Is there any point in voting at a General Election?

Given that most parliamentary candidates have to be approved by their political party hierarchies, it will be apparent that their loyalties to their constituents and their party are likely to be somewhat divided at the very outset.

Once they are elected and become a constituency Member of Parliament (MP), that distinction becomes ever more tenuous, given the 'presidential' style of government that has developed since New Labour came into power in 1997.

The Prime Minister (PM) is elected by his fellow Party MPs and the electorate have no say in who is appointed to that powerful office of State. The PM then appoints his Cabinet from among his MPs, and those selected Cabinet Ministers rely entirely on the patronage and goodwill of the PM for their tenure of office - and their future careers.

Government policy is largely formulated by the PM and his close advisers, who often are not Cabinet Ministers, or indeed - even MPs, and so-called 'spin doctors' abound. Much government policy thus formulated is rubber-stamped by the Cabinet, and passed to the Whips' Office with clear instructions to 'ease its passage' through the House.

The MPs of the majority party then dutifully troop through the lobby to which they have been directed by the Whips, and lo and behold Government policy is duly enacted.

Now how much of that procedure is to do with your local MP representing your wishes as a constituent? Well, in essence, it's about as much as twice times the square root of bugger all, but that is how it works and sadly, that is the 'democracy' in which we live.

So, 'is' there any point in voting at a General Election? No, not really; they won't take notice of anything thing we say, and we have to rely almost entirely on the Press to draw their failings to their attention, to have any influence on them at all.

The whole grubby self-serving system wants overhauling, and what better time to do it than now, following the 'pigs-in-troughs' expenses scandal, it must be out with the old and in with the new, including new parliamentary procedures - which serve the electorate and not the elected!

It's better than hurling abuse at the television!!

I've actually surprised myself by starting this blog, as it is not something I ever envisaged doing. However, I really am finding it something of a release and not a little therapeutic.

In the normal course of events the daily newspapers and the television news channels, have me alternating between laughter and slavering rage. Some of the news articles are so ludicrous that the natural reaction is to burst out laughing. On the other hand, some are so outrageous that they set the adrenaline racing, so much so that the red mist appears and the large vein at the temple begins to throb.

So instead of putting a foot through a very expensive wide-screen TV, I thought perhaps I might vent my spleen here, where some like-minded souls might be comforted in the knowledge, that it's not just them that are thoroughly hacked off at what has happened to our once great country.

Civil Partnerships are not Marriages

For the purpose of clarification a civil partnership is not a marriage. Marriage is a formal and legal relationship enjoyed by a man and a woman only.

Civil Partnerships are an arrangement by two people who by law are not related or entitled to be married and are of the same sex. Many of the privileges accorded to married people are conferred upon the two partners in a civil partnership, in order that they may organise their personal affairs so as to legally protect the other partner's interests, particularly in the event of death.

Despite the popular press attempting to blur the distinction between the two 'social' contracts, none more so than in the high-profile entertainment industry, marriage remains uniquely a girl/boy relationship.

His high and mighty lordship

Can anyone explain to me how this discredited politician has been allowed to acquire the powers he currently exercises, given that he has not been elected to any office by the electorate of the United Kingdom?

Not only does he hold a number of powerful government portfolios but he is also widely acknowledged as the de facto deputy prime minister. Can this possibly be right in what is supposed to be a democracy?

Where next? Can Mandy succeed the Queen, with his rhumba specialist boyfriend as Consort? Too fanciful? Well his spectacular rise to prominence is already something of a 'fairy' story, so the sky's the limit!

Where will it all end? 

Watch this space ...

On Growing Old

On Growing Old
by: John Masefield

Be with me, Beauty, for the fire is dying;
My dog and I are old, too old for roving.
Man, whose young passion sets the spindrift flying,
Is soon too lame to march, too cold for loving.
I take the book and gather to the fire,
Turning old yellow leaves; minute by minute
The clock ticks to my heart. A withered wire,
Moves a thin ghost of music in the spinet.
I cannot sail your seas, I cannot wander
Your cornland, nor your hill-land, nor your valleys
Ever again, nor share the battle yonder
Where the young knight the broken squadron rallies.
Only stay quiet while my mind remembers
The beauty of fire from the beauty of embers.

Beauty, have pity! for the strong have power,
The rich their wealth, the beautiful their grace,
Summer of man its sunlight and its flower.
Spring-time of man, all April in a face.
Only, as in the jostling in the Strand,
Where the mob thrusts, or loiters, or is loud,
The beggar with the saucer in his hand
Asks only a penny from the passing crowd,
So, from this glittering world with all its fashion,
Its fire, and play of men, its stir, its march,
Let me have wisdom, Beauty, wisdom and passion,
Bread to the soul, rain when the summers parch.
Give me but these, and though the darkness close
Even the night will blossom as the rose.

Keeping fit is a way of life - and it can be fun ...

Despite having arrived at what some unkind people might describe as "serious old fartdom", I still manage to work out five days a week. I have a quite extensive home gym and do a thorough whole-body weight-training session, of about 75 minutes duration, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I do a cardio-vascular workout of about 45 minutes duration.

During the week I maintain a strictly controlled food and drink intake programme, which reduces caloric ingestion to approximately 1500 calories per day. At the weekends, Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime/afternoon, I drink and eat what I like, including alcohol and most of my favourite foods.

This regimen has been going on for more years than I care to remember, but its enduring quality is that it has kept my weight and body size within managable and cosmetically pleasing limits. It also allows me to be as physically strong as I was when a younger man, with good muscle mass and very pleasing flexibility.

NB
I intend to add to this topic later,but if there is anyone reading who would like some help or advice on fitness and diet, I would be very pleased to assist. Gratis of course! ;o)

The use of the dreaded "f" word!!

The use of the 'f' word is almost always vulgar and un-necessary, showing as it does a complete disregard for people's sensitivities, and a meagre grasp of the English language.

However, when the Mayor of Horishima said "What the f*** was that", it would appear to have been almost entirely appropriate.

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I have no doubt that the above 'joke' will cause some people offense, but that is to overlook what humour is all about, and what many of us find amusing. Personally, I like my jokes to be short, pithy and to contain at least one four-letter expletive.

The one above contains all those elements and despite its longevity, and its poor taste - I still find it very funny!