The real Rainbow Nation.

  There are many ways of celebrating the Summer Solstice.

                                   Class War at the Peoples Assembly anti-austerity march.

                                  Stonehenge. Never forget the Battle of the Beanfield.

                                                             A nice day out at Ascot.

A hard day on the South Downs.

I feel sure that Her Indoors is trying to finish me off. Yesterday, having first watered the allotment, we set of by train to Brighton and caught a bus to Cuckmere Haven. Leaving behind the dozen or so geography field trips, who all looked less than impressed with their teachers explanation of incised meanders etc, we strode out along the South Down Way. Well, Her Indoors strode out, I limped along behind whining piteously about my sore knees. Up and down over the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head before the long decent into Eastbourne. A well deserved couple of pints in The Buccaneer followed by a plate of fish and chips set us up for the long journey home. We arrived indoors just in time to see the final minutes of another England humiliation in the World Cup. A cracking day out. I doubt if tomorrows little stroll on the anti-austerity march will be half as much fun.

Normal for Norfolk again.

We will be viewing England's debut World Cup Game in the north Norfolk seaside town of Sheringham.  Nothing fancy. A couple of  nights at the Two Lifeboats Inn, crab sandwiches, a pint or three of Woodford's excellent Wherry Bitter, long walk on the coastal path. The first time that I received the hospitality of the Two Lifeboats was during a film job that was on in the locality but we returned a couple of years ago and I was pleased to see that the same cheerful scruffiness had endured. No breakfast but there was a good cafe up the road. I fear that times, and the Two Lifeboats, have changed. Now they offer  "Boutique Bed and Breakfast", whatever that is. I just hope that the lady who runs the shellfish stall across the road hasn't decided to go upmarket as well.

Some of the regulars in the Two Lifeboats pre - boutique B&B.

Hague misses opportunity on sex education.

The Global Summit To End Sexual Violence In Conflict being co-hosted by Angelina Jolie and William Hague has as one of it's major aims the breaking of the taboo about discussing rape in time of war. So far we have mainly heard about rape as a weapon of war and little about the far more widespread incidence of rape as a spoil of war but a recent Amnesty International report would suggest that the summit has the balance right. In the two decades following the end of WW 2 there was considerable exposure of widespread Soviet violation of German women in the final weeks of the war. It takes nothing away from the suffering of those women to say that the issue became another stick with which to beat the Russians during the Cold War years. Much less was made of the rapes inflicted by British and American troops as they advanced across France and Germany. Last weekend we heard a great deal about the heroes of D Day and quite rightly so. The men who stormed the beaches of Normandy were heroes all right and we owe them a great deal. But some of those heroes went on to rape French and German women. The hard truth is that armies, and especially victorious armies, commit rape and sometimes on a frightening scale. It seems to me that nothing will change until we arrive at a very much better understanding of male/female power relations and part of that has to be the education of boys about what a wholesome, even handed relationship with girls is all about. For this reason, and this must be the first time in my life when I want to be generous to the man, I was disappointed when William Hague during a Channel 4 interview last night, refused to be drawn on the subject of compulsory sex education with specific reference to consent. Sex education is far too important an issue to be sidelined by the internal squabbles of the Tory Party and Hague missed an opportunity to nail his colours to the mast.

Chickens come home to roost in Brum.

The philosopher of science Paul Feyerbend, a man much admired by the libertarian left at one time, argued for creationism being taught in schools alongside evolution so that children develop an immunity to all propaganda. I don't know what Feyerbend would make of the the "Trojan Horse" fiasco going on  in Birmingham schools, government and the media. Chickens coming home to roost perhaps. I will be 72 this year and I cannot remember a time when this country's state education system  was not being made the subject of yet another huge overhaul.  Private schools are exempt from both government interference and income tax so don't enter the debate at all. Provided that they don't actually break the law that ostentatiously, the private sector can do whatever they choose. But in state schools, where 90% of our kids are educated, there is a constant readjustment, questioning of values, hand wringing doubt and struggle for power. It's a wonder, and a credit to the teachers, that any education happens at all. Will we ever get it right I wonder?
Tony Blair, like his mad wife, was always motivated by an unfortunate mix of religious fervour and a love of money. Guided by various god botherers and "business" people Blair's views on education resulted in an increase in the influence of faith schools and the birth of the academies. It was to be a policy heartily endorsed by both Brown and the coalition that followed. Now almost any bunch of religious loonies, ex-military discipline nuts or wealthy entrepreneurs can become responsible for the education of thousands of children. And really, all of this came about in an effort to undermine left leaning local authorities and Trotskyist teachers. Well, the mess in Birmingham is the result. I can't begin to imagine the way forward but I'm sure about one thing - both as individuals and as a society we have to find a way of being open minded and generous spirited while at the same time standing up to religious conservatism and anti-progressive thinking at every turn. If we don't do that our grandchildren may never forgive us.

Katie Hopkins. What a little charmer.

Scum columnist and all round hate figure Katie Hopkins has come out in favour of these spikes embedded in a doorway to deter rough sleepers."Would you want vermin sleeping in your doorway? ", demands Hopkins. Probably not but it could be worse. Imagine waking up to this foul woman.

The mystery of online abuse.

I suppose that we all have the capacity for acts of true kindness while at the same time being capable of the worst kind of bullying. We bask in the reflected glory of the kindness of strangers and pretend that the nasty stuff is nothing to do with us. Social media however seems to bring out the very worst in us and everyday we hear stories of angst ridden teenagers who are unable to cope with online bullying and  end up taking their own lives to escape. I just don't understand why anyone would bother to be unpleasant to someone that they have never met and who has little impact on their own lives. Apparently Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington has been victim of all kinds of online abuse for "only" getting Bronze in 2012. I find none of this easy to understand but as to why anyone could have a life so empty that they would feel the need to pick on obscure academics who occasional appear on TV. I mean who on earth would want to bully Mary Beard? Takes all kinds I suppose.