What me, cynical?

All those cynics out there who have been expecting the Lords redevelopment to result in a 'Mc Donalds Lords' the 'Tesco Stand' etc. will have to take comfort from the words of MCC boss Keith Bradshaw, "It's not on the agenda. It's not on the cards. There's no way we will be going down that path." Don't worry you cynics there's plenty of material in the Queens Speech to get your teeth into. New Labour, after twelve years in power and on the eve of a General Election, have decided to introduce a whole raft of new legislation on everything from fiscal responsibility to care for the elderly and increased power for Ofgem to cap energy prices. Terribly negative thing cynicism.

Small mags buck the internet trend.

It 's good to see the current issue of Notes From The Borderland coming out strongly in support of the printed word rather than having a mere internet presence. There are obviously huge advantages to web based publishing but for me nothing will ever take the place of that wonderfully portable and available "hard copy". Another little mag that I usually read is The Land. The summer 2009 issue is largely devoted to a number of exellent pieces on the history of enclosures in this country. What really caught my eye was the article on Austrian poachers and their connection to peasant resistance. The skill and daring of the poacher is something that I have always admired. It's a left wing urban myth to asume that hunting is the perogative of the toffs; they would just like it to be that way.
I don't suppose that the good people who produce both Notes From The Borderland and The Land probably feel that they have a great deal in common, the one being devoted to parapolitics and the other to a radical new kind of rural economy. In fact I think that they have quite a bit in common; well researched and thoroughly referenced articles for a start. Both magazines are also part of a wonderful tradition of small circulation radical publications that we are lucky to have in this country. Something else that they have in common is a stated commitment to the printed copy. More power to their elbow.

Norlington School

Ah! The old school. How the memories come flooding back. Teachers at my old college of knowledge have been on strike as part of a campaign to prevent this comprehensive being turned into an academy. I remember Norlington Boys Secondary Modern as being a pretty ordinary school when I attended it in the 50s. Leyton at the time was a white working class and lower middle class stronghold but not that tough or deprived. At school we were canned pretty frequently. It was a point of honour to own a flick knife but I don't think that it ever crossed our minds to stick it in another human being. Fights were fairly common but teachers tended to encourage us to settle our differences in the boxing ring. At fifteen we were turned out to sink or swim in the job market. I know of only two famous Norlington alumni; Graham Gooch and the Madi Gra Bomber. Nuff said.

How to lose the plot.

For us allotment holders this is the time of year to start winding down and putting the plot to bed for the winter. Muck has been spread. The spring cabbage, onions and garlic are all established and the broad beans are just peeping through the soil. Now for the really hard bit; last nights allotment society AGM. For me of course, unable to keep my mouth shut as usual, this entailed the suggestion that the policing of the condition of plots had resulted in a tenant/landlord relationship developing between the committee and plotholders. It's fair to say that my call for a more "bottom up" approach and suggestion that people would be more inclined to get involved in the maintenance of the site if they felt ownership of it went down like a rat sandwich. Someone even suggested that it would lead to anarchy. The very idea!

Police State one step closer.

The Met's Territorial Support Group have been the subject of 5241 complaints over the last four years of which only nine have been substantiated. One officer has had no less than twenty six allegations of violent assault made against him. The recent culmination of this culture of impunity was the sad death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demo. None of this should come as a surprise of course. All over the world the behaviour of riot cops is tempered only by what they can get away with. It is against this background that the Commons will today debate the proposed Coroners and Justice Bill. Under this new piece of legislation it will be possible for Coroners inquiries to be suspended on 'security' grounds and replaced by secret hearings. You can find out more about this latest attempt by Jack Straw to further erode hard won rights by clicking here.

Sweet victory for David Haye.

Congratulations to new WBA heavyweight champ David Haye after his convincing win over Nikolia Valuev. Haye showed patience and maturity during his intelligently fought victory and even wobbled the giant Russian in the final round. The heavyweights are always a bit of a conundrum being both the division that exites the fans most and at the same time the one with the smallest pool of talent. Certainly the heavyweight scene has been a bit uninspiring of late but the Bermondsey fighter could very well breathe new life into it.

The links and other matters.

The more observant of you will have no doubt noticed the addition of a labels list to this blog. Those of you that know me will also wonder how on earth someone with my neanderthal IT skill managed to install it. I hope that the site does what it says on the tin. It really is intended to be no more than a light hearted political blog and a vehicle for my thoughts on this and that. I hope that the labels gadget makes it easier to find the stuff that interests you.
The links are a reflection of some of my own interests. There must be thousands of political blogs out there and the few selected here are among the many that I read. Ian Bone is always amusing and also provides an online meeting place for anarchists. Paul Stott's I intend to escape.... remains an inspiration with just the right balance of politics and all his other interests. Paul is a boxing fan as well; top man. In the near future I will be adding more links and perhaps deleting some that are no longer being updated. One site that will remain even though it has not been updated for some time is Classic Cafes. There simply is nothing to replace it. The Wrestling Heritage site is in my view a really fine piece of social history. But they republish a lot of my stuff so I would say that. If this is your first visit to Bad Old Days, welcome, and if you are one of the loyal followers who read this stuff on a regular basis, thanks.