Benefits Bill...

Good quote from 'The Now Show' on Radio 4 this evening...

'Somehow immigrants seem to be able to simultaneously take all the jobs AND lounge around on benefits'

Now the government our whipping up such a unnecessary panic about immigrants who cannot speak English. By the Guardian's calculation the possible cost of this is just 0.2% if the total benefits bill, but going on the focus it has been given by the Torys you would assume it was much greater. They are just cashing in on prejudices, feeding the public's false assumptions to win votes.

HA!

The London Academy of Excellence, will have a selective admissions policy requiring five As at GCSE. The sixth form college will have an academic focus, offering only a choice of 12 "hard" subjects including maths, physics and history.

The Headmaster said: "We're not trying to cream off the best and brightest of the East End. We're trying to identify a bigger pool of talent. There are lots of bright children doing the wrong GCSEs, not being motivated properly, and dropping out of school at 16." Yeh, none of which you will be recruiting! I wonder how many of those will have achieved five A grades at GCSE - Approximately zero! If they've achieved five A grades, I doubt they've chosen the wrong GCSEs, I expect they are well motivated and I'm pretty damn sure they would not be planning to drop out of school at 16. Ridiculous.

Free Press vs. State Regulated Press

Commentators from the right are crying out that 'The role of the free press is to hold the government to account, not the other way around.' I don't think this is the real reason why they don't want a state-regulated press. They are just using this as an excuse. In reality it's just because they don't like state regulation of anything and because they want to protect free speech no matter what the cost. They pretend that the new press regulation deal won't work in practice when actually it probably will and will help to protect ordinary people from the inconsiderate, unfeeling wrong doings of the press. Of course it needs to be a completely independent body, but one would hope such a thing could be created. It will be interesting to see which newspapers sign up to the deal offered to them...Yes it is an optional regulatory system!

Hopefully the new system will continue to allow good investigative journalism but will seek to stop bullying and harassment that goes under the cover of 'free speech'. It does seem though that the way the government carried out the talks in the lead up to the deal, with these much talked about 'late night meetings behind closed doors' was unwise and has understandably led to a negative reaction to much needed reforms.

In conclusion, I think we need more press regulation carried out by a completely independent body, as recommended in the Leveson Report. If this can be achieved, the newspapers should agree to this and people should stop regarding the plan as a waste of time that will lead to over-censorship. Such comments come from melodramatic whingers that need to wake up to what needs to be done.

China's TV Broadcast of the 'Execution Parade'

The last moments of four foreign prisoners have been aired on state television. This has elicited a polarised response from the public, some condemning it as morally reprehensible and others have seen it as a very good deterrent, to show people what the consequences can be of committing crimes.

I am strongly of the opinion that capital punishment is wrong in all cases, so if the government is doing something that is wrong, is it not better that the people see the reality of what is happening, rather than it all taking place 'behind closed doors'? Then again, I would be worried about the upset that this 'execution parade' being shown on TV may have caused the families of those being executed. Of course, terrible crimes have been committed by these prisoners and I'm not oblivious to the terrible pain the families of the victims must feel as well.

Sorry for the disturbing picture of a lethal injection facility posted below, but I though I better have the courage of my convictions...

Titanic 2: AAAAAH!

An Australian mining tycoon has decided to rebuild the titanic, possibly even a fleet of them.
He says that he hope that tradition can survive and that he can replicate the Edwardian age, its manners and its attitudes, the code of chivalry and old English school attitude. Didn't these upper class people aboard the Titanic care more about themselves, their money and showing off than anything else? And as for code of chivalry, did the Edwardian men really treat women better and respect them more than they do on average today?
The tycoon Palmer, sees the Titanic 2 as a symbol of love and togetherness and yet he is keen to replicate the class structure of the original Titanic right down to the steerage class. What??? Isn't this an oxymoron?? Somebody locate an ice berg!

Liu Bolin/Harold and Maude

I very much like Chinese artist Liu Bolin's 'Hiding in the City' series. This short video talks about the political ideas behind it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/video/2013/feb/19/china-art-liu-bolin-invisible-man

In 2005 his art studio was torn down by the government and he wanted to protest in response to this He says being an individual is about your relationship with your surroundings and not letting them swallow you up (like they do in his art work). His art work is commenting on a persons choice to either just be a dot in history or make your mark on history. This sentiment, reminding me of my favourite scene from my favourite film 'Harold and Maude' - the flower scene. See here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0FX_ROcNV4

The Spare Bedroom Tax

Sounds good in principle... but in practice it is NOT! (A statement which can be applied to many Tory policies, although many of them just sound bad altogether!)

So what is it all about?

Council housing residents who have a spare room will be given two options...either move into smaller council housing or pay a tax on the spare room. Sounds good? Hmm not so much. Why?

1. Firstly 90% of them don't have the option, as there won't be the smaller properties available for them to move into, so they will be forced to pay the tax even if they don't even want the spare room!
2. For those that do have another room available, this could mean moving far away from their home area (possibly hundreds of miles!) that they have grown up in, their children go to school in and where the rest of their family live, who they might depend on for childcare.
3. This will affect families who have had a child die so are left with a spare room.
4. A third of those affected by the spare bedroom tax will be disabled people.
5. For those who are forced to keep or choose to keep the spare room, this will leave many with an impossibly small amount of money to live on.
6. There won't even be an exemption for divorced parents who want the spare room for when their child/children come to stay with them

I'm sure the list of negative consequences could go on.

Another problem is that planners are sitting on land and not building on it until they think the rent/sale prices will rise. The government should force them to build now or sell to another developer. Reminds me of the Housemartin's song 'Build'. See here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMPMiLddsuE