Photo - Autumn Colours

What have I been doing recently.  Collecting, pressing, and drying leaves from our gardens.

Autumn Colours

A Piece Of Cardboard

It happened yesterday, and made getting asleep so very difficult that I had to write about it this morning … to someone.

Leaving the local Superstore, I was confronted by a woman sitting on a low wall looking quite sad.  She was colourfully well-dressed, complete with a hijab, and seemed healthy.  I was surprised, not so much by the Islamic dress, but by a an old piece of cardboard that she was holding tightly in front of her, upon which was written, “I AM POOR GIVE ME MONEY”.  I experienced the proverbial ‘double-take’ … and walked away.

That’s why I had difficulty sleeping — not because of the hijab (known to be worn by some Christians also) but because she was a Muslim and, therefore, without a doubt, a refugee … and ... I walked away.

I needed answers.  Why, on a cold November day, did she need to sit outside the Superstore, apparently ignored by most people?  Why didn’t she visit the local mosque and talk to a charitable imam.  The government gives welfare cheques to all refugees, why is it insufficient (It is greater than my pension)?  Does she have a husband who demands more money?

So many embarrassing questions that need to be addressed.

NB.  It must be noted that, personally, I have some acceptance of Canada’s refugee policies … it is illegal immigrants that make me extremely angry (whatever their ethnic origin).  Just saying.

The Unpalatable Truth

This is an interesting article, and some of you may have read it via my eMail, but it caused me to wish that I had written it myself.  Thus, the answer was to publish it to this Blog as a personal reminder of its’ location.  Feel free to call me a racist … or a realist.

Somalia is not a humanitarian disaster; it is an evolutionary disaster.  The current drought is not the worst in 50 years, as the BBC and all the aid organizations claim. It is nothing compared to the droughts in 1960/61 or 1973/74 … and there are continuing droughts every 5 years or so. It's just that there are now four times the population;  having been kept alive by famine relief, supplied by aid organizations, over the past 50 years.  So, of course, the effects of any drought now, is a famine. They cannot even feed themselves in a normal rainfall year.

Worst yet, the effects of these droughts, and poor nutrition in the first 3 years of the a child's life, have a lasting effect on the development of the infant brain, so that if they survive, they will never achieve a normal IQ .

Consequently, they are selectively breeding a population, who cannot be educated, let alone one that is not being educated;  a recipe for disaster.

We are seeing this impact now, and it can only exacerbate, to the detriment of their neighbours, and their environment as well. This scenario can only end in an even worse disaster; with even worse suffering, for those benighted people, and their descendants.  Eventually, some mechanism will intervene, be it war, disease or starvation.

So what do we do? Let them starve?

What a dilemma for our Judeo- / Christian / Islamic -ethos;  as well as Hindu / Buddhist morality … and this is beginning to happen in Kenya, Ethiopia, and other countries in Asia, like Pakistan.

Is this the beginning of the end of civilization?

Africa is giving nothing to anyone outside Africa -- apart from AIDS and new diseases.

Even as we see African states refusing to take action to restore something resembling civilization in Zimbabwe, the Begging bowl for Ethiopia is being passed around to us out of Africa, yet again.

It is nearly 25 years since the famous Feed The World campaign began in Ethiopia, and in that time Ethiopia's population has grown from 33.5 million to 78+ million today.

So, why on earth should I do anything to encourage further catastrophic demographic growth in that country?  Where is the logic? There is none.

To be sure, there are two things saying that logic doesn't count.  One is my conscience, and the other is the picture, yet again, of another wide-eyed child, yet again, gazing, yet again, at the camera, which yet again, captures the tragedy of children starving.

Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially.  Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia;  like most of you, I have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there.  The wide-eyed boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a low IQ, AK 47-bearing moron, siring children whenever the whim takes him and blaming the world because he is uneducated, poor and left behind.

There is no doubt a good argument why we should prolong this predatory and dysfunctional economic, social and sexual system but I do not know what it is.  There is, on the other hand, every reason not to write a column like this.

It will win no friends and will provoke the self-righteous wrath of, well, the self-righteous hand wringing, letter writing wrathful individuals;  a species which never fails to contaminate almost every debate in Irish life with its sneers and its moral superiority.

It will also probably enrage some of the finest men in Irish life, like John O'Shea, of Goal;  and the Finucane brothers, men whom I admire enormously.

So be it.

But, please, please, you self-righteously wrathful, spare me mention of our own Irish Famine, with this or that lazy analogy.

There is no comparison.

Within 20 years of The Famine, the Irish population was down by 30%. Over the equivalent period, thanks to western food, the Mercedes 10-wheel truck and the Lockheed Hercules plane, Ethiopia's population has more than doubled.

Alas, that wretched country is not alone in its madness. Somewhere, over the rainbow, lies Somalia, another fine land of violent, AK 47-toting, khat-chewing, girl-circumcising, permanently tumescent layabouts and housing pirates of the ocean.

Indeed, we now have almost an entire continent of sexually hyperactive, illiterate indigents, with tens of millions of people who only survive because of help from the outside world or allowances by the semi-communist Governments they voted for, money supplied by borrowing it from the World Bank!

This dependency has not stimulated political prudence or common sense. Indeed, voodoo idiocy seems to be in the ascendant, with the president of South Africa being a firm believer in the efficacy of a little tap water on the post-coital penis as a sure preventative against AIDS infection.  Needless to say, poverty, hunger and societal meltdown have not prevented idiotic wars involving Tigre, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea etcetera.

Broad brush-strokes, to be sure. But broad brush-strokes are often the way that history paints its gaudier, if more decisive, chapters.  Japan, China, Russia, Korea, Poland, Germany, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the 20th century have endured worse broad brush-strokes than almost any part of Africa.

They are now -- one way or another -- virtually all giving aid to or investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS.

Meanwhile, Africa's peoples are outstripping their resources, and causing catastrophic ecological degradation.  By 2050, the population of Ethiopia will be 177 million;  the equivalent of France, Germany and Benelux today, but located on the parched and increasingly Protein-free wastelands of the Great Rift Valley.

So, how much sense does it make for us actively to increase the adult population of what is already a vastly over-populated, environmentally devastated and economically dependent country?

How much morality is there in saving an Ethiopian child from starvation today, for it to survive to a life of brutal circumcision, poverty, hunger, violence and sexual abuse, resulting in another half-dozen such wide-eyed children, with comparably jolly little lives ahead of them?

Of course, it might make you feel better, which is a prime reason for so much charity!

But that is not good enough.  For self-serving generosity has been one of the curses of Africa. It has sustained political systems which would otherwise have collapsed.

It prolonged the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by nearly a decade. It is inspiring Bill Gates' programme to rid the continent of malaria, when, in the almost complete absence of personal self-discipline, that disease is one of the most efficacious forms of population-control now operating. If his programme is successful, tens of millions of children who would otherwise have died in infancy will survive to adulthood, he boasts.

Oh good: THEN WHAT? I know, let them all come here (to Ireland) or America (not forgetting Australia!) Or Canada (Ed.)

_____  _____

Kevin Myers (born 30 March 1947) is an Irish journalist and writer. He writes for the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, having previously been a columnist for the Irish Independent and a former contributor to The Irish Times, where he wrote the "An Irishman's Diary" opinion column several times weekly. Until 2005, he wrote for the UK Sunday Telegraph.

His articles criticize left-wing opinion and the "liberal consensus", sometimes incorporating hyperbole, sarcasm and parody.

This essay recently appeared in The Irish Independent:

The Mac mini (Open Letter)

I subscribe to a popular computer magazine and, this morning, I received an e-Report suggesting that Apple may be considering the removal of the Mac mini computer.  In a conversation with Tim Cook, this rumour was denied, but the editor asked for some comment, and I wrote the following (knowing that I have a number of Mac followers).

As a Senior Citizen, I have no need for a laptop computer.  I have no need to travel with a computer … at least, nothing more than my mobile phone.  At home, the top of my desk could be larger, but it isn’t.  There are times (believe it or not) when I need to read a book or write something with paper and pencil … remember those things?  My Mac mini sits quietly, unnoticed, at a corner of my desk, in the shadow of a large monitor.  Of course, the Mac Pro would also satisfy my need but I can’t, for the life of me, understand why I should pay $4,000 for something to replace my $600 Mac mini.  Oh, it’s faster (you say).  So, when I save my report (for example) the Pro will do it 0.01 microseconds faster than my mini.  Are you kidding me?  Am I going to notice that?   Obviously, if my son (imaginary) wants to edge his way into first place during the 499th lap of a Grand Prix race game, I may concede the point.

Therefore, Tim Cook, as a fan since my first Apple IIc, please improve the Mac mini a little if you must, but do not remove it.

Gratefully,

Bernie McCann

Aerospace 17 - Bombardier / Boeing Controversy

The U.S. Commerce Department’s decision to attach Bombardier Inc.’s C Series aircraft with a retaliatory tariff of 219.3%, is an obvious abuse of power.

Writing about Bombardier has been a pet project of mine ever since I watched their early innovational business jets fly from the Cartierville airfield, in Montreal, many years ago.

The trials and tribulations of the C Series aircraft have been a source of serious comment (good and bad) since before the first flight in 2013, and I am annoyed that the bad comments have become very political.

The history of self-important U.S. aerospace manufacturing companies contains a number of unfortunate examples where pressure is placed on foreign competition to lose market share.  There are many obvious cases (and some shrouded in mystery).  For example;  The superior Canadian Avro Arrow (with design features from the British Avro 730 and the BAC TSR-2) that was discontinued by P.M. John Diefenbaker following U.S. lobbying.  The English Electric Canberra (that gained an altitude record of 70,310 ft.) that was licensed to the U.S. (and is still flying with NASA for high altitude research) with its’ remarkably similar design characteristics to Lockheed’s high altitude U-2 spy aircraft.  Was the Concorde a failure because it hit a piece of metal on the runway, causing an explosion, or was it inviable financially due to a U.S. ban on supersonic overflights?.  Finally, the enormous success of the Hawker Harrier V/STOL fighter that became the McDonell Douglas AV-8 (now, sharing its’ engine thrust-vectoring technology with the Lockheed/Martin F-35 which will not be 'war-ready' before 2020, according to the US Pentagon).

The innovative design of the C Series aircraft is not obvious when observed from a distance but it is using manufacturing technology, designed from the ground up, that is not comparable to the competition, i.e., Boeing B-737, COMAC C-919, Embraer E170, and Mitsubishi MRJ-90.  In detail, the B-737 and C-919 are much bigger, and the MRJ-90 is smaller.  The Embraer series of aircraft are competitive in size but are less technologically advanced.

So there you have it.

The U.S. tariff of 219.3% should also be looked at and compared with Boeing’s B-787 ‘Dreamliner’ sales.  The B-787 programme is not expected to be profitable until after 1,100 aircraft have been sold.  As of April 2015, the production rate is 10 per month;  Boeing lost $30 million per aircraft delivered in the first quarter of 2015.  JPMorgan Chase has estimated the programme's cash loss to be $45 million per airplane, decreasing as the programme moves forward. The actual cash flow reflects Boeing collecting most of the purchase price upon delivery; Boeing expects deferred costs to total $25 billion (Yes, billion) before the company begins to break even on production.  It should also be noted that Boeing is the recipient of massive amounts of government aid;  US$14.4 billion in federal and state subsidies and US$73.7 billion in loans over the past 17 years.

Finally, PM Justin Trudeau has stated, referring to the Boeing Super Hornet F-18 replacement, that Canada will not deal with a company that is suing us.  In my view, this wonderful statement shows that European companies have remarkably perfect aircraft available.  If DND wants more F-18’s, they should talk to Australia.  In the meantime, our future should be with a European deal.  The Typhoon, Griffin, and Rafale  are all capable of the software upgrades that is plaguing the F-35 at the moment (just to mention one problem).  Let the Pentagon and Lockheed stew in their own corruption.

Some may say that we should ‘pull the plug’, but what will we produce then, premium wine from Niagara and B.C.?  Now, there’s an interesting U.S. tariff story … for some other time.

Bolted Horses

Today, as I ride on this satellite called Earth (Or should that be Earth 1) around the Solar System, we may be heard to cry, “I want to get off”!  We may pause for a moment and consider the advantages of volunteering for the trip to Mars … but just a short moment, after all, there could be some ‘alt-Left’ passengers aboard.

Allow me to explain the title as an abbreviated version of the well-know phrase, ‘Closing stable doors after horses have bolted’.

I am referring to laws that are created to make things illegal after those things have been established.

For example;  How many horses had to be put down before there was a law about driving on the right.  How many children were failing their exams before there was a law about drinking alcohol under the age of 18 … not to mention sex (I didn’t say that).

Now, why did we have to wait for years watching burka-clad women march in the streets before the burka was banned.  Was it not obvious, before thousands of Muslims emigrated here, that such a law would be necessary.  Just imagine the reduction in protests and legal costs.

This morning, I read that the police were searching to issue an arrest warrant for an imam, who declared publicly that all Jews must be killed.  Should we wonder how a public figure may evade a police search, or the apparent misinterpretation of free speech.

In a nearby town, the council is receiving demands to provide funds to build another mosque (Yes, the other mosque is too small).

I could go on, but suffice to say, enough is enough.  Yet, the struggle is not over.  Remember the prior closing of the stable doors, well, here is a serious recommendation for the government, that comes with a serious warning.  Amend the Canadian Constitution such that sharia laws will never become part of Canadian laws.

Of course, some will not realize the necessity of this … until the horses have bolted.  Others may be encouraged to write a comment (Perhaps, by imagining the voices of their grand-children).

Our Vacation

My Blog … our vacation.

Well, an assertion that the world needs a few more leaders with personalities similar to President Trump, could create interesting arguments from some followers here, which would simply highlight the fact that the chess-playing leader, together with the leader hiding in the Forbidden City, may reverse the historical theory of The Fall of the USA.

But enough of that … I’ve been on vacation.

Mindy took a short sabbatical, and we rented an old log cottage (Supposedly 100 years old) in the Gatineau hills near Wakefield, Quebec.

Old Log Cottage

We were seeking something remote, with meditation in mind ⎯ at least, that was Mindy’s need, although not something that she admitted to, and the existence of WiFi caused her a great sigh of relief.

Although advertised as being close to riding stables, they turned out to be for livery only, and the promise of deer walking through the acre of land didn’t come true either which, when observing paw prints on the muddy roadside of, none other than a cougar, we felt obliged to walk hand in hand.

"Hold tight, Mindy!"

A chateau that didn't need logs.

Anyway, the stress of everyday life went away,(almost) and, later, a couple of nice days in Ottawa were enjoyed before travelling slowly home.

The DPRK (North Korea)

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend via e-Mail and feel it useful to expand the audience.

North Korea  -  Unfortunately, China is the problem.  I believe that Xi trusts that the US would NOT move into the northern area of a unified, and peaceful, Korea.  Additionally, there would be NO reason for Koreans to rush to enter China when there would be a free, although controlled, southern passage.  Thus, it’s the usual Chinese bluff.  China will not suffer badly by banning coal imports from Korea as they continue to export oil to Korea.  In other words, Xi’s duplicitous, crafty, promise of Chinese sanctions to Trump was clever … but, I suspect that Trump can see that and, at the moment, Trump has the Joker card.

Of course, every pack has two Jokers.   😟

George Friedman's 70% chance of attack requires a definition of the word ‘attack’.  I hope the the US Defence Secretary will very soon issue an order to destroy ALL future (illegal) missile tests upon launch.  This will give Little Fat Boy pause … and it could not be condemned by do-nothing China.

Behind all this, of course, is China’s expansion into the so-called South China Sea …. 

Massacre by Losers

I'm sorry to bring politics into this Blog but I'm unable to dismiss this massacre by 'losers'.  We must speak out;  either in the media or between ourselves.  I've saved you reading the details, but you ought, and they are available at nationalpost.com

"British columnist under fire for echoing Nazis in calling for a ‘final solution’ after Manchester attack  

'Hopkins deleted the tweet after it drew a reaction, calling the word 'final' a 'typo' that was 'disrespectful' to the Manchester survivors'

nationalpost.com

Manchester massacre highlights a tectonic shift in how we talk about terrorism

'Terry Glavin: In the NATO capitals, something has finally shifted in the way Islamist terror is understood'

nationalpost.com

Morrissey blasts politicians and the queen for not condemning Islam in the wake of Manchester attack  

'Politicians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims. How easy to be unafraid when one is protected from the line of fire'

nationalpost.com

12,000 Views

Summary

‘Blazon’ has now moved to 12,000 viewing figures and, I present them, mainly for my own benefit. 

Instead of starting from the beginning of time that, usually, indicated the popularity of political Posts, I will consider, only, the statistics since the point of 11,000 views.

This places the following Posts, in the most-read position:

• An Uncertain Future (30th January, 2017
• Sanctuary Cities (2nd April, 2017).

Statistics

Google Chrome has been, by far, the most popular Browser at 74% for the period, ahead of Apple Safari.

Microsoft Windows has regained a small lead over Apple MacOS for operating systems, at 52% overall. 

Canada and the France produced the predominant viewers.

Sanctuary Cities

Introduction

An ancient word, derived from the Latin sanctuarium meaning ‘holy’.  Thus, those persecuted for their religion could find safety within a temple or church.

Today, it seems that criminal aliens are considered persecuted and only need to reside near a church or, specifically, in a city that contains a church (I assume).

Please help me to understand, because this should be referred to as anarchy, not only by individuals but also by local governments.  It, certainly, has not been authorized by the federal government and, therefore, one hopes that jail cells be prepared for a large influx of sore losing, non-religious, anarchists.

Is there any discussion here?  Does the Constitution have any value?

Quotation - Dogs In Heaven

"If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."

Will Rogers

Education 15 - Modern Language Future Study

Donald Trump’s aggressive isolationism is likely to have chaotic effects on modern languages departments in the US.  It is tempting to presume that student numbers will fall, but the Trump era is just as likely to draw undergraduate students into the study of foreign languages and cultures.  Either way, U.S. modern language departments in 2017 are in stronger health than popular media narratives would have you believe.  

It is often insinuated that modern languages are a drag on the solvency and adaptability of the public university.  But this is simply not true.  At some U.S. institutions, modern languages programmes may rank in the top 20 per cent of revenue-generating units campus-wide.  Nationwide, there was a 6.7 per cent dip in foreign languages enrolment between 2009 and 2013  – a decline that outstripped the overall fall in student numbers in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.  Yet ambitious recruitment efforts at first-year student orientation events and large general education “feeder” courses have enabled us to buck the trend and continue to coax upwards enrolment of majors in French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese and Japanese.  And this is without the large private-sector subventions often required in other disciplines.

Those disciplines across campus – medicine, business, manufacturing, agriculture – may address language and culture instrumentally, as a necessary component of “getting to yes” or “closing the deal”, but they rarely have space in their curricula to enquire about the complexity of multilingualism and translation in any sustained fashion.  Modern languages curricula by some, in contrast, offer courses grounded in the lived complexity of societal multilingualism.  They apply linguistic, cultural, historical and literary approaches to questions relevant to engineering, business or even arid lands management.  A course on “German culture, science and technology”, for instance, shows how the specific traditions housed in the German language offer a meaningfully different set of operational principles and assumptions about things such as “security”, “risk”, “progress”, “growth” and “the economy”.  Students come away with a much stronger sense of how non-governmental organizations can better acknowledge the belief systems of their beneficiaries in their home languages;  how physicians and nurses can engage in nuanced conversations with seriously ill people that truly relieve suffering;  and how focus-group-tested political rhetoric is often designed to hide structural inequalities in society.

These 'outside-the-box' modern languages curricula are often best suited for dual-degree courses, and most professors urge undergraduates to concentrate on a language alongside another major.  But instead of just training them in how to “get ahead”, recent modern languages programmes show students how to notice when powerful interests are aiming to manipulate them with coercive language, imagery and marketing, and how to transform that moment of noticing into resources for creativity, justice and collaboration.

The major challenge of the next 10 years will be continuing to build this critically engaged, applied and outward-facing momentum in modern languages curricula.  Threats continue to hack away at our resources, and the Trump-occupied White House has removed all multilingual content from its website, reminding us that English-only is a powerfully resurgent delusion.

©️Times Higher Education
______________________________________________________________________


There is much to discuss, I think.

Two Words

Recently, on a whim, after discovering the old keys to my attic, I clambered up the creaky steps, struggled with the rusty lock, forced open the door, and waited for my eyes to becomes used to the gloomy interior.  It was eerily quiet, but the huge number of cobwebs told me that I was not alone … the spiders were hiding, no doubt.  I opened a travel trunk, causing a cloud of dust.  Inside, I discovered many academic books that had seen better days.  Opening the top one I discovered …. 

Actually, none of this is true - I simply found a cardboard box at the bottom of my wardrobe.  But there was a collection of books there, and the following tale was tucked inside one of them.  I know that you will enjoy it. 

Two Words

“To what, Oh master, do you attribute your success as a technical editor?” asked the young scribe.

“Two words:” replied the crusty old curmudgeon, “Right Decisions!”

“But how does one learn to make right decisions?” pressed the disciple.

“Experience!” replied the learned logosopher, deleting a descriptive passage as he spoke.

“And how does one gain experience?” demanded the querant, restlessly clicking his mouse buttons.

“Two words:” said the embattled editor, “Wrong Decisions!”

An Uncertain Future

As I sit here, bathed in the brilliant sunshine pouring into my room (seemingly, a very unusual occurrence this month) heightened by the glare from a snow-covered landscape, I read about the day’s news … and think about the loneliness of our wondrous planet and its uncertain future.

When the calendar indicated a new year, the habitual tradition of resolutions entered my head and it occurred to me that a New Year’s Resolution had become no more important than the Daily Horoscope.  But I had already made a decision regarding this Blog to avoid, what appeared to be, unpopular political comment.  Unpopular, it seems, because of the misunderstanding of my deliberate use of controversy to create exciting discussion.  Oh dear!

Nevertheless, there is so much to discuss about people who affect our lives.  For example, Presidents Putin and Xi, Prime Ministers May, Trudeau and Netanyahu, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to name a few and, of course or should I say not least, President Trump.  All brought together under the banner of Islamism, an ancient religion attempting to force its fundamental beliefs into the global milieu. 

But, even though I believe it very important to be aware of matters that, although seemingly matters that may not affect us personally, certainly matters that will affect our children.

Now, what have you got to say?

Quotation - Life

Writing Anxiety

For many years, I wrote as a professional technical author, but should I refer to myself as an author?  That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.  The question is the frequent anxiety that I felt as I chewed the end of my pencil (In those early days).

As a boy, I was known for drawing and painting (Scenery for school plays) and acting in those plays (The merchant in The Merchant of Venice, if I remember correctly).  But, by contrast, I had an insatiable interest in aerospace (Every sixpence and shilling was spent on model aeroplane construction kits) and occasional reading of non-academic novels by W.E. Johns (Biggles Survives To Fly Again!).

My school teacher advised me to go to an art college, but my vision of an artist was the man with a tired face, who drew wonderful coloured chalk drawings on the sidewalks for a living.  Thus, as a young man, I joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet … electronics engineering seemed a more worthwhile occupation.

Finally, being unable to calculate Ohm’s Law in my head, convinced me to venture into technical writing.  Being able to interpret engineering drawings was easy to write about and creating 3D cutaway illustrations was much appreciated by my peers.

Eventually, editing became part of the process, which meant that every book that came into my hands was accompanied by a red pen and a yellow highlighter.  I never read novels after that.

Today, having retired from a short, but enjoyable, English teaching career at overseas universities, I wonder how I should overcome the anxiety to complete unfinished novels that linger quietly on my hard drive. 

When teaching, I was aware that universities do not make it a priority to equip graduate students with academic writing skills and, therefore, they run the risk of greater numbers failing to complete Master’s courses and PhDs.

Most graduate student writers come into academia without the knowledge and skills of how to handle large, complex academic writing projects;  “The consequences are potentially slower graduation rates, larger numbers of incomplete degrees and non-published theses/dissertations.” said professor Margarita Huerta of UNLV, Las Vegas.

Students participating in Writing for Excellence research programmes, created by UNLV, provide emotional and instrumental support for graduate students who wish to improve their academic writing.

Researchers noted that the study could not be generable to all graduate students in higher education.  The findings also found that females exhibited higher writing anxiety, which suggested that it may be linked to wider gender inequality in higher education.  International students also showed statistically significant lower self-efficacy than students who reported not to be international.

Universities believe that they are supporting international students by providing editing services or English language courses, but warned that there was a lot more to mastering academic writing than a command of the English language.

Writing 'correct' English is just one piece of the bigger puzzle of supporting graduate students’ academic writing. It should not be assumed that all non-native English speakers’ writing skills are necessarily lower than native speakers’ writing skills.  While some may struggle with writing competence, many may have very strong writing strengths.  Non-native English speakers may just have more writing anxiety because of lack of early self-confidence and other factors.

Universities should, therefore, look to improve self-efficacy among all their graduate students by teaching self-management skills related to piecing together academic writing projects.

We, at least the younger, like, generation, appear to be losing, like, you know when Twitter becomes, like, the preferred method of, you know, communication.  I wonder if it is too late.  LOL.