The Oxygen of Publicity

There is an appetite for news.We want to know what is happening, why & where. Who is doing what to who. We need to be informed. But we need truthful & accurate information. What we don't need is conspiracy theory, misdirection, greenwashing, whitewashing & gaslighting. We need to be able to trust our sources of information. 

I don't advocate censorship in any way. Freedom of speech is important in a democracy. However unpalatable I find someone's views, I do believe they have a right to speak. I just don't want to listen to them without being able to counter the rubbish they spout. I want to be able to provide accurate information rather than knee jerk, emotional, reaction. So I use trusted sources.

More & more I am irritated by people telling me I can't say something. I'm happy to argue my point with anyone. I'm happy to disagree, hopefully amicably. But I will not be told what I can & can't say. Sometimes that is difficult with friends, acquaintances & family. It's a fine line to tread to put your point forward without causing offence or creating a situation with those close to you.

The one area I do now think that we need to be more careful about is publicity. I hadn't thought about it before, but there are people whose views & behaviour are so toxic that I think they shouldn't be named publicly. The reason is that naming them makes them a focus for the elements of society who think & behave like they do. I am beginning to think that this then creates cults & groups of like minded people, who then become more & more influential & powerful. 

The obvious example is Trump & the MAGA movement. There has been reliable research into who MAGA people are, which indicates that at least 60% are white, and a majority are male. Roughly half are retired or over 65. A significant portion lacks a college degree—particularly working-class conservatives. There are concentrations in the deep south, suburban & rural areas & major cities. Hardliners are deeply religious nationalists & populists who view politics as an existential battle between good & evil. There are also relatively well off, politically active, anti woke, conservatives who are against change.

 

For all of these people, Trump manipulates the publicity machine, particularly social media. Everything is a photo opportunity for Trump. Similarly for Putin & Netenyahu, who also manipulate the media & news. Despots use the oxygen of publicity to stay in power & subjugate their people through indoctrination. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_use_by_Donald_Trump  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_Social 

Narcissism flourishes on the oxygen of publicity. So I wonder if we shouldn't seriously consider not actually naming people who are known to lack a moral compass or who don't adhere to norms of behaviour or law. We can identify them by their role rather than their name. Let's consider not putting  photographs of them on news. 

This applies to criminals too. Lets focus on the victims of crime, not the criminals. Naming & shaming doesn't seem to have worked. Some very objectionable people thrive on it. So lets try another way. Cut off the oxygen of publicity & see what happens. Media attention just seems to sustain controversial figures & extremist groups. 

Packaging

I never know where a blog post will go when I write it. This may well turn into a rant.

I am so fed up with everyday packaging I can't open. Everything - tins, cardboard boxes, plastic film covered food containers, blister packs. I have a drawer in my kitchen with 2 gizmos to help me open tins & 4 to help open jars. There is nothing to help peel the film back from plastic food containers or to prize open cardboard packaging. The problem with both of those is the glue. It's too strong. So I end up jabbing at it with a sharp knife.

In all honesty I will admit that my hands are not as strong or flexible as they were. But I really can't believe that it is beyond the wit of man to use a glue which allows people to open the package. As for opening child proof medication - I had to ask someone to do it for me with one bottle. 

The problem seems to be that manufacturers design packaging to solve business problems like theft, damage & tampering, rather than ease of use. Heat sealed plastic edges & rigid cardboard are cheap & fast to run on automated machinery compared to user friendly designs. Products often have to survive long distance shipping. 

We all want to be sure that what we buy is tamper proof, especially food. So I do understand this from the industry point of view. But not all packaged food is impossible to open without a knife, some is relatively easy, so  glue that seals but doesn't frustrate must be available. Why isn't it universally used? 

There are several cook your own food from fresh companies now. I tried one that has 3 small packs of the flavouring / seasoning & you supply your own fresh ingredients. I thought the recipes were very good. But opening the seasoning packs was a nightmare. They are small & round & difficult to hold while tearing off the film lids. Impossible to open without a knife because the glue is really strong. Lethal. I love the fact that these companies encourage cooking with fresh ingredients, but I stopped my subscription because of the packaging.

Packs of cake with instructions to "open here" with a tiny tab, but the glue is so strong you can't. On the other hand cereal boxes that have the same thing but open easily. Getting into blister packs of toothbrush heads. It's all about the glue strength.

We have just accepted that assembly lines churning out heat sealed, plastic to plastic, is the optimum method of transporting & buying food. Well it isn't. I remember a time when most food was not packaged at all. I remember fruit & veg shops, butchers & fishmongers. I remember when biscuits were displayed loose in big tins & you took how many you wanted & put them in a paper bag. Broken biscuits were sold off cheaply, not included in the packaged ones as now. 

Why on earth is fruit & veg packaged at all? I don't need 4 apples or pears in a tray wrapped in plastic. I don't need potatoes in a plastic bag. All of this has happened insidiously over time perhaps because we no longer eat food we have produced locally, in season. The "convenience" is to fit in with an industry that we actually don't really need & which produces mountains of waste.

I won't buy grapes when they are transported from Peru or Africa. I only eat grapes when they are in season in Europe. I won't eat French beans when they have been transported for thousands of miles. They grow really well in the UK & are seasonal. I'm tired of fruit that has been deep frozen, travelled miles, looks perfect & goes off really quickly, or is rotten inside or uneatable because it is so hard.

We have been conned by the food industry.

   

Legislation, Monitoring & Enforcement

I am a touch embarrassed to admit that when I was a teacher & a headteacher I did threaten to punish a whole class if a perpetrator did not admit to wrongdoing. I probably did carry the threat out & withdrew privileges or kept a class in. 

Israel has retaliated against Hebron in the West Bank by laying siege to the city, forcing residents out of their homes & then demolishing them after Palestinian gunmen killed 2 Israeli soldiers. The aim, according to Smotrich Israel's finance minister, is to “create deterrence and exact a price”. In other words an "eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth" - the Law of Retaliation. 

You have to decide whether you think that is an acceptable response.

Without the rule of law we do not have a functioning society. Without a functioning society there is chaos. Law needs to be properly policed & monitored & perpetrators need to be punished or made to pay in some way. I think most reasonable & intelligent people would accept that is in their best interests.

In France demonstrators with genuine reasons to protest have been hijacked by extremists bent on disruption & anarchy. 70,000 police officers have been deployed to prevent further violence and looting. New GL-304 grenades were used against protesters, with at least two causing serious injuries, and two others involved in dangerous incidents. Is this acceptable enforcement against legitimate public protest? Or is it blanket law enforcement that isn't properly targeted against actual perpetrators?

You have to decide. 

It seems to me that there is no point in any legislation if it is not properly monitored. A good example is the UK water industry after privatisation. It can be argued that Ofwat was actually in collusion with the privatised companies. There is  widespread public, political, and academic criticism for regulatory failure, weak oversight, and allowing companies to engage in heavy debt-loading, massive dividend payouts, and environmental pollution. 

We need all three legal arms for a successfully operating society. I don't believe we have that in the UK or the wider world today & the "chickens are coming home to roost".

 

The Voice of Reason

Today, more than ever, we need to listen to "the voice of reason" - meaning we all need to act sensibly, logically & calmly in the chaotic, emotional & risky world we now all live in. We need to prioritise evidence, facts, and balanced judgement over panic, bias, or heated emotions. Each one of us needs to be prepared to speak out against the lies & rubbish that proliferates in the public realm today.

I listened to the news of the attack on the Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine in the West Bank. Video footage shows masked men beating and kicking the veteran conflict reporter, (she is 64),  as she lay on the ground. She said it went on for about 10 minutes. Settlers stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment. There were witnesses as well as video. So Netenyahu cannot get away with saying the facts were "unclear". She was clearly marked as Press & is in hospital with multiple injuries.

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in a coordinated movement to disrupt the annual olive harvest in 8 villages, burning cars and trees and injuring Palestinians. The sustained attack on Heidi Levine shows just how extreme these settlers are. It also shows that the IDF & Israel's right wing politicians are not enforcing the rule of law. Where is the "voice of reason" from those who govern Israel? The treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank & Gaza is beyond any concept of reasonable.

Settler violence, using firearms, clubs & slingshots, has been going on in the West Bank for months in full view of Israeli military vehicles. The Israeli military fired tear gas at Palestinians when they picked up rocks to try to defend themselves. At least four Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 others injured over the past month. Thousands of trees have been damaged. This has been designated as "ethnic cleansing" including by the UK government. Other journalists have been attacked too.  

Where is the "voice of reason" in all this? 

The 3 year Israeli Palestinian war started after the dreadful events of October 7th 2023. But in truth it has been on & off ever since the 1947 partition. It is difficult to understand how human beings on both sides can behave with such total disregard for the lives & freedom of others. We have international organisations, the United Nations for example, with 193 member states. They supposedly stand for maintaining international peace & security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid & promoting sustainable development. 

 

They have failed on all fronts time & again. While Countries like Russia, China & America have vetos the U N will never be able to be the "voice of reason" & fulfil their supposed aims. 

It is completely depressing. The bullies are winning. They need to be confronted. Reason will not prevail if we all stay quiet.

 

Water Security

A friend recently told me a little ditty - "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down." Flushing the loo is an automatic habit, so sometimes I don't remember. I also feel slightly embarrassed if someone else uses a loo & I haven't flushed. I'm sure they think I have finally lost the plot!

In the UK we all take clean, drinkable water for granted. 

In 1829 engineer James Simpson built the first slow sand filter for the Chelsea Waterworks Company, marking the first large-scale treated public water supply for an urban population. In 1854 Dr John Snow proved that cholera spread via contaminated water pumps & safer municipal water sources were introduced. Sir Joseph Bazalgette built the first sewer network in London between 1859 - 1875 because of the "Great Stink" of 1875. All helped to wipe out the Cholera epidemic. So the UK has an almost 200 year history of providing clean water.

Today we have water companies that have been polluting our rivers & seas with sewage for decades. Privatisation of the water companies means that money was diverted to investor profits & management bonuses for years - Not used to properly maintain & future proof the system. 

Today we are building vast data centres which need huge amounts of water because the physical servers that store, process & send out video files for streaming generate massive amounts of heat. Think about that every time you press "play" on a film or show. Entertaining you is in danger of seriously depleting a natural resource that is not infinite. 

In 2026 we had 5 prolonged periods of drought. Although it has now rained we are still in drought. We don't have enough reservoirs because the privatised water companies sold off dozens of them for housing & commercial development & didn't build new ones. The ones we have are way below capacity. 

10 water companies have not been able to supply customers with water on demand in 2026. Only 2 companies avoided implementing a hosepipe ban - Severn Trent & Bristol. South East Water & Thames Water had to temporarily open bottled water stations in 2026 following major supply disruptions & pipe bursts in 2026.

 It's a perfect storm.

Don't for one minute think that 2026 is simply an unusual, difficult, year. The water infrastructure isn't just creaking, it isn't fit for purpose & we can no longer rely on rainfall to top up supply. Demand is increasing & supply is reducing. Privatisation has largely destroyed the infrastructure & profiteering means that there isn't the will to right the wrongs of decades. Shareholders & salaries take precedence.    

No other country in the world has followed this model of full privatisation. Our politicians created this & we allowed them to do it. We now realise just how wrong we were. 

 

Transitional Communities - Housing the Homeless

For a few years I lived in Houndscroft, a hamlet outside Stroud. Stroud is a Transition Town, which means that it sets out to build local self-sufficiency, cut fossil fuel use, and adapt to economic & climate changes. I loved living there. It was possibly the best place I have ever lived in, but that isn't what this post is about.

This is about Transitional Housing & Communities. To clarify, that is short-to-medium-term, (usually a few months up to two years), structured, accommodation that acts as a bridge between crisis situations, emergency shelters, or institutional care and independent, permanent living. That doesn't mean only homeless individuals living on the street. It is for both individuals and families recovering from homelessness, economic hardship, addiction, incarceration, or mental health issues. Ideally it provides both a secure place to live, but also built-in support services like financial literacy, job training, mental health resources, and life-skills coaching. It is a whole package to turn people's lives around. It isn't emergency shelters—which only offer short-term, immediate relief.

The people needing this also need the tools and confidence to find independent, long-term housing. They  need plans tailored to each resident’s unique needs and circumstances. It needs a real commitment to change on the part of all participants. The need is driven by socio economic factors particularly affecting the vulnerable - Homelessness, Domestic Violence, Leaving Foster / Local Authority care at 18, Addiction & Prison. 

Statistically the largest group of individuals & households needing help are between 25 - 49. Below 25 it is categorised as youth homelessness. Whatever figure you find for homelessness will not be accurate because it's only the people who are registered in some way. The "hidden homeless" are many who sofa surf for example, or live with friends & family temporarily. 

Despite what those on the extreme right may want you to believe, charities and housing organisations state that homelessness is not a lifestyle choice, but the result of deep structural, financial, and personal crises. The key causes of homelessness are a severe lack of affordable and social housing, paired with rising private rents and frozen housing benefits, making private tenancies unsustainable for low-income households. Plus no-fault evictions, (Section 21 notices, which actually ended in May 2026), and the ending of private tenancies when landlords sell up.

We should all care about this issue because none of us are immune from the possibility that it could happen to us or someone we know. We should also care because we empathise & sympathise with people less able to cope, or who have problems we fortunately don't. 

 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do

https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/how-we-work/ 

 

 

 

Art Versus Science

Because I did Art/Architecture, Biology & English at A Level & didn't do Latin, I was told by my grammar school in 1963 I couldn't apply for University. It was a bit late to tell me because I was in my final year. Apparently universities didn't like mixed arts & sciences. Personally I think specialising too early is a mistake & a broad based education is better for the individual & society. So I did the next best thing & went to a college affiliated to London University which offered a 3 year degree equivalent course. These only came in in 1961, so it was quite new. The course specialised in art, music & drama as well as a comprehensive concentration on teaching. I am what I am today because of not going to university, so I am grateful.

The core education debate is "what is education for"? Should the driver be individual or societal? Should a child be allowed to pursue the subjects they like / are good at? Or, are the needs of society paramount, so they should be directed into areas society needs or lacks? You often hear the argument that some university courses are useless. Commonly criticised / low value degrees are - Creative Arts & Design (including Fine Art, Drama, and Fashion Design) - Performing Arts  (Music, Theatre Arts, and Dance - Mass Communications and Media Studies - Creative Writing and Film Studies). All of these so called "low value" degrees are arts. 

However in purely financial terms, the arts & culture sector generates approx 0.4 to 0.5% of the UK's GDP & the broader creative industries generate 5.5 to 5.7% of total economic value. The less quantifiable value of the arts is the benefit we all get from the various aspects of the arts & creativity. That can be in just looking & experiencing or in participating ourselves. I wonder if that even features in the figures I quoted. Think of all the art & craft materials & books sold to hobbyists.

I am a great believer in evidence, so science is important to me. More & more I feel that we need to be able to verify & challenge the information readily available to us from numerous sources, many questionable, if not totally unverified. We need scientists & empirically trained people to give us information we can trust. 

I suppose my argument is that in order to be the best that we each individually can be we need a broad based education for as long as possible. There is a heavy emphasis on STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) which has historically sidelined arts & humanities.  Proponents of prioritising sciences contend that focusing on STEM aligns with labour market demands in high-growth sectors, and technology-driven economic strategies.

When students choose narrower subject combinations, research has shown that the proportion of students mixing arts and sciences has sharply drops, with exclusive STEM tracks doubling. There have been persistent funding cuts for creative & performing arts & a shift in the Strategic Priorities grant redirecting it to high cost healthcare & technical subjects. Governments are actively manipulating students choice towards a societal one.

 

We all need both arts & sciences to flourish. Our children need & deserve a flexible, broad based, curriculum right through the education system, including tertiary. The broader our knowledge & experience the more flexible we will be. In a changing world that is really important.