Looking down on London 1666 and 2016

Spectacular views, eh? 

and then I came across this painting

The second biggest bibliographic tragedy after the burning of Alexandria Library

I never heard this before but now that I have read it, its so tragic!

http://talkinghumanities.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2016/08/30/burning-books-the-great-fire-of-london/

In September 1666, the ‘lamentable and dismal fire’ that we now know as the Great Fire consumed most of the City of London, from Fleet Street to the edges of the Tower of London, coating what remained in inches of soot, destroying homes, churches and ancient company halls, and causing many thousands to sleep out under the late-summer stars. As many as 100,000 people were rendered homeless, more than 80 churches were razed, along with St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Exchange and the Guildhall. Within three days, four-fifths of the ancient city had been destroyed.The flames not only consumed buildings, but also paintings, tapestries, and evaporated thousands of gallons of wine, beer and other liquor (estimated at over £1m in value). Many thousands of books and manuscripts also joined the pyre in perhaps one of the most terrible, and perhaps neglected, losses of the Great Fire. As one chronicler of the fire notes ‘Never since the burning of the great library at Alexandria had there been such a holocaust of books’ (W G Bell, The Great Fire of London in 1666

When I nearly fell into the gutter and met with old London Ghosts

So I found out about a little secret that London has. So off I went

So I have arrived at the intersection of Charing Cross Road and Old Compton Street in Soho. 

See? lovely old place full of book stores of the dodgy kind.  

And you peer down into the grate. Can you see what I am peering at?

Can you see two signs? Saying Old Compton Street?

Its full of wires and stuff, but the side signs are what are thoroughly fascinating. So the background is that long time back, the street level was much much lower than now. There used to be a pub here and many more buildings.

But in 1896, all this stuff was demolished and the current Charing Cross Road constructed with an office building on top. So nothing else remains, other than these two signs showing two levels of the London street.

it was strange, standing in the middle of the very busy street, peering up and down the grate, getting some very weird looks at me. And then just stood there trying to imagine the old London. I could really feel it, its one of those places where the old London Ghosts roam.

Living standards and plague in London, 1560–1665

First the abstract

This article uses individual records of 930,000 burials and 630,000 baptisms to reconstruct the spatial and temporal patterns of birth and death in London from 1560 to 1665, a period dominated by recurrent plague. The plagues of 1563, 1603, 1625, and 1665 appear of roughly equal magnitude, with deaths running at five to six times their usual rate, but the impact on wealthier central parishes falls markedly through time. Tracking the weekly spread of plague, we find no evidence that plague emerged first in the docks, and in many cases elevated mortality emerges first in the poor northern suburbs. Looking at the seasonal pattern of mortality, we find that the characteristic autumn spike associated with plague continued into the early 1700s. Natural increase improved as smaller crises disappeared after 1590, but fewer than half of those born survived childhood.

A story of London.

These are the mortality graphs in London plague years by parish relative to median mortality in the preceding five years. What is very clear is that the deaths happened in North London..actually near where we live. Fascinating behaviour. It was quite interesting to imagine how these outbreaks and epidemics would grow through time, can you imagine deaths at 5-6 times normal rampaging through the crowded, dirty tenements of London? fascinating.

The Commoner Who Salvaged a King’s Ransom

Kids

Can you imagine the debt we pay to this man who helped the recovery of so many amazing historical artefacts from the building sites in London? 

The Cheapside treasure hoard will be exhibited in the museum of London.  So if you want to go visit it, that would be great. See what a lovely and interesting link to India. India was a huge gems and jewellery producing country. Most of the huge ancient diamonds came from India, you may have heard of the Peacock Throne. Etc etc. fascinating stories behind these glittering stones. 

Love

Baba

  I

The Commoner Who Salvaged a King’s Ransom
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/08/the-commoner-who-salvaged-a-kings-ransom/

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George Fabian Lawrence, better known as “Stoney Jack,” parlayed his friendships with London navvies into a stunning series of archaeological discoveries between 1895 and 1939.

It was only a small shop in an unfashionable part of London, but it had a most peculiar clientele. From Mondays to Fridays the place stayed locked, and its only visitors were schoolboys who came to gaze through the windows at the marvels crammed inside. But on Saturday afternoons the shop was opened by its owner—a “genial frog” of a man, as one acquaintance called him, small, pouched, wheezy, permanently smiling and with the habit of puffing out his cheeks when he talked. Settling himself behind the counter, the shopkeeper would light a cheap cigar and then wait patiently for laborers to bring him treasure. He waited at the counter many years—from roughly 1895 until his death in 1939—and in that time accumulated such a hoard of valuables that he supplied the museums of London with more than 15,000 ancient artifacts and still had plenty left to stock his premises at 7 West Hill, Wandsworth.

The Commoner Who Salvaged a King’s Ransom

Kids

Can you imagine the debt we pay to this man who helped the recovery of so many amazing historical artefacts from the building sites in London? 

The Cheapside treasure hoard will be exhibited in the museum of London.  So if you want to go visit it, that would be great. See what a lovely and interesting link to India. India was a huge gems and jewellery producing country. Most of the huge ancient diamonds came from India, you may have heard of the Peacock Throne. Etc etc. fascinating stories behind these glittering stones. 

Love

Baba

  I

The Commoner Who Salvaged a King’s Ransom
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/08/the-commoner-who-salvaged-a-kings-ransom/

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George Fabian Lawrence, better known as “Stoney Jack,” parlayed his friendships with London navvies into a stunning series of archaeological discoveries between 1895 and 1939.

It was only a small shop in an unfashionable part of London, but it had a most peculiar clientele. From Mondays to Fridays the place stayed locked, and its only visitors were schoolboys who came to gaze through the windows at the marvels crammed inside. But on Saturday afternoons the shop was opened by its owner—a “genial frog” of a man, as one acquaintance called him, small, pouched, wheezy, permanently smiling and with the habit of puffing out his cheeks when he talked. Settling himself behind the counter, the shopkeeper would light a cheap cigar and then wait patiently for laborers to bring him treasure. He waited at the counter many years—from roughly 1895 until his death in 1939—and in that time accumulated such a hoard of valuables that he supplied the museums of London with more than 15,000 ancient artifacts and still had plenty left to stock his premises at 7 West Hill, Wandsworth.

“It is,” the journalist H.V. Morton assured his readers in 1928,

perhaps the strangest shop in London. The shop sign over the door is a weather-worn Ka-figure from an Egyptian tomb, now split and worn by the winds of nearly forty winters. The windows are full of an astonishing jumble of objects. Every historic period rubs shoulders in them. Ancient Egyptian bowls lie next to Japanese sword guards and Elizabethan pots contain Saxon brooches, flint arrowheads or Roman coins…

There are lengths of mummy cloth, blue mummy beads, a perfectly preserved Roman leather sandal found twenty feet beneath a London pavement, and a shrunken black object like a bird’s claw that is a mummified hand… [and] all the objects are genuine and priced at a few shillings each.

H.V. Morton, one of the best-known British journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, often visited Lawrence’s shop as a young man, and wrote a revealing and influential pen-portrait of him.

This higgledy-piggledy collection was the property of George Fabian Lawrence, an antiquary born in the Barbican area of London in 1861—though to say that Lawrence owned it is to stretch a point, for much of his stock was acquired by shadowy means, and on more than one occasion an embarrassed museum had to surrender an item it had bought from him.

How The London Boroughs Got Their Names

Kids

You may like these horrible histories behind the names of London boroughs. Fascinating. We live in deep historical places kids. We have had Saxons, Celts, Vikings, Romans, Normans and some Picts as well. This was a violent place. Harrow and Stanmore. Absolutely full of warfare but also long periods of peace. Fascinating. 

You have been to the museum of London. Remember this? 

Love

Baba

How The London Boroughs Got Their Names
http://londonist.com/2013/07/how-the-london-boroughs-got-their-names.php

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Fifty years ago today, the London Government Act 1963 received Royal Assent. It paved the way, two years later, for radical changes in London’s political boundaries. The 32 boroughs that we still know, love and pay our council tax to, were created. (The tiny City of London — also known as the Square Mile — holds different political status to the 32 boroughs, and carried on as normal after the Act.)

Many former boroughs (Finsbury and St Pancras, for example) disappeared overnight, though you can still see their names on old street signs around town. The new, bigger, amalgamated boroughs needed new names. In most cases, ancient appellations were chosen. So here’s our guide to the etymology of London’s boroughs. Find out which areas are named after sheep, chalk, crocuses…and a hill in Yorkshire.

Barking and Dagenham

Barking is an ancient, Anglo-Saxon phrase, first recorded as Berecingas. The name either derives from a local chieftan called Bereca or means “the settlement by the birch trees”. Dagenham is also ancient, first recorded as Dæccanhaam in 666 AD. ‘Haam’ means ‘home’ or ‘homestead’ and Dæcca was presumably a local land-owner or leader.

Aethelflaed: Iron Lady of Mercia

An example of another Iron Lady, poignant when another Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher just died. Interesting character kids. And one which isn't taught enough in history. Fascinating. 

We live in London and this place is absolutely drenched in history. Battles were fought few kilometres from our homes between the Romans and native tribes. 

Fascinating

Love

Baba

Aethelflaed: Iron Lady of Mercia | Alex Burghart - Academia.edu
http://www.academia.edu/3214814/Aethelflaed_Iron_Lady_of_Mercia

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Æthelflæd: of Mercia warrior queen 60 BBC History Magazine Anglo-Saxon kings Viking victory Æthelflæd was a far superior ruler to her husband Æthelred, and made Mercia a kingdom to be feared, repelling foes from her borders and bringing unruly neighbours under her control Her deeds are largely forgotten, but as Alex Burghart explains, Æthelflæd turned a cornered kingdom into a powerhouse that defeated the Welsh and the Vikings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx A ALAMY nglo-Saxon history is full of forgotten heroes. This year marks the 1100th anniversary of the accession of one of the most forgotten and, in some ways, one of the most remarkable. In 911, Æthelflæd, daughter of King Alfred the Great (871-99), succeeded her husband, Æthelred, as ruler of the midland realm of Mercia. In doing so she became one of the only Anglo-Saxon women to rule in her own right, and a key player in the period that would shape the formation of England. Rarely has British politics been so turbulent as it was in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. In 866 a huge Danish force had landed in eastern England and started, systematically, to occupy regions and kill kings. By 877 roughly all the territories to the east of Watling Street (the A2) – the kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia, East Mercia (the east Midlands), Lindsey (Lincolnshire) and Northumbria – lay in Danish hands. Nor were they the only hostile power. From early in the ninth century Norse Vikings (from Norway and no friends to the Danes) had established bases in Ireland and were using them as springboards to launch forays on mainland Britain, attacking and sometimes allying themselves with the Welsh kingdoms. Anglo-Saxon England appeared to be on the brink of becoming AngloScandinavian England. It was under these pressures – and others from the Welsh kingdoms to the west – that, in about 879, Æthelred, the new leader of the remaining Mercians, chose to submit to King Alfred of Wessex. Asser, Alfred’s biographer, says that Æthelred agreed ‘that in every respect he would be obedient to the royal will’, and it seems that he was as good as his word. In our sources, Æthelred is never called ‘king’ only ‘ealdorman’ or ‘lord’ – there was to be one king: Alfred, and it is his name alone which appears on the royal charters and coins of the time. So seriously did Alfred take this new alliance that he gave his eldest daughter, Æthelflæd, to Æthelred in marriage. Exactly when this happened is not known

Tunnel vision? Brunel's Thames Tunnel and project narratives

This is a fascinating paper. How large projects are viewed. And when we talk large, I am talking very large, heading into the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars of revenues and/or costs. How you look back at them is fascinating. But the abstract first

Looking at historical projects has much to offer our understanding of project management, for both research and practice. However, there are important challenges in how alternative narratives about such projects are reconstructed and related to each other. To explore these challenges, this paper uses the example of the Thames Tunnel project, completed under the direction of Marc Brunel in 1843, and reputed to be the first tunnel to be built under a major river. In telling the story of the project, we focus on five alternative discourses: technico-rational; practice; networks of people, things, and ideas; politics; and society. The common response to such variety is either to attempt to construct an overarching meta-narrative, or to explore the differences as a way of highlighting the localized and contingent nature of knowledge about projects, or adopt some intermediate position somewhere on the spectrum between these two extremes. Instead we seek a different route grounded in a sociology of knowledge that
acknowledges simultaneous, provisional, and contested processes of division and stabilization in the ways that epistemic communities constitute knowledge through their own narratives and practices. These have implications for the stories that are told about project management and,
crucially, the activities and interests that both shape and are shaped by such narratives.

when one is leading these, the narrative is very important, one has to have control over the narrative. the impact of these projects live very long on and if they go belly up, then the organisation will rarely do any more of these.

This article talks about one of my hero’s, Isambard Brunel and his father and how they used the first tunnel excavation machine to build the Thames tunnel. I wont go too much into this, but some lessons learnt for me. Keep an iron grip on the overall architecture of the project, without the methodology in place, the project dribbles away and dies. The methodology is what keeps the business benefits on stream, these come on board much after the project has been completed. People will forget the project manager but the benefits keep on accruing long after, but if the architecture is wrong, then it will go wrong very quickly.

Second is that shit happens. Very frequently as Brunel found out. And one has to balance these frankly minor blowups against the overall architecture. If conceptually the architecture is fine and its just a minor blowup then one goes ahead…people will drop off, resources will be reduced or increased, stuff keeps on happening..

fun times but one has to be insanely confident to keep driving this, keep the big picture in one’s head and keep driving..

Further on #DianneAbbott concerns about employment in Hackney #ukpolitics

Dianne Abbott was on the Andrew Marr Show today with Ian Duncan Smith. While DA was quite complimentary towards IDS’s views on benefits, she said that we should be careful about cuts because if the public sector contracts, there will be no jobs in the private sector due to the recession. I was surprised at this, why is the public sector suddenly become responsible for providing people with employment? And if you do not find employment in Hackney, why cannot you move to a place where there IS employment? Surely nobody is sitting here saying that they HAVE to have a job at their doorstep? If we do not have freedom of labour inside our own country, what on earth is going on?

So I went looking for some evidence. This is a report which was produced couple of years back. Based upon the graph in page 7, the public sector was the highest employer in the area. A total of 35% were in the public sector. This is in 2003, and I have no reason to believe that this figure has fallen. There are many reasons why there is not much job growth in this area is the lack of suitable premises and very high rental levels. So what has Dianne Abbott done on this? Searching for “rental” on her website provided no hits. There are also no hits on “planning” on her website. Lots of hits on “rents”, but none that I could see related to her attempts to address premises or rents to increase jobs. For jobs there were quite a lot of hits but none that really showed me that she was actually sitting down and addressing the actual problem of entrepreneurs creating jobs. Peripheral stuff yes, transport, crime, poverty, education, Olympics, and and and, but the crucial problems that have been identified for job creation? Not much. She writes an article on Unemployment here.  But her speech doesnt seem to address the basic problems of entrepreneurs who want to set up businesses as identified by the above report. In any case, her figures and assertions were challenged in this post.

Here is some further detail on Hackney’s unemployment situation and it makes for absolute dire reading. For example, 42% of Hackney’s households are on housing benefit and this is rising. DA has been an MP for this area since 1987, its not like she is new in this area. Her wiki entry says that she is interested in race, black people, schools, civil liberties. All very good stuff, but nothing about the basics being done I am afraid. She has asked quite a lot of questions in parliament about Departments: Home Department, Health, International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Education and Skills and Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Haiti, Asylum Seekers, Mental Health, Haiti: Earthquakes, Hackney, but doesnt seem to be doing much on the employment front. How about her pushing to see what was done about the recommendations of this report published in 2006?

The council seem to be full of initiatives (here is another report) but not much result seems to be happening. The unemployment situation is dire and becoming worse. The reasons give are

- Low levels of qualifications

- Lack basic skills for life

- Lack of affordable and accessible childcare

- Sickness and disability

- Poor transport and access to labour market

- Engrained culture of worklessness

- Opportunities presented by the informal economy

13 years of Labour Government, she being there since 1987, and we are STILL seeing these issues? These are all supply side problems mainly, what about the demand side? Why arent they doing what the entrepreneurs and job creators want?

Guess what? Hackney think there are NO red issues. What the hell? How can you NOT have any red issues with unemployment in double figures and half of the damn council’s population on benefits? What will it take to go on the red register? the Black Death Plague? or an Asteroid Landing? So I am afraid I will have to conclude that Dianne Abbott has to do much more about some basic things on the jobs front. Here’s a suggestion, Dianne. Concentrate on speaking to and working with people who are going to give the jobs rather than looking for the public sector or the supply side. If you give people housing, if you give them benefits, and then wonder why unemployment is high, it doesnt work. Get them to move to where the jobs are if that is indeed the problem.

Fire Drills

I used to view fire drills and evacuation from the office with equanimity. At one point, while I was working at another bank, i was even the resident fire marshal and first aider (want to get CPR’ed by me? hehehe, didn't think so), so I was the person who would chivvy people along and worry about clean corridors and stuff.

And after 9/11, nobody minded checking out and doing fire drills. Anyway, it was a great time to go have a beer. Its actually good to be a fire marshal, everybody is your friend (as they want to know when the drill will happen and they would go off in the elevators to the pub, have couple of pints and then return).

Here at the current bank, I didn't get a chance to hook into the network yet and one of my team members who was a fire marshal resigned. So, I was startled when I heard the fire alarm at 11AM. Previously, the unwritten rule was that you dont have a fire alarm in the morning because of business meetings. And you can have a beer post lunch :)

I swore under my breath but then took off manfully. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It was ok for the first 10-15 flights but then it started to get progressively more and more difficult. Many people were smart enough to duck out at the 34th, 25th or the 15th transfer floors but damnfool BD had to keep on going down just to gain the experience. At near the bottom of the building I looked up and saw the sheer number of flights that I had walked down, you can still see people coming down. The worst was the women who were wearing heels, that must have hurt badly, you could hear the click clack of the heels. Many of them took them off. I couldnt because of knees, but they were trembling by the time I came down. Not good.

And suffered for the past 2 days for it. But thinking more about it, if a fire does break out badly, given my time of about 10 minutes to get down, I could barely make out. Some lessons, try to be first out, dont delay, you need to have a clear run. Second, a rubber soled shoe is much better than a leather soled shoe if you have to ever walk down so many flights of stairs, much better on your feet and knees. Keep a spare under your desk if necessary.

Third, just keep on bloody going, no point in taking a breather, you will clog up the stairwells and it doesnt help. Fourth, but trying to head for a lift is stupid frankly, that’s just being lazy, you need to know how to do it at least once. Fifth, while politeness has its place, safety first. If you have a slow moving person in front of you who is slowing down the entire backlog of people, ask them to politely move to the left or right and then move on quickly.

But it was quite interesting and sad at the same time, i was remembering all my friends from Cantor and SunGard in NY who died at the WTC. Sighs, not good.

Goodbye London – great song and great animation

Frigate in the water

Peeked out of the window at the office and I could see a dinky little frigate at the docks. So I took a picture and facebooked as a joke that its sent over from the Government to kick the bankers, no more simple police for us lot then.

Then hared down to look at it closer. It seems to be an Aussie frigate called as HMAS Sydney. It did look a bit battered if you ask me. Here are some details from the local rag.

 

THE Aussies don’t go anywhere without their barbie. That goes for the Royal Australian Navy as well. The frigate HMAS Sydney arrived in the Thames for a goodwill Commonwealth visit to London equipped with its state-of-the-art air defence, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The 4,000-tonne frigate which has been deployed to the Middle East four times and seen action in both Gulf wars, had torpedos, missiles and two Seahawk helicopters on board. But she was also armed to the teeth with barbecue steak and sausages when it moored Canary Wharf. The crew didn’t waste time making themselves at home and throwing a few snags on the barbie and for a cocktail party serving up kangaroo skewers.
The crew were keen to enjoy a few days in London’s East End, while moored in the shadow of the O2 at West India Dock, before weighing anchor yesterday and setting sail for Labrador and Newfoundland on the next leg of their northern hemisphere tour—with their state-of-the art barbie equipment.

That name sounded vaguely familiar to me and I was staring at the damn ship racking my brains as to why on earth would I find it strangely unsettling? When I got back to the office, googled a bit and then it struck me. Here’s the strange story of the ship with the same name. The sheer amazing line of events, eh? Go figure.

London Underground Tube Strike – Sod them all

I had to work from home because London Underground Union bosses want a 5% pay rise. Great, you and rest of the world. Go ahead, strike, you poxy gits. Dont give into them, Boris, let them strike. Dock their pay. We are being held to ransom.

And this song just says it all. Warning, NSFW.

They killed the Canary

Sighs, that’s it, my life sucks now. I am so depressed, they have now killed Canary Wharf.., see? there’s the evidence..

 

Say what you might about these anti capitalist protestors, they do get good protest materials, lol

 

Technorati Tags: Humour

Minister for Higher Education – definitely not a mastermind

This was terrifying. This chap has qualifications from here to kingdom come, he is a Member of Parliament in the UK, studied at SOAS and then Harvard Law School. He was in the Health Ministry, Constitutional Affairs and then Minister for Culture. Now he is responsible for higher education.

So what does this brainiac decide to do? He goes on celebrity mastermind. For those who do not know, its a rather high brow quiz show and you do need to show a modicum of intelligence other wise you show up as an utter twit.

He says he has the gift of the gab. Obviously, his gift of the gab comes with no knowledge of facts or knowledge, but since he is a politician, we do not expect him to do anything with his gab. Some of his answers:

Marie Antoinette discovered radiation.

Rose Revolution happened in Yugoslavia.

Leicester cheese accompanies port.  Leicester is BLUE???!!!!!

Confusing Godfather with Soprano’s.

Didn't know what the purple heart award was for.

and the best one!!!!!

Henry VIII's son was Henry VII (in his defence, he does shake his head after realising that he made a clanger)

What a frightening situation. He didn't even get a story on football right!!!. Now one is definitely worried about the state of Higher Education in the country. Check out his website. It is so much “I, Me, Myself”, let me bang the drum for myself. God, Minister, pipe it down and for heaven’s sake, leave the gab alone.

But the funny thing is, he is a Minister of Higher Education and Intellectual Property. I suspect somebody has stolen his intellectual property, no? For example, I wasted some valuable minutes hearing him talk about progressive young London and what can they do and and and. After watching it, I then tried to think, so what did I take away? I am afraid to say that I am an idiot. Couldn't think of anything concrete to take away…

heavens!

 

 

Technorati Tags: London,Parliament,Politicians,Humour

Jews versus Muslims

You know what I think about the comparison of Jews versus Muslims. Here's another example of the sheer stupidity that is shown in this fight. There is a fight in Gaza and people want to bring the fight on the shores of England. So this chap wants Muslims in London to go after Jews. And to go after people like this:

Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag 91 (New)

The long-serving minister of Manchester's Whitefield Synagogue was cited by the judges for his wider communal role, particularly in the creation of innovative employment projects for Charedim — for example, vocational courses in subjects such as accountancy. Another goal has been working towards an infrastructure for Jewish learning to be available for all ages and abilities. He founded and has maintained an interlinking roster of educational organisations through the Whitefield shul “campus”.

Miriam Benchetrit 92 (New)

A rising name as head of the Rothschild Foundation (Europe), established in 2000 as the Hanadiv Charitable Foundation. The foundation supports the development of Jewish culture and identity, the preservation of Jewish sites and documents, and charities working to advance equality and civil rights. She has professionalised its operations by creating projects, particularly in Eastern Europe. Holder of a BA and MSc in Middle Eastern politics and political theory, she has worked for the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University and Shatil, the New Israel Fund’s centre promoting democracy, tolerance and social justice.

Sami Shamoon 93 (New)

Businessman and big cheese in Sephardi circles in the UK and abroad. Born into a wealthy Iraqi family, he moved to Iran in the late 1940s and spent time in Israel. He and his wife came to England after the Iranian revolution. The Naima JPS Primary School in Maida Vale, West London, is among his British involvements.

Paul Anticoni 94 (New)

Chief executive of World Jewish Relief, which has forged a reputation for its global welfare work for needy Jews, particularly in Eastern Europe. He has brought wide-ranging experience to the role, having managed Red Cross global disaster response operations in Africa, South-East Asia and Kosovo.

Charles Keidan 95 (New)

Director of the Pears Foundation and instrumental in advancing its agenda, which places strong emphasis on a combination of Jewish values, social action and human rights. The 31-year-old was political adviser to colourful Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik before briefly working for the Pears family property business. He was the first employee of the Pears Foundation.

David Hirsh 96 (New)

A sociology lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London, David Hirsh established the Engage website to counter left-wing and trades-union anti-Zionism and antisemitism. He was also to the fore in the campaign to reverse the academic boycott of Israeli universities.

David Kyte 97 (New)

The 47-year-old North Londoner is the co-founder of London Maccabi, the UK’s largest Jewish football club, which runs seven men’s teams and 27 junior sides (aged seven-18) . He is also a trustee of Rowley Lane Maccabi, which owns a 47-acre sporting facility in Arkley, Herts. Traded on the LIFFE market from its inception in 1982 and set up The Kyte Group in 1985.

Ella Marks 98 (New)

President of the League of Jewish Women, one of the community's unsung voluntary-service groups. Introduced to volunteering as a child, accompanying her mother on visits to the elderly in residential homes, she was attracted to the League because it works both within and outside the Jewish community. Trained as a social worker, Mrs Marks went on to lecture in social work and was an Open University tutor for many years.

Mike Freer 99 (New)

The non-Jewish Barnet Council leader and Tory Parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green has worked to build links with the Jewish community, highlighting on his personal profile his membership of Conservative Friends of Israel and involvement in the Barnet Multi-faith Forum.

Linda Grant 100 (New)

Since her first novel, The Cast Iron Shore, in 1996, Linda Grant, 57, has won six major literary awards and been shortlisted for two more. The child of Russian and Polish immigrants has written regularly on Jewish themes. Her latest work, The Clothes On Their Backs, tackles issues including the Holocaust, racism and the dilemma facing Jewish refugees to Britain — maintain a low profile, or seize on opportunities.

Very good news. And to think that this was posted by a gentleman called as saladin1970.5, Veteran Campaigner. The chap obviously does not know about Saladin and how the original fellow behaved and dealt with Jews, but then the chap's ignorance is clear in terms of his appeal. What a silly chap. Then again, if Saddam Hussein can call himself as Saladin, I suppose this brain dead veteran moron ignoramus can do so as well. This chap also posted this post before. Mr. Saladin, you are playing with dangerous things here. But the discussion is saddening.

I sincerely hope the Muslims do not take up this call because this will have 2 issues. (1) it will fan the flames of British originated Terrorism and (2) it will fan the flames of Islamophobia. Please, if Israel and Palestine cannot behave in a civilised manner, lets try to be civilised here in the UK. This will cause issues with the Muslims here and will not help at all.

Technorati Tags: London,Palestine,Terrorism,United Kingdom

London rooftops could be turned into allotments

Now, this is a great idea.

The unused spaces are to be converted into vegetable gardens which would grow potatoes and brussels sprouts in an attempt to feed the 2012 Olympic athletes with home-grown products.

It is thought the flat roofs in London comprise an area 24 times the size of Richmond Park - and their owners will be offered incentives to convert their space.

As environmental awareness has grown, growing vegetables on allotments has become more popular across the country, although London still produces little of its own food.

We should be thinking more along these lines, quite an interesting idea, no?

Technorati Tags: London,Architecture

Some good questions for BoJo, London Mayor

I would be interested in the answers as well to these questions. I wonder if he will answer them.

Technorati Tags: London

Here's the final proof why tube drinking is right to be banned

I am perhaps out of synch with the wider world or am an old fart but still cannot understand why you have to get drunk to enjoy. I used to drink like a fish when young as well, and have sowed my wild oats, lol. But, hey, more fun to have without drinking, anyway, you get to pick up more girls when you are sober than drunk, so go figure.

But well, ok, that's your choice and your liver. But when it comes to public transport, why am I supposed to share that public transport with people who are drunk and disorderly?

I will agree to your right to drink when you are willing to pay for somebody to accompany you and stop you from doing something stupid. You do not have a problem with banning drink drivers, do you? But you have a problem with people drinking on public roads and creating a nuisance? So basically it is hypocrisy because the reason this was done was to rebel against a conservative mayor.

This is what happens when you allow drinking on the tube. See here for more mayhem and arrests. I quote:

Police also reported four assaults on train drivers and three assaults on other members of London Underground staff.

Clowns, its a relief that nobody got injured or dead in that frankly silly party. But then, people who rely on drinks to feel good are, well, ok, you know what I think of them.

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