Timewasters Extraordinaire!

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The recent attacks, such as the two stabbings outside a London synagogue yesterday – now declared a terrorist incident – are not random. They are antisemitic. Jews are quite clearly being targeted for being Jews. While I can't say for certain that any one specific incident had an antisemitic motive, I don't for a moment believe that none of them did. Nor do I know whether the hatred is home-grown or imported (eg Iranian agents) or a mixture of the two.

Whatever the case, this should shame us as a country. As someone pointed out elsewhere, the tens of thousands of Russian-born people in the UK are not personally targeted for being Russian, as though Putin's crimes made such attacks legitimate. But the equivalent is happening to British Jews right now. It is despicable and utterly without a shred of justification. To coin a phrase: not in my name.

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Hat-tip to frith for making me aware of this. There's a long-running event on here called Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, in which people post creations of theirs that are (for the most part) visible only on this platform until the three weeks are up, after which they may be shared more widely. It's intended as a low-pressure event, so I don't think this is actually enforced in any way. It's been running since 2010, when Dreamwidth itself was only about a year old.

That's not what caught my eye. What caught my eye was that this year's edition has this PSA at the bottom of its introductory/guidelines post:

"We won't be accepting any Harry Potter or AI generated posts."

That's the whole thing. It's only those that are outright banned. It's really odd, and I can't say I'm very impressed. This isn't because I love JK Rowling and her views on trans people – I most assuredly don't. But I think it somewhat diminishes the fest to say, "Come on, everyone, you can post anything you've created! ...oh, except that."

It's even sillier when you take it literally, since someone wanting to promote "My collections of poetry repeatedly glorifying Andrew Tate" would technically pass, but someone else posting "My watercolour painting of the flying Ford Anglia but with a big trans flag on the side" would be banned.

The organisers have every right to make this rule, but I have every right to think it off-putting. So, colour me unimpressed. The concept of Three Weeks for Dreamwidth appeals to me quite a lot, the execution (at least this year) however does not. I won't be participating.

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Although it prioritises drama over absolute historical accuracy, with several moderate liberties taken with the facts, Anne of the Thousand Days is nevertheless quite a satisfying experience. Richard Burton is great value as Bluff King Hal, but Geneviève Bujold's spirited Anne (the role that made her a star) is a match for him to the end. Both were among the film's ten Oscar nominations, though it only actually won for Best Costumes.

The supporting cast are good value, with the likes of Michael Hordern playing Thomas Boleyn and a supremely watchable Anthony Quayle as Cardinal Wolsey. There's plenty of period colour, and Hever Castle is a great location – although as with many British historical dramas of the era you do need a certain tolerance for talkiness. That is, however, leavened by its willingness to use humour. A solid effort. ★★★½

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Leominster Priory
Click for a larger, sharper image
In true English style, I didn't do anything thrilling to celebrate St George's Day. I do acknowledge it, and I find the largely online phenomenon of actively avoiding knowing it's today slightly weird, but I don't do much in the way of actual commemmoration. I went to Leominster, which is a nice place for ambling around in the kind of superb spring weather we had today. Brunch in the Flying Dutchman, then off around the town. Quite a few shops, the Priory churchyard (seen above), Coffee #1 as I had a voucher, then a cold drink in the Duke's Head beer garden before heading home. A very low-stress day, which was precisely what I needed. :)

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I have really had it with the pretence among our political class that the effects of the Iran war aren't worth fronting up about. I strongly suspect most people still think petrol and diesel being expensive are the extent of what's coming down the line at us – but even if by some miracle the Strait of Hormuz opens properly tomorrow, the lag means disruption is already baked in. There is no escape route from here that keeps everything running fine without a break.

Yes, it's true that the likes of people at airlines have been talking publicly about the shortage of jet fuel we have in this country – but nowhere near loudly enough. They need to say things like "We might be cancelling your holiday flights by next month." And they need to talk not in industry journals, but in places where people actually look. The same goes for the vast areas of the economy which rely on diesel for logistics. Again, now, not after it's already a visible disaster.

But the politicians are the ones who most deserve the "cowardice" brand. They're simply pretending things are fine when anyone who scratches beneath the surface can easily find that they aren't. You don't need access to commercially confidential information to grasp that. (Though I strongly suspect leaked info from energy companies will also devastate at least some of them reputationally in the months ahead. "You knew. Why didn't you tell us?" is brutal PR as it will be seen as a cover-up, and it may come.)

Just because we're not all going to starve doesn't change the fact that the supply situation in the UK is going to get worse, and that ordinary people in huge numbers will find they can't, or at least can't afford to, do things they still currently assume that they will be able to. That's the truth, politicians. Stop pretending it isn't. Today.

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I'm extremely tired right now, so I won't write much tonight, but I was at the Severn Valley Railway's Spring Steam Gala today and for the most part I had a good time. Over 18,000 steps walked, which is not any kind of personal record but is well above my average. There were two lengthy delays, one near the start of the day and one near the end, which are an occupational hazard with galas but still tried my patience a bit. The weather was dry and largely bright, though, which helped a lot, and I found the Sunday atmosphere quite nice – the lack of late evening services also meant a lack of the small number of people on Friday and Saturday nights who behave rather too much as if they were in the pub, including in terms of volume. I might well attend on Sunday again at a gala in the future. Anyway, that's all for now. I might put up a photo or two tomorrow. :)

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Paul Quinn was today convicted of a 2003 rape by a jury at Manchester Crown Court. This was the crime for which Andrew Malkinson was wrongly convicted in 2004 and for which he spent 17 years in prison after one of the worst miscarriages of justice in modern legal history. Malkinson had two appeals turned down, and the failure to check newly recovered DNA meant the evidence existed to exonerate him for years before he was actually released. There's more detail on the miscarriage of justice on this page.

Quinn had a history of sexual crimes, with two cautions for indecent assault in the 1980s and two convictions for what was then legally called "underage sex" with a 12-year-old girl in 1992. (That crime became officially defined as rape with the Sexual Offences Act 2003.) In the case for which he has just been convicted, Quinn used extreme violence that left the victim unconscious and with a fractured bone. He will be sentenced in early June.

A statement read on behalf of the victim on the court steps said the crime had "robbed [her] of the life [she] wanted to have" and the miscarriage of justice had "robbed Mr Malkinson of 17 years", but that "justice has been served" by this verdict.

I would like to think such a terrible failure by the police and justice system could never happen again, but we have seen "lessons have been learned" too many times in this country when that has later proved to be a lie.