Tim Walker's Blog, page 14
June 25, 2016
Post-Brexit Blues
As the dust settles on an historic day in Britain’s socio-poltical life, we are left to reflect on the full realisation that ‘we have done it’. That is, we have just voted to leave the European Union. A slap in the face of the Brussels autocrats we came to loathe, a wave goodbye to the unyielding Jean-Claude Junker. If only they had agreed to review their free movement of labour charter, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened?
Let’s remind ourselves how we got here…Well, when the Common Market was first set up, the French tried to block us from joining. This irked our politicians who then wanted to join even more, despite warnings that the Franco-German drivers of the free trade union were looking for closer fiscal and political union. Britain was unsure so a referendum was held in 1974 and the result was ‘Yes’. By then, General de Gaulle was dead, so we were permitted to sign the Treaty of Rome that gave us access to free trade with other (at the time) twelve members.
Fast forward 40 years and several treaties later, and, what is now the European Union has doubled in size, has its own currency, and is making no secret of its plans to become a federal super-state.
Over in Britain, the buoyant economy and relatively high wages had continued to attract a steady flow of migrants looking for work, at the rate of a third of a million per year. This had started to irk those who saw their living space being invaded, access to school places and health care restricted and jobs threatened, causing rumblings of discontent, roundly ignored by politicians and castigated as ‘rascist’.
Meanwhile, over in the Westminster Bubble, the ruling Conservative Party decided to action their campaign pledge to have an In/Out referendum on our EU membership, smugly believing that if they threatened and cajoled the electorate enough, they must surely vote to Remain. This would then dampen down protestors and allow them to go on their merry way of replacing expensive and troublesome British workers with cheaper alternatives.
They mis-judged the mood of the citizens in large parts of the country, and despite the combined urging of political leaders of all main (bar one) parties, the USA, IMF, EU, China, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, the stubborn Brits – mainly the English and Welsh – cast their votes to leave, winning an overall majority.
So now we sit contemplating possible trade isolation, a shrinking economy and the impending break up of the United Kingdom. Or, the glorious revival if a truly independent Great Britain….depending on your point if view.
Hooray for Politics!
June 21, 2016
A Dystopian Brexit
“George picked through the odd assortment of items in his trolley outside the looted supermarket. Life inside the Red Zone had descended into a desperate battle for survival, as the caged-in labour pool waited glumly to find out if they had been chosen for a day’s work in the Green Zone to the east, or the Blue Commercial Zone to the west. A day’s labour for food tokens was as much as the working class could hope for in 2044 Britain….”
Yes folks, the EU In/Out Refendum poll takes place this week, on Thursday 23rd June, with the opinion polls now showing ‘The Remainers’ edging slightly ahead after a fraught period of bitter deadlock where ‘The Leavers’ appeared to have gained the ascendancy. The violent murder of a Labour MP, by a mentally ill man shouting ‘Britain First!’ has been callously exploited by Remainers as a further threat to your personal safety in the wilderness of a non-EU Britain. It appears to have tilted the predicted outcome in their favour. Fear and threats are now standard tactics in British politics.
Resistance is crumbling and an air of resignation has set in amid threats of a collapsing economy and further hardship being piled on the ‘difficult’ white working class if they vote Leave as some kind of protest against the dark forces of Capitalism. They are angry that their ability to earn a descent wage is being eroded, their quality of life and future prospects are being gradually stripped away, as is their right to feel comfortable in their living space, recently invaded by millions of ‘alternative’ workers from poorer countries. But will a Leave scenario really help them?
If the vote really comes down to a question of ‘which right-wing politician do you hate the least?’ then it is a damning indictment of where we are after 30 years of Thatcherism, under which we are witnessing our national assets being privatised and the on-going dismantling of our welfare state, depressingly aided and abetted by the Labour Party. The disenfranchised working class have been backed into a corner, and now plan to vote Leave in a futile two-fingered protest against the Establishment, ignoring the fact that by doing so they are doing the bidding of political leaders who care less for them than the ones currently in charge.
It is a bleak scenario, a world where hope is gradually being strangled, and citizen’s rights are being sacrificed on the altar of capitalist greed. Our property market ignores the basic need for shelter for our people and has become an investment platform for the world’s rich, with no one asking how they got their money. The Establishment are lined up on both sides of the referendum debate, each group calculating their profits should their side win. They threaten, cajole and brow-beat a tired and increasingly powerless population, confused with so much mis-information, to vote for their side, so they may continue with their own brand of oppression.
It really is no choice at all for those at the lower levels of society. ‘What brand of personal hell would you like to vote for, sir?’ Go ahead and protest-vote for Leave, thinking it might slow up the process of replacing you with a cheap and easy to exploit foreign doppelganger. Now it’s immigrants, but in the future it will be robots – whatever is the most efficient and cost-effective way of having basic functions fulfilled in a world becoming polarised between the haves and have-nots. What has happened to us? Are we really sleepwalking into losing our rights, welfare and dreams? It’s the illusion of hope that ultimately kills our souls and destroys our motivation to resist.
As for me, I’ll exercise my democratic right to vote (whilst I still have it) by presenting myself at the polling booth. But I intend to put a big cross through my paper – a NO THANKS vote. A spoilt ballot, but still a democratic statistic. I reject them all, and continue to hope for a sea-change in British politics, a change to a citizen-focussed agenda. I will not be the puppet of right-wing zealots. That’s my personal protest. Let the sneering BBC presenters pour cold water on all those who don’t buy into their misguided one-world utopian (but not in my street) hypocrisy. They are misguided fools who are merely doing the work of those who exploit us for profit. How about prioritising the needs of British citizens? An unpopular proposition in this age of greed and short-sighted liberal do-gooding.
A plague on Bojo, Farage, Cameron, Osborne and the Slithy Gove! They are all products of the same private education system that props up the Establishment. They are all power-mad narcissists who only have their own interests at heart, who would rather seek out the company of international murderers and thieves with money to invest or launder in Project Off-Shore Britain than you or I.
Our role in their vision of future Britain is as low paid and powerless serfs. So I say again, why should I vote for them? It’s like voting for your own internment in a Labour Pool Camp (see above). I have finally decided….I’m registering my protest at the failure of our democratic system to deliver an equitable and fair society, and at the elevation of selfishness and greed to an acceptable mode of behaviour, by SPOILING MY BALLOT!!!
June 5, 2016
The Butterfly Effect
The 2016 cull of celebrities continues with brutal ruthlessness, reminding us all of our fragile mortality. In the past two days boxing legend Muhammed Ali and British author and celebrated screenwriter, Carla Lane, have left us, in both cases leaving behind proud, dramatic legacies. Is 2016 a cursed year, or are there simply too many celebrities in our narcissistic media-driven age that demands role models?
The only thing I can think of that these two very different celebrities have in common is the word ‘butterfly’. Mohammed Ali would ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’, as he jabbed and hooked his way to three world heavyweight titles, whilst Liverpool’s Carla wrote four hit TV series, including ‘Butterflies’.
On a recent visit to Liverpool’s new museum at the Pier Head, I wandered up to the top floor devoted to popular culture, showcasing the plethora of musical, comedic and writing talents that the city has produced. I took this photo of the Carla Lane display board, as ‘The Liver Birds’ are a part of my own upbringing and cultural identity.
Carla passed away peacefully in a Liverpool care home at the age of 87. “We were lucky that her wit, determination and passion brought Liverpool to life on screen for others to share,” a family statement said. Yep, agree with that. RIP Carla Lane.
Ali, the sixteen-stone butterfly that floated around a boxing ring, died in an Arizona hospital at the age of 74 after losing his battle with Parkinson’s Disease. His death has dominated the global news for the past two days, and rightly so, as he was voted the most popular sports star of the 20th century. The self-proclaimed ‘greatest’ found himself in the centre of America’s civil rights struggle in the 1960s, but managed to transcend politics with his devastating talent, charm and wit.
“Service to others is the rent we pay on earth for our room in heaven,” said Muhammed in one of his more modest moments, reflecting on his humble roots. RIP, The Greatest.
June 2, 2016
Thames Valley Tales – Free Promo
Free download until Friday night….
Contemporary tales that echo the rich history of the flowing heart of England…
Thames Valley Tales is a collection of 15 short stories written by myself between 2013-2015 and first self-published on Amazon Kindle in July 2105. To coincide with my presentation on Self-Publishing at Slough Library today (Thursday 2nd June 2016), and to demonstrate the ‘free promotion’ option on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), I have made the book a FREE download for today and Friday 3rd June…so what are you waiting for?
Please download, read, and leave a review, nominating your favourite stories…
UK: http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B011PQHJUQ
USA: http://amazon.com/dp/B011PQHJUQ
Thames Valley Tales – Free Promo
Contemporary tales that echo the rich history of the flowing heart of England…
Thames Valley Tales is a collection of 15 short stories written by myself between 2013-2015 and first self-published on Amazon Kindle in July 2105. To coincide with my presentation on Self-Publishing at Slough Library today (Thursday 2nd June 2016), and to demonstrate the ‘free promotion’ option on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), I have made the book a FREE download for today and Friday 3rd June…so what are you waiting for?
Please download, read, and leave a review, nominating your favourite stories…
UK: http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B011PQHJUQ
USA: http://amazon.com/dp/B011PQHJUQ
May 25, 2016
Bert Kwok Remembered
Sad news this morning (25/05/2016). British born actor, Bert Kwok, has died, aged 85. He was perhaps best known for his role of Cato, man-servant of bungling Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, in half a dozen Pink Panther films.
Bert was the subject of my first celebrity interview way back in 1980 when I was a teenage trainee reporter for a Liverpool news magazine, the Woolton Mercury. Yes, that’s me, aged 18, with a mass of bushy hair, towering over the diminutive Bert. I had gone to spend a day at Granada TV’s studio in Liverpool to write a feature article for my series on Merseyside media, and was shocked to be invited by presented Shelly Rhodes to appear as a studio guest on that Friday afternoon’s arts and current affairs programme, Live from Two. The main guest that day was Bert Kwok.
I have a copy of my piece in my scrapbook, and it tells me that that day’s show had a Chinese theme, with Bert, Chinese dancers, a martial arts display and the author of a book on China (no details recorded, due, no doubt to my young and undeveloped journalism skills, mixed with star-struck awe). Imagine a fidgety 18-year-old sitting next to the urbane and articulate Bert, regaling the ‘live’ Granada TV audience about his six Pink Panther and two James Bond movies… “and also on today’s programme we have a school-leaver in his first job as a trainee reporter…”
Bert shrugged-off my question about how he felt at being pigeon-holed as a Chinese/Japanese support actor in so many films and TV series (including the excellent Tenko). He was happy to have had such a long career doing what he loved – acting. He certainly leaves a tangible, accomplished and highly entertaining legacy behind.
Bert told me he had an affinity with the North West, having been born in Warrington. He was taken to China by his parents to complete his schooling, then onto the USA to study politics and economics, before returning to the UK to start acting. His big break came in 1964 when he passed an audition with director Blake Edwards for the part of Cato Fong in the first Pink Panther film. Appearances in Dr. Who, the Avengers and Last of the Summer Wine, further served to embed him as one of our great British actors, and he received recognition for this with an OBE in 2011. Incredibly, his first film part was in the classic 1958 film, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, opposite Ingrid Bergman and Kurt Jurgens. What an impressive body of work. Rest in Peace, actor Bert Kwok.
May 14, 2016
Trump’s Plan to Ban Friday 13th
A report in the telegraph.co.uk on Friday 13th May posed the question, “Is Friday 13th a disaster for business?” Apparently, over the last five years the FTSE 100 has closed lower on eight of the ten Friday 13ths. Other financial disasters have happened in recent years on this fateful date, including a dramatic drop in China’s GDP growth, and the running aground with fatal consequences of the Italian cruise liner the Costa Concordia. Coincidence, or are some dark forces at work?
On ‘Black Friday’ 13th October 1989, a failed buyout of United Airlines sent the stock markets plunging and in January of the same year IBM stock plunged as a result of data loss from a computer virus. Just coincidence, or is the ghost of a hockey-keeper-masked, chainsaw-wielding Jason stalking the corridors of Wall Street? Either way, it represents an impediment to the smooth, onward march of International Capitalism, and as such there are plans afoot to remove it.
Now, US Presidential candidate, Donald Trumps, in a move aimed at protecting the wealth base of America’s elite, has declared he will ban Friday the 13th in the future if elected President of the USA. In a recent media briefing he said, “Research findings tell us that one in four believe Friday 13th brings bad luck, which can in itself become a self-fulfilling prophesy. One in ten refuse to fly and road accidents are higher than on any other Friday.
“I say, in the interests of maintaining commercial consistency and saving the lives of unlucky citizens, we need to remove this glitch, neutralise it with maximum prejudice, and ban this unlucky date once and for all. This can be achieved by skipping a day, and going from the 12th straight to the 14th, in such a month when it (crossing himself) is due to occur, and adding another number onto the end of the month, either a 31st or a 32nd.”
When asked, “What happens in a February in a leap year, Sir?”
He replied, “Hell, you do the math, boy!”
Read this far? Then you need to download and read the thrilling dystopian novel, Devil Gate Dawn, by UK indie author, Tim Walker, featuring President Donald Trump and his wall…
http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EGDLHLW
http://amazon.com/dp/B01EGDLHLW
May 8, 2016
What’s your Favourite Movie?
Social media can be a wonderful thing for connecting people with similar interests, ideas and goals. Recently, whilst publicising the release of my novel, Devil Gate Dawn, on FaceBook, Twitter and Goodreads, I was contacted by some friendly folk in the USA with an offer of an author interview. naturally, I said YES!
https://novelwritingfestival.com/2016/05/07/interview-with-novelist-tim-walker-devil-gate-dawn/
I was asked, amongst other things, ‘What’s your favourite movie?’ I found myself naming sci-fi movies set in the future, projecting the writers’ concerns about contemporary events into an often dangerous imagined world. This is a theme in my novel, set ten years from now in 2026, and something that deeply interest me, guiding my choice of movies and books.
http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EGDLHLW
April 24, 2016
The Search for Endorsement
Thanks to the 79 who took advantage of the free weekend download promotion of my new novel Devil Gate Dawn. Now I’m hoping this converts into reads and positive endorsement in the shape of favourable reviews!
As an unknown writer with a modest following, I feel this is a justifiable tactic to try and get those precious reviews on Amazon that will entice browsers (who’ve read the reviews, blurb and opening extract) to click on the Buy button… it’s gotta be worth a punt at £2.10/$2.99 surely?
UK:- http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EGDLHLW
US/other:- http://amazon.com/dp/B01EGDLHLW
Sunday Free Download
Take advantage of a free download today (Sunday) of my new novel Devil Gate Dawn. All I ask in return is a fair review!
UK:- http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EGDLHLW
US/other:- http://amazon.com/dp/B01EGDLHLW
