Somehow I don't think the founding fathers of the concept of Free Speech had insults and slurs in mind when they put their highly intellectual minds together and came up with it. At the very minimum, racist slurs defy any pigeon hole, square peg in a round hole and logic of equating words that are meant to wound and defile with the historical beginnings of Free Speech in 1948 after the two World Wars. The right to spread hate and incite disorder of any kind against a group in society is NOT Free Speech or a right to Freedom of ...
The other day I posted a video that explains why Confederate statues fall apart so easily when they are torn down. But here is one such statue that should be allowed to remain. It is the one that honours Jubilation T. Cornpone, the Confederate general who founded the town of Dogpatch. Li'l Abner was a popular cartoon strip in the US. It was turned into a stage musical with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, opening on Broadway in 1956. This clip comes from the film made of the musical three years later. I remember hearing this song as a small boy ...
This blog's musical hero Steve Winwood is interviewed in the current issue of Uncut. The interview takes us through his career competently, though there is not much mention of the Spencer Davis Group and little that will surprise the committed fan. An obligatory appearance by Dave Mason as the black-hatted bad fairy is in there too. But I was struck by this quote from Winwood: "I always felt a need to work with the people with crazy, vibrant ideas. I needed those wild ideas, otherwise my music would be too tame. But they needed me as much as I needed ...
From our man in a hard hat and veil... It's been a difficult few days here in Market Harborough. On Monday the Leicester Mercury reported: People in a quaint river boat in rural Leicestershire had a lucky escape when a tree smashed onto their boat. The 80ft tall trunk fell onto a tow path and hit the vessel where it was moored near Union Wharf in Market Harborough.The boat in question looks like a canal narrow boat to me, but the Mercury has some good photos of the incident so you can judge for yourself. Then yesterday came this from ...
Yesterday I was up in Edinburgh for the first time during the city's annual Arts festival, thanks to the 40th anniversary celebration of the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), on whose Board I sit, at an evening reception at the National Museum of Scotland. The weather was fine, which meant I was able to [...]
I've only just seen this – it first came out in 2013. It's a great BBC4 documentary on Mike Oldfield. In it, dear Mr Oldfield gives us a real treat when he relives "Tubular Bells" in his studio, complete with juggling of many instruments. It also provides an excellent narrative on Mike Oldfield's life and ... Continue reading Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story
The EU, even without the UK, is the world's biggest and wealthiest market. In terms of population it is beaten only by China and India. EU economic influence is felt around the world. For us in the UK, decisions in the EU directly affect us here. You can have as much theoretical sovereignty as you want, as much British control over over own laws as you demand, you can make Parliament supreme over
I once knew her quite well: she was lively, bright and smart and a kindred spirit, when we were new and keen and learning every day – in good times, ten years past – then we were friends But in time our paths diverged, then somehow reconverged before a pirouette or three, in the rolling [...]
For years the Tories told us overseas students were outstaying their welcome to the tune of 100,000. Thanks to border exit checks implemented at the insistence of the Liberal Democrats, those estimates have been proven to be not even on the same planet, let alone the same ball park. Only 4,600 students stayed after their studies were complete according to official Home Office figures. Vince Cable said that the Tories should stop harping on about cracking down on foreign students. This debacle happened on Theresa May's watch at the Home Office. I spent five years in coalition battling her department's ...
No, not the US, but here, the UK. All these illustrations are taken from reports in yesterday's papers. Since the phrase "unfit for purpose" first came to our attention in relation to the Home Office, we'll start with them. 1. Amber Rudd, our Home Secretary, failed to comply with an order of the High Court that a detainee be released on the 11th August. The victim is an asylum seeker, originally from Chad, who was initially ordered to be released on the 26th July. When the authorities failed to comply the case went to the High Court and the 11th ...
As is so often with my posts I've been listening to Fall Out Boy and that triggers my want to write. In their song 'Champion' they have a line that says "If I can live through this, I can do anything." It made me think about how much I've done in the last 6 years. [...]
What undid Cameron's premiership wasn't the Brexit referendum; that was merely a symptom of the approach that he took that killed his political career. Which was that he was always too concerned with the whims of parliamentary party and bent over backwards to try and keep them onside. This was why he promised the In/Out referendum in the first place; he wanted something to stop his backbenchers defecting to UKIP. I suppose it's easy for me to say that he should have just let them leave the party, if they dared, or bring down his leadership, if they could. I ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @Beathhigh: Finally got a letter printed in The Times... https://t.co/0Bzi1X6B5d Fri, 10:45: Tove Jansson: Correspondence https://t.co/1ONNg6Aq57 A short story. Fri, 10:53: RT @JenniferMerode: Problem with this strategy is that EU27 drew up Barnier's mandate. Attacking him and his team will backfire. https://t.... Fri, 10:53: RT @BrigidLaffan: #EU27 are fully behind @MichelBarnier & have framed the guidelines. #UK has still to face up to costs & consequences of... Fri, 10:54: RT @JolyonMaugham: Or, why David Davis can't find a unicorn. https://t.co/W5AEqaZJeD Fri, 11:57: Serious question: what has Liam Fox actually *achieved* in 13 months as Trade Secretary?
Twitter I read The Listerdale Mystery - here's my review on Goodreads Jennie Rigg (Brighouse, WYorks, The United Kingdom)'s review of The Listerdale Mystery I read The Listerdale Mystery - here's my review on Goodreads Twitter Instagram photo: Spike enjoying the ambience at The Market Tavern Instagram Instagram photo: Spike enjoying the ambience at The Market Tavern The best post about the Joss Whedon farrago In the Queen's place, I wouldn't aim for the shoulder, I'd aim for the neck The best post about the Geoffrey Boycott farrago [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Boris Johnson has said Donald Trump's state visit is likely to go ahead in 2018 rather than this year, while admitting the US President got it "totally wrong" on Charlottesville. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary Jo Swinson commented: "It shouldn't have taken this long for the Foreign Secretary to criticise Donald Trump for his abhorrent defence of white supremacists in Charlottesville. "Boris Johnson has long been an apologist for Trump, as he and other Brexiteers are so desperate for a US trade deal. "But recent weeks have shown just how risky it would be to abandon our ...
James had finally accepted himself. He knew who he was the moment Harris had told them about his new relationship with a guy back home. The pain that coursed through James at that moment finally made him realise that he had been a fool for not accepting himself and what he could have had with Harris sooner. It wasn't a regret of love towards Harris, but more a regret that he had denied his attraction and that had then caused him to miss out on such an obvious opportunity. He was also happy for Harris because Harris himself seemed to ...
in just three weeks' time, thousands of Liberal Democrats will descend on the wonderful seaside town of Bournemouth for four days of debating, networking, discussion, dancing and singing. I thought it might be a good idea to give first-timers a bit of a flavour of what happens at Conference. One of the main things we do at Conference is decide the party policy. Every party member who is registered for Conference is entitled to vote. This year we will be discussing topics ranging from Brexit to terrorism and civil liberties to climate change to small business to gun and knife ...
t is a well-established statistic that the number of recorded hate crimes rose following the EU referendum, with people from non-UK ethnic backgrounds being abused in public. Now, a report by a cross-party group of MPs has accused the Government of fuelling "toxic" anti-immigrant feeling though its unachievable targets and general rhetoric on immigration. The Independent reports that the inquiry from a cross-party group of politicians said Theresa May's discredited target of cutting net migration to under 100,000 was particularly to blame for "stoking anxiety" that has accompanied unprecedented hate crime following the Brexit vote. At the same time new ...
An Arriva bus at The Meadows stop in Maghull My previous posting of a few days ago (accessible via the link below) refers:- Arriva have now got back to me and they says this:- 'The depot [Southport] have confirmed that the bus service has reverted to the time it ran prior to the changes in April. This revision has been implemented based on the KGV College in Southport not serving the college. The service timetabled has been altered to ensure that the college is served and the students have an ample bus service to attend their place of study.' ...
Last week I was at a wedding reception in the US. Many were friends from New Orleans. They related how crime was increasing in the city and how the mayor had imposed a freeze on police recruitment while spending several million dollars on taking down statues relating to the Confederacy. Talk about political priorities for [...] The post The lessons of history are not learned by wiping them out appeared first on Radix.
Again this year, I have received many favourable comments about the wildflower displays the council's Neighbourhood Services has been responsible for on Riverside Drive and at other locations - a really colourful success :
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