Left At The Library February 2, 2010
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite, Grantham.Tags: Grantham, grauniad, guardian, library
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Today I took a stroll into town, partly to maintain the punishing physical exercise regime to which I am wedded, but mostly to visit the library. The library has just fully reopened after a short period of refurbishment and I was keen to see what changes had been made.
If I went expecting something dramatic then I was to be disappointed. Same sparsely stocked book shelves. Same reference section which is, again, somewhat thinly stocked it seemed to me. Notwithstanding this apparent paucity of actual books, I always enjoy and appreciate our library. It has a relaxed and comfortable feel and so was content not to see huge changes. Something new I did encounter though was a brand spanking new computer system which, astonishingly to me, appears to automate the collection and return of library books. That’s great. Now I can borrow and return books at my library without incurring the tiresome obligation to communicate with a human being. I expect there will also be a consequential reduction in the numbers of staff employed at the library.
Sitting down at a table covered with newspapers I discovered that I could spend a convivial few minutes bringing myself up to date with what goes on in the world today. Sadly, for me, the only national daily on offer was the Guardian and, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach, I settled down to leaf through it anyway. It’s worth remembering that the Guardian is, for the most part, a broadsheet which can be awkward to handle sometimes. For me it can be particularly difficult as I always need two hands to read it. One hand to turn the pages and the other to hold my nose.
Perhaps on another day I would have found the Times and the Telegraph on the table as well and if I could have found a human to verify this I would have done so. But after being exposed to the discharge from the Toynbee-Monbiot mains outflow I was forced to beat a hasty, and somewhat queasy, retreat home.
I do hope that in our library the direction is not Grauniad or nothing.
Not Much November 4, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: deceit, immigration, labour, newspeak, words
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I am pleased to hear a minister finally admit that mistakes in immigration policy have been made. I am pleased. But not much.
The text of the admission was no doubt finely crafted by some publicly financed wordsmith to admit guilt but without actually saying so. An example of the technique of sfumato but expressed through words rather than paint. It was language that conveyed the general meaning but nuanced with just enough linguistic sedative so as not to unduly alarm the reader or listener. In this way it is possible to describe even a fraudulent pretext for war as no more than a “fib”. Another bootprint along the malign dirt road to our Newspeak future.
Keeping my delight just a little in check though, I couldn’t help but be struck by the use of the word “maladroit”. Apparently the profundity of the minister’s mea colpa was limited to the reach of this anemic and more French than English word. One can imagine hours spent by the ministers team desperately searching through dictionaries, perhaps even drawing suggestions from a hat, trying to find a sanitised alternative to the words that really describe the situation. Eventually they came up with this perfumed “mot juste”, which only hinted that maybe things might possibly have been done differently.
Instead of “maladroit” I’d like to suggest other words that would more accurately describe what has been going on. How about “bungling”. Too kind perhaps? Ok then what about “incompetent”? And given what we now know about the intentionality of what was done perhaps I will be forgiven for needing two words to fully describe these policies. The two words I have in mind are “knowingly culpable” but there are many others of course.
So, albeit with the caveats mentioned above, I am pleased to hear that mistakes in immigration policy have been admitted to. But not much.
Insult To Injury October 28, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: blair, eu, european union, political class, president
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So it is true then. In today’s gaga Britain where absurdities morph seamlessly into the commonplace it is hard to be surprised any more. It is hard to be astonished by any single twist emanating from the body of the political elite snake. It seems the bewildered people of the UK are, apparently, to be recipients of a bright, shiny, new president of the EU.
That such a vacuous, unelected position should be created and foisted upon the people of Europe is bad enough. That Tony Blair could soon be sitting in the, no doubt richly upholstered, chair of said president is unconscionable. (It,s apt that in the Merriam-Webster dictionary the example given for the word “unconscionable” is “a politician with an unconscionable disregard for the truth“).
For many people even a passing glimpse of Blair is likely to bring on an acute attack of nausea. Sadly for me, memory impairment associated with the ageing process appears not to extend to the central figure of the Blair years and he still lurks, like a Vanish resistant stain. So the prospect of this discredited man, presumably as “Head Of The EU Super State”, grinning out from newspapers, TV interviews and embedded in web pages is not a happy one.
How far will this go? Will Blair smirk down from public buildings on a sickened populace? Will he appear on postage stamps, leaving a really bad taste in the mouth? Imagine if the contagion was to spread to notes and coins. The prospect of that face staring back at me whenever I open my wallet is more than enough motivation, if such were needed, to spend less. Will he have a presidential residence? More to the point will there be an expenses system that will allow him, for old times sake, to “flip” palaces?
I do not recall voting to be represented by a president of the EU (although I do vaguely recall stumbling over the debris of a broken promise on an EU membership referendum) and doubtless I will not be asked to vote on who the president will be.
The EU is already top heavy enough, weighed down with members of the political class and their worker bee bureaucrats. Furthermore, what deep desire do we have that will be satisfied by the addition of this office? The injury of our undemocratic EU membership must not be compounded by the insult of El Presidente Blair.
All Together Now? October 21, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: climate change, consensus, dissent, global warming, mainstream media
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It’s hard to know exactly where to stand on the vexed issue of “climate change” nee “global warming“. If one accepts the evidence put out by most of the mainstream media then there is very little room for doubt. The planet is heating up and the heating is due to human activity. The polar ice is melting and the planet is faced with catastrophe. Further more, the mainstream media assures us, there is a worldwide scientific consensus to this effect.
Fairly typical of this consensus is a report that “Global warming worse than predicted, top scientist says” on the ABC News Australia website. Our own Met Office is very clear on the subject. It’s website states – “It is now clear that man-made greenhouse gases are causing climate change“. The debate, it might seem, is over.
However if one raises the level of scepticism, just a tad, and releases the information dissemination headlock, only a little, and seeks an alternative point of view what do we find? We find that there are apparently large numbers of scientists who dissent from the standard view put forward by both the IPCC and, more famously, by Al Gore. A U.S. senate minority report states that “More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims. Scientists continue to debunk “consensus” in 2008 and 2009“.
The website “Global Climate Change Facts” is informative and presents the case for each side. There are links to articles that range from the scary “NOAA: Climate Change Irreversible” to the rather more reassuring “Antarctic ice 2% above average“.
If you have a spare hour and a half to invest, (not really a lot in geological time), there is an entertaining and thought provoking YouTube video of a presentation by Lord Christopher Monckton in October 2009 at a climate skeptic event.
Unfortunately none of these differing views give us a definitive answer to the question – is unsustainable man made global warming real? Without training in climatology and earth sciences one cannot know who has the science right. Neither can one be sure where the hidden agendas lie and nor which vested interest is really behind any given piece of data or rhetoric. However what is clear is that, contrary to the mainstream media standard line, a consensus on this important issue there is not.
Auntie Will Make It Better October 16, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: bbc, comedy, humour, liberal bias, liberal elite
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Thank goodness for the BBC. Once again the Corporation, free of the burden of being elected and therefore representative of common opinion, has shown itself to be totally indispensable in it’s ability to disseminate ideas and thoughts, to us, it’s adoring public. I like to think of Auntie as a kind of moral and intellectual guardrail, ensuring we don’t fall overboard from the ship of acceptability into a sea of inappropriateness.
I have no idea what I would do without her. No doubt I would have to reconcile myself to a life spent stumbling around in a fog of uncertainty not knowing quite how to formulate an acceptable point of view. How lost I would be on issues such as climate change, membership of the European Union, immigration and the preservation of the English landscape. If I am ever at a loss as to how to think about a given topic, and I need access to a slightly left of centre, fully paid up member of the liberal elite, even after the shops have closed, then I know that Auntie will provide me with it.
There are those, of course, who criticise BBC programme makers for “dumbing down” it’s content in recent years. I don’t see it myself. I think that Horizon for example is much more exciting in it’s new format now that no single image in the programme lasts for more than 3 seconds and we are no longer forced to take in as much information as before. Now thats what I call that progress.
But it gets better. Not content with providing me with a pre-packaged, socially acceptable political framework Auntie has now turned her matronly attention to the often thorny question of comedy. I admit to having been confused for some time now about what is and what is not funny. For example I know that Christians are funny but that other religions are not. I also know that the French can be made fun of, even to the point of vilification, but that other nationalities cannot. But there are grey areas don’t you think? So it is great to discover that Auntie will now provide us with another framework, this time to help us formulate correct attitudes to humour. Very liberating.
So no more hesitancy trying to decide whether to laugh or not. No more awkward silences trying to guess how a studio audience will be signalled to react. We will benefit from this. After all who amongst us has not disguised an inappropriate chuckle as a cough even when not in polite company?
All of this guidance on which we now depend and for which we are so very grateful is, apparently, included at no additional charge! Hoorah BBC. In this respect alone the licence fee is worth every penny.
Dave October 9, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: dave, dave ja vu, david cameron, hope, hope springs eternal, man on the clapham omnibus, politicians
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I’m hearing a lot about “Dave” recently. Firstly, if I am not mistaken, there is the “Dave” taken to mean “that bloke down the pub”. A sort of modern day “man on the Clapham omnibus” whose opinions would tend to correspond with the views of a reasonable person – a benchmark for the common man of the day. Sadly I have never been fortunate enough to encounter this particular Dave. I am sure there would be much to learn and share. There is however, in any case, a tragedy tinted irony to the fact that in todays society Dave’s reasonable views, if sought as such, would be largely unbroadcastable, at least in the mainstream media.
Then there is a digital TV channel also known as Dave and it’s time-shifted younger brother Dave ja vu. I,m guessing here but maybe the use of the name is also a reference to reasonableness. Reasonable programmes that the bloke on the bus could watch on his mobile media player.
Then of course there is the “Dave” as in David Cameron. I must say that I found his recent conference performance annoyingly impressive. This is because I have become so cynical that, in my eyes, for a politician to lie it is sufficient merely that their lips move. Sadly we have seen it all before. I recall similar feelings arising back in 1997 when the calamitous Blair tsunami first broke over an unsuspecting but ever hopeful nation. At the time it seemed to be a long overdue breath of fresh air. Today, when the word Blair has morphed into a synonym for mendacity, we know better.
So, in spite of my canny gut feelings, in spite of the near certain knowledge that nothing of substance will actually change, in spite of all this, curiously, hope stirs anew. And hope, a bit like Peter Kay’s dunk drunk Hob Nobs, seems always to come back and say “Go on – hit me again!”.
So “Dave” Cameron. A reasonable bloke? Perhaps. But I fear that in the end, like a time-shifted TV repeat, he will be less “reasonable bloke on the Clapham omnibus” and more “Dave ja vu”.
Clean Out Of Touch September 20, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: chattering classes, cleaners, cleaning house, liberal elite
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Reading the output of some columnists found in the weekend “heavies” is always a bit of of teeth grinding experience for a sensitive person like me. These journalistic barricades are almost invariably manned by the sons and daughters of the liberal elite who like to educate the rest of us in the finer points of progressive thinking. If you feel the need for lectures on “Hand Wringing 101″ or introductions to “Self Loathing For Beginners” then the weekend qualities are generally good places to find them. For myself, in an effort to keep my dentistry costs to a minimum, I try to avoid reading much beyond the headlines.
I was, however, drawn to this article about Baroness Scotland and her surprisingly illegal immigrant cleaner. The article whilst not condoning the use of illegal, though gratifyingly cheap, labour points out that, well, we all do it don’t we?
The author, one Jemima Lewis, (I feel an “Ok yah” coming on…), writes.. “Can you, with hand on heart, swear that you have never hired a cleaner of foreign extraction without first running her documents past the Home Office?“. Well now thats a tough one to answer isn’t it? Have I, as an able bodied person, felt the need to pay a stranger to enter my home in order to clean up after me? Hmm… can I get back to you on that, Jemima?
Some older bodies, like me, may remember the famous Lady Chatterley obscenity court case back in the sixties. Beyond any scandal relating to the content of the book itself was the furore caused by the chief prosecutor asking the court if the book was one “you would wish your servants to read“. The point being that the poor old dust encrusted and heavily bewigged legal worthy was so out of touch with the lives of ordinary people that he assumed that servants were the norm in society.
This brings us back to jolly old Jemima and her indispensably foreign cleaners. Most ordinary, able bodied, people do not suffer agonies over the legal status of their cleaners as they simply don’t use them. For some of us, the prospect of having to welcome a cleaner into the house would, albeit paradoxically, require that the house be clean first.
Sorry Jemima. You wouldn’t understand. It’s a lower middle class, clean-up after yourself, kind of thing.
Mind Your Back, Guido April 17, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Blogosphere, Governing Elite.Tags: Blogosphere, guido, guido fawkes, mainstream media, new media, old media, political blog
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Looking into the reaction to the case of Damian McBride, Gordon Brown’s so called “attack dog”, sending out scurrilous smear ideas direct from the Downing Street bunker I discover a whole new world of dissent. The “political blogosphere”, which exists independently of the old mainstream media, has come to greater prominence because of this scandal. A wander through some of the comments on these blogs reveals a huge frustration and anger with the present state of affairs. An anger which has virtually no voice in any of the mainstream media.
I have long believed that the problems we see in our political system, the self-serving, grasping and above all unrepresentative nature of most of our career politicians are aided and abetted by a complicit and compliant media. The occasional spat between a Today program presenter and a dissembling minister is no substitute for genuine and independent investigative oversight. The career politician and his attendant old media hack are two sides of the same coin and neither can thrive without the existence and cooperation of the other. It would be surprising if such an arrangement did not, over time, result in a coincidence of self interest.
New media represented by the blogosphere may offer, at least initially, a useful alternative viewpoint to the traditional thought stream that irradiates us today. Of course the very accessibility of the blog, which is it’s strength, also means that it is possible to encounter expressions of opinion that, even being generous, could only be described as juvenile. In this respect some critics are correct to say that it is nothing more than a playground.
In the case of Damian McBride The Guido Fawkes blog was responsible for exposing the facts and the consequent forced resignation of a man very close indeed to the Prime Minister. There are those who claim that this represents a victory, a scalp even for new media over the old media guard. If this is true then it’s significance will not be lost on those who would prefer to continue the cosy cohabitation between government and media that exists at the moment.
Therefore whilst some satisfaction may be drawn from this shining of a light into a dark corner, it is also a moment of danger. It will not be surprising if attempts are made to limit the impact of the truly independent political blogger. We should be on our guard.
Nowhere To Hide March 27, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite, YouTube.Tags: daniel hannan, uk politics, YouTube
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It’s fair to say that, for the most part, politicians of all parties are held in low esteem. In recent years it has become difficult to listen to any of them voicing their concerns about an issue of public interest without at the same time wondering what their real motivation might be.
Whether it’s faux investigatory overseas trips, inflated expense claims, multiple non-executive directorships or the ever popular employment of family members salaried from the public purse, the standing of most honourable members may never have been so low.
It is therefore refreshing, actually almost inspiring, to suddenly encounter one of them (in this case an MEP) who captures the imagination. At the European Parliament Daniel Hannan gave a lecture to Gordon Brown that was spoken so eloquently, uttered with such clarity and illuminated the contradictions of the hapless Brown so vividly that on it’s conclusion I almost broke into spontaneous applause.
Mr Hannan is gaining quite a following now from people who are impressed with his performance. Comments at his Telegraph blog exhort him to seek a more leading role in UK domestic politics. It is clear that we have become so accustomed to having to listen to the monotonic sludge falling from the mouths of our politicians that when a shaft of clear light arrives, such as in the oratorical form of Mr Hannan, we are tempted to see it as new hope embodied.
The interesting thing from a technological stand point is that a Youtube video of this parliamentary thrashing received nearly four hundred thousand views in twenty four hours. This was before the main stream news organisations made mention of it. Currently the view count for the video is over one million in two days.
So we should celebrate not only the fact that Brown was exposed in such a devastating yet elegant manner but celebrate also that the internet can give us access to such events when they occur. The BBC may or may not have shown or even discussed this encounter but, thanks to Youtube, we no longer have to care.
As for Mr Hannan, whilst I am thrilled by his rhetoric and the elegance of his delivery, I remind myself that he too, is a career politician. And not even Youtube can change what that means.
The Cloak Of Shamelessness March 19, 2009
Posted by granthamtech in Governing Elite.Tags: politicians, shame, shameless, shamelessness
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For those of us of a more sensitive, more retiring nature there is, I have heard tell, a missing piece of technology that could help us get through life a little better. Maybe it’s not really missing – maybe it’s just that it has been hijacked by our wonderful career politicians and kept for their own nefarious purposes. I refer of course to the legendary Cloak of Shamelessness. This cloak, when worn, renders the wearer insensible to any sense of disgrace and it’s about time we all had access to it.
Look at how immune to any sense of shame our leaders are because of this shawl-like device. Examples are too numerous to list but mentioning members of parliament second home allowances should nudge you gently closer to my point. The cloak clearly enables them to easily castigate benefit cheats, tax evaders and more or less anyone else who has to drive their own car to get to work, whilst simultaneously violating the spirit of all of their own expense rules. This is all done with a straight face and completely sans the tedious feelings of remorse that would be felt by the rest of us. All courtesy of the magic cloak.
If I had had access to this device I could have deflected guilty feelings, parked-up any sense of decency down a side street and generally scoffed in the face of remorse, thereby giving myself the means of leaping up the ladder of success. Sadly these cloaks are only handed out to honourable members, tax free of course, as they pass through the gates of the Palace of Westminster on their way to the cheapest bar in London.
But rather than dwell on what might have been I’ll just end by saying that I have written 301 words here and that really is 299 more than I would normally wish to squander on our beloved, becaped, leaders.
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