Nothing In Particular

[pre65]

This was in an article on the Guardian web site.

"in Great Britain, though – the major newspapers are open about having a political leaning. The Guardian, for example, is an explicitly left-leaning paper and everybody knows it."

That's bias ?

Full article.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... its-honest

[pre65]

Now, that genuinely did make me laugh!

Well, my day has not been in vain, laughter is (they say - whoever they are) the best medicine.

[Nick]

the major newspapers are open about having a political leaning.

That's true, but not every news article is political in nature.

[Nick]

I think the problem is Phil seems incapable of telling the difference between bias and saturation.

[jack]

I think the problem is Phil seems incapable of telling the difference between bias and saturation.

...or between humour and irony.

[pre65]

I think the problem is Phil seems incapable of telling the difference between bias and saturation.

Saturation has many meanings, and not having a university education I'm not sure of the meaning in that context.

[chris661]

- Subframe had "a year, maybe two" left due to rust

Eee, ‘eck! When I were your age, laddie, that were the definition of a new subframe!

Was an old subframe where you could see the tarmac going past beneath your feet?

[jack]

So, I've moved this from elsewhere.

You think you know someone, then 49 years after they've died, something quite unexpected turns up...

My father died when I was quite young - my siblings are also up to 10 years older than me, so I know little about his early days. When he died (cancer - he was a chain smoker) he was a senior professor at Cambridge - the "Downing Professor of the Laws of England".

He had a "good war", during which he started in the artillery, but continually wrote to the War Office that he was a legal academic who knew nothing about guns, but he did speak fluent German and Russian so perhaps he should be in Intelligence?

Eventually the War Office came to their senses and he was moved to intelligence, hunting down SS officers hiding in convents etc. and debriefing them. He also debriefed Joyce, aka Lord HawHaw. A book of his war letters to my mother was published some years ago.

After the war he resumed academia, firstly as a professor at LSE and subsequently at Cambridge, writing several standard academic works on the subjects he would become the world authority on, Constitutional and Administrative Law.

I knew he was instrumental in the introduction of the ombudsman system in the UK (using his expertise in Judicial Review of Administrative Action), plus a load of other stuff, but he was rigorous in not revealing his politics or any bias as that might have prejudiced his work with various governments around the world - he specialised in writing constitutions (*) for countries gaining independence and in issues affecting island states, e.g. Micronesia. Consequently we lived in a range of countries while he was on sabbaticals as a visiting professor doing this work. The Mauritian Government put up a substantial memorial to him in their national botanic gardens - his ashes are scattered there.

What I didn't know until this week is that he was heavily involved in the very early days of Amnesty International and was a speaker at their first ever conference, held in London on 27th Jan 1962 (I was 3 and 3/4!).

I came across this document purely by chance: https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/u ... 1962en.pdf
Apart from the complete surprise about my father, it's a fascinating insight to the very earliest days of a great organisation - just 135 members then, over 10,000,000 now. He's also mentioned (in the same context) in Amnesty's first ever Annual Report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/001/1962/en/

He never spoke about any of this to my siblings either; one of my sisters (who was CEO of the Refugee Council) has been an AI member for over 45 years and never knew about our father's involvement.

A modest but extraordinary man. Very proud of him.

(*) a notoriously tricky job - has to be perfect - get it wrong and the country can descend into chaos.

[Mike H]

Fascinating!




In other news - mouse number two has had his last choccy-block..... traps reset... (he managed to get the choccy off one without tripping it)

[shane]

The last two posts demonstrate why I love this forum.

[pre65]

I'm having Christmas on my own this year. Jean will be at her mums for 9 days, but I can't go as I've been banned. (don't ask)

I will see my Mum tomorrow, as I have to sort out a complete balls up regarding her prescription, hopefully it will get put right tomorrow. Then I'm back with her again on Wednesday.

I had a blood test today, and whilst in Sudbury I popped into Sainsburys and spent the balance of my Nectar card (£80) on Christmas fare, but no cakes or chocolates as I'm supposed to be loosing weight.

Now drinking Sainsburys finest rosso vermouth and R Whites diet lemonade.

[Mike H]

I'm having Christmas on my own this year.

Same here, but that's normal.

Jean will be at her mums for 9 days, but I can't go as I've been banned. (don't ask)

Best wishes to your mum.

Was an old subframe where you could see the tarmac going past beneath your feet?

Suddenly that reminded me, for a short while my dad had a black Ford Popular van (the early one with the gullwing bonnet, not the later 'E')

It had actual wooden floorboards. Take them out there'd be empty space.

The engine, to quote a school friend, was about the size of a sugar cube.

Was surprisingly tough tho - dad got rammed up the back by a VW beetle in Laindon high street one Saturday morning, it completely stoved in the front of the VW, the Ford had just a barely noticeably bent rear bumper (also black painted). The VW driver said he'd only just got it repaired for similar damage, thus implying this had happened before.

EDIT: or was it an Anglia? Wiki says that's what was the delivery van version of.

[jack]

Have a good break everyone!

[Ray P]

One more sleep

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[Cressy Snr]

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