Why do female drivers pose such a threat? Well, pretty much for the same reason that women getting onto bicycles did in the late C19th.
And for a Point Thahr, Misst letter about the Stamford Hill ban on women drivers (scroll down): The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, is vehement in her condemnation of the edict that purports to prevent parents ( Read more... )

I am sure we have seen what tends to get described as heated in-fighting in the poetic community before - last time they appointed an Oxford Professor of Poetry, and wasn't there some internal wrangle in the Poetry Society?
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka hit back at claims by broadcaster Melvyn Bragg that he was too old and “grand” for the role at ( Read more... )

However:
Literature’s greatest comebacks (and why they are so often made by men) - which possibly overlooks the women who never got the chance to make a comeback, either because of the kind of crippling writer's block that afflicted Antonia White, were overwhelmed by the demands of marriage, motherhood and domesticity, or who were felt to have ( Read more... )

Further to my post yesterday apropos of 'annoying maverick' trope, and riffing off something I was reading (#iftoldyouidhavetokillyou), and a piece today about the kinds of people (i.e. celebs) who get awards and accolades for their charitable works: But you know who else does a lot for charity? People who work for charities every day. People ( Read more... )

Interesting, well, fairly, piece on contraception and the experiences of women of several generations with same. Let us note the difference between woman now in her 20s 'A conversation revealed that a lot of us forget to take our pills' (which is such a post-availability of morning-after pill attitude?) and Yvonne Roberts, who is, approx, my ( Read more... )

As my dr rdrz may have gathered (since, yo, they b heerin my whingeing from Mars) the last few months have involved my bopping around giving several popular rather than scholarly presentations on a variety of topics in a number of diverse cultural institutions.

One of which is on the shortlist for an award.

I, and various other individuals who were ( Read more... )

Apparently, yes.

James Crosby to give up knighthood and 30% of pension:
Sir James Crosby, the former boss of HBOS, has asked for his knighthood to be revoked after a scathing report by MPs found that he sowed the "seeds of destruction" at one of Britain's biggest banks ( Read more... )

Or, O HAI, Bad Sex Award 2011! David Guterson comes first (huhr huhr c wot they did thahr?? nudge wink)

The Literary Review's own roundup in detail - as opposed to the short list - doesn't seem to be available online (or only behind a paywall) - it's in the most recent issue. But here is an article by one of the judges: Bleak encounters.

I discover ( Read more... )

Dept of Tube ( Read more... )

I have a few days off with the intention of ploughing on with The Textbook revision, and although there was a point where I thought I should never escape the chapter about the Victorians I have been making reasonable progress.

It has been exceedingly peaceful around these parts today - I think I once heard a distant police siren but that would not ( Read more... )