Category: Politics

Civic Literacy Report – Civics Quiz

Civic Literacy Report – Civics Quiz.
It is horrifying to read that of the 2,508 Americans tested in a sample, the average score was only 49% and that College EDUCATORS scored only 55%.
As a non-American, although married to one, I comfortably exceeded the average online score this month which is 75.8%.
“You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %
Average score for this quiz during January: 75.8%”
What does this say about American education?
Can you do better than the online average?

I imagine something similar conducted in the UK on our own history, would probably produce equally dire results from 2,500 people picked at random…

The Political Wife: January Short Story

Two months before their fortieth wedding anniversary he left.  Jill was in shock and found she couldn’t focus on practical details. Her eldest son cancelled all the party arrangements and arranged an appointment with the solicitor.

She refused to attend.  The reality of the situation was something she chose to ignore however much her children urged her to protect her own interests. She ignored phone calls from her husband, and flatly declined to discuss the situation with her friends or family. She snubbed the press, and likewise, increasingly frantic communications from the PM’s Office.

It was a frustrating time for all of them but every time they visited their mother, she was pottering around as usual in the garden or walking the dogs.  She was not in the slightest bit curious to know where he was or what he was doing. After years of ignoring his various infidelities and petty cruelties she simply carried on as normal.  Of course, she was on some level aware that her life would change in the future, but she wanted to face that in her own time, and at her own pace.

Continue reading “The Political Wife: January Short Story”

US Tax dollars funding bacha bazi

It would appear that via a government contractor in Afghanistan, a company called DynCorp,  US Tax dollars are funding a practice known as ‘bacha bazi’. That’s paederasty to you and me. DynCorp pays for young boys to ‘entertain’ tribal leaders in order to gain their cooperation. Wikileaks has exposed it, but for some reason it has not become a scandal of global proportions.

http://www.realsportszone.com/wikileaks-dyncorp-pimps-young-afghan-boys-for-bacha-bazi/

 

Lies, damned lies, and statistics?

Muslim population ‘rising 10 times faster than rest of society’


David Coleman, Professor of Demography at Oxford University, said:

“The implications are very substantial. Some of the Muslim population, by no means all of them, are the least socially and economically integrated of any in the United Kingdom … and the one most associated with political dissatisfaction. You can’t assume that just because the numbers are increasing that all will increase, but it will be one of several reasonable suppositions that might arise.”

I found this in an article from The Times. Alarming headline, certainly and it seems to be endorsed by David Coleman. It has been widely quoted on the internet, as one might imagine. Continue reading “Lies, damned lies, and statistics?”

Becoming a criminal

I was struck by the last sentence in this article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8219280/Online-viewers-prosecuted-for-not-paying-TV-licence.html

“Watching TV without a valid licence is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1,000.”

Given the invasive nature of TV licence inspectors and the ruthlessness with which they pursue their objectives, I imagine that quite a few, otherwise harmless citizens, find themselves with criminal records. In the event, albeit unlikely, that I were to be successfully prosecuted for not owning a television licence and thus categorized as a criminal, I think that I would be more, rather than less, inclined to commit further crimes. There is an old saying, ‘one may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb’ and I think this is a perfect example of how the pettiness of self-serving law-makers  has the unintended but predictable result of creating more law-breakers. Having a criminal record creates all sorts of difficulties in a persons life including inhibiting one’s ability to travel,  denying one job opportunities, prohibiting one from becoming a company director and so forth. I do not want a criminal record, but were I to have one, it would no longer serve as a deterrent. Tax evasion, amongst a host of other crimes, would suddenly become a real consideration. By branding me a criminal, you turn me into one. That is of course if one assumes I have no moral inhibitions.

Who will protest next?

Not sure if any of you follow Scottish politics, which in a quid pro quo way you should because we follow the England cricket team. Well the recent bad weather has forced the resignation of the transport minister, Stewart Stevenson. It’s in his brief to look out for unusual weather patterns and the storm last Monday caught him out. Continue reading “Who will protest next?”

Instincts of self preservation.

I would like to think that my survival instincts are quite finely tuned; somewhere between cowardice and neurosis.

I’m normally the first out of a building when the fire-alarm goes off. I happily abandon my shopping and proceed at speed to the nearest exit. Yes, I know they normally go off by themselves but I’d rather not take that chance. I’m always surprised to see everyone else blithely carry on filling their trolleys. Continue reading “Instincts of self preservation.”

For Janus

I apologise for hijacking your post about education, but it did lead elsewhere and left me wondering about your views on colonisation, especially the colonisation of Africa about which you seem to be extremely critical. I would genuinely like to know, where you think the colonisers went wrong and how things could have been better managed. This is not about mud-slinging and name-calling but a sincere attempt to understand why it is that you think that we, the colonisers and ‘white ruling class’ were so much at fault and what we could have and should have done better. That mistakes were made, I cannot disagree, but they were not all made with malice of forethought. Continue reading “For Janus”