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Arriving home to this news ten years ago today, I did the only thing a fan of this great musician could do. Rolled a fat joint and, appreciativey stoned (Mulligan spent time in prison for posession), listened to this great musician blowing through his finest live concert recordings with his great bands: Salle Pleyel Paris 1954, the California Concerts 1954 and Live at The Berlin Philharmonie

Gosh, a fourth Assembly Member has started a blog! Plaid Cymru AM, Leanne Wood, has made it a full set with one member of each political party in the Assembly now sharing their thoughts with the rest of the cyber world, but why no comment facility? Come on Leanne, get with the programme, make your blog interactive. Leanne has also added a podcast to her site but I couldn't bring myself to listen to it. Nor can I motivate myself to enter her contest to win two tickets to sit in the public gallery for the first sitting of the ...

I am often struck by the stark contrast between the tough words of the government on dealing with the terrorist threat here in Britain and the appeasement shown towards paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. I have just noticed this was touched on by the excellent Ruth Dudley Edwards in last weeks's (Dublin-based) Sunday Independent. I hope to tackle this theme in more detail in a later post.

Well, as I expected, Great Court did indeed respond to the Government's strangely contradictory policy on Prostitution and was featured in the Guardian for her efforts. In a recent interchange about Iran I briefly confused Simon Jenkins with Simon Heffer (easy to do), and on realising my mistake I noted that I had no idea what Simon Heffer thought about Iran. Well, thanks to JMB at Political Muscle, I have a better idea - and I hope that Heffer's optimistic view of the UN is correct; I remain sanguine. At the end of last week I concluded that Mark Oaten ...

when this is all sorted out. I was just very concerned at our lovely, easy to type URL (Scarboroughandwhitbylibdems - try typing that after a Black Sheep fuelled 'campaign meeting' in the pub ) falling into the hands of charlatans. Haven't had so many comments so quickly since I got up the noses of the BNP in Scarborough.

As expected, the “bridge to the future” slogan is pretty much the one thing that most media outlets have reported from Ming Campbell’s launch yesterday. Nick Clegg repeats it in his Guardian article today as well. As I said earlier, this really does sap my enthusiasm for Ming as leader. No other candidate is [...]

A couple of recent postings provide insight into why the Campbell campaign has so far looked a little uneasy. Quaequam Blog! diagnoses "a severe case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians" in his team and complains of: a blatant lack of faith in the very product ... they are trying to sell, with a constant refrain in the campaign being that with Ming you don't just get the man, you get a whole team of young thrusting politicos.He also writes: What I want to see from Campbell's campaign is, well, the candidate. He has a truly inspiring ...

In response to criticisms and my boredom with the previous template, this is the new format. Not terribly exciting, but plain simplicity is easier on the eye.....

Phew, I am glad this week has come to an end. Working on a Local Area Agreement on behalf of the Local Council to get all public services working together is extremely rewarding. I have posted up a couple of reports that I am working on at this time in the Links section. One on Equalities and the other on voluntary and community Involvement. Some partners appear not to want to work together. At these times I just want to scream or hit something. Good job I attended that ANGER management course So before I ...

Saturday 28th Jan Plymouth 1.30pm Monday 6th Feb Cardiff 7.30pm Sat 11th Feb Slough 9.45am Mon 13th Feb Edinburgh 7pm Sat 18th Feb Coventry 3pm Mon 20th Feb Manchester 7.30pm Thurs 23rd London 7.45pm Open to members only.

Regular readers of this blog may be a little confused. To clarify: bottlenose dolphins are only distantly related to bottlenose whales (such as this fellah). While both are of course cetaceans, the former are members of the delphinidae family, while the latter are ziphidae. Frankly, I don’t know why they aren’t called false bottlenose [...]

and am not imputing any wrongdoing, but I couldn't find their telephone number - even in the BT phone book - and the page I was directed to said that our domain has been bought by 'a customer'. As did a random sample of other pages hosted bythem I tried to open. Now it's been replaced by one telling me that the site is temporarily unavilable owing to a server failure.

The polls will close on Writers by the end of February. The numbers to phone are: Historical Vote for Arnold Bennett (Staffordshire) - 09011962040 Vote for George Eliot (Warwickshire) - 09011962041 Vote for A. E. Housman (Shropshire) - 09011962042 Vote for William Langland (Shropshire) - 09011962043 Vote for Philip Larkin (West Midlands/Shropshire) - 09011962044 Vote for Wilfred Owen (Shropshire) - 09011962045 Vote for Sir Philip Sidney (Shropshire) - 09011962046 Vote for J.R.R Tolkien (Birmingham) - 09011962047 Vote for Izaak Walton (Staffordshire) – 09011962048Vote for William Shakespeare (Warwickshire) – 09011962049 Contemporary ...

The factor that is added to the estimates for a public sector cost for a PFI project is called the "optimism bias". This is used to calculate the "public sector comparator". When the National Audit Office says PFI is "cheaper", it means that it is cheaper than the inflated figure.

Our constituency url appears to have 'just' been bought by another webhosting company. I googled prater raines and tried opening a variety of MPs (including Chris Huhne's Chris2win), MEP sites and Prater Raines own, same result. Any news anyone?

Nick Clegg has written an article for today's Guardian. In it, he explains why he is not standing for the Liberal Democrat leadership and outlines the purpose of the party. The strongest piece of the article is when he steps back from the leadership contest and considers the wider picture: There is much at stake. Not only will the future of the Lib Dems be shaped by the outcome, but also the direction of politics in this country. As David Cameron swiftly morphs into a pale imitation of Tony Blair, the need for a forceful, independent Liberal voice to ...

“I know this might sound like a stupid question, but how much will the whale be aware of what’s going on around it?” BBC News 24

Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Waste not I fear for Hazel Blears. The other day she admitted to doubts about the government’s anti-terrorist legislation: “In my deepest, darkest moments I do struggle with some of this.” When one of Stalin’s henchmen caught himself thinking like that, it was not long before he arrived at a Politburo meeting to find there was no chair for him. It would be sad to see Hazel Blears exiled, if only for her place in cinema history. She can be seen, in kilt skirt and bunches, in the kitchen sink ...

I notice elsewhere on the Lib Dem blogosphere that Ming rashly agreed to give up his petrol-guzzling Jaguar classis car in response to a question on Sky TV put by a Simon Hughes supporter. I wonder whether the problem here, and with Ming’s difficult first performance at prime minister’s question time, is that he has become used to being treated by interviewers and opponents with the deference that is afforded to elder statesmen. If he becomes leader, he will find the questioning becomes more searching and people will be after his scalp.

Guido Fawkes draws attention to Nick Clegg's commentry in today's in Grauniad which he reflects on his decision not stand, and re-asserts his backing for Ming. He spins slightly the Rawnsley line that what the party needs is very different to what the Tory pigs needed in a new leader: they sought youth and compassion, we seek unity, gravitas and respect. One of the few good things to come out of the leadership election is the bringing of Clegg and Huhne to the public attention (albeit in a relatively limited way) because they're both going to be seriously ...

In today’s Watford Observer, a local Green party spokeswoman writes of me: ‘If the Hogwarts Sorting Hat were to be placed on his head it would undoubtedly announce his placement in Slytherin Hall.’ I haven’t actually read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but I gather that this is not high praise. My crime on this occasion was to disagree with the Green Party on a local planning matter. Being a veteran leaflet writer and practitioner of the vituperative arts, I think it is best to collect such brickbats from opponents as a badge of honour. Some years ...

by Peter Ryan Cullen has this bar chart. It is based on tee shirt sales, and rather heavy on non-candidates (Mark Oaten, Öpik and Hemming - future collector's items all of them). Any more bar charts out there?

Meanwhile in the wider world – where LibDems intend to fight the Tories on the Nuclear Energy question – there are political shifts that do not improve our position. It is likely that plans will come forwards for a new Nuclear Power Station in Lithuania, with the backing of the EU Energy commissioner. This will involve a private company in Nuclear Power construction for the first time in decades. One factor is the perceived need to be independent of Russian bullying tactics, as noted in a previous post of mine. The neglect of this fear so far by western European ...

by Peter Nick Clegg has a piece on the Guardian site that responds pretty well to the terms of the MatGB challenge (scroll down). Why (re)join the Lib Dems? Nick says the need for a forceful, independent Liberal voice to challenge the two larger parties has never been greater. Who else would have opposed the invasion of Iraq when Labour and the Tories both supported it? Who else would have opposed the expensive and illiberal proposal for ID cards when Labour and the Tories agreed (even though the Tories have now executed a welcome ...

Terminator Seeds Q: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on proposals for changes to the United Nations convention on biological diversity to legalise an international market in terminator seeds. (John Hemming) A:I have been asked to reply. Terminator seeds' are plants bred using genetic use restriction technologies known as GURTs. The parties to the United Nations convention on biological diversity decided, in 2000, that there should be a precautionary approach to the use of GURTs while research into the possible impacts of these technologies was carried out. Parties at ...

I don’t usually find time for novels, but I’m enjoying Quintin Jardine’s two crime series at the moment. Having tracked down a copy of his first book, Skinner’s Rules, I’m two-thirds of the way through and it’s been enjoyable so far - humorous, not too dark, enough mystery to maintain interest. I’ve already read [...]

Thanks to those who've let me know this blog is invisible if you're using Firefox et al browsers. I don't pretend to know why, but - being a Lib Dem - I've adopted the precautionary approach, and have deleted the stats counter in case it was that which was buggering it up. If you still can't read this, I throw up my hands in mock despair.

The Scotsman today has a report that Simon Hughes has the backing of former leader Charles Kennedy, following Simon's visit to Dunfermline and West Fife yesterday. This comes after days when Mark Oaten, who has now withdrawn from the leadership elections, claimed similar support. However, what both Simon and Chris have said is that Charles encouraged them to put their names forward not that he

Culture Minister, Alun Pugh, likes to think that he has the popular touch, often coining tabloid-like phrases to drive home his point. Wednesday's debate on the Historic Buildings Council for Wales (Abolition) Order 2006 was no exception. Alun started the debate by reflecting on our heritage: For a small nation, we have the legacy of a wonderfully rich built environment. I am not sure whether that legacy was in the forefront of Edward’s mind when he built his series of castles in the north. He was out, of course, to shock and awe the local population, and, in that, ...

by Peter The Campbell campaign has launched a podcast and promise that it is the first of many. I read the other day that Martin Tod is the power behind the Campbell website - that suggests it will be good quality (which it is - but I suspect there is more to come). The last couple of days have gone pretty well for the Campbell team, but also for the Lib Dems as a whole. Nick Clegg has been making the running on extraordinary rendition (the rumour has long circulated that the Government were economical in their ...

While I’ve come out as a Chris Huhne supporter, I consider myself very much a friend to Menzies Campbell’s campaign. He commands the support of a lot of people I deeply respect and I have no doubt whatsoever of his abilities or the qualities he would bring to the top post. I have however had [...]