UK government with little understanding

This present UK government has no idea of the affects of their policies on ordinary people. when they use the term working people it has no relation to most people who work in lower paid jobs. To them anybody who is out of work has only themselves to blame. This from a government made up of people who have never had to face the problem of where the next money is coming from. They have never had to face the daily grind of having to look for work. There is no understanding of how their policies affect communities.

As Charlie Brookes told his son Mark in my book A Ceremony of Innocence set in the 19080's during the Thatcher Premiership while discussing the need to strike against the policies of Brents Shipyard. Charlie is the Chief Shop Steward at Brents, his son an officer in the British Merchant Marine and, though he would never think of it in those terms, upwardly mobile, mixing in circles his father would never contemplate. They disagree about the need for a strike.

 "It is still a them against us situation," Charlie remarked wearily. " The employers think because they put up the money, they can push the workers around exactly as they please. It is like going back to the last century. If they could ban trade unions they would and there is no doubt that this present government will if they can get away with it. Managers always demand the largest share of the cake and ignore the major contribution of the workers. Every so often they let us share a little of those rewards which we have earned with little help from them. When times get hard, all the talk of sacrifice falls on us not on them. It is like a little old lady throwing breadcrumbs into a pond to the ducks. They get plenty when she has food to spare but only a little when times are hard and maybe none at all when times are desperate. Secure in their world of financial strength, they spout their sadness at our plight but state that the burden must be born with servility because we are dispensable. All the years when things have been good, they have sat in their plush offices, eaten their expense account lunches and basked in the reflected glory of our hard work."

" Yes," Charlie went on, waving aside Mark's protest, " it is my friends sweat, exhaustion and broken bodies which has allowed them to live in luxury. Now things are getting hard, you don't see most of them selling their cars and their houses to make ends meet. They sit back over their brandies and cigars, saying ' let the workers suffer the cuts, they can take that kind of pressure and besides, they are not important '. The managers can sit in their enclosed community, never having to come down the hill and smell the odour of fear or taste the bitterness of poverty which will engulf us before long. Well, we aim at least to show them that we think we are important and we are part of the same community as they are. Let us see how many ships they can make without us or how much money they make if we are not there. If nothing else they will be made to take our opinions seriously when they next look into the future and see it only through their standpoint."

A Ceremony of Innocence a novel which contains adult themes. 

Two brothers are at home on holiday much to the delight of their mother. It was the first time they had been at home together at the same time for several years. Their father is the union convener at the local shipyard and he leads the men out on strike against proposed redundancies at the same time as the brothers arrive home. Though on the surface both brothers support their father, underneath the surface there simmers the stew of disagreement. Mark, the elder brother, is fresh from months at sea as a ships officer and refuses to compromise his upwardly mobile lifestyle or his friends for the sake of family harmony. He lives for the moment and grabs any opportunity for happiness. Jim, freshly graduated from university, supports his father passionately and without question.

Can the brothers find a way to compromise their positions and fulfil their mother’s wish for a happy few weeks or will their anger boil over into open conflict and family break up?

A Ceremony of Innocence by Edmund Gubbins. is available from www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.createspace.com as a paper back. From the Kindle Store at Amazon for downloading to e-readers.,

Vindictive government.

This UK government is the most vindictive in this country since Thatcher. Peopled by politicians who have never had to worry about money and raised on privilege, they have no compassion for those less fortunate than themselves. They make no effort to curb the rich while pushing those at the bottom of the wealth scale further into poverty. They do not have to worry about their parents having to struggle to find the resources to get care in old age. hey sell off assets at a loss to their rich friends in the city. They ruin the country's reputation abroad by attempting to crush the BBC because their friends cannot control it like they can other commercial broadcasting companies. They send away researchers because they are not British weakening our standing in the world. They make it harder for overseas students to come to study despite all reports showing tht such students go back home eventually with great regard for the UK and all things British. 

As Charlie Brookes said in the adult novel A Ceremony of Innocence by Eddie Gubbins when asking for his colleagues to take strike action:

" Brothers and sisters, we are now supposed to bow down our heads, take off our caps and accept like Roman slaves all that the management can throw at us. Are we not to be allowed to raise even a small voice in protest at their treachery? Are we to leave everything to the cosy relationship between the full time officials of the union and the management in the fond hope that they will look after us? They tell us that jobs will be found, not in shipbuilding for which we are trained and in which we have our pride but jobs none the less. Anyway they answer when we ask what these jobs will be, where these jobs are to be found, there will be a generous severance pay and a lot of help for those who leave. Is this right I ask? Is this their reply to all the loyalty we have shown over the years? Is this their reward to us for all we have helped to create for them? Will they have to suffer like us?”

" Oh they reply when we try to ask these questions, we must have your loyalty and co-operation now so that we can plan the production schedules and bid for orders in a rational way. Well my friends, we have given them loyalty and co-operation over the years, we have tried to work within the system that allowed us to talk about the future before the management took any action and there has been little disruption at the building berths. If they ever wanted anything completed ahead of schedule, we have cheerfully turned out and tried our best to help, to deliver what we have been asked. Where has all this co-operation got us now?”

Charlie left the question suspended in the air as he paused to catch his breath. Straightening his shoulders once more, he waved his fist at the air as though challenging his God to contradict him. His voice boomed in a rising crescendo out over the heads of the crowd causing the seagulls perched on the roof of the changing rooms to rise protesting into the air squealing and squawking as they wheeled away towards the river.

" Nowhere! What are we going to tell our loved ones when we get home today after this meeting? Oh, some of us can say  ' Its all right dear, I did not get a notice and things should be safe for those who will be left. The management told us and that must assure us that all will be right! ' Never mind the poor bastards who did get their notice. They are none of our concern! But hang on a minute! Did not the management tell us all six months ago that all our jobs would be safe? Some of us will now have to look for other work. Do we honestly believe that the same will not happen to those left in the yard, maybe not now but how long into the future? "

Charlie laughed harshly into the microphone and waited for the effect that laugh would have on the crowd. " Ho, says Jennings, they will look out for new jobs for you all. Well if you are young that might be ok but has he or the management tried looking for work when you are over fifty years old? Indeed, have Jennings and the management ever had to go looking for work? Have they ever had to go through the humiliating circumstances of standing in the dole queue against the hope that something will turn up while at the same time being treated as though you were a sponger on the rest of the population? Have they ever had to come home to face the accusing eyes of their families after another day’s fruitless search for work? Have they ever had to face their wife and admit that there is no money for birthday presents or at times even food? Do they ever hide in the bathroom when the postman arrives for fear that more bills will land on the doormat that they cannot pay? Do they know what it is like to be really out of work with no hope for the future? If they do then I say God be with them for what they are trying to do to us. In reality I believe that they don't have a clue as to what it will be like for those made redundant. But what makes me really mad is the way the union appears to be helping them make these decisions! "

A Ceremony of Innocence by Eddie Gubbins available as a paper back from Amazon and for downloading from Kindle.

Two brothers are at home on holiday much to the delight of their mother. It was the first time they had been at home together at the same time for several years. Their father is the union convener at the local shipyard and he leads the men out on strike against proposed redundancies at the same time as the brothers arrive home. Though on the surface both brothers support their father, underneath the surface there simmers the stew of disagreement. Mark, the elder brother, is fresh from months at sea as a ships officer and refuses to compromise his upwardly mobile lifestyle or his friends for the sake of family harmony. He lives for the moment and grabs any opportunity for happiness. Jim, freshly graduated from university, supports his father passionately and without question.

Can the brothers find a way to compromise their positions and fulfil their mother’s wish for a happy few weeks or will their anger boil over into open conflict and family break up?

ISIS and the rest of the world.

In the novel The Prisoner of Parison  by Eddie Gubbins, Megram, the Shaman of the Sandari, spoke to Nelvask the Magician for the first time. “ Nelvask, Unlee my colleague, is sad and disillusioned after what happened at the Rock. All his life he has never seen such power. The Covenent always hinted at power but very rarely used it to even subdue our people. We all thought we were powerful with our small illusions that impressed our people. At the Rock a few days ago, we saw what power can do. They closed our fire pit and dispelled our illusions very quickly. The ones on the creatures’ backs smashed our other Priests into the ground. Only because Grand Master Silker insisted that we come with his soldiers are we here. All we really want is a quiet life.”

“ Megram, I hear you.” Nelvask looked off into the sun set. “ All I wanted was a quiet life. I wanted to carry on my studies in the dusty vaults of the Mountain. Then I was chucked out by opposing factions. Ever since then I seem to have been on the run from their power. Even though it may appear strange to some after all their enmity towards me, I have had to align myself with those I regarded as my enemies in order to oppose a greater danger. I do not like what I have to do but I am willing to help.  All of those who want freedom have to try to help win any way we can. Will you help me?”

Unlee suddenly smiled sadly. “ Yes we will help you while praying to our God that what we are doing will help good triumph over evil. If we had more time we could sit over a glass or two of riki spirit and talk about what is good and evil. We could argue about who is the real enemy and who are our friends. All we can do now is trust that we are on the right side and help you. I will stand at your right side and slowly replace the departing soldiers with my illusions when the time is right. Megram will stand on your left and do likewise. Between us we ought to be able to hold the ridge for a while giving the army a head start back to this place you call Alskar.”

Nelvask grasped his hand. “ Thank you.”
As far as ISIS is concerned is it time to start, like Nelvask, to talk to what are regarded as our enemies so that we can combat together a greater evil? It is something that must be contemplated by or leaders.

The Prisoner of Parison by Eddie Gubbins available from Kindle and Amazon for download as an ebook
From Amazon and www.createspace.com as a paperback.
The Prisoner of Parison is book 3 of the Rombuli Saga.
Book 1 The Teacher of the Rombuli and Book 2 The Return of the Exiles are also available as ebooks and paperbacks.
There is a sequel in Princess Daphne by Eddie Gubbins set six years after the Rombuli Saga.

Tales from the Sea

Tales of the Sea by Eddie Gubbins is a semi-autobiographical novel based on my life at sea as a ship's officer between 1957 and 1969.

In its pages the reader will meet the characters with whom I sailed and their antics. They will experience nights ashore and visit through my eyes exotic places. Read about the different ships, old and new as they plough across the oceans carrying the products of the world Throughout the account there is the sea and its dangers. It dominates the sailor. The sea can be angry or benevolent. Storms rage sending the ship rolling and heaving pounding into the waves. At other times there can be flat calm and very peaceful, The essence of the novel can be summed up in a poem:

The Call

The sea is calling, always calling

Even when the sailor has long left voyaging behind.

The sea calls, ever calls,

Over the noise of this sometimes dreadful life.

To sail away , to leave this life behind,

But to where?

That is what adds to the thrill.

Let the voyage be long or short,

Let the oceans be calm or fierce,

In the urge to sail away,

Lies man's eternal quest

For something new.

Why oh why does man always strive after the new

When accepting the present would save a lot of heart ache.

It has long been a mystery to me but,

More than in any other profession,

The sea  offers a greater chance to satisfy this need.

The sailor never arrives

Because each new port is a stepping stone to the next

And on to the next

Until the nomadic lifestyle grows too much.

It maybe that the sailor observes other people

Settling into a pattern of life which brings rewards

Such things as family and home,

Anchored to other views of living

Rather than constantly on the move.

So the sailor leaves the sea

And puts down roots.

Or does he?

The sound of a seagull screaming ,

The wind moaning around the roof of his house 

The sound of waves lapping on the shore

Will awaken in the hidden recesses of his mind

The longing to feel the excitement once more

As the ship goes silent,

Ready to leave for the sea.

Dependence on electronic devises!

For our exercise during the creative writing class I attend, the tutor gave us the subject of a lightening strike. For some reason I came up with the following short piece.

Lightening Strike

The sea stretched flat and calm deep blue to the horizon. The sunlight sparkled on the wake as it rolled away from the stern. The steady hum of the engine provided a background to the swish of the sea against the hull.

A ping from the consul lining the front of the bridge made the second officer look down at the electronic chart. The position of the ship was highlighted as a flashing dot and the second officer adjusted the course slightly to head the ship in the right direction The captain joined him for his afternoon tea. They stood looking out across the containers stacked on deck talking quietly as the ship ploughed on through the calm sea.

“ Whats that?” the second officer asked pointing to the horizon ahead of the ship.

The Captain picked up the binoculars and stared into the distance. The cloudless sky over the ship had been replaced by a dark smudge low down. They watched as the dark stain slowly took up more and more of the sky. Soon they could make out the clouds racing towards the ship. Towering above the thick blanket of grey were columns of black flat topped clouds. The rumble of thunder was now audible. Suddenly the sky was ablaze with streaks of lightening. Racing across the heavens in horizontal streaks or jagged sparks driving vertically into the sea. The view of the sea had disappeared, veiled in torrential rain which beat down the waves which had been forming in the storm.

“ Warn the crew that they will need to take cover while the storm passes,” the Captain ordered looking along the deck at some sailors painting the bulwarks. “ It will ruin their painting when it hits but there is nothing they can do about it.”

The second officer spoke into the telephone and soon a sailor appeared on the bridge. 

“ Yes sir?”

“ Look out there.” the second officer said pointing. “ Tell the crew to take cover until the thunderstorm passes.”

“ Right you are, Sir!” He turned on his heel after casting a worried look at the approaching storm and hurried off off the bridge. The Captain and the second officer watched as the crew collected their paint pots and hurried back to the accommodation structure.

The thunder was now very loud and the sea was now like a sheet of grey steel. Like a curtain being pulled across a window cutting out the light, all about the ship was dark. The thunder crashed shaking the ships structure and lightening streaked in jagged forks across the sky. Rolling onward, the rain approached the ship, crossed the bow and was then streaming down the bridge windows. It was like driving through a waterfall. The Captain stood his face illuminated by the glow of the radar screen as he intently searched for any sign of other ships. The second officer stared through the revolving clear view screen which cleared a section of window.

Flashes of lightening lit up the structure and the thunder rattled the windows. A violent jagged pulse caught the mast sending sparks along the aerial. Alarms on the bridge started to sound as another strike hit the ship. The control panel sparked and flashed and then went dark. The ship yawed as the gyro compass stopped and the auto pilot failed. 

“ What the hell?” the Captain shouted as the radar stopped.

The radio officer rushed onto the bridge. “ What is happening? The radios are exploding around me. We have lost all communications.”

“ It appears we have been struck by lightening. Get the sailor up here and put the steering into hydraulic manual.”

The second officer pulled a lever and took the wheel. “ There is no compass.”

The Captain shook his head. “ Pull down the visor and steer by the magnetic compass. I know we have not used that for a long tome if ever but do it.”

The Chief Engineer came running up the ladder to the bridge, panting from the effort. “ The computer which controls the engine has gone down. We are getting all the controls on manual.”

The sailor appeared and took over the wheel.

The second officer looked around the ship and the bridge. “ What do we do now?”

The Captain grunted. “ While the electrician wis trying to restore the bridge equipment, we will have to do things the old fashioned way. Get out the paper chart for the ocean.”

The second officer shook his head. “ Except in college I have never used a paper chart.’

He pulled out a drawer and shuffled some charts. Selecting one he smoothed this over the chart table which had come to be a place to put the coffee making rather than the centre of navigation. He scratched his head.

“ Don’t look like that. Where is the last printed position from the sat nav?”

The second officer searched through a file lying on the consul until he extracted a piece of paper. “ The print out from two hours ago. It is the best we can do because we print out the position from the chart every fur hours.”

With a pencil and parallel rulers, he marked this position on the chart. He then marked a line representing the course to be followed. Measuring off the distance travelled since that last reported position, he placed a mark on the chart.

“ Get out the sextant. To measure our position we will have to start taking sun and star sights.” The Captain watched as the second officer found the sextant case in one of the cupboards. 

“ There is no way we can take a sun sight at the moment because of the cloud.”

“ Just get all the necessary stuff ready and when the clouds clear away, we will be able to calculate our position. I know. You have never done this in practise before only in theory but you have done it. Lets see how it goes, shall we?”

It opened my mind to the thought of what would happen if all electronics were suddenly inoperative. This is no theoretical problem. All the electronics in a shop I went to were down but they tried to keep the store operating by using hand held battery powered calculators. When the girl demanded £125 for five items priced at approx £5 I could only shake my head. 

Has anybody thought of a contingency plans if this happened?

Waves of Immigrants.

When looking at the news items showing the waves of desperate humanity pouring across the Med under such danger, it is difficult not to wonder what the Europeans are supposed to do. I sometimes want to scream at the television when some reporter asks how they feel at being here and they reply free and with hope. By what stretch of the imagination do they assume that they have any right to come and settle here. In the UK the population is growing at a great rate.

Then as a Christian I read the following:

From Matthew 25 v 35 to 40

34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

35For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 

37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

 38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

 39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?

 40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.

There are two factors which must be discussed. One is to try to make sure that the places from which they come are viable states. Given the conflict in the world and the corruption which is rife in these countries this is not easy. The other is to welcome immigrants into the country and find out what skills they have. In this way though doing nothing to stem the flow of immigration it will make the country stronger economically. These thing have to be discussed because present policies are not working.

My novel A Legacy from Mary by Eddie Gubbins includes a view of corruption and the consolidation of power in a few hands.

Available from www.createspace.com and Amazon as a paperback and Amazon/Kindle as an e-book for downloading to e-readers.

Princess Daphne

Princess Daphne by Eddie Gubbins is a sequel to the Rombuli Saga trilogy.
Six years have passed since t   he defeat and sending back through the time and place portal of the Black Elves. Edward Eastland had settled into the role of the Governor of Rombuli and Sandaria. With his daughter Dorethea, son William and his wife Kitty he had become a family man living for the most part on his estate. His friend Tag had given up the life of a Ranger in the Imperial Parison Army and with his wife Margaret had become a farmer. Well not quite a farmer because he still organised the town watch. Edward and Tag's trading business prospered and they were rich. They had now taken up what their friends thought of a an ordinary life.
When he thought about his previous life he missed the fear and tension which had accompanied his struggles against the Black Elves. There was the memory of the tingle running up his spine as he entered a dark place with enemies waiting unseen.Sitting at his desk with the sun shining through the window and his children playing in the garden,his shoulders tightened as though he was anticipating an arrow between his shoulder blades.He missed the fast beating heart when beside Tag he had crept through enemy teritory. In addition was the times he ahd to pull in and use his power to help his friends or himself. All of this was now missing from his life.
One day without warning his daughter came to tell him that a dragon had landed in the meadow and wished to speak to him. The dragon had been sent by the elves of the Golden City. An alien creature with green skin had been captured wandering the streets of the Golden City. The elves could not understand its language except that it spoke Edward's name. They want him to come to the Golden City and confront the creature.
If Edward answers this request from the elves will he be drawn back into the world he thought he had left for ever?

This is available from www.createspace.com or Amazon as a paperback or Amazon and kindle as an ebook for downloading to e-readers.