Pickle’s Holiday

Said Pickle to her Pa I’m going West with John
To drive around America, you know I’ve worked quite hard
We’re going in a few weeks I thought I would come home
To save my money not spent on rent and food just so that we can go

Pa and Ma then feed the child (and her boyfriend too)
They are a delight to have at home, a laugh a smile … a moan
Comes the day, ‘Do you need some cash?”
No thanks Ma we’ve saved and saved we’ve got enough we’re sure

First week down, not a sound, the ‘phone lies quiet, idle
second week starts the silence grows, I do hope there OK
Second mid week ‘phone springs to life, ‘Of cash we have run out’
Just three hundred will do the trick paid in today, that’s right.

Another day, passes by, the ‘phone rings once again
We forgot the airport transfer Thursday, could you put 50 in?
A dreadful day for Ma and Pa not chance to bank the cash,
It’s all fine there is no rush Pickle said we have got cash

That evening at 11 am the Pickle calls once more
Explain our sin oh dear oh dear they’ve only ten bucks more
Her ‘phone is took she knows not when you can’t call me anymore
John’s phone doesn’t work so we are stuffed we cannot make a call

This morning’s plans gone up in smoke to bank I wend once more
No sleep last night concern for her and for John did they eat at all,
On her return we are going away Ma Pa and Pickle too, our cash we’d saved
For our holiday, now spent in Californ i a rather than in Suffolk!

Police cuts improving services

Yesterday I had a thoroughly frustrating day. I had to change a shift in order to arrest someone who is in prison to speak to them about further offences committed. Initially this involves completing nonsensical forms to have the prisoner ‘produced’ so he can be taken to a Police Station in order to be interviewed with the protection of PACE. I would have thought it would have been better to have the legislation to allow us to talk to him in prison, but there you are simple solutions seem never to find favour.

Having collected our man, after a 90 minute drive to get to the prison we drove to the Police Station. Only one Police Sergeant to look after 22 prisoners. There used to be more but since we all have to save money we can’t have so many. Now, sergeants are the people with power under PACE. There are functions that only they can do. The custody personnel do a lot of the booking procedures (Group 4 employees i.e. private enterprise) but they cannot authorise detention. This has to happen before anything else can be done. So, myself and a colleague, a handcuffed prisoner and an appropriate adult wait for an hour, yes an hour, to have a sergeant explain the prisoners rights explained to him.

The right to have someone told you are here, the right to free and independent legal advice and the right to consult the codes of practice covering police powers and procedures, you may do any of these things now but if you do not you may do so at any time during your detention.

A short discussion (45 seconds) about why we need to have the prisoner there at all then ‘detention authorised’.

An interview that lasted 33 minutes and 36 seconds.

Waiting for the custody sergeant to grant a technical bail to our prisoner so we can take him back to the prison from which he came. Yes more waiting.

Three hours to get to prison and back, half an hour for the interview, the rest of my 9 hour shift was spent waiting for the custody sergeant to find time to authorise detention and grant bail. My time wasted, my colleague too. The appropriate adult who had to sit in the interview with our young man (he was a juvenile) was an unpaid volunteer who wasted his day standing (no seats for anyone) in the custody block. The young man, even though he was not the nicest type and already under sentence should not be treated like this either. When I investigate I have to do so expeditiously otherwise the behaviour can be seen as oppressive / intimidating.

No-one concerned wanted to be at the custody block, but it was something that had to be done. The prisoner co-operated in that he did not complain or become difficult, even in the absence of a meal as no-one had time to feed him. All because it is so important to save money. I would argue that the prisoners right to be dealt with expeditiously and fairly are more important than the need to reduce cost. This is a human being who for whatever reason finds himself in trouble. Should he be treated like some kind of cattle?

When I arrived at the custody centre a female officer was waiting to interview a young man. His father had turned up to be appropriate adult. They were there before me. They were still there after me.

It would appear that our society has reached a point where money is more important than people, despite our whingeing about human rights abuses elsewhere.

Inspiration from a wise man

Sadly not me. John D Liu, has put together this small film to highlight the benefits of bio diversity and stable ecosystems. A wonderful view for those who care and have time.

John poses a question at the end. In my jaundiced view the answer is greed and lack of concern for others.

It is also nice to see Rwanda that much blighted country leading the world.

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whats-on/ou-on-the-bbc-hope-changing-climate

 

The bees are back in town …

Extinct in the UK, short haired bumble bees are being reintroduced from Sweden where the population of bees is expanding, unlike every in all the intesively farmed nations of Europe where bee numbers are declining. The RSPB reserve at Dungeness has been selected for the release. Why should we get so excited about this? I quote from the BBC,

‘With about 80% of Britain’s plants reliant on insects for pollination, it has been estimated that these creatures contribute more than £400m a year to the UK economy.’

Without the bees and other pollinators as Frazer would say, ‘We’re all doomed.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18194778

Canine Competitor …

Trawling the BBC this morning I came accross a heart warming / rending story of a little chinese mutt so desperate for food that it ran 1700 km during a cycle race to keep up with the kind soul who gave it some food.

It made me smile anyway …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18218878

Anti government protest

Oh dear poor Mr Clegg, it seems that a group of people who disagree with austerity measures currently being implemented protested near Clegg Mansions. The incident was wholly peaceful it would appear.

The language of pro Cleggites is somewhat amusing to my jaundiced eye,

‘Louise Mensch, the Conservative MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, took to Twitter to describe the demonstration as “intolerable bullying”.’

How does she think the GM (again with the GM) felt when faced by Police? How does she think ordinary citizens feel when they are effectively trapped in their own home by rampaging asbo ites?

The atmosphere at Clegg Towers was that of a street party with the protesters own children taking part

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18225283

The MP’s who steal and cheat and take the people for granted and seem to believe we are all stupid appear shaken when people tell them to their face of the frustration. Clegg tries to make out that he has taken a laudable decision not to move, as he puts it behind the Whitehall Battlements. Lucky sod to have a choice of where to live! I would like to move from my ‘umble abode. Planning decisions have blighted the area, that is permanent not transitory like a wheelchair protest.  Travellers regularly disrupt our daily lives.  How would I like to remove myself behind some Whitehall Battlements at no cost, …

Mr Clegg, grow a pair. If you misrepresent the wishes of the people expect some fallout. You are lucky it does not include eggs and whitewash.

 

To continue the GM theme …

I have just read today’s BBC news concerning the state’s repression of the freedom of speech and action concerning GM. It appears that the government arranged for the closure of public footpaths, the deployment of large numbers of Police Officers (taking them away from other functions no doubt.

What were the protesters, the villains of the piece demonstrating against? A grain crop that actively discourages aphids. Now as a gardner I am not fond of aphids. They do spoil my gooseberry bushes. They infect my cherry tree and anything else they fancy. However, aphids are part of the food chain. The government are aware of the depletion of bird species. They appear to approve of labelling insect friendly seed to encourage us in the gardens of our homes to increase insect populations for the good of bio diversity. Then along comes the aphid killing grain.

The anonymous spokesperson (best be politically correct) for the site stated that the genetically engineered destroyer of nature’s bounty is:

“just one tool in the toolbox to create more sustainable food”.

On what level is it sustainable? How much has been spent on producing enough grain to sow this field? What price does that make a bushel come out at to the retail trade. How is the grain propogated in future, and am I really supposed to believe that the food scientist is a philanthropist who will not expect a vast financial return for taking something freely available to all (essentially grass seed) and turned it into a cash cow. I have seen no figures published to show the ammount of noxious emissions released into the atmosphere of our beleagured planet as a result of the creation of this teenage mutant ninja seed. The oil cost of it’s production and the heat and power wasted are not quantified by anyone.

Perhaps the money would have been better spent converting the sterile field environment into self sustaining food forests. That is what I call sustainable food, not something that requires human input to bring the seed into existence where it may destroy the green and pleasant land it was planted in.

Professor John Pickett, a principal investigator at Rochester Research, told BBC News there was “a very, very remote chance that anything should get out”.

“All it would mean was that some other plant – if it ever did miraculously transfer into another plant – was making a smell like the aphid.”

Is that not the point. There is tacit acceptance that there MAY be some cross contamination and make another plant smell like an aphid thereby depriving the much maligned creature of another chance to breed. This breaks the food chain Professor Pickett. A depletion in aphid numbers = less food for their predators being less food for the predators predators etc etc an nauseum. Result less food for US.

 

And why are the government supporting the profligate waste of a bankrupt industry. Farming has caused untold damage to the environment sterilising the soil to the point where nothing grows without massive pertro chemical inputs. Oh, of course Dave’s chums need to make a profit to buy another Ferrari, own more houses than they can live in and swill at the trough in a glutonous manner.

GM Crops, good for the poor?

I write this as a result of a link on the BBC website, the governments chief scientific officer states;

Professor Beddington said that a more rational debate was needed.

“We have to think about the future,” he told BBC News. “The future is really quite frightening. We are going to see enormous increases in the demand for GM food and who’s going to suffer when the food prices go up? The answer is the poorest of the poor”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18215022

So if GM crops are used and this affects biodiversity, the insect population in particular, they may be no way for open pollinating plants to be pollinated. If there are no such open pollinators all food production will be dependent on the large seed companies who can produce, while there is oil, the seed grain to grow the crops that ‘feed the world’. What happens when the oil runs out that power the production of GM seed grain and all open pollinating ‘natural’ grain has been destroyed?

That may be unduly pessimistic, maybe the companies can keep produce after oil is depeleted.  By that time they will be able to charge what they want for the seed grain as only they will be able to supply it.

I do not profess to understand the manner of producing GM crops. However, can we trust the judgement of scientists? Some while ago, when the hole was discovered in the ozone layer and there were noticeable / recordable  changes in climate the petro chemical industry was able to fund scientists who would say, ‘There is no such thing as climate change’ ‘CO2 emissions are not a problem’ and the world has carried on consuming as much fuel oil as it can. Does anyone else feel like a lemming? Now it appears that even the hard line nay sayers are revising their view on climate change. How long will it be before the GM is perfectly safe lobby are forced to change their collective minds. Before they realise that the grain they produce, grown in huge monoculture agricultural concerns, have destroyed the bio diversity essential for the well being of the entire planet.

My hero Bill has spoken at length about the interconnectedness of all things. Permaculture offers solutions to problema without creating more problems. No excess waste, no over consumption of energy to produce what is necessary. Layering and the creation of food forests are more likely to feed the population than basically barren fields dependant on manufactured fertiliser and providing little or no habitat for native flora and fauna.

Hands up if you think GM is good for the poor?

The good ‘ole US of A. What a great country, everything revolves around the US. Nothing is more important than the wishes of the president and his people. American policy has made the world what it is and its about time the rest of us just said ‘Thank you’ very nicely and left them to it.

At least that’s what the American’s would like us to bel;ieve. Obama has been lecturing Europe on how to run it’s economy, in the best interests of America’s global domination policy. Now it seems the Pakistani’s have fallen foul of the US, … again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistan-officials-missiles-from-us-drone-kills-10-alleged-militants-in-countrys-northwest/2012/05/24/gJQAHMi7lU_story.html

Now, I don’t think the Pakistani government is the most transparant. But then I only see what the Western media (Murdoch and his cronies) want us to see. The added issue is that I do not view events in that region with local eyes. I have regular contact with people from the Indian sub continent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sure, they are different to me in some ways, but there are more similarities than differences. If the government of any given country disagree’s with the US of A does it really mean they become the new ‘Dr Evil’. The US appear to be looking around for anyone who can fill the shoes of the evil Josef Stalin. Oh Dear.

If the US really cared about the world and the evil that men do, it could do much worse than to address the ill’s, the crimes against humanity that it has perpetrated. I am not talking about the odd murder, or even Slobodan Milosovic style genocide, these pale into insignificance when viewed against the crimes the US are responsible for. Agent Orange is one example. Rampant globalisation of brands leading to ever increasing destruction of our planet. Is there such a word as Planeticide? If not there should be and the US government and industry should be first in the dock rapidly followed by most Western governments, followed by the bit players like China India and Brazil.

Dear Uncle Sam, put your own house in order. If people of any nation choose to protest then all power to them. Just for clarity, I do not condone violent protest, Mahatma was more the man, with Dr King.

 

 

A strange yellow light!

It’s no good. I have been trying to think of something grumpy to say. A wrong to rail against, a politician to lambast, something to vent about. My heart is not in it.

The sun has come to Saelig Sussex in abundance. My rest days have arrived, Monday morning was lost due to the lateness of my finishing work but the birds woke me with their exuberant song. But hist, strange light through my curtains.

A few chores done, then out to the allotment. Devastation, my quinoa that was growing so well has been eaten, in place of the crop a few stmpy stems and weeds 😦

Four hours of weeding and re seeding followed. Not a cloud, just broiling sun.

An evening walk to the Downs, I have never seen so many cowslips.

 

In fact my new found sense of well being has become almost irrational. Tuesday broke clear and fine with another splendid day at the allotment, relocating a small poly tunnel and cutting grass that was ‘as high as an elephants eye’. Exhausted by the heat I went back to my garden potting up some seed (to replace plants destroyed by slugs, pigeons and whatever else has nibbled). The One and I decided to go for a walk. The Tesco walk. The ONLY good thing to come out of our local superstore is free safe parking very close to a stunning walk. It is the only thing I use the store for but today I am grateful for the facility.

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