19th March 2013-Saturday 23 March

Neil’s Blog Tuesday 19^th March 2013

great movie.Do come and collect!

Leaflet drop in Romsey provides fresh air and exercise.   Many   thanks to  Rory for folding and Felix for help with delivery. Also managed to call in and see baby Isaac and his mum Tamsin.Thanks for the coffee and DVD loan .

Wednesday 20^th March 2013

Awake at 05:00hrs.Self re assessment (tape measured) all the water retention   areas (neck, face, shins, ankles neck belly etc) which were up, however weight down?.Using double bass cream to counter dry/sore skin due to stretching .Need to ensure skin ulceration is prevented.

canvassing in the warm

Mediation at 15:00 as routine sets me up for the evening .beginning with Telephone canvass with MS, CR and Fiona from   Trumpington   Then    Wednesday night session at Devonshire with Rory, Joseph, Elsa, Nick, PM, JM. Anne spends evening with our dear Friend Linda M

Thursday 21^st March 2013

Up 06:30hrs.  Meditation then   Yoga (I really notice   affects of the water retention when doing this)

take your time & it will go according to plan

well done son

. Project: Felix agrees to help put up a mirror in the bathroom. First time he has used a drill so we go through the whole procedure together .He did really well  and hopefully learnt much of what  I Know about basic DIY and will be able to carry out some repairs as needed in the future. Quality time spent with middle son

Mary bearing gifts support

Joseph chef 

vegetable curry by Jospeh

Mary  impromptu visit able to spend time with Anne. Joseph cooks a curry for us all. This was an excellent meal which every one really enjoyed. Good call preparing three  types  of bread .Mary & I have an opportunity to reconcile as last time we sat for a curry I unintentionally  managed to upset her and she felt unable to  stay ;Water under the bridge.

Rory and I sit and watch Skyfall. Really enjoyed the movie and being with Rory.  Quality   time with youngest son, precious  moments.

Friday 22^nd March 2013
Up 06:00 Routine, (being the first up, I may pend 45- 60 minutes plus tidying up after the family/evening meal /dishwasher etc.And in preparation for visitors if scheduled f additional  housework.  Sue H from Kent arrives mid afternoon then Janis & Mark from Brighton, All three very good friends whom Anne worked with before we married. And were at our wedding twenty five years ago!

time to catch up

wine & crisps

seems like yesterday

Anne smiling again

hoot

Sue ,Anne ,Janis 

Anne Laughing ;good sign

Sussex selection

janis

no room for dessert!

dinner

7

Chaz &

Dave

Kingston

Booked restaurant had an excellent meal. Then a pint in the Kingston where I   happened to sit next tot Joseph’s good friend Lilith, an admirable young women who like me has also benefited from NHS Care/ Detached Mindfulness. Back home, Sue stays chatting with Anne till late .Mark & I continue a conversation which seemed to touch on a range of politics/economics/ideology including the following:
In our attempt to put the world to right we managed to touch on the following subjects.I have borrowed the definitions off the internet as a brief guide; You can of course add your own views and comments .The bottom line for me (not Mark) is that Thatcher/Lawson were responsible in 2006 for the de- regulation of the banks and the resulting, rampant unregulated capitalist bonanza (as happened in the US) which led to the 2008 crash.Which Gordon Brown then  intervened in by saving  RBS and Northern Rock (albeit Labour had spent a bucket load of money  investing in health/education/benefits etc- improving equality? and increasing debt - no one had predicated the crash and the loss of revenue?) Will history vindicate him?
Which system/ideology best suits UK?Mixed?


Capitalism: an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

My issue: Limited companies are mandated to maximize profit for shareholders. How might this be balanced with providing good quality/Labour intensive hands on care? Unregulated/rampant Capitalism (due to Thatcher/Lawson!) led to the 2008 crash of US housing/banking systems then the UK followed.Marks issue?

 Socialism, theory or system of social organization that  advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. Examples of where it works e.g. John Lewis?
My issue : mutual s /coops can work however both Mark & I agree that human frailty ("look out for number one,greed") tends to get in the way of the ideal?


Thatcherism.
the policies of monetarism, privatization, and self-help promoted by Margaret Thatcher.


Communism:
1) a theory or system of social organization based on the holding ofall property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
2. a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party
 Our issues Idealist and hasn't worked thus far.Moreover human frailties (self aggrandizing,greed will always get in the way

Utilitarianism:
the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons: Thatcher-ism /"on yer bike"end of car industry/mines/manufacturing/mines.steel/ship building etc & destruction of communities 

Our issues: Taken to extreme = totalitarianism ‘who decides on who gets thrown out of the lifeboat ':


Darwinisim:
The Darwinian Theory that species originate by descent, with variation, from parent forms, through the natural selection of those individuals best adapted for the reproductive success of their kind.

Natural Selection:

Natural selection is the gradual, non-random process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution. The term "natural selection" was popularized by Charles Darwin  who intended it to be compared with artificial selection, what we now call selective breeding.

My issue: Survival of the ‘fittest’ sounds  a disastrous path for human kind.Did anyone watch 'Apocalypto'?. We have no control over the genes we are born with or the environments we are born into & whatever ,disabilities, handicapped we inherit  therefore in a decent society do we support those in need?

Society: Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an autonomous unit. The Great apes have always been more or less  social animals


The big bang : The phrase Big Bang, used in reference to the sudden deregulation of financial markets, was coined to describe measures, including abolition of fixed commission charges and of the distinction between stockjobbers and stockbrokers on the London Stock Exchange and change from open-outcry to electronic, screen-based trading, enacted by the United Kingdom government in 1986. The day the London Stock Exchange's rules changed, 27 October 1986, was dubbed the "Big Bang" because of the increase in market activity expected from an aggregation of measures designed to precipitate a complete alteration in the structure of the market. In the UK, Big Bang became one of the cornerstones of the Thatcher government's reform program me  Prior to these reforms, the once-dominant financial institutions of the City of London were failing to compete with foreign banking. While London was still a global center of finance, it had been surpassed by New York, and was in danger of falling still further behind.
Thatcher's government claimed that the two problems behind the decline of London banking were over-regulation and the dominance of elitist old boy networks and that the solution lay in the free market doctrines of unfettered competition and meritocracy

 Equality
: The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better[1] is a book by Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett,[2] published in 2009 by Allen Lane. The book is published in the US by Bloomsbury Press (December, 2009) with the new sub-title: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.[3] It was then published in a paperback second edition (UK) in November 2010 by Penguin Books with the subtitle, “Why Equality is better for everyone”.[4]
The book argues that there are "pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption".[5] It claims that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage, and child well-being, outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries.[1] The book contains graphs that are available online.[6]

Housing: Why is there a housing problem?
:i) Buy to Let and excess of HMO’s.The National HMO Lobby is an association of some fifty community groups in thirty towns in all parts of the UK, who are concerned to ameliorate the impact of concentrations of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) on their communities.
The government estimated in 2004 that there were about 640,000 HMOs in England alone. If they are not properly managed, they can give rise to a whole range of problems. Poor management of individual HMOs can give rise to problems for tenants and neighbors  Poor management of numbers of HMOs can give rise to problems for whole communities.
The Campaign for Bedsit Rights, lately run by Shelter, has advocated the tenants' cause. Council officers who have to oversee HMOs are represented by the National HMO Network. Neighborhoods are represented by our National HMO Lobby.
We began campaigning in 2000. Many of our objectives have now been achieved. The Housing Act 2004 introduced mandatory licensing of larger HMOs, and in 2010, the government delegated discretionary licensing to local councils in England. Also in 2010, the government changed the Use Classes Order, so that HMOs now require planning permission. See 'What is a HMO?' for the current status of HMOs

ii) Second Homes: We may be in a recession but 1.6m of the population of England and Wales have a second home in the country that they use for a month or more each year. That's 2.8% of the population.

and thats how it works

Saturday 24^th March 2013 Janis, Mark and Sue choose to visit some of the tourist sites and in spite of the snow we decide to walk into town rather than queue in car with the inevitable traffic. We spend the next few hours at the Fitzwilliam not getting much beyond the English artists in galleries 1-3 which only does it justice. Janis is an accomplished painter herself who exhibits in her adopted town of Brighton. This is an enjoyable occasion for me as I would happily look and learn about beautiful things all day and the accessible brochures provide a little bit more background to the usual signage. Sue spots three ‘Constables’’ portraying a Mill in Gillingham (Wiltshire) where her sister currently lives, and painting of Shoreham & Hove where Janis/Mark live and I went to school in 1973.Time for refreshments so we head to the cafe where I enjoy the soup of the day (mushroom) and a role.

Delicious food & warmth to counter wintery conditions

We decide to move on (snow continues) and take in Kings Parade/Corpus Clock then  back to home for a tea & goodbye as our three fond guests head off. Time for meditation then we are off to Karen & Mick’s for dinner. Mick has kindly offered to pick us up (bike would be our usual mode of transport, however the snow is still falling. Great to see ‘Heidi’ and catch up .Karen cooks up a feast with an oriental style starter of crispy bits in crunchy lettuce leafs ,followed by lamb shank ,slowed cooked with vegetables some chilli, Very  tender, one of my favorite forms of potato ‘mash’ particularly when accompanied by meat & gravy ,Ideal when the snow is falling  outside. Then baked rice pudding with vanilla

Karen,Mick ,Heidi

 Mick & I make our way through a variety of ales , noticing the different strengths & flavors. 

Neil .Mick

Mick & I discuss the demise of manufacturing, attacks on public sector, NHS ,jobs ,apprenticeships, loss of employee rights, pensions and the implications for our children, grandchildren. Who is going to stop the decline and when? Unions? Labour? The coalition seem hell bent on dismantling the lot.

Anne & Karen go back 35+ years. We get a taxi home in the snow after a very pleasurable evening.

NH 24/03/13