MILLIBAND SNATCHES DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY

Ed’s stirring, gracious speech, which brought tears to my eyes was in defeat. The pollsters, (not the bookies), always get it wrong because they don’t understand the psychology of British voters at that critical moment of voting – which is so simple.

The Party that captures the middle ground, le grand boulevard, always wins.

This Tony Blair understood and exploited. Red Ed was perceived, rightly or wrongly, as being old doctrinaire, leftwing Labour sponsored by the Trade Unions and, whatever you or I may think, this is the surefire route to electoral defeat.

The British sacred cow, the National Health Service, Ed’s total focus is, as the brit voter knows dependent on a strong economy – Cameron’s message.

That is the simple truth and it ain’t rocket science. If further proof is needed, look at the defeat of Big Beast Balls.

Remember Bill Clinton’s election winning mantra « it’s about the economy stupid. » To win, the Labour Party has to seize  the middle ground and not put their (Michael) Foot in their mouth.

A gallant loser indeed, who snatched defeat, from the jaws of victory – You get NOWT for finishing second in politics.It could have been the Tory-lite David Cameron waving goodbye.

A MACBETH MOMENT – LOSER ED WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR FRATRICIDE.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD – NEAR TO OUR HEARTS.

Weary of the urban hustle & bustle, the va…va…vroom of the yellow taxis &  ‘made in China’ motor bikes of Yaoundé  we loaded our ancient four-wheeler to ressource our souls and spirits in the family village – 300kms & a heartbeat away.

We also have a very special & sober mission before us.

Clothes, shoes, hand-me-downs, medicines, soap, flour, sugar, spice, rice & all things nice for the family… off we set at 04:00hrs, way before the morning rush hour.

An hour later we are in Cameroon’s vast forest country – fast forward 4 hours and a surprised village rises to greet us.

The village in the south-east, comprises 2 hamlets – each home to 50-60 family members, is of an unchanging bucolic beauty – no electricity, no ‘phone connection, schooling only for kids from 5 to 12 years, no health clinic, church or transport…

The latter essential facilities are at least 25 kms away and  college education necessitates finding a famille d’acceuil who will accept the student in return for food from the village shamba.

The land is fertile and for 9 months of the year provides a plenitude of plantain, manioc, soja, and tropical fruit; the poulets bicyclettes (free-range) are the principle source of protein, together with fish from the nearby river.

Disease is fairly rare, however childbirth mortality, snakebites & accidents are ever-present.

OUR MISSION

Awate, a 36 year old lumberjack was himself felled recently by a tree, leaving his 29 year old widow, Fosie with 6 small children and no income.

Despite the solidarity of the village Fosie is desperate, to the point of putting up her 2 youngest for adoption, hoping to give them a better life. An irrevocably heart-breaking solution.

After a long palava with Fosie & the village elders it was agreed to provide basic material support for Fosie, who is between a rock and a hard place, yet refuses charity. She, with her baby spent a week with us in Yaoundé for medical check-ups, lots of tlc (tender, loving care) and talk…

Personally, I confess to being tormented by the very thought of her losing her kiddies.

TOWN & COUNTRY UBUNTU

The umbilical cord between the townies and villagers provides a unique moral & material strength. The village remains the family anchor to which the town-folk return, laden with necessities, for all major occasions of joy & grief – births, weddings, illness, & funerals, rest & recuperation, returning refreshed and equally laden with the fruits of the earth.

Life is a struggle for most folk in Africa – the mutual bonds and love make a hard life bearable.

WE ARE HUMAN THRU THE HUMANITY OF OTHER HUMANS.

« HAVE ANOTHER GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE DARLING. »

Ebola, Boko Haram, Urban terrorism causes & possible solutions, Gender inequality, Violence against women, American cops killing black kids, Income gap (über class & lumpen proletariat), Youth unemployment, Destruction of wildlife, our planet, The invasion of our freedom & privacy…

Not on song for FaceBook – this (anti-) social medium seems to turn normally adult, intelligent people into narcissistic, navel gazing, juvenile, escapists – pretending to be what they  are not in a make-believe world of picnics, parties & balls, where everything is simply heaven darling.

To follow Face Book is to live in a world where nobody cares – the more frivolous – the more spasms of joy, the more urgent & heart-rending – the louder the silence.

FACE THE ISSUES IN OUR INTERDEPENDENT GLOBAL VILLAGE.

Pope Francis is the man.

Our World is in a terrible mess:

*We are willfully destroying the planet & all living species at an alarming and perhaps irreversible rate.

*The income gap between the rich & poor is greater than ever & increasing.

*International Terrorism – religion inspired, but abused,  has become a global cancer.

*Crime against humanity sweeps Syria, Nigeria, Congo DRC…

* Western countries are becoming increasingly Islamophobic with a paranoiac hostility to immigration.

*Political leaders are obsessed by their own re-election & play « them & us. » – lacking the courage & vision to unite in the common good.

*Cold war & a new arms race with Russia looms.

Not one political leader on the World stage to stop the killing & silence the drums of war.

It’s never too late.

Cliff Gladwin, a long-forgotten English cricketer, in 1948 became the only player in history to win an important international test match on the very last ball of the match.

Overwhelmed with praise this dour Derby lad responded with the immortal words – « Cometh the hour, cometh the man. »

Pope Francis never ceases to amaze, having broken the Vatican mould by insisting, not on dogma, but on humanity, tolerance & love.

He has strongly rebuked the big beasts in the Vatican Curia for narcissism, arrogance, hypocrisy, cowardice, rigidity, power pathology, existential schizophrenia and spiritual Alzheimer’s. Above all he slammed the hierarchy for losing touch with the realities of ordinary people.

Pope Francis is, in cricketing parlance, a very big hitter who has spoken out strongly against all the above * subjects.

THE HOUR IS NOW, POPE FRANCIS IS THE MAN.

MAGNIFICENT HOMERIC RAGE

Last night Danny the Red towered above the panorama of political pygmies as he hammered out his demands:

– Neither politics of « Hatred nor Fear. »

– No more « Them & Us. »

– Inclusiveness – united we stand, divided we fail & fall.

– France is one Nation – one People.

– We must come together & stop the political playground squabbles.

– Engagement with the young, OUR FUTURE – who are increasingly alienated, seeing their hopes and dreams turn to dust.

– The creation & education of a true spirit of citizenship.

 An inspiring « Churchillian » oration at this crucial time of national need.

MAYBE THE BEST PRESIDENT THAT FRANCE WILL NEVER HAVE.

GLOBAL CANCER

The World & our society is all screwed up and the hounds of hell have been let loose. This is the single biggest, most complex, most urgent issue facing every single one of us – and our leaders of all faiths.

Drastic measures are certainly required, but you can’t fight hate with hate.

We have to try to understand the world as one, interdependent body – gravely ill with a cancer that will continue to pop up – in a Nigerian village, a Paris newspaper office… with devastating effects for us all, including the erosion of our safety, freedom & human rights. We have to pressure our leaders to unite in fighting this cancer, seeking containment & remission in 2015.

A God Almighty difficult mission – nothing is of more pressing importance.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The States is in racial conflict, the structure & due process of justice is racially biased, democracy is in retreat…

A radical change of hearts & minds is needed but – Whites are white & Blacks are black – ne’er the twain meet.

The income gap between whites & blacks is greater than under Apartheid.

Government, Police, Judiciary is predominantly white. 

A poverty-stricken, under-educated black population is bereft of hope and it’s young males drift into crime as the only way to make a buck & get respect… the prisons are full of young offenders.

This dire situation has worsened after 6 years of Obama.

So what to do?

Desmond Tutu as head of the Truth & Reconciliation procedure steered South Africa thro’ perilous waters to to achieve universal suffrage and the goodwill of a bitterly divided nation toward their fellow man, seeking peace and justice for all. Much remains to be done, but Reconciliation averted certain civil war & rivers of blood.

The Archbishop makes the self-same proposal for the U.S.A. at a national level – to be created by the President with Congressional approval.

Who should preside Truth & Reconciliation – a suggestion is Oprah Winfrey & Bill Clinton – both wise, humanists & non-race motivated – like Tutu.

Radical problems call for radical solutions – if not we will continue to read of daily police brutality and murder, provoking a violent backlash and the end of the illusion…

…THE UNITED STATES – WORLD BEACON OF HOPE & JUSTICE.