What a day! There ‘s a fog thickening outside. Real smoky, soupy stuff too. I’m wondering what I should write about. I’ve started reading a book about quantum biology but I’ll not distress you all with any of that until I’ve had time to digest how robins navigate using the chemistry and weak magnetism within their wee heads. It’s a bit early in the morning for that, isn’t it? . The local politicians have just awakened to the fact that there are people living beyond the city boundaries of Belfast who haven’t had running water for weeks because of an industrial dispute within Norneverland Water. The lads’ pensions are threatened so they’ve stopped doing all that overtime and the water stopped flowing…as Tommy Cooper might have said …”Just like that!”.The politicians are more worried about flying flags, of course . That’s the real topic of conversation.It always is. Apparently some council has decided to fly a union jack flag every day of the year to assert that they are more British than the British. Help us !! There’s so little to rattle about in all that empty space between their wee ears that they can only think about getting one -up on themmuns over there.. Ya boo…hiss and up yours ,matey, indeed! That’ll open up another old sore of course…all that equality for the two tribes will be debated again…maybe!
Meanwhile in Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, in the Third World, farmers are trying desperately to get water to feed their farm animals .Well you know what it’s like in Norneverland , …there are people living in the big cities who have never seen something like a cow or a sheep ..except maybe on television.Some of them have never been beyond their street, never mind as far as the “country” way out there beyond the city’s boundaries.Some of them mightn’t even know what a cow is or where food comes from . You know what I mean …vegetables and meat and the like.If you’ve lived on take-aways and Norneverland Fry Ups, washed down with glasses of “Bucky” all your life , or Big Macs , you mightn’t even know what food is either…., such things mightn’t bother you too much.
On another thought , you might like to remember that we are quickly coming up to the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta on the 15th of June 1215. Of course there may be much hoohah about the 100th anniversary of the Dublin Easter Rising of 1916 next year, but I think we’ll all soon discover that this year’s Big Media Project will be all things Magna Carta.The papers , magazines , internet and television will be wall to wall Magna Carta. It was a charter based on reform of power . I suppose it was a Peace Treaty of sorts between the irascible King John and the northern barons. The Pope didn’t think too much of it and Innocent threatened to excommunicate anyone who supported it . I suppose he saw it as a dilution of god’s power. It could be argued that it was the first time that an attempt was made to formulate a structure of common law though. Anyway , we’ll doubtless know a lot more about the intricacies behind it all by this time next year.
Imagine…. we’re still struggling with the idea of it all these years later.
Harry ,you’re at your oul “one sides as bad as the other ” nonsense again.” Politicians” are more interested in flags.SOME politicians are more interested in flags.The next logical step would be for you to tell us “what a great wee place NI would be if only the people would rise up and get rid of the poliiticians ” Please do not equate a party like SF with those who have blocked any progress for decades.
,,,but Michael …nobody mentioned Sinn Fein anywhere…so there’s no “one sides as bad as the other” anywhere in this piece. I leave all that to your fevered imaginings out there in cyber-space …you’re all well able to pick through the bones of it , make up your own minds and even write your own opinion pieces if you are so inclined … To me it’s all entertainment anyway Maybe next time I’ll write a wee piece where the DUP actually take their feet out of their mouths and get a more balanced view of themselves, their neighbours and our assorted futures…without flags , creationism , racism and all the rest getting in the way…. and all the wee Sinn Fein politicians may well be shining up their haloes or maybe not .There’s always a bigger and more interesting picture than the wee tunnelled- envisioned one in Norneverland .Always keep your eye on a politician , no matter what stripe….just saying!!