Smoking in pubs went two years ago. I did smoke when I last worked in France in the 80's - excellent bars went private and only let you in after knocking. The signs said 'Smokers Bar - Non-Smokers Acceptable'. Smoking should go, but I wish we could do it on a voluntary basis. I still have a few, but often don't bother for months. Much the same with drink. Actually, if I could bear drinking and smoking alone, I'd get my suppliers from a smuggler who lives rather well off his white van trade at half the shop prices. What's happening is that illegal houses are now opening in housing estates. Not far away this is rife.
The problems are mostly the poverty that lack of decent jobs has brought. Michael Moore could have done his piece on Flint over here. I first saw it in Millom (in Cumbria near Barrow) in 1972. I played for a university team mid-week and we lost to a goal kicked by the referee. At the weekend their miners drew with the semi-pro outfit I played for in the cup - I don't remember a tougher game. It was sad to be amongst such great people (who put us up in their homes) as the miserable collapse took place. They were just the first to go, just as North Sea Oil came on line - all of which seems wasted now. I think this supported Thatcher's idiot revolution. Back then I went to university to study chemistry - believing Wilson's 'white heat of the technological revolution' speech. We now associate education only with schools, colleges and universities - a massive mistake. There is now no sense of careers in fairly ordinary jobs and reasonable dignity in pay and conditions in them. I wouldn't really disagree with Molly's positive statements (teaching mature students was often a real joy - often gained by 'kicking' them in a realisation of how good they could be, sometimes by getting them to let their hair down - but not on my pillow). Yet the reality is more dire and we are easily distracted from dealing with the real problems. I got scholarships too - but they aren't available to those who really need them here. I'm still in favour of knocking over the old, false legitimations and morality - but the manner of this has been farcical, conserving nothing much of what was good. I have something of a feeling here that the presence of large numbers of people who knew what war was had effects we haven't recognised. There was a morality on both sides of industrial relations that has been swept away too. I'd guess our professions are utterly corrupt. Politics is inept and corrupt. I see people who claim to work hard who don't know what a hard day's work is - let alone having to do them for miserable pay. We have 'taught' all this. A good 20% of the population remain as children - I'm probably as shocked by their 'morality' as Emily Pankhurst was. Under my stories (which are mostly 'true'), I'm very moral - close friends know this, and a few old comrades know I could be ruthlessly moralist almost beyond reason - though it was usually my pragmatic head that stayed 'sane' and turned off the fan when fertiliser flew (or put it on to cover the deeper mess). Bureaucracy is the major problem, pretty much as Max Weber articulated, though I'd throw in Oscar Wilde (telling the truth always ensures revenge). The Fugitive wouldn't last a couple of days now - he'd be applying for jobs through HRM! Education at home isn't the answer, but I understand Lon's reasons. I suspect we need to change the employee contract to one of assured jobs (even if I'd be very hard on the wasters) - this to bring about dignity and make good employers compete for workers. I'd see this as a requirement for educational change. Off to bed ... On 10 Oct, 02:58, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > Neil, I hesitate to get into statistics and a comparison of > educational systems, yet the ‘Colonies’ have been dropping so fast and > so far recently that it is almost nonexistent. Further, regardless of > protestations against an analysis including monetary issues, the > following chart is quite shocking. > > http://sitemaker.umich.edu/salas.356/usa_vs._world > > Having had family educators to rely upon for first hand war stories, I > wonder what exactly, other than economic and moral change, has > happened here over the last few decades. > > The high school dropout rate here has moved from almost none (used to > be illegal to drop out) to over 30%. > > One possible cause: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgBnkexAbRU > > Media matters! > > Oh, and have your pubs outlawed cigs yet? > > 1 in 4 out of work, this matches my experience here now. Our > depression from the first half of the 20th century took about 4 years > to manifest after the stock market crash...can't wait! (irony) > > Just give gabbers the one arm wave and send her to the showers!...to > clean ‘em before getting the boot. ;-) > > On Oct 9, 5:31 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I too rarely venture forth these days Orn, and I didn't see the > > Japanese drummers and walked the dog so Pete and Sue could enjoy > > themselves. It was a nice night and I sat outside a few bars on Canal > > Street and various people stopped by to talk to the hound. The > > 'scene' generally is as I describe it, though the pubs are shutting. > > I sort of want to regret that, but don't. Chris has forgotten there > > is no bread in a UK shit butty - with our quality standards it just > > coats the filling, unless, of course, it's a double-decker. > > Our licensing laws changed some years ago to encourage new bars and a > > bistro-cafe culture - we've ended-up with dire town centres full of > > gin palaces, fights and street violence. Any fool could have > > predicted this and many did. The beer is mostly swill and even > > counterfeit, with off-licenced super-strength lager and cider for the > > underclass - our conservatives are vowing to double its price to cut > > consumption and this will only encourage the smugglers. I'd almost go > > for prohibition - would if it would solve the problems. > > > A large number of our people have more or less no aspiration and (on a > > more serious tour) I could show you kids at 11 already failed by > > school (and parents etc.) and now threatened with being kept there > > until 18. Our politicians talk up education solutions that can't work > > and some 20 years ago swamped higher education with people who can't > > benefit much from it. This was to reduce dole queues until the job > > market came back, which it never has. One in four of our under 25's > > in probably really unemployed. Jobs that involve real training and > > skill learning are rare - I played a minor role in trying to move us > > to the German system years ago and got a tv company to take parents to > > German families with kids of similar age. They were outraged and > > would have been more so had I been able to get them to Poland and > > Czechoslovakia which were still Warsaw Pact at the time and better > > than us in a number of respects. The answer for academically unable > > kids is not more school. > > > I favour dropping school leaving age to 14 with a great deal of > > intensive literacy-numeracy training for the 25% who don't reach even > > functional levels and then a seven-year period of a new form of > > national-international service of which further schooling and > > university may be part and which would involve our armed services in a > > training role for some. I'd want to see work-learning projects as a > > major part of this and for all kids to spend some time away from home > > as boarders. I'd scrap all professions in favour of qualification > > systems through university or work-based assessed qualification and > > look to prevent severe over-qualification by job evaluation. I'd > > encourage management development through work as an adult in the new > > national-international service, policing and social work, including > > their management cadres. Systems such as that in which only lawyers > > can become judges and so on would be stopped and in general I'd want > > to lower any class barriers to entry to any work. We might also have > > to share any scut-work with those only capable of that on some kind of > > rota. Such would be my outline notion of life-long learning. We > > might even have to find a credit system that allowed people to stay > > out of it - perhaps toilet cleaning and stuff others don't want to > > do. I can sense Gabby searching for a pair of jackboots to throw in > > my direction - but I really think this could be managed fairly. > > > On 9 Oct, 22:38, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > “…There should be more to life.” – Neil > > > > Perhaps our sociological wanderings and musings diverged long ago > > > archy. While I used to toss ‘em down until I could no more, even > > > tended bar for quite a while... long ago I ceased all bar activity and > > > visitations. Further, I even ceased the intake of alcohol. I do seem > > > to remember being deeply involved with the humanity de jour and > > > associated tales. But then again, this was decades ago. > > > > While my brushings with prostitutes mostly has involved listening to a > > > pitch in a Las Vegas parking lot, (I didn’t give money) I’ve had > > > countless nonprofessional relations, mostly in my formative years. > > > Today, interaction mostly is online or at the checkout line. Oh, of > > > course there is the omnipresent interaction mentioned in a different > > > thread. > > > > And, my only teaching was mostly relegated to more tangible things > > > like flute, tai chi, computers with forays into more etheric areas > > > such as math, peer counseling and esoterica. > > > > So, upper or lower class makes little difference. I will be drinking > > > water. This is not based on Puritanism but more on practicality, > > > evaluation and my personal physician’s advice. I find that the state > > > of living has reached a true quality of equilibrium seldom even spied > > > while on the prowl. I can’t help but think, as a sort of self > > > contained scientist that spending hours a day using intentional > > > breathing, visualization, mantra, movement and self observation has > > > had an influence too. Not being evangelical here, just reporting. > > > > And even though I am a bit hermetically sealed while reading the > > > Emerald Tablet, at once I am of the world in total interaction. What > > > ‘carping’ that does arise is mostly seen for what it is, chitta. > > > > On Oct 9, 8:00 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > There IS more to life, but only if we choose to reach out and touch it, > > > > Neil. Even a damn dirty atheist like myself recognizes that there is > > > > still > > > > wonder and mystery, love, joy, hope, and even peace, although perhaps > > > > more > > > > of the resigned contentment sort. Peel away the layers of that shit > > > > sandwich > > > > and you may find it doesn't go all the way to the core. > > > > > On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 10:51 AM, archytas <[email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > Now, now Orn - we can't have you being more cynical than me! The > > > > > essence for me is a world of people not scratting about for > > > > > 'survival' (a strange term given the situation historically leads to > > > > > war) and actually able to ponder new ways other than as relief from > > > > > survival. The key element is that we won't accept the dominant model > > > > > doesn't work, but can't really identify what it is and how it is > > > > > 'working'. This is a question of consciousness to me - what we can > > > > > know of ourselves as actors in evolution and thus change and even > > > > > relish. > > > > > > I can teach able students as well without personal contact as with. > > > > > Their ability to get on through electronic means is truly amazing. > > > > > Such students are about 20% of the literate-numerate population. We > > > > > really should have this end of education packaged up by now and free > > > > > (with reservations on bomb-building etc.). This should stand > > > > > alongside international working projects to raise production (of > > > > > homes, electronic communication, sustainable food production, fair > > > > > legal systems ..) and to bring new technologies in energy, planet > > > > > protection (not least from ourselves) and forms of human satisfaction. > > > > > > On a trip to the pub I could have sex in dark bushes with a drug- > > > > > hungry prostitute (actually I couldn't - though I have been as far as > > > > > giving a young girl £20 and putting her on the bus home) - drink vast > > > > > amounts of lager (tax, more tax, payments to Arab multinational funds > > > > > that own the place and a few quid over for the barmaid) with a mate > > > > > equally wondering why, shovel a curry down in an empty restaurant > > > > > (times are hard) and keep it all in until after a taxi ride home. The > > > > > pubs here safe to go in are empty (recession bites) - others full of > > > > > our young drinking themselves fit for sex most of them don't get and > > > > > waiting in line for a trip to A & E to 'subsidise' our NHS. This, > > > > > perhaps, has been the 'metaphysics' I have witnessed around the world, > > > > > though I'm generally more content on my mate Moosa's boat in a squall > > > > > demanding some expertise with the wind. > > > > > We could go 'upper-class' if you like Orn. Sherry reception at the > > > > > Bridgewater Hall (evaded by a cold one or warm one in the Briton's > > > > > Protection - still a decent pub), an amazing Japanese drumming band > > > > > (whipping up my mate's Guide Dog to a confused frenzy!), an excellent > > > > > Greek meal in a place run by my ex-students with a > > ... > > read more » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
