I try to keep an open mind but it’s hard. Apparently it is harder the better read and better educated you are, paradoxically and so perhaps the more I read and try to educate myself about different opinions the more closed I become to my own. For this purpose, and to get a better understanding … Continue reading Time for Reform?
Giving up work
Image thanks to CV-Library “Giving up smoking is easy… I've done it hundreds of times”, said Mark Twain. Of course staying off is the hard part. In some ways it’s the same with me and work. Ever since I joined the ranks of the semi-retired there have been times when I have thought about giving … Continue reading Giving up work
A good pain?
Ouch! Image thanks to Medical News Today What a great day for kidney stones. The rain was lashing down like a caravan holiday, as I lay in the bath and thought about the dull ache in my side. Hello friend, I remember you well. Can a pain be good? Perhaps... This one was, at least … Continue reading A good pain?
Where have all the voters gone?
Image thanks to Joseph Rowntree Foundation Now that the dust has settled on the 2021 elections, the government is proposing to clamp down on voter fraud with the suggested introduction of photo ID. I wonder why? After all it was a good day for the Conservative party, at least in my neck of the woods. … Continue reading Where have all the voters gone?
Tendering is so stressful
Image thanks to Forbes - I know how you feel It is. In my line of work tendering is a necessary evil, something that I can’t avoid though I must admit something I try to if I can. You see, it is an art rather than a science, something that you have to work at … Continue reading Tendering is so stressful
Young men’s blood
Image thanks to Wired Four months or so have passed since I last gave blood. I have kept going through the pandemic even though there is some element of risk mixing with people and medical staff. Hopefully the outcome outweighs the very small risk to me. The staff certainly work hard to keep us as … Continue reading Young men’s blood
Our thinking about PR is wrong
Image thanks to Electoral Reform Society I’ve written about the ails of our first past the post system many a time and explored the possibility of proportional representation as an alternative. I have even suggested my own ideas how PR may work in a way that gives the best of FPTP yet allows parliament to … Continue reading Our thinking about PR is wrong
Robin Hoodie
We’re in the middle of a war, a global conflict. Not the type of war that we are perhaps used to seeing, with tanks and soldiers shooting at each other or drones trying to take out the enemy with surgical precision. No, this is a different war, fought through networks of fibre and computers, that … Continue reading Robin Hoodie
Flappy birds
Image thanks to Nature Spot Watching the birds in the back garden gives a fascinating insight into the way that seemingly similar creatures can occupy different niche positions in nature. Each species has something slightly different in its physiology or behavior that allows it to carve out a living. There are birds that hang off … Continue reading Flappy birds
Local Election Results – May 6
Image thanks to Northumberland Gazette Ah well, the people have spoken. In Stobhill, they were only local elections but already they have been analysed inside out, backwards and forwards and projected onto the national picture. This has been a really exciting election, in my opinion, leading to very diverse political colours across the nations of … Continue reading Local Election Results – May 6
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 