Who are the Cranks?

 

A friend asked me yesterday why I was writing so many blogs on the coronavirus. In slow motion here’s my answer.

I started this one today at 6 am after waking from a curious dream. In it, my wife and I were eating dinner cooked by one of our best friends, a life-long vegetarian. Her Irish father ran 'The Vegetarian Cafe' in London's Earls Court ten years before Cranks claimed to be the pioneers in vegetarian catering. 

In the dream meal she had seared a large slab of steak for me. I was puzzled because she told me I must eat it to stay alive. I tucked into the meat, but cannot tell you how it tasted because I woke feeling guilty. I was strangely moved because, not only had her dream-self tolerated the death of this poor cow, she had cooked it for me.

This dream was a double surprise, not just because the cook had abandoned her long-held beliefs, but also because, although not vegetarian, I have chosen not to eat cows since being given a bovine heart valve. I don’t eat pork either because pigs are intelligent. I know, lambs are cute and chickens can count!

My heart operation was the second of a trio of health crises over the last six years. First was a subdural haematoma and brain operation. Later, I had open-heart surgery, then a stroke caused by a bacterial infection that necessitated a 7-week hospital stay.

A couple of weeks ago I had a call from the Stroke Association to ask how I was getting on during the Covid-19 crisis. The friendly woman told me, “You do know you are high risk and looking at your records, you’re very high risk.”

I told her that I am lucky because I am in lockdown with my wife and that I have good friends and neighbours, including a total stranger who has been food shopping for us.

Here’s a sobering statistic. To date, a city the size of Salisbury has died from Covid-19. 

 

Ill and old, I know that I am on Dominic Cummings’ ‘to be culled’ list.

So here’s the answer to my friend’s question. This murderous government keeps my blogs going and flowing. So long as my cow forgives me for that dream meal, and my right hand continues to connect to my brain to type, I will fight these state assassins with my blogs.

I leave you on a positive note. Last night I attended a Zoom meeting of the North East Peoples Assembly. Watched by 4,500 people, I know that our numbers are growing.

And if you need help, or want to offer help to others, I recommend contacting your local Mutual Aid group.