Scientology and Falling Out

I have been part of an online Pagan community for a while now that I have got along fine with. Other groups I've joined I have quickly left again because of not clicking with the people there very well. This group though has been very friendly and there have been few differences between us. Lately however I seem to be falling out with people there more and I don't know why.

Maybe I got comfortable enough to reveal a bit more about my opinions on things and it turns out I'm just as different from them as I was from other groups before. I'm not great with people, I'm opinionated in a way that most other people aren't and I'm usually guarded about my views because I've had disagreements with people in the past that have ruined friendships.

One of the fallings out recently has been on the issue of Scientology. Very few people will know why I feel the way I do about it because I don't come out and tell people as a general rule, it's not my place to divulge it. I admit to being biased on the subject and last week after the Panorama programme, it came up on this forum.

One of the women I usually get on well with disagreed with me. I was arguing that Scientology is a cult and not a religion, she is of the opinion that the only criteria for a religion is that someone believes it! She's free to believe that, of course, but from an academic perspective it is vastly more complex than that. So we seem to have had this falling out over it, not to mention other members of the forum who are not Pagan, who I do not interact with as much, who are arguing that it is a religion on the basis that all religions are corrupt and guilty of brain-washing etc.

I find it frustrating to deal with people like that. They have their own bias that prevents them from seeing religions in a neutral way, just as I have my bias against Scientology and it simply doesn't make for healthy debate. They gang up on me as the most outspoken person against it on the discussion, no other bugger has stuck around to argue my corner with me, even though plenty of people have put their oar in to say the same as me.

I wish I was more able to back away from these discussions when they get heated, I don't want to appear to be backing away because I know I'm wrong, when that's not the reason for me backing down! I don't believe I'm wrong. Not on this. I believe my opinion is valid. I also think that I have a more healthy view of religions in general and it's hard to get through to people who have decided that all religons brainwash people!

Tony Blair's Legacy

Inspired by the three accounts on the BBC, I thought I would write my own How will history judge Tony Blair?

Economics:

Inflation is today at its highest in six years, 5.5%, causing problems for first time buyers and current mortgage payers, as well as other personal lending. Personal debt is now at a record high of £3.8 trillion and the government has little to offer on improving this situation. Blair seems quite happy with this level of debt.

There is a greater divide between rich and poor in the UK than ever before, with the wealthy having better access to services and those less well off with less access to services that would improve their lives.

Students are in debt to the tune of £16 billion, following the scrapping of grants in favour of huge loans and the introduction of tuition fees and the government have dipped into this pot several times since Labour came to power in 1997 to bail themselves out.

Health, education and transport:

Controvertial school reforms, poor funding distribution in the NHS and grossly unpopular foundation hospitals all speak for themselves. Lack of improvement to public transport and road charges widely regarded as a stealth tax leave many Britons confused as to the Labour party's attitude towards climate change; despite the rhetoric about needing to act on the issue, the UK's emmissions continue to rise year after year.

Pensions:

The labour party's treatment of pensions is under serious criticism. Blair has always backed Brown on this issue so is also to blame for the failings. In all of these economic issues, we do of course have to credit Gordon Brown with the appropriate responsibility for Labour's fuck ups, and he's our next PM. Oh joy.

Iraq:

Tony Blair will be most vividly remembered for his defiance of international and domestic opinion in invading Iraq and the extended period of conflict following that and the previous invasion of Afghanistan. His blind obedience to US President G.W. Bush has marked him in a negative way in many people's eyes.

ID Cards:

Tony Blair has pushed through his proposals for this huge waste of public funding, breaking the law on requested reports and repeatedly lying about the supposed benefits of the scheme. We can only hope that this scheme will also leave with his departure.

The Liberal Democrats have today called for a General Election to detirmine the next UK PM. This move has been criticised as there is no historical basis for such a request, despite the fact that according to a poll last week most voters want an election.

The democratic system in the UK is stale and no longer relevant for people. So what if there is no historical basis? We need electoral reform in this country, now is the perfect time to implement it. Labour have got away for too long with this Presidential style of leadership, with Tony Blair refusing to change his proposals in the face of opposition from his own party. The last 2 elections Labour have kept their place in government despite increasingly low percentage of the vote (tweaking constituency boudaries where they need to).

People are uninspired by politics, low turn outs demonstrate this clearly. However, the absence of an "none of the above" option on the ballot may be to blame to an extent we cannot judge. If this option were present how many more people would turn out to register their disatisfaction with the options, rather than being counted as apathetic?

It's time for change.

Burying Bad News

Tony Blair announces his resignation the same day the the government admit the latest rise in estimated costs for ID cards. Talk about trying to bury bad news. It's almost as bad as the day TB was taken by police for questioning the same day as the results of the Diana enquiry (he was the first PM to ever be brought in by police, yet the papers glossed over this story in favour of the enquiry results).

Almost, but not quite, the press have seen through the attempt as have other politicians and they are making sure people hear about it.

Over £5.3 billion it's going to cost now.

Anyone not persuaded by the liberty issue must be put off the scheme by the cost issue. This money would be much better spent on recruiting more police officers.

To say "no2id" click here.

Auntie Lallie

I can't take credit for the below post. This was an email sent to me and my family by my mum following the recent death of my Great Aunt Lallie. I just thought this was so wonderfully written, my mum says it all far better than I could.

I was at a "Tai Chi for Horses" clinic today when I got the news about Auntie Lallie. I had spent all morning trying to get my hips to move backwards while getting my weight to move forwards from my ankles so my weight was on the balls of my feet rather than my heels...then I got the call from my cousin Ros and knew right away what it was and climbed over the fence to take the call. I was sadder than I expected, even though I knew it was coming. I was going to have to go and tell my Dad and I went for a cry into the mane of a chestnut horse standing nearby; horses are so much easier to communicate with than people at times like this....

Auntie Lallie was so much larger than her own life and always unexpectedly generous. As Isaac said, you would know her if you saw her now from her 1930's photo on Dad's wall because her face was so full of character. One of Grandad's first memories of her is of a teacher saying "Elspeth is such a rough girl" (or "child", I'm not sure which) I asked him why the teacher said this, he doesn't know. What did she do or say? (Does anyone know now?) I talked Dad through lots of memories, he sang songs he remembered from way back, and reminisced about the family business and his mum and dad, "I'm the last of seven", he said, "five" I prompted, "no seven" he said, "mum and dad count", "of course", I said. But why would anyone have called her rough? If she was, she rose above it and beyond! My early memory of Auntie Lallie was of her telling us about some new neighbours who had moved in and brought down the tone of the place (Crescent Way). The new mother went out to call in her errant offspring by calling "Elveeeeera!!! Auntie Lallie loved doing the impression!

When we came to stay with Auntie Lallie and Uncle Sam, I remember embarrassing my parents by running into the dining room crying "Hey you lot!" (I was sent packing). Dad and I once sang Petula Clark's "Sailor", with him accompanying me on the piano. I asked my dad, did Uncle Sam really live in the garden shed? No, he said, but his cigarette coupons paid for our first radio! I was so frightened of Auntie Lallie back then, she had oriental china and bamboo place mats and clean carpets, but now I can't think why I was frightened, she wasn't scary at all, she was gentle and generous and sweet and in later years I found her funny, warm and full of life, grateful for any small favour and always pleased to hear from us. Equally, she was capable of elbowing others out of the way to get to the front, whether it be at a funeral or a feast!

I remember how Auntie Lallie enjoyed her birthday celebrations, was it her 80th, when she was presented with the album of her life, we all had such a good time, Mum and I staggered back down the lane to the B&B, I think it's the only time I ever got drunk with my Mum! You did your Charlie Brown, and all the grand children did a turn but Lallie was the star of the night!

Dad says they were the closest of the siblings and helped each other out several times. I told Dad that Auntie Lallie had said "the first will be last", he thought that was amusing, and hoped it might have been her dying words, he likes drama, but I had to tell him she'd said it some days ago. That's life.

Today, Isaac and Aysegul make tea and Dad continues to reminisce. He notices he is the last of his generation and has no long term living friends left, but is philosophical. I'll be all right, he says, and turns on the snooker. Every so often he remembers and his voice catches. He's glad we're there, but now he wants to get on with things. I try to encourage him towards thoughts of his "telegram" ( or card, as it is now). He tries to be positive, but it's even harder tonight.

(Auntie Lallie, we all love and miss you..)

As for my own thoughts and words... I didn't know Lallie well. Her 80th birthday that my mum refers to, I was about 9. I remember that walk back to the B&B. I'd had a few sips of champagne and was laughing along with my mum and Nannie, my dad kept trying to shush us. Anyway, I hardly remember Lallie from that occasion, just her laughter. I do remember her from more recent visits, most notably my Nannie's funeral two years ago. She was indeed as my mum describes her, kind and funny, tough when she needed to be!

She will be missed. May the old ones watch over her always.

Speeding

I am one of those people who thinks that speeding is stupid, irresponsible and people who do it deserve at least a £500 fine and 3 points on their lisence. However, I do also think that many of the speed limits in the UK need revising as in some places they are unnecessarily cautious. I think that higher speed limits at night are a good idea too. I do also think that the point at which penalties kick in should be further above the speed limit in some cases.

30mph limits around schools and family residential areas should be sctrict, but 40-50 limits around industrial areas needn't be, so penalties should be applied at, say, 10mph over the limit.

Anyway, the BBC have announced that one third of all cars caught speeding on cameras cannot be traced to an address! People are registering their cars with the DVLA at fake addresses or not at all to avoid getting caught. Presumably because they intend to speed!

I can understand slipping above the limit without noticing, but not registering your address because you know you're going to break the law?!! Seriously. I think this study has revealed something significant about the Great British public... some of us are complete and utter shits.

Immigration Issue

The new system was confirmed today, it will be based on points earned depending on what skills you have and how in demand those skills are. In theory, I don't mind this too much. It's a step back from the open borders that I would like to see, but I do understand that at the moment this ideal isn't possible.

What baffles me a bit though is that there are no restrictions on EU citizens because of the deal we have about European migration. This system of open borders is great, it's exactly what I want to see, I just find it disturbing that what the government seem to be saying is "we have too many immigrants, we need to tighten controls, but if you're one of us [European/white?] then come on in!"

It doesn't sit right with me. Especially given the huge influx of immigrants in the last couple of years from new EU countries, surely these are the areas we should be restricting access from? Especially as they are low-skilled workers. And this is what the government is claiming to be targetting. Personally I don't have a problem with low-skilled workers coming into the UK, most British people, myself included, think cleaning and manual labour to be beneath them! But someone has to do it!

There are also concerns that the new system will make illegal immigration worse, though this was barely mentioned in the linked bbc article.

How Wude!

I was just queueing in D&A to collect my new glasses. It was my lunch break, so I didn't have a great deal of time. Clearly, it was lots of other people's lunch break too as it was pretty busy. I was waiting over ten minutes without being seen when this woman who was stood waiting behind me barged past, heading for a gormless young man who was cleaning test pairs of glasses on the racks and demanded to be seen!!

He politely told her he couldn't help as it was only his second day but offered her a seat in an empty bay. That should have been my seat! I was there before her, I was patiently waiting to be seen, not charging around, pushing in front of people making demands!

You don't get anywhere in this life by being polite, it seems. I waited another minute then walked out. I will try and get away from work early to collect them on the way home. But really? How rude?!

Education

(Wow, 2 posts in one day... I must be bored!)

So, there's going to be a new qualification thrown into the mix. Click. Because "These are important reforms which are intended to address a major generational problem of non-participation in education and training post-16."

Riiiiiiiiight. And... "With fewer low-skilled jobs, we need more high-skilled young people,"

Now, maybe I've missed something here, but don't we have record numbers of people in FHE? And don't we have the rather severe problem that the degree has become almost meaningless as a qualification, with vast legions of graduates being forced to work in call centres? i.e. low-skilled jobs.

I agree we need more high-skilled people, skilled as in knowing a trade or business and in principle I think vocational qualifications are a good thing... it's just the wording of the article I think and the choice of quotes from people involved with the scheme. Getting more people into vocational education and out of academia is a good idea. It will hopefully return the value a degree once held. But someone has to tell the call centres that graduates are over-qualified for these roles!

It might also help by reducing the number of people who go through university not knowing what they want. I think that's the crux of the problem, so many gradutes are coming out of uni with no idea of what to do, so they go to work in call centres. Maybe universities need to give more attention to career possibilities for their students. Hopefully though, by introducing vocational qualifications lower down it will gradually have a filtering effect.

March of Political Moans!!

The latest from John Reid is to up the marital age for immigrants from 18 to 21. Excuse me, but what on earth makes him think he is authorised to detirmine what age people can marry?! Just because someone is under 21 does not mean that the intended marrige is in any way forced either. What a bizarre thing to do.

The BBC report that this move is thought to reduce the number of immigrants by 3000 a year. That doesn't seem a particularly large number to me. It strikes me as a similar publicity stunt (to make it look like the government are doing something productive) to the ban on replica swords. Both policies will have little actual effect on the perceived problem (immigration vs. violent crime) but get Labour some press coverage that appeals to the mass public who are enthralled by the tabloids.

Mad.

The Budget

Gordon Brown, on behalf of the Labour Party, is sending our country down the drain in splendid fashion. Scrapping the 10% tax bracket in favour of 20% on all earnings above 5k is just about the most ridiculous and vote-losing policy he could have come up with.

So I'm actually happy with it. Maybe now people will see sense and vote Lib Dem, the only party who gives a damn about the public or the environment!

Brown says the average family will be better off... so answer me this, how is it that out of over 22000 votes cast on a BBC poll, over 60% responded that they will be *worse* off under the new budget?!!!!

To see Ming's response to the budget and get an idea of how other people feel about Labour because of it go here:

http://www.mingcampbell.org.uk/2007/03/21/how-gordon-brown-is-taxing-the-lowest-paid-more/#more-138

The NHS "Spine" and our children's fingerprints

This government just keeps pushing the boundaries of our privacy and democracy. As if the whole thing with ID cards wasn't bad enough, I have today learned that kids are being fingerprinted in school without parental consent (link) and our medical records are going to be held on another central database like the one for ID cards, i.e. just as insecure against hacking and abuse (link).

It's not just me is it? This is getting out of control. We are talking about massive abuses of power on the part of the government. Taking intimate physical details and storing them in an insecure way and even selling them to private businesses! Children's damn fingerprints will be held on file when they get a passport.... because...? Ok, it will help identify the odd John/Jane Doe. But the reasons we have been fed for the government wanting this information have nothing to do with identifying dead bodies.

They've tried to tell us it will prevent terrorism, experts from MI5 quickly denied that one; they've tried the ID theft line, but honestly, if all our details are held in one place one quick hack will make it nice and easy for anyone determined to steal IDs. So they go for the "if you've got nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about" line. *Cough splutter* Riiiight. So it's OK for our government to invade our privacy, sell our details and make us present our ID cards at every shop, bank and service we use???!! I don't think so. One small step towards bar codes on our hands that we have to swipe all over the place.

Anyway, my point, what the heck is going to be solved by having children's fingerprints on file? Of course, we all know that most terrorist acts are carried out by under 10s! Seriously, taking the prints without permission from the parents... which they are *already* doing ... is a gross violation of the trust of the public.

Then there's this thing with our medical records. Again, it will be vulnerable to hacks and abuse and information will probably be sold at a later date. What's worse is that after a certain period of time (this year) people will not be able to opt out. This is appalling. It's all very well for people with long-term conditions that may take them to hospital, but medical bracelets are a quick effective means of communicating this. One glance at a patients wrist tells the doctor not to use penicillin or whatever, rather than postponing treatment until looking the patient up on a database, whose information may or may not be correct depending on if their information has been hacked yet!!

We can't keep letting the government get away with this bollocks. They have gone too far and we have to show them that. If you think you live in a Labour "safe seat" area then talk to your neighbours and tell them your concerns, distribute leaflets, tell people what is going on because a lot of people don't realise. And vote for who you want to lead!! For goodness sake, tactical voting screws democracy over like nothing else, it is exactly how we have been stuck with Labour for this long, despite millions of people being deeply troubled by actions taken by them, from the Iraq invasion to ID cards.

Labour make the public think that they have been fairly elected, but this simply isn't true. The first past the post system means that at the last general election Labour only received less than a third of the votes and only a quarter of the possible vote (due to low turn out)! They do not represent the majority, despite what they claim. You can find out about other options for democracy here.

Anyway, please pass on the links above and talk about what is going on, this gradual theft of our democracy and liberty. I don't mean to sound so dramatic, but I do think it's a serious problem that is in danger of happening in our sleep.

Lords Reform

On 7th March there will be another vote on Lords Reform. To urge your MP to vote for a mostly elected second chamber go here.

It's an important step in gaining actual democracy in Britain, something we don't have at the moment!

OK, seriously

"Is it a claims query?"

"Er, no, it's just an update on some treatment I'm having for a claim."

??????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's *not* a claims query? Well what is exactly then you moron?!

Jeez. This job'd be fine if it weren't for the customers.

Just not a shouter

I occasionally get people on the phone at work who can't make out what I'm saying. I don't consider myself especially softly spoken, on the phone I speak clearly and fairly loudly, more loudly than in person certainly.

Now, when someone communicates to me that they can't hear me, I speak up. Naturally. Often it's down to the caller being hard of hearing, often they are elderly (this is medical insurance, afterall). I try to be polite and friendly, but I hate raising my voice, it sometimes feels like I'm downright shouting down the phone and it's bloomin' hard to retain a polite tone when speaking *that* loudly!

Just now I had a woman who said I was very quiet. I raised my voice and said "Is that better?", and she actually said "Yes, but I still didn't hear what you said"!!!!!!!!! OK, give me a chance to repeat my question, I was damn well checking that she could hear me this time! Stupid cow.

So I changed my wording (sometimes people don't understand the meaning of "How may I direct your call?") and shouted "Which department can I transfer you to?" and she obviously wanted the helpdesk, they usually do. She sounded put out, but what did she expect when she's being a difficult person despite me trying to be helpful?!

While writing this, I've had another call from a woman complaining about being on hold. She went off on one about the message that plays saying about "one of our agents will be with you shortly" she said it sounded like the staff don't actually work for the company and we should change the wording and I should report it and she couldn't hold the line any longer! Honestly, it's only a word. If they used "administrator" people might think they're on the wrong line, they might think "administrators" can't help with their claim or something. "Advisor" might do the job, but technically I don't think we're able to give advice, that was certainly the case at the last insurance company I worked for.

This job'd be fine if it weren't for the old cronies.

Working too hard

I was lucky enough to be enjoying my temp job. It was simple, nice people and plenty of time to faff online and do coursework too.

Last Friday they offered to take me on on a three month contract. I was really pleased, I still am. It's, I think, just right for me for now and three months is a short enough term so that I can reassess things at the end of it.

I've been working very hard, I had a TMA last week and tutorial to read for and this week so far I've been reading and note taking at work and stayed late last night to get more done before heading to Andy and mine's Monday night roleplaying group.

It was a good game too, Andy's running Midnight and we ran quite late. So it was a late night after a long day of hard work. Then I didn't sleep. I chalk it up to adrenaline from the game, my head was spinning with ideas and plans for my character and I just kept waking up, if I really slept at all. Chester wanted letting out at 5.10 so I got up to do that and got a bit more sleep. I woke utterly exhausted.

Can I do this?

Life Gets In The Way

I'm not that crazy about Valentines Day, I think it's nice to take a moment (or a day) to appreciate a loved one but largely it's a commercial mess with very little hold on me. Maybe because I'm married, maybe it's a bigger deal for single people or those in the early days of a relationship.

But I still hope for the day to be a moderately happy one.

I'm temping at the moment, full time hours with about an hour and a quarter commute each way, allowing for traffic. So I am out of the house from 7.45am until 6.15pm. I'm also studying full time, I take course books to work with me and study at lunch time and sometimes at my desk between calls (I operate a switchboard on this assignment). I had my first essay of the year due in this week so all my time at home has been spent doing that for the last week.

So, I'm tired, grumpy and feeling generally pretty down. I wish I didn't have to work, I wish I could just be studying. I spend all day at work chatting to other OU students online and thinking about the work I *could* be doing. As an OU student, I don't qualify for a student loan, so have little choice but to work at least part time.

This morning I felt a pang of annoyance and disappointment when I expressed my exhaustion to Andy and he responded with an "oh" about me having to stop working full time once this assignment is over. We both knew this year would be hard and when I took this 6 week assignment I prepared him for the possibility of burn out. We discussed me getting a part time job afterwards, cafe work or something and all seemed fine. Andy says he agrees that my degree has to come first, so I am disappointed that he wasn't immediately supportive.

Tonight we had plans to have a nice meal and watch a soppy film. I hope I can shake off this feeling so we can still have a nice Valentine's evening together.

Finally

So there's now been a report to say categorically, once and for all, that *WE* cause global warming. Now, the sensible people all already knew this, but hopefully it will shut up those idiots who refused to believe it, all those "it's perfectly natural for the earth to cycle through warm periods" wankers.

Stick your "natural" argument! Maybe even Exxon Mobil will change their tune. Apparently they've actually been attempting to bribe scientists to refute the evidence lately! Wankers!

Sorry, bit wound up about it. But why should I apologise for giving a damn? Some people do seem to think I should, some people seem to think that passion is a bad thing. But where would we be without passion? Would there be anyone investigating climate change at all? Would we all just sit back and let it happen without those of us who are willing to stand up and say "NO! This has to change!"?

Japanese attempt to sabotage ban on whaling

Japan are planning to kill nearly 1000 whales this year. They are hosting a meeting in February and inviting various governments to make it appear that there is world-wide support for a lift on the whaling ban.

Denmark hold a swing vote on the issue. Under pressure they are likely to not attend the meeting in Tokyo. Write asking their officials not to attend here

Jobs

I need another new job... one day I will find one I can actually tolerate!

More on Iraq

OK, so some bright infiltrator has put camera-phone footage of the execution on the internet and it has created quite a stir. Also, Prime Minister Maliki has said he wants to step down. AND, the Baath party have posted Saddam's former deputy to lead the party.

What did I say? Eh? Civil war draws ever closer and we're caught in the middle. Well, I don't want to say it, it isn't entirely accurate, but there is a case for suggesting that it is actually our fault. Say what you like about Saddam's regime, the country was a heck of a lot more stable then. I suppose with all the infighting they're less likely to be amassing an arsenal with which to attack us... but come on, we all know how unlikely that was. Many of us were saying so before Tony took our troops marching in illegally.

On a slightly lighter note, I started my new job yesterday, training is easy. Blah.