With all the snow about, Northern Ireland's public transport provider Translink has issued notices about its services. The one concerning what was formerly known as Citybus, and now know as Metro is particularly intriquing... Translink wishes to advise passengers that all Metro services will be operating via main corriders only. Surely that is corridors? The ...
Today I handed in the signatures required to begin the process for by-elections in the Stroud District Council Amberley and Woodchester Ward, and the Gloucestershire County Council Rodborough Division. Both are caused by the death of the sitting councillor at the end of October. Amberley and Woodchester makes up a quarter of the division and Rodborough ward (which I already represent) half. The other quarter is the parish of Kings Stanley, which is just over half of The Stanleys ward. The Conservatives and Labour have made their candidates known. I am standing for the County and Adrian Walker-Smith for the ...
Went to Leuven police station after work (they were a bit surprised to see me, since I don't live or work in their direct catchment area, but my local police station at home closes inconveniently early for this kind of thing and the ones in Brussels are not handy for my office) and spent an hour giving them a statement, which I believe will have included enough details for them to call round and talk to my interlocutor of this morning, which I hope will have a salutary effect. As a commenter to my previous post said, it's unlikely it ...
This afternoon, at The Vine, I attended the West End Christmas Week Committee "de-brief" meeting, at which we discussed how well the 2010 Christmas Week events ran, lessons to be learned, and ideas for 2011. It was an enjoyable and productive meeting and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who made the 2010 10th Anniversary Christmas Week such a great success!
A link to my column in today's Leicester Mercury newspaper.
I am frankly astonished at the latest comments by Dundee City Council Leader, Councillor Guild, in tonight's Evening Telegraph. Mr Guild claimed that the SNP administration has "achieved all of our objectives" - at a time when education expenditure alone has been slashed by over £4 million. Cllr Guild says he doesn't want to appear self-congratulatory but that's exactly what he is coming across as. The latest comments by Mr Guild strike an entirely inappropriate chord at a time when council services are being cut.The SNP administration has a "topsy turvy" set of priorities. I am taken aback to learn ...
This is really hot off the press (as it were) - Big Finish released The Four Doctors only last night, and I managed to listen to it in the car today in the intervals between being assaulted by a fellow motorist and the consequent trip to the police station to make my statement. The Four Doctors is a special release, available for BF subscribers only, uniting Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann as the Fifth to Eighth Doctors, in a story which Peter Anghelides says was partly an attempt to do the Daleks and time travel, like ...
Tomorrow morning we are holding our regular monthly advice surgery - our last of 2010! Please do drop in if you live in the ward and there is anything we can do to help. We will be in Upper Redlands Road (between New Road and Avebury Square). No appointment is necessary, just come along to the Readibus between 10.30am and noon.
A little while ago residents in Whitby Drive expressed concerns about RBC refuse vehicles having difficulty accessing their properties due to parked cars. Residents requested that waiting restrictions be introduced within the garage area, as refuse vehicles are currently having difficulty accessing the full length of the road to the garage area where the bins are stored. The current restriction within Whitby Drive is no waiting Monday to Saturday 8am to 630pm, however this terminates before the access road to the garage, (which still remains highway). We are aware that parking is at a premium in the area and vehicles park on both sides of ...
The continuing influence of the Tony Blair model of political leadership can be seen nowhere more clearly than in the three party leaders' choice of Christmas card. Following the unlovable precedent set by the Blairs - who in there pomp seemed poised to supplant the Holy Family altogether - Cameron, Miliband and Clegg have each chosen a card depicting himself and his family. Nick Clegg has chosen a drawing by his children rather than a photograph, which makes his offence greater or letter according to your taste. The whole concept seems vainglorious to me. What is wrong with something like ...
A striking observation from revolts.co.uk: there now remain very few Lib Dem backbenchers who have remained loyal to the Coalition. Just nine backbench Lib Dems have not voted against the whips in this Parliament. Of these, four - Lorely Burt, Simon Hughes, Tessa Munt and Stephen Williams - abstained on tuition fees.That leaves five Lib Dem MPs on the backbenches who have remained wholly loyal to the Coalition thus far. In addition to David Laws, they are Tom Brake, Malcolm Bruce, and Don Foster (all of whom voted in favour of raising the cap on tuition fees on Thursday) along ...
The winner is Isis, a female Egyptian grasshopper. If things had turned out differently she could be curled up in front of my fire now. For she was found up in a bag of salad bought from Sainsbury's Market Harborough. More in the Leicester Mercury, where Helen Ikin, the grasshopper recorder for Leicestershire Entomological Society (who wins Job of the Day, incidentally), is quoted as saying: "It's not exactly common for people to find them, but if something is found in food that has travelled from that part of the world it is usually an Egyptian grasshopper. A lot of ...
By a very fortunate quirk of my reading list, I had reread Mirror Dance immediately before starting Cryoburn (which by the way I read in electronic form, downloaded from the publisher's website, though I will still go and get a paper copy). Cryoburn is very much a sequel to Mirror Dance, though I guess it will stand on its own, set ten years later, on a planet which isn't even mentioned in the earlier book, and with only Myles Vorkosigan, his cloned brother Mark, and a couple of other characters carried over. The setting is Kibou-daini, a largely Japanese world ...
My favourite spam comment/link so far: This is good fridge. A new euphemism for "this is good s*@#" from an appreciative reader? A link to a site with an impressively well stocked refrigerator for the party season, available to you for only £299.95, not including delivery? Inquiring minds want to know. But not enough to actually click on the link.
Whilst attending and now a member of All Souls Church (2nd Presbyterian and York Street) Presbyterian at present, many people have been wondering how I can manage to reconcile this with where I have been on my own spiritual journey up until now. Having found a small book* at the back of All Souls, I ...
A collection of short stories featuring the first eight Doctors, all set in Prague. Like some of the other Short Trips collections I found the clunkers more memorable than the better stories - there's a dire First Doctor / Ian tale, for instance - but I'll also note that the stories I found best tended to be those by authors I had already heard of, though not usually as Doctor Who writers: Stephen Dedman, Heath DeCandido, Mary Robinette Kowal, Gary Braunbeck and Lucy Snyder, and a couple of others. I think I'll start going through the Short trips anthologies more ...
Posted earlier about a Christmas party in the Community Club on Victoria Drive in Llandudno Junction, little did I know that it would take over an hour to get home. The picture is from my stationary car outside The Killer (Station Hotel) opposite the Railway Station. I could not get up "The Hill". The last time I witnessed this type of Snow cover on Conwy Road was when I was a Kid and tried to charge motorists for assisting them to get up the hill by pushing them up. (Never made much money!!)
As it so often does, the Champions League draw has thrown up some rather wonderful pairings. After Gareth Bale's heroic hat trick a few weeks ago, Tottenham will return to Milan to take on AC. While of course difficult, the fact that the second leg will be at White Hart Lane means that if Spurs can keep it within a goal they have a decent chance of progressing. AC no longer have the prowess they once did. Neighbours Arsenal have the dubious pleasure of taking on the seemingly imperious Barcelona once again. Having been undone quite convincingly by Lionel Messi ...
I helped out today at this event and have to say it was well attended and appreciated by all our senior residents. My thanks to Cor Meibion Maelgwn for entertaining us and special thanks to all at the community club that made the day happen. This is the 3rd Christmas party and the feedback from residents is, "Long may it Continue". The choir sang and the Snow fell, it was great. I couldn't help thinking about my late Mum, suppose it's the time of year. Merry Christmas to you all Nadolig Llawen Mike
Funding Settlement for Surrey [IMG: money.jpg] The funding settlement for Local Government was finalised this week and the Deputy Leader announced today that Surrey would lose 14.3% of its 'formula' funding for 2011/12 paving the way for further drastic cuts. Sounds bad but this is only part of the story. Other grants are increasing and as Surrey gets a significant chunk of its income from Council Tax, the overall effect is a loss in revenue funding of just 0.31%, one of the lowest reductions in the country by a long chalk. As usual the devil is in the detail and ...
Today nominations closed for the second seat on the Marl Ward. I can confirm that the following people are standing for this seat: Susan Gail Shotter - Liberal Democrat Mike Pritchard - Labour Julie Fallon - Conservative Jason Robert Landy - probably Independent but not known I will be working alongside Susan Shotter during the election which is to be held on 20th January and I fully endorse her. I have known Sue for a number of years and believe that we together can represent the whole of the Marl Ward as a team, something I haven't had for ...
To let people know that my book, The Beatles In Mono, is finally available in a proper ebook format (ePub), rather than just PDF . It's also DRM-free, and I'm not going to sue anyone who torrents it or whatever, but I'd really rather you didn't – it's very cheap. It can be bought for ...
First there was one, then there were two, followed by three, and finally... four brave souls braved the icy and snow to the Lagan Room of Jury's Inn, Fisherwick Place, Belfast for the session on Hammering Out the Slugger Awards. Sadly, the eight or nine signed up yesterday were much reduced in number. It seems ...
Possible closure of all public toilets and charging for emptying garden waste green wheelie bins were among ideas rejected by councillors at key meetings on 16 December. The council, like local authorities throughout the country, is having to make savings totalling millions of pounds, as its share of the essential nationwide reduction in public spending to put our country's finances back into shape. The previous government was spending £400 million more each day than it could afford, putting us deeper and deeper into debt and landing us with huge unsustainable interest repayments. Local media have recently reported details of a ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Opinion: Richard Huzzey - "I resign" (224 comments) by Richard Huzzey Tuition fees: How Liberal Democrat MPs voted (78 comments) by Helen Duffett Opinion: why I still support the Lib Dems (75 comments) by George Kendall Tim Farron: Why would any sane progressive give Labour a second glance? (61 comments) by Helen Duffett Opinion: Planet Earth to Grayson (62 comments) by Richard Kemp This week's 5 most active Liberal Democrat online campaigns Save RAF Leuchars (231 signatures) ...
No doubt this afternoon, many of hostelries in Belfast will be full with civil servants, private sector workers and others having a Christmas lunch, post work drink or whatever. Foursqaure, Twitter, Facebook and email or whatever will be going haywire keeping up with the comings and goings of everyone moving about, not just here but everywhere else. This is the last Friday that everyone will be in the office after all. However, so many of my friends have pointed out this Digital take on the Nativity. Probably a good job that Mary, Joseph, the gospel writers and the others didn't ...
I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only Liberal Democrat who is disgusted with the shoddy service First Scotrail has been providing recently. I know that they've had a challenge, but their management and communication is shambolic. If you don't believe me, go back and read about my game of musical platforms the other week or my husband's frozen encounter with the train that wasn't really cancelled. Iain Smith, Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Fife is generally a very lovable human being. He does get grumpy, though, if his trains don't run on time, or if First Scotrail ...
Council Office opening times over the Christmas and New Year Holidays: · Friday 24th December - Open until 12 noon. · Saturday 25th December - Closed. · Sunday 26th, Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th December - Closed. · Wednesday 29th December - Open 8.30am to 5.00pm. · Thursday 30th December - Open 8.30am to 5.00pm. · Friday 31st December - Open 8.30am to 3.30pm. · Saturday 1st, Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd January 2011 - Closed. The closures will not affect essential Council services. These will continue to operate over the festive period. If anyone needs to contact the Council ...
Supply-side economics, summed-up neatly by the Laffer Curve, seems to annoy many self-styled progressives. To be fair, there is something of the air of having one's cake and eating it about the idea that one can cut tax rates and thus raise more tax revenue. But one cannot help but feel that the detractors of supply-side factors are simply struggling to overcome their desire to punish rich people for being so successful. Anyway, the logic is irrefutable: at some point the effect of raising tax rates must diminish rather than increase tax revenue, if only because at 100%, taxes would ...
Link Road in Yate will remain only partially open for the time being. The unusually low temperatures are preventing the contractors from laying the final surface on the road. With temperatures due to remain low over the Christmas period it is unlikely the works will be finished in the next couple of weeks. It's been evident that they contractors have been working long hours in cold, dark conditions to make progress - we've felt quite sorry for them when we've gone past recently. They're obviously doing the best they can in the circumstances. The works on the new bus station ...
One of the few recommendations from the independent Governance Review which the Press Complaints Commission has not accepted is this one: 28. The Commission needs to do more work to ensure both that apologies are prominently published, and that people are aware of this. A working group on this specific issue would be a positive step (paragraph 46). The Commission accepts that prominence is a significant issue, and is committed to ensuring corrections and apologies continue to appear with due prominence. Following positive engagement by the Chairman and Director of the PCC with the Editors' Code Committee, the Code has ...
There is much chatter around about a cabinet reshuffle. The suggestion is that in the New Year David Laws will be brought back and various names of those who might be axed have been floated. Amongst the names of those who are 'at risk' are Philip Hammond at Transport and Eric Pickles. Now judging by my (unscientific) poll of Tory councillors Eric Pickles would get the nod. He is generally seen to be not up to the job and even for those who accept the arguments for deficit reduction, his enthusiastic adoption of the 'front loading' of spending cuts for ...
We're currently looking for someone who has some skills and experience in designing HTML email templates. We are looking to develop some templates for use on Mailchimp, and need to work with someone on a freelance basis to do this. Please get in touch with Tim Pickstone - tim.pickstone@aldc.org
There is an excellent article in the Guardian by Richard Stallman on internet protest. Stallman is a leading light in the open source movement, and one of the creators of the Linux platform (although the whole GNU/Linux conversation is a bun fight I won't get into). He can often be a bit of a fanatic, which is of course how he's managed to make such a contribution to the world. His closing paragraph deserves a bit of attention: States seek to imprison the Anonymous protesters rather than official torturers and murderers. The day when our governments prosecute war criminals and ...
If liberal democracy in Great Britain has anything akin to a birthday, it would be December 16th. On that day, 321 years ago, the assembly that would become known as the 'Convention Parliament' passed the English Bill of Rights. The 1689 Bill set down in law the right of the English people to hold elections to choose their leaders, ended the practices of arbitrary royal intervention in matters of justice and taxation, and established the English Parliament as a sovereign body. As if that glorious heritage was not enough, it was 84 years later to the day that the Boston ...
I am a GP and Executive Member for Care and Health on Bristol City Council. I have been a GP for nearly 30 years, but I took on the Cabinet role on Tuesday 11th May 2010 – the day the astonishing Coalition was formed between Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs in London. That Coalition has made some bold proposals for our NHS, and for the way that the NHS works with patients, public health, and local authorities. These proposals drew together themes that Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on for many years such as putting patients at the heart of ...
Yesterday, Labour MP and former minister, Bob Ainsworth came out strongly against drugs prohibition. He proposed an "Impact Assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act", an "independent, evidence-based review, exploring all policy options" which was welcomed by Lib Dem MP Tom Brake. This is precisely one of the things that the Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform (LDDPR) are calling for and I'd therefore like to give an overview of why an impact assessment is needed and is something that all can support. 1. One has never been done despite strong reasons for concern Back in 1971, there were no ...
Brazil has for some years been the dark horse among the BRICs — the four largest emerging economies. The huge problems of income inequalities and crime have often been cited as reasons why Latin America's biggest economy would get stuck in the mud. But under the past eight years of rule by President Lula, who ...
Following up on yesterday's post about Luton and extremism, I thought I would link to a few articles giving personal views on the issue from people who live or grew up in the town. The first is from BBC News communities reporter Niki Cardwell who asks "Is Luton a breeding ground for terrorists?"; "I love Luton. There, I've said it and I'm not ashamed. I'm a Luton girl through and through.......The sad thing is that I don't recognise the town that has once again hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons." Second is writer and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor who ...
As November is now far gone, so is my moustache! Taking part in Moustache November with Old Bedians RUFC in Didsbury and Cllr James Hennigan was good fun even if I did end up looking more like Peter Mandelson than ... Continue reading →
Apologies for being so shallow, but in this proud moment of getting to debate in the House of Commons as part of the UK Youth Parliament, is that lad just checking out his leader's arse? (from www.parliament.uk's front page) Settling in to a life in politics, perhaps, unless anyone can correct me on how unfailingly chivalrous and polite male MPs are in the House. Cynic that I am, I would suspect this photo is chosen in part to encourage girls to get involved in politics. It certainly suggests that boys would heartily approve.
In another important step for the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Wednesday its prosecutor announced charges against six high-profile Kenyans, including the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. The charges all relate to the violence that killed 1,200 people after disputed elections in 2007: BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says in recent days there has been a degree of panic among some members of the usually untouchable political elite. Most Kenyans feel these prosecutions are vital in order to undermine the deeply rooted culture of impunity, our correspondent says. The key question now is whether those ...
There's a BBC News story this morning that is highly biased against online pharmacies with the implication that they're all or mostly evil, corrupt and dangerous spammers. (They even use the image of a mailbox full of Viagra spam to illustrate it) Sadly, it seems there is pressure on many organisations to shut down online pharmacies – names listed in the story as working against them include Google, Network Solutions, Paypal, Visa and Mastercard although it is not clear if these companies are targeting just spammers or also more legitimate organisations. There is, as ever, an element of the US ...
A significant increase in the pay of some Returning Officers was quietly introduced by the then Labour government ahead of this year's general election but no estimate was made as to what the costs would be of rule changes that made the pay more generous. In March, the Ministry of Justice issued its Returning Officers' Expenses Guidance Notes Parliamentary Elections (Great Britain) which included, in Section 7.7, an increase in the payments made to Returning Officers for supervising more than one constituency. Previously the payments (worked out on a sum per entry on the electoral register) were tapered if a ...
Yesterday I blogged about the story of Izabelle Evans, a girl who received a stem cell transplant to treat septo-optic dysplasia. Following comments on that piece by Prof. Stephen Moss, Prof. David Colquhoun and Suirauqa, I've done a little more digging around the use of stem cells for treating visual and other disorders - here I try to separate the maverick from the marvellous.As I've mentioned before on this blog, my research centres around inherited visual disorders - I'm interested in the mechanisms that lead from genetic mutations to disease, and in developing gene therapy treatments. I am fortunate enough ...
Christmas looms like a giant mine pie, so this Saturday marks the final Saturday Surgery of 2010. We'll be down as normal at the Longfield Centre from just after 10.30 until about 11.45 tomorrow (Saturday) for you to speak to your Councillors about any local issue that's concerning you. As normal we'll also have the "Scrap Parking Charges" petition for you to sign if you've not had the chance. And you can take part in the "Prestwich Priorities" survey too. It's my work Christmas do tonight, so the thought of being up, presentable and alert by 10.30 tomorrow is more ...
For those of you who haven't had the chance to view this fantastic exhibition you have only got a couple of days left. The Natural Perspectives exhibition was dedicated to the Save Chorlton Meadows Campaign and Friends of Chorlton Meadows ... Continue reading →
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday announced that child detention for immigration purposes is to end. He said the practice will end completely by May 2011, and confirmed that the family wing of Yarl's Wood immigration centre in Bedfordshire is to close immediately. No child will be held in detention over Christmas. Mr Clegg said: "The coalition government has always been clear that the detention of children for immigration purposes is unacceptable. "We are placing the welfare of children and families at the centre of a fairer and more compassionate system. "In recent years we have seen hundreds of children, ...
It's generally not wise to ignore the comments of past leaders, especially when in Gordon Brown's case the complaint was really about his leadership. His intelligence and knowledge is known. I was completely unaware he had released the book he was rumoured to be writing, Beyond The Crash. The man was Chancellor of the Exchequer for a decade: how incompetent does the press have to be to ignore such work during a bad economy? Samuel Brittan in the FT comments: The question is not whether there is going to be a double-dip recession but whether output is falling increasingly behind ...
At wednesdays full meeting of Bury Council as is often the case so close to Christmas council leaders seemed to find it difficult to find the usual mud slinging/knife twisting/party bashing words that usually mark out these events. There were three debates - and two unanimous all party votes! An acute breakout of bon homie syndrome threatened proceedings - its was if councillors had one eye on the mince pies and christmas cake being prepared as a seasonal tuck in from the Mayor after the council meeting. FAITH AND FREE SCHOOL TRAVEL Of the three debates the debate on a ...
Liberal Democrats should not give up the battleground of higher education finance just yet. The Party should counter-attack by arguing the case within the Coalition for substantial maintenance grants for students paid out of cutting university bureaucracy and cross-subsidy from foreign students. The Party will have to take on the red tape merchants of British higher education and the immigration obsessives in parts of the Conservative Party. However, taking on bureaucrats and right wing obsessives in the cause of student grants is a far better place from which to win the higher education argument. Amid the student demonstrations and party ...
Roy Hattersley, writing in today's Guardian, captures well the confusion in Labour about how to tempt Liberal Democrats into their camp. Entitled: "Radical Lib Dems must revolt - or lose everything" He opines that the corporate myth of a progressive alliance on the left is dying (if only); and in order to keep it alive, the traitors to this cause or 'so-called progressives' within the Liberal Democrats, should prove they are not traitors, by treacherously undermining their own Leader (who apparently is a "conservative") at every turn. Comrades! Prove your loyalty through disloyalty! Then, and only then, if they are ...
One of things I am hoping for more from the coalition government on is reform of our banking system. For a reminder why here is a fantastic animation from the New Economics Foundation:
David Cameron has recently tried to get the idea of measuring the populations well-being off the ground in the UK with the ONS now collecting data in various areas in an attempt at what some are calling a 'happiness index'. The first official happiness index will be published in 2012. Yet could this open up ...
The text of today's antiphon is O Wisdom, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, powerfully and sweetly ordering all things: come to teach us the way of prudence. Jesus, the Word or Wisdom of God, is like a bridge reaching from heaven to earth ...
It's started snowing and over the days ahead, it's likely to get pretty bad here in mid-Wales. Here in Ceredigion, we're ready with our salt because after our experiences from last year, it really is best to be prepared. The 2009/10 Winter Experience The last winter was said to be the coldest in 30 years since the winter of '81/'82. That makes sense to me because I was born the following August and in my recollection, it was certainly the coldest winter that I can recall. Across the country, salt levels depleted to exceedingly low levels and Ceredigion was no ...
The BBC report on further Wikileaks revelations that former Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik called party leader Nick Clegg "thin skinned". They say that Mr. Opik accused the Liberal Democrat Leader of surrounding himself with "insiders" to avoid "direct confrontation". The conversation is said to have happened between Mr Opik and the US ambassador Robert Tuttle: The Welsh Lib Dems have declined to comment on the leaked reports made public by Wikileaks and newspapers. The former MP for Montgomeryshire told BBC Wales that he did not remember having the specific conversation but he agreed with much of the sentiment ...
Fri 17th
09:24
Because of the way the Commons works, the Liberal Democrats may split. A group led by Clegg would th...
...So says Paul Goodman on Conservative Home. The words "fantasy", "wild" and "self-gratification" spring to mind. I particularly like the way he shrouds the theory in a mist of pseudo-sophistication with the phrase "because of the way the Commons works". ..And this speculation derives from the tuition fees vote. Well, Paul Goodman, because of the way the LibDems work, we take such disagreements in our stride (ish!). Rather like the Royal Family not wanting to dream of abdication because of painful inherited memories of 1936, the LibDems' collective inherited memories are scorched with the memories of the 1920s and 1930s, ...
As the temperatures plummet again, and it looks like we're in for another long spell of Arctic blasts, I thought it might be an idea to let you see a status update from a friend on Facebook which filled both her and I with absolute horror. Her husband, very cute puppy dog, and youngest daughter went for a walk round the reservoir near our home during the last cold snap. A few nights of -14 had made sure that the reservoir had frozen over, but the temperature was starting to rise. What they saw scared them as my friend wrote: ...
Was stuck in traffic driving in to work this morning - trying to work our what my options were for turning in one of the lanes leading from the E40 to the inner ring - when the woman in the car behind me got out, walked up to my car door and asked me to wind down the window; she then yelled at me in Dutch (I was too surprised to listen to what she was saying) and then hit me on the mouth before stomping back to her own car. Not too hard, but rather shocking behaviour. Needless to ...
Yesterday – Nick Clegg announced the ending of child detention for immigration purposes. No child will ever be locked up in Yarl's Wood again. No child is currently detained, and no child will spend this Christmas in an immigration detention centre. In an open letter to Gordon Brown in 2009, Nick Clegg wrote: "One of the best ways to judge the moral compass of a nation is how we treat children ... How on earth can your government justify what is in effect state-sponsored cruelty?" I am very proud that this government has ended this disgraceful practise. Along with the ...
Paul Goodman writes for ConservativeHome and this morning has penned a piece on trends within the coalition. He sees Clegg and others joining the Conservative party at some point. According to Goodman this would help Cameron in his remaking of the party in the image of One-Nation Toryism. Others might disagree and see this as the beginning of the return of the Whigs.
Erm, no, BBC, no. Originally uploaded by nilexuk. Today's shocking news of how few Nottingham boys have an expected level of reading ability is pretty poor. The City Council's view is that the numbers are made much worse by local teachers boycotting the SATS tests that formed this league table. But it's not helped by this map from the BBC. Their labelling of the cities in the East Midlands – the distinctive dark blue shapes – is all completely wrong in the map above. "Telford" is actually Derby, "Derby" is Nottingham – the distinctive hook shape at the bottom is ...
Diigo - possible delicious replacement? If delicious really is shutting down, there's needs to be a replacement. Having browsed around, this seems to be the best recommended. Anyone actually used it? (tags: diigo noooooooo delicious) Is Yahoo Shutting Down Del.icio.us? [Update: Yes] I should have known this was going to happen when I started using it... (tags: technology delicious yahoo noooooooo)
As I sit here contemplating the 4,000 Christmas Focuses I have to deliver in three inches of snow, it is worth looking forward to the sort of sports we might all indulge in once the weather improves. Just in case there is any confusion the Swansea Active website contains some useful definitions, for example: Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with a prolate spheroid ball, by two teams of 15 players and: Golf is a precision stick-and-ball sport in which competing players (golfers) using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a ...
South Gloucestershire libraries have become exciting technology hubs. Free wi-fi access is available at Emersons Green, Bradley Stoke, Yate and Staple Hill libraries, it is free for the public to use with their own laptops or mobile phones. So next time you need to use your laptop or wi-fi enabled mobile whilst you're out and about, why not drop in to one of these libraries? In addition to the wi-fi access at these libraries, all libraries in South Gloucestershire provide free access to the internet through library PCs. And there's more - puzzled by that new mobile phone? Every Friday ...
I did this for the first time in June this year; this is a second post listing participants in the European Council meeting taking place yesterday and today. Those in italics are not full members. Various other hopefuls are also here hanging around the fringes. Jean-Claude Juncker (born 1954), Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 20 January 1995 (EPP) José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960) Prime Minister of Spain since 17 April 2004 (PES) Lawrence Gonzi (born 1953) Prime Minister of Malta since 1 May 2004 (EPP) José Manuel Barroso (Portuguese, born 1956) President of the European Commission since 23 November ...
If you are hoping to get elected in one of the elections due in May (or, very wisely, are already thinking further ahead), then hopefully you've found many of the posts we've run over the last few months useful in giving you ideas. Here's a quick recap of five of the main posts worth (re)reading over Christmas to look for ideas and tips: Want to win an election? Not sure how to use the internet?: A beginner's guide on how to use the internet wisely for electioneering. How to be a Lib Dem blogger: get our collected series of articles: ...
The Conservatives held two by-elections in Worcestershire yesterday, one on the County Council and one on Bromsgrove District Council. The full results follow:
A couple of days ago, an anonymous individual identifying themselves as "Backdoor Santa" published some graphs showing that Comcast, a major US Internet Service Provider, runs it's transit links at capacity for much of the day. This sort of tactic has depressing implications for any attempt to legislate for Net Neutrality, although I shall need to go through some basics to explain why. As a mid-level ISP, there are three groups of people who you send traffic to and from. These are your customers, your peers and your transit providers. Customers, logically, pay you to carry their traffic. More customers ...
Tron is an important precursor to Toy Story and the phenomenal success of the Pixar animation studio. It introduced 3D computer animation to the movies. The Light Cycle scene in particular is an all-time favourite, and one of the inspirations for John Lasseter (he of Toy Story fame). That was over a decade later, coming out in 1995 as compared to Tron in 1982. I was only 9 when it was released, and was completely blown away. In retrospect, it really captured where the digital world world was headed. I'm still waiting for the digital desk the bad guy has. ...
[IMG: Drunken disorderley] Greater Manchester Police has launched a spoof website that shows how spending a night in prison is a truly unforgettable experience that can have far reaching negative repercussions on your life. Logging onto drunkendisorderlyinn.com takes visitors to a hotel-chain style website that features tongue-in-cheek videos, photographs and information on what it is like to be arrested, booked into custody and spend a night in a prison cell. The website is GMP's latest tactic to raise awareness of the consequences of alcohol fuelled antisocial behaviour and violence in an engaging way that can easily be shared through Facebook, ...
With the festive season here Kent Trading Standards would like to remind shoppers of their consumer rights if they still have Christmas presents to buy and for purchases during the New Year sales.
'I Ought to be in Pictures' by Neil Simon will be performed by the Players' Dramatic Society from 22nd to 29th Jan 2011. The theatre is in Anfield Road, Cheadle Hulme - fully equipped and including coffee room and bar. Tickets are £7.50 and are obtainable from Advance Booking 0161 486 1857. Plays start at 7.45 & there's a loop system for the hard of hearing, plus plenty of parking space on site. For more information on plays, or on getting involved yourself, visit the Players' Dramatic Society website.
Fri 17th
06:59
Whoniversaries 17 December: Jacqueline Hill, J Cairncross, Highlanders #1, SunMakers #4, Out of Time
i) births and deaths 17 December 1929: birth of Jacqueline Hill, who played the First Doctor companion Barbara Wright from 1963 to 1965 (she is the first regular cast member to actually appear on screen), and then returned to play Lexa in 1980. 17 December 2009: death of James Cairncross, who played Lemaitre in nThe Reign of Terror (1964) and Beta in The Krotons (1968-69). ii) broadcast anniversaries 17 December 1966: broadcast of first episode of The Highlanders, introducing Fraser Hines as Jamie. The Doctor, Ben and the McCrimmon menfolk are captured by Redcoats in the aftermath of Culloden; Polly ...
I want a diagnosis. I've been messed up pretty much all of my adolescence and adult years, and I'm as tired of not knowing why as much as I am tired of being broken. A little bit of why I want a diagnosis is I feel like a problem without an answer can't be worked on; I'm getting therapy to deal with the effects, but I want to fix the root problem and lessen the effects. I don't take happy pills right now because they don't work for me, but what if, with a diagnosis, new medication becomes available and ...
If you use non-emergency patient or passenger transport (such as for attending hospital or clinic appointments) the NHS in Essex would like to hear from you. The five Essex Primary Care Trusts, Essex County Council, Southend Borough Council and Thurrock Council are looking at the provision of non-emergency transport for health and social care across Essex. An important part of this project is gathering feedback from existing users of the services, so that this can be used to develop services for the future. This team is interested in your experience and suggestions about anything that could have been done better. ...
A link to the first edition of my new regular video bulletins, reviewing my pick of the week's local and national press.
Who knew... Bob Ainsworth it would seem... and ever turning, never learning, cycle of recent political history It is something of a sad irony that whilst the debate no one wants, bar a socialist former minister, is about undermining criminals through legalisation and regulation... the regulations our mostly liberal government are actually looking to introduce, in respect of an already legal narcotic, will do nothing other than help criminals by making legitimate products harder to reach and easier to clone.
How trust was restored at Cancún My colleague Dean reports from the climate change talks (tags: climatechange)
Imagine you are in charge of a school and you have the ability to change the terms and conditions of employment. You think you can keep your staff whatever you do, so do you make things worse for them so you can give more to the children? Do you give the staff a greater reward on the basis that you could get more out of them for the sake of the children? Academies were created to take failing schools out of local authority control. If you have the ability to increase your income you just might be take up better ...
