BritBlog Roundup 153 - At last!

Sorry for the delay: let's get right on with it.

A lot of political postings have been submitted this week, so we begin with them.

Politics

These days it isn't enough just to type. Gavin Whenman offers the latest Realpolitik Podcast and Tim Ireland makes his submission on the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act in the form of a slide show with sound.

Other podcast related posts submitted were a daily roundup on The Wardman Wire and the highlights of 2007 from Wolverhampton Politics,

Writing from a less technological age when a copier breakdown involved a sobbing monk, Archbishop Cranmer is not impressed with the idea of Tony Blair as President of Europe.

And from another planet, some would say, Melanie Phillips thinks the mainstream media have ignored the story of the century: an Al Qaeda plot to assassinate the Queen. Meanwhile Ben Brogan points to Tory Confusion over Northern Rock.

Justin McKeating (who seems to be having problems with his Chicken Yoghurt blog) writes on Chicken Backup about the huge waste of money that was Peter Hain's deputy leadership campaign (he finished fifth):

It would take the vast majority of people decades to earn these sums. Hain threw about more cash in order to polish his ego than a lot of people's houses are worth. He thought two hundred grand was a price worth paying to get people to like him a bit more than they did Hazel Blears. How hard can that be for God's sake? When you look at the breakdown of the deputy leadership vote, you'd bet Gary Glitter could have beaten Blears with no grander inducements offered than a couple of rounds of drinks and a bag of crisps.

Gavin's Gaily Gigest writes on party funding. And, inspired by the news that Helena Bonham-Carter has purchased the former home of her great grandfather H. H. Asquith, Eaten by Missionaries looks at the homes of other Liberal prime ministers.

Sport

Paul Linford would love it if Kevin Keegan brought success to Newcastle United again.

St. Aidan to Abbey Manor points out that we now have a stupid attitude to risk: "It's either obsessive safety, or extreme sports."

English Buildings spots a pleasing architectural detail in Leicester Square, marking the former office of Wisden, the cricketers' bible.

And Amused Cynicism discovers that owners of vintage Ford cars cannot use photos of their own vehicles without being sued by the man.

Sex

I thought that would wake you up.

The Burning Times gives Richard Littlejohn a well-deserved hoofing.

Scorpio Risen call for a new sexual revolution while Stroppy Blog defends an old one.

My London, Your London reviews a play in which the women of the Old Testament finally get their revenge.

And Philobiblon looks at the prostitution laws in New Zealand and Sweden.

Culture

A nice broad category to take in all the other nominations.

Let's begin with Archaeoastronomy, who tells us that a funding freeze could damage what is possibly the most successful heritage project of the past decade - the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Amused Cyncism (again) takes on the deletionists on Wikipedia. Also online, Camden Kiwi offers a thoughtful defence of Facebook against recent criticism:

If all your friends are on Facebook, and your main way of interacting with them is via Facebook then you would have a big problem. But if you use it, as most people seem to, as just another tool, then it is hardly such an issue.

On this note, Diamond Geezer has just welcomed the first visitor of 2008 to his flat.

Back to all too tangible forms of media: Barkingside 21 reports on Project Freesheet, which is an attempt to make the publishers of the things pay for the mess they make.

The Daily (Maybe) discusses "the Third World" and similar labels: "my preference is to avoid terms that are essentially meaningless phrases designed to disguise the inequities of the world".

And Peter Cranie decides that Liverpool is a European city. Maybe, but don't its problems in recent decades stem from the fact that it is an Atlantic port?

Goodbye

Sorry this was a day late. I think it was BT Broadband's fault.

The next Roundup will be at Philobiblon.

Nominations to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com.