You are what you think you shouldn't eat !

UK readers will have been bombarded with publicity about the dreaded Sudan-one food additive which could conceivably cause cancer. It has accidentally been tipped into a few hundred different prepared foods and those are now being withdrawn. So far so good.....but...the food snobs and holier than thou toffs are having a field day. Great smarmy grins as they announce to all who will listen... We ( and it's usually We) went through the list and naturally were able to say that we never eat any of those items...oh no...we never buy processed foods....
Presumably not like those stupid feckless working class people who are working hard all day and have children to feed and ...well..dare we say it..trusted the supermarkets not to kill them..?
And frankly..we're not talking ready slop...it included Sainsburys and Waitrose Best Of products and Pizzas and crisps... Never eaten out in a pub ?? Sod 'em...wait for the outcry when they find the bloody stuff in imported Sushi and balsamic vinegar.....

Let's all go Drag Hunting eh?

Now that democracy has triumphed and hunting is no longer a bloodsport.....maybe those of us who have detested it for so long can now saddle up the old nag and ride out with them? They have always banged on about it being a sport for all classes of people....be really spiffin' if a council house kid like me could turn up in me camouflage gear and maybe hitch a ride round chasin' a bundle of rags dipped in Eau de Fox....
What a lying cheating distorting band of toads they are though.... some red chopped slavering bint on horseback was on telly tonight spluttering on about how ".. if some of your viewers have a dog..and it chases a mouse in their kitchen...they'll be breaking the law!".....erm...like Bollocks missus. I would have a glimmer of respect for the gits if they at least had the honesty to admit that they love the thrill of the chase....that careering after a live quarry is what it's all about.... bugger the pest control...Darwinian "good for the species"...stuff..it's blood they crave.
And...haven't the hunters kept their traps shut about Stag Hunting...??? What's the argument for that then Ms Mort..? Shooting would be so cruel...erm..well no actually...
Anyway...the voice of the people has been heard...the game's up.

Why the long face..?

A correspondent has suggested that maybe I should explain the photograph below....can't think why as I feel it is quite flattering...but... I was on holiday in Italy and went for a swim off a deserted beach( or so I thought) . I came out looking like Ursula Andress' granddad...dripping wet and bleary eyed...to find my boots...and nothing else....awaiting me. No passport, camera, money....or indeed...clothes ! To cut a tedious story short...I received such overwhelming help and generosity from ordinary Italian people and their Police force...that it almost made the experience worthwhile. The smart casual wear I am showing off to such advantage in the photograph was given to me by the first person to arrive on the scene... he also gave me one Euro for my bus fare back..bless him.

Sad old man 

Bunked off school ? Si Senor...

Truancy in England has not fallen even though £885m has been spent on boosting attendance, an auditors' report says. ( Quoted from Google News....improbably from a Turkish newspaper !!)
Apparently about 50,000 kids skip school in England every day.....and who's to blame them?
Coincidentally...my local TV news carried the story of youngsters learning Spanish by using a dance mat which linked to a screen...tread on yellow and up flashed "Amarillo" etc..they loved it...one girl said..My mum says it sounds so much fun I'd like to come along.......AND THAT IS THE SECRET... make it all enjoyable..worthwhile...fun...relevant... get rid of the bullying teachers who yell at kids because they couldn't yell at adults in the outside world....get rid of those heads who are self serving pieces of nastiness...operating behind a mask of corporate slickness oily smoothness and control freakery......... stop trying to MAKE young people do things..........you cannot make ANYONE do anything today...the deference and respect and obedience to "big people" society is dead.....over....finished.... You want me to do it? OK...why? what's the deal? Attract me...reward me... and HEY there's a ray of hope in England...the Lib Dem spokesperson was quoted as saying
"They are throwing money at the wrong end......don't try to FORCE them into school.....ask why they don't want to go in the first place"
YES......for too many kids school stinks.... reeks of middle class smugness...bookish types who thrive but couldn't change a fuse... nasty damaged people who couldn't hold down a job outside working with adults....the overall English malaise of overvaluing the academic and sneering at the practical...and the belief that you can teach 2000 kids in an exam passing factory in bunches of 30+.... many CAN cope...many teachers are NOT egocentric attention seeking misfits... but 50,000 young people are screaming that something is rotten in the heart of the English education system...

"Hard to Help" young people

Labour and Conservative party speakers each made statements today about bad behaviour in schools. There appears to be some kind of competition to see who can look the toughest. Whether it's giving Heads licence to just chuck 'em out...or setting up special( approved?) schools with resident behavioural therapists to find out what's wrong with the little monkeys....the ones who chat to one another in school...get bored and try to use mobiles ...text friends... these young crinimal helements need some tough love...some discipline... Oh dear..... when will it all turn around...? When will we see the futility of it all? I posted my thoughts here a while back...treat them as consumers and work with them to design a system that will engage them...hold their interest..Have a long hard think about WHAT exactly.. in this age of information on tap...they do actually need to learn...and how they can best be motivated to learn it...... break down schools into small units..spread education around the community...use learning centres near home...teach facts using technology...reward learning progress.... Our schools will one day look as old fashioned as the Henry Ford production line..and the military/penal institution model on which it is based.