11:03 pm
Yes, I know, this is the internet, and I'm blogging about something that happened, ooh, weeks ago. By most standards, I might as well give up now. Never mind. What I wanted to do was discuss the review that the Observer printed of Chomsky's new book "Failed States". Also of interest might be the preemptive strike that the reviewer then launches on anyone who disagrees with him, and the response
10:37 pm
I found out today, much to my embarrassment, that my home town has three councils: Elstree and Borehamwood Town CouncilHertsmere Borough CouncilHertfordshire County CouncilNow, I consider myself fairly up on politics and governance, etc, but I didn't know about the Town Council, nor what it does. My girlfriend, who works part-time for Hertsmere Borough Council, could not tell me what each layer of
9:59 pm
The firefighters in these photos taken yesterday are not professionals at all. They were young people who had just completed a one week course at New Malden Fire Station as part of the LIFE (Local Intervention Fire Education) project. The idea is to give a real sense of achievement to young people who need to find direction and purpose in their lives. The scheme is run...
9:25 pm
I became inured to mediocre England football performances in the years from 1970 onwards. So, I never get my hopes up. One could moan on and on. The team played fantastically well with ten men (funny how they often play better with ten men than eleven - remember when Beckham was sent off in 1998?). I take back everything I have ever said about Owen Hargreaves. Ronaldo obviously exploited
7:29 pm
So, who can spot Golam? :P Click the picture below to launch the video in Windows Media Player: Above: Bob Neill surrounded by a sea of Liberal Democrats
4:10 pm
As Labour politicians line up to give their twopennyworth on why the party lost the Blaenau Gwent by-elections, one in particular admits that things have not been going well for the government: Mr Andrews, whose constituency is also a traditional Labour south Wales valleys seat, said the results were "dreadfully disappointing," even though he pointed to the party having increased its share of the vote and cut the independent majority. Writing on the website Labour home, he said the party had faced significantly less hostility in the constituency, but the "unique circumstances" and events at both ...
4:00 pm
Commenting on Radio Five on the sad death of Fred Trueman today, Geoffrey Boycott was drawn by the interviewer to comment on the nature of Yorkshiremen: "People think of Yorkshiremen as dour and brusque and blunt. That is a load of cobblers." Thank goodness he doesn't fit the stereotype then.
3:14 pm
As we near the end of the World Cup tournament, a very odd trend has become noticeable. All the football teams who do well are from countries that have been governed by a dictatorship in the twentieth century. Just check the list: Germany, Italy, France (under Vichy), Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Ukraine and Argentina. There is one noticebale exception. England hasn't had a dictatorship since
2:39 pm
I managed to take the right cable to my advice bureau which allowed me to start as usual about half an hour early. That meant that even though there were about 17 groups of people (about 40-50 people) I managed to get through quite smoothly. Some were people put off by last week's queue. There was an interesting case that appears to be a law which is designed to create miscarriages of justice.
12:53 pm
To coincide with the Party funding review, chaired by Sir Hayden Phillips, the New Politics Network is running a consultation exercise for local party activists. They are conducting a survey on people's general opinions to party funding, but are also particularly interested in views on the working and funding of local parties. This is a good opportunity for people to make their voices heard on this issue and to further stimulate the growing debate on this subject. We all have an interest in rescuing British politics from the grasp of the multi-millionaire donors who seem to be the only ...
11:59 am
National Newspapers Tory candidate accused of breaking by-election law - Telegraph Near-miss for Lib Dems in local byelection - Guardian Bromley voters highlight the divide in Tory ranks - Independent Own goals mar Tory bid to win 'safe' by-election - Times. A series of blunders by the Conservative campaign team was responsible for delivering a serious blow to their share of the Tory vote. Analysis: Lib Dem 'black arts' left Tories in disarray - Times. It's disillusionment that triumphs at polls - Telegraph PASTING AT POLLS Cameron support collapses in traditional ...
11:27 am
First rehearsal! The piece is very fast moving, packed to the rafters with invented syllables, and written in compound time - where every beat is worth a dotted crotchet, rather than a straight crotchet. A man called Licoln, from the Proms, told us that Nick Kenyon views this as the “flagship creative piece” in this years proms. [...]
10:17 am
"Go negative on the Lib Dem candidate from day one. Trawl through the candidate's record. Don't worry about being unfair. Labour were wildly unfair in Hartlepool and it still served them well. " - apparently written by Conservative activist Sean Fear, on the Conservative Home Diary yesterday. So much for the moral high ground. I think everyone generally prefers positive campaigns. This year in
8:46 am
On the face of it, this report on BBC news sounds very confessional. It says: "In an interview for the GMTV Sunday Programme, (Campbell) admitted he could lose a vote on the (tax) plans at his party's autumn conference." All very dramatic sounding. But in fact all Menzies seems to be doing is stating the simple party process. The conference decides on party policy. Presumably this sounds
8:00 am
The Party have just updated the list of training modules that they train. The new list can be found at Liberal Democrat Training on the navigation menu or by following the link below. You will only be able to access the page if you are registered with this site as a Liberal Democrat.
6:47 am
The Guardian has explained Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in a very comprehensive article. I am glad someone has! It is worth reading. As I outlined in a previous post, one million people in this country are on incapacity benefit because of mental illness - more than the number unemployed. That is a major economic issue. The fact that thousands of people have to wait up to 18 months for
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