Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Links for Wednesday

I actually wrote 'Tuesday' to begin with. That's bank holidays for you. Isn't it? Mm.

Anyway, look, can I begin with an appeal to those of you who may have stumbled across the beer phenomenon known as man-in-a-box. I've seen that fat stein-wielding man in his box winking at me as I've headed towards the carpet many times in my callow years; I think he deserves to be back, for he has been supplanted by a rather banal view of the Bavarian countryside. Time was when you could stagger sober into a pub anytime, anywhere, and know you could be in the realms of floorboard-thumping insanity within moments, thanks to that fat fella in his box. I can't even remember what the lager tasted like; I just remember ordering four man-in-boxes at the bar and getting pleasantly merry. Please, for the sake of everyone's nostalgia everywhere, I think in these credit-crunched times it would be a massive boost to the nation's spirits to see the little Alpine fella back where he belongs, in his box. Sign here!

Elsewhere, Zarathustra at Liberal Conspiracy argues that nurses are getting a raw deal. It seems they're a bit of an easy target, given that they're public servants and therefore part of the much-hated public sector; of course, as I suspected, there's some microchip implanted in the brains of people who write for stuffy newspapers like the Times which actually forces them to talk about 'matron' when they think of nurses, like Hattie Jacques turning up is going to solve every fucking thing ever. Read this article instead and then go and have a look at the blogs it links to. It's more than the "Bring back Matron!" fuckwits will ever have done in the way of research.

Mark Easton over at the BBC writes an interesting piece about how he feels people are treated like toddlers by the Government and by society in general.

On a train the other day, the announcer told us: "Do take care when leaving the train". There is part of me that immediately wants to exit the train in a "care-free" manner. Hopping, perhaps. Sprinkling marbles on the ground as I go.

It's pretty interesting to me that he's saying quite a lot of things that Littlejohn might come out with, yet I don't have the urge to push him in front of a tram. I don't know why that might be; probably because Easton resists the temptation to blame all this nonsense on political correctness, or elfnsafetygawnmad or other such phonetically-spelled things, or some other pointless, improbable and demonstrably wrong Aunt Sally; and probably because he's not a sneery bastard with a cruel streak for minorities who grandstands to bigots and scum twice-weekly while pretending that he's actually the victim in all this. Yes, I think that might be it.

Mornington at Feminazery looks at the pearl-clutching shock and outrage at the revelation that the first European may well have been a bit browner than people might like to imagine. Fairly obvious to anyone who sits down and thinks about it for more than five minutes, but far too much to handle for the readers of the Mail, who have launched into an astonishing attack not only on evolution but also on the whole idea that Europeans may be descended from brown folk as some kind of PCgawnmad plot to indoctrinate us all.

Five Chinese Crackers looks again at Paul Dacre's completely mendacious twaddle wanked out to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and why his own newspaper has directly contradicted it within days of him having smugly sat there droning away. And, would you believe it, it concerns a MigrationWatch press release that wasn't checked at all by journalists before being chucked into the paper. Goodness!

Sunny at Pickled Politics talks about the list of people who've not been allowed into the UK for thought-crimes. I can't help wondering why the list's come out and what point there is to it, other than to suggest that Muslims are disproportionately bad people or that there is a seriously large propensity towards wingnuttery in Islam. I don't know. Maybe the Government is trying a dog-whistle to its beloved racist friends on the far-right by demonstrating just how many Islamists they're prepared to deny freedom of speech to. I just don't get it, but there you are.

If, incidentally, you don't think that the Government likes to pander to the far-right, then you've never heard of Phil Woolas. Justin points out exactly just how far he's been prepared to go to court the far-right or display New Labour's 'tough on immigration' credentials. Still think that Labour's a liberal party?

Angry Mob points out that the Mail, having tried to convince you for days that swine flu was going to murder your babies and smash their brains on your car windscreen, is now suggesting that it might not be such a bad thing if you actually went out and got it. What? Really? Oh yes.

A Very Public Sociologist takes on the mighty intellect of Nadine Dorries, who has decided that Twitter is A Bad Thing. Presumably because it's not a one-way conversation and means that you actually have to interact with others and listen to their points of view, which is so clearly an alien concept to her.

Finally, Johann Hari is brave enough to stick his head above the parapet and claim that Thatcherism wasn't the most wonderful brilliant invention ever. He's probably alone in the entirety of Fleet Street, given that as we speak glowing tributes are being prepared to the Iron Lady from everyone ever, and that, as with Reagan, every bad aspect will be glossed over when she dies.

But please, let's get that man back in his box.

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Related posts:

1. Links 12/5/09
2. Links 19/5/09
3. Some links 6/3/9
4. Links 21/1/10
5. Links 11/2/10