The Consett Green Spaces Group have put out the following Press Release: Consett Green Spaces chairman responded today to the Inspector's draft report on the Belle Vue Village Green Application. "Clearly we are disappointed that the inspector is recommending the county council to turn down our Village Green application. We believe, however, that under pressure to produce the report before the Christmas break, he has missed a number of our arguments. We will therefore be taking the opportunity to draw these matters to the inspector's attention again, in the expectation that when they are re-examined he will decide that his ...
New Year's Eve: To describe "Ghost Light" as Marc Platt's finest hour (all right, ninety minutes) seems very unfair. He's a brilliant writer who has gone on to provide us with such highlights as, in novels, the bookends of the mythic arc of the New Adventures - "Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible" and "Lungbarrow" (from which "Ghost Light" was first derived) - and, on audio, the poignant definitive origin of the Cybermen story in "Spare Parts" and the extraordinary alternative first Doctor of Geoffrey Bayldon in "Auld Mortality" and "A Storm of Angels", and, as they say, many more. And yet ...
for the last 2 years we ahve had our shopping delivered by tesco once per week. an inpersonal web-based ordering. granted we spend less than in hte store - as not as many impulse buys!. also with shifts plus a small child the loads and bags are less convenient. for the last couple of weeks i have made a change. back to the high street. and i'm loving it. first - gloucester road. today - keynsham. the grocers, bakers and butchers. for hardware its the hardware shops. you can feel and touch what you buy. change your mind. go for ...
I didn't make any predictions last year, so I can't tell you how they came out, like Caron and Stephen. I'm not planning on making any this year either; my talents for precognition are non existent. I am going to make a couple of resolutions though:Try to keep my inbox empty; Try not to over commit - again; Try to engage brain before opening gob/starting to type - in particular when I'm already tired or grumpy or depressed; Kill the first person who comments "there is no try, only do or not do" to this postWe're catching up on Last ...
Mon 31st
20:33
And a Happy New Year from Tring Mayor Nick, Martin Hicks from Tring Farmers Market and a passing Pas...
[IMG: AndAHappyNewYear] Well, this photo is a good fortnight old now, and Martin's excellent (free!) mulled cider didn't survive the morning. But, hey, it's not a bad pic! It's the thought that counts. And Martin's smile is quite striking, isn't it?. So Happy New Year to everyone! from Tring Mayor Nick, the stall holders at Tring Farmers Market, Martin Hicks and all!
The current issue of Private Eye has a column by 'Hedgehog' dissecting the deficiencies of Coalition transport policy that is worth studying. Hedgehog points out that this policy is now effectively decided by George Osborne, who is on record as saying that new roads will equip Britain "to compete in the modern global economy". Not so, says our spiky columnist: Actually the modern economy in developed countries, including Britain and the US, is characterised by stagnating or falling volumes of road traffic as people find more efficient ways of working, shopping and socialising than devoting huge slices of their income ...
Well it's New Year's Eve, a time to look back over the past year and anticipate events for the next. I recall back in May 2012 when the Coalition was formed that there was a frequently aired view that the first couple of years would be very tough for the government and with we Liberal ...
Non-fiction: 4 (2012 total 53) The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, by Ronald Hutton My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall, by John Major The Bible The Comic Strip Companion: the Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964-1979, by Paul Scoones Fiction (not sf): 3 (2012 total 48) The Ten Word Game, by Jonathan Gash Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy SF (not Who): 2 (2012 total 62) Non-Stop, by Brian Aldiss The Year's Best Science Fiction, 25th Annual Edition, ed. Gardner Dozois ...
Wishing all my readers a great night tonight and a happy and prosperous 2013. I will also take this opportunity to thank you for reading and, where my ramblings are of interest, spreading my thoughts to a wider audience. See you all on the other side :-)
Life of Pie This drama set in Melton Mowbray's pork pie industry tells the story of the hero's rise from crust-raiser's boy to that most trusted of positions - jelly man. Heartily recommended. ****
Well as is traditional on this blog it is time to look forward to what 2013 will have in stall. 1. Peter Robinson will be ousted as DUP leader and First Minister. I seriously think that the way that the Protestant/Loyalist/Unionist community has been in revolt this past month will bring about a split within the DUP. The hardliners will be out for more blood and those that want a shared society or are seen too will be further marginalised. The biggest casualty of this will be the leader, who for the first time will be forced from office. Somehow ...
As 2012 draws to a close, here are the 7 most-read posts published on Lib Dem Voice this year. Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of readers who've joined us in the last 12 months; we look forward to seeing you again next year. [IMG: libdemvoice happy 2013 graphic] 1. The 5 myths about the UK economy which it suits everyone to perpetuate by Stephen Tall (18 Jun 2012) 2. Ed Balls: My starting point is we are going to have keep all the cuts by Mark Pack (13 Jan 2012) 3. Bad day in Black Rock... and Croydon ...
As we reach the end of 2012, Liberator's judges have been deliberating over a heavily contested field for the coveted title of 'Cliché of the Year'. Last year's winner was The mess left by Labour, which fought off a stiff challenge by the ever-popular Elephant in the room and It's a big ask. However, the awards were mired in controversy because of the judges' decision to disqualify Alarm Clock Britain. This phrase had all the makings of a cliché but failed to become one because the only person who used it was Nick Clegg. Banality is not enough; a true ...
Romance. It is all a mystery to me. However some people are a little bit better than myself and they certainly have a lot of good friends and family who can help them out if they want to do a big gesture. I'm not entirely sure how this video passed me by in 2012 but it did and when I saw it last night I cried. I genuinely cried at the beauty of it. Embedded below is a video of Isaac as he proposes to his girlfriend Amy. Click here to view the video on YouTube. To watch on YouTube ...
[IMG: Some rights reserved by DG Jones] The last thing one wants to do with elderly, much loved relatives is to start a "debate" over the TV remote controls and settings etc. It's bad enough as it is, with all the choice, recording settings etc. But I couldn't help noticing that my parents (who are both mercifully very well sighted) had "audio description" set up on their telly. I ventured to point this out. Firstly, it took what seemed like an age to explain what "audio description" is. After this long explanation, my mother exclaimed: Oh, you mean that nice ...
This really is a book for completists, in that it's difficult to imagine anyone other than the diehard Who fan wanting to get hold of it, but it is equally difficult to imagine that diehard fan being anything other than tremendously happy with it. I guess I was vaguely aware that there was a whole extra slice of comics continuity for Who beyond the TV series, the books and the audios with which I am familiar. But I hadn't appreciated that the decision to start a weekly strip in TV Comic (and its successors) from November 1964 until May 1979 ...
It's been an interesting year. I don't think I can do as well as my friend Kirsty Newman (@kirstyevidence on twitter) with her 12 days of evidence post but I will attempt to list some of my personal highlights and work I have appreciated this year: Top 5 other blogs Top of my list has to be Dan Hodges on Julian Assange case - his usual forensic analysis coupled with articulate insight into why the Left tie themselves up so much with him In addition: Stephen Tall on the Leveson recommendations Prateek Buch with one of the best posts of ...
It is time to reflect back on those predictions I made at the start of the year. Andy Murray will win in Australia in past years I have hedged my bets with Andy saying he will win a Grand Slam event either in Australia or the USA. This year after his Asian Autumn and the fact that Novak Djoković showed that Rafa and Fed can be beaten he will return after the injury at the end of season World Tour Finals he'll be back to go one better than both 2010 and 2011. I should have kept edging. Andy lost ...
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[IMG: Saltire - St Andrews Flag - Scotland - Some rights reserved by byronv2] After the merriment of Christmas, New Year is a time to look forward. A time to set new goals and ambitions. A time to confront those things that we have put off in previous years. For most, this will mean eating less and exercising more but as a nation we are confronted with far greater challenges than losing a few pounds. The welfare state was constructed and sustained with the goal of eradicating what Beveridge called "the five giant evils of society" – squalor, ignorance, want, ...
Once again another year has passed, about a year ago, I wrote an article in which I encouraged everyone to use the next year to take risks, have fun, move away from monotonous living and take a leap for those dreams or just to change things in your life for the better. The most important ...
Thank you to everyone who visited, followed and commented on this blog in 2012. Best wishes and blessings to you all in 2013. I'm not the greatest fan of blog stats but WordPress produce an ...
So here are my most popular posts of the past 12 months. It turns out that most of you like the brief articles with few words and with pictures/graphs instead. Well, tough. Expect lots more verbose bloggage from me in 2013 no matter what you lot like to click on. See you on the other side (my current man-flu permitting)... 1. The Daily Mail front page that could serve as the Lib Dems' next general election poster (9 May) 2. The best Oxford colleges if you want to get a well-paid job (10 Feb) 3. EXCLUSIVE: Nick Clegg to launch ...
Counting down towards the fiftieth birthday of Doctor Who with Fifty great scenes... It's not a Saturday this time, but after a washout of a weekend, why not end the year with a blow-out? This is possibly Sylvester McCoy's coolest moment as the Doctor - while at the same time almost certainly his hottest. And, as there's not a lot of dialogue in it, I'm breaking my usual rule (it's what rules are for) and illustrating this very dynamic scene with not one but three photos. Here comes Sylv's hot arse to make the year go out with a... "BOOM!" ...
Oh dear. It's time to dust off the predictions I made for 2012 and see how well my crystal ball was functioning this time last year. So, how did I do? 1. The SNP will wimp out on full equal marriage, allowing it in civil ceremonies but not for religious. I don't think I have ever been so glad to be wrong in my whole life. Well done, Nicola Sturgeon, for powering on through and ensuring that those religious organisations, and humanists, who want to conduct same sex marriage ceremonies will be able to do so. 2. Obama will win ...
Our final award of the year goes to the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph for: Man's shoes stolen during Corby robbery
Some rare evidence against the continuing decline of Livejournal: last year I counted only 26 posts with 12 or more comments from the previous twelve months, compared with 32 with at least 15 comments the year before and 42 with at least 20 from three years ago. This year I have 37 posts above last year's threshold of 12 comments, though we are still down compared to previous years' cutoffs (22 had 15 or more comments, 13 had 20 or more). Perhaps I was just writing more interesting stuff. The top posts from the last twelve-ish months were: 30 December: ...
This year rather than simply publish a list of the most viewed posts of 2012, I've decided to pick ones I particularly like from each month instead.(*) January – Simon Hughes: Young people have not been put off university ... but it appeared that mature students had been. It doesn't look like the missing students are opting for part-time study either. Skimming through the OU senate and council minutes this morning suggests that they're expecting to see (by the time transitional arrangements work their way through the system in 2017) a 20% fall in student numbers (minute 5.9) but (thank ...
[IMG: Statue of David Lloyd George - Some rights reserved by Gabludlow] I am a liberal. I believe in standing up for people and communities against over-powerful vested interests – in business, the State, the media, or the unions. However, I also believe that liberalism alone is an inadequate political philosophy, and an insufficient foundation for this Party. The problem centres on our determination to play down the significance of Left and Right. We sneer that the concepts are simplistic. We seek to defuse or ignore left-right conflict. The inconvenient truth we deny is that Left and Right do matter, ...
Dear Chris, This week's Letter from the Leader will be a lot shorter than usual as this is a time to spend with your family and friends. And as I am spending Christmas with my three small children (much of it assembling or repairing their Xmas gifts) it's tricky to find even five minutes to send you this from my computer! I wanted to take a moment to repeat the huge admiration I have for everyone who has worked so hard to support the party during 2012. Every leaflet delivered, every council by-election won, every person you speak to about ...
OMG YOU GUYS IT'S HERE!!! [IMG: New phone] (picture taken on old phone LOL) Note to self: still have to do laundry and tidying and sorting out computer stuff for James today. Must not spend all day playing with new toy. * immediately goes to App Rec post to start checking things out * [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
My stepfather gave me a 35mm automatic Kodak for my 13th birthday, and my first roll of film mostly consisted of close-ups of my thumb, and headless portraits of family. Fortunately, I got somewhat better over the years, and after snapping my way through my Foundation diploma in 2005 with a borrowed Nikon SLR, I ran away to Derby for university. On the day I left, my stepfather gave me his baby, an Olympus OM2N, and bag of glass to go with it, and told me to look after them. I continued to shoot analogue until 2008, but then lost ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UK] Last Friday Lib Dem HQ sent out an email to parliamentarians, PPCs, council group leaders and other office holders about our party's new message script. The full email, if anyone is interested, can be found herehere, courtesy of the Liberator. Aside from the immensely wordy message of "the Lib Dems are working to build a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling every person to get on in life" (complete with an incredible 16 sub messages), a key point was this: The Labour Party can't be trusted ...
Mon 31st
12:50
"On Message, In Volume, Over Time" - horrible phrasing, but a step in the right direction
So, tell me, why would a random floating voter put their cross next to the name of a Liberal Democrat next time they go to the polls? I can think of a few reasons: they like the candidate, who may have helped them personally, or someone they know;they like what we are doing locally;they like what we are doing in the coalition;they like what our state parties are doing - both Willie Rennie and Kirsty Williams have had a very good 2012 in Scotland and Wales.On the way to the polling station, they will have had a barrage of messages, ...
Dear friendslist (and other readers), I have been greatly helped in thinning out the books on my unread shelf by your votes in previous years, and I would once again very much appreciate your advice on what books to read next, by filling in this poll. (I believe that even if you don't have a livejournal account, you can sign in with your Twitter or Facebook credentials.) I'm doing it a little differently this year, splitting sf into books acquired in 2012 and books acquired previously, and with a completely different question for the non-fiction books. Looking forward to your ...
Apart from War and peace, my other reading project for 2012 was to read the entire Bible, a few chapters a day (or an entire book if it is short). I therefore finished Revelation, and the whole thing, this morning. I have already written up my thoughts on the Old Testament; I would just repeat from there my strong recommendation against reading it through from start to finish. It wasn't written or compiled to be read in that way, and it doesn't do the text any services to read as if it were a historical monograph, a short story collection, ...
[IMG: Roadworks sign] Kent Highways are planning to carry out footway reconstruction works in Coolinge Lane. These works involve the replacement of the existing footway surface with a newly constructed asphalt layer, together with localised kerb replacement works and new pedestrian guard railing. Works are programmed to commence on 4 February 2013 for a period of two weeks. Working hours will be from 7am and be completed by 5pm. The works are due to take place in Coolinge Lane, for a 160m length from it's junction with Sandgate Hill to opposite the Mathematics & Computing College on the western side ...
So, here are my mobile predictions for 2013. Although I work for Telefonica, this blog is personal and my day job doesn't involve any of the products or services listed here. I've deliberately left of the boring predictions. Yes, Android will get bigger. No, iPhone won't release a budget model, etc. BlackBerry 10I want this to succeed. But I don't see it. I had a play with a demo device a few months ago. It was... adequate. I know it's hard to extrapolate from a prototype, but they've been working on this for so long and it's still slow, clunky, ...
Here is the third - and final - part of my list of the most popular posts on my blog this year, including the all-important Number 1*. As previously noted, this list only reflects those posts written and published over the course of 2012 - as it happens, the top 3 (even allowing for the perennial favourites, were all from 2012. Stats, again, courtesy of Google Analytics. At Number 3, pop-pickers, is this piece on Stella McCartney's kit designs for our Olympics and Paralympians. I ended by saying I wanted to see many, many athletes wrapped in the flag come ...
When I came into post in the Home Office – Theresa May called me into her office and said that David Cameron wanted to appoint me as Minister for tackling Violence Against Women Overseas and policy coherence across Whitehall for this agenda – which I was very pleased to accept. Right now there is a lot of publicity, quite rightly and thank goodness, on the dreadful multiple rape of a young medical student in Delhi – who has sadly now died. Six of her attackers have been charged with murder. Let us hope that the high profile nature of this ...
This is the update for the months of November and December, for Cheriton, Morehall and surrounding areas. On Wednesday 7th November 2012 PCSO Mark Ball attended the One Stop shop in relation to a report of a member of public attempting to buy items using £100 worth of counterfeit money. Upon viewing the stores CCTV, the identification of the suspect was ascertained. The case is currently on going. PCSO's Karen Tappenden, Mark Ball and Gary Carr attended Age Concern in Shaftesbury Avenue and spoke with members of the community regarding any individual concerns and provided security marking and advice. On ...
[IMG: USA Flag - Some rights reserved by freefotouk] It's that time of year when Federal Conference Reps are pestered for signatures to help get motions selected for Spring Conference and this is no exception. Our motion concerns US-UK extradition terms and follows the conclusions of Sir Menzies Campbell's report on the treaty recommending the introduction of the 'forum bar' to allow judges a greater role in deciding on extradition, and a minor amendment in the actual treaty to afford those arrested in the UK the same legal standard as those arrested in the USA, when it comes to extradition. ...
[IMG: View of Sangatte Blériot Plage from Cap Blanc-Nez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Bodoklecksel)] On 18th January 2013, Sandgate Parish Council are running a trip to Sangatte to celebrate our village's twinning links. Few twinning arrangements have a closer local bond - on a clear day, you can *almost* see Sangatte across the channel! All local residents are welcome to join the trip and events of the day. For just £10 per person return, join the coach departing Sandgate 2-2.30pm, which will go to Sangatte via Eurotunnel. During the early evening, you would be welcome to attend both the Sangatte Mayor's Annual Address (with ...
Sandgate Parish Council is inviting quotations for works to the Military Road recreation ground toilet block. If you know of any companies who may be interested to quote, please direct them to the Parish Council website at Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
So here we are again. Another year disappears. It has, on reflection, been a pretty incredible one politically. The Coalition bumbles on, but, in my opinion, now looks fatally weakened, no matter what happens in the next couple of years. Anyway, that's not what we're here for. Not that anyone cares, but it's time to ...
With the Olympics, this year has generally been more positive compared to the sad event of the Ealing riots in 2011. I was lucky enough to attend a number of the Olympic and Paralympic events. They personally have inspired me to take up two new sports - tennis and fencing. In my local park (Southfield Recreation Grounds) a tennis league takes place every 6 weeks where you pay £10 and play each person, of varying standards, over the 6 week period. The winner is the one who gets the most points. It is really fun and if anyone wants to ...
Mon 31st
10:25
The First Lady of Fleet Street: The Life, Fortune and Tragedy of Rachel Beer by Eilat Negev & Ye...
[IMG: First Lady of Fleet Street - Rachel Beer] Britain's first female national newspaper editor, Rachel Beer, is a surprisingly little known person, all the more so given her lively and interesting family history and that she edited not only one but two newspapers, both of which are still very much with us – The Observer and The Sunday Times. (The first Sunday newspaper in Britain also had a female editor, but it was not a national newspaper. That was Elizabeth Johnson, who launched the British Gazette and Sunday Monitor on 26 March 1780.) Beer's opportunity to achieve this first ...
[IMG: Queen Elizabeth II] The pictures of the Queen joining the Cabinet meeting were charming. They conveyed a reassuring image of a stable democracy with a historic back-stop. Almost always we want the democratic element to prevail, but there are perhaps very limited issues and occasions when the monarchy can make a difference. The Queen inviting Harold Macmillan to form a government rather than Rab Butler in 1957 is the occasion often quoted. It did actually make a political difference, since Harold Wilson was later reported as having feared that Rab Butler may well have won the 1964 election. Northern ...
Another gem from Who Goes Home? A Parliamentary Miscellany by Robert Rogers: [IMG: A hat] There are obvious disadvantages about having women in Parliament. I do not know what is going to be done about their hats. Are they going to wear hats or not...? If you order them not to wear hats you might be absolutely certain that they will insist on wearing them. How is a poor little man to get on with a couple of women wearing enormous hats in front of him? Rowland Hunt, House of Commons, 1913
I know that I'm probably sounding like an old record with this now regular New Year's post, but this is ABBA and it is New Year, so you're stuck with it! I do adore this song though and as the lyrics of this highly under-rated ABBA hit goes... "Happy new year, Happy new year, May we all have a vision now and then, Of a world where every neighbour is a friend". I wish all of my blog readers a happy, prosperous and peaceful 2013
The gruesome news of the rape and subsequent death of a young woman in New Delhi has led to protests on the streets of cities across India as citizens demand action from the authorities. The sheer vileness of the attack, of the abuse and of the final dumping of her body as if it were without value of any kind, has touched the collective heart of the people. I caught a recent report of the story on BBC News the other day, and in it was the statistic that a rape is recorded in New Delhi every fourteen hours, a ...
Everyone else is doing it, so why not me? These are the ten posts from 2012 on the blog that got the most individual hits during the last twelve months. 10) Tour de France 2012: Ring my bell – I wrote a daily post about this year's Tour de France, following Bradley Wiggin's pursuit of the yellow jersey. For some reason, this was the most popular of them. 9) When is a Lib Dem not a Lib Dem? – An account of a twitter spat with non-Lib Dem Mark Littlewood. 8) You are free to do as we tell you ...
It's two years away, but the 2015 election is already lost Analysis from @telegraph, but still... (tags: ukpolitics ) Grey Cavalier George, aged 92, lost his wife a month ago and has started blogging. (tags: blogging ) Anglicans to stay up till Midnight to witness The Doctor's regeneration « Tea and Cake or Death¬es= "not expected to have a female Bishop as a travelling companion (at least for his first few series)." (tags: religion Doctorwho ) Changing Depictions of Santa Claus in Science Fiction Magazines and Superhero Comic Book Covers Flying with Captain Marvel, 1941; arrested by Judge Dredd, 2009. ...
The former prime minister gives an opening address, and is then interviewed by Dominic West, about My Old Man - the history of the music hall he wrote as a tribute to his father. Thanks to billi with an i.
Admit it. You always thought Jimmy Savile was a bit of a perv. You weren't surprised when the allegations became public. You'd known all along. Except that you didn't know. Nobody knew, apart from Savile's victims and a few people who worked closely with him who were too scared to talk. Saturday's Guardian 'Weekend' magazine perpetuates the myth that everybody knew, in an article by Oliver Burkeman ironically titled "Worst ideas of 2012: ignoring reality": Savile wasn't a man who concealed his creepiness behind a respectable facade. Creepiness was his brand; looking back now, it's as if he was daring ...
[IMG: lib dem conf voting] Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. LDV asked: How would you rate the performances of the following leading Liberal Democrats and government ministers? Full results are published below, but here's three key lists for those who want to cut to the chase... (with comparison to November 2012 ratings in brackets) Top 5 Lib Dem performers in the Government: Vince Cable +67% ...
At the end, there will be a beginning. New Year's Eve heralds the premiere of a new production of Donizetti's largely forgotten work, "Maria Stuarda" at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The lead role of Mary, Queen of Scots will be performed by the well known mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato. I can imagine what it will be ...
It's the last day of the year, so it's time to look back on the events that have caught the attention of this blog over the past 12 months... In January I suggested that Lib Dem Scottish secretary, Michael Moore should stop trying to impede Alex Salmond from holding a referendum of his choosing. In February a group called Liberal Left was set up. I wasn't impressed. March saw the sad deaths of Lib Dem stalwarts Viv Bingham and David Walter along with former darts champion Jocky Wilson. In April, former Liberal leader David Steel said some very foolish things ...
As we fast approach 2013, I am highlighting the forthcoming Festival of Volunteering in Dundee in the first week of June. I have already been in touch with West End Community Groups Community Spirit Action Group and West End Community Council about how the West End can take part and we are agreed that our participation in the shape of a community-led graffiti and litter tidy would be worth undertaking. If you are interested in helping, please e-mail me at community@frasermacpherson.org.uk - many thanks.
As Washington faces a budget deadlock and possible dire consequences for the US and World economy, I wonder if President Obama will be following the example of the fictional President Bartlett in forcing an agreement:
In the traditional top ten format (it may help if you hum Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal to yourself as you read): Lib Dem Leadership - the runners and riders. With added Star Trek metaphor! from the 27th of September. Predictably, many of the comments concentrate on the sci-fi rather than the Lib Demmery. But as (nearly) always on my blog, the comments are better than the post. I Hate It When Politicians Talk About "Hard-Working Families" (UPDATED) from August the 30th. A phrase which is coming out of Tory mouths much more than Lib Dem mouths these days, and ...
Shortly after the release of Sunflower, the Beach Boys hired former journalist and DJ Jack Rieley as their manager. Outside of the band members themselves, Rieley rapidly became the most important figure in the band's story for the next few years. Rieley was not just a manager in the traditional sense, he was also an ...
I said last night that I'd had better ideas than shooting outdoors at night at ISO100 without a flash. [IMG: RPX100 Chetham's] I was wrong. Gloves would have been nice, though. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: TOP10] This has been quite a good year for this blog. I could never claim my ramblings have mass appeal, but traffic in 2012 has been nearly double that in 2011. This year's top post recorded twice the hits received by last year's top post. Half of this year's top ten posts are from the last quarter of the year. So I'm hoping this is a trend rather than an aberration. The blog got into the ebuzzing politics top 100 for the first time in June. It has been in the lower reaches of the top 100 for five ...
Scotland must resolve to confront great evils of new century After the merriment of Christmas, New Year is a time to look forward. A time to set new goals and ambitions. A time to confront those things that we have put off in previous years. For most, this will mean eating less and exercising more but as a nation we are confronted with far greater challenges than losing a few pounds. The welfare state was constructed and sustained with the goal of eradicating what Beveridge called "the five giant evils of society" - squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. These ...
