Have you been bullied?

The allegations about bullying at number 10 continue to cause controversy. The National Bullying Helpline is under attack for breaching confidentiality. The people from number 10 who called the helpline in good faith must be feeling very scared now.
Bullying is horrible,but institutions often fail to protect victims, and bullies continue to get away with their behaviour as it is tacitly condoned.

Sadly certain individuals, for whatever reason, get a sense of importance from controlling others. Some bullies are so psychopathic that they are oblivious to the pain and emotional trauma that they are causing their victims.

There is an alternative view going round that people should ‘toughen up’ – especially if they work in a high stress environment like number 10.

I do think that the National Bullying Helpline was wrong in breaching confidentiality - but bullying is also wrong and needs exposing.
What do you all think about this?

Should we have zero tolerance towards bullies?
Are people getting ‘too soft’ and should ‘toughen up’?
Have you experienced bullying- if so what do you think?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/22/national-bullying-helpline-patrons-resign




Thought for the day

No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it to be true.

The F’Lying Scotsman?

Oh dear, poor Gordon is not a happy boy today.
The Observer has printed a story about his temper tantrums. This is not really new news or a shock –horror revelation. Rumours about his ‘outbursts’ have been going around for a while.
In the run up to the election I suppose we will all be subjected to the skeleton’s lurking in ministerial closets, and the plies of dirty laundry presented for public washing, and other clichés.
If Gordon had assaulted someone, then why didn’t the victim press charges for ABH?
As prime minister, presiding over colossal cock-up’s, (like the devastating cut backs in higher education) then he is bound to be very, very stressed.
If he is lying should we infer that he may lie about other things? – But then, ‘lying’, or not answering the question, seems a prerequisite for politics.

Do we actually care about the ‘bad behaviour’ of politicians?

Is it good to express your anger when stressed – what do you think?


Thought for the day

‘ I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everybody’ (Bill Cosby)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/21/gordon-brown-abusive-treatment-staff

Are you a peasant?

Apparently those of us wot travels second class are somehow ‘a different type of person’, according to MP Nicholas Winterton. He was feeling a bit peeved that MPs have to retrench and are no longer allowed to travel in first class compartments on the railways.
According to this learned gentleman people travelling second class:

“are a totally different type of people - they have a different outlook on life. They may be reading a book but I doubt whether they're undertaking serious work or study, reading reports or amending reports that MPs do when they travel.
“Very often they have a different outlook; of course they do, because they are in a different area of activity. They may be travelling just because they are on holiday or they are going to London to visit somebody - MPs are going to London to work.”

What sort of people do you see when you commute?

Do you think this gentleman is right in his assumptions?

As a commuter who travels second class, I was outraged by his insinuations and I’m still hyperventilating over them!!!

Thought for the day:

“Intelligence is like a river. The deeper it is the less noise it makes”

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251822/Tory-MP-Sir-Nicholas-Winterton-blasts-new-economy-travel-rule.html#ixzz0fzw6sPar

Are you giving anything up?

Did you all enjoy your pancakes yesterday?
I made Ainsley Harriott’s American pancakes – yum…..
Well, today is the first day of Lent, a time to give up something you like.
For instance, I’m debating whether to give up alcohol/ chocolate/ watching TV/ blogging/ being nasty about politicians. I could then spend the time on something more worthy.

Do you think we have all become too self indulgent, and a period of abstinence helps to focus the mind on more spiritual or worthwhile matters?

Let me know if you are giving anything up.

What worthwhile activities do you suggest as alternatives during Lent?




Thought for the day (I’m afraid to say the rip-off calendar is now coming up with bizarre quotes – so apologies – they probably sound as daft as the stuff on my blog)

“When someone you greatly admire appears to be thinking deep thoughts – they are probably thinking about lunch”

Friday frivolity

Are you single and wondering what your future partner will be like?
Well, bird spotting may be the answer.
According to the ancient practice of ornithomancy the first bird (feathered variety) you see on Valentine’s Day will foretell the sort of person you will marry.
The Greeks and Romans were heavily into this pastime and the Anglo-Saxons were partial to a bit of bird prognostication.

Here is a small selection:

Swan – they will be involved in the arts
Kingfisher – will have inherited wealth
Duck – a stable homely type
Magpie – an entrepreneur
Bird of prey – politician
Robin – a sailor
Sparrow – works on the land
Owl – an academic
Dove - the marriage will be happy
Woodpecker – sorry, you are not going to get married
Crow – very unlucky, the relationship is doomed, so dump them and find a replacement


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249935/Get-binoculars-girls-How-bird-Valentines-Day-gives-insight-future-husbands-.html

Sapere Aude

I like to keep up to date with things that affect students. As you know, we may have to pay more for our courses.
The Policy Exchange is proposing that our tuition fees should go up to £5,000 a year, and that interest free loans should be scrapped.
Universities can charge foreign students more, and vice-chancellors have warned that foreign students will be favoured when it comes to allocating places, unless the level of funding improves (which it won’t).
What are poorer students expected to do then?
Open University degrees may be cheaper but they are effectively ‘teach it yourself’ degrees – they are a poor substitute for proper teaching from inspiring experts in a university environment.



(The Policy Exchange was commissioned by the government to review student funding. It is chaired by Lord Browne)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8508071.stm

Thought for the day

‘Deprive the population of a university education and keep them ignorant so that they won’t challenge the tossers in power making all these appalling decisions’

Broken Britain

A Populus poll in the Times today revealed that voters feel pessimistic about the state of Britain. People feel disenchanted and cynical about the political system, and a lot of us don’t feel like voting.
You don’t need to be Mystic Meg to know that whoever gets elected, we, the public, will be paying more and getting less in return.
Respect has gone in many levels of society, and the message seems to be that decent, honest citizens trying to do something good for society deserve to be penalized. I am thinking specifically of the immoral disrespect shown by politicians towards higher education and the NHS.
I am annoyed that we live in a society that rewards ‘bankers’ who gamble with our money, not altruistic people who give their lives to help others.
Billy Bragg refused to pay his tax bill because he felt so strongly about this.
Strikes are unlikely to achieve anything – but a mass withholding of taxes could be a powerful weapon for change.

What we really need is a new way of organizing society.
The parties are offering the same dysfunctional clap-trap.
We need some new ideologies to drive forward a better way of running things.

Does anyone have any bright ideas for revolutionizing our society, which many feel is ‘broken’???? – We need a new Enlightenment.

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/tthbrokenbritain.pdf


Thought for the day

‘Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance’

Better late than never!

Do you have a nice postman?
Well, the residents of three streets in Shrewsbury had a dodgy one. Their mail has turned up 19 years after it was sent. The letters were found in a house that was being renovated.
Now we have to speculate what the postman’s problem was – was he just dopey and ‘left’ the letters in this house by mistake? Was he deceitful and had stolen the letters hoping to find cash in them? Was he a jealous lover, hoping to find evidence that his beloved was corresponding with another?
Have you ever had problems with the postal service?
I know people who have sent money in birthday cards – but they did not reach the recipients.
My building society savings book ‘disappeared’ in the post.
I heard about a dodgy (local) postman who had been hoarding mail bags at home, he ended up in the Dana.
On the plus side, the postmen at my local sorting office are very friendly and always greet me with the jolly phrase, ‘Oh, it’s you again – QVC or Amazon’!!!!


http://www.shropshirestar.com/2010/02/03/residents-get-their-post-19-years-late/


Thought for the day

‘When people are free to do as they please, they usually irritate each other’

Kissing hazard

You may have heard the phrase ‘You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet the handsome prince’. Well, in America children have been taking this literally after watching Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.

It just shows how films can alter people’s behaviour – apparently there was a bit of a craze for neck biting after Twilight, but not an increase in the sales of Volvo c30s.

Just for information – do not try kissing real frogs – you might get infected with salmonella and end up with diarrhoea – nasty - especially if you’ve just spotted the handsome prince.
This warning applies to the kissing / handling of other reptiles (snakes, toads etc)

http://boxwish.com/UK/profiles/blogs/experts-warn-children-not-to-kiss-frogs-like-in-disney-animation


Thought for the day

‘Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep’