Going South

A trip to the shop and "society" is on display. The motor car, the bicycle the pedestrian all making their pilgrimage to the shop. Its a thought that Mecca, St Peters in Rome and all the Hindu temples probably can't compete with Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, and Morrison's combined foot fall.  Shopping is the new age religion. 

 

To many the shop is a release from the humdrum, we are transported into a world of "things" "goodies" we are told will bring satisfaction, things to wear, things to eat undisguised consumerism and millions worship at the altar regularly. There is no sermon to listen to only perhaps when one gets home and realises how much has been spent.

Of course, to many the business of shopping is a more serious event.    Those on very limited means have to be extremely careful amongst this dazzling display of goods. Every purchase has to be carefully considered for value and affordability.

You can see the tension at the cash dispenser as cards are tried and rejected, what to do throughout the day with no money and no means of obtaining any in the near future. 

We are fortunate in having an income or savings but for increasing numbers the future looks grim and the shake out of each pocket to find the simplest purchase is an every day event and very disheartening.

The state of the nation looks very bleak, the numbers of discontented disillusioned people can only grow, adding to the social tension already here.We are beginning to decline and the big question is how far will we fall. What if we become a "third world country", the first demotion from Division 1 to Division 3 in a none football context. what do we mean by being third world and what happened to "second class"?

The 1st world was the term applied to the nations that aligned with NATO. The 2nd world were the nations who aligned with the communist block and the 3rd were the rest.

"Going South" is another term to define the countries that struggle to attain "steady economic development".

The Brits have only themselves to blame since they repeatedly refused to invest, even a reasonable amount into our infrastructure or the necessary modernisation of plant and machinery. Profits are profits and not seen in the context of investment. 

We avoid tax with the view that the spending society needs will be provided for by "others".  Although naturally we would be the first to expect the structure around us to be "maintained", and would be highly vocal if the police, the the ambulance service, the hospitals and the roads were allowed to deteriorate.

The investment that "has" taken place is funded from companies overseas.    All our utilities are foreign owned. 

Investment in our motor industry is "foreign", investment in our steel production is "foreign", investment in almost everything is "foreign", often coming from countries that only a few decades ago were part of the empire !!!

It seems as if we the British have no faith in the future of their own country and would rather "short" the bet in the financial casino that is the "City", whilst hiding the profit in the Bahamas.

As we descend the slippery slope of economic relevance with no obvious signs of an appetite amongst our own ethnic stock to have the confidence or the nationalistic responsibility to believe we have a future. It is inconceivable that the French, Germans or the Dutch would ignore the national relevance of maintaining important industries under local control. These countries are not going South, they have understood their history and accept the responsibility each generation holds for past and future generations.

I wonder what the men and women who fought bravely to keep Johnny  Foreigner out of these islands, would think as they see "the Foreigner" coming in by the back door.  Of course whilst the men and women were fighting on the beaches the Speculators were making their fortunes and its the "sons of the sons" of those Speculators who are now "Shorting" us to death !!!        

Please teacher

We have had the annual hand wringing event, "A level results", which determine the fate of our youngsters in their future life.
There is such a rift in this country between the Public School and the State School. I have mentioned it before, especially the specialised investment in equipment and facilities and the specialised teaching that accompanied it. Even before they sit their A levels the dice is set and the game rigged.


My belief as to why pupils pick up the rudiments of learning largely concerns the quality of the teaching and the effort made to make the subject interesting.To make a subject interesting for a young person you have to make it relevant to the pupil it has to be alive in the way it means something and can be correlated to the world around us.

The skill and the effort to do this is sometimes beyond the teacher or the school and one must also bring to the equation the wide and varied background of each child particularly in the State School.Public Schools our populated by children from a much more harmonious background and seem, by and large,to have inculcated their parents wish to succeed. To afford the Public School  fees the parents  themselves have succeeded. No small wonder that their children want to learn and also succeed.

As if from another world comes the State educated child.     Parents in dead end occupations, broken family's, unwanted and unloved what does success mean to that child? 

Of course I paint the bleakest picture since there are many families who are a success, the success being not always monetised but the bleak description has over the years become much more prevalent.

But back to my main premise,it's the quality of the teaching and the imagination brought to the lecture that makes the difference.The internet has provided a marvellous conduit for ideas and comment.     My pearls of wisdom being only one of a kind !! 
The schools are already set up for the internet and use it to some degree or other.Why not, using the Open University as a model to provide a much greater degree of structured, vitalised, energised information directly into the classroom. The teachers roll is to "re-enforce" the lesson.



The Open University recruited the very best teachers and teaching methods. Outstanding communicators, illustrators, graphical compilers and all the latest electronic gadgetry to get their message across. It was no contest. The single teacher, chalk and blackboard and a room full of disinterested kids.

 My own experience of the beauty of this televisual-mode of teaching was when I was battling to understand fairly advanced mathematics. I hadn't had the advantage of a proper grounding in maths and the Technical Collage lecturer presumed we had. Sitting, watching him scribble down these theorems on the blackboard was scary. I understood the words but didn't understand the context.
Along came the Open University and a new way of putting across the interconnectivity of the mathematical equation.  How these equations were inter-related as functions, representing the physical world.  A family of functions, creating mathematical symmetry which could be represented by graphical curves, plotted, moment by moment. The sum of these points represent the physical event from beginning to end. Calculus.

The beauty of the broadcast lay in the ability to change the function or the values and see instantly how the curve altered to represent the altered state of the physical moment it described.  This was not hocus pocus, not magic and if it was magic it was magic of a different kind it removed the "scales from my eyes" I was no longer blind !! The fear of asking questions was removed. My ignorance no longer a thing of shame, " I got it" !!!

Why not use this technology in the class room. All class rooms, in all the schools - why ? 

Well as in most initiatives the devil lies in convincing those who the change most effects  - the teacher. It seems that the sisterhood would rather keep the children mystified, than loose status ?  
The politicians shrank from taking on the might of the teaching unions and we are where we are, sinking in the league tables from 4th to 28th in three decades.





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One has to ask why and "who" is behind all these strong arm tactics directed at Ecuedore by the British Government in seeking to release Julian Assange.  We are clearly being seen in a bad light by the world community at large, threatening to invade the Embassy in contravention of the Geneva Convention.
Why would we spend so much political capital on such a case.
Clearly the USA is behind the effort and is clearly putting tremendous pressure on Britain to help land Assange on American soil.
We have to be very wary of being lured into this situation.
 

The Americans have shown a huge disregard for "Justice" and the rules governing fair process in their use of internment and torture at Guantanamo Bay. 
This man's crime is that he released embarrassing information regarding underhand dealings carried out by the Americans. The first thing is to say is that the "crime" is of American doing, they were clearly underhand in their international actions.    Assange was only the messenger.

There appears to be a charge against him in Sweden for a sexual crime but it seems that the prosecutor in Sweden has not been forthcoming in releasing the information surrounding the claims made against him. He is naturally reluctant to go to Sweden and believes the charge is only there to ensnare him and to ensure that he will be extradited to the USA.

Here the general public are very sceptical of the process of law in America and are naturally sympathetic to see that Julian Assange gets a fair hearing.


Is this "worth" falling into line with the Americans?   
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Criminal Minds

The sight of the Marcus Agius submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee was a pitiful sight. How the "great and important" in our society look so flawed when put under the spot light.

They have the gravitas of course, the turn of phrase, the elegance of a wealthy background that a fabulous education brings to their bearing when under fire.
He of course was the chairman of Barclays, the man responsible for the ethical performance of the company, who's stewardship was to guide this great bank onto the rock of ignominy.
It was on his watch that Bob Diamond was promoted to CEO and having watched Diamond perform under the same committees scrutiny (see my attached letter to the Committees Chairman) 


I was amazed at Bob Diamonds bland denial of any knowledge of the illegal fixing of the Libor rate. His passage through the relatively lower ranks of the bank in which he knew the processes and mechanisms of the dealing floor and the settlement issues between banks at the end of the day. It was amazing to hear him deny any knowledge of what was happening whilst he was in charge.
Listening to Marcus Agius and before him Bob Diamond, deliberately obfuscate the truth was like listening to a scene from Criminal Minds as they tried to evade the questioning.
The Banks marking of Russian debt as Swiss debt was only one of a number of questions he was asked to which he repeatedly replied "I can not answer that", "I can not answer that" !!!

The Eaton dilemma. They are not supposed to answer questions from the "peoples gallery" and when they do they are seen for what they are !!!!Agius was keen to emphasise the innocence of the bulk of Barclays staff and blamed only a tiny limited  echelon at the top.Interesting, since when it comes to "remuneration", these are the people who can't be replaced and who have to be paid massive salaries and bonuses. 

It seems that criminality always has and always will, pay !!!!! 

I was reminded of Lloyd Blankfein CEO of Goldman Sacks and his cohorts appearing before the United States Senate Committee. No matter the accusation they simply denied it and held no ethical of moral compass to guide their actions regarding the products they sold.

Only a couple of weeks ago the same Senate Committee questioned the senior management of Standard Charter on money laundering and the use of financial channels to bypass various sanctions. It was distasteful to see these top bank executives squirm and admit their compliance to serious fraud.

At the very least I think they should be charged in court.
For trivial amounts the State will pursue the poor and undefended of society but seem impotent when it comes to millions perhaps billions that the banking societal pillars misappropriate  !!!!         
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After the party

The Olympic party is over.

Parties, like holidays are amazing. They give release to most of the tensions that face our everyday life and remake the very person buried under the rubble of the "existence" we substitute for life.But parties and holidays come to an end and we are faced with the inevitable. Going back to work and earning a living.
For some returning to work is a pleasure. Its a return to grappling with problems and creating opportunities, its a sharing with colleagues and developing the aspirations of a team to create something of value.
Of course this pleasure is for the few and not the many.

Societies are very different in the way they handle human interaction and we, particularly in England are poor at inter connective team play. 


The English are known for being reserved, of hiding their emotions, the stiff upper lip syndrome, and we treat those around us with suspicion. Motives are manufactured where there are none, suspicion is common and we naturally protect our selves by being aloof. The work place can boil over with resentment and pettiness so that each day becomes a misery.When we are on holiday or at a party we open up to the new sights and sounds around us. We join in and share our experience with others, because we don't feel threatened. 

The pleasure of finding common ground, common interests, someone to expound to, is profound and in a well balanced individual it is the fertiliser for strong personal growth.
How can we transplant this rich source of human interactivity into the workplace.
I believe it begins with transparency and is fed from the top down. If the company becomes open and company knowledge and information is freely available then the employee doesn't feel the need to keep what they know to themselves. This is vital when collective, shared information is on tap and one is not having to reinvent the wheel, unfortunately people don't "share" because they feel that the knowledge they have provides a buffer for them to hide behind in the hierarchy of the office politic.

Only senior management can sweep away this sense that employees have about their "vulnerability", vis a vis their colleagues. Regular "shop floor", "office" meetings where staff are encouraged to contribute to the objectives of the whole company and where their incisive knowledge about a particular function in the collective running of the business is taken on board and acted upon. 

This is a "top down encouragement" and introduces staff to each other as "contributors" to a common end with hopefully the spoils of success being shared ?              
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The Market

"The Market"

As was stated, the end game will effect, not just the investors but all of us who have been complicit in accepting something for nothing through the credit card and cheap loans. We all lived beyond our means and now its payback time.

Obviously there is a difference between the investor and the ordinary Joe who bought what he was offered through clever advertising. 

The financial institutions offering credit to kids out of school with no job, offering mortgages many times the traditional barometer of what one could expect a borrower to repay, all to feed a credit hungry market, so "they" could trade.

And  now to add injury, they the market are demanding all kinds of financial austerity on the very people on whom they showered credit !!!  Its obscene !!!   

When of a certain age and background, one reflects on ones childhood, of a time when there was no credit and in fact "credit was a dirty word" in many households. When making ends meet was a national pastime for the bulk of the citizens but when the social fabric of the society made everything seem, OK.

Of course through the propagation of the cult of self  and its hand maiden consumerism we have created a,  must have it now  and,  I am nothing without it, citizenry.

I would challenge the markets to do their worst. Their worst would also irrevocably ruin the Market and the people behind the Market,  there would be few winners !!

In the days of the nuclear stand off the sheer size of the calamity facing us as a civilisation meant that it was in no ones  interest to pull the trigger.

Could the markets afford to wait for their repayment  -  yes,  if structured over time allowing an economy  to recover.  What purpose is gained by piling on the debt by increasing the interest rates on moneys borrowed and required to pay for current expenditure. Other than to teach a lesson.   Debt rescheduling has to be the answer.

Why do we need growth.  Growth is the mantra of the Market. Growth at all costs. 

What about a Pause, what about re educating the consumers that it is better to postpone a purchase until you can afford it.  Wouldn't that provide the balance that society and ultimately the markets need.    

Are we in fact driven by the devil its self, the money market.  

Trades,  not in a proper relationship to"company balance sheets" and the goods they manufacture but to a market made up of minuscule movements in the pricing of the Market Exploiting these variables,  not  investing in the true sense of the word but by  placing a "bet" on the movement of shares generally.

Can we not separate the Commercial Bank from its Investment Bank side of the business and allow the Commercial Bank to make normal profits from normal business. The inevitable fall in income as growth falls would not be multiplied by the bets that would be laid, as the Market fell to a proper sustainable level. The roulette wheel would have less punters and eventually die a slow death.

Readers will say I don't understand what current financial markets are about. I have to reply.  We  had markets in the past that served business and industry, a purpose for which they were created. They served us well and we should get back to them as quickly as possible !!! 

Ode to Yorkshire

Ode to Yorkshire.

For years we told you so but you wouldn't listen ? How could we be so cocky, so sure, so full of ourselves ?
Our hero was reviled by the modern trend towards Politically Correct mediocrity but Andy knew, what we also knew and can now be revealed.
Yorkshire is the best !!!!

Aren't you lucky to have had our support and didn't you bask in our glory as the medals came pouring in.
The secret couldn't be kept for much longer. The sheer cheek of it, this neglected but self assured, culturally stand-offish bunch of self professed champions has out done the might of sunny Australia and the equally sunny Spain, and Italy as a sporting Mecca.

Its Bradford not Sydney or Barcelona that turns out these mighty tykes of track and field.
Its in the wet, murky streets of Heckmondwike and Micklethwaite that the medals were forged not the Surrey Downs and the world better know it.

With accents to cut glass, the lads and lassies of the beautiful county of Yorkshire were there to be interviewed. The Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonathan, feisty and competitive, 

Bradford Grammar School lads to their Velcro straps, ran their race like clockwork. It took the intervention of some fiendish rule to put the younger one in a holding trap to ensure they didn't make it one and two !!

We have always been derided for our chipper approach to life and the rest of mankind, there's them and there's us. Well this last couple of weeks proved the point and no mistake !!

We can expect calls for us to secede and strike our own flag. No longer, to wish "her" to reign over us but to rather come down a peg or two and join our Andy for a pint in the Dog and Whistle.            These are happy days !!!!        
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Investment and winning

Why has it gone so well ?

Well there is the winning.
The weather smiled during the first week
The atmosphere, the collective mind set which like a virus, contaminated us by the success of the opening ceremony. We had prepared for failure and suddenly we could celebrate a remarkable event.
We were bewildered to be contradicted in such a positive way.
How close to crying one became and one has to ask, why ? Why does emotion produce such empathy with the athletes and the man and women, lining the streets and filling the velodrome.

The success has come through "investment", remember that word ! We invest so little in so many important aspects of our collective life (apprenticeships, business set ups, up to date industrial machinery, long term banking support) and yet when we do we have the success we yearn for.
The investment spent on sports facilities and on coaches has been repaid with success on the world stage.

Unfortunately and this is reflected in the split between the successful athletes and the less successful athletes, it all comes down to the investment in the facilities in our schools. We have a deeply flawed school system, Public (Private) and State. 


Look around the Private School and you will see a wealth of playing fields, swimming pools, equipment and full time coaches. From these schools come the winning athletes. The school timetable that recognises the importance of sport. Saturdays set aside for compulsory sport or study, these are the building blocks to success.


Contrast this with the State School. The bulk of the playing fields sold off to balance the books. Teachers roistered  to teach sport but trained for other specialities and not properly equipped. A curriculum where sport is relegated to two hours a week and can be cancelled. The kids inculcated with the message "winning is not important" and that every child will receive the same praise whether first or last.      
When we mess around with young minds so much, it is predictable that mediocrity is the norm !!

Its not that the pupils from the Private Schools are cleverer, its is that they are taught to be resourceful, they are taught to plan, to prioritise and set goals !!
The four year plan of the athlete is brim full of commitment and endeavour. Not for the faint hearted, not for the weak willed and not for the young chap who is thrown out and expected to stand on his own feet without reference to winning, receiving little or no praise, how ever well he tries  !!!

How different it could all be if the system treated us all as potential achievers and gave us the encouragement, the resources and the committed plan to raise this country into a winning team !!!       

There is so much to say !
For once being a couch potato proved its weight in "gold" and I sat mesmerised as the drama unfurled. Lucky the Third World War didn't break out it would have been relegated to the second page !!
As with all great stories it is the people behind the event that captures my imagination, the commitment and effort to meticulously plan towards an event which was four years away and would mean putting ones "other life" on hold to give one only a "chance" of success. Progression is incremental and usually comes with rewards along the way but with an Olympic Gold the opportunity is minuscule when compared to the effort.






I have been fascinated by various sports. Naturally the athletics gains most of the spotlight but the cycling and the rowing were equally engrossing and British seemed on top of their game in all these disciplines. 

Rowing seems such a clean, clear cut sport, the winners clearly having to have the stamina, strength and technique to win. The races unfold and one is left hoarse cheering your team on and on to the finish. The stories of triumph and disaster sat on the shoulders of all the contestants as they tried to put behind them the demons of previous attempts. 

We had the Redgrave / Pincent era to remember, could we repeat those great times, did we have any more giants to wheel out to compete with the rest of the world. Well we certainly did and we did it in three boats and very nearly four !!
At this point I have to mention the spectators. They have been truly magnificent. 


Olympic week started with the cycling road race and the cycling time trial. The crowds lining the roads were marvellous as was the weather and the UK was seen at its best. 
The rowers were deafened by the cheers, as they rowed towards the finish from the grandstand of adoring people and it made ones hair stand on the back of the neck to be carried along towards the finishing line.
The jingoism or partisan, take your pick, the crowds were here to shout their team home and the poms were in the ascendance. The noise in the cycling velodrome was awesome and the local cyclist responded with gold medals it was tremendous, I loved it.
Could it be beaten, it could and it was !! 

The Athletic Stadium and the noise as the spectators cheered and screamed their people home was out of this world and truly memorable. Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah had me on my feet yelling at the TV screen urging them both on. Could they, would they, yes yes yes !!!
      





So here I was the arch sceptic, the games had cost too much, the disruption to traffic, why couldn't we develop parts of London because they need attention and not because we need to parade ourselves to the world. But as the Games moved into gear the images, the tears, the noise, the unfurling excitement the human content were all unavoidable and uncontroversially hypnotic.
The BBC has excelled in covering the whole event. Wall to wall coverage uninterrupted by any sort of commercialism !! I did for some reason change channels and dropped into one of those horrid, banal, time consuming adverts. It was like jumping into a bath of ice water after the uninterrupted, quality coverage of the BBC.                       
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