Big brother is watching you...

Late last week, I watched in amazement as two Environmental Wardens, appointed by City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) to pounce on litter louts and other heinous criminals , marched into the reading rooms of the National Library, in hot pursuit of a felon. Eventually, and in front of bemused readers, they cornered a young man, and handed him a £50 spot fine for his crime, which was... discarding a cigarette end in the street outside. Those who have recently visited the area around George IV Bridge here in Edinburgh will know that it is fast becoming a wasteland of takeaway food outlets, pubs and clubs - most of the shops which made central Edinburgh such an interesting area have long since gone, to be replaced by takeaways selling every imaginable food - pizza, kebab, fish & chips, baked potato, etc, as well as restaurants pubs and clubs. For the past few decades, the inner city has been slowly turning into a wasteland, where only those in search of happy hours, late-night drinks and food are encouraged to go. Genuine "local pubs", serving the communities of the inner city, have closed and been replaced by soulless themed establishments, where only the young, beautiful and rich are allowed in, to be ripped-off with grossly inflated drinks prices. I guess that, as usual, as long as money is being made, the consequences for those who live in the inner city do not matter to either the owners of those businesses or to the CEC licensing committee.

My public rant on this theme appeared in the local rag, the Edinburgh Evening News yesterday, and can be viewed here...

Remembrance Day...

Lest we forget is the slogan for Remembrance Day, marking the cessation of hostilities at the end of the First World War. It is indeed ironic, nay, shameful, that, as has been the case on so many occasions since the first Remembrance Day on 11th November 1919 , we are still witnessing the slaughter of innocents around the globe. In Iraq, in Africa, in Gaza, in Afghanistan, to name but four areas of conflict, the lies and manipulations of politicians, the military, and multi-national industry are causing the needless deaths of thousands of civilians every day - where are the poppies for them?

We should indeed remember the enormous debt we owe to the members of armed forces who laid down their lives to defend freedom - we should also remember that those soldiers, sailors and airmen were once civilians too. If ordinary people in Germany, in Iraq, and in so many other countries ignored the weasel words of their political, religious and ideological "leaders", then perhaps the history of the world might have been very different. Throughout history, those in positions of power have used generations of young men as cannon fodder, and have cared little about the loss of civilian life. If I thought for one moment that wearing a red Remembrance Day poppy would stop this slaughter, I would not hesitate. The least we can do to honour the memory and sacrifice of those who have perished - both military and civilian - is to ensure that it never happens again... wearing a red poppy will not necessarily achieve that.