still damp and drizzly enough for me to opt to catch another bus to our local Tesco after going to the library. As I rule I would walk from Uppermill to Greenfield - a fifteen minute walk - but I didn’t fancy getting wet and ai had not brought my good raincoat with me. 

My bus back from Tesco was late, held up I suspect by a beer festival that has apparently been taking place in Greenfield. That explains why I saw a few men with bells on their shoes and flowers on their hats £ on their way to join the Morris dancing troop! 

The wider world continues to be chaotic. The appeal to the high court to prevent the law banning Palestine Action coming into effect failed. Anyine supporting Palestine Action is now officially a terrorist. What a strange situation!

I noticed in a news report earlier that IDF fighters killed in the ongoing action are named, whereas Palestinians killed are just reported as numbers of people killed. i am reminded of the words of the old protest song:

You won’t have a name when you ride the big aeroplane.

All they will call you will be refugees. 

Fifty-odd years ago Joan Baez sang it. With no change it can still apply to today’s refugees. With little change it can apply to Palestinians shot while trying to get food. 

On a more entertaining note, here is a cartoon about the Labour Party and Brexit, which made me smile.

And for my husband and his chess-playing friends, here is another cartoon.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Celebrating (?) independence and liberty and free speech and such. Also, family traditions.

 It’s the Fourth of July. I’ve just heard an American on a podcast Phil was listening to say “It’s Independence Day. Independence from what? We’re independent from London but are we independent from Washington?” This may not quite be his pessimistic words but they cover his main ideas.

Its symptomatic of what seems to be a general feeling of disillusionment with government all over the world. Here’s a post from Zarah Sultana:

“Parliament in a nutshell:

Yesterday MPs, including Yvette Cooper, celebrated the suffragette legacy of civil disobedience that won women the right to vote..

Only to then vote to designate non-violent direct action group Palestine Action as terrorists.

Westminster is broken.”

Zarah Sultana has left the Labour Party, which is not very surprising considering that they didn’t want her to stand for parliament in the first place and tried to prevent her being selected to be a candidate in the last election. She’s been a bit of a thorn in their side and had the whip withdrawn for her troubles. Now she’s resigned from the party and is supposed to be teaming up with that other “rebel”, Jeremy Corbyn, to form a new properly left wing. We shall see how that goes!

Palestine Action, the protest group, is taking the government to court to try to prevent the law deeming them terrorist organisation from coming into effect. If it comes into effect anyone supporting them could themselves be liable to up to 14 years in prison for terrorism. Take another look at Zarah Sultan’s post I quoted earlier. 

On a more local front, Thursdays in our house have taken on a new character since Granddaughter Number Two came home from university. She’s waiting to start a temporary job but they keep delaying her start date because of administrative messing about. And so for the last few weeks she has called me on a Thursday morning to ask if she can come over to our house. She has a second breakfast, we go for a walk, we collect her small siblings from school and all have dinner together when her mother calls in on her way home from work. 

Usually after dinner my daughter gives Phil a lift to chess club and takes the small people home. Now she leaves her various offspring here while she runs her father to chess club and then returns. We then go for a family walk round the village, have a bit of a chat and eventually they all go home. We’ve been fortunate that the weather has stayed fine. An evening stroll is a splendid thing. A new family tradition has been created. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

Dental torture. Travel problems. Rich people selling niche products. And the real Yellowstone.

So yesterday I went to the dentist to be expensively tortured. When I fell over something - an uneven flagstone, a loose flag shoe lave or simply my own feet - back in February I thought I had got away with scapes and bruises until, a week late, a crown decided to become touch sensitive. My dentist said she thought the root the crown was fixed to had cracked. A denture was a possibility - no, thank you. She referred me to a dental implant specialist. 

After much consultation, discussion and soul-searching I decided to go ahead. On my next visit X-rays were taken and a digital impression of my mouth was made - no nasty goo in the mouth! Then I went back for the dentist to remove the offending crown and root and a denture was fitted - convincing me that I was right not to want a denture as a permanent measure. 

I hoped yesterday to get rid of the annoying denture, which makes chewing difficult and affects my speech, but, no, a titanium (I think) post was inserted in my gum and now that has to “bed” in and the gum has to heal. So the denture is there for a few more weeks, except that it’s mostly not as there is swelling and, besides, everything will heal more quickly without it! Oh, boy! Weeks, months of my life are going by! But from now on, I might beep as I go through security in airports! 

In fact, the procedure itself was not torture as my face was rendered numb. The torture, such as it was, began as the anaesthetic wore off but there are painkillers for that.

My stress was added to by the fact that I almost didn’t arrive in time to be tortured. I caught a bus to Oldham mumps, intending to catch a tram to Rochdale and then a taxi to the clinic. At the Metrolink stop, the sign said, “Tram to Rochdale: DELAY”. A further notice informed us that a car had broken down on the Metrolink line and, until that was cleared, there were no trams between South Chadderton and Rochdale. Surely it should not take long to remove a broken down car! As I debated with myself yet another notice popped up: “Tram to Rochdale: 7 minutes”. Okay, not too bad, I thought, until that notice also disappeared! 

And then someone discovered that the broken down car was an electric vehicle. Apparently when electric vehicles break down their brakes lock and they can’t just be pushed out of the way. A breakdown person is required! Who knew! I gave up and went to find a taxi! Such is life!

And now I am on “soft” diet, no hard stuff that needs major chewing, for a few days. And no vigourous exercise for about a week! Meanwhile I grin and bear it … in a gap-toothed fashion! Such is life! 

I saw a headline for an article about Meghan Markle. I try to avoid reading stuff about the rich and famous and royal but I was just a little intrigued by the idea of a ‘thoughtful’ collection of wines. Were she and Harry going into wine growing? No, she was just adding wine to things like a crepe mix, a shortbread mix with flower sprinkles, apricot spread in “keepsake packaging” (whatever that is!) and other such stuff. Who buys such stuff? People who want to pretend to be living the life of the rich and famous? Maybe they hope the riches will rub off on them 

In the process of reading this nonsense I discovered that the wine sold comes from the Fairwinds Estate Winery, described as the “Spirit of the American West: Iconic Wines from Yellowstone and John Wayne Collections”. 

Intrigued I did a bit more delving, as we have been watching the TV series Yellowstone. It seems the Yellowstone ranch  is located in the western part of lands previously inhabited for hundreds of years by the Salish Native American tribe. The Nez Perce annually traveled the trail south to reach the bison hunting grounds in the Big Hole Valley, often banding together with the Salish to counter threats from other tribes, notably the Blackfoot. Inevitably the land became property of rich white men. 

When I saw the name I hoped that maybe it had gone back to Native American ownership but of course not. Changing hands and names over time, it was renamed the Chief Joseph Ranch in honor of the great Nez Perce chief and his journey through the property. 

That’s how it goes! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Heatwave .. what heatwave? … and rain! Wimbledon angel. Reading on the beach? And some wider world stuff!

 Well, I said we needed it to rain in the night, and rain in the night it did! I was woken in the wee small hours by the sound of quite torrential rain on he skylight windows. And this morning my weather app assured me it was just cloudy but in fact I ran in steady drizzle. By late morning the day had improved considerably and sunshine is forecast for this afternoon but with temperatures within the seasonal average. Elsewhere in Europe they continue to have a heatwave, with forest fires reported now in Catalonia, Spain.

It’s Wimbledon time. On Monday they played in the heat. A spectator was taken ill, maybe succumbing to the  heat. Carlos Alcaraz has been proving to be the angel of Wimbledon. When he saw the commotion among the spectators he rushed over with a bottle of water for the lady concerned. Paramedics then dealt with the emergency.

The daughter of the woman who fell ill took to social media to offer her thanks to Alcaraz for his support:

"Thank you Carlos Alcaraz for the concern shown to my mum today who was taken ill during your tennis match at Centre Court today," Eluned Lewis said on X.

"Unlikely you’ll see this message but I can try! Thank you."

But good boy Carlos did see the message and responded: 

"You’re very welcome, it was nothing! I hope your mum is doing well. Send her a kiss from me and take good care of her!" 

Heart warming stuff. I must point this out to a friend of mine, a longstanding tennis fan but also a longstanding great fan on Rafa Nadal. Maybe she will transfer her support to Carlos! 

It’s also the time of year when articles like this one appear about “the perfect beach read”. Really! The beach is not the place to read. If your aim is to get a tan, then the shadow of the book you hold will get in the way. Beaches are for playing ball games, building sandcastles with children, or strolling up and down the tideline. Look at any Spanish beach with Spanish people and you will see this happening. 

“Books haven’t been designed to be addictive”, maintains Daisy Buchanan, writer of the aforementioned article. But in fact good books, in my opinion, are in fact written to be addictive, to make us want to know what happens next. When Dickens wrote his novels in serial form for newspapers he wrote in cliffhangers so readers would want to buy he next day’s paper. Someone should tell my compulsive book-buying Granddaughter Number Two that books are not addictive!

As regards “beach reading”, I often find the recommendations a little too bland. We don’t need happy endings all the time. Often a sad ending is more satisfactory and fulfilling. 

Thinking of the wider world and its problems, I saw a headline that read: “Defence Minister Katz will establish body to handle settler attacks against IDF”. Hmm! Will he also establish a body to handle settler attacks on Palestinian villages and homes?

And here’s something from Michael Rosen about Diane Abbott:

“Now it's getting complicated. 

Diane Abbott tweeted something about the 'Jewish Defence Force' and is being reprimanded for being 'offensive' and 'anti-Jewish' - in other words hate directed at Jews. 

The article in Jewish News on this story explains that the IDF includes soldiers from  Muslim, Christian and Druze communities...so it was wrong for Diane to call it the 'Jewish' Defence Force. 

The Chief Rabbi said that Bob Vylan saying 'Death to the IDF' was antisemitic and an example of 'vile Jew-hatred' - in other words hate directed at Jews...because the IDF is Jewish. 

As I said, it's getting complicated. 

I think this is how it works:

The IDF is Jewish when we say that it's Jewish, it's not Jewish when we say it's not Jewish, but either way, don't you say that it's Jewish.”

Life goes on stay safe and well, everyone!

Cool here. Paris is not quite burning. Scotland is. Tour de France. Dangerous singers.

 It’s noticeably cooler here this morning. Several nodding acquaintances whose paths I crossed while out running commented, “it’s cooler today, thank goodness! Wasn’t yesterday hot? !” Yes, yesterday was hot. It was already hot when I went out relatively early in the morning and it was still hot when I took a look outside in the late evening. One of my weather apps warns of thunderstorms later today. We shall see.

Paris, meanwhile, is on red alert for heat, with temperatures in the top 30s or even topping 40°.  

And they’ve been having wildfires in the Scottish Highlands:

“Firefighters battled wildfires in the Scottish Highlands for a third day on Monday in a situation the first minister has called “extremely serious”.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), which has helped tackle the blazes, warned the fires are “becoming a danger to human life” that are leaving “stretched” firefighters unable to attend other incidents.”

So, apart from the lady who told me sadly that all her pansies were dying, we seem to have got off lightly. An acceptable 20° at the moment. Not that I’m complaining about some warm and sunny days. In fact I’m all in favour of them. Ideally, however, it should rain during the night and cool things down so that sleeping is more comfortable.

The Tour de France starts on Saturday, setting off this year from Lille. No foreign-country start this time. Sometimes they have a really wet time trial to begin the Tour. Maybe this year it will just be very hot. Last year, because of the Olympics in Paris, they didn’t finish with a final stage along the Champs Élysées but that will be reestablished this time. Here’s a link to an article about famous finishes.

A good deal of fuss, and police time by all accounts, is going on about singers and performers calling for the death of warmongers. Here’s a comment from Michael Rosen:

I know we all like people being consistent (lols) so here are the lyrics for the last verse of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War', which, interestingly, he sang at Glasto in 1998. Here's a rough recording of the event. Last verse at around 4 minutes  in .  People are busy explaining all over social media, with politicians joining in that there is something uniquely offensive about Bob Vylan's 'Death to the IDF' chant. You can decide how 'unique' it was in  comparison to Bob Dylan. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUeJAoujJLk

And I hope that you die

And your death will come soon

I’ll follow your casket

By the pale afternoon

And I’ll watch while you’re lowered

Down to your deathbed

And I’ll stand over your grave

‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead.

Maybe the police should start investigating that Nobel prize winner for terrorism! (My comment, not Mr Rosen’s.)

Here’s a bit more Michael Rosen’

Israel says it wants 

Gaza, 

the West Bank 

and the Golan Heights 

to be Israel. 

Israel is doing 

what it believes 

will make it happen. 

It’s not a secret. 

Israel says it. 

Why is it so difficult 

for the media to say it?

That’s all.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!