Sat at home feeling the best I’ve felt for a while, I’ve had a bit of a ‘tummy bug’.
Just had a visit from a nurse who told us all about the balloon gastrostomy tube I’m having fitted tomorrow. It’s called balloon because a little balloon on the inside of the tube inside my stomach will keep it in place and gastrostomy because it goes into my stomach. I’ll be fed and watered through it if the radiotherapy makes swallowing too difficult. Also my stomach will be stitched to the abdominal wall so it’s near the surface and stays put, little bit weird.
My PICC line was removed yesterday, this was a line that went in my arm, through a vein to just above my heart through which the chemo was pumped. It had curled up and stuff wasn’t getting in, a nurse pulled it out yesterday. So I have a brief period with no alien things in my body and I delighted like a dolphin in the bath last night, although wallowed like a walrus is more apt. Will do so again tonight as it won’t happen again until the new year, cue strings.
As Kate pointed out there was no manifesto point yesterday, so yesterday’s was:
manifesto 5;
- no school uniform, except maybe a simple generic one and certainly not one that involves blazers, ties, skirts, tartan skirts or any of the other paraphernalia that might come from private schools or reflect default man (read Grayson Perry for definition of default man). And if you use a counterargument that involves anything along the lines of “but they look so smart” then please don’t bother.
Great piece by Zoe William’s in today’s Grauniad, and it’s not great just because she reflects my opinion of Beardy but the headline sums it up well: “Branson’s space tourism exposes our obscene inequality”. Thinking about it it’s a shame Beardy didn’t remain a business virgin and we wouldn’t now have that brand reproducing so much of the neoliberal shit.
Interesting stuff about tax David, will read Tom’s article. it probably is the case that throughout history taxation has effectively been a net shift of money from the relatively poor to the rich fuckers, or kleptos as I’ll dub them from now on. It’s certainly been the case in recent years as so much ‘state money’ has been transferred to the banks because they’re ‘too big to fail’ and recent Tory policy has upped what most of us have had to pay out whilst giving the kleptos more of whatever they demand. Thereupon what needs to be done to improve the common wealth for the common good short of using pitchforks? Like Will Hutton I have a simplistic belief in that taxes are good (unlike the ‘immoral and economically illiterate’ Camerontwat, Observer yesterday). So I want to know how, especially as they steal so much, how we can repatriate some of the loot?
Manifesto 6
- that anyone who expropriates any money above that which is commonly agreed is adequate for the living of a good life (however that may be defined by the commoners) is expected to pay into the commonwealth an unobjectionable amount. Failure to comply, and after assessment by suitably qualified assessors as to their sociopathic quotient, any deemed incapable of redemption would be sent to live permanently in a ‘tax haven’ of their choice to live with others of the same elite forever.
Got a bit of belly ache now, probably from thinking about the kleptos.
Keep on keeping on love Duncan.
duncancer 
Mmmm, corresponding with you could be a delightful but major distraction if I am not careful. When to share our manifestos, which may be quite similar……..I am keen to put tax evasion and tax avoidance on a par with Treason ( for that is what it is, ripping off the commonweal ) with similar penalties both for the offenders and for aiding and abetting. Similarly, those who make election promises to be subject to legislation akin to the Trades Descriptions Act – you have entered into a contract with electors ( you vote for me, I do what I said I would do in exchange for your vote…..) and those found guilty of reneging on their promises when they could have delivered them, lose their seat and are banned from electoral office for decade…………..just a sample. Enjoy your brief vacation from invasive technology, I hope the gastronomy balloon works well, gastro pub, gastro balloon, Walloon, Castro ……….R
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Richard, excellent and I feel no compunction in using your suggestion for the manifesto and i always (except when i don’t) acknowledge sources etc. We could also have a stocks-like naughty step outside parliament for transgressors, although initially would need to be an enormous escalier.
Duncan
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Dunc – I love reading your bits about articles in the Guardian because hearing your thoughts is like having you with me sitting round the table in the kitchen and discussing them after I have read them. (our paper gets delivered at 5.30 am) I am mostly in agreement but your comments make me think more -which is a good thing. Don’t stop.
Did you see the Oxfam statistic on page 12 this morning? Is that covered in Manifesto 6?
Oh, and I have never been able to wear ‘maroon’ all my adult life because it was the colour of my school uniform jumper and blazer and I detested being made to wear them. The jumper was scratchy and acrylic and the felt blazer smelt when it got wet, which it did frequently in the rain in the north west.
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juklie
Yes I read it in last week’s on the business pages, i read these as well now! isn’t it just absolutely obscene that we have such inequality. I also think it should be classed as abuse to make children wear the narrow minded halfwits that get to run schools idea of what a uniform is. the only downside is that sexworkers would get less of a certain type of client.
love duncan
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