Panic buying of toilet paper is nothing new, as a story from Japan in 1973 demonstrates.
John Stuart Mill, one of the founding fathers of modern liberalism, famously identified the Conservative Party as the 'stupid party', If that was true of the nineteenth century Tories than the the Johnson Tory party, dominated by the arch-Brexiteers, is surely the stupid party in spades. Before the coronavirus crisis dominated the news channels sharp observers noted the following:* the government has decided not to participate in the Unified Patent Court, which is not even an EU body;nor the Early Warning and Response System, EWRS , responsible for measures to control serious cross-border threats to health, including communicable diseases;nor the ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:Because I am interested in Colón, I bought a copy of the translation when I spotted it in a used-book store. Part of a series the Italian state published to honor the five hundredth anniversary of his first voyage to the Americas, the book is a big, lush, cream-colored object that doesn't fit on a standard bookshelf. Disappointing to readers like me, Gil and Varela announced in the introduction that "these previously unknown texts do not present any spectacular revelations" about Colón's life and character. But halfway through the newly revealed chronicle of the admiral's second ...
There is a meme going around Facebook – post your favourite photo of the beach. So here is mine. Just say aaah... I took it some years ago in Jamaica and there is quite a story behind it. My cousin was British High Commissioner in Jamaica and we went to visit him a couple of times while he was there. Most of the time we were based in Kingston, so we got a different perspective on the island from most holiday makers. But one weekend we all rented a house on the north coast and enjoyed the amazing white sand ...
Many of us are going to have to get used to friends dying from COVID19 over the coming weeks, but this does not lessen the sense of loss. In my case, the first to go is Derek Honeygold, lifelong Liberal/Liberal Democrat and ardent pro-European, who passed away at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow yesterday, after [...]
I am hearing increasing talk about "our elderly" in the current crisis. As ever, language and clarity of expression are amongst the first victims of emergency. I want to say a word or three about the indiscriminate use of "elderly" and particularly its emergence as a noun – as in "the elderly" or, even worse, Boris's description of "our elderly" – poor, incompetents that we are, ready to be patronised by any passing do-gooder. Bah! There are several different definitions of "elderly" underlying the current widespread use of the word. Regrettably, I fall into most of them. In the current, ...
Not posting these as I feel I am an expert, but as something that reminds me of what I did, at least I can touch up the paint. I use Citadel paints as I find them easy to buy. A few gripping beast archers, the yellow is Averland Sunset. Makes things a bit brighter. The armour I used Leadbelcher, seems to look like armour. As with lots of stuff leather not easy, but used Rhinox Hide and Deathclaw Brown as well as Mournfang Brown (I seem to use lots of that, used it for the bases too.
The small business grant application forms are on line at Northumberland County Council. I could grumble about the lack of publicity, but I'll let that go for now. For a government / council form it was relatively easy to complete. If you know of any business in Northumberland who might be eligible, let them know please
Some local small businesses have had a letter from Liam Dewsbury at South Glos asking for bank information and linking to a South Glos web form. A resident asked us to check as they thought it might be a scam, but on Sunday (yes S Glos staff are working Sundays in the crisis) the Director of Finance has confirmed this is from S Glos. Make sure you are only inputting your details into the web form on a South Glos official site. If you have any doubts, get in touch with us and we can check.
Inevitably, it wasn't much of a birthday, but tradition allows me to choose a Spencer Davis Group track the following Sunday. I Can't Get Enough of It was the B-side of the Spencer Davis Group single I'm a Man. It was written by Steve Winwood and the American producer Jimmy Miller.
Sun 29th
12:15
Ludlow community outraged as local GP suspended from working at Ludlow Community Hospital
I thought yesterday that I would not write on this. It is not that it is a minor issue but at that point I felt it was a dispute within the NHS and not for my blog. However, there has been a very strong community reaction across all social media platforms to Saturday's announcement that Dr Catherine Beanland has been suspended from working at Ludlow Community Hospital. I don't intend to get involved in a dispute which appears to be about interpretations of protocols, not the safety of patients and medical professionals. I just want to convey the very loud ...
Mike Dixon took over as Lib Dem CEO just before the General Election. He's had to deal with an unexpected election, a change of leader and president and the impact of a global pandemic on our operations. Mark Pack took over as Party President in January. It's been an emotional, tumultuous, frenetic few months for the party. From the crushing disappointment of the General Election to the recent cancellation of our York conference and the postponement of the leadership election. Mike and Mark will be taking questions from party members in an online Q & A on Tuesday night. If ...
Just how dependent we are on the outside world as a country has been brought into focus again this week, with everybody in lockdown, panic-buying in the supermarkets and thousands of people confined to their home for their own safety, and potential food shortages because we cannot get enough labourers to go out and pick it. The Guardian website reports on warnings to the UK Government that charter flights to bring in agricultural workers from eastern Europe are needed as a matter of urgency, otherwise fruit and vegetables will be left unpicked in Britain's fields. They say that some large ...
Sun 29th
10:24
The best satire of media and politics that you've probably never watched: A Face in the Crowd
Its satirical bite is still highly applicable, from the way media titans influence politics right down to a throwaway comment about dodgy product placement.
Sun 29th
09:22Shropshire Council has launched Community Reassurance Teams across the county - we need to know more...
On Friday, Shropshire Council launched Community Reassurance Teams (CRT) in Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Market Drayton. The council says: "The Community Reassurance Teams are a new key service which have been created to work across the county with our communities in an effort to co-ordinate support for local residents, including businesses, with the support of town councils, parish councils, voluntary groups and community groups." We don't yet know how this new structure will work. From what I can see there are areas of the county without established Covid-19 support networks. We must ensure those areas have access to adequate ...
Sun 29th
08:55
Why postponing the leadership is a good decision setting a new challenge to those who wish to lead u...
Why postponing the leadership is a good decision setting a new challenge to those who wish to lead us. Not only do I agree with the difficult decision to postpone the leadership election, I believe also that it is an opportunity to set a challenge to those wishing to lead us. Declare your intention this year, pull together a team around you and set out your vision for Britain, our party and our philosophy in a book or manifesto. Tell us about it at Spring Conference and hustings so that we can elect you and give us time to debate ...
From the newsletter sent out by email to Liberal Democrat members on Saturday is news of an online Q&A session with myself and the Lib Dem Chief Executive.
Co-op Foundation and partners Co-op Funeralcare are to deliver £50,000 of funding for youth bereavement projects in Dundee, which is very good news. Organisations in Dundee can now apply for grants of up to £10,000 for projects that help young people support each other during bereavement. Grants are available through the Co-op Foundation's #iwill Fund. The Foundation expects to make about five grants in total and organisations have until 12 noon on Friday 3rd April to apply at www.coopfoundation.org.uk. Successful applicants from across Dundee can access funding for social action projects that equip young people with the skills they need ...
