Fox hunting

I have no sympathy for the fox hunting lobby, which has been out in full force recently. It managed to penetrate the very heart of democracy when rural protestors surreptitiously entered the Commons to remonstrate with the powers that be. Outside Parliament there was further trouble.

Fox hunting is an archaic, anachronistic and cruel sport. It is a remnant of a feudal era, a time when a person’s position in life was determined by the accident of birth. Those fortunate enough to be born in an upper class family had, among other pursuits, hunting to keep them occupied. The less fortunate toiled in the fields, eking out a hand to mouth existence. That still happens in some countries, such as in parts of Pakistan.

Hunting should have no place in modern society.

The low serotonin season…and party conferences

This is a boring time of the year. The summer comes to an end; the weather gets windier and wetter, and leaves start falling off trees. But also because it’s the party conference season, that costly exercise in self-adulation to which we are subjected every year. True, sometimes murmurings of discontent enliven things a little and things being said at fringe events may add further spice. Nevertheless, my opinion- shared by countless fellow Britons- is that these are boring events. The parties are, of course, independent entities that can organise whatever event they want. My objection is to the inordinate media attention they get.

Having said that, this year’s Labour conference will be interesting, coming against the backdrop of the Iraq war, the worsening security situation there and the failure to find the elusive WMD. For Blair, the passionate pleas about the dangers of WMD before the war now look disingenuous. The war in Iraq was essentially Blair’s war. Grassroots labour never supported it and some of that discontent will pour out at the conference.

Taj Mahal- monument to love

This week sees the beginning of celebrations to mark the 350^th anniversary of the Taj Mahal, the great monument to love. The grief-stricken emperor Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, Mumtaz, who died during the birth of their 14^th child. It took 20,000 labourers and 12 years to complete.

According to the Guardian, there will be celebrations throughout Agra, UP, to mark the anniversary but celebrations at the Taj Mahal itself will be low key. I hope this is the case. The Taj Mahal does not need wild, all night parties. This symbol of love needs to be bequeathed to posterity intact. India should do everything to encourage responsible tourism.

Efficient government?

Back in July it was announced that the public sector organisation I work at was to be abolished. It was created less than two years ago, but its short life coincided with a period when the parent department was conducting a review of all its bodies, with a view to making some cost savings. Where is the efficiency, not to say competence, in spending millions to create an organisation and then abolishing it? So much for joined-up, coherent government.

From a personal point of view, the biggest fear now is of redundancy. When an organisation is abolished- along with many others- redundancies are inevitable. There may well be opportunities when the functions are transferred to other bodies, but the competition for them will be intense. Then there’s no guarantee that these will be based in Birmingham or within commuting distance. The wisest course is to keep my options open.

Arab weakness

The fact that Israel is able to assassinate a leading member of Hamas in Damascus is a reflection of Arab impotence. There will, no doubt, be an outpouring of the normal rhetoric, but in reality Syria- or its fellow Arab nations- will not be able to anything. Israel will get away with this act of state terrorism, as it has been doing for many years.

It is this impotence, however, which fuels resentment, hatred and extremism among ordinary Arabs and Muslims.

Are interest rises homing in on house prices?

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said this week that potential house buyers were being deterred from entering the market by rising interest rates and the fear of a crash. This news is hardly surprising. First time properties now cost, on average, more than six times the average salary. That is high by historical standards. In my opinion, the prognosis for the housing market is not good.

Over the summer, senior Bank of England figures warned that house prices are too high. The emphasis is on the word are. They are not just rising too fast, but are too high. This is why I think a sharp fall is likely. It is true that certain conditions now are different from previous house price bubbles- such as low (but rising) interest rates and full employment. Even taking these into account, I think prices are way too high. Historically there has been a stable relation between house prices and wages. That stable relationship has now broken down.

A number of people I have spoken to, who were perspicacious enough to join the market in the mid-90s, tell me that they would not be able to afford their own (modest) houses based on current prices. The vitality of the housing market depends on a healthy supply of first time buyers. These are declining as a proportion of the total number of people in the housing game.

Joy-riders and go-karting trips

The Liberal Democrats have hit themselves in the foot by proposing that, as part of the rehabilitation process, joy-riders should be sent on go-karting trips. I don't know what the rationale is behind this; perhaps it is to provide an outlet for hyperactive youngsters. Whatever the reason, it's a silly idea.

What message would that send to law abiding youngsters from deprived backgrounds who cannot afford to go on go-karting trips? Serious crime should be appropriately punished, not rewarded with trips. The only purpose of rehabilitation should be educative: to instill a sense of responsibility, respect for others and good citizenship.

Life as a stammerer

Having a stammer is bad enough on the best of days, but having to deal with an inveterate salesperson over the phone is a stretch too far. This is the situation I found myself in today at work. Only with difficulty did I manage to wriggle myself out. I try to ignore my speech problem, but experiences like this make me more conscious of it. I get particularly irritated when callers misinterpret my stammer for a very bad cold. “You sound as if you have a terrible cold young man;” a pompous caller said recently, “your employer really ought to send you home.” What was I to say?

As a teenager, I was more self-conscious of my problem. Teenagers generally have a lot to say, as I did, but much of what I wanted to say remained suppressed. This led to a tremendous feeling of frustration, which I believe, affected my whole being emotionally and psychologically in those crucial formative years and continues to affect me today (I am now 32). I spoke little, which meant I had few friends and therefore socialised very little. Perhaps that is why I get very uncomfortable at large social gatherings.

At school, I was bright- the brightest in my class- but I didn’t take part in class discussions or raise my hand to answer questions. I was particularly afraid of conversing with girls. When it was unavoidable, it left some girls giggling at my stammer. As for romance, it was non-existent. There was a young lady I felt attracted to, but I never had the courage to say a word to her for fear of provoking derision.

My advice to any young person who stammers: try not to think about it. The more you think about it, the more likely it is to affect your development. That is easier said than done, thanks to the insistent salesperson and the pompous caller worried about my “cold”.

For more details on stammering, see: http://www.stammering.org/

The view from the 9th floor

One advantage of working in the centre of Birmingham, on the 9^th floor of an office block, is that you can see the whole city. To be honest, it’s hardly a post card vista of hills and lakes, but it’s certainly an interesting view. When I first started working here, I dismissed the view as a morass of concrete, but over the summer months I have become fonder.

To the south of the city is the Edgbaston cricket ground. The ground cannot be seen from here but the flicker of the score board can be seen, between two high rise flats, on match days (It was England v. Australia yesterday). To its left is Birmingham’s central mosque, now a permanent feature of the landscape and battling for attention among the flats that surround it.

The view to the north is less conspicuous, being overshadowed by yet taller office blocks. Between the gaps, there are hills with the electricity pylons silhouetted on the horizon. To the right is the spaghetti junction, the quagmire of intertwining roads that once defined Birmingham along with the Rotunda.

Closer to the centre can be seen myriads of cranes. Birmingham is definitely a city on the rise. In fact the view from here is an ideal place to survey the various construction projects taking place around the centre of the city.

Earlier this is year it was a pleasure to see two baby sea gulls progressing through early life on the roof of Waterstones, the booksellers. I heard somewhere that sea gulls quite like tall urban buildings, which they can glide on and off much like the cliffs in their more natural habitats.

Why invade Iraq?

It is appropriate that I should address this question first, though it has now become rather academic. Various reasons were given to justify the invasion, though the issue of supplying a valid reason was more pressing for Tony Blair but rather less important for the neo-conservatives in Washington. The reason cited most often during the weeks and months preceding the invasion was the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In selling the war internally, the US also attempted to create a vague link between Al Qaeda and the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussain. In the post-9/11 climate, the US public was all too willing to believe in the existence of this link. The absence of any evidence, let alone evidence sufficient to justify a war, was no problem. It was also argued that since the Baathist regime was brutal, with a record of killing its own people, it was morally right to invade and to evict the regime from power. The public would be glad to get rid of the regime and would welcome the invaders as liberators.

The reality of the situation is different. The plan in fact existed before the atrocity of 9/11 and was part of a larger neo-conservative scheme to spread American hegemony around the world. However, this could not be achieved without controlling the world's supply of oil. Oil is central to everything- it is what drives the military-industrial complex. Saddam posed a threat to its free and unhindered flow. He presided over the world's second largest known oil reserves. Through his erratic behaviour, he was able to influence world prices. He had previously invaded Kuwait, an oil Sheikdom friendly to the US.

So Saddam was a threat, but a threat of another sort. Over a decade of sanctions and intrusive monitoring had succeeded in destroying the military threat- but it had not dealt with the fact that Saddam still sat on all that oil. This is the reason that over a year after removing Saddam from power, still no WMD have been found. There is no doubt that ex post facto justifications for the war will be found- but the central reason given at the time, that of WMD and the threat that posed to the world, was a lie

Starting on the journey of Blog...

As a Web Editor (with design skills) it is ironic for me to rely on a blog rather than design my own website. Nevertheless, in this time poor age, blogging is an important tool for sharing experiences and opinions. The important bit is getting the message across. I will endeavour to update this blog as much as possible.

I am interested in most current issues, whether local, regional, national and international and will comment on those in my blogs. I will also be sharing personal experiences.