Published

I'm proud to announce the publication of one of my poems. Indeed, this is my first poem to be published outside of my Blog. There was of course no fee, but I am nevertheless proud of the fact that the Editor of the Cambrian News chose to publish the poem on page 18 of the Thursday 28 March 2013 Edition of the newspaper (it hits the streets before its publication date).

I would have suspected that my poem about the 1972 Munich massacre would have been the first one to have been published, but alas I have not yet heard from my friends who were submitting that piece to a Jewish Society magazine in their part of the United Kingdom. Todays published work is titled in Welsh 'O Benrhyncoch', which means 'from Penrhyncoch'. In the Welsh language the 'P' becomes a 'B' after the letter 'o'. The rest of the poem is in English.

The poem consists of three stanza's each of five lines. The rhyming scheme A,B,A,B,C is used, where 'c' does not rhyme throughout. The poem tells the story of Rifleman Matthew Wilson from our village of Penrhyncoch (often referred to as Penrhyn) who recently won the Military Cross and was also given the Freedom of the County of Ceredigion. My favourite line is; "of rotor blades whooshing in the sun". The poem was submitted to the Cambrian News on the advice of my eldest daughter. I hope that you enjoy reading the poem as much as I enjoyed constructing it;

O Benrhyncoch

The snipers bullet had struck his head,
Leading to a short dreamlike state,
With others thinking he might be dead,
A different shot had struck his mate,
The one he had run to protect.

Never reckless but always brave,
He then chose to move into open ground,
To draw attention and thereby save,
His injured comrade, upon hearing the sound,
Of rotor blades whooshing in the sun.

The Military Cross is the just reward,
For young Rifleman Matthew Wilson,
The granted freedom forms part of the hoard,
Bestowed upon our soldier son,
Of this lush valley which nestles Penrhyn.

Roger Bennett
Penrhyncoch
March 2013

All rights reserved

Joss Stone

I wrote this Joss Stone poem way back in June 2011 Joss Stone Rejoice to those who spotted the duo, And for making the emergency call, Praise the officers taking the lead, And to those who searched the Punto. Two now charged and unable to blag, Why they were there at all, Banged to rights they will plead, The reasons why a sword and body-bag. And when the jury find the guilt, The two from Manchester shall fall, Locked away so that others heed, What happens if blood would be spilt.  Roger Bennett Penrhyncoch  All rights reserved

Today is not about today; it's about your tomorrow

Here's wishing the PCS Union great success on today's DAY OF ACTION whereby they continue to strive to highlight Public Sector cuts, and the need to protect PAY and CONDITIONS and SERVICES. Today is not about today; it's about your tomorrow. The provision of services that are provided through our systems of taxation. It's our money, and it's your future, it does not belong to others to mess up.

A strong Trade Union is essential to balance the actions of over zealous poor managers who often have ill thought out plans that can be more about them and their perceived legacy than that which is needed for the greater good of the service that they should provide. Strong trade unionism is the natural outcome of a democracy that operates systems of paid employment instead of forced labour.

A strong trade union means more than protecting jobs, conditions, and levels of service provision. The Union is a collective, that provides support when others target you in the workplace. Don't think about how much it costs to join, but instead think about how much that it could cost you if you do not. You secure a knowledgeable friend who is there to help you when you are bullied. Someone to walk by your side when you take that long walk through the workplace while suffering from mental ill health and stress, but have been ordered in for some meeting or the other. A trained Union official who can put up his or her hand and say to a bullying manager "I'll stop you there, are you aware of rule so and so that prevents you asking, saying or doing what you are asking, saying, or doing to my member?" The Union is us, and we are the Union.

Don't cross the Picket Line and say "I can't lose a days pay", but instead realise that one days pay is small change compared to the rewards that Union membership brings with it. Better a day off now, than many days off scrambling for poorly paid temporary employment when you become unemployed as the cuts squeeze tighter. So join your Trade Union whoever they are, make an active contribution to their affairs, and of course if you drive past a PCS Picket Line today, toot your horn and voice your support.

Art Teacher

A very BIG thank you to Eileen, my 'art teacher' from across The Pond for her wonderful comments regarding my Snow Leopard painting that is showcased in an earlier Blog post. If any of you ever have the good fortune to come across Eileen and Bob; then grab the opportunity with both hands, sit quietly, listen and learn. And if you are as lucky as me; then form a good friendship as well.

James Ashworth VC

Ashworth

This cross of mine made of bronze,
Unlike my other, made for mother.
Is to honour those that do,
Rather than those that don't, and all other.

A soldier son of Kettering,
They named me James, one of the few names.
To whom this cross has been bestowed,
For deeds and acts, with bullets and flames.

But I would rather be there,
To touch and see, my loving family.
But then again those whom I saved,
Were also important people, close to me.

I chose to lead my fire team,
So don't feel bad, for this Grenadier Guard.
As this cross is not one to bear,
Instead it's there, to remind others of this lad.

Roger Bennett
Penrhyncoch
March 17, 2013

All rights reserved

Cymru am byth

"Thirty, three" said he,
"Nah, it couldn't be" said me,
"Surely not thirty, three?"
As that would be,
Too great a victory.

"Yes, it's true!" Said he,
"We got a try, you see",
'Two tries', thought me,
Knowing that he would agree,
It's 'Cymru am byth', for you and me.

Roger Bennett
Penrhyncoch
March 16, 2013

MP Fiona MacTaggart

Well done to Slough MP Fiona MacTaggart for her astonishingly generous Twitter pledge in aid of the Comic Relief charity :-)

A Day in the City

Well here I am in the City and a tad disappointed. Now don't get me wrong; the prospect was daunting, and I accept that the execution would have been difficult. Nevertheless, having made it to the last three of the regional thingy to win a car; it would have been nice to have seen it all through to its natural conclusion.

You see, the lovely people running the competition are giving away £5,000 at each of several regional locations for each winner to have a great day. The competition that is still running, involves competitors writing down in 150 words or less, what they would do with the money on the day. The marketing people offer themes such as water skiing up the Thames, or scoring a penalty at a Premiership Club. Of course these are good ideas, but nevertheless such singular things are solely about the winner. So I proposed spending the lot, every penny, and anything else that I could squeeze out of the situation; on as many worthy causes that I could target in the Cardiff area in one day of defined and thereby limited duration. I mean; even camera crews, helpers, presenters, and marketing people have to go home and have dinner.

Sounds easy in theory, but like I mentioned earlier, it is quite daunting in execution. I know this because I spent a lovely day with my eldest in Cardiff yesterday, thinking and chatting and preparing in case I pulled it off and was selected. We realised that you need to source a roof box and bars, a bike rack and number plate, and so on and so forth. You need to do a trolley dash to load the car and the roof rack before heading off to the Food Bank and then offloading the stuff. It all takes time, and not all of it is great television. You need many hands as you pull up on Albany Road and remove several hundred books from a charity shop and then load them into the show case car. Being a city that is turned over in part to pedestrians; you need to have accessed a trolley that fits in the car, and can be used to transport the books to a different Charity shop for them to dispose of and thereby benefit. Then you need the same trolley to take some food parcels around the city and hand out to some of the Big Issue sellers, along with a hot drink each on what has turned out to be a bitterly cold morning.

Bikes, cycle helmets, and fluorescent stuff for the cycling charity. A camcorder for the hospice that sends families on holiday experiences, an iPad here, a food hamper there. Tickets for shows, and of course a manual wheelchair for a Day Centre as that often struggles through lack of equipment when taking folks out on treats.

So lots to do and not enough hours for filming, checking, shooting, moving, talking, giving, and listening. I don't blame the casting team, the organisers, or the manufacturer. Simply because I understand how these things work. The idea was daunting and not easy to pull off. My answers to the questions may have been the wrong answers, and me being me, may not be the kind of me that they wanted or even needed. But all of that to one side, I do pray that the winner does something worthy and doesn't blow £5k on themselves. I don't begrudge them doing that, but it does seem to me like a wasted opportunity. As that folks would cut across one of my main themes in life: 'we are only here for what we can do for others'.

So as I settle down to another lazy day of coffee, reading, writing, music, and poetry please don't feel for me. Disappointed yes, but its been a great 72 hours thinking of how to help others. Having read this Blog Post, why don't you settle down to a cuppa and spend some time thinking of all of the local charities and worthy causes that you could support, and thereafter work out what they truly need, and what you could do for them.

How to construct an essay and other academic writing

Having been fortunate enough to obtain a First Class Honours degree and secure the award of the Michael MccGwire Prize during my Masters degree; I periodically come across someone who asks me to read an essay or other academic piece.  Therefore I thought that it would be prudent to upload some notes to help others.  In all instances, the academic regulations and rules of an institution take precedence over anything written here.

The first rule that a student needs to research and thereafter understand is that of constructing a sentence.  Writing a sequence of words starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop; does not necessarily mean that a sentence has been created.

So STEP 1 is yours to learn unaided by me.  Enter the phrase “how to construct a sentence” into an online internet search engine and thereafter read articles on the subject so that you then understand what is expected of you when writing an academic piece.  Note that the use of quotation marks before and after a sequence of words in a search engine, will limit the engine to search for that particular phrase.

STEP 2 is about the specifics of the required spacing that has to be inserted along a line, between lines, and from the edge of the paper to the margin.  The margin has to be of a sufficient size to enable the paper to be bound and for the binding arrangement not to interfere with the visibility of the text on the left hand side of the page.  With this requirement in mind, it follows that inserting a gap of 25mm is a minimum requirement, but please note that your institution might insist on a gap of 30mm or more.  Line spacing should be at least 1.5 in order to assist the marker in examining and commenting on your work.  Whenever you end a sentence, press the ‘space bar’ twice before starting the next sentence.

The next comment is of a general nature and is here to assist the student to understand exactly what it is that they are trying to convey to their academic tutor.  STEP 3 is about telling a story and understanding the importance of adequate planning prior to writing anything down on paper or vigorously typing onto the screen.  Your academic piece is a story, a bit like a ‘news story’ in that this story is being relayed to someone who knows nothing about the subject.  You must forget that your tutor has probably forgotten more than you currently know, and instead think of them as a blank canvas.  Constructing the story in a manner that assists their understanding is the primary objective of the academic piece.   

This leads us nicely onto STEP 4 and an analysis of how we will construct our story.  We relay the story through sentences and paragraphs and sections that contain key ideas and themes.  In general terms one sentence should naturally lead onto the next sentence so that the story builds, just like an orchestra moving towards its major movement.  Little bits sound, others sound, instruments link, and then the crescendo that brings the individual parts together.  So if sentences link to form paragraphs and paragraphs stand alone or link to form sections, then we need to understand how many of which go where.  In extremely broad terms a paragraph consists of twelve to fourteen sentences.  The paragraph takes you neatly through that aspect of the story and deposits you neatly into the next paragraph.  The next paragraph takes up where the previous paragraph left off and leads you nicely through the next part of the story.

‘The News’ is the requirement of STEP 5; as it is the process whereby the author tells the reader what they are going to read via an introduction.  Then uses the main body of the essay to tell the reader what the news story is all about.  Thereafter finishing with a conclusion and or summary that are used to tell the reader what they have just read.  The author does not repeat phrases in all three sections, but instead uses commentary and themes to tease in the ideas when forming the introduction and alternative phrases to reinforce the message when writing the conclusion.  The key point being that the essay begins to take on a structure that makes sense and is easily readable.

Making sense is also the relevance of STEP 6 as it is here that we use footnotes or endnotes (as preferred by your institution of the specific tutor dealing with your paper) to further explain and explore items that are mentioned in your story, but where further explanation across the page would clutter the detail and muddle the link between sentences and paragraphs.  For example we may use an acronym and these combination of letters need to be explained to the reader.  If the same acronym is widely used throughout the essay, then we can mention its full title when it is first used and thereafter use the acronym.  But with multiple acronyms we would want to limit the clutter within the essay and put the explanations into the notes.  The footnotes are also used to further elaborate on people, their current of previous role, and the duration of such roles.  These are simple examples of endnote or footnote usage, but remember that there are no restrictions as to what the notes can be used for.  Try thinking of the notes as something that enables you to de-clutter and also support your essay.  

STEP 7 is about ‘the wood for the trees’ syndrome.  All too often, what we write for others to read; is not exactly the message that we were trying to convey.  Grammatical errors and the difficulties in using a second language are obvious problems that impact on this aspect of an essay.  But quite often the confusion is caused by our excitement and rush to write down what we believe are key observations, without first thinking them through.  Thereafter we read the same piece as meaning what we intended, instead of recognising what is actually written on the page.  This is where impartial proof reading by a friend can pay dividends prior to submitting your work.  Does my essay answer the question? 

The next step is about pushing the boundaries beyond that which was stipulated by the person setting the question.  STEP 8 is about originality of thought and the inclusion of ideas for further research.  Irrespective of how good a student is; no one can answer a particular question in full within a given number of words.  There will always be an alternative view that has to be left unexamined, or some area however vague, that is worthy of exploration if you had the time and word count limit to do so.  Therefore make sure that you briefly inform your tutor in the conclusion to the essay of your ideas for further research.

Striving to achieve academic excellence is the requirement of STEP 9 as it’s the bit that gives the credibility to the work.  This is where we prove understanding, and prove that learning has occurred.  I recently read an undergraduate essay whereby the student made no reference whatsoever to any academic text or author.  I can only imagine that which has been missed during the study period, or that which may even be a direct lift from another text.  Including correct citations and references from other sources of material is an important aspect in academia.  It helps to show that you have read and understood material, and have similar or differing views to that author.  You may even find an error, whereby something written by someone else can be proven to be incorrect.  Or the source material may be misleading, whereby that author deliberately used specific information to tailor their argument while omitting other information from their sources that showed their argument to be flawed.  Reading, quoting, and citing other material is not cheating.  This academic excellence demonstrates learning, understanding, relevance of arguments, application of material within context, supporting arguments to your core themes, opposing arguments that contain flaws and the reasons why these flaws exist in your opinion, the limitations of other material, the lack of credible material within a specific field, the opportunities that exist for further research.   

STEP 10 is about learning and applying the academic citation method of your institution or the preferred method of your tutor so that you accurately and meticulously cite all references stated in your work.  No academic essay or paper should be deposited for marking without the student referencing all sources of information that were considered during the writing of the work, and no work should ever be written without searching and reading such sources. 

Remember to keep simple notes when you read academic material so that you can find a particular comment or observation with ease.  It’s good practice to start a page with the title, author and full citation of the work in the form required by your institution or tutor.  Then make notes whenever you notice something relevant and worthwhile to your studies.  To avoid clutter it is good practice to leave a line gap between each note, and to end each note with the page number relevant to the observation.  When you are reading such material it is inevitable that you will have some original thought.  When such brilliance does occur, don’t forget to mark the note in a way that stipulates that this is your idea.  This will assist you when you return to your notes in a few days or weeks after reading the material.

I hope that you have found this brief summary useful.  But please remember, the requirements of your academic institution or the specific preferences of your tutor far outweigh the observations written here.

Message to Glendon S. Farquhar from Mobile Alabama

All the best my friend AND chin up. They may have interrupted your academic journey BUT it's only an interruption. Stay strong and maybe UK immigration will not mess up next time. It's appalling what has happened to you seeing that you travelled here to study, secured and started a Masters course at a World renowned institution, and were paying into our local economy. Someone somewhere should have exercised a degree of common sense. Alas, they did not. But it's only an interruption and it only becomes something else if you let it.

Pob lwc i ti Glendon; a dwi'n gobiethio i weld ti amser nesaf yn y 'Fall'

Free Glendon S. Farquhar

It's bureaucracy gone mad! He was studying his Masters in the U.K.

All legitimate and was attending all of his lectures studying Medieval Welsh having paid extortionate fees to study and live at a World Class Institution together with the high cost of traveling to and from Mobile Alabama. Like a good son he travelled across The Pond to visit his folks at Christmas AND wait for it; on his return back to the U.K. after another transcontinental flight along with domestic travel, someone decides not to let him back in because the Visa is wrong.

Well if it's that wrong, then what on earth were you doing letting Glendon into the U.K. to start his course months earlier, to pay his fees, to pay for student accommodation, and to embark on his academic journey?

Anyone from anywhere can come to the U.K. and not only will we gladly let them in; but we will also dole out our social security, our health system, our supporting systems.

But when a hard working, financially self supporting, lovely chap from Mobile Alabama pays to study at a World Class Institution, and pays into the local economy instead of being a drain on resources, we send him packing.

Oh my Goodness; we have lost the plot!

Patron Saint of Wales

Happy St Davids Day everyone :-)