Month: Feb 2014

With or Without a Lover, This Valentine’s Day Is Yours!

Thanks for this. I’d always been under the impression that the Valentine’s Day card was the opportunity to declare, anonymously, the undying love and affection which would be the stuff of scandal, of tongues set wagging, were it declared on any other day of the year.
Am I sending such a message this year?
Why – blush – that would be telling!

Susie Lindau's avatarSusie Lindau's Wild Ride

Those without a loved one to share Valentine’s Day have more in common with the tradition of sending Valentine’s Day cards than those with a lover.

victorian-valentine-cupid

I thought the Victorians began the tradition with their sentimental, flowery, lacy, and cupid adorned cards:

The couple meets at a soiree where the fine lady’s heart beats like a caged canary. The gentleman wears gloves and even with them worries he’ll leave a thumbprint on the greeting card. He escorts her to a small chamber not far from the ballroom. Her cheeks flush with the touch of his warm hand on her back. It sends a thrill of which she is not accustomed. He pulls the declaration of love from his breast pocket and presents it with a bow. She smiles, rips it open and gasps when she sees two naked cupids complete with jiggly bits dancing in the sky. Underneath are the words…

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Punishing Poverty: A review of benefits sanctions and their impacts on clients and claimants

Thanks for posting this research – an exposé on the real benefits agenda of the current UK government and a disturbing read. This needs a much wider audience, hence my reblog of it, hope others are reblogging.

Kitty S Jones's avatarPolitics and Insights

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Benefits sanctions are financial penalties that are given to people who are deemed to have not met the conditions for claiming benefits. The social security system has always been based on people meeting certain conditions – this has  been true for all working-age benefit claimants, with sanctions applicable to those who fail to observe those conditions. This has been the case since its inception.
However, the Coalition changed the conditions and increased the application, duration and severity of sanctions that apply to those claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and extended the application of sanctions to those in the Work Related Activity Group of those claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Since 2012, benefit payments can be suspended for a minimum of four weeks and for up to three years where a person “fails to take sufficient steps to search for work”, to “prepare themselves for the labour market” or where they…

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Education Question Time

Good questions all and an excellent panel. If you are in the area on the Thursday 27th book up and go.

lambethteachers's avatarLambeth NEU

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Here’s Cameron’s response to the flooding in a nutshell:

This year in floods… to date.

Tom Pride's avatarPride's Purge

(not satire – it’s David Cameron!)

This is David Cameron’s response to the flooding in a handy timeline:

Camerons response to flooding

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Erm … that’s it. So far.

I’ll let you know if he holds another meeting. Named after a snake.

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Related article by Tom Pride:

Cameron announces plan to reduce flooding by forcing it to work in Poundland

Cameron responds to floods crisis by holding a meeting. Named after a snake.

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Please feel free to comment .

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How to tell her you love her, c18th style

Emily Brand's avatarThe History of Love

In the era of instant messaging and online chat, the modern suitor is only ever a ‘winky face’ and a click away from declaring his amorous intentions. All things considered, I’d say courtship has taken a distinctly unromantic turn.

Two hundred years ago, love tokens offered a far more enduring and emotive means of expressing devotion to a cherished person (often, but not always, a lover). Acceptance of the token generally symbolised a return of affection. One common practice was to personalise coins, usually by smoothing and engraving them with a message or romantic imagery; the time and painstaking effort that was clearly required can only hint at the emotion invested in the objects themselves.

The coins below, ranging between the 1770s and the 1820s, are particularly touching examples of the material culture of romantic love. The inscriptions of the first and third suggest that many were created to serve as a…

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