Back for the attack?
Mama said there'd be weeks like this ... Nick still writing his book, Aaro massaging his calves, more or less nothing to Watch except the degeneration of our comments board into a general free-for-all. But I think Nick is back in the Observer on Sunday, isn't he? Anyone care for a Friday Forecast?
My guess is Charlie Clarke, the war on terror and escaped foreigners; not sure about the angle but Harry Fletcher must get a look in.
Aaro on Tuesday: Don't worry, be happy about the NHS
My guess is Charlie Clarke, the war on terror and escaped foreigners; not sure about the angle but Harry Fletcher must get a look in.
Aaro on Tuesday: Don't worry, be happy about the NHS
posted by The Rioja Kid at 4/28/2006 01:17:00 PM
21 Comments:
Last time he had a break he was noticeably less tormented when he got back. But this time he's been sweating over saving the left from itself, so maybe we'll be seeing some top grade intensity.
Whatever it is, it'll be nothing good, I fear. And I suspect that watching it will feel like a task harder than saving the planet.
Second you for Aaro; perhaps reflecting on the irony that if Toiny hadn't personally created so many new nurses poor old Pat Hewitt wouldn't have been booed so loudly.
Nick (long shot) why it's the Euston Manifesto (identity politics as distraction form The Real Struggle, though the Decents support women's rights, honest) Failing that, Iran.
DA: Charles Clarke is right re. the media and civil liberty (but only if he's still in the Home Office by then)
I particularly liked Geras's boast that Euston was now the third or fourth search term for Euson on google (second now, it seems). Apparently it has overtaken the Euston Novotel and the Euston HOliday Inn
Do you guys ever feel like a bunch of fruit cake nutters for donating a blog to the works of two journalists?
yes, frequently.
One benchmark for the Euston manifesto would be whether or not it overtakes the Unite Against Terror petition in terms of signatures, I would have thought. If it reaches 3000, then the Decents might have some "empirical justification" [this phrase (c) Norman Geras] for their claim that they are under-represented in the media (I am using "the media" here in its Decent sense of "the Guardian and the Today Programme")
Most of the new signers appear to be American, so they might have a point with the 'we're underrepresented on the pages of the Washington Times'.
Anyone can sign a petion. I think demo attendance might be a better indication. Anti-war march ~1.5m, Decency march ~250, which is a ratio of 6,000 to 1, meaning roughly speaking they should have about 1/60th of a columnist. Which explains Andrew Anthony, but not Nick Cohen.
Cutting stuff :-)
The Decents surely can't complain about media coverage this time. A big splash on the New Statesman, coverage in the Guardian and Comment is Free.
An easy sign up process on the website. Lots of debate. Solid support of well known journalists.
And yet... only 900 signers.
Do you reckon they will call off this press conference thing they are organising?
According to today's Guardian, the pub where the manifesto was written was an O'Neill's pub. Says it all, really.
Yes it was, and if it is the one I am thinking about, it is actually closer to King's Cross station than Euston.
where does it say that in the Guardian btw, Simon?
Here. I thought you knew.
this one, presumably, which I think is on the junction with Judd Street, opposite the British Library, and therefore closest to St Pancras station.
I went in there once. It's not bad, for an O'Neill's pub, but it's still an O'Neill's pub.
It used to have a somewhat strange upstairs with live music, and modern look (exposed pipes etc) which didn't fit in with the Oireshness downstairs. Haven't been there for five years though, so it might have changed. If the Guardian is right the Manifesto was named after the road, not the station.
There's a probably a joke to make about the pubs ersatz nature fitting the Euston lot, but even I can't be bothered.
Apparently it has overtaken the Euston Novotel and the Euston HOliday Inn
I've just checked and it's fifth, behind the station, Euston Hilton, Euston Plaza Hotel and Euston Square Hotel. More popular than the fourth most popular hotel in the Euston area - truly this manifesto is conquering the world.
I am surprised that the Thistle doesn't show up at all; it is in my opinion the best of the near-Euston hotels and is certainly where I advise visting family members to stay.
btw, "www.crookedtimber.org" is #1 for "timber" but only #2 for "crooked".
Euston Manifesto is second on google.com (fifth on google UK). Dunno if this is because of the preponderance of American (and right-wing) bloggers, or because not many people outside of the UK look up 'Euston' hotels.
Bugger, I thought I could get away with ignoring this whole Euston claptrap, but then Snitchens goes and plugs it...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2157754,00.html
Yes, and he was privileged to be asked to sign it. Do you think he just means that he typed in the URL and up it came, and he's that clueless, or that he actually was asked?
He did sign UAT, and remarkably his piece -- although more about the left than terrorism, naturally - did actually mention the bombings, which was more than many of them.
As it happens Hitchens came up with what must be his biggest fib yet.
http://christopherhitchenswatch.blogspot.com/2006/04/lies-and-lying-liar-who-tells-them.html
Euston's a funny area for bizzare political tracts. Some years ago I read a story about the genesis of the idea of rail privatisaton. It was some disgruntled employees meeting in the late 80s in the Northern Hotel near St Pancras. They then produced an Adam Smith Institute funded pamphlet. Their ideas were then taken up by the Tories. They then ruined the railways.
One as history, twice as farce.
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