You know the Bible 98%! Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic! Ultimate Bible Quiz Create MySpace Quizzes
This weekend Janet and I (and what seems like an army of Dundee LibDems!) have been delivering FOCUS round Strathmartine for Helen. That said, this afternoon I was round the West End meeting constituents about a number of local issues. Many local people are rightly concerned about the Botanic Gardens situation. I am continuing dialogue with the University of Dundee and others on this issue. The Courier covered the Network Rail noise issue yesterday and, as I said to the paper, the situation appears to have improved in the past week.Two further issues today - the "No Waiting" sign pole ...
I am just back from an excellent media training event in Cambridge run by Vanessa McPake. It was informative, challenging and great fun, however, I couldn't help noticing that I was the only woman. So, here we are again; an event for PPC's dominated by white men. Actually this is not a criticism of the men who attended, rather an observation about an issue we really have to tackle. As a woman I like to blame the men, but I know we women have to take some of the responsibility too. At Autumn conference I was appalled that I was ...
I hate the new Mac adverts staring Mitchell and Webb. I have in fact hated them since I saw the US version (which is practically the same). So I loved this comic: (click to enlarge)
I must be the luckiest photographer in the world... A photo of Cristiano Ronaldo which clearly shows him with both feet in contact with the ground. Some professional sports photographers wait years for a shot like this, having to content themselves with the usual pictures of him sprawled in the box after another dive. Of course, if I sat nearer the penalty area at White Hart Lane, I could have got one of those today as well. It was very disappointing to go in at half time a goal down from that penalty - we had been more ...
Just like to respond to the comments on the entry before last. I think the Council is generally excellent at answering questions. It just happens that it often isn't the question you actually asked. So, no, I'm not really happy about the answer to the question I asked on hostels and on reflection I wish I'd asked a supplementary question. My only consolation is that wouldn't have been answered either. I think the Mercator example is possibly the most misleading answer ever given by Lewisham Council. Unless anybody else can beat it. Now ...
Congratulations to Mike Evemy, selected to take on controversial Tory MP James Gray in Wiltshire North. Also congratulations to Wendy Johnson, selected to stand against guitar-strummin’ Michael Ancram in Devizes. Finally in the feast of congratulations, congrats to Paula Southwood selected in Wirral South. Thanks to Jen Yockney and Mike Evemy for the info.
Something is rotten in the Rochdale Constituency Labour Party. A local Lib Dem supporter in Rochdale has pointed me in the direction of Private Eye, which covers a quite extraordinary story of bullying and intimidation. Simon Danczuk, Labour’s Parliamentary Prospective Candidate in Rochdale (sitting MP: Lib Dem Paul Rowen), received an anonymous phone call prior to [...]
It was time to overhaul the photo gallery on my main website - so I've now moved over to using Flickr, and filled it up with nearly 100 photos from the last few years. Enjoy browsing!
{Welsh Liberal Democrat AMs} Welsh Liberal Democrat Group at the National Assembly for Wales Four point action plan for the Vale Of Clwyd 1. Take action to Clean -up graffitti, fly-tipping, litter, and vandalism. 2. Invest in schools-reduce class sizes and make them fit for purpose 3. Tackle potholed roads and broken pavements effectively 4. Long term plan for better opportunitys for all. Making the difference in Wales! As part of Wales' first Partnership Government the Welsh Liberal Democrats showed that they have what ...
In the travel section of today's Independent on Sunday they have an article about the fact that some of the most amazing places in the world are going to be ruined by global warming, be these deserts, waterfalls, icy tundra, glaciers, you get the picture, so what do they recommend ? They recommend you fly to these places to visit them before they are lost forever ! Absolutely bloody stupid or what ?
Lots of leafletting over the weekend - so much so that next week we'll probably print the new Focus, having dispatched most of this month's already. In fact, we've covered so much of St Mary's that attention turned to Sedgley. Yesterday we stomped around Downham Crescent (I am told that Prestwich's angriest dog has died since tearing a chunk out of my finger, so I leaflet less gingerly than
Its amazing what people do at University isn't it. The University of Plymouth, renowned for their research and analysis of electoral mathematics have discovered that the new parliamentary boundaries will give the Tories a new gain of 12 seats, will mean no change for the Lib Dems and will result in a loss of seats for Labour. How come it takes a university months to discover this yet we in the Lib Dems have been talking about this and discovered it many, many months ago ? It might be of course that it is because it is the ...
Reading reached the magic mark of forty points yesterday after beating Manchester City 2-0 with two goals from Leroy Lita and he would have had a hatrick if a perfectly good goal had not been disallowed. What Leeds would give for forty points at this stage in the season. Yesterday they got beaten 2-1 by Norwich having at one stage been 1-0 up. It is not looking good although as they say "it is not over until the fat lady sings". My worry is that she seems to be warming up her vocal chords.
Hat-tip to Chris Paul - Labour of Love, who reports that the News of the World have covered the death of the former Labour MP, Fiona Jones, as only they can. There is a video and salacious details. It is not for the faint-hearted. Their headline is "Blair babe drinks herself to death". Chris Paul comments: But the saddest story of the day is of former Labour MP Fiona Jones who has died of hard
Pendennis in the Observer reports that David Cameron has got himself into a bit of a pickle on candidate diversity. First, there were the usual Cameron-esque "Trust me, I'm a liberal" pronouncements and the introduction of the "A List". We have had all that "I'm a Observer reader at heart" nonsense for a long time from David Cameron, on various issues. I have long thought that there would be a
Pendennis in the Observer notes that although Menzies Campbell hasn't got a blog, as such (but has a sort of news-posty blog), he does have his own page on something called Facebook. This is something which has hitherto transcended my awareness. I registered on this awesome site. I found Menzies' page, which is entitled "Proud to be a Minger". At first, I thought this was a spoof - but
The BBC reports that Rallings and Thrasher from the University of Plymouth have calculated the winners and losers in the current round of boundary changes.
A brief note about today's upgrade
Tony Blair's 'e-petitions' are a cosmetic exercise; what's needed is real local democracy
The "appalling vista" of the Family Courts, in comparison to Lord Denning's statements in respect of the Birmingham Six, is that totally innocent families where no-one has done anything wrong are torn apart by a system that is dominated by interests other than the public interest. It is said that the standard of proof in the family courts is "on the balance of probabilities". Actually in many
Alexandra Park looked lovely in the snow the other week, took this photo on the way to work one morning. But talking of weather... On Friday, the IPCC - that's the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC, not the Independent Police Complaints Commission - gave us some startling predictions. The IPCC has said that by 2100 average temperatures will have risen by between 1.8C and 4C. We're also facing a sea level rise of 28-43cm. It may seem a long way away, as most of us won't be around in 2100. But that seems a massive increase in a ...
As a cat owner I really enjoyed this video. It is very funny. Fortunately, I have never had to resort to such desperate tactics to keep my cat clean.
This weekend was well planned. Saturday morning filling out some forms that have to be done. Off to Orpington Liberal Club for lunchtime to see off Mike Oldman, who is moving to Dorset. Then back to work on artwork for the Welsh elections this May. Today was an early rise, to do various things round London with Ed Maxfield, including going to help in the Barnet by-election, then this evening
Tim Worstall has just posted this week's selection. 
While it was great to see Jonny Wilkinson back in an England shirt yesterday, the most important thing about the victory may well turn out to be the emergence of Harry Ellis. For the first time since the 2003 World Cup, we have a world-class scrum half. And he play for Leicester Tigers. Let's hope he doesn't hurry to go on A Question of Sport or take up ballroom dancing.
The News of the Screws makes some remarkable claims this morning: Shock admissions by one of Tony Blair's closest aides are set to lead to three people being charged in the Cash For Honours scandal. The News of the World can reveal that the Prime Minister's political secretary John McTernan "started the dominos falling" when quizzed by cops. These dominos are expected to come crashing down around Blair, who yesterday pleaded with the Labour Party to be allowed to stay on in Downing Street. We can reveal: The new evidence led to two arrests and Mr Blair being ...
That's the topic of my latest article, just uploaded to my website: Have you ever felt like screaming ‘it isn’t fair’ when - regardless of the whole neighbourhood being up in arms – the Government runs roughshod over local peoples’ wishes and carry out its own wishes regardless? Well, although it doesn’t have a sexy title, the Sustainable Communities Bill could help bring about a major change
I seem to have left it rather a long time between posts but thats what happens when you get extremely busy I suppose. The last week or so has been so full it would be pretty impossible to get it all across One of the highlights though was a meeting I went to on site at the new development in the part of Garston called "under the bridge". There's been huge progress here which is great to see. I can remember some of the early meetings where it was all plans and proposals. now we ...
When London won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics all the discussion in Wales centred on how to benefit from the spin-offs. Alas, things have now sunk to the stage where we are wondering what it will cost us. Today's Observer reports that the final budget for the Games, which is due to be announced within the next six weeks, now appearslikely to come in at more than £5bn - if separately funded regeneration schemes for the area around the Olympic park in east London are factored in. That would amount to more than double the figure that ... 
Asda have a policy of not including size zero (UK size 4) models in their adverts. However, in a show of utter hypocrisy, Asda will now stock size zero clothes in their George range of clothing. Read about it HERE. It seems that ethics have no role to play in Asda or Walmart and that encourging or taking advantages of people with eating disorders is more important that having real values. I'll be avoiding Asda. I'm sure they'll not miss my trade, but if others did the same ?
Hot on the heels of Rhodri Morgan's attempt to concentrate the minds of voters onto Welsh issues in May's Assembly election, it seems that the Scottish First Minister is also anxious to avoid discussion of wider UK issues in his election campaign. According to The Scotsman, Scottish Labour Party members have been banned from discussing the Iraq war, the future of Britain's nuclear arsenal or any other "non-Scottish" issues in the run-up to the Holyrood elections. The paper reports that the decree has already led to one branch in the west of Scotland being forced to ditch a ...
As an unashamed Mac fan and and an afficionado of the comedy programme Peep Show, these new ads from Apple do it for me… The best is the one on Restarting - the most irritating thing about the PC experience when you have got used to a Mac.
Why is everybody calling Bernard Matthews' premises at Holton a "farm"? Almost unimaginably, it holds nearly 160,000 turkeys. It should surely be called a factory. Here is a link to Compassion in World Farming.
If you ran a business and the Government licenced a competitor in your area who could operate under a different set of rules you would quite rightly cry foul. That's exactly what's now happening...
Lembit Őpik was in Swansea yesterday on the campaign trail. We briefed him on a number of key issues in the City, including the redevelopment of the City Centre. Earlier in the week I had seen an oblique reference on David Cornock's blog to Lembit's latest comedy stage performance at the parliamentary palace of varieties show and had assumed that there had been further references to the Cheeky Girls in the House of Commons. However, as Alun Cairns points out the reference was in fact to Parliamentary Palace of Varieties - an annual show at St John's Church ...
I'm writing this on Sunday morning on the train to London, on my way to be quizzed on the Politics Show (BBC1, interview at around 1250 if you see this before the broadcast!) about my role chairing the Lib Dem manifesto writing group. Unusually, I also spent yesterday in London at an all-day session of our Federal Policy Committee, chaired by party leader Ming Campbell, where we were brainstorming about key manifesto policies and themes. One of the challenges of writing a manifesto is that we have little idea when the election will be! We ...
This morning was spent in health-related activity. I haven't had a proper eye test for far too long, and after a few disconcerting moments in Albuquerque and Dallas when I began to distrust my own eyes, I was moved to do something about it. Armed with a voucher entitling me to a free eye test (and no, I don't qualify for one through my age, you cheeky monkeys!), I turned up and was shown into
You may remember that one of my resolutions was that I would try to be 'generally better' in 2007, and, in fairness, I have made some small changes that will help me to achieve that. However, I have two big weaknesses that prevent me from being as effective as I could be. I'm not very good at saying 'no' to people. In part, I suppose that this is a reaction to my divorce, in that we all want to
Just had a quick check around the local news websites to see coverage of the CCTV review I chaired. Unsurprisingly, it features strongly. At least one of the quotes attributed to me on some of the media does not sound very familiar, but heigh-ho. Anyway, I also spotted for the first time this December story on the Ham & High website. BLAIR babe Barbara Roche has been spotted sniffing out a new constituency for the next elections. The former Hornsey and Wood Green MP lost her seat last year after a massive Lib Dem landslide, blamed mainly ...
I have been informed that a new law on roads signs is likely to lead to an increase in roads deaths in rural villages across Norfolk and in other counties as repeater signs in 30mph zones will no longer be allowed in areas with street lighting. This means that local County Councils will have to waste council tax payers money by getting the signs removed. Is there any good reason for this move by the government ? Why shouldn't motorists be warned that they are in a 30mph zone ? Why should councils waste money to take down ...
After drawing 0-0 at home against Everton, Rafa Benitez has claimed Everton are a small club. What a pathetic thing to say. As a primary school teacher it is the sort of thing I expect to hear from a child in a playground not a grown man. I would say to Mr Benitez that "if you know your history", he'd realise that size has nothing to do with recent premiership results, or indeed Champions League wins (after all, Everton were denied the chance to compete in Europe after the Heysel stadium tragedy). Everton and Liverpool have a ... | < | February 2007 | > | ||||
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