I've seen in the New Year in Boston, home of the American Revolution, where the temperature has been stuck below -10 degrees Centigrade since we arrived. Add, or more accurately subtract, the wind chill, and it has usually felt like -20 or worse. Going out requires multiple layers, face masks, hats, gloves etc etc., which does lead you to ask the question, "is my journey really necessary?". And the answer is, often, "no". Apparently, Boston hasn't experienced such a spell of weather since 1872, which isn't much of a consolation, it must be said. Today, however, it has been time ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy
Tue 2nd
22:45

Iran Protests

Over the New Year holiday many of my thoughts have been with the people of Iran, where protest demonstrations have been taking place in many towns and cities, in some extreme cases descending into riots. I am all in favour of people taking to the streets to voice their grievances if they feel their views [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer

The British film industry was in a bad way in the 1970s. Notoriously, the highest grossing British film of 1971 was On the Buses. By middle of the decade only such TV spin offs and sex comedies were being made. In those years some quite distinguished actors appeared in some very undistinguished films. But some people were still trying in 1973, as a contemporary documentary on the BBC iPlayer shows. Click on the still above to watch The Big Screen there. Two of Britain's leading film directors of the period - John Schlesinger and Gerald Thomas, whose Carry On films ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Welcome, Andrew Marshall. I've joined the Liberal Democrats. An open, tolerant country. Social market economics. Broadening opportunity. Britain in Europe. Constitutional reform. Internationalist, concerned for our planet. @LibDems @CamdenLibDems — Andrew Marshall (@AndrewIMarshall) January 1, 2018 Andrew, who is still a Councillor in Camden but who resigned from the Tories last year, explained his reasons to the Ham and High I left the Conservative Party after four decades last year – largely, but certainly not only, over Europe. I find that my values are now best reflected in the Liberal Democrats: moderate, inclusive economics to broaden opportunity, reform of our ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 2nd
20:31

Six of the Best 757

"Like many Jewish journalists who reported on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, I spent the 2016 election being harassed by a motley crew of internet racists who coalesced around the future president. They sent me threats, photoshopped me into gas chambers and hurled an uncreative array of anti-Semitic slurs my way." Yair Rosenberg on why he helped create a bot to challenge Nazis on Twitter - and on how Twitter sided with the Nazis. The philosopher Michel Foucault's work on power matters now more than ever argues Colin Koopman. Emerging Technology from the arXiv presents evidence that online dating is influencing ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Embed from Getty Images Joe Murphy, political editor of the Evening Standard, has written a story about 'Tory election expert' Lord Hayward's predictions for May's London borough elections. Of most interest to Liberal Democrat readers will be these two sentences: The Conservatives look certain to be beaten in Kingston by the Liberal Democrats, who have grown stronger in the area.And: The Tories face a tough fight to hold off the Liberal Democrats in Richmond, where Zac Goldsmith won back his seat by 45 votes in the general election.He later quotes Lord Hayward's own views: The peer added that Lib Dem ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

A big part of the book I co-wrote with Ed Maxfield, 101 Ways To Win An Election, is about data: why it matters, how to get it and how to use it. The Obama Presidential campaigns (using the same key database as the Lib Dems now use) are often cited as one of the triumphs of canny data usage as are both the Brexit and Donald Trump campaigns of more recent vintage (though beware the Trump hype). So the views of Obama 2012 Deputy Campaign Manager Jen O'Malley Dillon on the subject are still very relevant. I heard them as ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi 12A Director: Rian Johnson Website: Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi This movie really opens up the marketing opportunities. New toy space ships, teddy bears, costumes, milk drinks... That said, if you can get past the marketing and rebooting opportunities, it is a chance to bid a very long, nostalgic, fond farewell to the original three Star Wars films and cast.Without giving away too many spoilers, think Battlestar Galactica meets Mary Poppins. There are a couple of stand out WOW! moments, a couple of WTF! moments and an awful lot of angst ...

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review

Second paragraph of third story ("Ten with a Flag", by Joseph Paul Haines): It only took him a couple of seconds to connect to the traffic web. Johnnie didn't like being out of control, it was one of the things I'd found endearing in him; quaint even. This time though, he didn't even double check the connection. The steering wheel folded and collapsed into the dash, and he turned to face me. "What does that mean, exactly?" he asked. This was circulated by John Joseph Adams in 2012 as part of that year's Hugo voter packet in support of his ...

2017 was an eventful year for culture. My new year resolution last year was to go to more different theatres. Well, it was certainly achieved! In 3 countries and 10 different venues I saw operas, ballet, plays, a panto, a carol concert, a jazz concert and a rock concert played on cellos. This year was [...]

Posted by olgaivannikova on Olga Ivannikova's Blog
YouGov

I'm going to start 2018 on a hopeful note. I am privileged to be chair of governors at a primary school in Lambeth. This morning I attended the opening session of an INSET (staff training) day for my school's "cluster" – a collaborative group of schools in the south Brixton area. I was a good ... Continue reading The quiet revolution in Britain's schools.

Posted by Matthew on thinking liberal

Today's wanderings around Devon took me to Buckfast Abbey. It's very quiet at this time of year, so there's plenty of opportunity for reflection and generally poking around the site. The Benedictine abbey celebrates its millennium this year. However, Dissolution meant that for around 340 years (until 1882) there was no monastic community present at Buckfast. The Methodist Chapel standing ... The post Buckfast Abbey and Buckfastleigh appeared first on ten pence piece.

Posted by tim on ten pence piece

Well, that's not really true. I'm sure Jonathan Agnew is a lovely chap. He wrote an article on 6th Dec in which he suggested that some batters would need to look to their future, and also in which he wondered what the "true" England was. He suggested that the true England is the one that (occasionally) matches the Australians. Both of these ideas need unpacking. The idea of the true England first. In my view inconsistency is the hallmark of the true England. Over the last few years, I have often heard commentators say after a bad match that England ...

Posted by Rob Parsons on A comfortable place

We're told that even a 10 minute brisk walk each day can improve health - there are physical, mental and health benefits. South Glos Council has compiled a useful page of walking links, including short local walks, longer walks and group walks you can join.

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington
Tue 2nd
12:49

Best Albums of 2017

So here it is - my annual January countdown of my favourite albums of the previous year (2017 in this case, obviously!). Don't complain - it's just my personal opinion about what new albums I've enjoyed most from the previous year. As things grow on me, or I get fed up of them, things may change, but here's the list as it stands today: 20. Motionless In White - Graveyard Shift 19. The Acacia Strain - Gravebloom 18. Oceano - Revelation 17. Procul Harum - Novum 16. Thy Art Is Murder - Dear Desolation 15. Manran - An Da La ...

Posted by Cen Phillips on Liberal Thoughts

In December 2017, a report entitled "The Million Dollar Be-Question" by Laura Gardiner was published by the Resolution Foundation [Intergenerational Commission]. It is a report worth examining and heeding by both individual citizens and political parties. Below is the site from which you can download this report which takes less than 25 pages of A4 paper. 10 sides will give you the introduction and "Executive Summary" from which all quotations are taken and paraphrases, questions and comments derived. Millennials are poorer than their generational predecessors as shown by home ownership and wider wealth accumulation. They are half as likely ...

Posted by Steve Trevethan on Liberal Democrat Voice

Over 11,000 homes across the country have been sitting empty for ten years or more, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Vince Cable has said it is a "national scandal" that so many homes are being left empty when the country is in the midst of a worsening homelessness crisis. The figures, uncovered through Freedom of Information responses from 276 local councils, show that there are over 216,000 homes across the country that have been empty for six months or more. Of these, 60,000 had been empty for two years or more, 23,000 for five years or more, and ...

Posted by LD Neath on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Responding to reports Theresa May will be forced into dropping foreign students from official immigration figures, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: "For years Theresa May has stubbornly refused to accept that international students are not immigrants, while the Home Office has wildly exaggerated the number of those who overstay. "This absurd policy has fuelled concerns over immigration numbers and done serious damage to our universities. "It's about time the government dropped this completely self-harming approach. "International students generate over £25 billion for our economy and support thousands of jobs across the country. "We should be encouraging more students to ...

Posted by LD Neath on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

An interesting twitter thread on why it is so hard to persuade leave voters Hint: it's not "they're stupid racists" OR "remainers are too patronising" Towards a bra-free Instagram experience - Lauren Hallden - Medium (the amount of sponsored posts on Insta these days just has me not looking at Insta very often) Glow in the dark Reindeer antlers! Urinals of the Justice League I loved Martian Manhunter's Several American States start explicitly teaching kids how to spot fake news I mean, critical thinking is a beautiful thing, it's just sad we had to get to this pretty pass before ...

Tue 2nd
11:00

My tweets

Mon, 12:56: What to expect in 2018, according to science fiction https://t.co/sITR3CiY6p Blowing my own trumpet. https://t.co/GlV33nKp7z Mon, 15:07: I just played GeoGuessr and got 24381 points, can you beat me? https://t.co/XUXrrLy3Rk #GeoGuessr Mon, 16:05: The Force Is Strong in British Film. Brexit Opens the Dark Side https://t.co/7OeFuNOXPw Where will they get the staff?? Mon, 16:56: The World of Yesterday, by Stefan Zweig https://t.co/oBC641XCIx Mon, 20:48: The amazing lawnmower man https://t.co/ZQn7cxTHSx This is a wonderful piece. Tue, 10:45: Why I predict we will be wealthier in the future https://t.co/Fklg4yY48w Tim Harford sticks his neck out.

eUKhost

An old Liberal slogan has been brought to mind in recent times 'Putting people before politics' and it couldn't be a more apt phrase to sum up the times that we live in because most of the time the opposite is true. These days, probably more than in the past, our politicians see themselves as doing the right thing by being loyal to their party and what it tells them to do and how to vote. Only rarely will a brave few break ranks and defy their party. Looking at it more cynically though most MP's these days are career ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

I am indebted to both Marie Borland and Roy Connell for providing information to me about the fatal accident at Maghull Station (Lancashire Yorkshire Railway) on 1st January 1850 where 3 people were killed. A Board of Trade investigation took place following the accident I understand. Below is summary of the fateful events of that night although I am not presently sure of the source of the information:- 'A terrible tragedy occurred at Maghull Station at around 9pm on 1st January 1850. A number of passengers were waiting for a train carriage to be added to a crowded Preston to ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Happy New Year everyone. Yesterday, possibly out of boredom created by the long holiday season, I kicked a hornet's nest on Twitter. Not like the time I tweeted at an official Assad apologist whom I knew had to have their account booby trapped by Putin bots (I got over a thousand responses; most of them along the lines of "you dick die Syrian people great you dildo"). No, this time I saw that a far right account had tweeted about how Britain was being taken over by foreigners, citing the supposed percentages that white British people make up in our ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

A planning application has been received for 17 new homes on a small part of Prestwich Golf Club. The site of the proposed development is off Kersal Lane, right down opposite the Childen's Play area – just south of Headlands Drive. More information on the Council's Website here.

Posted by prestwichfocus on Tim Pickstone

A lot of scheduled roadworks...... there is a full update of roadworks in Prestwich on the GM Roadworks Website (www.gmroadworks.org) Significant roadworks this month are: – Bury New Road (and Fairfax Road) – continuation of the A56 works. – Heywood Road – Bury Old Road to just after Perrymead, and then again Parenthorn Road to Corday Lane Simister – lane closures through to March. – Hilton Lane – various points lane closures through to March 2018 – Sheepfoot Lane (1 -27) road works up to February 2018

Posted by prestwichfocus on Tim Pickstone

Anyone can be a victim of hate crime, as well as having a huge impact on the victim it can have wider consequences for communities. To help raise awareness of hate crime & how to report it, Bury Community Safety Partnership are funding £10,000 for local voluntary & community groups to provide a project or event to help raise awareness. Up to £2,000 per application. For details of how to apply for funding please see the below link. The closing date for applications is 10am on Friday 12 January 2018. For more funding opportunities, go to www.theburydirectory.co.uk/funding The application form ...

Posted by prestwichfocus on Tim Pickstone
Tue 2nd
09:11

Happy New Year

Just to wish everyone the very best for 2018. Hope that you had a good Christmas. Mary, Steve and Tim

Posted by prestwichfocus on Tim Pickstone

Few voters will notice the resignation of Andrew Adonis as chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC). Not many will know what NIC did. More people will have heard of Lord Heseltine, though outside Manchester and Liverpool, few may understand how important he has been to regeneration of urban areas. He was sacked for disobeying Theresa May over Brexit. Adonis resigned over Brexit and his disillusionment wit May's government. This country is rapidly running out of expert champions for regeneration, building infrastructure and growing the economy. Surely the needs for regeneration and housing should rise above day-to-day political infighting? When ...

Posted by Andy Boddington on Liberal Democrat Voice

Cast your mind back, if you can, about 160 years to the end of 1858 - when the European crisis was emerging that would have a profound effect on politics in the UK. There was the revolution under way that would see Garibaldi uniting Italy, and incidentally coining the word 'Liberal' (also the name of [...] The post The meaning of 2018, perhaps? appeared first on Radix.

Posted by David Boyle on Opinion - Radix

To usher in 2018, I'm posting some of the most requested photos of the West End, starting with 242 Perth Road (from Dundee City Archives) :

Tue 2nd
07:25

Predictions for 2018

By making this post, I'm falsifying a prediction I made on Twitter that I'd continue to say 'I should/will do a blog post about that' and never get round to doing it, so take the rest of my predictions in that spirit. 1) There won't be a General Election or referendum in the UK this year during 2018, but we'll likely be in the run-up to one by the time New Year's Day 2019 comes around. 2) All the main party leaders will be the same this time next year. May will be about to face a challenge, Corbyn will ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Another day, yet another Brexit myth shattered. This time it is the idea that once we leave the EU people are going to be queuing up to sign trade deals with us. The Mirror reports on the fruitless quest of the UK's International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox who, they say has flown around the world eight times trying to line people up to sign on the dotted line. They say that Fox has clocked up 219,000 air miles in just 18 months, jetting to 27 countries and every continent except Antarctica. His travel bill is now estimated to have topped ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black