A new hope
(Apologies to everyone who is finding the adverts a pain - I am more or less unaware of them because I use Mozilla)
I think the phrase "Things can only get better" is one which tempts providence. They can get worse. I appreciate that is a superstitious view. The two greatest disasters of last year were the election of Bush and the tsunami. Of the two Bush has probably cost more lives.

I certainly believe that things can get better. We cannot see into the future enough to make rash promises. Marxists have had plenty of practice in swimming against the stream anyway.

I remember in bible class the tale of the widow's mite. The rich made efforts to draw attention to the amount of money they were giving to the poor. Jesus drew attention to a widow who gave two of the smallest coin of the realm and instructed his disciples to note that her sacrifice was the greater.

If anybody is impressed by American imperialism's contribution to the tsunami relief they might like to remember that for every dollar they spend in tsunami relief they are spending 4200 dollars in their brutal war in Iraq. Although the public in the west are promising two billion, Sri Lanka alone pays seven billion a year to the bankers, the flow of "aid" is in the other direction.

This tsunami was an act of God. I can only say that I am glad I no longer believe.

A BBC reporter mentioned that a majority of the population in Sri Lanka were Buddhists and therefore believe that life is full of suffering. So their faith is not disturbed by these events.


In the past year I discovered three websites which are very useful:
http://democracynow.org
which is a beacon of light in a world of darkness.
http://www.tes.co.uk/staffroom
is a discussion forum for teachers and
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php
is a better one.