This blog of mine can be a gloomy affair at times. Guilty as charged! There's no point trying to argue otherwise.
Well. Not today. Today it is all sunshine and light for a change.
As the late Ian Dury said back in the day, 'reasons to be cheerful...one...two...three...'
I started out on yesterday feeling upbeat, still basking in the glow of Man Utd 2 – Liverpool 4. This is a very special kind of glow and one which lasts for a while.
A headline in the Guardian took me to a story from Glasgow which set me up for the day.
In a nutshell, a Home Office 'Immigration Enforcement' van pitched up on a street in Pollocksheilds to detain two Indian guys. Both were entirely harmless individuals who have been living and working in Scotland for over ten years. No criminal records. No terrorist links. Both had very much become a part of their local community and they well liked.
As opposed to Priti Patel's Home Office.
The immigration goons did their thing. They crashed into the flat and cuffed and 'perpwalked' their prey out to the van. Priti Patel is obviously keen the British public should be in no doubt about her determination to spend tens of thousands of pounds from the public purse on putting blameless people on eye wateringly expensive deportation flights. This must be why these guys like to drive around in vans proudly branded with the words 'Immigration Enforcement'.
Big and bold and brash
I guess this kind of thing goes down a treat in Hartlepool and Basildon.
Pollocksheilds?
Aye right. Not so much.
One local lad clocked onto what was going down and immediately got himself under the van and onto his phone. Social Media did it's thing and within a matter of a couple of hours the street was filled to overflowing with thousands of Glaswegians who were not about to let the van move so much as an inch.
Stand off time.
The hours rolled by and every party bar the Tories slagged off the Home Office in the Scottish Parliament.
The message was clear as clear can get.
This isn't Little England.
This is Scotland.
This is Glasgow.
An it ain't happening. Not on our streets. Not on our watch.
So Home Secretary. Why don't you go and stick your 'Immigration Enforcement' van where the sun doesn't shine?
Oh how she must have hated it. I mean, just picture her. Sitting in her Home Office lair watching the pictures. Desperate to get somebody to order the cops to don their riot gear and break a few heads. Except she couldn't because these were not her police. These were our police. Scottish Police. Scottish Police who can only be issued their orders by the Scottish Government.
So all Priti Patel could do was watch. And fume. And dream of sending a company of 1 Para up to Glasgow do shoot a few of the uppity natives who so clearly did not know their place.
Instead she had to fold.
The back doors of the van were opened up and the two lads were let back out into the light.
Forces of good 1 – Forces of evil 0
Scottish Parliament 1 – Home Office 0
Scotland 1 – Little England 0
People Power 1 – Arrogant, nasty, hateful Home Secretary 0
Was Priti Patel's smug face anywhere to be seen? Not a chance. No doubt she took the time to lay into some trembling intern who just happened to be in the corridor as made her way to the Ladies to cream 'I HATE FUCKING SCOTLAND!!!!!' at the top of her voice.
Except she would never say 'I hate fucking Scotland' because her Essex upbringing renders her incapable of speaking the letter 'g'.
So it would be 'I hate fuckin' Scotland.'
Just to be accurate.
Check out the video. It's a pure belter.
A podcast took me to my reason to be cheerful part two.
Tales from America and the sulking orange monstrosity who is no doubt a source of great inspiration to our Home Secretary.
Poor old Donald.
Banned from Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and every social media platform any of us has ever heard of.
So Donald. What can a sulking seventy something year old man-child do?
Well. The Donald has made his great entrance into my world. The Blogosphere.
I could say welcome Donny, but I don't think so.
He's been quite busy with his spleen venting.
Surely the world of blogging is about to be taken to a whole new level. I mean this new entrant is a man with more reach that anyone on God's green earth. An ex President of America. A reality TV star. Ninety three million followers on Twitter......
Surely....
Well. Apparently not. The Donald's first few efforts at blogging have attracted 200,000 page views each.
Hang on a minute here. Have I got this right?
In the blue corner we have the orange one. An ex President beaming out his bile to a nation of 330 million, 70 million of whom voted for him a mere matter of months ago.
In the blue corner we have the food bank manager from Dumfries punting out blogs to a nation of 5 million Scots.
No contest, surely?
Numbers
The Orange One – Highest number of page views for a blog – 200,000
The Food Bank Guy – Highest number of page views for a blog – 120,00
So fair enough Donny, you're winning. But it ain't exactly by a county mile, is it? It seems like the food bank guy might just be breathing down your neck. In fact, it seems like you are every bit as much of a busted flush as those poor saps driving the 'Immigration Enforcement Van' in Glasgow.
And just in case you don't believe me, here's a snap shot of my Stats page.
Reasons to be cheerful, part three.
Peace, our chief volunteer down in Uganda sent me a bunch of photos. Last week the Kupata Project distributed sanitary pads to 2000 school girls. Enough to make sure they will not have to take days off from their education for the next year.
Smiling faces on a sunny day under the green hills of Africa.
Check it out.
How can I be anything other than cheerful?
Oh, and by the way. Just in case you hadn't heard. Liverpool beat Man Utd 4 – 2 last week.......
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