This site will not work properly if viewed through Internet Explorer.

The Other News From England.

4 January 1999.

New this week - The Soup Designer`s Handbook and London Journeys.

The Soup Designer`s Handbook.

London Journey - a trip from Docklands through Beckenham and back to Docklands.

Friday Woodworkers.

Episode 7 this week because nos. 5 and 6 have gone missing. I will try to rewrite them from notes, and at the same time search for the disk they were on.

(These articles were written in 1988, and were my first attempt at writing. Some people when shown these fell about laughing, some smiled faintly - and some yawned. I thought I was going to write a technical book, but it soon became apparent that I was much more interested in the people than the technology - and that is the main reason there are no drawings - although it might be rather good to do a couple of caricatures sometime.)

Index of Friday Woodorker articles (and a means of access).

Progress is slow but we`re still moving on.

We are still redesigning The Other News From England.

There is at least one new article this week, and articles on many subjects in earlier issues (which can be seen by clicking below).

Index of earlier issues.

Gabriele Gad on alternative therapy.

editor@othernews.co.uk

Cartoons and graphics.

drawings click here.

music click here. Only one file - Pavanne - is working, but it`s a start

Lawyers, freemasons and politics.

I gather the Lord chancellor having (as far as I am able to judge) been defeated on the question of judges declaring their masonic preferences (this is what he wanted), is now trying to arrange a way that ordinary members of the public (what next!!) will be able to participate in the selection of judges!!!

Far out! This sounds like a good thing, in that if I was a member of the selection panel (though in some way you can be sure I would not be an acceptable member) I would be able to ask each applicant if they were a freemason and then turn them down if they either (a) refused to answer or (b) told me they were. This would then be argued to be prejudice on my behalf (which it is) and thus the freemasons would prevail.

Oh dear, that won`t do. Well, what I could do is to behave like a freemason by keeping my prejudice a secret but at the same time find another reason for not wanting the applicant to be a judge. Yes, that`s better: Behave like a lawyer. Very professional, and as bent as they come.

It might be worthwhile to look at how such a panel would be elected. Presumably, it would be another quango, and staffed by persons who applied for the job - but you would need to know where the job was advertised to have any chance of standing, and it would be advertised in certain papers that most of us don`t read.

And then, when you got your interview, would you know how to give the appropriate masonic handshake?

If you didn`t, you probably wouldn`t get the job.

So masonic judges may rest assured they can continue exactly as they have always done, with the same secrecy that always existed.

As to justice - stuff that.

That`s all this week folks