I have watched the debate on the Scottish Independence vote with a growing sense of dismay.
Bakc in 1979, I would have crawled over broken glass to have voted for an Independent Scotland as we had a vibrant economy, high employment and the potential for growth. But now, we have an economy moving with all the speed of an arthritic tortoise, employment at such a nadir that you have 300 people applying for a part-time post and the potential for even more shrinkage.
Let's address some of the issues.
Scotland will have more jobs if we are independent. More jobs? Really? And where are these jobs coming from? I have lost count of how many companies have declared their intent to move out of Soctland if there is a majority for the Yes campaign. And this is against a background of the UK losing jobs quicker than a dealer at Barings Bank could lose money. Someone, somewhere is delusional and I don't think it is I.
Scotland will retain the pound. Again, a poorly thought out sound-bite that played into the hands of the Better Together campaign. So we keep the pound, but not the debts? That'll be a first in international politics. Every country ever formed as an independant state has ended up carrying the bill for what went before them. Each and every time, a SNP supporter tries to set out a sound economic position, all it shows is a lack of forethought on the part of the No campaign.
We will implement all forms of social care that we have not yet implemented due to the increase of revenue. Now on this, opinion is divided. Many additional forms of social care can be added in the short term (5-10 years), but after that, the oil revenues dry up and there will be huge holes in the Scottish Budget and where will the extra money come from?
Scotland will take its' place among fellow EU members. Hold on! Scotland will be a brand new economic, social and political entity. And as such, Scotland has no guarantee of being allowed to join the EU. There is no doubt in my mind that an independant Scotland would eventually join the EU, but that is at least 5 years down the line, if not longer. And that also rips apart the idea that if we left the pound, we would immediately join the Euro.
Now the one that worries me the most is the one that has been addressed the least. How will this affect Scotland in the long-term? I have seen little that considers Scotland or the UK in 100 years or 200 years hence. Will my great-grandchildren cheer or curse me if I vote for an Independant Scotland? All the rhetoric has looked at the next two parliamentary terms (5 to 10 years) but little has even considered anything beyond that time.
This is a society changing vote. Whatever you choose, make sure you vote.
Friday 8 August 2014
Thursday 5 December 2013
Jacob Zuma Is Wrong
Nelson Mandela died today. At 95 years old, he has seen many things and many changes. Some of those changes he helped to bring about.
He was a rare man for this world to behold and I can only think of one other person that was so beloved of this mortal coil and that was Mother Theresa.
I do not say that he was a saint but he did that rarest of things and saw something that hurt all his fellow South Africans and effected a change so profound that it rang around the world.
Apartheid was a division of his country that damaged everyone. The effects on the black members of this country were obvious with brutal beatings, oppression and a complete lack of representation. The effects on the white members were less obvious, but Mandela saw that apartheid was killing his country by degrees and helped to bring this odious system to an end.
But his effect on the rest of the world was equally profound. Anyone who wants to be a racist now has to deny Mandela and that is impossible.
Jacob Zuma is wrong as South Africa may have lost its greatest son, yet the world has lost its most precious one. Rest in peace Madiba.
He was a rare man for this world to behold and I can only think of one other person that was so beloved of this mortal coil and that was Mother Theresa.
I do not say that he was a saint but he did that rarest of things and saw something that hurt all his fellow South Africans and effected a change so profound that it rang around the world.
Apartheid was a division of his country that damaged everyone. The effects on the black members of this country were obvious with brutal beatings, oppression and a complete lack of representation. The effects on the white members were less obvious, but Mandela saw that apartheid was killing his country by degrees and helped to bring this odious system to an end.
But his effect on the rest of the world was equally profound. Anyone who wants to be a racist now has to deny Mandela and that is impossible.
Jacob Zuma is wrong as South Africa may have lost its greatest son, yet the world has lost its most precious one. Rest in peace Madiba.
Friday 25 January 2013
Food! Glorious food!
Now I like my grub. There is no denying it. But I am coming to loathe the snobbery that is creeping into the British way of life about food. I go to my local shop and I find beef, venison, pork and kosher sausages. Which is great. I also find Bratwursts, hot dogs, Frankfurters and the South African thingy which I can never remember. This is all good as it means that we are open, as a culture, to new things. But, does it mean that it is better than our normal diet? Well, I for one, say NO!
It is nice to have something different, but it does not mean that you can look down your nose at the standard fare of this country. Just because it is cheap does not mean that it is automatically bad or rubbish. I walk around our local superstore and find that they are selling haunches of ham for £75! Admittedly, it is Pancetta ham deep smoked in the wilds of Italy, but £15 a kilo (That's £7 a pound in old money!). I mean, there are people who have that as a weekly budget. But what is worse is the empty-headed idiots who spout drivel about how it is the only ham worth buying and they never eat anything else. My God! What world are these people living in? They are kids on the streets of Britain who are starving to death because their family can't afford a decent diet.
Before you go all Daily Mail on me, please let me remind you that for every case of feckless sponger that is splashed across the front page of that publication, there are dozens of families who suffer because the main bread-winners have lost their job and they can't afford to eat. In fact, I'll bet that the parents, in these familes, are losing weight because they would rather starve than see their kids do without.
So just to help a bit, here's a recipe that I made up and it feeds the four of us. Get a packet of cooking bacon (you know the off-cuts that aren't the right shape to make rashers) from Sa**sb**ys, three mugs of rice, some soy sauce (it's 69 pence at T**co right now), smart price mixed herbs, garlic pepper (either that or get garlic granules and some pepper), water and some tinned or frozen veg.
Stick some oil in a frying pan, dash in soy sauce (I go for 10 splashes) to suit before you turn on the hob. As it heats up, throw in enough mixed herbs, garlic and pepper to your taste. Once it is hot enough, put in the bacon and cook it. Check you like the taste or it's a waste of good food and time. As the bacon is cooking in the frying pan, put your rice on in a pan and add the veg so they cook together (that way the tastes mix in). Drain the oil (once the bacon is cooked) and pour it in with the rice and veg. (I also use the fat that has collected from the Grilling machine as it is a healthier way to use it and saves wasting it). Let it all cook together and once your rice is done to your taste, serve it up. It's enough to feed four or five depending on your appetites and it's filling and sort of healthy-ish.
Working it out, it comes to about 40 pence a serving. Even then, it could be cheaper as there is all the bits left over that you can use in other recipes/experiments!
It is nice to have something different, but it does not mean that you can look down your nose at the standard fare of this country. Just because it is cheap does not mean that it is automatically bad or rubbish. I walk around our local superstore and find that they are selling haunches of ham for £75! Admittedly, it is Pancetta ham deep smoked in the wilds of Italy, but £15 a kilo (That's £7 a pound in old money!). I mean, there are people who have that as a weekly budget. But what is worse is the empty-headed idiots who spout drivel about how it is the only ham worth buying and they never eat anything else. My God! What world are these people living in? They are kids on the streets of Britain who are starving to death because their family can't afford a decent diet.
Before you go all Daily Mail on me, please let me remind you that for every case of feckless sponger that is splashed across the front page of that publication, there are dozens of families who suffer because the main bread-winners have lost their job and they can't afford to eat. In fact, I'll bet that the parents, in these familes, are losing weight because they would rather starve than see their kids do without.
So just to help a bit, here's a recipe that I made up and it feeds the four of us. Get a packet of cooking bacon (you know the off-cuts that aren't the right shape to make rashers) from Sa**sb**ys, three mugs of rice, some soy sauce (it's 69 pence at T**co right now), smart price mixed herbs, garlic pepper (either that or get garlic granules and some pepper), water and some tinned or frozen veg.
Stick some oil in a frying pan, dash in soy sauce (I go for 10 splashes) to suit before you turn on the hob. As it heats up, throw in enough mixed herbs, garlic and pepper to your taste. Once it is hot enough, put in the bacon and cook it. Check you like the taste or it's a waste of good food and time. As the bacon is cooking in the frying pan, put your rice on in a pan and add the veg so they cook together (that way the tastes mix in). Drain the oil (once the bacon is cooked) and pour it in with the rice and veg. (I also use the fat that has collected from the Grilling machine as it is a healthier way to use it and saves wasting it). Let it all cook together and once your rice is done to your taste, serve it up. It's enough to feed four or five depending on your appetites and it's filling and sort of healthy-ish.
Working it out, it comes to about 40 pence a serving. Even then, it could be cheaper as there is all the bits left over that you can use in other recipes/experiments!
Sunday 25 November 2012
I like truckin'
I can't believe the weather in which we will drive. Pounding rain, zero visibility fog, blinding on-coming traffic. None of it seems to matter as we will drive in all conditions and for the most spurious of reasons.
I remember my mother driving to see her mother in December. It was after six so stygian darkness abounded and we were travelling down country lanes with farm cottages to give us a rough idea of where we were. Added to that the snow was coming down in sheets and the windscreen wipers were barely up to the task of keeping the screen clear so that she could see the next patch of road. Madness! I tell ya, it was madness! But, my mother had made her weekly visit since she had learned to drive and a bit of snow was not going to stop her. She was a tad stubborn that way.
What brings it to mind is the horrendous rain that we have had in the past week and I have travelled the length of the M6 to house-hunt. Driving in the dark while squinting to figure out if that light ahead is a car three hundred feet away or a truck you are about to ram is not my idea of fun!
But I do like some of the weather you can only get while driving. Tootling about in the fog is not that great. But if you are on a main road, and the road is well-travelled, then you get a tunnel effect as the heat of the vehicles chase away the fog. To me, that never gets old and it just looks fantastic to get a tunnel of light around you.
So maybe, I can believe the weather in which we drive...
I remember my mother driving to see her mother in December. It was after six so stygian darkness abounded and we were travelling down country lanes with farm cottages to give us a rough idea of where we were. Added to that the snow was coming down in sheets and the windscreen wipers were barely up to the task of keeping the screen clear so that she could see the next patch of road. Madness! I tell ya, it was madness! But, my mother had made her weekly visit since she had learned to drive and a bit of snow was not going to stop her. She was a tad stubborn that way.
What brings it to mind is the horrendous rain that we have had in the past week and I have travelled the length of the M6 to house-hunt. Driving in the dark while squinting to figure out if that light ahead is a car three hundred feet away or a truck you are about to ram is not my idea of fun!
But I do like some of the weather you can only get while driving. Tootling about in the fog is not that great. But if you are on a main road, and the road is well-travelled, then you get a tunnel effect as the heat of the vehicles chase away the fog. To me, that never gets old and it just looks fantastic to get a tunnel of light around you.
So maybe, I can believe the weather in which we drive...
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