And a Happy New Year to you all from poolside, here in the Hawaiian Islands. Yes, it's a bit late, but the sun is warm and the living is easy... Here are some of last year's highlights that I'd like to share... A is for... Aardvark - a creature I wouldn't ordinarily come into contact with, let alone rub its tummy. But that's exactly what came to pass, and it was a fantastic experience. See also L... C is for... Croatia and Cuba - these were my new countries for the year, numbers 53 and 54. My quest to visit ...
I'm still not used to the idea of not-working New Year's Eve. It's just WEIRD. But last night was lots of fun. It involved good company, industrial quantities of gin, silly card games, and snuggling on the sofa in front of Jools Holland. I woke up this morning in a happy (if somewhat bleary) tangle of limbs and got brought tea in bed and there was moar snuggling and much relaxed conversation. I cooked breakfast for the boys, and then went back to bed. So yeah, 2014 has been quite enjoyable so far. As for 2013... Well, it had it's ...
Our first Headline of the Day for 2014 comes from the Vancouver Sun.
It is New Year's Day in the year of our Lord two thousand and fourteen. It is a year that will see us start the commemoration of the Great War. This afternoon I have been watching the debate in the House of Commons on 7 November 2013 on the motion, That this House has considered commemoration...
Today has been the day the Romanians and Bulgarians did not come. The BBC's coverage would have been over the top if the Martians had landed, while Keith Vaz managed to find a new way to get his picture in the papers. How has Labour responded? The Guardian has a story headed "British workers left unprotected says Labour as immigration row deepens" which quotes the shadow immigration minister David Hanson. For a full account of his comments go to Press TV: The UK government fails to protect low-skilled British workers, Shadow Immigration Minister David Hanson has warned following the reversal ...
Ringmer LibDems held a debate, open to all, on what national identity means. The material used to introduce the topic is available on Slideshare. It's a bit surprising how viscerally some liberals dislike patriotism, less of a surprise how viscerally some conservatives dislike liberals for being unpatriotic. I think there is a liberal form of patriotism. But the first thing to say is that it is patriotism made by choice. It is legitimate to ask why that choice has to be made. Many liberals eschew patriotism because of the evils done in the name of patriotism. But I think it ...
The Liberal Democrat Cabinet of Bath and NE Somerset continued to deliver on its themes and objectives during the year. It was a record of achievement in difficult times for the Country as a whole. During the year there were naturally some ideas that created a lot of debate such as public loos, advice and Childrens centres but in the context of maintaining quality service whilst doing it with £12M pa less the year was successful. A detailed monthly list appears at the end of article but more concisely as my colleagues in Walcot put it :- As 2013 closes, ...
Mark Lewisohn's latest book on the Beatles is almost impossible to review sensibly. Possibly the simplest review is simply to describe it. It's volume one of a projected three-volume biography of the Beatles. My copy runs to 803 pages of fairly small type, plus a further 129 pages of endnotes, index, etc. And it ends [...]
*Warning contains spoilers for series 1 and 2 of Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows* Sherlock is back. This is true both in the sense that: 1) a new series of the BBC drama starts this evening (YIPEE!!!); 2) even though the last of Conan Doyle's story was published in 1927, [...]
I wrote three stories this Yuletide. Not too bad, considering that my computer was dead for about a month in the middle there. The theme this year was "People called Barbara," and also "people called Dick," genderswapping characters, banter, and Bruce Wayne not appearing. I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never going to keep me down. (7048 words) by innerbrat Fandom: Batgirl: Year One (Comic), DCU (Comics), Batman (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon Additional Tags: Case Fic, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Dick/Babs if you squint, Mind Control Summary: Batman ...
Reblogged from CentreForum Blog: What now for the Liberal Democrats? Just make the most of the remaining 500 days of national government, and prepare for the false comforts of the opposition benches? Should Nick Clegg declare at the party conference next year, 'Go back to your constituencies and prepare for opposition'? Four reasons for Lib [...]
When François Hollande became French President, the Labour Party hailed him as an economic saviour. Here was a man who was going to demonstrate the real alternative to austerity by taxing the rich and spending his way out of recession. What a disappointment he must be to them. What alternative do they now have? According to the Financial Times, the French President has now pledged to cut public spending, lower taxes and reduce labour costs for business in a bid to convince a sceptical public that he remains capable of regenerating France's stuttering economy. The paper says that Mr Hollande's ...
[IMG: liberal-voice] Today's the day we launch our search for the Liberal Voice of the Year to find the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. This is the seventh annual award, and as is our tradition, we're looking beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the greatest liberal who's not a member of our party. The list of 14 nominees appears below. These were sought from Lib Dem members via our most recent survey; some 250 nominations were submitted, and each of those short-listed needed to clear a ...
New Year's Day: Wishing you all a very happy MY BIRTHDAY (thank you for all the fireworks). This year, I have been immortalised in ceramic! LoveMillennium
2013 was a bloody good year for me so here are some of my personal highlights (not in any particular order). Becoming self-sufficient. In August the weekly shop at the supermarket ended. We rely now on food we have produced ourselves, picked wild or traded, using our own produce as currency. Setting up the allotment cafe at Marley Hill Community Centre. We've held them monthly since March but
Wouldn't it be nice if all politicians made a new year's resolution to improve the standard of political debate. To paraphrase a Monty Python sketch, I believe that the vast majority of right-thinking people are sick and tired of being sick and tired with the level of political debate. I certainly am, and I'm sick and tired of being told that I'm not. Political speeches are ripe for parody as there is so much that is said which is, at best, meaningless. More often it is simple insult which commonly results in a round of applause. Even the people who ...
Wed 1st
14:00
LibLink: Danny Alexander - "Every day the Coalition continues is a day Britain's economy gets strong...
Over in the Telegraph, Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander has welcomed the start of 2014 by highlighting the ways the Coalition is helping individuals and businesses to help get the economy growing fir everyone. Here's an exerpt: There is a lot more work to be done, but the recovery wouldn't be happening without the Liberal Democrats. Every day the Coalition continues its work is a day that Britain's economy gets stronger. For the first time there are more than 30 million people in work and unemployment is at its lowest level since April 2009. It is ...
[IMG: con home cartoon] Here's my latest The Other Side column for ConservativeHome, published here yesterday. It attracted the attention of the Guido Fawkes website for my guesstimate that the Lib Dems could well lose 75% of our current number of MEPs. Not a cheery thought to start 2014 with, I admit – but a hard look at the figures shows it's not unrealistic (and may even be optimistic...). My thanks as ever to the site's editors, Paul Goodman and Mark Wallace, for giving a Lib Dem space to provoke – constructively, I hope. 'Tis the season for end-of-year predictions ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Bird and Fortune: New Media, Internet, Blogs, Twitter and Fame – YouTube "I'm going to go to Max Clifford and sell my death to the papers." ? Bird and Fortune on New Media http://bit.ly/1ck8u7D BBC News – John Fortune, satirical comedian, dies aged 74 RIP. Sad to see this. Met him once, incredibly polite (& drunk) > John Fortune, satirical comedian, dies aged 74 http://bbc.in/1k3Sgtd
Here are the five posts on this blog that recorded the most hits between October and December 2013: On signs you're reading bad criticism of economics (4th Nov) Uncertain terrain: Issues and challenges facing housing associations (11th May) Would post-crash economics be a step backward? (21st Nov) The Bedroom Tax vote: sticking the knife into the Libdems (12th Nov) Why is Owen Jones so annoying? (4th July) November was, by quite a large margin, the busiest month so far on the blog. This has been an usual quarter. For the first time ever this list of the most popular posts ...
As we end the year I am reminded of the excellent work that the many nurses, doctors and staff at our hospitals undertake. They have provided a great service to Ealing and our local hospitals need to be retained, not downgraded. Very recently, Nelson Mandela's death has reminded us that problems can be best sorted out by discussion and engaging with those who have different viewpoints. In my local area there has been a great uptake in community and sporting activities such as street parties and residents associations being active in suggesting how our areas can be improved. So many ...
Locally and nationally 2014 is going to be a decisive one – not just for us Liberal Democrats but for Scotland, the UK and the European Union as a whole. It is going to be the most overwhelmingly political calendar year in the experience of most political participants. I believe that we are about to live through a period quite without precedent since 1974 – the year which saw two general elections. And its impact will be even more far reaching. Both the European elections and the Scottish independence referendum offer us Liberal Democrats two pivotal platforms upon which to ...
Everyone appears to have been doing a backward look at 2013 or a forecast for 2014 over the past two weeks. Hardly surprising really when all we have is pompous New Years messages from Leaders, Bishops and Popes and war ... Continue reading →
For the 1st January (LJ | DW) [IMG: [personal profile] ] Holly asked for "hanging out with the family" which is nice and broad and something I get to do way more of now than I have in the last three years! I'm living with my parents right now, which results in nightly family-wide TV watching, which I'm a big fan of. It shuts the day down at teatime, and means that evenings are spent in family time, and I like that. I've been using it to introduce them both to Castle (and finally watch it myself), and I like ...
Far too many political 'action' photos show someone staring at a camera from a distance as if the message to convey is, 'hey look: I'm a lonely person who is scared of coming too close to a lens'. Or, if you're lucky, several people standing static in a line all looking at the camera. I say if you're lucky, because at least they are all looking in one direction. More usually, they're looking in different directions as if they're not only scared of the lens but also scared of looking at anything someone else is also looking at. Which is ...
I'm sure many people will list MPs as their 'Lib Dem Stars of the Year' but I'd like to pay tribute to some other people without whom our movement would be much poorer. Starting with my colleagues in Hinckley and Bosworth-the largest Lib Dem-run authority in the Midlands-led so ably by Councillor Stuart Bray, and to our excellent PPC, Cllr Michael Mullaney who gave two terrific speeches at Conference in Glasgow, one against the Bedroom Tax and the other on the importance of jobs. That's my kind of prospective MP. Next, to everyone in the Social Liberal Forum, especially our ...
I haven't posted in a while, but I thought the start of the year was a good time. I have read many posts about having to be responsible for your own happiness over that last year. For 2014 I suggest a new plan. Lets forget selfish lifestyles and concentrating on ourselves, the look after your own happiness because everyone else will. Lets all concentrate on everyone else's happiness - that way ours will be looked after for us and everyone will be happy. We can go one step further - lets just concentrate on looking after everyone else - that ...
Wed 1st
09:36Opinion: Tories' anti immigration rhetoric represents opportunity for Liberal Democrats
As the day when Britain opens its doors to indefatigable hoards of Eastern European immigrants arrives, yet more desperation can be witnessed from grassroots Tory activists running scared of UKIP. 90 local Conservative activists have pleaded with David Cameron to extend controls on immigrants arriving from Bulgaria or Romania until 2018. Quite laughably, the group claim that this would be fully within EU law. This comes on the same day in which the Government announced further restrictions on migrants' access to the NHS - an initiative designed to combat 'health tourism' and accordingly, completely at odds with any economic reality. ...
Here are my faves for the final quarter of the year... Nick Clegg reminder to drawbridge-up Tories on immigration: "We are an open economy" (December 16, 2013) 'Good' gender segregation and 'bad' gender segregation? (December 12, 2013) Three scenarios for the 2015 election based on current polling: which do you think looks most plausible? (December 10, 2013) The Autumn Statement and the unreal economic debate in which everyone pretends the Coalition stuck to 'Plan A' (December 5, 2013) Nick Boles calls for National Liberal revival AKA Nick Boles invents a safe space for nice people well away from the Tories ...
When is "guys" gender-neutral? (tags: ) New Year's resolution #5: I will not make bad graphs | Full Fact (tags: ) https://vine.co/v/h9PBY0Z2DIz JESUS CHRIST! RT @filmdotcom: The scariest film of the year is 6 seconds long: https://t.co/xWUpDxak0j (via @SamMorrill) (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 31-12-2013 http://t.co/1W6nTsN7Xl on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) NSA reportedly intercepting laptops purchased online to install spy malware | The Verge (tags: ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25555430 BBC News - Nick Clegg delivers pro-EU message for 2014 http://t.co/TrK9Sjw3KD (tags: (from twitter) ) Props to @lukerigg for a mention :) RT @stackee: ...
Oh. Well this sucks. I was scrolling through my twitter as I couldn't sleep and saw the report coming out from ESPN that the Houston Texans had come to terms with Bill O'Brien to become the next head coach of the franchise. O'Brien will be walking away from State College to chase his dream of coaching on Sunday's, leaving behind a confused fan base unsure of how to react. I must admit I am stunned. I never thought he'd walk out. I thought this flirting with the NFL was just that. He seemed like a man with so much integrity ...
Edmonton Alberta, 5.30 pm, -26°C with windchill, snow. 2013 has been a good year for me personally, though it hasn't felt like that all of the time. The big event was selling our house in Edmo and buying a coastguard's cottage in Devon. I thought it was the right time to sell and move our [...]
Thank you to everyone who took part in my Headline of the Year poll. The results are now in. ****** In fifth place was the Daily Mail: Angela Lansbury says men's sex obsession can make women gay That's Dame Angela Lansbury now, of course. ****** In fourth place was the Kingston Guardian: Dog castrated after rescue by Richmond Park and North Kingston MP Zac Goldsmith's mother I suspect I need to thank Living on Words Alone for drawing this one to my attention. ****** In third place was Metro: Cannabis factory discovered when police open car windows after officer kept ...
Yes, that's right. They've let the Scot at LDV Towers take over the site this New Year's Day. If you are in need of translation services, the headline basically says Happy New Year to you all. We hope that you end 2014 with health, happiness, prosperity and a sense of achievement for you and yours. * Caron Lindsay is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
