"I'm an Atheist...thank God". Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 - 12:07 am
That was one of Dave Allen's sayings. The great Dave Allen who passed away five years back today.
He was one of the most astute observers of human nature, given to point out the absurdities and hypocricies of everyday life especially in religion and and sex.
But all in a gentle and wry way that was actually very thought-provoking. I loved his TV shows and managed to see him perform live once.
To quote him again "Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you". "It started with Iraq... But [the Lib Dems] have become the natural home for left-liberal Cookites" Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 - 9:39 am
Astonishing article in today's Guardian by former editor of the New Statesman charting how massive a disappointment the Labour government of the last dozen years has been and how for anyone of a vaguely left/left-of-centre persuasion the Lib Dems are the NATURAL choice. Tories... all boss-eyed maniacs obsessed with Europe - BoJo Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 8:08 pm
Great quote from Boris Johnson in tonight's Channel 4 programme Dispatches: Cameron Uncovered. The Hurt Locker Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 8:00 pm
How fitting that on IWD Kathryn Bigelow should become the first ever woman to win an Oscar for Best Director, and indeed Best Film.
Bravo! Happy International Women's Day Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 12:00 am
Today is the centenary celebration of International Women's Day, and around the world, it is celebrated to mark the economic, political, and social achievements of women.
This year the theme is equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, and the ICRC is drawing attention to the hardship displaced women endure.
The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's wars. It affects women in so many dreadful ways, but far from being helpless victims, women are resourceful, resilient, and courageous in the face of hardship.
Since 2005, the TUC has asked for IWD to be designated a public holiday, and I'd like to support that call.
Red Hot Chili Peppers eat your heart out! Sunday, March 7th, 2010 - 10:43 pm
Just back from a family event in Manchester, and shattered.
My eldest is in a band, and they had managed to pass an audition last month to get to the regional finals. While of course they were the best act there, unfortunately they didn't make the cut to get through to the national finals.
Nil desperandum, we all went off to Chinatown in Manchester and had a great Sìchuānese meal. The recession and Keighley's health Saturday, March 6th, 2010 - 11:11 am
One of the consequences of the economic recession has been a rise in smoking figures, with higher stress levels a factor, and people who are very deprived being the most likely to smoke.
This smoking epidemic is the biggest cause of illness and premature death in the constituency, and research shows that two thirds of smokers would like to stop.
So, I'd like to add my voice to those of the health professionals and urge folk to take up the free help available on the NHS to quit on National No Smoking Day next Wednesday at Keighley indoor market, from 1pm to 4pm.
I've been told that anyone who wants to hand over their cigarettes will receive a free fire safety assessment as well as advice and support.
I should've added that there's more info at http://www.wequit.co.uk/ Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters - Rosa Luxemburg Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 10:48 pm
The fuller quote is, "Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of a party is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of the dissenter... and its effects cease to work when "freedom" becomes a privilege". Lib Dem Economic Policy Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 10:28 pm
One of the things that Michael Meadowcroft said last month at Yorkshire Regional Conference was for us Lib Dems to have much more confidence in ourselves and our policies.
A prime example is the Economy, where back in 2003, Vince Cable was warning that banking regulation wasn’t working, and called for the nationalisation of Northern Rock long before anyone else realised how serious the situation was.
Which also brings me to that other great Liberal economist William Beveridge whose birthday it is today. He it was who in 1942 wrote the ground-breaking report entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services (better known as the Beveridge Report) which served as the basis for the post-World War II Welfare State, admittedly put in place by the Labour government.
The message being if you want radicalism, don't go for pale imitations go for the real thing and vote Lib Dem. UKIP - "To lose one MEP may be regarded as a misfortune; but to lose four..." Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 1:07 am
News from the wilder shores of sensibilty that ANOTHER UKIP MEP has left the party.
UKIP has a track record of butter-fingeredness towards its MEPs, in the last European Parliament it started with a dozen and finished with nine after two expulsions and a flounce-out by Robert Kilroy-Silk, to form the even madder (though not ironically named Veritas).
Now, only a few months into a new European Parliament they've lost another MEP.
I suppose it should come as no surprise, given that the party's founder Alan Sked resigned the leadership and left the party, saying it was "doomed to remain on the political fringes".
The Tories’ apparent commitment to a Pupil Premium is totally meaningless unless extra money is put in. Without this money, many schools will see their budgets cut.
This will be even more devastating at a time when public spending will be squeezed, especially as the Tories are already targeting the Education budget for cuts.
It is nonsense to give "freedoms" to some schools, but deny them to others. The Tories' plans to simply rely on the market, without any accountability or local oversight will fail and will have little impact in the vast majority of schools.
Worse still, both the Labour and Tory obsession with academies will mean an eventual end to state education as we know it and a fragmentation that will lead to chaos.
We must enure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few. Michael Foot - A man of integrity and honesty Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 - 3:33 pm
I was devastated to hear of the death of Michael Foot earlier today. The man was a giant of a figure for those of us in the peace movement and his opposition to nuclear weapons never wavered.
He was a brilliant orator, and an even better author and journalist. One of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of two volume life of Nye Bevan.
Although I profoundly disagreed with his position on the "Common Market", I respected him on so many different things that I believe one of the most principled and progressive voices on the radical left can genuinely be mourned by almost everyone in the country.
At a time before parliament was televised his speeches made great reading. I thought he was the best person to take over the Labour leadership in 1976 when Harold Wilson stood down.
His leadership of the party came at a particularly difficult time, not helped by the egos of people like David Owen, and although Foot could be particularly cruel to us Liberals. I still retained a fondness for him borne out by the fact that he refused right to the end of taking ANY sort of honour and indeed joining the unelected Second Chamber.
I remember his last speech in the House, when he spoke about the situation in Yugoslavia. He was one of the few to bunk the myth that the Serbs and the Croats had been at each others' throats since time immemorial.
"I do not believe, that the Yugoslav problem represents a recrudescence or revival of what has happened in the area before. Most of the Balkan countries before the Second and the First World Wars were rebelling against foreign imperialism, against outside Governments that tried to impose their will on them. The Austrian Government was the most hated of all; Turkey was another. The people of the Balkans sometimes combined against them.
On top of all the human tragedies taking place in the area we must number the tragedy of the fact that Croats and Serbs have begun fighting each other at all. It is not as if they have often fought before or have just been waiting for a chance to start fighting each other. At times they combined to resist Austrian and then German imperialism, not to mention Turkish imperialism".
He was a Republican, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, we are all that little bit diminished today. Lord Cashcroft runs the Tories like a "Banana Republic" Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 - 10:37 am
My favourite phrase of yesterday's was Chris Huhne likening the Tories to a Banana Republic.
A definition I liked is a "small country, esp. in Central America, that is politically unstable and has an economy dominated by foreign interest, usually dependent on one export, such as bananas".
Spooky isn't it? The term was originally coined for Honduras in the last century which by happy co-incidence is neighbour to Belize (formerly British Honduras), where Lord Cashcroft resides.
Belize's largest employer? Bananas!
The serious point, however, is how much all this money sloshing about in Tory coffers distorts and damages our political life. Given the preponderance of this "loose" money the question has to be asked, "How much are the Tories receiving in Keighley and Ilkley". Asfcroft: Non-Dom All-Dim Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 10:24 pm
So Lord Ashcroft owns up after ten years - mind that - surprise, surprise, he is a non-domiciled tax-payer.
The Tories, who were bleating about patriotism but yesterday, are only too happy to take money from someone (actually a law-maker in the Upper House) who loves Britain so much, that he can't be bothered to shoulder his share.
Ashcroft is willing to put in money in marginals like Keighley, to swing the elections but not pay his fair taxes.
He's agreed to change his status if the Tories win. How big of him!
Surely another reason to keep well away from the Tories.
It may well be legal, but it sure as hell ain't cricket. Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 8:37 am
Happy St David's Day.
I'm off to drop the boys off at school, and will stop by at Holt's to buy a daffodil to wear in my buttonhole.
Co-incidentally, I made a pot of leek and potato soup yesterday, and given how cold it was last night (and today) it'll be most welcome. Cameron will not deliver on fairness Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 7:37 am
Listening to David Cameron’s speech at Tory spring conference, it was painfully clear how yet again he was so damnably short on specifics and on the key assurance of fairness that is essential if we are to tackle our economic problems.
As Chris Huhne said earlier today, we need "fair taxation, new green jobs, a fair start for our children, and a fair political system that gives voters real choice to sack miscreant MPs." Bura na mano, Holi hai! Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 12:12 am
One of the phrases you'll hear in India (were you to be there today) is "it's all right it's Holi".
I must admit the festival of Holi is one of my favourites as it celebrates good harvests and fertility of the land.
Folk go around in high spirits and basically use it as an excuse to shed their inhibitions and caste differences for a day of spring fever.
Teenagers go around flirting and misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, and everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly coloured gulal and water over each other.
Then promptly at noon, the fever subsides and everyone heads to home to have a wash and feast on sweets and other goodies, and an exhausted and contented hush falls over the land.
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