We can learn from the Americans

We should be grateful for the entertainment provided by Americans.
So many smiles have been aroused by the cartoon caricature of the overweight Texan tourist in shorts with a stetson shielding his red face, and a costly camera bouncing gently off a steak-fed belly.
Sadly, such visitors have become all too rare in Somerset following 9/11 and the sub-prime banking crisis.
That inarticulate buffoon George W Bush, with his macho posturing, has also departed, leaving pub comedians looking vacantly into their beer as they wonder how to poke fun at his more serious and charismatic successor.
Now the Americans have the opportunity to poke fun at our political life, not that they bother.Our leaders are mired in the ya-boo theory of politics, where they prefer to criticise their opponents rather than detail positive policies.
This and the MPs’ expenses scandal have reduced an already low level of interest and belief in our political system.We should learn from the Americans here.
They have a much more vigorous democracy with a wider public involved in lively debates.What we need from our politicians is leadership, plain speaking, positive thinking and imaginative policies, which will bring a better Britain.
Is that too much to ask for?
Philip Welch

Winter is always a surprise

A few centimetres of snow brings out the best and worst in us.
Neighbours check on the alone and vulnerable, help to get vehicles moving and clear paths.
Most employees get to work even if it means tricky drives, arranging lifts or taking long and slippery walks.Certainly our staff have been exemplary. Only on one day did a few fail to reach the office and they all volunteered to work a full day from home with the aid of email, mobile phones and websites accessed through their personal computers.
Sadly I have heard of staff in other organisations whose idea of “working from home” involves daytime television, video games and shopping.
As you may have noticed, offices may be sparsely populated but the supermarkets have been heaving. There is no need to panic buy food, that only means other people may not be able to buy all they need and more food will end up being thrown away than usual.
However, that has not stopped an edgy few assembling a month’s supply instead of their weekly shop, as if the War Of The Worlds had started, when really it is only a poor Hollywood fantasy starring Tom Cruise.
And the Arctic snap has reminded us of what we already knew – that winter weather always takes the British by surprise.
Philip Welch

Painful decision for Strode Theatre

Looking for a low-stress 9-5 job? Then don’t try running a theatre or cinema in mid-Somerset.
You must work long, often anti-social hours and keep the customers coming in a world where the choice of alternative entertainments constantly grows.
No one played video games, surfed the web or watched DVD movies on a 50-inch plasma screen television when Strode Theatre and the Wells Film Centre were launched.
Strode faces particular problems with the threat of the grants they receive from cash-strapped local councils being cut or stopped altogether.
This is an excellent theatre with a reputation for looking after its customers which deserves financial support from councils because it provides a venue for amateur dramatic groups and minority interest films not shown elsewhere in mid-Somerset.
But as the future of the grants is so uncertain, the managers of Strode Theatre face difficult decisions affecting people they have worked with for years as they strive to secure the future of this valuable community asset.
The Mid Somerset Series has reported how financial worries have led the theatre to sever its 39-year link with Strode Productions pantomime.
This came as a bitter blow to the committed and talented members of Strode Productions who have given so much of their unpaid time to entertain audiences.But we should not blame the theatre managers. They have been pressed into a corner and obliged to take painful decisions.
Philip Welch