42 I hate the B571

2010-03-15T23:59:36+00:00

Today I rode to Wellingborough along my least favourite road.

The B751 from Irthlingborough to Wellingborough (called "Wellingborough Road", "Mill Road" and "Irthlingborough Road") is horrible for a cyclist. For some reason this road seems to destroy the brains of car drivers.

In the section nearest Irthlingborough there are hidden dips on a straight section. Car drivers continually try to overtake with no knowledge of what might be coming in the opposite direction.

In the middle section there are a couple of junctions, one on a blind bend. Cars try to overtake without being able to see, or they overtake and then immediately stop as they wait to be able to turn off across traffic coming the other way. Both happened to me today.

At the Wellingborough end there are a number of right angle blink bends. One of these is particularly nasty when coming back from Wellingborough. You are climbing quite steeply and the road does a sharp left onto the railway bridge, it is completely blind, narrow and there is a brick wall at the side of the road. Today an incredibly stupid and dangerous driver overtook me on this blind bend despite me moving out towards the middle of the road. As he overtook I was totally dependant on luck - was a car coming the other way or not, neither of us could see to know if I was going to be ok or squashed against the wall if he had to swerve to avoid a head on collision.

I hate this road, it feels like the most dangerous "minor" road in this area yet it is an important route for cyclists. It is a key route from the east and south east into Wellingborough. The others require you to use main A roads with no cycle facilities or ride much further.

No wonder people don't cycle much in the UK,

Cycling against the car culture

2010-03-15T07:48:29+00:00

An excellent post by a barrister who looks in detail at specific legal cases and concludes that strict liability would help The Cycling Lawyer: Cycling against the car culture.

The heavier and faster the vehicle you chose to control, the more danger you present to others. A recognition that this imposes a correspondingly greater duty and, in the event of accident, comes with a burden of proof may constitute one small step towards the shift in culture required

This is why I believe in equality

2010-03-07T19:36:24+00:00

Great post, with pictures :-) at We Mixed Our Drinks: This is why I believe in equality. Ends with:

This is why equality is important. It's not something to do with wanting to wipe out men. It's not something it was okay to stand for in the 1970s, with no need to stand for it now. Hearing these women speak we were left in no doubt that equality and respect is not something we've achieved. It's something we have to keep on fighting for.

I should have had decaff :-)

2010-03-07T01:04:47+00:00

Tonight was our 3rd Cafechurch at the Costa Coffee in Wellingborough, this time with yours truly doing a spot of hosting (and being reminded that it is a good job that I am not trying to make a living as a standup comic). See 42: Coffee and other bits for comments on the previous event.

Anyway tonight we had a theme of Fairtrade, it being Fairtrade fortnight, there was a good turnout with new faces. We had two local "experts", Valerie Susan to share experiences and thoughts with us, plus as usual live music (and yes we did note the irony of the theme when Costa do not sell any Fairtrade tea and the coffee is not yet fairtrade by default).

I did make the mistake of not ordering decaff though so am now awake for blogging which is a pity as my first service of three tomorrow is at 8:30 in Wellingborough. My problem is that I like Costas new Flat White Coffee very much but still feel the need to have back to back comparisons with my previous favourite (Massimo skinny latte with extra shot) :-)

Our next Cafechurch is on Saturday April 3rd, doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start. Finishing at 8:30pm with doors closing at 9pm. Again all are invited to Costa Coffee in Wellingborough where the theme is "Is life giving you grief?"

In praise of Methodist Homes

2010-03-07T00:40:32+00:00

Today was a big day for our family. We moved my Mother-in-law to a new home.

Months ago when we discussed with her our options regarding stationing (for background see 42: Drowning in excitement) she said she would like to move with us but did not want to have her own home again.

So for a few months we have been looking with her at a wide variety of options. In the end she has chosen to move into a residential home from Methodist Homes (see MHA.org.uk). We have visited three times and taken her twice, on one of her visits she stayed for a residents meeting and for lunch.

We were absolutely delighted when the home she had chosen offered her a place, it is a few months earlier than we initially hoped for but the room they had available was perfect (ground floor with a lovely garden view) so we decided to not to wait.

During the past few months we have visited many residential homes near where we will be moving to and the Methodist Home stood out, not just a little better but massively so.

When we visited the residents all took notice and chatted to us, the staff were very welcoming to us and we were really impressed by the care they showed to everyone (evident in the way the served lunch, they way they listened in the residents meeting, the way they worked as a team and many others).

While every residential home has an activities organiser in this Methodist Home there are 3 activities every day (and enough lounges that you don't have to go to your room to avoid them). On our second visit they were setting up Mii's for all the residents on their new Wii :-)

When we arrived today we found that not only had they cleaned the room thoroughly but it also had a new furniture: fancy electric chair - the sort that ejects you or provides a foot rest depending on the button you press, wardrobe, drawers, bedside cabinet. It did mean that we brought quite a but of stuff back home as it was not needed :-)

As we had hoped the staff were not just expecting her but were welcoming and ready. So all the necessary stuff like sorting out her medication was handled quickly, efficiently and with personal attention and care.

I had to leave fairly early in order to get the hire van back (and get to our 3rd Cafechurch at Costa Coffee in Wellingborough) but Jane and her sister were able to stay and get the room fully sorted and be sure that Mum had met people and started the process of settling in. I'll see her next on Tuesday when I take a son over for a 6th form interview.

Anyway in summary: A big thank-you to the MHA for providing a wonderful new home for Fay. If you are looking for residential care for someone you love and have found so many of the options depressing I recommend you have a look at the MHA.

Things it is better not to say

2010-03-06T23:53:09+00:00

If you are going to complain that Methodist Ministers don't come to the social events at your Church then I suggest that you do not say it to a minister who has been out working 11 of the past 14 evenings. It is just possible that your comment may not be appreciated :-)

Oh and it should have been 12 nights out not 11, but one night I got in at 7:30 and did not have time or energy to go out to a meeting that started at 7:30 in another town 5 miles away.

The State of the Nation and why the UK needs Robin Hood? #RHT

2010-03-04T14:16:33+00:00

This post: The Robin Hood Tax » Why does the UK need Robin? does the best job that I have seen in a long time of explaining why we need tax and other policy reform. An excellent primer on the state of the Nation.

Read it and then demand change.

our biblical series on women in leadership « christian feminism

2010-03-04T08:38:07+00:00

A great series exploring many issues related to the role of women: our biblical series on women in leadership « christian feminism.

If you claim to believe in male headship (or complementarianism as it is commonly marketed) then this series ought to be required reading.

Hat tip: Twitter / Hannah M: Really interesting: Christ ....

Vote Bike

2010-03-03T23:02:32+00:00

Vote Bike from the CTC .

With the general election approaching, now is the time to make sure that cycling will get the attention it deserves in the next parliament. CTC has written the Vote Bike Manifesto to make sure that MPs in the next parliament know what they need to do to make cycling a mainstream form of transport.

This is still very much below what I consider a sensible set of policies, but it would at least be a start. See my post 42: Use muscles, not a motor, urges UK Government for what I think is really needed.

Raised with Christ by Adrian Warnock

2010-03-03T22:58:02+00:00

Adrian Warnock kindly sent me an advance copy of his book Raised with Christ. Sadly while I have read much of the book I have not been able to find time write up my thoughts.

However, I have been reading a very thorough review by Peter Kirk. It spans 8 parts and is extremely good. I thoroughly recommend the review which makes many of the points I would have raised and lots more besides: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and finally Part 8.

Peter concludes with the following:

I nearly wrote that I was pleasantly surprised by “Raised with Christ”. I was certainly pleased by it. But I wasn’t really surprised to find that Adrian could put aside the sometimes polemical tone he uses on his “blog” and write something as well argued and positive as this book. As I would expect it is not at a high academic level, and this occasionally comes through in minor weaknesses in the argument. But this ensures that the book is accessible to ordinary people with a reasonable education.

The only significant reservations I have are really because, as an Arminian charismatic suspicious of much “Reformed” evangelicalism, I do not fit into Adrian’s target audience. That is why I found somewhat grating the way in which he keeps quoting Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, and Piper, as well as older Puritans. But I know that for Adrian’s intended audience of Reformed readers, “cessationist” as well as charismatic, these are the traditionally accepted authorities, and so it is important for Adrian’s case to show that these preachers and writers support it.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone whose background is “Reformed” or conservative evangelical and whose faith seems to be somewhat doctrine-centred and dry. In fact I can think of people I might like to give it to. I would think that anyone like that who read this book would find it acceptable – and if they then took its message to heart their faith would be transformed. I hope and pray that God uses the book in this way to revitalise many Christian lives.

Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development

2010-03-03T00:01:06+00:00

Great film from Streetfilms | Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development.

Hat tip: EcoVelo » Blog Archive » Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development.

Church Councils are not so bad when ...

2010-02-24T22:09:27+00:00

Church Councils are not so bad when they are at Wollaston and you can nip upstairs at the end and get a nice Swedish meal from 2nd Wollaston Guide Company :-)

Ikea had better watch out because these were goooood meatballs!

Robin Hood Tax goes to Parliament #RHT

2010-02-24T21:48:28+00:00

Today was a great day. 2543 people asked their MP to attend a parliamentary briefing. Hundreds of people tweeted about the event, hundreds more talked about it on Facebook and 80, yes 80 MPs attended. A band of four merry folk talked at the briefing. And Committee Room 17 of the House of Commons was packed to capacity. Some people said they’d never seen anything like it.

via robinhoodtax.org.uk

IP Alliance says that encouraging free/open source makes you an enemy of the USA

2010-02-24T21:47:36+00:00

It is almost unbelievable and yet true.

The US-based International Intellectual Property Alliance has asked the US Trade Rep to add Indonesia to its list of rogue nations that don't respect copyright. What did Indonesia do to warrant inclusion on this "301 list"? Its government had the temerity to advise its ministries to give preference to free/open source software because it will cost less and reduce the use of pirated proprietary software in government. According to the IPA, this movement to reduce copyright infringement is actually bad for copyright, because "it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights and also limits the ability of government or public-sector customers (e.g., State-owned enterprise) to choose the best solutions."

via www.boingboing.net

Girls Gone Anti-Feminist -- In These Times

2010-02-24T00:00:28+00:00

A big snip from Girls Gone Anti-Feminist -- In These Times

Some, myself included, have referred to this state of affairs and this kind of media mix as “postfeminist.” But I am rejecting this term. It has gotten gummed up by many conflicting definitions. And besides, this term suggests that somehow feminism is at the root of this when it isn’t— it’s good, old-fashioned, grade-A sexism that reinforces good, old-fashioned, grade-A patriarchy. It’s just much better disguised, in seductive Manolo Blahniks and a million-dollar bra.
Enlightened sexism is feminist in its outward appearance (of course you can be or do anything you want) but sexist in its intent (hold on, girls, only up to a certain point, and not in any way that discomfits men). While enlightened sexism seems to support women’s equality, it is dedicated to the undoing of feminism. In fact, because this equality might lead to “sameness”—way too scary—girls and women need to be reminded that they are still fundamentally female, and so must be emphatically feminine.
Thus, enlightened sexism takes the gains of the women’s movement as a given, and then uses them as permission to resurrect retrograde images of girls and women as sex objects, still defined by their appearance and their biological destiny.
Consequently, in the age of enlightened sexism there has been an explosion in makeover, matchmaking and modeling shows, a renewed emphasis on breasts (and a massive surge in the promotion of breast augmentation), an obsession with babies and motherhood in celebrity journalism (the rise of the creepy “bump patrol”), and a celebration of “opting out” of the workforce.
Feminism thus must remain a dirty word, with feminists (particularly older ones) stereotyped as man-hating, child-loathing, hairy, shrill, humorless and deliberately unattractive lesbians. More to the point, feminism must be emphatically rejected because it supposedly prohibits women from having any fun, listening to Lil’ Wayne or Muse, or dancing to Lady Gaga, or wearing leggings. As this logic goes, feminism is so 1970s—grim, dowdy, aggrieved and passé—that it is now an impediment to female happiness and fulfillment. Thus, an amnesia about the women’s movement, and the rampant, now illegal, discrimination that produced it, is essential, so we’ll forget that politics matters.
Because women are now “equal” and the battle is over and won, we are now free to embrace things we used to see as sexist, including hypergirliness. In fact, this is supposed to be a relief.
Thank God girls and women can turn their backs on stick-in-the-mud, curdled feminism and now we can jiggle our way into that awesome party. Now that women allegedly have the same sexual freedom as men, they actually prefer to be sex objects because it’s liberating. According to enlightened sexism, women today have a choice between feminism and antifeminism, and they just naturally and happily choose the latter because, well, antifeminism has become cool, even hip.

The whole article is a must read. A significant challenge for us today.

Use muscles, not a motor, urges UK Government

2010-02-22T18:27:44+00:00

Departments for Transport and Health jointly release an Active Travel strategy. Next ten years will be the 'Decade of Cycling'. via www.bikeforall.net

Sadly this is yet another total waste of time. A small amount6 of money to be spent on cycle training and on personal travel plans will do almost nothing to increase active travel.

This is so ridiculous, the world knows how you increase active travel. There are plenty of examples of how to do it and none of them have happened through initiatives like this.

If we want active travel (which has huge benefits for the public in health and happier lifestyles, for business with healthier employees who take less time off, for schools with more awake and alert kids who are healthier, for the environment and for the economy as a whole) then the way of getting it is straightforward:

1. Change the Infrastructure

1.1 Pavements that are safe to use for pedestrians. That means

wide enough for pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters
dropped kerbs at every junction
smooth enough for safe walking for those unsteady on their feet
strictly enforced no parking on the pavement anywhere
strictly enforced no blocking of the pavement by signs, deliveries, road works etc

1.2 Living areas that are safe for people to come out of their homes

Car free areas
Home zones
20mph speed limits on all roads that are not thru routes
blocking one end of roads to motorised vehicles (with clear and simple routes through for cyclists with proper junctions for them) so that they cannot be used for short cuts
one way streets for cars (not cycles) that remove direct routes through residential areas
strict parking controls so that kids playing and people walking and cycling are given priority
No planning approval for any new housing or road changes that do not provide safe and convenient access for pedestrians and cycles, keep cars separate and connect into a wider network of routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

1.3 Towns for humans not cars

Reduce car access to town and city centres by cutting through routes, making streets narrower for cars, increasing car free areas, providing more and better park and ride services
Congestion charging for all cities
Reduce on street parking (through charging, restricting quantity and enforcement)
Every town and city to provide clear plans for reducing car dependency and increasing active travel. No changes to the transport infrastructure to be permitted that do not provide excellent access for pedestrians and cyclists. That means you cannot resurface any road without showing that in the process you improve safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists (and the rules to be tight enough so that simply painting a narrow cycle lane will not be enough).

1.4 Provide a full cycling infrastructure

separated cycle facilities that are high quality, direct, safe, have prioity over motorised vehicles No new roads or junctions that do not provide this. If a bypass is built then high speed Dutch model separated cycle route must be provided with conflict free junctions. Plus the route being bypassed must also have proper cycle facilities added.
cycle parking to always be nearer to the destination than any car parking. It must be plentiful, secure and where possible covered
All shoppping centres (both in and out of town) to have safe cycle routes and parking. The test should be simple: All shopping centres must demonstrate that it is safe, quick, convenient and obvious to get to the shops and park by bike for everyone within a 2 mile radius. No planning approval for any other changes to be granted until this is in place.
Cycle commuter routes and parking must be provided for every rail, bus, tram and coach station.
Every school to have a strict and enforced ban on ALL roadside parking within 1/2 a mile.
Every school to provide plentiful and secure cycle parking with safe routes to them
Every school to be provided with safe routes for pedestrians with convenient and fast acting pedestrian crossings on all roads with a 30 mph or higher speed limit within 1 mile
A 20mph speed limit to be in place and enforced by cameras or other technology for a 1/2 mile radius of every school entrance (with the exception of motorways only).
The NHS must ensure that there are safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists throughout all their sites with clear priorities over motorised vehicles at junctions and for parking. Cycle parking to be free.
Every commercial premises to be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient cycle parking and that it is more convenient and secure than any car parking they provide.
HGV access to city and town centres to be very restricted by both size and time of day.

2. Key law change

See 42: The law we need

The UK is only one of four Western European countries that doesnt have 'strict liability' to protect cyclists and pedestrians.
Strict liability entitles a crash victim to compensation unless the driver can prove the cyclist or pedestrian was at fault.
Strict liability encourages more careful driving (and cycling, because a cyclist would be deemed to be at fault for crashing into a pedestrian).
Strict liability would be a matter of civil rather than criminal law so would not affect criminal prosecutions.

3. Policing and the Courts

The Police need to have procedures which give a higher priority to supporting vulnerable users of transport, particularly pedestrians and cyclists. Thus driving a car into a cycle facility or using a mobile phone while driving are considered more important than cycling through a red light for example.
The Courts need much harsher sentences for driving offences. Anyone killing anyone else through careless, dangerous or drunken driving to lose their driving license for life.
Speeding past a school should result in an automatic lose of license for say 12 months
Parking offences that block pavements or cycle routes or put vulnerable road users at risk need to be strictly enforced.

4. Public Transport

There needs to be significant investment in public transport to ensure it is cheap, convenient, attractive and environmentally friendly.

5. Incentives

The Inland Revenue to set the mileage rate for expenses to be the same for cyclists and pedestrians as it is for cars.
All road going cycles to be VAT free as well as transportation orientated accessories such as mudguards, chainguards, racks, baskets
Progressive increases in fuel tax to be re-introduced. To be set via targets to reduce total fuel consumption by a set % each year. So if consumption of petrol and diesel does not drop by say 10% in a year then the tax rises by an amount designed to encourage consumers to achieve that reduction in use.

I think that would be enough to get us started on a transport system that would be significantly better for us all.

Version 3 of Methodist Social Media Guidelines open for editing

2010-02-22T15:54:36+00:00

Ok everyone, last chance to improve the Methodist Social Media Guidelines.

Time to put up or shut up :-)

I have again updated the unofficial version for you to edit. As before I will give anyone who asks permission to edit this document (if you have already asked then you still have permission to continue) and Toby Scott will get all the changes passed onto him. The read-only official version is also available if you prefer.

This has not been a very long process, that was inevitable given that the next Methodist Council is the weekend after Easter. However, this has been something of a first in terms of openness and transparency in forming Methodist policy. I have been pleased to see how the suggestions made in the unofficial version have been adopted into the official version.

While these guidelines are not going to be perfect or all that the various online communities would like to see, I believe they are a great deal better than what was originally presented and move us in a helpful direction.

For earlier discussion see 42.Version 2 of Methodist Social Media Guidelines open for editing

Henry responds to "Am I a Complementarian?"

2010-02-19T08:56:56+00:00

Henry has written a response to another silly set of definitions.

It is simply that every person, irrespective of gender, should be permitted to serve in the church as they are called and gifted by God. My egalitarian position says nothing whatsoever about how many men or women will or will not possess what gifts and what calling. That is precisely what I reject. I do not think they are ontologically and functionally equal. I just don’t believe that the offices of the church are necessarily tied to such function and ontology, nor do I think that each man and each woman can be defined solely as “man” or “woman.” There are an abundance of other differences.

The original post starts ok but descends (as complementarians so often do) into a silly caricature of the egalitarian position.

While I like Henry's response my position is not quite the same. It depends on what is meant by "ontologically and functionally equal".

I do not believe that the female/male continuum should be connected in any way to an understanding of a persons call and gifting by God to serve in the Church. Again the call and gifting by God to serve in the Church is what should be tested (thoroughly) by which I do not include an inspection of that persons genitals.

Headlines about young people

2010-02-19T08:38:52+00:00

via asbojesus.wordpress.com

What if we create better world for nothing?

2010-02-19T00:06:10+00:00

via noimpactman.typepad.com

To be honest I feel much the same about Christian Faith.