Proceedings of the Castle Aching Parish Council, 1905

[MrWolf]

No worries, @Nearholmer   people have made an awful lot of assumptions about my thoughts on the general state of humanity, hence I don't generally air my opinions. This thread though seems genuinely interesting.

I've been called everything from fascist to tree hugger, so probably I'm well balanced!

I think that because I've been around various groups with different agendas via work and social life, I've heard some very extreme views in all directions, all of which don't actually benefit anybody much beyond the person expressing them. I stopped being involved with artists groups because many have a left wing attitude and modus operandi equal to the alt right. I don't care for either. As W. Heath Robinson said in one of his few political cartoons, shortly before WWII that depicted a uniformed thug with a swastika on one arm and a hammer and sickle on the other: "It's all a matter of arm bands".  A pity he didn't live long enough to see that he was right.

There's a great deal of talk from both sides about "democracy" but neither believe it, it's a case of I have spoken, if you question my world view, you must be one of them. Both like to surround themselves with yes men, so it's jobs for the boys all round.

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by MrWolf

[Nearholmer]

I got called twice within three years, the probability of which is ludicrously small. First time was needed, and served. Second time, went to court on the Monday and was dismissed because they had no case for us to hear.

[Regularity]

A statue of Colton was erected because he did at least act as a benefactor to Bristol, doing some “good works” with his share of proceeds from the slave trade. 
This is in contrast to some of the other families who made money by selling other people and kept it to themselves, such as the Cumberbatchs…

 

I think the new home for the statue, plus the story behind how it came to be there and the controversy behind it, has done a lot to raise the issue and encourage discussion, which is what is happening here.

 

Yes, the protestors did break the law, but it was done in service of increasing awareness and has, largely, been successful in doing this. Seems like the jury thought so too when dispensing a fair outcome.

 

Sometimes, the important thing is not the outcome of the trial, but that the trial took place, and the law was seen to be done. As was justice.

[Compound2632]

10 hours ago, MrWolf said:

my personal thoughts are that the statue could have had a use. It could have been incorporated into a permanent display highlighting the fact that this is most people's view of slavery and educating them that slavery is still thriving.

 

But is that not what has happened, in the event?

 

Perhaps it should have happened sooner but if that had been the case, the whole question would have attracted less attention, whereas it has in the event brought into the light of day the attitudes of various individuals and groups, from cabinet ministers to jurypersons.

[MrWolf]

It was and I didn't word it too well.

What I was trying to point out is that slavery is very much alive and well and it's not just trafficked migrants,  it's people who were born here too of all backgrounds and a lot more than you might think.

Not enough is being done to stop it and bring the guilty to justice.

 

[Andy Hayter]

agreed Mr W.  We have had cases in the NE England of people convicted of exploiting others with limited intelligence/learning problems for many years. 

Then there were the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay.

Tip of an iceberg.  

[MrWolf]

Indeed, IIRC the cockle pickers had already been pulled in by the immigration service in nearby Bolton Le Sands. The immigration service were told that they could not detain them because it was a breach of their human rights as China flatly refuses to take back anyone who has left their country illegally.

So they released them back to their own people and within a couple of weeks they were dead.

 

[uax6]

Back to NoVax, and its good to see that yet again common sense has prevailed, meaning that a clear message about lying on immigration forms and actually being a public health risk has been confirmed and that he is due to be removed from Oz. I'm hoping that the 3 year visa ban will also be enforced for the full period.

 

Hopefully this will help him realise that with celebrity comes responsibility, and that just being rich and good at hitting balls over a net doesn't mean that you get your own way all the time.

 

Well done !

 

Andy g  

[monkeysarefun]

English cricket team thinks "kicked out before he'd had a chance to even play?.. Why didn't we think of that!"

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

English cricket team thinks "kicked out before he'd had a chance to even play?.. Why didn't we think of that!"

 

I'll have you know that the English are the best in the world at inventing things and then becoming increasingly bad at them, football, cricket, railways, the list goes on....

[Compound2632]

25 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I'll have you know that the English are the best in the world at inventing things and then becoming increasingly bad at them, football, cricket, railways, the list goes on....

 

... making lists.

 

I mean, he only got as far as three items.

[MrWolf]

26 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

... making lists.

 

I mean, he only got as far as three items.

 

I didn't want to come across all cynical and judgemental by providing an exhaustive list old chap...

[DonB]

11 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

I didn't want to come across all cynical and judgemental by providing an exhaustive list old chap...

 

OH! Don't be shy, tempted to ask why change your way of life now?  But I won't....

I'll just add to your list "Smart Motorways" 

[alastairq]

The purpose of motorways is to allow the slowest and most cumbersome of vehicles  the quickest route between A & B.

It's about time everybody realised that, and stopped using them as racetracks?

[rocor]

54 minutes ago, alastairq said:

The purpose of motorways is to allow the slowest and most cumbersome of vehicles  the quickest route between A & B.

It's about time everybody realised that, and stopped using them as racetracks?

 

Quite right, too, it is the B roads that are the racetracks.

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, alastairq said:

The purpose of motorways is to allow the slowest and most cumbersome of vehicles  the quickest route between A & B.

As these would generally be bulk-freight vehicles, isn’t that the purpose of railways?

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

As these would generally be bulk-freight vehicles, isn’t that the purpose of railways?

 

Yes, but as I pointed out earlier, that's one of the things we've become increasingly bad at...

 

I feel almost vindicated now. 

 

 

[wagonman]

On 13/01/2022 at 12:57, Regularity said:

Cross-country struck me as one of the most mindless ideas in PE. I understand the need to get people to try out and learn different athletic activities, and to see to what they are suited, but it’s fairly easy to get children to run twice round a running track to see who I suited to the event, and weed out those who - like me - become part of a straggling and drawn-out line of kids who are simply cold and bored.

On the other hand, there was the memorable incident when the route was being outlined for our very first run, and Mr. Spencer (as unlike the archetypal bully-turned-PE teacher as you would find) described going around a fallen tree - useful as a marker - only for Paul N to chirp up from the back of the group with, “I went for a c@ck behind that in the summer holidays!”

 

I used to go for a 'cross country run' as a way of avoiding PE class. I'd jog down to the nearby farmyard, have a cigarette, and jog back. On one memorable occasion I only had a Woodbine – and 'broke' the school cross country record! #Awkward

[Regularity]

2 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

Yes, but as I pointed out earlier, that's one of the things we've become increasingly bad at...

Ah, but it is also a good example of what we are very good at: sinking a load of capital into a long-term scheme, forgetting why we did it, then scrapping it and replacing it with something with only a short-term focus, but which  yields enormous profits until it goes bust!

(Railtrack had a enormous property portfolio of disused land, often in or near city centres. The share price went through the roof as that got flogged off, then there was an accident and the cost of making changes was deemed to be an unfair burden on the shareholders, and the taxpayers - who had done very poorly out of the asset-stripping exercise were expected to cough up.)

[Regularity]

Just now, wagonman said:

 

I used to go for a 'cross country run' as a way of avoiding PE class. I'd jog down to the nearby farmyard, have a cigarette, and jog back. On one memorable occasion I only had a Woodbine – and 'broke' the school cross country record! #Awkward

Our teachers were wise to that: one drove out to as near the furthermost point as possible, made sure everyone was checked off against the attendance list, then drove back.

[Edwardian]

 

So, finally he is sent packing

Thinking that he is special and can do what he likes

Thinking his job is more important than public health

Thinking that the rules don't apply to him

Lying about it and being caught out

 

Good riddance.

 

Oh, but wait .....

 

[MrWolf]

I'm surprised that our teachers never put two and two together when some of us came back with hands dirtier than our shoes.

It should have been a dead giveaway that we sometimes replaced "cross country running" with "hiding in the junkyard". 

[rocor]

7 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Ah, but it is also a good example of what we are very good at: sinking a load of capital into a long-term scheme, forgetting why we did it, then scrapping it and replacing it with something with only a short-term focus, but which  yields enormous profits until it goes bust!

(Railtrack had a enormous property portfolio of disused land, often in or near city centres. The share price went through the roof as that got flogged off, then there was an accident and the cost of making changes was deemed to be an unfair burden on the shareholders, and the taxpayers - who had done very poorly out of the asset-stripping exercise were expected to cough up.)

Ah! Yes, that rare and endangered species, the greater spotted shareholder, they must of course be ensured the maximum possible environmental protection that a government can give.

[MrWolf]

27 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Ah, but it is also a good example of what we are very good at: sinking a load of capital into a long-term scheme, forgetting why we did it, then scrapping it and replacing it with something with only a short-term focus, but which  yields enormous profits until it goes bust!

(Railtrack had a enormous property portfolio of disused land, often in or near city centres. The share price went through the roof as that got flogged off, then there was an accident and the cost of making changes was deemed to be an unfair burden on the shareholders, and the taxpayers - who had done very poorly out of the asset-stripping exercise were expected to cough up.)

 

Quite. Every time HS2 is mentioned, I tend to think: Great Central Railway? 

[monkeysarefun]

17 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Our teachers were wise to that: one drove out to as near the furthermost point as possible, made sure everyone was checked off against the attendance list, then drove back.

Mr Clarke would follow close behind us in his car and threaten to run over the slower kids. 

 

Last one back had to hold a shot put  in outstretched arms for 5 minutes or get hit on the head with a screwdriver. 

 

I think his unrealised  dream was to be a WW2  Japanese war criminal but he was too young and not Japanese so he'd take it out on us.