Dominating British news is the shooting yesterday of a female police officer by robbers in Bradford. (And the officer has now been named.) A tragedy, and it would have been an equal tragedy had a male officer been shot, but it would not, I’d venture, have got anything like the same level of media attention.
And the term WPC (Woman Police Constable) has been resurrected for the occasion, despite its technical non-existence for decades. (It was used in the era when female officers were restricted to “safe” duties.) The Times has a good rundown on the change. (And there’s a history of women officers in London here.)
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No surprise that Martin Newland has quit as editor of the Telegraph. His is a salutary tale about how if you want to be and editor, and get to be an editor, you’ve also got to pick your proprietor carefully. And an ex-Daily Mail man is taking over. The Mail-zation of the London papers continues.
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Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased 23 per cent over the past 13 years. A disgrace – and particularly stupid given that Australia is highly vulnerable to climate change.
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Then a bit of light relief: Detrimental Postulation on how the simple concept of feeding a lock through a loop is too much for some people. Mind you I can sympathise with the bike man, in that fitting a lock through two parts of the bike, then an too-thick railing or badly designed bike rack, is a serious challenge. Note to all building owners: if you want bike racks, copy the ones at the British Museum, they are perfectly shaped and placed.
And, via Beyond the Sunrise, Lego for social theorists. Do you want to build Judith Butler, or Anthony Giddens?
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