Not done one of these in a while, and practically delirious with exhaustion, so here's some links. Jennie talks about autism-friendly clothing. The history of Alice and Bob (and Eve, Mallory, et al) I think I may have linked some ... Continue reading →
In honour of Groucho Marx, who died 40 years ago today. Great as he is here, it's Harpo you watch.
Sometimes it is more fun if you don't research a place before you go there. This morning, on a whim, I caught the train to Leicester and then to Barrow upon Soar in the north of the county. There, rather to my surprise, I came across two striking medieval buildings. Having consulted Pevsner when I got home, I now know what they are. The first, which you can see above and immediately below, is the Old Men's Hospital, which dates from 1694. (I may see if they can fix me up or take me in.) Below you can see Bishop ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and Jo Barton are holding their next advice centre in Churchtown. We will be at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, from 10:30 to 11.30am on Thursday 24th August. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month from 11:00 am to 12:00.
(Note by Nicholas Whyte: In the log of Hugo Administrator decisions published a week ago, we referred to the debriefing document compiled by this year's Hugo packet coordinator, Jo Van Ekeren. I'm publishing the summary here at her request. The full debrief includes ten more documents, most of which are templates, and will be shared with future Hugo administrators.) Mandatory tools for the Hugo Packet Coordinator:Microsoft Word (or Word-compatible word processing software able to save files as PDFs; proficiency in advance recommended)Calibre e-book conversion tool (free; can create a multitude of formats, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and RTF; proficiency in ...
Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone gets grilled by Core Politics.
Sat 19th
15:10
Hacking the Electorate: Eitan Hersh reveals the hype, and the reality, of data in politics
Eitan D. Hersh's study busts many myths about where political parties get data from, how good it is and what uses they put it to. A must read if you want to understand campaigning.
In the run-up to last year's EU Referendum, many UKIP and Tory Brexiteers proudly wore pound signs (£) in their jackets, symbolising for them the strength of Britain standing alone. But I wonder how they are feeling now that the pound sterling has sunk so much in value? Airport currency exchanges in the UK this [...]
Marks and Spencer and the National Autistic Society have launched a school uniform range aimed at the parents of autistic children. Note that I say aimed at the parents of autistic children, rather than aimed at autistic children. All the blurb is to do with how easy it is to put on, and how hardwearing it is. The subtext is that it's designed for kids who can't dress themselves. This is clearly aimed at parents. The other way you can tell that actually autistic people were not involved in this is that if you ask any autistic person what is ...
Vince Cable has branded the Government's sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB), which was completed today, as "environmentally irresponsible." The Government confirmed today Macquarie Group Limited has now completed its purchase of the GIB for £2.3bn, which will now be known as the Green Investment Group (GIG). The Liberal Democrat Leader, who launched the Bank in 2012 during his time as Business Secretary, warned its environmental mission is now "in danger of disappearing" and called for Parliament to ensure commitments to protect green investment in the UK are kept. Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented: "Selling off the Green ...
Vince Cable came to Edinburgh yesterday on his tour of the country taking questions from members. For 90 minutes, he answered questions on such varying subjects as tackling extremism, Brexit, freedom of movement, the triple lock, opportunities for young people and the fight against climate change. He was particularly strong on tackling inter-generational unfairness and I was heartened to see him continue to keep social justice and reducing inequality as top priorities. He talked about the need to curb some of the privileges pensioners get – such as wealthier people over state pension age who are still earning not paying ...
Fri, 12:56: RT @UkNatArchives: A map of @TowerOfLondon from 1597. #16thcentury #earlymodern https://t.co/REuCagYgEE https://t.co/UfyzsnGZ8u Fri, 14:22: @marjoriemliu You have mail re Hugo. Fri, 15:30: The Adminstrator's Worldcon - part 2 of my 2017 Hugo memories https://t.co/DPYCXHHzw2 Fri, 16:05: Tolkien in the TARDIS: How Doctor Who reflects Middle Earth https://t.co/0MKhKX2b0K Was sorry to miss this #Worldcon75 panel - glad to see... Fri, 22:31: RT @tithenai: I didn't realize winning a Hugo required passing a skill-testing trial first! https://t.co/mBx9UiRGfh Fri, 22:33: RT @nkjemisin: Aaaaaaaah. :D https://t.co/eGU2Yy77P3 Fri, 22:35: RT @Legopolis: Everything from Scandinavia comes flat packed: https://t.co/3Wf28K82LU Sat, 10:12: RT @Attenboroughs_D: You're ...
Syfy - In hilarious video, the new Doctor reacts to her gender shiftI enjoyed this a lot Instagram photoPretty spider [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
I remember the first time I sucked a dick. I was 14. Jacob and me had become close friends again since the start of year ten. It was November and the week before I'd joined Jacob and a small group of friends to go bowling. Somehow by the end of games, I had asked out a girl from our year, Josie and had my first girlfriend. Most of the group lived in the opposite direction to me, so I called my brother to pick me up from under the old railway bridge near to docklands. Most of the group left, ...
Sat 19th
10:12
Why are mainstream politicians starting to use terrorist attacks to make political points?
There was predictable and justifiable outrage yesterday when Plaid Cymru's leader tweeted to suggest that the Barcelona attack was "far right" terrorism. Thirteen people died when a van drove into pedestrians in the Spanish city, with so-called Islamic State (IS) saying it was responsible. However, Leanne Wood suggested that far-right ideologies are driving both IS and white supremacists. Both UKIP and the Tories condemned here remarks with Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, saying it was "unbelievable" Leanne Wood had speculated it might be linked to a far-right group: His fellow Tory assembly member Janet Finch-Saunders said the comments were ...
Good advice on how to make the most of hashtags on social media: I helped execute #labourdoorstep hashtag in '09 but it's smarter to have issues-based tags that public can identify with: #freezethatbill — Alex Smith (@alexsmith1982) November 23, 2013 It may be a few years old now, but this advice has aged well. I was reminded of this point when listening to the (at times very funny) audio book version of comedian turned Democrat Senator Al Franken's Giant of the Senate. In that he talks about how poor Democrats are at naming legislation compared with the Republicans. The latter's ...
Sat 19th
08:51
Maghull's vast urban extension – Labour blasts development on land their Local Plan identified...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above Well, well, well would you believe it Sefton Labour are protesting about a housing development on land which they voted to take out of the Green Belt for it to be built upon. The vast Maghull East site seen from Poverty Lane presently growing crops. I fought for this particular site (and indeed many others) to be protected from development not only because it was in Green Belt (prior to Labour-run Sefton taking them out of it) but in many cases these development sites are ...
From Sheena Wellington : Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library - Cappuccino Concert with Aileen Carr!Saturday 19th August, 11am (doors open 10.30am) - Admission £5 (tea/coffee available for small charge) Aileen Carr was born in Coupar Angus, in Perthshire. Her father, self-taught on the melodeon, had a fine Scots voice, while her mother also sang and played the piano at musical evenings at home. Aileen's family could not afford piano lessons for her but that didn't hold back Aileen's interest in music and song. In true folk singing style she would happily sing to people as a little girl and as ...
As Monday 28th August is a Bank Holiday, bin collections are put back a day that week So, if your usual collection day is a Monday, it will be put back to Tuesday ... etc That week is a green ( non-recyclable rubbish ) bin collection week Any questions, contact Northumberland County Council.
One thing half my twitter timeline seems absolutely certain of at the moment is that the real problem in the world today isn't the fascists, so much as the liberals. These liberals are perpetuating white supremacy and anyone who doesn't ... Continue reading →
