This weekend we have welcomed the lovely [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] nadriel to our humble abode. We haven't seen him for ages, so this was a good thing. We also played Carcassonne on the dining table and [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb didn't win both games (although poor [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister didn't win any at all :(). More visitors would be nice. MOAR VISITORS. People heading Yorksherwards can happily be accommodated here and we like seeing people. If you are on my f-list you can click my contact details to find out how to get here. Also gin ...
Sat 19th
23:12
Corporate Governance Committee 17/11/2011 (Wirral Council) Part 3 Work Program, Progress and Associa...
Cllr Steve Foulkes said that the terms of reference for [this] committee were clear and he would like to "make progress" and move onto item 3. Jim Wilkie, Chief Executive referred to the ten key lines of enquiry (KLOE) as well as further discussion on the involvement of councillors. He said the report sets out ...
There are three books in John Le Carré's Karla trilogy: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyThe Honourable SchoolboySmiley's People The BBC adapted Tinker, Tailor in 1979 with Alec Guinness as George Smiley. This year's film of the book was a worthy attempt, but it suffers when compared with the earlier version. And before I go any further let me recommend the appreciation of that earlier version on Love and Liberty. Jerry Westerby, the central character of the second book, plays a minor part in Tinker, Tailor. In the 1979 adaptation he was played by Joss Ackland and the casting of such a ...
Acocks Green continues to do better than the rest of Birmingham in the latest unemployment data. Seasonally adjusted unemployment in Birmingham rose by 329 to 50,974 or 11.3%. This compares to 6.9% in the West Midlands and 5.6% in the UK. In Acocks Green we only have the unadjusted figures which tend to do better than the adjusted figures this month. Acocks Green's unadjusted unemployment fell 15 to 1,200, or up just 16 on a year ago. This year on year rise of 0.1% compares to a rise of 1.3% in Birmingham as a whole.
If you know the Morecambe and Lancaster area then you will know that we have significant traffic problems especially on the route between Morecambe and Lancaster. Rush hours are bad and it doesn't get much better between rush hours. However there are times in the late evening and at night when you can drive at the speed limit. I was driving home this evening and had to pass some traffic lights which have been recently built because of a new supermarket. I had to brake quite strongly and then had plenty of time to see that no cars came out ...
The failure of the UK's judiciary in interpreting Article 8 of ECHR can be expressed as:"Joking about a footballer becomes a criminal offence, but the state is allowed to steal children from poor people at a whim."Not good.
My commuting listening last week was the set of eight audios produced in 2008-09 telling the story of the various characters of the original Blake's 7 before the start of the story as we know it. I strongly recommend the set as a whole to fans of the series. Some of the characters are taken in a slightly different direction to what we thought we knew of them, but in general I felt it was true to the spirit of the show as I remember it. (Thanks, I think, to watervole for alerting me to these.) All but the last ...
To those of you who have little appreciation of the sport of cricket, and I know there are many such people in Scotland, the name Basil D'Oliveira may not mean much to you. But it should. Because not only was this enormously talented man a world-class cricketer who in all likelihood would have achieved even more if his skin had been white, in 1968 the "D'Oliveira Affair" not only highlighted the injustices of apartheid but it threatened to challenge them head on. D'Oliveira, a black South African who had just scored 158 against Australia at The Oval, was dropped by ...
A quick round-up of four Lib Dem stories not otherwise covered here on Lib Dem Voice this week... Lib Dem revolt on solar subsidies crackdown... The Guardian splashes on how 'Liberal Democrat councillors and MPs are preparing to revolt over the coalition government's crackdown on solar subsidies, as a growing number have been greeted with stiff opposition from outraged householders and companies fearing swingeing job cuts.' Lucy Care wrote about this topic here on LDV earlier this month. Rochdale Lib Dem defects to Tories... The Manchester Evening News reports: 'Coun Jean Ashworth, who represents Smallbridge and Firgrove, resigned as a ...
Wartime Housewife, one of my favourite bloggers, has launched an exciting new project: The Wartime Housewife Corner ShopThe Corner Shop will be very much open for business from Saturday and will stock lovely, high-quality things for Home and Garden, Gifts for Children, Books, Something for the Chaps, Wartime Housewife branded goods, Seasonal Gifts and items from the Robert Opie Collection. There is also a section called 'Limited Editions' and this will have things that I find - at antique markets, sales, auctions, second-hand bookshops and so forth - that I think will be of interest. These may change on a ...
A brilliant short book about a junior judge in the Russian countryside who discovers he has cancer and dies. Lots of well observed psychology, packaged very effectively. I have sometimes felt that Tolstoy rambles but not here.
The link is to three interviews with MEPs about the possibility of the European Parliament acting to review the malpractise in the English and Welsh family courts.(in French).
What seemed like a long long book (though in fact only 450 pages) set in the devastated Confederacy of late 1864, with parallel narrative tracks following a wounded soldier returning from Virginia to his home of Cold Mountain in North Carolina, and the woman he loves who has waited for him. Lots of lush and graphic description of the physical and human geography; not a lot (apart from one political discussion) about the, you know, slaves; and I spotted the shock ending from some way off. I'm sure some people love it but I didn't really.
As the last couple of days has been all about Twitter for me, I thought this item on the Wales on-line site was particularly apt. They have highlighted ten spoof twitter sites, some of which are funny whilst others are in rather bad taste. Number one naturally, is a Welsh Twitter spoof focussing on Business, Enterprise, Technology and Skills Minister, Edwina Hart. They say that RedwinaHartski is just about the funniest of all the Welsh sham Twitter accounts out there, making light of the Business and Enterprise Minister's left-wing credentials. It describes Mrs Hart, who recently said she "regrets capitalism", ...
For one with not much more than a passing interest in cricket, I have found myself pondering the fate of Peter Roebuck rather more than I would have expected. I hope it is not pure ghoulishness. Rather it is the combination of how the story has unfolded and the struggle of a media that likes people to be monsters or angels either to know what to say about someone who may have been a bit of both. On another day I might not have even clicked the button to read the reports of his death. I remembered his role as ...
It's two-and-a-half years since Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader publicly stood up on behalf of Gary McKinnon, a computer hacker wanted to by the US authorities under controversial extradition laws: The Americans are hell-bent on extradition and making an example of him. He was told if he sat back, pleaded guilty and said nothing about his extradition, he could end up doing a shorter sentence in a British prison. But because he exercised his basic right to challenge his extradition, he's now classed as a terrorist. ... No fewer than three Labour home secretaries have played their part in ...
Over recent weeks, a fierce debate has been raging at the centre of government over the rate at which benefits will be increased next year. The original plan was to increase benefits by whatever the rate of inflation, measured by ... Continue reading →
Sat 19th
14:25
LDVideo: Nick Clegg - "It is time we knew whether the Labour party can think for itself."
Lib Dem Voice contributor Paul Walter noted here Nick Clegg's strong response in this week's Deputy Prime Minister's Questions to the Labour party's aim of protecting its cosy financial relationship with the trade unions — but for those who missed it here's that exchange in full: (Also available on YouTube here.)
This has been a busy, busy week, with no time for blogging. I did, however, make my debut as a Liberal Democrat Voice contributor, with my review of the Liberal Democrat History Group's new history of Liberal politics, Peace, reform and liberation, edited by Robert Ingham and Duncan Brack.
St Albans Liberal Democrats have continued to press for better recycling facilities at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) serving St Albans, proposing a council motion for the next Council meeting which calls for the District Council's land next to the HWRC site being used to expand the recycling centre. This follows the Lib Dem attempt at the last council meeting to press for recycling facilities to be expanded, which was unsuccessful when the Labour Party and the Conservatives voted against, while the Green Party councillor abstained. "There has been a lot of scaremongering about the future of the recycling ...
Sat 19th
12:30
Fancy a night out in Bedford's Civic Theatre? Not for much longer according to Mayor Hodgson!
It will be difficult to nurture creativity when the valuable creative space of Bedford's Civic Theatre has been lost to the people of Bedford by the actions of Lib Dem Mayor Dave Hodgson. How many people - not just theatre groups, but dancers, musicians, and others - will miss this important council resource when it is changed to create something that could (and in my opinion should) be located in Borough Hall?Continue reading »
Hmm. Here's my latest piece from The New Statesman, about the Tobin Tax. It's caused a bit of angst with one commentator saying it reads like a UKIP leaflet. Which is unfortunate as: A) I'm a Pro Europe B) I'm pro Tobin Tax C) The piece reflects Lib Dem policy pretty much precisely D) It also reflects the views of The Robin Hood campaign ( see this article in today's New Statesman, paragraph 8). That same article has a right go at Vince Cable, who it accuses of having done an about turn on the Tobin Tax, now saying no ...
Here in the UK, a toilet is a necessity that we are lucky enough to take for granted - a subject for humour, or something we'd prefer not to talk about. Yet for billions of people around the world, sanitation is a serious issue. With a staggering 2.6 billion - nearly 40% of the world's population - living without basic, safe sanitation, it's time we talked about toilets. It's a shocking fact that diarrhoea, caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, is the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. In fact, globally it kills more children every year ...
Sat 19th
11:20
On Sofie Gråbøl, that jumper, and the dramatic similarities between The Killing and Dow...
The wonderful Sofie Gråbøl — Sarah Lund in Denmark's tension-fuelled crime drama The Killing / Forbrydelsen, which returns tonight to its 9pm Saturday slot after too-long an absence — is interviewed in The Guardian. She is, inevitably, asked about that jumper: Is the Danish press as obsessed as we are about the sweaters? (@Skinz) Yes, isn't it odd? They really are nice sweaters, but I don't want to talk about the sweaters! I will tell you one thing, there was a feeling of failure for me, of defeat. When we did the first season, whenever I met people in the ...
Sat 19th
10:56
Farron: There's a steady awareness we're an incredibly effective bar to "swivel-eyed" Tories
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice There's an in-depth interview with LibDem party President Tim Farron on the Guardian website. Conducted by Andrew Sparrow, much of the dialogue is published verbatim. As we have come to expect, Tim is up-beat and, at times, outspoken. Some highlights from the interview are: -Tim Farron says Miliband is "ineffective" and that the Labour five-point plan is "absolute rubbish". -He says we are picking up votes from the other parties, even from students, who have nowhere else to go in search of a progressive party. -"Swivel-eyed" right-wing Tories have been prevented from running the country ...
Sat 19th
10:25Farron: There's a steady awareness we're an incredibly effective bar to "swivel-eyed" Tories
There's an in-depth interview with LibDem party President Tim Farron on the Guardian website. Conducted by Andrew Sparrow, much of the dialogue is published verbatim. As we have come to expect, Tim is up-beat and, at times, outspoken. Some highlights from the interview are: -Tim Farron says Miliband is "ineffective" and that the Labour five-point plan is "absolute rubbish". -He says we are picking up votes from the other parties, even from students, who have nowhere else to go in search of a progressive party. -"Swivel-eyed" right-wing Tories have been prevented from running the country by the LibDems. -The plan ...
It's a great weekend for Godwin's Law. First, Nigel Farage gives a shout out to the Nazis (though he didn't name them, he mentioned a "blood" sacrifice in the last war) in a comparison with the Euro crisis. Next, Richard Littlejohn goes mad with "Springtime for Merkel". Though Harry Enfield as the Greek President Stavros did raise a smile with me, I must confess. You couldn't make it up... Godwin's Law image credit: Some rights reserved by WilliamsProjects [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I've been investigating some rather nasty SMS spam. [IMG: SMS Spam] I have finally heard back from Switchfire, the SMS gateway who sent the message. According to them, the originator of the message was PeekabooTV.com. Take a look round that site – it hasn't been updated since 2007, and the Contact page leads to a 404. A quick wander into the DNS registration produces this rather stale information: GPRS Solutions LTD David Berney 11 Gower Street London WC1E 6HB phone: +44.8707414151 So, using the utterly brilliant WhoRunsIt I can get their latest information from Companies House. GPRS SOLUTIONS LIMITED MASONS ...
A major characteristic of the Great Recession is the way that chronic and long-term problems finally lead to an acute crisis. The public sector profligacy in Greece or the high debt position of Italy are the consequence of decades of policy mismanagement. The US deficit is the result of long term political deadlock, while in the UK and Ireland the roots of the crisis lie in an obsession with property, rather than production, as the key to wealth. Policy mistakes, misallocation of capital, unfunded pensions, poor productivity have been festering for decades. It is only now that the pressure that ...
Last night I had a dream about Quantative Easing. I kid you not. I even saw road works with a sign saying "CAUTION: Quantative Easing in progress". (But I would be lying if I said there was a man in a suit sitting at a desk on the side of the road shifting around Government Bonds on his laptop. There ought to have been, though). I spent quite a lot of time in the dream trying to work out whether this was QE2, QE3, QE5 or QE6. Money helicopter image credit: Some rights reserved by parapolitical [IMG: Post to Twitter] ...
William Powell AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, is calling on 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 FITs 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. William Powell, National Assembly Member for ...
Cambridgeshire Tories have been accused of making money out of teaching youngsters to cycle even though the full cost of the courses are funded by the government. The Conservative-run County Council has started charging schools £15 for each pupil taking part in its cycling schemes - Bikeability and Safer Cycling - despite receiving a government grant to pay for the training. In the past, the cycling courses had been offered free of charge to Year 5 and 6 schoolchildren. Susan van de Ven, Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport has questioned the county council on why it has suddenly ...
Here's your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate... Over at the New Statesman Guy Lodge has posed the question, 'What if ... Gordon Brown was leading the Eurozone crisis?', and come up with quite a flattering answer for our former Prime Minister. He believes that Gordon Brown would have shown more leadership than David Cameron and George Osborne in the Eurozone crisis, and crucially would have more credibility to deal with Nicolas Sarkosy and Angela Merkel. Is he right? What if the Lib Dems had propped up Gordon Brown ...
I'm sitting in Aldergrove Belfast International Airport waiting for a flight to London Luton at the beginning of another weekend ...Continue reading »
@CarneRoss on the Leaderless Revolution | The Browser How to change the world. (tags: ) Short guide to lazy EU journalism Brilliant! (tags: eu ) Belfast in 1836 Fascinating account of the city in the early 19th century. (tags: northernireland ) rozk: Not a subtle poem On the destruction of the #OWS library. Later reports are that some (but far from all) books were saved. (tags: uspolitics ) Between Kant and Machiavelli: EU foreign policy priorities in the 2010s This paper was personally recommended to me by a former prime minister today. (PDF) (tags: eu ) John Casimir Ehrnrooth - ...
Yesterday, I inspected damage to the walling along Pentland Avenue (see right). It looks like vandalism but may be accidental. I am pleased that the Housing Department has reacted very promptly, already removing the fallen bricks and surveying the site yesterday to get repairs underway.
Dundee singer Sheena Wellington is guest at the Friendsof Wighton Cappuccino Concert today, Saturday 19th November. This popular Saturday morning concert series is held in the atmospheric surroundings of the Wighton Heritage Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library. In this Saturday's concert, Sheena will be drawing on both the traditional and literary strands of the Wighton Collection, an internationally important collection of old Scottish music books from centuries past, which is housed and displayed in the Centre. Sheena's performance will range from the Muckle Sangs, or big ballads, to some of the less travelled byways of Burns, Moore and Nairne. ...
From this morning's Daily Mail: Nick Clegg yesterday broke ranks with the Government over a 'whitewash' review into the lopsided extradition treaty that is being used to send Gary McKinnon to America. The Deputy Prime Minister has ordered a new inquiry into extraditions between Britain and the U.S. His surprise move will raise hopes that Sir Scott Baker's controversial report into extradition laws will be thrown into the bin. The report's findings would lead to no change in extradition laws considered hugely unfair to British citizens. But the Tories will find it harder to accept the findings if they are ...
