tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24882011914559387542024-03-13T02:08:26.557+00:00which we Greeks call atomsPhil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.comBlogger383125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-42236282374995658042019-04-11T17:42:00.003+01:002020-12-23T21:03:28.492+00:00This is just to say (Brexit remix)<div class="pr-poem">This is just to say<br />
<br />
I have taken<br />
the votes<br />
that were on<br />
the referendum<br />
<br />
the one<br />
you were probably<br />
thinking<br />
you had won<br />
<br />
Forgive me<br />
you were wrong<br />
so impecunious<br />
and so discounted</div>Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-63591042574174332082018-07-29T22:01:00.000+01:002018-07-29T22:01:41.030+01:00Abuse, and the Remain voters who enable itThere are numerous examples of European projects from which, we’ve been told, mainly by the EU, we’ll get nothing should we have the conceit to (Br)exit, never mind the much-anticipated problems with our food and medical supplies. Were we to use the marriage/divorce analogy these threats should strike us as the kind of relationship where one partner says to their disenchanted other “if you leave, you’ll get nothing, not even that for which you’ve so clearly contributed; life will be (made) difficult.”<br />
<br />
I voted Remain (I’m a little tired at feeling the need to say that), I was upset at the result, yet what to think of those whose anger at an impending separation is such that they blame the victim of the abuse, rather than the actions of the abuser? This is clearly an abusive relationship, and you know what they say about those. At least I thought I did.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-22630203310011472532018-06-04T17:21:00.000+01:002018-06-04T17:21:17.797+01:00Distracted boyfriend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTyj1qpkMY_N4NSBzQNTIFRQvbcdTysa0B0NvXvuAhSmgyBIM-Lrd-4aX0THYnfZYUcKu9lwt7mIRTh4LrzRGtvJrJrpyoWMxuHsFszDnQX-ujxQTjp9iZX0co8WEPTVOxl4f0V8-TE4/s1600/distracted+boyfriend+labour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin: 1em 0 0 0;"><img alt="Distracted boyfriend" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" width=100%" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTyj1qpkMY_N4NSBzQNTIFRQvbcdTysa0B0NvXvuAhSmgyBIM-Lrd-4aX0THYnfZYUcKu9lwt7mIRTh4LrzRGtvJrJrpyoWMxuHsFszDnQX-ujxQTjp9iZX0co8WEPTVOxl4f0V8-TE4/s1600/distracted+boyfriend+labour.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-10620400418279627392018-05-27T12:01:00.000+01:002018-05-27T12:01:08.834+01:00Kinder, gentler politics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpJDRpEQV71EBIdVcucZ_x-fGWtdYyHGogZmpyaNT7z2cbtTpWhnteyX9Sqau4Elz1l-hLMXtShZBwLqXFNDm6aUkYh8cflFqdqSjp81c1572GAWbrfMqJmJkvnU5A7-_vOKO_PQYqQE/s1600/kinder+gentler+politics.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpJDRpEQV71EBIdVcucZ_x-fGWtdYyHGogZmpyaNT7z2cbtTpWhnteyX9Sqau4Elz1l-hLMXtShZBwLqXFNDm6aUkYh8cflFqdqSjp81c1572GAWbrfMqJmJkvnU5A7-_vOKO_PQYqQE/s320/kinder+gentler+politics.png" width="299" /></a></div>
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-75440518181053954472018-03-31T20:09:00.000+01:002018-03-31T20:09:04.435+01:00Sound and furyIf it takes you two years to specifically address anti-Semitism without hiding behind “all forms of racism”, and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/23/corbyn-criticised-after-backing-artist-behind-antisemitic-mural" target="_blank">only when you’re cornered</a>…<br />
<br />
If your deputy one day promises to “eradicate” anti-Semitism, and the next claims to be unable to address the issue of a prominent member of the NEC questioning the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/28/christine-shawcroft-labour-disputes-panel-chair-resigns-antisemitism-case" target="_blank">suspension of an alleged holocaust denier</a>...<br />
<br />
If after promising to act, you have local Constituency Labour Parties threatening an MP with deselection or, in the case of Bristol West, being called in to explain their actions in supporting the Jewish community by attending an anti-racist demo…<br />
<br />
I’d say that counts as enabling the behaviour that you claim isn’t in your name. The rest is just noise, signifying nothing.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-80215987772054180162018-01-30T21:27:00.001+00:002018-01-30T21:27:51.229+00:00You can have any representation you wantDemocracy, the great leveller. It cares not for education, nor wealth; no one vote is more important than the other. In this, if only this, we are all equal.<br />
<br />
The poor, the uneducated, are - we are told - more likely to have voted Leave. Conversely this means the educated and the wealthy are more likely to have voted Remain. Despite my somewhat questionable academic achievement, and my even more questionable finances, I voted Remain too. I think leaving the EU is a mistake.<br />
<br />
Yet were the referendum result somehow overturned what does this say? That some people don't count, that - despite what you've been told - some people don't matter. If the result is overturned, I hope we’ll all have the good grace to stop asking why some feel disenfranchised, when the cause should be obvious. It simply doesn’t cut it to say you can have any representation you want, so long as it’s the EU.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-54377626937404628762017-12-26T22:49:00.001+00:002017-12-26T22:49:49.777+00:00SovereigntyFellow remain voters tempted to snark at ‘Leavers’ complaints that sovereignty won is now being (mis)used by parliament – along the lines of “isn’t this what they asked for?”, and presumably followed by much self-congratulatory guffawing at their own cleverness – are rather missing the point. That is that sovereignty lies somewhere along the line of existing only within <i>the people</i>, to something granted to parliament through the express wishes of <i>the people</i>. Either way it suggests to me that whether by accident or otherwise, your Leave voter’s position on this particular detail is more nuanced; or, in other words, correct.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-86676343673723533742017-12-24T15:23:00.000+00:002018-10-22T21:12:18.022+01:00This is just to say<div class="pr-poem">
This is just to say<br />
<br />
I have wrapped<br />
the presents<br />
that were in<br />
the cupboard<br />
<br />
and which<br />
you were probably<br />
thinking were<br />
for you<br />
<br />
Forgive me<br />
yours were not<br />
so important<br />
and so forgotten.</div>
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-13643483996147503952017-06-10T21:26:00.000+01:002017-12-26T22:46:21.391+00:00We see what we want to seeI know nothing. I was reasonably sure of Remain, more confident that Hilary would clout Trump, and convinced that people would see through Corbyn. And now I wonder where the percentages lie; how many voted for the party despite their leader, how many ignored or denied his past, or accepted his own warped history of those <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2017/comment/jeremy-corbyns-past-views-on-conflict-in-northern-ireland-leave-many-questions-to-be-answered-35780405.html" target="_blank">troubled times</a>, or, worryingly, how many see no shame at all.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-42633185767269061122015-11-18T22:43:00.000+00:002015-11-18T22:43:16.165+00:00Sorry, not sorryNot so long ago I described something as being “a bit mental” and it’s quite possible I will do again. I probably shouldn’t, we’re better than that and in the wrong context (every context?) it can be construed as offensive.<br />
<br />
There is though - and I may be flattering myself here - a big gap between my fault and that of Ken Livingstone. Today, the former Mayor of London described a political opponent as being “obviously very depressed and disturbed” and needing “psychiatric help”. And all because Kevan Jones (same party, but it’s difficult to tell) had suggested Ken wasn’t up to his new job. This would sound like the usual rough and tumble of politics were it not for Jones’s known history of depression; something he had spoken about in the House of Commons.<br />
<br />
Livingstone did apologise, but only after much strong arming from Jeremy Corbyn, then watered it down in a television head-to-head with the standard “sorry if you’re offended” non-apology, suggesting that, anyway, the other guy had started it. I could have left it at one politician saying something unpleasant about another - it happens all the time, it’s a democracy in ‘rude health’ - were it not for an earlier claim to be unaware of Jones’s mental health condition. This was plausible enough in itself, but when accompanied with some vague reference to not having been around Parliament for some years felt like an embellishment too far.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-68554955794178806402015-11-18T20:34:00.001+00:002015-11-18T20:34:48.077+00:00The function of prayer"The function of prayer", wrote <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard" target="_blank">Søren Kierkegaard</a>, "is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays". Maybe, just maybe, that's why some choose prayer in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34818994" target="_blank">times such as these</a>. So enough with the snarking over "pray for Paris"; it may not be my way, but if it helps others it would be intolerant of me to say "no". And I'm pretty sure that, if anything, it's intolerance, not religion, that's at the "root of all evil".Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-41377544288904818512015-09-05T22:07:00.001+01:002015-09-05T22:07:20.924+01:00Jeremy Corbyn Top Trumps<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-compares-actions-of-isis-to-us-military-and-says-some-of-what-they-have-done-is-quite-appalling-10464596.html" target="_blank">Isis and the U.S military</a> (on state-controlled Russia Today), the World Trade Centre and Bin Laden's death (on Iran’s Press TV), the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-criticised-by-victims-families-after-failing-to-condemn-the-ira-10442683.html" target="_blank">IRA and the British army</a>... One would be bad enough, but the soon-to-be-leader of the Labour party, often using/used by the state apparatus of some dubious regime, has a serial inability to condemn one without the other, and in doing so is surely condemning his own party to ignominious defeat in 2020.<br />
<br />
Were it not for his election on the back of a large number of recent ‘registered and affiliated supporters’ I’d say they deserve it. As it is, I will actually feel sorry for them. They might be the official opposition, but it will be a joke opposition akin to Militant Tendency in the 1980s. And the Government, or the more stupid elements within, emboldened by the clear path before them, will become more intemperate. I don’t think that was the plan.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-14603874120861665292015-05-22T21:30:00.000+01:002015-10-28T20:13:11.183+00:00RememberingIt might have been the first time we met, it was dinner at his house, in total we were four and at one point he stood up behind his chair to tear into the Conservatives, party and supporters alike, before adding with a gesture in my direction “present company excepted”. I turned to my partner and remarked “Do you know, I think he’s beginning to warm to me!” Maybe, but it was certainly true to say I’d warmed to him.<br />
<br />
We met many times, often talking politics, occasionally agreeing, always enjoying the sparring involved. Most recently was the Saturday after the election for one of the most enjoyable evenings I can remember.<br />
<br />
The following Wednesday he died, and every sentence since is charged with unintended meaning. I'm sensible to the obvious truth that others will be hurting more, yet I will miss my new friend.<br />
<br />
Julian Barnes wrote “the fact that someone is dead may mean that they are not alive, but doesn't mean that they do not exist”. Paul cared about the things that matter; there was a genuine concern for the disadvantaged, love for his family, compassion underneath an acerbic wit. That first night as we were leaving he said to his wife, and loud enough for all to hear “Make sure they’re gone”.<br />
<br />
He can still make me smile.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-26579376871913457102015-03-13T12:35:00.000+00:002015-03-13T12:35:21.162+00:00Fighting one silly argument with anotherIf I suggested that our current record levels of employment were related to equality legislation then some might call me out on such <a href="https://twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/575936702780477440" target="_blank">a ridiculous claim</a>. And my offence wouldn’t be lessened if it were in response to a claim from a less reputable source that some UK employers aren’t hiring due to said legislation.<br />
<br />
There is some anecdotal evidence for the latter, but whether the problem is perceived or real isn’t really the point. Every time you make a foolish point arguing against UKIP, it has the unfortunate effect of making UKIP look less foolish.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-1409533869521866212015-03-08T21:26:00.000+00:002015-03-08T21:26:20.376+00:00Ed the BraveWorrying though it is to see television broadcasters attempting to dictate the terms of democratic debate – in that they <i>must</i> be on television – I could hardly blame a leader of the opposition in attempting to make capital of the Prime Minister’s refusal to dance. I do however object to his latest promise to enshrine in law such a requirement. This is an idea so stupid that the silence on Twitter, whose left-wing contingent are certainly not reticent in backing stupid ideas, was deafening.<br />
<br />
Not even an article in The Guardian newspaper, whose loyalty in towing the party line is something to behold, was enough to save Ed Miliband, and this despite finding (and one can only imagine how hard they must have tried) a professor in support. Unfortunately said professor fatally undermined their argument by mentioning Prime Minister’s Question Time, which despite the raucous and occasionally vacuous nature of such occasions provides exactly what’s being asked for, only differing in being less polite, albeit a more accurate representation of our political representatives.<br />
<br />
What’s really frightening though is how easily an irrelevant issue such as this can show the authoritarian side of the Labour party. If they’re prepared to legislate on something that the public are more than capable of judging for themselves, one wonders what other decisions they’ll decide to take out of our hands.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-70591102043848560782014-12-31T16:21:00.000+00:002014-12-31T16:21:34.574+00:00Herman Van Rompuy versus The Cat in the Hat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9w5sGhrow_rGX-5asmE7TWFqv2e1CaHUzzAdJzw6_prHwuX0fGSQwmVsvEOz1mmiMY9gv_KzZ0wf44nJe-s1ry1PCUA6SEYKHAs_HJCwfaf9YQ7qVmz7kQcnH3yLILO42BgJ2Z_EsYtw/s1600/cat-in-the-hat.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9w5sGhrow_rGX-5asmE7TWFqv2e1CaHUzzAdJzw6_prHwuX0fGSQwmVsvEOz1mmiMY9gv_KzZ0wf44nJe-s1ry1PCUA6SEYKHAs_HJCwfaf9YQ7qVmz7kQcnH3yLILO42BgJ2Z_EsYtw/s1600/cat-in-the-hat.jpg" style="width: 100%;" /></a></div>
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-20560206985634720792014-10-29T23:04:00.000+00:002014-10-30T21:56:30.171+00:00Immortal Diamond<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlSuP4JM4TFLCPe1ICigKtx8dOACXL2FDPExjPHPZJtOdomUYAKgQiF1csHoWtsLD8lPtUnqgWilibhJoKwt3eZE6GqPueNyM6QSdeQKhmqfQDQ94bVD5EKR-XY8ORWe5VS6vzowDOD0/s1600/Immortal-Diamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0.5em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlSuP4JM4TFLCPe1ICigKtx8dOACXL2FDPExjPHPZJtOdomUYAKgQiF1csHoWtsLD8lPtUnqgWilibhJoKwt3eZE6GqPueNyM6QSdeQKhmqfQDQ94bVD5EKR-XY8ORWe5VS6vzowDOD0/s1600/Immortal-Diamond.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...all the past mistakes must be included as teaching moments and not just something to hate.</blockquote>
As befits one who seems to spend most of his days sat in the bedroom working on his laptop - I work from home, honestly - when I recently (or should that be finally?) finished reading <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Immortal-Diamond-Search-True-Self/dp/0281070172" target="_blank">Immortal Diamond</a> I updated the status on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/philruse" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>, which being linked to my Facebook account posted an update there. And then I had this extraordinary thought, given the subject matter should I add a comment to the effect that I’m not “one of them”.<br />
<br />
I’m only half joking too, such are the negative connotations associated with religious belief amongst many of those I know. Nevertheless I’ll occasionally feel duty bound to correct the extremes, when feeling particularly bullish to remind some that atrocities supposedly in the name of religion (and there’s an argument to be had there too) pale in comparison to those of the last century, the bloodiest we’ve yet managed; it’s an old repeated argument I know, but theirs is much older. Still, even then I’ll sometimes mitigate my offense; I’m not “one of them”. Is this to add weight to my argument or am I sometimes the coward?<br />
<br />
It was interesting, though a difficult book to read. Those moments that made me stop and think were outweighed by those of frustration at repeated references to scripture. I was disappointed, as if being excluded from the obviously decent and inclusive nature of Richard Rohr. Well, it is a Christian book so I can hardly complain. Was I any better than those silly people who interpret the Bible literally rather than spiritually or, if you will, metaphorically? Next time, if there is a next time, I must try harder.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-87015122182700522092014-10-06T19:18:00.000+01:002014-10-06T19:18:38.722+01:00I, AtheistAtheist; it’s at best a useless description, carrying as it does a hint of the passive aggressive. I think we’re better off stating what we are rather than what we’re not. We can do without conveniently attributing the root of our ills to some other social group, you know, the one to which we don’t belong. Let’s show the courage, the common decency, to take ownership of the evil with which we’re troubled. It’s not that it’s our fault, but neither is it theirs.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-48000268355852195912014-10-05T21:46:00.000+01:002014-12-31T16:21:57.245+00:00Lost<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9UlT6OSMXCC_c_3ngXbPAkgi4re3FfQFxh-O4b3OkaCa_9j8eer4kS7eqnHU54hpD2wSeJDR6wsUT656v8F253Ms8Zd919OrQVpXc4W4dB3I4PGqEHOn0j6UHTWl3AHwTDccVAtxB_4/s1600/LOST.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Sign - Use us or lose us" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9UlT6OSMXCC_c_3ngXbPAkgi4re3FfQFxh-O4b3OkaCa_9j8eer4kS7eqnHU54hpD2wSeJDR6wsUT656v8F253Ms8Zd919OrQVpXc4W4dB3I4PGqEHOn0j6UHTWl3AHwTDccVAtxB_4/s1600/LOST.jpg" width="100%" /></a></div>
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-40135852410769518782014-07-31T20:42:00.000+01:002014-07-31T20:42:44.280+01:00It’s the economyFor some time now I have been perplexed by that seeming lack of correlation between those polls asking voter intent, and those asking who they most trust with the economy. When it comes to the economy the Conservatives have a healthy lead, when it comes to how people intend to vote...<br />
<br />
I asked a friend, a Socialist, why this might be and she came up with the rather surprising reply that people could be selfish. It hadn’t occurred to me to ascribe this particular motive, though I confess my own suspicion - that people could be stupid - is hardly less provocative.<br />
<br />
There are of course other measurements, yet it is a strong economy that enables our love for education and the health service to be more than empty gesturing. It is a strong economy that enables our support for the vulnerable. Those things we live for, by which we measure ourselves, are made possible by that thing that enables us to live.
So perhaps I should expect the ill-advised “they’re privatising the NHS” scare-mongering (otherwise known as bollocks) from my Labour friends; imputing evil to their opposition is all they have to offer.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-74419247749786856182014-07-30T17:59:00.000+01:002014-07-30T17:59:34.701+01:00How much?My daughter, who may as well be a teenager, though that age will be soon enough upon me, recently rescinded a previous decision over a school-arranged French exchange by deciding she now wished to go. Naturally, on being told the cost I exhibited as much horror as I could muster. “I could”, I suggested, “sell part of my liver”. To which she replied “you’ll get more for a kidney”.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-70197865753561613232013-11-06T22:04:00.001+00:002013-11-06T22:04:45.263+00:00Hold your prayersI have been mulling on a note informing the intended recipient that she would be prayed for, wondering somewhat facetiously whether those prayers wouldn’t best be put on hold, given this was what had happened to the appointment. God bless the idiosyncratic ways of our glorious NHS, inviting prospective patients in for a pre-op assessment without knowing the date of the operation itself. Whilst I love the principle, I continue to be bemused - and that’s being polite - at the level of waste and inefficiency we grant this 1.7 million tentacled behemoth.<br />
<br />
I am perplexed too at those ivory-towered dwelling hospital consultants who in railing against reform speak of the dangers of fragmentation, giving the wholly erroneous perception that the many parts of the NHS sing in perfect harmony. Imagine a public diktat requiring Tesco, admittedly a minnow in comparison, to only sell food it had grown itself. Somehow they manage a huge number of suppliers in a joined-up fashion and in doing so provide a better service to the customer.<br />
<br />
It is of course a heresy to compare the NHS to anything; it is unique, real-world comparisons simply don’t apply. Foolish me to suggest that any concerns over cherry-picking by those evil private corporations might be allayed with an overly simplistic analogy on 2-for-1 tubs of ice-cream; “when the offer stops we shop elsewhere” I suggested. “But you can’t” she replied, “You can’t compare the NHS to ice-cream”.
Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-26876383655637131072013-09-12T00:03:00.000+01:002013-09-12T00:03:24.487+01:00Masturbation for the massesBlimey Miley, that was quite a show you put on. I didn’t watch it of course and had it not been for Twitter I wouldn’t even have known it had happened. As it is I still don’t know what VMA stands for and I’m only vaguely aware of who you are, but then I’m in my late forties and not, let’s hope, the target audience. That would be a million teenage boys and girls for whom it’s good material; well, for the boys anyway for whom you give such relief. I’m not so sure what it does for your female following but I should think it involves an unhealthy body image and neutering the English language. Yes, I think you’re a poor example (I would say that wouldn’t I) but if Elvis couldn’t manage then what chance have you in stunting their growth?<br />
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I am curious as to what Miley’s Dad, who was in the same line of work - singing that is, not twerking, whatever that is - made of it all. From what I read he has a connection to one of those over-bearing parent groups with a never-ending fear of moral corruption. I however couldn’t muster the outrage, besides half-heartedly musing on a Cyrus family subterfuge; it’s all so banal. So banal I’ve just devoted two paragraphs on the subject. So trivial that after a long hiatus I choose this rather than Ed Miliband’s “Neville Chamberlain” moment. What am I thinking?<br />
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It’s a crisis of something or other - I‘d say faith only I’m not that way inclined. I have thought on it <a href="http://blog.philruse.com/2009/01/faith.html">before</a>, though with more conviction. Science tells me everything, or will, given time; the when, the how, the why; and in doing so it tells me nothing. Science endows and then strips the world of meaning; though I recognise the two are separate - the actual and the spiritual - I speak in a non-religious sense as I haven’t the imagination for much else; the world is what it is and often I’m finding that sad.<br />
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I appreciated the bluntness; his explanation that life <i>appears</i> to have no meaning because life <i>has</i> <a href="http://blog.philruse.com/2011/06/happiness-of-angels.html">no meaning</a>; and what do you do, asked Camus, once you’ve discovered this ‘truth’? There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn, he says, and that appeals too. But enough of the self-flagellation; to deny the world a meaning is not (this atheist prays) to deny myself an internal meaning, and that can be as I choose. Kindness, compassion and companionship; and pain - it would be false to deny the pain of those I have (and those I will) hurt, though I might wish otherwise; and not forgetting love, to deny love would be the greatest sin of all. God help us if science finds a reason for that.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-3141411865232193992013-05-06T18:34:00.000+01:002013-05-06T22:36:50.944+01:00I’m not a hypocrite, but...There were some particularly nasty comments flowing in the vicinity of “English comedian, actor and presenter” Rufus Hound and former Conservative MP and “English author” Louise Mensch the other day; two people of whom I’d normally have little interest. I ought, I suppose, to be more upset at Hound’s description of his adversary as a “cocksucker” – should that be one word, or two? – yet outrage hardly needs my help. His mealy mouthed defence, sadly all too familiar, was spectacularly ill-thought as it effectively amounted to ‘anything goes’ when someone fails to share the same point of view - so long as you can claim it’s figurative; which of course most (all?) Anglo-Saxon insults are.<br />
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Neither do I have much time for UKIP, yet included in his abusive rant was one clarification that reminded me of the “I’m not racist, but” ad-hominem attributions to the silly party from various right-on commentators. Our comedian says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I believe in a free press, for what it's worth, but I don't believe the press we have currently is capable of handling that responsibility.</blockquote>
… which would make for great satire were it not for the fact he’s serious. And unfortunately there are far too many serious types who share this contradiction. If you believe in a free press, there is no qualification, there is no Leveson-inspired regulatory body, or if there is, then you don’t, and you should stop pretending otherwise. In just the same way as one can’t say “I’m not racist but”, you can’t claim to “believe in a free press, but”. Or to put it yet another way, yes, you are and no, you don’t.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488201191455938754.post-72087754942220007382013-04-20T16:30:00.001+01:002013-04-20T16:31:14.051+01:00Seconds out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu45yzmSs_WJJvh5I_mpd1lpHzcvH7GzQIGqL7b-Yi0JL3kjZKm-FIWDITkQymvOJVcHcUChvZ3K1rONZtOyfZupz85CH25mi7NMXLDV5hUeSjuzBCKTra5ML4rCrssFdQgP4kvxZljpA/s1600/munchkin-fury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Munchkin fury at Maggie Ding Dong song" border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu45yzmSs_WJJvh5I_mpd1lpHzcvH7GzQIGqL7b-Yi0JL3kjZKm-FIWDITkQymvOJVcHcUChvZ3K1rONZtOyfZupz85CH25mi7NMXLDV5hUeSjuzBCKTra5ML4rCrssFdQgP4kvxZljpA/s320/munchkin-fury.jpg" width="169" /></a></div>
Margaret Thatcher’s seemingly much anticipated death provoked all the expected nonsense from those on the left determined to offend, and those on the right determined to be offended. I was both puzzled and despairing and, as ever, determined to avoid conflict. Thus I have passed in the past on the temptation to question derogatory comments on the death of a disabled child - I mean, where do you start? And if I could do that I could resist providing an alternative view of the Iron Lady; besides, you really can’t argue with “fact” and “<a href="http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/04/23/online-football-debate-ended-after-fan-punctuates-opinion-with-end-of/" target="_blank">end of</a>” in the same comment.<br />
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Events have overtaken me, yet I was stopped in my tracks some weeks before by a post comparing the Tory government’s supposed campaign of persecution with the “scapegoating of the Jews in the early years of the Third Reich”. Wow. I’ll credit their omission of the Liberal party as a deliberate insult to the junior coalition partners, and quite funny at that; I’ve noticed how uncomfortable my few acquaintances of that persuasion can get when joking “we’re all friends now”.<br />
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Silly comments from people with a far superior education; I’ll never get it. And I let it go because whilst I may decry the ease with which those in the middle ground (and I’d like to pretend I’m one) cede control to the more virulent of their side (and there’s always a side), if your friends of a different political hue are “off on one” it’s easier to let them get it out of their system. I’m wrong of course, I know that. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi" target="_blank">In a gentle way, you can shake the world</a>; cynicism or a general weariness, I’m not entirely sure I believe, but the occasional nudge won’t hurt.Phil Rusehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13040474351783645703noreply@blogger.com0