From 1989 to 2008 the top four recipients of Fannie May and Freddie Mac cash as campaign contributions were: 1. Dodd, Christopher J S D-CT $133,900 2. Kerry, John S D-MA $111,000 3. Obama, Barack S D-IL $105,849 4. Clinton, Hillary S D-NY $75,550 This looks a trifle dodgy and smacks of corporate welfairism. Wasn't Obama meant to be whiter than white on campaign contributions? Some questions need to be asked. What were the two mortgage giants hoping for in return? Why did they switch from financing Republicans to Democrats as soon as the Republicans lost its majority in Congress? ...
I'm shocked the John McCain can say what he has about Sarah Palin with a straight face. He thinks that she has great foreign policy experience because Alaska borders Russia. How absurd. Even funnier is McCain saying that Palin knows more about energy than...umm... anyone in America. That's right. Any one. She knows more than current and former Energy Secretaries? Energy economists? Energy analysts? I mean its just crazy. Watch McCain interviewed below.
One of the photo ops I am putting on at conference on Sunday is about the rise in the cost of living. Candidates and campaigners will be pictured with Vince Cable and as props there will be 2 supermarket baskets, each containing the same food items but one with last year's prices, and the other with this year's. I spent a bit of time yesterday going through the government's RPI figures to see
If there is one museum in the world for Journalists and bloggers it is the Newseum in Washington D.C. Recently the Wooden cabin of Ted Kacynski has been unveiled at this museum. Kacynski was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for three murders, multiple injuries and bombings. The 'Unabomber' as he has been called was a loner who lived in a wood in Montana. He believed the onset of technology was detrimental to human civilisation. Labelled a nut or a loony by some newspapers Kacynski's ideas have led to him achieving a cult status . The former Mathematics genius wrote ...
Following on from my previous post, I felt the need to vent spleen further. Car-Crash Television is a term used to refer to Jeremey Kyle, Kilroy, Vanessa, Trisha and other such toss that's inflited upon our unsuspecting television sets every day, but could quite frankly refer to pretty much everything on TV, with a couple of notable exeptions. These programmes dredge the barrel of humanity, getting the most feckless oiks imaginable to get up on stage and beat the crap out of each other, or air their (forget dirty, its usually soiled) linen in public in the name of entertainment. ...
This lunchtime, I went to an event in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey – the 14th century principal room of the old abbots' house which is now part of the Deanery. In front of the fire in this room, in 1413, King Henry IV died, having been taken ill en route to the Holy Land. Briefly regaining consciousness, the [...]
I'm delighted to announce that the Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting of London Liberal Democrats will take place on Saturday, November 15th, at Haverstock School, Chalk Farm. It should be a pretty good event, especially with Chris Huhne as our guest speaker. There will be a European flavour to the event, especially as we're just nine months away from the next round of European
It would appear that Liberal Democrat policy has changed to one of cutting public expenditure to fund tax cuts rather than switching wasteful or less desirable New Labour expenditure to fund needed investment in accord with Liberal Democrat policies. This has been announced at various press conferences and interviews since the 17th July - but [...]
This update from march organiser Danny has been posted on Facebook: "20TH SEPT 2008. Two marches one cause. North march Caledonian Park form up 09.30am. Marching at 10.30. South march Kennington Park form up 09.30am Marching at 10.30. The South march may start a few mins later than the north depending on numbers. The two marches will then meet and enter into [...]
A Me! Me! .. er.. I mean, meme. Tag not others, lest you be tagged yourself. Pick a band and answer the questions using their song titles. Your job is then to guess the band. It's meant to be "fun". 1) Are you male or female? Female Mechanic Now On Duty 2) Describe yourself. Inhuman 3) What do people feel when they're around you? (She's In A) Bad Mood 4) How would you describe your previous relationship? Halloween 5) Describe your current relationship? The Empty Page 6) Where would you want to be now? In The Mind of the Bourgeois ...
Mum: have you cheered up at all, anyway? Me: Well, not really, no. I've been planning this for six months, and spent a fair bit of money on respectable clothes, and it's really annoying to have all that go out of the window for lack of a dogsitter. Mum: Well there's not much I can do about it. Me: You could come and live in my house for a week? I know you won't have them in your house, but... Mum: I don't think so. I couldn't cope with living in your house. Me: You could send my dad to ...
It's been like watching a slow-motion car crash; you could see it coming but do nothing to stop it. The government's prevarication and indecision on energy policy has condemned many people to a tough winter which today's announcement of a £910 million package of home insulation grants and subsidies to help people with their energy bills will do little to prevent. Leaving aside for the moment the specifics of the package, this tells us something important about the way government in this country works; it is mainly reactive - responding to circumstances after the event rather than planning, anticipating and ...
So, the Department for Work and Pensions is in negotiations with ITV to get Jeremy Kyle to front a new Benefits Reality TV Show. Government gimmickry plumbs new depths. Kudos to Don Foster, who continues his current terrific run of press for his DCMS portfolio, for arguing that "It increasingly looks like standard practice for ministers to pay large sums of taxpayers' money for biased coverage that shows their policies in a sympathetic light". Its an utter joke. Not only is Kyle himself a numpty of the highest order, fronting a show that is complete drivel, but this act by ...
The Guardian reports that Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean leader has been taken ill or incapacitated, although also has North Korean officials denying this (surprise, surprise). The International Herald Tribune has reports from US and South Korean intelligence that Kim has in fact suffered a stroke. According to this BBC News report, it is believed by South Korean intelligence that Kim will make a full recovery. I never thought I would write this, but I hope the BBC report is true, and he does make a full recovery. Whilst the Communist regime in North Korea is one of the most ...
Just two days to go until Conference starts, and the excitement is building up to fever pitch. Millennium has advised me that I shall go to the ball or, in this instance, get to take part in the blogger interview with Lembit Opik. I've promised to bring my bestest notebook (the one with the pressed flower on the cover) and a full set of coloured pens. I've got a bunch of questions to ask him and
Party Leader Nick Clegg has set us a challenge - a One Million Door Challenge! One million sounds a lot, but it is actually just around 1,500 doors per constituency. In the eleven months leading up to this May's local elections we, in Wolverhampton South West, knocked on about 17,500 doors. Perhaps 1,500 doors isn't [...]
Let me know - by sending the link to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com before Sunday lunchtime - and I shall include it in the next Britblog Roundup. A slightly embarrassed blogger asks: Can I nominate something from my own blog? Liberal England replies. By all means.
I've seen headlines saying things like "childless banned from parks" a few times over the last few days but thought it was a joke - nobody could be so stupid. Or so I thought. Apparently the enlightened Council at Telford and Wrekin had decided to interrogate people who went into its parks without children. So if you're out jogging, or walking your dog, or just enjoying the sunshine, you could be questioned by park staff. You actually couldn't make something like that up. I hope that the official, or councillor, who thought up this daft idea is not left in ...
(Cross-posted from here) This article pretty much sums up what is wrong with the party's communication strategy at the moment. Apart from the fact that it has been published roughly four days too late, it repeats many of the mistakes we witnessed last weekend. Reading it carefully, it is clear what Danny is getting at. But journalists don't - and often can't - spend time reading the subtle nuances of every press release and statement. I'm not sure if the talk about 'the vast majority of the "spare" money' going on tax cuts is part of a thought out strategy, ...
I'm sure we can all remember where we were when we heard about the terrorist attacks on the USA. I was just 8 years old at the time, (well turning 9 the next day). At around 4pm I left my room and wondered why the tv downstairs had the news on, when it was only 4pm. It was then when I went downstairs I was told the most horrific thing had happened. At that age I didn't quite understand the implications of such an attack or how severe it was. I was told by my dad it was the worst ...
Monday (15th September) is the deadline for comments as part of the consultation on "Out of Hospital" health services in South Liverpool. This is a link to the full document produced by the Primary Care Trust. You can also find an on line survey form on the website at www.liverpoolpct.nhs.uk (look for the story on the South Liverpool Consultation)
The Party conferences are about to begin and the spotlight will be on tax policy.The Lib Dems are the successors to the Liberal Party that when in Government introduced old age pensions and laid the f...
No Lembit news today, so I thought I would just link to the launch of Kirsty Williams' campaign to succeed him as Welsh Leader instead.
A few years ago I used to be one of Liverpool City Council's Regulation 33 visitors. It's something Councillors can choose to do and involves monthly unannounced visits to children's homes. All elected members are "Corporate Parents" so it's part of that role. I had to stop doing the visits for a while, but had been thinking about taking part again. Well, yesterday was a training session for new, or existing, Reg 33 visitors so I went along. The enthusiasm and dedication of the staff just shone through. We were also joined by a young man who had lived at ...
If you are as easily offended as those delicate creatures, the Repulicans, you might do well to read the whole quote before jumping to conclusions. When Barack Obama made the remark about lipstick on a pig, he was talking about John McCain. He was essentially saying that although John McCain kept saying he was for change, he was actually for more of the same on "economic policy, healthcare policy, tax policy, education policy foreign policy and more Karl Rove style politics". It was then he started to talk about how you could put lipstick on a pig but it was ...
NW3 has one of the highest concentrations of schools in any part of London - and this part of Belsize here in Eton Avenue is no exception. At number 15 is Sarum Hall School - it has great character and an amzing atmosphere as a place for learning for children. http://www.sarumhallschool.co.uk/ Founded in 1929 it is looking to it's 70th anniversary next year. Incredibly and you wouldn't know this from the outside looking at it - it takes 170 pupils between the ages of 3-11. It led me to think just how many schools are there hiding away in the ...
OK my post on the statement "Lipstick on a pig" which has been used by both Presidential candidates has caused a little bit of a stir so I've set up a poll to gauge public opinion. I can see four reasons why it may be used. With my current readership spanning both sides of the pond results may well be interesting. First up the context: "John McCain says he's about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is,'Watch out George Bush -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style ...
Today's announcement by Gordon Brown of the Government's response to soaring fuel bills is wholly inadequate. Whilst it's quite right to get more action on energy efficiency (and interesting to see a bit of a u-turn on 'Warm Front' funding having challenged the PM about it months ago), many pensioners and families still face a 'bleak mid winter'. The average combined gas and electricity bill used to be around £1,000 a year. Following the latest round of increases it is likely to rise to over £1,250. Against the backdrop, the increases in winter fuel payments for pensioners (announced earlier in ...
The results of today's Times/Populus poll of voters' views about the main parties and their leaders will bring a wry smile to the faces of many Lib Dems today. Voters have been asked to place themselves, the three main parties and their leaders on a Left-Right spectrum. Political opinions are more complicated than just this [...]
Radio Four's Document programme on Radio 4 unearths evidence that Harold Wilson considered "abandoning" Northern Ireland. He considered making it a dominion, not part of the UK or the Commonwealth: May 1974 was the height of the Troubles in the province but, for once, the daily story of bombings and shootings wasn't centre stage. All eyes were on a new power-sharing executive; the first
I think Cathy Jamieson could learn a lot from sitting down and watching the DVD of The War Room, the inside story of the Clinton Campaign in 1992. This was where we got to see, posted on the wall, a scrap of paper with "It's the Economy, stoopid". It was there to remind people that what people were really bothered about was would their job be safe? Could they afford to pay their mortgage? Would they have to make the choice between heating and eating? James Carville's old maxim is as true now as it was then. Why, then, did ...
Ahead of the Lib Dem conference, which starts in a couple of days in Bournemouth, Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne has sent this message outlining the parties approach to crime: "Crime hurts some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, who are least able to withstand its effects. All the political parties want to cut crime. The only question is how. Our approach, as Liberal Democrats, is fundamentally different to that of Labour and the Conservatives. We favour what works. Criminal justice policy has been buffeted by tabloid opinion for too long. It is time ...
My latest Guardian blog, covering cake, canals, and local heroines, is now online.
Does she believe in dinosaurs? How is she going to use her folksy charm to star down VV Putin? Is this a disney movie? Watch the video below. Damon poses the concerns and questions we would all like answered. Hat tip: Ali Plumb
In 2006, Nick Clegg inaugurated the Great Repeal Act campaign. He sought a: "single act to roll back a generation of illiberal legislation and illiberal regulations". He went on: "Over the coming weeks, we will consult the public to help draw up a comprehensive list of the laws that should be repealed. Today I am launching a website where anyone can submit the details of a law they think should be scrapped - greatrepealact.com " And then we will bring forward the most comprehensive set of proposals to pare back unnecessary laws and regulations a political party has ever produced. ...
Liberal Democrats want Britain to be fairer. That simple, principled commitment has always been core to our beliefs - and always will. That's why Liberal Democrats will go into the next general election promising big tax cuts for ordinary people and families. From the poorest up, we want to cut taxes for those struggling to [...]
Crime hurts some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, who are least able to withstand its effects. All the political parties want to cut crime. The only question is how. Our approach, as Liberal Democrats, is fundamentally different from that of Labour and the Conservatives. We favour what works. Criminal justice policy has been buffeted by red-top opinion for too long. It is time for hard evidence in cutting crime. Chris Huhne is leading the debate at our federal conference in Bournemouth next week.
There's a pre-conference interview with Nick Clegg in today's London Evening Standard (copied 'n' pasted across to the Daily Mail) in which the Lib Dems' tax-cutting agenda is spelled out. Worth reading in full, but here are some highlights: On the Lib Dems plans to reduce taxes: Mr Clegg admitted the Lib-Dems had urged higher spending in [...]
Having now read the Green Alliance report, I think the blame lies mainly with the writer of their Press Release and also trying too hard to seem even handed in the actual report. Whilst it is scathing in places about the other parties, this is all it could find negative to say about the LibDems: "We have not identified any specific low points where the Liberal Democrats have taken an anti-environment position over the past twelve months. But we are concerned by the decline in profile and priority given to environmental issues, from the party that has so often led ...
Well neither Barak Obama nor John McCain were first to coin the phrase "putting lipstick on a pig" though both have used it it was first cited in the online Urban Dictionary as far back as August 10, 2004; when it was defined as: A term used by many, generally in reference to someone who may be trying to make something or someone look appealing or attractive when it quite clearly will not work, or will only deceive the dumbest of people. Well there's no doubt this idiom survived the collision of two words and thoughts to conjure up a ...
Now I know that there is always a lot to do before conference starts - reading, sorting out hotels, sorting out travel, packing and so on. But to my relief I have managed to deal with the most pressing task. I refer of course to arranging for someone to feed the cats! Kaboodle, being a bit on the porky side, could do with losing some weight. But Kit is whippet thin and after her last incident at the vets she is probably FNG (feline non grata) there. Anyway - feeding and watering schedule having been sorted out I can depart ...
There is a lovely obituary for the late Professor Tony Bradshaw in today's Guardian. Tony got the first Liverpool Citizen of Honour award shortly before he died. He was a lovely man who was very committed to a range of environmental causes - including the Merseyside Environment Trust. Here is the link to the Obituary.
So, the Large Hadron Collider (or Colander, as I heard it referred to on one news bulletin) successfully started up and should be giving results by next month which would be excitement itself if were not for the thought of the upcoming Vice Presidential debate on October the 2nd at Washington University. Palin v. Biden. And I hope America will pay particular attention to the debate and remember what happened in the UK. Blair stepped down after winning an election for his party and we got Brown instead.
If any evidence is needed that McCain/Palin's negative campaign of half-truths is backfiring, then Huffington Post has it. Noting that the New York Times confirms that Obama was clearly and unequivocally referring to McCain, and not Palin (who he hadn't mentioned up until then in his speech), with his "lipstick ona pig" remark, The Huffer gives a formidable list of media outlets and commentators
The phrase `across the pond` is a congenial one to portray that we are similar to Americans - same language, similar foods etc. Can that still be true? There's the other phrase `divided by a common language` which seems to signify two sides of the same coin. Is that even true anymore? It seems that vast [...]
As someone who in the dim and distant past (ok 1990-92) was Chair of what is now called Liberal Youth, my attention was grabbed by this article by Bryony Gordon. Let us not forget that Ian Oakley started his political career as a 19 year old as the founding Chairman of Monmouth Conservative Future. And just because [...]
Still no dogsitter that's viable. Mat is ill. His germs have REALLY good timing: they have made him lethargic and useless and unresponsive at EXACTLY the right time; at the moment it's looking like NEITHER of us will be going to conference. Which is going to be a joy for poor old Emma, who is expecting both of us to work... Still, rather than wailing and gnashing my teeth, I thought it would be better to distract myself by writing a post. It may be somewhat random though. The first item is a clue as to why: (via addyit - ...
Last year, there was a slightly embarrassing moment in the race to become Republican nominee for the White House. In answer to the question "do you believe in evolution?", at least three of the candidates indicated that they did not. Senator John McCain, it must be said, passed the test with flying colours. The question [...]
The new approvals process for Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates is now up and running in England. (Scotland and Wales will be adopting the process in the near future). I'm one of the first to have gone through the new scheme, so I thought I'd give the inside track on it - and encourage more people [...]
It's old news by now, as I live in a distant corner of Wales and by the time I got home yesterday I was too tired to do justice to the topic: yesterday, I was in Swansea to lend support as Kirsty Williams AM announced her intention to stand for leadership of the Welsh Lib Dems and of our Assembly group. BBC Wales' political editor was there, and seemed to relish the opportunity to ask Kirsty if she wasn't a bit worried that she would still be seen by many in the party as the 'Rainbow Wrecker' (her words not ...
Not everyone , unsurprisingly, can be bothered to trawl through the numerous comments which have been posted, mainly anonymously, on this blog over the past couple of days. So, for the benefit of those people, I would like to repeat here a posting I made this morning in one of the comment threads: With regard to my original post about Happy Hour promotions at Darlington Football Club, in a post
The new party website went through a period of being weird: ...It seems to be back up now. Unless it was a problem my end?
Lib Dem Conference: On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | LDV Events | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home | Vote-by-vote coverage As the judges finalise the winners of the Liberal Democrats/Liberal Democrat Voice Blog of the Year AwardsTM, I thought I'd take the opportunity for one final shameless plug of the awards ceremony. It's in [...]
Many, many congratulations to Theo Walcott on his hat-trick last night against Croatia! Down in rural West Berkshire, we always knew our local boy had it in him, especially given his enormous speed at running. It is marvellous to see him come good in such spectacular fashion! Our cup runneth over! He is saying that he will watch the game on telly this evening. The question is: which one will he
I'm on the train back to London after an enjoyable three days in the North West. Last evening was spent in Manchester Withington at a "Meet the candidates" Pizza and Politics evening organised by MP John Leech. With 12 days still to go until nominations close, and with no formally nominated candidates yet, it was a bit premature as a hustings but nevertheless gave local members a chance to ask questions of the two declared runners and an opportunity for us to get the measure of the arguments which will be used. One thing Lembit and I are agreed on ...
The government are now facing the consequences of a total free market in Energy. The difficulty lies in moving from a buyers market to a sellers market. Those people lucky enough to have stocks of fossil fuels make large sums of money through serendipity rather than inventiveness. I will be waiting to see the Winter Outlook reports before coming to any conclusions as to what might happen this
Anne Atkins was on "Thought for the Day" this morning. Breathe in. One, two, three.... Breathe out. She spoke about the "Christian principles of Western democracy". I see. So all that stuff going on in Greece from 508 BC was all just nonsense, was it?
Spot the difference: A pit bull (left) and a pig (right) Obama was referring to McCain when he made his "lipstick on a pig" remark. But even if we, for a moment, accept the McCain charge that he was referring to Palin, I am still trying to work out why being likened to a pig is so much worse than being likened to a pit bull (admittedly by yourself). See handy pictures above for comparison.It
Good to see the work to upgrade the footpath at the south end of Seymour Street starting yesterday (see my news release below). I'm also grateful to the Waste Management Department's Rapid Response Team who, following my request, have cleaned off graffiti (some offensive) at Seabraes. NEWS RELEASE : Improvement to popular pathway in West End now started Dundee City Councillor for the West End, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, said today that he was delighted that upgrading works on an area of pathway which is extremely well used by residents in the West End, but currently in very poor condition, has ...
Once a year, the Secretary becomes core to the very being of the Local Party. Ironically, the only reason anyone will notice this is if you screw up. So, given that yesterday was the last date by which you could call an Annual General Meeting on 1 October, the first date on which one could be held, it is high time that we looked at planning your Annual General Meeting. In England, the State
The future of the Gothic Pub on Church Road, Gatley, is uncertain after Cain's, the brewery that owns the pub, went into administration. However, the article suggests that Gothic's demise is far from certain, so no need to worry yet. We're lucky in Gatley to have a bunch of interesting, popular and very individual pubs - The Horse and Farrier, High Grove, Gothic, Red Lion and Prince of Wales ("the mop"). It would be sad to lose any of them.
The Stockport Express is reporting that Tesco is likely to move into the Somerfield site in Cheadle before Christmas. This is good news - it's been very frustrating that Cheadle has been lacking a decent supermarket. As Pam King says in the article: "I am happy that this project is going to move, because I was disappointed that the previous application failed to materialise after all the work that was put in. I am very happy that there will be a supermarket at the site because it is much-needed by the people of Cheadle."
As a regular Stop the War marcher, anyone spotting me on the Operation Banner march past yesterday may have been a bit puzzled. But as I have always made clear, I may be against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I believe absolutely that we should support and honour our forces who have no choice in where they serve. For anyone who served in Northern Ireland yesterday was a day overdue. A day to draw a line under 38 years of suffering and bloodshed. The hopes and prayers of all of us that this really does mark an end ...
All this week, Lib Dem Voice is publishing the results of our September survey of party members conducted through Liberty Research via our private members' forum. This is the second of our monthly surveys - if you have ideas for future survey questions, please email me at stephen - stephen.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden [...]
The Mole (The First Post's "Westminster insider") suggests that Gordon Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan, now political director of the super union, Unite, is still active on his behalf: Whelan's loyalty to his old boss is undiminished. Working behind the scenes and in union gatherings, his blokish charm has been much employed rubbishing anyone who suggests a change of leader would help Labour avoid disaster at the next general election disaster.If you think Whelan is a bit too gor blimey to be true, you are right. In his 2004 biography of Brown, Tom Bower described him thus: Born in ...
Thanks to all who voted in the poll on Anna's new hamster's name. The results were as follows: Rose 31.4% Linda 22.9% Gemini 17.1% Ace and Snuggles 14.3% each Fluffy 0% She still hasn't made her final decision on what the hamster is to be called. In the meantime, the wee thing is being referred to as Powder Puff. When Anna finally makes her mind up, I'll let you know:-) I've had the expected grief from various Lib Dem sources for not making this an STV poll - well, if someone shows me how to do it....................... I suspect the ...
Mat Bowles suggets a "silly meme": Choose a singer/band/group — answer using only titles of songs by that singer/band/group. Just to prove it can be done... Are you male or female? I'm a ManDescribe yourself. I'm BlueWhat do people feel when they're around you? It's Gonna Work Out FineHow would you describe your previous relationship? Mean Woman BluesDescribe your current relationship? Strong LoveWhere would you want to be now? Kansas CityHow do you feel about love? It Hurts Me SoWhat's your life like? Every Little Bit HurtsWhat would you ask for if you only had one wish? Gimme Some Lovin'Say ...
The Kingsnorth verdict shows the need for juries. This prosecution was a vindictive prosectution about political campaigning. It is the second time Greenpeace have used the lawful excuse argument about a protest. I don't think it is a general permission to put graffiti all over the place or do real damage to a power station that stops it working (for example). However, it is a shot across
On Monday Ideas of Civilisation posted an interesting piece on his blog called "Should politicians have to contact voters?". It caused a little bit of debate in the comments thread of which I partook. Well yesterday I noticed this challenge issued by Nick Clegg which takes up just that point. Nick points out as with IoC that most people feel alienated with politicians, I can vouch for that from the contact I have had with people on the doorstep. They rarely see their politician and in some instances have gone many years without any direct contact with a member of ...
Listening to Radio Wales just now I am intriqued by the latest theory regarding the source of the bluestones that were used to build Stonehenge. It is now thought that they were deposited on Salisbury Plain from 15 different locations by glaciers during the last ice age. Looking for an on-line version of the story I discovered that there is no such thing as new news. The BBC were reporting this theory in June 2006. As many organisations struggle to cope in the face of declining lottery funds around Wales, this does raise questions once more as to why £53,000 ...
I reported a week ago that the Welsh Assembly Government are putting together a social network and blogging policy for its employees to reflect the UK Civil Service guidelines entitled 'principles for participation on-line'. I now have more information. In an answer to a written question Rhodri Morgan tells me that 'the Social Networking and Blogging Policy is currently under development, the first draft is expected to be complete by 18 September 2008. Following completion of the draft, the policy will be put to consultation with Legal Services, Human Resources and Trade Union Side. The agreed period for consultations of ...
{Credit: http://hightech.blogosfere.it/} Credit: http://hightech.blogosfere.it/I've only just spotted this, and feel a bit foolish for not noticing it earlier, but have you noticed that the new Lib Dem website is Creative Commons? I've just checked and neither Labour nor the Conservatives have gone down this route. The Green Party has an inconsistent policy: a Google search shows that a lot of local parties are CC, but their (also new) website has a little, ugly copyright symbol at the bottom. It makes a lot of sense for political parties to be CC. They are in the business of connecting, so why get ...
I was going to comment on it, but since Jo Crispy-Strips has said everything I wanted to say much better than I would have said it, I'm just going to link to her post instead. I particularly liked what she said about girl things, and orange.
Thanks to Ordovicius for this speech by Kirsty Williams which you can find here A raison d'ete of doing this blog (amongst other subjects) is to give those people who have disabilities or are alternatively abled some sort of news or profile. I hope very much to the consternation of the Labour Assembly administration. After watching the Beijing paralympics tonight it is absolutely superb that Britain now has 21 Gold medals after only four days. The Wheelchair basketball is a real spectator sport. Britain even beat the USA! Also Gold for Britain at 4 by 100m Freestyle and also equestrian ...
Geoffrey Payne asks if the Green Alliance will ever acknowledge anything the Lib Dems do. Jo Christie-Smith gives her review of the new Lib Dem website design (broadly agree with her conclusions). An interesting article by Guy Hassan about the state of UK think tanks. Thoroughly Good Egg Mark Braund makes the case for Land Value Taxation in South Africa with a view to avoiding Zimbabwefication (which may or may not be a word I just made up but I trust the meaning of it is clear?)
OK, if we don't find a dogsitter in the next 24 hours, I won't be going to conference. All our usual and several unusual options have fallen through. The only options we currently have are for Mat to get up on Friday morning, drive to either Wales or Scotland with the dogs, drive back here before eight o'clock, pick me up as I finish work, and drive down to Bournemouth. A 15 hour driving day is not something I can reasonably inflict on him. This is the third time I have tried to get to one of these bloody things. ...
Last I took part in a 'walkabout' in the East Park and Gadshill Rd. area. There was a good turnout of local residents, with Council Officers and Police present.A number of problems were observed including fly tipping, misuses of open spaces, security, overgrown trees and hedges, and some of the effects of the street prostitution activity on Fishponds Road. I hope that having the different agencies viewing the area together will help in getting co-ordinated solutions to problems. This is the first walkabout in Eastville Ward, and a follow-up is due in a few months time.
I've not spent a lot of time following the activities of the TaxPayers' Alliance, an organisation which claims to be 'campaigning for lower taxes and better government' (as though these concepts are mutually inclusive...). However, my attention is drawn to their newly published report on the Barnett Formula, and the posting on it by Mike Denham in his blog 'Burning Your Money'. Now I admit that,
