Reflections on 2017 - the Blogmeister's New Year Message

I'm slightly early, but I thought I'd use the inter-festival break to reflect on 2017, and some matters arising for me to address. One of these matters is to try and answer a question that two good friends asked me a couple of years ago. Both these gentlemen work with me on musical projects, and are very knowledgeable about my lyrics and poetry. As such, they were both well-informed enough to ask me why I write so much about the dark side of life. One had said previously that my works were about as cheerful as a combination of episodes of Coronation Street and Eastenders - neither of which I ever watch, as I find them too depressing. 

Looking back over my blog posts this year, I suppose the same could be said about them. Terrorism features largely, as does OFSTED, army veterans and Mack the Knife. Personalities mentioned include Teresa May, Diane Abbott and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Some people may well find this a recipe for depression, but first, I must answer my friends' question. When they first asked me, I own up to having been evasive, largely because I hadn't thought about it seriously.

When I first began writing lyrics and poems, I did try to include lighter themes. I wrote a number of pieces which covered such humorous areas as jealous hedgehogs, Liverpool pub singers, jilted birdwatchers and oversexed bus drivers. One of the main reasons I began writing serious stuff only was hearing a recording of myself narrating a poem called "The Caller's Lament", which made me cringe. I determined never to write anything so embarrassing again. And I didn't -I began to write on serious themes only from then on, as it seemed to me that I wrote far better on such subjects.

Well, that's one reason. However, writing exclusively in such a way can lead to some people forming a superficial impression that the writer must 1. be a miserable so-and-so and/or 2. deliberately out to depress and sadden people.

In the case of 1, I don't know whether people find me morose personally or not (I can imagine the comments coming on!😃😃), but this can be easily disproved by referring to an artist who faced similar accusations in his lifetime: Leonard Cohen. He was constantly ridiculed for the supposedly depressing nature of his lyrics. His critics (and admirers) called him "Laughing Lennie" ; Clive James described his work as "Doom from a Room". Yet, people who worked with him spoke warmly of a friendly, humorous man whom they were happy to work with. The author is not his or her body of work.

On the second count, I think it absurd to suggest that any writer gets out of bed in the morning saying to him or herself: "I must write something depressing today". For instance, when, on November 16, I wrote a poem which I posted on this blog about the murder victim, Kaan Aslan, I wanted to mark this terrible event and honour his name. To suggest that I wrote that poem simply to depress people is both ridiculous and highly insulting to both myself and the memory of Kaan Aslan. Writers write on serious themes because they are moved to do so, because they care about an issue, not because of a desire to spread unhappiness for its own sake.

Returning to 2017, and to the picture of Santa above, I am reminded of an email that I sent, partly in jest, earlier in the year. In the message, I said that I was writing from a front-line city. After sending it, I suddenly realised that London really is a front-line city. So is Manchester, New York, Berlin, and so are many others. In the UK this year, 37 people have been killed by terrorists and 350 injured, many with what are euphemistically described as "life changing" injuries. I am glad to have remembered them on this blog, and do not intend to stop writing about such events.

Far from wishing to sign off the year on a mournful note, I would like to end positively, by paying tribute to two heroic people who stood up to terrorists in 2017: PC Keith Palmer, who died defending the Houses of Parliament on March 22, and the brave young Australian nurse, Kirsty Boden, who died trying to help the wounded and dying during the London Bridge atrocity on June 3rd. Along with many others who fought back and defied the terrorists, their deeds inspire us to face the future bravely.

Have a Happy and Courageous New Year! 

PC Keith Palmer, on duty outside the Houses of Parliament.

Kirsty Boden, who died trying to help others.

The Rhymes and Routes Christmas Message, 2017

With some reservations, I have decided to publish this Christmas message from a statesman whose government has banned Christmas. Our Christmas message this year comes from the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Jong Un.

He-he-he! How you like my silly hat? Pretty, yes? You like the scene behind me? That place is Hiroshima, but is how New York will look one day. And London! Don't think you are safe, Britishers. You sent soldiers to invade my country in 1950 as well as USA and others. We don't forget easy, let me assure you.

Now, just cos I wear Santa hat, no go thinking I change my mind on Christmas. I banned it some time ago. I don't like it, because I am the main man in the world, not some Israeli baby born 2000 years ago who oppressed the Palestinian people in a manger... And he couldn't speak Korean! What kind of saviour is that? Anyway, you got me instead.

I am very offended that I got to send my message on some lousy little blog, but British newspapers they not like me for some reason. Blogmeister seem like some kind of reactionary liberal socialist vermin and Rednev some tired old man who don't write much. (Ah, such flattery! - B)

I guess you all wondering what I am going to do about Donald Trump in New Year, 2018. I not scared of him! If he drop any of his missiles on us, I will destroy the world. Well, some of it anyway. I have to be careful not to destroy my country, cos suicide is against the law. If anyone does kill himself, his family are sent to camps to teach them a lesson. When life here is so wonderful, why commit suicide? (Agreed, Mr Chairman, escape is far better. 26, 854 people escaped from North to South Korea between 1953 to 2014 - B)

Donald Trump is a nasty old man who I have outed as a lunatic. He insulted me saying I was short and fat! Do I look like that to you? If he said that to me here, I would put him in prison. No way is it true, no matter what lying British press says.

Anyway, I want to stop now. I am tired. However, I say to the British people that I am not planning any nuclear attacks on them. I have no such intention and I don't have the missiles yet. When I do, I send you a little warning, nothing much. Have nice Christmas - it may be your last! Funny joke, eh? He-he-he!
As Blogmeister, I feel I must thank Chairman Kim for his festive message. His goodwill shines through his words - or is that radiation glow?

Evidence that Donald Trump's description of Chairman Kim as "fat" is wide of the mark. Surely "working on obese" would be more accurate? No wonder Kim is upset!

President Putin, Trump and a Spare Book Token

After Christmas, if you are left with a book token that someone has given you, you might consider buying the latest book by Luke Harding: "Collusion - how Russia helped Trump win the White House". There is nothing ambiguous about the title, and you might think it an unnecessary purchase. After all, hasn't the topic been covered extensively by the news media? Well, yes, it has, but Harding's book provides us with greater detail and insight into the nature of the issue, providing us with overwhelmingly incriminating information about Trump's relationship with Putin's Russia, financial and political, and also, in my opinion, pointing to some similarities between the two men themselves. But I'll save that for later.

We need to be clear from the outset that Trump denies any wrongdoing with matters Russian. It also needs to be said that the book does not provide the "smoking gun" evidence that would prove Trump a liar. That is the first similarity between Donald and Vladimir - there is no conclusive proof of nefarious activity by either of them, despite strong circumstantial evidence to the contrary. In "The Threepenny Opera", Mack the Knife always wore white gloves. Both Trump and Putin vehemently deny any truth in the secret report by Christopher Steele, the former MI6 man who once served in Moscow, despite Steele having an outstanding reputation as a private intelligence operative. In any case, the revelations in Steele's dossier, leaked online, detailed how the Russian regime cultivated Trump for a number of years in order "...to encourage splits and division in the western alliance".

In the dossier summary, Steele says that "...he (Trump)and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals". He goes on to say that the FSB compromised Trump by secretly recording his engaging in "perverted sexual acts" while in Moscow. The summary also mentions "... a dossier of compromising material on Hilary Clinton". The sources of these revelations appear to have been Russian intelligence officers and/or Kremlin insiders. Sinister repercussions followed.

Harding lists a number of mysterious deaths of Russian government officials and diplomats following the publication of Steele's dossier. Harding says:

"There was no obvious pattern: the deaths took place in Moscow, the United States, South Asia."

It is not known if these deaths were of Steele's sources, but Harding says, rightly, that it looked as if a spy network was being rolled up. Someone in the Kremlin was clearly upset.

As for Trump's election campaign, Harding demonstrates that Russia was actively operating online to discredit Hilary Clinton (I myself remember videos on YouTube making salacious claims about Clinton's sexuality). The US security agencies put out a report to this effect and, as Harding states:

"From June 2015, Russian operatives purchased a series of advertisements on Facebook...they pretended to be American activists...Facebook would eventually admit that Russia had employed 470"inauthentic accounts and pages" as part of its influence campaign".

Other strange events, like the sacking of FBI Director, James B. Comey and the links of Trump loyalists with Russia are examined in great detail. We learn of Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who worked in Ukraine to elect a pro-Russian president. There is also much to learn about Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser, so well thought of by the Russians they called him "General Misha", who has recently agreed to testify to a forthcoming inquiry.

In the last part of Harding's book, we learn of Donald's relationship with Deutsche Bank. Charles Kaiser in The Guardian writes:

"... Trump’s incredibly convoluted relationship with the German bank, which included defaulting on a $330m loan from its real estate division – and then settling that default by borrowing hundreds of millions more from the bank’s private equity division. Asked if “it was normal to give more money to a customer who was a bad credit risk ... a former senior Deutsche bank staff member said: ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’

More grounds for blackmail by the FSB, in other words. And Trump has still not published his tax returns.

Aesop, he of the fables, once said: "A man is known by the company he keeps". If that be true, what are we to make of the fact that Harding is able to list seven known pro-Russian figures in the Trump administration, serving or former members? Besides this, there is the matter of Trump's financial interests in Moscow. As Charles Kaiser says here:

"Trump has repeatedly tweeted that he has no financial connections to Russia. But in 2008 Donald Trump Jr said in Moscow: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” A Reuters investigation revealed that individuals with Russian passports or addresses had bought property worth $98.4m in seven Trump-branded towers in Florida."

And, as Harding points out in his book, some of these individuals who bought property were neighbours in Trump Tower - many with links to organised crime.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I find Trump and Putin to be two of a kind, despite many obvious differences. They both like getting their own way, which needs no exemplification. They both detest all opposition, the difference being that Trump sacks his critics and defames his opponents, while Putin takes more drastic action. We can only be glad that the USA is a democracy with a system of checks and balances on presidential power. Without them, the resemblance between Trump and Putin would be stronger.

The only problem with Harding's book is that, like all other books dealing with current affairs, it could be overtaken by events. It might yet be conclusively proven that Trump was fully aware of contacts with Putin. But, I doubt it. As I said, both these men are adept at covering their tracks. They have both learned from Mack the Knife. Still, this book is a rattling good read and I recommend it unreservedly.