As a teacher, I feel personally insulted that the ghastly Woodhead has been knighted ......

[non sociopath skin]

... especially after years of well-deserved oblivion.

Sympathy vote, you say? Well, the many colleagues and students whose lives he and his cheerleaders blighted didn't get much sympathy.

Not too happy about the K for Soapy "Nae gays here" Souter or the gong for Obergruppenfuhrer Ferry either.

The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I think Souter's knighthood is probably the worst

Woodhead's view on education are bad, and his excuses about "my pupil had definitely left school before I started sleeping with her" sit uneasily with me; but Souter poured millions into a public homophobic campaign; and is a pretty dodgy businessman too (Stagecoach has frequently appeard in Private Eye for various reasons).

Ferry's not a great person either (all I can remember is 'gaffes' about the Nazis, but I can't be bothered to look it up); what surprises me is it's described just as "for services to music"; and I wonder if his 'services' really have been that great. Roxy Music was innovative, but it's been a long time since Ferry has done much. If there had been extensive charity work, I could understand it, but if there was, it's not mentioned.

Jenni Murray getting a damehood is something, though.

[non sociopath skin]

2. I think that Brian Eno would have been a more deserving recipient...

... but he's a bit of a leftie, isn't he?

A reminder of von Ferry's Nazi lovefest here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6561177.stm

Yes. I agree that Jenni Murray was deserving for all kinds of reasons.

The Skin

[Hopeless Romantic]

3. Should progressives take any interest at all in the gong system?

Best ignored really

[non sociopath skin]

4. I'm not sure I, personally, can "ignore" a ritual with such a high public profile, HR.

Every society has a mechanism by which it designates its favoured citizens and, like it or loathe it, the gong system is ours.

The Skin