John Simkin

Interesting article in the Guardian today about how photographs have been altered for political reasons. It gives the usually examples but it has a couple of interesting stories (for example Mussolini and his horse and Al Smith and the Vatican). http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1151148,00.html

It might surprise American members of the Education Forum that Europeans take such a keen interest in the presidential election. However, when you have a prime minister who seems to get his orders from America, we need to get the right person elected into the White House. We heard the news this morning that the Blair government is to go ahead with genetically modified crops, despite the opposition from the Labour Party and the the general public. Why go ahead with a policy that will be such a big vote loser? According to the former minister responsible for this issue, the only reason is because George Bush and his financial backers favour GM crops. It is interesting how Tony Blair’s main media backer, Rupert Murdoch, is involved in the propaganda campaign against John Kerry. It was in fact Murdoch’s British newspaper, The Sun, that first named Alexandra Polier as the intern who had an affair with Kerry. This was quickly followed up by the Murdoch owned Sunday Times with quotes from Polier’s parents describing Kerry as a “sleazeball” (they deny that they ever said such a thing to Murdoch’s journalists). It was only then that the US media reported the story about Alexandra Polier (in truth they reported the way the story was being reported in the Murdoch owned press). The story was originally broken on the Drudge Report website (although Polier’s name was withheld). Drudge describes himself as an “information anarchist” and apparently has 15 million readers. However, Drudge relies exclusively on information from right-wing sources. A recent study shows that over a third of his stories are inaccurate and are attempts at smearing left of centre politicians. It was the internet that was used to push the faked photograph of Kerry and Fonda. This photograph very quickly found itself being used in the Murdoch owned press (other right-wing British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Daily Express were also quick to use the photograph). In all cases they claimed it came from the Associated Press. This was a lie, it was taken from the internet. The Kerry picture was taken by Ken Light and copyright was owned by the Corbis Agency. It is hoped that the agency now takes legal action against those newspapers that published the photograph. We now all know that the photograph was faked. But the damage has been done. The importance of the photograph was to link Kerry with Jane Fonda and the anti-war movement. This is of course true, Kerry was both a war hero and an anti-Vietnam War protester (at one rally he actually threw away his medals). This is why he was such an important figure to the anti-war movement at the time. He spoke with experience. He represented a whole generation of disillusioned young men who had realised that they had their patriotism exploited by politicians. Unlike the intern story, Kerry will lose votes as a result of this photograph. That image will remain in the conciousness of many Americans and they will see him as disloyal rather than a man who took the right moral decision. As William Tweed said in 1871 (during the campaign by Thomas Nast to expose him as the corrupt boss of New York): “I don’t care what they say about me – my constituents can’t read. But they can certainly understand them damned pictures”) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAtweed.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAnast.htm

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has just published a controversial report on the teaching of Religious Education. It has upset some traditionalists by suggesting that atheism should be introduced into the RE syllabus. The IPPR report also proposes the introduction of teaching about humanism. Critics of the report have claimed that RE should be about teaching faith. However, others have argued that schools should be mainly concerned about providing knowledge and understanding of different religions. Humanist have replied that schools should be helping pupils to explore ways in which people can find meaning and purpose without religion. What do members think about this proposal? What happens in other countries? http://www.ippr.org.uk/home/

The Mike Tomlinson working group's interim report published yesterday calls for a root and branch overhaul of the curriculum and qualifications for 14- to 19-year-olds. It proposes absorbing GCSEs and A levels into a new system of diplomas, which would allow students to continue specialising in their chosen subjects, but would also require them to have the numeracy and communication skills needed for modern life, and to demonstrate other skills such as the ability to work in a team and to study independently. The proposals would sweep away the present qualifications framework and would introduce a system of diplomas at four levels: entry, foundation (roughly equivalent to GCSE grades D-G), intermediate (at the level of to GCSE grades A*-C) and advanced (like A levels or advanced vocational courses). The aim would be to create "a flexible ladder of progression" which all students could climb, with each level leading on to those above, and vocational courses valued equally beside academic counterparts. Students would take courses when they were ready rather than at set ages. I would be interested in hearing member's views on the proposals. http://www.14-19reform.gov.uk/index.cfm

Thought you might be interested in this BBC news report on Obesity. MPs from the health select committee are to visit Finland to investigate what lessons can be learnt about tackling obesity. Their long awaited report into what should be done about our widening waistlines, is due to be published around Easter. But as consumer groups call for tighter controls on the food industry, MPs are considering whether Finland's softly softly approach could work here. Finland's problem in the 70's was coronary heart disease rather than obesity. It had the highest rate of deaths from heart problems in the world, largely due to a flourishing dairy sector which played a big part in the Finnish diet. But as a result of an assertive public education campaign - to promote exercise and healthy diet - it has escaped the escalating obesity rates now emerging in Britain. In the 80's Finland's obesity rate was twice as high as ours - but in the years that followed, as Britain's obesity rate soared, our Nordic neighbours more or less contained the problem, experiencing only modest rises. For instance, 19% of women in Finland are now classed as clinically obese. In the UK the figure is closer to 26% and our children are getting fatter too. So how have they done it? Largely through assertive government campaigns and co-operation from the domestic food industry. In this country, the accusation of presiding over a 'nanny state' is the worst form of insult that can be thrown at a politician. But in Finland politicians seem to smart less at such allegations. In Finland school kids are weighed annually and the results recorded in their end of year reports. If there's a problem the doctor is called in. Each child receives a free school lunch which must comprise one third of their calorie intake, and exercise plays a prominent part in the school day. It sounds like a perfect world, but it's not. Just like Britain the presence of vending machines in school worries parents. But in Finland many sell water, and sugary drinks are banned from both classroom and dining hall. And importantly this culture of healthy eating seems to continue into the home. Finnish food firms have been forced to adapt too. Not through fiscal measures or bans on advertising, but as a result of consumer demand, informed by decades of public health campaigns. Some 30% of cheese on supermarket shelves is now low fat in Finland - compared to around just 10% in the UK. The products are more expensive, but it seems the Finnish public is prepared to pay, and the social economic divisions that many argue defines British people's shape, are less of an issue here. So is it a model that could be exported to the UK? It's hard to say - Finland is a small country with a population of just five million. It has a high standard of education and, as a marketing manager of the Finnish dairy firm Vailo put it, "they have scientific minds" so the mechanics and medical benefits of keeping trim are well understood. That might be a vast simplification - but it is about values: education and trust. Unlike Britain Finland doesn't have the 'baggage' of major health scares like CJD. As a result ministers and their medical advisors enjoy a greater degree of trust, so getting the public to respond to campaigns appears a more straightforward process. Finland is also a homogeneous society, for many years isolated from the influences of the fast food world, so it has been a market that is been easier to control. With the growing presence of multi-national corporations in Finland the hard part will be sustaining those gains. Bodies like the World Health Organisation are signalling a global obesity epidemic ahead - already 300 million people world wide are dangerously overweight. But if there is one lesson to be learnt from the Finnish experience, it is that results in decades to come require education, education, education now. Other interesting articles on this subject can be found at: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1633568&nav=0RaPKfJa http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20040113IE15 http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20040217IE17

The Teachers' International Professional Development (TIPD) programme was introduced by DfES in May 2000. The programme provides opportunities for teachers in England to develop their teaching skills by experiencing best practice in a number of key themes through short-term international study visits. Such visits also aim to create valuable international links between schools, facilitating international school partnerships and the sharing of information on a global level. TIPD will provide 2500 places per year between 2000 and 2006 and the programme is delivered for DfES by 3 providers: the British Council Education and Training Group, the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers, and the Specialist Schools Trust. Each Local Education Authority (LEA) in England has its own allocation of places. http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/professionald...ent/whatistipd/

Following the Japan 2001 Festival in Britain, there has been an increase in interest in studying Japanese culture and language in the UK. The British Council, with funding from the Department for Education and Skills, has recently extended its activities for Japan and continues to work closely with Monbusho (the Japanese Ministry of Education) on a number of projects. It is anticipated that schools and colleges will establish sustainable links that will impact on the development of those institutions, contribute to the professional development of their staff, enrich the curriculum and support language awareness and learning. Information on how to apply for any of these grants can be found on this British Council website. http://www.britishcouncil.org/education/schools/japan.htm

This new international website, enables those involved in education across the world to engage in creative partnerships. It is a one-stop-shop, providing quick access to comprehensive information on how to develop an international dimension to education. On this website teachers can find a partner school in another country and access teaching materials on international education. It also shows how you can work with school leaders worldwide and provides information on the latest international research. There is also a selection of case studies on the website. http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/

The BBC is currently producing a series of documentaries about politicians doing public service jobs. This includes Clare Short teaching Geography in Southfields Community College in London. The Guardian newspaper asked the teacher she replaced, Celina Viner, to keep a diary of what went on during this week in the classroom. In this article she describes a week of poor punctuality, untidy work and bad temper. The programme, My Week in the Real World, will be shown on BBC2 on Wednesday, 25th February. http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/st...1149407,00.html

If anyone is interested, I have ranked the different theories in the order I think they are likely to be true. In fact, it is possible that the first 11 could all be true. It seems a combination of organizations were involved in the conspiracy. All these groups had been working together in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. By 1963 it was clear that the only way Castro could be removed was by an American invasion. That was something that would not happen while Kennedy was president. Theory 10 only concerns who carried out the deed, rather than who ordered it. Bringing in outside hit men is very common in Mafia killings. (1) The Mafia, Anti-Castro Activists and the CIA Anthony Summers is the author of The Kennedy Conspiracy. He believes that Kennedy was killed by a group of anti-Castro activists, funded by Mafia mobsters that had been ousted from Cuba. Summers believes that some members of the CIA took part in this conspiracy. Summers speculated that the following people were involved in this conspiracy: Johnny Roselli, Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante, Sam Giancana, David Ferrie, Gerry Patrick Hemming, Guy Bannister and E.Howard Hunt. Sylvia Meagher in her book, Accessories After the Fact, also supported the theory that Kennedy had been killed by Anti-Castro exiles. (2) The Mafia David E. Scheim has published two books claiming that the Mafia were responsible for the assassination of Kennedy. He believes that it was organized by Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante and Jimmy Hoffa. This theory is based on the idea that the Mafia were angry with both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy for their attempts to destroy organized crime. (This policy ended with the death of Kennedy).Scheim's theory was supported by Trafficante's lawyer, Frank Ragano, who published the book Mob Lawyer, in 1994. The theory is also supported by the investigative journalist, Jack Anderson. (3) David Atlee Phillips and the CIA Gaeton Fonzi was a staff investigator for the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In his book, The Last Investigation, Fonzi takes the view that the assassination was organized by David Atlee Phillips, head of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division. (4) Rogue Members of the CIA David Atlee Phillips, head of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division, told Kevin Walsh, a former investigator with the House Select Committee on Assassinations: that Kennedy had been "done in by a conspiracy, likely including rogue American intelligence people." (5) E. Howard Hunt and the CIA In his book, Plausible Denial (1991), Mark Lane argues that CIA agents killed Kennedy. He claims that the conspiracy involved E.Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. (6) CIA and Executive Action Executive Action, was a CIA secret plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power. In his book The Secret Team (1973) Leroy Fletcher Prouty claimed that elements of the CIA were worked on behalf of the interests of a "high cabal" of industrialists and bankers. He also claimed that the Executive Action unit could have been used to kill Kennedy. Prouty named CIA operative, Edward Lansdale, as the leader of the operation. (7) Jack Ruby and the Mafia The journalist, Dorothy Kilgallen, believed that the assassination of Kennedy had involved Jack Ruby and the Mafia. She also suggested that J. D. Tippet and Bernard Weismann were involved in the conspiracy. (8) Right-Wing Activists in New Orleans Jim Garrison, the district attorney of New Orleans, believed that a group of right-wing activists, including Guy Bannister, David Ferrie, Carlos Bringuier and Clay Shaw were involved in a conspiracy with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to kill Kennedy. (9) John Birch Society Harry Dean was an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1962 he infiltrated the John Birch Society. He later reported that the society hired two gunman, Eladio del Valle and Loran Hall, to kill President John F. Kennedy. (10) Antoine Guerini and the Marseilles Mafia Stephen Rivele argued in the 1988 television documentary, The Men Who Killed Kennedy that the Kennedy's assassination had been organized by Antoine Guerini, the Corsican crime boss in Marseilles. He also claimed that Lucien Sarti had been one of the gunmen. (11) Lyndon B. Johnson and Texas Oil Millionaires. Madeleine Brown claims that she was Johnson's mistress. In her autobiography, Texas in the Morning (1997) Brown claims that the conspiracy to kill Kennedy involved Lyndon B. Johnson, Clint Murchison, Haroldson L. Hunt and J. Edgar Hoover. This theory was supported by David Lifton in his book The Texas Connection. (12) J. Edgar Hoover J. Edgar Hoover was concerned that Kennedy would force him into retirement when he reached the age of 70. Mark North (Act of Treason) and George O'Toole (The Assassination Tapes) both believe that Hoover either knew of plans to kill Kennedy and did nothing to stop them, or he helped to organize the assassination. (13) Lee Harvey Oswald The Warren Commission came to the conclusion that John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. This theory has been supported by several other investigators including Arlen Specter, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Hugh Aynesworth and Gerald Posner. (14) The Soviet Union James Angleton believed that Nikita Khrushchev sought revenge after he had been humiliated by Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In his book, Khrushchev Killed Kennedy (1975), Michael Eddowes argued that Kennedy was killed by a Soviet agent impersonating Lee Harvey Oswald. In Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald (1978), Edward Jay Epstein argues that Oswald was a KGB agent. (15) Secret Service Conspiracy In his book, Best Evidence, David Lifton claims that members of the Secret Service agents were involved in the killing of Kennedy. This included providing the assassins with a good opportunity to kill Kennedy. Lifton was highly critical of the behaviour of William Greer, Roy Kellerman and Winston G. Lawson during the assassination. Lifton believes that after the assassination of Kennedy they hijacked the body in order to alter the corpse. In the book, Mortal Error, Bonar Menninger, claims that SS agent George Hickey killed Kennedy by accident. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who disagrees with me.

The issue is not about bravery but hypocrisy. My point was that Bush did not mind the idea of war as long as he did not have to fight in it. It is interesting that the Republicans are resorting to the usual tactic of trying to stick a sex scandal on the Democratic candidate. In Europe few newspapers would run such a story about their political leaders. However, it seems to be acceptable tactics in American elections. I see the woman named, Alexandra Polier, has denied the story. Interesting, her parents, described Kerry last week as a “sleazeball”. After hearing their daughter’s statement last night, they have changed their mind and will now be backing Kerry in the election. If Bush is not careful he will be forced to debate political issues over the next few months.

The 100 Great Black Britons were compiled as a response to the BBC Great Britons debate that took place last year. Patrick Vernon, founder of black heritage website Every Generation saw that no black people even made it to the Top 100, due in part to many people being unaware of black achievements and contributions made over the centuries. http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/results.htm The top ten voted by the British public: 1. Mary Seacole 2. Wilfred Wood/ O.A. Lyseight 3. Mary Prince 4. Olaudah Equiano 5. Queen Phillipa 6. Courtney Pine 7. Sir Bill Morris/Sir Trevor McDonald 8. Shirley Bassey 9. Bernie Grant 10. Professor Stuart Hall This would have been my top ten. What's yours? (1) Olaudah Equiano http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Sequiano.htm (2) William Cuffay http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CHcuffay.htm (3) Samuel Coleridge Taylor http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAcoleridge.htm (4) Mary Seacole http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REseacole.htm (5) Walter Tull http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtull.htm (6) C. L. James http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAjamesC.htm (7) Robert Wedderburn http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAwedderburn.htm (8) Leary Constantine http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAconstantine.htm (9) Sylvester Williams http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAwilliamsS.htm (10) John Alcindor http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAalcindor.htm

While researching the assassination of Kennedy one name keeps cropping up. It is David Atlee Phillips, head of the CIA’s Western Hemisphere Division. Gaeton Fonzi was a staff investigator for the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In his book, The Last Investigation, Fonzi takes the view that the assassination was organized by Phillips. He denied the charge and for a while he threatened legal action against Fonzi. Phillips later told Kevin Walsh, a former investigator with House Select Committee on Assassinations: "My private opinion is that JFK was done in by a conspiracy, likely including rogue American intelligence people." David Atlee Phillips died of cancer on 7th July, 1988. He left behind an unpublished manuscript. The novel is about a CIA officer who lived in Mexico City (that is where Phillips was in 1963). In the novel the character states: "I was one of those officers who handled Lee Harvey Oswald... We gave him the mission of killing Fidel Castro in Cuba... I don't know why he killed Kennedy. But I do know he used precisely the plan we had devised against Castro. Thus the CIA did not anticipate the president's assassination, but it was responsible for it. I share that guilt." http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKphillips.htm This fits in with the story supplied by the CIA agent Harry Dean. He claims that he was working with Lee Harvey Oswald in a plot to kill Fidel Castro. However, this was switched to an attack on Kennedy (the CIA working with the John Birch Society). http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKdeanH.htm

There is indeed a theory that Kennedy arranged his own assassination. This is based on the idea that he discovered he was dying from an incurable disease and that it would be far better to die as a political martyr. I have not include it as no one has come up with any evidence to support the theory.

I am getting close to finishing the work on the assassination of President Kennedy. The idea is for the students to use the evidence to test out the different theories about the assassination. So far I have 15 different theories. Anybody else know of any others? You can find a hypertexed version of this at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKtheories.htm (1) Lee Harvey Oswald The Warren Commission came to the conclusion that John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. This theory has been supported by several other investigators including Arlen Specter, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Hugh Aynesworth and Gerald Posner. (2) The Mafia David E. Scheim has published two books claiming that the Mafia were responsible for the assassination of Kennedy. He believes that it was organized by Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante and Jimmy Hoffa. This theory is based on the idea that the Mafia were angry with both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy for their attempts to destroy the Mafia. Scheim's theory was supported by Trafficante's lawyer, Frank Ragano, who published the book Mob Lawyer, in 1994. The theory is also supported by the investigative journalist, Jack Anderson. (3) The Soviet Union James Angleton believed that Nikita Khrushchev sought revenge after he had been humiliated by Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In his book, Khrushchev Killed Kennedy (1975), Michael Eddowes argued that Kennedy was killed by a Soviet agent impersonating Lee Harvey Oswald. In Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald (1978), Edward Jay Epstein argues that Oswald was a KGB agent. (4) Right-Wing Activists in New Orleans Jim Garrison, the district attorney of New Orleans, believed that a group of right-wing activists, including Guy Bannister, David Ferrie, Carlos Bringuier and Clay Shaw were involved in a conspiracy with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to kill Kennedy. (5) Antoine Guerini and the Marseilles Mafia Stephen Rivele argued in the 1988 television documentary, The Men Who Killed Kennedy that the Kennedy's assassination had been organized by Antoine Guerini, the Corsican crime boss in Marseilles. He also claimed that Lucien Sarti had been one of the gunmen. (6) Lyndon B. Johnson and Texas Oil Millionaires. Madeleine Brown claims that she was Johnson's mistress. In her autobiography, Texas in the Morning (1997) Brown claims that the conspiracy to kill Kennedy involved Lyndon B. Johnson, Clint Murchison, Haroldson L. Hunt and J. Edgar Hoover. This theory was supported by David Lifton in his book The Texas Connection. (7) David Atlee Phillips and the CIA Gaeton Fonzi was a staff investigator for the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In his book, The Last Investigation, Fonzi takes the view that the assassination was organized by David Atlee Phillips, head of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division. (8) Rogue Members of the CIA David Atlee Phillips, head of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division, told Kevin Walsh, a former investigator with the House Select Committee on Assassinations: that Kennedy had been "done in by a conspiracy, likely including rogue American intelligence people." (9) Jack Ruby and the Mafia The journalist, Dorothy Kilgallen, believed that the assassination of Kennedy had involved Jack Ruby and the Mafia. She also suggested that J. D. Tippet and Bernard Weismann were involved in the conspiracy. (10) E. Howard Hunt and the CIA In his book, Plausible Denial (1991), Mark Lane argues that CIA agents killed Kennedy. He claims that the conspiracy involved E.Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. (11) The Mafia, Anti-Castro Activists and the CIA Anthony Summers is the author of The Kennedy Conspiracy. He believes that Kennedy was killed by a group of anti-Castro activists, funded by Mafia mobsters that had been ousted from Cuba. Summers believes that some members of the CIA took part in this conspiracy. Summers speculated that the following people were involved in this conspiracy: Johnny Roselli, Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante, Sam Giancana, David Ferrie, Gerry Patrick Hemming, Guy Bannister and E.Howard Hunt. Sylvia Meagher in her book, Accessories After the Fact, also supported the theory that Kennedy had been killed by Anti-Castro exiles. (12) CIA and Executive Action Executive Action, was a CIA secret plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power. In his book The Secret Team (1973) Leroy Fletcher Prouty claimed that elements of the CIA were worked on behalf of the interests of a "high cabal" of industrialists and bankers. He also claimed that the Executive Action unit could have been used to kill Kennedy. Prouty named CIA operative, Edward Lansdale, as the leader of the operation. (13) Secret Service Conspiracy In his book, Best Evidence, David Lifton claims that members of the Secret Service agents were involved in the killing of Kennedy. This included providing the assassins with a good opportunity to kill Kennedy. Lifton was highly critical of the behaviour of William Greer, Roy Kellerman and Winston G. Lawson during the assassination. Lifton believes that after the assassination of Kennedy they hijacked the body in order to alter the corpse. In the book, Mortal Error, Bonar Menninger, claims that SS agent George Hickey killed Kennedy by accident. (14) J. Edgar Hoover J. Edgar Hoover was concerned that Kennedy would force him into retirement when he reached the age of 70. Mark North (Act of Treason) and George O'Toole (The Assassination Tapes) both believe that Hoover either knew of plans to kill Kennedy and did nothing to stop them, or he helped to organize the assassination. (15) John Birch Society Harry Dean was an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1962 he infiltrated the John Birch Society. He later reported that the society hired two gunman, Eladio del Valle and Loran Hall, to kill President John F. Kennedy.

Leonard Magruder produces a weekly right-wing email newsletter. For some reason he sends me a copy (probably thinks I need saving). This week it is a diatribe against John Kerry. As part of his campaign he has set up a website that contains the full text of the speech Kerry made to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971. To me it is a fine speech but Magruder assumes it will hurt Kerry in his attempt to get elected. Will it? http://members.aol.com/bear317p/kerry.htm

Interesting. However, what did Saddam Hussein say or do to be put on the left? I am sure left-wingers in Iraq (well those still alive) will be surprised by this chart. Maybe being anti-American makes you left-wing.

In the past I have played June Tabor's version of Eric Bogle's The Band Played Waltzing Matilda to the students. When I was a young man I carried my pack And I lived the free life of a rover From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback I waltzed my Matilda all over Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun And they sent me away to the war And the band played Waltzing Matilda As we sailed away from the quay And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers We sailed off to Gallipoli How well I remember that terrible day When the blood stained the sand and the water And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well He showered us with bullets, he rained us with shells And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia But the band played Waltzing Matilda As we stopped to bury our slain And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs Then it started all over again Now those who were living did their best to survive In that mad world of blood, death and fire And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive While the corpses around me piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit And when I woke up in my hospital bed And saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead Never knew there were worse things than dying And no more I'll go waltzing Matilda To the green bushes so far and near For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs No more waltzing Matilda for me So they collected the cripples, the wounded and maimed And they shipped us back home to Australia The legless, the armless, the blind and insane Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay I looked at the place where me legs used to be And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me To grieve and to mourn and to pity And the band played Waltzing Matilda As they carried us down the gangway But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared And they turned all their faces away And now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the parade pass before me I see my old comrades, how proudly they march Reliving the or their dreams of past glory I see the old men, all twisted and torn The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war And the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?" And I ask myself the same question And the band plays Waltzing Matilda And the old men still answer to the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Some day no one will march there at all.

Members might be interested in the historical background in Britain for school involvement in the diet of its students (I would be very interested in what has happened in the past in other countries). In 1892 Margaret McMillan joined Dr. James Kerr, Bradford's school medical officer, to carry out the first medical inspection of elementary school children in Britain. Kerr and McMillan published a report on the medical problems that they found and began a campaign to improve the health of children by arguing that local authorities should install bathrooms, improve ventilation and supply free school meals. Margaret McMillan became the Independent Labour Party candidate for the Bradford School Board. Elected in 1894, and working closely with Fred Jowett, leader of the ILP on the local council, Margaret now began to influence what went on in Bradford schools. This included the introduction of free school meals. However, the scheme was declared illegal. McMillan and Jowett tried to persuade Parliament to introduce legislation the encourage all education authorities to provide meals for children. McMillan argued that if the state insists on compulsory education, it must take responsibility for the proper nourishment of school children. The 1906 General Election elected a Liberal government committed to social reform. Fred Jowett, was elected as the Labour MP for Bradford. Jowett's maiden speech was on the subject of school meals and eventually managed to convince Parliament that hungry children had trouble learning and in 1906 it passed the Provision of School Meals Act. This act permitted local authorities to provide school meals. However, local authorities were slow to respond to this legislation and by 1939 less than 50% were providing this service. Margaret McMillan and her sister Rachael McMillan were both active in the suffrage movement. They also pioneered the idea of the nursery school in Britain. Rachael died young but Margaret went on to establish a new college to train nurses and teachers. Named after her beloved sister, the Rachel McMillan College was opened in Deptford on 8th May, 1930. It is of course the origins of the McMillan nurses that do such a great job today. Margaret McMillan died on 29 March, 1931. Afterwards her friend Walter Cresswell wrote a memoir of the McMillan sisters: "Such persons, single-minded, pure in heart, blazing with selfless love, are the jewels of our species. There is more essential Christianity in them than in a multitude of bishops." http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wmcmillan.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WmcmillanR.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUjowett.htm

I think you must be confusing me with someone else. I don’t think I am every guilty of making “balanced” postings. I am a person of strong opinions and rarely sit on the fence. However, I always try to apply logic to my arguments. Where possible I provide evidence for my views. It is true that I do not have detailed knowledge of the film viewing record of George Bush or Tony Blair. What I do know is that everyone is vulnerable to being influenced by films. This is a particular problem with films that manipulate audience emotions to make them feel good about their race or country. As teachers we have a responsibility to make sure our students discover what war is really like for those who take part in these conflicts. Watching the actions of Bush and Blair has convinced me that they have become convinced by this idea that it is easy to use war to obtain some greater good (hence their constant reference back to the Second World War). I suspect they have been partly converted to this view by seeing too many John Wayne type films. They would have been better off reading books like A War in Words, Forgotten Voices, The Sharp End of War or This Bloody Game. However, it would seem they do not like these kinds of books. They seem more at home reading the Old Testament (they definitely don’t seem to have spent much time reading the New Testament).

I think this a very important point. I have always had a strong interest in people’s war experiences (ever since as a child I discovered that my grandfather had been killed on the Western Front during the First World War). It is clear that the experience has a profound impact on the individual consciousness. Although some have had good wars (in the sense it has given them increased status etc.) it is rare to find someone who does not think that war produces no winners, only losers. It could be argued that George Bush and Tony Blair would not be so keen on the idea that wars can solve problems if they had actually experienced war in their youth. I suspect both have been heavily influenced by the way that the cinema has represented war. I wonder how many books they have read of people’s actual experiences of war. It is for this reason that I think that the world would be a safer place with John Kerry as president. He at least has had first-hand experience of war. Far better him than someone who has been brought up on the films of John Wayne.

You seem to be in a very difficult situation. Most educators in Britain believe we do not spend enough money on education. However, the money available is distributed fairly evenly over the whole country. The problem in America appears to be the amount of power held by individual states. In a democracy you would assume that if a significant number of people felt strongly about an issue (for example, the need to increase spending on education), they would join together in a pressure group in order to change the mind of the people making the decisions. It seems from your comments that this is not happening. Alabama’s economy must be suffering from this lack of investment in education. I would not expect too many high tech companies to set up their businesses in Alabama. I imagine there must be examples of other states in the Deep South who have increased educational spending and as a result have been rewarded by an increase in inward investment. If so, how have the politicians in Alabama reacted to this information?

Newsletter 6 Board Guidelines It has come to our attention that some members are not keeping to the Education Forum’s Board Guidelines. It should be noted that the forum has been created to foster friendly discussion between professional teachers and educators across the world. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?act=boardrules We do not encourage anonymity on the forum. It is a membership requirement that members let us know who they are by adding their name and educational organization to their signature and by posting a brief biography at: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=189 We therefore ask all those members who have not yet done so, to add both your biography and your name to the signature. To do this: Select My Controls (top, right of the screen). On the left-hand side click ‘Edit Signature’ (under Personal Profile). In the box provided add your name. You may wish to add your country and your educational organization (plus the URL of website). Pressure Groups Over the last few weeks the Education Forum has suffered from members of particular pressure groups posting inflammatory comments. They have been warned about their behaviour and told to post their biographies and to add their names to their signature. This they have failed to do and so we have revoked their membership. To counter attempts by pressure groups to use the forum for political propaganda, we will continue to enforce Board Guidelines (see above). Membership We now have 398 members. Reading the biographies section it seems we now have members from Britain (67), France (11), USA (9), Spain (7), Sweden (5), Netherlands (5), Canada (4), Australia (5), Greece (3), Italy (4), Finland (2), Brazil (2), China (1), Denmark (1), Belgium (1), Germany (1), Poland (1), Serbia (1), Belarus (1), Israel (1), South Korea (1), Sudan (1), Ireland (1), Austria (1) and Hong Kong (1). Calendar The Education Forum has it’s own calendar feature, which can be accessed via the calendar link at the top of the board. You are able to add your own personal events to the calendar - and these are only viewable by yourself. To add a new event, use the 'Add New Event' button to be taken to the event posting screen. There are three types of events that you can now add: A single day/one off event can be added using the first option, by just selecting the date for it to appear on. Ranged Event - is an event that spans across multiple days, to do this in addition to selecting the start date as above, will need to add the end date for the event. There are also options available to highlight the message on the calendar, useful if there is more than one ranged event being displayed at any one time. Recurring Event - is a one day event, that you can set to appear at set intervals on the calendar, either weekly, monthly or yearly. Please fell free to add details of any educational events, television programmes, etc. that you feel members will be interested in. Newsletters Past copies of newspapers can be found at: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=163 Debates At the moment, the following issues provide opportunities for good debate. I would welcome your contributions to these and other debates taking place on the forum. Schools and Obesity http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=384 The Ritalin Effect http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=316 Bombing of Dresden http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=357 Autistc Spectrum Disorder, http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=227 John Kerry v George Bush: Experience of War and Political Decision Making http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=88 Alabama's Educational Crisis http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=393 What is the Value of Homework? http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=330 Secondary Cover Supervisors http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=346 Best First Line in Popular Music? http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=325 Blended Learning http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=246 Do We Live in a Democracy? http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=243

Reading the biographies section it seems we now have members from Britain (67), France (11), USA (9), Spain (7), Sweden (5), Netherlands (5), Australia (5), Canada (4), Greece (3), Italy (4), Finland (2), Brazil (2), China (1), Denmark (1), Belgium (1), Germany (1), Poland (1), Serbia (1), Belarus (1), Israel (1), South Korea (1), Sudan (1), Ireland (1), Austria (1) and Hong Kong (1).

I first came across the name of John Kerry in 1987 when I was researching a book on the Vietnam War. I found his story very interesting. Unlike most wealthy Americans, Kerry decided not to use his family power and influence to avoid doing military service in Vietnam. He served with distinction winning several medals for bravery. However, after his period of combat duty he returned to America and became an active member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. This was a very unpopular move and the American public did not like to hear some of the things he had to say about the war. This included details of atrocities committed by American troops. As he said in one speech: “The country doesn’t know it yet but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and trade in violence.” It is interesting to compare the different ways that Kerry and Bush reacted to the Vietnam War. Both men were initially in favour of the war. Whereas Kerry went to fight for the cause he believed in, Bush used the influence of his father to enrol in the National Guard. This was one of the many strategies open to the wealthy to make sure their sons did not have to risk their lives in Vietnam. I suppose you cannot blame fathers from doing what they can to protect the lives of their sons. However, I find it rather repulsive that these people were at the same time advocating a policy of sending greater numbers of other parent’s children to Vietnam. In the Middle Ages kings and princes were expected to lead their men into battle. No doubt this influenced their decision making. Up to the second half of the 20th century the sons of prime ministers and presidents were expected to fight in wars. For example, Herbert Henry Asquith, the prime minister of Britain on the outbreak of the First World War, lost his son Raymond in the conflict. Winston Churchill actually left the cabinet in the war to serve on the Western Front. This is an alien idea to modern politicians. They are aware that their sons are protected from the need to fight in wars. Wars are normally declared by old rich men and fought by the young poor (plus a few senior officers from the upper classes to keep them in order). War leaders usually benefit from an increase in popularity during a conflict. It is especially true if you lead the most powerful military force in the world. Initially you are bound to have a series of military victories. This gives you the opportunity to dress up in military uniform and have your photograph taken with the troops. However, as Bush and Blair are discovering, occupying a country is far more difficult than invading it. It is true that Kerry lacks warmth and charisma but he comes across to me as a honest politician. True he supported the Iraq War. But he also supported the Vietnam War. He admitted his mistake then, hopefully he will do the same about Iraq. Some people have complained that he is rich. As far as American politics is concerned, I think this is a good thing. Politicians in America with good liberal records do tend to be very wealthy. This is how they have maintained their independence. Most politicians in America depend on the financial support of special interest groups. This has a terrible corrupting influence on political decision-making. Bush’s period as president has been a classic example of this problem. As Kerry has rightly said, it is desperately important that America take a close look at the way special interest groups exert their power over the political process.