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Tuesday 18 September 2012

Journal of History and Cultures

A little update: Please check out and follow the Journal of History and Cultures. A great new post-graduate journal from people at the University of Birmingham. The first issue was released this month - a great mix of topics and well worth a read. http://historyandcultures.com/current-issue/

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Blog Update: All Quiet...

The past few months have been spent busy writing away at my never-ending Thesis (out next October to all self-respecting retailers...), hence the lack of a blog post of any kind. I'll start my new teaching post in a week and a half which will provide another distraction, so in the mean time I'd just like to highlight a few news articles and subjects which have interested/concerned me over the last few months:

Young, Dumb and living with Mum

A recent piece in the Guardian highlighted the rising number of kids who are choosing to stay at home in order to save money during what are hard times, even for young professionals with university degrees and full-time employment. A strong sign of times of prudence and frugality. Might this indicate that a younger generation of people will be slightly more cautious about personal borrowing and credit? I hope so, but personal experience suggests that things may be otherwise.

Benefits-Cheats or Cheetahs?

Another interesting debate has surroumded the paralympics - with a clash of benefit-bashing versus pride and awe for amazing individuals. Several commentators and personalities commented that they hoped the Paralympic Games would change attitudes towards people with disabilities. It seems there is a growing hatred of people on benefits - 'demonising recipients as scroungers in mansions' - which has even stretched to an image of disability benefit recipients as lying about their health to stay off work. Its hard to say whether the games could truly change a saddening view such as this, and as Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land (2010) suggests, this issue is neither new, nor is it fleeting.

Cabinet Reshuffle: Drawn a Joker?

Finally, the recent Cabinet reshuffle has thrown up some interesting results - and some concerning possibilities. Firstly, our new Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson has yet to deny or confirm with any certainty whether he is a climate change sceptic, while new Energy Minister, John Hayes is an outspoken wind-farm hater. Damian Carrington's twitter and guardian commentary provides fascinating reading on this subject, while guardian Science Editor John McKie has written an open letter asking Owen Paterson not to turn his back on climate change in such a crucial time. It has also been noted that during the ongoing US Presidential Election run-up, there has been virtually no mention of this summer's drastic melting of the polar ice-cap and the clear extremes of weather experienced across the globe. Doom-sayers aside, shouldn't the environment, whether you are pro- or anti-climate change, be at the top of the debating sheets in light of this? Concerning indeed that even when things clearly have taken a turn for the worse, the expected human reaction is slow in coming - if it comes at all.

Comment, as always, is compulsary...

Patrick Longson