Spare the rod?

Experience had taught me that it was no use 'sparing the rod'. If you did, word would soon get about the school that you were 'soft'. Since the object of a caning was both to punish and to deter a boy from reoffending, it needed to be made as unpleasant as possible. The object was to instil a fear of the cane into offenders and amongst potential offenders. (A Headmaster's Recollections)

Though I was small my devotion was great when I begged you not to let me be beaten at school . our parents scoffed at the torments which we boys suffered at the hands of our masters. For we feared the whip as much as others fear the rack, and we no less than they, begged you to preserve us from it.
(Augustine)

Smacking children is back in the news once more, and is being cited as one panacea for poor discipline in homes:

Boris Johnson has backed calls for parents to be allowed to smack their children to instil discipline. The Mayor of London spoke after a senior Labour MP blamed his party's partial ban on smacking children for last August's riots. Former education minister David Lammy called for a return to Victorian laws on discipline, saying working-class parents needed to be able to use corporal punishment to deter unruly children from joining gangs and wielding knives. He claimed parents were 'no longer sovereign in their own homes' and feared that social workers would take their children away if they chastised them. Labour's 2004 law did not completely ban smacking, but said a smack should cause no more than a reddening of the skin. (1)

This reminds me of the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland:

"Speak roughly to your little boy,
And beat him when he sneezes:
He only does it to annoy,
Because he knows it teases."

Sweden has a "no smack" policy and has had one for some time, longer than Britain.

Adrienne A. Haeuser made a study about Sweden and how they broke the generational transmission of physical punishment as a childrearing method:

Can you bring up children successfully without smacking and spanking? Sweden appears to be doing just this only a decade after passing a law which stipulates that a child may not be subjected to physical punishment or other humiliating treatment. Initially somewhat skeptical, Swedes now take the law for granted and Swedish children are thriving.

The reasons for the ban were because allowing "discipline" in the home meant in practice that there was widespread child abuse going on there. The problem with trying to limit it was that any form of physical discipline was on a continuous spectrum, and it was almost impossible to fix limits. A smack could be a light tap on the hand, or it could be a heavy wallop. The Swedish authorities decided that the only way to stop the latter was to ban all use of force.

Despite seemingly idyllic conditions for childrearing, Sweden moved into the 1970's with widespread child abuse. Corporal punishment in the schools had been banned in 1958; however, the harsh beatings of the previous era - as well as less severe forms of physical punishment - persisted in the privacy of home life. A major Swedish research project concluded that child abuse constituted one end of a large continuum beginning with physical punishment, and that stopping all physical punishment was the "gateway" to preventing most child abuse

The government's stated intent in passing the 1979 law was twofold: primarily to stop "beatings," and secondly "to create a basis for general information and education for parents as to the importance of giving children good care and as to one of the prime requirements of their care"

This law does not carry penalties - a point that no doubt speeded its passage. When reports of physical punishment are substantiated by social services staff or the police as assault (that is, child abuse) according to Sweden's Criminal Code, the code sanctions apply. Even so, few minor infractions have been reported by spiteful neighbors or children, putting to rest the speculation that such a law would create chaos by turning minor parental infractions into government cases.

We can see how matters have changed even in Jersey. Part of the problem with taking to court those accused - and later found guilty - of child abuse in Haut de La Garenne was the problem of differentiating between what would have been a commonplace in any home as well as a State run institution. It was not uncommon, for instance, in the 1960s for a father to beat his son with a slipper for minor misdemeanors. For example, I know personally of a case where a young boy was beaten with a slipper for reading in bed with a torch after "lights out". Boys at Victoria College were caned for bad behaviour as the ultimate sanction even in the 1970s. This was not seen as abusive or wrong.

So "common assault", for which Morag and Anthony Jordan were convicted of at haut de La Garenne was more difficult to determine because the degree of discipline had to be placed into the context of a background acceptable culture of violence. Nevertheless, they were deemed to have crossed the line on at least 8 occasions:

Morag and Anthony Jordan, both 62, from Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland, were both found guilty on eight separate counts relating to abuse at the Haut de la Garenne home in Jersey. But after deliberating for more than eight hours, the jury at the royal court of Jersey acquitted Morag Jordan on a further 28 counts and Anthony Jordan on four. (3)

If it is thought that a prohibition on smacking is a causal factor in riots, then the question should be asked: why have there been no similar riots in Sweden.

So why have there been no summer riots in Sweden? I think it's more a culture thing than a parental one - England has soccer violence (and did have even in Victorian times), other countries do not.

The game of football has been associated with violence since its beginnings in 13th century England. Medieval football matches involved hundreds of players, and were essentially pitched battles between the young men of rival villages and towns - often used as opportunities to settle old feuds, personal arguments and land disputes.

Forms of 'folk-football' existed in other European countries (such as the German Knappen and Florentine calcio in costume), but the roots of modern football are in these violent English rituals. The much more disciplined game introduced to continental Europe in 1900s was the reformed pastime of the British aristocracy. Other European countries adopted this form of the game, associated with Victorian values of fair-play and retrained enthusiasm. Only two periods in British history have been relatively free of football-related violence: the inter-war years and the decade following the Second World War. (4)

The cycle of generational abuse can be broken, but the case of Sweden saw a mass effort by the entire population, rather than a top-down imposition of particular rules, which is why it worked, because it operated by consent. But some aspects of physical violence can certainly be curtailed, and the current law in operation, whereby "a smack should cause no more than a reddening of the skin" would seem to be a pragmatic compromise until such time as our society has changed enough for a complete ban.

In the meantime, we should be aware that the lessons learned by smacking are not necessarily the ones that are indented. It is no coincidence that one of the cases of of Haut de La Garenne - Michael Aubin - found guilty of indecent assault - was himself the subject of abuse. Violence begets violence, and the unintended consequence of heavy smacking are to convey the notion that might is right:

Smacking (perceived by children as one person hitting another) not only gives children the message that it is OK to hit others but also that violence is an acceptable way to solve problems and get what you want. Bullying behaviour may also develop as children perceive such violence as a means of control. (5)

Link
(1) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093654/Parents-right-smack-children-instil-discipline-says-Boris.html
(2) http://www.neverhitachild.org/haeuser.html
(3) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/26/jersey-childrens-home-assaults
(4) http://www.sirc.org/publik/fvexec.html

(5) http://www.geelong.vic.gov.au/common/Public/Documents/8cbc92664199137-No.%2029%20The%20Arguments%20Against%20Smacking.pdf

The Ethics of Exploration

This was written in 1981 as part of an submission at St Luke's Exeter regarding religion and the teaching of religion in schools. This section actually only marginally deals with teaching of religion, although it sets out an ethical framework for such teaching to take place. I thought a Sunday would be an appropriate time to revisit it.

There is a bit too much purple prose in the rhetoric in places, but I'm still quite pleased with it. One of my pet hates at the time was those panaceas to life that offered "self-development"  or "increasing self-awareness" that seemed to be wholly centred on the ego, with roots in Nietzsche and some forms of existentialism; it seemed to lack any ethical dimension or social dimension, and while this nascent New Age has developed some forms in which those are present, there is still a good deal of narcissism there that needs to be pruned away. I was also strongly motivated to look at how fundamentalist Christian groups behaved towards outsiders, or those they ranked as outsiders, having seem some experience of that at Exeter.

The Ethics of Exploration

We are poor, not demigods. We have plenty to be sorrowful about, and are not emerging into a golden age. We need a gentle approach, a non-violent spirit, and small is beautiful. We must concern ourselves with justice and see right prevail. And all this, only this, can enable us to become peacemakers. (E.F. Schumacher, "Small is Beautiful")

In a trivial world, life becomes "a hollow scaffolding of imposed anonymous values.. We are constantly afraid (of other men's opinions, of what 'they' will decide for us, of not coming up to the standards of material or psychological success though we ourselves have done nothing to establish or even verify such standards)"(Steiner(1)).

Even work is absorbed into banality by this 'slave morality'. As Nietzsche so poignantly observes, "it keeps everybody in harness and powerfully obstructs the development of reason, of covetousness, of the desire for independence. For it uses up a tremendous amount of nervous energy and takes it away from reflection, breeding, dreaming, worry, love and hatred; it always sets a small goal before one's eyes and permits easy and regular satisfactions" (2) .

Against the boredom of such settled servility, man often revolts, refusing to be tamed: he seeks something more worthwhile than mind bogglingly dull duties which reap petty rewards. The cry of rebellion is heard: "Live dangerously !" (3)

The philosophy of Nietzsche would rant: "Live dangerously! Yes, this is the way to true expression in existence. Not: live outrageously - that is folly and bad sense. But: live dangerously! Do not be afraid to live; do not be afraid to exist; do not be afraid to face the danger in any living that is to be worthwhile living. So I say: live dangerously Live dangerously, that you might live!"

So rants and raves the hysterical screaming of this revolution. It begins by proclaiming the twilight of the idols (4); then, as if that were not enough, it takes a hammer to the idols, being satisfied only when they are in fragments at its feet (5). It finishes by crying "I am a destiny!"(6); triumphantly, heroically, it shouts "Ecce Homo: I am God!" (7), before it perishes in the madness of its own megalomania.

Such an ethic begins innocently enough, with pleas for development of the personality; it ends in a freely expressed megalomania (8) that knows of no bounds, freely doing all manner of unspeakable atrocities, "things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious - such as digging up and mutilating the dead" (Lewis (9)) .

Against the 'slave morality' has been countered a 'master morality' (10); an ethic of domination has replaced an ethic of submission. Yet this is not altogether unexpected, because an ethic of submission always has its roots in an ethic of domination. This is clear if we consider the ethical demands of each ethic: the ethic of submission says "you must obey" while the ethic of domination says "you must conquer". Obviously which demand is heard depends upon whether you stand as one of the dominators or not; it depends on which 'side' you are on.

To see how partition calls into being these ethics, let us consider the segregation and discrimination introduced by asking the question: who is a Christian?

Who is a Christian? This creates a boundary: it separates those who are declared as Christians from those who are not. It makes a clear, sharply cut, dividing line. Then the community of Christians is isolated from the world; it becomes a mystery religion with conditional initiation rites. Most clearly this can be seen in the groups which practice "believers' baptism". The baptism becomes an initiation into the group, conditional upon belief. The line is clear between belief and unbelief (11). Those who are on the inside are the "saved", those on the outside the "unsaved" (12).

But by drawing this line, the community cuts itself off from the world (13). Whatever name it gives itself is of no account; it has become a sect (14). So the attempt to define who is of the Christian community and who is not leads to a split between Church and World, in which the World is largely left to its own devices and the Church to its own - except when it ventures forth from its fortified battlements in the name of "evangelism" to capture people from the World.

How comes this division? It comes about because the attempt to define who is a Christian rests largely upon the 'sin mythology' (15).
According to the sin mythology, all men are sinners; there is however an exclusion clause to this: it says "but not Christians"; although not explicitly stated like this, the logic of the situation follows from the understanding of sin as disobedience to God where to be obedient to God is to be a Christian; by this a Christian is 'saved' from 'sin'." (16)

The sin mythology, by branding all men as sinners except Christians, does two things.

Firstly, it provides a scapegoat explanation for the existence of moral and social evils: evil exists as a result of sin. The world is full of evil because it is full of sinners, people who are not Christians. If everyone became Christians, the world would be a better place. If this seems naive, then it is because it is! But it is often found preferable for personal security to take refuge in a scapegoat explanation such as this, rather than admit ignorance and helplessness in the face of our inability to achieve understanding and mastery of diverse and complex moral and social problems (17).

Secondly, it provides a form for "existential cannibalism" whereby Christians could gain meaning for their lives by invalidating the meaning other people gave to theirs (18). This was enacted by the Inquisition (19).

Sin mythology of varying types plays a large role in most groups with totalitarian beliefs. The importance of both to religious discovery cannot be doubted: it is precisely because totalitarian belief and the sin mythology block religious discovery that we can learn from their mistakes.

The failing of both totalitarian belief and sin mythology lies, I believe, in their idealism. In asking the question "who is a Christian?" we seek to find the universal generalisation rather than the particular instance; we avoid reality. People cannot be sharply divided into 'believers' and 'sinners': reality is not so clear-cut; it appears fuzzy. Like Jesus, we should meet not 'believers' or 'sinners' but, simply, people - in all their concrete complexity; as C.E.M. Joad observes: "Here on earth perfection is not to be found;.. good and evil are always mixed and never pure; that every cloud has a silver lining; that the darkest hour comes before the dawn; and that equally there is always a fly in the ointment, a canker at the heart of the rose; these opinions and sentiments are the stock-in-trade of the secular as well as of the religious wisdom of the ages"(20). And we would do well to be mindful of it.

The tension of submit-or-dominate springs from roots in a collectivist idealism (21). And it is clear that it impedes rather than aids discovery (22) ; it is an escape from reality, therefore an escape from exploration. For exploration necessitates freedom for truth, while idealism must deliberately falsify reality at any cost.

But we have had too much idealism: the price tag is too high! It is folly to mindlessly obey: "the man of duty will end by having to fulfil his obligation even to the devil''(Bonhoeffer (23)); it is folly to conquer: "this brings with it an inward rottenness from which there is scarcely a possibility of recovery''(Bonhoeffer (24)).

Those who conquer evade truth; they wish the world as it is to be a lie, their lie, and they would declare this "truth"! An ethic of domination puts an end to truth and exploration ceases; instead myths of race and destiny abound. "The state has, in general," writes Hegel, "to make up its own mind concerning what is to be considered as objective truth"(25). And so freedom of thought vanishes as the ethic of domination (- here state domination - ) takes root (26). Truth is at a discount; exploration ends!

Those who submit evade truth: with the timidity of a frightened rabbit (27), they avoid the question of truth; they avoid the risk of discovery. Instead, they seek refuge in a pitiful pragmatism, where any commitment to exploration is greeted with questions such as "Will it make me happy?" "Will it help me'.'" "What's in it for me?" - but never is it asked "Will it discover truth?" ! Such pragmatism can only be the basis for the fearful faith of an intellectual ostrich. Of this Nietzsche scornfully observes: '"Faith' means not wanting to know what is true" (28). Truth is concealed; exploration ends!

So while domination silences truth, submission evades truth; one stifles exploration, the other ducks the issue. Neither is an ethic of exploration; for in each is a cowardice that would not know truth.

For exploration and discovery, above all we must prize freedom of thought and the love of truth; this is the ethic of exploration. It demands humility; it demands honesty; it demands reality! But we cannot greedily grasp discovery; there are no easy paths to truth. If we are to discover anything, if discovery is worthwhile, then we must not lose sight of this ethic.

"Man has created new worlds - of language, of music, of poetry, of science," writes Karl Popper, "and the most important of these is the world of the moral demands, for equality, for freedom, and for helping the weak" (29). If we lose touch with these human realities, then discovery ceases; we are captive in a dreamworld of our own making: for in these moral demands set forth by man, and only in these bounds, is the space and freedom to discover: the ethic of exploration knows of no moral vacuum.

Notes on Text
1. G. Steiner "Heidegger" (1978), p.92
2. Kauffman (1975), p.125
3. This was the slogan of F. Nietzsche
4. "Twilight of the Idols" (1977) by F. Nietzsche is alluded to here; justifiably because he is one of the best representatives of this revolt against triviality.
5. The subtitle of "Twilight of the Idols" is "How to philosophise with a hammer."
6. Title of last chapter of "Ecce Homo" (1979) by F. Nietzsche is "Why I am a destiny"!
7. "Ecce Homo" was an autobiography of sorts by F. Nietzsche; this being a deliberate blasphemy on his part. It was written only weeks before his complete mental collapse.
8. "Ecce Homo", the most megalomaniac book Nietzsche ever wrote, has the subtitle, "How one becomes what one is", or in more vernacular speech, how one develops one's personality to the full! And certainly my rendering is in keeping with his intention, i.e. he does assert his personality prominently throughout the book, with chapter headings: "Why I am so wise", "Why I am so clever", "Why I write such excellent books", "Why I am a destiny".
9. C.S. Lewis, "The Abolition of Man"(1978) p.46
10. "A Nietzsche Reader"(1977), p.106ff for detailed analysis.
11. Against this T.F. Torrance advocates infant baptism as a sign of "unconditional grace" - source personal letter from Professor Torrance.
12. This may be modified to "insurance", i.e. inside the Church you can be sure of salvation, but outside you would be uncertain - why take the risk? Against it may be mentioned K. Barth and F.D. Maurice, among others, who hold to an open position on all men. "Peculiar Christendom" says Barth, "whose most pressing problem seems to consist in this, that God's grace in this direction should be too free, that hell, instead of being amply populated, might one day be found to be empty" (quoted in R.L. Short (1974), p.149)
13. Against this, John Taylor, in the "Winchester Churchman" says: "If the Church draws a circle round its regular members, the rest of the community will treat us as a sect. But if the Christians allow themselves to belong primarily to the local community, then everyone begins to feel they are members of a circle whose natural centre is the Church. This is the opposite of a rigorist attitude on the part of the Church, but it does not mean a lowering of standards. When ordinary people are allowed to feel that they belong to a circle whose centre is the Church, they expect that centre to have its standards and make its demands. They realise that they themselves may be nearer to that centre or further from it, either moving inwards or outwards, as the case may be. But near or far, they will be inside the circle, because the circle is the whole community."
14. I am not going to quibble over true meanings of the word "sect", my convention, which relates to the function of the group, is given in the text. If another word is sought, I suggest "elite".
15. I am not denying moral imperfection! What I explain and criticise is this "sin mythology" as outlined in the next paragraph.
16. For confirmation that this logic holds, even if not explicitly stated, see Barr, "Fundamentalism"(1977) p.27ff, p223, p.317ff, p.326f.
17. T.S. Szasz (1977) p.193 on "scapegoat explanations"; also Szasz (1974), pp.47-69 on "the rhetoric of rejection"
18. T.S. Szasz (1977), p.315
19. Szasz (1973) provides many examples.
20. C.E.M. Joad (1952), P.53 "The Recovery Of Belief" (1952) p.63; also Joad remarks "that all of us are wicked in some degree, all of us wicked on occasion, and that we are so because strands of evil are inextricably woven into our fundamental make-up" (same page).
21. For this see K. Popper "The Open Society & Its Enemies: Vol. 1" (1974) on "Totalitarian Justice" pp.86-119; also Vol. 2 (1977) p.24f, and :p.276f where he describes it as "a romantic, combination of egoism and collectivism".
22. A point made by Sydney Smith in his "Mostly Murder" (1959) p.292 about the Nazi war crimes: "The experiments were not merely carried out with gross indifference to the value of human life and callous disregard of human suffering, but were incompetent in both conception and execution from a purely scientific point of view"; see also note 21 above.
23. D. Bonhoeffer "Ethics" (1978) p. 48
24. D. Bonhoeffer "Ethics"( 1978) p.57; see also p.54ff .
25. quoted in Popper( 1977) P43
26. Note the comment of Nietzsche in "Twilight of the idols"( 1977) p.40 on Plato: "I, Plato, am the truth". This is a perfect summary of what happens to truth in the Republic, as confirmed by Popper (see n.21 above)
27. See C.S. Lewis "God in the Dock"( 1979) PP-67-73, ch. entitled "Man or Rabbit" for an analysis of this issue with regard to the truth of the Christian faith.
28. quoted in Kaufmann( 1975) P. 19
29. Popper "Open Society: Vol. 1" (1974) P.65; note the consistency of this with Popper's remarks on education in Vol. 2(1977) p.276: " 'Do no harm' (and, therefore, 'give the young what they most urgently need, in order to become independent of us, and to be able to choose for themselves') would be a very worthy aim for our educational system.. Instead, 'higher' aims are the fashion, aims which are typically romantic and indeed non-sensical, such as 'the full development of the personality'".

Justice

Justice

Upon his throne, and between two pillars

Here is the mightiest of arbitrators

Justice adorned in crimson robes

With searching mind that ever probes

The foundation of organic law

Wherein his mystery he once saw

The balance of all human kind

Equilibrium now here we find.

Funny Old World 10

Health Warning: what follows is not news, any more than the middle section of Private Eye is news, or The Impressionist is news, or Spitting Image was news. It is a light hearted spin on the real news, which can be found on genuine news sites, such as BBC Jersey. Other news sites are available. This is not one of them. None of the individuals mentioned have ever said anything quite like the words attributed to them. Which is perhaps a pity.

The size of households in Jersey is shrinking, new figures in the 2011 Census reveal. The results show there are now on average 2.3 people per private dwelling in the island - that is down on 2.4 people ten years ago, and 2.5 twenty years ago.

Our reporter went out in search of the 0.3 of a person. "It can be difficult at times," said Miss Thora Third of La Moye Cuttings, St Brelade, "as we are still expected to pay full taxes and social security, which is not really fair." Another 0.3 of a person said "I'm a young person, and the media are always picking on young people as troublemakers, but as 0.3 of a person, they should note I'm quite armless."

Duncan Le Figure at the States Statistics Unit said: "That number we've recorded over the decades actually, through census, has been declining. The part-people are shrinking, and if you wanted to remake the Disney cartoon in Jersey, it would be Snow White and the 3 1/2 dwarves."

Inflation in Jersey rose by 5% during 2011, says the States Statistics Unit. The report shows that politician's egos expanded during the election campaign last October and that was a key contributor to inflation. "There was a lot of extra hot air", said a spokesman, adding that "cheesy and processed politicians increased by more than 15%. But there was a decline in vegetables, caused by some older States members retiring or failing to be elected. "

Accountancy firm firm Scrooge and Marley has boosted the part of its practice that deals with business failures as a result of buying part of a rival service provider. The firm, whose headquarters are in Kensington Place, has bought the insolvency and restructuring arm of Beggars Traynor in the Channel Islands. The other arm, legs, torso and head are still available for sale to any bidder.

Police in Jersey will be targeting known criminals. Officers said they hoped Operation Hornet would help deal with an overall increase in break-ins in the island. A spokesman said that "The release of a special squad of a thousand hornets will be trained to seek out burglars and sting them on their fingers. Then all we have to do is to capture them when they go to Accident and Emergency, where they will be caught red-handed."

A Christian group in Jersey is set to buy a former cinema to turn it into a community centre. The former Odeon cinema, on the corner of Bath Street, in St Helier, has fallen into disrepair since it shut three years ago. The Freedom Church is now planning to buy the cinema. Pastor James Bond, a spokesman for the church, said: "Our vision is to re-generate and transform the landmark building. It will once again become a hive of activity, with as we will also be training the police hornets under someone called Q in our secret service."

Politicians must wear badges with picture warnings to be in Jersey from Wednesday. The health department said politicians have had a year to prepare for the new regulations. Health Minister Deputy Anne Pryke said: "We hope placing warnings on politicians will put young people off from voting." The health department said adding a picture to the existing warnings on politicians had encouraged some voters to quit.

The head of health improvement at the health department, said: "States members continue to be a significant cause of avoidable death and disease. It is important that these measures are put in place as they will reinforce existing support to help people give up voting."

The planning authorities have turned down a scheme for homes on the site of a former Jersey campsite.They rejected plans for four houses. According to a leaked memo from planning, the design would be too sympathetic to the environment because (1) it was only four houses and not ten flats (2) it was tucked away in a quiet area overlooking no one and not at Greve Le Lecq overlooking the entire bay.

A faster planning process would secure the future of Jersey's building industry, says the chairman of the construction council. Builder Mr Floyd Pink said projects getting under way more quickly would help improve the economy, especially builders, as they were often pillars of society. Economic Development Minister Senator Alan Maclean said the States was supporting the construction industry as best it could, and wanted to cement contracts in place.

Senator Maclean said the States injected tens of millions of pounds into the building industry two years ago and that there were others projects in the pipeline. But Constable Philip Rondel complained that he hadn't seen any more pipelines or main drains in the Parish of St John for many years.

Meanwhile builder Mr Floyd Pink released a musical single to raise awareness of the plight of the building industry:

We don't need no competition
We don't need no planning control
No luxury flats - now that means gloom
Planning give us building zone
Hey! Planning! Give us building zone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

I don't need no red tape around me
And I don't need no listed place, see
I have seen the writing on the wall.
I need planning projects or I'll fall
And no shops much in Liberty mall
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.

The Mikan Grove

And now for something completely different. Here is a short story from Annie Parmeter which I came across by accident yesterday. It was written when she was 11, and in year 6 at Moorestown College, St Peter - an independent school that, like so many others in Jersey in the 20th century, is now closed. It was written in 1973, and already shows a strong command of English.

If anyone wonders what "mikan" is, it is a kind of orange, technically called "citrus unshiu", which is a seedless and easy-peeling citrus. It is also called cold hardy mandarin, satsuma mandarin, satsuma orange, and tangerine. In Japan, this is known as mikan or formally unshu mikan.

One of the English names for the fruit, "satsuma", is derived from the former Satsuma Province in Japan, from which these fruits were first exported to the West. It is not the only province where they are grown, however, but it is the province from which they came to America in 1876. The towns of Satsuma, Alabama; Satsuma, Florida; Satsuma, Texas; and Satsuma, Louisiana were named after this fruit. But in the 1930s a cold spell wiped out the industry in North America.

The Mikan Grove

by Annie Parmeter

As the rising sun spread her rosy fingers over the mikan grove, the Matsumoto family made their way to their orchard, chatting all the while, carrying their great iron cooking pot to cook their breakfast, and baskets to harvest the tangerines.

On reaching the field, the grandfather began to make a fire and put the tripod and hook over it. When it was time for breakfast, he would fill the cooking pot with water from an icy mountain stream, and hang it on the tripod and hook to boil.

By now the members of the family were scattered over the orchard and had begun the harvest.

The trees seemed to slumber in the grove and, as the delicious orange moons were plucked from their branches, each tree reacted as if it were being woken up, by the pulling of its boughs. Dead leaves were falling off and revealing new tender green shoots, so that the trees looked as if they had been given a new coat of paint.

A little further down the road a majestic cypress reposed, as if frozen in time. Below, on the rocks, a fisherman tried his luck in the azure waters, poised like a heron, waiting for the fish to bite.

Out in the bay a tako-fisher laid his lines of jars from his agile craft, then moved on without even marking the place.

Even to this day, I am left wondering how he remembered where it was.

States Jobs in January: An Analysis

When he was in the States, Deputy Paul Le Clare laboured in vain to get organisational charts for States departments.

This was one kind of reply

As members should be aware, Departmental Business Plans contain organisation charts which are updated annually and are available on the States of Jersey website.

but of course, those give only the basic structure, and very few fine details - and if more detail was wanted

"To help and assist the Comprehensive Spending Review, would the Minister provide an organisation chart of his department identifying every post, the post holder's duties and responsibilities, the salary grade and whether the post is currently filled or vacant and, if possible, if any of these post holders are suspended?"

Answer
The Deputy's request for the detailed information listed above has not only been directed to the Treasury and Resources Minister but also to the Chief Minister, Social Security, Planning and Environment and Health and
Social Services. Taken together these departments employ some 2960 staff out of a total of 6000. The Deputy is asking for information to be provided on each one of these posts. That would take a massive amount of time to collate and present in a meaningful format

In other words, no one can get a "big picture" and drill down to fine details - although Senator Sarah Ferguson did precisely that for the health department - not in terms of salaries, but in terms of positions for individuals, and produced a set of charts which gave precisely that kind of picture. It highlighted, incidentally, the large number of human resources posts at Health and Social Security - despite the States having its own centralised Human Resources department, and begged the question: what have those to do with healthcare?

But one of the results of this deficiency is that we cannot look at States jobs advertised and see the following questions. They have to be asked, instead:

1) is this a new position, or a replacement of an existing post?
2) if a new post, why is it required?
3) is there a major shortage in staff in a particular area, and what are the reasons for this?
4) is there any in-house scheme whereby people can be trained up to take on positions rather than sourcing from outside of Jersey?

It is interesting to look at the January jobs advertised and see any trends or matters arising.

There are an overwhelming proportion in the Health and Social Services department, including 5 senior staff nurses and one head of nursing. One wonders why there are suddenly so many of those posts advertised, and if something could have been done to address the situation by ensuring the previous incumbents (assuming they are existing posts) could have left in a staggered timetable. Instead, all seemed to have left around the same time. Perhaps advertising is a formality, because there are trained nurses who are looking for advancement who will apply, if no other applications are forthcoming? Or perhaps there is a serious staff shortage? Not enough being paid - even a Head of Nursing at £54,015.00 - a post requiring medical expertise and knowledge - people's lives are in your hands - is lower than the administrative posts. It's a topsy-turvy world.

Posts that seem to possibly be newly created include the Procurement and Contracts Manager (£52,775.00) and the Senior Manager Business Support Group ( £66,461.00) and the Data Security Officer (£58,004.00).

They are also notable for rather vague job descriptions, which suggest in the case of the Senior Manager, than there is no information technology strategy in place - otherwise why say "will determine the strategy". Likewise the Data Security Officer is "responsible for developing the States approach to security", which again suggests something needs to be developed and is not in place. 

It is most probably the case that the writers of these blurbs simply doesn't understand ordinary English, which is I suspect an endemic problem with people who work in human resources. Why look for the right word when the you've been trained and qualified to use ready-made but nonsensical stock phrases?

The legal posts all have "negotiable" salaries, which give no idea at all what the cost to the public purse will be of these posts. The job application doesn't give any details either. Perhaps you need to be in the inner circle of lawyers to know the code for what might be expected as a salary for any given experience, but it is hardly a good example of "transparency" on behalf of the States.

And for a really good "holiday job", the Law Officers department is offering a limited number trainee lawyers who are University students an internship for four weeks at £500 per week, which comes to £2,000. That's some holiday work experience!

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Senior Manager Business Support Group
Salary:            £66,461.00 p/a
The Business Support Group Senior Manager will determine the information technology strategy of the Health and Social Services Department and oversee the delivery of the strategy.

Head of Nursing - Unscheduled Emergency Care
£54,015.00 p/a
 
Health Care Assistants (Special Needs)
Salary:            £11.07 p/h
 
Senior Staff Nurse - Gynaecology
Salary:            £34,870.00 p/a
 
Senior Staff Nurse - Intensive Care and HDU
Salary:            £34,870.00 p/a
 
Senior Staff Nurse - Orthopaedic and Trauma Unit
Salary:            £34,870.00 p/a
 
Senior Staff Nurse - Private Patients Unit
Salary:            £34,870.00 p/a
 
Senior Staff Nurse - Surgical Ward (Portelet)
Salary:            £34,870.00 p/a
 
Travel Officer
Salary:            £13.61 p/h
The successful applicant will arrange travel for staff and patients for Health and Social Services and maintain accurate accounts on an access database.
 
Assistant Legal Adviser (Children)
Salary:            Negotiable
The Law Officers' Department has a vacancy for an Assistant Legal Adviser in the Children's Section of the Civil Division assisting in public law work, representing the Minister of Health and Social Services in care proceedings.
 
Finance Manager
Salary:            £52,775.00 p/a
The Taxes Office is looking for a dynamic, motivated Accountant to join their Finance Team
 
Financial Analyst (Home Affairs)
Salary:            £37,098.00 p/a
A Financial Analyst is required to support criminal investigations through the research and analysis of financial intelligence and evidence.
 
Forensic Accounting Support (Home Affairs)
Salary:            £37,098.00 p/a
 
Intelligence Administration Officer (Home Affairs)
Salary:            £26,284.00 p/a
An Intelligence Administration Officer is required to process and input financial crime information and intelligence.

Administrator
£26,284.00 p/a
An Administrator is required to provide administrative support to the JMAPPA (Jersey Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements)Coordinator and Officers in the Offender Management Unit.

 Legal Adviser (Police HQ)
Salary:            Negotiable
The Law Officers' Department has a vacancy for an experienced criminal lawyer to join the team working at Police Headquarters, advising the States and Honorary Police forces and appearing in the Magistrate's Court.
 
Procurement and Contracts Manager
Salary:            £52,775.00 p/a
Reporting to the Category Manager for Professional Services, you will assist with shaping the strategic direction of this category and lead on corporate cross cutting contracts for goods and services.
 
Taxes Collection Manager
Salary:            £47,375.00 p/a
We are recruiting for a Collection Manager to lead on tax collection strategy and debt recovery for the entire Taxes Office.
 
Customer Services Manager
Salary:            £37,098.00 p/a
The postholder will have excellent customer services skills and at least 5 years experience of delivering customer services in a complex organisation
 
Data Security Officer
Salary:            £58,004.00 p/a
The Data Security Officer will be the principal advisor and compliance manager for Data Security across the States, responsible for developing the States approach to security and ensuring appropriate compliance.
 
Trainee Planner
Salary:            £29,067.00 p/a
Applications are invited for a professional Town Planner to join our busy Development Control team, dealing with planning applications and related matters.
 
Anticoagulation Nurse
Salary:            £17.82 p/h
A Registered Nurse is required to work in our nurse-led dosing service within the area of anticoagulation
 
Pharmacy Assistant
Salary:            £21,484.00 p/a
 
Phlebotomist
Salary:            £17.82 p/h
A Registered Nurse is required to work as a Phlebotomist for our Private Patients Service.

Internships Programme
Salary:            £500.00 p/w
The Law Officers' Department is able to offer a limited number of internships to students who are in their second or later year of an initial degree course and who are considering a career in law or who will complete their law conversion or professional training in 2012. The internships will be for periods of four weeks and are available during the Easter and Summer vacation periods.

Deputy Daniel Wimberley's New Year Wishes

I make no apologies for posting former Deputy Daniel Wimberley's letter to the JEP from 7 January 2012, as somehow it was one of those which failed to get to the online version of the paper, as indeed, so far, has Ben Querree's article which attacks his integrity.

Of the points which Daniel makes, humility is certainly one which has been singularly lacking. Immediately there is any criticism of the States, the immediate reaction is one of defensiveness. There is still a fortress mentality present.

This can be seen in in the report mentioned by Deputy John Le Fondre which apparently shows significant losses for the Waterfront project, even with a private contractor. What is the position with regard to the States now having the Jersey Development Company (formerly WEB) now running the project themselves?

We have been told that the unpublished report, commissioned by the Treasury, says that taxpayers could end up footing a bill for £50 million in connection with the Esplanade project.

It might be better to own up to a past mistake than to try to bury it.

And the same is true with the golden handshakes to departing Chief Officers, where again information is concealed under the guise of privacy. But as "Yes Minister" says, ""The Official Secrets Act is not to protect secrets, it is to protect officials."

Yet somehow the States accounts will be fudged to conceal these payments, and there seems no desire to investigate who produced the contracts and who signed the contracts, and we are simply told "it will not happen again"!! No one seems to want to pursue this within the Council of Ministers. This is not humility.

On the electoral commission, the States are moving away from Daniel's proposal to a largely "in house" commission, chaired by Sir Philip Bailhache. This will not mean consensus, or something that Islanders want, although it may mean proposals that can be pushed through by enough States members and forced on the Island whether the population want it or not. That is hardly a good start to dealing with electoral apathy.

Daniel's comments that "the media have a role to play here too" is important, because Ben Querree recently impugned his integrity, saying that Daniel would be much less annoyed if the commission was headed by someone from the left. It shows how the media have their own take, and simply have often lost the ability to listen; it says more about Ben Queree's cynicism that he thinks Daniel Wimberley's motivation might be as venal as he imagines it to be.

I work near the Town Park, and the Le Seeleur building is a total disgrace. Boarded up, decaying and no one apart from Simon Crowcroft shows the slightest motivation to do anything about it. In his will the former owner, builder Harold Le Seeleur, left his town workshop to the island decades ago. But it has been lying idle ever since is falling into disrepair.

We are told that the terms of the Trust prevent anything much being done with the property yet that didn't stop the States managing to do something positive with the Howard Davis Farm, despite that being subject to a covenant. Perhaps a Royal Visit to the Town Park would focus minds wonderfully?

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Letter from Daniel Wimberley

HERE are my H is for Happy New Year wishes for the States (or should that be, the ministers?). What are yours?

Honesty: about population.

Ask the public genuinely what they want on this most important of issues. Describe the issues fairly and plainly. Reach all parts of the population not just those who shout the loudest. Abandon the mind-set which says: 'my ideology must win at all costs' and the spin and deception which goes with it. The process of trying to reach an honest consensus will lead to better policies and a more united Island. Try it.

More honesty: the other major issue-in our politics is: how much should we spend on our public services? And exactly the same considerations apply as set out above. So we have to be open in saying that our public spending is way below that of all other advanced countries, we have to stop claiming that low public spending leads to poor economic performance, when this is simply untrue, and we have to put real choices to the public instead of heaps of spin..

Humility: a big dose of this, please. It should be OK in 2012 to say: 'I got it wrong, sorry.' And this implies that others have the grace and right spirit to say 'fine, thanks' and resist the temptation to make political capital out of the apology.

The triumphalist 'we never get it wrong' grates on the nerves. Its purpose is to gain political advantage but it only does this by undermining politics itself, leading as it does to unrealistic expectations of our politicians and creating mistrust and apathy when reality does not match the absurd rhetoric.

If people and government are to work together to face our problems we need to understand what is going on, not have spin and propaganda thrown at us. Note: the media have a role to play here too.

Healing: the Committee of Inquiry into Haut de la Garenne must proceed, and in a format which is acceptable to all stakeholders. The results may be painful in parts, but it is the only way forward - for the individuals, agencies and departments involved, for the politicians, for all of us. It will no doubt take honesty and humility (see above).

Honesty again: an Electoral Commission set up to be transparent and independent aiming to achieve a voting
system for Jersey which ensures that, we are all represented in a fair and equal way, and to ensure that the people of the Island have a decisive influence in who ends up with political power (or, if that turns out not to be possible, with decisive influence on the policies pursued).

And finally, let's see some "aiming high", or ambition, instead of just a no-can-do feeling of being tired and
depressed. Some examples:

. We could return Plemont to nature, paying a fair amount of money for a derelict building and lots of bracken and gorse.

. We could get maximum value out of the fantastic asset which is Fort Regent. This will probably take public investment. The waterfront is a lesson to us all in what happens if you set out with Frank Walker's words: 'No public money will be spent on this.' What you get is what you pay for.

. Help a genuine democratic community group to form which would run the Le Seelleur building as the community focus for the new Town Park.

That's enough to be going on with - what's your wish list?