I've had two very bad days with little sleep, so haven't been able to finish the posts I wanted to get up, on Georg Cantor and canon in Doctor Who (not both in the same post). One will be up tomorrow. In the meantime, links: Why the Social Graph is neither A VERY long post ...
Since its foundation 18 years ago, the Friends of Heath Library has organised 150 literary events in the 1930s single storey building that houses the library, right next door to glorious Keats' House in Hampstead. The very first speaker was the novelist Margaret Drabble, whereas this evening, after the Friends' AGM, its 150th visitor was ...
Wed 9th
23:25
Theresa May - how likely is it that a senior civil servant takes a critical decision on their own in...
I am, I must confess, intrigued by the whole UK Border Force controversy. It is, in my view, a classic example of what happens when you set goals which contradict each other.I've spent enough time at enough airports to have become a bit of a connoisseur of 'good' border controls. What I want, as a traveller, is an efficient and speedy transit through immigration, so that I can pick up my luggage and get to my final destination. If I'm in transit, it's even more essential. As a citizen, however, I want the border to be sufficiently well-policed to exclude ...
I now have 500 Twitter followers as of tonight - many thanks!
Sometimes I wonder if primary schools have built-in magnets which attract cars to park as near as possible before the school opens in the morning and closes at night. The idea of parking an extra 100m away and walking a little seems to be alien to so many parents these days that it's causing real problems. It's not new this year but it also isn't any better. Just over a week ago Carnoustie
Almost exactly a year ago, I reported the tidy up of the grounds of the former McCheyne Church on Perth Road at the top of Shepherd's Loan. Over the past year, the grounds have become overgrown again (and rather badly at the front) and I have been in touch with the City Council's Planning Enforcement Officer about this. Following her contacting the owners, the grounds are now looking a lot better - see right. Thought for the day : In the ten years I have been on the City Council, residents have time and time again expressed their concern at ...
"Politicians are only in it for themselves". I have heard that comment myself even though I am untainted by victory. The naive / cynical spectrum applied to Jerry Sadowitz's humour is equally applicable to how we see politicians. All politicians may just be in it for themselves or they may all be true philanthropists. How can you be a complete philanthropist without being a saint? After all, we all have to look after our own bills. We can't give all our money away. That tells you that I am not at the extreme end of the naive spectrum. On the ...
FRANCES SHEPHERD AND KAY MACFARLANEINVITE YOU TO OUR ---- art exhibition ---- Dundee Botanic Garden Visitor Centre9th - 18th November 2011 ... Open 10am -3.30pm
There is much delight in the Gallagher household this evening. Tonight, in the Banqueting Hall in London's Whitehall, there is a Charity Ball to raise money for the Royal Marine's Charitable Trust. The Chara Foundation, (Chara is the Afghan name for dagger, the emblem of the Royal Marines) raises money for Armed Forces charities by running mass participation sporting events, adventure races, charity balls and dinners, leadership development programmes and team-building activities. Our son Will is one of only four Royal Marines (and the lowest ranking) to be selected to represent the Marines at the ball. He has been told ...
Just a brief posting to remind residents of Sefton that they do have a say in how the budget/cuts is managed this year. All of the proposed cuts are now out for consultation. People's views will be taken into account by councillors when the final decisions are made. To post comments electronically please visit Sefton Council website More details are available at libraries and several user group meetings are planned.
Another of these short films from the Rank Organisation - or at least the greater part of one. It must date from the mid 1960s, as Abingdon Station closed to passengers in 1963 and construction of the M4 began in 1965. It is usual to treat Rank films as part of a cosy, backward-looking Britain of the 1950s. But the modernism here - celebrating the Beeching plan for the railways and the coming of the motorways - embraces a worldview that many would not feel wholly comfortable with today.
Do you have a local issue you'd like to discuss with your local Councillor? Maybe you have a view on Councillors allowances, changes to the library services, or what you'd like to see your Council (either City or Council) doing in King's Hedges? This saturday from 10am until midday you can come and talk to us at the Arbury Community Centre. No need for an appointment, just turn up!
Today's Guardian carries a report saying that the Occupy London demonstrators have finally come up with some demands - and they are making them of the City of London Corporation itself: The Occupy statement says democratic reform is "urgently needed" for an "unconstitutional and unfair" institution. It calls for:An end to business and corporate votes in elections, which can outvote residents. Removal of "secrecy practices", and transparent reform of institutions. Decommissioning of the City of London police, with officers put under the Met. Abolition of the offices of lord mayor, sheriffs and aldermen. A truth and reconciliation commission to examine ...
TweetThe only thing that Berlusconi's resignation shows that is that the financial sector, largely comprised of fabrications, has more control over national parliaments and the common people do. Berlusconi's advancing resignation is not the result of the people of Italy nor of the subsidiarity of Europe. The vote of "no confidence" Italian ministers past yesterday ...
Of all many incarnations of Batman, one of the best-known, best-loved, but most impossible to buy is the camp mid-'60s TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. While the spin-off movie's available on DVD, you can't buy any of the 120 episodes of the series itself (legal tangles? Embarrassment? Who knows). So if you ever want to get hold of it, right now's the time to start. ITV4 is showing the whole lot daily, two episodes at a time, at 4ish in the afternoon and again at 10ish the next morning, from today. And some of it's pretty good... ...
I see further evidence concerning child services, has been revealed by Trudy Dean Kent's Liberal Democratic leader, on tonights local BBC news she pointed out that documents had recently come to light, indicating that severe problems, existed some years prior to last years damning report by Ofsted. Intriguingly the report on BBC website appears to not mention this, anyway the point is that their needs to be a proper inquiry into this scandal, didn't Paul Carter Kent Tory boss even promise one? Come on Kent Tories stop hiding behind public relations operations, pointing out how belatedly you've got your house ...
Compare these two headlines on today's IEA report World Energy Outlook 2011: From the Guardian: World headed for irreverible climate change in Five Years From Alberta's Edmonton Journal: World Needs Oilsands.
Caroline Pidgeon, who is the Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commented today on the Mayor of London's reply to her questions about cycle safety and TfL's limited proposals that were announced to improve conditions for London cyclists. As someone who cycles a lot it drives me mad that Boris does little to help cyclists be safer. Caroline Pidgeon said: "The harsh fact is that 14 cyclists have already died on London's roads this year compared to 10 last year. These figures speak for themselves about the need for urgent action." Today's measures announced by TfL are welcome, ...
The new issue of Liberator has arrived in the post, so it is time for Liberal England readers to spend another week with Rutland's most celebrated fictional peer. Monday If I am up in town, staying at Bonkers House in Belgrave Square, and wish to know what is going on in the political world, I allow my morning constitutional to take me to St James's Park. For the tramps who frequent that pleasure garden form an unrivalled source of news and gossip. There, over a stiffener of Special Brew or white cider, one may learn who is up and who ...
I was pleased to see a video report on the BBC News website about Exmoor becoming an international dark-sky reserve, even though it appears it is an old story. The Daily Telegraph reported it back on 12 October: Stargazers will be delighted ... by the news this week that Exmoor National Park has been designated an International Dark-Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association - only the second place in the world, after Mont Mégantic in Quebec, Canada, to enjoy such status. The park will now have greater powers to prevent light pollution and protect the night sky for a ...
At the South Cambridge Area meeting this week (7th November), police agreed two new priorities: attending the Morley and Queen Edith's Primary Schools and Homerton Children's Centre to crack down on illegal or dangerous driving and parking cycle theft in Trumpington, as there has been a big increase in the last few months, mainly in Hills Road They will continue with these objectives from the last quarter, slightly adapted to take account of offenders moving from one area to another: moped misuse in Queen Edith's and Cherry Hinton anti-social behaviour and drug misuse in Cherry Hinton Thanks to Mrs Ann ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton andDavid Rimmer are holding their next monthly advice centre on Saturday 12th November, from 11 am to 12 noon at St John's Primary School, Rufford Road,Crossens. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Councilproblems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We hold our advice centre every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month at St John's School.
The North Meols Civic Society entered Churchtown's CivicGarden in Cambridge Road in this year's North West in Bloom Awards. The entry for the volunteer-run garden in Cambridge Road,opposite the Bold pub's car park, won an award with a "Thriving"commendation for all the community's floral efforts. Pictured are members of the committee displaying the Gardening Awards (left to right) David Barton, Gladys Armstrong, Jason Reynolds, John Dodd
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black has added his voice to calls for the Westminster Government to reconsider its recent announcement of a reduction in Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs): the price that is paid to people who generate their own electricity and sell the surplus back to the National Grid. Under the current Feed-in-Tariffs scheme, those who fit solar panels to existing properties can sell any surplus power back to the Grid for 43.3p/KWh. The Government is proposing to reduce this rate to 21p/KWh for installations registered and fitted after 12th December, 2011. "The Welsh Liberal ...
Wed 9th
18:13
Time Magazine 'Person of the Year'. Please read this and then nominate Mohammad Al Bouazizi. It will...
Yep. It's now time. I need your help. Please visit this story at Time Magazine now and nominate Mohammad Al Bouazizi as their 'Person of the Year' by either liking my own comment, or adding a comment of your own - or doing both!! Time Magazine gives the title 'Person of the Year' to the individual who 'for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year'. They are clear that the title should not in itself be a prize, but an acknowledgement of influence on world events. Recent winners include Mark Zuckerberg, Ben Bernanke ...
Bogus Caller – Poster
The Government is conducting a review of parliamentary constituency boundaries, to cut down the number of MPs and even up the number of people in each parliamentary constituency, ie the number who elect each MP. The Boundary Commission is responsible for carrying out the review and they are holding a hearing at the Gonville Hotel in Cambridge tomorrow and Friday (10th-11th November) As readers of the Queen Edith's Focus and this website will know (Queen Edith's is in Cambridge!), I am disappointed that they are not taking this opportunity to restore Queen Edith's to its rightful place as part of ...
According to a study reported in Pink News, Bi women are more likely to get depressed. (They actually studied teenagers it seems. This might explain why I'm feeling rather down at the moment, although I'm hoping it's just Seasonal Affective Disorder (a.k.a. "It's wet, cold, dark and depressing outside, isn't it?") and a stupid amount of money spent on some hopefully-not-snake-oil "daylight" lamp might fix it. Alternatively, someone needs to produce some good Science Fiction TV for me to watch, or something nice and shiny for me to buy. (Or at least covet, if it's expensive) I never said I ...
Wed 9th
16:38
Clive Hart demands apology? but has yet to say sorry to his constituents for vigilante scare?
You couldn't make it up! as Cllr Clive Hart (Leader Thanet Labour) might say, in response to recent remarks Labour made, seemingly worrying up a storm over crime in Margate and now subsequently demanding that Laura Sandys MP apologise, for what I'd presume was a hasty response and an inadvertent mistake, to somewhat ludicrous remarks made by Clive Hart and colleagues, that they "..have serious concerns that decent local people could take matters into their own hands. " referring to local crime, with the obvious implication that residents, were so witless, that they were about to take the law into ...
The face furniture odyssey, otherwise known as 'Movember', is nearly a third of the way through already and the unruly beast is starting to settle in nicely. I'm happy to report that itching has – so far – been minimal and that my effort is clearly far more impressive than that of Andrew Wallis. Donations ...
On the 11th November 1918, at 11 o'clock in the morning what was then known as 'The Great War' came to an end. It was only 'Great' in scale and death. To give the numbers of those killed some meaning of the twenty two members of schoolboy cricket teams that played each other before the war started sixteen were dead when it ended. In 1921 the Royal British Legion was started to help soldiers sailors and airmen who needed help and to make sure that people that came after them like you and me never forgot the horror of this ...
Here are two brilliant Ted Talks presentations explaining some of the value of Behavioural Economics, which as I've blogged previously could probably solve all the issues around funding tertiary education at a stroke (for once, quite apposite, given events in London today). Have no fear, they are entertaining as well as illuminating and don't require a PhD to follow them The first is from Rory Sutherland, erstwhile President of the IPA. I'm betting he's not a Lib Dem - but boy can he present. The second is from Dan Ariely - who I didn't know, so thanks to once again ...
Today is supposed to be a day off for me. We were aware the student "protests" would be taking part in London (I am down here for a few days) but wanted to do a tourist day out in capital. So we got our lists of historic sites and planned a route.Alas, all great plans hit a brick wall, or in this instance, a cordoned off route along which an extremely large number of police were to direct a
Today's Independent November "Poll of Polls" compiled by Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University shows a decline in the Tory share across the range of voting intention polls with both Labour and the Lib Dems moving forward (by one point). The dip in Tory share has widely been put down to in-fighting over Europe, but even assuming that the Tories can bounce back from this with a bit of internal discipline, these figures still see the Labour party in the lead. Given that we are now nearly one third way through the parliamentary term – and with the economy showing ...
Wed 9th
15:49
Health & Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee 8/11/2011 Vascular Services move from Arrowe ...
Unusually about forty people were in the audience of last night's meeting, so many that Committee Room 2 had to be opened up so everybody had somewhere to sit. The proceedings were interrupted several times, with the Chair calling for calm. The committee heard from one of the consultants at Arrowe Park Hospital Mr R ...
Sefton Council is consulting residents on the savings thatwill have to be made to balance the books next year (the financial year2012/13) Labour as the largest party on the Council have put forwarda list of potential cuts totalling £25 Million. From this, the final list of£20 Million worth of cuts for next year will be decided after the publicconsultation. To have your say please visit the Sefton Council website.
I am a bit slow at times. It has been noted. I didn't realise that Jesy Nelson from the girl group Little Mix had been receiving nasty comments over the internet because of her weight. Now I don't know Jesy Nelson and I have never seen her in the flesh but the same can be said of Sophie Ellix-Bextor and Natalie Portman and I fancy the pants off them. Do I fancy the pants off of Jesy Nelson? Maybe... Look I have never even thought of her as large. I genuinely had never noticed her body or taken too much ...
When I was doing my round-up last year of five of the best political adverts from around the world, I included Lyndon Johnson's Daisy Girl advert from 1964. Despite only being aired once, it has had a huge impact – both because of its power at the time and because of the way others since copied the use of a short, emotional story in preference to a long, factual presentation. A new book is coming out about the Daisy Girl advert and its author, Robert Mann has been writing about the origins and impact of the Daisy Girl advert: The ...
Are we seeing a revolution take place in the UK? As I write this tents are being put up in Trafalgar Square. At this rate London will become a campsite for people who really care about their cause. Fighting for the justice of inequality is the modern day battle. The press keep referring to how the Occupy movement is a leaderless revolution as if nothing of significance can happen without a leader. This misses the point that a collective voice, especially a global one, can act as a leader in itself. This could be the 21st century model of leadership ...
My old friend Gordon Gillespie gave a talk on this subject yesterday, covered by Slugger O'Toole here.
It is never wise for any politician to start listing the gaffes of others, however I was intrigued by this article in the Telegraph that may act as a short commentary on the rapidly diminishing career of Silvio Berlusconi. The paper lists Silvio Berlusconi's top 10 gaffes, japes and pranks, most of which do him little credit as a European leader. Here is a sample: 3. March 2009. The 72-year-old self-made billionaire said his response to the global economic crisis was different to that of President Obama because "I'm paler". "I'm paler because it's been so long since I went ...
Following on from previous posts and a comment from a recent leaver of my old school, Ballymena Academy, I have ...Continue reading »
There's a critical meeting tonight for Consett's "Citizen's House". Anyone who uses, or is interested in, the building is invited to attend and put in their two-pennyworth. This community building is recognised as providing good value for money, and the county agrees that it deserves to be invested in, but before they will make that investment there are some key requirements: 1. the Management Committee has to agree to an asset transfer, in other words they have to agree to take over the building and meet all its running costs as well as the costs or repairs and development. 2. ...
Here's my piece that appeared in yesterday's New Statesman... The first lesson you're taught when you enter the world of branding and advertising is this : say one thing simply, clearly and consistently, and the consumer will quickly learn the message you want to send them. Persil washes whiter. The world's favourite airline Beanz meanz Heinz Theresa May is a safe pair of hands I'll say that last one again shall I? Either Theresa May herself, or someone very close to her, really understands the power of a consistent and clear positioning. Just Google 'Theresa May is a safe pair ...
The Guardian reports today that Nick Clegg has put his foot down to stop the Tories from proceeding any further with the daft recommendations in the report by a venture capitalist, Adam Beecroft. The Beecroft plan would have made it very easy for employer to fire people they decided were underperforming. Now, frankly, if any of our lot had touched these ideas with a ten foot bargepole, my howls of rage would have been audible from the International Space Station. Beecroft's ideas are just a charter for employers to abuse their staff, manage by intimidation and fear and make life ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice LibDem Julian Huppert started Prime Minister's Questions with a zinger today. He said that jobs and growth depend on consumer confidence, and asked if, therefore, the PM thinks that telling 25 million people that they have no job security and could be fired tomorrow will help consumer confidence (this refers to the proposal from Tory businessman Adrian Beecroft). David Cameron had no answer but instead, as always, threw his briefing notes at the questioner (metaphorically speaking). I should also mention, en passant, that Julian asked for suggestions for his first question via Twitter. Good man. ...
LibDem Julian Huppert started Prime Minister's Questions with a zinger today. He said that jobs and growth depend on consumer confidence, and asked if, therefore, the PM thinks that telling 25 million people that they have no job security and could be fired tomorrow will help consumer confidence (this refers to the proposal from Tory businessman Adrian Beecroft). David Cameron had no answer but instead, as always, threw his briefing notes at the questioner (metaphorically speaking). I should also mention, en passant, that Julian asked for suggestions for his first question via Twitter. Good man. After the MiliCam exchange, I ...
I had an interesting email from YouTube a couple of weeks ago. They wrote to me as an "expert chef" and YouTube partner, inviting me to apply for their Next Chef programme. For the 12 lucky people selected, there would be lots of new camera equipment and additional promotion of their YouTube channels. I rather liked the fact that I had been invited, thought it would be fun to apply, held out no
This is one of what is becoming something of a series of blogposts written in half an hour of my lunch break. Hopefully this will force me not to ramble on at ridiculous length. What follows is Littlewood's Christmas Advert: For those of you unable to watch it, the basic premise of the advert is a bunch of children performing a nativity play where they talk about their "lovely, lovely" mothers who are "wicked" because they've bought christmas presents such as an Xbox, a HTC phone and an Optimus Prime toy. There then follows an exhortation to go to Littlewoods ...
Wed 9th
12:34
Campaigners to tell Parliament "Now is the time to reform our libel law" as further evidence of the ...
Campaigners seeking to refine the Government's Defamation Bill will tell MPs and Peers why English and Welsh libel laws are in urgent need of reform - on the day that yet more evidence of the law's chilling effect is revealed and a separate case reaches the High Court. Having cautiously welcomed the draft Defamation Bill, and backed the recommendations of Parliament's Joint Scrutiny Committee that called for key clauses to be strengthened, the libel reform campaign will once again press upon key Parliamentarians the need for radical changes to the law to protect free debate. They will be joined by ...
With Italian bond yields reaching +7%, which resulted in other Eurozone countries facing a bailout, the Deputy Prime Minister is scheduled to make a speech to the European Parliament. Nick Clegg will advocate a reform agenda to bring jobs, growth and competitiveness to the European economy. Gordon Brown spent his entire short premiership arguing just ...
I hate Cuba's communist dictatorship. My hatred is intensified by the hypocrisy of all those on the British Left who have ever defended Castro and his regime. How is a communist boot in the face any different from a fascist boot in the face? How is Castro's suppression of free speech any different from Pinochet's? How is holidaying in Castro's Cuba any different from holidaying in apartheid-era South Africa? To those who would say "Yes, but Cuba has a marvellous health service", I would say "Yes, but mad monetarists used to say that Pinochet's Chile had a marvellous economy - ...
There was a strained moment at last night's dinner at the National Liberal Club for the London Liberal Democrats, when the party was challenged by a member over the Occupy protests at the City of London. Both the guest speaker, Paddy Ashdown, and the Mayoral candidate, Brian Paddick, said that the act of protesting was a wonderful, liberal thing to do, and that the party should engage with the protesters (and indeed has), but that there was too little in the way of constructive proposals for the party to take on. Given that the anger that drives the protests is ...
Jo Swinson recently reported on a briefing by God (Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary) on measuring wellbeing. I retorted by quoting from David Boyle's book "The Tyranny of Numbers": "You can't make the pig bigger by weighing it more often". Jo pointed out that it might be useful to weigh the pig at least once. Thinking about this in the shower (measurement not Jo) I recalled the great Liberal
My regular column in the Prestwich Advertiser: Bury Council recently agreed to a proposal from the Liberal Democrat councillors to introduce a ban on smoking in children's play areas. The details of the ban will be worked up over the next few months by the Council for introduction in the new year. If Bury takes this step, then we will be the first local council in Greater Manchester to introduce a smoking ban in play areas. No doubt some people will criticise us for taking this step, and question why we would want to stop people from smoking in an ...
Many people have asked what the Occupy Movement want. Even after the protesters came up with some demands commentators still seem unsure why these young people are spending their days and nights outside St Paul's Cathedral. The one message that does come across is that the protesters don't much like how things are in society. The other narrative of the protest has been that while not liking capitalism, the protesters quite like Starbucks. There has been a bit of an argument about whether people can criticise the City and drink cappuccino. It may appear petty to say that the Occupy ...
Annette Brooke MP and Lord (Graham) Tope are the Lib Dem Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Policy Committee on Communities and Local Government, and led the Lib Dem response to the Localism Bill. Here they outline what they, working with colleagues in the party and many beyond, helped achieve. Last night the Localism Bill completed its final stage in Parliament and is set to become law when it achieves Royal Assent next week. As Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Policy Committee on Communities and Local Government, it has been our job over the last ten months to lead on the Bill for ...
I posted earlier about our society and the crisis that it is in. I do not mean this in the way David Cameron means broken Britain. I mean it on a deeper level – that it does not serve the majority and does not promote the majority fulfilling their potential. I believe that we need to start making ...
Is a question Liberal Democrats would do well to ask themselves in the next month or two. The Treasury is anticipated, sometime in the winter, to publish figures showing the take of the 50p rate in its first months of operation. That will trigger a major debate on the future of the 50p income tax rate, and Liberal Democrats with our concern to ensure fairness above all else will have a lot to say about that. Social Liberals will not for a moment want to see changes to taxation that let the richest and wealthiest off the hook. It is ...
Have the Lib Dems run out of ideas? There is talk of it. Perhaps people don't acknowledge it but being in Coalition with the Tories has caused something of a crisis for the Lib Dems. So perhaps we need to start talking a bit more about ideas. Big ideas. As I was reading about the ...
It strikes me that we may need to rewind the clock and recapture something a bit simpler. It might help some members of the political elite talk more sense. There is a continuing academic debate over how to measure poverty. Broadly speaking, thinking on poverty has moved away from using absolute poverty measures - such as the $/day that has been frequently used to assess the extent of global poverty. Emphasis is now much more on the use of relative poverty measures, such as those who fall below 60% of median income, or consensual measures, which, crudely speaking, identify what ...
Housing is moving up the agenda -- and looks like being a key issue in next year's London elections. The Greater London Authority now has more powers over housing and given London is still dogged by a lack of affordable homes to rent, lease or buy, despite the recession, it's reasonable for Londoners to expect the next Mayor and Assembly to take action. Building more homes in a time of public sector cuts will be a challenge, and even using what we've got more efficiently will take a lot of cash. So we will need a range of ideas if ...
For some years now I have been interested in Family Tree Research, and I have traced parts of my ancestry back to the 15th Century. I have recently thought about using my knowledge to help other people with their research. There will be a small fee of course, but it shouldn't be as much as other genealogists ( no overheads such as rent and rates to worry about ) Please contact us to discuss your needs, and if you want a "brick wall" investigating, let me know. I can visit anywhere in the north east, but you may prefer to ...
The Lib Dems have been very concerned about safety at the Cheadle Royal end of Schools Hill. Due to speeding cars and the camber of the road, parked vehicles are frequently hit and there have been two accidents on the pelican crossing over the last few months. So we're very glad that residents will, over the next week or so, be consulted on improvements. The proposals are to improve visibility at the junction of The Downs and Schools Hill, and to put in flashing speed signs to slow down traffic approaching the crossing – these signs have a good record ...
In my last post, I was talking about generating new cards for the fantastic game "Ex Libris". I emailed the manufacturers to see if they had any objections – and to see if they were releasing any updates. With their kind permission, I'm posting their reply in full. Dear Mr Eden, We are delighted that you love our game 'Ex Libris' and understand your frustration about the limited number of cards in the pack, but I'm afraid that we would strongly object to you creating ' unofficial' new cards for Ex Libris that you either publish or post on your ...
The Wikio blog rankings for November are out. I never got round to doing this list last month - a pity since I was number 1 for once and didn't expect that to still be the case for two months in a row. We've slipped back a bit this month with only seven Scottish blogs in the top 100. Happily, though, more than half of them are women or have female contributors. So, here they are: 1. Caron's Musings (25) 2. Alex Massie (34) 3. Better Nation (49) 4. Underdogs Bite Upwards (55) 5. Lallands Peat Worrier (61) 6. A ...
During the 2010 General Election all three of the main parties accepted that there would have to be cuts. The Conservatives said that they would make cuts of £92 billion if they got a majority. Labour announced that they would halve the deficit by 2014 if they were re-elected* (Labour's Fiscal Responsibility Act 2010 committed it to halve the overall budget deficit by 2013-14 from its 2009-10 levels). The Liberal Democrats campaigned for cuts of £80 billion. After the election neither Labour nor the Conservatives were able to form a government on their own. The Lib Dems eventually formed a ...
The London Liberal Democrats' fundraising dinner at the National Liberal Club this evening of course featured Brian Paddick and Caroline Pidgeon (hot-foot from the Evening Standard's 1000 most influential Londoners awards), who both spoke of the importance of next year's London elections. But the keynote speaker was former party leader Paddy Ashdown — now apparently carving ...
The following summary has been extracted from a letter sent by First capital Connect to stakeholders. Changes to morning services (Monday – Friday) 12-coach services on Thameslink From December there will be three 12-coach departures from Bedford in the morning peak and one from Brighton. These services will be: • 06:58 Bedford to Brighton. This service will call at all stations to St. Albans, then St. Pancras International (07:56), Farringdon (08:02) City Thameslink (08:05), London Blackfriars (08:08) and London Bridge (08:18), then continues to Brighton. • 07:30 Bedford to Brighton. This service will call at Flitwick, Luton, Harpenden and St. ...
Tonight's cabinet meeting went along very quickly. Only lasted about an hour which is half the normal length. The two main items were Gunnersbury Park and an agreeable budget saving: 1/ Ealing Council is to pay about £5 million pounds and Hounslow only 10 percent of that to help fund Gunnersbury Park. The hope is that two bids totalling around £10 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund will enable a lot of the regeneration of the buildings in the park as well as improve them so that the park can become a real tourist hot spot. When I asked the ...
Mark Pack earlier this week announced that his normal look at the Wikio Rankings of top Lib Dem Blogs would be delayed, possibly by two weeks. Knowing how impatient you lot are, here is the list. There are only 16 in the top 100 this month as both Stephen Tall and 1 (6) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (16) Jack of Kent No change 3 (21) Craig Murray Up 27 4 (25) Caron's Musings Down 6 5 (41) Mark Pack Up 9 6 (43) Liberal England Down 2 7 (53) Paul Walter Up 6 8 (64) Peter Black Up ...
