With the split between Mike Love and Alan Jardine in 1998, the Beach Boys effectively ended their existence as a creative band producing new music. "The Beach Boys" became a trademark, licensed by Mike Love's company MELECO, and applied to ... Continue reading →
What ideas do you think are necessary to improve the care of the elderly in Scotland? How do you think home care can be improved?As you know, Scotland, in common with the rest of the UK and many northern countries, is facing the task of looking after an increasingly ageing population. It is widely recognised that the former system of keeping people in hospital for long periods are simply unsustainable. That is why there are ongoing movement of community care for the elderly, so minimalising time in hospital. This is not all about cost-cutting. It is widely recognised that the ...
"Liberalism is dead. Or at least it is on the ropes. Triumphant a quarter-century ago, when liberal democracy appeared to have prevailed definitively over the totalitarian utopias that exacted such a toll in blood, it is now under siege from without and within." Read Roger Cohen in the New York Times. Evan Harris claimed Hacked Off are not hypocrites for their stance on John Whittingdale. You can never have enough takedowns of Seumas "Christopher Robin" Milne. This one by Peter Wilby is particularly good. Felicity Cloake asks why eating has become so complicated. Backwatersman pays tribute to the England batsman ...
At what point does a free media cease to be free? The obvious answer is when it is subject to censorship, or when it is controlled by government and required to push the official line, usually that of totalitarian or despotic regimes that seek to undermine and crush all opposition. Of course, it does not just have to be a government that can control and manipulate the media in this way. With his media monopoly, Murdoch has been pushing his right wing agenda for decades, influencing gullible readers and cowardly kowtowing governments. Having such a monopoly of influence is not ...
It is our task to look after our fragile planet and landscapes for future generations but at times this task is not easy. Take solar farms. They help us in our battle against climate change but can despoil precious landscapes. That's why I am disappointed that a planning inspector approved a solar farm at Acton... Continue reading Shropshire Hills AONB threatened by council cuts →
Just a quick update today. Co-op have confirmed there will be no more deliveries to the front of the Parr Lane store. @SteveMiddleton No deliveries should be made at the front of the store, we have asked all drivers to park around the back. ^Gem — The Co-operativeFood (@CooperativeFood) April 15, 2016
Embed from Getty Images Nigel Morris in the i reports: Lonely MPs are finding it almost impossible to balance their jobs with ordinary family life, according to a survey of politicians who quit Parliament at last year's election. It painted a picture of MPs struggling with increasing constituency workloads while facing continuing public hostility following the 2009 expenses scandal. The report, by the Commons Administration Committee, found the most frequent reason for standing down was the impact on family life of a working week of 70 to 80 hours. One former MP said: "I wouldn't have done it if I ...
Embed from Getty Images Nigel Morris in the i reports: Lonely MPs are finding it almost impossible to balance their jobs with ordinary family life, according to a survey of politicians who quit Parliament at last year's election. It painted a picture of MPs struggling with increasing constituency workloads while facing continuing public hostility following the 2009 expenses scandal. The report, by the Commons Administration Committee, found the most frequent reason for standing down was the impact on family life of a working week of 70 to 80 hours. One former MP said: "I wouldn't have done it if I ...
Sat 16th
18:43
Timely reminder - when the Guardian's attempt to influence US politics backfired spectacularly
Embed from Getty Images Owen Jones in the Guardian recently wrote an article entitled: "I signed an open letter to Donald Trump, and you should too": Trump's unapologetic embrace of racism, xenophobia and misogyny vindicates all of those ugly prejudices the world over. And millions of Americans are horrified about Trump. They deserve our solidarity and support. There is, after all, another United States, one forged by immigrants and transformed by courageous Americans who fought racism, sexism and homophobia. That is a United States millions of us believe in. And that is why we should sign this letter. I won't ...
Stephen Fisher of the local government elections forecasting site Elections Etc is predicting Liberal Democrat gains in next months local elections as being in the range of +55 to +130 seats, with his predicted figure being +95. The full results are here:- Forecasting Local Election Seats 2016 The forecast builds on the positive predictions from Railings [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has challenged his opponents to match his vision for a better education for Scotland's children as he met voters today in Bridge of Allan. At the centre of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto, unveiled yesterday by Mr Rennie, is the penny for education worth half a billion pounds which will: – [...]
Watch the latest video from the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign: Leaving Europe means losing our seat at the table – and losing our say on the big decisions that affect jobs, prices and the world we live in. By remaining in Europe, we'll keep our influence and our place in the world. If you'd like to know more about the wider topic, see my other European referendum posts, and in particular Nick Clegg's demolition of the anti-EU case.
Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) 1491, by Charles C. Mann JN-T: The Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner, by Richard Marson Last books finished Legacy: A Collection of Personal Testimonies from People Affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland, by BBC Northern Ireland Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth, by David McIntee Whispers Under Ground, by Ben Aaronovitch Next books Gorgon Child, by Steven Barnes Thing Explainer, by Randall Munroe Selected Stories, by Alice Munro Books acquired in last week Atlantis Fallen, by C.E. Murphy Doctor Who: Four Doctors, by Paul Cornell and Neil Edwards Drama ...
More educative entertainment from Tom Scott: Of course, "radioactive" is a relative term. Let's talk about carbon dating, about cosmic rays and about long-dead dinosaurs.
Nicholas Whyte has been ploughing a lonely furrow with a series of posts on the early 1970s children's television series Here Come the Double Deckers. Although this fell precisely into my era, I fear I can recall disliking it at the time. Even then I sensed it was peopled with stage-school brats and aimed too shamelessly at the American market. As a result I viewed the later careers of two of its stars - Brisnley Forde of Aswad and Peter Firth - with mild scepticism. I struggled with Spooks in particular. MI5 just would not employ a former member of ...
The dust has settled on a keenly fought Cornwall Council by-election in the Wadebridge West electoral division with Karen McHugh pulling off a stunning victory for the Lib Dems. The seat was previously held by Scott Mann for the Conservatives but the Tory vote collapsed (by 40%) while the Lib Dem vote share was up [...]
Episode 13: Barney First shown: 5 December 1970 (US), 15 January 1971 (UK) Director: Harry Booth Writer: Glyn Jones Appearing apart from the Double Deckers: Julian Chagrin (Barney) Ivor Salter (Policeman) [Melvyn Hayes is credited as Albert, but if he appeared I missed him.] Plot Tiger befriends Barney, a one-man band, who is down on his luck but soon charms the rest of the gang, apart from Doughnut. They end up successfully starring on stage in front of the Queen, and even charm the policeman who has been pursuing Barney. Soundtrack "One Man Band", by Ivor Slaney and Glyn Jones. ...
Eight anti-armaments campaigners, who were charged with blocking the entrance to last September's giant arms fair in London, DSEI 2016, were this week found not guilty, on the grounds that they had acted in good faith to prevent an even greater crime. After listening to four days of often passionate testimony, the judge said the [...]
Sat 16th
11:54
Timely reminder - when the Guardian's attempt to influence US politics backfired spectacularly
Embed from Getty Images Owen Jones in the Guardian recently wrote an article entitled: "I signed an open letter to Donald Trump, and you should too": Trump's unapologetic embrace of racism, xenophobia and misogyny vindicates all of those ugly prejudices the world over. And millions of Americans are horrified about Trump. They deserve our solidarity and support. There is, after all, another United States, one forged by immigrants and transformed by courageous Americans who fought racism, sexism and homophobia. That is a United States millions of us believe in. And that is why we should sign this letter. I won't ...
Excellent by Tim Harford on politicians' use of bullshit statistics & how it poisons discourse Bonus for actually telling the Florence Nightingale story PROPERLY. They'll Have to Rewrite the Textbooks | UVA Today RT @sashajwolf: The brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist - RT @UGwomensrugby: #RugbyTacklingLife =empowering Ugandan girls & women thru rugby!Pse donate & share this link Fairy Tale Character Bookmark Workshop (drop-in) - Bradford Literature Festival RT @CityParkBD: Lovely @BradfordLitFest Fairy Tale Character Bookmark Workshop for kids Sun 22 May Transgender moths could save your clothes - BBC News ...
Back in January, the Social Market Foundation, a think tank, established its cross-party Commission on Inequality in Education. It wants to tackle the disparity of attainment and break down barriers it identified relating to where you live, your family's income and your ethnicity. Yesterday, Nick chaired a meeting of the Commission at Sheffield Hallam University. Nick said: On launching the commission, our research showed that where young people live now has more impact on their performance at school than used to be the case. It is not just the relative wealth of parents that holds lots of bright kids back: ...
[IMG: Margaret Wintringham] The Liberal Democrat History Group faces a double bind when it comes to finding authors and topics for our articles, books and meetings cover the history of the Liberal Democrats and our predecessor parties. The superficial explanation is that our output is bound to be dominated by men because that is how political has been. Just look at the ranks of male party leaders, for example. And look at how nearly all the biographers of our party leaders have been men. So whether we're looking at topics or authors, you might think we're bound to be dominated ...
Thank you for your email, requesting that I join the fight against cancer in Scotland. Naturally I am only too pleased to have this opportunity to show my support publicly in the fight against cancer and will happily sign the pledge. I note that you express pleasure at recent Scottish Government's comments on the topic. May I council caution on this, for often the SNP's actions do not follow their warm words. Our GPs are at the forefront of the fight against cancer but spending on the services they provide has been cut to 7.4% of the health budget - ...
Marco Rubio's failed bid to be the 2016 Republican nominee for President leaves behind many lessons in what not to do. But just as winning campaigns don't get everything right, so too losing campaigns don't get everything wrong – and the way the Rubio campaign responded to some of the bizarre attacks on him was rather effective. Here's the context for the TV ad below. In the run-up to the Iowa primary, Rubio had been on the receiving end of $22m of negative ads, alongside the 'revelation' in The Washington Post that he had been out too late one night ...
Sat 16th
09:59
Want to be a Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2019 European election? Not on the approved candidat...
It is hard to believe that, if all goes well, the advert seeking applications for consideration as a Liberal Democrat candidate for 2019 will go live in less than eleven weeks. Yes, less than eleven weeks. How do I know this? Because I've got the schedule, and I'm one of the Returning Officers (London, for those who didn't read yesterday's post - and it disappoints me how many of you don't hang on my every word...). Given that so many of our members only joined the Party in the month after the May 2015 disaster, they are only now becoming ...
Further to Council approval on 23rd March the Placemaking Plan and supporting documentation has now been submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination. Further information is available on the Council's website at www.bathnes.gov.uk/placemakingplan The Planning Inspectorate have confirmed that Inspector Claire Sherratt has been appointed to conduct the Examination. The Inspector will be responsible for setting the programme for the Examination, including the hearings. For your information please see below the email/letter that will be sent to all those individuals and organisations that submitted representations on the Draft Placemaking Plan. If you have not yet had your say or ...
The Daily Post carries news of Labour's big idea for North Wales. They have published a map illustrating how an integrated transport system can benefit the region. Labour's plans are said to include park and ride services, new train stations, modern trains, more reliable buses, transport "hubs" and a "safe and resilient road network". And yet the map itself looks like it was drawn up on the back of an envelope, joining existing stations together with a red line and missing out North West Wales altogether. If anything was designed to illustrate how out of touch Labour are with North ...
Norman Baker hit the stage in London recently with his band. Buzzfeed, and a whole load of Lib Dems, were there. "Where are all the Lib Dems?" one bearded fan heckled at him at one point. Baker replied: "He's over there." That prompted some wry chuckles from my Lib Dem companions, perhaps tinged with a hint of sadness. Baker didn't shy away from politics during the gig. "We wrote this one before May 2015 but it's a good song to play afterwards," he said, introducing "Never Yesterday". "But the road to the past is just another dead end / And ...
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : SCULPTURAL Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of DundeeNow open and running until 7th May 2016(Monday to Friday 9.30am to 7pm; Saturday 1pm to 5pm) Now open in the University of Dundee's Lamb Gallery on the first floor of the Tower Building, this exhibition features highlights from the University's extensive sculpture collections. It includes free-standing and wall-based constructions as well as preparatory drawings, sketch-books and photographic documentation of sculptures that no longer exist. Many are by former students at Duncan of Jordanstone College (including notable graduates such as David ...
Sat 16th
08:20
Peel Ports new container terminal at Seaforth – Champion article ignores the transportation sc...
Buried away on page 18 of last week's Champion newspaper was an article all about a visit by a little known government Shipping Minister (Robert Goodwill) to Seaforth Docks and the Port of Liverpool. [IMG: Red and blue cranes at Seaforth Docks] The article was in connection with his visit and how the expansion of the docks is we are told attracting new businesses to the area. All well and good except for the fact that this project has seemingly been put together without much in the way of credible transport planning, by responsible public authorities, to get the extra ...
With all the EU referendum stuff going on, it can sometimes be easy to forget that there are a large round of elections on May 5 – and furthermore that they could be important enough to have as much impact on the rest of this parliament as said EU referendum will. So taking them one by one, here are my predictions: LONDON MAYOR I've started with the easy one: Sadiq Khan wins this contest for sure. I can see almost no way short of some sort of mind boggling scandal how Zac can turn things around enough to win. I ...
DWP 'punishing' low-paid full-time workers under new benefits rule Fighting poverty by making the poor poorer... (tags: ukpolitics ) Baiting the bear Russia struggles with the consequences of its illegal seizure of Yukos a decade ago. (tags: russia ) Luck Is a Bigger Contributor to Success Than People Give It Credit For Food for thought. (tags: work ) Dolmio and Uncle Ben's firm Mars defends limit on products Hardly controversial! Impressive for Mars to go public though. (tags: food ) Alien 'Wow!' signal could be explained after almost 40 years Sneaky comets! (tags: astronomy ) Protesters who blockaded London arms ...
Embed from Getty Images I saw Muse at the O2 on Thursday night with my good lady wife. This band are the mutt's nuts. What a sound! I found the drumming unbelievably good. And of course Matt Bellamy is a remarkable talent with his fantastic falsetto voice and his mind-blowing guitar. Great sounds – varied instrumentation – tremendous visuals. If there is a greater arena rock band then I'd like to know about them! [IMG: IMG_0159] Share
