It seems that the saga of the Trump comments on Charlottesville's white supremacist parade is not going away and is indeed being fueled by Trump himself. His attempt to put some of the blame for the violence on anti-Nazi protesters reads more like an apology for the far right. Today he describes the statues of defeated Confederate generals as "beautiful". "Sad to see the history and culture of
Those of us old enough to be around in 1977 will probably remember what we were doing when we heard the news that Elvis Presley had died (the 40th anniversary of his death was yesterday). It's our Kennedy moment (I missed the Kennedy assassination as I was born only a few hours after he died.) I remember sitting in the living room of our house at Lobley Hill, Gateshead, and hearing the news on
I am not feeling inspired this evening, so here is part 2 of Alexei Sayle's Comic Roots. (I posted part 1 yesterday.)
Parking is very much the talk of the town right now. Shropshire Council is consulting on major changes to parking charges and arrangements across the county including in Ludlow. In the last few days, our parking meters have been upgraded to accept the new pound coin. That's good news as we haven't seen the old coins in town for some while. One of the next steps will be to replace the existing pay and display parking machines with flexible, eco-friendly models. We don't know yet the full capabilities of the machines that will be installed in Ludlow but I think ...
(Part 1 of 2) (The 2017 Hugo Award) In 2014 I was the division head for Promotions for Loncon 3, which turned out to be the second biggest Worldcon ever. It was immensely hard work, but also immensely rewarding. I often felt out of my depth, but the moments of triumph - like getting the front page of the Guardian - were all the sweeter for that. I swore to myself (and to my wife) that I would not be involved with another Worldcon at that level of responsibility again any time soon - way too stressful and time-consuming. For ...
Sorry about that picture - the stuff of nightmares indeed! This kind of follows on from yesterdays post about 'heroes'. One of the things I was saying in there was that we need to be careful about 'dehumanising' politicians either as 'heroes' or villains'. This post is about those people, and politicians in particular, who carefully construct a 'persona' in order to do just that for themselves. Let's start with Adolf Hitler - a very well known and obvious example of this. What was seen on news reels and in speeches was not 'Adolph Hitler' the man at all - ...
I need to read more fiction that isn't by white males, but it's very difficult to find stuff I'd love, and I wonder if anyone here can help with that? You see, I have fairly specific tastes for fiction, and ... Continue reading →
Developments like this and a glut in older terraced properties caused by new student accommodation emptying traditional areas are leading to many unlicensed and untaxed properties in places like Liverpool Recent revelations about the property market in Liverpool have led ... Continue reading →
Wed, 12:56: I'm a woman in computer science. Let me ladysplain the Google memo to you. https://t.co/6erwPawk4l Excellent. Wed, 16:43: Great analysis thread. "The Brexit leprechaun is strong in this one." https://t.co/AeLWUrVfde Thu, 09:09: RT @301N: Or: Britain is begging the EU to save Ireland from the hard border that is a consequence of British #Brexit (there, I fixed your... Thu, 10:45: RT @threelisabeth: the excerpts from the martin shkreli jury selection process are Extremely Good https://t.co/AOLwJOYKbD
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 16-08-2017 I posted The Blood is the Life for 16-08-2017 to my dreamwidth blog [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The first time I can remember feeling attracted to another boy was when I was twelve. I guess puberty and hormones had kicked in me. At the time I had two really good friends. Nathan and Jacob. I didn't know what I was feeling, but I was drawn to them both in a strange way that made little sense to me at the time. I wanted to hug them, kiss them, and touch their warm skin. It feels awkward thinking about it let alone writing about it. It felt wrong because I didn't understand it. I was meant to be ...
It's been over a year since the EU referendum and months since the snap General Election. The Remain/Leave debate trundles on and the constant repetition of key messages from each side of the debate now largely falls on deaf ears. On most topics each campaign and their primary spokespersons still maintain positions in absolute opposition with minimal evidence of concession. There is little to no debate, simply rhetoric. In my experience it's often been an impersonal, fear based, economic argument for Remain or an emotional but limited argument for Leave. We deserve better from both. Why should we, as the ...
By chance, last week, I watched a recording of Robin Cook's resignation speech in the House of Commons. It was during the Iraq debate in March 2003 and it was impressive and convincing. But there was something else about it which surprised me. It carried within it more than a whiff of dignity and gravitas, [...] The post Why is the UK so badly governed? appeared first on Radix.
A consultation has started on changes to the Gibbs Lane, Codrington weight limit. The aim is to implement an enforceable 7.5 Tonne weight restriction, to prevent Gibbs Lane being used as a through route by HGVs. As with all environmental weight limits, HGVs will still be permitted to load/unload at premises along Gibbs Lane. The proposed scheme is to amend the existing Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the weight limit on Gibbs Lane and to install new signs. You can find out more and have your say here until 28th August.
Vince Cable's prediction that there is a 'significant possibility' that Brexit still won't happen is rapidly becoming a reality, in substance if not in name. The UK Government proposals for visa-free travel from the EU, no hard border between Eire and Northern Ireland and tariff-free trade leads one to the inevitable question - why bother at all? However, trying to recreate the rules of a club whilst resigning membership is fraught with problems, not least that the Government needs the consent of the other EU countries to proceed in this direction. And why should they co-operate? If a country can ...
The Liberal Democrats have said the government's plan for the Northern Ireland border after Brexit has "more holes in it than a colander." It comes after the government admitted EU nationals will still be able to enter the UK from Ireland after Brexit under its plans. Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Ed Davey commented: "This plan has more holes in it than a colander. "The Brexiteers claimed it was worth damaging the UK economy to reclaim control of our borders, now we're told even this isn't going to happen. "The Conservatives are finally admitting that there are ways to control ...
With the school holidays over, it is back to West End Ward surgeries tonight! My Blackness Primary School surgery is at 6.15pm prompt in the staff room on the ground floor. My full surgery details are below - although I can also be contacted via esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk or phone me at home on 459378 anytime :
An Arriva bus at The Meadows stop in Maghull It has been brought to my attention that from 3rd September, Arriva intend to re-time the 300 route buses for their Monday-Friday (weekday) journeys to run 5 minutes later throughout. This will take them nearer to the 310 journey times, which seems to fly in the face the objective that was set with the timetable revisions made back in April this year. I wonder why Arriva is making this change? I am making enquiries. With thanks to Kevin for bringing this matter to my attention
