I had a meeting tonight of Lighting Up Whickham, the group of volunteers who raise money for the village's Christmas tree and lights. We have three events coming up which were agreed by the meeting tonight: Saturday 11th November, Race Night at the Glebe Sports Ground Tuesday 28th November, switching on of the Christmas lights Saturday 9th December, Christmas fair in St Mary's Green. All the
I wrote many columns for the New Statesman website, but got only one piece into the printed magazine. That was about Much Wenlock's Olympian Games and their founder Dr William Penny Brookes. Visit Much Wenlock today and you will find him celebrated. The waymarked Olympian trail through the town takes in both the house where he was born, lived and died and his resting place across the road in the churchyard.
I'm in a strange position when it comes to Star Trek — it's not a series that I consider myself a fan of, but I am a fan of the *idea* of it. I love the utopian post-racial post-scarcity series ... Continue reading →
When we have finished laughing at Labour for not debating Brexit, let's remember that the Liberal Democrats were not planning to debate it at their conference either. It took a procedural move by those attending the event to make room on the agenda for a Brexit debate. Well done to all involved. After the party big-wigs were wheeled out, that debate reaffirmed our policy of having a referendum on the final deal. I understand the wish not to be seen to be ignoring last year's vote. But given that most EU deals are agreed at midnight on the last possible ...
Embed from Getty Images North West Leicestershire's Andrew Bridgen is the ultimate rent-a-quote backbench Conservative MP, ready with an ill-informed right-wing opinion on any topic at the drop of a hat. Only last week he was in the Daily Mail complaining about a National Trust exhibition at Kingston Lacy: Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said of the Kingston Lacy exhibition: "This is totally inappropriate. It's not what people visit the National Trust for. If I want moral guidance I go to church - not the National Trust."Perhaps Bridgen should have spent more time in church, because today his excruciating performance at ...
They went mad in those swinging sixties, as this AP video archive clip of a spaghetti eating competition shows.
So Donald Trump having seen the majority of NFL players take the knee, link arms or not appear on the field and run a weak D*. He has tweeted (what else) the issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. He tweeted this immediately after the tweeted that some fans booed during the National Anthem at those same players. Now let me get something straight here: Taking the knee is something those that serve the Country and Flag do to show respect. Respect to fallen comrades. The take ...
As originally published, Robinson Crusoe has no chapters. One later edition has the following as the second paragraph of the third chapter:When I had passed this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land was inhabited; and in two or three places, as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we could also perceive that they were quite black, and stark naked. I was once inclined to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better counsellor, and said to me, "No go, ...
My photo above shows President John F. Kennedy's beloved sailing boat, Victura, with his eponymous museum to the left and Boston's harbour and city skyline in the background. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is holding a special exhibition called "JFK 100 – Milestones and Mementos" to mark the centennial of the great ... Continue reading President John F. Kennedy continues to inspire, 100 years after his birth
Mon 25th
12:26
The science and technology committee shouldn't be filled with scientists, female or not
The row about the science and technology select committee's lack of diversity reveals that we are still confused about what such groups are for On Saturday, hundreds of Labour women - politicians, stakeholders and activists - from across the country met in Brighton, in advance of Labour party conference, for the annual Labour party women's conference. This year was special, because for the first time it had a formal voice in Labour's policy-making processes. But as we debated issues ranging from housing and the NHS to the economy and fair pay, I kept thinking about the irony of the recent ...
I write as an occasional cyclist who has been bounced off my bike by a careless pedestrian as I was coasting modestly downhill. In this case nothing really serious resulted. I hit the tarmac and suffered some nasty grazes (I was wearing shorts) but didn't break anything, and luckily there was no traffic immediately behind to run me over. The pedestrian admitted she had stepped into the road without looking, apologised profusely, and presumably soon recovered from any bruises she'd received (she was well-upholstered.) It is perhaps presumptuous to comment on the case of Charlie Alliston without having actually witnessed ...
The Social Democrat Group event last Monday was described as the "fringe of the conference" and "by far best #ldconf Brexit discussion yet". However, hundreds may have been disappointed, and for that we apologise. Entitled "Can Britain's relationship with Europe be saved?", and jointly organised with Policy Network, it was a fantastic discussion, with far too much substance to cover properly in a single LibDemVoice article. To listen to or watch a recording of the event, go to The event opened with Roger Liddle, Labour peer and co-chair of Policy Network, which jointly organised the event. He thought the ...
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); line-height: 120%; text-align: left; }p.western { font-family: "Calibri",serif; font-size: 11pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 11pt; }p.ctl { font-size: 11pt; } The council has made many cuts: libraries, art budget and the bus budget. This has affected the Kingsway and Odd Down buses to Ralph Allen school
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); line-height: 120%; text-align: left; }p.western { font-family: "Calibri",serif; font-size: 11pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 11pt; }p.ctl { font-size: 11pt; } Local Lib Dems are concerned about the slow pace of rectifying the numerous pot holes across Odd Down and Kingsway. Please post pictures of the pot holes
Every day brings a fresh example of a government policy that is not working as it intended or a public service that has gone badly off the rails. It is usually accompanied by a government press release (rarely a ministerial interview) denying that there is any kind of problem, or minimising it. No wonder the ... Continue reading Why is government so incompetent? →
Every year prior to arriving at Labour conference, I feel a weird sense of dread; that somehow this year, everything will turn openly ugly. Then I get to the conference and remember how much fun I have at Labour's annual national get together each and every year. This edition is no different. I was nervous about an event I was speaking at around my book, "Apocalypse Delayed: Why the Left is Still in Trouble"; worried that I might have created a nest of Corbynistas to howl at me. Yet the crowd at the event was great – a lot of ...
Sun, 12:43: The Peace Monument in Martyrs' Square. @ Station Leuven https://t.co/As1kUeuSBK Sun, 15:05: Ten drummers drumming. https://t.co/foQulIJT9q Sun, 15:19: A bit of jazz in the Oude Markt. https://t.co/G4wtFhChlX Sun, 18:04: Looks to me like a continuation of the Grand Coalition. SPD can blame Schulz, dump him and move on. https://t.co/ZKYJpVWggw Sun, 18:12: RT @APCOBXLInsider: SPD already saying they will be in opposition; Merkel's options very limited... https://t.co/csItpmaIRE Sun, 18:14: RT @anthonyzach: I used to be mildly anti but after (a) student numbers cock-up, (b) general immigration paranoia & (c) experiencing Belgia... Sun, 18:15: RT @EuropeElects: Germany: SPD (S&D) will ...
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 24-09-2017 I posted The Blood is the Life for 24-09-2017 to my dreamwidth blog [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
My photo of President John F. Kennedy's beloved sailing boat, Victura, with his eponymous museum to the left and Boston's harbour and city skyline in the background. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is holding a special exhibition called "JFK 100 – Milestones and Mementos" to mark the centennial of the great man's birth. The museum itself is worth making a beeline for, if you're ever near Boston USA (and if you're unlikely to go there anytime soon I have inserted some links to the museum's digital archive below). In a stunning building, located (purposely to reflect JFK's ...
If you thought Labour under Corbyn would give people a vote on the terms of the Brexit deal, think again! Not only have Labour rejected a signing-off referendum to accept the deal or remain in the EU, they won't even allow a vote at their party conference for their own members on Brexit. The Labour leadership, using what is effectively a Momentum bloc vote, have prevented a vote from taking place
Labour's Red Rose is wilting under the pressure of wildly different views on the EU and Brexit The one issue which above all other which will dictate the future of the UK over the coming decades is how we handle ... Continue reading →
Commenting on the call from within the Labour movement for the party to unite behind membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union, Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat Shadow Brexit Secretary, said: "It is time for the Labour Party to start acting in the interests of the whole country. Staying in the Single Market and Customs Union would be a major step away from Theresa May's damaging extreme Brexit. "Labour's division and confusion over Brexit only acts to show the contempt for the EU that their leadership holds. They are the ones who told the party to march through the ...
Commenting on Jeremy Corbyn's unwillingness to commit the Labour Party to staying in the Single Market, Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "Jeremy Corbyn has always wanted to leave the EU, leave the Single Market and leave the Customs Union. Now he is pulling out his old anti-EU arguments to defend Labour's endorsement of Brexit "The idealistic, pro-EU, young people who have rallied behind Corbyn will be mortified to discover that he is working hand in glove with the Conservative Party to promote a 'hard' Brexit. "The Labour Party must be clear on Brexit. This is the biggest ...
In all its recent wild unpredictability, British politics can often be tediously predictable. And so it was with Theresa May's speech in Florence. Perhaps not the speech itself but the political reaction to it back in Britain. Opposition parties predictably labelled it as yet another of the Prime Minister's string of failures. One of the [...] The post Why is the key Brexit debate still locked in the Conservative Party? appeared first on Radix.
A fascinating illustrated talk by local expert Ian McGuire, who shows what can be done in an ordinary suburban garden. There will also be displays from our local wildlife groups. Fri 6 October, 7.30 pm at Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Road, Chipping Sodbury (Organised by Dodington Parish Council)
Mon 25th
08:55
What you see and what you don't see. Time to ditch GDP and measure our progress differently
The yardstick for the success of an economy is the measure of its Gross Domestic Product or GDP. It is essentially the sum of all goods and services that a country produces, corrected for seasonal fluctuations and inflation. The modern concept of GDP was developed by Simon Kuznets for a U.S congress report in 1934. President Herbert Hoover had the challenge of tackling the Great Depression with only a mixed bag of numbers that were extremely ineffectual when trying to answer the question, "how is the economy doing?" Over the next 80 years the GDP not only became the way ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2017 Riverside Esplanade/Riverside Drive (Tay Road Bridge off ramp to 75m along Riverside Drive) - westbound nearside lane closure for 11 weeks to facilitate V&A construction works. A85 Riverside Drive - prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for 11 weeks for works to the sea wall. Prohibitions will only be in place when required. Riverside Drive (at Mayo Avenue) - off-peak temporary traffic ...
It didn't take long for the Corbyn faction at the Labour Conference to block any discussion about the Brexit elephant in the room. The party remains deeply split over the issue with the leadership at odds with the millions of pro-EU voters who supported them in June's General Election. As the Guardian reports, Labour campaigners had hoped to debate the idea of Labour fighting to keep Britain in the single market permanently and continue free movement, which polls suggest enjoy widespread support among members. However, when it came to a vote the Conference ducked the issue altogether. The paper says ...
Folk walking around Aughton enjoying the local footpath network need to be aware that a number of public footpaths in Aughton Civil Parish are presently closed due to major works that are being undertaken there by United Utilities contractors who are laying a new pipeline. This is a long ongoing project affecting a huge area. Here's an example of a notice from Lancashire County Council about part of the closed footpath network:- The notice was at the beginning of a footpath in Brookfield Lane, Aughton which goes across the fields, over the the Liverpool – Ormskirk railway line (via Bowkers ...
The Independent has the story on its web site – see link above OK I'm no fan of the Labour Party but trying to look at their somewhat bizarre positioning over Brexit I really do scratch my head. When Corbyn speaks about it you are not at all sure what view he actually holds over Brexit; a bit like Farron and his religious muddle. Does Corbyn think the EU is a capitalist conspiracy or not? I suspect he does but needs to kerb his public statements to keep his party pointing in roughly the same direction over Brexit. Of ...
