BritBlog Roundup # 3

Yes, It’s time for the third weekly BritBlog Roundup. Rules are simple, any post by a resident or citizen of these Isles is eligible, you can nominate your own or something from someone else (especially if you see something very good that you think we all should see). One entry per person please.
I spend my Sunday afternoons doing this so that people can show me what is good and great in British and Irish blogs, so please do keep sending in the entries to britblog AT gmail DOT com! Yes, I’m being selfish, I want to harness your knowledge to lead me to the good stuff.

Reporting in from Italy, Ria Bacon at STET takes us through the  umm, subtleties, of political advertising there. Not that many of them actually, distinctly unsubtle.

Andrew Ian Dodge does some first hand reporting at Dodgeblogium (my apologies to Wolfie, last week I attributed his work to Andrew) and in doing so proves that we’re all really doing this blogging thing for the groupies (or because we are groupies?). What? Yours not turned up yet?

Vanessa at Sarsparilla on the joys of the London Transport system and how to deal with mouthy 16 year olds. Aggression helps.

Vanessa also recommends a piece from The Blackboard Jungle, a fascinating insight into slang and adolescent males. Spot on with the observation that 12 miles down the road everything would be different, it’s one of the things Americans often don’t get about us, not just four nations and languages but huge changes in accent and slang every few miles.

Anoneumouse points to a great piece from Beachhutman on the value of the art hanging in Government offices. An interesting career as White Van Man beckons, well, it would if I actually knew anything about art I suppose.

Backword Dave thinks Mick Hartley is spot on in his comments on Richard Layard’s "Happiness"...I’ll second that, always fun to give one’s old professor a good kick in the nadgers and this research of his is dire, in logic and in the policy recommendations. He also recommends DoctorVee’s piece pointing out that while the BBC may be biased, it is so in all directions, not just towards liberals. Well, an idea worthy of discussion, possibly.

Litte Red Blogger looks at the New Forest and Commoners Rights. Econ geeks like me will love it, a modern day example of exactly the things Garret Hardin was talking about in Tragedy of the Commons. There has to be a management system but it doesn’t have to be the private property based one, communal alternatives do exist.

Victoria (no, another one) writes in from America with her take on the Charlie Rose show on blogging. Apparently the PuppyBlender waved to her at the end of the show. Her alone, you understand. (Note, this is a round up of blogs written by Brits and Irish residents or citizens. You don’t have to be here or writing about here to send in links).

Jeremy Dean offers a take in the psychology of internet dating (permalinks not working, 28 th Feb.) The original research was done at Bath so it must be good stuff.

Tim at An Englishman’s Castle points us to Bishop Hill, a blogger doing some real reporting. OK, it’s about the treatment of road repairs as investment but it is important, if we cannot trust the figures from the Office of National Statistics then we cannot trust any numbers thrown at us by politicians.

Jon Barnard strongly recommends this piece from Random Acts of Reality, written by a paramedic. Excellent, I agree Jon. One post I liked a lot this week was this from Jon at his place, Room Twelve.

James Hamilton, after his review of The Welfare State We’re In in last week’s round up was able to score an interview with the author, James Bartholomew. Whether you liked the book or not, an interesting expansion of his views.

Anomaly UK (our man in Luton, as he says) catches up with the local story that made headlines, the jilbab/school uniform matter.

Robin wants to remind us that those released from Guantanamo and then from custody here are in fact innocent (and they are, let us not forget. You’re only guilty if you’ve been tried and convicted in a court of law...something Clarke seems to forget).

Gareth points us to Alfred the OK and this guy is going straight on my blogroll. Perfect stuff:

Most politicians get right up my thrupenny bits.
A select few qualify for a blindfold, a cigarette and nice white wall. And then there are the ones that defy the imagination – despots all, morally bankrupt to a man – and woman. It’s not too hard to find them - Blair, Dubbya, Thatcher, Mandelson and Prescott come to mind. There are however, quite a few knocking on the door of this ‘Club Noir Politick’ - and fifties quiff boy, Alan Milburn, geordie bosom buddy to the Rev’ Blair and no-talent ‘organiser’ of all things ‘Governmental’ is first in the queue.

Wish I could write like that.

The Englishman in New York points to this Eve Garrand piece at Normblog...how not to explain suicide bombings.

Several pointed to this Jackie Danicki piece about the debate at the LSE on blogging. She was not taken with the level of knowledge shown.

More to follow after I’ve dealt with two dogs standing with their legs crossed....OK, this blog’s canine security operatives now happy, the blogger himself suitably caffeinated, onwards...

One that I came across, Famous for 15 Megapixels, describes how he would guide visitors round London. It would be both interesting and informative, if not entirely 100% true.

Clive Davis points us to the Englishman in New York  who has a few issues with an advertising campaign...he’s right, most of us over here would think of the Two Fat Slags from Viz.

The Pseudo Magazine is deeply unhappy with John Negroponte and Rich Lowry...let’s say he’s not all that happy with the new Intelligence Czar.

Mark Holland urges us to read The Daily Rant on the subject of Spain and Gibraltar....just a side note but stick a drink in any Portuguee and ask them about the Spanish and you’ll get something of a rant as well. There’s a piece of land they promised to give back in 1913. Still waiting.

Iain Murray takes time out from his recent trip into the heart of the neo-con conspiracy to insist in a redefinition of Little Englander. Got my support (but then I would say that wouldn’t I, being a fellow member of the VRWC and published at TCS as he is?)

EU-Serf sends in his report on Dennis McShame, our Europe Minister, and his behaviour in Prague. A number of welcome corrections to his utterances.

Nick Barlow (as he himself describes it) does a bit of navel gazing over Zack Exley (who he? Ed). This whole thing is something I’ve obviously missed but Nick and Tim Ireland seem to be very annoyed about it, to the extent of cutting off communication with Atrios and The Washington Monthly.

Blood and Treasure had his obituary of Hunter S Thompson published in a Chinese newspaper and tells us how he did it.  So where do you spend renmimbi?

England Expects does a hit job on the EU’s fifth column....read the list of people on hand to provide paid for propaganda in favour of everything European.

Liberal England has an interesting take on the Delia Smith thing involving Fanny Craddock.

Richard Delevan has been live blogging the Sinn Fein annual meeting, start at the top and keep scrolling. Adams may have got the McCartney sisters back into the Republican fold.

Bunny sends an email to say that he was too late sending in an entry. Indeed he was. By noon GMT Sunday please, to britblog AT gmail DOT com. Anything posted by a resident or citizen of the four nations on these Isles is eligible, especially interested in whatever you think done best.

Which leaves us with one final post to link to. Non-trivial Solutions is putting together a register of interests for all journalists on all of the main (serious) UK papers. Who works where, who gets quango money, who can’t piss off their boss, in essence, looking for the background so that we can see their implicit and explicit biases. Its going to be a huge amount of work and he needs your help. This is an open opportunity project, righties will get nailed just as badly as lefties and centrists, so go on over, pick a target and get looking for links and appointments they have.

Until next week, Toodle Pip!