I'm back to commenting on the weirdness...

I took a few weeks away from this blog because I needed the time and energy to get this new blogging project off the ground - At the grassroots. I've got it to a point where, while it has yet to enjoy the viewing figures that this Stirrings from below blog has achieved, they're reasonably healthy for a project still in it's infancy. The aim is for both blogs to be stand alone projects. That means there won't be any cross posting between the two blogs. This is because they have different objectives. At the grassroots is about encouraging and supporting neighbourhood level projects that aim to start building the new world we want while making real changes in the here and now. This Stirrings from below blog is about offering a critique of the dysfunctional, increasingly dystopian and weird world we currently have to endure.

A lot has happened in the few weeks I've been away from here. I'll start off my return to blogging by making some brief comments about recent events and trends. These may possibly form the basis for more detailed investigations and posts at some point in the future...

One event certainly worthy of comment is the election of Donald Trump to be the next president of the USA. Suffice to say that were I a citizen of the United States, eligible to vote, I would have been more than happy to exercise my right to stand aside from the proceedings and not vote. However, a lot of people did vote, leading to a higher turnout than normal. That higher than normal turnout cannot be wished away - it has to be faced up to and understood...

This was a result which for those of us who pay attention to what goes on outside the liberal/left bubble, didn't come as any surprise whatsoever. What I find baffling is the shock expressed by a fair number of commentators and so called 'journalists' at Trump's election. If these commentators and journalists had been doing their jobs properly and actually listening to what people in the USA away from the liberal minded coastal areas had been saying, the result would not have come as any surprise at all. As an interesting aside, a financial advisor I know also expressed surprise at Trump getting elected! Mate...this is what you're paid to do... Namely to keep a close eye on events so election results don't come as a surprise.

What's of interest with Trump is not the election as such but, the reaction to his being elected. There have been a lot of liberal/left tears and some very performative rants and complete meltdowns posted on social media. These rants and meltdowns have proved to be a great source of amusement for Trump supporters and also, for anyone opposed to what they define as the 'woke' agenda. I'm not going to link to any of these because, while I have some very serious reservations about the world view of the people posting them up, mocking and ridiculing them isn't going to achieve anything. The question that does need to be asked is this - how have we reached the point where there's a cohort of people whose reaction to events not going their way is to livestream themselves having a meltdown about it to the world at large?

With me and a number of the more thoughtful people I associate with in real life and follow online, our reaction to a turn of events such as Trump getting elected is to stand back and dispassionately try to analyse and understand what happened and more importantly, why it happened. Understanding is the key to working out what can be built in the way of a genuine political and social alternative. Building that alternative is what motivates me. Yes, it's hard work but, people will pay more attention to that than someone livestreaming themselves having an attention seeking tantrum.

Then there are the people who think they are part of what some have dubbed as being the 'truth movement' that came into existence in the face of the Covid 'crisis' restrictions, lockdowns and vaccine mandates, who now think that Trump is going to be some sort of saviour. Where do you actually start in educating these people? Is it even worth bothering to try to educate them? Were any of them actually paying any real attention at all to what has been getting done to us over the last five years? Does the phrase 'two cheeks of the same globalist' arse mean anything to them? There are so many questions to be asked... As it will inevitably become abundantly clear whose interests Trump is really serving, I hope that the scales will fall off the eyes of these people and that they'll properly wake up to what's really going on. However, I am prepared to be disappointed...

Right, that's it for the moment regarding my initial thoughts on the election of Trump. I think I've flagged up some aspects of this event that will be the subject of deeper investigation and subsequent blog posts over the next few months...

Moving on, this may be something specific to the United Kingdom... This regards the weather. Namely the claustrophobic blanket of almost uniform pale grey cloud that has covered pretty much the entire country for over a week now and shows no sign of moving away yet. That's pale grey with some vaguely discernible hints of yellowish orange at times. Also, a certain mistiness which renders not so distant hills as mere outlines. Not to mention the intermittent hints of drizzle that never really materialises into anything. There's also the increasing occurrence of sniffy noses, rhinitis and sore eyes.

Yes, it's November and the weather is generally pretty gloomy and cloudy. I've had sixty eight years on this mortal coil and I can remember plenty of gloomy, cloudy, misty and foggy November days in that time. The thing is, most of the time, there was some variegation in the clouds, it wasn't a flat, uniform grey that went on for weeks. Sure there were days when the cloud cover was flat but, that tended to only last for a few days before another weather system would come along to nudge it out of the way. It certainly wasn't hanging around for weeks with no end in sight. Also, I'm old enough to remember, cold but bright and crisp November days...how I long for them...

This was pretty much the last day we had anything like consistent sunshine but, some of you can probably guess what was coming:) Holm Mead (nr, Bitton), South Gloucestershire, UK - 27.10.24

This is what we've had in the way of cloud cover for days on end now here in the UK. River Avon, Keynsham Meadow (nr. Willsbridge), South Gloucestershire, UK - 3.11.24

The weather has been commented upon a lot by what some people would describe as 'conspiracy theorists'. I would describe thse so called 'conspiracy theorists' as people asking difficult and searching questions about what the heck is going on rather than accepting the narrative from mainstream media. The thing is, conversations about the weather have spread from the so called 'conspiracy theorists' to the so called 'normies'. There's only so much of this weird, flat grey, dispiriting and depressing weather that 'normies' can take before they start asking some pointed questions as to what's actually going on and what's being done to us. With this weather coming in on top of a UK government elected by just one in five eligible voters, and is experiencing a high level of mistrust and indeed loathing, the mood in the country is turning pretty sour.

I'm no weather expert but, from my life experience over the decades, it's pretty obvious to me that what we're experiencing isn't natural. It's pretty well known that a lack of sunlight, even low level autumn and winter sunlight, leads to a feeling of depression. It's also pretty well known that this can lead to a suppression in natural immunity. Given the shite that has been thrown at us over the last five years and also, how sour the national mood is becoming, can you really blame people for thinking that weather manipulation is a thing that's being done to us by those with nefarious agendas? I may be a bit late to the party on this one but, I'm joining in with asking just what the heck is going on with the weather, and more importantly, what's the agenda?

To conclude this brief overview, as you can gather, I'm back blogging here on Stirrings from below. Things are getting more unsettled, uncertain and just plain weird. I would be abrogating my responsibilities to the existing subscribers of this blog to stay away from posting any longer. I think we're entering what some may describe as an 'interesting' period. I feel that I need to be around to comment upon and document it...