Referendum campaign has produced lots of interesting writing – Part 2

Here is more.

19 August
Jennifer McCarey
Right made my mind up. I'll be voting #Yes and here's why.
http://t.co/r9iGSenM5t

19 August
Ricky Ross  "What Is It You Really Want?"
http://t.co/QazkeoDv8g

Ron Ferguson
“Without getting carried away with ourselves, surely we can make a better fist of producing a more just and fair society”  why voting Yes http://on.fb.me/1nKhxpm

1 September “when nothing is for certain I think the possibility of better is better than the fear of worse” —Alan Russell https://medium.com/@alanrussell/you-yes-yet-well-actually-c9ea547c52f?source=tw-186ea0adfcaf-1409569648044 …

11 March 2014
Bob Holman
Why I'll be voting yes to Scottish independence
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/11/yes-scottish-independence-vote-equality-scotland-snp

Referendum campaign has produced lots of interesting writing

Here are some the ones that appeal to me. (Most, if not all, are on the YES “side”)

31 August 2014 Powerful emotional read from Andrew Wilson : Independence chance is fleeting The Scotsman
http://t.co/AKC4Xkvz4n

30 August
Article in  the i-Paper a on #PatronisingBTLady "It is lame, crushingly dull and patronising"
http://t.co/6zTVoahdza

30 August
Why Yes - blog from Promilla Caughley
http://t.co/anHO74iEDE
24 August
Andrew Wilson: A letter to the referendum ‘losers’ - The Scotsman:
http://t.co/p7W4zITFhi
22 August
Jump! ... ah...but ...  by Andrew Tickell via @National Collective Manifesto
http://t.co/31xKn9eskd
22 August
Aberdeen woman in her 90s on why she is voting yes
http://t.co/xhKfpJP6iq

More to come I’m still collecting them!

Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games

Well that’s the Commonwealth Games over, and what a time it was. I don’t think it could have gone any better.

There was a really great atmosphere throughout the city for the 10 days.

It made me proud to be a Glaswegian.

Now let's make things even better by improving life chances, and getting rid of poverty in the city.

The best free Word processor for your home computer

Why pay for Microsoft Word when you can get a product that will almost certainly meet all your needs for free?
The best free alternative I have come across is Kingsoft Writer. I think is is better than its better known rivals Open Office and Libre Office.
It can open and save files in Microsoft Word format (including docx files). And it has the advantage of being able to create pdf files, and of having a tabbed interface.
The program supports spell-checking, columns, tables, and styles, as well as more advanced features such as footnotes and tables of contents.

Kingsoft Office is made by a Chinese company. And as well as the word processor it has a spread-sheet program and a presentations programme.

Supporting the Charlie Reid Community

Over the past few months I’ve watched with the greatest of concern what has happened to the Charlie Reid Centre in Glasgow’s Elmbank Street.
It is a long complicated story but one that more people need to know about and respond to.
Background
The Charlie Reid Centre was run by Support in Mind Scotland . The Centre provided support for people with serious long term mental health issues. Members of the Centre could receive counselling and support, learn new skills, and take part in social events. A cafe, also open to the general public, was run by the members. 
The main funding for the Centre was from Glasgow City Council via a block grant. But with the move to “personalisation” or “self directed support” the Council took the decision to withdraw the block grant.
Centre members could apply for an individual budget which they could then spend on membership of the CRC (or on other support).
Support in Mind Scotland said this in May:

“Support in Mind Scotland is deeply saddened to announce that our fight to keep our long standing Glasgow service open, the Charlie Reid Centre, has been lost and the centre will close on May 30th. The financial challenges in replacing a large core grant from Glasgow City Council with income generated from budgets allocated to our service users proved insurmountable and the organisation had no choice but to recognise the loss.”

So the Charlie Reid Centre is now closed.
What the CRC had going for it was that

Not being friends does not have to mean that you are enemies

I came across an interesting blog post today from Brian Donnelly.

Here is a very short extract:

"Learning that it is okay not to like someone, that it’s okay not to agree with them is important - it’s what you do that matters. Not being friends does not have to mean that you are enemies. That is a message I have seen young people benefit from exploring on many occasions. If you think about it there must be a few people in your life you don’t like, you don’t and never will agree with – you don’t hound and abuse them at every opportunity – you may have learned the hard way that a family Christmas dinner is not the time to get these feelings off your chest. It might be a colleague or your boss – most people learn to use their developed social skills that enables them to work effectively or not fall out with the whole family."

It's well worthwhile reading the whole blog post. It is at
http://briandrespectme.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/do-we-really-all-have-to-be-friends.html

Don't stand still

Take care if you are in Glasgow. If you stand still for longer than a few seconds you might find yourself being painted.
Lots of painting, tidying and general sprucing-up going on in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

Do less - achieve more

I'm reading an interesting book just now
"The yes no book - how to do less and achieve more" by Mike Clayton.
Hope it works for me!
The main theme of the book is how to know when to say "yes" and when to say "no", and to do either with confidence and style.

Some old photographs

My Grandmother, my cousin Margaret, and me

This post was just a test of Windows LiveWriter. Seems to have worked OK.

Learning from Charles Dickens

I'm reading "Hard Times" at present.

I have to confess I haven't read much Dickens. At school we had to read Dickens as a "home reader", and I found it a struggle then.

As I read "Hard Times" I'm surprised at how this novel seems to be directed at changing people's thinking rather than just being an entertaining story.

 I hadn't realised just how "radical" Dicken's writing was. For example this quote

 "in to the relations between employers and employed ... there must enter something of feeling and sentiment; something of mutual explanation, forbearance, and consideration; something ... not exactly stateable in figures; otherwise these relations are wrong and rotten at the core and will never bear sound fruit."

Kelvingrove Bandstand back in use

It's great to see the Kelvingrove Park bandstand back in use.

I was at a talk a couple of days ago in Hillhead Library about it's history and restoration. (The talk was part of the West End Festival)

Charlie Reid Centre

I've just come home from a Charlie Reid meeting at the Unite offices. Great what these folks are doing and great support from Unite Community Branch.
The Charlie Reid Centre in Glasgow's Elmbank Street provided support and community for those with mental health problems and was recently closed after funding was withdrawn by Glasgow City Council.

Having the courage of your convictions

I've just been thinking about this phrase. It's an important thing to hang on to, but so difficult in practice.
When we tell ourselves that we really ought to be doing something or saying something about the wrong things we see happening, it is so easy to let ourselves off the hook by telling ourselves we are over-reacting or that it is not in our long-term interests to take action.
Maybe the solution is joint action by like-minded people.

Kelvingrove Park Bandstand

I was at a "hard-hat" tour of the renovation of the bandstand this afternoon. It seems to be progressing well.

Lovely afternoon

I'm in Helensburgh and the sun is shining. And out of the wind it's warm!
Relaxing with a coffee and scone at Kidson's near Rhu.
I think the springtime is nearly here.

Interesting book

I'm reading a fascinating book at the moment.
"Life After the State" by Dominic Frisby.
It's about the State in our lives, and how he thinks we would get on better with less state intervention/involvement.
I don't agree with all the points he makes but a very interesting approach.