Continuing this delicious thread, I taught myself how to write. Everything I needed to know about grammar came out of a book that cost me just under ten pounds. It's amazing how much you can save if you shop around. I think that all this time and heart-ache lavished upon our educational institutions - undeservedly, of course - will just disappear when people learn that the Internet combined with a neural slice of determination will offer everybody an education that can beat the living socks off Eton, Harrow, Oxford and Harvard (disclaimer: I'm a student at a college of the U of L - not telling which, since it's small enough for you to stalk me - so I may be somewhat biased). 
Good to see that £7,875 per term for a Harrow education buys you a tasty serving of illiteracy. Quoteth Monsieur Wickson, the English teacher from said high-flying school: "...some of our candidates still cannot spell common words and have no clear idea of what a sentence is or how to punctuate it". Boom! And from the article: "the remarkable thing is that these are not necessarily the weakest pupils, but include those who have been awarded grade A or even A-star in their English GCSE". I guess if one's parents can afford just under eight thousand pounds a term for schooling, one does not need such worldly faculties as literacy. What was it? "Then doth all worldelie pleasure past apere... all vanitee".
A character named "bulbosaur" on the CiF boards has some intelligent things to say about how the "-phobe" appelation is now being used for everything. It seems to mask the more important issue which is whether or not a belief one has is rational. For instance, I believe that radical Islam is a danger to our liberties. Does this make me an Islamophobe? No. I don't have a phobia or fear about Muslims. I don't run and hide when I see a woman in a burka on the street. The correct response to my belief about the incompatibility of radical Islam and any meaningful conception of liberty is to tell me I'm wrong, not to try and diagnose me with a made-up mental illness.
Humourless "community leaders" in the East End are protesting the filming of Monica Ali's "Brick Lane". The minor inconvenience that this is a work of fiction doesn't seem to perturb the direction of the great communal mind. (Via 3quarksdaily)
I really need to change my day. It's too hot during the day at the moment. Now, to reverse my sleep cycles so that I can work during the cooler hours.
Mike has put out a new version of Grazr on to the live servers, which means that on all the sites that use Grazr, you'll see some changes. The changes are all mostly aesthetic, but Adam has said to the preview people: "We have some interesting surprises planned that I think you'll appreciate". I'll say no more, except that those interesting surprises are both interesting and surprising. 
A killer consultation gig 
Stephen Pollard gives a nice digested version of the FCO story that's been brewing for a few days: "Mockbul Ali, the FCOs Islamic issues adviser, pressed for the granting of entry visas to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which exists to promote the establishment of an Islamic state brought about by jihad..."
"Mr Ali has also championed entry for Delwar Hossain Sayeedi a Bangladeshi MP who demands further terror against the West because the UK and the US deserve all that is coming to them for overthrowing the Taleban in Afghanistan... His colleague Angus McKee has even proposed direct funding of groups dedicated to wiping out Western civilisation".
For those of you who can't quite recall the name 'Yusuf al-Qaradawi', he has a television show called "Sharia and Life" and has published lots of books about sharia law. He believes in democracy and thinks that extremist acts should be condemned. He also believes in executing anyone who is found guilty of homosexuality (although quite how they should be executed is a matter of serious scholarly debate: chucking them from a high place, burning, etc.), supports female circumcision and killing anyone who leaves the Muslim faith. He condemns 9/11 but supports Palestinian terrorists blowing up buses filled with innocent people.
But he does believe that singing and dancing are acceptable and that cinema is lawful. So, you can cut up your daughter's vagina without her consent and kill infidels, but because you can sing and dance about it afterwards, that is the mark of a moderate. Ken Livingstone's doing us such an important service by having tea with this lovely man. If he weren't so busy preaching fire and brimstone around the world, he'd be a great "community leader". You can read more about him here.
