Are We Really Helpless Against The World?

Sunday 3rd January

Sometimes one truly does feel helpless in a world seemingly spiralling out of control, or at least out of our control.  Maybe it has always been so, though maybe with our recent inter-connectivity we are simply made far more aware of our situation.  Time was when ordinary people were only concerned with what went on in their own immediate family or village; life trundled on and rumours may have come of Kings and Queens and foreign wars or plagues or floods, but generally those things which did not immediately affect one’s life were of little interest.  But as cities grew larger and sucked more people in there were soon news sheets produced, often consisting of gossip and affairs of the rich, but also politics were discussed, or more likely promulgated from a Whig or Tory perspective.   Then with the advent of Radio and Television we had “The News”, and you could no longer escape knowing at least a little about the state of the World.

We now live in a world of 24 hour news, which often isn’t but is reported as breaking news – as if a wave of facts was pouring into the news desk so fast they could barely report it.  But stories come and go as the whim of the news editors perceive them to be “news”.  We also have the internet and our friends, or too often people we may never have met but have somehow “befriended”, post links to extraordinary stories, which may or not be true, which may or may not be propaganda, which may or may not move us into reading them.  And more and more one begins to feel that too much news is simply too much to take in.  A feeling of helplessness overtakes one; is the world really such a terrible place with crime, corruption, wars, terrorism, disease, famine, hunger and greed all around?  Or is it as it always was?  There is an awful lot going on the whole time but the good things are barely reported, most people live peaceful and productive lives looking after their family and friends, kindness is far more common than cruelty, almost everyone actually wants everyone to be happy.

So, do not shun the news, do not automatically find something less painful to watch; but realise that in our own small way we can begin to make the world a better place. In fact it is incumbent on us to do so.  We may not be able to stop wars, we may not be able to cure disease, we may not be able to feed all the hungry, we may not be able to correct unfairness – but we can be kind to each other, to help where we can, to think of others rather than enriching ourselves.  And we have to hang on to the hope that the inherent goodness in our children will overcome some of the injustices we see around us.

You can relax now, Sunday sermon is over

A New Year’s Party to Remember

Saturday 2nd January

We had a great Halloween Party and meal at Chouette (Owl) Café back in October – Elvis (Rob Russell) played and most of us dressed up for the occasion.  Now I have never been a great one for New Year’s parties; after all it is just another day, the calendar is a man-made thing and anytime at all could have been chosen to change the year over – the Chinese and the Jews have different dates after all.  And all too often I have sat in, watching bleary-eyed, the mad revellers on TV, wondering between sips of tea what all the fuss was about.

But here in Eymet, like everything else it is a cause for a party; we could have gone to see Rob again at ‘Floc and Tea’ in Lauzun, we could have listened to blaring house music at ‘Garage’, we might have even been invited to Rupert’s house where a party for regulars was happening.  But as soon as Christine mentioned she was having a party at Chouette we knew we were in for a good time, especially when she managed to book ‘Terry, Jerry and Suzie’ to play.  We have seen them a few times last year, in the park at the Gourmand Evening and a couple of times at Le Pub Gambetta; they are always excellent, playing a mix of soft rock and country with a few French songs thrown in too.  Terry sings and plays excellent guitar, Jerry occasionally sings and plays bass, and Suzie, who is Danish sings so beautifully too.

We arrived at nine on Thursday night and had an aperitif and canapes.  There were only a few of us English, the French outnumbered us twofold, but that just made it all the better and we all mixed really well.  The French got up and danced as soon as the music started and we soon joined them, except for the Madison – the French love to line dance, and the steps are quite complicated and there are three or four different dances they do.  A couple of fifty-something French women were expert at it, their little feet pointing and swinging in perfect time with the music and each other.  The meal was a lovely soup and a buffet of cold meats followed before midnight, and after – some more meat dishes, cheese and then a selection of desserts.  We all had lots to drink (reasonably priced) of course and we staggered home just before two even though the French were still celebrating.  It really was a great night in the best little town in all of France.  And tonight we are partying again at Graham and Maxine’s….the torture never stops.

 

A New Year – What Could Possibly Go Wrong ?

Friday 1st January

Well, looking back 2016 wasn’t such a bad year after all.  And 2017 is looking promising too…

Donald Trump was elected the next president of America.  Hilary Clinton was humbled by revelations of her own salacious affairs which she strenuously denied ( for some reason Bill seemed to enjoy them).  Donald promised that in his first hundred days he would repeal Obama Health Care, cut taxes by 50% and bomb Moscow unless Putin butts out (his words) of Ukraine.

The war in Syria is over; ISIS has disappeared, no fighters were ever found, just a pile of CIA instruction manuals (some Ruskie plot no doubt).  The warring factions are squabbling over the pile of rubble left after the West decided that Assad was the real enemy and bombed Damascus.

The flood of refugees from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Libya, Chad, Niger, Somalia and Nigeria continued to sweep into Europe as fighting extended over much of Africa and Arabia.  Schengen was abandoned and armed guards now search every vehicle crossing borders in Europe.

Against all predictions the British voted to leave the EU.  Cameron resigned and Theresa triumphed over Boris.  George Osborne refused to serve under her, insisting that ‘she didn’t really believe in Austerity anymore’ after she rebelled against his proposed 50% cut in funding to Education and the NHS (as she said, 20% was quite sufficient, thank-you).  But her real triumph was in the new Hunting All Wild Animals Act where it is now illegal for anyone to protect any wild creature at all; the sale of pink hunting jackets soared once she brought in a 30% subsidy for anyone carrying a Tory party card.  Fracking was in full swing after the 200% tariff on all renewable energy was passed with support from the LibDems. The Airports commission has promised a final decision on a new runway some time after 2020 and we are still waiting for the results of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war, rumours that Tony is withholding his consent to conversations he had with Rupert are obviously baseless. (Tony Blair incidentally now lives in America with George Dubya Bush on his new ranch which used to be called Nevada)

Chucka Umuna, the newly elected (under emergency rules) Labour leader has promised to support all of Theresa May’s measures and that Super-New-Labour will be even more ruthless against benefit scroungers than she is.  The funeral for Jeremy Corbyn, who sadly died when an out of control oil tanker mowed him and his bicycle down on Islington High Street (the driver ran away from the scene and has never been traced), was attended by over a million and the Police had to use water cannon and tasers to control the mob.

However the weather has again been a nuisance; ten times the normal rainfall over the North of England means that the Lake District is now known as the Lake and only the thin strip of the Pennines now separates England from Scotland; (at least the Jocks can’t take our jobs now).  Theresa May has assured us that this is a once in a ten thousand year occurrence and that the Northern Powerhouse will be rebuilt as soon as it stops raining.

Hahaha…..have a great 2016 everybody.