Saturday, 18th May, 2013.

At Last, Thought I

     I received an e-mail at one of my addresses.   The subject was loud and clear: “BURGER MADNESS!”.

At last, I thought, someone has found a connection between eating grease-burgers and one’s mental condition.   I have never been too sure what goes into those things one can buy at certain establishments, despite what it says on the label.

Alas, no.   It was yet another piece of junk-mail.   Perhaps, with its subject, “junk-mail” is an appropriate phrase.

Yet, There Is Sanity

     I have just been sent a newsletter by Plaid Cymru.   It’s great to have a leader like Leanne Wood.   The lady seems to know where she’s heading – an unusual thing in British politics these days.   And she does it without the bullying tactics which typified Thatcher.

The Party has just brought out “Plan C”, which contains the points which they feel important to Wales.   Here they are:-

1. Support full implementation of the Silk Commission Part 1 recommendations to give a future Welsh Government greater tools;
2. Start a ‘buy local’ campaign, including legislation to improve public procurement, as well as improving opportunities for Welsh based business within the procurement chain to create 50,000 new jobs;
3. A Business bank for Wales to support SMEs and with promotion of the Welsh economy as a priority;
4. A Green New Deal, supporting the green economy, including a GreenSkillsTechnicalCollege;
5. Support new infrastructure projects which create jobs now and increase connectivity, such as the Valleys Metro, and special purpose investment vehicles such as Build 4 Wales;
6. Make the most of our talents. Create apprenticeships and job opportunities by investing in training and working with both large and SME businesses and training providers to ensure that young people have market-ready skills. Tackle under-employment by supporting people into work, supporting higher value jobs, flexible working patterns and childcare assistance;
7. Promote co-operative and mutual forms of business, including social enterprises, to develop and improve business and entrepreneurial skills in our communities.

They make sense to me.

An Ill Wind?

     Am I the only one in Wales to have noticed the very strong winds we are having these days and which appear to be the norm now?

It seems only a few years since the prevailing wind for the part of Wales in which I live was North-Westerly – a wet wind, but predictable.

Now, there is no “prevailing” wind, because it blows from all sorts of directions at all times of the year.

The same applies to every part of our land:  there is no such thing now as a prevailing wind.

Another indication of Climate Change.   But there are still people who choose to believe it isn’t happening.

Saturday, 11th May, 2013

The People’s Verdict

     I have not mentioned the terrible news surrounding little April Jones in this column before.   I felt it would be inappropriate.

However, the news I’ve heard from the trial of the man accused of the abduction and murder of the child has been a topic of discussion throughout Wales and even beyond.

It seems that people everywhere have decided, from the facts given by the police, that the man is guilty as charged.   And the anger of our people – from all walks of life – is unbridled.

However, the question everyone seems to be asking is an important one:  what is to be done with him when, through the legal process, he is found guilty?

Certainly this man is not what we believe to be “normal”.   His mind operates differently to that of most folk.

Yet most of us feel that he must be punished, and that the punishment should fit the crime.

Let us see what is decided by the court.

An Unusual Item

     Unusual because, as regular readers know, I am the world’s least-interested-in-sport person.

However, I cannot but give my congratulations to Jade Jones and Ellie Simmonds, the two athletes from here in Wales who won Gold Medals at the 2012 Olympics.   For they have been honoured with an MBE and an OBE down there in Buck House, London.   It was presented to them by our own Prince of Wales, for whom we all voted when he put up for election last time.

Yes, I know there is no British Empire these days, but youngsters achieving great things set a standard for other youngsters.   And, goodness knows, we need to set high standards in these shoulder-shrugging, am-I-bothered days.

Thanks, girls, for your efforts – and, perhaps, making more people aware that this place called Wales is a nation separate from England.

Nothing Changes

     I travel a fair amount in Wales.   I enjoy the changing scenery, and meeting people from different parts of our land.   It’s great to see what’s happening and where.

But one thing never changes, it seems:  the bottleneck called Newtown in Powys.

In the space of about a mile, there are five sets of traffic lights.

That road through the town is the main thoroughfare from the English Midlands to West Wales.   So, as well as local traffic at rush hours – school-trips, people going to and from work, etc. – we have long-distance lorries and similar traffic struggling to get through Newtown.   You can add to that a lot of holiday-traffic throughout the Summer.

So that excellent town needs to find a solution, especially to the eleven minutes it took me to get through it other day.

Wonder if the powers that be will ever grasp that nettle?

Saturday, 4th May, 2013.

Whichever Way You Look At It . . .

   . . . the fact that Plaid Cymru have twelve seats in the Sir Fon Council is a victory.

The people of that delightful island – many would call it “Anglesey” – have shown that they are disillusioned with London politics.   They have seen, I think, that – whatever they call themselves – the Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Labour and Welsh Lib-Dems are an extension of their London-based parties.   Sticking “Welsh” in front of a name do not change its meaning.

There are about the same number of “Independent” Councillors now serving up there, too.   But the question must be asked:  are they Tory Independents, Labour Independents or Lib-Dem Independents?

So Plaid Cymru, a party born and bred in Wales, should be proud of the hard work its members put in while the campaign was running.   That work paid off admirably.

All that remains now, of course, is for Plaid to show what they can do for that area – for it will show what Plaid can do for the whole of Wales.   And it could be an important step in gaining independence from London control.

May I also congratulate Leanne Woods for that really excellent interview she did on Radio Wales this very morning?   She’s a real leader – and we need a few more of those in this age of lacklustre politicians.

Speaking In Tongues?

     To keep me smiling as I travel here and there in our land, I like to listen to Radio4Extra.   There, I find a miscellany of good programmes – especially comedy-shows.

Those comedies range from The Goons to the latest edition of The News Quiz, so we are well-blessed.

However, it has thoroughly irritated me to here announcers on the station talking about a Comedy Festival in a non-existent place called “Mah-hun-thleth”.

In fact, the annual Festival is taking place in Machynlleth.

     If English announcers can pronounce Loch Lomond with its Scottish “ch”, and if first-language Welsh-speakers can pronounce “Manchester”, “Birmingham” and “London” with no trouble, surely the BBC’s Pronunciation Department can teach announcers to pronounce a simple Welsh place-name like Machynlleth!

Saturday, 27th April, 2013.

Spend Locally

     On my travels recently, I paused a while in one of my favourite Welsh towns:  Lampeter.

It’s still a bustling little place, and there’s a large car-park where you can leave your car for as long as you like – for free.   That’s because, I was told, the car-park is on a patch of what was once common-land, so nobody actually own the space, nobody can demand money!

I was a little saddened, though, when I noticed quite a few shops have closed.   Lampeter’s whole shopping centre is really compact, so I suppose empty shops are more noticeable.

The biggest blow I had was to see that Conti’s café is “closed for alterations until further notice”.   And I so much wanted to sample the best ice-cream in Wales – and, therefore, the world.

One can only hope that such a Mecca for us ice-cream lovers will be altered quickly, with a massive space added to accommodate lots and lots of Conti’s superb ice-cream!

More Parking News

     I’ve mentioned before in this column a firm called ParkingEye.   They operate spy-cameras on car-parks in many parts of Britain.

Last year, a friend of mine won his case against paying ParkingEye a fine.   He lives near Aberystwyth where the area known locally as “Lidl’s Car-Park”.   And many drivers who have parked on the site have been issued with demands for fees because, it was alleged, they had remained there for more than the permitted two hours.

When my friend’s success was publicised in the press and on radio, people were advised to simply ignore any demand from ParkingEye.   So that’s what dozens of folk have done.

In the main, ParkingEye have not followed up their demand.   Indeed, I know of a few people who have ignored their demands for over a year.

Yet my friend heard of a local man who ignored a demand and who has had letters from a firm called Debt Recovery Plus, threatening to take him to court if he does not pay up quickly.

My friend is giving help and support to the man, and the local MP and newspaper are being kept informed.   And so will you be, dear reader, via this column.

Why?

     Newport’s railway-station has had a face-life costing twenty-two million pounds.

The new, “futuristic” styled roof leaks.

Saturday, 20th April, 2013.

More Livestock Deaths

     While so many people are in denial about the Climate Crisis, livestock in Wales is dying.   That’s due to the strangest Winter for many a long year.

You will know about the thousands of sheep and lambs which died, mainly in North-East Wales, due to the heavier-than-normal snows.   Those snows were much later than normal, too.

This week, we heard of wild ponies – left free to wander the moors – dying due to the strange weather days.   Those animals are, according to a report I heard, of a very ancient breed.   It is a breed from which many thoroughbred horses have stemmed.

And it is due to unusual weather.   Do not be fooled:  we are in Climate Crisis.

Measles

     Measles, from what I remember from my own childhood, is not a very pleasant disease.   It can leave the patient with brain-damage, impaired eyesight and other very debilitating things.

And there is a measles epidemic in Swansea.   Sadly, one Swansea man has died due to the disease.

The epidemic seems to be spreading, too – across South Wales and into Mid-Wales.   So MMR jabs are being offered in those areas.   Schools are involved in the publicity.

However, it seems that parents are not responding to the news of either the epidemic or of the MMR jabs being offered.

Yes, I know the dangers of such injections have been publicised.   But should not parents really think about the whole thing and act upon what their own common sense tells them?   It’s mainly children who are at risk.

Saturday, 13th April, 2013.

Lest We Forget

     You would not expect me to ignore the passing of Margaret Thatcher.   I shall say as little as possible, though, for it is not in me to rejoice over the death of anyone – whether I liked them or not.

The real truth about her regime was not reported accurately in the British media, for that was – and is – controlled by the rich.   Her divisive tactics split the nation between the minority who were rich and the majority who were poor.

The Miners’ Strike was ill-reported.   Those strikers took action to let the nation know what was going to happen to the mining-industry.   Their leader, Arthur Scargill, was demonised by the media.

But a strike cannot go on as long as that one did without the strikers being convinced that they were doing the right thing.

I am so glad that I contributed to those strikers and their families here in Wales.

There will be street parties all over The Valleys in the next week.   The miners taught their children well – taught them the truth about the reasons for the strike and of the real cause of the reported violence on the picket-lines.

I trust you will teach your own children the truth about the Thatcher years.

The Epidemic Continues

     There was much resistance to the MMR vaccine a few years back.   Mothers thought it could have a harmful effect on their children.   So not all children were vaccinated.

Now, the measles epidemic has spread.   Swansea is still having cases reported and Powys is worried that it may have spread their way.

It is said that it will continue to spread for another month.

Yes, there should be choice in these matters.   But, it seems now, that the MMR vaccine is the only way, currently, of curbing the epidemic.

That must mean that there is no real choice.

Remember

     Lots of people have been invited to next week’s big show in London.   It would be good for us to remember who attends – then we can have some idea of which side those people’s bread is buttered.

One of those attending will be Carwyn Jones, the First Minister in our Assembly Government.   That must be his choice.

This column salutes Neil Kinnock who will be attending the funeral of a friend in South Wales instead, and salutes all who have turned the invitation down.

Saturday, 6th April, 2013.

Vox Populi

     A friend of mine who lives here in Wales posted this on his Facebook.   You can tell how incensed he is – along with many other people in our land – at the way the Wasteminster government is working (or not working, perhaps).   What he says is what I hear, in one form or another, right across Wales.

“Why hasn’t Iain Duncan Twit put his money where his mouth is, ridded himself of his current material trappings for a while – and shown us BY EXAMPLE that it’s possible to live on fifty-three quid a week?
“Spoke with a chap yesterday who works darned hard for a living – long hours and heavy work. He and his Family have lived in the same Council House for decades. His daughter was brought up in that house.
“Now he’s so proud that his daughter is at University.
“BUT that means he has a spare room. So he may have to move from the Family home, and even from the local community.
“Both Iain Duncan Twit’s failure to show us by example and the foul way the hard-working chap is being treated have the same cause: the ******* Tories – or whoever controls them – are up to their usual tricks and oppressing the working-class.
“Remember, oh, remember who you are, good people.
“(Yes – I am a Nasty Leftie. And a very angry one! Up The Revolution!)”

     Could Wales be any worse as an independent nation?

Signs Of The Times

     In Wales, due to the elongated Winter, thousands of lambs have died.

This is a tragedy for most of our very hard-working farmers.   Their livelihood is threatened.   They are demoralized to see the work they’ve put in wasted.

“Oh,” Those-Who-Know-What’s-Best-For-Us are telling us, “these things happen.   The planet is going through another of its climate-change phases.   It’s happened a lot over the centuries.”

And that’s it:  eat, drink and be merry, for all is well.   There is no Climate Crisis.   The greed and self-seeking of those with vested interests have caused no change to Mother Earth, even with the enormous amounts of pollution their profit-making has caused – and is still causing.

You and I recycle more and more these days.   We are encouraged to do so by our County Councils.   That’s a good thing.

And it’s made us more aware of the plight of this beautiful land of Wales and of our planet.

But, until those profit-at-any-price merchants are brought to heel, Wales and the world remains under threat.

Wonder if our much loved and respected Prince of Wales will visit our land and chat with our farmers – and even help them to get some sort of emergency-funding . . . ?