Tuesday, 24 January 2017

Mandag den 23. januar 2017 kl 16:30 til tirsdag den 24. januar 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Jeg skynder mig op i Sarahs gamle værelse og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 6 miles (10km). Hurra – nu ved jeg med sikkerhed, jeg kan blive rask igen! Mens jeg cykler ser jeg 1988s største hits, eller noget lignende, på Youtube på min smartphone. Tiden flyver, når man har det sjovt, ingen tvivl om det!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, ”Scotland og Ku Klux Klan”, der handler om forbindelsen mellem skotske indvandrere og racismen i sydstaterne. Programmets vært er den charmerende skotte, Neil Oliver.



Dette dokumentarfilm er lidt af en åbenbaring for Lois og mig. Vi har ikke været klar over, at KKK-organisationen blev grundlagt fra mennesker, der for det meste stammede fra Skotland. De tog KKKs navn fra det græske ord ”kuklos” (som betyder kreds eller cirkel) for at understrege, at KKK var en brødrekreds, og ordet ”klan” mindede medlemmer om klanerne i deres originale hjemsted i Skotland. Den konfødererede flags design blev baseret på den skotske flag (Andreaskors) – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Hundreder af tusinder af skotter flyttede til de amerikanske kolonier i 1700-tallet – mange af dem flygtede undertrykkelse i Skotland efter nederlaget af jacobitoprørene, eller (i de fleste tilfælde) flygtede bare forøget husleje osv. De var for det meste hårdføre folk, så opmuntrede regeringerne af de 13 britiske kolonier dem til at bosætte sig i vestlige eller sydvestlige områder, for eksempel på Appalacherne, for at hjælpe med at forsvare kolonierne mod franskmændene og indfødte amerikanere. Senere flyttede de sydpå og vestpå, hvor der var ingen mangel på land.

På trods af at mange af dem var blevet undertrykket i Skotland, begyndte disse mennesker snart selv at købe og undertrykke sorte slaver på de nye bomuldsmarker i begyndelsen af 1800-tallet – du godeste!

KKK blev grundlagt efter sydstaternes nederlag i borgerkrigen, faktisk i den lille by Pulaski i Tennessee. Tidligere tilhængere af de konfødererede stater mistede retten til at stemme, selvom deres tidligere slaver kunne stemme for første gang. Lokale hvide mænd følte sig fremmedgjorte og begyndte at grundlægge klubber, i begyndelsen bare for at more sig, men senere for at true de lokale sorte.

KKK blev grundlagt i den lille by Pulaski i Tennessee

Racismen er selvfølgelig stadig et problem i nutidens USA, ligesom i andre lande. I 2015 vurderede man, at der var 892 ”hadegrupper” i USA. Én af disse grupper er ”League of the South”. Programmets vært taler med ligaens leder, Dr Michael Hill. Han siger, at hans nation ikke er USA, der kun er en “multikulturelt imperium”. Hans nation er de folk, han er beslægtet med blod til, hverken i de sydstaterne eller i Storbritannien.






”League of the South”, én af USAs moderne keltisk hadegrupper – uha!

Lois og jeg er overraskede over, hvor meget denne forbindelse med ”det gamle land” stadig er en faktor i filosofien af disse hadegrupper. Det ville være rørende, hvis det ikke var tilknyttet racismen. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet.


07:30 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker teen og går i bad. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Lois sætter mærkater på de 11 krukker hjemmelavet appelsinmarmelade, hun i går forberedte.

Lois sætter mærkater på
sine 11 krukker hjemmelavet appelsinmarmelade

10:30 Lois skal af sted. Hun har aftalt at drikke en kop kaffe og spise et stykke kage i formiddag sammen med Ursula, sin veninde, der bor i Churchdown.

11:00 Jeg går i gang med at udarbejde en ungarsk ordforrådtest til min ven, ”Magyar Mike”. Mike og jeg har for vane at møde hver tirsdag formiddag kl 10 for at lære ungarsk sammen, men han kommer ikke i dag på grund af den tæt tåge, der i dag har ramt byen Nailsworth, hvor han bor.

12:00 Desværre har jeg lidt ondt i benen i dag – jeg har trukket en muskel synes jeg, men jeg mindes, at skraldebilen kommer i morgen. Jeg fylder vores haveaffaldspand med klippede grene, ukrudt osv og skubber den ud på fortovet foran huset. Skraldespanden er ikke fuld, så jeg beslutter at smide alle mine gamle vhs- videobånd i den. Vores gamle vhs videobåndmaskine gik i stykker lige før jul – uha! Vi har besluttet at optage tv-programmer fremover på vores nye Plusnet-tv-enhed – hurra!

12:30 Lois er ikke dukket op endnu. Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og lave to portioner frokost.

13:15 Lois kommer hjem og vi spiser frokost. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!

15:00 Jeg står op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg har for vane at kigge på The Onions hjemmeside for at opdatere mig om de seneste nyheder fra USA. Der er altid noget interessant på denne websted – ingen tvivl om det!!!

Jeg læser i dag, at John Barder, en 22-årig midlertidig ansat har sagt, at han er ophidset over at påbegynde sin første dag som Trumps nye landbrugsminister. Hans nye rolle var ”langt mere interessant”, end hans sædvanlige ydmyge kontoropgaver og han glædede sig meget til at starte sin første dag i sit midlertidige 5-dage lange stilling.

John Barder, Trumps nye landbrugsminister

”Alt hvad jeg virkelig ved fra meddelelsen er, at jeg er ansvarlig for landbrug  over hele landet, eller noget lignende, ” sagde ’Bards’, der vil styre ministeriet i 5 dage med dets budget på ca. 140 milliarder dollar. Han er meget glad for, at han vil tjene 14 dollar om timen, især fordi det ser ud til, at ingen kommer til at kigge over skulderen, så han kan sidde og sms hele dagen, hvis han gerne vil det.  

Jeg håber sandelig, at ’Bards’ har ret i, hvad han siger. Han ser ud som en pæn ung fyr, og han fortjener en rolig uge for en gangs skyld. Og oplevelsen vil ser meget god ud på hans cv, hvad enten han bare bruger tiden på at sende sms til vennerne og oplægge på Instagram selfies af sig selv siddende ved sit skrivebord, eller ej. 

16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

English translation

17:00 I hurry up to Sarah's old room and jump up on my exercise bike. I ride 6 miles (10km). Hoorah - now I know for sure I can get well again! While I cycle I watch 1988's greatest hits, or something similar, on Youtube on my smartphone. Time flies when you're having fun, no doubt about it !!!

18:00 Lois and I eat supper and then we spend the evening watching a little television. They show an interesting documentary, "Scotland and the Ku Klux Klan," which is about the connection between Scottish immigrants and racism in the South. The program's host is the charming Scot, Neil Oliver.


This documentary is a bit of a revelation for Lois and me. We were unaware that the KKK organization was founded by people who mostly came from Scotland. They took the KKK's name from the Greek word "Kuklos" (meaning circle or circle) to emphasize that the KKK was a circle of brethren and the word "klan" reminded members of the clans in their original home in Scotland.

Hundreds of thousands of Scots moved to the American colonies in the 1700s - many of them fled oppression in Scotland after the defeat of the Jacobite rebellions, or (in most cases) just fleeing increased rents and so on. They were mostly hardy people, so that the governments of the 13 British colonies encouraged them to settle in the western or southwestern areas, for example in the Appalachians, to help defend the colonies against the French and native Americans. Later they moved south and west, where there was no shortage of land.

Despite the fact that many of them had been oppressed in Scotland, these people soon themselves started to buy and oppress black slaves on the new cotton fields in the early 1800s - my god!

The KKK was founded after the Confederate defeat in the Civil War, in fact in the small town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Former supporters of the Confederate States lost the right to vote even though their former slaves were able to vote for the first time. Local white men felt alienated and started founding clubs, in the beginning just to have fun, but later in order to threaten the local blacks.

the KKK was founded in the little town of Pulaski, Tennessee

Racism is of course still a problem in today's USA, as in other countries. In 2015, it was assessed that there were 892 "hate groups" in the United States. One of these groups is the "League of the South". The program's host talks with the league's leader, Dr Michael Hill. He says his nation is not the United States, which is just a "multicultural empire" - his nation is the people he is related by blood to, either in the South or in Britain.






“League of the South”, one of the USA’s modern
Celtic hate groups – oh dear!

Lois and I are surprised how much this connection with "the old country" is still a factor in the philosophy of these hate groups. It would be touching, if it were not connected with racism. My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!!

04:30 I get up early and take a look at the web.


07:30 I hurry into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and jump into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and take a shower. We eat breakfast.

09:00 Lois puts labels on the 11 jars of homemade orange marmalade she prepared yesterday.

Lois put stickers on
her 11 jars of homemade orange marmalade

10:30 Lois has to go out. She has arranged to have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake this morning with her friend Ursula, who lives in Churchdown.

11:00 I get going with preparing a Hungarian vocabulary test for my friend, "Magyar Mike". Mike and I have the habit of meeting every Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock to learn Hungarian together, but he is not coming today because of the dense fog that today has hit the town of Nailsworth, where he lives.

12:00 Unfortunately I have a bit of pain in my leg today – I’ve pulled a muscle I think, but I remember that the garbage truck is coming tomorrow. I fill our garden waste bucket with trimmed branches, weeds, etc. and push it out onto the sidewalk in front of the house. The trash-can is not full, so I decide to throw all my old vhs tapes into it. Our old VHS video tape machine broke down just before Christmas - oh dear! We have decided to record TV programs in future on our new Plusnet TV device – hurrah!

12:30 Lois has not shown up yet. I hurry into the kitchen and make two servings of lunch.

13:15 Lois comes home and we eat lunch. Afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzzz !!

15:00 I get up and take a look at the web. I have a habit of looking at The Onion's website to update me on the latest news from the US. There is always something interesting on this site - no doubt about that !!!

John Barder, a 22-year-old temporary employee has said that he is excited to be beginning his first day as Trump’s new Secretary for Agriculture. His new role was "much more interesting" than his usual humble office tasks and he was delighted to be starting his first day in his temporary 5-day assignment.

John Barder, Trump's new Agriculture Secretary

"All I really know from the announcement is that I am responsible for agriculture across the country, or something similar," said ‘Bards’, who will manage the Department for 5 days with its budget of about $ 140 billion. He is very happy that he will be earning $ 14 an hour, especially as it looks like nobody is going to be looking over his shoulder,  so he can sit and text all day if he wants to.

I sincerely hope that 'the Bards' is right in what he says. He seems like a nice young kid, and he deserves a quiet week for once. And the experience will look very good on his resume, whether he's just taking the time to send texts to his friends and post to Instagram selfies of himself sitting at his desk, or not.

16:00 Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.


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