The world’s a small place…..

Posted on May 24, 2025 by odeboyz

……. but I’ve never seen Taylor Swift at Romford Station.

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The Optics of Power

Posted on May 21, 2025 by odeboyz

Trump’s Oval Office

Putin’s Kremlin Office

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War Studies: Judaea 70-135 CE (AD)

Posted on May 21, 2025 by odeboyz

Colonial powers occupy countries without waiting for an invitation. Even though they are out-numbered, they succeed by using brute force. Key areas are garrisoned which are necessary. Unfortunately, garrisons become a focus for hostility and a cycle of violence. Once unrest is institutionalised, peace is impossible.

Rome’s occupation of Judaea lasted 500 years, from 27 BCE (BC) to 476 CE. Rome’s commitment to toleration meant Jews worshipped peacefully whilst remaining a subject people. Prosperity increased markedly with Roman technology and systems of governance but there were numerous rebellions. They all failed.

Rome provided opportunities and Jewish migration across the empire was extensive.It was driven by economics,

Avrum Ehrlich also states that already well before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD [CE], more Jews lived in the Diaspora than in Israel.1

The fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE was significant.2 The rebellion, 67-74 CE, led to the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple. The final action in the rebellion was defeat at Masada3 after a breath-taking heroic final stand.

Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina4 in 135 CE after the failed Bar Kokhba rebellion. The Romans believed that eradicating the Jewish name would crush Jewish identity and future rebellions.

Rome’s occupation of Judaea ended when the empire collapsed.

Notes

1 History of the Jews in the Roman Empire – Wikipedia The term ‘Israel’ is used entirely wrongly here as there was no such geographic entity.

2 Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) – Wikipedia

3 The Siege of Masada: History and Archaeology

4 What did the Romans rename Israel? – Geographic FAQ Hub: Answers to Your Global Questions

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Does Trump have a point?

Posted on May 10, 2025 by odeboyz

.

“I used to invigilate exams at a well-known university and recall my strangest session: invigilating a student who required two extra desks to accommodate the 33 soft toys needed to ensure ‘emotional security in a stressful environment’. I still wonder which employer would be equally accommodating.”

Janet Kingston, Swansea. Journal The Guardian 30th April 2025 p5

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Film Review: The Accountant: 2 (2025) (Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal)

Posted on May 10, 2025 by odeboyz

This film is a Trumpian MAGA homage. There’s an audience for this but not me. It’s so bad it will be immortal. It’s a paradigm of ‘How not to make an intelligent film’.

Hollywood have their MAGA film but is this a Trump ransom film? Make it or I’ll close you down! I think we should be told. Obviously the film portrays Mexicans as evil, child killing, people-trafficking monsters. They’re also NO MATCH for two brothers who are ALL- AMERICAN. (OUR psychopaths are BETTER than YOUR psychopaths.) 50 MEXICANS against 2 highly motivated AMERICANS – bring it on.

The plot is buried in mayhem and it isn’t worth the effort trying to discover what it’s all about.

The writer, Bill Dubugue, wrote the brilliant Netflix series Ozark. Ozark featured an accountant who did money laundering for Mexican criminals. It was well plotted and coherent with believable characters: flawed and interesting. There was a strong female lead off-setting the machismo of a gangster series. All-in-all very satisfactory.

The Accountant:2 is the antidote of Ozark.

Conspiracy Footnote

Accountant 1 came out in 2016 when Trump was elected.

Accountant 2 came out in 2025 when Trump was elected.

Coincidence? I think NOT!

Gay Footnote

Jon Bernthal has a wonderful scene where he prances round a luxury hotel room in tight underpants flashing his (very) muscular body. Plots are irrelevant in the MAGA world.

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Four Outstanding Schools and Disadvantaged Students

Posted on May 7, 2025 by odeboyz

In the 2022 to 2023 school year….25.2% of disadvantaged pupils and 52.4% of all other pupils got a grade 5 or above.1

The attainment gap disadvantaged children suffer is a chasm. Those schools which reduce the gap are adding value to the most vulnerable people in Britain. Reducing the gap make social mobility possible. OFSTED ignores this in their reports.2

Cockburn School, Leeds

OFSTED’s perceptive report highlights strategies helping reading skills,

Many pupils use a computer programme that they can access at home to develop their reading skills.3

Reading skills is an issue as 39% of the entrants for the 2024 GCSE examination were disadvantaged.4 They achieved a 34.8% pass rate for GCSE Grade 5+ English and Maths. This is above the national average of 25.2%. Cockburn’s added value narrowed the gap to 21 percentage points.5 This is still significant but below the national gap of 27.2 percentage points.

Eden Boys’ School, Preston

OFSTED praised the school for tackling under-achievement,

Staff work closely with parents and carers to offer suitable support for pupils who do not attend as regularly as they should. This work has a strong and demonstrable impact.6

The school has done a wonderful job in reducing the attainment gap to 7.9%.7 They smashed the national average for all children. Disadvantaged children achieved a remarkable 66.7% pass rate at GCSE Grade 5+ English and Maths, which is well above the national average. Shamefully, OFSTED didn’t notice this achievement.

Jane Austen College, Norwich

OFSTED praised the teachers and the curriculum,

Staff adapt how they teach to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, without reducing their high aspirations for all.8 (my emphasis)

‘High aspirations’ aren’t fanciful. They’ve eliminated the attainment gap, which stands at 3.4 percentage points. Disadvantaged children achieved 59.6% passes at Grade 5+ GCSE English and Maths. Like Eden Boys’ school it’s above the national average for all children AND was ignored by OFSTED.

Jane Austen’s entry for the 2024 GCSE exams included 28.5% disadvantaged children who achieved splendid results.

Salesian School, Chertsey, Surrey

OFSTED gushingly lauded the school and said,

Everyone achieves exceptional outcomes that prepare them for future success…9 (my emphasis)

‘Everyone’ is hyperbole. The attainment gap for disadvantaged children is 27.2 percentage points. Salesian’s 2024 results is a sickening 30.1 percentage points. This outstanding school let down their disadvantaged children. OFSTED didn’t reflect on this in their gushing report.

Discussion

OFSTED isn’t fit for purpose.

The principal point about compulsory education is that there should be tangible benefits for children and society. The chilling attainment gap that disadvantaged children suffer in British schools is an outrage. Where schools disprove the suppressed premise that ‘education isn’t for that sort of child’ it should be celebrated and promoted. It’s beyond belief that the triumphant achievements of Jane Austen School can go unremarked upon in their OFSTED report.

Addendum: Disadvantaged Children

“Disadvantaged pupils are those who were eligible for free school meals at any time during the last 6 years and children looked after (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care).”

Notes

1 Attainment at age 16 – Social Mobility Commission State of the Nation – GOV.UK

The attainment gap is therefore 27.2 percentage points.

2 Salesian School, Chertsey – Open – Find an Inspection Report – Ofsted The relevant inspection clause is, Quality of education

3 50182293 OFSTED report 2022

4 89 disadvantaged children from 228 sat exams in 2024 See Results by pupil characteristics – Cockburn School – Compare school and college performance data in England – GOV.UK

5 34.2% for disadvantaged children compared to 55.7%

6 50250937 2024

7 66.7% of disadvantaged children achieved Grade 5+ GCSE in English and Maths. This is well above the national average for all pupils

8 50249706 2024

9 Loc.cit Disadvantaged children achieved 45.8% grade 5+ English and Maths whilst non-disadvantaged children achieved 75.9%

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Big Pharma loves lifestyle illnesses

Posted on May 3, 2025 by odeboyz
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A job for life ~ Japanese Style

Posted on April 30, 2025 by odeboyz

“We get calls from people crying asking us if they can quit their job,” Shiori Kawamata of the Momuri resignation agency tells reporters in Minato (Tokyo), “and we tell them it’s okay, quitting their job is a labour right. Some people come to us after having their resignation letter ripped three time, and employers not letting them quit even when they kneel  down to the ground to bow. In the past year alone, we have had 11,000 enquiries, and for a fee of 22,000 Yen (£120) we pledge to help employees tender their resignation and negotiate with their employer to let them go.”

Funny Old World  Private Eye 27th September 2024 p24

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Book Review: James O’Brien ~ How they broke Britain (2024)

Posted on April 30, 2025 by odeboyz

James is a superb radio talk show host on LBC. He’s perceptive and insightful and listens to people who are uninformed in comparison to him. Although he’s combative he is prepared to discuss issues. A star no less.

His book is a polemic against people who have wrecked Britain. This was done through stupidity and naked careerism. His ten ‘case’ studies include journalists – editors and owners – ‘Think Tanks’, and gruesome politicians. They all share a philosophy which is alien to the majority of British people. Nonetheless they’re able to sell their opinions as though they are mainstream because they control the media.

Ideologically driven people will do anything. These ten are a bourgeois version of the Taliban. For them failure isn’t evidence of wrongheadedness it’s evidence that they should try harder. Failure spurs them on to frenzied actions. The culmination of this is the short unpleasant career of Liz Truss. Notwithstanding her catastrophic failure as prime minister she’s convinced she is right and the world is wrong. Frighteningly the Truss economic model wasn’t radical by the standards of right-wing zealots she mixes with.

Try this

“Nigel Farage tweeted: ‘Today was the best Conservative budget since 1986.’” p345

For everyone interested in politics this is a must read.

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David Bowie’s 25 favourite albums

Posted on April 23, 2025 by odeboyz

The Last Poets – The Last Poets

Shipbuilding – Robert Wyatt

The Fabulous Little Richard – Little Richard

Music for 18 Musicians – Steve Reich

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground

Tupelo Blues – John Lee Hooker

Blues, Rags and Hollers – Koerner, Ray and Glover

The Apollo Theatre Presents: In Person! The James Brown Show – James Brown

Forces of Victory – Linton Kwesi Johnson

The Red Flower of Tachai Blossoms Everywhere: Music Played on National Instruments – Various Artists

Banana Moon – Daevid Allen

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris – Cast Album

The Electrosoniks: Electronic Music – Tom Dissevelt

The 5000 Spirits of the Layers of the Onion – The Incredible String Band

Ten Songs by Tucker Zimmerman – Tucker Zimmerman

Four Last Songs (Strauss) – Gundula Janowitz

The Ascension – Glenn Branca

The Madcap Laughs – Syd Barrett

Black Angels – George Crumb

Funky Kingston – Toots & The Maytals

Delusion of the Fury – Harry Partch

Oh Yeah – Charles Mingus*

Le Sacre du Printemps – Igor Stravinsky*

The Fugs – The Fugs

The Glory of the Human Voice – Florence Foster Jenkins

  • The only two I know. How about you?
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