And today's Sun has…
Mr T Henry ("a player of Association Football, m'lud") saying that he thinks bullying is wrong.
Nothing else, at least in the online edition. I'll try to check a printed version later.
Mind you, the DFES website is stunningly quiet about the 'Stand Up for Us' anti-homophobic bullying guidance that's supposed to be launched today.
Looking for Stephen's non-constituency matter contact details, I see from the DFES website that
On Tuesday 23 November, Stephen Twigg will also be launching new guidance, Stand Up for Us, which will be made available to schools. Stand Up for Us sets out a practical approach for schools to quickly assess the scale of homophobic bullying they face.
Hmm, so it's possible that the issue of homophobic bullying was being 'postponed' to tomorrow as part of that launch.
Let's see what The Sun carries about it, because omitting it from today's list still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
They've done a major article and 'The Sun Says' on bullying (they're against it) including a piece by Stephen Twigg, schools minister.
Part of the article includes the 'why' box:
KIDS are bullied for a whole variety of reasons which stop them “fitting in”. Here are some of the main categories which can lead to taunts and violence:
Any kind of DISFIGUREMENT of the skin or face such as birth marks, eczema, severe acne, prominent moles or hare lips.
Having an odd BODY SHAPE, such as being too fat, skinny, short or tall. Dodgy HAIRCUTS, especially old-fashioned styles, ginger hair, headlice and loss of hair because of illness.
Any SPEECH peculiarity such as a stutter, stammer or markedly different accent.
A MEDICAL condition such as asthma or short-sightedness. Kids wearing thick glasses, a brace on their teeth or orthopaedic shoes may be seen as weak.
Children from ETHNIC MINORITIES, foreigners or refugees may be picked on, especially if the school has few other kids from different backgrounds.
The wrong type or make of CLOTHES, particularly trainers, and ill-fitting, second-hand uniform. A lack of talent at SPORT, especially football, and a liking for “geeky” or “sissy” hobbies.
Anything unusual in the FAMILY BACKGROUND, for example if the parents are very poor, can lead to victimisation.
Note the omission of sexual orientation?
Particularly odd given that Stephen's gay.
(Was at http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004541372,,00.html but pages aren't kept for very long.)
The Marines' Hymn, 2004 version
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the mosques of old Iraq
Us Marines are so much better
At killing men who can't shoot back
It's easy if they're wounded
Like shooting a sitting duck
The line 'Keep our honor clean'?
We say: who gives a fuck!
should you kiss goodbye to your inflatable sheep sex toy?
Perhaps I should rephrase that… 🙂
Presumably they're also offended by dolphin shaped dildos too, and let's not get into the ones shaped like animal penises…
I had a letter from Parcelforce at work yesterday. It was from Kevin King, who is apparently my local Parcelforce Worldwide Sales Executive, telling me how in the past two years, they have completely revamped their company and invested in the latest leading-edge technology and software which has dramatically changed the service they offer!
Oooh.
And what's more, if we open an account with them they'll deliver my first parcel absolutely free!
Oooh.
One catch though: the account must be opened and the first parcel sent by 30th October…
Oh. For a second there, I was expecting their service to have, you know, improved, because I didn't believe it was possible for it to have got dramatically worse… but evidently it is.
There's this organisation which is well-known in the sex work field. But despite their enviable access to the great and the good, they're… a little out of touch.
Of course, they're doing something on the current government patronisation consultation, 'Paying the Price'.
Hardly any of their members have email – it looks like some don't have a word processor – so because we have a link with them, I've been scanning and OCRing individual members' responses to help them make an organisational one.
One thing a leader of this organisation has written about is convincing buyers of sex that using a condom is necessary.
She's got two reasons she thinks will encourage them.
1) to prevent catching and passing on STD's
Very good… now have a guess what the second one is.
From an interview in USA Today (tries to open a pop-up)
Q: Speaking of security, Internet Explorer has had well-publicized holes …
Gates: Understand those are cases where you are downloading third-party software.
Well, yes. IE's holes could well be described as "where you are downloading third-party software".
The problem is that it's when IE is letting nasty people send you software that you don't actually want to have…
Gates: More has been invested in making IE secure than any [sic] browser on the planet by a long shot. Nothing is going to change. That's the one over 90% of people are going to keep using.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1319767,00.html
Over the years, there have been lots of reasons to dislike it – at one point it was actively removing the b-word from articles – and some truly awful stories (my favourite was a 1988 front page that said Labour could win a by-election in Kensington, based on… asking a dozen people, none of whom had a vote, at 3am in some nightclub, not in the constituency. Yeah, that's a valid sample…)
But it's been better recently, I got my job via an ad in it, and I'll miss it.
I laughed when I read the first sentence in a story in the Metro last week:
When having sex with a woman, most men would be turned off if they knew another man was nearby.
Mind you, it may just be the people I know. ('If your friends were normal people, they would not know you', remember, though it looks like the Nature article has vanished.)
Oh, yes – the story was that male meadow voles react to the presence of other male meadow voles by producing more sperm…