Embed from Getty ImagesThings have moved on and things have got worse since I blogged about the accusation of cheating against Hans Niemann by the Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen. You may recall that the 19-year-old American Niemann defeated Carlsen in the opening rounds of a tournament, whereupon Carlsen withdrew from the event and posted a tweet that was widely taken as insinuating that his opponent had cheated. Since then Carlsen has said nothing, despite the former champion Garry Kasparov's headmasterly advice that: "The world title has its responsibilities, and a public statement is the least of them here." ...
Embed from Getty ImagesMy post about Sunday's music video turned into an essay on the acting career of its singer Brandon deWilde. There I wrote about how he made his Broadway debut as a seven-year-old to universal acclaim. But can a seven-year-old act? It seems he can. I have found a video of an interview with his co-star in The Member of a Wedding, Julie Harris, in which she talks about the moment when he stopped parroting his lines and became an actor. Julie Harris won five Tony Awards for her stage appearances, starred with James Dean in East of ...
The queue is more than four miles long with waiting times of nine hours as I write. Nothing like this has happened in my lifetime. Certainly, it has been a week like no other like no other in living memory. Perhaps like no other. The sudden and dramatic death of Princess Diana created an unprecedented outpouring of grief and astonishing scenes in the capital as crowds flocked to be in London. To camp in the parks. To put flowers on the trees. But it does not match what is happening in London today. The arrangements after the death of Queen ...
The outrageous actions of the last three Tory governments have come so thick and fast that the Opposition parties are running out of words with which to describe them. From the blatant lie of £350m weekly for the NHS if we left the EU through the illegal proroguing of parliament and threats to break international law to the denials of "Partygate" we've thought again and again that we had reached the nadir and things could not possibly get any worse. But the Truss government keeps up the tradition, and they do. With less than a fortnight gone here are already ...
There is nothing like looking after your own, and when it comes to the Tories they have had decades of experience of doing just that. It should come as no surpries therefore, to see that, while the rest of us are struggling with runaway inflation and unfeasibly high energy costs, one of the first acts of the new Prime Minister and her Chancellor of the Exchequer is to scrap the cap on bankers' bonuses that was imposed in the middle of the 2008 financial crash. The Guardian reports that Kwasi Kwarteng wants to abolish rules imposed after the 2008 financial ...
Nearing 800 and counting! I'm told that since austerity kicked in nearing 800 public libraries have been closed across the country! A sobering thought indeed especially for someone like me who campaigned against the closure of libraries in Sefton Borough only a few years ago. And my reason for raising this painful subject again? Rainhill Library in St. Helens Borough is the latest in the ever-growing line of local libraries to be facing the chop. Rainhill Locomotive Trials But not only is Rainhill Library rather a nice place (pretty much all libraries are to me) it's also the home to ...
The Stuart Kings used to lie in state in Westminster Hall (those who weren't tried and sentenced to death there), but the modern revival of the idea began with Mr Gladstone in 1898. Here's a list of those who have lain in state there in modern times:1898 - William Gladstone1910 - King Edward VII1930 - Victims of the R101 airship disaster1936 - King George V1952 - King George VI1953 - Queen Mary1965 - Sir Winston Churchill2002 - Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherThe victims of the R101 airship disaster? The fact that they lay in state, a decision taken by George ...
Wed, 12:56: RT @zoyashef: Here's what they're saying (almost all in Russian, the mum just uses the Ukrainian word for 'boys'). Not that you need my tra... Wed, 15:12: Daily #213 1️⃣0️⃣⬛1️⃣1️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣⬛1️⃣4️⃣ 0️⃣4️⃣⬛1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣⬛0️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣⬛1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣⬛0️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣⬛2️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Wed, 16:05: RT @WaltHickey: not gonna lie the first time I generated this data and chart it was so jaw dropping I immediately checked to confirm it was... Wed, 18:37: Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich, tr. Bela�Shalyevich https://t.co/gdrYiAyj2l Wed, 19:52: RT @curiousiguana: Right, everyone. I need to be serious for a moment. Because the ...
Having booked a hotel room for Brighton conference, and then conference being cancelled due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth, the plan then became to use my room booking as a base to travel to London on the day of the funeral to be part of the crowds. The plan however has changed yet again. I won't be going to Brighton and London at all. The hotel refunded my booking yesterday. I will be
Last night I gave my presentation to the Sunniside History Society looking at events from the 70 year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Over the next few days I will publish a list for each decade. Below are the events I included from the 1950s, starting obviously with Princess Elizabeth becoming Queen.1952 February, Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen December - smog in London kills 4,000 Singin' in
During this time of national mourning, I thought I would put up some links to the Royal Family and Government websites. There is a link on the Royal Family website to an online book of condolence. On the Church of England website, you can light a virtual candle. On Sunday 18th September there will be a national minute of silence at 8pm. The Royal Family Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Welcome to the Church of England's official website | The Church of England
We are most likely heading into a bleak winter. The UK is in dire shape – the loss of our Queen, a lacklustre government, the economic downturn, energy and cost of living crises, strikes, ongoing Brexit consequences – maybe even the return of some COVID variant. Public support for Ukraine under these difficult circumstances must also be maintained. This is the moment for the Lib Dems to show Britain that we have policies to deal with these critical issues. The answer could be a Special Lib Dem Conference on the Winter Crisis, as permitted by our constitution, to be held ...
Back in October 2021, Fraser had a site visit with a member of West End Community Council and a City Council officer about several issues on Riverside Drive. We agreed that some cycle parking provision just east of the car park at the Bridgeview Station Restaurant would be a good idea, particularly as there was plenty space for this. Fraser raised this with the City Development Department at the council and received a positive response. It has taken a little time to deliver as it was tied into another project delivery schedule but we are pleased to say it has ...
