Musashino Musings

Found this while browsing...excellent. I wonder if I can get a Japanese version?

Rule 1: Life is not fair...get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand quid a year right out of school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping-they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You have to do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

I heard on the news this weekend that Rose Gibb, the former CEO of the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is to get a £75,000 pay-off after being forced to resign her post. The reason for her resignation is the small matter of the deaths of 90 people through contracting infections from poorly cleaned hospitals, the responsibility for which of course rests with the organsation that Gibb oversaw. You can read all about it on the excellent Burning Our Money blog here

There are several things that really upset me about this story. Firstly, the fact that public money should be used to reward Gibb for such monumental incompetance is nothing short of disgusting. She should actually be in prison for criminal negligence. Secondly, the fact that Gibb has the affrontery to claim money from the public purse in this way reveals just what a living shit of a human being she actually is. Thirdly, while I can scarcely imagine the torment that the families of those people that died must be feeling, I can all-too-easily envisage the fight they'll have on their hands to receive a pittance in compensation. It really depresses me that such injustice can be wrought on innocent people - destroying lives, while the guilty are free to swan off clearly remorse-free and with a considerable sum of our money.

Today has been one of those kicked-backed, reflective sort of days where you wake up with nothing planned, no objectives and no agenda. After a late start and an even more leisurely breakfast, me and the wife drifted into town for a mooch around the shops and a trip to the library before meandering into a restaurant for an extended lunch. Over lunch we talked a lot about the state of the country ( a favourite topic) and in the process, I was reminded of something I had seen on our walk into town.

Passing the main bus station, I saw a bus bearing the slogan "Working towards safer communities". I stopped to ponder this statement. Naturally, we have all become very familiar with this kind of Blair-speak mission statement over the last 10 years: "Building a safe, just and tolerant society", "Re-building Britain's Railways", "NHS, your health, your choices" being just some of the more nauseating ones. But how many times do we stop to really scratch beneath the superficial gloss to think about what these catch phrases really reveal about the state of our society.

"Working towards safer communities" is a case in point. What does that mean? On face value, it appears a perfectly admirable objective. However if you think about it a little more deeply, it does imply that the community is less safe than it should be. This is interesting, as there can surely only be two states of safeness: safe and not safe. To work towards a state of safeness means that, by definition, the present state must be that of non-safe. It's like the NHS saying, "Working towards more alive patients".

The second telling point is the phrase "working towards". Working towards is a passive, wishy-washy, whining sort of a phrase, implying earnest but ineffectual efforts towards the objective in mind. It could be paraphrased easily to "We're doing our best". Notice also that the phrase "working towards" carries no real commitment to the objective. It doesn't say, for example, "To protect and serve" or "making the streets safe". No, all it says is "We are trying to..." So, implicit in the statement of intent is the caveat that if we should fail to achieve the objective, you should not criticise because we did our best.

So to translate, "Working towards safer communities" actually means "We doing our best to make a safe community". When your house if broken into, or you're mugged on the street, you should therefore not be critical of the government that has failed to protect you because they were - no doubt pointed out with indignant huffiness - doing their best, as if this somehow abdicates them from any further responsibility.

The point is, of course, that their best is not good enough, and no amount of woolly-minded, politically correct mission statements will hide the fact. The only promises of value are those that make specific commitments. The first duty of government is to create a safe society for its citizens. Either it is, or it isn't safe: There is no such thing as nearly safe, mainly safe or mostly safe; and there is no such thing as "working towards" safe. To have failed to secure the safety of its citizens in its own society, is failure - pure and simple.

This week I had cause to visit The Event Show in London. This is a trade exhibition for companies involved in every aspect of the events business, from portable toilets to lighting systems. The events business is an exciting game in many ways. I myself have been involved with some pretty big events in my time - Glastonbury, Reading etc - so I can claim a modest amount of experience in the field (excuse the pun). Safety has always been the top concern for people involved in putting on events, and rightly so. However these days, it seems safety has become less of a concern and more of a pathalogical obsession. Not with the people who are actually designing and putting on events; people who, for the most part, are hugely responsible and capable experts in their respective disciplines. No. The obsession lies with the incompetant buffoons at the Town Hall, who spend their time thinking up ever-more ingenious methods of curtailing people's enjoyment. Not to mention their education.

On the tube heading back from the show, I ended up standing next to a couple of these individuals as they were discussing their latest battles with the forces of anarchy, attempting to overwhelm their administrative regions with fetes, bouncy castles and bring-and-buy sales. With predictable efficiency, the District line train broke down at Earls Court, however this did provide ample opportunity for some serious ear-wigging into the daily goings-on with the Risk Assessment brigade.

The main thrust of the conversation concerned the misguided attempts of an individual member of the public to run a community project with local children. The basic idea appeared straightforward enough: Get some wood and paint and let the children build things. Ah, but there was a problem. "He wasn't a qualified carpenter," shrilled the first official to her shocked colleague. This then necessatated this community project having to find a qualified carpenter, willing to donate their time for free. Which, apparently, they did. "Ah but we couldn't allow the children near tools, of course", continued the official, "Far too dangerous." So now the act of actually making things now had to take place in a workshop, presumably surrounded by 20 foot high fences with sirens and flashing lights warning everyone within an 8 mile radius that someone was about to pick up a screwdriver. The role of the children in all this was now subsumed to that of assembly worker - taking things that somebody else had made and sticking them together, thereby removing the entire point of the exercise, which was surely the act of creating something from nothing.

Nevertheless, with qualified carpenters beavering away in fortified workshops, creating risk-assessed, non-toxic components, from sustainable wood using low-carbon production techniques, and transported to the children's non-judgemental activity space by bio-fuelled, recycled, ethically-sourced bicycle-powered tuk-tuks, you'd think we'd be home and dry. But no. "So what was he planning to do with the things the children made?" asked the second official. With barely contained incredulity, the first answered "I think he intended the children to take them home!"

"Oh dear", smirked the second, tutting into her ethnically-woven, bio-degradable cardigan, "He just hasn't thought this through,has he?"

The net result was, of course, the community project was cancelled, thereby freeing the children to continue engaging their time in less edifying pursuits, such as mugging and graffiti. Thanks to the attentions of these patronising and arrogant individuals, the good-hearted efforts of people who just wanted to do something constructve for their communities were strangled at birth. In Town Halls up and down the land, arseholes such as these are stiffling innovation, suppressing initiative and attemting to turn the world into brainless regurgitators of doctine, just like themselves. Rather than accusing the well-meaning individuals trying to make a difference of "not having thought things through", I wonder if they themselves have ever taken the time to consider the consequences of a generation of children raised with every original thought regulated out of their heads. Or maybe that's the plan.

Following my return to the UK, I have been pondering the state of affairs in this country even more deeply than usual, trying to get to the bottom of what's gone wrong with our society. It's a complex problem, and - tempting though it is - not one that can be laid solely on the shoulders of messrs Blair and Brown. While they have undoubtedly banged the final nail in the coffin, I think that the rot set in long before their appearance on the scene.

Ironically, I think it was the wife that got closest to understanding why this country has gone down the tubes to such an extent, and why there is such a yawning chasm between the image the UK likes to project of itself and the reality. And make no mistake about it, the world is fully aware of the truth behind the lies, even if we in this country are desperately clinging to a rose-tinted, self-deluding image of a nation which simply doesn't exist anymore. Take, for example, the NHS. Once the ideal on which health services around the world were modelled, the NHS now has the reputation amongst the international medical community of being one of the worst anywhere in the developed world. Anyone who has had the misfortune to get sick in this country recently, will attest to that.

One of the big reasons behind the decline of our health services, and indeed many professions, has been the gradual leeching away of talent - drawn overseas by the prospect of a better life and pushed out by bureaucracy, political correctness and general sloppy standards. The vacuum left is filled by non-British workers, who bring with them their own values and standards. Therein lies the essence of the problem.

In a nutshell, we as British people have forgotten what it is to be be British. As a nation, we have lost our self-respect; as a society we have forgotten the customs, traditions and values that define us as a people. What has replaced them has been a mixture of imported US-style PC nonsense and a mish-mash of cultural fragments from all over the place, mixed blindly into a muddy mess. As a result, this culturally rudderless country now drifts aimlessly into the future with no vision, no direction and no point to its existence. Britain - the country that spawned the largest empire in human history - has gone forever.

The wife's observation was very simple: She says British people have simply given away their country. She cannot fathom why we would want to do that; why we are so concerned with the rights of Muslims and asylum seekers, with Polish plumbers, with the lazy, the useless, the dishonest. Why we lack the courage to uphold our traditional values, indeed, why nobody now seems to know what those traditional values are anymore. She is right.

When you go to Japan, you see Japanese people; When you go to America, you see American people. When you arrive at Heathrow, you see hordes of Indians, Bangladeshis, East Europeans and Pakistanis. You hear very little English being spoken, and you see little sign that those people have the slightest desire to adopt any aspect of their host country's culture. It is very difficult to see how anyone could have a clear sense of national identity in these circumstances. Of course, this has been recognised (although addressed with characteristic incompetance) by the government with their Life in the UK test. Of course, this doesn't go nearly far enough to address the underlying problems. What's needed is a simple set of values and rules that apply to everyone, regardless of their ethnic roots.

To be welcomed in America, for example, you need to swear allegience to the flag and embrace the Constitution. Anyone can do it, regardless of ethnic origin, so long as they embrace the common vision and core values of the USA. This is the only way in which a nation can forge and maintain a national identity from a culturally diverse population. The fact that we have no such written constitution to allow us to adopt this course is a catastrophic error, and perhaps an example of the misplaced arrogance with which this country is now synonimous. Having paid the price for such arrogance, it's difficult to see how Britain can survive as a nation and as a society. Although tinged with sadness, this revelation does indeed make it very easy to think about leaving and not coming back: Simply put, my country doesn't exist anymore.

I have just returned from Japan from a short trip over the Christmas period. Having spent nearly all of it in bed with flu, it wasn't exactly the best trip I've ever done, but it certainly provided plenty of food for thought in terms of our plans for 2008.

Apart from the obvious reason for travelling, spending time with the family, I wanted to return to Japan with the benefit of a couple of year's "cooling-off" since my last visit to guage how I felt about moving there permanently. Visiting any country recreationally - particularly one that is quite different culturally - I think always inspires thoughts of whether we could actually live there or not. I think relocating abroad is probably something that most people consider at least once. Especially as the UK continues to come apart at the seams. But doing it for real is quite a different matter. For me personally it's a big decision, and I wanted to go there again and look at the place dispassionately and obectively.

Upon landing at Narita, I was immediately struck by the difference between Japan and the UK. And I'm not talking about the obvious ones of language and culture. What I'm talking about is the fact that Narita - like Japan generally - is clean, modern and efficient. Border officials are courteous and prompt. Everything is organised properly and even though border controls are much tighter than they have ever been (they now scan your fingerprints and take the picture of every foriegn national entering the country)the whole process is so effortlessly efficient that it caused no delay at all. Contrast this with the procedure at Heathrow: No fingerprint scan or picture, yet the queue for even UK passports stretched from one side of the hall to the other. Surly-faced, scruffy officials of non-British ethnic descent viewed everyone with suspicion. Passports snatched out of hands and grubbed through roughly with no respect for either the individual or the document. I think most of what you need to know about the differences between Japan and UK are expressed within that comparision.

My overwhelming feeling when arriving in Japan is still one of relief - a feeling of homecoming. I used to feel indignation when the wife referred to the UK as a "backward country". But I can see her point even more clearly now than a couple of years ago, and she is absolutely right. While countries like Japan move forward, the UK is moving backward at an alarming rate. Like a faded poster of Big Ben covering a fetid patch of mouldy wall, we continue to cling onto this idea of our historic importance in the world with increasing desperation, hoping against hope that nobody will spot the rot underneath. Unfortunately, the game is up: The world knows the truth about the UK, and I for one am quite happy to disassociate myself with the grubby, confused and laughable parody of itself that the UK has become.

The following article appeared in an engineering newsletter that I subscribe to. I'm glad to see other people clearly share my frustration with the modern obsession for removing any and all of life's rough corners.

Mike Page, Editor, writes:

Referring back to my comments about engineering education in schools in the July 23 Newsletter, a reader wrote that while agreeing with what was said, he felt the teacher's standpoint ought to be considered too.

He said: "As a mature engineer who has been made redundant three times from engineering I now see the teaching of students from the other perspective as I now work as a senior technician in a school."

He emphasised: "Don't blame the teachers! Most would like nothing better than to teach practical skills in technology but alas it's the councils themselves who have 'dumbed down' the subjects, because of little Jonnie might burn his finger or get a little soldering flux fumes up his nose. Peter the great said, 'Knowledge is a wonderful thing but never lose the joy of discovery'."

He continued: "If blame is to be apportioned for the lack of skills being taught, blame the average man in the street for taking schools to court because his child cut themselves in school. Blame the government demanding that students are taught how to pass examinations not to learn basic skills in engineering. Employers should blame themselves for their own lack of forethought regarding what is taught in technical collages and their short sightedness for not taking on apprentices."

The reader said: "Schools should teach basic skills, lighting the fire of the imagination of potential new engineers; colleges, technical institutions and the employers themselves should teach the skills they want and mould the minds of this valuable asset."

A number of school teachers have said the same thing and complain of 'dumbing down' practical activities. Many of us learnt from an early age that things can be heavy and hurt when they hit your toes; that fire can be hot; that you need to learn to swim to survive in deep water. Unfortunately, some of our youngsters do not appreciate these things until they experience them later in life. Dumbing down may protect authorities from litigation, but it does not help people gain experience or give confidence to take the occasional risks.

Hear, hear

Call me old fashioned, but I would have thought it would have been reasonable to expect that teachers knew how to spell properly. Whilst reviewing some work set for my daughter, I came across the following section of data:

"Potatoe","V","W","tbsp",4,6,57

What makes this even worse, is that this data was supplied by the exam board Edexcel as part of the official coursework material. The fact that the people setting the questions at the examination board can't spell properly is bad enough. That they are so slack that nobody even checks their work is unforgivable.

Extracts from today's conversation with the intellectual giants of British Gas's amusing titled "customer services" department.....

Q: "I'm ringing to find out why my direct debit has gone from £52 a month to £122"
A: "Because that's how much you owe" How helpful

Q: "But why has the account risen to such a level without my knowledge"
A:"What's probably happened is that you've used a lot of gas, for example, if your thermostat is turned up high or er...you've used it a lot" No shit, Einstein

Q:"But I can't afford £122 a month"
A:" All I can advise is that you pay the outstanding amount to bring the account up to date" If I can't afford 122, it's unlikely I'll be able to afford the 530 you say I owe - f***wit

Q:"So why have you not told me about this before?"
A "We sent a bill on 30th March"
Q:" But it's the 11th of April - where is it?"
A:"It can take up to 2 weeks to reach you" What kind of stamps are you using?

I could go on, but it's just too depressing. The thing that really upsets me is not just their total incompetance ( I have been trying to sort out this account since LAST OCTOBER!) but the fact that by employing such morons, they clearly think each and every customer is just a piece of shit to be talked down to.

I came across something startling in the papers yesterday. Apparently, by 2009 we'll all have to report to special processing centres to have our fingerprints scanned for inclusion on biometric identity cards being proposed by the Home Office. I am a bit worried by this. Not for the fact that I am concerned that the powers-that-be will uncover any wrong doing on my part. It's because it's one more step down the road to a UK where the population is micro-managed, tracked, plotted and analysed. Like any police state, in such a situation there is -by definition -a presumption of non-specific culpability... you must be guilty of something - we just don't know what yet! Doesn't this go against the most fundemental principle of English Law and of democracy? And while we hear so much hand-wringing about protecting the rights of wrongdoers, what about the rights of decent ordinary people to go about their lives without having Blair's thought police looking over their shoulders?

We are already one of the most monitored populations on the planet. Why do we need yet more scrutiny? The answer is down to the idealogical trap that Blair's government has led us into. Bleeding heart liberals (with a small L), mired in their own politically-correct idealogy, cannot find the courage to confront and deal with the real miscreants in society because that might infringe their "human rights". So, society in general has to share the blame collectively. This means we are all presumed to be guilty and must be monitored and controlled on that basis. I don't want to live in this kind of world: It's about time politicians found the courage to grasp difficult social issues and deal with them decisively. The very future of democracy - our democracy - is at stake if they don't.

There is a zebra crossing near my house. Every day I use this crossing, and every day I am nearly run over by drivers who can't be bothered to stop. Most recently, by a taxi driver - in full view of a following police car, which - predictably - did nothing. Possibly it's a sign of fast-approaching old git-dom, but this seemingly minor example of casual indifference is really starting to bother me. It's a prime example of the lack of respect people seem to have for each other - and for society - that the average motorist now feels so completely comfortable about flouting the rules. Likewise, the rules on mobile phone use while driving or teenager's apparent belief that the seat opposite them on the train exists solely for their convenience as a footrest.

You can't legislate against ignorant behaviour, but you can have rules to limit it. Examples of this kind of low-level anti-social behaviour are allowed to flourish because everybody knows that they can act in this way with impunity. Nobody in authority will say anything, let alone do anything. But does it really matter? I think it does: Routine minor infractions of the rules, if left unchallenged, soon become the norm of acceptable behaviour. Unquestionably, this has to have a corrosive effect on the credibility of every law and of every attempt of civilised people to evolve civilised societies. From tiny acorns, mighty oaks will grow. What kind of gnarled and twisted tree will grow from such a poison seed.