16.00 Twenty years ago I attended an a top management course, primarily for business executives from around the world with an interest un general management, at a time when I had toyed considered become a chief executive and where at the end of which I was sounded out about becoming the chief executive of an a local authority which did not then provide a socials services function. For various reasons I decided to stick to my knitting and concentrate more on my creative abilities and interests in a back role rather a more up front leadership shoot for the moon, if not the starts, role. The whole course was designed to enable participants to understand more about their individual managerial strengths and weaknesses and how to construct an effective managerial team capable of winning performance in what was rapidly becoming a one form global economy. Six months after attending the course and digesting its material I prepared an over paper on what I thought were the implications for of the message for local government and sent the paper to a number of interests including a member of the then conservative cabinet, who decided that it was of sufficient interest to circulate around Whitehall.
During the course we had had heard from executives of major business and financial organisations and one of these employed a large number of researchers to develop new products as well as improving existing products to meet market conditions. These researchers were the life blood of the international company which was always on the look out for new developments which might become a 100 million dollar business enterprise which was then the model for a successful component part of its global interests. Within the research and development wing of the organisations was a small group of carefully selected creatives whose ideas could at times be no more than fanciful, but from this group also came the majority of new products which achieved the 100 million dollar market share benchmark for success. There was only one problem, a big one, the most inventive and original the creative the greater the unconventionality of their work and general approach to life, including their own set of rules to live by, and disregard for those laid down by society, churches and governments. It was therefore important for the hiring company to understand that such individual could become a liability in several ways, from selling out to a high bidder, to doing things in such a way which could damage the whole company and therefore it was important to have on standby those who could quickly eliminate trace of the involvement of an individual who crossed over the line in a damaging way.
All this came back to mind when this afternoon I decided to watch the film Michael Clayton on Sky Box office. If you do not know something of story beforehand it is important pay close attention to the beginning of the film because there are a series apparently disconnected scenes which only are explained later. The theme of the film is a familiar one. An international corporation finds itself involved in class action having caused cancer in the claimants. The company possesses a document signed at the highest levels which confirms their responsibility and therefore the objective is to use the legal processes to minimise the financial damages and on the advice advise of the their chief Counsel they hire what appears to be a medium size corporate law firm of between 500 to 600 which means it is not an International firm, so while it can handle a several billion dollar law suit it does involve putting all its eggs in the one basket. Failure reach a settlement which satisfies its client it will be a dead duck in the market place. The tactic in such instances is to ensure that the process of settlement takes over half a decade. This wears down the claimants, sometimes breaking the supporting lawyers of the claimant especially as this usually involves a no win no fee exercise, and if this does not work the claimants will eventually settle for an amount the company can stand, and sue confidentiality agreements to restrict the damage to the long term prospects the company as the agreement with be on the basis of not accepting liability.
The lawyer responsible for building the defence is played by Tom Wilkinson who has a nervous breakdown. The cause of the nervous break down is that eh has discovered that the company is guilty but also knows that it is guilty and proposes to use incriminating document he has discovered. When the Company's chief Council played by Oscar and Bafta award winning Tilda Swinton. She has one of those conversions with the company's fixers, the independent operatives who job it is to sort out the problems which can arise and which I referred to earlier. Being fiction, of course nothing like this happens in real life, they maintain surveillance on the legal firm the company appointed to help them and when they realise the chief worker has get hold of the evidence and is prepared to use against their employers, the Chief Counsel gives them authority to solve the problem once and for all. The problem is Michael Clayton played by the aging George Clooney. He is the fixer for the firm of lawyers and this means he is constantly getting his hands dirty. He is divorced but has regular contacts with his son, and for once the film includes a scene involved a grand parent and the extended family. Despite being the best at what eh does and consequently well paid, Mr Clayton has two problems which send him over the line between right and wrong. He has squandered his income on illegal card games although it is not clear if this is in response to the break up of his marriage or his natural propensity as a creative to push the envelop and constantly test his abilities against the rest of the world and expecting always to win. In one seminal moment he tells us that he is not going to be the kind of loser who finds that life is constantly dumping excrement all over him without cause. The other more pressing problem is that Michael has put up half the cash, all his savings, to help his brother who is among other things an addicts to set himself up with a bar. Alas the brother has raised his share from the mob, the bar is not a success and he mob want their money share back. As a consequence his own firm buy him off not knowing, perhaps they do that, that Clayton has to be dealt with as well as well as the lawyer with a conscience, now that is a Hollywood rarity. Michael escapes, gives the impression that he has died in the bomb which blows up his car and uses his force police force connections, his father was a cop, to achieve justice and the retribution. Well folks you have to believe that corporate and legal wrong doing is an aberration of the capitalist system and not embedded otherwise well you might begin to question the system and start putting Christianity into practice.
10.00 I have woken full of indecision about my day as I am tied to the house until the camcorder is collected for repair. The Sky Box office there is Michael Clayton and Atonement both Oscar nominated films which I have wanted to see but missed at the cinema for one reason or tother. There is on going and household accounts work although the supply of info for the tax man is slow is coming. I remain interested in the brief view of the long history of Calne, Wiltshire, England of Gibraltar and Andalusia, of Malta, of Genoa, and Surrey, where my family origins are understood or have been shown to have been rooted, looking connections ad explanations for what occurred to us as a family, and out of simple curiosity. I also have correspondence of different kinds requiring, meriting or which I would like to give attention, I have a good run recently in Hearts bringing the winning percentage from 14 to which it had dropped from 18 back to 16 and which included a run of three wins to the loss streak of twenty five. Alas progress on level two chess has not been as good with the highest run 47 games and two runs in the mid twenties, one coming to an irreversible end
10.15 My day has been reshaped by the early collection of the camcorda. It is cold and dampy outside. I enjoying playing with words from time to time. The interest which is now foremost is the realization that most of what has called Western Europe appears to have jumped from its primitive hunting, fishing, warring and cannibalistic lifestyle into cultivation of land and herding of live stock, the creation of burial mounds and burrows, places of worship using stonework, some with astrological significance, the development of wooden hill forts, then made of stone, the development of communities from villages into towns and cities, and the attempt to understand the nature of the visible world through observation and exploration, the memorising and recording of events, the development of economic and political management as well as military, not from the enlightenment and experimentation of the indigenous beings, the home sapiens of Western Europe but from the migrations of the, Greeks,, the Phoenicians and then the Romans, who moved northward in much the same manner as the ..early settlers on the east coast of Canada and the U.S.A then moved northward and south westwards, first by the rivers, then across country, including exploring the mountain passes, turning tracks into roads and then the impact of the railway, and then the, plane and then beyond the planet.
12.20 The spirits are low as the morning walk to Smiths was physical struggle, it was cold and the damp turned to rain as the house was approached. It is my fault for buy a house on the brow of a hill but I would not have it otherwise. The present plan is to watch Flog and the news and then one of the two Oscar films, Michael Clayton I think and later the Yes Minster DVD with America Idol result show and I suspect one of the lasses to go and then there were six. I will print some ancient stuff from the internet, have the stir fry for lunch and do one of the pineapples. Banana and custard with the salad this evening. Some letters via email and await the post.
13.55 beginning to feel better with myself after a good meal and the appearance of the young man from Carlisle with the voice that brings tears to your eyes has now been features on Look North TV now that is fame when the BBC is prepared to buy stuff from ITV. Obviously the lad and his mother has now got management. For a moment it looked as if I was not going to able to watch the film as I needed to my code which I could not find. I rang up Sky and it was fixed, moreover the lass said is there anything else I can help you with. I was tempted but I resisted.
23.59 Rest of day roundup I begin with Yes Minister. I never tire of watching the brilliantly scripted exchanges between Paul Eddington Jim Hacker and the extraordinary Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby and a young Derek Fowlds as Bernard Woolley as they say everything there is to say about what Cabinet Government and the role of the top Civil service was like in the early 1980's. I suspect Number Ten Downing Street became more like West Wing in the Times of Thatcher and Blair and I suspect some of the recent government disasters would not have happened if there were more Sir Humphrey's still around, than I suspect there are. The first episode of the second series in 1981 The Compassionate Society, summoned up all the worst aspects of the NHS in the sixties and early seventies. The episode concerned the discovery of a new 1000 bed hospital which had been completed for 18 months and was full of administrators, clerks, cleaners, some 500 in total, because if financial restraint there were no doctors or nurses and therefore no patients. Everyone in government and Health administration could see the positive aspects oft his situation which enabled the hospital to be run efficiently and sort out teething troubles which occur with every new building. The problem was that it was likely to be another year before the first patients could be admitted. I once attended the national conference of AWHA as the official representative of the Association of Child Care Officer and AWHA : The Association of Welfare and Hospital Administrators, which then run on Masonic lines and where in the sixties and early seventies administrators were often members of the Local Lodge. The trouble was that the administrators inhabited their own world and as did the Consultants although the top ones would sometimes meet together on the golf course or at the Lodge with nurses and patients regarded as being on a different planet. The memory of that conference was the dressing down given by the representative of the Association of Children's Officer about the attitude of AWHA towards professionalism and social work, a foretaste of the battles between child acre and welfare to come and which child care was to lose to the disadvantage of children in need over the next three decades. In the Compassionate Society the Government is under pressure to take in 1000 Cuban refugees but has not got the resources to fund their placement until the obvious solution of moving them into the hospital occurs to the Minister.. Hacker's finest hour me thinks. Goodness Gracious me 1000 migrants into the country in one year. Now those were the days.
(Listening to BB King Sweet Sixteen, Johnny Guitar Wat, Cutting In is a great track which I have not heard before of the artist and I will use this note to find out more about him sometime. Robert Johnson Kind Hearted Woman was good to hear again. Freddie King, Let the Good times Roll. Jessie Mae Hemphill is another artist whose name was unknown but I liked her rendering of Standing by my door. Guy Davis also had a good version of Step it up and Go as did Johnny Winter of Mean Town Blues.)
It is tempting to think that no one in Blair administration had seen the second episode in the second series Doing the Honours before the Cash for Honours issue came to the fore. The programme was created in the days when it was normal for those with money to make substantial donation to Oxbridge Colleges to create their own immorality or perhaps get a place for a relative who would otherwise not gain entry. Of course such things do not occur to day, for as the government survey has shown perhaps only a quarter of schools have been requesting ongoing financial donations from parents to jump the queue. The other déjà vu aspect was the decision to make overseas students pay the full whack of fees which would mean the college in question having to cram in British students to make up the loss of income. Nowadays most universities rely on an increasing chunk of overseas students to help fund their expansion and everyone in the UK outside of Scotland has to pay a greater part of their tuition fees with student loans. In this episode the emphasis is how to persuade his departmental heads to find 5% in real savings so he takes up his P.A's idea to withhold their nomination for honours unless they do. I cannot remember if it was in this episode or one of the others that Ministers is disturbed to find that the cut in staff numbers has been achieved by altering the way the numbers are presented. But Minister you did say you wanted the numbers cut, Humphrey complains, we did not think you meant a cut in staff! As Blair and Brown have discovered you get nothing but leaks of the reality of administration if you push for real cuts in people numbers.
(Listening to Elmore James sing Find my Baby, Carol Kane, Rock you baby, Joe Louis Walker and Blue Survivor; I particularly enjoyed Snooks Eaglin with Walking Blues. Buddy Guy plays an long instrumental into dedicated to the Late T Bone Walker, Depression Blues; Aretha Franklin sounds young with I never Love a man form her Greatest hits album. Willie Mae Big Moma's version of Hound Dog is superior to the Presley. Memphis Slim. I have a 50 year old Album, sings I you see Kay, built like a coca cola bottle.)
The episode The Death List was the least successful of the series in my judgement although the subject remains contemporary. It was shown on my birthday over twenty five years ago. The Minister has joined in the building opposition to living in the surveillance society and is responsible for a petition of a couple of million signatures, which is embarrassing because he is in fact the chief bugger, ie his department has been supplying all government department's with bugging equipment. He changes his tine when he finds himself on a terrorist hit list of three because of speculation that he is to become the Minister of Defence. But goes back to his original position when he is taken off the list when the terrorists find out he is keeping his present job.
(The great Ray Charles does the Midnight Hour, which is rare for me not to celebrate. Albert King Rub my Back, Lightening Hopkins a well known blues singer to me does his version of Mojo Hand, Must get my mojo into a Blog title sometime when I get it working for me. Lady Bianca on Spendin Money)
The Greasy Pole episode covers two themes, NIMBY, not in my back yard and the art of presenting controversial information in an acceptable way. The British Chemical company is about to secure a massive Italian contract to create a new plant which they wish to build on Merseyside using an inert form of the toxin dioxin which they have re-branded as Propanol. The development will create new jobs and improve exports, When the local MP demands to know the different between the two types of Dioxin Humphrey explains that this one is not inert. The episode ends with the Minister adopting the tactics of the Permanent Secretary to outsmart him.
(Irma Lewis's Black Water Blues begins with I am get up this morning and could not get out of the door is often just as I feel. Roosevelt Sykes West Helena Blues also begins with I keep watching the Mail Box which I have been doing over the past week.
Barbara Blue, I don't need a man like that has the feel of the Blues Brother's Band. J B Hutto dies a good version of the well known Sidewinder Johnny Mars If I had this woman is a great cri de coeur of many a man at 3 am in the morning.)
The Devil You know is one of my favourites of the whole series including Yes Prime Minister because it explores the depth of the relationship between Minister and Chief Civil servant and their need fro each other. The programme centres on the offer of a job in Brussels which would effectively end Hacker's ambitions at Westminster. I once was having a drink in bar within the Palace of Westminster when a couple of Government Minister's were having a discussion about what was being on offered in the current shuffle and where the insecurity of Ministers and would eb Ministers was all too apparent such is the only power of a Prime Minister to have some control over his Government Minister's and back benchers. There is also a great quote about the EEC which most members of all political patties subscribe although most not openly and which would not get past BBC censors today because of the racist offence involved " Brussels is a shambles, " says the Minister, " You know what they say about the average Common Market official: he has the organising ability of the Italians, the flexibility of the Germans, the modesty of the French, And that's topped up by the imagination of the Belgians, the generosity of the Dutch and the intelligence of the Irish."
(Magic Sam Every night and eve; Chris Thomas King Mary Jane passed by without commanding by attention; J B Hutto Soul Lover was also OK. Saffire' School Teacher's is hilarious and would not get on most broadcast channels and is the treat of the day.)
The quality of Life highlights the quick footedness required by everyone in government. This episode should have been dedicated to deputy leaders of the Labour Party of the future who take up the offer of the police to wear a flak jacket on a walkabout! Hacker under pressure to improve his public image accepts the suggestion of his PR adviser to visit a City farm not knowing that he has signed an authorization under delegated Ministerial powers which enables the Treasury Income tax officials to take over the site for a car park. This is a clever ploy of Sit Humphrey who has been promised a seat on the board of the bank when he retires but which is in jeopardy because the Minister is opposed to the bank raising its current offices by three floors. Another classic exchange is when the Bank chief says to the Minister, "Surely a decision is a decision?" He replies, "Only if it is the decision you want. If not it is just a temporary setback."
(Tampa Red I'm, a stranger here. Charles Brown Driftin Blues is a heartfelt plea I know only too well. BB King's The Thrill is gone was my favourite. Perhaps the great blues singer was Leadbelly although the track Noted Ride is of no interest. Pinetop's Perkins instrumental version of the classic Careless Love was highly enjoyable. So was the blue shouter Koko Taylor's I got what it takes. I thought I had also, but now I not so sure)
The final episode should be subtitled He that has a secret should keep it secret that he hath a secret to keep) A question of Loyalty. The episode centres on the Minister's appearance before a Commons Select Committee following a Washington speech on the government's ruthless war on waste only to find that someone has leaked to a the writer of new book examples of waste in his won department, such as a new building were a roof garden was added and a storage facility for insulated copper wire where the heating is kept at a constant 70c (the staff have been growing mushrooms as a perk since 1946) The Minister proposes that the Committee should hear the facts from his permanent Secretary as a punishment for not being properly briefed but when Sir Humphrey is appeared he bats the ball back to his Minister so they are both summoned to appear. The Minister then finds that the information in the books comes from a number 10 leak in order to focus on the lack of cooperation of the civil service so at the third appearance before the Committee, Hacker turns the tables strongly against his permanent secretary despite agreement beforehand to bat on the same side this time. The season closes with Hacker stressing to Humphrey that he has been a loyal to him and as Sir Humphrey has been during their time together.
(J C Burris City by the Bay. Jimmy Rogers Every Day I have the Blues comes second to my Jimmy Rushin version with the Basie Band from 50 years ago, Louisiana Red Everybody Laughs. I have several other tracks of Ida Cox Wild Women Don't worry lived up to expectations).
During the course we had had heard from executives of major business and financial organisations and one of these employed a large number of researchers to develop new products as well as improving existing products to meet market conditions. These researchers were the life blood of the international company which was always on the look out for new developments which might become a 100 million dollar business enterprise which was then the model for a successful component part of its global interests. Within the research and development wing of the organisations was a small group of carefully selected creatives whose ideas could at times be no more than fanciful, but from this group also came the majority of new products which achieved the 100 million dollar market share benchmark for success. There was only one problem, a big one, the most inventive and original the creative the greater the unconventionality of their work and general approach to life, including their own set of rules to live by, and disregard for those laid down by society, churches and governments. It was therefore important for the hiring company to understand that such individual could become a liability in several ways, from selling out to a high bidder, to doing things in such a way which could damage the whole company and therefore it was important to have on standby those who could quickly eliminate trace of the involvement of an individual who crossed over the line in a damaging way.
All this came back to mind when this afternoon I decided to watch the film Michael Clayton on Sky Box office. If you do not know something of story beforehand it is important pay close attention to the beginning of the film because there are a series apparently disconnected scenes which only are explained later. The theme of the film is a familiar one. An international corporation finds itself involved in class action having caused cancer in the claimants. The company possesses a document signed at the highest levels which confirms their responsibility and therefore the objective is to use the legal processes to minimise the financial damages and on the advice advise of the their chief Counsel they hire what appears to be a medium size corporate law firm of between 500 to 600 which means it is not an International firm, so while it can handle a several billion dollar law suit it does involve putting all its eggs in the one basket. Failure reach a settlement which satisfies its client it will be a dead duck in the market place. The tactic in such instances is to ensure that the process of settlement takes over half a decade. This wears down the claimants, sometimes breaking the supporting lawyers of the claimant especially as this usually involves a no win no fee exercise, and if this does not work the claimants will eventually settle for an amount the company can stand, and sue confidentiality agreements to restrict the damage to the long term prospects the company as the agreement with be on the basis of not accepting liability.
The lawyer responsible for building the defence is played by Tom Wilkinson who has a nervous breakdown. The cause of the nervous break down is that eh has discovered that the company is guilty but also knows that it is guilty and proposes to use incriminating document he has discovered. When the Company's chief Council played by Oscar and Bafta award winning Tilda Swinton. She has one of those conversions with the company's fixers, the independent operatives who job it is to sort out the problems which can arise and which I referred to earlier. Being fiction, of course nothing like this happens in real life, they maintain surveillance on the legal firm the company appointed to help them and when they realise the chief worker has get hold of the evidence and is prepared to use against their employers, the Chief Counsel gives them authority to solve the problem once and for all. The problem is Michael Clayton played by the aging George Clooney. He is the fixer for the firm of lawyers and this means he is constantly getting his hands dirty. He is divorced but has regular contacts with his son, and for once the film includes a scene involved a grand parent and the extended family. Despite being the best at what eh does and consequently well paid, Mr Clayton has two problems which send him over the line between right and wrong. He has squandered his income on illegal card games although it is not clear if this is in response to the break up of his marriage or his natural propensity as a creative to push the envelop and constantly test his abilities against the rest of the world and expecting always to win. In one seminal moment he tells us that he is not going to be the kind of loser who finds that life is constantly dumping excrement all over him without cause. The other more pressing problem is that Michael has put up half the cash, all his savings, to help his brother who is among other things an addicts to set himself up with a bar. Alas the brother has raised his share from the mob, the bar is not a success and he mob want their money share back. As a consequence his own firm buy him off not knowing, perhaps they do that, that Clayton has to be dealt with as well as well as the lawyer with a conscience, now that is a Hollywood rarity. Michael escapes, gives the impression that he has died in the bomb which blows up his car and uses his force police force connections, his father was a cop, to achieve justice and the retribution. Well folks you have to believe that corporate and legal wrong doing is an aberration of the capitalist system and not embedded otherwise well you might begin to question the system and start putting Christianity into practice.
10.00 I have woken full of indecision about my day as I am tied to the house until the camcorder is collected for repair. The Sky Box office there is Michael Clayton and Atonement both Oscar nominated films which I have wanted to see but missed at the cinema for one reason or tother. There is on going and household accounts work although the supply of info for the tax man is slow is coming. I remain interested in the brief view of the long history of Calne, Wiltshire, England of Gibraltar and Andalusia, of Malta, of Genoa, and Surrey, where my family origins are understood or have been shown to have been rooted, looking connections ad explanations for what occurred to us as a family, and out of simple curiosity. I also have correspondence of different kinds requiring, meriting or which I would like to give attention, I have a good run recently in Hearts bringing the winning percentage from 14 to which it had dropped from 18 back to 16 and which included a run of three wins to the loss streak of twenty five. Alas progress on level two chess has not been as good with the highest run 47 games and two runs in the mid twenties, one coming to an irreversible end
10.15 My day has been reshaped by the early collection of the camcorda. It is cold and dampy outside. I enjoying playing with words from time to time. The interest which is now foremost is the realization that most of what has called Western Europe appears to have jumped from its primitive hunting, fishing, warring and cannibalistic lifestyle into cultivation of land and herding of live stock, the creation of burial mounds and burrows, places of worship using stonework, some with astrological significance, the development of wooden hill forts, then made of stone, the development of communities from villages into towns and cities, and the attempt to understand the nature of the visible world through observation and exploration, the memorising and recording of events, the development of economic and political management as well as military, not from the enlightenment and experimentation of the indigenous beings, the home sapiens of Western Europe but from the migrations of the, Greeks,, the Phoenicians and then the Romans, who moved northward in much the same manner as the ..early settlers on the east coast of Canada and the U.S.A then moved northward and south westwards, first by the rivers, then across country, including exploring the mountain passes, turning tracks into roads and then the impact of the railway, and then the, plane and then beyond the planet.
12.20 The spirits are low as the morning walk to Smiths was physical struggle, it was cold and the damp turned to rain as the house was approached. It is my fault for buy a house on the brow of a hill but I would not have it otherwise. The present plan is to watch Flog and the news and then one of the two Oscar films, Michael Clayton I think and later the Yes Minster DVD with America Idol result show and I suspect one of the lasses to go and then there were six. I will print some ancient stuff from the internet, have the stir fry for lunch and do one of the pineapples. Banana and custard with the salad this evening. Some letters via email and await the post.
13.55 beginning to feel better with myself after a good meal and the appearance of the young man from Carlisle with the voice that brings tears to your eyes has now been features on Look North TV now that is fame when the BBC is prepared to buy stuff from ITV. Obviously the lad and his mother has now got management. For a moment it looked as if I was not going to able to watch the film as I needed to my code which I could not find. I rang up Sky and it was fixed, moreover the lass said is there anything else I can help you with. I was tempted but I resisted.
23.59 Rest of day roundup I begin with Yes Minister. I never tire of watching the brilliantly scripted exchanges between Paul Eddington Jim Hacker and the extraordinary Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby and a young Derek Fowlds as Bernard Woolley as they say everything there is to say about what Cabinet Government and the role of the top Civil service was like in the early 1980's. I suspect Number Ten Downing Street became more like West Wing in the Times of Thatcher and Blair and I suspect some of the recent government disasters would not have happened if there were more Sir Humphrey's still around, than I suspect there are. The first episode of the second series in 1981 The Compassionate Society, summoned up all the worst aspects of the NHS in the sixties and early seventies. The episode concerned the discovery of a new 1000 bed hospital which had been completed for 18 months and was full of administrators, clerks, cleaners, some 500 in total, because if financial restraint there were no doctors or nurses and therefore no patients. Everyone in government and Health administration could see the positive aspects oft his situation which enabled the hospital to be run efficiently and sort out teething troubles which occur with every new building. The problem was that it was likely to be another year before the first patients could be admitted. I once attended the national conference of AWHA as the official representative of the Association of Child Care Officer and AWHA : The Association of Welfare and Hospital Administrators, which then run on Masonic lines and where in the sixties and early seventies administrators were often members of the Local Lodge. The trouble was that the administrators inhabited their own world and as did the Consultants although the top ones would sometimes meet together on the golf course or at the Lodge with nurses and patients regarded as being on a different planet. The memory of that conference was the dressing down given by the representative of the Association of Children's Officer about the attitude of AWHA towards professionalism and social work, a foretaste of the battles between child acre and welfare to come and which child care was to lose to the disadvantage of children in need over the next three decades. In the Compassionate Society the Government is under pressure to take in 1000 Cuban refugees but has not got the resources to fund their placement until the obvious solution of moving them into the hospital occurs to the Minister.. Hacker's finest hour me thinks. Goodness Gracious me 1000 migrants into the country in one year. Now those were the days.
(Listening to BB King Sweet Sixteen, Johnny Guitar Wat, Cutting In is a great track which I have not heard before of the artist and I will use this note to find out more about him sometime. Robert Johnson Kind Hearted Woman was good to hear again. Freddie King, Let the Good times Roll. Jessie Mae Hemphill is another artist whose name was unknown but I liked her rendering of Standing by my door. Guy Davis also had a good version of Step it up and Go as did Johnny Winter of Mean Town Blues.)
It is tempting to think that no one in Blair administration had seen the second episode in the second series Doing the Honours before the Cash for Honours issue came to the fore. The programme was created in the days when it was normal for those with money to make substantial donation to Oxbridge Colleges to create their own immorality or perhaps get a place for a relative who would otherwise not gain entry. Of course such things do not occur to day, for as the government survey has shown perhaps only a quarter of schools have been requesting ongoing financial donations from parents to jump the queue. The other déjà vu aspect was the decision to make overseas students pay the full whack of fees which would mean the college in question having to cram in British students to make up the loss of income. Nowadays most universities rely on an increasing chunk of overseas students to help fund their expansion and everyone in the UK outside of Scotland has to pay a greater part of their tuition fees with student loans. In this episode the emphasis is how to persuade his departmental heads to find 5% in real savings so he takes up his P.A's idea to withhold their nomination for honours unless they do. I cannot remember if it was in this episode or one of the others that Ministers is disturbed to find that the cut in staff numbers has been achieved by altering the way the numbers are presented. But Minister you did say you wanted the numbers cut, Humphrey complains, we did not think you meant a cut in staff! As Blair and Brown have discovered you get nothing but leaks of the reality of administration if you push for real cuts in people numbers.
(Listening to Elmore James sing Find my Baby, Carol Kane, Rock you baby, Joe Louis Walker and Blue Survivor; I particularly enjoyed Snooks Eaglin with Walking Blues. Buddy Guy plays an long instrumental into dedicated to the Late T Bone Walker, Depression Blues; Aretha Franklin sounds young with I never Love a man form her Greatest hits album. Willie Mae Big Moma's version of Hound Dog is superior to the Presley. Memphis Slim. I have a 50 year old Album, sings I you see Kay, built like a coca cola bottle.)
The episode The Death List was the least successful of the series in my judgement although the subject remains contemporary. It was shown on my birthday over twenty five years ago. The Minister has joined in the building opposition to living in the surveillance society and is responsible for a petition of a couple of million signatures, which is embarrassing because he is in fact the chief bugger, ie his department has been supplying all government department's with bugging equipment. He changes his tine when he finds himself on a terrorist hit list of three because of speculation that he is to become the Minister of Defence. But goes back to his original position when he is taken off the list when the terrorists find out he is keeping his present job.
(The great Ray Charles does the Midnight Hour, which is rare for me not to celebrate. Albert King Rub my Back, Lightening Hopkins a well known blues singer to me does his version of Mojo Hand, Must get my mojo into a Blog title sometime when I get it working for me. Lady Bianca on Spendin Money)
The Greasy Pole episode covers two themes, NIMBY, not in my back yard and the art of presenting controversial information in an acceptable way. The British Chemical company is about to secure a massive Italian contract to create a new plant which they wish to build on Merseyside using an inert form of the toxin dioxin which they have re-branded as Propanol. The development will create new jobs and improve exports, When the local MP demands to know the different between the two types of Dioxin Humphrey explains that this one is not inert. The episode ends with the Minister adopting the tactics of the Permanent Secretary to outsmart him.
(Irma Lewis's Black Water Blues begins with I am get up this morning and could not get out of the door is often just as I feel. Roosevelt Sykes West Helena Blues also begins with I keep watching the Mail Box which I have been doing over the past week.
Barbara Blue, I don't need a man like that has the feel of the Blues Brother's Band. J B Hutto dies a good version of the well known Sidewinder Johnny Mars If I had this woman is a great cri de coeur of many a man at 3 am in the morning.)
The Devil You know is one of my favourites of the whole series including Yes Prime Minister because it explores the depth of the relationship between Minister and Chief Civil servant and their need fro each other. The programme centres on the offer of a job in Brussels which would effectively end Hacker's ambitions at Westminster. I once was having a drink in bar within the Palace of Westminster when a couple of Government Minister's were having a discussion about what was being on offered in the current shuffle and where the insecurity of Ministers and would eb Ministers was all too apparent such is the only power of a Prime Minister to have some control over his Government Minister's and back benchers. There is also a great quote about the EEC which most members of all political patties subscribe although most not openly and which would not get past BBC censors today because of the racist offence involved " Brussels is a shambles, " says the Minister, " You know what they say about the average Common Market official: he has the organising ability of the Italians, the flexibility of the Germans, the modesty of the French, And that's topped up by the imagination of the Belgians, the generosity of the Dutch and the intelligence of the Irish."
(Magic Sam Every night and eve; Chris Thomas King Mary Jane passed by without commanding by attention; J B Hutto Soul Lover was also OK. Saffire' School Teacher's is hilarious and would not get on most broadcast channels and is the treat of the day.)
The quality of Life highlights the quick footedness required by everyone in government. This episode should have been dedicated to deputy leaders of the Labour Party of the future who take up the offer of the police to wear a flak jacket on a walkabout! Hacker under pressure to improve his public image accepts the suggestion of his PR adviser to visit a City farm not knowing that he has signed an authorization under delegated Ministerial powers which enables the Treasury Income tax officials to take over the site for a car park. This is a clever ploy of Sit Humphrey who has been promised a seat on the board of the bank when he retires but which is in jeopardy because the Minister is opposed to the bank raising its current offices by three floors. Another classic exchange is when the Bank chief says to the Minister, "Surely a decision is a decision?" He replies, "Only if it is the decision you want. If not it is just a temporary setback."
(Tampa Red I'm, a stranger here. Charles Brown Driftin Blues is a heartfelt plea I know only too well. BB King's The Thrill is gone was my favourite. Perhaps the great blues singer was Leadbelly although the track Noted Ride is of no interest. Pinetop's Perkins instrumental version of the classic Careless Love was highly enjoyable. So was the blue shouter Koko Taylor's I got what it takes. I thought I had also, but now I not so sure)
The final episode should be subtitled He that has a secret should keep it secret that he hath a secret to keep) A question of Loyalty. The episode centres on the Minister's appearance before a Commons Select Committee following a Washington speech on the government's ruthless war on waste only to find that someone has leaked to a the writer of new book examples of waste in his won department, such as a new building were a roof garden was added and a storage facility for insulated copper wire where the heating is kept at a constant 70c (the staff have been growing mushrooms as a perk since 1946) The Minister proposes that the Committee should hear the facts from his permanent Secretary as a punishment for not being properly briefed but when Sir Humphrey is appeared he bats the ball back to his Minister so they are both summoned to appear. The Minister then finds that the information in the books comes from a number 10 leak in order to focus on the lack of cooperation of the civil service so at the third appearance before the Committee, Hacker turns the tables strongly against his permanent secretary despite agreement beforehand to bat on the same side this time. The season closes with Hacker stressing to Humphrey that he has been a loyal to him and as Sir Humphrey has been during their time together.
(J C Burris City by the Bay. Jimmy Rogers Every Day I have the Blues comes second to my Jimmy Rushin version with the Basie Band from 50 years ago, Louisiana Red Everybody Laughs. I have several other tracks of Ida Cox Wild Women Don't worry lived up to expectations).
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