FAG END OF THE YEAR.....

It's that time of year when you find yourself mooching round the house and getting a bit melancholy - thinking of the past year's disappointments and also safe in the knowledge that 2009 will also have its fair share of knockbacks. There is also the dreadful news from Gaza and no doubt there will be more before the current wave of violence ends.
In my mooching I just came across a speech I wrote in 1981 when I was trying to stand as a local councillor in south-east London. It is hand-written and, amazingly, legible, as things had to be in those days before computers. I would have written it in one draft and it is VERY long.The interesting thing is, of course, that most of what I said then I would also say today so either I am utterly immature or else capitalism and socialism are, now as then, mutually incompatible.It's interesting to ponder what would have happened to my life had I actually been selected as the candidate for Anerley ward .The chances are that I would have stayed in London instead of moving back north in 1984. Who knows.
Today there is a Gaza vigil in Halifax which I can't make due to another commitment but let's hope for some better news and let's also hope that the election of Barack Obama brings us some positives.
At the fag end of the year, I also resolve that once again I will give up smoking - the "sneaky fags" partaken of at times of stress have escalated to the pitch where I can no longer pretend I am not a smoker - and after my recent bout of flu and several chest infections in 2008 it is utter madness to carry on.