The River Thames: beautiful, dirty and modest

Before 1750, the Thames was the capital’s main thoroughfare. At that time London was ‘a river city’ like Venice. The bustle of the town was talking place on the Thames. Besides entertainment, the river was a host for ships heading for London’s huge trading port.
After the Industrial Revolution, all this changed and the former beautiful river turned into a giant sewer, caused by the flush lavatory which led its cargo straight into the Thames.
Today the river is a quiet place in the capital, but if it is up to mayor Boris Johnson it will be restored to its old grandeur..

The picture of all these people in the 18^th century, enjoying themselves on the river, resembles to the current image of the
jolly-boats that one can see on a sunny day in the canals of Amsterdam. Thinking of it, the words sun, (clean!) water, boats and people fit rather well together, although this is not entirely true because these words could also refer to a dark scenario of war. I suppose ‘freedom’ should be added to these words to keep it nice and peaceful. I hope Mayor Johnson will shortly launch his plan to revive the river again....so, I can experience it while doing my stay abroad next year.

Diamond Jubilee: The remarkable tale of the River Thames / 28 May 2012 / BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18185000

Why Do We Take Puppy Classes? And not...

The British government intends to launch a programme for advising and guiding all (young) parents through parenthood. Up to now, only parents of young criminals were given parenting classes. Convincing all parents of the importance of learning to become a good parent will demand a cultural change. In order to have a capacity for all parents, the government will take measures to encourage a vast number of commercial businesses to step in to the counselling market for good parenting. There is strong evidence that helping parents at an early stage in building strong and stable relationships with their offspring will improve the chances in life of the children.

I think it is a good thing to encourage parents to get their selves prepared for guiding their kids through life. In most cases, I think it is no longer sufficient to rely on intuition to raise children. Society is complex and demands a lot of different parenting skills to guide kids through childhood. Actually, it is quiet odd, after getting a dog many people are attending puppy classes and yet, expecting and raising a child is still considered to be done without any help.  While raising my own kids, I also sought help at some occasions and I experienced this to be very helpful.  Of course it should always be on a voluntary basis!

Creating the super-nanny state / BBC News 18 May 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18115921

Teaching Thrown on the Market?

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, wants to change the national pay rate system for teachers into a locally negotiable salary scale. He states, that depending on the employability in different regions, teacher pay rates should vary.  His plan could lead to abolishing national salary scales for teachers and implementing a system of local pay rates for teachers. If it is up to the Education Secretary, a region with low vacancy rates would then offer lower payment to their teachers than regions which are short-staffed.  The biggest teaching unions strongly oppose to this plan and have threatened to go on strike.

I think it is ridiculous to submit teaching to the law of supply and demand as if it were a commercial process.  Education is a basic right for all children and the Government must facilitate this right towards its citizens.  Teachers are a vital link for education and therefore the Department for Education should reward them as public servants, meaning equal pay rates in every part of the UK.
Moreover, teaching is the same in the East, the West or the Middle of the UK, and as a consequence there is no reason whatsoever to assume that teachers should be paid less in either of the regions.

Teachers in regions may be paid less / The Independent / 17 May 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teachers-in-regions-may-be-paid-less-7758135.html

Why More Booze Problems in the North East?

Young people, from the North East of England, are twice as much treated for drink problems than in other parts of the country. Figures of a recent study by Balance, a health campaign group, show that 118 of every 100,000 under-18s have serious booze problems. According to experts there is too much alcohol advertisement and alcohol is too easy to get for youngsters. High strength alcohol is easily affordable with pocket-money and moreover available in too many places.  The government lacks a clear strategy on diminishing or banning marketing and advertisement on alcohol.

The figures on booze problems for young people are alarming. I do think it is a good thing that The Sun reports on the figures of drink problems but I find it a pity that the article lacks explaining the origin of the substantial difference in figures between the North East of England and the rest of the country. Is it caused by social differences, or as a reader states, just because many young people visit the North East for holidays?
The past decade, manufacturers of alcohol have introduced alcohol drinks which are sweet, colourful and easy to drink, aiming deliberately at a young audience. I would like manufacturers of alcohol to take up a bit more of their social responsibility and stop targeting the young people.

Youngsters in North East more likely to have booze problems. Findings of alcohol study.http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4300987/Youngsters-in-North-East-more-likely-to-have-booze-problems.html

Less Medical Treatment for Smokers and Obese?

According to a survey, done by Doctors.net.uk, a professional networking site, 54% of doctors is in favour of denying non-emergency treatment to patients because of their smoking habits or obese.  Already 25 of 91 primary care trusts (PCTs) are applying treatment bans. Bedfordshire PCT, for example, does not perform a knee or hip surgery on obese patients unless they are willing to lose 10% of their weight.  Senior doctors and patient groups have protested strongly against the ‘lifestyle rationing’ and describe the measures as a denial of human rights towards patients.

A society should not mix up medical care with lifestyle judgment.  What will be next?  ‘Dear patient, how many minutes do you spend on physical activities per day?’ Medical care must be available for anyone, disregarding food or smoking habits, or any other habit. Of course, it is true that the smokers and the obese have increased risks to health problems, but this issue should be addressed by good advice and education and not by withholding medical treatment.  In the case of overweight, however, it can be reasonable to advice patients to lose weight before getting surgery, because operating a fat person is too risky. Finally, I think it is up to the patient to decide whether he wants to take the risk or not.

Doctors back denial of treatment for smokers and the obese / The Guardian 29 April 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/28/doctors-treatment-denial-smokers-obese?INTCMP=SRCH