Sleeping rough

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The Guardian reports that the number of rough sleepers across England has doubled, and there are some 3,600 sleeping on the streets every night.  This is put down to rising rents, cuts to government housing benefit allowances and a 45% reduction of the help offered by local councils to avoid homelessnes.  40% of the rough sleepers have mental problems . In London 57% of the people living rough are non-citzens, the largest proportion being Roumanians.

Let’s leave aside migrants for a moment (why would you go to England from Roumania only to live on the street?  I think it’s dreadful that they have to, but the priority should be people born in England).

If a government cannot look after its homeless and mentally ill, what is the point of having a government at all?  Not long ago my wife and I walked past the Danish Embassy in Washington. I reflected on the fact that the Danes are reckoned to be the happiest people on Earth.  Why is that?  Because they have  a culture and a government that ensures that extremes of poverty and wealth are kept under control ;  because they have a single-payer healthcare system under which everyone is treated equally; they have an excellent education system that does not discriminate in favour of rich kids.  In other words, it is an Epicurean system where the government looks out for all the people, not just the rich and the corporations.  And Denmark has no natural resources to speak of,  except its people.  Danes seem to have it right.  You would think this was a no- brainer for the rest of us.  Apparently not. Why do you think this is?

Nation of the superficial

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Evangelicals like Trump’s assurance that when he’s elected president, he’ll compel shop assistants to go back to saying ‘Merry Christmas’ instead of ‘Happy Holidays’.

I can’t wait! It’s the bosses and the corporations who have destroyed Christmas, which, in America, starts in November and has become the only time of the year some of them make money. It is Trump’s fellow tycoons who, have, over the years, commercialised an ancient festival,.  For those of us who are sceptical about organised religion, I think we should be allowed to call it anything we want; it now has little to do with Jesus, Bethlehem or shepherds anyway. We should not be dictated to by the authoritarian Trump or anyone else.  Now if he decreed that no one is allowed to give useless and unnecessary presents that are thrown away in days …….

Working from home

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“Two of my friends have recently taken a strong dislike to their jobs. I think what is ailing them is that they work from home; [they have] spent too much time in their slippers in the study. Under those conditions, all work starts to seem meaningless. By contrast, if you are toiling away with people doing the same thing, you somehow convince each other that what you do matters. From where I sit, surrounded by people all working for the FInancial Times, the importance of the newspaper looks ginormous. So, too, does the importance of who has taken my coffee cup, and who is about to get promoted/shafted. These stupid things are not stupid at all. They are what lock us into a shared enterprise.” (Lucy Kellaway, Financial Times Oct 2015)

With computers and ever-worsening traffic the idea of working from home was going to be the great new thing. Actually, it takes a lot of self-discipline, something that many people simply don’t possess. I think it’s a great idea if you have something you need peace and quiet for (say, the first draft of a report). And it’s fine for one or two days a week. But I think Lucy Kellaway, one of  the most amusing and percipient British journalists alive, has, as usual, hit the nail on the head: you need the discipline of the office, the presence (or ghost) of the boss and the ability to consult face-to face.

By the way, working from home on a number of possible drafts for this blog, I have just taken twenty minutes off, watering the plants on the roof terrace. Productive?

Calling a spade a spade

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The Food and Drug Administration is taking aim at one of sugar’s cover identities: evaporated cane juice, a euphemism designed to fool some of the people all of the time. It is especially popular among companies that have cultivated a healthful image, including Amy’s Kitchen, Kind and Chobani.

Just like sugar, this ingredient is created by crushing sugar cane to extract the juice, then purifying that juice, getting rid of the water and turning it into crystals. However, it still contains a bit of molasses, which is completely removed from the cane sugar you find in the store.

Food companies that use this ingredient maintain that it’s different from sugar and that “evaporated cane juice” is its proper name. Others disagree. Now, in its final “Guidance for Industry,” the FDA instructs food companies to call this ingredient “sugar.” Companies can add modifying adjectives, perhaps calling it “organic cane sugar,” but the word “sugar” should be included. Nestle, a huge food company, commented: “At last. A sensible decision. Sugar is sugar, no matter what it is called. Now the FDA needs to do this with all the other euphemisms.” Other ingredients that are nearly equivalent to sugar include rice syrup, sorghum syrup, malt and corn sweetener. (Adapted from an NPR article, May 2016)

The reason for mentioning this matter is to point out why an umpire is important: to stop companies and unscrupulous people misleading the public. In this case sugar is a form of poison. Eat it by all means (how can you avoid it?) but at least you should know what you are eating. This is why we have regulation, and regulations can only be devised and enforced by governments, preferably representative governments fairly elected by the people. Those who oppose sensible regulation tend to have something to hide, don’t you think?