11:07 pm
Why do we always wait until we take action? Poor health, crime, anti-social behaviour, unemployment etc etc. Let's make early intervention a priority to help prevent many of these problems and where there is a problem lets deal with it quickly.
10:40 pm
Ok! Shameful I know but here is my list (from my ipod)... McFly- Don't stop mme now Mcflly- All about you The Nolans- I am in the mood for dancing Daniel Powter- Bad Dad Michael Buble- Crazy little thing called love Michael Buble- Save the last dance for me G4- I vow to thee, My country S Club 7- Don’t Stop Movin' Sandi Thom- I wish I was a punk Rocker Westlife- Uptown girl Alot of these are remakes but please remember it is a guilty pleasure. Talking about guilty pleasure is this a good time to ...
8:57 pm
A press release from Cowley Street today: Parenting lessons a positive proposal - Mulholland Commenting on the motion passed today by the Professional Association of Teachers conference to provide better parenting advice in schools to young people, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Greg Mulholland MP said: "The Liberal Democrats support this proposal to widen the scope of PSHE to include lessons on how to be good parents." I am not sure that a Lib Dem spokesman agreeing with a teaching union counts as news. But "Lib Dem spokesman disagrees with teaching union": now that would be ...
8:38 pm
Last week I got excited about the new Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid. It looks as though he really is something special. From Cricinfo today: Adil Rashid followed his first-innings hundred with a devastating 8 for 157 to put England in the driving seat at the end of the third day of the second Under-19 Test against India at Taunton.
8:30 pm
One of the reasons for the vitriolic opprobrium directed at Israel at the moment is a failure to understand (wilfully or otherwise) the difficulties of waging war against a terrorist organisation such as Hizbollah, which is fighting a guerrilla conflict and has no regard for the international norms of war. Without question Hizbollah is guilty on two serious moral and legal charges: of launching wave after wave of indescriminate attacks into Israel, and of hiding among the civilian population of Lebanon and using them for cover. Curiously, there is precious little criticism in the media for these actions. Israel as ...
8:00 pm
Italy says Syria should have the Golan Heights back Parliamentary Association of Islamic States to meet 13th 14th August Syrian Students in Romania protest with sit-in (somewhere in Romania) Turkish Foreign Minister criticises US - quelle surprise Hizbollah (Lebanese Resistance) destroy two vehicles and a bulldozer There are quite a few reports there. It will be interesting to see if and when
7:58 pm
..but only in Lincolnshire? Well thats the view that Lincs FM news team gave twice today. They claim that "it's bad news for people in the Lincs FM area as interest rates have gone up by a quater of a percent." Now I'm wondering if you live in Nottingham and have quite a good arial that you too might have your interest rates increased, but your neighbours with a bedside alarm radio wont.
7:03 pm
“So bad it’s good” - how often has this clichéd expression been deployed as a skirt behind which some ponced-up pseudo-intellectual can hide when confessing to his love of cultural detritus? Here I go, then, with my “So bad it’s good” musical list - all of which can be found on my iPod - inspired by Q magazine’s Top 10 Guilty Pleasures, and already blogged about at Love and Liberty. Think of
6:51 pm
The usual appeasers and apologists for terrorism have a letter in today's Guardian. You can read it here. Not so curiously, they omit something rather crucial about the current conflict in the Middle East. Can you guess what it is? [Hint]
5:04 pm
Very busy couple of days - yesterday afternoon was the quarterly (or thereabouts) City Centre Beacon Management Group meeting organised by Tayside Police. I find these meetings really useful on City Centre issues and it brings together police, city council, city centre businesses, health service, universities and other organisations. Was able to update the group on the impending pedestrian safety improvements in Commercial Street (junction with Murraygate/High Street). Also lengthy discussion about graffiti issues in City Centre and in particular the problem in various pends and near to City Churches. Both the Police & City Ambassasdors taking a proactive ...
4:32 pm
As Tristan predicted in a comment left on this post, some people have gotten "righteously angry" about Armando Iannucci's new TV series, Time Trumpet, which starts tonight at 10pm on BBC2*. A scene from Time Trumpet I say "people" have gotten angry about it, I mean a newspaper... well, I say "a newspaper", I mean the Daily Mail. Calling the Mail a newspaper is a bit like calling Adolf Hitler
4:25 pm
Of course you are - it’s been almost a week since he popped up on The Ultimate West Wing Challenge. Fear not - your Oaten appetite can be sated via a podcast. Not his own, thankfully (although I confess some surprise that he and his wife aren’t running a Darbyshire style blogspot confessional) but a British [...]
4:19 pm
DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Syria and Spain emphasized on Thursday the necessity of excreting efforts to realize a cease-fire in Lebanon. (see link for original press release) This is perhaps a good example of the difficulties of communication. I have tried to find out what they mean by "excreting efforts". My Arabic is very bad and it takes me ages to read any text let alone try to translate it. I can
4:19 pm
Tonight’s Avengers on BBC4 (7.10, or 11.30 tomorrow night) is one of the first I saw on starting to collect the videos in the mid-’90s, and the first that disappointed me. I know a lot of fans think of it very highly, but somehow I’ve never found it very engaging. It has three main problems: an insufficiently witty script, an overly obvious plot and a lack of endearing characters in the guest cast. On the up side, Patrick Macnee is amusingly fey when Steed goes undercover as a wine merchant, and this week’s ‘bizarre death’ is a strikingly memorable image… ...
4:11 pm
I use less than average - only 76 litres against an average of 155 per person in the UK. The BBC has a water calculator on their website - link below. This doesn't include water used for cooking or drinking which is roughly 5 litres a day on average. I am not sure if I can get this much lower in the short-term in the medium to longer term there are a couple of things I can do.
2:30 pm
Glad to see a sound answer from John Barrett about control of Prestwick flights in The Herald today (on page two of four). But the SNP probably won't notice, having been distracted by more weighty matters. I suppose they are filling-in a 'slow news day' by underlining their supposed status as Scotland's government-in-waiting.
2:12 pm
Socialist MSP, Tommy Sheridan has offered to strip in court to prove how hairy he is. Ths bizarre offer was made in an effort to prove that allegations of serial adultery are unfounded. The Scotsman has a wonderful quote: Key quote "I have been made a source of ridicule for it but, hey, that's the breaks. I am like a hairy ape. I have excessive hair on my chest, my legs and my back. If that is challenged, let's have a derobing and let's prove that physical characteristic which I think is very important in this case" - ...
1:51 pm
Tallinn. For the third time in four weeks. Then to a wedding in Muhumaa (one of the Estonian islands). back next week.
1:35 pm
Left to right: Cllr Dave Fitzpatrick, Eric Howden, Radio Cleveland's Stewart Macfarlane, Cllr Madge Moses, Cllr Margaret Wilson, Cllr Glynis Abbott and Daniel.
1:27 pm
1:25 pm
A mercy mission is being launched to ensure the preservation of one of Redcar's prized possessions as an invasion force prepare to take over their seafront habitat. A specially-trained workforce has been organised to quietly approach the colony of penguins, who have been facing the South Pole since their arrival on the Esplanade at least ten years ago, lifting them all into purpose-built trailers for the journey to a place of safety. Only once before has their space been invaded - when a cheeky thief took one that ended up outside one of the town's fishmongers - but with at ...
12:35 pm
This week’s excitement was a trip to rainy Glasgow for a quiz show audition - my ninth, I reckon - for a programme called 1 vs 100. It will be the new Saturday night lottery show so if I get on (no guarantees - they’re seeing about 2,000 people but it wasn’t clear how many [...]
12:13 pm
I am delighted to read that Iain Dale is now on the A-list. You read it here first, of course.
11:58 am
Just done the political survery 2005 and its produced some very strange results... I'm on the left of LibDem voters on social issues, but on the far right on 'economics etc'. The really annoying thing is that it lumps free markets in with pro-war, which is very dodgy. I am pro-free market and trade (in general) but definitely anti-war, infact one of the reasons I support free trade is that it
11:31 am
Pondering what to put on the box this evening? Tired of soaps? Fear not - there’s plenty of good stuff on tonight, mostly on BBC’s Two and Four. 19:10-20:00 BBC Four: The Avengers (episode “A Surfeit of H2O”) I expect Alex will fill you in on the detail (et voilà), but look out for Talfryn Thomas (Mr Cheeseman [...]
10:47 am
Martin Tod has added a short training video to the Flock Together blog, showing users how to add a meeting to the site. Potential Liberal Drinkers should also be aware that any meeting added to Flock Together which is associated to the ‘organisation’ Liberal Drinks will automatically appear on this website’s feed, and in particular our [...]
10:26 am
According to the Telegraph two iconic British brands, currently in American ownership, may soon be bought up by the Chinese or Koreans. Ford is apparently losing a great deal of money from its Premier Auto Group (Volvo, Landrover, Aston Martin and Jaguar) and looking to offload Jaguar, with Landrover offered as the sweetener. Many Lib Dems will doubtless see these as gas-guzzlers, and celebrate their disappearance. Personally I will be disappointed. I assume that the buyers will want the badge rather than the manufacturing. If we can´t make cars in Britain, what do we think we can make? UPDATE ...
10:24 am
I’m eternally grateful to Tory blogger Iain Dale (via Labour blogger Paul Burgin) for bringing attention to the blog of Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, Lord of my home town. Jeff Archer is what my father would call “a bit of a creep” and what I would call “a lying twat”. My ex-boss ran a not unreasonable campaign to strip Lords who had been banged up of their peerages, which apparently pissed Mary off a bit – what can you do? Its so hard to pick a favourite Jeff moment. His Question Time encounter with Dr Starkey is certainly up ...
10:04 am
So basically the hospital in question had spare capacity and got on and treated the patients that were waiting. Brilliant you would think what a good idea.........but oh no hang on a minute loads of these patients they treated were seen earlier than the 122 days they were supposed to wait so there is no way the PCT's are going to pay up. So patients get treated quickly without having to wait 122 days (4 months) and the PCT's who are short of cash in the mad world that is the NHS these days weasel out of paying. It is ...
9:40 am
The Western Mail have taken a while to catch up with this story, which has been doing the rounds on the broadcast media for a couple of days. Still, it is nice to have one's opinion of the Prime Minister confirmed by a leading member of his own party. Merthyr Tydfil MP and Defence Select Committee Member, Dai Havard, has lambasted British foreign policy as 'deluded', (it seems half the Cabinet, including the Foreign Secretary, agree with him), and has warned that Mr Blair's "misdirected obsession" with continuing a pro-American stance will lead to his departure from Downing Street. ...
7:35 am
Seven years ago from the day that's just ending I found myself suddenly and (somewhat) unexpectedly out of a job. A quick bit of spinning and I was self employed, freelance, my own boss. Haven't had a regular paycheque since, it's all been invoicing by the day. Haven't looked back, either - I heartily recommend it as a lifestyle if you have a marketable skill and / or a problem with fitting into an office lifestyle. Try to embark upon it on your own terms and at a moment of your own choosing though...
1:40 am
The Guardian on Thursday presages a Downing Street Press-fest at which Tony Blair will apparently claim that we've all "misunderstood me over the Middle East". Apparently...he will "face down his critics today over his controversial handling of the Middle East crisis by insisting that he has been working throughout for a ceasefire in Lebanon and that his position has been misunderstood. He will argue at a Downing Street press conference that he wanted a ceasefire, but only if it was coupled with a clear understanding that the Hizbullah militia would be disarmed." So that'll be ...
12:09 am
Here, as an experiment, is a video which explains how you can add a meeting to the Flock Together site. My first shot at this was full screen throughout and quite hard to follow. The original footage came from CamStudio. After looking at the rough cut, I then did quite a bit of work with [...]
Wednesday 2nd August 2006,
Tuesday 1st August 2006,
Monday 31st July 2006,
Sunday 30th July 2006,
Saturday 29th July 2006,
Friday 28th July 2006
