Britblog roundup #169

Britblog roundup #169 is now up at Redemption Blues.

The next one’s being hosted by ackart of A Very British Dude. As always, nominations should be sent to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #168

Britblog roundup #168 is now up at Liberal England.

Next week’s BBRU will be hosted by Chameleon at Redemption Blues. Nominations should go to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #167

Welcome to this week’s roundup of all that’s best in British blogging!

Sport

We start off with a sporting link from Norfolk Blogger: Why England didn’t qualify for Euro 2008. Here’s an excerpt:

A wall is not a difficult thing to kick. A wall does not move and is a pretty large target. What highlights our problems as a footballing nation is that Rio Ferdinand apparently missed the wall (presumably it jumped out of the way) and instead he kicked a female Chelsea steward.

History

We have a few posts relating to the reformation in one way or another…

Natalie Bennett has a post up about women’s lives during the dark ages, in particular about how women did work for the church. The late middle ages were a time when most people’s leisure and social activities (an many people’s working lives) were bound up with the church, and the reformation, which ended or modified a lot of these links, must have seemed a revolution at the time.

One thing that wasn’t killed off by the reformation was St George’s Day which this year for the first time ever was a bank holiday. Greenman and Diamond Geezer celebrate it in different ways.

Philip Wilkinson recently visited Launde Abbey in Leicestershire. During the reformation, when Henry VIII abolished the monastries, his henchman Thomas Cromwell bagged it for himself. Reminds me of Mugabe’s land seizures in Zimbabwe. Plus ça change…

Crime and punishment

PC Bloggs recounts the career of Judge Julian Hall who has made a number of questionable statements — although to be honest I thought most of the judge’s comments were reasonable — but not this one:

August 2007: Two years for a child rapist because she “dressed provocatively”. How provocative can a 10yr old really be?

I disagree with PC Bloggs when she says this:

March 2008: He jails a woman for a year who lied about a rape allegation. He also denounces her as “evil” and says she has let down “womankind”. Slightly different language than that used to describe the child rapists and pornographers he has discharged from his court on previous occasions, no?

The bit about letting down womankind is obviously absurd, since no one person can be held responsible for the reputation of the entire group of people with similarly-configured genitals as themselves. But anyone who makes false allegations is in my opinion committing a very serious crime, one at least as serious as the allegations they are making of others, because they are offending against the legal system itself.

Meanwhile, Bystander at The Magistrate’s Blog recounts this master criminal:

A man was stopped for money laundering after a dog detected a million of our English pounds in a bag that was on its way to the Middle East. So far, so average. But the smuggler had checked the bag in as hold baggage: given the combined track record of airport loaders and airport baggage handling systems (T5 anyone?) would you entrust a million quid, even a million dodgy quids, to airport check in?

Society

The British apparently care more about donkeys than abused women, says Louise Livesey, who notes the amounts given to different charities:

The 200 biggest charities working with abused women or campaigning against abuse received a total of £97 million funding (all sources). This is contrasted with £110 million for the RSPCA and £149 million for the Lifeboats.

The Thirteenth Carnival of Radical Feminists is up at Shut Up, Sit Down. One bit that caught my attention (though possibly not for the reason the author had in mind) was this:

There is nothing immoral about eating something that tastes good, even if it does become apparent that you’ve done so after the fact. There is nothing ethically unsound about nachos (they make vegan ones, you know). What’s ethically objectionable is harming your health and removing all the joy from your life in order to increase the number of Coors Light drinkers who want to pork you.

Quite right too! The ignominy of being lusted after by people with crap taste in beer!

Simon Bellwood writes about his whistle-blowing at Greenfields secure centre in Jersey.

Earthpal gets nostalgic about the teachers’ strike:

Yes, a real-life proper strike. How retro does that seem? Remember those glorious days of industrial action and picket lines and angry workers shoving placards into car windows and shouting things like scab! scab! at anyone who crossed the picket line . . . days of trade-union power and militant solidarity and passionate working class heroes?

Gavin Whenman writes about the OGC’s striking new logo. Personally I think the agency who designed it are a bunch of wankers.

Politics

Jim Jay is concerned that the BNP may win a seat or two in the London Assembly elections:

But it is the BNP who are the real threat here. With 5% of the vote the BNP could gain the highest profile political position that they’ve ever had but, worse, with a touch more they could win two seats on the assembly which would notonly be disastrous in the fight against fascism but could also have a significant impact on the direction the Assembly takes over the next four years.

However, fortunately the far-right vote may be split several ways:

In this sense it is very good news that the BNP have four main rivals for their detestable affections, not including the single issue anti-congestion charge grouping who may also steal some of the BNP’s potential vote.

Jonathan Calder has his Lord Bonkers column up.

Bill Jones notes that Gordon Brown has climbed down over the 10% tax band, but thinks he could have done it more gracefully:

Brown would have done better to admit that he just got it wrong rather than keep on that he had not reneged on his determination to abolish the 10p band. But the question remains, how come he missed the significance of the measure to 5.3 million of the poorest people in the country?

Ministry of Truth writes about the EU’s transnational regions. Yes, they are rather artificial and silly. No, they are not a sinister plot to abolish England.

And that’s all for this week! Hope you enjoyed it. Next week’s Britblog roundup will be by Jonathan Calder at Liberal England; nominations should go to the usual address, britblog at gmail dot com, unless you’re a spammer, in which case you should ritually disembowel yourself.

Britblog roundup #166

Britblog roundup number 166 is now up at Mr Eugenides.

I’m hosting next week’s Britblog roundup; nominations should go to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #165

Britblog roundup number 165 is now up at The Wardman Wire.

Next week’s Britblog roundup will be hosted by Mr Eugenides, and nominations should go to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #163

Britblog roundup number 163 is now up at Philiobiblon.

Next week’s Britblog roundup will be hosted by Westminster Wisdom, and nominations should go to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #162

Britblog roundup number 162 is now up at Liberal England.

Next week’s Britblog roundup will be hosted by Philobiblon, and nominations should go to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #161

Britblog roundup #161 is up at The Wardman Wire.

Nominations for next week’s Britblog roundup should go to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Britblog roundup #160

Welcome to edition 160 of Britblog roundup, the weekly roundup of UK blogging! I’d probably best start by apologizing for the lateness of this week’s roundup, I’ve been very busy with my Includipedia website and other stuff.

Our first item is by Chris Dillow, who isn’t impressed by Margaret Hodge’s pronouncements on nationhood and diversity, or the tendency of out “betters” to try to dictate how we think and feel (not that they’ll ever be successful at doing so).

Devil’s Kitchen isn’t the least bit impressed by the government’s latest strategy on introducing ID cards — is anyone these days, apart from the contractors who will make a fortune implementing it? — and quotes The Nameless One as saying:

So I still have to pay for an ID card to access services that I am already entitled to and have already paid for. Jesus Christ, that is a bit of a mind fuck. It is like Tesco saying “I know you’ve just bought your weekly shop, paid for it ‘n’ all, but we’re not going to let you take those goods until that you are entitled to and have paid for until you have signed up for a Clubcard. Oh, and we are going to charge you a small fucking fortune for the Clubcard as well.”They’d be out of business within a week.

Abby O’Reilly at the f-word thinks it’s wrong that mothers are discouraged from breastfeeding in public:

A recent poll of 3,500 mothers across the UK by Kamillosan Chamomile Ointment has revealed the extent to which these negative attitudes have permeated the national consciousness, with motherhood no longer something to proudly embrace but rather something that should be carried out without offending the so-called angelic sensibilities of a country that apparently could not stomach a bit of tit.

More than one fifth of the women who participated claimed they have left their babies screaming from hunger rather than opting for the alternative of feeding them in a public place. Many women fear that they would be judged for their decision to breast-feed, with 38 per cent of new mums banishing themselves to lavatories as they anticipate a negative reception in a public space.

Incidently in Scotland it’s been illegal since 2005 to prevent women breastfeeding in public places. The punishment is a fine of £2500, although personally I think people who break this law should instead be obliged to wear a placard around their necks saying “I object to babies being healthy and properly nourished, because I have ridiculous sensibilities about showing a bit of tit. Please punch me in the face, because that is what I deserve.”

Also at the f-word, Louise Livesey is angry that Thomas Cook couldn’t get her name right:

So I said it should be booked under “Dr Louise Livesey” (that being my name). Apparently they couldn’t do “Dr” only “Miss, Mrs or Ms”. After much heart-rending conversations they said they’d book it in with one of those titles (Ms to be precise) and then get it changed as soon as possible and ask the company to sort out their booking system. And so in good faith I booked. The invoice arrived with the correct name on it. The flight tickets, however, have arrived in the name of “Miss Louise Livesey”. Yes that’s right apparently not only can I not be a Dr I can’t be defined by anything other than presumed marital status.

I imagine Thomas Cook’s computer system was set up to allow only a small number of titles, which didn’t include “Dr”. As a result, they’ve pissed off — and possibly lost — a customer. Which highlights how these days every company is an IT company.

Nosemonkey, aka J Clive Matthews, has a new directory of EU-focussed blogs. He’d like the help of Britblog roundup readers in suggesting blogs he’s missed.

Andew Ian Dodge is unimpressed by Britain’s health food industry:

I have to say that supermarkets in the US are far better at catering to healthy alternatives that in the UK. Even in the biggest supermarket in the UK the choices are limited and unimaginative. What I am most perturbed by is the lack of decent non-white bread here in the UK. You have choice of bog standard stuff or odd harsh ones; no decent pumpernickel or rye to be had.

The alternative is to go into those wonderful healthfood stores. You know the ones staffed by people with dubious cleaning habits lathered up with cheap patouli. These places spend more time going on about how “right-on” they are than actually stocking anything interesting.

I must say this doesn’t agree with my personal experience — my local corner shop sells a wide range of breads. (Then again, I live in the sort of area where this may be more likely to be true).

Jonathan Calder reminisces about the TV programmes Gophers! and 1990.

Stuart Syvret things that the root cause of the Jersey child abuse scandal is the oligarchical power structures on the island (he’s probably right):

This Saturday, at noon in Jersey’s Royal Square, a rally will take place to express acknowledgment and recognition to the victims of child abuse.

It is an opportunity for Jersey to show to the world that 99% of its people are caring, and that they will not tolerate such things happening again.

On many occasions, during the present international focus on the child abuse tragedy in Jersey, I have been asked by visiting journalists: “Why are your politicians so inept? And why is the Jersey media so servile and supportive of the island’s establishment?”

And as the veneer of respectability has been peeled back to reveal the festering midden beneath, visiting, real, journalists have asked “Can the Jersey establishment and its media sink any lower? Can it dig itself into even deeper holes?”

The question asked is – ‘is the Jersey oligarchy willing – or even capable – of learning lessons – or is it doomed to carry on – to laughter from the world press-pack - insisting that black is white and heaping compound errors and yet greater disgrace upon itself?’

Also on Jersey, there was a political rally their last Saturday (the 8th), at which Montfort Tadier gave this speech:

If [Jersey People] were so satisfied with the government, why were they constantly speaking out against them: on issues such as the Waterfront, when public land worth millions of pounds was given away to private developers? Why were they protesting in their thousands at the introduction of GST, a regressive tax which asked old age pensioners to pay 3% extra and their milk, bread and tea and single mothers to pay even more for basic essentials such as nappies, children’s clothes and food? [...]

We [Jersey people] are demoralised and frightened. Demoralised, because we feel as if our opinions do not count and frightened, because we fear we may lose our jobs if we say the wrong thing. [...]

The island’s politicians, judges, policemen and business leaders are also drawn from a small pool, with many being relatives or lifelong friends. For example, Frank Walker, the island’s chief minister, was until recently chairman of the company that owns Jersey’s only newspaper, the Evening Post. The bailiff, the equivalent of the Speaker in the House of Commons, is also the head of the judiciary. The attorney general, whose job is to give the bailiff impartial legal advice on prosecutions, is his brother. And so the list goes on.

Quaequam blog says that Nick Clegg is more hardline than Chairman Mao:

Who was it who originally talked about letting a thousand flowers bloom? I believe it was a certain Mao Tse Tung. I don’t recall Mao being known for being a particularly weak leader. Why is Clegg inviting us to draw comparisons with him and the great despot? What’s this obsession with being seen to be tough (again)? And isn’t it generally Lib Dem policy to, wherever possible, let a thousand flowers bloom?

Unmitigated England looks at a 1952 edition of Country Life, when you could buy a “a country house near Wimborne in Dorset with 3 sitting rooms, 9 principle bedrooms and 3 bathrooms” for £9,500.

Philip Wilkinson at English Buildings tells me a little-known fact about 19th-century history, that the Chartists had a sideline in property development:

So what does all this have to do with English buildings? Another issue espoused by the Chartists was the lower classes’ access to land. Chartists believed that one solution to the well-being of working people was to give them access to land that they could cultivate. The Chartist Co-operative Land Company was formed and five estates of bungalows were built, each dwelling set in a 2- to 4-acre plot, and allocated to applicants chosen by lot. One such development was at Staunton. Although the land company was short-lived and the bungalows were sold off, many of the original buildings survive, and their design – two wings on either side of a central, gabled section, is unmistakeable. The kitchen was in the middle, with the bedroom and sitting room on either side. The photograph below shows one of the bungalows looking rather like it must have done when built.

Susanne Lamido is being affected by passive smoking — with a difference:

We all know the effect of passive smoking but what about passive smoking of marijuana, weed, hash, wacky baccy, ganja or whatever they call it nowadays. Well apparently I’m getting stoned on it. That’s the medical opinion anyway. Not only does it cause me to cough from a dry throat but the smell is so powerful it actually wakes me up. It’s like an early morning alarm clock when the young man who smokes it is around.

And that’s all for this week, folks. Next week’s Britblog roundup will be by Clairwil, and nominations should be sent to the usual address, britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

How to teach kids

From Shuggy:

In one year eleven class, I was trying to explain trench warfare. They did not respond. So I got them to re-arrange the desks into trenches. Then I got out my Lee Enfield .303 and blew the heads off anyone who stuck their heads above the parapet. It was such a valuable learning experience that I feel a career as a management consultant beckons. Unfortunately I’m now awaiting trial. I intend to plead insanity.

LOL