The Isle of Man
Suttonian, or more correctly, Suttonian aggro-loon has asked me to look into matters Manx, given that they have an election yonder. Can't say I know the first thing about Manx politics beyond the existence of the House of Keys, but in the interests of keeping at least one of my readers diverted, I have gone for a dig.
First stop is iomelections.com, where I have discovered that it is all a bit personal. There's a constituency rejoicing in the splendid name of Michael, but Douglas gets four seats. Middle is perhaps the least inspiring name for a seat I have ever encountered anywhere.
Further digging shows that the Liberal Vannin party which S A-L was intrigued by uses the LD snake in the grass emblem superimposed on a a viking long ship as its logo. 'Tis a graphical mess, frankly and we can fill in the blanks on policies based on that association.
Over at the Bloggers friend there's plenty more on the politics of the place. Looks like independents, or non-partisans, run the show. Mec Vannin is an intriguing looking mob, which 'seeks to revoke the status of Man as a British Crown Dependency and establish a completely sovereign state, which would be a republic'. It doesn't stand for election, and combines 60s socialism with distinct hostility to immigration from we English types. Apparently the Manx Communist Party has given up - an example I offer enthusiastically to Communist parties everywhere.
Anyway, here are the Bard of Salford's thoughts on the place:
Ex RSM's with purple necks
a nose for trouble and kinky sex
rejuvenate an old pudenda
with a bunch of sticks
and a young offender
Where are the weirdos, thugs, and louts
down in the dungeons dishing it out
their politics would recommend
a bunch of sticks and a young offender
Authority its use perverts
submission to it always hurts
the cops and the church and the house of keys
bring back the birch for bums like these
First stop is iomelections.com, where I have discovered that it is all a bit personal. There's a constituency rejoicing in the splendid name of Michael, but Douglas gets four seats. Middle is perhaps the least inspiring name for a seat I have ever encountered anywhere.
Further digging shows that the Liberal Vannin party which S A-L was intrigued by uses the LD snake in the grass emblem superimposed on a a viking long ship as its logo. 'Tis a graphical mess, frankly and we can fill in the blanks on policies based on that association.
Over at the Bloggers friend there's plenty more on the politics of the place. Looks like independents, or non-partisans, run the show. Mec Vannin is an intriguing looking mob, which 'seeks to revoke the status of Man as a British Crown Dependency and establish a completely sovereign state, which would be a republic'. It doesn't stand for election, and combines 60s socialism with distinct hostility to immigration from we English types. Apparently the Manx Communist Party has given up - an example I offer enthusiastically to Communist parties everywhere.
Anyway, here are the Bard of Salford's thoughts on the place:
Ex RSM's with purple necks
a nose for trouble and kinky sex
rejuvenate an old pudenda
with a bunch of sticks
and a young offender
Where are the weirdos, thugs, and louts
down in the dungeons dishing it out
their politics would recommend
a bunch of sticks and a young offender
Authority its use perverts
submission to it always hurts
the cops and the church and the house of keys
bring back the birch for bums like these
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on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 9:44 am.
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oldest parliament in the western world I believe.
I have intersts in the IOM and have to say the place is quite well run.you can't claim benefits till you've worked there three years,no crime-except scallies on a w/e away,no asylum seekers, deportations of undesirables,very low tax and very good healthcare-ie not flooded with illegal immigrants.
Whilst there is anti english sentiment,they rely on it for teachers/nurses etc and have no desrire to cut off their nose to spite their face.
The main fear is the creeping influence of the EU.many English vote for the manx independence party
A good place , I had family there , and spent summer holidays o the island.
Do you know that there isnt a single black person on the island?
However The slippery drop into the sewer is well underway , no birching , no hanging and buggery legalised.
Nearest I've got to it is the ferry from Stranraer to Belfast. My ma used to holiday there as a child though.
Peter - you really are a mushy liberal, aren't you?
he is michael foot in disguise.
apaprently,there is genuine concern that the eu forcing them to get rid of birching is the cause of their current crime wave ie some scally pissing in a sho door way.
BTW there is a rumour that when someone applied for planning permission for a mosque,the police went round and said if you go ahead we can't guarantee your safety.how true this is, I'm not sure.but there is no mosque on the island
hey, your friend Dizzy is a real scruffy bugger isn't he?
I looked in on Iain dales site last night and saw him sat on stage with an aggressive lefty and some knob in a pink tie. your mate sat there silently observing them in what appeared to be the kind of apparel you wear on the way to/from a shit gym.
I don't blame him for keeping quiet, I would have been sat there thinking "what a pair of wankers ,why am I here?"
I love the IOM. When there, I visited the House of Keys museum. For all the snide comments they were the first place to give the women the vote. Also, I managed to get in with the locals travelling the island with the pub pool team in the B&B I was staying. These days there is virtually full employment, great opportunities for school-leavers, virtually no crime and a sense of pity towards those of us unfortunate to live on the mainland.
Peter - Dizz is not a suit and tie type, and it would have been fraudulent to dress up, plus he reckoned there are more than enough 'suits' on TV. I don't think he'll mind me saying he was sporting a 'Don't blame me - I voted Tory T-shirt'. Shame he didn't show the world, really.
Peter, as Croydonian said, I don't do smart. I'm in I.T. Much of the day I;m a social misanthropic misfit, it;s only at night that I venture into Central London and wander aimlessly onto a stage in a tv studio. Saldy I wasn't wearing that t-shirt though, it was not clean :(
Dizzy,
That Alex hilton made my hackles stand up, just looking at him never mind listening to him.
I can imagine sitting in a room with him and watching him pontificating, with me being so overwhelmed by his wilful stupidity (socialism) that I couldn't even bring myself to say a word to him, what would be the point. In a decent word it would be legal to just pull out a pistol and shoot him, that or throw him into a pit filled with wild dogs.
Here is a video clip of the kind of dogs I would like to set on him and any other member of the labour party.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SXM_q9FvOZU
have you seen the one where it attacks it's handler,,,,superb
Rigger Mortice - When you say you believe the Keys is the oldest parliament in the Western world, no need to qualify it with "in the Western world". No one else had democracy until N Europeans introduced it around the world.
Also, you're wrong about the Keys. The oldest parliament in the world is the Iceland Althingi. Founded in 930.
V - there is a very interesting chapter in David Friedman's 'The Machinery of Freedom' on early Iceland. He notes that the government consisted of one part time employee - no civil servants, nothing.
David has very kindly put chunks of the book on the net, but not this particular chapter, other than in a Polish translation. Yes, really.
Aaarrrr, these Icelanders know althingi or two ...
Rigger M - crime flourishes on the I.o.M. Much of it local youth.
Nobody votes for Mec Vannin, the independentists - they don't stand for election! Wonder why!
I thought Wyoming (Equality State)was the lst to give wimmins the vote, and NZ the lst country. 1893-4 (I remember reading 'bout it in the Morning Post.)
Apparently it was Pitcairn Island - in 1838.
More here
Pragtory - apologies!
Mea culpa, ol' chap.
IoM was indeed lst (1866). Wyoming 69, first vote 70 and lst woman on a jury '70, in Laramie (I'm trying to think of a joke about the Man from Laramie, but can't...)
Moral: look at Wikipedia before I leap.
Well, the Althingi may have been founded in 930, but according to the EU, Europe is just 50 years old. It must be so because they have held a 50th anniversary logo contest and it has been won by an art student who is clearly a fan of kindgergarten art and Coca-Cola teaching the world to sing in perfect harmonee commercials.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6058864.stm
I read once that some women had the vote in England before the Great Reform Act took it away. In some constituencies, the system was that the head of household got the vote, so if she was a widow, she had the vote. Since part of the thrust of the act was for uniformity, and since most constituencies didn't do it that way, it was binned. It only goes to show.
Blimey, what I've just said is compatible with this rather cryptic Wikipedia entry "Women were not formally prohibited from voting until the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act."
Dm - yes, good point well made. I just about remember that from A level history.
croydonian, could you tell your very good friend suttonian he is doing a very good job of.....
Lost me there Vikki.
When your face is behind your hand you are masked....right? its a jigsaw.....on reflection you would understand....but your friend will understand too....
Decipherable.....? was more for your friend.....'our friend'
Glad to have started a mini-debate. The friendly curator (who wasn't hired to fill quotas unlike in Brighton) told me that New Zealanders were most disappointed with this fact as they are taught they were the first.
PT - you sure did - much appreciated. Meandering still further, the most amazingly helpful curator I've ever encountered was in a museum in Firenze. Still, I have a soft spot for Italy etc.
I dont know if you were able to decipher what I was saying....I was simply saying... I believe I know your friend....from bantering with him in the past even though he now has a different name....I apologise if I made him uncomfortable.....
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