It's not the winter that's worst in Alberta, it's the spring, or rather the absence of it. On 20th March we still have snow on the ground. There has been some melt in the last few days, but it snowed again today, and the forecast is for the temperature to remain below freezing for the ...
I can turn and walk away or I can fire the gun. Staring at the sky, staring at the sun Whichever I chose it amounts to the same Absolutely nothing I'm alive I'm dead I'm the stranger Killing an arab
Tomorrow's Guardian reports that proposed changes to the Coalition's health reforms are being drawn up by the Liberal Democrats following the vote at the party's Spring Conference in Sheffield. The newspaper says that they are likely to focus on areas such as ensuring that GP commissioning boards have a duty to prevent cherry-picking by the private sector, and that the boards contain locally-elected councillors or are scrutinised by councils. They would also look at the structure, aims and membership of the proposed economic regulator, Monitor.I am pleased that the reforms concentrate on the need for more local democracy in the ...
After the less than stellar beginning I've made to DD307, I've spent some of this weekend attempting to start TMA02, due in on April 6th. I've chosen option B – on 'the self'. The sum total of these efforts so far towards my 2,000 word target? Zero. Nil. Zip. But I do think I'm beginning to figure out why I'm finding it so difficult to make a start. And at least I have some material that I think I'll be able to use as part of the essay. Maybe. I'm really missing the certainty of being able to calculate ANOVAs ...
The Liberal Democrats have been in government for only ten months, but we have already implemented many of our manifesto policies. In this document (attached PDF - view download) you will find details of how we are putting our manifesto into action. The list does not even include those of our policies that are in the Coalition Programme but have not yet been implemented, so this list is just the first part of a long line of Liberal Democrat policies to come. This document is a striking illustration of the influence the Liberal Democrats are having in government. Chris FoxChief ...
Well they are this years but they have the essential characteristic of a classic Focus photo. I was particularly please that this picture of pothole in Dover Rd came out so clearly demonstrating the extent the road had deteriorated . It was mended the same week And second the perennial problem of dog dirt. Simon is seen here pointing to a stencilled marking of the Sefton 'Bag it and Bin it' campaign. Therese stencil markings are applied-I am informed- by people on the Community Pay back scheme run by the probation service. they last for about six weeks. Now apply ...
I have had this tune in mind as a possible Sunday video for some time. The recent death of Jet Harris, the Shadows' original bass player, has prompted me to choose it this week. Wonderful Land, which was composed by Jerry Lordan, stayed at number one for eight weeks in 1962, longer than any other single in the 1960s. But then, according to Wikipedia, The Shadows are the third most successful act, in terms of British chart singles, after Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. (Jet Harris's wife, you may be surprised to learn, had an affair with Cliff Richard.) What ...
I am always a bit wary when folk who aren't our friends start giving us advice. Jackie Ashley was at it in yesterday's Guardian. [IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] The Lib Dems are not a centre party. Their centre of gravity is a bit to the left. They are less statist, less pro-union and more civil libertarian than Labour, but their instincts fall on the same side of the divide. They want to change the world; and you can't do that by sitting in the centre. Like all Liberals of my generation I have always considered our party to ...
A number of residents have asked why there continues to be a "buses only" section of Blackness Road, at its junction with Hawkhill. I raised this matter with the City Council's Head of Transportation, who has responded as follows : "In response to your query relating to Blackness Road, the principle of having a bus only link at the eastern section of Blackness Road is linked to the function of the Hawkhill Bypass. It acts as a restriction that prevents general traffic from 'rat running' to avoid the traffic signals at the junction of Bellfield Street. The removal of the ...
Sun 20th
19:38
How Phillip Scofield was sent into a panic by a faulty Blue Peter stopwatch - and other BBC broadcas...
I have recently discovered the absolute goldmine which is the BBC archive at www.bbc.co.uk/archive . It really is an absolutely brilliant website with miles of vintage footage which can keep you agog for hours! I have just dipped a toe in the water, and intend to more serious searching of the archive. But here are a few gems I have already stumbled upon in just a few minutes searching: Blue Peter on the time in 1986 when their stopwatch was running 1 minute 24 seconds slow, so the BBC collectively completely ballsed up the end of Blue Peter and the ...
If there is one thing you ever need to learn in your life, this is all you need to know: Oh I miss the kiss of treachery The shameless kiss of vanity The soft and the black and the velvety Up tight against the side of me And mouth and eyes and heart all bleed And run in thickening streams of greed As bit by bit it starts the need To just let go, my party piece Oh I miss the kiss of treachery The aching kiss before I feed The stench of a love for a younger meat And ...
A great song from the eighties from Boy Meets Girl :
With grateful thanks to the City Council's Leisure and Communities Department for the poster download, here are details of the City Council's sponsored golf competitions for 2011 :
Over the last couple of days, Libya has grabbed our attention. Allied coalition forces are enforcing a no-fly zone, actions which have been approved by the UN. British forces are in action, our Prime Minister solemnly told us, Gaddafi must be stopped from killing his own people, all the political parties are behind this action, the media are generally in favour, and a rare air of consensus has reached our political scene. So why am I uneasy? I feel I cannot join in this general air of using military force against an evil dictator. There is no argument that Gaddafi ...
My holiday reading this year 1. Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan a disturbing insight into the way corporate America has corrupted our food production systems to turn it into mechanised production rather than farming. It highlights the dangers of reducing all our complex food production routes into a few simply corn based routes. Well worth a read for anyone who cares about well produced food. Click for more on Michael Pollan 2. Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus an inspiring book by Dr Yunus who created a bank to lend to the poorest people in Bangladesh and how this ...
Full article here and interesting comments on Political Betting here An interesting alliance?
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 213th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (13th – 19th March, 2011), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. So ...
For fun, I've been reading up on A Level political science (no, really). This firstly means I learn new words, and secondly, means I can apply obscure and esoteric concepts to the mundane. Today's dichotomous consideration is energy interpreted in political science terms. Current RegimesEnergy in western civilisation can be seen as a profit market margin, which means, in capitalist political
I have just got back from my third holiday in Egypt on diving holidays. This time to Marsa Alam. It was great to feel the optimism in the air from Egyptians that they have now peacefully thrown out Mubarak's dictatorship and have now endorsed reform and moving ahead to elections in the Autumn. I found lots of people wanted to talk about the revolution and their part in it and their hopes for the future. Continuing complaints are about getting back the stolen money and how to reform a police force that everyone I spoke to sees as corrupt and ...
Continuing its long campaigning stance on behalf of ethnic minorities, the Mail on Sunday has tediously reviewed hours of "Midsomer Murders" footage and found a black man in Midsomer. He appears standing on a bridge at the start of the forthcoming episode "Death in the slow lane". But make sure you've used lots of Optrex before the show to avoid blinking during it. And you might like to set up one of those huge magnifying glass devices which people used to put in front of their TV screens.
Back in 2009, the local Lib Dems ran a campaign for a Cheadle train station and succeeded in getting it firmly on the agenda with a promise that it would be moved forwards. We've given updates from time to time in our "Keeping in Touch" leaflets and it's time for another. This is the subject of another false Tory attack on the Lib Dems – one of several in their current leaflet! The Conservatives seem to be suggesting that, because we don't have a running railway line with shiny new stations 18 months after first raising the issue, we've somehow ...
Did you know there is now a dedicated PCSO in the Barton Parish Council Building once a week (details below)? They will be in the office between 09:00 - 11:00 hrs and then will be out patrolling the area for the rest of the day. Date Officer Thursday 31st March 2011 PCSO 4829 Walker Monday 4th April 2011 PCSO 4828 Young Monday 11th April 2011 PCSO 4937 Glen Tuesday 19th April 2011 PCSO 4825 Bell Tuesday 26th April 2011 PCSO 4829 Walker Wednesday 4th May 2011 PCSO 4825 Bell Thursday 12th May 2011 PCSO 4937 Glen Monday 16th May 2011 ...
[IMG: Jenni Steele, Lewisham Liberal Democrats leaflet] This morning it was off to Lewisham to help Jenni Steele's by-election campaign. It would have been a handy chance to sample the benefits of years of investment in improving public transport around London by being able to nip down the Victoria Line and then get a through London direct train on the new Overground connection from Highbury & Islington all the way through to Lewisham. It would, that is, if it weren't for the Victoria Line being closed for the day. In fact, this weekend was one of those where it would ...
Welcome to my weekly round-up of two blogging highlights from the past week: the post that I found most interesting or enjoyable to write and the post from someone else that I found most interesting or entertaining. A post from me... Online politics: get your content by following the 'little and often' rule Whether it's building up an email list, getting a decent readership for your blog or accumulating a good network of residents on Facebook, as you steadily build up towards large audiences you need a regular supply of content, and all the more so once you have got ...
First publsihed on the Downtown Liverpool Web Site in February 2011 Ten years ago as chair of the Governance Subcommittee of the Council I oversaw the Liverpool consultation about having an elected mayor. In spite of spending more than £400,000 ... Continue reading →
First published in Inside Housing in March 2011 A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel with David Orr when the perennial question came up, "are RSLs public sector or private sector?" Obviously the answer given by David ... Continue reading →
The tragic events in Japan over the last 10 days has once again raised the issue of nuclear power and how this fits into our energy generation in the UK and whether we should be moving away from this method. Chris Huhne has recently been discussing the prospect of nuclear power not playing as much of a role as we anticipated, particularly as it will be harder to finance them. Mark Cole wrote an excellent blog last week on his position and I wonder to what extent he is right about it being a generational thing as I am also ...
I like Simon Wright, the recently elected Member of Parliament for Norwich South. I met him at a training event at Lib Dem conference a couple of years ago and he seemed like a nice chap. Understated but passionate. There were a few other candidates in the room on that day who could have gone on to become MPs but he is the only one who made it. However Simon has a particular distinction within the House of Commons. He was elected with the smallest proportion of the vote of any MP. He got just 29.4% of the vote in ...
There are a number of complex issues around this planning application, which is for 433 houses and a new road between Lower Earley Way and King Street Lane, plus a primary school. The top 5 that I am looking into are: 1 impact of the proposed new road on traffic in Winnersh – and on existing residents living near it 2 design of the new road, including pedestrian and cycle links, and all the junctions 3 proof the flood mitigation is going to work and not make anything worse (whilst remembering that curing existing problems is outside the scope of ...
I was down at the Yes to Fairer votes stall to cheer on the Reading Half Marathon runners. Long distance running events are incredibly positive events. Many of the people running for charities are clearly going through a lot of pain in a sports event that doesn't suit their build; others (including myself in the past) have focused more on the fund raising than the training and pay the consequences. As runner after runner goes by, wearing a shirt or a costumer for their cause, it feels good to provide the applause and cheering that can really make a difference ...
The terrible and on-going tragedy in Japan has raised some fundamental questions about what the UK Government is going to do about its own power needs and in particular the further development of nuclear power. Until now it had been widely expected that, subject to the rather substantial caveat that there would be no public subsidy, the Energy and Climate Change Minister would be prepared to sign off new nuclear power stations, not least a replacement for Wylfa B in Ynys Mon, however, as this article in today's Observer makes clear, that is no longer a foregone conclusion. Chris Huhne ...
Yesterday was Scottish Labours conference, if you missed it, it's understandable as media coverage was lower than that of other Scottish Parties because Labour chose to have their Autumn one covered in more detail. Maybe Ed Miliband realised that with hardly anyone watching, he could say whatever he wanted? So, despite the fact that in their thirteen years of government, of which Ed Miliband was part, Labour sold off Britain's gold at a twenty year low price, offered Britain's pensioners a miserly and insulting 75p increase, failed to link the basic state pension to earnings, oversaw a £10 million tax ...
Tim Leunig, CentreForum's chief economist, has written a piece for the Local Government Chronicle on the benefits that could be gained from the introduction of Community Land Auctions. This is a policy that has been debated previously in Liberal Democrat circles, but which was rejected at party conference in 2007. Anyway, here's how Tim explains the policy: It works like this. The council first asks all landowners to name the price at which they are willing to sell their land. By naming a price, the landowner gives the council the right to buy the land for 18 months at that ...
At the back of the George & Pilgrims in the smoking area where Paul used to regularly sit, they have put up a plaque in his memory. There is a little brass sign with "Paul's Place" written on it. Under the plaque there is a floral tribute in the shape of an artists palette. The paints are represented by clusters of flowers. It's lovely. A posy of flowers sprouts through the thumb hole in this palette. On Saturday I visited the G&P for some 'hair of the dog' (it was quite a wake!) and noticed that some vandal has ripped ...
Paul the Painter was a well known and much loved member of our community. I was one of the many many people that knew him. One of the many people he 'Owed a Tenner' to. I couldn't make it to the memorial service, I had to work, but I (along with most of the town it seems) did make it to the wake at the George & Pilgrims. Overall it was a good send off for one of the most well known and colourful members of our town. There were only a couple of incidents that marred an otherwise very ...
I'm a sporting anorak there's no getting around it. I'm a font of useless knowledge that usually only comes in handy at pub quizzes. But then, I enjoy the randomness of my knowledge because I'd like to think that it gives me the perspective to make observations such as the one below. I'm a snooker fan and there have been some wonderful matches played over the years. So for my own enjoyment and for anyone out there who share's my passion for the green baize, I'm going to concoct my Top 3 Snooker matches of all-time. In at Number 3...Here ...
One of the first Eleventh Doctor / Amy books, taking the two to a conglomeration of space junk called the Gyre, where degenerate humans, civilised Arabic-speaking aliens and an interstellar criminal are grappling with a bomb, a comet, and a long-lost technological relic. It's for younger readers, but pleasing none the less, with Llewellyn keeping a lot of balls in the air and before bringing the story to a satisfactory conclusion.
A message from an anti-AV campaigner.
This is a selection of poetry translated from the original Persian of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī, known as Mowlānā in Persian and Rūmī in the English-speaking world, whose followers founded the Mawlawī Sufi order, better known as the Whirling Dervishes, after his death. The poetry is expressive and profound, but also fairly easy to digest. Rūmī's basic philosophy is that one can find a path to the ineffable through meditation on love - his best one-liner is that "Love is the astrolabe that sights into the mysteries of God". Unlike the Christian monastic tradition, he stresses the importance of human ...
Or at least a part of it may be. Today's Sunday Telegraph reports that David Ross (owner of Nevill Holt, which is now generally accepted by literary scholars to be the model for Bonkers Hall) may be selling up the assets of his struggling Kandahar property venture. The Telegraph says those assets include: shopping centres and leisure assets. Its biggest properties include Jackson Square shopping centre in Bishop's Stortford, valued at £55m, and a shopping centre in David Cameron's constituency of Witney.And as I discussed last year, they also include the St Mary's Place shopping centre in Market Harborough, as ...
Collection of short stories, set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (apart from one which brings the Duke of Wellington to the world of Neil Gaiman's Stardust). I've read all of Jane Austen since I first read Clarke, so I'm now more able to appreciate the style that she takes off so devastatingly. In general this is a successful reclamation of fairies and Faerie from being twee to being dangerous and simultaneously alien and familiar, with a much more feminine perspective than is seen in the longer novel. Generally excellent stuff. My eye was caught by the ...
I've been a bit slow in catching up on the Political Betting website . Who is to blame for the level of cuts opinion polls have been asking: Read the full article here
It is easy to be smug and contrast the British involvement in Libya with the disastrous deployment in Iraq. It is certainly better that we are not breaking international law and that we have a coalition that is broadly based. Nevertheless many of the questions that were raised over Afghanistan are also pertinent in relation to Libya. Adrian Sanders the Lib Dem MP for Torbay raises some of them in his posting ; 'Are we moving towards another war in the Middle East'. There are a number of unresolved questions and constituents are raising a number of very real concerns ...
Lord Spicer's question, "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan for London Heathrow Airport to continue to be the world's busiest airport in respect of international passenger traffic.", was an opportunity to revisit the shambles that was Heathrow Airport in December's snow. Clearly, the hope was that the Government might rethink it's blanket refusal to countenance more runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, but no dice. Ros took the opportunity to make a plea for rather better management of the available landing and take-off slots... Baroness Scott of Needham Market: Will consideration of more effective use of the airports ...
Sedley Taylor Road and Luard Roads have had a traffic calming scheme for a year and a half, and it has dramatically reduced rat-running and speeding which used to be a constant problem. However, I have been asked if the single yellow line can be changed to a double, as the two streets are plagued with construction traffic on Saturdays. I have asked the Conservative County Council if they can do this, but they are reluctant to make any changes before the parking review. They may just agree if I can convince them that there is a traffic management need. ...
Whilst on the Yes to Fairer Votes street stall, in Yeovil yesterday, I was invited to attend a "Pizza and Politics Debate" evening at Yetminster last night, which I did. The debate, organized by Mrs Josephine Jones (Lib Dem Councillor ... Continue reading →
Yes, you read it right, there is an organisation, Exodus International, an organisation that promotes and endorses "conversion therapy" for gay people, launched an iPhone app earlier this month. The Exodus app is intended to reach tech-savvy young adults, and deliver this dangerous message: you can be "freed from homosexuality" and have your sexual orientation "cured" if you're LGBT. One, I have never heard such crap in all my life, you cannot be cured if you don't have a disease that needs curing. Being gay is not a disease, believe me. Michael Jones of Change.org explains; Apple has been a ...
Spotted this morning during a break, in North London a LadyBird . In other news Britain goes to war against Libya, still as extraordinary as spotting a Ladybird in March is, I don't expect the UK to be attacking Robert Mugabe's zimbabwe any time soon.
or, "A long post about short people". Randy Newman's Short People was a surprise hit in 1977. Randy's way of parodying prejudice is to write in character. Even with the over-the-top caricature in the song, it wasn't always taken as intended. There was widespread criticism for the extremely negative picture it painted of the "vertically challenged". Here's Randy giving a solo performance: I'll get back to the height thing later. Let's talk about the circumstances of birth for a bit. Let's talk about privileges It's not the done thing, talking about one's privileges. It needs to be done sometimes, though. ...
I've campaigned for electoral reform for as long as I can remember. I'm both President of DAGGER (Democratic Action Group for Gaining Electoral Reform) and the Liberal Democrat Group of the Electoral Reform Society, so you can imagine how I felt when I found out that we have a chance to change our outdated, broken electoral system and replace it with something better. Let's be clear: AV may not be perfect, but it IS better and fairer than First Past the Post. Even the 'No2AV' campaign know that, which is why they've resorted to making things up rather than engaging ...
I've started dabbling in guest posting over at The Dabbler, kicking off with a review of one of my favourite books, Robert Littell's The Defection of AJ Lewinter: [IMG: The Defection of AJ Lewinter by Robert Littell] Cold War espionage novels make for a crowded field and one in which the elegant conversations of The Defection of AJ Lewinter has been unjustly forgotten. In part that may well be because the book elegantly builds to a fantastic last line - but a last line that one cannot really retell without giving away the whole book. Nor can one really appreciate ...
The Scottish Parliament election is hotting up, finally the journalists are starting to talk about it but the political parties have been working on this for a long time now. In Dunfermline the Labour Party are keen to take the seat back from the Liberal Democrats Jim Tolson, who won the seat in 2007. They are so desperate to win it that they are on their second candidate already! Following the announcement of their second candidate, Councillor Alex Rowley, the local Labour Party produced a slightly odd sized tabloid and are asking voters how they will be voting on May ...
A Pan-international effort has begun in Libya. American, European and Arab nations implemented military strikes throughout the night and likely to intensify operations over the next few days. This is only the beginning and, tragically, will last for many years.... ... Continue reading →
New waste collection measures are being put in place to help residents in St Albans City and District increase their recycling rate to 60% of all household waste by 2015. The measures form part of an action plan agreed by St Albans City and District Council's Cabinet on March 8 that is designed to help the District achieve the Council's new recycling target for household waste. They build on the success of the Council's "twin bin" service under which householders have been provided with a black wheeled bin for refuse, a green wheeled bin for green waste, including food, garden ...
Quite an interesting position to be in... as in the Chinese curse definition of interesting! Both the local and national Lib Dems are looking for a futile gesture at this stage to raise the whole tone of the war and are encouraging me to pop over to Bremen in a crate and not come back. I've even been given the crate! However, if anything it's quite liberating to not have to answer to anyone or follow orders anymore. On the upside, I now have a far better idea of who my friends are in the local party. Not that many ...
As we approach the end of the first year of coalition government it is worth assessing the balance sheet in respect of education. Can we as Liberal Democrats be pleased or dismayed at what has happened in education? The two obvious big events provide contrasting pictures. On the one hand there has been the tuition fees debacle, and on the other, the Pupil Premium success. But, there has been much more to consider; new forms of academies; additional schools; changes to the ways schools are funded; abolition of EMAs; and of Quangos such as the GTCE and TDA; provision for ...
Three cheers for Channel 4 for signing up to the Memorandum of Agreement with Trans Media Watch. The agreement was signed by Channel 4 at an event last Monday and is the brainchild of Trans Media Watch – a group that works to ensure that fair and accurate portrayals of transgender people are used in the media. Bt signing, Channel 4 has committed to 'accuracy, dignity and respect' in its portrayal of transgender people and to ensure that transgender people in the media are treated with the same respect as everyone else. Trans Media Watch make it clear that this ...
Is it right that governments can be formed by a political party with three out of five voters preferring its opponents ? That's exactly what happened, for example, in 1974 when Labour won an absolute parliamentary majority with less than forty per cent of the vote. Our outdated "first past the post" voting system consistently produces governments that are supported by only a minority of voters. No wonder people feel that their votes don't count. It must be time for us to have a fair proportional voting system, as already exists in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. At ...
Party conference in Sheffield saw the publication of Delivering Localism, a pamphlet from the Liberal Democrat Local Government Association Group which lays out the detailed policies being enacted by government to free up local councils and give them more power. It's very reliant on long lists of bullet points at times but it has some excellent content and is well worth a look through. Oh, and Nick Clegg even uses "community politics" in the foreword; a response, so I hear, to my post on the matter. Ah, the power of blogging [IMG: :-)] Click on the icon below to view ...
This e-mail from Nick Clegg was sent to Party members before the air strikes on Libya began last night but I thought I'd post it anyway. I am worried about the action and I just hope that it will save and protect lives in Libya. When a leader tells his own people that he's coming to get them and they won't be shown mercy, I do feel that it would be wrong to stand by and just let him commit genocide. It calls for urgent action and the international community has already been dithering for long enough. That's not to ...
How to Tie a Full Windsor and Half Windsor Knot | T.M.Lewin Community. Finally a link to help some friends tie their ties using knots other than the 'schoolboy knot'. Filed under: Blogging
broadcast anniversaries 20 March 1965: broadcast of "The Centre", sixth episode of the story we now call The Web Planet. The Doctor and Vicki are captured by the Animus; but Ian and the Optera attack from below, and Barbara and the Menoptera from above, and Barbara destroys it. 20 March 1971: broadcast of second episode of The Claws of Axos. The British are determined to control the world's supply of Axonite; the Axons, however, are a parasitic organism intending to suck the planet of all its energy.
6 months in training and time for Fleet Moss. And as it was such a beautiful, dry spring day - it was time to bring out the Roubaix. I had acquired the bike 4 months previous on ebay. It had cost someone £3,500 new in early 2008, and he had recently upgraded bike with £800 new wheels - evidently perfect for climbing. Mine for £850. Result. I rode smoothly up the 1:6 by home to leave Nidderdale under a cool spring early morning sun and meet the Cappuccino guys and headed off deep in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. First ...
PREACHER | www.andrewrilstone.com I find Rilstone's white on black blog almost unreadable but his prose well worth the effort, as with this skewering of Melanie Philips. (tags: religion)
Visitors to the Conser Customer Access Point on Front Street are now abe to view one of the five Sheila Mackie paintings which the County Council inherited from Derwentside District Council. As part of the process of clearing the Civic Centre for demolition, the five paintings were taken into store and I've been working with officersof the council to have them restored to the Consett area, the area where Sheila lived and worked. As well as establishing an international reputation Sheila had a great many admirers locally, many of whom developed their artistic skills under her guidance at Blackfyne School. ...
...for your weekend delectation, probably the best punk song to come out of Scotland. Starring the even then outrageously fay Richard Jobson and the late great Stuart Adamson on guitar. Ahoy!
Despite my fears the west finally showed some backbone, managed to bring the arab league with them and stopped the authoritarian powers of China and Russia using their vetos. But military intervention may be too late and the chaotic scenes of the rebels shooting down their own planes (apparently) is a sign of the confusion that exists on the ground. But it is a good sign and Cameron's stress on the legality of it is both significant and a reminder of the short cuts the previous regime were prepared to take when putting our armed forces in harm's way.
I called round to see someone who had asked for my help yesterday. I was putting out our March leaflet at the time so it was easy to knock on the door. I was invited in and I mentioned that he had not added any comments to my blog. He has my email address and can email me if he wishes me to add any comments. I went on to tell him that I had gone to two councillors and one council officer for him and I passed on the information that I had been given. He also mentioned another ...
IN THE end, it was easier than anyone thought or even hoped it might be. The United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Thursday evening in New York had been a long time coming, but since it represented a serious step change in collective international attitudes towards Libya, it was by no means easy to deliver.
