David Cameron's 'fightback' (a somewhat incongruous title for a response to rioting) speech today had all the hallmarks of an out touch county fogey. His speech played to all the old rural Tory prejudices of inner cities and wouldn't have been out of place at a Tory conference in the heyday of the Thatcherites. One can't help feeling when facing issues of crime and disorder Cameron's 'liberal Tory' mask slips and he is able to become the true right winger he otherwise surpresses. His reactionary (in the true sense of the word) attacks on the Human Rights Act and Health ...
Amazon (US) have now made the Kindle available as a web app. https://read.amazon.com/ will let you read your Kindle books online (or offline if you install an extension). So far it only works for Safari or Chrome, and only for the US Kindle store, but it should soon be available more widely. This is a ...
Rehman Chishti, Tracey Crouch, Mark Reckless MPs for Medway One of the many progressive policies we as a party have brought in is to trim Parliament to a more efficient 600 MPs representing 72,000 to 77,000 voters. At the moment there are people working diligently pouring over maps and drawing lines and marking up new or re sized constituencies. In Kent we are set to lose one MP. But... This arbitrary cut and slice may be a touch too arbitrary. For example one proposal for Medway was to cut the Hoo peninsula and Isle of Grain away and put them ...
Sir, Your editorial starts off calling for the Liberal Democrats to have a distinctive voice over the riots. It goes on to give the party two specific pieces of advice, both of which are to agree with Ed Miliband more often. Is this a case of the first paragraph not knowing what the last paragraph is doing? Yours etc.
Or, perhaps more appropriately, bureaucrat interrupted. Yes, I'm back on holiday again, after my plans were somewhat disturbed by rioters. No, we didn't have any in Paradise-sur-Gipping, but Ros did have to go back to listen to the Cameron statement.We had planned to spend last Wednesday night at the Swan Hotel, Southwold, eating good food, drinking good wine and doing seaside a la bourgeoisie. If you know this part of the Suffolk coast, you'll know what I mean. The fish and chips has beer batter from the Adnams Brewery in the town, rock is discreetly purveyed and there is a ...
I've seen a fair few posts around over the past few days regarding the 50p top up rate of tax some arguing that it needs to be maintained and others arguing for it to be scrapped. One common argument for removing the upper band of income tax is that it will encourage investment in the economy and end up creating more wealth overall. Effectively this is supply side economics as it is a policy to try and boost supply. If rich people have more money then they will invest more. If the gains are there to be made then they ...
The UK's premier academic authority on terrorism, Paul Wilkinson, died on Friday. The Telegraph has (as usual in these matters) a rather good obituary. Prof Wilkinson was head of the International Relations and Politics Department at Aberdeen when I was an undergraduate there in the 1980s. His profile was such that he was the first person the media went to when commenting on terrorism issues. Which led to the student joke of the time - what's the difference between Paul Wilkinson and God? God is everywhere all the time. Paul Wilkinson is everywhere (except Aberdeen) all the time.
I have spoken with many constituents today in the West End, expressing their concern about the future of the Whitehall Theatre. As the day progressed, it was reassuring the learn that, despite the difficulties of the theatre company and the liquidation decision, the Whitehall Theatre Trust has signalled its intention to keep the theatre open and that it intends to still run shows like Dundee Schools' Music Theatre's "Me and My Girl", other autumn shows and hopefully the pantomime in the run up to Christmas. The Whitehall Theatre has provided high-quality entertainment for Dundonians and the wider region for generations ...
The City Council summer recess has now ended and council committees started again this evening with the Development Management Committee. It was a relatively light agenda but I did make comment on issues surrounding the new right of appeal over Section 75 agreements that the City Council has used responsibly in various ways, for example, to restrict, in appropriate circumstances, the use of new housing from becoming Houses in Multiple Occupation. I also welcomed the planning appeal outcome at the Tay Mills flats in Brown Street. I mentioned this on www.dundeewestend.com last month and the Reporter's decision was reported to ...
1.Once again headlines in right-wing papers proclaim Cameron to be a tough, no-nonsense kind of guy. But the detail to the stories is very different. We've already seen this with Cameron and crime. The papers proclaim he is giving people the right to defend their homes against burglars. The truth is he has simply uttered a law already in place. The papers have fallen at his feet for paying lip-service to an existing legal issue. His statements make Malcolm Tucker look like an amateur, but I'm sure Murdoch is proud. Today, as a knee-jerk reaction to the riots last week, ...
And so the riots cease and the politics begins. The two old tribes climb cheerfully into their respective trenches and pick up their armouries, one side calling for stronger families and communities, the other blaming society and the example of others, including bankers and the same politicians. There's no need to distinguish between them - it's business as usual and, frankly, it doesn't matter. Dave wants to rebuild our broken society, Ed wants an enquiry - a favourite 'New' Labour tactic to spend a few tens of millions, kick a subject into the long grass and avoid any hint at ...
The laws and financial regulations in this country currently allow the rich (like him) to continuously evade paying taxes, so it's little wonder that it isn't acruing much revenue. The problem is, it is a very, very weak excuse to put forward to parliament when the government is squeezing every purse available on an 'every penny counts towards the deficit' argument in other areas. For want of a better expression, it's a bit too Tory. Arguing that sustaining the rate would drive wealth creators out of the UK, Osbourne seems to miss the point. Everyone is making sacrifices across the ...
The riots are over, despite the doom-mongers reporting feelings of unease and tension. So what can be the definitive moment when the riots ended? There are several factors, less than the motivation for starting the riots, but still concepts that drew the public disorder to an close. The cynic and the Daily Mash are quick to point out that rather than the tumultuous return of MPs as illusionary custodians, or great swathes of police, that the actual end of the riots was symbolised by a simplistic event: the rain. Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds hooligans were far more deterred by ...
A busy week this week for us all. You will have no doubt received various E-cops messages this week regarding the disorder in London, and I would like to thank you for your messages of support at this time. We have been working twelve hour shifts and have had all our rest days cancelled in order to assist the Metropolitan Police as well as maintaining our service to the residents of Cambridgeshire. Unfortunately, I have to report that we have had two dwelling burglaries in Park Lane, Dry Drayton since last Saturday. The first being where three unknown male offenders ...
How many times recently have you seen a story regarding the evils of Social Networking? A lot more recently than I think most liberals would like that's for sure. By concentrating on the bad the media (or that part of it dedicated to selling you stuff on a daily basis) is as always ignoring the good.Unlike previous riots in the UK this one has been reported more widely by Social media than by any other form of media. You will have seen endless comment by politicians, journalists, comedians, not to mention practically anyone else who had an account and an ...
Sunday. The sabbath. The day of rest. When God tells me to have a lie-in, who am I, a mere mortal, to refuse? [IMG: Will likes this] Sleep banked, I headed to the Pleasance Courtyard to see Phillipa and Will Are Now In a Relationship, a short, funny play told entirely through a Facebook wall-to-wall. It's very well observed and performed and although there are one or two occasions where the drama requires conversations that are unlikely to have taken place online, the play acknowledges this and turns it into a laugh. The conceit could easily outstay its welcome but ...
I am moving my blog to wordpress to see if I find that any less frustrating. The new site is over at oolonrantingintothevoid.wordpress.com and hopefully has all the current posts (except this one) and comments copied over. See you there.
Mon 15th
18:38
What else did Nick get asked in London last week? And more to the point - how did he answer?
Following on from my post about Nick's Q&A session with London members last week, I promised I'd post about what else he was asked and what he said. Obviously the perils of leaving it a few days before checking the scribbles I made , in a hot room, standing up mean that some of my notes leave a little to be desired. But here are a few highlights. Not everyone is going to agree with all he said - and I'll be paraphrasing.... The Young My abiding memory of the whole meeting was of Nick's passion when talking about the ...
This morning I came out of hospital after 6 days. This afternoon after listening to Cameron and Milliband on the PM programme I felt so ill that I nearly demanded my bed back! Ill thought platitudes with accusations of knee ... Continue reading →
I was very glad to hear that Danny Baker has been given the all-clear from his cancer. When I lived in London in the early 1980s, I used to watch regularly the Six O'Clock Show on Fridays, presented by Michael Aspel with Janet Street-Porter and Danny Baker. From YouTube, here's a wonderful clip which features a film report for the programme by Danny Baker. It's about Milwall football club. At 4:00 you will see a 26 year old Danny Baker on screen and then, shortly afterwards, he chats with Michael Aspel in the studio. It is a golden clip.
Public disorder - help for high streets A £10m recovery fund to help councils with the immediate costs of making their areas safe, clear and clean again. This fund can be used, for example, to clear debris left strewn in streets and make immediate repairs to pavements and roads. This Recovery scheme can also be used to support councils who use their powers to offer council tax discounts or council tax relief to those whose homes have been damaged but are still habitable. A £20m High Street Support Scheme – funded jointly by the Departments for Communities and Local Government, ...
It really is a historic day for Welsh football. After 19 years, we will finally be represented in the Premier League at long last and a near 30 year-absence from the top flight will end when Swansea City kick-off against Manchester City this evening at 8pm. I commented on my trip to Wembley to watch their ascent to the Premier League in the play-off final in my blog here and here. It's going to be a long season and Swansea will have to pull out all of the stops to ensure that they stay in the top flight for a ...
Residents of Forest Hill attending the Forest Hill Ward Assembly on Sunday 14th August cast their votes to see which local projects and organisations would receive a share of the £45k available from the Forest Hill Ward Assembly Fund. The winning projects included plans to bring swings and sports equipment back to the Horniman Triangle ...
This is the speech Meral made last Thursday as part of the Lords debate on the public disorder. 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 ...
Yeah it is that time of year where I have to decide whether I should be upfront and blatant of like Uriah Heep and ever so humble. This year for the Total Politics Blog Awards I have have no such qualms. GIVE YOUR NUMBER ONE TOAndrew Reeves Yeah I've lost a great friend and the world has lost a great blogger. Many of my readers will probably also have been readers of Andrew's blog either because you follow me since I'm a fellow Lib Dem, spent time in Scotland or are a fellow politico. If you did you should also ...
David Cameron has decided that society is on the verge of a 'moral collapse' following the riots. I find it difficult to envisage what a moral collapse would look like, unless it's a nun tripping over a dildo; such a term appears to boil down to mere rhetoric. On closer inspection, the thrust of his ...
Collected links from around the webDavid Starkey is wrong, plain and simple - @Miss_Snuffy's demolishes those defending Starkey's racism I've rewatched Starkey's train wreck of a Newsnight performance twice now, and I've read both Toby Young and Jerry Hayes defending what they thinks he meant to say. I suspect, actually, that they're right about what he was trying to say. But he used such racist language in such a dismissive and stupid way that he was, quite simply, wrong. Here's hoping he'll stop getting invited on shows like Question Time to rudely talk over every other panellist and refuse to ...
I'm sure West Lothian Council are not alone in this appalling lack of foresight, but I am absolutely livid that they have decided to carry out major road repairs on the Eliburn North roundabout and its approach roads on one of the busiest junctions in Livingston just as the schools go back. They have had six weeks worth of holiday from school related traffic to get this sorted and they haven't bothered. But it's ok, because I can turn right out of my house instead of left and go the other way round. It's a bit longer, but hey. Except ...
The above sign off or something similar on a email was what was described by Bill Walker MSP (who had already caused a furore over his comments) as "as quite intimidating actually because ... it reminded me of the pre-war Nazi-type stuff banning things." It is a comment that he has since withdrawn saying it was "intemperate". However the fact that looking to end homophobia, which is what a cross through the word homophobia would clearly convey as anything akin to Nazism is a sign of an out of touch person, sadly this one is sitting in Holyrood. Surely looking ...
When events like last week's riots and looting occur, we assume that something that was previously working must now be badly broken. What has changed in the last few years that has brought the rioters and looters onto the streets? Government cuts? MPs expenses? Greedy bankers? Broken society? Maybe. Or perhaps there's less need to panic and more need to take a measured view. Might it be that this sort of trouble – relatively common in societies – is similar to earthquakes? Tiny earthquakes and tremors occur across the world most of the time and we barely notice. Every now ...
The political reaction to the riots of last week has not been good. There are many things I could comment on however the one that stood out for me was the call for social networks to be blocked in an attempt to stop the flow of information in order to make the rioters less organised. This to me is a ridiculously dangerous road to start down. It will then be all to easy for them to justify blocking such tools just because there is the prospect of violence/criminality. It is totally illiberal and in my view also vastly misguided. Twitter, ...
This is not good at all about the disruption caused to Londoners by yesterday's Olympic cycling event. It sounds like the event was a great success and gave pleasure to lots of people, so that's terrific. It should, however, have been run in a way that caused less disruption. If it caused this amount of disruption, then that means that something went wrong. Transport for London (TfL) is guilty of breathtaking complacency if they think that it's sufficient to say, effectively: "Well, we warned people there would be disruption, so there." Warning people of disruption does not always make up ...
Come to the Oak Tree Court Summer Fair on Saturday 20th August, 11am-2pm. Lots of fun, with all the money raised going towards social events for the court's residents. Oak Tree Summer Fair_funday Poster 2011_print Copy_ijI Oak Tree Court is next to Cheadle Library, with vehicle access from Oak Road. View Cheadle and Gatley in a larger map
Next Tuesday is Cheadle Area Committee day and – dare I say it – it looks like it could be a relatively short meeting. If you fancy seeing local democracy in action, why not come along to the Upper Rooms, Cheadle (above Tesco) at 6pm on Tuesday 23rd August. Here's the agenda: Cheadle Area Committee Aug 2011
One of the media's favourite themes is to promote and foster the notion that the Liberal Democrats have broken all our promises. This is obviously because of the tuition fees saga and despite the fact that 75% of our manifesto is in place. However I am concerned that another of our key promises is on the way out - which will further this perception. Fairness in taxation is one of our biggest flags. Moving the burden of tax away from the lower and middle incomes and further onto those with the broadest shoulders and ability to pay. During the last ...
You will have seen the massively unsubtle Total Politics Blog Awards link on your right. Or if you haven't, may I respectfully suggest that a trip to the optician might be a good idea. I would really appreciate any votes you might care to cast my way. It's been a challenging year to be a Liberal Democrat blogger, particularly in Scotland. Being in Government has its highs and lows. What has been great for the Lib Dem blogosphere, though, is that it's flourished since the 2010 general election. When Labour were in Government, only a few people dared put their ...
Why not get our latest headlines by email? Hundreds of Lib Dem Voice readers already do. Some people like regularly visiting Lib Dem Voice to see the latest stories. Others like to look out for us on Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed and check that way. And some even read us on their Amazon Kindle. But if you prefer email, you can sign up for our daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice. It has convenient links to click through to the full article, and a note of how ...
Foreign news stories that feature Trans issues can get confusing. There are often mistranslations and missed cultural nuances involved and this story from Cuba (BBC Link) is a good example. The headline when originally posted was "Cuba set for first 'gay wedding'". Which was rather incorrect and problematic, as the updated headline now illustrates: "Cuba gay man and transgender woman marry". For clarification: She's a post-op transwoman. So it's actually a straight marriage. So, where did the "gay" come from? It's not clear. Appropriation by the local LG community? If so, and the translations are accurate, the groom at least ...
Firstly, our problem is nothing compared to the United States; access to firearms are limited or non-existent and the drug networks are not as strong within street gangs. The financial power is held within organised crime syndicates and families, which allowed these British street gangs to go unnoticed. However, especially in parts of Manchester and ...
Here's one opinion poll finding that has had almost no coverage and I suspect will continue to do so because its finding is so at odds with what nearly everyone is saying. It's from Anthony Wells's excellent polling blog: YouGov re-asked a question from back in 2009 about whether people though Britain was a broken society, in regard of the area people themselves lived in, and in relation to the country as a whole. 37% think it is true in relation to the area they live (which is significantly down from 2009 when YouGov originally asked the question) "Down", not ...
A great column in the New York Times by Warren Buffett. Once the world's richest man, he has a record of consistently debunking conservative delusions about the nature of incentives, money making, and job creation. This one hits a few nails on their heads: Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends. I didn't refuse, ...
Today's Guardian reports: TheLiberal Democratsare pushing for the eventual disbanding of the 50p rate of tax to see the implementation of a new land tax levied on properties above £1m. In a refinement of their controversial mansion tax policy launched at their ... Continue reading →
Mon 15th
12:02
Cameron & Miliband want to be seen to be tough on crime. I just want to see and hear from Nick C...
If you didn't notice last week we saw a bit of unrest in pockets around the country. The police decided to sit back and do some 'softly softly' policing aka known as 'CCTV policing' and some youths (and older people) thought that they could have a bit of fun and let out all their adrenaline in a five finger discount looting kind of way. Things got pretty hairy as 100s of people essentially took over neighbourhoods and did whatever they liked with seemingly no-one willing or able to stop them. However as we all know the police started to get ...
Long-term readers may recall me previously highlighting the unusual website terms and conditions that myself and mainly other people have dug up, such as the local council website that said people were allowed to print off copies of its pages but could not then photocopy them. That ban on photocopying was removed in the end. Resisting at first however, even after the local BBC radio station picked up on my blog post, was Shropshire County Council who were demanding prior written consent before anyone linked to their site. They even stuck by this as being necessary despite not being able ...
Mon 15th
11:45
My definitely-not-touting-for-your-vote, obligatorily-self-promoting-post: 'Have you voted yet in th...
Ah, blogging awards! The chance for us self-publishers to self-promote our writing wares in the vague hope of recognition beyond self. The Total Politics Blog Awards are upon us again, and you can vote here. In 2011, Total Politics is rightly acknowledging that blogging is about authorship, not site, which is a good thing. In common with many bloggers, my writing is spread around: mostly on LibDemVoice.org, and a handful of posts on Dale & Company, and some original stuff here (though as Wikio shows stephentall.org site is a mere minnow, even within blogging's small pond). If you want to ...
In case you had any lingering doubts, the Potter Blogger is proud to present proof that Guido Fawkes' blog is indeed inhabited by frothing-at-the-mouth, far right wingnuts and racists: Just in case you missed it, that screenshot shows that, when asked whether David Starkey's comments (in which he asserted that whites were turning black and that black meant crime and any non-criminal black people were actually white) were racist or not, nearly a whopping 70% of Guido Fawkes readers thought they were not. This is despite the fact that there were two other option which would have allowed them to ...
The Company of Fellows, Dan Holloway How could I resist a crime novel set in Oxford, and cunningly marketed as the "Favourite Oxford Novel" following an online write-in campaign in a poll run by the city's world famous Blackwell's bookstore? Given it's a self-published e-book, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Dan Holloway's generally cliche-free writing. The book centres on Tommy West — an OCD academic prodigy who suffered a thesis-induced nervous breakdown, and then made a fortune from interior design: as you do — and his attempts to find out the truth about the death of his ...
I wrote on Saturday about our fantastic day out at the Dare Protoplay day in Dundee and I mentioned our favourite games. Mine was Tick Tock Toys by Swallowtail Games and I was thrilled to bits to see last night that they are one of the three teams picked to compete for the BAFTA award. I hope this means that the game will end up in production because, despite my appalling lack of anything resembling hand-eye co-ordination, I became moderately addicted to it on Friday. The other winning teams are Digital Knights, with their Kinect game Joust and Evolved Ape ...
David Davis MP, in his appearance on the Question Time "riots special" said: "There are estates in Alan Simpson's constituency where there are youngsters the age of 12 or 13 who got £30 a day paid for delivering drugs on whose estate the man to look up to was the drug dealers" Brian Paddick: "Exactly" Davis "because he had a big car and he lived well. And if we create circumstances like that it'll be no surprise we get the problems we've had in London and the Midlands and the North in the last week." This is a fairly astute ...
Bring back national service - ah, yes - that'll do the trick Liberal Burblings takes on the headdesking stupidity of the idea of bringing back national service. (tags: london) Worst. Argument. Ever. A nice takedown of some of the idiots defending David Starkey. (tags: racism)
While the riots shook England and took the police and the politicians by surprise we now need to look at a response. We know what the Tories' response is/will be and Labour under Miliband is characteristically going to undertake an 'inquiry'. So what is the Liberal response? If Liberalism hides for fear of not sounding ...
Fifth Doctor, Turlough and Sontarans, on a human colony with an Indian cultural background, and the Rutans make an appearance as well. Lots of good continuity for both Turlough and the Sontarans, and lots of good world-building, combined with a decent plot; one to look out for.
The most bizarre story of the weekend has to be this one in Saturday's Western Mail, where South Wales Police are objecting to Cardiff council plans to bring a major Doctor Who tourist attraction to the capital. The paper says that the exhibition is expected to attract 250,000 visitors a year, generate revenue of up to £6m annually for BBC Worldwide and pump £65m into the city's economy. But South Wales Police say the exhibition will increase policing pressures, and they have warned they will object to the plans unless the council funds a new Police Community Support Officer. Planning ...
Case Study Number 1 Police investigating the phone hacking scandal have arrested a number of people, including then News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks. But this hasn't involved knocking on their door and dragging them out in front of their neighbours. No, they have mostly been arrested by appointment at police stations. They are being investigated for involvement in some pretty serious crimes - hacking into the mobile of a missing schoolgirl, giving her parents false hope that she was still alive when they'd deleted some of her voicemails for a start. A pretty despicable crime. It's caused one of ...
The Total Politics Blog Awards for 2011 are open for voting until the end of this week. I've been a bit tardy with my annual "shameless grubbing for votes" post this year but here it is in in all its glory! If you have liked what I have blogged here or elsewhere then please consider voting for me in the poll. This year there are two sections, favourite political blog and favourite individual political blogger. I would be most obliged if you could consider me for both categories. You need to nominate at least 5 in each section for that ...
I know there are people who are critical of the police. My own view is that I am supportive of the police action last week. It is always possible to dig little holes into someone's performance, but normally futile. I think that Chief Constable Chris Simms of the West Midlands Police did a good job throughout the week and his management assisted in both bringing orders into the situation and
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Mon 15th
08:30A post containing shameless bragging followed by brazen begging for help. I know, its not attractive...
First off many thanks to everyone who read this post on the blog and made it top of this weeks Lib Dem Voice Golden Dozen. I am full of misplaced pride. Secondly, as I am relatively new to this blogging malarkey (the site is now 7 months old) I am told that I should be begging votes left, right and centre (tho being a Lib Dem, mainly centre) for the Total Politics 'Blog of the Year' poll. So if you have 2 minutes to vote for me, I'd be very grateful. Although of course if I do alright, you can ...
A beautiful and painful piece from Caitlin Moran in The Times from the weekend on closing libraries. Unfortunately it's behind a paywall, so unless you share my fetish for information you'll likely not be paying for access. It's a fantastic piece, and still powerful when reduced to these lines: A library is such a potent symbol of a town's values; each one closed down might as well be 6,000 stickers plastered over every available surface, reading: "WE CHOSE TO BECOME MORE STUPID AND DULL." .. Unless the Government has developed an exit strategy for the cuts, and has insisted that ...
I spent last Friday at the Dare Protoplay event in Dundee's Caird Hall. This is the culmination of the University of Abertay's annual Dare to be Digital Competition in which 15 teams of 5 students spent 10 weeks developing games with mentoring from people in the industry. At the free Protoplay event, the games are judged by the public, who vote for their favourite, industry experts and teams of pre-registered judges. My 12 year old daughter has been a junior judge for the past 3 years and this event has become one of the highlights of her Summer holidays. She ...
I'm sitting at my PC late on Sunday night (by the time I post this it should be Monday – hence the title) with little to do as I wait for the clock to tick round to midnight for work purposes so I thought I'd post a few random football thoughts after the weekends games. Kanu? Up top on his own? Are you freaking kidding me Steve Cotterill? I actually watched the JPT draw with intent hoping Southend would get a home draw so I'd get an extra game to commentate on a fortnight on Tuesday. They did. Southend United ...
I am advised by Dundee City Council that, as a result of Dundee Partnership investment in the Cultural Quarter, from 23rd to 28th August Tay Square will be partially closed to vehicles for five days to allow completion of lights embedded into the road immediately outside the Rep Theatre and for resurfacing works. The City Council advises me that any disruption to the surrounding premises and servicing will be kept to a minimum during the five day road closure and thereafter the surrounding properties will benefit from a significantly enhanced Tay Square. If any residents require any further information please ...
It is a saying attributed to Huey Long, the one time Governor of Louisiana, that "If Fascism ever comes to America, it will arrive under the disguise of Americanism". As I contemplate American politics in the second decade of the second Millennium, I am beginning to wonder what is coming next, because it is hard to believe that the money soaked banalities of the Republican straw poll in Iowa constitutes much that is particularly optimistic. The decline of America has been predicted for most of its history, Clemenceau famously once said that "America is the only country to have gone ...
I had not heard of Jupiter Artland until a couple of weeks ago. It is a sculpture park set in the grounds of Bonnington House at Wilkieston just outside Edinburgh. The result is really rather stunning and thought provoking, the works of art fusing effortlessly with the environment. Part parkland, part woodland, this perfectly formed space enjoys spectacular views over West Lothian. North to the hills and the unmistakable silhouettes of the Forth Bridges, south-east to the Pentland Hills and all around rolling farmland. The house itself is also very handsome. The setting and the views are in fact amongst ...
While the riots were going on, I was travelling across the Rockies to visit relatives on Vancouver Island, and then returning. I didn't have access to a computer, so I followed the news by signing up for free trials of The Guardian and Daily Telegraph on my Kindle. Kindle doesn't have pictures, which distanced me ...
