Well I know I've not been blogging too much recently due to pressure of work so I thought I'd take some time this evening to look back over 2011 and leave you with a few final thoughts,
Firstly I am really shocked about what I read this morning about the abandonment of Liverpool in the 1980's. I was there in the 80's it was my first University and it was without a doubt the time that formed the person who I am today. I met and debated with both Degsy and Ted Heath alike, Austin Mitchel and Matthew Paris were debating there and it was the only student union that was picketed during the miners strike. It was then and is now an incredible place. One week at Anfield the next at Goodison. Liverpool was the city. Music, sport and comedy all came to banish the pain and misery that Yosser was suffering. And I feel ashamed that our so called leaders would have ever thought seriously about abandoning this wonderful place to managed decline. Yes it was a tough city, yes it was in a sad state but I have never found anywhere to compare to a place where compassion and friendship were offered as being part of the normal currency of life. It still is my spiritual home and my heart will always lie there. Gerry you just don't know how true your words were.
This world that we live in has the ability to be so much better. If the financial meltdown has taught us anything it should have taught us that the person next door needs our hand of support and that love is far better than hate.
I am in two minds about 2011. Personally it has been a difficult time for me on several fronts however professionally it has seen me start to move to the next level, particularly with my public image, having appeared in several media debates and programmes connected with alcohol. I think 2012 has the ability to be a much better year though and I look forward to the challenges that it brings.
Whatever has happened to you over the last twelve months and for whatever you hope to happen over the next twelve months I sincerely wish you all that you desire. Whatever you do though remember that love is what makes the world go round, not hate and remember however you do what you seek to do Do it with passion and live life to the full with hope in your heart.
Happy New Year to all of you.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Thursday, 1 December 2011
A day older a lifetime wiser
Well yesterday was my birthday and that makes me a day and ultimately a year older. Yet from all of that I am a lifetime wiser.
I have learned that happiness comes from inside
I have learned that n matter how much you yearn for love that you must love yourself first before you can share with another person,
I have learned that knowledge is an accumulation of a series of irrelevant opinions based around a common agreement and that ultimately the only thing that really matters is self honesty and integrity.
Are there things that I long for? Yes,
Are there wishes that I want to come true? Yes
Will I work to make it happen? Absolutely with all that I am.
Will I succeed? I don't know but what I do know is that if I do not start my journey with that single step then I can never hope to accomplish my marathon.
In every way, everyday I shall work to make this a better place to live in, to make my children proud of me and seek out the truth of love, life and it's true meaning.
I have learned that happiness comes from inside
I have learned that n matter how much you yearn for love that you must love yourself first before you can share with another person,
I have learned that knowledge is an accumulation of a series of irrelevant opinions based around a common agreement and that ultimately the only thing that really matters is self honesty and integrity.
Are there things that I long for? Yes,
Are there wishes that I want to come true? Yes
Will I work to make it happen? Absolutely with all that I am.
Will I succeed? I don't know but what I do know is that if I do not start my journey with that single step then I can never hope to accomplish my marathon.
In every way, everyday I shall work to make this a better place to live in, to make my children proud of me and seek out the truth of love, life and it's true meaning.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
When is a road not a road?
Now this blogger is really upset at what he heard on Friday of this week. Unfortunately due to the nature of being snowed under before Christmas this is the first chance I've had to blog about it.
Bristol Temple Meads Station was Brunel's great auditorium for his great railway. It is now it would appear the centre of a brewing storm between two fundamental arms of the public transport system. in the red corner we have the railway in the shape of First Great Western, in the blue corner we have the hard working hackney cab drivers of the Bristol Area. (blue is appropriate because all Bristol Hackney cabs are now blue in Bristol)
The problem, well First Great Western now want to make all vehicles that enter the station have a permit to drive onto the station front. Is this for security I ask you? No it's for profit. And it includes the Bristol Hackney drivers who operate from a public stand on the station front.
This is plainly ridiculous for several reasons.
1. Bristol Temple Meads is a Public Transport hub, in other words it is a place where you can move from one form of Public Transport to another. It is not a private transport hub and unless the directors of First Great Western have somehow instigated a coup ousting the present government then it will remain a Public Transport system in the United Kingdom. This means First Group are required to provide a service to the public.
2. The taxi rank is a Public taxi rank as defined by the law. This means that Hackney cab drivers have an absolute right to use that rank without hindrance or charge as they pay for their plate via the local council. So First Great Western by trying to charge for this are in fact seeking to break the law.
3. If the taxis are forced away from Temple Meads then they will start to use the A4 or Temple Back to pick up customers causing extra congestion around what is already a very congested part of the city, particularly at rush hour.
4 Customers will be almost forced to use First Bus 8 or 9 from the station, an unreliable service owned by First Group. This is effectively making first Group act as a cartel which in this humble blogger's opinion is contrary to competition and definitely not within the public interest.
5. Should the charge be levied upon the Hackney Drivers then ultimately that charge will be passed on to users who already suffer on of the highest taxi charges anywhere in the United Kingdom because of current legislation.
So essentially First Great Western and First Group are seeking to turn Public Transport into private transport by the back door.
Brunel was a businessman yes, however he was also a visionary and was passionate about allowing the public to move around our great land. However it would seem that the modern day sharks that follow in his path are more concerned about making profit over the commitment to public duty.
We need to support the taxi drivers in their campaign because if not it would be like that Chamberlain moment all over again and we know what happened when he sought appeasement.
Bristol Temple Meads Station was Brunel's great auditorium for his great railway. It is now it would appear the centre of a brewing storm between two fundamental arms of the public transport system. in the red corner we have the railway in the shape of First Great Western, in the blue corner we have the hard working hackney cab drivers of the Bristol Area. (blue is appropriate because all Bristol Hackney cabs are now blue in Bristol)
The problem, well First Great Western now want to make all vehicles that enter the station have a permit to drive onto the station front. Is this for security I ask you? No it's for profit. And it includes the Bristol Hackney drivers who operate from a public stand on the station front.
This is plainly ridiculous for several reasons.
1. Bristol Temple Meads is a Public Transport hub, in other words it is a place where you can move from one form of Public Transport to another. It is not a private transport hub and unless the directors of First Great Western have somehow instigated a coup ousting the present government then it will remain a Public Transport system in the United Kingdom. This means First Group are required to provide a service to the public.
2. The taxi rank is a Public taxi rank as defined by the law. This means that Hackney cab drivers have an absolute right to use that rank without hindrance or charge as they pay for their plate via the local council. So First Great Western by trying to charge for this are in fact seeking to break the law.
3. If the taxis are forced away from Temple Meads then they will start to use the A4 or Temple Back to pick up customers causing extra congestion around what is already a very congested part of the city, particularly at rush hour.
4 Customers will be almost forced to use First Bus 8 or 9 from the station, an unreliable service owned by First Group. This is effectively making first Group act as a cartel which in this humble blogger's opinion is contrary to competition and definitely not within the public interest.
5. Should the charge be levied upon the Hackney Drivers then ultimately that charge will be passed on to users who already suffer on of the highest taxi charges anywhere in the United Kingdom because of current legislation.
So essentially First Great Western and First Group are seeking to turn Public Transport into private transport by the back door.
Brunel was a businessman yes, however he was also a visionary and was passionate about allowing the public to move around our great land. However it would seem that the modern day sharks that follow in his path are more concerned about making profit over the commitment to public duty.
We need to support the taxi drivers in their campaign because if not it would be like that Chamberlain moment all over again and we know what happened when he sought appeasement.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
A little flower, with such a powerful meaning
This week is brings us the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of the 11th year. In terms of Remembrance Days you don't get a more incredible one.
To me Remembrance Day is just that. A time for reflection. It is not a political day of any kind it is a day when we recognise the ultimate sacrifice given by so many, on all sides of a conflict. To go to war is horrific, to not come home to loved ones is worse.
Sure politicians decide upon the wars but soldiers merely act upon their orders. I don't know if I could have coped in going over the top at Ypres, or The Somme. Or how I would have coped when faced with the scene at places such as Buchenwald,Treblinka or Auschwitz. I can only imagine what it must be like right now for troops in Afghanistan as they settle in for another bleak winter. What I do know though is that if we forget what these brave men, women and animals do and have done then we cheapen their sacrifice.
I have listened to many a debate about democracy and political system and believe strongly that the reason we can have this debate in the comfort of our living rooms, pubs or cafes is because somewhere someone stood up and said I will guard you at night.
I do not agree with many of the radical views expressed about our world today on all sides yet I will say this:
I will fight with everything that I have, to my dying breath, to defend those who would speak their views however abhorrent to me they may be, for that is what true democracy is. A right to freedom of speech and thought.A right to have your voice heard!
And so I wear my poppy with pride and humbleness to honour all those who have fallen to defend what they believe in. I will remember them with pride, I will as the sun goes down think of those who have risen to a place beyond us in the name of us and I will say
I SHALL NOT FORGET
To me Remembrance Day is just that. A time for reflection. It is not a political day of any kind it is a day when we recognise the ultimate sacrifice given by so many, on all sides of a conflict. To go to war is horrific, to not come home to loved ones is worse.
Sure politicians decide upon the wars but soldiers merely act upon their orders. I don't know if I could have coped in going over the top at Ypres, or The Somme. Or how I would have coped when faced with the scene at places such as Buchenwald,Treblinka or Auschwitz. I can only imagine what it must be like right now for troops in Afghanistan as they settle in for another bleak winter. What I do know though is that if we forget what these brave men, women and animals do and have done then we cheapen their sacrifice.
I have listened to many a debate about democracy and political system and believe strongly that the reason we can have this debate in the comfort of our living rooms, pubs or cafes is because somewhere someone stood up and said I will guard you at night.
I do not agree with many of the radical views expressed about our world today on all sides yet I will say this:
I will fight with everything that I have, to my dying breath, to defend those who would speak their views however abhorrent to me they may be, for that is what true democracy is. A right to freedom of speech and thought.A right to have your voice heard!
And so I wear my poppy with pride and humbleness to honour all those who have fallen to defend what they believe in. I will remember them with pride, I will as the sun goes down think of those who have risen to a place beyond us in the name of us and I will say
I SHALL NOT FORGET
Monday, 31 October 2011
Al Capone's back
Having just watched the ITV program exposure I actually feel like in the words of the famous song suicide is painless and that death is something that may bring relief.
I sit and look at my 10 year old son and I think of all the nasty horrible things that await him on his journey through life. I wonder how we as a so called civilised society can allow people like Mr Boast from Rossendales to have jobs? And I look at the well practiced Bambi eyes of the owner of the company and think to myself are we really taken in by such fawning?
Milgram was right without a doubt, people are compliant with perceived authority to the point of being sheep. In fact so much so that when a war memorial is desecrated, because the thieves want the plaques for metal, the strongest response is a Gaelic shrug of the shoulders.
If we genuinely believe that we are a civilised society then it is about time we grew up and acted like one in helping others before we help ourselves.
All it takes for evil to succeed is for one good man not to stand up!
And by not standing up Al Capone has surely risen.
I sit and look at my 10 year old son and I think of all the nasty horrible things that await him on his journey through life. I wonder how we as a so called civilised society can allow people like Mr Boast from Rossendales to have jobs? And I look at the well practiced Bambi eyes of the owner of the company and think to myself are we really taken in by such fawning?
Milgram was right without a doubt, people are compliant with perceived authority to the point of being sheep. In fact so much so that when a war memorial is desecrated, because the thieves want the plaques for metal, the strongest response is a Gaelic shrug of the shoulders.
If we genuinely believe that we are a civilised society then it is about time we grew up and acted like one in helping others before we help ourselves.
All it takes for evil to succeed is for one good man not to stand up!
And by not standing up Al Capone has surely risen.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Dicken's to them all
Bleak House could have been no more bleaker, Scrooge no more meaner and David Copperfield no more naive.
Why talk of these things? Well I am concerned that we are heading back to the Victorian era, The workhouse is likely to be reinvented if the current government is looking at New York's grand welfare plan. And kid yourself not for if the safeguards surrounding employment law are removed allowing employers to sack employees for no reason then we will find ourselves there very quickly.
I know lets just shoot people instead, No I'm not being serious but I am seriously starting to feel like I am in Germany in 1933, not Britain in 2012
Why talk of these things? Well I am concerned that we are heading back to the Victorian era, The workhouse is likely to be reinvented if the current government is looking at New York's grand welfare plan. And kid yourself not for if the safeguards surrounding employment law are removed allowing employers to sack employees for no reason then we will find ourselves there very quickly.
I know lets just shoot people instead, No I'm not being serious but I am seriously starting to feel like I am in Germany in 1933, not Britain in 2012
Monday, 24 October 2011
A Father's Fear
The last thing any father wants to think of is that one of their children has been injured or even worse.
This week has been very difficult on that front. Firstly I have been suffering from a chest infection that has gone from bad to worse to debilitating. Secondly my youngest son from my marriage whilst with his College in Bulgaria on a cultural visit was attacked by some local on the bus. His tutor was also attacked as were several others.
Tonight I received a telephone call from my daughter who is living in London on her placement year from University and working for the BBC in PR. She and her flatmate were being besieged, yes you read correctly by a drug and alcohol fuelled next door neighbour intent on breaking down the door to their flat and doing God knows what. All I have had is visions of the Vincent Tabac story coming to haunt my own doorstep except this time it wasn't a Portuguese person but an Hungarian named Adam.
They called the Police who took an age to respond, I could hear the smashing on the door by this lunatic hell bent on entry. I called the police. They took me seriously the first time but it still didn't speed things up. They told him off, they went, he started again as soon as they left. They called the police again, they even did 999 and still it was a good 25 minutes before the boys from the Met turned up. Did they arrest this man, no why? Because there is an external door which he was inside of as it was a block of flats.
Well the TV licence people treat each flat as a separate residence and everyone pays separate Council Tax Bills so why didn't they arrest him?
And when I rang the Metropolitan Police Control room I was met by the corporate speak of Communications Officer Dunn who really didn't seem to appreciate that being over a hundred miles away from my daughter I was more than concerned. I wasn't allowed to speak to her superior in the control room because she has no superior in the control room. And she wouldn't put me through to a desk officer at the nearest Police Station so that I could find out exactly what was going on. When I said to her this was now an official complaint she said someone would be back to me in due course. I asked her would that be after my daughter was dead!
This is an utter joke how the corporate system of supposedly the world's oldest and finest Police Force is now run. Plastic Policing? Not even third rate nylon Policing.
My daughter has the right to enjoy her safety. That right was clearly violated. I have a right to talk to a police officer if I am in distress that right was clearly violated. Have I filled out the complaint form of the Met? Yes. Do I expect anything other than chaff? Well I would like to think I'd get solid answers but my heart feels heavy as I say probably not.
I have to ask seriously are the Metropolitan Police so understaffed or badly equipped or trained that they have to wait for my daughter to end up in hospital, or worse before they will actually do something other than tell someone he's a naughty boy? I demand answers, I deserve answers but more importantly every citizen of the United Kingdom deserves answers as to why the Police are more bothered about corporate communications than real people?
This week has been very difficult on that front. Firstly I have been suffering from a chest infection that has gone from bad to worse to debilitating. Secondly my youngest son from my marriage whilst with his College in Bulgaria on a cultural visit was attacked by some local on the bus. His tutor was also attacked as were several others.
Tonight I received a telephone call from my daughter who is living in London on her placement year from University and working for the BBC in PR. She and her flatmate were being besieged, yes you read correctly by a drug and alcohol fuelled next door neighbour intent on breaking down the door to their flat and doing God knows what. All I have had is visions of the Vincent Tabac story coming to haunt my own doorstep except this time it wasn't a Portuguese person but an Hungarian named Adam.
They called the Police who took an age to respond, I could hear the smashing on the door by this lunatic hell bent on entry. I called the police. They took me seriously the first time but it still didn't speed things up. They told him off, they went, he started again as soon as they left. They called the police again, they even did 999 and still it was a good 25 minutes before the boys from the Met turned up. Did they arrest this man, no why? Because there is an external door which he was inside of as it was a block of flats.
Well the TV licence people treat each flat as a separate residence and everyone pays separate Council Tax Bills so why didn't they arrest him?
And when I rang the Metropolitan Police Control room I was met by the corporate speak of Communications Officer Dunn who really didn't seem to appreciate that being over a hundred miles away from my daughter I was more than concerned. I wasn't allowed to speak to her superior in the control room because she has no superior in the control room. And she wouldn't put me through to a desk officer at the nearest Police Station so that I could find out exactly what was going on. When I said to her this was now an official complaint she said someone would be back to me in due course. I asked her would that be after my daughter was dead!
This is an utter joke how the corporate system of supposedly the world's oldest and finest Police Force is now run. Plastic Policing? Not even third rate nylon Policing.
My daughter has the right to enjoy her safety. That right was clearly violated. I have a right to talk to a police officer if I am in distress that right was clearly violated. Have I filled out the complaint form of the Met? Yes. Do I expect anything other than chaff? Well I would like to think I'd get solid answers but my heart feels heavy as I say probably not.
I have to ask seriously are the Metropolitan Police so understaffed or badly equipped or trained that they have to wait for my daughter to end up in hospital, or worse before they will actually do something other than tell someone he's a naughty boy? I demand answers, I deserve answers but more importantly every citizen of the United Kingdom deserves answers as to why the Police are more bothered about corporate communications than real people?
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