One of the things that apparently is different about ebook publishing from traditional publishing is that people will buy short stories. I'm going to write a series of short stories and make each of them available on the Kindle/Smashwords for 99 cents.And of course, as always they'll be posted here free of charge. This one ...
This week's choice is an odd one as I only discovered it today, which given that I didn't get home until about half six was quite an achievement but since I listened to it, it has stuck in my head. I'm a bit of a fan of James Bond. Not just of the films, but ...
I spent today out in the Shropshire hills. I think you can see why.
An interesting piece in the Guardian attempts to provide an objective view on sex workers and their clientelle. The only preamble, brief for the Guardian, is "What drives some men to pay for sex, and some women to sell it? Here, both sides tell their stories". Of course, the usual female stereotypes are revealed, which I would like to digress on. The Hard Up Student There is a representation of a somehow socially-acceptable student earning cash as an escort. It is shaped through the media that someone willing to embrace a derrogatory role, one which is outside of most people's ...
A few months ago I was kindly sent a review copy of a Baby Baavet. I promised at the time I would write a review, but work and Beatie have resulted in personal time at the computer has becoming rare. [IMG: Baavet Logo] A Baavet is made of pure wool, instead of feathers (ouch) or polyester and promises to regulate body temperature and is dust mite resistant. The Baby Baavet is used as a cot topper, and unsurprisingly goes on top of the cot mattress. [IMG: Baavet Topper] In our Ikea cot it is slightly larger than the mattress, but ...
Here I contribute about 3000 words and Amypoodle does about twenty million, all better than mine. I'm going to have something else interesting up tonight, with some luck. Edit – link changed Tagged: comics, memememememe
Though BBC Radio 4 has never been my major client, I've enjoyed working for that station perhaps more than for any other media outlet. For a dozen years, I contributed regularly to 'Thought for the Day' on the 'Today' programme and more recently have filed pieces for 'From Our Own Correspondent'. But my satisfaction is also because ...
Yesterday, one of Britain's worst riots in history swept through the North London town of Tottenham. People were injured, robbed and terrified, police cars and buses were burnt and the city went into shock. Tonight it continues not just in Tottenham but in Enfield, where looting is apparently overwhelming local forces. Where's the Prime Minister? On holiday. Where's the Mayor of London? On holiday. Twitter is full of angry people wondering where the government is. Incredibly, Boris has specifically declined pleas for him to return to the city to show leadership. All over the country, people are asking "What's going ...
Last week, Top Gear did a piece on driving electric cars to Cleethorpes. They have been slated by the pro EV, anti Top Gear lot after it turned out the Nissan recorded the battery and geolocation stats for the Leaf. And they have form, in 2008 they lied about the Tesla running out of juice around the track. However as some who lives in Lincoln, has family in London and Cleethorpes I was interest in the piece to see if an EV would be worth it for me (if it wasn't for the fact that I can't even afford a ...
As you may already be aware, PCSO Mani is on annual leave this week. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big congratulations to all the winners of the Bar Hill skate park competition on Saturday 30th July. Thank you to everybody who attended and either took part or just watched and enjoyed the day. The day proved to be a huge success and thankfully it didn't rain! We hope to make this an annual event and aim to get even more people to take part in the competition next year. We couldn't have run the day ...
TweetI have refrained from posting SocialBookers on my blog up till now because I haven't really been blogging much. However that is likely to change now, and I am a regular on there... so..
Here for your delectation is the Social Bookers podcast episode 4. Excuse the manic swearing when I went on off one about Nadine Dorries, a perfectly natural reaction whenever that womans' name is mentioned within my ear shot.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 232nd 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 (31 July — 6th August, 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. ...
Concerns have been raised about BT cabinets over 5 feet tall which have appeared in front of a number of houses in the Birkdale area. One local resident affected is Mrs Karen Nightingall of Upper Aughton Road who now has a 1.6 metre high BT cabinet on the pavement outside her house. "I think it is totally unacceptable that BT Openreach are allowed to put this monstrosity in front of our house without our agreement. It displays a total disregard for our home," says Mrs Nightingall. I am calling for new safeguards before even more cabinets are installed throughout Southport ...
Much debate is being had over the proposal to drop e-records for the NHS. The gist is that a centralised electronic record system is unworkable in the NHS. Most stories are going on the premise that removing this part of spending is a good thing. It's not, it's a dangerous indication of how disjointed our healthcare services are going to become if it is not in place. One of the (only) redeeming factors of the proposed NHS reforms is the link between commissioned organisations, as identified by the White Paper Information Revolution. As the executive summary outlines; in order to ...
Spurred on by recent trip to Woking Palace and my love of family history, I thought, as some have asked, that I would show where my family history fits into the Royal Family tree and where we connect. The image below, ...
TweetI seem to have lost a longer more detailed post as i published. Do we really need to see stuff like this posted on twitter? This will cost more lives than any good it can ever do. Jody McIntyre should be ashamed of himself. As I watch a double decker bus and a property on fire with no confirmation as to whether everyone involved escaped, this could end up being a needless loss of life. I will follow this up with a more detailed post on what has gone on when the facts become apparent, but in the mean time ...
So often when the question of the run away expenses of the Labour Chair of Merseyside ITA (Merseytravel to you and me) are raised Cllr Dowd is not available for comment. When a national broadsheet did a story on Merseyside he was not available, when the BBC was asking questions about his mega claims he was not available so iy was with some delight that he was actually tracked down this week. And once again he declined to comment It appears that Councillor Dowd uses the Merseytravel credit card for meals, hotels, theatres, Labour Party conferences etc The Liverpool Post ...
You can now pre-order the forthcoming biography of Nick Clegg by Chris Bowers, which is due out in a few weeks. Chris is a Liberal Democrat councillor and a former Parliamentary candidate (for Wealden). He is also an intermittent blogger. From what I've heard from people who have been interviewed for the book, the research has been pretty thorough. We'll soon find out what sort of book it has made...
Dear Mr Levy We have not met, so let me first establish my credentials as a fan. I am a lifelong Tottenham supporter since around 1960, though I have never lived locally to Tottenham. As I was becoming aware of football, the Nicholson era was in full swing. For me there has never been any other club and never will be. Over the last couple of years I have been a reluctant agnostic on the issue of the stadium. While much preferring my club to remain in Tottenham, I could see that there might be a business case for a ...
Last night, a protest outside a police station in Tottenham turned into a full-on riot, with at least 2 police cars and several shops down the high street being set on fire. Twitter started whispering about this at about quarter past nine, and the mainstream media was nowhere to be seen for another half an ...
Earlier this week, Liberal thinktank CentreForum produced a report on parenting - you may have heard something on the news about their 5-a-day suggestions. I've read the whole thing and have done a report on it over at Lib Dem Voice. Basically I think it says some good stuff, but takes its eye off the ball on one important issue. So please head on over there and let me know what you think.
Are for the re-introduction of national service, or against it? In this clip Yes Minister explains how you can hold both views simultaneously... (Also available on YouTube here.)
It's been a great Sunday. I've spent much of this quiet day re-living my youth but more so than that, doing so in the company of my father. Dad died over 8 years ago back in June 2003 and it goes without saying that life has never been the same since. As with any family bereavement, the memories that you have of a lost loved one stays with you and helps them to live on even after death. A Man of Photography With Dad, we also had the added bonus of having not just those memories in our mind, but ...
'Club 305', Mayor Boris Johnson's new 'Private Members' Club' for elite backers offered membership for £2,012 and the expected 305 members were to meet for the first time last month. Only, says my Boris-based source, the take-up was - ahem - "lower than expected". In fact, numbers are currently "less than 50 percent" of what was hoped for. Souce: Independent, 04/08
While I am not unhappy with the little fame and fortune my modest literary endeavours have brought me, I have become aware over the years that, while their effect has been mostly positive, my reputation has not wholly been improved by the tales of my adventures with my good friend Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, Holmes himself ...
Trouble is brewing in the Conservative Party. A swirling cauldron of emotions, personalities and ideas that seems to have failed to settle down since the last General Election, figures are trying to be heard. With, in my opinion, breathtaking arrogance, a group of new intake Tory MPs have come to the conclusion that they did, in fact, win the 2010 election and thus should be entitled to govern alone. Finding it intolerable that they should have to compromise and concede to Liberal Democrats, they are applying hard pressure to the current centrist leadership. Described as being broadly Thatcherite, the MPs ...
lady and coffee Welcome to the newest establishment on Wulfstan Way - The Coffee House & Takeaway, which opened last month where E C Sandwich used to be. There's a good range of snacks, including various different types of bread with British, Italian, Greek, French and Polish names, all with various tasty fillings, and a range of cakes, many of them seriously chocolaty. They do a takeaway service too - phone them on 07763 652717. For drinks, you're in for a treat. The coffee is freshly ground and there's also a brillian choice of teas and tisanes, with the popular ...
Woking Palace is a wonderful Tudor find in the middle of the Woking countryside of Old Woking. Situated at the end of Carters Lane in the old village, it's not the easiest of sites to get to. However, when you ...
We've just finished watching Rageh Omaar's Life of Muhammad, although the BBC series finished a couple of weeks ago – the joys of the PVR. In spite of a snarky piece in Private Eye, I really enjoyed it. I probably know more about Islam than the vast majority in Britain, but this programme revealed how little I actually know. And while being appropriately respectful, the programme did not shrink from posing many of the challenges made by people today. Of course, the benchmark I measure Islam against is Christianity, about which I do know something. Islam is clearly from the ...
Collected links from around the webCongratulations Maratai - yhlee joins #L5R story team Just as I'm thinking of starting play L5R again as well. Very good looking shop in Huddersfield, met the manager last weekend, nice bloke, also plays Warlord, which'll be nice. (tags: l5r games aeg) You'll live just as long if you drink and smoke | completely unproven, but nice counterpoint and well written Completely unproven research that the researchers themselves don't believe, but there's an element that makes sense. People that enjoy life and do all things in moderation live to a longer age. (tags: health science ...
To Slave or not to...
Sun 7th
15:06
Raising Concerns About the Pod Delusion: is it always going to lead to an escalating ball of pain?
* trigger warning for discussion of rape in the abstract * I listened to this week's episode of the Pod Delusion last night. It contained a sardonic reference to the "meat is murder" trope - if meat is murder, then perhaps dairy produce is rape, and if you're vegetarian rather than vegan aren't you saying that rape is sometimes OK? This is clearly a dig at the sort of people who think that meat is murder. I think it's a bit misplaced for all sorts of reasons*, but that's not what I want to talk about right now. What I ...
I consider myself a patriot. I'm also a social liberal and a member of the Liberal Democrats. There is a tendency among many, especially on the right, to see patriotism and liberalism as mutually incompatible. They are wrong. Liberalism is an internationalist philosophy which believes in universal values (such as universal human rights) and as such is against the idea of people creating self defined groups and then extolling the superiority of that group over all others. So, if you define patriotism as "my country, right or wrong" and "my country is the best in the world and all other ...
You can read the latest edition of my newsletter about the Liberal Democrats here, a special about community politics. I scour hundreds of blogs and dozens of media outlets for the best stories - so you don't have to wade through them all! So if you find there's too much to read and would like to receive future editions direct by email for free just sign up here.
Liberal think tank CentreForum has produced a report, Parenting Matters, which advises the Government to do more to promote better quality parenting, specifically targeted at those families who need it most. Much of the publicity surrounding the report concentrated on its "5 a day" campaign which suggests that parents should: 1. Read to their child for 15 minutes 2. Play on the floor with their child for 10 minutes 3. Talk to their children for 20 minutes every day with the television off 4. Adopt positive attitudes to their child and praise them frequently 5. Give their child a nutritious ...
It may be a year later, but no, I still can't squeeze a half into a third pint glass. Why on earth would I give you a discount for being the master brewer of the beer you asked for? You sold it to CAMRA; it's ours now! If you think £8.90 is an expensive round, go buy four pints in the West End. If you notice that your tipple of choice is at the far end of the bar, it's always appreciated if you follow me when I go to get it so I don't have to bring it back, ...
A busy weekend has come to a slight halt with a pinged calf muscle from running this morning. I was hoping to play touch rugby this afternoon but sadly that is now out. I suppose the heavy rain also doesn't help though I always enjoyed sliding about in the mud! Instead I slipped along to the Coburg Studios to take in some of the excellent work the local artists have produced. My niece Pauline Edie was exhibiting. You can view some of Pauline's fab work on her website http://www.paulineedie.com/index.htm . All the work on display as excellent and I can ...
On 27 July, I attended a licensing hearing to oppose an application from Pizza go go to trade into the early hours from their unit in Crown Heights. The applicant was seeking to sell alcohol. To their credit, the owners of the Pizza shop were determined to be good neighbours and had already agreed to only serve alcohol until 11.00pm and only when served with food. My main concern was their
Having self-published four 'real' books, plus a small ebook of short stories, I've figured out quite a few things that I think would be very helpful to any aspiring writers, so thought I'd share them with you all. Use LyX to write your book in. It has the least user-unfriendly interface of any word processor ...
According to local LIB DEM councillor for this area, Darren Fower, the Neighbourhood Council that covers South Werrington and North Gunthorpe has some money to spend! The Peterborough North Area Committee, is made up of elected city council members as well as representatives from parish councils, the police authority, fire authority and members of local community groups, plus ordinary members of the public. Following a recent meeting, Cllr Fower was informed that due to "slippage", some £1,095.91 has been carried over to this years budget* – which means there is a a total budget for 2012-13 of £26,095.91. So come ...
The Guido Fawkes blog run by Paul Staines and Harry Cole has been pushing a campaign recently to try and get 100,000 signatures on a government e-petition for bringing back capital punishment for the murderers of children and on-duty police officers. I am personally not in favour of this but others have written extensively about the arguments against and I am not going to focus on that today but instead on the approach that Guido Fawkes has taken. Both Staines and Cole are very experienced media performers and campaigners, especially when it comes to new media. And there is no ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 34,668 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in July. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 July 2010 - 30 June 2011) to 509,455. The 5 top-read stories during the month were: Opinion: Nick Clegg didn't suck up to Murdoch - that's why his minions tried to destroy him (28) by James Percival Opinion: Verdict from the first Mayoral Hustings - it's a two horse race (40) by Simon McGrath What does the Inverclyde result mean for the Scottish Liberal Democrats? (25) ...
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In at this chapter, Peter the Hermit preaches the crusade to liberate Jerusalem from the Turks; the Pope and the western European rulers pick it up; Alexius Comnenus, the Byzantine Emperor, succeeds in channelling the Crusaders' energies to Syria and Palestine, where they carve out a set of new Christian kingdoms. See also notes on Islamophobia, Anna Comnena, whether the Crusades were a just war, the Celts among the crusaders, cannibalism, the Holy Lance and the Assizes of Jerusalem.
Like many people, I stayed up until almost 3am this morning watching the riots in Tottenham unfold on television and watching tweets on Twitter. The unfolding events were sickening to watch. I remember the Brixton riots. I wasn't there but my ...
The animated series, Star Wars: Clone Wars, have pontificated the ideas of deregulation and fiscal responsibility to fans of the franchise. I'm not kidding. The Galactic Senate will explain the consequences of war and sovereign debt via the Republic financial reform bill...
Under this deliberately playful headline comes news that the Deputy Prime Minister is determined to improve his image with female voters: ... the Deputy Prime Minister is to embark on a campaign to woo female voters - and the Liberal Democrats have hired a new PR guru to help him. ... [embarking] on a breakneck tour of town hall Q&As and private meetings with party members ... His team stresses that these are "party" events. ... In the first sign of the fightback, Mr Clegg will tomorrow use a speech to debunk the suggestion that women are getting a raw ...
The fact that the United States political class as a whole clearly lacks the will to raise taxes is the fundamental reason behind the downgrade of the US credit rating. The inability of the Congress to understand that it is not just about the ability to spend less money, but to raise more revenue that underlines the strength of a country's credit rating is why America now faces an undeniable crisis. Unless the Americans can get their house in order, the market will force ever more stringent restrictions on the freedom of action of the Federal government, the State governments ...
So, after we'd checked into the Dodgy Lodge we headed off for our tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. Yes, I know, I'm a republican, but these are the rooms in which our head of state conducts her official functions and I wanted to take the opportunity to look round them. I also wanted to see Kate's wedding dress and cake. And when I say I, I mean that Bob and Anna made this trip under sufferance. We'd booked for the 4pm tour - and I'd strongly recommend that time of day. The last entry is 4.15 so ...
There are few people who have no interest in planning – though for most of us, it's only when something is proposed near us. Perhaps we want to extend our house, or we don't like what the neighbours are planning, or we don't want a new Tesco moving into the town. Planning has always been about getting the right balance between competing interests. The Coalition Government has always planned big changes to the UK's planning system, as part of the Localism Bill. However, there seem to me to be two competing objectives and it's not clear how they are going ...
Anyone who knows Armagh at all well will be familiar with the architectural legacy of Richard Robinson, who was the Church of Ireland archbishop there from 1765 to his death in 1794, and built the archbishops' palace, the old library and the observatory, the latter intended to be the nucleus of a university which never came into being. In this short book Malcolmson deconstructs Robinson's record, pointing out that after the first twelve years of his almost three decades at the top of the Irish ecclesiastical tree, he did almost nothing, lingering in England for the sake of his health; ...
Take a young man, alcohol, a police station, a Conservative Party membership card, a police-issue balaclava and a cup of tea, and what do you get? Why, this story of course (with further details from here). Hat-tip: Richard Clare
ITV do a certain type of programme for prime time weekend viewing. Billy Connolly going through the North West passage ("Journey to the edge of the World") was, more or less, the first in the genre. It started with five minutes of clips of the forthcoming show with the voiceover saying "I'm going on a journey...", then each programme ended with five minutes of "I've been on a journey" clips with mini "I'm going/I've been on a journey" bits before and after the commercial breaks. If you tried not to blink, you could spot the few seconds in the middle ...
My exploration of Shrewsbury yesterday took so long that it involved morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea. In one of the establishments I visited this song was playing. It sounded summery and suited my mood. Besides, I like to choose found music like this for my Sunday video. Of course, that method does not always work. In another cafe they were playing "Silver Lady" by David Soul.
If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know that we went to London this week. It was a fantastic, if at times stressful few days. Even being used to the Festival crowds in Edinburgh doesn't quite cut it when you get to the busy-ness of London. And while hot sunny weather is fabulous if you're sitting out in the garden with a Gin and Tonic in hand, walking round a city becomes a sticky, oppressive nightmare. Part of the reason we'd dithered for so long about whether to go to London was the expense. Even with travelling by train ...
As I've mentioned, I'm off to Africa. I was wondering what the rates are going to be for roaming. I could get a local SIM – but as I'm only there for a few days, it seems a bit pointless – no one will have the number & I'll lose any credit at the end of the trip. So, how do the various roaming SIMs stack up against my Vodafone SIM? TruPhone's list of prices is very simple Country Make a call Receiving a call Send a text Data Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa 120p a min 78p a min 36p ...
I have a dirty little secret. It's not the kind of thing I can tell my jazz musician friends or mention in polite company. My name is James Taylor and I am a Bluegrass fan. It all started when I began working with a US company called ArtistWorks, the leaders in online music education and ...
I have recently received requests from constituents about improving the footway from Tom McDonald Avenue to the south side of Perth Road, and also the possibility of improved crossing facilities here, near the roundabout with Ninewells Avenue. As one resident in nearby Clayhills Drive pointed out : "I live in Clayhills Drive and often walk to the bus stop on the Perth Road, but there simply aren't adequate road crossings, meaning you either have to walk on the road or on the grass, neither of which is ideal." I raised the matter with the City Council and am pleased that ...
An excellent narrative of the chain of events by which Samuel Pepys was imprisoned in the Tower of London as part of the Popish Plot hysteria of 1679 - a truly horrible moment of witch-hunting against Catholics and suspected allies of the Duke of York, the heir to the throne, who had been exiled from England because of his religion. Faced by false accusers who had powerful political allies, Pepys' life was clearly in danger; but he cooly assembled evidence in his own defence and was able to hang on until the political wind changed in his favour. A very ...
Overnight, the events in north London have, simply, been horrifying to watch. As news unfolded on Twitter I began switching from BBC to Sky and back again trying to see if anyone, at all, knew what was going on. News reports are concentrating, naturally, on the riots themselves and the shooting that's supposedly sparked them. Earlier in the week, a fairly well known resident in his late 20s was shot by police, reportedly responding to shots fired at them. However... From what I can gather from Twitter and other sources, there was a planned, peaceful, protest outside the police station ...
More detailed plotting and scene-setting in the third of the Aldabreshin Compass series. It was so long since I had read the first two that it took me a while to get back into, but that is not the author's fault!
Eric Pickles has been in the spotlight on a number of Lib Dem blogs - including two of my favourites - Liberal England and Eaten by Missionaries for his comments on town centre parking. Pickles place in the cabinet is somewhat of a mystery. He's not a great communicator as this clip from Question Time at the height of the MPs expenses scandal shows: His department is also somewhat of a mystery. For a government committed to localism (and it genuinely is - partly because of Lib Dem influence and partly because 13 years of Labour central command and control ...
