Steve Monaghan musings

 Imagine your life as one long music festival except music festivals are like villages, small towns, in some people's minds whole cities. Remember kids festivals are not just about hedonistic fun. You can eat, sleep, work. You can exercise.  Oh watch, listen, experience live music.  If only this could be done without money and democracy as we know it. Well if you can think about it, then your part way to making it happen. Nothing ever happened without a human first thinking about it? How many times did you think I would do that but never got round to it because............. I never got round to getting up early and going for a bike ride until I did it. I never got round to not voting until I did it. I never ate stuff I didn't like till I did it. I have plenty of reasons not to do stuff. Mind doing stuff on your own is easier than doing stuff with others. Why? Because we are diverse. Brains operate differently. Some things are not available? Keep Breathing is a series on ...

 When you take on Capitalism and The most powerful State and after 14 years you still have to plead guilty to not go to prison.  In June 2024, Assange agreed a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to a charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents under the Espionage Act in order to avoid potential imprisonment.[25][26] Under the terms of the deal, Justice Department prosecutors sought a sentence that allowed for his immediate release. He was ordered to instruct WikiLeaks to destroy the information given by Manning, providing an affidavit. Assange immediately left Saipan for Canberra, Australia, with former Australia prime minister and ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd.[27] This is how The System always wins no matter who, what, where, when. The same system has not arrested racists/fascists so it's not a fair system. It is a bias system. Democracy merely manages the sy...

  Unfortunately not losing is good enough for the team. Not every team performs on every occasion to the best of their individual abilities. Slovenia qualified, played well and held the 'Great' England (7th richest nation in the world) to a draw. If this is an indication of nations being closer in ability then long may it continue because the greater the differential the greater loss for the losers. And I am sure we support the underd og.

  Once again a partisan allegiance gets in the way. I am sure some Slovenians felt the same. But National choice is a barrier to freedom 💭 PS. When those who were enslaved by a State, support that State are they one of 'us' ? PPS. What about those who switch allegiance, are they one of 'us' ? All of us were on 'a boat' at some point in time 💭 No Nation/State has my support. International Human Working Class

If I believed it could be reformed, which I don't, then how would the following be done by Labour or Tory. And when I say done I mean done not just said. - Care of a growing population of elderly (which has nothing to do with race, immigrants,etc.) - Care of a growing diabetic/obese population due to Capitalisms profit motive selling junk food - Employment of sufficient people to meet demand without those employees going off sick due to stress - The abuse of contracts by companies to make profit in the NHS The waiting list will always exist. The modernisation of the service is required but care is free at the point of delivery is The Priority. All organisations main expenditure is wages, pay, salary no matter what you think of output, work standard, etc. Therefore the biggest savings are in wages.  The unspoken problem No government has endless finance for any service they oversee. Priorities will be decided. Does who you vote for decide which priorities a government actually puts ...

As a child knowledge is acquired Your body is developing Humans around you stare in wonder  Your brain is sparking Neurotransmitters As a young person knowledge is tailored Your body is developing Humans around you sigh in despair Your brain is sparking Neurotransmitters As a young adult knowledge is used Your body is developing Humans around you offer advice Your brain is sparking Neurotransmitters Experience is work in progress As a mature adult knowledge has been cemented Your body has stopped developing Humans are your friends Your brain can spark neurotransmitters Experience has reached a peak  As an old person knowledge is wise Your body is in decline Humans are your carers Your brain can spark neurotransmitters Experience is beyond your capacity However, none of this is standard or fixed Each human has a body development Each human acquired knowledge and interprets it Humans can offer advice, sigh with despair, stare in wonder, be friends, be carers, at any stage The hu...

 So an election coming up. Been 10 since I was eligible. In those 10 what changed I stopped getting unemployment benefit, got child benefit instead - less. I got Only 3% pay rise in 10 years as a local government employee. Whilst others got far more. I saved, spent less and paid a mortgage (government got rid of council housing and encouraged private mortgages), I learnt to drive (three test payments and lessons) and bought a second hand car (never had a new one) I still did not vote. I physically protested in London and other places against apartheid, poll tax, fracking, sus laws, racism, fascism,. Confronted the State Police and other agents of the state.  I was a trade union activist, steward, advocated strike action and other forms of action, most of my colleagues did not agree. Meanwhile, successive governments continued to restrict protest, opposition and freedom of speech. The System will defend/attack to protect its existence. I still did not vote. Those on the left re...

  A Free gig must be an 'anarchist' venue owner or not enough people have spare money? Imagine free gigs in one of the G8 😲 Colombia GDP 343 billion             UK. GDP 3.08 trillion 😲 Imagine free basic foodstuffs not via food banks Imagine people working for food, home, etc not money Imagine

 Damning with faint praise is an English idiom, expressing oxymoronically that half-hearted or insincere praise may act as oblique criticism or condemnation.[1][2] In simpler terms, praise is given, but only given as high as mediocrity, which may be interpreted as passive-aggressive. The answer my friends is not blowing in the wind. It is getting off your arses and literally fighting them. Voting changes nothing just makes you feel better. But who are they? Who is pulling Starmers/Labours strings? I will not be voting. PS. Narrative - I am voting Tory by not voting Bollox, I am disrespecting fights to get the vote bollox, if all these pro- system remarks are true then Labour would already be in power all the time and this country would be what many of you call Socialist. They are not and this State will never be Socialist, unless they allow it. Take your head out of Democracy, look around, there are other versions of democracy. But they all manage Capitalism, regardless of leader.

 As the Patriotism rises towards a general election, not for the first or last time - WW2  - Football - etc. Consider not being a nationalist? As nationalism divides us - it's meant to. Meanwhile, Farage and Reform are nationalists praying on people who think immigration is the reason for a poor economy - it's not, it's badly managed by governments many of whom were born in another country - so what - they have still mismanaged it. Farage in leadership - UKIP left, EU left, Reform will leave - imagine a PM that leaves regularly - that's right we've just had months/years of it. Instability does maketh good governance.  REMEMBER - voting is for 5 years not 5 minutes. PS. I don't vote. But democracy allows me an opinion, only just.