A police state for benefit claimants? « Ron’s Rants…

It Was labour What Done This… That it was.  I first threatened and then did leave the Labour Party over it.  Right at the time they were trying to bring in Identity Cards and lock uncharged people away for 90 days, reduced to 42 days (yes really, they were – It’s like a bad dream) [...]

Full Story

Whales and Space Demonstrate Contrasts In Humanity

Introduction Two items on today’s news demonstrated the vast contrasts in our humanity. Stardust probe finds ‘subdued’ comet crater & Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters. Our Absolute Ingenuity and Progress The absolute ingenuity of us humans and how far we have come since our cave-dwelling days is supremely demonstrated by the return [...]

Full Story

The Real Troubles are not in Northern Ireland

Bloody Sunday The Saville Report, probably the longest and certainly the most expensive enquiry in the UK ever, is now out.  The ramifications are continuing, despite the Prime Minister trying to draw a line under everything.  See Bloody Sunday report published History On that day in 1972, 13 folks were killed, and overall, in what [...]

Full Story

People’s Happiness

What’s Important? Of foremost importance are the people – not celebrities, the powerful, the rich, scholars or others whom society deems great or praiseworthy. The purpose of all things must be the happiness of the people. Everything else should be but a means to that end. Those who fail to recognize this fundamental point and [...]

Full Story

Please Read: How Summer Camps Could Change Britain

Introduction This is a follow-up to Colony Holidays and Tubby the Tuba where I talked about Colony Holidays (the CCHS), Chris Green’s part as Tubby the Tuba, and my fond memories of such a formative part of my life. Recent News Chris Green, one of the two full-time driving forces behind the original CCHS, is [...]

Full Story

Summer Camps

How Summer Camps Could Change Britain by Christopher M. Green (Convenor of the Summer Camps Forum and Founding Director of The ATE Trust) Download Links to Original Chris Green Articles: Letter to MPs February 2010 Suggested letter format to lobby your local MP on behalf of Chris Green’s summer camps’ initiative. How Summer Camps …inline [...]

Full Story

Curious Suicide

Coroner and Law I’m often struck when reading the papers or news, to see the coroner’s verdict on someone’s death as: Ending his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed Well they have to say something, it’s their job, but the phrase is very peculiar. Take this couple, the Milners, who were [...]

Full Story

Weird Pravda

What IS Going On? I’ve just come across an old post of mine in which I referred, briefly, to the Russian Pravda website, presumably a modern-day version of it’s communist paper past.  I say presumably because, as I already said, it’s more like National Enquirer…! On top of weird births and alien spaceships in the [...]

Full Story

Three Good Environment Plans

This week, I’ve become aware of three excellent initiatives that are focussing people’s energies, creativity, and cash(!) into positive solutions to the global energy crisis.  It just shows what can be done – and these projects are not difficult or hard to creative creatures like ourselves. Big Mirrors in the Desert This is a $400billion [...]

Full Story

Don’t Shoot the Messenger if You don’t Like the Message

Alan Johnson Sacks the Messenger This, of course, relates to the recent sackings and supportive resignations of Government Scientific Advisors (see More advisers may go in drugs row) . The home secretary faces the threat of more scientists resigning after sacking his chief drugs adviser Prof David Nutt for his comments about cannabis policy. Two [...]

Full Story

Mandelson: Expenses Morals and Postal Flowers

As MP’s expenses come to the fore again, Peter Mandelson spoke on Radio 4 this morning and did his usual self by not explaining anything and being perfectly unclear about everything!  Listen hear here! Thank god the interviewer cut him off. The question was “Have you got much sympathy with MPs who’ve claimed under one [...]

Full Story

Thatcher’s Recession, and Now?

How Bad was Thatcher’s Recession compared to the Current Economic Slump? Q. Well, how would you find out, exactly? A. Surprisingly easily.  This graph here compares historical economic slumps with the current one, on a month by month basis.  It’s taken from the “National Institute of Economic and Social Research” (NIESR) website here.  Notionally, it’s [...]

Full Story

Power, Peace and Poison

Similarly to the previous post, What is Health?, Daisaku Ikeda’s words last week encapsulated individual, respectful, freedom perfectly, and warns against the abuses of power that can so easily lead to doom and painful sufferings for people.  Eternal vigilance coupled to openness and discussion is the only way! Shakabuku – to spread knowledge of the [...]

Full Story

Climate Change and Tommy Cooper

I remember an old  Tommy Cooper gag that went something like this; I went to the doctor and said,  “Doctor, doctor.  It hurts when I do this”  (Cooper raises his knee upwards to demonstrate) The doctor said, “Well don’t do it, then“ The point is that it’s exactly like our prolific consumption of carbon-based fuels, [...]

Full Story

© 2007-2012 Strangely Perfect All Rights Reserved