Anyone for some Jack O’Lantern Soup?

Jack-O-Lantern

It’s that time of year again… Another day when elderly and frail people up and down the land are sitting in trepidation, fearful of the onset of darkness as the day draws to an early close. But on this occasion, despite the lengthening of the evenings, (unusually) it’s nothing to do with a fear of alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, although that may well play it’s part. No, tonight the less robust in our society, never mind the rest of us, are to be descended upon by hoards of menacing kids.

Many a portcullis of our humble domestic castles right across the land will be subjected to incessant hammering, that or at the very least, some constant and heavy leaning upon the bell push. But all to what avail as we answer this call of undoubted urgency? As we throw wide open our welcoming gates, it is difficult to predict what we will be confronted with, despite some hopeful expectations.

On Trick-or-treat night we can be met with anything… From the cute little child (accompanied by Mommy) dressed in (often expensive) carefully thought out appropriate seasonal attire of the day. A shy child sporting a happy smile whilst almost singing “Trick-or-Treat” in a squeaky trill but friendly innocent voice. And all with the best (mainly American) traditions of the custom in mind.

Trick-or-treating: a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the question “Trick or treat?”. The “trick” is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In North America, trick or treat has been a customary Halloween tradition since at least the late 1950s… (Wikipedia.org)

At the opposite extreme we are met with a group of two or three feckless spotty thugs dressed in bin liners, always assuming they’ve actually bothered to venture anywhere near the spirit of the event. They may grunt the required words but when challenged on the meaning they smugly answer; ”gi us sum stuff mate or we’ll mash y’ur motor!”

Before the 1980s, the phrase “trick-or-treat” was little known in the United Kingdom… Since the 80s usage of the phrase has become more widespread, but is often viewed as an exotic and unwelcome commercialised import, with the BBC referring to it as “the Japanese knotweed of festivals” and “Making demands with menaces”. Very often, the phrase “trick-or-treat” is simply said and the revellers offered sweets, with the choice of a trick or a treat having been largely discarded…(Wikipedia.org)

It’s hardly any wonder that according to the findings of a recent UK survey; ”around a fifth of people are in favour of a ban on trick or treating” this year (The Press Association). Having said that, I suspect the suggested link between the riots of last August and Trick-or-Treat, as mentioned in the survey is to say the very least, somewhat tenuous!

Suffice it to say, my particular gourd won’t be carved into some ornate grotesque source of light… Anyone for a warming bowl of spicey roasted pumpkin soup?

Related articles

• What I Know About Halloween and What it Means to Me (gwendolynndedanaan.wordpress.com)
• Trick or Treat, Sick or Sweet? (4mothers1blog.wordpress.com)
• 13 Things You Might Not Know About Halloween (ladypunch1.wordpress.com)
• Halloween…Trick or Treat?? (virtualdivadiary.wordpress.com)

Our Social Scrap Heap Challenge!

Image via Flickr

The older one gets, especially when you’ve taken any notice of the issues around you (outside of your own self-interested microcosm that is), and posses some reasonable grasp upon history the more you notice; many of the social and financial problems we endure today are born out of the way in which we attempt to manage them. You see very little is truly new or innovative, despite what the go-getter Dilberts would have you believe.

We spend our time trying to reinvent the wheel, think of some fancy title for that ‘new’ wheel, then dress it up with some clever marketing. Media and PR campaigns abound to hail our ‘strategic visions’ or ’proactive initiatives’ across all business sectors, public and private.

We may well be ‘excited about working with new partners’ and it will be better this time because ‘lessons have been learned’ but in reality, most of this tosh is simply hot air and fancy hype for the same ol’ same ol’ business as usual. The only difference is that this time around; leaders and managers are attempting to turn their particular ’new’ wheel faster with less force, with little cognisance or application of all those previous lessons!

We need some financial Untouchables: The central irony of financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, too much borrowing and lending and too much spending, it can only be resolved with more confidence, more borrowing and lending, and more spending…This circularity is clearly barking. (Read more)

Our current financial climate is obviously having profoundly negative impacts upon society but is this the continued turn of another wheel? Earlier this year John Gray, a British philosopher notable for being one of the only public intellectuals to anticipate the economic collapse of 2008, told The Big Think that “boom times are deceptive because history is cyclical.”

Is History Cyclical? – History has never been steadily cumulative or if it has, it has been for periods or 5 or 10 or 15 or at most 20 years, and then some kind of great punctuation occurs and a lot of the wealth you thought you had vanishes up in smoke before your eyes…(Read more)

Which brings me nicely to that other great cyclic catastrophe – our Criminal Justice System. Although not the prefered blog brew of many, particularly those whose failures are being exposed ad torn apart, the author of the Police Inspector Blog usually has an informed and descriptive explanation on the failings.

Metal Theft – the real story SHOCK! …This is usually how it goes; guilty plea, defendant in a borrowed suit looking all contrite with a new haircut and an even newer story about disabled mothers, sick children and drug dependency. A community sentence, or such a small sentence that by the time ‘time spent on remand’ and all the various discounts are applied it’s no time at all. The defendant will be out within a few months and back to stealing metal again…(Read more)

We need some serious and real ’new’ thinking… Without all the usual self-interest, self-importance and self-promotion that usually accompanies current political and business leadership. If it doesn’t materialise soon, many of us are destined for the social scrap heap of life!

Related articles

• Is History Cyclical? (bigthink.com)

The problems with Domestic Violence?

Image via Wikipedia

As October draws to a close and yet another month of (promoted) ’awareness’ comes to an end, are we really any further down the line of eradicating domestic violence?

One incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute and on average, 2 women per week are killed by a current or former male partner. You may also be aware that ”1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime” (source womensaid.org.uk) but how often do you hear; ”about 2 in 5 of all domestic victims are men” (guardian.co.uk)? If nothing else, the latter statistic should help to contradict the widespread and common misconception that; it’s always women who are the battered and bruised victims of domestic violence…

As abhorrent as all these crimes undoubtedly are, domestic violence is not a new phenomenon. I have no desire to belittle the issue however; despite the fact our society appears to be getting more violent and there is a need to remedy the problem, perhaps the picture isn’t actually as it’s painted? In my opinion, although based upon mostly anecdotal evidence, it’s possible that domestic violence is no bigger an issue than it has always been? We just know more about it now than we have in the past. It is more widely recorded by police, reported in the press and talked about by the public in general conversation. In short, domestic violence is no longer the clandestine and mostly secret act it once was.

That has to be a good thing however; we must always be mindful that much of the ‘talk’ is by people who have little or no experience or knowledge about the issue. In addition, statistics are often published in a particular manner and then manipulated to highlight and evidence particular issues or simply, further the prominence (and funding) of a group or organisation. And all this before we even start to consider any political agenda of the situation.

October is/was Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so it’s hardly surprising the media were quick to join the fray and fly their flag of (mostly) emotive and sensational hype. The government is now talking about the issues (but probably doing little else, unless there’s some political mileage to be gained of course). I suppose as they’ve actually offered up the Domestic violence disclosure scheme for consultation, where people could gain information about a new partner’s domestic violence history (see here), we should see that as progress.

Whilst on the subject of media input to the subject; have you ever noticed how, in this supposed age of multi-agency ‘partnership’ working, it’s often the police who appear to carry much of the blame when something goes wrong? The more sickening the circumstances, the greater media fuelled public condemnation of the police when things go wrong. Are the police the only ones responsible or simply, the easiest ones to attack?

Nottinghamshire Police has been criticised for its handling of domestic abuse cases after the murder of a woman by her former partner…(bbc.co.uk)

I neither condone nor wish to protect any individual lacking in their responsibility and duty of care however; given the number of agencies and people involved in trying to resolve any case of domestic violence, is it fair to continually single out the police as a scapegoat for failures? How long are we expected to soak up the ‘woman ignored by police dies at hands of partner’ headlines, get angry for a moment, then do little else?

I want people not to be ashamed about talking about domestic violence if it is happening to them, and not to be silent when they fear it may be happening to a person about whom they care. This is our chance to change the culture in which violence is accepted and I want to hear the male voice right alongside those of good women and children. (Baroness Scotland QC, Attorney General – March 2010)

Something in the region of 100 women (AND some men) are killed each year by an abusive partner. The domestic violence charity Refuge puts this down to ‘an institutional failure by police’ to take the crime seriously enough. “Unlike other crimes, domestic violence is predictable and preventable,” said Sandra Horley, the chief executive of Refuge.

Despite several government reviews, a report two years ago by the Association of Chief Police Officers and repeated inquiries by the IPCC into failures by forces across the country, the number of cases in which women are killed following repeated contact with police about domestic violence shows no sign of falling… (guardian.co.uk)

Back to ‘blame the police’ again and then quickly move on, but why? If the problem of domestic violence is indeed “predictable and preventable” why aren’t we doing just that? As with most social issues, irrespective of the rights and wrongs or the ‘victims’ involved, the reasons for failure are often simply ones of a financial and/or political nature… Is the issue important enough and if so, assuming we can find the funds, can we justify the expenditure politically?

In short people (of both genders) are still being severely injured and/or killed each year… The actual number is probably no greater than it was before… Previously one of the main causation factors was a drunken husband coming home and bashing his wife but today, the total number is now also (partly) the result of financial competition within statutory agencies and voluntary organisations, along with all the political considerations!

Related articles

• Looking At the Bigger Picture (timesunion.com)
• Father of woman murdered by ex-boyfriend calls for ‘Sarah’s Law’ for domestic violence victims (menmedia.co.uk)