Prospects for Tuesday, 8 January
- 8 Jan 08, 10:29 AM
Simon Enright is today's programme producer - here is his early email to the team.
Hi All,
I've sent Jeremy off this morning to the press conference of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari - Benazir's son. He's decided to speak to the press just down the road and I thought it would be interesting for Jeremy to report back on what this young 19-year-old is like first hand.
We've also recruited a young film maker with some dramatic footage from Columbia about how America are losing the war against drugs - and cocaine in particular. And they are losing it to communist guerrilla soldiers on horseback. Peter Marshall will put the pictures together.
David Grossman will be reporting from New Hampshire - tonight on the Republicans. And also he'll be live with the latest. Who else should we talk to?
But what else should we do?
Paul Mason is offering short film from Kenya.
The Brown initiative today is Pay - should we do this
OR welfare reform the Tories initiative
Or should we even go for the nuclear option. The cabinet are debating Nuclear energy today should we not debate on our programme?
Simon
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Don't know if you lot on newsnight get much chance to watch much TV but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Olive have launched a campaign against factory intensive farming.
I think it would be really interesting for NN to do something on this- perhaps get Hugh, the govt minister and someone from CIWF- because these programmes often lack the political element and the level of debate.
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I don't think you can duck the Hain story in this morning's Guardian. I
like Peter Hain - but you cannot have one standard of disclosure
for benefit recipients and another for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions surely? Scotland is still waiting for any explanation
too from Wendy Alexander about her
campaign finance problem .........
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Don't know if you lot on newsnight get much chance to watch much TV but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Olive have launched a campaign against factory intensive farming.
I think it would be really interesting for NN to do something on this- perhaps get Hugh, the govt minister and someone from CIWF- because these programmes often lack the political element and the level of debate.
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The Tories plan to reform Jobseekers Allowance looks very much like a stock market parasite driven scheme to undermine the minimum wage. If you can get government sponsored virtual slaves to do menial work like cleaning, the jobs of those already doing it on minimum wage will be under threat. I suspect that the boards of any new companies formed to administer the scheme will be stuffed full of politicians and their cronies. On Friday's blog I compared the Tory disability reforms as being Nazi, this comes from the same stable blaming all society's ills on the most vulnerable and using them as scapegoats. Definitely not following the spirit of the recent Queen's Speech.
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42
The poverty that underlies all other, is POVERTY OF WELLBEING. This is fully understood by a few - both lay and specialist 鈥 but lacks primacy in the political consciousness. Wellbeing is a psychological attribute and yields such intangibles as: self-esteem, honour, integrity and contentment (all progressively lacking in the UK). Positive and enduring advancement, of individual and of state, DEPENDS ON THESE. However, such attributes are inimical to government AS CURRENTLY CONFIGURED AND CONDUCTED.
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RESEARCH? REMEMBER POLICY EXCHANGE..
Here's something else you can do. Look into what passes as educational 'research' these days. Look into how the LANGUAGE of research has been expropriated in the service of political spin at the expense of science (and education) itself.
Millions have been appropriated to implement SEAL on the basis of
this so-called 'evidence'. This, below shows nothing but contempt (or ignorance of) evidence based practice, ie. science. It uses the language of science to spin better. Criticising people for this is pretty much a waste of time these days as I fear most of the guilty parties don't even know that they are doing it.
"As a first step we are introducing what is known as the Social and emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme into secondary schools. As I鈥檝e already seen for myself in primary schools, SEAL teaches young people social and emotional skills to allow them to resolve conflict calmly, manage anger and show respect for others."
This is nonsense, it's *not* evidence based/driven at all, and it it's now starting to appear in our *secondary* schools too. Teachers will probably not be able to objectively appraise what's going on as Ed Balls and his spin doctors assert the opposite to what the data actually shows. if there was good evidence for it, no problem. It's the fact that there isn't which is important here.
The same was done over 'Cognitive Skills' in prisons and probation in the early to late 90s. This is known not to have worked. That has been acknowledged in 成人快手 Affairs Select Committees, and is all on the record. But I bet those who sold it in the early 1990s are still doing very well out of this, even though the evidence shows they should all have been drummed out of their jobs for incompetence or fraud. I don't think this can be excused as just error. These people are culpable.
The following was posted to the Guardian CiF in July. All three posts at the end appear to have since been deleted. Why one migt ask? Cognitive Behaviour Therapy will be sold to schools as a panacea even though the rather shoddy SEAL research shows there was no significant effect apart from the girls liking talking about their feelings. Bad behaviour and low attainmnet in our schools is mainly a male problem as a consequence of our feminisaing the curriculum in pursuit of INCLUSION. The cost has been an increase in male, especilaly black caribbean, EXCLUSION.
The sad reality is that there seems to be a 'liberal conspiracy' to use
academic credentials to commercially sell snake-oil for public funds. This is now well out of control as a consequence of professional deregulation in my view. Anyone who tries to stand up to this nonsense is highly likely to find themselves out of work, which just reinforces the problem alas.
Surely there has got to be something radically wrong with our culture if
people are rewarded for telling lies, and punished for telling the
truth?
"Learning To Play Nice"
Comment Is Free: Guardian
Comment No. 687127
July 9 9:55 GBR
"Readers will, of course, have followed up the links in the author's article. They will have looked up the evaluation of the primary SEAL pilot which justifies this increased expenditure.
At the DfES website we read on page 91 of the (largely postal questionnaire based evaluation of perceptions):
"There were gender differences in responses to the questionnaire (see
Table 6.7). In relation to Self-esteem and Motivation there were
statistically significant differences both prior to and after the SEAL programme. In both cases the girls had higher scores than the boys. For both boys and girls there were small increases in scores following the introduction of the SEAL programme. In relation to Emotions and Awareness of them in Self and Others the girls also had statistically significant higher scores pre and post the SEAL programme. The scores for the girls increased as a result of the SEAL programme while that for the boys decreased. A similar pattern was evident in relation to Social
Skills and Relationships.
Girls showed a slight improvement as a result of the SEAL programme while the scores for the boys remained the same."
Then skip to ch. 8 which looks at attendance and impact on Key Stage 1
and 2.
KS1: Reading (p.131):
"For the pilot as a whole there was no statistically significant change
in reading attainment"
Writing (p.132):
"Across the programme as a whole the change was positive (mean pre pilot 81.93, mean post pilot 82.16) but not statistically significant."
Mathematics (p.133):
"There were no statistically significant differences in the levels of change (see Table 8.5) or across the programme as a whole (mean pre pilot 91.17, mean post pilot 91.69)."
KS2: Needs to be read more closely, but the authors say:
"At KS2 schools involved in the school improvement strand appeared to make significantly greater improvements than CPD-only schools and non-pilot primary schools. This may have been because of their lower levels of performance at the start of the programme."
This is the 'research' on the primary SEAL.
Back in July, Secondary had still to be done:
Like nearly all of this research from the DfES, the devil is in the
detail, and one has to look critically at a) the methods b) the results, and c) most critically, the spin put on the outcome by government 'press-officers'.
Who could possibly criticise aid to help children from dysfunctional
families or oppressed BME groups better manage their feelings, be better motivated etc?
Well, that is the job of the Pubic Accounts Committee and all responsible citizens/researchers! Note the role of the "Third Sector" (charity status) in all of this. Look for the books, DVDs etc or courses, seminars etc at their websites. Do these all come for free? Do those working for these 'charities' give their time and advice pro bono? How many of these people are making sideways moves from the public sector (which has a very poor track record of delivery when it comes to these high PR panaceas) into the gentler domain of PR entrepreneurship? Are their contracts evidence/performance based, if so, how closely are their services monitored and in terms of which reliable performance indicators? If this is not done, are we not encouraging corruption? Here
are a couple of earlier eye openers just to illustrate where some of
these ideas come from, how it all really works, and sadly, how despite
considerable dissent over the years from those able to critically evaluate the research, dissenters have been marginalised, their concerns ignored and the just criticism airbrushed.
For many it gets even worse.
See Q277 onwards and see what is happening to probation today now that the Offender Management Act has become law.
There's more on the SEAL nonsense here:
This really is a case of the bad driving out the good.
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>>how America are losing the war against drugs >New Hampshire Who else should we talk to?>Nuclear energy<<
given energy is now a defence matter why are up to 50% of solar panel planning applications being turned dowm. Why has the tax been raised on vegetable oil as fuel to make it more expensive than diesel. Surely we need a 'dig for victory' type campaign for energy to gets us out of Gazprom and the middle east?
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"We've also recruited a young film maker with some dramatic footage from Columbia about how America are losing the war against drugs - and cocaine in particular."
Columbia University or Colombia the country?
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Hi Newsnight
you will tell that I'm a bit bored by the following question
I looked on the internet and New Hampshire appears to 7 hours behind us.
Last night I watched David Grossman reporting live there but it was dark already.
A couple of nights before I watched a report where it was also dark, and unlike the first report from Iowa he did not appear frozen to the marrow but was wearing a different coat over what appeared to be only a shirt and open at the top and without a scarf,
not suggesting anything ,seriously not doing so, but just a little curious at the changing climate and lighting in America,
you know I'm teasing you a little but in a friendly way,
best wishes
Bob
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unsurprising edits to my post. Who is NN afraid of? Aipac? Which proves my point regarding the usa elections?
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In response to comment 9- new hampshire are 5 hours behind are they not? which would make it 5.30 when newsnight starts. It is 5.30 here now and it is dark.
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ADRIENNE - DROP THE OTHER SHOE
Adrienne: Thanks for all the effort you must put into your postings. As said before: I don鈥檛 manage to follow all your links but stand a lot better informed nevertheless. You make a good fist of defining causes of our ills 鈥 have you defined any solutions? I mean solutions that are self-evidently of a viable nature.
In my view, one must diagnose correctly, prescribe agreeably and administer craftily 鈥 in spite of government. As I have previously posted, I set myself this task in 1995 and 鈥渉ad a go鈥. I think the proof of YOUR pudding must, likewise, be in the eating. (I got spat out!)
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Thanks Nick
I managed to use different measures of time, so it wasnt filmed in the Shepherds Bush car lot after all !
best wishes
Bob
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Sorry to be flogging the same old horse in the shadow of the above intellectual comments, but doesn't most recent international news demonstrate how very different many peoples of this world value the sanctity of life, freedom and human relations, compared to the 'average' Brit? Most of us may indulge in a few sins, like binge drinking, disobeying (somewhat arbitrary) speed limits, etc., some even find cause to flog the benefits system.
But do we, as a nation, resort to clan murder of innocent women and children? Do we force our girl children to marry our choice of husband (often a cousin or close relative)? And do we slavishly follow an ancient mythological religion through brainwashing in infancy?
We have been promised openness and transparency, including a real debate about immigration and the multi-culture 'experiment'. Surely we should reflect on whether our previous, now overwhelmed, culture was really that bad, and whether it has been improved by importing hordes of people from all over the globe without any reference to their basic life values - other than a feeble discussion of whether we should give them all free English lessons.
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Newsnight,
I watch newsnight daily. am a Kenyan who resides in UK. I am concerned that your interviews are not doing a detailed background research on the leadership form both ODM and PNU.
In 1982 Odinga(ODM leader) made a coup attempt at Moi's government that was only 4 years old.Ruto has cases outstanding in courts. Is burning of houses and throwing in kids not a genocide?
Have look at these pictures and let the readers make their mind up.
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Barrie (#12) If the analysis is sound (and as it's evidence driven it is), the solution is implicit is it not?
The first step is to confidently challenge all those who have lied for at least two generations about the nature of individual and group differences, and who have cooked up paranoid horror stories about where acknowledgement of the facts of human diversity have led in the past. This has been done, very successfully I suggest, solely to secure hegemonic advantage through deception/disinformation. It was originally meant to punish the Germans for abandoning democracy/capitalism.
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Barrie (#12) If the analysis is sound (and as it's evidence driven it is), the solution is implicit is it not?
The first step is to confidently challenge all those who have lied for at least two generations about the nature of individual and group differences, and who have cooked up paranoid horror stories about where acknowledgement of the facts of human diversity have led in the past.
This was done, very successfully I suggest, solely to secure hegemonic advantage through deception/disinformation/propaganda. It was originally meant to punish the Germans for abandoning democracy/capitalism and was exploited to great effect by the USSR.
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Post # 1
Pompous twit Hugh Fearnly Whitteringstall recent CH4 animal rights propaganda series is typical of would be eco-fascists attempting to portray just how green and friendly they are. HFW was fair enough in the early days of his many series riding round in an old 1960s Ford Corsair and doing his bit to be more friendly to the environment at River Cottage. However, he has now metamorphosised into a high class restaurant owner who charges ( those foolish enough to pay it ) more for a single meal than the average family has available for family food for the whole week.
Chicken is often the only form of meat protein available for many low income families, take that away and the incentive to have a proper cooked meal will diminish. There are already to many kids being brought up on unsuitable diets which could lead to them not being able to attain a high IQ as teenagers.
His whole broiler / free range experiment is flawed because he didn't remove the weaklings due to harboring disease and therefore probably lost twice as many birds in the later stage. He has been very careful not to film inside his free range part of the shed, probably because it is full of piles of rotting faces underneath where the birds perch. The experiment is also skewed by the fact that they built an artificial sterile enclosure as opposed to simply fencing off the land. Cases of all the usual poultry parasites and other micro-organisms would have been far greater in the natural environment. All wild birds suffer to some extent and can easily pass it on to farmed stock, such diseases can be controlled with drugs, but that's not a good idea for a meat bird. I used to successfully race pigeons in the past, and was brought up by fairly major poultry farmers for those days. All the birds care about is to be warm, dry and have a full belly, pigeons can be kept successfully in confined areas just so long as they are kept reasonably clean. I know of a case where a hen bird that had been kept inside for three months won a race it was sent on the weekend it was let out.
Chickens are pretty dumb animals compared to the average racing pigeon so they wont care if they can't move very far for six weeks from chicks. The same principle applies to battery farming, its quite simple that if the were not content they would not lay, yet the government intends to outlaw the practice in the near future. All this will do is close British farms and increase the number of eggs imported from the continent. Of course the stock market parasites will love it, plenty of extra money to change and an increase in road transport, an increase in supermarket revenue growth and all in all not really a "green " idea. I personally don't fancy barn eggs as they are very likely to have come into contact with faces and its bacteria, likewise free range, battery eggs are far cleaner.
The fact is that we already import poultry from far across the world and if Witteringstall & Oliver can increase city bonuses they can probably still charge a fortune for their often rubbish cuisine. Like many high profile celebrities, it would appear that they care more about animal welfare than that of less fortunate human beings. Campaigning for a ban of factory farmed Chicken could be fair enough it they were similarly committed to an extra fiver across the board on all state benefits, minimum wage and pensions. It is interesting that the struggling single mum was " socially excluded " from the latest programme perhaps because she refused to succumb to the gilt trip mesmerized into many experiment participants. If you didn't see the whole series the only people not convinced by the argument were portrayed as drunken thugs in the local pub. Its dead easy to flood a small town with cheap free range chicken as part of a marketing scam, and even if you technically sell more its probably only because people switched to chicken from other meats.
It just shows how cruel they really are when they rodger their birds throat with an electric probe and incinerate the inside of their throat. Having a strong crocodile clip clamped on your toe doesn't sound much fun either. Simple necking as demonstrated on the cull birds is far more humane, I know which I would chose if ever faced with the question.
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