Most of us have views on politics, current events, religion, society, morality and sport, and we spend a lot of time expressing these views, whether in conversation or on social media. We argue for our positions, and get annoyed if they are challenged. Why do we do this? The obvious answer is that we believe the views we express (ie, we think they are true), and we want to get others to believe them too, because they are true. We want the truth to prevail. That's how it seems. But do we really believe everything we say? Are you always ...
Not going to lie, it was good to see that the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally blocked the Murdoch bid to take over those bits of Sky they don't already own. The decision was made on the grounds that it would give the Murdoch family too much influence across UK media. This isn't over yet. A final report will be submitted to the Government by May. Vince Cable, who has a bit of form on Murdoch, it has to be said. was adamant that this should be final The CMA has reached the correct decision on the Murdochs' attempt to ...
Many thanks to a reader for sending me the image below and alerting me to this video. I blogged about the siege of Weston of Weston-under-Redcastle a few years ago and attracted some interesting comments from people with family connections to the events of 1968 in the Shropshire village. The newsreel commentary here makes it sound more serious than the article I quoted in that first post as it tells us the gunman had his wife and four children with him for the 17 days of the siege. We used to think that not rushing into such situations with guns ...
This week, the government agreed to bring forward plans to review the current rules concerning the priority of pensioners when a company fails following pressure from the Liberal Democrats. Responding to calls from Stephen Lloyd, our Spokesperson for the Department for Work & Pensions, new DWP Secretary of State Esther McVey agreed that a review into the current rules – past and current – after companies go bust is "something that needs to be brought forward". Stephen said: Under current rules, pension obligations are unsecured - meaning that insolvent companies only fund their pension schemes once they have compensated their ...
When someone tried to blame Ladybird Books for the rise of Daniel Hannan, I waded in to defend them. Because Ladybird were probably the most progressive publishers of children's book of their era. I ended that post with: There are other children's books you can blame for the Brexit cast of mind - see my own exposé of Enid Blyton's proto fascism on the Guardian website - but Ladybird Books are innocent (in more than one sense of the word).But Ella Risbridger had already pinned the blame for Brexit in an article for Prospect:The Famous Five rarely face any kind ...
Embed from Getty Images Something from the i newspaper to make us all proud: Lib Dems are the most foul-mouthed peers in the House of Lords on Twitter, according to new research revealed exclusively to i. Six of the top 10 "sweary peers" are Lib Dems, with Baroness Sarah Ludford leading the pack with 51 profanities in 2017. It's a pretty admirable feat given that peers only managed to score 287 swears between them across the whole year.
Something to amuse you on a dark January evening from iNews: Our Lib Dem Lords make six out of the top ten profane peers Six of the top 10 "sweary peers" are Lib Dems, with Baroness Sarah Ludford leading the pack with 51 profanities in 2017. It's a pretty admirable feat given that peers only managed to score 287 swears between them across the whole year. They have been joking about it on Twitter: The Leader of the our Lords group was perhaps upset that he didn't make the list: B.....y disgrace! https://t.co/WwY8s2YzDX — Richard Newby (@RichardNewby3) January 23, 2018 ...
Second frame of third page: Antonius Avea: I'm going in on my own. Soldier: But... Another one of the comics I picked up at a convention a couple of years ago, this time translated from the original French Ys, la légende, tome 1: Trahison, by French writer Istin and Serbian artist Nenadov. I have to say that to be honest I found it relatively standard Celtic fantasy, if rather well drawn; Gradlon, our Pictish hero, is visited in old age by the Roman Antonius Avea and tells his life story, which culminates in a rather gory birth scene at the ...
On Friday evening, after I had delivered a TEDx talk in Corsham, I found that I was listening to myself on Radio 4's Today in Parliament. The programme had decided to summarise recent events in the Joint Committee on Human Rights' inquiry into freedom of speech and no platforming in universities - something you may [...]
I poured my heart out in a twitter thread about domestic violence and it's effects, especially on me... And some of the replies were so lovely they made me cry. Embarrassment makes women avoid smear tests, charity saysThe story concentrates on those who are worried about their privates, but there's 35% concerned about body shape, and that is straight up "if I take my clothes off in front of a nurse she will fat-shame me" and that's not something that the patient can just get over or stop worrying her silly little head about, because it's what medical professionals DO. ...
Mon, 16:05: The Strange Copyright of Doctor Who https://t.co/Zj44jTSGJe Not clear when things changed from the early arrangements. Mon, 18:50: Monday reading https://t.co/A04P0EBp9u Mon, 20:55: Burns night: @FionaHyslop listens to @GuerKaradjova reading Hristo Botev's "My Prayer". https://t.co/n5I2Bptnjc https://t.co/WaghJALXzq Tue, 08:16: RT @GuerKaradjova: Proud to introduce our greatest classic and modern poet Botev on the occasion of the Brussels #RobertBurns supper @EU201...
Yesterday, together with several other Memoir Writers, I took part in my first Facebook event, which was an opportunity for us to talk about our books and for people to ask questions. Each of us who had signed up to the event had an average of an hour to be the focus of attention, while [...]
We have previously reported on the very significant reduction in opening hours at Prestwich Library (almost a 40% reduction in hours). See story here. At the last Full Council meeting at Bury Town Hall Liberal Democrat Prestwich Councillor Mary D'Albert asked what steps the Council had taken to look at using volunteers to keep the Libraries open. Firstly, the Council confirmed that the reduced opening hours were partially as a result of the decision to keep open FOUR libraries rather than THREE. (Last year the Council decided to keep open Radcliffe library, which had been an option in the consultation, ...
I was woken this morning to the somewhat odd news that the Foreign Secretary was going to press for more cash for the NHS at Cabinet. It was not known whether the health secretary was on board with this. Perhaps Jeremy Hunt wants to give priority to the hiring of more diplomats and trade negotiators. After all, war is bad for your health, and the NHS relies on a strong economy. Laura Kuenssberg offers an explanation for this, fine as far as it goes, along the lines of Brexiteers wanting to be seen to deliver on their promise on the ...
A proven way to prevent cervical cancer is to have cervical screening to find pre-cancers before they can turn into invasive cancer. This is called a smear test and every woman over the age of 25 who is†registered at a GP is†invited to have one every 3 years; if youíre younger you can still make a request through your GP. [IMG: mycouncillor-image-cervical-cancer-prevention-2] Cervical screening prevents 75% of cervical cancers from developing which is why three quarters of women attend screenings when invited. Getting that final quarter of women that donít currently turn up for testing is the goal for Cervical ...
The Council is interested to know your views on how we can make Bury a better place to live for everyone. They would like to invite you to a consultation and engagement event at which we will outline Bury Council's vision for a 'Friendly Bury'. The event will focus on age-friendly, dementia friendly and autism friendly communities but will also set the scene for extending this further. At this event, they will be consulting on Bury's Age-Friendly plan, Bury's Dementia Improvement plan and Bury's Plan for People with Autism. Details of the event are: Date: Tuesday 30th January 2018 Time: ...
Two recent developments at RAF Woodvale in Formby have caught the eye Firstly an RAF Roundel has been painted on the main hanger doors and it's quite impressive:- Also the static display aircraft by the gates to the airfield has also been renewed. The Jet Provost has now gone, being replaced by a Hawk XX247:- With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for the new wards for South Gloucestershire Council, to take effect from the elections in May next year. In the area covered by this blog: There will be two wards covering most of Yate - Yate North (3 councillors) and Yate Central (2 councillors)The Dodington ward (2 councillors) will cover Shire Way/Rodford Way, the Birds and the yate area around Abbotswood.Chipping Sodbury, Cotswold Edge and Wickwar Parish will be combined as a 2 councillor ward.Westerleigh and Ladden Brook wards will disappear. The Westerleigh ward of Westerleigh Parish and ...
[IMG: 'My Daughter's Body' - a poem about a mother's grief over her daughter's disability] 'My Daughter's Body' was written by Jennifer Franklin (photo below) who graduated from Brown and Columbia. Her full-length collection, Looming, was published by Elixir Press in 2015. Her poetry has appeared in Blackbird, Boston Review,... The post 'My Daughter's Body' – a poem about a mother's grief over her daughter's disability appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
Emmanuel Macron has launched his international agenda. In the last two weeks, he has visited China (his first state visit to Asia) and the UK. Unlike other heads of state, Macron is not presenting himself solely as the president of France. With Germany mired in coalition negotiations and the UK sidelined because of Brexit, Macron [...] The post In search of a Spanish Macron effect appeared first on Radix.
When Donald Trump declared that he wanted to 'drain the swamp' he was referring to the Washington establishment who, he claimed, had been holding the USA back for too long. When the embattled UKIP leader, Henry Bolton says he wants to drain the swamp he means his own party, who are fighting hard to get rid of him. The contrast could not be sharper, UKIP has turned back in on itself. It no longer pretends to be concerned about the future of the United Kingdom. The party is too preoccupied with its own internal power struggles and with the fate ...
There are two new exhibitions at the University of Dundee. In the Lamb Gallery, the exhibition "Botanical Conversations" features highlights from the University's amazing Herbarium collection, stunning botanical teaching charts and beautiful works of art inspired by plants. It describes the history of botany teaching at the University and also showcases some fascinating projects being carried out both here and at the James Hutton Institute. Meanwhile, in the Tower Foyer Gallery, "Exploring our own Backyard" has been put together by the University of Dundee Botanic Garden and highlights the current project to revamp the Garden's native plants area. This is ...
