I've not done a linkblog in too long, have I? Well, here's one for you. First, a podcast I came across after hearing it recommended in the Good Place podcast — Cocaine and Rhinestones. For those of you who like ... Continue reading →
Yesterday I defeated the weather and explored Aylestone village. The first time I tried was the day I found C.P. Snow's birthplace, which is some way from the village proper. It was in the middle of the heatwave and for reason I decided to head for Clarendon Park - perhaps because from a distance it always looks like a shining city on a hill. After that walk I had a pint (well, 2/3 of a pint - it was that kind of bar) of a cold, keg, craft beer with American hops. It tasted so wonderful that I may spend ...
Details of the emergency motions, amendments and other updates for the Liberal Democrat federal conference in Brighton have now been published with the release of Conference Extra. These updates supplement the agenda and directory for Brighton, published earlier in the year and include confirmation of the details for the two consultative sessions being run to look at the party reform proposals. Read the questions submitted to party committees to find out why Theo Butt Philip wins the prize for best Lib Dem conference question of the century. And please don't forget one of the most important decisions Lib Dem members ...
I'll say this for Lord Bonkers: since I met him I have learnt all sorts of things about the history of the Liberal Party that you won't find recorded by any historian. Wednesday I read this morning that Vince Cable intends to bring back supporters of our party. I say "bring back" because I well remember the days when we Liberal Party activists would be accompanied by people clad in bobble hats and scarves and carrying rattles, all of them in party colours. They would cheer one's every effort and often pass supportive comments such as "A great piece of ...
There has been speculation about what the move of Geordie Greig from editing the anti-Brexit Mail on Sunday to the previously very much pro-Brexit Daily Mail will mean for the latter's editorial line.
J.L. Austin (1911-60) - John Langshaw Austin - was an academic philosopher. He did not publish much (that would never do today), but his teaching at Oxford was hugely influential. Like Ludwig Wittgenstein later in his career, he believed that many traditional philosophical problems arose because philosophers misused the language. If only we attended to the proper use of ordinary language, and to the many subtle distinctions it contains, those problems would disappear. You can read about this 'ordinary language philosophy' here. The reason for this post is that I recently discovered Austin's role in the second world war. Guy ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: While Latin was used throughout the West, Greek remained the lingua franca of all the eastern regions. Until the sixth century, the Byzantine Empire employed both ancient languages. Administrators sent from the West to the eastern half of the empire were often issued with wordbooks giving the Greek equivalent of Latin words and explaining local terminology. Translation from Greek to Latin was largely the work of Christian scholars who wanted to make the Scriptures and theological writings available to westerners. Much less Latin literature was rendered into Greek. Most of Cicero, Ovid, Virgil and Horace, ...
The 15th Symphony of Science video featuring Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman and Lawrence Krauss.
Ed Davey writes on Liberal Democrat Voice: If you compare our recent slow recovery with Canada's Liberals' fast-track to power, you'll of course find quite a few differences - but for me the biggest is that Canada's Liberal Party went big on reform - and grew massively as a result.But how similar were positions the Canadian Liberals and the British Liberal Democrats faced a few years ago. The answer is that they were not similar at all. As the new issue of Liberator reminds us, the Canadian Liberals are their country's natural party of government, having been in power or ...
I was taken aback when Ed Davey, a former Cabinet minister no less, suggested I should consider running for Parliament. It was October 2015 and I had only been a member of the Liberal Democrats for five months. I'd joined after the General Election because I was so dismayed that Cameron's Conservatives had won a majority. I was keen to do whatever I could to help the Lib Dems locally and cheerfully took on leaflet rounds and canvassed for a local by-election. I had never remotely considered being an MP. As we got talking further during a curry night in ...
This is our response to the Future Fit consultation. Submission from the Shropshire councillors for Ludlow and Clee. 11 September 2018. The Future Fit proposals have been controversial from the outset. This is in part due to the top down process where that has too often followed idealistic models at the expense of the needs and desires of communities. It has also occurred because three different interlinked debates have been happening at the same time. These debates are about national, county and community resources. To begin with the national debate, we do not believe that the NHS has enough resources. ...
It is now widely known that the Trump Victory in the US Presidential Election was as a result of Active Measures from the Russian GRU, who hacked Hilary Clinton's Emails. The Parliamentary Select Committee has made the following remarks in relation to Leave EU, Arron Banks and Russia following testimony to parliament. In Part two of our investigation into the Russian Links of Brexit Funder Arron Banks, we put into the public domain questions raised about Arron Banks & his Russian Wife Katya, and her first husband Portsmouth Merchant Seaman, Eric Butler. We believe that the Russian Ambassador Alexander Vladimirovich ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #116 came out last week, taking a detailed look at the proposals for party reform set out by Vince Cable - and including the way in which members can have their say before final decisions are taken.
When I joined the Liberal Democrat ExpandTeam as Honorary President in August I said I was "looking forward to bringing together people and groups that want to make it easier for members to get involved and give them a great experience when they do". At our workshop, on 1 September that's exactly what we began doing. We invited a small group of Lib Dems from our network to discuss Liberal Democrat Expand's work and to ask the big questions about how we can all do something to improve member experience in the party. We began by looking at some of ...
Exercise May Offset Drinking's Harmful Epigenetic Effect on the BrainThis is the best news I have had in months :) New report slams government's voter ID plans as 'rearranging the deckchairs' in the face of new threats to democracy If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping me a tip: [IMG: Paypal Donate Button] [IMG: Buy Me an uncaffeinated beverage (because I'm allergic to coffee) at ko-fi.com] [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Under the dynamic leadership of Merlene Emerson from Singapore, the World Traders livery company in London has its heart set on entering the Guinness Book of Records by bringing together the most diverse (by nationality) group of singers ever for an event on 8 October. The current record is 72, but the organisers are hoping [...]
Parts of Westminster are aflutter with the notion that we could have a new prime minister soon. I don't see it. I realise the ERG group and their affiliates are annoyed with May and feel betrayed by her; but the window to get rid of her has very long since passed. Further, their feelings of betrayal are somewhat silly – they should have known how this was going to play out sometime ago. The clues were staggering in their obviousness. First off, it was kind of game set and match back in June of 2017 when David Davis went to ...
Poor Mrs May: trying to do the "right thing," yet 50 of her MPs plotting openly to remove her. But it wasn't a real plot: the leaders (Johnson, Rees Mogg, Davis) weren't there. Maybe just "flying a kite." We Liberals are obviously disposed towards compromise becasue our devotion to proportional representation makes political compromises almost inevitable. Yet the Chequers proposal is a good example of how compromise can lead, not to the best, but the worst of both worlds. There is a logic to Mrs May's position. She voted Remain, even campaigned for it, though not very wholeheartedly, and knows ...
Tue, 12:56: Polling on Racial Discrimination Supports Nike Just Doing It https://t.co/RfUDqm8kBJ Consumers expect activism from... https://t.co/YyvtsOjBwr Tue, 14:11: RT @D66: 🇪🇺 D66-leden, bedankt voor al jullie stemmen op de drie kandidaten voor Europese lijsttrekker. De stemmen zijn geteld en @Sophiein... Tue, 17:29: Boundary Commission - the detailed projections https://t.co/mqeH6aNCAI Tue, 17:33: My projection of the Boundary Commission's recommendations in Northern Ireland. In North Down, Lady Hermon's seat v... https://t.co/rGq9FLBQ8m Tue, 20:13: RT @JohnRentoul: Things that seem unlikely: 1. Johnson as PM; 2. No-deal Brexit; 3. Approval of boundary review. Wed, 10:45: RT @Youth_Forum: 🔴#EXCLUSIVE We have @JunckerEU's first ever ...
I wanted to do an article on the coalition years by looking at what we did well, what we could have done better and the consequence post-coalition. I want to make it clear that I was not in favour of an alliance with the Tories and would have preferred to have supported the Tories on a case-by-case basis (a bit like the DUP) with the main proviso that we get PR (and not a billion pounds) first before offering support. I would not have advocated joining the government because it's difficult to critically question your partner in government and take ...
Just to let residents know about recent planning applications in our area – on Simister Lane, Heys Road, Glebelands Road and Peveril Close . Please just let us know if you have any queries. Non-material amendment following grant of planning permission 62276 for two storey extension at ... 60 Heys Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1JY Ref. No: 63205 | Received: Thu 23 Aug 2018 | Validated: Fri 24 Aug 2018 | Status: Decided Change of use from House of Multiple Occupation (Class C4) to a nursery (Class D1 non-residential... 4 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1NE Ref. No: 63191 | ...
The first ever Prestwich Arts Festival – "Lifting the Lid on Local Talent" takes place at the end of this month. More information on their website here.
Inheritance tax overhaul part of radical Lib Dem plans to tackle wealth inequality Liberal Democrats have today set out bold reforms designed to spread opportunity, power and wealth more fairly throughout society and to give everyone a stake in the UK's economic success. The party expects these reforms to raise an additional £15 billion per year, though this is likely to grow as the rate of wealth passed down increases in the coming years. Liberal Democrat members will debate and vote on the proposals at the party's Autumn Conference in Brighton next week. Proposals include: Overhauling inheritance tax - taxing ...
The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group which oversees Fairfield, North Manchester, Salford Royal, Oldham Royal and Rochdale hospitals will open its doors to the public and members in a series of special hospital open events during September and October 2018. At the events, staff will be showcasing their work with the opportunity for people to share their views to help to continue to improve the experiences of those accessing the services provided by each hospital and Care Organisation within the Group. There will also be the opportunity for visitors to take tours, as well as browse stalls and learn more ...
Maghull North Station car park Well firstly the car park seems to be too small already and the station's been open less than 3 months! It was full on Monday 3rd September at 2.30pm and I only got a space because a car left whilst I was in the car park. I hear that others have had similar experiences. View of Liverpool bound platform at Maghull North Station Secondly, there's only one passenger shelter on the busy Liverpool bound platform and it is open to the elements so to speak. I have the feeling that this new station may well ...
There is a talk at St Margaret's Church Hall (St Margaret's Road, Prestwich) on Thursday 20th September 2018 at 7.30pm by George Lane. The Revd George Lane, is the Coordinating Chaplain at Manchester Airport Chaplaincy and has been in post since February 2012. Ordained in the Church of England in 1993, George has served in parishes in Leeds, Blackburn, East Yorkshire and between 1999 and 2007 was Vicar of Heald Green, at the end of Runway 1. He has also worked as Communications Officer for the Church of England in Manchester and for a charity which promotes inter-faith dialogue and ...
It has been put to me that the scheme for universal digital income (UDI), proposed here, was too indulgent of the long-established print media. Maybe. In particular some national (UK) newspapers are accused of being populist – encouraging and pandering to ill-considered and extreme opinion. They have, for example, engaged in incitement to see some [...] The post My Universal Digital Income scheme is only populist in the best sense appeared first on Radix.
Surprise, surprise, yet another member of the Welsh Assembly UKIP group has left the party. Is there anybody left in that group? This time it is the South Wales West UKIP Assembly Member, Caroline Jones. She has told the BBC that the party's leader Gerard Batten is alienating his members by moving the party to the far-right. She added that UKIP is taking "a direction that I'm not comfortable with". Her resignation means the UKIP group has four AMs left from the seven which entered the Senedd in 2016: Mrs Jones said Mr Batten was changing the party "to a ...
I've made it through the night, despite not much sleep, as I've been constantly hooked to a drip since 10am yesterday, to counteract the effects of the Melaphalan. I feel rather woozy – rather like it felt to fly to Australia in economy some years ago. Today is transplant day. I'm scheduled to receive my stem cells back at around ... The post Transplant day 0: Second life appeared first on ten pence piece.
One of the most common responses to Vince Cable's suggestions about "creating a movement" and "supporters" has been to focus on the army of people who already help us locally with leaflet delivery, cake-baking, fund-raising and loyal votes. I support the idea that those links should be greater and that we should involve supporters in the national party rather than just backing a local candidate or two. However, Vince's ideas go a great deal further. He quotes from the resolution on strategy agreed at our Southport Conference in March. That commits us "To create a political and social movement which ...
Last month, I highlighted residents' concerns about the overgrown state of the north side of Hawkhill - a very prominent site. I am pleased to report that, following my raising this with environment officers in the City Council's Neighbourhood Services, this has been attended to as the "before" and "after" photos below indicate :
Commenting on today's report by the National Audit Office which shows that the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs is unprepared for a no-deal Brexit, Tim Farron, Lib Dem spokesperson for the Environment said: "What a shock, the National Audit Office has declared DEFRA unprepared for a possible no deal Brexit, tell us something we didn't know. And now, we know the full scale of the disaster that could unfold."If we crash out without a deal the UK could well not be able to export animal products, enforce control over our fishing waters nor export chemical products to the ...
Commenting on today's report from the Public Accounts Committee into skills shortages within the armed forces, Liberal Democrat member of the PAC, who was one of those leading this inquiry, Layla Moran said:"The findings of our inquiry are really shocking. Despite a huge shortfall in staff and skills, the Government hasn't got a grip on what needs to be done to recruit more skilled specialists into the armed forces and Ministry of Defence, and to keep the ones we already have."To add insult to injury, the Government's disastrous approach to Brexit threatens to make the problem worse as skilled technicians, ...
