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Even though I had twelve hours' sleep last night, I'm *still* too exhausted to think after two weeks with no real sleep at all, so you get links today. Cab Calloway's "Hepster's Dictionary" Slut-shaming, Eugenics, and Donald Duck: the Scandalous History of Sex-Ed Movies A beginners' guide to the redpill right Procrastination is not laziness [...]
Did you watch Nick Clegg on the 'Last Leg' Channel 4? He was at his best. He came off as very authentic which is exactly what he needed to boost his image. Nick Clegg is still being praised on twitter for his performance. I cannot see either David Cameron or Muddleband, sorry, Miliband following in Nick's footsteps. Here is a tweet from a convinced member of the public who is going to vote for our party. Here are some clips from the programme
The Liverpool Echo has them on its web site – see link above. Below is one of my shots of Albert Dock:- [IMG: 13945540825_116a7d6281_z] Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Animal research, sometimes referred to as 'animal testing', 'animal experimentation' or (incorrectly) 'vivisection', is the use of animals in medical, veterinary, environmental and other scientific studies. Such research aims to improve our understanding of biological processes associated with health and disease, and to develop medical and veterinary treatments for humans and animals. Animal studies take place at universities, pharmaceutical companies, teaching hospitals, veterinary colleges and other research institutions. This note provides an overview of the practice and regulation of animal research in the UK. Download briefing note
You will no doubt have read with dismay the danger to award-winning Buongiorno Italia. We totally support the campaign to save it and would ask you to register your objections by going to the district council's website before 11 February: http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/planningapplications The application reference number is 5/2014/3158. More information can be found on: https://www.facebook.com/buongiornodeli Naturally [...]
There was a conference taking place at my hotel, and the restaurant was full for breakfast, and so, when I was asked if I would mind sharing my table with someone else, it would have been churlish to refuse. And, as you do, we got talking, the young man and I. He asked why I was in Delhi, assuming, not unreasonably, that I was probably in town for business, so I explained that It was merely a jet lag stopover on the way to Mumbai to visit family. He works in Bangalore for a big, international IT firm - I ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg on the Last Leg2] We quite often watch Channel 4's The Last Leg on Friday evenings. I'm a particular fan of Adam Hills, who is a very funny and articulate anchor man for the show. Until this week, I didn't realise the connection between the show and disability. Yes, of course, I did know that Alex Brooker has disabilities. But I didn't realise that Hills has a prosthetic leg and that the show started during the Paralympics. You learn something new every day. But perhaps my ignorance is a good thing – I have just watched the ...
[IMG: hungerford] It was great to get out with the team in Hungerford today. We got a great reaction with many survey responses and signatures for our petition against cuts to Childrens' Services by West Berkshire Council. Sadly, the overnight snowfall had cleared, so we couldn't qualify for one of Caron's "Liberal Democrats campaigning in the snow" posts! I'm really enjoying all this heightened campaigning in the run-up to the general election. And certainly, the warming Heinz Tomato Soup at the end of the trail today was very welcome!
Boris Johnson has received a lot of coverage for his suggestion that: "If you look at all the psychological profiling about bombers, they typically will look at porn. They are literally wankers. Severe onanists."Yet the idea seems strangely familiar. And a little googling tells me where I first came across it. In February 2006 Ian Buruma began a Guardian article as follows: Does masturbation lead to suicide bombing? One would think not. There is no more direct link to suicide bombing than there is to blindness or schizophrenia. But there may be a connection between sexual inadequacy or frustration and ...
1. The views of someone who joined the Greens in 2009: [IMG: Green backs Lib Dems] 2. Regarding Liberal Democrat opposition to the Snoopers' Charter: [IMG: Snoopers Charter comment]
Liberal Democrat blogger (and much else) David Boyle has a programme on Radio 4 on Monday evening at 8pm: Clinging On: The Decline of the Middle Classes Is the middle class in terminal decline? Writer David Boyle, author of Broke: Who Killed the Middle Classes?, explores the split between a small rich elite and those who are argued to be clinging on to a deteriorating lifestyle and falling expectations. The salaries of financial service workers based in London are soaring away from those in more traditional professions. At the same time, house prices are rising and so-called 'cling-ons' are being ...
Earlier on this week I was involved in a number of good-natured twitter exchanges about the efficacy of financial incentives for smoking cessation in pregnancy (*), or as the Daily Mail rather more sensationally put it, the payment of £400 bribes to help pregnant women stop smoking. Most of these exchanges centred on the argument that if anyone needed any extra incentive to give up smoking while pregnant, then the woman concerned wasn't fit to have a child in the first place. Well quite. But the evidence suggests that pregnancy alone doesn't appear to be enough motivation to quit in ...
Sat 31st
13:10
Ooops! Ministry of Justice guide to courts forgets you are innocent until proven guilty
Good news: the Ministry of Justice (my very favourite department) has produced a guide to court procedure for people with learning difficulties. Bad news: they've forgotten that innocent until proven guilty, burden of proof thing. [IMG: MoJ guide to legal system] Hat-tip: thanks to Brent Alexander who pointed out the document to me.
The Dulwich Society have produced a great leaflet about where bombs fell in the Dulwich area in WW2. Dulwich WWII Air Raid Trail Twelve sites listed and shown on a clear simplified map of the area. If you have spare afternoon it's definately worth a good walk.
Over on his blog Mark Mills has put together a list of "five big reasons not to vote Green". I don't quite agree with all of them but it's a good thought-provoking list, which you can read here. One reason Mark gives is the Green Party's record in Brighton: To date the Green's have led one council: Brighton. Their record wielding power there does not suggest they deserve more of it. Erstwhile Green sympathiser Memphis Baker wrote in the Independent that: In Brighton, the constituency of Caroline Lucas, the Green Icarus has flown close to the sun already. Bin strikes ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg on The Last Leg 6] I'm so glad I hadn't watched The Last Leg ahead of Nick Clegg's appearance last night. It would not have been good for my health because I'd have been worrying about how he'd fare in that pretty brutal, blokey environment. Don't get me wrong, it's hilarious, but a massive risk for a politician. Even the next morning, in the light of day and the absence of red wine goggles, I still think, as I did last night, that he did very well. [IMG: Metro Last Leg poll] The press hasn't been quite ...
[IMG: Mr_Benn_Gladiator_book_cover] The Trailer: Voiceover man begins with 'some heroes wear many costumes'. The whole trailer is shot through heavy filters, mostly dark and grey just to ensure everyone is clear that this is a Serious Film taking the source material Seriously. As it's a trailer, we see all the best bits of the film mashed together through hyper-kinetic editing, complete with out of context quotes scattered over them. We see Mr Benn (Benedict Cumberbatch) in a pinstripe suit and bowler hat, hear the Shopkeeper (Jim Broadbent) give a garbled explanation of how this is a role handed down from ...
[IMG: Blog] Over at Liberal Bureaucracy a few days ago Mark offered an overview of activity in the Liberal Democrat blogging community. His argues that the trend is not healthy - fewer bloggers, less activity: So, there are less of us, and we're quieter than we once were, which feels to me to be an accurate reflection of the Party generally, a bit loathe to put its head above the parapet for fear of being shot at. I seem to remember Stephen Tall saying something similar about the decline of active bloggers at the BOTY award ceremony in Brighton a ...
There's a bit of confusion about which meetings remain on the council calendar for February. As ever, you should contact the council to confirm these meetings if you are interested in attending any. But, as it stands the meetings are scheduled for:- 3rd February, Allotments Committee This doesn't appear on the council's website, it has possibly been cancelled 5th February , Assets Committee 12th February, Community Grants Committee 19th February, Planning and Development Committee This is likely to be cancelled due to probable lack of business 24th February, Events Committee 26th February, Staff Committee This will probably be held under ...
Onwards to Mumbai, on the 13.30 IndiGo flight from Terminal 1 at Delhi Airport. So, naturally, one should aim to be the airport well in advance, right? And, if travelling in a city you don't know particularly well, you would make sure of your route first, wouldn't you? I am not a huge fan of airports, so I left my hotel at 11.15 after a leisurely breakfast (of which, more later), allowing an hour and a quarter to get to the airport, with the intention of arriving an hour before flight time. It was one of those days, however, when ...
Yesterday I suggested our general election slogan would be: "Labour will screw the economy, the Tories will screw you."But this effort from David Cameron may be even stronger. Thanks, Dave. Thanks to lots of Lib Dems on Twitter.
One of the joyous things about liberalism is how broad the swathe of people it attracts. Because the fundamental basis of liberalism is that you can do anything you like as long as you don't hurt anybody else*, there is no such thing as a liberal who agrees completely with another liberal. For instance, when you apply to become a candidate for the party locally, one of the questions on the form is "Is there any Lib Dem policy, locally or nationally, with which you disagree?". I suspect the reason for that question being there is partially to get the ...
At a dinner for political journalists on Thursday night, Ed got up and made a speech about cynicism within the political press and how awful it all is. "One of the biggest enemies of politics is cynicism, the belief that we are all in it for base motives. Agree with us or disagree with us, but report us for what we believe. This is all we can ask for." This was clearly part of an overall Labour comms drive on the issue of snarkyness, as Peter Hain weighed in on the matter the following morning on BBC Radio 4. According ...
If there is one thing that is certain about the forthcoming General Election campaign in Wales then it is that Welsh Labour's record on health will become a major issue this side of the border. So this piece in the Times is especially interesting. They say that campaign leaflets circulated in England to mark the start of the new year were titled Building an NHS with time to care, however the version distributed in Wales fails to mention the NHS, despite Ed Miliband's vow to make the future of the health service a centrepiece of his bid to become prime ...
Lee Dargue, Lib Dem PPC for Edgbaston, recently met students from the University of Birmingham to discuss the party's policies and their concerns. The student website Redbrick described him as an MP. We can but wish. It would not be a bad thing to have the chair of the Lib Dem Mental Health Association in Parliament. It was inevitable that tuition fees would come up: Dargue stated, 'It has caused us a lot of damage.' He did highlight the fact that 'not all Lib Dem MPs voted in favour of the tuition fee rise.' However, he stressed the positive realities ...
Three Scottish MSPs – all members of the SNP – have backed a motion claiming that science cannot disprove the belief that God created the world in six days, and that children should be taught this in schools: Richard Lyle MSP and Dave Thompson MSP are supporting the motion, which was put forward by John Mason MSP. The full motion reads: "That the Parliament notes that South Lanarkshire Council has issued guidance concerning the appointment and input of chaplains and religious organisations in schools; understands that some people believe that God created the world in six days, some people believe ...
A Yorkshire Manifesto as battle begins - Yorkshire Post (tags: ) Nigel Farage net worth: highest paid politician in the world (tags: ) "It benefits no one to turn the #HumanRightsAct into some cackling bogeyman" say Liberty (tags: ) An American Uses Britain's NHS - and unsurprisingly, finds it lots better than the USian system (tags: ) Hirsute advised to take care of the beard in snowy weather (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
I've long been a fan of the idea of allowing people the chance to e-vote, even through safe and secure on-line voting websites. Several countries throughout the world have held successful trials, while to those people who suggest it is open to corruption, I'd refer them back to the embarrassing reports a few years ago on [...]
I have previously commented on the happenings at Sefton Council on Thursday 22nd January when the Council's Local Plan was being debated. One thing I have not mentioned though so far is the rather off the subject contribution of one member of the Council. You see this Labour councillor had to be told to stick to the matter being debated, by the Mayor, rather than carry on with his vision of how socialist revolution was benefiting Maghull Town Council and seemingly Maghull as a whole. He made a number of claims, before he was advised to stick to the Local ...
Yesterday, I was delighted to attend the packed launch event at the University of Dundee to recognise our city becoming a UNESCO City of Design, the first UK city to be given this prestigious recognition - see right. The launch event was part of three days of events that continue today at DCA. Dundee's bid focused on three approaches to design: place, covering architecture and redesigning Dundee, products, such as life-saving drugs, jewellery and computer games, and processes, including designing public services to support people. Only 17 cities around the world hold the UNESCO City of Design title, including Beijing, ...
After the FA Cup hiatus, Premiership football returns this weekend – and so does our latest round-up from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to George Murray, whose Marauding Fullbacks continue to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 22, just ahead of Jon Featonby and Sam Bowman. But let's also hear it for three players outside the top 10: Michael Brown (Mike's Dream Team v4) had the best week's performance, with 88 points. Honourable mentions go to James King (Kings Park Rangers) and Richard Sealy (Coolcat69 United), with 87 and 86 points respectively. [IMG: LDV FANTASY FOOTBALL_22] There ...
After the FA Cup hiatus, Premiership football returns this weekend – and so does our latest round-up from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to George Murray, whose Marauding Fullbacks continue to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 22, just ahead of Jon Featonby and Sam Bowman. But let's also hear it for three players outside the top 10: Michael Brown (Mike's Dream Team v4) had the best week's performance, with 88 points. Honourable mentions go to James King (Kings Park Rangers) and Richard Sealy (Coolcat69 United), with 87 and 86 points respectively. [IMG: LDV FANTASY FOOTBALL_22] There ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats on Wednesday launched their vision for helping to build a well-connected, better funded, highly skilled Wales. Leading a debate on the economy in the Senedd, Welsh Liberal Democrats outlined their proposals to strengthen the Welsh economy by focusing on three principle objectives - improving the transport infrastructure of Wales, increasing the financial help available for businesses and creating a nation of highly skilled workers. The Welsh Lib Dems aim to create a long-term transport plan for Wales by decentralising transport planning to three regional Passenger Transport Authorities. The party proposes electrifying the North Wales Coast line and ...
The issue of the replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system is one I've been asked dozens of times recently. Rather than reply individually every time, I've decided to write this blogpost and refer people to it. Thank you to all those who sent me the question, and if you want to ask any other questions, please send them in using the Get In Touch page, and I'll either answer directly or (for popular questions) write a response here on the Blog. Here's one of the more complete sets of questions I've been asked on the subject: I believe that ...
