I was planning on posting a review of Scalzi's Lock In today, but I've been a bit distractable and so haven't finished reading it yet. Expect that tomorrow. For now, links: Most of Adam Curtis' films available to watch for free An experiment is testing whether the universe is a hologram An account of the [...]
Taken last summer, when I also photographed the town's former Water Street station (later known as Stamford East).
Fri 29th
21:22
Jim Murphy cancels No Thanks tour after violence and intimidation from Yes campaigners
There are only three weeks until the Scottish independence referendum, but Jim Murphy has had to suspend his tour of Scotland in support of the Better Together campaign, after being subject to a campaign of intimidation from Yes supporters. The Labour MP had planned to do a tour comprising of 100 stops, taking his soapbox around Scotland and making the pro-union case to the public. However, this has ended after Yes campaigners in towns and cities organised online people to go and shout, wave banners, heckle and harass anyone who tried to have a proper conversation with Murphy. The behaviour ...
On Wednesday I blogged about the sighting of a monk delivering homophobic leaflets in Market Harborough: The leaflets were delivered to homes in Granville Street, Bath Street, Nithsdale Avenue, Claxton Street and Northampton Road. One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I saw the monk in Bath Street, followed by two angry people."It turns out that homophobic monks have also been sighted in Brighton and Cambridge. Backwatersman has suggested on Twitter that, like Spring-heeled Jack, the homophobic monk may be a manifestation of our collective subconscious fears.
So I had a really not-good day at work today. Things bothered me that shouldn't have, and other things didn't go my way for odd reasons, and the phoning gods were agin me (RIDICULOUS amounts of wrong numbers today, like seriously ridiculous). And then I got on the bus home, and there was a girl talking to someone on her phone, trying to estimate how long before she got home. I asked where she was going, and told her how long it would take; and then we got chatting. She was smart and switched on. She was interested in politics, ...
[IMG: Gerald Vernon Jackson selected for Portsmouth South. Photo courtesy of Lib Dem Voice] I previously tipped Gerald Vernon-Jackson as the person most likely to win the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary selection in Portsmouth South – and he has indeed now been selected. Whether he will have to fight existing – and now ex-Liberal Democrat – MP Mike Hancock at the polls is not yet clear. Hancock, despite being disowned by the Liberal Democrats, may yet fight the seat as an independent. Gerald Vernon Jackson's selection is good news for three reasons. First, it means the party has selected an out ...
I have recently needed to run varnish (A very fast web cache for busy sites) in a situation that also required use of HTTPS on the box. Unfortunately, Varnish does not not handle crypto, which is probably a good thing given how easy it is for programmers to make mistakes in their code, rendering the security useless! Whilst recipes for Stunnel and Varnish together exist, information on running them on the same box whilst still presenting the original source IP to varnish for logging/load balancing purposes was scarce – the below configuration "worked for me", at least on Debian 7.0. ...
Arguments rage but nothing is being done other than pass the buck. That's the current story of Ludlow's collapsed town walls. Eighteen months after the walls collapsed, eighteen months after Shropshire Council promised that money was no object in securing a repair, we are rapidly approaching stalemate. South Shropshire Journal 22 August 2014 I can't [...]
On 26th of August between 1800 and 1830hrs, a theft from a person took place in Tesco, Bar Hill. Whilst victim has been shopping in Tesco, perpetrator has stolen his mobile phone from his jacket. On 25th of August at 215hrs, a theft took place from the Fox Pub in Bar Hill. Suspect has ran up a bill to £55 despite knowing he had no money on him to pay. Suspect has been identified and dealt with accordingly. There has been further reports in relation to motorists parking fully on footpath in Hill crest, Bar Hill. Parking patrols will continue ...
The Daily Express wins Headline of the Day
With thanks to Alix Haynes
It has been announced that Labour MP Jim Murphy has cancelled his pro-Union 100 Towns in 100 Days tour of Scotland due to "intimidation". Murphy has been taking his message around Scottish towns for the last few weeks, in jingositic fashion replacing the traditional soapbox with a Irn Bru crate. Yesterday, while addressing the public in Kirkcaldy, Murphy was hit by three eggs. A photographer was also threatened, on account of "being English". This should not be welcome in Scottish politics. Throwing eggs and threatening is hardly the hallmark of a healthy democracy. Murphy told The Guardian: "What is happening ...
It's the end of Summer - traditionally, as Doctor Who's back - so how was your holiday? Did you go anywhere nice? We went to North Yorkshire for a week, which is relatively usual, then I spent all of mine in hospital, which isn't. When I've not blogged for a while it's often due to some of my many long-term health problems, so I'll try to make light of it by saying afterwards that "my health has been worse than usual - as usual". That week and all the last seven weeks have made this weak gag rather less funny. ...
Maghull's shopping centre on the northern side of Westway is split in two by Leighton Avenue where it has a junction with Westway. Trouble is that shoppers want to cross the top of Leighton Ave to access other shops but they have to run the gauntlet of traffic which, at times, can speed into Leighton Ave from Westway. The elderly and disabled find it particularly difficult to cross here. Indeed, one elderly gent told me that he does not even try to cross because he walks very slowly and fears being run over. Only the other day I witnessed a ...
[IMG: Tring Town Cllr Georgina Haynes at Gamnel Green ] Tring Town Cllr Georgina Haynes at Gamnel Green Three years ago Dacorum Borough Council announced a "Verge Hardening" Scheme to convert certain stretches of grass verge and parts of utility greens to extra car parking. Hardening the verge is a means to protect, or restore, the appearance of unsightly vehicle damaged verges. Hardening part of a utility green, if it is large enough, can achieve the same effect. Both can make significant contributions to difficult parking situations. The parking situation in at Gamnel, off Tringford Road by the New Mill ...
Happy Holiday Having recently finished my masters I have been looking for a new challenge, something to get my teeth into. One of my thoughts during my work for the dissertation was why the West thinks its way is best, why is western democracy the right way. China seems to be doing rather well and the Islamic world does OK on the whole, apart from the fundamentalists who seem to get up
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Just one Council by-election this week in North Jesmond (Newcastle CC). The by-election saw a 13.6% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats who comfortably held the seat. Gerard Keating, who has previously served as a Newcastle Liberal Democrat City Councillor, won 52.5% of the vote (an increase of 19.9% on May's results). Labour were just 32 votes from gaining a Liberal Democrat seat in May's local elections. This time their vote share fell by 7.3% to come second with 23.6%. The Conservatives came third with 8.6% (-5.9%), UKIP were fourth on 8.3% (+0.7%) ...
I was deeply disappointed to read today that Jim Murphy MP has decided to suspend his tour of Scottish Towns to take the Better Together message across Scotland. Reading in The Courier that over the last few days Jim Murphy has received abuse from Yes campaigners in Glasgow, Dundee, Montrose and elsewhere, culminating in the egg throwing in Kirkcaldy has been very troubling. Supporters of a stronger Scotland within the UK have been attacked viciously online by the CyberNats for a long, long time. The treatment of JK Rowling in particular has been disgusting. With the online abuse, we can ...
This handy flowchart from the Electoral Commission explains when non-party campaigners (third party campaigners) have to register as a non-party campaigner: Download this file
Yesterday, Labour MP Jim Murphy was egged in Kirkcaldy as he was speaking there as part of his 100 towns in 100 days tour. He travels the country with 2 Irn Bru crates to stand on and speaks and meets people around the country. Twice in the last week, there have been really ugly scenes as he was surrounded by Yes campaigners who did their best to shout him down. Last week the same thing happened in Motherwell. Now, I don't much care for Murphy's politics, but he has the right to express himself without facing intimidation. I've been chased ...
What We Leave Behind (part two) I shall not lie: most days there is an internal war going on inside my mind. The conflicting parties of surviving to live another day or an acceptance that it will take complete control of me sooner rather than later; so why not just hasten the inevitable right now. Waiting for treatment and the quality of treatment varies; I have been on a list for 'psychological' assistance since March, and have yet to be assigned a place. I really do not hold out any expectation for a positive result, my brain is so hard ...
Just one Council by-election this week in North Jesmond (Newcastle CC). The by-election saw a 13.6% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats who comfortably held the seat. Gerard Keating, who has previously served as a Newcastle Liberal Democrat City Councillor, won 52.5% of the vote (an increase of 19.9% on May's results). Labour were [...]
Fri 29th
14:38
The EU needs good science policy. But does that mean it needs a Chief Scientific Adviser? | Doug Par...
The new head of the EU Commission is being challenged over whether to continue with the post of EU Chief Scientific Adviser. Doug Parr explains why The new head of the EU Commission is being challenged over whether to continue with the post of EU Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) originally created by outgoing President Barroso. Controversy has emerged over whether the post helps or hinders the EU incorporating the best science into policy. An initial letter setting out some of the issues and calling for the post to be abolished was signed by nine non-governmental organisations. There was a strong ...
Today I have written to the Mayor of Liverpool suggesting that he needs to respond to what is coming out of Rotherham and the implications that it might have for Liverpool. I understand that following my letter Mayor Anderson has made ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Charles indyref] I'm sure we all remember THAT debate on Monday night between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond. It was what we call in Scotland a right rammy. Two men standing up on stage shouting at each other has typified the independence debate has generally been going on up here. It's not edifying. I took part in STV's live blog of the event and you can see my take on it here. Although Salmond is widely judged to have won the debate, the pivotal moment came when he laughed at me. Well, not actually at me, but at anyone ...
[IMG: Elastoplast Bilster Plasters] I recently walked around for 6 hours with a blister that I barely noticed, thanks to the wonders of Elastoplast Blister Plasters. They're brilliant and come in a convenient travel pack. Use them. A great way to keep canvassing or delivering (though I was, um..., researching obscure rural properties in conservation areas with sea views in order to improve delivery routes, of course). Elastoplast Blister Small Plasters – Pack of 6 Plasters Brilliant My rating (out of 5): 5.0 Mark Pack, 29 August 2014 | permalink
It was difficult to read the Alexis Jay report into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham. 1400 girls and 200 boys brutally abused and exploited. And then we have the response from the council and the police. Denial. Victim blaming. Placing children into care homes where they were more at risk than they were in the family home. Sending looked-after children to school by taxis implicated in grooming and abuse. Regarding abused children as consenting participants. Treating an abused child as a criminal. Failure to investigate crimes. Vilification of those trying to raise awareness. I am a councillor in the next-door ...
[IMG: rsz_stripped_of_bark_-_strand_bootle_08_14] How very sad that someone decided to try to end the life of this formerly healthy tree which is outside Bootle's Strand Shopping Centre. Why would anyone do such a thing? It beggars belief to me as an environmental campaigner.
[IMG: Cameron and Clegg in 10 Downing Street. Image used under Crown Copyright] The new paperback edition of In It Together: The Inside Story of the Coalition Government by Matthew D'Ancona is not much changed from the previous hardback edition, save that its documenting of a government which is still in office has been brought up to date with some extra chapters. In the process it has, alas, lost the Peter Brookes cartoon cover done for the hardback edition. [IMG: In It Together by Matthew D'Ancona - book cover] How much you will enjoy the book depends very much on ...
Since I migrated this blog from its old location in 2010-11 (I ran an overlap of posting to both during transition) there has been quite a few people who have visited and read. Indeed this morning I realised just how many: I have now passed half a million page views on this site, which added with the almost 300,000 on the previous site means there are really 800,000 page views in just over the 9 years that I have been blogging. There have been times of hiatus and others of less activity but I am glad that many of you ...
A reminder that there is a wide ranging planning consultation out at the moment. This includes amongst other things proposals to: Impose statutory time limits on decision making by Local Planning Authorities when designating a neighbourhood planning area. Expand permitted development rights for change of use to residential including casinos, nightclubs and amusement arcades Putting [...]
We can look across the River Tyne to Newcastle today with a sense of achievement - the Lib Dems won a by-election to the City Council yesterday in North Jesmond ward. In one of the most hotly contested wards in the city, Labour had high hopes of picking up the Lib Dem seat but ended up seeing their vote nosedive. In May we had a slender majority of 33 votes. Yesterday, victorious Lib Dem
Russia invade Ukraine, big talk from world leaders and no action, an Islamic State is created led by crazy mad murderous perverts without an ounce of humanity or spiritual good, much of the Middle East is at war. Back here in the UK in Rotherham, we find out that those paid to defend the weakest most vulnerable in society are found to have deserted them with police aiding and abetting rapists, social workers and councillors conveniently brushing aside the victims and fiddling with records, years go by 1400 children are violated, why because the perpetrators happened to be Asian, and ...
Up and down the country under-aged vulnerable young people, mostly girls, were abused by criminal gangs and were ignored and not taken seriously for many years when they came forward with their allegations, allowing the criminal activity to go on for much longer than if swift action had been taken. Rotherham is the latest Council [...]
So you might have seen that last week I posted my review of Noam Chomsky's On Anarchism. I was underwhelmed by his unwillingness to engage with how the principles he was outlining might actually work in practice. So dear readers, I was wondering if any of you can succeed where he failed and give me [...]
[IMG: Gerald Vernon-Jackson] Portsmouth Liberal Democrats last night selected Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson for the Portsmouth South seat currently held by independent MP Mike Hancock. Gerald is leader of the Liberal Democrats in Portsmouth and at the Local Government Association. He was leader of Portsmouth Council until earlier this year, with an impressive record of delivering for the people of Portsmouth. Here's what he had to say: It is a privilege to have been chosen to fight Portsmouth South. I want to thank Tam Langley and David McBride for the campaign. It has been a vigorous, active but friendly selection. We ...
Douglas Carswell yesterday defected from the Conservatives to UKIP, giving a typically deep-thinking speech as he did so. Carswell was clearly trying to pitch himself as forward thinker, giving a speech that praised feminism, disability rights, and that "what was once dismissed as "political correctness gone mad", we recognise as good manners". However, he missed out one key bit of progress in his lifetime. He made no mention of LGBT rights. At all. Hope all LGBT people in @DouglasCarswell's constituency remember his opposition to your right to get married — Tony Grew (@ayestotheright) August 28, 2014 Change and progress for ...
[IMG: Carswell pic] Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, resigned from the Conservative Party yesterday to join UKIP. He also said he will be resigning his seat, thus forcing a by-election. I've had a vision for how I think the whole thing will play out, so here goes. A date is set for November 6th. First item of business is selection. For UKIP, it's straightforward as Douglas becomes the UKIP candidate and Roger Lord, the UKIP candidate until Carswell defected, becomes the Conservative choice. The horrible irony that the Tories and UKIP have just swapped candidates is glossed over as much ...
BFI announces sci-fi spectacular at the British Museum - OMG I wish I could go to this (tags: ) Astoundingly good article on what it means to be a writer (tags: ) Colour changing nail varnish isn't going to prevent rape, or the vicious culture of victim blaming (tags: ) 'Deeply elitist UK locks out diversity at top' - I attended a fee-paying school. Just saying. (tags: ) Yes, I know, it's Owen Jones. But it's still funny. (tags: ) UKIP's Clacton Candidate Says He Won't Stand Down For Douglas Carswell (tags: ) Social class makes a difference in how ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention in the past couple of days... Portsmouth Lib Dem takes step closer to dream of becoming city MP – Portsmouth News Gerald Vernon Jackson selected as Lib Dem PPC in Portsmouth, aiming to succeed suspended/disgraced Mike Hancock http://bit.ly/1q9sIwl Britain Poorer Than Alabama? Not Quite – TIME Shocked, shocked I tell you, that Fraser Nelson has been found to have "skewed statistics to favor his conclusion" http://ti.me/1q9exaL Thank God for Douglas Carswell – Telegraph Blogs I don't get Dan Hodges' obsession with Lab offering in/out EU referendum as a political tactic: ...
[IMG: Putin photo by World Economic Forum] One of the legacies of more than 10 years of conflict, including an illegal war in Iraq, is a war weariness. Weariness on a matter so crucial as war is a healthy thing. If our government had been more weary then the unfortunate consequences we see to this day may have been avoided. But we must not let weariness become blindness. NATO has confirmed that Russia has invaded Ukraine. The most recent in a long list of endeavours from Moldova to Georgia designed to expand the territory and influence of Russia; to realise ...
[IMG: india_business] Nick Clegg is leading a trade delegation in India with more than 40 British businesses, colleges and representatives of the aerospace industry to secure the incredible opportunities on offer. As part of his visit, Nick met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss a number of issues where there is a natural partnership between the UK and India, including education, business, climate change and economic growth. Since the new Indian Government was elected in May, they have been making plans to grow their economy. United Biscuits and Lush are among iconic British brands that are flocking to India ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg at a conference podium. Image courtesy of the Liberal Democrats.] To recap, four ancillary lessons I think the Liberal Democrats need to learn from are: Don't judge Presidential candidates by their TV appeal The party needs to recognise three levels of misbehaviour The English Party needs reform Who gets the party whip is a matter for the whole party I fear what will happen instead is that there will correctly be much effort to implement the recommendations of the Morrissey Report and ancillary reviews, but that it will then stop there – rather than the party also ...
Dundee Carers' Centre's Young Carers' Project has highlighted that young adult carers often have limited access to opportunities that others take for granted. Caring responsibilities can have a negative effect on their lives, including poor school attendance and attainment at school, in future education or in the work place. Poor social contact and negative health effects are also common and at times young adult carers can feel down or on their own. Therefore, their UPBEET project can help young adult carers aged 15-30 years access confidential information and support in areas including personal development, raising confidence and self esteem, entitlement ...
I've had some interesting conversations recently with fellow Lib Dem activists around the country. Some of them are excited and happy about their activism, some are feeling isolated and miserable. Is this to do with their opinions on a particular policy which is being promoted or ignored by the party? No, it's down to being [...]
[IMG: green party logo] It's three months since the Lib Dems were beaten into fifth place at the European elections: the party which nudged us out was the Greens. Ukip may be grabbing the media attention, but it's the party of Natalie Bennett and Caroline Lucas which poses the bigger threat to our party. It's not hard to see why. Ian Warren of the @election-data blog has analysed which groups of voters were most likely to vote Green last May. See if you can spot a trend: Well educated singles living in purpose built flats City dwellers owning houses in ...
[IMG: portsmouth photo] Photo by Defence Images Very well done to Gerald Vernon-Jackson in being selected as PPC for Portsmouth South. I think this makes it a little more of a dead cert that we will hold that constituency next year. Gerald works fantastically hard doing the stuff that politicians should do. Between now and next May, for example, I suspect he will knock on most of the doors in Portsmouth South. He is also a political genius, who knows backwards all the processes and initiatives needed to get elected. Added to that, he has a record of a decade ...
Manchester looks to overhaul public transport Greater Manchester Council is calling on the government to change the law so it can re-regulate how public transport works within the region, giving poorly-connected communities more service. It has suggested tying together bus, tram and train systems to allow Get Me There ticketless passes to work on all of them, similar to London's Oyster Card, as well as reworking timetables so they match up. Report above in the Manchester Evening News This has to be the right way forward. Remember when buses were deregulated across the Country in the 1980′s and the powers ...
Twitter and Facebook are many things but now, according to Sir Stephen House, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, it is an invaluable distraction for those who might otherwise be out on the streets scrawling graffiti and vandalising other people's property. The Independent says Mr. House believes that disaffected members of the public are increasingly using services such as Twitter and Facebook to make angry or abusive comments instead of spray-painting buildings, leading to a decline in recorded vandalism: "Social media in some instances has replaced graffiti as a way of making your views heard. We have had to deal ...
Love weren't the only long-haired multiracial folk-rock band inspired by the Byrds' success. When the Byrds had toured in 1965, their residency at Ciro's had been left vacant, and three new bands stepped into the spot. Love immediately made a mark, as did the Leaves, but the band who most impressed the other musicians in [...]
FROM THE COUNTY COUNCIL NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of Bricket Road, St Albansfrom its junction with B691 Victoria Street north eastwards for a distance of approximately 50 metres, except for access. The purpose of the Order is to enable the replacement of existing water mains to take place. The section of road will be closed for approximately 5 days during the period 1 September 2014 and 5 September 2014, when signs are in ...
