This is the bland headline that the vile, anti-Christian, anti-semitic, anti-British Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation uses to describe the murder of a group of Pakistani Christians who were burned alive by a hate-filled mob of Muslim extremists.
Why do I object to the report?
1. The first word. Why Pakistan rather than Pakistani? Does the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation consider that these people are not 'real' Pakistani citizens for daring to be Christian?
2. The word 'die'. People 'die' in their sleep; people 'die' in accidents. This was no accident. These people were murdered in cold blood, and an honest report would say so.
3. The word 'unrest'. What exactly is that word supposed to mean? There is unrest in every British town centre when the pubs close. It hardly describes the sort of savage lynch-mob who carried out these murders.
4. The word 'militants'. Arthur Scargill was a militant. Whatever else you say about him, he did not burn people alive in their own homes. There is a difference between militancy and terrorism.
I pray for all who are persecuted for following Jesus, wherever they are in the world.
"All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (NIV Mark 13:13). Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (NIV, John 18:36). There are times when Christians must endure persecution, because Jesus himself suffered persecution. The rewards we must seek will be delivered in the next world, not this one.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Slash the BBC
According to the Sunday Times, the Conservatives are planning to freeze the licence fee and sell off Radio 1.
Good start, but does not go far enough. I would like to see the licence fee being slashed from £142.50 to £99, with a pledge to keep it frozen under £100 for the duration of the next Tory government. This would force the BBC to re-evaluate the services it provides; show the Tory commitment to cutting tax and give a small but helpful break to taxpayers.
Anything, like Radio 1, which has a huge audience share means unfair competition for commercial broadcasters. The licence fee should be used to subsidise important, useful but non-profitable programming, eg news services. Anything which has a commercial value should be offered by commercial broadcasters.
So, let's sell off Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 5. They could probably all survive on their own. Radio 3 should be closed: it has been eclipsed by Classic FM, after all, and has no further function. However, the frequencies it uses will bring in millions when they are sold off.
Radio 4 provides the sort of current affairs and light entertainment broadcasting that the licence fee is intended for. It is the only one of the national radio stations that I would keep under BBC control. The World Service is an icon of broadcasting and should be preserved, as should the stations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 39 English local stations should be sold or scrapped, as they simply provide unfair competition to local commercial stations. Also, scrap the digital stations.
In television, I would keep BBC 1, BBC2 and scrap the rest. When the licence fee was first introduced, there was no choice. Now we have hundreds of competing channels, and there is no need for all of these. Based on the BBC's own figures, the above changes should bring the licence fee down to just over £100. Further changes can be made by restricting the salaries of higher-paid employees, eg Jonathan Ross. If he is worth £6 million a year on the open market, then ITV or another commercial channel will pay him that. The online presence of the BBC should also be reduced. There are some useful online functions, eg education, but the news service, for example, should not be allowed to undermine local newspapers.
Good start, but does not go far enough. I would like to see the licence fee being slashed from £142.50 to £99, with a pledge to keep it frozen under £100 for the duration of the next Tory government. This would force the BBC to re-evaluate the services it provides; show the Tory commitment to cutting tax and give a small but helpful break to taxpayers.
Anything, like Radio 1, which has a huge audience share means unfair competition for commercial broadcasters. The licence fee should be used to subsidise important, useful but non-profitable programming, eg news services. Anything which has a commercial value should be offered by commercial broadcasters.
So, let's sell off Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 5. They could probably all survive on their own. Radio 3 should be closed: it has been eclipsed by Classic FM, after all, and has no further function. However, the frequencies it uses will bring in millions when they are sold off.
Radio 4 provides the sort of current affairs and light entertainment broadcasting that the licence fee is intended for. It is the only one of the national radio stations that I would keep under BBC control. The World Service is an icon of broadcasting and should be preserved, as should the stations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 39 English local stations should be sold or scrapped, as they simply provide unfair competition to local commercial stations. Also, scrap the digital stations.
In television, I would keep BBC 1, BBC2 and scrap the rest. When the licence fee was first introduced, there was no choice. Now we have hundreds of competing channels, and there is no need for all of these. Based on the BBC's own figures, the above changes should bring the licence fee down to just over £100. Further changes can be made by restricting the salaries of higher-paid employees, eg Jonathan Ross. If he is worth £6 million a year on the open market, then ITV or another commercial channel will pay him that. The online presence of the BBC should also be reduced. There are some useful online functions, eg education, but the news service, for example, should not be allowed to undermine local newspapers.
Who says Luke Akehurst isn't sharp?
I have never until today looked at Luke Akehurst's blog. He is a Labour activist from London who, sadly, is currently restricted to a wheelchair.
I must admit, I was intrigued by the link from Iain Dale's Diary to a post by Luke which wonders whether Labour would accept a candidate in a wheelchair.
He is apparently unaware that Anne Begg, a wheelchair-bound MP, has represented Aberdeen South since 1997. She was selected via an all-woman shortlist, but I shan't post any bitchy comment about the quality of people elected under such a system. My own local MP is another of the breed, and the phrase 'waste of space' would not begin to sum her up. I certainly wouldn't rate her alongside Anne Begg, who does seem to be quite a well-regarded constituency MP. I love the ironic (dare I say 'black'?) humour in her slogan 'Standing up for Aberdeen South'.
I must admit, I was intrigued by the link from Iain Dale's Diary to a post by Luke which wonders whether Labour would accept a candidate in a wheelchair.
He is apparently unaware that Anne Begg, a wheelchair-bound MP, has represented Aberdeen South since 1997. She was selected via an all-woman shortlist, but I shan't post any bitchy comment about the quality of people elected under such a system. My own local MP is another of the breed, and the phrase 'waste of space' would not begin to sum her up. I certainly wouldn't rate her alongside Anne Begg, who does seem to be quite a well-regarded constituency MP. I love the ironic (dare I say 'black'?) humour in her slogan 'Standing up for Aberdeen South'.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Pussies
Nice short title for this post. I haven't posted about Didactofeline for nearly two full years. So what is happening in the pussy world?
Apart from a few little teeth at the front of her lower jaw, Didactofeline has now officially lost all of her teeth. A few months ago, she was miaowing for a few days, until eventually we found a tooth on the floor. As soon as she lost the tooth, she appeared completely recovered, so obviously the poor little thing had had toothache. I don't know why she has lost all of her teeth, as she had lost most of them before she hired us (dogs have owners; cats have staff).
It hasn't dampened her killer instinct, though. Although the Mouse Season does not officially begin until August, Didactofeline has made at least two kills this year. Thankfully she has not attempted to bring either of them indoors. The first was a rat - yes, a rat - which I found dead in the garden a couple of weeks ago. I would say it is easily the biggest thing she has killed. It really is remarkable that a cat with no teeth can be such an efficient killer, but she has a very clever technique involving her claws and either breaking the prey's neck or suffocating it.
This week, a looked out of the conservatory window and saw her playing with her latest kill: a very small baby bird. She was doing her usual, picking it up with her front paws and throwing it into the air. I don't know if she is trying to make it fly again, or if she just likes the adrenalin rush of jumping and catching it.
However, what has been making the news in the west of Scotland recently has been sightings of big cats. This picture was taken by a military policeman near Faslane and this is the story of a big pussy cat apparently attacking a horse in South Ayrshire. Interestingly in the case of the latter story, there was a story about two months ago about a big cat being spotted in the area.
Didactofeline says that the big cats had better keep off her territory.
Apart from a few little teeth at the front of her lower jaw, Didactofeline has now officially lost all of her teeth. A few months ago, she was miaowing for a few days, until eventually we found a tooth on the floor. As soon as she lost the tooth, she appeared completely recovered, so obviously the poor little thing had had toothache. I don't know why she has lost all of her teeth, as she had lost most of them before she hired us (dogs have owners; cats have staff).
It hasn't dampened her killer instinct, though. Although the Mouse Season does not officially begin until August, Didactofeline has made at least two kills this year. Thankfully she has not attempted to bring either of them indoors. The first was a rat - yes, a rat - which I found dead in the garden a couple of weeks ago. I would say it is easily the biggest thing she has killed. It really is remarkable that a cat with no teeth can be such an efficient killer, but she has a very clever technique involving her claws and either breaking the prey's neck or suffocating it.
This week, a looked out of the conservatory window and saw her playing with her latest kill: a very small baby bird. She was doing her usual, picking it up with her front paws and throwing it into the air. I don't know if she is trying to make it fly again, or if she just likes the adrenalin rush of jumping and catching it.
However, what has been making the news in the west of Scotland recently has been sightings of big cats. This picture was taken by a military policeman near Faslane and this is the story of a big pussy cat apparently attacking a horse in South Ayrshire. Interestingly in the case of the latter story, there was a story about two months ago about a big cat being spotted in the area.
Didactofeline says that the big cats had better keep off her territory.
My namesake
Not really news for anyone other than me, but a curious affair nonetheless. Someone who shares my real name (ie not Didactophobe) has been posting on Conservative Home and Iain Dale's Diary: I find it quite disconcerting to look at a thread, see my name and know that it is actually someone else writing.
I don't have a particularly common name like John Smith; nor is it one that frequently appears, like Sally Roberts or Tim Montgomerie. But it is there.
Should I 'out' myself by posting a message to my namesake? Nah, that would be silly.
I don't have a particularly common name like John Smith; nor is it one that frequently appears, like Sally Roberts or Tim Montgomerie. But it is there.
Should I 'out' myself by posting a message to my namesake? Nah, that would be silly.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Total Politics Best Blog competition
I have cast my vote for my ten favourite blogs in the 2009 Total Politics Blog Poll.
I have also emailed Total Politics, requesting that Didactophobia is reclassified as Scottish rather than English in their directory. It's not something that bothers me unduly, but there are occasions where I reflect on parochial matters, therefore best to be accurate.
I have also emailed Total Politics, requesting that Didactophobia is reclassified as Scottish rather than English in their directory. It's not something that bothers me unduly, but there are occasions where I reflect on parochial matters, therefore best to be accurate.
Anti-semitism in Britain
The Community Security Trust (CST) has published an Interim Report, showing a large increase in the number of antisemitic attacks this year in Britain.
An unpalatable, but undeniable truth, is that the report shows that approximately 50% of the perpetrators are white and 40% are Arab or Asian. There can be few other crimes where the proportion of Arab/Asian offenders is so high relative to the proportion of white/black offenders, which points very strongly towards possible motivation for these attacks.
We have had twelve years of Liebour sucking up to Muslim voters (and in Scotland, we have the SNP giving hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to Muslim groups), whilst simultaneously making it clear that it is open season on Christians and Jews. Witness Glasgow City Council's recent sponsoring of an event in which cretins are invited to write obscenities in a copy of the Bible.
There is a problem with categorising anything as hate-crime, in that it fails to uphold the principle that we are all equal before the law. Desecration of graves, vandalism and assaults need to be severely punished because of the damage and hurt they cause: we should not be creating 'thought crimes' based on the private motives we impute to some offenders but not others.
I am a teacher, and I have from time to time posted on the message board of the Times Educational Supplement. If you look at some of the opinions expressed by so-called teachers whenever issues like Gaza are discussed, they really are frightening. If it is representative of the teaching profession, there is considerable anti-semitism among those who are paid taxpayers' money to educate our children.
A future Conservative government needs to tackle seriously the problem of anti-semitism, no matter whom it offends. Everyone who is in this country legitimately deserves the full protection of the law and the statistics for crimes against Jews since 1998 show conclusively that people will not be treated equally under a socialist regime.
An unpalatable, but undeniable truth, is that the report shows that approximately 50% of the perpetrators are white and 40% are Arab or Asian. There can be few other crimes where the proportion of Arab/Asian offenders is so high relative to the proportion of white/black offenders, which points very strongly towards possible motivation for these attacks.
We have had twelve years of Liebour sucking up to Muslim voters (and in Scotland, we have the SNP giving hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to Muslim groups), whilst simultaneously making it clear that it is open season on Christians and Jews. Witness Glasgow City Council's recent sponsoring of an event in which cretins are invited to write obscenities in a copy of the Bible.
There is a problem with categorising anything as hate-crime, in that it fails to uphold the principle that we are all equal before the law. Desecration of graves, vandalism and assaults need to be severely punished because of the damage and hurt they cause: we should not be creating 'thought crimes' based on the private motives we impute to some offenders but not others.
I am a teacher, and I have from time to time posted on the message board of the Times Educational Supplement. If you look at some of the opinions expressed by so-called teachers whenever issues like Gaza are discussed, they really are frightening. If it is representative of the teaching profession, there is considerable anti-semitism among those who are paid taxpayers' money to educate our children.
A future Conservative government needs to tackle seriously the problem of anti-semitism, no matter whom it offends. Everyone who is in this country legitimately deserves the full protection of the law and the statistics for crimes against Jews since 1998 show conclusively that people will not be treated equally under a socialist regime.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Peter Harvey, accused of attempted murder
The whole country has been shocked to read the story of the teacher who has been charged after striking a pupil. There is no way of knowing the rights and wrongs of the case right now, but I have posted the following on the TES message board.
An LEA has a legal duty of care towards its employees. I imagine every local authority nowadays has posters saying something like, "Aggression towards staff will not be tolerated... will be prosecuted" - teachers alone never receive that protection. We are expected to put up with hooligan behaviour that no other employee would be expected to deal with, and teachers alone are blamed as being 'bad' at their job when they are victims of aggression.
A teacher who has had a stroke has a disability which (I haven't checked, but...) I presume is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, which adds extra legal responsibilities to the employer. Any caring employer will seek to protect staff; will try even harder if they know a member of staff has suffered stress and will try yet harder if someone has suffered a stress-related stroke. It is all hearsay at the moment, but reports indicate that the teacher in question suffered appallingly vile abuse about his disability. If it were racial abuse, sexual abuse, etc, I cannot imagine that there would be the same lack of sympathy for this man.
I do hope this is fully investigated, and that the support package the LEA and HT put in place to support Mr Harvey on his return to work is carefully examined. How many teachers have been interviewed by their line manager on their return to work after sickness? I suspect it is a minority, but I bet it is official policy by most local authorities. Some people would see it as oppressive, treating the worker as a skiver: I see it as the employer and HT showing that they give a damn whether the employee comes to work and that they have even the slightest concern for the employee's welfare.
Right now, we have no way of knowing what all the rights and wrongs of the current case are. However, I hope that it will raise awareness of the failings of the educational system (and of society which gives many schools and many teachers an impossible job to do), and that it brings closer the day that a HT and an LEA's Director of Education end up behind bars for failing in their duty of care towards a teacher.
An LEA has a legal duty of care towards its employees. I imagine every local authority nowadays has posters saying something like, "Aggression towards staff will not be tolerated... will be prosecuted" - teachers alone never receive that protection. We are expected to put up with hooligan behaviour that no other employee would be expected to deal with, and teachers alone are blamed as being 'bad' at their job when they are victims of aggression.
A teacher who has had a stroke has a disability which (I haven't checked, but...) I presume is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, which adds extra legal responsibilities to the employer. Any caring employer will seek to protect staff; will try even harder if they know a member of staff has suffered stress and will try yet harder if someone has suffered a stress-related stroke. It is all hearsay at the moment, but reports indicate that the teacher in question suffered appallingly vile abuse about his disability. If it were racial abuse, sexual abuse, etc, I cannot imagine that there would be the same lack of sympathy for this man.
I do hope this is fully investigated, and that the support package the LEA and HT put in place to support Mr Harvey on his return to work is carefully examined. How many teachers have been interviewed by their line manager on their return to work after sickness? I suspect it is a minority, but I bet it is official policy by most local authorities. Some people would see it as oppressive, treating the worker as a skiver: I see it as the employer and HT showing that they give a damn whether the employee comes to work and that they have even the slightest concern for the employee's welfare.
Right now, we have no way of knowing what all the rights and wrongs of the current case are. However, I hope that it will raise awareness of the failings of the educational system (and of society which gives many schools and many teachers an impossible job to do), and that it brings closer the day that a HT and an LEA's Director of Education end up behind bars for failing in their duty of care towards a teacher.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Which British school has produced two Nobel Prize winners?
Kilmarnock Academy. Now a humble comprehensive in East Ayrshire; the former school of Alexander Fleming and John Boyd Orr. Needless to say, they were both educated at the school when it was selective. In Fleming's day, it was also fee-paying. My grandmother attended Kilmarnock Academy, when it was selective. That meant something. Not that her family was rich (they weren't), but that they believed in doing their best to achieve things. Nor does it mean that it turned out selfish snobs. Its most illustrious former pupils devoted their lives to improving the lot of their fellow man.
I know where I am going with this: it is probably obvious to you, dear reader. I shan't subject you to a rant about dumbing-down, effects of socialism, etc etc. I don't really need to, do I?
I know where I am going with this: it is probably obvious to you, dear reader. I shan't subject you to a rant about dumbing-down, effects of socialism, etc etc. I don't really need to, do I?
Johnnie Walker
Have you ever tasted Johnnie Walker whisky? I haven't and certainly won't now.
What do I have in common with the eponymous founder? John Walker died in Kilmarnock just months before one of my gggg grandfathers, William Cairns. They are buried in the same place, St Andrew's churchyard: John, as a successful grocer, in a more elaborate grave than my gggg grandfather's unmarked one. Still six feet under, and still just as dead, though.
I like to think that John Walker will be spinning in that grave, though. Forwhy? The despicable decision by the current owners, Diageo, to close the plant in Kilmarnock and throw nearly 900 people out of work. The Kilmarnock plant is just hundreds of yards from where Walker had his grocer's shop nearly 200 years ago, and Johnnie Walker has been by far the largest employer in the area for years. Kilmarnock was a massive success story of the industrial revolution: engineering, textiles, carpet manufacturing as well as whisky blending, employing many thousands of people and exporting across the world. Now that will shortly all have gone.
Now, Kilmarnock is finished. Huge unemployment, dependent on Government handouts. Predictably, Broon doesn't get it. Apparently, the Government is going to throw money at the problem, as per usual. Now, economics is not my strong point, but I can just about work out that:
Government spending has to be paid for, somewhere down the line, by private profit.
If you try to replace private sector jobs with public sector ones, you have to (a) forego the profit and tax that the private companies used to produce as well as (b) out of declining revenue, you have to find more money to pay for your subsidies. This means that you end up taxing more or you borrow more, which increases your debt, leading to, er, taxing more at some point in the future.
Socialism did not make Kilmarnock successful. It was not socialists who built the historic Kilmarnock to Troon railway line; BMK carpets; Johnnie Walker whisky; Glenfield Kennedy and dozens of other textile and engineering companies. Capitalism made Kilmarnock successful and it is ever since the town began electing socialist MPs (Labour since 1929) that the town has declined.
What do I have in common with the eponymous founder? John Walker died in Kilmarnock just months before one of my gggg grandfathers, William Cairns. They are buried in the same place, St Andrew's churchyard: John, as a successful grocer, in a more elaborate grave than my gggg grandfather's unmarked one. Still six feet under, and still just as dead, though.
I like to think that John Walker will be spinning in that grave, though. Forwhy? The despicable decision by the current owners, Diageo, to close the plant in Kilmarnock and throw nearly 900 people out of work. The Kilmarnock plant is just hundreds of yards from where Walker had his grocer's shop nearly 200 years ago, and Johnnie Walker has been by far the largest employer in the area for years. Kilmarnock was a massive success story of the industrial revolution: engineering, textiles, carpet manufacturing as well as whisky blending, employing many thousands of people and exporting across the world. Now that will shortly all have gone.
Now, Kilmarnock is finished. Huge unemployment, dependent on Government handouts. Predictably, Broon doesn't get it. Apparently, the Government is going to throw money at the problem, as per usual. Now, economics is not my strong point, but I can just about work out that:
Government spending has to be paid for, somewhere down the line, by private profit.
If you try to replace private sector jobs with public sector ones, you have to (a) forego the profit and tax that the private companies used to produce as well as (b) out of declining revenue, you have to find more money to pay for your subsidies. This means that you end up taxing more or you borrow more, which increases your debt, leading to, er, taxing more at some point in the future.
Socialism did not make Kilmarnock successful. It was not socialists who built the historic Kilmarnock to Troon railway line; BMK carpets; Johnnie Walker whisky; Glenfield Kennedy and dozens of other textile and engineering companies. Capitalism made Kilmarnock successful and it is ever since the town began electing socialist MPs (Labour since 1929) that the town has declined.
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