First Lockdown anniversary Day of Reflection

We are alone with our thoughts and also not alone. We are all in this together.  The world has closed in on us.  Its been hard to comprehend the scale of this deadly virus, or where it all will lead us.  

Its been an opportunity too, to reassess what really matters in our lives. The daily walks have helped a great deal and reconnecting and appreciating nature in a new way, as we never did before. There’s been the pain of missing family and the distance between us, and wondering when we can meet again. If there will be a day we can hug again.

 

There’s been the zoom chats to keep contact alive. There’s been anger at the stupidity and incompetence of leaders, who pretend they are following the science.

And we are not alone we know the entire world is suffering and fighting this virus too. We must figure it together.

Richard Holloway speech to Scottish Parliament

He quoted Albert Camus -There are more things to admire than despair over. He expressed his gratitude for all the healers – the Doctors and nurses and scientists and care workers, who refused to bow to Covid. Gratitude for those who have guided us through the darkest days.

Another virus is political authoritarianism, which is spreading across the world and has killed the life of freedom (Isaac Berlin) Disagreements are vital – they are rival versions of good, allowing disagreements to keep us free. Democracy is hard, he said and he expressed gratitude to the Scottish parliament for allowing disagreements to flourish. 

 

 

There are many people we need to thank – Nicola Sturgeon and her hard work and consistent messaging that kept us going every day. The health adviser, particularly Jason Leith and Linda Bauld

Those who kept vital services going, particularly the health workers who were often stretched beyond their very limits. 

The scientists who strove so hard to develop safe vaccines. And particularly the children and young people who’ve had their lives disrupted. 

Empty Princes street Edinburgh

Some of us have suffered more than others. And we must remember all who have lost loved ones and not be numb to the dreadful death totals – with the UK the highest number.

 

We have become numb to certain feelings, not in a good way: because we must learn lessons for the future. At times we may feel in a time loop! We must understand its now essential to reduce pollution, reduce dairy and meat intake, reduce unnecessary travel, and buy local. And understand economic growth is not all its made up to be. There are other routes to leading productive and healthy lives. We must be prepared for any future pandemic (and there will be one) – and next time take swift action which protect lives and economies - and shut borders. 

People put rainbows and other messages in their front windows. 

One of the best memories from the first Lockdown last year was the wonderful clear air, the quiet skies, less noise pollution and the perfect blossom. I thought, this was what the world was like once, before all the pollution, the unnecessary air travel, the dirty chemicals and pesticides spewed into our rivers, the fumes that kill in our air. Instead we were able to hear the enriching bird song.

 

 

Pandemic 2020

The pink blossom and yellow daffodils are now out: the days are longer, brighter and hopeful of renewal. Spring opens and warmer breezes fill the air. As if by some strange irony, the world news is filled with a deepening gloom with this coronavirus - with lockdowns, deserted streets, death tolls, empty shelves. People must now work from home. And I worry for our frontline medical workers and that the NHS will be unable to cope.

We were fooled believing somehow we were protected, when in our interconnected world disease spreads even faster. France, Italy and Spain are now in lockdown in this fast moving situation. Many businesses  will be hit – first tourism: flights, hotels, restaurants, bars;  retail; culture and the arts, with theatre, museums, cinema, festivals, concerts - all closing. While some businesses are essential and will keep going – food, medical, drugs, energy.

Young people and children may mostly be okay, so life will continue. For those over 60, they must work at home and self–isolate. Why were the UK schools kept open so long as a babysitting service, when most other countries have closed schools? Children may not be getting as ill, but schools are major places of spreading viruses. Many school staff and children have been staying away, so schools weren’t functioning properly.

There is an eerie, unfamiliar silence, as people prepare for the worst of times ahead, with oddly empty shelves, grounded aircraft, silent airports and train stations and quiet city streets. I’m glad on Monday that the UK government changed its tac after Imperial College London advised them that their “washing hands and carry on” policy advice of last week wasn't enough.

My two older children are frontline hospital doctors, so I won't be able to see them. I'm worried too about what they are going to have to deal with soon. It makes us all realise who the important workers really are - and many are women and the carers. Can we have a rethink about what capitalism is really all about? It all feels like being in one of those catastrophic movies that we might have foreseen. I’ve heard odd things being said on the tv - one BBC commentator said, "its not often we see health emergencies like this!"

Now is the time to think urgently about planning Scotland’s supplies. Most of our food and more comes via long trucks that trundle all the way over from Dover, and then on long haul motorways all the way through England. How can we gain practical independence this way? Scotland used to have many busy ports to the Americas, Ireland and Europe – via the shipping ports of Ayr, Irvine, Glasgow Leith, now all silted up. If we depend on food from England, we cannot be truly independent.

When we see what is happening in Italy, where the over worked doctors are unable to cope and its likely the scenes in Italy will repeat here. The English have this odd sense that somehow they are protected, that they are uniquely special. I fear we in the UK have learnt no lessons and are acting far too slowly. On the news last night people in London were packing themselves into shops and tube trains: one lady even claimed she was out and about because she wasn’t going to let this virus defeat her! Sorry but this virus has never heard of the Dunkirk spirit! Clearly some people pay no attention to any news items. Britain may be an island but in todays interconnected world we will not be immune.

Thank goodness for the internet and being able to keep in touch! How was life before? Among it all the Italians continue to sing. Life will never be the same again.

Save our Scottish Venues

 **An online music festival featuring some of the biggest names in Scottish music has been organised to help save struggling venues amid the coronavirus crisis. **

“Save Our Scottish Venues festival”, organised by the Music Venues Trust (MVT) has pulled together performances from

 KT Tunstall, Wet Wet Wet, Fatherson, Honeyblood and Be Charlotte. 

The event is taking place this Friday 19^th June across three 'stages' and will be streamed live. 

Money raised through ticket sales will go towards helping venues including the Glad Cafe, Audio, Slay and Ivory Blacks in Glasgow. Curated by Music Venue Trust through the #SaveOurVenues campaign.

Ticket buyers will be directed to a streaming link to watch the performance.  DONATE: 100% of the donations will be divided equally amongst Scottish Venues!! You can donate here >>
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/saveourvenuesscotland

£5 for access to the live event, including hopping between stages. It is £8 for access to all of the sets for an extra 48 hours after the festival ends:  - www.universe.com/events/save-our-scottish-venues-tickets-edinburgh-307Q9X

You can also purchase tickets through crowdfunder which will mean that we do not have to pay an admin fee: -  www.crowdfunder.co.uk/saveourvenuesscotland

SWG3 to transform Galvanizers Yard into huge outdoor food and drink venue

https://www.ents24.com/online-events/online-streaming-events/save-our-scottish-venues/

Joe Smillie, creative director of The Glad Cafe, says he has ‘no idea’ where the venue would be without help from MVT.

Speaking to Glasgow Live , he said: “It’s hard to think about the future right now while things are uncertain. “How are we supposed to open safely without extra support from the government? If we are to maintain social distancing, this obviously reduces our capacity thus massively affecting our bottom line which was already on a tightrope. How do we balance our incomings and outgoings with significantly reduced capacity?

“If we are asked to implement one way or traffic light systems, screens, soap stations, etc. how can we, as a cash-poor business, be expected to fork out for this in time for reopening and when we are supposed to start paying our staff’s wages again? “I feel that for such a financially wealthy country, the UK has really made a lot of money from the arts while neglecting its artists and venues and it is about time they did something to help them.”

For now, the venue is considering taking its events program online and reopening the café and restaurant while the rest is figured out.

“We’ve been applying to every grant that is supposedly on offer so we can reopen safely. We’ve also tried to stay engaged with our customers. We’ve held a six-week online course in Ableton Live - a music-making computer programme - with a grant we received from Creative Scotland.

“Our very popular open mic night that runs once a month has gone online too and they’ve run three very successful virtual events that have been live-streamed. These are all on our YouTube page.

"All the while we’ve been running Crowdfunder pages, meeting regularly with our board of directors and staff and attending webinars run by Creative Scotland, Music Venues Trust and the government. Zoom fatigue is real.

Save our Planet to save Lives

In recent centuries humans have been disturbing the world’s natural habitats and wildlife – destroying forests, depleting fish stocks, burning fossil fuels, polluting our air. There are much fewer butterflies or insects and under many tress there is a dead undergrowth. Now we’ve disturbed the habitat of bats, which has led to several recent world pandemics – SARS, Mers, Ebola, Swine flu and now Covid-19. And this will continue, unless we all change our attitudes to selfishness and growth. 

The world has trillions (yes not billion, trillion!) wealth in secret offshore accounts – what purpose is this money achieving? Meanwhile we have children starving. Things are totally out of balance. There were signs of reform after the war, but since the 80s inequalities have soared to unprecedented levels. 

We need more answers from the UK government. Is Boris Johnson and his Brexiteer, inexperienced team, putting their ideologies before saving lives? If so, is this not criminal? Its been reported they ignored an EU scheme to bulk buy ventilators and now also several opportunities to bulk buy PPE through the EU. Two of my children work in the health service and I worry for their safety in these perilous times. We would not send troops into battle without the proper protections or equipment (or would we?).

Most of our carers are women – nurses, doctors, mothers, care homes, childcare, cleaners – I hope this isn’t part of the reason they are paid less then other jobs? Even our doctors UK are paid a lot less than doctors in other countries. Its time we valued their dedicated work by paying them better and not just by hand clapping.

Germany’s president Frank Walter Steinmeir, urged solidarity both domestically and internationally. He said Germany will only be strong and healthy after this crisis if its neighbours also emerge well. “This crisis is not a war but rather a test of our humanity.” By contrast the UK government uses war like language of a ‘Dunkirik spirit’ or ‘fighting enemies’. England appears to believe as an island through the war we are somehow uniquely special and protected and many here appear to be in shock. We only won the war through co-operating with other nations and without American equipment we would have been defeated. Trump may provide a highly unwelcome narrative, but in the States, its at the local level people make most decisions. The federal government only decides on federal roads, foreign policy. Each state has separate laws, taxes Etc. 

I read Mark Franklands open letter to Nicola Sturgeon on his blog suggesting that world leaders consider a 90% tax on this €30 trillion hidden money, to help pay for the economic cost of  this coronavirus. He suggests it should not be the poor that have to pick up the tab for the cost of this virus with taxes and cuts to services. London is the world’s capital of corruption, illegal money. Also UK government does nothing to protect indigenous business, as other countries do. 

There are many debates on capitalism vs socialism – both are out-of-date with todays realities. We need both - as Sweden, Germany and other countries show. There is good and bad capitalism – it is good to base an economy on small businesses that manufacture or offer valuable services, that give an economy a solid base. What is not good, is to base an economy on the false roulette of financial markets and people sitting on London properties. I don’t want any kind of socialism either, with its central and often incompetent control of an economy. But I would like to see well-being policies of decent childcare, health service, education and infrastructure to support a diverse and innovative business sector. 

Just last year young people took to the streets to begin the fight to save our planet, led by Greta Thunberg. It’s too late for empty words. I believe the only way forward is by small indy nations fighting back against the global elites!  That’s why Scottish Independence matters so much. Its not about some notion of Scottishness, it s about how we are best governed and how our voices can be heard. Reformers have been fighting for this since Burns wrote, a Mans a Man for A That, against those who sell their souls for a pot of gold. In their fights against greed and selfishness. He also wrote – Parcel of Rogues and Tree of Liberty. 

There are signs of hope – more people are cycling, more are reducing meat intake, more work at home, more people want to buy local. Its great to see families cycling on our quiet roads – is this the way forward? Any drugs or vaccines are only short term fixes, we must cure the source of these serious threats. More people die from air pollution, asthma and allergies than ever before.  If this virus has taught us anything, its that we depend on each other. We must urgently save our planet to save our own lives. I look at my grandchildren’s young faces and I hope there will be signs of hope for their lives..

All Edinburgh Festivals 2020 Cancelled due to virus

All of Edinburgh Festivals 2020 are cancelled: and will not take place for the first time in 70 years. 

The Edinburgh FRINGE, ARTS, INTERNATIONAL, BOOK & FILM (plus the Tattoo) festivals are cancelled due to the coronavirus. Devastating if not unexpected news. I attend every year, what will I do August?
Edinburgh’s five August festivals, welcome audiences of more than 4.4 million people and 25,000 artists.

Shona McCarthy, the chief executive of the Fringe Society, said the decision had not been taken lightly. She also held out hope that they would find ways of “uniting people” under a fringe umbrella .What will happen to funding, performers, shows and tickets? Lets hope the festivals of 2021 will come back even more renewed.