The US has downgraded its forecasts for the US economy and markets there are now planning for a double dip recession. Likewise, houseprices have again stalled and spending on the high street is down in latest figures released in th UK today. All the signs point to a raised liklihood of a double dip recessions. Now a few months ago the Lib Dems were warning against cutting too deep and too early because of fears of a double dip recession, yet in coalition with the Tories, this is exactly what we have done. So if we do get a double ...
Sometimes here in Uganda beneath the seeming careful planning a little bit of chaos is found! Today is a great example of just such a thing. My carefully arranged workshop plans were thrown into the bin when I was told the subject was HIV/AIDS - 10 minutes before we were due to start, talk about winging it. Anyway as a facilitator getting the 16 attendees into groups to discuss the issue was relatively easy: workshops are a way of life here. It's partly because local people get an attendance allowance and fed if they turn up and they desperately need ...
Summer season is upon us and many of us are heading off on holidays. Many bloggers and twitterers like to share holiday plans with their readers and their excitement at visiting new places. But it is not just their readers who may be taking an avid interest - people with more sinister motives could be searching blogs and twitterfeeds at this time of year. Twitter is now being used by thieves and burglars to scan for people holidaying abroad; for people who have effectively written on a public noticeboard that they will be away for 2 weeks and that their ...
A bad day for Scottish Labour today with a Glasgow Labour Councillor arrested and now a Highland Labour Councillor charged. The BBC reports; A Highland councillor has been charged following an investigation into alleged benefit fraud. John Holden, who represents the Inverness South ward, was investigated by police, Highland Council and the Department of Work and Pensions in 2008. The Crown Office confirmed Mr Holden has been charged, but declined to give any further details. The case against him is due to call at Inverness Sheriff Court next month. Mr Holden has said he would rigorously defend the case. The ...
It's alarming how being a "Conservative" in America is starting to mean "Anti-Science". Hence "Conservapedia" which is a kind of right-wing creationist alternative to Wikipedia.Now it's criticising relativity. Key quote:The theory of relativity is a mathematical system that allows no exceptions. It is heavily promoted by liberals who like its encouragement of relativism and its tendency to
A Glasgow Labour councillor and former Lord Provost of Glasgow has been arrested and charged over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague. Councillor Gilbert Davidson faces criminal prosecution after police investigated claims he sent suggestive voice mails and text messages to former civic chief and senior councillor Liz Cameron, asking her to share a hotel room with him. The BBC reports: It is claimed Gilbert Davidson sent offensive voice mails and text messages to former Lord Provost Liz Cameron.Councillor Gilbert Davidson has also been suspended from the ruling Labour group. Strathclyde Police have said that a 67-year-old man ...
Last month, I mentioned the feedback from the City Council I had received about the overgrown roundabout near the Riverside Inn (formerly Marmalade Pot). I have now had the following further update from the City Engineer : "The shrubs were reduced in height approx 2 years ago but have since grown again to cause a problem to pedestrians crossing the road. Reducing the height again will only solve the problem in the short term. As the cost of traffic management etc is high for carrying out regular pruning of the shrubs on the roundabout, we are currently considering the possibility ...
Thanks to Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Peter Black for being firstish with the news that spoof music video Newport State of Mind has been pulled from YouTube after EMI lodged a copyright complaint. Everyone I know even remotely connected with Wales shrieked with delight upon seeing this video, and then posted it on Facebook ...
There is only one reason for opposing speed cameras and it is because you want to break the law without being caught. All the other reasons are rubbish. If there was a camera in a supermarket which could be magically programmed to only record an image when it had a shoplifter in its sights, would anyone object? Or, if there was a similar camera outside a pub that only recorded an image when it witnessed a knife or gun fight, would anyone protest? Would there be concern that the cameras were being financed by the fines from successful prosecutions? If ...
Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at the University of Oxford, and David Cameron's tutor at Brasenose College, looks at the alternative vote referendum in an article in today's Financial Times, and suggests it could have far-reaching consequences. But first he points out the Alice in Wonderland politics of the referendum: The Lib Dems, who favour true proportional representation, now back a system that can yield even more disproportional outcomes than first-past-the-post. Labour, the only party to propose a referendum on AV in its manifesto, will oppose the bill providing for it. The Conservatives will oppose change, but in muted fashion, ...
Like many members of the Lib Dems I've been spending the past couple of weeks trying to make up my mind about the new political paradigm we find ourselves in. Richard Grayson's excellent article in The New Statesman has articulated ... Continue reading →
This pig has won a prize! that is why it has a ribbon around it. Oink!
A bit of my heart will, I suspect, always remain in Dunfermline, after 4 busy and immensely rewarding years working for former MP Willie Rennie. In that time Willie supported the work of the Dunfermline Delivers team who do so much to promote the city, organising such events as the annual Christmas lights switch on and the dramatic Bruce Festival, which, as it says on the tin, "celebrates the life, myth and legend of King Robert the Bruce." This year's event is taking place at the end of next week. Visit Dunfermline is running a competition to win tickets for ...
Today's Financial Times reports: Campaigners for and against electoral reform will be able to spend a total of more than £11m in a blizzard of promotional material and advertisements in the run-up to next year's referendum, the Electoral Commission has confirmed. Under the law, the Yes and No campaigns on the alternative vote (AV) system can each spend £5m of private money as well as £600,000 apiece of public funding. The two sides will also be given free use of public rooms such as council buildings, a TV broadcast and free postal delivery to households across the UK of 20m ...
Following the news (EXCLUSIVE TO SKY) that Rupert Murdoch claims he owns the Sky© in Skype here are ten things he doesn't own/ 10. The Skye Bridge lyrics written by Sir Harold Boulton, Bart. (1859 - 1935) 9. The Skyways Hotel, London or in any other location 8. The Sky at Night still screened on BBC 7. Himmelbjerget also known as the Sky Mountain in Denmark 6. Skypark in Glasgow 5. The Skye Boat song 4. Sky Blue Way, owned by the people of Coventry in honour of their football team. 3. The Minniapolis Skyway System 2. He is not ...
A month ago I asked the question, Can we get more people giving, AND increase total charitable giving at the same time?, pointing out that poorer people are relatively more generous than richer people: ... survey after survey both in the UK and in the US (here and here) has shown that, as a proportion of their income, the poor who give to charity are much more generous than the rich, giving away up to 4.5% of their income. Further evidence to that effect emerges from a recent Economist article (hat-tip: Wall Street Journal's Welath Report blog) which cites two ...
Back in April, when it was too late to replace him, the Conservative candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, Philip Lardner was deselected by the party for anti-gay comment made on his campaign website. As you may recall I was rather busy at the time fighting that election so didn't blog about it, but I refer you to Andrew Reeves for the story. At the same time the Primary School teacher at Rashielea Primary School in Renfrewshire was also suspended from work pending a disciplinary hearing. That hearing has been held this week with the result that a teacher who ...
Every so often, Anna will draw something for mine or Bob's wallpaper on the laptop and change it as a lovely surprise for us. Above is the current version. Previously, she'd done a drawing of our soft toys Cuddles, her first ever Build a Bear and Schnauzoo, whom Stephen took along to help interview Nick Clegg at last year's Lib Dem Conference. This one is called Candy Floss. And awww. Just awwww. So far, so lovely. If, however, I have displeased her in some way, oh dear.......
Tuesday: Dear the Coalition, please remember that Mr Chris Grayling is NOT SAFE to be let out without a RESPONSIBLE ADULT present to SIT ON HIS HEAD whenever he starts spouting reactionary nonsense. Thank you. Mr Balloon knew this before the General Election and had him quietly bundled away and locked in the playpen with Master Gideon for the duration. But this morning he somehow managed to slip his training reins and get into the The Today Programme studio and, before anyone could stop him, started saying he would set BOUNTY HUNTERS on BENEFIT SEEKERS. Let me just say this: ...
The BBC is keenly promoting a story about speed cameras. The cameras have been switched off in Oxfordshire: they still measure the speed of passing motorists, but no longer take pictures. Motorists can therefore speed with impunity and remain point-less. The shocking news is that, after this change, the cameras have recorded more speeding motorists than before. In Cowley some 62 people were clocked speeding, representing a rise of 88%. And in Woodstock 110 drivers were over the 30mph limit, which is 18% more than the average for 2010. Why daft? Because it tells us nothing useful. We'd expect more ...
My lovely wife recently gave me a very cool Tetsubin teapot as a birthday present. A recent visit to Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco got me back into drinking good quality loose tea. When I first left home at ... Continue reading →
[IMG: secret meeting] Please, excuse the digression the only meeting this week, on the Council's calendar was involving the "Coach House Working Party" I thought I'd click the link, I then thought, I'd check the agenda, see if there was anything interesting, as appeared it unavailable I phoned up the Democratic Services. I spoke with the contact, who told me that the agenda was not available to the public, uh? apparently neither was the meeting open to the likes of Bignews Margate, so what is all the fuss about ? The contact came back to me explaining the meeting was ...
The announcement today by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors that house prices dropped slightly in July, month on month, has been taken by some as bad news for the economy. My view is that it is constantly rising prices that are bad for the economy and were a significant contributor to the present economic mess. Here's my reasoning.House prices for years have been over valued because
I was chuffed to hear that the Norwood School rebuild is now planned to go ahead. It had been cancelled by Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove but after being told it was so far advanced it made more sense to proceed he announced last Friday this one will. Well done Norwood School. This is great news for this school. The last Ofsted report said it was a Good school that is rapidly improving. Not so long ago Kingsdale School was in this position and its rebuild really seems to have helped it become outstanding. Fingers crossed this helps Norwood School ...
Well the video spoof, Newport State of Mind anyway. The South Wales Evening Post reports that it has been pulled from YouTube after a copyright complaint lodged by EMI. The Welsh parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys's hit Empire State of Mind received more than two million hits since it was posted on YouTube at the end of last month. However, EMI appear to have been not amused. Maybe if they had not mentioned Plaid Cymru in the lyrics....
Just been told that Camberwell Baths reopening has slipped by 4 months to Feb 2011. It closed November 2009 and was due to open this Autumn. Reason given for this delay is that extra £200,000 added in May to £3M budget. This sounds implausible reason to add 4 months delay as why has it taken over 3 months to work out a delay will occur. How can £3M be spent in 12 months but the extra £0.2M adds 4 months delay? Can't be bad weather. No vandalism or burglary. Inexplicable.
One of the projects being pursued by the Council at the moment is the multi-use train in East Cornwall. That might not sound like a very important or sexy project, but it could bring huge improvements to places like Launceston. Virtually everyone has heard of the Camel Trail and the benefits it has brought to Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin - as well as the places in between. In North Devon there is the Tarka Trail which has done much the same and Devon are now re-constructing the old Granite Way which links the Tarka Trail with the Tamar. Our new ...
As a strong friend of Turkey, I was disappointed today when the Turkish Embassy in London refused to accept a letter from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which was scheduled to be hand-delivered — by prior arrangement — by the Archbishop's former assistant, the South African Anglican priest and campaigner for Kurdish rights Matthew ...
Cornwall Council has now written to residents of Kensey Valley Meadow about the on-going delays with the adoption of the roads of the development. As regular readers will know, the Council originally said that they aimed to adopt the roads by the end of the last financial year (ie 31st March 2010). This deadline came and went with no adoption and no news. I've been pressing the council to adopt the highways as soon as possible, to explain the delays to residents and to apologise. Today I've been sent a copy of the letter going out to residents. It includes ...
The computer here isn't keen on Twitter either, but I have had an email saying that I am being followed by my boyhood here Chopper Harris. He is not someone you would want to upset, so here is a link to the new Ron "Chopper" Harris blog.
You find me in Shrewsbury Reference Library en route to Bridgnorth. This morning I caught a bus to Banbury and then fulfilled a long-held ambition by catching a Wrexham & Shropshire train to Shrewsbury. (I will add a picture to this posting one day, but the machine here is not keen on my uploading photographs to my Photobucket account.) The Wrexham & Shropshire is the Titfield Thunderbolt of the privatised railway system. Their trains are only four carriages long (though there is a locomotive at each end) and the refreshments have a home-made feel to them as though they were ...
Just before Parliament went into recess I attended an event hosted by the Fitness Industry Association. At the event I got talking to the Chief Executive of Creative Fitness Marketing, an Aussie called Dave Wright. We got talking (amongst other things) about the forthcoming Ashes series. I rather stupidly suggested that England would win the ...
I like the Dutch. I like the liberal nature of their politics that I am sure will prevail despite the 15% of votes recently won by the anti-Islam 'Freedom' Party. I like the impression the Dutch create of having fewer hang-ups than the British. Maybe it's a consequence of our sanctimonious tabloid press, or an unwillingness here to confront the disproportionate influence of religious extremists, but when it comes to dealing with controversial issues like drugs, prostitution, and medically assisted dying the Dutch are simply more grown up. Dutch law provides for people suffering unendurably with no hope of recovery ...
If ever there was any doubt about the fact that the Golden Rule* is still fully in force, compare the media coverage of and political rhetoric about the two crimes I mention in the title of this post. Benefit Fraudsters are scum; feckless, worthless criminals; living immorally off our taxes. Tax Evaders are barely mentioned at all, and when they are they are mentioned in the kind of force-of-nature way that rapists are mentioned in victim-blaming discourse... Very few people pay attention to the fact that tax evasion costs us fifteen times as much as benefit fraud. Add tax avoidance ...
Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know. My place is small but really!
The Health Social Care and Housing Committee met today. The first item up was the election of Convener. I am delighted to say I was unanimously re-elected! Items discussed included the new Anti Social Behaviour Strategy, the impact of the changes to supported employment funding agreed by the last government will have and the Annual Report for the Health and Social Care Department. The latter report was packed full of innovation and excellent service developments. An example is our Intensive Home treatment Teams for people with mental health crises. This service uses home support and crisis resolution to prevent hospital ...
John Leech MP, Cllrs Chamberlain, Ryan & Lewis and I all attended the quarter centenary of Menzies Court, the sheltered housing on Manchester Rd. The block was originally opened by Matt Busby and for reasons that weren't explained named after his wife, or her maiden name. Matt was of course local, living on Kings Rd and worshipping at St John's, but there is never any guarantee that local celebrity translates into local champion. It was true with Matt. John Leech MP is pictured with local Housing officers including Mary Cook or Claridge RD.
I know what you're thinking. "What is he on about this time? Doesn't he know a Council Group when he sees one?" Alas and alack, life is not that simple when you're the Regional Bureaucrat. Since last year, Regional Parties are required to recognise Council Groups as a means towards connecting them back into the Party. You see, anyone was entitled to describe themselves as a Liberal Democrat Group, regardless of their actual status, membership or relationship to the Party, either at Local Party or Regional level. Accordingly, the English Party has added Article 8 to its Constitution, which came ...
[IMG: big spenders] Story in the Sun or Daily Mail
The Queen Edith's Liberal Democrats will be holding their next Jumble Sale on 4th September. The proceeds of the sale pay for our printed newsletter FOCUS, which goes to every home in the Queen Edith's ward. If you have clothes, toys, bric-a-brac (not furniture), please let my colleague Geoff Heathcock know on 244901 or bring them on the morning between 10am-12 noon. We are not selling books, but there is a separate book sale on the morning of the 4th at Rock Road Library, in aid of the Friends of Rock Road Library. JUMBLE SALE Saturday 4th September 2pm St ...
Kirkstall Online has the story about the park at the abbey being awarded Green Flag status. This is a real tribute to the staff who look after the park and to members of the public and local community groups like KVCA who care deeply about the park and its history and help to keep the abbey a great place for people to visit.
1) If it isn't broken, don't fix it: A fairly simple principle but one which is often broken by politicians and governments trying to 'reform' or 'improve' services or people's lives. We can only really know if something needs changing or not is through engaging with those who will be affected by the change. Too ...
The Last minute signing of Nicky Weaver in goal was a welcome addition to the line up for the first of League one game of the season for Sheffield Wednesday (I know it hurt me to write league one as much as it will have hurt any Wednesday fan to read it). The addition of a third Sheffield man ( Chris Segwick and Neil Mellor are the other two new arrivals) is a promissing sign for keeping
The Government has announced a major crack down on benefit cheats and fraudulent benefit claims - including the possible use of private credit reference agencies on a results basis. Personally I have no problem with the use of private companies in this way so long as the agreed contracts are clear with specified limits to define how far such organisations can go and ensuring civil liberties are protected. There would need to be careful monitoring and accountability must be maintained. The fact of the matter at a time of extreme financial concern, with a delicate economic recovery and on-going cuts ...
Tue 10th
13:00
BIS consultation on 'The Future of Narrative Reporting' and reinstatement of the Operating and Finan...
At the Lib Dems Autumn conference in 2009 I called for correction of a party policy paper ('Are we being served?') that incorrectly stated the Operating and Financial Review (OFR) was still in place. The statutory OFR had been repealed in December 2005. It is little surprise the party policy-makers had got confused as to where things stood in UK corporate governance legislation given the history is now so convoluted (but well explained in a paper by Radley Yeldar). BIS sets out the background in their new consultation document: "The business review is an essential element in company narrative reporting. ...
'Homosexuals not welcome' say couple who want to foster A former vicar and his wife are considering legal action after being barred from fostering children because of their Christian beliefs on homosexuality. John and Collette Yallop, from Blackburn, told Lancashire County Council they would not want gay couples hoping to adopt, to come to their home. The Yallops claim they've been refused because of their faith. They have two children of their own and have been trying to foster since March. They insist they're not homophobic and say inviting gay couples into their home for the handover process would be ...
The parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Key's 'Empire State of Mind' by a Welsh couple has been removed from YouTube. A banner stating that 'This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by EMI Music Publishing Ltd' now sits where the ode to Wales once was. Having featured on the BBC, ITV and Sky the viral hit seems to have been a victim of its own success. Anyway, Newport State of Mind lives on in other corners of the internet, and VN has found another posting of it on Youtube. It would be a terrible shame if ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Ross Finnie has called for ministers to investigate whether malnutrition in hospital patients is being properly diagnosed after official figures sought by the Liberal Democrats showed that this was the cause of death for 450 people in hospital over the last five years. Ross Finnie said: "It is alarming that anyone in Scotland is dying of malnutrition in this day and age."Most victims are elderly people, many of whom have conditions that make eating difficult or need help with their meals."These figures raise the serious concern that in some hospitals, malnutrition is not being properly ...
With our declining poll ratings, we Liberal Democrats are cheering ourselves up by trying to think of when our support was at its lowest. Chris Huhne said he remembers it being less than 1% although, according to UK Polling Report, the recorded lowest is 1.5% in 1955. The lowest in my own memory was the period after the 1987 general elections (at which the Alliance got 25.4%). The subsequent merger process and 'discussions' of 1987-8 saw our poll rating at 4% - a drop of over 21% in a year. In the 1989 European elections, the 'Social and Liberal Democrats' ...
The anti-Coalition folks (I'm slowing moving back to supporting the Coalition mainly because of the partisan attacks against it) have got their panties in a twist again, this time over benefit cheats. Work and Pensions (the department headed by my least favourite Tory leader ever, Iain Duncan Smith) are planning to outsource finding benefit cheats to some credit firms. Let's face it, this can only be a good thing. Benefit cheats are inflating the cost of the welfare state and making the right-wing arguments against benefits more convincing. If we can root them out as thoroughly as possible, we are ...
If you search on Google for images of AA Gill, the second on the list is one entitled AA Gill basking in his own radiance. This is a man for whom the word 'arrogant' is an understatement, who is driven mad by his own brilliance. But he is also a man who makes his living ...
Tue 10th
12:24
Miss SB's Very Prestigious and Entirely Serious Blog Awards - Category Six: Sexiest Blogger
[IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] davegodfrey [IMG: [personal profile] ] djm4 [IMG: [personal profile] ] helenic [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] minnesatva [IMG: [personal profile] ] nanila Penny Red [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] strfvr Wil Wheaton Please take a look at them, assess them, and then vote. The vote is anonymous, and you don't have to have a Dreamwidth account to vote - instructions on logging in with open ID are here. Do feel free to pimp it out to your readers if you've been nominated. The poll will remain open for a week, and the next ...
This morning Conservative Home ran a piece looking at welfare reform and briefly hinting at there "3 paths out of poverty" personally to me this sounds like a potential title for a self help book. However it is an important issue and one definitely worth discussing. The three options offered by Conservative Home are Education, Family and Work but there is no explanation in the article as to
It's a milestone! This is the 1000th post I have made on this blog. When I started in February 2008, I thought that this would be a mixture of national stuff, sport, TV and whatever else I felt like writing about with a bit of politics thrown in. I even contemplated putting a weekly recipe or book review on here. It hasn't exactly turned out like that. Whilst there have been a few random postings (the latest of which was my giving up smoking post last week), I've focused more and more on Cornwall Council and local politics. I still ...
Yesterday a group of councillors took a bus trip around North Cornwall. The point was to try to find a new venue for local meetings, especially planning meetings and, crucially, to keep these meetings as close to the people they affect as possible. I've complained in the past about the centralisation of Cornwall council in Truro. In particular, when there was a big planning application for Launceston, the meeting was held in Truro making it inaccessible to local people who wanted to find out what was going on. For smaller planning applications, the decisions are made by the 'Planning Committee ...
Leeds first openly gay MP Stuart Andrew (Con, Pudsey) spoke at Leeds pride the weekend before last. I know Stuart a little bit after bumping into him at Leeds City Council over the years and meeting up with him for lots of different media opportunities during the election. He's a nice guy and it was good to have him speak on the stage on Sunday. Councillor Stewart Golton spoke on the stage on behalf of the Lib Dems and was also very good talking about how Leeds is made of some many diverse and vibrant communities. Councillor Terry Grayshon spoke ...
Tue 10th
10:47
First Minister risks dividing the Yes campaign before it gets off the ground - Kirsty Williams
The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, has warned the First Minister that he is "in danger of dividing the Yes campaign before it even gets off the ground." Carwyn Jones recently used a speech at the Eisteddfod, purporting to support a Yes vote, to link the referendum on law making powers with the need to review the Barnett funding formula. Kirsty Williams AM, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. has today written to the First Minister, warning him that a strong cross party campaign will be needed in order to win the referendum in 2011 and ...
I should have mentioned earlier that I am taking my usual break from blogging over August. Back in September!
I feel so rubbish today. Totally exhausted, and everything hurts. If I hadn't been so thirsty, I probably would have stayed in bed. This is entirely down to me completely overdoing it yesterday when we went to the East Links Family Park near Dunbar. Bob and Anna went last year when I was ill, but it was a while since my only visit there and it's changed beyond all recognition. When I took Anna as a toddler, I remember feeling vaguely cheated that I'd driven the best part of 50 miles and paid loads of money for a slightly better ...
It is my last vice. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs but I do seek out and read books with the same lack of self-control as a crack addict. I love everything about books, their tactile nature, as a ... Continue reading →
At the Eisteddfod last week all the gimmicks were on the BMA stand. One of these was a computer programme that showed the subject how they might age over the next few years. The idea is that a current photograph is taken and fed into the machine. The computer then projects how you might look at the age of 72. It also produces projections that show what might happen if you smoke, if you stay out in the sun too much and if you eat the wrong stuff. As I don't smoke and tend to avoid direct sunlight at all ...
One you may have missed A posting from June 2006 Guantanamo – pass the sickbag, Alice The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State has described the suicides of the three detainees at Guantanamo as a "a good PR move to draw attention". This begs the question: What use is good PR to you when you are dead? The Camp commander has described the suicides as "an act of war" against the US. Is he crazy or what? Perhaps he should be the one locked up. How can a suicide be an "act of war" for goodness sake? Bush has already ...
OK, maybe Mr Kennedy has other things on his mind right now, but I can't be the only Lib Dem thinking and hoping that we haven't seen the last of Our Charles. As anyone who's met him knows, he's a genuinely warm and friendly guy with a wicked sense of humour. His ease of communication ...
Any views?
According to the newspapers the LDs' poll rating is slipping as more people say they do not know what we stand for any more. Well, if you've been an activist for a few years you'll know that this is a standard refrain and its not really anything to worry about. Well, we're part of a government which is making bigger cuts to the public sector that any since the 1930s. We're in bed with our one time mortal enemies (some of us are still keeping a revolver under the pillow...) and we seem to be jettisoning our principles. Its therefore ...
As promised the other day, here is the house where Tolkien wrote much of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In all honesty, this photograph makes it look more attractive than it really is. The house, 20 Northmoor Road, may look back to the Arts and Crafts movement, but it also looks forward to 1930s council housing. The Tolkien family lived here between 1930 and 1947. Before that they lived for a few years at no. 22, which is just visible among the foliage. More on the subject can be found at Tolkien's Oxford.
A Planning Inspector has rejected the plan for restaurants on South Parade because of the proposed car park that would have replaced the open area around the kiosk and in front of the Post Office. The Inspector said that it would create a hazard near the busy Sundridge Park junction, and that many people would be tempted to walk through a busy car park on their way to the Post Office. He offered to approve the restaurants without the car park, but the developers didn't accept this. The inspector said that when the new Tesco is in place, with 24-hour ...
BBC Wales report that almost half of local authorities in Wales have missed recycling targets set by the Welsh Assembly Government. Councils were told to recycle and compost 40% of household waste in 2009/10, but 10 fell short, preliminary figures show. Ministers say they believe the target would have been hit were it not for the impact of severe winter weather. They also welcomed a reduction of almost 50% in waste going to landfill in Wales in the past five years. More than 620,000 tonnnes of waste were recycled and composted in Wales in 2009/10, with 770,000 tonnes going to ...
i) births and deaths 10th August 1929: birth of Peter Diamond, who was fight arranger for eight stories between The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) and The Dæmons (1971), and played a number of minor parts of which the most important was Delos in The Romans (1965). 10th August 1939: birth of Kate O'Mara, who played the Rani in The Mark of the Rani (1985) and Time and the Rani (1987). Persistent rumours that she (or at least her character) might reappear in New Who have so far proven unfounded. 10th August 1996: death of Rex Tucker, who directed The ...
The Left Foot Forward blog reports on the bizarre case of the Tory MP for Esher and Walton, Dominic Raab, who is threatening legal action against campaign group 38 Degrees for having the temerity to publish his publicly available email address - dominic.raab.mp@parliament.uk - on their 'contact your MP' system. This is despite the fact that when seeking the Tory nomination, Raab, an 'international lawyer', claimed to be "ready to serve every community...": Executive director David Babbs today told Left Foot Forward: "Over the last 12 months, 38 Degrees members have worked together to make all MPs more accountable to ...
Or maybe it's just a collection of links. Wait, it's links about... Ah, you get the idea... GE in a blatant corporate search optimisation bid, have a brilliant visualisation of age demographics over time, huge chunks of the projected population expansion in the next few decades is because we've stopped dying as quickly. Which is, broadly, a good thing, right? Now, university funding and numbers. Remember that 50% should go to university target that the Govt set? The one that was initially "some form of FE, including apprenticeships" but got changed because they forgot the point of their own policy? ...
I just thought I'd mention that one of the very bits of British SF ever is now uploaded onto YouTube.It's the play "The Flip Side of Dominic Hyde" and part one has had only 2,523 hits - which is absurdly low.Whether you are a fan of SF and watched ever minute of this season's Dr Who and "Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel", or think you loathe science fiction and prefer Jane Austen, do
Did you know that if you touch someone this may be termed as an assault? I don't think you would get very far in court if you said someone touched you in a packed train but as a physiotherapist I was always careful to give an explanation of what I wanted to do and why and then say "is that alright?". Many years ago I was on a course about the law and physiotherapy and the motto that I remember is a smile a day keeps the lawyer away. I thought it was good advice. You do hear stories about ...
