Let's Talk More About The Potential For Anti English Sentiment Around Newport

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have on this blog chatted about the potential for anti English sentiment around the Newport area when in a few weeks time the tolls will be abolished from the Severn Bridge and the proposed M4 relief road will encourage families from Bristol to buy cheaper houses in the South East of Wales up to the Newport whilst at the same time there is a lack of social housing for the local people in that area.

When I've gone on Twitter recently I've seen tweets bemoaning English immigration generally. The argument is that those who do emigrate from England will not embrace the local culture. Indeed will actively set out to undermine it. I have read an article where the word "lebensraum" is mentioned.

Personally taken as a whole I don't agree. But there is a clear danger here because those who will be moving will still work in England. Thus they would not be starting a new life but extending the one they already have. I have mentioned in the past that Alun Cairns' Western Powerhouse plan would appear to be partitioning South East Wales.

These people will be resented by the local community if there is a detrimental knock on effect on the housing market for them. The ingredients for social unrest are clearly there.

And yet if Secretary of State for Wales Alun "Chucky" Cairns and whatever non entity/Corbyn disciple becomes the next First Minister just banged their heads together I'm sure this would be resolved.

If the danger I've described does happen we know that Chucky and [insert non entity here] will (rightly) blame those who instigated it and (purely for political gain and ignoring the facts) Plaid Cymru. But as I've emphasised before if the potential for social unrest can be stopped and no action is taken then both Unionist parties would be equally culpable as the instigators.

There is still time. But the time for action is now.

Until the next time.

That "Going Through The Mail" Day

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There comes those days where you're not at work for the first time in eons. The weather is rubbish. You have a cough and a sore throat that your daughter has kindly given you as a pre Christmas treat. There is nothing to do. You have no other option but to go through the pile of mail that work has stopped you looking properly at previously.

I remember writing about this before almost at the beginning of this blog. Being inspired by the playwright Arnold Wesker who wrote about the excitement of receiving post. Emails of course replaced a lot of the post when I wrote the first (irony is coming) "post" (there I told you) on this and even more now of course.

So in my critically ill state (being a man of course) let's begin.....

Bank statement: It's a bank statement. We're surviving. Of course it's still Brexit eve.

Simply Be Christmas Catalogue: Thankfully not the wife's or indeed daughter's given that they provide fashion for the larger lady but sent today to the wrong address. Good. They would kill me if I suggested otherwise!

Bonmarche Bonus Club: Definitely the wife's. Not even sure why she didn't bother to open the envelope. Anyway for her to deal with.

Tesco Clubcard Savings (Just for me!!) : My name on the card but we all know who will want the Christmas coupons!

And then I had a sleep. This cold, sore throat and cough is not great. And I won't describe the mucus coming out of my throat.

But anyway...

HM Revenue & Customs: No I haven't been a naughty boy trying to pay tax. Don't be silly I'm definitely not rich enough to avoid that. No it's that the Welsh Labour Government will setting a Welsh income tax from next year. (But there will still b a UK one). So on the one side that will be a good thing. More powers to Wales and all that. On the other Welsh Labour will be dealing with it. And as we know Welsh Labour at whatever level run things with arrogant incompetence. So the omens are not good.

Swansea Grand Theatre Winter - Spring Leaflet: Speaks for itself really. Nothing really springs out though I note Peter Andre is doing a "25 year tour". You would have thought the audience would have gotten parole by now.

PPI :Well now a date has been set for the scandal to finish companies really are throwing leaflets at it. Not sure what to do here. Will chat with the wife.

Hilarys : The blinds/curtains people. Personally never understood why they advertise so much given it's a one off purchase. Anyway junk mail binned.

Specsavers: More than a one off purchase I know. But otherwise ditto the above. Binned.

McCarthy & Stone Retirement Homes: I may not be young. But I'm not that old yet. Binned.

I'd go further. But to be honest under the weather has turned into a full storm. Time to leave it for another day.

Until the next time.

First Minister Carwyn Jones Speaks On The EU/Brexit Agreement : Few Listen. Less Care

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So Carwyn Jones soon to be ex First Minister of Wales and ex of any interest to most people outside of his family spoke about the Prime Minister's EU deal.

And he doesn't like it. Shifty Santa says that Wales would be less prosperous after this deal. He described it as "better than no deal but certainly short of what I would have expected".

OK then. So presumably what Wales needs is a strong leader capable of fighting for it's interests against the weakest Conservative government in the history of the known universe?

Well err no. Given that he ceded powers that should have gone straight to Wales to Westminster for seven years following pressure from London. Let's just make this clear here. Theresa May, Theresa May for goodness sake !!, looked at Carwyn Jones and thought "I could take him".

And she was right.

I mean what is the point of him saying anything. No one listens to him anymore, He's leaving the post next month after having given in to La May.

Wales is a weaker place thanks to his lacklustre leadership only emphasised by the fact that all of the contenders to replace him speak about a bright new dawn should they become the next First Minister. Forgetting the fact they voted to accept the deal as well. All of the candidates, but particularly Mark "Red Cairns" Drakeford are beholden to London Labour.

And as I've said previously he should resign as an Assembly Member as he would be unable to defend his Bridgend constituency from the impact of policies that he himself instigated or supported.

They say he will be made a member of the House of Lords when he's no longer First Minister.

Seems perfectly suitable for me.

The House of Yesterday's Failures after all.

Until the next time.

Plaid Cymru, The Welsh Youth Vote And More Hard Brexit Hypotheicals

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have chatted before about how a hard Brexit might help the cause of Plaid Cymru and Welsh Independence. Though, as I stress again here no nationalist wants a hard Brexit because of the pain it will cause families across Wales.

It does not mean however that Plaid Cymru should not plan for the consequences of a hard Brexit politically which is why the Welsh Youth Vote becomes important.

If we judge the consequences of a hard Brexit by age then it will be the young who will be the most affected. Not just because of the economic consequences but also on the issue of freedom of movement.

During the referendum freedom of movement was portrayed as a one way street. To paraphrase it was "look at those people with their East European accents coming here and doing the jobs we don't want to do".

The Leave campaign exploited this. But the young knew what the referendum result will mean for them. They cannot explore other cultures in the same way as they used to. Trust me two weeks in Ibiza does not mean you've discovered Spain.

They know that they can't as a rule apply for jobs in an EU state. They know that falling in love and settling down with somebody from an EU state will become next to impossible.

In short the curtailment of their freedom of movement will mean that their lives will be less enriched because of the decisions of people who for the most part have settled lives.

(And in a separate post I'll be chatting about the effect of a hard credit on the Welsh language)

They will see the advantages the youth of other EU countries will have and as a consequence the young people in Wales will become angry

So who would they vote for?

The Conservatives?  Hardly likely given they helped set this mess up in the first place? Ditto (thankfully) UKIP.

Labour? The party whose policy on Brexit seems to change with the wind though for the moment they want to create a " Brexit for jobs" (whatever that means today)

Which leaves Plaid Cymru the party in Wales that consistently wanted to remain in the EU and would come independence negotiate it's return in a heartbeat.

So if I was Plaid 's top brass I'd be going after the Welsh Youth Vote very strongly.I

It's the future after all.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post : Post Black Saturday Of Black Friday Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Cold out there. Though for the moment snow, the forecast snow that apparently should have hit us for the whole of November has not arrived. Presumably it will turn up when I'm not looking.

Of course kids will look forward to snow as the dreaded C word is fast approaching. But as I've said in the past as I grow old then I know I would seek to avoid it like the plague if I didn't have a wife,daughter and mother who embrace it. I know I'll be working on Christmas day which to be honest is no hardship. I am however working in the morning, which means I have to be all ho ho ho and full of the Xmas spirit during Christmas dinner whilst experiencing the jet lag without the glamour that shift work provides. Not looking forward to it at all.

And speaking of Christmas dinner. I'm OK with Turkey and stuffing and all that. But Christmas Cake, Christmas pudding and mince pies? Ugh!

Everyone on TV is apparently talking about the John Lewis Christmas ad starring Elton John. Listen. It's just an ad trying to make you buy things from a department store. The type of store which seems to be the most venerable to the decline in the high street. I've never bought anything in a John Lewis because I don't live near enough to one to make it worth the effort of going.

Mind you wife/daughter are off Christmas shopping today (I'm working...thankfully) in the centre Cardiff. Will give them some money to give the homeless there which seems to be growing on the rare occasions I visit there nowadays

I've also seen that Aldi ad where the carrots protect themselves from being part of the Christmas meal. Well perhaps. But they're going to be eaten in other times of the year, Aldi's Christmas slogan should be "We give carrots a stay of execution".

So Theresa May is writing a letter saying why her Brexit deal is the best route. Leaving aside that remaining in the EU would have been the route and putting out another referendum to legitimise it would be the best tactic let's face facts. Everything. And I mean everything the Prime Minister has touched has turned into the brown stuff. So without reading it I know it's a bad deal.

The Prime Minister also said that she would "stand by Gibraltar" even though she apparently has given some assurances to Spain on the issue. So to be clear Gibraltarians be worried. After all this is the woman who said she wouldn't call a general election only to actually do so......disastrously.

Personally I wouldn't support a war with Spain over Gibraltar. If only because I wouldn't trust the motives of the British government. Mind you perhaps the Gibraltar authorities should start negotiations in forming a relationship with the Catalan authorities. Now wouldn't that be fun....

On Twitter apparently it's Socialist Sunday. Well as I've said before in Wales the socialists don't act like socialists they act as if they're part of a privileged elite. My post yesterday on how two prominent Welsh socialists feel that the free car parking policy in hospitals  here is "flawed" garnered a number of responses. Perhaps Labour in Wales should change their name to, let's say masked Conservatives?

Anyway wife and daughter are now awake.

Until the next time.

Welsh Labour : For The Few Not The Many? Let's Talk About Hospital Car Parking Charges

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Welsh Labour have for many years been the party of the establishment in Wales. An elite that has damaged the people living here for decades. Sometimes though the mask slips and people discover that deep down they're as bad as the Conservatives. Even worse really considering they give out the illusion of caring.

Huw Thomas, Labour leader of Cardiff Council and Lee Waters, Labour Assembly Member have both stated on Twitter that the Welsh Labour government's policy of free car parking in hospitals is "flawed".

Now this is an interesting policy because it's one of the few Welsh government policies that can be called "socialist" in that it benefits everyone no matter who you are. And these gentlemen (the word is used advisedly) consider it flawed. prompted it appears by the fact that Mr Waters could not get a space at Cardiff Heath hospital (aka University Hospital for Wales). Do you know why you couldn't get a space Mr Waters? Because it's popular.

Fees for car parking in hospitals is (depending on the circumstances) a tax on grief, concern, friendship and emotions for loved ones in there. Essentially it's blackmail on your emotional state.

As long term readers to this blog will remember I spent the first few months of this year in Essex exile looking after my unwell mother. For around three weeks she was in hospital in Harlow and I spent roughly £8 a day being there constantly during visiting hours. Now I could have spent just £10 for a seven day pass. But my focus was on her and not the cost. Also at the time it was unclear whether she would pull through or needed to be transferred to a different hospital anyway. So you see you cannot be financially savvy when you're not clear what's going to happen and you cannot think straight. It comes back to what I've said earlier. A car parking charge is a tax on your emotions.

Mr Waters view is that the staff in the hospital should use "sustainable transport" and that they and the  public should use "turn up and go" bus services which Mr Thomas apparently agrees with. Also that there should be "intelligent charging" (that is I'm sure straight out of the marketing consultant's handbook). Now leaving aside the "let the plebs use public transport" tone of the remarks it actually displays a great deal of ignorance (to be parochial for a moment) about Heath hospital.

It's not a hospital in the centre of town oh no it's at the edge. The key thing here is that Heath hospital is part of the Cardiff and Vale health board. Which means if you live in for example Barry Town or Cowbridge  the journey (especially late at night) under public transport will not be a simple one assuming it's possible at all.

So Mr Thomas and Mr Waters should be Socialists and embrace a policy that supports everyone. Not just the few.

Until the next time.

Lee Child's Jack Reacher : The Big Mac of Fiction

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I will always remember the first Jack Reacher book Killing Floor. But that's only because it was the first ebook I ever read. When it comes to plot however my mind begins to be a little vague all these years later though I do remember liking it.

So I now approach his third Jack Reacher novel Tripwire. Doesn't really matter in these sort of books that I haven't read book two. Because I get the feeling that Lee Child had perfected his winning formula when he wrote this one.

Indeed it reminded me of books I read as a teenager. With variances they seemed to follow this pattern. The hero is tough but can be sensitive to situations (but note not girly sensitive).The hero is a loner, but is popular and respected. The hero cannot form long term relationships with women. But no matter because they lust after him anyway. In my fifty four years on this planet I've never met a man (or indeed a woman) that comes anywhere near that.

Jack Reacher has his own personal mannerisms. His height (very tall). The way he gets money. The way the only luggage he has is a folding toothbrush but really he does fall into that "knight deals with tough situation" storyline.

And that does not matter. Neither does it matter that (reminding me again of similar books I've read in my younger past) the plot has to be clever but not so clever. Indeed the big reveal is not difficult to work out trust me.

For like the best sort of these books Tripwire works if you see it as an entertainment and nothing else then it does work. The storyline works because Mr Child successfully pulls the feat of telling you what's happening through various characters.

So I enjoyed it. Yes I did. In the same way in the past I enjoyed eating a Big Mac. But like eating a Big Mac I know full well that it will fade from my memory very quickly.

Until the next time.

A Christmas Decoration In Penarth Better Than The Town Centre Lights

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

On Tuesday I attempted to break one Christmas tradition. Which is I refuse point blank to buy any presents before December 1st. Now to be fair I was nagged into this by my daughter. She had been to see the turning on of the Christmas lights in Penarth Town Centre (unimpressive apparently - indeed when I saw them hanging limp and forlorn in the daylight they appeared to be the same ones as last year's.....and the year before...but I digress)

Anyway after the lights were done wife, daughter and a friend (I was at work) went to various shops. Including one which had a pomegranate candle (every home should have one) which the wife and her friend expressed approval. Daughter noting this nagged me to go and buy it for the wife for Christmas. Hence the trip on Tuesday.

Remember the word I used at the beginning was "attempted". Daughter told me which shop. Said the candle was not Yankee Candles. Went to the shop. They only sold Yankee candles and there were no pomegranate ones.

So rather than just go away I was aware of another gift shop in the town. Hoopers in Ludlow Street. Outside it's just a small shop next to a butchers and a closed down place. Opposite there's a carpet store and a hairdressers. All seemingly small. All seemingly ordinary.

Hoopers though small has two floors. And whilst searching for these candles I walked up to the first floor where I saw on the ceiling this....

Did not expect this

What the picture does not covey is that it's a roundabout...those deers move. It would've been impressive in a department store (whilst they still exist) but in a relatively small place like this it was stunning.

I wish I could say I bought something there but there were no candles to be seen (I'm only going to stretch traditions so far). But if I'm in Penarth after 1st December I will have a look. After all that effort they deserve it. And if you're in Penarth town have a look at it as well.

Trust me it will be more interesting than the lights.

Until the next time.

The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 11: Se7en (1995)

Hello there.Hope you're feeling well today.

So picture the scene. A city. Miserable, gloomy, no one is happy and most it would appear are living in accommodation at best uninspiring and at worse rank. Britain on pre Brexit eve? Not this time. It's an unnamed American city in the 1995 film Se7en.

Adding onto this unhappy mix is a serial killer whose style is to murder his victims in the style of the Seven deadly sins in the most grisly way imaginable.

And trust me when I say that calling these murders "grisly" is not a spoiler. It's also not recommended whilst having microwave Spaghetti Bolognese Indeed if you finish watching this feeling unaffected by any of the killings you really should see a shrink.

That's the problem for me with this film. Though it wasn't it's fault or mine. The manner of the deaths was the one surprise. Because although I'd  never seen it before....I knew the big reveal.
I was reading an article in a magazine years ago and there it was, mentioned in passing before moving on. It didn't bother me at the time. Hadn't seen it in the cinema or [insert video format here] and had no intention of seeing it. But cometh the challenge of watching every film in the Radio Times 2013 fun guide cometh the film.

So how do you watch a movie where you know the destination but not the route? Admire the acting of Morgan Freeman or Brad Pitt? Or perhaps the direction or the cinematography? Well certainly not the latter. Barring the very end the entire movie seems to have been dipped in the colour gloom. Heavy handed symbolism is not my thing. Ditto the stringy ominous music.

But everything leads to the fact I knew the big reveal. So it spoilt it for me.

So the question that needs to be addressed is this. If I hadn't known the ending would I have liked  Se7en?

Well......as I'm not a fan of serial killer movies....definitely not.

Until the next time.
.

Wales: Where The People's Flag Is Deepest Yellow

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday the Welsh Labour government did something that twelve months ago seemed incredible. In the Welsh Senedd it abolished a bill that would stop any attempt by Westminster to seize powers returning from the EU following Brexit. Following a deal they did to allow Theresa May's government to have these powers for seven years.

So, Mr Shifty Santa Carwyn Jones. Do you think Rhodri Morgan would have agreed to this? Do you? You and indeed the three nothings vying to replace you as First Minister have spat on his memory.

You buckled under pressure from the weakest government in living memory. You may be bigger than Nicola Sturgeon (you're certainly wider) but we all know since she refused to surrender Scottish powers who has the greatest stature.

Wales did not vote to have their powers reduced. You have just allowed it. Where is the demorcracy in that? The people were entitled to vote on this given that you were reducing them. But no. You and Welsh Labour did not care about that. Continuing in this most shameful of acts to run Wales with the arrogant incompetence that has marked your reign.

And who voted with you and Labour? UKIP! Led by Mr Creepy they would have been first to scream if Westminster arbitrarily stopped Brexit without a referendum. But here. Who cares about democracy? Who cares about Wales? They don't want a National Assembly. They want to destroy it from within and you have helped them.

Similarly the Tories voted with you. They voted with you. Are you proud of yourself? Really?

And presumably you wouldn't have agreed to this without London Labour's agreement. Which if I'm right means that Colonial Corbyn strikes again.

Only Plaid Cymru and one independent AM voted against this. They know the damage you have done for Wales. Do you know? Do you care?

So the people's flag is deepest yellow in Wales. Where you are your conspirators have revealed yourselves and your party to be political cowards.

You can run Carwyn and Welsh Labour but there will be a time when the people living in Wales will understand the effect of what you've done.

And they will not forgive.

Until the next time.

A Portrait Of An Artist With A Young Dog

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I first came to Cardiff in 1997 to live with my now wife I decided to also do some voluntary work. Eventually went to help out at a charity shop in Cowbridge Road, Canton but I do remember when looking around noticing an ad to help with the distribution of The Big Issue magazine. For those reading it outside this Disunited Kingdom it's a magazine that the homeless sell in towns and cities.

All seemed interesting and appealing. Until I read a sentence which said something along the lines of:

"Must have an affinity with dogs".

Which for this domestic wolf a phobic like me made me move on.

Was reminded about all of this when reading the latest book I borrowed from the library.

John Dolan - John & George

This 2014 book tells the story of John Dolan who is apparently a critically acclaimed artist. I say "apparently" not out of any snobby way but just because I'm personally very ignorant about art. Unlike Mr Dolan I wasn't good at it at school. Art is the subject where if you don't have the natural talent to start with it's really impossible to improve. When I left school it was a world I just for the most part ignored.

But what this book explains is the journey he took to get where he is at the end of it. And it was not an easy one. Family troubles, crime, imprisonment, drugs and of course homelessness it is laid bare in honest detail.

And with him for part of this difficult journey is "George" a Staffy that becomes his almost by accident. He raises this dog despite the circumstances and he realises that despite their hardships they have a growing bond.

I've said before in this blog that the best animal books are those where animals are not the only factor that drives it and this is certainly the case here. Indeed you could argue that the cover is misleading for whilst George is obviously an important character in the book it is in essence Mr Dolan's autobiography.

I've mentioned it's an honest book. Two other examples needs to be highlighted with regard to his honesty. Firstly the sense that even with George Mr Dolan's life would have probably moved into an even more darker direction if his artistic ability had not been discovered and secondly despite the optimistic end there was a sense that he was not completely out of the woods yet. I was tempted to go online to find out what happened to him these four years later but resisted. I was to be honest scared.

So it's a quietly important book. Indeed as the United Nations explains Britain now is in a worse state with poverty than before it's more relevant now than when it was when published.

Until the next time.

The Mother Of All Parliaments Is Having A Nervous Breakdown. Another Reason for Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland To Move On

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Let us be clear about the battles raging within the Conservative party at the moment over Brexit. We are watching a nervous breakdown in action. Arguments, counter arguments, resignations, cliques, cliques within cliques, plotting, whether there'll be a no confidence vote in Theresa May/her EU deal/her government.

Never has the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times" been so appropriate.

So when the crunch came the Conservative party has proved that they do not have the competence to manage. I'm sure that British business, who the Tories often sight as an example of how we should run our affairs are actually writing case studies of the organisation in relation to how not to do it.

And yet here they are. Still, for the moment at least, the British government.

The argument for the United Kingdom has always been that the Union is stronger together. But when Scotland and particularly Wales as I've discussed in this blog are in the back of the queue where Westminster are concerned.

After all this EU withdrawal agreement which has been the cause of the controversy doesn't mention Wales at all.

Still there is Secretary Of State for Wales Alun "Chucky" Cairns blathering on about a "precious union". No union is precious when one side is controlling and abusive.

(And as a quick aside using a word like "precious" unless referring to a jewel or a new born baby is creepy)

So how can this government which cannot control itself control Wales?

You might say Labour will sought it all out. But as I've said before whilst people in Wales might vote for Corbyn in the hope of getting the Conservatives out. Should Labour be seen to fail, as they are already doing in the devolved administration and local government then independence will be set back on the agenda as the only option left available.

This why whilst the next general election will need to be fought tooth and nail Plaid Cymru will need to prepare (assuming a Corbyn victory) for the election after that be it on Westminster or Assembly level. Because that's the election where independence can be brought towards the voters as the only remaining option where all other roads have been shown to have failed.

Until the next time.

Is Carwyn Jones About To "Betray" Bridgend Again?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well at time of writing it appears that the UK government is on the brink of collapse as this deal that Theresa May has done with the EU has seemingly done the almost impressive trick of annoying everybody. Dominic Raab the Brexit secretary has resigned over this which he presumably knew about well beforehand so why not earlier?

And let's face it. We all knew Theresa May couldn't do it. Everything she has touched eventually turns into the brown smelly stuff.

So as this government tries to fiddle their way into saving face whilst Rome and other capitals find their faces burning with anger as we discover the British stiff upper lip doesn't exist let's turn to the proposed M4 Relief Road....as you do.

I've chatted about it before. Mainly in relation to the anti-English sentiment that might occur. I've made it clear that I'm not personally pro/anti the road yet. Though I do think that it's social consequences have not been thought through.

I mentioned before as well the fear of a Bridgend Plaid Cymru councillor that businesses will not go beyond the area that this road will cover. Thus starving areas such as Bridgend of investment. It's this we need to look at again.

Because what I didn't know until yesterday was that shifty Santa soon to be ex First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones will be making that decision whether to proceed with the road in one of his last acts in the office next month.

There has been calls that this decision should be made by his successor and given he seems all too demob happy since announcing his intention of stepping down that doesn't seem unreasonable. But let's say he makes the decision to go ahead.

I don't know but I will guess that the social and financial consequences for areas west of the relief road have not been looked into. If we focus on Bridgend that could be disastrous given that in this mess of a post Brexit nation we will probably become should investment starve then the area will obviously suffer as well.

That coupled with the swinging cuts the Labour council are making. Cuts that they are blaming on the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay then you wonder why Carwyn Jones wants to continue becoming an Assembly Member until the next Senedd elections. Given that, as I've explained before he is supposed to represent Bridgend.

If nobody considered what would be the effects of the road for areas beyond it then surely that would be a dereliction of duty. Surely if he proceeds with the road Carwyn Jones should either prove Bridgend would not be adversely affected by the Relief Road or he should resign immediately after becoming First Minister.

After all for many who voted for him it would be a final betrayal.

Until the next time.

The Mocking Of The Welsh Accent : Post Brexit Westminster Rule Begins Early

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Some time back in this blog I stated that the Welsh would need to be aware of a an attitude of a certain type of English person post Brexit. That it would be treated as whipping boy for jokes and attitudes that would not be put for example on the Scots.

I was right that these sort of attitudes towards the Welsh would occur. Events have proved me wrong however in that these attitudes seem have come to the surface before Brexit appears.

In Parliament on Monday Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards was making a speech on the Budget (you remember the budget, the one where Phillip Hammond said that Austerity was over ...yeah right) and his accent was mocked by an unnamed Conservative MP.

Let me explain what is worse than the Conservative MP mocking the Welsh accent. It was the fact that he felt empowered to do so. That is a colonial master to servant attitude, It is that the Welsh will face even more post Brexit.

Why? Well the fact that I believe that the Welsh were misled into voting Leave in the Brexit referendum is part of it. Also though, there is the Welsh Labour administration meekly giving away some of their powers to the weakest Westminster administration that I've ever known in my lifetime. Something that the Scots haven't done. The SNP government didn't do this. They are fighting their cause. Nicola Sturgeon may be smaller than Carwyn Jones with his new shifty Santa beard look. But in all other respects we all know who the bigger Politian is.

Mocking the Welsh accent is just an obvious manifestation that has made Westminster (often with Welsh Labour government agreement) allow for the following to happen (all to the detriment of Wales).

• The cancellation of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project
• The cancellation of rail electrification west of Cardiff
• The building of two super prisons - set to house English criminals who were living in England at the time of their incarceration
• The Dumping of "nuclear mud" from Hinckley Point in Cardiff Bay
• The servile renaming of the Severn Bridge without any consultation. Secretary of State Alun Chucky Cairns claiming he spoke for "the silent majority". How he knew this no one knows.
• The M4 Relief Road - Whether needed or not I don't know but as I've discussed previously there appears to have been no report into the consequences of people from England buying houses in border towns with the consequent potential social unrest given the lack of affordable housing for the local people

I could go on. But you catch my drift. And post Brexit it's likely to get worse. The issue really is how much worse.

So how to stop it. Well attitudes do not change overnight and the main solution will be independence. But I'm reminded of my childhood in the seventies and from the fog of memory I seem to recall that whilst British Afro Caribbean and Asian people faced racist jokes in terms of television media the biggest group that had to bare them the most were the Irish. "Did you hear the one about the Irishman who...." would be spoken by many comedians at that time to paint the image that they were as thick as the two proverbial short planks (and it's telling that those comedians who are remembered fondly today - Morecambe and Wise,Tommy Cooper - did not resort to that).

No comedian would say that now. Partly because of the obvious racism but also because few in Britain would actually believe it. So I would argue that Welsh people need to shake off being too nice and protest now at the damage being done.

Perhaps then perceptions will start to change.

Until the next time.

Why Stan Lee Was The Most Important Writer for My Generation

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday the comic book legend Stan Lee died aged 95. Whilst he justly recognised as a legend in comic book circles perhaps what generations not born in the sixties and seventies understand is that he was the writer that for the most part made children (mainly let's face it boys) want to read.

I cannot speak for comics/graphic novels nowadays but in my experience they were the stepping stone for the love of books I hope I've reflected in this blog. Of course he had super heroes saving the world/galaxy/universe against [insert super villain here] but with the kapow came reality. He got make that mixture between fantasy and reality believable which DC Comics rarely reached.

Take, well everybody's chatting about Spiderman, so let's take Daredevil instead. The guy (Matt Murdock) is blind. Blind. If you see blind people in the media at that time the most they ever did was to speak wisely from a chair with dark glasses on. Not Daredevil though. He fights with his heightened other senses he gained with the accident he had as a child with a lorry carrying radioactive waste

That accident made him blind (reality) but gives him super powers (fantasy). So we the young readers are being introduced to the life of a blind man that doesn't patronise the man within (he is also a lawyer).

Now some of his creations were with artists/co-writers and the extent is a matter of debate and to be honest beyond my knowledge. But Stan Lee was also creator of The X-Men. Again it tapped a childhood feeling that you're different. As an only child I was used to being alone without other kids to play with for long spells as I didn't have a sister or brother. I was different in that regard I seem to remember in junior school. Being comfortable with being alone was considered odd. And yet there were the X-Men. Together because they were different. I could relate to that.

And the point is that you were inspired to explore the world of books as a whole. It gave you a confidence to read books without pictures in them.

When you hear about the decline of men reading books. Perhaps one of the reasons is that there does not seem to be a writer capable of bridging the gap between childhood and adult books on a regular basis that would appeal to boys (perhaps the only exception being J K Rowling).

So perhaps Stan Lee should be remembered not just for being a great comic book writer. But also being a writer whose creations inspired some people to write, but for most of us to explore and love the world of books as a whole.

Until the next time.

The Calmest People On Earth? Buddhist Priests........And Now Swansea City Fans

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The last time I chatted about Swansea City was when they knew they had got relegated from the Premier League. All these months later in their first season in the Championship I find myself chatting to a few people I know from work who are fans. And whilst I'm not saying it's scientific (I'm talking about three people here) they seem to say the same thing.

All three talk about this season being one of rebuilding from the decline that occurred before last one. Of consolidation. That in the previous few seasons Swansea City had lost it's way (which you could I'd suggest put on the moment they sacked Garry Monk as manager).

They are at time of writing seventh in the table. A few places outside of the play-off places. And yet they all say that it wouldn't bother them if Swansea were not promoted as long as the team spirit returns.

They are encouraged that the current manager, Graham Potter is bringing deserving younger players to the first team. The days when it was full of foreign players have now gone, presumably because in this level they're unaffordable.

And there is praise for Potter as well, who'd previously worked in Sweden. Because Swansea have regained the knack of picking talented but unusual managers. They'd lost that in their dog days in the Premiership also. The name "Bob Bradley" was the one time one of the three fans got animated (Let's say the air was bluer than  Cardiff City shirt).

Is this calm a good thing? Well they know their club more than I do. My gut instinct is in the short term yes. Because it would be pointless for Swansea if they went up and were not ready to face what the Premier League would bring.

But in the long term no it isn't. Swansea City fans shouldn't be a metaphor for most of the Welsh people as a whole. Being too nice and accepting bad things being imposed on them. If there's no success next season then they should bang their fists on the metaphorical table and demand better from the American owners.

Until the next time.

The Amazon £5 Random E-Book Buying Game : November Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I've not played this game in a while these are the rules.

Armed with just £5 in my e pocket I try to buy as many ebooks for my Kindle as possible starting with the Daily Deals and seeing how recommendations they influence me....and that's it.

This time though I'm going to match the number of books bought by getting the same number of free Classic books they do. Just starting with the recommendations from the last classic novel I read. Agnes Grey.

So let's begin:

Nothing interests me on the Daily Deals. Does Amazon really think anybody but snobs would be interested in the Ritz cookbook? Even if it is for 99p (I wonder why?!)

Go through their autumn deals for 99p again nothing interests me until I see a copy of Wishful Drinking by the late Carrie Fisher. A writer I've always wanted to read but never got round too. Bought 99p.

Trawl through the recommended picks. Nothing. That is until I see The Complete works of Henry David Thoreau. I remember once buying a postcard when I was a teenager where he spoke of people following a different drummer. Funny after all these years it comes back to me. Bought 99p.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley. Shortlisted for the 2016 Booker prize is 99p. Worth a shout. Bought.

Peterloo The Massacre And it's Background by Donald Reed is topical not just for the film but also the unequal society has returned to Britain. Highly praised the book is 99p. Bought.

Finally Nick Spalding's novel Checking Out seems interesting. 99p. Bought.

So five free books to get.

Starting with The Way Of The Flesh by Samuel Butler. A book which seems ahead of it's time.

So we add also by Mr Butler Erewhon Revisited. Then Hudibras, then his notebooks and finally his book on Evolution. Not sure it it's supposed to be funny or not. Will find out in due time.

I think in all the cases of the free books it's fair to say the Butler did it.....I'll get my coat.

Until the next time

Is Santa Being Co-Opted Into Alun "Chucky" Cairns' Western Powerhouse Plan?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Something very weird came in the post on Thursday.

Yes It's Christmas Again!

Now what made this odd was not that it was announcing the opening of a Christmas grotto (though as an aside it opened yesterday 9th November.....9th November! How did they persuade Santa to do it that early? Kidnap an elf?). No what made it odd was that it was from Cabot Circus. A shopping centre in Bristol.

Now if I lived in a border town, say Caldicot or Chepstow I would understand why this would be tempting. But I don't. I live in the Vale of Glamorgan. The AA route planner tells me it would take just over an hour to get to Cabot Circus. The route would pass through Cardiff and Newport. Cities that have shopping centres.

Furthermore Santa is not the kind of guy who would expect South Walian children to go to another country to see him. That's why there are grottos in South Wales as well.

So why have Cabot Circus done this when it's clear that going there would be just a waste of fuel?  Well I don't know. I can only speculate.

So here goes...

Perhaps Cabot Circus has that cliched arrogant thought that the Welsh travel to England for a touch of sophistication absent in their own country?

Or perhaps things are so bad there they are casting their net wider to attract new customers?

Or perhaps they're chancing their arm in the "Western Powerhouse" notion of Secretary Of State for Wales Alun"Chucky" Cairns?

Who knows?

But if you want my advice (and as it's my blog you're going to get it) unless you live in a border town don't waste your fuel travelling to Bristol when it's available in South Wales. Protect retail jobs in Wales.

I'm sure Alun Cairns Secretary Of State for Wales and a Vale Of Glamorgan MP would agree.

Or does he.....?

Until the next time.

On A Pre Tale From Hoffman Leading To Another Chat About Male Readers/Female Writers And their Covers And A Brief Return Of The Slight Hypocrite

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So this was the latest library book I've read.

The Rules Of Magic - Alice Hoffman

This novel is about three siblings, two women and a man growing up in America during the sixties each with supernatural abilities. As regular readers to this blog will know I try my best to put a story to it's barest essence as to not spoil the plot for new readers. So I'll say this. It takes a certain skill for a writer to produce an adult novel which combines believable reality with, well.... magic. And Ms Hoffman definitely has that magic touch.

It's a prequel to her novel Practical Magic. Now rather like in the Game Of Thrones book I chatted about a while back I don't like prequels, given that you may not know the route but you know the destination. But as I've not read Practical Magic I was in the advantage of treating The Rules Of Magic as Book One. If you've not read Practical Magic before I'd suggest you'd follow that as well. For I will be looking forward to reading that in the future.

The Rules Of Magic is a novel everyone can read and enjoy...I did and I'm a fifty four year old man.

And I say this because as regular readers will know I enjoy trying to read most books in my local library. An impossible task I know but a bit of fun but if it wasn't for that innocent but admittedly mad predilection of mine I wouldn't have borrowed this book. For as I've said before I believe that one of the reasons a lot of men read few books my female writers is that their covers put them off. I know that judging on the cover alone I would have avoided this.

Let's have another look at the cover again.

Not A Magic Cover

That is not the cover that would entrance a man. It suggests women's romantic fiction. But it gets worse. The blurb speaks of the family that "their love will be their undoing". To a man reading it this suggests some soppy sentimentality. But trust me this novel is anything but soppy.

Worst though are the quotes used to (deservedly) praise this book. On the front cover is a quote from The Times (Fair enough) but on the back are quotes from Jodi Picoult and Marie Claire....Marie Claire!!! It's like a female reader picking up a book and seeing a favourable quote from Playboy.

So I say this again. Despite the cover this is a book men can read and enjoy.

When I started this blog seemingly a long time ago I outed myself as a slight hypocrite as although I said I didn't understand people who read plays for their personal pleasure only to realise that I have some as part of my collection of vintage Penguin paperbacks.

Well.....

I downloaded Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov onto my Kindle. Partly because it was free, but mainly because I wanted to see whether my view of Chekhov as a short story writer (I didn't dislike him but don't understand why he's considered great. A view I call Literary Switzerland) would change on reading Chekhov the playwright.

It didn't.

No magic there.

Until the next time.

Why Wales Should Be A Republic

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As a  nation the Welsh do appear to be pro royalty. The crowds are there when they deign to appear and when a royal wedding occurs it's women find it completely natural to watch someone else's nuptials. Even using the DVR If needed ( wasting valuable space for sport!)

However irony of ironies it is the Welsh who have been probably least served by the Royal Family than any other country in Great Britain.It is Wales where the case for it to be a republic after independence is probably the greatest.

Let's chat about the two arguments used in favour of keeping a monarchy.

1) It benefits the tourist industry.

Here's a fact : Wales has no royal palaces (There was a recent proposal to create one but that comes from the sort of roasting thinking that renames a bridge after the current heir to the throne.But for the moment that's the position.

So there are no (insert palace here) in Wales. Which means that whatever the reason people come to Wales royalty would not be the reason.

2) They help market British business.

Welsh industry is in a precarious position at the moment. Only yesterday it was announced that a factory in Llanelli will be closed down because of "Brexit uncertainty" . Probably the first of many if there's at the very least  no way with the EU.

So in other words if the Royals are marketing Wales then they're not doing a good job about it.

Therefore the only long term solution is for Wales to be a republic after independence.

In the short term though perhaps a formula could be worked out for Wales where it receives a rebate in the amount it needs to pay royalty should it not receive any net benefit. That rebate should be added to the Welsh government budget.

Then it might be useful.

Until the next time.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte : Was She Really A Good Teacher?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The last time I read a book by a Bronte it was Wuthering Heights. I remember where I finished it too. Outside Matalan in Cardiff in December. Wife and daughter was doing some clothes/Christmas shopping and I was lumbered in to carry everything back to the car. Regular readers will know I consider clothes shopping with [insert family female here] to be hell on Earth so I was happy enough to read the novel.

And I loved it.

So now I come many years later to Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte where she writes about the problems faced by a governess to privileged children having been forced to do this due to family financial problems.

And as I was reading this book it occurred to me that a governess is mainly a teacher and you would have thought that it would be quite easy. But no. She can't seem to deal with these kids and spends a lot of the first half of the book moaning about it.

So if a teacher of thirty children in a class was reading it he/she would probably have thrown the book across the room in frustration. After all he/she would think what has she got to moan about?

Indeed away from her family and friends where she was brought up for the first half of the book she appears to be disliked by everyone whatever their social position. I therefore began to think that Agnes, as it's written in the first person, perhaps it's you.

Then halfway through the plot turns in a slightly different direction and you begin to start rooting for Aggy. That is until the end. When whilst you knew what the destination would be the route taken to get there is so contrived even Victorian readers would have probably shouted the equivalent of "Are you kidding me?!"

In conclusion then the question to be asked is whether this book would be remembered today if the author didn't have "Bronte" in her name.

Let's put it this way. She doesn't even gain a first step to reach the heights of Wuthering.

Until the next time.

Why Yesterday Could Be An Important Day For Welsh National Rugby....Because Of Cardiff City Football Club

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When big institutions are in danger. It's never because of some big almighty swipe that sends them reeling. No what happens are slow seemingly inconsequential actions that gradually weaken it so that when openly attacked it's too venerable to respond.

Yesterday in the first of the Autumn rugby internationals Wales beat Scotland 21-10 in the Principality (should go back to being called Millennium) stadium in Cardiff.

Meanwhile at roughly the same time Cardiff City football club lost to Leicester one nil in  the Cardiff City Stadium.

And the key words in the previous paragraph are "roughly the same time"

When I chat about rugby in this blog I almost acknowledge the fact that there are people more knowledgeable on the subject than I am. But I honestly can't recall this happening. I've chatted about the problems facing the clubs previously but potentially this is the first time where the status of the national side has (however quietly) need to be discussed.

South Walian football teams would normally avoid playing home fixtures when the national rugby team was playing. They knew that on an international level the pull of the team was great. The cliché, even when I moved to Wales in 1997 of Welsh people coming together to watch these games at home with friends or in the pub is true (and let me stress probably true for this game as well given that it was on free to air TV).

But for Cardiff City to have played a match at roughly the same time as the Wales rugby team, and if the pictures I saw on Match Of The Day are any guide did not appear to have hurt the Bluebirds in any way in terms of attendance suggests a change of mindset. The seeming deference to the national rugby side has, perhaps subconsciously, gone.

Why this change of mindset? I can only speculate. I've mentioned before that football not rugby is the nation's sport at a club level and perhaps it's permeated into the national side as well. But I really don't know.

Now I'm not saying that people didn't watch the Wales-Scotland game and for all I know Cardiff will be playing away for the rest of the autumn internationals and next year's six nations. However as I said at the top of the post powerful organisations need to careful with actions that chip away at it's authority. The Welsh Rugby Union would need to understand this or else in the future this weakening might continue until it's too late.

Until the next time.

The Doctor's Wife By Mary Elizabeth Braddon : Quietly Revolutionary

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It's always a pleasure when a book surprises you and this one (first published in 1864) certainly did. The plot at it's most basic is that Isabel Sleaford, the unhappy "Doctor's Wife" of the title has something of a crush on the local squire Roland Lansdell. I won't say anything further for fear of spoiling things for the next person who read it

It's not a spoiler though to say that the book doesn't break the social norms of the day in the way things turn out. But that said it did seem to me quietly revolutionary.

Ms Braddon can certainly write. You assume that the plot will go in one direction and all of a sudden makes a turn and runs with the twist. However the manoeuvres of the plotline did not seem forced as I read it at the time. This uncertainty as to how things turn out made me want to continue swiping the page. Ms Braddon (who I subsequently found out was known as a "sensation novelist" - a fact that surprised me as I will explain later) knows how to keep her readers interested .

Perhaps though more impressive than her skills with a plotline is how she portrays her characters. There are few people in this novel who are "villains" as such. For the most part we learn that Isabel, her husband and even Roland Lansdell are just human. People who emotionally are probably like most of the readers of this book (or even this blog) in that they're not perfect but not evil either. I can't remember last reading a novel of this period where a person's character is more complex than you would initially expect.

As I said before I learnt subsequently that Ms Braddon was a female "sensation novelist" of the time. This surprised me because if there is "a villain" as such it's the romantic fiction of the time. For it is that that powers her view of relationships and the painful lesson for Isabel is that reality is a lot more complex than what these novels picture.

All in all then. A pleasant surprise. An interesting read and I would be interested in seeing another one of her novels in the future.

Until the next time.

The Formula For Animal Books Non Animal Enthusiasts Would Like Is Simple: It Can't Be Just About Animals

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

My library choices in the small place in Sully I go to are weird I know. On one side the first thing is a display cabinet with the latest books they have. On the other side is their non fiction where so far I've reached their animal tomes. Which is why the books I randomly pick are so varied as I've said before because I'm reading as many "reasonable" books from there as I can.

(when I say "reasonable" I could have picked "How to Raise Chickens" when picking the latest book. But given that a) I live in an apartment and b) I wouldn't even consider raising chickens unless there was a plague wiping out most of the world's population and I needed to farm to survive)

Which explains why the next book turned out to be this.

Chandi - Tina Humphrey

This is the book of a dog who was on Britain's Got Talent and it's owner. Regular readers will know that I'm not a domestic wolf a phobic so I would normally have avoided this like the plague. But cometh the library death wish cometh the man.

The book was published in 2012. Something I wanted to check the moment Ms Humphrey advised that when she was younger one of her big thrills was going on Jim'll Fix it!

Now I'm not going to be harsh on this. Given that clearly I'm not it's audience. But on reading I realised that something I mentioned it passing before is probably a rough rule with regard to animal books for people like me and as the title of the post exists it can't just be about animals.

For me the most moving  section of this book was when Ms Humphey's discusses the death of parents. That was truly impressive and emotional. But for the most part we're reading about finding a dogs, training dogs and going on competitions with dogs so for people like me it's going on and on about it gets waring.

Emma Gray's book about being a shepherd in a remote farm in Northumbria or Franoise Malby-Anthony on running a safari park alone in a foreign country neither was just about animals. Of course animals have to play a substantial part in these books but there are other factors that make it interesting to the non animal enthusiast.

So if you love animals the book would perfect. Otherwise best left on the library shelf.

Until the next time.

Simon Thomas Former Plaid Cymru AM : He Didn't Get Jail For this?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday former Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas avoided a jail sentence.

After admitting making indecent images of children. Some according to the reports as young as six.

Yet he avoided a jail sentence.

He made 500 images of children and 70 films of them. With about a sixth falling into the highest category of illegal images. I personally never knew that there were categories of these images. But apparently there is. And he made some of them to the highest category.

Yet he avoided a jail sentence.

He was given a 26 week suspended sentence for two years and will be on the sex offenders register for seven years. I personally never knew that they were time limited. I thought that once you were on the sex offenders register like buying a dog it was for life. Also just twenty six weeks?!  Six months? What sort of punishment is that for the actions he has admitted taking?

And let's not forget....

He avoided a jail sentence.

His defence counsel said that being away from his family made him "lonely". Well as a follower on his Twitter account (now cancelled) he seemed to attend all kind of functions as an Assembly Member and Plaid Cymru spokesperson. Not only that but if you're lonely you could watch TV, read a book and you know what it wouldn't have bothered me if he had spent his time watching professional adult models online take off their clothes. But instead he made indecent images and films of children. I am no expert. But that does not sound like the actions of the average lonely man to me.

Yet he avoided a jail sentence.

And remember this. He was not charged with downloading indecent images and films of children. Actually he did something even worse than that. He made them.

Yet he avoided a jail sentence.

People are sent to jail for much less than what Mr Thomas did.

Yet he avoided a jail sentence.

Does not sound like justice to me.

Until the next time.