I am really passionate about caring for vulnerable people. It is part of my make up and of my liberal values. It has underpinned much of what I have done while in power. I am proud we have cut accommodation waiting lists for people with learning difficulties and below is a statement about a new unit for people with autism and learning difficulties which the Lib Dem led council has initiated. A £4 million specialist centre providing essential support to people with autism and learning difficulties is set to open in Edinburgh. The unit, which will be built on the ...
I was in the Goldmark Gallery in Uppingham on Saturday and rather fell in love with their School Prints series: Towards the end of the Second World War Brenda Rawnsley and her husband Derek had the idea of bringing contemporary art to young children who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to see 'good' work. Within a few years Brenda had set up School Prints Ltd to sell original lithographs to schools and had commissioned several of the most important living artists for her scheme. Brenda Rawnsley sought the advice and assistance of the art historian Herbert Read and ...
Tonight's episode of Emmerdale dealt with the assisted suicide of Jackson Walsh and I have to admit it was a very emotional and well written episode. Jackson became a quadriplegic after his van was hit by a train and he struggled to cope with not being able to live life like he did before the accident. He felt he would rather be dead than have to live the rest of his life with other people having to do everything for him. All he could do was move his head so someone had to do things like wash and feed him, ...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market: In every speech on local government I have made in your Lordships' House in the 11 years that I have been here, I have called for government to introduce the power of general competence. I am going to have to think about something else now because I am really pleased to see that the Government have finally brought it forward. I am also very pleased to see the abolition of the Standards Board. It is a body which, while well intentioned, in practice led to a constant stream of vexatious and often trivial claims which ...
Back in 1978, I really liked Radio 1. Now I don't. It's an age thing! But I heard this on Radio 1 yesterday whilst trying to find Radio Scotland's Newsdrive on the car radio on my way to my Monday surgery at the Mitchell Street Centre. Not heard this classic by Samantha Mumba in ages, but its absolutely superb ...
BBC News reports:An NHS trust in Leicestershire has said a contract to build part of a new hospital has been terminated. NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland had been using construction firm Modcon UK Ltd for the Day Case Unit at St Luke's Hospital in Market Harborough. Work had faced a number of delays and health bosses issued an ultimatum last month. The trust said it was now taking legal advice over the possibility of recouping costs from Modcon.Local Lib Dem councillor Phil Knowles tells this blog:"The platitudes and I'm sorry's in the trust press release will have been sincerely made ...
I spent part of Monday in Glasgow with the "day job" - a dreich day if ever there was one as this photo of Argyle Street (above) shows! On return, and after my ward surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre, I attended the last planning meeting for the West End Sports and Heritage Association, before its public launch on the 15th. With thanks to the City Council, we now have a professional launch flyer that you can download by either clicking on the headline above or by going to http://tinyurl.com/WESHA.Tonight, I attended the Friends of Magdalen Green ...
Adam Curtis's programme All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace came to an end this Monday. Curtis makes fascinating documentaries and his latest is as intriguing as his previous work. He tells us things about people we know but never knew happened to them and introduces figures we have never heard of who have made significant contributions to political events. His thesis in this series is that a combination of political theories, computers and the Cold War has led to all of us to see ourselves as machines that have given up on the idea of making the world ...
Tue 7th
21:16
Forcing outlets to make bigger profit margins on alcohol... surely there's gotta be a better way?
Willie Rennie, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland (in case anyone happened to have missed that information) has announced that the Liberal Democrats will be supporting the SNP with their policy of minimum alcohol pricing. I have to say I'm surprised about this U-turn, and disappointed by the support it appears to have generated amongst the party - though I was pleased when he said it would be ratified by the conference. Firstly I think this is a poor time to be performing such a policy U-turn, it will come across that in the previous term we ...
The first documentary by Adam Curtis (All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace) a couple of weeks ago was fascinating and timely. It went from the novelist Ayn Rand, via Alan Greenspan, to the doctrine that everything can reach a self-correcting ideal if it is just left alone, watched over by "machines of loving grace". The trouble is that the whole idea is being misinterpreted (see Rachel Sylvester's column today in the Times, behind a paywall) as somehow the philosophy of localism. Not Liberal localism, it isn't. The hands-off approach described by Rachel Sylvester and Adam Curtis is more ...
So reports the Home Office, including a comment from Lynne Featherstone that's good to see about how legislation should not be seen as a magic wand to fix all ills: A new educational institution teaching fashion graduates to design clothes for a diverse range of body shapes has been launched today by equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone. The Centre for Diversity has been created by All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, an initiative founded by Erin O'Connor, Caryn Franklin and Debra Bourne, that works with influential catwalk designers and top industry creatives to celebrate diversity within the fashion industry. Speaking at the ...
"My Papers Are Not In Order, and so I'm not going to the party conference." The Bringer of Tea explains why the row over Cowley Street and the police claiming a veto over who attend the Liberal Democrat Conference really matters. "I don't believe that we have a very good National Health Service but I do believe we have a world beating National Illness Service." Richard Kemp on the limitations of the NHS. ePolitix.com has the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England's reaction to the new natural environment white paper. "The 'war on terror' has been the primary driver ...
To developers! Is it time for the cabinet member for Planning and Infrastructure to resign? Developers were given the green light to build old peoples flats at the former Webbers site in New Road. The original planning application was refused by the Council after Cllr Stuart Parker and I objected see here. However on appeal, a government inspector overturned this decision because the Council
I've gone through quite a political journey so far in my life... It all started in 1997. I had one clear political belief; nationalism is wrong. This lead me to supporting, in so far as a naive 13 year old such as myself could "support", the Tories in that years election (with their unionist ideology of "nationhood" for the UK). After the election I discovered that the Tories were in fact small minded, control freak bigots. I warmed to the New Labour government until September 11th. The reaction (of treating the event as the start of a "war" rather than ...
I'll probably be doing a proper post tonight about Faction Paradox: A Romance In Twelve Parts, and I'll definitely be going through the comments that have piled up over the last few days, but while I'm finishing reading the FP book, some links. Corn Mo, one of my favourite outsider musician songwriters (and one whose ...
This is the final book in the Romanitas trilogy – the first two of which I read last year and wrote about here – though it's worth noting that the first two books have been reissued by a new publisher in advance of Savage City, and there has apparently been some re-editing of them for the new releases. However, as far as I'm aware there have been no changes in the story along the way. Anyway, the full review is after the 'read more' link, and I would warn you not to click it if you haven't read the book ...
Having exposed some very dodgy claims amongst MPs, the Daily Telegraph has a new target, spending by civil servants using departmental credit cards. However, they are meeting quite substantial resistance. It is a familiar pattern. The paper says that the Cabinet Office has refused to give specific information relating to its civil servants, the amounts they have spent and what they have bought. So far, it has only agreed to release the annual totals spent using the cards: An emergency meeting of civil servants from throughout Whitehall has been called and it is understood that they are looking for ways ...
Vince Cable's speech, made yesterday to the GMB Congress, has caused some concern, not least among his fellow Liberal Democrats. That concern has centred on a passage about strikes: We are undoubtedly entering into a difficult period. Cool heads will be required all round. Despite occasional blips, I know that strike levels remain historically low, especially in the private sector. In fact, until March this year the number of days lost through strikes was lower than at any time since 1931. And of course the right to strike is a fundamental principle. On that basis, and assuming this pattern continues, ...
Recently there has been talk of the impending boundary changes. Some of this has been quite alarming for us Liberal Democrats, with the Guardian estimating we'd lose up to 25% of our seats! Personally, I suspect that is merely alarmist, but I thought I'd take a look at how the changes might affect my area. First, what will the changes be? The intent is to reduce the number of seats from 650 to 600. Of these, 596 will be "normal" seats which must be within 5% of 76,641 voters – in other words, between 72,810 and 80,473. As North-West Cambridgeshire ...
...things couldn't get any more surreal and as I was calming down from the shock of seeing a letter from Buckingham Palace in the mail, I came home to another one the day before yesterday. Only this one is more ... Continue reading →
There are two, and only two, mutually exclusive ways in which human beings can meet their needs for survival and development: • the voluntary way, where individuals work, create things, trade with each other through choice to meet those needs they cannot provide for themselves alone and... • the violent way, where they simply take things created the voluntary way from those who have created or otherwise justly acquired them. Franz Oppenheimer, in "The State: Its History and Development viewed Sociologically", calls the former, voluntary, way the "economic means" and the latter, violent, way the "political means". The state, he ...
A North West England Euro-MP has warned Canada to "back off" from demands that no account be taken of the high carbon emissions that result from its development of tar sands for oil production. Liberal Democrat Chris Davies told the ... Continue reading →
...finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. Groucho Marx Silent Harpo with Groucho Marx Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form. Thus said Karl Marx. It is a little some some of the recent comments made over the issue of data storage (notice I say that an not increased security measures) over Liberal Democrat Conference applications. The reason I'm saying that was a conversation I had earlier on Twitter, with Martin Shapland the outgoing chair of Liberal Youth. He'd tweeted "Should I go to #slf conference? Seems a bit too lefty...". Quick ...
[IMG: The cover of Batgirl #1 (due September 2011); Batgirl is wearing a black outfit with yellow bat symbol/gloves and a purple cape lining. She has red hair and a wild grin and is running/jumping exuberantly towards the viewer.] Batgirl #1 cover, due September 2011. Art by Adam Hughes, image from IGN.com I wasn't going to say anything. I wasn't. I was going to wait and see and hope for the best, and believe that they weren't going to do anything too ridiculous with the universe-wide "Reboot" that someone in DC Comics decided was a good idea I didn't want ...
If you are ever in Texas and want to visit the Alamo Drafthouse to take in a movie then you need to understand one thing – they don't like people using their phones whilst a movie is going on. One customer was not amused to this and left the following voicemail for the company after she had been ejected despite being given two warnings: Read the full story over at The Guardian but it is rather amusing. I know where I stand and that is firmly with the cinema. The warnings were given and she still persisted in texting. People ...
Cornwall Council has released another set of responses to queries about payment card spending and there is more information about the Committee of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe. I'm not doubting the efficacy of the organisation or Cornwall's decision to be a member of it. But if I were a resident of Podlaskie region in Poland I might be. Or if I lived in the Midi-Pyrenees region in France. Or the Caras Severin or Calarasi regions of Romania. Tweet
A Gay Girl in Damascus, a popular Syrian blogger, was abducted last night in Damascus. Her outspoken views on the Syrian revolution have made her a target of the security forces. This post, from her cousin, was published last ... Continue reading →
I am fifty [inaudible mumble] tomorrow. Relatives sometimes ask me what I would like for my birthday and I reply with things like 'ties, jacket, Ipad, North American art...'. The usual. This year, though, a real treat: a meeting with Eric Pickles. I have already given the standard response to the organisers: 'You shouldn't have....It's what I've always wanted...' They have even arranged for a large posse of other Lib Dem group leaders to join me to make the hour go swimmingly. Apparently there is no agenda as such. Just an opportunity to put across some messages. But what, in ...
TweetWith permission of the author, one Morgan, who can be found tweeting at @Tweetyaca, I am reproducing a letter that was sent to our local party about the dire response from Andrew Wiseman, Chair of the Federal Conference Committee which can be found on Lib Dem Voice here. Enjoy. Dear Party Chair I have read Mr Wiseman's response and am not satisfied by it at all. I feel it commits a number of logical fallacies & blunders to a weak, preconceived conclusion. 1) This matter is not due to our being in government. We were in coalition for the last ...
I am not a conventional peace campaigner. When it comes to Israel's right to take tough action in its defence, I am sometimes fairly hawkish. Groups like J Street, "the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans", whose 2009 Washington launch conference I had the privilege to attend as a British observer, are some way to the left of me. That said, I am a passionate supporter of all sensible efforts to achieve peace between Israel, the Palestinians and their Arab neighbours, including the latest French effort based on the concept of "two states for two peoples"; the Americans (contrary to ...
Tue 7th
13:54
Guest Post by Jacq Kelly: the violent disappearance of a gay girl in Damascus - how you can help
On 28 April the writer Rachel Shabi (she's awesome by the way so check out her work) tweeted the following: Incredible story from A Gay Girl in Damascus http://bit.ly/flICZ7 Read it - it made me cry, for a number of reasons. If you don't have time right now then basically, in a nutshell, it's this: the account of a Damascus-based lesbian (her name is Amina) who lives with her family. They are woken by the security services in the middle of the night. They come for Amina citing some of the things she has written in Arabic and in English ...
Congratulations to Mark Inskip who was the winner of my prize draw for new people signing up to my monthly email newsletter about the Liberal Democrats. A copy of Whatever Next? is in the post to Mark and if you're one of those who missed out, you can always get the book from Amazon instead.
Tue 7th
13:04
Liberal Democrat Federal Conference Arrangements - Outrage at FCC's agreement to increased security
I feel very, very strongly about the illiberal arrangements made between the Federal Conference Committee and the police regarding the party's Federal Conference in Birmingham in September. Many, many members have expressed their outrage online as to what they see as a) a breach of Conference Standing Order 6.2 (which can be read on the ...
In the centre of Newcastle, atop a gritstone pillar, stands a statue of Charles Grey, the architect of the Reform Act of 1832. A native son of Alnwick, Grey was Prime Minister between 1830 and 1834. The Reform Act abolished rotten boroughs and extended the franchise from 400,000 to 650,000 people. The 2nd Earl Grey ...
Yep, Cornwall Council has been embarrassed again by a Freedom of Information request which has found that the Council spent £220.76 on calling the speaking clock and £3,724.75 calling directory inquiries. Both these sums suggest a waste of money, but the Council says it discovered the spending last July and had instituted a block on calling such numbers from council phones (including council mobiles) by October. We can criticise them for failing to have a block in place before (as authorities like Exeter did), but they have done something about it and no more premium rate bills will be run ...
Lord Tyler writes over at e-Politix today about the way Question Time is conducted in the Lords: As the House's membership has increased in recent months, Question Time has become an ever more farcical free-for-all. There are a large number of Members who wish to contribute at any one time. Newcomers are rightly mystified by the absurd way in which one has to jockey for the opportunity to speak. You have to pop up and start bellowing, 'My Lords', in the hope that your bellow will be more thundersome than those of competing Members, or that some Lordly recognition of ...
I am really delighted to see that Secretary of State for Scotland Mike Moore has stated that there should be a second referendum on the terms of an independence settlement. I'm not easily scared. Actually, scrap that, I'm terrified of anything a tiny fraction of my size that wriggles on the ground on its belly, and that's just for starters. My point on this, though, is that when Alex Salmond said that there wouldn't be a second referendum in the final tv debate a couple of days before the election, it shook me a bit. I wrote about this at ...
There's an interesting discussion going on in the comments on this post of Jennie's about whether there's a need for a 'radical liberal' group of some description. This reminded me of this post I wrote last year on the same issue, even if I got myself a bit trapped in semantics about left, right and centre. So, given that five or six people in a comment thread think it's a good idea – hey, the SDP started with less than that – I think it's time to take a step forward from 'that'd be a good idea' and actually do ...
TweetIn a word, no. There are some strong arguments being put through from both sides, and on the whole the debate has been good natured. That's the way it should be, debate is healthy when there is respect on both ... Continue reading →
So Ryan Giggs isn't the squeaky clean footballer that has adorned the walls of both little boys and little girls for the best part of two decades. He is in fact a bit of an arse. I couldn't care less about his personal life as I don't know him personally but is that right and there are certainly more guilty people in this story. Firstly I'll put a quick line about whether I should care or not. It is a tricky one because he's done nothing illegal as far as I can tell. He has not broken the rules of ...
The flagship policy of the Prime Minister; the 'Big Society'. It's an idea I admire and respect because the influence of the state needs to be reduced. But, there is a significant problem with the policy: nobody can articulate it ... Continue reading →
[IMG: David Ward] David Ward, MP for Bradford East, is the latest Liberal Democrat Parliamentarian to join Twitter. He's @DavidWardMP and his very early steps look promising, including retweeting and use of hashtags. David's success in winning Bradford East at the general election is one of the quiet successes the party could learn more from. There were many seats in apparently similar situations up against Labour, but David Ward was one of the few to actually gain the seat when the voters were all counted. You can follow all 33 of the Liberal Democrat MPs on Twitter via the list ...
Last night I attended the "Better Community, Better Life Art Project" held at the Liverpool Academy of Arts. Linaker Primary School has been involved in an authority wide art project related to their links with China. The work of 10 schools was exhibited, the exhibition being open to the public from 7th to 16th June. I am proud to be a governor at Linaker. The standard of the work was excellent.
I suspect that my opinions on the NHS differ from most other people in the Country. I don't believe that we have a very good National Health Service but I do believe we have a world beating National Illness Service. ... Continue reading →
The Labour Party are in a bit of a financial mess. They raised a total of £4,054,277.48 in the first quarter of the year: £2,289,602.30 of that came from Trade Unions, £1,692,517.43 came from public subsidy (short money,) £42,617.75 from affiliations, £38,540 came from private donors Simply put, the Labour party are now 99% funded by ...
After all the pain the Lib Dems went through with the student funding policy, the least we could expect is that it would do what it said on the tin. But that has turned out not to be the case. ... Continue reading →
Dear Editor, Amber Rudd is right to 'face down her own government' over the proposed cuts to legal aid, as you reported last week. All power to the elbows of the campaigners marching on the Town Hall [on Friday 3 June]. Effective legal representation is a key civil right, and it should be available to ...
WARNING: This post contains references to swear words and links to the Daily Mail. If you are likely to be offended by either, please do not read on. My friend Dave Boyle is being attacked for some of the tweets he wrote in the aftermath of AFC Wimbledon's promotion to the football league. Dave is the boss of the fan ownership organisation Supporters Direct and was a huge help in the establishment of AFC Wimbledon, the club of which I am a huge fan. Leading the charge is Charles Sale of the Daily Mail. Mr Sale describes Dave as a ...
According to the Independent newspaper Cameron is going to make a back me or sack me speech about the NHS in which he is expected to repeat the old message that 'no change is not an option'. Clegg comes out with the same type of remark. But what does the phrase actually mean? In truth not a lot. Any organisation (except apparently the House of Commons given the dreadful NO2AV campaign) that takes the view that no change is necessary is in serious trouble. What actually matters is what change,by whom,how & when. I have not seen any persuasive case ...
If you think any local company, group or individual should be entered for one of these awards, please get in touch with them and encourage them to enter via the website. The link to the application criteria and form is here .
Nicky Qazi, a good personal friend and political colleague, died in hospital last week aged 82. Nicky was one of those unsung heroes of the Liberal Democrats who give over a large part of their life to voluntarily pounding the streets, campaigning to spread the cause they believe in however unfashionable it may be at times. I joined the SDP wing of the Alliance in Chesterfield in 1983 and soon got to know and admire Nicky a near neighbour who had joined the Liberal Party a few years earlier. He had a shrewd intelligence, a quiet but devastating sense of ...
HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT MEASURES ON VARIOUS ROADS IN ST ALBANS AND ELSTREE NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using the following lengths of roads, except for access:- 1. that length of A5183 Folly Lane/A5183 Redbourn Road, St Albans from its junction with A4147 Folly Lane north westwards to its junction with the Batchwood Drive/A4147 Bluehouse Hill roundabout, a distance of approximately 265 metres. 2. that length of A5183 Watling Street, Elstree from its junction with B5378 Allum ...
Apple to finally charge you for things you already own Sometimes satire is too close to the truth to be actually funny... (tags: funny) ORACLE Is Stronger Than BATGIRL Will Ever Be More on the Barbara Gordon thing. (tags: comics disability) Batgirl Triumphant: The Price of Restoring DC Comics' Disabled Heroine - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews "While the Oracle stories of the last 20 years will not just disappear from our bookshelves or comic book stores when Barbara Gordon reemerges leaping, fighting, and swinging from the post-Flashpoint DC Universe in September, an important symbol ...
Tue 7th
10:00
Parliamentary answers "abbreviated for clarity and brevity" (Otherwise known as "Wrong")
In response to a Freedom of Information request about Prison Service consultations, an odd discrepancy arose: Caroline Lucas MP asked the same question in parliament and received a different response. This doesn't sound like a major issue as the differences between the two lists – organisations consulted over a particular policy change – seem minor, being just one organisation missing from the parliamentary answer. Still, the Trans community is not that large. How comprehensive a consultation can be regarded as can easily turn on if a single organisation, particularly one the size of GIRES, has been included in that consultation. ...
On the 5th May 2011 I failed in my attempt to be re-elected to Luton Borough Council after eight years serving as an elected councillor. This article is part of a series of posts where I attempt to process what those eight years have meant for myself by asking the question "what did I achieve?" in that time. The main way in which politicians act and attempt to achieve things is through their role within the decision making process of whatever body to which they have been elected. After all the primary reason why we elect people is for them ...
Both Caron and Richard have written far more eloquent blog posts on the matter than I can this morning (too tired after a 4 hour commute last night) on the behaviour of some parties in both sides of the #LDConf ... Continue reading →
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The sexualisation debate is in the news following Cameron's commissioning of The Bailey Review. Jane Fae makes a strong argument against the report in today's Guardian, pointing out the research is not academic, the debate is geared towards blaming women and that we should be geared towards solutions not blame. However, the fundemental flaw I see is surrounding Fae's argument 'this is all about
Item in the Metro today: Censors outlaw 'sickest movie' This is the story that the British Board of Film Classification have ruled that 'The Human Centipede II' "poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers". Any regular reader will know that I am opposed to any intervention which limits an adult's freedom of choice. I have no problem regarding the BBFC classifying films, nobody wants children exposed to imagery that they aren't ready for, however once we hit adulthood I think we should be left to choose our own ...
This was asked in the Northern Irish Assembly on Monday: "As there is already a plethora of statutory protections for the so-called gay community and generous financial provision from the junior Minister's Department for various organisations therein, why do the junior Minister and the First Minister, who once campaigned to save Ulster from sodomy, now want to introduce a sexual orientation strategy? Why do they now think it necessary?" The person asking the question was James* Allister MLA for Northern Antrim. Now to be fair the when in points of order he did ask: "If a Member asks a supplementary ...
Well, this blog has received a Lib Dem Voice "Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen" award for the last post about the Birkenhead Liberal Democrat Constituency Executive voting to suspend me from the Birkenhead Liberal Democrat Party. There's a certain irony about receiving an award from a Lib Dem member's association for blogging about ...
The five pledges Cameron is proposing today with regards to reforming the NHS are simply the rhetoric that he patronised the country with in his election campaign. Not endangering universal coverage means nothing where there are clear signs of postcode lottery with a range of services, including IVF in today's news. With consortia at a 100,000 person level, not every one will contain a hospital,
Vince Cable, seen by many as the conscience of the Lib Dems in the coalition, has been exploited and dragged over the coals in a row about Unions and Strikes. The Metro carries an article of little weight reporting the boos this morning, The Evening Standard sought to justify his position yesterday and The Guardian today has decided the article isn't worth commenting on at all. The comments
I am for better or worse, a product of my age. Had I have been younger than my 28 years, I would quite likely never have known of the actor Donald Hewlett. Had I on the other hand been of an older generation, then I would surely have known of him in the acting role that mad him famous - that of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Reynolds in the 1970s smash-hit British sitcom 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'. But no. I was born in 1982 and I was therefore 6 years old when the David Croft and Jimmy Perry comedy You Rang ...
I heard this story first on Five Live this morning, and read it again here in a Florida on-line newspaper. The newspaper story doesn't really give the full background to the case, which is pretty horrific. The 12-year-old involved, Cristian Fernandez, killed his 2-year-old brother, and it is for that which he is in jail. However, Cristian's mother was only 12 herself when he was born, and his own father - in his late teens at the time - didn't play any part in Cristian's upbringing in Miami. His mother then got together with the father of her younger son, ...
So said Tim Harford (known to many as the presenter of Radio 4′s More or Less as well as a distinguished economics writer) last night at the Royal Society of Arts. Harford was kicking-off a week long series of talks to promote his new book, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure and was making the point that the modern world is too complex for us to hope to solve many problems by simply getting the best brains to think up the one answer. A far better route to take is to experiment with many different solutions and see what ...
i) broadcast anniversaries 7 June 1969: broadcast of eighth episode of The War Games. The War Chief offers a deal to the Doctor, who allows the War Lords to capture the rebels. 7 June 2008: broadcast of Forest of the Dead. The Doctor defeats the Vashta Nerada, but at the cost of the lives of River Song and her team, who however are preserved within the Library. ii) date specified in canon 7 June 1941: setting of earlier parts of Lost in Time (SJA, 2010).
TeachPaperless: Self Evident Assessment This TED video left me speechless; this is the kind of teaching I love. (tags: education) Megan Fox and Spice Girl Feminism | The Mary Sue Shia Lebeouf skirts around whether or not he wants to be a dick. Anyoone would think his multi-million dollar career was at risk. (tags: feminism movies) DC Women Kicking Ass – It's not the pants DCWKA on superheroine costumes. And I agree with every. single. word. (tags: comics superheroes women) Was Spinosaurus a Bison-Backed Dinosaur? | Dinosaur Tracking I'd be interested to look at any rebuttals to this idea; I ...
In response to the security arrangements announced recently by the Federal Conference Committee of the Liberal Democrats, and following consultation with the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats Executive, I drafted an email which has been sent to FCC on this issue. It is reproduced below for information. Dear Andrew, I write on behalf of the Executive ...
Cross post on Liberal Democrats in Northern Ireland I'm just in from Liberal Drinks in Belfast. Ian Walton from the Welsh Liberal Democrats so it was a reason to meet up, but part of the evening was a memory of Andrew Reeves of which four of the five present had something in common. Myself you know about from the recent time we both spent in Scotland, Pam Tilson from her time in London, Ian also from his time there and of course in his current role in Cardiff, and Michael as he and Andrew both were part of the stewarding ...
Cross posted on Stephen's Liberal Journal I'm just in from Liberal Drinks in Belfast. Ian Walton from the Welsh Liberal Democrats so it was a reason to meet up, but part of the evening was a memory of Andrew Reeves of which four of the five present had something in common. Myself you know about ...
