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The Advertising Standards Authority have arrived in the 21st century.

It seems that they are looking to ban adverts that present stereotypical views of women, and men. It would appear that advertising campaigns have used misogynistic representations of women, and presented men as incapable of undertaking domestic activities successfully.

I know! Who would have guessed? Someone should have said something before.

Oh, they did? Really? Okay then.

So, the question is not so much why they now see these representations as the re-enforcement of stereotypes, but rather ‘Why the holy hell has it taken them so long?’

Again, the question is not so much why it has taken them so long, but rather why are they not aware that large sectors of the population do not fit the stereotypes?

And once more, the question is not so much why are they unaware of this, but rather do they really think that using sex to sell perfume, for example, will convince us to smell a certain way, when it is clear that this is a ridiculous premise?

There are three possible answers.

The first would be that the advertising industry is unable to respond to changes in society. Considering the diversity that exists in that industry, more so than in many others, would suggest that was not the case.

The second is that they are pandering to what they feel is the level, or lack, of sophistication and understanding in the general population.

This slides into the third answer. That notwithstanding the huge strides that we feel we have made in recent times, there are still far too many, at both the delivery and receiving end, that see nothing wrong with the continuation of stereotypes.

And sadly I think this is the closest to the truth.

And it goes further than the advertising industry.

There are too many reactionary and misogynistic representations accepted because they ‘know’ they are unacceptable. We get the joke. This is post-modern awareness.

Bollocks. That is just an excuse to retain the comfort zone of old attitudes.

So, very belatedly the ASA has arrived in the 21st century. Time for the rest of the media and entertainment industry to follow suit.

There are so many proverbs that all cover a similar problem, so I will go for a good agricultural ‘Reap what you have sown’.

Poor beleaguered Theresa May is discovering that, no matter how hard you try, there are much better players of the stabbing in the back, self-aggrandising game that we shamefully have to accept as our political system.

I assume at some stage that being an MP meant accepting the role of public servant. Of prioritising the needs of the people above personal ambition. And where ability was the main driver of success, of promotion, of attaining higher office.

Sadly it seems that this is becoming a rare commodity in the parliament of today. I have no problem with honest differences of view, opinion, political persuasion. I have a real problem with self-serving arrogance badly concealed by platitudinous sound bites.

Now, I am no fan of Theresa May. She has brought a container ship-full of shite on herself, through her own self-serving arrogance.

However, having to tell her cabinet colleagues to behave has got to be the saddest response to totally unacceptable behaviour.

You are in power, just, sort of. You have a totally divided country. You have a self-inflicted wound of a Brexit decision to deal with. But hey, why not try to de-stabilise things even more.

Unless, unless, unless. Conspiracy theory coming up!

Throw the party into turmoil. Bring about a vote of no confidence. Lose the right to hold power, and allow Labour to form a government. Then sit back and expect a shit-storm of problems that you cannot be blamed for. Because you and your chums are safe, no matter what.

But that credits them with more foresight than they have. They see the next step in their scramble for power, and have no consideration for the consequences. As long as their faces appear regularly on the news, on the front pages, the country can go hang.

And, in case you think this is just a UK problem, have a look at the orange powder puff across the ocean.

Trump’s election promise to scrap the Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – has been thwarted at every turn, by his own party, even though they hold power in both houses.

So maybe I shouldn’t complain. Power but no control should lead to, at the very least, a watering down of extreme policies, and therefore inflicting less harm.

But, cynical as I am, I still dream, occasionally, of a time when political office is held by more than a very few honourable people.

I still dream, or maybe I am just going senile.

Now firstly let me make it very clear, I love dogs. All shapes, all sizes. They are fundamentally a good, positive, adorable and life enhancing presence.

So it seems a shame in a way that it has, in its black variety, been adopted as a symbol for something significantly less positive. But apparently it comes from ancient folklore of nocturnal negativity.

And, to be fair, when it comes, at least with me, it isn’t a dog howling – I leave that to the noisy little buggers next door – but as shouting. Not singular, and not coherent, but seemingly endless crowds of unintelligible shouting.

And not all the time, either. Depending on the social situation, depending on the time of day, or night, the shouting can fade to almost nothing. And sometimes, when the present creates those moments of joy, happiness, or just simple contentment, I could almost believe they have gone.

But at 3.37 a.m., that bloody time again, they are there with a vengeance. And they brook no nonsense. The concept of ‘ignore them and they will go away’ is drowned out by their insistence.

It fills the head, pushes at the edges of the actual, and there is no choice but to try and hear at least one coherent word. One clue to sort the silent noise into some sort of sense.

And so I distract myself. And I think of many things: memories, plans, fantasies. Anything to move the mind away from what makes no sense towards some sort of rationality.

Which means I have, over the years, rehashed endless scenarios of things said and done that could, or should, have been said or done differently. And even those that seemed right, with endless shuffling can appear less positive. Acquire question marks where none existed.

And the night moves towards day, and light dawns. And the residual tiredness never quite goes away.

The day, routine, work – yes, even work – adds a distance to the noise, but I know it is always there. It sits permanently as an unanswerable criticism of ….. something.

Thankfully, I am blessed with people – very close, caring, people – who make the soundless bellowing tolerable. Who give life a positive spin, which repels the endless questioning.

And for them I will always be grateful.

They help me stay ahead of the crowds.

They are there, in my heart and head, every time the black dog howls.

And so it begins. For ease of reference, I shall call it The Repeal Bill. And in theory at least, it seems to be the logical next stage in the Brexit farce.

All EU legislation will be incorporated into UK legislation, to ensure there are no hidden bumps in the transition – from day 1 of non-EU GB, all will be as it is now.

However, to achieve the ‘British Laws for British People’ mantra that has been the Brexit obsession will be no easy task. There are many thousand Regulations and Statutory Instruments that have to be included into UK statute.

And has been shown in the recent case taken to the Supreme Court regarding spousal rights with pensions, there are potentially any number of anomalies that will need ironing out, with the EU regulation taking supremacy – allegedly.

Even if we accept that the integration will be undertaken in an honourable fashion, what we have on exit day is a combination of UK and EU rules and regulations. Or, as things are now.

So, let us consider what these regulations are. They cover areas as diverse as workers rights, the environment, the protection of  food standards, LGBT rights, agriculture and animal welfare, security. Never mind immigration, fishing rights, defence, trade. The list goes on.

And let us also consider that the vast majority – about 95% – were approved and agreed by UK representatives. And many were instigated by them as well.

Still, that was then. Time to move on.

But move on to what?

Because, once the transfer of regulation is complete, and once we have departed the EU in whatever form our esteemed team of negotiators have managed to achieve, the fun begins.

Well it does for the government in charge. Because government ministers will have the power to change any of the legislation without parliamentary scrutiny.

Now there may be ministers who you have faith in to do the right thing – although I am really struggling to think of one – I have no problem thinking of any number who would see this as a fun day at the office for all sorts of long-delayed personal agendas finally bearing fruit.

And that is where the ‘British Laws for British People’ becomes total humbug and bullshit.

It will partisan laws for vested interest groups and narrow biases.

And so many of those that voted for Brexit will discover that the laws that once protected them from the EU, are no longer there to do so.

So, keep watching. All of you.

And the 52%, no complaining now. This is what you asked for.

It is hard, so very hard, these days to not look at every utterance from a beleaguered Prime Minister as a desperate attempt to hold onto some semblance of power.

But I will try.

So, Theresa – I feel we can be on first name terms now, we have been through so much – wants to move forward on a cooperative footing. She wants all sides to listen to each other, and put sectarian, party politics aside, for the greater good of the country.

Now, in principle, I would agree that this is a sound approach. Government should always be for the people rather than for the party in power.

But it then becomes a little difficult to believe in an adoption of honourable behaviour, when everything we have seen till now points in a very different direction.

Having called a snap election to bolster her position in parliament for the very specific reason that other parties were being – or threatening to be – obstructive, this seems to be one of Theresa’s more dramatic reversals.

However, reality is biting. Having scraped into power with the crutch of the DUP as her only means of staying there – with a nice healthy bribe to boot – she has been forced to dump, or at least rewind, a good proportion of the manifesto.

She now has senior ministers – and back-stabbers of the first order, based on their recent history – strongly suggesting that they should start adopting opposition ideas recently written off as unrealistic and unfinanced.

Whilst this could be looked on as an attempt to acknowledge the feelings of a large minority that didn’t vote for her, this is also where the cynicism starts to rear it head.

In her ‘sofa chat’ on The One Show, her sewing abilities were not discussed, but it definitely appears that Theresa is trying to put together a patchwork quilt of a fudge to keep those behind her quiet, whilst somehow appeasing an opposition with a larger variety of clubs to beat her with than ever before.

Running around in ever-decreasing circles is not an entirely edifying spectacle when it is a dog chasing its own tail. When It is a Prime Minister in free fall ……..

If she really wants a national consensus, then not only the Opposition Parties need to be listened to. The Remainers do as well. Just saying.

I am sorry, but cynicism is back with a vengeance.

There is one answer, and it is one that will never be mentioned by Theresa. Two words. Proportional Representation.

Then we can really start talking about what true democracy means!

You have to love Harry Potter. The books, and subsequently the films, filled many a happy hour – mainly on holiday or at Christmas for the films – of shared bedtime reading.

A whole world was created, populated be every imaginable type of magical creature and practitioner, with good and evil, right and wrong, all struggling for supremacy in the safe confines of the printed word.

But who knew? Magic is real. And it comes in the form of the newest of spells – Totalis Ignoramus.

It began as one of those handy little catch phrases created by the Tory Party election team to dismiss an alternative solution, without having to really explain anything.

But now, the Tories have discovered the magic money tree.

Firstly, it began to bear fruit just in time to bribe – pay off – purchase – the 10 DUP votes to give them the slenderest of majorities to maintain their targeting of the poor and placating the well off.

Now it seems to be abundant with fruit, just ready to be plucked by the Tories once they convince themselves that the public sector pay cap needs to go.

What will follow from here is anyone’s guess, but with the excessive use of the reverse gear to date, just about anything is possible.

And the fascinating aspect of all this – the Tories seem to think that we will not notice, or believe their reasons – if they ever provide any.

I suppose, if they look at the US, and the fact that Trump’s supporters are still totally behind him, even though he has dope nothing for them, except potentially makes their lives worse.

I keep checking on Google Maps for the site of the magic money tree, but so far no luck. Shame really, I could do with a splash of magic, just to take the sour anger away.

Any hints Harry?

I have met a lot of people in my life. Some, a few, I still hold close to my heart, even those that I cannot always be physically close to.

some I have known for a good deal of my life. Some I have known all their lives.

And a few are fairly fresh into my orbit.

But time is not the qualifier. I do not see loving someone as an endurance test, but as a blessing. And I have been, and am blessed.

And loving them means that you take on their ups and downs, not as a burden, but as part of the whole.

To love is to care, and the more I love, the easier it is to care, and the more the ups are moments of bliss, and the downs are periods of pain.

Family members have, over the years, been through both ups and downs, along with me. And more recently the downs have been added to. Not keeping a score, just saying, an up or two would be good.

And then there are those who are in my heart because they put themselves there, and because I want them to stay there.

And they bring, almost daily, small moments of joy, contentment, warmth.

And then, through the laugh I see the pain in the eyes, the sadness resulting from external agents of cruelty and malice, and my heart cracks a little.

And there is nothing that can take that away. Can apply a balm that will sooth.

And I see the strength, and the bravery, and the spirit that keeps the evil at the edge of their life, and my heart cracks a little more.

But I will stay, matching the laugh, even causing it. And hope that the love in me, and those around them, from so many, will help to retain that inner strength.

Until the evil has been vanquished, and can no longer inflict the pain.

And if that never comes, then my love will always be there.

Maybe mot to take the pain away completely, but hopefully to dull its sting.

The power of the written word. Who knew I could have such influence on the leader of the Tory Party?

Then again, she is a serial reverser, so maybe not so surprising.

But, yes, yesterday afternoon, an apology from Theresa May for the less than organised and effective support for those that survived the Grenfell Tower fire.

I assume it will only be a matter of time before further apologies will be forthcoming for putting profit and austerity before the needs of the voiceless.

Or maybe not. Because this is an easy buck to pass. The government should have reacted sooner, but lets allow the local authority to carry the can for a while, at least until memories fade a little.

And remember, the Tories don’t believe in history. What happened yesterday stays there. No referencing please, just move forward. Ignore the bollocks and bullshit that has been spouted, that was then, to gain a few sound bite points. This is today. Forward, ever forward!

However, as the Tories seem to have rediscovered the apology as a concept, I await Boris Johnson’s apology for castigating Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn for not having the right numbers at their fingertips, and then seeming to forget the totality of his vocabulary when quizzed on the Queen’s Speech.

We have a Prime Minister who will not – cannot? – debate, and a Foreign Secretary who blusters inanely as two of the main players in the Brexit negotiations. Warm glow inside anyone?

The good news, though, is that Latin will still retain its place in the forefront of Tory thought and action. Although Boris seems now to have totally lost the ability to speak in coherent sentences in English,  Michael Gove has been installed as the Environment Secretary.

I await his first pronouncements regarding the environment – an area widely known as one close to his heart. Isn’t it? Oh, he has no heart. Okay.

However, I predict that, fairly shortly, and amid all the hubbub over Brexit, Tory Party parliamentary struggles and the like, there will be a quiet announcement that, from January 2018, anyone in the United Kingdom will only be allowed to reference flora and fauna using their full Latin names.

That will give the schools something else to concentrate on, apart from begging parents for cash.

And before anyone accuses me of being negative, they are wrong.

I am being very positive. Very positive that, now we have had the first apology, soooooo many more will follow. You just wait and see.

I am sure there will be another one soon.

Any day now.

Maybe when it gets less humid. Always hard to apologise when you are sweating.

Soon though.

You’ll see.

I decided it was about time I emerged from the swirl of the last few weeks and try to make some sense, even if it’s just in my own mind, of what has been going on.

And it all comes down to saying sorry. Or rather, not saying sorry.

David Cameron – remember him, pseudo politician and pig worrier – who failed to win the Brexit vote which was supposed to reassert his authority over the parliamentary Tory Party, and then never managed to apologise for throwing the country into a very divisive turmoil.

Theresa May – still here, still struggling to get past first gear by always finding reverse – who called an election she wasn’t going to call, because everyone said she had no opposition, and then losing what majority she had.

She did, however, apologise. Although not to the electorate – why talk to them – but to her own parliamentary party, and those Tories who lost their jobs

Theresa May, for providing the Democratic Unionist Party with a potential lever to beat the present day with. She has aligned with a group whose main aim is to put us into reverse on just about every equality issue available. So I suppose the direction makes sense.

The Tory Party, extolling the virtues, bravery, dedication of all the emergency services, all so evident in the last few weeks, whilst overseeing in recent times the biggest reductions in funding they could squeeze through; and never mind apologising, how about at least acknowledging the hypocrisy.

The Tory Party and their beloved Media, for fighting the most distasteful, negative, attempted character assassination election campaign, and being bested by an honourable man, and not offering a hint of contrition.

Far too many Labour MPs, who avoided any mention of Jeremy Corbyn during their election campaigns. Perhaps, just perhaps, if you had accepted the party democracy, and got behind your leader, then perhaps it would be a different Britain today. Anyone want to step up with the apology first?

And how about every time the right-wing press, or xenophobic party activists demonstrated thinly disguised Islamophobia? Will there be any acknowledgement that it just might have helped instigate the attack last night?

Ownership is what I am waiting for. An acceptance that what you say or do, especially when you have a public voice, will reverberate, for good or ill. And just as they will always rush to claim the good, or their perception of it, the should apologise for the bad.

But that never happens. All that we get is a false history lesson – ‘That has past. We need to move forward.’

And so they do not move forward, because they do not learn from history. They just look at their position, and protect it at all costs – bugger the rest of us.

So, I will apologise. For all the mistakes I have made in the past. But also for not letting this go until there is an acknowledgement, even a grudging one, that ripples do spread, and actions have their consequences.

 

 

 

Having watched Question Time last night – really should stop doing that, not good for a decent night’s sleep – yet again the Tory representative trotted out the usual ‘Corbyn is not fit to lead / negotiate / defend / secure …….’

And, as the Tory – or apparently Theresa May’s – Manifesto emerged yesterday, it seemed a good moment to look at the Tory mantra and see who best fits the bill.

So, being the number one target for NOT being strong and stable, let us examine the first defendant, Jeremy Corbyn.

Elected to Parliament in 1983, so making this his 34th consecutive year representing his constituents, he has been consistent in the philosophy and direction of his Labour Party ideals.

That has meant that, for a significant amount of his political career he has been at loggerheads with his party leaders. That takes a fair amount of strength of character and commitment in itself.

He has also been at the forefront, and indeed ahead, of campaigns against many of the wrongs and evils that have been part of British and world history.

And, because it was his turn to give it a go, he was elected as leader of the Labour Party by a large majority of the membership, twice. And has been the major reason that the party membership is now the largest of any party in the UK.

So, Corbyn has a mandate to lead, a history of consistency and resolute commitment, and no particular indication that you cannot believe what he says.

Next up, Theresa May. Elected to Parliament in 1996, and named Home Secretary in 2010, she has also been consistent, until recently, in supporting the Tory line, and their manifesto published just before the 2015 general election.

There has never been any indication, throughout her political career, that she is anything other than a Tory hard-line devoted follower.

And yet now we have a manifesto, labelled as very specifically hers, that is the polar opposite of much that she was pushing two years ago. If the current incarnation is the ‘real’ Theresa May, then where has it been till now?

Especially when she claims there are so many things wrong in Britain that need fixing, after sitting behind every action in the past 7 years that has brought us to this point.

At the very least, it smacks of cynical opportunism, rather than any real sense of a social conscience. And that is demonstrated most clearly by here u-turn over calling an early election.

So, May has no mandate, except by default. She has no problem in changing direction when it suits her career, and has demonstrated that she can lie blatantly and feel justified in doing so.

Tricky one this. Real strength, real stability, or a serial vacillater. You choose. And make it good.