Some precious footage of this great London station. Though passengers for the East Midlands are no longer its first concern, the restoration of St Pancras seems like a miracle to those of us who knew it 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
MSN News has the story on its web site – see link above Yet another indicator that the UK is on the slide and it's all pretty much because of Brexit but will Teresa May and Jeremy Corbyn take any notice at all? And my big question to the disciples of JC is this – How will JC be able to implement his spending pledges when there's no money in the pot because of much lower tax receipts? As Roy Connell says 'Hope JC has taken note , no taxes coming in, equals no spending !!!!!'
Tue 17th
17:13
1434: The Year a Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance, by Gavin Menzies
Second paragraph of third chapter: Zhu Di and his father, Hong Wu, had encouraged the development of every aspect of navigation. A handbook titled Notebook on Sea Bottom Currents, found in Quanzhou, states that, after announcing the ascension of the Yongle emperor (Zhu Di) to the throne, Zheng He and his admirals were instructed to search for navigation charts, collecting all the information about currents, islands, mountains, straits, and the positions of stars. They used this data to revise their navigation charts, including compass points and the cross-references of stars. I was warned; this book is total tosh. The contention ...
I totally can see the light when it's turned to "off", i.e. when the light meter is set to 0, but only really notice it a lot at night. You guys who claim you can't see it are either lying, or my eyes are freakish. Frankly, I think it's probably the latter, given how often one of my boys complains they can't see the dogs when we are walking them after dark and I can see them perfectly fine. Happily, Andrew's explanation of how the light works was spot on, and it doesn't bother me like a glowy phone or ...
"Was this going to be the end? I wondered as I sprinted down yet another flight of stairs. Was I going to get caught, and get killed, by a geek serial killer?" When Sarah arrives at a tech conference she's ... Continue reading →
There has been some press coverage today of another proposal on Lords retirements, this time to limit the length of service to 15 years. This isn't the first time this has been proposed, and something similar with a ten year limit was part of Liberal Democrat ideas for House of Lords reform during coalition. Firstly, let us take a look at the proposal I discussed previously, namely retiring peers on the basis of age. Is there any correlation between age and how often a peer contributes? How much someone contributes to politics is a largely subjective measure, but for the ...
Great news for commuters as the ticket machine at Yate Station is about to be covered, meaning the machine is less likely to break and will be easier to read on sunny days. Queuing at the ticket window will also be covered, with more shelter on the platform once you've got your ticket. Thanks to the Lib Dem Focus Team for putting in funding bids and finally persuading the authorities to pay up! If you are interested in campaigning for more station improvements, the next Friends of Yate Station meeting is at 7.30pm on 1st November.
A press release I sent to the Chronicle – that colleagues liked so much that they asked me to post it online. So here it is: Yesterday's meeting of Hampshire's Conservative cabinet confirmed that they will go ahead with their reckless £140 million cuts. These will only cost us more long-term. In particular: Their cuts to health and care will mean that the NHS is unable to hit the financial targets laid out in its 'sustainability and transformation plan' – and will put health and care services under even more stress. Their cuts to Household Waste Recovery Centres are almost ...
... it's because the boundary commission have released their finalised report into the boundary review, and hardly anybody is happy about it. The vast majority of politicians, you see, wanted the boundary review to advantage their party and shaft their rivals. The boundary commission, meanwhile, have been scrupulously fair, and tried quite hard to advantage nobody and shaft nobody. Now, there is a school of thought that this doesn't matter a jot because it'll never get past parliament, requiring as it does far too many turkeys to vote for Christmas. I, for one, think that would be a shame, if ...
There's a dog walk with a difference at Wapley this Saturday - you don't have to have a dog! If you fancy a morning stroll in the countryside, with or without a dog, please join the Discover Dodington Dog Walk at 10.00 am from the Shire Way entrance to the Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, opposite the road entrance to Cherington. And as we've previously told you, there's an Owl Prowl at Wapley Bushes Reserve this Friday, 20 October 2017. You'll be able to join local expert Ian McGuire for a twilight owl prowl through the Wapley Bushes nature reserve. ...
As promised, the last part (Part 1 here, part 2 here) of my foray into political analysis will look at how we move forward in an area of the UK where we kept less than deposits in June of this year. Central to this is, I believe, the strategy suggested by Mark Pack and David Howarth of creating a core vote. However, this is clearly a long-term strategy, and I want to look at the more immediate future. It is because of our current situation that I welcome the appointment of Tim Farron as our new spokesperson for the North ...
Gateshead's main park, Saltwell, has been voted into the top ten parks in the UK. "The People's Choice" competition was run by Keep Britain Tidy and 73,000 people nominated their favourite. Well done to the staff and to the Friends of Saltwell Park group which was, it is fair to say, the model for Friends of Chase Park in Whickham which was set up more recently. The existence of friends groups is
Tue 17th
11:55
Welsh Lib Dems' Leadership: Jane Dodd writes "I want to lead a party that is radical and reforming"
I have to start by saying that I am not that happy to be standing against Liz Evans, a colleague for whom I have enormous respect. My only comfort is that the Welsh Liberal Democrats will have a Welsh speaking woman from mid-Wales as their next leader. I believe that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have the talent, the drive, the enthusiasm and the ambition to start winning again, but we need to rebuild the party. We need more members, more councillors and to win seats in the Welsh Assembly elections in 2021 and in the next Parliamentary elections. The Welsh ...
Mon, 12:56: RT @youngvulgarian: watching a doc & "the quiet man is here to stay and he's TURNING UP THE VOLUME" remains one of the funniest speeches in... Mon, 18:08: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Brexit on the EU 27 https://t.co/KSnGGlzzhU Mon, 19:22: RT @MSmithsonPB: This was DDavis by-election logo after his weird resignation in 2008. Now he wants MEPs whose voting he doesn't like to... Mon, 19:24: RT @politicoharry: Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia murdered by car bomb in Malta. I am speechless. Spoke to her a few weeks ago. https:/... Mon, 20:15: The Austrian Election Result: What ...
Stop being such a dick about Temple of Love, Andrew Eldritch told Exciting goth news for people who are not goths at all, honest Dutch privacy regulator says Windows 10 breaks the law Oh what a surprise. miss_s_b | A snapshot into the life of an FCC member I posted A snapshot into the life of an FCC member to my dreamwidth blog Wi-Fi security has been breached, say researchers Hurrah for a wired connection. miss_s_b | Our survey says... I posted Our survey says... to my dreamwidth blog Graveyard Sisters author spotlight: Nuzo Onoh Nuzo is one of my ...
People in Bury who are the most vulnerable to flu are being urged by Public Health England to get their free flu vaccination, ahead of the winter period when the virus is most common. This year's campaign aims to continue to increase uptake of the flu vaccination. Last year was administered to 51.9% of people in at-risk groups, 47.7% of pregnant women and 75% of people aged 65 or older in Bury. The flu vaccination is offered to those who are at increased risk from the effects of flu. These include children aged 2-8, people aged 65 and over, pregnant ...
Tue 17th
10:34
What if Theresa May did give the "Alastair Cambell" speech, reversing Brexit? It would snooker Labou...
Alastair Campbell wrote an interesting article yesterday about what Theresa May should do now – it is very good, and you should check it out in full. In it, Campbell writes an imaginary speech for Theresa May, one in which she levels with the nation about how impossible Brexit is to achieve whilst maintaining a healthy economy, and to that end she now recommends the country not go through with it. I'm not here today to tell you that Theresa May should or shouldn't give that speech to the nation; more simply, I just want to try and objectively view ...
This is the fifteenth of my posts based on a recent tour of the eastern half of the USA. I visited a number of sites relevant to African American history. To mark Black History Month, I am relating some of the things I saw, in the order I saw them. Without any doubt, the highlight of my USA tour was my visit to Mongomery, Alabama. To coin a phrase of Stephen Fry's, for someone interested in history, it was like swimming through liquid chocolate. Within half a mile of the State Capitol, there are a clutch of historic sites which ...
Celebrating Participation in Healthcare Community Grants: (Information from the Bury Directory): Has your voluntary/community group done some amazing patient, service-user or carer engagement work that's improved healthcare services? NHS England will be awarding grants of up to £2,000 to a number of projects that showcase good practice around patient and citizen participation in healthcare. In your application you will need to explain how you have involved patients and citizens in a healthcare project, and how you plan to use the grant to share and showcase your work in a creative way. The grants can only be awarded to a voluntary ...
Bury's police 'Home Watch Conference' takes place on Thursday 26th October 2017 at 6:30pm at The Fusiliers Museum, Bury The policy say: "Come and meet YOUR local Neighbourhood Police Team and bring YOUR Neighbours"
A new fear is quietly stalking the land, haunting administrators of businesses, charities, schools and even political parties. It is called the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GPDR). It replaces our old friend the Data Protection Act 1998 with a set of regulations that are much more onerous. The usual experts are going back ... Continue reading What does the new data protection law say about British politics?
Last week, Councillor Tim Pickstone met with Greater Manchester's 'Metro Mayor' Andy Burnham. Two of Greater Manchester's Lib Dem Group Leaders (Bury and Stockport) met with the Mayor as part of a six-monthly series of meetings between Lib Dem councillors across Greater Manchester. Obviously at this first meeting we were unable to raise everything we wanted to raise, but focussed on four issues: Greater Manchester Strategic Framework I asked how realistic the Mayor's aim of 'less green belt land to be built on' was going to be – a hugely important issue for people in many parts of Greater Manchester. ...
This post is taken from the newsletter of the Schumacher Center for New Economics. The rise of so many right-wing nationalist movements around the world—Brexit, Donald Trump, the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, anti-immigrant protests throughout Europe—have their own distinctive origins and contexts, to be sure. But in the aggregate, they are evidence of the dwindling [...] The post There is no alternative? Welcome to its strange rebirth appeared first on Radix.
For people who may be wondering what the works next to the Iron Acton road near Cog Mill are for - they are part of a massive sewer scheme, the Frome Valley Relief Sewer. This runs from Iron Acton to Bradley Stoke, and will carry waste water from places like North Yate to the sewage treatment works in Avonmouth. The sewage system has been inadequate for years, and Cllr Dave Hockey has been fighting to get a decent system to stop sewage overflowing into the river at peak times. More details of the project are explained here.
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : To accompany our current exhibition Girls in Print: Female Figures in British Comics, we've teamed up with the School of Humanities and Dundee Literary Festival to host a special panel discussion event at 5.30pm on Wednesday 18th October in Baxter 1.36, Tower Building. The exhibition presents original artwork from DC Thomson's popular girls comics, which reached their peak of popularity in the 1960s and 70s, along with a selection of pieces by current comics creators, offering a broad range of interpretations of what female figures can be in ...
The present Maghull Police Station in Westway, Maghull. The curious move by Merseyside Police out of their Maghull Police Station on Westway and into the former Youth Coffee Bar and CAB facility space in Maghull Town Hall has had folks head scratching. Poster on Maghull Town Hall noticeboard recently When Merseyside Police announced their new accommodation strategy in response to budget cuts it was clear that Police Stations across the County would be downsized and that they could well end up being in shop units in shopping centres. Maghull TH being converted into a Police Station – Photo from Sept. ...
Whilst Tory MPs continue to play their own version of Noel Edmond's game show, 'Deal or No Deal', the Guardian reveals the real consequences of Theresa May walking away from negotiations, and it will be the families on the lowest incomes who will suffer the most. The paper says that leaving the European Union without a trade deal would likely result in a sharp increase in prices for food and other goods, costing the average UK household £260 and hitting low-income families hardest. A Resolution Foundation report, titled Switching Lanes, says there would significant price rises on a range of ...
Liberal Democrat chief whip Alistair Carmichael MP has called on the government to stop wasting money on a dead-duck boundary review and scrap it. Alistair Carmichael said: "The DUP will not wear this review. Nor will many Tory backbenchers. The government should stop wasting public funds and bow to the inevitable. "But if by some miracle it does go through, the Liberal Democrats will fight and win seats on these boundaries, in considerably stronger numbers than we managed last time. "We will be making representations in the final eight week consultation for retaining strong community ties just as we have ...
