Wednesday 25 May 2022

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - DYSFUNCTIONAL IN THE EXTREME.

The United States of America must surely be the most dysfunctional and sick society the human race has ever seen. Yet again, there's been a massacre at a school, this time of primary school children in Texas, but it could just as easily have been at any school anywhere in the country.

But it's not only the shooting itself which marks the USA out as such an appalling place. This is a nation in which many still seem to believe they're living in the old "Wild West", and see carrying guns around as being a normal and acceptable thing to do. Where else in the world do the population habitually, and legally, walk around their streets with lethal weapons ? The arguments put forward about "Rights" and that its is people and not guns which kill, are specious and nonsensical. In order to bring the country into the real world of the 21st century, rather than having it languish in an imagined world in which Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid continue to hold sway, the ubiquity of guns has to end. Fat chance of that happening any time soon, though, so the killings will continue and the armed police will continue to shoot first and ask questions later, just in case.

At the same time, this nation is the most self-obsessed and vain on our planet while also sporting a vast number of grotesquely obese individuals. Financial inequality is huge, with the rich and famous living lives which are incomprehensible to most; worse is that the rich and famous are often even more self-obsessed and self-serving than the wider population - think only of Depp & Heard or the Duke & Duchess of Montecito and the message is loud and clear. American culture, if 'culture' is what it can be called has infected the rest of the world to such an extent that we are now all caught up in the abomination of 'fast food', ultra-glamourized, ultra-violent, crude and frequently highly offensive film and television while the people who star in, and make vast fortunes from, such rubbish can often be found lecturing the world on the evils of whatever is the latest fad, be it climate change, feeding Africa's starving millions, movements such as 'Black Lives Matter', or anything else. 

In the United Kingdom we have recently been doing much navel gazing about our past and have been beating ourselves about the ears for our supposed shocking Imperial history. Is this not ridiculous, when our country actually spread civilisation around the world and brought an end to slavery almost 200 years ago, while the USA continued to treat its coloured population as little more than slaves into the 1950s and still sees them as second class citizens across much of its extent today. This also comes on the back of the virtual genocide of the indigenous population - the "Red Indians" - which is rarely mentioned.

The USA talks of itself as being the world's leader when it comes to democracy and human rights. In reality it is the home of self-obsession, brutality and violence, crudity, obesity and hypocrisy. In a country which parades its Christian beliefs for all to see, its adherence to true Biblical tenets is almost non-existent. Its jingoism is manifest at every turn and its inability to find a real leader who isn't either a septuagenarian or member of a powerful politcial or financial dynasty is a shocking indictment of its people, a people who are horribly divided by class, colour, celebrity, religion and wealth. 

What a country. How proud its population must be.

Tuesday 17 May 2022

ROONEY & VARDY - DOES ANYONE WITH A BRAIN REALLY CARE ?

Who on Earth are Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy ?

If they hadn't married two high profile footballers, neither would ever have been heard of. As it is, they're just two horribly spoiled, stupidly rich, talentless morons. 

The only people who give a damn about what one of them said or did to the other are similarly idiotic, pathetic people who live their lives through the celebrity of others. 

So why is the media so obsessed with the so-called "Wagatha Christie" case ? Why are news bulletins and newspapers, which ought to be concentrating on actual news, spending so much time and effort reporting on this tripe ? If the cretins who populate the likes of 'Facebook', 'Twitter', 'Instagram' and the rest of the brain dead world of 'social media' want to waste their lives lapping up every last drop of bile being poured out by the two pathetic women, let them, but don't inflict the utter rubbish on me.

The sooner these ridiculous creatures return to their world of idle luxury, surrounded by their like-minded 'friends' and shut away from the real world, the better. 

Sunday 15 May 2022

HAMILTON THE WHINGER

Lewis Hamilton must be one of the most self obessessed, egotistical people on this planet. 

Having had by far the best car, he's won numerous Grand Prix races and world championships; many see this as being proof that he's the best driver there's ever been. However, he's now coming a fairly poor second to his 'rookie' team mate, George Russell, and he doesn't like it. In the past, he was beaten to a world title by his then team mate, Nico Rosberg, which he also didn't like and accused his team bosses at Mercedes of favouring their fellow German and giving him better treatment. Now, as he fails to beat Russell, he's blaming it on his team's failure to apply the right strategy.

This is a man who, in the past, has complained when his team have advised him of what strategy is best and also when they haven't, but only when things haven't worked out in his favour. He's whinged when they've left decisions up to him and when they haven't; he's ignored their advice and then whinged that they didn't tell him what he should do with sufficient certainty.

The truth is that Hamilton will blame anyone and everyone for his failures, except himself, of course. That he's now being beaten by a newcomer to the team and relative newcomer to the sport irks him; that it may demonstrate that he's not actually the greatest driver ever in Formula 1 racing irks him still more. This is a man who thrives on attention and adulation, who has made a point of being a celebrity and has disported himself accordingly. That all of this may be collapsing around him is unbearable.

Perhaps it's time for this arroagnt and annoying man to take a leaf out of the book of some of his predecessors, none of whom have felt it necessary to adopt a high profile celebrity lifestyle. No previous Formula 1 champion has adorned themself with jewelley or taken overtly political stances, as Hamilton has done. 

There's talk that he may be considering retiring from the sport. Let's hope it's not just talk and he's soon gone.

ANOTHER EUROVISION, MORE NOISE.

And so the Eurovision Song Contest was true to its traditional political approach. The appalling noise from Ukraine won, while the UK's awful entry came second, surely due to the UK being seen as Ukraine's most vocal supporter in its battle with Russia.

While songs from the past by groups such as ABBA, Brotherhood of Man and Buck's Fizz are still remembered and played, and entries from the likes of Cliff Richard, Lulu, Sandie Shore and many others still bring at least a smile of recognition to the faces of even older listeners, last night's two top entries will surely be forgotten and consigned to the dustbin of history before the year is out, only ever to reappear when the BBC does its occasional trawal through that very dustbin. In short, both entries almost defy belief.

Stripping away the flashy sets, flashy outfits and flashing lights what was left other than NOISE ? Any resemblance to music was purely coincidental, quite possibly accidental, as it was all about the show rather than the words or music. Not that this was anything unusual, for Eurovision has evolved over the years form a competition designed to select the best song to one designed to select a performance which catches the eye, modified by the application of political or nationalistic preferences. In other words it now turns out tripe.

"Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Waterloo", "Puppet on a String", "Making your Mind Up", "All kinds of Everything", "Save your kisses for Me" and a few others all had staying power. More recent entries have almost all vanished from sight. 

Thank God for small mercies.