Easter Sunday sunshine

It’s Easter Sunday, the sun’s shining and I’m thinking about photography. I haven’t had a good Sunday afternoon taking pictures for some time. If you’re wondering about today’s picture, those are places around where I live.

I did remember to put my clocks on an hour, last night. I even remembered the central heating and so didn’t freeze when I got out of bed this morning. Tomorrow, is April 1st, I need a good joke for tomorrow’s post. Maybe the fresh air this afternoon will jolt my brain cells to life and I’ll think of a good one.

This week a lot of benefit reforms will start. Kids who have their own bedrooms will be wondering if they will have to move into a flat and share a room with a sibling. Pets could end up homeless, because pets aren’t allowed in many flats. Children will also lose their gardens to play in. They will have to go and play in the local communal areas and learn how to use a spray can and resist the advances of the perverts and weirdo’s. It will be a whole new education for them. They will probably have to change schools too, that will be exciting. Then there will likely be new exotic smells in their new multi cultural neighbourhood to enjoy.

I’m not really religious, but if I remember correctly, the bible uses the word charity a lot. It doesn’t mean dropping a couple of pesetas in a charity tin, it means being charitable; giving people the benefit of the doubt. The government isn’t giving benefit claimants the benefit of the doubt this Easter. They think they are all skivers; benefit scrounging scum, to be tested and found fit for work by that reviled French company with it’s multi-million pound contract; Atos Healthcare. At the same time they are giving gays and lesbians the benefit of the doubt and claiming their behaviour is ‘normal’ and so they should be allowed to marry. They already have civil partnerships, but want the blessings of the church. The church doesn’t want to give it’s blessings, that seems reasonable to me and most people would agree; but we can’t be seen to discriminate can we? The government is going to discriminate against many people on the grounds of class and even race  now it wants to cut lower class immigration. Homosexuality does transcend the class system, in fact politics seems to be the preferred career choice.

The news story that really bothered me this week was about that teenage girl who was killed by a pack of dogs in Greater Manchester. I find it hard to imagine a worse death than being torn apart by a pack of dogs in a frenzy for blood. We need proper legislation now. These crazy, insecure people that need a large dog or a powerful dog have a dangerous weapon, just as dangerous as a gun or a knife. We should ban these breeds and everyone should keep their dogs on a lead in public. No saying he wouldn’t harm a fly, dogs aren’t too smart and neither are many of the owners.

I wonder if this new NHS hotline will be a Freephone number or 0845. Will they answer the phone or will we be put on hold? It could cut the number of people going to Accident and Emergency because they are sick and frightened. New Cross A&E at Wolverhampton was at breaking point this week and appealed for genuine emergencies only. Family doctors could be more accessible too, that would take the strain off accident and emergency departments.

I’ve often wondered about contracts for traffic calming where I live, they all seem to go to the same company. It makes you wonder who in that company knows who on the local council. It now seems the new Clinical Commissioning Groups in the NHS are awarding contracts that make people wonder who knows whom. The only way to prevent corruption is for transparency and a clear and unequivocal notion  that conflicts of interest will be avoided like the plague. There appears to be far too much nodding and winking in government, both national and local. It seems endemic in the NHS too.

The sun’s still shining and so I might get some decent photos today. Lunch is half cooked and so I’ll put a few litres of petrol in the car and I’ll be away! I’m not quite sure where I’ll go, but there is always something to photograph without going too far. We have a rich history here. BBC radio WM asked for pictures to be tweeted to them yesterday and I sent a photo of a lock-keepers cottage that attracted a little local interest.

Do you have any thought on today’s issues? Please comment and share your thoughts.

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