I have just submitted this formal complaint to the BBC about an interview this morning on freedom of speech and no platforming. Basically, the allegation that Germaine Greer and Peter Tatchell have been no platformed keeps being broadcast by the BBC. It's time for this to stop. On BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, [...]
(this time as a result of my sister twitting at me) Oh shit, I'm forty TOMORROW. I mean when I was a teenager and living my rock n roll lifestyle I was sure I was going to be a member of the 27 club. Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse. Tomorrow, I'm going to be forty. I can't quite wrap my head around it. Forty. Jesus wept. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The news of Nick Clegg's knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours List has been so widely leaked that I think we can safely assume that it is true. Not surprisingly, there have been some sqwarks of protest from people on the Left of the Labour Party, who still haven't forgiven him for taking the [...]
This map and description of Derby in 1950 is taken from the AA's Road Book of England and Wales. Much remains familiar. The Cathedral, Bridge Chapel, Art Gallery, Library and Museum (still boasting a Bonnie Prince Charlie room) are open for visitors. County cricket continues at the Race Course Ground. Royal Crown Derby will definitely welcome you, but there's no ... The post Derby in 1950 – according to the AA Road Book appeared first on ten pence piece.
( ... which is a bit spoilery ) That is a thing I genuinely do not understand, right there. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Schoolboys with long hair who fight, gamble and drink? They can only come from the early 1970s. And indeed they do. This is a still from the BBC's 1971 adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays, which I recently bought and watched on DVD. I had watched it only once before - when it was first broadcast - yet I found I remembered some lines of dialogue. Asked me what I watched last night and I would struggle to tell you. It has a rollicking plot that owes little to the book and it obsessed with flagellation. Tom Brown is framed for ...
Second frame of third page: Open up! Open up! I picked this up very cheap a few years ago - it's the Dutch translation of the first volume of the two-part bande dessinée series Lautremer, so far the only collaboration between Belgian writer Yves Leclercq and French artist Stéphane Heurteau. It's a nicely drawn story of early twentieth-century conspiracy, but I found the plot a bit Da Vinci code-ish (and not in a good way); and is the significance of the yachtsman being one Erskine Childers, in a story set ten years after the best known chap of that name ...
Traditionally our silly season for news is August, when nothing much newsworthy is thought to be happening and so the pages and news channels are filled with all sorts of nonsense. Maybe even "fake" news. One lead story this Christmas has given August a close run for its title.. The announcement that, once we have left the EU our former blue British passport will be restored to its former glory was hailed by the Brexiteers as a stupendous achievement. However, the small print indicates the move to be petty and pointless. Our new passport will not have the hard covers ...
Second frame of third chapter: I read this years ago, of course, but read it again this year as part of a Facebook group of friends, some of whom were reading for the first time, taking it at the rate of a chapter a month, so as to recreate the experience of reading when it first came out in 1987. I had always enjoyed it, but I must say I really appreciated the detailed analysis that some people brought to it - in particular, I loved the observation that Chapter V is symmetrical, with the last frames mapping to reflect ...
Tue 26th
18:01
Should we ban vehicles parking on pavements? I support a national call to end to this hazard
It is time to bring in a nationwide ban on parking on pavements. I am supporting a call by four national organisations to ban pavement parking. Over Christmas, as throughout the year, pavements around this town and many others have been partially or totally blocked by cars and vans. Yet the roads alongside the pavements have had plenty of room for parking and in most cases, there has not been a parking restriction in sight. This is selfish parking by motorists who seem to have forgotten that pavements are for pedestrians, children on cycles, people in wheelchairs and on mobility ...
Listen to Liberal Democrats make speeches and there are frequent references to historical figures, but drawn from a small cast. Just the quartet of John Stuart Mill, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, David Penhaligon corner almost all of the market. Some of the forgotten figures deserve their obscurity but others do not. Charles James Fox's defence of civil liberties against a dominating government during wartime or Earl Grey's leading of the party back into power and major constitutional reform are good examples of mostly forgotten figures who could just as well be a regular source of reference, quotation and inspiration ...
Second page of third story ("How to Save the World", by Štěpánka Jislová): Finishing the year by quickly writing up the books I hadn't previously got around to - this has lingered a while, the finalists for this year's comics competition run by the Brussels office of the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit, the political foundation associated with the liberal Free Democratic Party; I'm glad to say that they accepted my suggestion of one of the judges. The theme this year was "Re-Animate Europe", and the entries were all pretty good - the one that particularly spoke to me ...
I read Cross and Burn by Val McDermid - here's my mark on Goodreads I'm ALMOST through Carol and Tony now. Wagamama apology for 'don't be sick' staff notice This is my face of not surprise miss_s_b | Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time I posted Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time to my dreamwidth blog Doctor Who, Twice Upon a Time Because it was a bit good, wasn't it? If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping me a tip: [IMG: Paypal Donate Button] [IMG: Buy Me an uncaffeinated beverage (because I'm ...
Mon, 12:30: A Christmassy poll https://t.co/w83z8SIL71 Mon, 18:28: RT @claytonhickman: YER PROGRAMME's ON! Mon, 20:48: Married to a Mystery Man https://t.co/mCvmOfBfiq What does any of us really know? Mon, 21:00: A lovely Christmas carol, "How Far Is It To Bethlehem", written 25 years ago by my almost-twin @njwmusic:... https://t.co/0Xk85qoKQN Mon, 23:11: As I said...!!! https://t.co/JOXmGDVytx Tue, 10:45: "Instead of party politics, our descendants will probably be content with the rule of experts, who will seek popula... https://t.co/biVs6OWo9b Tue, 11:35: A Christmassy poll - the answers, with screenshots https://t.co/LlFdQdeylp
Jo Johnson's new measures to stop no-platforming in English Universities certainly hits all the right notes when it comes to protecting basic democratic freedoms. The so-called concept of a 'safe space' is just another name for the suppression of views and ideas that make some people uncomfortable or which the censor disagrees with. Student unions and campaigners have banned or attempted to ban, a number of high-profile people from speaking at universities because of their controversial opinions. One of these was feminist writer Germaine Greer who was nearly prevented from giving a lecture after Rachael Melhuish, the women's officer at ...
The papers are full of reports that The Cleggster is getting a knighthood in the New Year Honours. The right wing tabloids in particular are particularly enraged at this award for an "arch remainer." The Mail even devotes a separate article to the question of whether Miriam Gonzalez Durantez will use the title "Lady Clegg" to give them another reason to remind readers of their twin obsessions with her being Spanish and not using what they refer to as her "married name." The fact that she just has a name, not a married name, is lost on them as usual. ...
The Liberal Democrat party magazine for members (and anyone else who wanted to subscribe, a not exactly massive number), Ad Lib, is coming to an end as Jonathan Calder has covered. Ad Lib has covered some fun and some important stories over the years but never really established a large, committed audience either in its paid-for subscription form or in its free-to-all-members version. The plan is to move from print to online. This has triggered the sort of reactions such moves usually generate: widespread acceptance that the world is changing in this respect mixed with continuing affection from some for ...
The following are the scheduled meetings of BTC in January:- Thursday 4th January Planning and Development Committee - CANCELLED Thursday 11th January Finance Committee Thursday 18th January Full Council Meeting Tuesday 23rd January Events Committee Thursday 25th January Planning and Development Committee All meetings are scheduled to be held at Arms Evertyne House, at 6:30 pm As ever, please contact BTC to check about the meeting if you intend to attend
