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.

Refugees of Fallujah
"A delegation of military family members whose sons died while fighting in the Iraq war have traveled to Jordan to deliver $600,000 worth of humanitarian supplies for refugees from the U.S. attack on Falluja.

"The November attack, which virtually leveled the city and left some 2,000 Iraqis and 71 U.S. soldiers dead, also created thousands of refugees, who are living without adequate food, water, electricity and healthcare. Most of these refugees are children.
In an Internet appeal, the military family members, in collaboration with U.S. peace groups, physicians' organizations, and September 11 families, quickly raised $100,000 in donations. And humanitarian groups such as the Middle East Children"s Alliance and Operation USA contributed $500,000 worth of medical supplies.

Quoted on www.democracynow.org two of those involved said:
"MEDEA BENJAMIN: We're here to bring humanitarian supplies to the refugees from Fallujah. We were very upset when we saw the U.S. military destroy the entire city of Fallujah. We know that there are thousands of women and children who are living without electricity, water, medicines, so we're here to bring supplies to them to show that there are American people who care about their lives, and to say that it's time to stop the killing, and help the Iraqi people.

ADELE WELTY: I lost my son on September 11 at the World Trade Center. He was a firefighter, and he - he went to the World Trade Center to help rescue those who were caught in the towers. And he was trapped when they collapsed. And I don't want his name used to kill innocent civilians.

Refugees of Fallujah
"A delegation of military family members whose sons died while fighting in the Iraq war have traveled to Jordan to deliver $600,000 worth of humanitarian supplies for refugees from the U.S. attack on Falluja.

"The November attack, which virtually leveled the city and left some 2,000 Iraqis and 71 U.S. soldiers dead, also created thousands of refugees, who are living without adequate food, water, electricity and healthcare. Most of these refugees are children.
In an Internet appeal, the military family members, in collaboration with U.S. peace groups, physicians' organizations, and September 11 families, quickly raised $100,000 in donations. And humanitarian groups such as the Middle East Children"s Alliance and Operation USA contributed $500,000 worth of medical supplies.

Quoted on www.democracynow.org two of those involved said:
"MEDEA BENJAMIN: We're here to bring humanitarian supplies to the refugees from Fallujah. We were very upset when we saw the U.S. military destroy the entire city of Fallujah. We know that there are thousands of women and children who are living without electricity, water, medicines, so we're here to bring supplies to them to show that there are American people who care about their lives, and to say that it's time to stop the killing, and help the Iraqi people.

ADELE WELTY: I lost my son on September 11 at the World Trade Center. He was a firefighter, and he - he went to the World Trade Center to help rescue those who were -- who were caught in the - in the towers. And he was trapped when it -- when they collapsed. And I don't want his name used to kill innocent civilians.

Happy Blooming Christmas
This year the annual moan (this time in the letters page of the guardian) How dare you atheists celebrate Christmas. In fact historically Christians never did exchange presents on Christmas day, it was Twelfth Night.

My ancestors used to mourn the sickness of the sun (the days just went on getting shorter) then they held a festival and probably had the odd horn of mead in a bid to make the sun cheer up and get well. It always worked. The days started getting longer.

I posted a quiz on the TES website, I reproduce it below but close your eyes because I have included the answers.

Try these ten excuciating questions for size!

1.Who said "cannabis is the opium of the people"?
2.Which story begins "The Marleys were dead, to begin with."
3.What were the names of the seven dwarfs in the original story?
4.What is the name of the tenth reindeer?
5.Who invented the steam engine?
6.Who invented the steam train?
7.In which book did Sherlock Holmes say "Elementary, my dear Watson?"
8.MVEM what comes next?
9.According to Rutherford, how important was splitting the atom?
10.Which musical was condemned with these words: "No legs, no jokes, no chance!"

My decision on the answers will be final. The winner shall be the person who wins.

1. Hemingway
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol
3. They had no names. Disney invented them.
4. Olive the other reindeer (used to laugh and call him names)
5. Newcomen. (though no doubt other people might claim to have done so) Watt refined it.
6. Trevithick, (though no doubt other people might claim to have done so)
7. None of them
8. J for Jupiter
9. It had no practical applications :)
10. Oklahoma!

(All inventions are actually the work of a number of people but we like to attribute them to one. Newcomen certainly "invented" the steam engine and didn't copy it from someone else)

If you read this far down, I bet you cheated!

60% believe the price of the war is too high
It was not a survey conducted in Iraq of course but in the USA.
The Washington Post had the folowing:
"President Bush heads into his second term amid deep and growing public skepticism about the Iraq war, with a solid majority saying for the first time that the war was a mistake and most people believing that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld should lose his job, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

While a slight majority believe the Iraq war contributed to the long-term security of the United States, 70 percent of Americans think these gains have come at an "unacceptable" cost in military casualties. This led 56 percent to conclude that, given the cost, the conflict there was "not worth fighting" -- an eight-point increase from when the same question was asked this summer, and the first time a decisive majority of people have reached this conclusion."

Incidentally if teachers are ever doing anything about this in school then they may want to avoid pupils downloading pictures off the internet under "torture". You can always get some yourself and put them on the server.

There is a case for saying that the treatment of prisoners in Belmarsh who are held without trial amounts to torture. Amnesty certainly think so.

The FBI certainly want to dissociate their agents from the behaviour of the authorities in American prisons in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay and they have described their methods as "torture." (source http://www.democracynow.org)

I do not believe that the Law Lords are effective guardians of liberty and I think the FBI are just covering their assets.

Perhaps the cost of liberty is eternal vigilance - and that means an educated electorate. That is why teaching is a subversive activity :)

Unions had the slogans "Agitate, Educate, Organise, Control" on their banners a hundred years ago. The politicians have taken up the slogan "education education education" but what they mean is "control control control". It is time for teachers to take back control from the politicians. Nobody believes it is safe in their hands.

New Secretary of State for Education
Every time we get rid of some useless m**********r as secretary of state for education we breathe a sigh of relief....and then the next one is worse.

Clarke was less stupid than Blunkett but that is not much of a qualification. My cat is less stupid than Blunkett. He was the thickest Secretary of State for Education in living memory.

But Clarke was too weak to reverse Blunkett's policies and we will have to see if the new incumbent is actually any better:
*abolishing SATS
*putting an end to f******g stupid initiatives
*scrapping performance related pay
*relegating league tables
*having a policy for reducing workload which actually reduces workload
*putting an end to teaching by unqualified staff
*backing teachers who tackle indiscipline rather than setting pointless targets.
*spending some of the billions, which this government would otherwise squander, on providing decent salaries and pensions in the public sector.

and don't hold your breath!
None of the new Labour canaille will do anything.

http://socialistteachers.tripod.com

Poem culled from TES discussion forum
ASYLUM SEEKING DALEKS!
(For Ann Winterton)

They claim their planet's dying:
that soon it's going to blow
And so they're coming here - they say
they've nowhere else to go....
With their strange computer voices
and their one eye on a pole
They're moving in next door and then
they're signing on the dole.....

Asylum seeking Daleks
are landing here at noon!
Why can't we simply send them back
or stick them on the moon?
It says here in the Daily Mail
they're coming here to stay -
The Loony Lefties let them in!
The middle class will pay......

They say that they're all pacifists:
that doesn't wash with me!
The last time I saw one I hid
Weeks behind the settee...
Good Lord - they're pink. With purple bumps!
There's photos of them here!
Not just extra-terrestial....
The bloody things are queer!

Yes! Homosexual Daleks
And they're sponging off the State!
With huge Arts Council grants
to teach delinquents how to skate!
It's all here in the paper -
I'd better tell the wife!
For soon they will EXTERMINATE
Our British way of life.....

This satire on crass ignorance
and tabloid-fostered fear
Is at an end. Now let me give
One message, loud and clear.
Golf course, shop floor or BNP:
Smash bigotry and hate!
Asylum seekers - welcome here.
You racists: emigrate!

Changing Attitudes
There is a change in attitude which has left some people uneasy. When I was growing up in the 1950s being gay was illegal, barring women or black people from pubs was commonplace and there was an implied "racialism" as it was called then in popular culture.

When they made homosexual acts between male adults legal it was the end of the world! When they outlawed racialism with the race relations act it was "the end of free speech!"

There is a test question: "Do you think black people in this country get a raw deal." Every time they pose this question in Social Trends the number of people answering "Yes" increases and the number of young people answering "Yes" increases.

The BNP do not represent "the white race" and many of the people they will have to kill to get to power are white. "Either we will tranple the corpses of our enemies or they will trample our corpses" as their mentor uncle Adolf used to say.

The media has singled out a minority of the minority in attacking asylum seekers. In the 1930s of course that would have been the Jews. Some people would have cheerfully sent them back to Hitler's Germany. In many case sending back asylum seekers would mean the same.

Figures are exaggerated, the cost to the country is non-existent - people born outside the UK contribute more in taxes than they take out in benefits. It is only ignorance and prejudice which makes it a problem.

There are plenty of websites like http://www.asylumaid.org.uk where pupils can get information on both sides of the argument and it is a worthwhile exercise to make sure they are not manipulated by those whose only raison d'etre is hatred.

Racism
Racism
Ignorance
Prejudice
RIP

I had what could be described as a difference of opinion with campaigners against asylum seekers in Kent. I drew attention to some of the disingenuous mendacity they were engaging in - claiming asylum seekers were a drain on the health service when half the nurses and a quarter of the doctors are actually born overseas.....this led them to play their trump card.
Although my local hospital is in Kent, I actually live a couple of hundred yards from the Kent border in West Sussex. This was the clinching argument for them, I had no business interfering with Kentish matters if I was a foreigner from Sussex.
(Of course they had no objection to BNP activists being bussed down from London)
Interestingly they got a lot of support from a character using the internet soubriquet "Welsh Witch" and the BNP celebrate the birthday of a guy called Hitler who wasn't technically from Kent either.

TES debate on socialism
No ruling class has ever been able to conceive of a form of society beyond the one to which it owes its power and privileges. Capitalism is no more a "natural state of affairs" than feudalism or the social system of the pharoahs. It came. It will go.

Incidentally CIA documents show that the American government - despite its denials - was well aware of the attempted military coup against the government of Venezuela. Again a democratically elected government trying to carry out socialist measures and the US backing a military coup against it. Yet people continue to maintain Socialism=dictatorship; capitalism=democracy.

The Marxist theory of the state is difficult to summarise briefly but I will have a go:

1) Stripped of inessentials, the state consists of bodies of armed men.
2) The state is an instrument for the oppression of one class by another.
3) When class society vanishes, the state will wither away.

Lenin's alleged "departure" from this was to set out a program - including the election of all officials and for all officials to be subject to recall - in "The State and Revolution" which could bring this into existence.

The state existed in the USSR because it was an instrument for the rule of one class over another. It was termed a workers' state. Stalin utilised the isolation of the USSR to strengthen and reinforce the bureaucracy and to use a series of purges against the left and then against the right and finally against his own supporters to bolster his own position. Conquest's book "the Great Terror" details all this (and I don't think anybody could call Conquest a socialist!)

That is probably the shortest version of this theory which you will ever get and I urge anyone who takes these matters seriously to read Trotsky's "Revolution Betrayed" or "Bureaucratism or Workers' Power" by Roger Silverman and Ted Grant.

The people who exposed and fought against Stalin are now being dishonestly lumped together with Stalin. It really is not good enough.

There has been an extensive debate about socialism on the TES website: the contributions are collected here
http://user1951.tripod.com/discuss.htm