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  <lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:08 BST</lastBuildDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Bakerloo Study - at last]]></title>
   <link>http://jamesbarber.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/bakerloo-study-at-last/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[For a few years I've been banging on about Southwark Council funding a study about extending the Bakerloo line  This approach by Greenwich Council about extending the DLR resulted in the Woolwich Arsenal extension. Funding such a report &#8211; not cheap at &pound;50,000 &#8211; ensures some real depth occurs and hopefully will push the Bakerloo extension along by several years. It is brilliant in opposition to push policies and actions you want and see them adopted. Happy day.]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 13:53:38 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[House of Comments - Episode 59 - Five Days in May]]></title>
   <link>http://markreckons.blogspot.com/2013/05/house-of-comments-episode-59-five-days.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Episode 59 of the House of Comments podcast "Five Days in May" was recorded on Sunday and was out yesterday. This week myself and Emma Burnell were joined by Labour activist and blogger Hopi Sen to discuss Andrew Adonis' "5 Days in May" about the coalition negotiations from Labour's perspective, Loongate and the Tories incipient nervous breakdown over Europe and equal marriage. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here (note - this is a new feed so if you used to subscribe to the old feed a couple of years ago you'll need to do so again). Other ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 13:07:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Day 4521: DOCTOR WHO: The Hurt Doctor]]></title>
   <link>http://millenniumelephant.blogspot.com/2013/05/day-2421-doctor-who-name-of-doctor.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Saturday: A History of the Time Lord, as recounted by Lawrence Miles, Kate Orman &amp; John Blum, Paul Cornell and Kate Orman again: "Once Upon A Time, the Doctor died, and because he was a time traveller, perhaps the most travelled time traveller ever, his body, or rather his "biodata", the "time DNA" of his journey through eternity, was a source of incredible energy, a fountainhead of information, a weapon of unspeakable power. And, by a quirk of fate, the Doctor crossed his own timeline to discover his body and fight his enemies to stop them taking advantage of it... ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Opinion: Nationalists want to monitor the BBC!]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-nationalists-want-to-monitor-the-bbc-34593.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[[IMG: BBC - Some rights reserved by Tim Loudon] A group of MSPs have declared that they're going to start monitoring BBC Scotland because they don't think they can deliver on their obligations! That should ring alarm bells! The SNP controlled Scottish Parliament Education &amp; Culture Committee has published a report, critical of cuts at BBC Scotland, with the implication that the Scottish arm of the Corporation would be unable to produce adequate coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum. The Committee forgets that BBC Scotland is one part of a much bigger organisation. Indeed, the shiny ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 12:58:48 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrats Elect New Front-Line Team]]></title>
   <link>http://focusonbarhill.blogspot.com/2013/05/cambridgeshire-county-council-liberal.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have named their front-line team for the coming year including several new faces. Maurice Leeke takes over from Kilian Bourke as leader with Lucy Nethsingha continuing as deputy leader. Newcomer Ed Cearns, who takes his seat on Cambridgeshire County Council for Cambridge's Market ward following the recent elections, will be spokesperson for Localism, Climate Change and Social Justice. Another newcomer, Amanda Taylor, elected in Cambridge's Queen Edith's ward, will share the Resources portfolio with Ian Manning. Peter Downes continues as the spokesperson for Education and Children and Young People and Susan van de Ven continues in the ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 12:37:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[More on the alleged forged UKIP nomination paper in Norfolk]]></title>
   <link>http://www.markpack.org.uk/41187/more-on-the-alleged-forged-ukip-nomination-paper-in-norfolk/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The BBC reports: [IMG: UKIP logo] A newly-elected UKIP councillor, at the centre of an investigation into a forged electoral nomination paper, has said he has not "done anything wrong". Jonathon Childs, who won a seat on Norfolk County Council, reported ahead of the 2 May election that the signature on his form was not his. The Eastern Daily Press has more on that quirk of the candidate themselves saying their own signature looked to be forged: Mr Childs has not responded to requests for comment, but on his Twitter page &#8211; @jonathon_childs &#8211; he wrote he had approached the ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 12:35:14 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Why Can't I Pay Tax Only On My Profits?]]></title>
   <link>http://shkspr.mobi/blog/2013/05/why-cant-i-pay-tax-only-on-my-profits/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[King of Google Eric Schmidt has written in The Guardian about how unfair it is that people don't think Google pay a fair share of taxes. He makes three pretty good points. Companies only pay tax on their profits. Politicians shouldn't make laws with loopholes. International laws need harmonisation. I agree with his second two points - although no-one is forcing Google to exploit the loopholes that it finds - but I am not sure I agree with the first. Fairness, so it seems, is hardwired into our brains and our societies. People naturally get very angry when they encounter ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 11:55:17 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[How Liberal Democrat MPs voted on same sex marriage amendments]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/how-liberal-democrat-mps-voted-on-same-sex-marriage-amendments-34594.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The only vote which had been published before I went to my bed last night was that on freedom of conscience for registrars. I've now had a look at some of the others in Hansard. In addition to the 11 who voted in favour of registrars being able to exempt themselves from conducting same sex marriages, there were two abstentions, from Vince Cable and Mark Williams. We had 36 voting in favour and Sir Bob Russell was telling. The next vote was on whether marriage between a man and a woman should be made a protected characteristic of a religion ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 11:43:14 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Why we might need helicopter money]]></title>
   <link>http://davidboyle.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-we-might-need-helicopter-money.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[If you really want to see a property bubble at work, then get into a time machine and go back to Tokyo in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a fearsome business, impoverishing more people than it enriched and funding Japan's aggressive business expansion around the world as the bubble inflated land prices. Grandparent mortgages - paid off by the generation after next - and hugely expensive tiny sleeping tubes: that is what happens when property bubbles get out of control (so watch out, George). They also eventually pop. Japan's zombie economy was the result, and all the ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:43:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Issuing fixed penalty notices to parents of children skipping school is counter-productive]]></title>
   <link>http://www.freedomcentral.org.uk/2013/05/issuing-fixed-penalty-notices-to-parents-of-children-skipping-school-is-counter-productive.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Yesterday's announcement by the Education Minister that fixed penalty notices will be issued to parents whose children are regularly absent from school will prove to be counter-productive. The Minister's decision has been based on the results of a consultation carried out between November 2012 and February 2013. I believe this is a disproportionate response to a problem which requires a far more creative response than a fining system. Evidence shows that children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to play truant and achieve poorer educational outcomes. I am concerned that fining parents of truant pupils will cause them even more ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:36:56 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Japan: are there lessons for other developed economies?]]></title>
   <link>http://thinkingliberal.co.uk/?p=910</link>
   <description><![CDATA[A while ago I wrote that the radical economic policies of Japan's new government under Shinzo Abe would be an interesting experiment for the world. They were much lauded by austerity sceptics, such as Paul Krugman, who drew attention to aggressive monetary policies and fiscal stimulus, which they were advocating for other developed economies. I was sceptical. But early results have exceeded expectations. There is a good analysis here from the Economist, which also discusses the new government's nationalist tendencies. Is this evidence that the austerity policies being pursued by much of the rest of the developed world are mistaken? ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:34:56 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Opinion: Have we changed our policy on an in-out referendum?]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-have-we-changed-our-policy-on-an-inout-referendum-34592.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[In Andrew Neil's Sunday Politics interview with Danny Alexander, Neil asserted that we have changed our policy on an in-out referendum. Is he right? Our position in 2008, when we walked out the Commons after being refused a debate on an in-out referendum, was that we wanted a referendum to decide whether the UK should stay in the EU in the light of the Lisbon Treaty. The Conservative position was that a referendum should decide the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty itself. The difference was perhaps subtle, but it was important. If the public voted no in the Conservative referendum, ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:28:41 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Peter Tatchell and LGBT Rights in Russia]]></title>
   <link>http://jonathanfryer.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/peter-tatchell-and-lgbt-rights-in-russia/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[By a spooky coincidence, while the House of Commons was debating the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, Liberal International British Group (LIBG), in collaboration with Liberal Youth, was holding a long-planned meeting on LGBT Rights in Russia, at the National Liberal Club. Through a skype link we had a long exchange with a brave young [...]]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:21 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Boost for Woman's Sport in Bury]]></title>
   <link>http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/boost-for-womans-sport-in-bury/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Bury MBC has been announced as the 'winners' of a &pound;1.8 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England as a trial area to test what works in changing the sporting habits of women and girls. Despite a big increase in the number of women playing sport regularly over the past year, women are still much less likely to be active than men. As the pilot progresses, Sport England will work with partners across community sport to make sure lessons coming out of Bury are put into practice across the country. Bury soap star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Lisa ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:09:17 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The Blood is The Life 21-05-2013]]></title>
   <link>http://miss-s-b.dreamwidth.org/1393684.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[ posted The Blood is The Life 20-05-2013 http://t.co/iK835EFHqG on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) How Has Political Opinion Changed Since Before The Local Elections? Fieldwork May 17th-18th I hope the media are very proud. (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:01 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[New Planning Application Heys Road]]></title>
   <link>http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/new-planning-application-heys-road-2/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward as detailed below:- Application number: 56298 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 13/05/2013 Location: 127 Heys Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1QB Proposal: Single storey extension at side/rear Plans will be available to view on the Councils' website here (use the planning application number to search). Any questions or if I can help please just get in touch. Tim]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:17:17 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Update: Sandgate Road Trees]]></title>
   <link>http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/update-sandgate-road-trees-2/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Thank you for people who have been in touch about the trees which have been cut down between Heys Football Club on Sandgate Road and the Motorway. After enquiries it appears that the work has been undertaken by contractors for the National Grid, who obviously need to ensure absolutely safety around electricity pylons and cables (which pass over the motorway at this point). Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have further queries on this. Tim]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:15:37 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Update: Tamworth Avenue Flood Risks]]></title>
   <link>http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/update-tamworth-avenue-flood-risks/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[A number of residents have been in touch worried about the potential for flooding at the 'bottom' end of Tamworth Avenue. The area is where United Utilities have installed 'Interceptor Tanks'. I have discussed this with the Council who have ensured that the site is included in their list of areas for urgent inspection in the event of flash floods in the area like we saw last year. Tim]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:15:16 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Take a Level 3 Diploma in Basketball at Stockport College]]></title>
   <link>http://iainroberts.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/take-a-level-3-diploma-in-basketball-at-stockport-college/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Study and play basketball at Stockport College, one of the top Sports Academies in the North West. Learn under John Brady, former professional basketball player with Manchester Giants and Junior International &#8211; and come out with a Level 3 National Diploma in Basketball &#8211; equivalent to three A-levels.]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:11:09 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Reporting Back: Bury's Annual Council]]></title>
   <link>http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/05/21/reporting-back-burys-annual-council/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Last Tuesday was the 'Annual' Meeting of Bury Council. This is mostly a ceremonial meeting, but with two very important pieces of business: Mayor of Bury 2013-2014 Cllr Sharon Briggs &#8211; Photo Bury Council. Appointing the Mayor of Bury for the next year. Interestingly two bits of history were made as this was the first time in history that both the Deputy Mayor AND the Mayor are both women (amazing that it took to 2013 for this to happen, 95 years since women were given the right to vote....). It is also the first occasion that the Mayor is someone ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:09:13 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The sovereignty of Parliament]]></title>
   <link>http://matthewfharris.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-sovereignty-of-parliament.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[My heart stopped when I just read the following words on BBC News (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22605011): "In the Commons on Tuesday, MPs will vote on an amendment to the Marriage Bill, put forward by the Humanist Association, to allow recognised groups to officiate at marriage ceremonies." I didn&#39;t know that there was an MP called the Humanist Association - what party is s/he? I&#39;m all for lobbying by groups like the Humanist Association, but MPs&#39; role is to seriously consider such groups&#39; competing arguments and then to reflect those arguments in proposed amendments. The reference to "an amendment...put forward by the Humanist ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:02:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Baroness Judith Jolly writes: new Social Care Bill focuses on people not systems]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/baroness-judith-jolly-writes-new-social-care-bill-focuses-on-people-not-systems-34588.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The Care Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the social care system. Currently there is a morass of legislation, confusing to those who work in the system and almost impenetrable to those in need of care, or their carers. It is leaving behind those who fund themselves to work it out as they go along. These are the most vulnerable in our society &#8211; the elderly and those of working age who are disabled and need care. The Bill focuses on people, not systems, and has received plaudits from all quarters. Today I will stand up in the chamber ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 08:55:33 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Opinion polls yadda yadda. OR "Does Nate Silver mean nothing to you? Did he write in vain?"]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/nate-silver-uk-polls-34591.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Two new polls last night: the daily YouGov tracker and the first post-local elections poll from Survation. The spread is interesting: Labour: 35% (Survation 39% (YouGov) Conservatives: 24% (S), 31% (YG) Lib Dems: 11% (S), 10% (YG) Ukip: 22% (S), 14% (YG) As Anthony Wells points out, Survation asks whether people will vote Ukip (most other firms just ask about the main three parties and 'Others') so usually gets the highest Ukip poll numbers. This latest survey is in line with the bounce other firms have shown and which the perceived winner of an election often records. Unsurprisingly, it's Survation's ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 08:45:52 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Bank Holiday bin arrangements]]></title>
   <link>http://gibbs-barton.blogspot.com/2013/05/bank-holiday-bin-arrangements_21.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[With next Monday being the Bank Holiday, all bin collections next week are put back a day.So, if your normal "bin day" is Tuesday , next week it will be Wednesday and .... well, I'm sure you get the idea. Next week is a green bin week ( ie General Waste ) Any questions please contact Northumberland County Council]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 06:31:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Friends of Balgay's new website]]></title>
   <link>http://www.dundeewestend.com/2013/05/friends-of-balgays-new-website.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Friends of Balgay now have a website that you can access at www.friendsofbalgay.co.uk. I'll declare an interest - Janet, me wife, has created it for the Friends, using a wealth of information Friends of Balgay supplied. Janet has used the very helpful BT Community Website Builder to create the site, having already set up at a site for the Dundee Branch of the MS Society.]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 06:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Beat the Bridge]]></title>
   <link>http://woyce.blogspot.com/2013/05/beat-bridge.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[My trainer talked me into running the Beat the Bridge 8K at the last minute. I know 8K isn't very long (in the grand scheme of, say, marathon training - it's a HUGE victory for others and I don't mean to discount that), but it would be longer than I've run since Eugene. To say that I've been very cautious/lazy about my recovery and amping back up the miles would be...generous. After stopping by Safeway for a bagel, I hopped the bus over to the University District from my house, although the bus was diverted, so we actually ended up ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 06:12:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Blackness Library refurbishment - an update]]></title>
   <link>http://www.dundeewestend.com/2013/05/blackness-library-refurbishment-update.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Further to my previous updates about the disabled access and other improvements at Blackness Library, I have received the following information from the council's Head of Library and Information Services : "We are now in a position to confirm details relating to the temporary closure of Blackness Library for the completion of the building works. The library will close from Thursday 30th May for a 6 to 8 week period. A reduced service will be provided from Logie and St John's Church from Monday 3rd June onwards. The opening times will remain the same." I am very pleased that a ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 06:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Album Review - Texas 'The Conversation']]></title>
   <link>http://oneexwidow.blogspot.com/2013/05/album-review-texas-conversation.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[First, an apology: This review was intended to be the climax of my "A Journey Through Texas" series, which sadly fell by the wayside a bit whilst I was otherwise engaged in March and April. As a result, it lacks the context I had hoped it would have. I have, though, opted to retain the track-by-track style of the entries I made for Southside and Mother's Heaven - and I still intend to complete posts for all the other albums... The album kicks of with the title track and lead single. In many respects it is reminiscent of the Texas ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 02:18:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Cambridge MP Julian Huppert Calls For National Intervention Over Campsite Sale]]></title>
   <link>http://focusonbarhill.blogspot.com/2013/05/cambridge-mp-julian-huppert-calls-for.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[MP Julian Huppert has called on the national Scouts Association to intervene so that the sale of the Little Abington campsite does not go ahead. He called on CEO Matt Hyde to look at the history and stop the sale from proceeding. And he told County Scouting Commissioner, Liz Craig that he felt that selling off the Little Abington campsite is not the best way to secure the long-term future of Cambridge scouting He said the sale of the land, originally donated by a local businesses and organisations, would conflict with the intent of that donation. In a letter to ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 01:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The Four Freedoms of liberalism]]></title>
   <link>http://ghmltn.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-four-freedoms-of-liberalism.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Tonight I just wanted to record some important words that I feel need spoken again. In January 1941 America's greatest president, Franklin Roosevelt, delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. It was to be one of the great speeches and one of the most important expositions of political liberalism. It is known as The Four Freedoms Speech. "...The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are: Equality of opportunity for youth and for others. Jobs for those who can work. Security for those who need it. The ending of special ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 00:36:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Equal Marriage - when is a Lib Dem not a Lib Dem?]]></title>
   <link>http://sosamsaid.blogspot.com/2013/05/equal-marriage-when-is-lib-dem-not-lib.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[I'm quite sure that in twenty years time, we'll look back on this as a really fractious period. Being in Government isn't easy, and being in a coalition is worse. Good, solid, LibDem members are faced on an almost weekly basis with things that question our morals and what it means to be a member of our party. For the most part, what happens is that people mull things over, agree, yet again, that we have to compromise and move on, and we continue to deliver leaflets, or phone supporters, or organise suppers to get our MP's and Councillors elected ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 00:25:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Scots Lib Dems try to bar Yes campaign?]]></title>
   <link>http://livingonwords.blogspot.com/2013/05/scots-lib-dems-try-to-bar-yes-campaign.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[An interesting snippet reaches LOWA towers about what can only be described as anti nationalist paranoia from the Scottish Lib Dems. The Yes to independence campaign asked the party's conference committee whether it could exhibit at this year's main conference in Glasgow in September - but bizarrely the Scottish Lib Dems objected claiming that it might lead to "threatening or otherwise unacceptable behaviour". However the UK (federal) party saw sense and allowed the Scots Yes Campaign "to exhibit at federal conference should they wish to do so. Allowing them a platform to express their views and engage in a debate ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 00:11:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Comments on Bangor City Council Meeting 20th May.]]></title>
   <link>http://rhystaylor.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/comments-on-bangor-city-council-meeting-20th-may/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Two important, yet conscientious, issues were on Monday night's agenda. Both The People of Bangor Community Group (TPOBCG) and a Bangor Market were proposed by Cllr Nigel Pickavance. TPOBCG is unlikely to be able to continue as it has after this years' Bangor Carnival and the group are looking towards the Council to take over [...]]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 23:43:54 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The real legacy of Margaret Thatcher]]></title>
   <link>http://liberator-magazine.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-real-legacy-of-margaret-thatcher.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[A lot of rubbish was said and written about Margaret Thatcher immediately after her death. The consensus was depressingly deferential - partly in the spirit of "never speak ill of the dead"; partly due to her supporters seeking to exploit the mourning to reinforce her legacy; partly due to her opponents being overwhelmingly defeatist; but mainly because, although the economic orthodoxy she established has crashed in flames, no one has any idea what to do next. The few who dared to criticise her openly were no better. Many of these critics descended into appropriately 1980s-period SWP-style gesture politics (the 'Ding ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 22:59:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[11 Liberal Democrat MPs vote for registrars to be exempt from marrying same sex couples]]></title>
   <link>http://www.libdemvoice.org/11-liberal-democrat-mps-vote-for-registrars-to-be-exempt-from-marrying-same-sex-couples-34590.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has made fairly easy progress through the Commons tonight. After a Government/Labour compromise on a review for extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples, and the heavy defeat or withdrawal of amendments, including "son of Section 28", it looks as though many of the barriers to this Bill's passage have been removed. There is still a further day of debate tomorrow, though, and further amendments to be debated. One of the amendments discussed today, defeated by 340 votes to 150 in favour, was to allow registrars to exempt themselves from marrying same sex couples. ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 22:55:14 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Six of the Best 354]]></title>
   <link>http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2013/05/six-of-best-354.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The View from the Hills offers 14 thoughts on British politics after three years of the Coalition. "It was a gorgeously sunny and calm day yesterday afternoon on the south west coast of Wales. 13,000ft above sea level, somewhere above Swansea Airport, I was sitting hunched up in a 'plane, ready to free-fall back to Earth!" Read what happened next to Mark Cole - and he is quoted in the current Private Eye. Ballots &amp; Bullets finds that children with politically engaged parents are more likely to deviate from their parents' political views. Delia Smith is quite right to criticise ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 22:34:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[City Council meetings]]></title>
   <link>http://www.dundeewestend.com/2013/05/city-council-meetings.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[After my weekly ward surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre, I took part in City Council committee meetings at which : * At Education Committee, in a discussion on the funding of the rebuilding of Harris Academy, I sought assurances about the level of the Scottish Government's part-funding of the project. * At Environment Committee, I welcomed a report on promoting bowling in the city and pointed to the facility at Lochee Park and why it would be good to see the second green utilised and the Bowling Green's building improved. I also welcomed improvements planned for ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 22:26:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[More from the anti-equal marriage hate camp]]></title>
   <link>http://digitalpolitico.net/2013/05/20/more-from-the-anti-equal-marriage-hate-camp/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[As you can see, the whole thing was set up to look like it was advocating love, when really those there were just spreading hatred. I heard one preacher take up the microphone and say that the liberalisation of things like abortion and divorce had led to progress on equal marriage, and what ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 22:07:39 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Balgay Stakeholders' Group]]></title>
   <link>http://www.dundeewestend.com/2013/05/balgay-stakeholders-group.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[This afternoon, I took part in the latest meeting of the Balgay Stakeholders' Group that gives the opportunity for representatives from Friends of Balgay to discuss issues around the park area with local councillors and representatives of the City Council's Environment Department. We had a very productive discussion on a number of issues including the planting of wildflowers just inside the Scott Street entrance to the park, progress towards the new toilet provision at the Lochee Park Pavilion and improvements at the Rose Garden. Friends of Balgay are having a litter pick on Sunday 2nd June from 2pm to 3pm ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 21:57:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Woman trapped hand in drain cover searching for marble]]></title>
   <link>http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2013/05/woman-trapped-hand-in-drain-cover.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Congratuations to the Stamford &amp; Rutland Mercury on winning my Headline of the Day Award.]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 21:52:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Bonkers, loons and co education]]></title>
   <link>http://birkdalefocus.blogspot.com/2013/05/blog-post_3294.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Lord Bonkers was drawing our attention to The Telegraph story that Tory members were defecting to UKIP because of the so-called 'loons' smear. Now given Farage's reception in Scotland and given my distaste for banding around derogatory remarks usually aimed at people with mental ill health I got to thinking about loons It is, as I pointed out to his lordship, a perfectly good Scots word defined as: loun [lun] n. A youth, boy, fellow, rascal. dim. lounie, lounock(ie) You can hear it here in a poem, Co Education by John C Milne, written in the 'doric' the characteristic speech ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 21:09:24 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[20+ resources for better giving and living a more altruistic life]]></title>
   <link>http://starkrush.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/20-resources-for-better-giving-and-living-a-more-altruistic-life/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Reblogged from TED Blog: Every day, most of us do something morally indefensible -- we go about our lives without sending help to the 6.9 million children under the age of 5 who will die this year from poverty-related disease. In today's talk, philosopher Peter Singer makes the case that ignoring these kids is as [&#038;hellip]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:58 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Dodington Road safety issues]]></title>
   <link>http://localfocus.blogspot.com/2013/05/dodington-road-safety-issues.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[In April Claire Young carried out a survey in Dodington Road to find out what people thought about various options for pavements to increase pedestrian safety. Most people supported both extending the pavement on the school playing field side to a safer crossing point and creating a pavement on the same side as the houses from there up to at least the bend. Given the costs, it would be difficult for the Area Forum to fund both in one year, so they have been added to the Local Transport Priority List as two separate schemes. It would not make sense ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 20:09:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The Eagle Has Landed! My 13,000ft Sky Dive Experience...]]></title>
   <link>http://johnmarkcole.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-eagle-has-landed-my-13000ft-sky.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[It was a gorgeously sunny and calm day yesterday afternoon on the south west coast of Wales. 13,000ft above sea level, somewhere above Swansea Airport, I was sitting hunched up in a 'plane, ready to free-fall back to Earth! As I have mentioned already in this blog, I was doing it to raise money to buy defibrillators for our rural communities here in mid-Wales as a part of the British Heart Foundation Cymru's two-year &pound;200,000 appeal. I was also doing it in memory of my Dad Lance Cole who died 10 years ago next month and who survived open heart ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 20:02:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Blyth Rugby Club Beer Festival]]></title>
   <link>http://gibbs-barton.blogspot.com/2013/05/blyth-rugby-club-beer-festival.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The annual beer festival at Blyth Rugby Club is this weekend, 24th to 27th May Friday 5pm to Midnight Saturday Noon to Midnight Sunday 11 am to Midnight Monday Noon to 10pm I don't know the beer line up yet ( or should that be line out ...? ) , but I'm told that over the weekend 20 beers and up to 12 ciders will be available Blyth Rugby Club is on Plessey Road, Blyth, with postcode of NE24 3LE for Sat Navs or Google Maps. Now I have to persuade my wife to let me out to play ..... ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:51:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Guest Blog: Jeremy Browne MP: Crime down to lowest levels since records began.]]></title>
   <link>http://johnleechmp.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/guest-blog-jeremy-browne-mp-crime-down-to-lowest-levels-since-records-began/</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Under the Coalition Government, crime is at its lowest level since independent records began. That's fewer homes burgled and possessions stolen; fewer communities blighted by vandalism; and fewer people [...]]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:47:39 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Transeuropa torpedo Thanet council finances]]></title>
   <link>http://bignewsmargate.blogspot.com/2013/05/transeuropa-torpedo-thanet-council.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Now there's a surprise the recent demise of Transeuropa ferries is going to cost Thanet council 3.3 million pounds. It seems that the entrepreneurial brains of Thanet council thought it a great idea to prop up the ailing ferry company back 2011. The grisly details of this debacle are attached, to be honest I don't have the stomach, as always the victims of local authority, dabbling in the entrepreneurial world, will be those who can least afford it as housing benefit funds have been ear marked for plundering. As always you can be sure that staff pensions are safe, free ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:46:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[The Liberal Democrats won the Harborough constituency in the county elections]]></title>
   <link>http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-liberal-democrats-won-harborough.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Lewis Baston has analysed this month's county elections results for the Fabian Society. He concludes that "these elections were not a vote of confidence in any party". Because of the website it was written for it is chiefly concerned with the fortunes of the Labour Party, but it will still interest all politicos. And I was particularly interested in this sentence: The Lib Dems were ahead in some seats that were Tory in 2010, such as South East Cornwall, Oxford West &amp; Abingdon, Winchester, St Albans, Watford and Harborough.]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:43:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[Church of Scotland - Religious progress one fudge at a time]]></title>
   <link>http://www.predictableparadox.co.uk/2013/05/church-of-scotland-religious-progress.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[The General Assembly crawled to consensus Today, the Church of Scotland at the General Assembly received a report from the Theological Commission concerning the ordination of ministers who are in civil partnerships. That report offered two, greatly divergent options. There was the "revisionist" proposal (2A), which would have (subject to ratification by a majority of Presbyteries, and then the General Assembly of 2014) enabled ministers who were in civil partnerships to be ordained and to serve as ministers, but to permit individual congregations formally to opt-out of calling ministers to their charge in such relationships on the grounds of their ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:13:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA["Oh hey there you mad swivel eyed loons... Want to Canvass for us in the Euros?"]]></title>
   <link>http://totalpolichic.blogspot.com/2013/05/oh-hey-there-you-mad-swivel-eyed-loons.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Apparently, Lord Andrew Feldman of Elstree has called the Conservative party activists "swivel eyed loons." "Lord who?" Yes, you'd be forgiven for thinking that. Cameron's friend from Oxford; the Conservative Party Chairman, and former Chief Executive was yesterday accused of referring to the party's activists as a mad bunch. When asked for comment, Cameron denied that his friend from University had uttered such a phrase. But hold on... Let's think about this.; "Conservative party activists... Swivel eyed loons. Even the keenest of political anoraks has to admit that there are a huge number of activists from each of the three ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:53:00 +0100</pubDate>
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   <title><![CDATA[rate payers multi million losses down to poor governance under Sefton Lab new info]]></title>
   <link>http://birkdalefocus.blogspot.com/2013/05/bootle-labour-councillor-dowds-legacy.html</link>
   <description><![CDATA[Bootle Labour Councillor Dowd's legacy of extravagant waste 'the lack of prudence beggars belief'-Liverpool Post No apology, unrepentant and unreconstructed Mark Dowd sits on the Labour front bench at Sefton glowering his defiance. His colleagues protect him and rubbish every report issued that details his outrageous behavior describing them as 'tawdry and rubbish'. How much more is there to come out? When will the Labour party act . To date we know about what the Daily Post calls: ...............'the monstrous black elephant that is Merseytravel's monolithic HQ at Mann Island' which it describes as having 'entered the realms of the ...]]></description>
   <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:49:18 +0100</pubDate>
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