http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4323928805760172923
Here's a snippet of Darren Pollard's work. I'm posting it here because it features an interview with yours truly. Not that my ego is involved... well not too much! The information is the most important thing here.
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Miles Cooper- Agent Provocateur
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7016511.stm
Miles Cooper is the first person who's resorted to terrorism over the issue civil liberties. He's actually done the authorities a favour because he's given them a chance to label any civil rights activist a terrorist, including me. It makes me wonder if the authorities set up the whole thing and he's just one of these agents provocateur, a bit like these thugs who cause riots at anti-globalization rallies.
Miles Cooper is the first person who's resorted to terrorism over the issue civil liberties. He's actually done the authorities a favour because he's given them a chance to label any civil rights activist a terrorist, including me. It makes me wonder if the authorities set up the whole thing and he's just one of these agents provocateur, a bit like these thugs who cause riots at anti-globalization rallies.
Government Response on School Fingerprinting
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13319.asp
Downing Street has responded to the petition on school fingerprinting. I've been interviewed by Sue Reid of the Daily Mail on this matter and I'll post a link if the article gets online.
Downing Street has responded to the petition on school fingerprinting. I've been interviewed by Sue Reid of the Daily Mail on this matter and I'll post a link if the article gets online.
Saturday, 22 September 2007
A Copy of my JRHPC Letter
This is a copy of the letter I dispatched to all porters at the hospital interested in joining the provisional company I set up. For a background to this, see my post on Workers' Cooperatives:
Ben Emlyn-Jones
Level 1 Porter
Level 1 Main Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
Tel=07706084980
benthejrporter@hotmail.com
http://www.hpanwo.blogspot.com/
22/9/07
Dear Brother or Sister Porter,
I’m writing to you because you’ve expressed to me a desire to know more about the JRHPC- the John Radcliffe Hospital Porters’ Company (We can think of a better name later!) I’ve decided to set up the JRHPC because of the possibility in the future that the Trust management might try to sell our service out to a private contractor. Anyone who was portering at the JR during the Mediclean era will probably agree that that would be a tragedy, both for ourselves and the patients. We simply cannot let this happen. This is not on the cards at the present time because of our current employment with the NHS-Carillion Partnership; we talking long-term possibilities here, but I think it’s wise to prepare now, so that we can act quickly if the danger arises.
The JRHPC is a provisional organization, not a trading business, but if it needs to become a trading business it can do so immediately as long as all the organization and planning work is done. We need to think and talk to each other about what the JRHPC will be like. We need to make a business plan, sort out any administration structures and find out what our rights and obligations would be as an independent healthcare provider to the modern NHS. We need to find and enroll people with the knowledge to help us. Maybe in a while we should hold a meeting, but in the meantime we can talk to each other informally face-to-face. You can also email each other or use the forum on my website (see the links column on the left). There are many obstacles to overcome and no guarantees of success, but hopefully it will never be necessary to even face those obstacles.
One of the first and biggest choices we’ll need to make is whether we want to be part of the JRHPC as an employee or a shareholder. It’s too soon to say which will make us better off financially, but there’s no doubt that the more of us are shareholders, the more democratic and self-empowered the business will be. If we all end up as equal shareholders then it will become a workers’ cooperative. This would be the ideal situation in my opinion because I’ve researched workers’ cooperatives (see my website) and can understand how much better they are than conventional businesses where there are only a handful of shareholders and everyone else just takes a wage without owning a stake in the company, being just a cog in the machine. People in worker’s cooperatives are healthier, happier and more productive and efficient. For them work is a creative experience, not just a necessary chore that must be done to survive. If we end up winning the contract and make a success of it then the idea might catch on in other hospitals and even beyond! What we’re doing here may one day change the world!
As I said above, there’s no rush to do this. We can take our time and get it right. The JRHPC is a provisional organization for a hypothetical situation and nobody will have to fork out a penny at the present time. But everyone is welcome to join and if anyone who doesn’t receive this letter wants to, let me know. The JRHPC membership is not just aimed at porters, but also the civilians in the office, on dispatch, reception or the Help Desk. They are part of the team too.
The first step is simply to start thinking about it, talking about it and building a model in your minds. Remember, nobody knows how to do our job better than ourselves. We can achieve this. Whether we will is not known, but if we don’t try then the outcome is certain.
Porters forever!
Ben
Ben Emlyn-Jones
Level 1 Porter
Level 1 Main Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
Tel=07706084980
benthejrporter@hotmail.com
http://www.hpanwo.blogspot.com/
22/9/07
Dear Brother or Sister Porter,
I’m writing to you because you’ve expressed to me a desire to know more about the JRHPC- the John Radcliffe Hospital Porters’ Company (We can think of a better name later!) I’ve decided to set up the JRHPC because of the possibility in the future that the Trust management might try to sell our service out to a private contractor. Anyone who was portering at the JR during the Mediclean era will probably agree that that would be a tragedy, both for ourselves and the patients. We simply cannot let this happen. This is not on the cards at the present time because of our current employment with the NHS-Carillion Partnership; we talking long-term possibilities here, but I think it’s wise to prepare now, so that we can act quickly if the danger arises.
The JRHPC is a provisional organization, not a trading business, but if it needs to become a trading business it can do so immediately as long as all the organization and planning work is done. We need to think and talk to each other about what the JRHPC will be like. We need to make a business plan, sort out any administration structures and find out what our rights and obligations would be as an independent healthcare provider to the modern NHS. We need to find and enroll people with the knowledge to help us. Maybe in a while we should hold a meeting, but in the meantime we can talk to each other informally face-to-face. You can also email each other or use the forum on my website (see the links column on the left). There are many obstacles to overcome and no guarantees of success, but hopefully it will never be necessary to even face those obstacles.
One of the first and biggest choices we’ll need to make is whether we want to be part of the JRHPC as an employee or a shareholder. It’s too soon to say which will make us better off financially, but there’s no doubt that the more of us are shareholders, the more democratic and self-empowered the business will be. If we all end up as equal shareholders then it will become a workers’ cooperative. This would be the ideal situation in my opinion because I’ve researched workers’ cooperatives (see my website) and can understand how much better they are than conventional businesses where there are only a handful of shareholders and everyone else just takes a wage without owning a stake in the company, being just a cog in the machine. People in worker’s cooperatives are healthier, happier and more productive and efficient. For them work is a creative experience, not just a necessary chore that must be done to survive. If we end up winning the contract and make a success of it then the idea might catch on in other hospitals and even beyond! What we’re doing here may one day change the world!
As I said above, there’s no rush to do this. We can take our time and get it right. The JRHPC is a provisional organization for a hypothetical situation and nobody will have to fork out a penny at the present time. But everyone is welcome to join and if anyone who doesn’t receive this letter wants to, let me know. The JRHPC membership is not just aimed at porters, but also the civilians in the office, on dispatch, reception or the Help Desk. They are part of the team too.
The first step is simply to start thinking about it, talking about it and building a model in your minds. Remember, nobody knows how to do our job better than ourselves. We can achieve this. Whether we will is not known, but if we don’t try then the outcome is certain.
Porters forever!
Ben
Stephen Greer Article
The Stephen Greer article in Nexus, the one I mentioned last month, is now available online. Here it is as promised:
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/CirclesOfPower.html
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/CirclesOfPower.html
Bin Laden the "Synthespian"
Digital images of cinema characters that are becoming so lifelike as computer technology develops that they’re becoming hard to distinguish from real people. These ultra-lifelike CGI images are called “synthespians”. They’ve already been used as stunt doubles in many films. They’ve played Hobbits hanging from rocks over undergrounds chasms in Lord of the Rings. They’ve played legions of soldiers in Hamlet and stood in for Sylvester Stallone when he rides a motorbike across the sky in Judge Dredd. A talking cat in Stuart Little and a man being eaten by a dinosaur in Jurassic Park. One of the best examples is in Forrest Gump where Tom Hank’s character is seen shaking hands and talking to President Kennedy. This was done in the early 90’s; technology today is way ahead of even that! When Oliver Reed suddenly died during the filming of Gladiator, the producers filmed the rest of his scenes with a digital reproduction of Oliver Reed’s character adapted from screen tests and previous shots. There was one part where he had a thick beard which they pasted onto a later shot in another location giving it different lighting effects and even digitally shaving his beard off!
A time could even come when real actors could be out of a job! Synthespians don’t need paying, they don’t need to eat or sleep and you can make them do whatever you like in a single take. They don't develop drug addictions and embarrass people with sex scandals. They can also do things real actors can’t; they can fly in the air, sink into the ground, change shape and star in many of the dangerous scenes that would put a real stuntman in danger. Check out this example of a Polish synthespian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGabt1IRwCE&mode=related&search=
Bearing in mind all this, why are we so quick to believe that this is real?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHKDASKChI
We don’t even need to speculate about hidden technology from secret govt laboratories! We see the means to fake it every time we go to the flicks!
A time could even come when real actors could be out of a job! Synthespians don’t need paying, they don’t need to eat or sleep and you can make them do whatever you like in a single take. They don't develop drug addictions and embarrass people with sex scandals. They can also do things real actors can’t; they can fly in the air, sink into the ground, change shape and star in many of the dangerous scenes that would put a real stuntman in danger. Check out this example of a Polish synthespian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGabt1IRwCE&mode=related&search=
Bearing in mind all this, why are we so quick to believe that this is real?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHKDASKChI
We don’t even need to speculate about hidden technology from secret govt laboratories! We see the means to fake it every time we go to the flicks!
Friday, 21 September 2007
That's just the way things are."
Really the solid-sphere-fixed-size model of the Earth has more to do with the "it just is" factor than reasoning. We "know" that the Earth is a solid sphere of fixed volume because that's what our teachers told us at school. We have little or no means to test this theory personally seeing as NASA and the scientific and astronomical authorities control all the data from space, the USGS and similar organizations control all the geological data. The polar regions are uninhabited and have a very hostile climate; together with the tight military control it's impossible to know if there are holes at the poles or not. Through this process theory magically becomes fact.
It reminds me of the scene in the movie "Babe" where the little pig asks his sheep dog step-mother, Fly "Why aren't pigs allowed in the house, Mum?" and Fly replies: "That's just the way things are." Of course when Fly was a puppy she asked her own mother the same question and got the same answer. Analyse what that means: Values and paradigms are upheld groundlessly from generation to generation because they go unquestioned. Children are discouraged from challenging them and when they grow up they reprimand their own kids for challenging them. So let's do away with these imprisoning phrases: "It just is" and "that's just the way things are." Let's pretend we're all children and all accepted values are open to scrutiny. How many of them exist for a good reason and how many are there just out of habit and dogma?
The SSFS model of the Earth is just one example. If you can think of any more post them as a comment. I can name one already: "Being a hospital porter is not as good as being a nurse or doctor".
It reminds me of the scene in the movie "Babe" where the little pig asks his sheep dog step-mother, Fly "Why aren't pigs allowed in the house, Mum?" and Fly replies: "That's just the way things are." Of course when Fly was a puppy she asked her own mother the same question and got the same answer. Analyse what that means: Values and paradigms are upheld groundlessly from generation to generation because they go unquestioned. Children are discouraged from challenging them and when they grow up they reprimand their own kids for challenging them. So let's do away with these imprisoning phrases: "It just is" and "that's just the way things are." Let's pretend we're all children and all accepted values are open to scrutiny. How many of them exist for a good reason and how many are there just out of habit and dogma?
The SSFS model of the Earth is just one example. If you can think of any more post them as a comment. I can name one already: "Being a hospital porter is not as good as being a nurse or doctor".
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