Socialismo o Muerte

Legacy polishing can be undignified, especially when it is carried on by others on your behalf. Dogs fighting over your bones before you have had the decency to die. I may have mentioned previously that an acquaintance of mine was feeling a bit poorly, suffering, no doubt, from the after effects of rhetorical diseases. Well, he has decided to retire, after a fashion.

I suggested that:

I'm not sure how the rest of them will remember.

The articles, ranging from pre-mortem panegyrics to biographies of a mass murderer and secret admirer of Franco, have been rolling out. Some good jokes though!

In Open Democracy 19 - 02 – 2008 (First published Aug 2006)

Fidel Castro's legacy: Cuban conversations

Fred Halliday recounts a Cuban anecdote from the 90s

about Fidel Castro finding himself in a cage with Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, where they are all being threatened by a ravenous lion. Clinton and Yeltsin bravely tussle with the beast, but retire seriously mauled. Fidel tells them to leave it to him. He approaches the lion and whispers something in its ear: the animal pauses, frowns, and rolls over dead. Bill and Boris take a break from licking their wounds to query comandante about the magic words. Fidel replies: "well, I said what I always say – Socialismo o Muerte" ("socialism or death").

As a follow on from that Richard Gott in an article:

Fidel remembered: a view of the Cuban revolution

on the 20 - 02 – 2008 in Open Democracy, recounts:

A few years ago, I returned to Havana to write a history of Cuba, which was published in 2005. On its final page, I wrote the following words about Castro:

"He remains a figure from all our yesterdays, grey-bearded but eternally youthful like an ageing rock star. He does not run the country, but he presides over a government that is his creation. He has changed his slogan from ‘socialism or death', suitable for the violent 20th century, to ‘a better world is possible', appropriate for the more pacifistic revolutionaries of a new era. When he dies, there will be little change in Cuba. While few people have been looking, the change has already taken place."

Nice switch that from socialism or death to a better world is possible.

I’m not sure what the next stage is, probably – ah well mustn’t grumble.

The Dalai Lama Gang!

We can all be unreliable witnesses.

I was listening, with half an ear, to a recording of an interview with Mr Shrub conducted by Matt Frei on the 14 February 2008. I heard Mr Shrub refer to the

Dalai Lama Gang!

Such images:

The 14^th reincarnation wearing a wife beater, displaying lots of tatts, a hairnet over his bald pate, mean and menacing, giving hand signals, surrounded by hard guys from the hood but still managing to look like a startled owl!

Yo! Panchan baby gimme some skin?

Bitchin! Lets go tag those PLA Tanks, mother f*****g butt kissers. Why they wear such big hats?

I thought I had better check this out. The transcript is here

and the relevant section records the leader of the free world, a certain Mr Shrub:

There's a lot of issues that I suspect people are gonna, you know, opine, about during the Olympics. I mean, you got the Dali Lama crowd….

Ah well! It was a nice thought while it lasted.

Pointless Incessant Barking.

Blogging. Why do we bother? Is it Pointless Incessant Barking?

It could be. We have a dog in our village which barks when his owners are out. It is left in the garden, presumably to deter burglars, but at the passing of a sparrow or a ‘Wee, sleekit, cow’rin’, tim’rous beastie’ it sets forth on this marathon. Pain in the ass? Of course! The dog, known in our house without affection as Big Dog, has problems. In addition to its owners, it probably has several personality disorders and we should tactfully move on.

Again John Naughton provides his rational for blogging in the way that he does, without comments.

It is a pleasure and a revelation to me. It is a place to be and it is amazing. You don’t have to read it. I can create a world where there is one with everything for me and as long as the blogspot persists I will have my space!

Maybe with the growing light there will be more images, ojala!

Wild Things

My, literary, thirst for wilderness and wild things continues unabated.
Again, the workers at SCC Libraries have provided me with:–

Robert Macfarlane. The Wild Places.

all for the price of a few electrons!

I am, enjoyably, working my way through it and what do I find but a reference to Sandy Mc Rory (page 138). He has appeared here briefly before .

I must admit it was so long ago and the occurrence so unlikely that I had begun to doubt my own recollection. Good to be shocked in this way!

Sandy lived in a ’bothy’ in Strathchailleach just to the north of Sandwood Bay.

I remember the name now and the translation; but that's another story!

The Wislon Doctrine

Two men stand in the Tower of London.
They are placed either side of one of the many instruments of torture in the room.
One, the smaller of the two, is clearly, cravenly, nervous constantly taking his glasses off and polishing them on his tie. His hand moves to his collar frequently, emphasising his scrawny neck. This gives the impression of a turkey hearing the sound of carols. Let's call him the Man of Straw(MoS). The other exudes a weary air. Clearly he is burdened, his large frame seems to bear a great, invisible, weight. Let's call him the Preoccupied Man (PM).

MoS twitters:

Did we have to carry out my three monthly performance assessment here PM?

PM intones

Jack, I thought it might concentrate the mind, a little.We must have Dick Cheney here if he ever makes it across the pond. I know some of my friends from an earlier time are looking forward to having him arrested after he swims across!

Now to business, what’s all this I hear about bugging. You know the doctrine, no bugging the boys and girls. At least not without giving us the copyright on the juicier bits, only joking Jack!

But you told me to do it PM, you said, right there in cabinet. I think I have the high ground here PM and witnesses.

Well Jack thanks to a little help from some of my, er, colleagues I have a recording here of the exact phrase.

PM presses what looks like a mobile phone with iPlod printed on the side.
A jumble of voices then comes PM’s unmistakeable and stentorian voice.

Well bugger the Muslim MPs!

Rabbi Burns

Rabbi Burns has much to teach us!

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face
Great puddin o’ the chieftain race!
A boon them a’ ye tak your place….

That reversal includes many.

Still, mustn’t grumble. Well fed and watered on Burn’s night, drouthy neibours meeting drouthy neibours, it is a pleasure to read his words and the images that spring to mind.

It is impenetrable language for many, and his reputation has slipped over the years, sadly. Is that because he was demonstrably human or just poor?

Holy Willie crafts a rare argument for ‘virtue’ which we would all do weel to bear in mind….

O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink, an' swearers swear,
An' singin there, an' dancin here,
Wi' great and sma';
For I am keepit by Thy fear
Free frae them a'.

But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
An' sometimes, too, in wardly trust,
Vile self gets in;
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.

In addition to the thorn of lust how many of us could put our hands on our hearts and truly say we are not guilty of:

Travelling on the Sabbath;

Not reading the Bible on a Sunday;

Digging the garden on the Sabbath.

So then, guilty as charged.

May we all be preserved from canting hypocrites and enjoy sharing the earth with the

Wee sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie

And the

Panic in his breastie.

Still

Its comin’ yet, for a’that
That man to man, the warld o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that!

Sorry Lassies; it’s a sort of male bonding Laddie thing!
I Wish!

The Oak and the Ash and the Bonny Rowan Tree.

Ohh dear!
Rowan me old mucker. I think that you have bollixed this one right good and proper mate.

I’ve just met a girl named sharia!

Nuff said, us beardies 'ave to stick together in a manner of speakin.

Not that you want it, but a word to the wise man. When you are in a whole lot of shit stop digging.

Well timed though. Did anyone notice if old whatisponce dropped his interest doobies?

Did I write that?

At a certain age, or time of day, it is possible to be confused about what one has done or not done.

This is not what has happened to Robert Fisk of course but it does make for a ripping good yarn in the Independent!

"Saddam Hussein," the cover said in huge letters. "From Birth to Martyrdom." And then there was the author's name – in beautiful, calligraphic typeface and in gold in the top, right-hand corner. "By Robert Fisk."

Many thanks to Arts and Letters Daily for the link.

Things me mammy never told me

Gombeen-man

Chambers

a grasping usurer; a moneylender

Collins

a shopkeeper who practises usury

And here’s me thinking he was just a Crook.