#judge philip lancaster

[davidhencke]

Time for a full scale investigation into the abusive and bullying behaviour towards women by Judge Philip Lancaster

Judge Philip Lancaster Pic Credit BBC News New revelations by the BBC TV journalist Michael Buchanan today show what appears to be serial bullying and abuse towards women claimants by Judge Philip Lancaster at employment tribunal hearings His news report today reveals that eight women have now separately come forward to say they were badly treated when they presented their cases before the…

[ukrfeminism]

Five women have accused a judge of bullying and sexist behaviour during employment tribunal hearings.

One woman told BBC News Judge Philip Lancaster had shouted at her at least 16 times, while another said she feared for any woman appearing before him.

The women, who encountered him in separate cases, said they wanted to highlight his "degrading behaviour".

Mr Lancaster has not responded to questions from the BBC.

All the women we have spoken to lost cases heard in Leeds in front of Judge Lancaster, although some of them have been fully or partially successful on appeal.

Employment tribunals are specialist courts that rule on disputes between employers and employees. There are about 30,000 hearings in England, Scotland and Wales each year, centring around issues such as unfair dismissal, discrimination or redundancy payments. Northern Ireland has a separate system.

Dr Hinaa Toheed, a GP, appeared before Judge Lancaster at an employment tribunal in February 2022, while bringing a case of maternity discrimination against her former business partner.

She says that on the first morning of her hearing the judge described her case as an "omnishambles".

Dr Toheed says as soon as she started giving evidence, the judge took over cross-examining her from the barrister representing her former partner, and tried to bully her into conceding points that supported the other side's case.

"If I didn't agree with anything that he said, he would shout at me," she says.

At the end of the first day, Dr Toheed's legal team became concerned that Judge Lancaster was behaving in an intimidating and aggressive manner towards her.

They noted down each time he shouted at Dr Toheed while she was giving evidence, counting 16 separate occasions over three days.

Dr Toheed says that her lawyers considered asking the judge to stand down from the case but concluded that such a move would almost certainly be unsuccessful and might well simply antagonise him further.

She lost her case but is appealing against the tribunal's findings.

Dr Toheed complained to the Courts and Tribunal Judiciary about Judge Lancaster, accusing him of "an inappropriately hostile attitude" towards her.

Her complaint was considered by a higher judge, Stuart Robertson, in 2022, but his conclusion is being kept "in abeyance" [on hold] until Dr Toheed's appeal is decided.

Judge Robertson justified his decision on the grounds that her complaint covered similar points to her appeal and he wished to "avoid possible embarrassment" to the employment tribunal process.

"It seems like the bigger concern is how this looks for the judiciary, than actually dealing with Judge Lancaster's conduct," says Dr Toheed.

Nine months earlier, a woman called Andra had appeared before Judge Lancaster to represent her partner, Ion Ionel, a joiner from Romania. He had brought a case of racial discrimination against the construction company he worked for.

Although she was not legally trained, Andra, who is also Romanian, said she had prepared extensively for the hearing.

She says Judge Lancaster appeared irritated from the start of the hearing and shouted at both her and her partner on multiple occasions.

"I don't think I've ever been treated like that in my life," she says.

"He literally interrupted me whenever I was asking any questions, saying it's either irrelevant, or I shouldn't ask this today, I should put it to another witness, not this witness. And then when we got to the other witness, he would say: 'Why didn't you ask the other witness yesterday?'"

Mr Ionel lost his case but successfully appealed against the ruling.

An appeal tribunal said that there had been "serious material procedural irregularities" during the hearing, including "a significant number of occasions when the judge intervened to prevent questioning of the respondent's witnesses".

A new hearing - in front of a different judge - has been scheduled for September. Meanwhile, Andra still wants action taken against Judge Lancaster: "What he put us through was horrible, really horrible."

Since November 2023, audio from employment tribunal cases has been routinely recorded in England and Wales.

But at the time these cases were brought (between 2018 and 2022), the judge's written notes of proceedings were treated as the official court record of employment tribunal hearings.

The lack of independent evidence, say the women, means it is difficult to have complaints against judges upheld.

Even now, there are strict guidelines on accessing the recordings - claimants must be accompanied by a court official on court premises.

However, one case heard by Judge Lancaster received publicity in the press. In 2021, Alison McDermott, an HR consultant, brought a high-profile case against Sellafield, the nuclear waste disposal and reprocessing company in Cumbria.

News reports referred to criticisms she made of Judge Lancaster. Ms McDermott says he yelled at her and made "sneering" comments about her earnings.

"I think it mattered hugely that I was a woman," she says. "For some reason, he had a real problem with the fact that I was a well-paid professional woman."

Ms McDermott lost her case, although an appeal judge found there had been errors in her tribunal and she won some minor concessions. A separate hearing is deciding if she is liable for costs.

Her story served as a rallying point for complaints against Judge Lancaster in particular, and the employment tribunal system in general.

BBC News has spoken to two other women who approached Ms McDermott after her case, who had also complained about the judge:

A nurse, who brought a case against an NHS trust in 2021 claims he showed "extreme bias" towards her employer's witnesses, and says he bullied her and "raised his voice angrily" - she lost the case but was partially successful on appeal

In 2018, a woman who lost a case brought before Judge Lancaster alleges that his behaviour was "erratic, illogical, aggressive" and "profoundly disturbing"

"On the one hand, it's affirming," says Ms McDermott. "On the other hand, it's really upsetting to hear that more women have been abused."

Judge Lancaster, who has been an employment tribunal judge since 2007, declined to comment when approached by the BBC.

In a statement, the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary said it could not provide comment in response to any conduct allegations.

It also said they could not provide a figure for the number of complaints that had been made against Judge Lancaster, as such information is confidential.

[gettothestabbing]

District Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis in Detroit ruled Thursday that Michigan’s law, which makes it a misdemeanor to hire drivers to transport people to the polls unless the voter has a disability, went against U.S. election law, the Associated Press reported. The rule has been on the books since 1895. . . .

On election day in November 2018, Uber offered discounted rides to the polls in every state except Michigan, the lawsuit said.

The law was challenged by several groups including the liberal super-PAC Priorities USA, which focuses on mobilizing voters, and the Detroit/Downriver chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, which is affiliated with unions, according to the report. They argue that it is already a crime to buy votes, so the ban on hiring drivers just serves to discriminate against people with disabilities.

The nonprofits also challenged a Michigan law that restricted helping people apply for absentee ballots. The judge rejected the challenge.

How can they argue that the long-standing ban was discriminating against people with disabilities when the law specifically excludes voters with disabilities from the ban?

[heartofstanding]

Gloucester was a complex personality whom neither his own nor subsequent generations have found easy to assess. Judged by the dominant military and political standards of his age his failure was the more humiliating because he himself subscribed to them. He wanted others to acknowledge the military genius and boldness that he claimed for himself in his accounts of the Cotentin campaign and the ravaging of Flanders. Yet he lacked not only the incisive mind and steely determination of his hero, Henry V, but the bravado of Clarence and the cautious competence of Bedford. Their different qualities drew men to their service, but Gloucester never commanded a personal following among the professional captains who sustained Lancastrian Normandy. Both his advocacy of a major expedition to Normandy and his offer to lead it commanded little enthusiasm. His arguments might convince but his personality did not. Likewise his chivalric pretensions, though accepted by Waurin, proved hollow. Farce attended his duel with Philip of Burgundy, ignominy his abandonment of Jacqueline, and futility his relief of Calais. The verdict of Pius II, that he was more given to pleasure and letters than to arms, and valued his life more than his honour, was not unwarranted. Nor did Gloucester win greater recognition as a political leader. Though entitled to pre-eminence in council, his leadership was confined to periods when his rivals were outside England. Within the council he attracted support only from those like Berkeley, Huntingdon, Norfolk, Scrope, and perhaps York, who were excluded from the Beaufort connection. Against Beaufort his enmity was too openly displayed and pursued with insufficient patience and guile. By his personal attacks he convicted himself as factious. As in military strategy, he argued for alternative policies articulately and with plausibility. In claiming the regency in 1422 and 1428, in prosecuting Beaufort between 1429 and 1432, in arguing against the peace terms and the release of Orléans from 1438 to 1440 and in denouncing Beaufort's record in 1440 he often had the better—and the better argued—case. Moreover there are indications that he was able and prepared to appeal to an audience beyond the council: to the Commons in parliament in 1422–3, to Londoners in 1425, to the soldiers and taxpayers in 1434, to the wider political nation over the release of Orléans. It was his ability to create a favourable public image—as the upholder of law and order, the hammer of heretics, the heir of Henry V, the enemy of Burgundy, the protector of St Albans, the patron of Oxford—that provided his most potent weapon. Even his wife's disgrace did not destroy that; in 1447 Suffolk had good reason to fear him as the excluded counsellor, critic, and heir. This ability to win—if also at times to alienate—public support distinguishes Gloucester from other peers, and may have contributed to their distrust of him, though the means by which he sustained his image are not wholly discernible.

G. L. Harriss, ‘Humphrey [Humfrey or Humphrey of Lancaster], duke of Gloucester [called Good Duke Humphrey] (1390–1447)’ in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

[noctem-novelle]

🙅🏻‍♀️5(ish) Characters to Cancel🙅🏻‍♀️

NOVL recently published a blog post titled “5 Characters Who Need to be Cancelled” and I disagree with it, so I’ve decided to come up with my own list. My issue with NOVL’s post is that they chose characters you were supposed to hate. They were all villains or otherwise antagonistic, and so of course they were terrible people who should be put on an uninhabitable island to live out the rest of their miserable lives. What’s the point of cancelling characters who are already almost universally accepted as being the worst? So here I present to you a list of protagonists/antiheroes/supporting characters who, for some reason unknown to me, are still popular despite how awful they are. Be warned: potentially unpopular opinions ahead.

5. Alex Wilder (Runaways, Marvel Comics)

Alex is a hyper-intelligent teen and the son of two members of Pride, a team of supervillains who controlled LA and sacrificed homeless kids to the Gibborim. While that doesn’t make him trash, the fact that he secretly supports his serial killer parents and betrays his friends definitely does. Moving on.

4. Will Parry (His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman) and Calvin O’Keefe (The Time Quintet, Madeleine L’Engle)

Will ruined His Dark Materials for me. In Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass), the protagonist, Lyra, is a clever and courageous girl. She goes on an epic quest to rescue her friend from the Magisterium’s Gobblers, who have kidnapped children with the intent of severing their souls in a pseudo-surgical process called intercision. While Lyra is impulsive, she is generally a positive role model for kids. All of that goes down the drain when Will is introduced as a protagonist in the second book, The Subtle Knife. Once Will’s around, suddenly Lyra is stupid, needs constant rescuing, and becomes a stereotypical damsel. Will is pretty much the exact same character as Calvin O’Keefe from Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintent. Much like Will, Calvin steals the spotlight from Meg Murry, who suddenly becomes impulsive and reckless. Thanks for ruining everything, boys.

3. Mal Oretsev & Matthias Helvar (The Grishaverse, Leigh Bardugo)

UGH. These two. I’m lumping them together because they’re from the same ‘verse, but also because they’re terrible for similar reasons. Mal is easy enough. He has a problem with Grisha, and he’s a jealous little twerp who can’t stand that Alina is a powerful lady who spends time with other powerful people. I will never not be irritated that she winds up with this jerk instead of Nikolai. 

And then there’s Matthias. He hates Grisha and actively participates in their extermination in his home country (and elsewhere), until he falls in love with one. He struggles with his feelings for Nina because she’s a “witch” and is therefore an abomination according to his Fjerdan beliefs, but he then decides that she’s “one of the good ones” or whatever. In my opinion, Matthias is the equivalent of a person who has queer friends but doesn’t agree with their “lifestyle choices”. Get out of here, Matthias. Nina deserved better.

2. Audrey Rose Wadsworth (Stalking Jack the Ripper, Kerri Maniscalco)

The first woman on this list is arguably one of my least favourite characters in all of YA. Audrey is supposed to be a very intelligent, curious, and adventurous protagonist. She’s interested in forensics and medicine, which are not common callings for “proper” ladies in the 1800s, but wow is she irritating about it. Audrey has a nasty habit of judging her peers for being interested in fashion and tea parties, because god forbid they like “girly” things. Audrey is a classic “I’m not like other girls” girl and I loathe her.

1. Mary Iris (Mim) Malone (Mosquitoland, David Arnold)

Mary Iris Malone (I flat-out refuse to call her “Mim”) is the WORST and I feel bad for her stepmother. When Mary’s mother suddenly stops communicating with her, she decides that it’s her stepmother’s fault. She skips school, steals money from said stepmother, and embarks on an unchaperoned cross-country bus trip to find her mum. She ignores her parents’ worried phone calls, resulting in her very pregnant stepmother driving hundreds of miles to track her down. Spoiler: Mary’s mum didn’t want to talk to her because she was sick and ultimately didn’t want her daughter to see her health deteriorate, meanwhile the stepmother had tried to get her to change her mind.

To make matters worse, Mary is a serial cultural appropriator. Her mother is British (because of course she is), but apparently also part Cherokee? So Mary takes her non-status as a Native American as carte blanche to use her mother’s old lipstick as “war paint” whenever she’s feeling particularly annoying. She’s just soooo quirky. You, Mary Iris Malone, are no Hazel Grace Lancaster.

Dishonourable Mentions:

Zėlie Adebola (Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi) for being insufferable and whiny.

Penny Lee (Emergency Contact, Mary H.K. Choi) for putting down other girls, and for being judgy and mean to her mother.

Eleanor Douglas & Park Sheridan (Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell) for passive racism, classism, body-shaming, and victim-blaming.

[harryandmeghan0-blog]

Queen Margaret and Henry VI were joined by sex coach in bed, book claims - Daily Mail

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/queen-margaret-and-henry-vi-were-joined-by-sex-coach-in-bed-book-claims-daily-mail/

Queen Margaret and Henry VI were joined by sex coach in bed, book claims - Daily Mail

Few royals appear to have suffered from lack of privacy more than the current generation. When the Duchess of Sussex complained about the indignity of her private correspondence (with her father) being revealed to the world, it was hard not to be sympathetic.

Unpleasant though the intrusion was, the Duchess should be grateful she wasn’t born in the 15th century.

Then, every aspect of the Royal Family’s lives was monitored — including their most intimate moments, where they were surrounded by attendants, courtiers, priests and ministers.

The BBC’s The Hollow Crown – War of the Roses showed King Henry VI’s wedding to Margaret of Anjou. In the 15th century, royal marriages were traditionally blessed with ‘bedding ceremonies’

Even the most reticent kings and queens had to conduct their sexual lives in front of onlookers. What they did, with whom, and how often was known to the entire court by the following morning.

The detailed retelling of every act of love-making was regarded not so much as salacious gossip, but constitutional business.

On a royal wedding night, the ritual of the bedroom was observed to ensure that the marriage had been consummated and was thus legally binding. As a monarch’s first duty was to provide an heir, any sexual failure had political consequences.

It was partly, of course, because royal marriages were largely dynastic and the begetting of a legitimate heir could save a country from bloody struggles of succession.

Never was this more perilous than during the reign of Henry VI, who succeeded to the throne in 1422 at the age of nine months, and was the only English monarch to have also been crowned king of France.

A virgin until he married at 24, he was also mentally unstable. Unlike his father who crushed the French at Agincourt, Henry loathed warfare and was timid and shy.

Yet his lack of passion for conquest and military success were unimportant when offset against his eight-year struggle to produce an heir. Without a successor, the kingdom’s future was in jeopardy. And it was for his endeavours — or lack of them — in the royal bedchamber that he was judged.

Every moment of the Royals’ lives was monitored as they were constantly surrounded by attendants, courtiers, priests and ministers

Ben Miles starred as the Earl of Somerset alongside Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret in The Hollow Crown

Historian Lauren Johnson has suggested that the court took matters into its own hands.

She has uncovered evidence in the National Archives and Royal Household accounts showing that when his wife, Margaret of Anjou, visited the king’s bedroom, they were sometimes joined by trusted attendants. ‘Was it because the famously chaste Henry didn’t know what he was doing?’ Johnson asks.

‘I think it’s entirely possible that it had reached a certain point where it perhaps became necessary to make clear to him what he should be doing.’

Royal marriages were traditionally blessed with ‘bedding ceremonies’ in which the newlyweds would be put to bed — the bride undressed by her ladies and the groom escorted to the bedchamber by musicians and priests.

Sometimes they demanded to see the couple’s naked legs entwined — an accepted sign of consummation. On other occasions the attendants did not withdraw until they heard the sound of passion.

The morning after, their bed-linen might be displayed as proof of the act, which in turn led the phrase ‘to air one’s dirty linen in public’.

But what Henry and Margaret experienced was different.

‘This was not just their wedding night, it was an ongoing thing,’ says Johnson, who suggests that Henry had a coach in his bed to teach him how to have sex.

She quotes the Ryalle Bok of court protocol that records how once the king was in bed, he would send for the queen.

Another witness described that when the king and queen lay together, his chamberlain lay ‘in the same chamber’. Johnson says it is not clear when the attendants left, ‘leaving open the intriguing suggestion that they remained to make sure the marriage bed was properly used.

Sophie Okonedo plays Queen Margaret in the Hollow Crown which is set during the War of the Roses. Some historians believe that when Margaret went into her husband’s bedroom they were joined by trusted attendants 

‘The evidence that there are people staying in the king’s bedroom potentially some years after he is married . . . is very odd.’

Her book, Shadow King: The Life And Death Of Henry VI, says the young sovereign’s inability to sire an heir undermined his masculinity and authority.

But eventually Henry did produce a son, Edward of Lancaster, who was killed during the Wars of the Roses — the only heir to the throne to die in battle.

Henry was not the only boy-king to need lessons in lovemaking.

Two centuries later, Louis XIV of France also was a student, albeit a more attentive one. The Sun King was a great royal philanderer, despite the size of his manhood, which, according to one spurned lover, was on the small side.

It all began at the age of 15 when his mother sought a woman to teach her beloved Louis that beds were not just for sleeping in.

The woman had to be discreet, experienced but not too experienced. Looks scarcely mattered — which was just as well for the Baroness de Beauvais, a lady-in- waiting of almost 40, who had one eye and was no beauty.

But ‘one-eyed Kate’ was an experienced courtesan and credited with the ‘picking of the royal cherry’, as the taking of his virginity was later described.

It was considered a service to the nation and she was rewarded with two houses in Paris, a hotel and a pension. Louis remained a willing student and frequently visited her over the years.

In 18th-century Europe, the sex lives of the royals continued to be a topic of discussion.

After seven years of marriage and no pregnancies, Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor, sought the advice of his worldly brother-in-law Louis XVI — soon to lose his head to the guillotine in the French Revolution.

Joseph told Louis of his sexual activities and the reason for his lack of offspring became apparent. ‘He has strong erections, he puts his member in, stays there without stirring for two minutes perhaps then withdraws without ejaculating, still with an erection and wishes her good night,’ Louis later reported.

The situation was no less different for queens. In Britain, the menstrual cycle of the virgin Elizabeth I was the subject of fierce debate.

Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou with their courtiers while John Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury kneels before the Queen to present her with a book 

Determined to know if she was fertile, Philip II of Spain was said to have bribed her laundress to supply intimate details.

Her priapic father, Henry VIII, also had a very public sex life. When he married Anne of Cleves, the Royal Household purchased an erotic bed-head.

It was carved with two small cherubs of unmistakeable gender — on the king’s side, one clutching his outsize codpiece. On the queen’s side, a female cherub in vulgar centrefold style.

Unfortunately, the aphrodisiac furniture had little effect. Henry found Anne so hideous that, as he told Thomas Cromwell, his chief minister, he was unable to make love to her and the marriage was swiftly annulled.

So WHATEVER anxieties the Duchess of Sussex is experiencing as the birth of her first baby draws near, she can console herself with the knowledge that they cannot compare with those of her royal predecessors.

Had she been carrying a king’s child 500 years ago, up to 70 people would be present in the birthing chamber, in part to ensure there was no sleight of hand with an infant imposter being installed.

This tradition of having senior dignitaries present continued well into the 20th century.

When the Queen was born in Mayfair on April 21, 1926, Home Secretary Sir William-Joynson Hicks was present, while his successor John Clynes was detained in Scotland for two weeks in 1930 awaiting the overdue arrival of Princess Margaret at Glamis Castle.

The last time a Home Secretary bore witness at a royal birth was for that of the Queen’s cousin Princess Alexandra in 1936. By the time the Prince of Wales was born in 1948. the practice had died out.

Mind you, the presence of fathers at births was even then still much too modern. When Charles arrived, Prince Philip was playing squash.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6718941/Queen-Margaret-Henry-VI-joined-sex-coach-bed-book-claims.html

[malte1mj-blog]

2004/2005 TV Awards

Best Drama Series: Battlestar Galactica Everwood Lost Veronica Mars The Wire HONORABLE MENTION: Alias, Carnivale, Deadwood, House, Huff, Jack & Bobby, Joan of Arcadia, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Shield, Six Feet Under, 24, The West Wing Best Actor - Drama Series: Matthew Fox, Lost - "White Rabbit" Hugh Laurie, House - "Three Stories" Denis Leary, Rescue Me - "Guts" Ian McShane, Deadwood - "Boy the Earth Talks To" Gregory Smith, Everwood - "Fate Accomplis" Treat Williams, Everwood - "A Moment in Manhattan" HONORABLE MENTION: Hank Azaria, Huff; Jamie Bamber, Battlestar Galactica; Michael Chiklis, The Shield; Vincent D’Onofrio, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Michael C. Hall, Six Feet Under; Peter Krause, Six Feet Under; Anthony LaPaglia, Without a Trace; Logan Lerman, Jack & Bobby; Matt Long, Jack & Bobby; Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica; Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood; Martin Sheen, The West Wing; James Spader, Boston Legal; Nick Stahl, Carnivale; Kiefer Sutherland, 24; Sam Waterston, Law & Order; Dominic West, The Wire Best Actress - Drama Series: Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars - "A Trip to the Dentist" Glenn Close, The Shield - "Bang" Jennifer Garner, Alias - "Before the Flood" Christine Lahti, Jack & Bobby - "A Child of God" Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica - "Colonial Day" Amber Tamblyn, Joan of Arcadia - "Friday Night" HONORABLE MENTION: Patricia Arquette, Medium; Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Allison Janney, The West Wing; Evangeline Lilly, Lost; Bebe Neuwirth, Law & Order: Trial by Jury; Molly Parker, Deadwood; Ellen Pompeo, Grey’s Anatomy; Maura Tierney, ER Best Supporting Actor - Drama Series: Tom Amandes, Everwood - "Where the Heart Is" Anthony Anderson, The Shield - "Judas Priest" James Callis, Battlestar Galactica - "Six Degrees of Separation" Idris Elba, The Wire - "Middle Ground" Terry O'Quinn, Lost - "Deus Ex Machina" Robert Wisdom, The Wire - "Reformation" HONORABLE MENTION: Naveen Andrews, Lost; Jim Beaver, Deadwood; Clancy Brown, Carnivale; James Cromwell, Six Feet Under; William Devane, 24; Garret Dillahunt, Deadwood; Frankie Faison, The Wire; Aiden Gillen, The Wire; Wood Harris, The Wire; Benito Martinez, The Shield; Enrique Murciano, Without a Trace; Oliver Platt, Huff; Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under; Andre Royo, The Wire; Richard Schiff, The West Wing; Jimmy Smits, The West Wing; John Spencer, The West Wing; Daniel Sunjata, Rescue Me; Jake Weber, Medium; Bradley Whitford, The West Wing; Michael K. Williams, The Wire Best Supporting Actress - Drama Series: Blythe Danner, Huff - "Christmas Is Ruined" Merrilyn Gann, Everwood - "Oh the Places You'll Go" Anne Heche, Everwood - "Surprise" Yunjin Kim, Lost - "House of the Rising Sun" Paula Malcolmson, Deadwood - "New Money" Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica - "Act of Contrition" HONORABLE MENTION: Shohreh Aghdashloo, 24; Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under; Stockard Channing, The West Wing; Tyne Daly, Judging Amy; Lisa Edelstein, House; Sharon Gless, Queer as Folk; Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under; Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactica; Laura Innes, ER; Justina Machado, Six Feet Under; Parminder Nagra, ER; Diane Neal, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy; Grace Park, Battlestar Galactica; Sarah Paulson, Deadwood; CCH Pounder, The Shield; Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24; Mary Steenburgen, Joan of Arcadia; Emily Van Camp, Everwood; Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy Best Writing - Drama Series: Battlestar Galactica - "33" - Ronald D. Moore Everwood - "Fate Accomplis" - Anna Fricke Lost - "Deus Ex Machina" - Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof Veronica Mars - "Leave It to Beaver" - Diane Ruggiero & Rob Thomas Veronica Mars - "A Trip to the Dentist" - Diane Ruggiero The Wire - "Mission Accomplished" - Ed Burns & David Simon HONORABLE MENTION: Battlestar Galactica - “Act of Contrition”; Battlestar Galactica - “Colonial Day”; Boston Legal - “Death Be Not Proud”; Carnivale - “New Canaan, CA”; Deadwood - “Boy the Earth Talks To”; Deadwood - “The Whores Can Come”; ER - “Just As I Am”; Everwood - “Surprise”; House - “Three Stories”; Huff - “Christmas Is Ruined”; Jack & Bobby - “A Child of God”; Law & Order - “Fluency”; Law & Order: Criminal Intent - “Want”; Lost - “Do No Harm”; Lost - “Pilot”; Rescue Me - “Guts”; The Shield - “String Theory”; Six Feet Under - “Terror Starts at Home”; Veronica Mars - “Pilot”; Veronica Mars - “You Think You Know Somebody”; The West Wing - “In God We Trust”; The Wire - “Middle Ground”; The Wire - “Moral Midgetry”; The Wire - “Reformation” Best Directing - Drama Series: Battlestar Galactica - "33" - Michael Rymer Carnivale - "New Canaan, CA" - Scott Winant Deadwood - "Boy the Earth Talks To" - Ed Bianchi Lost - "Pilot, Parts 1 & 2" - J.J. Abrams Veronica Mars - "Leave It to Beaver" - Michael Fields The Wire - "Middle Ground" - Joe Chapelle HONORABLE MENTION: Alias - “Before the Flood”; Battlestar Galactica - “Act of Contrition”; Battlestar Galactica - “Colonial Day”; Carnivale - “Lincoln Highway”; Deadwood - “A Lie Agreed Upon”; Deadwood - “The Whores Can Come”; Everwood - “Fate Accomplis”; Everwood - “Surprise”; House - “Pilot”; House - “Three Stories”; Lost - “Deus Ex Machina”; Lost - “Exodus”; Rescue Me - “Guts”; The Shield - “Bang”; The Shield - “String Theory”; Six Feet Under - “That’s My Dog”; 24 - “Day 4: 7:00 A.M. - 8:00 A.M.”; Veronica Mars - “Pilot”; Veronica Mars - “A Trip to the Dentist”; The Wire - “Back Burners”; The Wire - “Mission Accomplished”; The Wire - “Moral Midgetry” Best Guest Actor - Drama Series: Alan Alda, The West Wing - "In God We Trust" Tom Cavanagh, Jack & Bobby - "The Lost Boys" Joel Grey, Alias - "Another Mister Sloane" Neil Patrick Harris, Law & Order: Criminal Intent - "Want" Gerald McRaney, Deadwood - "Boy the Earth Talks To" Martin Short, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - "Pure" HONORABLE MENTION: Red Buttons, ER; Bill Campbell, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Kevin Conway, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Gregg Edelman, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Giancarlo Esposito, Law & Order: Trial by Jury; Robert Forster, Huff; Philip Baker Hall, The West Wing; Dennis Haysbert, 24; Arliss Howard, Medium; Michael Imperioli, Law & Order; Justin Kirk, Jack & Bobby; Martin Landau, Without a Trace; Chi McBride, House; Method Man, The Wire; Alfred Molina, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/Law & Order: Trial by Jury; Carl Reiner, Boston Legal; Paul Sparks, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Stephen Tobolowsky, Deadwood Best Guest Actress - Drama Series: Frances Fisher, ER - "Just As I Am" Swoosie Kurtz, Huff - "Crazy, Nuts and All Fucked Up" Angela Lansbury, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit & Law & Order: Trial By Jury - "Day"/"Night" Cynthia Nixon, ER - "Alone in a Crowd" Vanessa Redgrave, Nip/Tuck - "Erica Noughton" Sela Ward, House - "Honeymoon" HONORABLE MENTION: Kathy Baker, Medium; Kathy Bates, Six Feet Under; Lorraine Bracco, Law & Order: Trial by Jury; L. Scott Caldwell, Lost; Jill Clayburgh, Nip/Tuck; Olivia d’Abo, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Frances Fisher, Medium; Sarah Lancaster, Everwood; Cloris Leachman, Joan of Arcadia; Tina Majorino, Veronica Mars; Stephanie March, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Lena Olin, Alias; Amanda Plummer, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Annie Potts, Huff; Carrie Preston, Law & Order: Criminal Intent; Mercedes Ruehl, Law & Order; Robin Tunney, House; Kerry Washington, Boston Legal Best Ensemble - Drama Series: Battlestar Galactica Deadwood Everwood Lost Six Feet Under The Wire HONORABLE MENTION: Alias, Boston Legal, Carnivale, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Huff, Joan of Arcadia, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The O.C., Queer as Folk, Rescue Me, The Shield, 24, Veronica Mars, The West Wing, Without a Trace Best New Drama Series: Battlestar Galactica House Jack & Bobby Lost Medium Veronica Mars HONORABLE MENTION: Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Huff, Kevin Hill, life as we know it, Numb3rs, Rescue Me, Summerland Best Comedy Series: Arrested Development Dead Like Me Desperate Housewives Everybody Loves Raymond Gilmore Girls HONORABLE MENTION: The King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle, Monk, The Office, Scrubs, Unscripted Best Actor - Comedy Series: Jason Bateman, Arrested Development - "Good Grief" Zach Braff, Scrubs - "My Five Stages" Steve Carell, The Office - "Diversity Day" Kevin James, The King of Queens - "Pour Judgment" Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond - "Finale" Tony Shalhoub, Monk - "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month" HONORABLE MENTION: Bryan Greenberg, Unscripted; Bernie Mac, The Bernie Mac Show; Eric McCormack, Will & Grace; Frankie Muniz, Malcolm in the Middle; John Stamos, Jake in Progress Best Actress - Comedy Series: Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives - "Pretty Little Picture" Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls - "Say Something" Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives - "Pilot" Patricia Heaton, Everybody Loves Raymond - "Finale" Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives - "Guilty" Ellen Muth, Dead Like Me - "The Shallow End" HONORABLE MENTION: Alexis Bledel, Gilmore Girls; Jennifer Hall, Unscripted; Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle; Eva Longoria, Desperate Housewives; Debra Messing, Will & Grace; Leah Remini, The King of Queens Best Supporting Actor - Comedy Series: Will Arnett, Arrested Development - "Good Grief" Michael Cera, Arrested Development - "Meat the Veals" Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle - "Hal's Christmas Gift" David Cross, Arrested Development - "The Immaculate Election" Tony Hale, Arrested Development - "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God" Scott Patterson, Gilmore Girls - "Written in the Stars" HONORABLE MENTION: Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond; Donald Faison, Scrubs; Brad Garrett, Everybody Loves Raymond; Sean Gunn, Gilmore Girls; Sean Hayes, Will & Grace; Edward Herrmann, Gilmore Girls; John Krasinski, The Office; Frank Langella, Unscripted; John C. McGinley, Scrubs; Mandy Patinkin, Dead Like Me; Jeffrey Tambor, Arrested Development; Rainn Wilson, The Office Best Supporting Actress - Comedy Series: Kelly Bishop, Gilmore Girls - "Wedding Bell Blues" Sarah Chalke, Scrubs - "Her Story" Portia de Rossi, Arrested Development - "Ready, Aim, Marry Me" Doris Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond - "Finale" Nicollette Sheridan, Desperate Housewives - "The Ladies Who Lunch" Jessica Walter, Arrested Development - "Motherboy XXX" HONORABLE MENTION: Christine Estabrook, Desperate Housewives; Jenna Fischer, The Office; Melissa McCarthy, Gilmore Girls; Megan Mullally, Will & Grace; Judy Reyes, Scrubs; Bitty Schram, Monk; Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development; Cynthia Stevenson, Dead Like Me Best Writing - Comedy Series: Arrested Development - "Good Grief" - John Levenstein Arrested Development - "Meat the Veals" - Barbie Feldman Adler Arrested Development - "Out on a Limb/Hand to God" - Mitchell Hurwitz, Chuck Martin & Jim Vallely Desperate Housewives - "Pilot" - Marc Cherry Everybody Loves Raymond - "Finale" - Tom Caltabiano, Leslie Caveny, Tucker Cawley, Ray Romano, Philip Rosenthal, Mike Royce, Lew Schneider, Aaron Shure, Steve Skrovan & Jeremy Stevens Gilmore Girls - "Wedding Bell Blues" - Amy Sherman-Palladino HONORABLE MENTION: Arrested Development - “Afternoon Delight”; Arrested Development - “Motherboy XXX”; Arrested Development - “Ready, Aim, Marry Me”; Dead Like Me - “Forget Me Not”; Dead Like Me - “The Shallow End”; Desperate Housewives - “Children Will Listen”; Desperate Housewives - “The Ladies Who Lunch”; Everybody Loves Raymond - “The Home”; Everybody Loves Raymond - “Pat’s Secret”; Gilmore Girls - “A Messenger, Nothing More”; Gilmore Girls - “Say Something”; Monk - “Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf”; The Office - “Diversity Day”; Scrubs - “My Cake” Best Directing - Comedy Series: Arrested Development - "Motherboy XXX" - Joe Russo Arrested Development - "Out on a Limb/Hand to God" - Danny Leiner & Joe Russo Arrested Development - "Ready, Aim, Marry Me" - Paul Feig Dead Like Me - "Forget Me Not" - Brad Turner Desperate Housewives - "Pilot" - Charles McDougall Gilmore Girls - "Wedding Bell Blues" - Amy Sherman-Palladino HONORABLE MENTION: Arrested Development - “Afternoon Delight”; Arrested Development - “Good Grief”; Arrested Development - “Meat the Veals”; Dead Like Me - “The Shallow End”; Desperate Housewives - “Children Will Listen”; Desperate Housewives - “The Ladies Who Lunch”; Everybody Loves Raymond - “Finale”; Everybody Loves Raymond - “The Home”; Gilmore Girls - “A House Is Not a Home”; Gilmore Girls - “A Messenger, Nothing More”; Gilmore Girls - “Say Something”; Malcolm in the Middle - “Lois Battles Jamie”; Monk - “Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month”; The Office - “Diversity Day”; The Office - “Health Care”; Scrubs - “My Best Laid Plans”; Scrubs - “My Cake” Best Guest Actor - Comedy Series: Alan Arkin, Will & Grace - "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World" Ed Begley Jr., Arrested Development - "Switch Hitter" Tom Cavanagh, Scrubs - "My Cake" Enrico Colantoni, Monk - "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month" Chris Elliott, Everybody Loves Raymond - "A Date for Peter" Martin Short, Arrested Development - "Ready, Aim, Marry Me" HONORABLE MENTION: Bobby Cannavale, Will & Grace; Leslie Jordan, Will & Grace; Richard Kind, Scrubs; Martin Mull, Arrested Development; Bob Newhart, Desperate Housewives; Matthew Perry, Scrubs; Grant Rosenmeyer, Monk; David Sutcliffe, Gilmore Girls; Fred Willard, Everybody Loves Raymond Best Guest Actress - Comedy Series: Barbara Barrie, Dead Like Me - "The Escape Artist" Georgia Engel, Everybody Loves Raymond - "Pat's Secret" Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives - "Live Alone and Like It" Sharon Lawrence, Desperate Housewives - "Come Back to Me" Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Arrested Development - "Out on a Limb"/"Hand to God" Lesley Ann Warren, Desperate Housewives - "Children Will Listen" HONORABLE MENTION: Blythe Danner, Will & Grace; Judy Greer, Arrested Development; Piper Laurie, Dead Like Me; Cloris Leachman, Malcolm in the Middle; Patti LuPone, Will & Grace; Christine Taylor, Arrested Development Best Ensemble - Comedy Series: Arrested Development Dead Like Me Desperate Housewives Everybody Loves Raymond Gilmore Girls Scrubs HONORABLE MENTION: The Bernie Mac Show, The King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle, The Office, Will & Grace Best New Comedy Series: Desperate Housewives The Office Unscripted Best TV Movie/Miniseries: Back When We Were Grownups Elvis Lackawanna Blues The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Sometimes in April HONORABLE MENTION: The Brooke Ellison Story, Empire Falls, Everyday People, The Office Special, Tanner on Tanner, Warm Springs Best Actor - TV Movie/Miniseries: Kenneth Branagh, Warm Springs Idris Elba, Sometimes in April Ed Harris, Empire Falls Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Elvis Geoffrey Rush, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers HONORABLE MENTION: Michael Ealy, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Ricky Gervais, The Office Special Best Actress - TV Movie/Miniseries: Halle Berry, Their Eyes Were Watching God Blythe Danner, Back When We Were Grownups Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Brooke Ellison Story S. Epatha Merkerson, Lackawanna Blues Cynthia Nixon, Tanner on Tanner HONORABLE MENTION: Helen Hunt, Empire Falls; Cynthia Nixon, Warm Springs Best Supporting Actor - TV Movie/Miniseries: Oris Erhuero, Sometimes in April Terrence Howard, Lackawanna Blues Paul Newman, Empire Falls Jack Palance, Back When We Were Grownups Randy Quaid, Elvis HONORABLE MENTION: Steve Axelrod, Everyday People; Martin Freeman, The Office Special; Stephen McKinley Henderson, Everyday People; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Empire Falls; John Lithgow, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers; Tim Blake Nelson, Warm Springs Best Supporting Actress - TV Movie/Miniseries: Jane Alexander, Warm Springs Camryn Manheim, Elvis Danielle Panabaker, Empire Falls Charlize Theron, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Emily Watson, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers HONORABLE MENTION: Kathy Bates, Warm Springs; Lacey Chabert, The Brooke Ellison Story; Pamela Nomvete, Sometimes in April; Joanne Woodward, Empire Falls; Robin Wright Penn, Empire Falls Best Variety Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Late Night with Conan O'Brien Late Show with David Letterman HONORABLE MENTION: Saturday Night Live Best Variety Special: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Meryl Streep Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (Great Performances) 
The 58th Annual Tony Awards Tracey Ullman: Live & Exposed Whoopi: Back to Broadway - The 20th Anniversary HONORABLE MENTION: Everybody Loves Raymond: The Last Laugh, Genius: A Night for Ray Charles, The 2004 MTV Movie Awards, Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope Best Male Performer - Variety Series/Special: Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Paul Groves, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (Great Performances) Hugh Jackman, The 58th Annual Tony Awards David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart HONORABLE MENTION: Fred Armisen, Saturday Night Live; Lewis Black, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Will Forte, Saturday Night Live; Conan O’Brien, Late Night with Conan O’Brien; Stevie Wonder, Genius: A Night for Ray Charles Best Female Performer - Variety Series/Special: Kristin Chenoweth, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (Great Performances) Whoopi Goldberg, Whoopi: Back to Broadway - The 20th Anniversary Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live Tracey Ullman, Tracey Ullman: Live & Exposed HONORABLE MENTION: Rachel Dratch, Saturday Night Live; Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live; Patti LuPone, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (Great Performances); Idina Menzel, The 58th Annual Tony Awards; Queen Latifah, Saturday Night Live Best Animated Series: King of the Hill The Simpsons South Park HONORABLE MENTION: American Dad, Family Guy Best Voice-Over Performer - Animated Series: Dan Castellaneta, The Simpsons - "Midnight Rx" Julie Kavner, The Simpsons - "There's Something About Marrying" Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy - "North by North Quahog" Kathy Najimy, King of the Hill - "Yard, She Blows!" Trey Parker, South Park - "Best Friends Forever" Matt Stone, South Park - "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" HONORABLE MENTION: Hank Azaria, The Simpsons; Mike Judge, King of the Hill; Stephen Root, King of the Hill; Yeardley Smith, The Simpsons Best Reality Series - Competition: The Amazing Race American Idol America's Next Top Model Big Brother Project Runway Survivor HONORABLE MENTION: The Apprentice, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes 2, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno 2, Road Rules Best Reality Series - Non-Competition: Airline The Ashlee Simpson Show I Love the '90s Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica Wife Swap HONORABLE MENTION: Laguna Beach, Punk’d, The Real World, The Simple Life Breakthrough Male Performance: Matt Czuchry, Gilmore Girls Jon Foster, life as we know it Logan Lerman, Jack & Bobby Matt Long, Jack & Bobby Daniel Sunjata, Rescue Me HONORABLE MENTION: Sean Faris, life as we know it; Mike Lombardi, Rescue Me; Chris Lowell, life as we know it; Shawn Pyfrom, Desperate Housewives Breakthrough Female Performance: Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars Jennifer Hall, Unscripted Christina Hendricks, Kevin Hill Evangeline Lilly, Lost Missy Peregrym, life as we know it HONORABLE MENTION: Jessica Lucas, life as we know it; Sofia Vassilieva, Medium

[davidhencke]

Alison McDermott - Sellafield whistle blower speaks out on employment tribunal failings at ECEC Conference

This is the first blog with me by my new assistant Joe Eden, a City University journalism graduate, on a speech given by Alison McDermott, on her horrendous experience as a whistleblower trying to expose bullying and malpractice at Britain’s largest nuclear site and the appalling treatment she received at the hands of British Justice Alison McDermott being interviewed by Katy Diggory by Joe…

[davidhencke]

Massive win for nuclear whistleblower Alison McDermott against Sellafield for re-arguing the tribunal decision by employment judge Lancaster

Massive win for nuclear whistleblower Alison McDermott against Sellafield for re-arguing the tribunal decision by employment judge Lancaster

The Sellafield site An employment appeal judge has ruled that the decision by Judge Philip Lancaster dismissing whistleblower Alison McDermott’s case against Sellafield and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority can be challenged now on no fewer than 13 grounds. This extraordinary ruling on Friday in London by Employment Judge Tucker took less than 10 minutes to grant after she read the…