Somehow several years have passed since I read the first two books in this series, so a lot more time has passed for me than for the characters. But it is relatively self-contained; our newlywed heroes, Fawn and Dag, travel down river and further explore the nature of the powers shared by Dag and his people, while also delving a bit further into human nature and the relationships between two groups of people who have been brought up to regard each other with deep suspicion. Satisfying but relatively undemanding.
An eighteenth century incident
On the recommendation of Lois McMaster Bujold, I got hold of the autobiography of Davy Crockett, and was stunned by this account of one of his uncles:
By the Creeks, my grandfather and grandmother Crockett were both murdered, in their own house, and on the very spot of ground where Rogersville, in Hawkins county, now stands. At the same time, the Indians wounded Joseph Crockett, a brother to my father, by a ball, which broke his arm; and took James a prisoner, who was still a younger brother than Joseph, and who, from natural defects, was less able to make his escape, as he was both deaf and dumb. He remained with them for seventeen years and nine months, when he was discovered and recollected by my father and his eldest brother, William Crockett; and was purchased by them from an Indian trader, at a price which I do not now remember; but so it was, that he was delivered up to them, and they returned him to his relatives. He now lives in Cumberland county, in the state of Kentucky, though I have not seen him for many years.
Presumably James Crockett was not actually deaf, but had a severe learning disability. In any case, it is extraordinary that the Cherokees decided to spare his life after killing his parents, and the mind boggles at the circumstances of his seventeen years as a prisoner/slave. I imagine that long-term captivity of whites by Native Americans wasn’t that uncommon, but surely the captors would have generally preferred to take those they could communicate with more easily.
Note also that this account was written in the 1830s; James Crockett was still living then, almost sixty years after his parents were killed in 1777. He may have been very young at the time, of course, which makes it even more extraordinary that his brothers recognised him in 1795 (when his nephew David would have been nine, old enough to remember the discovery of a long-lost uncle); though I find one source suggesting that he was born in 1758 and died in 1830 (so David, writing in 1834, was not up to date with family news; or the source is wrong).
Anyway, it makes me realise how little I know about care for those with learning disabilities in the past. (See here for a much earlier period.)
Gibbon Chapter LXII: the East in the later thirteenth century
Brief note this time. The Greek successors of the Byzantine empire gradually reincorporate its territory, and engage in an insincere reunification of the Eastern and Western churches.
September Books 13) British Science Fiction & Fantasy: Twenty Years, Two Surveys
This fascinating volume includes the answers given by 84 writers, mostly British, all in some way sf and fantasy writers, to two questionnaires about sf, circulated in 1989 and 2009. The 1989 survey answers are compiled and edited by Paul Kincaid, and the 2009 responses (rather longer due to more writers participating) by Niall Harrison, but structured in both cases as a series of conversations, relevant snippets sewn together to make a warm and friendly but thought-provoking whole.
It’s a book that deserves a much longer review than this, but just to pick three highlights: the fact that so many authors respond to the question of why they choose to write sf or fantasy by saying “it chose me” or words to that effect; the debate on the nature of Britishness in the genre; and the answers in the 2009 survey to the question of what the most significant developments of the previous 20 years had been. Strongly recommended.
Irish elections: the Presidency and the SDLP
Two interesting political developments yesterday.
The presidential race in the Republic, having lost a lot of its sparkle when David Norris was forced to pull out, and again when Fianna Fáil failed to persuade one of their celebrity options to stand, is now heating up again. Not only is David Norris now trying to get back into the race, not only is Fianna Fáil now embarrassed by Tipperary senator Labhrás Ó Murchú who is determined to run his own backwoodsman bid, but it now seems that Martin McGuiness will stand for Sinn Féin.
I can’t believe that he will win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he seriously embarrasses Fine Gael, whose candidate Gay Mitchell looks pretty unelectable. I would have thought that the race is between Michael D Higgins and David Norris if the latter actually runs, and that Higgins is a pretty sure bet if Norris remains on the sidelines. But it certainly makes things more interesting.
Meanwhile in the North, after the hapless Margaret Ritchie announced her intention to stand down as leader of the SDLP, no less than four candidates are racing to succeed her – three from Belfast and one from the West. I know all four slightly, and can see strengths and weaknesses to each: my early sympathies were with Patsy McGlone, but I have cooled on him since he made it clear that he resents not being a minister – though not to the extent that I prefer any of the other three to him.
The SDLP has two problems: its weakness at the polls (which has been augmented by a deliberate culture of keeping heads in the sand about the size of their electoral challenge) and its lack of a unique selling point that Sinn Féin is not providing better. As I did with the Ulster Unionists this time last year, I look forward to close analysis of what the candidates actually have to say for themselves on those subjects.
Northern Ireland election site updates: councils and old Westminster elections
The excellent Conal Kelly has sent me updates for the elections in the 26 local councils of Northern ireland: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh and Strabane. He has also sent me pages on the more distant Westminster elections of 1970, 1966, 1964, 1959, 1955, 1951, and 1950. All good stuff.
Three Doctor Who tales
I couldn’t really recommend any of these to non-Who fans. For Whovians, Voyager turned out to be rather a gem.
Links
The last two times I posted my Delicious links by hand, Delicious posted them again a couple of hours later. I've turned off Delicious posting once more, though even that has not always been a smooth process ion the past, so hopefully you'll only see these once (unless you're following me on Twitter, in which case you may have seen them already).
Social media, black humour and professionals… – Anne Marie Cunningham queries the use of derogatory language in public spaces.
Raad van bestuur Belgacom dreigt met opstappen – Trouble at the top of my least favourite telecoms company!
Framework & Guidelines for Use of Social Media for Government Organisations (PDF) – Guidelines for (Indian) government officials on professional use of social media.
DUP could be biggest loser in the shake-up of boundaries – I get quoted in the Belfast Telegraph.
Most of you have no idea what Martin Luther King actually did – "He ended the terror of living in the South."
Why US Pays More for Health Care Than Other Nations – "Despite spending nearly twice as much, our results compared to other nations are disappointing. Take infant mortality rates. Studies show we have some of the worst results in the developed world. We pay for a Porsche but get a Yugo."
Ellen Ripley Is Clearly the Best Female Character in Scifi Film, and That's a Problem – (1) She's not a sidekick, arm candy, or a damsel to be rescued… (2) Ripley isn't a fantasy version of a woman… (3) The character is strong enough to survive multiple screenwriters… (4) Ripley was lucky enough to be played by Sigourney Weaver.
Digested read: Honey Money by Catherine Hakim | The Guardian – "In the unlikely event that a woman does not want to become a prostitute, my theory, which is mine, recognises there are other ways a woman can cash in on her erotic capital."
Belgium: directly elected senators to be abolished
The Belgian papers this morning are full of the deal reached last night by politicians on the obscure but complex and painful issue of the partition of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. I was fascinated to read that one of the details is that the directly elected component of the Belgian Senate is to be abolished.
The meat of the deal is that voters in the six faciliteitengemeenten / communes à facilités will get to choose between Flemish and Francophone lists of candidates for the European elections, and between Brussels and Flemish Brabant constituency lists of candidates for Chamber elections, and this will be anchored in the constitution. (Up to now, everyone in the whole of BHV got to choose from both lists for the European elections, so this will now be restricted to Brussels and the six gemeentencrazy plans to introduce directly elected members of the UK's House of Lords are being discussed, Belgium is going the other way…
Edited to add – I had missed the crucial point that the royals are to be kicked out. So Belgium is removing both directly elected members and hereditaries from its upper house.
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-14-2011
-
"there’s a solid argument for spending money while you have it, because deferring gratification now for gratification later on is intrinsically something of a gamble."
-
Yet another book list.
-
Looking mainly at Doctor Who and Star Trek.
-
Brooks, runs, branches, rios, etc – fascinating.
Balkan reading list
A friend of mine recently asked me for recommendations of books on the Balkans – not textbooks on history or politics, but more interesting stuff, novels for preference. This was my reply.
Dear X,
When we were on the phone earlier, I strongly recommended the classic Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West – not really fiction, and madly pro-Serb, but the Macedonian and Bosnian bits are very good – and Bosnian Chronicle/The Days of the Consuls by Ivo Andrić. A few other thoughts:Contra my hasty statement on the phone that there is no worthwhile fiction about the conflicts of the 1990s, Joe Sacco has written two excellent graphic novels about the Bosnian war: Safe Area Goražde and The Fixer. Also Bosnian, not quite fiction but rather unusual, is Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović – she was 11 when the war started and is of course now almost 30 and living in Ireland.
Kosovo politician and intellectual figure Veton Surroi wrote a novel looking forward to the independence negotiations called Azem Berisha's One and Only Flight to the Castle – you won’t find it in shops but I can lend you my copy (which I will want back, as it is autographed). It’s very short.
I’m a big fan of the world-famous Albanian writer Ismail Kadarë, and have read his Three Elegies for Kosovo, The General of the Dead Army, The Successor, Chronicle in Stone, and particularly recommend The File on H.
I’m also a big fan of the Serbian magical realist writer Zoran Živković, whose books are more difficult to get hold of than Kadarë’s (though Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue always seems to have them in stock); see especially Impossible Stories and Hidden Camera. Unlike Kadarë, there is not much overtly about his country in his work (though I think it’s always there implicitly).
Olivia Manning’s Balkan trilogy takes place in Romania and Greece so I suspect is no good for you.
Lawrence Durrell wrote several not terribly good books about Serbia (his muse was better inspired farther south); I have read his comic short story collection Esprit de Corps, which is set in the British embassy in Belgrade in the 1950s, and a James Bond ripoff called White Eagles over Serbia.
On similar lines a rather dim CIA agent wrote an account of spying in Macedonia during the 2001 conflict, Lindsay Moran’s Blowing My Cover. Harvey Pekar wrote a graphic novel about the same conflict simply called Macedonia but to be honest the main interest for me was spotting the characters based on friends of mine.
I still can't think of any mainstream fiction based on the more recent Balkan conflicts (even Veton Surroi's book has magical realist elements), at least none that is worth reading; any suggestions?
Edited to add:
Sarajevo Marlboro, a short story collection by Miljenko Jergović. Amazon has it. Just like his novels Ruta Tannenbaum and Buick rivera. Haven’t read any of them, but he won awards for the books. A Tomb for Boris Davidovich, a short story collection by Danilo Kiš. “A portrait of a country and a people in turmoil, a portrait of how Communism both creates and devours its sons.” Read it a long time ago, don’t remember anything except that it was great. Also on Amazon. BTW, there’s also a SSC by Andrić on Amazon, Damned Yard and Other Stories. That might be more accessible than The Bridge. The stories are really good. That’s for mainstream. Fantastic… Possibly Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife. Then, there’s Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić on Amazon. They also have her The Ministry of Pain, a novel about exiles from Yugoslavia in Amsterdam, which obviously is not fantastic.
I take “not fantastic” in that last sentence to mean “not sfnal” rather than “bad”. I also endorse Andrić’s The Damned Yard and Other Stories ahead of Bridge on the Drina. And I seem to remember reading a recommendation from Stephen Schwartz for A Tomb for Boris Davidovich.
Northern Ireland: the new constituency boundaries
Here is my projection of the three most recent election results in Northern Ireland – the 2010 Westminster election, the 2011 Assembly election and the 2011 local council elections – onto the sixteen proposed new constituency boundaries. For each constituency I note the old constituencies from which its voters have been drawn, the changes proposed, the projected results and the likely consequences for Westminster and Assembly representation.
(See also my BBC commentary here.)
North Belfast (89% from old N Belfast, 11% from old W Belfast):
Takes in three Shankill wards.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 40.6% | 8.8% | 0.0% | 7.3% | 1.0% | 11.2% | 31.1% |
| 2011 A | 37.9% | 10.3% | 0.0% | 5.9% | 6.7% | 10.7% | 28.6% |
| 2011 lg | 38.2% | 8.4% | 1.7% | 6.9% | 5.5% | 11.7% | 27.6% |
DUP position consolidated at Westminster. For Assembly, SF and DUP have two safe seats; last two are between SDLP, 3rd DUP, UUP, Alliance.
South West Belfast (71% from old W Belfast, 29% from old S Belfast)
Loses Shankill, takes in whole of Balmoral electoral area and central Shaftesbury ward.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 8.3% | 5.6% | 0.0% | 4.4% | 0.9% | 25.4% | 55.4% |
| 2011 A | 8.0% | 4.5% | 0.2% | 5.9% | 5.6% | 17.7% | 58.1% |
| 2011 lg | 6.5% | 4.4% | 0.0% | 5.5% | 8.1% | 19.0% | 56.6% |
SF dominance of the old West Belfast preserved at Westminster; SDLP strong second but very much second. For Assembly, 4 SF, 1 SDLP, last seat probably DUP though could be SDLP.
South East Belfast (65% from old E Belfast, 35% from old S Belfast)
Loses Dundonald, takes in rest of South Belfast apart from Carryduff.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 29.1% | 19.5% | 3.5% | 29.8% | 1.0% | 15.4% | 1.8% |
| 2011 A | 36.5% | 10.8% | 8.7% | 24.3% | 3.7% | 9.1% | 6.9% |
| 2011 lg | 32.1% | 12.9% | 7.5% | 27.5% | 4.9% | 8.8% | 6.3% |
Very tight between Alliance and DUP for Westminster; Alliance just ahead on 2010 figures, and though behind on 2011 votes have tactical potential. For Assembly, 2 DUP seats, 2 Alliance, probably 1 UUP and 1 SDLP.
South Antrim (82% from old S Antrim, 18% from old E Antrim)
Loses Glenavy, takes in all of Newtownabbey not in North Belfast and three Greenisland wards from Carrickfergus.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 37.2% | 30.2% | 5.7% | 7.7% | 0.0% | 7.6% | 11.7% |
| 2011 A | 40.8% | 18.1% | 5.1% | 14.4% | 0.4% | 8.8% | 12.3% |
| 2011 lg | 37.9% | 22.4% | 2.9% | 14.9% | 2.3% | 9.3% | 10.2% |
DUP Westminster position slightly consolidated. For Assembly, 2 DUP seats, one each for UUP, SF and Alliance; last seat probably 3rd DUP though could be UUP in a better year.
Lagan Valley (91% from old Lagan Valley, 5% from S Antrim, 4% from Upper Bann)
Gains Glenavy from S Antrim and Aghagallon from Upper Bann.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 46.8% | 20.4% | 8.0% | 11.3% | 0.0% | 6.5% | 7.0% |
| 2011 A | 49.8% | 19.4% | 2.8% | 12.2% | 1.5% | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2011 lg | 48.6% | 20.7% | 1.9% | 11.5% | 1.9% | 7.2% | 8.2% |
DUP remain dominant at Westminster. They have three Assembly seats and UUP one; last two could go to a Nat candidate slightly more likely SF), Alliance, fourth DUP, second UUP in that order.
Strangford (65% from old Strangford, 18% from old S Belfast, 17% from old E Belfast)
Regains Dundonald from E Belfast and Carryduff from S Belfast; loses Ards Peninsula to N Down.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 41.6% | 26.1% | 4.7% | 14.0% | 1.5% | 10.2% | 1.9% |
| 2011 A | 45.6% | 18.1% | 5.8% | 16.9% | 1.5% | 8.3% | 3.8% |
| 2011 lg | 44.8% | 17.1% | 3.1% | 18.4% | 6.2% | 7.7% | 2.7% |
DUP remain dominant at Westminster. 3 DUP seats in Assembly, 1 UUP, 1 Alliance, last could be SDLP, fifth Unionist.
Mid Antrim (59% from old E Antrim, 41% from old N Antrim)
Unites most of Larne, most of Carrickfergus, and 17 Ballymena wards from North Antrim. Poor Ballymena separated from its northern hinterland.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 49.9% | 19.5% | 12.3% | 5.5% | 0.0% | 5.7% | 7.0% |
| 2011 A | 50.2% | 15.6% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 1.2% | 5.0% | 8.5% |
| 2011 lg | 40.5% | 16.3% | 8.9% | 12.6% | 11.4% | 5.7% | 4.7% |
DUP hold all Antrim seats at Westminster and will continue to hold this one. For Assembly, three DUP, 1 UUP, probably 1 Alliance, and probably 1 Nationalist more likely SF) though 4th DUP has a chance.
North Antrim (59% from old N Antrim, 36% from old E Londonderry, 6% from old E Antrim)
Loses Ballymena, gets back three Moyle wards and gains Carnlough, gets three of four Coleraine DEAs leaving Coleraine separated from its western hinterland.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 42.0% | 14.2% | 13.7% | 4.9% | 0.0% | 10.9% | 14.3% |
| 2011 A | 43.6% | 10.5% | 12.5% | 5.8% | 0.2% | 10.5% | 16.9% |
| 2011 lg | 37.6% | 16.1% | 6.0% | 3.8% | 13.2% | 9.7% | 13.6% |
Merges good DUP territory in N Antrim with better end of E Londonderry, so DUP keep Westminster seat. 3 DUP at Assembly, 1 UUP, 1 SF, likely last is TUV but poss SDLP in a better year.
Glenshane (52% from old E Londonderry, 48% from old Mid Ulster)
Limavady, Magherafelt, two Derry wards, three Cookstown wards and Bann DEA from Coleraine.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 21.8% | 13.3% | 7.1% | 3.7% | 0.0% | 16.6% | 37.6% |
| 2011 A | 23.8% | 9.2% | 7.9% | 3.3% | 1.8% | 16.4% | 37.5% |
| 2011 lg | 22.6% | 12.5% | 5.2% | 1.4% | 3.1% | 16.8% | 38.4% |
SF well ahead for Westminster; single Unionist candidate, though just ahead on paper, would likely provoke tactical vote by other Nats. For Assembly, 2 SF, one each for DUP, SDLP, probably UUP and last seat awfully tight; probably third SF, could be second DUP.
Foyle (93% from old Foyle seat, 3% from old W Tyrone)
Takes three Strabane wards 100%as it had before 1996)
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 13.8% | 5.1% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 7.2% | 41.9% | 31.5% |
| 2011 A | 20.5% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 10.7% | 32.9% | 33.5% |
| 2011 lg | 17.4% | 4.4% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 7.7% | 35.6% | 33.5% |
Durkan is OK for Westminster. But new territory from Strabane is enough to put SF neck and neck at other elections. For Assembly, 2 SDLP, 2 SF, 1 DUP; last seat most likely goes to more transfer-friendly SDLP but Eamonn McCann still in with a chance.
Mid Tyrone (61% from old W Tyrone, 39% from old Mid Ulster)
Comprises most but not all of Cookstown, Strabane and Omagh, with Torrent DEA of Dungannon.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 16.0% | 11.8% | 2.6% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 14.7% | 52.1% |
| 2011 A | 18.7% | 9.4% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 4.9% | 11.5% | 52.0% |
| 2011 lg | 14.4% | 14.7% | 1.7% | 0.9% | 10.5% | 13.6% | 44.2% |
SF dominant at Westminster 100%this seat from parts of two they hold). For Assembly, probably 3 SF, 1 DUP, 1 UUP, 1 SDLP, though SDLP a bit shaky and dissidents did well in local election; and UUP at risk.
Fermanagh and South Tyrone (88% from old FST, 12% from old W Tyrone)
Gets six Omagh wards added to current boundaries.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 1.9% | 1.4% | 40.5% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 8.4% | 46.2% |
| 2011 A | 23.9% | 18.1% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 2.5% | 9.5% | 41.8% |
| 2011 lg | 20.9% | 21.8% | 1.3% | 0.6% | 6.7% | 13.1% | 35.5% |
SF reinforced here at Westminster level. For the Assembly they probably get three seats, and UUP and DUP one each; last seat should go to the stronger or smarter Unionist party but SDLP have a chance.
Newry and Armagh (all from old Newry and Armagh)
Loses Tandragee to Upper Bann.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 12.3% | 18.2% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 23.9% | 42.9% |
| 2011 A | 12.6% | 17.9% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 24.1% | 41.7% |
| 2011 lg | 11.5% | 18.1% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 5.9% | 23.2% | 40.6% |
SF consolidated at Westminster. No change at Assembly, 3 SF, 1 SDLP, 1 UUP, 1 DUP.
Upper Bann (97% from old Upper Bann, 3% from old Newry and Armagh)
Gains Tandragee from N+A, loses Aghagallon to Lagan Valley and Loughbrickland to S Down. Banbridge now rather isolated at southern end of constituency.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 34.8% | 27.1% | 0.1% | 2.7% | 0.0% | 12.0% | 23.2% |
| 2011 A | 28.1% | 26.0% | 3.2% | 6.3% | 0.0% | 10.8% | 25.5% |
| 2011 lg | 30.4% | 25.1% | 2.8% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 11.7% | 22.6% |
DUP remain in front for Westminster, though UUP not that far behind. Assembly remains 2 DUP, 2 UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 SF.
South Down (97% from old S Down, 3% from old Upper Bann)
Gains Loughbrickland from Upper Bann.
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 9.3% | 7.8% | 3.5% | 1.3% | 2.1% | 47.6% | 28.5% |
| 2011 A | 12.9% | 11.0% | 5.5% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 35.1% | 30.7% |
| 2011 lg | 9.5% | 14.0% | 5.6% | 2.2% | 5.3% | 35.2% | 28.1% |
SDLP lead reinforced. But Assembly seats unchanged at 2 SDLP, 2 SF, 1 UUP, 1 DUP.
North Down (83% from old N Down, 17% from old Strangford)
Gains Ards Peninsula from Strangford
| DUP | UUP | Oth U | Alliance | Oth | SDLP | SF | |
| 2010 W | 6.3% | 20.8% | 57.5% | 6.8% | 3.0% | 3.8% | 1.7% |
| 2011 A | 43.5% | 11.6% | 8.0% | 18.4% | 11.6% | 5.1% | 1.9% |
| 2011 lg | 38.3% | 13.9% | 3.8% | 18.3% | 20.3% | 5.3% | 0.0% |
Lady Hermon remains dominant at Westminster; without her, DUP are much the biggest party. No change at Assembly level – 3 DUP, 1 UUP, 1 Alliance, 1 Green.
So, I give the DUP 7 Westminster seats (down 1), SF 5, the SDLP 2 (down 1), Lady Hermon 1 and Alliance 1 (just). At Assembly level, while there is much more margin of error to my calculations, I put the DUP on about 33 seats (down 5), SF on 27 (down 2), the UUP on 14 (down 2), SDLP 13 (down 1), Alliance 7 (down 1) and Greens and TUV keeping their single seats; I think David McClarty is in trouble. (Edited to add: I may be wrong about the TUV seat in North Antrim being salvageable – certainly Jim Allister seems despondent.)
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth to come, I think.
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-13-2011
-
What a load of nonsense!
-
Notes from my radio appearance on Sunday.
-
1) Military peacekeeping has grown in scale … yet lost operational impact. 2) Peacekeeping is cheap … but it is also still too expensive. 3) All peace operations are political … but not all are guided by credible political strategies and few peacekeepers are good at politics. 4) Peacekeepers promote democracy and justice … but democracy and justice don’t always promote peace. 5) Emerging non-Western powers play a major role in peacekeeping … but may not want it.
-
A modern constitution needs to be legitimate in the eyes of the people, but achieving this is a challenge. Often national and international constitution-makers feel out in the cold as there has been no comprehensive resource on the options for constitution-making and reform. The design, implementation and management of these processes, in an inclusive way, create the foundations for lasting peace. The stakes are high. If the process goes wrong the seeds of future conflict and violence will be sown.
Links
SpongeBob ‘may impair concentration’ – What a load of nonsense!
New Borders, new names? – Notes from my radio appearance on Sunday (and there is more to come on this).
Five Paradoxes of Peace Operation, by Richard Gowan (PDF): 1) Military peacekeeping has grown in scale – yet lost operational impact. 2) Peacekeeping is cheap – but it is also still too expensive. 3) All peace operations are political – but not all are guided by credible political strategies and few peacekeepers are good at politics. 4) Peacekeepers promote democracy and justice – but democracy and justice don’t always promote peace. 5) Emerging non-Western powers play a major role in peacekeeping – but may not want it.
The first of its kind – a constitution-making handbook for peace: “A modern constitution needs to be legitimate in the eyes of the people, but achieving this is a challenge. Often national and international constitution-makers feel out in the cold as there has been no comprehensive resource on the options for constitution-making and reform. The design, implementation and management of these processes, in an inclusive way, create the foundations for lasting peace. The stakes are high. If the process goes wrong the seeds of future conflict and violence will be sown.”
On the radio
Here, now.
The Bunkers at Sint-Joris-Weert
Today the Flemish government is having an Open Monument Day, with hundreds of normally inaccessible historical sites on display to the public. Our commune’s contribution to this event is two squat structures in Sint-Joris-Weert, which I have driven past on numerous occasions without giving them a second glance, now revealed as bunkers built by the Belgian army in the late 1930s and actually used by the British in May 1940 shortly before the retreat to Dunkirk.
Local volunteers dressed as British soldiers had staffed up one of the bunkers to give some idea of what it would have been like, watching for the Germans coming from the east.
A Bren gun inside the bunker with bullets artistically scattered below it:
And the volunteers tried to explain how it would have worked. (Would have been very bad for the hearing of anyone firing it in such an enclosed space.)
Outside another volunteers waits for the German planes by his Vickers machine gun:
In real life I imagine the equipment would have been rather more chaotically arranged.
The other bunker, across the road, was unlit inside; apparently it is now a nesting place for bats.
And there was a small exhibition around the corner about the impact of the war in our area. It’s open today as well.
A lot of people will be thinking about a different conflict today. But it was sobering to reflect that the elderly ladies and gentlemen unsteadily sipping glasses of wine as they looked at the exhibition of faded wartime photographs had lived through a time when our peaceful village was the front line in the war between Hitler and the Allies.
Links
The daily linkspam function from Delicious still isn't working, so here's a few things that caught my eye:
Things that distract me from Writing – Good overview of latest Orson Scott Card controversy
A history of conflicts – Brilliant on-line atlas of the history of war.
A new Libya must also be for women
The Fall & Fall of Scottish Conservatism – The future for the political Right in Scotland. (Bleak.)
The ISS: Threat or Menace? – The International Space Station as bringer of doom.
September Books 10) Of Blood and Honey, by Stina Leicht
Set in Northern Ireland during the 1970s; at the same time as the human conflict unfolding on the streets of Belfast and Derry, there is a supernatural conflict being waged between the Church and the Otherworld. It would be very easy to do this badly, but Leicht has avoided almost all the obvious pitfalls; the two plots reinforce each other rather than seeking clunky parallels. Her viewpoint character, Liam Kelly, is swept by circumstance into the IRA and co-opted by his supernatural paternity into the less visible war, and both he and the grim circumstances of 1970s Ulster are memorably portrayed.
The author kindly sent me a manuscript to review for the Northern Irish equivalent of Brit-picking, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to respond in time for her deadline. Considering that she apparently has never been to Ireland, there are surprisingly few points that I would have flagged up – I am a bit sceptical about the use of “BA” rather than “Brit”, but there is good authority for this from Tim Pat Coogan; I wouldn’t have called a fictional detention centre near Belfast “Malone”; and there were a couple of points of ecclesiastical detail (use of first names for priests, church attitude to abortion) that rang slightly false. Just goes to show that if you bother to do the research rather than resort to cliche, you will reap the rewards.
Flicking through other reviews, I see a couple of Americans making the point that by getting inside the head of a Christian English-speaker who is involved with the IRA, Leicht has got them to reflect a bit more deeply and critically on the current “war on terror”. More power to her if so.
And I really must update my list soon.
September Books 9) The Princess Diaries, by Meg Cabot
I fear I am probably not in the right demographic to appreciate this novel of a privileged New York teenager who discovers that she is even more privileged than she had realised, and, in a revelatory moment at the end, also discovers that the popular boy in the class is a jerk. It’s not really in the same league of self-realisation as Catcher in the Rye (which I didn’t like anyway) and the humour failed to grab me.
Big Finish catchup
I’m way way behind with these, so can’t really put time into doing them justice. As usual I’m posting in order of internal Who chronology rather than either release order or listening order, which means the one I listened to most recently actually comes first.
I assumed at first that from Leela’s point of view this story is set not very long after her first recruitment by Romana as a security expert; but the brief appearance of an actor from Classic Who in what may or may not be a new role at the end of Chronoclasm may indicate that in fact these stories follow the end of the most recent Gallifrey mini-series. Looking forward to finding out anyway.
Probably nobody rushes out and buys these audios on my recommendation. But I think that both Rat Trap and the Recorded Time stories are accessible and will be enjoyed even by non-Who fans, whereas most of the Jago and Litefoot stories, and also Robophobia, will particularly appeal to fellow children of the Fourth Doctor era.
September Books 8) All Clear, by Connie Willis
Chewed my way through the second volume of this year’s winner of both Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novel (having read the first half in June).
It is a mild improvement on the first volume, in that there are actual signs of plot around page 400 and again around page 600. But the tone is wearyingly sentimental as ever, and the characters just dull apart from the two cheeky kids; and in the end, if the time continuum is going to respond to time travellers in such a way as to preserve History As We Know It – and there is never any good reason for Willis’s characters to think otherwise apart from her need to inject emotion into her writing – it’s difficult to get excited about it. I also spotted more errors of setting here than I had noticed in Blackout – premature mention of the Jubilee Line by over three decades, and reportedly vast distances separating the Tower from Stepney (actually about a mile and a half apart) and St Paul’s from Bart’s (five minutes’ brisk walk).
I suppose the good news is that it will probably take Willis another six years to publish her next book; the bad news is that it too will probably win awards it doesn’t deserve.
September Books 7) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
This really is as gripping and un-put-downable as they say; a brilliant detective story set in contemporary Sweden, as an investigative journalist is asked to research a murder in a wealthy family from the mid-1960s, and recruits the eponymous girl as his partner. The plot is topped and tailed by a largely separate vendetta with an Evil Capitalist (as opposed to the old man who wants the 1960s mystery investigated and is a Good Capitalist). But apart from that I was captivated both by the central mystery, whose brutal nature only gradually becomes apparent – and the solution to the original murder took my breath away – and by Lisbeth, the hacker and investigator of the title, a damaged but super-competent heroine. Excellent reading.
September Books 6) With the Light… / 光とともに…, vol 4, by Keiko Tobe
Next in the series of manga volumes about bringing up a child with autism. Apart from the main story line about Hikaru and his mother Sachiko, there is a sub-plot (bolstered by appendices) about Hikaru’s father Masato setting up a factory which will employ people with disabilities, and a couple of disturbing threads about children being abused in residential care. The book ends with Hikaru preparing to leave elementary school, the next stage of his education not at all clear. Beautifully illustrated as ever.
September Books 5) George’s Secret Key to the Universe, by Lucy & Stephen Hawking
A genially educational novel for kids; George’s parents are anti-technology environmentalists, but luckily the girl next door has a magic computer, and together with her scientist father they manage to foil the fiendish plan of the evil school science teacher in alliance with the class bullies. Lots of text boxes explaining about planets and stars. Credits also go to Christophe Galfard, who gets a ‘with’ on the title page but I note has gone on to write novels in his own name, and Garry Parsons for excellent illustrations on every page.
A few links
The daily link posting function from Delicious.com seems to be broken, and unfortunately it seems that Yahoo are letting the service wither on the vine. So until further notice I shall be posting interesting links on Twitter and then doing roundups every few days.
Eliza Dushku alert: In northern Albania.
Emma Watson alert: Advertising perfume.
If you sing the Doctor Who theme to yourself with your own made-up words, you can either stop doing it or else put it on Youtube. (I recommend the former.)
A history of patient modesty, Part 1 and Part 2. “Exposing the body for medical purposes is a relatively recent development. It began in the 19th century, before anyone now alive can remember. Prior to that time — for thousands of years — doctors considered it socially unacceptable and morally improper to examine an unclothed patient, especially a woman (the doctors at the time were all men).”
Me old mate Misha Glenny on cyber-security: “…if you are on Apple, you immediately reduce your vulnerability by about 90%, because 95% of network systems run on Windows so virus makers just don’t bother to do it on Apple.”
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-5-2011
-
I was able to leaf through these in a bookshop last month, and they are all brilliant – particularly the introductions.
-
James asks, "Who's been saying the Hugo process is corrupt?" I think the answer to the question is, nobody – apart from the voices in some people's heads. See much slapfighting in comments.
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-4-2011
-
I was able to leaf through these in a bookshop last month, and they are all brilliant – particularly the introductions.
-
James asks, "Who's been saying the Hugo process is corrupt?" I think the answer to the question is, nobody – apart from the voices in some people's heads. See much slapfighting in comments.
Gibbon Chapter LXI: The Latin Empire, the Crusades and the Courtenays
In which the Fourth Crusade, having conquered Constantinople, installs a series of French and Belgian rulers whose state eventually collapses.
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-4-2011
-
I was able to leaf through these in a bookshop last month, and they are all brilliant – particularly the introductions.
-
James asks, "Who's been saying the Hugo process is corrupt?" I think the answer to the question is, nobody – apart from the voices in some people's heads. See much slapfighting in comments.
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 9-3-2011
-
I was able to leaf through these in a bookshop last month, and they are all brilliant – particularly the introductions.
-
James asks, "Who's been saying the Hugo process is corrupt?" I think the answer to the question is, nobody – apart from the voices in some people's heads. See much slapfighting in comments.