‽istis wonders at the missing news (weekending December 18th 2021)
This week in the UK:
‽ as ‘omnishambles’ (1) seems to be a phrase ripe for reclamation
‽ as a by-election perhaps provides a reminder that change is possible; that a mechanism and voting strategy can work; and, if there - where else?
‽ as possible party throwers and goers are potentially investigated by possible party throwers and goers
‽ as the governing Conservative and Unionist Party may be gearing up to do one of the things that it seems to do best; or as a PM begins to plan pre-emptively to spend more time with his family and maybe with a better salary
‽ as the virus seems to carry on doing its pre-determined mutating thing leaving havoc and wreckage: in lives and families; in health systems, businesses and livelihoods - acutely or chronically; across the established, and perhaps imposed and power-imbalanced-sustained geo-political-socio-economic old world order (2) once again like a barium meal that perhaps reveals legacy-inequity, impoverishment and exploitation and possibly highlights a vulnerability and inadequacy of individualistic and nationalistic ideologies - maybe makes plain a desperate need for a radical new approach, a transformative intervention...
...then ‽istis wonders about the view from off the radar, the seemingly now missing, forgotten, shunted-off or moved-on news:
the situation for children, young people, adults and families in Afghanistan
the situation for children, young people, adults and families in Syria
the situation for children, young people, adults and families on the Belarus border or looking across the Strait of Dover
the situation for Rohingya or Uyghur children, young people, adults and families - representing minoritised individuals, groups and communities everywhere
the situation for children and young people in the UK behind closed doors, online, on the streets - actually and potentially missed by the people and organisations set up to provide a protective safety net
the June G7 commitments, the November COP26 pledges
...and on and on... and you might care to add your own 'missing news' wherever you are...
And yet, and yet - perhaps the latest fish and chip wrappers of yesterday’s news are blown down the street by a wind (3) that could perhaps, possibly, maybe also bring fresh answers from new voices, if only we could hear them.
Maybe this Christmas time we might at least seek, listen, imagine and hope.
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
…and as hyphenated word combinations perhaps prove pretentious and irksome!
With thanks to R.Dylan for, at the very least, asking the questions...
