Blog Categories: Economics Vote: 0 votes + Vote up! - Vote down! [It's been a while since I've written anything, which is not for the want of subjects to write about - Israel, Ukraine, Surveillance Laws, and I've been thinking about my community land trust project a lot too. Anyway, tonight I got into a discussion about intellectual property, and more specifically about copyright and patents. I do not support either, but my interlocutor was someone connected with the creative arts and so copyright of artistic works was the focus, and specifically how I must be an evil philistine because ...
#78964510 / gettyimages.com I ended Saturday's exploration of the derelict lands behind Northampton's ruinous power station at the Old White Hart Inn in Far Cotton. This photo shows an earlier building on the same site and with the same name.
As you will no doubt be aware the decision by the Council to stop free collections of green waste has led to piles of dumped rubbish across Acocks Green Ward – and many other parts of Birmingham. The Lib Dems have constantly argued that it was a mistake to cancel this service, however the Labour majority on the Council, including Acocks Green's two Labour Councillors, have steadfastly voted down our proposals to retain the service. Rather than collect bags of green waste, the Council now stickers rubbish with notices telling people that green waste will not be collected and they ...
Last week, Richmond Park MP, Zac Goldsmith, was banned from driving for six months and fined a mere £570 pounds (about 0.1% of his largess to the local Tory Party). Significant local news one might think? Obviously not if you are the Surrey Comet/Kingston Guardian... Perhaps the rumours of a significant investment in the ailing local paper from the Goldsmith family are true after all.
All around us we hear of war and the remembrance of war. As I watched the lamps going off across the town on Monday evening and as the last candle was about to be extinguished at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier the camera panned to the plaque in Poet's Corner which bears the names of sixteen soldier poets . One name caught my eye- Ivor Gurney. A few weeks back I had caught bits of as radio programme (now available as a podcast) about the life and music of Gurney. I knew of his protracted mental illness but I ...
[IMG: maajid-navaz] While Paddy Ashdown has praised Conservative peer Baroness Warsi for quitting the foreign office, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Maajid Nawaz is less keen. Here's his letter in today's London Evening Standard: Over the past couple of weeks, Pakistan — my country of origin — has been shelling positions in North Waziristan to kill Pakistani Taliban terrorists, leading to more than 870,000 displaced refugees and an unreported number of civilian deaths. Baroness Warsi claims she resigned out of principled opposition to Government policy towards Israel's actions. Few have called her out for presiding over an increase in this year's ...
The badlands of Badenoch - photo by Markkuspartan via Wikipedia An article on the BBC News website begins: In a little-noticed move, a small number of police officers are now routinely carrying sidearms while on patrol in parts of the mainland UK. How did this come about, and does it alter the relationship between the constabulary and the public? Saturday night in Inverness. Outside a McDonald's restaurant, a scuffle between two men breaks out. Three police officers arrive to intervene. So far, so mundane. Except that strapped around the hips of each of the policemen approaching the brawl is a ...
[IMG: image] I can't believe what we saw in Alistair Darling last night in the debate with Alex Salmond. We've never seen this Alistair before. Up until now, Alistair Darling has always seemed as dry as toast. His Treasury statements were reknowned as a sure-fire treatment for insomnia. A recording of his voice could be marketed as a side-effect-free alternatve to sedatives. So it was a big surprise to see a combatative, finger pointing, brief-brandishing Alistair Darling last night. Where did that come from? He certainly knocked Salmond into a cocked hat in the section on the pound. But Salmond ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg Q&A 12] When I read Nick Clegg's immigration speech yesterday I breathed a sigh of relief. It's sensible and mostly liberal. Which means it's a stark contrast to his March 2013 attempt: that was probably the most dire speech I've ever heard from a Lib Dem leader. Back then, Nick took credit for net migration having fallen by a third, even though net migration is, as Vince Cable has repeatedly pointed out, an absurd measure of success. He also came up with the unworkable proposal for security bonds (ie, upfront cash payments) for immigrants from 'high-risk' countries ...
With Alistair Darling back in the news and fighting to save the Union, it is again time to uncork one of this blog's favourite newspaper articles. Here is George Galloway reminiscing for the Daily Record in March 2008: When I first met him 35 years ago Darling was pressing Trotskyite tracts on bewildered railwaymen at Waverley Station in Edinburgh. He was a supporter of the International Marxist Group, whose publication was entitled the Black Dwarf. Later, in preparation for his current role he became the treasurer of what was always termed the rebel Lothian Regional Council. Faced with swinging government ...
History of Government looks at the four future British prime ministers who served in the First World War. Can you name them before you follow the link? Like me (and unlike the Liberal Democrat group on Leicestershire County Council) Ian Ridley is in favour of switching off street lights at night. Spitalfields Life presents an East End suffragette map. "Gladstone's Library is a unique and incredible place. It's Britain's finest residential library, and its only Prime Ministerial library. Founded by William Ewart Gladstone himself, following his death in 1898 it became the national memorial to his life work as well ...
With lots of people off enjoying their holidays in August, it's a pretty quiet month here at CCF. We're settling into our new accommodation (read below for news on our office move) and making plans for our program of events from Autumn through to 2015. (Many thanks to everyone who attended our AGM on July 17. Your feedback on was invaluable to our planning.) We do have one event happening in August though, and a pretty exciting one if we do say so ourselves! It's called Remade Heaven, and will transform a corner of the Burleigh Street Oxfam shop into ...
I have too much stuff. I am trying to get rid of it. It's not about the space, which is lucky as I live with a squirrel. Two squirrels. And a third who was moved out but left their stuff behind. Space would be nice, but I'm reconciled to any space I empty being instantly filled by my squirrel relatives. It's more about living simply, and also more about what I acquire in the future than the possessions I have now. My motives are mixed. Partly they are a religious response to a society that judges people by their possessions, ...
Wed 6th
19:30
Social Liberal Conference: Farron on the Radical challenge now the Regan/Thatcher/ Blair consensus i...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] On the day Tim Farron's Beveridge lecture was a triumph. The 40 minutes speech was punctuated by warm and spontaneous applause and at the end the delegates rose to their feet without prompting to give him an extended ovation. The speech made folk feel better about themselves and their politics. It has been a rough time for those who come out of the radical tradition. Here, at last, was someone who was speaking about their dreams and hopes. The speech's great virtue was that it was forward looking. It was not picking over the ...
As part of an investment in new children's play equipment in parks across Stockport, the Lib Dems have allocated £64,000 to be shared between two of the borough's busiest parks: Bruntwood Park and Bramall Park. The money will be used to replace play equipment as and when needed. [IMG: Bruntwood Park] Bruntwood Park Bruntwood Park has recently benefitted from a new BMX track – one of the best in the country, already training champions. It also has a new play area for younger children, which initially suffered from drainage problems that the Lib Dems have worked with council officers to ...
Yesterday Nick Clegg said, It's obvious to me that however much Israel has every right to defend itself from those rocket attacks from Hamas, nonetheless the Israeli military operation overstepped the mark in Gaza. This outrageous spectacle of these three UN schools being hit by Israeli military action. That's why I believe that the export licences should now be suspended. I'm working with Vince Cable on this. It is his department that administers these export licences and he and I both believe the actions of the Israeli military, overstepping the mark in Gaza, breach the conditions of those export licenses ...
Sutton is offering a business rate reduction of 50% for one year to new or expanding businesses occupying empty premises in Sutton town centre. Alongside that offer Opportunity Sutton, the Council's business and investment support arm is offering a range of clinics and workshops to give business advice and help people create their business plans. To [...]
Congratulations to Gatley Carrs Conservative Group – Gatley Carrs nature reserve was this week awarded a coveted Green Flag. The flag was awarded by David Edge, our long-standing postmaster who's retiring this year. [IMG: carrs2] [IMG: carrs1] For those who've not had the pleasure of visiting Gatley's very own nature reserve, you can come any time. Just go down Old Hall Road by the Horse & Farrier, turn left at the bottom and then carry straight on to the end of Brookside Road. [IMG: Map to Gatley Carrs]
Wed 6th
17:00
Gaza: Clegg demands UK suspends arms export licences to Israel, Ashdown writes to Warsi to discuss n...
With the truce in Gaza in its second day, and indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian representatives taking place today, Nick Clegg has stepped up the pressure for the UK government to work more actively to secure peace in the area. The BBC reports: The Liberal Democrats are calling for the suspension of arms export licences to Israel, adding to the pressure David Cameron is facing over Gaza. ... Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Israeli military operation in Gaza had "overstepped the mark" and called for the suspension of arms export licences to Israel. He said he had ...
[IMG: whitlock] Congratulations to local gymnast Max Whitlock after his performance in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The 21-year-old England gymnast from Adeyfield won his third Commonwealth Games gold medal with individual final success. After taking gold in the all-round and team competitions, Whitlock also won the men's floor final and then added a silver from the pommel horse final.
In the last few days I have been involved in a Facebook debate on the content and style of Lib Dem tabloids. There are, of course, different views and approaches but I thought I would say what I believe works and why. Real newspaper or a big Focus? My first point is our tabloid [...]
Wed 6th
13:10Jo Swinson on shared parental leave: "It means mums might go back to work earlier and dads might get...
[IMG: swinson and hames] There was an in-depth interview with Jo Swinson, Lib Dem business minister, in Tuesday's London Evening Standard – her first interview since returning from maternity leave, having given birth. You can read the full feature here, but snippets below... Jo Swinson on her (and Duncan Hames') baby being the first carried through the voting lobby of the Commons: "Given that we're still voting until 10pm on a Monday, that makes our lives slightly easier. It saves you having to leave the baby with a stranger." Is Swinson pleased it was a male MP who was the ...
Come 1st October, new rules come into force making parodies legal in the UK under copyright law: [Previously] a Brit couldn't parody something unless they'd been given direct permission from the creator or paid for a license. That meant for most people, making a parody was legally impossible, and saw several famous instances of works being pulled from YouTube... What is it that you can and can't do under the new rules? For a start, you can make a pastiche, caricature or parody, and while there's no word on transformative works (i.e. mashups like Buttery Biscuit Base and They're Taking ...
The Royal Society has advertised for a professorship in public engagement with science. This makes a mockery of both science and science communication expertise The Royal Society has advertised for a professorship in public engagement with science; a well-established scientist with exceptional scientific communication skills and media experience to support the societys public engagement work. There are two problems with this. Firstly, they seem to want someone to do PR, not public engagement. These are different, and its an important distinction. As the bullet points of the job description outline, they want someone to help increase the public understanding of ...
Over on the Jazz Hands, Serious Business blog is a handy little program that lets you automatically blank the comments from selected people when reading Lib Dem Voice. The blog post says: [IMG: Lib Dem Voice Sanitizer] There are two particular categories that irk me; one is Mens' Rights Activists who try to derail any post on equalities with their "but what about the white cis straight mens!" nonsense. The other is the anti-Clegg faction who will spam every post on the site with calls for Nick to resign. In my opinion these people are getting in the way of ...
When David Cameron says Great news that Boris plans to stand at next year's general election – I've always said I want my star players on the pitch. — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) August 6, 2014 Related PostsDavid Cameron is right about the right A few thoughts on Cameron's speech David Cameron is eight years old Customer service in the House of Commons Worth Reading 46: Two conspiracies for the price of one
The post Creative Minds and the 10,000 Hour Rule appeared first on James Taylor.
Jack Stilgoe looks back at some of his students top blogs from 2013/14. Every year, I teach a course for UCL undergraduates on Governing Emerging Technologies. Students from our department Science and Technologies join students from science degrees around UCL to think about technologies before they are set in stone. The course is an exercise in navigating uncertainty. There are few definitive statements to rely upon, and I ask students to be sceptical of claims that scientists, inventors, ethicists, policymakers or anyone else make about the future. As well as doing the usual essays, I also get them to blog ...
[IMG: Copyright Roger Kidd under Creative Commons Licence] Copyright Roger Kidd under Creative Commons Licence The Conservative-controlled Leicestershire County Council, "plans to save up to a £1 million annually by switching off street lights or limiting the hours they are illuminated," according to the Leicester Mercury. Like other areas, Leicestershire has rolled out a partial or full switch-off of selected street lights since 2010. Around 2-3% of lights have been changed so far. So the report must mean that the scheme is being extended. I am in favour of a judicious reduction in street lighting. It saves tax-payers' money, reduces ...
The public commemoration of the centenary of First World War began a couple of weeks ago in my area with the launching of Project Bugle. This is being organised by the local history society. They will publish month by month short biographies of the combatants who died on the 100th anniversary of the months of their deaths. If the soldier is buried in a local cemetery (some died before they left for the war zones, others after they'd returned, but of wounds or the effects of gassing) there will be a short ceremony and a wreath will be placed on ...
The notion is implausible and research suggests that believing in it is bad for your relationships. It's much healthier to think of love as a journey. One of my favourite lines of comedy ever came from an ages old episode of Have I Got News for You. Ian Hislop was asked that about news that Greg Dyke [...]
Last night for the eighth year in a row I had to take to the airwaves to defend council staff against the amateur and incompetent attacks of the Taxpayers Alliance. Every year they do a survey about how many staff ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Sayeeda-Warsi] Yesterday, Baroness Warsi resigned from government. She tweeted that this was due to the current government policy and engagement with the war in Gaza. "With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza," she said. As you would expect, many in the bubble have weighed in with their verdict on the matter. Dan Hodges offers his view that it was an expression of anger about her being reshuffled out of the Cabinet. There are other people speculating that she had been waiting ...
Wed 6th
10:15The Independent View: "I'm a believer in the benefits of well-managed immigration" says Clegg
[IMG: Nick Clegg] On Tuesday, in a speech in Manor House in north London, Nick Clegg gave a major speech on immigration. Like the immigration speech he gave last year, hosted by CentreForum, his recent speech will be hotly debated and greatly misrepresented. The speech was clearly an attempt to provide reassurance to the British public that the Lib Dems wanted a fair immigration system that enabled "the brightest and the best" to come to work and study in the UK but was robust in stamping out cheating and abuse. Nick believes this is important because: ... being a nation ...
LEGO Launches Collection of Female Scientist Figurines - sell out in less than a day (tags: ) I just got £50 from YouGov for filling in surveys - join up and you could too I figure most of you who might be interested are already signed up, but maybe some of you aren't, so I'll just leave my refer-a-friend link here... (tags: ) Artist uses DMCA to remove criticism of his impossibly-shaped female characters Yet another person who doesn't understand how the Streisand effect works. (tags: ) Check Out Soundcloud's Fabulous New Berlin Office Space - and remember they don't ...
The so-called "Silly Season" seems endless in Westminster. The sad death last month of my Liberal Democrat colleague Lord (Robert) Methuen – alongside whom I often shared the furthest backbench corner seat and enjoyed his erudite company – has sparked the most ludicrous farce. Let me explain. An official green four-page notice, announcing the resulting "vacancy among the excepted hereditary peers", has arrived from the Clerk of the Parliaments. I extract a summary. "Under Standing Order 10, this vacancy is to be filled by means of a by-election ...... Lord Methuen was one of the 15 hereditary peers elected by ...
[IMG: FSM blog] Free school meals will help boost learning in schools, according to a review of pilot schemes. Trials for the school meals scheme, which comes into effect in September, show that infants from poorer backgrounds perform better in the classroom. The report finds that pupils were academically months ahead of their peers elsewhere and more likely to eat vegetables at lunchtime instead of less healthy food like crisps. Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "The evidence is clear – free school meals will not only save families hundreds of pounds a year but will ...
When I came down for breakfast this morning [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister was watching an episode of Twin Peaks. I never saw Twin Peaks on original broadcast, but I remember everyone going on about how brilliant it was. My impressions from this morning's increasingly amazed viewing were as follows:The writing is pretentious to the point of comedy, and the plot is waffer-theen.The acting makes some of the cheesy 80s horror movies I've seen look like cinema verite - seriously, it's not even ham, it's gammon steaks.The direction is pedestrian at best.The lighting is truly awful. It takes a special ...
I've been out and about this morning and reported offensive graffiti on the old toilet block in Gatley Recreation Ground and also litter dumped in the car park by the Co-op. There's also the ongoing issue of litter dropped around the skateboard park ("not enough bins" is no excuse – there are two litter bins there and neither was anywhere near full when I went past this morning). [IMG: coop litter]
In his environmental blog, Damien Carrington suggests Eric Pickles' embrace of localism only stretches as far local opinions that he shares. Mr Carrington says that repeated interventions by Mr Pickles, overruling local decision making, mark him out "as no more than a petty dictator." Several examples are given before Mr Carrington warns that people hoping local decisions on fracking will be upheld will not to find an ally in Pickles. "For him, localism is meaningless unless it happens to back his personal prejudices." On the The Guardian Web I can't help but think that this opinion may well be right ...
For a survivor of the Mesopotamian campaign by Elizabeth Daryush (1933) War's wasted era is a desert shore, As know those who have passed there, a place Where, within sound of swoll'n destruction's roar, Wheel the wild vultures, lust and terror base; Where, making ready for them, stalk the grim Barbarian forms, hunger, disease and pain, Who, slashing all life's beauty limb from limb, Crush it as folly on the stony plain. [IMG: The location of this war memorial is unknown but it is quite magnificent. If you recognise it please let me know where it is. Credit Jen Robertson] ...
The City Road Allotments Open Day takes place this coming Sunday, 10th August, between 11am and 3pm : Admission FreeWide selection of produce, preserves and plantsRefreshments and home-baking in the caféRaffle Free on the street car parkingToilets on site Join in the fun everyone welcomeFree
Here's the first look at the Glasgow Federal Conference agenda (updated with a corrected version): [IMG: Skeleton Agenda Liberal Democrat Glasgow 2015 conference] Plus also: Presidential Hustings @LibDemConf 10.00-11.30 Sat 4 Oct, Argyll Suite @CPGlasgow All members welcome. Put your Qs to the declared candidates — Lib Dem Conference (@LibDemConf) August 5, 2014
[IMG: clegg cameron rose garden] 'The UK Coalition Agreement of 2010: Who Won?' is a fascinating paper written by Thomas Quinn, Judith Bara and John Bartle. It was published in May 2011, but I only stumbled across it yesterday. Here's what it aimed to set out: a content analysis of [the Coalition Agreement] to determine which party gained (or lost) most. 'Gained' and 'lost' here both have very specific meanings since they are based on comparisons of party positions as set out in their respective manifestos with the position of the new government set out in the agreement. In global ...
New: Former Tower Hamlets Tory candidate Jewel Islam charged with electoral fraud (providing a false statement in nomination papers) – Met — Robin de Peyer (@robindepeyer) August 5, 2014 See Trial by Jeory for some of the background.
Another council press release, also affecting Odd Down, as some of the money will be spent at Odd Down. If you want to get active contact us. Local sport gets a £309,000 boost Up to 4,000 people in the Bath & North East Somerset Council area are to be encouraged to improve their fitness in a new sport initiative being launched this week. The Council's TRY Active Bath and North East Somerset
The council is asking for views on how Bath is governed Local people and businesses are being asked for their views on community representation in Bath. A cross-party working group was set up earlier this year to look at how the city is currently governed and suggest how this might change in future. It has now come up with three options: 1. No change 2. A "Voice for Bath" committee (to
Over the last few days, the leaders of all three main political parties have been competing to show who has the biggest dick by showing they can simultaneously bash poor people and foreigners, two groups of people who simply have too much power in this society. They're all proving they're real men because they can [...]
