I bought this book after listening to Joanna Bourke talk to Laurie Taylor on BBC Radio 4’s Talking Aloud (on podcast). It discusses how military imagery and acceptance of violence is ingrained in society, along with dependence on jobs and expenditure on research in industry and universities. The UK’s annual expenditure on military expenditure is around £69 billion, the fourth highest in the world. I’ve just dipped into it (the book not the £69 billion) It makes for sober reading.
Too many people, I think, are excited by violence, righteous destruction, punishment, use and appearance of weaponry, controlling nation states and manipulating them economically. I could go on but I’ll leave it there.
So often, there is an apparent absence of empathy and unwillingness to respond to the suffering of others at the most basic level. We just cut ourselves off from it and focus on our own narrow interests. This Tory government is very adept in this respect, imposing thousands of cuts on the NHS and putting services in the hands of private providers.
One of the most important features of a civilised and humane society is the degree to which it provides practical, financial and professional support to the physically disabled, to people with mental health problems, those with learning disabilities, to the vulnerable and to children. So much lip service is given to this segment of society’s needs and so many cost saving cuts inflicted upon them.
Yesterday’s Guardian (Society section) had a report on delays and problems with new disability claims http://gu.com/p/45876/sbl and a feature on the Haven project, a service for people with personality disorders which is now under threat following the ending of central funding and the local clinical commissioning group deciding it’s not value for money http://gu.com/p/456db/sbl . The tax payer can breathe a sigh of relief and protected, subsidised and tax break corporates can laugh all the way to the bank.
So, back to running! I haven’t done any today. I ran out of time. I could run a couple of miles even now, in the dark, but I won’t. Deep down, in the murky id sediment of my mind, I know that a bit more rest after my glute injury is probably a good thing. I still have to sit down and get up carefully but otherwise it feels OK. I’ll run 2 miles or more tomorrow and parkrun on Saturday. If all goes well, the longer runs will start next week.
Janathon total for today : 2 mile dog walk.
This is Widow’s Cottage in the village where I live and it’s having a substantial re-thatch. I believe this was originally a charity cottage built by an eighteenth century rector along with another (the adjacent Clerk’s Cottage). It’s always a joy to see a master thatcher at work, placing, cutting and fixing the wheat straw. An ancient art still going very strong today because there are still so many thatched cottages, most of them Grade 2 listed. Are there new build hatched houses? Well, yes but not in great volume.
Alive and Running 