Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Six of the Best 105

"I'm no Tory; I'm a radical, authentic liberal," Jeremy Browne tells Lib Dem Voice. Personally, I worked out some time ago that not watching Question Time is one of the secrets of a happy life.

Writing for Liberal Vision, Andy Mayer explains why it is the Liberal Democrats' "no tuition fees" policy, rather than tuition fees, that will eventually be scrapped.

Duncan Borrowman has posted the most objectionable local newspaper front page you have ever seen. It is quite unbelievably bad.

On the New Economics Foundation's nef blog, David Boyle is delighted to find a Conservative minister supporting small shops and quoting William Morris and John Ruskin: "It is now a century or so since the Guild Socialists set out their platform in the New Age, in opposition to the Fabians who populated the New Statesman. It seems extraordinary, after so long, that their language might have found its way into a speech by a Conservative trade minister."

Jack Shafer on Slate identifies a phrase much used by lazy journalists. While accurate numbers are hard to come by, it is certainly very common.

Londonist reviews the Fortean Times UnConvention: "[Jan] Bondeson is an expert in exploring the bizarre byways of history and his second talk for the UnConvention covered the adventures of the ‘Boy Jones’: an odd-looking, rookery dwelling boy who was captured inside Buckingham Palace three times before being press-ganged into the navy to keep him out of trouble."

2 comments:

David said...

I wonder if the story of the "Boy Jones" was the basis for the film, "The Mudlark" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042757/ ) in which Alec Guiness as Disraelisays, "Such proposals as slum clearance, public housing, educational facilities for the poor, are all wise and worthy measures and consequently will be opposed vigorously. The British are a proud and independent people, ma'am, and will not yield to improvement without a stout struggle."

Mark said...

Agree with Duncan Borrowman - that's hideous.

Phone the News Shopper distribution department and demand that it's no longer delivered to your house. Give them the reason. They're obliged to agree, and it causes them no end of grief when writing up instructions to their deliverers - Main Street - 1-89 and 2-90 (except 44)

If you ever get a rogue copy by mistake, you can threaten them with legal action.