Torbay weblog davecathy

My dictionary has a secondary definition of an ostrich as ' A person who refuses to face or accept unpleassnt facts (by burying their head in the sand)'

For years now, scientists all over the world have been of the opinion that man-made pollution is contributing to if not causing global warming at a totally unprecedented rate, and are warning of catastrophic consequences. As just a single example of this, production of CFC's produced a hole in the ozone layer over the south pole. Luckily, the nations of the world took swift action, and that hole is now reducing in size.

The Kyoto agreements, signed up to by most countries, was but a first small step on a very long road towards sustainable growth which would not damage the planet further, or even lead to the destruction of our civilisation. George Bush's corporate induced response was to say that the case for global warming is not proven, and that anyway, action would harm the American economy. 

Does Bush think that all the countries who did sign up have no economies to protect? Economies that are smaller, weaker and more fragile than the American economy? How much evidence does he need? The sea temperature of the Mexican Gulf is rising, causing a vastly accelerated frequency and strength of hurricanes, the Gulf Stream and the Northern drift are also heating up, causing cod  and other fish stocks to migrate from their breeding grounds off Canada, and the Alaskan tundra is heating up, with unimaginable econsquences for that area, not least the oil industry. Damaging the American economy? It is the very lack of action that is already devasting the economy of such places as Texas and Louisiana in particular, and the US as a whole.

There is something not quite right when 5% of the world population (in America) consume 25% of the world's energy resources. Their response? to increase the number of gas-guzzling SUV's from 3 million to 80 million in a few short years. Selfish, profligate and short sighted or what?

It may well be said that Britain, although much smaller, also takes far more than its fair share of energy, but at least, we are trying to do something about it. If we do not take serious action, we will all have to pay a high price for our stupidity, but America will have a much higher price to pay than anyone else, simply because they have further to fall.

A century ago, Britain was the biggest superpower in the world. We had a navy that was unsurpassed and ruled the waves. We had the largest empire the world had ever seen, and we exerted power elsewhere through gunboat diplomacy. As a result, we were widely hated, despite the fact that our control was much more liberal and enlightened than other colonial powers (especially the German, Belgian, Portugese, for example). This is the position that the United States is in today. It goes with the job, as the Roman found out 2,000 years ago. Thank God it is not the Soviet Union or the Nazis that ended up on top.

When we finally understood that people wanted their independance, we reluctantly gave it to them, leaving most of those countries on a friendly basis, hence most of them were happy to continue to be associated with us via the Commonwealth, and we have always welcomed them into our midst, with the result that London is now by far the most cosmopolitan city in the world, making it a vibrant and exciting place to be.

Travel the streets of London today, you do not see any widespread backlash against the Moslem faces in the crowd, despite the bombings of 7/7, but there is a feeling in this country that while foreigners are made welcome here, they should make some effort to conform to our way of living without sacrificing their beliefs.

In other words, there is no place in this country for those who hate us, and such people should leave immediately and stop biting the hand that feeds them. I think the same goes for America, which tends to welcome aliens with open arms, as I have seen for myself. But those who have enjoyed the hospitality and the trust of Americans, yet express hatred of America have no place there, and should not abuse their welcome, be they Arab or British.  

I have a friend, Rocky, who believes in ghosts. Mind you, he also believes in flying saucers, corn circles, and the Bermuda Triangle. A bit on the gullible side, to say the least; the shaggier the story, the more likely he is to swallow it hook, line, and sinker. Rocky was in the habit of watching a television series called ‘Most Haunted’, and this, plus reading up on a little local history was sufficient for him to come up with the idea of doing a little ghost-hunting himself. He learned that Stoke Gabriel Parish Church is reckoned to be the most haunted church in the country, and he determined to confirm this for himself by spending a night in the church armed with recording devices. He became utterly convinced that it would bring him fame and fortune, that he would be the first man to make proven contact with the other world.

 

Rocky, however, was not quite as intrepid as was his plan, and eventually, he asked me if I would accompany him on his adventure. I laughed off the idea at first, but Rocky is a somewhat touchy soul, and became indignant at my attitude, so eventually, against my better judgement, I agreed. We decided to do a preliminary visit to the church, and if suitable, to seek permission for Operation Spook, as I christened it.

 

The churchyard was small and a little overgrown, and to our surprise, we found the church door unlocked. It was a typical country church, small, atmospheric and full of the character of ages. The evening sun streamed through the colourful west window, illuminating dark carved pews and a stone flagged floor. In front of the alter was a very large stepladder, at the top of which was a precariously perched man working on a chandelier. He quickly descended the ladder, dusted himself off, and introduced himself. John Merryweather turned out to be the local vicar, and a very friendly chap he was. Rocky explained our idea to him and asked would it be possible. The Rev. Merryweather found the whole idea very amusing

“Well, despite the all the spooky stories, I have been here for nearly eight years, and have never seen or felt any ghostly presence, or heard any strange noises, but if you are really serious, I have no objections, but do bear in mind, the church gets extremely cold at night. Perhaps you may consider a small contribution to the Roof Fund?”

Rocky readily agreed to this, and a date was agreed for the following Friday night,

 

At the appointed time, we arrived for our sojourn, fully equipped with sleeping bags, flasks of coffee and other stronger beverages, a state of the art video camera, tape recorder, and several candles. The vicar settled us in, and said he would be back next morning. He also asked us to lock the door from the inside after he left to prevent any chance of intruders. We settled down in our sleeping bags, and I suggested we take turns staying awake, but Rocky insisted he would be wide-awake and alert throughout the night. He had no intention of missing any chance of communing with the spirits.

 

In the event, Rocky’s snores were loud enough to wake the dead, but fortunately didn’t, and the whole night turned out to be a complete washout. Not a flicker from the candles, not a movement of a prayer book, nothing. The only moan we heard was from a passing drunk in the churchyard, who apparently tripped over a grave. By dawn’s early light, we were too cold to be disappointed, and having drunk too much coffee, toiletry considerations caused us to pack up and leave earlier than planned, and before the vicar arrived. It was either that or pollute the holy water in the font.

Once back home, Rocky’s long suffering wife quickly produced a wonderful cooked breakfast, which restored our flagging spirits. Rocky said that we owed the vicar an apology for not waiting for him, and so penned a quick letter of thanks, enclosing a cheque for £20 for the Roof Fund.

 

A few days later, Rocky received a reply. The incumbent vicar, Very Rev. Williams thanked us for our donation, but was puzzled by the name on the envelope. Apparently, Rev. Merryweather had been the priest some 20 years previously, and had broken his neck when he fell off a stepladder while repairing a chandelier.   

 

 

                                   

Getting back to basics.

So what is education all about? Surely, education should be a lifelong process whereby we become ever more aware of the world around us, and continually adapt to live to our best abilities, to the advantage of ourselves and those around us. Here, we are concerned with formal education, which must by definition be limited in its length and scope. Traditionally, children learned core values from their parents, especially the mother, and those values were deepened and reinforced by some form of religious teaching. Sadly, as both those institutions are in possibly terminal decline, the onus placed upon formal education is greater than ever before, even more so because of the often malign influence of television and corporate advertising, which tend to foster dumbed-down slaves to consumerism, where possessions outweigh principles, money counting for more than morals.

The educational establishment in this country is huge, having just growed and growed for generations. Like most large and long-established institutions, it has become something of a dinosaur, inflexible and inward looking, having long ago lost the plot. Generation of politicians, seeing this, have taken the inevitable short-term solution of meddling endlessly with the system, sticking plasters instead of radical surgery. As with all things in life, there comes a point where it is pointless patching up something that is clapped out and cannot do the job efficiently. Time to go back to the drawing board, and start from scratch. Even NASA is finding this out. I believe that the education industry has become obsessed with academic attainment, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and worse, is becoming ever more adept at training children to pass examinations rather than educate them. 

 

Educational aspirations.

Like the population in general, children are becoming ever more diverse, and the world we inhabit ever more complex, yet we persist in trying to force students into an educational straight jacket, a one-size fits all school system with GCSE’s and A levels as the common goal The great crime was not the retention of grammar schools, but the abolition of technical schools and the secondary modern system. We continue to judge pupils by their ability to climb a common ladder. Those who progress to A level success are the new elite, while the less academically gifted, who fail to obtain a reasonable number of GCSE’s are in some ways frowned upon, considered as failures.

While it is important that children should be stretched, they should be stretched in differing directions. There should be multiple educational ladders, three at the very least. It is likely that if you push children who are not academically minded too far, they will become bored, resentful and difficult to handle. This seems to be borne out by the facts, absenteeism, disruptive behaviour and poor attainment being the result. I cannot see the point of teaching algebra for instance to a disinterested pupil, who will likely end up on a till at Sainsbury’s, and never use algebra again in his or her life.

It is evident that young people today, especially British children, face problems for which they receive inadequate education: An inability to handle drink and drugs, to communicate properly, or to handle social relationships and sexuality, hence increasing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. On health issues, vast swathes of the young have little or no idea about fitness and nutrition, and know no better than to stuff themselves with coke and burgers. In these and similar respects, their education is sadly lacking. Education should encompass mind, body, and soul, training pupils to think for themselves, to know right from wrong, to be able to be in control of their finances, to become competent citizens, as well as preparing them for the sort of workplace they are most likely to be suited to.

To illustrate my point. The son of an acquaintance obtained rather poor A level results, but sufficient for him to obtain a place at Cardiff University, where he studied Sports Management for 3 years, despite having no interest in either sport or management. He now works as an insurance salesman, where he has amassed debts of £20,000, been made bankrupt, and has made 2 girls pregnant. Well educated? Never. His time at university taught him nothing of value to him or the community, but at great cost to the taxpayer. Education failed him completely but expensively, but would be marked down as a success.

 

A few suggestions for change.

There should in time be fewer but more highly trained teachers. A teachers job should be to teach, and nothing more; less specialised jobs being delegated to mentors, classroom assistants, business managers, etc.

Teaching can and should be inspirational, inculcating a desire to learn, which is all to frequently absent at the moment.

Homework should be eliminated, but both the term and the school day should be longer and more intense.

There should be both effective carrot and stick, but mainly more incentives, such as qualifying to take popular subjects such as driving lessons and car maintenance.

Before leaving school, in the final compulsory year, there should be a period of work experience placements, in as wide a variety of situations as possible, e.g., factory, retail, outdoor.  A short outward-bound style course would be beneficial, and there should also be an extended period of several months far away from home, a sort of national service if you will, but not of a military nature, even voluntary service oversees for the more suitable. The purpose of this is two fold: to enable the student to give something back to a generous society, and to break the sometimes smothering apron strings, teach self-reliance and independence, an ability to live in a communal environment, learning the idea of consideration for others before one’s own selfish interests. This lack of communal living, of looking out for one’s buddy is a new phenomenon, and the lack of it shows in so many young people acting like big girl’s blouses and petulant prima donna behaviour.

Above all, what is lacking today is respect. Respect for oneself, for others, and for institutions, and schools are ideally placed to teach repect, as they used to in the bad old days. At the very least, teachers should command and demand due respect. 

What do you know of the Roman Emperor Nero? Probably very little, except maybe that for nearly 2,000 years he has been remembered for FIDDLING WHILE ROME BURNED.

Will George W Bush be remembered for as long for PLAYING HIS GUITAR WHILE NEW ORLEANS DROWNED ?

All my life, I have loved America, home of the brave, land of the free. Through films and television, I felt I knew it almost as well as my own country, I love the freshness and excitement of American music, from jazz through Sinatra, to Aaron Copeland and Gershwin, even Elvis. 3 of my 4 greatest heroes are American (Churchill, Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Clinton). On my visits to America, I have found the people to be warm, friendly, and generous. America has always represented the good guys, except in recent years under George Bush, but hey, he will not be there for ever.

That is why I cannot understand the American habit of treating even their own people so badly. In the richest and most affluent country in the world, the poor of America are a national disgrace, and are left largely to fester in their own lack of education and lack of opportunity. This of course applies especially to the black community even to this day. To be born a poor black in USA is almost to be condemned to a third class existance. I cannot understand why Americans tolerate such a huge number of people who die as a result of gun crime, or accept the enormous numbers who are killed on the roads. In Britain, about 3,600 die on the roads. America has 5 times the population, but 13 times the carnage on the roads. I cannot understand why Americans allow condemned people to spend years on deathrow, which must be worse than the execution itself, or not just punish criminals by jailing them, but degrade them by the use of chain gangs. That sort of attitude explains such things as Abu Grade abuse in Iraq and Guantanamo 

I have just heard (Thursday) that the Mayor of New Orleans has ordered the Police Dept. to stop rescuing the thousands still stranded throughout the city, and concentrate on stopping looting. Does that not indicate that property is more important than people?

Britain has many faults, but at least, we put people and their welfare first