LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I’ve been working on a hacked version of r00tshell’s Python “All Of Mp3 music downloader“; The idea is to take his research into exactly how to connect to the All of MP3 music download service and re-package it as a friendly, testable, deployable python program. It’s not finished yet, however the key advantages my version ought [...]

Been down in London since early Friday morning, so away from the net for 3 days.Friday was spent in a soulless office in a warehouse facility in the east end of London. This is where the DCA has in its wisdom outsourced the storage of marked registers to (Pickfords Record Management). The marked registers have to be available for "inspection", which for the political parties means "data entry". The Tories had a team of three antipodean lads working for them. Bizarrely one of them was currently working on Bethnal Green!Friday night was a meal at Baltic, a eastern european based ...

Tim Worstall's weekly round up is now online.

In 1999, something interesting happened. Newley elected leader Charles Kennedy, in a break from his predecessor, came out and supported the Lib Dem party line of holding a Royal Commission on drug use. And you know what? The world didn’t come crashing down around his ears. Remarkable! Kennedy went on to make a point of intervening [...]

The Independent (so catch it quick) reports the sad news that Donald McGill, the great seaside postcard artist so admired by George Orwell, lies in an unmarked grave in Streatham Park cemetery. Not that he was treated much better in life: In July 1954, McGill, then nearly 80, was hauled before Lincoln Quarter Sessions to face charges under the Obscene Publications Act. The offending items included: flighty girl to bookmaker at racecourse: "I want to back the favourite, please. My sweetheart gave me a pound to do it both ways".

In response to a query about the likely quality of service of the Northern Line today, we were told to phone the next day to find out how “brilliant” it is going to be. I like to think she was being sarcastic and sympathising with how lousy the line generally is. But a part of [...]

Have just come back from the Sundermeade Estate, where residents on Cornmill Lane are very annoyed about water gushing from one of the gardens, causing a flood on the pavement outside, loss of water pressure to nearby properties and general safety hazard to people trying to negotiate the footpath, which has become a ford. And it's been like that for a week. Phoned Thames Water, who say they're going to do it tomorrow morning (Monday), as it involves turning off the water supply to about 50 nearby properties. Told local residents what I had hoped was good news, ...

To all students at the University of Surrey, I felt it was important to write something in response to an article that a Conservative spokesman released today in regards to barefacts. One thing I would like to make clear before I say anything else. Whenever I do barefacts, I am not a Lib Dem. I am a member of the Liberal Democrats in my own time, but my loyalties will always lie with those who I am elected to represent, not the party I happen to be a member of. Those of you who know me closely ...

We visited the Cats Protection League again today. Our home visit had happened earlier today to check whether we had appropriate accommodation for a cat. We have encountered a slight problem in that the CPL rules say no more than 2 cats. We have around 5 now, only two of whom are officially based in our house. I almost managed to find a White Persian, but it was actually a Seal Point

Are we sleepwalking towards an Orwellian nightmare? On every high street a camera sits watching us, in a few years time we will have to pay to prove who we are and produce the document that we have paid for on request. The police want to lock us up for 90 days if they think we might be a terrorist. And badly designed laws might throw you in prison for commenting on religion or the State. Not

One issue which is not really studied much is the question of energy usage and railways. One figure quoted to me is that the newer community rolling stock in the South East uses 33% more energy than that which it replaced. The challenge is that the strength of the carriages has been increased such that much more energy is used to move passengers. I have not been able to source the allegation,

Reported by Tim: A Protestant evangelical pressure group has warned that it will try to use the government's racial and religious hatred law to prosecute bookshops selling the Qur'an for inciting religious hatred. Christian Voice, a fringe fundamentalist group which first came to public prominence this year when it campaigned against the BBC's broadcasting of Jerry Springer The Opera, was among the evangelical organisations taking part in a 1,000-strong demonstration against the bill outside parliament yesterday as the House of Lords held a second reading debate on the measure. Because Christian Voice has never incited hatred... ...

The CPRE press release is here:30 mph for villages The CPRE is calling for an amendment to the Road Safety Bill going through parliament at the moment. It is government policy to have a 30mph limit in villages, but councils have not been set any targets and implementation has been very patchy. Even where councils wish to implement the policy they have to set the limit for each village individually, a painfully slow and expensive (£6,000 a time) business. We'd like the limit to be 30mph for each village, effective from the village nameplate. This would not ...

I've had a couple of unsolicited emails lately from the Bruges Group (Honorary President: The Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven LG, OM, FRS). In one, no less than Frederick Forsyth needs my urgent help to fight the good fight against Europe. This may have been some genuine mistake - or perhaps some prankster signed me up? But then another leading Liberal Democrat in High Wycombe forwarded one of the same emails to me that she had received. So it seems the Bruges Group in it's desperation to spread anti-EU propaganda has resorted to randomly spamming people! Oh how ...

For those of you who have problems understanding irony this morning's Observer has an excellent example. They report that Tony Blair accused the Tory leadership contenders of stealing New Labour's values, policies and even its phrasebook yesterday. All the Tory leadership candidates have stressed the need to improve public services and connect with ordinary voters. One - David Cameron - has been quoted as telling a private gathering he is the 'true heir' to Blair. The Tories were adopting 'many of the attitudes and even the phrases and policies we have pioneered,' Blair said. 'They ...

By Peter Hearing how Tony Blair is gong to spend the day somehow doesn´t make for a relaxing Sunday.

The Telegraph reports today that former members of the Russian military are helping Iran acquire technology from North Korea. This could be used for missiles capable of hitting European capitals such as Berlin and Rome (but not London). At this stage Putin doesn't want to take the issue to the UN Security council. I don't know why his government seems to be being so helpful to Iran . Iran doesn't