I have been looking through links on Bensozia's blog (thank you so much) page and came across this one on the Brothers Grimms. I remember having a book on their folktales. Rather cruel of course the stories, I am still haunted by the girl who had to dance even as her feet bled. Perhaps that is why as a child I read all the grown-up ghost stories at the library that influenced my taste in prehistoric burial cromlechs but what came out of the article was how the brothers influenced such writers as C.S.Lewis, Tolkien. Beatrice Potter and George Lucas of Star War fame. I find the last slightly puzzling but did love the films - childish I know.
"Without the labors of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, there would be no Peter Rabbit, no Middle-earth, no Narnia, and definitely no Star Wars."
We read history through the narrow focus of our own background and subjectively the German Grimm brothers could be seen as a bit of a catalyst towards the Nazi regime later on. But never forget we pick up on things through time, the Swastika for instance has been used symbolically throughout the centuries in many religions as a peace loving sign. The crude and easy way we use words to bring down other people is the fault of the person using it.
Bensozia has also written about his understanding of the most recent event to hit our keyboards, which has left some rejoicing whilst others weeping in despair. Take your choice on Trump;( Why Trump Won. This paragraph puts it down to the price of eggs..............
Human Nature. If you want a negative lesson from this election, it would be that most people are selfish, insufficiently moral, generally unthoughtful, and don't give a damn about people not like themselves. The average Trump voter didn't care about his bursting closet of scandals, his rancid rhetoric, or his constant lying, because the price of eggs was too high.
I am going to pick up on the words 'insufficiently moral' to describe another person who struck me as very similar. I had watched "The Post Office Scandal" recently and of course Paula Vennells CEO of the PO from 2012 to 2019, who so vehemently denied any knowledge of what had gone on in the terrible campaign against the poor sub-postmasters, many of them driven to financial ruin by a computer system called Horizon that did not work. But the real crime was the manipulation of the same system secretly by a team of operators who altered the information on the sub-postmasters computers.
I watched her tears as she was questioned by the committee and thought (a profound swearword here) how can she talk this gobbledy goose nonsense that she was unaware of what was happening through her chairmanship. It was established of course that she did know and she was stripped of her CBE. She was also a woman of the cloth!!
End of rant hopefully...........
But then Murr can say it so much better
I did skim read Bensozia's post and it confirms to me that governments lose elections, rather than opposition parties win.
ReplyDeleteI heard that Vennells might be stripped of her CBE, but I didn't know it had happened. Unlike our own Robodebt government scandal, at least her head is in disgrace. And so it should be. Except, I doubt in the circles she would move in, no one would care.
I hate the thought of no one caring Andrew, it was pitiful what was done to those post office employees, they were robbed of their savings, houses and some went bankrupt.
ReplyDeleteDisgrace seems like such a quaint old fashioned word. Nobody is in disgrace anymore. A shame because a lot of folks should be.
ReplyDeleteOne thing Debby the rich never make it to prison, they retire quietly.
DeleteI saw that movie, also, and it was terrible what was done to those post office employees. I was glad when they got some justice in the end but, of course, for some it was too late. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteI was so disgusted and disappointed that there were many that didn't vote at all. The majority of Americans did not vote for Trump. I've read that, as of 11/7/2024, 38% did not vote at all, Trump got 32%, and Harris 30%. But all will end up in trouble and prices will not be lowered anyway.
It was a terrible tragedy for many, and of course compensation is still to be paid I believe Ellen. As for America what is to be said, another person who lies with impunity gets to be a president and gets his 'get out of jail' card.
DeletePurely wishful thinking on my part but I feel that Fujitsu as the creators of the program that 'could not be faulty' should bear at least 50% of the financial liability along with the PO management who had fat salaries and bonuses rather than just the PO when the costs will simply be passed on to the public. PS 'Alan Bates' won our local village scarecrow competition.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about that Ruta, after all it was Fujitsu and their faulty system that caused the whole affair, the cover up by the PO was the cowardly part of not wanting to be found out. Well I won't ask what scarecrow model he used, but I know which one I would have used.
DeleteThe PO scandal is everything that it wrong with the focus on privatisation, profit and selfishness above all else. She should go to prison.
ReplyDeleteHow come the rich rogues always dodge the bullet Tasker and never go to prison when making money out of the system?
DeleteThe Post Office is not privatised, perhaps you are thinking of Royal Mail, which is.
DeleteThe PO and HS2 are startling examples of what nationalised industries a capable of.