Monday 30 May 2011

Manchester in the rain.

Today Steve and I went to Manchester in the rain on the train. The aim was to shop and have a nice lunch. We had a nice lunch, but the shopping part proved fiendishly difficult. There are hundreds of stores in central Manchester yet none of them sold anything useful (apart from the Apple shop, obviously). So despite having money in my pocket I came home with nothing. Nevertheless, lunch in a Japanese restaurant was novel and the train ride fun.

Manchester Piccadilly Railway station.

Sunday 29 May 2011

My Fitness Pal

Diets are miserable things; it would be so much fun just to eat everything you fancy. In end losing weight is a simple but painful process, just eat less. I have never found that easy, but writing down every piece of food does seem to help. Anyway, I have discovered (by way of friends) a web site and mobile phone app that counts calories and the nutritional value of food. It sets daily limits and takes account of exercise; in short it is a detailed and sophisticated web site, and it is all free. So far I have struggled to stay within the daily limits unless I add some decent exercise (cycling of course). I imagine as with all other diet regimes I have followed that it is destined to fail. However if you want to check it out here it is: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Marsh Tracks

 Earlier today Kev and I headed towards Rhyl on our Sunday morning cycle. Following the excellent cycle path along the River Clwyd from Rhuddlan we came across the new cycling development in Rhyl called March Tracks (http://www.marshtracks.co.uk/).

As luck would have it the facility was being formally opened with speeches and a band. We even got the opportunity to ride the 1.3km closed racing circuit, although I foolishly went the wrong way round, but no harm done. There is also a BMX area and a proposed mountain bike track. A lot of money has been spent but they have created something really special. A few years ago the cycling community of this area experienced unbearable tragedy but today one senses a new hope that  new people will be attracted into the sport.

Cycling racing is an extremely exciting sport; this new facility deserves to succeed.

Saturday 28 May 2011

Penicillin.

Last night I went to the latest event put on by the Caerwys Historical Society. It was lecture given by Dr Jeff Edwards on the history of penicillin and included some rare film footage of public information films on the drug made during the second world war. The film, complete with perfect BBC accents, told of the early development of penicillin. It was a subject I knew relatively nothing about, but clearly the discovery of this drug (almost by accident it seems) and the subsequent variations has transformed society. It was an excellent lecture and showed that this fledgling historical society is in good health.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

What Nick Clegg did say (a parody).

Setting: 10 Downing Street.

Time: One week after the May 2010 General Election.

Press Conference called by Nick Clegg and David Cameron.

Nick Clegg makes the following statement:

Having spent hours negotiating in good faith with the Labour Party I have now decided to form a fully integrated coalition with the Conservative Party. I have done this because it is now clear to me that the previous government were responsible for everything bad that has happened. The Liberal Democrats will formulate speeches and press releases that  provide more details of the awful situation we have inherited from the bad Labour government. As this is a full coalition Liberal Democrats will play a role at every level of government. I will be deputy prime minister. The main purpose of this new style of politics will be to blame everything on the previous government; that is the unifying strength at the heart of our coalition. Liberal Democrats have yearned for the power to blame others; this will be our great opportunity, we will not let it slip out of our hands. 

Saturday 21 May 2011

Fascists on Parade.

This afternoon I witnessed a parade of fascists at first hand as I queued through Shotton. The English Defence League were holding some kind of rally to celebrate the burning of a building that was to be developed as a mosque. The numbers involved were small; I estimated perhaps 30 to 40 at most, in any case they were far out numbered by the police. Nonetheless it was an ugly protest that must have brought fear into the lives of those people not deemed 'British' enough. In fact as as the tail end of the small parade passed by a young boy (perhaps aged 11 or 12) of Chinese descent was walking on the opposite side of the road and there was a look of fear on his face. Despite the size of the march this young boy will not forget it easily.

Friday 20 May 2011

War Diaries.

The diary kept by Anne Frank whilst in hiding from the Nazi's in Amsterdam is the most difficult 'book' I have ever read. The day to day content of her diary is quite mundane, but the context is mind blowing. The fact that one knows what happens to Anne makes all her comments carry so much more resonance.

I recalled the feelings I had reading the Anne Frank Diary this evening when I opened a folder I had received from a family that had read my Caerwys History. They family had strong connections with Caerwys; they had been a prominent family in the town in during the first half of the 20th century. During the First World War two members of that family had kept diaries. One of the diaries was written by a young man aged 16 and still at school. He described his day to day life in Caerwys; along with his school days at the Alun County School, Mold. However, this young scholar was to reach his 18th birthday before the war ended and (with millions of others) was called up to the army.

This young man was soon at the front and met the fate of countless others in that dreadful conflict. He met his death just four week prior to the war ending. His name is on the war memorial in Caerwys and in the school. The folder that the family gave me to read contains a transcript of the diary; they would like the modern day community to know the story of their relative from Caerwys that died in battle aged just 19. I must work out a way that this remarkable diary can be made accessible to as many readers as possible.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Anglo Octogenarians and Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth is not the first octogenarian that has tried to improve Anglo-Irish relations. In 1892 William Ewart Gladstone became prime minister for the 4th time at the age of 82. He did so with the aim of passing a bill that would give Ireland 'Home Rule' and thereby end the growing enmity between the two peoples. Gladstone's attempt failed (due to a Tory dominated House of Lords) and he left government for the last time aged 84. His failure led directly to a century of struggle and bitterness between Britain and Ireland. Queen Elizabeth, aged 85, is in Dublin this week to seal the peace process that has been developing since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement at the end of the last century. I think William Gladstone would approve.

Monday 16 May 2011

What Nick Clegg should have said.

Setting: Liberal Democrat HQ Central London.

Time: One week after the May 2010 General Election.

Press Conference called by Nick Clegg.

Nick Clegg makes the following statement:

Having taken part in exhaustive talks with Labour and Conservative leaders I must now set out my party's course of action. The electorate have spoken and given neither Labour nor Conservative parties a majority. However the result makes the Conservatives the largest party and it therefore has a mandate to form a government. As a responsible party that has called for a new type of politics we will support this government as it seeks to bring about economic stability. We know difficult decisions will have to be taken, but as Liberal Democrats we will use our influence to ensure that the burden of the economic readjustment falls fairly, and not on those least able to pay. David Cameron has offered our party seats in Cabinet, but we have decided to remain outside formal government positions in order to exert our influence as Liberal Democrats. We will though take our place on a cabinet committee to promote stable relationships in this new style government. These are testing times and our party has decided to abandon old style tribal politics and work for the good of the nation. I am proud today to call myself a Liberal Democrat.

Sunday 15 May 2011

Wendy Cope (again).

In a previous blog I told how I stumbled across the poetry of Wendy Cope. I think her work is primarily for women, but her observations of the mundane and her wonderful humour have tempted me to read more. Take this stanza from her poem entitled Rondeau Redouble:

There are so many kinds of awful men —
One can’t avoid them all. She often said
She’d never make the same mistake again:
She always made a new mistake instead.


Even better hear Wendy Cope and Amanda Holden on You Tube reading 'Bloody Men': 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huZ9HBjO-24

Saturday 14 May 2011

David Laws

When the coalition government was formed in May 2010 Liberal Democrat David Laws was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He was described by the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has having been 'put on earth to do that job'. Within days he had resigned due to a Daily Telegraph expose of his false (and illegal) expense claims. This week a parliamentary committee found him guilty and suspended him from the House for 7 days.

For me two issues emerge from this case. First why has David Laws not faced a court trial in the same way that other 'offenders' have done; he claims to have personal reasons for the offence, but don't all criminals? In the same vein, why has this case been treated so lightly by those in power. At a press conference earlier this week the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister seemed to treat it as if a minor misdemeanour in school; at one stage they broke down laughing. But thousands of pounds of public money were involved and I'm sure other cases of equal seriousness are not dismissed so readily. Laws is a very wealthy man already. I only ask.

The second point is that Laws took on the job with huge enthusiasm; he seemed to relish the task of slicing the public finances back as far as possible. Laws and Clegg appeared to be the most comfortable Lib Dem members of the coalition. This enthusiasm has now backfired; even Clegg is talking about exerting Lib Dem views more vociferously. So why the enthusiasm to get this enthusiastic deficit reducer back in cabinet? Clearly the pasting the Lib Dems received in the recent local and devolved elections has not brought about a new found humilty.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Wendy Cope

This Easter I stumbled across the poetry of Wendy Cope. Her short humorous poems are beautifully observed reflections on modern life. She is a kind of female John Betjemin for the 21st century; it maybe poetry for women, but I instantly liked it. Here is one poem:

The Orange
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange —
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled and shared it with Robert and Dave —
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.


Down with this sort of thing (revisited).

Earlier this week I wrote about  the three most pointless mass protests of modern times. In the meantime I have thought about the the least pointless ones; protests that have actually achieved something. It has not proved as easy, but top of the list probably comes the Poll Tax protest of 1990 that certainly played a major part in bringing down Mrs Thatcher and the scrapping of the hated tax within a short time after.

The blockade of ports in the mid 1990s across the South of England in protest against the exportation of calves for the European veal trade was also highly effective and successful.

My final choice of successful protest is not an obvious one: the 2003 mass protest against the prospect of war in Iraq. Yes (I hear you say), but the war actually happened despite millions taking to the streets in perhaps the largest mass protest in British history. However I do not believe that this protest was in vain as it was to shape anti war opinion for a decade and play a part in discrediting not only Tony Blair, but arguably the Labour governments post 2003. I accept that others will interpret this anti war movement differently, but I find it hard to view it as a failure.

Monday 9 May 2011

AV: a riposte to my critic.

Dear Critic,

In my blog on AV I received a well written, but anonymous criticism. My critic suggested that I might be intentionally misleading people; far from it, mine has been clearly stated case against this 'miserable' electoral  system. Bizarrely my critic defends the rights of Monster Raving Looney supporters to have two votes, when those that support the mainstream parties get just one. Has my critic viewed the Monster Raving Looney party programme: their main policy to combat global warming is to put air conditioning units on the outside of buildings.

Also, dear critic, I have not claimed that AV would benefit racist parties, but it would give many of their supporters two votes. You go on to state that a system of proportional representation is the only fair method of voting; don't get me started on that!

Regards,
Tim

Sunday 8 May 2011

Protests in vain or 'down with this sort of thing'.

Today I heard a rumour that there was a fuel protest planned for the A55; I don't know if anything happened, but I would guess not. This type of protest is surely destined for another inglorious failure. I set about thinking about the most pointless protests of recent years (this does not imply my own feelings, just the outcome of the protest itself).

Here are my top three most pointless protests. At number three is the recent TUC march in London. Millions descended upon the capital with a genuine belief in their cause, however they were thwarted by anarchist extremists and a disingenuous Labour leader.

At number two is the fuel price protest of a decade ago; at the time petrol was around 80p a litre, need I say any more?

Top of the most pointless protests by some way was the Countryside Alliance march in London back in 2002. The complex title of the march, Liberty and Livelihood, probably indicated that it was destined for failure before a single green welly hit the streets of the capital. Initially the march was to protest against the government's plan to outlaw the killing of foxes for fun. However, by the time the march took place everyone from the so-called 'countryside' had joined in; comically, many of the marchers were actually against hunting foxes. Others wanted to save post offices, or more buses, more facilities, fewer facilities, and a myriad of related competing issues. It goes without saying that all of this came to nothing, apart from a legacy of ugly signs that still litter the 'countryside'.

Classic Father Ted:  Down with this sort of thing.

Saturday 7 May 2011

Everton 2 Manchester City 1

Busy match day scene in Goodison Road.
I am not very good at golf, but each round I make one or two decent shots that gives me the encouragement to come back and play again. The same is true of a season spent following Everton. There have been some very low bad times in this topsy turvey season; I still shudder at the thought of the Reading FA Cup match.

However, today was the game that will bring me back for more next season. The Manchester City billionaires came to play and in the first half they looked like a high class team; they went into half time one goal up. The second half witnesses an invigorated Everton pull City apart. The atmosphere in the ground was fantastic and under this kind of pressure City soon crumbled. As the Everton manager said afterwards: you can buy a team but you can't buy team spirit.

Everton attack the Gwladys Street goal: some individual City players cost more than the entire Everton team.

Thursday 5 May 2011

My last word on AV.

My last word on the Alternative Vote, well, maybe. I was pondering on the Alternative Vote earlier and thought of a delicious irony if the 'Yes' campaign win and we adopt this electoral system. The irony is this: in the 19th century the vote was limited to the rich and the educated (men); even well into the 20th century two votes were given to graduates of many universities and those who had businesses in one constituency and lived in another. Now, if we adopt AV we will be giving two votes to the mad (voters who pick the Monster Raving Looney party as their first choice), and to the truly nasty (those who vote BNP or UKIP). Perhaps will be left to reflect on a time when we gave one person one vote. If the 'Yes' campaign wins today History will have turned a full circle.

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Godwin's Law

I have recently come across Godwin's Law. Basically it predicts that all debates and discussions will eventually  make a Nazi reference; and then, according to this useful Law, the argument is lost. I go to lots of debates and  there is a strong element of truth in Godwin's Law.

I have not felt like blogging about the London wedding last Friday. However, there was one element of the wedding that reminded me of Godwin's Law. It was the moment the Lancaster bombers flew over Buckingham Palace, and everyone seemed to ooh and aah.

Godwin's Law
It might not exactly fit the true meaning of Godwin's Law, but there is a point where every national celebration harks back to the Second World War. We have two young people getting married in 2011, and what do we get, yes, Lancaster bombers that did an effective job in defeating Hitler 70 or more years ago.

Of course we should remember the events of the war against fascism, but why the memory of the murderous bombing campaigns needs to be invoked in a wedding celebration defeats me. Yet even here Godwin's Law has the answer: the unity of purpose displayed by the British people in the war was the one occasion when the people of this country have been truly united; and thus in a search for symbols of British national unity the Lancaster bomber is sadly top of the list. As Godwin's Law would have it, the argument is therefore lost. We really must move on.

Monday 2 May 2011

Bangor University through the ages.

Yesterday I drove Tom back to his digs in Bangor for the start of his summer term. Before returning home I did a brief tour of the city and reminisced over my time there as a student in the 1980s. In fact Tom is the third generation of our family to study at Bangor as my Dad studied Physics there in the late 1950s.

Comparing the experiences of the three generations enables one to view the changes that have taken place in higher education in the past half century or so. I will try to return to this theme in future blogs, but for the time being I can identify three changes to the student experience at Bangor: first, there has been a steady increase in student numbers; the university has more than tripled in size since my Dad's time there. Secondly, there is a much greater choice of degree programmes, ranging from IT and Computing, to many areas of health care. However, the 'traditional' subjects have been reduced: for example, Maths, Physics, and Theology are no longer available for undergraduates. Thirdly, the student experience is far less elitist; the academic ceremonial associated with the wearing of gowns and formal dinners has long gone.


This blogger on Bangor mountain (c1984).

Sunday 1 May 2011

AV revisited.

Referendums throw together some unusual (and uncomfortable) political alliances. David Cameron has, in reality, been the spokesman for the anti-AV group, which includes a majority in his own party, and probably a majority in the Labour Party. While Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have jointly carried the banner for the Yes campaign.

On the Andrew Marr programme Cameron spoke passionately against AV. To my mind he made two telling points: first that the present system of First Past the Post allows the electorate to get rid of governments, rather than the politicians merely swopping chairs and forming another coalition. The second point he made was that under AV only some people get a second vote. Let me explain: under AV when the votes are counted, and if one candidate does not have 50% of the vote, then the votes of the lowest placed are redistributed according to their second preference. The lowest candidate could be BNP (for example) and therefore only those voters might decide the winner. The rest of the second preferences may not be counted.

AV leads to profoundly dishonest politics. Coalitions are by their nature often dishonest as the electors rarely get what they voted for! Note the current example and the damage this is doing to the Liberal Democrats. Clegg claims that AV will make politicians work harder for their votes. This is sheer nonsense as it will merely encourage politicians to be vague and non-committal for the fear of alienating second preference voters.

I still find it impossible to find anything positive in the Alternative Vote.