Interesting letter in The Herald today from Hugh McLachlan of Glasgow Caledonian University. I read his 'Social Justice, Human Rights & Public Policy' a few months ago. Originally written in response to a report from the Commission on Social Justice, it's a very useful antedote to the low-grade Fabianism that permeates public discussion on social policy. A little extreme perhaps, but refreshingly
I have not seen much comment on Charles Kennedy's Channel 4 programme last week, though there is an exception here. There does not seem to be much about it on the Channel 4 site either, but Charles had an article on the Guardian's Comment is Free blog giving the gist of his argument: It seems to me that this is a reflection of the increasing tendency in British politics to play down the big, divisive issues - particularly at election time. Several issues will cast a long shadow across the lifetime of the current parliament and beyond: Trident, for example, ...
The Liberal Democrats' answer to Sir Freddie Laker is doing well: he was in the Shropshire Star today after crowning the Clun Carnival Queen. The report contained a classic piece of Shropshire journalism: The village, one of the prettiest in the region, was immortalised in the verse of A Shropshire Lad poet AE Houseman, who described it as being one of the quietest places under the sun. But it was far from quiet on Saturday as revellers brought a carnival atmosphere throughout the afternoon and evening.
From XKCD via Pharyngula.
The newest Lib Dem video comes from Tom Brake MP and is a simple introduction to his website. I’ve seen a few websites do this in the US and it seemed worth trying. People like to know who their representatives are and video can definitely help bring them to life.
Right now a tragedy is unfolding in the Middle East. Hundreds of civilians have died in the bombings in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine and the death toll is rising every day. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an immediate ceasefire and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has joined Annan in calling for the deployment of international troops to the Israel-Lebanon border. This is the best proposal yet to stop the violence, but for it to succeed other global leaders need to get behind it immediately. I have just signed a petition urging regional and global leaders to speak ...
Met with two members of West End Community Council at Seabraes this morning. Pictures below indicate that some of the issues here have still to be properly addressed by Scottish Enterprise Tayside and I have been back in touch with them (also with Waste Management at Dundee City Council given the concern about glass). In a positive light, good to see progress with some of the landscaping issues. Have also been in touch with Planning & Transportation regarding the community/wildlife aspects. Some good news! Just been advised that the setts replacement in Westfield Place is scheduled for ...
Commenting on the reports that an Israeli strike has killed 40 people in Southern Lebanon, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ming Campbell said: This is a tragedy. While the diplomatic effort stalls, the dismantling of Lebanon continues. We need a totally committed effort to achieve an immediate ceasefire on both sides. It is essential that Britain, the [...]
A great deal has been said throughout the mass media about the recent invasion of southern Lebanon, though relatively little time has been spent considering a few pretty timeless military considerations that will probably govern much of the background to any discussions or longer term outcomes. I'm going to look at a few in this piece. As the defender, Hizb al-Allah has the advantage in so far as it's mere continued existence as an organisation will constitute victory of a sort. A draw equates to defeat for the Israeli Army, since as the attacker it must force a conclusion favourable ...
Ming is in the sports pages of the Times, talking about the athletics team in Gothenburg. One point I had not realised is that Ming was in Caifornia for the Summer of Love. "I went to California for a year as a postgraduate student,” Campbell said. “While there in 1967 I broke the British 100 metres record twice in a week, 10.2sec.” One imagines that David Cameron would have found some other recreational activity. Ming is apparently on top of the current issues in UK athletics: “I wonder about coaching,” Campbell said. “I do not know enough to be ...
Yesterday we reported the Pendennis story that Adam Rickitt was only on the A-list for publicity purposes. Guido Fawkes was soon on the comments to deny the st {Tory hopeful Adam Rickitt} Tory hopeful Adam Rickitt ory in uncompromising terms. The Pendennis story would be brilliant except that it is bollocks from beginning to end. These diarists making unsubstantiated allegations, tut tut... It wouldn't be hard to prove it wrong. A photocopy of a membership card would do. But what does the evidence suggest? Pendennis said Having failed to be ...
At long last some commonsense prevails and the Ordnance Survey is going to put details of security sensitive sites on the map. This is an issue which has always seemed barking mad and slightly offensive to those of who live near to nuclear sites such as the Atomic Weapons base at Aldermaston. To look at the map and see green fields where patently a large military industrial complex sits has always been at odds with reality. I used to sit on the Atomic Weapons Base Local Liaison Committee in my days as a councillor and raised this very issue on ...
Dear readers, I point you towards probably the funniest, and least politically correct, look at the Israel situation so far, courtasy of The Onion. Mel Gibson Launches Rockets at Israel....
The Press Association have a good story out at the moment about the First Minister being clamped outside a pub in Cardiff. Apparently, Rhodri Morgan came out of the Pen and Wig only to find his car incapacitated by an over-zealous parking attendant. Rhodri put his famed command of the English language into gear and managed to persuade them to unclamp him, explaining that he thought he had parked
Having the choice of 4 candidates to choose from for a council by-election in Gateshead is the stuff of dreams. Arm twisting is a regular form of selection. So to have 4 candidates expressing an interest in Dunston and Teams ward for the by-election expected next month is a bit of a shock to the system. We'll have to dust off the rule book about selection contests! The sudden resignation of
Riddle me this. Israel ceases fire and retreats to her own borders. What will Hizbollah do? Will they agree to disarm and desist from pursuing their stated aims of destroying Israel and exterminating the Jews? Will they suddently accept the "Zionist state" to the south, or the secular state in Beirut? The evidence is not great. Following the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon in 2000, Hizbollah did not disarm, the Lebanese Government and Army were not in control of the southern border region. Following the UN Security Council Resolution 1559 in 2004 demanding that all armed militias in southern Lebanon ...
Something I forgot to include in my last update - you can see a picture of me confidently striding over the Black Isle on Trevor’s blog - and thanks again to him and Nita for putting me up for two nights.
More insight at Let's be Sensible: There's something rather suspect, I think, about ways of looking at ethics which imply that we can go through life with a clean conscience if only we think about things properly.Read the rest here.
Was up early on Sunday morning to pop out for bike ride out into the Warwickshire countryside.I've been looking for a nice group ride for a while, but failed to find anything, but last week I missed my normal spin class and went to a different one instead with an instructor I'd not met before. Afterwards he mentioned there was a group who rode from The Billesley pub at 0830 every Sunday, with 3 different groups. What he failed to mention was quite how serious the A group were, I only noticed this when they arrived on the Sunday with ...
I’ve made it to Fort William, just short of 200 miles down the road from John O’Groats, which means I’m around 20% of the way through the walk and in need of a little break, which is what I’m having as I’m going to be doing nothing more strenuous than strolling around town for the [...]
More evidence that Judge Dredd should be read as prophecy and not satire: the world’s first Aggro Dome?
At the weekend, I finished watching the first series of The West Wing. It’s a series that hits the ground running, but even so you can see it evolving. The top-billed characters of Sam and Mandy begin to fade early on: although Rob Lowe is the notional star, he quickly becomes an equal part of [...]
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart gives a brief review of the US TV coverage of the on-going Middle East conflict: "That's arbitrarily terrifying!"You can catch The Daily Show in the UK 8.30pm weekdays on More4. Via Will Howells
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart demonstrates some of the absurd coverage of the Middle East conflict provided by American news networks. (Via.)
The idealistic speechwriter is well-liked by just about everyone. He's known for his excellent writing, sense of humor, and tendency to be clutzy. Although being younger than the rest of the staff, he's often treated as so, much to his...
A top ten table I would rather Wolverhampton didn't feature in! Liverpool John Moores University has ranked Wolverhampton eighth in a league table of where drinking shortens life Apparently. Apparantly the average male drinker in Wolverhampton (and that includes me) loses 15.33 months their thier life due to drinking.
I finally did a few quick fixes to allow meetings to be deleted on Flock Together. Historically, there were only two options: active and cancelled. But sometimes people make a mistake and enter a meeting twice, and in this case the meeting shouldn’t be shown as cancelled, but rather needs to be deleted. The difference between [...]
Iain Dale, a blogger I hugely respect and yet rarely agree with, asked a couple of weeks ago if there were any pro-Israeli Lib Dems. At the time I thought the question implied an over-simplification of the situation, why must...
There is something rather disturbing about the fact that somebody might find this site through a Google search against 'sian nude glyn davies'. To the best of my knowledge I have never made any reference here to Conservative AM, Glyn Davies, in a state of undress, not even when he was stopped by Police whilst driving with no trousers on. Oops! I have now!
Liberal England draws attention to speculation in the Mail on Sunday that Jack Straw was sacked as Foreign Secretary because Condi Rice thought he was a bit suspect: A US source told The Mail on Sunday: "Mr Straw's views did not find favour in the White House and its concerns were passed on to the British Government. "It was revealed last week by a senior aide to media mogul Rupert Murdoch that
Peter Black AM has alterted us to the fact that Lembit Opik has launched his own high-budget airline, called "West European Air Services". [Might Peter Black be joking?] Usually this blog likes all things "West", and what's not to like here? For only £2385 return we can now fly direct from Welshpool to Brussels, or "with refuelling stops" to anywhere in Western Europe. Ah, if only we had the money. Inner West recommends the Eurostar or Easyjet for those of you not on, dare I say it, MP's salaries. However, in case you were thinking of flying Air Lembit, the ...
Just so people remember, it was the Lib Dem Tax Commission that put forward the idea of a two grand tax on gas guzzlers and a tax to reflect the effects on climate change of air transport and travel. According to the Observer the environmental audit committee of MPs agrees and will set out on Monday a range of ways of achieving both. But we must also be plugging the fact that the Lib Dem proposals would not increase the tax burden overall but take many low paid people out of income tax altogether and reduce everyone's ...
Bit late, this post, but what the hell. A couple of weekends ago we combined two of our favourite interests - good books and archaeology - in one visit to the excavations at Silchester Roman Town. Every year, Reading University holds a dig for its students on Insula IX of the site, gradually uncovering four centuries (so far) of history. Each year they hold a couple of open days - we went to a previous one and were greatly interested - but this year they did something extra: a visit from one of our favourite authors, Lindsey Davis, who ... | < | August 2006 | > | ||||
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