Top of the news.

3 October

Last night we both though we were coming down with a bad head cold, but this morning it’s not so bad at all, for which we are thankful. Now on to the rest of it …

Well now, that’s tonight’s dinner sorted, chip batches again, and for tomorrow, roast lamb seeing as Kile said he likes it. That’s fine, I like lamb too and Jan is OK with it occasionally. So now I need to get on and do this and then get on and do some writing, even if Kile is here. Strange really; I usually like quiet when I write but when he and Jan are playing on the Wii I can just ride over it and get on with the job. Just one short job of sorting out my desk before I start writing and then I’ll be of with it.

I caught wee snippet of news on telly earlier which said that the hole under the Channel has been closed down because of a mass invasion of the on the French side entrance. It seems that the illegals are upset because they are not at the top of the news agenda right now, at least that’s my thought on it. However, I have been having think about it and why these people want to come here in the first place.

It’s claimed that most are ‘economical’ migrants, and not genuine refugees. Actually, there’s a lot of truth in that methinks. But is there really? Well, some of them are supposed to have paid thousands of pounds to get where they are, and are willing to pay even more to get into the UK from France. If they are able to raise that sort of money in that place where they are not supposed to be able to make enough to live on, then their life there isn’t so bad at all. I wish I could raise that sort of money! So what is the truth of it then? I have a feeling that there are a lot of politics in there, and a good bit of religious persecution too. But you know what; in this time we live in, I’m starting to think how many of them are perhaps terrorists trying to get here to spread their message of hate.

We should be used to all these terror plats by now. It seemed to be a weekly occurrence that somewhere in the UK there was an attack by the IRA, which kept them at the top of news bulletins. So later when Mad Maggie sent a Task Force to win back the Falklands, the IRA dropped down the news list for weeks on end. Their response was a two bombs in London, One in Hyde Park and one in Regent’s Park. That put them back at the top of the news for a time. However, they did lose quite a bit of support and backing in the US over it.

When the Golf War kicked off in 1990, it was perhaps surprising that with news being more or less totally taken up by it, that there was nothing from the IRA. Perhaps they had learned something after the 1982 bombings. However, they made up for it in 1993 when a truck bomb went off in Bishopgate in the heart of the City of London. The Butcher’s Bill wasn’t so high this time with only one death and 40 injured. It’s the rebuilding cost over £1bn though.

The human and animal cost that time wasn’t so high, yes, but you know what? The Bombers won in the end, at least mostly. In 1997 Terrible Tony took over from Mumbling Major and eventually brought most of the killing to a stop. I say most of killing, it’s still going but perhaps not as often as it was. Our daughter Lynda lives over there and we have visited her a couple of times and I have to say that even though it feels safer, but I was still ill at ease while I was there. Most of Protestants I’ve spoken say things have swung too far towards the Republic side.

It’s a sad state of affairs there, even now. Ulster is a really beautiful place but I was still sure I could feel anger and distrust in some areas we were in. We took a lot of photos while we over there, and here’s one for today’s photo … 

Part of the coastal area of Ballycastle.

No funny again today, just another of my dad’s favourite sayings …

With the price of spuds the way they are, we’ll soon be eating chips!