Archive for march

“March” by A.E. Housman

Posted in Poetry with tags , , , , on March 22, 2022 by telescoper

The Sun at noon to higher air,
Unharnessing the silver Pair
That late before his chariot swam,
Rides on the gold wool of the Ram.

So braver notes the storm-cock sings
To start the rusted wheel of things,
And brutes in field and brutes in pen
Leap that the world goes round again.

The boys are up the woods with day
To fetch the daffodils away,
And home at noonday from the hills
They bring no dearth of daffodils.

Afield for palms the girls repair,
And sure enough the palms are there,
And each will find by hedge or pond
Her waving silver-tufted wand.

In farm and field through all the shire
They eye beholds the heart’s desire;
Ah, let not only mine be vain,
For lovers should be loved again.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936)

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How big was the 23rd March Put It To The Vote march? A: too big to ignore

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on March 25, 2019 by telescoper

This post offers some interesting reflections on Saturday’s march. I recall the anti-War march in 2003 and would say that Saturday’s was similar in size, and both were substantially larger than the one last autumn.

I heard the organisers announce an official estimate of 1 million (without an error bar). Not being able to reach the end of the march – barely got halfway – I can’t make a quantitative estimate. I’ll just say that if someone told me it was two or three times as big as the one in 2018 then I wouldn’t be surprised.

I’ll just add that it was very enjoyable and the participants were very friendly and polite – so different from the abusive and threatening conduct of the other side. That is probably the Remainers’ biggest problem – we’re just too nice. The government is far more likely to be swayed by threats of `blood on the streets’ than civilized peaceful protest, which is why I fear so much for the direction in which the UK is heading.

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

How big was the 23rd March Put It To The Vote march? A: too big to ignore

I was not able due to other commitments to pay more than passing direct attention to the People’s Vote in central London on 23rd March.

As might be expected I’m no fan of the named organisers but that is hardly the point. A very large demonstration brings all sorts of people and ideas onto the streets and opens up possibilities.

The organisers pre-claimed the march would be a million strong and repeated that afterwards as well. To be fair with such a large march over a relatively short distance ending up in a restricted space its very difficult to tell. My general views on the size of protests are here:

https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2019/03/21/once-gain-on-the-size-of-protests-the-peoples-vote-march-23rd-march/

There were some slightly odd claims. One twitter post showed the Mall full for a Royal event in a previous…

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