Is Britain a Liberal Democracy?

The Year 12 Politics group (and the fruit machine) have been debating today whether Britain can be described as a truly Liberal Democracy. What are your opinions? Please add them below, plus any links of interest.

Guy Fawkes Quiz

Happy Bonfire Night! To celebrate the 405 anniversary of the Guy Fawkes' failed plot to blow up Parliament, here is a quiz from the BBC, a biography of Guy Fawkes, and a link to the Gunpowder Plot Society's home page. Have a good weekend and enjoy the fireworks!

Women in American elections

It has been claimed 'The Year of the Conservative Woman' or Mama Grizzlies as Sarah Palin would say conservative women were. What does this really mean? Certainly the elections today will not mean more women in Congress. In fact, there will be fewer if the Republicans make the gains expected - possibly even the lowest number for 40 years. Are they advocating women's rights? They tend not to focus on women's traditional issues and put forward more traditionally male issues such as the concern about the deficit and taxation. Is this post-feminism as claimed in this US News article? Certainly, Democrat women do not see it that way. They argue that repealing healthcare is not helpful to women and the children that the mama grizzlies have supposedly reared up on their hind legs to protect. Michelle Obama in her recent speech for Harry Reid was forceful in her refutation of this argument. The Times have a good article on these arguments which will be up in the Study Room tomorrow.

ps on American women, see here for the story of Dilma Rousseff, who has just won the presidency of Brazil.

10 Unfortunate Midterm Ads

This Guardian article highlights 10 of the more tactless ads put out during the midterm election, including Christine O'Donnell's "I am not a witch...I'm you" video (above), and a rather creepy (and xenophobic) ad from the "Citizens against public waste (below). You'll need Youtube access to watch these, but let us know what you think!

PS: Here is a good comment on the significancd of the midterms from Mark Mardell, plus a good round-up of stories from the BBC. Here is Comedy Central (Home of the Daily Show)'s election site, and analysis of their recent "Rally to restore sanity"

Ted Sorensen

Ted Sorensen, John F Kennedy's speech writer, has died. He cooperated with JFK to write such famous lines as "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" from the President's inaugural speech. His close relationship with Kennedy was particularly important during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when he drafted with Bobby Kennedy a letter to Nikita Khrushchev. This careful piece of diplomacy ignored some of Khrushchev's harsher comments but agreed to remove missiles from the US base in Turkey, persuading the Soviets to withdraw their missiles from Cuba. "That's what I'm proudest of," he once said. "Never had this country, this world, faced such great danger. You and I wouldn't be sitting here today if that had gone badly." You can read more about Sorensen here, plus his comments on Kennedy's inaugural speech here.

Elephant Rescue

An amazing story has emerged today of how a British tea planter rescued hundreds of refugees fleeing the Japanese in Burma in World War 2 using a team of elephants. Gyles Mackrell learned in summer 1942 that British soldiers and civilians were trapped the other side of a swollen river, surviving on rations dropped by the RAF. He believed his team of elephants could be used to rescue them so he trekked 100 miles through the jungle in a week. The river crossing was incredibly dangerous and the elephants and their handlers "took terrible risks being washed away and broken to pieces". Over 200 people were saved and he was given the George medal for his courage. You can read more about the story here and watch archive footage here.

Obama and the mid-terms

The mid-term elections are less than a week away now and the predictions are still dire for the Democrats. Next week, it is likely that the Republicans will have won control of the House and substantially reduced the Democrat majority in the Senate. There is so much to read and look at on the Internet on the elections, here are just a few suggestions: Obama has appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show (on Channel 4 OD) which is interesting for his defence to his own rather disappointed supporters and for his constitutional reform suggestions; The Economist has an article setting out why Obama has disappointed but that the criticism has been overblown and another on the electoral position at the moment; the BBC has a special website with a range of articles and features such as the races to watch, the issues of the election and the craziest campaign moments.
What would you suggest? Have you found any good websites?

The Chilean Mine Rescue documentary

A must see if you want to keep faith with human nature. The extraordinary story of the survival of the 33 miners is worth watching again for the way in which so many people pulled together to make sure that they got out. It is on Channel 4 OD - Buried Alive: The Chilean Mine Rescue

Spending Review - What did you think?

So the spending review has finally been announced. £81 billion of cuts have been made, 490,000 public sector jobs are likely to be lost, departments will have to face an average of 19% cuts and the retirement age is going up to 66. On the other hand, the school budget has been protected, the NHS budget is to rise, and museum entry remains free. You can download the entire document (as a PDF file)here. What do you think? The "fairness" of the cuts has already caused some debate, but George Osborne has stated that "There is no Plan B". We would very much like to hear your opinions!

Did Richard have Breakfast?

Once again there has been a discussion during a lesson on the Battle of Bosworth about whether Richard had breakfast or not, and whether this affected the battle. The main evidence we have for this is the Crowland Chronicle, written in 1486. When describing events on the morning of 22 August 1485, the author states,

'At day-break on Monday morning there were no chaplains on King Richard's side ready to celebrate mass, nor any breakfast prepared to restore his flagging spirits. For he had seen dreadful visions in the night, in which he was surrounded by a multitude of demons, as he himself testified in the morning. He consequently presented a countenance which, always drawn, was on this occasion more livid and ghastly than ususal, and asserted that the issue of this day's battle, to whichever side the victory was granted, would be the utter destruction of the kingdom of England.

It's not the only time breakfast is mentioned in the battle. The Ballad of Bosworth Field, written in the late 16th Century, describes this exchange between Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanle, after Lord Stanley has discovered that his son, Lord Strange has been kidnapped:
"I make mine avow to Marye, that may,
& to her sonne that died on tree,
I will make him such a breakefast vpon a day
as neuer made Knight any King in Cristetntye!"

And so later on, when Sir William Stanley sees Henry in danger from Richard's final attack...
"Sir William Stanley, wise & worthie
remembred the brea[k]ffast hee hett to him;
downe att a backe then cometh hee,
& shortlye sett vpon the Kinge."

So, breakfast (or at least the promise of one) clearly played a crucial part in the battle, leading to Henry's victory and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. Does anyone know of any other crucial meal-based moments in history?