Wendy Cope

I like Wendy Cope's poems. She's very dry, gives you plenty of room to make the scene in your head. Also quite uncompromising on blithering idiots, as in this poem, "Men and their Boring Arguments". One man on his own can be quite good fun But don't go drinking with two - They'll probably have an argument And take no notice of you.

What makes men so tedious Is the need to show off and compete. They'll bore you to death for hours and hours Before they'll admit defeat.

It often happens at dinner-parties Where brother disputes with brother And we can't even talk among ourselves Because we're not next to each other.

Some men like to argue with women - Don't give them a chance to begin. You won't be allowed to change the subject Until you have given in.

A man with the bit between his teeth Will keep you up half the night And the only way to get some sleep Is to say, 'I expect you're right.'

I expect you're right, my dearest love. I expect you're right, my friend. These boring arguments make no difference To anything in the end.

writingJack Dysonfunny, poetry, wendy cope, writingComment
If I were a giant

Priory Woods School in Middlesborough has an amazing web project, getting kids from all around the world to upload "Giant Stories" (and, sometimes, accompanying pictures). They are, if you don't mind me saying, absolutely inspired. Some are heartbreaking. Some are like haiku. I've put a few below, but you should really click through to HERE and see for yourself - and if you know any teachers, tell them to get stuck in with their schools too. I were a Giant, I would destroy towns. There would be massive destruction. I would be green and smelly. I would be mean and destroy the Earth. There would only be two people left on Earth. They would die in space with me, the giant. (Joshua, 7, USA)

IF I was a giant, I would kill people. I would go to a jungle and climb trees and kill lions by kicking footballs in their eyes. I would like to climb a mountain and jump off. (George, 11, UK)

If i woke up to be a giant, I would take over as queen and get free things. I would eat until I was full and have lots of friends watch loads of movies, listen to music in the sun and go swimming in the sea. When i go to sleep I would go to a cotton factory and a mattress factory, put the cotton on the mattresses and build a big room to put them in. I would get a massive cover then sleep. I would never go to school. I would have my dream job and never have to wake up if i didn't want to. Nobody would call me fat because everyone would think it is cool to be fat so I would be so popular. (Kirsty, 10, UK)

One day there was a giant. She was too fat and a little girl was crying. The giant ate 20 chickens. The End. (Jamie Lea, 7, Australia)

writingJack Dysonfiction, giants, kids, stories, writingComment
Zizek!

As for the ‘clash of civilisations’, let us recall the letter form the seven-year-old American girl whose father was a pilot fighting in Afghanistan: she wrote that — although she loved her father very much, she was ready to let him die, to sacrifice him for her country. When President Bush quoted these lines, they were perceived as a ‘normal’ outburst of American patriotism; let us conduct a simple mental experiment and imagine an Arab Muslim girl pathetically reciting into the camera the same words about her father fighting for the Taliban — we do not have to think for long about what our reaction would have been: morbid Muslim fundamentalism which does not stop even at the cruel manipulation and exploitation of children . . . . Every feature attributed to the Other is already present at the very heart of the USA. Murderous fanaticism? There are in the USA today more than two million Rightist populist ‘fundamentalists’ who also practise a terror of their own, legitimised by (their understanding of) Christianity. Since America is, in a way, ‘harbouring’ them, should the US Army have punished Americans themselves after the Oklahoma bombing?–Slavoj Žižek, Welcome to the Desert of the Real (London: Verso Press, 2002), 43-4.

(he also said: “What makes me depressed? Seeing stupid people happy." )

meJack Dysonphilosophy, quotes Comment
Sal Khan at Gel 2010

http://vimeo.com/11731351What started as algebra lessons for his cousins has turned into a world-changing project. Hundreds of thousands of users worldwide have benefited from Sal Khan's friendly, accessible Youtube videos explaining math, science, and other subjects.

Sal has a vision of teaching the entire world, for free. His not-for-profit Khan Academy has the mission of "providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere." In this outstanding Gel video, Sal describes the elements of the good experience he's trying to create.

VideoJack Dysoneducation, Fascinating, videoComment
Objectivity, information and the BNP

True journalism - and I don't mean celebrity gossip or extended captions for fashion shoots - has its roots in the struggle for fairness and objectivity. As a journalist, you report the news so that readers can make up their own opinions. People still die for this right around the world. We are incredibly lucky in this country to have a free press. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) takes its responsibilities very seriously. Beyond looking out for obvious stuff - rates of pay, working conditions and so on - it strives to bring an equal level of scrutiny to all subjects we may write about.

Among the points in the NUJ's Code of Conduct are various points including that a journalist:

  • strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair
  • differentiates between fact and opinion
  • produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation

So what does this mean around election time – specifically with political groups that base their policies on issues of race, creed and so on? Simple. It means that journalists should, if anything, intensify their focus. Politics of hate are incredibly difficult to deal with. And it is all too easy to let a comfort zone settle around groups that - for the time being at least - are wearing a friendlier face.

We can't afford to let that happen. It's just too important. And as for the consequences of letting things drift...well, they don't really bear thinking about.

The NUJ has started a website, Reporting the BNP, which deals with exactly this issue. Even if you aren't a journalist, it makes fascinating reading.

It provides background on personalities, policies and activities; it has a couple of fascinating first-hand narratives by journalists who have covered the BNP; and it explains how the party has been modernising as well as explaining itself to the public.

And when many people don't know much more about the BNP other than that it is "tough on immigration", the facts are more important than ever. The public needs truthful information, not obfuscation and sound-bites from PRs.

This is what unions should be about: enabling their members to do their jobs, allowing them to see - and paint - the bigger picture, protecting the liberties that we so often take for granted.

I'll leave the final word to Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the NUJ:

As journalists we have a responsibility to hold politicians to account.

Our job is to scrutinise people from all parties. Our job is also to tell the truth, which is why we have provided this resource for journalists covering the BNP in the course of their work.

It gives background information on the party, its past, its policies and its personnel; it provides information on how to follow the party’s progress in the European Parliament; it provides resources to help challenge the party’s claims on housing, immigration and race, and it explains why the BNP is not like any other party.

After all, no other party:

  • was founded on the basis of a whites-only admission policy
  • feels the need to remind members: ‘We are not a racist party’
  • denies the Holocaust
  • shelters so many convicted criminals in its ranks
  • has links with a website that encourages attacks on journalists

The NUJ encourages its members to expose the BNP to public scrutiny and to challenge their claims.

When you do, you will find the veneer of respectability soon wears off. A few well-directed questions here, a bit of background research there, and the British National Party stands before you as it really is.

This website provides you with a starting point for that research and puts the party, and its members, into a political and historical context. We hope you find it useful.

Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, NUJ

Reporting the BNP

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