Thatcher and Mandela

[mikesiva]

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead!

[Gils]

No nine night then Mike ?, & I take it you won't be observing a minute's silence ?

Margaret Thatcher, The choice of a nation x3

A country deserves the leaders it elects. 3 times she was voted in but you can't find anybody who will admit they did it.

Some of the things by which I remember her

1) Maggie Thatcher, the milk snatcher. circa 75
2) The Poll tax, now known as the council tax circa 1980
3) The 1981 riots & then the 1985 remix - Police stop & search.
4) A year long miners strike & the break up of the manufacturing industry
5) Union busting at Fleet Street & the advent of electronic printing
6) Privatisation of state assets to past & future business partners
7) Mass Bankruptcy's & repossession's 1982 -85
8) Mark Thatcher's attempt to steal oil & wealth from Africa & his subsequent evasion of Justice
9) General Pinochet's flight to Britain & the character reference she willingly provided
10) Denouncing Mandela & the ANC as not fit for government before his subsequent release & installation into government.

This is how I remember her but feel free to add to the list as I sure I've missed quite a few.

I heard the news & had to make a conscious effort not to speak ill of the dead but there are many people who didn't let that stop them, some even had street party's while others found themselves in jail after police were injured during the celebrations. I expect more incidents come the funeral.

Ps. Is that rhyme from Wizard of Oz ?

[mikesiva]

Yes, it is the Wizard of Oz....that's who came to mind when I heard the news.

I think you have captured it perfectly...I would add this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22087702" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"On 100 other things I would pick arguments with her and I recall one conversation I had with her in her retirement where she said something that was unabashedly racist, where she warned Australia - talking to me with Helena standing not far away - against Asian immigration, saying that if we allowed too much of it we'd see the natives of the land, the European settlers, overtaken by migrants. I couldn't believe it. It reminded me that despite, yes, her greatness on those big questions, the role of the state, the evil nature of the Communist totalitarianism, there was an old-fashioned quality to her that was entirely out of touch and probably explained why her party removed her in the early 90s." He went on to recall: "I remember one thing she said as part of that conversation, she said: 'You will end up like Fiji.' She said: 'I like Sydney but you can't allow the migrants' - and in context she meant Asian migration - 'to take over, otherwise you will end up like Fiji where the Indian migrants have taken over.' "I was so astonished I don't think I could think of an appropriate reply."

[Gils]

The Australian PM ? After all the distress & hell fire that his people have brought down on the Native peoples of those lands.

For an any white Australian to call any body racist is an eye opener to me but I not supprised when it's Maggie Thacher in particular or someone British in general that he's talking about.

This week Benjamin Zephaniah has stated her son is an arms dealer in Africa while her daughter is known to describe people of colour as golliwogs. I wonder where they picked up those ideals ?

I think it's quite obvious that her death has highlighted a tension and reignited a fire in the country that has smouldered since before her departure from office.

btw, That rhyme has just gone primetime, I dont know when they do the counting but it looks like a "Wicked witch" song is about to top the charts. Which really just ensures the said tension prevails

[mikesiva]

This song?

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Ding dong, the witch is dead, the wicked witch...."

[Gils]

Right, Ding Dong !

It's not really my taste, either musically or politically and I 'm still awkward when trying to put words to her works but the lyrics in the Fela Kuti song - Teacher don't teach me nonsense - say it better than I ever could

International TT, International TT,
International Crook, International Tief

Friend of Commisioner, Friend of Journalist , Friend of Head of state, Friend freind to Minister

Dem start start to steal money, dem Cause Confusion, Destruction, Oppresesion, Inflation, Corruption, Confusion, Destruction, Oppression, Inflation, Corruption

That she managed at death to assemble such characters as Kissinger, Netenyahu & FW De Klerk is testimony enough.

[mikesiva]

Talking about Mandela, Gils....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23024836" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'Nelson Mandela has become critically ill in hospital, the South African presidency has announced. President Jacob Zuma said he had visited Mr Mandela and spoken to his wife and medical teams. Doctors were "doing everything possible to get his condition to improve" said Mr Zuma in a statement. South Africa's first black president, 94, was taken to hospital in Pretoria earlier this month for the third time this year, with a lung infection. Mr Zuma said he had been told by doctors on Sunday that the former president's condition had worsened over the past 24 hours. "The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands," said President Zuma, using Mr Mandela's clan name by which he is widely known in South Africa.'