New Lib Dem Leader Vince Cable was in Newcastle this evening. About 300 members attended the event in the Royal Station Hotel, next to the Central Station. As usual, Vince was on good form and his speech was littered with his dry witticisms, poignant comments and positive thoughts about the future. I filmed Vince's speech and I will post the video shortly. You can view my photos of the event
Today the A6 crosses the Nene, its meadows and backwaters, on a concrete viaduct. It must have been quite something when it opened in 1936. Before then traffic had to negotiate a narrow medieval bridge. A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Northamptonshire says A 1920s attempt to widen the bridge and its approaches was abandoned half-way through when it was found that the entire bridge as on the move seawards!It looks as though a recent strike by a vehicle has sent some of the stonework in that direction.
Embed from Getty Images It's been a disastrous week for Donald Trump's Presidency. I won't the list the cataclysms because there are endless articles cataloguing them. This article does a very good job in summing up the situation. What struck me was that a situation which led to the Affordable Care Act (ACA – "Obamacare") becoming law was repeated as the Republican "Skinny Repeal" of the ACA failed in the US Senate early on Friday morning. In the December 2009, the late Senator Robert Byrd, then 92 years-old with fragile health, was instrumental in passing the Affordable Care Act through ...
Embed from Getty Images That's the headline on an article by Matthew Norman on the Independent website today. After reminding us that it is almost seven years since Vince Cable appeared on a Strictly Come Dancing special, Norman rightly observes: Although Labour has done brilliantly so far at disguising this, it is barely less split than the Tories. Jeremy Corbyn, as Cable pointed out in a recent article, is far keener on Hard Brexit than May. Contempt for the EU has always been one of those points at which the far-left and far-right meet round the back. Whether Corbyn actually ...
A new dog control order called a "Public Space Protection Order" (PSPO) that is being introduced by Ribble Valley Borough Council may have the effect of forcing local dog owners to break the law. Currently, under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, owners have a duty to provide for their animal's welfare, which includes exercising them. However, the draft version of the new order appears to bring in a blanket ban on the exercising of dogs off leads on all council owned land. Indeed, this blanket ban is contrary to the guidance for introducing the orders provided by the Local Government ...
Current Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (a chapter a month) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, by Erving Goffman The Help, by Kathryn Stockett Last books finished Common People: The History of an English Family, by Alison Light Decide Your Destiny: The Horror of Howling Hill, by Jonathan Green The Double Deckers, by Glyn Jones Sultana's Dream, by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain Decide Your Destiny: The Coldest War, by Colin Brake Next books Moon Stallion, by Brian Hayles QI: The Book of the Dead, by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson Short Trips: Transmissions, ed. Richard Salter
Listen to Liberal Democrats make speeches and there are frequent references to historical figures, but drawn from a small cast. Just the quartet of John Stuart Mill, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, David Penhaligon corner almost all of the market. Some of the forgotten figures deserve their obscurity but others do not. Charles James Fox's defence of civil liberties against a dominating government during wartime or Earl Grey's leading of the party back into power and major constitutional reform are good examples of mostly forgotten figures who could just as well be a regular source of reference, quotation and inspiration ...
The first part of me I'd recognised went hungry while my bowels grew fat and soft and legs and shoulders stiffened towards dust as I committed fantasies, expecting different outcomes by recycling inputs through unaltered settings... But no matter what the physical becomes I have embraced those siren voices in my head and called them [...]
21 July is Belgium's National Day, so we went on an excursion to the southeast of the country where visitors are made to feel welcome. We started off in the small town of Florenville, where one of our number (not me) indulged in the day's special at Don Sergio's, a pizza with an entire Camembert in the middle. As Terry Practhett said, this was "... good solid stuff for a cold morning, all calories and fat and protein and maybe a vitamin crying softly because it was all alone." The real goal was a hike through a geological park, to ...
Last night, shortly after dinner, we heard gunshots not far away from the house, followed by police sirens, and this morning the story was all over town. An 18-year-old youth had shot dead another and wounded a couple of girls. The attacker was in turn shot by police and wounded, but not critically. He will [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above Goodness me is it really 12 years since this appalling crime? Sadly racist crimes are still around and in recent times have been showing a worrying increase. Do some people learn nothing? Hate crime has no place in a civilised society.
From Friday's Guardian: England Lost uses a disenchanted, plain-speaking football fan as the narrator for what he said was the "feeling that we are in a difficult moment in our history". It's a rough, rambling but ready vocal performance, with some blunt one-liners: "I went to see England but England lost / I went round the back but they said piss off." Jagger then sings he'll "go home and smoke a joint" after a match he didn't even want to go to, before adding: "I went to find England and it wasn't there/ I think I lost it down the ...
So, we are to be a party of the centre; open, tolerant and united. Four adjectives for the LibDems of the future. Given that we are currently polling around 7%-8%, I feel we need to take a long hard look at ourselves. So for what it is worth, here is my take on the first of these adjectives: party of 'The Centre'. The problems of being a party of the centre are well known. Suffice to say that barring a massive misjudgement on the part of the Labour or Conservative parties we will never hold the centre captive, un-contested and ...
In 1976, Libby Purves became the first-ever female presenter on Radio 4's Today programme. It being mostly a pre-internet world, the trolling abuse she received came in letter form. Here's how she handled it: When @lib_thinks was the first woman presenter of Today, she had a brilliant way of dealing with trolls: pic.twitter.com/1eINlvacNz — Kat Brown (@katbrown) July 30, 2013
I had a meeting of Gateshead Council's accounts committee on Friday. There are three members: myself as Leader of the Opposition, Martin Gannon as Leader of the Council, and Catherine Donovan, Deputy Leader of the Council. Martin rang me before the meeting to tell me he was under the weather with dose of flu and wasn't attending the committee and was checking to see if I was going. As I was, the
Sat, 20:48: Charlie Gard: The Facts https://t.co/N48l2nAml1 Definitive. Sat, 22:24: My thoughts on the Irish dimension of Brexit, https://t.co/UicSj9fwsk Sun, 09:03: RT @lukevzahner: The Desperation of Our Diplomats, via @nytimes https://t.co/OSOA4oNkwl Sun, 10:26: RT @sundersays: What are the Jews like with money? Columnist Kevin Myers in the Sunday Times (Ireland edition) opines. https://t.co/YtP60or... Sun, 10:30: RT @KeohaneDan: Ah lads. "UK Home Office admits it hasn't consulted any external experts on effect of Brexit on Irish Border". https://t.... Sun, 11:20: RT @AnnEnglishRose: The looming ultimatum: Varadkar's warning shot https://t.co/YXy8XvjWQF via @sluggerotoole
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 29-07-2017 I posted The Blood is the Life for 29-07-2017 to my dreamwidth blog [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
So for anyone who has read a blog by me before, or knows anything about me, will realise I am a Bradford lad. Now much to the annoyance of anyone who lives outside the traditional city limits of Bradford it is true to say that the city status of Bradford appplies to the Metropolitan Borough ... Continue reading Haworth Idyllic, Tragic, Beautiful!! →
The election of Liz Twist as MP for Blaydon created a vacancy on Gateshead Council's cabinet. It has now been filled by the appointment of John Adams, Labour Councillor for Saltwell. I have to confess that I know little about Cllr Adams. He has barely been on my radar screen since his election to Gateshead Council in 2014. I have a vague recollection of one speech made by him at full council,
The Queen's House at the Tower of London is one of the most remarkable surviving pieces of British architectural history - a building that was meant for the protection and comfort of the most respected traitors, for their relaxation before ... Continue reading →
Following the death of Whinnie, my baby goat that was adopted by the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside as their mascot, we now have a new one. Coal, our 4 month old black nanny goat is the new mascot. She will be appearing at future events at the Whinnies. Watch this space or visit the garden's Facebook site for further information. Above: Coal with her brother Snow and mother Georgina.
It's a niche field, but this American car weights statistic easily wins the day.
Anti-social behaviour is nothing new in parks and gardens and in my experience it sporadically pops up in some play areas and then stops as it pops up elsewhere. In my 30+ years as a councillor there's not much I have not seen related to ASB in parks and gardens. Lydiate's Ridgeway Park (often called Coronation Park) presently has some issues which involve older youths abusing the play equipment intended for much younger children. The law of unintended consequences seems to come into play (no pun intended) here in that the item of play equipment concerned was meant to be ...
Can we learn from this loathsome reptile the way to have a debate on health by doing the exact opposite of what he does?! No, I haven't quite taken leave of the few senses that I have when I suggest ... Continue reading →
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : Girls in Print : Female Figures in British ComicsAn exhibition in the Tower Foyer Gallery, University of DundeeNow on and running until 21st October 2017 The way that female characters have been portrayed in comics has changed considerably over the years. In Britain, comics aimed specifically at girls were hugely popular from the 1950s to the 1980s, but have now largely disappeared. Dundee-based publishers DC Thomson were especially prolific in this area - as well as the famous Bunty (1958-2001) they produced many other titles including Judy (1960-91), ...
Having fought a campaign some years ago to keep the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status for Gower, it is disturbing to read in yesterday's Western Mail that further proposals are under consideration that might reduce the protection currently enjoyed by the peninsular. The paper says that the World Commission on Protected Areas has threatened to withdraw recognition from Wales' National Parks (NPs) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty(AONBs) because it believes that Welsh Government's proposals would reduce the protection for our most treasured landscapes: The body's UK Assessment Panel is deeply concerned by Future Landscapes, a major Welsh Government-commissioned ...
