Too hot to blog

There are a number of things that I could blog about at present but, to be honest, it's too darned hot.

Plus there are a number of things going on in real life so my virtual world will be neglected for a while.

I'm taking the rest of July and August off.

See you in September!

Syd Barrett has died.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

Grammar School by any other name?

Gifted pupil register under fire

"A list of gifted and talented pupils in England is being launched by the government to help those from poorer backgrounds reach their potential.
But former chief inspector of schools Chris Woodhead said the problem was not identifying the bright pupils. It was offering them appropriate support - and that was something best done in grammar schools."

These eligible students will then be registered with the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (?).

I had a Grammar School education and for that I am very grateful. I did well at school and I think a lot of that is to do with the environment in which I was taught.

I agree with Mr Woodhead. If you want to nurture and encourage all students no matter what their background, re-introduce full selection - Grammar Schools for the academically gifted, Technology Schools offering a range of vocational courses along side the core subjects for other pupils. I believe this would help all students reach their full potential.

That's my two penneth.

North Korea's Nuclear Weapons

The BBC is running this story over the Outcry over N Korea missile test. Now, I am not condoning their actions, far from it, but doesn't it smack of hypocrisy and sound very similar to this story?

"We" don't want Korea to have nuclear weapons and yet there are those in the UK government who want to spend billions of pounds on updating our nuclear arsenal. (I wish I had the guts and ability to with-hold my taxes as I'm horrified that my money should be spent on such abominations.)

Sixty years on from Hiroshima and Nagasaki it is estimated that there are approximately 35,000 nuclear weapons in the world. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed roughly 70,000 people outright and a further 70,000 later died from radiation related illnesses/injuries. How many more developed cancers and other nasties in the years that followed?

It is estimated that the world arsenal actually equates (in fire power) to 500,000 bombs of the size that were dropped in Japan. So, on average, one of these newer bombs could be about 15 times more powerful. Drop one of those on a city and you could kill up to a million people with a massive fall-out causing incalculable damage and a heavily polluted world weather system.

We don't just need to persuade Korea to stop developing and maintaining nuclear warheads, we need to look to the weapons of mass destruction on our own soil.