x factor - y factor

Why would anyone want to enter this show having seen the wreckage left behind after every previous series. Don't these people see what a stunt the whole show is? The truth is - and always will be - people see that which they want to see and nothing more. Personal blindness is an altogether common failing in our common condition. It is a shame really, people can lead full satisfying lives without the acceptance from a panel of "Judges" giving thumbs up or down and categorising everyone as Mingers, Clingers and Blingers.

In plain English

There was an interesting debate on The Politics Show at the weekend about trying to save money from the Education budget over the next few years.  Apparently nearly 2 Billion (of your good English pounds) can be trimmed out without the need to effect front line services, class sizes, number of teaching staff and assistants will not change.  Simply amazing!  The policy involves the creation of federated schools, schools which share insurance, pool utility costs, trim out assistant heads and heads of department. 

All good news, but the bigger question was why did we not do this sooner.  Our government has become like me, only save money when it has to or has no other choice.  This truly is representation government in its most direct form.  We get exactly what we deserve.  Whereas, we are sold what we want to be (clunky sentence I know).  Government should have been saving money for the last 30 years and only buying what it really needed and only taxing to match its requirements.  Government deficits are published and analysed by many an economist but until they can be presented as a simple; this is what we get and this is where it goes, how can we ever be really sure that our money is still be wasted.  Until the numbers can be easily presented to the average Joe, we will always have to take these on faith alone.

I mean, how difficult can it be?

If real terms investment can become wise expenditure, saving and then cuts in the space of 10 days, then the public book is deeply in the soft soft and the people managing it are covered in it too.  

Double think is alive and doing fine thanks

Is the government displaying a terminal case of double think?  The party actually believe that will win the next election at the same time as believing that many a sitting MP will lose their seat.  It is possible to hold two opposing, mutually exclusive, thoughts in your brain at the same time and really believe both.  2+2=4 and 2+2=5.

Mandleson even tried to pull the Ministry Truth trick of changing a fact to represent the current state of affairs.  The Government never said "real term increase in spending", they always spoke of wise spending.  Until, that is, Nick Robinson put him right and showed the documentary proof.  That was a great interview in the Today programme from a couple of days ago.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Live Debate

Let us not do this.  If they do go ahead and televise the debate, let us not watch it.  Politics should not be boiled down to the peacock fluttering their feathers and who can make the best quip while live on air.  Like McDonalds, 1 litre cups of bland coffee, Bud, SUV's, Friends and other American imports, this should be put back on the next slow boat to the US. 

The camera is important in this media age and those that understand its view and angle will always appear victorious.  Take Richard Nixon, in two television events he showed himself to be who he really was.  The Presidential Candidate debate with JFK and the infamous Frost interview.  In the first he looked shifty and in the second he came across as tired and caught.  All good stuff, but did it really matter, he was still elected to the top office later and his apology (if that was what it was) worthless.  He never paid any price for his falsehood and manipulation of the legal system - so TV solves nothing.

TV is entertainment, lets let it get on with what it does best.   

reservists

The new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, is out soon and the signs are going up all over the place.  "Reserve you copy here".  The point being that you will get your book first, before the Hoy Paloy, and be the first to read it and tell your friends all about it.  First, if you are like me and have a book to hand all the time, have to ensure that you finish your current book on the night before the release.  I like to read quickly, but I also go back over sections to clarify my understanding or just enjoy a section of well written dialogue and so there is no way I could know exactly when I am going to finish a book.  I will get to the end but I don't know when. 

Secondly, and more importantly, they seem to suggest that only the reservist's will get a copy of the book - do you really think they are going to run out on the first day.  That has never ever happened in the last twenty years of book releases and that includes all the Harry Potter books.  There will be so many books that Tesco's will be selling them for £7.99 by the end of the week, next to the over ripe tomatoes.  Anybody reserving a book, cd, dvd should be given a ball and told to go bounce it some place where they can cause no harm.

The NHS

The NHS is a huge burden on society, a bottomless pit that you can simply pour any amount of money you wish to into it.  It is slow, unresponsive, sensitive to change, not capable of healing everything, dirty, and a truly joyless experience to visit.  The NHS is exactly what we allowed it to become, through the 1980's neglect and 1990's selfishness.  However it represents our best of intentions, if we can help, we will help.  It is my personal beliefs in how to treat your neighbour made real in bricks and people.  Lets talk about how to change/replace the NHS for sure (the debate needs to happen) but you have to have an idea that captures the social responsibility behind it.

Summer is over now

I am feeling pretty grim about going back to work, what with no more bank holidays to christmas and and the evening getting darker sooner, there seems to be less time in the day to do anything worthwhile or personal - especially during the weekdays.  I need something good to look forward to - holiday, time off or just a quiet sit down some place with a book and biscuit.  Hang on, all those options involve not being at work - hmm - I figured out why I feel so glum after all.  The changing rhythms of the year are always painful no matter how many times you experience them.