I was delighted to hear from my old friend and former Southport councillor David Tattersall. He has been following the postings on mutuals/employee ownership and has been reflecting on why Labour made so little progress on this agenda. I was always struck that where they did speak of mutuals it was in relationship to de-nationalizing public services. That certainly seems to be the case when they set up the Ownership Commission. Norman Lamb speculated that trade union objections scuppered progress. Labour's antipathy goes back a long way to the Webbs who opposed producer co-ops preferring not to trust workers and ...
This week's choice was from a plethora of candidates on NOW! 39 - and if it hadn't been for this post featuring Natalie Imbruglia it would probably have been beaten into second place... That said, it's still a top tune. Here's Space featuring Cerys Matthews with The Ballad of Tom Jones. Enjoy! Andrew
Here's a picture of Harrowgate Road in Hackney, a fairly typical residential street distinguished only by the fact that it is around the corner from my house. It doesn't see much traffic, and you'll usually see neighbours chatting to each other at their front gates. Note that it has one thing in common with pretty ...
Please don't read this if you have not yet watched Homeland and if you therefore don't want to know what happens. I'm watching it on my PVR, a Humax that my friends and I call the Hoover. Anyway, back in April, the Jewish Chronicle (JC) ran a diary piece about how, in Homeland, the Mandy Patinkin character (Saul Berenson - with a name like that, and played by Mandy Patinkin, we're presumably meant to assume that he's Scottish, or perhaps Korean) says kaddish (a Jewish mourner's prayer) for a dead terrorist. As I was then looking forward to eventually ...
From the BBC: More employees should be "in the driving seat" and own a share of the company they work for, the deputy prime minister has said. Speaking at a government summit, Nick Clegg urged a "culture shift" to help more people become their own boss. The government is to set up a new body to offer information and advice on how to become a worker-owned business. And from The Independent: The Government is pressing ahead with plans to mutualise Post Offices, saying the proposals were supported by staff and the public. Postal affairs minister Norman Lamb said a consultation ...
The Space - a free website funded by the BBC and the Arts Council - has the full recording of the 50th anniversary performance of Britten's War Requiem given in Coventry Cathedral earlier this year.
I get why the Tories are opposed to a judge-led inquiry into the scandalous rate-rigging practices employed by Barclays and other banks: their experiences of the Leveson Inquiry show how scandals, even ones that blend across the red/blue parties, have a habit of rebounding on the government of the day. I get why Labour are in favour of a judge-led inquiry: so complicit were Labour (and Ed Balls in particular) in the catastrophic financial mess of the last few years, of which the banks are just one part, that they are desperate to appear transparent in the hope the inquiry ...
There was a feature of Bob Diamond's appearance before the Treasury select committee that said much about the authority and judgement of its chairman Andrew Tyrie. Diamond addressed MPs by their first names throughout. I would have bridled at that when I was a young district councillor. Why middle-aged MPs put up with it, I cannot imagine. Tyrie should certainly have stepped in early to stop him doing it. His failure to do so was damaging because he and his committee were on trial. The government wishes the committee to conduct the inquiry into banking rather than a judge. According ...
On the other side of the Roman bath remains from the Jewry Wall stands the Jewry Wall Museum. In fact it was partly built on those remains in, as the photograph suggests, the era of concrete, underpasses and pedestrian walkways. Still, it is well worth a visit, as it houses Roman mosaics and wall paintings found under the city, floor tiles and masonry from Leicester Abbey and the 'prehistoric families' made for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Being the bottom of the RBS financial food chain isn't good enough for customers of the Ulster Bank. Executives of the Bank have announced today that the IT situation will finally be sorted out by 16th July. This is the fourth time they have given us a time by which everything should be sorted, so ...
I've been preoccupied every two years, assuming I want to eat, by that I mean keep working, on the railway in my case, it's necessary to redo track safety courses, not the toughest thing in the world but even experienced people fail the basic competency, anyway I've had three days of new rule books, changed terms, tests and scenarios and flippin safety videos many of which are available on youtube but worth a gander for anyone who thinks the railway is playground.. Anyways the subject of other safety related videos came up, one which was mentioned but not available at ...
Huzzah! Thanks to the support of Islington Lib Dems and 13 Lib Dem conference reps, the Equal Citizenship motion has been submitted today to the Federal Conference Committee to be considered for debate at this year's autumn conference in Brighton. I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped get the motion this far as now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that it gets accepted for debate. For those who are interested, this is the final draft of the motion: Equal Citizenship: Updating sickness and disability policy for 2015 Conference notes:A) The passage ...
This should be a big day for Liberals. For generation we have promoted a vision of an an economy where businesses are owned by those who work in them, where as Richard Wainwright used to say 'labour hires capital'. Today we made a big stride in that direction, so why is it that Lib dem bloggers tell so little about the Nuttall report? In his new role Norman Lamb commissioned Graeme Nuttall to produce a review of employee ownership. Today Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb launched the report. Clegg's speech can be found in full here he told his audience ...
With Belfast City Council voting in favour of equal rights with regard to marriage in the city of Belfast, it was refreshing to read a statement from the Chaplain of Pembroke College, Oxford: Civil Partnerships and Pembroke College Chapel The Governing Body and chaplain are dedicated to the mission of the chapel as fully including ...
Cambridgeshire County Council's Trading Standards Service recently launched the Buy With Confidence approved trader scheme - now the scheme is being promoted throughout the county to both businesses and residents. In addition Trading Standards will be running a week-long series of roadshows during the first week of July, encouraging Cambridgeshire residents to use the local reliable traders who are scheme members and inviting more local traders to join. The Buy With Confidence Scheme provides residents with an online database of local 'Trading Standards approved' businesses who can be relied upon to provide a quality service to customers. Members can be ...
It seems that many of my friends have been wishing their American friends "Happy Independence Day". I like the alternative view stated to me by a friend and brother, Angus, Whenever Americans go on about Independence Day, I find it prudent to: (1) check which State they originate from - they were likely not one ...
Pete Tong used to present the Essential Mix on Radio 1. In fact I think he still does. There was a time when I would listen to it religiously, and I've always loved the way he would say "We continue...." quite happily as my favourite mixes moved through their two hour allocation...* Invoking this, I'm thinking the words "we continue" as I reflect on these two posts: Ellie Sharman warns against moving to the left: Then Alex Marsh posts a more than adequate riposte here: http://www.alexsarchives.org/?p=4133#comment-8069 In short, we've had both sides. Again - we had this erupt in ...
The recommendations are in! The Independent Panel on Forestry published its final report today. Our Chief Executive, Sue Holden, has made a short film to explain more about what's happening: The headlines... We're pleased to see that the report includes a challenging target around creating new woodland, and that there's potential to secure the restoration and better protection of ancient woodland.We fully support the continued role of the public forest estate so are pleased that the Panel also champions this.The report does not advocate mass sell-off of the estate, something you opposed with us last year along with so many ...
I have written to all of Manchester's MPs calling on them to support Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert's Private Members Bill when it is presented to Parliament next week.The Bill, if passed, would prevent the demolition or change of use of a pub or local independent shop without planning permission. Planning permission would also be needed before the premises or land could be used for a supermarket. If this bill is successful it would prevent future developments like Tesco's conversion of the former Feather's Pub without Planning Permission. I've asked our local MPs to support this bill as it highlights ...
A London NHS trust could go bust after PFI deals went wrong hit the news last week (you can hear it here) It was predictable, it won't be the last as these new hospitals and other buildings built by New Labour (The Tories started it - but Labour went mad on them) start needing maintenance and the government realises they are contracted to certain suppliers. A few elections ago I looked into some
From March 2011: Senior bankers familiar with Libor expressed surprise at the investigation [into allegations that Barclays and others manipulated the rate], saying it was hard to see how one bank or small group of them could manipulate it.
Most folk will have read this piece in the New Statesman and made their own mind up by now over whether its common sensical or nonsensical. But have you noticed that Nick isn't the only Lib Dem on the cover? Do my eyes deceive me. at the bottom of the page, three in from the left. Isn't it... Do you think they may be trying to tell us something?
The Lib Dem Leader in Liverpool, Councillor Richard Kemp CBE, has written to Liverpool MPs calling on them to support Julian Huppert's Private Members Bill when it is presented to Parliament next week. The Bill, if passed, would prevent ... Continue reading →
Yesterday I went to London to attend a meeting in Portcullis House where Professor Harrington, the man charged with reviewing the Work Capability Assessment which determines eligibility for incapacity benefit, was being asked questions by various members of the House of Lords welfare committee and miscellaneous others (e.g. me). The meeting took place under Chatham House rules - which mean that no one at the meeting is allowed to disclose what was said at the meeting or even who attended. The reason for this is because politicians are a paranoid lot and generally refuse to speak plainly unless they can ...
The deputy prime minister is interviewed in tonight's Evening Standard, where he speaks about, among other things, his attitude towards the British banking system. Here's an excerpt: "There is no doubt in my mind that what we saw, what peaked in 2008, was rotten to the core," he says. "We cannot afford as a society, as a country, to have a banking system that is like a cuckoo in the nest, which pushes everything else out and which causes huge costs for millions of British taxpayers. "Yet again the lid has been lifted on a culture which appeared to be ...
On Monday evening my wife and I had an argument... Not a major one but one of those annoying ones where I was being told off for something I felt was unfair and brought up countless counter arguments that could have lead to an escalation had I not played the age old Male line of Yes Dear through gritted teeth. Shifting relationship between Nick and Dave? We've been together for eight years and married fro three and are well past the loved up, everything's rosy stage. We've settled into a more comfortable pattern of being good together and focused on ...
I know that it suits some other Peers to pretend that that the Bill to reform the House of Lords is just a Liberal Democrat plot, pursued by Nick Clegg, to take away their jobs. However, since the Cabinet unanimously endorsed the Bill, and the Prime Minister gave it his personal explicit approval, that won't wash any more. As I pointed out in the Chamber last week, unlike many others (on both sides) David Cameron and George Osborne have been perfectly consistent: they voted for a 80% elected/20% appointed hybrid House as long ago as February 2003. Labour, too, has ...
Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here's this week's edition. Armed forces day Armed Forces Day last Saturday was a chance for the country to express its gratitude for the courage and bravery of serving and former service personnel, as well as the immense contribution made by their families. In my constituency we have a strong connection with our armed forces so I was pleased to be able to take part in various celebrations to mark the day. As UK citizens, we have a duty of care towards ...
Wed 4th
16:00
Conservative Members rate all members of the government (and why Vince may not be Chancellor after a...
When Lib Dem Voice ran a survey asking party members their opinion of the performance of various prominent Lib Dems, the comments section was red hot with folk having a go at what they saw as a bit of a nonsense. here's one example (from a Parliamentarian, no less)... What is the purpose of this nonsense? At best it is unhelpful, at worst potentially disastrous.If LD Voice has nothing better to do than pursue this kind of personality based pop level politics, it perhaps ought to close down.And members who take part in this kind of stuff should be ashamed ...
I saw this while out canvassing in Grove ward the other evening...
The culmination of weeks of campaigning and lobbying against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) came this morning, as the European Parliament voted 478 to 39 to reject it, despite the fact that twenty-two member states, including the United Kingdom, had already signed it. As a result, the Agreement is now likely to become irrelevant without the support of European Union nations. The Agreement had already been rejected by five Committees of the European Parliament, and despite attempts by Conservative MEPs to defer the vote, as urged by UNI MEI, a "global union for the Media, Entertainment and Art Industries", until ...
... I'd have a weekly schedule thing of "stuff to post if I can't think of anything else", like:Music MondayTakei TuesdayWhovian WednesdaySomething for ThursdayFollow Friday (which I try to do but sometimes fail)Definitely not Cats SaturdaySoothing SundayUnfortunately I am far too badly organised to actually do anything like this on a proper basis. However, lets assume I am capable of finding my keyboard with both hands... I reckon that mon/tue/wed and fri are sorted. But what do you think a geek about town like me should have for thur/sat/sun? [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Nicotine, a socially acceptable drug. Ken Clarke yesterday commented on the the UK "Plainly Losing the War With Drugs". I've written and spoken about this topic more times than I can remember but for me the reason we are 'losing' the war is that politicians and the media are fighting the wrong war! Instead of being in a war against drugs we should be fighting the harm that drugs cause. I feel another rant starting... Far too often people speaking on the topic talk about minimising drug use, but this isn't where most of the harm occurs. If all of ...
Liberal have for generations argued against the model of company control that says all the power rests with the owners of capital. Our policy was that owners and workers should be on a common register. Sadly the crude capitalist model that sees ownership and control being only in the hands of the owners of capital has a strong hold on economic thinking. Today the Business Secretary launched his plans to control top executives pay and sadly he has once given all the power to the shareholders. Liberal plans for co-ownership of industry and even more radical plans for out right ...
I guess Jo Swinson is seen as a far more friendly face to Lib Dem activists than say Danny Alexander who always does badly in polls of party workers, for it is she who has written to ask us for our views on jobs and growth. Time will tell if this is a genuine attempt to engage members or if it just looking for confirmation of a plan many -I suspect most of us- feel is unbalanced. So its time to 'get it off your chest' as all the best FOCUS leaflet say: Good evening Ms Swinson Liberals have argued ...
A while back, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten - such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP. There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure - those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are often ...
h/t to @ColinGPaterson
Hard on my own piece suggesting that Vince would make a far better Chancellor than Gideon, Matthew Norman has written a far more erudite piece making the same point. Headlined 'How often does Vince Cable have to be right before they make him Chancellor?' it's a great read. While he then goes on to suggest that Vince is nailed on to lead us into the next election (Matthew may or may not have read my New Statesman piece but he certainly hasn't seen the results of my leadership poll) it's a tribute to Vince's judgement. Do go and read the ...
Body language for beginners – watch out how often someone blinks. The human average is about once every five seconds, which would mean 27 times or so in 2 minutes and 12 seconds. Why 2 minutes and 12 seconds? That's how long Ed Balls is on screen in this interview before the camera cuts away to show only the interviewer. In that time, however, Ed Balls didn't blink 27 times, he blinked 222 times.* So, not nervous at all then. * Staring at a screen into the blackness of one of his eyes counting the number of times he blinks ...
From yesterday's Assembly Plenary session: Peter Black: A total of 131 GP practices have taken the trouble to return a survey to the Welsh Liberal Democrats to say that they disagree with your policy of extending their opening hours, with 127 saying that they would need additional funding to implement it. The BMA is warning that it could affect recruitment. As your policy does not have the support or confidence of doctors, how will you deliver extended consultation hours for the residents of Neath Port Talbot The First Minister: That assertion that doctors do not have confidence in this policy ...
The Local Government Conference met in conference in Birmingham last week. I am slightly (only very slightly) embarrassed to confess that I have attended every conference since the LGA was created in 1997. In that first year the conference (in Manchester) ran from Tuesday until Friday. There was a gala night on the set of Coronation Street (this is apparently a television soap opera for those of you too busy each evening with your politics). John Prescott and Gordon Brown turned up to praise the new body's birth and the role of local government (delicious irony in hindsight), John Bird ...
As that throaty-voiced American-sounding man who does the voiceovers for movie trailers at the cinema might put it: "From the people who brought you the Yes to AV Campaign..." ------------------From: "Peter Facey, Unlock Democracy" <peter@unlockdemocracy.org.uk> Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 11:16:10 +0000To: Matthew Harris<matthew.harris@hotmail.co.uk>Subject: Urgent: Lords Reform [IMG: Unlock Democracy] [IMG: Lords Reform Bill - click here to write to your MP] Hi Matthew, Let's cut to the chase. Over 1,300 people have written to their MPs following the publication of the Lords Reform Bill, but we need to get that figure to at least 2,000 before the House of ...
Willowburn's Summer Fayre runs from 1 – 4 p.m. this Saturday.
With a grateful nod to [IMG: [personal profile] ] nanila, who has immigrated to the UK from the Americas and is now breeding, for the reminder, I would like to wish all my USian friends a happy Revolting Colonials' Day. I hope you enjoy activities like throwing perfectly good tea in the river and other such traditional festivities. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Barclays rate-rigging scandal has conflated a number of issues — Bob Diamond's bonus, 'casino' banking, failed regulators — making it hard to get behind the media's shouty headlines to understand the issues which should really concern us. Here's my brief show-your-working attempt, starting with what Barclays. What Barclays did right: 'fess up LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offered Rate) is the rate at which banks in London lend money to each other for the short-term. It's used as a proxy measure of market confidence in individual banks, as well as a benchmark for setting mortgage interest rates. Barclays has admitted ...
Last Friday I went to see Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe on the South bank. It was a bit of a late birthday treat and I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon watching the play in that wonderfully recreated "wooden O". Perhaps my only niggles would be the extraordinarily irritating laugh of a woman sitting next to us and the decision of what appeared to be every helicopter in London to fly over the airspace above the theatre! But the performance itself was first class. I knew Henry V as one of Shakespeare's great studies in leadership, or more accurately kingship, ...
The Girl Who Fixed the Umlaut (by the late great Nora Ephron) ""I can't really go on without an umlaut," he said. "We're in Sweden." (tags: humour ) Five in the Colonies: Enid Blyton's Sri Lankan Adventures, Randy Boyagoda The classic children's author. (tags: books race ) Not bored, but Libored "British banking continues to be insufficiently dull." (tags: ulsterbank banks ) This Week In Threat-Mongering - The Iran Version - democracyarsenal.org "If Burns is correct that Iran is America's number one adversary in the world then truly the United States has little to worry about. Iran is a second ...
The first question a lot of people were asking about the opening week of this year's tour was whether Mark Cavendish could win without his HighRoad train. That's been answered, but had already been replaced by a new one: just how good is Peter Sagan? Back in their preview of the World Tour squads, Cycling Weekly referred to him as a 'one man race demolition machine', and while it doesn't fit as neatly on a top tube as 'Tourminator', it's a fair description of his ability. So far, we've had two stages with uphill finishes, and he's demolished the opposition ...
Today's leaflet in my series on old election leaflets is a centrally produced Conservative Party leaflet from October 1931. Ramsay MacDonald had led a Labour administration under August 1931 when it split over a Budget and economic crisis. MacDonald earned his place in Labour's hall of infamy by then forming a National Government with Conservatives and Liberals. Only two Labour colleagues joined MacDonald in this government, so the attacks in this leaflet on "Arthur Henderson and other Socialist ex-Ministers" are, nominally at least, directed at Labour rather than MacDonald and co. in the coalition. Swap references such as the Empire ...
In forty-eight hours, we've made pretty good progress. The selection criteria are almost agreed, a draft Regional Profile has been circulated, and a vast array of papers have turned up from Party HQ in the nick of time. For me, this is pretty amazing, as I am prone to leaving things to the last moment. The Selection Committee and Returning Officer have been hard at work, reading documents, letting me have their thoughts, and generally being great, and we're even now talking dates for the shortlisting phase. The one members meeting (you can't call them hustings any more), will take ...
Yesterday's stage with its narrow roads, change of wind direction and worry about the many climbs at the end certainly saw the splits in the peleton. There was a number of minor crashes and punctures but then about 25km from the end there was one quite near the head of the peleton which caused a major and decisive split. It also led to the first two withdrawals from the Tour Kanstantsin Sivstov (SKY) and Jose Joaquin Rojas (MOV). Then there was another crash in the final km as one of the lead out men came back through the rapidly racing ...
UK Polling Report on how not to report polls (tags: ) VIDEO: Vegan Black Metal Chef Episode 1 Pad Thai CRUSH THOSE PEANUTS!!! (tags: ) I know where the album sales went. (tags: ) Life in the United Kingdom - The Official Practice Citizenship Test You have failed the practice citizenship test. Questions answered correctly: 12 out of 24 (50%) Time taken: 02 minutes 04 seconds (tags: ) Cicero's Songs: Tory Troubles (tags: ) Would you have paid $70,150 for this massive Star Trek: TOS prop? Yes. Yes I would. (tags: ) Declaration of Internet Freedom (tags: ) What makes ...
Ben Colburn, pictured above (credit to Norman Fraser) was a Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Affiliated Lecturer, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge until September 2010 when he became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He recently gave a lecture to the Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) on the subject of Social Liberal Values. From Monday to Thursday this week, at 10 am, I'll put up a chapter of his lecture. Enjoy - and as I'm away on my holidays, play nicely in the comments threads If you missed it, you might want to also ...
Regarding the Communications Bill, and Huppmeister J's herculean efforts to inject some sense into it. I think we're missing a trick when we go on about the technical problems involved with it, because those who formulated the bill know the implications of that won't filter through to the general public until it's too late. In order to filter through to the general public we need a simple, easy to understand concept. Not without a warrant. The rozzers, the HMRC, whichever government department, should not be able to access my personal information without my permission unless they have justified to a ...
I'm hoping to have the next Kinks piece — on Preservation Act 1 — up tonight, but it may not be up until tomorrow, so here's some links to be going on with. The Daily Beast has a piece on Before Watchmen The Digital Antiquarian on Dennis Wheatley Julian Huppert, who is on the committee ...
Today is Independent Retail Day. List of Chorlton independent businesses taking part in the Tag Pass it On! scheme available here: http://www.tagpassiton.com/savings/chorlton.html
That's what Matthew Norman asks in this morning's Independent: He warned about unsustainable cheap credit and the consequent risk of a crash, and no one paid a blind bit of notice. He pinpointed the structural weakness at Northern Rock and called for its nationalisation, but until it was almost too late a Labour government faffed about in virtual paralysis. For inadvertently declaring war against a Murdoch media stranglehold, he was ridiculed and fined a chunk of his portfolio. By then, he had already spoken about casino banking in general, and Bob Diamond's appointment as Barclay's CEO in particular, in terms ...
Last year East Dulwich councillors found the money to go halves on a new covered waiting area – Platform 1 near the rear of trains. This financial year we've arrange for £10,000 to make the lighting at the station entrances infinitely better. Chuffed to see that this all seems to have inspired the train operating company _ Southern Railway – to replace the other waiting areas. Platform 2 looks completed – we had to nag to get the covers taken of it today but it looks good. The new Platform 1 is just at the removal of the old covered ...
The Evening Telegraph last week covered the concerns of a resident about the state of part of the cemetery and my comments about these and assurances I had obtained from the City Council about getting the situation rectified. Here's a couple of photographs: Last week, I obtained assurances that prunings would be immediately removed and the Environment Department's officer also advised : "I will be looking to carry out repairs to the path in the very near future, once I meet an engineer, as the site is on a steep slope." Earlier this week, I sought assurances as to progress ...
It's time to fix our broken system. Join in at https://www.facebook.com/FixParliament
The audacity of Barclays' actions in seeking to manipulate LIBOR is not in doubt. The scandal, quite apart from exposing how odious and unethical some of Barclays' business practices were under Bob Diamond, has exposed profound weaknesses in the microstructures of financial markets. These weaknesses should not come as news to those who operate in, regulate or study financial markets. But the scandal has shone light upon the innermost workings of the global economy in a way that has allowed the rest of us to catch a glimpse of what is going on. And that has shaken any remaining faith ...
Wed 4th
00:21
Non essential highway maintenance at gone midnight? Are you freaking serious? (with video)
I'm trying to sleep however the highway maintenance department have decided that sleep isn't for the people living in my apartment block. They have decided that non-essential highway maintenance is what they need to be doing at gone midnight. I have videoed about 20 seconds of it out on my balcony and as you can hear it isn't exactly soothing background music... [IMG: Share on Tumblr] [IMG: Submit to StumbleUpon] [IMG: Save on Delicious] [IMG: Digg This] [IMG: Submit to reddit] [IMG: Share on Myspace] [IMG: Share via email] Tweet
About once a month - normally on a Tuesday - I'll head off to the cinema. Tuesday is my chosen day as my Showcase Cinema card gets me in for a £5 plus any surcharge for 3D). (It used to be £4.50 but, hey, that's inflation for you.) It also has the benefit of normally being quiet, especially if you're catching a film towards the end of its run. So when I took the notion to go to the cinema tonight, my starting point was deciding what to see - effectively a straight choice between Prometheus (mixed reviews, Ridley-Scott, limited ...
