Organic-Ally

Wrote this piece for my friends in Singapore: my perspective of what Mr Cameron called the "sick society". David Starkey in using the phrase "The whites have become black" has been branded a "racist". I am no fan of Mr Starkey. As a social scientist from outside the UK, one who is not weighed down by the guilt of British colonialism (but is in fact a product of it), one who is colour-blind except when it is culturally significant, I feel that Mr Starkey is only using this statement to make a "shortcut" to what I had alluded to in my original blog piece referenced above. There is something in the black African/West Indian/Caribbean culture/s that is preventing their younger generations from benefitting from all the resources thrown at them in the UK. The same is happening amongst a certain class of young white generations. Taxpayers should be keen to ascertain what exactly are the factors (fatherlessness, lack of disciplinary boundaries, ...

After building up my sourdough starter for two weeks (details in the next post, perhaps) I was very excited about making my first sourdough loaf. The diary was cleared. This was my starter in the morning. The volume has reduced from its evening time high, as you might have noticed from the "tide marks", but still bubbling when viewed from the top: I am trying to followed a "recipe" from Dan Lepard in a newspaper and combining that with a recipe by Daniel Stevens ( River Cottage No. 3 ). Emptied most of this into a mixing bowl, added 500 strong wholemeal (because I don't like eating white) flour and about 300ml tepid water and mixed into a ball. Left it for 10 minutes. Then decided (perhaps wrongly) that it probably needed a little more water. Added what I thought was about two teaspoons of salt, but probably much less. Left this for about two hours and it became like this. Notice the holes on the surface. Removed this onto an oiled surface and knead...

When I read how his mum tweets about how he was being locked up for 23 hours a day, my heart bled for her. But not for long. Instead I found myself mulling over what is meant by a "privileged upbringing". Was young Gilmour privileged on the basis that he has a loving mother and stepfather? Was young Gilmour privileged because he was given every material need? Was young Gilmour privileged to be an above-intelligent person (assuming that as he had gone to Cambridge)? In court it was argued in mitigation that young Gilmour behaved the way he did because he faced rejection from his birth father. He was drugged up to the eyeballs when he was swinging from the Cenotaph. Would my biographer (if I had one) also describe me as having a "privileged background"? On the basis that my mother never worked, and never made us do any household chores. Though she was criticized by the extended family for being so, her response had always been, "I want my (six) c...