Rina Sawayama

The treatment of Rina Sawayama cannot be allowed to stand. It should provoke outrage among anybody involved with the BRITS or the Mercury Prize. They need to speak out.

Brevity

This is how "Brevity" looks on Audacity. I have never made an audiobook before. You can get professional readers but I have one great advantage over them, I am very cheap.

My recording studio is the front room. This is all very well until the washing machine or dishwasher tries to get in on the act.

The provisional front cover of Brevity resembles "Pot Pourri" which is the most colourful cover I've ever had. It will of course be square so it goes with a CD as and when I eventually complete it.

Face masks in schools

Some teachers have reported that headteachers have "forbidden" the use of masks by staff.

A headteacher has a duty of care towards the staff. They are on a very sticky wicket indeed if they are so foolish as to forbid the wearing of face masks and this leads to a member of staff getting Covid-19. They are exceeding their authority as well.

The HSE advice is as follows:

Employers must protect workers from injury or harm to health which could happen as a result of work-related activity. This includes taking reasonable steps to protect your workers and others from coronavirus (COVID-19).

The link is here

You might tell the headteacher to consult their union because the union would advise them not to be a little Hitler.

Click here

‘Russian cyber attack’

‘Russian cyber attack’ is a much better headline than ‘probing of vulnerabilities’. The ‘attack’ was supposedly an attempt to steal ‘COVID-19 secrets’. 

Nobody asked why this information wasn’t in the public domain. Is making a profit still more important than fighting the virus?

Non Fiction Books

Writers and Writing

There is a group on facebook called "Writers and Writing". It is a group where you can post poems, prose, scraps and snippets from your favourite writers, quotes, satire, book recommendations, anything goes!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/216450698498174

Bristol Labour Council disrespect for Black Lives Matter

Email lordmayor@bristol.gov.uk to protest. Also mayor@bristol.gov.uk

Bristol Council is overwhelmingly Labour. You wouldn't know it from their abiding respect for slaver Colston whose statue they refused to remove. You wouldn't know it from the disrespect shown to Jen Reid. It didn't take them long to remove the statue of the black lives matter protestor.

That email again lordmayor@bristol.gov.uk  or mayor@bristol.gov.uk

"Black Lives Matter" is a simple statement of fact.

A disproportionate number of black people die in police custody.

The number of people from minority ethnic communities who are subject to stop and search is something which ought to be investigated.

The worst examples of public photographed violence come from America. This does not mean that things are not happening behind closed doors.

Nobody ought to die in police custody and nobody ought to be subjected to stop and search without due cause. To suggest otherwise would be disingenuous mendacity.

Enid Blyton

The most egregious example of racism in Enid Blyton's work is The Little Black Doll. It is about a black doll hated by its owner and all the other dolls. The doll runs away from the house and the rain washes its face to a pink colour. After this, the other toys and owner welcome the doll back.

Teachers were accused of being "politically correct" for objecting to this. Apologists said that it was "of its time". Do not swallow this jollop. I was born in 1951 and there were black and white anti-racists in those far-off days too!.

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Anti-racism

Smeg

When I was about ten years old, my brother taught me how to fix a wardrobe door. The procedure involved swearing at the wardrobe. Then there was swearing at the screwdriver. Then there was swearing at anything else that came to hand. Perhaps he was swearing at life itself. He was a sailor so he was used to a working environment where swearing was hardly noticed.

As a pupil I knew two things. One was that teachers did not swear and the other was that the staff room was out of bounds: even to open the door was taboo.

As a teacher I was to realise these two things were linked. Teachers did not swear in the classroom. Pupils did, a lot of parents did but let a teacher say 'damn' and they would be damned.

Inside the staffroom, I learnt some of the most vehement and imaginative swearing I had ever come across. This was led by the PE staff but they were not alone.

Other people have dealt with the issue of swearing by inventing terms of their own. “Blessed” is often used as a euphemism. Grant and Naylor came up with the word “smeg” to get round the BBC's sensitive ears. The Sci Fi writer Larry Niven came up with “tanj” which is short for “There ain't no justice.”

So swearing is quite an issue. Knowing a lot of adjectives and adverbs is one cure. I once suggested to a pupil that he might improve the following piece of writing by varying the adjectives:

“It was a nice day so I thought it would be nice to go for a nice walk. I went to the park. It was nice.”

What he came up with was, “It was a bloody awful day so I thought it would be bloody awful...etc.”

Apparently Dad said it all the time.

I believe teachers can learn to set a good example and use language in a creative way which makes the meaning clear without resorting to swearing. Then go into the staffroom and relieve your feelings in any way you deem appropriate!

-- 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-McMillan/e/B009FUXHWY

The rich are different from us

Writing in today's "i" newspaper, Hamish McRae makes some thought-provoking points in his article on China and the West. He draws attention to the interdependence of the world economy. This is the same point Marx made in the nineteenth century.

However, he is wrong to equate the "best brains" with the "dollar millionaires". The rich might employ bright people but that is not the same thing. Their own intellectual accomplishments are more open to question.

Dominic Cummings promotes the eugenicist views that the rich are genetically superior to the rest of the human race. Eugenics was the view of Doctor Mengele and the Nazis and it has dropped out of popularity since then.

There is no evidence that the rich have this superiority. When F Scott Fitzgerald asserted that "the rich are different from us," Ernest Hemingway succinctly responded, "Yes, they have more money."

The Chinese regime is a caricature of socialism in which there are millionaires. Socialism is based on democracy and equality and there is not much of either in China. A trade war between China and the West threatens jobs on both sides of the divide. Workers in China and the West have a common interest. Committee for a Workers' International

Non fiction books by Derek and Angela McMillan

Young Adult Fiction Writers

There is a group on facebook for writers who wish to write for young adult readers. It is a chance to ask questions and get to know other writers and learn about their experiences.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/690637867658818/

What is suitable for a YA audience? As a former teacher, I am tempted to say "practically anything" but in practice, I have left graphic sex and violence out of my writing and tried to keep a straightforward sentence structure.

I also have a dislike of non-linear narrative but that's just a foible.

http://derekmcmillan1951.blogspot.com/2019/06/fiction-books.html

Rishi Sunak’s menu – old wine in new bottles

I received this article by Ken Ferguson which is from "Scottish Socialist Voice" Chancellor Sunak’s mini-budget uses smart spin about cheap meals for diners—at a time when tens of thousands rely on food banks—to dress up what is largely reheated soup and repackaged spending. The much hyped kick start scheme revisits ideas from the ’80s such as YTS and will pay a wage not half that of the already inadequate “living wage” and runs the risk of simply massaging jobless figures. The £2billion cost of it simply moves money which would otherwise be allocated to Universal Credit. It’s likely impact will be to create short term exploitative jobs on poor pay. While any investment aimed at the climate is welcome, Sunak’s £3billion is fraction of what is urgently needed to develop a real jobs- and climate crisis-response. This should include tooling up both Scottish and UK industry to develop build and install the equipment from wind turbines to eco-friendly buses and trains which can both create long term, skilled, well paid jobs and respond to the climate emergency. Perhaps his most glaring omission was the total failure to lift a finger on the rented housing crisis rather confining himself to tinkering with stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland. A Martian looking at our housing crisis would conclude that the answer would be to build thousands of council homes both to meet the crisis level demand for them and create thousands of jobs and apprenticeships As Roz Foyer, General Secretary of the STUC stated: “We have lobbied hard for a large-scale capital investment, a Job Guarantee programme and for the extension of the furlough scheme. The Chancellor’s response lacks ambition and fails to guarantee decent work. “Rishi Sunak talks about the ‘nobility of work’, what we need to see is a focus on the nobility and value of quality, decent and fair work. Less bonuses for bosses, more adequate wages, good terms and conditions and collective bargaining for workers.” Cliff edge We are on the cliff edge of a major economic and jobs crisis coping with the continuing fall out of the Covid pandemic which is far from over and should be the reason to drive towards a different normal rather than a scrabble to prop up the poverty pay insecure work pre-virus model. Millions of people have stood in solidarity with our essential NHS, Care, delivery, shop and other workers—many on poverty pay—who were hailed as heroes and applauded week after week but who go unremarked as far as a pay rise by the Chancellor. And of course probably the biggest revelation to us all in the crisis was the fact that far from there not being a “magic money tree” there is no barrier to finding billions to meet aspects of the crisis the only obstacle is the political will to do so. That’s why the Voice and the SSP are putting a range of policy options on the table which recognises that change was essential before the virus and is even more essential now. At the heart of such change must be meeting the needs of Scotland’s people—in particular our working class majority and the needs of the planet we all live on. As the struggle against the virus continues debate is joined about the future and the Scottish Socialist Party firmly asserts that a return to the pre-lockdown world cannot be the answer. Change to a different normal is essential both for the people of Scotland, particularly the working class majority, and the future survival of our increasingly imperilled planet. These policies offers early steps towards a Socialist Green New Deal as part of a Just Transition to a new Scotland which rebuilds productive capacity and creates skilled well paid jobs in working class communities currently deserted by footloose globalised business. Winning such a change will involve taking on some of the most wealthy and powerful elites and their political backers and the purpose of the programme we set out here is to arm the widest possible range of forces to achieve that change.

8 IMMEDIATE ACTION POINTS A minimum wage of £12-an-hour to combat poverty and boost purchasing power A four day working week without loss of pay. End insecure work. Immediate action to de-carbonise Scotland and create 150,00 jobs as part of a Just Transition to a green economy putting people before profit Scrap anti union laws to ensure fairness at work and the fullest possible workers involvement in the urgent change needed Build 100,000 publicly owned homes for rent to tackle the housing crisis and create jobs. Retrofit existing homes to 1st century standards Public ownership of Scotland’s energy resources including wind, wave, hydro, gas and oil. Create jobs combat fuel poverty A National Care Service free at the point of use, publicly owned and staffed by trained, skilled, well-paid staff Public ownership of railways and buses to combat social exclusion and open way to free public transport

Read articles, Voice Extra bulletins and subscribe at socialistvoice.scot!

Skinflints want to charge NHS staff for parking

Ministers sit on their fat expense accounts. NHS staff are in the front line against Covid-19 but the penny pinching skinflints want to re-impose car parking charges on NHS staff.

That is a disgrace.

Here is the link for the petition.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/free-nhs-parking-indefinitely

Unpaid work experience

Johnson blames the victims

The Guardian carried this story.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/06/anger-after-johnson-appears-to-blame-care-homes-for-their-high-death-toll

"Care leaders, unions and MPs have rounded on Boris Johnson after he accused care homes of failing to follow proper procedures amid the coronavirus crisis, saying the prime minister appeared to be shifting the blame for the high death toll."

The search engine Ecosia said there were "no results" for this story. The government spokesman on the Today program flatly denied Johnson's words when they were quoted to him!

The Prime Minister said, "“We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but we’re learning lessons the whole time."

Of course there were no procedures for them to follow. There was no testing, There was no PPE. As George Orwell put it, "Ignorance is Strength". As long as the Tories can rewrite history, they can tell a story in which they are the heroes.

Non fiction books by Derek and Angela McMillan

Fiction Books update

Total fiction books = 11
The most recent is Darkness in Durrington

My fiction books are as follows:

The Mirror of Eternity Series

The Mirror of Eternity

Salt Wars 

The Miranda Revolution

Defending the Sangreal

Domain of Dreams

Space Dog Alfred Series

Space Dog Alfred

Planet of the Dogs

Durrington Detective Agency series

Durrington Detective Agency

Death in Durrington

And a collection of short stories

Pot Pourri

Non Fiction Books

My friend Google thinks that "essays on works of art or literature" should be included in the category of non-fiction books. So this is the list of my seven non-fiction books

Classroom Teacher Manual

Death Agony of Capitalism

Letters to Lara

Socialist Reviews

The Concept of Evil

The Role of the Hero 

Xavier's Cook Book 

4th July NSSN Meeting

I attended a meeting of 240 trade unionists in the comfort of my front room today. It is the kind of meeting an old timer like myself can attend without difficulty.

The main theme of the NSSN conference was the refusal of trade unionists to pay the price for the C-virus. On the one hand the government failed to bring in lockdown in time to save more lives and on the other hand there is a lack of planning in the ending of lockdown today.

There was praise for the success of the NEU in finally getting the government to see sense over re-opening schools or opening them more widely. Now however the government is refusing to take account of the safety of students and staff in its plans to open schools in September.

Only the trade unions are capable of resisting the government's new austerity proposals (which they will no doubt call something else).  There was criticism of Labour councils carrying out Tory cuts.

It is great to get together with like-minded trade unionists. Your union branch could send a delegate to NSSN.

Godbothering by Rhidian Brook

Godbothering is a very interesting book and one which I read piecemeal. Each of the "thoughts" is brief and I found it useful to go away and think about it before reading the next one.

The book has one inaccuracy which I have noticed. Stalin was a mass murderer of millions but he did not rename St Petersburg. That was done in 1914 when it became Petrograd. St Petersburg was not changed because of a dislike of saints but because it was thought to be a German-sounding name. Petrograd maintained the homage to Peter the Great who founded the city.

Red Herrings all over Norway

Review of Knife by Jo Nesbo

This is a great detective story. Clearly, red herrings are commonplace in Norway and without giving any spoilers there are plenty in this book. Anyone who has followed the career of Harry Hole will know that he has a bit of a problem with alcohol and in this book, it is an important factor in the plot. 

The story is not cozy by any stretch of the imagination. It can properly be called Scandi Noir. If you enjoy Scandi Noir read this book. If you don't then read this book and you will end up liking it.

Historic Victory for "Tax Amazon" campaign

I got a letter from the Tax Amazon campign this morning. It is good news.

"Today, the Seattle City Council voted 7-2 in its Budget Committee for an Amazon Tax that will raise $240 million annually. This historic victory, though not yet final, is the result of determined class struggle by our democratically-organized grassroots campaign, including 27,000 signatures on our ballot initiative to Tax Amazon. The tax applies to the top 3% of corporations, with Amazon paying the largest share, and will go toward a major expansion of affordable housing in a city with sky high rents and a long history of racist gentrification. "

Affordable housing at the expense of Amazon is an excellent achievement. The fat cats need to be expropriated.

My page on Amazon

Tax Amazon page

My books are published by Amazon but that does not mean I don't want them to pay tax or even be expropriated for that matter.

Scottish TUC comments on Boris Badenough's "New Deal"