English Opinion

The Labour government has yet again demonstrated just how much faith it has in our educational system… the very educational system that it was supposed to improve and make into the cornerstone of society. Now FE (Further Education) and HE (Higher Education) institutions have been told that they have to deter extremism. Short of actually coming out and accusing Britain’s universities of fostering an extremist minority, the government could not have made a more obvious attempt to control the minds of tomorrow!

Gordon Brown and his Labour cronies have decided to put into force a set of guidelines that will essentially regulate what students can discuss within the lecture and seminar halls. In other words, they are effectively developing “Big Brother” and using the education system tospy on ordinary citizens in yet another blatant abuse of the system.

The BBC said that “The guidelines will address how staff and students can create space for free and open debate and break down segregation between different student communities.” In fact, it will only heighten segregation if it is to put barriers in the way of education and single out certain lines of conversation as subversive and extremist.

I am all for stamping out terrorism. I abhor it and cannot understand why people feel the need to needlessly murder so many innocents in the name of a god that surely would not approve of so much bloodshed. Before getting into the Qu’ran interpretation debate though, I cannot see how restricting what students are talking about will help to stamp out extremism. Surely it will drive potential terrorists further underground because they will not be distingushing themselves from law abiding citizens in the classroom. Those hell bent on becoming suicide bombers will become terrorists no matter what but only by learning from past events and present occurrences can we move beyond them and learn from them. Restricting discussion is only restricting the civil liberties of people that will never break the law in such a way. If we haven’t broken the law then why are we going to be the ones that get punished yet again?

The news shows I watch every day have been all doom and gloom for some time now thanks to knife and gun crime, drugs, the government and the world economy but this week it’s seemed worse than it has been for a while. With the bank bonuses under scrutiny and allegations of fat cats lining their own pockets before thinking about us little people, the February Blues have well and truly kicked in. It’s become apparent that it’ll take a lot more than is being done right now to survive the credit crunch in one piece!

One thing I have noticed though is that the local communities don’t seem to be pulling together as much as they used to. Certainly around here the message from most people seems to be pull the ladder up Jack and sod the rest! I don’t like that at all. After all, in the good years we become more selfish  and introspective because it’s human nature to make the most of it while the going is good. When times get rough, people should be able to rely on each other.

As we head further into this “depression”, I think we all need to pull together as bloggers, readers and members of the world community to make each other smile, to offer tips that could help others out (saving money, how to find work, surviving on a budget etc) and to generally comment to form a community for support. Leave your comments, jokes, poems etc here and help someone smile if nothing else!

I picked up a newspaper at my local store today to see Jade Goody plastered all over the front because the doctors have officially told her that she has only months to live because they cannot stop the cervical cancer spreading. I’ve written about Jade before because she has chosen to make a documentary following her treatment and chemo so we can all see the brutal truth behind cervical cancer. Well, today I felt like crying for her.

Any time I read a story like hers, of a mother with young children that has no choice but to leave them via illness, I feel immense sorrow because I have a very close relationship with my mum. As I have said before, if fate had a different plan in mind, I could have lost her to breast cancer when I was 9 years old. Although I can’t fully feel her pain because I haven’t been through anything similar myself, my heart does go out to her but then I got angry… thanks to the ignorant woman behind me!

This lady had to be 50 years old at least and was loudly dismissing Jade of just being out “for what she can get”. She was denouncing the fact that she is in the newspapers as disgusting and in poor taste. I don’t agree with her one bit. In fact, I think living out an illness like that in the public eye is one of the most selfless acts I have ever witnessed for two reasons.

My mum told me how difficult it was to live with breast cancer in the village I grew up in. She knows what it’s like to have people cross the road to avoid you or ask all sorts of personal questions so they can gossip about you behind your back. Jade Goody is doing that in public, reading people commenting about her and speculating on how long she has left despite being scared to death of not only dying but leaving her boys behind to live their lives without her. She isn’t doing it to preserve her public profile or in a cheap publicity stunt but instead because she wants to earn as much money as she can for her sons and also to raise awareness for other women.

That is selfless because no matter how much she cares about the way people are judging her, and she most definitely does, she cares more about leaving a legacy for her children and helping to raise awareness about cervical cancer, one of the biggest killers of women out there. The lady condemning Jade Goody had probably never lost anyone to breast or cervical cancer or experienced it herself. My mum has experienced it and fully supports any form of raising awareness and I do too.

Please don’t judge Jade Goody… support her and do your bit to raise awareness of cervical cancer. I have written an article on Associated Content about the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. If you are interested in finding out about them then please use the link on the About page of this blog to take a look at it. It is important that all women find out about it so they are aware of the signs and just how important it is to get checked. Help Jade save one life… even if it sadly cannot be her own.

I was shocked and saddened to hear the news that a plane has crashed into a house in Buffalo, New York in the early hours of this morning. I think many of us are trained to hear the worst after 9/11 when we hear that a plane has a crashed in a residential area but this looks like it is just a terrible accident. Continental flight 3407 flying from Newark to Buffalo Niagara plummeted into a single house after making a series of severe pitches and rolls. Apparently the crew had noticed a build up of ice on the wings. Although that report in unconfirmed as yet, there was apparently nothing to suggest mechanic failure occurred on Continental flight 3407.

Luckily enough, a woman and child were able to escape from the house in Buffalo that the plane hit but another person was not so lucky. There were also 49 people killed aboard Continental flight 3407, 4 of which were crew. I want to extend my condolances to the families of those killed because it was undoubtedly a real tragedy.

The second airplane that came down did so today at London City Airport. The British Airways flight from Amsterdam lost its front wheels as it touched down and made an incredibly hard landing that could have been so much worse than it actually was. None of the passengers or crew were badly injured or killed so we should all be incredibly thankful about that. The pilot apparently reacted admirably and deserves a lot of credit for landing the plane without extensive damage occurring.

It seems that the weather is not only affecting our ability to get to work and stay on the road but also now to stay in the air and indeed on the runway. Here’s hoping that no more such incidents occur in the near future!

I wasn’t going to post today initially because I’ve had a really bad day in terms of my depression. I was diagnosed a few months ago and tend to have really good days and really bad ones at the moment with little in between. Today has been a really bad day for me, a dark day that I’m glad to see come to an end.

Someone once told me that doing what I love will help me to pull through this phase of my life and I’m hoping it does but I absolutely love to write and could not imagine doing anything else for a living, but doing what you love is incredibly difficult when you cannot find a focus… a lifeline I guess… to cling to. The most frustrating thing is though that I have no idea why I feel the way I feel. Nothing bad has happened to me today… if it had I could understand it but as it is I can’t because a dark cloud just descended and that was that.

And now for some sleep after my random ramblings because waking up tomorrow may just bring a lighter mood…

Sir James Crosby, the man hand picked by Gordon Brown to act as one of the chief regulators of the City, has today resigned from his post at the Financial Services Authority after his previous judgement has seriously been brought into question. When he was the head of HBOS, Crosby was warned by his Head of Risk, Paul Moore, that the bank was taking unacceptable risks and growing too fast. Moore was effectively a whistleblower when he advised Crosby and his cronies that their policies would ultimately lead to the downfall of the bank and indeed it has. Moore alleges that he warned Crosby repeatedly and that, when they did not like what he had to say, they simply got rid of him. In fact, Moore was just trying to safeguard our best interests whilst Crosby was trying to safeguard his.

One question remains though - if Moore saw the crash coming then why did nobody else?

Following this news, David Cameron rightly accused Gordon Brown of being just as reckless with the taxpayer’s money as Crosby had been himself. After all, Brown was relying on Crosby for financial advice and expected him to regulate the bankers and their extortionate bonuses. He was trusting a man that sacked an advisor that dared to question the bankers’ greed and advise against it! If this does not point to corruption in the UK government and finance system then I don’t know what does! Unsurprisingly, Brown refused to comment and avoided Cameron’s questions

In other news, the head of the Bank Of England, Mervyn King, commented on the state of the UK’s financial state today and basically said that we’re heading into deep recession. The recession, according to Mr King, is far worse than the Bank of England initially anticipated to the point at which interest rate cuts will not be enough to drag us out of it. Batton down the hatches people because we’re going to be in for a rough few years!

 Amy at http://beingbipolar.today.com has once again left me a lovely surprise on my blog! In fact, she left me the Blog Love Award a while ago now but I have to say I’d completely forgotten. I’ve had some personal problems recently and it completely slipped out of my head! Well, now is the time to rectify that and say a huge HUGE thanks to Amy, a wonderful person and an inspiration.

Thanks again Amy, and I’m now passing on the Blog Love to other fantastic bloggers!

Here are the rules:

* When you receive the Blog Love award, you should place the logo on your blog proudly!
* Link to the blogger that awarded you the love
* Nominate your friends and bloggers you read regularly, as many as you like
* Finally, let them know you’ve nominated them to receive the award

I am officially passing on a little Blog Love to the following exceptional bloggers:

http://www.sheilaontheweb.com

http://justpressplay.today.com/

http://ukfootball.today.com

http://myjourneyasa40something.today.com

http://fromhuskiestohusbands.today.com/

http://lolasdiner.blogspot.com/

http://derailed.today.com

http://youngwomenwriters.today.com

http://singlemommy78.today.com/

http://writergirl.today.com/

And finally… I’d also like to nominate http://beingbipolar.today.com. She’s given me two awards now so it’s about time I gave one back!

All the blogs above are really wonderful blogs from excellent writers so keep up the good work guys! Go forth and spread the blog love!

I’ve said before that I’m a huge fan of football (the “soccer” kind mainly) and am a lifelong fan of Aston Villa. I’ve seen some amazing days in the Premier League but I have to say that my jaw has been on the floor twice today. I found out this morning that Tony Adams, manager of Portsmouth, was sacked last night and just 30 minutes ago I found out that Luiz Felipe Scolari, manager of Chelsea, was sacked this afternoon! I’m shockd by both decisions to tell you the truth, but for different reasons.

Tony Adams had only been in charge of Portsmouth for 22 games over 15 weeks following the desertion of Harry Redknapp to Spurs. Having played Portsmouth since (Villa, not me!) and watched them on TV numerous times, I thought they were playing well. Although the points have hardly been forthcoming with Pompey only winning 2 out of the 15 league games they played under Tony Adams, I thought that the players were more to blame than Adams himself. The tactics were solid in theory but the players often made silly mistakes that cost their team points. And of course then there were some of Harry’s men that just didn’t want to play for Adams. We’re told that wasn’t the case but you can see it in their body language. All told, although Portsmouth are only a point off the relegation zone as the Premier League stands at the moment, I feel really sorry for Tony Adams. I like him and wish him luck. After all, if a club won’t back you with money to bring in players and will sack you because they don’t think they’ll be able to sell the club with you on board then they aren’t worth the stress and hassle. Good luck Tony!

And now on to Scolari!

Chelsea drew with Hull at the weekend and went 4th in the league as Villa (woo hoo!) overtook them after winning at Blackburn. The supporters have been going mad over Scolari for some time now and booed the team off at the weekend. Chelsea started off the season well but have slipped in recent weeks, drawing and losing key games without actually looking like a credible threat in front of goal. There have been rumours of player rifts, most notably with Didier Drogba, and no end of crazy interviews that have suggested he lost the plot. However, I have to say I was shocked because I, like many other supporters, thought he’d go at the end of the season rather than right about now. As it stands though Luiz Felipe Scolari is now without a job and Chelsea are looking for a manager! There are two names on the shortlist as it stands - Guus Hiddink is one of them and the other one made me laugh out loud - Avram Grant!!! If Grant goes back to Chelsea after being sacked last season then he needs his head read! Sorry Chelsea fans, nothing against you but I can’t believe he’d want to return after the way he was treated last year! Jose Mourinho has ruled himself out of the post though so no welcome return.

On another note, why couldn’t Scolari resign after Chelsea played Villa in 2 weeks time?!!!

It is a fact that weather systems the world over keep us all on our toes but the extreme weather conditions many of us seem to be facing at the moment could not be more different. In fact, the ends of the Earth are quite literally poles apart in terms of the weather. It is snowing again in the Midlands of the UK, which is highly unusual for us given the level of snow we’ve had in the past week or so. However, in Australia they are having the most extreme heat they have had in quite some time. Unfortunately that heat has caused numerous bush fires to occur, which has in turn led to unprecedented numbers of deaths throughout the country.

The bush fires in Southern Australia have been caused by consistantly high temperatures that have topped 40C. Many are raging out of control, thus leaving hundreds of homes razed to the ground and thousands more homes without power. The death toll currently stands at 93 across Victoria and New South Wales, but that only includes the confirmed deaths. There are thought to be scores more bodies that have yet to be found. Of course, nobody will know that actual figure until the fires have been brought under control but my heart goes out to the families that re waiting on news of their loved ones. With communications being incredibly difficult and power outages being present throughout the area, it must be absolutely heartbreaking not knowing whether brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts and close friends are safe or not.

The firefighters and services that are currently fighting the Australian bush fires are doing an amazing job and are literally fighting the fires every step of the way. Unfortunately nature is preventing them from bringing the fires under control at the moment but I really hope they can prevail soon because this loss of life and loss of the natural environment to the flames is a major catastrophe that ultimately leads to tragedy. My thoughts are certainly with the people in Southern Australia at this time. 

Sharon Shoesmith’s gone and done it again! The former Head of Children’s Services in Haringey when Baby P was brutally murdered by his mother and step-father and now public hate figure seems to have opened her mouth again just to change feet. She was interviewed for BBC Radio 4 and will appear on the Weekend Woman’s Hour today in full. Excerpts of the interview have appeared on the BBC website in advance and I’m going to be incredibly interested to listen to the interview on the strength of it. Although I’m reserving judgement until I have actually heard the interview, Ms Shoesmith may well have gotten herself into more hot water with the public for quotes like the following:

“Of course I’ve been distressed about this, of course I have, and had many sleepless nights over it,” she said.

“But if there’s a young person killed through knife crime this weekend, and I hope there isn’t, do we expect the borough commander of that London borough to resign? We don’t, we don’t.”

Sharon Shoesmith did lose her job over the Baby P case but she seems to be forgetting that her job role was to oversee and ensure the care of children, to remove them from abusive homes and to ensure that they can grow up safe and secure. Unfortunately for Baby P, she did not do that and no amount of justifications like those above can vindicate her or any of the people that failed to spot more then 50 existing injuries that Baby P was carrying at the time he died. She should have had sleepless nights because if she did not then that would mean she didn’t care, but she isn’t going to gain any fans by coming out with the above. The borough Commander of London oversees millions and ensures that the city is as safe as it can possibly be. Sharon Shoesmith oversaw nowhere near that many children and should have been committed to doing what was best for them. Her chart waving, statistics spouting attitude belied that at the time.

I will be listening this afternoon because I actually want to hear what she has to say but instead of giving a full scale interview and digging a deeper hole for herself, she may just want to consider a simple apology. After all, her interviews drew attention to her at the time and it was the way she appeared in those interviews that sparked the witch hunt she apparently refers to in the interview. The thing is, if she had done her job properly then an independent report should have vindicated her. It didn’t.

There’s just one thing that’s bugging me though - when did it become all about her for Sharon Shoesmith instead of all about Baby P?