Hello again from London UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho Marx

"The right way is not always the easy and popular way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character." - Margaret Chase Smith

"Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power." - Aldous Huxley

"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."- Mao Zedong

"It is not enough to win a war, it is more important to organise the peace." - Aristotle

Hello again everyone from London UK,

Sorry, no poem today, nor even one in preparation, as this persistent hot weather tends to play havoc with this life forces poet's as I try to stay positive and look forward to to having a cool autumn breeze whispering sweet nothings in my ear before too long. Even so, expect a new poem soon.

Meanwhile, a reader asks who I support in the current race here in the UK, between  Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, to become our next prime minister. Well, it is irrelevant who I support as I am not a Conservative party member, so have no vote in the matter.  It is my personal opinion, though, that Rishi Sunak would make the better prime minister, especially during the current financial crisis. Living costs are rising all the time and inflation is spiralling out of control. 

The Bank of England has raised interests rates to help address inflation, but predicts it is likely to remain high throughout the rest of his year and well into the next. As wages are unable to keep pace with inflation, many households are facing a daily nightmare, worse still for those home owners with a variable mortgage.

Although I have no vote, I do have a personal opinion, of course, in which context I support Rishi Sunak for our next prime minister; his priority appears to be getting inflation under control, which makes good sense to me. Ms Truss is courting the populist vote, which may be music to many ears, but, in my humble opinion, will do little or nothing to ease the financial crisis in the longer term. 

Personally, I think a General Election should have been called following Boris Johnson's resignation. The world is a very different place than when he was elected and I feel very strongly that  everyone, not just a few thousand Conservative Party members, should have a vote on who is best able to get us out of the political as well as financial crisis facing the UK at this time.

Although the staffing issues that many employers are facing across the UK is being blamed on Brexit, it is also my opinion that many if not most of these could and should have anticipated by the powers that be. 

As one who lost faith in politics years ago, I cannot say I am surprised by the level of political one-upmanship demonstrated by political parties worldwide; party politics is rarely in any country's best interests where its rhetoric  is often if not invariably more concerned with winning voters over than taking responsibility for its future. No one plays the blame game better than a top politician.

Whatever happens here in the UK and around the world, we can but take each days as it comes and do our best to continue nurturing a positive thinking mindset or else, as my late mother would say, worry ourselves into an early grave.

Stay positive, folks. Never easy, but.. it beats any alternative, that's for sure.

Many thanks for dropping by, back soon... with a poem.

Take care, stay safe and keep well,

Roger

A Life in the Day of a Smile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“Pain pays the income of each precious thing.” - William Shakespeare

¨What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. ¨- Joseph Addison

“A warm smile id the universal language of kindness2. – William Arthur Ward

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” – E. E. Cummings

"Peace begins with a smile."- Mother Teresa

Now, on the face of it, there’s not much to smile about at the moment, with soaring living and food costs and staffing problems in just about every corner of society having a knock-on effect in all kinds of ways. 

Even so, better to grit our teeth and raise a smile, surely, that waste precious time and energy crying over spilt milk? Never easy, as I have said many times on the blog, but Hobson’s choice in so far as we sink or we swim. 

Besides, managing a smile, even a laugh in the face of adversity, never fails to give mind-body-spirit a boost, makes us feel better and more confident about the future… even when the immediate outlook is not good, to say the least.

Oh, and yes, mine is the voice of experience, and how…! wry bardic grin.

A LIFE IN THE DAY OF A SMILE

Weary of battling hard times,
tempted to wave a white flag at them,
let them treat me as they will;
invariably, I find a way to counter-attack,
body-mind-spirit refusing to cave in
to such vagaries of fate as would see me
crushed by the weight of my own
shortcomings; rather, I choose peace of a kind
that foxes all humankind

Circumstances, eager to see me
on my knees, not least various health
issues and matters pecuniary
that would send all mind-body-spirit
into freefall, kith and kin
on tenterhooks, my end in their eyes
clearer and closer each day,
throwing down a gauntlet to all heart-and soul
to resist and rise above it all

Lips set in cheery curve, eyes on cue,
the taste of love and hope on the tongue
sweeter than I have ever known,
I embrace all that’s beautiful in the world,
as good a prop as any
to light up its past-present-future and have it
find peace; though the way ahead
take its toll on me, let any tears provide rainbows
promising kinder tomorrows

No matter what, needs must we go that last mile,
nurture the nature of a smile

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022