The Year of Young People 2018

SCOTTISH YOUTH THEATRE

There will be programs and festivals to celebrate young people's voices this year.

I attend Celtic Connections festival every January in Glasgow and enjoy the diverse mix of cultures and music. One of the most interesting aspects is the platform the festival offers young emerging talent –

*The young musicians who drew attentions this year –  Talisk, Siobhan Miller, Siobhan Wilson, Friel Sisters,  Rura, Alasdair Roberts, Kathryn Joseph, Misha Macpherson. Elephant sessions, Saltfishforty.I have also been reading of the backward looking Brexit nonsense – young people did not vote for these poorer futures – 16 and17 years olds were not allowed to vote in the 2016 referendum.

It’s a tough world for young people these days. Many have no prospects of ever owning their own home or ever having a pension. I worry many are distracted by online game playing too! MEANWHILE many pensioners spend their massive drop downs on holidays and renovating homes. The UK depends on this false London housing bubble that will surely burst.

With Brexit there are very serious issues over the Northern Ireland border and Scottish rights. I read of a British/Irish Convention which sat 10 years ago, which addressed questions such as the Irish language. There is talk of holding another convention over the question of a hard border. Westminster purposes an electronic border but is this really workable?

My first thought was - bring in the teenagers, students, twenty year olds to discuss what kind of future they want. There is far too much emphasis on what the old want, and it is not their futures.

This could most certainly is not be about out dated empire building or 300 year old European religious wars. Many young people are very angry and their futures are being neglected by selfish baby boomers and their large drop downs.   

Our links to Europe – There are the great European literary traditions from Greece to Rome, to the Renaissance through the Reformations. 

The latest Brexit is that May wants to leave the EU customs union and single market – in order to join a new EU customs non -frictionless trade arrangement where the UK can make their own rules on certain things and abide by the EU rules on others? First we’re in Europe with Opt Outs now out of Europe with Opt Ins! What’s really going on. Scotland never voted for this foolish Brexit, it makes me angry and sad. 

 SAVE SCOTTISH YOUTH THEATRE - http://scottishyouththeatre.org/support-us/

Apparently the significant Scottish Youth theatre is to loose its funding., in the Year of Young People. 

‘We need to remind ourselves that,  as Europe is a whole (and still, in it progressive mutilation an disfigurement, the organism out of which any world harmony must develop) so European literature is a whole, the several members of which cannot flourish, if the same blood-stream does not circulate throughout the whole body.

The blood-stream of European literature is Latin and Greek – not as the systems of circulation, but a one, for it is through Rome that our parentage in Greece must be traced.’   TS Eliot lecture to Virgil society 1944

  

Borders and Maps

Old Map of Europe with far fewer countries

The UN states – ‘peoples have the right to self-determination. There is no reason for a majority in a country to subjugate an unwilling minority. ‘The UN had 51 seats in 1945 and in 2017 now has 193. Change has been towards the smaller nation states.

The Kurds were divided up by Britain and France – as spoils of the Ottoman empire and the Provinces after WW1. This year both the Kurds and Catalonians were recently voting for their independence. Shockingly the Spanish government used brute force to try to prevent the Catalan vote. The BBC was not reporting on this either. The difference between a "made-up country" and an "authentic nation state" is that the real nation is like a centuries old tree with deep roots and many branches.  

A century ago a map of Europe in 1914 before WW1, there were far fewer countries in Europe – when three huge empires were shrunk in size - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Germany had then included parts of Poland, France, Denmark, Belgium and Lithuania. 

Dutch tycoon Freddy Heineken in 1990 wrote of a ‘Eurotopia’ of small countries of between 10m and 5m.

In todays Internet world of fast media and connections and improved communications (radio, tv) and fast travel – and we don’t need centralized control anymore.

Do we need empires anymore? The direction of travel today is towards the smaller nation states in a bigger trading block and away from `empire building. 

Europe today with far more nation states

Excellent letter in the National - saying the difference in Catalonia is that they have control of their media, a truly devolved region unlike Scotland. Compared to the problem here in the '2014 Scottish Referendum' - when Westminster controlled all the media, all th print  press here and all the unionist parties too. What hope had we? I remember my son saying, how could we have self determination without any media? I met a Norwegian film maker in Edinburgh, and I was explaining to him that Scotland, unlike Norway, has no oil fund. He asked where did the money go - he may well ask!? I told him Shetland has an oil fund though...

http://www.maps-of-europe.net/old-maps-of-europe/

PS 

Is 'take back control' really about - take back control to Westminster from the devolved governments

Scottish Broadcasting channel

Well, this is a shock! – announcement that the "Scottish Six" will not happen and then a few days later an announcement of a "Scottish BBC TV channel!"

I assume this is to keep the Anglicized Scots Yoons happy who love the union.

For 20 years a Scottish Six has been discussed, planned for and pilots made. There is a wealth of creative and journalistic talent here in Scotland. The BBC spends Scotland 55% of license money raised here – which compares to 75% for N Ireland, 100% England, 100% Wales. It’s been a scandal quite obviously!! This will increase License spend here to around 68%. There has been a dearth of Scottish Arts and Review programs.

The English news programs talk of BRITAIN as meaning England or Brenland – there is never any mention of the Scottish NHS or education being any different. Scottish news is totally ignored (such as the junior doctor strike).

The English-based national news does not serve Scotland – it is full of English only relevance on Brexit etc. The BBC ethos has been primarily is to promote the idea of a “united” UK and the concept of “Britishness”. The BBC often appears to be an Arm of the State. The Anti-Scotland Unionists are of course up in arms over the news! STV were also planning a Scottish news program. Why on earth can't we in Scotland be good neighbours without being run from London?

I read that the region of Catalonia has 4 TV channels, at a spend of £300m! A 24 hour news channel, a culture channel, a sports channel and a children's channel!!

As the InyRef looks likely it is very telling that the SBC will not start until autumn 2018!

Will we have NO media to cover IndyRef.

Independent Voices

It is important to listen to the ordinary person in the street to have good governance. On the Questions of information and Truth.

Most of us all agree with immigration of International students or scientists.

Most of us also agree about limiting uncontrolled immigration - that is too many unskilled coming all at once. Now we have to try to find common ground – is that possible? I listen to Leavers from Wakefield on the BBC Question Time who simply want out as fast as possible.  OUT of the single market without it seems any thought to trade tariffs. I assume the plan is trade with China or US instead. Meanwhile Trump plans his own US isolationism and protectionism and this doesn’t look so promising.

The Brexiteers claim they did extensive research during the EU Debates – where? – in Rupert Murdoch’s press, Facebook fake news, in TV Debates? I listened to many EU debates and I thought they were dreadful and misleading. Their conclusions are that Europe is robbing them of jobs. How is Europe to blame for lack of investment in the English NHS and education or the infrastructure (outside of London). Farage admits the bus saying 350m a week for NHS was simply a lie. 

Some ask – how can we find truth anyway/!

I did research too and came to different conclusions. I read editorials in both the right wing Times (Murdoch), Herald (independent), National (non Murdoch’s press), listened to debates on the BBC Newsnight and Scotland 2016. It is crucial to obtain as diverse news as possible, in a country where one person controls such a huge chunk of the UK Press.

Meanwhile May heads to Poland, Japan and India in the hopes of finding support. These countries want movement of skilled people and access to universities above trade of goods or services. Where does that leave England (and with Scotland being dragged along behind) then?

Britain no longer has a captive Commonwealth to do easy trade deals with. Cutting ourselves off from Europe – when we have centuries of connections and history – doesn’t seem advisable, either for prosperity, business, cultural exchanges, research and investment business or trade.

Scotland wants none of this isolationist movement – we want more connections not less. For Scotland our diversity, free thinking and interconnectedness is what has made our nation creative and innovative over the centuries. The last thing we would wish to do is to close doors.

I read recently Jim Sillars views that Scotland could do well on the Norway model, in the efta (European Free trade association)

They are consulted and agree to some of the EU directives. (So I decided to research Norway’s history, another BLOG)

The EU discussion on this Question Time seemed alien and nasty. However when they talked of the HR2 train the discussion became real at last – and they spoke of how all this money spent in London does little good for those in the north of the country.

The most significant arguments for the EU I read from political commentators – were those Freethinking, Individual voices. More than ever we need these independent free thinkers. Don’t believe 98% of political talk – its all jargon and manipulations. In fact Lies are the name of the game the more sensational the better...where are the people of substance?

Three criterion for decent press.

Range and variety

Freedom to speak the truth.

Success in revealing society (On one level how they speak and believed. On another level how a country functions politically, economically, culturally.)

**CHILCOT report TODAY – AFTER 7 YEARS.!!

**CHILCOT report TODAY – AFTER 7 YEARS.!! Resulted in dreadful misery in Iraq and around the world.

“”People who walk past the ‘HOUSES OF POWER’ – have to realise that they do have a VOICE.  Our sons and brothers killed in Iraq are no longer here – but we will be their voice now.”

Teflon Tony - he's a great actor. 

The report claims Blair knew what he was doing and the certainty of WMD threat was ‘not justified’ and you cannot go to war for regime change. Also the soldier's equipment was poor. 

**The CHILCOT report TODAY –

Hidden today and brought out the day Andy Murray plays Wimbledon and 2 semi-finals Euro 2016.  (They also buried Hunt's imposing the Junior doctors contract today! ) Unbelievable. KEEP THE MASSES HAPPY and ignorant.

Tony Bliar says "he had to make decisions" - what he means was - he was able to be a "Dictator" who never even consulted his Cabinet. He LIED in Parliament about the weapons. He was warned repeatedly about the risks of going to war.

And what of Bush are Americans happy with the shambles left in the middle east?

Bliar knew what he was doing.  The thousands of women and men and children who died, died for no reason.

The families hope that lessons will be learnt and that any action to war must be rigorously debated.

One father. said “I can only conclude my son died in vain.’  And we reserve the right to take all parties to court. “

Families asked to meet Tony Bliar face to face – one sister asked for Blair look me in the eye.

The Chilcot Report says that Bliar knew he was misrepresenting the truth.  Bliar says – I took it I good faith and in what I believed was the best interest of the country.

He wrote to Bush in April 2002, “I will be with you whatever.”  

The Labour MP Clare Short  claimed – ‘Everything before the war by Tony Bliar was kept totally secret – unbelievable. London Government needs to change, totally undemocratic. No minutes taken, in informal system..  Need to tighten up conditions taken to go to war. “Bliar would hang onto Bush’s ankles and the government would hang on to Bliar’s. “

Blair defends that he was right to topple Saddam.  The  Chilcot report says that the certainty of WMD threat  was ‘not justified’.  You cannot go to war for regime change.

We pay our LICENCE Fees for a 'State Controlled' Tv channel that tells us LIES!! Blair's actions as a dictator costs the lives of thousands.

 “Blair is the biggest terrorist, “

Blair gave a press conference straight after - he should be given an Oscar as a Great Actor!

 *     *       *       *

Bliar is a LIAR - fool, an amateur and a con man – he is spineless, deluded, stupid, shallow, blind. He did not listen and decided a year before the Iraq war when he told Bush he would support him – and he did not upgrade the army’s equipment. Never mind about the soldiers lives then? Apparently they did not even have mobile phones.

I will never forget marching for Peace up to Hyde Park rally London. Some were dancing for peace. I wondered about this war and what was it really  for?