LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 24th February 2008

Top ten films that didn't get Oscars

The Beeb reports a Radio Times poll of favourite films that didn't win an Oscar. 1. The Shawshank Redemption 2. The Sixth Sense 3. Fight Club 4. Blade Runner 5= It's a Wonderful Life 5= The Great Escape 7= Taxi Driver 7= Psycho 9. Singin' in the Rain 10. Dr Strangelove All great favourites of mine, with the exception of Psycho, which I wil agree is very good, but I'm not that into slasher/horror/whatever you want to call it. I wonder what I've got against Oscar winners....

Vince Cable: The man they couldn't gag

The Cult of Cable continues to grow. Today's Mail on Sunday reports: Financial Services Authority chairman Sir Callum McCarthy telephoned Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable in September and accused him of "scaremongering." He told Mr Cable Northern Rock was not caught up in the sub-prime mortgage fiasco in the US. Hours later the bank admitted it had been hit by the cheap mortgage collapse there. And it is now clear Mr Cable was right to argue the bank had offered too many cheap loans to people who could not repay them.

Just picking up the architectural features

I was just wandering down the street in Hampstead and was struck by the charm of the features round the break from High Street to Rosslyn Hill - the old 'Dudman's Hampstead Borough Stores' especially stand out. The inscription (above the window) reads 'Rebuilt 1890' - but because the building is so high, on a hill and at a fairly steep point you have to really stop, step back and look up to appreciate it to the full. But it sure is a joy to behold. Also in the way of charm is this old water well drinking point. In ...

Eco Skiing - we can all live low carbon lives without reducing our quality of life

It was billed as the eco activists perfect holiday. Perched halfway up a Swiss mountain Whitepod is a camp of canvas igloos each with its own wood burning stove inside. The wood is waste from the surrounding forest. Food grown in the valley below - is served in a nearby chalet - the motherpod! This is kept warm by a ground source pump, an underground set of coiled pipes which absorb the earths heat. The amazing thing about this device is that you get three times as much energy from it as you need to run the pumps. The water ...

Happy times in Highgate

Another by-election campaign is underway, this time in Highgate ward. So this morning saw me heading up the Holloway Road on the 43 to meet the Highgate team at Jacksons Lane community centre. It’s an appropriate rendez-vous, because the future of the community centre is one of the key issues in the by-election. Jacksons Lane [...]

The La's - Timeless Melody

Lee Mavers, the lead singer and songwriter with the La's, is one of the lost talents of British pop. With his band, which released its first single in 1987, he invented Britpop years before anyone else had got there. Mavers even looked like the bastard love child of Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher. The band's only LP appeared in 1990. Mavers has rarely been sighted since and a couple of come back attempts have been stillborn. He is variously runoured to be a helpless drug victim or an eccentric working on a wondeful second album that will one day appear ...

Berwick-upon-Tweed: Scotland's Gibraltar or England's Kosovo

I have been meaning for a little while to post on the subject of South of Scotland SNP MSP Christine Grahame for Berwick-upon-Tweed to be returned to Scotland. My father always refers to Berwick as Scotland's Gibraltar. I am not much of a nationalist, but each time I travel northward on the east coast mainline, I think that the River Tweed feels like it ought to be the border. And from the train at least Berwick looks more like a Scottish than an English town. Yet Berwick residents, Scottish and English alike, have seemed happy enough these last few centuries ...

Unpresidential behaviour from Sarkozy

Monsieur le Président has been behaving badly. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, was caught swearing on camera this morning. He visited an agricultural fair, and had a bit of a tiff with someone, as you can see from this footage, courtesy of Le Parisien. He turns up and starts doing exactly what you'd expect a President to do: walking up and down, saying bonjour, shaking hands. Then, somebody heckles him: Heckler: Ah non, touche moi pas ... Sarkozy: Casse-toi alors! Heckler: ... tu me salis! Sarkozy: Casse-toi alors, pauvre con! The heckler is shouting "No, don't touch me, you'll dirty ...

Castro and the Staggers

Peter Wilby once wrote that: One of the earliest lessons I learned as [New Statesman] editor was that many readers regard Castro rather as Telegraph readers used to regard the late Queen Mother, and that harsh criticism of the Cuban president would lead to threats of cancelled subscriptions. I wonder therefore whether it was brave or foolhardy of current acting editor Sue Matthias to publish in this week's edition this article by Isobel Hilton as its comment on Fidel's resignation. (The article doesn't appear to be available on the NS website so I have linked to a blog that reproduces ...

Photos from Mozambique

Meeting the President A workshop session featuring delegates from Tunisia, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo Senegalese Minister Mamadou Lamine Ba speaking to the press after meeting the Mozambique President The flag of the meeting The closing Press Conference Our hotel, the Holiday Inn in Maputo

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #53

Welcome to the 53rd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (17th-23rd February), together with a quintet hand-picked by Lib Dem blog readers you might otherwise have missed. Here we go, in descending order of popularity:

Weekend gone, mainly spent watching rubbish

Another weekend hurtles towards its speedy conclusion, much to my annoyance. I have been out leafleting a fair bit this weekend. In Sedgley mainly, as we unleash the latest Focus upon the world. A new one for St Mary’s is on its way as well, and will be out shortly. I am delighted at the new “wireless” broadband we now have in the house. I realise that this is hardly cutting edge technology, and that people have had it for years, but I haven’t, and am hugely excited by being able to type emails in front of the TV without ...

Raul Castro is a reformer

There is an old joke about liberals marching on Parliament chanting "What do we want Gradual Change! When do we want it In due course!" Well I think the decision by the Cuban Communist Party to adopt Raul Castro to replace his brother Fidel fulfils that wish. In the 16 months that he has already held the effective reins of office, Raul Castro has introduced a number of significant changes that have set Cuba on a path towards a more enlightened regime. It's not democracy and the rule of law by any means but it is a welcome start. There ...

Mozambique - was it worth it

It's clearly not a cheap operation to organise a conference such as the one I've just got back from, but in my mind it was well worth it: - I know from the feedback forms and conversations with most of the participants after the end of the session that they got lots out of it. Lots of the feedback forms praised me (which is, of course, nice) but also talked about the bonds they have made with their fellow participants from different countries. We were able to put people from different ends of the continent in touch with each other ...

What should we read into a ......

High Court decision to award a women from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset £4.1m in damages for something that happened to her daughter nearly 29 years ago Should there be a statutory time limit on compensation claims Or should people be allowed to seek compensation irrespective of time I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Tooth Review: 1573 & 1574 (obligatory spoiler warning)

{Prog 1573} {Prog 1574} Quote of the Week: “First you say hello to Vulf’s little friend!” Wulf Sternhammer gets up close and personal in Strontium Dog (1574). Covers: Dylan Teague draws Johnny Alpha versus Groule from Strontium Dog (1573); Richard Elsom draws a chained Gene Hackman from The Kingdom (1574). Contents: Judge Dredd, The Kingdom, Stickleback and Strontium Dog in both progs. Shakara ends in 1573 to be replaced by a Future Shock in 1574. Review in less than 10 words: There will be blood (1573), Hell is other mutants (1574). Spoilers… (more…) Share This

Is your bin being completely emptied

A resident contacted Claire Young this week to say that for two collections running their black bin had not been completely emptied. Had they not rung the Council to complain, food waste could have been sitting in the bottom of their bin for a month. The Council can penalise SITA if bins are missed or not emptied properly, but they need residents to report problems so they can be logged with SITA and performance monitoring started. To do this, call Street Care on 01454 868000 and select option 1. (Thanks to Claire and our sister blog Focus on the Ladden-Frome ...

Democracy has the upper hand

Continuing my run of judicial quotations, this one comes from the Israeli Supreme Court, in a case concerning torture (The Public Committee against Torture in Israel v. The Government of Israel), where they found it illegal under all circumstances: "We are aware that this decision does make it easier to deal with that reality. This is [...]

We'll keep a welcome at the seaside...

I've been in Llandudno this weekend, having been asked to be the guest speaker at the Welsh Liberal Democrats Spring Conference Dinner. I've never been to Llandudno before, and it turned out to be more of a treat than I had expected. I rather like Victorian-era seaside resorts, and Llandudno is an outstanding example. Our hotel, the St Tudno, represents the best of family-run hotels. The dinner itself had been sponsored by the Federation of Small Businesses, and I was glad to see the close working relationship between the FSB and our spokesperson, Kirsty Williams. Once again, I found Party ...

5000 new houses - your chance to do something about it

We reported several weeks ago that a government panel is recommending 5000 new houses for Yate and area. This is equivalent to an extra two or three Chipping Sodburys on our doorstep. If these new houses all go north of Yate, the town will reach all the way up to Wickwar. Or some could go south, near Wapley; west (the Common) or east (the fringe of Sodbury) And all without any local consultation as well. Steve Webb and local councillors are forming an Action Group. Come to a PUBLIC MEETING at 7.30pm on Friday 29 February at Brimsham Green School. ...

Greenwash

It really irritates me when "environmentalists" speak out against technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It seems like some people thing we should just all stay in bed all day, instead of workout ways of doing what we do in better ways. Today, for example, Virgin Airlines proved that it's possible to fly an airliner using 20% biofuels. Now, the flight itself didn't do that, as only one engine was using the biofuel mix. It's also true that biofuels don't have zero emissions, so the real saving on this flight was quite small. But, it's important to demonstrate the possibilities. ...

Things would have been so much easier if Charles had been a rubbish leader

I haven't bought the Mail on Sunday, I feel duty-bound to point out. But I have just read, via the web, the first elements of their serialisation of Ming's forthcoming auto-biography. You can pre-order it via Liberal Democrat Voice here with some spondoolicks going to the party. The segment serialised today certainly offers useful perspective on the Charles Kennedy leadership. I say "useful" in

Give children cheap sweets Labour MP

This has to be a classic gaff from the ranks of Labours backbenchers. Step forward Sharon Hodgson MP, recently dumped by Labour as their candidate for Gateshead constituency. Last year, Sharon had a good idea. Clearly, this was an historic event in its own right so I made a note of her grand plan and, I have to confess, I did rather like it, even if the cost of it is sky high. Her proposal was

Zign'Zags mutant offspring

I can’t believe this piece of shit beat My Lovely Horse! Share This

The Tip Top Top of the Top Blogs - full time scores

Six months ago, I listed the top Lib Dem blogs according to mentions in the “top seven” of Stephen Tall’s weekly Top of the Blogs roundup on Lib Dem Voice. Since we’ve now had a whole year of it, here are the top 20 23 for 2007/8 (numbers in parenthesis are the positions six months ago): 1. (=) Lib Dem Voice - 43 entries (+19) 2. (=) Paul Walter (=) - 36 entries (+17) 3. (+2) James Graham - 32 entries (+19) 4. (+1) Nich Starling - 25 entries (+12) 5. (-2) Duncan Borrowman - 21 entries (+7) 6. (+1) ...

Donation report exclusive - The 'Blah Party'

One of the more unusal Q4 donations, of £1000 was to The Blah Party. The party was established in 2006 and its leader is Raymond Burns, better known as Captain Sensible - the member of 'The Damned' who also enjoyed a brief solo career primarily with the single 'Happy Talk'. The party is 'sponsored' by Seabrook Crisps, who also use the Blah! in their most recent advertising campaign. This does raise the question as to whether some of the people being asked to join the party realise that the whole thing is a crisp company PR stunt. The website plays ...

Carling Cup Final Half-time: Chelsea 1 Spurs 0

Just a quick half-time blog 'live' from Wembley. Chelsea barely touched the ball for the first 10 or 15 minutes and were struggling to get out of their own half. But they've just gone in at half-time a goal up, thanks to a late succession of dubious freekicks, one of which was expertly taken by Didier Drogba. In the last 20 minutes our opponents had definitely woken up, but we had by far the better chances of the first half - even though it's not been classic football. On the whole we're looking quite sharp and Ledley King is back ...

Ralph Nader to run for US President

Ralph Nader is to run for US President this year. In 2000, during the Gore v. Bush fight, it’s believed by many that he handed the Republicans the White House by splitting the Democratic vote in Florida. Will he do the same this time round If you don’t believe he poses a threat to the Democrats, [...]

Fearne Cotton and nepotism - How did you get here

Every week I like to have a look through my statistics and see how people are getting to this blog. This week I have had a few hits on the subject of "Fearne Cotton" and "nepotism". Could it be that having watched the 2008 Brit awards and the continued fawning and dumbed down presenting skills of the aforementioned Miss Cotton that a few other people have come to the same conclusion as me that Fearne Cotton's regular appearances have a lot less to do with talent than her family tree I hope these people were therefore happy to get linked ...

Anyone got an alternative name for London

Residents of London Road in Ipswich, home to serial killer Steve Wright (not the Radio 2 DJ), are apparently considering asking for the road name to be changed in order to avoid the stigma attached to the murders. Now I am no expert on Ipswich other than having a natural allergic reasdtion to the whole place (I am a season ticket holder at Norwich City and it is common for us all to have this problem with Ipswich), but presumably London Road has more than just a few houses on it. No doubt businesses are based along the road which ...

The Blogging Eurovision

Should the last five posts of the Golden Dozen be voted on by bloggers and their readers Aren't bloggers likely to vote for who they like and not what the best blogging posts are Alix will probably vote Millennium, James for Alix, Norfolk Blogger for the Willow Man...and vice versa I was tempted to nominate certain people but thought it so subjective that I came to the conclusion it was absolutely pointless. Who I read on the blogosphere is influenced by a great many factors, and how good the post is may not be one of them. Many of my ...

Sharjahs Motor-car Madness

The Arabian Gulf emirate of Sharjah has both the advantage and disadvantage of being next door to big and brassy Dubai. In comparison, it is a conservative place — there’s no alcohol in Sharjah, for example — but the Arab world’s low-cost airline, Air Arabia, is based there and property prices (to buy or rent) [...]

Tait's Lane

Yesterday, I contacted Scottish & Southern Energy following an incident in Taits Lane on Friday, in which a family pet dog was electrocuted and died of its injuries. A resident contacted me on Friday evening, following the incident and she was extremely upset to have witnessed the electrocution of a dog, which was owned by one of her neighbours. The dog had been out for a walk with its owners and whilst passing a lamp-post took what appeared to be a dreadful fit, which it later emerged was as a result of being electrocuted. The dogs death has caused deep ...

Something for the Weekend

Readers may be interested to know (and I’m going to plug it regardless) that since December I’ve been writing a regular weekend column for Liberal Democrat Voice. Something for the Weekend is a light-hearted (I wouldn’t go so far as “humorous”) review of the week, and today’s post - written in Llandudno, from where I’m typing into your internets right now - is now up.

Calling time on Mr Speaker

As Iain Dale puts it, "The real point is that Michael Martin has been the worst Speaker in living memory. He deserves to go because he's useless. The expenses allegations are a diversion from the point that he should go because of his incompetence. Every Labour MP I speak to recognises this privately and Conservatives and LibDems think so too" All the Sunday papers are circling around like vultures, but it should be remembered that vultures hang around the dead or dying and that politically and in terms of respect for the position of speaker, Michael Martin is a dying ...

Station Road Post Office to be scrapped

Although the official list doesn't come out until Tuesday, it is now clear that the post office in Station Road, Yate, is on the list to be axed. It is among nearly 30 post offices across the former Avon area to be closed by Royal Mail (for which read the Government) Another local post office to go is the village post office in Old Sodbury. Together with the one that closed at Brimsham Park when Tesco took over, it means that we will have lost three of our local post offices in four or five years. Nationally 2500 are targeted ...

Spurs at Wembley again

It was a busy day of leafleting and canvassing in Highgate and Archway yesterday, with a really good buzz around Rachel Allison's campaign to join the Lib Dem team as a councillor. Only 10 days until polling day now! After a good night out with Owen, Heather and Wendy (hi guys), today is a full day off from campaigning for me - as I am currently on my way to Wembley. Hoping for a repeat of the last time I went to Wembley - a 2-0 win. Though that was Blackpool in a play-off final rather than Spurs and I ...

Scottish Parliament last week ...

Hilarity as the Presiding Officer gets a wee bit muddled: The Presiding Officer: The result of the division is: For 64, Against 65, Abstentions 0. Members: Oh! The Presiding Officer: Fifty-five members voted against. What did I say Members: Sixty-five. The Presiding Officer: Oh well, you know what I am like with numbers by now. [Laughter.] Decision Time, 21 February 2008

Can you spot the difference

Two months ago, James Flew, 30 was kicked out of his council house because of his drug habit. For the past 3 days he has been sleeping rough and injecting himself in a wooden climbing frame fort on a childrens playground in Bristol. At first glance this story has all the hallmarks of a Daily Mail exclusive. Drug addict allowed to set up camp in a childrens playground. However, this piece of in-depth journalism doesn't come from the Daily Mail. It comes from the Bristol Evening Post. Can you spot the difference No, nor could I.

Swift-boating the Presidency

So, John McCain may have had a romantic liaison with a female lobbyist and done favours for her corporate clients. Barack Obama may have had improper dealings with Chicago-based 'dodgy fella', Tony Rezko. Now, he might be conniving with terrorists. For more on The Weathermen, I can recommend the documentary, The Weather Underground. Of course, Hillary already has had Monicagate, Watergate, VinceFostergate, Furnituregate, MarcRichgate, RandombombingofSudangate and many others. GOP oppo researchers boast at the material they still have. Most of us liberals are quite happy that the Democrats and Republicans look set to choose their best respective nominees. However, there ...

Something for the weekend: Hen Wlad fy Nhadau

Hello from Llandudno, North Wales, where you find me wi-fi-ing away in Venue Cymru, the conference centre currently hosting the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ spring conference. Rare bits in today’s innuendo-packed Something for the Weekend from Wales: Jenny Willott’s future; David Steel’s past; Nick Clegg’s tongue; Vince Cable’s underwear; and more!

D A B Radio

I have heard reports over the last few weeks that our Digital Audio broadcasting network is in financial trouble with several stations about to go off air. I personally enjoy listening to The Arrow as it plays much of the seventies music that I like to listen to. I am not sure what they are up to today as all morning they have been broadcasting Saturday's news programme I do hope that...

Joseph Stiglitz - Problems with GDP as an Economic Barometer

A must watch for any amateur economist, and the reason why US politicians don't want to reduce health care costs revealed.

Turning blue for a good green cause

Yesterday, I joined campaigners from Friends of the Earth, as well as Sian Berry from the Green Party and John Stewart from HACAN, at Finsbury Park. We were there to mark our objection to plans for Heathrow expansion. The protest highlights the end of the Government’s consultation on the Heathrow proposals. It’s an issue [...]

'Hippocratic Oath', or plain old 'Hypocrisy'

An organisation which has, in the past, called for an end to Britains binge-drinking culture, sought higher taxes on alcohol and demanded a general sobering-up of the population, to now seek an extended drinking licence at its premises Doesn't that smack of hypocrisy to you It does me. The Times has all the details. See what you think.

Key One Wales pledge to be ditched

The Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy, has taken one step further than he has gone before in going on the record to rule out a referendum on law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly before the 2011 elections. In an interview with the Wales on Sunday, Mr. Murphy said he did not think the referendum would take place by 2011: His comments are bound to infuriate Plaid supporters who regard the commitment as central to the agreement. Mr Murphy said: The argument was theres no point in going for a referendum on powers unless you think theres some appetite ...

Clinton flips

I think she may have lost it....in more ways than one.

Pressure on Speaker to resign

Why would someone (i.e. Mike Granatt) resign because they had been misled Surely you resign if you misled someone...not the other way round...

The Cat's away....

Oh dear... Duncan has gone to bed, and guess who has worked out his blogger password in her tired and emotional state For those of you who know me/us you must know that I give Duncan a pretty hard time sometimes, but he really is a great guy and I am really lucky to be married to him... PS - as he will now clearly change his password (in a fit of pique and yellow-bellied cowardice) I have

Have you been paying too much council tax

If you live in a Labour controlled area, the answer is almost certainly "yes", but apparently many more of us might have been overcharged as it has been revealed that the government has tried to hide that thousands of people's houses have been incorrectly placed in the wrong band for Council Tax. The information has apparently been avavilable to the government for three years but they have no sought to tell people affected. Same old Labour. Same old lies.

Sunday 24th February 2008

Previous days:

Archives

Search for...

Adverts

Buttons

LibDem Blog Box

Contributors

Campaigns

Backlinks...

From the LibDems...

Featuring Nick Clegg...

From the BBC...

From the Independent...

From Politics.co.uk...

From the Guardian...

Adverts