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Words Matter. Phrasing Matters
On the BBC Radio 3 news this morning:
As part of the Brexit extension process, Britain is obliged to take part in the EU elections.
Instead of making it sound like a burden is being placed upon us, how about saying something like:
As part of the European Union’s democratic processes, Britain, like all member states, enjoys the right to hold elections for members of the European Parliament.
How you express things affects how people think about them.
Not to make a political point from today’s black-hole news — I would never do a thing like that — but isn’t it great what humans can accomplish when we collaborate between nations?
Far better than, say, building walls between nations, or breaking international treaties.
Aw man. Ranking Roger has died. Only 56: too young.
The European Parliament’s outreach team (or “institutional, non-partisan communication action”) is encouraging us to sign up at This Time I’m Voting. I will be, as I always do — assuming, of course, that we in the UK are able to.
Ah, Carrot. You make checking the weather a joy.
The petition has crossed the three million mark.
Rafael Behr has a great piece in The Guardian about May being finished.
It even has a Hamilton reference.
About to head out to the school for our last ever parents’ evening.
And it’s over a million.
Parliamentary petitions, including “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU,” have a “Show on a map” feature. I note without comment that the second-most signatures of any London constituency are currently in Islington North. Its MP is one J Corbyn.
As the big “Revoke Article 50″ petition approaches 600,000 signatures:
Petitions is down for maintenance
We know about it and we’re working on it.
Please try again later.
I think we broke parliament.uk. Which feels like some kind of metaphor.
Good thread from Mitch Benn (@MitchBenn) here, setting out how the conversation around Europe could improve if Brexit is stopped. Just six tweets. Go read.
Off to the cinema and apparently back to the nineties tonight.
I love Star Trek: Discovery, but the latest episode, ‘Project Daedalus,’ was infuriating, because they didn’t use an obvious and well-established feature of the programme to get out of a fatal situation.
Finally, some good might come of the Brexit fiasco:
From a senior Tory: “Feels like the last rites of the Tory party”. Slightly overstating perhaps. But captures the mood
— Robert Peston (@Peston) 12 March 2019
Realistically, of course, they’ll cling on at all costs. But “the last rites of the Tory party” is such a pleasant thought.
Carrot Weather on the zeitgeist again.
I hadn’t even seen this story about Morrissey and his politics and collaborators when I made my last post. But I’m baffled by this quote:
Representatives for Lydia Night of California band the Regrettes offered no comment, but the 18-year-old told punk magazine Kerrang!: “I’ve grown up loving the Smiths – my cat’s name is Morrissey!”
Emphasis mine. When I were a lad — and, indeed, when it was launched — Kerrang! was a heavy metal magazine. A flagship of one of the enemy camps in the Punk Wars. Has it really changed, or is The Guardian just misinformed?
Or maybe the lines are more blurred than ever before, so it doesn’t really matter.
“Tables in Numbers can’t support more than 65,535 rows.” What nonsense is this, Apple?
Brexiters think the BBC is anti-brexit. Remainers think the BBC is pro-Brexit. Does that mean it’s really getting it right and keeping balanced? Inspired by this tweet:
Hilarious that anyone could think #r4today was anti-Brexit https://t.co/uWRv9nnu2J
— Jane #CheckBrexit #MakeItStop (@localnotail) February 7, 2019
which indirectly links to this report about Radio 4 losing listeners. Speaking from personal experience I’d say its listeners are not going to “commercial rivals” so much as to podcasts. But I’m only one data point.
Off to see Sir Billiam of Bragg at Islington Assembly Hall. Hoping for A Great Leap Forwards.
Motion of no confidence! Yay!