Opportunity offering offspring?...

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White Christmas anyone (click on image)? Three families, two babies and gingerbread people...no, not my life but the Christmas card offerings of the UK's political party leaders [Guardian] aaahhh, cute. I take this opportunity to wish anyone who reads this a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011. I will be in the UK as of tomorrow - if the snow lets me in - for three weeks, blogging will be sporadic...if at all. Best wishes.

Orthopsychiatry or opsimaths...

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Has the UK created a generation of children that need special help or are they late learners? Is it a problem of too many foreign langauges/immigrants, or poor teaching methods/poor teachers, or is it family break down/no parent to read/lack of parenting skills or could it be all of these things?...

Just what the fuck is it that leads to "one in 11 boys in England - one in seven in some areas" - being barely able to read when they go to secondary school?

Oikofugic Ows orts...

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No real story, unless you want to talk about something that's dead boring (boom-boom!)

This is really just an info post for myself to link to a few interesting points re the tuiton fees saga. Open Europe yesterday had an interesting piece on why a Graduate tax just isn't possible because "EU citizens studying in another EU member state must be treated under the same conditions" [EU link]; which is presumably why we have the news that Scotland will be pretty much following England's lead; that led me to see what-was-what about student finance, the reality and myths of the proposals etc, I knew - unlike almost every student interviewed in any media over the last few weeks - but want to have a handy record here with the appropriate links for when the new protests start.

P.S. I'm sure oikofugic isn't what you think it means.

Okavango outline...

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Owsblog has just had its first visitor from Botswana. It is also my 175 country. I can also say that I have had visits from no less than 13,050 cities. Yippee.

For info: the Okavango Delta, which is in NW Botswana, is the world's largest inland delta (click on image for Wiki page). The Batswana have had great success in reducing HIV transmission from infected mothers - down from nearly 40% to just 4% - however, because of AIDS, general life expectancy, which is 1984 was 60 years of age, has dropped to 35. Tuition fees? Cuts? Jeez.

Objurgation of oligarchy...

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Image credit and hat-tip to Prodicus (again). Click on image for the DT telling us that in the EU our beloved MEPs will have nigh on 91,000 quid in tax free expenses without having to provide any proof of expenditure! This is part of an increased pay and perks package and is made up from their money for showing up of EUR300/day (this is for 184 days of work; if you ever seen ANY footage of the EU you'll know they turn up and sign on but rarely get ino the Chamber unless it's to vote for topping up their trough) and added to that they get their "General expenditure allowance" (office running expenses) will be increased to about EUR4300/month; please note that this is by NO means all their expenses but these are the ones that are automatically paid directly into bank accounts belonging to MEPs. No questions asked bro, nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Feeling the pinch of any cuts?

P.S. Just in case you miss the point this is completely separate from their 80 grand salary. 

Obverting outreach overture...

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Tim Montgomerie at Conservative Home has some encourgaing news. With many, especially the BBC, doing their best to spike the Coalition guns at every opportunity, it was clear that Ed miliband would try to woo some of the wavering Liberal Democrats; however in reply to his direct overture today, Tim Farron, the left-leaning President of the Lib Dems has spoken up strongly:

"Labour have just spent 13 years sucking up to Rupert Murdoch and George Bush - why would any sane progressive even give them a second glance? As part of the coalition government, Liberal Democrats have started fixing Labour's economic mess, taking millions of people out of Income Tax and reforming British politics. Things Labour had 13 years to do but failed to deliver. The Liberal Democrats have also announced more cash for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, one of the biggest moves to improve social mobility in decades. Continuing that work is something far more attractive to Liberal Democrats than helping Ed Miliband's increasingly desperate attempts to work out what he actually stands for. However, if he is serious about co-operation then the first thing he should do is stop the Labour Party's attempts to block the referendum on electoral reform that he claims to support."

Really he is just saying things that should be the first words any Coalition member should be saying at any and every opportunity even if it gets irritating: the marked absense of any sort of contrition or apology from Labour and the even more marked absense in the media of any reminders of just why the UK is having to take certain unpopular measures needs addressing.

Update: I rather liked this comment from Prodicus:

"There is no essential difference between the 'thinking' of wannabe commissars like Miliband and that of ignorant gits like Gilmour junior and the violent, nihilistic haters of the SWP and Black Bloc.

The violence of recent days, and the coming days, is all 'Because they're Tories'. Government policy, political thought, democracy, the Common Good and the will of the people have nothing to do with it."

Outside office...

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"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is going to govern temporarily from a tent so that families made homeless by recent floods can take refuge in his office." [BBC]

Nice, meanwhile his government discusses complete control of the Internet in Venezuela. And of course what would the family** of the socialist leader be without their life of guns, parties, cars, jewels, multi-million dollar bank accounts etc. [La Razon]

**Daddy Chavez was a State Governor, brother took over from him after being a government Minister; the other brother is a local Mayor; that's just the direct family...talented bunch, obviously.

Ooops...

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He don't need no education... (well you'd think he didn't get one, but he seems honest:"Ignorance is the poorest of excuses but I am sincerely sorry".)

All in all he's just another prick on the wall...[Link]

Oil oppression...

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Wikileaks and Venezuela: "American diplomats say president is now desperate to attract foreign partners after nationalisation frightened many away." [Guardian] Even his allies seem to realise:

The memos depict an unfolding economic fiasco and suggest some of Chávez's key allies – Argentina, Brazil and Cuba – are gravely concerned at Venezuela's direction.

Chávez, typically, calls all this capitalist propaganda: the Venezuelan government "is studying a draft law to facilitate further oil industry nationalisations to deepen the revolution." You'd laugh at such stupidity if it wasn't so tragic.

Organ octaves...

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You may have heard about or have seen Canadian lingerie firm La Senza's Cup Size Choir Ad but did you know there is an interactive version where each girl sings her note when you use your keyboard: "Play the Girls"...for all you musical types. Ahem.

Ows opines...

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A few words on last weekend's wildcat strike by the Spanish air-traffic controllers: I was traveling - as you might expect - but luckily only by car to see some cousins in the South of France. Anyway, those few words: you're fucking fucked you nepotistic bunch of selfish, stupid fuckers. Talk about Spanish practices. I've seen some of the reports but nobody seems to be telling all of it. Reported: this was unannounced; this was one of the most important weekends of the year (double bank holiday this week), it was too rash, too unadvised, too sudden...(with apologies to Will the bard).

The way it's going to turn out is sure to get conspiracy theorists maintaining there is a government mole high up in the ATC union of the 2200 controllers that have a monopoly and rule the roost, literally: largely unreported: 80% are relatives or friends of the more "experienced employees"...should I repeat that? The first bit is that the government has been trying to end this monopoly, this strike was SO FUCKING STUPID that the government's wishes will come true...and then some: apart from gaol time not being out of the question, wages will be lowered to a more reasonable level (apparently 50,000 to 70,000 Euros per year is the average whilst in Spain the average is EUR200,000...reaching 600 thousand on occasion); wages will be slashed, less overtime, fewer privileges; they may even be made to pay for the losses they have caused; the nepotistic dream of veterans being allowed to veto new signings will disappear etc. This will be one case of unions for workers rights being completely and utterly crushed and yet the whole country will cheer it on. [details in Spanish]

Obvious outcome: official openness...

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Dan the Man today hits the Wikileakphobia nail on the head:

"There are one or two very specific areas where governments need to act in secret, but most of what has been leaked falls into the Pretty Bloody Obvious category. The only reason it is of interest is that it was classified. The days of official secrecy are over; they have been displaced by technological change. Get used to it."

Out of order VI...

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Lying bastard politician...Andy Burnham (Labour's shadow education secretary) has said that: "English schools are better today than they were in the 80s and 90s but of course we all want them to be amongst the best in the world". [Link]

Overall scores for UK pupils, down in every discipline (no doubt including discipline itself if they measured it!): "stagnant at best" according to the OECD. The only bright spot was that in Science they were above average...and only fell a couple of places. 'Education, edukaysion, eaduqcashun'.

Update 9pm: Gold star to 13th Spitfire:

You're smart, you're average and you're thick. Don't worry, we have something for all of you.

"And most of all, they keep their education system away from the clutches of Politicians. Their kids are far too important for a few dozen idiots to ruin. It's time we learned to be honest with our population again. We OWE it to them."

Organisms' other options...

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Scientists have been torturing and force-feeding bugs! OK, they've 'trained' a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic instead of one of six elements considered essential for life - phosphorus in this case - "opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe or even here on Earth using biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about." Chemist and molecular biologist Dr. Gerald Joyce said,

"It's a really nice story about adaptability of our life form... ...It gives food for thought about what might be possible in another world."

This successful substitution of phosphorus of course is sure to stimulate a "rush" to replace one of the five other chemical elements (C, O, N, H, S) "essential" for life...like the substitution of silicon for carbon...In Space nobody can hear you scream! I'm joking of course: there are reasons why this particular one probably wouldn't work (strength of molecular structures etc) but chemical swaps are not that uncommon, in fact I have dealt with a particular one (sulphur for selenium in yeasts) for years.

Odd oversight or obscurantism....

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The News. Or not the News? MP Expenses in the millions. I guess it depends how it's written and what agenda the particular media have, especially if you're not keen on the Coalition: BBC and DT both have similar headlines: "MPs' expenses: £3.1m claimed in three months", or "MPs claiming £1m a month in expenses; MPs were paid £3.1 million in expenses in the first three and a half months after the General Election". Both the BBC and DT have details of various claims, explain the process with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, both have various articles about this news but neither, yesterday or today, in all their reporting - as far as I can see - mention one important fact:

"Expenses claimed by MPs have halved in the new Parliament, the first breakdown of payments since the general election has revealed."

That from Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor The Independent.

Update 12:45 CET: somewhat connected news: Tom Harris MP Tweets that IPSA's communications director Anne Power was named as source of leaks against MPs: in Hansard (Column 1029).

Other opt-out option?...

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In a word: No. "...we remain financially liable (thanks to the last act of Alistair Darling’s Chancellorship) until 2013 for bailing out whichever failed euro-state follows Ireland's dismal example."