Eurovision - an update

 Well, who would have thought it!  Some countries have bitten the bullet and said they will withdraw if Israel remains in the contest.  What would really set the cat amongst the pigeons is if they also withdraw their funding.  You just cannot behave the way that Israel is behaving and think that you can get away with it.  I agree that a lot of antisemitism  around but can you understand it with the Israeli government and army behaving like thugs.

On to something else.  I have quit my membership of the Labour Party in favour of the Party that Jeremy Corbin  runs.  I joined the Labour Party because I saw Jeremy Corbin speak, and I enjoyed what he had to say.  However, I was extremely upset at the way that the Tory Party and parts of the Labour Party treated him and he ended up being hounded out of the Party.  I do not understand people's fascination with market economies and neo liberal policies.  The only way that people will improve is if you provide them with the resources to do so.  At the moment we are not able to feed hundreds or thousands of people in this country.  I have also signed up to be a facilitator with Your Party and I am starting to panic as the people around here are basically Tory and I am not sure that anything will get off of the ground around here.  However, they have said that they will train me, so I wait and see.  There is a Chinese curse that says "May you live in interesting times."  Well, I think that I am going to live through some very interesting times.

Eurovision Song Contest - some thoughts

 Last night, the European Broadcasting Corporation had its annual bun-fight, this year it was in Basel, in Switzerland.  It featured the usual mix of European Pop Songs and associated novelty acts.  For some reason, there were a few countries that were determined to "take the mickey" out of Italy.  I would like to know what has Italy done to deserve that!

One of the contestants came from Israel.  I think it slightly hypocritical that Israel were allowed to compete given that their leader has more or less behaved the same way that Vladimir Putin has, and Russia have been banned from every international competition that I can think of.  What made it worse for me was that Israel did so well from the Judges vote and the popular vote and very nearly won.  I did not like that eventual winner either but that is another story.

The United Kingdom got it's usual thumping but did not finish last nor were they ignored by some of the judging panels and even got 12 points from one panel, but got absolutely nothing from the popular vote.  It seems that we have a great deal of difficulty writing a song that appeals to Europe at large.  Also, we seem to have a great deal of difficulty persuading an established act to take part.  The good thing for the U.K. entrants were that they were offered a healthy contract from Andrew Lloyd Webber, which is nice!

My wife, a committed Europhile, has made it clear that this is the last time that she will watch the programme.  She said that last year as well, but made sure we watched it this year.  Next year, I think, the contest will fall on her birthday, which means that in the evening, we will not be at home to watch it.  So for at least one year her determination to not watch the European Song-fest will be satisfied.

Ukraine and all that

 Well, what a surprise!  Donald Trump has totally missed the point in his latest outburst.  He said, and I paraphrase, that "Ukraine could have stopped the war at any time."  REALLY?  However, Donald did not give any hint how Ukraine could stop the war.  My fear when I heard that Donald Trump would be talking to Putin is that together they will "stitch up" Ukraine and Putin will get what he wants.

Putin is suggesting that Ukraine should have an election before the Peace Treaty is signed.  Ooh? I wonder why he said that?  Is it because he has never interfered with an election ever?  And he will see this as a chance for the Ukrainians to vote for someone that supports Putin? 

The one thing that Donald Trump has done is to bring the Russians from out of the cold.  The Russians are now seen as equal partners to the U.S.  This is not a good thing.

Many people in the media have been saying that there will be a change in the world order and that imperialists will divide the world up into parts and each will be run by a strong leader.  That scenario is sure to bring about a series of wars from time to time as one imperialist will want to take over and imperialists area because there are minerals present, there is copious water supplies or whatever.

There is a Chinese curse which is, "May you live in interesting times."  It looks like we are entering the most interesting times of the world.  I am quite grateful that I am nearer the end of my life rather than the beginning 

Grenfel

There has been a lot on the newspapers about the fact that the tower that burned and 72 people lost their lives is to be demolished.   The big question now is, what to put there instead?  I think it would be the most stupid idea to put another block of flats there, unless they were the safest block of flats in the country.  In my humble opinion, and I am entitled to hold this opinion, it is my blog after all,  there should be a sort of remembrance garden rather like the one that is on the site of the Twin Towers in New York.  A place where people can stop and think and a memorial plaque to those who died.  It does not have to be as dreary as I make it sound but try and inject some thing that will give the message of hope for the future.

I think I have said enough.

Labour's election

 Well done!  At last we have a labour Government.  I think that they have to start to turn things round before the end of this parliament or else they will be election toast.  I have been watching some interesting things on YouTube.  One of the things was a gentleman talking about tax and spending in this country.  When I was younger, income tax rates were 30% for everyone and the higher tax rate was 60%.  Corporation Tax was 52%.  There has been a lot of talk about the difficult situation that we are in, the "worst since the second world war".  That was covered in another video and it was said that Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister after the war, borrowed millions and invested in infra-structure projects like Council House building, the Welfare State, the N.H.S. etc.  Where would we be now if those projects were not started?  Do you want to know what political party has the record for building Council Houses? It may surprise you to know that Harold McMillan, a Tory, has the record for building 300,000 Council House in one year.  Stunning! Keir Starmer has said that he will only spend what he can afford.  Borrowing money to build houses so that we get out of this housing crisis would be a good thing.  Borrowing money to invest in Green Energy that would require more jobs for people, would be a good thing.  There are lots of good reasons to borrow money to "get things done".  There are even better reasons to tax the rich to invest in things that would make life better.  The people with lots and lots of money have seen their wealth increase by 50% in the last five years.  Do you know anyone whose wealth has done that?  I don't!  Rishi Sunak has a personal fortune of £7 billion.  He did not need to take the salary for the job of Prime Minister.  I don't know what he gets from his wealth, but I once heard that £1 million invested carefully could get you an income of £5k per week!  A quick calculation tells me that Rishi gets somewhere in the region of £30k per week.  Lots of people say that you should not tax the wealthy as they are the "wealth creators".  These are the people whose wealth has increased by 50% in the last five years.  Apart from creating wealth for themselves, who else have they created wealth for? If the super rich leave England after we tax them, I will hold the door open for them.

Hull City A.F.C. Mr Allam and all that.............................

What a conundrum the owner of Hull City A.F.C., Mr Allam is.  He buys the club, and puts in £100m, of his own money, to secure the future of Hull City A.F.C.  Then............
He makes an offer to the owners of the K.C. Stadium, Hull City Council, to buy the stadium.  There are not many clubs of the level that Hull City A.F.C. are at that do not own their own stadium.  The council refuse Mr. Allam's offer, but we do not know any further details of what that offer was.
He makes moves to change the name to "Hull Tigers" with the F.A.  This causes some upset with some of the fans who embark on a campaign to retain the name that they have had for 108 years under the banner "City till I die"  The F.A. rejects the name change, and according to a recent statement, Mr.Allam puts the club up for sale 22 hours later.  He also announces that he has appealled the F.A.'s refusal to change the name to Hull tigers to the Council for Arbitration in Sport, and who knows what their decision might be.
In the recent transfer window, he adds to the squad, to assemble the best squad of players Hull City A.F.C has seen in it's 108 history.
Mr.Allam makes a statement where he makes it public that the club is up for sale, and that it has been up for sale since April, and there have been no takers.  He also make the point that he has appealled the refusal to change the name by the F.A. at the Committe for Arbitration in Sport, and who knows what they might decide.
Let me make it clear that I am not a season ticket holder of Hull City A.F.C.
I am not a regular attender at the K.C. Stadium to see Hull City A,F,C. play.
So, you could say, that I see things with an unclouded view................
I think Hull City A.F.C. have been very fortunate!  We have not had an owner like Mr. Vincent Tan who changes Cardiff City's a.k.a. the BLUEBIRDS, shirts from blue to red, because red is a lucky colour in the Far East where Mr. Tan hails from.  Who cares what the club is called, I don't, but that does not mean that the fans are prevented from chanting '"Come on City!"  Personally, I think the "City Till I Die" campaign have scored a massive own goal, and now City might be taken over by an Owner such as Mike Ashley, who has sold Newcastle's best players, just so that he could have an income.  I don't suppose a manager of the calibre of Mr. Steve Bruce would fancy managing a team in the lower divisions.  Depending on the new owner, I hope that "City till I Die" are happy supporting a team in League Division Two!

Politics and fear

Recently, I read an article, in a newspaper, that said that advertising is turning to make people afraid in order to get them to purchase things.  For example, you will put your families health at risk unless you use this type of cleaner that kills 99% of all known germs. 
As an aside, I was told the 99% bit was because, on tests the cleaner kills 100% of bacteria, it was possible that a new bacteria might come along that this cleaner is not active against, and their 100% claim would be wrong.
Anyway, back t the fear thing.  Isn't politics working on the same strategy?
UKIP advises that unless you vote for them, the EU will send hoards of Europeans into this country, and take away your jobs!
The Tories say that unless you vote for them, you will let Labour back into power, and you know what a mess they made of things the last time they were in power!
Labour say that unless you vote for them, the Tories will continue to persecute the Working Class, and make them pay for the mistakes of the bankers!
Liberals say that unless you vote for them the same to-ing and fro-ing of the political see-saw will continue, which does not help anybody!
I think that appealing to people's sense of fear is a mistake.  For those of you that know a bit of Psychology will realise that Freud said that if you make the Ego anxious, Ego Defence Mechanisms will kick in, and the one that is most likely to be used is Denial.  "I can't be afraid, because there is nothing to be afraid of (the argument is blotted out of their conscious altogether)".  This could also be one of the reasons that people do not engage with politics.
Another reason for people not engaging with politics could be the farce called Prime Minister's Questions, where the House of Commons collectively behave like a bunch of unruly yobs.
And of course the final reason is that nobody trusts politicians any more, they are too interested in what they can get for themselves.  Expenses rows etc have made sure of that.
So unless there is a total change in the behaviour of politicians, 30% turn-outs at elections will be something that the political class will have to get used to.  The Government being voted in by a minority of the electorate will be a feature of our politics for a long time to come.
Maybe we should change the system and make it a legal requirement that people vote, with fines to those people that do not vote.  The question then becomes who would be most harmed by this?  Answers please on a post card to me.  However, that has got to be easier than getting politicians to be trusted again.

I Got into trouble..........

In my job, we were called to a meeting where were were told that our services would no longer be required.  We were told that we had "done nothing wrong."  We were told that the decision was based on financial considerations.  We were told that the College would try and be helpful in finding us alternative employment.  We were told that a bus company would want to employ us, as we were used to doing the school run.  This turned out to be incorrect because of a lack of communication.  Not surprisingly, the possibility of becoming unemployed once more was not an appealing one.  I got very angry and wrote a nasty letter to the college.  I was called to a meeting to explain myself.
Several weeks later, there was a job advertised, for a post that I was more than suitable. Did I get it?  Did I hell!  Am I angry?  You betcha!  I am tempted to release the contents of the letter, but I do not think that would be a good idea.  Sort of like pouring petrol onto a fire to put it out.
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that on  1st September, I become officially under-employed again.

Ukraine

I have been thinking...................

After WWII there was a meeting at Yalta, in Ukraine, where the Americans, English, and Russians decided to 'carve up' Europe.  Russia ended up with everything East of Berlin, the rest was left to it's own devices.  The person that managed to get so much ground for Russia was none other than Josef Stalin.

Go forward to the 21st Century..............

We have already seen the 'fall' of Crimea to Russian control.  But history tells me that Crimea has nearly always been under Russian control.  WE fought then for it when the Light Brigade rode valiantly into the valley of death!  There are also things going on in the East Ukraine where some of the 'natives' are agitating for Russian rule once again.  Obviously they are feeling nostalgic for the olden days when Russia was in control.  Some people have been saying that there are Russian Soldiers in Ukraine, stirring things up,  That may be so, but the problem is that people are now beginning to be killed, and I wonder is this the start of the slippery slide into Civil War?

Another point to take into consideration is that the person that the present Russian premier admires most?
Josef Stalin - the same man that got most of Eastern Europe under Russian control.  Is Putin trying to emulate his hero?

Humber Bridge

I drive a minibus for Wyke College 'ere in 'Ull.  The route I drive takes me across the Humber Bridge four times a day that I am at work.  There are several things that puzzles me.  There has been work carried out on the bridge for the past few weeks and it is now very difficult to know what speed to cross the bridge.  Prior to the work, the speed was 50 m.p.h. and there were several signs as you crossed the bridge that reminded you.  Now the signs that were there have mostly been blacked out.  So the assumption is that the last speed sign you see is the one to follow.  That is the sign, before the toll booth, on the south bound route, is 30 m.p.h.  On the north bound route there is a 50 sign shortly followed by a 30 m.p.h. sign.  So the legal speed, both ways on the bridge is 30 m.p.h.  Problem solved!
This leads to my second problem.  Yesterday, I drove at 30 m.p.h. south bound over the bridge. The car in front of me had disappeared from view as I approached the half-way point.  Even before the works started, very few drivers adhered to the speed limit of 50 m.p.h.  I would suggest that the Bridge Board install speed cameras on the bridge, like on the M4 to slow down the traffic as it approaches the Bridge and/or Tolls.  Are there any other suggestions?

Public money to private pockets

There have been several schemes devised by the Government of the day that were designed to help the working class, but have not had that effect.  Let me explain, after the deregulation of the rented housing market, the amount of Housing Benefit paid has ballooned, principally to private landlords.  My first example of the title.
Another example is Tax Credits.  Rather than pay a Living Wage, businesses are allowed to pay lower rates of pay, and the Government tops up the pay packet of the workers, saving the business money.  Another example of the title.
Finally, the story that started off this train of thought appeared in yesterday's Guardian.  You can read about it  yourself by going to this website: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/12/taxpayer-funded-academy-paying-millions-private-firms-schools-education-revealed-education

Anyway, it is nice to know that we are indeed "all in it together"

U.K. National Lottery

The U.K. National Lottery (N.L.)have recently announced a 100% increase in the price of their tickets from £1 to £2.  This has handed it's competitor, The Health Lottery, (H.L.) a new advertising campaign.  The H.L. is now crowing about the fact that it still only costs £1.  Many people with a spare quid in their pockets will be tempted to play the H.L rather than the N.L. This was a serious mis-calculation on the part of the N.L.
The reason given for the price hike is that it is struggling to support the charitable causes that it supports.  My answer to this is to pay the shareholders less!  Also, the H.L. supports various Health charities up and down the country.  Given the parlous state of the N.H.S. who wouldn't want to support the N.H.S.?
This is a major P.R. disaster!

Syria......Part Deux

Today, following a debate in the House of Commons, the Government were defeated in their plans to take actions against the perpetrators of the chemical attack.  A lot of commentators have said that this weakens David Cameron's position and the position of Britain in the rest of the World.  Personally, I do not know if that is true, and I must be honest and say that I couldn't care less if Britain's position has been weakened.  As far as Syria goes, a military solution, I.M.H.O, will not change things at all.  Who in their right mind thinks that adding more military hardware to a situation awash with weapons is going to improve the situation?  I am not the only person that thinks that a Diplomatic Solution is the only sensible way to proceed.  The United Nations has many people skilled in the dark arts of diplomacy.  A discussion involving all interested parties, including Russia and all the Middle Eastern neighbours, should be held, under the auspices of the U.N. to discuss the way forward.
The obvious aim would be to have Syria come out the other side with a Western-style democracy, and a pro-Western outlook.  But what would happen if the population of the country voted for a single party state, possibly run by the Ayatollahs, or even worse, the Taliban.  What would the West do then?  My suggestion would be that nothing would happen.  The reason I say that is that Syria has no oil.  Am I an old cynic?  I would have to plead guilty to that one.

Syria, and all that........

Today we have the Western Leaders getting their collective knickers in a twist over the recent events that have occurred in Syria.  The latest 'twist' is the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, during which attack thousands of people died.  Surely the point is that thousands of people died, not who caused their deaths. 
The U.N. weapons inspectors were fired on, presumably, to stop them finding out whether it actually was a chemical attack, what was the chemical used, and, if possible, who originated the chemical attack.  Who would want to stop the inspection?  Clearly the originators of the chemical attack.
The U.N. are clearly 'dragging their feet' by not coming up with a sensible suggestion to deal with the sorry situation in Syria, where hundreds of its' citizens are killing each other by the bucket load.  All attempts have to be used to stop BOTH sides.  America seems to be favouring 'surgical strikes' by  missiles, the American public being understandably unwilling to commit ground troops to a fight in foreign fields.  Britain has been making lots of troops redundant, and I doubt a sustained action by troops could be maintained.  America, with its' side-kick, Britain, should leave the role of the World's Police to the U.N., but until the Russians agree to a course of action, the options are severely limited,

I am confused..................

I would like to ask, with all the "new initiatives" and cash thrown at Education over the many years since OFSTED ,  why are there still kids that leave school hardly able to read and write?
I would also like to ask, what makes you think that "league tables" are the way to improve schools' performance?  Just because schools get '98% A* to C' does that mean that schools are turning out well-balanced, polite, graduates, able to think for themselves? 
Several years ago, more years than I care to remember, I started a P.G.C.E. to become a Secondary Science Teacher.  As part of the course, we had to pass a Literacy, Numeracy and I.T. Proficiency test.  As one of the Lecturers said, "You all have English and Maths qualifications.  If they do not prove that you are literate and numerate, then perhaps they should fix the English and Maths qualifications rather than make you do these tests."
Personally, my view is that Education is not fit for purpose.  Does the honourable Michael Gove, Minister of State for Education seriously think that turning back the clock and making Education the image of the Education he experienced, will fix all of the problems?
Only time will tell.
Perhaps we should take education out of the political arena all together and stop it being used as a political football?

Being on Supply

I am a skilled man.  I have 3 'A' Levels in Chemistry, Physics, and Zoology; an honours degree in Psychology; 16 years experience as a Registered Nurse; and 10 years experience teaching 'A' Level Psychology.  Since leaving my last job, I have been doing some Supply work, as well as Invigilating exams in a local Secondary School.  But it is the question of supply teaching that I wish to turn to.
I have been on supply at a Secondary School, covering a teacher that has been on long term sick.  Prior to me arriving at the school, the students had a succession of supply teachers.  While I was there, I had to give the classes a test on the stuff that they had been set while their teacher was absent.  All of the students said that they did not know the topic, I replied that it was important that they learn the stuff that supply teachers give them.
In the last weeks of my stay, I had to set them a project to do.  The hand in date coincided with my last day at the school.  Some of the students had obviously worked hard at the project, and I gave them praise and wrote nice comments in their books about the work that they had done.  Not surprisingly, some of the students had not done the work, I wonder what the consequences for those students will be?  What will those consequences say to the students that had worked hard at their projects and those that did not a lot?  I must say that in a previous stint as a supply teacher that I was at a school where the students told me that their teacher threw away the work that they do while he was off sick.  Is that what will happen to the students' work who had completed their projects?  I hope that the school will be able to look those students in the face and tell them that the work they did was valued!

Reminisences of College - No. 1

When I worked in a College, I taught A Level Psychology.  One of my students used to come to my lecture at 10 a.m. on time, because she set her mobile to remind her at 9.30 a.m.  On the same day as my lesson, she had an exam at 9.00 a.m. when her Mum woke her up.  At 9.30 a.m. her mobile phone, still in her pocket, went off.  It is normal exam invigilation technique to remind students, more than once, to hand in their mobile phones.  This obviously fell on deaf ears as far as this student was concerned.  The result was that she was disqualified from the exam, and all other exams in the series.  When other people found out about this, and no doubt said something to her, she decided to leave College.
I wonder what happened to her?
Answers please in the box below.

Housing Benefit changes

The current Government are seeking to cut the benefits budget by cutting the amount of money that people are paid via Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.  In places where it is expensive to live, rents are correspondingly high.  Before today's change, people would merely offset their high level of rent against Housing Benefit, and the money would be paid direct to the landlord.  This represents a transfer of Government money direct to landlords who could charge what they liked and the government would cough up the cash.  I do not have the figures, but I would imagine that Housing Benefit payments started to spiral out of control once rents were deregulated back in the years of the Iron Lady.
Part of Ian Duncan Smiths rhetoric is to deprive people of Housing Benefit to 'force them' into work.  What planet does he live on?  'Ere in 'Ull there are 50 to 60 people chasing every job.  This is just further proof the the Government are out of touch.

Nurse! Nurse! I'm getting worse!

Because of the disaster at the Mid-Staffordshire N.H.S. Trust, there are a number of suggestions on how to 'fix' the problem.  On the Beeb this morning there was an 'ex-nurse', a gentleman who had lost his son as the result of a medical accident, and someone from an organisation called A.M.A. The 'M.A.' stood for 'medical accidents', but I can't remember what the first 'A' stood for.  They were calling for the creation of a duty of 'honesty' i.e. when you made a mistake you confessed rather than try and sweep it under the carpet.  Good luck with that one unless you do something about the countless firms that will help you get the compensation 'you deserve' after medical negligence.  What has happened that 'accidents' no longer happen?

The point that I wish to make is one that is not mine, but I think that it has enough merit for it to be repeated.  Since I trained as a nurse, nurse training has undergone several changes, and still things happen that make people want to change nurse training again.  The latest is to make people work in hospital wards for a year before they can apply for training, a kind of internship.  But the idea I want to put forward is to have nurses licensed.  The license will be awarded as long as nurses can carry out 'basic nursing care' to an acceptable standard.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  The license will also cover them to administer medication safely (you only need to get five things right: the right patient; the right time; the right drug; the right dose; and the right route of administration.).  To get a job in Cardio-Thoracic Care, for example, you would have to complete a conversion course, where the specifics of cardio-thoacic care are dealt with.  Years ago the English National Board ran loads of these courses, and I think that they should be extended into the normal pattern of nursing qualifications.  The result of this is that when your relative is admitted to the Heart Unit after having a 'Heart Attack' there will be nurses there who are licensed to care for your relative, and have been trained in the specific needs that their condition presents.  Like I say, not my idea, but I think that it has merit.

Job Hunt

Rather brazenly, I applied for a para-legal job with a firm in Hull.  I have no qualifications in Law so I really had to pull the finger out to even get them to look at my C.V.  this is the cover letter that I wrote:

"Please accept this letter as my application for the post as Legal Assistant/Para-legal at your firm. There is no doubt, from looking at my C.V., that my chances of getting an interview are very slim. (That ticks the 'sense of humour' box, I think.) However, in the next few sentences, I have to persuade you to give me a chance. Yes, I am on the wrong side of 50, but that brings life experience that people with “no snow on the roof” will not have. Unusually, for my age, I have quite good computer skills, and run web sites, one for a community group that I am a member of. I am well educated, I have a degree from the University of Aberdeen, and I have trained as a nurse, and I can explain to anyone that will listen how fridges and air-conditioners work. I have a thirst for new knowledge that is, sadly, not being exploited to the full, and I would like that to change before I become old and decrepit.

So, how have I done? Will I get the chance to further persuade you of my suitability for the post, or are my documents shredded and sent off with the re-cycling? I will, no doubt, find out in the fullness of time."

I enclosed a copy of my C.V., obviously, and waited, expecting to hear not a peep.  However, a reply did come, and here it is........

 "Thank you for your application for our paralegal post.  I am sorry to have to tell you that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.  We did very much enjoy your covering letter and for the record I shall myself very shortly be radically altering my own opinion as to which side of fifty is the right side to be.  We were also very impressed by your CV and the range of life experience you have had.

Unfortunately, however we received nearly fifty applications and many of those people had very relevant HR experience which really was the sort of background we were looking for.  we had toyed with the idea of inviting you to an interview merely on the basis that it would probably be quite interesting to meet you but that in reality would probably not be fair!"

If I come across anyone who is interested in Employment Law, I would, in the strongest terms possible, advise them to work for the author of the reply.  In my search for work, it is the norm. not to receive even an acknowledgement that my application has been received, but the author here has not only replied, but has taken the time to think about what to write in reply to my frankly outrageous application.

The firm?  GOSSCHALKS