Earthquakes & Tidal Waves

     

There has been a tremendous earthquake in the form of an SNP victory over New Labour in Glasgow East constituency, the heartland of Scottish Labour. There was a massive 22% swing to the SNP dissolving the 13 thousand Labour majority from the last election to an SNP slim majority of 365. 

This is huge!!! Gordon Brown has lost major elections all over the UK and now in his backyard. Glasgow has been a hotbed of Labour support for generations. Its practically synonymous with being Glaswedgian. John Mason, the newly elected MP, has been a dedicated councillor in Glasgow East for ten years. He is popular but not charismatic. This was not some random protest vote. This was a vote of discontent. But also, a vote for change. 

Everything I have read about the vote yesterday, has detailed that the real deciding factor was in the professional vote - the working vote - after six o'clock. Young professionals, and not so young professionals came to the polls to express a desire for a different political future for Glasgow. Contrary to what Labour hoped, independence for Scotland is no longer the bogey man that has voters scurrying to all corners. 

I don't believe that somehow the voters in Glasgow have suddenly changed their ideological perspective. I believe that underneath the city beats a heart of socialism. However, I do believe that those voters now perceive the Scottish Labour Party for what it truly is - a branch of the UK Party. The voters in Glasgow East are not asking for a change in political ideology. They are asking for a change in political perspective. They now see their future as inherently tied to Scotland. They wish Scotland to be their political perspective.  

The New Labour Party is hemorrhaging at the seams. I feel very sorry for Gordon Brown. He is witnessing his dreams and ambitions dissolving before his eyes. The keys to 10 Downing Street, handed to him from Tony Blair, were a poisoned chalice. The American sub prime economic melt down, eight years of economic greed in Wall Street has destabilised the UK economy. Biofuels have created a global food crisis, and we are beginning to feel the affects of the finite nature of carbon fuel. These global crises have landed on Gordon Brown's desk. 

This is a very difficult situation for Gordon but even without it he would not succeed. I feel sorry for him because he wants so desperately to be a leader but he lacks completely the charm, personality and charisma that the job requires. He tries desperately to be something he is not. He tries to please everyone without staying true to who he is as a person. 

I believe that Scotland is on a path to independence. I think that a Tory government in Westminster will only increase the pace. I would like to see Gordon Brown wake up to this reality and come home. A politician of his skill and experience could have a positive impact in a new Scotland. I think Gordon Brown is an example of what Scots have done for three hundred years: exported their talents to the running of the British Empire from the sidelines. 

Scotland is finding its voice, is finding its confidence and realising what its future could hold. Scotland as an independent nation can come home to its socialist leanings and follow the examples set by our Scandinavian neighbours. Labour had to re-invent itself "New" to gain acceptance in the South of England and in doing so lost its ideological base. In an independent Scotland Labour can return home to its socialist aspirations of wealth distribution, universal healthcare and education. 

There has been an earthquake in Scotland and behind it comes a tidal wave that will end in the dissolution of the Act of Union and the rebirth of the Scottish nation. 

Vegan for the Future

I am a flip flopper. I have flip flopped between many eating regimes in the past. My longest was when I was vegetarian for 8 years. I, similarly to most humans, like the taste of meat and I drool over a prize cut of steak sizzling on the grill. However I know from my brief year as a vegan, that whilst my taste buds earn for the taste of meat, my body actually prefers not to eat meat or dairy. I was happiest when I had the discipline to eat vegan and practice yoga, both things that I have strayed from - my blasted taste buds get me every time!

I have been reading headlines about the world food shortage and feeling guilty. My Western lifestyle in the hedonistic wasteful land of America has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in fuel costs that have subsequently driven food prices up. Yet my, small fuel efficient car is not the only culprit. I know from my time as a vegan that eating grains, nuts, legumes, vegetables and fruit places significantly less stress on our fragile planet than eating meat everyday. I have followed my errant taste buds to the wasteful place of eating meat often and daily, and I feel guilty.

I am not advocating that everyone become vegan but I am hoping more people become less addicted to the notion of meat everyday. ( I see the irony of such a statement when I am moving to Houston, Texas for the summer .... Texans giving up meat ....?). I feel even more guilty as I really should be vegan because I feel much better physically as well as spiritually, eating that way. Giving up meat, or seriously curtailing the amount you eat, is now more than ever, a political statement. It says that I am unwilling to take an unfair portion of the worlds resources just to satisfy the cravings of my errant taste buds.
I need to do this for my health, for my peace of mind and because whilst I give up meat there will be someone in China adding more meat to their plate. So maybe my effort will at least help balance the status quo.

This time it will be more challenging for me. When I was vegan I didn't know I was allergic to gluten (celiac). I now do ... I'm going to have to be very disciplined but I know it will be worth it.

War = Golf?

The idiot, ahem ... I mean the President of the US has announced that he too has sacrificed for American freedom. All those families who have sent loved ones overseas into an uncertain war can now feel reassured that their commander in chief is feeling their pain through his own self sacrifice.

George W. Bush has made the tremendous self sacrifice of giving up GOLF!!!

Not surprisingly most service personnel and their families have not felt their hearts warm to the news but rather their blood pressure rise and started to feel rather hot under the collar!!

Can someone please wake me up when this idiot has left office .... thanks.

A True Historic Leader

I have just watched an old interview with Obama on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS - you can see it here. Wow, I am even more impressed than I was before. This man has such a confidence, an assuredness that is inspiring, yet at the same time he exhibits a modesty that does not appear false in any way. I feel that he is one of those rare individuals that can change history, and make a difference positively in this world. His message of 'hope' is not spin, not a gimmick, not a political catchphrase to lure votes, he truly believes that he can give hope back to this country and the world.

He talks about himself as someone who has lived in another country, someone who knows what it is like to have family members struggling to survive in poverty, and someone who has worked in the housing projects seeing firsthand the real issues people have to deal with. He is also someone who has a grandmother in Africa living in a hut without running water and electricity in a village that has been decimated by AIDS. I get goosebumps at the thought of the American President being such a person - as he says, when he goes to Africa and sees suffering it really means something to him personally.

He has never supported the Iraq war and I thank him for that. I remember sitting in Scotland during the build up rubbing my eyes with disbelief. I felt like the small boy in the Emperor's New Clothes. I agree with Obama when he attributes the support for the Iraq war being a direct consequence of the political game that is played in Washington. I think he is correct when he says that it blinds good people to what is directly in front of them and they find themselves doing what is expected of them.

I am excited. I truly have hope that America will rise from the ashes and be a positive place to live and a positive influence in the world. This country was founded on such wonderful principles of liberty and equality. It has not always found it easy to follow in the spirit of its beginning but in Barack Obama I believe this country will find a way back to what is good and great about the United States of America.

Now if only I could vote ..... (I probably won't get citizenship in time .... close ....)
...... so I'll be pounding the pavement and hassling all citizens I know ... you have been warned!!

Obama/Sebelius 2008

An American Expat in England suggested Sebelius for Obama's VP. I knew very little about her but having done a bit of research she may be onto something. Obama/Sebelius 2008?
Maybe they can have the thrilling uplifting parts of Sibelius symphonies for their adverts!! :)

Money down the drain ....

Clinton lends her campaign 6.4 MILLION Dollars!!! That is a lot of money that could be spent on so many many things ...... granted its her money to spend as she sees fit but really .... think of the many many charities that could make a big difference in peoples' lives with such a figure. Instead this money is going to be spent on advertisements telling us how Barack is bad and Hillary is good, spent on filling up the gas tanks of tour buses and aeroplanes, the printing of fliers, banners, bumper stickers, badges, pins and many many leaflets. The world has precious resources and I'm not convinced this is a good way of using them. In addition to this, funding this faltering campaign makes the Obama campaign spend more money on the same things using more and more precious resources .... plus shouldn't this money be saved to battle the dinosaur in November.

I'm not sure I could trust someone with my taxes who is willing to pour their own money down the drain like this. Enough is enough!

Enough already!!

Enough ... please let this be the end of the road! After talking like a redneck, downing beers with whiskey chasers and proposing that a savings of $28 for the average gas guzzling American over the summer would make a difference, Hillary lost North Carolina and as of just now looks like she may hold Indiana ... but by the skin of her teeth!! Considering the battering Obama has been taking in the national media and he has done so well, this really should be over.

I am sad. Not because I am a fan of Hillary Clinton but because I am so sad to see a strong, incredibly bright woman prostitute herself politically in order to get elected. She has been brainwashed by the Washington political game to the extent that she has lost her own integrity. This is such a tragedy. I would have had so much respect for her if she had been positive, stayed true to her intelligence. Instead she pulled out anything she could find to fight dirty and sadly that included making a fool of herself: the Bosnia sniper fire tall tale was ludicrous; the remodeling herself as a member of the working class when she so clearly is an East Coast privileged member of the elite; the lowering of her IQ with statements like she doesn't believe in Economists (on her gas tax 'holiday'); the lowering of her sophisticated position as an intelligent woman to that of a girl who can drink beer and shots with the guys. It is all so incredibly sad.

So please, please let this be the end. I have no desire to see Hillary destroy herself further. She is such a talented woman and this country needs intelligent talented people right now, desperately. My only hope is that she has the self respect to bow out gracefully. My fear is that she won't and she will end up looking like a fool.

I am very pleased for Obama, I am also sad it had to come at such a price.

WTF?????????

Can I wake up now, please? I cannot seriously believe that London voted Boris Johnson as their Mayor!! Really???
This guy is an idiot, a snob, and a buffoon. Can Londoners not see what electing someone with those credentials has done to America and the world? They want that for their city??
They've all gone mad. I understand if they wanted to get Ken Livingstone out (he's done some stuff some folks don't like, although I think he's done a decent job but I don't live in London so I can't really say), but Boris? Couldn't they have voted in the Liberal Democrat candidate? He's not an idiot surely ....

I am so ashamed and embarrassed for London. Good job its not a city I would ever wish to live in (big smelly sprawling grey mass of yeuch).

Can I wake up? Now? Pleeeeeease .......???

gut churning

Right now my 'hope' is scared.

Amazed by Obama

It been a loooooooong time since I posted anything on this blog. So consequentially my appeal to Al Gore now looks ... well ... sort of pathetic ....

Since I last ranted on the democratic candidates we are now down to two - Clinton & Obama. Everyday Obama impresses me more and more and Clinton less and less. The chance of her becoming the nominee are so slim and yet she is willing to tear down Obama for all she is worth regardless of the advantage it gives to that old political relic, McCain. Maybe she thinks she would be more likely to be employed in a McCain administration than an Obama one.

I'm too scared and not a rosy optimist (hey I'm Scottish not American) enough to say that Obama will win in November .... but its possible .... I'm summoning my courage to have the audacity to hope.

Draft Al Gore to run for President

He's a Nobel Peace Prize Winner. He could turn this country around. He could REALLY help solve climate change!!

PLEASE, AL

RUN for President in 2008 - we NEED you!!!

And please everyone who agrees with me go to draftgore.com and sign the petition - America needs you, the world needs you.

Old Rab C Nesbitt Sketch - Hospital

This one's for Ashley - if you can understand this one I'll buy you a drink!!! ;)

And this is what Americans think a Scotsman looks like...?

I have just read this interesting post in the Guardian's blog Comment is Free. Apparently new research shows that most Americans associate Scotland with Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons (which is, of course, an American creation with a voice created by an American!). Sean Connery has lost out to this guy???

It doesn't come as a surprise to me as I have had way too many incidents with the American public where they reveal their unbelievable ignorance about Scotland.

I had an instance in Cleveland when I was working in a national bookstore chain as a cashier and a woman asked where I was from (they ALL do...) and proceeded to tell me to have a nice vacation!! - I was working for $6.25 an hour and I was in Cleveland Ohio!!!! I have also been told more times than I can count that my English is very good - to which, if I'm in a testy mood, I often reply "Thanks, so is yours!!". Darren's Grandma has told me (in a very thick Virginia accent) how my English is better than the Chinese girl that works at her old folks' home!!

The one that took the biscuit was lately when again I was working as a cashier. A woman asked where I was from (they still ALL ask) and she proceeded to tell me she was a high school teacher. I asked what she taught and she said English as a Second Language. She described her job and how challenging it is for her poor Mexican students to learn English - then she added - "of course, you'd know how difficult that it is" - I said "excuse me?" and she clarified - "you know how difficult it is to learn English from when you had to". My jaw slammed onto the floor and I picked it up informing her that I can't speak any other language - just English!! I guess my argument was too complex for her to grasp because she left the store still going on about how well I spoke English!!!!

From this vast mountain of experience I read the Guardian article a little puzzled. The subtitle is :
Americans don't know much about Scotland and what they do know is mainly bad. Should the Scots be worried?

The thoughts of the Scots being worried about this makes me roll around on the ground laughing. Americans still tell me (incessantly) how they want to visit Scotland (and often assume I'll plan their trip for them) and tell me (again incessantly) that they consider themselves Scottish. I have over time developed the guts to reply to this statement thus:

You are not Scottish, you are American!! To qualify as Scottish you have to be brought up there and have the prerequisite accent (or to Americans - bad English). The man who was born in India and his parents moved to Scotland when he was 1yr old is Scottish of Indian parentage. If you've endured the biting cold horizontal rain walking home from school in the dark of 3.30pm for your entire school career, then you are Scottish!! My kids will be American if they live here - American with a Scottish mother.

The classic example of all of this was when I was at the St Patrick's day parade here in New Orleans and I wore a sign saying "I'm Scottish throw me something". I had several "Irish" men shout "The Irish hate the Scots!" - and I'd laugh to myself - the Irish love the Scots - so all these men claiming to be Irish did was reveal how un-Irish they truly are!!

I take no responsibility for my grammar or spelling or vocabulary - I can't be held accountable I'm only ScAttish!!
(I'd also like to stress some Americans are very knowledgeable and treated me very well .... its just some ... well ... don't - so if you are one of the former please know I do not mean you - and if you are one of the latter ... you read my blog?? ... wow your English is better than I thought!!!)

Jena Six

I can't believe this and yet sadly I can believe this. A group of black students at a high school in Jena, Louisiana asked if they could meet under the tree in the school yard where white students normally congregated. The principal said yes and the next morning there were nooses hanging from the tree. What followed was ugly racial fighting of white students against black and black against white.

The criminal justice system stepped in and made everything worse. The white students were charged with assault or battery. The black students were charged with attempted murder!! The case includes one student who is a very successful student and athlete who is expected to win a major scholarship to college for football if he doesn't get found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in jail that is.

You can read more here. I am plain disgusted.

BILL MAHER ::SEPTEMBER 7 2007:: PART SIX

Wow - I can't believe I had to hear about the Jena Six from Bill Maher! There is also some brilliant stuff on Obama - I particularly like the theory that because the country is "f**ked up" then a black man will become president - because they always give departments/jobs that are "F**cked up" to the black man so he can fail....!!

Parallel Universe

Woke this morning to a parallel universe: first Scotland beat FRANCE 1-0 at fitba!!!!!!

Then I find out that the Labour Scottish Prime Minister (of Britain) invited this old hag, bitch, evil monster, to tea at number 10!!! He invited HER!!!

Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

I cried

RIP Maestro

Pavorotti died this morning. He will be sorely missed. I shed more than a few tears today listening to him sing. He was truly gifted. We are lucky he shared that gift with the world. RIP

depressing state of the union

I read the Guardian mostly everyday. It is my way of keeping up with news at home (as well as the BBC) and of reading commentators that I like who keep my weary brain cells ticking over. One such is Gary Younge. His pieces are quite brilliant. His book "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a brilliant collection of his Guardian writings from America. I highly recommend everyone read it and I'm ever grateful to my dear friend who gave it to me as a gift.

I have just read another of Younge's posts in today's paper. He outlines the depressing failures of the Bush administration and highlights a most disturbing trend that has been fostered and developed by the same administration. The trend is for the administration to see itself as separate from the "reality-based" consciousness and as acting upon situation not assessing them. That this American Empire can act upon its own whim without any analytical thought of the consequences is quite petrifying! The fact that the administration appears quite proud of that fact is astounding!!

One commenter on Younge's article put it perfectly and left me thoroughly depressed:

America's decline is a result of structural, systemic and ideological factors beyond George W. Bush, but he (with a little help from Bin Ladin) has certainly accelerated the decline dramatically.

In the space of a generation it has gone from the nation that put a man on the moon to the nation that took 5 days to get water to the Superdome. It has gone from the nation that played a critical role in defeating Facism to the greatest threat to peace on the planet. It has gone from a being promoter of human rights to being a nation practices torture and 'rendition' and that clings to the archaic vengeance of the death penalty. It looks up more of its own people than any other nation in history. It's failing healthcare system has led to financial nightmare, reduced life expectancy and even shorter heights for its citizens. It must borrow or sell assets to the tune of $2.5 billion every day in order to get by. It is a pariah, albeit a powerful one, among the world community.

America will never recover from the Bush presidency.

Please will you be my president!

I live in America. I have been living in America for seven years. I am a permanent resident. That means I cannot vote (on how my taxes are spent, how the roads are maintained, the schools taught etc etc).

I have just had coffee with a friend and the topic turned to politics. This topic, right now, in this country is depressing. The US right now feels like the UK did during Thatcherism (although she was popular for some of her "reign"). It feels hopeless and helpless. The light at the end of this tunnel, we hope, is the 2008 election.

So my friend and I discussed our opinions of the candidates. Hilary Clinton is the democratic front runner. She is experienced, intelligent, and well equipped for the job. Barack Obama is dynamic, personable and an amazing speaker. John Edwards is passionate on the behalf of the poor with a smile to melt any heart. Mitt Romney is a Mormon and supports the Iraq war. John McCain is (in my opinion) a little unhinged. Giuliani is plain scary.

Any Republican would (and always will be) in my book be a very bad thing (this country is far enough to the right as is!). So I turn to the Democrats.

Clinton is the front runner. I would love to see a woman in the White House but I worry what that woman would have to do to get there. Just as Thatcher wasn't really viewed as a "woman" in the UK (she had more testosterone than Attila the Hun!!), I feel that Clinton is having to become harder all the time and prove that she does not have all those silly sentiments attributed to the weaker sex. Feminism has come a long long way in forty years but some of the American electorate are stuck back in the fifties. I fear that her gender alone may mean that she would not make it through the White House doors and it pains me to say it!!

Obama is dynamic. He began his campaign promising to be different, to be untainted by the normal Washington filth. But I feel he is becoming more and more mainstream as the game is played. He is against the Iraq war and that is a tremendous thing but he is incredibly naive in his foreign policy attitudes - as the Pakistanis can attest. His speech making has not been as electrifying as I had hoped. Maybe he has a grand finale planned, who knows. However just like with Clinton, I think it would be amazing to see a black man in the US presidency. It would be a visual realisation of MLK's dream. But this country has swung further to the right than during the civil rights movement. This country, though clothed in the vocabulary of political correctness, is so conservative in its outlook that I fear a black man would not be allowed to grace the living quarters of the White House and I would fear for his safety. And again it pains me to say so.

So Edwards. The southern, white man with the electric smile. I like him. People like him. He's a likable guy. He has all the qualities to get elected. That hometown southern drawl is so attractive to voters in the US and his passion for the everyman who is struggling in this rocky economy is tangible. But sadly, very sadly, his wife is ill with cancer. What if she dies whilst he is president? How could a grieving widower with two small children cope with the burden of high office? It is so sad and I hope everyday that she can announce that she is cancer free - it would be brilliant news for her, her family and this nation!!

So who is left. I cannot vote and wish I could. The person I wish I could vote for and who I feel this country needs desperately and the world needs desperately is Al Gore. He won in 2000! This country voted for him in 2000! He has the experience, the credentials for the job but so much more. He realises the biggest threat to the world is global warming (that's global warming not 'climate change')!! As president he would have the ability to change policies to affect how we address this vital issue. I feel he is the strong steady, intelligent hand that is needed to guide this country out of the mess it is in. And it would be poetic to allow the American people the opportunity to vote for the man they wanted to run their country in the first place, to right a wrong done by the Supreme Court (I read somewhere that Bush won the 2000 election by 5 votes - 5 Supreme Court votes!!).

I know Al Gore is not in the running. But I hope he is thinking about it. I would be ecstatic if he would run. I'd batter every door down in my neighbourhood and tell everyone to get out and vote. I'd drive anyone eligible to vote to the polling booth myself. So my appeal (not that Al Gore likely reads this wee wittering blog) is that everyone speak out and ask Gore to run. Tell him we need him. Tell him the world needs him.