Things children learn at school! Apostrophes! Equality! The price of food!

It’s been a cold day … mostly. However, when the sun came out, if you were in a sheltered spot, you could convince yourself that spring has really started. 

After I came back from my run, in the cold wind, this morning my daughter phoned me, mainly to update me on what she’s been up to. She and her partner had just been to an assembly at the school Granddaughter Number Four attend. She had been awarded a certificate for memorising all the grammatical terms a Year 2 child should know and for consistently applying them correctly. I’ve no idea what the grammatical terms are that she needs to know. However, I do know that it seems odd to me that a 7 year old needs to “know” grammatical terms and rules at all. It will be interesting to see if this generation who have been asked to memorise all these rules will be any better at using apostrophes correctly in the long run. Will they avoid putting up shop signs like this one?

                                      HOWARDS FURNITURE

                        BED’S     CHAIR’S     TABLE’S     SOFA’S

Now, here’s a link to an article about women and equality, especially in academia. Here are some facts and figures:

1874 - the first two women were allowed to sit finals at Newnham College, Cambridge, in what was then called moral sciences.but they weren’t given a degree.

1948  - Cambridge University began formally awarding degrees to women.

1988 the last all-male college, Magdalene, grudgingly voted to admit women.

2004 (approx) - the then Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith – not one of nature’s more radical progressives – rejected honorary membership of the Carlton Club on the grounds that the Conservatives’ oldest gentlemen’s club denied full membership rights to female MPs. Good for IDS!

Slow progress! 

And here’s a link to an article about the price of vegetables in Gaza. We should not complain about the cost of food in our UK supermarkets after reading that! Someone is inevitably making money out of a bad situation. Of course, some people have used up their savings and have no money to buy what little food is on sale. And food aid is still not getting through. Indeed, aid distribution is hampered by attacks! 

"Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, has told the news network that there have been more deaths at the Kuwaiti roundabout during aid distribution. He writes:

Another aid tragedy took place in the early hours of last night at the Kuwait Roundabout. Twenty-four people were killed and we were told there are still more injured people on the roads. The attack destroyed not only the aid trucks and the people gathering but also the vicinity, including public facilities.

This is not the first time we have seen deliberate and direct attacks on humanitarian aid trucks and people gathering in large groups around them, given the fact that famine is spreading widely in northern part of Gaza."

A friend posted that yesterday.

Of course, if things were fairly organised they would not need to depend on food aid. It’s doubly demeaning that Palestinians not only are prevented growing their own food but have to rely on aid package - packages inspected and sometimes (often) rejected by Israeli forces. Another way of removing people’s dignity!

The world is seriously out of order. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!