Tag: Birds

CUSTOMISED CHRISTMAS GIFTS

INTRODUCTION

This post was inspired by Anna of Anna’s Art who put up this post about painting rocks to turn them into Christmas presents.

THE CALENDARS

While I would be very unlikely to produce anything worthwhile by painting rocks as I have no talent for that sort of things many people have noted that I possess a talent for photography, and at mother’s suggestion I used this to design calendars for use as Christmas presents. Here are some photos of the completed calendars, made to my specifications by Vistaprint:

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Save for the front cover which does feature a composite image all the photos used were single pictures, and with no exceptions all were of things seen within walking distance of my flat in central King’s Lynn. Those of you who follow me on twitter will recognize the August photo, because that forms the basis of my current thank you message.

Maybe you have a talent that you can use to produce presents that only you could provide.

Filibustering

My take on dealing with filibustering, provoked by yet another disgraceful display of egocentrism on the part of Philip Davies MP.

INTRODUCTION

This post is provoked by the Downright Dishonourable member for Shipley, Philip Davies making the news yet again for talking out a bill that had cross-party support. Following on from his deliberate talking out of a bill to provide carers with free parking at hospitals, Mr Davies’ latest effort is to talk out a bill that would have made first aid training a compulsory in schools. Therefore, before sharing some pictures with you, I am going to provide my plan for stopping the practice of filibustering.

PREVENTING FILIBUSTERING

Before getting on to the ‘how’ which is the main part of this post, I am going to address the ‘why’.

Mr Davies (IMO he should be renamed Phil E Buster after his recent performances) has merely highlighted a practice which is profoundly anti-democratic and dissatisfying. The anti-democratic nature of the practice is obvious – it prevents the matter being discussed from being voted on. The dissatisfying nature of the practice is obvious in cases where the bill that has been talked to death is one you support. However, even if the bill under discussion was one I did not support I would like to see it voted on – I prefer to settle the issue fair and square rather than have it go undecided.

THE HOW

The first part of my suggested solution would be to pass a law requiring that all bills put to the house get voted on no matter what. Secondly, to prevent scum like Mr Davies from making such a law unworkable, impose limits on the amount of time for which someone is allowed to speak and back them up with severe discipline, my suggestion being:

  1. For a first offence a warning
  2. For a second offence a ban on speaking in the house for a set period (say one month)
  3. For a third offence, a compulsory by-election to enable the offenders constituents to pass judgement.

I reckon that one person losing their seat in these circumstances would be sufficient to deter all other would-be filibusterers. If you would like to see filibustering stopped, please sign and share this petition.

PICTURES

I have some pictures from in and around King’s Lynn, and also some badges that will be in our auction on December 9th (a full catalogue for our November 25th auction can be viewed here)…

 

Website Sorted

INTRODUCTION

As well as the title piece, I have some good pictures from in and around King’s Lynn to share. These date from Monday, when I attended an NAS West Norfolk coffee morning.

HOME PAGE CLEAN

I have modified the home page on www.londontu.be so that the original stuff that came with the Hathor Theme that I selected is no longer on show, replaced with my own stuff.

PICTURES

With a bit of moisture to highlight the silk, Monday was an excellent today for photographing spiders webs – and King’s Lynn  rivals Mirkwood for quantity of spider webs if not for size or scariness of occupants thereof…

This was the first of many - and only just outside my door.
This was the first of many – and only just outside my door.
Partway down the first of two flights of stairs between my flat and the street.
Partway down the first of two flights of stairs between my flat and the street.
The remaining webs were all alongside Bawsey drain.
The remaining webs were all alongside Bawsey drain.

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Neither were the birds at all put off by the weather…

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Links, Pictures and a Test Match

A mixed bag – a brief account of test match, some very important links, especially regarding disability rights, and some photographs.

INTRODUCTION

The pictures and some brief comments on the Test Match that finished yesterday between England and Pakistan not withstanding, this is mainly a sharing post.

UNRESOLVED IN THE UAE

This is nominally a home series for Pakistan, being staged in the United Arab Emirates because Pakistan is still considered off-limits for security reasons. For four and a half of its allotted five days this match had all the makings of a high scoring bore draw, Shoaib Malik having scored 245 for Pakistan on pitch devoid of life and bounce, and Alastair Cook retaliating with a monumental 263 in 826 minutes for England who ended up leading by 75 on first innings. Then a combination of some horrendous misjudgments by the Pakistan batsmen and some good bowling, especially from leg spinner Adil Rashid (Yorkshire born and bred btw) left England with 99 to win, and they were within 25 of doing so when the light closed n sufficiently for the umpires to call a halt, it being at the same level it was when they had done so the previous evening. This is the second time in only just over two years that the current light rule has been horrendously shown up in a test match involving England – the other being at the Oval in 2013.

LINKS

The links I have for you today come in three sections…

DISABILITY RIGHTS

As some of you will be aware, Britain has recently achieved the unwelcome distinction of becoming the first country to be investigated by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I have three links relating to this very important issue to share with you…

First, this wonderful piece from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) which explains exactly why this investigation is happening.

Next comes this from disabilitynewsservice about the early stages of the investigative process.

Finally, comes the text of a question and where you can post it (as I have already done) to ensure that it gets asked at next Prime Minister’s Questions. The question we want to ensure that Mr Corbyn puts is:

The United Kingdom is currently being investigated by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities because of allegations of “grave and systematic” violations of disabled people’s human rights. Shamefully we are the First Country ever to face such an inquiry. The Inquiry itself is has been widely reported in the press and DWP have confirmed the inquiry was initiated by the campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts.

Will the Prime Minister now commit to the government publishing in full the findings of the committee when the report is sent to the government next year?

You can put the question on this link: http://www.labour.org.uk/your-PMQS

A COUPLE OF INTERNATIONAL LINKS

The bizarre situation at universities in Texas whereby one can carry a handgun concealed about one’s person with impunity but not a water pistol has provoked one very brave and principled professor to resign his position in protest. The full story has been covered by whyeveolutionistrue in this post. Here for you to view is the resignation letter itself:

Resignation Letter

My other international link comes courtesy of the wonderful Heather Hastie, whose blog I heartily recommend. This piece, under the heading “Winner of the Week” talks about the sadly endangered pangolin, taking a battering because of the vile superstition that its scales have medicinal qualities (I like to think that even if I was not allergic to woo this piece would have provoked the kind of reaction it did in me).

THE REMAINDER

Vox Political have been pursuing the DWP over claimant deaths for a very long time, and it now looks as though that department have landed themselves in a whole heap of trouble, as explained in this post.

Finally, a link to a piece in the Guardian about Jeremy Hunt (he of rhyming slang fame) and his current target, junior doctors.

PHOTOS

Today’s selection of photo’s also divides into two, starting with some of my usual pics from around King’s Lynn…

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My remaining pictures come from Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, one of the books mentioned in this post which I reblogged from whyevolutionistrue.

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Birds and a Coin

Some photographic highlights from in and around King’s Lynn and a coin used as case study in editing techniques.

INTRODUCTION

This post features some of my recent pictures of King’s Lynn’s thriving bird life, and also some pictures of a coin that I use to demonstrate the different degrees of editing to which a picture might be submitted.

THE BIRDS

The title of this section both refers to its contents and pays tribute to Italian composer Ottorino Respighi one of whose pieces has this title. Every bird you see pictured here was within walking distance of my town centre flat, in some cases very close indeed.

Where the Nar flows into the Great Ouse - always a good spot for observing birds
Where the Nar flows into the Great Ouse – always a good spot for observing birds

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No cormorants this time, but these will feature later.
No cormorants this time, but these will feature later.

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The last two pictures you have seen were taken on the bridge over the upper Purfleet, separated from my flat by the length of a car park.
The last two pictures you have seen were taken on the bridge over the upper Purfleet, separated from my flat by the length of a car park.
On Wednesday afternoon the cormorants were back in force - on both sides of the mouth of the Nar...
On Wednesday afternoon the cormorants were back in force – on both sides of the mouth of the Nar…
...as witness
…as witness

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The mouth of the Nar showing the cormorants on both sides.
The mouth of the Nar showing the cormorants on both sides.

SOME OTHER PHOTOS

Of course it was not only birds that caught the eye while I was out and about on these occasions…

The next two pictures show fallen leaves.
The next two pictures show fallen leaves.

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Yes, even in October boats still moor on the Great Ouse
Yes, even in October boats still moor on the Great Ouse

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Greyfriars Tower
Greyfriars Tower
A carving on Greyfriars tower.
A carving on Greyfriars tower.
A picture in my aunt's kitchen
A picture in my aunt’s kitchen
I carried this across from the neighbour with whom it had been left in my aunt's absence. Note that this delivery had been made on the Saturday and then look a the big sticker on top of the box! (and the box already had three extra bottles in it to compensate for previous blunders!)
I carried this across from the neighbour with whom it had been left in my aunt’s absence. Note that this delivery had been made on the Saturday and then look a the big sticker on top of the box! (and the box already had three extra bottles in it to compensate for previous blunders!)

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THE COIN

On Tuesday I happened to notice that one of the coins with which I was going to pay my bus fare was one that had been issued to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, so I photographed it while waiting for the bus to arrive. Later while editing the shot I decided to use it to demonstrate various editing techniques…

This is the coin picture after cropping but nut other editing.
This is the coin picture after cropping but no other editing.
This is the coin after cropping and sharpening.
This is the coin after cropping and sharpening.
This is the coin after my usual edit (shadow and highlights protection, lighting adjustment, sharpening and brightness for extra clarity.
This is the coin after my usual edit (shadow and highlights protection, lighting adjustment, sharpening and brightness for extra clarity.
This one features the use of colour boost as well (I almost never do this)
This one features the use of colour boost as well (I almost never do this)
Finally this one also had the contrast enhanced (something I used to do regularly but now only do on rare occasions)
Finally this one also had the contrast enhanced (something I used to do regularly but now only do on rare occasions)

The Great Ouse at High Tide

Some stuff about the Great Ouse at high tide, some stuff about evolutionary biology, lots of pictures and links.

INTRODUCTION

Having finally completed (after a couple of false starts – fortunately not a DQ offence in the blogosphere!) my post about the Metropolitan line I now have this offering which includes some links and a couple of quality infographics.

HIGH TIDE

This morning the Great Ouse was at very high tide. Cormorant Platform was almost enitrely submerged. There was also a high tide yesterday morning, but not quite so high as this – I have pictures from both for comparison purposes.

The first three pics are from yesterday.
The first three pics are from yesterday.

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One of several pics from today that indicate just why the marshland around old Boal Quay is most definitely not suitable for building on!
One of several pics from today that indicate just why the marshland around old Boal Quay is most definitely not suitable for building on!
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Not suitable for building on!

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In addition to these, my walk this morning provided some other splendid pictures. I saw a small rodent by the water near the bandstand, and a hare, a member of the lagamorph order of mammals later on in the walk. The lagamorphs and rodents form a cohort (intermediate between an order and a class in the system of classification) called Glires. For a fun and digestible account of these relationships and others among living things I recommend Richard Dawkins’s book “The Ancestors Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life”.

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An excellent read.
An excellent read.

I also got a few more pictures of other things that I consider worth sharing…

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LINKS

I have some petitions to share with you, but will start with the other links first:

First up, this from counterpunch titled “Return to Crisis – Things Keep Getting Worse”

My next two links both come from the Corbyn campaign:

The wonderful kittysjones has this piece turning her guns on the Daily Mail for its (and Tory MuPpet Ian Liddell-Grainger’s) response to the news that UN Special Raporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Catalina Devandas Aguilar will be investigating the UK’s welfare reforms to see if they constitute human rights abuses. Ms Jones’ excoriation of the Daily Mail is an excellent read.

My next link is to a story of yet another outrage perpetrated by religious zealots, brought to my attention by newhumanist. This is the story of an Indian rationalist murdered in his own home.

Courtesy of pertinentproblems comes this account of why TTIP would be bad for Europe.

Cosmos Up, a regular source of good material, have this about New Horizons’ next target.

PETITIONS

First up, courtesy of change.org comes this one having a go at Virgin Trains over the amount by which they are increasing their fares.

My next two links are both concerned with women’s rights:

My remaining petitions all concern one man, the

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH

First, Maggie Zolobajluk’s well merited victory celebration (kudos also to Mike Sivier of Vox Political whose FOI request started the whole process).

Second, this from thepetitionsite demanding IDS’s resignation.

Finally, this petition to parliament to assess the full impact of cuts to support & social care for disabled people.

INFOGRAPHICS

A couple of classics to end this post:

Corbyn hitting the nail on the head.
Corbyn hitting the nail on the head.
A hilarious guide to the dark art of quote manipulatiion.
A hilarious guide to the dark art of quote manipulation.

The World Athletics Championship – A Retrospective

A Retropsective on the World Athletics Championships, More on the Inhumane Despicable Sociopath case, some photographs and some important links.

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some photos, links and infographics to share, including a section following up my much shared “Inhumane Despicable Sociopath” post..

BRITAIN’S BEST EVER

At the World Athletics Championships which concluded yesterday Britain won a total of four gold medals, their best ever. Mo Farah with both the 5,000 and 10,000m, Greg Rutherford (Long Jump) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon) all ascended the top step of the podium in Beijing, all having experienced Olympic misery there seven years previously. There were also a stack of best ever performances from less experienced British athletes, encapsulated by BBC TV in this infographic…

Young Guns

Shelayna Oskanp-Clarke had never previous broken two minutes for the 800m, and until Proctor did so no British female long jumper had ever gone beyond 7.00m. The performances of Asher-Smith and Hitchon were also British records. Dina Asher-Smith having already become the first British woman go sub 11 seconds for the 100m and being part of the 4*100m relay team now has three British records against her name.

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH: A FOLLOW UP

Partly because of a twitter storm conceived by a well known twitter user named Gail which tied in perfectly with it my blog post about the revelations of DWP deaths, forced out after a long and hard fought campaign, was very widely shared. I have a number of superb related links to share in this section:

Now, a few infographics about this story, starting with this great tweet:

Killer Stat

This, formatted like a DWP case study, differs from them in being a true story:

Simons Story

Finally to the end this section, a screendump from a text book of the future that somehow appeared on my screen…

THE IDS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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LINKS

I am dividing this in to two main subsections, starting with…

AUTISM

Within this section I am starting with a case which is reaching a conclusion soon…

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

I have blogged about this outrageous case of an autistic grade 6 boy facing a lifeltime with a felony conviction, but since the case is now going through the courts I include these two links:

Also, for twitter users (I have already done so btw), here is a temporary profile pic you may wish to use in solidarity with Kayleb:

JK

OTHER AUTISM RELATED LINKS

THE REMAINING LINKS

I start with a couple of petitions:

I have three more links to purely text based material:

  1. From patienttalk comes this about helping a disabled child to have a better experience at school.
  2. This from Shelter about the fact that golf courses take up as much of England as does housing.
  3. This post from anotherangryvoice deals with the much peddled myth that national economies are like families.

My last link is to a wonderful protest song by Welsh singer Charlotte Church.

A Figure of Eight Walk

An account of a walk around King’s Lynn, accompanied by photos. Also some important links.

INTRODUCTION

I am in the process of putting together a very large post indeed as an experiment, and meantime I offer you this little post…

THE FIGURE OF EIGHT WALK

I did this walk immediately after lunch yesterday. Setting off I headed through Baker Lane Car Park, across the upper Purfleet and down to the Great Ouse by way of the lower Purfleet. The first photo I got was this one of a bird that was perfectly positioned for the shot…

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I headed along the river bank and across the Millfleet, then took the path that skirts old Boal Quay round to…

CORMORANT PLATFORM

This meeting point of the Nar and Ouse provided some fine photos…

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Just beyond Cormorant Platform is the path through Harding’s Pits, from which I then headed across the Nar, stopping to photograph a swan…

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Up through the South Gate, across the London Road, through a little known passage and along to Seven Sisters, at which point I entered…

THE PARKLAND

The water by the bandstand is generally good for a few pictures, and today was no exception…

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After the bandstand I followed the path the exits the parkland by way of the church of St John the Evangelist, walked up past the train station and on to the second loop of the figure of eight, following another little river in King’s Lynn until the path diverged from it to go past the first of two ponds separated by the width of a road. The river provided a few pics, but nothing was happening in either pond…

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From the second pond I followed the road I was round until I reached the path through the meadow that leads to a bridge across Bawsey Drain, on to another path that I followed back towards the town centre. This section of the walk yielded only one picture – a green insect that because of its size I was not sure I would be able to capture…

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On the last stage of the walk I got a picture of the model spitfire that currently adorns the Trues Yard museum…

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After I was home, I got one final picture of a military aeroplane that flew very low (by the standards of powered aircraft) overhead…

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LINKS

My first link is to a document outlining Mr Corbyn’s mental health policy, for which I am using a quote from the document itself – the second bullet point to be precise…

“Challenging the stigma around mental health and ending the second class treatment of mental illness in the NHS – mental illness should be treated on a par with physical illness. Mental health conditions make up 21.9% of conditions faced by the NHS but receive only 11.9% of the overall budget.”

My next two links both come courtesy of DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts):

This piece from disabilitnewsservice makes some unpleasant but hardly surprising revelations about Maximus, the vile American company responsible for administering the notorious fitness for work tests that have blighted so many lives.

Finally, and on a completely different note, here is a link to an excellent blog post by Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society.

Water Skiing and World Athletics

Brief mentions of the Hanseatic Water skiing and the World Athetics Championship, with pics and links.

INTRODUCTION

This is in the nature of a catch-up post about events from this weekend.

WATER SKIING AND WORLD ATHLETICS

The water skiing reference is to the Hanseatic Ski Racing which took place on the Great Ouse right here in King’s Lynn this weekend just gone. Although my involvement was very peripheral I have a few pictures…

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The World Athletics championship got under way this weekend. There have been many great moments already,none more so than Jessica Ennis-Hill regaining her world Heptahlon crown a mere 13 months after having her first child. The way she surged past Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada in the final stages of the 800m to win that event outright was reminiscent of London 2012. The other result that was greeted with near-universal approval was in the men’s 100m where Usain Bolt retained his title. People were rooting for him because of who his main rival was – if I was a betting person I would be pretty confident of putting my money on the proposition that no one not named Gatlin wanted Justin Gatlin to beat Usain Bolt – that is a penalty that one pays for being a twice-caught drugs cheat – even if bad rules which are badly applied allow you to return they do not make you popular.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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LINKS

On Saturday I produced two of my most successful ever blog posts. My most successful ever, which I will be referring to more extensively in my next post, was this one about autism. The other was the latest in my “London Station by Station” which, carefully produced to coincide with day three of the Oval test match, was dedicated to Oval and Vauxhall. This latter post attracted the favourable attention of historylondon who included it in their “gobbets of the week” post. One of the other posts that made the cut for inclusion in that list was londonist’s offering “the walker’s tube map”.

As someone who writes frequently about London Underground I finish this fairly brief links section by pointing you to this splendid defence of tube workers.

Birds, Butterflies and Bonkers Trade Deals

An announcement of some Anti TTIP action, some important links and some good pictures from in and around King’s Lynn.

INTRODUCTION

I have many things to cover in this post, including a number of very important links.

THE BONKERS TRADE DEAL

The bonkers trade deal is officially known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP for short), and I am mentioning it in this post for two reasons:

  1. This Saturday at 11AM there is action taking place against it, starting outside Top Shop on King’s Lynn High Street.
  2. And linked to the above, I got my action pack from 38 Degrees through the post today.

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LINKS

To begin today’s links section, a nod to youth…

THE CASE OF THE DRACONIAN DRESS CODE: AN UPDATE

This refers to an American school whose dress code is both draconian and being applied in a very sexist way. This has given rise to a change.org petition, and today there has been coverage on yahoo:

  1. The Petition
  2. The Yahoo piece
  3. To conclude this subsection a photo showing the “revealing clothes” for which a girl was called, which ignited the controversy:
    When this falls foul of a
    When wearing this falls foul of a “dress code” I think the problem is fairly obvious.

    JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

    Just a single link, but I make no apology for giving it a whole subsection to itself. This is a truly shocking case involving a 6th grader (English equivalent of this would be a year 7 student) facing the possibility of spending his life with a felony conviction on his record. Please sign and share this petition.

AUTISM AND CREATIVITY

Another single piece, this time courtesy of Huffington Post, about a study into autism and creativity. I start with a quote from the piece:

“Wong and Doherty said we should think of autism in terms of differences rather than deficits. And these differences, as the study suggests, can give rise to important and unique creative insights.” NB The italicisation is theirs not mine.

The full article deserves to be read and shared. Naturally as both an autistic person and the creator of this blog I wholeheartedly concur with the notion that autistic people can be especially creative!

SCIENCE AND NATURE

My final two links, the second being in the nature of a segue:

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

I bring this post to a conclusion with some pictures taken in and around King’s Lynn yesterday morning and today…

Rain brought this beauty out yesterday morning.
Rain brought this beauty out yesterday morning.
Also from yesterday morning.
Also from yesterday morning.

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