My good friend Richard Curran at the British School in Tokyo asked me to film a video about life in the music industry for his class of students. I wanted to try and get across to them the breadth of careers in this industry while at the same time having them focus on skills and ...
A "Merkel" is when you pretend to give up something in negotiation in return for what you want and thereby (a) get something for nothing and (b) save your opposite number's face.Thus, Angela Merkel pretends that the UK can repatriate some powers (stupid idea anyway) in return for which Cameron agrees that EU can have tighter fiscal policy.See also the "reverse Merkel" in which A pretends to
My desktop computer, which I bought for a fiver about nine months ago, will no longer power on at all. I do have access to a work laptop, but the crucial word there is 'work' – I can't watch DVDs on it, for example, and I wouldn't feel entirely happy about doing anything non-work-related that ...
Local residents may have read my comments in the Observer last week ("Stansted's much-needed new health centre delayed again") regarding the appalling healthcare provision situation facing Stansted residents and the latest delays to the planning application for a new health centre. Stansted's primary healthcare provision is on a par with the developing world. Stansted Surgery has 7,750 registered patients, according to West Essex Primary Care Trust, but there are only four GPs at the practice. This is a ratio of just under 1,940 patients per doctor, below the kind of levels seen in India (1,700 per doctor) and far worse ...
Gateshead Council's Strategic Land Review proposes a number of areas in or new my ward should be removed from greenbelt and used for house-building. Were these sites to be agreed, it may not be until 2030 that the land is used. The two biggest sites in my ward are to the south of Sunniside, the village where I live. Sunniside currently has around 1650 houses and the proposal is to add a further
Two weeks ago, Demos published a pamphlet on populist movements in Europe, The New Face of Digital Populism (a summary can be found at the Guardian website, here, with a handy interactive page provided here). I started writing a post about it, it got longer, my term got busier – and now I am going to have to blog my thoughts much later and in instalments. I'd first like to talk about my own obervations of rising right wing populism, then say a few things about the impact of immigration and finally discuss why things still look quite different in ...
This week After a week of being fairly invisible to the general public, through the luxuries of a 12-8 shift I've had a very busy and productive end to the week. On Friday Evening, I went for a non-alcoholic beverage with a colleague from work and friends from Gourock. It was an interesting day on Friday, in which I got to talk to a variant of different trades. The night ended young but its always good to talk to colleagues outside of a work environment in which you can relax a wee bit more naturally. From around 10am til half ...
In the recesses of my mind, I knew that I had a fast 5k in me. Ok, I didn't really keep that to myself - I think all of my friends knew that I really wanted to just bust one out before marathon training started and I got down to pushing out new distance records every week. I mean, don't we all just like to GO sometimes, instead of worrying about whether we have the endurance to last or whether our heart rates are too high, etc.? And, I think the 5k is a really good measure of fitness, especially ...
On Thursday the Mountsorrel branch in Leicestershire saw its first train in over 50 years. Read more about it on The Mountsorrel Railway.
I had dinner last night in Didsbury with John Leech, Victor Chamberlain, Marc Ramsbottom and other senior Liberal Democrat politicians from the city party. Guest of Honour was Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Over dinner Danny talked frankly about the appalling mess left by the Labour Government, the 'booby traps' they left at the Treasury before they departed to opposition, and the increasingly bizarre statements they are making on the economy. He cited the turmoil in the Eurozone as a further example of why it was important to be seen to be cutting the deficit. Italy and the ...
an interesting weekend plodding around the delights of dartmoor. i was finishing off my walk leader assessment. i camped out for friday and saturday. friday was eerie as i was the only tent on the campsite. needless to say access to hot showers and the toilet block was not an issue (unlike in mid-summer). but yes there was an eerie darkness to the campsite, whether i gave myself the whillies driving in past HMP dartmoor I dont know. perhaps a little mist was falling. the next day, and as part of our assesment we took it in turns to navigate ...
Just got back from Thought Bubble, so this is a quickie. Full write-up of Thought Bubble will be appearing on Mindless Ones in the next day or two. Today is the international Transgender Day Of Remembrance, when people remember the many trans people who are killed or otherwise die prematurely. I don't want to say ...
The media, both old and new, is currently under intense scrutiny. Last week James Murdoch was back before the Media Select Committee, making his bid for the title of least inquisitive Chief Executive in corporate history. On Monday we witnessed a fascinating encounter between the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Privacy and Injunctions and four high profile members of blogging community. The bloggers adopted more or less abrasive approaches when responding to the Committee's questions. The aim was to explore the ways in which privacy issues are handled online. I suspect that not all the bloggers' answers would reassure the Committee ...
The temperature at midday is -22 C with windchill. It has already been below -30C. This week I darned a sock, for the first time in 25 years. Having struck a blow for anti-consumerism, I rewarded myself by buying a new notebook computer. I've ordered an Asus x101 from Amazon, which is only CAD $199. ...
Throughout my short life there have been not many constants. I suppose that comes with the territory of having a pretty shaky personality coupled with an equally shaky family life. All in all you could say I'm as wobbly as Father Christmas's belly (which was of course like a bowl full of jelly), yet I have always had one love. Until now. When I was growing up, despite an early flirtation with literature, history was always my subject of choice. At first it was all about the wars and battles, the usual things boys like. Then it developed into something ...
Three days ago I noted the rescue of a woman who had suffered an epileptic fit deep underground while exploring the old lead mine at Snailbeach in Shropshire. Since then the newspapers have been full of reports of the death of Alison Hume. She fell only 50 feet down an old mine shaft in Ayrshire, but died because senior fire officers showed "rigid compliance" with official health and safety procedures. I was going to write a post drawing lessons from the contrast between these incidents, but I found that my favourite newspaper - the Shropshire Star - has already done ...
TweetThe news have been full of how Cameron has been allegedly smart enough not to sell out to a European bank transaction tax. The truth is, the Tories wont allow their good old friends the Bankers suffer any blame. One of the key areas the Lib Dems and the Tories disagree, is on how we ...
It would of course be hopelessly naive to assume there was evera golden age of protest in Britain. In pre-modern times, the insecurity ofkings meant most protests were ended with a swift execution for the ringleadersat the very least, with an unpleasant spell in the Tower for those who shouldknow better. [IMG: A line of police heads a students protest march through the City of London during a protest in London, Britain, 09 November 2011. Britains students came out in force to demonstrate against rising student tuition fees and public spending cuts. EPA/ANDY RAIN] November's student protest cost hundreds of ...
TweetYesterday hundreds of women marched on behalf of the Fawcett Society's Don't Turn Back Time Rally. Good ol' John Pienaar discussed the rally on his show this evening, and was presented with illogical representations of the purpose. Apparently, the coalition government are deliberately targetting women. No they are not. As I said when the Fawcett ...
Last week's Sunday music video got a comment from the artist herself - Janis Ian. Sadly that cannot happen this week because this performance, recorded in 1991, took place only a few weeks before Steve Marriott died. As some commenters on Youtube note, he looks remarkably well, especially considering his widely publicised problems with drink and drugs. And it is a really good performance. We have seen Marriott in one of the great sixties groups the Small Faces and later he was to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton. But Marriott was well known before the Small Faces. He played ...
I (more or less) told you so... [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
"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." Cicero's Songs says our economic sins have found us out. Did Gladstone really chew each mouthful 100 times? Sandy Walkington investigates. "If ...
It is a commonplace amongst Anglo-Saxon policy makers that the Eurozone leaders need to use a "big bazooka" to solve the currency crisis that is engulfing the continent. David Cameron has been particularly conspicuous in using this expression. Is it all it is cracked up to be? So what is a bazooka? Originally it was a tubular musical instrument made famous by the comedian Bob Burns in the 1930s (Mr Burns and instrument in second picture). It then became the colloquial name for an American tubular hand-held antitank weapon introduced in the Second World War (the illustration above is in ...
There was a quiet U-turn of sorts this week when Andrew Lansley decided to reintroduce targets to control hospital waiting times. Why? Because it turns out that more NHS patients are waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment since the government scrapped targets in May last year. Of the patients treated in September 2011, almost 18,000 more had to wait longer for treatment than in May last year. In neurosurgery, there was an increase of 66% in patients who had to wait more than 18 weeks. This raises interesting questions for a liberal blog, whose default position should be less ...
Sun 20th
17:45
LDV Caption Competition | Jeremy Browne "it's not always this black-and-white" Edition
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader... (Hat-tip to ChinaDaily.com.) Here's Lib Dem foreign minister Jeremy Browne enjoying a bite to eat with one of two pandas on their way from Bifengxia Yaan Panda Base in China to Edinburgh Zoo. What do you think might be being said or thought by those pictured? And the winner of our last caption comp is... Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, John Hemming "you'll have had your tea" Edition. The winner, according to The Voice's judging panel of one, ...
For a child of my era, it's been a rather sad week. The death of songwriter Lee Pockriss at the age of 87 reminds me of a song that he wrote that was originally a hit in 1960 for Brian Hyland but which I remember 30 years later as a 1990 hit for a boy-hood idol of mine, Timmy Mallet. As well as writing 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' he is also credited with a particular Perry Como favourite of mine from 1957, 'Catch A Falling Star'. Another loss this week has been that of animator Mark ...
With more and more evidence emerging of DWP policy making being influenced by companies which stand to profit from the erosion of provisions for sick and disabled people, it's vitally important that Lib Dems make a stand against government proposals which will be incredibly damaging to some of the most vulnerable people in society. Just this week there have been proposals to hand responsibility for sickness notes from GPs (who know their patients and their medical history) to panels run by private companies which will have a financial interest in making the process as simplified as possible and therefore more ...
A quick history quiz for the weekend: only five recent Prime Ministers have not subsequently taken a seat in the House of Lords. Who are the five? Three you should find quite easy, a fourth not too hard if you are an older reader, but the fifth may surprise – or make you think "oh, of course!"... (Answer after the jump) Winston Churchill, Edward Heath, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Hat-tip: Dishonourabe Insults by Greg Knight
Now, those who know me know that I'm no Mathematician and I loathe Economics which is why so few of my Blog Posts talk about it. However I was sent a Link to Labour's Five step plan The Basics of the plan are; 1.A £2bn tax on bank bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs for young people. 2. Bringing forward long term investment projects such as schools, roads and transport to get people back to work and strengthen the economy for the future. 3. Reversing the VAT rise giving a couple with children a £450 boost - immediate help for our ...
Whilst I'd like to congratulate the drivers on the Manchester Airport Eastern Link Road for their valiant efforts to knock me off my bike this morning, I'm afraid I won't be inviting them to try harder next time. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Last week many of us may have witnessed the sickening spectacle of watching a city trader declaring that Goldman Sachs rules the world... among other insights, such as how he lays awake at night fantasising about another economic depression. If money rules the world, then surely whoever rules the world controls the money supply? Many of us would, therefore, assume that the Bank of England creates money and regulates its supply to the economy, thereby controlling inflation and interest rates. However, whenever we look to finance a house, car, business project, etc, we invariably turn to the banks (in the ...
A correspondent to Friday's Jewish Chronicle writes: "...if the ideal of a liberal democracy in Israel is being subverted by the increasingly influential strictly-Othodox, then I have to ask myself the Finkler Question: how loyal should a diaspora Jew be to the state of Israel?". He wrote his letter after reading this piece by Jonathan Freedland in another edition of the same newspaper. But that isn't "the Finkler Question". The Finkler Question, in the superb novel of that name by Howard Jacobson, is simply intended to be "the Jewish Question". Neither the novel nor any of its protagonists actually ...
Dale Cox Follow @twitter Photo by David Spender In September 2009 I turned 21, I was in Bournemouth at my first Liberal Democrat conference. The one person that really stood out for me was Steve Webb, the then Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions. I had never really come across Steve before Bournemouth, however when I did see him I was impressed. He spoke about issues within his brief with real authority, more so, dare I say it, than the vast majority of government ministers in any government (including this one). So why have I singled him out as a ...
[IMG: out ot the gloom] I wonder if I'm the only person, who isn't feeling that the world is about to end under an avalanche of worthless euro's. Never the most thoughtful after a long nightshift, I couldn't help noticing that after several hundreds of years, people are still building in London, despite all the gloom of lefty media types, the fantastic shard development, still under construction inspired the following thought. Yes the economy is being rejigged, its only natural when more than half the population are either employed by the state, or bleeding it dry, an illusion that cannot ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Wikio, with thanks to Stephen Glenn for posting the list more promptly this month whilst I was away. Ming Campbell, new in last month then dropped out this month, as did Stephen Tall. I've also dropped Craig Murray from the list because, as Jonathan Calder kindly pointed out, he has left the party. 1 (6) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (16) Jack of Kent No change 3 (25) Caron's Musings Down 6 4 (41) Mark Pack Up 9 5 (43) Liberal England Down 2 ...
Following the recent press release from Wirral Council about e-books being available from November 11th I thought I would try it out. Here's how you go about borrowing an e-book. 1) Go to the Wirral Libraries website. 2) Enter your borrower number (it's on your library card) and PIN number. 3) Click Log In. 4) ...
FTAdvisor.com reports: Steve Webb MP has raised fears about pensions' poor image and how low interest rates and quantitative easing have damaged annuities. The Pensions Minister, who said the government is going to use employers to promote pensions and auto-enrolment, described auto-enrolment as being like a Ming vase - "very precious, but very fragile". He added he wants to change perceptions and instil confidence in retirement planning to ensure that charges are not too high and that pensions offer value for money. He said: "We need to move from a system that's fiendishly complicated, that still leaves millions of pensioners ...
Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement this morning, had an intriguing piece based on a book by Professor Norman Davies (Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe) in which he reveals an ancient Welsh speaking people were based along the River Clyde and ruled there for the best part of the first millennium. Research elsewhere on the internet reveals that these Brithonic peoples founded the city of Glasgow and supplied us with our earliest examples of Scottish literature, written in Welsh. The BBC's Birth of a Nation page has more: Sailing up the Clyde towards Glasgow there is a vast and imposing ...
One of the things that really annoys me about this country is its bizarre double standards. On the one hand it is incorrect to call a Chalkboard a Blackboard but in a National Newspaper it is acceptable to caricature the German Chancellor as Adolf Hitler and intimate the nations politics are Nazi. World War Two ended for Germany in May 1945 and with the collapse of the Third Reich so Nazism ceased to exist as a Political doctrine. The period of the Third Reich is considered as not only a dark stain on the history of Germany but also of ...
One of this week's Guardian leader columns, 'In praise of...', was deservedly dedicated to Shirley Williams, a Lib Dem peer, founding member of the SDP, and former Labour education secretary. Here's a snippet: Forever running late, but with a warmth that ensures she's forgiven, Williams has great faith in reasonable compromise. She has pursued a more softly-softly approach towards the dreadful health bill than we have advocated. But survivors of the SDP's internecine wars recall a wily chair perfectly capable of calling a crunch vote when an awkward customer had gone to the loo, and it is too early to ...
..... and reveal to us who he is. Maybe all of Scotland already knows this and I'm the last to find out, but, whatever, I'm looking forward t it. I know his first name from private e-mails, and I know he's young enough to be my son from chatting to SNP activists, but that, so far, is the extent of my knowledge. I haven't really minded his anonymity - I don't when the standard of writing is as consistently high as he manages. He combines intellectual rigour and a generally liberal mindset with wicked satire. I only have a problem ...
As you may know, the Miro Exhibit is fully equipped with Catalan compatible QRpedia codes. Here's a great video showing off the exhibit: You can jump straight to the two-minute mark if you're just interested in the QR action. [IMG: flattr this!]
If you want a brief respite from the hussle and bussle of the German Market in the City Centre, I can highly recommend the Lost in Lace exhibition at the Gas Hall of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition is specifically created for the space in the Gas Hall and looks at Lace in some highly original, and in many cases visually stunning ways. The inverted Crystal Cathedral, which contains a quarter of a tonne of Swarovski crystal and the highly imaginative piece of work entitled After the Dream by Chiharu Shiota were my favourites. The exhibition is free ...
This is my column from the Ham & High published last Thursday: There was a girl I knew when I was growing up - let's call her Joanna for the purposes of this column. We shared our growing pains from school dramas, parental clashes (hers) paternal loss (mine) and of course – boyfriend issues. One such boyfriend turned out to be a nightmare after Joanna had ended their relationship. One night she called me, came over and in tears told me what she was going through: phone calls that never stopped - persistent following. Whenever she came out of wherever ...
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that 1,100 two-year-olds from the poorest families across the county will benefit from extended free early years education. Youngsters will be entitled to 15 hours of education per week and it will be more flexible so that it can be taken between 7am and 7pm across two days instead of being spread across the three days as at present. Peter Downes, Shadow Cabinet Member for Health on Cambridgeshire County Council welcomed the announcement by Lib Dem Children's Minister, Sarah Teather. He said: "Giving youngsters the best start in life through high quality education ...
The following update has come from e-Cops; "I wanted to let you know that you can now contact Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 101 for all non-emergency calls. The 0345 456 456 4 number will remain in use alongside 101 for several months to allow people time to get used to the new number.The change comes part of a national programme to make 101 the single non-emergency number in England and Wales, giving residents an easy-to-remember number to contact local police wherever they are.The call system is designed to recognise where you are calling from and connect you with the local police ...
The good thing that came out of the banking crisis was the chance to break the existing pattern of the industry by doing something constructive with the bank we taxpayers own and the two that we part own. Northern Rock in particular could have been returned to the mutual sector, from which it originated and to which it belonged for most of its existence. This would have provided a boost to the growing mutual, profit-sharing and co-operative sector of which Liberals have been keen advocates for most of our existence Even better, in my view, Northern Rock could have been ...
The Stinky Burn section of Pemberton Road will close from January 12th for around a month to enable reconstruction of the road which has been subject to landslip. The diversion will take people through Castleside and The Grove, and the full route can be seen below:
Four musicians from An Najah National University, Nablus playing the oud, Arabic flute and keyboards will enchant you with traditional songs and music : Tuesday 22nd November at 7pm (doors open 6.40pm) Steps Theatre, Wellgate, Dundee DD1 1DB (Victoria Road entrance)Refreshments Tickets £8 (Concessions £6, under 16 free) For tickets phone Catherine Rice 07757 356 930 or email catherinemrice@yahoo.co.uk Special offer - join Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association - and get £2 off ticket prices (you can join on the night) - the offer of £2 off does not apply to under 16s who get in free.
Yesterday, along with some of my Dundee LibDem colleagues, I attended the party's Kickstart event at the Grampian Hotel in Perth, in preparation for the 2012 local elections. It was heartening to see the large turnout of party activists from the length and breadth of Scotland. Jim Hume MSP (right) gave the final address of the day, ending with the immortal tongue-in-cheek mantra - "Go back to your constituencies and prepare for local government!"
Sun 20th
02:40
Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 15/11/11 Part 3 Applicant/agent Planning Application APP/10/0110...
*** This starts part way through*** *** refers to points on the tape where what is said is inaudible It relates to Planning Application APP/10/01105. Applicant or agent: I do have some paperwork that I've already ***. Can I pass it around Chair? Chair Cllr David Elderton: Pass it around if you want please. Applicant ...
