Although I wasn't completely won over by the first episode of the new Radio 4 topical news quiz, I guess that's why they call it the news, it showed enough promise for me to return for episode three this evening. The chair, Fred MacAulay, has hit his stride, especially with a very funny warm up act (an act that the radio audience alas does not get to hear). The panel was all change from the first show, and this quartet had more repartee amongst them than the first show's quartet. As in the first show though I suspect that many ...
This CD only came out today, so for once I'll precede my review with a Spoiler Warning. I don't actually have a *lot* to say about it, but it's worthy of comment, so... Have you been adequately warned? Then I'll begin... Hornets Nest: The Stuff Of Nightmares, by Paul Magrs (who I'll be talking about in a ...
I just had an email from the 10:10 people saying that I'm one of the 9182 people who's already signed up – but what really made my day was that there's one football club that's signed up – and that's SPURS!! 10:10 are asking me to find 10 other people to sign up so if you're ...
It was a great pleasure to welcome Nick Clegg to Islington again last week. He joined me on a visit to the Times ABC (Amateur Boxing Club) to meet David Ryan and other leading club members, and also discuss youth provision with George Kinsella. The Times ABC does fantastic work, and it's supported by many ...
"Official music videos" have returned to YouTube after an agreement with the Performing Rights Society. Excellent. Apparently, Pete Waterman only got paid £11 in 2008 for co-writing "Never gonna give you up" which was sung by Rick Astley and received 15 million hits on YouTube (described as "100 million" by Pete Waterman.). That helped to kick off the whole negotiation exercise, apparently, Pete Waterman not one to shrink into the background. Anyway, after a piece reporting the above on BBC Breakfast this morning, Bill Turnbull turned to his co-presenter and remarked: I wonder if that will somehow mean less homework ...
Jonathan Calder has pointed out in an excellent post today that some of the leading Tory bloggers have been cheering on Nigel Farage in his bid to unseat new Commons Speaker John Bercow in his Buckingham seat. As Jonathan says: "Yes He Can!" crows Tory Bear, complete with Obamaesque graphic. "Go Nigel Go" cries Dizzy Thinks. And Iain Dale says: "I'm glad I don't live in Buckingham." (I take this an admission that he would find it hard to maintain party loyalty if he lived in the constituency, rather than as a general assault on the this blameless Home Counties ...
Mark Reckons has a long and respectful interview with Douglas Carswell, Tory MP and (with Daniel Hannan) author of The Plan. I was taken aback by the following exchange early on: Mark Reckons: In Part One of the book you bemoan "declamatory legislation" based on emotive rather than proportionate evidence based responses to issues or events. What would you suggest is the best way to debate against this sort of political tactic? Douglas Carswell: The best way to ensure that the laws that are passed deal with real problems is to ensure that our law-makers are made more directly answerable ...
So, farewell then, Irfan AhmedYou were a LibDem bloggerNow you are an "independent" blogger......erho-hum....that's it
Eric Joyce has chosen the 70th Anniversary of the declaration of War on Hitler's Germany to resign as the parliamentary private secretary to Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth. In his he tells the Prime Minster to get a grip. Not actually in those words but he concludes saying: "I believe the next election is ours to win, thanks greatly to your personal great economic success. But we cannot win unless we grip defence. Above all, Labour must remember that service folk and their families are our people. We say that we honour them for their risk, bravery and sacrifice and we ...
While I pound away at the gym at lunchtime I occasionally catch glimpses of the BBC News. Yesterday, David Cameron appeared live, looking like a right prat, as usual, and his opening comment on the Al Meghari fandangle was: The double-dealing is quite straight-forward. Well, that was enough to set me off into ripples of laughter. Straight-forward double-dealing. Hilarious. Surely the one thing that double-dealing isn't is "straight-forward"?
Hat tip to Channel 4 News Gordon Brown MP 10 Downing Street LONDON 3 September 2009 Gordon As you may know, I told Bob Ainsworth some weeks ago that I intended to step down as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Defence Secretary before the start of the new parliamentary term. This seems to me the least disruptive time to do that. I have been privileged to work as PPS to four senior Labour ministers in four government departments and now feel that I can make my best contribution to the Labour effort in parliament by concentrating on helping, as ...
Nigel Farage's announcement that he is to stand against John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, in his Buckingham constituency at the next election has excited the Conservative blogosphere. "Yes He Can!" crows Tory Bear, complete with Obamaesque graphic. "Go Nigel Go" cries Dizzy Thinks. And Iain Dale says: "I'm glad I don't live in Buckingham." (I take this an admission that he would find it hard to maintain party loyalty if he lived in the constituency, rather than as a general assault on the this blameless Home Counties town.) As well as being a champion blogger, remember, Iain was a Tory ...
Former Army major and MP for Falkirk Eric Joyce has resigned as the parliamentary private secretary to the Defece Secretary, Bob Ainsworth. In his letter he is critical of the Government and particularly the Labour Parties handling of Afghanistan. His army career started in the Black Watch who have recently lost two of their number in Afghanistan. More to follow.
My Lib Dem colleagues at the GLA have brought to my attention a new report from the London Development Agency that looks at Lee Green and six other town centres in South London, examining whether new housing could be the answer to revitalising them. The study - which you can download here - looks at Lee Green in some detail and suggests three potential schemes for regenerating the whole crossroad area. It also makes the case more generally for housing in town centres. I think the report's interesting, and certainly in all the discussions I've had with the Leegate Centre's ...
My first thought when I heard that Huw Irranca-Davies MP had suddenly come out in favour of electoral reform was that it must be for selfish reasons and he's getting a bit scared for his seat. Then I checked the figures and actually, he's pretty safe. Bollocks. That means I'm actually going to have to address the issue instead of just attacking him for playing party politics. I wish I hadn't said I'd write this now. So, to start with, I won't be attacking Mr Irranca-Davies for his call. I am surprised that I couldn't find much that he's said ...
Although we have an amazing squad, the decision by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) today banning Chelsea FC from signing any new players for the next two transfer windows up until 2010 is not great. The ban from FIFA is resulting from Jose Mourhino's days when French star Gael Kakuta was persuaded to break his contract with Lens back in 2007. Lens claimed it was a breach of contract and as you can imagine a row ensued. FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber ruled that there had been a contractual breach and has ordered Gael Kakuta to pay £682,000 in compensation, ...
I cannot claim this blog posting, it is a good A+ for Scottish Unionist who saw this fantastic u turn by the SNP candidate for the Glasgow North East by-election. Read here what he said about the al-Megrahi decision on the 21st August and then the complete kind u turn only 4 days later.
So, I turned up at Freedom Central today... ready to begin my nightly drudge of phoning around Wales... alas, I whispered a paean of loss as I picked up the handset, my hand shaking at its heavy signification of the path I was about to embark on. Woe, woe, I cried (in my head), as I was about to... "Oh Ol, the Fresher's stuff has arrived!" says the Party Manager. I think the sound that came out of my mouth was halfway between "SQUEE!" and "OOOH!", so perhaps more like "SQUOO!" or "OOOHEEE!". It doesn't really matter, to be honest. ...
Bar Council Statement in Response to Ministry of Justice Consultation on Legal Aid Funding Reforms 20 August 2009 Desmond Browne QC, Chairman of the Bar Council, commenting on the publication today of the Ministry of Justice consultation 'Legal Aid: Funding Reforms' said: 'It is a total misuse of language for Lord Bach to talk about "efficiency savings". These ...
UKIP Leader Nigel Farage's decision to fight Speaker Bercow in the General Election on tha basis of the Speaker's poor expenses record is welcome for the splits within the Conservative Party that it will highlight. But by choosing to fight the election on expenses, Farage will surely draw well deserved attention to the record of his ...
So runs the rather foolish quote from the Taxpayers' Alliance in a story from the Daily Express expressing outrage at a job ad for a Director of Digital Engagement. The Government should have better things to spend money on than a pointless deputy Twittercrat. The public sector as a whole should be tightening its belt during times of economic hardship, and this job would be a scandalous waste even during good economic times. Taxpayers don't want more Web2.0. They want an end to wasteful spending. Neither the TPA nor the Conservative Party can see the point, instead frothing at the ...
It's the sort of announcement you might expect to hear from a African republic, or a small island somewhere. 'We have taken control of the police headquarters'. But no, the coup has taken place right here, in London - and what's more, none of us had noticed - yet. According to the Deputy Mayor responsible for ...
With talks yesterday by EU finance ministers leading to a France-German consensus to end the bonus culture, there has been a great deal of discussion in the news today about Britain's (Darling's) different take on bonuses, and the relative importance of the City's size. There is also the G20 this weekend, where Brown will hope to persuade France and Germany to keep on supporting the high level of fiscal stimulus we have at the moment. However, with their economies doing well, there is a great deal of worry for Britain with the OECD predicting we will face the worst recovery ...
The Trades Union Congress has produced a report which shows the steady decline in the value of state benefits compared to earnings: "During the 1980s recession, unemployment benefit rates were around 17 per cent of average earnings. The rate fell to around 14 per cent of earnings in the early 90s recession and in 2008 JSA ...
The Independent has listed its top 50 gastropubs, and two Islington establishments are included: the Peasant (a regular haunt for Islington Lib Dems after a Clerkenwell campaign session) and the Duke of Cambridge. The latter is named after George, Duke of Cambridge a leading C19th general, Crimean War hero and cousin of the royal family. ...
A neat little visual trick from The Sun to make Conservative support seem higher that it really is and the minor parties lower. Take your opinion polls and draw a graph. But instead of making it a bar chart, use the height of each line as the diameter of a circle. Looking at a circle, we see the area of course. Think back to your GCSE maths. The Conservatives have about 2.5 times the support of the Lib Dems, but the Tory circle is six times bigger that the yellow one. The minor parties fare even worse. For every one ...
Keen gardeners are being given the chance of getting free soil conditioner in the second green giveaway organised by Redcar and Cleveland Council. There will be a three bag limit for every vehicle that arrives at Eston Sports Academy car park, Normanby Road, South Bank on Saturday, September 12, from 10am-noon. Shovels will be provided for the giveaway on a first come, first served basis for ten tonnes of soil conditioner, but people will need to bring their own bags. The first giveaway last month at Belmont House, Guisborough was a huge success - with the five tonnes of free ...
This letter to the Guardian is amazingly cynical about the Conservatives and their aspirations for power. The next Tory government will not be about producing solutions to society's problems, but about spending less money on these problems and insulating as far as possible their natural constituency from the consequence In response to Polly Toynbee's column on "Broken Britain". It's one of her better offerings: she eviscerates some madly misleading statistics from Theresa May. She seems to be back defending Labour: Labour has done less that it hoped. The task was tougher, people's habits more intractable, and the cost higher than ...
Last time I went on holiday, I came back to find the media had gone mad over the puerile remarks of two broadcasters. This time I return to find a similar response to the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. Yes, he was a great orator, He worked tremendously hard to ensure that hundreds of liberal bills were ...
As the current Assembly term passes the halfway mark and we start to move towards the next elections the chickens are coming home to roost on the many ambitious targets and aspirations in the One Wales coalition document. Already we have seen that the pledge to build a net 6,500 new affordable homes is off target, being 1,100 short at the halfway point, but also some of the other pledges such as free laptops have not yet got off the ground, whilst the first time homebuyer's grant has mutated into something else altogether. Something that deserves much greater scrutiny as ...
After the success of the Welsh Liberal Democrats' Spring Conference in Cardiff, the party today announced its preliminary agenda for the Autumn Conference in Wrexham. The Conference will focus heavily on sustainable development, exploring how Wales can recover from the economic crisis and shape up for the future by building a new, green economy for Wales. Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said The long-term prospects for the Welsh economy and Welsh communities will be shaped by our response to the climate and resource challenges we face. Labour and Plaid have reduced the crucial, complex sustainability debate to ...
Six years on from receiving a recommendation from the Electoral Commission that existing legal powers should be used to clarify how the rules regarding election imprints apply to internet campaigning, the Government has still failed to act. This is despite the Government acknowledging in its official response to the recommendation the "importance" of getting this right. But it has decided that due to it being a "fast-evolving" area doing nothing for six years is the right response. Here's the background: there are well-established rules for the imprint that has to appear on printed literature during election campaigns. There are some ...
Got a surprise this morning - Ita O'Donovan - Chief Executive of Haringey is retiring. Good! That means that another person who presided over the Baby Peter tragedy and aftermath is going. I always thought it was strange that the Chief Executive's voice was hardly heard at all during the Baby Peter case. Sharon Shoesmith - for all her faults - was out there taking the full force of public, media and everyone's disapproval. Anyway - moving onward and upward is the most important thing for Haringey Council. So - hopefully not only will we get a top notch new ...
The excellent Viva Vauxhall blogsite has posted an article from the Evening Standard regarding the proposed 42 storey tower at Bondway. We understand that the outline plans will be discussed by Lambeth's planning committee by mid-October (this will allow them to discuss the general principles of the development) and the final plans are intended to go before the committee for a decision either later on in October or in November. Most local residents who have been contacting us over this are concerned over the height and impact of the development and we remain concerned that in addition to the adverse ...
James Murdoch is reported as saying that the BBC's 24hr news channels and web site were inhibiting the ability of commercial competitors to invest in news. The variety of interpretation of words within the English language is one of its' great strengths. I have been exposed to the concept of 'news' within the Murdoch Empire in Australia & the USA, as well as in Britain and I confess I struggle to equate them with my understanding of the word and thus I have difficulty in understanding his concern. Indeed the arguments he uses for constraining the BBC are precisely those ...
An ex magical consultant to Paul Daniels and Jonathan Creek inspiration has won the Gabon's presidential election. Oh, not that Ali Bongo. I learnt my one and only party trick from an Ali Bongo magic book. The amazing detachable thumb or something like that. It still amuses small children and slow adults from time to time.
Following reports of a mugging at the corner of Primrose Hill near St. Paul's Primary School, some residents were concerned that there are not enough police patrols in this particular part of Primrose Hill. The Safer Neighbourhoods Team has stepped up its patrols in Camden Town but perhaps there has not been enough coverage of this ...
Tonight we have another attempt to change Sefton Council's policy on phone masts. We have found that masts land up in residential areas despite better unpopulated sites being available because the council bans all masts on its own land. Surely it is better for a mast to be situated in a cemetery rather than yards from someones bedroom window? Richard Hands explains in this video:
The announcement by Sky News that they are planning a General Election leaders debate has left me salivating. Hats off to the Murdoch machine for going it alone and announcing an "empty chair" policy if a party leader fails to turn up. It is nice to see that Cameron and Clegg have backed this from the start leaving Brown out in the cold. I think this election will present the greatest opportunity to have such a debate in a more than a generation. As Brown is trailing massively in the polls he really has more to gain in a televised ...
Carers Partnership Board The main items on the agenda were an update on the benefits and advice service held at the Carers Centre; monitoring of spending on carers projects and a presentation from Fiona Harris, consultant in Public Health, on Data Information. Karen Page from the Sutton Carers Centre spoke about how the benefits and advice service ...
[IMG: john-locke] The Essay on Civil Government, also known as The Second Treatise on Government, is one of the great texts of the liberal tradition. It has been adopted by representatives of just about every strand in that tradition, from Anarcho-Capitalists to Social Liberals. The Essay on Civil Government has a clear political context–opposition to the monarchical absolutism of Charles II and James II–and this can be seen in the text. The text also rises above context, so that it has become accepted as one of the classics of political thought and a favourite of many liberal / libertarian thinkers. ...
Reading: musicians protest about plans to punish file sharers ( http://bit.ly/EDmS0 )
Probably the most chilling words heard on the radio. It is exactly seventy years ago that they were spoken on the BBC by then Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. What was to follow, were the most incredible six years in modern history. A world plunged into chaos and carnage, and a continent torn asunder. Not to mention the unleashing of the most fearsome weapon of destruction, namely the atom bomb. And for what? A perverse ideology that held not only that there were distinct races, but that one was superior to the rest, leading to the virtual annihilation of European Jewry, ...
I recently read "The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain" by the Conservatives Douglas Carswell MP and Daniel Hannan MEP. I found it an interesting read and whilst I did not agree with all the ideas proposed within it I certainly think it is a welcome addition to the debate on reform in the UK. Douglas Carswell who runs a good and frequently updated blog here has been kind enough to grant me an interview about the content of the book which I have included below. Particularly noteworthy for me is where he confirms that he would be willing in ...
I'm researching religion and I'm religious, so I'm biased. Nevertheless, I cannot help thinking that the mantra that religious people thrust religion down your throat is the perfect scapegoat. I believe religion/spirituality is making a come back, but it has relatively little visibility.It is very useful to pile up one's suspicions, fears and hatred against one general phenomenon, such as
Interesting report from across the pond reported on the BBC which found that according to a report by the Pew Internet Project; "According to the report 35% of US adults on incomes of at least $100,000 (£62,000) participate in two or more online political activities compared to just 8% of adults on incomes of less than ...
Conservative councils across the country are being encouraged by their parliamentary colleagues to delay major planning applications until after the next General Election. The letter from Caroline Spelman instructs Conservative councils to continue with any legal obligations they may have, but to not push through any major schemes with undue haste. The argument for this being that the Conservatives propose abolition or part-abolition of regional spatial strategies if they win the next General Election. Caroline Spelman has also indicated that a Conservative Government would allow councils to review their Local Development Frameworks to remove any policies that were there due ...
As I've mentioned here a few times before, I like to play poker and I'm probably above average as I turn a small profit – not anywhere near enough to live on, but enough to have fun with online. Some of my friends like to play bingo – it's not something I enjoy, but they seem to have a fun night out playing it. Beyond the levels of fun different people can get from them, there are two main differences between poker and bingo. The first is that in poker it's possible for a skilled player to make a long-term ...
I have always thought that September is the best month and I didn't realise why for many years. Then I had kids and the time came for them to troll off to school for the first time and it finally struck me that September is far more readily the start of the year than New Year is. September is the time of new uniforms, bags, hopes, friendships, ambitions. There can be few finer sights than children going to school for the first time, as my daughter did today (my wife will stop crying eventually). I wish I could get back ...
I watched an episode of the BBC's magnificent 'People's Century' last night which dealt with the subject of 'Total War' between 1936 and 1945 and how civilians were deliberately targeted in the conflict. It was sobering stuff and it was impossible not to be moved by all the personal accounts from people from both sides. It struck me as I watched that our country might be better if our beloved politicians were required to watch such programmes before they make any glib decisions to support outlandish plans to 'bring freedom' to other countries through war. A comment in the Independent ...
Hat Tip: Adam Smith Institute
One of my colleagues spotted this yesterday, and we just knew it would get picked up by someone, lo and behold the Metro on page 12, well in the Scottish edition anyway, with the super headline "It seems size matters to big city boys". Yesterday Tesco announced that more of its supersize condoms had been bought in Glasgow than any other city in the UK. The durex condoms are 10mm longer and 1mm wider than their standard versions. A standard version is for 8inches and supersize is 8.5inches, so Glasgow is the city of the above average boys, well half ...
To celebrate Usain Bolt's record-breaking run and the announcement that Jamaica's Olympic team will train in the city, a Birmingham Lib Dem Councillor has created a very special curry. Councillor Tanveer Choudrey of Punjab Paradise in Sparkbrook has created a green and yellow themed balti in Usain's honour – the Usain Bolti. Helpers in the Sparkbrook by-election may be tempted, but as one Sunday Mercury reporter found out, the Usain Bolti contains an extremely strong pepper...
Nick Clegg Launches 'Don't Short Change Our Troops: Fair Pay for Our Armed Forces'
Haringey Council just gets worse and worse. This latest is jaw-dropping. The Government has been granting money to local authorities to help with schools buildings - 'Building Schools for the Future'. It is a good program as so many schools have dilapidated buildings and no local authority would have the money to renew or repair to really make those schools up to date, modern with a clean, good feel. I think the environment for learning is very important - so very much welcomed this approach. Now Haringey received something like £214 million for this program. Yesterday we found out that ...
Just a few quick links this morning: Millennium has a great post on quantum physics, inspired by my own hyperpost series. Again, if you've been reading that, you should read this. If you like the stuff I write, you'll like Jess Nevins' post on Zeppelin Pulps Power Pop Criminals have a couple of albums people might be interested ...
Not the most obvious picture in the world and it requires quite a leap of imagination but I'm told that this is a air raid shelter from World War II. It's in the communal gardens of Cholmley Gardens, West Hampstead, and I'm told that there are a whole series of air raid shelters there. They show themselves as slightly odd barrow-esq shapes in the ground structure with a still visible concrete ridge down the middle. I can't say I know much more than that but as this week is the anniversary of the start of WWII for Britain I ...
For eight years now, I've worked in corporate tax for HM Revenue & Customs. I'm not one of those technical wizards, although when it comes to the administrative end of things, I'm fairly well regarded. These days, I have become something of an authority on e-filed company tax returns, partly because nobody else was interested, and partly because it is, as they say, the future. One of my key roles is deciding whether or not a return is complete. Not a complex task, you might think, and yet I spend a lot of my time explaining to people their legal ...
The Sun says: "Every August poll carried out before a spring election since 1996 has predicted the result to within one per cent." Reality says: MORI 24 August 2001 2000 – Con 29% (out by 4%), Lab 51% (out by 9%), lead 22% (out by 9%) Although this is the most striking example, overall for example eight out of the 12 August polls since 1996 had the Labour lead out by more than 1%. Similarly, only three got the Labour share to within 1%. Not exactly a case of "every". UPDATE: Himmelgarten Cafe points out that the graphic accompanying the ...
Good morning, on this fine morning – Charlie Sheen's birthday, and one of Nottingham Lib Dem's "delivery days." Here's hoping for no rain for me and for Charlie. Top stories Unbeknownst to the rest of us, the Tories have carried out a coup: Tories claim: we have seized control of Scotland Yard The Conservatives have wrested control of Scotland Yard from the Home Office and now have its top officers working to their agenda, a senior aide to the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has told the Guardian. Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor for policing, has declared that he and ...
I mentioned their collaboration when writing about the Bonzos the other day. Ginger Geezer has a Record Collector interview with Stanshall from 1995 which casts more light on it: Record Collector: What was the difference between writing with Steve and writing for the Bonzos with Neil Innes? Viv Stanshall: With Neil, we bickered when writing together, or else I attended to the words and he provided the music, or vice-versa. With Steve, it was much closer because of our agreement spiritually - although we have hardly anything in common, we go out for walks and agree philosophically. We have a ...
You could almost see it coming, Sky issue an ultimatum to the leaders for a television debate and Alex Salmond demands to be part of it. Stewart Hosie the SNP Westminster whip claims: "Sky must meet its obligations to audiences across the UK - and so any debate involving Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg would have to include Alex Salmond. " As I pointed out early last month there are a lot of issues with that, the first being that the leader of the DUP has more right on current representation, the other that 4 other parties would ...
I don't know what it is, but I really can't get excited over the continuing developments regarding the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The only prediction I made was that the Scottish government wouldn't fall over the issue, as a certain newspaper suggested, and otherwise, it really wouldn't be the storm that the media are ...
The outrage felt by Plaid Cymru and others at the fact that the BNP were allowed to have a stand at the recent Vale of Glamorgan Show has culminated in a letter to the Western Mail from one of their activists. The writer is quite right to point out the disturbing nature of the BNP but goes too far in arguing that they should not be able to exercise their democratic rights as a registered political party. The reference to South Africa is bizarre. Yes the apartheid regime there was appalling and never gained international legitimacy but it survived for ...
Thu 3rd
06:00
Welsh Liberal Democrats endorse 10:10 carbon campaign and call on Government to do same
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams has given her endorsement to the 10:10 campaign to cut emissions by 10% in 2010. All Welsh Lib Dem Assembly Members are backing the campaign which calls for 2010 to be the year when words turn to action on climate change. Kirsty said: "The Welsh Liberal Democrats have always pushed for ambitious climate change mitigation targets but for years Labour and Plaid have stalled and backtracked. The coalition is currently aiming for just 3% annual reductions, only starting in 2011. The 10:10 campaign, backed by so many organizations and individuals, shows that many are ...
Chairman Mao once said "Let a hundred flowers blossom", and in a vibrant democracy the more political parties contest elections and put forward ideas for the people to decide the healthier for society as a whole. Caroline Lucas is right in saying that ...
It's funny how fickle tastes can be. After the war, great swathes of crumbling, gaudy Victorian tat were torn down to make way for a cleaner, slicker vision of the future - their loss mourned only when the new modernist dream turned sour and people longed for the pretty, decorative predecessors to the ugly, concrete monstrosities that stood in their place. Styles come and go; fashions change - but destruction is permanent. St Pancras station was spared friendly bombs, while just down the road, poor old Euston station was not shown the same mercy. Even people you think you have ...
Just watching a fantastic programme on the Beeb called The Muslim Tommies about the contribution of Muslim soldiers in the British Armed forces. Much has been made of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists to the security of Britain. But ...
A betting friend of mine drew my attention to the latest betting odds on the Blaydon constituency at the next general election. Two bookies have now opened up accounts on the contest. The closeness of the likely race between myself and Labour is reflected in the odds but the Conservatives odds - 100-1 at Ladbrokes, illustrate what we've been saying for some time. The only way to vote Browns Labour party out in Blaydon is by voting Lib Dem.
I was listening to the news on the radio this evening (2nd September) and heard that Rochdale Council are scrapping a scheme which meant that people who work on higher floors of their council offices get more time given to them to use the lift. If you worked on the second floor you got two minutes of work time. If you worked on the tenth floor you got five minutes. This may not sound like much but it is 25 minutes per week. Should the workers feel aggrieved? This made me think of NHS workers who are obliged to change ...
Thursday: If you want your fluffy mind expanding, I cannot do better than recommend a reading of Mr Andrew Hickey's HYPERDRIVE. (Jump point here.) It is a rocket-propelled ramble though the myriad malarkeys of INFINITE UNIVERSES, as explored in "What If", "Unbound, "cross-over" and "crisis" storylines or, for a laugh, in REALITY (at least if you are a Many-Worlder in Quantum Theory): you could call it Quantum Comic Dynamics. Not only is it interesting stuff in and of itself, but it is expressed with such a sense of joy and wonder at the possibilities for playing in the infinite garden. ...
