The scandal that is the WCA
January 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Nine months ago, I did a posting about how I had accompanied a good friend of mine with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to an interview as part of a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) because he had applied for the new Employment & Support Allowance (ESA). He was refused the ESA, he appealed, and he has now been called for an appeal hearing. Today I posted a statement of support which I hope will help him to win his appeal.
Ironically, this morning the “Guardian” newspaper devoted a whole page to a feature on how poor the WCA assessments have been. Citizens Advice found that, in a sample of 37 cases, 43% revealed serious levels of inaccuracy. Meanwhile 39% of appeals are being found in the claimant’s favour.
Then, this evening, the House of Lords defeated the Government three times on its proposals to tighten up further eligibility for the ESA allowance as explained here.
The deficit in the Government’s finances has to be cut – but not at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society when they most need a measure of support.
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
How to think critically
January 11th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The United States Naval War College at Newport, Rhode island has just approached me for copyright permission to reproduce my web site advice on “How To Think Critically”. Of course, I was happy to agree.
If it’s good enough advice for the US military, you might want to check it out here.
Posted in American current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
The day I ‘found’ £328,000
January 10th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In today’s G2 supplement in the “Guardian”, there is an article about how journalist Leo Benedictus found that £250,000 was accidentally paid into his bank account. I can beat that. I once received a bank statement that included two payments into my account that were totally unknown to me: one for £3,246.10 and the other for £324,610.00 making a total of £327,856.10.
Now Leo Benedictus discovered his windfall when he checked his online account. My experience preceded the arrival of the Internet (I know that younger readers will find it hard to believe that there once was a time when there was no Net) and the amazing news was delivered in a printed statement through the mail (younger readers may like to know that we once had personal items of mail delivered twice a day) from my then bank Barclays (I withdrew from Barclays in protest at its investment in apartheid South Africa).
So when did this happen? It was on 21 November 1980. Two points are relevant about the date. First, although it was over three decades ago, I thought the experience was so bizarre that to this day I have kept that particular bank statement and I revisited it today for this blog posting. Second, I reckon that inflation over the past 31 years would take the mistaken payment to me to a value in today’s terms of over half a million pounds which would be double the payment to our “Guardian” correspondent.
What did I do about the overpayment? Either I skipped the country and led a life of luxury on the Costa del Sol or I immediately telephoned my bank and arranged repayment. You guess which one.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
An up-date on baby Catrin
January 9th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Until today, I hadn’t seen my granddaughter Catrin for a month because she was away in Canada with her parents celebrating Christmas with her mom’s relatives in Montreal. She saw her first snow and experienced temperatures as low as – 17C.
When I collected her from nursery this afternoon, I found that, even in four weeks, she has grown, she is even more mobile, and she continues to be more vocal. She is an absolute joy.
She will be one year old next week.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Would you bungee off a bridge?
January 9th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
No – neither would I. But my wife Vee would and has.
I was reminded of this by the amazing news that a bungee jumper at the Batoka Gorge at Victoria Falls experienced a break in her line and fell into a crocodile-infested river with her feet still strapped up. You can view the video of the jump here.
Vee and I have been to Victoria Falls, walked across that bridge, and seen that bungee operation. She did not take the jump there because a week before she had done one in South Africa. This was from the Bloukrans River Bridge which presents a jump twice as high as the one at Victoria Falls: 216 metres (708 feet) – compared to ‘only’ 111 metres (364 feet) – which makes it the highest bungee jump in the world.
Crazy, eh? You can read my account of her jump and see a couple of photos here.
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
Word of the day: reduplication
January 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This is the technique of taking a word and saying it twice in quick succession but changing one of the vowels or consonants in the process.
Among the many examples in English are: dilly-dally, zig-zag, pitter-patter, criss-cross, helter-skelter, hurly-burly, happy-clappy.
And what leads me to mention this? I’m currently reading a fascinating book – one of the six I received for Christmas – entitled “The Story Of English In 100 Words” by David Crystal. One of his chosen words is an example of reduplication.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How democratic is your country?
January 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In its annual review of the state of democracy in the world, the Economist Intelligence Unit finds a mere 25 countries to be “fully democratic” with the UK coming in 18th and the USA at 19th.
The compilers of the survey comment:
“In 2011 there has been little change at the top of the rankings, which unsurprisingly are dominated by Scandinavian countries and other affluent liberal democracies such as New Zealand and Canada.
Equally, the countries bringing up the very bottom of the list—that is, those we consider to be the world’s most repressive and authoritarian regimes—still include the usual suspects. North Korea is bottom, in 167th position, with Chad, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan just above it.
But the 2011 index also sees significant changes, both for better and for worse. The biggest gainer is Tunisia, which not only initiated the Arab Spring but which has had the most success so far in translating revolution into democratic progress.”
You can see the full list here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)
How democratic is Hungary now?
January 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In a recent article for the “New York Times”, Kim Lane Scheppele explained:
“In a free and fair election last spring in Hungary, the center-right political party, Fidesz, got 53% of the vote. This translated into 68% of the seats in the parliament under Hungary’s current disproportionate election law. With this supermajority, Fidesz won the power to change the constitution. They have used this power in the most extreme way at every turn, amending the constitution ten times in their first year in office and then enacting a wholly new constitution that will take effect on January 1, 2012. This constitutional activity has transformed the legal landscape to remove checks on the power of the government and put virtually all power into the hands of the current governing party for the foreseeable future.”
He emphasised:
“Under the new constitutional order, the judiciary has taken the largest hit. The Constitutional Court, which once had the responsibility to review nearly all laws for constitutionality, has been killed off in three ways. First, the government expanded the number of judges on the bench and filled the new positions with their own political allies (think: Roosevelt’s court-packing plan). Then, the government restricted the jurisdiction of the court so that it can no longer review any law that has an impact on the budget, like laws pertaining to taxes and austerity programs, unless the law infringes particular listed rights. Finally, the government changed the rules of access to the court so that it will no longer be easily able to review laws in the abstract for their compliance with the constitution. Moreover, individuals can no longer challenge the constitutionality of laws without first going through a lengthy process in the ordinary courts. The old Constitutional Court, which has served as the major check on governmental power in a unicameral parliamentary system, is now functionally dead.”
The Hungarian Fidesz party is led by the controversial Viktor Orbán whom the “Guardian” today profiles here.
I am saddened by these developments, not just as a democrat but because I have visited Hungary three times since the fall of Communism and had reasonable hopes for its development until the arrival of the present government.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What makes you happy?
January 6th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Today the “Mirror” newspaper quotes the result of a survey by PruHealth on what makes people happy. Top of the list is: spending time with family. You can check out the top ten activities here.
All the factors highlighted are obvious, but no less important for that, and the survey chimes well with my own advice on “How To Be Happy” here.
It may seem self-evident, but people cannot be reminded often enough that genuine happiness does not come from buying or acquiring things that we often don’t really need but from spending quality time with family and friends whom we do really need.
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The Spaniard has arrived and she is called Hope
January 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Just before Christmas, I did a posting about my friend Ellie, a 47 year old woman about to have her first child who has been blogging and tweeting every step of the arduous way on this highly problematic pregancy.
So I am utterly delighted to announce the news that at 3.43 pm this afternoon Ellie gave birth to a baby girl called Hope weighing 6lb 12 oz. Ellie has tweeted that she has “tufty hair” and “a pretty mouth” but adds that “She’s poorly & in baby intensive care”.
Many, many, many congratulations to Ellie, her husband Roy and baby Hope. What a wonderful start to the New Year. What a wondrous change to their lives.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (2)