10:16 pm
I see that the youngest son of Senator John McCain is joining the US Marines: According to Time.com: This September, Senator John McCain's youngest son, Jimmy, 18, will report to a U.S. Marine Corps depot near Camp Pendleton in San Diego. After three months of boot camp and a month of specialized training, he will be ready to deploy. Depending on the unit he joins, he could be in Iraq as early
9:51 pm
I appear to have upset Riverside's champagne socialist blogger and proud Labour donor, Cormac Hollingsworth. It appears he's now spending his Friday afternoons clicking links on Google in an attempt to drive me into penury. An activity otherwise known as click-fraud, a felony in the United States and illegal in the UK under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act. Cormac is unwisely inciting fellow Labour activists to join him on his mini-crime spree. He should be more careful. Admittedly with Labour inventing dozens of new crimes every year it can be hard to keep up, but this one has been ...
9:30 pm
I never really got into The West Wing until well into the penultimate series, so I have lots to keep me entertained if I feel withdrawal now that it's all over. But there's one thing I can't help wondering...if Jed Bartlett's great grandfather's great grandfather - you know, the one that attended the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia at which the Declaration if Independence was made - would ever have envisaged such a bloated institution striding the world with all the trappings of the deity they wanted to keep it separate from as the modern US Government.
7:55 pm
It is clear that a) The munitions being flown to Israel are being used against civilian targets and in contravention of Article 8.2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court. b) Actions ancilliary to such war crimes are in contravention of Section 52 of the UK International Criminal Court Act 2001. c) Allowing flights to pass through UK airspace is arguably part of (as in ancillary to)
6:09 pm
[I was going to type this myself, but saw that Cllr Bentley beat me to it, so nicked this from his blog] A licensing application that may be of interest: Rice & Chips, 230 Hither Green Lane, London SE13 6RT have applied for a variation/new licence under the Licensing Act 2003 as they have: Applied for late night refreshment Sunday Thursday 23:00 -00:30 and Friday Saturday 23:00 -01:00. The four criteria under which you can support or object to this application are: Prevention of Crime and Disorder Protection of Children from Harm Public ...
5:48 pm
I'm agonising over whether I can sign the Love Lewisham pledge. It contains 10 worthy promises. But No. 9 worries me: "I will switch lights off when I'm not in the room." Who do they think I am? Uri Geller? The full list of pledges is on the Lewisham Council website You probably should sign up to it.
5:41 pm
Yet another eventful Full Council meeting in Lewisham on Wednesday, most noticeable for some pretty shambolic, if well-meaning, chairing of the meeting by Cllr Anderson, which resulted in some confusion when it came to amendments on various worthy motions proposed by the various worthy parties. In particular, there was such confusion over amendments to a Labour motion on sustainable energy that the Chair gave up and let the whole motion fall, much to the amazement and chagrin of all parties, who were mostly in agreement on the fundamental premise. A bit sad, really. I wonder, ...
5:05 pm
My neighbouring councillor for Lee Green, Peter Bentley, is working to get new signs from Hither Green station. He's just consulted me on what signs at (1) the top of the footbridge at Platform Three and (2) the bottom of the tunnel entrance should vis a vis the Lewisham Central part of Hither Green. I've suggested the following, but if anyone has any different ideas perhaps they could let Cllr Bentley or myself know: Sign at top of Platform Three footbridge Exit End of Platform One Springbank Road: - Shops & Restaurants - ...
4:34 pm
Thanks to Lynne Featherstone who draws our attention to new poll from ICM that shows a majority against ID cards for the first time: The latest poll shows that 47% of people think the introduction of ID cards would be a good idea, 51% think they would be a bad idea - a straight 5% swing compared to the last ICM/No2ID poll in February and the first time (apart from a very strangely worded BPIX question a year ago) that a poll has shown a majority opposed. ICM also asked about attitudes towards the National Identity Scheme ...
4:02 pm
It's really good to see Monty Panessar doing so well. 5 wickets in this innings (so far) he's definitely been England's attacking bowler in the 2nd innings and against some of the best players of spin in the world. True, conditions and the wicket are helping him, but its been supurb bowling. When I was younger, I always wanted to be a spin bowler. It is very gratifying to see a young English
3:51 pm
Okay, so it's not the snappiest of campaign slogans, and it will probably attract the interest of oh, maybe about four people on the entire planet, but Oxford City Council needs some direction, and I happen to be available, as they say, to put in my tuppence worth. The council was plunged yesterday into a quandary over its political complexion when Labour unsurprisingly held onto a byelection seat in Hinksey Park ward making them formally the largest party group on the council. First, a declaration of interest - I am of course a Liberal Demcorat member and have friends ...
3:09 pm
Responding to the joint press conference held by the Prime Minister and President Bush, Liberal Democrat Leader, Ming Campbell MP said: This press conference was profoundly disappointing. It seems as if the Prime Minister is impervious to the views of the majority in this country and of the wider world. Every day of grace afforded to Israel and [...]
2:39 pm
As part of a series of posts, I am going to explore what a liberal society might look like under a Liberal Democrat administration. Or at least what a liberal society should look like as far as I am concerned. I am doing this in order to put forward positive ideas, to encourage debate and comment and to help shape liberal thinking. The free market seemed to be a good place to start. Without a
2:33 pm
I’m a little torn regarding Peter Black’s recent outburst about Ming Campbell’s leadership. I share many of Peter’s concerns and support his right to air them, but I question why he chose the nuclear option of seeking to turn them all into a question of leadership. Take the tax policy for example. I too [...]
2:20 pm
I have a request. Basically that people listen to each other. I know I am one of those considered on the 'right' of the party. I am an economic liberal. That does not mean I am against public services, or laissez faire in the devil take the hindmost manner. Whilst my ideal world would be one where anarcho-capitalism would work, that is not the world, human nature does not work like that (in my
2:06 pm
(warning - spoilers follow) There aren't many TV programmes that I treat as 'must see'. For starters my job makes it quite difficult to guarantee being in on the same night each week. the modern trend for new shows to be repeated a couple of times in the followign week are a godsend as far as I'm concerned. The West Wing has been one programme that I have done my best to follow. It has combined brilliant writing and strong characterisation with inteligent story arcs, real drama and, of course, politics. I'm sure that part of my ...
2:01 pm
David Cameron's ratings are at an all-time according to YouGov. My graph below shows a massive dip down to just a two point net rating. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Anthony King commented: "The Conservative Party increasingly resembles a tired runner panting along in sweltering heat. He is ahead in the race but only because his main rival is even more exhausted... The Tories today are no
1:53 pm
Iain Dale continues his decline to cheap partisan gossip broker - to think the man once had Parliamentary pretensions. His latest broadside on the Lib Dems to backfire spectacularly is his decision to attack Lib Dem News for publishing a pro-Hamas letter, conveniently ignoring the fact that the same page included 2 pro-Israel and 2 relatively [...]
1:42 pm
I’ve just heard Nick Harvey on Any Questions condemning George Michael for cruising for sex because “It’s not a good example.” Sigh. Nick grudgingly admitted it wasn’t against the law, but why couldn’t he have sounded as liberal as the Labour and Tory MPs on the panel, each of whom used a variant of ‘not my business’? Criticising anyone else’s consenting sexual activity is not just wrong but a bloody stupid thing for a Liberal to do. Repeat: “So what? They were adults, they knew what they were doing, and it’s none of your business. Good luck to them.” ...
1:37 pm
Thanks to Iain Dale for Vicky Ruff-Cock.
1:28 pm
Prospect has an excellent quartet of articles on the subject of the “English Question” this month. The four authors have very different perspectives, but they all agree that breaking up the union would be bad and the Tory’s “English Votes on English Matters” proposal is no solution. Malcolm Rifkind’s proposal for an English Grand Committee, for [...]
12:23 pm
My boss has written a nice post about the last episodes of the West Wing last night, linking it with the House of Lords Constitution Committee’s report this week on Royal prerogative. For me, the “choke” moment of the two episodes was the bit when Bartlet gave Charlie his copy of the US Constitution. But [...]
11:52 am
I missed the final two episodes of West Wing on More4 last night as I was out in Cardiff celebrating the final days of freedom of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Leader, Mike German. He is getting married next Saturday. However, I intend to catch up with them tomorrow. Still I quite enjoyed this preview in yesterday's Daily Mirror: And what a comfort it has been during that time to know that the most powerful man in the free world was Josiah "Jed" Bartlet, a man who'd never say "Yo, Blair!", who could confidently point to Kazakhstan on a ...
10:08 am
News reaches me that Labour have now started their selection process in two West Midlands seats - Shrewsbury & Atcham and The Wrekin.
9:52 am
Went to Garston Leisure centre earlier this week for a ceremony to mark the baths centenary. When the old baths were demolished, the stone which was carved for its official opening was removed, and put into the wall in the new building. You can see it when you come in on the left.So this week to mark 100years, there was free swimming all day and a ceremny. the Lord Mayor - Joan Lang - came along to the ceremony, as did some of the staff who had worked in the old building as well as the new. The leisure centre ...
9:26 am
Blogger's been giving me stress this week. Downloading very slowly and it wouldn't allow me to download pictures either. Just love pics - they liven up otherwise boring text. In frustration emailed them to complain - no official feedback of what the problem was but it's seems to be working fine now. Just tested it out and added some pics to It's madness really - what a difference it's made. I know many bloggers will suggest other blogging platforms. I've experimented with some of them. Several others have facilites which would be useful but think I'll stick with my tried ...
9:17 am
I am a great fan of the energetic and wide-ranging blog of Peter Black AM. I read his blog entitled "It's time for Ming to shape up" with some sympathy. It has now been covered by BBC News. However, the focus of the article is wrong, in my opinion. I have read many blogs like that. Quite frankly we should be saying to ourselves - it's time for us to shape up. Each one of us in the party should
9:09 am
The Conservatives have recently selected two more candidates in the West Midlands for the next General Election, as far as I am aware that brings the total to seven (although some sitting MP's may have been re-selected already). They have now selected in Birmingham Edgbaston, Redditch, Solihull, Staffordshire Moorlands, Tamworth, West Worcestershire and Wyre Forest.
8:03 am
No they haven't gone away - although the Government was forced into delays etc. But the worm is turning. As predicted - and as happened in Australia and Canada – initial high levels of public support for ID cards are falling away as people became more aware and knowledgeable about the realities of identity cards (and their huge cost - let alone database dangers). A new poll from ICM has a majority against ID cards for the first time (and I love the Home Office spokesperson's excuse given in the story!). You can still help the campaign - visit www.libdems.org.uk/noidcards ...
1:20 am
Originals: Martin Carthy and friends, BBC Four, the wee hours of Saturday morning. Martin Carthy is a singer and guitarist who has been in large part responsible for keeping our - English - folk music alive, popular, played, sung and recorded. He married into the Waterson family of Fylingdales near Whitby, North Yorkshire. The result is music of the finest sort: live, from history and from the
12:30 am
Kira Cochrane (who she?) in the Guardian thinks this is her worst nightmare. If I were stuck in a lift with Dora Bryan I would tell her how much I liked her performance in The Fallen Idol . If you don't know this Carol Reed film you should read David Thomson's splendid article in yesterday's Independent (while you still can for free). He writes: The picture uses the Belgravia house as a world; the black-and-white is so beautiful it looks like something we might be on the point of inventing - at last, the drab days of colour ...
Friday 28th July 2006,
Thursday 27th July 2006,
Wednesday 26th July 2006,
Tuesday 25th July 2006,
Monday 24th July 2006,
Sunday 23rd July 2006
