I'm Back Just About

Hello and welcome back. I have been occupied by things over the last few months and so haven't got round to writing things.

I wish I could write this feeling happy however things seem to be really low at the moment. I was on a project doing podcasts, which I at present cannot continue with plus there is the pressure of being put onto the government's Mandatory Work Programme.

I am fearful of being put onto a scheme which will not benefit me. This in fact reminds me of New Labour's Flexible New Deal. I remember being put onto a scheme administered by A4E who were the main provider of services. I remember at one stage having to sneak into a toilet to use my mobile to find out about any vacancies as the phones did not work in the centre I was in

Although I eventually got work it was through my boss who secured grant funding for my position nothing to do with A4E.

At time of writing it is nearly 3 and a half years since I was made redundant and although I have undertaken some placements in my time I am still frustrated that nothing has come. The way things are going at the moment mean that I will end up in a mental home before I get a job.

This is why I feel the governments attempts at getting people back to work are not being administered properly.  OK target those who have made no effort whatsoever but why penalise the middle group like myself who would be willing to get up at 7 o clock in the morning.

Unsurprisingly The Big Society idea which was mooted hasn't exactly done what was promised. How many third sector organisations are suffering due to government cuts. It has been reported that those in this sector who applied to take on the work programme have been left disappointed. The National Audit Office has apparently said that the numbers getting back to work in the first  5 and a half months or so are only 26% compared to the 46% target.

Of course why would Ian Duncan Smith or Chris Grayling want to listen to the views of those who are struggling to find suitable work conditions, I get the feeling that its all a numbers game and that the poor and vulnerable are being made to pay for the mistakes of others.

I hope my next post will be more cheerful but frankly at the moment I don't see it.

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Premiership Review Week 3

OK week three of the premiership and lets start with the midlands derby Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa a lunchtime kick off with a few chances of note although Wolves started brightly Stephen Hunt forcing a save from Aston Villa keeper Shay Given and Emille Heskey flicking a shot. Although Villa had the better of the second half Wolves will probably leave the happier.

Wigan Athletic took on Queens Park Rangers in another lunchtime kick off with Franco Di Santo scoring both goals the first before half time which was scored from a pass from Victor Moses and then a second into the top of the net which had been volleyed right into the net.

Chelsea were given a workout by Norwich City Jose Bosingwa scoring in the first half from 25 yards out. However Norwich City scored in the second half through Grant Holt captilising on a blunder by Hilario. A penalty by Frank Lampard made it 2-1 after a foul on Raul Ramires which saw Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy sent off. A third goal was scored by new signing Jose Mata.

Blackburn Rovers went down by a goal  after missing two penalties. A controversial penalty was awarded to Everton and scored by Mikel Arteta which was to be last goal for Everton as he has now signed for Arsenal.

Swansea City and Sunderland had a goalless draw with Scott Sinclair having the best chance for Swansea John O Shea also had a chance for Sunderland with a header and Michel Worm piled on a number of saves from Asamoah Gyan.

Liverpool had a 3- 1 win over Bolton Wanderers with Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam scoring their first goals. Defender Martin Skertel scored Liverpool's third.  Bolton's goal came from Ivan Klasnic.

Sunday saw the remaining fixtures with Fulham going down 2- 1 to Newcastle United. A largely forgettable first half saw a 0-0 draw. In the second half  2 Leon Best goals gave the victory. Fulham's goal came from Clint Dempsey from a Danny Murphy free kick.

Stoke City grabbed all three points in forgettable game against West Bomwich Albion which saw a few chances with Shane Long giving West Brom the best Chance. Ryan Shotton grabbed the goal for Stoke City three minutes before time.

Manchester City showed their intent to gain the Premiership by wain Walloping Tottenham Hotspur 5- 1 Edwin Dzeko grabbed four of the goals two in the first half  with Sergo Aguero grabbed the other goal Younes Kaboul headed a goal for Tottenham Hotspur but to no avail.

In one the biggest scores in Premiership history Arsenal went down 8 - 2 to Manchester United In truth the game was a  it of both Manchester United powerful and Arsenal all over the place Wayne Rooney grabbed a hatrick along with the opener from Danny Welbeck then Ashley Young. Nani and Park Ji Sung the other scorers. The two Arsenal goals came from Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie. Arsenal also missed a penalty in the first half to add t their woes as well.

Premiership Review Week 2

Apologies for the late post

OK week 2 Saturday started with the North East or  derby between Newcastle United and Sunderland. Although Sunderland had most of the possession it was Newcastle United who would end up the victors with a 1-0 win thanks to a free kick by Richard Taylor in the 62nd minute. Arsenal's poor start continued as they went down 2-0 to Liverpool at the Emirates stadium. Wojcich Szczesny was forced into an Andy Caroll save in the first half and despite a few chances it was Liverpool with an own goal by Arron Ramsey and Luiz Suarez latching on a calamitous defence  to take the  points. Also new player Emmanuel Frimpong was sent off Arsenal already with two red cars this season. Aston Villla managed a 3 -1 over Blackburn Rovers with goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor,Emille Hesky and Darren Bent. Morten Gamst Pedersen scored for Blackburn Rovers. Queens Park Rangers got their first victory in the Premiership the first since the 1995/96 season with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park Tommy Smith shooting the ball into the corner of the net in the 33rd minute. Despite a few chances including a header from Tim Cahill hitting the bar in the first half it was a frustrating afternoon for Everton. Swansea City grabbed their first point at home in the premiership with a win over Wigan Athletic. A penalty save from Michel Vorm who saved from Ben Watson secured the point. The evening match saw a 2 - 1 win for Chelsea over West Bromwich Albion but it was West Brom. who would score first with a goal from Shane Long. However Chelsea upped gears in the second half and goals from Nicholas Anelka and Florent Malouda secured the win.

Sunday saw 3 games first Norwich City agonisingly missed out on 3 points as Stoke City grabbed a late equaliser Norwich had gone in front from Ritchie Da Laet in the 37th minute before Kenwyne Jones' goal in the 92nd minute. Wolverhampton Wanderers managed a 2- 0 win over Fulham with goals from Kevin Doyle and Matthew Jarvis.
Manchester City managed a 3-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers it was Manchester City who scored 2 goals first from Silva and Gareth Barry  before Ivan Klasnic replied for Bolton  Edwin Dzeko made it 3-1 on 47 minutes before Kevin Davies pulled a goal back on 63 minutes.

Monday night saw a 3- 0 win for Manchester United over Tottenham Hotspu.r TottenhamHotspur held Manchester United in the first half but goals from young England player Danny Welbeck plus an Anderson goal from a Tom Cleverly flick and a Wayne Rooney header gave Manchester United victory.

Premiership Review Week 1

Hopefully I'll remember to do this each week. At least something else to talk about after all this is an experiment.

Well what a baptism of fire for QPR a 4-0 defeat by Bolton Wanderers and a bizarre second goal which was deflected by Daniel Gabbidon  not helping matters, other goals were scored by Gary Cahill, Ivan Klasnic and Fabrice Muamba QPR did score but it was disallowed.  Plus a sending off  for Clint Hill before the games conclusion Elsewhere Norwich City fared better against Wigan Athletic with a 1-1 draw a Ben Watson penalty followed by a Wes Hoolihan goal just before half time sealing matters.  Aston Villa and Fulham could only manage a draw at Craven Cottage Marc Albrighton and Stilliyan Petrov amongst the better chances for Aston Villa, Damien Duff  Dickson Ethu  and Clint Dempsey with some of the chances for Fulham.

Liverpool managed to throw away a chance of victory at Anfield a missed penalty by Luis Suarez didn't help although he did make up for things by latching on to assist to make it 1 -0. However Sebastian Larsson equalised in the second half.  Two of last seasons struggler's Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers met at Ewood Park a 2 -1 win for Wolves. Goals from Formica for Blackburn Rovers and Fletcher and Ward for Wolves.

Newcastle United and Arsenal could only muster a point A point gained for Newcastle United you would feel given the struggles for Arsenal not helped by the loss of Cesc Fabrigas to FC Barcelona and Samir Nasri's future in doubt. Also the main talking point being new signing Gervinho who Joey Barton had felt slapped him  after claims that Gervinho had gone down for a dive to claim a penalty and the conduct that Joey Barton in which the situation developed. There was also a claim by Barton for a foul by Alex Song earlier in the match.

Sunday saw what would be seen as a great result for Stoke City as they drew with Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium A  game with few chances saw Fernando Tores being Chelsea's best player There was also an appearance for Jonathan Woodgate who has come over various career threatening injury's.

Champions Manchester United manged a win over West Bomwich Albion at the Hawthons with Goals from Wayne Rooney an equaliser by Shane Long capitlising on new signing  David de Geas mistake in the first half before Ashley Young shot and the ball deflected off Steven Reid.

Monday night saw Swansea City making there Premiership debut as they took on Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. Swansea city gave a good account of themselves in the first half but the second half Manchester City upped the gears and the introduction  of Sergio Aguero who scored two goals along with Edwin Dzeko  and David Silva gave Manchester City into a 4 - 0 win.

Sadly Tottenham Hotspur against Everton had to be postponed owing to last weeks rioting. 

Where is this country going 2?

Given how angry I feel about the way things have gone I feel compelled to write a second part to this post.

The supposed mayor of London has finally arrived and unsurprisingly talking to the local residents in Croydon was out of his depth all I seem to remember is Boris and his broom.  I suppose David Cameron had to say something outside Downing Street but lets get real  how is there going to be proper justice done when the prisons are full and the root cause is not being addressed.

I hear rightful condemnation of this scum, but I also ask what is being done to prevent this developing further. Has it not been obvious for some time with the constant stabbings and shootings that have taken place that there are underlying issues.

I also wonder what the point is of having community forums when residents and citizens views don't seem to be taken account. In fact it seems like this is becoming a tick box exercise.

Have many of these policy makers or influential people ever had a chance to visit these deprived areas and have they bothered to listen to these residents properly instead of  pretending to listen and then ignoring the views.. There have been more mindless attacks in Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool and even in other towns including Cheltenham for goodness sake.

I along with many law abiding residents young and old all races are fed up with having our shops and services being denied to us because these scum have taken advantage of a vacum which has been left by a government which talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. All I have ever seen or heard from successive governments are sticking plaster solutions including ASBO's what the heck were they all about.

What also gets me is why senior bankers or politicians seem to get away or get light prison sentences for what I see is theft of ordinary tax papers money but yet if the ordinary public was to do the same they would get severe sentences.

Yesterday where I live in London there were shops and services closing at 6 p.m. because of advice to be careful. I ask what sort of country has been allowed to develop.

My heart goes out to the residents and small business owners who have lost everything because of moronic scum who have dumped on the doorstep. 

Apologies if this blog has gone in different directions but I am extremely angry that this ticking time bomb was allowed to explode.

Where is this country going?

Well what happy times this country is in not. After the events of the past few days in London of feckless youngsters who probably wouldn't know what manners or indeed the person who has been shot it brings into focus the idea of the supposed "Big Society"

Now as far as I understand the "Big Society" was supposed to be a government initiative to encourage others in communities to help others.

The will is there to help but where are the resources. Already a centre in North London  known as South Hampstead Life Long Learning where I presently help members of the community does not know if it will be able to carry on when it resumes in September after the summer term. due to the local borough Camden making huge cuts to services.

Before that I actually worked in a Community Centre in West Hampstead where again I helped people with computer lessons, assisting those who had never had experience of using computers, I also did general administrative duties as well.

The social cohesion that was created by running these courses cannot be measured. In fact far more was done to engage these communities then the claptrap that this present government witters on about.  services
There are other schemes from around the UK which have also done similar initiatives ranging from doing simple computer programs such as Microsoft Word or being able to use to World Wide Web to access areas such as benefits advice or looking for social housing or even being able to use e-mail to contact relatives.

But how are communities meant to be providing these schemes when libraries and voluntary groups in the third sector are facing cuts. Premises that could be used to provide services are left unused as discretionary rate relief and peppercorn rents are effectively  done away with, crippling. these communities. 

I wonder if we have gone back to the 1980's although too young to remember the events of Brixton, Toxteth or St. Pauls to mention just a few areas effected by rioting I can remember bits of what I saw as a youngster.

Whilst the events of the weekend have been caused by yobbos with no manners I feel that this has been a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. I ask what can be done to reform these  ...... well you decide what to call them. It is all very well to rightly criticize them but there must be a way of reforming them seeming as the old methods cannot be used, mind I am not sure that those methods would work.

By the way I wonder if it was worth Boris Johnson coming back or indeed Nick Clegg visiting Tottenham, still just a thought.

Welcome to the "Big Society" every one and given the way things are going this is great for the UK isn't it, God help us all.  Still what do you expect from spin doctors and some politicians chasing votes thinking that there more important than other ordinary folk.

Mind on a positive note at least the people in the communities affected are getting together to clear things up people who have far more initiative then these supposed leaders of the UK.