Valerian for sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis 2006 - "The available evidence suggests that valerian might improve sleep quality without producing side effects. Future studies should assess a range of doses of standardized preparations of valerian and include standard measures of sleep quality and safety." Valerian for sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis 2010 - The AMED and

Posted by John Hemming on John Hemming's Web Log
Thu 10th
20:49

450 days of plague

A significant day today, as I returned to the office for the first time on a regular basis - I have already nipped in a few times this year, but I have now been allocated the Thursday shift and will be going in on that day until things loosen up again. I was the most senior person there today, and enjoyed the company of younger colleagues, one of whom had only started earlier this week, while another had not been to the office since March last year. Gillian Tett, a contemporary of ours at Clare, wrote a piece a week ...

The publisher of the Sun has paid an (undisclosed) substantial sum to Simon Hughes over phone hacking. According to The Guardian: Hughes claimed "he had been the victim of unlawful information gathering by various journalists and executives at the Sun" who were intent on publishing details of his past relationships with men. ... Speaking outside the court, Hughes said: "It went to the top in the Sun - senior editorial people, senior people at the top were clearly involved." Asked if he thought Rebekah Brooks, who was editor of the Sun in 2006, knew about how his private information had ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

With so many Lib Dems heading over to Chesham and Amersham to support Sarah Green, it was interesting to read a letter published today in The Guardian. Dr Peter Dawson, a voter in the constituency, writes: This has long been an ultra-safe Conservative seat, but there appears to be some anxiety among Tories, locally and nationally, about a possible Liberal Democrat win. Boris Johnson has made an appearance here and canvassers have been drafted in from London. Apparently Rishi Sunak has written to all voters encouraging them to vote for a candidate "who can work with me". As Dr Dawson ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice

We live in a society where far too many of our political representatives seem to all but promote intolerance and fear. Those two words are often at the heart of what, usually in more deliberately vague language, is being peddled and promoted. Of course, much of our press is on the same regressive agenda. They work with politicians to exploit intolerance and fear which they then manipulate to enable messages to be sold to folk who, to put it bluntly, are being played. Politicians know that most of us can be tribal in outlook and tribalism is the big brother ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Two stories, two very different professions but one lesson. First, cricket: England pace bowler Ollie Robinson has been suspended from international cricket pending an investigation into historical racist and sexist tweets. The posts from 2012 and 2013 were revealed while he was making his England debut during the drawn first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. [BBC] Second, politics: The Green Party has withdrawn its candidate from the Batley & Spen by-election after it was revealed he made a series of "highly offensive" homophobic tweets as a teenager. Rugby league international Ross Peltier, 29, had been selected by the party ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Thu 10th
11:27

Beautiful June

Everything seems to be flowering at once this month in the garden. The warm wet weather has bought lots of buds and growth but not so many butterflies this year. The prolonged wet weather was not good for the outdoor vegetable seeds, I'm on my second lot of bean sowings as the first were lost to slugs and pigeons but have managed to get some shallots and rhubarb going. I have begun another lawn spiral, this time in the front, they start off pretty unruly but after few mows settle down. If you are tempted to try one & have ...

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review
Thu 10th
11:00

My tweets

Wed, 18:18: RT @bbcdoctorwho: 14 years since the Doctor's most memorable advice... 🙈 https://t.co/IjacOCIhWp Wed, 18:26: RT @NaomiOhReally: Emphatic response to a report that the EU is considering introducing checks between the Republic and the rest of the EU.... Wed, 18:30: Bridget Jones' Diary (And Other Writing): 25th Anniversary Edition, by Helen Fielding https://t.co/mv1UMBNmpb Wed, 18:36: A grim, grim read from @CrisisGroup. I remember overseeing their first N-K analysis back in 2005 (with @SabineFreizer). We warned then of what could happen; the only thing that surprised me was that it took fifteen years. https://t.co/3bF2lckcLO Wed, 20:48: This Long Disease, My ...

It has been a long journey and for many areas of the country it may not be over yet. The Boundary Commission for England has made its latest "final" proposals for changing the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies, including those in Shropshire. Although the government had long abandoned plans to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, it is pressing up to even up the size of constituencies. The Ludlow constituency, for now represented by Philip Dunne, is proposed to expand north to the edge of Shrewsbury taking in Dorrington and Cressage and adopting a new name of Ludlow ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

[IMG: Silverback mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Photo (Silverback mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Photo by Stephen Bwigyirire [Commonwealth Medical Trust])] Trips up the tower at Old School Mews were a special feature of the Sandgate Sale Safari, Sandgate, Folkestone, which was organised by the Sandgate Society, on Sunday 6 June. And, the first visitors to go up to look out towards Dungeness over Sandgate Castle were Sal Kenward, Chair of the Sandgate Society and Tim Prater, District Councillor for Sandgate and West Folkestone and Chairman of Sandgate Parish Council. Both Tim and Sal had accepted the invitation ...

YouGov

Before we go any further, in relation to the headline: no, it's not not because they are both middle-aged men who experienced weight problems. Although it's worth stating again an incredible fact about Boris Johnson: he is the only person I have ever come across that looks fatter in real life than on television. The truism about "the camera adds a stone" is actually correct for the vast majority of the human race, yet the reverse applies to our current prime minister – another example of BJ's extraordinary exceptionalism. Boris reminds me of Elvis in the 70s because no matter ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

[IMG: Leas Lift] The iconic Leas Lift in Folkestone has applied for funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to secure its future. After submitting an initial expression of interest earlier this year, the volunteer-led board of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company CIC have been working hard behind the scenes putting together a comprehensive application with supporting documents to help support their bid. Cathy Beare, Chair of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company CIC said: "It's been a busy year with both the Leas Lift Café and the Leas Lift Lockout opening, both contributing funding and supporting our mission to restore ...

Thu 10th
08:50

So: This is Rubbish

[IMG: Recycling and Residual / General Waste Wheely bins] It's no point varnishing it: Folkestone and Hythe District is currently facing a breakdown in collections of household waste and recycling. As a message on the Folkestone and Hythe District Council website said last week: "We'd like to apologise to all residents who are experiencing problems with our waste collection service at the moment, as a result of route changes put in place by our contractor (Veolia). "We expected some teething problems just due to the sheer number of properties affected by the route changes and had asked you to bear ...

Thu 10th
08:30

Whoniversaries 10 June

i) births and deaths 10 June 1904: birth of Geoffrey Orme, who wrote The Underwater Menace (Second Doctor, 1967) 10 June 1926: birth of Gabor Baraker, who played Wang-Lo, the rather camp tavern-keeper, in the story we now call Marco Polo and Luigi Ferrigo, a dodgy Genoese merchant, in the story we now call The Crusade 10 June 1976: birth of Lee Haven Jones, who has directed (so far) three Thirteenth Doctor stories, Spyfall: Part Two (2020), Orphan 55 (2020) and Revolution of the Daleks (2021). 10 June 2008: death of David Brierly, who played the voice of K9 in ...

Commenting on the latest round of talks aimed at simplifying the Northern Ireland Protocol post-Brexit, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael MP said: "Today's meeting was an opportunity for constructive attempts to fix the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Instead, all we get is blame slinging and briefing wars which do nothing to help the people caught in the middle of all this. "Continual insistence on unilateral action will get us nowhere. The issues with the implementation of the protocol will only be solved by the UK and EU working together to find a solution. "There needs ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Following yesterday's court ruling which judged the Government acted unlawfully over their awarding of a £560,000 Covid contract, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael MP said: "Today's ruling should be a wake-up call. This is yet another example of the cronyism at the heart of this Conservative Government. While the Liberal Democrats were fighting for the three million people who have been excluded from government support, they were focusing on enriching their mates. "It's little wonder the Conservatives are so keen on weakening the courts and restricting judicial review, given how often their Ministers are found to have ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Residents have highlighted to me that the area around the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster memorial on Riverside Drive is badly in need of weeding. I therefore asked environment management in the City Council to carry this out and it was promptly tidied up although I have asked for it to be completed so it is neater and the surrounding area given a tidy too.

The BBC report on a high court ruling that the government acted unlawfully when it awarded a £560,000 contract to a firm run by former colleagues of Michael Gove and the PM's adviser Dominic Cummings. Michael Gove denied any favouritism had been shown to market research agency Public First, but the judge said a failure to consider other firms could be seen as suggesting a "real danger" of bias: Campaigners took legal action against Mr Gove over the Cabinet Office's decision to use the company following the start of the pandemic last year. They also questioned the involvement of Mr ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black