YouTube have launched a politics channel to cover the 2012 US presidential elections. It uses the standard Youtube ratings system of views and likes and dislikes to see who are the most popular candidates. So far this ad has a grand total of 6 views, but deserves a much wider showing for both the integrity of Ron Paul, the honesty in which Fox News covers the issue and the embarrassment factor for President Obama.
Today saw the launch of the new Health Lottery which dispute supporting 'health related projects' in 51 regions across the country threatens the very existence of the third sector already reeling from governmental cuts. Should the Health Lottery prove popular (and given the higher prizes compared to the National Lottery that is highly likely) the money available to Third Sector projects on the whole will drastically fall leaving many projects both now and in the future facing the axe. Since its inception, the national lottery has raised over £26bn for good causes and has enabled many worthwhile and impactive projects ...
It started poorly, I mean I can understand a government split, a party split, but for a single minister to be split on an issue is a new one. According to the BBC article Mr Hammond says "Increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph would generate economic benefits of hundreds of millions of pounds through shorter journey times." So that is clear. If we let people drive quicker they will get to
TweetChildren's movies, when you are a child of the 1980s, are fantasy filled adventures that provide morals and excitement in your action packed life. However, as you grow older, you begin to analyse and understand the multifaceted approaches they take, and interpret them in a completely different light. Please be warned, if you haven't seen ...
My Cat :) You thought this was going to be a post about Theresa May and the cat and the Human Rights Act didn't you? Everything has been debated to death already so I thought I would just post a picture of my cat, Sarah. I wanted to be a part of the debacle but in a different way.
These days I find myself increasingly drawn to the obituary columns. At least I have heard of many of the people in them. More and more I hear people discussing names - Jessie J, Phil Jagielka, Ed Miliband - that mean nothing to me. Anyway, I was sad to read this evening of the actor George Baker. He is best known to modern audiences for playing Inspector Wexford and to people of my generation for playing Tiberius in I Claudius. But long before either of those roles, he had a brief spell as a swashbuckling romantic lead in British films ...
The Shropshire Star - and that's good enough for me - reports: The nephew of Hilda Murrell, the Shrewsbury rose grower whose murder in 1984 sparked a host of conspiracy theories and claims of an Establishment cover-up, has called for a reopening of the case because of 'explosive new evidence'.Rob Green says that the new information proves that at least one other man was involved in the crime and this information would probably lead to the acquittal of Andrew George. George is serving a life sentence after being convicted of Miss Murrell's abduction and murder following a five-week trial in ...
In politics the old phrase goes that he who wields the dagger, never wears the crown. It could well be said of Michael Heseltine. Ireland, are the 2011 Rugby World Cup equivalent of Michael Heseltine. In those 80 minutes against Australia in the group stage which resulted in that stunning 15-6 win, they blew the 7th Rugby Union World Cup wide open. The expectation of a titanic first ever New Zealand Vs Australia final was instantly blown to smithereens. Suddenly it was now an all-but dead cert that we would have a clear cut South Vs North Hempisphere final - ...
Having spent the day going through the group processes block, I've now decided that if I get the choice, I'd rather answer a question centred on conflict and prejudice than intragroup processes and entitativity. This goes against what I'd originally planned for this block, which was to primarily focus on intragroup processes, but I'm glad I've recognised that now, rather than in the pavilion at Derbyshire County Cricket Club next Thursday afternoon! It's not that the subject matter of entitativity is difficult to remember – it's just that answers to previous year's questions seem more difficult to structure than those ...
The new Dundee City Council adult learning newsletter is now available and you can download it at http://tinyurl.com/communitylearningdundee. The following courses are available in the West End : Just the Job Mitchell Street Centre, Thursday 27th October - 1st December 1-3pm Looking for work and English is your second language? Learn to improve CVs, application form filling, interview skills etc. Options and Choices Mitchell Street Centre, Thursday 3rd November - 8 December 9.30am -11.30am This course will help identify your skills, compile/update a CV, explore your career ideas, identify your learning and employment options. Guidance At a venue, date and ...
In today's Telegraph Charles Moore poses the following question to supporters of equal rights to marriage So if you say that marriage should, in fact, be differently defined, you are saying something very big and bold. The onus of proof should surely not be on those who justify the status quo, but on you. You must show that you are right and that everyone else, for thousands of years, has been wrong. How about this Mr Moore. If two consenting adults wish to publically declare their love for each other and make lifelong commitment to each other then good luck ...
When David Cameron & Nick Clegg were sitting down to discuss the composition of the coalition cabinet the political hacks informed us that Paddy Ashdown was to become Secretary of State for Defence. The hacks were as we all know wrong but what we don't know is just how close it was. Fast forward to the present day and the man who has that job is is real trouble following newspaper allegations into improper conduct between Dr Liam Fox and his former flatmate and close friend Adam Werritty. We have seen though that newspaper storms haven't yet forced anyone expect ...
This is very highly recommended reading. It's an FT profile of/interview with Chris Jefferies, the Bristol landlord who was treated shockingly badly following the murder of one his tenants.(You may be asked to register by the FT, but it's free of charge) After appalling treatment from the press (for which he received apologies and substantial compensation) it is interesting to read his assessment of the Press Complaints Commission: Woefully inadequate
The statporn is back! Huzzah! According to google analytics, for the month of September 2011 the Potter Blogger received 2,313 visits from 1,473 unique visitors. Between them viewed 3,678 pages and spent an average of 1 minute 55 seconds on the site each visit. 42% of visits were by returning visitors, 88% of whom were from the UK. I'd like to say a thank you to all of those who visited my blog and a very big thank you to all those who linked to my blog. Out of the 21articles posted on my blog in September the most popular ...
Just one of those, sorry I haven't blogged much recently, but will get back to it type blog posts! New University Course kinda has me busy! Cheers for the patience
The vast majority of Lib Dems who attended autumn conference would agree with me in saying that it was a success. The mood surrounding the ICC Birmingham was unmistakably positive. The feared factionalism that had been predicted by some never materialised. But what really makes our conference seem amazing, in retrospect, is just how badly the respective Labour and Conservative gatherings have played out. Labour conference was up first. As the only major party of opposition this should have been a conference to remember for them. A year of riots, phone hacking and a poor economy gave them more ammunition ...
Try reading this. Yes. It says: "You can send a message to anyone who follows you". So, in Chris Huhne's case that is 8000+ people, not just the few he follows. Capice?
I offer my sincere sympathy to Steve Jobs' family, friends and Apple employees. He was a visionary and an inspiring businessman who taught us all the importance of excellent design and customer service. I do think some of the tributes to him have been a little overdone. He was a businessman. He built a brilliant business. There have been lots of people who have contributed as much, if not more, to the world of computing and design who have passed away with little fanfare. Does anyone know who Ken Olsen was, for example? And, yes, Apple is a loved brand. ...
The Friends of Garston Park are looking for budding artists to help with a project to make part of the park look better. The idea is to improve the wall round the sports pitch so that it doesnt' look quite so "prison like". As well as some planting nearby, the Friends are looking for people to help paint some of the panels. They now need to hear from anyone wanting to get involved. I've posted the details below. If you are interested, the person to get in touch with is Gwen (details towards the end) The Great Art Project FOGP ...
An Open Letter published by Forbes says: It now appears that on top of all of the other potentially catastrophic, costly, damaging, or dangerous impacts of human-caused climate change, there is a very serious risk that it will threaten the production of chocolate. Yes, chocolate. A new scientific study from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, a research center of the world-renowned Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has just published a new analysis that says the world will suffer a massive loss of area suitable for growing cocoa as temperatures continue to rise and rainfall patterns shift. You ...
I am fascinated by elections, particularly elections with very small numbers of voters, which are often great illustrations of politics if rather poor examples of democracy (see my pieces on the January 2005 by-election for the House of Lords, and the election of the Permanent Commission of Eastern Rumelia in 1879). So I have been grimly fascinated by the kerfuffle around this year's British Fantasy Awards (variously the British Fantasy Society Awards or BFS Awards) which were announced last weekend. My eye was caught in a moment of insomnia early in the week by Steve Jones' rant about the ceremony, ...
Global warming is undoubtedly happening. We need to cut our emissions by 80% by 2050. But our society is largely motor vehicles based. So when can we rely on vehicles that use Hydrogen or Electricity to power them – well no time soon. However, we do have an old technology we could use now to keep those that must have motor mobility but using a little less energy producing CO2 – Liquid Petroleum Gas. It's between 10-14% less CO2 producing so not huge amounts of saving but it helps and it gets people used to the idea of change. But ...
The first thing I should say is that I have some sympathy for the Labour party. They've ditched the policies of New Labour as they had become deeply unpopular. Now they have the ETOD. Cameron had ETOD for the best part of 4 years, the Liberal Democrats for the last 80! ETOD is Early Term Opposition Dilema. The media and your rivals attack you because you have no policies (Cameron was accused
Quinoa with sweet potatoes and beans
During the week I got an email in my inbox asking me to take part in a survey on behalf of the Passenger Demand Forecasting Council ("a body consisting of Transport for London and other industry bodies") about the future of the Oyster touch in/touch out travel card used in London. The email went a little overboard in emphasising that the survey was just about finding out people's attitudes and possible future behaviour and that there are no current plans etc etc. To which my obvious response was to wonder why they would be so keen to say this... And ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Just as most people were packing up for the weekend, the Twittersphere and, eventually, the Mainstream Media were lit up with the story that Chris Huhne had apparently sent out a private text message to his 8,007 Twitter followers, including many of the great and good of "Fleet Street". The message said: From someone else fine but I do not want my fingerprints on the story. C So what was this "story"? – we are all now wondering. Think about it. Chris Huhne had obviously been having a private text exchange with (that ubiquitous Huhne ...
I have not had chance to post for a few weeks. The problem with blogging is; if you have something to say about a news topic, you only have a day or so to say it before the news has moved on and your post becomes dated or similar thoughts blogged by others. I can't use the excuse that I was at conference, because I wasn't (never have been, but next year?) However as the conference season is
Like most people, I went through most of my life without giving much consideration to animal rights. I never reflected on whether classical liberals ought to take the issue more seriously, I really never gave it much attention at all. Sure, when shopping in the supermarket I used to choose free-range eggs over battery produced eggs, but I was still content to eat meat. In fact my diet was the typical British diet of today, meat with a side of meat, skip the fruit and vegetables. But then I was tricked into actually looking into the issue. Somebody posted a ...
Just as most people were packing up for the weekend, the Twittersphere and, eventually, the Mainstream Media were lit up with the story that Chris Huhne had apparently sent out a private text message to his 8,007 Twitter followers, including many of the great and good of "Fleet Street". The message said: From someone else fine but I do not want my fingerprints on the story. C So what was this "story"? – we are all now wondering. Think about it. Chris Huhne had obviously been having a private text exchange with (that ubiquitous Huhne Aunt Sally) "a staff member" ...
Hat-tip: @mePadraigReidy ...It came out just after he sent his famous message, and it includes a fruity (Huhnesque?) quote from "one government member". Also, Chris Huhne told the BBC's Peter Henley, after the inadvertent tweeting incident, that he had been referring to a further angle on the Catnapgate story in the message. And Guardian Politics (@gdnpolitics) is one of the people on Twitter who Chris Huhne follows, making a direct message conversation (turned into a public tweeting) exchange possible. The Huhne #tweetfail message was posted at about 18:12 yesterday (Twitter timelines are notoriously unreliable but I screenshotted the message at ...
Last Thursday saw this blog's first anniversary. I've been thinking about why I put the time into it. There are hundreds - thousands – of bloggers out there. And that's just in the politics field. Each blogger has his or her own mixture of reasons for launching their thoughts on an unsuspecting world that is - ...
I have received the following information: Site Investigations will commence on Monday on the above site for a period of approximately 4 weeks. Leisure Services (in respect of community pitches), Rugby Club members and Football Club members are aware and are cooperating with access and programming requirements to minimise any disruption to the amenities on the site. I have been in touch with the county council to seek assurances that the demolition work on the Civic Centre will not start until after the Remembrance day Parade on November 12th.
Bury Council's Rangers invite youngsters and their families to join them at their local Green Flag park and take part in a variety of spooky activities. Activities include Pumpkin Carving into spooky Halloween creatures & Halloween crafts – make your very own creepy bookmark, monster & lots more! Halloween crafts -Tuesday 25th Oct 10am-11.15am Burrs Country Park, Bury (0161 253 7984) – Meet at Burrs Activity Centre The Pumpkin carving sessions are: Tuesday Oct 25 at St Mary's Park, Prestwich (0161 253 5522); Wednesday Oct 26 at Close Park in Radcliffe (0161 724 8173) and Clarence Park, Bury (0161 797 ...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we're currently publishing the full results. Yes is the answer according to the latest Liberal Democrat Voice survey of party members: Support: 57% Oppose: 24% Net: 33% in favour The party has been putting in place the necessary procedures to fight these elections, such as making decision over candidate selection rules. However many influential voices have also been raised against the party putting up candidates and ...
It's been ages since I've done one of my song's of the week, but this week I'm picking something that isn't really a song. The inspiration for me choosing it is my post from yesterday when I talked about Steve Jobs' graduation speech for Stanford University. Listening to that put in mind this brilliant tune ...
Oops, haven't written here for a while, and have also slipped behind on the regular reading too. Only three books finished in the few weeks since my last post, and they were: 30) A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin The longest part yet of A Song Of Ice And Fire, and would perhaps have counted as two books if I wasn't reading the single Kindle edition. Still very good, and an interesting depiction of a world descending into hell, with each chink of light ruthlessly extinguished as another plot comes to light. 31) Rule 34 by Charles Stross ...
Police have issued computer-generated images of a couple who have been preying on the elderly across Manchester , targetting at least 18 homes, including in Gatley as we reported a few days ago. The couple have used a wide variety of stories to trick their way into the houses of elderly people before stealing money and fleeing. If you have any information, please call the police on 0161 856 6098 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Shane Williams scoring the first try Well done Wales. Of course there will be debates over whether Ireland kicking those two penalty opportunities early in the first half would have changed the way the match panned out. But a 12 point win was not in most people's estimates of the way the first quarter final would go. However, one thing that is certain after this match. Both Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell and many of the others in the Ireland squad will not be there in 2015. There will be experienced young heads like Tommy ...
If, like us, you keep an eye on problems around our area and report issues to the Council when you spot them, you might like to try the "Looking Local" app, free for iPhones and Android phones. Why not give it a try – and let us know how it could be improved too. The app gives you an easy way to report all sorts of issues from abandoned vehicles to fly-tipping, from graffiti to potholes. It also shows you what other people have reported (using the app – it doesn't link into all reports).
So Scotland, despite a good performance (particularly in the first half) against England last week, are out of the Rugby World Cup. This weekend, the tournament moves to its knock-out stages with Wales v. Ireland and England against France today. Indeed, by the time this is published, either Wales or Ireland will be through to the semi-finals and awaiting the winner of the England/France clash. As a Scotland fan, who do I support now? Well, quite naturally, I feel an affinity with the other Celtic countries - the Welsh with whom we share a political and (to a point) an ...
Absolutely no time to blog today so hopefully this will keep everybody amused:
