By late 1978, the Beach Boys were in a bad way. They'd signed a new recording contract with CBS Records, but Brian Wilson was in no fit state to contribute anything of significance to the new album. The band had nearly broken up less than a year before, Carl and Dennis were struggling with both [...]
...with thanks to Christopher Brookmyer.
From Open Culture: The geometric formalism of Renaissance painting and the serendipity of Surrealism were two key influences on Cartier-Bresson's later work. A third came by accident, when he stumbled upon a reproduction of Martin Munkácsi's "Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika." The picture showed a group of African boys frolicking in the water. If the photographer had pressed the shutter a millisecond earlier or later, the magical, interlocking composition would not have existed. "I suddenly understood that photography can fix eternity in a moment," Cartier-Bresson later said. He gave up painting and bought his first Leica. Over the next half ...
Earlier this month I blogged on the quite extraordinary splits in Brighton's ruling Green Party. Since then, instead of trying to come together, the splits have deepened and their councillors have indulged in some quite spectacularly stupid behaviour. The Argus reports that rebel Green councillors: "launched a failed coup to remove Coun Kitcat (Council Leader)", reporting that: "One of the rebels Councillor Duncan said he was one of six Green councillors who walked out of the council chamber rather than support Coun Kitcat's re-election as council leader." In an extraordinarily stupid political move another of the rebels, Cllr Alex Phillips, ...
For those Voice readers who, as a result of an unfortunate oversight, do not subscribe to The Economist, here's a heads-up that you may wish to pick up this week's edition, which features this cover: For those not inclined to pick up a souvenir copy, you can read the excellent Jeremy Cliffe's report here, and the accompanying leader here. * Nick Thornsby is Thursday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs here.
Yesterday, at Blackness Library, I had the pleasure of chairing the first 2013 meeting of the West End Christmas Fortnight committee. Although it may seem a long way until Christmas, as the West End Christmas Fortnight takes a lot of organising, the committee starts its planning work many months in advance. We had a good discussion about events to be run during West End Christmas Fortnight 2013. After the meeting, Rob Carstairs and I had a site visit to Seabraes. Rob is our excellent pyrotechnician, who has put on an excellent community fireworks display each year at the West End ...
I've spent six hours of the last twenty four in three different training sessions at County Hall. By far the best attended was the mandatory session for anyone sitting on the Planning Committee. I think I counted 38 councillors there, with two repeats of the session to go. The most intriguing however was the Audit Committee training this morning. Just over half of the actual members of this committee were present, but impressively there were also five or six of the newly elected Labour councillors who attended just to find out more about the committee and its work. Good for ...
There's a wee thing going round Facebook at the moment saying "Should I read the Daily Mail?" And when you click on it, a huge NO appears on your screen. My life would be a lot better without the Fail to go through of a morning, but I think it's so important that we read the bile it spits out, even when it makes my skin crawl. Which most of it does. There is always something racist, sexist or homophobic in it. It was even implicated this week in hounding Lucy Meadows to her death. Lucy, a teacher, killed herself ...
Meh. (This post was inspired by a Facebook friend, in response to my whinge about having writer's block)
There is a rumour going round cyberspace this evening that Nigel Farage is planning to stand against Nick Clegg at the next general election. I don't believe a word of it. Research on this month's local elections showed that UKIP polled badly amongst graduates. And Sheffield Hallam is one of the constituencies with the most graduate voters. But I do think I know what is behind this. In 2008, before the last general election, I blogged about a rumour that Jeremy Clarkson was to be the Tory candidate in Hallam. This is an example of Calder's Fourth Law of Politics: ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg on the BBC] Today's Call Clegg was quite extraordinary. We know that there's been a big push by some of the more authoritarian figures in the country to try to build a case for the so called Snoopers' Charter over the past few days. It was obvious Nick was going to be asked about it. The caller, Vince (no, not that one) from Kingston was very supportive of Nick's position. What happened next was that Nick Ferrari played recorded messages from former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair and the Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond urging ...
A cabbie has tweeted that he has 'reliable sources' that Nigel Farage will take on Nick Clegg in the Sheffield Hallam constituency in 2015 in what would be the most eagerly awaited battle since Tatton in 1997 when Neil Hamilton faced off against Martin Bell. The official announcement will come shortly before the summer recess says said tweeter. The tweet has sent the twitter political sphere into meltdown but it is the Lib Dems on twitter who seem to be smiling most – and it is no surprise. If UKIP are serious about winning seats in 2015 then they have ...
Since early April, those of us in the north-west corner of Gatley have been experiencing occasional bad smells, and it's not been clear what was causing them. We'd been told various different things, but with the help of a resident after a discussion on the Gatley Facebook page, I contacted someone at the Environment Agency who's been dealing with the case directly and I think we've got to the bottom of it. Back at the beginning of April, some de-odourising equipment broke down. The replacement part wasn't immediately available and had to be ordered from Germany. The part still hasn't ...
Tax Freedom Day illustrates how numbers can be distorted to mislead and corrupt debates Thursday, we are told, is "Tax Freedom Day", the day of the year when we have all earned enough money to pay this year's total tax obligations. The concept was developed in the United States in 1948 by Dallas Hostetler who showed his entrepreneurial skill by trademarking the phrase. His yearly calculations were transferred to the Tax Foundation in 1971, and since then they have calculated it each year, gradually expanding its application to individual US States and now other nations. It is marketed as just ...
Mike Hancock, Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South, has been called in for an interview with Nick Clegg under party disciplinary procedures on Monday afternoon, says Chris Ship (the deputy political editor for ITV News) on Twitter. Earlier today, during his regular LBC phone in, Nick Clegg said: "As leader of the party, you have got to react when allegations of this seriousness are made, you can't just sit there on your hands."When I heard yesterday that court papers had been served for some very serious allegations - which I have to stress he denies completely, which when the police ...
Thu 30th
16:24
Jim Hume MSP launches consultation on measure to ban smoking in vehicles with children present
Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland Jim Hume this week launched a consultation on his Members' Bill which would see smoking banned in vehicles where children are present. When I initially flagged this up on Liberal Democrat Voice a few weeks ago, there was a mixed reaction to the proposals. Jim says in the foreword to his consultation document:Recent research has shown that 17% of 11-16 year olds in the UK are exposed to second-hand smoke more than once a week while in a car with a further 30% indicating exposure once a week or less. These are ...
"It's not the end, it's not the beginning of the end but it might be the end of the beginning of the fightback" were the inspiring words tweeted by Paddy Ashdown on the day of the English council election results. The Liberal Democrats down south are moving out of the recovery period and moving into the fight back stage. The question however is how are the Liberal Democrats doing in Scotland? The recent Leaderdale and Melrose by election, also on May 2nd, saw John Paton Day increase the vote by just over 9%. Following on from the success of Eastleigh, ...
I listened to Bea Campbell and Laurie Penny on the Today programme with a sense of nostalgia. Of course, I felt, we all used to be like that - we all used to enjoy those endless, repeated, circular arguments about the nature of men and women. This particular argument will have been recognised by all of us who remember the 1970s and the brand of feminism that emerged from there - it is the central tenet of small-L modern liberalism: that anybody can be anything. That all human difference, and gender differences, are down to cultural stereotyping. It was a ...
In a provocative 'j'accuse' piece in the Spectator, George Monbiot identifies the greatest cause of damage to Britain's countryside but it is not one of the usual suspects: Britain is being shagged by sheep, but hardly anyone dares say so.Sheep strip uplands of vegetation that might otherwise prevent erosion, landslips, flooding and droughts: Deep vegetation on the hills absorbs rain when it falls and releases it gradually, delivering a steady supply of water to the lowlands. When grazing prevents trees and shrubs from growing, and when the small sharp hooves of sheep compact the soil, rain flashes off the hills, ...
Yesterday voting closed for Liberal Youth Elections and the results were announced by the lovely Caron Lindsay, Liberal Youth's Returning Officer. Liberal Youth has elected Sarah Harding and Hannah Thompson as Chair and Vice Chair of Liberal Youth respectively. Harding defeated Callum Leslie, who on Twitter said that "the fight for liberation and radicalism" is not over. Thompson beat Liberal Youth [...]
Thu 30th
14:15
Jim Hume MSP launches consultation on bill banning smoking in vehicles with children present
[IMG: Jim Hume launching consultation on smoking] Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland Jim Hume this week launched a consultation on his Members' Bill which would see smoking banned in vehicles where children are present. When I initially flagged this up a few weeks ago, there was a mixed reaction to the proposals. Jim says in the foreword to his consultation document: Recent research has shown that 17% of 11-16 year olds in the UK are exposed to second-hand smoke more than once a week while in a car with a further 30% indicating exposure once a week ...
Thu 30th
14:15
EXCLUSIVE: BBC Defends Question Time Panel As Reflecting All Shades of Political Opinion
The BBC has once again shown its unquestionable political neutrality with tonight's fair and balanced Question Time line-up. A BBC Spokesperson said: 'No right-thinking person could disagree with the security industry having absolute power over every corner of our lives, so two panellists from the Snooper's Charter-supporting Labour Party and two from the Snooper's Charter-supporting Conservative Party, with UKIP for balance, reflects the views of all right-thinking people from neo-fascist to fascist. No Liberal view is possible (so we've refused to invite any). Any disagreement means you're clearly a terrorist and, with our detector vans, we know where you live.' ...
[IMG: Current condition of Cecile Park, Haringey N8] Lynne Featherstone MP has today expressed concern over Haringey Council's strategy for repairing the Borough's roads - by identifying numerous potholes in a road that the Council deem to be in 'good condition.' The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and the Haringey Lib Dems ran a long campaign, frequently consulting residents on their road surfaces and repeatedly asking the Council for repairs. The Labour-run Council then recently admitted that there is a major problem with potholes in the Borough, and indicated that they would take action on bad roads. However, the ...
Following a report of an alleged suspicious approach in East Belfast on 21st May 2013, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has determined that there was nothing untoward in this instance. However, the PSNI has said, If parents are concerned about any suspicious activity they should contact police immediately and we will check it out. [...]
Europe's common fisheries policy is set for radical reform after negotiators for EU governments and the European Parliament reached agreement in Brussels at 03.00 this morning. Supporters of the deal claim that it paves the way for rebuilding Europe's depleted fish stocks and curbing the discard of millions of tonnes of fish each year. British representatives have played a key role in securing the reform. They say that it demonstrates how EU policies can be changed for the better. An obligation to land all pelagic fish, such as mackerel, will commence from 1 January 2015. Other reforms, which must yet ...
Five libraries in Gateshead are becoming voluntary - ie the Council will no longer staff them but volunteers will run them instead. Gateshead will still provide the building and books, but the labour will be provided by people in the community. In Marley Hill, one of the villages in my ward, we seem to be going in a different direction. The village has no library but at the Community Centre, my
This is how the early 1980s Liberal Party described its own organisational structure: [IMG: Liberal Party organisation, early 1980s] (Click on the image for a larger version)
A woman as Mayor is today scarcely remarked on-indeed Maureen Fearn has done it three times, but there was a time when such things were fiercely controversial. In deed in Bootle they didn't get around to having a woman Mayor until the 1967/8. Indeed there was only ever one woman Mayor of Bootle, Veronica Bray . In Southport things were a little different. Liberal Women were elected to School Boards-Birkdale's Kate Riley was the first woman elected to anything when she joined the local School Board at its inception. The first Councillor was also a Kate with the quintessential Southport ...
As Liberal Democrats, we all know First Past the Post is a terrible voting system. But in this year's local elections it has sunk to new depths. With the arrival of genuine four-party politics in England, the proportion of votes that actually make a difference to the result has reached an all-time low. And of the 16 county councils that returned a single party majority, not one of those ruling parties gained a majority of votes - in fact most got less than 40%. This is not just a dry academic point or a moan about unfairness. It makes a ...
The Guardian, which used to be a newspaper, has opened a data driven coffee shop in Shoreditch. Having checked the date, and confirmed it's not April 1st, I am now utterly speechless. Luckily Alex Hern has summed it all up nicely here. Those sharks must be confused by continually being jumped.
[IMG: Power - Sidney Lumet - theatrical release poster] Superficially, Sidney Lumet's 1986 movie Power is a fairly standard acerbic look at political campaigning, with all the usual cliches of conspiracy, dodgy foreign intervention, cynical campaign managers, idealistic candidates tempted to drop what they believe in the search for votes and good winning out over evil. Standard, if as well made as you might expect from a Sidney Lumet film – and one featuring Richard Gere, Julie Christie, Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Denzel Washington's performance is particularly strong, winning him the 1987 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor ...
Thu 30th
10:48No Liberal Democrat on Question Time again - who will speak up against the Snoopers' Charter?
[IMG: Question Time] Another week, another Question Time with no Liberal Democrat on the panel. Tonight's episode, from London, will feature Conservative health minister Anna Soubry, former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson, the New Statesman's Mehdi Hassan, Downton Abbey author Julian Fellowes and UKIP's Diane James. This is the second week running that there hasn't been a Liberal Democrat on the panel. The reason it's serious is because ever since last week's horrific murder in Woolwich, there has been a clamour of voices in the media, one of the loudest being Alan Johnson's, saying we have to put stringent measures ...
http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586696888/ Classic Movie Posters With Daleks http://t.co/0G9zmA1w83 (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586696887/ The eleven incarnations of the Doctor as cats. http://t.co/0nzDCeupuU (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586696885/ Batman's eye make up http://t.co/mzxiBeek8q (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 29-05-2013 http://t.co/2Sa5AJ1QWr on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://ind.pn/13hAer6 MI5 agrees with Lib Dems that #SnoopersCharter would not have prevented Woolwich murder http://t.co/1fc7B9NIij contrary to Theresa May claim (tags: (from twitter) snooperscharter ) BBC News - Was Doctor Who rubbish in the 1980s? "why do stories from the 1980s routinely get such a hard time?" - could ...
This article appeared a few weeks ago, but we've held it back because its author was standing in the Liberal Youth elections. It is worth sharing, though, because it illustrates accurately the dilemma that UKIP now faces. How does it build a local government base when its councillors are inexperienced, anti politics types who don't really know who their supporters are. Robin McGhee is an organiser for the party in Norfolk. He describes the UKIP representatives at the count in Cromer: Perhaps nine in ten were men, nearly all (very) elderly, and with the same expression of stubborn bafflement as ...
On Sunday 23rd June St Albans District Council is delighted to host the first Alban Street Party. St Peters Street will come alive with the biggest street party St Albans has ever seen. Partygoers can expect to see a range of free cultural activities, live music and art performances, sideshows and food and drink on an impressive scale, with tables seating 500 running through the middle of the street. Celebrations will start at 12 noon with Samba music, Samba dancers and street performers supporting over 200 local school children in a Green Procession through St Peters Street. This years event ...
The watch I own isn't really me. It's an Omega Seamaster that was me at some point. But that point was a decade or more ago, and now I'm not so sure about it. But I'm still attached to it for a variety of reasons. I have to admit I got slightly obsessive about the damn thing. I'd admire it from afar, drooling over it in the shop window, biding my time, partly hoping I'd just get over it and save my cash instead. This carried on for months, until I'd saved enough and actually bought it. The watch was ...
Today's Western Mail contains an extraordinary attack by UK Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles on the Welsh Government's housing policies in which he claims that a 'burden of red tape' from the Welsh Government will put Wales at a competitive disadvantage, leading to less house building, fewer first-time buyers and more expensive rents and mortgages. These claims have come about through a furious spat between Pickles and the Labour Assembly Member, Ann Jones who was responsible for introducing a new law in Wales that said that all new homes and adapted homes should come with sprinklers to save lives. So what ...
There aren't.
[IMG: [IMG: These two atmospheric shots were taken by Lydiate photographer Keith Page whose photo's I regularly publish on this blog. The weather conditions were poor last Tuesday so you can imagine how hard he had to work to get these great photos with Perch Rock and the fleet. Having said that I am sure there was day upon day when the weather was terrible during the war so maybe we were all reminded not only of those who fought, many of whom lost their lives, in the Battle of the Atlantic but of the conditions they had ...
I was not able to attend the meeting of Maghull Town Council yesterday evening but as this highly popular local animal charity was proposing to lobby the Council at the meeting I put together the briefing note below for the rest of the Council. ***** Dear Council members and Animals Need representatives, As I will not be at the Maghull TC meeting tomorrow evening when the charity is attending to ask for the Town Council's support in their fight to continue to hold their fund raising stall somewhere in Maghull's shopping centre I have put this short note together because ...
You can download a high quality PDF version of this poster here.
A higher quality PDF version of this poster can be downloaded here.
The Welsh Labour Government's ambulance response times target has been missed for the eleventh successive month. The response time target is for 65% of life-threatening calls to receive an ambulance within eight minutes. In April this target was missed, as only 57.2% of calls were responded to within this time. The Ambulance Trust also has an internal target for 52% of life-threatening calls to arrive within 4 minutes, yet in April only 25.9% of ambulances arrived within this time. The Welsh Labour Government has failed to meet its response times target for nearly a year now. This continued failureis hugely ...
