h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now that's some Titfer.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/19/henry-viii-hat-display-hampton-court

Never thought I'd say this but, well said James Blunt!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30884948

A Labour politician was whining about posh people being successful in the arts, to which Blunt replied -

"What you teach is the politics of jealousy,"..."Perhaps what you have failed to realise is that the only head start my school gave me in the music business, where the vast majority of people are not from boarding school, is to tell me that I should aim high.

"Perhaps it protected me from your kind of narrow-minded, self-defeating, lead-us-to-a-dead-end, 'remove the G from GB thinking' which is to look at others' success and say 'it's not fair'."

I'd really like to know why my posting was removed, I was commenting on what was written in an Observer book review, I thought it was interesting, can't see what is so shocking about commenting on events of 50 years ago that have been in the public domain for years, childish censorship.

Child billed for missing birthday party http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-30876360

Gobsmacking. The lack of social skills that some people have.

I suspect that there is some sort of back story here that we don't know about.

PP.

"Never thought I'd say this but, well said James Blunt!"

I still think James Blunt is apt rhyming slang for the guy, and now I see he is a total snob too. In some ways his attitude exemplifies why not everyone has an equal chance of 'aiming high'.

A less snooty and confrontational response might have been to point out that some of the best artists in the country and arguably the world are from solid working class backgrounds. I am thinking of people like Damian Hirst, Tracey Emin, David Shrigley and of course Banksy.

I also disagree with Chris Bryant's notion that we need more gritty drama on TV. This is just a tired old way of portraying the working class to unsettle a middle class audience. Why can't the working class be portrayed for what they are? Working class encompasses a huge spectrum of people....some of us are even well educated and articulate.

However, I do accept that the arts should open up more to allow in ordinary people in some areas.

Apologies, my mistake thank you for saving me further embarrassment, whoever removed my posting, best wishes, HO.

The Arts are very open. I know this is the case in Manchester because there's a very large creative community here. The only thing that stops you getting involved is getting off your behind and doing something about it.

And I have to admit, I'm personally against things that are aimed at purely one section of society. If we're after true equality, everything must be available for everyone.

Saudi cleric bans snowmen.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/12/saudi-arabia-snowmen-winter-fatwa

Just a reminder. It isn't April 1st for over 2 months yet.

PP.

>>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30884948
"What you teach is the politics of jealousy,"..."Perhaps what you have failed to realise is that the only head start my school gave me in the music business, where the vast majority of people are not from boarding school, is to tell me that I should aim high.

Is it 'aiming high', or is it having a sense of entitlement, born of privilege?

The MP was an idiot though.

There seems to be something incongruous, if not downright contradictory, in the idea of a level playing field in the arts. Can't help thinking of Soviet art -- basically hobbled.

Don't know why this should be so. It's a gut feeling, which of course is a dangerously unreliable source of information.

>>There seems to be something incongruous, if not downright contradictory, in the idea of a level playing field in the arts.

What's your reasoning?

There seems to be something incongruous about this threads title.

Fixed.

"The European Central Bank is expected to announce this week that it's going to go into the financial markets to buy substantial amounts of government debt using newly created money - a policy known as quantitative easing."

The question is, will the Euro plummet against the Pound? (Probably)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/30876955

Depends, the markets have been betting on this happening so they may already have pricei it on.

ISIS / IS / ISIL.

Why is it so often referred to as 'so called' Islamic State?

We don't hear of 'so called' Gary Glitter, 'so called' Tottenham Hotspur, 'so called' Her Majesty the Queen or 'so called' God.

PP.

Because according to some Muslims, it's not Islamic and it hasn't been legally recognised as a State.

I like 'so called God' though. Do you think it would catch on?

More to the point, no one can agree on what they are called.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/sep/21/islamic-state-isis-isil-daesh

I typically say so called "Islamic State". It's not a state, but it is definitely Islamic. No, it doesn't represent Islam at large, but a very narrow sect of extremists who take a very extreme view of very extreme parts of the Koran and the Hadiths. They are very selective in the texts they take very literally.

A better name might be the so called Takfiri "State". They claim to determine who is Islamic condemn all those who disagree with them.

Let's stick with ISIS, though: Idiots Slaugtering Innocent Souls.

Y.



PS: Yay for the "so-called god"