LINK SUMMER 2004

COMMENT 'Career' a very interesting word! Its meanings are:- 'go swiftly along - uncontrolled progress - a profession or occupation - a path through life or history.' CONSIDER BRITAIN'S CAREER - we 'go swiftly along ' and sometimes our progress seems uncontrolled as we take on wars which most of us don't want. At home we have problems with money matters, health, police services, we stumble and, not surprisingly our children stumble too. ‘AT THE TOP’ , IN GOVERNMENT, we find 'career led people' - forcing a way through and using adversarial behaviour with scant regard for others. Where is the promised government by consent, sensitive and based on people's needs? Where is democracy? JUST FOR A CHANGE it would be so nice to have some idea of where we want to be, a consensus of people's ideas and opinions: so then Britain could arrive in a settled, happy state. (Maybe government by coalition would allow peoples’ views to be represented and respected?) This Issue we look at some previous articles, you may notice certain concerns still raised today. TRUE, WE GO ROUND AND ROUND IN CIRCLES. LINK SHARES news national & local. Views put forward by 'everyday' people avoid the often narrow, stylised positions of the dailies. Involving local people helps bring warmth and presence to our paper; a little comfort for the mind, 'a special approach' to pull us away from the abyss of media gloom!

Autumn 1995 Cleaner Environment with The Guided Bus You may have seen the concrete tracks which have recently grown by the side of Scott Hall road just below the roundabout with Potternewton Lane and the signs "Guided Buses." I recently got in touch with Adrian Pope at the Highways department. The idea is that normal buses will be able, with the addition of little guide wheels at the side, to run onto the guidways and then back onto the normal roads again - this way they will not be held up in areas of heavy traffic. and will still be able to go onto estates to pick up people as usual.The guideways may be run along central reservations so as not to reduce the width of the road for ordinary traffic. As you sit in a traffic jam and watch these buses go by you may well want to try them. the really nice bit is car parks will be built along the special bus routes and you will be able to use the buses and leave your car in these - Free of Charge.

AUTUMN 2003 THE POST OFFICE - 'WE NEED EACH OTHER’ ‘---The Post Office is a local meeting point for many people and the chance to see a friendly face. To improve efficiency and increase profits our government is introducing plastic cards and closing many Post Offices. It does not seem to care or realise this may take away the last remaining social link for many, so making them much more isolated. To govern is not just about maximising profits but also to take into account peoples' needs. Link supports the right to choose to continue using your own post office. --- FROM THE POST OFFICE LEAFLET:- Benefit and State Pension Payments. The Government intends to remove your choice of payment by order book and will be compelling you to have your money paid into an account. A Government department will be contacting you asking for your bank account details. (order books are to be phased out over the next two years) However you will still have the right to draw your benefit at a Post Office. The Prime Minister himself stated in Parliament. 'let me make one thing absolutely clear, again: no one will be prevented from continuing to receive benefits in cash at the Post Office if he or she wants to and not only monthly but weekly" Hansard, col. 356.1 2/04/00 Now many POs are closed - so how can those in need receive their payments - the answer is ‘’with great difficulty’ via their carers and with a lot of extra worry attached. ‘However you will still have the right to draw your benefit at a Post Office.’ Yes if you can get to one!!! This Is goverment for profit, not for people.

Winter 2001:- thoughtless revenge Today much of the western world is nominally Christian; and the New Testament implies that we live with reconciliation and kindness towards our neighbours. Now if our code of conduct exacts thoughtless revenge we are still in some sort of stone age fight for survival. Mr Bush and Mr Blair ‘say’ we must fight with powerful weapons to keep our western democracy. But Mr Ben Laden says:- 'The September 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America's icons of military and economic power.' In words which provoked outrage across the States he argued that all American people are responsible for 'atrocities against Muslims'.

Spring 1998:- Preparing children for employment? We all want is to be able to earn enough money to maintain the life style we have chosen. -- Are we realistically equipping our children to meet this objective? Is the State assisting us with this concern? In a society where children have more say than adults, adults have difficulty disciplining and guiding children. Gone are the days when 'I'll tell your father ` created the behaviour required. Schools have the same problem --- Children talk back to teachers, ignore instructions,and don’t comply with rules, And teachers are powerless to change the situation. This is common throughout most of the education system. So do we expect these children to leave school - and be effective in the world of work? employment? We all want is to be able to earn enough money to maintain the life style we have chosen. -- Are we realistically equipping our children to meet this objective? Is the State assisting us with this concern? In a society where children have more say than adults, adults have difficulty disciplining and guiding children. Gone are the days when 'I'll tell your father ` created the behaviour required. Schools have the same problem --- Children talk back to teachers, ignore instructions,and don’t comply with rules, And teachers are powerless to change the situation. This is common throughout most of the education system. So do we expect these children to leave school - and be effective in the world of work? Employees require discipline, commitment, - respect for rules and regulations and for customers. For the bright spark who declares ' I'll start my own business!` the same qualities are required (he/she) having to negotiate with the bank manager, or production staff, or even customers. People want respect and with the market place becoming ever more competitive, without a customer service focus, you don't have a business. If as adults we cannot raise our children with discipline we are condeming them to unemployability. They will pass this on to their children and so the situation continues. In order to create a committed work force we must address the problem of discipline Judy Browne

"Through faith, employers create a virtuous circle. There's nothing more destructive than the vicious cycle of not trusting employees. "The vicious cycle can destroy your business" he said and went on to give a string of real life examples of how some of the biggest and best corporate executives used a management system based on "compassion, network and knowledge". He urged bosses to call people "brother and sister" not employees. "Empathy is one of the greatest management skills you can build - If you lived your life right then later you can look back on it and enjoy it a second time." Tim Sanders, of Yahoo

LINK’S SPRING BBQ Sometimes I think wishes do turn into horses! How do you explain how a rainy and gloomy week ended with a warm, sunny, spring Saturday that we had so wished for? A few days to our spring barbeque, all of us were quite worried how it would go. With the skies showing no signs of letting up it had been a miserable week of rain and chilly winds! Come Saturday May 1 morning, a beautiful day greeted us. Do you see what I mean? Despite a low turnout, no doubt due to many May Day celebrations, we had a pleasant day. There were more than adequate refreshments and the children, especially, had a field day. Under the watchful eye of Ann, they played all sorts of interesting games. Some grown ups could not avoid joining in, to the delight of all those present. Although the highlight of the day, John's speech, did not generate as much debate as anticipated, there was no doubt it had LINK's spirit to generate discussions. Chris and Maci did corner John a little bit. But he managed to acquit himself well enough! E.G.

Do join us for the Summer BBQ for fun and exchange of views. Watch out for the date. E.G.

BARBEQUE 14TH AUGUST 2004, 4 DETAILS & TO CHECK DATE INFO@ NEWSVIEWS LINK.CO.UK Tel / Fax 0113 226 8904 Mob 07818445678/ 07802 741 346 www.newsviewslink.co.uk

MUSIC LINK MUSIC LINK MUSIC LINK The majority of this year's festivals are all sold out. The £112 tickets for Glastonbury were gone within a couple of hours and although there was always the chance of bidding for them on eBay, you had to be prepared to pay over the odds! Now I have frequented many open airs in my time - Glastonbury, the V festival, Reading/Leeds and T in the Park yet for a girl who loves her soul, jazz, urban and even dance music, there always seems to be a limited amount of such acts. Unfortunately for me and soul lovers alike, our artists hardly ever find themselves on the main stage. In the majority of cases, this equates to me being the odd one out! It’s never any fun when you’re unable to sing along to songs, which to the majority are standards but to you unrecognisable! This is why I'm dedicating this article to the loyal dance tent - the only place to be. Here you are guaranteed to find some of the freshest most enthusiastic artists and if you choose wisely some of the best live acts going. Take for instance this year at Glastonbury, if you have a ticket then make sure you check out 70's Disco girl group sensation Sister Sledge. Remember their hits such as the aptly titled, 'We Are Family', 'Lost In Music and 'He's The Greatest Dancer’? These are seasoned artists of a high calibre who possess combined experience and stage presence. They are sure to give a show stopping performance - miss this act at your peril! Another act not to be ignored, performing on the same night and who also add to the theme of 70’s revival is the Fatback Band. Playing a selection of the quirky tracks they’re known for such as 'Wicky Wacky' and the 'Bus Stop', this group are guaranteed to keep you happy, smiling and 'shaking your thang!' Old time groups are of course not the only acts to be found in the dance tents. Fast forward a decade later and we come to the Soul to Soul Sound system which, in the early 80’s, had just begun playing out and about in clubs and at street festivals. This led to the release of classic tracks such as ‘Back to Life’ and ‘Keep on Moving’ creating a new British urban scene to be proud of. Over 20 years later and Jazzy B's sound system is still going strong so remember to check out his Saturday night mix! Bringing the dance tent up to the present day are a selection of acts that form the contemporary dance scene and represent accordingly. The Soultrain DJs will be playing on the 26th. Then, on the Sunday, the Future World Funk DJs, Stanton Warriors, Dub Dadda, Skinny Man and DJ Flip will be performing and keeping the dance tent jumping! If you haven’t been to a festival yet and you’re still undecided then remember the atmosphere will always be brilliant. There will be loads of rock/indie music, a lack of hygienic toilet facilities plus kipping on the rock hard ground of a camp site for the weekend can seriously do your back in! Oh and whatever you do - don’t forget the baby wipes - you will thank me for that bit of advice! If you like myself are a funk/soul lover and find yourself in the dance tent at Glastonbury on the Sunday then remember not to get too carried away and stay there indefinitely. Word is that living legend himself, aka ‘The Godfather of Soul’, James Brown will be headlining that day! A performance that one should definately ‘Get on up’ and out of the dance tent for!

BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT--- In this introduction…. We will remind ourselves of a few tips on how to keep our bodies healthy.There is no doubt that you are aware of the looming health crisis in Britain, OBESITY ..................................................................

Body, Mind and Spirit is a new feature in Link aimed at discussing how to live a healthy life. The aim is to share OUR belief that understanding our body's needs is essential to a healthy life. As is the case with our other features, your views on the issues discussed will always be welcome. In fact we do POSITIVELY encourage you to get in touch with us! At LINK we believe that sharing of ideas is central to a healthy life. After all, this is what the world seems to be in so much short of supply. The underlying theme of this section is what LINK has in previous issues referred to as "The Grand Design" :the noble intention, reason, reality and hope given to man. That man ought to take care of his fellow human beings, animals and the environment, there is no doubt about it! But only if he has a healthy BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT can he do this. LINK's aim 'to open up the media', free minds from the ever present media sound bites and encourage incisiveness, shall form the basis of our discussions. A few tips on how to keep our bodies healthy will be our starting point. Eat a balanced diet, if you have to drink alcohol do it in moderation, don't smoke, get enough sleep, try to reduce stress, and exercise as often as possible. Simple really - although it sounds boring? Well, try it and see for yourself. You will probably find that the healthier you feel, the more energy you have, and a person with a lot of energy very often has a greater capacity to enjoy and help others enjoy life. PLEASE let us hear from you before we carry on FURTHER! Evans Gallo

MEANWOOD ELDERS NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION

Hi, we are Meanwood Elders Neighbourhood Action (MENA), based at the Meanwood Community Centre, Stainbeck Avenue, Leeds LS7 2QU. MENA are a community project aimed at local people who live in and around the Meanwood area and who are over 55 years of age. MENA aims to offer support, information and friendship in order to help overcome isolation and loneliness, and to promote healthy living, good health and a sense of security and well being both in the home and in the community. MENA offer a range of services aimed at bringing local people together in community based activities. These indude organising trips and events, an annual holiday, health promotion (advice and information, exercise groups, a healthy living group); winter warmth campaigns; a home visiting, advocacy and befriending service; support groups (theatre group, stroke club, solo group); benefits advice and help; and supports local churches in running lunch clubs offering excellent meals at very reasonable prices. MENA are always happy to welcome new members (membership is free) and are currently seeking to increase our volunteer teams, particularly in our home visiting service, our stroke club, our lunch clubs and for our management committee. Should anyone in the Meanwood area wish to join as a member, or would simply like more information, or if anyone would like to join as a volunteer (of any age), please contact the office on 0113 230 65 45, where Roy or Ashley will be happy to hear from you.

CHILDREN CRY OUT FOR DISCIPLINE AND DIRECTION, YET A POWERFUL LOBBY OF MPS AGAIN SAYS ‘YOU CAN’T SMACK YOUR CHILD’ , THIS ARTICLE FROM SUMMER 1992 THROWS LIGHT ON THE SITUATION

Si11y Laws "If they start making silly laws that make it an offence to smack a child then all we are going to end up with is loads of kids putting two fingers up at their parents as well as at the rest of society. I think you've got to discipline youngsters and if a good crack across the backside has this salutory effect I see no harm ! You know that probably the number of times I clouted our youngster across her b.s. you could count on the fingers of one hand but she doesn't look upon me as a funny old----!"

"I think ,you know, she knew blooming well that before I'd cracked her across her backside she must have been a long way out of line. She looked as if you'd done something to offend her with a big flood of tears, and of course an hour later she'd realised she'd deserved what was coming and she'd come skipping up the hall as if nothing had ever happened! They have this need to know when they've stepped out of line - of course it's no good landing out at them every five minutes and shouting and bawling at them!" . A.W.