dom.blog

Requiring the publication of a certain number of highly amusing quotes in one day:

The Conservatives have lost a battle to keep an £8.3m bequest by a man whose son described him as delusional.

Pharmaceuticals mogul Branislav Kostic, who died in 2005, wrote his will in the 1980s after saying Mrs Thatcher would save the world from “satanic monsters”.

But his only son Zoran, 50, contested the bequest at the High Court, saying his father was “deluded and insane” and he was entitled to the entire estate.

Source: BBC News

So it’s now acceptable to argue in court that one must be ‘deluded and insane’ to donate to the Tories?

(Warning – vital context has been removed from the story in order to facilitate this blog entry.)

C’mon, I have to blog about this. We have a new Prime Minister! I was saying earlier how it’s the equivalent to football fans of a World Cup, but that’s not really true, since they are more similar to general elections. Actually getting a new Prime Minister is less predictable, even rarer, and even cooler. So hurrah! I had to blog, even if I have nothing intelligent to say. (“Quite clearly” you cynics mutter )

(Fun Fact: I was probably in the pub at the exact moment Gordon Brown took office today. It was either that or eating fish and chips. How very British and on-message am I today?! )

So, I was born into a Margaret Thatcher world, followed by John Major, and then Tony Blair. Tony Blair, in fact, throughout my entire adolescence. And now Gordon Brown, when I am all grown up

Exciting! *politics geek*

Via Digg onward to the online petition to stop the ‘Church’ of Scientology becoming an officially recognised religion in the UK. For the following reasons:

– There is nothing to stop you believing in Scientology, Lord Xenu and anything else you want. We’re talking about stopping Scientology from achieving tax-exempt status merely by claiming it is a ‘religion’.

– Ultimately, I don’t agree with any state-approved ‘special treatment’ to religious bodies, who should pay tax just like anyone else. Ultimately, there is much that is both silly and disturbing in mainstream religions, and I’m hardly shy of saying it. However, this is real life here. Scientology does not have a mass following, and can be stopped. Furthermore, I think most people would want to stop it from wriggling out of paying tax.

– Scientology is different to other beliefs, as expressed well by prisoner24601 on Digg:

“Even the most hardcore atheist shouldn’t lump all religions into one “they are all equally worthless” category and just move on. The major religions of the world will “put their cards on the table” and provide an end-to-end explanation of their view of reality FOR FREE and WITHOUT any expectation of your ability to give anything back to them. Whether you believe Christianity or Islam or Buddhism to be true or not, you cannot fail to recognize that they are open about their agenda. Scientology, on the other hand, will (quite literally) sue you if you reveal the so-called “sacred texts” of their belief! How anyone cannot recognize there is a fundamental difference between sincere religions and the scam that is Scientology is truly inexplicable.”

– Scientology deserves it. The Church of England does not go around bullying Christians into cutting off all ties with their unconverted families and friends, or label enemies as “fair game”. Scientology has an nasty history which is very well documented online. You can also make a TV programme (such as Panorama) criticising Christianity without getting stalked by creepy men in dark glasses, unlike Scientology. As far as I know. Perhaps Rowan Williams has a series of cunning disguises.

– There’s always a chance I could draw a little bit of wrath.

– Tom Cruise supports it. Nuff said?

The Tories are finally abandoning their symbolic commitment to grammar schools, of which there are only 164 left in England anyway, with a ban on any new ones. Sure, the change is designed to allow them to appear to be ‘Blairites’ in supporting city academies more forcefully than Gordon Brown, but it does lead to the semi-amusing and semi-frustrating situation of waking up to hear David Willetts on Radio 4 ‘explaining’ what we’ve known for decades.

So for hopefully the final time, why are grammar schools – and the associated academic selection at age 11 – such Bad Things again?

• One Size Fits All? – it’s somewhat strange that this charge is levelled at comprehensive schools by those who think you can judge a child through a single entrance test at eleven years old. Those who develop later don’t stand a chance.
• Tutoring – the richer parents simply pay their way into grammar schools, as well as strategic house-buying.
• Unnecessary – can’t bright kids do well in mixed ability education? Of course they can. If you have some kind of mental block at the idea of going to school alongside less academically able students, get a grip. If the teaching isn’t good enough, or the discipline isn’t strong enough, then challenge it.
• Divisive and Demoralising – who wants siblings to be divided into the haves and the have-nots on the basis of a test at age 11? Don’t bother claiming that they’ll get the education ‘best suited’ to them – you ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ an entrance exam for a reason. In the meantime, grammar schools drain the best teachers away from the others, leading to a worse education for those who need it most.
• Inflexible – schools can’t magically grow bigger and smaller each year. Select at age 11, and children who don’t quite pass the test but could have done equally as well as those who do are locked out.
• Unimaginative – don’t cream the most academically able kids away – allow them to contribute to a genuinely comprehensive school and see what exciting things can happen. It’s not very impressive that a pre-selected cohort of clever students get good exam results. Deliver value added and make a difference to children’s lives, rather than just taking them along a set path.