PAPALSCOPE NOVEMBER 2006

Latest Surprising News from The Village VACANCY ON PARISH COUNCIL. Guess what yet another has flown the nest ! Doubtlessly an unavoidable circumstance, and only six months before an election is due. Are we to have yet another co-option, possibly it is only necessary so to do, if there is any call for one. After all the probability is that Tisbury Parish Council is to be culled of four members next May. This might be a good time to start the process. I have no knowledge as to the cause of the recent resignation, but what is it that causes so many other of our Parish Councillors to resign? Surely this is not merely a matter of Natural Wastage. Why do the bright eyed and bushy tailed fall by the wayside? Can it be for the same sort of reason that caused me to resign from TisVis ?

Veiled innuendoes. One is indebted to the author Nigel Cawthorne for his research into ‘The Strange Laws of Old England’ many of which are extant. Some of these laws have greater relevance than others. He reminds us that there are prohibitions against either Jews or Catholics being allowed to advise over any appointment to an ecclesiastical post in the Church of England, or even that of Ireland or Scotland.

This is an abomination of Religious prejudice, bigotry of the worst kind, it should not be allowed. Apparently.
‘no such act(s) prohibits a Prime Minister who is a non-conformist, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Sikh, or even an Atheist picking the next Archbishop of Canterbury’.*

I suspect that Jews , Catholics, and Protestants are likewise prohibited from advising members of the Islamic Faith over their appointments too. Quite shocking, these irregularities should not be allowed to persist.

I am told that Catholics are once again permitted to live in the Cities of London and Westminster, and are even allowed to be the Freeholders of Property where so ever. Seemingly we are now a multicultural society, and Catholics have been reintegrated .Their Nuns have abandoned the veil, so that all may look them in the face and so can judge whether or not their eyes are set too close together. By this and in other manner, all are able to recognise our common fellowship, ‘birds of a feather and all that’ What?

Maybe others would do well to learn from the History of this Country.
*{ISBN 0 7499 5036 6.}

DEFENDER OF FAITHS ? Whilst considering Religiosity what is all this business over the Fid. Def. title? Surely Fidei Defensor was an approbation given to King Henry V111 by Pope Leo X for defending the Roman Catholic Faith against Protestantism. This prior to the great schism. Retention of the title smacks of breaking off the engagement, and keeping the ring. ‘Latin for the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’ (still retained by British sovereigns) conferred by Pope Leo X on Henry VIII of England in 1521 to reward his writing of a treatise against the Protestant Martin Luther.’ Brief biography with links to information about him and his career and to his writings. www.educ.msu.edu/homepages/laurence/ref ormation/Luther/Luther.htm -Sixteenth century religious movement led by Martin Luther.

Education, Education, Education. Even when written just once it is a long and hard word to spell, but the trusty spell check found it no problem .

Thank goodness that someone in Government recognises that all this ‘Course Work’ for exams is a nonsense. I find that if one enquires from the Google Search Engine about it, the first of much more that appears on the screen is as follows:

Sponsored Links110,000 Essays On Sale www.essayfinder.com Instant access! Read Free Examples. Low Cost. No Membership Required Coursework is generally popular with teachers, who argue it allows pupils to show a wider range of skills and knowledge than traditional, timed exams. ... news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5385556.s tm - 44k - Cached - Similar pages GCSE Guide - GCSE revision, exam papers, coursework

Who is kidding whom ? I keep referring to the work of others in Papalscope but make no pretence that the work of others is my own. It is absurd that both teachers and examinees have been allowed to get away with such nonsense for so long. Every year one hears that this year’s results were the best results ever, and that the progeny of dishonesty will go forward to some sub red brick university or another. There they will obtain a modular degree in media studies (Also available over the web) which they hope will get them into Television or whichever. I was chatting to someone recently retired from a life time in Television. In his opinion such degrees are entirely useless when it comes to employment. Seemingly you either have a talent, or have friends already in the trade. I suppose it is a bit like Government in that respect.

We can all look things up on the Internet, one of the best bits about a Traditional Education was that it taught one where to look them up, well seemingly the modern pupil knows that, so it is not all bad news.

A couple of years back I referred to a scheme the Government had introduced to provide us with more Science Teachers. I believe that those who stayed on for another post graduate year at University would receive a grant, providing they were to become Teachers of Science. Was it something like £6000? My sceptical comment was that Students would elect to stay on that extra year just for the pleasure of it. I wonder how that worked out ? I only met one such Graduate. He has since retrained as an Hospital Nurse, making a great success of it too. At least the grant bought time and we all have a seemingly skilled new Nurse. Pity that he had been working on his Thesis, might have been a Doctor.

Polish Plumbers, German Doctors. Maybe Rumanian Toy Makers soon? Ten Thousand Polish Nationals have settled in Reading in the past year. That Town recently re-published the local paper in Polish. Apparently we need their skills. Why though is our country short of skills?

There is no call to be invidious concerning the newcomers we have welcomed into this country, but is it not another nonsense that Governments, not merely this Government has courted and brought upon us? What is wrong with being a Craftsman, or Tradesman, call it what one will; that makes such work no longer acceptable to the indigenous population. Earlier Generations worked hard for very little return. They became Unionised bettered their circumstance, and now that the rewards for their industry are available to their descendents, we have allowed the benefits to be distributed across the wastelands of Europe. Who deluded so many of us that we were all God’s Intelligentsia.? Now the Taxpayer will have to extend the Welfare State to these new workers, and do so without reservation. Few will ever go back to Poland or whence they came, most will marry here and raise families. That is fine by me but let us not delude ourselves.

HSBC SALISBURY BRANCH. We have had a lot of hoo-ha in Tisbury concerning the loss of the Barclays Bank Branch, then there was that recently filled need, for a Wall Till Cash Point. Now one hears of the vulnerability of Village Post Offices and along with that, the Services they provide

HSBC Salisbury Branch should surely be the most important Bank in the area, of which ever denomination? What good are only two Tellers and a broken down Statement Point in a city the size of Salisbury? Being as I am, I interviewed the queue of customers, there was not one who was satisfied with the Service they were receiving. No blame attaches to the Clerks; it was on their account that none of the others complained, claiming there was no one else to complain to. Even the man with the clip board had disappeared.

The Banking Service one gets seems to be entirely unacceptable. I did the ‘Sub Continent’ thing yesterday. The system failed each time one tried to key in code numbers. If I want to do business with an Indian, there is no need to do transactions over the phone.{ If ever Mr Amos our Sub Postmaster starts ‘out-sourcing’ his services to the sub continent, he might as well throw his towel into the ring}.

Maybe others will disagree when I contend that Standards in Banking and other Financial Services have fallen. Let us deplore all these Call Centres. I am told the National Westminster, or what ever it is calling itself at the moment, has an actual Branch Telephone number one can ring. An email address would be a tremendous advantage to gain access to any Bank in these days of comparatively exorbitant postal charges.

Apparently we are all supposed to be doing our banking over the Internet. It would be a good thing in this electronic age if one could hand cash in over a Bank Counter and have it immediately available for use , but one can not. Hole in the wall machines here or abroad provide immediate cash. Why do not the actual branches function as efficiently?

THE VALLEY NEWS. dated 1st.October 2006 has given Tisbury good coverage. There is an article concerning Housing Issues and other village matters. It is excellent to have such a relevant publication, the more so that it is available free of charge. One commends local business to support it with their advertisements.

It was interesting to read that one of our two District Councillors is reported to tell that SDC Officers are driving the Council’s Agenda. This remark seemingly coupled with the proposed redevelopment of Station Works. At a meeting I attended, Councillor Hooper’s only support came from the District Councillor for East Knoyle. Further more according to TisVis only 26% of the Questionnaire’s respondents agreed that there should be mixed development at Station Works, Tisbury. Only 9% of them, held that view ‘strongly’. As for the suggestion that West Tisbury Parish Council should have a finger in our pie, one can but wonder why it should? Individual opinions are important whence ever they come, but this is a Tisbury matter. If West Tisbury be consulted, why exclude Ansty and Swallowcliffe? I hear that some there are less than enthusiastic at the prospect of the traffic generated by the proposed sixty new houses, belting through their villages to the A.30. The outcome of this application will affect them far more than it will affect West Tisbury. When the next application comes to hand, how many of the Tisbury Parish Councillors will be free to discuss that matter at all? For it has been overtly linked to the Planning Application at Hindon Lane. Certainly it would seem improper that any Parish Councillor who is party to ‘Tisbury Action’ should either speak, or even remain in the room whilst the matter was being considered. Similar restrictions would apply to any Parish Councillor who may live adjacent to the Hindon Lane Site. Such persons would have to declare an interest, and so become disqualified.

TISBURY PARISH ACCOUNTS. The Parish Clerk recently provided me with the Parish Accounts for last year. I thank her for her trouble and hope to get back to her when I have digested them. I am given to understand that a ‘Summary’ of the Accounts was on the Parish Notice Board. Well I did not see it. I did see a notice to the effect that the Accounts had been produced, and that they and the dockets were available for inspection at the Parish Clerk’s Home in the Donheads. It was because I sought the accounts on the Parish Board, and failed to find them there that I first enquired concerning their well being. I did mention previously that there had been an unattached copy of the Resume, and the names and addresses of our Parish Councillors ,slipped into the minutes book at the Tisbury Library.

Where is the problem about displaying Parish Accounts? How many of us in the Village saw that Resume on the Parish Notice Board? Why such a ‘now you see it and now you don’t’ sort of a presentation. We are interested to know how our money is being spent. Seeing such accounts would let everyone know what the work of a Parish Council entails, might foster interest in the Council itself.