There’s no ramble (or weather report) from me today! The pair of us have had a quite Sunday at home – hardly an unusual occurrence in these locked-down days. After all, it’s not as if we’ve got a flight to catch, is it? And a rolling blog about a walk along the canal would be a less than riveting read! So, I’m going to cut straight to the chase. Or in this case – the picture of the day.
I took this shot of pro Megawati students in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia in the last week of November 1998. Indonesia was in the throes of rediscovering democracy after years of dictatorship under President Suharto. Suharto had been forced to resign in the May of 1998 because of the Asian economic crisis, corruption and growing civil unrest – much of which was led by students like these.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was the daughter of Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno, who was deposed by Suharto in 1966. Born in Yogyakarta, she became the leader of the PDI party in the 1990s and won the Vice-Presidency in 1999, eventually becoming President in 2001 until she was decisively defeated in 2004.
Having travelled across Indonesia during the Suharto years in 1992 it was fascinating for me to return in 1998 and see the country regaining its democratic freedoms and learning how to express them. Demonstrations like this were commonplace but in Yogya especially as it had a large student population. Now, many years on, Indonesia is doing well, even if it has been a rocky road as corruption’s still a problem. Even so, within the next couple of decades they will overtake the UK’s economy – a job made easier by us declaring sanctions on ourselves with Brexit.
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Still smarting from his spanking in the courts, ‘celebrity’ conservationist Chris Packham has come up with another wheeze to try and stop HS2, the UK’s new high speed railway, of which phase 1 from North of Birmingham to London is already under construction. This time Packham hasn’t needed to persuade people to donate money for his expensive vanity project as he’s fallen back on an old StopHs2 favorite by starting a petition on the Government website! There’s a rag-bag of other names associated with the petition, but the only ones worthy of note are the veteran human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC (who lives near the route), plus Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland Foods, charity trustee and Ambassador for the Wildlife Trusts (by the way, that’s some of the same Wildlife Trusts that environmentalist George Monbiot flayed for ‘greenwashing’ road and housing projects in Buckinghamshire).
Packham and his friends have been busy since last week drumming up media support for the petition and exploiting his social media connections. So far, they’ve had quite a bit of success. As I write this, the petition has reached 47,000 signatures, nearly half-way to its target of 100,000 which it needs to hit by the closing date of 17th June 2021. On that performance, it stands a very good chance of being the very first anti HS2 petition to ever reach the magical 100,00 signatures.
There’s just one teeny, tiny problem that Packham and his fellow signatories aren’t admitting in their daft assertions and breathless bluster…
Parliament “must” vote! Really? Says who? No-one. Certainly not the Government petitions website, which points out that these petitions can’t make Parliament *do* anything, as they explain here.
So this may not be debated in June as there’s already been numerous debates (and primary legislation in the shape of 2 Hybrid Bills) already. Still, there’ll be a vote on repealing the HS2 Hybrid Bills AFTER the debate, won’t there?
Nope…
Oh, has Packham not mentioned that? How remiss of him!
You see, the petitions debates are held in Westminster Hall, not the main chamber of the House of Commons – and they’re just that – a debate. Or, to put it in simpler terms – it’s a talking shop! As the Westminster Hall website explains:
“Debates in Westminster Hall take place on ‘general debate’ motions expressed in neutral terms. These motions are worded ‘That this House has considered [a specific matter]’. Amendments to such motions cannot be tabled. Divisions (votes) cannot take place in Westminster Hall.”
So, in short, there’s no way on God’s green earth that the Government’s Parliamentary Managers – or Parliamentary process would allow this (or any other petition) to go to a division (vote) in the Commons. It’s a dead duck! Packham’s peddling the fiction that if 100,000 people sign this petition, MPs will stream into the House of Commons and (en-masse) vote to repeal both HS2 Hybrid Bills! It’s a fantasy that relies on the gullibility of people to have no idea how their Parliamentary democracy actually works.
So, let’s indulge ourselves in a flight of fancy just for one minute. What if there WAS a vote in the Commons on HS2? The Government would win it hands down – for several reasons…
Parliamentary mathematics.
HS2 has massive cross-party support and the Tories would almost certainly ‘whip’ their MPs to vote in favour. So, even in the even more ridiculous and fantastical scenario of everybody else’s MPs voting to oppose HS2 the Government have an 80 seat majority and can’t fail. But, as the only people who oppose HS2 are a handful of Plaid Cymru MPs and the solitary Green, that ain’t gonna happen – but then, neither’s the vote!
The number of MPs who oppose HS2 has fallen in recent years as many of those who did back in 2014 have lost their seats or simply left Parliament, so I refer you back to 1.
In short, this petition’s a complete waste of time. It’s just another myth that Packham’s peddling – like his Court case which was eviscerated as a waste of time with no chance of success by the Judges. This time he’s peddling the fantasy that MPs in Parliament would (if they could) vote to repeal the HS2 bill when they can’t – and wouldn’t.
Oh, there’s also the small matter that by the time this petition ends in June, two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will already be several miles into their progress digging the Chiltern Tunnels and there’s going to be a lot of earthworks and new bridges being created along the 140 mile route of the line! This is not like pulling the plug in a computer system no-one’s ever seen, and if you think the Government will allow such a visible, physical monument to failure to be left behind you really do need to give your head a wobble! The only monument to failure you’ll be seeing here has Chris Packham’s name written all over it.
I have to say, it’s sad to see that the UK ‘Green’ movement has been hijacked by ‘conservationists’ with no thoughts for the science of climate change, whose only answer to any practical solution to tackle cutting carbon emissions is “but, Trees!” It’s this blinkered, ‘lose not one tree, not one blade of grass’ fundamentalism that’s making them part of the problem, not the solution, and it’s playing right into the oil/road lobby’s hands.
Oh, I take it back when I say this petition’s a ‘complete’ waste of time. It does have a couple of uses, but Packham won’t like either of them.
Firstly, these petitions come with a handy map showing which constituencies the people who’ve signed it live in. This will allow me to map the decline in signatures of people who live in areas HS2 passes through as I have a wealth of data from years and years of other failed petitions!
Secondly, it allows us to see what people acre about MORE than HS2! For example, here’s the top 10 active petitions at the moment.
In comparison to these, Packham and it friends have a mountain to climb. Oh, and that’s without mentioning that the petition to stop Brexit had over 6.1 MILLION signatures. That worked well…
Enjoy watching HS2 being built! If I have time tomorrow I’ll be blogging an update on progress with its construction.
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There’s been so much going on these past few days whilst we’ve been trying to prepare for a tiered Xmas I really haven’t had time to blog – despite a spleen that’s become so engorged on political stupidity that it really needs venting before it ruptures. Hopefully next week will allow time for some catharsis.
Fortunately, we took the view that Christmas was likely to be yet another shambles way back in November so we’d cancelled our plans to head down to Surrey and stay in West Yorkshire. That said, I can’t help feeling sorry for those people who believed in this farce of a Government and banked on being able to travel to have family gatherings in the five-day window before (yet again) Johnson did a U-turn. That window never made any sense as it seemed like an open invitation to spread Covid. I can’t help feeling that this Government has completely lost control of the pandemic now. Well, what little control it seemed to have anyway. Personally, I’m resigned to the fact we’ll have stricter lockdown conditions imposed in January after the festive fiasco where Covid is spread by people who’ve lost all faith in official advice and headed back to their families anyway. The fact this is going to screw many peoples businesses for the foreseeable seems to matter not. I’m fortunate in that I’m in a better position than many to weather the shitstorm on the horizon, but I do feel for those caught up in what’s coming. And, as if Covid wasn’t bad enough, on the 1st January the UK declares economic sanctions on itself with Brexit. After 4 years of lies about ‘taking back control’ and ‘they need us more than they we need them’ we’re now just 11 days away from the the shit hitting the fan without the faintest idea if there will be a deal or not – never mind what that deal will look like. Talk about a clownshow! How on earth did we end up like this?
So, Christmas is going to be an interesting one to say the least – and New Year even more so…Forget the pubs, Xmas parties and other social events, for many people it’s going to be an isolated or introspective Christmas with little to look forward to in the New Year – unless you’re on of those brainless Brexiters who’ll be letting off fireworks at midnight on December 31st to celebrate their new ‘freedom’.
Hmm, looking back at what I’ve just written it seems my spleens already leaked! OK, so here’s todays picture of the day as a bit of light relief. I’ve been busy scanning more foreign rail pictures and the latest batch were taken in Southern India back in January 1998. To say things have changed since then would be an understatement. I’m going to write a separate blog once I’ve got them all scanned as there’s a story to tell, but here’s the first one. I took this at Pondicherry, the former French enclave on the East coast of India on the 27th January 1998.
A metre gauge YDM4 class loco waits to leave the sleepy, single platform station with a train for Villapuram Junction on the main line to Madras (now known as Chennai). This scene has totally disappeared. The line’s now been converted to Broad Gauge and Pondy station has four modern platforms. It’s a reflection of how India has rebuilt much of its rail infrastructure over the past few decades.
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Just when I’m thinking the remaining anti HS2 protesters can’t make themselves any more ridiculous with their outlandish claims and piss-poor performances, they say “hold my beer” (shouldn’t that be ‘cheap cider’? Ed)…
The latest, almost Pythonesque, farce at Denham Country Park started in the early hours of Monday morning when the protesters erected a bamboo and rope tower in the river in order to stop contractors working for National Grid from running out a temporary bridge across it. Thinking themselves terribly cunning, they arranged for an old 1990s roads protest ‘star’ – Daniel Hooper, (better known as ‘Swampy’) – to perch in the structure as a way of attracting the media attention they desperately crave. Sadly for the protesters their plan wasn’t that ‘cunning’ at all. What they seemed to have overlooked is that ‘Swampy’ is famous for failing to stop anything. He failed at Twyford Down in the 90s and more recently at Jones’ Hill wood earlier this year. He maintained that record today!
Despite the protesters claims that they’d built the ‘beacon’ (as they pompously called it) in secrecy, the contractors and security staff just ‘happened’ to have a long reach elevated work platform on-hire on the opposite bank of the river. This morning contractors, security and police swooped and ‘Swampy’ was taken down and arrested by lunchtime – much to the obvious chagrin of the protesters who’d been boasting this stunt was going to ‘stop’ HS2! As usual, the event played out on social media. The protesters had shaken every bush and tree for miles to get bodies there and still only managed to attract a handful who posed no threat to the large numbers of security and police who were in attendance. The mix of middle-class Nimbys, crusty ‘eco-warriors’ and waifs and strays more interested in getting pissed on cheap cider was a sight to behold! Here’s a few screen-grabs from Twitter and Facebook to give you a flavour.
Early on HS2Rebellion posted this preposterous hostage to fortune…
So ‘impossible’ that Swampy had been taken down and nicked by 13:00 today and the bridge push continued without interruption! As for ‘secret’, well, HS2Rebellion do have a reputation amongst some other protesters for allegedly colluding with the police. Still, I’m sure it was pure co-incidence that the contractors had hired in a long-reach elevated platform and had it ready on the other side of the river!
Here’s where the protesters plans all started to go a bit ‘Pete Tong’ as the handy elevated platform swung into action!
It wasn’t long before two Officers descended from the cradle on ropes and soon had Swampy ejected from the ‘beacon’ and brought down into the waiting arms of their colleagues below. A few minutes later after removing Hooper’s possessions the ‘beacon’ was unceremoniously tipped on its side and removed, allowing the bridge push to continue this afternoon.
This one is particularly hilarious! This is almost Trumpian in its pretense that black is white and that this shambolic effort was actually a ‘victory’, but then ole ‘Boots’ is from the USA…
Regular readers may remember William from some of his previous hilarious utterances which earned him a place in my ‘crazy campaigner of the week’ feature. Quite how ‘Swampy’ fits into the description of “normal UK people” is another mystery.
If you want to grab some popcorn and watch the farce play out you can find it on the Denham ‘protection’ camp Facebook Page. I’d recommend doing it with the sound turned off/down as the commentaries range from the profane to the inane – along with lashings of propaganda. My ‘Bullshit bingo’ card filled up in a few minutes as all the buzz words were wheeled out in quick succession. “Ecocide”? Tick, “Illegal”? Check. “Assaulted”? Got it! “Polluting Aquifers”, Yep!
Meanwhile, just a few miles down the road, the final fleet of the 300 lorries bringing the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from Germany that would be digging the Chiltern tunnels had already arrived unopposed!
Somehow, I don’t think there’s going to be much carousing around the campfires in the remaining ‘protection’ camps tonight – unlike the worksite canteens where the HS2 contractors will be having a warm and looking forward to the overtime payments appearing in their pay-packets!
As more and more protesters give up and head off home or other causes (knowing this one’s lost) I wonder how much longer this farce will drag out? After all, there’s only going to be one outcome – despite what certain deluded Americans try and claim!
Meanwhile, I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Here we are folks – we’ve finally staggered into December – for better or worse. Although I’m afraid I’m not sure where the better is meant to be coming from. Well, unless you count the arrival of several Covid vaccines, but that’s not making things ‘better’. At best, it will restore things to a form of normalcy. Meanwhile, we have another iceberg looming on the horizon and getting ever closer. Brexit. Yep, we have 31 days left before we leave the transition period and few people (in or out of Government) have the faintest idea what happens now – as no-one who’s meant to be in charge on this side of the Channel seems to be willing to admit that Brexit is an absolute shit-show. Yet, in 31 days time, international treaties will assert themselves and all the bullshit and bluster of the Brexiters will be laid bare. Because, right now, it doesn’t matter what ‘deal’ Johnson and his cronies cobble together and present to the gullible public as a ‘victory’, the reality of what Brexit actually means will kick in from January 1st 2021 regardless – and it matters not a jot what the right-wing press bluff and bluster when it comes to our ‘demands’ of the EU. This is the real world that’s about to intrude – just as it did on the Orange shit-gibbon in the White House. On the bright side, I’m under no illusions what’s to come.
That said, have mixed feelings about the whole situation but for different reasons. Let’s face it, this is hardly a normal Xmas, is it? I suspect any people are torn over what to do and what advice to follow. If Dominic Cummings can sod off to Barnard Castle from London during lockdown, why can’t they bend the rules too?
Tempting as it may be – we won’t be bending any. Our Xmas will be in the four person bubble we’ve been maintaining for several months. Because we want this shit to end as soon as possible – and to all be in good health (with a clear conscience) when it does. Besides – we’re going to have to spend an awful lot of 2021 listening to people saying “this isn’t the Brexit I voted for!” which is going to require quite a bit of physical stamina and mental fortitude – as well as hiding anything sharp. If things were normal I’d be looking to having a flight booked to somewhere in Asia in December in order to escape Britain in January. Fate however, has decided to conjoin Covid and Brexit. Still, it’ll give me something to blog about – although I may need a spleen transplant by February! On the bright side, there’s going to be plenty to blog about and if (as I suspect it will) this is where I can do it.
OK, back to the season and the picture of the day, which has come together beautifully as the last batch of old slides I’ve been scanning for the archives are from Christmas in Melbourne Australia back in 1998 when Lynn and I stayed with Alison Barry and her family. The pair of us met Alison in India earlier that year and we all hit it off – as travellers sometimes do. So much so that when we arrived in Oz Alison invited us the join her and her family. We had a ball! The rest of our Aussie Oydessy are nest in the queue for scanning, but here’s the picture of Xmas lunch in the Southern Hemisphere with Alison, Lynn. Matt, Kim and Ken all those years ago. What a different world that seems now – for so many reasons…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
The Joseph de Maistre quote that “Every nation gets the government it deserves” has never been more apt. Sadly, it’s not just Governments, but politicians in general. Have we ever had such a lacklustre bunch – of all political shades?
Here’s an example – and a confession.
I used to vote for this person when I lived in London. By instinct I’m a natural green voter. But, over the past few years I’ve had a lot of interaction with the party’s politicians potential candidates and members. Now, I wouldn’t touch the Green Party with a barge-pole, because their dogmatic indifference to the science and the real issues – as well as their ineptness and dishonesty – is infuriating.
Here’s yesterday’s example. This blustering tweet from Baroness Jenny Jones regarding the HS2 Phase 2a: High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Bill which is about to complete its journey through the House of Lords.
“Fight”, Jones? A fight is something you have a chance of winning. There is no fight as the Hs2 bill is already a ‘done deal’ – this is pure bluster. Either Jones doesn’t know how Parliament works (quite possible) or she’s being dishonest and grandstanding (equally possible). Of course, it might even be both as Jones has repeatedly proved attention to detail or facts really isn’t her forte. But then she is a also a ‘Green’ who backed Brexit in this infamous shambolic justification.
What Jones isn’t being honest about is the Hybrid Bill process. This starts in the House of Commons then moves to the Lords. Here’s the full timeline of the Phase 2a bill.
Now, what Jones either doesn’t know or isn’t admitting is that some stages are more important than others. The most crucial of which is the 2nd reading of the bill in the House of Commons. If a bill gets a majority at this stage then the ‘principle’ of the bill is established. That means it’s gone beyond the point of no return. It cannot be stopped. Oh, amendments to the principle can be made at Committee stage, but the bill cannot fail.
Second reading – the general debate on all aspects of the Bill – took place on the 30th January 2018. The bill passed by 295 votes to 12, a massive majority of 283. The 12 opposing were the usual suspects, many of whom representing constituencies HS2 passes through.
Of course, some of the 12 have since left Parliament! Meanwhile, when the Bill passed 3rd reading in the Commons on the 15th July 2019 the Bill had 263 votes for and 17 votes against – another huge majority.
So, since January 2018 there’s been no ‘fight’ against the bill. To reinforce that fact when the bill had its 2nd reading in the Lords on the 9th September 2019 it passed without a vote as it was clear there was no need for a ‘division’. Why? Because there’s something else Jones isn’t telling people – HS2 enjoys even more support in the House of Lords than it does in the House of Commons! This isn’t a ‘fight’, it’s a walkover! The final stages of the bill are now a formality, it’s only a matter of time now before it receives Royal Assent, at which point it becomes law. This afternoon the bill is back in the Lords at what’s known as the ‘reports’ stage. This gives a further chance to closely scrutinise elements of the bill and consider (minor) changes – nothing more, as the Lords Ctte noted themselves on Page 6 of their report.
“It is not for this Committee to consider the general merits of the scheme. Parliament has already approved it by passing the 2017 Act and by giving a second reading in both Houses to the West Midlands–Crewe bill. We note these general issues by way of background”.
So Jones is blustering. Needless to say, quite a few people pointed this out to her on Twitter. Her response? A mixture of arrogance and (typical of Green party ‘leaders’) an absolute unwillingness to listen to opposing views. Jones clearly prefers the security of her own little echo-chamber.
Worse was to come. How’s this for an example of patronising contempt – and cringeworthy sexism!
“Big boy toys”? Seriously?
Sadly, this sort of stuff is par for the course from Jones who is one of the main architects of the Green Party’s mad policy to oppose HS2. Still, it’s a good example of why they can’t be taking seriously as a credible political party. There’s a whiff of good, old fashioned Stalinism about the way they won’t tolerate any dissent – either from ordinary voters or within their own ranks.
Why does this matter? Good question. The Green Party only have one MP and their chance of getting any more is pretty much zero. But…
Climate Change is the biggest issue facing us all. We need a credible, strong, Green Party to continue to push for positive change and work with others to achieve it.
An illustration of the problem. These are the Medway viaducts in Kent. the two massive and wide motorway bridges dwarf the graceful high-speed 1 railway viaduct in the background. Now, guess which form of transport the Green Party spend all their time and energy in opposing?
Sadly, that’s the last thing we’ve got. Instead we have a bunch of tone-deaf people at the head of a dogmatic party that’s incapable of meaningful engagement with ordinary voters. So where does that leave politically homeless people like me who can see the problem? I’m damned if I know.
UPDATE:
Anyone looking forward to some political pugilism as promised in Jones’ bluster will have been sadly disappointed by this afternoon’s debate. It was a walkover!
I won’t bore you with the political minutiae and ins and outs of the procedure that involved Lord Berkeley trying to put forward an amendment using Transport and Works Act Orders as a way of delaying the bill’s progress, but it failed. Badly. From the outset it was clear Berkeley had no support, so he didn’t even press for a ‘division’ (vote), instead he withdrew his amendment.
And that was the end of that! Jones did speak, but there was no ‘fight’ in her. In an anondyne speech (sans StopHs2 T-Shirt) the gist of which was “I like trains, me”, she expressed her concern that people weren’t being listened to and that there was a lot of expertise out there people weren’t paying attention to!
“I think people should be listened to – and I’ll block or mute the first person who dares argue with me”!
Her weapons-grade hypocrisy nearly caused a coffee/keyboard interface issue here in Bigland Towers. The same person who was boasting on Twitter how she blocks and mutes people who don’t agree with her lecturing on ‘listening’? You couldn’t make this stuff up!
One bright point of the debate was Lord Adonis who was as fluent and passionate as ever, gently poking fun at Lord Berkeley and making the case for HS2’s Eastern leg whilst sporting a rather impressive tie!
If you want to watch the events on Parliament TV, you can follow this link, which will take you to it. After Lord Berkeley’s amendment was withdrawn the debate continued to discuss HS2 and another amendment from Lord Adonis that would commit the Government to building the Eastern leg of HS2. Lord after Lord from all sides of the political spectrum spoke in favour of, including many Ex-Government Ministers like Lord Blunkett (Labour) and McLoughlin (Conservative). Anyone watching the debate would be left in no doubt of the strength of support for HS2 in the Lords!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After the excitement of breaking free from the office on a sunny day yesterday, and the chance to get some interesting and historical pictures to boot – today’s been back to the usual pattern in more ways than one. The glorious sunshine was a flash in the pan and here for one day only. Today we reverted to heavy grey skies, rain and the light levels that would make a troglodyte feel at ease.
This has meant I’ve worked from home all day, juggling the mundanities of everyday life with editing and scanning pictures and arranging a couple of commissions, so my times been well spent – if a little frustrating at times as I watch the latest political shenanigans on the news. That the Home Secretary’s found to have been bullying her staff is (obviously) a resigning matter. Only it’s not the perma-smirking Priti Patel that resigns – it’s the Senior Civil Servant who conducted the investigation into the allegation and who was hung out to dry by Johnson! So, no change there then. The old film adage about “who do I have to f**k to get a part in this movie” has turned into “what do I have to f**k-up to get the sack around here”? Nothing, apparently – unless you count making up a derogatory nickname for the Prime Minister’s latest squeeze! Honestly, how this country ever managed to rule 1/3 of the planet is beyond me…
Still, I did manage to get out for a long walk in the drizzle and murk, which was good. After being in self-imposed isolation its lovely to be building up the exercise again. This weekend Dee’s on another ‘virtual retreat’ as part of an online group she really enjoys being part of – so it’s a good excuse to get out from underneath her feet and get a few more miles walking under my belt. Admittedly, I have other plans too as I’ve still loads of stuff to get onto eBay. Methinks this will be a productive weekend because of it. After all, it’s not like we’ve got much else to do during this lockdown – and I’d much rather feel the time was being spent doing something useful rather than sat on a sofa watching TV…
Today’s picture of the day is one of the latest batch of slide scans. I’m slowly working my way through an album of pictures from Malaysia and Indonesia. 95% of them have never made it onto my picture websites before, so it’s great to finally bring them to a wider audience. Today’s image was taken in the Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the first week of July 1998. The caves are an important site for Malaysia’s Hindu community and well worth a visit, both to enjoy the caves themselves but also some of the shrines to Gods in the Hindu pantheon.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m saying that because looking forward to the next week as by Friday Dawn and I come out of social-isolation and get to stare at and share more than four walls. Neither of us felt that it was likely we’d contracted Covid because of the contact Dawn had, but what we weren’t willing to do was put others at risk. It’s a sentiment that’s obviously been unfashionable in some circles, but all we can say is we’ve done our bit.
The feeling of isolation was doubled today by the fact the Calder Valley’s been covered in fog for the duration. Visibility’s been down to 2-3 hundred metres at best. So, the pair of us have been feeling like we’re living up in the clouds whilst keeping occupied pottering around in our gilded cage. Dee’s been busy being a domestic goddess whilst I’ve kept myself occupied blogging and eBaying…
Still, talking of ‘gilded cages’, has anyone seen any sense, contrition or humility (fat chance) coming from the Ex-President of the United States yet? No. Me neither. It looks like he’s going to spend his remaining days playing golf at taxpayers expense until he’s finally kicked out of the place. I mean, seriously – the man’s just lost the election and what’s he been doing since? Ignoring the result to spend the past two days on a golf course! Surely, even some of the people who voted for him might just be starting to think “well, this is a bit weird”, but maybe I’m being too charitable. Actually, after everything I’ve seem of Trump’s voters and staffers I’m sure I am.
Talking of Washington, here’s another picture of the day that I stumbled on whilst researching others. It rather fits the current theme of events. I took this at Chinatown station on the Washington metro on the 3rd April 2007.
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Not a bad day (all in all) and certainly a productive one. I’ve managed to get a load of eBay items in the post, friends and neighbours have been brilliant delivering food – and I’ve got the third part of my RAIL rover off to be proof-read. OK, the weather’s not been brilliant but as I’m not going anywhere – who cares? Another bright spot has been dipping in and out of the American Presidential election and seeing things slipping away from Trump, who’s going into meltdown. My view on this?
Hopefully, the thin lead that Biden has in the remaining states will translate into electoral college votes and Trump’s toast. My only concern is the genie the alt-right have let out of the bottle when it comes to claims of vote-rigging and the polarisation of the country years of social media manipulation and misinformation have caused. Trump may be history but the bitterness and divisions he’s left behind will linger. Still, this could be the beginning of the rollback of populism. I only wish it could happen here but I think we’re going to have to go through the pain of the Brexitshambles before some UK voters start to see the light.
Despite lockdown Part 2 and our own isolation it’s been a sociable evening as a group of us resurrected the ‘Big 6’ Friday quiz via ‘Zoom’ which turned into a right laugh! Maintaining that level of fun contact with friends (rather than the interminable meetings the internet is often used for) makes such a difference in these bizarre times.
The day’s been so busy I’ve not really had time to think of a picture of the day, or a clever segue into one, so tonight’s is chosen completely at random by putting the name of a place into the search facility on my Zenfolio website. The name was Edinburgh, and this is what I picked. I took this view across Edinburgh from Arthur’s Seat on the 21st March 2001. I was there getting pictures for a new Lonely Planet guidebook and the weather was perfect. Edinburgh is probably unique (but I stand to be corrected) in having extinct volcanoes in the city centre, in this case in Holyrood Park. At a height of 822ft you’re offered a commanding view across the city, Leith and across the Forth estuary to the coast of Fife. Brilliant!
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I feel very odd trapped stuck indoors on one of my favorite days of the year – Bonfire night. Unlike many old English traditions (like mischief night) it hasn’t been taken over and Americanised or turned into a marketing exercise. I’ve fond memories of childhood bonfire parties at home and also later in life in London when Lynn and I would attend one of the big organised displays. Our nearest, and the one we frequented most was just down the road at Alexandra Palace. We’d walk down there with friends and laden with mulled wine and snacks. Now, up here in Yorkshire Dawn and I have tended to have our own little displays and invite her parent over to join us. This year, all I can do is watch from the bedroom window, or listen to the bangs and whistles as I sit in the office typing this. It’s a bit of a damp squib, but then so’s the American Presidential election, which is moving forward at a glacial pace and looks certain to drag on for weeks as Trump and the right-wingers try and drag things out in the courts. Democracy is looking very fragile at the moment as the right-wing populists do everything they can to cling to power. One can only hope Biden spoils their plans.
I’ve not really paid attention to the stateside shenanigans as little’s happened and I’ve been too busy with writing and sorting out the latest tranche of eBay sales which has left me with no time for slide scanning. Hopefully, next week will be another matter after the final part of my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine goes off to the proof-readers and I get a break before I start the next article, which should give me time to scribble some words for pleasure and write-up a couple of blogs that I’ve been thinking about. After all, I’m not going anywhere for a while yet, and it’s not like I’ve got a plane to catch. I wish…!
With today being bonfire night the picture of the day rather chose itself – as you’ll see in a minute. A lot of play is made nowadays about how animals are terrified of fireworks and that they should be banned as a consequence. I’ve extremely mixed feelings about that. Yes, I’ve known some animals that are absolutely terrified. The family dog (Dori) was one, but then so was my mother in her later years. When it came to November 5th my mum would break out the Valium and give one half of a pill to herself and the other half to the dog!
Jet, our cat, is the opposite. In his younger days he’d go wandering off out to see what the noise was all about as he had that sort of nature. Now that he’s an old bugger he’s not the slightest bit interested, but that could be because he’s as deaf as post!
Ok, the picture of the day – you’ll see where I’ve been going now. I took this picture on New Years eve 2003 in Tangalle, Sri Lanka. The owner of the homestay we were lodging in had a party on the beach, which involved copious amounts of fireworks. Rather than running away and hiding one of the local mutts was fascinated by them and did its best to try and catch and eat them!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 