I'm all for peaceful protest which doesn't stop people going about their lawful business but this was a step too far in my opinion:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7453846.stm
How dare they try and stop a power station running? How dare they try and inflict their views on everyone else? I'm pleased everyone was arrested - they deserve it.
I remember feeling very much the same during the fuel protest back in 2000 for similar reasons even though I was in sympathy with the cause. Once again ordinary people were prevented from going about their day to day lives. At the time that started I was on my way to Gateshead for a conference with a colleague. It was touch and go whether we managed to get enough fuel to get home again. The A1 was virtually deserted when we came back, though it had been packed with queues of protesting lorries on the way there.
Lobby your MP, write a blog, write to the papers protest outside parliament - whatever, but do not obstruct other people - this is civil disobedience.
It's not often I get this riled by any issue - but this is something I feel very strongly about.
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Feminism
I almost always read Dr Crippen - see NHS blog link at the top of this page as he writes with a great deal of common sense and compassion. I don't always agree with what he says but I find what he writes to be balanced and fair. He seems to have stirred up a lot of vitriol amongst the extreme feminist lobby again when writing about so-called 'obstetric rape'.
Rape of any description is always going to be an emotive issue for anyone. Please let us not forget that men can be raped as well. But to equate any medical procedure with rape is I feel going a little bit far. I have had many vaginal examinations in my life - some more painful than others - but I have never felt as though I was being raped. They have all been carried out with sensitivity and frequently humour which help me. I have never felt powerless or in any way oppressed during the procedures which to me are some of the essential properties of a rape. I am not decrying this lady's experience http://burningtimes1645.wordpress.com/. She obviously feels extremely strongly about the issue.
What I would say - as a woman - that not everyone feels like her. I do not agree with her apparent suggestion that anyone who doesn't agree with her has been brainwashed by the patriarchal society. There is always room for more than one point of view. I think both men and women should have equal rights in society, but you cannot change a culture overnight. I am not sure how this lady wants to change things from reading her blog. Does she want everyone to accept her particular view of the world as the only view? If so then I think she would advocate locking up half the human race and not allowing them access to the other half - or that's how it reads to me.
Yes there are some really awful things that happen both in the UK and in America which appear to show that women are still treated as objects and property by some men. Just because some men behave like that doesn't mean all men are unreconstructed male chauvinist pigs at heart. I currently work in a male dominated environment but I have no problem with this. In fact it makes it easier to be frank about what I think as I know no one is going to take offence. I have worked in all female environments and I found I really had to watch what I said. Maybe this says more about me than society in general. I don't like laddish talk and behaviour any more than many people of both sexes do, but in general I find it easier to work in a male dominated environment.
When I was working exclusively with a small group of women I found my own views had to take a back seat. I was always quizzed about the contents of my sandwiches - they were all vegetarian and I'm not - told off I ate chocolate, commiserated with if I had to go for a smear test - because 'it's really unpleasant and a chance for a horrible man to look at your bits' etc etc. In fact I'm sure this particular group of people would have very much sympathised with the views expressed in The Burning Times. I found I was on a different wave length completely. In spite of this I would say I am broadly in sympathy with traditional feminist views. I read Germaine Greer and Betty Friedan and didn't wear a bra if I felt like it without feeling I was a shameless hussy.
So what has happened to feminism? Is it alive and well and living with this type of comment
"This kind of shit happens a lot, as I’m sure you all know, as soon as you get into blogging and you have the audacity to be both female and have a brain. Normally, I just ignore it, but this man is dangerous"
No I don't agree and the whole of The Burning Times leaves me with a very uncomfortable feeling because I know that any comment I post will be treated as criticism and deleted. Women are allowed to use their brains - it is one of the main benefits feminism has achieved in my opinion. I was always brought up to think of myself as equal to any man, but then my parents never encouraged me to think I should stay at home and let the man go out to work - even though my mother did stay at home until we were all teenagers. I wasn't treated as inferior because I was a girl and as a consequence I suppose I've always felt that equal rights for men and women were logical and sensible.
If the views - evidenced by The Burning Times are widespread then I dread to think what could happen to society.
Rape of any description is always going to be an emotive issue for anyone. Please let us not forget that men can be raped as well. But to equate any medical procedure with rape is I feel going a little bit far. I have had many vaginal examinations in my life - some more painful than others - but I have never felt as though I was being raped. They have all been carried out with sensitivity and frequently humour which help me. I have never felt powerless or in any way oppressed during the procedures which to me are some of the essential properties of a rape. I am not decrying this lady's experience http://burningtimes1645.wordpress.com/. She obviously feels extremely strongly about the issue.
What I would say - as a woman - that not everyone feels like her. I do not agree with her apparent suggestion that anyone who doesn't agree with her has been brainwashed by the patriarchal society. There is always room for more than one point of view. I think both men and women should have equal rights in society, but you cannot change a culture overnight. I am not sure how this lady wants to change things from reading her blog. Does she want everyone to accept her particular view of the world as the only view? If so then I think she would advocate locking up half the human race and not allowing them access to the other half - or that's how it reads to me.
Yes there are some really awful things that happen both in the UK and in America which appear to show that women are still treated as objects and property by some men. Just because some men behave like that doesn't mean all men are unreconstructed male chauvinist pigs at heart. I currently work in a male dominated environment but I have no problem with this. In fact it makes it easier to be frank about what I think as I know no one is going to take offence. I have worked in all female environments and I found I really had to watch what I said. Maybe this says more about me than society in general. I don't like laddish talk and behaviour any more than many people of both sexes do, but in general I find it easier to work in a male dominated environment.
When I was working exclusively with a small group of women I found my own views had to take a back seat. I was always quizzed about the contents of my sandwiches - they were all vegetarian and I'm not - told off I ate chocolate, commiserated with if I had to go for a smear test - because 'it's really unpleasant and a chance for a horrible man to look at your bits' etc etc. In fact I'm sure this particular group of people would have very much sympathised with the views expressed in The Burning Times. I found I was on a different wave length completely. In spite of this I would say I am broadly in sympathy with traditional feminist views. I read Germaine Greer and Betty Friedan and didn't wear a bra if I felt like it without feeling I was a shameless hussy.
So what has happened to feminism? Is it alive and well and living with this type of comment
"This kind of shit happens a lot, as I’m sure you all know, as soon as you get into blogging and you have the audacity to be both female and have a brain. Normally, I just ignore it, but this man is dangerous"
No I don't agree and the whole of The Burning Times leaves me with a very uncomfortable feeling because I know that any comment I post will be treated as criticism and deleted. Women are allowed to use their brains - it is one of the main benefits feminism has achieved in my opinion. I was always brought up to think of myself as equal to any man, but then my parents never encouraged me to think I should stay at home and let the man go out to work - even though my mother did stay at home until we were all teenagers. I wasn't treated as inferior because I was a girl and as a consequence I suppose I've always felt that equal rights for men and women were logical and sensible.
If the views - evidenced by The Burning Times are widespread then I dread to think what could happen to society.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Book meme
Thanks to kcm at Zen Mischief for this one:
One book that changed your life: Dorothy L Sayers' Gaudy Night - it introduced me to the Golden Age of British detective fiction
One book that you have read more than once: Any of the Rumpole books by John Mortimer
One book that you would want on a desert island: John Hadfield - Love on a Branch Line - to remind me that even Civil Servants have a wild side to them
One book that made you laugh: E F Benson - Mapp and Lucia - any of the Mapp and Lucia books as you can still identify similar people today.
One book that made you cry: Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett
One book you can’t read: Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time.
One book you wish you'd written: Any of Donna Leon's Brunetti series - brilliant plots and superb characterisation.
One book you wish had never been written: Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto - communism - apart from religion is probably responsible for many of the world's problems.
One book you're reading: Katherine Swift - The Morville Hours - beautiful.
One book you're going to read: John Cowper Powys - A Glastonbury Romance.
I haven't tagged anyone because all the people I know with blogs don't like doing them - lame excuse I know but there it is!
One book that changed your life: Dorothy L Sayers' Gaudy Night - it introduced me to the Golden Age of British detective fiction
One book that you have read more than once: Any of the Rumpole books by John Mortimer
One book that you would want on a desert island: John Hadfield - Love on a Branch Line - to remind me that even Civil Servants have a wild side to them
One book that made you laugh: E F Benson - Mapp and Lucia - any of the Mapp and Lucia books as you can still identify similar people today.
One book that made you cry: Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett
One book you can’t read: Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time.
One book you wish you'd written: Any of Donna Leon's Brunetti series - brilliant plots and superb characterisation.
One book you wish had never been written: Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto - communism - apart from religion is probably responsible for many of the world's problems.
One book you're reading: Katherine Swift - The Morville Hours - beautiful.
One book you're going to read: John Cowper Powys - A Glastonbury Romance.
I haven't tagged anyone because all the people I know with blogs don't like doing them - lame excuse I know but there it is!
The Vows of Silence
No - I haven't taken a vow of silence - heaven forbid! I finished reading Susan Hill's latest Simon Serrailler offering 'The Vows of Silence'. I'm starting to find Simon himself slightly annoying. He resents his father's lady friend Judith for taking his mother's place and makes it clear in a very childish way that he does. Even Cat, his sister takes him to task over it. He can't seem to make up his mind whether he wants to be single and celibate for the rest of his life and objects to his sister talking about it. He nearly fails to catch the criminal because he lets his own prejudices get in his way. However I'm sure it makes for a more interesting story to have a fallible detective. I went from wanting to shake some sense into him to crying for him.
This story is a tear jerker in any case. Simon's brother-in-law Chris is seriously ill and Cat must combine the skills of mother, doctor and wife. The gunman who is terrorising Lafferton is killing newly married women for no apparent reason. There is about to be a society wedding to which Royal visitors are expected - a security nightmare for the police including Simon - especially as the gunman has killed once as a newly married couple leave the church. There are many minor sub plots as well to hold the reader's interest and an insight into the mind of the gunman. Definitely gripping stuff though I did work out who the gunman was before the end.
I had a good example yesterday of why I do most of my food shopping - and everything else come to think of it - online. I called in at Tesco because I wanted a particular type of Hovis bread and some cash back. They hadn't got the bread so I went to look for a couple of other things I wanted - they only had one of them. The place was packed. On a Monday morning? I had to queue to be served and was tempted by their latest 'green' hessian bag - because it's got ladybirds on it.
I was standing idly in the queue watching everyone else and noticing how everyone had brought their bags with them so that they didn't need many carrier bags. What a lot of sheep I thought all brainwashed by this rubbish about climate change. So I deliberately took a couple of carrier bags - one of which I used to put my new 'green' bag in! Childish I agree. I have used a Marks & Spencer's black fabric bag for ages to put my sandwiches etc in when I go to work and that's what I shall use the ladybird one for.
I just found the whole experience so irritating and frustratingly slow - in fact it probably took me as long as it would have done to do the shopping online!
We then had to go and get some oil to top up the car. It's a Mitsubishi Outlander and the handbook says it needs to have VW oil in it because it's a VW engine. So we trot along to a VW dealer because it's nearer than going to a Mitsubishi dealer - and they wouldn't sell us any. Words failed both of us, so we trotted off to the Mitsubishi dealer where the car came from - who kindly put the oil in for us.
We then went to another branch of Tesco and managed to get the bread we wanted - and rather too many things we actually didn't need but just fancied. This is why I save money by shopping online I thought. But this experience was better as they weren't so crowded. We also - from B&Q - got some ant killer and a leaflet about this new Dulux painting system - Paint Pod - which does everything but make you a cup of coffee. I may invest in one since it looks easy and much less messy - trouble is they cost nearly £70. But we do have a personal recommendation from someone who hates decorating who says it makes the whole process much quicker with no mess. Of course £70 is cheaper than paying a decorator. Now we just need a similar system for gloss painting and I'll be the first in the queue to buy that.!
I now need to potter about and do some housework and surf the newspapers for what's going on in the world and then it will be time to work out what to have to eat this evening. I could definitely get used to this life though I suspect I wouldn't get enough exercise unless I made an effort and went out for a walk regularly.
This story is a tear jerker in any case. Simon's brother-in-law Chris is seriously ill and Cat must combine the skills of mother, doctor and wife. The gunman who is terrorising Lafferton is killing newly married women for no apparent reason. There is about to be a society wedding to which Royal visitors are expected - a security nightmare for the police including Simon - especially as the gunman has killed once as a newly married couple leave the church. There are many minor sub plots as well to hold the reader's interest and an insight into the mind of the gunman. Definitely gripping stuff though I did work out who the gunman was before the end.
I had a good example yesterday of why I do most of my food shopping - and everything else come to think of it - online. I called in at Tesco because I wanted a particular type of Hovis bread and some cash back. They hadn't got the bread so I went to look for a couple of other things I wanted - they only had one of them. The place was packed. On a Monday morning? I had to queue to be served and was tempted by their latest 'green' hessian bag - because it's got ladybirds on it.
I was standing idly in the queue watching everyone else and noticing how everyone had brought their bags with them so that they didn't need many carrier bags. What a lot of sheep I thought all brainwashed by this rubbish about climate change. So I deliberately took a couple of carrier bags - one of which I used to put my new 'green' bag in! Childish I agree. I have used a Marks & Spencer's black fabric bag for ages to put my sandwiches etc in when I go to work and that's what I shall use the ladybird one for.
I just found the whole experience so irritating and frustratingly slow - in fact it probably took me as long as it would have done to do the shopping online!
We then had to go and get some oil to top up the car. It's a Mitsubishi Outlander and the handbook says it needs to have VW oil in it because it's a VW engine. So we trot along to a VW dealer because it's nearer than going to a Mitsubishi dealer - and they wouldn't sell us any. Words failed both of us, so we trotted off to the Mitsubishi dealer where the car came from - who kindly put the oil in for us.
We then went to another branch of Tesco and managed to get the bread we wanted - and rather too many things we actually didn't need but just fancied. This is why I save money by shopping online I thought. But this experience was better as they weren't so crowded. We also - from B&Q - got some ant killer and a leaflet about this new Dulux painting system - Paint Pod - which does everything but make you a cup of coffee. I may invest in one since it looks easy and much less messy - trouble is they cost nearly £70. But we do have a personal recommendation from someone who hates decorating who says it makes the whole process much quicker with no mess. Of course £70 is cheaper than paying a decorator. Now we just need a similar system for gloss painting and I'll be the first in the queue to buy that.!
I now need to potter about and do some housework and surf the newspapers for what's going on in the world and then it will be time to work out what to have to eat this evening. I could definitely get used to this life though I suspect I wouldn't get enough exercise unless I made an effort and went out for a walk regularly.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
No more ants and Veronica Heley
They do seem to have gone - but I shall be buying the chemical means of killing them as well tomorrow to ensure they don't come back.
I finished reading Veronica Heley's latest - 'False Picture' last night. This is the second in the Abbot Agency series in which widowed Bea Abbot takes on problems which are better solved without reference to the police. In this one her friend Velma wants Bea to track down her missing step son. The resulting mayhem includes a trip to Bruges and various people turning out to be not what they seem. Bea sticks up for herself and discovers she can rise to a challenge and think on her feet. Her assistants Maggie and Oliver develop as characters and there are an assortment of murders. Well written and just that little bit different - very enjoyable.
Next on the pile are Martin Edwards' 'The Cipher Garden' - the second of his Lake District series, and Susan Hill's 'Vows of Silence which by all accounts is something of a tear jerker.
I finished reading Veronica Heley's latest - 'False Picture' last night. This is the second in the Abbot Agency series in which widowed Bea Abbot takes on problems which are better solved without reference to the police. In this one her friend Velma wants Bea to track down her missing step son. The resulting mayhem includes a trip to Bruges and various people turning out to be not what they seem. Bea sticks up for herself and discovers she can rise to a challenge and think on her feet. Her assistants Maggie and Oliver develop as characters and there are an assortment of murders. Well written and just that little bit different - very enjoyable.
Next on the pile are Martin Edwards' 'The Cipher Garden' - the second of his Lake District series, and Susan Hill's 'Vows of Silence which by all accounts is something of a tear jerker.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Katie Fforde and others
Katie Fforde's new book 'Wedding Season' arrived on Monday and was finished by Tuesday evening. I've been slightly disappointed by her last few - more dialogue than description to the extent they almost read like a film script. This one was better balanced and had all the sparkle of her early books - 'Thyme Out', 'Living Dangerously', 'The Rose Revived' etc. Sarah, Bron and Elsa organise weddings for other people. But what about their own love lives which are sadly neglected and going nowhere. The background - wedding planning - is well researched and interesting and the characters come alive on the page. I loved it. This is chick lit at its very best.
Sue Gee's 'Reading in Bed' was just as good in its own very different way. The educated middle class and their belief that everything will continue as it has done for years is well portrayed. Georgia, Henry, Dido and Jeffrey have all been friends since university. Now Henry is dead, leaving Georgia a widow and the status quo is about to be upset. The children are grown up and having their own crises which impact on the parents and then there is Cousin Maud who appears to have finally tipped over the edge into madness. Jeffrey is in trouble because of inappropriate behaviour with a student - but how one sided is it really? Does the text message Dido read against her better judgement have anything to do with it? The writing is subtle and understated. I enjoyed it.
Then there's Sharon Owen's 'The Revenge of the Wedding Planner' - which I was finding slightly annoying. I did finish it and enjoyed it though it's not a five star read. I found the narrator a bit too chatty and I didn't think the title fitted the book at all. Obviously wedding planners are the people to write about at the moment - especially those who do not believe in love.
I have two by Martin Edwards to read now and Susan Hill's latest Simon Serrailier 'The Vows of Silence'. How can you tell I'm not at work?
Sue Gee's 'Reading in Bed' was just as good in its own very different way. The educated middle class and their belief that everything will continue as it has done for years is well portrayed. Georgia, Henry, Dido and Jeffrey have all been friends since university. Now Henry is dead, leaving Georgia a widow and the status quo is about to be upset. The children are grown up and having their own crises which impact on the parents and then there is Cousin Maud who appears to have finally tipped over the edge into madness. Jeffrey is in trouble because of inappropriate behaviour with a student - but how one sided is it really? Does the text message Dido read against her better judgement have anything to do with it? The writing is subtle and understated. I enjoyed it.
Then there's Sharon Owen's 'The Revenge of the Wedding Planner' - which I was finding slightly annoying. I did finish it and enjoyed it though it's not a five star read. I found the narrator a bit too chatty and I didn't think the title fitted the book at all. Obviously wedding planners are the people to write about at the moment - especially those who do not believe in love.
I have two by Martin Edwards to read now and Susan Hill's latest Simon Serrailier 'The Vows of Silence'. How can you tell I'm not at work?
Sunday, 1 June 2008
It's Sunday and monsoon weather
It's dry at the moment but about 7.00am this morning it was just like a monsoon, though I suppose it wasn't quite as hot!
I haven't yet read the Sunday papers online, but I heard on the BBC News Channel that Fern Britton is in trouble with the Mail On Sunday for not saying that she had weight loss surgery. Why are we so focused on women's weight? You don't ever hear similar comments made about men - with the exception perhaps of that annual rush to try and get pictures of the leaders of the main political parties in their swimming shorts. Again you rarely hear comments about the way men in the limelight dress - David Beckham's famous sarong being the exception. It's very much double standards in my opinion.
Currently reading Sue Gee's 'Reading in Bed' - old age and the educated middle classes and Sharon Owens' 'Revenge of the Wedding Planner' - which is starting to annoy me and I may not finish it. I have 'The Morville Hours' by Katherine Swift and Veronica Heley's 'False Picture' to read next amongst others.
Off to trawl the papers and then chicken for tea - not sure about dessert yet
I haven't yet read the Sunday papers online, but I heard on the BBC News Channel that Fern Britton is in trouble with the Mail On Sunday for not saying that she had weight loss surgery. Why are we so focused on women's weight? You don't ever hear similar comments made about men - with the exception perhaps of that annual rush to try and get pictures of the leaders of the main political parties in their swimming shorts. Again you rarely hear comments about the way men in the limelight dress - David Beckham's famous sarong being the exception. It's very much double standards in my opinion.
Currently reading Sue Gee's 'Reading in Bed' - old age and the educated middle classes and Sharon Owens' 'Revenge of the Wedding Planner' - which is starting to annoy me and I may not finish it. I have 'The Morville Hours' by Katherine Swift and Veronica Heley's 'False Picture' to read next amongst others.
Off to trawl the papers and then chicken for tea - not sure about dessert yet
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