Who would have Gordon's job? I heard Patricia Hewitt on the radio and she wants to "get this matter sorted out once and for all" or at least until the next time the Labour Party are not happy with their leader. I don't mind politicians calling for a new leader, after all it is a sign of democracy. It does seem strange however that these calls should come within six months of a general election.
I don't think it takes much political knowledge to realise that a leadership challenge will damage the Labour Party. I will mention it anyway because the blog is called politics for novices and also because it doesn't seem to have occurred to the rebels that they are harming their party. One labour MP Greg Pope who is retiring at the next election has also called for Gordon's resignation. He thinks that Gordon is “disastrously more unpopular than our party”, but if this disaster is obvious then why does the prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for the same constituency not agree with him?
The answer is that the disaster is obvious to all but there will be a disaster with or without Gordon at the helm, and that is why the Labour Party is divided.
Change the world
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
The cost of snow
I am sure there are more comedians who have told this joke, but I remember Tommy Cooper apologising for laughing because it was the first time that he had heard that joke. Yesterday my blog finished with the thought that funding for gritting could be linked to the cost of treating injuries caused by the ice. I know there are difficulties with this. Did this person slip on ice in their drive or on ice on the road? Would they have fallen anyway because of other factors?
The reason that I am revisiting this idea is because, like Tommy Cooper, it is the first time that I have heard the suggestion. Spmthing else made me think about it too. There was also traffic chaos yesterday which has taken up most of the news on TV and radio and one person thought the cost to his large business could run into millions of pounds. Does anyone think about this prior to the snow falling?
The cost for a lack of preparation is difficult to estimate even for something as simple as treating injuries that are caused by falls on ice. There is the cost to the NHS but there are so many other costs of social care and the cost of missing work. There are surely many other costs too. Shouldn't we be improving our preparations for snow?
Change the world
The reason that I am revisiting this idea is because, like Tommy Cooper, it is the first time that I have heard the suggestion. Spmthing else made me think about it too. There was also traffic chaos yesterday which has taken up most of the news on TV and radio and one person thought the cost to his large business could run into millions of pounds. Does anyone think about this prior to the snow falling?
The cost for a lack of preparation is difficult to estimate even for something as simple as treating injuries that are caused by falls on ice. There is the cost to the NHS but there are so many other costs of social care and the cost of missing work. There are surely many other costs too. Shouldn't we be improving our preparations for snow?
Change the world
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Resources need to improve
Last week I slipped while I was walking the dog. My excuse is that it was icy. Three nights ago my wife slipped on ice, again while walking the dog. The two common themes are dog and ice. Let's blame the dog even though we have never slipped without the link with the ice.
I have read about so many complaints about ungritted roads and the defence from the council rests with the fact that they are fully prepared and are working flat out. It seems so obvious to me. They may be fully prepared and they may be working as hard as they possibly can, but the result is not good enough. Resources need to improve.
In the eighties I managed to get some gritting bins in Great Harwood. It did go in the Focus leaflets. You don't see many bins now. they must not be fashionable but they still might help.
Change the world
P.S. I wrote this a couple of days ago and yesterday I heard on Radio Lancashire that there are still some gritting bins in East Lancashire. Unfortunately they are empty and it is not a priority to refill them as the main roads have to be gritted. What a shame that councils can't get the public to do the work for them because they don't have enough staff. I'll also mention that the roads are getting slippier. Someone saw a lady fall and she looked like she was in her seventies. Now wouldn't it be a good idea to have the funding for the gritting linked to the accidents caused by falls on ice?
I have read about so many complaints about ungritted roads and the defence from the council rests with the fact that they are fully prepared and are working flat out. It seems so obvious to me. They may be fully prepared and they may be working as hard as they possibly can, but the result is not good enough. Resources need to improve.
In the eighties I managed to get some gritting bins in Great Harwood. It did go in the Focus leaflets. You don't see many bins now. they must not be fashionable but they still might help.
Change the world
P.S. I wrote this a couple of days ago and yesterday I heard on Radio Lancashire that there are still some gritting bins in East Lancashire. Unfortunately they are empty and it is not a priority to refill them as the main roads have to be gritted. What a shame that councils can't get the public to do the work for them because they don't have enough staff. I'll also mention that the roads are getting slippier. Someone saw a lady fall and she looked like she was in her seventies. Now wouldn't it be a good idea to have the funding for the gritting linked to the accidents caused by falls on ice?
Monday, 4 January 2010
The importance of the individual
Arsene Wenger was "infuriated" yesterday when the game was stopped because a West Ham player was injured and the referee stopped the game. How dare he stop the game when Arsenal had an extra player on the pitch? Ironically Arsenal got their winner with ten men on the pitch but the point is that we have lost our sense of the importance of the individual. It doesn't seem to matter at all that a player was injured. When I was a sports physiotherapist the great advantage in American Football and in rugby was that I could go on the pitch without stopping the game. Treating the individual was welcomed.
Over Christmas I saw the film Joyeux Noel which is about the Christmas truce in World War I in which the Germans, French and Scottish soldiers played football in No Man's Land. As soldiers it was not in their job description to fraternise with the enemy. The senior officers of all nationalities were united in their fury. How dare the soldiers stop the war in order to act in a friendly way towards the enemy. It doesn't matter that they were killing each other because politicial leaders had created the war
Bill Shankly famously said that football is more important than life or death. If you lose sight of the importance of the individual then injuries are not important and war becomes more important than peace.
Change the world
Over Christmas I saw the film Joyeux Noel which is about the Christmas truce in World War I in which the Germans, French and Scottish soldiers played football in No Man's Land. As soldiers it was not in their job description to fraternise with the enemy. The senior officers of all nationalities were united in their fury. How dare the soldiers stop the war in order to act in a friendly way towards the enemy. It doesn't matter that they were killing each other because politicial leaders had created the war
Bill Shankly famously said that football is more important than life or death. If you lose sight of the importance of the individual then injuries are not important and war becomes more important than peace.
Change the world
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Should you watch The Simpsons?
One parent recently told me that they didn't let their child watch The Simpsons because it contained adult humour. I'm afraid that I let all my children watch this programme and I haven't found a problem with it. I suppose a new year is a time for re-evalutaing and I have thought again about this programme. The Simpsons is about a family that argue, they behave badly and are not good role models, except that is not my opinion. I think that they are good role models as the programmes always end with the family on good terms.
You could object to the humour of The Royle Family or any comedy programme. In fact I am watching Liverpool versus Reading and I can hear the chants from the fans. It seems that I can only watch football when there are better sound engineers. If you slip on a banana skin you might get hurt. Base a joke on ethnicity, disablility or nationality and the pain may be deeper. In these times of political correctness it is hard to think of a joke that may not be offensive to someone. In Ben Elton's early years I thought he was just giving political rants. I couldn't see why people were laughing.
So one person's political comment is another person's joke. One person's insult makes others laugh. Where do you draw the line? If an Irishman tells a joke about the Irish then you know that he is not being vindictive and this is how you draw the line. Tell any joke you like as long as you don't set out to hurt people. How you prove that is another matter.
Change the world
You could object to the humour of The Royle Family or any comedy programme. In fact I am watching Liverpool versus Reading and I can hear the chants from the fans. It seems that I can only watch football when there are better sound engineers. If you slip on a banana skin you might get hurt. Base a joke on ethnicity, disablility or nationality and the pain may be deeper. In these times of political correctness it is hard to think of a joke that may not be offensive to someone. In Ben Elton's early years I thought he was just giving political rants. I couldn't see why people were laughing.
So one person's political comment is another person's joke. One person's insult makes others laugh. Where do you draw the line? If an Irishman tells a joke about the Irish then you know that he is not being vindictive and this is how you draw the line. Tell any joke you like as long as you don't set out to hurt people. How you prove that is another matter.
Change the world
Saturday, 2 January 2010
The problem with capital punishment
A few days ago the British man Akmal Shaikh was executed by the Chinese. There were many calls for clemency. They said that he was a sick man and his illness should be taken into account. They also said that the Chinese should show compassion for a man who was mentally ill. Now I don't know how ill this man was. The Chinese version is that he had 'no previous medical record' and the British version is that he suffered from a bipolar disorder. I don 't know any details about his crime. However I do know that it is much easier to show records than it is the absence of records so the defence should have had an easy job. All the British opinions have been united against the execution.
Was he criminally guilty of smuggling four kilos of heroin into China? The Chinese say so but I don't hear any British voices saying the same thing. If this is the case then what Britain is saying is that we don't trust China's judicial system. This is quite an insult and then Gordon Brown showed his anger by calling the Chinese premier.
I am sorry to read about Mr Shaikh's execution. I believe that we should be more civilised in our punishments. I don't think that our judicial system is perfect and I guess the Chinese version could improve but I hope this is a lesson to those who would call for a return to capital punishment in this country
Change the world
Was he criminally guilty of smuggling four kilos of heroin into China? The Chinese say so but I don't hear any British voices saying the same thing. If this is the case then what Britain is saying is that we don't trust China's judicial system. This is quite an insult and then Gordon Brown showed his anger by calling the Chinese premier.
I am sorry to read about Mr Shaikh's execution. I believe that we should be more civilised in our punishments. I don't think that our judicial system is perfect and I guess the Chinese version could improve but I hope this is a lesson to those who would call for a return to capital punishment in this country
Change the world
Friday, 1 January 2010
Happy New Year
Well it is a new year so Happy New Year. If you have made resolutions let's hope you keep to them and in the best Miss World tradition I will work towards world peace and harmony. Alright that is a bit challenge so let's go for working hard to make a little change each day. If we all did that it would be a big change.
This morning I have wished quite a few people a happy new year and one person wished me a happy new decade. I didn't go into great explanations but I did speak with my family about it. As far as I am concerned the decade finishes after ten years. If you give someone ten cards you don't stop at nine. 2000 years ago nobody knew they were living in the year 10AD and there was no year zero, which makes it even more obvious to me that without a year zero decades should end at the end of year 10. I'll wish you a happy new decade next year.
Save the world
This morning I have wished quite a few people a happy new year and one person wished me a happy new decade. I didn't go into great explanations but I did speak with my family about it. As far as I am concerned the decade finishes after ten years. If you give someone ten cards you don't stop at nine. 2000 years ago nobody knew they were living in the year 10AD and there was no year zero, which makes it even more obvious to me that without a year zero decades should end at the end of year 10. I'll wish you a happy new decade next year.
Save the world
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