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The Manchester Guardian
The Manchester Guardian
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRguardian.htm
A group of middle-class liberals, worked with working-class radicals in Manchester in their campaign for parliamentary reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws. (from 1819)
The Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre (or Battle of Peterloo) occurred at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 gathered at a meeting to demand the reform of parliamentary representation.
The name "Peterloo" was coined immediately by the radical Manchester Observer, combining the name of the meeting place, St Peter's Field, with the Battle of Waterloo fought four years earlier.
In 1959 the paper dropped "Manchester" from its title, becoming simply The Guardian, and in 1964 it moved to London, losing some of its regional agenda but continuing to be heavily subsidised by sales of the less intellectual but much more profitable Manchester Evening News.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian
I have brought this back to the top of the list because I thought it was quite a good Post.
Uriel had mentioned earlier reading 'The Guardian' which was at one time referred to as 'The Manchester Guardian'.
It is not a paper I read often. I imagine that Social Workers and Teachers like to read 'The Guardian'.
Edwina Currie said, that reading 'The Guardian' made her a lifelong Tory, but unfortunately I have not been able to find the quote. In looking for it, I came across a site that gives a list of all British Prime Ministers.
Edwina Currie was the lover of John Major, who I remembered incorrectly as Mr. Smith on account of his grey persona.
http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/pm.htm
No way would I ever regard Edwina Currie as any kind of acceptable role model for anthing, to be perfectly honest with you.....this mega gobby woman was a blatantly brazen hussy of an adulteress for heaven's sake with a husband to whom she apparently showed absolutely zilch regard or respect and who did not deserve such treatment.....just google "married Currie/affair/married Major" if you feel so inclined and you will see what sort of a bovine she is and how humbly regretful and apologetic Major was - unlike her.
She also did her best to stop Brits eating eggs based on totally unfounded evidence regarding the existence of salmonella and all that kind of thing which clearly indicated a complete lack of researching "skills" on her part.
Most female Labour Government Ministers in the UK (promoted solely on the spurious grounds of "PC and positive discrimination in favour of women") in the UK are about as effective as a ladder is to a carpet layer or a chocolate teapot to some dear old lady down in Budleigh Salterton - the exception being Margaret Thatcher of course, but she was often thought of as being a shrill, shrieking bloke in drag but a thousand times more bullying and turned out to be about the most divisive Prime Minister ever to grace the Cabinet Room at No 10 Downing Street.
Now we have the problem of Battie Hattie Harm-a-Man to cope with....OMG....what a daftie she is....
Dear Damian
Possibly sometime we will meet up in Bonnie Scotland.
Do you really think it is helpful to use expressions like OMG (Oh My God!) which are only understood by a minority of the British population. Also 'Battie Hattie Harm' which I draw a blank when I try to Google, but I know from you previous comments refers to the Rt Hon Harriet Harman, QC MP.
I never really understood the eggs scandal with Edwina Currie. What was it that she did wrong?
Did she say something that was untrue?
or
Did she say something that was true, that damaged the egg producing industry?
I am pleased that my Post on the Manchester Guardian has been brought to the fore. But has this anything to do with the English language. British Language and Culture perhaps, but it also a little bit dated. I must admit I have always had a secret admiration for people who are characters, who break the mold.
Edwina Currie was/is a colourful character. Was it her, or her daughter who appeared in 'The Sun' sporting two fried eggs on her chest.
I read the Guardian. But I read it with a big ol' boulder of salt.
One thing that always annoys me about Guardian writers is their tone. They are so laughably arch and snide. All the time. About pretty much everything, whether it's worth being smug about or not. You worry a little that they might break an arm patting themselves on the back about their own cleverness sometimes.
(Illustrative passage ensues):
"Of course, two recent US country artists have made it big here: Shania Twain and LeAnn Rimes, who succeeded via the simple expedient of removing virtually every vestige of country influence from their music. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's to their model that Swift cleaves. There's a bit of mandolin and her accent is surprisingly chewy, but the only song that breaks out the banjos and the pedal steel sets them against a metronomic beat and chugging guitar that doesn't sound like the Strokes so much as Since U Been Gone, the popped-up take on the Strokes' style devised by Max Martin and Dr Luke for Kelly Clarkson. Indeed, Max Martin and Dr Luke seem far more apposite names to evoke than Dolly Parton or the Dixie Chicks. Swift's self-penned music is only really identifiable as country via the references to one-horse towns and the regular guest appearances by God in the lyrics. Her stock-in-trade is a kind of orthodontically perfect pop-rock. If you question how well a record so utterly rooted in suburban America is going to travel - will all this stuff about crying with momma in the bleachers because that dreamy senior boy is dating the freshman cheer team leader play well in Newton-le-Willows? - the answer lies in the tunes: she cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory.
More surprising is the critical acclaim heaped on Swift's lyrics. Back home, comparisons have been made to Randy Newman, Hank Williams and Elvis Costello, which turns out to be setting the bar perhaps a tad higher than Swift can reach. She has a tendency to use the same images over and over again - she spends so much time kissin' in the rain that it seems a miracle she hasn't developed trenchfoot..."
I'm not sure who Taylor Swift, the subject of this article, is, but apparently she's 18 and writes a few songs. Which makes her an unlikely target for this level of acidity. Maybe they're horrible songs, I don't know, but it just seems a bit much. I don't like country either, but seriously -- a little proportion here!
Also, if you're gonna be this sneering and condescending, it might be a good idea to at least make sure you have your facts straight. Shania Twain is not a "US country artist". She's Canadian. I know the Great White North is next door and all, but for people who get all bent out of shape because non-Brits don't know Wales from Cornwall, you'd think they'd pay attention to a major international boundary. Attitude might be fashionable among British journalists, but accuracy would get them a lot farther -- and make them look less foolish.
Dear Uriel
It is a long time since I read 'The Guardian', or its sister paper 'The Observer' which comes out on Sunday. It is partly because I live in Scotland, and these are very English papers. Of the English papers I would prefer to read 'The Times', or possibly 'The Independent' and sometimes even 'The Telegraph'.
The local papers here are 'The Press and Journal' and 'The Evening Express'. Sometimes I stretch to 'The Scotsman' (Edinburgh) or 'The Daily Herald'. I also like to read the tabloids every now and then, particularly 'The Sun'.
My car is ready, Bozena is back home, and I have to go! 'Les' is charging me far less than the last time, when I thought he ripped me off. I have just bought a ten year old car with only 30,000 miles on the clock. But I am not so sure it was such a big bargain.
A 'Ford Mondeo' - 'Contour' to you!
Good lord. The average driver in America puts 10,000 miles on their car every year. If I found a 10-year-old car with only 30k on it, I would check the trunk for bodies first!
Not familiar with either the Mondeo or the Contour. The only Ford I've ever owned myself was a piece of crap 1979 Mustang --and not a cool one, either. For starters, it was green, and I had to use vice grips to roll the windows up and down.....
But I am familiar with how model names vary from country to country. We had a Nissan Sunny and a Nissan Bluebird when I was a teenager in Japan,and I used to marvel at the Californias, MyRoads, and other unusual names on bumpers.
I was less familiar with this as a child, and read the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series without ever getting that Ford Prefect had erroneously named himself after a car. That joke was entirely lost on me until the movie.
Hi Uriel
The 'Ford' 'Prefect' was slightly larger than the 'Ford' 'Popular'.
I believe that the average driver in the UK puts 12,000 miles per annum on the clock in the first three years, and 10,000 miles thereafter. Someone buying a Mercedes is more likely to do 20,000 a year.
I have bought very low mileage cars before, and it was a mistake before. As Neil Diamond says "Rust never Sleeps". What has particularly upset me about my new car is that the Windscreen has been damaged by someone not changing the Windscreen Wipers at regular intervals.
I bought it at an Auction, so I did not look at the car before buying it. (Part of the game!)
Generally speaking it has been quite a good buy. For the record:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Contour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect
Bigger bumpers make it look at little ugly!
Cheerio!
I read it with a blouder of slat.
The Guardian is a newspaper for Loony Lefties. You know the type: the people who worship environmentalism (yet hate the countryside), hate "racism" (yet think it's ok if a non-white person abuses a white person over the colour of his skin), hates anyone who wants Britain to be independent of the EU (yet supports Irish nationalism), try to be "Politically Correct" at all times and must think carefully everytime they open their mouths in case they offend someone (unless they are white, Christian and English) and think there's nothing wrong in working in silly public sector jobs, with titles such as "Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator", "Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Councillor", "President of the United Kingdom Institute for the Promotion of Human Rights For the UK's Scottish, Irish, Welsh Homosexual and Black Travelling Community" during the worst recession since 1980.
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