The year 12 "merit" list

 has appeared in this morning's paper. I have no doubt that it does recognise the work of those students who appear on it.

Reading through the subject list however I am aware of how very, very different school is now. There are "subjects" on there which were unheard of when I was at school and even when my nephews and niece were at school. What on earth is "Activating Identities and Futures"? The explanation I found on the SACE website left me no wiser.  There is something called "Business Innovation" and "Digitial Communication Solutions" along with "Industry and Entrepeneurial   Solutions" and "Industry Connections A and B". There is "Integrated Learning A and B" and "Interdisciplinary Connections", "Material Solutions" and "Music Exploration", "Practical Connections", "Women's Studies" and "Workplace Practices". 

I can only suppose that all these subjects, unheard of even ten years ago, have some sort of academic content.

We had no such choices when I was at school, indeed no choice at all in rural schools. If you were in the "academic" stream you did English, Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography and either Sewing (girls) or Woodwork (boys). There was no chance to do language. I did Latin as an extra subject but I did it by "correspondence" from the "Correspondence School" and had to cease doing it at the end of what is now year 10 (fourth form in the UK). Being absolutely hopeless at Sewing I also ended up doing "Art" (which was mostly Art History for me) also by correspondence. In the big city high schools there was a little bit more choice. You could do Latin or German and French. You could also Biology or Physiology in the Leaving year if you were science inclined. A few boys did Ancient Greek.

The world was a very different place then but is it really so different now? Are these subjects with their modern sounding names really as academically rigorous?  

I have read a good many pieces of written work done by students in years eleven and twelve. There has been some good work, even very good work. Yes, some of the students have been working hard, even struggling. I cannot help them with mathematics apart from basic statistics. What they are being taught in English is very different  - as is the manner of teaching it. I do not pretend to understand. I look for other things in their written work. Often I do not find it at the level I believe the best of them are capable of reaching. It is not expected of them. At the same time they know far more about things I had never heard of so I must accept they may not have had time to learn the things I believe are still important. 

I make myself sit down and write this blog each morning because I believe I still need to do the daily exercise of putting thoughts on paper. When I tell the current teens about this they look at me in disbelief. Why would you write anything unless you absolutely had to do it?  Perhaps that is why some of those strange sounding subjects are so popular. You no longer need to be able to put your ideas on to paper. There are other ways to get your message across - or are there? 

"Giving" to charity

does not mean "dumping" on charity...but too many people seem to think it does.

In the long process of sorting and clearing this place there have been many trips to the local "op-shops" as they are known locally. "Op" or "opportunity" or "charity" or "goodwill" shops or however they are known are an essential part of our society.

They were almost unknown when I was a mere kitten. You had church jumble sales or some sort of exchange mechanism for children's clothing at the local school. There would be requests for furniture and bedding for the new migrants. I remember the Senior Cat and a Dutch migrant mending a bed in the driveway of our home at the time. It was then taken to another Dutch migrant couple who used it until the husband died some sixty years later. That is perhaps an excellent example of how "charity" should work at a personal level.

I used to take the young Whirlwind to one of the local charity shops. We bought clothes for her and she would spend some of her pocket money on the books she found. Later, she would go alone and find a new-to-her t-shirt or barely worn jeans. Just before they left on their summer holiday she would go in with her father and they would both buy more books to read as they enjoyed their quiet, almost solitary days at the beach. There would often be a charity shop of some sort in whatever place was nearby and they would leave the books they had read there or return them to the local charity shop.

I have taken books to charity shops and I have bought books from them, often to give someone in hospital or recovering in their own home. I would like to buy new books of course and know that the author is getting at least a few cents but at least this way someone somewhere will benefit. 

There are charities and their shops I will not use. I know too much about the way they operate. Genuine charities do not require your presence at a religious service in order to benefit from the help they offer. Their prices will be reasonable - if more expensive than they used to be. 

Our local charities also have to pay to have rubbish collected. They pay the same rate for that as everyone else. They pay the same rates as everyone else as well as for electricity and other essentials. Their volunteers are getting older and less reliable. You need to be reasonably fit to be on your feet most of the day and now you need to do things like attend "occupational health and safety" and "first aid" courses before you can turn up and be shown how to use the till. It all makes it more difficult to run such places.

And then there is the problem of "rubbish dumping". This is not merely taking things that are not suitable for sale but actual rubbish such as dirty nappies and blood stained clothing or things with rips and buttons missing.  I was throwing things out when someone suggested I give an old saucepan to the charity shop. It had not been used for years, not used because the handle was loose. We had tried to fix it more than once but it was not safe. Once or twice I had used when there had been an excess of apricots or other fruit but I knew to simply turn off the heat when the fruit was cooked and leave it until it was cool enough to handle safely. Other people would not know that. I put it in the pile of "scrap metal" Middle Cat took to the relevant business.  It was the right thing to do even though someone might desperately need a saucepan. 

It might be that nobody wants what I have been able to offer but I hope whatever I have given has been genuinely useful and fit for purpose.  

Going into politics

 is not something I have ever contemplated. Reading this morning's paper left me, yet again, in no doubt that this has been a wise move on my part.

Somewhere along the line Middle Cat read something about the current Leader of the Opposition in our Federal Parliament.  It was wrong, has been shown to be wrong and shown to be wrong more than once. For some reason Middle Cat still believes this man was thrown out of his previous role because of some sort drug related dealings. In actual fact he left the police force with an unblemished record having spent time working in, among other things, the drug squad. There is not the slightest suggestion he was guilty of any sort of wrongdoing. But, mud sticks. It will stick particularly well if you have any reason to dislike someone.

I neither like nor dislike the man. I have never met him. I am never likely to meet him. He represents an electorate in another state. Unless there is some sort of catastrophic event it is likely he will lead the party into the upcoming election. That election has to be held this year.

We are already in election mode. Announcements are being made. They may not be major policy announcements but we are being reminded of all those little "sweeteners" the government has been handing out. They are being handed out to disguise the increased cost of mortgages as interest rates have gone up rather than down. Even more than mortgage holders the government is hoping there will be a reduction in interest rates before the election. It will be a big gift to them if this occurs. They know that most people will not look further than the "point two five" figure. "It's gone down!" is all they will think about. The Reserve Bank is under huge pressure to do this for political rather than economic reasons.

And I know that, despite there being no evidence for the story, there will be people who continue to peddle the story of wrongdoing by the Leader of the Opposition. They may hedge it around with, "Questions have been raised..." and "There was a story..." and much more. Those who do that know full well that people will want to believe the worst of someone. We are talking about politicians aren't we?

I have known many politicians over the years. They have come from more than one side of politics. I have liked some better than others. There have been a few, a very few, I felt were doing something really valuable.  It is perhaps the nature of the job that most are not very effective.

For the first time in many years I will almost certainly go to the upcoming election without having had any contact with our local federal member. She has a very large and very well sign posted electoral office on a main road not far from here. I suppose I could prowl in and ask to see her but I am not sure why. She sends out the occasional glossy newsletter which has been carefully scrutinised by the Labor party machine but that is all. They changed the electoral boundaries before the last election and I am sure she and the party believe she has nothing to worry about. Several people I know have sought help from her but the results have not been satisfactory. I have seen the letters in response and they could have been written by any office lackey. I recognise the sort of thing they are. I have written more than a few such letters for members of parliament in my time.

It seems to me there is not much point in going into politics unless you are destined for the inner cabinet. It is just possible you can be more effective outside - where the rules do not apply.

$27,000 in fines?

There is a story going around at present that someone has managed to collect fines of $27,000 for using a mobile phone while driving. 

If the story is accurate then perhaps that person should be banned from driving for life? Why do they keep on doing it? Isn't the hit to the wallet enough to stop them? What conversation could possibly be so urgent that it cannot wait?

I would actually say this about most mobile phone conversations. Yes, those phones are "convenient". Yes, we can keep in touch with family, friends, work and more every day of the year. They supposedly help to keep people safe...perhaps.

It seems they also put people in danger. They put all of us in danger if someone is stupid and selfish enough to use the wretched thing while driving. 

I was out and about yesterday. I had a very pleasant hour with my cousin, his partner and Middle Cat. We sat outside a cafe under the shade and had various non-alcoholic beverages of our choice. As I pedalled home there was someone at the traffic lights. He was on his phone. He did not notice the lights had turned in his favour - something more than one person let him know. Rather than take the risk of crossing on the time left I waited for the next cycle in my favour.  It was irritating for me waiting at the pedestrian crossing but actually dangerous for the drivers around him. He actually went off still using his phone. The person standing next to me muttered, "Wish I could have got a photograph of that one. Where are the cops when you need them?"

Hopefully the idiot will get caught and fined before he causes and accident.

I am told it would be absolutely possible to make a phone which would not allow anyone to make or take a call when in a moving car. It might not stop idiots using their phones at lights but it might help. So, why don't they do it and enforce it? Are those conversations really that important? We managed without them in the past. Have things changed so much we can no longer be out of constant reach? It was a real relief when I overheard someone saying, "I am just going in to work to hand in my phone" and then, "No, the boss gets us to hand them in so nobody can contact us when we are on leave. I worked Christmas so I get real time off now."  I hope his boss does not contact him - but it sounds as if he might not unless there is a real emergency." Perhaps that is the way it should be all the time.