Canada’s National Post explains how hurricanes are named, how they used to be named, why they’re running out of names this year, and the importance of Hurricane Bob.
Sussex food and drink
Found buried in the county council’s website, a bit of food news from Sussex:
- This weekend sees the start of British Food Fortnight;
- There is a whole directory (web) (pdf) of local Sussex food suppliers;
- Harveys Best has won Best Beer of the Year at the CAMRA Beer Festival.
The Graun does Tunbridge Wells
Not quite Sussex, perhaps, but the Guardian has a short profile of Tunbridge Wells.
Take the red communion wafer
Catholic Online (via MeFi) reports on a recruiting poster for the Catholic priesthood based on … the Matrix movies.
People power
Demos Greenhouse links to the New Economics Foundation’s new Index of Democratic Power, showing how influential your vote is in deciding the government of the country.
Crunchy and Soggy
Nico Colchester’s old article is just as valid today.
Flying: still bad
A new environmental report bashes air travel as a huge greenhouse gas generator. That’s why I take the train.
Holy fools
The BBC is reporting that a group of CofE bishops are suggesting a meeting of Christian and Muslim religious leaders to apologise for the Iraq war.
Whatever your view of the rights and wrongs of the war, this is surely really stupid. I’m never convinced by the ‘Bishops shouldn’t involve themselves in politics’ line that the Tories trotted out from time to time, but on this particular issue, they’re miles off.
First, the war was not – to my knowledge – started by the Church of England, so it’s not for them to apologise, except in a rather pathetic hand-wringing ‘It’s not my fault, honest’ sort of way.
More importantly, though, the war was not about Christians vs. Muslims. It was a war of nominally Christian western states against a secular state inhabited mainly by Muslims. To start going on about apologies from one faith to another plays right into the terrorists’ claims that this is a ‘Crusade’ against Muslims which – for all its faults – it most certainly is not.
London to Brighton run
Southern Railways’ new Electrostar trains – the last one of which was delivered the other day – have broken the London – Brighton rail speed record, setting a new time of 36’56”.
London & Brighton Democracy meetup
The first meeting of the London and Brighton Democracy meetup has been arranged, for 5 October at 1930, at the Mitre, off Hatton Garden.