This is exactly what anti globalisation activists plan to do on saturday in London. Thousands of demonstrators including anarchists are going to flood the heart of the city to protest against financiers who are blamed for dragging the economy into recession.
They are hoping to promote an 'anti fatcat' climate amongst those afected the most by the finiancial state of Britain. The protest is against the financial system.
Some of the groups have been making the point that whilst people are losing their jobs whilst fat cat bank bosses still get to keep their gross bonus payments. I have to say I agree with them.
With the G20 summit arriving in London on the 2nd of the demonstrators are using it as an oppertunity to gather together a large amount of people and make a difference.
Some people think that the demonstrations will be overshadowed by riots and violence and are urging people not to go down there as their attempts to change things for the good will only be linked with the violence of the riots.
Police have already made plans in order to keep the protests under control and keep damages to a minimum.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Angry Britain
Parents of murdered schoolboy Jimmy Mizen spoke out against Britain saying that it has become a country of anger selfishnesness and fear. The same time this appears so does a story about how teachers are demamding that they get the same amount of pay for a four day week rather than five, in this, a time where the rest of Britain struggles to stay afloat of the financial crises.
How much could this possibly prove what Jimmy Mizens parents have had to say. Youths are becoming out of control, businesses are liquidating and in a time where the country should be pulling together the most we are letting eachother down. Britain has always prided itself upon fair play, civility, manners and fairness, how could we lose that so quickly.
Children killing other children, children getting pregnant, banks out for all they can get, people out for all they can get. It used to be that you would only fear walking down a street late at night, lonely, dark. Now you can barely walk down to your local cornershop at 10 am on a saturday without getting a mouthful of abuse from some twelve year old in clapped out trainers smoking two cigarettes at once while his "girlfriend" rolls down the street pushing a pram. "Its working class culture" - since when? If my dad had ever given a mouthful of abuse to a woman walking down the street my grandad would have showed him what it felt like not to be able to sit down for a month. Time was when even police would give kids a clip round the ear and you respected them for it. Now its all "wha' you gonna do abaaat it?" because police are too afraid that the girl or boy they've just approached may have a knife on them.
No, its not working class culture, its a lack of respect culture. A lack of respect for elders, for ourselves, for our society. How many more teenagers have to kill eachother before people sit up and take note. Fahri has to serve a minimum sentence of fourteen years. By the time he gets out he may be about 34, 35, he'll get married probably have children if rehabillitation works. What sort of punishment is that? He took away someones life and should have the priveliages of life taken from him. He should have had a life sentence.
If people continue to let people off because of how young they are then nothing will ever changed, and the civility and fair play nature of this society will dissappear, along with any respect that anyone has for eachother.
How much could this possibly prove what Jimmy Mizens parents have had to say. Youths are becoming out of control, businesses are liquidating and in a time where the country should be pulling together the most we are letting eachother down. Britain has always prided itself upon fair play, civility, manners and fairness, how could we lose that so quickly.
Children killing other children, children getting pregnant, banks out for all they can get, people out for all they can get. It used to be that you would only fear walking down a street late at night, lonely, dark. Now you can barely walk down to your local cornershop at 10 am on a saturday without getting a mouthful of abuse from some twelve year old in clapped out trainers smoking two cigarettes at once while his "girlfriend" rolls down the street pushing a pram. "Its working class culture" - since when? If my dad had ever given a mouthful of abuse to a woman walking down the street my grandad would have showed him what it felt like not to be able to sit down for a month. Time was when even police would give kids a clip round the ear and you respected them for it. Now its all "wha' you gonna do abaaat it?" because police are too afraid that the girl or boy they've just approached may have a knife on them.
No, its not working class culture, its a lack of respect culture. A lack of respect for elders, for ourselves, for our society. How many more teenagers have to kill eachother before people sit up and take note. Fahri has to serve a minimum sentence of fourteen years. By the time he gets out he may be about 34, 35, he'll get married probably have children if rehabillitation works. What sort of punishment is that? He took away someones life and should have the priveliages of life taken from him. He should have had a life sentence.
If people continue to let people off because of how young they are then nothing will ever changed, and the civility and fair play nature of this society will dissappear, along with any respect that anyone has for eachother.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
WellWorths... Was the pick n mix well worth the money?
Reading an article on a woolworths store reopening as Wellworths, I looked at the headline "Pick 'n' Mix is back as Woolies store reopens as Wellworths" at that moment a single thought crossed my mind. How gutted must the person who paid over £14, 500 for what they thought was the LAST bag of woolworths pick and mix!? I know. The store has changed its name, but the sweets are still the same. The shop is "identical" inside, and everyone knows it used to be woolworths! I know it is really cruel but it made me laugh. It was done for a good cause and everything, it is just really funny. Then again, it wasn't far off what the store ACTUALLY charged for their pick n mix was it!
Despite that little kick in the teeth, the second thought was how good the manager of the new store was she hired back all twenty two of the staff who lost their jobs when woolworths closed down. It this time of recession and 'doom and gloom' stories like this are quite uplifting. There is always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dim it may be.
Everyone was quite upset when woolworths went, and now there is this identical store with the good old pick n mix and toys! Great! Good luck to it!
Despite that little kick in the teeth, the second thought was how good the manager of the new store was she hired back all twenty two of the staff who lost their jobs when woolworths closed down. It this time of recession and 'doom and gloom' stories like this are quite uplifting. There is always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dim it may be.
Everyone was quite upset when woolworths went, and now there is this identical store with the good old pick n mix and toys! Great! Good luck to it!
Politics... Some funny things
I don't claim to know much about politics. Its probably why I find the lectures quite interesting, because i'm learning alot of new things. In our most recent lecture I was made aware to many things that made me think some political aspects are actually quite funny!
Some of the parties like the NIMBY's for instance or the "Not In My Back Yard" parties. These are pretty much the elderly generation who think change is fine as long as the change stays a million miles away from them. The example chris gave was that they'd think wind farms were great... as long as they weren't in their back yards! The first thing that popped into my mind, "wouldn't you just love to put wind farm near these people JUST to make them angry?" Cold I know, but if your not thinking the same thing then your pretty odd. Can you really call this a political party? Although they are part of local government rather than Whitehall, they don't actually create movements for the good of society. In my opinion they are more like a pressure group, putting a stop to something they disagree with rather than debating something that might do society a bit of good.
Another aspect that is quite comical and obviously gets under a few peoples skin is what is known as "the West Lothian question". Basically it refers to how a Scottish politician can debate and vote on things that will affect people living in England, but not the people living in Scotland. How fair is that? So a Scottish politician may have voted for tuition fees to apply to the University's in England even though they don't apply to the University's in Scotland. This aspect is probably THE definition of political correctness. How ironic!
Some of the parties like the NIMBY's for instance or the "Not In My Back Yard" parties. These are pretty much the elderly generation who think change is fine as long as the change stays a million miles away from them. The example chris gave was that they'd think wind farms were great... as long as they weren't in their back yards! The first thing that popped into my mind, "wouldn't you just love to put wind farm near these people JUST to make them angry?" Cold I know, but if your not thinking the same thing then your pretty odd. Can you really call this a political party? Although they are part of local government rather than Whitehall, they don't actually create movements for the good of society. In my opinion they are more like a pressure group, putting a stop to something they disagree with rather than debating something that might do society a bit of good.
Another aspect that is quite comical and obviously gets under a few peoples skin is what is known as "the West Lothian question". Basically it refers to how a Scottish politician can debate and vote on things that will affect people living in England, but not the people living in Scotland. How fair is that? So a Scottish politician may have voted for tuition fees to apply to the University's in England even though they don't apply to the University's in Scotland. This aspect is probably THE definition of political correctness. How ironic!
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Being Selfish..
Although a morbid subject, a recent death, made me realise a little bit more about myself. Not that many people read my blog anyway, so for anyone reading this, sorry for such a depressing subject!
I was always very close with my grandad. Having been so lucky as to grow up into my adult life with BOTH sets of grandparents made me realise that I was luckier than most. I'm not sure why, but, myself and my brother Luke, always felt like our grandparents were indestructable. I suppose that meant we sort of, always thought they would be there. It was the best thing, being kids, and going to see nans and grandads. You grow up though don't you. You find yourself getting busier and busier, before you know it, your seeing nans and grandads on maybe special occasions. Don't get me wrong. I'm not on some guilt trip tormenting myself, I just wish i'd spent more time with him. He was such an amazing character! Schoolboy demeanor, Frank Sinatra loving, charmer, who loved and cared for his grandchildren. Telling my dad this, I started to cry, amidst the sobs, there were words about an empty space at the dinner table as I had always sat next to him. Sure there were little digs and jobes at my mum for being from manchester, but he did love her.
Then my dad said something to me. "He's probably watching you know. Laughing at you, he's not crying. We're crying because of our loss, because, he won't be a part of OUR lives any more. How selfish is that" this followed by a little bit of a laugh. I realised then, that is why people always say "when I die, please don't grieve for me" because we're not greiving for them. We're grieving for ourselves. Its not bad, I don't mean that. I just think that thats why a life should be celebrated. My grandad lived a long, fun (and sometimes difficult) life. His favourite little saying was "I don't care what the weatherman says, If the weatherman says its raining" maybe we should all be like that. There will always be rain in our lives, I guess its whether we choose to stay inside and avoid it, rather than face it with a big red umberella and wellies LOL! I don't want to sound like, a wise old egg, I just can't think of any other way to put it across. I will miss him. I will miss him in my life, at my birthdays, wedding, (hopefully graduation), because he was the one that pushed me the most, I don't think I would have gone to university if not for my dad and grandad. I'll always remember our last conversation,
"How's university, doing well I hope."
"Yeah its good, i'm trying my best anyway, I seem to be doing alright"
"So.. We can expect great things from you then"
"Maybe... Hopefully"
"Not hopefully, definately"
I'll always love my grandad, its selfish of me to say i've lost him, I haven't lost him. Even though there will be no new words. I'll have all the best words from him always!
Thanks grandad!
xxx
I was always very close with my grandad. Having been so lucky as to grow up into my adult life with BOTH sets of grandparents made me realise that I was luckier than most. I'm not sure why, but, myself and my brother Luke, always felt like our grandparents were indestructable. I suppose that meant we sort of, always thought they would be there. It was the best thing, being kids, and going to see nans and grandads. You grow up though don't you. You find yourself getting busier and busier, before you know it, your seeing nans and grandads on maybe special occasions. Don't get me wrong. I'm not on some guilt trip tormenting myself, I just wish i'd spent more time with him. He was such an amazing character! Schoolboy demeanor, Frank Sinatra loving, charmer, who loved and cared for his grandchildren. Telling my dad this, I started to cry, amidst the sobs, there were words about an empty space at the dinner table as I had always sat next to him. Sure there were little digs and jobes at my mum for being from manchester, but he did love her.
Then my dad said something to me. "He's probably watching you know. Laughing at you, he's not crying. We're crying because of our loss, because, he won't be a part of OUR lives any more. How selfish is that" this followed by a little bit of a laugh. I realised then, that is why people always say "when I die, please don't grieve for me" because we're not greiving for them. We're grieving for ourselves. Its not bad, I don't mean that. I just think that thats why a life should be celebrated. My grandad lived a long, fun (and sometimes difficult) life. His favourite little saying was "I don't care what the weatherman says, If the weatherman says its raining" maybe we should all be like that. There will always be rain in our lives, I guess its whether we choose to stay inside and avoid it, rather than face it with a big red umberella and wellies LOL! I don't want to sound like, a wise old egg, I just can't think of any other way to put it across. I will miss him. I will miss him in my life, at my birthdays, wedding, (hopefully graduation), because he was the one that pushed me the most, I don't think I would have gone to university if not for my dad and grandad. I'll always remember our last conversation,
"How's university, doing well I hope."
"Yeah its good, i'm trying my best anyway, I seem to be doing alright"
"So.. We can expect great things from you then"
"Maybe... Hopefully"
"Not hopefully, definately"
I'll always love my grandad, its selfish of me to say i've lost him, I haven't lost him. Even though there will be no new words. I'll have all the best words from him always!
Thanks grandad!
xxx
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Somethings Wrong Here...
Having a conversation with a friend i'm convinced that younger teenagers are out of control. After the shocking revelation about the thirteen year old father and his fifteen year old girlfriend, another story has come out about two more fifteen year olds who have become mother and father to two twins, a seventeen year old who is expecting triplets. What is going on? Not only this, but little Alfie is now walking round in a jumper on which is printed "I'm the daddy... If not f**k you". Are his parents for real? Letting him advertise the fact that this society has let him down.
These kids cannot be responsible enough to have children can they?. Conceiving at ages 12-16, they clearly don't have a clue. What will it take for people to sit up and think, "hmmm something's not right here." I'm not some sort of prude or anything, but its sad thinking that these kids are going to grow up and realise they never had a childhood. Although how much of a childhood can you have growing up in their gang and knife culture. It is like they have a choice between one wrong and another - highlighting everyones opinion about a broken Britain. This is not about having abortions, it is about these kids who should NOT be conceiving children at the age of twelve in the first place. If they aren't responsible enough to use contraception then they can hardly be trusted with a baby! Society has really let these kids down, lack of sexual education? Parents who are not strict with their children anymore? Or maybe just the lack of something to do for children? It could be put to anything, but maybe if something was done, rather giving them so much publicity this crises may come to an end.
Forget about the recession, that will dissappear in time, shouldn't first priority go to the kids in this country, the next generation? This is something that is getting worse. It will not go away. It will not get better. If these children are going to act out this poor imitation of adulthood, then maybe they should be treated as such. A "family" that DO NOT support themselves (let alone children) should have their children taken off them and giving to someone who can care for them properly. An example needs to be set, standards need to be made. Society needs to help the youth in todays society. The future of Britain doesn't look good, our fast food nation is becoming a crises.
I'm not sure about anyone else, but isn't teenage preganancy becoming a little bit of a joke now?
These kids cannot be responsible enough to have children can they?. Conceiving at ages 12-16, they clearly don't have a clue. What will it take for people to sit up and think, "hmmm something's not right here." I'm not some sort of prude or anything, but its sad thinking that these kids are going to grow up and realise they never had a childhood. Although how much of a childhood can you have growing up in their gang and knife culture. It is like they have a choice between one wrong and another - highlighting everyones opinion about a broken Britain. This is not about having abortions, it is about these kids who should NOT be conceiving children at the age of twelve in the first place. If they aren't responsible enough to use contraception then they can hardly be trusted with a baby! Society has really let these kids down, lack of sexual education? Parents who are not strict with their children anymore? Or maybe just the lack of something to do for children? It could be put to anything, but maybe if something was done, rather giving them so much publicity this crises may come to an end.
Forget about the recession, that will dissappear in time, shouldn't first priority go to the kids in this country, the next generation? This is something that is getting worse. It will not go away. It will not get better. If these children are going to act out this poor imitation of adulthood, then maybe they should be treated as such. A "family" that DO NOT support themselves (let alone children) should have their children taken off them and giving to someone who can care for them properly. An example needs to be set, standards need to be made. Society needs to help the youth in todays society. The future of Britain doesn't look good, our fast food nation is becoming a crises.
I'm not sure about anyone else, but isn't teenage preganancy becoming a little bit of a joke now?
Friday, 20 February 2009
Empiricism&Apriori Reasoning.
I'm not going to lie. I absolutely dreaded the politics lecture, from the second I found out it was the next module. Politics is definitely not a subject i'd slip into my 'strength' catagory. It isn't that I don't like it, I just find it a difficult concept to talk about! However, it is key in understanding the way our society works, and I appreciated the opportunity to know more!
Having missed the first lecture due to personal events, I could not help thinking that I was off to a brilliant start. I probably would not understand what Chris was talking about, but I would soldier on none the less.
Empiricism, a complicated word, but yes! I understand the meaning. Although a very basic (very, very basic) understanding I was surprised at how much the topic interested me. I do to a certain extent agree with the argument. In this modern society we are a very much 'seeing is believing' culture. That is what I understand empiricism to be, an ideology that can be observed or experienced directly. You know, an idea that can be supported by evidence.
An example of an empirical argument would be that the amount of benefits being given out has increased. There is sufficient evidence to support this. With the decline in economic activity, many companies have shut down and many jobs have been cut. The outcome of this being that many people have now been left with no option other than to apply for jobseekers allowance.
My understanding of A priori is that it is reasoning that cannot be proven as true or false until such an event occurs that proves it to be true or false. A good example that Chris gave was David Icke and his belief that the the 'rulers' were actually lizards or extra terrestrial race. Due to the fact that there is no evidence to prove otherwise there is only reasoning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctIpUmJjkAs - Whether you believe it or not is upto you!
An example I could give of A Priori reasoning is that of "ghosts" or "witchcraft". There is no evidence to prove that any of these do not exist yet there is no 'real' evidence that they do. We're lead into a state of mind that perhaps doubts that 'true' paranormal activity exists because of such people as mediums and ghosthunters. Until there is any evidential proof it is upto the man as to what he believes. Also in regards to witchcraft it is no longer dominant in society where religion is no longer dominant. In many instances, "witches" were only witches if they were practicing something other than the dominant religion. So many people may argue that although it may appear that it does not exist it may not be defined in the same way as it was 200 years ago.
My attitude to Empiricism? Although I mostly agree with the view that 'seeing is believing' there are some instances that blur the black and white lines. With regards to the A Priori argument that I gave earlier, if there is no factual evidence to support that there is no paranormal actuvity, then surely men must have a 'spirit' of somekind? Then the definition of the empirical economic man would be untrue.
Having missed the first lecture due to personal events, I could not help thinking that I was off to a brilliant start. I probably would not understand what Chris was talking about, but I would soldier on none the less.
Empiricism, a complicated word, but yes! I understand the meaning. Although a very basic (very, very basic) understanding I was surprised at how much the topic interested me. I do to a certain extent agree with the argument. In this modern society we are a very much 'seeing is believing' culture. That is what I understand empiricism to be, an ideology that can be observed or experienced directly. You know, an idea that can be supported by evidence.
An example of an empirical argument would be that the amount of benefits being given out has increased. There is sufficient evidence to support this. With the decline in economic activity, many companies have shut down and many jobs have been cut. The outcome of this being that many people have now been left with no option other than to apply for jobseekers allowance.
My understanding of A priori is that it is reasoning that cannot be proven as true or false until such an event occurs that proves it to be true or false. A good example that Chris gave was David Icke and his belief that the the 'rulers' were actually lizards or extra terrestrial race. Due to the fact that there is no evidence to prove otherwise there is only reasoning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctIpUmJjkAs - Whether you believe it or not is upto you!
An example I could give of A Priori reasoning is that of "ghosts" or "witchcraft". There is no evidence to prove that any of these do not exist yet there is no 'real' evidence that they do. We're lead into a state of mind that perhaps doubts that 'true' paranormal activity exists because of such people as mediums and ghosthunters. Until there is any evidential proof it is upto the man as to what he believes. Also in regards to witchcraft it is no longer dominant in society where religion is no longer dominant. In many instances, "witches" were only witches if they were practicing something other than the dominant religion. So many people may argue that although it may appear that it does not exist it may not be defined in the same way as it was 200 years ago.
My attitude to Empiricism? Although I mostly agree with the view that 'seeing is believing' there are some instances that blur the black and white lines. With regards to the A Priori argument that I gave earlier, if there is no factual evidence to support that there is no paranormal actuvity, then surely men must have a 'spirit' of somekind? Then the definition of the empirical economic man would be untrue.
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