Dilip Simeon's blog

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada. The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years. The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only...

The massive ice sheet of East Antarctica, which is up to 4 kilometres thick and holds enough frozen water to raise sea levels by more than 50 metres, is more unstable than previous studies have suggested, scientists said.  Declassified images from spy satellites going back 50 years have revealed that the coastal glaciers and floating sea ice of Antarctica are more susceptible to air and sea temperatures than previously supposed, the researchers found. The images, which cover thousands of miles of East Antarctic's coastline and include measurements of 175 glaciers, show there is rapid and synchronised melting and freezing when local temperatures increase or fall, according to the study published in Nature.  "We know that these large glaciers undergo cycles of advance and retreat that are triggered by large icebergs breaking off at the terminus, but this can happen independently from climate change," said Chris Stokes of Durham University, who led the study. ...

Before the stupidest Western war in the history of the modern world begins – I am, of course, referring to the attack on  Syria  that we all now have to swallow – it might be as well to say that the Cruise missiles which we confidently expect to sweep onto one of mankind’s oldest cities have absolutely nothing to do with  Syria They are intended to harm Iran . They are intended to strike at the Islamic Republic now that it has a new and vibrant president – as opposed to the crackpot Mahmoud Ahmedinejad – and when it just might be a little more stable.  Iran is Israel ’s enemy.  Iran is therefore, naturally, America ’s enemy.  So there is nothing pleasant about the regime in Damascus .   Nor do these comments let the regime off the hook when it comes to mass gassing.  But I am old enough to remember that when  Iraq  – then America ’s ally – used gas against the Kurds of Hallabjah in 1988, we did not assault Baghdad . ...

Letters containing the final wishes of thousands of soldiers killed during World War One have been published online.  Written in their own hand, many of wills are attached to century-old personal letters that were intended to be opened by loved-ones if the soldiers’ died. Rather than being posted to the soldiers’ family and friends however, the letters were left locked in sealed archive boxes for almost 100 years. Now the letters have finally seen the light of day, thanks to the work of record management company Iron Mountain, who teamed up with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service to painstakingly index, scan and upload thousands of wills and letters from the deceased soldiers.  The archive was finally launched to the public today. In one of the letters, written on August 10, 1914, Private Joseph Witchburn of 2nd Battalion The Durham Light Infantry tells his mother: “I dare say this will be the last letter you will receive from me until the war is over, as I...

History of the Middle Finger Well, now, here's something I never knew before...  Isn't history more fun when you know something about it? Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over  the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English  Yew  tree,   and the act of drawing the longbow was known as " plucking  the  yew " (or " pluck   yew "). Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still  pluck   yew ! Since ' pluck   yew ' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginni...

Robespierre   Edited by  Colin Haydon  and  William Doyle Reviewed by Hilary Mantell In the two years following the taking of the Bastille, he pursued an impeccably liberal and far-sighted agenda. He spoke for manhood suffrage and against a property qualification for voters; against slavery; in support of civil rights for Jews; against capital punishment; and against censorship... Desmoulins reported, he could bring 800 men to their feet in a single moment. You could quibble over the head-count, but the power seemed to be real. It extended to the women of Paris, who attended the public galleries of the Jacobin Club. This worried his contemporaries. They thought he was taking some sneaky advantage. ‘What a man this is, with his crowd of women around him!’ said Rabaud Saint-Etienne. Condorcet, the champion of women’s rights.. He was suspicious of soldiers in general, their outlook; they were oppressors by nature, he thought. He was sceptical of the notion t...

The Government Primary School in Nimora Block of Raipur , Chhattisgarh, has become a shining example for other schools in the area. This is one of those rare schools where the mid-day meal schemes is being implemented properly. The  video  made by Community Correspondent Sarwat Naqvi, documenting this was shown in various schools across Raipur to encourage them to improve the quality of their mid-day meals. In today’s video Sarwat documents the success of his efforts. On a summer morning in 2011 Sarwat decided to go have a look at the Primary School in Nimora. He wanted to see how the mid-day meal scheme was being run there.  “I didn’t call ahead to make an appointment because I thought they might try to put on a show for me. What I saw was very heartening,” he says.  But Sarwat also knew of plenty other cases where the scheme just didn’t work.  He made an appointment with the Block Education Officer and other teachers from neighbouring schools. They d...