Here is my favourite writer when I was a child giving a reading at Joan Dashwood's Rainbow Bookshop in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 14 January 1967.
The Welland Rivers Trust has launched a new initiative: A new mapping and catchment information tool has now been released to aid in the development of new projects to improve the River Welland catchment. The Welland Valley Partnership Catchment Mapping Portal is designed to collate and display a wealth of information from multiple sources into one user-friendly experience. Its purpose is to inform decision making and ensure that new projects are developed with all available baseline conditions considered. This includes current water quality, local designated wildlife sites and the potential benefit to local communities.And if you explore the portal thoroughly ...
Thank you America for volunteering your citizens as coronavirus guinea pigs. To be more specific, thank you President Trump and the governors of Florida, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Minnesota, Vermont, Ohio, Idaho, North Dakota, Montana, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. They have decided that the first duty of government is the protection of the almighty dollar rather than the protection of human life. Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas, has gone further and proposed that elderly Americans should offer to die to protect the economy. Because public health and safety is the responsibility of state governments, anti-lockdown measures vary ...
More comedy genius from the American duoe Tripp and Tyler, this time turning to our current lockdown predicament.
The mixing of the visionary and the pragmatic to such great effect makes the speech one that shows the way for orators of much lesser ability, who may not have the words or style to match JFK but who do face similar challenges with the arguments they wish to present.
This is the latest post in a series I started last November, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in current circumstances when we are all somewhat distracted. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. As previously noted, I started the month in Skopje, and then returned to Prishtina in Kosovo ...
As someone who writes and broadcasts predominantly about the Middle East I am confronted by conspiracy theories on a daily basis. Some go global, like the theory that the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York was an inside job by the CIA, possibly with Mossad support. Or that Princess Diana was the [...]
I get stupidly excited these days about getting food deliveries. I suppose that is because placing each order has been a bit of a challenge. When we first went into self-isolation I managed to book a supermarket delivery before everyone was in lockdown. But when I tried to place the next order the first available slot was three weeks away, so we managed with what was in the freezer and store cupboard plus top ups of essentials via our lovely neighbours. I haven't been successful in getting a slot since. Whilst waiting for the big delivery I looked around for ...
If you're thinking that Ozzy sees the whole search thing simply as a long and overly convoluted process of getting to play with her ball, you're absolutely right. Continue reading →
Care should be about dignity. Simples. I call it the toast test. A nursing home in the Home Counties. A confused resident wakes late - nearly time for lunch. He requests toast. The care staff (Polish, Filipino, Indian, one Brit) are "toileting" everyone before their meal. As activity coordinator I am on my break but fetch a piece of toast for him. It isn't my job but it makes the resident happy. He is in control of very little but he has exercised a choice. I then get a mild telling off for spoiling his lunch. It is sometimes the ...
Fri 24th
14:13
To help defeat coronavirus, we must campaign for a 2 year extension to the EU Transition
Wall to wall coverage of Brexit has understandably given way to our urgent need to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. But as the 30 June deadline to extend the negotiations on our future EU relationship rapidly approaches, the fallout from Brexit is again rising up the political agenda. The UK faces a likely double whammy, one a public health and economic crisis, and the other an entirely unnecessary government-made fiasco. Government machinery is now almost entirely consumed by the urgent effort to defeat COVID-19. We simply cannot afford to crash out of global arrangements, notably trade, without an EU agreement, whilst ...
Services are holding up well, including collections over the Easter period, a very busy time for the council. Extra vehicles and crew (including from garden waste and bulky goods rounds) as well as volunteers from highways, leisure, clean and green and neighbourhood protection are being used to help meet social distancing requirements. Staff have really appreciated the many compliments and thanks they have received from the public. Unfortunately there is no capacity to collect additional refuse so please don't leave it out. The exception to this is dry recycling. If placed in a clear plastic bag, so loaders can see ...
Like so many of the residents of my home village of Sunniside last night, I applauded the work of the carers and key workers. We just need to remember that these people have always been essential to the functioning of society. That deserved applause as well.
In case you missed it, the Times on April 20th carried an article in its Business section entitled Business must adopt a new social contract as we reinvent capitalism (£). It was by Jimmy McLoughlin, who was a Downing Street SPAD from 2016-19. That's right: a self-declared 'free market Conservative' who advised both Theresa May and Boris Johnson has now said, on his return from a visiting fellowship at Stanford University, that It is time for a new social contract between business, government and society. The business pages of both the Times and the Financial Times in recent weeks have ...
Happy to ChatBack in January Yate Town Council launched its ' Happy to Chat' benches across town to help tackle loniness and isolation. Now it has launched a Happy to Chat facebook page for anyone who just wants a natter. The Town Council posted an explanation on facebook page yesterday "Our Happy to Chat Page is always sharing good news stories, fun games and all things positive✨🌈The aim of the page is to keep us all connected in these uncertain times 🔗Yate Town Council started our Happy to Chat Bench initiative earlier this year, as the current situation has brought ...
Fri 24th
11:06Parliamentary scrutiny of a Unitary Cabinet government during the coronavirus crisis - Part 1
Thankfully dedicated to Captain Tom Moore, the NHS backyard walker, whose generation of Britons, Canadians and Poles restored Dutch democracy exactly 75 years ago. Without them, all this would be impossible. I've been a D66 parliamentary researcher for 30 years, and as a history graduate (Leiden University) I know quite a lot about Dutch constitutional and political history. But the developments in that terrain I'm about to describe are absolutely unprecedented, since the Dutch unitary state, monarchy, and dual chamber parliament were established in 1814-15. As a party founded in 1966 to update Dutch democracy to the 20th (now 21st) ...
Thu, 12:56: Very sad news. He was a lovely guy. Only 57, suddenly struck down at the e d of a normal working day. Condolences t... https://t.co/H4w8t7ODrM Thu, 14:55: Damian Smyth selects the best new books to be locked up with (part 2) https://t.co/Uy7734H8J5 More new Irish books. Thu, 16:05: Fascinating as ever from @PeterMartin_PCM. https://t.co/gFGxj6FBvm Thu, 17:11: Mondmaskers voor Oud-Heverlee https://t.co/3w4O0cKGWO We'll all be getting masks. Thu, 18:27: Thursday reading https://t.co/25L4sHzBwB Thu, 19:16: Belgian hospital cases and ICU cases both down to levels last seen on 29 March. https://t.co/KpLUHMwKUt Thu, 20:48: Introducing Comet SWAN https://t.co/d0f9QaIQTq Comet Atlas has broken ...
Continuing the pattern from previous data, going back over several years, comes this latest analysis from political scientist Patrick English: My updated estimate of British public opinion on immigration since the 1980s. Higher values indicate more of the population expressing negative views about immigrants/immigration across questions from @BESResearch, @NatCen's BSA, the @ESS_Survey, @evs_values and @ValuesStudies. pic.twitter.com/A11213csHq — Patrick English (@PME_Politics) April 22, 2020 If you sign up for my blog posts digest you'll get a handy one-a-day email with links to all the latest posts. You can also sign up for a range of other lists, including Liberal Democrat Newswire ...
The BBC has the article on its website – see link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52395771 I think I've only been asked about the safety of 5G once as a local councillor and on that occasion I suggested that the enquirer contact Sefton Council's Environmental Health for help/information. But apart from genuine enquiries from people wanting to know more about 5G where have all the conspiracy theories come from? Is it because our present health crisis makes folks are more vulnerable to those who make up scare stories? Indeed, some utterly ridiculous conspiracy theories try to link 5G to Covid 19! Could it ...
The global impact of Covid-19 is massive, and even more so for pensioners as the elderly have been singled out as the primary victims of the pandemic, with death rates rising dramatically with age. There was some bright news for state pension holders in April as the 'triple lock' delivered them an increase of 3.9%. But this has been dampened by a 'think tank' recommendation for the scrapping of the 'triple lock' so that all generations can share in the cost of tackling the pandemic. What it did not acknowledge was that in relation to average wages the British state ...
In a sure sign that life is going on despite COVID-19, the Court of Appeal has been meeting remotely to hear evidence from those challenging government plans to make us take ID to the polling booth. The Guardian reports that Neil Coughlan, a community activist from Braintree in Essex, argued to Lord Justice Underhill, Lord Justice Mccombe and Lord Justice Green that voter fraud is extremely rare and the electoral trials are unlawful. He argued, quite reasonably, that pilot schemes requiring voters to produce photo ID at polling stations disenfranchised those who do not have or cannot find their documents ...
We've almost staggered to the end of another week, and there's a weekend to look forward to... 2 big stories The Government, having missed every target for Coronavirus testing that they've set, have upped the ante by setting a new, even bigger target – 100,000 tests per day. Of course, the question of how you get to one of the testing centres, especially if you're ill, hasn't really been addressed. Keir Starmer slowly, and patiently, shredded Dominic Raab's attempts to deflect their failure thus far at PMQs on Wednesday – but the news that Matt Hancock is looking to recruit ...
Following government advice, Deaf Links has temporarily suspended its normal 1:1 Sensory Advocacy Service, Social Groups, BSL Classes, Activities and Training. Tayside Deaf Hub Community Centre, the Charity Shop and No 23 Café are also closed until further notice. All Home visits and 1:1 appointments with Advocacy Staff are cancelled, but if a Deaf Links service user had an appointment booked, a staff member will be in contact with you. However, its 1:1 Advocacy Service staff are still working hard and support will continue via phone calls, text messages, video calls and emails across Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross. ...
