Monday, 2 February 2009
Atheists again
More bad news for Richard Dawkins and his cronies. Latest figures just released show that church-going in Britain is up by 5%. Small beer, I know, but its a step in the right direction.
Local Government - Stupidity 1
Part of the brief for this blog is to comment on "the stupidity of large organisations". We haven't had much of that yet, so let's make a start with Essex County Council.
Their latest plan is to re-organise the secondary schools in Colchester by closing two of them and sending the children to the other secondary schools in the town which will be enlarged appropriately. On a purely numbers game I have no doubt that the plan will provide sufficient school spaces but, as is usual with Local Government, one department does it's own thing with blinkers on in complete isolation to the others. The members of the Education Committee have obviously never visited Colchester in the school rush hour. With most of the secondary schools located to the west of the town and another two to the north, these areas get completely clogged up for half an hour or more in the morning and again in the afternoon while an endless procession of cars and buses fight for occupation of the same small stretches of road to drop off or pick up children. Anyone who wants to drive straight through just doesn't stand a chance. A five minute trip along Lexden Road, for example, can take at least 35 minutes if undertaken at the wrong time of day.
The two schools Essex County Council want to close are the only two secondary schools to the south of the town. This will mean the entire school population of the south of the town and all the villages to the south of the town having to be shipped somehow to the far side of town adding to the already chaotic traffic situation. This is in direct conflict with the Council's own sustainability policy which states:
"Sustainability is about managing and enhancing the environment and improving the quality of life for existing and future generations. The Council is committed through its policies and decision making to protecting and improving the environment and to ensure its decisions are sustainable in environmental, social and economic terms."
This stupid idea is not sustainable in environmental terms (far more vehicle journeys into already busy areas), social terms (it will destroy the social fabric of the communities to the south of the town) or economic terms (the ongoing costs to these families of having to transport their children to the far side of town and then return on five days a week doesn't bear thinking about). In addition it is not long ago that the Council was trying to encourage more children to walk to school to (a) help the environment and (b) help the fight against obesity. This will be impossible under the new scheme as the distances involved will just be too great. Children would spend half the day walking, assuming they were willing to undertake the feat.
One consultation on various schemes has already been held. If the local press is to be relied on, the vast majority of people in Colchester are strongly against this particular proposal, yet it seems it has emerged as the front-runner and a second consultation is being held on just this scheme. Whatever happened to local democracy (or common sense for that matter)? The people deciding this matter obviously come from Basildon or Harlow or Epping and have probably never been to Colchester in their lives.
This scheme must not be allowed to come to fruition. It will make a laughing stock of the County Council and will make life a misery for a large part of the population of Colchester (and not just the school-going families either!).
Local Authorities in general get a lot of bad press for appointing people to strange posts which most others can't see the need for. What they all seem to have failed to do is appoint a "Director of Common Sense". Such a person would sit independantly of all the other departments and committees and would review the schemes and proposals put forward by the main departments and committees to ensure that they were sensible and in compliance with overall council policies and strategies. In short .... to take the holistic view rather than just the financial view. I am available for such a role should Essex County Council care to get in touch.
Their latest plan is to re-organise the secondary schools in Colchester by closing two of them and sending the children to the other secondary schools in the town which will be enlarged appropriately. On a purely numbers game I have no doubt that the plan will provide sufficient school spaces but, as is usual with Local Government, one department does it's own thing with blinkers on in complete isolation to the others. The members of the Education Committee have obviously never visited Colchester in the school rush hour. With most of the secondary schools located to the west of the town and another two to the north, these areas get completely clogged up for half an hour or more in the morning and again in the afternoon while an endless procession of cars and buses fight for occupation of the same small stretches of road to drop off or pick up children. Anyone who wants to drive straight through just doesn't stand a chance. A five minute trip along Lexden Road, for example, can take at least 35 minutes if undertaken at the wrong time of day.
The two schools Essex County Council want to close are the only two secondary schools to the south of the town. This will mean the entire school population of the south of the town and all the villages to the south of the town having to be shipped somehow to the far side of town adding to the already chaotic traffic situation. This is in direct conflict with the Council's own sustainability policy which states:
"Sustainability is about managing and enhancing the environment and improving the quality of life for existing and future generations. The Council is committed through its policies and decision making to protecting and improving the environment and to ensure its decisions are sustainable in environmental, social and economic terms."
This stupid idea is not sustainable in environmental terms (far more vehicle journeys into already busy areas), social terms (it will destroy the social fabric of the communities to the south of the town) or economic terms (the ongoing costs to these families of having to transport their children to the far side of town and then return on five days a week doesn't bear thinking about). In addition it is not long ago that the Council was trying to encourage more children to walk to school to (a) help the environment and (b) help the fight against obesity. This will be impossible under the new scheme as the distances involved will just be too great. Children would spend half the day walking, assuming they were willing to undertake the feat.
One consultation on various schemes has already been held. If the local press is to be relied on, the vast majority of people in Colchester are strongly against this particular proposal, yet it seems it has emerged as the front-runner and a second consultation is being held on just this scheme. Whatever happened to local democracy (or common sense for that matter)? The people deciding this matter obviously come from Basildon or Harlow or Epping and have probably never been to Colchester in their lives.
This scheme must not be allowed to come to fruition. It will make a laughing stock of the County Council and will make life a misery for a large part of the population of Colchester (and not just the school-going families either!).
Local Authorities in general get a lot of bad press for appointing people to strange posts which most others can't see the need for. What they all seem to have failed to do is appoint a "Director of Common Sense". Such a person would sit independantly of all the other departments and committees and would review the schemes and proposals put forward by the main departments and committees to ensure that they were sensible and in compliance with overall council policies and strategies. In short .... to take the holistic view rather than just the financial view. I am available for such a role should Essex County Council care to get in touch.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
More on the Atheist Buses
If you are following the atheist bus saga, see more (with videos) here
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2009/01/d-and-b-the-ath.html#more
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2009/01/d-and-b-the-ath.html#more
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Boyfriends
Helen's got a boyfriend. It's official. How do I know it's official? She told us a couple of days ago. How does she know it's official. She asked him!
I am struggling to get my head round this. In my youth you either had a boyfriend/girlfriend or you didn't. There was no such thing as an "official" boyfriend. Having given the matter some thought, I am left with two possible options:-
1. The "official" boyfriend is the main one, implying that you also have a couple of others in tow just in case (not applicable in Helen's case), or
2. Someone in the last 30 years or so has, unnoticed by myself, invented another stage in the formal hierarchy of things which comes just before engagement and can best be defined as "a mutual commitment to each other unless or until something better comes along".
I am really clutching at straws here, so if there is anyone out there who really knows the answer to the conundrum "what is the difference between a normal boyfriend and an official boyfriend?" please get in touch. I need to know!
Sunday, 11 January 2009
The Atheist Bus (2)
Further to my post about the Atheist Bus on 26 October 2008, I can now report that the campaign was officially launched on Tuesday. It all started, apparently, when the campaign founder, Ariane Sherine (a comedy writer), saw London buses featuring bible quotes such as "Jesus died for your sins". In an article she wrote on the internet she suggested that all atheists reading it should donate £5 to fund a "positive, rational, counter-advert". She expected to raise about £5,500 and ended up raising £141,000. So her fund-raising abilities are not in question. It's just her theology that is a bit weak.
The slogan she wants to put on the side of London buses reads " There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life". It has already been pointed out in the press that anyone who subscribes to this creed is not really a fully paid up atheist. The use of the word "probably" indicates a certain lack of conviction. Such people should really describe themselves as agnostics. But the other half of the slogan is just as erroneous. It implies that anyone who has a faith in God spends most of the time worrying and does not enjoy their life. Nothing could be further from the truth. It has been observed in the past that those with a faith tend to be less stressed than others and no evidence has been put forward that believers enjoy their lives any less than atheists. It is difficult to imagine exactly what she has in mind. The only aspect I can think of which might fit the bill is the issue of drinking. If this is it, then might I put Ms Sherine straight:-
1. By no means all believers are teetotal.
2. There is no evidence that I am aware of to indicate that those who are teetotal are any less happy than those who are not.
3. If by "enjoy your life" she means getting involved with binge drinking after work every Friday night ........ what is enjoyable about that ??
Ms Sherine says the campaign has now spread around the world but sadly "the Australians were banned from launching theirs and they had the best slogan: "Atheism - sleep in on Sunday mornings"."
Well yes, it would be nice to sleep in on Sunday mornings, but the Atheists seem to have a very short memory. It was they who fought tooth and nail against the "Keep Sunday Special Campaign". They won that particular battle, which is why thousands and thousands of people now have to get up early on Sunday mornings to go to work in the shops that were previously closed. I don't know if it's the same in Australia but that slogan wouldn't carry much credibility in this country.
The slogan she wants to put on the side of London buses reads " There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life". It has already been pointed out in the press that anyone who subscribes to this creed is not really a fully paid up atheist. The use of the word "probably" indicates a certain lack of conviction. Such people should really describe themselves as agnostics. But the other half of the slogan is just as erroneous. It implies that anyone who has a faith in God spends most of the time worrying and does not enjoy their life. Nothing could be further from the truth. It has been observed in the past that those with a faith tend to be less stressed than others and no evidence has been put forward that believers enjoy their lives any less than atheists. It is difficult to imagine exactly what she has in mind. The only aspect I can think of which might fit the bill is the issue of drinking. If this is it, then might I put Ms Sherine straight:-
1. By no means all believers are teetotal.
2. There is no evidence that I am aware of to indicate that those who are teetotal are any less happy than those who are not.
3. If by "enjoy your life" she means getting involved with binge drinking after work every Friday night ........ what is enjoyable about that ??
Ms Sherine says the campaign has now spread around the world but sadly "the Australians were banned from launching theirs and they had the best slogan: "Atheism - sleep in on Sunday mornings"."
Well yes, it would be nice to sleep in on Sunday mornings, but the Atheists seem to have a very short memory. It was they who fought tooth and nail against the "Keep Sunday Special Campaign". They won that particular battle, which is why thousands and thousands of people now have to get up early on Sunday mornings to go to work in the shops that were previously closed. I don't know if it's the same in Australia but that slogan wouldn't carry much credibility in this country.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
Sign of the Times
Just as well this man isn't a traffic warden ......... I can't see a blue badge displayed!Friday, 2 January 2009
Atheist Christmas
Well - Christmas is over for another year. I got a digital SLR to replace the camera I lost in the river last summer, so when I work out how to get pictures onto the blog you should be seeing some illustrations here.
In the meantime, I was intrigued by this reference to the atheists "rational celebration of Christmas". Never heard of such a silly idea in my life! (Well I have, actually, and hope to bring these ideas to your attention in the future!)
http://3minutetheologian.org.uk/blog/2008/12/08/3mt-nine-lessons-and-eight-year-olds/
In the meantime, I was intrigued by this reference to the atheists "rational celebration of Christmas". Never heard of such a silly idea in my life! (Well I have, actually, and hope to bring these ideas to your attention in the future!)
http://3minutetheologian.org.uk/blog/2008/12/08/3mt-nine-lessons-and-eight-year-olds/
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