I was very sad the learn of the death today of the legendary Eddie Turnbull. One of the great Hibs "Famous Five" forward line who won Hibs three Scottish League titles and were the first team to compete in Europe, Turnbull went on to manage the side in the 70's. That era, of Turnbulls Tornado's, was when I first started supporting Hibs. The team was packed with class and gave a Celtic side, who at the time were among the very best in Europe, a really good run for their money. The flair they played with and the talent he ...
Some scenes from our wonderful Easter weekend in North Devon. Heddon's Mouth is bottom right and the rest are in and around Watermouth Bay.
A couple of comments from the latest Liberal Democrat Voice survey typify many reactions to the idea of an elected Head of State: Can't stand the idea of a President since he/she would be political, therefore divisive and Better than a possibly political and corrupt president There's a simple answer to those points. There is only one country connected by land to the UK. It's called Ireland. They have a President. You may know the last two office holders. Mary Robinson. Mary McAleese. They have been quite successful.
See this CNN report on the Bahraini security forces taking over the hospital in the capital, Manama, and dragging patients out of their beds. I have been unable to get the Foreign Office to adopt a more proactive stance on the crackdown against the Shi'a majority in Bahrain, aided and abetted by the Saudis. Our attitude to the gross and relentless persecution of the people demands action by the outside world, but particularly the British and Americans, because the hereditary dictators would listen to them. Thank goodness the Crown Prince was disinvited to the wedding yesterday!
Sad news reaches me that Eddie 'Ned' Turnbull has died at the grand old age of 88. Eddie Turnbull is one of the greatest footballers Scotland (and the UK) has ever produced. His record speaks for itself - he was inside left in Hibernian's great 'famous five' forward line and between 1946 and 1959 he played 349 games for Hibs scoring 150 goals, winning three championships - including back to back championships in 1951 and 52 (the first time a non old firm team did this). He was the first British player to score a goal in the European cup ...
The other day we parked in Shaw Church car park, Newbury, to visit couple of our daughters' teachers at nearby Trinity School. When we came back to the car, this little notice had been put under the wipers. It may seem a small thing but it meant a lot to me. What it means is that, well over a decade after agreeing to a green travel plan, in order to build their HQ at Shaw, Vodafone are still very energetically sticking to their commitments.
I'm glad to see that despite the sad loss of Elisabeth Sladen there remains a certain amount of Sarah Jane material for me to absorb, even before the BBC decide what to do with the already filmed material for the fifth series. This is a cracking good yarn, told (like all the SJA audios) by Sladen as SJS in the first person, about an alien menace which controls people by persuading them to download it. That basically tells you all you need to know; a neat little parable for our times, with decent character time for both Sarah and Luke ...
TweetIn an article just published on the Guardians News Wesbite found here it's reported that following on from Vince Cables remarks that Chris Huhne is to call for "a progressive majority" of the Green party, The Liberal Democrats, and The Labour Party to outvote the tories on AV. Now the idea of a progressive majority is a nice one, a purely romantic indulgence, and of course I want AV to pass, I've always been a huge advocate of electoral reform, but including the Labour party in the progressive majority really sticks in my craw. I've already shown in a previous ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. 1. English Defence League Most people will be familiar with this organisation, which seems to be composed entirely of right wing thugs and who seem to cause problems wherever they go. Recently the membership details for this organisation were made public. However there are errors and a resident of Bramcote, who is an upstanding member of the community with no links to the EDL whatsoever has been wrongly identified as one of their leaders. Apparently someone with a ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats will expose an example of the waste and inefficiency of Labour and Plaid Cymru in government on each day of the Welsh general election campaign. Following the expensive reorganisation of the NHS in 2009, it has been revealed by a Freedom Information Request that top NHS executives who were moved into new jobs following the reorganisation have had their six-figure salaries protected for up to 10 years. More than 120 former NHS directors and managers have been redeployed elsewhere in the health service and the Welsh Assembly Government following the changes negotiated with trade unions. But ...
"Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have already claimed a few victims during this election campaign, mostly from inexperienced candidates who have not thought through the consequences of their actions." Peter Black has the details. Elizabeth Sidney is remembered by Julie Horten on Liberal Democrat Voice. Tim Oliver on Politics Student believes the Liberal Democrats should embrace classical liberalism: "The party's divisions have precluded the development of a strong ideological base - of a base that generates a clear ideological framework from which they can build a vision of how they want the country to be if they are in ...
As this blog is largely concerned with moaning about the views of Guardian columnists, I thought I would give the newspaper some praise for a change. The Review section that came with today's paper had two things I found immensely pleasing. The first was an article on one of my favourite artists, Eric Ravilious: Much of his subject-matter is pastoral and unassuming, and he was a virtuoso at capturing everyday scenes and little details from English provincial life. Among the sequences of his paintings were those featuring, in his words, "lighthouses, rowing-boats, beds, beaches, greenhouses". Even when he became an ...
It has been a busy Bank Holiday weekend. Yesterday saw the big Royal wedding. Whatever may be said about the monarchy, it was clear that at its very base yesterday, what we had was the marriage of two human beings who are clearly in love with each other. This is not the shot-gun sham of a marriage that this country witnessed 30 years before when Williams's parents walked down the aisle at St Paul's Cathedral. I stuffed election envelopes as I watched it with my mother and it was an uplifting spectacle. So good luck to them both - I ...
I've been doing some planning for my project in the last few days, so I finally plucked up the courage to email my (new) tutor this afternoon with an outline of what I'm going to put on my TMA03 project proposal form. I really hope that she approves, as I don't want to go through the planning process again before the 18th May deadline. If she thinks my topic area and approach are suitable subjects, I'll be using the discursive psychological perspective and focussing on the way that salespeople define and redefine their professional identities. While there's a lot of ...
Taken this afternoon from Marchfield Terrace, while campaigning for Alison Burns!
Because of the May Day holiday this coming Monday, my surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre will not be held. However, as Blackness Primary School is not used as a polling station, my Thursday surgery at the school will be held on Thursday at 6.15pm as usual.
Vicky has sensibly decided to leave the UK to avoid the adoption machine. It remains the case that a majority of the children that leave care aged under 5 do so through adotion.Hence if her baby had been taken the care she would have faced the likelihood that it would have been adopted.An evil evil system.The link is to her story in the Sunday Telegraph.The system is more evil because the
Take it away Dan:
Me: The city's changed a fair bit in the last thirty years. Driver: It surely has. (Indicates the junction of Ormeau Road and Donegall Pass.) See them traffic lights? In 1973 I rammed through them lights and slammed on the brakes, because there was two men pointing a gun at my head. They called me up from the depot at [St] George's Market, cause they knew they'd get a Catholic taxi driver that way, and then they pointed a gun at my head and told me to take them to Sandy Row for my 'last drink'. But I slammed on ...
Congratulations to Will & Kate on their wedding! Well, here we go last few days of campaigning & what's known as the last or final push. Lets call it last as final is too final, come to think of it so is last! As I meet local residents, in the last few days of the campaign, its clear voters understand the issues & they appreciate the way the Liberal Democrats have fought to make Bristol a first class city, even in a time of financial constraint and even cuts, Lib Dems have proved that they are the party that can ...
Swap your old stuff for new stuff next Saturday. Bring along your unwanted but still useable items to pass on to others, or take something others have left. It's like Freecycle without the Internet or a cash-free bring & buy! No electrical goods and portable items only please, eg books, clean clothes, shoes and household items. If you have something large (eg a sofa) please bring along a photo, short description and your contact details. This is part of a Family Fun Day being organized by the Queen Edith's Community Forum and Cambridge City Council, and will take place outside ...
MAGAZINE EDITORIAL CHRISTAN AID WEEK 15-21 MAY 2011 Enclosed in this magazine is a little red envelope-that might not seem very exciting, but there is something very special about this little red envelope-it is an invitation to get involved in something alongside millions of others; it is an opportunity to give, pray or take action; it is a calling to look beyond ourselves make a difference and for some of the world's poorest communities, this little red envelope represents hope. It is, of course, a Christian Aid envelope. Every year, people of this benefice give generously -some financially, others prayerfully ...
The Middle East is full of dictatorships where arbitrary arrest and detention, and too often torture, is commonplace. Israel does not like to be associated with these countries. It should be. There are two faces to Israel. One is seen ... Continue reading →
Only time for a quick review of this one, the final book in Stross' Merchant Princes series, which I found a bit disappointing. The series as a whole has been pretty interesting, but has suffered from a certain amount of narrative sprawl, as sub-plots spawn sub-plots, which makes it somewhat to pick up the threads again at the start of each book. This is the last book in the series, but it feels more like it ends at a convenient point rather than reaches a climax – maybe he's leaving it open for a series of sequels – and I ...
The importance of footwear cannot be underestimated! My father will be proud to hear this as he worked his way up a large footwear company for 3o years. Yet during the election campaign ; the state of your feet can be make or break. With the correct cushioning, your shoes can protect vibration up through to the limbs. Neglect your shoes and you end up with blisters. So this year, a la posh spice have been sporting a combination of footwear. First place goes to my Merrett low level walking shoes from Taunton Leisure. A world beater in comfort, support ...
Hilarious video featuring... cats! Plus it's all about why AV is awesome. My main reason for voting Yes to AV is now to ensure I can rank Reform Cat and Battle Cat by preference as it'd be shame for either one of them not to get my support... ;) If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist
[IMG: Frederik Pohl - Gateway - book cover] Frederik Pohl's Gateway has the rare distinction of winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards, that is both the award given by critics and by readers (in addition to also winning the John W Campbell Award). That popular and critical acclaim deservedly recognises the skill of a novel that weaves a story set in space with the exploration of the psychology of one of the main characters. Chapters alternate between sessions with a robotic psychiatrist and accounts of space exploration. It is best to gloss over the question of why robots are ...
Over the past few weeks, when talking to local residents, one question keeps coming up from the people in the Whalley Road and Woone Lane areas: "what is happening to Primrose Lodge?" When Beck Developments put in their plans for housing around the Primrose Mill site they also said that they were committed to: "the restoration of the former Primrose Lodge and adjacent woodland to create new public amenity areas." Council officers tell me that Beck Developments have commissioned a variety of surveys including one on water voles, one on otters and one on the arboriculture (although you don't need ...
We want to see a Council that delivers value for money so we can protect those services that matter most. The Conservative administration are planning to spend £11m on a makeover of the Council Offices. Is a new carpet in the Council chamber an important service? Does the Council leader need a new luxury desk right now? No we don't think so either. This was the same Conservatives who spent £80k
I decided not to cover the proceedings. This is because this event was attended by councillors and politicos and not by many undecided voters. The event at times descended into an argument where each side of the debate were not going to waiver. As Phillip Lee appears to of believed some of the lies told by the No campaign. This was a shame, although he is a good speaker and made a good case for no. Fiona McTaggart, Labour MP for Slough did a good and fair job for Yes. She admitted that the system was not perfect and admitted ...
This week The Economist has come out for a No vote in a leader on the UK's referendum to the voting system. It argues that AV is no improvement on FPTP, so we should vote no. It wants the system to be more proportional, with 20% of parliament's seats reserved selected by proportional representation (PR), and the rest on FPTP. It dismisses the argument that a Yes vote would make further change more difficult, without really saying why, beyond "It might exhaust the national appetite for reform." This is pretty weak stuff, but on two counts the paper has undermined ...
with Andrew Stunell MP, Cllr Kirsten Bayes and Katesgrove Lib Dem Candidate Margaret McNeill Outside a former empty home on Christchurch Road in Reading Over the past four years I have led the campaign in Reading to cut the number of privately-owned homes that are empty for 6 months on more. It is one of the local issues I feel very passionate about. As Lead Member for Housing I am acutely aware that in Reading we face a big shortage of affordable housing with thousands of people stuck for months and in many cases years to get access ...
Magnificently pointless and yet with a beautiful finish:
Tragedy is always more real if there's a personal connection, so I was deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of 15 people in Marrakech, Morrocco, as the result of what looks like a terrorist bomb — a cafe, Argana, in the city's buzzing Djemaa el-Fna square was targeted. We enjoyed a fantastic six days in Marrakech back in 2007. I don't think we ever ate at Argana, though it appears in a few of my holiday snaps: [IMG: Your pictures and fotos in a slideshow on MySpace, eBay, Facebook or your website!] [IMG: view all pictures of this slideshow] ...
One of the things about Canadians, that I noticed in the first few months I lived there, is that they all knew more about my country than I knew about theirs. In particular, Canadians always seem to know the distance between London and Edinburgh; it must be on their national school curriculum or something. Some ...
What a week we've just had with the fantastic Royal Wedding of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. With only a week to go 'til our big day next Saturday, there is such a lot to be done. Fortunately, we have a willing team of helpers who are very able and are ...
I met Peter Moss on a handful of occasions over the years and cannot claim to have known him at all well. He was a nice man and a very good writer. The news of his death is an absolute tragedy. My thoughts are with his family and friends, and also with everyone else affected in the same atrocity, in which so many people have been murdered.
Another of the late 1990s BBC anthologies of short stories about the first eight Doctors. Standouts for me: "64 Carlisle Street", by Gary Russell, featuring the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo; "Special Weapons", by Paul Leonard, with Mel and the Seventh Doctor; and "Good Companions" by Peter Anghelides, featuring Tegan and a future Doctor with red hair. Wooden spoon to Gareth Roberts, whose "Return of the Spiders" with the Fourth Doctor, K9 and Romana is really awful; Roberts can do much better than this and usually does.
Much has been written about the forthcoming local elections, and how Ed Miliband needs to win big. But in large parts of the North, you'd be hard pushed to know there's an election on, including here in Sunderland. I live in a marginal Tory/Labour ward. Labour won their first seat here last year, and this year the former Tory PPC is defending his seat against a strong Labour challenge. An exciting battle, you might think – but I haven't seen a single poster up, and after a frenetic start, even the leafleting seems to have dried to a trickle. This ...
One of those famous books which I had never actually read - I did leaf through Hunt Emerson's graphic novel adaptation a few years back but wasn't really engaged, and actually my memory is that he gets one very important part of the story completely wrong, which is that Sir Clifford Chatterley is only a few years older than the young Lady Chatterley. It is a good book - Constance, stuck in a hasty marriage with a man who has been disabled in the war, finds lust and then love with Mellors, the gamekeeper; she basically grows out of the ...
No sooner had preconceptions been shaken by the surprise news of a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas than another shock was delivered to the Israeli system. The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is to be permanently ... Continue reading →
"The trouble with monarchy, however, is that, by definition, no one can stop the Prince from becoming King Charles III, because the British are not allowed to vote for their head of state. Charles Windsor constantly interferes in politics and ... Continue reading →
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."See WikipediaPetition and assemblyThe right to petition the government extends to petitions of all three branches of
i) broadcast anniversaries 30 April 1966: broadcast of "A Holiday for the Doctor", first episode of the story we now call The Gunfighters. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrive in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 in search of a dentist. 30 April 2005: broadcast of Dalek. The Doctor and Rose encounter a captive Dalek in 2012 America. 30 April 2011: broadcast of Day of the Moon. ii) date almost specified in canon 30 April, some time in the 1970s: most of the events of The Dæmons (1971). Two more months to go of this project. I'm very grateful to David Haddock ...
According to Tory Transport spokesman at the County Council, quoted in this week's Oxford Times, it is perfectly easy to drive a large lorry through the narrow roads of Wytham to get to Wolvercote when restrictions are placed on access to Wolvercote from Oxford for planned bridge repairs. The Councillor justifies this remark by noting that he used to drive lorries and has been through Wytham. I wonder if that is any time in the last 30 years, when the use of vehicles on our crowded roads has increased dramatically, when people are far more aware of the need to ...
Why this was not on more leaflets is a mystery. It explains the weakness of the current systen perfectly.
Another letter from the mysterious J Lake in support of Labour published in the Post. Who could this masked fighter for the oppressed be? Surely not well known Labour member and activist Jill Lake? It couldn't be, for that Jill would no doubt be proud to lend her name to the fight against the forces of evil.Come on Jill, what have you got to hide? I don't have access to any personal data but even I know that you live in Alexandra Road, like I know the local Labour chair lives in New Road. These are not secrets so why ...
gominokouhai on the Arsebishop of Canterbury's Easter Message Really, really worth reading the whole thing. (tags: religion doctorwho) All I'm saying on That Subject (tags: funny)
Following the expensive reorganisation of the NHS in 2009, it has been revealed by a Freedom Information Request that top NHS executives who were moved into new jobs following the reorganisation have had their six-figure salaries protected for up to 10 years. More than 120 former NHS directors and managers have been redeployed elsewhere in the health service and the Welsh Assembly Government following the changes negotiated with trade unions. But they will have their salaries, which are as high as £195,000 a year in some cases, protected for years. Peter Black, South Wales West Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Candidate ...
Jack and young relatives will be delivering 'Yes' letters this weekend
Extracts from a note from county council staff The County Council's Cabinet agreed to the purchase of the current University of Hertfordshire building on Hatfield Road in order to accommodate a new school in St Albans city centre. You may also be aware that the government has made clear that they expect all new schools to be Free schools or academies. We are working closely with and supporting a group of parents and educationalists who are promoting a Free school at this location. This group is headed by a retired headteacher of an outstanding central St Albans Primary School and ...
Thanks to @daveph for this awesome picture, I can't say it any clearer than this.
Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have already claimed a few victims during this election campaign, mostly from inexperienced candidates who have not thought through the consequences of their actions. It can happen to all of us. As the BBC reports, transgressors include Cardiff Central Tory candidate Matt Smith, who was reprimanded by his party after comparing the left-wing Respect party to paedophiles, and Joe Lock, who is Labour's Anglesey candidate, and who apologised on Thursday for postings he made last year about the former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The person most unlikely to be caught out doing something ...
A load of my friends asked me yesterday why I was voting 'Yes to AV'. They were worried that a YES vote would make it easier for the BNP to get elected. I explained how the BNP was campaigning for a 'NO' vote, that they were more likely to be elected under FPTP. I hope I convinced them. Then I came across this video. It makes the point simply and clearly. I've just sent it to them. Hope it does the trick. Mind you, I think they could have chosen a slightly more positive voice over..
[IMG: I iz updatesing my status!]
The service began with an introit, then a hymn, and then a dignitary (the Dean?) launched off with "Dearly beloved..." No "Good morning everyone, nice to see so many here. Hope you didn't find the long wait too tedious..." and other vapourings with which today's parsons seem to find it necessary to begin services. There were plenty of "thee's" "thou's" and "unto's"; the prince of the blood was "this man" who was to be married to "this woman", thus showing that the greatest he and the least he are entitled to the same language in these key rites of passage. ...
I'm not a big one for princesses and such, as you can probably guess from the list. Irene Adler - Sherlock Holmes and derivatives. Allegedly the daughter of King Ludwig of Bavaria and entangled with the King of Bohemia, I'm calling Irene royalty. She's an adventuress and she's smarter than Sherlock Holmes. Who can fail to be impressed by a woman who is generally acknowledged to be smarter than the smartest man on the planet? Delgado!Master - Doctor Who. What? He's the king of Atlantis! He totally counts! Princess Smartypants. If you've got a couple of minutes, listen to Rob ...
Kitty has just pointed out to me that Kate Middleton today became first Royal bride marrying her groom at Westminster Abbey to fail to put her bouquet on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Wikipedia was claiming that she will place her bouquet there tomorrow as is tradition, but this is confusing me: Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother placed her bouquet on the tomb on her way to the altar, and every other bride to marry there placed hers down on her way out. It does not actually seem traditional to leave the bouquet there after all the affairs of the ...
On the 21st June 2009 I wrote about the armorial bearings (the coat of arms) for Morecambe. This coat of arms was created in 1928 for the town of Morecambe and was used by the football club until about a year ago when Morecambe FC felt obliged to change it because they didn't have copyright. I have read reports that they felt permission lay with the town council. I wonder if they asked for permission. Now it is election time and the Morecambe Bay Independent Party also uses the same logo. Well to be more exact, they changed the original ...
