This weekend

...went to a street festival up the road in Chapel Allerton yesterday. Lots of stalls from community organisations, and two stalls for acts, plus all sorts of street theatre and people wandering about. Spent some of the time giving out helium balloons again.

Today woke up with a headache, but ploughed on as fresh air seemed to do it good. Have made a dent in getting the house in order by cutting the hedge, putting out the washing, and catching up on the washing up after Nicola’s mad cooking phases. Doesn’t seem much now I’ve written it down, but it seemed a full day.

I’m now listening to some Robbie Williams and Queen, singing we are the champions. It’s actually quite good apart from Brian May going OTT on the guitar at the end.

Time for bed, I’ve work tomorrow.

"Mars is bright tonight"

However I can't see it as we have the first cloud over Leeds for weeks and weeks.

Oh the pumpkin has now been moved into the front room. It is very big.

The Birthday Party

The other event of the weekend was the 1st Birthday party of Emily, my niece. My sister and her husband had bought her a Manchester United kit with "Emily 1" on the back. Me and Nicola got her a book and some vouchers as she already had loads of presents. My mum and dad got her an activity centre and walker as she likes pushing buttons (is she going to be an engineer like her Uncle and Auntie) and is standing up and walking with support.

My mum and dad hosted the party and pulled out all the stops with catering. Emily is crawling really quickly now, and getting really close to her mum and dad and my parents. Everyone who came had a good time, which is good as Anna was putting in a lot to getting things right.

Phrase for today

AAP Pelonasm also known as PNS Syndrome.

Its like those phrases where you follow an acronym by the last word in the acronym.

EG Lloyds TSB Bank (Lloyds Trustee Savings Bank Bank)
PIN Number (Personal identification number number)

etc.

Found it!

Just getting round to planning the diary for the Explorers. One date to include is the Six Dales Walking competition. It's a great locally run event but open to all in Scouting and Guiding.

Fun every day of the year

The latest fun craze is checking on IMDB as to which stars have the same birthday as you. Or were born “on this day.”

I was born on the same day as Gretchen Mol, and Jason Matthew Smith. I also share my birthday with Jack Osborne, Nerys Hughes, Ken Dodd, and Bram Stoker.

See who was born/died on your birthday.

Amina Lawal

Many of you will vaguely remember the story of Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman who was found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Some of you may have read one of the well meaning but erroneous chain-mail messages referring to her execution as scheduled on June 3rd this year, and a petition on a Portugese language Amnesty website.

Well like me, many of you will be surprised to learn that Amana’s situation is still ongoing. For the latest from Amnesty, click here.

In summary contrary to the wording of the chain letter, Amina’s stoning was not set for June: that was the date of her appeal. The latest news is that the appeal has been postponed to a week next Wednesday, 27th August, and any email you receive with an execution dated before then is false and has not come from Amnesty.

To find out how you can take part in Amnesty’s campaign against Sharia stonings in Nigeria, click here. Or for news on this case from the BBC click here.

Of journos and politicos

I’m becoming increasingly disturbed by the over use of a particular word. Can you guess what it is? I’ll give you a hint. The major news story is about the relationships between politicians, experts, and the media.

The word is of course liar.

What is disturbing about the use of this word? Well in many cases it is used wrongly, which leads to two conclusions. One is that society is dumbing down and doesn’t know what is and isn’t a lie. The other is that accusations and allegations are clouding the processes of seeking the truth.

So what is and isn’t a liar. Well it’s someone who habitually tells lies, and has told lies. Sorry that wasn’t helpful was it? OK then what is a lie. It is a false statement deliberately passed off as the truth. What isn’t a lie? Any statement that is factually correct, for a start or any falsehood that is an obvious falsehood (ie anything said sarcastically is not a lie), or any false statement that is believed to be true by the person who makes it. That is not to say if what you are saying is true you are not being dishonest. Just that if something is misleading, it is not necessarily dishonest, and if something is dishonest it is not necessarily a lie.

Recently it appears that the word lie has been redefined to mean any false or misleading statement, whether made intentionally or not. People are becoming, quite justifiably, tired of hype and spin, where the most positive slant is put over everything. However what they are not justified in doing is labelling any item of spin a lie. The facts may be dressed up in positive language, but providing that is all that happens, no lie has been uttered.

The most recent case is that of BBC news correspondent Andrew Gilligan He is being accused of telling lies right left and centre.
What did he say? He reported that an unnamed expert, who we now know to be Dr David Kelly, had told him that he and other Intelligence experts had been unhappy with what is now known as the “Dodgy Dossier” and that this source had also believed that spin-doctor Alistair Campbell had had a hand in sexing up the document. Did he present the opinions as his own? No. Did he present the opinions as substantiated fact? No.

Now if Andrew Gilligan was telling lies, it would be the case that Dr Kelly had not held these views, or shared them with him. The evidence as presented is that Dr Kelly did believe these things to be true, and there were other officials similarly concerned. Dr Kelly may have been telling lies if he knew for certain that what he was telling Andrew Gilligan was untrue, or even framed his suspicions as solid fact rather than suspicions. However so far it appears he didn’t, so he isn’t a liar, and neither is Andrew Gilligan.

Alistair Campbell… the jury is out. He may or may not be telling the truth. I am not willing to misuse such powerful words in the way he does without proof.

Train travel

Yesterday’s drama. I was a bit late from work, but managed to get the through train from Carlisle or Morecambe or wherever. Soon after the train left Keighley station the driver let a long blast out on one horn, followed by an equally long blast on the other. The train came to a halt. Was there something on the track?

As it turned out there was, an old man was wondering in a confused state at the side of the railway who had been narrowly missed by the train. It took the train crew a while to get him back to Keighley and get the go-ahead to resume the journey to Leeds.

No blog entry today due to triskaidekaphobia.

"Like Boy Scouts Collecting Badges."

It's interesting to note that in the furore over Eton College's headmaster comments comparing GCSE's to "Boy scouts collecting badges" that the biggest protests are coming from members of the Scout Association complaining (a) that Scout Badges are given to a set syllabus, (b) represent effort and achievement (at the very least involvement) and (c) there ceased to be Boy Scouts since well before the Scout Association started accepting girls.

Seeing this glaring gap in Mr Little's general knowledge prompted me to do a little research. Unlike some other prestigious schools, Eton appears to have no Scout Group attached to it. Maybe he's missing a trick, I certainly feel Scouting and Guiding could add an extra dimension to these places that isn't represented by the cadet corps. But given his apparent dismissal of the entire Scout programme, I think 1st Eton (Eton College) Scout Group is not going to be entered on Scouts Reunited any time soon.

Back using the trains for the first time in ages.

Back for a bit

Got back after a few days on SAGGA camp.

Very nice except one opinionated person. You do your best. Ho hum.

Anyway today found out from Caz (annother GaSCiT team member) about Googlewhacking; this page can be done with "GaSCiT Blakes" however I'm sure GaSCiT is not allowed as it isn't in any dictionary.

This weekend has been spent mostly at home. Nicola and I entered a lot of classes at the Leeds flower show. My elephant was loved by the judge, but failed to win a prize because the stitching was coming undone on his ear. Nicola won a prize for her lace making, but did best in home produce where she won prizes for chocolate cake, cheese scones, Strawberry jam, and various pickles.

Today I went down to the Leeds Mela where I helped blow up baloons with Libby, theLib Dem dove on, and handed them out to children.

In the evening we had a barbeque, but the barbeque has now fallen apart and is sitting in the kitchen waiting for us to find the lost bolt!