As always, I'm going to try to write blog posts about all the shortlisted works for the Hugo Awards and Retro-Hugos this year. As always, I will almost certainly not manage that. In particular, unless I somehow get stranded on ... Continue reading →

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!

From the Dulwich Picture Gallery site: Edward Bawden (1903-89) was a master printmaker, illustrator, watercolourist and designer and is today recognised as one of the most influential artists of his generation. Whilst he is perhaps best-known for his commercial work for companies such as Twinings and Fortnum & Mason, and his linocuts depicting everyday England, a significant body of work remains relatively unknown. This exhibition will bring together 160 works to re-introduce Bawden as a hugely versatile artist, who effortlessly pushed the boundaries between fine and commercial art. It will be the first to show the full breadth of Bawden's ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

In town this morning I came across a notice announcing that the 58 bus from Market Harborough to Lutterworth will be withdrawn next month. It is not so long since it ran through Lutterworth and on to Burbage and Hinckley. More and more, I get the feeling that the Britain of bus routes and public libraries that I grew up in and have paid for will no longer be there when I retire. And, while I rather like Labour's policy of free bus travel for young people, if there aren't many buses left it will be of limited use to ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I've been reading Jaron Lanier's Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. It's a denunciation from a Silicon Valley insider of what he calls BUMMER ('Behaviors of Users Modified, and Made into an Empire for Rent') – ie, anything on the internet which hoovers up your data to sell stuff to you. It's an interesting enough marshalling of familiar arguments. The one which resonates most with me is the coarsening effect of the outrage-emitter that is Twitter (see last week). I'm more blase about the doubtless pernicious impact of ads popping up scraped from my browsing history ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall

Today I have been followed by carnivals. Not even the prospect of meeting Timmy Mallet could persuade me to spend the whole day at Market Harborough's. So I caught the bus to Northampton, only to find they had one there too. There can't have been a spare lorry in the East Midlands. In Northampton I visited the rebuilt railway station and entertained wild thoughts of hopping on a train to Wolverton. But in the end I settled for exploring the area immediately around it. The station was originally called Northampton Castle (to differentiate it from Northampton Bridge Street and Northampton ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

The plans for two large executive-style homes on the Linney have been thrown out by a planning inspector. This is a precious green space that provides a beautiful view from the Linney towards the Bringewood. It is right that these houses have been rejected. We have no need for more large homes in Ludlow. There are plenty of other places to build and what we need most is smaller homes for young people and families. This is also an important victory for protection of Ludlow's conservation area and the town's historic character. The saga has been going on since 2014, ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

10 May 2018 The Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government Dear Secretary of State, Consultation on the Draft National Planning Policy Framework The current focus on addressing the housing crisis is to be welcomed. However many of the policies and ideas put forward will either be ineffective in [...]

Posted by jaynemccoy on Diary of a Sutton Councillor

If you're a Leaver of the Leninist type, a la Rees-Mogg, the parameters are clear. Everything comes down to next Tuesday: if the "meaningful vote" amendment passes, things look hairy. We're in for a soft Brexit, almost certainly. At least, for now – they can always point to the fact that another prime minister can pull us farther away from Europe later. That's a worst case scenario though. If the "meaningful vote" amendment is shot down, they are very close to a victory. It takes the ability to soften Brexit out of parliament's hands completely. That means that when May ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

Feeling a bit out of touch here - two episodes nominated from a TV show that I hadn't previously heard of! Anyway, it was fairly easy to rank them. 6) The Good Place: "Michael's Gambit" This would probably have made more sense to me if I had seen any of the previous 12 episodes of the first series, to which this is a climax (and partial reset). I actually found some of the acting a bit ropey in the earlier scenes as the stars tried to convincingly deliver lines that they themselves clearly didn't really believe in. 5) Star Trek: ...

Former Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central Jenny Willott has been awarded an OBE for political and public service in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. Jenny was a minister during the coalition years – an assistant whip and she covered Jo Swinson's job at the Business, Innovation and Skills and as Equalities Minister when she was on maternity leave. She and Jo were the first Lib Dem women to attend Cabinet. Congratulations to Jenny. Let us know of any other Lib Dems in receipt of honours in the comments.

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

Many thanks to everyone who helped with the Heron Way traffic count this week (and kept us topped up with tea and coffee!) This information is being analysed at the moment and will be passed on to the Government's Planning Inspector who is considering the plan to replace the pub and the car park with flats, with all the traffic chaos that will bring. The Planning Enquiry will have a public hearing - it won't just be done on documents. At the moment we expect the hearing to be held at a local venue on Tuesday 30 October, starting at ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

If you thought our appalling train services run by Northern could not get any worse well you're wrong because they are doing as failing becomes utter shambles! This is Ormskirk Station with a train from Preston just arriving Locally, the recently announced opening of the Ormskirk – Preston Line on a Sunday throughout the summer, due to the closure of Liverpool Lime Street, has been turned on its head as Northern have now said there will not be any trains running this Sunday – 10th June. What's more those in the know seem to think that the promised Sunday service ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

The Huddersfield Daily Examiner brings the news of Councillor Gemma Wilson: Conservatives were in turmoil today as one of their best-known councillors, Gemma Wilson, defected to the Lib Dems. A councillor for Lindley since 2015 she has been one of the most high-profile members of Kirklees Council and was a key member of former Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney's campaign team in the recent General Election... Cllr. Cahal Burke, (Lib Dems deputy group leader and Lindley councillor) also took the opportunity to welcome Gemma. He said: "Clr. Wilson shares our values and beliefs, Clr. Wilson has joined the Liberal Democrats ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Sat 9th
11:00

My tweets

Fri, 12:56: How to cope with the end of the world https://t.co/Y8MrMxlaV7 Long, ultimately inspiring piece by @MariaFarrell. Fri, 16:05: U.S. returns stolen copy of Christopher Columbus letter to Spain https://t.co/HbKHdtdanM Good! Fri, 18:24: The Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook, European Edition https://t.co/4U7hMSjwtZ Fri, 20:48: Fewer NI people feel British than other UK regions - BBC survey https://t.co/oOlj3J3tXr And support for united Irel... https://t.co/7fxezDISEh Sat, 10:14: RT @arrroberts: *sings* This is Major Pope to Ground Control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the... Sat, 10:38: RT @robertj55: The Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook, European Edition - ...

The campaign to cut back on the amount of plastic waste in our environment must have received a stimulus in Wales today with this piece about the way that rivers in Cardiff are being polluted by the stuff. As the BBC reports, volunteers are complaining that they are dealing with a seemingly never-ending clean-up of litter, with piles of plastic bottles and takeaway cartons being collected every month by community groups in the city. They add that one volunteer described seeing a swan's nest made of plastic bottles, while another said at one point the River Taff was a "sea ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

11 minutes and 19 seconds into Sunday's final episode of "A Very English Scandal" Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe spoke the immortal lines: "All that new blood coming through - Clement Freud, Cyril Smith. Exciting Times". Of course the lines are fictional but the point is well made. We now know a very great deal about those "exciting times" and how abusers hid in plain sight behind a 70's larger than life, English eccentric, man of the people image. All the more astonishing then that Lord Steel said on Monday's Newsnight that the allegations against Smith were "so far scurrilous ...

Posted by Ruth Bright on Liberal Democrat Voice

A pair of further Liberal Democrat PPC (Prospective Parliamentary Candidate) selections to report on – and again a trend to be welcomed of many weaker areas taking the initiative and selecting much earlier this Parliament than has been the norm. Loughborough: Ian Sharpe Well said Ian: He believes that the Parliamentary Candidate has a vital role, not just in fighting the next General Election, but also acting as the focal point for the party's campaigning, a spokesperson who can deliver our political messages. Old Bexley and Sidcup: Simone Reynolds Great to see Simone Reynolds re-selected: Simone grew up in Kent ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Roger Roberts spoke in the House of Lords this week on resettling vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers. Here is his speech: I appreciate very much the opportunity to take part in the debate introduced by my noble friend Lord Scriven. We all know that, ultimately, the answer lies in Syria and the Middle East, and somehow bringing together a new understanding there. The whole area is the victim of history. Countries like ours, France, Turkey and now Russia want to impose the most individually advantageous solutions on this part of the world. The United Nations appears impotent in the face ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

The BBC has the story and some excellent photos on its web site about this iconic Edge lane building in Liverpool – see link above With thanks to Keith page for the lead to this posting

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

From the City Council - Note - this applies to the right turn only and does not otherwise affect Riverside Drive : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of gas mains investigation works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Riverside Drive (prohibition of right turn into Riverside Approach). This notice comes into effect on Monday 11 June 2018 for 5 working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes are available via Riverside ...

eUKhost

There could be some artistic justification for defacing the Mona Lisa — drawing a Groucho Marx moustache and glasses on it, spraypainting a green Mohawk on, or whatever. You might not improve the painting, but it's possible you could get ... Continue reading →

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!