I received my ballot papers recently from the Labour Party and they enclosed a pamphlet from Ed. This information crammed document informs me that ‘Britain needs real change now more than ever’.
I started thinking; how much difference is there between ‘change’ and ‘real change’? I mean is Ed telling me that we have had change before but that was some kind if hypothetical change and he is offering some kind of special change?
Let’s face it every politician in opposition tells us we need change. You would think that with all the different parties who have run this country since God knows when, we would be settled by now. Apparently not, they all got it wrong so now we have to vote for yet another party to change it all.
What if Ed and co treated Britain like a woman? Forgive me if this sounds sexist it’s not meant to. When I was eighteen years old a much older man gave me some advice upon the subject of women. He said that when I found a woman I loved and wanted to keep I must give her three things. Security, continuity, and loyalty. So why don’t you politicians try that?
Let’s face it, when they change something you can guarantee that in twenty years or so someone will change it back and everyone will say what a brilliant idea.
How many times do we hear of relationships breaking up because one partner wanted to change the other?
Just a lighthearted look from a different angle.

The Radical Alternative to Austerity – Campaign news – LRC

The Radical Alternative to Austerity – Campaign news – LRC.

Quality teaching vs quantity

Reblogged from Charliecountryboy's Blog:

So this government now wants to scrap compulsory qualifications for teachers in FE? Will they also scrap CRB checks? I mean why not? If we aren’t bothered about protecting young people’s education then why worry about their mental/physical well being?

I decided I wanted to teach last year and so I did a PTLLS course. What I learned on that course was phenomenal.

Read more… 354 more words

Quality teaching vs quantity

So this government now wants to scrap compulsory qualifications for teachers in FE? Will they also scrap CRB checks? I mean why not? If we aren’t bothered about protecting young people’s education then why worry about their mental/physical well being?

I decided I wanted to teach last year and so I did a PTLLS course. What I learned on that course was phenomenal. From setting ground rules, professional boundaries, equality and diversity, differentiation techniques and lesson planning. Is this government now saying to teach in a FE College you don’t need any of that? Since finishing my course and commencing teaching, I can assure them that you do; and more! The last Labour Government wanted to improve the standards of Further Education and PTLLS helped to do that. This government seems hell bent on breaking everything.

Of course there could be darker forces at work. As we know they are creating new apprenticeship schemes. Now, I know from looking at job ads that there are certain establishments always looking for staff. Not, may I add, FE Colleges. These are training schools, set up by Building Companies.

If they find it hard to employ construction trainers with educational qualifications then no one will meet the government targets of newly qualified apprentices. So with a little lobbying and a word in certain ears.

“Voila” as Mr Sarcozy would say, (or “au revoir”). You will have as many trainers as you need. Unqualified in teaching, but that won’t matter, all they have to do is pick out the best and dump the rest. Any students with a learning disability will not be helped through the course using diversity/equality guidelines or differentiation techniques because their tutors will know nothing of these. There are so many youngsters out there with potential, but because their way of learning doesn’t fit with the majority, or they miss some days because of family disfunction they will be dumped.

When you agree to teach you have to want to inspire, motivate and help. It’s no good dragging in tradesmen just to get as many students through the course as possible and dumping the ones that don’t keep up, just to meet targets. I fear not very good tradesmen either, as the average pay in these ‘training centres’ for a tutor is £18-23000, a decent carpenter will earn more from working on site. Surely when we have a shortage of skilled workers; downgrading the teaching skills of the tutors is madness.

2012; A New Era?

What will 2012 bring?

We could conceivably have the collapse of:-

The Welfare State, the NHS, the school system as we know it, Freedom to protest, and our voice in Europe.

We could have the start of two new wars:-

Gulf War III / Oil Crusaders v Iran.

Falklands II / Britain v Rest of South America.

OR

We could see the collapse of:-

The Con/Lib coalition, the Euro, the rest of the banks and the stock market along with the power and greed they create.

With

The rise of the Labour Left and a Labour Party that actually does what it says on the tin instead of what they think they need to do/say to get elected.

 

There are many Labour minded people that did not agree with New Labour, but let’s face it Tony Blair made the Labour Party electable.

How was that? Simple; he told people what they wanted to hear and he was believable.

The Labour Left (of which I count myself part of) can only tell people what they don’t want to hear. You have to put yourself out; you have to consider other people. You can’t just wander through life letting other people do all the stuff you don’t want to do. We are all responsible for each other. Now how do you get a British public to vote for that, when 40% can’t even be arsed to go and vote at all?

That’s how Blair and co., managed to created the nanny state in the first place, if you let someone else have complete control of your life then it’s not your fault when it all goes wrong. That’s why everyone blames the last government for all the bad things that are happening now.

When Blair said education, education, education; he was right. The problem was it became abdication, abdication, abdication. The British public abdicated and New Labour took control.

Before that Thatcher told us we all had the right to be well off, own our own home, etc, etc.

So now we have a nation that just doesn’t care anymore, because;-

Thatcher said that if we worked hard for ourselves we would be alright. We weren’t.

Blair said that if we let him take care of everything we would be alright. We weren’t.

It’s time we said we will all take care of each other without the manipulation of the rich.

And I think we can.

There is a change coming.

So my message for 2012 is let’s get it right this time and let’s do it now. We are not on the crest of the wave yet, but its coming. Stop arguing about Thatcher’s funeral and Cameron’s demise. It’s time to say what is possible, what can be done. How we can build a better, fairer society. People can make people’s lives better by accepting responsibility and retaking control of themselves and they can do it without owning three properties and a Hedge Fund!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas of the Future

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, near Geneva, 24^th December 2011. Matthew Dubois is explaining to his friend why he is sealing his journal into a stainless steel canister. That one day in the distant future it may be discovered and so their story will never be lost.

Mathew, as a scientific author, included a lot of text but only two photographs on CERN paper. While Matthew answered the call of nature his friend added a caption and a little drawing, he thought it might be funny.

WHAT DID WE DO?   MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

When Matthew returned he sealed his container and asked his friend to take it back New York and bury it. They had a Christmas drink and Matthew’s friend caught the last plane out of Geneva. It was to be the last plane anywhere.

The Large Hadron Collider surpassed all of its expectations. It not only created the conditions just after the Big Bang, it managed to create the Big Bang. Not quite as Big as the original Big Bang but big enough to wipe out every form of life on Earth.

Approximately 2 million years after this smaller Big Bang life began to form again. One day a creature from the oceans took his first step onto dry land and after eons he stood erect and from that point there was no stopping him. A new age had begun, fire, the wheel, curiosity!

When one day a hunter discovered a stainless steel canister, he had no idea what it could be. He took it home and kept it as a good luck charm. He passed it to his children and they, in turn to theirs.

The charm seemed to work, the family prospered. Generations passed until one day someone special was born into the family. He seemed to have a gift, he was known as the Healer.

He was much braver and cleverer than his predecessors and with the help of his friend, a blacksmith, they opened the canister. Very little of the original contents survived, but there was enough. This was a clear message and the Healer knew exactly what to do with it.

He created a new way of living, his popularity grew to such an extent that the authorities began to see him as a threat. They framed him and with a little skulduggery they managed to have him executed. This was a mistake; it only succeeded in increasing his popularity. His teachings were spread throughout the world. There were spinoffs; other Healers sprang up with their own version
of what the ‘Canister’ really meant.

They began to fall out and soon wars were fought between rival groups.

The ‘Canister’ had long been lost but that was no longer important, it had given meaning to everyone’s life.

Eventually scholars were tasked to collect everyone’s writings and make sense of it all. They were to create a book, so that everyone would access to the teachings of the Healer. When the book was finished it was printed in millions. Everyone loved it from the very first passage.

In the beginning CERN created the heaven and the earth

 

 

Democracy: What Is It?

Democracy is a word that is frequently used today. Western governments are convinced that they are democratic whereas our Arab brothers are what? You here about the Arab States, the pariah state of Iran, but what is a state? Well a state is a sovereign political power or community and democracy is a social condition of classlessness and equality.

I think I may be missing something here as far as honesty and integrity goes.
Firstly, I can’t think of one single so called democratic country in the western world that has a condition of classlessness or equality, can you?
Secondly, I can’t think of any so called States that are not states, they are all sovereign political powers or communities.
So, they say what they are; and they are. Whereas we say what we are; and we are not.

When Cameron, Obama, Sarkozy, Merkel etc say they want democracy throughout the world what exactly do they mean? We don’t have democracy in this country. Yes we get to vote but look at the system. We have a conservative party forcing their idealistic policies on to us when they didn’t win the election. They got close, only, because of money. In my area we had over 20 different colour pamphlets and brochures from the Tory candidate because she was backed personally by Cameron, which must have cost a fortune.
So, what they want is the same system in places like Syria that we have here? To be fair it may be less cruel for the populace than what they have now, but it won’t be democracy it will be a neo-liberalistic system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

There are too many politicians crying out in the name of Democracy without actually knowing what it means.