Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 64
December 27, 2012
Irving Unleashed... A Revealing Conversation with Terry Irving
The last time I met with Mr Terry Irving we spent a lot of time talking about his career. This time I had a lot of mail from people asking to know more about the man. Let me take you to a cold winter evening in 2012. Terry was busy– but anxious to get the interview started. The tape rolls as follows…
Another fantastic interview with Mr. Terry Irving
WAS THIS HISTORY'S WICKEDEST WOMAN?
Reblogged from LOOKING FOR MR GOODSTORY:
the wickedest woman in history?
When people think of bad, bad women they perhaps think of Isabella the First – the woman who commissioned Torquemada – or Bloody Queen Mary, the scourge of Protestant England.
Few people have heard of Hürrem Haseki Sultan, or Roxelana, as she is better known in Europe.
Yet she made Anne Boleyn, one of her contemporaries, look like an underachiever.
December 24, 2012
Christmas Comes but Once a Year
Christmas time is upon us once again. I love this time of year, and even though it is fairly mild out, and it is raining instead of snowing, the fact that it is Christmas overpowers it all.
That being said, we are having a somewhat unconventional Christmas this year, as we have decided to decorate. We spent the last two evenings painting the living room walls, and while we will take a break for these two days and enjoy time with the family, we will be straight back to applying the finishing touches on Thursday. I was also busy laying some stones in the garden. I pulled up all the dead trees and plants back in the summer, but never had the time or the money to cover it with the stones. I got 250 kg down yesterday and will pick up the next 500 kg tomorrow and get that down also.
The main children’s time of year in Holland is December 5th, and so these two days are not as busy with Father Christmas as in other parts of the world, otherwise I would never have done any of this. The tree is up and lights have been hung, so the Christmas spirit is alive and well. In fact, as I write this, three of the kids are awake and so Christmas songs will be played.
Pictures of the finished house and garden will of course follow, but for now, I shall sign off by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Have a great day with your friends and family… eat, drink and be merry one and all.
December 23, 2012
David Dennis– Disregarded? Not anymore!
After reading the new bestseller “Disregarded: The True Story of the Failure of the UK’s Work Programme”, I knew I had to interview expose genius David Dennis. Not only did the book hit a chord with me, it has also hit a chord with readers and is currently flying high in the Amazon.co.uk chart. David is a curious guy, he doesn’t like to show his face. I asked him for a photo to include with this interview. He declined to share one and said he is choosing to remain anonymous. I asked him why, and thus our conversation began.
Q) So, tell me, why don’t you want your face out there? Your name will be on everyone’s lips soon. This book is hot! Don’t you want to be famous?
A) I’m not concerned about being famous, Alex. This book was written for the millions out there who are suffering and unemployed. Millions of faces, men and women, all different. Just one face can’t represent everyone or take credit for a small part in trying to improve things.
Q) David, how does it feel, now that you’ve got a hit on your hands to be away from the “Work Programme”.
A) Well, Alex, I guess it’s not exactly apt to say that I am away from it. It still haunts me and it makes me feel sick when I think of all those other people having to go and slave away day after day for the sake of a few quid.
Q) By “a few quid”, you really mean millions that are heading into the pockets of private companies – companies that could well afford to hire and pay employees to work for them.
A) Exactly– private companies are milking our taxpayers of money and our unemployed of their dignity to make vast profits. It’s disgusting to say the least and illegal to say the most.
Q) Illegal? Didn’t a court say it was legal?
A) A court might have said it was legal, but I think the definition of slavery fits like a glove. To work for your ‘benefit’ is to work for something like £71 a week. That isn’t a wage anyone would ‘choose’ to work for. Now, if the companies were happy to add in the rest to make it up to a living wage, that might be a fair deal people would agree with. There’s got to be some leeway given. Somebody has got to give and the unemployed have given too much as it is. It’s the private companies’ turn to put some money into the coffers if they want the benefit of workers.
Q) You believe those on benefits should get them for nothing then?
A) Of course not. I believe there should be a programme where people learn skills and get experience the fair way. REAL help needs to be offered. I do not believe sending people into a multi-billion pound company to stack shelves for free is in any way beneficial to those on the programme– it only serves to help a rich company that’s already rich.
Instead, let’s start getting people into university, college and supporting them through it. Let’s bring back jobs for people– real jobs. The government are paying their private training companies up to £14,000 for every single person on the work programme, over and above the cost of their regular dole. Couldn’t less money be spent sending people through college courses, university or other programmes where we would see a higher return? The way I see it, the unemployed are becoming less employable with every passing day on the work programme. I believe everyone can have productive work, work they enjoy and are fulfilled by, and I think it’s unfair to tar those genuinely unemployed with the same brush used to tar ‘layabouts’.
Q) So Dennis, you believe there are ‘layabouts’ milking the system?
A) I do, and I know that there are more than a few out there. The government has every right to try and keep those people from sucking precious monies from the public purse. But should it be to the detriment of those actually trying to find work? No, absolutely not.
Q) How many people did you actually meet who found work on the programme?
A) (laughs) Found work? None. Sanctioned– many.
Q) Sanctioned?
A) The sanction is the way the government and the system control the jobseekers– if they don’t do as they’re told, then they just cut the money off. If you miss an appointment or you’re ill, you can be sanctioned. Then, how are you meant to survive? There are “crisis loans” available, but good luck getting one. It’s a fear-based, bullying system.
Q) So, you believe the government are willingly cutting people off from benefits and squeezing them to try and make them drop off?
A) Well, I don’t remember saying that, but, yes if you’d like to put it that way– yes– I think there are probably mandates out there that ask the Job Centre to cut people off as much as possible.
Q) What’s the difference between the Job Centre and the work programme?
A) The Job Centre is one of those things that we all know about. It’s the first stop. You go in and see an advisor and they, on the whole, do try to help put you on the right track towards finding a new job. They have targets and regulations, but on the whole, they are pretty straight up and if you follow the basic rules, you receive your dole payment without issue.
The “Work Programme” is something else altogether. I think you could sum it up quite easily as ‘forced labour’. You are sent into a work placement, whether you want to or not; whether it suits your skills or not; and you work. For free. I’ve heard some horror stories and I, myself, had an awful time.
The other part is the “Work Programme” scheme to teach people supposed new skills and help them to write CV’s. The training centre I attended was a complete waste of time. The turnover of staff seemed as though there was a revolving door. The CV’s are useless and to my knowledge sending an architect to a basic maths course is just a weak way to waste money.
Q) Care to elaborate?
A) Sure. I was sent to a placement at a leading gardening store and was shown a health and safety video– then I was sent out to work in a busy warehouse without protective clothing– gloves or the like– legally mandated by health and safety law. When I complained, I was told it was too expensive and we didn’t need them.
As for the architect in one of my classes– there were also health and safety officers, accountants and other professionals sitting through a very basic maths course and to my knowledge many are still doing the same course six months on. As I said– it’s just a way to keep bodies in seats so these training companies can keep charging the government.
Q) Can you tell me which store?
A) The name doesn’t matter. Take your pick. I have heard horror stories from charity shops, supermarkets– you name it and it’s been heard of. As far as I can see, it’s the same across the board, no matter which store it is.
Q) So what do you intend to do now?
A) I am promoting the book. I have several interviews lined up. I had a journalist call me the other day offering to set up a TV interview– the works. I can’t wait– I want to fight for those guys who have no one to fight for them. I believe people should have freedom and choice. If you are unemployed then you shouldn’t automatically become a slave to the system. You should be assisted to find a career that is right for you.
Q) How does the programme affect working people?
A) Good question. Well, as you know, Slavery was abolished many years ago. If we bring back slavery– who will want to pay people to work? This system is bringing down wages across the board. The end effect will be simple– more people will become unemployed and then be thrown in as slave workers. The government will create a wider gap between the rich and the poor. The middle class will disappear and years of hard work will be thrown down the drain.
Q) I believe you are very brave to even attempt to sell this book. There are people out there who are going to call you a liar.
A) Alex, I know, and there always are. The truth is in the book and if people want to insist that those on benefits are having a great time, I suggest they try it for themselves. Let the Tories go down and work at supermarkets and perhaps they would be kind enough to give their real, well-paid job to a work programme worker. I can tell you, there are qualified people out there who would be able to do it just as well. I don’t believe all this crud about “knowing your place”. The world is there for those who want it– the world is everyone’s– it doesn’t just belong to those guys with huge bank accounts.
Q) Have you got another book in mind?
A) Yes. I am half tempted to compile case-study interviews with people who went through the “Work Programme”. It would be an interesting eye-opener for all those who say that my experience was some sort of aberration. Let people see what real people are going through and let’s give everyone a voice.
Q) Are you a ‘Working Class Hero’?
A) No. John Lennon was a working class hero. I am just a guy who wants people to be treated fairly. I don’t believe in sitting at home on my arse all day. I believe in work and let’s get people into jobs that will give them a fair lifestyle. Let them add to the economy and let them enjoy the prosperity others enjoy.
Q) Thanks, David, I better let you go, you seem to be pretty busy!
A) I have got a long road ahead of me spreading the word of the silent majority and I intend to see it through to the end.
David was busy with other interviews at the time. I spent enough time with him to realise that he has a story here that is growing daily. His book is a hit and he himself is certainly driven enough to realise it. I wanted to give you a taste of what this guy is like. I have read the book and I know it’s a good one. Find it here and then tell David what you think of it.
Facebook page: Disregarded: The True Story of the Failure of the UK’s Work Programme
"Lisa Doolittle" goes from Stripper to Writer- An Interview with Eve Littlepage
A few days ago I was looking for an interview that really interested me. I had just finished an great interview with Tom Blubaugh and needed something special to continue with. An open call on several Facebook pages brought a huge amount of material. I found myself reading some very interesting interviews with some very interesting people– then I received an email from Eve.
December 19, 2012
Tom Blubaugh in 877 words
What can I say about Tom Blubaugh? Well he says a whole lot during this interview. I guess I can add a few things though. Tom is a man of few words– yet each word is thought out and methodical. Not a chatterbox– a thinker. Tom is one of those guys who has so much to say– but says only what he needs to.
December 18, 2012
Let’s Look at the Numbers
I know it is a little early in the month to be doing any sort of review on things, but hey, the world is set to end in two days, and well, I wanted to get a post written for today but had a lack of any concrete ideas, and thought this would be a nice easy post.
This website is approaching two years of age. I started it in February 2011 which is frightening enough in itself. That first year, I ended with 5000 views, and I was delighted. I saw a steady increase each month in the number of visitors I received each day, the number of comments and social media shares, not to mention followers.
When 2012 began I had no idea what to expect, but hoped to better the 5000 of the debut year. I am now sitting on over 20,000 views for this year, a staggering increase if may say so myself.
Sure, these numbers are not groundbreaking, but they are very much a positive reflection of the work I do. I am delighted, and have already got plans in my head for how to increase traffic next year.
I am a big fan of the phrase ‘Aim big or go home’ and so I am setting myself the target of 100,000 views in 2013. It might be a long shot, but hey, I like a challenge. Besides, with my books coming out this year, it should give me an even larger platform to stand upon.
December 16, 2012
Language that Was
When George Orwell penned his novel 1984, and created the character of Si; the man who, tells the reader about the Inner Party’s plan to reduce language further and further, issuing reduced dictionaries, eliminating words until there are only the absolute minimum of words remaining with which to communicate, I doubt even Orwell could have imagined how true that would be.
Putting aside the technology of flat screens, CCTV and webcams, all of which can be found within this wonderful work of fiction (?), it is the clear prediction of the destruction of language that strikes me as being the most accurate.
I may be biased because of my nationality, but I think that the English language is the best in the world. It is expressive and can be used to conjure images and scenes far more romantic that even the most dashing of Frenchmen could conceive, and whose poetic nature could rival the most romantic of Arabic phrases.
It can bring laughter and sorrow within the same sentence, humor and horror so close together, yet so separate. I will hold off from going into my love of language any deeper than this, for while I am a big fan of tangents, and we have been known to enjoy many a wandering together, I am keen to keep this post as succinct as possible.
Jump forward almost 65 years (for 1984 was written in 1948) and take a look around. We have mobiles, text message, whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook: all manner of non-verbal communication which actively encourages us to use simplified words and broken sentences, all for the sake of turning messages into anorexic shells of real communication saving characters, and quickening all forms of interaction to make room for the rest of the crap we pack into our lives.
I lose track of the comments I see on Facebook – not posted by my friends, but rather around and about on various links and what have you – which are written in such a faint and corrupted shadow of the English language that they border on the illegible. Yet, these are messages written by people who are literate; people who, if you look at their profiles, have the capabilities of writing in real sentences, but choose to write in this bastardized Twenty-First century language – perhaps we should call it “English-lite”.
I can accept the removing of vowels from some words, to meet Twitter standards, just about. Please do not confuse my acceptance with any form of approval. What really gets me is misspelling words for no reason, or spelling them phonetically. What is the point; we are hobbling our ability to communicate. A powerful vocabulary is a wonderful tool, and can at times be our greatest weapon. We should not be looking to reduce the words, but rather find more of them; words that can truly deliver nuance and emotion The greater our vocabulary, the better we will be at expressing ourselves – even in these short, succinct online statements.
There is never any reason (or excuse) for abusing the English language. Facebook and Blog comments / conversations are not limited enough to warrant this sort of slovenly writing. I would not write something in such a manner and would not expect people to comment with it either. If you don’t have the time to write in proper English, then why have you wasted what precious seconds you have with any response at all? Sure, I may have grammatical errors in my posts, but that is because I do not have the luxury of a large amount of free time. I write my posts early in the morning, more often than not surrounded by children. However, I do make an effort not to sacrifice vocabulary in the ever-increasing need for speed.
(I know, grammar is just as important, but I am not on that soapbox today)
As we move from 2012 and into another new year, let us all make a resolution, to keep language alive. It serves us well in all walks of life, and deserves to have the chance to not merely exist… but to shine. It should not just be used to communicate but to uplift us and hold us in rapture with its lyrical magic.
Many people are talking about the Mayan calendar, but to my mind – rather like the Death card in the Tarot deck – it does not predict an ending, but rather a change, a change for the better, and what could be a more fitting way to start than ceasing the mindless destruction of words.
For all the great things he has provided us, let us not allow Orwell to be right about this, I implore you.
December 13, 2012
Meet Terry Irving...
Terry Irving is one of those guys you can meet and instantly be drawn into. He has done it all and if he hasn’t done it then he’s read about it– from bartender to Emmy Award winning news producer. Terry gave me one of his rare interviews this week. He was happy to oblige and I was happy to listen.
A very interesting interview with Emmy Award winner Terry Irving
December 12, 2012
Dealing with Offense--When is It Okay to Lecture Others?
Reblogged from Kristen Lamb's Blog:
Welcome to my humble home…
Happy Wednesday, everyone! Social media is becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives, and this means that we are coming into contact with more people than ever before. We do more socializing on Facebook than we do in person, but the impersonal nature of technology can get us into trouble if we aren’t careful.
As always, a wonderful post Kristen Lamb
