My chronicle

She was a marvellous actress; and brought us much joy! "Are you being Served?" is a veritable classic which always merits watching repeatedly. Mrs. Slocombe was always concerned about her pussy, of course: this type of humour is ancient and none the worse for that! There is still a place for the double entendre and being oblique. Modern humour is so often aggressively confrontational.

Mollie rest in peace!

Who won? That is the question. No evidence has been produced to prove falsification on a massive scale. repeated allegations fom interested parties do not constitute evidence. There is catch 22 for the Iranian Givernment: ratification of the result is taken to be self-interest; a new election would be an admission of guilt.

The candidtes are hardly disinterested in such a situation. Is the West involved? Well before the election an opposition victory was predicted across the spectrum. I do not know what evidence supported this prediction.

I do not think that the reporting from Iran has been objective; nor does the Iranian Government.

I do not know what happened, but accusations require supporting evidence, especially accusations of gerrymandering of such dimensions.

Perhaps it should be tweeting world! But I suppose you get my point. The phenomenon exists at all levels. Some individuals record the minutiae of life, and exercise no discretion; or perhaps think that no-one reads what they post. I have some friends and colleagues whom I follow, and am pleased when they point me to something of interest or express a stimulating point of view. i also follow some large entities, and twitter provides a current awareness service - to use archaic terminology.

But there are larger dimensions; and the contemporary dimension is Iran. One feels closer to what is happening because of Twitter; and there have been insights. Is this a Cyber Revolution? I am not certain, for the disaffected candidates do not seem to differ fundamentally from the incumbent.

HoweverI am no longer sceptical about Twitter; it provides new dimensions, and requires the discipline of conciseness!

Give it a whirl!

Labels: Iran, twitter

It is rather extraordinary that David Miliband has now confessed that he was on the verge of resignation, as he is a member of a cabinet which has been persuaded to support Gordon Brown through hell and high water.

What can his motivation be? Is he warning Gordon about the need for gratitude because he decided not to resign? Is he involved in a campaign which will make him PM before the next election? Is he planning for a post-Cameron future?

We do know however that it was Peter Mandelson, Prince of Darkness and de facto Deputy Prime Minister, who dissuaded him. What was the Prince's motivation? Always a mystery, but certainly intended to to further the Prince's career.

With such friends does Gordon require enemies?

Labels: David Miliband, Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson

Been experimenting for 3 days or so after reading a library IT article about value of Twitter. Confess to being impressed; so will continue to experiment. It is certainly more than a toy, and complements blogging!

Labels: twitter

It is a mystery to me that when he he finally became Prime Minister Gordon Browndid not try to be more radical than Tony Blair. He missed a golden opportunity because Blair's reputation was becoming tarnished; he was considered a Tory even by moderate progressives. It was widely believed that Brown was more left-wing than Blair. There were tiny indications at firsr of Brown seeking a radical agenda; then he abandoned the effort.

After this his troubles really began; and now he may drown in a sea of troubles.

He has now reshuffled his cabinet; and mutters about re-connecting with his supporters. But it is probably too late. Brown's problem is not personailiy; it is a right-wing agenda.

Will things change in 12 months? I doubt it unless he recaptures his desire for radical change at home and abroad.

The police and the security services have arrested 12 persons in northern England, 11 of whom are students from Pakistan.

Already they have assumed to be guilty.

Commentators are speaking at length about the problem of radical students from Pakistan.

Hardly anyone is mentioning that no no-one has yet been accused of anything.

In the past there was great circumspection about such matters: no more, I fear.

What kind of society has Britain become?

University library readers are now being made to leave at gunpoint.

Did the staff tell the police to be silent when they burst in?