High over this city two USA helicopters fly the course of the river Thames. Rumour has it that they are flying regular sorties into the City of London ( The banking Sector ) as part of anti terrorist initiatives put in place shortly after the attack on The Twin Towers, New York.
Below is a snapshot of life below in beautiful Battersea Park. The sound of leather on willow is temporarily drowned by the throbbing whine of the choppers.
The contrast between the activity overhead and down here among the people in their park was striking.
Below is a snapshot of life below in beautiful Battersea Park. The sound of leather on willow is temporarily drowned by the throbbing whine of the choppers.
The contrast between the activity overhead and down here among the people in their park was striking.
Mean while the controversy over the MPs expenses fraud rages on. I never thought I would ever have any thing much in common with Norman Tebbit but his call to boycott the coming European Elections struck a chord with me. He was criticised by his party which is no surprise but he has a point and now is our time to make it. I have no intention of voting for anyone under these circumstances unless I can help to spoil their party. This is an apalling condition for me to find myself in. I have always participated and encouraged others to vote. Your comments on this dilemma would be very interesting.
Some MPs have had the decency to walk away but I fear the remaining rot is deep in the fabric of Westminster and therefore the system is disfunctional. For most of my life assertions by my myself and my comrades that we deserve better , that the heart of our governing system is tainted, that the people who run things live outside of our reality and have lower standards than most of us was always dismissed as oversimplification. Ha ha!
Most of the people I have known and have worked with have much higher standards than these parasites and would not need The Speaker of the House or any one else to tell them they were on the take.
Our representatives need a job spec, a job description, and independent scrutiny in all areas, like it is in most work environments. They should be inspected along Ofsted lines to ensure they meet targets and standards with no opportunity to change the goal post when they don't get to tick the required boxes.
No organisation operates along the lines that Westminster does and it is time they were brought into the modern era. We need reform of our political system. Word is clearly out. The current crop is not fit for purpose and should walk away. If they don’t we should send them on their way.
After a successful purge in Westminster I suggest a War on the Greater Greed and a radically different foreign policy not based soley on what is in it for us. Who knows we might see a favourable response re-gaining respect from the rest of our world along the lines Pres Obama is seeking for the USA.
Any one for cricket?
Peace
copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2009
10 comments:
Well the phrase oft used about MP's by the politically cynical of us was 'they're only in it to feather their own nests'. Now we learn that MP's have been doing exactly that - feathering their second nests to be exact, with taxpayers money.
My worry with not voting, especially in the Euro's where the turn out is traditionally low, is that we play into the hands of the BNP - because, make no mistake, their voters will be out in force !
I don't vote at every election because sometimes there is no one worthy of my vote and have never been able to bring myself to vote for 'New' Labour but I'm agonising over this one. My instinct tells me to sit at home and delight in the fact that the low turn out will send a message to those with their snouts in the trough but my common sense tells me that the BNP will benefit. I will probably (as yet still undecided) vote Green.
In my neck of the woods, the Tories normally have the upper hand
but I voted Green when I lived in Brighton where we got the first Green councillor in the the country. It sent a message to the 'big three' that they were not taking enviromental issues as seriously as the electorate expected them to. Not sure it did much else.
See you in Aylesbury
shoreham_steve
If there is a positive choice to be made,use your vote.Voting green is not a single issue thing.Look at their manifesto.We need a whole new vision,above all a truly sustainable one for planet and people.Grey politics is dead.Vote for life on earth!
Blessings,Ade.
Hi Steve
I agree the extreme right will exploit the situation but at this stage I think it will have little to say to an electorate that wants reform. I actually wrote a paragraph about this very issue in the original text for this post but took it out because I think we must concentrate on sending a message to the spoilers. The BNP are a potential menace and I despise every thing about them but perhaps we can trust in the commonsense of the people who will continue to reject them unless things get much worse. Famous last words and all that .....
Any way we'll see ya in Aylesbury.
Funny isn't it how not so long ago there wasn't one MP bothered about their expenses system. Maybe they didnt all fleece the system but they knew all what was availble to them and did nothing. Even now no one appears to have done anything wrong - just clerical errors and mistakes (which of course will be paid back)while working within the rules (they made)along with party leaders who knew all about the system all along but are now jumping on the bandwagon championing reform. They have had this opportunity for years and have done nothing. So what do I do with my vote? Steve, Ade and Rob have stated the options but I am none the clearer as to what I should do. I do not really understand the true impact of electing someone to the European parliament as it seems we have laws made and passed on to us for which we don't want. I guess in a naive sort of way the Green Party might be the way to go by making a not so much a political statement but more a way of life statement.
Good luck to us all
keith
I do not believe that it is naive to vote for the Green party,indeed I think it shows a geat deal of intelligence and vision to truly think outside the box.Be informed,go check out their website and see what you think.
Some form of proportional respresentation has to come about to encourage greater democracy and accountability.This,surely,would go some way in reconnecting people and empowering them to feel that their voice and vote counted.Yes,the BNP would also get some representation,but the collective voice for freedom and decency would be that much stronger too.We would have increased vigour to refute such rascist views that any extreemists might hold.
As for the european parliament,it's obvious that their expenses system is as corrupt as ours and power has been taken away from our parliament without our say...another challenge to be addressed.It's time to ring some changes!
Blessings,Ade
Well, the only positive thing to arise from this unholy mess is the realisation that our vote needs to be cast (or not) in a genuinely thoughtful way and one that is allied to our conscience rather than perceived or learned doctrines. We have to risk what we get because this is truly democracy.
Paul hiding in the Dales.
So, ol Tony Blair ***ked off and left the blind beggar to carry the can(you should have been more careful of what you wished for Gordon)The thieving scum at Westminster got rumbled and no matter how they squirm they will never regain our trust, not that I had much in them anyway. I'm just waiting for our good and honest police force to bring them all to justice, I'm not holding my breath though. The thought crossed my mind that if the Queen had any balls??? then she should disolve this rotten parliament, but I then remembered that most of her lot are just as bad, if not worse, er, pot kettle black etc. Anyway they won't get my vote, they ain't got a hope, I know what's already mine, I'll take what I want and give what I have, it's time to draw the line, Now, where have I heard that before.
larry.
Hi Rob.
On the subject of expenses: what was the most extravagant thing you & the band ever requested on your rider?
I once worked on a Judas Priest tour & their rider requested four armed security guards outside their dressing room door. They didn't get them!
Cilla Black wouldn't play one show until they replaced the toilet in her dressing room!
Tony H
Hmmmmm - Douglas Hogg MP - what an appropriate name for someone caught with their snout in the trough !
shoreham steve
I am very happy to tell you the single most expensive thing we ever ask for as part of our rider is one bottle of cognac.
Our rider is not appropriate to any one in the bands idea of status or other self delusion. It's just a few basic needs and the french medicine ha ha !
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