Nick Clegg asked today why an 11-year-old would feel so alienated from their community that they could trash it. He is asking the right questions, but he is one of the few politicians to do so But the politicians have returned to Westminster yesterday, and the new political language which does not have 'aspire to own tat' at the heart of it has certainly not arrived yet. In fact, much of the political positioning on the riots has been deeply depressing. No, it is not about people who are so poor they are hungry - you can't eat flat-screen TVs. ...
I want to share a TED talk with you and relate it to the English riots over the past week. Dan Ariely on our buggy moral code | Video on T..., posted with vodpod In this TED talk Dan Ariely talks about experiments he has done to explore why people cheat and why it doesn't add
Thursday saw me speaking at two special events in parks in my ward. At St Margaret's Park in Corstorphine I was honoured to raise the Green Flag we were awarded. I was so pleased to do this as this was my local Park as a child and also when my daughters were very young they played there. The second event was to mark the brilliant mural in Roseburn Park. This was a project pulled together by the Friends of Roseburn Park and funded by the West Neighbourhood Partnership. Local kids made the mural. You can see the twit pic of ...
Title Race There's a saying in football these days, finish above Manchester United then you win the league. Last season I didn't particularly think that that would be the case - even though I predicted them to win it I thought it would be really tight and I wasn't that confident. This season however I look at the respective squads and teams and I think they are just the best (at the time of writing) irrespective of whether or not they sign Sneijder - although if €ity add a few more marque signing (Nasri is likely) then they may put ...
It is easy to forget last week's trigger for the riots in London and elsewhere. Businesses have been closed some have been destroyed by fire. It is not just business that has been affected and one of the lasting memories will be the personal attack on the Malaysian victim. Even worse, people have died. Most of the violence has been criminal, or at least mindless rather than a calculated response to injustice. The trigger is almost a sideline but remains significant, especially to the family and friends of Mark Duggan, the man who was shot dead by the police. The ...
It has long been said that London is a city of many villages, but in recent years the 'village feel' about many areas has disappeared. This is partly because of insensitive redevelopment, but a more serious cause is the change in people's lifestyles. Many Londoners today simply don't know their neighbours, don't patronize their local ...
This was on my list to read this summer anyway, but it was nice to have got to it after the references in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Carlo Gebler's play about the Lambs. It's really very good - a retelling of Shakespeare's dramas, which are not really easy reading for today's reader (or even the reader of 1807) in digestible prose, aimed at sophisticated teenagers. It's surprising what is censored and what is kept in, given how we tend to imagine nineteenth-century senisibilities - the blinding in King Lear is out, and the detail of ...
It's summer time, with the Conference season approaching, and a blogger's mind turns to thoughts of... well, 'glory' isn't really the right word, so we'll try 'recognition'. Yes, it is that point in the cycle where people are called upon to decide upon the best blogs and vote in the Total Politics Blog Awards. You can vote here, if you're interested... There are those who blatantly solicit votes - we know who you are - and those who think that the whole thing is slightly absurd. I fall somewhere between the two, perfectly happy to receive your votes, but long ...
Residents will recall that, back in June, we had a successful launch of the West End Sports and Heritage Association (WESHA), aimed at achieving environmental and sports improvements in the West End in the months and years ahead. Last night, along with representatives of the Riverside Community Sports Club, Friends of Magdalen Green and City Council officers, we had a visit to the council-owned sports changing rooms on Riverside Drive (see above right) to look at its condition and what needs done to improve the facility for the benefit of local sporting groups and the wider community. The changing rooms ...
Bold if you've read, italicize ones you fully intend to read, underline if it's a book/series you've read part but not all of. if you never plan to read the book or hated it. 1. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card 4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert 5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin 6. 1984, by George Orwell 7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury 8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov 9. Brave ...
The riots we have seen in the UK this past week have next to naff all to do with the socio-political climate and all to do with a lack of judgement at best and a lack of moral compass at worse. I have just sat and watched a film called The Experiment where 26 men are offered $1000 a day to take part in a psychological experiment to be prisoners for two weeks. A handful are picked out to be the prison guards and the rest are the inmates. They are told that no harm can come to them and ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of chairing the latest West End Christmas Week committee meeting at the West End community facility at the Vine. It was a hugely productive meeting and great progress is being made with West End Christmas Week 2011 - our 11th year. If you wish to get involved, please e-mail christmas2011@frasermacpherson.org.uk.
I believe this is Tammy Wynette's last ever hit. It has also I believe the only reference in pop music to an icecream van. Unless my reader knows better...
The police behaved brilliantly in the riots and David Cameron was wrong to criticise them, argues Political Parry. "I'm upset for the decent hardworking people who's lives and property that have been wrecked. And yet again I find myself upset at the easy stigmatisation of working class communities and young people from many people who's only knowledge of these communities is from what they read in the Guardian or the Telegraph whilst drinking their skinny lattes." Carl Minns reacts to reactions to the riots. Jackie Pearcey celebrates the efforts to clean up Manchester the morning after the riots: "Well done ...
Anotehr snippet from Whats My Line...What kind of work does Bobby Moore from London , England do?
[IMG: council looks after no 1] The Isle of Thanet Gazette's front page story, this Friday concerns Margate's Mill Lane car park (an occasional topic here on Bignews Margate), as you might expect with Thanet council, money is no object when it comes to looking after the interests of officers. Although ostensibly Mill Lane Car Park is a public car park for use by shoppers, residents and visitors, it is effectively commandeered by Thanet Council staff as their comfort and convenience outweighs the public interest. So it comes as no surprise that the car park itself, which during the week ...
Today's Kingston Guardian carried another full page advert for the Sit and Slim system that I wrote about last week. It still repeats the misleading claims about a 'NHS Hospital Trial' and implies that you can use weight 'by simply sitting on' one of their chairs. So I've put in a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency. Perhaps you would like to do so too?
Hey all, my brother is an indie designer of iPhone apps and his latest creation, Angry Bear, a shooter style game has been released today. It's only 69p so if you have any of those Apple gadgets, please do download it from the App Store and give it a positive review. Many thanks :) http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/angry-bear/id450481170?mt=8
As Helen Duffett's Lib Dem Voice council election results round-up highlighted, the Lib Dems last night gained a seat from the Conservatives — in a seat that might have been thought to be True Blue territory, Eton and Castle ward in the Berkshire borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Congratulations to George Fussey! Here's how the BBC reported it: Mr Fussey won on Thursday night with 208 votes, beating Tory candidate Adam Demeter who had 182 votes. ... Mr Fussey has lived in Eton for 25 years and is also a governor at Windsor Girls' School. He is the second Liberal ...
That must really hurt. From BBC News: An Eton College teacher has won a council seat in the Berkshire borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Liberal Democrat George Fussey was elected in a by-election for Eton and Castle ward, following the resignation of Conservative Liam Maxwell. Mr Fussey won on Thursday night with 208 votes, beating Tory candidate Adam Demeter who had 182 votes.
After seeing a fascinating little TV clip of "I've Got A Secret" on Liberal England, I stumbled across this segment of the US series of "What's My Line", circa 1956..... Colonel Sanders lives in Kentucky. He has a neat white beard, a string tie and a white suit. What on earth does he do for a living?
The state of Avenue Road – both road surface and pavements – is giving cause for concern. Chris is putting pressure on Herts Highways to get funding to do some major repairs. Meanwhile, the District has been asked (yet again) to sort out the yellow lines: there are too few at the top end near Stonescross and some quite unnecessary ones further down. Chris says: 'Some of the sightlines, as residents have pointed out, are badly obscured. But this can be sorted, without an overall loss of parking.'
Now, in London, is not good moment to be a thinking liberal. The recent riots consume everybody's attention, but there is too much anger and panic around to say anything sensible. But nobody will listen if you want to talk about something else. The anger is not in itself unhealthy, or bad – indifference would be much worse. It may well have helped to stop the violence, which has thankfully calmed very rapidly. But little of lasting value comes from it. Mostly we get calls for extra punishment, police powers and so on. There is a lot of harking back ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Opinion: Leading Labour figures guilty of the worst kind of opportunism (63 comments) by David Parkes Opinion: Don't make Guido's day (30 comments) by Simon McGrath What caused the riots? It's more than just the economy, stupid. (41 comments) by Stephen Tall David Laws set for ministerial return in autumn? (31 comments) by Stephen Tall Brian Paddick writes: Lessons from the Tottenham riots (10 comments) by Brian Paddick 5 sample LDV Members' Forum threads Social media block ...
5, Regeneration in Doctor Who is not random: when a time lord regenerates (s)he actually selects from a "rack" of pre-determined forms. This means that the Sixth Doctor looks like Colin Baker because the fifth Doctor and Maxil were secret lovers, and in regeneration he took the form of the man he loved. 4, Dried Frog Pills contain no frog whatsoever, and are in fact completely vegan. 3, Christopher Lee only has two ways of acting a death scene. Death scene #1 involves falling to his knees, with a shocked expression, and then keeling over backwards. Death scene #2 involves ...
On Tuesday I went along to one of the free tours of Longley Lane tip – there were about 15 of us there, from school children to pensioners (in term time they do visits from schools). I have to say that there's a lot more there than meets the eye. In addition to the household and commercial waste sites, there are large facilities for recycling, including for glass, plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans, paper and cardboard. Ever wondered why you should bother to clean out bottles first? Or why there's no need to remove lables (the "cyclone" machine does ...
Public Disorder Statement 1pm Baroness Hussein-Ece: My Lords, I, too, would like to associate myself and these Benches with the sentiments that have been expressed and to extend our condolences to those people who have lost so much in the terrible events from Saturday onwards. I thank my noble friend the Leader of the House for repeating the Prime Minster's Statement today. There is absolutely no excuse for the terrible scenes that we have witnessed on the streets of London and beyond in our cities over the past few days. Our deepest sympathies must go to those families who have ...
Collected links from around the webDisney bans Marvel UK from making comics. Yes, you did read that correctly OK, it appears to be that they're not going to take original content from Panini owned Marvel UK franchise, but... It was Marvel UK stuff that got me into comics. Somewhere at my parents should be a copy of the Transformers issue that had the very first Death''s Head appearance. I got the complete run of both Dragon's Claws and The Sleaze Brothers. I started collecting Zoids because of the Zoids comic. Looks like we've only got Rebellion left funding original content ...
Islington LBC, St Peter's Lab 1167 (52.5; +17.5) LD David Sant 440 (19.8; -9.6) Con 381 (17.1; -9.1) Green 176 (7.9; -1.4) Ind 59 (2.7; +2.7) Majority 727 Turnout 24.78% Lab hold Percentage change is since May 2010. Windsor and Maidenhead UA, Eton and Castle LD George Fussey 208 (47.4; +19.6) Con 182 (41.5; -23.7) Lab 32 (7.3; +0.3) UKIP 17 (3.9; +3.9) Majority 26 Turnout 24% LD gain from Con Percentage change is since May 2011 North Devon DC, Fremington Ind 501 (46.9; +5.2) Con 308 (28.8; +16.2) Ind 196 (18.3; -13.6) Green 64 (6.0; +6.0) [LD (0.0; -6.1)] ...
There were three principal local council by-elections held on Thursday 11th August. The Lib Dems and an Independent each gained one seat off the Tories and Labour held the third. In the two parish or town council by-election results reported to ALDC an Independent took a seat off the Tories, and the Lib Dems held one seat. [IMG: New councillor Gorge Fussey on the campaign trail] In the Windsor and Maidenhead Unitary council ward of Eton and Castle - and yes it includes Eton College and Windsor castle - we took a seat off the Tories with a dramatic swing. ...
Yesterday, with the return of Parliament David Cameron and the government have begun laying the foundations of restoring Civil order and the rule of law to be imposed but... and I don't believe that I am asking this... Are some of the knee jerk reactions going too far, not curing the problem and even making it worse? A big cause of the civil unrest was the inability to listen to the people in the streets and a growing feeling of separation between the Government and ordered society with this separate culture that has grown up. As questions flew from around ...
As you might expect, multiple right-wing commentators are blaming London's riots on the decline in traditional institutions, like marriage. They rail at the unwillingness of 'liberals' to condemn non-traditional family arrangements, and the feckless fathers who abandon their offspring. What unites these separate commentators is an inability to understand how their values can be promoted; ...
Arsenal will get a top four finish. We will be top at the new year. We won't win a trophy. A team from Manchester will win the league, with Chelsea second. The other Manchester team third. I think it might be City this year. The FA Cup will be won by someone from the middle of the Premier League. Arsenal will continue to lose matches they dominate and won't sort out our defensive frailties. England will have at least two Champions League semi-finalists, but won't win the trophy. Spurs will continue to be annoying.
Update: on second reading, my initial interpretation is unfair to the authors of the Facing the Future paper. But, I do feel that the overall tone of the paper fails to confront the fear of deficits. So a couple of tweaks aside, I'm letting it stand. The philosophy of austerity is economically flawed, and leads to a genuinely dangerous attitude of political macho. It should be actively challenged, not passively accepted. Reviewing the Lib Dem conference papers posted so far, there's a problem. I suspect, going by the economic section in Facing the Future, that we remain in thrall to ...
Slower than anticipated growth has seen a rush of commentary proposing changes the government need to make to 'deliver growth'. If there is one macroeconomic lesson which should be learnt from the 2008 crisis it is that not all growth is good. It is relative easy to manufacture a bubble, call it growth, and claim to have "abolished boom and bust". Sustainable growth is much harder to achieve, but one idea unlikely to achieve it is the proposal by some Tory commentators to abolish the 50% tax rate. There are probably strong moral and political arguments for and against the ...
[IMG: IMG_0018] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Heather McKay Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice On LDV yesterday, Stephen Tall wrote on the causes of the "riots", concluding: This was purposeless lawlessness. And there's little point in blaming today's current crop of politicians, of whichever hue, for that state. This is a deep-seated problem in our society, a failure of families and community and the economy and politics. While I would normally agree, I hesitate to do so. There is a great danger in coming to generalised conclusions so early on. My head is still reeling a bit from the ...
Here's the changes you need to make if your local Council is Conservative run Collins Dictionary says - Propose - To put forward as a plan for consideration. replace with; Tory Council dictionary - Propose - Used instead of the word 'decide' when you want to give the impression that you will consider the views of others when actually you don't give a damn Collins Dictionary - Consult
Three years ago, there was a tv show called I'd do Anything, one of these reality talent shows which picked a Nancy for the new Oliver musical in London's West End. One week, contestant Samantha Barks sang Defying Gravity from Wicked and went to a masterclass with one of the stars of the original Broadway production, Idina Menzel. That song has now become one of my favourite of all time, and I have become increasingly obsessed with the musical which, as the composer says tells "the untold story of the witches of Oz". In it we find that the good ...
It was predictable that figures on the left of Labour such as Ken Livingstone and Diane Abbott should be quick to link the riots to the coalition government's spending cuts. Less so perhaps that the party's deputy leader and New Labour establishment figure Harriet Harman should do the same. It raises the question of whether Labour's curious journey on crime has come full circle. Back in the 1980s one could be forgiven for thinking that much of the Labour party, while by no means condoning crime, believed that much of it was an understandable if regrettable response to Thatcher's cuts. ...
On LDV yesterday, Stephen Tall wrote on the causes of the "riots", concluding: This was purposeless lawlessness. And there's little point in blaming today's current crop of politicians, of whichever hue, for that state. This is a deep-seated problem in our society, a failure of families and community and the economy and politics. While I would normally agree, I hesitate to do so. There is a great danger in coming to generalised conclusions so early on. My head is still reeling a bit from the past few days. As John Humphrys said this week, August is normally a very quiet ...
Of course I was sad when Jim Tolson was one of the Liberal Democrat MSPs to lose their seat in the elections today. I was even more saddened this morning when I saw that his replacement the SNP's Bill Walker appears to not believe in equality. He has signed John Mason's amendment to the Scottish Parliament's Equal Marriage motion, which in itself failed to see the equality of all and freedom of religious groups to decide if they wish to offer same-sex marriage that was enshrined in the motion itself. He claims that he has received some "highly abusive messages" ...
My left side still hurts. In his Walter Raleigh show on Wednesday night, Michael Legge talked about everyone having a "Fringe moment", the defining incident of their three weeks up here. I might have had mine last night. But more on that story later. Three Man Roast was a joy from start to finish. We could tell when the lovely audience laughed almost before Alex had opened his mouth (and not at his face) that it was going to be a good one. They were completely on our wavelength to the point that one man shouted out a grammar correction ...
Principles are an important thing. We should all have them. Some of us don't but heck those people are losers and will always be losers. That is just the way it is. However it should also be noted that some people have such unhinged principles that they are willing to go to jail for and on this step forward 63 year-old Iain Turnbull For those too lazy to click on the link Mr Turnbull is a 63 year-oid Englishman who is living on a remote Scottish island and is willing to go to jail for not filling in the Census ...
Another excellent email from OneVoice, whose latest signatory I have become. I am aware, incidentally, what bathos there is in a British blogger like me claiming to have any special insight into how to bring peace to the Middle East...Anyway, the email from OneVoice referred me to this Facebook page, with my only quibble being that the bit about Jerusalem is a bit over-simplified. I'd be good at peace talks, wouldn't I? Reagan and Gorbachev would be about to sign, and then I'd say: "Actually, I have a quibble..." Oh. I've just noticed that OneVoice's new 'Facebook community' (but surely ...
As we said on Monday, Lib Dem Voice over the next few weeks is taking part in a cross-blog debate on some of the most pressing issues regarding the UK media. Earlier this week here on The Voice Mark took a look at what the Liberal Democrats have historically said on the topic and why the flaws in Ed Miliband's policy are no cause for rejoicing. Elsewhere on the blogosphere, David Elstein looked at those Ed Miliband policies in detail and Dan Hind put the case for ensuring greater plurality of ownership. Next week we will be looking at the ...
First they banned the rioters and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a rioter. Then they banned the members of Greenpeace and I didn't speak out because I had let my Greenpeace membership lapse a long time ago Then they banned the members of non-government political parties and I didn't speak out because I'm a Lib Dem... ... Yeah, that last line? Totally never going to happen. In fact, none of it is. Sod your banhammer, Cameron. Not while I've got broadband. Also, here are profiles of some actual rioters: Mostly white, many with jobs, nearly all over ...
The postman and I had a good chuckle as he delivered my conference papers from LibDem HQ addressed to Mr Disgruntled Grace. He asked if I'd fallen out with the senders. Apparently the sorting office had a good laugh over it this morning. I'm all for a lighter Chard and don't mind that party HQ or their contractors can't handle data entry accurately but I would like to know if I have been
It is beyond cliche for someone like me to say: "I have enormous respect for John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York" before disagreeing with him about something. He just popped up on BBC Parliament in the Lords bemoaning the non-inclusion of "religious knowledge" in the English Baccalaureate. He is not the only person to imply that a decline in support for organised religion is a factor in these riots. However, I would argue that the proportion of these rioters and looters coming from religiously observant families might actually be disproportionately high, compared to the general population. Tottenham, for example, is ...
I would, frankly, be really offended if any regular readers thought my answer to the above question would be "yes". We have a criminal justice system which decides the appropriate penalties for those who break our laws. We also as a society provide for those who have nothing. What good exactly would it do to deprive those convicted of offences related to the rioting with the means to feed, house and clothe themselves? For a start, if they have any basic instinct of self preservation, the first thing they would do is go and steal something. They could try to ...
Yesterday, Parliament was recalled for a statement on the riots and a debate on the disturbances. MPs were rightly recalled for the first time in many years after the disgraceful scenes first, in Tottenham which spread to other parts of ... Continue reading →
Caron in London: The Doctor Who Experience A heartwarming tale of geekery, with lots of pictures. (tags: doctorwho) Against Authoritarian Crackdowns What should the response to the riots be? (tags: london) German rightwing rock fans tricked in anti-extremist T-shirt stunt | World news | The Guardian Of course, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Can see this being reversed easily. (tags: politics music) An Open Letter to David Cameron's Parents « Nathaniel Tapley (tags: politics london)
Dear Nick, sorry I missed you during the debate in Parliament yesterday. I waited for a long time and looked out for your distinctive input, supporting the police, identifying those responsible as criminals and calling for tough punishments but also decrying ludicrous calls for baton rounds and water cannon as unnecessary, unwanted by the police, useless for recent events and potentially inflammatory. I tapped my fingers while I waited for your dismissal of calls for the army to patrol our streets. I listened out for your dismissal of calls for a curfew as nonsense in 21st century peacetime Britain. I ...
Recently articles from both the TUC and CBI have bemoaned the burden of increasing energy costs on energy intensive businesses. Both organisations make the rather obvious error in thinking that a carbon price will inevitably drive the cost of energy upwards. In fact, the opposite is true. The stronger the price signal, the faster the market works to balance supply with demand. The supply of fossil fuels is finite. Conventional oil has already peaked its supply (as admitted by the chief economist of the IEA) and tar sands and fracking are far too damaging to the environment to continue as ...
Fri 12th
09:42
The liberal question that should have been asked of Mr Cameron yesterday - a missed opportunity for ...
It has been a difficult week for England and it has generally been considered that the politicians have been caught napping and are now playing catch up. A recalled Parliament got to ask questions of Mr Cameron but it seems to me a rather obvious one was missed which would have showed the Lib Dems ...
Cameron, amid posturing and a paternalistic approach to demonstrate no-nonsense leadership, was quick to criticise the police tactics yesterday. I know he's a young Prime Minister but he is not too young to remember the riots in Northern Ireland, or the subsequent damage and devestation wrecked if police revert to an eye-for-an-eye tactic. If you attack someone in the throws of aggressive behaviour, you will invoke further anger and potentially incite more harm. The police tactics used were well coreographed, lining off streets and walking calmly towards gangs of perpetraitors. This limited their escape routes to prevent the havoc spreading ...
I was pleased to be able to convince my Ceredigion County Council colleagues on the Planning Committee this week to support the application made by the Highbury Guest House in the middle of Cardigan for disabled parking and access. The Highbury is a popular local business in town and particularly on a Sunday when its fantastic Sunday Lunch Carverys (I should know, I've tried them often enough!) are booked out week after week. So this application will support a local business and will do so by giving a boost to those who require disabled access. History The problem we have ...
I guess this is what Sat afternoons are for – according to Mia + Leo anyhoo http://lockerz.com/s/127150169 # @matttcasey We've downgraded them to Iaa+ms cat-food actually. Now they know. in reply to matttcasey # RT @NigelNelson People poll tomorrow shows that 52% of 18-24s do not carry credit cards < Haven't used one since I was 24. # Have just cancelled LibDemNews subscriptn. No great statement, just never have chance to read it. Last 4 copies looking at me reproachfully. # @KerronCross Funnily enough, it's a 2-horse race between LibDemNews and @libdemvoice. ConHome and LabUncut have no chance. in reply ...
The police have issued advice for businesses across Greater Manchester in the wake of the recent looting and riots. GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE MESSAGE TO BUSINESSES Greater Manchester Police are aware of the potential impact that current events may have on the business community and is making every effort to combat further criminal activity by increasing the levels of high visibility patrols across Greater Manchester. At this time, there is no intelligence to suggest specific targeting of identified business premises. However, you may wish to take the following precautionary measures: 1 Where possible retail premises should be suitably staffed with security ...
In the past I may have given the impression that when Labour left government they left the country with record youth unemployment, a broken economy, financial meltdown, social divisions widening with stalled social mobility, a regulatory regime that allowed the bankers to bring the country to it's knees, a tax system where a bankers cleaner paid more taxes as a proportion of their income than the banker their worked for, a culture of cosying up to the Murdoch press & the Daily Mail and draconian attacks on civil liberties with more planned. After listening to various Labour politicians and left ...
Fri 12th
08:54
Is it simply a question of politicians and pundits always trying to ban technologies they don't use?
In amongst the many causes and contributing factors to this week's riots, technology certainly takes its place. My Engine colleague Jon Akwue has accurately pointed out how it was Blackberry Messenger far more than the headline-favourite son Twitter which was involved, and the use of technology was by no means all for the bad - witness the Twitter-organised cleanup operations for example. Yet from some commentators and MPs there were immediate demands to suspend, curtail or otherwise regulate social networks. This was echoed today by David Cameron who promised that the government will look into this very question. However, the ...
Way back at the beginning of this year, the UK Government, along with all the rest of us, expressed horror when the Egyptian Government turned off Twitter when protesters were using the social network to organise. Now, these were certainly people supporting democracy. They had a cause and expressed it peacefully. They certainly were not a bunch of out of control idiots stealing what they could for purely opportunistic purposes like we saw on the streets of London. However, neither were the majority of Twitter users in this country. Many people used the social network to find out information, check ...
We would like to thank the residents of Cambridgeshire for remaining calm after untrue rumours of disorder in the county. Extra patrols were carried out last night and the county remained relatively quiet with no reports of disorder or damage to property. Plans remain in place in response to disorders in London and other cities, however there is no information to suggest a threat in Cambridgeshire. Patrols were increased in the county and we are continuing to allocate extra resources. We are encouraging residents to continue going about their lives as usual and are working with our partners and community ...
Cambridgeshire County Council may soon find itself forced to make cuts in this year's budget to find the extra money needed to fund the schools that have become academies. The government has realised that it is wildly over budget for its academy programme and is now consulting about how to plug the gap. In a recent consultation document the government conceded that it is facing a shortfall of over £600 million over the two year period 2011-2013. This has arisen because it is paying academies more money than they need and consequently more schools have decided to become academies than ...
Southport's marine lake is one of the largest man-made leisure pursuits lakes in England. The lake is home to various watersports clubs including sailing, water-skiing and rowing. The lake is also home to The Southport Belle a Mississippi style paddle steamer that will take you on a scenic tour along Southport's Victorian seafront.On Wednesday Councillor Simon Shaw joined me as officers arranged a site visit to brief us on the difficulties they experience in the management of the lake. Pictured above are 2 hard working young employees who battled against choppy waves and high winds to clear weed and litter ...
Samuel J. Seymour, Last Surviving Witness Of Lincoln Assassination, Appears On Television In 1956 (VIDEO) Extraordinary. (tags: usa) IBM Leads the Way in the Post-PC Era | A Smarter Planet Blog I'm proud that I was one of a dozen IBM engineers who designed the first machine and was fortunate to have lead subsequent IBM PC designs through the 1980s. It may be odd for me to say this, but I'm also proud IBM decided to leave the personal computer business in 2005, selling our PC division to Lenovo. While many in the tech industry questioned IBM's decision to exit ...
I was alerted to this book (PDF download) by the excellent Jonathan Fryer, who like me (but with more regret) concludes after reading it that the most likely outcome of the current push to reform the House of Lords is that nothing will happen. The book is a collection of thirteen essays on the subject by various figures, roughly evenly balanced between practitioners and academics (with some fitting both categories), published jointly by the (Lib Dem leaning) thinktank CentreForum and the Constitution Society. I had not previously heard of either of these organisations, but the latter's Alexandra Fitzpatrick, who edited ...
The press is filled at the moment about the riots happening in England. Everyone is keen to add their two cents as to why young kids are taking to the street and rioting. Some are blaming prison sentences that are too short others are blaming knife and gang culture whilst others blame celebrity culture –
Liberal Democrats in Windsor & Maidenhead are celebrating a stunning victory in Eton. Congratulations to our new Councillor George Fussey. Lib Dem councillor Kathy Newbound said, "George will be an outstanding councillor who will really stand up for the residents of Eton and the whole Borough. It is great to have him on board " Result Liberal Democrat 208 Conservative 182 Labour 32 UKIP 17. LD Swing: 21.6% Bookmark on Delicious Digg this Recommend on Facebook Share on Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet this
