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A story posted on the Daily Mail site just before Christmas - the headline "Revealed: How TSA agents 'laugh at travelers' naked scanner images in backrooms while flirting with each other" reveals it is aimed firmly at the US market - takes us to a post on Taking Sense Away. This appears to be an anonymous blog written by someone who used to work for the US Transpiration Security Administration. A reader had asked: "Tell us, please, what really happens in that private room and why the TSA does not want it seen in public nor recorded."And the blog replied: ...
It's a New Year and some things haven't changed: I'm a day late in bringing you this week's NOW! That's What I Call A Tune... There were a few acts and songs that I considered for this entry - some of which have been featured on these pages before. Scissor Sisters, The Fratellis, Christina Aguilera, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Paolo Nutini, The Feeling, The Killers, Jamelia and Meat Loaf all staked a claim. I could only, honestly, choose one track though - the sublime Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. It was a bit of a surprise that I hadn't featured this ...
Ladies – why not give social netball a try? Fun and social netball sessions led by a qualified coach for women of all ages and abilities! WHEN : 31/01/2013, 19:00 – 20:00 WHERE : Cheadle 6th Form College, Cheadle Road, Stockport, SK8 5HA HOW MUCH : £3
It's 40 years since Britain joined the EU and siren voices among UKIP and the Tory right are arguing that it's time to turn the clock back and pull out. They couldn't be more wrong. On the contrary, this is the time for the EU to integrate more — as the eurozone now seems destined ...
This glorious piece of photography came not from Hames' recent trip to the Middle East, but from his constituency. I can only apologise for not posting it when he originally tweeted it a year ago. Thanks to @kavya_kaushik for RTing today! Who says I'm not first to the big political stories....
So I appear to have hurt the fourth knuckle on my right hand. I suspect this is either arthritis, in which case I insist on calling it early-onset despite the thirty-somethingness of the metacarpel in question, or a mild case of RSI, probably just a 'strain' rather than a 'repetitive strain.' Either way, I believe that knitting is to blame and have coupled ibuprofen with rubbing it obsessively and a resolution not to knit until the weekend. It's been 12 hours since I made that resolution and I'm beginning to get twitchy. How am I going to manage this? Anyway... ...
Today the Institute for Public Policy Research published a report on the financial sector and its role in the British economy. You can download Don't bank on it: The financialisation of the UK economy from the think tank's website. That website sums up the report's conclusions: After the events of the last five years, finance - and investment banking in particular - are held in very low esteem in the UK, but a modern economy cannot function without a healthy financial sector. For historical reasons, the UK has a larger financial sector than other similar economies and this can be ...
Oh dear. Another of my posts starting with the words "Oh dear". We are told that the new child benefit arrangements are "complex" and that people are confused by them. Yes, they are complex. But, then again, they are roughly as complex as the National Lottery, a trifecta horse bet or the plot of the average edition of "Casualty". Get over it, people. The Treasury wonks have come up with a good, workable solution for the political problem of child benefit. It is absolutely right that those earning above £60,000 do not receive child benefit, and the solution for those ...
From Total Politics: [IMG: David Lammy] I work in the next-door building to David Lammy, the ever-diligent member for Tottenham, and often end up walking in front of or behind him on the way to my office. I mentioned the other day, while having a few drinks with some other researchers, how I noticed that he barely ever says 'thank you' when I open the door for him. Furthermore, he hardly ever holds the door open for me. The researchers I was with agreed. In fact, we decided to offer him the title "Rudest MP 2012".
I've come across the letter from David Cameron and Nick Clegg to Doreen Lawrence after she told The Guardian of her disappointment at coalition policies - or the absence of them - to tackle race ...
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority have announced that they have sold 18 former landfill sites to a private company. One of these sites is the former landfield site in Drinkwater Park. This area which has been sold is shown on the map below (the map is facing west – with the St Anne's Road area on the right, and Carr Clough on the left). [IMG: Screen Shot 2013-01-03 at 14.32.27] The land has been sold to Landcare (Manchester) Ltd, who apparently specialise in dealing with 'difficult' pieces of land like former landfill sites. We are not aware of any plans ...
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Today saw the launch of a campaign to reinstate Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole back onto the schools curriculum after the education secretary Michael Gove ditched the Victorian heroine. Please sign the petition by clicking ...
I wasn't looking for something else to blog about right now, because there is so much else I have in my great big long list of Things I Must Get Round to Writing About. However, I am only slightly cursing Jennie for embarking on a 30 Day Doctor Who challenge. Over the next 30 days, I intend to answer the following 30 questions about my favourite programme which I found listed on Facebook, here. Day 1 - Favorite Doctor Day 2 - Favorite Companion/Assistant Day 3 - Favorite Villain Day 4- Favorite Monster/Alien Day 5 - Favorite 2 Part Adventure ...
birdsflying proposed earlier in the week to lead a project of posting a picture a week to Flickr, based around a common theme for each week of 2013. This seemed to me a good reason to reactivate my Flickr account and try to hone my own photography skills. A picture a day, as some dedicated people do, is quite a commitment, but one a week is surely manageable. Sensibly enough she has proposed "New Year" as this week's theme. I suspected that I might get something appropriate from the newly started Irish presidency of the European Union, and when I ...
(a list of the questions and links to all the answers can be found on this entry) Least Favourite Companion is hard for me. There's none that I really really hate for their entire run. The three that are in the running for this I don't dislike as characters per se, but for the effect they had on the show. The one who springs to mind first is Jo Grant. I like the actress that plays her, and there's nothing particularly wrong with the character as a person... It's just that she was specifically designed to be a dumb blonde ...
The media is carrying a story about proposals to force obese people on benefits to go to the gym – or lose money. Obese who refuse to exercise "could face benefits cut" says the BBC. Obese and unhealthy people could face benefit cuts says the Guardian. I need to say two things about these proposals. First, despite the misleading headlines, these are not Government proposals. It seems to be some piece of work jointly between Westminster Council and the Local Government Information Unit, which has probably got more prominence that it should in the relatively quiet first few days of ...
[IMG: omnishambles-300x204] A few days ago I described as a 'shambles' the introduction of the new part-night street lighting arrangements in Warwick District. Now, after yet more policy changes announced 'on the hoof', the situation undoubtedly deserves the full title of 'omnishambles' (as in 'The Thick of It). Why? Well, the Oxford Dictionary's definition of their "word of the year 2012′ is "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations." This describes the current situation pretty well I think! In the latest twist to the story today, Warwickshire County Council has told some ...
The annual increase in train fares was a major news item yesterday. Fares are rising this month by an average of 4.2% and the annual increase has been greater than the rate of inflation every year since 2004. Naturally, passengers resent any fare increases, especially those that exceed inflation or pay rises. You also hear the claim, as the Guardian asserted, that "British train tickets are the most expensive in Europe". But is this true? To find out, The Man in Seat Sixty-One has compared British fares with those in France, Italy and Germany. And the results might surprise you. ...
Apparently London, Hampshire and Somerset have been praised for axing "confusing and ugly" signs and now other Councils are urged to follow suit. So, I thought, let's look at the signs in our town. Immediately around the entrance to Morrison supermarket are three signs supposedly directing people into the new store's car park. Except one opposite is pointing to a car sales premises. There are extra Morrisons fly-posters on the Bedford Road/ High Street roundabout. The store has been open about two months now. I think everyone who needs to know will know by now where this store is. Time ...
Calderdale Council has just launched a great new scheme that could save anyone with a residential gas or electricity supply as much as £250 per year. The Council is working with an energy switching company to collect the names and addresses of people who are interested in switching supplier and this list is 'auctioned' to get the best rate for those on it. The more people express an interest, the bigger the possible savings may be. [IMG: Switching your energy supplier through Calderdale Council could save you up to £250 a year.] Switching your energy supplier through Calderdale Council could ...
Van Dyke Parks, who turns 70 today, is one of the very greatest songwriters alive today, as well as being a great arranger and producer. He's best known for his work as a lyricist on the Beach Boys' Smile, and a handful of other tracks for them (he also played accordion on Kokomo, a slightly ...
Yesterday and today Britain's development budget and programmes came under heavy attack from the Daily Mail and the Spectator. No surprise there. The breathless diatribes espoused by journalist Jonathan Foreman include the wild accusation that the only beneficiaries of British aid are the coffers of 'African dictators' and the consciences of the Western middle class. What Foreman fails to point out are the undeniable, verifiable life-changing results of Britain's development programmes. British aid vaccinates a baby against killer diseases every two seconds and saves a mother's life every two hours. It is providing food, medicine and blankets for families in ...
If you've any interest at all in evidence-based public policy, then do listen to Ben Goldacre's Bad Evidence, available for the next 6 days on BBC iPlayer here. It's a fascinating exploration of the issues around using randomised control trials (RCTs) to work out whether the policies we hope will work actually do work in reality. The medical profession uses RCTs all the time: there is little controversy which surrounds it because it's become accepted practice, a necessary way of gathering the information clinicians need to ensure their prescriptions are doing us good (and, more importantly, not doing us harm). ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Matthew d'Ancona: At last, proof that two heads can be better than one – Comment – Comment – London Evening Standard .@MatthewdAncona: Coalition mid-term review proves "something new + significant: the viability of duumvirate govt." http://buff.ly/ZfebTg Lib Dem is a rebel with a cause | This is Grimsby Fascinating profile of Andrew De Freitas, Grimsby Lib Dem, party member for 50 years > Rebel with a cause http://buff.ly/Zeygcy Italian politics: Monti's chances | The Economist Interesting take on Italian political situation > Monti's chances | The Economist http://buff.ly/Ugwxyk Means test winter fuel ...
I know someone who bought some stuff from Vicarious Books, a company which sells books about camping, caravanning or touring in a motorhome, over the Christmas period. They were amused to see the following note on the confirmation screen when they ordered:Dispatch is now closed until 2.01.2013. Orders may be dispatched before if we get fed up with being at home. Happy holidays.You have to love a business which writes in human!
[IMG: 8026282347_48d7bde875_n] I don't normally read the Times. But I bought it yesterday because it carried a half page opinion piece by Nick Clegg under the title Carping Labour must come clean about cuts. We've been told that 2013 is going to herald a stronger message from the Liberal Democrats about the party's distinctive position in the "centre ground". The position is being defined as distinct from the other parties inasmuch as it is fairer than the Tories and more competent on the economy than Labour. I agree with the recent post at Liberal Democrat Voice in which George Potter ...
As an Assembly Member I often find myself resorting to the Freedom of Information Act to conduct basic scrutiny, often in circumstances when I should not have to use this device. For some reason an official Assembly Question from a member does not carry the same weight with Ministers and Officials as FOI requests. Thus, we often have to write formally to get any sense out of Government. Equally, a fairly innocuous request for information from a local Council, even when publication is in their interest as well, is often shunted off to the FOI Officer and subjected to statutory ...
Now, there is a headline you couldn't have dreamt up a few years ago! (Headline thanks to ABC news) Last month we were treated to the extraordinary sight of the Australian Medical Association demanding their government ban stickers because people were buying them and putting them on their 'plain' packed cigarettes. Well, the government has now issued its response. (from ABC) Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says she cannot do anything to stop stickers being placed on plain-packed cigarettes. Well, I didn't see that coming. Even one of the most healthist illiberal governments in the world couldn't find a way ...
I am on Wave 102 News today speaking about the concerns regarding the number of college applicants being turned away - click 'play' below to listen:
*lest it offend my Middle Class, Pinko, Guardian-reading credentials. This post is, I'm afraid, a bit of a rant. Inspired by this story in the Guardian as well as the recent case of Costa wanting to, and subsequently not, opening in Totnes. Put simply, there is a strand of thought on the left of politics that is - essentially - big company = bad, small company = good. And that big, bad companies should be STOPPED. Never mind that big companies are often successful because they offer a service and product that people want, at a price they're prepared to ...
[IMG: The Blogfather - Iain Dale] A selection of Iain Dale's blog posts from 2004-2012, The Blogfather is a potted history of one of the pioneering political blogs in the UK which helped take blogging from idiosyncratic niche into a mainstream format for covering politics. To his credit, Iain Dale has included several posts where subsequent events showed up his political judgement and he doesn't stint in recording his heavy defeat at the hands of Norman Lamb in North Norfolk – even including his post from the day before when he wrote, "I just heard Channel 4 has tipped us ...
From the Evening Standard: Haringey has spent £1.72 million on suspended staff since April 2009, including £718,000 in 2009/10, giving it the highest total spend of all London town halls. And that's not including the pay-offs that Haringey Council has a habit of making. You can read the full story here.
I've seen a few people talking this morning about how 'Westminster Council' are planning to strip benefits from obese people who don't exercise. Now, that's a very silly idea – and Stavvers points out the reasons for that in this post – but the key point that people have missed is that these proposals don't actually come from Westminster Council. The stories are based on this report on the LGIU (Local Government Information Unit) website. While Westminster Council were part of the process in coming up with the report – through some vaguely described 'round table discussions' with the LGIU ...
...or do I just need new glasses? I'm not a graphic designer. I find it hard to get into the mindset of excellence through beauty. I understand user flow, interactions, happy paths, delighting the user, humane design, and so on - but when it comes to the art of making something look nice I'm all at sea. I understand that, as Aral Balkan so perfectly puts it, design is not veneer - but that doesn't stop my confusion. This is a failing of mine - one which I'm trying to rectify - but recently I've had the sneaking suspicion that ...
Find out more about setting up and running your own business at this evening session at Yate Library 6.30 - 9.00 pm on Wednesday 30 January. You can register by emailing yate.library@southglos.gov.uk or by phoning 01454 868006. This is a joint event by Sodbury and Yate Business Association and South Gloucestershire Council.
This blog is by Reece Edmends. It has been a long-established shibboleth in our party that the First Past the Post voting system is woefully inadequate, and needs to be replaced with something vaguely proportional, like the Single Transferable Vote (STV). We don't think it's acceptable for only 22% of the population to vote in ...
As a non-driving village dweller, I have become rather reliant on my local Demand Responsive Transport service, Suffolk Links - Gipping North, which carries me from my home to Stowmarket Station and back, most days when Ros is away, and most of the time when she's at home too. Compared to the cost of a taxi, it's extremely reasonable, and I have become part of a cosy little circle over the past two years. However, on ringing Margaret, who organises the schedule with incredible efficiency, to organise a bus for today, I was somewhat surprised to be told that fares ...
Message to Paul Burstow. Think before you open your mouth. Means testing people to decide if they should get £200 winter fuel payment is wrong, Wrong, Wrong. You'd create more bureaucracy. You'd discourage people from saving for old age. You'd encourage people to hide their money. It's actually just an extension of the pension and helps politicians to look good when it get cold. Give pensioners a decent pension and leave it at that. Same for all. People who don't need it, spend it elsewhere putting money back into the economy and helping to keep others in employment.
I know I'm late to posting this but, well, Christmas got in the way. When I came back from the Starfury: Midnight Doctor Who convention on 16th December, I had literally done nothing for Christmas. Santa had been briefed, but that was about it.I took notes from a few of the talks and the first one covers Gareth David Lloyd and Eve Myles from both Saturday and Sunday. They were both very relaxed and in great form, despite having been working since 9am having photos taken with huge amounts of people on Saturday and Eve in particular having a wee ...
[IMG: Tim Gordon] Last January I wrote an open letter to the party's then new Chief Executive Tim Gordon, setting out four priorities. One year on, how are things looking? Here's what I wrote (with introductory pleasantries skipped), with each of the four points followed by an update and a score. Read on to see how Tim has been doing... Sorting the party's message There will be more people telling you that you need to sort out the party's message than I've eaten chocolates in the last year. They're right that the party's messaging needs sorting. But you should ignore ...
During the first couple of years of this Parliament, my own travels around Liberal Democrat local parties often crossed over with those of Paul Burstow. For all the controversy over the health reforms, I was always impressed by just how often he made local party visits, happy to talk in detail and at length about his vision for health and social care services – and to say in the room, keeping on answering questions until the audience was worn out. [IMG: Grandmother and child] What else came out clearly from hearing him speak many times is just how committed he ...
You may have noticed that we have a bit of a Doctor Who obsession in this house, or at least Anna and I share one. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack in the series, was up for his 3rd consecutive stint in pantomime at the SECC. We'd missed the last two years, but, spurred on by seeing his Torchwood colleagues at Midnight, we decided to give it a go. The irony of Captain Jack starring in Jack and the Beanstalk made it all ummissable. It must have taken some courage for the Krankies to take part in it after "Jimmy's" ...
So, What Didn't Enter The Public Domain This Week, That Should Have | Techdirt (tags: ) On being fat (tags: ) BBC News - Ultravox's Vienna tops 'number two' poll A-ha made the top ten? FS *despairs* (tags: ) 21 Brilliant British People Problems Oh God all of these are true... (tags: ) On why Love Actually is a terrible film, and only gets worse on repeated viewing "Curtis would go on to make The Boat That Rocks, a film that's even more grotesque with its astonishingly ill-conceived "bed trick" scene which has the distinction of somehow making the viewer ...
Forty years ago today there was a football match between teams drawn from the six original EEC members and the three nations (Britain, Ireland and Denmark) that had just joined the community. The British, Irish and Danish XI was as follows: Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland) Peter Storey (England) Bobby Moore (England) Norman Hunter (England) Emlyn Hughes (England) Colin Bell (England) Johnny Giles (Republic of Ireland) Bobby Charlton (England) Peter Lorimer (Scotland) Colin Stein (Scotland) Henning Jensen (Denmark) Alan Ball (England) and Morten Olsen (Denmark) came on as substitutes. You would not know it from this, er, colourful report on Big ...
Paul Goodman, executive editor of ConservativeHome and a former Tory MP, has written an article in the Telegraph explaining why the Tories cannot win the 2015 general election. The abandonment of the proposed boundary changes is only one of four reasons Goodman cites for the impossibility of a Tory victory. The others are that the Tories are doing badly among ethnic minority voters, that UKIP is splitting the right by capturing the older male Poujadist vote and, conversely, that the Labour Party is little troubled by splinter movements on the left. Meanwhile, Political Betting has just published an analysis showing ...
Day 1 - Rest Day Way to start out with hard core marathon training! Rest day woo! Except that I went for a C25K week one run with my friend Juliana. We took the requisite "we are tough and ran to Lake Michigan in December" photo. It was great! Day 2 - Rest Day Christmas Day! Hurrah! More crazy hard training. Day 3 - 3 miles easy (11:07 pace) I foresee really struggling with the paces I'm supposed to be hitting on these easy runs. I think they're supposed to be 11:28. I'm shooting for 11:15 and still haven't hit ...
A staggering 90% of people in the UK said that they would be happy for their organs to be used for transplantation - and yet, less than a third have actually joined the Organ Donation Register. Transplanting organs and tissues is one of the most successful forms of medical treatment. One donor can improve or save up to nine lives by donating their organs or tissues. Despite a steady increase in the number of people registered on the Organ Donation Register, there is still a shortage of organs for donation. In Wales last year, 41 people died while waiting for ...
As reported in yesterday's Courier and Evening Telegraph, I have highlighted my concerns about the hike in National Express Dundee bus fares due to take place at the weekend, pointing out that these are well-above inflation and fail to recognise the government's cancellation of the fuel duty increase that had originally been planned for the New Year. I highlighted that the bus fares hike in Dundee is significantly above other price rises - the adult daysaver ticket increase to £3.40 (20p increase) is an increase of 6.25%. The latest consumer prices index figures released by the Office of National Statistics ...
I don't understand why people don't like The Long Game. I think it does two things very well. First, we have a rare case of an sfnal Big Idea in Who - what if aliens controlled the news media? I don't think this is just about Rupert Murdoch (and I think if it really was meant to be about Murdoch the satire would be much less subtle; see the show's treatment of Tony Blair earlier in the season and of reality TV later on). It is about an insidious take-over of human culture where all that is left to argue ...
Some may remember a rather amusing advertising campaign in favour of a fictitional political party in the spring of 2010 - the Labservatives: It was of course the Lib Dems - making the point that whoever won the election nothing really changed. And the upshot of the inconclusive result in 2010 was a coalition that was supposed to be the embodiment of this new politics - a real change in the way goverment was conducted. But sadly as Lib Dem ministers have got their feet comfortably under their desks the old politics crept back. And two statements from senior Lib ...
