Being female and blonde has its advantages when trying to deliver leaflets through security doors – some people, particularly those with camera door phones – are surprisingly inclined to let you in. But the gentleman who did so last night, when he saw me in person, in the full light of the corridor outside his flat, need not have looked quite so disappointed….
The Yangtze dolphin has been officially declared extinct.
There will be many more species to follow.
Should you not have been listening at 2am this morning to Five Live, you can also hear my audio version of the Britblog roundup on Pods and Blogs. My not-so-dulcet tones start a bit less than half way in…
Yesterday at a CND commemoration for the Hiroshima anniversary I heard Rose Hacker, billed by the Camden New Journal as the “world’s oldest columnist” speak.
And it was as good a speech as you’ll hear in many a day, built around the theme of 100-year anniversaries, and delivered without notes.
Unfortunately I was juggling a camera and couldn’t take notes, but one particular line struck home: this year marks the 100th anniversary of women in the England and Wales being allowed to stand for local councils.
She wondered how it was that in the century since, women have made so little progress in politics.
Not at all bad going at age 101 for Rose anyway, if not for women in politics.
Over on My London Your London I’ve a review of the Japanese craft exhibition at the British Museum – some gorgeous stuff, even when I discount the fact that I’ve got a weakness for lacquer. But where are the craftsWOMEN?
… no, not a joke – there is an issue here:
The problem is that the vast majority of snails on the market have been picked from the wild in countries where there are few or no pollution controls. Take the legendary Burgundy, Helix pomatia: none of the specimens found in shops or restaurants today actually come from Burgundy – they are all picked in Ukraine and Belarus and sent to France.
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