From an item in ‘Amon Hen’, the bulletin of the national Tolkien Society:
The Middle-earth Weekend 2012 was held at Sarehole Mill in The Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham over two days in May. It was a great opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. Vivienne Wilkes and the Middle-earth Weekend Planning Group brought together this mix of contemporary and historical elements and created an atmosphere redolent of the world of Middle-earth at the Mill and on the event field.
This year’s theme was ‘Celebrating 75 years of The Hobbit’ and visitors were treated to entertainments, activities, craft demonstrations, re-enactments, food, drink in the all-round hobbity surroundings that this part of the country possess.
The Tolkien Society was there as well in the Tolkien tent organised by Dave Corby of the Isengard Smial. The weather may not have brought the May sunshine; but the warmth of the hosts, and the enthusiasm of the visitors, served to brighten the whole experience.
The weekend is the culmination of months of work by the Shire Country Park Friends, the Birmingham Tolkien Group, Shire Productions and staff at Sarehole Mill. They rely on a dedicated group of volunteers both in the run-up to and over the weekend. The regular features of recent events have been the marquees, on the recreation ground behind the mill. These provide the covered venues for the following attractions:
Crafts, various artisans exhibiting and purveying their wares
Activities, usually themed, this year the theme was ‘Mirkwood Forest’
Performances, a variety of theatrical entertainments organised by Shire Productions
‘The Tolkien Tent’, an educational resource with representations from local historical groups, readings, quizzes and stalls.
More volunteers are needed for the Middle-earth weekend in 2013. To make next year’s weekend happen, the organisers need additional willing, enthusiastic and above all, committed volunteers. Preparations for the weekend start in the New Year and if you would like to make a contribution to the running of this unique event, please contact Viv Wilkes or Stevie Prior via middleearthweekend@gmail.com.
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Lording it Over Us?
The last week has seen the effective demise of proposals to reform the House of Lords. After a century of promises, papers, reports and commissions this was very disappointing. The 21st Century is surely time for a more democratic second chamber - but please don't call it a 'senate'!
There can be no justification for half of our parliament being appointed through the patronage of party leaders to lifetime terms of office – an arrangement that we have the doubtful pleasure of sharing with Belize, Burkina Faso, and Jordan. There's also no excuse for supporting a system that allows some lawmakers to inherit their office – an arrangement that we currently share only with Lesotho.
Nearly 800 years after Magna Carta, as George Monbiot recently put it, unrepresentative power of the kind familiar to King John and the Barons still holds sway. There is no excuse for more than half of the country's lawmakers to sit in Parliament without an electoral mandate from the people.
I know that there are arguments to the contrary, but whatever happens, some things do need to change. Some of the more reasonable arguments relate to the value of experience, so that, for example, someone who has sat in the Commons would at least know the Westminster ropes and hopefully have acquired a degree of judgment.
While there may be some truth in this, it did not stop an earlier government from abolishing the role of Aldermen (retired, former long-serving councillors) from their role in council decision making. So if this is right for local government I'm sure that it should also be applied to national government. Forgive me for seeking consistency here.
There is also the question of business experience - all well and good so far as it goes (bankers, financial services, insurance, much of the legal profession and certain security firms excepted) but how many of the Lords would have experience of living on the minimum wage or surviving on benefits and about which they approve life-affecting legislation? A lopsided set of experiences may not lead to overall good decision making - as I'm afraid we know to our cost.
In addition to all of this there are some disconcerting features about the larger half of Parliament. For example, in the present House of Lords:
40% of members were educated in just 12 private schools
Seven out of ten members are party political appointments
Half of the members come from London and the South East
More than a quarter are former MPs
Only one in five are women
As is clear from these facts, while its debates often have a reasonable tone and behaviour is undoubtedly better than in the Commons - it could hardly be worse - the House of Lords as presently constituted does not, in its composition, reflect the country that it helps to govern.
It is surely preferable for lawmakers to hold their place in Parliament through the directly expressed will of the people. This would give them greater legitimacy in standing up to a Cabinet and a Commons that can become obsessed with failing agendas and detached from reality and the best interests of the country.
There can be no justification for half of our parliament being appointed through the patronage of party leaders to lifetime terms of office – an arrangement that we have the doubtful pleasure of sharing with Belize, Burkina Faso, and Jordan. There's also no excuse for supporting a system that allows some lawmakers to inherit their office – an arrangement that we currently share only with Lesotho.
Nearly 800 years after Magna Carta, as George Monbiot recently put it, unrepresentative power of the kind familiar to King John and the Barons still holds sway. There is no excuse for more than half of the country's lawmakers to sit in Parliament without an electoral mandate from the people.
I know that there are arguments to the contrary, but whatever happens, some things do need to change. Some of the more reasonable arguments relate to the value of experience, so that, for example, someone who has sat in the Commons would at least know the Westminster ropes and hopefully have acquired a degree of judgment.
While there may be some truth in this, it did not stop an earlier government from abolishing the role of Aldermen (retired, former long-serving councillors) from their role in council decision making. So if this is right for local government I'm sure that it should also be applied to national government. Forgive me for seeking consistency here.
There is also the question of business experience - all well and good so far as it goes (bankers, financial services, insurance, much of the legal profession and certain security firms excepted) but how many of the Lords would have experience of living on the minimum wage or surviving on benefits and about which they approve life-affecting legislation? A lopsided set of experiences may not lead to overall good decision making - as I'm afraid we know to our cost.
In addition to all of this there are some disconcerting features about the larger half of Parliament. For example, in the present House of Lords:
40% of members were educated in just 12 private schools
Seven out of ten members are party political appointments
Half of the members come from London and the South East
More than a quarter are former MPs
Only one in five are women
As is clear from these facts, while its debates often have a reasonable tone and behaviour is undoubtedly better than in the Commons - it could hardly be worse - the House of Lords as presently constituted does not, in its composition, reflect the country that it helps to govern.
It is surely preferable for lawmakers to hold their place in Parliament through the directly expressed will of the people. This would give them greater legitimacy in standing up to a Cabinet and a Commons that can become obsessed with failing agendas and detached from reality and the best interests of the country.
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Sign up for Alan Turing
Turing was, through his undaunted code-breaking at Bletchley Park, one of the hidden heroes of the Second World War who by his brilliance and dedication saved countless allied lives. The official bigotry he received in return and the conviction and chemical mutilation that led to his premature death was utterly tragic.
There have been quite a few tributes to Turing and piecemeal recognitions here and abroad and also pieces concerning his pardoning or 'rehabilitation' - but of course it is the government at the time that needs the pardoning and the attitudes of those days towards sexual orientation that need the rehabilitation if that were possible.
Despite an official Government apology in 2009 by way of a statement in the House of Commons there remains a strong case for a full hearted and unequivocal recognition of Turing's contribution not only to cryptanalysis but to computing science, mathematics and wider inspiration that is evident to the population as a whole.
So I was delighted to discover that there is an e-petition to feature Turing on the £10 note. You can sign it at epetitions.direct.gov.uk The petition is open until the 21st of March 2013 and there are some 20,000 signatures so far - so there is a good chance of reaching the crucial figure of 100,000 by that time.
While it is the Bank of England that decides who is featured on banknotes, they could hardly ignore a positive vote in Parliament in a debate triggered by the requisite 100,000 signatures from members of the public. Let's hope that we can get there - Alan Turing's memory deserves no less.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Towards the Common Good
The present position of society both in its economic and social aspects is increasingly dysfunctional and ill-served by many institutions as they now stand. This is the damaged state that we are now in. We are faced with choices that we do not want but if, in the longer term, we want to see an end to austerity, anxiety, inequity and lost esteem then I believe that measures need to be taken (set out in earlier postings) entirely different from those propounded by what is turning out to be one of the worst governments in living memory. These measures - Keynesian, interventionist and equitable will take time - a long time - to have full effect but they are urgent and the consequences of not taking action are severe. These steps are needed to form a bedrock upon which a Virtuous Economy can be founded and enable the rebuilding of national morale, and the personal and mutual self respect and security that contribute to the Common Good.
Good governance is desperately needed. Active and positive engagement is a necessary virtue, aiding and abetting the achievement of common goals with Government setting aside timidity and doctrine, releasing itself from nefarious influences providing its political funding and involving itself proactively in the process of building a wider and lasting prosperity. Prosperity itself is by no means an ignoble goal, but it is important to bear in mind that affluence is a condition and not a value. The true worth of an economy is found not in measures of monetary worth or league tables, but in the achievement of a broader well-being and the underpinning social and moral values.
At the individual level, in contrast to this exploited, deceived and litigious age when good people are rendered fearful for their future and that of their families, a Virtuous Economy, a citizenry of good intent with commonly held moral values, and the concept of stewardship more than the overhyped 'leadership' will make possible the creation of a Good Society cleansed of these negative qualities. A desire to do good - in other words to behave virtuously - should become second nature. This is the basis of the Virtuous Economy and the enhancement of the Common Good.
All of this could be done if the commitment was there. Outside of the governing class, the viperous press and the commercial elite, I believe that it is. An economy is not an abstract entity to be revered - rather it is what we choose to make it. The Common Good can be enhanced with or without economic growth - if we decide to do so. Perspectives can be changed, commerce can be reformed, Government can be engaged, exemplar institutions with a public service ethos can be created and moral re-education undertaken. Time, commitment and patience are required but the journey this time will be towards the Common Good rather than our decades long journey away from it and the likelihood of 'bumping along the bottom' for two more decades.
Good governance is desperately needed. Active and positive engagement is a necessary virtue, aiding and abetting the achievement of common goals with Government setting aside timidity and doctrine, releasing itself from nefarious influences providing its political funding and involving itself proactively in the process of building a wider and lasting prosperity. Prosperity itself is by no means an ignoble goal, but it is important to bear in mind that affluence is a condition and not a value. The true worth of an economy is found not in measures of monetary worth or league tables, but in the achievement of a broader well-being and the underpinning social and moral values.
At the individual level, in contrast to this exploited, deceived and litigious age when good people are rendered fearful for their future and that of their families, a Virtuous Economy, a citizenry of good intent with commonly held moral values, and the concept of stewardship more than the overhyped 'leadership' will make possible the creation of a Good Society cleansed of these negative qualities. A desire to do good - in other words to behave virtuously - should become second nature. This is the basis of the Virtuous Economy and the enhancement of the Common Good.
All of this could be done if the commitment was there. Outside of the governing class, the viperous press and the commercial elite, I believe that it is. An economy is not an abstract entity to be revered - rather it is what we choose to make it. The Common Good can be enhanced with or without economic growth - if we decide to do so. Perspectives can be changed, commerce can be reformed, Government can be engaged, exemplar institutions with a public service ethos can be created and moral re-education undertaken. Time, commitment and patience are required but the journey this time will be towards the Common Good rather than our decades long journey away from it and the likelihood of 'bumping along the bottom' for two more decades.
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