[paranormal] another one at naseby

To believe or not to believe:

The Northampton Paranormal Group caught the figure [of a ghost in uniform] on camera during a visit to the site of the Battle of Naseby, a field between the villages of Clipston and Naseby in Northamptonshire, last month.

Scepticism is fair enough, especially when one said: “I haven’t heard anything like this at the battlefield in all my association with it. It’s fair to say I’m a bit sceptical.”

That's fair enough.

But blind scepticism like: "The effect was caused by the camera itself," makes me sigh.

Really? They conducted experiments on the photo apparatus and investigated the area, did they? Or did they just say "camera effect" as a kneejerk reaction? Anything out of the ordinary must, by definition, be false?

Well how can any of us know? I'd like to see more evidence first but it doesn't seem wise to blindly pronounce it couldn't possibly happen.

[wordless wednesday] seems to follow

[thought for the day] tuesday evening

If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's research.

[Wilson Mizner - 1953]

Size 42 to fit all

Size 42 to fit all

Have you ever wondered how the government arrived at the figure of 42 days?

"According to Douglas Adams, in the ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, the answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life and everything", was asked of Deep Thought.

Deep Thought was the "Universe's biggest, best, fastest computer", perhaps built by Microsoft. Deep Thought considered the question for a million years or so, and delivered the answer, "42"...".

[germaine greer] this blog agrees with her

That's right, you read it here - this blog agrees with Germaine Greer:

Outspoken feminist academic and writer Germaine Greer has attacked Britain for slashing a university scholarship program which has drawn hundreds of Australian students to England.

From next year, Britain will no longer fund prestigious Commonwealth scholarships for students from developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. While the move will save about STG2 million ($A4.1 million) a year, money will still be available for students from developing Commonwealth countries.

I don't think anyone would argue that the primary assistance should be to the homegrown Brit of some talent but if there is any left over, then surely it should be available to Britain's closest allies within the Commonwealth, it's first former colonies, if you like.

After that you might cast the net over the third world. Greer is surely right in this.

[stop press] record berry season in iceland

Important news just in from Iceland Review:

It seems as if blueberries and crowberries will ripen unusually early in Iceland this year due to a warm May. The berry season normally begins in late August, but berry pickers have already spotted black and blue berries in some places this year.

“One week ago people were already eating crowberries and said they were good,” physician and berry-picking enthusiast Sveinn Rúnar Hauksson told Morgunbladid, adding that blueberries have also begin to ripen, especially in north Iceland.

The berry season ends in September as soon as the temperature drops below freezing point at night. “Now it looks as if we will have a long berry-picking season which begins about two weeks earlier than in the average summer,” Hauksson said.

Click here to watch an audio slideshow about berry-picking. Don't pass it by!

[harry's place] and the jihadi kerfuffle

All right.

Everyone has by now heard of the kerfuffle connected with Harry's Place and here is the issue in a nutshell:

1. From Cassandra;

2. From Ginro.

I don't visit Harry's Place because I was told two years ago it was ruled with a rod of iron by some shadowy figure who makes his writers toe the political line and unfortunately, the major bloggers who told me this did influence me. Maybe I should look at it again. I do remember commenting several times and not getting any response or acknowledgement whatsoever. Again, I might try to get some sort of response.

That's not really the point here though. The point is that a jihadi type wishes to stifle free speech [and the telling of what I have no doubt is the truth] by means of litigation.

Some readers will remember that my own blog was also pushed off the net on July 4th-6th by threat of litigation and I have no intention of opening that whole thing up again but it does lead one to think about such people.

I do recall a lot of personal support though from quite a few really good blogfriends plus others who were mere acquaintances and well-wishers and that was quite humbling. There is definitely a spirit of closing ranks in the sphere and that's what we should do now against ALL people who feel that litigation is the way to make their point.

If I employ the distasteful term "scumbag" for the Usmanovs of the world, then please forgive me. I can forgive and have done so. I can't forget.

Anyway, at Bloghounds, Cassandra has started the ball rolling and I join her in recommending that if you can see your way clear [we don't go for directives at Bloghounds], maybe you could run a banner of some kind [there's a BMP PNG which Blogger upload doesn't recognize and so I can't personally add it] at Cassandra's.

I'll put up something in the sidebar soon.

Is this where M3 is?

Is this where M3 is?

[thought for the day] monday

How can you govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?

Charles de Gaulle [1962]

[papa rimski on the move] beware all evil-doers

With the weight of that staff, he could easily beat them into submission

With a newly-tuned piano at hand and a borrowed kitten for company, Pope Benedict XVI was recovering from jet-lag in Australia Monday ahead of WorldYouth Day celebrations.

Make no mistake - that kitten is there to ward off Imhotep and the whole gang of underworld nasties. The Cross, of course, speaks for itself. When Papa Rimski travels, he means business. I wouldn't want to try it on when the Pope's armed and dangerous.

Supposed to be in Australia for World Youth Day. Well, all right. Fair's fair.

But don't you think there's also a case for World Senior Cits' Day? I can see it now - all of us zooming round on our mobility scooters and the Pope in his Popemobile. Surely it's time they brought the Popemobile back.

Perhaps we could have a Black Policeman's Day as well? Just a thought.

"At 3.8 metre and 15 kilogram, you attack at your own risk."

[integrity] arnie would never go opportunistic

This is so unfair to Arnie, who would never ever cut a deal or do anything remotely ambitious:

But instead, when asked, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed to suggest he would have no qualms about joining an administration run bysomeone called Barack Obama -- who, if memory serves, is the Democrat actuallyopposing the Republican man the Republican Schwarzenegger endorsed for president.

Nah - it's just another blogger speculating.

Isn't it?

[earthquakes] and other fun happenings

Cheated here - this isn't Sicily at all - it's America.

There was an article in La Sicilia yesterday [the dead wood version ]about Mt. Etna and how tourists are determined to climb it, knowing full well the dangers.

Actually, that is my reading of it in my very limited Italian – I was scouring it for meaning yesterday morning over the cappuccino and croissant at Vecchia Caffe, a counterpoint to the news that yet another tourist had been lost to the dreaded Etna.

We actually live further down the coast from there and so the question is not so much rapid lava flow but earthquakes. I was asking Welshcakes and she said there had been a bad one up north in the late 80s and various tremors all over Sicily since then.

I asked if she had experienced one and she said that yes, the walls seemed to move like the beginning of a dream sequence in a film. Wow. When I asked if she thought the Big One was therefore coming, she gave a nervous laugh and said, “I hope not.”

She continued:

“When the sky is a funny colour, not dark, not grey, perhaps ashy and it seems sort of lower than usual – that’s when the Sicilians start to panic. Raffaele apparently said to all within listening distance about him: ‘Hope we don’t all die.’ ”

Hey, I can live with that.

Welshcakes continued: “They’re very philosophical about it here. If it’s got your number on it, they say, then it’s your turn.”

Hey, I can really live with that – makes life a bit more interesting, don’t you think?

So here I sit, typing to you and waiting for the Big One. There are 100 bells in this town which will peal in a Hemming sort of way and we can all ask one another in our mad, frenetic helter skelter flight:

“Did the earth move for you?”

For those who are a little worried about us down this end, I’ll put a helpful link in the right sidebar where you can check out our earthquake or volcano danger on any given day. Actually, the chances are fairly low and from what I can gather, these are our main dangers in southern Sicily:

1. Coffee poisoning;

2. Being run over by a Vespa or Lambretta;

3. Dehydration;

4. Getting closer than 200 metres to local politics;

5. Old age;

6. Volcano;

7. Earthquake.

Touch wood.

[july 14th] not forgetting july 4th

It's the French National Day and I urge everyone, if you haven't already done so, to go down into your local village and partake of petit pain or croissants and coffee. You might even get wicked and toast Bastille Day with a fine cognac [but not before 11 a.m.]

To the Americans, I apologize for July 4th but I ... er ... didn't have a blog at the time and so thought I'd wait until today. May your sovereignty and constitution remain intact in the next few years, despite the severe assault on it from within and from outside. Stand firm, America.

[thought for the day] sunday evening

A loo with a difference

WARNING: TOILET TALK AHEAD

Definition of an excursion:

Fearful and fraught foray far from a loo

Whilst not yet exactly incontinent, nevertheless, the thought of an excursion, a day trip, fills me with dread for these reasons:

1. Inaccessibility of a Little Room;

2. Inaccessibility of water;

3. Tedium and tiredness.

It would have to be a mighty interesting and well-equipped expedition which would draw the Higham from his hermit-like existence.

And you?



Mobility GTS – the only way to go

[the idyll] and the hidden serpent

The picture above is the Caffe Consorzia where we went for lunch.

It was balmy and idyllic, not to mention the quality of the food itself. Sitting under the giant olive tree with those leaves so easy on the eyes, one could be envied - see Welshcakes' post for details of the meal we ate.

So to come home, try to set up a new Yahoo account for Bloghounds, to go through the usual first page of filling in details, press the button and then be confronted with a second page asking to provide credit card details so they can confirm our age - that was beyond the pale.

Exactly what the heck are Yahoo up to? Have you too had any problems? Try setting up a new Yahoo account.

Meanwhile, back to the coffee and croissants.

[britain] will there be one left to return to

We were watching Skynews and BBC and had the same thought simultaneously - the way Britain is portrayed there now, if it can be believed,well - what sane person would want to live there with all its PC, ethnic issues, ASBOs, stabbings everywhere, druggies, crying bereaved families and so on?

Of course, I don't trust Sky or the BBC as far as I could kick them and probably, out of the dangerous urban areas, it's quite OK but still - are you worried about living there, British readers of this blog?

And what of your economic situation? House prices, credit and mobile phone debt? Mortgages? The surveillance society? The vastly increased chance of arrest on technicalities? The situation in schools and with lost national data files left by people on trains? Is all OK with you in that green and pleasant land?

Because if not, then it seems to me it's a bit like, say, Welshcakes, Guthrum and myself zipping off years ago, on our respective starships and meeting up one day on Alpha Centauri, where the news has just come through to the big screen that the earth has blown itself up.

Oops - we're now permanent expats for the remainder of our lifetime. Even Grendel seems worried, opting to detour to Russia instead of immdeiately returning.

Just how bad is it over there now?

[doping] does sport have a chance

You have to wonder what chance sport has:

Manuel Beltrán, who rides for the Liquigas team of Italy and who is a former teammate of Lance Armstrong’s on the Discovery Channel team, tested positive for EPO after the first stage of the race. Beltrán was withdrawn under the terms of a contract that all of the teams signed with the Tour organizer.

This is not just a bleat about "oh how bad everything is these days" but a question every sportsman faces.

When weight training in Russia, one learnt who the steroids boys were [a high profile gym down the road where they were all Adonises with not an ounce of fat] and the "clean" trainers such as one at our place who always carried a certain "lining", shall we say.

He and I were chatting about competition and how he had to give it away because he just couldn't compete against the stoked up bodies in that field. No point competing if you're not going to win, they'd say. Ben Johnson would understand.

This blogger is most certainly not ant-sport - quite the opposite, in fact - and yet there doesn't seem a solution to this thing.

[bloghounds are go] and taking members

Delighted to be able to report that August 11th is the day we launch officially.

There has been considerable discussion and questions have been mulled over concerning the setting up; there have been some teething troubles too and yet here we are.

The site itself is a combined website/forum/mailing list and comes complete with bar, swimming pool and jacuzzi. We hope the user login thingy is not too offputting and that you enjoy your visits there.

During the establishment process we noted some negativity from parts of the sphere but this was quite overwhelmed by the positive feedback and the well wishes - so we're a happy bunch today who feel we have a worthwhile group, Bloghounds whose humble aim is to associate with the best in the blogosphere, the up and comers and even the shy and reticent, with a view to mutual support, encouragement and assistance.

You might like to take a look.

[sarko and mandy] love and mutual understanding

Had to chuckle - from the latest Private Eye [N1214]:

Sarko: Idiot! Cochon! Rosabif! Vous etes un
laughing stock.

Mandy: Vous can talk, matey, avec votre oo-la-la avec Mlle Bruni
et votre platform shoes.

Sarko: Watch votre step, Matelot ...

[self promotion] how to lose readers fast

Routes of the internet, according to Wiki

This post is for the inexperienced blogger. All the rest of you, forgive it please.

There's a lady who is doing the rounds of our part of the sphere and though she means well, she is doing wrong. I am not guoiltless myself of having done this from time to time but I try not to as far as possible.

In short, this lady is going to people's blogposts and commenting along the lines of "Please visit my site." There are a number of things wrong with this and it shows her inexperience as a blogger.

1. It is against generally accepted blog etiquette to go round actively promoting yourself.

2. It has a negative effect on those who visit and more will decide not to go to that "newbie" site than will decide to go there. There's a bloodymindedness factor here.

3. There are alternatives:

a. Your name itself in most comments is a hyperlink and so if you have written a witty or pertinent comment, people are likely, in their own time and way, to wander over to you and see what you have. If you push them or appear to be trying to, they'll be irritated.

b. If you were to actually read that blogger's post and get into the discussion on it [the thing almost all of us want], then put a link to his-her post inside your own post on the issue, you've helped him-her and helped yourself through the backlink system.

Many blogs have the system that if you link to someone's post, it shows up in that comments section and other bloggers see it and might click on your own post link displayed there.

That is the way to go.

c. The only other way is the hard grind - get round to other sites and show an interest. Only then will they come to yours. To keep them coming to yours, you have to write interesting posts on a regular basis. There's no other way out of it.

For an interesting article on the blogosphere and MSM, Ian Appleby has this piece, hat tip Tiberius.

[sleeping well?] maybe it's time to act

CEOs, ordinary mortals, doesn’t matter who - - your existence is built around four pillars:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Sleep
4. Spiritual calm
and being positively valued by others.

My take is that if you religiously practise the first four, the fifth will often suggest itself to you anyway. I’m not a guru but it stands to reason.

This blogging though – I need sleep:

Sleep ...

One of the tricks is to schedule rest and sleep. There are enough stats on the web not to clog up the blog with these but in a nutshell, what it comes down to is that a scheduled 20 minute nap in the middle of the day is the best, followed by adequate sleep at night at home. Sleeps during the day are right out!

How to schedule it? That’s easy – you have a meeting with Mrs Jones at that time, can’t be disturbed under any circumstances [mobile off] and the office door is locked. Poontang with the secretary is one other possibility but a 20 minute snooze, not a deep sleep, is the best variant of them all.

But it’s not enough to schedule sleep and this takes aggressive planning in itself. It’s being able to wind down that’s the really difficult part.

Hyped up – that’s the problem.

Maybe it comes down to temperament - some of us are more sanguine than others. The Sherlock Holmes thing about his mind being a train, running wildly out of control and off the tracks if it is not connected up with the work for which it was designed - that holds water. And yet Holmes had his breakdowns as well and we're surely not advocating the opium.

The next quote's link has been lost in the mists of time but I've kept these words on stress:

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings.

As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

I also quoted Douglas Adams in a recent post about the ‘fundamental interconnectedness of all things’, a repackaging of an old truism. More specifically:

A report released by VicHealth yesterday shows that workplace stress is directly linked to up to a third of cases of cardiovascular disease in men and a third ___ depression cases in women.

But it is not only individuals who are paying the price. Businesses are hit by increased absenteeism and employee turnover, the report says.

"Workplace stress costs the entire community dearly in terms of human suffering and lost productivity," VicHealth chief Rob Moodie said.

The report reviewed 90 international studies, assessed exposure to stress in more than 1000 workers, and interviewed public and private employers, employer groups and trade unions.

Professor LaMontagne said exposure to stress at least doubled the risks of leading chronic diseases, including depression, cardiovascular disease and anxiety, and was therefore a significant contributor to the overall burden of disease in society.

[Melbourne Age, By Chantal Rumble, May 26th, 2006]

Suggested solution?

Flexible work schedules, improved communications, family-friendly practices and adequate compensation were key features of a less-stressful work environment, he said.

"The first thing all companies can do is communicate with their employees and work together in redesigning jobs to reduce workload and give them greater say or control in how their work gets done."

And one of the most quoted aspects of stress – was it sleep? Was it heck – most people don’t even consider it a risk. Oh, I only need three hours and a cup of coffee.

Bet if I followed you round and did a time ad motion on you, I’d find plenty of examples of how your body was fighting back.

Also, stressing out can be seen as a badge of honour – a sign of someone who’s making money hand over fist. Take a break for two weeks and Bob’s your uncle. Except that he’s not, the overall effect is cumulative and then we finally arrive at that pseudo-scientific syndrome – being burnt out.

Robert Roberts, MD, director of cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston says:

During sleep, blood pressure and heart rate have a chance to rest, and adrenaline quiets down. "That's good not only for the cardiovascular system but also for tissue repair. However, let's remember that the major risk factors for heart disease include high cholesterol and smoking," he says. "And certainly the biggest one today is obesity, which induces diabetes and increased blood pressure. The fact that sleep reduces blood pressure is reason enough to get more sleep."

[Jeanie Davis, Sleep, Less and More, Linked to Heart Disease, reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Monday, January 27, 2003, WebMD Medical News: Too Much or Too Little Sleep Can Raise Blood Pressure, Stress Hormones]

And don’t forget sleep apnea:

With each apnea, the brain receives a signal to arouse the person from sleep in order to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

People with untreated sleep apnea are generally not even aware of the awakenings but only of being extremely sleepy during the day. They may, however, realize that they snore or gasp for air during sleep. Loud snoring, punctuated with periods of silence (the apneas), is typical but is not always present, especially in children.

Consequences of untreated sleep apnea include high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, and weight gain. People with untreated sleep apnea may also complain of falling asleep inappropriately, morning headaches, memory problems, feelings of depression, reflux, nocturia (a need to use the bathroom frequently at night), and impotence.

Sleep apnea is treatable but it’s my guess that if you have it, you’re so stressed out already that you’ll not stop long enough to go out and fix it. Check these boxes:

Are you a loud, habitual snorer?
 Yes  No

Do
you feel tired and groggy on awakening?
 Yes  No

Are you often
sleepy during waking hours and/or can you fall asleep quickly?
 Yes  No

Are you overweight and/or do you have a large neck?
 Yes  No

Have you been observed to choke, gasp, or hold your breath during sleep?
 Yes  No

[The American Sleep Apnea Association, 1424 K Street NW, Suite 302, Washington, DC 20005, phone: 202/293-3650, Fax: 202/293-3656, www.sleepapnea.org]

Another one:

"We found that ... six ... hours of sleep is not optimal [when compared with eight]," Alexandros N. Vgontzas, MD, tells WebMD. "Twohours of sleep deprivation per night for one week is associated with increased sleepiness, decreased performance, and activation of the inflammatory system." Vgontzas, a professor of psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, is the author of a study on the effects of sleep deprivation.

In other words - fatigue.

Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness, exhaustion, or lack of energy. You may feel mildly fatigued because of overwork, poor sleep, worry, boredom, or lack of exercise.

Any illness, such as a cold or the flu, may cause fatigue, which usually goes away as the illness clears up. Most of the time, mild fatigue occurs with a health problem that will improve with home treatment and does not require a visit to a health professional.

A stressful emotional situation may also cause fatigue. This type of fatigue usually clears up when the stress is relieved.

Many prescription and nonprescription medications can cause weakness or fatigue. The use or abuse of alcohol, caffeine, or illegal drugs can cause fatigue.

A visit to a health professional usually is needed when fatigue occurs along with more serious symptoms, such as increased breathing difficulties, signs of a serious illness, abnormal bleeding, or unexplained weight loss or gain.

Fatigue that lasts longer than 2 weeks usually requires a visit to a health professional. This type of fatigue may be caused by a more serious health problem, such as:

A decrease in the amount of oxygen-carrying substance (hemoglobin) found in red blood cells (anemia).

Problems with the heart, such as coronary artery disease or heart failure, that limit the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle or the rest of the body.

Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, in which sugar (glucose) remains in the blood rather than entering the body’s cells to be used for energy.

Problems with the thyroid gland, which regulates the way the body uses energy.

A low thyroid level (hypothyroidism) can cause fatigue, weakness, lethargy, weight gain, depression, memory problems, constipation, dry skin, intolerance to cold, coarse and thinning hair, brittle nails, or a yellowish tint to the skin.

A high thyroid level (hyperthyroidism) can cause fatigue, weight loss, increased heart rate, intolerance to heat, sweating, irritability, anxiety, muscle weakness, and thyroid enlargement.

Kidney disease and liver disease, which cause fatigue when the concentration of certain chemicals in the blood builds up to toxic levels.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is an uncommon cause of severe, persistent fatigue.

If fatigue occurs without an obvious cause, it is important to evaluate your mental health. Fatigue is a common symptom of mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression. Fatigue and depression may become so severe that you may consider suicide as a way to end your pain. If you think your fatigue may be caused by a mental health problem, see your health professional.

[Healthwise, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1989, Boise, ID 83701, 2003]

So how to wind down? It takes great willpower. You MUST schedule time in your ‘graphic’ for the week. It’s as simple as that. Then, when you get there, it all depends if you have a good secretary-partner or not. If you do, then you can trust her not to allow ANYBODY through that door or onto that phone. If you know your 20 minutes is yours – all yours – then that’s a huge boost to be going on with. The next part you can do yourself.

For those who are interested, my archived postings on the rich and the dead [1&2] also addresses this matter. Johnathan Pearce, at Samizdata, has also touched on this. You'd need to use the search term "sleep" most likely as I don't have the link any more.

[thought for the day] wednesday evening

There is no left or right in UK politics any more. This battle is about one thing:

Authoritarianism versus Liberty.

[Ian Parker Joseph]

Courtesy of The Broadsheet Rag

[runways] race and gender equality

Just had to link to this one, which you've no doubt already seen. As I put in the comments section:

"Sigh!"

[irish jokes] and jewish and australian and ...

Chukchi in Russia's north

There is still one Irishman joke Jams enjoys because of the sting in its tail:

An Irishman was looking for work in London. He goes to a building site where the Foreman says to him that he can have a job if he can answer this one simple question: "What is the difference between a girder and a joist"

The Irishman looks the foreman in the face and says: "That's simple. Girder wrote Faust and Joist wrote Ulysses."

It's said that nationalist jokes spring from irrational fear of or ignorance of another nation. Sometimes they just reflect arrogant pride in one's nation being superior to all others and target the most backward or vulnerable. In Russia, the Chukchi are the standard target but they do get their revenge:

A Chukcha and a Russian geologist go hunting polar bears. They track one down at last. Seeing the bear, the Chukcha shouts "Run!" and starts running away. The Russian shrugs, raises his gun and shoots the bear.

"Russian hunter bad hunter, however", says the Chukcha, "Now you haul this bear ten miles to the yaranga yourself!"

In Russia, the use of "odnako" or "however", is the usual way jokers identify the Chukchi, a bit like the Jewish "already".

Let's not even start on Jewish or blonde jokes.

[food supply] plus water equals power

Don't want you to worry or anything:

The government officials who are supposed to protect America’s food supply are not certain what has made almost 1,000 people ill in the last three months. At first it was raw tomatoes that appeared to be tainted with a rare form of salmonella. So, consumers avoided tomatoes, and the tomato business suffered mightily.

Health officials are still worried about tomatoes, but they’ve also raised concerns about jalapeño peppers. Or perhaps cilantro. Or maybe some brands of salsa. Somewhere. Meanwhile, people keep getting sick.

Seems to me that:

1. There are a lot a scare tactics being used on the populace just now, perhaps to soften us up for the main play down the track;

2. Food plus water supply equals a whole lot of power in a few hands. Joseph in Egypt springs to mind.

No Clue has a nice take on the food issue at her site.

[bloghounds] daily report is at the site

Today's report is up and you're welcome to pop over and look.

[tuesday quiz] who said these things?

1. The good thing about them is that you can look at them with the sound turned down [of the Spice Girls].

2. The chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches.

3. Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, is a rose.

4. When I split an infinitive, G-d damn it, I split it so it will stay split!

5. Curtsey while you're thinking what to say. It saves time.

Clues

Musical groups, famous with libertarians, philosophy, hard-boiled detective, children

Answers, as usual, require you to highlight below

George Harrison, the Independent, 1997; Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, 1776; Gertrude Stein, Sacred Emily, 1913; Raymond Chandler, to a proof-reader, 1947; Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, 1872

[bloghounds] things moving along

We can say the steering committee is almost in place and will be calling for members in the next few days, once the infrastructure [mailing list, site etc.] is in place.

Some quite legitimate questions have arisen and need to be answered. These are my answers on my site but there will be a group statement on the actual site later.

[Speaking for myself, there was and is no intention of taking over BP though it would have been good to have been one of the steering committee and then retire. As someone said, it was testing the climate of opinion only.]

Purpose - the reason we felt that this group was needed was, roughly speaking, that people have demonstrated that they do like to be part of a respected group identity - there is resistance to losing that, they do like a happy, cheerful environment and one other thing...

As one of the founder members of BP, I can say there were errors made. The membership intake was indiscriminate in the middle of 2007 and that's where the problems sprang from [BNP issue etc].

The only way to overcome problems of that kind is to legislate, create a plethora of rules, rewrite them to meet changed circumstances etc. Someone within BP said that it could all have been prevented by firm but friendly entry requirements in the first place, where everyone both knew and accepted the few rules [see the criteria here]then it becomes relatively smooth sailing, give or take diversity of opinion from then on.

It does appear that already, in one day, people are seeing that there need not be a conflict of interest here.

In the end, whichever way you cut and dice it, it comes down to two choices - completely unfettered entry and then there is no way various people can be prevented from acting as they wish or else you run with restriction at entry point, after which it is just as unfettered and anyone can say anything but being of a certain nature, it's probably going to be a good atmosphere in a boisterous way.

The notion of carefully reviewing membership at point of entry meaning dull membership without spine is really rubbish. The names I've seen so far are not noted for their compliance and would reject any sort of control as anathema. Yet they're great bloggers.

And there are eight members of a blog-diverse steering committee all giving their opinions. There is a lot of give and take in that and certainly my own feelings and prejudices form only one eighth part of the total opinion and I know that at least three of these would be averse to anyone riding over the top of them.

Also, the message coming through loud and clear from the e-mails is that patient and sure is the way to go.

That's as it should be.

This is the captain of your ship your heart speaking...

This is the captain of your ship your heart speaking...



See post below...Full Steam Ahead

Handing back over...

[full steam ahead] hope there are no more submerged rocks

... anyway, as we were saying on Friday in that last post before we were interrupted:

"No, don't rub your eyes - it is nourishing obscurity ..."

In among the dangerous rocks and reefs out there in that blog ocean, there are some wonderful havens of friendship and good cheer.

Thank you and I'm back [as far as I know] also due to the kindness of that chap not suing me.

[bloghounds] staying cool in the sphere

[This badge is only a mock up and will be reviewed by the steering committee, along with the tag line. If you can think of a good tag line, suggest it and it can be adopted. If there are copyright issues with the pic, it will be changed.]


The events of the weekend, appearing out of the blue and resulting in the shutdown of this blog, were simply an extension of something which has been happening for a long time in another place and I do not propose to comment on that here.

Yesterday, initial feelers were sent out to various BP members as to whether the group could be initially disbanded and then reformed under the auspices of a steering committee. The result below was not intended at the time, certainly not to kick off today but as it all went public late yesterday, there was considerable feedback, mainly along two lines:

1. The logistics of such a move would seem to be prohibitive;

2. A certain amount of feedback supported the idea of setting up an entirely new group, incorporating the best principles of Blogpower plus one or two others.

If you happen to have read the original BP post, you’ll see that it mentions a smallish group of mutually supportive bloggers and a number of the 2006 members have at times referred to the friendly atmosphere which used to prevail.

Contrast that to the past few months and even the last few days and not much more needs to be said.

Blogpower was certainly unique in that it drew together people of all walks of life, of differing political bents, even completely apolitical beings [yes, they exist in large numbers] and certainly from different parts of the world.

This was its strength.

As it grew and changed its focus somewhat, the principles many held dear seemed to assume less importance than formerly. The proposals below attempt to redress the balance. It is proposed that:

1. A new blog group be set up, initially called Bloghounds as a working name and using a steering committee to set up the group and to do the early admin.

2. While it would be nice to see some of the 2006 Blogpowerers plus the current BP administrators [2 in number] represented on the steering committee of seven, it is really open to others as well, however shy, who feel they could play a part.

3. The steering committee would initially assess membership requests according to these guidelines:

a. The blog would need to be of at least one month’s standing and be of an acceptable standard, with clear navigation.

b. The blogger needs to be identifiable, whether using an avatar or real name and be clearly active in the sense in which the committee understands the term.

c. He or she needs to accept and see the necessity for replying to comments, participating as a group member, carrying the banner in the sidebar, carrying at least one form of the blogroll, agreeing to be part of the mailing list and most importantly would make a genuine attempt to link to fellow members at least once a week.

d. The blogger would further need to accept that the group homepage and mailing list are semi-public and not appropriate fora to air personal issues which are not of interest to the group as a whole and he or she should not have a previous history of divisiveness, troublemaking or harassment of fellow bloggers.

4. The steering committee, having looked at the request for membership and if having decided against, is honour bound to e-mail the blogger concerned with both the vote and the reason why. That blogger is welcome to try again after two months.

On the matter of the vote, one dissension would necessitate a more thorough steering committee review of the proposed blogger, two dissensions would need to be taken seriously, three would fairly well end the current bid. Abstentions would be advisable in a conflict of interest situation.

Therefore the composition of the steering committee itself is quite critical and a good cross-section of even-headed, experienced bloggers are being sought for this.

5. The main thrust of these guidelines is not to tie anyone up in red tape but to enable enjoyable membership of the group without petty disputes, recrimination, drawn out issues and other things which often tend to sour what should be a fun activity.

6. Once a group of around twenty bloggers is in operation [and this could take some considerable time, approaching the dead season for blogging], members are asked to nominate and vote for the ongoing admins. When the admins are in place, the steering committee retires.

7. On a personal note, I’d like to make it known that though I am perhaps up for the steering committee, I have no intention of becoming a permanent admin.

Should you wish to be a member of the steering committee, it would be lovely if you were to make yourself known in the next few days.

UPDATE AT 7.57 - first four expressions of interest have arrived so that is encouraging.

Another nice person at 9.05 so we're up to five. I think maybe eight would be interested initially. Any more would be a bonus. Have to get some sleep now - the neighbours' dogs were barking all night.

Initial list

Group name: bloghounds
Group home page: http://bloghounds.org/
Group email: bloghounds@email.com

[clandestini] something here for all of us

Yet another tragedy was splashed across the local paper casually dropped on the glass tabletop with the inlaid design, in the cafe I strolled down to on Sunday morning.

Here was I, white, clean shaven, dressed as smartly as any local, sipping on my coffee, just as the scattering of others also were who’d stayed in the city rather than go to the beach or to their country houses. Did I care?

Well yes.

The people in the news are the clandestini, the boat people who, desperate to escape the senseless poverty and violence of the North African Muslim regimes, prefer to chant “Sicilia or Paradise”, the latter their watery destination should they fail, which they generally do. And yet this does not dissuade them from trying.

The Italian, the Sicilian attitude, is a tad kindlier than, say, in Germany or France. There is a grudging recognition down this way that we are all struggling to make ends meet and to find some sort of life in the process.

And what of me, silently finishing the first cappuccino? I’m also by no means out of the woods, off the boat to mix metaphors. It is quite possibile that a stroke of the pen will end my stay once again. So you’ll perhaps forgive a slight edge to my interest in the boat people.

The other day for the first time, I saw one of the survivors emerge from the kitchen of a cafe and pick some leaves from a tree, then merge back into her sanctuary. She was working, possibly long hours. She had every intention of integrating and trying to find acceptance in a very closed community.

Contrast this with the aliens allowed in on study visas in Britain who then kick up merry hell at the end of their time. Contrast it with the proliferation of Mosques and the like, led by people who then have the temerity to demand their own system of justice, Sharia Law.

Oh yes?

And what does the head of the UK police say? Get knotted? You will conform to British law whilst in this country? Not a bit of it. He says there is a place for Sharia Law in Britain’s legal system. Was there a place for Jewish Law in previous years? Bahai Law? Was there a Buddhist system of justice recognized by the Crown?

Sorry to be so grumpy but why the hell should Sharia Law be picked out of the air and favoured by the British police and justice system?

Every one of you knows the answer to that. Because these leaders are not socially agreeable, hard-working immigrants, trying to integrate with British society. They are trouble makers trying to impose an alien system on someone else’s country.

Ours.

Now if I’d written that about the Bahai, about the Buddhists, there’d have barely been more than a murmur. So why the howls of rage from this community, insistent on no offence being given them?
Look.

Any person of any race, religion or color is generally welcome to another land, as long as the clear intention is to integrate and conform to the law and social mores of that country.

Here in Italy, it is quite clear – to have any intention of remaining, one learns the language, the customs, the traditions of the place, mixes with the local people, rather than hiding away in a ghetto, contributing to the local economy and needing to be seen to be doing this.

One keeps one’s protestantism low key and visit the Catholic church, eating the local cuisine – not all the time but much of the time, transmitting one’s own culture to the locals as and when they wish to know of it.

Having now travelled from land to land, this appears fundamental, something that should simply be taken as read.

Not in my homeland, it seems.

Read Cllr.Tony Sharp's thoughts on this latter issue.

[Hopefully cross-posted later at Lord Nazh]

Thought for the Day

This is from an English perspective, I am quite sure Summer is very sunny in Sicily :-)

One July Summer

"What has happened to summer,
That's what I want to know.
Is she on a vacation -
Who knows where did she go?
Tell, what was she wearing;
A zephyr breeze and rosebud
Or grass and wild berry?
Could she be honeymooning
With spring or early fall
Or has she gone so far away
She'll not return at all?"

Dorothy Ardelle Merriam

A bit of a Sunday blog round up

A bit of a Sunday blog round up

Noclue and the cutting remark Ouch!

Cherrypie continues with her theme of a picture painting a thousand words with this photo of a castle of her dreams.

It maybe that JHL is deliberately misinterpreting Tory MP George Osborne giving relief at the petrol pumps, there again...

Bob Piper asks if David Davis is a stupid bugger...

UPDATE: Belated 100th birthday wishes to Ellee.

TalkLeft - The politics of crime
On what is it that the Left bloggers don't get?

[quick lunch] don't be fooled.

No, don't rub your eyes - it is nourishing obscurity, not Sicily Scene and it's a food post.

We were just tossing up what to have for lunch today and Welshcakes decided to throw together this little lot, called Maria Teresa's chicken and together with it went the Roman dish, Vignarola, of various peas, beans, onions and so on. Not to forget the artichocke hearts, all slow cooked in olive oil.

Well all right, admittedly that one was already cooked [it's better on the second day]. And note the glasses of water, JMB.

We are also in the throes of the great boiler war.

We need a new boiler, it's leaking something awful and no one will do anything they're supposed to. Well now they seem to be as I went down and took a look and a new boiler drum was standing by so we can only guess when this water nightmare will end.

Anyway, enough for now. Off to have some supper.

[friday pause] to take in the wildlife

Isn't this both tragic and sweet?

Richard Havers writes of the owl saga:

Two have died. Both were on the ground having left the nest. Owls have their young at different times so these were the first born. The good news is we still have two left, one is out the nest and the other is still in it.

According to the local gamekeeper it seems like they've not had enough food and that's why the older birds have died.

Mrs. H. read up that if the owlets fall out the nest they're a goner as the parents stop feeding them, which is obviously why it was trying to get back....

Do pop over and read the rest of it ... and once you're done there, you might like to get abreast of the news about the bees, from Liz Hinds. Or even wish Ellee happy birthday. If you're hungry after all that, join us here. Or at the Crystal Ark, at Granville Island. And as evening falls, you could do worse than take this in.

Have a lovely Friday.

[connex rides again] the excitement of commuting

This may be true. After all, it is Connex, of British infamy. Here and here too. Now this:

Passengers have told The Age of their "terrifying" ride on the train that sped through the City Loop with an open door during Tuesday's peak hour.

Connex has confirmed a packed Sydenham train left North Melbourne station just after 8am with one door open, forcing passengers to hold on to each other for safety.

One reader, who was in another carriage, observed "screams and general panic" as the train left North Melbourne station.

"The train sped up and people starting pushing from the door and trying to secure space down the corridor or towards my door," the reader said in an email.

"On a couple of occasions, the train rocked violently and pushed people towards the open door. I became concerned that the doors as a whole were faulty and that the door I was pressed against could open."

And yet the beat up is pretty nauseating by The Age. Hell, hasn't anyone been on the Madrid underground with the swinging chandeliers crashing into the luggage racks? Hasn't anyone ever been on a big dipper?

Bit of excitement in a commuter day, methinks. Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading down the street for a cappuccino - entirely on foot.

[thought for the day] thursday evening

This evening, I plan to kill three birds with one stone:

1. Last evening Jeremy Jacobs commented on the “thought for the day”:

A bit profound for a Wednesday evening;

2. Jams O’Donnell also indicated that he’d like to see a good Wordless Wednesday from me;

3. Welshcakes was telling me how much she loved football and couldn’t stand even one day without it. I thought I’d take up Beaman’s idea and convert it into a poem.

For all three august bloggers, the result is here to read. Hope you enjoy it:

Thank you.

[youtube] your data now with another company

Ever post a youtube vid or watch one?

"Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Although Google argued that turning over the data would invade its users' privacy, the judge's ruling (.pdf) described that argument as "speculative" and ordered Google to turn over the logs on a set of four tera-byte hard drives."

What fun to be living in this day and age. James Barlow would certainly disagree with that statement, as he outlines the great parking dilemma:

If we define the problem to be "too many cars on the road", the general consensus amongst drivers seems to be that the solution is better public transportation systems for other drivers. But very few people have any desire to make the "modal shift" themselves.

Quite right and yet I'm currently on foot [well, actually I'm at the computer just now] but am thinking of a motorbike.

Just thinking, mind.

[awards] comment at the site

Not much blogging time this morning. Comment on the Awards is at the site [click pic in sidebar].

[thought for the day] wednesday evening

There are any number of these but this one introduces the topic fairly well:

The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.

[George Eliot]

Well, I can't completely agree. When one is failing, sometimes it is better to cut one's losses and smile; one scrutinizes the failure, works out the weakness in the idea and plans it better for the next time.

To cleave to a losing idea though seems to me the height of folly.

Of course, some say perseverance is also a fine attribute, the tenacity of the bulldog, the never-say-die attitude. So perhaps it comes down, in the end, to a question of judgement and experience.

[dillow logic] economic reasons women are crap

Flipchart Fair Tales takes the esteemed Chris Dillow to task for his Times affected article on his blog:

Since he got a regular column with the Times, Chris Dillow’s blog articles have become increasingly outlandish. His recent piece on why women are crap is a case in point.

However, although his arguments, if that’s what you can call them, are silly, they are no worse than some of the rubbish that apparently respectable columnists write about men.

Those all-men-are-hopeless articles have been around for at least the past twenty years. Some of the bullshit has been repeated so often that it has become ’stuff everyone knows’.

Chris answers, using that particular logic he's famous for:

My motivation for writing it was in my question: “am I a victim of selection effects?” and in the fact that a couple of earlier posts had discussed selection effects.

Let’s grant that my arguments are silly. Doesn’t this show that even huge samples - women I’ve met in the last 20 years - can be systematically biased, if they are drawn from non-random sources.

This being so, shouldn’t we be much less confident than we are about drawing inferences from personal experience - even a lot of it? The post was not about women, but about the nature of knowledge - a point everyone seems to have missed.

And yes, some of my posts might seem silly. But this is because I occasionally (often?) err on the side of silliness, to undermine notions of judgment, credibility and expertise.

My brain hurts.

[sarko's all right] three reasons why

There are three reasons why, despite some political decisions, Sarko is all right in my book.

Firstly:

Footage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressing irritation at a TV technician ahead of an interview has become an instant internet success. The video shows the employee clipping a microphone to Mr Sarkozy's tie, and not responding to a presidential "hello".

"It's a question of manners," Mr Sarkozy is heard muttering. "When you're invited, you're entitled to have people say 'hello' to you".

Mr Sarkozy has been caught several times in off-the-record videos posted on the web. One of them showed him at a farm show in February, swearing at a member of the public who refused to shake his hand.

Fair enough. And this too. Anyone Mandelson attacks has to be good in my book:

On BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Mandelson attacked Mr Sarkozy in a row over a World Trade Organisation deal that would cut subsidies to French farmers.

"I am being undermined and Europe's negotiating position in the World Trade talks is being weakened and I regret that," said Mr Mandelson. "It's very disappointing because the mandate on which I'm negotiating…has been agreed by all the member states."

The third reason is to the left here. She's Italian, he was daring in taking on another tall woman and it seems to have annoyed so many people. I do wonder about their clinches sometimes and then manage to put it out of mind.

He's a larger than life figure [though perhaps not so large in life]and heaven knows the world needs more of those just now.

[2008 awards] progress report

Progress report on the Awards is now up at the site.

[right royal chat] the very next fad

Love this from Charon QC [the Questionable Cove]:

Last month the news broke that Gordon Brown was making phonecalls to unsuspecting members of the British public. Yesterday, the News of The World reported that The Queen had been thinking about setting up premium rate phone lines to allow the British public to call and get a message from the Royals - to help pay for the double glazing at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

What then follows is a Charon podcast on the matter, replete with the meaning of "hice".

By the way, appropriate, wouldn't you say, that the Wikipic portrays the Duke together with that other great wordmaster, Dubya? I'd love to have been a fly on the wall [or guardsman's headgear] during that conversation.

I was once of the opinion that the Duke was just an alcohol swigging, foul-mouthed committee of 300 member, dedicated to population reduction and prone to gaffs but now I'm the first to admit I was wrong.

This has to be a mini-classic:

Personal remarks have annoyed singing stars. In 1969 The Duke said to Tom Jones after the Royal Variety Performance: "What do you gargle with, pebbles?"

or:

In 1995 he asked a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"

Now I think you'd agree it takes a special sort of mind to dream up some of those.

Site of King Athelstan's Palace: Kingdom of Elmet

Site of King Athelstan's Palace: Kingdom of Elmet

Location Sherburn in Elmet

From 1955-1966, on and off, I lived a couple of miles from here at South Milford.

Steeton Hall gateway, South Milford, 14th century.

Our farmhouse was situated about 200-300 yards from this Ancient Monument. The village dates back to at least Saxon times. There is a secret passage in Steeton Hall which goes underground for 2 miles to the church in the photo above.

It was whilst I was at Primary School age that I recall asking my so-called foster father, why the small town next door was called Sherburn in Elmet when it was in Yorkshire? He replied that he did not know and suggested I ask the Headmaster. He did not know either. Sometime later when I was in Leeds I popped into the Central Library and conducted some research.

King Athelstan ruled all England and the capital of England was on this site. The Kingdom of Elmet was larger than the present day Yorkshire.

When all the talk is about devolution and independence, I think back to these times and wonder if those living in the area would be better off if the Kingdom of Elmet was revived?

I am talking about a revolution of sorts. With this in mind, I packed Liana off for a holiday in Riga, Latvia. I told her to prepare for battle...

Gun toting Lily

The Masonic Order of Athelstan

[blogger's blogger] first questions on the awards

I've done the rounds and looked at what people have said so far. There has been some quite positive feedback and some not so positive:

Morningstar says he won't support these Awards, then makes the points:

Yes I put the badge on my blog, I thought it was good that someone had recognised me, but I always felt as though it required being a part of the inner circle to get on the list. By the second one, I didn’t want to be on the list, there was too much stat porn being bandied around and I don’t think blog awards should be about visitor numbers, whichever measure you subscribe to.

The other annoying thing for me was seeing the American trend of bloggers wanting to supplant the mainstream media hit the UK, and the mainstream media moving into blogging.

And that, dear Morningstar, is precisely why these Awards are needed - awards by bloggers who are real bloggers for fellow bloggers. We know who we are, whether we are MSM or not. This mechanism keeps it all shipshape and Bristol fashion.

As for inner circle - well there are many inner circles. There's Blogpower, the Dale world, the Daily Kos world and so on. These Awards are beyond any circle and at the same time recognize each circle in its own category.

These awards are exactly for bloggers such as you, Morningstar. Easy to be negative. Far harder to support something. I hope you'll support the idea.

Already we have some names being put forward and as someone must start the ball rolling, these will appear as a list tomorrow and then those people asked if they'll be Panellists.

Finally for now, Welshcakes advised yesterday ' the Awards will certainly go ahead. Just give people enough time to come to grips with them.

So I'm still hopeful.