Fingerprinting children in Europe
Statewatch has some inside information on the discussions amongst EU governments on the fingerprinting of children. There is a very good fuller account of this debate by John Lettice on The Register. Sunday 20th August 2006
11:28 pm
Statewatch has some inside information on the discussions amongst EU governments on the fingerprinting of children. There is a very good fuller account of this debate by John Lettice on The Register. 11:16 pm
My Dreamteam
My friends told me I had to have a football dream team. So rather than question I jumped to it. Now I don't know much about football. So I sat down and chose my team, picking the players I knew and with my friend's influence of ex-Tottenham players here it is: P Robinson Tottenham Goalkeeper £4.0m Bridge Chelsea Defender £2.5m G Neville Manchester United Defender £4.5m Terry Chelsea Defender 11:14 pm
Finished
74 hours later... I have now finished watching sessions 2- 6 of The West Wing. I am now fully aware of how relationships have developed, how events have accounted for everything in the seventh and last session. 10:18 pm
I confess
I have to admit something. Please go easy on me when I tell you. All I ask is you don't shout at me. So here it comes: I don't drive. Yes that right, I don't drive. I have never learnt. So why am I telling you. It just seems that other people have a bigger issue of me not being able to drive than I do. It all started when I was 17. It was either using my money to learn to drive and 9:42 pm
Leaving flatland behind
Had a nice day completing the walk to Edinburgh from Linlithgow today, yet again following the Union Canal for most of the day, but this time I wasn’t on my own as I was accompanied by fellow blogger Will who I’m sure will give you the full chapter and verse on our occasionally rather damp [...] 8:34 pm
Tim Worstall's BritBlog Roundup
Come on in. 8:05 pm
Because Will Said So...
Will Howells offers his reasons why to oppose anybody in authority that tells you to do something because "I said so" and it's worth a read. 8:02 pm
Just back from the Oval...
I've just returned from watching the cricket at the Oval. It has been a momentous day, not for the cricket as such, but for the way play ended. In the afternoon session the umpires decided that the ball had been tampered with by the fielding side. They therefore awarded England five penalty runs, and changed the ball. No announcement was made as to the action taken, but those of us in the crowd who were also listening on the radio soon found out. Tea was taken early because of bad light, but at the end of the interval only the ... 7:52 pm
A few days off!!
Sunday 20th August 2006 - Just time to complete the details of my favourite recipe for a cook book being compiled by Camden Lib Dems as a fundraising initiative, great idea and sure to be a best seller!! I'm not going to reveal my dish just yet but I will admit to some help from my wife Zahida in choosing it! Then it's time to pack up the children and head for London for a few days off with 6:29 pm
No peace for the wicked!!
Saturday 19th august 2006 - It might be the weekend but that doesn't stop me getting casework calls and requests for assistance and today was no exception!! A call from a solicitor who specialises in Immigration and Asylum cases led to us having to draft an urgent letter to make representations on behalf of his client who was facing deportation on Sunday evening. For obvious reasons I can't say 5:19 pm
Balaklava
Some impressive photos of the former Soviet nuclear submarine base at Balaklava. According to Wikipedia: One of the monuments is a underground and classified (ex-) nuclear submarine base operational until 1991 said to be virtually indestructible, including a direct atomic impact. In this period Balaklava was one of the most secret villages in Soviet Russia. Almost the entire population of 4:25 pm
The Government’s foreign policy is just plain wrong
Ming Campbell wrote today in the Observer as follows: The ceasefire in Lebanon is holding, if only by a thread, which makes it all the more unacceptable that there was so much reluctance on the part of the British government to call for it from the outset. By procrastinating, the government found itself ranged against Kofi [...] 2:48 pm
On being hit on
A couple of weeks back, Will Howells (of No Geek Is An Island fame) discovered he was The second most famous Will in the world. Sadly - and I think unjustly - I'm only the 44th most famous 'Stephen' according to Google. But here's where I do score: I am Google's top return if you search for "Royal Mail complaints". Which is surely some kind of claim to fame (albeit fairly transient). I guess 1:40 pm
Woodies
A pub running a gala weekend and beer festival - who could resist it? So here am I on a rather unpromising afternoon at Woodies Free House cutting the ribbon, trying the real ales (over 40 to choose from!) and visiting the charity stalls. The main beer tent was balanced by a Junior Tent for children selling soft drinks and other treats. The local Animal Rescue had brought... 1:38 pm
Local Update from Brian Collin
Brian Collin writes: As I write this, we're in the middle of enjoying the Olivers Battery 50 celebrations. Maggie and I have composed the Treasure Hunt clues and we've started collecting egg shells for the "Golden Egg" stall at the fair in September. We're looking forward to hearing all about the archaeology project. The organisers have worked very hard and it all looks very impressive, 12:52 pm
John Prescott: film star
Trawling through the internet sites of the main British newspapers this morning I stumbled upon this article in the Mail on Sunday about a spoof on-line video bulletin, which reports that the Deputy Prime Minister is quitting politics to star in a Yorkshire version of the hit movie Brokeback Mountain. It was produced by Heavy.com after it asked British readers which public figure should star in a new section on their website devoted to deserving targets throughout the world. John Prescott came top of the poll with 68 per cent of the votes. The paper states that in the ... 12:48 pm
Bombed out building and bandstand specially constructed for film set
Picture by Chris Abbott 12:46 pm
Crowds flock to see film set at 9.30am this morning
Picture by Chris Abbott 12:44 pm
Day 1949: Death and Taxes
Sunday Listening to yesterday's Saturday morning political show on Radio 4, Daddy Richard nearly choked to death on his elevenses at the OUTRAGEOUS remarks of a Mr Grover Norquist, president of some people called "Americans for Tax Reform". "Give an inheritance to a Republican and they found the Rockerfeller Foundation; give it to a Liberal and they booze it away or snort it up their nose!" he spouted. "Doesn't your current Republican President have an inherited fortune and convictions for drink driving and cocaine abuse?" was the reply Sheena McDonald ENTIRELY FAILED to use to put this lying loon ... 12:41 pm
Normanby Terrace now becomes wartime Dunkirk
Picture by Chris Abbott 12:38 pm
Serpia image of Hotel L'Hirondelle
Picture by Chris Abbott 12:32 pm
The scene is set for the evacuation of British Troops tomorrow
Picture by Colin Crawford 12:30 pm
Former Fitness Centre in background has had bombed out floor added
Picture by Colin Crawford 12:24 pm
Regency Mansions (formally Coatham Hotel) transformed into Hotel L'Hirondelle
Picture by Colin Crawford 12:20 pm
Smoke adds realism to Dunkirk scene
Picture by Colin Crawford 12:16 pm
Redcar transformed into wartime Dunkirk
Picture by Colin Crawford 11:11 am
While I have been Away
Its 7 weeks since my last regular post. I know this is a cardinal sin amongst bloggers and one I have committed just as, amazingly, people were starting to read this thing. My uncharacteristic silence has been a symptom of a deeper malaise. About 7 weeks ago my Council broadband went down. To be honest I have done very little about getting it fixed as at about the same time the roof seemed to fall. I've been temping at a drugs agency with an elastic contract that started at 2 weeks and is now into month 5. ... 10:07 am
A match made in Heaven
Yesterday I attended the beautiful wedding service of my friends Jane and Mike. I found the whole thing quite emotional on so many levels. Events surrounding my putting up three wedding guests from Wales have been sealed until the year 2040 but other than that It was lovely day. My tendancy to intraspection led me to do a bit of thinking about Community. Alledgedly Hyde Park doesn't have one but there was distinctly "local" feel t the event with me loosing count of how many neighbours I bumped into. Alledgedly the Church is dying but the service radiated spiritual ... 9:44 am
Public meeting: problems in Lewisham Central Hither Green area
Peter Ranken called on me yesterday (Sat) to give me a flyer advertising a public meeting about anti-social behaviour in the Hither Green Lane area. I'm using this blog to give it some more publicity. The meeting is open to all residents of the Lewisham Central Hither Green Lane area. It will be at the Civic Suite in Room 2 in Lewisham Town Hall in the centre of Catford, at 7pm on Wednesday 30 August. It was particularly triggered by the concerns of Peter Ranken and other local residents about anti social behaviour (begging/drinking ... 9:32 am
A lot of countries still to visit...
create your personalized map of europe or check out our Barcelona travel guide Following on from Ryan et al, I still have a lot of places in Europe to visit. Mind you I spent 4 hours at Helsinki airport once. Does that count as "Finland"? 9:03 am
Most Encouraging Article of the Week?
It's by Labour MP Shahid Malik in the Sunday Times: "...Last Tuesday, after a 90-minute meeting with John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, to discuss the challenges of extremism and foreign policy, I emerged and was immediately asked by the media whether I agreed that what British Muslims needed were Islamic holidays and sharia (Islamic law). I thought I had walked into some parallel 8:00 am
And the purpose of this article is...
The thing I love about the Daily Mail, especially the weekend edition, is its inclusion of newspaper articles that make you cross-eyed with their sheer vacuousness, lack of newsworthyness and general sense of 'why was this published... exactly? And the point they're trying to make is?'. Case in point... The mind boggles: Eighteen months ago Lorraine Standing, 47, led the kind of comfortable 
