sluggerotoole--2020-11-18--OK Boomer: Trump’s Last Stand and Fantasyland, USA…

That grim prophecy wasn ’ t from the latest Qanon conspiracy drop .
It was written in the 1990s , by the controversial authors Neil Howe and William Strauss in their pseudoscientific historical tome , The Fourth Turning : an American Prophecy : What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America ’ s Next Rendezvous with Destiny .
Howe and Strauss painted a grand theory of history as a recurring cycle of generations , each in turn leaving their mark on their time and all part of a four-generation “ saeculum ” of 80-100 years , until a totalising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convulsion reboots the system .
A long period of cultural decadence and increasing individualism creates the conditions for the crisis , which forces the restoration of communitarian values and institutional authority – so they wrote .
If you queasily hear that as some combination of Myers-Briggs personality tests , horoscopes , Game of Thrones and Mormon-inflected Battlestar Galactica fanfic ( “ all of this has happened before… ” ) , you ’ re not alone .
But for a time in the 1990s , the authors of The Fourth Turning and their first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and garnered enough attention that they pivoted to create a successful micro-industry and consultancy practice .
They even coined the term “ Millennial ” to describe the generation born between 1982 and 2000 and that has certainly stuck , along with their archetypal characterisation as a potentially heroic set pit against their nemesis , the selfish Boomers ( born 1943-1960 ) .
Seminars followed for people in sectors ranging from investment fund managers to HR professionals .
And of course , politics .
“ I got mocked and ridiculed by so many people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , describing reactions to his inability to STFU about his adopted pet galactic-historical theory .
“ They said : ‘ You can ’ t believe in this stuff .
It makes you look like a kook.
’ ” That particular fan quote was from Steve Bannon , the fascist-curious Rosacean-American strategist who managed to exceed even Vladimir Putin ’ s expectations by guiding one Donald J. Trump into the White House .
Profiles of Bannon were popular in 2017 , in the weeks after Trump inaugurated his presidency with a speech so dark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sputtered , “ That was some weird shit.
” Almost all of them dwell on Bannon ’ s obsession with The Fourth Turning and his apocalyptic vision for an ethnonationalist American rebirth in fire and blood .
And then , just like that , he was gone .
As we know , Trump is psychologically incapable of voluntarily sharing the limelight .
When Bannon got his own TIME magazine cover , his days were numbered .
After his fall , Bannon drifted and grifted .
Stoking up right-wing ethnonationalist dreams from Rome to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twilight struggle to save Judeo-Christian civilisation from Islam and liberal decadence , he then returned to America , set up a fake crowdfunding effort for private ( non-Mexican ) contributions to complete Trump ’ s “ Wall ” , finally arrested for the scheme in a surreal August 2020 raid of a Chinese billionaire ’ s 150-foot luxury yacht on Long Island Sound by seaborne forces of the US Postal Service .
( Weird shit , indeed . )
Until emerging for one last 15 minutes of infamy for publicly calling for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suburban housewives ’ favourite immunologist , Dr Anthony Fauci .
Post-return and pre-indictment , however , reporters dug out prodigal Bannon ’ s phone number again in the summer to populate articles resurrecting interest in The Fourth Turning .
A deadly pandemic raged .
City centres stood silent .
Black Lives Matter protests filled the streets .
Semi-automatic-wielding incels heeded Trump ’ s call to “ liberate ” states on COVID lockdown .
And gunned down , and threatened to gun down , people pushing back on the established racial order .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protestors from American streets in the dead of night .
He prepared active-duty military to disperse protestors near the White House so he could hold up a Bible for a photocall .
The “ American carnage ” Trump said he was there to dispel seemingly had been instantiated…by Trump .
And to be fair , the coincidence of Strauss and Howe predicting a world-historical crisis around the year 2020 ( in their 1991 book , Generations , they actually specified 2020 would itself be the “ hinge of history ” ) was…spooky .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fourth Turning also predicted a “ Grey Warrior ” would rise to lead the people in their time of trial .
In Bannon ’ s telling , the crisis had really begun in the 2008 financial meltdown , preparing the way for Trump .
You could be forgiven for giving in and crediting this kind of guff , written 25 years before 2020 , for being eerily prescient .
If you are a Yank .
If you are a Yank , you tend to be prone to this blurring of reality and fantasy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , also spookily prescient , is worth considering when trying to explain our historical moment and the American generations whose predisposition to seduction by unreality led to it : Fantasyland , How America Went Haywire : A 500-Year History , by Kurt Andersen .
Published a few months into Trump ’ s presidency but – the author claims – begun well before Trump ’ s improbable ( or was it ? )
hostile ( or was it ? )
takeover of the Republican Party , Andersen retells the American saga as a story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of delusion , punctuated by a period ( 1900-1960 ) when “ The Long Arc of History Bends Toward Reason ” and America ’ s rising military and economic dominance was matched by – and fuelled by – a cultural imperium played out on Hollywood studio lots .
Andersen argues , convincingly in my view , that the 1960s and 1970s and the Boomer generation that came of age during that period decisively broke with the ( on the surface ) orthodox and conformist past , not just in politics and culture – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , excerpted in The Atlantic : “ Little by little for centuries , then more and more and faster and faster during the past half century , we Americans have given ourselves over to all kinds of magical thinking , anything-goes relativism , and belief in fanciful explanation—small and large fantasies that console or thrill or terrify us.
” “ For all the fun , and all the many salutary effects of the 1960s—the main decade of my childhood—I saw that those years had also been the big-bang moment for truthiness .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national nervous breakdown , we are probably mistaken to consider ourselves over it.
” Few public intellectuals are more qualified than Andersen to analyse Trump .
The Nebraska native became a fixture of New York journalism around the time Trump was sublimating from fake casino and property mogul to fake successful business icon .
Andersen – along with future Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter – started the satirical magazine Spy in 1986 .
( Spy owed its sensibility to its older British cousin , Private Eye , but owed its name to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classic Jimmy Stewart/Katherine Hepburn/Cary Grant film , The Philadelphia Story . )
In 2015 as Trump made his improbable rise to power , Vanity Fair gleefully recounted the by-then-defunct Spy and its war on , as they called him , “ short-fingered vulgarian ” Donald Trump .
What perhaps the 1980s Andersen couldn ’ t foresee , however , was that Trump would turn out to be more in step with the fast-mutating American psyche than he was .
Where Andersen recoiled at and then mercilessly satirized Trump as the apotheosis of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ greed is good ” , “ reality distortion field ” 1980s , Trump fed his grievances and wounded sense of entitlement .
Fast-forward to 2016 .
Twenty years of right-wing talk radio , FOX News , conspiracy theories , Bush v. Gore , 9/11 Trutherism , Iraq WMDs ( Full disclosure , this author was an enthusiastic consumer of that particular delusion .
My bad . )
, Obama Birtherism , Hillary ’ s emails , Pizzagate .
They took their toll .
From 1992 onwards , the country ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama – and ascendant political class ( Newt Gingrich , Mitch McConnell , John Boehner , Nancy Pelosi ) had all been Boomers or Boomer-adjacent .
( Some argue Obama is more Gen-X than Boomer , at least in temperament .
Some argue Biden is solidly Silent Generation in his current stoic but empathetic incarnation .
Your mileage in using generational nicknames may vary . )
That demographic fact may or may not be relevant as a factor in analysing the decay of the US political order , though some certainly felt so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s ascendancy , however , there came an efflorescence of jeremiads excoriating the Boomer generation for basically destroying the world and hope for the future .
Trump so cartoonishly contains within himself the villainous multitudes of Boomer generation worst characteristics – “ deceit , selfishness , imprudence , hostility , remorselessness ” – that there can be no denying he has become the ultimate symbol of that generation .
And that Boomer generation , argues Bruce Cannon Gibney in A Generation of Sociopaths : How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America , is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West – to leave their children worse off than their parents left them .
Consistent with other anti-Boomer polemics , it indicts that generation for inheriting a relatively healthy environmental and fiscal balance sheet , leveraging it to the hilt with debt to fund a frivolous lifestyle of conspicuous consumption , cheating on the taxes due and blaming everyone else for causing the problem .
OK , Boomer : Trump ’ s family financial chicanery writ large , across whole continents .
So as the Trump era slouches towards January to die , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meaning in the frameworks offered by the book beloved by the man who made Trump president , and the book written by his most perceptive observer ?
Certainly it is possible to imagine that both Fantasyland and The Fourth Turning are both in some sense true , even if accuracy is unevenly distributed : There is a generational Armageddon at hand ; there is a radical break with reality over decades that allows us to be LARPers , both believing and not believing in that ridiculous idea ; Trump and his enablers have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hold power and revel in their own IRL cruelty ; and Trump being high on his own supply of delusion prevents him from doing more damage by commission rather than omission .
All four ideas can be true at the same time .
A fitting end for an era of contradictions .
Of course , that assumes that the story is over .
Like any number of Boomer-starred/directed action flicks – Die Hard , Lethal Weapon , etc – this era has never been short of false endings .
We think Gary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Mel Gibson but somehow manages to grab a cop ’ s gun .
We think Robert Mueller is about to announce the president ’ s indictment but is unceremoniously shot in the back of his metaphorical head by Bill Barr .
Bruce Willis thinks he ’ s done with Alan Rickman but , well .
Did you really think we were done with Trump or Trump was done with us ?
You thought history ’ s greatest zombie sociopath was going to go gently into that good night and stay dead ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ We Gen-Xers are wise to all those tropes .
We observe Trump in what we hope to be his final days .
He is still fully capable of taking all of us with him , in some Twilight of the Cons , a Gotterdamerung of Grift .
He is both sign and signifier , symptom and cause , reality and fantasy , of some deep toxicity in American and Americanized global culture .
And culture , as Steve Bannon was fond of pointing out , is upstream of politics .
Trump is staying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to both the reality of political institutions and the fantasy version of them , that in some sense is required to sustain any political order , the necessity of faith in some unreal or at least fully unrealizable ideal that sustains the day-to-day working reality .
Will the tanks roll ?
Will his new , sycophantic SecDef facilitate a pre-emptive attack on Iran to plunge the world into a new level of unreal horror ?
Not likely for a Commander-in-Chief who holds his “ sucker ” and “ loser ” troops in such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s 70 million voters believe the election was illegitimate .
If not a crisis in 2020 , with 50 million people who overindex for firearms ownership actively rejecting the legitimacy of the political order and opting into an ever-deeper , ever-darker , ever-more-violent political fantasyland where Qanon is real and even FOX is now fake news , then certainly soon .
Perhaps even , to keep sales of The Fourth Turning humming , before 2025 .
History has seasons , and winter is here .
Photo by Sharefaith is licensed under CC0

“History is seasonal, and winter is coming…Some time before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II. The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule.”
That grim prophecy wasn’t from the latest Qanon conspiracy drop. It was written in the 1990s, by the controversial authors Neil Howe and William Strauss in their pseudoscientific historical tome, The Fourth Turning: an American Prophecy: What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny.
Howe and Strauss painted a grand theory of history as a recurring cycle of generations, each in turn leaving their mark on their time and all part of a four-generation “saeculum” of 80-100 years, until a totalising crisis of political, economic and social convulsion reboots the system. A long period of cultural decadence and increasing individualism creates the conditions for the crisis, which forces the restoration of communitarian values and institutional authority – so they wrote.
If you queasily hear that as some combination of Myers-Briggs personality tests, horoscopes, Game of Thrones and Mormon-inflected Battlestar Galactica fanfic (“all of this has happened before…”), you’re not alone. But for a time in the 1990s, the authors of The Fourth Turning and their first book, Generations, sold enough books and garnered enough attention that they pivoted to create a successful micro-industry and consultancy practice. They even coined the term “Millennial” to describe the generation born between 1982 and 2000 and that has certainly stuck, along with their archetypal characterisation as a potentially heroic set pit against their nemesis, the selfish Boomers (born 1943-1960). Seminars followed for people in sectors ranging from investment fund managers to HR professionals. And of course, politics.
“I got mocked and ridiculed by so many people,” said one particular Strauss/Howe stan, describing reactions to his inability to STFU about his adopted pet galactic-historical theory. “They said: ‘You can’t believe in this stuff. It makes you look like a kook.’”
That particular fan quote was from Steve Bannon, the fascist-curious Rosacean-American strategist who managed to exceed even Vladimir Putin’s expectations by guiding one Donald J. Trump into the White House.
Profiles of Bannon were popular in 2017, in the weeks after Trump inaugurated his presidency with a speech so dark and doom-laden that George W. Bush reportedly sputtered, “That was some weird shit.” Almost all of them dwell on Bannon’s obsession with The Fourth Turning and his apocalyptic vision for an ethnonationalist American rebirth in fire and blood.
And then, just like that, he was gone. As we know, Trump is psychologically incapable of voluntarily sharing the limelight. When Bannon got his own TIME magazine cover, his days were numbered.
After his fall, Bannon drifted and grifted. Stoking up right-wing ethnonationalist dreams from Rome to London of a heroic future in the twilight struggle to save Judeo-Christian civilisation from Islam and liberal decadence, he then returned to America, set up a fake crowdfunding effort for private (non-Mexican) contributions to complete Trump’s “Wall”, finally arrested for the scheme in a surreal August 2020 raid of a Chinese billionaire’s 150-foot luxury yacht on Long Island Sound by seaborne forces of the US Postal Service. (Weird shit, indeed.) Until emerging for one last 15 minutes of infamy for publicly calling for the beheading of FBI Director Christopher Wray and suburban housewives’ favourite immunologist, Dr Anthony Fauci.
Post-return and pre-indictment, however, reporters dug out prodigal Bannon’s phone number again in the summer to populate articles resurrecting interest in The Fourth Turning. A deadly pandemic raged. City centres stood silent. Black Lives Matter protests filled the streets. Semi-automatic-wielding incels heeded Trump’s call to “liberate” states on COVID lockdown. And gunned down, and threatened to gun down, people pushing back on the established racial order. Trump himself ordered masked security forces to snatch protestors from American streets in the dead of night. He prepared active-duty military to disperse protestors near the White House so he could hold up a Bible for a photocall. The “American carnage” Trump said he was there to dispel seemingly had been instantiated…by Trump. And to be fair, the coincidence of Strauss and Howe predicting a world-historical crisis around the year 2020 (in their 1991 book, Generations, they actually specified 2020 would itself be the “hinge of history”) was…spooky.
Then there was Trump himself. The Fourth Turning also predicted a “Grey Warrior” would rise to lead the people in their time of trial. In Bannon’s telling, the crisis had really begun in the 2008 financial meltdown, preparing the way for Trump.
“National issues will break clear of the Unravelling-era circus and cast a clear and immediate shadow over the everyday shape of American life. The Unravelling-era culture warriors will no longer be attacking national institutions mostly from the outside. Come the Fourth Turning, they will be fully in charge.” “The winners will now have the power to pursue the more potent, less incrementalist agenda about which they had long dreamed and against which their adversaries had darkly warned. This new regime will enthrone itself for the duration of the Crisis. Regardless of its ideology, that new leadership will assert public authority and demand private sacrifice. Where leaders had once been inclined to alleviate societal pressures, they will now aggravate them to command the nation’s attention.”
You could be forgiven for giving in and crediting this kind of guff, written 25 years before 2020, for being eerily prescient. If you are a Yank. If you are a Yank, you tend to be prone to this blurring of reality and fantasy, dark or otherwise.
Another book, also spookily prescient, is worth considering when trying to explain our historical moment and the American generations whose predisposition to seduction by unreality led to it: Fantasyland, How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, by Kurt Andersen.
Published a few months into Trump’s presidency but – the author claims – begun well before Trump’s improbable (or was it?) hostile (or was it?) takeover of the Republican Party, Andersen retells the American saga as a story of a people sinking deeper into circles of delusion, punctuated by a period (1900-1960) when “The Long Arc of History Bends Toward Reason” and America’s rising military and economic dominance was matched by – and fuelled by – a cultural imperium played out on Hollywood studio lots.
Andersen argues, convincingly in my view, that the 1960s and 1970s and the Boomer generation that came of age during that period decisively broke with the (on the surface) orthodox and conformist past, not just in politics and culture – but in epistemology.
As he writes, excerpted in The Atlantic:
“Little by little for centuries, then more and more and faster and faster during the past half century, we Americans have given ourselves over to all kinds of magical thinking, anything-goes relativism, and belief in fanciful explanation—small and large fantasies that console or thrill or terrify us.”
“For all the fun, and all the many salutary effects of the 1960s—the main decade of my childhood—I saw that those years had also been the big-bang moment for truthiness. And if the ’60s amounted to a national nervous breakdown, we are probably mistaken to consider ourselves over it.”
Few public intellectuals are more qualified than Andersen to analyse Trump. The Nebraska native became a fixture of New York journalism around the time Trump was sublimating from fake casino and property mogul to fake successful business icon. Andersen – along with future Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter – started the satirical magazine Spy in 1986. (Spy owed its sensibility to its older British cousin, Private Eye, but owed its name to a fake gossip magazine featured in the 1938 classic Jimmy Stewart/Katherine Hepburn/Cary Grant film, The Philadelphia Story.)
In 2015 as Trump made his improbable rise to power, Vanity Fair gleefully recounted the by-then-defunct Spy and its war on, as they called him, “short-fingered vulgarian” Donald Trump.
What perhaps the 1980s Andersen couldn’t foresee, however, was that Trump would turn out to be more in step with the fast-mutating American psyche than he was. Where Andersen recoiled at and then mercilessly satirized Trump as the apotheosis of the ascendant but ridiculous Boomers of the crass, “greed is good”, “reality distortion field” 1980s, Trump fed his grievances and wounded sense of entitlement.
Fast-forward to 2016. Twenty years of right-wing talk radio, FOX News, conspiracy theories, Bush v. Gore, 9/11 Trutherism, Iraq WMDs (Full disclosure, this author was an enthusiastic consumer of that particular delusion. My bad.), Obama Birtherism, Hillary’s emails, Pizzagate. They took their toll.
From 1992 onwards, the country’s presidents – Clinton, Bush II, Obama – and ascendant political class (Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi) had all been Boomers or Boomer-adjacent. (Some argue Obama is more Gen-X than Boomer, at least in temperament. Some argue Biden is solidly Silent Generation in his current stoic but empathetic incarnation. Your mileage in using generational nicknames may vary.) That demographic fact may or may not be relevant as a factor in analysing the decay of the US political order, though some certainly felt so even before 2016.
With Trump’s ascendancy, however, there came an efflorescence of jeremiads excoriating the Boomer generation for basically destroying the world and hope for the future. Trump so cartoonishly contains within himself the villainous multitudes of Boomer generation worst characteristics – “deceit, selfishness, imprudence, hostility, remorselessness” – that there can be no denying he has become the ultimate symbol of that generation. And that Boomer generation, argues Bruce Cannon Gibney in A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America, is the first in modern history – across the West – to leave their children worse off than their parents left them. Consistent with other anti-Boomer polemics, it indicts that generation for inheriting a relatively healthy environmental and fiscal balance sheet, leveraging it to the hilt with debt to fund a frivolous lifestyle of conspicuous consumption, cheating on the taxes due and blaming everyone else for causing the problem. OK, Boomer: Trump’s family financial chicanery writ large, across whole continents.
So as the Trump era slouches towards January to die, what are we to conclude about its meaning in the frameworks offered by the book beloved by the man who made Trump president, and the book written by his most perceptive observer?
Certainly it is possible to imagine that both Fantasyland and The Fourth Turning are both in some sense true, even if accuracy is unevenly distributed: There is a generational Armageddon at hand; there is a radical break with reality over decades that allows us to be LARPers, both believing and not believing in that ridiculous idea; Trump and his enablers have weaponized that very broken connection with reality to hold power and revel in their own IRL cruelty; and Trump being high on his own supply of delusion prevents him from doing more damage by commission rather than omission. All four ideas can be true at the same time. A fitting end for an era of contradictions.
Of course, that assumes that the story is over.
Like any number of Boomer-starred/directed action flicks – Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, etc – this era has never been short of false endings. We think Gary Busey is done in the final fight with Mel Gibson but somehow manages to grab a cop’s gun. We think Robert Mueller is about to announce the president’s indictment but is unceremoniously shot in the back of his metaphorical head by Bill Barr. Bruce Willis thinks he’s done with Alan Rickman but, well.
Did you really think we were done with Trump or Trump was done with us? You thought history’s greatest zombie sociopath was going to go gently into that good night and stay dead?
Perhaps you are a credulous Millennial. We Gen-Xers are wise to all those tropes.
We observe Trump in what we hope to be his final days. He is still fully capable of taking all of us with him, in some Twilight of the Cons, a Gotterdamerung of Grift. He is both sign and signifier, symptom and cause, reality and fantasy, of some deep toxicity in American and Americanized global culture. And culture, as Steve Bannon was fond of pointing out, is upstream of politics. Trump is staying true to form, doing more damage to both the reality of political institutions and the fantasy version of them, that in some sense is required to sustain any political order, the necessity of faith in some unreal or at least fully unrealizable ideal that sustains the day-to-day working reality.
Will the tanks roll? Will his new, sycophantic SecDef facilitate a pre-emptive attack on Iran to plunge the world into a new level of unreal horror? Not likely for a Commander-in-Chief who holds his “sucker” and “loser” troops in such contempt. But 70% of Trump’s 70 million voters believe the election was illegitimate. If not a crisis in 2020, with 50 million people who overindex for firearms ownership actively rejecting the legitimacy of the political order and opting into an ever-deeper, ever-darker, ever-more-violent political fantasyland where Qanon is real and even FOX is now fake news, then certainly soon. Perhaps even, to keep sales of The Fourth Turning humming, before 2025.
History has seasons, and winter is here.
Photo by Sharefaith is licensed under CC0


sluggerotoole--2020-11-20--Executive announces new COVID Circuit Breaker.

Last night the Executive announced a two week circuit breaker lockdown .
You can read more about the Executive ’ @ @ @ @ @ comments from the relevant ministers .

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sluggerotoole--2020-11-20--Your lockdown political documentary/film recommendations

A few weeks ago I did this segment with William Crawley on Talkback but a few of you have been in touch with me to ask for a written copy.Here you go .
• The Killing Season-The Killing Season is a 2015 Australian television three-part documentary series which analyses the events of the Rudd–Gillard Government of 2007–2013 , a turbulent period of Australian political history .
You don ’ t need to have a great knowledge of Australian politics to watch this .
• Labour-The Wilderness Years which is an epic four-part documentary following the history of the Labour Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the cusp of a return to power .
• Tory Tory Tory !
-Ever wondered who was behind the New Right revolution ?
This documentary charts the rise of the people behind Thatcher and how she used office to change Britain .
• Bertie-Four part documentary on the life and times of Ireland ’ s second longest serving Taoiseach , Bertie Ahern , • Primary Colors- “ The media giveth and go f**k yourself.
” This political film charts the presidential journey of s Southern governor , Jack Stanton .
Obviously based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thompson , Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates .
Well wroth a watch .
• PBS American Experience-The Presidents .
These series chart the various Presidents of the USA .
Of particular note there are good ones on Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton .
They are very in-depth and give you a great overview of the person .
• Haughey- “ There will never be a time like it again ” This four part documentary charts the life of Ireland ’ s most controversial Taoiseach , Charles Haughey .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God save the Queen , because nothing with save the Governor-General ” Gough Whitlam in 1975 after being sacked by Sir John Kerr as Australian Prime Minister .
This film charts the rise of Whitlam to power in 1972 and how it all went wrong within three years .
• Prairie Giant-The Tommy Douglas Story ; Rev T.C Douglas was the first leader of a socialist government in North America .
As Premier of Saskatchewan he brought universal health care to Canada and a host of other major reforms .
This is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CCF government changed Canada .
Note he was voted the Greatest Canadian over a decade ago and he is the grandfather of actor , Kiefer Sutherland , • Revolution-A four part documentary on how New Zealand changed economically during the 1980s and 1990s under the Labour government of David Lange and National government of Jim Bolger .
Like his successor today , Jacinda Ardern , David Lange was an international hero in the mid 1980s for his stance against nuclear weapons .


sluggerotoole--2020-11-20--“Where do you think Unionism is going?”

“Where do you think Unionism is going?”

Currently unable to meet socially for coffee , conversations now take place on zoom or on the phone .
Once we have shared our frustrations about Manchester United , recalled our memories of school days , in his case under the guidance of the Christian brothers and in mine , the local grammar school for a mainly unionist intake , we inevitably gravitate to politics .
The question put to me was more challenging than John realised and is one unionists need to ask of themselves : ‘ Where do you think unionism is going .
?
’ I needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political Unionism and a growing number of individuals who , viewing the term unionist as politically ‘ toxic ’ , prefer to designate as ‘ pro-Union.
’ In private conversations some elected unionists acknowledge a growing ‘ problem ’ and voice tacit support for pro-Union values and views but like ships waiting to see which way the wind will blow , they feel that to go public would jeopardise careers and livelihoods .
That works if you are an eagle soaring in the wind which may occasionally buffet but not an admirable trait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead .
Political unionism has been described , even caricatured as a broad church .
The choir , if there is one , produces a cacophony of discord .
Whilst some prefer a one note melody , others opt for harmony both increasingly voicing different words .
In the case of the UUP , various leaders from 2010 onwards have fallen foul of attempts to quieten the din .
Zig-zags and U-turns in tactics , electoral pacts and policies are a matter of record .
Any ‘ success ’ which it could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short-lived .
The party has suffered electoral decline in terms of Stormont MLAs and MPs at Westminster .
It is a long time since it held two local ministries and a sustainable presence in London , apart from peerages awarded to ‘ grandees.
’ Like most parties it has factions but this seems to damage the UUP most .
Historically , the party operated as a Council of delegates from loosely amalgamated associations guarding their autonomy and resources jealously .
Linkage from centre to periphery was always conditional and prone to strains ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that is not saying a lot .
The legacy remains .
Writing in The Ulster Unionist Party : Country Before Party , Professor Jonathan Tonge , one of a number of writers , noted at the launch of the book in 2019 , that a significant proportion of the party does not support the Good Friday Agreement .
This is a major flaw in a party that prides itself as having done the ‘ heavy lifting ‘ to deliver unionism as a signatory to the process .
It is indicative of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Good Friday Agreement represents ground lost ; a destination rather than a starting point .
Party members may be right in seeing themselves , as Jonathan Tonge et al notes , as more moderate and less fundamental in religious terms than its major rival for votes , the Democratic Unionist party , but its ‘ moving on ’ from 1998 , is clearly not complete .
Many UUP members continue to view Northern Ireland through a conflict-related prism and will react doggedly to what they perceive as any attempt to diminish the importance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the detriment of making headway on economic issues , social concerns and reconciliation .
Failing to bridge the sectarian and generational divide it produces a trust deficit in terms of confidence in its ability to build a just and inclusive society .
It is ‘ analog ’ politics for a digital age ; out of step with the vast majority of the United Kingdom and of limited appeal .
UUP leaders are required to face in two directions or spin to hold on to chances of electoral success where local candidates have different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constituency .
But , it is not working for the party .
Increasingly , evidence shows that it is not going to work as the UUP places itself , with mild deviations , as competing for largely the same votes as the DUP which does tribal and ritualistic politics better .
The party lacks a political profile of its own .
Aggressive point -scoring at the expense of rivals just serves to come across as resentment .
It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable .
The UUP should bear this in mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressing issues and , by association , misguidedly damages the Union .
The DUP , as the stronger of the two parties in terms of representation if not members , has had a greater claim on power but its record is far from unblemished .
Increasingly its actions seem wayward with poor decision-making and under the current leader , fragmentation has emerged as never before with some insiders suggesting that misogyny is a factor .
Too many scandals and lazy ring-fenced scrutiny of begging-bowl spending have produced a growing unease .
The very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MP , allied to RHI mismanagement , the ‘ for the moment swept under the Covid-19 carpet ’ wind-farm costs to all taxpayers in the UK , previous exposure of Red Sky , unethical management of a previous DUP Speaker ’ s expenses , nepotism and tactical adventurism over Brexit and Covid has damaged politics and unionism .
When self-centred government acts as if it has released itself from moral and social constraints , governance becomes a corrosive fiction .
When the public , issues vital to their prospects , and constitutional preference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the principle of ‘ government of us for the greater good ’ rings hollow .
Recently , a DUP Councillor , presumably thinking on battles ahead , posted the Latin quotation : ‘ Si vis pacem , para bellum ’ which translates as ‘ If you want peace , prepare for war.
’ It may reveal more than the Councillor intended in terms of the DUP mindset and explain not an inch carve-ups , rage politics and the rocking horse policies which suggest movement but don ’ t actually go anywhere as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and adversarial rivalries .
The irony is that both damage not each other ’ s aspirations but their own .
This is borne out by well-informed insiders at Westminster and individuals from Northern Ireland resident in Great Britain .
Ulster Home Rule as exemplified in the DUP is seen as lacking inclusivity , efficient fiscal management and commitment to the consensual rationale of the Good Friday Agreement .
All too often latent and unchecked sacred narratives , sectarianism and judgemental condemnation breaks through on social issues .
In a different way it widens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Irish Sea .
Lacking any capacity for quality assurance it tries to solve problems by sowing the seeds of the next one and finds a willing partner in its main political opponent .
All of this , along with the more quietly entrenched politics of the UUP , serves to define where unionism is and its direction of travel ; but it is not the whole story .
Photo by Free-Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Currently unable to meet socially for coffee, conversations now take place on zoom or on the phone. Once we have shared our frustrations about Manchester United, recalled our memories of school days, in his case under the guidance of the Christian brothers and in mine, the local grammar school for a mainly unionist intake, we inevitably gravitate to politics. The question put to me was more challenging than John realised and is one unionists need to ask of themselves: ‘Where do you think unionism is going.?’
I needed to qualify my reply with reference to political Unionism and a growing number of individuals who, viewing the term unionist as politically ‘toxic’, prefer to designate as ‘pro-Union.’ In private conversations some elected unionists acknowledge a growing ‘problem’ and voice tacit support for pro-Union values and views but like ships waiting to see which way the wind will blow, they feel that to go public would jeopardise careers and livelihoods. That works if you are an eagle soaring in the wind which may occasionally buffet but not an admirable trait in those who have a mandate to lead.
Political unionism has been described, even caricatured as a broad church. The choir, if there is one, produces a cacophony of discord. Whilst some prefer a one note melody, others opt for harmony both increasingly voicing different words. In the case of the UUP, various leaders from 2010 onwards have fallen foul of attempts to quieten the din. Zig-zags and U-turns in tactics, electoral pacts and policies are a matter of record. Any ‘success’ which it could be judged to have delivered, has been short-lived. The party has suffered electoral decline in terms of Stormont MLAs and MPs at Westminster.
It is a long time since it held two local ministries and a sustainable presence in London, apart from peerages awarded to ‘grandees.’ Like most parties it has factions but this seems to damage the UUP most. Historically, the party operated as a Council of delegates from loosely amalgamated associations guarding their autonomy and resources jealously. Linkage from centre to periphery was always conditional and prone to strains; a party easier to lead than command and that is not saying a lot. The legacy remains.
Writing in The Ulster Unionist Party: Country Before Party, Professor Jonathan Tonge, one of a number of writers, noted at the launch of the book in 2019, that a significant proportion of the party does not support the Good Friday Agreement. This is a major flaw in a party that prides itself as having done the ‘heavy lifting ‘to deliver unionism as a signatory to the process. It is indicative of a significant portion of members for whom the Good Friday Agreement represents ground lost; a destination rather than a starting point. Party members may be right in seeing themselves, as Jonathan Tonge et al notes, as more moderate and less fundamental in religious terms than its major rival for votes, the Democratic Unionist party, but its ‘moving on’ from 1998, is clearly not complete.
Many UUP members continue to view Northern Ireland through a conflict-related prism and will react doggedly to what they perceive as any attempt to diminish the importance of rituals, symbols and flags to the detriment of making headway on economic issues, social concerns and reconciliation. Failing to bridge the sectarian and generational divide it produces a trust deficit in terms of confidence in its ability to build a just and inclusive society. It is ‘analog’ politics for a digital age; out of step with the vast majority of the United Kingdom and of limited appeal. UUP leaders are required to face in two directions or spin to hold on to chances of electoral success where local candidates have different views and appeal to ‘their’ constituency.
But, it is not working for the party. Increasingly, evidence shows that it is not going to work as the UUP places itself, with mild deviations, as competing for largely the same votes as the DUP which does tribal and ritualistic politics better. The party lacks a political profile of its own. Aggressive point -scoring at the expense of rivals just serves to come across as resentment. It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. The UUP should bear this in mind. It switches-off voters focused on more pressing issues and, by association, misguidedly damages the Union.
The DUP, as the stronger of the two parties in terms of representation if not members, has had a greater claim on power but its record is far from unblemished. Increasingly its actions seem wayward with poor decision-making and under the current leader, fragmentation has emerged as never before with some insiders suggesting that misogyny is a factor. Too many scandals and lazy ring-fenced scrutiny of begging-bowl spending have produced a growing unease.
The very public disciplining of Ian Paisley Junior, MP, allied to RHI mismanagement, the ‘for the moment swept under the Covid-19 carpet’ wind-farm costs to all taxpayers in the UK, previous exposure of Red Sky, unethical management of a previous DUP Speaker’s expenses, nepotism and tactical adventurism over Brexit and Covid has damaged politics and unionism.
When self-centred government acts as if it has released itself from moral and social constraints, governance becomes a corrosive fiction. When the public, issues vital to their prospects, and constitutional preference are positioned as ‘other,’ the principle of ‘government of us for the greater good’ rings hollow.
Recently, a DUP Councillor, presumably thinking on battles ahead, posted the Latin quotation: ‘ Si vis pacem, para bellum’ which translates as ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ It may reveal more than the Councillor intended in terms of the DUP mindset and explain not an inch carve-ups, rage politics and the rocking horse policies which suggest movement but don’t actually go anywhere as the two major parties play out their attritional and adversarial rivalries.
The irony is that both damage not each other’s aspirations but their own. This is borne out by well-informed insiders at Westminster and individuals from Northern Ireland resident in Great Britain. Ulster Home Rule as exemplified in the DUP is seen as lacking inclusivity, efficient fiscal management and commitment to the consensual rationale of the Good Friday Agreement. All too often latent and unchecked sacred narratives, sectarianism and judgemental condemnation breaks through on social issues.
In a different way it widens the gulf as much as any border in the Irish Sea. Lacking any capacity for quality assurance it tries to solve problems by sowing the seeds of the next one and finds a willing partner in its main political opponent. All of this, along with the more quietly entrenched politics of the UUP, serves to define where unionism is and its direction of travel; but it is not the whole story.
Photo by Free-Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-21--With the shops full – I don’t think they have thought this through…

With non-essential shops due to close this Friday the obvious is happening , everyone is hitting the high street now .
Shopping centres are full and there are queues outside many car parks and shops .
Now I imagine retail welcomes the boost in the trade but I don ’ t think it is the best way to reduce transmission .
The behaviour of some people is truly bizarre .
I witnessed a huge queue of traffic to get into the ASDA car park , even though supermarkets will not be closing .
A client who sells electrical appliances has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though they offer free home delivery .
I am not sure if they have a behavioural psychologist amongst the many thousands of civil servants up at Stormont – if they don ’ t it might be an idea to set up some kind of nudge unit to war game out how the public will react to changes in rules .
Or as the wife pointed out – just use your common sense .
Mind you , I have been pondering getting an extra freezer to stock up for the anticipated Brexit food shortages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immune from the panic buying impulse .
Photo by JillWellington is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

With non-essential shops due to close this Friday the obvious is happening, everyone is hitting the high street now. Shopping centres are full and there are queues outside many car parks and shops. Now I imagine retail welcomes the boost in the trade but I don’t think it is the best way to reduce transmission.
The behaviour of some people is truly bizarre. I witnessed a huge queue of traffic to get into the ASDA car park, even though supermarkets will not be closing. A client who sells electrical appliances has been inundated with customers instore, even though they offer free home delivery.
I am not sure if they have a behavioural psychologist amongst the many thousands of civil servants up at Stormont – if they don’t it might be an idea to set up some kind of nudge unit to war game out how the public will react to changes in rules. Or as the wife pointed out – just use your common sense.
Mind you, I have been pondering getting an extra freezer to stock up for the anticipated Brexit food shortages, so maybe none of us is immune from the panic buying impulse.
Photo by JillWellington is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-22--Writing can be immensely healing…

Writing can be immensely healing…

I ’ ve been digging out my old school reports in the vain hope that they might not have been as condemning as I remembered .
Sad to say , it was wishful thinking and the proof could not be ignored : ‘ Lynda finds it hard to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time ’ , or ‘ she is rather ebullient ( I had to look that up ) in class at times ’ , and the very worst one in the eyes of my poor long-suffering dad , ‘ General flippant attitude ’ by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dad ’ s reaction to those damning three words .
But I learned something very important from the hand-written reports at the time and that was that the teachers who balanced out the bad with the not so bad , were the ones who drove me on to do better ; to show that there was more to me than just apathy and stroppiness and teenage angst .
Mrs Lewis , my then English teacher , wrote , ‘ Lynda needs to answer the question set , not supply her own question… but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Much , much later , on becoming a teacher myself , I thought back on those words and subsequently , every school report I wrote ( always by hand ) , I tried to conclude with a sentence of encouragement and positivity for the recipient .
I ’ m retired now so I can say this , but I find it sad that nobody writes hand-written reports anymore and it ’ s a case of ticking a set of generic terms on a computer screen which could never , ever , reflect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any child .
You might determine by what I ’ ve just admitted , that academically I was not enthused by the erudite teaching gifted to me during my younger years .
There was certainly no indication that I had a ‘ book in me ’ considering that I barely read any , but I ’ m here to tell you that it is indeed possible for most folk to write , if not a book , then a story or a poem , even if it ’ s only for personal satisfaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of day .
In fact , now is the very time to start , when the darker nights are upon us and the thought of a long hard covid winter looms ahead .
I fell into writing completely by accident .
Twenty-two years ago a good friend of mine died when I was in Florida on holiday and her death hit me badly .
As I couldn ’ t attend her funeral I sat down and put some thoughts together about our relationship ( we had had our disparities and I acknowledged that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lindy Mc Dowell at The Belfast Telegraph .
Lindy liked my honesty and kindly published it , which proved the catalyst for subsequent articles in the ‘ Telly ’ and other outlets .
I ’ m not suggesting that it takes a traumatic event to instigate your adventure into writing but I do believe it ought to be the product of some genuine conviction , whether great joy , sadness or perceived injustice – my only caveat would be to write with honesty and integrity and ultimately be prepared to stand by what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believes they can become an established writer overnight is delusional .
Yet , if I ’ m honest , I think there ’ s an unspoken belief in all of us that thinks their talents are only waiting for that instant recognition .
It didn ’ t take very long for that particular bubble to burst for me and I joined a long list of would-be writers who pasted rejections on their walls and greeted every publisher ’ s reply with pre-empted disappointment .
If this is putting you off , don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alcott was allegedly told , ‘ Stick to teaching ’ and Little Women remains a classic nearly 150 years later , and it was suggested to F. Scott Fitzgerald that , ‘ you ’ d have a decent book if you ’ d get rid of that Gatsby character ’ .
So you see , the critics aren ’ t always that smart .
The common adage seems to be , ‘ write about what you know ’ but I ’ m not so sure , on two counts .
Firstly , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get you into a lot of trouble .
I know a fair old bit about dexamethasone as I ’ d experienced its benefits ( and disadvantages ) in the past and had recently considered writing a piece about it for Slugger .
Yet no matter how I tried not to , the words on the page took on a political slant that I generally try to avoid , so I put it to bed .
Some things are just not worth the accompanying flack .
Secondly , I think it ’ s rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you know nothing about .
My first novel was all about narcissism ( I hope I know nothing about it ! )
and I let my imagination run riot with exaggeration and hyperbole , never thinking that judging by the present example of one who shall remain nameless , I hit the nail right on the head .
It works with writing fiction but it ’ s probably wise to steer clear of fabrications otherwise .
Writing can be immensely healing and during these ongoing dark days where mental health issues within the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fore , writing can honestly help to save your sanity .
Nobody needs to see what you ’ ve written .
Nobody needs to know your personal feelings of anger , frustration , lust , resentment , love , envy , faith etc , because in the end you can simply put your words in a drawer and let them sleep there forever if you want .
The process of penning the words is often enough to release tensions that might otherwise have built up in a negative way .
Try it and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worried about grammar and punctuation , just write it down as a stream of consciousness – capital letter at the start and full stop at the end .
It ’ s liberating , you ’ ll see .
I also believe that more of us should be writing memoirs and regret to this day not encouraging my own parents to share a lot of theirs with me .
As previously stated , I read very few books when I was younger .
I didn ’ t care much then but I do now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ought to be .
Now I ’ m trying to make up for lost time because the best advice you ’ ll ever get about writing is read , read , read .
Nothing drives me on more than discovering a sentence in a book or poetry collection that has me thinking , ‘ How I wish I ’ d written that myself ’ .
Time and time again I return to Kent Haruf ’ s novels and wonder at the gift he has for describing ordinariness in a most extraordinary way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feeling you get on seeing your words published for the first time , so I hope that some of you will have a go .
I sometimes wonder what Mrs Lewis would say if she knew I ’ d eventually taken writing seriously and stopped making up my own questions .
I think she ’ d be pleased .
I ’ ve had an awful lot of help and support along the way , not least of all from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland who valiantly battle to fund the Arts here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me going – this faith from others and ultimately , hurray , faith in myself .
It ’ s been a long time in coming .
Lynda ’ s debut poetry collection , ‘ The Boiling Point for Jam ’ is published this week with Arlen House .
You can buy it online .
Photo by StockSnap is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

On Writing
I’ve been digging out my old school reports in the vain hope that they might not have been as condemning as I remembered. Sad to say, it was wishful thinking and the proof could not be ignored: ‘Lynda finds it hard to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time’, or ‘she is rather ebullient (I had to look that up) in class at times’, and the very worst one in the eyes of my poor long-suffering dad, ‘General flippant attitude’ by my geography teacher. I remember clearly dad’s reaction to those damning three words. But I learned something very important from the hand-written reports at the time and that was that the teachers who balanced out the bad with the not so bad, were the ones who drove me on to do better; to show that there was more to me than just apathy and stroppiness and teenage angst. Mrs Lewis, my then English teacher, wrote, ‘Lynda needs to answer the question set, not supply her own question… but she is a very likeable person’. Much, much later, on becoming a teacher myself, I thought back on those words and subsequently, every school report I wrote (always by hand), I tried to conclude with a sentence of encouragement and positivity for the recipient. I’m retired now so I can say this, but I find it sad that nobody writes hand-written reports anymore and it’s a case of ticking a set of generic terms on a computer screen which could never, ever, reflect the true essence of the make-up of any child.
You might determine by what I’ve just admitted, that academically I was not enthused by the erudite teaching gifted to me during my younger years. There was certainly no indication that I had a ‘book in me’ considering that I barely read any, but I’m here to tell you that it is indeed possible for most folk to write, if not a book, then a story or a poem, even if it’s only for personal satisfaction and destined never to see the light of day. In fact, now is the very time to start, when the darker nights are upon us and the thought of a long hard covid winter looms ahead.
I fell into writing completely by accident. Twenty-two years ago a good friend of mine died when I was in Florida on holiday and her death hit me badly. As I couldn’t attend her funeral I sat down and put some thoughts together about our relationship (we had had our disparities and I acknowledged that) and faxed the piece off to Lindy Mc Dowell at The Belfast Telegraph. Lindy liked my honesty and kindly published it, which proved the catalyst for subsequent articles in the ‘Telly’ and other outlets. I’m not suggesting that it takes a traumatic event to instigate your adventure into writing but I do believe it ought to be the product of some genuine conviction, whether great joy, sadness or perceived injustice – my only caveat would be to write with honesty and integrity and ultimately be prepared to stand by what you’ve written.
Anyone who believes they can become an established writer overnight is delusional. Yet, if I’m honest, I think there’s an unspoken belief in all of us that thinks their talents are only waiting for that instant recognition. It didn’t take very long for that particular bubble to burst for me and I joined a long list of would-be writers who pasted rejections on their walls and greeted every publisher’s reply with pre-empted disappointment. If this is putting you off, don’t let it, for Louisa May Alcott was allegedly told, ‘Stick to teaching’ and Little Women remains a classic nearly 150 years later, and it was suggested to F. Scott Fitzgerald that, ‘you’d have a decent book if you’d get rid of that Gatsby character’. So you see, the critics aren’t always that smart.
The common adage seems to be, ‘write about what you know’ but I’m not so sure, on two counts. Firstly, because writing about what you know can sometimes get you into a lot of trouble. I know a fair old bit about dexamethasone as I’d experienced its benefits (and disadvantages) in the past and had recently considered writing a piece about it for Slugger. Yet no matter how I tried not to, the words on the page took on a political slant that I generally try to avoid, so I put it to bed. Some things are just not worth the accompanying flack. Secondly, I think it’s rather good craic to write fiction about something you know nothing about. My first novel was all about narcissism (I hope I know nothing about it!) and I let my imagination run riot with exaggeration and hyperbole, never thinking that judging by the present example of one who shall remain nameless, I hit the nail right on the head. It works with writing fiction but it’s probably wise to steer clear of fabrications otherwise.
Writing can be immensely healing and during these ongoing dark days where mental health issues within the general public seem to come to the fore, writing can honestly help to save your sanity. Nobody needs to see what you’ve written. Nobody needs to know your personal feelings of anger, frustration, lust, resentment, love, envy, faith etc, because in the end you can simply put your words in a drawer and let them sleep there forever if you want. The process of penning the words is often enough to release tensions that might otherwise have built up in a negative way. Try it and see. And if you’re worried about grammar and punctuation, just write it down as a stream of consciousness – capital letter at the start and full stop at the end. It’s liberating, you’ll see. I also believe that more of us should be writing memoirs and regret to this day not encouraging my own parents to share a lot of theirs with me.
As previously stated, I read very few books when I was younger. I didn’t care much then but I do now, as my vocabulary is nothing like it ought to be. Now I’m trying to make up for lost time because the best advice you’ll ever get about writing is read, read, read. Nothing drives me on more than discovering a sentence in a book or poetry collection that has me thinking, ‘How I wish I’d written that myself’. Time and time again I return to Kent Haruf’s novels and wonder at the gift he has for describing ordinariness in a most extraordinary way.
There is nothing quite like the feeling you get on seeing your words published for the first time, so I hope that some of you will have a go. I sometimes wonder what Mrs Lewis would say if she knew I’d eventually taken writing seriously and stopped making up my own questions. I think she’d be pleased. I’ve had an awful lot of help and support along the way, not least of all from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland who valiantly battle to fund the Arts here, in all sections. It keeps me going – this faith from others and ultimately, hurray, faith in myself. It’s been a long time in coming.
Lynda’s debut poetry collection, ‘The Boiling Point for Jam’ is published this week with Arlen House. You can buy it online.
Photo by StockSnap is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-23--In a time of Covid_19 “his wake will be open to the public from 10am to 10pm…”

It ’ s bizarre that the head of the Republic ’ s Supreme Court has lost it so publicly over a golf dinner , while at the same time , as Nolan said on his programme this morning , Sinn Féin asked nationalist families to let their loved ones die alone yet then went ahead to bring thousands to Bobby Storey ’ s wake and funeral .
The funeral of the former senior IRA figure on June 30 last now is the subject of a Police Service of Northern Ireland investigation into alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations that were in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The funeral was attended by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald , her predecessor Gerry Adams , her deputy Michelle O ’ Neill , finance spokesman Pearse Doherty and several other senior Sinn Féin figures .
An email seen by the Sunday Independent that was sent to thousands of party members and supporters on the evening of June 25 makes no reference to the Covid-19 pandemic , the public health restrictions that limited outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 30 people at the time or any requirement to wear masks or keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It brings to mind Trump ’ s boast that he “ could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn ’ t lose voters ” .
What he didn ’ t claim , as some then subsequently claimed , is that he also wouldn ’ t be prosecuted by the courts for it .
As he ’ s finding out just now over the election result , the law has careful limits .
Judging by the storm of protest from callers this morning at the very mention of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party seems to have moved into the Trumpian business of shouting it down .
But the real scandal here is that the party has only recent days bothered to respond to a request for police interviews : The Stephen Nolan show reported on Friday that the PSNI wrote to Ms O ’ Neill and 23 other people on September 18 but it was two months before police received written confirmation from the legal representatives of those they wish to speak to that “ confirmed their intention to participate ” .
Whatever else this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trumpism it would only be to describe the scale and degree rather than the nature of the infraction , which as many victims of the Troubles and after know to their cost , has been practised in Northern Ireland long before the millionaire businessman became POTUS .

It’s bizarre that the head of the Republic’s Supreme Court has lost it so publicly over a golf dinner, while at the same time, as Nolan said on his programme this morning, Sinn Féin asked nationalist families to let their loved ones die alone yet then went ahead to bring thousands to Bobby Storey’s wake and funeral.
Here’s Hugh O’Connell report in the Sunday Independent:
The funeral of the former senior IRA figure on June 30 last now is the subject of a Police Service of Northern Ireland investigation into alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations that were in place in the North at the time. The funeral was attended by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, her predecessor Gerry Adams, her deputy Michelle O’Neill, finance spokesman Pearse Doherty and several other senior Sinn Féin figures. An email seen by the Sunday Independent that was sent to thousands of party members and supporters on the evening of June 25 makes no reference to the Covid-19 pandemic, the public health restrictions that limited outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 30 people at the time or any requirement to wear masks or keep socially distanced. [emphasis added]
It brings to mind Trump’s boast that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters”. What he didn’t claim, as some then subsequently claimed, is that he also wouldn’t be prosecuted by the courts for it. As he’s finding out just now over the election result, the law has careful limits.
Judging by the storm of protest from callers this morning at the very mention of the story (again), the party seems to have moved into the Trumpian business of shouting it down. But the real scandal here is that the party has only recent days bothered to respond to a request for police interviews:
The Stephen Nolan show reported on Friday that the PSNI wrote to Ms O’Neill and 23 other people on September 18 but it was two months before police received written confirmation from the legal representatives of those they wish to speak to that “confirmed their intention to participate”.
Whatever else this is, if we reference it as Trumpism it would only be to describe the scale and degree rather than the nature of the infraction, which as many victims of the Troubles and after know to their cost, has been practised in Northern Ireland long before the millionaire businessman became POTUS.


Fergus on Monday

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sluggerotoole--2020-11-23--Partition at 100: the British Problem

Partition at 100: the British Problem

Northern Ireland and its history have fascinated me continuously pretty much ever since I first learned how to use an atlas when I was a kid .
Looking at political maps , I would internally wonder why this corner of the island of Ireland was a different colour from the rest – though it took me a little longer to query what a “ political map ” was , and what a “ relief map ” was , and what exactly is so “ relieving ” about seeing the outlines of countries ’ mountains , forests and lakes… With my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pleased to learn that my school ’ s 1993 A-Level History syllabus would include the Home Rule Crisis of 1912-14 ( as part of an overview of British history in the first half of the 20th Century ) , but even before such studies I was keen and eager to read up about Irish history on my own steam , and learn as much as I could about the background as to why we in South Yorkshire ( and elsewhere in Britain ) kept hearing Ulster accents on the evening news every now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regret not asking my history teacher Mr Cooper was , whether waving the Union Jack a lot really is all it takes to threaten violence against a legally elected government and somehow get away with it… The point is that I ’ d had to wait until I ’ d left compulsory secondary education before my educators in England considered Irish history to be worth teaching .
We ’ re exactly a month away from the centenary of King George V ’ s royal assent to the fourth Home Rule Bill – the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a legal document .
As we look back over the past century , the effects of Partition on Ireland are well documented , but its effects on Britain are less often discussed .
Robert Kee in his celebrated book The Green Flag wrote about how the chief fault of the British when it came to Ireland had been one not of oppression but of neglect .
His book stops with the collapse of the Boundary Commission of 1925 , though , and the chief fault of the British vis-à-vis Ireland since then has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by neglect .
It ’ s a safe bet that the deal that would ultimately be thrashed out in December 1921 satisfied very few of the protagonists : Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith and their team hadn ’ t wanted partition or an oath of allegiance to the British Crown , the Ulster Unionists hadn ’ t wanted their own parliament , and most legislators in London no longer wanted to hang on to any part of Ireland a minute longer than they had to .
That last point is arguably evidenced by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : the part of Ireland that had least wanted Home Rule – Unionist Ulster – was the part that ended up getting it , and in a far stronger form than had been promised to the whole island of Ireland seven years before .
It was why such a huge measure of devolution was granted to Sir James Craig and his first government : given the choice , Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George would gladly have let go of all of Ireland , had his deputy , the Conservative leader Andrew Bonar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unionist clergyman ) , not threatened to pull the plug on his Coalition if he did .
The expansive Home Rule deal for the Belfast parliament was considered the next best thing to a united Ireland free from Britain – from the point of view of pro-nationalist politicians in Britain , at least .
Had the government in Westminster genuinely considered Northern Ireland an equal part of the Union , they would have had it fully integrated into the British system like Scotland and Wales .
Remarkably , only a handful of Northern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the Bangor barrister Bob McCartney QC , ever pointed this out .
In the years after the Anglo-Irish Treaty a rule was introduced in Parliament at Westminster that forbade anyone there from raising Northern Irish issues for whatever reason .
For the first two decades after Lloyd George ’ s death , it was customary for his biographers to laud him as the Man Who Solved the Irish Problem ( and note the terminology there : as far as most historians in Britain were concerned , it was always the Irish Problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ireland ) .
Put simply , the general feeling in London after 1921 was less one of ‘ Hurrah !
Justice for everyone !
’ than of ‘ Thank God we ’ ve got them all out of our hair !
’ With such a mindset , it thus became relatively easy for so many in British society thenceforth not to bother themselves about Ireland or the Irish .
Ignorance among British people about Ireland , its people , history and culture has always been a much bigger problem than Irish ignorance about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I remember when , as a cub radio reporter doing my work experience at Cool FM in Newtownards , I got a call from a friend asking me ‘ When are you coming back to the UK ?
’ My answer included a brief but diplomatic geography lesson… Three years ago , when the Northern Irish Backstop was high on the news agenda , Channel 4 News broadcast vox pops , inviting people in Britain to draw the Border on a blank map of Ireland .
Needless to say , none of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – indeed , one man seemed to think the Border ran from Dublin to Galway !
Some pro-Brexit figures let off steam over how the Border was affecting the Brexit process , and predictably enough , most of them blamed the difficulties not on the British government for failing to do their homework on the issue , but instead on the Irish government for daring to put their own interests first .
In December 2018 one ( so far ) unnamed Conservative politician , forgetting which century he was living in , remarked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Irish to treat us like this .
This simply can not stand .
The Irish really should know their place ’ , while six months earlier the comedian and UKIP supporter Lee Hurst had tweeted : Such ignorance gets very alarming , though , when it reaches the highest levels of government .
During his tenure as Brexit Secretary last year , the Tories ’ chief idiocy spokesman Dominic Raab somehow managed to get away with admitting to Sylvia Hermon in a Select Committee meeting that he hadn ’ t read the Good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meeting attended by Sammy Wilson , Raab drew hoots of laughter by calling the stretch of water between Ireland and Britain the Red Sea ! )
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In September 2018 the then NIO Secretary of State Karen Bradley gave an interview where she unblushingly admitted ‘ I didn ’ t understand things like when elections are fought , for example , in Northern Ireland – people who are nationalists don ’ t vote for unionist parties and vice versa.
’ You don ’ t have to be a supporter of the IRA ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Britain generally pay attention to Northern Ireland and its issues – and Ireland in general – only when they are forced to .
Even then , the ignorance can show .
During the Belfast flag protests of 2012-13 , one particular caller to Stephen Nolan ’ s Five Live phone-in , having graduated from the Harold Wilson School of Calling People Spongers , was keen to vent it forth : “ Tom from Hertfordshire ” may be an extreme example of this viewpoint , but even before the flag protests there had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August 2001 a Guardian/ICM poll reported that only a quarter of people in Britain questioned thought Northern Ireland should stay in the Union , while over 40 % reckoned it should become part of a united Ireland .
A Sky News poll in November last year reported that at least a quarter of pro-Brexit voters questioned thought Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving the UK would be a price worth paying for Brexit .
More recently still , a YouGov poll from April this year reported that 54 % of people questioned in Britain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ireland did leave the Union .
Almost a century has passed since a line was drawn across Ireland , and it isn ’ t just nationalists there who are pointing to the irony of Brexit , a process whose supporters have promised will mean Britain can Take Back Control , having the potential to lead to a partitioned Britain .
If the final deal between London and Brussels turns out to be the Hard Brexit over which Boris Johnson and his cabinet of clowns are salivating – and which was promised by precisely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it won ’ t just be Scotland looking eagerly at an exit from the Union .
It isn ’ t just Britain , though , that will suffer with a Hard Brexit – Ireland will , too , and on both sides of the Border ( if the experts are right , of course ) .
Both islands ’ economies are heavily dependent on mutual trade , and any kind of disruption to that will have knock-on effects on jobs and livelihoods on both sides of the Irish Sea – unless , of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the light and commits to staying in the Single Market and re-joining EFTA ( I , for one , continue to live in hope… ) .
The award-winning columnist Fintan O ’ Toole is one commentator who has plotted a direct line from British ignorance of Ireland and the Irish to the Brexit vote , as he argued in his first opinion piece after the Referendum… However Brexit is worked out , though , in an age where almost everyone is online , with unlimited access to a wealth of historical sources , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if there ever was ) for continued ignorance among people in Britain about Ireland and its history .
During the Troubles , a period marked with considerable television censorship , the only serious attempts at explaining the context behind the news on the small screen came with Robert Kee ’ s Ireland – a Television History for the BBC and RTÉ in 1980 , and Thames Television ’ s The Troubles documentary of 1981 ( narrated by Rosalie Crutchley ) .
Now , though , the conflict is over , there is less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time for this ignorance to be done away with for good .
At the very least , it is time for us in Britain to make good on the appeal seven years ago from the Guardian ‘ s Emer O ’ Toole to ‘ look Northern Ireland in the eye.
‘ Perhaps some imaginative television could provide an answer .
The journalist Orla McAndrew recently praised Derry Girls for doing its bit to educate a British audience , while one of the stars of the show , Dylan Llewelyn ( James , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreed , in an interview he gave to Joe.ie in February 2019 , that it was time Irish history was properly covered in British schools :

Northern Ireland and its history have fascinated me continuously pretty much ever since I first learned how to use an atlas when I was a kid. Looking at political maps, I would internally wonder why this corner of the island of Ireland was a different colour from the rest – though it took me a little longer to query what a “political map” was, and what a “relief map” was, and what exactly is so “relieving” about seeing the outlines of countries’ mountains, forests and lakes…
With my interest so whetted, I was understandably pleased to learn that my school’s 1993 A-Level History syllabus would include the Home Rule Crisis of 1912-14 (as part of an overview of British history in the first half of the 20th Century), but even before such studies I was keen and eager to read up about Irish history on my own steam, and learn as much as I could about the background as to why we in South Yorkshire (and elsewhere in Britain) kept hearing Ulster accents on the evening news every now and then. One question I do regret not asking my history teacher Mr Cooper was, whether waving the Union Jack a lot really is all it takes to threaten violence against a legally elected government and somehow get away with it…
The point is that I’d had to wait until I’d left compulsory secondary education before my educators in England considered Irish history to be worth teaching.
We’re exactly a month away from the centenary of King George V’s royal assent to the fourth Home Rule Bill – the first time that Partition was formalized in a legal document. As we look back over the past century, the effects of Partition on Ireland are well documented, but its effects on Britain are less often discussed. Robert Kee in his celebrated book The Green Flag wrote about how the chief fault of the British when it came to Ireland had been one not of oppression but of neglect. His book stops with the collapse of the Boundary Commission of 1925, though, and the chief fault of the British vis-à-vis Ireland since then has been characterized as much by ignorance as by neglect.
It’s a safe bet that the deal that would ultimately be thrashed out in December 1921 satisfied very few of the protagonists: Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith and their team hadn’t wanted partition or an oath of allegiance to the British Crown, the Ulster Unionists hadn’t wanted their own parliament, and most legislators in London no longer wanted to hang on to any part of Ireland a minute longer than they had to. That last point is arguably evidenced by the ultimate irony of the Anglo-Irish Treaty: the part of Ireland that had least wanted Home Rule – Unionist Ulster – was the part that ended up getting it, and in a far stronger form than had been promised to the whole island of Ireland seven years before. It was why such a huge measure of devolution was granted to Sir James Craig and his first government: given the choice, Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George would gladly have let go of all of Ireland, had his deputy, the Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law (whose father was a Coleraine Unionist clergyman), not threatened to pull the plug on his Coalition if he did. The expansive Home Rule deal for the Belfast parliament was considered the next best thing to a united Ireland free from Britain – from the point of view of pro-nationalist politicians in Britain, at least.
Had the government in Westminster genuinely considered Northern Ireland an equal part of the Union, they would have had it fully integrated into the British system like Scotland and Wales. Remarkably, only a handful of Northern Ireland’s Unionist leaders, such as the Bangor barrister Bob McCartney QC, ever pointed this out. In the years after the Anglo-Irish Treaty a rule was introduced in Parliament at Westminster that forbade anyone there from raising Northern Irish issues for whatever reason. For the first two decades after Lloyd George’s death, it was customary for his biographers to laud him as the Man Who Solved the Irish Problem (and note the terminology there: as far as most historians in Britain were concerned, it was always the Irish Problem, rather than the British Problem in Ireland). Put simply, the general feeling in London after 1921 was less one of ‘Hurrah! Justice for everyone!’ than of ‘Thank God we’ve got them all out of our hair!’ With such a mindset, it thus became relatively easy for so many in British society thenceforth not to bother themselves about Ireland or the Irish.
Ignorance among British people about Ireland, its people, history and culture has always been a much bigger problem than Irish ignorance about British people, history and culture. I remember when, as a cub radio reporter doing my work experience at Cool FM in Newtownards, I got a call from a friend asking me ‘When are you coming back to the UK?’ My answer included a brief but diplomatic geography lesson…
Three years ago, when the Northern Irish Backstop was high on the news agenda, Channel 4 News broadcast vox pops, inviting people in Britain to draw the Border on a blank map of Ireland. Needless to say, none of them in the news item drew it correctly – indeed, one man seemed to think the Border ran from Dublin to Galway! Some pro-Brexit figures let off steam over how the Border was affecting the Brexit process, and predictably enough, most of them blamed the difficulties not on the British government for failing to do their homework on the issue, but instead on the Irish government for daring to put their own interests first. In December 2018 one (so far) unnamed Conservative politician, forgetting which century he was living in, remarked ‘We simply cannot allow the Irish to treat us like this. This simply cannot stand. The Irish really should know their place’, while six months earlier the comedian and UKIP supporter Lee Hurst had tweeted:
I’m not being funny, but fack the Irish border. If they don’t want a hard border let them leave the EU as well.
Such ignorance gets very alarming, though, when it reaches the highest levels of government. During his tenure as Brexit Secretary last year, the Tories’ chief idiocy spokesman Dominic Raab somehow managed to get away with admitting to Sylvia Hermon in a Select Committee meeting that he hadn’t read the Good Friday Agreement (in another Select Committee meeting attended by Sammy Wilson, Raab drew hoots of laughter by calling the stretch of water between Ireland and Britain the Red Sea!). In September 2018 the then NIO Secretary of State Karen Bradley gave an interview where she unblushingly admitted ‘I didn’t understand things like when elections are fought, for example, in Northern Ireland – people who are nationalists don’t vote for unionist parties and vice versa.’
You don’t have to be a supporter of the IRA’s campaign to know that the people of Britain generally pay attention to Northern Ireland and its issues – and Ireland in general – only when they are forced to. Even then, the ignorance can show. During the Belfast flag protests of 2012-13, one particular caller to Stephen Nolan’s Five Live phone-in, having graduated from the Harold Wilson School of Calling People Spongers, was keen to vent it forth:
Once again, we’ve got Northern Ireland kicking off, and I, like most Englishmen, I’m sure, have no affinity with these people, I have no empathy for their situation. I see them as little more than a drain on our rapidly diminishing resources. This is a squabble in a medieval province between two groups of people, one of which shouldn’t even be there. One of them – it’s – they’re basically Scottish people in a foreign country… I can tell you this: people in England would readily get rid of Northern Ireland tomorrow: it is nothing more than a drain on our resources…
“Tom from Hertfordshire” may be an extreme example of this viewpoint, but even before the flag protests there had been signs in that direction: in August 2001 a Guardian/ICM poll reported that only a quarter of people in Britain questioned thought Northern Ireland should stay in the Union, while over 40% reckoned it should become part of a united Ireland. A Sky News poll in November last year reported that at least a quarter of pro-Brexit voters questioned thought Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving the UK would be a price worth paying for Brexit. More recently still, a YouGov poll from April this year reported that 54% of people questioned in Britain were not bothered either way whether Northern Ireland did leave the Union.
Almost a century has passed since a line was drawn across Ireland, and it isn’t just nationalists there who are pointing to the irony of Brexit, a process whose supporters have promised will mean Britain can Take Back Control, having the potential to lead to a partitioned Britain. If the final deal between London and Brussels turns out to be the Hard Brexit over which Boris Johnson and his cabinet of clowns are salivating – and which was promised by precisely nobody during the Referendum campaign – then it won’t just be Scotland looking eagerly at an exit from the Union. It isn’t just Britain, though, that will suffer with a Hard Brexit – Ireland will, too, and on both sides of the Border (if the experts are right, of course). Both islands’ economies are heavily dependent on mutual trade, and any kind of disruption to that will have knock-on effects on jobs and livelihoods on both sides of the Irish Sea – unless, of course, the Johnson government finally sees the light and commits to staying in the Single Market and re-joining EFTA (I, for one, continue to live in hope…). The award-winning columnist Fintan O’Toole is one commentator who has plotted a direct line from British ignorance of Ireland and the Irish to the Brexit vote, as he argued in his first opinion piece after the Referendum…
The rather patronising English joke used to be that whenever the Irish question was about to be solved, the Irish would change the question. And now, when the Irish question seemed indeed to have been solved, at least for a generation, it is the English who have changed the question.
Recklessly, casually, with barely a thought, English nationalists have planted a bomb under the settlement that brought peace to Northern Ireland and close cordiality to relations between Britain and Ireland. To do this seriously and soberly would have been bad. To do it so carelessly, with nothing more than a pat on the head and a reassurance that everything will be all right, is frankly insulting.
However Brexit is worked out, though, in an age where almost everyone is online, with unlimited access to a wealth of historical sources, there is no longer any excuse (if there ever was) for continued ignorance among people in Britain about Ireland and its history. During the Troubles, a period marked with considerable television censorship, the only serious attempts at explaining the context behind the news on the small screen came with Robert Kee’s Ireland – a Television History for the BBC and RTÉ in 1980, and Thames Television’s The Troubles documentary of 1981 (narrated by Rosalie Crutchley). Now, though, the conflict is over, there is less censorship, and it’s surely time for this ignorance to be done away with for good. At the very least, it is time for us in Britain to make good on the appeal seven years ago from the Guardian‘s Emer O’Toole to ‘look Northern Ireland in the eye.‘
Perhaps some imaginative television could provide an answer. The journalist Orla McAndrew recently praised Derry Girls for doing its bit to educate a British audience, while one of the stars of the show, Dylan Llewelyn (James, the “Wee English Fella”), agreed, in an interview he gave to Joe.ie in February 2019, that it was time Irish history was properly covered in British schools:
They don’t teach that in UK schools, ever, and I think it’s a bit mad because [Ireland] are our next-door neighbours, and we should know about that stuff – so yeah, it’s been an eye-opening experience.