Monday music spot: "If ye love me" by Thomas Tallis

Comments

Paul Holdsworth said…
Here's your next Quote of the Day:

'When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus' - Turkish proverb.
Chris Whiteside said…
I think this may possibly be a Turkish proverb in the same way that "May you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse.

Nobody has ever traced the one quote back closer to China than Sir Austen Chamberlain MP, who wrote that he had heard it from a diplomat who'd been stationed there. (It was subsequently referred to by the British ambassador to China from 1936 to 1937 but he said that he had heard it in England in 1936 before he went to take up his post in China, from a friend who may well have heard of Chamberlain's comment.)

Similarly I can't trace this one closer to Turkey than a ratepayers' group on the Cassowary coast of Australia.

But it's a good line and I will remember it in case Nigel Farage or Richard Burgon ever becomes PM.

Paul Holdsworth said…
P.S. I'd love to see you publish a comment well BEFORE you've thought up a suitable riposte to tag on. If it's worth publishing, then why not do so without delay? It feels like you are trying to undermine the arguments of your correspondents before they see the light of day.
But of course, your blog, your rules etc.
Chris Whiteside said…
If I am going to publish a comment - I don't pretend to allow every comment and have posted extensively on my comments policy - I usually let it through as soon as I see it.

In the case of the first comment above I was very surprised to notice how long it had been waiting as I would have sworn I'd looked at the comments awaiting moderation at least once since it had been posted and not seen it. That may have been a mistake of some kind on my part or there may have been a delay in Blogger letting it past the SPAM filters.

If I am going to reply to a comment I generally do so immediately because otherwise, especially if one is very busy as I usually am, not doing it at once is a recipe for never getting round to it.
Paul Holdsworth said…
That sounds like a very sensible explanation. Thanks, Chris.

I have posted another comment on this thread, that you may have also missed, or perhaps decided not to publish.

I'm of course piggy-backing in unrelated posts (this thread has absolutely nothing to do with the current travails of our PM), and I'm sure that doesn't assist readability.

But of course, until you pass any comment AT ALL on those problems, this is all I can try.
Chris Whiteside said…
OK, Fair comment.

I did take a bit longer to think about this response!

I have actually commented on one of the current issues facing the PM which in more normal circumstances would be seen as quite difficult and would be attracting a lot more attention, and which I also felt qualified to write about, e.g. the issue of Anti-Muslim prejudice raised by Nusrat Ghani and what the party is doing about this issue.

Of course in the present situation what would usually be considered major issues are hardly getting any attention - let's face it, the probability of an imminent actual war between countries with two of the three largest armies in Europe hasn't quite disappeared from the headlines but is getting a lot less attention than you would expect.

In respect of the previous post which has not been published, I was not inclined to let that one through because I felt some of the language was close to if not over the line between constructive criticism, which I will often publish even if I disagree with it, and being insulting towards the person you had concerns about, which I usually won't.

It is no secret that I publicly backed another candidate during the Conservative leadership election so I could hardly object to you writing that the present PM was not my first choice.

If you want to resubmit your comment using a form of words along those lines in respect of the leadership election and similarly toning down some of the other language slightly I will probably let it through. If you prefer to stick to your original language and say, "No, publish in these words or not at all," that is your choice.
Paul Holdsworth said…
I'll have a rethink, Chris. It's not really for me to do this, but could I suggest you start a new thread (it only has to be brief, I'd have thought) outlining your current thinking on 'Partygate' (ugh!), so this important issue doesn't just disappear into your extensive back-catalogue under a misleading heading suggesting it's Thomas Tallis I'm getting aeriated about?
Chris Whiteside said…
I'm one of the people who really have been waiting for the Sue Gray report in the hope of being able to come to an informed view.

But given the latest intervention by the Met, God only knows when we'll get the complete version of that.

So I may well decide to put something up in the near future.

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