Sunday, July 08, 2018


wake up, open your eyes DEMOCRACY IS DEAD no state is a democracy any more they are all OLIGARCHIES we are ruled by a few, and behind them are wealthy, powerful people we need to replace it with protocracy ( to get closer to how democracy started ) it only lasted for a short time in ancient greece - today it is abused - a "parliamentary democracy" is not what most folk think of as democracy - today "parliamentary democracy" is like an oligarchy - a few hundred MPs rule us - so - what to replace it ? - how about this - and this is only a model to be improved staring with, say, 2,000 of the electorate and doubling this figure each year in 10 years we should reach over a million - aged about 24 a citizen applies to ‘feedback’ ( or ‘monitor’ ) - certain categories will be excluded - criminals, those who have avoided paying their taxes ? etc - not everyone is interested in politics … ( maybe only graduates should be involved at first ? ) - 'he sits a test to determine if 'he - is suitable to vote on world and state issues - pass the test and 'he can vote ( if 'he wishes ) - in the tenth year the state is divided into about 100 ( or more ) demes - each deme would have about 10,000 monitors - everyone ( eligible ) who wanted to, could feedback on any issue - using the internet - from home, office or work, etc not all would want to do so every time - each day the electors would be able to see what issues are about to be discussed in parliament and give their opinion - for, against ( or abstain if not bothered ? ) the government would then have a daily ? feedback on how the electorate felt about these issues voila - protocracy ( in a way this has already started with organisations like 38 degrees global citizen, and so on ) protocracy - part 2 ( for greece ) i have been told that many greek politicians steal money from the electorate while they are in power and because of parliamentary privilege they cannot be removed until the next election which could be ( on average ) two years away ( and up to four years away ) the answer ? - abolish some politicians ( those who run ministries ? ) form a group of people, academics, etc ( who would interview candidates ) from this list choose, at random, as they did in ancient greece, a panel of five this panel could be changed every year their job would be to interview and employ heads of department ( for each ministry) head of the department for defence, health, education, etc they would be employed by the state ( and could be dismissed immediately if found stealing ) an applicant would be ineligible if known or related to any of the panel each choice of the panel would be put to the ‘electorate’ who could then vote, using the internet, against the selected candidate, if thought to be unsuitable this would give power to the people the president, president-elect and vice-president could be chosen in a similar manner the panel would make up a list of ( 12 ? ) suitable applicants a vote would be taken on the internet by the electorate over 3 days on day one the 6 candidates getting the least votes would be dropped from the list on day two the 3 candidates getting the least votes would be dropped from the list on day three the candidate with the least votes would be invited to be vice president the candidate with the most votes would be invited to be president the other candidate would become president-elect after a term of office of, say, three years, the president ends his tenure and the president-elect takes his place, the vice-president becomes the president-elect and from then on a new vice-president is chosen each time ( every 3 years ? ) by vote ( on the internet ) this is just a model, a suggestion on how we could improve things, others may be able to improve it, to add or take away bits to make it work better, but the current way we run things is obviously not working to the benefit of the common ‘man something has to change suggestions by others … 1 - advertising yourself for these positions is illegal. 2 - campaigns are to be run voluntary, 3 - the job would be honorary with a small expenses fee and a token wage. if you think my idea is complicated … … no one was able to circumvent the government system of the Venetian Republic. Do you know why? For more than five centuries (from 1268 to 1797) the procedure to elect the doge (chief of state) did not change. 1 Choose 30 members of the Great Council by lot. 2 These 30 people are reduced by lot to 9. 3 These 9 people choose 40 other people. 4 These 40 are reduced by lot to 12. 5 These 12 people choose 25 other people. 6 These 25 people are reduced by lot to 9. 7 These 9 people choose 45 other people. 8 These 45 people are reduced by lot to 11. 9 These 11 people choose 41 other people. 10 These 41 people elect the doge. Funny that many Americans blame their electoral system for being complicated. You may think what you want about the Venetian system but it guaranteed what was probably the most stable government in the history of mankind. By the way, despite the fact he was elected for life, the power of the chief of state in Venice was very much limited. He could not appear in public without other officials present (security from populism). He could not meet foreign diplomats or open foreign dispatches without other officials present (security from collusion with foreign governments). He could not possess any property in a foreign land. for more crazy ideas visit

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

your real weekly wage

Arguments are raging about the minimum wage.
If, for one moment, we leave aside the question of
what age a ’man should be, and for the sake of argument
assume the case for someone who is about 30 years old.
What gives? From a ’mans wage we have to deduct

tax and other stoppages
the cost of accommodation mortgage/rent
power electric/gas/oil/etc
rates council tax/water/sewage
travel to work ( bus, car, train )
furniture & household goods
buildings & contents insurance cover
cost of any accidents
TV licence

car running/repairs/tax/insurance/AA/etc
holiday 2 weeks abroad?
christmas & birthdays presents/cards/fare/etc

drink/cigarettes/gambling not considered

Try this for yourself
add up all the deductions and
subtract these from your total annual income
divide what’s left over, if any, by 52
that’s your real weekly wage
divide this by, say 40, or whatever, and this will give you
what you earn per hour in expendable income
that is, expendable on what you want
as opposed to what you have to spend to live.


Does anyone else feel the way I do about work?
It seems to amount to no more than legalised enslavement.
Pay them just enough to buy the essentials.
Just keep them alive and able to work.
Don’t worry too much about their health,
if they’re knackered when they get home then
all they’ll have the energy for is
to watch a bit of TV and then go to bed.
Keep them all quiet, depressed, badly fed & badly paid,
and you can keep them under control.
On TV keep on showing them the poor in other countries
and they’ll continue to count their ’blessings’.

Of course, if we all had the same standard of living
throughout the world
then the amount of pollution would be enormous.
Maybe that’s why the world governments don’t want to help the poor?

to reduce rubbish

when i was a child there was a deposit of 2p on every lemonade bottle
these were always returned to get 2p off the next purchase
boys would collect abandoned bottles to increase their pocket money

if the greek government introduced a deposit on plastic bottles of 10 lepta
( to begin with ) people would begin to return empty bottles
if after, say, 1 year, sufficient were not being returned to reduce rubbish
then the deposit could be increased to 20 lepta,
more people would return bottles = less rubbish
the deposit could be increased every year
until all/most plastic bottles were being returned

a 20mm red D could be added to all labels
with the date of production and the necessary deposit
( needed if deposits are to be increased in future )
bottles brought into greece by travellers would not have the red D
so would not have a refundable deposit on them

once it had been established that this system works
deposits could be put on all sorts of packaging that ended up as rubbish
cans, cigarette packs, glass, etc
this could be phased in adding a new package each year

this would cost the greek government very little, or even nothing, to introduce
bottles would be returned by consumers, children, tramps, etc

manufacturers and traders who sell these products make profit from sales
and are part to blame for all the rubbish in greece
they have some responsibility to collect the empties
and return them to the factories or waste collection centres
( after removing the red D from each package )

shares not grants

The government gives grants to help businesses
to get started or to get out of difficulties,
but wouldn’t it be better to give this money
in return for future shares in the company?
If a company succeeds then
it can afford to pay dividends for government shares held.
The income from these shares would gradually increase over the years
and could be used to help other businesses.
The fund account would have to belong to the people of Britain
and not to the MPs of any party.
The shares would not be for sale by anyone,
only a referendum could produce a decision to dispose of them.
In a hundred years or more there may even be
a large enough income to help reduce the tax burden of the state.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

social security advisers

Proposal to ease the problems of social security claimants.

Even an educated extrovert, with a high IQ, can find dealing with social security hard going. Most claimants are none of these, if they were they’d probably be working. Some claimants can’t even read and some of these are too embarrassed to ask for help. So, instead of the current system of folk going into the imposing? smelly, dirty office buildings of the DSS; having to struggle to obtain basic benefit from staff who (let’s be honest now) sometimes behave as if the cash was coming out of their own wages; we need something better. And if this system also benefits the staff, we can kill two birds with one stone.
Unless you have ever seen confrontation between a claimant (no; they are definitely not customers - it is an insult to call them this) and a member of staff you won’t understand this bit…claimants should no longer have to sit opposite someone ⁄ behind ⁄ a ⁄ protective ⁄ barrier asking them for money. DSS staff should no longer have to deal directly with the public. Instead…there could be social ⁄ security ⁄ advisers, a bit like solicitors. One would go into their office and sit down next to them, discuss circumstances and be told what claims can be made. The forms could then be filled in by the social ⁄ security ⁄ adviser on behalf of the claimant to ensure the full entitlement is paid. This would also relieve DSS staff from the pressures of dealing with antagonistic claimants.


Workers in a company should be given shares to ‘hold’ while they are employed by that company. On leaving they would have to surrender their shares. Shares could be gained each year for not being late, not being sick, overtime done, special contributions to the company, self improvement (training, first aid, fire warden, etc) and years service. The longer one stayed the more shares one would hold, loyalty would be encouraged. The worker would have the dividends from these shares but the shares would always belong to the company. There would also be an incentive to help the company do well to increase the dividend.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

road safety

as a safety measure at traffic light junctions
could we have a 1 meter circle drawn at the centre of the road
whenever the lights fail
the junction can then be treated as a roundabout

at the exit of one-way streets
it may help to have a row of 300mm triangles
( flat sides out - maybe with a line to re-inforce the meaning
just like those in the centre of roads - single line and broken line )
to show one cannot drive into the road

2 square dots, or 3 or 4 could be painted on the road
in the middle of each lane at say, 500m intervals or more
to remind drivers of the speed limit
these could not be stolen for their aluminium content
and would only be covered occasionally by snow
( trees grow over signs much more often )

these days we see hatched strips down the centres of roads
to improve safety ?
how about a 1metre wide hatched strip along motorways
between the inside lane and the hard shoulder
to increase safety when cars break down ?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

police aid - simms

police aid - i'd like to suggest

a version of the simms that can be used by detectives in the police force

to help solve serious crime

all the witness statements are created in a simms program

which is run to see if everything ties up

lies ( and inconsistencies ) may be easier to spot

not all detectives may have the ability to hold all the facts of a case in their head

this may help those and also improve the chances of all detectives

to solve more crimes

if birmingham police force was the first to set up the program

and it worked well

it could then perhaps sell this to other forces in the uk 

and throughout the world

more than covering the initial costs

pay rise


now, while everyone is being asked to tighten their belts ( financially )

is possibly a good time not to ask for a ( big ) payrise,


why not try to get pay pegged to the national average pay ?

if pay is, for example, £20,000 pa and the national average is £25,000

then to get it pegged to the national average at 80% would be the first step

each year after this pay would rise naturally with the national average

without the need to go on strike

or negotiate for a rise every few years ( with all the hassle that entails )

all effort could be put into trying to get small increments in salary

( real, permanent increments )

now is the time to do this

Mortgage Bonds

Proposal to ease the problems of local Welsh folk buying homes

When the locals in Wales want to buy a home 
they often find that they are competing with much better off buyers 
from cities in England and maybe even abroad. 
To help them bid/buy on an even footing 
it should be necessary for all house-buyers in Wales 
to use mortgage bonds. 

Each bond would be valued at £1 
and locals should be able to buy them at say, 40 pence each, perhaps 
if you’re Welsh but from another part of Wales, 60 pence each. 
If you already have a home then you should have to pay a premium, 
say, £1.25 or more. Foreigners would have to pay even more, 
maybe £1.50 or £2? This would enable the local Welsh worker to buy a home. 

the next is an old idea - you may remember the welsh problems

Another possibility is to compel homeowners from outside the area 
to split their homes in two ( upstairs and downstairs ? ) 
part for their own use and part to let 
to a local couple or family at a fair rent 
(for the wages paid in that area). 

This might also ensure that the house was not burnt down by nationalists.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

school improvement

how about the following ?
test all 11-year olds for sensitivity to food and additives
( advise those necessary of a diet to avoid unwanted foods )
ensure all children have checks for eyes, hearing, colour awareness
ensure all can read to their age level
a breakfast 'club'
fruit/milk drinks at break
wholesome attractive food at dinner time
- academic studies 8am - 1pm
- art, sport, drama, etc 2pm - 6pm
- no homework
45 minute periods always split into 2 parts of 20 mins
( for max retainment of learning )
the 5 min break should be something totally different
occupational guidance tests for all 14-year olds
only foreign teachers to teach foreign languages


Justice isn’t justice...

...if it costs money.
Justice should be obtainable
without having to expend one penny,
or it just becomes a commodity,
a product, to buy and sell,
the best quality going to the highest bidder.
a method for those in the legal trade
to earn their daily cake...

...where’s the justice in that?

Will we always have law over justice?
or can we ever expect to have justice over law?

Tony Ryder
01 216 806 832
70 Rowheath Road
Kings Norton B30 2EX July 1997

Friday, December 18, 2009

democracy should be abolished

democracy should be abolished -

it only lasted for a short time in ancient greece -
today it is abused -
a "parliamentary democracy" is not what most folk think of
as democracy -
today "parliamentary democracy" is like an oligarchy -
600 MPs rule us -

so -
what to replace it ? -
how about this -

aged about 24 each citizen applies to vote -
certain categories will be excluded -
criminals, those who have avoided paying their taxes ? etc -
'he sits a test to determine if 'he -
is suitable to vote on world and state issues -

the state is divided into about 100 or more demes -
each deme would have about 100,000 voters -
everyone ( eligible ) who wanted to, could vote on any issue -
using the internet - not all would want to vote every time -

voila - panocracy

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

religion / philosophy

i considered the religions i'd so far come in contact with
the following seems, to me, to be a better alternative
its based on three tenets ( and only three )

no priests
no garments
no books
no hymns
no prayers
no obligations
no buildings
no money
no pictures
no statues
no candles
no meetings
no laws
just the following guide

assume that each of us is an eternal spirit,
in a temporary body, on test, here on earth

expect that when the body dies,
we realise all the harm we’ve done,
and that we suffer disconsolation,
in proportion to the total harm done

don’t harm ( help? )
that is, don’t harm other people, animals, birds,
fish, insects, plants, the environment
or even ourselves

August 1997

Tuesday, March 10, 2009


Proposal to help the homeless in Britain

The initial concept is that
Each council should set up sites for the homeless.
These can be landscaped to overcome some of the objections
that are likely to come from those who already have homes.

they could even have front & back gardens.
brick walls at each end & slate-covered roof trusses
over the flat roofs for a conventional appearance.

If the scheme didn’t work then the portacabins
could be returned or sold back to the company.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

Tony Ryder
01 216 806 832
70 Rowheath Road
Kings Norton B30 2EX July 1997

four-day week

For some time I’ve thought that if most people worked
a 4-day week unemployment could be reduced.

I realise that this isn’t practical, there are some workers
For example, nurses and doctors would greatly benefit
This seems to me better than sacking hundreds of nurses,
but they would have to choose this option in preference to
some (10% or more?) losing their jobs.

there was an upturn in the economy and full time work
was necessary we would all be trained and ready.

If most of us worked a 4day week more people would have
self-respect and maybe fewer would turn to crime.
(This cost can’t be calculated!) Would the extra numbers
paying tax and the lower amount of unemployment claims
Lower numbers of prisoners in jail would also reduce
so that their child or a relative could have a job
I guess most would say, ‘yes!’

Unemployed folk should be given the opportunity
to register to seek odd days, loosing only one day’s
unemployment benefit (say 25% of a week’s benefit?)
for each workday they gained. They could even be given
different jobs. Relatives and friends might be willing to
heavy outgoings as youngsters trying to set up a home.
This form of job-share would enable some to offer
holiday and sickness cover for a week or two.
It may even give some the chance to go on extended holidays
would also give the unemployed the chance to earn a lump sum

then the government should allow unemployed folk to gather

Tony Ryder
01 216 931 905
70 Rowheath Road
Kings Norton B30 2EX July 1997

Sunday, August 03, 2008

is a pimp a slaver?

A pimp will beat a woman that he uses to earn money
if she tries to keep any of the cash.
And if she gets caught trying to run away she’s threatened with death.
Surely this amounts to nothing more than slavery?
If a woman can’t give up the game when she wants
then she may as well be locked in chains.
What’s the penalty for slavery today?
Far better for all prostitutes to work under the auspices of the council
in a controlled environment with a good doctor on hand.
A pension scheme would also then be possible.
These women won’t just vanish but that doesn’t mean
that they should be thrown on the scrap heap.
Just like any other citizen they need to be taken care of.
We don’t always, if ever, know the reasons they entered this profession.
Would stiffer sentences for pimps help at all?
If the women only worked for themselves
maybe their lives wouldn’t be so bad.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008


this is an idea to help the police on the few occasions each year
when they need lots of ‘manpower

how about creating deputies ( maybe a voluntary position ? )
these would be ex-police’men, ex soldiers, first aiders,
members of the TA, cadets, firemen, etc - when something like
a wide search has to be done all of these could be contacted
and, jobs permitting, called on to temporarily swell the ranks
of the force they could also be bussed in from neighbouring
counties and towns if necessary they could also be used to
help the police when a large number of houses had to be visited
all at the same time ( search for drugs, illegals or sex slaves )
every one or two police’men could then be accompanied by,
say, 4 or 5 deputies
if the deputies could not be paid ( a retainer ? )
maybe it would be possible to get volunteers
could they be offered a tax discount in return for their service ?
i’m throwing you the idea but you may very well be able to improve it
if you don’t think that it will work, perhaps you could let me know why
and maybe i can think of a way around the objection ?
there could be 3 types of deputies
support deputies - strong/capable
search deputies - physically fit
observation deputies - anyone observant

constitutional representatives

Proposal to re-title MPs

MPs should bear the title Constitutional Representative rather than
Member of Parliament to help them remember the reason they are there.
Currently, some MPs seem to think that once they become
a member of ‘the Club’ that’s it! It’s not a club and they’re supposed
to be working for the public. Many do work hard but the change
of title would help us all keep in mind what they are there for.

do MPs take an oath to serve their constituents ?
if not, maybe they should, every time they enter parliament
to remind them of why they are there

Capped wealth

in this country of overwhelming wealth among some
about whom its dubious from where their wealth came
would it not be better for society to introduce capped wealth
once you amass a wealth of, say,£10 million all the surplus is taxed at 99 %
this would maybe encourage the rich to spread their wealth
around their relatives and friends

Thursday, March 06, 2008

mini trust insurance/pension fund

instead of leaving one's estate
to children and grandchildren ( and maybe even the taxman )
how about putting it all into a mini trust fund
each member of the family would then be encouraged
to pay premiums into an individual insurance unit of the fund
small claims would come from each person's own unit
set up with the deceased's estate
each person could then choose to use his unit or not
this unit would then build up over time
at the end of, say, 40 years the remaining sum
could then be transferred to an individual pension unit
each person could also be encouraged
to make payments into a pension unit
at the end of each year remaining cash
could be used to purchase shares
each family member would be encouraged
to donate their estate, on death, to the mini fund

most insurance needs could be met by this fund
obviously, not car insurance and a few others

family mini trust fund
individual insurance unit
individual pension unit

Monday, February 11, 2008

the NHS

Is the NHS nothing more than a means to ensure
that there are always enough fit workers for the factories,
offices and the rest of industry?
Could it be that the prime purpose for their existance
is to ensure the smoother running of the market place
and not so much for our sakes?
Maybe that’s why only a limited amount of cash is put into the NHS,
so long as there are enough fit and able workers
why waste money unnecessarily?
And while we’re on the subject;
there are two ways to deal with ill health,
treat the patients or
teach them how to avoid many of the causes of their problems.
Which do you think is cheaper?

Could it be that governments are frightened of the idea of
a highly educated population?
Possibly we haven’t yet seen a government educated enough
to recognise the problem and/or work out how to solve it.
Perhaps too many MPs are selfish,
instead of putting their county first
they choose party, family or even their own pockets.

October 1997

schools ?

Do schools exist just for the benefit of businesses?
To ensure that there are enough educated workers
to fill the vacancies in factories, offices
and other places of employment?
Look at the way GCE marks were allocated in the past,
each year a percentage of passes were allocated to those taking each exam.
This meant that if most students were working very hard one year,
borderline cases would fail, conversely,
if most students were lazy or off form another year,
borderline cases would pass.
So all that industry wanted was enough passes to fill their vacancies.
How many lives in the past may have been ruined
(or even just affected to an adverse degree)
by this callous indifference to
what passing an exam can mean to individuals?
So, it seems that schools, colleges and universities
are not there for our education
but just to supply the needs of the privileged.
Why else would past governments have allowed thousands of youngsters
to leave school without being able to read, write or do simple arithmetic?
They had enough, why bother?

October 1997

Wednesday, January 16, 2008


Rape of a female by a male.
Rape could be considered the equal and opposite of murder,
attempted rape the equal and opposite of attempted murder.
Each seeks to give or take life to or from the victim, against her wish,
Perhaps the rapist, if known, should be forced to pay weekly
for the maintenance of the child, if born, until the child becomes a wage earner.
Rape, by a large male, of a small female,
rape by a group of males,
rape by an unclean male can:
lead to health problems in the future,
cause cancer of the womb,
increase the chance of cancer of the womb,
later on in life, prevent a woman having children.
Should the penalties for rape and murder be the same?
Should the penalties for attempted rape and attempted murder be the same?
Have judges considered these points?
Is a female judge more likely to consider these points?

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

statehold land

When a ’man goes to fight for hez country ’he risks loosing hez life to defend it. The partner and children could loose their loved one (and breadwinner). If war breaks out each ’man is expected to come to the defence of the country, but what do they get after? usually nothing!
Each citizen ought to be entitled to request and receive a ‘house-sized’ plot of land on which ’he can build a home. The cost? a nominal rent, say £1 per annum. This could be offered first to service’men, police’men and their kind, later to others who serve their country and gradually extended to most of the population. There would be exceptions... anyone who is earning above a certain figure, this sum could be raised bit by bit until it was about, say, twice the national average. Obviously, some wouldn’t need this option ( to have a statehold plot ), some wouldn’t want it and others wouldn’t be entitled to it.

Tony Ryder
01 216 931 905
70 Rowheath Road
Kings Norton B30 2EX July 1997

’man = man or woman

’he = he or she

hez = her or his

hem = her or him ( I know, it could be hir, but it seems a bit clumsy )

Friday, December 07, 2007


many people have borrowed more than they should to buy a home
the money-lenders have encouraged this
because they have too much money in their coffers
and they want to make profit on it
they know that if payments are not kept up
all they need do is repossess the property and sell it
often just to cover the debt, so, the property is sold at a loss
at a loss to the ex-home owner and his family
the wife and children are not to blame but suffer
property speculators make big profits out of their misery

if legislation was brought in
to force lenders
to convert the mortgage into a lease until the borrower
was able to make mortgage payments once more
this would prevent families being made homeless
and may also encourage lenders not to make it so easy
for borrowers to go over their limit ( and get into debt )

why won't the government do this ?
and why can they not work together to achieve this goal ?

Monday, October 08, 2007

house contents insurance

house contents insurance through the police

insurance companies make huge profits
which go into the pockets of the shareholders
would it not be better for the police to be the only ones
to issue insurance cover for house contents ?
they would then be the ones to make all the profits
which could then be used to improve police services
pay, pensions, cars, research, etc


health insurance

health insurance through the NHS

insurance companies make huge profits
which go into the pockets of the shareholders
would it not be better for the NHS to be the only ones
to issue insurance cover for health ?
they would then be the ones to make all the profits
which could then be used to improve the NHS services
pay, pensions, medicine, research, etc


fire ( buildings ) insurance

fire ( buildings ) insurance through the fire brigade

insurance companies make huge profits
which go into the pockets of the shareholders
would it not be better for the fire brigade to be the only ones
to issue insurance cover for buildings ?
they would then be the ones to make all the profits
which could then be used to improve fire services
pay, pensions, cars, research, etc


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

traffic lights

why not make the top 2 lights on traffic lights
downward pointing triangles
like warning signs

red = stop

red & amber = stop

amber = stop

green = go

this would help those who are colour blind
and may make it more obvious what the sign means
the triangles could be slightly larger than the circle for go
a space could be left at the top for a future addition
a blue light ( see blue wave )


bottle domes

Proposal to help the homeless overseas

The idea is to slightly change the shape of the large PET plastic bottles in which water and fizzy drinks are sold.
By altering the overall shape to that of a truncated cone, that is a slight taper, the bottles can be reused as bricks to build a dome.
With a taper of about 5mm a dome of about 3,000mm height can be constructed. If the bottles are used empty the dome will be very well lit,
but the bottles can be filled with earth, polystyrene, rubbish, or clay.
A bottle can be used as a mould in which to make clay bricks.
A plug of about 30 bottles taped together could be used to form a double-glazed window.
A doorway can be formed with two or three planks of wood making an equilateral triangle.
Once built the dome can be covered with a cement finish even using chicken-wire beforehand to add strength to the structure.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

July 1997

Blue Wave

Proposal to speed up emergency services through heavy traffic

The initial concept is that
all existing street lights in busy roads of major city centres could have a blue light added. In addition to this, a fourth, blue light could be added to traffic lights at junctions in these zones.

The ‘blue light’ circuit would be arranged in groups corresponding to sections between side streets - similar to the American ‘block’ system.

These groups would be linked into a central
emergency services computer.

Upon receipt of an emergency call, the switchboard operator would tap in the address, and the computer would calculate the optimum route for the vehicles, taking into account any existing road works, traffic accidents, etc. All blue lights along the route selected by the computer would immediately be activated - possibly in conjunction with an audible warning. All traffic and pedestrians along the route would then have plenty of prior warning to clear the roads and stay clear ensuring swifter access to an emergency. This could even be made a legal requirement. Traffic lights on the periphery of this zone could all be set to prevent ingress but allow egress from the zone helping to thin out the traffic.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement, for example, in roads without central reservations, two blue lines, about ten feet (3 meters) apart, could be painted along the road. Remember, we’re talking about busy streets in some town centres, not every village in the country. Every effort should be made to clear this area when the blue lights start to flash.

The public would have to be taught to use the system. In light of the increased, and increasing, density of traffic, ease of access along these busy routes by emergency vehicles is fast becoming a necessity.

Tony Ryder
01 216 931 905
70 Rowheath Road
Kings Norton B30 2EX

July 1997

Monday, July 23, 2007


Could it be that later on in life we don’t get fat, we just get bloated,
and not because of the foods we eat but rather
because of the combination of foods that we eat? Also,
could eating the same amount, but over an extended period,
help to reduce this bloating?
If we eat smaller quantities of food every 2 hours
does this help to reduce the swelling of the stomach,
even allowing the stomach to shrink in size a little
so that we don’t feel hungry so often, and
could we, in future, feel satisfied on smaller plates of food.
If we don’t eat a mix of food that creates gas
will this also reduce the tendency of the stomach
to swell as we get older?
Nomadic man used to eat all day long,
little snacks here and there as and when the opportunity arose.
Could this be part of the answer?
Would a mouthful every hour be enough to sustain us, eventually?

August 1997

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

religion - philosophy

assume that each of us is an eternal spirit, in a temporary body, on test,
here on earth

expect that when the body dies, we realise all the harm we’ve done,
and that we suffer disconsolation, in proportion to the total harm done

don’t harm (help?)

that is, don’t harm others, animals, birds, fish, insects, plants, the environment
or even ourselves

28-day club

Or a better name, if you can think of one,
could help many small businesses in Birmingham.
It doesn’t have to be 28 days to begin with,
it could be 56 to start off and be
reduced by 7 days each year for, say, 4 years.
This would be better than the current situation.
The scheme would have to be started by the Council
and half a dozen or so large companies like Cadburys,
the top ten if possible.
They would agree to pay all bills by the 56th day
and would encourage other companies
with whom they do business to do the same.
They would try to persuade medium sized companies to join the club,
then later on smaller companies would also be invited to join.
If preference were given to businesses already in this club
it might be an incentive for others to want to join.
Not being in may indicate that you don’t pay your bills on time
and you aren’t someone to do business with.
Those who failed to keep their promise
would have their membership revoked.
A list could be kept at the Council House for members to consult.

I appreciate that the concept is open to suggestion and improvement.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

An extended alphabet

a b c d δ θ e f g γ h χ i j k l m n o p q r s $ t u v w y z

It’s been suggested that
there are about 44 different sounds
used by the human race, but let’s just look at
some of these sounds
to begin with.

The C could be withdrawn
and not used for a period of about 5 years.
It should be replaced by the K or the S
in all spelling. This alone would help many children,
foreigners and people with learning difficulties.
How are you supposed to pronounce the word Celtic?
Keltik Seltik Keltis Seltis
and the names Cyrus, Cambyses, Cyaxares?
for some it can be daunting!

The letter X can be replaced with K and S (eg fiks). . .

Later on, with the C & X now available,
we could assign a new sound to each:

X could become the ch dipthong
as used by the Scots in loch
& the Welsh in Llanelli.

C could be brought back into use
to represent the CH sound, as in the slavonic tongues,
possibly with a vertical line through it,
to help older readers to distinguish it from former use.
we could underline letters that have a new pronunciation.
Either method could also be used
with the S for an SH sound.
Many folk throughout Europe are already familiar with
names like Milosovic Lictarovic etc.

The dipthong PH could be replaced with F,
the Greeks never used two letters for this sound,
so why do we? Why do we need to show a Greek origin?
Our TH represents two distinctive sounds.
The dipthong TH could be replaced with
δ and θ as used in this thought (δis θought)
many schoolchildren are already familiar with most, if not all,
of the Greek alphabet as used in maths and physics.
These two Greek letters fit perfectly
the two sounds that we represent with TH.
And from where did we get our current alphabet?
Most of the Latin alphabet comes from the Greek.

[The Greeks could do with borrowing our B and D characters,
sounds that they have to show by using MP and NT,
(ask some Greeks to write bumpy dent
and see how many spell it correctly)]

If we aren’t going to pronounce the p in psychiatrist, etc
then why use it, it just confounds
those who struggle with their reading.

I’m not suggesting that we create
a fourtyfour-character alphabet; yet.
Not even that we implement all of the above changes.
But we could start with some of the simpler ones
(remembering that, generally,
changes take about 70 years to be fully accepted).
Tony Ryder
01 216 931 905

August 1997