You couldn't make it up

I was weak with laughing at this report about a couple of women who ended up in court after fighting over ... wait for it ... whether a shark was scarier than a crocodile.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/merthyr/2009/12/17/judge-upholds-witch-s-assault-conviction-appeal-91466-25405691/

Discrimination against women in new health boards

Women have been sidelined in the appointments to the new health boards. Not one of the four boards has a female chair, and there is only one female Vice Chair is listed (Cwm Taf doesn't list its Vice Chair).  At Betsi Cadwaladr, there is only 1 woman to 5 men independent members; only 1 out of 7 at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, 1 out of 6 at Cwm Taf.  Cardiff and Vale manages to have 2 out of 8.

Is Mrs Hart really trying to convince us that there are just 5 women in the whole of Wales competent to sit on the Boards? Or perhaps discrimination is alive and kicking, just under another name - Ministerial appointment.

Elin Jones - Winner

The good news? Elin Jones has been voted AM of the year in the Wales Year Book Awards. She is, say the organisers in the Western Mail, 'a Plaid Cymru heavyweight' and it praises her 'highly competent running' of the rural affairs department.

The bad news? It's not that Elin is good full stop but, say the organisers, rural affairs 'is not usually seen as an obvious portfolio for a woman.'

Tell that to the thousands of women who run farms, make cheese, do the accounts, take sheep to market and so on. And why should a portfolio be more 'obvious' for a woman politician - does the Wales Year Book really think women are only suited to portfolios that include babies, sick people and cooking?

The dirty side of clean energy

Covanta - the company trying to build an 'energy from waste' plant in Merthyr Tydfil - aka an incinerator - seem to be splashing the cash to try to clean up their image.  Latest efforts include sponsoring a conference on green jobs, organised by the Institute of Welsh Affairs. They dished out free yoyos, perhaps representing their position on emisisons, and free toffees to chew on while we digested their literature.  Their annual report called 'This is clean' was also much in evidence.  No mention of their fine for pollution as reported in the Western Mail a few months ago.  It won't work Covanta.

A crack in the ceiling?

Wales now has its first woman vice chancellor of a university - Julie Lydon has been appointed as Vice Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan.  For all their supposedly progressive credentials, Wales's universities were stubbornly resistant to women entering their higher ranks, so this is good news.  But EHRC's review 'Who Runs Wales' shows that there is still a long long way to go. But still - ever crack in the glass ceiling makes it more likely it will eventually shatter. Roll on!!

Storm in a teacup

The fuss over the likely loss of women AMs following the next election is a storm in a teacup.  The so-called gender balance of the Assembly was trotted out as some great achievement. Meanwhile sweet nothing was being done by WAG to help ordinary women - on equal pay, child care, public transport, decent jobs and the rest. Yes, there was a lot more talk about domestic violence and other 'women's issues' - but action on the ground? No.  The number of women AMs hides the real problems. That is what I am concerned about and not a load of puff.

No welcome for Mike Tyson

The welcome dished out to Mike Tyson on his visit to Wales yesterday hard to believe.  He was mobbed by crowds in Merthyr Tydfil. as he went to pay his respects to Johnny Owen\s family, before going for drinks with Councillors. His visit was given front page coverage on the Western Mail, who only grudgingly acknowledged that he was 'controversial'.

Controversial! This man is a convicted rapist who served 3 years for an assaulting an 18 year old woman. 

It speaks volumes that the public and media are willing to conveniently overlook this while rolling out the red carpet.  The celebration in Wales compares with the protests that greeted his arrival in Belfast, where there was plenty of opposition.  Any illusion that Wales is fair and equal has just shattered.

Backing Wales

Is the Cambria Politico blog serious? Their campaign to back Wales is laughable - and not even original! I am just about old enough to remember the risible 'I'm backing Britian campaign' of 1968. If they think some badges and a few cruddy t shirts is enough to turn around the economy they need their heads seen to.

Forecasters wrong again!

So much for our economic pundits who have got it wrong once again. Just as the morning news stories were discussing the technical end of the recession when .. oops, the figures show it hasn't.  Just like the predictions that prices were falling a year ago ... and they turned out not to be.  Ask any woman or man in Ebbw Vale or Llandudno or Llantrisant if they think the recession is ending and you would have got a more accurate answer than the pundits.

John Lewis hype

What is it with the hype about St. David's Shopping Centre and John Lewis? News shops open - fanfare! Shoppers go shopping - shock!  The Western Mail online edition carries no less than SEVEN different items in the first three pages of its 'news' coverage.  Is that really the only news in Wales?

We should have learned from the recession? Endless, credit-fuelled consumption is not the answer. It doesn't help the economy. It doesn't help the environment. It doesn't even make us really happy.

Grow up people, and start asking some serious questions about why more than 10% of males are unemployed in Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent and why manufacturing has contracted by more than 10% in a year.

As soon as Rhodri made that announcement

As soon as Rhodri Morgan has announced he is going I hear that the Office of the First Minister is to get a big boost.  Staff are going to be brought together from various outposts into a strategic centre.  The outgoing FM was always said to be not very keen on this sort of big government.  Looks like the next FM won't have much choice!

All Wales Convention heading for long grass?

Will the All Wales Convention's report end up in the long grass?  Published on the same day as the Queen's Speech, in the middle of the selection of a new  Labour leader and First Minister, to be shortly followed by a General Election, and then the Assembly election in Spring 2011.  Summer - autumn 2010 looks like the only possible time for a referendum.

And would a Tory Westminster government after May 2010 actually go along with a referendum happening at all?

Interesting times.

Hooray for pay cuts

Workers at Flintshire Council are up in arms about 'pay cuts'.  They are blaming equal pay.  Media reports carefully forget to say whether the people are complaining are men but I bet they are.

This is really about getting rid of all the hidden perks and benefits that men workers have used to boost their pay.  Refuse collectors and outdoor workers have set themselves up with lucrative bonuses e.g. for turning up, for finishing on time, etc. Jobs which women do like dinner ladies and home care workers don't have the same bonuses.

There is another way of looking at this - women get equal pay at last - but that is not a news story.

Local Councillors make me weep

Oh Boy, don't Wales's local councillors make you want to cry.  So many are jsut too old and too out of touch to do a half decent job.  A couple of weeks ago I met some English councillors and what a difference. They were on the ball, coherent, intelligent and up for new ideas. And the Welsh ones, well ... So clear them out and get new ones in. I don't care what party or what age, gender, colour etc etc but just people who are with it!!

Macho spending cuts

Male politicians are falling over themselves to out-tough each other on spending cuts. First its the Cameroon and pals, slavering at the thought of chopping all that 'red tape' and 'waste', then its Cable chop chop chopping like Jamie Oliver on speed, and even Brown can't hold back. Snip! Slash!




Well guys, there IS an alternative. It's called tax rises. There is a principle well established called the polluter pays. He who messes up, pays up. That means that the people who should pay are the banks, the venture capitalists, the hedge funds. Easy. No cuts.

Clear out the dead wood

At a meeting this week I couldn't believe that some of the local council officers there were THE SAME PEOPLE doing THE SAME JOB that they were doing ten years ago.  They were older, greyer and their pension pot undoubtedly bigger. And my god they were just as boring too. 

Think of Lubna Hussein

When you put your jeans on tomorrow, think of Lubna Hussein of Sudan who will face up to 40 lashes and an unlimited fine simply for wearing trousers.  Lubna is not the only woman to face this punishment - the director of police has admitted that 43,000 women were arrested in Khartoum state in 2008 for 'clothing offences'.

Tory jobs humbug

The sight of Alun Cairns and his Tory pals worrying about employment not reaching its target made me laugh.  Which party closed Wales's pits? Which party ran down manufacturing? Which party spouted 'there is no alternative' and told our good people to get on their bikes? Tories have never cared about jobs and aren't doing a very good job at pretending they do now.

Cut here and keep

How is WAG going to make the cuts in spending? Does it have some underlying philosophy? Or is it equal pain - everyone has their 10% or whatever.  And local governemnt and the NHS - a trim here, a snip there? Who knows, but compare this with the approach being taken in England where some authorities are adopting a properly thought through model for cutting back - dubbed the RyanAir approach to public services, they are supposed to be no-frills.

I can't get my brain around what 'no fills' by-pass surgery might be, or 'no-frills' rubbish collection might be. But at least they are thinking about it. Where is the socialist / left or Liberal thinking in Wales?

Drunken girls or biased reporting

Teenage girls in UK have the highest levels of drinking according to reports of an OECD study. They do, but the OECD study also says:

'In other areas the UK performs well. Children in the United Kingdom are materially fairly well-off. Average family income is higher and child poverty is lower than OECD averages. Children in the United Kingdom also enjoy a high quality of school life. The United Kingdom ranks 4th out of 25 countries for children’s school satisfaction. Rates of bullying are also relatively low.'

But this good news doesn't play well with the demonisation of children or the rallying cry of 'broken Britain'.

Where are the women?

Katie Scarlett Howard is producing sculptures of 6 influential women which will be displayed in gardens across Wales.  They are fabulous.  But just 6? Compared with the HUNDREDS of statues of men that grace all our public places? Male politicians, men at war, male workers, you name it.

How about Lady Charlotte Guest and Megan Lloyd George for starters (and if they already have statues please tell me).  

Time for electoral equality

Shock! Horror! Jonathan Morgan AM has called for positive discriminiation! At last, the idea that stopping women being  discriminated against is going mainstream.  But wait ... I hear the chest thumping and braying of male candidates ... calling for selection on 'merit' (like they have been the best candidates all these years).  No, guys, your party is over, it's women's turn now.

Snark spotted in Wales

To 'snark' is to make nasty rumours and comments, often anonymously, and pretending to be witty and wise at the same time. It is usually found in the USA and most often applied to celebs and politicians there. A piece in the Guardian says it is spreading to the UK, and it is also being used against individuals.  A quick look at Welsh blogs suggests it has already arrived. Plaid blogs seem especially prone to nasty carping and sniping.  

The Guardian article says politics is being damaged by this petty and personal approach. I agree.

Wake up Welsh tourism

This summer is the best reminder ever that Wales' tourist chiefs need to do a bit more than bang on about the outdoors. Right now the outdoors is invisible under a thick layer of hill fog.  Tony Earnshaw, head of film programming at the National Media Museum, Bradford said in yesterday's Western Mail that Richard Burton's legacy could be much better promoted. Same goes for many other famous Welsh names - where is the Aneurin Bevan centre? The Tom Jones tour? Ditto other assets - Wales' contribution to railways, to democracy and politics - all are ignored. There's got to be more to visiting Wales than a few mountains.

Welcome to Political Annie

I've set up this blog because I am fed up with sexist and macho Welsh blogs. There are hardly any women bloggers so I thought it was time to add to their numbers. Watch this space!