Vision

I know the election campaign period is nearly over, but South Tyneside Green Party's Green Vision for South Tyneside (a reduced version has already been kindly published by Curly) is well worth a read.

You can read the full pdf here: Green Vision for South Tyneside

Let there be light...

...in the right places.

This Land is Our Land

St George’s day is over and I did have just the one pint!

As anyone with a sense of pride and knowledge of English social history will tell you, the 24th of April is the anniversary of the Kinder Scout Trespass. The mass trespass took place on this day in 1932, and struck a blow for the rights of ordinary working people to have free access to open land and breathe fresh air.

It is a great pity that South Tyneside Labour councillors have abandoned their socialist roots, and are now determined to flog off every last piece of public open space to the private sector.

“How can you lie there and think of England when you don’t even know who’s in the team?”

Curly has an interesting post about St George and English identity and I can certainly go along with his critique of how the forces of consumerism are hijacking cultural festivals. Unsurprisingly he has attracted a few comments from flag waving nationalists. His comments on Ireland and empire have a slightly imperialist ring to them and I suspect the Irish would say that they exerted their right of self determination rather than “we eventually ceded our interest in the Irish”.

Speaking of the Irish, it has always irked me that Irish school children have a far better grasp of English history than English schoolchildren. But that’s another blog in its own right…

Far too many people forget that the British Isles had communities and cultures that pre-date Great Britain, the Roman occupation and Christian myths of dragon slaying. For those with an open mind, a good place to start exploring that history is at The Modern Antiquarian.

Happy St George’s day! I think I will celebrate with a pint of English organic cider.

10k

I decided to test my knee today with a flat out, kill or cure 10km run. The knee survived but the rest of me struggled. Providing I’m sensible over the next few weeks I will be ok for the 10k race my brother has entered me in – Bless em!

Tree Hugger

I’m not quite sure if this is someone with a dark sense of irony, or another example of someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Gwyneth Dunwoody

The death of Gwyneth Dunwoody is a blow to those of us who campaign for sanity in transport planning. Gwyneth Dunwoody had something most politicians lack; the ability to see the obvious. Specifically she had the ability to see that a transport system with mass car use at its centre is neither environmentally sustainable, nor socially equitable.

Forget exhaust emissions and climate change; on an island of 60 million people the car as the primary means of transport is unworkable from a spatial planning perspective. The road lobby spends millions persuading us that next new car will be the answer to our prayers. Blair, Brown, Cameron et al are still trying to sell the myth that happiness is just one more purchase away. Dunwoody saw through it and had the balls to say so.

A MISTAKE THAT MATTERED

I see that the Gazette has commenced its pre-election embargo on printing political letters. I have mixed feelings about this. When the letters page becomes dominated by any one particular genre be it political, charity trek begging letters, poetry or even those mad letters from Michael Harvey, people just switch off and stop reading.

On the other hand, if we really want people to re-engage in the decisions that affect their every day lives and their children’s future, surely the Gazette should be enabling genuine political debate.

I also have a problem with the consistency of the ban. A letter was published after the embargo that didn’t express a preference for any one political party, but its content was straight from the fascist ‘divide and rule’ hand book, complaining how much cash the government spends on health care for Johnny foreigner while us poor “English” go without. No prizes for guessing where that person’s political sympathies lie!

Speaking of letters to the Gazette, I see veteran Progressive councillor Jim Capstick made an arse of himself with this letter he had published. It’s a great pity he didn’t bother checking up on his facts before putting pen to paper. The accurate information of the case he refers to was already in the public domain and is available from the link here. I notice Curly also provides a link in his blog 18 red herrings.

Meet the New Boss…

Someone going by the name of ‘Fight back’ is asking me “Why use Geraldines late mum to have a go at her?” That one’s easy to answer; I’m not.

What I am doing is drawing attention to the fact that until very recently Geraldine White has been at the very centre of the local Labour Party, and was an active supporter and/or councillor and chairperson at a time when Labour have embarked on some of their most environmentally unsustainable schemes; Including the plan for the destruction of the Fellgate Greenbelt.

It’s likely that Geraldine will defeat Paul Waggott in next month’s local elections, but I see it very much as another case of “Meet the new boss – Same as the old boss.”

What Goes Up…

I’m in agony. Every last inch of me aches and I won’t be able to run for at least ten days because I’ve crocked my knee again …I feel brilliant!

I’ve just been running in the Cheviots. Although I’m not sure moving at less than 2MPH at times strictly counts as running. The conditions were perfect; bright sunshine, silence, cold still air and knee, sometimes waist deep snow. Getting up Cheviot is always a hard slog; running down it is much harder. I stopped counting after my third tumble. I’m told one of those rolls down that snow covered slope did look a bit special!

I don’t know if I’ll ever get the muck washed out of my running kit but it’s a long time since I’ve had that much fun.

Snow Snow Thick Thick Snow

Monday morning, 6:47am. We’ve got snow; loads of it! I hope Curly is awake enough to get some good photos. I’m about to strap on my walking boots and go out to play!

Heavy Metal

Physical Graffiti

Who would have thought at the beginning of the week that two Gazette letter writers would be arguing over the merits of Oliver Cromwell, but that’s exactly what Mr D. McCann and Mr F. Selby have been up to. Mr F. Selby sounds like a poor historian and right loon to me, yearning for an England that never really existed apart from in his gullible and nationalistic imagination.

One thing us Brits should be proud of though is our history of political satire. One hypothesis suggests that the Cerne Abbas Giant is a piece of subversive political satire designed to piss-off Olly Cromwell big style. You can just imagine the blood draining from Cromwell’s face as he rode over the brow of the hill to see the pagan figure of Cerne Abbas man flaunting his enormous weapon. He’d have been even less happy with his massive cock.

Political descent and protest are British traditions we should treasure and protect from the Brown/Blair authoritarians of this world. I suspect this particular Cerne Abbas myth isn’t true – but I hope it is.

Sorry Sorry Sorry

SORRY… I forgot my old mate Tim’s birthday (again). I personally think I’ve developed a mental block to that event after the mega hangover I once suffered after being forced to imbibe a very strange alcoholic beverage to celebrate it. – Sorry!

COOL!

I wonder how long it will be before we hear dumb-fuck conspiracy theorists quoting this as ‘evidence’ that we can go on trashing the planet.

Nice One Steve!

I know it’s traditional to slag off members of other political parties during the election period, but Indy Alliance councillor Steve Harrison should be congratulated for helping to reinstate this community event. I don’t agree with everything Steve says and does, and I can’t for the life of me understand why he’s backing Labour stalwart Geraldine White. But this is exactly the sort of community activity councillors should be getting involved in. Well done Steve.