Football Crazy and "Security"

A  newspaper report today (Indy or Mail I think) about an airline pilot  being sacked for allowing a famous footballer into the cockpit during a private flight reminded mrs maytrees and I of how  personal discretion and freedoms are being whittled away in the name of "security". Furthermore once a freedom has gone  or a layer of bureacracy imposed, the chances of the freedom being regained or the redtape being cut, are very slim.

Years ago whilst we were in Ireland with two then tiny children, we needed to fly back from Dublin a day early. We had booked a  flight with Aer Lingus which said no to our request. BEA (now part of BA) said that they would exchange  our Aer Lingus tickets and rebook with BEA for a flight leaving the day before provided that we accepted the last flight out - about 10pm. We agreed. Upon joining the flight the stewardess told us we were the only passengers. Furthermore she gave us the whole bag of toys they  shared out amongst all the infants usually on a flight. A few minutes later she said that as we were alone in the huge passenger  cabin, the pilot had invited us all to join the aircrew in the cockpit which he (correctly) assumed would also keep our two babies occupied.

No bureacracy; no fuss; much personal discretion and relaxed  freedom.

I suppose since then the likes of  the IRA and now Al Quaeda, who  don't or didn't give a fig for human life especially  if it is not in their  own team, have caused governments to take liberties with their peoples' freedoms but today  even with the promise of compulsory ID cards in the UK  being re-trenched from, one cannot sometimes wonder if Al Queda, the Taliban and miltants have already won much of the diminution of  others freedoms that they are gunning for.

I wonder too why the Al Quaeda type of  international bully was not around in those BEA flight days? What has happened since say 1980 to inspire such deathly inhumane not to mention inhuman, attitudes becoming so prevalent in parts of  the world?

Old Friends In Ireland

Age 10+ to 13- were perhaps the hardest years of my  childhood as they were spent at an austere boys' boarding  prep school long since closed, in Seaford  close to the South Downs. Sharing the pain of those days with me  was an 11 year old Irish boy who as divine providence good fortune or chance (you pays your money and takes your choice applies) has it I have been in touch with  mainly by  the written word right up to the present day -  a friendship spanning c.50 years.

As divine providence still  has it, this week took me momentarily to Ireland. It was wonderful to go beyond our long lasting and long  distance written word  friendship dimension  and renew the old friendship  in  3D.  Interesting also  to learn that in many ways, our lives after  being friends in those tiny years, have not diverged over much. Indeed many common life choices were apparent, one of which is  the enjoyment of running/jogging. Running this morning before breakfast  on the beaches between Bray and Killiney was delicious.

The shared cauldron of boarding away from home and parents in very early childhood has resulted in many privileges in adulthood which maybe would not have occurred  at all without  that difficult early start.

Individuals' Actions Can Become Communty's

Reflecting on the following from my blog post on the Haiti earthquake disaster:

I feel senses of inadequacy and frustration about the inability to assist very much at least alone; another reminder that no one is that important that he or she can change the world without wider support from the community

made me realise that as the members of the Polish workers union Solidarity demonstrated by precipitating the fall of communism in their country, the sum of actions by individuals can add up to quite significant if not fundamental change. All those individual small contributions to Haiti disaster relief charities like CAFOD may together not only save lives but also facilitate rebuilding society and lives in that state for the longer term.

My bete noir at present is the EC. If only the UK had limited its membership terms to that of a common market and declined to go down the route toward European Union, the feeling of being absorbed into an increasingly amorphous if not homogenous mass would surely not be so apparent as it is now.

Even in such matters however there is scope for individual action. EG the EC in its infinite wisdom is requiring already beleagured Royal Bank of Scotland to sell off many of its branches thus not only facilitating European banks like Santander from acquiring cheaply, a piece of the British local bank sector but also making less likely that the UK taxpayers' huge funds paid in to bail out  RBS from its own erroneous decisons like    paying far too high a  price for  a Dutch bank,  will be repayed profitably. 

Nonetheless whilst the EU mandarins can compel RBS to sell off local branches to banks headquartered say 579 (double if Edinburgh counts RBS HQ at present) miles away, they cannot (yet) compel individual bank customers to remain with their new found distant bank owners. If my RBS branch is compulsorily sold off courtesy of the EU I along with any other individual accoount holder can vote with our feet and transfer.

Haiti - Tragedy, Inadequacy and yet...?

The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday  was possibly the worst earthquake in living memory as regards deaths injuries and damage. 


The  consequential plight of the citizens of Port au Prince and elsewhere in that country makes any minor setbacks in personal life pale into insignificance. I feel  senses of inadequacy and frustration  about the  inability  to assist very much at least alone; another reminder that no one is that important that he or she can change the world without  wider support from the community. However even the wider community's response so far seems quite inadequate for alleviating the profound suffering and grief being experienced there. Thus the USA which is still the only real super-power in the world after the demise of the USSR has yet  according to the BBC and other media reports to make a real impact for the people directly afflicted. There is often  said to be a 3 day window for rescue after a major earthquake but that time has passed and Haitians are still bereft of heavy lifting equipment and practical means of organising and distributing  the much needed aid.


That the USA or any other Nation is being 'blamed' in some quarters should however in my view be interpreted as praise for their generosity. No one is blaming al quaeda for not trying to  help speedily enough or at all as  sadly no one in their heart of hearts really expects compassion from such quarter .  The  presence of Americans and others  in the relief efforts   helping those of another state,  is in my view, a mark of generosity and spirit that tends to distinguish mankind from animals. Having said that well before the earthquake struck there were rumours of Americans facilitating the exiling of previous Haitian President Aristide  to South Africa and of course the whole nation had its origins in the  iniquitous slave trade. Nonetheless that   those from the USA, Russian, South Americans, French,  Chinese and even a few British fire fighters are all working there too, setting aside  their international differences in so doing, I interpret as a silver lining in this hideously dark cloud. Those international differences appear trivial in the face of  the common  human concern and sympathy for the plight of fellow humans - that plight transcends petty politics.


Haitians are I understand  are largely Catholic Christian people. The shattering of life, limb, home and office by so profound a natural disaster might test the belief in the loving God, of anyone living there yet I have heard on TV news reports people giving thanks to God for their survival rather than blaming God for letting such tragedies occur. The deaths of  their Archbishop and UN leaders  alongside their infants, brothers and sisters and the toppling of the Presidential palace and slums alike by the force of the shock, do illustrate that this is a community wide natural  disaster  caused by the laws of geophysics and not by the wrath of God. The love  of God however is even as I type, surely already  making itself manifest in the  combined and accelerating struggles of strangers and foreigners to alleviate the pain of the locals. 


Death now may yet give way to renewal in the years to come. By all accounts there was much awry with Haiti's governance for years prior to the earthquakes. Maybe the renewal spurred on by international cooperation will facilitate the healing of the pains caused by that ongoing  man made   disaster as well as those from  the geophysical.


 Exiled Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has announced that he is ready to return home to help rebuild his earthquake-shattered country. Who knows this erstwhile president even if not approved of by America's CIA at the time may prove to be a catalyst for the nation's re-birth.

Church Schools Clericalism and Secular Authorities

An extrordinary (to me anyway) headline report in this week's Catholic Herald seems to undermine the bishops' previously laudable (again to me anyway) stance and concerns about the new Equalities Bill. The Bishops' concerns about the Equalities Bill many catholics share. Essentially the concerns are that a consequence of the Bill should it become law is that some matters of Catholic religious practice and belief will be in conflict with the state's approach. As the state's approach can be enforced through Employment Tribunals and the courts, with sometimes unlimited compensation and damages awards, the continuation of some catholic traditions and practices, will become, potentially, very expensive and difficult.

For example a disappointed non-catholic candidate for the headship of a catholic school could claim compensation including damages for 'injured feelings'. The matter would be exacerbated by the reverse burden of proof being applied by the Judge, which virtually means the catholic school would be treated as guilty unless it could prove its innocence. The bishops' arguments previously appeared to be that this is tantamount to a transgression by Caesar's lawmakers into areas which should be reserved for the laws of God. Such arguments seem in my humble opinion, to be sound.

So why then does the Cardinal Vaughan catholic school in London whose Catholic head's appointment was presumably supported by the bishops and most of whose governors are appointed and may be removed by the catholic diocese, have to be reported by the catholic church authorites to the secular "Schools Adjudicator"?

The Cardinal Vaughan school is one of the best Catholic comprehensive schools in London so the anxiety of the bishops to ensure that as many poorer families as possible benefit and that the School's excellence does not predominately benefit white middle classes, is understandable. However if the Diocese believes that its school's head and governors are not having sufficient regard for 'the option for the poor', it should surely have used catholic mediators or even catholic lawyers to try to resolve the issues internally rather than go off to the secular authorities? After all if the Church internal mediation attempts failed, the bishops could then have not reappointed the recalitrant governors and instead appointed as governors men and women whose viewpoints were more in line with its own - governors' appointments are generally for fixed terms of 3 years.. The head could then if he was really acting against the interests of the Church have been subjected to disciplinary procedures by such governors and either brought into the bishops' line or disciplined depending on the circumstances.

This action of the Catholic Church reporting a Catholic school to the State authorities, if accurately reported in the Catholic Herald, risks undermining the previous very creditable actions of the Church in seeking to dissuade the secular state from interfering in matters religious and I feel is a sad and retrograde step. The laudable ends to not justify such unhappy means.

Oh to be in England now that Snow is Here

The a above is a misquote from a piece of poetry that I recall not liking much even when properly read. However jogging across a snow covered Wimbledon Common this morning just as the sun was rising proved to be a real treat -one of those times when you feel great to be alive - although I had wondered whether going out for a run in very cold icy conditions would be wise. When the temparature is so low the ice proved crispy and less slippery.

Parts of London have seemed especially beautiful in the snow as eg the snapshot from day job office may illustrate. However the weather is still wreking havoc on the District Line and sadly resulted in the HCPT prep. day being postponed

Why Irish Eyes are Smiling 2nd Version

The 1st version posted a few weeks back was a pun on words following the disappointing reversal of the Irish Lisbon referendum from nays to ayes.

This time though having had an Irish sister in law visit for a few days, all eyes in the maytrees household really are smiling, both Irish and English, in the light of her outstanding kindness and unstinting generosity. Having so many maytrees' in-laws they are sometimes apt to be treated more like outlaws than family but such was the exuberance of sister in law's generosity that the whole household was uplifted.

Huge thank yous from all - 'no names no pack drill' applies - you know who you are.

January 1st 2010 - Happy New Year

07:45 hours this morning and an almost full moon in a clear sky whilst jogging over lightly snow covered Wimbledon Common as the sun was about to shine on the new year, was one of those great to be alive times - a really upbeat start to the new decade.

Fr. Michael Ashworth SJ's sermon at New Years day Mass was equally uplifting and thankfully took away the somewhat rose tinted classes through which the new dawn had been just been viewed.

He reminded the congregation of the celebrations that marked the turn of the New Millennium a decade earlier. Nelson Mandela in South Africa lit a candle on Robben Island which he passed to his successor SA president who in turn passed it on to a young child representing the new generation. In Sydney the fireworks ended with a flourish and the sky was lit up the the word "Eternity" following the years of that word mysteriously being written on the pavements of city and suburban Sydney by an impoverished down and out. In London we had the Millennium Dome, Tony Blair, some celebs. and all that was lit up were the words 'British Gas' which alas may have merely highlighted a lack of spirit in some aspects of London life at the time.

My thoughts after this slightly unusual part of Father Michael's words of wisdom are that despite the recession and shenanigans by some of our politicians following the turn of 2000, there are more grounds for optimism now in the UK than there were then.

The disaster of the Millennium Dome has been transformed into what is proving to be the successful, in its own terms, O2 venue. The mistakes made by bankers and mirrored by individuals in managing finance are a least being appreciated nationally and internationally. Acceptance of the fact of having made an error is the necessary first step to correcting it.

The fact that today's Mass on 01/01/10 was so well attended may be a sign that the spirit is not actually lacking despite appearances. A general election is due soon in the UK and whatever the outcome, a new broom seems likely; secular political change at least has the potential to breathe new life and spirit into a jaded population.In England child safeguarding seems to be becoming more of an issue of prevention in the future rather than that of disclosure of past institutional tragedies. Poverty is still with us but in relative terms is far less severe than in Charles Dickens'es day.

Abroad there is still much darkness and terrorism; wars, famine, global warming, repressive regimes but even there knowledge of such concerns may lead eventually to some cooperation in endeavouring to tackle them. Trying to work together even when failing can bring benefits of more community cohesion to those involved.

2010 and the decade to come should not be too bad and developments may surprise for the good eg out of Cern perhaps?.