Miss S B ponders where all the women bloggers are. Or, to be more precise, why is there a blokeosphere? The argument is that men spend more time blogging (which is quite probable) and link to each other (which is, again, quite probable). Is there a Hidden Male Cabal to stop men from linking to women? If there is, no-one bothered to tell us, otherwise we wouldn't be linking to Miss S B.

She's absolutely right that "political" is not identical to "party political". This blog, for instance, is (roughly) 50% politics, but it does not take a partisan line on anything. We're entirely pragmatic, we call things as we see them. For those of us who think of the bigger picture, who see connections where others see voids, this is entirely natural, as natural as breathing. For the pigeons who like to put everything in pigeon-holes, that's a problem.

We experienced a similar lack-of-comprehension a few years ago, when we were half-trying to get the Glickoblog listed on NCAA-ball blog directories. The people who ran them simply couldn't understand that we weren't writing about any particular side, we weren't writing about any particular division, we were writing about the gestalt entity that is NCAA-ball and gently trying to advocate reform to its utterly indefensible post-season arrangements. Our heart wasn't in the listing process, and we gave up after about three tries. It's their loss.

Miss S B asks how to change the way things are. We want to take a step back and try to understand why things are the way they are. Might some bloggers have made a conscious decision not to seek publicity? Might they have a sense that their verbiage is not of tremendous importance, that it isn't going to change anything anyway, that they may as well hide their light under the proverbial bush? Might the blogger have priorities other than self-promotion - do they see this as a cathartic outlet for their thoughts, an edited stream-of-consciousness, a document recording the process of thinking something through? Do people see blogging as a business, where they seek to accumulate sales (readers); or do they see it as a piece of art, a monument put out for admiration even if no-one reads it?

If one accepts her diagnosis that there is a problem, then her solutions have merit. This blog runs into the site-specific problem that many of Miss S B's proposed promotion techniques - Digg, Technorati, Twitter - are based in those renegade provinces south of Canada and north of Mexico. Our long-established "buy Yankee last" policy ensures we won't be using those services.

Besides, we're not convinced we want them. We're not here to attract and retain readers. We treat this blog as an art project, a semi-permanent record of utter ephemera. We write about what we want to write about, what we're passionate about. The style is tempered by the head, but we do write from the heart. We're delighted when people find our blog, whether that's from a search engine or elsewhere. We're even happier if they decide to read us regularly, and we're positively ecstatic if they promote it elsewhere. But even if no-one read this regularly, we'd still be here, because we believe there is merit in what we're doing. If there wasn't, we'd stop.

Comments? | Permanent link

From customer reviews of a teasmade: I had to return the item because the instructions were of poor quality. The equipment was of average quality but the complicated operation needed clear instructions. It's a teasmade. Put water in, set the alarm, then get woken up five minutes earlier by the whirr of heating water.

Commentators: Mary Dejevsky, on why Mister Blair would be wrong for Europe... Johann Hari, on why the biggest terrorist threat comes from the far right... Project Censored on the mysterious and unreported death of the man who stole the Ohio election in 2004. It's almost as if someone wanted to silence the proof that Candidate X could only ever claim victory by cheating, treating his presidential election like a game of football with a bribed ref.

Fury in Frankfurt at G****e's global library project. One of the many reasons we really can't abide the unmentionable advertising brokerage is that they're utter hypocrites about copyright. They defend their own works to the point of absurdity, but treat everyone else's work as a common resource they can pilfer without compensation. Thank goodness Frau Merkel is leading the opposition, and what a shame the three largest British parties have all drunk from the chalice of denseness.

We believe that letters to the Irish Times are only put online for a day following publication, which means that this gem is lost for all time. It's from last Wednesday's edition.

Madam, - May I suggest that the future method of claiming expenses would mirror an experience of my own (and one adopted by many larger companies).

The rules were set out covering what could and could not be reclaimed and what were reasonable levels. We claimed for our expenses which would be automatically paid without further verification at that time.

However, the expenses were subject to audit twice each year with no prescription on which month's expenses or when (ie, it was a "surprise" audit). Any discrepancies were highlighted to the head of finance. Three strikes and you were out of your job.

This self-regulation worked because it had a significant downside. Ironically the system was put in place not because of concerns over what people were claiming but because of the cost of checking every single claim.

The Government has an additional control in that most TDs qualify for pensions even if they lose their seats so any reclamation required should they leave could be taken from their pensions. By linking expense payments to their jobs I suspect you'd get a very high level of compliance and conscientiousness. And it would not cause trouble for all of those who play by the rules already. - Yours, etc,

John Finn,
Ballyorban,
Monkstown,
Cork.

If Miss McCain wishes to publish a tasteful picture of her cleavage, let her do so. It asserts nothing about her sexual proclivities, merely that she wishes to publish tasteful pictures and that she is not as ashamed of her body as some repressive Puritans wish her to be.

Changes have been confirmed for Radio 5 once Simon Mayo moves away in the new year. Victoria Derbyshire will now run from 10 till 12, Gabby Logan presents from 12 till 2, and Richard Bacon takes over the 2 till 4 slot (except on Friday, when it's Mayo and Kermode). We wonder... could they call these shows The Magazine, Lunchtime with Logan, and Richard and Company and be done with it? Tony Livesey takes over the after-sport 10.30 till 1am slot, and don't panic, Stephen Nolan remains on the weekends. Panic!

Donal Og Cusack has announced that he is gay. The Cork hurling goalkeeper is the first senior sportsman in Ireland to announce his homosexuality. The Irish Times wrote of the fear felt by gays, and British sports press continued to peddle the myth that all its footballers are straighter than the proverbial Roman road.

And finally, many happy returns to Martin Gardner, top mathematical puzzler.

Comments? | Permanent link

Peter Hain claimed that the British Norris Party should not appear on Dick 'n' Dom's Question Muck because they are an unlawful party. Mr. Hain is unable to point to a specific court verdict to substantiate his claim, and it is clearly wrong for former cabinet ministers to attempt to usurp the role of judges in this way. Mr. Hain cannot determine whether a party is legal or otherwise, that is the role of the courts. He may wish to get on with declaring his expenses, and doing it properly this time.

In the event, Mr. Eaglion did appear on the broadcast, and (to the best of our knowledge) the world failed to stop turning. The final word on the media hype goes to a columnist in the Irish Times, who attacked the even more ridiculous notion that a marked rise in the BNP's electoral support is mainly down to people mistaking the party for something else. The inescapable reality is that those very differences - the racism, and the religious and the ethic intolerances - must in fact be what attracts people to vote for a BNP candidate rather than for someone else. If the political establishment in Britain cannot face up to that stark truth, then support for the BNP will only continue to grow.

The solicitor insisted that his client had "never" argued that he should be allowed to stay on the grounds of the cat. Nor had he been allowed to stay because of this. Damian Gween said: "Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry. If pet ownership is going to be used as a reason for deciding immigration cases, then the law really is an ass." No, Mr. Gween, the law is not an ass. You are. Please stick this ass's head over your own, and we'll call you Silly Ass from now on.

British postal services were stopped by a two-day strike. Unions and management blamed each other in a dispute over changes to working conditions. The root cause, the UK government's decision to open the market to competition many years ahead of an EU directive, has not been addressed by anyone.

100,000 women signed a petition declaring that Sr. Taxdodgeri was offensive to them. The sexist taxdodger said that a former minister's brains were in her bosom (or something like that), incurring the ire of all thinking Italians.

A series of bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least 130 people as the Interior Ministry was blown up.

We regret to report the death of Ludovic Kennedy, the writer, broadcaster, and campaigner.

Permanent link

Tuesday Andy goes to Gateshead to practice sprinting with Mike McFarlane, with commentary by Stuart Storey. If Andy ever gets the call for The Games, note that he runs 12.15 for the 100m... Joel goes to Leicester Square to launch National Schools Film Week. Never had this in our day... Plug for the Hot Rod Cow design-a-TARDIS compo... Joel goes to the World Conker Championships in Northamptonshire, conks himself on the knee, and loses in the first round... Joel makes celebrity conkers, all the while with a giant oversized conker hovering in the background. The make goes wrong, Helen laughs like a gopher, and the only thing we can do is put up this picture.

Wednesday It's appeal time already, and the clocks haven't even gone back yet! Is this a record? Er, yes, the previous earliest was 1 November 1979 for the Blue Peter Single-Handedly Saves Cambodia appeal. Anyway, this year's appeal is Send a Smile, turning old t-shirts into surgical gowns, so that they can be used by children in India who are having operations to fix cleft lips and cleft palates. All entirely worthy, and the usual emotive pictures from Helen on the scene. The target is 20,000 t-shirts (worth £60,000). Why such a slim target? It's appeal time already, and we haven't finished with the last one yet - Mission Nutrition set a hugely ambitious target of 2 million meals (£4 million), and the last we heard, they'd got about 80% of the way there. Step-by-step instructions here (thankyou, Frankie); those of us who don't share houses with amazing children may find it less embarrassing to donate here.

• On Glickoblog: A long list of upsets Plus news of the draw for European World Cup qualifiers, and tables for Scotland and the lower leagues in England.
• Let's ditch a winner! Middlesbrough fire their manager, Sheriff win a match, and more upsets around Europe. Not least: why can't we see the so-called premier tournament?
• The battle of being a bit bad Week eight in NCAA-ball: Balls and Emich meet to determine the worst side, Texas take over as the best, and we handicap Boise's chances of making the top end.
• On our private journal: Matters of the moment Pictures, videogame dancing, eating on the train.

This was a mild week, with the settled weather giving way as a succession of fronts passed through, most bringing some sort of rain. A deep depression on course for the UK diverted north and filled rapidly, so that by the time it arrived on Saturday there was less upset than had looked likely. Next week will see the UK squeezed between high pressure to the east and low pressure to the west. That's a setup for southerly winds coming directly from the Med, so expect very warm temperatures in the south. Further north, there will be more wind and rain. This setup looks like it'll persist until Friday, when the low pressure will win, with increasingly strong winds from the south, swinging round to the west by the end of next week. Rain is likely in the north at any time; though the south will remain dry, it'll be humid, so don't wrap up.

19 Mo cloud               4/14
20 Tu showers             6/12, 2.5
21 We cloud              10/14, 2.0
22 Th showers             9/13, 4.5
23 Fr sunny spells        7/15
24 Sa mist to wind       13/17, 2.0
25 Su cloud

Rainfall in October: 21.5mm; monthly average: 69mm

Degree heating days: 11
2008/9: 18/926.5
2007/8: 24/809.5
2006/7: 0/499
2005/6: 0/684
2004/5: 9.5/556
2003/4: 35.5/754

Permanent link