Monday, March 17, 2008

Nine Lords a'Blogging

An email arrives from the aristocracy:
'I wanted to let you know about a new blog launched today called 'Lords of the Blog'. You will be pleased to know that we have added your blog on our blogroll so if you could reciprocate or post a short story on your blog about the new pilot, that would be much appreciated. Here's some more information about the initiative: Lords of the Blog is a new collaborative online blog, launched and written by Members of the House of Lords to increase public engagement with the work of the Upper House and its Members. Nine Peers have come together from across the House to make short regular entries providing an insight into the business of the House of Lords and to talk about their own activities in and around the Chamber. Members will write and upload material and moderate user comments themselves.'
A cursory glance at the blog suggests it is all rather jolly, so go there - after all, they are telling people to come here. My American readers may be interested to know that protocol requires that the Lords blog in full ermine, their feet resting on a foundling child.

13 comments:

  1. Lord Lipsey says he wants to see the end of hereditaries and the expulsion of "criminals" and "tax evaders", but the only thing he doesn't want is their lordships to be appointed by election.
    How then does he propose they should be selected?
    I couldn't see what was wrong with the hereditary selection of peers - you got a far more representative body of people selected by God, and a few "criminals" and "tax evaders" made it even more so.
    I much preferred it to the entrenched self-serving political class that has taken hereditary power since they got rid of the previous hereditaries who were the only check on their power. If you see what I mean.

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  2. No caption competition, then? It's all too easy for them.

    I think they should be voted for on a similar basis to the Big Brother house. I mean, we could start off by chanting at a lot of them - ''oo-are-yah?! oo-are-yah?!'' The blog could be their on-line Diary Room. Maybe they could perform the whole thing on ice.

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  3. My joy is unconfined, at last, we can communicate with the people of real substance, (Lard Archer etc) not with their understrappers in the house of commons.

    This is from someone called baroness Murphy...

    My monthly Board meeting this morning at Monitor, the regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts. Monitor makes sure Trusts are well-managed and financially strong so that they can deliver excellent healthcare for patients.NHS foundation trusts are a key part of the reform programme in the NHS. They are autonomous organisations, free from central Government control. They decide how to improve their services and can retain any surpluses they generate or borrow money to support these investments. They establish strong connections with their local communities; local people can become members and....etc, etc, etc.

    This one either...

    A..commutes in from Betelgeuse every morning.

    B..lives in an aneoic chamber with no telecommunications.

    C..has zero knowledge of the German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Austrian, Belgian, Luxembourg and Swiss healthcare systems.

    D..all three of the above

    She must have a working knowledge of Chechnya`s system, which is after all, what ours is based upon.
    Except the doctors pay & pensions, which are world leading.

    Malty

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  4. To paraphrase (I picked up the idea from him) Bryan's hero, Jean Baudrillard, our inability to face the truth means that we live in a form of unreality in modern Britain - meta-reality I think he called it - which means in this case, that we largely ignore the political process (as is right for most people because it is so boring) and thus allow unpleasant dysfunctional power-hungry muppets to rule us.
    At the same time we have deprived of power the very people who might have tried to do the right thing by us - the class of people with a hereditary instinct for service (I'm not just talking about peers) through the heresy of egalitarianism.
    Why on earth should we expect it to have turned out any differently?

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  5. They want to be on your blogroll but do they realise that would put them in the deeply unsavoury company of Elberry, Chip Dale - Welsh male stripper - and Richard Madeley - chat show host turned psychopath?

    Do they know just what they're asking?

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  6. Get in there, Elberry, I'm sure you'll teach 'em.

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  7. Gave them some straight talk, try to buck 'em up a bit and give them some oomph.

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  8. Well I take my hat off to them! (or should I be tugging me forelock? well, I don't have a forelock to tug so doffing will have to do). Only yesterday did I make the suggestion about including (nice) photos and today there are some! Now that's what I call democracy in action.

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  9. Whats going on here then ?

    Three times I have tried to post the comments below on their blog, each time they say "your comment is awaiting moderation", then zilch, censorship or a duff setup ?
    Or are my genuflections not pronounced enough ?, or perhaps they don`t like geordies. I even toned down the last two tries.

    Dear Lobs

    Please can we have our democracy back.

    Would you kindly ask Sauron the following…

    What is the price of gold today.

    Can we have our pensions back.

    When will he be holding the referendum.

    Thanking you in anticipation, Malty

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  10. Update..
    They posted the following..

    "Please may we have our democracy back"

    The date is Wed 19 Mar 2008, in a western democracy, the very people employed to curb the excesses of our rulers are afraid to publish what we say, sound familiar?
    I fear that the only way to get them off our backs will be a revolution.
    Fuck Them
    Malty

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  11. Well blow me down, just checked their blog and they have included all of my post, funny that.
    Dear Nine, I did not really mean it when I said fuck you, well, not entirely

    Looking forward to some deep and meningfull blogging
    Malty

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  12. "My American readers may be interested to know that protocol requires that the Lords blog in full ermine, their feet resting on a foundling child."

    An Englishman would, of course, already know this...

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  13. They have also caught the london failed bombers. I understand that they are almost definately guilty, but I do fear how they are going to get a fair trial. Would hate to be the Judge on that case.

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