The End

The running will continue, as will the fandango between rich & poor, conservative and progressive. But this season of blogging has finally drawn to a close. Thank you for reading.

Haiku 5: forensic political analysis

Several good runs.

Cameron visits Scotland.

Patronising arse.

Haiku 4: Cameron waffles unconvincingly against Scottish independence

Dawn run. Buds on trees.

A disunited kingdom.  

Fur coat and no pants.

Haiku 3: US leads/UK follows

Fine run, much drier.

UK wealth gap gets bigger

When managed by toffs.

Haiku 2 - reflection on positive use of celebrity

Brisk run through bird song.

Sean Penn supports Malvinas.

No knighthoods for him !

Haiku post for time management related reasons of brevity

Good but murky run.
Cameron is still useless.
No progress there then.

Dump Trump

A good fast run through the rather dreich woods

Donald Trump is a rich American person who plays golf. His dad left him a lot of money, and he made more through property speculation and casino ownership. Seemingly because his mother came from the Western Isles of Scotland, he is developing a “golf resort” for other rich golf enthusiasts, on the east coast, near Aberdeen.

The Scottish government is a democratically elected body, with a policy of developing renewable energy through various means, including offshore wind farms, one of which is planned for a site just off the same stretch of east coast.

In response, Trump has predictably gone on the offensive, in both senses of the word, to protect his sensitive punters from the hideousness of renewable energy generation.

Every cloud has a silver lining though and, whilst the prospect of a loud-mouthed American behemoth stomping around trying to subvert the Scottish government is not attractive, perhaps schoolchildren will be able to learn something about the perils of being on the receiving end of neo-colonial arrogance.

Mutha of parliaments

A damp but refreshing run by the loch this morning before returning to the flesh pots of Glasgow.

George Monbiot recently cited an article in the journal Psychological Science, which argued convincingly that people with conservative views are likely to be of low intelligence. Yesterday's proceedings in the UK parliament appear to confirm this. Ed Milliband put forward a reasonable case that the deeply unpopular proposed changes to the NHS were being handled so incompetently that they should be scrapped. Prime Minister Cameron's response was, essentially, "Yah boo, nobody likes you, not even your brother, and I'm going to do it anyway !!!" 

True, Monbiot goes on to castigate the liberal left for letting conservatism win (ref), but therein lies a much bigger debate about the greed and selfishness that pervades fragmented societies.

Just another day

Ascribing human emotions to other animals is not a cornerstone of respectful inter-species co-existence, but the four red deer, who had strayed into a field where they don't belong, did look very embarrassed as we ran past this morning.

Back at base, a quick scan of the news reveals a collection of domestic headlines which don't really need further comment:

• Ministry of Defence cutting 54,000 jobs with no coherent strategy (Guardian)
• PM says Health Secretary has my full support, and denies National Health  Service bill disaster (Independent)
• England football team manager resigns (The Times)
• Duchess of Cambridge goes to exhibition all by herself (Daily Telegraph).

No further comment that is except for the enduring mystery of why the game of football is seen as so newsworthy. I'd like to think that it reflects a strand of child-like innocence in our society, but probably it has more to do with testosterone and transferred aggression.

Democracy ?

A spectacular sunrise over Ben Nevis this morning, and a possible sighting of two sea eagles as we ran beside the loch.

David Cameron has been very enthusiastic about upholding the freedom of Falkland Islanders to determine their own future, rather less so with the people of Scotland, and not at all with the myriad opponents of his health & social care bill, to whom he is condemning a future of further privatisation, profiteering, and corner-cutting, in welfare services. The only supporters of this bill seem to be Cameron, Health Secretary Lansley, and the private companies waiting to grab a bigger slice of the cake. Oh, and Nick Clegg.

QE2

A chilly but enjoyable pre-dawn run by the loch, relishing the tang of seaweed on the shore.

And so the Queen of Britain has been in post for 60 years. The conservative media have gone into a predictable hyperspace of obsequious drivelling about how her Royal Magnificence has been the kindest, wittiest, most Christian being, with the best dress sense, that has ever walked our planet. And so on. The left-leaning media are generally maintaining a polite silence.

Now it’s true that, during those 60 years, she has broadly stuck to her job description and avoided public outrage, unlike her husband & sons which, in these times of moral turpitude and short concentration spans, is something we should probably be grateful for. On the other hand, given her extensive and expensive support team,  the limited range of her actual work, and the large number of other people losing their jobs, arguably such a performance is the very least we could expect. 

So that's what it's all about

A dank and misty morning along the loch-side, with border collie Benn & I both comforted by the miracle that is a fluorescent yellow jacket.

A small paragraph modestly tucked away on the Independent website today (ref) suggests a compelling explanation for the global history of wars, violence, aggression, snobbery, elitism, competitive sport, and large motor cars. And the answer is....sex, or rather, the contagious genetic programming of males to compete aggressively against "outsiders" for sexual partners. Which is bad news in a male-dominated world, and leads to the unavoidable conclusion that the planet should be ruled by people who have no interest in impregnation, whilst those who want to breed should be restricted to safe & useful activities such as growing vegetables.

Not in our back yards

A good, chilly, and rather slippery run this morning.

One hundred and one conservative members of the London parliament are baying to reduce the £400m annual government subsidies for onshore wind farms, and to make it easier for local people to stop new farms being developed in their vicinity. Not a very edifying spectacle, and probably much more to do with protecting their Middle England constituents from the horror of seeing where their electricity comes from than with making a serious attempt to save money.

To put that £400m into context, the official projected cost for renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear missiles is £20bn. Unofficial estimates suggest maybe £90bn. In other words, between 50 & 225 years worth of subsidy, just in case Chancellor Osborne has lost his calculator.

Let them eat cake

A stunningly beautiful run, with dawn breaking behind Ben Nevis and the shoreline of the sea loch encrusted with ice.

Less beautifully, benefit fraud (poor people being dishonest) allegedly costs the UK around £1bn per year. Tax evasion (rich people being dishonest) costs £15bn. Tax avoidance (rich people being amoral) costs £70bn. And no prizes for guessing which of these our government has selected as an easy target. Suffice to say it still pays to have friends in high places, which must be what Cameron means when he waffles about caring capitalism.

Cameron stamps his foot again

Another very cold & speedy dawn run along the loch-side road which, interestingly, was originally built to help the English subjugate the Scots.

Talking of imperialism, the Falkland Islands, AKA Islas Malvinas, were the subject of colonial squabbling amongst Spain, Portugal & Britain from the 16^th century until 1833 when Britain pushed to the front of the queue and established a spurious ownership of these small islands 4000 miles away. Now the squabbling is between Britain and Argentina, and David Cameron is raising the stakes by sending his best boat and Prince William, to show those Argentinians that they can’t just make arbitrary neo-colonial claims of ownership. According to the BBC, Prince William has been replaced during his absence by a cocker spaniel, but we don’t yet know what will replace Cameron’s best boat at bath-time.

Honours without honour

A bitterly cold but beautiful run along the loch side this morning.

I’m glad to report that knighthoods are rarely offered to people who are rude about the Queen or the government, but past recipients have included Benito Mussolini, Nikolae Ceaucescu, and Robert Mugabe, all of whom eventually had theirs confiscated for bad behaviour.

Fred Goodwin, CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008 when it had to be bailed out with £45bn of public money, has also finally had his knighthood taken away by the Queen. This seems quite reasonable, given his track record, except that there is more than a whiff of cheap & easy political point scoring by David Cameron, rather than evidence of a serious attempt to rescind the benefits awarded to those who presided over Britain’s contribution to the global banking crisis.

Caring capitalism ?

Back to the Highlands after a week of good running. This morning, along the loch side, the returning daylight was very noticeable, and very welcome.

Six months ago, the Queen’s middle son, Andrew, was advised to step down as UK Special Representative for Trade after a public outcry at his whoring after assorted despots in the name of “trade”, whilst lining his own hungry pockets at the same time, all at the tax-payers’ expense. Now he’s back doing the same thing, or rather it seems that he never actually stopped (ref). Prince Andrew could never lay claim to being the sharpest chisel in the Royal toolbox, but this arrogant indifference to public opinion seems less a product of simple stupidity than of the government’s mendacious greed and hypocrisy. No wonder support for Scottish independence is growing by the day.

Back to basics 2

Back to basics

On holiday

A good run this morning in the early light, and the start of a short (?) sabbatical  break from blogging.

Spoilt for choice

A good pre-dawn loch-side run today. 

A quick and late scan of the news suggests a wide range of material. Where does one start ? David Cameron has accused Argentina of being "colonial" by wanting to reclaim management of the Malvinas islands. The excellent Simon Schama has skewered Downton Abbey and other such reactionary fantasies, describing them as cultural necrophilia. An inquiry into UK complicity in torture of political prisoners has been scrapped because it would "take too long". Hedge fund managers are insisting on making massive profits from their purchase of the Greek debt. The list goes on...........

Decline and Fall of the British Empire

A brisk loch-side run this morning, then back to the first piece of royalist nonsense of this year of the queen's 60th anniversary, or year of further massive cuts in public services disproportionately affecting the poor, depending on your perspective. The UK Minister of Education, Michael Gove, apparently thought it would be a good idea for UK taxpayers to pay for the purchase of a new £60 million yacht for the queen to sail around in. Even David Cameron managed to spot a flaw in the proposal. And this Gove person has been put in charge of UK education. Sacrebleu ! In fairness, selecting ministers is Cameron's job, so Gove shouldn't really be blamed, any more than Caligula's horse could be blamed for some dodgy policy decisions. 

Displacement activity

A fast and frosty run through the woods before returning to the Highlands. 

This morning the UK media are in overdrive as they pick endlessly through the story of the cruise ship that crashed into Italy. A serious accident definitely, though perhaps less so than the overloaded ferries that sink from time to time elsewhere in the world. However, as concerned reporters ask survivors again and again what it was like to be involved/rescued, the coverage seems to be more to do with grasping a "human interest" alternative to the meltdown of the Eurozone than it has with the objective reporting of facts.

Burning issue

Another fast & frosty run, with smart new shoes, the old ones having been retired after 750 miles. The woods were fragrant with woodsmoke as the woodland workers steadily and thoughtlessly burn the trees felled by the recent storms. The issues surrounding biofuel are complex and often counter-intuitive, but such an irresponsible waste of a finite and precious resource shows how far we still have to go.

You having a laugh ?

A good brisk run through the woods.

In the Independent today, an interesting article on the healing qualities of laughter. Not a new idea, it’s true, but in the current climate of doom & gloom, a very welcome reminder. So, ahem, I’d like to present a small joke from Germany, recently heard on television, as a contribution to societal well-being.

Baby Stefan was late in developing speech. His parents were naturally very worried when, even by the age of 5, he hadn’t spoken his first word. One day, after dinner, he turned to his mother and said: “Mama, the apfelstrudel was rather tepid”. His parents were astonished: “…but Stefan, what happened, why have you started speaking ?” He replied with all the dignity a 5 year old can muster: “Well, until now, everything has been quite satisfactory”.

Rule Britannia

A fine, fast, and frosty run through the woods this morning.

The Scottish independence debate is very compelling from a Scottish perspective, maybe less so elsewhere, so I will try not to bang on about it too much. Nevertheless, the unedifying sight of Ed Miliband grasping the Etonian coat tails of David Cameron to try and resist Alex Salmond’s steady progress towards greater independence can’t pass without comment. Behind all the waffle about being “bad for Britain”, Cameron clearly  wants the oil revenue, possibly the water, and somewhere to park his nuclear submarines, whilst Miliband wants unity because an independent Scotland would take away a big chunk of his ailing Labour support. Obviously, the spectacle of a Camerband pushmi-pullyu will bring the Labour voters back in droves. Clever tactic, Ed. Meanwhile today, with his finger on the pulse of what is good & bad for Britain, Cameron has flown off to sell more guns to the Saudis (ref).

Towers of Babel

No run today, for reasons of dentistry.

Without a visible hint of schadenfreude, the Independent reports on an interesting and convincing  correlation between skyscraper building (currently booming in China & India) and impending economic collapse, citing various examples over the last 80 years (ref).

Meanwhile, London is currently seeing the completion of The Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe.
Enough said.

In praise of richness

A fine, fast run this morning, musing on the theme of richness.

In our greedy capitalist world, rich seems to have become a synonym for material wealth. Richness of experience, richness of relationship, above all richness of understanding - these are all too often side-lined, rather than being properly articulated and taught as life essentials. What’s more, these riches are infinite and sustainable, unlike their material counterpart. Maybe that’s the problem. Being available to everyone, they subvert the fundamental root of our innate need to be superior.

Pole-dancing lessons

A good pre-dawn run through the woods this morning

The Right Honourable David Cameron has allegedly made a close study of former prime minister Tony Blair’s formula for political success. A report in the Independent (ref) shows how the same Blair long ago shifted his shape from populist politician carrying the hopes of a generation, to rampaging profiteer and whore lining his pants with spectacular amounts of public and private money, as he prances across the world stage like a delusional pole dancer. Cameron has obviously chosen his mentor with care.

Rebuilding Hadrian's Wall

A brisk and enjoyable woodland run this morning.

David Cameron is apparently trying to override the Scottish government and take control of the forthcoming referendum on independence, in what is likely to be a long and vicious battle (ref). The issue of independence is complex and uncertain but one thing seems very clear - the spectacle of Cameron and his self-satisfied cronies pontificating on the subject from the fleshpots of London is unlikely to win many votes to keep the union.  

The king's bling

A damp but enjoyable run this morning.

One of the Queen’s daughters-in-law has been in trouble for accepting some gewgaws from the self-proclaimed King of Bahrain, when she and her husband, Prince Albert ? George ? Victoria ? …anyway, when they popped in for tea recently (ref). Confusingly for them, they aren't meant to accept lavish gifts from despots even if the despots are UK trading partners.  UK royalty are apparently supposed to adhere to a convoluted code of fairness and decency to avoid upsetting people whilst enjoying their unjustifiable family privileges. Admittedly this is a solution which doesn’t quite get to the root of the problem, and could be misinterpreted as a patronising token gesture, but it’s a start.

Ponzi-nomics

A fine chilly run through the woods today, with blue sky for a change.

By contrast the UK media seemed uniformly grey & drab, which I was beginning to attribute to a decline of my cognitive function (ref) until I came across an excellent piece by Alexander Jung in Spiegel Online. This gives stark and gloomy substance to the palliative message from all European leaders that the economic problems will get “worse” before they get “better”, and makes early January an even better time than usual to re-assess life priorities !

Ref: Banksy

Burmese days

A daylight woodland run this morning which revealed the full extent of tree damage after the recent storm. Sadly, being Glasgow, most of the fallen timber will be burned as scrap, rather than recycled or used for fuel.

To continue yesterday’s theme of delusional foreign policy, William Hague has now followed the well trodden path of Western politicians in a “historic” visit to Burma, where the junta are showing modest signs of reform, although most dissidents with a lower public profile than Aung San Suu Kyi have yet to be released. Such a concern for Burmese human rights is heart warming, and clearly not a smokescreen for trying to re-establish trade links in a region dominated by China, nor a ploy to make Britain feel important. So William, take no notice of those people that say you are a pompous clown.

Beware foreign policy when elections are near

A good but rather melancholy run through the storm damaged woods this morning.

Meanwhile, in another unstable region, Barak Obama & Nicolas Sarkozy are engaged in a dangerous game of rhetoric and brinkmanship with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Whilst this is almost certainly just bravado to impress their respective electorates, the potential for reaching a flashpoint is very real and very alarming. David Cameron is tagging along too, though without the excuse of a pending election. As with anyone else with delusions of being a world leader, the kindest response would probably be to keep him away from matches and sharp implements.

Severe weather forecast

An exciting but brief run this morning, cut short for health reasons as high winds blew pieces of tree around.

Recently, India has often been portrayed in the West as part rapidly growing economy, part eco-villain, so it’s good to see a rather more nuanced account, by the excellent John Pilger, in the Morning Star (ref). On the other hand, the internal divisions that he describes, seen in juxtaposition with the destructive tensions between army and government in Pakistan (ref), suggest a potential for instability in the region that makes the Eurozone look like a holiday camp.

Our illustrious leader

A brisk and chilly run through the woods this morning, before returning to ponder Prime Minister Cameron’s edifying New Year message – this year we’ll use the global drama of the Olympics and the glory of the Queen’s diamond jubilee to help get Britain up to strength in these difficult times.

For a moment there some of us were worried about the future but, silly us, we’d forgotten all about the societal benefits of watching some expensive athletics and a Disney pageant on the telly. D'oh !!

Not with a whimper but with a bang

A fine woodland run with which to start the new year.

Last night was Hogmanay, with its usual revelry and pyrotechnics – the latter sounding more like artillery than celebration. Maybe it’s a by-product of a generation raised on action movies and bellicose computer games, but the wide availability of ever louder and more dangerous fireworks seems to indulge the whims of adolescent males to an unnecessary and irresponsible degree. What’s more, the EU law makers, in their ineffable wisdom, have just further relaxed the restrictions so that these explosive horrors can now be more than twice as powerful, and closer than ever to the format of cluster bombs (ref). Are they completely insane ?

Happy New Year.