February 28, 2014

Loyalism's phantom fears, Ctd


Raymond Lavery is a veteran loyalist and activist. He has said that loyalists desperately needed a political education programme to convince younger loyalists that their fears are unfounded. He said:
"What is important here is that this generation not only get a better formal education but they get a political education too, which there is a serious lack of. Sinn Féin are putting into people’s heads that because a flag comes down there is a march towards a united Ireland. 
And here's the really important bit:
"Young and old believe that, even though it is not true."
In full here. Previous post on loyalism's "phantom fears" here. I previously looked at Raymond Lavery's comments here.

February 27, 2014

Live Drawing - @TheWickerManBT1


I have an exhibition running at the Wicker Man (@TheWickerManBT1) tourist and souvenir shop on High Street, Belfast city centre running for the whole month of February 2014. On Thursday 13 February I did an evening of Live Drawing, a pilot event ahead of a bigger more sustained programme of Live Drawing that will run at the Wicker Man. Click below to see a full selection of images from the night.

Previous night of live drawing in the first of four evenings at the Ramore Wine Bar in Portrush (@RamorePortrush) here. Night of Live Drawing in Portrush in the Mermaid Restaurant here. With the Arts Council NI at their 2013 conference here, at the Pump House, Titanic Belfast with the Friday Night Mashup here, at the QUB Peace Journalism seminarhere, St Joseph's PS Christmas craft fair 2013 here, at the Thriftway Travel christmas party 2013 here, at the Civic Conversation 2013here. At a Christmas party (2013) here. At the DUP Conference 2013 here, and drawing the DUP politicians here. Doodling 6 guys in a pub here. At Culture Night Belfast 2013 here. At the GEMS NI Conference here. At Funtastics indoor play park here.                                                                                                                                           Live drawing in the Black Box with famous political cartoonist Ian Knox here. See my life drawings from the Loft Belfast at 99 North Street here, here and here. My thoughts on life drawing here. One of my favourite cartoonists Andre Carrilho talks about the challenge of caricature here.

Art is theft, Ctd


Oliver Jeffers wrote of the subtle influence of Maurice Sendak in his work in The Guardian here:
"There is a reason the character of the Boy in my first picture books wears a red and white stripy jumper, and that reason is Maurice Sendak. Or, more specifically, that reason is an homage to my favorite monster in Sendak's most famous picture book, Where the Wild Things Are... As a young artist trying to find my style, I deliberately tried to avoid being directly influenced by – and thus compared with – such strong and unique work. However, as he so informed my childhood, I could not resist one very direct and visual tribute – a red and white stripy jumper."

February 26, 2014

Live Drawing - @TheJohnHewitt [Part 2]



On Thursday February 20 2014 I settled into The John Hewitt bar (@TheJohnHewitt) for an evening of drawing happy people celebrating the imminent arrival of the weekend. It was a really great night. Click below to see a full selection of cartoons from the night.

The last, and my first night of Live Drawing, at the John Hewitt here. Previous night of live drawing in the first of four evenings at the Ramore Wine Bar in Portrush (@RamorePortrushhere. Night of Live Drawing in Portrush in the Mermaid Restaurant here. With the Arts Council NI at their 2013 conference here, at the Pump House, Titanic Belfast with the Friday Night Mashup here, at the QUB Peace Journalism seminarhere, St Joseph's PS Christmas craft fair 2013 here, at the Thriftway Travel christmas party 2013 here, at the Civic Conversation 2013here. At a Christmas party (2013) here. At the DUP Conference 2013 here, and drawing the DUP politicianshere. Doodling 6 guys in a pub here. At Culture Night Belfast 2013 here. At the GEMS NI Conferencehere. At Funtastics indoor play park here.

Live drawing in the Black Box with famous political cartoonist Ian Knox here. See my life drawings from the Loft Belfast at 99 North Street herehere and here. My thoughts on life drawing here. One of my favourite cartoonists Andre Carrilho talks about the challenge of caricature here.

Political correctness is the worst form of censorship, Ctd


For too long a climate of fear has installed a culture of passivity and submission and obedience among the moderate and the middle classes in Northern Ireland. It is almost universally accepted that any moderate who speaks out will do so under pain of recrimination, likely intimidation and possible physical attack. 

However when any person, group or entity wields power, there must be a check and constraints, a counter-factual, opposition and adversary. Power must be held accountable whoever wields it. All power should be mediated. 

But all we have seen is the promiscuous, indiscriminate and wilful abuse of power. Year after year. After year. After year. 

February 25, 2014

Martin Firrell - "Security is no replacement for liberty"


Martin Firrell (@MartinFirrell) is a campaigner and cultural activist. In the age of Wikileaks and mass NSA and GCHQ surveillence, his famous quote is of massive contemporary relevance. Though he isn't the only one to be concerned. The maximalist civil libertarian Glenn Greenwald is leading a front against the overbearing US security and surveillance state. He and a team of civil liberties activist have launched a news site The Intercept (@the_intercept). Christopher Hitchens also fought back against the tentacles of the state and said in the August 2003 issue of Reason.
"The trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both."
Gore Vidal said in 199 during during an address, ‘Writer’s Perspective: Smithsonian Institute’:
"I don’t know where the Internet is going to go but I do know that the government is going to try and take it over. You can count on that."

February 24, 2014

Art is theft, Ctd

Davin O'Dwyer said in the Irish Times:
"Of all Isaac Newton’s gifts to humanity, my personal favourite is his famous turn of phrase, written in a letter to Robert Hooke in 1676: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” 
There is such a beautiful humility and economy in the words, a vivid evocation of the process of human learning. The Principia Mathematica is a work of genius, no doubt, but in that phrase Newton acknowledges how his work builds on the breakthroughs of Kepler, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo and so on. 
Since then, of course, Newton’s model of classical mechanics has been superseded by quantum physics, with the likes of Einstein, Planck and Bohr building on, and sometimes dismantling, those earlier theories."

Fintan O'Toole - Libel action should be an absolute last resort


In December 2010 The Sunday Times carried a long, anonymous profile of Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole and included the assertion that he drove home from an Irish Congress of Trade Unions rally in a BMW 5 Series. As Fintan O'Toole said, the story "was pure invention and almost every “fact” that followed was wildly and demonstrably wrong." He could have sued, but choose not to. He explained:
"The “profile” was, in other words, a gold mine. I had hit the libel jackpot. The Sunday Times couldn’t possibly go into court to defend an article that was so sloppily written and badly researched. Even the most aggressive lawyer would tell them to stuff my mouth with gold and make the whole thing go away fast."

February 23, 2014

Mike Nesbitt - The thought police


The DUP and UUP have both rejected the Haass proposals. The theo-unionists DUP have sold out the moderate and capitulated to the mad-men (my post here, 'Stop Appeasing Fanatacism'). Now they want to establish another working group of futility and despair. The UUP have summarily dismissed the Haass document. Full stop.

You can read the DUP response of waffle and wind here. UUP leader Mike Nesbitt gave us a 5 line press release here that tells us nothing. This is intolerable. The moral eunuchs at Stormont owe it to us to transparently and robustly defend their rejection of Haass. However, from the Sunday Politics Show we do know that Mike and his party will have nothing to do with Sinn Fein playing with the term "victim" and rejecting "terrorist."

This is what I want to look at today.

Ezra Klein, Glenn Greenwald, Nate Silver - The future of journalism?



Glenn Greenwald has created The Intercept. Nate Silver has left the NYTs to join ESPN where he is editor-in-chief of the FiveThirtyEight site. Bill Keller has left the NYTs to create a blog on the criminal justice system. Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) is launching a new venture with Vox Media. Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) has said: "We’re at an excitingly early stage in working out how to best produce and provide news in a social world." I looked at Greenwald and his new enterprise here. Ezra Klein is who I want to look at in more detail. This is what Klein has said of his new venture:
"We are just at the beginning of how journalism should be done on the web. We really wanted to build something from the ground up that helps people understand the news better. We are not just trying to scale Wonkblog, we want to improve the technology of news, and Vox has a vision of how to solve some of that.

February 22, 2014

The Cult of University, Ctd Eisenhower and the Free University

During his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 196, Eisenhower said how university had been captured by government and other interests:
"The free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. 
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded. 
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. 
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society. 
...We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the [two]."
Address in full here.

February 21, 2014

Live Drawing - @RamorePortrush [Part 2]



On Valentine's Night 2014 I did an evening of Live Drawing at the Ramore Wine Bar (@RamorePortrush), Portrush. The couples and staff loved the unique and memorable momento. Click below to see a selection of cartoons from the evening.

Previous night of live drawing in the first of four evenings at the Ramore Wine Bar in Portrush (@RamorePortrush) here. Night of Live Drawing in Portrush in the Mermaid Restaurant here. With the Arts Council NI at their 2013 conference here, at the Pump House, Titanic Belfast with the Friday Night Mashup here, at the QUB Peace Journalism seminarhere, St Joseph's PS Christmas craft fair 2013 here, at the Thriftway Travel christmas party 2013 here, at the Civic Conversation 2013here. At a Christmas party (2013) here. At the DUP Conference 2013 here, and drawing the DUP politicians here. Doodling 6 guys in a pub here. At Culture Night Belfast 2013 here. At the GEMS NI Conference here. At Funtastics indoor play park here.

Live drawing in the Black Box with famous political cartoonist Ian Knox here. See my life drawings from the Loft Belfast at 99 North Street here, here and here. My thoughts on life drawing here. One of my favourite cartoonists Andre Carrilho talks about the challenge of caricature here.

Moderates versus extremists

1964 Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater's support for ultra-conservatives contrasted with the long tradition of Republican moderates. In the cartoon above Herb Block depicted these moderates as drowning.
In Northern Ireland we have seen many model moderate politicians - constitutional and conciliatory - summarily vanquished by the extremist who practices the most inflexible and pitiless declension of unionism or nationalism.

By contrast in the United States of America, the moderate has often out-played the extremist. As I said in the Huffington Post here:
"Let's look at the DUP. These are the political offspring of Ian Paisley, Ireland's answer to Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton. Foaming religious fundamentalists. Except none of these reactionaries made any serious in-ways into political office. Unfortunately ours did."

#WhitePaper - Salmondite as Redmondite politics


Newton Emerson wrote in the Sunday Times of February 16 2014:
"The parallels between Redmond and SNP leader Alex Salmond are remarkable, as the Scottish press has noted. In his long, democratic fight for Home Rule, Redmond played down identity politics, spurned cultural nationalism and focused on debating the practicalities, until he could portray the debate as negotiating the inevitable. Salmond has done the same and the results are transformative. Meanwhile, Adams remains an anti-Redmondite two decades after the IRA-ceasefire. His vision of a United Ireland is high on symbolism and low on detail, invoking all the alarm of change with none of the assurance of fact."

February 20, 2014

Loyalist violence weakens the argument for Northern Ireland remaining in the Union, Ctd

Former editor of the Belfast Telegraph Jack Sayers
(Updated below)

Alf McCreary recalled what his editor at the Belfast Telegraph Jack Sayers said of Unionist extremism in a leading article in that paper on 5 November 1968: Jack Sayers said:
"The threat to Northern Ireland’s future is not… the IRA or even Nationalism. It comes from Protestant Ulstermen who will not allow themselves to be liberated from the delusion that every Roman Catholic is their enemy."
Alf McCreary himself said in 1976: "I want a society where we will have politics & not a sectarian pantomime."

My previous post in the series here. On loyalism's phantom fear here.

UPDATE:

Ian Paisley's son, Kyle Paisley said in an interview with the News Letter:
"However, neither should loyalists use the flag issue as an excuse to stir up sectarian strife, or to attack the PSNI, to the delight of dissident republicans."

#WhitePaper - Unionists don’t simply need a plan, they need a story

Cartoon of Alex Massie by Morten Morland
Alex Massie (@AlexMassie) wrote in The Spectator here
"For a long time now, the case for the United Kingdom has been made in a tiresomely negative sense... Practical difficulties are the things politicians are elected to solve. Or at least ameliorate. The case for the Union needs to be about something bigger and better than that. Unionists don’t simply need a plan, they need a story."

Glenn Greenwald - Lawyer, blogger, partisan journalist


Glenn Greenwald said in an interview with the FT: 
"The way I entered the public discourse was a fairly untraditional route. I did not get my own column in the New York Times, I created my own blog on Blogspot. In order to break through and be heard and force media figures to respond, there had to be a lot of aggression. I have a bigger platform now than I did several years ago, so I probably should have adjusted my tactics a little bit more. I don’t need to be so acrimonious and aggressive but you do not always realise that your position has changed. I still think of myself as an outsider who is not at The New York Times or Washington Post, so I need to speak loudly and sometimes harshly. Part of it is personality: I enjoy the clash of ideas. I am not looking to be liked by them [Washington journalists] so the acrimony comes a little more easily for me."

February 19, 2014

Live Drawing - @TheJohnHewitt


On Thursday February 13 2014 I spent an evening drawing some of the special and jolly custom at The John Hewitt bar (@TheJohnHewitt) in Belfast city centre. Click below to see a full selection of cartoons from the night.

Previous night of live drawing in the first of four evenings at the Ramore Wine Bar in Portrush (@RamorePortrush) here. Night of Live Drawing in Portrush in the Mermaid Restaurant here. With the Arts Council NI at their 2013 conference here, at the Pump House, Titanic Belfast with the Friday Night Mashup here, at the QUB Peace Journalism seminarhere, St Joseph's PS Christmas craft fair 2013 here, at the Thriftway Travel christmas party 2013 here, at the Civic Conversation 2013here. At a Christmas party (2013) here. At the DUP Conference 2013 here, and drawing the DUP politicians here. Doodling 6 guys in a pub here. At Culture Night Belfast 2013 here. At the GEMS NI Conference here. At Funtastics indoor play park here.

Live drawing in the Black Box with famous political cartoonist Ian Knox here. See my life drawings from the Loft Belfast at 99 North Street here, here and here. My thoughts on life drawing here. One of my favourite cartoonists Andre Carrilho talks about the challenge of caricature here.

Lord Wilson - La Verite est en marche et rien ne l'arretera, Ctd


Lord Wilson of the UK Supreme Court invited his listeners to consider the changing rules about who has been able to enter into marriage and the emergence of rules for easy exit from marriage. Changes which have altered the whole concept of marriage. He concluded by asking, almost rhetorically:
"I wonder whether Northern Ireland will for long be able to hold back the tide in favour of same sex marriages which laps against all Western shores."
His talk included a few highlights that gave weight to the irresistible inevitability of same-sex marriage.

Firstly, on who marriage was available to. One:
"Up until 1863, here in Ireland, a marriage between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic was void."

Being British is not about being not-Irish

Stuart Hall, cultural theorist and founder of cultural studies, said:
"I think that the British have a future only if they can come to terms with the fact that Britishness is not one thing and has never been one thing there have been a million different ways of being British and there’ve been a million different struggles about Britishness which only retrospectively are then smoothly accommodated into the story as if its unfolding seamlessly from
 Beginning to end.”
Alex Massie recently said here:
"You can be a Highlander, Scottish and British — just as you can be Cornish, English and British."

February 18, 2014

VIDEO - Plato's [Loyalist] cave



Plato's Cave is an allegory written by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his book The Republic. Its purpose is to compare "the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature". Irish historian FSL Lyons used the image of Plato's cave to describe the isolated state of Irish culture during WWII, in what has become an enduring metaphor for mid-twentieth century Ireland: 
"It was as of an entire people had been Condemned to live in Plato's cave, with their backs to the fire of life and deriving their only knowledge of what went on outside from the flickering shadows thrown on the wall before their eyes by the men and women who passed to and fro behind them."
Kelly Matthews, author of a book on the Bell Magazine wrote: "Most have concurred that the mid-20th century was marked by a high degree of cultural isolation and stagnation." FSL Lyons also said that "Ireland had already intellectually isolated herself in large measure since independence."

February 17, 2014

Seth Godin - "Reject the tyranny of being picked: Pick yourself"

Six years ago, Seth Godin wrote about the job of the future - the (online) community organizer. More recently, Seth Godin wrote a piece, 'Reject the tyranny of being picked: Pick yourself,' and said:
"Amanda Hocking is making a million dollars a year publishing her own work to the Kindle. No publisher. Rebecca Black has reached more than 15,000,000 listeners, like it or not, without a record label. 

@Jason_A_Murdock - Writing is hard, Ctd

Editor of Northern Ireland's digital journal Off The Record, Jason Alan Murdock (@Jason_A_Murdock) guest writes on The Ideas Workshop. He joins the 'Writing is Hard' series and shares his thoughts.

Writing Is Hard

​Starting off a 'writing is hard' segment with the proclamation that the literal process itself isn't actually that difficult seems like a bit of a cop out. But bear with me. Writing is a process many learn at a young age. At its most basic it is letter after letter, word after word. But before I start to sound like the world's worst substitute teacher I will say that using these familiar words and letters in a constructive, meaningful and emotive way can be a very difficult task indeed. Many have grappled with turning words into 'art' or something resembling a legacy. Orwell, Hitchens, Salinger, Yeats, Frost – men all recognised by their surnames alone – live beyond the ashes because of their ability to craft powerful sentences. The human body can rot, but the written word lives on. It must be said however, that whether you find writing hard or not will depend on your intentions. After all, there exist many crafts that use words as a tool and some will be harder to master than others. It could be journalism, poetry, short stories, blogging, comic sketches or writing a book or novel – all demand different skills, techniques and various blood/alcohol levels.

February 16, 2014

What about "my people" and "my community"?

What is all this nonsence about loyalist exceptionalism? That they are experiencing special difficulties and therefore require special treatment. That they are "unheard", "unrepresented" and "left behind". This is all rampant make-believe babble. This may sound harsh, but I will explain later. Before that let's look at Henry McDonald and Alex Kane who recently spoke about Northern Ireland's self-appointed mouthpieces.

The Guardian's Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald (@henrymcdonald) wrote a piece in the Belfast Telegraph (@beltel), 'Why are 'spokesmen' with no mandate like Winston Irvine and Jamie Bryson allowed on the BBC as if they were elected representatives?' Of the self-appointed mouthpieces he said:
"The first question that came to mind listening to this was: in what way was the "community" opinion Irvine proposed to represent gauged, tested, or analysed over this controversy?

The two worlds of Northern Ireland, Ctd Ian James Parsley

Ian James Parsley wrote in the Compromise After Conflict blog here:
"Northern Ireland is increasingly pillarised three ways – in addition to “Catholic/Nationalist/Republican” and “Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist” we now have a growing “Secular/Progressive/Liberal” pillar, to some extent at least. That latter pillar tends to be built on the growing professional, suburban class and is marked by its tendency to be internationalist, to reject old categories, and (demonstrated indisputably in polling) to regard itself predominantly as “Northern Irish” (rather than “Irish” or “British”)."

February 15, 2014

Closing the skills gap, Ctd


Eleanor Mills (@EleanorMills) wrote in The Sunday Times here, 'This mum says: Here’s looking at you, code.' She said: "As more IT jobs go unfilled, the government has put coding on the curriculum. Parents should get techy too: after only a day’s tuition I built my own app."

HOWEVER. Coding is not being put on the curriculum in Northern Ireland. Nor is it being put on the curriculum in Wales! AS Jenni Porter said, we all need this urgently now.
 

February 14, 2014

Live Drawing - @RamorePortrush [Part 1]


Click below to see a full selection of cartoons from a night of live drawing at the Ramore Wine Bar (@RamorePortrush), Portrush. If you would like me to attend an event, draw at your wedding, party or business conference, please do get in contact. Below is a list of past clients and prior events.

Happy customers!
Previous night of live drawing in Portrush here. With the Arts Council NI at their 2013 conference here, at the Pump House, Titanic Belfast with the Friday Night Mashup here, at the QUB Peace Journalism seminar here, St Joseph's PS Christmas craft fair 2013 here, at the Thriftway Travel christmas party 2013 here, at the Civic Conversation 2013here. At a Christmas party (2013) here. At the DUP Conference 2013 here, and drawing the DUP politicians here. Doodling 6 guys in a pub here. At Culture Night Belfast 2013 here. At the GEMS NI Conference here. At Funtastics indoor play park here.

Live drawing in the Black Box with famous political cartoonist Ian Knox here. See my life drawings from the Loft Belfast at 99 North Street here, here and here. My thoughts on life drawing here. One of my favourite cartoonists Andre Carrilho talks about the challenge of caricature here.

When are we going to have a sensible debate about the conduct of parades? Ctd



Loyalism's exemption from the rough and tumble of public discourse and from serious and sustained criticism is not because its claims are stronger, but because its radical fringe is more violent. Against a history of menace, threats and intimidation, who or what agency would stand alone?

As I have explored in my series, 'Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship,' I have attempted to show that we are incapable of confronting even the most chronic and grievous problems, lest we unsettle and cause offence. For as Jenni Russell (@Jennirsl) said in The Sunday Times:
"Because it challenges a liberal tenet: that exploring the cultural differences between groups amounts to racism."

Liberal arts education feeds the Skills Gap

Robert W. Goldfarb wrote in the New York Times here:
"The general message from [business] leaders is this: More young people would be hired if they had the right qualifications, but too few have the skills and discipline needed to succeed in today’s demanding workplace. 
Over the last few years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 young people from diverse backgrounds of income, education, race and geography. About half told me that they had liberal arts degrees, and I was struck by how many of them regretted majoring in a discipline now seen as impractical. 
Many liberal-arts graduates say they are eager to find an employer willing to train them in skills that don’t require a degree in engineering or computer science. They cite six-sigma analysis, supply-chain procedures, customer service, inventory control, quality assurance and Internet marketing. They want a chance to master one of those skills.

February 13, 2014

Too many lawyers


The co-CEO of leading international law firm DLA Piper Nigel Knowles wrote in The News Statesman here:
"The [legal] sector is still remarkably fragmented: there are simply too many firms (and too many lawyers) offering the same services without any clear differentiation. Consolidation is an imminent certainty and, furthermore, I expect to see consolidation on an unprecedented scale." 

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd


Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) looked at Amu Chua's new book, 'The Triple Package', in The Sunday Times here. She explained how Amy Chua has received abuse for speaking out and mentioning topics that are normally left untouched, shielded by the politically correct orthodoxy. Jenni Russell said:
"Amy Chua (@AmyChua) ignited an international firestorm among the chattering classes with her bestselling book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Her new book [The Triple Package]... is already being denounced across the Atlantic because it challenges another liberal tenet: that exploring the cultural differences between groups amounts to racism."

February 12, 2014

The Cult of University, Ctd The university bubble



In the video above and here we are introduced to 'Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses', a book by Richard Arum with Josipa Roksa, published January 2011. The video above said:
"As with the housing bubble, cheap and readilty available credit has let people borrow huge amounts of money to finance education, and both students and parents continue to believe that whatever the cost the college education is a necessary ticket to future prosperity."
 It continued:
"The book found that as prices have been going up, learning seems to be going down, as 45% of students did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning during the first 2 years of collegeand 36% did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning over 4 years of college. The primary reason is that course aren't very rigorous. In fact a recent survey of over 700 schools... found that many have virtually no requirements."

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd


We live in a post-Fatwa, post-Danish-cartoon age. A world where we have freedom of, but no freedom from, religion. A world where pluralism is exploited in the use against that very concept. Where liberals fail to stand up for and defend the principles they purport to live by.

February 11, 2014

The Belfast-NY digital project


It all began here via Maria Popova (@brainpicker) (editor of Brain Pickings): 


That tweet brought Tejas Yadav (@ytejas) and I in contact. One a student and photographer living in New York. Another a writer and artist living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. And now Tejas has sent me a selection of photos which you can see above and below. Now that he's played his hand with his tool of choice, the ball is in my court. It now falls on me to respond with some art. A bit of verbal creativity. Keep an eye out.

Political correctness is the worst form of censorship, Ctd


Vivia Chen wrote about Amy Chua (@AmyChua), the 'Tiger Mom', in Time Magazine here:
"What's outrageous about some of the criticism against [Amy] Chua is that it essentially censors discussions that might touch a nerve. Labeling the speaker or the topic as exclusionary or racist is a quick way to undermine the legitimacy of the whole conversation. 
All of this speaks volumes about how uncomfortable we are about talking about race, ethnicity, and success in America. And that this discussion is now being propelled by the Tiger Mom makes a lot of people nervous." 
Elsewhere Douglas Murray (@douglaskmurray) noted the false spin in The Times where we were told that an expanding Muslim population in Britain is feeling British. Reassuring for the natives. However, what the story didn't tell was that how the growing young Muslim population has led to a commensurate rise is 'pubs, hospitals, houses and public buildings' being turned into 'Muslim private schools, madrassas, mosques and a Sharia court to satisfy rising demand from families.'

But we can't say anything. As Douglas Murray said:
"And since expressing any worries about the fact is undoubtedly terribly bigoted and nasty, we’ll all just have to nod our heads, keep our fingers crossed, mouth the same platitudes and all put our collective future in the hopes of Sheikh Mogra."
Previous post in the series here and here. My post on civil intolerance here. Post on journalistic self-censorship and prior restraint here. My blog post for Loyalists Against Democracy on self-censorship and the silenced majority, here.

Art is theft, Ctd Seth Godin


Seth Godin wrote the most wonderful piece over on the Ted blog here as part of the 'Can I Borrow That?' blog series. His piece was entitled, 'Why I want you to steal my ideas'. He explained that we can build something new and fantastic by stealing and synthesising ideas. He said:

"Please don’t steal my car... But my ideas? Sure, yes, please, by all means, take them...
I got an email from a reader last week. She was spitting angry at another blogger and wanted me to lower the hammer on him. According to my loyal reader, he had plagiarized many of my ideas, writing one post after another that, while not using my words, clearly demonstrated to her that he was hunting on my land. 
Not true, I assured her. He hadn’t plagiarized anything, he had built something new, by synthesizing ideas and experiences to invent the next step, a step available to all of us."

February 10, 2014

Peter O'Mahony - Retuning our definition of success


Munster and Ireland rugby player Peter O'Mahony (@peterom6) was named Man of the Match after Ireland's victory of Wales in the second weekend of the 2014 6 Nations (report here, video highlights here). O'Mahony was applauded and heralded by pundits, rugby fans and commentators across the board. O'Mahony commented after the match:
"I’m getting there. I'm always learning. There is still a lot of work to be done. I’m far from the finished article but I’m enjoying it at the moment. I’m learning a lot under the new coaching staff and I’m learning a lot from the players I’m playing alongside as well."

The Cult of University, Ctd


Benjamin Marlow (@benjaminmarlow) wrote in The Sunday Times here, 'University and debts of £50,000? No thanks, I’ll be an apprentice'. He shared the story of Rosie Messiha-Harlock:
"Like the rest of her school friends, the high-achieving 18-year-old had not considered anything after A-levels apart from going on to do a degree. Armed with two As and two Bs, Messiha-Harlock went to Kent University to study criminology and law. 
“In the sixth form, everyone is pushed to go to university, so I went along with it, but it wasn’t really for me. I felt as if I was treading water when what I really wanted to do was get on with my career.”

Jim Fitzpatrick (@jimfitzbiz) - Time for Zero Tolerance


Jim Fitzpatrick (@jimfitzbiz) wrote a piece on Slugger O'Toole, 'After Haass: Risk of growing local disputes into toxic regional problems.' To explain his point, Jim wrote about his time in New York. He said:
"When I first visited New York as a student in 1990, it was a dangerous place. 2,245 of its citizens were murdered that year... New York today is a different place. Last year the number murdered was a record low of just 333 – that’s an 85% reduction in the rate. So what happened?" 
He explained the lesson he learnt from his time in and understanding of New York
"In the mid 1990s a Mayor called Rudy Giuliani and a Police Commissioner called Bill Bratton put in place a new policy on crime called “Zero Tolerance”. Basically, they stopped letting things go. No matter how difficult for their officers or apparently minor the offence, they tackled the crime. They locked criminals up and they put more cops on the streets. 

February 09, 2014

Two worlds of Northern Ireland, Ctd Northern Ireland can be a proudly Irish part of the UK


Famous artist, writer, cartooner-person David McElfatrick (@daveexplosm) wrote on the @LADFLEG blog here:
"We are, after all, a part of Ireland that is a part of the UK.  
We are Northern Ireland.  
Protestants must disengage completely from the voices of old such as George Chittick, who bray with fire and brimstone about how engagement with Irish culture is the “slippery slope” towards a United Ireland. A United Ireland is completely irrelevant to this discussion. Irish culture is, after all, as much a Protestant's culture as it is anyone else’s on this island, regardless of the union with Great Britain.

February 08, 2014

Martin Rowson (@MartinRowson) - I'm a cartoonist, it's my job to be offensive


My last post in the series is on The Huffington Post here.

Write like you speak

Cartoon of Simon Hoggart by Morten Morland (@mortenmorland)
During a 2010 interview with the late Christopher Hitchens at The Arch hotel in London, George Eaton said that Hitchens credited Simon Hoggart, the Guardian's parliamentary sketch-writer, with improving his prose (Kingsley Amis, casting a critical eye over his son's friends, called him "the one who can talk but can't write"). Hitchens said:
"I think it was at dinner at his house, some time in the late Seventies, I'd written a piece in the New Statesman and Hoggart said, 'Good piece, I agree with you, you've made a strong case this week. But I thought it was a bit dull.' And I bridled, 'What do you mean, dull? I was making a strong argument for the cause of the labour movement. Dullness doesn't come into it.' He replied: 'No, the thing is it's not as amusing to read you as it is to have a conversation with you. Why don't you try and write more as you talk?' That insight stayed with me."
Of that, George Eaton said:
"For that, and much else, we are indebted to Hoggart."

February 07, 2014

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd


Political correctness and fear of offending has become a horrendous societal tick. As Newton Emerson said: "Ever since the Good Friday Agreement, [snobbery] seems to be the only crime you can commit in Northern Ireland." Alex Massie spoke in equal terms here; that being offensive has become "the greatest sin imaginable." By these standards Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) has been waving her offence all around the place, breaking with the PC orthodoxy and causing a whole load of trouble. Why? For speaking facts. She has written here and here. And here in particular:
"Middle-class children are having important character traits instilled in them at home, while poorer children are not. A nursery-age child needs to have many qualities already in place when they get to school if they are to succeed. He or she needs confidence; the belief that if they try something it will work. That is the first gulf between the two groups. By the time they start school, research shows that a middle-class child will have heard six times as many words of encouragement as reprimands. A working-class child will have heard only twice as many, while a child on welfare will have been criticised twice for every word of praise."
Amy Chua, The Tiger Mother is like the America version of Jenni Russell. Harvard Professor Amy Chua and her husband have written a book 'The Triple Package'. It's got them called "racist" and "despicable". Any Chua would say she's only presenting facts, speaking plain English. Vivia Chen said in Time Magazine:

Practical procrastination and combinatorial creativity


Chain Reaction is Radio 4's long running hostless chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer. Last week's interviewee Graham Linehan said in his sit down interview with this week's interviewee Adam Buxton on Radio 4:
"I try to use practical procrastination... The real work is actually being done by your subconscious. Your conscious mind is sitting there thinking I suck. But your subconscious Is actually getting to work on stuff... Your best ideas come to you when your walking or something. Not when you're thinking about the idea. Your subconscious is this huge glacial thing under water that's just doing a lot of work when you don't realise it. Unfortunately it doesn't let you in on the fact that it's doing that, so you just feel perpetually stupid."
Adam Buxton added:
"You've got to have the skill-set to respond to those ideas when they come."
Show in full here. My Tumblr note on the tyranny of procrastination and perfectionism here. Read the famous New Yorker essay on procrastination, 'Later - What does procrastination tell us about ourselves?'
by James Surowiecki here. Samira Ahmed wrote a piece on procrastination here.

February 06, 2014

The Cult of University, Ctd Barack Obama



In the video above and here, Obama lays into the cult of university. He says:
"The problem is that a lot of young people no longer see trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can earn a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."
Barack Obama has previously entered the debate on law school, see here. A PhD student objected to Obama here. As I noted previously here:
"Attending 8 hours of lectures per week in an arts/humanities/social 'science' course is a waste of £27,000 except for the academically gifted."
Previous posts on the cult of university here, here, here and here. Also with The Sunday Times, apprenticeships and comments from young people here, and here on the effect of bringing university to the masses. In the Huffington Post here.

Jenni Russell - Young people spent 13 years listening to a Labour government telling them that university is the key to a better life. The exhortations have shaped reality.

In 2011 Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) wrote in The Guardian here:
"[Young people have] spent 13 of the past 14 years listening to a Labour government telling them that university is the key to a better life. The exhortations have shaped reality. With almost half the age group going on to higher education, anyone who doesn't do so risks being labelled as below average, however unjust that might be. A degree might not be worth what it used to be now that so many people have them. For anyone who is ambitious, though, not having one has become a handicap that needs to be explained away."
She finished by saying:
"We have spent the past 10 days agonising about how to give the most desperate young people hope in their futures and a stake in society. This week we are turning around to those who have worked diligently and telling them: sorry, we know it's tough out there, and the good jobs don't exist in any quantity, but we're not prepared to develop you any further – you're on your own. It's a foolish, short-sighted, rotten way to be running either the country or the education system."
On a side but related note, the skills minister Matthew Hancock recently said in an article, 'Parents must drop 'sniffy' attitude to apprenticeships, leading headmistress says':
"Concentrating only on academic training to the exclusion of technical training was a big mistake."
Jenni Russell in full here. In a blog post here I wrote that a Sunday Times poll found that in many universities are more interested in research than their students. My previous post on Jenni Russell here and here. Previous posts in The Cult of University series here, here university here, here, here, on the University Neurosis here, on The Legally Blonde complex here and also a piece here. Also on the Huffington Post here. My blog post on YouGov who found that employers have found graduates non-work-ready, here. My blog posthere where a Sunday Times poll found that students are critical of university teaching standard and that universities are more interested in research than teaching students.
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