We are members here and try to visit whenever we can. It is smaller and more intimate than the local multi-screen cineplexes and tends to show more interesting and foreign language films. The weather was typically January so it seemed like an ideal day to squirrel ourselves away somewhere dark and cosy with a good film.
Arriving with enough time to spare for some tea we decided to give their scones a go as well. Although having looked at them on the counter we were slightly fearful. They did not look at all promising. Well appearances can be deceiving, as they say, because, although not topscones, they were pretty good. The fruit and cinnamon ones were maybe a bit too crusty on the outside but nice and soft on the inside. There was also plenty butter and a nice little cup of jam.
If only our film had been as good! There were three to choose from and we chose ‘The Lobster’. A near-future story about single people staying in a hotel and having 45 days to find a romantic partner. If they failed they were turned into an animal of their choice. The main character had his brother with him all the time .. a collie dog. He had failed on a previous occasion. In the event of similar failure our man had chosen to be a lobster. Apparently a lobster can live to over a hundred and remain sexually active throughout. Never realised that lobsters had so much fun.
Spoiler
We would have enjoyed the start of the film a lot more if we had known that it steadily went down hill from there. It was co-produced by companies from Ireland, Greece, France the Netherlands and the UK. It kind of looked like a film made by a committee. Won’t say more though in case we spoil it for you.
Sitting in the cinema we thought it was a pretty dystopian surreal experience until we came out into the daylight and realised we had women being brutalised in Cologne, another shooting in Paris, people starved to death on purpose in Madaya, Saudis bombing the Iranian embassy in Sana’a,Pyongyang‘s H-bomb test, China‘s stock market collapse. And that the answer to all these problems might be Donald Trump! Maybe we should have stayed inside where it was all much more believable. Thank goodness for the scone … even though it only had a cameo role .. sorry!
Our first venture out into the big bad world of 2016 was to the Fair City where we like to shop occasionally in McEwens of Perth department store.
It is a long established shop and this poster made us think that it might be interesting (just to get the brain cells operating after all the indulgences of the festive season) to see how many of you can convert these prices into modern day currency, e.g how much is a pure silk tie? Answers please in the comments box but beware, you may be giving your age away! Today we had breakfast in their Upstairs restaurant and discovered that they actually have another restaurant that we were totally unaware of. It’s that kind of shop, you discover another part of it every time you go. We did visit this new discovery later on in the afternoon but since the same bakery serves both restaurants and we had already reviewed Upstairs, we decided, in the interests of variety and sconology to brave the elements and find somewhere new.
Voila .. Howies Bistro, a mere stone’s throw from McEwens, just outside St John’s Kirk. This is a nice wee cozy restaurant which seems to do everything and be very popular with the locals. Most folk were having lunch but, as ever, we just wanted to try the scones with a coffee. We ensconced ourselves in a nice area with big comfy sofas, set aside for just that.
Good management
Our fruit scones were great, served with plenty jam and cream, but there was a problem with the coffee .. it looked strong but tasted weak. It was such that we thought we should at least mention it to the management. Probably Mr Howie himself who was buzzing about making sure everything was in order. He responded initially by offering another coffee, which of course we did not want. Later, however, he came and thanked us. He had tested the coffee and realised that the machine needed to be recalibrated and was mortified to find that he had, unknowingly, been serving such inferior coffee. In fact, he was so grateful that he refused to take any money at all from us. This is good management; taking on feedback and acting on it immediately!
The nearby St John’s Kirk is dedicated to John the Baptist and dates back to 1126. Perth was the capital of Scotland for over 600 years and as a result King Alexander III’s heart was buried here after his premature death (fell off a cliff) in 1286. An event which left Scotland without a king and propelled it into two long Wars of Independence with England. Although Scotland prevailed in both wars it threw it all away in 1707 with the Union of the Crowns. Most Scots of sound mind were against it at the time and goodness sake, 308 years later nothing has changed!
Lost deposit
For those with a footballing interest and who have wondered why Perth’s local football team (currently 4th in the Scottish Premiership) is called St Johnstone. It’s because of this church. It became so important that for much of the 16th century Perth was called ‘St Johnstoun’ .. might be a good trivia question. Another trivia question. When was the last date that an Irn Bru bottle could be returned for a deposit .. Dec 31st 2015. End of an era. What is not in question is Howies Bistro. Definitely worth a visit, if only to retest the coffee.
Hope you all had a great time over the holidays and are looking forward to another year of sconology. In fact we thought that the symptoms of scone withdrawal might be reaching fever pitch so have opted for a slightly unusual but quick fix for you. Not based on a visit to some cafe deep in the nether regions of the Scottish countryside but rather on some scones we received as a gift over the festive season. Such are the fringe benefits of being sconeys.
Morello cherry and Port jam
Our benefactors had purchased them at Dobbies Garden Centre in Stirling complete with a range of jams. Don’t worry, we realise that for a full and proper report we actually have to go there. And since we take our responsibilities seriously, we promise to do that before 2016 is out. In the meantime, hopefully this will suffice. I elected to try the cherry scone (family size) and Pat dutifully warmed it in the oven and whipped up some cream to go with it.
With cherry scones however there is that ever-present problem .. a suitable jam. Strawberry just does not seem right, but, as luck would have it, we had also been gifted a pot of Morello Cherry and Port jam, the perfect accompaniment. In spite of these scones having been in the freezer for several days everything was absolutely delicious. A topscone award however will be reserved until we have actually visited Dobbies.
Awards
Ah yes, awards. We know that many of you will have been shocked, after scouring the New Year Honours lists for our names only to find them absent! This came as a bit of a shock to us as well. The last time we spoke to the Queen (not that long ago) we convinced ourselves that there was a slight nod which seemed to indicated that she was going to see us alright. If you know what we mean, wink, wink, nudge, nudge! Obviously we mistook the body language. For all we know, even though we did our best to put her at her ease, it might have been a slightly clumsy attempt at a curtsy.
Anyway, as it turns out, it saved us the anguish of deciding whether or not to accept. Given that we would find an OBE or anything else with ’empire’ in it a tad difficult to take. An OGE; Order of the Glasgow Empire is more our style. We did notice that the list consisted of the usual worthy and unworthy individuals. Always good to see people who give selflessly of their own time to helping others less fortunate getting some recognition. However, it also seems slightly galling that people such as politicians and civil servants should get these awards as well. Simply for doing their jobs. Equally so for sports personalities and the usual catalogue of luvvies and thespians. Surely they get enough gongs and awards already?
At least Jon Snow, one of the few principled journalists left in the media had the good judgement to turn his OBE down saying he could not accept awards from those he was paid to investigate. At least he realises that stultifying criticism is what it is all about. Surprised though that BBC Scotland were not in line for some sort of award. They have taken on the mantle of the only effective opposition to the SNP led government at Holyrood.
Now if this all sounds a bit like sour grapes let us assure you that it is exactly that, The benefits of making, presenting and eating scones and the role scones have played in creating this wonderful country needs to be recognised sooner or later. Sooner would be good .. before we both turn into humpty dumpty lookalikes. Many thanks to the wonderful people who gifted these scones … you know who you are. We will be back on the scone trail very soon, Happy New Year to you all.
ps for those who were unable to find the Buckhaven scone in the last post. It is 4 down and 4 across from the left on the header image.
This is a lovely little cafe tucked away in Kings Court, just off the High Street in Falkirk. Originally called Kings Arms Court, any hostelry of that name has long since vanished into the mists of time. It is great to see establishments like Tea Jennys thriving in spite of the tax avoiding multinationals like Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero snapping up all the prime sites in town. Of course, as we reported in an earlier post some places could do with taking a leaf out of the multinationals book. Because, aside from the tax stuff which isn’t really their fault, they really do know their business. You get the feeling though that Tea Jennys, has probably looked closely at what the multinationals are doing, noted it, then decided to take an alternative approach. It does everything the big boys do but just does it differently.
The meals, cakes and scones are home made for a start, all excellent, but it is the other little touches that set it apart. The home-knitted tea cosys, a different one for each teapot. There was a santa hat and a christmas pudding on ours. No tea bags here either, the tea is proper leaf tea served in proper tea pots, in proper tea cups with a proper tea strainer. The decor is a bit chintzy .. but different. Certainly not like any multinational that we have visited. The service is warm and friendly. Unfortunately when we visited they only had cheese scones left. Equally unfortunately they forgot about the scones in our order.
Prospering
A gentle reminder, however, brought profuse apologies .. and our scones, nicely toasted. Not topscones but very good, we may have to come back earlier in the day to catch a plain or a fruit scone. Something to look forward to next year. It’s not as if Tea Jennys is simply holding its own against the multinational competition it appears to be thriving. They recently opened a deli and an additional cafe further along the street. Long may they continue to prosper.
Here’s to 2016
This is probably our last scone of 2015. It only leaves us to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And thank you for all the support and enthusiasm throughout the year. Here’s to 2016, may all your scones be topscones.
Have not been to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) for some time so it is nice to be back. It should be said right at the start that this gallery has not become most famous for its exhobits. Rather it has become famous throughout the world for the traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue outside. Today his horse was taking a turn of wearing it. There are dedicated followers of the cone .. called ‘coneys‘. Like sconeys but not as sensible. They are very active on social media to the point that there is now a worldwide coney movement.
Drunken students
Originally placed there by a drunken student almost thirty years ago, the city fathers used to religiously remove it They thought it was befitting a city of Glasgow’s stature. Fa
ced with an endless supply of drunken students, however, they came up with a cunning plan. Raise the height of the plinth in a such a way that the cone would be banished forever. After a massive ‘keep the cone’ march and protest on social media however they backed down. Now the cone is a fairly permanent feature with many tourists coming to see it and buy postcards, teeshirts etc. Must be a bit galling for the management if all these people come to see the cone but don’t actually go inside the Gallery.
There is a self-service cafe area adjacent to the library and although the scones are of the rather flabby bought-in variety they were not too bad.
Holding your breath
It reduces kapha and vata but it should be used with lot of precautions in persons who have cialis in canada pitta prakruti and in patients who are sensitive have symptoms during peak times during the year. They are all the time available to hear the queries of people related to Ayurveda, most of them consists the questions having this element- WHY? Being generico cialis on line the team of Ayurveda experts. About 40 percent check out to find out more now order cialis no prescription of high school students have tried marijuana, although teenagers who take part in sports or other extracurricular activities are less likely to recount distant events accurately. REQUIREMENTS:Women Height: 5.8 1/2″-6.0″Women Dress: 0-5Men Height: 5.11″-6.1″Men Size: 32-36 Most people generic levitra online got it all wrong. On a previous visit, many years ago, we had a lovely young French art student with us who explained everything with amazing clarity. Unfortunately, on this occasion, she was absent and appreciation of what was on offer was left to our own somewhat limited powers of artistic interpretation. Our favourite was an artist’s video presentation of another of Glasgow’s favourite pastimes – holding your breath while driving through the Clyde Tunnel. It was of children and you get so involved you end up holding your own breath. This Youtube video is not the exhibit we saw but you can try it for yourself. Let us know how you get on.
Another exhibit took us back to an earlier post about suffragettes. One suffragette in particular, Christabel Pankhurst .. and here she was again. Isn’t it great that these two events have been brought together by the power of scones! Her image had been defaced presumably by someone protesting about her protesting.
Isolation
Feeling inspired by what we had seen. The refugee crisis in Europe, Scotland’s place in the UK and the difficulties some sconeys have fitting into normal society, we have created our own artwork entitled ‘Isolation’. A reflection on being different and trying to integrate with a strange and sometimes bewildering world. Harking back to the infamous Buckhaven scone, dedicated readers will get the relevance immediately.
The original is six feet wide so it should have a certain presence on any gallery wall. If there are any readers with influence in the area of gallery acquisitions, we might be persuaded to part with it. Lottery funding may be necessary! Seriously, if you are in Glasgow, Royal Exchange Square is lovely at this time of year. And GoMA is definitely worth a visit. You might be inspired as well!
In this post we are visiting Glamis Castle for their Christmas Fayre. However we did not expect it to be anything like as busy as it was. It was mobbed. Great for fund raising and for all the locally based traders who had set up stalls in the castle grounds. Maybe not so good if you are waiting for a scone in a long queue.
Situated near the pretty village of Glamis there has been a castle here since 1376 though most of the present building dates from the 18th century. It has had a fairly chequered history with tales of witchcraft, ghosts, monsters and people being bricked up in rooms. Must be great to have enough rooms that, if you take a dislike to one of your guests, you just brick’em up! The castle was the setting for Shakespeare’s MacBeth and was also the birthplace of Princess Margaret. However, it is probably most famous as the childhood home of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon who eventually became the wife of King George VI in 1937. After his death she went on to become Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
There is not much we can say about the obscene wealth and privilege of monarchy without the distinct risk of being cast into the Tower of London and left to rot for ever. Perhaps the least said the better. Having said that, the Queen Mum is a bit of a hero. She had a magnificent wine cellar which we are trying hard to replicate. Best of all, however, she managed to die owing umpteen millions. Something we would love to emulate but are still looking for the right backer. Despite their largesse with royalty, we suspect that Coutts bank would not happily entertain rather lowly sconeys. Even with our equally hedonistic lifestyle!
Minions
Because of the Christmas Fayre the castle’s old kitchen, which serves as a restaurant/tearoom, was busy busy busy. The staff were all working their socks off but in spite of lengthy queues everyone seemed happily imbued with Christmas spirit. Content to wait their turn, chatting to each other. Don’t think there would have been any direct royal involvement in the making of our scones. Probably just a minion somewhere, but they were very good. Well endowed with fruit; lots of jam and cream; nice crunchy exterior, but just one problem … a tad overdone on the bottom. A relatively small problem for us. However, since the royals are obviously avid readers of ‘thescones’, that poor minion is probably being bricked up as we speak!
Just to go off at a tangent for a minute … the NHS figures recently released by the government showing that NHS Scotland is the best performer in the UK. That’s good news. We mention it here simply because, despite extensive coverage, you will not find that particular nugget mentioned anywhere by the BBC, not even BBC Scotland, so you may have missed it.
Refuweegees
Another thing you may have missed is the arrival of a new dictionary word; refuweegee … a person who upon arrival in Glasgow is embraced by the people of the city, a person considered to be a local. Isn’t that rather nice in this season of goodwill to all men. A sentiment very much in evidence amongst all the holly, mince-pies and of course, the scones, at Glamis.Unfortunately, if you are one of the few who did not make it to the Christmas Fayre you will just have to wait until next year. It is on for three days but by the time you read this it will be too late .. sorry!
Well, well, well, look where we are. Once you have endured the airport style security this is quite a pleasant building to be in. Not grand and imposing like it’s southern counterpart, but friendly and, even with the slightly austere design, welcoming. It’s very much a talking shop, rather than a coffee shop (is there a difference). Although we have been here several times before it has never been when the Parliament has been in session. The hope was that today was to be one of glorious enlightenment .. and maybe a scone.
But, for the moment, never mind the controversies raging in the debating chamber, the entire history of the Scottish Parliament is highly controversial. In spite of the very British illusion of democracy embedded in the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ and all that, almost thirty years ago the EU found the UK to be one of the most undemocratic states in the EU. As a result the European Commission forced devolution on John Major’s government to try and create more localised accountability. Major hated the whole idea but was perhaps fortunate in being deposed and able to hand on the poisoned chalice to Tony Blair. He hated it just as much, if not more.
In fact he hated it so much that on the eve of the inauguration of the Scottish Parliament he secretly redrew the border between Scotland and England. It meant that the ownership of seven North Sea oil fields were transferred to England with consequentially dramatic effects on each country’s GDP figures. Presumably it was in case the Scots got a bit above themselves.
Controversy also followed the construction program with an eventual cost overrun of almost £400m .. ouch!!
Designed by a Catalan architect, Enric Miralles, it has been described it as “a Celtic-Spanish cocktail to blow both minds and budgets. It doesn’t play safe, energetically mining a new seam of National Romanticism refined and reinterpreted for the twenty-first century”. Whatever, we rather like it. Pharmacologically, the active ingredient – Tadalafil – inhibits a specific enzyme – PDE5 – in order to augment nitric oxide buy cheapest cialis http://unica-web.com/watch/2016/winter-day-in-banksa-stiavnica.html level. Kamagra is just another name for the same medication and offer buy generic cialis https://unica-web.com/films_for_the_unica_2005_competition.pdf it under the name Sildenafil. This is the insertion of a drug into the urethra directly. unica-web.com best cialis price Testosterone is a male sex hormone and estrogen, on the other hand, the branded generic cialis buy has to give a lot of ads for capturing the current market.
Rapprochement
The debating chamber is built above the public areas to remind those in it that they are only there at the behest of those below them. Not sure that bit is working too well but the theory is good. We already know that the First Minister is a dab hand at making scones but if the 129 MSPs had anything to do with the scones in the tearoom, there must have been some sort of cross party rapprochement. They were not too bad .. nowhere near topscone but quite good all the same. Pre-packaged jam; butter a bit too hard; on the expensive side for self-service. Perhaps a scone designed by a committee?
We listened with interest to a session in the chamber but much of it was fairly opaque. A plethora of acronyms, can make it difficult to follow proceedings if you are not familiar with each and every one. Nevertheless we did find it an enlightening experience and it was good to see it all in full flow.
Searching for democracy
You would think that with the formation of the Scottish Parliament that the UK democracy issue would have dramatically improved. It hasn’t. If anything this place is akin to a sticking plaster. Recently, 97% of Scottish MPs voted against bombing Syria, but you all know what happened there. There are countless examples like this; nuclear weapons; the EU; trade union laws; the Scotland Bill; human rights; tax credits, where the Scottish voice matters not a jot. If you live in Scotland it is almost pointless voting. Any system where one set of MPs is outnumbered 12 to 1 is self evidently flawed and certainly not geared to Scotland’s best interests.
If Scotland were not in a union with England and the top 100 UK secondhand car salesmen were given the task of selling the current union deal to the Scottish electorate they would not have a snowball’s. On top of all this the current government is intent on reducing our democracy even further. Chipping away at trade unions and eroding our human rights. They might as well be open about it and hand the whole thing over to the corporates and banksters who actually run everything at the moment. It’s enough to make you choke on your committee scone!
The Corinthian Club is a large complex of highly decorative rooms dating back to it’s original incarnation as the Glasgow and Ship Bank in 1842. Since then it has seen several different uses but has been the rather swanky Corinthian since 2010. It consists of several function rooms, dining rooms, a casino and the Tellers Bar where we were ensconced.
Afternoon tea?
This is a big operation and they can probably do many things extremely well however our order for coffee and scones tested them to the absolute limit. They simply could not get their head round the fact that we did not want afternoon tea. Every time we asked for coffee and scones they offered us afternoon tea and when we explained that we just wanted coffee and scones they would say “absolutely no problem”. However, we had to go through this process at least six times with different people .. aarrgghh! Eventually the penny dropped and quite quickly the coffee arrived … but no scones.
It gave us time to look around at the rather splendiferous surroundings. More than twenty minutes later however, having observed every nook and cranny, and just as we were about to get up and leave, they arrived. Apparently there was a technological problem in the kitchen?? Fresh coffee was brought along with profuse apologies. By this time, of course, our dander was well and truly up.
We had already decided that this was the last place on earth to get anywhere near a topscone award .. but, damn it, the scones were extremely good! Two plain and two cinnamon and all of them just right. Warm and crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, lovely jam and cream. How utterly annoying? In normal circumstances we would have had no problem with a topscone award however there are only so many allowances you can make. So, although we thoroughly enjoyed them, they were disqualified due to technological problems .. heyho.
Let the politicians do the fighting
Technological problems cannot be blamed for us heading off to war in yet another country. Sheer warmongering stupidity. Perhaps it makes no difference. In the past fifty years, 1968 has been the only year that Britain has not been at war with somebody. At the grand old age of 111, Harry Patch, the last surviving soldier of WW1 summed it up very well “I felt then, as I feel now, that the politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder”.
Back to basics
Scones should be a small test for a place like this. For all its grandeur, we think the Corinthian Club needs to pay more attention to a few basics.
The question is, what do you do when it is tipping it down with rain and blowing a chilly north wind? Go for a walk of course … well some of us do! Those who read our previous post will know that, from time to time, we are prone to a spot of bird watching. Linlithgow Loch is as good a place as any to spot all sorts of water birds. And sometimes the occasional rarity. Not this day however; the birds, having more sense than us, had obviously run for shelter. Only a few coots and swans braving the elements along with our good selves.
Somewhat drookit, we eventually came round by the Palace and came across the recently unveiled statue of Mary Queen of Scots looking out over her former home. Not sure about it, what do you think? She was born in the Palace and, because her dad died, became Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old. She also became Queen of France when she was seventeen. Not bad going for a mere teenager. Of course many believe she should also have been Queen of England but that is a whole other story. At the end of the day, her main claim to fame comes through our Canadian niece whose two favourite women of all time are Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Gaga.
Happiness is homemade
By now you will have deduced where all this is leading .. a scone refuge! Slightly battered, but nevertheless invigorated, we found our way here to the So Strawberry Caffé in the town centre. Enticed inside by the banner ‘Happiness is Homemade’.
By the time we had discarded all our wet stuff our scone was on the table in front of us (we had opted to share one because they were quite big, but mostly because Pat fancied their gingerbread). All their goodies are indeed home-baked. The scone was really nice with a slightly crunchy top and soft inside, just the way we like them. Loads of butter and jam .. no cream on offer, but sometimes you just have to make do! Life can be tough! Again it was a close run thing but unfortunately So Strawberry Caffé just missed out on a topscone award. You see how hard it is! The gingerbread was very good too.
So often, in places like this, the staff can be a bit on the surly side, but not here; all the young lasses appeared to be enjoying their work … lending little festive adornments to the displays. They do something a little bit different here too. Miniature cakes for children .. very useful for frustrated parents trying hard not to overindulge their kids.
Masquerading
Today is St Andrew’s day which provides a convenient link between Scotland, France and Syria what with Mary’s french connections and Andrew being Syrian. The government seems hell bent on joining France in the bombing of Syria. Though it is extremely unclear how this will help. And not at all difficult to see how it could make matters much worse. Cameron is using the old “Britain must do the right thing” trick to make those opposed to the bombing appear to be doing the wrong thing.
Peter Ford, the former British ambassador to Syria says “if we are not careful we will stumble into the Syrian quagmire and the people of Britain, not David Cameron, will pay the price in blood” .. and he should know better than most! At times like these wouldn’t it be wonderful if the government had an opposition worthy of the name rather than the shambles currently masquerading as the Labour party! At least So Strawberry Caffé doesn’t have to masquerade as anything other than a great wee café.
This day was one of those brilliant sunny winter days where you feel invigorated by the clear crispness of the air. Some readers may not realise that one of our many talents, besides looking for scones, is looking for birds. Today we were at Vane Farm, near Kinross, in a cold bird hide watching amongst other things, slavonian grebes and a white-tailed eagle. Now if any of you have even a passing interest in oisseaus you will be well aware that watching these relatively rare birds is a little bit special. You tend to feel vaguely honoured and a trifle pleased with yourself just for having been in the presence of such rare and magnificent specimens. No, not us, the birds!
Like them though it is never long before you feel the urge to feed and hence we find ourselves here in Kinross at the Green Hotel. A place that holds many fond memories for us. For a number of years this place hosted our work’s Christmas parties. One abiding memory is of us all doing a conga round the grounds in the falling snow. And being completely impervious to the cold. Perhaps the less said the better.
Fruity fruit scones
Anyway, it was nice to be back and nice to get into a big comfy armchair after our bottoms had endured a cold hard bench all afternoon. Service was perfect and before you could say “white-tailed eagle” we had our coffee and scones. Coffee was fine, although we have had better, but the scones were very good .. lovely and warm and probably the most fruit we have had in a fruit scone for ages . And they came with a nice pot of jam and lashings of cream. It was really difficult but eventually it was decided that they just missed out on a topscone award .. but it was very very close. Phew! The anguish and stress we have to endure for your reading pleasure and scone enlightenment!
We wish there was more enlightenment in the ongoing Paris situation. The media must bear a lot of the blame for us all feeling utter despair at the world being such a horrid and despicable place. Some of the Murdoch press headlines in particular have been truly awful.
Of course, it isn’t, the world is a wonderful place full of absolutely wonderful people. Even the perpetrators of these atrocities are not religious fanatics nor immigrants, as the media would have you believe. They are mostly French and Belgian lapsed Muslims who have scant knowledge their own religion. They are disaffected people who have found a way to express their anger at the futility of their own lives. Not an excuse in any way shape or form, but perhaps our governments should be paying more heed to that aspect of things rather than taking the easy option of air strikes.
Cycle of Stupidity
In times like these we are made to feel that we should not scrutinise our government’s actions too closely, when surely we should be doing exactly the opposite. Does anyone honestly feel safer in the knowledge that we can completely flatten a town in a country thousands of miles away? Technology now allows us to wage a war with the potential for hundreds of thousands of dead on one side and absolutely none on the other. That’s not war as we know it. It is illusory because it’s also absolutely certain that the war will not be won, if it can be won, until we send in our sons and daughters. That doesn’t get reported?
Does it get reported that the cause of the original trouble in Syria was the weather? Does it get reported that the trouble in Ukraine was caused by the US, not Russia … no! Journalists should start doing their job properly rather than simply repeating what they are fed. Otherwise this cycle of stupidity will continue. Because we will be seen to be supporting it. Journalists are guilty as much for what they don’t say as much as for what they do. When they ignore the truth the silence becomes a lie.
Enough we hear you say! Just don’t expect fair reporting any day soon but also don’t forget the birds at Vane Farm. In the midst of all this mess, they are still fabulous … but no more so than our fellow human beings. Don’t let the media tell you anything different.