First they came for the teachers…

Lynne Horn, a Scots teacher, has been banned from running a blog about her work - she specialises in using educational technology to reach pupils, particularly boys. All other teachers in her area have received similar bans.

Her offence? A Tweet which ran thus:

"Have three Asperger's boys in S1 class: never a dull moment! Always offer an interesting take on things"

As far as I can see, this remark is neutral at worst, positive at best. Yet the outraged yokels are saying things like 'She should be teaching, not sitting at her computer' - though it's unlikely she left the classroom to twitter to her mates. Do these people think teaching isn't difficult or challenging? Apparently, teachers are allowed teaching-related blogs but nothing personal: there's an interesting legal point. Is the local authority really claiming the right to limit a teacher's right to run a blog about Scalextric, trainspotting or violin-making?

Free Lynne Horn (and let's hope my employers don't read Plashing Vole).

Northern Ireland: the politics of the madhouse

OK, they aren't killing each other with guns at the moment, but NI seems to have become Mississippi or somewhere like that. Where else would you have a Minister for the Environment who totally rejects climate change? Perhaps, for Sammy Wilson - a DUP member - the word green has too many negative connotations. Now he's banned a government ad encouraging people to switch off their TVs at night - because he believes that earth is 4000 years old and that interfering with God's plan (presumably for our incineration) is a bad thing.