As I wrote earlier, I properly chilled out on my holidays. Very little work, next to no reading and lots of walks,silly games and fun. I could get used to that lifestyle... This all meant that I consumed news like a normal person rather than an obsessive who has half an eye on Twitter and the rolling news channels at all times lest something might happen in the world and she might miss it. If the news happened to be on, I'd watch it if there was no gripping Olympic action going on at the same time, but I wasn't ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
Sun 21st
22:31

Six of the Best 620

"To get my vote when a substantive motion comes to conference in the Spring, abolishers will have to show how scrapping Trident will produce a large, practical effect on disarmament, without alienating the public whose support we Liberal Democrats will need if we are to help set Britain's course." Greg Simpson looks forward to the party's debate on the renewal of Trident. Is neighbourhood planning working? asks Nicholas Boys Smith. Chris Cillizza is pleased that the comments sections on newspaper websites are on the way out. Why not tell me what you think of his article? Pete Paphides celebrates Europop. ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Sun 21st
21:52

Linkblogging For 21/8/16

Blood pressure headache today, so no full post. There'll be a proper post early tomorrow morning (a review of the Turtles Complete Albums box set) and possibly another one later tomorrow (the second What Autism Feels Like post), but for ... Continue reading →

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!
Sun 21st
21:31

Life in the hot-house

The new Dolly Parton album, released on Friday and well worth an hour of anybody's time has a song called 'Never Not Love You' which opens with the fantastic and Partonesque lines; 'I may not climb Mount Everest, win praise in others eyes, I may not win the Lottery, or win the Pulitzer Prize...' It's a pretty wide list of things, I'll admit. I don't know if anybody has done all four, and if they have I'd like to meet them - but it's a pretty rare thing nowadays, to list things that you probably won't succeed in. It felt ...

Posted by Sam Phripp on So Sam said...

Embed from Getty Images The Labour Party has experienced a revolution - and we all know what happens after revolutions. The philosopher and former Labour and SDP MP Bryan Magee spelt it out in his Confessions of a Philosopher: There is a situational logic to revolutions. Disparate groups unite to overthrow an existing regime, but once they have succeeded in doing so the cause that brought them together has gone, and they then fight one another to fill the power vacuum that they themselves have created. These internecine struggles, usually savage, among erstwhile allies perpetuate the revolutionary breakdown of society ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I just came across this excellent article about gender and Olympic disciplines or competitive sport more generally, starting with the case of gold-medal winning runner Caster Semenya who has faced so much controversy over whether she should be allowed to compete as a woman: https://thesportspectacle.com/2016/08/16/capturing-semenya/. It made me think of the many conversations about the ancient Olympics I have had over the years. One difference that is easy to point out, and to feel a bit smug about, is the fact that women were completely banned from the whole area during the days of the festival - all but one, ...

Posted by Maria Pretzler on Working Memories

Second paragraph of third chapter: The angel was actually a collection of data equations and mathematical emulations that had once been a Ship. Probably. Now it was reborn as Gabriel, though he preferred to go by the name given him by Professor Bernice Summerfield over sherry: Clarence. And God was the supercomputer that, for want of a better description, oversaw and organized the lives of the People. And the People, the organic ones, the Ships and droids, and the few hybrid entities like Clarence, lived in the Worldsphere. And the somewhere that most of God 'lived', at least for most ...

The Flower Show leases the Victoria Park from the Council and so once a year at the show the Southport Flower show hands over the rent. Since 1987 that rent has been set at a dozen red roses. The Chair of the Flower Show, David Rose, is pictures discharging that obligation. This year as Mayor I collected the rent along with my daughter Elspeth who was on Mayoress duty. The Mayor of Southport gave a trophy awarded this year to the National Vegetable Society (Lancashire District). They had an amazing display of vegetables that featured in a national Broadsheet newspaper ...

Posted by iain on theMayoralBlog

At a meeting Full Council earlier this year City Councillors had the opportunity to continue the decision taken last year, following the motion I submitted, to continue the having opposition Councillors chairing the City Council's scrutiny committees. The reason why I and others feel this is a sensible concept, is that it the role of the [...]

Posted by Cllr Darren Fower on Cllr Darren Fower

[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the 11,300 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Book review: The Residence: Inside the private world of the White House (0 comments) by Caron Lindsay How to leave the EU without invoking Article 50 (10 comments) by Simon Pike What happened to sending £350 million a week to the NHS? (45 comments) by Anna Pitcher There may be a snap election. Your country needs you to do your duty (21 comments) by Chris Key Taking the time to grieve? (33 comments) by Mark Argent Nuclear weapons ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

I was in an expensive shoe shop cum coffee shop in Leicester yesterday - well, it was Clarendon Park - when they played this. It sounded good, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood was originally recorded, at a much slower tempo, by Nina Simone. Many later covers have been inspired by The Animals' take on it. This cracking live performance comes from the 1965 New Musical Express poll winners concert. The whole show is on Youtube.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Sun 21st
12:27

Stonehenge

 

I think that I have an open mind, I try and look at both sides of an argument/discussion but sometimes I struggle, sometimes... On Twitter yesterday was one of those occasions. My open mind says that everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it is one I don't agree with, but sometimes others opinions [...]

Posted by robstick on Rob's View (from the sidelines)

I'm just back from the first two week holiday I've had since 2008. I was fairly determined before I went that I was going to have a proper break. My aim was greatly helped with the discovery that I'd managed to book a holiday cottage that had no wifi. I almost succeeded in keeping away from work for the whole time and I feel much better for it. After fighting two national elections and two referendum campaigns in 2.5 years, I was pretty close to completely knackered. I knew I had to switch off properly for my own wellbeing. I ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Watch this clip. There, your interview doesn't seem so bad now does it?

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

I'm a DWP call handler and have no time to care about your disability claim | Public Leaders Network | The Guardian RT @imajsaclaimant: Anonymous: I'm a DWP call handler and have 23 minutes to care about your disability claim Twitter RT @imajsaclaimant: Anonymous: I'm a DWP call handler and have 23 minutes to care about your disability claim Trumpery | Sci-Ence! Justice Leak! In which @HickeyWriter is utterly and completely right. Again. Non-Muslims flock to buy burkinis as French bans raise profile of the modest swimwear style RT @_shireenahmed_: "The burkini stands for freedom, flexibility and confidence, it does ...

Today's Observer contains a serious feature which suggests that the UK is making little progress towards leaving the EU because of the complexities of leaving the single market, the failure of either the Leave or Remain sides in the referendum to prepare for the eventual outcome and divisions within the cabinet as to what sort of final settlement we should aim for. In particular, they say that senior UK diplomats have been shocked by how little leading Tories in government, including Boris Johnson, understand about the workings of the EU and its single market. That will explain a lot of ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

On 27th August, LDV will be 10 years old. In that time, we've brought you over 24,000 posts and published over 337,000 comments. Over the Summer holidays, we'll take you on a nostalgic meander through a decade of Liberal Democrat history, seen through the eyes of our editors and contributors. We hope you enjoy our choices. Cast your minds back to May 2010, when Nick Clegg walked along Downing Street as Deputy PM for the first time. How did LDV contributors take the news? 101 ways to win an election co-author Ed Maxfield described family tensions but looked at the ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

The words below are those of a Jonathan Walker – I don't know him but he has given permission for them to be quoted. A spot on reposte to the utter madness of Brexit.... I won't sit back and allow mine and my family's European citizenship to be stripped away from us without our consent after a non-binding plebiscite that was won by harnessing xenophobia on an industrial scale and lying about EU budgets and how they could be spent on the NHS. People saying 'just move on' simply haven't understood the profound cultural, economic, political and social consequences of ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 22 AUGUST 2016 Scottish Water Clatto East mains renewal - Perth Road (Hawkhill to Nethergate) - closed eastbound for 1 week. Scottish Water Clatto East City Road DMA (Mains Renewal) - Annfield Road and Annfield Street closed for one week. Guthrie Street (at Daniel Street) - temporary traffic lights for one week for water main repair. Forthcoming Closures Logie Street (Loons Road to City Road) - closed southbound from Monday 29 August for 2 weeks for Scottish Water Clatto East City Road DMA. Perth Road ...

eUKhost

It's time to defend Brexit, says the Spectator Getting worried? (tags: ukpolitics eu ) 20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity Q: Will sex become obsolescent? A: No. (tags: science ) The Hidden Danger of Big Data In 2015, mankind produced as much information as was created in all previous years of human civilization. (tags: internet ) Hosting The Olympics Is A Terrible Investment | FiveThirtyEight Average cost overruns: 176% for Summer Games, 142% for Winter Games. (tags: sport economics ) I'm a DWP call handler and have no time to care about your disability claim A conscript in ...