Author Archives: Natalie Bennett

Frances Williams Wynn returns

May 6, 2006 – 12:58 pm

She’s been distracted by the Green Party, but should from now on be back in full flow. So my 19th-century “blogger” today has two posts.

First, she’s writing about seeing Mr Coesvelt’s pictures, a collection that she describes as finer than that of the royal family. It was broken up in 1836, and a web search reveals they are scattered around. There’s Raphael’s The Alba Madonna in Washington and a Rape of Proserpine by Schwarz in the Fitzwilliam.

And the prolific Mrs Jameson catalogued the pictures.

Secondly, Miss Frances Williams Wynn is viewing (in 1835) “the aerial ship, as they call the new balloon”. She’s not convinced of its utility, pointing out that without a method of propulsion, it is entirely at the mercy of the winds. Were “the power of steam undiscovered” it might be more use, she suggests.

There’s a satirical image from that year that seems to match what Miss Williams Wynn is describing.

Permalink | Comment (0)

A final post on the local election and its aftermath

May 6, 2006 – 9:58 am

After this normal service will resume. But first, the papers’ views.

Lewis Baston in The Guardian:

The Greens are a far more successful minor party than the BNP, but have so far attracted less attention. They fought on a much broader front, while the BNP is a highly localised force that comes and goes. By contrast, the Greens have staying power and have elected effective and durable councillors.

The departure of Jack Straw is, if the following account is correct, a serious worry – because he was thrown out because he was too much of a “dove” on Iran. (Which might mean that it is impossible to celebrate Britain’s first female Foreign Secretary.)

Ewen MacAskill also in the Guardian:

Mr Straw has said repeatedly that it is “inconceivable” that there will be a military strike on Iran and last month dismissed as “nuts” a report that George Bush was keeping on the table the option of using tactical nuclear weapons against Tehran’s nuclear plants.But Mr Blair, who sees Iran as the world’s biggest threat, does not agree with his former foreign secretary.

But the last word goes to the ever-apt Matthew Parris:

That the Secretary of State for Defence should become the Home Secretary because the former Foreign Secretary has been Home Secretary already and can’t really be Home Secretary again, while he (the Defence Secretary) has already been Health Secretary and can’t be Health Secretary again, and the Leader of the House (who can’t be Defence Secretary because he already has been, but needs to vacate his post so the former Foreign Secretary can have it) has a new “ Europe” portfolio invented for him — and everyone immediately begins arguing about whether he is a Secretary of State for Europe or not — suggests a Cabinet-maker running out of timber. This isn’t a Cabinet, it’s a food fight.

Permalink | Comment (0)

Friday Femmes Fatales No 55

May 5, 2006 – 11:35 pm

Ten great posts from 10 new (to me) women bloggers. It is here every Friday (more or less – occasionally it is Saturday or Sunday).

Starting off in a timely fashion, Lisa Tolliver in On Air and On Line, explains why May 5 is important to Mexicans and southern USasians, and also for marketers looking for a bonza bonanza. Monday was a more recent military anniversary, the third of President Bush’s “triumphant” arrival in the role of fighter pilot. The Catherine Chronicles sets out the damage since then.

Also keeping in time, on EC1 Cruise Control, Lady M comes out about her emotional reaction to protest marches. (For those puzzled by the name, EC1 is the postcard of a trendy but now expensive area of London – Clerkenwell – known as a “media village”. I used to live there.)

Staying in the British capital, but heading for the more light-hearted side, Pashmina on Grammar Puss lives up to her blogs name by deconstructing a shopkeeper’s sign. I suspect, however, that the quote marks might be a nod to Trading Standards, rather than irony.

Standards of grammar are also the concern of Teresa on Making Light. She’s assembled, with the help of her readers, a wonderful collection of phonetic near-misses. I particularly liked “she balled her eyes out”. Nalo Hopkinson is concerned, however, with broader questions on the structuring of a novel.

Now I’m feeling very tired and rather flat today – the inevitable letdown after a physical and emotional challenge (yes I am talking about elections – that is what they are like from the inside), but I can only imagine that this is how the writer of Women’s Space/The Margins, feels all the time, as, at the age of 54, sole supporter for five of her 11 children. She has set out what keeps me keeping on. On Unsane and Safe, Jennifer Cascadia has a brilliant photo that seems an apt pairing with that post.

Babylune, meanwhile, wonders how babies arrive at all, in a summary of the latest pieces of news about fertility, infertility and pollution. Starting a little earlier in the lifecycle, on Overworked and Unlaid (which may not be safe for more conservative workplaces), Avatar sets out what you’d like your 15-year-old self to know.

***

If you missed last week’s edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list , click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 550 (and counting) women bloggers.)
***
Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier!

Permalink | Comments (4)

Green breakthrough in Camden

May 5, 2006 – 2:08 pm

Apologies for my absence (due partly to Wanadoo’s apparent inability to maintain a basic broadband internet connection, for the second time in a week), but I have otherwise been rather busy.

But a 20-hour day proved worthwhile yesterday when the Greens broke through on Camden council, winning two seats in Highgate ward. I’m sure Maya and Adrian will do a brilliant job.

There was further cause for celebration in London, particularly in Lewisham, where what had been one council seat was converted to six. Lambeth, Southwark and Islington also elected their first Green councillors.

As for my own run in Regent’s Park, I reckon my door-to-door campaigning won about 300 votes – thanks to anyone who made one of those reading this! – with Greens picking up many split votes. The challenge next time will be to convert those “ones” to three Green votes. I also reckon the activity lifted turnout by at least a few percentage points, so you could call it a bit of a contribution to democracy.

Overall, Labour was demolished in Camden, and of course nationally Tony Blair has hit the panic button bigtime, with a massive reshuffle of the government. I was trying to think of something more original than deck-chairs on the Titanic, but that does the job so nicely.

And even though she belongs to a party that nationally is demolishing human rights and making a total mess of the NHS and education, congratulations to Antonia for her victory in Oxford. I’m sure she’ll also do a great job on the council, and it sounds like she has a fascinating ward.

The full Camden results

Permalink | Comment (1)

The Carnival of Feminists is up …

May 3, 2006 – 10:53 pm

.. at Women’s Autonomy and Sexual Sovereignty, where Morgaine has done a superb job. She concludes from the contributions:

Such is the lot of women – we get the extremes that society has to offer. The most danger, oppression, poverty. The least expression, respect, even tolerance.

Do go and check it out, and please help to spread the word.

(And a special thanks to Morgaine for forging ahead while I was distracted by other matters, and apologies for informing you of the carnival relatively late. I delivered 1,600 Green Party leaflets today, and my Achilles’ tendons may never forgive me.)

Permalink | Comment (0)

Worrying about the world’s only super-power

May 3, 2006 – 9:53 am

Two stories today about the state of the United States that really do make you worry. Of course the US is a big place, and there are all those stats that only a small percentage of Americans have a passport (20 per cent according to this site, although I suspect that’s an over-estimate), but you’d think people would be at least a bit curious about the rest of the world, since it has after all been having a big impact on American life lately, in one way and another.
Yet 60 per cent of college-age Americans cannot find Iraq on a map:

The survey, carried out in December 2005, also found fewer than three in 10 think it is important to know the locations of countries in the news; only 14 per cent believe another language is a necessary skill; 47 per cent could not find India on a map and 75 per cent could not locate Israel.

And by the time they are middle-aged they might not be healthy enough to care: healthcare costs almost twice as much in the US as in the UK, yet British health by the time citizens reach middle age is, on lots of measures, twice as good:

“Rates of diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer and high blood pressure among Americans aged between 55 and 64 were up to twice as high as in England. Americans also had higher rates of heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.The study’s authors said lifestyle differences such as smoking, drinking and obesity could not explain the difference. “

The tentative conclusion that the researchers come to is that levels of income inequality are to blame.

Neither study suggests a “healthy” (in the broad sense) society.

Permalink | Comments (9)

« Previous Page — Next Page »

« Previous Page — Next Page »