Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Liberal Democrats on Broxtowe Borough Council. Can I give a special welcome to the new subscribers that we have this week. I had a lot of feedback from last weeks newsletter and I'm very conscious that haven't been able to reply to everyone yet. Please bear with me and I'll get to you. 1. New car park in Beeston It is likely that the multi-story car park will be demolished early next year as part of the process to build ...
Tonight I was invited to see a film called Hollow. The Producer and Writer, Matthew Holt, is a friend from my cricket club. A few of us from the club went to see this European debut in a cinema in Piccadilly tonight. The film is part of the wider Raindance Festival. You might like to go to some of the other films? The film is a sort of horror, drama set in a village and stars four good actors using the more modern use of being filmed using a camcorder (shaky scenes etc). Was a good film with a ...
We have been looking at this bright light in the east for a few nights. Finally, using the wonderful GoSkyWatch app, I manage to work out what it is. The planet Jupiter. Yes, I know I'm slow. This is my terrible photo (above) of the said planet taken at 22:52 tonight. I think I should not have had that whisky! And here (below) is an infinitely better photo taken by Lord Jumper (thanks to the wonder of Flickr) 18 hours ago in Baltimore USA on 30th September. I think that must have been at about midnight their time. [IMG: Attribution] ...
British Musical Fireworks Championships 2011 Southport - day 1 from RG on Vimeo.
The Scottish Government has continued to ignore its 2007 election pledge that it would reform council tax and replace it with a system of Local Income taxation, and its policy of continually "freezing" council tax is starting to hit a few snags. I had back in June stated that the Scottish Government should utilise powers in the Scotland Bill to actually start implementing its 2007 manifesto commitment of reforming council tax, but given their hesitance and lack of understanding of the Bill I have to wonder if they will actually stick to their "pledge". I had stated on the Inverclyde ...
[IMG: Attribution] [IMG: Noncommercial] Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Bjørnli Foto This week we heard the unfortunate story of Beauty, the kitten (whereabouts unknown), Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, Christine Hemming and Emily Cox. I listed their names because I am still confused about their inter-relationships. There was a court case revolving around the theft of the kitten. What is it about Liberal MPs, court cases and animals? This story brings to mind the unfortunate Great Dane, Rinka, who met with a very sad end in a rather bizarre twist to the Jeremy Thorpe episode in the 1970s. That ...
Rather than write a post about revision today, I've been taking photographs instead. My aim this weekend is to produce seven A3 handwritten sheets that I can use during the week to remind me of the things I know (in blue and black – one for each "opposing" perspective in the chapters) and the stuff I still need to learn (in red). Today has been about attitudes, attributions, bystander intervention and embodiment. Tomorrow will be the three group processes chapters. This is today's story: [IMG: All organised for a day's DD307 revision to start - with coffee!] All organised for ...
"For most people, the only visible service that they get from the council is the removal of refuse" – Eric Pickles, Daily Mail, 30th September Floccinaucinihilipilification – the action or habit of estimating something as worthless, Oxford English Dictionary This may or not be the longest word in the English language, but today is a rare chance to use it. It sums up Eric Pickles after his eccentric comment today about council services . The honourable people who empty our bins every week or every fortnight have hundreds of thousands of colleagues working alongside them in their councils: 1.7 million ...
I've always known that Scottish Division 1 was one of the most obscure in the entire UK. I recall going to the last game of the season one year and Sky Sports New graphics of all the leagues in rolling succession marked out the already promoted and relegated teams in almost all leagues in the land, bar one. You guessed it, there was a helicopter on standby with the trophy that day and it didn't know where it was going until both the important games had a final whistle. Well today at Firhill another of those eccentricities played out. Partick ...
It is, perhaps, merely a coincidence that, on my last holiday, I read a history of the Thirty Years War (1618-48). There was quite a lot of death and destruction, chronicled quite sensitively, not necessarily suited to a beach holiday in Jamaica. However, as research material for this holiday, it has been extremely useful.As all of my readers doubtless recall, the Thirty Years War started here in Prague, a gentle stroll from the Strahov Monastery, the unexpected location of our extremely comfortable hotel, complete with sixteenth century wood beams in the ceiling, above Prague Castle. The defenestration of two leading ...
Quite simply he is someone of character and good judgement. He served for a long time in the Met police and has been correct when speaking about the recent riots as well as the NOTW phone hacking scandals. And secondly London deserves someone serious who takes the job as his priority. Boris thinks that the role of Londoon'd Mayor is to have a laugh. When the riots occured I recall he took a long time to visit the traders who suffered so badly. And Ken - well he is yesterday's man. And listening to him speak now he appears to ...
As readers of Liberal Democrat News — and the party's website — will know the Lib Dem are searching for a new chief executive to succeed Chris Fox. Here's the job ad: The Liberal Democrat Party is appointing a new Chief Executive. Liberal Democrat Headquarters, London, SW1 The Chief Executive leads the Party administration and directs the human, financial and administrative resources of the Party – both its senior professional team and its membership and supporter base. He or she will bring energy and outstanding leadership to this crucial job. The post is based in the Party's new headquarters in ...
No, not a Daily Mail headline - it would be cancer if it was, surely - but the findings of a sample of Liberal Democrat councillors in one mid-Suffolk local authority, i.e. Creeting St Peter.It would be fair to say that politics and liberal bureaucracy are not a healthy mix. When I first got involved in politics at university, I was in the early stages of putting on seventy pounds. The late nights, the beer, the junk food, the lack of exercise, all of these took their toll. It was only when I became International Officer of the Young Liberal ...
This is a bit of self indulgence, you know the whole business of blogging, who am I to pontificate, I'm not god.... Sometimes delusional as to my position in the Big Society, I feel I do my bit to represent an underclass of middle aged nonentities, and have a mission to inflict views which are unrepresented in the mainstream, probably for good reasons. Once in a while, I like to think, I've put things in the public domain which would otherwise be dismissed by proper media. Excuse the pompous, prelude to the meat, of this posting, the thing is Google ...
I'm glad to say that I possess a copy of the Other Edens anthology, edited by Christopher Evans and Robert Holdstock, which has been autographed by the cover artist and all but two of the authors. (click to embiggen) The authors are, in order of inclusion in the contents, Tanith Lee, Christopher Evans, M. John Harrison, Ian Watson, Brian Aldiss, Graham Charnock, Robert Holdstock, Michael Moorcock, Garry Kilworth, R. M. Lamming, David S. Garnett, David Langford, Keith Roberts, and Lisa Tuttle, and the cover art is by Jim Burns. It's pretty clear that Burns' signature is on the inside front ...
Today is 1st October, the National Day of the People's Republic of China (PRC). This year is also the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, which in celebrations in July, was marked by a 90 minute speech by the Party's General Secretary Hu JinTao. Perhaps more significantly, this year is the 100th anniversary of the XinHai revolution, that had begun with the Wuchang uprising on 10 Oct and led to the abdication of the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Dr Sun Yat-Sen, hailed by all as the father of democracy in China, had not himself ...
The revelations by the Telegraph today that the Conservative Party has become reliant on the financial sector for more than half its annual income is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, it shows that not much has changed regarding party finances despite decades of trying to bring accountability and transparency to the table. It seems that the City is most comfortable with the Conservatives in Government despite the fact that it was Labour who relaxed regulation and sparked off the orgy of greed that contributed to the recession and that it is the present government who are reversing that ...
Lib Dem leader of Gosport Council, Peter Chegwyn has been assaulted by one of his predecessors as Liberal Democrat leader, since turned independent, Dave Smith. The financial sector has accounted for half of the declarable donations to the Conservative Party since the 2010 general election. John Hemming's wife has been convicted of stealing a cat. The former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate Vincent McKee accused of defrauding students by Sky News has now been charged by the police.
Sat, 03:03: RT @karanadon: Microsoft issues fix after security tool mistakenly removes Google Chrome as malware http://t.co/3zOMWq9c Sat, 04:05: coffeeandink: Ereader Basics http://t.co/RSj6BukV Useful advice - wait till December! Sat, 04:05: nancylebov: Assassination Statistics http://t.co/to3ltFrF Interesting analysis in a 2007 study. Sat, 05:05: September Books http://j.mp/n95Rbq Sat, 09:27: September Books 19) Tragedy Day, by Gareth Roberts http://j.mp/nUPp3y Sat, 09:42: September Books 20) The return of the Shadow, by J.R.R. Tolkien http://j.mp/qByrGp Sat, 09:46: September Books 21) The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole http://j.mp/qDlZU2 Sat, 10:01: September Books 22) Unnatural History, by Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman http://j.mp/oOATsW Sat, 11:02: ...
So it seems that the media have cottoned on to the fact that the Government is considering increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph, up from the current 70mph. If they had been paying attention, they would have realised that this isn't exactly breaking news. Back in June this year, Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, said that the Department for Transport were looking at the impacts of increasing the speed limit. In response to an Oral Question from Stephen Mosley, he said that: "The existing limit has been in place since the '60s. We will weigh up ...
Transport for London has put together a variant of the usual Tube map, showing which parts of the network get hottest. It is based on heat data from last summer (you know, the one which had some sun). You can view the Tube heatmap here and then wonder why Edgeware Road is quite so hot.
The clinical nurse specialist at King's tells me that I havemyelodysplastic syndrome (MDS, www.mdspatientsupport.org.uk/what-is-mds/) aswell as the myeloproliferative (MPD)already mentioned. MDS has a number of subdivisions (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome),of which RARS-t in the WHO classification seems to match the symptoms best.This has the best prognosis of the lot, with an average life expectancy of 3-5years. The article doesn't say how long patients can expect to continuefunctioning more or less normally. Its a mystery why the consultant didn't mention this when I saw her the Friday before last.
John Prescott [IMG: Attribution] [IMG: Noncommercial] [IMG: No Derivative Works] Photo credit: Some rights reserved by PanARMENIAN_Photo With one tweet, John Prescott has gone up in my estimation. I admit to being a grammar snob. I have sniggered at Lord Prescott's use of English many times. But, at the risk of being patronising, I salute his effective use of English in under 140 characters with this tweet yesterday: ericpickles So you're happy to scrap the Human Rights Act & replace it with Chicken Tikka Masala disposal? Here's a tip. Eat all of it! Take that, Pickles! Eric Pickles [IMG: Attribution] ...
Having hugely enjoyed the first in the series, despite the hype, I am glad to report that I thought The Girl Who Played With Fire was even better; what at first appears to be a tense but ultimately private and tragic tale of revenge for past abuse turns into a thriller with national and international complications; it's like the best of the Rebus novels, but with more attractive characters and much nastier sex. Very highly recommended; reading the first book first isn't necessary but is desirable.
Andrew Duff MEP is a fervent federalist, and published this pamphlet last month arguing for the EU - or at least those countries within it which are willing - to move to a genuine federal economic government structure to better coordinate fiscal and monetary policy in a way which the markets and voters will find credible. He also proposes a new form of associate membership for those countries (such as, probably, the UK) that might not want to participate in the new federal structures, an inevitable consequence of one of his other proposals which is that the EU Treaties ought ...
Worrying news from the Daily Telegraph: Rebekah Brooks no longer receives billets-doux from David Cameron, but she can rely on the loyalty of her old friend David Ross, the Carphone Warehouse tycoon. Mandrake hears that the former chief executive of News International recently attended a shoot hosted by Ross, who owns the 700-year-old Nevill Holt estate in Leicestershire.The point is that most literary critics accept that Nevill Holt is the model for Bonkers Hall.
'The role for government is not to single out good and bad industries, it's to make it easy as possible for all industries, all businesses, to grow, invest and take people on' It's quite clear the Prime Minister will directly take on Ed Miliband's claim and completely ridicule his argument. I've heard, from several ...
Sat 1st
11:23
This retail store's response to a complaint makes Miranda Priestly in "The Devil wears Prada" look l...
[IMG: Attribution] [IMG: Noncommercial] [IMG: No Derivative Works] Photo credit: Some rights reserved by elycefeliz Here's a very amusing exchange between an aggrieved customer of Australian fashion chain GASP and the retailer's regional manager. The retailer's response is about as bitchy as you could get without actually scratching someone's eyes out. What gets me is that the retailer's email has several howling errors of English, notably the appalling and repeated misuse of the word "whom". It's the kind of error people make when they are trying to be superior but can't quite hack it because they haven't had sufficient education ...
Sat 1st
11:21
Opinion: "Too male and too pale" - Why shortlists and the Leadership Programme are not the answer
The problem of our Parliamentary Party being "too male and too pale" was brought up again at conference and I couldn't help leaving with the feeling that we are edging towards another fight over whether we should introduce more proactive methods to help combat the chronic under representation of women and ethnic minorities among our MPs. I was most struck when Paddy Ashdown, during the Guardian debate, seemed to shift from his previously held position and advocate the introduction of shortlists or "zipping" if the current leadership programme failed to make any significant impact. I am completely opposed to the ...
From Sheena Wellington : "On Wednesday 5th October, young piper Kyle Howie will perform the Friends of Wighton's monthly Wednesday lunchtime concert in Dundee Central Library. Kyle Howie first started piping at the age of 10 and now, barely out of his teens, he is one of the most sought after pipers in Scotland. He has appeared at the Edinburgh Tattoo three times, firstly with the Black Watch and then with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. He has recently joined the sensational Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the world renowned bagrock band. In addition to playing the Highland and smallpipes, Kyle ...
"Raising awareness of speed will potentially make the Coastal Road safer" declared Ainsdale Ward Councillor Haydn Preece after Wednesday night's Area Committee meeting to place four Actuated Signs between Weld Road and Liverpool Road. Four flashing signs that remind drivers of their speed if over the speed limit will be in place soon. Councillor Preece has been campaigning for improved road safety on the Coastal Road and initiated council officers reports on the Coastal Road . Cllr Preece has welcomed the decision at Area Committee to fund from Ainsdale and Dukes Ward four Actuated Signs."They will be like the ones ...
New campaign website launched http://www.dontsplitformby.org.uk/
This year's Who has taken a lot of liberties with Amy and her personal timeine - more than I can remember being taken with any previous TV companion, apart from some of the things that happened to Sarah Jane Smith in the SJA - so it's interesting to read an earlier example of this approach, with Sam Jones, the Doctor's companion for most of the 22 previous EDAs, suddenly transformed into a dark-haired version of herself who never left London. Meanwhile in San Francisco the Doctor and Fitz are dealing with the mysterious Faction Paradox, helped by an enigmatic Time ...
With Monday's public holiday taking place - and the following week, the October school holidays commencing, here are details of my surgeries during October : Monday 3rd October - No surgeries at Harris Academy and Mitchell Street Centre - Public Holiday Thursday 6th October - Surgery taking place as normal at Blackness Primary School (staff room on ground floor) at 6.15pm Monday 10th October onwards - No surgeries during school holidays but I can be contacted at any time at home on 459378 or via my e-surgery - esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk Monday 24th October - Surgeries recommence with the start of the ...
Oxford World's Classics edition, with grrr endnotes. mid-eighteenth century Gothic novel which is widely seen as one of the fore-runners of the genre. An aristocratic wedding is interrupted by ghostly apparitions which crush the intended bridegroom and ultimately reveal the true heir. I was interested to find that the morality play of marriage and inheritance rather overshadows the supernatural stuff, but I'm afraid I wasn't really grabbed by it as a whole.
My decision to read the whole History of Middle Earth came as a result of getting a boxed set of this and the next couple of books in the series, which all deal with the writing of The Lord of the Rings, at a book fair a couple of years ago; but of course it is actually the sixth in the series, the first five dealing with what became The Silmarillion. Here we have three-ish drafts of The Lord of the Rings up to the exploration of Moria. It is striking how quickly Tolkien shifted tone from the young-reader-ish style ...
I read this with some interest given that we had an episode by Roberts on TV last weekend, but there's not much connection between them; this is a satire on media culture, with some particularly vicious digs at cult tv and charity fund-raising, with plot elements including an evil child genius, celebrity androids and voracious genetically engineered monsters. Points for having a gay character without making a big deal of it.
Okay. Economic liberals do have a tendency to see over-regulation everywhere. And they do have a tendency to lump all regulation together. Some regulation is probably for the good; not everything is the fat end of the wedge. But this must take the biscuit, if not the whole cookie-jar! No, it's not the slogan for Gay Pride 1967. It's actually a sign outside Arc/IMO in Watford. Arc, for those of you who don't know, is the largest dedicated car wash company in the world, spanning 14 countries and washing over 34 million cars per annum. They'll wash your car for ...
The official public consultation from the Joint Committee of the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill runs until 12 October and this week I have submitted my views to it. I used the simple to use process provided by Unlock Democracy that helps you to respond to the consultation. You can do the same and submit your views on Lords Reform online here This is what I said; Those who make the laws that govern the people should be chosen by the people that are to be governed. This is the fundamental premise upon which all democratic societies are based. ...
Earlier in the week I blogged my interview with Mark Sullivan, who founded the firm that is supplying the party's new CONNECT electoral database software. For some further background on him and his firm, here's an interview Mark Sullivan gave in late 2008: Hat tip: Neil Fawcett
A Planning application has gone in for 34 solar panels to be fitted to Consett Library's roof. Surprised? I was. These installations are usually geared to a twenty five year life in order to be economically viable. Twenty five years takes full advantage of the government's incentives, but you will remember that a recent cabinet report said of our town centre, "A number of buildings are rundown and the library in particular is in poor condition and poorly integrated." The same report looked towards the demolition of Pitt Street, the street which contains the library, within 10-15 years. Sometimes you ...
Here are the five posts published on this blog between July and September that recorded the most hits: Dispatching rogue landlords (4 July) Crunch time for the Liberal Democrats – The NHS Bill and electoral oblivion (5 September) Could the riots be the beginning of the end for the Coalition? (19 August) Policy, evidence and ...
Well, it's all come down, from Scotland's point of view, to the match with the Auld Enemy. Nothing short of a victory will suffice. Indeed, we need to win by at least eight points and deny England a bonus point. Anything less and we will crash out of the (Rugby Union) World Cup at the group stages for the first time and fall victim of what was always going to be a tough group. The message to the squad is, therefore, simple: Don't Come Home Too Soon. And, right on cue, here's Del Amitri with Scotland's Official (Football) World Cup ...
Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon has won support from Liberal Democrat conference delegates for her fight to get a fairer deal from the government for part-time students. She teamed up with former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader, Baroness Sal Brinton to put a motion to the Birmingham conference to ensure part-time university students were not discriminated against under the new education loans scheme. For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses. And ...
This is a post-script to the previous post, Upwardly Mobile Tadpoles. One of things things I do in order to try to keep senility at bay is try to memorise things. For many years this took the form of brushing up my schoolboy French, but that has now been put on the back burner (mettre en veilleuse)at a disappointingly modest level. Now my efforts centre round taking small parts with not many lines in plays. In between plays I've been brushing up on selected verses of Gray's "Elegy", one of the poems I "did" for "O" level. This stanza, slightly ...
Saturday: "A BABY ELEPHANT needs two GAY DADDIES who LOVE each other!" Hooray! Hooray! Mr Gareth Roberts once again uses ME as inspiration for Dr Woo! (Having previously had me as a PUB in "The Shakespeare Code"!) Sorry Mr Gatiss, but Mr Gareth gets MY VOTE for next showrunner! I wonder if he could be persuaded that Dr Woo should be a fluffy elephant... While I brush up my photo for SPOTLIGHT, here is Daddy Richard's latest review. Well, with that cliff-hanger, and Moffat's history, it's certainly not going to be River Song in the astronaut suit shooting the Doctor. ...
