the View from the Window

The view from the window was beautiful. Glorious sun, lazy bees drunk with nectar, flying from one glorious nectar haven to another in their splendid quest. Birds sung their hearts out, and flowers started blooming in their Spring awakening. You could look but not touch. You could see, but you must never leave your house.

It started with a virus; a simple novel coronavirus, which sprang from the same group of pesky viruses that created the common cold. After it swept the entire global population, people still rebelled. Tried to find ways to return to their old lives. They didn't want to believe it was really happening, so they visited the ice-cream vans in forests, went for walks in fresh air together; walks along the beach listening to the friendly waves lap at the shore and breathe in the salty air. Walking in nature like this made them feel safe, like death wasn't lurking behind them, waiting. Waiting...

As time went by, the powers of the police, grew. Fines grew heavier. New surveillance cameras started popping up, and a mandatory app was downloaded onto people's phones. The app tracked their every move and would question every place they visited. A bot would answer their questions, and if deemed acceptable, all was fine. If not, they had a letter through their door, and a fine would have to be paid. This was not negotiable. Three of these, and their cars were taken away. The app also broadcast their movements to social media, which also was like throwing them to the wolves, since people were turning against each other, so great was their fear.

People with gardens loved to sit outside, it seemed a tiny freedom and act of rebellion in the climate, but that too was being eroded. Jobs and houses were lost. Instead, people were moved into vast camps, where they all had their own hepa-filtered doors to tiny cells; small windows as tiny offerings of the outside world.

For those who still had their homes, they would scan the news each day for offerings of hope. A vaccine remained 12-18 months away. It was always 12-18 months. There had been success with an antiviral drug, but Donald Trump bought the rights to it, and ramped the price up to all but the USA. So other countries continued to suffer, and plough money into research, and hope for an end one day.

As time went by, the fear and anger remained present. Kids were told 'NEVER' to go outside. Outside was death. 'You can look out the windows, but don't go out!' School was held in virtual space. People's muscles often atrophied as they got so little exercise. People would often put blackout blinds on their windows to avoid temptation.

And then the virus disappeared. It went away as quickly as it had appeared one day. The deaths simply stopped. Hospitals gradually returned to normality. Field hospitals, built for this purpose of trying to fight the virus, lay empty. Doctors and nurses were so happy, but were instructed not to speak of it. In case it wasn't completely gone. Days passed. Days turned into months, but the blanket media silence on the disappearance of the virus didn't stop. And people continued to enforce it by angrily shaming and judging anyone who went out. Still, freedoms were curtailed. People didn't ask anymore. They didn't want to know about the bad news and they didn't notice the deaths were no longer reported. The fear was so great that one day, even when the government announced it was safe; no-one believed them. Cases in agoraphobia surged. Myths, persisted. What was real, what wasn't? Fear danced around the peripheries. If people suggested it was safe to go out again and meet up with people, they often disappeared, were found tied to a tree or similar, by angry members of their community. It wasn't uncommon for mobs to jeer outside a house if one of the residents was found to be outside! The fear and anger had grown to such an extent that nothing the government said could convince people anymore. The mantra 'outside is death', was all they would respond with. The institutionalisation was complete -- although never intended, but small conspiracy groups popped up to try to convince people this had been the governments' plans all along -- New World Order and total lockdowns. They tended to disappear, too.

And so, the governments stopped trying to convince people. Laws stayed in place, restricting movement. Gradually, people forgot why. They just had stories of generations past. They had only their empty hearts as companions during the dark nights. Governments simply turned this to their advantage, people continued to live in their vast internment camps which tracked their simplest of movements and even their thoughts. People had VR headsets and computers and lost themselves in virtual worlds, sometimes for weeks. People died, slumped over keyboards. Virtual currency and identity, became everything.

Still, the birds sung, and the bees lazily buzzed. The birds sung their hearts out. They were trying to wake the humans up to the sanctity of nature, of the cycles of things. Tried to say 'hey, it's all OK now, you can come outside! It's safe! Nothing in this physical world is forever!' One day, they hope, the songs will wake at least one human. Because there is *always* hope.

The birds are singing songs of hope, right now. Weaving these into our hearts with sheer love. It's going to be OK again, one day. It really is.  Every day we wake up lost, helpless, scared. Step outside in nature if you can (safely, with social distancing), and they will show you how to have simply faith in something bigger, more mysterious. They'll lead you back to your own soul too, if you'll let them. x

Coronavirus -- fear, judgement, the zombie apocalypse, and a glimmer of hope in the darkness

The fear, the hysteria, the angry judgement and finger pointing to all those who dare flout the rules right now, is still there. Sometimes a backdrop, sometimes in the foreground. Depends on who is triggered and how deeply, I guess.

Posts with 'Stay at home. Be responsible!, Don't Kill Others by Going Out!' Etc. are starting to appear in my newsfeed. They are often followed by stories of who is flouting the rules, complete with angry faced emoticons and much jumping up and down with indignation.This is good advice, of course! And those who know it to be will follow, and those who won't, still won't. (Why are there no posts, for instance about the flights still allowed to come into this country? I never agree with Priti Patel, but I think she was bang on when she said we needed to close our borders. That seems common sense, given the severity of this. Yet we're not.) Of course social distancing is key, but posts like this can often help promote anger right now, at a time when people aren't thinking straight, and anger mightn't be the most helpful emotion. One guy posted in our village group page that he wanted a cleaner the other day and my God, the judgement and vitriol he got for that! He then explained it was so he could let his flats to NHS staff, etc. Then everyone was fine. It'll be virtual pitchforks and flaming torches next or socially distanced, real ones. Mob mentality at it's finest. Created from pure fear.

And I get that there is a lot of fear, but posts like this only inspire much finger-pointing judgement and angry face emoticons. I just don't think it's healthy to focus too much on the actions of others -- all we can control are our own. How are *we* behaving towards our loved ones, for instance? How do you behave when the chips are down and the shit is hitting the proverbial? Can you still be kind when things are even just a little tough? Are you still kind then, or do you turn into something out of Greek mythology, all snake-headed and hideous? Have you sufficiently slain your own inner demons, so you can judge others? The police will likely ramp up the fines etc. to others which will help reduce congregations over time. Over the coming weeks, I'd expect the fear levels to ramp up, the judgement to ramp up, much crazy-making behaviour, on and off social media. Anything to help promote a sense of calm right now, is probably helpful. If people are going crazy, all CAPS LOCK, telling other people how they're being so selfish for going out, for shopping, for buying loo rolls, but then they going and screaming at their kids, etc. then how do they get to judge? Judging others' can make us forget to look at our own behaviour.

Fear is likely creating distorted behaviour for everyone who is feeling it right now. If you're getting triggered by posts on Facebook when you normally don't -- you're affected. If you're one of the people jumping up and down in indignation -- breathe. Slow down. Turn off the caps key. Grab a coffee, or a tea, and just try to sit with all that anger for a moment or two and see if you can observe the source. (It's probably fear.) And that's OK, it really is!  These are weird times that we've only ever seen in apocalyptic films. (That usually end with America saving the day because some absurdly young and good-looking bloke was willing to fly a plane carrying a nuke directly into the sun.  Then everyone claps and waves the American flag about.  The end.)

Humans are irrational. We're a really weird species.  Sometimes we're just a bit shit.  But sometimes we're capable of so much love and kindness and generosity of spirit, that it's humbling and beautiful to witness. Perhaps that's why Noah was saved? He offered a glimmer of hope in the darkness. Lets try to promote kindness and a little compassion over the coming weeks? It's going to be hard out there. We can help by offering our words as tiny branches of hope for others to hold when the current is strong and they don't know where to turn.

Boris Johnson - future Prime Minister, he's not sinister... plus a look at social engineering and 1984

He walks, hunched, scraggly haired and thuggish, like a huge, clumsy, ominous crow; his aura tainted oafish.  Given his size and the way he holds himself, I imagine him as a dodgy bloke hired to clean up operations after a hit gone wrong, New York gangster-style.  Behind beady eyes lies not very much of substance; but those entranced by the Cult of Personality have already become smitten, much as with Nigel Farage's followers.  They've been  lured in by the PR image of Boris as affable, comic relief.  Some people think it's charming that he's so 'human', but they fail to notice his darker side; for instance, the rise of Islamophobic comments thanks to his column where he called Muslim women wearing the burqua 'letter boxes' and 'bank robbers,' or perhaps his nauseating racist comments about black people. The old image of Boris the harmless, comedic, affable oaf, is slowly giving way to the new image of Boris; the racist, petulant, arrogant, and selfish man, yet still, some people remain stubbornly loyal to him; their rabid idiocy and their selfishnesss mirrored by his; their yearning to get out of the EU at any cost, the overriding principle.

It's been alleged in passing comment, that he will turn up for a meeting with the wrong speech notes and deliver the wrong speech anyway.  He's been accused of being a 'spoilt, selfish child' by his young lover, during a heated, and public row, which I think, is probably completely accurate.  He's like a fat truck, or a tank, driving through poetry; nuance is lost on him, patient, complex negotiation and fine-turning, are lost on him.  He'll brazen it out, because he's British and we have sort of mystifying God-given right to do what the hell we like according to the elites, who fondly remember the 'good old days' when Britain ruled; it doesn't matter how, or the lack of ethics that accompanied that ruling.  The hazy memories have burned for years in their minds, become manic, become nostomania; fond dreams that never even took place at all.  'We'll show Trump!  We'll make Britain Great Again!'  Boris takes a sip of port, mutters something unintelligible as he stares into the firelight, squinting like Father Jack.  'I'll just produce my British passport, and slap that on the table at Brussells; that, coupled with my plummy British accent and Etonian background will save the day!'

Today, we learn, he's managed to insult French people, by claiming that they are 'turds', not to allow for any changes in Brexit.  We ridicule Trump and with good reason, but I'm not sure even he has been this childish.  And he's a terrible man-child, rapidly devolving back to the womb.  Boris' comment was made whilst he was Foreign Secretary; he was supposed to behave in a way that is reasonably Statesmanlike.  The contempt and carelessness is just about everything you don't want, ever, from a neighbour, from your kids, and definitely not from a person who holds a position of power.

The BBC buried this ridiculous remark at the time, and likely it won't stop him from become Prime Minister, just as Trump hasn't been stopped by his insanity, sexual abuse allegations, narcissism, racism, crudity and general idiocy.  Yet this remark remains deeply unsettling. Not only is it incredibly rude, it's also simply pathetic; the petulant cry of a spoilt brat who is unable to get what he wants.  The EU Courts have made their decision; they didn't make it lightly; there are 27 other member states who might then, quite rightly, also want to change their Terms and Conditions.  They need to keep the EU together, not least, perhaps, because of the threat of Russia, or other looming threats.  The EU is not perfect, but it is a voice of sanity.  They have created careful, thoughtful, rules.  This then, is a place that the Boris could never flourish. To produce such a vulgar response is to mirror Trump; the question is, what are we collectively doing or not paying attention to, to allow these people into office at all?

We've stepped across the threshold into a new dawn, a new dimension of deeply unsettling times; when. anything that threatens the left is deemed 'far right', with a new era of Orwellian censorship settling across our media and internet with seemingly barely any response.  This isn't conspiracy -- we've just learned for instance, that the Guardian has been in collusion with intelligence agencies, and that Google is working to create a new social engineering programme, of 'fairness' through it's new algorithms, which will mean what they deem fair will show up in your search feed, complete with 1984 connotations.  Are you happy knowing a giant corporation is now, blatantly, trying to shape your opinions?

We've known for a short while that YouTube is starting to censor videos, banning some altogether, and showing 'approved' content first, such as Fox News, etc.  And in politics, Corbyn, who stands for decency and ethics has been vilified by the British Press for so long that many are brainwashed, and mindlessly repeat 'he's the loony left', or 'he's a communist', without even having the faintest clue why, and not realizing that they can't even back up their argument.  A 2016 report found that 75% of media coverage misrepresented Corbyn.  And our country is lead by Tories who serve only the elite; foodbank use is directly attributable to their policies, and the DWP is often hell on earth for people who have become impoverished, or people with disabilites.  A United Nations report into the level of poverty in the UK has been ignored by the Tory party.  The architect of this report, Philip Alston, said that he initially wondered if their response was 'a spoof', such was the level of denial.  How can an entire party try to bury, or deny, such an important report?

This post isn't designed to be depressing.  We live in interesting times, but these times are also already a hell for many in Britain. We ignore this at their peril, and then at our own. We simply have a duty of care to our fellow citizens, to animals, to our planet, that is not going to be met by willingly giving up our own agency, and by allowing greed and callousness any more of a foothold.

We are starting to see censorship on the internet, so-called 'conspiracies', downplayed.  How convenient to call anything that doesn't fit mainstream thinking, a 'conspiracy.'  People are having to fight for basic rights across the world.  Why?  Neoliberalism (too much power handed to corporations), greed, money, power.  Our world -- the construct of the system that we live by, is often a form of madness.  Now Trump is making threats against Iran. To what end?  Is the future of mankind inevitable?  Was it sealed the moment the A-bomb was invented?

For now, it might help us all to simply be as aware as possible of what's going on.  Awareness means we can make better decisions (if allowed!).  In 2022, our decision, might decide our fate, whether or not we cling to the coat-tails of Trump as he and John Bolton, bluster their way into war, if they haven't already.  A decent decision in our next General Election might help raise people's standards of living. It might even save lives.  We do not need Boris' blunderbuss-approach, his puerile and arrogant responses to intricate situations.  We simply need a decent human being, capable of steering us through the difficult waters ahead, with fairness (not in the 1984-esque style of Google), but with a good head on their shoulders.  Such people do exist, alas, usually the system destroys them before they have a decent chance.  And there are other reasons; we still have the fear of who will make  power grabs; so we want a leader who seems powerful too, to save us from potential annihilation.  We're all caught in a nightmare of our own making, a twilight world where fear rules and preemptive strikes therefore look attractive, and the demise of humans, because of humans, is the only logical conclusion.  As Carl Sagan said; “the nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.” 

For the meantime then, lets  take note of Boris as he manages to mess it all up with a Trumpesque disregard for anything, whilst trying to call our bluff that He's the Man in Control.  We can observe this oafish husk as an emblem of what's wrong with our system at it's core.  Because as long as it continues the way it does, there will always be a Trump, or a Boris, or a Theresa May.  We see people override their conscience, the natural system of being able to discern right from wrong; to head for the wrong, again and again.  People who cannot show compassion because that would look weak. Or, because compassion doesn't pay.  And still, we give them our very selves, to do with as they will.  As the Dalia Lama has noted, the only way out of this mess is a system that has compassion and kindness intertwined.  No reason why capitalism cannot be refined to include these values; it must, if we are to survive.

And when we get the opportunity to get involved, we need to get involved! Whether that be to simply show up and vote in 2022.  To stand by and do nothing is to throw open our doors, welcome in the darkness and offer it a drink and a bed for the night.  We must stay alert, aware, awake.  Don't lets  sleepwalk into greater madness, greater inhumanity and unkindness, which will be to our collective detriment.

Open your eyes.


From Pastor Niemoller:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Boris or Hunt —please help us God.

“Ms Symonds, 31, is heard to complain that red wine has been spilt on her sofa, saying: ‘You just don’t care for anything because you are spoilt. ‘You have no care for money or anything.’”

Boris Johnson: Police called to Tory leadership contender's home

 Can’t we aim a little higher for the top job in our country than this nincompoop; a silly, thoughtless, spoilt brat? And Mad-eyed Hunt, (hated by doctors everywhere), just makes my skin crawl. Isn’t there anyone else even, I dunno, half decent? Have our expectations been so crushed that this barely raises an eyebrow? Or have they slipped something into our water supply so our compliance is guaranteed; our glassy-eyed somnambulism revealing no feelings as we are lead ever closer towards the next great extinction.

 We can remind ourselves that although power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, that there have been some good and decent men and women in history who have shown qualities like courage, strong morals, and compassion. That these values are not present amid the Tory party right now, doesn’t mean we should stand for anything, whatever comes, no matter how low and loathsome, with merely a shrug. We give away our very selves far too easily, whilst we are distracted by shiny pretty gadgets and last night’s television show. We don’t want to get involved in politics ourselves, not really, but our ignorance is the bliss of a corrupt party which is bloated by it’s own decay and rapidly decomposing right in front of our very eyes. And still we shrug, become distracted, say things like, ‘oh well.’

We can set our standards higher come the next General Election in 2022. We should. And we must, simply because we need to stand for what’s right, not be led like sheep, ever deeper into the wrong.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I believe that the day Boris or Hunt gets the top job, a spell that has safely kept hoards of demons trapped deep underground, will be broken. Explosively broken. Free at last, the demons will scuttle about with wild abandon, gleefully finding new homes to nest (mostly in Boris Johnson’s hair — all the better to control him closely). And then, well, you know the rest. Locusts, and Armageddon. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The Edge of Sanity -- Call Centres in the Future

A (very!) short play, written for radio, by Sarah Horne. Featuring: call-centres, Alanis Morrisette, David Hasselhoff, red telephone boxes, and general strangeness. Is this the modern-day, Amazon?