A friend who is leaving Scotland to live in France (why would anyone do that, I wonder?) has asked me to look out for a flat for her to use as
à pied à terre on the Southside of Glasgow.
I found something at under 60K in the Herald property pages - perfect - and tried to look it up on the Slater Hogg Howieson website. Guess what? It's in the paper but not on the website.
I'm fed up with companies that don't invest in managing their websites - and it's not just Slater Hogg. Asda, Tesco and M&S are guilty too: the goods for sale in the shops often have nothing to do with what's on sale on their websites.
Do these companies really think potential customers are going to look at their websites and then take a trip to the shops in hopes of finding what they want?
Not me. I hope Amazon gets into the housing market. I'll deal with them. They've never let me down. And yes, I know their tax record is a joke but we can deal with that.
Wednesday 30 January 2013
Do the OFT and I buy petrol in the same country?
The Office of Fair Trading has investigated petrol prices and says all is well:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21258809
What was it the OFT was meant to be looking at? You know what they say: The answer you get depends on the question you ask.
The report assures us that the UK has some of the lowest fuel prices in the EU 'before taxes'. Very good. It's just a shame 60% of the price we pay is made up by tax, so we end up with some of the highest fuel prices in the EU. Did the OFT compare prices after tax? Did it consider making recommendations to the government about slowing down the hike in fuel taxes while consumers are struggling in the recession?
The OFT concedes that motorway prices for fuel are high, but the solution it offers is a joke: we'll tell the suppliers to put up signs telling customers what the fuel prices are before they leave the motorways. Like they have a choice halfway up the M6 of where to 'shop' for petrol.
The report also assures us: "competition is working well, and rises in pump prices over last decade or so have largely been down to increases in tax and the cost of crude oil." That doesn't deal with the rip-off we're complaining about: no sooner has a rise in crude oil prices been announced than the pump prices go up, when we know the suppliers are still using old stock bought at the old price.
In addition, twenty years ago we had a whole range of indie petrol stations - that is, more choice - but now the fuel market is very much under the control of the supermarkets and oil producers like BP. Did the OFT look at their near monopoly of fuel supplies?
It's hard to believe the double, triple and quadruple whammy working people are facing in the UK: stagnant (that is declining) wages, rising prices in the supermarkets, declining tax credits - and now petrol prices are creeping up again.
If you live outside the central belt of Scotland, and that's where half our population lives, you are really suffering, with increased freight charges affecting prices in the shops and punitive prices at the pumps.
If you're bringing up children - dear little things - living from one wage to the next, as most people do, just remember: you're also meant to be saving for your old age!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21258809
What was it the OFT was meant to be looking at? You know what they say: The answer you get depends on the question you ask.
The report assures us that the UK has some of the lowest fuel prices in the EU 'before taxes'. Very good. It's just a shame 60% of the price we pay is made up by tax, so we end up with some of the highest fuel prices in the EU. Did the OFT compare prices after tax? Did it consider making recommendations to the government about slowing down the hike in fuel taxes while consumers are struggling in the recession?
The OFT concedes that motorway prices for fuel are high, but the solution it offers is a joke: we'll tell the suppliers to put up signs telling customers what the fuel prices are before they leave the motorways. Like they have a choice halfway up the M6 of where to 'shop' for petrol.
The report also assures us: "competition is working well, and rises in pump prices over last decade or so have largely been down to increases in tax and the cost of crude oil." That doesn't deal with the rip-off we're complaining about: no sooner has a rise in crude oil prices been announced than the pump prices go up, when we know the suppliers are still using old stock bought at the old price.
In addition, twenty years ago we had a whole range of indie petrol stations - that is, more choice - but now the fuel market is very much under the control of the supermarkets and oil producers like BP. Did the OFT look at their near monopoly of fuel supplies?
It's hard to believe the double, triple and quadruple whammy working people are facing in the UK: stagnant (that is declining) wages, rising prices in the supermarkets, declining tax credits - and now petrol prices are creeping up again.
If you live outside the central belt of Scotland, and that's where half our population lives, you are really suffering, with increased freight charges affecting prices in the shops and punitive prices at the pumps.
If you're bringing up children - dear little things - living from one wage to the next, as most people do, just remember: you're also meant to be saving for your old age!
Monday 28 January 2013
Dear Reena...
...Just a quick note to let you know I still miss you.
It's been 15 months since you died and I don't think I've got over it - or will get over it.
You were the perfect example of what I hope we can all be: you were one of many children of a Lanarkshire minister and trained as a primary teacher despite your father's early death. You married Ernst, a Jewish boy from the Kindertransport, and you saw him through a great career as an engineer with Scottish Power and a fairly early death from cancer. Early on, you discovered you couldn't have children of your own so you adopted not one but three and they've all done well in life. You took in Ernst's mother who had also left Belgium to escape the Nazis.You re-trained as a secondary English teacher and were one of the best-read, most hard-working people I've ever met. You were always open to new ideas and always questioned what people offered you as 'truth'.
Sometimes, I hear something said and think 'Reena will love that'. I read a book or hear a Radio 4 talk and wish I could pass it on to you.
Most of all, I resent the fact you were taken away too soon. You and I knew Russian and could appreciate how well Gorbachov spoke it. You and I could complain about Sarkozy's approach to politics but marvel at his excellent French. I don't have many friends left who can do that.
Thank you for being my friend for 25 years. I wish you were still here.
It's been 15 months since you died and I don't think I've got over it - or will get over it.
You were the perfect example of what I hope we can all be: you were one of many children of a Lanarkshire minister and trained as a primary teacher despite your father's early death. You married Ernst, a Jewish boy from the Kindertransport, and you saw him through a great career as an engineer with Scottish Power and a fairly early death from cancer. Early on, you discovered you couldn't have children of your own so you adopted not one but three and they've all done well in life. You took in Ernst's mother who had also left Belgium to escape the Nazis.You re-trained as a secondary English teacher and were one of the best-read, most hard-working people I've ever met. You were always open to new ideas and always questioned what people offered you as 'truth'.
Sometimes, I hear something said and think 'Reena will love that'. I read a book or hear a Radio 4 talk and wish I could pass it on to you.
Most of all, I resent the fact you were taken away too soon. You and I knew Russian and could appreciate how well Gorbachov spoke it. You and I could complain about Sarkozy's approach to politics but marvel at his excellent French. I don't have many friends left who can do that.
Thank you for being my friend for 25 years. I wish you were still here.
Friday 25 January 2013
The Language Game
I tend not to comment on the place of languages in Scottish education. After all, I've been away from the classroom for over 20 years and away from local authority work for almost five. I think people like me should get on with our own lives: eating lunch, reading books and drinking the odd glass of sauvignon blanc - and usually that's just what I do.
But occasionally, someone rattles my cage so severely that I can't ignore it. At the moment, it's the Scotsman and the Herald newspapers. The Scotsman is carrying on a campaign against Gaelic through its letters page and has even gone so far as to attack the current level of spending on Gaelic and even Gaelic road signage in its editorials. The Herald is less abrasive but has still managed to print quite a few letters in the past year suggesting Gaelic is being 'foisted' on Scotland.
They even had one claiming Gaelic Medium parent/toddler, nursery, primary, secondary and adult provision (which I am proud to say I helped to set up) was 'inflicted' on the population of East Ayrshire, instead of the truth: that this provision was the result of pressure from local people, especially parents, who wanted their children to have access to Gaelic language and culture - and that pressure pre-dated East Ayrshire's existence by 10-15 years.
The level of ignorance of Scotland's history and culture shown in the letters to the Scotsman and the Herald is the most alarming thing to me.
- Gaelic isn't a foreign language. Till about 300 years ago it was spoken across a large area of Scotland, including Stirlingshire and Ayrshire. The influence of Gaelic is still to be seen in place names - do I need to mention Ibrox, Kilmarnock, etc?
- I don't go much for historic guilt but the rest of us should feel absolutely guilty at the way Gaelic was brutally suppressed in Scotland for over 200 years after the 1745 Rebellion: whole communities destroyed in the Clearances, the traditional clan-based way of life wiped out, the main export being people, education in the schools offered only through English - with kids being punished for using Gaelic in school - and so on. There's a generation of 40 and 50 years olds in the Western Isles now who grew up persuaded that speaking Gaelic was not cool and thus can't speak to their parents - or their kids in Gaelic Medium Education.
- Gaelic speakers don't all live in the Western Isles. Half of Scotland's Gaelic speakers live in the Central Belt. Hence the steady pressure there for more Gaelic school provision. And there's no truth in the story that the SNP is promoting Gaelic: the push for Gaelic education, the Gaelic Board, the hoary old Gaelic road signs, etc - these are a result of a revival that began a long time ago.
- Gaelic isn't a rival to Scots. Taking away the funding from Gaelic (£25m in a total Scottish budget of £29bn) will not lead to more money being spent on Scots. There are good reasons to believe that the Scots tongue is in danger but that has nothing to do with Gaelic. That said, I think the Scots Language Centre could learn a thing or two from Gaelic activists about drawing up a development plan and lobbying politicians.
I have a theory (pretty extreme, I'll admit) that our history since 1703 has infantilised us in Scotland. We've very nearly become children in the hands of the governing class. I'll know we've grown up when we can agree that many languages and cultures live here and can live with respect for each other.
The great debate on independence will help, if we can get it out of the hands of politicians and start talking properly about who we are.
But occasionally, someone rattles my cage so severely that I can't ignore it. At the moment, it's the Scotsman and the Herald newspapers. The Scotsman is carrying on a campaign against Gaelic through its letters page and has even gone so far as to attack the current level of spending on Gaelic and even Gaelic road signage in its editorials. The Herald is less abrasive but has still managed to print quite a few letters in the past year suggesting Gaelic is being 'foisted' on Scotland.
They even had one claiming Gaelic Medium parent/toddler, nursery, primary, secondary and adult provision (which I am proud to say I helped to set up) was 'inflicted' on the population of East Ayrshire, instead of the truth: that this provision was the result of pressure from local people, especially parents, who wanted their children to have access to Gaelic language and culture - and that pressure pre-dated East Ayrshire's existence by 10-15 years.
The level of ignorance of Scotland's history and culture shown in the letters to the Scotsman and the Herald is the most alarming thing to me.
- Gaelic isn't a foreign language. Till about 300 years ago it was spoken across a large area of Scotland, including Stirlingshire and Ayrshire. The influence of Gaelic is still to be seen in place names - do I need to mention Ibrox, Kilmarnock, etc?
- I don't go much for historic guilt but the rest of us should feel absolutely guilty at the way Gaelic was brutally suppressed in Scotland for over 200 years after the 1745 Rebellion: whole communities destroyed in the Clearances, the traditional clan-based way of life wiped out, the main export being people, education in the schools offered only through English - with kids being punished for using Gaelic in school - and so on. There's a generation of 40 and 50 years olds in the Western Isles now who grew up persuaded that speaking Gaelic was not cool and thus can't speak to their parents - or their kids in Gaelic Medium Education.
- Gaelic speakers don't all live in the Western Isles. Half of Scotland's Gaelic speakers live in the Central Belt. Hence the steady pressure there for more Gaelic school provision. And there's no truth in the story that the SNP is promoting Gaelic: the push for Gaelic education, the Gaelic Board, the hoary old Gaelic road signs, etc - these are a result of a revival that began a long time ago.
- Gaelic isn't a rival to Scots. Taking away the funding from Gaelic (£25m in a total Scottish budget of £29bn) will not lead to more money being spent on Scots. There are good reasons to believe that the Scots tongue is in danger but that has nothing to do with Gaelic. That said, I think the Scots Language Centre could learn a thing or two from Gaelic activists about drawing up a development plan and lobbying politicians.
I have a theory (pretty extreme, I'll admit) that our history since 1703 has infantilised us in Scotland. We've very nearly become children in the hands of the governing class. I'll know we've grown up when we can agree that many languages and cultures live here and can live with respect for each other.
The great debate on independence will help, if we can get it out of the hands of politicians and start talking properly about who we are.
Wednesday 23 January 2013
Many thanks, Dave!
I've avoided the independence referendum so far. One, I think it's too soon to be discussing it - we'll all be wall-eyed with boredom if we start taking it seriously now. Two, I'm trying to keep an open mind. Not that some of my friends feel that way, as they've told me at length and in some detail on both sides of the argument but I think this is something you have to decide for yourself. And three, I live in hope we'll get past the shouty (you canny do that - I've got relatives in Engerland!) and the scary bit (how could we afford an army/embassies/a currency?) and maybe have a real debate about our options such as federalism.
But today I think I've made my mind up. I don't want to be part of a UK that thinks it is absolutely imperative we stay together in a political union within the UK and sees itself as a bastion of capitalism but wants to opt out of the biggest trading union in the world, the EU. Opting out of Europe to me is a kind of collective madness. The rest of the EU wants the UK in it. Even the Americans want us in it. And I suspect the Tories are holding a referendum for all the wrong reasons: to win votes back from UKIP; to appease the loony right of the Tory party; to wrong-foot the Labour Party (well, they've certainly done that if today's anything to go by); to turn the clock back to colonial times 50 years ago.
I think of myself as being from Scotland and from Europe. From the UK or Britain doesn't even come a close third. Being a little Englander is not part of my world view. So I think I'll take a chance on independence and hope the great adventure attracts good people to come (back) to Scotland to work out a plan for our future prosperity. Within the EU.
But today I think I've made my mind up. I don't want to be part of a UK that thinks it is absolutely imperative we stay together in a political union within the UK and sees itself as a bastion of capitalism but wants to opt out of the biggest trading union in the world, the EU. Opting out of Europe to me is a kind of collective madness. The rest of the EU wants the UK in it. Even the Americans want us in it. And I suspect the Tories are holding a referendum for all the wrong reasons: to win votes back from UKIP; to appease the loony right of the Tory party; to wrong-foot the Labour Party (well, they've certainly done that if today's anything to go by); to turn the clock back to colonial times 50 years ago.
I think of myself as being from Scotland and from Europe. From the UK or Britain doesn't even come a close third. Being a little Englander is not part of my world view. So I think I'll take a chance on independence and hope the great adventure attracts good people to come (back) to Scotland to work out a plan for our future prosperity. Within the EU.
Sunday 20 January 2013
Our National Poet
First of all, I'm a Burns fan. Last week, I unfriended someone on Facebook because he slagged off celebrants of Burns Suppers for 'mocking' the Gaelic language and culture by wearing kilts. Myself, I don't care if folk turn up at a Burns Supper in their birthday suit as long they give a good recitation of the works of Burns. Mind you, I think Burns could have made a great poem out the birthday suits!
I was astonished last week to hear a question on the TV quiz Pointless about 'famous Scots'. First, I was amazed the question should appear at all but then I was delighted to see so many names appear (14) - among them, of course, Robert Burns. One thing bothered me, though: our national poet was referred to throughout as "Robbie Burns.' Well, truth be told: I was also annoyed that his world famous song was referred to as Old Lang Zyne but, hey, we're getting used to that, aren't we? It merely shows the speaker's ignorance of the Scots language. We know not everyone is as lucky as we are.
But I wonder: was Burns referred to as Robbie in his lifetime, by family and neighbours, by his posh friends in Edinburgh? Is Robbie just an English version of Rabbie? Was Burns really called Rabbie when he was doon hame? An attempt at the anglicisation of his name would make me laugh for one: Burns's best poems are in Scots; his least memorable in English, although I suspect some of his songs have stuck in people's minds because they are in English.
So come on, my Ayrshire (and beyond) friends: where did the name 'Robbie' Burns originate? And should we be trying to give him his proper name as a mark of respect?
I was astonished last week to hear a question on the TV quiz Pointless about 'famous Scots'. First, I was amazed the question should appear at all but then I was delighted to see so many names appear (14) - among them, of course, Robert Burns. One thing bothered me, though: our national poet was referred to throughout as "Robbie Burns.' Well, truth be told: I was also annoyed that his world famous song was referred to as Old Lang Zyne but, hey, we're getting used to that, aren't we? It merely shows the speaker's ignorance of the Scots language. We know not everyone is as lucky as we are.
But I wonder: was Burns referred to as Robbie in his lifetime, by family and neighbours, by his posh friends in Edinburgh? Is Robbie just an English version of Rabbie? Was Burns really called Rabbie when he was doon hame? An attempt at the anglicisation of his name would make me laugh for one: Burns's best poems are in Scots; his least memorable in English, although I suspect some of his songs have stuck in people's minds because they are in English.
So come on, my Ayrshire (and beyond) friends: where did the name 'Robbie' Burns originate? And should we be trying to give him his proper name as a mark of respect?
Tuesday 15 January 2013
Bye bye, HMV - etc
Yes, I am sorry for all the employees of companies like Jessop's, Zavi, Comet and HMV who are joining the dole queue at the worst possible time. And through no fault of theirs.
Am I sorry for the directors - the so-called leaders - of these companies? Not for one minute.
They are simply repeating the lack of leadership shown by the bosses of UK companies in the 1970s and 1980s, when company after company bit the dust, having failed for 50 years to modernise their operations and their manufacturing techniques.
This time around, companies can't blame the workers or the trades unions. Employees have never worked as hard as they do in this new century, having to accept lousy wages and rotten working conditions. Trades unions have been completely devalued. Interestingly, the businesses that refuse to let their employees sign up with a union are often franchise holders of firms like Domino's, MacDonald's and Starbuck's who have to pay so much for the franchise their profit margins are squeezed almost to extinction, so all they can do is squeeze every last penny and every bead of sweat out of their employees.
Where did Jessop's, Zavi, Comet and HMV go wrong? Their directors lacked vision. This is, of course, what companies claim to be paying their top management huge salaries to show. You and I could see a decade ago that internet retailing could only grow. Did these super salesmen not see the change in the market? Why did they fail to react to the rise and rise of Amazon and the other internet giants?
HMV and co are not the only companies that are slow to respond to changes in the market. You only have to look at the state of M&S: in danger of losing their traditional client group but unable to work out who will be their new customers in ten or twenty years from now. Or how about supermarkets like Asda and Sainsbury's? They really haven't got their act together on their approach to the internet: their shop staff don't know what they are offering online, the goods in the stores are quite different to what's online and even if the same item is instore and online, the prices sometimes differ!
For me, worst of all is the lack of investment in staff training. Almost every week in stores I see a new employee being trained 'on the job' - that means, I suspect, learning as they go along from somebody on the same (basic) pay grade as them. If that's also happening in their internet service, I have a feeling this lack of investment in people will return to bite these companies on the bum - and sooner rather than later.
Am I sorry for the directors - the so-called leaders - of these companies? Not for one minute.
They are simply repeating the lack of leadership shown by the bosses of UK companies in the 1970s and 1980s, when company after company bit the dust, having failed for 50 years to modernise their operations and their manufacturing techniques.
This time around, companies can't blame the workers or the trades unions. Employees have never worked as hard as they do in this new century, having to accept lousy wages and rotten working conditions. Trades unions have been completely devalued. Interestingly, the businesses that refuse to let their employees sign up with a union are often franchise holders of firms like Domino's, MacDonald's and Starbuck's who have to pay so much for the franchise their profit margins are squeezed almost to extinction, so all they can do is squeeze every last penny and every bead of sweat out of their employees.
Where did Jessop's, Zavi, Comet and HMV go wrong? Their directors lacked vision. This is, of course, what companies claim to be paying their top management huge salaries to show. You and I could see a decade ago that internet retailing could only grow. Did these super salesmen not see the change in the market? Why did they fail to react to the rise and rise of Amazon and the other internet giants?
HMV and co are not the only companies that are slow to respond to changes in the market. You only have to look at the state of M&S: in danger of losing their traditional client group but unable to work out who will be their new customers in ten or twenty years from now. Or how about supermarkets like Asda and Sainsbury's? They really haven't got their act together on their approach to the internet: their shop staff don't know what they are offering online, the goods in the stores are quite different to what's online and even if the same item is instore and online, the prices sometimes differ!
For me, worst of all is the lack of investment in staff training. Almost every week in stores I see a new employee being trained 'on the job' - that means, I suspect, learning as they go along from somebody on the same (basic) pay grade as them. If that's also happening in their internet service, I have a feeling this lack of investment in people will return to bite these companies on the bum - and sooner rather than later.
Monday 14 January 2013
January, February
I know some of my friends are eagerly waiting for the snow to start. Some were bitterly disappointed last weekend: they'd got the shovels, sledges, snowboards and skis ready and nothing happened. It's not that I mind snow: now I'm not working, it's all one to me. I've got the cupboards, fridge and freezer stocked, got plenty of books and DVDs and nothing in the diary that can't be cancelled if needs be, so I can just batten down the hatches and wait for March. I'd quite like to get to the book group on Friday, but it's in Thorntonhall close to East Kilbride which is well known as Scotland's very own Arctic.
The weather forecasters are the pits. The ones based in London (BBC, ITV, C4) assume what's forecast for Swindon will be the same for Tobermory. Wales and Northern Ireland never get a mention at all, although I bet the police in Belfast are praying for snow, ice and tempest to get the flag-wavers off the streets. The forecasters based in Glasgow, like STV, imagine what's happening in Coatbridge will apply to Aberdeen. Even the BBC website seems to think what happens in Edinburgh will be the same for the rest of us. I like Windy Wilson's forecasts on Facebook - he's on the east coast and makes this clear from the outset, so if the rest of us want to mention what's happening in our area, Windy will happily accept our reports and post photos.
It's not just the amount of time devoted to these daft forecasts. It's the suspense it puts us all under. Back in the Dark Ages when I worked in Argyll, we used to phone the police at Arrochar to find out if the Rest was open. Not that their report meant much: you could leave Glasgow in the rain and still find a police landrover waiting for you at the Rest to tell you to turn back. Or you could leave Tarbert Loch Fyne in clear weather and end up staying in a hotel in Inveraray because the weather had closed in. And I remember with a smile the director of education who closed all the Argyll schools because snow had made the roads 'impassable.' Cue phone calls from Tiree, Islay and Campbeltown from heidies asking: what snow? If you're working, I reckon you're under enough stress without wild forecasts.
So what to do? I saw a very good thing on Facebook: a stone tied to a bit of string. If the stone is wet, it's either raining or snowing; if the stone is moving, it's windy; if the stone has disappeared, it's a hurricane. Every bit as accurate as the posh computer projections used by the telly.
The weather forecasters are the pits. The ones based in London (BBC, ITV, C4) assume what's forecast for Swindon will be the same for Tobermory. Wales and Northern Ireland never get a mention at all, although I bet the police in Belfast are praying for snow, ice and tempest to get the flag-wavers off the streets. The forecasters based in Glasgow, like STV, imagine what's happening in Coatbridge will apply to Aberdeen. Even the BBC website seems to think what happens in Edinburgh will be the same for the rest of us. I like Windy Wilson's forecasts on Facebook - he's on the east coast and makes this clear from the outset, so if the rest of us want to mention what's happening in our area, Windy will happily accept our reports and post photos.
It's not just the amount of time devoted to these daft forecasts. It's the suspense it puts us all under. Back in the Dark Ages when I worked in Argyll, we used to phone the police at Arrochar to find out if the Rest was open. Not that their report meant much: you could leave Glasgow in the rain and still find a police landrover waiting for you at the Rest to tell you to turn back. Or you could leave Tarbert Loch Fyne in clear weather and end up staying in a hotel in Inveraray because the weather had closed in. And I remember with a smile the director of education who closed all the Argyll schools because snow had made the roads 'impassable.' Cue phone calls from Tiree, Islay and Campbeltown from heidies asking: what snow? If you're working, I reckon you're under enough stress without wild forecasts.
So what to do? I saw a very good thing on Facebook: a stone tied to a bit of string. If the stone is wet, it's either raining or snowing; if the stone is moving, it's windy; if the stone has disappeared, it's a hurricane. Every bit as accurate as the posh computer projections used by the telly.
Thursday 10 January 2013
Yada yada yada
According to tonight's news - really the stuff that's reported when there's no real news - half the food in the world goes to waste. Or is it just the western world? It's usually the fault of the western world, whatever it is. Cue dramatic pictures of lorries dumping perfectly good food, reporters looking disapproving - yada yada.
Not a word about businesses like Greggs, Pret a manger and Tesco passing unsold food on to charities to feed the homeless, on a daily basis.
Can we get real here? Instead of putting ads on TV exhorting us to make a list before we go shopping - yeah, right, and you''ve never bought anything in a shop on the spur of the moment cos it looked good or you were hungry at the time. Instead of that, can we do maybe one wee thing to save on food waste?
I don't know how many people in the UK live in one person households - maybe millions? Have you ever shopped for one person? Try buying a stir fry - feeds two. Or a portion of fish - feeds two. If you do find something that's advertised as being 'for one', you'll probably find it costs more than the 'family size.'
I don't take the bogoffs in supermarkets if I can avoid them or can pass on the second item to family. But I've lost count of the number of times I've thrown out fresh food that I had to buy because there aren't smaller options available. So that's my suggestion: make it possible to buy food - especially fresh food - in smaller helpings, at reasonable prices.
Not a word about businesses like Greggs, Pret a manger and Tesco passing unsold food on to charities to feed the homeless, on a daily basis.
Can we get real here? Instead of putting ads on TV exhorting us to make a list before we go shopping - yeah, right, and you''ve never bought anything in a shop on the spur of the moment cos it looked good or you were hungry at the time. Instead of that, can we do maybe one wee thing to save on food waste?
I don't know how many people in the UK live in one person households - maybe millions? Have you ever shopped for one person? Try buying a stir fry - feeds two. Or a portion of fish - feeds two. If you do find something that's advertised as being 'for one', you'll probably find it costs more than the 'family size.'
I don't take the bogoffs in supermarkets if I can avoid them or can pass on the second item to family. But I've lost count of the number of times I've thrown out fresh food that I had to buy because there aren't smaller options available. So that's my suggestion: make it possible to buy food - especially fresh food - in smaller helpings, at reasonable prices.
Tuesday 8 January 2013
Bigotry is alive and well
For a lot of people in Scotland, sectarianism doesn't exist. If you live outside industrial Scotland, particularly the Central Belt, the chances are you won't have encountered anti-Catholic or anti-Protestant bigotry. If you live in the industrial heartland, it's all around you. It's historic: it seems it has always been here. And it's gone way beyond religion: sectarianism is embedded in the Scottish culture. It's in our communities and in our homes. Where racism seems to be silent these days - you can be a racist inside your head but open racism is frowned on - it still seems to be okay to show sectarian prejudice.
Sectarian jokes are still around and tolerated. I'm ashamed to admit I found myself making one a few weeks ago when a friend of mine commented on someone having a strong Glasgow accent because he said Merry when he meant Mary. 'Sure sign he's a Catholic,' said I. My friend (from Ayrshire) looked amazed. 'Oh aye,' said I, 'Catholics canny say the name Mary - and their eyes are too close thegither as well.' I need to apologise to my friend when I next see him and explain these idiotic comments were part of a wee satire of bigots a (Catholic) friend and I came up with in our 20s when we were working for the most bigoted assistant heidie in Scotland - a man who challenged children in our non-denominational school if they had a name he thought was 'Catholic': 'Teresa O'Reilly', he would roar, 'what are you doing here? Why aren't you at Bellarmine?'
Even though I think of myself as educated, egalitarian, left-leaning, etc I accept that sectarianism is like a knee-jerk reaction even for me. What's worse, I grew up in a home where there was no sectarian talk at all. I picked up my sectarianism in school, on the streets and in my teens at work. I belong to a 'mixed' family: a few Protestants, a few Catholics, a lot of whom never darken the church doors - and there are a few atheists as well. We just don't talk about religion in the family. It's not important but I'm aware of the impact of sectarianism in everyday life: for some reason, although I'm an atheist, I've been on the receiving end of both anti-Protestant and anti-Catholic bigotry in my time.
Why hasn't Protestant/Catholic sectarianism just died out? Scotland has accepted several waves of immigrants in the past 200 years - Jewish, Asian, now Polish. They've settled in fine, maybe taking 2 or 3 generations, but managing to hold on to their own culture, religion, languages, etc. Why is there still such prejudice against Catholics from an Irish background, some of whom have been Scots since the 1860s?
One sign that I find encouraging is that we now have an anti-bigotry 'czar' (stupid name, I know) called Duncan Morrow. He's a Northern Ireland man himself and I suspect he knows what he's talking about. His view is that Scots are in denial about sectarianism. We claim it no longer exists or has never existed but, according to Dr Morrow, for a people who make these claims, we're a bit nervous of him coming in and turning over the stones to see what's there.
He's absolutely right about denial. Did you know there were marches last weekend in Lanarkshire in support of the flag-wavers of Belfast? I know this because friends on Facebook were going along but there's been nothing on TV or radio or in the papers to indicate this is a live issue in Scotland. It was the same during The Troubles: not a word in the media to even hint that Scots were involved in any aspect of what was, frankly, a sectarian civil war, just a couple of hours away on the boat.
The one thing we know from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa is that ignoring the problem won't cure it. Maybe we need to turn over all the stones, have a good look at our community and resolve to move on.
Sectarian jokes are still around and tolerated. I'm ashamed to admit I found myself making one a few weeks ago when a friend of mine commented on someone having a strong Glasgow accent because he said Merry when he meant Mary. 'Sure sign he's a Catholic,' said I. My friend (from Ayrshire) looked amazed. 'Oh aye,' said I, 'Catholics canny say the name Mary - and their eyes are too close thegither as well.' I need to apologise to my friend when I next see him and explain these idiotic comments were part of a wee satire of bigots a (Catholic) friend and I came up with in our 20s when we were working for the most bigoted assistant heidie in Scotland - a man who challenged children in our non-denominational school if they had a name he thought was 'Catholic': 'Teresa O'Reilly', he would roar, 'what are you doing here? Why aren't you at Bellarmine?'
Even though I think of myself as educated, egalitarian, left-leaning, etc I accept that sectarianism is like a knee-jerk reaction even for me. What's worse, I grew up in a home where there was no sectarian talk at all. I picked up my sectarianism in school, on the streets and in my teens at work. I belong to a 'mixed' family: a few Protestants, a few Catholics, a lot of whom never darken the church doors - and there are a few atheists as well. We just don't talk about religion in the family. It's not important but I'm aware of the impact of sectarianism in everyday life: for some reason, although I'm an atheist, I've been on the receiving end of both anti-Protestant and anti-Catholic bigotry in my time.
Why hasn't Protestant/Catholic sectarianism just died out? Scotland has accepted several waves of immigrants in the past 200 years - Jewish, Asian, now Polish. They've settled in fine, maybe taking 2 or 3 generations, but managing to hold on to their own culture, religion, languages, etc. Why is there still such prejudice against Catholics from an Irish background, some of whom have been Scots since the 1860s?
One sign that I find encouraging is that we now have an anti-bigotry 'czar' (stupid name, I know) called Duncan Morrow. He's a Northern Ireland man himself and I suspect he knows what he's talking about. His view is that Scots are in denial about sectarianism. We claim it no longer exists or has never existed but, according to Dr Morrow, for a people who make these claims, we're a bit nervous of him coming in and turning over the stones to see what's there.
He's absolutely right about denial. Did you know there were marches last weekend in Lanarkshire in support of the flag-wavers of Belfast? I know this because friends on Facebook were going along but there's been nothing on TV or radio or in the papers to indicate this is a live issue in Scotland. It was the same during The Troubles: not a word in the media to even hint that Scots were involved in any aspect of what was, frankly, a sectarian civil war, just a couple of hours away on the boat.
The one thing we know from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa is that ignoring the problem won't cure it. Maybe we need to turn over all the stones, have a good look at our community and resolve to move on.
Sunday 6 January 2013
Altogether now!
I grew up in what I suppose would be called a 'musical' family. Everybody could haud a tune, as we say in Glasgow. Family gatherings involved doing a turn and loads of people had a song they were known for. My mother's was 'Scarlet Ribbons.' My father's was 'Buddy Can You Spare a Dime.' For many years, we didn't have a TV but we had a radiogram and a collection of records. Some of us could play a musical instrument. A lot of us liked to dance. One of my best memories is watching my brother, then aged about two, being danced round the livingroom standing on my mother's feet as the radiogram blasted out Spike Jones's 'Cocktails for Two' - one of the funniest recordings ever.
My brother and one of my nephews are great guitarists. The same brother and two of my nephews are fabulous singers. My brother-in-law and his brother are the kind of people that know everything there is to know about singers and groups from the 60s on. Music features in our lives every day.
What we didn't like in my family was 'audience participation'. My father called it getting the public to pay for a show and then making them do the work. Variety shows were dismissed as trash as soon as a comic or singer exhorted the audience to sing 'altogether now.' He especially loathed people like Ken Dodd and Frankie Vaughan but he loved real professionals like Sinatra and Shirley Bassey. Miming on Tops of the Pops was quite shocking to him. I can't imagine what my parents' generation would make of software that keeps singers that canny sing 'on pitch'!
I think it's sad that there are so few ways now for young people to have their talents as singers, dancers and musicians recognised. It seems you really have to 'qualify' for the X Factor or some other reality show, where your talent will be assessed by producers and - if you make it through out of the thousands auditioning - 'experts' will give purely subjective opinions and manipulate the audience in the studio and watching at home to vote for the person closest to some stereotype of the 'successful' act. Don't tell me Susan Boyle made it through. Yes she did, but how many other 'winners' from these talent shows were picked out because they were in some way different (that is, odd) and how many now languish unemployed and unappreciated after being 'bigged up' by the producers.
The celebrity shows - dancing or skating or whatever - are worse. Just a chance to reveal how little talent these people actually have through a bit of ritual humiliation. And I've noticed the clever people - David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr, Laverne Wotsit, Susan Calman, Jeremy Hardy - do not appear on these shows.
It's a relief to me to come across people who share my dislike of these shows. But I know we're in a minority. Still, if you fancy watching something on TV with a bit of originality to it, let me suggest Gareth Malone's The Choir series, especially the Workplace Choir programmes where people who like to sing but have no agenda get to sing their heads off. It's great exercise - I recommend it to everyone!
My brother and one of my nephews are great guitarists. The same brother and two of my nephews are fabulous singers. My brother-in-law and his brother are the kind of people that know everything there is to know about singers and groups from the 60s on. Music features in our lives every day.
What we didn't like in my family was 'audience participation'. My father called it getting the public to pay for a show and then making them do the work. Variety shows were dismissed as trash as soon as a comic or singer exhorted the audience to sing 'altogether now.' He especially loathed people like Ken Dodd and Frankie Vaughan but he loved real professionals like Sinatra and Shirley Bassey. Miming on Tops of the Pops was quite shocking to him. I can't imagine what my parents' generation would make of software that keeps singers that canny sing 'on pitch'!
I think it's sad that there are so few ways now for young people to have their talents as singers, dancers and musicians recognised. It seems you really have to 'qualify' for the X Factor or some other reality show, where your talent will be assessed by producers and - if you make it through out of the thousands auditioning - 'experts' will give purely subjective opinions and manipulate the audience in the studio and watching at home to vote for the person closest to some stereotype of the 'successful' act. Don't tell me Susan Boyle made it through. Yes she did, but how many other 'winners' from these talent shows were picked out because they were in some way different (that is, odd) and how many now languish unemployed and unappreciated after being 'bigged up' by the producers.
The celebrity shows - dancing or skating or whatever - are worse. Just a chance to reveal how little talent these people actually have through a bit of ritual humiliation. And I've noticed the clever people - David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr, Laverne Wotsit, Susan Calman, Jeremy Hardy - do not appear on these shows.
It's a relief to me to come across people who share my dislike of these shows. But I know we're in a minority. Still, if you fancy watching something on TV with a bit of originality to it, let me suggest Gareth Malone's The Choir series, especially the Workplace Choir programmes where people who like to sing but have no agenda get to sing their heads off. It's great exercise - I recommend it to everyone!
Saturday 5 January 2013
Hallelujah!
Right at the end of the Channel 4 news item on the Church of England's tussle over gay bishops on Friday evening, there was a chilling wee moment when a man in grey - let's call him a bigot in a clerical collar - put forward the 'traditional' (that is, Dark Ages) view that gays cannot be bishops and finished with a warning: the CofE may be prepared to put a gay person forward as a candidate but just watch what happens when it tries to install (is that the right word?) its first gay bishop. A wee threat there? I think so.
I wonder if the same man in grey is in favour of women being priests in the CofE. Probably not. So that's over 50% of the population rejected by some bits of the CofE due to their being women, along with the - what is it - 9% or 10% of the population who are gay. Equality, eh?
Of course, the CofE has little to do with me or the rest of us in Scotland, except that I believe some of their people sit in the House of Lords and are entitled to vote on matters that affect Scotland. And that I for one don't like.
Not that my criticism would be limited to the CofE. There is some work need on Catholic church attitudes to both women and gays. As for 'The Kirk,' there are times I just want to take my hand off a few smug jaws. For example, when I asked the Church of Scotland about the maintenance of Govan Old Parish Church - full of Celtic religious relics, a treasure store of the history of the Christian religion in Scotland going back 1,500 years, I was told: 'We are not in the business of maintaining ancient monuments.' How no? The CofS built and used Govan Old for over a century. It's a crucial building in the revival of the township of Govan. Step up, people - take some civic responsibility!
I read this week that what believers find hard to take is being 'harangued' by aggressive atheists. All I can say is: if you're a believer, be glad all atheists can do is harangue you, compared to the scarier things believers have been able to do to atheists in the past: burning them at the stake, hanging them, torturing them.....Time to open up a bit of dialogue on the role of religion in a state where so few people actually practise a religion.
And no, I don't want to stop people practising their religion. I'm also in favour of religious and moral education being a compulsory element in the school curriculum, especially the part that makes young people study 2 world religions other than Christianity. I live in hope religious and moral education will produce tolerance and understanding. If it doesn't, what is it for?
There are other good things about religion: some cracking songs for a start. I still know all the words of 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' which I learned in the Rosebuds nearly 60 years ago. Not to mention 'Jesus bids us shine like a pure clear light' which I picked up in Sunday school about the same time. Although ever since I had to sit through the funeral of a 15 year old boy drowned on a fishing trip, I would happily ban 'The Old Rugged Cross' for being too awful for public performance - and too hard to sing.
I also read this week that one of the indicators of a 'loser' personality is a fear of change. That, I think, some sections of the major religions have already shown us: step forward, the Jews in their terrible relationship with Palestine; the Islamists in their continued oppression of women; and several other world religions in their inability to grant the importance of people and their rights in religion.
The final thing I read this week is that pessimists live longer than optimists. I plan to disprove that. Grow old along with me - the best is yet to be - even in the CofE!
I wonder if the same man in grey is in favour of women being priests in the CofE. Probably not. So that's over 50% of the population rejected by some bits of the CofE due to their being women, along with the - what is it - 9% or 10% of the population who are gay. Equality, eh?
Of course, the CofE has little to do with me or the rest of us in Scotland, except that I believe some of their people sit in the House of Lords and are entitled to vote on matters that affect Scotland. And that I for one don't like.
Not that my criticism would be limited to the CofE. There is some work need on Catholic church attitudes to both women and gays. As for 'The Kirk,' there are times I just want to take my hand off a few smug jaws. For example, when I asked the Church of Scotland about the maintenance of Govan Old Parish Church - full of Celtic religious relics, a treasure store of the history of the Christian religion in Scotland going back 1,500 years, I was told: 'We are not in the business of maintaining ancient monuments.' How no? The CofS built and used Govan Old for over a century. It's a crucial building in the revival of the township of Govan. Step up, people - take some civic responsibility!
I read this week that what believers find hard to take is being 'harangued' by aggressive atheists. All I can say is: if you're a believer, be glad all atheists can do is harangue you, compared to the scarier things believers have been able to do to atheists in the past: burning them at the stake, hanging them, torturing them.....Time to open up a bit of dialogue on the role of religion in a state where so few people actually practise a religion.
And no, I don't want to stop people practising their religion. I'm also in favour of religious and moral education being a compulsory element in the school curriculum, especially the part that makes young people study 2 world religions other than Christianity. I live in hope religious and moral education will produce tolerance and understanding. If it doesn't, what is it for?
There are other good things about religion: some cracking songs for a start. I still know all the words of 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' which I learned in the Rosebuds nearly 60 years ago. Not to mention 'Jesus bids us shine like a pure clear light' which I picked up in Sunday school about the same time. Although ever since I had to sit through the funeral of a 15 year old boy drowned on a fishing trip, I would happily ban 'The Old Rugged Cross' for being too awful for public performance - and too hard to sing.
I also read this week that one of the indicators of a 'loser' personality is a fear of change. That, I think, some sections of the major religions have already shown us: step forward, the Jews in their terrible relationship with Palestine; the Islamists in their continued oppression of women; and several other world religions in their inability to grant the importance of people and their rights in religion.
The final thing I read this week is that pessimists live longer than optimists. I plan to disprove that. Grow old along with me - the best is yet to be - even in the CofE!
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