Top 10 Bloggers

It's nearly the end of 2008, so here's a round up of the top 10 bloggers, according to various 'authorities'.

Technorati:
1. The Huffington Post
2. Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide
3. TechCrunch
4. Engadget
5. Ars Technica
6. Boing Boing
7. Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
8. Official Google Blog
9. Daily Kos: State of the Nation
10. Smashing Magazine

These are based on 'authority' - how many other Technorati registered sites link to yours over a certain period. If you're linked by a non-Technorati site, that doesn't count. Politics/news and technology dominate here, with a bit of internet weirdness thrown in (Boing Boing). Visiting the Huffington Post reminded me of the Times - similar look, and with many newspapers now having comments on the online versions of their articles, the line between blogs and newspaper sites is becoming very blurred. Is HuffPo one of us, or one of them?

Wikio: November top 10 (December top 10 leaked to Matt Wardman)
1 Iain Dale's Diary
2 Guy Fawkes' blog
3 Liberal Conspiracy
4 Blah! Blah! Technology
5 xlab
6 ConservativeHome's ToryDiary
7 The Devil's Kitchen
8 Liberal Democrat Voice
9 politicalbetting.com
10 Labourhome

all very UK, and dominated by politics and technology to the exclusion of all else. And prone to vary wildly depending on which way the wind is blowing, though Hazel Blears has clearly read the top 2 lines, if nothing else.

Technoranki is truly diverse (politics, cartoons, weirdness, swearing, food, online games etc.), though the 'history' is suspiciously flat, doesn't seem to move about too much. Very UK based.
1. lazylaces ::: home
2. A Welsh View
3. Girl with a one-track mind
4. petite anglaise
5. The Devil's Kitchen
6. Becks & Posh
7. NHS Blog Doctor
8. The Cartoon Blog by Dave Walker
9. Iain Dale's Diary
10. .: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery

Blogflux: pretty random at the moment, as they seem to keep losing data, but covers a much wider spectrum of blogs. Not sure I like the look of some of the top 10 sites, so if you're really interested you'll have to look them up yourself! For a sense of perspective, the top religion and politics blogs are, at present, 60 and 55 in their overall list. It starts from 0 every Sunday, so is more of a snapshot than the others. With loads of subcategories, it's easier to kid yourself that your blog is somehow significant: St. A is currently in the top 50 religious blogs, but is 1689 overall, just after a rather questionable Japanese site.

Or for something completely different, try the top 10 New Zealand Christian blogs on public discourse. But a post on the top 10 Christian blogs is probably a separate item.

And NT Wrong has posted the top 50 Bible scholarship blogs (at least I think that's what they are) for November, based on number of visits.

As for my personal top 10, I'm still working on it. Watch this space.

Parent Power 1 Nestle 0

Chatting to someone from our school Parents & Friends Association, I discovered that after my unfortunate Santa episode last year, one or two folk had looked into Nestle and decided that they agreed with the boycott, so this year all the kids are getting Cadbury's.

Result!

Ooh, how exciting!

I appear to have got an award. Well, a 'Lingy', awarded by David Ker to some of his favourite blogs, which is nice. This is the chap who wanted me to whittle down the creed to 140 characters. Here's a picture of a pink hippopotamus:

It appears that these normally get awarded on Feb 29th, but clearly he got fed up with waiting. Not a great way to start Advent....

On blogging lists, Wikio seems to be leakier than the Home Office with a Conservative spokesman, having brown-enveloped it's top 30's for general and political blogging to two blogs. This is worse than the pre-budget report, I expect everyone involved to be raided by the police with immediate effect.

The Big Give - Double your Donation, while stocks last.

Just heard from Care for the Family about 'Double Your Donation', which opened this morning. It's financed by the Reed foundation, who have offered to match, pound for pound, donations of up to £5,000 to any charity. It looks like they've been inundated with requests today, but it's still worth getting your request in. Unfortunately they only have £1m to give away, so it may have all gone already. But, in the words of Coldplay, if you never try you'll never know....

Wouldn't it be great if there was 1 philanthropist a day doing this through Advent?

Former SPCK Bookshops: warning, house of cards close to collapse.

Those of you who've been following the sad saga of the former SPCK bookshops here, and the campaign against censorship of bloggers who reported on it, might like to know that:

1. There is now a Charity Commission investigation into the company who now run the shops.
2. Trading Standards are also investigating.
3. The Northern Echo have picked up on the petition to remove the Durham Cathedral shop from the control of the new owners, and there has been some correspondence exchanged (or not!) between the Cathedral, the petitioners, and suppliers to the shop.

Finally, Matt Wardman has a detailed but fascinating post today on the missing thousands of £ in the SSG/ENC/Durham shop accounts, and where it all might have got to. It raises a host of issues, including how the Durham shop managed to create a debt (according to the SSG paperwork) of 70% of its turnover, and why money was being paid to a flying club in Cornwall rather than to bookshop suppliers.

Matt concludes

To recap:
Durham Cathedral Shop Management Company to SSGCT: $165,000 in 11 weeks in spring 2008.
SSGCT to “Orthodox Christian Mission Fund”: $342,000 in 12 months to June 2008.
SSGCT payments in legal feed: around $200,000 in 12 months to June 2008.

Surely it is time that someone asked the Fraud Squad to at least run a slide-rule over this little lot to make sure that it is all legal? What it amounts to is J Mark and Phil Brewer diverting hundreds of thousands of pounds from ex-SPCK bookshops to a private “Orthodox” setup, and the ex-SPCK Bookshops being charged around $200,000 for legal fees within a 12 month period. On top of that there are even larger alleged debts still owed in the purported Bankruptcy Documents submitted by J Mark Brewer to the South Texas Bankruptcy Court.

And then there is the initial 9-month period about which nothing is known whatsoever. How much money was transferred out to the Orthodox Christian Mission Fund and charged in legal fees in that period, when - presumably - the chain was stronger?

We need a hero or a group of heroes. Can I politely suggest that it is time that somebody who had a business relationship with this organisation took some action to start a legal process in the UK to resolve this? I can’t do that, because they don’t owe me any money.

What is needs to start is someone who is owed money by the Saint Stephen the Great Charitable Trust to put the Trust into liquidation in the UK under UK Law, as that will get the authorities and the regulators involved - and will at least start to take the lid off the can of worms.
I have no idea how much money you will get back - which will depend on the UK framework of company and bankruptcy law, but it will be a good deed...

....Then eventually book enthusiasts and local communities that used to depend on SPCK bookshops and the programmes they used to run can start to pick up at least some of the pieces. And when more new well-run bookshops start to emerge, the suppliers to the trade will have a chance to recover.

Spirit of Coldplay 2: Prospekts March.

Coldplays Viva La Vida was a subtle assault on U2's crown as the most spiritual stadium band of the turn of the millenium. Prospekts March, the Coldplay EP released last week, isn't quite such rich pickings, but there are one or two intriguing clues to the spirit of Coldplay.

The EP has 8 tracks, 3 are remixes of tracks on Viva La Vida (Lost+, Lovers in Japan and Life in Technicolour ii, which adds a layer of vocals over the original instrumental). There are 5 new tracks: Postcards from Far Away (short instrumental), Glass of Water, Rainy Day, Prospekts March/Poppyfields, and Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground. There aren't any official lyrics with the CD, but this site is as good as any for finding them.

As a Coldplay fan, I wasn't disappointed - quite frankly I couldn't work out how Lovers in Japan had been remixed, but don't care because it's my favourite track of 2008. And Glass of Water is a cracker. There are cross-references a-plenty 'Now My Feet' picks up from the refrain of 'Death Will Never Conquer', a rootsy concert extra on Coldplay's latest tour, and there's some Pink Floyd in there for the discerning customer too. The whole CD checks in at nearly 30m, which is pretty good for an EP, and longer than some Smiths LP's used to be.

The most obvious religious references crop up in Lost +:

See Jesus, see Judas/ See Caesar, see Brutus/ see success is like suicide/Suicide, it's a suicide/If you succeed, prepare to be crucified (done by rapper Jay-Z)

where the rapper seems to be comparing the fate of Jesus to that of various rap artists and black leaders who were killed (Martin Luther, Malcolm X). I'm not convinced about putting rap artists on the same plinth as civil rights leaders, but the insight is fair enough - 'if you succeed, prepare to be crucified'. There is a world of difference, though, between the crucifixion of Jesus and any other martyrdom. Sure we take up our cross and follow him, but I wouldn't pretend that any of our suffering is equivalent to what Jesus did, or to argue that Notorious Big is somehow deserving of being on a roll-call of martys alongside the Son of God. Is that because I is white?

Rainy Day is a bit more subtle, and rather ambiguous:

Then there was rain

The sound foundations are crumbling

Through the ground comes a bit of a-tumbling

And time was just floating away

We can watch it and stay

And we can listen

Oh rainy day, come 'round

Sometimes i just want it to slow down

And we're separated now, i'm down

But i love when you come over to the house

I love it when you come 'round to my house

Which put me in mind of Alastair Darling and the world economy: it is raining right now, and foundations we though were sound are crumbling. Jesus was right - he always is - if we don't build our lives on his words then we are building on sand. I don't know whether Chris Martin here is calling for the rain 'come round to my house' or for company - a bit like the OT prophets who called for God to rend the heavens and come down. We want to see this stuff tested because we're convinced that it's fake, and it's time for something authentic and true. And we also want our own foundations tested, so that God's rain washes away what isn't from him, or the stuff we've convinced ourselves is from Jesus but actually isn't.

Finally, Glass of Water is a modern Ecclesiastes...

Scared of losin' all the time

He wrote it in a letter

He was a friend of mine

He heard you could see your future

Inside a glass of water

With ripples and the rhymes

He asked 'Will I see heaven in mine?'

Oh that is just the way it was,

and nothing could be better,

and nothing ever was.

And they say you can see your future,

inside a glass of water,

with riddles and the rhymes

but 'will I see heaven in mine?’

Son, don't ask,

Neither half full nor empty is your glass

Cling to the mast

Spend your whole life living in the past

Going nowhere fast

So he wrote it on a wall

The hollowest of halos

Is no halo at all

and Televisions selling plastic figurines of leaders

Saying nothing at all

And you chime

Stars in heaven align

Son, don't ask,

neither half full nor empty is your glass

Cling to the mast

Spend your whole life living in the past

Going nowhere fast

What are we drinking when we’re done … just glasses of water.

...it's probably the combination of fatalism, and the fact that there's nothing you can do about your future (just like chasing the wind). If you spend too long trying to work out the future, whether in a glass of water or in the stars, you'll miss the future God's got for you. And if you hang on to what you've got, you'll definitely get nowhere (shades of Jesus and 'those who hold onto their lives will lose them'?). And as Jesus said, glasses of water are for giving away (Mt 25).

Don't Spend Your Tax Cut (on Nestle)

I've been relived of my duties as Father Christmas at the school party, which is a great relief. Last year my problem wasn't actually an itchy beard or a badly fitting suit. It was giving out Nestle selection packs to 400+ children. This is a repost of what I wrote last year:


The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.5 million babies die each year because they are not adequately breastfed. Despite what is claimed on baby milk substitutes, breast milk is still far superior for babies as a source of nutrition and disease prevention. What's more, it is safer - where formula milk has to be made up from contaminated or unsafe water supplies, there is a high risk to the baby. The risk of death from diarrhoea and pneumonia increases dramatically if a family uses formula milk in an area with an unhygenic water supply.

As a result the WHO has a set of marketing codes, to safeguard vulnerable people. Nestle has violated these codes more often than any other company. Whilst breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months as the best option for a childs health, Nestle markets is products in the developing world as suitable from 4 months, and sometimes much younger. Health workers and key opinion formers are showered with gifts and free samples, and claims of health benefits of milk substitutes are exaggerated.

In China, the worlds biggest market, where Nestle is having a big marketing push, exclusive breastfeeding of infants has declined from 76% to 64% in less than 10 years. Nestle has stationed doctors in Chinese supermarkets to give out free samples and deal with questions. The international code on marketing of breast milk substitutes forbids promotion direct to parents, but this is exactly what Nestle are doing in China, and many other places. This Guardian article looks into what's happening in Bangladesh, and to what extent Nestle have truly changed their practices.

The result of their actions is to place the lives and health of millions of babies at risk.The Nestle boycott began in 1977 in the USA, and spread across the world. It's old news, which is probably why so few people know about it, or folk who used to boycott Nestle assume that everything is fine now. The Church of England announced a boycott of Nestle in the early 90's, with a measurable effect on sales, but in the face of a p.r. blitz by Nestle over the following years decided not to renew it. I'm a Church of England vicar who thinks that was a mistake.

The only thing that Nestle understand, and other companies like them, is money. The thing that will change their practices is a financial hit, and one thing that Western consumers have is spending power, to use, or to withdraw.

So here's what not to buy.
Nescafe and all Nescafe brands
Rowntrees products (Nestle bought the company a few years ago) such as Kit Kat & Lion Bar
Ski Yoghurts
After 8's
Yorkie
Buxton Mineral Water
Nestle cereals: Shreddies, Cheerios, Golden Grahams etc.
Cosmetics by Garnier, L'Oreal, Lancome, Matrix and others (part-owned)
Winalot and Felix pet foods, among others.

For a fuller list go here.

Other useful sites:
Baby milk action
the Boycott Nestle blog,
nestlecritics.org
November update from Baby Milk Action.

A longer version of this article will appear on the Wardman Wire later today.

37,000 back to church

...according to Back to Church Sunday, based on data from 1/5 of the 3,000 churches taking part. Report here, BTCS website here. Ht Dave W's church times blog. That's quite a number, and it'll be interesting to see if the quality of welcome, fellowship etc. is such that they stay, or realise that they'd been staying away for good reason!!

Based on research by Richter & Francis, Mission Shaped Church estimated that 35-40% of UK residents have some kind of church backgrounds (though that number is shrinking), but no longer come to church. These are folk who come to Christmas services, know some of the songs and the Bible, and could come to church without it all feeling completely alien.

MSC argued that half of these might be open to returning. However, TEAR fund came up with a much lower figure in its research last year. Instead of there being 20% of 'open de-churched' (to use the jargon) it reckoned there was only 5%. Still, that's over 2m people that back to church Sunday can work for, and it's clearly helped many of them. Here's the Tear Fund chart

Speaking to a local youth team yesterday, we used a simpler version the above graphic and asked them to mark on it where they did most of their mission work. It was encouraging to see a lot of splodges on the left hand side of the chart. Most Christian outreach, such as BTCS, Alpha, etc., is of the 'come to us' variety which mainly connects with the fringe/occasional/open de-churched segment, which is a small and shrinking chunk of the whole.

I'm looking forward to the day when we get a 3-D version of the chart which shows people's attitude to spirituality, faith and prayer. Lots of people who don't go to church pray regularly, and defining things in terms of their contact with the church can give the false impression that God is only at work within the church. When we actually talk and listen to people, we often discover that He's been there way ahead of us, and that what people have rejected is not God, but the church and the cultural trappings which grow like brambles around the gospel, or the hurtful mistakes of Christians which have practiced the opposite of what was preached.