Whilst the world was noting the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Dr Who, I was celebrating my 50th birthday. Alas, the day was spent running the community cafe and craft market at Marley Hill Community Centre thought there was an appearance of a birthday cake, courtesy of David and my sister \Esther.
On November 21st at approx. 3am, a burglary in a dwelling took place in Hillcrest, Bar Hill. Entry was gained in the property by forcing the front door open. Offender was disturbed by occupants and left the house with nothing taken. Whilst I was on foot patrol in Bar Hill, Sunday 24th November, walking along the village green, I was approached by members of the public making me aware of 3 youths which were seen climbing over the fence of Bar Hill Primary School and had taken two chairs and possibly a table. Two school Chairs, table taken from Primary ...
A new district councillor for Comberton has been elected following a by-election in the village. Cllr Tim Scott was elected to South Cambridgeshire District Council last night after polling 378 votes. The by-election was called after former district councillor, Stephen Harangozo, stood down. The full results: Fay Louise Boissieux - Liberal Democrat - 96 votesHelen Mary Haugh - Labour Party Candidate - 74 votesTim Scott - The Conservative Party Candidate - 378 votesElizabeth Smith - UK Independence Party (UK I P) - 48 votes The turnout was 32.33%. Following the election the seats held on the Council now stand as; ...
[IMG: Bird politicians] The Commentariat might, for once, be pretty much unanimous. The run up to General Election 2015 is going to be vicious. The focus isn't going to be measured debate on the pressing issues of the day - when was the last time that happened? - but mud slinging and character assassination. There are plenty of people willing to assert that the Tories, under the baleful influence of Lynton Crosby, are going to run the dirtiest campaign since the 1992 campaign to see off Neil Kinnock. The Tories, rather predictably, deny this is their strategy. The Labour high ...
The site of this lost arcade in Northampton is occupied by the Grosvenor Centre, which is the shopping centre you find yourself in (if you are lucky) when you exit the town's doomed Greyfriars bus station. I found it via a Daily Telegraph blog post by Andrew M. Brown. He quotes Jonathan Meades on Nairn's broadcasting style: He was a person, not a personality... You never get the feeling that he'd pined all his life to stand in front of a camera. He was doubting and melancholic and vulnerable.... It's a voice full of quiet despair. The repetitively falling cadence ...
[IMG: image] Walking down Northbrook street, Newbury, I reflected on how the character of the town is now distinctively different from when I first arrived here in 1985. For me, the arrival of Pret a manger marks the finalisation of the change. Newbury is now "posh", for the want of a better phrase. I don't know whether that is a good thing. Some might say that we just have the normal panopoly of chain outlets. Well, firstly, many towns in the country would give their right arms for some of the chains we have represented here. Secondly, we still have ...
I, along with millions of people around the world, have been a little....excited regarding the 50th anniversary of a certain BBC science fiction programme and I am going to make no apologies for this. The anniversary has also brought out its fair share of grumps and trolls who's aim was to...well....to....I don't know just make snarky comments. I am sure these people, especially on social media, were looking for a rise out of people but the only emotion they got out of me was pity. I feel sorry for the type of person who when faced with the joy and ...
"Those at the top don't like critical feedback. Their systems and structures are hardwired to clamp down on independent thought and criticism. Things only change when the opposition becomes so great that it's impossible to ignore, or the institution suffers a setback that it cannot understand the cause of. Such as a general election defeat." A Dragon's Best Friend suggests that Labour (and all other parties) are not suited to make good use of social media. Good Morning Britten previewed BBC Radio 3's Benjamin Britten birthday weekend, all of which is now available via the station's website. "The Doctor may ...
As I have previously alluded to, we were experiencing issues with our hosting company and their support department. I have never been one to be a shy wall flower and I made my concerns known and very shortly after sending in an email of complaint, I had one of the co-founders of the company on ...
Richard Morris at the the blog A View from Ham Common has done us all a service with an online poll among Lib Dems about which policies should be emphasised in the next party manifesto. Top of the list, perhaps unexpectedly, came housing. Followed by jobs & sustainability, bracketed together. Not sure which I would have chosen to go first, given the choice: probably jobs & sustainability, followed by 'children'. Two things occur to me about this which make it slightly uncomfortable.reading, and all because the the besetting Lib Dem sin about this kind of thing - the fantasy that ...
1. The BBC knows how to make Dr Who into an event The BBC's manipulation of different media to build the show's brand has become formidable enough to be a subject of academic study: my sister's degree included her writing an essay on it. The buzz they created around announcing the 11th (or should that [...]
Following complaints from residents and some near-miss accidents, Forest HIll Lib Dems have been campaigning for a safer pedestrian crossing at the junction of Wood Vale and Forest Hill Road. A petition signed by many residents on the Wood Vale estate and adjoining roads supported plans for a safer crossing, and we're delighted that Transport [...]
[IMG: Clegg Watford] I wrote yesterday about Sir Nick Harvey's forecast that the next election is Labour's to lose. But there was another issue he focused on in his Huffngton Post interview – Nick Clegg's conference pledge that all 5-7 year-olds should have free school meals, regardless of their family's income status. "It was absolutely astonishing. It came from nowhere," he exclaims. "It seemed to be part of some coalition deal where it was meant to make the Lib Dems feel better about allowing the Tories to progress their wretched married couples tax allowance. I am supposed to rejoice at ...
We awake today to find a deal done with Iran. The train of events that led to this began on the 30th of August with the defeat of the motion for bombing of Syria toute de suite by Obama, Cameron and, alas, Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown. At the moment the party seems to be intellectually divorcing the virtuous turn of events from the actions of those of our MPs who voted with the Tories to start flinging bombs. Make no mistake, there is absolutely NO WAY that the accord with Iran could have been achieved without the failure of ...
Many thanks to the 18,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Nick Boles calls for National Liberal revival AKA Nick Boles invents a safe space for nice people well away from the Tories (81 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: Do I want a £100 tax cut? Not now, Nick (96) by Gareth Epps So who has been briefing against Tim Farron, then? (34) by Caron Lindsay Mark Thompson quits Lib Dems. Is this the death of party politics? Not so fast! (24) by Stephen Tall Nightmare scenarios: what are the 2015 election ...
For those who follow the rather persistent efforts of the local Greenwich Lib Dems to make a difference (yes OK, cue "get them all in a phone box" jokes!), will know that some of the biggest challenges we have faced over the last few years have been from our ex supporters. An ex Lib Dem can be [...]
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... "Nick Clegg is an idle f*****r says David Cameron" "Nick Clegg is an idle f*****r says David Cameron" http://bit.ly/1jxEDgu Still struggling to work out what 5 asterisks can represent...? Press and Journal – Article – Lib Dem pair say nativity rebuff a 'snub' "Lib Dem pair say nativity rebuff a 'snub'" http://bit.ly/1jxrpjC One of today's more unlikely headlines. (No 'wise men' jokes pls.)
What could it be this weekend but a piece of Benjamin Britten? His second canticle dates from 1952 and is a setting of words from the Chester Mystery Plays. It is written for a tenor to sing Abraham, but Issac can be a boy, a woman or a countertenor. Here the soloists are Michael Slattery and Nolan Wolfe from the Choir of Men and Boys of the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, New York. Abraham and Isaac contains the theme of innocence imperilled that is to be found in so many of Britten's great works and also displays his ability ...
[IMG: clegg-cameron_different_directions] The Mirror's headline promised Coalition discord and rancour. The reality was a lot less interesting – a joke by the Tory leader as his Lib Dem counterpart enjoyed dinner with his wife. Here is that racy anecdote in all its "foul-mouthed" glory: The PM's foul-mouthed remark came as he heard the Lib Dem leader and his wife were enjoying a meal out - while he was still busy working. He made the discovery after calling a horse-training pal who happened to be in the same restaurant as the Cleggs. Mr Cameron wanted information about an Arab prince's horses ...
Sun 24th
10:18
Nick Clegg's Letter from the Leader: "Smack bang in the liberal centre - the only place you can deli...
Tory planning minister Nick Coles' admission this week that the Conservative brand is still tainted provides the cue for Nick Clegg to stake the liberal flag squarely in the centre ground once again. The Tories see us too statist, he says, while Labour sees us as too hard – Nick reckons this confirms the Lib Dems are exactly where we should be. And he defines his version of what liberalism is: "liberalism is about enabling everyone to get on in life". Read his letter in full, below... [IMG: libdem letter from nick clegg] This week there's been a lot of ...
The evidence is clear: firms do better with women on board – so writes Andre Spicer over at The Conversation: [IMG: A boardroom. Photo courtesy of 4Seasons - some rights reserved http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1110515] One interesting recent study points out that companies with more women on the board tend to do better on the basis of objective measures, such as return on assets and return on equity. However, they tend to do worse on more subjective metrics, such as stock-based measures of performance. The reason for this is that market analysts and investors often take fright at women being appointed to a ...
This morning a shooting in Newry is brought to our attention by the BBC. As with many other people, we in the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats abhor the violence that is still being visited on the people of Northern Ireland. I hope that the man who was attacked in the Parkhead Crescent area of the...
http://open.spotify.com/track/0DdaOo62AIgLfb5ZPLOJzS Trying to get all the nsfw thoughts or off my head before actually arriving at work http://t.co/0FOSkyLnFh not sure it's working... :/ (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 23-11-2013 http://t.co/KUh4RpbdcR on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) The future of Lib Dem Spring conference - how to have your say by 29th November (tags: ) Beautiful Post on the 50th by Nick Barlow "Doctor Who will outlive all of us because it's bigger than all of us and yet belongs to all of us - from now to the universe, whenever people tell stories, ...
You should visit Bletchley Park. Seriously. It's the most amazing museum - dedicated to the wartime effort to crack Enigma; the Nazi cryptographic machines. The tour guides of Bletchley Park are full of fascinating stories. They can tell you how all the primitive computers work, about the history of each building, they know all the curious little facts which make visiting the park an absolute joy. There's one story in particular that I never tire of hearing. By 1945, Turing's computers were able to decrypt Enigma transmission within 48 hours - it was thoroughly broken. After the war, the British ...
In the CS Lewis' Screwtape Letter, a senior demon writes to his junior that: Any small coterie bound together by some interest that other men dislike tends to develop inside itself a hothouse mutual admiration and toward the outer world a great deal of pride and hatred. Even when the little group exists originally for [...]
From the Curator of Museum Services, University of Dundee : Darkest DreamsLamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee Now open and running to 11th January 2014(Closed for Christmas 25 December - 2 January)Mon-Fri 09.30-20.30 Sat 09.30-16.30 The latest exhibition in the Lamb Gallery features stunning works from the University of Dundee's Fine Art Collections inspired by our darkest dreams and nightmares. Including surreal images that will make your imagination run wild, prepare for a fantastical experience that will make your strangest visions come to life! Take a journey through bizarre landscapes, and meet some of our most uncanny characters. Come ...
According to this website an English IKEA store released a 100 cats on their premises overnight. They says that the staff have claimed the stunt as an "experiment". The cats fight each other. They climb into boxes. They jump. They screech. There are a hundred of them. A grown man yells "Go, cats, go!" Actually I found the video of the event a bit boring so I searched out the IKEA cat advert here: What is with the collapsing building and the slur on cats at the end? I hope they got them all out first.
This week there's been a lot of chat in the Westminster village about an issue close to our party's heart: liberalism. Specifically, on whether or not the Conservative party can be liberal. Sparked, on this occasion, by a Tory Minister and arch-moderniser, Nick Boles, conceding that their detoxification project has failed. To be honest, it's was always going to be a bit tricky to modernise when you believe, for example, in penalising the unmarried through the tax system, or using "go home vans" in the immigration system. But that's the Conservative party's business. Our business is making sure people know ...
