Friday 27 March 2009

1676 Meeting the challenge


I am enjoying life too well. I would like to believe that this has been achieved through many years working hard and seeking redemption for sins committed, sins unintended, so that it is a state which will continue. I hope two major decisions taken over recent months have contributed. The immediate challenge is to tackle weight and fitness if there is to be any prospect of reaching eighty. Yesterday was a so so start to the new campaign. I had a croissant and a little coffee, then a portion of prawns with shells and fruit salad for lunch. A Danish with coffee mid afternoon. The coffee was £2.10 from a garage machine, after the Costa Coffee outlet said their machine had blown up earlier in the day and was Ok but I still baulk at paying more for an individual cup than a whole packet from the supermarket. For evening meal there was soup with a second croissant acting as a roll and a mixed salad with the second piece of salmon and slice of smoke mackerel followed by grapes.

The previous evening I watched an excellent one hour episode of Taggart with a contemporary theme. Two Polish Migrant workers are shot dead from close range in what first looks like a professional hit and then from a message to a radio station are said to be random assassinations against the influx of migrants from Poland in particular and central Europe.

For some of the team the phone call appears to confirm that the victims were chosen because of their nationality but others are not convinced especially when it appears that the telephone call is a made up relayed tape from a public call box where there are no CCTV cameras. It could be a false trail to take the police away from the actual motivation and culprit

The first victim is a comparatively recently arrived building worker who has openly criticised the way the hiring and placement firm operated and had joined forces with a young female lawyer and social activist with a Polish parental background. She is then professionally used by the detective team as an interpreter and her involvement becomes known to then hiring boss who is the prime suspect when her home is firebombed. This he admits but not the murders. The second victim has lived in Scotland for six years, works as hotel receptionist and is married to a native businessman she met while he was visiting Poland. There appears to be no connection between the two although as the hour long programme progressed it is first established that both attended Catholic mass on Sundays and then that the two were on the same flight from Poland to Scotland when the building worker first came to the UK. It is then found that the two are related and are cousins.

The husband is revealed as the killer because he had tried to eradicate all traces of Poland from her life and the arrival of the relative had changed the position, resurrecting feelings for her homeland. This is unusual motivation for murder but credible given the personality of the husband.

The sub plot in the relationship which develops between DI Robbie Ross played by John Mitchie, (whose grandparents were Italian interned during the second world war) and the Polish lawyer, activist cum interpreter. Romances, let alone serious relationship rarely if ever last in these series so it will be interesting to learn if this one has legs, especially as Robbie saves her life. In contrast to the two hour Lewis on Sunday this episode was believable and fully engaged the single hour.

The State Dinner is the seventh episode of the first series of the West Wing and is a classic example of inviting a head of state from a country whose regime one disapproves and then drawing attention to their shortcomings in official pubic speeches rather than frank but private discussions.

The White House Press are only interested in the details of the dresses and accompaniments to be worn at the dinner, whereas three other events become the concern of the President and his staff. This may be accurate as a reflection of public interest in froth rather than substance but was one of several question marks about authenticity. Two of the “situations” would attract instant 24 hour media attention in real life.

One is a hurricane which is heading for Atlanta where the grand parents of Charlie live, and who as established as the personal assistant to the President, he is promised help by White House staff to find what has happened to them. If you have got power which not use it for colleagues, an issue which occurs again later in episode and the series. The hurricane changes course and heads for where a fleet battle group has reassembled. President’s like everyone one else have to sit and wait, having no control over the conduct of nature’s forces.

The second situation concerns a siege involving a white separatist who brandishes a gun sold by the security services as part of an entrapment and where Mandy Hampton, Public Relations adviser, counsels caution, suggesting that a negotiator should be used. Unfortunately he is shot at first opportunity and is struggling for his life, which causes her distress, rightly for not listening to the more experienced. The third situation is an announced strike where the employers and union have failed to reach a settlement. The president is able to intervene and threatens to nationalise the industry and have the union members placed in the national service if they fail to reach agreement before the strike is due to commence. Apparently this approach previously resolved a real life situation. I have no means of checking but if ti happened it is further insight into how the USA ticks.

The main interest is on a private meeting between Toby and Josh, seeking the help of the Presidential aide, aid from the aide, for the release of a French journalist and friend. They are told to go to Hell after Toby’s drafted speech, in welcoming the President refers to the non democratic nature of the regime. The one weakness if this episode is why there is the state visit was arranged anyway as their appears to be nothing over which the two nations can bargain. There is a delightful vignette where it is necessary to use a kitchen hand who speaks the dialect of the visitor and a second language but has no English while the official interpreter can speak the second language of the kitchen hand and can translate into American.

Deputy speech writer Sam continues his relationship with the high class call girl who wants to graduate in law and leave her lucrative night job. They meet at diner for a snack. She has to go to get ready for her date, a wealthy man who books her when he is in town but she does not know where they are going that evening. He turns out to be a Democratic Party financial backer rewarded with invites to major social functions such as the state dinner and greets the three staffers Leo Josh and Sam saying what a great job they are doing and introduces his companion. While he goes off for drinks Sam tries to buy out the girl that evening for $10000 dollars as the wife of the President arrives. This is her first appearance, Stockyard Channing, who came to fame in Grease. Before then the girl asks Sam, what is it you do here exactly? He replie, It’s never really been made clear to me.

Enemies is the 8th and final episode on the first disk of the complete series. This is the first episode not written by Aaron Sorkin. I thought this worked well and proved to highly topical in that it concerned the efforts to pass a Banking Bill where the banking community is opposed seeking deregulation. At the last moment two senators attach a land use strip mining deal in order to scupper the bill knowing that the Presidential Team will not accept. Early on the President has kept Josh up until 2am showing off his knowledge of the 44 National Parkland areas and which he has visited. Josh has a last minute brainwave being a creative genius and advises the President that he can accept the Bill and then use the Antiquities Act to prevent strip mining by declaring the land the 45th national parkland under the legislation.

The Vice President is asked to set the Cabinet meeting off until the President arrives and suggests to the group that their first priority is to work with Congress to get things done. The President then immediately arrives and checks what the Vice President has said and chastises for not prefacing his remarks that their priority is to serve the interests of the American people and the clash is leaked to the media friend of C J who has started to take a personal interest in her. She prevents the leak widening by giving the journalist a half hour exclusive interview, the same length as Prime Minister’s Question Time, and half that of the Prime. Ministers monthly press conference. The Vice President is upset at being accused of being the leak which is traced to the secretary verbatim note taker. Later the Vice President asks the President why he is so hostile towards him and the President explains that he was forced to beg the Vice President to run and deliver the South to win the Presidential election after the President had beat him in the primaries for the Democratic Party nomination.

The most interesting aspect is that this was the first meeting of the Cabinet in six months and the third of the administration. The President is not convinced that any meetings are necessary, finding them mind numbing, Leo McGarry Chief of Staff reminds that they are constitutionally required. This may be the equivalent of the Privy Council to the Queen rather than the British Cabinet Government system which not only meets weekly but where there are several Cabinet sub committees ongoing and until Thatcher the Prime Minister was always regarded as the first among equals.

The minor plot is the relation between Leo, his wife and his daughter who he meets for breakfast at his hotel and where a cup of coffee is $6.50. He wants to know how his wife is and who has decided upon divorce. The daughter does not want to be drawn into taking sides or giving information out which her might not wish her to do so. She accepts the subscription opera tickets as his wife does not want to go and misses the fact that he was in effect asking her to go with him. She asks Sam the deputy communications director who is reluctant and seeks approval from Leo. Leo asks him to work on a Presidential birthday message for an assistant secretary of transport as a means of spiking the outing and the President twigs what is going on and asks Sam to put his personal imprint when he gets a staffer to produce and acceptable response. When she finds this out, the daughter blows up in the presence of the President and he goes through the list of activities her father has undertaken during the day including ensuring that the President has not broken the law and is about to be indicted. She goes to the second act with her father and Sam declines joining them for coffee in the interval as he is taken up with getting the message right and in this he is joined by his boss. They comment that they have difficulty in locating their talent but one explains to the other that it is somewhere in the building.

The programme is brilliant in communicating that these are exceptional men and women who deal with a multitude of important and varied issues of government and party every day 24/7 but who have the same behavioural issues as everyone else in terms of personal relationships, being bored and excessively involved, understanding and also blind when emotions are aroused. It is doubtful if anyone can function at the level required for more than a few years.

Wednesday 25 March 2009

1169 Churchill's Bodyguard

A requirement of political leadership is the ability to take a long term view. Yesterday evening there was a documentary about the involvement of Churchill's personal security officer in an incident which underlined the reality of the task of those holding high political office.

In 1943 Churchill had undertaken several journeys across the Atlantic and also to North Africa. At one point his journey home was delayed and afterwards there was a report that his personal security officer had deliberately and secretly taken action to prevent the departure of the plane. Walter H Thompson was Churchill's bodyguard in two spells between 1921 and 1945 recalled from semi retirement to act privately for £5 a week in August 1939 and then officially on behalf of Scotland yard when Churchill rejoined the Cabinet. The involvement of Walter Thompson who became a close confidant of Churchill only became widely known some two decades after his death with the publication of his memoirs in 2003, and an official autobiography in 2005 which also coincided with a BBC TV series originally shown in November and December 2005, and now available on 13 DVD's.

What emerged in last night's episode is that following the breaking of the code governing all German communications a moral dilemma arose of the highest difficulty because in order to ensure that the knowledge remained secret from the enemy it was important not to reveal the advantage by altering plans in a conspicuous way. This meant that many German operations which led to significant loss of life among the allies had to be allowed to progress unless there was a way of altering or intervening without arousing enemy suspicions.

In the incident in the episode repeated yesterday Churchill delayed his departure because of a technical problem where the evidence emerged after the war that Walter Thompson had removed a key component. This did not mean he knew the Code machine had been cracked or why he had been asked to prevent the plane from flying that day. But it is known that government intelligence was aware of an attempt to kill Churchill and that the enemy believed for a short time that they had got Churchill when the civilian airplane was attacked and shot down.

It is known that one false trail was that Churchill might return home using a civil airliner and it is interesting that one passenger had a Churchill sounding name and a good resemblance and that the film actor Leslie Howard who looked like the body guard was listed in the passenger list next to the Churchill look alike. That this was more than coincidence has two sources, one fact and one fiction. The factual example is 'I was Monty's double,' where the recruited actor, visited Gibraltar, hence my special interest staying with the Governor and attending a dinner at which a suspect agent was invited and then made a tour of the front in North Africa, while Churchill was elsewhere. I cannot remember the fictitious series which was more likely to have been Foyle's War than Poirot, but I believe that the in the fictitious story the actor died whereas Monty's double lived to tell the tale According to information to-date Walter Thompson was involved in preventing thirteen attempts on Churchill's life.

If the official sacrificing of a few to save the greater number is justified in total war of a conventional nature why is it not justified in relation to terrorist advocating a fundamentalist obliteration of all those who dissent?

Today as been long with eight hours at the hospital. On return home for the second time I dried the washing but left the ironing and washing up till the morrow. My DVD club has sent The Greatest Story ever told and I stayed up tired but not exhausted thanking to be reminded of something greater than the situation and my life. I have seen the film before but had no recollection and tonight it was more background as I checked my space communications and was immediately interested in a new request to be included as a friend. I had forgotten that the film is full of tableaux and the tone of the script is appropriate although some contemporary Americanisms find their way. I am very tired and will stop the film and go to bed after posting this as it is. I bought a salmon and a prawn sandwich to take with me and then a beef with noodles, onion and peppers stir fry for the evening meal, having acquired a stir fry pan of sufficient size. My weight was down a few pounds this morning.

I said Catholics prayers on behalf of my mother. Last Autumn I set about rereading the Old Testament, the Worldwide Master Catechism of the Catholic Church and Catholicism for Dummies but I ran out of the available before work in relation to my mother's 100th birthday. I hate leaving things half done especially if they could have an important bearing on my future years. I did not feel what I was doing was hypocritical or without meaning because what I said was on behalf of someone who until the illness took hold appeared to possess a lifelong faith without question or doubt. An intermission curtain has dropped down on the film so it is a good time to stop. Last night in part because I slept for half an hour before midnight I could not sleep on going to bed and needed to get up and write a little. The prayer to St Joseph was appropriate for more than one reason.

Thursday 19 March 2009

1670 West Wing Blues


Sadly both the Brown and Obama administrations have in common being conned, is the kindest way of putting it, by the capitalist brotherhood in paying giant size bonuses to the banking scum whose greed and incompetence have brought millions into unemployment, families to lose their homes and financial distress to millions. In other times these people would have been stripped of their possessions and incarcerated, or worse. There is news this evening that the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted to introduce a 90% tax bonuses paid out by any company accepting more than $5 billions of bail out money. Well done. For once an administration is not prisoner of its party or parliamentary system. This was the situation in the fourth episode of West Wing : Five Votes Down.

President Bartlett played by the excellent actor Martin Sheen is determined to make progress in tackling the extent of gun crime in the USA. Every President knows hundreds of thousand die in their country because of the constitutional right to hold arms to protect ones family and self. I have every sympathy that in such a situation the law abiding should be hesitant about giving up their rights while the criminal class remains unaffected and the arms dealers are allowed by governments to sell their wares regardless of their immediate uses and in the future. Once any genie is out of its bottle it is impossible to recapture and the best that can be done is to monitor and constrain. For effective arms control in the USA to take place, arms manufacture and sales would have to be nationalized and a war declared on gun crime with the same determination as the war or terrorism. In episode 4 the President accepts that what is being done is palliative but even this comes under threat.

The episodes opens as the White House senior staff and media team attend a function at which the President is making the most of the merits of the new legislation and the team is then shown the arranged long planned but secret walk from the event to the security vehicles. The walk lasts four minutes and Charlie is on hand to see the President off in his car before returning home. The scene involved 500 extras. All the main characters have something to say.

The concern of the episode is that 5 democrats are not going to vote in favour of measure and the passage is therefore in doubt. One Senator explains that he is coming up for re-election and cannot afford to alienate anyone. Josh explains that if he votes against the measure he will not be the party candidate at the election. Another is open about his action. Apart from seeing the President when elected for a photo shoot with others he has had no contact. The deal is struck. He will have another photo, playing chess with the President. Getting others on line is more difficult and the Chief of Staff is forced to call on the Vice President for assistance in relation to one Senator and their contact reveals that both had a serious alcohol problem. The Vice President has his weekly card school which includes a judge and others in the government eye who cannot afford to be open about their private Alcoholics Anonymous group. The Chief of Staff joins in, under stress because his wife has walked out unable to cope with the reality of her husband holding such high office. He failed to remember their anniversary returning several hours after the banquet ended. He arranges for his staff to buy a expensive piece of jewellery and arranges of a meal at home with a violin player. However this does not prevent her leaving precipitated when a staffer rings with the message that the appointment with the Vice President is at 9pm. McGarry pleads that he would only be away for 45 mins. She pleads about saving their marriage, He pleads that it is opportunity to achieve something few others have and he admits that he wants and needs to this and that in reality it is more important than saving his marriage.

The saying of this episode must be that of Leo. There are two things you do not want people to see how you make them, laws and sausages.

Series creator Aaron Sorkin originally considered Alan Alda, Jason Richards and Sidney Poitier for the role of President and Martin Sheen was only contracted for four episodes as the intention was to focus on the role of staff and their relationships. The producers were so impressed with Sheen that they decided to make the character a regular feature and Sheen agreed because of the social issues to be covered. It was a marriage which led to most Americans of the centre left and fans from overseas wishing that Martin would put up for the job so they could vote for him! Then came Barack Obama

The West Wing President is a man with political background in that he is a descendent of Josiah Bartlett, a signatory of the declaration of Independence. The President is haunted by his father who treated him badly, in part because he adopted the religion of his mother, a Catholic, hence his knowledge of Latin, and that the putting up for election and get popular approval is a substitute for the failure to get his father to like him. He grew up into an intellectual and was accepted for places at the best universities but chose Notre Dame because of the serious intention to become a priest. (These were not factors why I watched every episode and continue to enjoy doing so again and again, putting the TV series alongside Casablanca for films, as I did not have this information until now). The West Wing President graduated summa cum laude with a B.A in American studies and a minor in theology. He then took his masters and PHD in economics at the London School of Economics hence his global understanding and left of centre political leanings and a Keynesian, wining the Nobel prize based on his work about the application of macro economics in developing economies, an award he reluctantly shared with a Japanese economist with a conservative approach.

Like many men originally felt called to the priesthood the situation dramatically changed when the discovery of the attractions of the female, in this instance his future wife, a medical doctor and liberated female, Abigail and they have three daughters Zoe Patricia the youngest who in the next but one episodes is introduced, coming from the family home to join her father before going to college. Their second daughter Eleanor Emily is also a doctor and the eldest Elizabeth Anne(Westin) who is married with two children. He is protective as a father and as a President especially when his youngest daughter is the subject of an individual assassination attempt in the sixth episode.

Prior to running for the Presidency he had served as a governor of New Hampshire for two terms having won in 1996 with a 69% vote. He was also a three term member of the US House of Representatives, so a seasoned political campaigner having also successfully been a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

He was not a front runner for the Democratic nomination having been persuaded to run by his long time political associate and friend, Leo McGarry, former Campaign Manager and now Chief of Staff who at times acts as a stern by kindly father figure. He has beaten the front runner Senator John Hoynes of Texas where the party does not do well overall, hence the difficulty that arises when Bartlet explains his unwillingness to campaign there because it would require him to wear a large hat, translated by the media, as a funny hat. He invites the Senator to be the Vice Presidential Candidate which is accepted as a means of taking over in four years as he expects the President to slip up, and this explains the conflict and distance between them. A mistake which President Obama does not appear to have made, by picking someone older and unlikely to prove a rival in the future, whereas the able and ambitious Hilary Clinton will remain determined to become the first US female President.

A feature of the series is the way the characters attempt to maintain normal lives and in the fifth episode, The Crackpots and These Women, the younger members of the team are seen playing basketball with the President who they accuse of cheating when he introduces a new seven foot defensive player who he claims is a federal employee assistant to his Counsel on physical fitness. Toby Ziegler, Communication‘s director reminds that in the previous tennis tournament he was forced to play against someone who had an amazing resemblance to Steffi Graf, and this player also has an amazing resemblance to a successful national team player! He comments on the President‘s obsession with winning.

One feature of this episode is what Josh calls Leo’s Crackpot day. A day when senior staff are expected to give time to those who passionately press oddball causes. One of these wants to create a 1800 mile corridor to enable migrating and endangered species to travel across the states at a cost of millions which as is pointed out could be spent on new schools and other more important causes. A second presentation is for the government to devote more attention to unidentified flying objects.

A second feature of the episode is when Josh is given an instruction card on who to call and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. CJ asks Josh to read an article about smallpox in the New York and this affects him deeply as he realises that with the end of the cold war it is unlikely that he will be subject to a nuclear attack, but more likely a test tube will be broken on the streets of some close populated city thus causes most of the nation to be wiped out from the disease. However even this possibility does not prevent him from deciding that he would rather stay with his family and staff than be one of the few protected to manage the after situation.

I attended the national civil defence centre for a course on my role in the event of a nuclear attack and I carried around me the local Wartime emergency plan as well as Civil emergency plan for my area and strongly believed as I still do in the need for effective preparations to deal with all possible kinds of emergencies however remote they appear. My criticism then was that simply because one held a particular post did not meant suitably for undertaking such a role or that anyone would be effective without training, practice and retraining as threats changed. Faced with a crisis some people reacted by freezing while others let loose their demons and behaved no different from those we had gone to war over in the first instance. The presentation of the pass triggers several of Josh’s demons and he visits his psychiatrist not seen since his official Presidential appointment, and in which he reveals how his older sister died in fire when baby sitting him and how he had run out. He decides he cannot run out on his family and work colleagues should the major crisis occur.

The core of this programme is the preparations for a Presidential Press conference. Josh sits in his office worrying about his position and that of his friends listening and inspired by the singing of Ave Maria when CJ calls to remind he is expected in the Presidential suite for a chilli supper party to celebrate the arrival of his youngest daughter. As Josh arrives, the President and Leo are praising their female colleagues, singling out his personal secretary who has served the nation for 14 years having previously lost two sons in the Vietnam war.

The memorable exchange was between the President and Toby who accused him of allowing the demons in his head to shout down the better angels in his brain. Later at the party he qualifies this saying that for the first time in a long while, the battle between the forces has become a fair fight. The President refers to the crackpot day visits earlier and that the UFO was a failed Russian satellite burning up in the earth’s atmosphere and that having succeeded in exploring into space, in search of the face God, there are other challenges for them, such as ensuring that every young person, like his daughter, who wants to go to college is able to do so and reap the benefits of such experience.

In the sixth episode of the first series, Mr Willis of Ohio. There are two main stories. In the first an intruder is discovered in the outer grounds of the White House, the first of eight security lines. I cannot remember if this happened before or after an intruder was found within Buckingham Palace. The President is shocked to find that the assassin was a deranged woman with a gun and where the target was his daughter. Later the President, noting that Charlie seems to just work and stay home suggests that Josh takes him out for a few drinks in a local bar before returning to watch an important vote. The President’s daughter hear about this and invites herself along with the school teacher daughter of the Chief of Staff who calls to ensure that her father is coping having moved out of his home to allow his wife to return. In addition Sam and CH join the party at a bar attended by young people who are attending university, the kind of place daughter Zoe will be experiencing when she goes to college. She is hassled by three drink too much young men when she goes to the bar alone, leaving her panic button behind, in order to see how a particular drink is made. Charlie is the first to sense she is in danger and immediate goes to protect her and ensure to ensure she returns to the table with the minimum of fuss and is subjected to racial as well as normal male abusive and threatening behaviour in such a situation. Josh and then Sam also go to aid with Josh sounding the panic button. Earlier at the party ZoĆ« asks Sam if he has not brought his female friend and then others are shocked to learn she knows about the situation, having been told by the daughter of the Chief of Staff who Sam unintentionally slipped out without realising who she was. Sam enquires if their respective parents are aware of the position and they advise that they are collecting I.O.U favours. Back at the White House the President expresses concern at the action of his daughter in going to the bar without arranging appropriate security and explains his fear they she will be kidnapped and he asked to do something which he would find impossible to grant, although his priority would be her life and welfare, something which happens in the recent episode of 24 hours and which becomes a reality later in the programme series. The President is made aware of the action of Charlie and invites him to join in what appears to be a nightly poker game. The game is a devise to enable the President to show of his general knowledge although he uses this as a means of distracting opponents.

I am not sure about the inclusion of this activity or the extent to which the President is so familiar with his closest employees. It takes an exceptional individual to be able to combine friendship with being the boss. There the risk of putting employees in an impossible position. One interesting aspect is that the President appears to have been able to hand pick his immediate staff in way I am not sure exists in the UK where equal opportunity legislation can create problems when it comes to effective team building although the art is to ensure the job specifications are clear and precise

The main political issue of the episode is a debate over altering the national census and the costs and limitations of the traditional method where every household is visited by a trained enumerator and where money could be saved by taking samples for the information required. A meeting is held to persuade three congressmen to change their vote and this includes Mr Willis of Ohio who is attending as a temporary replacement for his wife who has died and while a successor can be elected. It is fascinating that a spouse can participate and vote in such a situation. His two colleagues cannot be persuaded from moving away from the agreed line. The Presidential negotiating team have before them copies of the draft budge in thousands of pages and which includes a significant number of individual expenditure items put in to effectively buy the votes of individual members of the Congress and Senate (pork barrel politics), The threat is to hold up the budget until the right position is adopted on the census legislation. The temporary representative from Ohio listens to the arguments and changes announces he will vote as required because of the force of the argument, Toby Ziegler tells everyone, I met an unusual man, He didn’t walk in with his mind made up. He genuinely wanted to do what he thought was best. He didn’t mind saying the words I don‘t know. What an indictment of the party political system on sides of the Atlantic that such a statement rang true.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

1668 The West Wing Begins


Monday March 16th 2009 shall henceforth be known as the West Wing day although the USA TV series was not foremost in my mind when I rose from bed after a restless and at times uncomfortable night. I put out the rubbish and the environmental box of cans, bottles and newspapers/papers and then attended to e mails, played some computer games and got myself ready to go out. The mission was to investigate if Wilkinson’s had more of the black inexpensive display folders, they had one and half boxes of other colours and I needed to think about this further before proceeding. I collected the Metro free newspaper during the journey, noting this edition celebrated ten years of the service, and then that the number of High St store closures has increase by two since previously noting the changes.

At the Ship and Royal I had to made do without milk for the coffee as the delivery had not arrived, so compensated with sugar. As usual it was a large and hot cup and the roll was filled with succulent thick slices of bacon to which I added some brown sauce. It was delicious. Unusually there were a few male single drinkers and a couple doing likewise. Even a family birthday party which arrived later took to the drink. Where have all the coffee drinkers gone, I had to ask myself? I do not understanding this early morning drinking although it was after 11 so I suppose midday was approaching.

At the supermarket I bought five bananas, some prawns, a small jar of mint sauce, and two small containers, one of ginger spice and the other of Thai stir fry spice. I decided against some courgettes where there was a good offer available but in a pack of three and large sufficient for several weeks. Instead I decided to make use of a whole onion and a large red pepper with the chicken and the noodles for the stir fry. I decided caution regarding the quantity of ginger and mixed Thai Spice and will increase the quantity somewhere between 50 and 100% tomorrow. For a late lunch around 2pm I had the prawns with cucumber, lettuce and a tomato. I will buy a cucumber and tomatoes tomorrow and remember to get some sink unblocker and the water is flowing away slowly again although I have a strainer fitted which prevents from most solids from escaping.

The main work activity was to up date development work and undertake the framework of a new seven to eight set volume. Feeling tired later afternoon I decided against photography, artman glitter card creation or uploading Blogs from My Space to Google.

Three hours of the day was used on sort out nearly four hundred photos which have been scanned onto the computer in order to make a photo disk. Many of the photos were forty years old and many of the early ones were colour slides. Some of the photos has faded from exposure to sunlight and but the programme was able to reproduce the original colours as close to magic as anyone can get. I needed to first group under 15 categories and then attempt to place them in some date chronology.

During the afternoon I listened to Chris Barber records and had intended continuing up until the next episode of 24 at 9pm. However as there were lots of cut outs and I wanted to concentrate on research and some writing so I selected one of four Great British Dance Band disks from a collection of 100 tracks. Disk three features the Jack Payne Orchestra( BBC Director of Music 1932), Carroll Gibbons (Radio Luxembourg and American born) and Harry Roy(Cafe de Paris). Among the numbers were: Lets face the music and Dance; Let’s call the whole thing off; Why Stars come out at Night, The Little Things that mean so Much, Chattanooga Choo Choo and There must be a way. Other bands in this series are Lew Stone, Geraldo, Ambrose, Jack Hylton, Joe Loss, Ray Noble and Nat Gonella. While the bands came to the fore in the 1930’s they also kept spirits up during and after the war.

I also decided to go straight into the opening series of the West Wing without any prior reminding of the characters, actors or individual programme content and read up afterwards. The Pilot, called only Pilot, was screened in the USA in September 1999, that is before 9/11 and showed a democratic leaning left administration at odds with the right. I do not think I saw the first series when screened in the UK but caught up as soon as I could after being hooked immediately I saw an episode. With a political interests since late adolescence the star political series in the UK had been Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister which communicated the reality of life as a senior politician and the role and relationship with the permanent civil services but in the form of a situation comedy.

Sometimes comedy can bring an audience closer to the reality and the truths that the serious drama and the two series had plenty of political and social bite.

The acting in the West Wing is brilliant and most of leading characters won awards over the seven seasons. There are two levels of authenticity in West Wing. You are always aware of a lot of staff working hard and a lot of things happening all the time, the government role, the political roles, the presidential role and the keepers of the White House historical building, (it is more Buckingham Palace than 10 Downing Street), and the round the clock media attention to every detail. The individual stories always have credibility. In contrast I have lost patience with 24 where a stupid and inadequate President puts her emotions before the interests of her office and country(Someone like George Bush would never do that would they?). The level of incompetence of the security and intelligence stretches incredulity. I have decided not to watch the rest of the series.

The West Wing Pilot show commences during the first year of office and lacked dramatic punch, but has several amusing to funny moments. It opens as the key White House officers receive a bleeper message that POTUS has had an accident. When someone comments that it a funny name, she is told, it stands for President of the United States, who I work for!

The President has ridden a bicycle into a tree at his weekend home and this has caused great merriment among the press and House staff. His has sustained a minor injury but his pride has been hurt. The president’s health will become a major issue in later seasons.

The explanation about POTUS is given by Sam Seaborn, deputy Communications director, and played by Rob Lowe, to woman picked up at a high class and exclusive bar when chatting to a pressman, only to find in the morning that she is a professional high class call girl on £3000 dollars a night having an away day.

Although he knows he should immediately severe all links and report was has happened to his boss and to the Press Secretary decides to consult with same age and ranking deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyneham, who gives him the same advice as their superiors when they find out, that he should have nothing further to do with the woman and hope the media do not find out and which is unlikely.

This is an important aspect of national government reality on both sides of the Atlantic. Most of the time those outside of office that is Parliamentarians and members of the Houses of Congress and the journalists they court and who court them for information before anyone else gossips about who is in and whose out, their future advancement or lack of it, rather than political theory or major policies. I make this comment based mainly on being a watcher of political commentators on TV but I have been in one the bars in the Houses of Parliament where Members and Shadow Minister’s and would be Shadow Ministers meet and listened to the talk as well known individuals came and went. The problem in the instance of Sam, is that he likes the woman but wants to be her platonic friend and wants to ignore the great spectrum of voters who would do likewise if given the opportunity, but would be committing professional and personal social ostracization(?) if they did so.

The main subject of the Pilot is Josh Lyneham, a thirties something deputy Chief of Staff. This individual is responsible the smooth running of the White House and for such other duties as required by the Chief of Staff, the most senior adviser to the President and in many respects more powerful than the Vice President. President Obama has two deputies and other Presidents have had more than one individual in post. In West Wing the part is played by Bradley Whitfield throughout the seven season series and for which he won a best supporting actor Emmy in 2001.

As we all the main characters and their actors I will do a background at some point during the experiencing of the series. The Character of Josh is an intelligent and sensitive operator who enjoys winning, achieving his tasks, and finds failure more difficult than most.

In this episode Josh in deep trouble for a reactive comment on camera in an interview involving a hard line Christian fundamentalist. There is in house and media speculation that the President will be forced to sack him and Josh half expects this because he was warned in advance not to respond to bigotry on camera. When the President arrives in on a meeting between the head of Communications Toby Ziegler played by Richard Schiff, and Josh with a group of leading Christian fundamentalists he throws them out because a religious extremist group has sent one of his daughters a malicious and offensive item through the post in a situation where he has previously called upon this leadership to reign in the activities of the group. He says he will listen to what they have to say only when they prove their effectiveness. He also warns Josh that he had used up his nine lives in one go. Toby who briefed Josh about not rising to the bait, loses it at the meeting when he perceives the leader of the group has made an anti Jewish remark. (The Director of Communication and deputy are the leading speech writers with teams of staff preparing all the speeches to be made by the President. Their main function is to direct the president’s media campaign and in this respect they have to know everything there is to know what is happening before it happens). A major figure in the series is the press front person. C J Cregg, the Press Secretary, a role which is just below that of Presidential Cabinet Member although they are often included in White House top meetings with the President and the actress playing her Allison Janney outshone all the other female characters, including Stockyard Channing, as the wife of the President and won several awards as well as playing an even greater part in the final season.

What the pilot establishes is the intensity in which everyone operates and the mutual appreciation of the environment and nature of their working activity. They are self aware of making potential history and that everything they do can effect the lives of millions of human beings as well as having a Political Party significance. At one point someone arrives on a conversation with two people who are not part of the same function and immediately twigs, “What’s going on? To which they reply, ‘nothing’’ to which the split second retort is, You are lying!’ ‘yes’ ‘want me to get out!’ ‘yep.’ Nothing more needs to be said then or later as those involved understand and have been in the same place already many time.

The other feature of the first episode and which characterised the series is the repartee and throw away asides and observations.

“I don’t want this gesture to be taken as an indication that I like you” ;
“ I’ve got a job...” “for the moment” the other mumbles.

“I have enough friends.” “ not these days you don’t” This latter exchange is between Josh and a character I have long since forgotten. This is Mandy Hampton, (played by Moira Kelly), an independent media Consultant with a staff one whose main and only client is a Senator with ambitions to run for the Presidency in four years. He is leading the opposition within the party, something which President Obama will already have been made aware of as he attempts to establish his authority and get things done rather than become a head of State figure head who is also a good talker and can win elections. There is a back story between John Lyneham and Mandy and the purpose of the lunch date is to elicit information from the feisty character who gives more than she gets at every and any opportunity.

The best line of all three opening episodes is that reported to have been said by the President that economists were put on the planet to make astrologists look good. If only President Bush, Prime Minister‘s Blair and Brown had listened we might have all been in the economic mess we are all in. I mean the academic economists and political theorists who preaches deregulation, deregulation and more deregulation

The second episodes is Post Hoc, Ergo, Propter Hoc, which means that because one event occurs before another it does not mean that it has caused the second event or that there is any significant relationship between the two. It is a statement made by the President, A President who knows Latin!

This episode continues part of the introduction to series and to get to know the main characters and their interaction. The only flow over is that Sam has continued his platonic relationship with the call girl and is torn off several strips by C J but it is not until the next episode that an experienced house journalist of seven years alerts CJ that if he knows so do others.

What appears to be the main event of the episode is the role and conflicts between the President and Vice President. It has become a traditional feature of Presidential campaigns that the President picks a Vice President in order to bring on side, political wings and interests within the political party and nation where he (or she in time hopefully) has less appeal or experience. However once in the Oval office power and attention centres on the President and his team and not on the Vice President, someone who in effect is a heart beat away from becoming President. They have usually been major figures in the party, often a Presidential candidate and retain such ambitions. They do not want to be the President in waiting without power to attending to whatever the President does not want to do or has not time to do.

In this episode the Vice President has made a public remark which is disloyal to the President and CJ is sent to pass on the concern and prevent a rift widening. She is treated with contempt by the Vice President who suggests she should have spoken to his press secretary rather than approach him direct. She covers for this slight when reporting back, but Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) realises she is covering up for what happened and summons the Vice President to see him and advise that when a member of the President’s team comes to see him they represent the President, He is told to be loyal or find out just how difficult and boring the job of Vice President can be.

I have known of two situations in real life where action was taken in a similar type of situation to bore an individual out of a job. In one instance a deputy commenced to show disloyalty, especially when the top person brought in a third level person with whom they had a better rapport. The deputy was not unknown to invite junior members of staff into the office for a chat as they were bored and had nothing to do.. In the other a chief officer and in fact the head of a local authority management refused to accept the detailed control imposed by the political leadership and the individual argued when sticking to their guns that unless rules were broken or some misdemeanour committed, there was nothing which could be done Technically this was accurate and the individual could not be dismissed but with great glee I was told that the solution was to transfer all the functions to others leaving the individual with no staff, powers or actual work to occupy their time and eventually another post was obtained for which a good reference was given!

The other story in this episode is the success Josh has in brokering a deal with the rebel Senator who stops his campaign for the sake of party unity. This outrages his combatant media consultant, and Josh Lyneham‘s former girl friend and who in disgust sacks her one and only client. There is a brilliant exchange between and her one staff member over the implications of the temper tantrum in which she reminds that she had a degree, a masters and a PHD and should be called Doctor in order to bolster her self esteem as everything she has worked for comes crashing down. Josh is understandably horrified when he learns that the President has given his consent to the consultancy being hired by the White House.

The third storyline is to lead to what made the West Wing more than clever and funny. Because of the accident a doctor visits the President for physical checks. The President is the kind of man whom likes to know the backgrounds of everyone who works for or attend him. The doctor is a serving member of the army Captain Morris Tolliver who wife has just given birth to their first child, a son. He shows the photograph to everyone he comes across including the President. The President wants the man to become his White House physician, because he likes him and he agrees mentioning that he has a teaching commitment which takes him for a week to the middle east. The episode ends as the President informs that the plane has been shot down by Syria. The President’s anger is heightened because he knows the former doctor and identifies with the impact on the man’s wife and recent mother.

He declares I am going to blow them off the face of earth with the fury God’s own thunder.

“A proportional response”, is the reality of what a President has and can do. He wants to send a message across the world that any American should be free to walk the planet without fear because of the military power and potential for retaliation. He reminds that this was once he position of the Roman Citizen. He is shocked when he learns that the various options are likely to have only temporary effect because the Syrians will have worked out the likely response and cleared the sites of people. The buildings can be replaced. The president in his anger and distress becomes bad tempered with everyone including his off screen wife.

Meanwhile Josh has the responsibility of interviewing a candidate for the position of personal assistant to the President. Someone who accompanies the politician or candidate virtually everywhere, often arranging lodging, transportation and meals, providing companionship, snacks, a cellphone, and any other necessary assistance. In effect an individual who probably sees more of the president than anyone else and is in effect a live in job. Reggie Love is aid to President Obama aged 27 a former American basketball football player. He is well known for playing basket ball with the President to be every day during the primaries, He is a political science graduate. Dule Hill, plays Charlie Young in the series, a young intelligent and ambitious black man who applied for a part time messenger job at the White House as a means of keeping his home going for his younger sister. He has some of best grades at high school and a candidate for a good university degree and career. Unfortunately his father had long gone and his mother has died, in this instance killed as a serving police officer, but the parallel with the background of President Obama will be evident.

Originally Charlie was to have appeared in the pilot as a one year appointment, a nineteen year old having a gap year before college, but was written out as drafts progressed. However when the pilot appeared with all Caucasian cast there was understandable horror within the black community and its leaders and the character was introduced in the third episode as a consequence and given great prominence than originally intended. Although 24/25 when cast in the role, Dule had a younger looked which fitted well the role. The character had applied for the role and been interviewed by a House personnel officer who had been told to be on the look out for a suitable candidate for the aide to the President. He is therefore bemused to be interview by a senior member of the White House and asked searching questions about his background and political interests,. he is taken in to met the President at the worst possible moment as the president is in a flap because he cannot find his glasses and is in the run up to taking action over the shooting of the civilian plane(Lockerbie bombing?) Charlie then shock everyone by intervening to point out that the President said he could not remember seeing his glasses since he put them don the previous evening reading a report. The staff go off to the room where this happened to find and return the glasses. The President instead of expressing gratitude says he has no time to meet new people in a rude away. Later he apologies and demonstrates that he has learnt the background, approves the appointment and will take action to tackle the kind of gun crime which lead to the death of the mother.

The nub of the episode is the dawning reality that the recommended military response is the best and only practical political response to be made. It will not escalate the position but serve as a warning that should there be a second incident then much worse would follow. Moreover the reality si that the President is committing the lives of US service men and women by the action taken. This is as troubling as the anger over the loss of civilian lives. The episode is also significant because it reveals the importance of the relationship between the President and his Chief of Staff. In a previous episode CJ asks the Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry what the President will do about the gaff of his deputy. Leo comments that he has known the President for forty years and never knows how he will react or what issues he will take up or drop. When the Chief of staff comments that the President is planning a $5000 fine for a $50 dollar crime, The President still threatens to bring down his wrath upon the Syrian population. Leo comments that if he does so then he will spend the rest of his days bringing down the man he substantially helped to get into the office

Among the quotes are “lets do it right : not much chance of that.” What’s the good of power if you are not going to haul your enemies in for questioning? : What we really need to do is to arrest people for being mean to the President! “ We are behaving the way a superpower ought to behave: Well our behaviour has produced some crappy results.”

Sunday 15 March 2009

1138 Big Brother 1984 2007

George Orwell when he wrote 1984 in 1948 envisaged a totalitarian world where cameras were everywhere and the unseen voice of Big Brother controlled every aspect of life and only two months ago in a poll conducted by the Guardian Newspaper online the book received 22% of the votes to decide which work of fiction best defined the twentieth century. Others works featured in the top ten included Huxley's Brave New World, The Diary of Anne Frank, Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath and Bridget Jones Diary.

According to a recent radio programme there are more surveillance cameras per head of population in the UK than anywhere else and in one of two visits to separate surveillance centres, I learnt that that there are no limits to what people will do in public places especially when they are aware of being on camera. Thirty years ago I suggested to an incredulous group of international business men that people would pay to watch people in their everyday round the clock activities, but I suspect Mr Orwell would be even more incredulous to learn that fifty years after writing his work, people all over the world commenced to volunteer in hundreds of thousands to do just that, spend several months in a confined area, being watched by cameras day and night and by anyone anywhere in the world through the internet, and with TV channels also showing the situation live as well as a variety of special programmes ranging from psychological and psychiatric assessments to a weekly programme where members of the public vote to evict one or more of the participants, sometimes to be replaced by new arrivals.

However not only are the programmes, adopted in countries throughout five continents, called Big Brother House, but programme leaders are called Big Brother and exercise totalitarian control over participants individually and collectively. There is the carrot of what has become a substantial monetary sum £100000, and celebrity status albeit for perhaps a week nationally, with only someone, now and again translating their success into an ongoing career, but for most their lives are significantly changed by the experience.

This week has been given over to Big Brother, especially after finding that I could watch key events live online, not shown on the TV channels, and because of the decision of the programme controllers to radically disturb the dynamics of the situation in original ways. The remaining participants comprising immature twin girls, two single typical young men without the benefit of further education, whose like we tend to send to war as infantrymen, one brighter young man, a Machiavellian former popstar and his equally manipulative bedmate, plus a controlling and manipulative mother figure, and an eccentric, boring but popular with public thirty year old were suddenly confronted with five newcomers, as they bid farewell to an aggressive hothead, and then the female bedmate of the former popstar who decided to walk out when she could not get her own way.

The first twist is that the five newcomers were placed in an inferior accommodation half way house and were given individual four hour slots to enter the main house and make their pitch for being the two to enter as full participants, with the sting that an existing housemate had to move into the half way unit. Then the three newcomers and one former main house participants were set a competition with the prize of re-entry, with the twist that the successful individual had to chose an existing main housemate to transfer over in their place.

After twenty four hours the programme controllers pulled their masterstroke by announcing that all four half way participants would move into the main house and they had two minutes to nominate those to take their place. These four would face a public eviction vote today. This had the effect of bringing the worst out of everyone who almost without exception turned on Amy, the glamour model. There was something of a come uppance tonight when the two faced predatory male was evicted to great acclaim along with the stripper who funked the team task and too easily went for Amy as the scapegoat for the somersaulting changing of position as well as making a play for Ziggy, thus confirming the psychological assessments that one was too devious for his own good and other had little perception of how others perceived her behaviour.

I suggest that the success of the programme is not only due to the natural childhood desire to make ourselves the centre of attention and our natural sense of curiosity which have no limits until controlled by our parents and relatives, and then being in school, although the boundaries in these respects have been changing. There is also the development of group dynamics in a stressful competitive situation and where each week there is a "Feeding the Christians to the Lions" situation.

What surprises me is that the participants purport to have viewed the programme before and presumably have sat down with others and worked out how the public respond as well as what devices and manoeuvres the programme controllers use to develop and maintain an audience. This does involve mixing those who are uneducated and unworldly with those who are, those who have considerable self awareness and perception about the behaviour of others with those who have little, and our general dislike of those who put on an act to gain our attention which does not reflect their actual personalities, or behave in an unscrupulous and devious fashion to those who are unable to defend themselves emotionally and psychologically. The character Charlie was a classic in the respect and everyone enjoyed the loud having a go catfight between her and Chanelle because we knew they were both capable of taking it, but when Charlie put the boot into alleged friend Brian, she crossed the line and became damned. The mid thirties stripper who bared her boobs on the first night that she entered the house was endearing because of her vulnerability, her lack of self deception, and limited social skills, but she became doomed with the established group when she failed to even have a go at consuming a pint of mayonnaise, and the public noted the reaction of the group.

This year the two most interesting participants left early. One a self made millionaire left prematurely because of the expected death of an elderly relative and the realization that personal and family relationships were more important to him than his wealth, or pursing challenges to their limits. You knew he had become enriched by his experience of only a couple of weeks and he would have a better life and enrich the lives of others in a meaningful way as a consequence of participation in the programme. The other was that of a successful head hunter who spent her professional life applying psychological knowledge and skills about individual and group behaviour to identify the best candidates for specific occupational roles and tasks and had a lifestyle which involved designer clothes, fast cars and help in the home. When she entered the home she had the knowledge immediately helped her to assess the others and identify a role for herself which achieved some acceptability but as soon she realised she did not possess the drive or inclination to throw herself into the front line she resigned her commission. In war time this would have been branded cowardice, but in the nature of this programme it was self preservation common sense.

I also feel that the young lady who let slip a word which the wicked natured and clever street fighter Charlie milked for all is worth under the banner of racism was made something of scapegoat for the situation which developed last year, but that her departure was inevitable in the circumstances because of the important social change achieved in our society over the last two decades. Once it was no only within the confines of private homes that racism was commonplace, but in most workplaces and social situations, and even today the expression of such sentiments continues but has become less explicit. These normal prejudices have been successfully suppressed because as an economic society we urgently needed to move into being an integrated and effectively functioning multi racial society admitting a variety of people of different races and cultures to the countries which form the UK and respectful and equality trading with their homelands across all continents. The consequence is that most children going to school today will be oblivious to the prejudice of their grandparents and will respond with horror when they come across examples of prejudice in films and books. If only a similar social change could be masterminded through a programme such as Big Brother in relation to smoking and swearing. It would be a simple measure to exclude all applicants who smoke and who cannot talk for ten seconds without swearing.

I have experienced a number of intense group situations during my life, one of six months, one of a year, one of a month and several lasting from a few days to two weeks involving diverse strangers. Over all I floundered to begin with, in one instance disastrously, but when there was time, picked up, and sometimes finished with a good flourish, but that was all over a decade ago and I now know that my time has past for wanting and being able to cope with such a challenge. I do have one wicked suggestion for a series in which the programme controllers, editors and presenters become the participants though.

Thursday 12 March 2009

1664 Reality day


Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday reflected the response of the majority of the United Kingdom to the deadly attack on the army barracks and the shooting of a family and neighbourhood policeman by dissident members of the Irish Republican Army. It was the first appearance of the Leader of the Opposition since the loss of his severely disabled son and this too added to overall feeling of a different and desirable atmosphere.

The Prime Minister commenced the session by emphasising that support for the families of those who had lost their lives or had been injured and that determination of the government in consultation with the leaders of all political parties in Northern Ireland to work for the apprehension and conviction of those involved and to make it clear that their actions will have no effect on the continuation and progression of the present political system. His words were endorsed by the Leader of the opposition of the Liberal Social Democrats and two of the main parties in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein Members have not taken their seats . One backbench member referred to the extraordinary and unexpected condemnation of the violence and support for the political processes. James Martin Paceli McGuinness joined the Provisional Irish republican Army in 1970 at the age of 20 and at he age of 21 he was second in command in Derry. He was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment in 1973 after being caught in possession of a vehicle with 250 lbs of explosives and 5000 rounds of ammunition and admitted in court his membership which he said he was proud of.

He then became prominent in the political wing of the movement the Sinn Fein party and had contact with the security forces during the hunger strikes of the 1980’s and 1990’s and be was elected of the Stormont Assembly 1982 and banned from entering UK under the Prevention of Terrorism Act There were claims and counter claims of his involvement with the IRA as late as 2005 when he and Gerry Adams were said to be members of the seven man IRA Army Council. Although this was denied by them.

He became the chief negotiator for Sinn Fein during the period which led to the Belfast Agreement having become the MP for mid Ulster in 1997 and when the Assembly was created he was nominated by his party for a Ministerial position and become Minister of Education, scrapping the 11 plus examination which he had failed.

He was elected the deputy first Minister after the St Andrew agreement, a position which he held since. When he had Ian Paisley, the first Minister visited the White House at the invitation of President Bush he mentioned that that until March he had never had a conversation with the First Minister about anything but they had worked very closely together for seven months without angry words between them and which he felt was a great omen for the future. He is married with four children. By speaking out he has done against what happened over the past seven days he has healed a great hurt which many of his countrymen and women have felt for several generations and has courageously made himself the hated target of a very small minority of those who do not accept the change to a political solution. Contrary to what was intended the killings have achieved the opposite to what was intended and has brought the population on to the streets in to condemnation and to support their government. However the real test is to be met in that the community needs to give up those who perpetrated these crimes and demonstrated that the tribal behaviour which condoned murder in the past will not be tolerated.

The Leader of the Opposition also made a dignified and heartfelt statement of thanks to everyone who had expressed their sorrow for his loss and he paid particular tribute to the Prime Minister and to the Speaker and Mr Brown reciprocated by adding that he more than most knew what Mr Cameron and his wife were undergoing. This tone continued through the six questions which covered events in Northern Ireland and the issue of whether individuals in anti terrorism security forces or other individuals in government had been complicit in the torturing of suspected terrorists. The issue which divided the two where the Government believes responsibility should rest with the Attorney General as whether matters should be referred to the police before any other action was considered, although the Parliamentary Security committee which included member’s of the House of Lords as well as the House of Commons would continue to consider aspects of the subject without impinging on anything which might involve a police investigation and prosecutions.

This bi partisanship over serious matters was too much for some back benchers to bear and they erupted with familiar accusation and counter accusation towards the end of the session accompanied by the usual shouting and gesticulations. This together with media disappointment as not having to report a controversial or heated exchange demonstrated the dilemma facing the Opposition Leader. If the leader shows respect to the Prime Minister and asks questions in a responsible way. the response may provide information and state the truth of Government’s position but it does not make good copy or stimulate the back benchers of any of the parties in the childish slaning they like to indulge in.

For past two weeks. ITV 3 and been re-showing the first two series of Ballykissangel, set in a small Irish community with a new young parish priest Father Peter Clifford from England and played by Stephen Tompkinson, attempts to establish himself with a crusty traditionalist of a senior priest Father McNally(Niall Toibin) based in a nearby town and the organist who also runs the general store and who is a similar traditionalist.

Much of the action in what can be described as a situation comedy with a serious edge centres on the local in run by the attractive and anti church Assumpta Fitzgerald,(Dervla Kirwan) and her relationship with the young priest and regulars, local landowner and entrepreneur Brian Quigley(Tony Doyle) and his daughter Niamh (Tina Kelleger) who marries the local policeman Eamon Byrne(Birdy Sweeney) one of the local school teachers Brenden Kearney(Gary Whelan) the vet Siobhan Mehigan(Deidre Donnelly) and the two sidekick employees of Brian Quigley who are always looking to make money for themselves and devising scams which rarely if ever work. The hour long former weekly episodes now shown nightly are a complete story in themselves and often involve visitors or characters for the single episode. The original programme known as Bally K to fans, ran from 1996 to 2001 during which time it was much loved by my care mother and to less extent by my birth mother. There were six episodes in 1966 and eight in the second series which commenced on Tuesday.

Former Director of Social Services and Government Minister in House of Lords Lord Laming published his report into Child Protection services in England following the second horrific death after torture of a child under the supervision of the London Borough Harringey. The government accepted his findings and recommendations. I do not propose to waste too much of my time yet again reminding of why we are in this situation, where the responsibility lies and the failure of successive administrations in nationaland local government to provide the training and staff levels to reduce the cases of severe harm to children in care or under supervision in the community.

Two things can be said. First parents and relatives have and will continue to criminally harm and kill their children, destroying their future lives, as will some disturbed and dangerous individuals who are unrelated to the children. Unfortunately children have also been harmed in significant number by the very people which society has appointed to protect and provide care, including foster parents and staff within the care system. Nothing which politicians or experts can say or do will prevent this although there is a lot which can be done to reduce the numbers. A particular problem is the children brought up in homes where the parents or parents are inadequate and in effect need someone to be with them day and night who they listen to for advice, guidance and support. In effect the whole family needs to be taken into care, but this will also only work if he care is voluntary.
We have got to the present situation despite our knowledge of the horrors of the situation from Oliver Twist workhouses, the problems identified in the Curtis report of 1947, to the destruction of the specialist child care service developed in the 1950’s and 1960’s and the failure of inspectorial and government administration of the Thatcher years to know what was happening and then to ignore the advice of those who explained the problems to them. A major responsibility rests with some of the men who became directors of social services in 1971 and 1974 who did not have the training, experience or understanding of the child care services for which they became responsible and pushed, with others the development of generic social work, such as leaders of the British Association of Social Workers. There were also some key men from within the child care service who went along with the generic movement and who failed to advise their own authorities, the inspectorate and government if the folly of the road being taken. This does not let the politicians off the hook, especially those responsible for the children’s services recently. Will the report or government acceptance of recommendation lead to improvements? The record of the past forty years suggest not.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

1657 Kevin Whately finds out who he is


It is 11.30 on Thursday and the count down to being 70 begins in earnest. Although up at a reasonable time it was so called, minus 2 that I have fritted away a good two hours without achieving anything which will make feel later that this has been a good day. True I did sort out the a new sets of battery lights to so that I do not enter the day room in the dark in search for the lamp on the table, or crash in the chair left in the middle of room as I go to turn on or off the central heating. I have also washed up and attended to some emails and read the account of Prime Minister’s address to both houses of Congress yesterday. It appears he was invited not by the President by the Speaker although the Vice President was in his place. There were also vacant seats from those who did not turn up which were filled by staff and visitors. The Prime Minister did not get a an on the lawn press conference although the media was invited into the Oval office to ask the PM Questions. The President appeared to be treated the matter low key. It was noticeable that the Foreign Secretary and Hilary Clinton his opposite number were not present with David in the Commons sitting next to stand in Harriet Harman, the Leader of the House and Hilary in the Middle East.

I thought it was a good speech full of praise for the USA and cutting across the political divide in the USA appealing to the right as well as centre to avoid isolationism and protectionism, emphasis on the need for global action on matters such as the economy, globalization, climate change, poverty and terrorisms. He reminded of the US approach after World War II with the new deal and the closeness of the two countries as well as the relationship with a united Europe. He is only the fifth British Prime Minister invited to address Congress over the past century, Winston Churchill Conservative Clem Atlee Labour, Margaret Thatcher Conservative and Tony Blair Labour being the others and the 107th national leader or Prime Minister to do so.

In terms of impact I believe it will have some positive effect on relationships with the USA, if only to remind of the fact that the two countries have stood together alone several times before when it mattered. The gesture of an Hon Knighthood to Ted Kennedy for his help to bring peace in Northern Ireland by persuading his Irish countrymen to stop funding the IRA has he fights for survival is a good gesture. It also helps to enhance Brown’s status outside of the UK, especially un Europe before the forthcoming summit of the principal economic summit to be held in London next month and which will be attended by President Obama. It will be interesting to see if a reciprocal invitation has been given to him to address the UK Parliament. However I doubt if any of this will have much impact if any on the position of Gordon Brown politically in the UK or of his government and Party. This year, fortunately, there are no elections for the Metropolitan authorities with European Elections and Counties but any losses will add to the sense of gloom bordering on resignation with the Parliamentary Party. There was much fun in the House yesterday attacking Harriet Harman who is thought to be positioning herself to take over from Gordon Brown if as expected Labour lose the next General election. She had to bat on a sticky wicket but William Hague did not get all his own way.

On Monday it was a great joy to watch Kevin Whately,, the subject of who do you think you are. Kevin Whately is an actor unknown outside of the United Kingdom and even within the UK. Unless a fan of the police detective series set in oxford , I city in which I lived 1961-1963 and 1964-1967 and to which I have returned on regular basis such is its atmosphere and reminder of the second most important period which governed the rest of my life.

Kevin was born in the City of Newcastle in 1951 and raised as part of a middle class family in the County of Northumberland where his first inclination was to be a doctor but after commencing training as an accountant and having a talent for folk singing and playing the guitar he went to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He gained work in TV productions and his first role which came to the attend of the wider public was an ensemble series of comedy dramas Auf Wiedershen pet, about a group of building workers from Tyneside who went to work in Germany and in later series in Spain, Middlesbrough and the USA and then and Cuba. The Final special involved work in the Far East. There were 26 episodes in the first series, 13 in the second and six in the subsequent two. The series generated several stars who achieved subsequent success. Timothy Small has become recognised as an outstanding TV and Films actor. Jimmy Nail’s greatest film success was in Evita and in addition to TV series he which he starred he gained success as a singer. Tim Healy also had subsequent success as a singer as well as actor and is married to another well known actress Denise Welch and the couple have been flat bearers for Tyneside and the North East.

In this series Kevin played a quiet, homesick married man with three children devoted to his wife and family although there was some kicking of the traces in later seasons.

Colin Dexter wrote thirteen crime police detective books set in Oxford published 1975 through to 1999 and a thoughtful bachelor policeman with a love of opera, a Jaguar car and who could hold his own at any Oxford top table. The first Morse appeared in 1987 and there were 33 self contained features until 2000 the much loved actor who played Morse, John Thaw and who had become ill died a fictitious death in an Oxford Hospital. He actually died two years later in 2002. Each episode comprised 100 which with commercial breaks meant a two hour show. The throughout the series Kevin Whately appeared as his assistant, married with children and often imposed upon by Morse who apart from his love of Opera was married to his work. In 2005 the famous car was sold for £100000. John Thaw had become well known playing a Scotland Yard Flying Squad Policeman in the Sweeney and also as a barrister Kavanagh.

After a break of four years the character of Lewis, now living on his own in Oxford and promoted to the position held by Morse returned as Lewis in a pilot to judge the audience reaction. It was the most popular drama of the year so three more programmes were created and shown in 2007 and a further four in 2008. In these programmes in a nice twist which John Thaw would have appreciated Lewis was assisted by a young Oxford graduate as a counterpoint to the northern working class lad who had made it through the ranks, although in fact, as stated, Kevin was raised in a comfortable middle class home and now lives in the Home Counties with his family who were introduced in the Do you know who are programme.

What emerged from the programme was four things. The most interesting for me is that Kevin revealed himself to be the essential character he played in both major TV series over the past thirty five years, A kind, humanitarian and thoughtful family man of great integrity.

Kevin had known that his maternal grandmother, Doris Phillips, had been classically trained as a singer and he knew that she had performed in local theatricals. He has a daughter who is singer and therefore he was interested to learn more about this aspect of his relative. He discovered that in addition to performing with her two brothers in fund raising concert party type of shows, she had sung professionally with the Newcastle Back Choir as a soloist and performed for the BBC in 1938 in the days when there was only one radio station and no British based commercial stations. She had also performed at the Newcastle City Hall where he has appeared in charity performances as a folk singer with his guitar. He was visibly moved by this unknown connection

He became interested in the father of his grandmother, Fredrick Phillips who was born in Bedfordshire had opened a single fish and chip shop in Newcastle and the built up a business involved in the catching and distribution of fish along the East coast. Fish had not only become the first fast food but the herring the dominant fish, salted for export or smoked to become the kipper which was the main breakfast dish. When the great grandfather died he had been worth over £2million pounds in to-day’s money. Kevin wanted to know how it appeared that the business had been lost when it came under the control of the two sons. What he discovered reassured because a combination of public taste with the mass produced cereal replacing the kipper as breakfast dish, together with and other changes in the national diet and the economic depression resulted in the industry beginning to contract on a journey which has continued in a more dramatic form over the past three decades.

Kevin then explored the only member of his family in addition to his father who had not be a clergyman with the leading figure who became the Archbishop of Dublin and where there is also a stained glass window and an portrait at an Oxford College when he studied and which was interesting given his own developed love of the city from twenty years of the Morse and Lewis Programmes.

In the family tree the other ancestor who did not become a Vicar was someone noted as Turkey Merchant. This puzzled Kevin because it was at a time when he thought Turkey‘s had not been introduced to the British market. In fact he was sent as a young Merchant to the Levant which included Turkey, Syria and Palestine. When he returned became a major merchant in the city of London and banker who had married well and became a member of the Court (Board) of the Bank of England which involved holding a substantial amount of shares. His wife‘s sister had married the Governor of the Bank!

This was quiet a discovery for Kevin who had regarded himself as being left of centre not enamoured with those who made their money from interest and speculation. However greater shocks were to come.

He discovered that that the woman his relatives had married was a descendents of one of the four brothers who had played major parts in the Cromwell rebellion which had led to the formation of the Commonwealth. The grandfather of Mary Whately had gone to Virginia in part because of the religious freedom as a puritan and to develop an early plantation of tobacco and had a monopoly of the trade to Britain, this therefore in great part responsible for the great evil of smoking that we know today, and worse still had also been a pioneer in the establish of sugar production from the West Indies and therefore in the British involvement in the slave trade to both the USA and the West Indies.

Mary Whately nee Thompson, the wife of the Banker had live in a grand house and grounds known today as Nonsuch Park. The present grand house was built later. The Park is less than a half hour drive from my childhood home close to the route to Kingston and Teddington where I also lived for two years.

The programme therefore provided much new information and his family and caused him to reconsider who he was in terms of his ancestral heritage.

1110 Glastonbury on TV

10.00 pm 5.7.2007.No sooner do I recover from one experience away from my home that I arrange another, as this morning my ticket arrived for the Final of the Friends Provident one day competition at Lords in mid August. I immediately investigated accommodation and found that there was nothing available at a discount in central London but less than half price was available at the new central Croydon accommodation, situated within a short walking distance of either East or West Croydon stations. I booked for four nights. In the event that the one day match cannot be completed on the Saturday then it continues on the Sunday. I travel down on the Thursday, thus I have the Friday for other activities, possibly the Sunday/

I then investigation the transport options and was able to travel by train on both journeys and also order a greater London travel pass ticket for the first day. By going on the same train as before (11.30) it will be possible for me to return to central London for the cinema, theatre or concert, on the Thursday evening if I wish. Again by booking immediately I was able to obtain a fifty percent reduction on the standard return fare. So everything was quickly organised, but I will leave until later, consideration of how I will use any additional time. I have still not investigated what happened to the Saatchi.

It is approaching the fifth birthday of the Baltic. I purchased the Newcastle regional morning newspaper because there is a significant feature about the new owner of Newcastle Football Club and about his intentions, However inside the paper there is also a feature about alleged differences between the Director, the third since the opening, and members of staff, and that the Board had recently been changed. Such developments are peripheral to my life and I no longer feel guilty that once having held an important role in the local community I feel under no obligation to involve myself, nor I think would involvement be welcomed by those who hold responsibilities today. It is their time and burden.

It was sunny and warm earlier so I made a quick picnic of two soft rolls filled with lettuce and prawns and a banana, and put the new rucksack to further use. This purchase, made on impulse, has proved a major triumph. I include the weatherproofs and hat, and afterwards know that it will be wise to include a small towel, perhaps even a spare shirt depending on the length of distance and time that I will go out. I will make this a regular event with either rolls or a made up salad.

Today because the decision was taken after midday I headed straight for one of the benches overlooking the mouth of the Tyne River, with the remains of the Tynemouth Prior bathed in sunshine on the opposite bank of the river. It was a joyous lunch, especially because of a communication received shortly beforehand. I had also enjoyed listening to the CD of George Melly, deciding to purchase another from Amazon together with the book written by his wife.

The steep steps down the hillside to the lower park walk or across the road to the car park, picnic area and river mouth have been transformed in two ways. In addition to the attractive repaving, there are attractive light installations and barriers to prevent accidents, and the side banks have bee replanted with a mixture of shrubs and flower arrangements which are surprisingly well designed for an area rarely used because most people enter the park and journey to the hilltop by different routes.

I have not made the lower walk before which goes around one side of the beautifully manicured bowls pitches and the bowling club itself, discovering what looks to be a scented and raised garden, although again this in an out of the way corner of the park. Leaving the park I am amused to find that the Pier Theatre, (although some distance from the Pier) will be hosting a play called Role Play over the coming week. I have not been to this theatre before, in all my thirty years in the area, and this deficiency will be remedied. I then pass the fish and chip restaurant and the smell is delicious and I half regret having had the salad rolls. Well when I have reduced by a half a stone, I will have a treat.

A month, is it already as long as month, I told visitors that there were 100 swans on the boating lake in the Victorian designed Second Park. It is very difficult to count the swans who scurry to a bank whenever there is the prospect of being fed and then swim away at a pace elsewhere. The clouds are gathering and I self congratulate the decision to bring the showerproofs, especially as I need to replace the small umbrella. Nevertheless I walk around counting swans but because of those hidden among the shrubs and trees on the island and their swimming speed I settle for a total of between 85 and 90 and decide to do another count another day.

I walk along the length of Ocean Road and then the pedestrianised town centre to Wilkinson’s where I hope to find the umbrella and a couple of pints of milk. I ask an assistant about the umbrella and we have a grand tour, passing from assistant to assistant but eventually I find the container with full length sporting umbrellas in one corner among the stationery section and the small ones at the opposite end of the store immediately on entry and easily missed. The umbrellas are all of different sizes and prices. The one I want has no price bar code and an assistant takes one from a similar but not same umbrella for £2.99 and I decide on a second, a mini for £.75.The mini will fit into any pocket or handbag and is amazing value.

On the return journey I stop at the fruit and veg stalls tucked under the Metro station, the market being closed on Thursdays, in order to buy a pound of cherries. This is cherry eating month as the prices become reasonable. I adore the large deep red sweet cherries which can be purchased at a premium at Marks and Spencer's. I settle for the less expensive for most days and get the M and S quality once a week. I divide into two portions, eating one as mid afternoon tea and the other intended for the morrow after the evening meal of a cheese pasta bake with spinach, because I am too lazy to prepare the fresh pineapple and water melon, but I will do so in the morning. This evening I enjoyed a glass of Tallowood Creek Shiraz, product of an Italian born family in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia.

I broke off making these notes to listen to the under 25 version of Question Time which accepting the atypical audience contained more intelligent comment than the entire seasons of programmes since the last such event. The programme was then followed by an exceptional edition of the weekly political round up where for once all three outside contributors had something of importance to say. The first had married into the Bin Laden family and what she said confirmed my judgement that those against becoming religious and cultural Muslim, or who wish their children and grand children to have the choice have a long term and major fight on their hands, and it is a fight which the democratic west will have difficulty in sustaining, but where Russia and in time China, will have the right and political systems to combat the threat more effectively. One cannot fight those who have no political objectives with politics and those who think so are dangerous fools. That is why resolving the Palestine and Israel question is only important, outside the countries and peoples directly involved, in reducing one cause which acts a recruiting agent, but there will be other causes across Africa, Asia and South America which will be exploited. It is a war almost impossible to fight because the enemy has the cover of an important religion with quality ideals and cultural values and those engaging have been trained and will continue to be trained to function under cover for long periods and thus when they rise up and act, and to some extent the actual blowing up is not important, but it is undermining confidence between races, religions and communities. The allegation that those perpetrating the recent failed terrorist attacks are doctors who with others worked for the National Health Service is the real success of the operation because from now, whenever anyone goes to see a doctor trained or born in a Muslim country then there will be caution and suspicion.

I think that the only effective way to stop the movement from growing and of pushing back the threat will come from Muslims taking action, especially young Muslims. They have to engage in proactive opposition to the level of a lifelong crusade, as will Catholics and Jews in saying no those within their religions who preach that their faith is the only true faith and that everyone else are non believers who need to be forced to believe or be exterminated.

There was an excellent contribution by a metrologist and presenter that the natural consequence of global is increase precipitation and flooding. There was a healthy discussion about the failure of the London based media to understand the impact on Hull in particular and the North Generally. The political elite were too busy changing guard in preparation for the next general election and the media remains London area blinkered.

The third contribution identified the significant political ups and down of the week and the Ming Campbell’s joke about Gordon Brown's open door being a trap door was the highlight. Gordon's gaff about only being P.M for five days will live to haunt him given that he wished for the job since childhood and has been plotting and planning for over a decade since Tony was elected party leader. The slip undid the otherwise excellent performance on taking office and when commenting on the terrorist attempts and constitutional reform.