[litter] a symptom of deeper issues

Not sure if reducing litter and graffiti reduce serious crime but IMHO, there is a correlation between rubbish on the streets, graffiti and a sick society, at least at the micro-level.

Of course many are sick of it and want campaigns like this:

Keep Britain Tidy have launched a renewed campaign to clean up the UK's dirty streets to coincide with the first anti-litter act exactly 50 years ago to this month. It aims to restore a sense of community pride and encourage everyone to clean up their patch. Across the nation, community groups, schools and businesses have pledged support. It's hoped more than 10,000 clean-ups will take place and half a million bags of litter collected.

It's not just the rotting fish head effect which leads to the conclusion that "a sense of civic pride is doomed", i.e. if the head's rotten, the rest follows suit. It's also people's change in values over the past two generations, since the 50s. This blog has consistently maintained that the Christian ethic was certainly not followed in past decades but at least it existed and kids at least knew about the sermon on the mount and the ideals they were supposed to live up to.

The gospels have no monopoly on charity and kindness but they were a major force in limiting people's excesses on a day to day basis in this society. Someone said to me yesterday: "If you found a million pounds on the street, would you hand it in?"

Today - I'm not so sure. If you did, you're likely to be subject to investigation, acquire a police record and will be under surveillance from there on in. You'd not get any reward for your altruism. In the late 60s, I'd probably have handed it in and something nice might have come from that act.

You can't expect people to act with dignity if they're robbed of it but this is a two way street. Whilst the government's policies have been criminally negligent, the societal attitude of "why should I work when no one cares and I'm drawing tax-payer's money to keep me in this lifestyle" is equally culpable.

Just removing benefits is not going to achieve anything other than starvation in the short term. It certainly was the case five years back that you could have found work if you really tried, if you retrained but that is not the case now. Even with your worthless NVQ, there are 500 applicants for every position you go for.

Frankly, I find it galling to hear politicians and civic groups calling for civic pride, as if it is something which exists outside of the context of society. It's the same, to me, as that annoying song "don't worry, be happy", sung to someone who's just lost his job. In that glib cliche is lack of understanding and lack of caring.

The permanent and cynically unemployed underclass, including many single mothers and Rab C Nesbitts who consider society should be supporting them is also balanced by a new class of people today really wanting the dignity of their skills set recognized but literally unable to get anyone to take them on.

Mandelson's £20bn to stop businesses going to the wall should have been injected years back when there was still some real money in the economy. £5mn is a small business? This is just a cynical ploy for the collapsing infrastructure of medium and large business. Small entrepeneurship is already dead in the water.

Step One - get these bstds out. Step Two - Cameron gets rid of adversarial politics and creates an assembly style legislature, with him at the top if he likes [for now]. Step Three - cut the crippling taxes but at the same time educate people that their lifestyle is going to change, to contract, in line with their real incomes.

[from russia with love] on the ground today

Report just in from Russia through friends and the dollar looks to be 31,56 [artificially held], there's snow on the ground and the mood is depressed. The Ukraine/Russia thing seems to be the fault of both, according to my sources.

Local issue - the mad plan for closing bridges and rerouting traffic through the remaining two arteries into the city seems to have been dropped for lack of money so the crisis does have a silver lining. My favourite trams are almost phased out in favour of the soulless buses. Big stores [equivalent to Asda] are doing well but lesser stores not.

There's a lot of business going on at the upper levels but they're trying to prevent a repetition of the payments crisis and no one wants to return to the bad old days. People are digging in and hoping to keep their jobs.

So, not a lot different to over here in Britain, it seems.

[boycott] one of the few legal weapons

There's a lesson in this for Britain and the U.S.

Thousands of motorists have fled the Sydney Harbour Bridge after its cash booths were removed last weekend [choosing] to find alternative routes into the city after the Harbour Bridge moved to fully electronic tolling on Sunday, Roads and Traffic Authority figures reveal. Road experts say it is because many motorists have refused to buy an electronic tag, and, in the short term, the trend is likely to worsen.

There are very few specific ways for citizens to show great displeasure with the tag and control society in all three countries but the Aussies at least have one now where they can show their feelings. It will be interesting whether boycotts also start in Britain on the more iniquitous new laws and procedures.

[polo lingo] the art of the puerile

"Ugggggh!"

"Take that, Sooty."

[black cap] better on the head

You know those very weird moments when you lose something and it turns up in a completely unexpected place?

Just happened.

We went shopping and stopped off for chish 'n fips and I took off my black cap in the chippie and put it in my pocket but realized it was a bit loose in there. Never mind. Got back in the car with the packets and away we went. Back home, we unloaded the car, put everything away and made ready to watch a film.

I took the jacket off and put it on the chair and that's when I realized the cap had gone. I checked the pocket it had been in, checked the other, checked inside the jacket, checked outside and followed the trail back to the car, checked inside the car where I'd been - nothing.

Not a sausage. Deep gloom.

That cap has a history. It's been with me in Russia for over a decade, to many other countries and it has a history of being lost and turning up in very strange places. It was lost in Sicily last time and turned up on a stone wall.

After the film now, I was made an offer - you want to go down to the shop again - it might be in the gutter, the cap. Nah, it'll be gone. No, let's go. OK, went to put my jacket on and the cap was in the end of the sleeve.

Go figure.

[popularity] the fickleness of a nation

Unpopularity

When you're out of favour, you're really out of favour.

Former PM John Howard lost his seat as well as the election for the party. Then came the Barack Obama tiff over Blair House.

Now it's a flight of passengers angry that they had to wait because John Howard was on the flight. I think this is completely unfair on the man. Australians made their feelings known at the election but that's no reason not to accord a former PM, of whichever party, the dignity of ordinary protocols.

There is a military protocol that when you salute, you are not saluting the man, you're saluting the rank and the station. It should be the same here.

This is not to say he should be accorded personal respect - I think he should - but he should be accorded dignity, just as all should be according to their roles and achievements.

PC madness

In Oz, "the reign of exclusive clubs offering men-only admission to their influential ranks may soon be over. Victoria's Attorney-General, Rob Hulls, has signalled he would favour putting an end to protections that allow private clubs to be excluded from equal opportunity laws."

Can you imagine one of those feminist covens at seats of higher learning, where they decide which texts to rewrite next, being enforced under that law? Equal opportunities is one of the most abused laws in Britain and Australia and it's in the hands of entirely the wrong people to "positively discriminate" towards the wrong people and against the indigenous citizen.

Look, if I want to be in a club for all men or if a ladyfriend wants an all girl club membership, then why the hell not? What business is it of government?

Housekeeping

I don't want to run a separate post but I'm looking to close the deal on a house tomorrow and that's taking time. There are many negatives such as it being a long way out of town and in the middle of ongoing building around the area plus some other down things. What it does have is a good sea view, is new and it's quite snug.