Apologies to Kinja Readers

I had changed the settings to alter how this blog is listing in search engines. Trouble is Kinja doesn't rely on feeds like bloglines, but sends virtual robots out to read blogs in the same way as a search engine. What that means was I'd stopped people who'd subscribed through kinja from reading my blog. But- if I jam this stick in this gap in the template and heaaaaaaaaaave.

Oh dear, sorry about that looks like I've just released a backlog of posts. Normal service will resume soon, I promise!

It's just fair

You may notice in the "causes" section on the right there a link to the "Just. Fair." campaign.

They've brought out a flash animation talking about the issues involved. Click here to view it, or for those without sound or hearing there's a version with subtitles.

(The animation requires that your computer has flash version 6 or higher).

Chaos

I patted myself on the back for leaving on time. But to my horror found trans pennine services are all in chaos
as a vehicle has struck a bridge! Hopefuly this train will get of there soon!

Wa-ah huh? Back to Russia!

OK so it was either Eddie Izzard immitating a Daily Mail reader or an Ian Flemming quote and I chose Izzard...

One of the things we are planning is a trip on the trans Siberian railway. This raises all sorts of interesting problems with cash flows and bookings and visas, and scheduling a honeymoon around work and other commitments. But it seems to be getting sorted.

So finally IT'S BOOKED!!!

On other fronts, everything that needed to be booked for the wedding way in advance is booked.

UK government funds peace conference

Well sort of. Good news! Ed Milliband has promised nearly £1,500,000 towards the World Jamboree in Chelmsford this year. The jamboree is a meeting of around 40,000 young people from just about every country, culture, race and religion on the planet, and just what the world needs in these times of misunderstandings.

I hope though that the Government does more to recognise the great role the Scout movement has played in the world over the past century, and the tremendous worth of the work of volunteers in this country. There's a petition over on the number 10 website which says throwing money at us simply isn't enough we need senior politicians making big statements as to how much Scouting means to the UK and the world.

Spiders Web

The big bother last week was Jade Goody’s conduct on Celebrity Big Brother, and racism. Of course it’s all been blown out of proportion, but that did not stop me being one of the 8 million who tuned in Friday night for some uncomfortable car crash TV.

Jade Goody, made notorious from appearing in Big Brother, and not even winning, was sent back as a Celebrity, clearly a new twist on the Chantel stunt of last year. The saddest part is that despite the opportunities and experiences Jade’s notoriety has given her, she has grown little as a person.

I found the Big Brother footage uncomfortable viewing. I sat and squirmed while Jade tried to explain her actions as it was almost the same as a recent event when a bully tried to explain how he saw my actions as rude and how he was right to bully me.

Having said that Jade was a fascinating proof of my theory that most bullies would be horrified if they could see how they behaved. And contrary to Ken Livinstone’s arguments, I actually think it is helpful for Channel Four to show prejudice as silly and ignorant. I can’t believe anyone seeing Jade’s arguments will see anything other than how stupid and ignorant racism is. The whole fiasco was the best anti-racism message that has been broadcast for years, and will educate many people against racist attitudes.

I don’t believe the actual bullying itself constituted racism, having seen the programme I think there was a personal dislike between the main protagonists, and on Goody’s side it was clearly fuelled by class prejudice rather than racism. I don’t however believe that the label on a prejudice makes it any better or worse.

I also believe racism is overrated as a form of prejudice. Of course it is the most widespread one and has serious consequences that need tackling. However, surely a prejudice is a prejudice, and it’s the degree of the hate, discrimination and victimisation that rise from the prejudice that are the crime. We can't and shouldn't police thoughts, but the resultant actions be they written, verbal or physical are real problems.
Is calling intelligent people geeks and dismissing their clear explanations as technobabble any better than calling a Bollywood star "Shilpa Popodum" and making fun of her accent? No they are equally bad and wrong. Is someone who circulated the "Manchester Olympics" joke email any better than someone who circulates an email of "Paki" jokes? Certainly not.

Incidentally Duncan Borrowman has evidence Shilpa Shetty isn’t entirely squeaky clean, having supported the morally dubious Peta, albeit on a campaign that is not as dubious as much of their work. However that tenuous link to such a dubious movement has only slightly dented my image of her.

Mind the gap

So after the Doctor Who Christmas episode, fast becoming a tradition to rival Morcame and Wise, we may be thinking we have a few months before any new Doctor Who crosses the airwaves?

Not so. Two weeks ago BBC7 started broadcasting all new episodes featuring the Eighth Doctor and a new companion played by Sheridan Smith from Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

BBC7 is so called because you don't just listen to it through digital radio. Although the meaning of the word Radio has expanded to include audio broadcasts over the Internet, the BBC don't seem to want to sully themselves with this new usage of the word. And so it's BBC7 and not Radio7.

Which is fair enough, as most of my listening is of already broadcast shows using "Listen Again". For example
Clicking here will launch the BBC7 player and play the latest episode of Doctor Who. I think.

Did I imagine this?

Starlight Express is coming back to Manchester. I could have sworn I went last time, but I'm told I didn't. Ah thank goodness for blogs!

Ugh wash my ears out with bleach

As part of an ongoing clear out I'm listening to those things that I picked up over the years and not listened to. This time up it's Flip Flop, listened to Friday night and this morning.

It made me want to change my name. Not my real name of course, which is never mentioned in this blog, but my pen name.

Flip flop is written by my former acquaintance Jonathan Morris (Erasure's webmaster, not the bloke out of Bread or Animal Magic).

The story comes on two linked CDs which the author claims can be listened to in any order. What this ultimately meant to me is the story is unresolved. It's a clever concept let down by some dodgy dialogue, performed by dodgier actors, and underlined with some dodgier political satire. Imagine force feeding someone the more factually inaccurate "the immigrants are out to get us" stories from the Mail and the Express, and depriving them of all other information and this is the sort of science fiction you'd get. The villains are a race of aliens posing as asylum seekers who take over through a sick person's version of political correctness.

Or maybe he was just doing a very clumsy satire at the expense of the sort of person who says things like "they're trying to ban Christmas" or "it's one rule for them and one rule for us". After all the things are no better when the aliens are defeated than when they take over. However if the story is anti-bigot, it is done very badly and is open to misinterpretation.

Bullying

There's been quite a bit of a stink in blog circles about an alleged case of bullying. This has reminded me of an article I've wanted to write for months, but never took the time to put finger to keyboard over.

It's a difficult topic. Before I continue, may I make clear, while my past life experience has informed this essay, this is not a cry for help, or a coded analysis of any ongoing situation. Neither I nor anyone I know is currently being bullied. Got that? OK, let's continue.

A quick trawl of the web reveals many sites supporting children who are being bullied, but few anti bullying sites for adults to speak of. Well OK some unions mention bullying in the workplace, but not everyone has access to that sort of support and adult bullying is not limited to the work
place. Policies on bullying do seem to underplay the fact bullying between adults occurs; the Scout Association policy[1] is worded so as to apply to anyone, but then talks exclusively about young people, failing to take into account bullying between adults is a significant problem.

Bullying takes many forms, and is not limited to those who intentionally treat people badly or sadistically. There is a whole spectrum of bully that begins with simple aggressive or overbearing personalities and ends with those who cause serious emotional hurt and suffering. Many bullies I'm sure would be mortified if they knew how others see them, and the actual effects of their behaviour.

Different people have different ways of dealing with bullying. Some pretend they're just dealing with a person with a strong personality, unwilling to think of themselves as someone who can be bullied. Others become too stressed to be able to see any rational way out of the situation. Whichever your personality, it is hard when you are an adult to admit to being bullied, and often what you can do about it is unclear. You are expected, I think, to have learned how to deal with that sort of thing, and trying to take action can mark you out as a do-gooder or a whiner.

When you are seriously affected it can be difficult to know where to turn. On a large event I went on the advice to staff was to talk to "someone", without being clear as to how and where. Attitudes towards those that speak out are also a problem, people don't want to be seen as weak, or troublemakers, and can often be confused as to whether the treatment they are receiving constitutes bullying or not.

I witnessed one bully threaten a third party with legal action if that third party tried to deal directly with the offending behaviour. If it were me I would have seriously considered plowing ahead with bringing the bully to book, with the evidence to prove my case safely handed to me on a plate by the offending party. But it does go to show that there is a fine line to be trod when reacting to evidence of bullying; malicious accusations can put sympathetic people in hot water, but equally we mustn't give succor to any bully who has the legal action line in his arsenal. It is difficult when you are being bullied to ask for help, so we should not make it any more difficult than it is for someone who doesn't know where to turn to reach, as the Americans would say, closure. In short you don't want to give anyone the impression that in being careful how you respond to accusations you're being unsympathetic, or you're giving bullies a weapon that enables them to behave as they wish.

And what if the victim doesn't want to be helped? What if they think they are big enough and ugly enough to tolerate aggressive behaviour? Some people would feel embarrassed if treated as the victim of bullying, even if to outsiders it is obviously the case. So if you witness an act of bullying, do you stand back and wait for the victim to ask for help, or do you step in for fear someone less able to cope will someday meet with the same treatment?

[1] Widely publicised late 2006.

I feel dreadful

I've just realized the full implications of something I have done.

Some weeks ago I was contacted by someone. They'd heard about me, somehow (exactly how was unclear), and knew I was a bright and trustworthy individual who could help them out.

This person was a clerk in an African bank, and had spotted that a client had died without any any living relatives as far as he could see. Apparently in cases like this it's quite normal for bank clerks to help themselves to the money and retire overseas, and this one wanted my help in relocating him and his cash to the UK, for which he was pleased to pay me a not insubstantial commission. Enough, lets say, to make me a millionaire. Funny old world, here this would be considered major fraud, and no trustworthy individual would touch it with a bargepole.

Anyway horror of horrors, I just discovered they found the last living relative. Oh no! How's she going to feel when she discovers me and my new friend have all her cash?

Talking about cash, I'd better be sure that that payment is in place to facilitate the transfer...

A successful day

Managed to get a lot sorted today.