Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
The Best Way Is Always Through. (Robert Frost) An ancient building in the middle of nowhere. Now it is a luxury housing development. In 1985 when I entered its austere walls I suddenly found myself in a 40 bedded psychiatric ward amongst people of all ages and experiencing the most severe forms of mental illness. […]
“We can only hope for the success of outreach global projects, against the backdrop of increasingly isolationist countries, like the UK. Anything other than full global vaccination, along with other and ongoing measures to suppress the virus is pointless.” We approached December 2020 with UK wide trepidation, already sea-sick from the swell of tiers and […]
The New Year will be here soon, how about we try to have a little bit of empathy for one another, how about we don’t equate trans people with child abusers, just for one day, or forever, and how about we spread that peace, love and joy we talk so much about at this time […]
People fear what they don’t understand, they fear change based on things they don’t understand. With fear our logic and rationality go out the window, and we use our biases to understand and ‘rationalise’ things so our mind can process the information, this information then becomes our reality. This is never clearer than in conversations […]
Today, learners who studied S.Q.A. National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher courses during the 2019/2020 academic session received their grades. Yet, for the first time, these results are not down to how students performed in a final one-off exam (itself already a problematic approach), rather gradings are the result of predictions by teachers in high […]
There’s a wistfulness in the air. We’re no longer marvelling at clear skies above China and translucent blue canals in Venice. We’re watching from behind the sofa as death rates continue to rise around the globe, and fluctuations occur, leading to second, or even third wave and Lockdown periods, such as in Hong Kong and […]
I think it is a dangerous sign of our times that conspiracy theory is becoming increasingly prevalent on our Scottish social media, than actual, solid material fact. Ungagged asked me for my opinion on the state of Scottish politics. I am really not that qualified to do so. I am old, I suppose and I […]
“It is poverty that robs children of life chances be they health, education, unsafe communities, food insecurity and poor housing.” Schools have now been closed for the vast majority of children since 20th March. They won’t be re opening until August at the earliest. Coronavirus has dominated the headlines from a health point of view […]
Apart from moaning and complaining about politics, I spend a lot of my time at my day job preparing Chinese youngsters for future exams (and life in general). I’m a primary school teacher at a foreign language school in Xiamen, on the South East coast of China. As you would imagine, there are some interesting […]
“We have a responsibility as a nation to build a better tomorrow for our children.” Where have all the children gone? Where are the separate briefings that concentrate solely on the impact of Coronavirus and the lockdown on the nation’s children? They do get a passing mention occasionally thanking them for their patience and acknowledging […]