Symptoms

Read this Monsta®: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/28/government-plan-football-clubs-fans Are you tempted?

debrad65 wrote: "howay - I've got 2 kids n I know there's nappies n stuff to buy but it costs more when they are at school!!! For God's sake - it costs us well over £20 a week for school dinners, then we have milk money n compulsory trips and the rest to pay - never mind the uniforms etc..!" Blimmey, at school, in uniform and still wearing nappies. and "We should have a revolution - kick all the parties out n replace them with a panel of decent hard working people who know right from bloomin wrong..... " Yep, but how would we choose them ... voting perhaps or we let the guys with the biggest guns run the show. Actually, that's what happened the last time ... the guys with the biggest swords were better organised than the rest of us, until the rest of us got organised about 100 years ago.

Blimmey 3Gs, why did I poke my stick into this little bourgeois ants' nest; first out the heap are the soldiers whose task is to repel the system's critics. Yep, the ruling elite – and they're all the same whatever political party they infest - has never REALLY cared about working men and women. Despite their weasel words these shysters systematically deprived the 'old' industries of support which could have led them to a sustained future; shutting down the mines destroyed not only a huge support industry but with it the world leading expertise it had fostered. It doesn't take a genius to extrapolate what opportunities have been lost in our capacity for research and implementation of clean coal and carbon capture technology as a result of this industrial vandalism. Political spite, the obscene scramble for the short term gain, the personal enrichment of those Tory ministers who had shares in RTZ and other mining conglomerates who ended-up supplying imported coal. Let's just take a moment to hang our heads in shame when we remember loads of the stuff came from the sweated labour of the enslaved black miners of apartheid South Africa. Clearly, bourgeois ideology can only be effective if the masses blindly internalise it's thrust and automatically adhere to it's standard form of behaviour. This type of ideological imprinting manifests itself in the form of sterotypes of social participation, the purest expression of class collaborationist ideology is the notion of the 'partnership' between capital and labour; in other words the dialogue/relationship between the boss class and the workers. The bougeoisie wants to con people that there are no antagonistic social classes but only social partners who can come to agreements. Trouble is that trade unionism has fallen hook-line-and-sinker for this social contract policy tosh. What employers want is to impose their demands so that they can continue to enrich themselves, whilst squeezing the last juicy drops of pride and resistance from the workers. Show me a 'small businessman' and I'll accuse him of always attempting to fleece the punter and squirm at paying the minimum wage; as for the banking class, well ...! To those who still believe that the workers shouldn't be allowed to defend themselves from this form of political violence there are countless episodes of successful strike action resulting in demands being met, including securing jobs (just do a Google for "successful strikes†as this'll save me from labouring over a long list). The enemies (those growing fat on the tit of the bourgeois cow) of those whose mission it is to protect the poor working men and women need to realise that they won't disappear ... patience is a fine weapon! To quote Rosa Luxemburg: "Capatilism drips blood from every pore, not just at the time of it's birth, but throughout it's advance across the world. In this way, through ever more violent convulsions, capitalism brings about its own downfallâ€. Of course, the biggest dishonest weeze to control working men and women was the brilliant trick of selling them their own Council houses ... I'll stand back at this point and wait for the usual bleats of complaint from the poor misguided fools who were taken-in by the honour of owing large amounts of money to the banks and building societies ... the morgage shackle frightened the workers into not taking action. The right to buy was a stabilising factor for the existing system. That old regurgitated chestnut, the lack of a national ballot before the Miners' strike, seems to have been swallowed by those who aren't familiar with the NUM rule book. As it had, and still has, a federal structure, each area voted for action in it's own area. What did for the miners was the behaviour of the bosses poodles (NACODS), that breakaway scum in Nottingham, and the typically timid behaviour of the TUC. For a time it looked as if we were French ... a nation with form for collaboration and cowardice! That dispute could have been settled, and nearly was on two occasions, if solidaritry had held. Let's also put to rest that other bourgeois lie that the NUM were against pit closures; the NUM didn't oppose closures when mines were exhausted. Come on 3Gs, nobody or group (unless we consider those universal tools of oppression – the cops) was above the law; plenty of folks were 'lifted' for all sorts of spurious reasons. Remember people are still being clubbed, unlawfully kettled, and killed by the boys in blue even today. Working class resistance is not an outdated or futile concept.

Of course that evil hag Thatcher (sounds of Symptom's lungs, throat and beak being cleared followed by a rather satisfactory hockle) did emasculate the workers back in the day by introducing all sorts of draconian anti-union laws. I'm ashamed that Labour never attempted any real resistance or ever managed to 'shake-off' the legacy of her high-heeled jackboot from grinding down on the workers' necks. And what legacy did she leave? The death of 'mass employment' and the destruction of communities ... you've only got to read the posts on this Forum about the problems for the Town (industrial dereliction and social degradation) to then trace-back the cause of most of them to the actions of her evil regime. Generally, strikes are about ultimately SAVING jobs and the current crop that Monsta® refers to follow that honourable goal. Don't be taken-in by the sh*te published in that scum-sucking rag, The Daily Mail (and it's craven fellow travellers); these actions ARE about resisting redundancies.

"...am sure a dogs turd is less likely to be picked up by a youngin!" An excellent observation Monsta® Perhaps we on the Forum should launch a campaign to ban brats from the parks, verges and woods unless under the direct control of a responsible adult?

Horse apples ... reminds me of a story I was told decades ago (and repeated here in the language of the time - apologies). There was this nutter looking over the wall at St George's (the Morpeth loony bin) when a horse & rider trotted past closely followed by an old bloke with a bucket and shovel. The loony asked the old bloke what he was doing and back came the reply, "I'm collecting this horse manure to put on my rhubarb". The loony replied, "that's odd, we get custard on ours in here". So, what we have here are the seeds of a solution. We should conscript an 'army' of inmates from St George's to follow horses & riders to shovel the sh*te; we could call it Care in the Community. However, that leaves the problem of what to do with all the steamers left by the police horses on matchday at the Toon. Does St George's still function as an Asylum? Or has it been demolished to make way for executive housing? Wayward brats are more risk to us all than a few dog turds; fag ends, crisp packets, hockled-out chewing-gum, smashed alco-pop bottles and so on, and so on, aren't bio-degradable.

Oh Dear, Oh dear, Oh Dear ... shock, horror, scandal! Adolf loved dogs (& fit young men in leather shorts) but, apart from the terrified millions under his heal, countless more millions were violenly opposed to his views. I think we can draw together our current situation with the one I've just outlined. Most of what Monsta® has posted I disagree with (I think that most of 'polite society' would share my view) but I am with him (and have posted support)on two absolutely, and fundamentally, critical issues. Namely, the right of dogs to crap and their turds to be left to add goodness to the environment, but even more important than that ... our support for the Toon. Records will also show that I defended Monsta®'s right to post here when many wanted to ban/censor him for his [add your own adjective here] opinions. I have a solution to sizsell's horse apple problem ... let the dogs gobble it up. My dog has been known to tuck-in to a steaming pile; recycling in it's purest form

I'm with Monsta® on this one. Nature's way is best ...

How clean & tidy it all looks! It's a bit spooky to discover old buildings that I've no memory of, or the disappointment of old haunts flattened for horrible modern replacements. The 'Grassy Knoll' outside the 'old' Council Offices & SS at the top of Front St is unchanged ... happy memories of chucking stink-bombs (bought in Millne's store) from there into the marching bands and crowds on Picnic Day. We'd then leg-it down The Cut (at the back of the Council Offices) being chased by pit-men in their best suites & flat caps ... ah, happy days.

Coincidently, in The Guardian G2 section yesterday there was an article about the new Library of Birmingham and the implications for such a place in the 21st Century. Once you cut-through the 'big city' stuff much of what's left is relevant to the small town library ... might be worth a read at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/07/future-british-libraries-margaret-hodge Thankfully my own local village library is now a vibrant place and the 'secret weapon' in changing the former moribund place into something of value is an energetic librarian; I suppose it's her imagination and hard work that's made the difference. Extended hours (early & late), weekends (all day Sat & Sun), Mother & Toddler sessions, book groups and readings, visiting authors & poets, up-to-date stock (something also mentioned in the G2 article), kids competitions, book sales, refreshments. Yep, it's got all the other stuff you'd expect, DVDs, CDs, LPs, internet caf, etc. All this gets the punters in and so allows the chiselling local Councillors photo oportunities and therefore snares them into continued support (not their natural condition as they are scum-sucking Tories ... pause to clear the Symptom's throat for a big hockle!) I don't know if the Bedder's boss librarian is cut from similar cloth to my local one but in my humble view that's the type of person needed to lead the struggle to re-vitalise the place.

God Save our Blessed BBC and most of what they do, however ... like many organisations there's clearly money wasting going on. Why did they need to spend £1 billion digging the "deepest hole in the West End" when creating a new basement at Broadcasting House in London's Great Portland St. Oh, and the £70,000 to photograph the builders doing it, and £25,000 for a 2 minute flight over the site by a radio-controlled helicopter (not a big jobby but one of those model things that sad blokes fly). Then there's the £210 million +++ for just building White City 2 (further out West of Central London) with a further £60.9 million to furnish it. Just a couple of examples of needless spending when what they should have done was rationalise their TV Centre/HQ needs and house the lot in one of those cheap, monster warehouse, sheds on some industrial estate out-of-town - all at a fraction of the cost. The Beeb produces great content but is let down by lazy/greedy managers, not the programme makers. It's a bit like the answer to the question about why is military procurement costing such vast amounts (and our troops are still under-resourced) ... it 'cos a bog roll costs thousands. How else can the Officer Class get the finest wines for nowt in the mess. Yep, like all bosses they'll always milk it dry given half-a-chance and the scum-sucking Daily Mail readers will be guided into blaming the workers for excess.

Always a sequence for me: pulse quickening as the train pulled onto the High Level Bridge excitmeent building on the walk up to the bus in the Haymarket lip tremble at right turn onto the A1068 off the 'old' A1 just North of the The Drift Inn at Seaton Burn deep-gulping at the distant sight of the Power Station chimneys bum-clenching at Hartford Bridge wide-eyed wonder past Costain's utter joy at wonder of the Red Lion and Cop Shop ... ... home to Bedders at last!

Oh! I forgot a name for the event. How about: The Look Back in Anger at What the Tories Did to Us Picnic.

Είμαι βέβαιος ότι το Ï€Î¿Î»Ï ÏƒÎºÏ‰Ï„ÏƒÎ­Î¶Î¹ÎºÎ¿ ΠολÏφημος μας που το ΚÏκλωψ θα φÏοντίσει τα ενδιαφέÏοντά μας. For those who didn't read The Greats ... "I am sure that our very own Scottish Polyphemus the Cyclops will look after our interests."

How about ... Venue for the fair: 20 acres Venue for the New Labour speech makers: The Bandstand at the bottom of Bedlington Bank We could even have marching bands making their way down Front Street!

Check out this site for helpful maps - http://www.durham-miner.org.uk/miner/usp.nsf/pws/Durham+Miner+Project+-+About+The+Project The maps (via the miner mapping button in the menu) are useful because you can see current locations then click on the Historical Maps button and then 'mine back' the same location through the decades back to the mid 1800s. Northumberland & Durham coalfields are listed; seems the project was linked to the Durham mining Museum. The project has other stuff of interest ... just check-out the menu Maybe others have posted this info earlier, if so, apologies.

Yep, 3Gs it was Fogan's Yard ... why I'd forgotten the name is beyond me as my favourite Toon striker at the time had a similar surname. Also right again on Jimmy Millne and not Eddie ... what would we do without you and your 'exiles' memory fixes'? I'm sure we used to access the orchard across a derelict yard at Fogan's (usually covered with Rose Bay Willow Herb ... we'd get covered with the 'cotton wool' seeds)... trouble is Google Maps isn't much good for tracing our some of 'old' routes 'cos much has been built over. Cymp ... where can we access a fuller version of your block plan as this would be just-the-job? Another orchard we used to raid was also walled one off Catholic Row ... belonged to the Church; the boss Padre at the time (mid 60s) was a Monk guy with a brown habit who liked a drink (my old man often had a Drambuie or brandy or two with him) ... again, the Brother's name slips through the cracks in my memory. His orchard had pears, apples & plums. Is it still there? My old man used to escort us when we were nippers to that barbers beside Fogon's entrance for a 'short back and sides'; didn't the shop have tiered seating, actually wooden benching, up the back wall for the victims. The shop was usually full of flat-capped pitmen and us boys; the air was usually thick was fag smoke. Ah, happy days! Anybody clarify the local term for nicking apples?

Brian - did you get into your Granny's house through the back. The reason I ask is that you'll remember at the rear of East Riggs were allotments juxtaposed with the back gardens of the houses and through the allotments ran a couple of 'clarty' paths - called The Cut (for our younger viewers all this was where Windsor Court is now ... ah, what would we poor exiles do without Google maps). The Cut linked Front Street to Acorn Avenue. You maybe picked-up The Cut around the back of the Old Hall. There were a number of buildings that had archways leading to courtyards; Dowson's Buildings on Hartford Rd (between Catholic Row and Hartford Cres ... next door to the Sally Army and the Masonic Hall [i think]) had a number of dwellings around the cobbled courtyard with the arch access to Hartford Rd. There was another one on Front St (opposite the 60s Council Offices and next door the Eddie Millne's house) but I can't remember the name; the courtyard backed onto Eddie Millne's walled orchard ... yep, we used to shinny over his wall to nick the apples. I've forgotten what we used to call this activity ... I'm sure it wasn't scrumping - anybody know the correct local term?

Were any 'local schools for local kids' closed?

Well I blame just about everything on Esther Rantzen (Beelzebub's agent on Earth). Most of the ills in this Country (and maybe the World) can be traced directly back to her and her founding Childline and her proselytising of kids' rights. Picture the scene: little Jonny or Mary caught nicking from the old Granny up the street (after giving her a good tuning), parents attempt to punish the nippers (no telly tonight), kids say "Oh no you don't 'cos we'll phone-up Childline and report you for cruelty and/or abuse, scared parents back-off saying "OK, but don't do it again". And so the World goes down the shi*ter

Merl ... I wasn't aware that Northumberland used the American busing model to draw the nippers in from that far & wide but I still want to make the general point about kids being ferried to school. I'd be interested to know how many schools, which drag-in their kids from nearby, shut-up shop; as I hinted we appear to have been made of stronger stuff back then (said with tongue in cheek!). I know that staff will live further away these days and as a result may have problems getting in - generally, many teachers in my school days lived locally so walked to work. Anyway, I think the Woller kids could at least have made an effort ... farmers' kids - tough - huh!

Why can't the kids walk to school ... we had to back in the day! Has everyone gone soft 'cos a bit of snow's fallen? Just watched the Beeb news tonight where they reported on some primary school, in some hill town, which has stayed open whilst all the others closed; picture the scene ... kids at lessons, falling snow seen through the windows, break-time approaching, interviewed Headteacher says the kids can't go out into the playground 'cos of 'elf & safety concerns. No mass snowball fights, no 'scrubbing' the lasses so no fond memories for those kids to look back on when they're older. Yep, I'm sure they'll fondly remember that Maths lesson and the resentment at been kept in and not that great day in the snow. I remember with joy the mass snowball fights us Westridge kids had with Biscop (I don't know if it was called that then ... we just referred to it as 'The Cathers')back in the 60s. Happy days.

I'm with my 'old sparring partner' Monsta on this one. It's wall-to-wall celebs everywhere you look ... cheap & nasty telly (fodder for ITV usually), most of the newspapers, they even infect the so-called serious news programmes. There's even the occasional intrusion into my beloved Guardian ... outrageous! I've got nothing against them as people and yes, they should be welcomed back home, but, but, but, not with a chasing (often invited) pack of paps following in their wake. It always seems to be a cynical manipulation/PR type of event (designed to pander to the needs of the pathetic 'star-struck') when really these celebs should visit their nearest & dearest on the quiet. It's all terribly embarrassing really. Anyway, who is this Janet Middlemarch?

Aye, innocent times! Are there any of those marching bands still around? Every community had them, some even had international fame ... the Pelaw band as featured in Get Carter.

Brilliant! Just to get some sense of scale of the drag-line buckets the Dad of a pal of mine (he was the top spark at the site in the mid to late 60s)took a few of us 'down the hole' in a Land Rover which he parked in the bucket ... there was still plenty of room at each side even after we opened all the car doors wide to get out. The Euclids in the film (tractor/trailer jobbies) I seem to remember were superceded by the mid to late 60s by those yellow American brutes ... but maybe others here have clearer memories. There was a rather interesting 'grave yard' dump for all the old & knackered tackle (including some of the types shown in the film) ... yep, it all went in the hole at the end. The explosives shed (a big red steel box) was never locked! - oh, what fun us lads had on the site. Wasn't the coal screening site at Bebside ... I seem to remember another Bailey bridge going over the road next to Jacky Reed's garage?