One of the worst things an adult could say to me when I was a kid was “Because I said so.” It’s a refusal to engage, a lazy response to inquisitiveness, a wasted opportunity to share knowledge. It’s all too easy from a position of authority for a teacher to tell a pupil (hypothetically) “Don’t run [...]
Leeds sadly lost to another late goal when Cardiff scored in the 84th minute. Judging by the reports I have read so far Leeds did not play well and lacked creativity and pace on the counter attack. Unless things start to improve particularly in the points department the calls for Blackwell to go will increase and he could yet be one of the first managerial casualties of the season. Meanwhile I went to the Reading game with my Reading supporting to son to watch their first ever match in the top flight after 135 years. ...
Prime Minister's Questions - the bear pit of Parliament. What to say? I could just get sniffy and say what a load of rubbish and it has no bearing on the real world or indeed, the success of the party. William Hague was tip top at PMQs - but a flop everywhere else and as Conservative Leader. But this is the arena where the media get their kicks. They just love it - this macho test of testosterone.
Been a while since I've updated this blog, what with being on holiday and it being the quiet season for Council meetings. But planning committees carry on during the Summer, and I've done my share of sitting on them and attending them because of an application in my ward. Went to Planning Committee C in the latter capacity on Thursday. Was in the audience when an application was heard for a rather ugly extension to a house in Northbrook Road. Felt a bit like being in the vegetarian seats at the Colosseum. The substantial crowd ...
There is wide speculation today that Sheridan's faction in the SSP will form a new party altogether under the name 'Solidarity' . Leaving aside the breathtaking arrogance of misapplying the name of an association honoured throughout Europe as a crucial pioneer in the destruction of the Communist Bloc to a bunch of politically illiterate utopians, it seems blatantly obvious that having more
The downside to Glyn's promotion of all things Welsh during his stay in the Big Brother house is the return of some stereotypical attitudes towards the Country. This morning's Western Mail features an outraged Max Boyce hitting out at the return of the demeaning phrase 'Boyo'. This slang term has been much in evidence in the London press to describe popular Big Brother contestant Glyn Wise. He has been labelled "wonder-boyo" and "boyo-Glyn" and shown support with "let's hear it for the boyo!" Quite reasonably Max Boyce, who of course never dealt in stereotypes in his act, believes ...
Years ago I read somewhere that the Liberal MP for Ipswich Silvester Horne was the father of the radio comedian Kenneth Horne and that the Silvester Horne Institute in Church Stretton, Shropshire, was named after him. I long ago forgot where I came across this, and had rather come to doubt it on the grounds that it is just the sort of thing I would imagine. (Regular readers of this blog will know how I love trivial connections.) Having just read Barry Johnston's biography of Kenneth Horne, I now know that it is all true. Silvester Horne was a Congregationalist ...
Peter Pigeon has answered my posting on Q magazine's guilty pleasures with a list of his own. He says that my 10 includes a couple of songs that he quite likes. And the reverse is true. In fact, his 10 contain two songs that I think are great: All or Nothing is one of the very best songs by one of the very best British groups of the 1960s. Downtown is wonderful - and I told Petula Clark as much when she phoned me a few years ago (hem, hem). It was obviously the wrong thing ...
The Spenders have returned from two weeks in Galicia and northern Portugal; and returned, it seems, to a traditional English summer! Anyway, time to pick up the blog again with a few thoughts on City and Ward issues............. I was pleased that Winchester's Tourist Information Centre recently received a national award for its excellent service. Tourism and culture are very important parts of
{Buried} Back in May I went and saw Mark Billingham at the Lincoln Book Festival. Whilst there I got his latest book Buried signed. However only last week did I actually finish the book. It's not that I've been busy reading other books or that the book was a slow one to read, it's just that I haven't actually read anything for 3 months. When I finally got around to reading it the book was finished in 4 days. Unlike other Billingham books this one is centred around a kidnapping and not a murder. It still has Tom Thorne and ...
I’m still in Edinburgh, enjoying the second of my rest days. In fact, it’s almost 2 1/2 as Thursday’s trip from Falkirk to Linlithgow was really just a half-day of walking - 12 miles, pretty much all on the flat and with just a little pack rather than the full one meant I was done [...]
Strictly it is "Gaz de France", but the most recent round of price increases put the price of British Gas consumption for 20,400 kWh of gas per year at £704 whereas Gaz de France costs £694. Using the British Gas Standard Tariff of 5.21p per kWh up to 4572 kWh and 2.94 over that. GDF's tariff for this is 4.38 Euros per kWh plus 125.21 standing charge. An exchange rate of 0.68025 Euros per
Stephen Tall has started a debate on the election for Lib Dem President. Here is my response: I hope someone does challenge Simon. I also voted for him at the last presidental election and voted for him when he challenged Charles in 1999 for party leader. I met Simon on the train after a night out and he was a pleasant man speaking to me until my stop. (Well someone had, as I was half
Over the last month or two I have been working on the reorganisation of Liberal Democrat local parties in the West Midlands, stage two is now complete. It has been an interesting exercise, I am sure I have won few friends through the process and annoyed some people.
Saturday We have listened to another audiobook about Dr Who and Rose's adventures. This one was SCARY! I think it was MORE scary because I was IMAGINING all of the monsters rather than watching them on the telly. They are scarier in my fluffy head! Anyway, I will let Daddy Richard tell you all about it… This was so much better all all round. I think that the quality may have lifted David Tennant as well – perhaps, like Patrick Troughton, he is an actor whose best work is inspired by the material – as his reading ...
As everyone else is doing this... {Countries Visited} Like Will it's pointless showing the rest of the world as I haven't been there yet. Also I too have been to the Canaries (twice) which isn't shown on the map. And looking at the red, it seems that I haven't really got that far away from England yet.
Thabo Mbeki and his strange health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang are continuing to fail to take HIV seriously as a cause of AIDS despite overwhelming evidence. AIDS activists in South Africa are urging the international community to put pressure on Mbeki's Government to roll out an anti-retroviral programme which is currently being denied to over 700 000 HIV suffers in South Africa. Quite frankly Mbeki's policies are unacceptable and the long term consequences for South Africa of such a large number of people dying of the disease is frightening. I hope that the Liberal Democrats will show leadership on this issue ...
Jon Stewart's Daily Show targets CNN's OTT 'Target:USA': Remember: "If you build a better mousetrap, the terrorists will build a better mouse."
The blind activist Chen Guangchen from Shandong Province in China was arrested for exposing illegal abortions and forced sterilisations being undertaken by Yinan County officials in the province which are technically criminal acts nowadays in China. The excellent Jonathan Watt's report is here. Because he dared to stand up to these corrupt and nasty little officials he was accused of illegal assembly and damaging state property. These are clearly trumped up charges which have been designed to shut him up. To muddy the waters, the same officials have played the paranoid nationalist card and claimed that ...
I'm really in blogging overdrive tonight but I think that it's time for a change in the Party Presidency. I'm not just talking about the fact that someone should challenge Simon Hughes who hasn't delivered what he promised when he defeated Lembit. I'm also talking about it being time for a change from the Presidency being passed around the Parliamentary Party. The Kennedy Assassination did cost us some members and I suspect that it's all going to come out in the next few months about who did what and why. The real structural problem as I see ... | < | August 2006 | > | ||||
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