[IMG: dames 03] Debates over the demarcation of different schools of economic thought are by no means new. Taxonomic dispute breaks out sporadically. Whether "mainstream", "orthodox" and "neoclassical" economics ever have been, are, or could be synonymous has exercised several authors of a philosophical turn of mind. Recently the econ blogosphere has turned to the issue, with the focus on the identity and identification of neoclassical economics. Noah Smith has recently made an intervention on the issue. Smith notes that the characteristics commonly associated with neoclassical economics, as defined by Wikipedia, look like this: Neoclassical economics is a term variously ...
Watching events in and around Istanbul's Taksim Square over the past few days, as well as in Ankara and some other Turkish cities, has been like seeing a slow-motion car-crash without being able to do anything about it other than shout a warning. And, alas, the driver — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan — has [...]
Sat 15th
22:25
Last Tuesday's celebration in Parliament of the Centenary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the U...
[IMG: Posted by Picasa]
We assume that Germans are so efficient that it comes as a shock to discover not one but three monumental cock-ups. German news weekly Der Spiegel interviewed the architects responsible for three national fiascos - Stuttgart's railway station, Hamburg's concert house, Berlin's airport - and asked them to explain. They blame contractors, clients, national character, changing regulations, and, just a little bit, themselves. But their professional chutzpah is rather reminiscent of this:
The rain absolutely poured down at lunchtime, but Dodington Parish Band played nevertheless! Fortunately the weather cleared in time for the Carnival procession (click arrow for slide show):
[IMG: A rebel sniper aims at Syrian army positions in Aleppo's Jedida district on October 29, 2012. Syrian fighter jets pounded rebels across the country, the most widespread bombing in a single day since the war began. (Narciso Contreras/Associated Press)] Although I tend to read the Guardian online as my first port of call, my usual dead tree read now is i newspaper. Excellent paper. I sit there in Costalotta and read it and do the occasional tweet and look-up on t'internet (via Cloud) of some of the stories. Maaaarvellous. Article of the day has to be Robert Fisk's piece ...
I spent the afternoon exploring Semilong and Kingsthorpe in Northampton and was intrigued by this building. It seemed a little too industrial for a church or a school. My bet was a public baths, but I was not convinced. When I got home I found its history on the Cinema Treasures site: The former Liberty Hall is located in Kingsthorpe, to the north of the town centre, at the junction of Washington Street and Lincoln Street. Pictures were shown here as early as 1898, but on a temporary basis. The 1910 Kelly's Guide to Northampton, lists it as Liberty Hall, ...
[IMG: The Red Lion] From CAMRA newspaper, What's brewing. A closed pub listed in CAMRA's National Inventory of Heritage Pubs has been ravaged by fire. The Rising Sun, Kirkstall Road in Leeds, which served as a furniture store in recent years, was famed for its gin palace interior, which the current operators had kept, more or less, intact.... Admittedly, the headline doesn't beat "Far-right extremists chased through London by women dressed as badgers". The photo shows a "gin palace" style pub which is not the RIsing Sun in Leeds (before or since the fire), I hasten to add. photo by: ...
I'm very pleased to announce the launch of 莎士比亚.org - beautiful and readable copies of Shakespeare plays in Chinese. If you would like to help, the text is available on GitHub for people to correct. [IMG: Chinese Shakespeare] Why? I've long held a fascination with Shakespeare - hence the name of this website. At university I studied Mandarin as my minor degree. I was a clumsy student, but enjoyed the regularity and poetry of the language. I discovered the Chinese writer Zhu Shenghao had translated many of Shakespeare's plays before his untimely death in 1944. I couldn't find any comprehensive ...
Nick Clegg has indicated that he will not change his position on the so called "snoopers' charter" despite calls for him to do so by four former home secretaries. A group of politicians, including Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile wrote to the Times (£) to say that the Bill was necessary: It has always been a requirement, and always will be, that such intrusive intercepts are subject to time-limited warrants. Their use is guided by a strict criterion of necessity and proportionality, and are only permitted to protect national security and counter serious criminal conduct. We find it odd that ...
If we all did something small, collectively we could achieve anything. It is hard to avoid Google or Amazon, especially if you have an android phone and use blogger. However I have removed the links on this site to Amazon and Google adverts until they're more transparent about their tax affairs. - that'll show 'em, well it will if several million more join in.
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Modernity Britain: Opening the Box by David Kynaston - review | Books | The Guardian Fascinating review by Richard Davenport-Hines of David Kynaston's Modernity Britain http://bit.ly/16q376Q The influence of spies has become too much. It's time politicians said no | John le Carré | World news | The Guardian The influence of spies has become too much. It's time politicians said no « Brilliant from John le Carré http://bit.ly/13Inon8 Liberal England: Where do the Liberal Democrats go from here? Good stuff from @LordBonkers: Where do the Liberal Democrats go from here? http://bit.ly/11FWR6O ...
I am having trouble knowing which way Labour is facing over Sefton's Green Belt. First we have the Labour run Council proposing to allow building on Green Belt land (which is subsequently endorsed by Labour Sefton Councillors on an Overview & Scrutiny Committee – 28th May) but we are also treated to those Labour policies seemingly being publicly rejected within days by Labour Party members led by an Andy Wilson. Forgive me but I sense a stunt in progress here similar to one pulled by Labour over the hugely controversial Damfield Lane site in Maghull. There, only last year, Labour ...
[IMG: Feel free to use this image just link to www.rentvine.com] I tend to swim against the tide of opinion on the issue of businesses not illegally and ingeniously getting around the tax laws. There is nothing more ridiculous than Margaret Hodge railing against the likes of Google and Amazon. Perfectly ridiculous. Her party had over a decade to change the tax laws as they pleased and to change the rules by which HMRC operate. It is just stupid to hector the companies. Really stupid. For starters, this debate gets framed in the wrong terms. The message gets through that ...
My membership renewal for the Lib Dems came through this morning. It marks five years since I first joined the party. This anniversary has reminded me of something I have been meaning to write about for a while. The continuum on which political activists of all parties sit. Regular readers will know that I do a weekly podcast with an old friend of mine Emma Burnell who is a Labour activist. Emma joined Labour back when she was a teenager and has spent the last 20+ years campaigning for them and being a highly active member involved with all sorts ...
I'm leafing through the 2,077 photos I've taken so far of Turkey's protests. Having sat down to shed a 'liberal' light on what's happening here, I realize I may make a further claim to your attention: I am seeing, as it were, both sides of the coin. Watching protests in Beşiktaş, Taksim & Gezi Park, marching to the outskirts of Istanbul & being pepper-sprayed is one side. Working in a conservative, pro-government school where colleagues refer to protestors as "terrorists" and tut gruffly every time Taksim gets mentioned is the other. A Tale of Two Turkeys This is a tale ...
[IMG: Leaves The World To Darkness] It seems inappropriate somehow in a serious political blog (well, relatively serious) to talk about fairies, but that is what I'm going to do. My reason for doing so will become clear, but the hook is the report in the last edition of Countryfile about Elizabeth-Jane Baldry's amazing fairy feature films shot in and around Chagford (see clip, from 31.20). But fairies are having rather a comeback these days. There are fairy events all over the UK, and especially now in the USA. Huge fairy exhibitions, Susannah Clarke's novels and goodness knows what else. ...
Sat 15th
09:59
Blogged elsewhere: Those who didn't want to redefine marriage try to redefine marriage...badly
Remember how just the other week opponents of equal marriage were saying you can't redefine marriage. Well take a look at some of the amendments that they have been lodging in the House of Lords. Clause 1LORD HYLTONLORD CORMACKPage 1, line 5, leave out "Marriage" and insert "Union" Looks like a redefinition to me, of course this only applies to those of same-sex couples as can be seen by a withdrawn amendment on the same line: LORD MACKAY OF CLASHFERNPage 1, line 5, at end insert "and shall be referred to as "marriage (same sex couples)"" WithdrawnYup. But apparently marriage ...
Being in a pickle will soon have new meaning as residents and visitors are likely to be caught in fresh traffic jams on Margate seafront, its official, Eric Pickles MP and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government department has reached the conclusion that the development of a Tesco Superstore should be allowed to go ahead. Grim news for anyone living in Margate or even Thanet, the inspector assessing the appeal against this Tesco development thought "that the proposal would be unlikely to have significant adverse impact on investment, or the vitality and viability of Margate town centre". I ...
The Queen's Birthday Honours have been announced and so far we are aware of four Liberal Democrats who feature. There may well be more and we will update you as the day goes on. The first Voice congratulations go to Sir Andrew Stunell who receives a knighthood for public and political service. Andrew has served this party in many capacities. I first knew him back in the 90s when he worked for ALDC and I'm glad to see his service at all levels of Government being recognised. Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Kirsty Williams becomes a CBE. She has ...
If voters feel disconnected with the Labour leadership then one of that party's MPs may know why. Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale thinks it is because Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet has no "authentic voices" in it. In other words they are too posh. According to the Telegraph, Mr. Danczuk believes that that Labour needs politicians like Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, and Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who are able to communicate with voters: "In time gone by we have had people like David Blunkett, people like Alan Johnson, people like Alan Milburn, John ...
A heart-warming follow up to the drama of two weeks ago can be found in the Harborough Mail: An arson attack which destroyed sheds, fence panels and trees and which will result in one man leaving his allotment has inspired community-spirited scouts to step in. Duncan Elliott, leader at Bowden Scouts, contacted the Mail after reading about the plight of Peter Pickering and his dad Joe last week. Peter Pickering has decided to give up his own allotment after nearly 40 years following the arson attack at the allotments near Little Bowden Recreation Ground, off Scotland Road in Harborough, on ...
Last month Dr Alun Wyburn-Powell, the author of Defectors and the Liberal Party 1910-2010, kindly wrote me a guest post on the history of defections from the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats. Now his book has been reviewed by Nicholas Thomason for the LSE Review of Books: For the majority of Liberal MPs who joined Labour, there was to be no happy ending however. Over half of the forty-seven defectors found their move to be unsuccessful. Confronted with a tight-knit culture of trade unionism, strict party discipline and often poverty; the largely wealthy, professional Liberals struggled to integrate. Friendships ...
Some time ago (well ages ago really) I blogged about plans for some more housing at Beechwood Gardens. The scheme involved the patch of grass that's behind part of Beechwood Gardens (it looks like a rectangle) and involved houses for shared ownership. The housing association involved was Plus Dane. Well, after quite a delay, the planning application is in. There's a deadline of early July for comments. You can see the details at this link. It's worth bearing in mind that all the detail is in the section on the site called Related Documents so you may need to scroll ...
[IMG: A million jobs] Vince Cable emailed party members last night kicking off the Party's "A million jobs for a stronger economy" campaign. This is what he said: This campaign will promote the fact that Liberal Democrats in Government have helped business create more than one million private sector jobs. Our ambition is to help create a million more new jobs. Click here to find out how you can support the campaign. I'm proud of our Government's record on job creation. Since 2010 we have helped create: Jobs for young people - 1.2 million apprentices and 110,000 work placements for ...
As claimed in the post below, , the neo-con propaganda machine has been so successful that even the Labour Party, in a desperate bid for credibility, seems now to have acknowledged that they made a mess of the economy when in office. The truth is very different and is spelled out with more authority than I have in this blog by Simon Wren-Lewis, an economics professor at Oxford:. If you have an hour to spare , then this lecture by Mark Blyth is a scathing indictment of the neo-con myth, and covers the world economy, rather than just Britain. ...
I do like this idea from American basketball. Its prime purpose is to give fans a different and exciting view of the action. In addition, letting them see a sport the same way a referee sees it is likely to increase people's respect for the skills of good referees – thanks to seeing controversial incidents from the angle and at the speed with which the referee saw it.
This is a call for proposals from Meadow Mill Studios for a fantastic new project space at the recently developed Meadow Mill studios in West Hendersons Wynd. Meadow Mill Projects cordially invites you to submit proposals for Vitamin D, an open call for events and exhibitions to be staged on and offsite at Meadow Mill Projects between 26th July and 17th of August 2013. Submissions are welcomed from all manner of creative practitioners whose work is linked to or informed by visual arts practice. Vitamin D: helps regulate calcium and phosphate levels in our bodies; these nutrients are essential for ...
I have welcomed the commitment by council transportation officials to look at several ways of easing parking problems in the West End short of a residents' parking scheme, following the rejection of such a scheme by residents last year. Along with my West End councillor colleagues, I met with transportation officials yesterday to look at what steps could be considered to improve parking and ease particular problem sites and a number of possible proposals are to be investigated, with recommendations likely to come forward in the autumn. It was no surprise that the residents' parking scheme idea was rejected by ...
I used this week's meeting of the Environment and Sustainability Committee to highlight the substantive gaps in the Welsh Government's progress in tackling the threat of Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS), and to call for further work to address them. INNS constitute a substantial threat to our natural environment and the economic development of many parts of Wales. This is perhaps at its most acute in South West Wales, where communities in the Swansea area are blighted by the presence of Japanese Knot Weed. The consequences in terms of property values, availability of mortgage finance and insurance cover are hard to ...
Sat 15th
01:20
Queen's Birthday Honours - links through the Liberal Democrats, Northern Ireland, and Scouting...
It's the night before [now the morning of—Ed.] the Official Birthday of HM The Queen, so we now know who has been honoured on this occasion. I have looked through the lists as published by HM Government, and have found the following to be either LIberal Democrats, from Northern Ireland, and in one case [...]
