Stephen's Liberal Journal

Thoughts on Tonge and Huhne

2012-02-29T23:34:00.000Z

Two Lib Dems have been in the news for the wrong reasons today.

First up looking at the case of Baroness Tonge. Do we know that Israel, or any country will exist forever? Simple answer is no we don't. Look at the map of 1980s Europe

Who would have thought when Maggie Thatcher came to power that by the time she left power that the Soviet Union would have split into its component parts. That the same would happen to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, or that Germany would be reunited.

In the rest of the World since then Yemen has unified a Palestinian State has been recognised as had Eritrea and East Timor. Also, while there is talk of when Puerto Rico might become the 51st state Palau has gained independence from the superpower. So nobody can say what countries will be around in 20 years time.

Baroness Tonge

However, Baroness Tonge's crime is not being unable to predict history but to say "Israel will lose support and then they will reap what they have sown."

If we are to have influence in the world we should be striving to make Israel realise how they are seen by many in the world. Along with Spain we in the UK have experience of dealing with conflict resolution and expertise that we can use to have influence in the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Peace walls are coming down in Northern Ireland, interfaces are being opened up after decades of being closed between communities. We are actually the position closest to that facing the West Bank and Gaza Strip today. What we should be doing is helping in the dialogue to enable Israel and Palestine to co-exist side by side.

Tonge is wrong and the fact that she has failed to realise that as Lib Dems we should be at the forefront of helping that region gain a lasting peace is illiberal and she had rightfully had the party whip removed.

Chris Huhne

The issue with Huhne is different, he has stepped down in his own words to defend what he says is his innocence. If he had been sacked or resigned for another reason he would have been entitled to his severance pay as any other employee with such a scheme has. The difference is that the minister in question has to put in the claim for it. I'm not sure if there is a time restriction on being able to claim this money, however I suspect that there might well be. Huhne is facing a court case the end date of which he does not yet know so he may have been unable to claim it after the case is settled.

So here is a solution.

Chris Huhne should set up a blind trust, over which he has no contorl, to handle the three months ministerial pay that he is entitled to as severance pay, with the proviso that if he is found guilty that all money and interest is returned, but if he is found innocent the monies in the fund are transferred to his control. That seems like a sensible and equitable solution just in case the accusations are those created by an ex-wife spurned making something out of rumours from the past.

I don't expect everyone to agree but I'd like to hear of an alternative that maintain the premise of innocent until proven otherwise in that situation.

Blogged elsewhere: Widdecombe wants referendum on equal marriage just not neutral questions

2012-02-29T17:22:00.000Z

Ann Widdecombe has called for a referendum on the subject on gay marriage. She believes in doing this because the Coalition for Marriage carried out an opinion poll which showed that 51% of people thought it was unnecessary. This flies in contrast to previous opinion polls.

The reason? I suspect it has to do with the loaded nature of the question asking whether they agree or disagree with this statement:

Since gay and lesbian couples already have the same rights as married couples available to them under civil partnership, they should not be allowed to redefine marriage for everyone else.

So lets look at just what was asked in the other independent opinion polls on the issue.

Read the resf over on LBGT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland

The Question: Q2 - February 2012

2012-02-26T13:18:00.001Z

It is time to get my thinking cap back on and come up with an answer to The Question as posted on Stephen Chapman's State of the Nation blog.

The question this month is:

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

The cliche answer of course is to say just be yourself and to be honest that is pretty good advise. My parents were good at this never forcing me or my brother into anything but letting us do the things that we wanted to do and getting their support whatever we decided to do.

But as many of us know being ourselves and being honest about ourselves is something that at times others have issue with a take exception to. As someone who was bullied as a child I know how painful it can be to be different from others and be yourself.

However, it is a supplementary piece of advise that someone else gave me that I think is the most important.

If people take exception to you being you, they have the problem not you. Carry on being you and work at changing their or people like them's perspective of what is acceptable.

I think that piece of advice probably explains why I've ended up as a Liberal Democrat campaigner taking on so many issues of equality. It is the fact that I am content with being me, but find that people do not seem to want to accept that me or other people are a valid option or deserve the same things as the perceived norm. But each of us is unique and don't fit into a box.

So that fact that I can switch from supporting rugby to watching the ballet in a couple of hours. Be a person with a faith yet be a gay man. Have been a sportsman and at the same time play more than one musical instrument as well as sing, means that often I don't fit into people's idea of how to box me. But I will carry on being me, if you have a problem with that look at yourself.

If you want to add you answer visit Stephen's blog and post you link in the gadget and read the others responses as well.

1920 Summer Olympics Antwerp: VII Olympiad

2012-02-24T17:00:00.137Z

"Hang on!" you say, "Last week it was the V Olympiad. I know my Roman numerals what happened to the VI Olympiad?"

Ok, here is what happened, the games of the VI Olympiad had been awarded. In 1912 work on the Olympic Stadium designed to seat 18,000 spectators began. On 8 June 1913 it was dedicated (pictured) with 60,000 people in attendance and 10,000 pigeons released. The issue of course was timing and location. The games of course would have occurred in 1916 in the middle of World War I, the location as shown by the flag of the German Empire was to have been Berlin.

There the games of the VI Olympiad never took place and it was 20 years before Berlin got to host their games. The Deutches Stadion built for the 1916 bid was used for football matches but was closed in 1934 with the arrival of the Olympic Stadium.

Budapest had initially been chosen to host the 1920 Games over Amsterdam and Lyon, however as they were part of the German Allies the Austro-Hungarian Empire they were not suitable to host the subsequent games. Therefore it fell upon the Belgian city of Antwerp to help that nation and the world recover from the trench warfare that had ravished that land.

So on with the stats

Nations 29 (+1)
Competitors 2627 (220)
Sports 22 (+8)
Events 154 (+52)

20 April - 12 September 1920 hosted by Antwerp, Belgium

The IOC left which countries should be invited up to the hosts, therefore the athletes of the former Axis powers Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were not invited.

The redrawn map of Europe did have the opportunity for new nations to join the Olympic family in Antwerp. But only Estonia took on that mantle for Europe. Czechoslovakia took on the mantle of Bohemia who had competed pre-war. Also from Europe the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later to be known as Yugoslavia) and Monaco took part for the first time, as did the newly independent Finland who had taken part as the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland before. Brazil and Argentina were also new countries, and having competed as Australasia, New Zealand competed for the first time as as a separate entity.

Post War a new flag

In June 1914 at the IOC congress Baron Pierre de Coubertin had approval for him emblem of five interlocking rings as the official symbol of the Olympic Games. With the intervention of war it appeared for the first time in Antwerp on a white back ground to represent peace.

In 1931 de Coubertin said:

"The Olympic flag ... has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red ... This design is symbolic ; it represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time."

The original flag as pictured, went missing after the games and a new flag was used from the next Games and passed on to the next Summer Games Host until 1988 (when it was retired), but also up until the 1952 Winter Games before they winter Olympiads got their own flag to pass on. However, for the entire use of that 1924 flag being used it was known as the "Antwerp Flag" in honour of its first appearance.

...and a new Oath

The Olympic Oath was first muted in 1906 but didn't appear in the opening ceremony until swimmer, water polo player and Epée Fencer Victor Boin uttered the following words.

We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.

Boin should really be in that infamous list of ten famous Belgians, but rarely do people remember who took the oath on behalf of the athletes, from 1972 also the officials.

However, Boin won three medals across three Olympiad in two sports from 1908 to 1920. Silver then Bronze in the water polo, followed by a silver in the team epée in 1920.

New sports

Ice Hockey was the only new sport at the 1920 Games and along with Ice Skating which had returned from the London 1908 were a precursor to the new innovation that would happen four years later in Chamonix, France with the I Winter Olympiad.

The eventual winners were Canada (pictured) in the shape of the Winnepeg Falcons. The team included future Stanley Cup winners Frank Frederickson and Haldor Halderson. Seven of the eight man team were of Icelandic origin, as well as Frederickson and Halderson, Robert Benson, Walter Byron, Chris Fridfinnson, Magnus Goodman and Konrad Johanneson had some or total Icelandic ancestors. Only Alan Woodman and coach W.A. Hewitt were except from the viking blood.

The team they beat in the final were USA.

The flying Finn

A 23 year old from Turku in Finland was to start what was to be the most successful Olypic career of a distance runner. He still ties the most Olympic gold medals with a sprinter Carl Lewis, gymnast Larisa Latynina and swimmer Mark Spitz only Michael Phelps has won more.

In 1920 Paavo Nurmi took three gold medals in the 10,000m, Individual Cross-Country and Team Cross-Country. He was also to take silver in the 500om.

In 1924 he went on to take 5 golds 1500m, 5000m, 3000m team race, individual and team cross country. He also came first in both the semi-final and final races in the 3000m team race, as well as his semi-finals in both the 1500m and 5000m, meaning he ran seven races, for a total of 26,000m, and won them all. He had also been entered in the 10,000m but the Finnish delegation fearing for his health withdrew him from what would have been his last race of the Olympics for a possible 6th gold. He returned to Finland angry and 56 days after the Olympic 10,000m winner, his compatriot, Ville Ritola ran a new world record to win gold he smashed it by a further 17 seconds.

He followed that up with another gold in the 10,000m with silvers in the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase in 1928. He would have been going for a 3rd 10,000m gold and the Marathon in 1932 but for a challenge from the Swedes that he had been paid too much in expenses to race in Germany and therefore broke the amateur rules.

An event in two countries and a first medal on ***** soil

For a unique Olympic moment we turn to the 12-foot dinghy competition. The second race was nullified at Ostend due to a tidal current moving the marks. There wasn't time to reschedule the race, but as both the contesting boats were from the Netherlands the final race took place in Amsterdam. The only time an Olympic event took place in more than one country and the first Olympic competition held by the Dutch a whole 8 years before their own Olympics.

Paddy Power lose their leg to stand on as advert pulled

2012-02-23T13:45:00.000Z

Cross posted on LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland

Remember the defense used by Paddy Power about why they wished to continue showing the Transphobic advert for Cheltenham:

Several members of the UK transgender community are cast in the ad, and it was also cleared by Clearcast [which pre-vets TV ads] before airing. This ad is simply a bit of mild-mannered fun in the runup to the Cheltenham festival.

Well Clearcast have now issued the following statement:

Last week we approved a tv ad for Paddy Power featuring references to transgendered people. When making our decision to approve the ad, we took into account the fact that the advertiser had sought a view from the Beaumont Society (a body run by and for those who cross dress or are transsexual) which did not find the script idea offensive.

However following a number of complaints over the last few days, it appears that the ad has caused offence and in consultation with broadcasters, it has been decided that the ad should no longer run on their TV or VoD services in its current format. We regret offence that may have been caused.

So where does Paddy Power stand now? Well they have issued the following statement:

Paddy Power’s Ladies Day commercial has been pulled from TV.

The decision to suspend the clip wasn’t made by us – it was done by the British TV advertising regulator along with television broadcasters.

This is especially frustrating given the commercial was already pre-approved by British television advertising clearance body Clearcast, just one week ago, who then considered the humour in the advert, while not to everyone’s taste, fell short of causing offence.

The Beaumont Society said there was "nothing untoward with the advert concept" and felt it was not inappropriate since "the entire campaign would be a tongue-in-cheek look at the Ladies Day race meeting where these days a large number of cross dresser’s make a day of it".

Furthermore, Paddy Power cast members of the trans-community in the various transgender roles in the commercial.

Given the attention and diligence we demonstrated throughout the development of this commercial, we are very disappointed by today’s decision.

So Paddy Power are frustrated and disappointed that they can no longer show this ad, that the decision on decency wasn't made by them but by bodies outside their control.

Having one group, and one that many in the transgender community are sceptical of, agree with your point of view may not reflect the other groups dealing with Transgender issues who have disagreed with your stance, that much is clear. Paddy Power unlike Clearcast have not shown any remorse for the offence they have caused to others, but rather go on to boast about the number of YouTube views they have received of the ad.

The ad has been removed for the screens though no doubt will still be available of Paddy Power's YouTube channel. Hopefully in future advertisers will think how to positively include transgender people in their adverts.

BREAKING Sky confirm Eric Joyce arrested on suspicion of assault

2012-02-23T01:19:00.004Z

When Twitter lights up with the news that an MP you have taken on in debate has been arrested and in the Strangers Bar in Westminster itself, you want to have it confirmed. So it was that Sky News were the first TV news to confirm the rumours.

It appears the MP from the constituency next to the one I stood in, who I took on in two of the hustings for Falkirk, as agent, while the candidate was unable to get out of work commitments. Falkirk's Labour MP Eric Joyce, a former Army officer, allegedly headbutted Conservative MP for Pudsey Stuart Andrew. Apparently five policemen were required to remove the MP from the bar.

Eric has been in the House since winning the seat then of Falkirk West following the resignation of Dennis Canavan to follow his Holyrood career. It is possible in light of the serious nature of the events tonight that a by election may be the end of his political career 12 years on.

Update subsequently both BBC and ITV also confirmed the indentity.

Update 2: Labour have this morning suspended Mr Joyce from the party as spokesperson saying:

"This is an extremely serious incident. We have suspended Eric Joyce pending the results of the police investigation."

The Speaker of the House John Bercow also commented:

"Members will be aware of reports of a serious incident in the House last night. I have been informed by the Serjeant at Arms that the honourable member for Falkirk has been detained in police custody.

"The matter is being investigated. I take this matter very seriously, as do the House authorities."

However, early this morning many Labour supporters on Twitter why trying to spin a positive message out of the alleged common assault of a Labour MP on a Tory one.

Blogged elsewhere: TV companies take mixed approach on Paddy Power ad

2012-02-21T15:58:00.001Z

Broadcasters are taking mixed approach to Paddy Power's Transphobic ad, which is currently under referral by the Advertising Standard Authority.

Read more about the current state of play on LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland.

Do you cultural vandal take this other cultural vandal as your lawfully married husband

2012-02-20T16:56:00.002Z

Yeah apparently I am now a cultural vandal.

It has nothing to do with the poetry I write. The music that I write, play or perform. The plays I have been in, though I suspect the one I am writing would have had Mary Whitehouse in a tizzy.

No apparently my cultural vandalism stems from love. Lord Carey says so.

He says the Government has no mandate to define marriage, but what mandate does he, or the Church of England, or Coalition for Marriage have to not allow faith and non-faith groups that want to allow equal marriage.

Apparently the web of family will be affected if marriage is redefined. So if this gay Christian uncle were to get married, in a church setting, before God and the people present, would it unravel the web of my family? I trust that I am smart enough to only fall for somebody who would get on with my nephews, would enjoy as much as I do taking them to places, seeing them read or watch new things and answer their questions. If I didn't end up settling for someone like that you have permission to shoot me. Of course bringing someone into the family is an important step just as many years ago my brother brought my sister-in-law into the family (and with her, her parents and sister).

But apparently Lord Carey has spoken to some gay friends who say they are worried that redefining marriage would affect the structure of marriage. I look at the number of people LGBT or straight who don't see it as affecting family relationships in a negative way but as a positive.

Basing any public opinion based purely on the opinion of friends is not a very dodgy way to go about things, they are more likely to agree with your point of view or not be so outspoken about something, especially if your opinion on something is strongly held and publicly known. Yet apparently according to Lord Carey's statement his friends comments are the only evidence that he basing his opinions on. I thought he was supposed to be a man of books and learning to reach the pinnacle of the Church of England.

In the meantime TWIMC SGM cultural vandal 42 GSOH, NM NK NS former athlete, politically active likes NIOO, good food and books, WLTM similar for LTR possibly leading to M WTR

Read also Andrew Page (AKA Scottish Liberal) with his take on the same subject.

Causing a stir for Paddy Powers Transphobic ad

2012-02-20T13:55:00.001Z

Yesterday I wrote a blog post over at LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland about betting company Paddy Power and the advert it showed a game of spot the CIS woman from the transgendered woman, only of course they didn't put it in quite such political correct terms. Here's how I started the post.

They say that the Cheltenham Festival of racing is one of Ireland's finest hours every year. Even if the Irish are losing money hand over fist at the trackside bookies.

However, Ireland's largest and most successful bookmakers Paddy Power have brought shame on themselves with their current advert leading up to Ireland's biggest betting week for their mobile app.

In the ad they say that they are "going to make Ladies Day even more exciting by adding some beautiful transgendered ladies: Spot the Stallions from the Mares."

You can read the rest on the blog post. It has since been quoted extensively in The Guardian as well as beating Pink News to the story, thereby being quoted. The story is currently accounting for over a third of the life time hits on the LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland blog.

Paddy Power have apparently finally issued a statement saying:

"Several members of the UK transgender community are cast in the ad, and it was also cleared by Clear Cast before airing. This ad is simply a bit of mild mannered fun in the run up to the Cheltenham Festival."

I wonder did they know the content, context or voice over ramifications of the advert they were making? Most appear to be in crowd scenes which means they could have been shot for any purpose. The only one doing any action shots is the person seen leaving the male toilets. I think the reaction that Paddy Power is making them seriously rethink what they have done. Though we have yet to see a public apology and their standard response to complaints

"Paddy Power has a long-held reputation of breaking the mould and doing things that are new and innovative for our customers and viewers. Our aim though is always to entertain, never to offend, and we apologise for any upset caused."

shows that they have not grasped the seriousness of what they have done.

If you haven't already please go and read my original blogpost or mine and other people's comments on the Cheltenham Festival website.

Tesco find a conscience via their complaints folder?

2012-02-18T14:49:00.003Z

According to the Grauniad Tesco want the Department of Work and Pensions to change the nature of the scheme in which people will work in private sector firms for up to 8 weeks, with only the offer of an interview at the end of that time.

In comes after a week that the company who takes one pound out of every ~~SEVEN~~ £8.50 spent in the UK faced accusations of further profiting from slave labour. Having worked in retail I know that someone can be trained to restack shelves in a morning. They can learn to operate a till in a similar period of time. The additional time that is required to get people up to speed is spent on knowledge of stock and gaining that.

Of course I started in retail as a Christmas temp, less than 8 weeks before Christmas. I was up to speed in a couple of days, I was then offered full time work after Christmas and have trained up many people to work in a retail environment since. It didn't take eight weeks for the manager of my branch of H. Samuel to offer me a full time position. I rose to have areas of responsibility in the chains then largest store on Shaftesbury Avenue when the chain was cutting back on staff I was moved to another branch, retained and given new responsibility because the Area Manager had also learnt that I had potential.

Yes we should be giving people the chance to experience work, but like Waterstones who have now withdrawn from the scheme it should be with the end goal of there being a job on offer. Therefore it should be a short apprenticeship to prove you are ready and able to work for that company. Not a means by which the government is forcing you to take action, and may remove the meagre Job Seekers Allowance you are on if after the first week but before the maximum eight you leave the position. That is the enslavement element. That is what Tesco now do not want to be associated with.

However, the telling part in the Grauniad article is this:

Supermarket group Tesco said it has asked DWP officials to make the work experience scheme voluntary after thousands of angry customers wrote in and posted messages on Twitter and the company's Facebook site accusing the multinational of profiting from hundreds of thousands of hours of forced unpaid work.

So it appears that the sudden outpouring of compassion may only have come with one eye of the profit margins.

The Lib Dems stood for Parliament saying:

Scrap the arbitrary target of 50 per cent of young people attending university, focussing effort instead on a balance of college education, vocational training and apprenticeships.
As part of our immediate job creation package, fund 15,000 new places on Foundation Degree courses and fully fund the off-the-job costs of adult apprenticeships, which currently have to be met by employers, for one year.

We were talking about apprenticeships as ways to get people back into work. This scheme is not an apprenticeship it is work experience which can result in you losing benefit if you drop out of it (probably because you don't like that particular experience or possibly for health reasons).

We need to create jobs, whether that is via apprenticeships or whatever route, not merely give people the experience of work without anything at the end of it for them.

1912 Summer Olympics Stockholm: V Olympiad

2012-02-17T17:00:00.006Z

Nations 28 (+6)
Competitors 2407 (+399)
Sports 14 (-8)
Events 102 (-8)

5 May - 22 July 1912 Stockholm, Sweden

In 1909, with only one application to host the V Olympiad Stockholm was duly selected as the hosts for the 1912 games.

It was the fourth time in the five official Olympiads that we had been in Europe. However, the final continent Asia finally had representation at these games with Japan taking part for the first time. The other newcomer also broke new ground as Egypt was the first Arab Nation. Portugal, Iceland, Turkey (as the Ottoman Empire) were also new nations.

Stockholm had wanted to expand on London including ice skating in the games by adding a week of winter sports into their Olympics. However, the Swedish based Nordic Games didn't want multiple sports in the early part of the 1912-13 season detracting from their own event scheduled once again for Stockholm.

There was no boxing at the 1912 the last time it would be missing from the Olympic programme. However, the three day event which appeared in St. Louis returned and has never left, as did road cycling which had only appeared at the first Games in Athens.

An introduction to these games was the use of electronic timing for the athletics events. But there were also the introduction of some multi-event disciplines.

Jim Thorpe the greatest sportsman on earth

Jim Thorpe

The Pentathlon had already been around in the Olympic programme since the Intercalated Games of 1906 this time there was the addition of the 10 sport event, the decathlon had arrived. The event arrived in the format we still recognise today apart from the fact that is took part from Saturday 13th July to Monday 15th over 3 days instead of the normal two these day. But the order of the events was the same starting with the 100m, then long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m which now concludes the first day. Then discus, 110m hurdles, pole vault, javalin and 1500m which now round off the event on day two.

One man dominated the pentathlon on 7 July and this event a week later. He was a mixed race Caucasian and Sac and Fox native American called Jim Thorpe. He won 4 of the 5 events in the pentahlon then a further 4 from the 10 of the Decathlon. Indeed between the 26 Pentathletes and 29 Decathletes his worse event placings were two fourths in the Decathlon's 400m and javelin.

The Pentathlon did award points on the basis of position, but the Decathlon brought with it a new scoring system based on the performance of the athlete on the day against a base. Thorpe's score of 8412.955, which equates to 6649 on today's points system, using a sand pit to land the pole vault with wooden not fibre glass poles, and other equipment differences would have been good enough to stand as Olympic record until 1932.

Thorpe as well as the two multi-event wins also came 4th in the High Jump (he jumped the same height in the Decathlon) and 7th in the Long Jump (although the 7.07m he jumped in the Pentathlon would have been 4th in the individual).

However, in 1913 Thorpe was stripped of his two Olympic gold medals as he had been a semi-professional baseball player while a student with Rocky Mount in the Eastern Carolina League and therefore in breach of the then strict amateurism rules. Thorpe unlike other college athletes had not used an alias for these summer payments of as little as $2 ($47 today) per game and a max of $35 ($877) per week. He wrote to the Amateur Athletic Union saying:

"I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things. In fact, I did not know that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I knew several other college men had done, except that they did not use their own names".

But the AAU revoked his amateur status retrospectively, a decision upheld by the IOC. There were several appeals against the decision but even his team mate from those Games, later IOC President Avery Brundage said, "Ignorance is no excuse."

Eventually in 1983, thirty years after his death, the IOC decided to reinstate Thorpe as co-champion with Ferdinand Bie (Nor) in the Pentathlon and Hugo Wieslander (Swe) Decathlon, though both men always considered Thorpe to be true champion. King Gustav V

Birth of the Modern Penathlon

The USA's 2nd Lt. Patton in the Modern Pentathlon

Baron Pierre de Coubertin created a new event for the 1912 games; an event that is still with us today. Initially it was designed as a military only event as the disciplines where those that the baron believed were necessary for a military officer.

First there was 10 metre pistol contest firing 20 shots with 40 seconds allowed for each shot. This was followed by a 300m swim (this is now 200m). Epée fencing where each competitor takes on everyone else in a one minute duel, a hit counts as a win, no hits counts as a loss for both. Next up there was jumping on a strange horse after just 20 minutes acclimation. The final event was a 4000m cross country run.

The Swedes took this new event very well, they took six of the first seven places in that first event in 1912. The man who broke in amongst them was 2nd Lieutenant George S. Patton of the US Army. He was an expert swordsman, indeed he helped the following year Model 1913 Cavalry Sabre, but was let down by his shooting. He claimed that his larger .38 caliber pistol made the holes in his target larger than the .22 caliber rounds used by his opponents, and that some of his shots went through earlier holes. However his was still penalised for one and came a lowly 20th in that event, he would be 7th in the swim, 4th in the fencing, 6th in the equestrian and 3rd in the run, to finish 5th.

He never complained about the incident in the shooting but said:

The high spirit of sportsmanship and generosity manifested throughout speaks volumes for the character of the officers of the present day. There was not a single incident of a protest or any unsportsmanlike quibbling or fighting for points which I may say, marred some of the other civilian competitions at the Olympic Games. Each man did his best and took what fortune sent them like a true soldier, and at the end we all felt more like good friends and comrades than rivals in a severe competition, yet this spirit of friendship in no manner detracted from the zeal with which all strove for success.

He would later rise to the rank of General eventually famously taking command of the US Third Army in World War II.

Marathon tales

Two men in the marathon were to face different fates. Portuguese athlete Francisco Lázaro had carried his nation's standard in the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony on 29th June. On 15th July he lined up with 68 others at the start of the Marathon. It was an exceptionally hot day and Lázaro rubbed wax over his body to prevent sunburn. At the 30km mark he collapsed and suffering from severe dehydration later died, he was the first fatality in competition at the Olympics.

Kanaguri Shisō at the start and end of his
Stockholm Olympic Marathon

The other is Kanaguri Shisō of Japan. In the heat of that marathon he fell unconscious and was cared for by a local farming family. Once he recovered he returned to Japan without notifying officials.Swedish officials considered him missing for 50 years until it was discovered that he had competed in intervening marathons including coming 16th in the 1920 Olympic marathon in 2'48:45.4 and a DNF in the 1924 event. He ins considered the father of the Japanese marathon running tradition.

However, in 1966 after he had been rediscovered Swedish Television contacted him to see if he wanted to complete his first Olympic Marathon. He did and therefore completed the full 40.2km in a time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20.379 seconds.

Trevor Phillips doesn't really get what Jesus said about the law of the land

2012-02-17T13:17:00.000Z

So Trevor Phillips says that Christians should break the law of the land and only follow their religious law.

Well I think there is an answer for him in Mark Chapter 12 verses 13-17

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.

I think that the result that they were amazed that Jesus told them yo obey the law laid down by the "oppressor" that they thought he was here to overthrow shows the lesson there. The law of the land is to be obeyed by those that follow Christ, even if they think it is oppressive.

Herein endeth the lesson to Mt Philllips.

Equal Marriage marching on except in Northern Ireland

2012-02-16T12:22:00.002Z

Cross posted on LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland

Liberal Democrats at Edinburgh's Equal Marriage March
Picture copyright Liberal Youth Scotland

On Valentine's Day my Lib Dem colleagues in Scotland joined others for a march to Holyrood in support of equal marriage. As you may be aware there has been a consultation process there into the subject and the Government are now considering those submissions. There will also be a consultation by Westminster covering England and Wales.

However, the week before in the Northern Ireland Assembly the subject of the Sexual Orientation Strategy once again emerged from the long grass it has spent most of a decade in to feature at the top of First Minister's Questions. With the Junior Minister saying that OFMDFM do intend to publish this strategy and the revised Cohesion Sharing and Integration programme this year it fell on my Green Party MLA Steven Agnew to ask about one specific:

Mr Agnew: Will there be any mention of gay marriage (Editor's note: I will be sending a note off to my MLA to correct his language on this) in the sexual orientation strategy? Has any progress been made on providing full equal rights to gay couples?

Mr Bell (Junior Minister, Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister): Questions on those matters are the subject of much discussion and have been the subject of much discussion in the media over recent weeks. The issue is not under active consideration.

Now just what did the Junior Minister mean by that?

Is it simply that there is no active consideration of extending equal marriage legislation to Northern Ireland, even if the rest of the UK does. Seeing as we still lag behind on adoption for gay parents and blood donation, this would not be out of character for the Norther Ireland Assembly.

However, more problematic is what if the rest of the UK do accept equal marriage, what consideration then is there to recognise those couples so married should they choose to reside in Northern Ireland? Will their marriages valid and recognised in the majority of the UK not be recognised in Northern Ireland. If they are not civil partnered but married be offered protections under the law of a region that is only recognising marriage as between people of opposite gender and civil partnerships as between those of the same gender.

There could be knock on effects if Northern Ireland doesn't recognise equal marriages from the rest of the UK or indeed the world within its Sexual Orientation Strategy. There will be concerns as far as benefits go, health provision, wording and filling in of forms in all manner of ways.

The fact that there is no active consideration of the complications that carrying on a different approach to the rest of the UK again means that Northern Ireland will be reactionary in its response to this issue and is failing to be proactive in thinking there will be consequences. Not everyone born in Northern Ireland stays here, a lot of us do go elsewhere to study/work. Many of us fall in love with people from other parts of the UK, some of us may even bring that partner to live with us here in Northern Ireland.

So if an LGBT couple fall into that last category having been married elsewhere what position does that leave them in under Northern Irish legislation?

Rangers go into Administration

2012-02-13T15:59:00.004Z

One half of the Old Firm of Scottish football lodged an intention with the Court of Session in Edinburgh to go into administration this lunchtime. They now have five days to appoint an administrator.

We wonder what punishment the Ibrox giants will incur as a result of doing so to relieve debts of £21-75m.

The last time a Scottish League team went into administration without penalty was Livingston then of the SPL on 3 February 2004, just before their CIS Cup Semi-Final the tournament they went on to win that year. They were managed by the preferred consortium for the following season before Lionheart took them out of Administration, but after relegation to the First Division.

Since then there have been three league teams that have entered administration:

Gretna had been allowed up to the SPL without meeting the ground regulations in time. But after living the dream the nightmare was entered on 8 March 2008, when they entered administration with debts of a mere £4m. The team were already bottom of the SPL but were deducted a further 10 points. At the end of the season they faced relegation and the Scottish Football League uncertain if they would fulfill their fixtures relegated them to the lowest tier of League Football into Division 3. The SFL fears were well founded as the team was liquidated on 8 August weeks before the start of the season.

Debt £4m
Crime Entering adminstration, then fear of completing fixtures following season
Penalty 10 point deduction, then later relegation down to bottom tier Division 3

Livingston were again in trouble after the Italian Job turned out to have been some sort of hatchet job. Something those of us in the stands had been growing more aware of all that single season of Massone control. With unpaid bills to the council of £330,000 the Court of Session put the club into administration on 28 July 2009. Two days later despite the fans baying him to sell the club to the administrator Massone refused twice and liquidation proceedings were begun. The new owners who the administrator had been acting on behalf of lodged a surety bond of £720,000 against any loss of earnings should the club fold, were still relegated to Division 3 on 5 August, less than a week before the first league game was scheduled within the period of any appeal. Rules of insolvency was the reason cited for such a harsh penalty, despite the successful bid being in place with the support of the fans even before the entering of administration.

Debt £330,000 minimum (rumours of max £1m)
Crime Entering adminstration, then liquidation in and out less than a week after.
Penalty relegation to bottom tier Division 3

Dundee like Livingston had been in administration before from 25 November 2003 to 6 August 2004. They entered administration on 14 October 2010 with debts of £2m, £420,000 of which was to the tax man. Their penalty was to face a 25 point deduction on 1 November which saw them on -11 points 20 points below the next team. Miraculously with only 11 senior team players left in the squad and a ban on buying players while in admin the team went on a Division one record 23 game unbeaten run to avoid slipping down in the same season that Livingston managed to win their way back up from their penalty.

Debt £2m
Crime entering adminstration for second time in 7 years
Penalty 25 point deduction

RANGERS

Apparently new owner Craig Whyte borrowed against 4 years future season ticket sales to 'reduce' the paper debt from £28m to £14m. This is thought to be a £21m debt to Ticketplus and then £5m VAT on that deal. There is also the issue that Rangers are currently awaiting the final verdict on the £49m Employee Benefit Trust tax case. It is a tangled web for one of the largest supported clubs in Scotland, that may well lead to liquidation proceedings. If it does what then. There has been the precedent set as above for such financial disasters.

Debt At least £21m possibly as much as £75m
Crime So far entering liquidation
Punishment To be decided

A lesson in statistics for Liberal Vision re: Liberal Reform

2012-02-13T12:13:00.002Z

As many of you will know one thing I hate is the manipulation of statistics to try and say something. That certainly has something to do with having worked in statistics both in the public and private sectors. There is nothing I hate more than when political groups misappropriate statistics for their own ends and that includes within our own party.

Yet after the soft launch, or looking at the Lib Dem Voice Golden Dozen rather hard, of Liberal Left we now have another soft launch for a group calling itself Liberal Reform.

Now Liberal Vision got out the trumpets and Angela Harbutt to some fanfare said in their honour under the title The right sort of Lib Dem group announces its launch:

There has surely been a need for a grassroots membership group that speaks to the mainstream of the party embracing the free market, for quite sometime. According to a Lib Dem Voice survey from April last year, 35% of Lib Dem members and activists describe themselves as ‘economic liberals’, now a bigger presence in the party than those who would describe themselves as ‘Social Democrat’ (noting that less than half describe themselves as “centre left”). So the time is right for a group such as Liberal Reform.

Now the survey dates of that Lib Dem Voice survey were 18th to 24th April 2011. So far starters I know I for one was too busy in the run up to polling day to complete that one. It appears I was not alone, the previous Lib Dem Voice survey had 130 more respondents.

Lib Dem Voice also always add the caveat:

Please note: we make no claims that the survey is fully representative of the Lib Dem membership as a whole. However, LibDemVoice.org’s surveys are the largest independent samples of the views of Lib Dem members across the country, and have in the past accurately predicted the winners of the contest for Party President, and the result of the conference decision to approve the Coalition agreement.

They have also got things wrong in the past.

Put looking at said survey the rankings are:

Please tick any or all of the descriptions below that you would be happy for someone else to use to describe you:

87% – Liberal
65% – Progressive
64% – Social liberal
60% – Internationalist
55% – Pragmatic
52% – Reformer
45% – Centre-left
44% – Civil libertarian
44% – Radical
41% – Green
35% – Economic liberal
34% – Social democrat
33% – Moderate
30% – Moderniser
27% – Centrist
25% – Keynesian
21% – Libertarian
20% – Ideological
16% – Mainstream
14% – Free marketeer
9% – Centre-right

It is oft quoted that there are lies, damn lies and statistics which makes some of my previous jobs sound like a step down from the press. However, Angela was very particular in her picking of the stats. Comparing Economic Liberal with Social Democrat is not exclusively opposite, but in recent days those of us who were around in the early days of merger have learnt that the younger generation don't quite realise that. Also only highlighting that centre left is below 50% without direct contrast.

As you look at the stats you will note that Social Liberal is 64% to Economic Liberal 35% those two are more or less mutually exclusive opposites. Also while Centre Left is 45%, Centre Right is only 9% with Centrist coming at 27%. Therefore the defining of the centre we see that not everyone who says there are either centre right or left considers themselves wholly centrist, these three may well me almost mutually exclusive.

But to highlight only the figure of the 11th ranked word chosen by the 530 Lib Dem activists who filled in that survey to try and illustrate that you are mainstream seems a ridiculous use of survey statistics and would actually be statistically insignificant to claim as the norm or mainstream opinion.

Liberal Reform I note does refrain from using such divisive language, although I did recall seeing something, somewhere last night about not concentrating on targeting soft-left voters as we had done under Labour. Seeing as even when I was working in Labour held seats (as all our targets in Scotland were) I know that we also worked on soft-right voters from the Conservative vote I know that this wasn't the only place we were gaining support from. This comment has either since been deleted or I just haven't relocated it yet.

As I said last week, I don't like being TOLD that there is only one type of Yellowness that us Lib Dems ought to be. I'm all for discussing the values of various policy approaches, but for a party that talks about being left nor right we have some people who seem intend that we can only exist if we pull more one way than the other. Look what is top of that list of words, that is what I think we all should be

LIBERAL

Note: the author has worked in the Statistics Branch of a Northern Ireland Department and has provided analysis of customer service stats for two multi-national companies European and Global networks.

Boris Johnson hands St. Patrick's Day to Sinn Féin

2012-02-11T13:42:00.000Z

Dear Boris,

I spent 7 St. Patrick's days in London.

On the first while in the Student Union I helped to set up Kingston University's Irish Society, which is still going strong 23 years later. On every single once of them apart from that one I was doing something Irish, sometimes in one of the centres of Irish population, but not necessarily. But always in London.

I was a member of London Irish and when I returned there after 1992 hoped to be able to represent them in Athletics though I never competed again. I also took part in Gaelic Football when I was there as a local team in Kingston was looking for players, so I merely transposed by football and rugby skills to a different sport for a couple of years.

Therefore to condemn all the London Irish who attend a gala dinner on St. Patricks day as part of Sinn Féin and the event as being "lefty crap", and the people being "lazy and stupid" is offensive and racist. You wouldn't call all the London Scots who attended a Burns Supper last month as being members of the SNP, nor call them tight and drunkards. But then knowing your record of stupid sayings offending cities, peoples and nations maybe you would.

Yours a proud Liberal Democrat, former London Irish man, whose eyes are more on Rome than Paris this afternoon and that for the rugby and not the Pontiff.

Daily Fail misreport courts ruling on prayers

2012-02-11T12:54:00.000Z

Seeing this mornings Daily Mail (paper edition) front page you would almost believe that David Cameron, or at least the personage of Ken Clarke in his role as Lord Chancellor had declared war on Marx's opiate of the masses.

The two stories that sparked the headline

CHRISTIANITY UNDER ATTACK

with the subheader

Anger as TWO major court ruling go against British worshippers

Refers of course the case in Bideford Council and the failed appeal of Cornish guest house owners [both links to non Daily Fail coverage].

First lets us look at the ruling on prayers before council meetings. The Mail screams out that these are now banned. Here are the words of Mr Justice Ouseley who ruled on that case:

"A local authority has no powers under section 111 of theLocal Government Act 1972 to hold prayers as part of a formal local authority meeting or to summon councillors to such a meeting at which prayers are on the agenda.

"The saying of prayers in a local authority chamber before a formal meeting of such a body is lawful provided councillors are not formally summoned to attend."

Hang on there! Far from being banned the judge said it was lawful to hold prayers before a council meeting. What wasn't lawful for requiring ALL councillors to have to attend.

If the calling to order of the council meeting occurs after the prayers are said and councillors who do not wish to partake in them have a chance to enter the chamber then no harm is done. In other words prayer is allowed, just don't force everyone to take part in it against their own conscious. Something that Christians also want to be allowed to do themselves.

The second, which happens to be the result of the appeal hearing, just happened to be delivered on the same day. It is the case of the Christian guest B&B owners who prevented a civil partnered homosexual couple from staying in a double room.

On this occasion we turn to the ruling of Lady Justice Rafferty.

"Whilst the appellants' beliefs about sexual practise may not find the acceptance that once they did, nevertheless a democratic society must ensure that their espousal and expression remain open to those who hold them.

"It would be unfortunate to replace legal oppression of one community (homosexual couples) with legal oppression of another (those sharing the appellants' beliefs).

"However, in a pluralist society it is inevitable that from time to time, as here, views, beliefs and rights of some are not compatible with those of others. As I have made plain, I do not consider that the appellants face any difficulty in manifesting their religious beliefs. They are merely prohibited from so doing in the commercial context they have chosen."

So here we have a judgement that says the the Christian owners had no issue in expressing and manifesting their beliefs, however they had entered a trade of hospitality. The point was made at the time of the judgement had they checked the marriage certificate of every "heterosexual couple" who had turned up at their guesthouse to book a double room. Their objection had been to the fact that the couple were not in marriage of a man and a woman and they would not let them share a room. One wonders what the report would have been if one of the 'of faith' civil partnered couples that I know had been the couple in question? Because then you would have had two potentially christian couples of differing opinions on either side of this debate.

In both cases there was no hindrance in worshippers actually worshipping. What there was however, was protection under the law for those that are not worshippers, or at least don't not believe the same as the worshippers in question.

If Christians want to maintain freedom of their religion they really must stop attacking others options to opt out of their belief system.

1908 Summer Olympics London: IV Olympiad

2012-02-10T17:00:00.001Z

"And the games of the 5th Olympiad are awarded to.......Rome"

So why are we in London? And why are they now the 4th?

Last first the Intercalated games of 1906 (see last week's post) were at the time recognised as the 4th Olympiad, up until 1949 the position of the 1906 Games being in dispute. The former is because on 7 April 1906 Mount Vesuvius erupted devastating Naples and the funds that were designated for the Olympic stadiums and infrastructure were directed instead to that end. London stepped into the breach, not for the last time.

For the first time athletes came in behind their nation's standard

Nations 22 (+10)
Competitors 2008 (+1357)
Sports 22 (+5)
Events 110 (+19)

27 April - 31 October 1908 London, United Kingdom

An introduction to the opening ceremony in London was the parade of athletes behind the standards of their nation. This was because for the first time competitors truly where there to represent their nations and not as individuals. The days of the mixed national teams in Olympic games were over. So around the White City Stadium paraded the flags of the 22 competing nations lined up with Greece to the front and the United Kingdom (as their banner says in the picture) to the rear.

The new nations to take part in the games were Turkey (who were represented by one Greek athlete Aleko Moullos in the Gymnastics), Finland (though still part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Ducky of Finland at the time) and New Zealand (though their three athletes formed an Australasia team with the Australians).

The first Winter Olympians

Salchow

At the Prince's Skating Club in Knightsbridge on the 28th and 29th October a first occured for the Olympic movement medals were awarded for what are considered winter sports now.

Ulrich Salchow of Sweden (pictured) who the following year would the following year take off on the back inside edge, and land on the back outside edge of his other foot, the jump that still bears his name took gold. Sweden took all three medals in the mens singles.

Great Britain took the women's singles through Madge Sayers, who along with her 45 year-old husband Edgar took bronze in the pairs behind the German pair of Anna Hübler (Germany's first female champion) and Heinrich Burger.

Panin

There was another dicipline the Men's special figures, which went to the Russian Nikolai Panin (their first gold). He was a multi-sports person, taking part also in rowing, cycling, athletics and gymnastics. With skating not on the Olympic calendar again for 16 years in 1912 he took part in the 50m pistol coming 8th.

Other new sports

Hockey (field) also made its debut at these games. Don't tell FIFA but at the first London games along with France and Germany the hockey teams on England, Scotland,Wales and Ireland all took part. England beat Ireland in the final and Scotland and Wales each took bronze.

Jeu de paume (Real Tennis) made its one and only Olympic appear at Queen's Club it went to one of the two Americans, Jay Gould II, in the otherwise British field of eleven.

Rackets also made it only Olympic appearance at that other great Tennis venue the All England Club that will once again be hosing Olympic Tennis this summer. All the competitors were however British so I'll let you guess who won all the medals then.

Water motorsports The London games were the only ones for which motorised sports are still counted in the medals table as three classes of motorboat raced in Southampton Water. However, in each of the three classes although multiple boats started only one in each completed the five laps of the 8 mile course. After these games the IOC stated that the games were not intended for motorised sport.

Some familiarities

The Diving in London took on a familiar look after its debut in St. Louis, although the names of high diving (for the 10m platform) and fancy diving (for the 3m springboard) less so. Although there was also a 1m springboard in that competition the medals fit only in the now familiar categories.

Preparing for the start of Marathon at Windsor

The marathon up until London had been a distance approximately the distance from Marathon to Athens approx 26 miles. But the race from Winsdor to the Olympic Stadium was meant to be just 26 miles, with the athletes using the Royal Entrance to the Olympic stadium before doing a 586 yard lap of the track. However, when it was realised that the Royal carriage would be blocking the Royal Entrance an alternative entrance was found leaving still 26 miles to the stadium, but a clockwise run around the track to a finish line made an extra 385 yards. In 1912 and 1920 the distance continued to vary, but from 1924 onwards the London distance became the official Olympic distance.

On a personal note a marathon has been run in London every year since that 1908 Olympic marathon. Even though the London Marathon only started in 1981 there was a continuous annual race organised by the Polytechnic Harriers (until 1999) the club of . My first brush with Olympic history was training on the track of Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers while at Kingston Polytechic (different Poly as Regent Street is now part of Westminster University).

These were the first Olympic games to be held in London, this summer the city will set a new record for hosting the most Summer Games. We've heard talk about the the legacy of the 2012 Games but what of the 1908 Games?

When a judge ruled that British athlete Wyndham Halswelle had been interfered with by one of the other finalists in the 400m there was a dispute as the definition of what deemed interference was different in the USA and British rules for running the event. The result was a rerun of the race, but the accused and his two fellow Americans refused to run. It meant that Halswelle had the only walkover win in Olympic history.

Following that event in the the greatest legacy of 1908 must surely be the establishment of standard rules for the sports that were deemed to be Olympic sports. Also bringing in judges from other countries other than the host. From here on all sports would be deemed to be judged impartially and a set of rules would be known for each competition. On top of this after the near death experience for the Games in St. Louis, London had given them high profile. Although they were still somewhat drawn out they were successful and as we know the movement has survived to this day.

See also:

Is Thatchell speaking with forked tongue regarding Ken?

2012-02-09T15:49:00.000Z

The Peter Tatchell foundation have issued the following statement on Facebook regarding Ken Livingstone's 'riddled' comment about LGBT Tories. Embolding is mine for the purposes laid out below.

Ken Livingstone is not homophobic. His use of the word 'riddled' has to be judged in context. It was clearly not used with any homophobic intent. All parties have lots of gay, bisexual MPs, as Ken noted. He is right to state that there were many gay MPs in the Tory party, from the backbenches to the cabinet. After Labour’s victory in 1997 many gay Labour MPs came out, while gay Tories remained in the closet, continued to vote against gay equality. Ken is correct to suggest that in the 1980s and 90s the Conservative Party was avowedly anti-gay, while having many gay MPs. Lots of Tories opposed gay equality, despite their own homosexuality. They were hypocrites, homophobes. Ken is right to point this out.

In recent years, the Conservative leadership has embraced gay equality, which is commendable. However, only two weeks ago it was reported that 100 Tory MPs intend to block David Cameron’s plan to end the ban on same-sex marriage. They still oppose gay equality.

However, when Livingstone was Mayor in 2005 he invited outspoken Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi to London. Thatchell himself called him out as being a hypocrite at the time.

he Mayor justifies hosting Qaradawi on the grounds that he wants a dialogue with Muslims. But why is Ken having a dialogue with a reactionary Muslim leader? Why isn’t he meeting liberal Muslims who believe in human rights? Why does he host a homophobe like Qaradawi while ignoring pleas from the Muslim gay group, Imaan?

Ken has been a long-time ally of the lesbian and gay community. He stood up for our rights long before any other major politician. He deserves our respect and appreciation. But on the issue of Qaradawi, Ken has made a major misjudgement.

In the name of fighting Islamophobia the Mayor is colluding with homophobia. He appears to believe that Muslim rights are more important than queer rights, and that it is acceptable to ally himself with fundamentalists who despise gays and want them killed.

Livingstone would never host Catholic extremists like Opus Dei or right-wing Anglicans from the Christian Institute. Why is he rolling out the red carpet for an Islamist hate-monger like Qaradawi?

Ken seems willing to sacrifice gay rights if it is politically expedient to do so. Does he want Muslim votes? Is that why he is cosying up to Islamic fundamentalists like Qaradawi and the reactionary Muslim Association of Britain (MAB)?

Note at the end of this BBC article that is was the head of the Conservative group in the London Assembly who said "[Qaradawi] is the type of man Mr Livingstone should, like us, be condemning not cosying up to. It's utterly unacceptable."

At that point it was the So why then does the Peter Thatchell foundation now back his use of the word, when in the past he has condemned him as willing to sacrifice gay rights for political expediency. Does raising the issue of previous LGBT closeted Conservatives in the run up to an election campaign not count as political expediency.

Does using a word like riddled, which I notice has casued outrage from with LGBT members of all parties (not just the Conservatives), not warrant an apology. The above which is not condemned, but put into context by the Thatchell Foundation. How come formerly it was a major misjudgement and yet not it is something that Thatchell has to jump in to explain.

Clearly the use of the word was a misjudgement, although the Thatchell Foundation have refused to say that is it. But they are jumping in to defend one candidate, while there are another seven.

It is a political expediency that Livingstone has gone running to the best known LGBT rights campaigner to get him out of this jam following this faux pas of his own making?

To appeal to liberals DUP have to be liberal

2012-02-09T11:57:00.001Z

Apparently Peter Robinson's moves to attend GAA games are to woo liberal unionists according to today's Belfast Telegraph.

If the DUP really want to woo liberals, why don't they start to send a representative to the discussion panels that form part of the Pride weeks around Northern Ireland. Until they are seen to be listening to everyone they cannot be seen as 'liberal'.

Neither a Left Liberal nor a Right Liberal, Just Liberal

2012-02-08T16:52:00.001Z

I see that Liberal Left have launched their website today, which includes a look at their values. To be fair after my tirade at Charlotte Henry last night I'm going to look at those values against the party's constitution and other sources.

Bearing in mind that my membership of the Social Liberal Forum already in the eyes of some places me to the left of the party. If I really wanted to work closely with Labour I would already have taken up one of their many invitations to work for them. Therefore I've taken a look at the entire values of Liberal Left and at times (in red and italics) compared them directly to the preamble of the constitution.

Liberal Left is initiated by Liberal Democrats who oppose the party’s membership of the Coalition. It is open to all who seek co-operation across the liberal left in order to provide an alternative to the current government. The point has been made numerous times before that the maths of such a progressive left was not there in 2010. In all possibility a minority government would have led to fear in the markets and possibly a failure of the UK economy, leading to another election which the Conservatives would have won by now. So the alternative such an alignment would have resulted in would have been a Conservative majority Government by the end of 2011.

From the party constitution the party "seeks to promote a sustainable economy" and also "ensure that there is a just and representative system of government with effective Parliamentary institutions." While the election of May 2010 didn't issue a clear result, one thing it did indicate was that the Conservatives had more support for how to deal with issues than Labour. Not a majority opinion, but a stronger votes supporting that opinion. To then keep a party in power that had failed to retain the support of the people how is that "just". I know the phrase relates to voting system change, but under the current system how would that appear to be just or representative?

Liberal Left articulates policy positions within the Liberal Democrats which should be central to a radical party. Such views have informed recent general election manifestos on which our candidates have stood, and on which our MPs have been elected. These views are not currently being voiced effectively in a party whose radical traditions have become muted in government, and whose leaders have taken the party’s policy position to the right. We are now part of a Government which is Eurosceptic to be fair here Nick did break his silence regarding Cameron's veto, neo-liberal and socially conservative.

The Economy and Public Policy

The Liberal Democrat leadership has argued that Coalition was necessary to eliminate the structural deficit in a single parliament. It is now clear that this objective will not be achieved. Whilst the right of the party will use this failure to argue for a continuation of Coalition policy into the next parliament, Liberal Left believes there are different lessons to be learned.

The Liberal Democrats argued during the 2010 General Election that Conservative plans to eliminate the structural deficit in a single parliament would remove growth from the economy and that their impact would fall disproportionately on those least able to afford them, increasing the gap between the rich and poor and further dividing the country. This is exactly what has happened

We support a different economic strategy – one that does not involve blaming the country’s problems on the demonised poor, nor on apparent ‘overspending’ by the previous government (spending which Liberal Democrats did not say should be reduced). Such a strategy should involve the budget deficit being reduced more slowly, with hardships falling squarely on the shoulders of those who benefited from government bail-outs. That would be in line with the scope and timing proposed by the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto. It should also involve prioritising investment in public works, especially green jobs, to boost employment.

This sentiment comes straight out of the preamble:

"We will work for a sense of partnership and community in all areas of life. We recognise that the independence of individuals is safeguarded by their personal ownership of property, but that the market alone does not distribute wealth or income fairly. We support the widest possible distribution of wealth and promote the rights of all citizens to social provision and cultural activity. We seek to make public services responsive to the people they serve, to encourage variety and innovation within them and to make them available on equal terms to all."

However Liberal Left have failed to look at the erosion of some of those means by the previous Labour government. Taxing of the minimum wage, increasing employee National Insurance contributions, failure to link pensions to the rate of inflation. The fact that in the current coalition we have pushed to lift the threshold for personal taxation toward the NMW, restored the link between state pensions and RPI are steps to lifting some of that those hardest hit out of poverty. I admit there were failing in the Welfare Reform Bill in recent days.

But there are wider issues at stake than public policy responses to the economic crisis. Liberals have long argued against concentrations of power and resources, whether in the hands of the state or of private institutions. Social Democrats have long argued that inequality in wealth, income and esteem undermine social cohesion. The financial crisis is the result of decades of neo-liberal ideology and politics which has ignored these lessons. Instead public policy has allowed financial markets to consolidate power in the hands of unaccountable institutions, has disempowered communities, undermined local economies and has redistributed income and wealth from the bottom to the top. The crisis has also allowed a rebirth of social conservatism as those on the right try to blame the nation’s ills on the poor, the public sector, and a decline of family values.

I agree with the final line of the above. The fact that Cameron and Osborne are also failing to lay any of the blame on the private sector, especially the banks is a farce. Although there is the permanent levy on banks, something which Ed Miliband and Labour seem to constantly ignore.

Although the language above does tend to go a little too far in the other direction. Bear in mind the the constitution of the party also says:

"We want to see democracy, participation and the co-operative principle in industry and commerce within a competitive environment in which the state allows the market to operate freely where possible but intervenes where necessary."

People understand this. The popularity of progressive single issue campaigns shows a genuine appetite for progressive politics. We believe that Liberal Democrats should be part of this politics, not its target. This is a time for Liberals and Social Democrats to work together for a fairer and more democratic Britain in which people and communities are empowered to build a sustainable future and in which disparities of income, wealth and power are reduced. We must also work together to promote our shared approach to public services and attitudes towards social justice. We believe the state has a clear responsibility to enable people to make the most of their own lives, in contrast to the coalition’s mission to slash the role of the both local and national government dramatically.

Again from the constitution:

"We believe that people should be involved in running their communities."

and

"We believe that sovereignty rests with the people and that authority in a democracy derives from the people. We therefore acknowledge their right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs... We similarly commit ourselves to the promotion of a flourishing system of democratic local government in which decisions are taken and services delivered at the most local level which is viable."

While this does back up some of the above it also runs contrary to the stated claim to be an opposition to the current government, which when you look at it was determined by the will of the people, whose self determination and votes went towards it.

Political Strategy and Public Trust

The political result of the coalition has been disastrous for the Liberal Democrats. The party has haemorrhaged support, activists, members and councillors. The effectiveness of our policy gains such as increasing tax allowances at the bottom of the income scale and the partial implementation of the pupil premium, have been dwarfed by the impact of others, including the rise in VAT and loss of standards funds in education. The party’s volte-face on tuition fees has fundamentally undermined our trustworthiness.

Not one of these comments I disagree with. However, having worked and campaigned in Labour heartlands people were prepared to vote for me because I was neither Labour nor Conservative, but different. Not at the behest of unions nor business but there for the people, all people not just those who were unionised.

If there is to be any future for the liberal left in British politics, we believe that there must be overt and public dialogue between Liberal Democrats, Labour, Greens and others on the democratic left. There is a centre-left majority in the UK but it all too often fails to be expressed because of parties not being clear in advance of an election about who their preferred coalition partners would be. Many of the political problems faced by the current coalition flow from it being a government which most Liberal Democrat voters did not want. It is ideologically unsustainable and without a mandate.

A future coalition with Labour and others on the liberal left is more likely to secure Liberal Democrat goals than a further coalition with the Conservatives I thought a Government where Liberal Democrats were the majority was the most likely way to secure those goals and we should actively work to make that possible. If that is ever to happen, future centre-left co-operation must not founder on personal hostilities, and policy differences/similarities must be fully understood having worked in Scotland and Northern Ireland I know that policy similarities do come from all points of the political spectrum. If coalitions are to become more common, then voters cannot be left in the dark over what parties are likely to do (or not do) from their manifestos if they co-operate They weren't left in the dark this time, Nick said he would start talking to the party with the greatest mandate that is what was done. However, in coalition the manifesto is a thrust of what the party is expecting to do, the Lib Dems have gone some considerable way to implementing a lot of their's. The public deserves to be given a clear idea of what co-operation between Liberal Democrats, Labour the Greens and others would mean in terms of public policy if they are to be expected to trust such a government.

Some of the arguments that are made seem valid, but most of the conclusions are in my opinion flawed. Yes in the past I have been more than willing to work with Labour, Greens where our policies match up. But the same is also true with parties to the right Unionist Parties in Northern Ireland or the Conservatives. It was Paddy Ashdown who as leader in 1995 led the party to end its policy of "equidistance". This closer association with one party over the other only led to an increase of 8 seats from the 20 held previously. Most of our gains since then have come when not associated with one party or the other but opposing both when we have to and agreeing with one over the other when we can.

Just as I don't want to see the party consumed into a permanent coalition with the Conservatives, nor do I want to see us as continually only able to operate with the broader left. Both scenarios limit our ability to be radical, both scenarios bind our hands in different ways and fail to allow us to find the best solution for any given. If bound to the Conservatives we would be looking out for business all the time to the neglect of the workers, if the other way we'd be at the beck and call of the unions and not the employers.

I leave the final argument to the preamble of the constitution:

"We will foster a strong and sustainable economy which encourages the necessary wealth creating processes, develops and uses the skills of the people and works to the benefit of all, with a just distribution of the rewards of success. We want to see democracy, participation and the co-operative principle in industry and commerce within a competitive environment in which the state allows the market to operate freely where possible but intervenes where necessary. We will promote scientific research and innovation and will harness technological change to human advantage.

"We will work for a sense of partnership and community in all areas of life. We recognise that the independence of individuals is safeguarded by their personal ownership of property, but that the market alone does not distribute wealth or income fairly. We support the widest possible distribution of wealth and promote the rights of all citizens to social provision and cultural activity. We seek to make public services responsive to the people they serve, to encourage variety and innovation within them and to make them available on equal terms to all."

That is neither the perogative of Liberal Left, nor Liberal Right! That is what it means to be Liberal.

Dear Charlotte, it's social not socialist and is constitutional

2012-02-07T20:39:00.004Z

Charlotte Henry seems to have an axe to grind with every Liberal Democrat who doesn't agree with her. That doesn't seem to be very liberal nor democratic.

Now I don't mind discourse within our party, in fact that is what is so great about our party, we do have discourse and we come to a democratic consensus that we then rally behind. The one constant is all the 23 years I have been around this party has been fairness. Look at the preamble of our party's constitution, that is the yardstick against which I measure every policy that is brought before conference for my consideration and vote. I have actually voted against some amendments or policies laid before conference because although I agree with the general thrust parts of the methods that they aim to achieve them do not meet these criteria.

Whilst I somewhat agree with Charlotte that we are not a party that can be defines as left or right, and therefore do not see the need for a Liberal Left movement, I do notice that Charlotte decides to bracket up the Social Liberal Forum in her poison pen letter.

She says:

The Socialist [sic] Liberal Forum will no doubt try and claim that the emergence of such a group further proves they are the moderate mainstream of the party, but that would be patently untrue. The SLF continually try and push Lib Dem policy away from the centre ground, and towards higher levels of tax, spending, and state nannying. Liberal Left are likely to pursue such an agenda to the extreme. We can only hope that more sensible party members push back against this pincer movement.

Now many will take Charlotte misnaming of the SLF as Socialist as an error, were it not for her earlier piece as a "Lib Dem blogger" in Total Politics that talked of the "SDP-statist-sandal wearer", which showed a clearly mangled view of party history as James Graham pointed out.

However, let's take her points one by one and reference back to the preamble of the constitution.

higher levels of taxation and spending - We promote....a sustainable economy which serves genuine need, public services of the highest quality.

We will foster a strong and sustainable economy which encourages the necessary wealth creating processes, develops and uses the skills of the people and works to the benefit of all, with a just distribution of the rewards of success.

We recognise that the independence of individuals is safeguarded by their personal ownership of property, but that the market alone does not distribute wealth or income fairly. We support the widest possible distribution of wealth and promote the rights of all citizens to social provision and cultural activity. We seek to make public services responsive to the people they serve, to encourage variety and innovation within them and to make them available on equal terms to all.
state nannying - We believe that people should be involved in running their communities. We are determined to strengthen the democratic process and ensure that there is a just and representative system of government with effective Parliamentary institutions, freedom of information, decisions taken at the lowest practicable level and a fair voting system for all elections. We will at all times defend the right to speak, write, worship, associate and vote freely, and we will protect the right of citizens to enjoy privacy in their own lives and homes. We believe that sovereignty rests with the people and that authority in a democracy derives from the people.

We want to see democracy, participation and the co-operative principle in industry and commerce within a competitive environment in which the state allows the market to operate freely where possible but intervenes where necessary.

Enshrined in our constitution is a social and liberal attitude. We recognise that the private sector alone is not sufficient to meet the needs of all individuals. When there is the need to make public services available to people they must be responsive to their need. Something that the Lords tried to bring in to the Welfare Reform Bill but was sadly turfed out by the commons. We need to be responsive to the needs to the people so that "nobody is enslaved by poverty".

If upholding the heart of our party as laid out by the constitution is somehow pushing the party away from policy, maybe Charlotte should revisit the policies that we have stood on over the last few elections and see that the Social Liberal Forum is actually trying to pull the party back towards what has been agreed before.

As for the talk of pincer movements Charlotte clearly misunderstands how the party works. There is not so much a them and us mentality. Of the 631 candidates that stood in 2010 there is a broad church, of the members who turn up to conference there is a similarly wide church. But what we put before the people come election time is what we all agree on. That is Liberal Democracy, talk of pincer movements either from the SLF, Liberal Left, the Orange Bookers, the Parliamentarians or anyone else is not the way that our party will ever work. Every one of the groups above will have failed to get policy accepted that was clearly put forward by them when the issue was put to a vote and no doubt that will continue to be the case.

Update: Before I wrote this I posted a comment that was a shorter form of this on Charlotte's blog that now at 09:30 the following day has yet to be moderated.

Crash land ends the flight of the Contador

2012-02-06T14:25:00.000Z

Andy Schleck in white (left) is now the 2010 Tour winner

The guy in the middle, in the Maillot Jaune is not the winner of the 2010 Tour de France.

After a long drawn out process it has been agreed that four days before this picture on the second rest day of the 2010 Tour traces of clenbuterol in Alberto Contador's sample. On 6 August while he and the rest of the peleton were resting after the tiring race he was informed of the positive result. He blamed it on a contaminated steak.

But today the Court of Arbitration in Sport have upheld the positive results and Contador is serving a 2 year ban from the 6 August 2010. It means he has been stripped of the 2010 Tour de France, his 2011 Giro d'Italia win and will miss this year's Tours and Giro as well as the Olympics. He will however, have served his ban in time to start the Vuelta a España.

He is not the second winner of the Tour after Floyd Landis in 2006 to be stripped of the Tour title following positive drug tests. He is one of the shrinking number of pro-cyclists who are testing positive, but his dismissal from the Tour shows that the sport does not play favourites.

So delayed congratulation to Andy Schleck for his win in the 2010 Tour de France and Michele Scarponi was his win in his native Giro last year as well as his elevation to winner of the Volta a Catalunya.

Schleck therefore has joined the ranks of François Faber (1909), Nicolas Frantz (1927, 28) and Charly Gaul (1958) in the list of Luxembourgeois winners for the Tour. Instead of being chief bridesmaid after rolling into Paris the last three years in second he now has the highest honour in cycling alhtough he missed the celebrations. Along with Jan Ullrich and ironically Alberto Contador his now one of the rare breed to have won the Tour de France while still eligible for, and therefore winning, the young rider category.

1906 Summer Olympics Athens: Intercalated Olympiad

2012-02-03T17:00:00.003Z

In 1901 the International Olympic Committee decided that they would hold Intercalated Games every four years in the gap between the internationally arranged Olympic Games. There were to be held in Athens every 4 years. However, only one is ever staged, but if you have read my posts about the 1900 and 1904 Games the 1906 Intercalated Games may well have been the saviour of the entire Olympic movement.

Nations 20 (+8)
Competitors 903 [including 20 women] (+252)
Sports 13 (-4)
Events 78 (-13)

22 April - 2 May 1906 in Athens, Greece

The games were referred to as the Second Athens Olympic Games for some time, they were later in 1947 designated to not have full Olympic Status, their medals don't count in the official Olympic table. However, despite them being the only Intercalated Games to have taken part as a review of past Games I am including them today for a number of reasons.

It established the games as a separate compact event in their own right: not overshadowed by other events.
They were the first in which competitors had to be accredited though their national Olympic Committees.
They established the opening ceremony as a separate event, one where the ahtletes were paraded behind their national flags.
It introduced the Olympic village to house the competitors.
Flags were raised for the winners at the awarding of their prizes
It introduced the closing ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of the events.

One of those winners was Canadian Billy Sherring of Canada who in the first occasion of acclimatisation for an event lived for two months in Greece before taking the tape in the Marathon. Prince George of Greece was so excited about the achievement that he joined the Canadian for the final 50 metres (as pictured). It is not expected that his great-nephew the Prince of Wales will follow suit this summer.

Smyrna and Thessalonica both took part as separate entites in these games both the Greek cities being part of the Ottoman Empire at the time, taking a medal apiece. Smyrna took the silver in the football, while Thessalonica took the bronze. As a result result the Athens team representing Greece were knocked into fourth place as the gold had gone to Denmark (the ancestral land of the King and royal princes).

Finland though not yet independent from Russia also made its 'Olympic' debut at these games. The Principality of Finland picked up two gold medals in the discus throw (ancient style) and middleweight wrestling, as well as bronze in the discus throw (modern).

The first 'Olympic' protest also came in 1906 when Peter O'Connor (pictured) who won gold in the hop, step and jump and silver in the long jump. Though born in Cumberland, England he was raised in Wicklow. While Irish and American athletes guarded the foot of the flag pole, he climbed it to take down the Union Flag to replace it with a green one, bearing a harp and the slogan Erin go Bragh (Ireland Forever).

They may no be official Olympics but the 1906 were certainly a precursor to the stand alone games that we know so well. They were the only 'Games' to be in a year not divisible by four until the separation of the Winter Games unto a different 4 year cycle from 1994.

However, they deserve their place in the history of the Games for the 6 reasons listed above which they brought in which will still be present in London 106 years later. But have for too long been airbrushed out.

The medals awarded, which do not feature in the overall Olympic tables are as follows:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	France	15	9	16	40
2	United States	12	6	6	24
3	Greece	8	14	13	35
4	Great Britain	8	11	5	24
5	Italy	7	6	3	16
6	Switzerland	5	6	4	15
7	Germany	4	6	5	15
8	Norway	4	2	1	7
9	Austria	3	3	3	9
10	Denmark	3	2	1	6
11	Sweden	2	5	7	14
12	Hungary	2	5	3	10
13	Belgium	2	1	3	6
14	Finland	2	1	1	4
15	Canada	1	1	0	2
16	Netherlands	0	1	2	3
17	Mixed team	0	1	0	1
18	Australia	0	0	3	3
19	Bohemia	0	0	2	2

Total		78	80	78	236

See also:

Huhne and ex-wife to face charges

2012-02-03T10:18:00.002Z

So the Crown Prosecution Service have announced that charges of perverting the course of justice are to be brought against the Environment Secretary Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce.

So with his cabinet position untenable who will take over this Lib Dem position. Not because he has been found guilty of anything, but because his resources or time and energy will have to be directed to defending himself. Therefore the ability to carry out his Government responsibilities would be limited as he is facing a criminal charge.

Who will be replacing him? There was talk of David Laws making his return. However, the BBC seem to be implying that Norman Lamb who is currently a senior adviser to Nick Clegg will be coming in, or Ed Davey.

Update: People are talking about the option of Davey going to DECC, Lamb to replace him at Business and Laws to become the PPS to the DPM.

Update 2: The above is mostly correct except for the fact that the PPS to the Deputy Prime Minister is actually going to be Jo Swinson not David Laws. In a rather nice loop in my own personal life, shortly after I went to University the MP for the seat entered the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and later a second promotion within the department found him as Chancellor, now the man who replaced him with Kingston as part of the seat name is in the Cabinet.

Church of England Priests want to offer civil partnerships

2012-02-02T16:20:00.001Z

120 clergy from the London diocese of the Church of England are calling on individual parishes to have the option of taking the decision whether or not they can carry out Civil Partnerships on their premises. The number of signatories is significant as it is over a quarter of the paid clergy in the London area, and within a week of the Archbishop of York's comments to the contrary are significant.

Their letter to The Times reads:

"We, the undersigned, believe that on the issue of holding civil partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches incumbents/priests in charge should be accorded the same rights as they enjoy at present in the matter of officiating at the marriage of divorced couples in church.

"Namely, that this should be a matter for the individual conscience of the incumbent/priest in charge."

The wording is very clever as those opposed to same-sex marriage often oppose it on the grounds that traditionally, in their eyes, marriage was between a man and a woman for life. Of course the church has changed the rules of marriage many times down the years. They now do allow people who are divorced to be remarried, even if previous spouses are alive and maybe even present in the congregation. At one point that would have been "just cause why they should not be wed".

The church has also through the years made the closeness of kinship less close into who shall be married, and the age at which marriage can take place has also been changed.

Those who hark back to the biblical principle of marriage often overlook the multiple spouses of the patriarchs, the taking of their wives' slave girls as wives, the concubines of many. Even the words used to describe the love of David for Jonathan and vice versa are things that we never hear talked about, or if we do the meaning is transferred into different words that fit the mind set of the congregation.

One thing that the bible does show us is that the marriages, and all of the above were blessed by God himself at different times, were ones which fitted into the times that they were set. Nobody today is saying that our soldiers should take wives from the people we defeat in battle, yet this was biblically approved. Nobody says that a master can decide which of his slaves should be married; indeed we are in outrage about the possibility of slavery at all.

Therefore when I read a letter like his in today's Belfast Telegraph I'm glad that here are those in the church who are realising the truism of what marriage is.

Update: The following day the Bishop of Salisbury has joined the call for the Church of England to recognise Civil Partnerships and spoke up in favour of equal marriage.

The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen 60 Years On

2012-02-02T07:00:00.001Z

Sixty years ago George VI died of his lung cancer at Sandringham Palace out in Kenya the young Princess didn't know for some hours. She returned by plane a week after he had seen her off. To mark that Diamond Jubilee here is how, the event was reported.

The woman who replaced him of course was only heiress presumptive at the time she was born. Her Uncle was next in line to the throne and even when he didn't and her father became King if she were to have a brother he would have overtaken her in the line of succession. Of course we all know that before her uncle could marry, he abdicated his throne because the woman he loved, a double divorcee wasn't the right person for the establishment. Her only other sibling was a little sister. Thus it was that Elizabeth Alexandra Mary succeeded her father, the reluctant King George VI, as Elizabeth II.

Here is some footage of her coronation the following year.

The public perception of the Queen has often been one of seriousness of purpose, but of course over her 85 years and 60 years as Monarch there have been occasional glimpses of some of her lighter side.

Illness is no respecter of Government set time limits #WelfareReformBill

2012-02-01T22:43:00.000Z

Just under five years ago stubborn old me didn't take time off for recovery. I struggled through my working days and often collapsed in a heap in the evenings and at the weekends. Most of those who saw me on a daily basis didn't know I was sick, let alone that when I said see you on Monday I was heading off for a course of treatment every other Friday.

I could have taken a reduction in hours. I may even have qualified for Employment and Support Allowance. I didn't, but what if my reaction to the treatment were worse (and having said that it was bad enough). Suppose I hadn't been in my late 30s and reasonably fit, but in my early 60s, like my father was, and knocked sideways by the same illness the same treatment. Suppose like him it came back after that first course of treatment, not within 12 months as was his case but at the end of that period? What if like that the return of the illness was more virulent, took longer for me to recover, or even required me to take more draining treatment to try and rid me of it?

What would have happened then, if the decision made by the MPs today was in place then and I fond myself in that situation? The reason I'm asking is that I am currently waiting tests to see if that worse case scenario that the illness has returned is the case. But the Government including members of my party, some of whom knew that I disappeared for the best part of a year five years ago, have decided that the ESA that I may well have been relying on would have been cut back. For someone that was willing to work, able to work, maybe even someone who had worked as often as he could have.

There is a golden figure from when the disease has been cleared away that you can really say that you are over it. The MPs today put a timescale on that of 12 months, yet my doctors and specialists won't say that about this disease for a whole 5 years. It can return at any point, either within that first 12 months or at any point from then on. Even after the 5 years are up you are out of the woods completely but merely said to be in remission, it can still return.

This is just one example of why the Lords amendments were right and the commons were wrong to whip through so much opposition against all of them today in the Welfare Reform Bill.

So yeah if you have read this far in this post my name is Stephen and I am a cancer survivor, though the government today seems determined to make it harder for fellow survivors to get by.

And when the press talk about Lib Dem 'rebels' on this welfare reform bill, let us remember that those who were voting to retain the Lords amendments were doing so at the behest of conference on many occasions today. So just who were the rebels?

Central Integrated Primary take campaign to the hill

2012-01-30T16:18:00.000Z

At the front Cllr. John Barry, Stephen Farry MLA, Steven Agnew MLA
and Peter Campbell (Principal)
Picture by Joanna Braniff

Earlier today a petition from supporters of Bangor Central Integrated Primary School was taken to Stormont to be handed into the speaker of the Assembly. The petition is the urge the Minister of Education and North Down Borough Council to reconsider selling the adjacent Leisure Centre site to a private company, while the school built for 300 pupils houses 600 next door on a somewhat suffocating parcel of land.

When you consider that the 600 pupils currently have to take their lunch at Bangor Academy next door. Have their sports' day on the Academy playing fields. And all around their playground are a series of huts. This is hardly an ideal situation for the only Integrated Primary School in town.

Earlier this morning the Principal Peter Campbell was on the radio pointing out that the reasons the school needed improved premises on its current location were firstly the capacity issue, also that is was currently part of an education village with Central Nursery and Bangor Academy on the same pocket of land and Glenlola Collegiate and the South East Regional College sites a few minutes walk away. It therefore allows for ease of parents dropping off and collecting children of differing ages. Plus with its unique integrated status for key stage 1 and 2 pupils it needs to be accessible to all of the town's population.

Friends in the Scottish party may remember me talking from an intervention mic during a policies for the future session about how the fact that there was a move to integrated education slightly further to the West of the West of Scotland was a reason why it made most sense to move towards it in Scotland. This school is a prime example. But while others with more land have been updated to do away with the need for temporary classrooms this one has been overlooked by successive Education ministers. This is despite promises to consider working to acquire the Leisure Centre site by the previous minister to enable that improvement.

The petition which has over 3000 signatures is calling for the DUP led North Down Borough Council to reconsider its decision to sell the site to private developers but keep it for public use for the development of the school. If the ministers for education in Northern Ireland are serious about a future where pupils from all historic communities work and learn together schools like BCIPS need to be allowed to develop. My primary school elsewhere in town has less pupils, but more space and an extension adding five new classrooms. My secondary school over in Newtownards in recent years also has had an extensive modernising extension project again doing away with the multitude of temporary classrooms. In both cases many of the temporary classrooms where present for over 20 or 30 years.

We need to do better for our children and their education, a school whose enrollment is twice what its buildings were designed for, that is continuously oversubscribed every year needs to be allow breathing space. Not just for its current pupils but so that it can provide all the service that it needs to, including its own room for sports.

First Minister takes his seat...

2012-01-29T00:37:00.000Z

...at the GAA Dr McKenna Cup Final.

Now those of you outside Northern Ireland may be saying this is no biggy it is only a game. This is the first time a Unionist First Minister (or Prime Minister) has attended a game of the Gaelic Athletic Association, ever! Tom Elliot, his opposite number as leader of the UUP, said in his bid for the leadership in September 2010 that he would not attend GAA or gay events.

One wonders if the Pride organisers in Northern Ireland are sending off their invites to Peter Robinson to attend one of their events this summer after his has shown his is inclusive on one of the things that the other main Unionist Party in Northern Ireland's leader has shown reticence over. After all my predictions for this year did include the suggestion that a DUP politician would take part in Pride events this year.

Either way the attendance at a GAA event is big news. It shows that the First Minister is serious about inclusiveness. It is not a first for the DUP, Edwin Poots, while Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure did attend the same event 4 years ago. He may have arrived in his seat after the Irish National Anthem was sung, but then the current Minister for CAL, Carál Ní Chuilín, arrived at her first Northern Ireland football international after Good Save the Queen. But that he was there is none the less a significant step.

The First Minister said:

"It's good to be here. I have had several meetings with the GAA, at a meeting-to-meeting level and when the invitation came I was glad to take it up.

"I'm not sure if I have caught all the finer points of the game, but I'm on the side of the referee on this one!"

As for the finer points of the game that can only come with attending more of them. It may also be too early to start kitting out the Castlereagh man with all the An Dún regalia, jersey, hoody, ball etc as a Down man should start to have. But when he feels confortable about getting one so he can wear it with the gay Gaelic players in Belfast Pride he could always purchase in in the O'Neills' Store in Enniskillen.

The Tweets I couldn't do under #TwitterBlackout

2012-01-29T00:00:00.001Z

Because I was self censoring my Twitter outlay yesterday in protest at Twitter threatening to censor when requested by a Government on a country basis here are some of the gems you missed from me.

Londonderry/Doire have been awarded the Fleadh after the in-out-in manouvering of the Ulster Council

BBC ignore the fact that a third Northern Irish golfer is ahead of England's best in Dubai. Where's Gavin Maybin at -5?

The whole Liverpool beating Man United running commentary and rants from me.

The Athletics from Glasgow.

The Ice Skating from Sheffield

My night with some haggis, neeps and tatties in my kilt.

Just who is acting like a dictator Archbishop?

2012-01-28T09:07:00.000Z

One definition of dictatorship is:

Government by a single person or by a junta or other group that is not responsible to the people or their elected representatives.

So when the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, claims that David Cameron is acting like a dictator when he his holding a consultation on equal marriage he seems to have missed the point. Of course this is a junta of 26 Bishops sitting in the House of Lords who are not responsible nor electable by the people. Indeed even in largely elected second chamber there are still suggestions to keep them in place.

What Sentamu has said is:

"I don't think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can't just (change it) overnight, no matter how powerful you are.

"We've seen dictators do it in different contexts and I don't want to redefine very clear social structures that have been in existence for a long time and then overnight the state believes it could go in a particular way."

Of course if the government is not able to have redefined very clear social structures that have been in existence for a long time, women would never have been allowed to vote, nor would the workers. There would not be social care through benefits or the National Health Service. Jews would not have been allowed to sit in Parliament, nor would Parliament be able to do away with male primogeniture for the heirs of future sovereigns as has been agreed by the Commonwealth which is legislation that now been introduced.

The fact that equal marriage is being put out for public consultation also flies in the face of accusations of dictatorship accusations, which can also be defined as "absolute or despotic control or power". Somehow you know that a depot is not going to put something out to consultation, as that is not absolute power. No a despotic dictator is liable to just make a change or prevent one on his say so, rather like what Sentuma is trying to do through what he says himself.

So just who is acting like a dictator by having only their view and no other view? Eyes toward the See of York perhaps.

I shall not Tweet 28th January 2012 #TwitterBlackout

2012-01-27T23:59:00.002Z

I apologise if the tweet announcing this blog post break Twitter Blackout

Tomorrow I shall not be Tweeting. I believe that will be the first day since I first joined Twitter that I shall be doing this on any of my 5 Twitter accounts.

The reason is that Twitter are talking about allowing countries to reactively censor certain tweets while keeping it available elsewhere in the world.

Remember that Twitter was a powerful tool for the Arab Spring. Remember when people all around the world changed their location to Tehran to help protect the Tweeters from Iran who were starting to stand up to their authoritarian regime. Remember when we retweeted without naming the Iranian Tweeter that we were retweeting to spread the message in the hope that someone, somewhere in Iran would get the actual news rather than what was being broadcast through the state controlled media.

This announcement:

"Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why."

Was seen as a suicide note for the freedom of expression that the Social media application has allowed to flow in many of the recent upheavals around the world. Many see it in terms of Star Wars as Twitter going over to the dark side, not allowing people to use the force it offers for good.

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait I was in the USSR for the first 2 weeks of that occupation. I did not know that we were at war until I was in Berlin, because at that time the only media I had was state controlled and somewhat supportive of the Iraqi regime.

If there had of been weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at that time, pre-mobile phones I may well have come out of the USSR to find that the UK no longer existed. Unaware of why.

This reaction from Twitter is what the UK Government said they wanted to do during the London riots. Yet some of the Tweets about the riots were from people trying to ensure that people stayed safe, or crying out for help amid the mayhem. So shutting down Tweets in a territory about a certain subject while on one hand may be seen as good can also work for bad when there are people trying to use the same language as agitators for the reverse effect. Who will be the arbiter of such decisions in the heat of the many thousands of Tweets that will undoubtedly be released at a key time that such action as suggested by Twitter will be called on? When did Twitter take on the Big Brother role from 1984?

Twitter are going what Google did in China, before they pulled out when there was outcry that they would bend their principles of openess to gain a foothold in China. Twitter are following the same course.

We the people of Twitter will not let our fellow Twitterati be silenced. To do that all around the world tomorrow thousands of Twitter users will fall voluntarily silent as an act of disgust. Last week to protest against SOPA many of us blacked out our websites tomorrow we will simply stop talking, on Twitter at any rate.

Contributory Employment and Support Allowance - the Letter from Lib Dem Candidates

2012-01-27T20:33:00.001Z

You may have read about the letter from over 50 approved Liberal Democrat candidates many of them having stood on the parties manifesto in 2010, urging our party in the Commons to accept the three Lords' amendments, regarding contributory Employment and Support Allowance (cESA) in the Welfare Reform Bill.

In particular the amendments call for:

The amount of time a person can receive cESA will be extended to at least 24 months, instead of the Government’s proposed 12 month limit.
Cancer patients will be exempted from the time limit.
The ‘youth provision’ of the benefit will be protected, meaning that young disabled people who cannot work will still be entitled to cESA without having made National Insurance contributions.

These eESA is paid for people whose conditions mean that they will at some point make a return to employment, but due to illness or disability are unable to do so at the moment. It is also paid out only to people with sufficient national insurance contributions through there working life.

The Conservatives seem to think that by cutting all benefits they are encouraging people to get back, or into work. They seem to bundle up all people living with some form of sickness or disability allowance as some work-shy, scrounging, non-productive member of society.

Those with a cESA claim are not people that fit that description indeed many will have tried to carry on working as best they could until they were unable to do so. They all for whatever reason need time to heal, maybe learn to overcome a new disability, but mostly to get well enough to return to the job they live. By in large this will be achieved within 2 years hence the higher threshold as amended by the Lords.

The one exception is cancer sufferers. As anyone who knows anyone who has cancer will tell you no cancer survivor will say that they are free of cancer until 5 years after the success of their first treatment all-clear. This medically is the time scale at which Doctors will officially say that the survivor is in remission. At times up to that point the survivor will have high and low periods and may very well at the point of 23 months find that their cancer may scarily enough return. That is the reason for the exception for cancer survivors as not even their Doctors can give them the all clear in two years and the disease can return at any point.

You can read the full letter here, and yes that is my signature second on the list of 2010 candidates.

But as my friend Caron points out, it isn't just enough for people like myself and others who are candidates, former MPs, new MPs, on the Leadership programme, GLA candidates or councillors but we need ordinary members and constituents to add their voices as well. Write to you MP, of whatever party, and urge them to support these amendments.

1904 Summer Olympics St. Louis: III Olympiad

2012-01-27T17:00:00.009Z

"and we award the games of the 3rd Olympiad to......Chicago!"

Hang on you say why if Chicago in Michigan had been awarded the games did we end up in St. Louis Missouri some 295 miles/475 km away? The reason is that once again the World's Fair was taking place in the same country and the organisers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition did not want another international event to overshadow their event. They threatened to eclipse the Olympic sports with their own events if the Chicago OGOC (Olympic Games Organising Committee) didn't move them to St. Louis. So Baron Pierre de Coubertin gave in and his games were once again drawfed by the World's Fair and very nearly killed off.

Nations 12 (-12)
Competitors 651 (-346)
Sports 17 (-1)
Events 91 (-4)

1 July - 23 November 1904 St. Louis, Mo, USA

So with once again the games being tagged unto the World's Fair they remained spaced out over a number of months. Just as non-Euopean countries were few at the first two Olympiad so the number of European nations dropped for this one, however the Russo-Japanese war made it difficult for some to get to the USA. Those countries that did manage to take part were (with number of athletes in brackets):

Australia (2)
Austria (2)
Canada (52)
Cuba (3)
France (1)
Germany (17)
Great Britain (3)
Greece (14)
Hungary (4)
South Africa (8)
Switzerland (1)
United States (52)

Therefore our ever present nations Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece and Switzerland sent a total of 21 athletes to this games (their lowest combined total). Only 42 of the events, contained competitors who were not from the USA.

Opening ceremony was a disaster. Held on 1 July and the President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, David Francis, declined to invite anybody else to open the games. In the end there was a low-key and humdrum opening from a rather disinterested party.

The games themselves were poorly run and almost ended the eight year old Olympic movement stone cold dead. James Edward Sullivan the organiser of the games tried to hold sport event on every day of the four and a half months. But yet again this lead to a spread out programme that people and journalists couldn't really focus on.

However, there were new additions to these games. Some of which have remained more or less ever present some of which have faded away.

Oliver Kirk the only man to win 2 boxing golds at one Games

Boxing made it debut with seven weight divisions although all of the 18 boxers in the ring came from the USA. Many of the boxers fought in more than one division, some even managing to medal in more than one. Top of the heap was Oliver Kirk who gold medalled in both Bantam and Feather weight. George Finnegan who won the Fly took silver in the Bantam, a feat repeated by Harry Springer (gold Light and silver Welter) and Charles Mayer (Middle and Heavy). The winning of medals at more than one weight in the same games is a feat that has only been achieved by these four men.

Diving appeared for the first time in St. Louis. With two disciplines the first sound familiar and is the platform, the second was the plunge for distance event, which made its only Olympic appearance. However, the two teams for the platform dive had very different opinions into how the event should run and this led to some bitter disputes.

The Germans felt that only the acrobatic content of the dive should be taking into consideration for marking, not the quality of entry or finish. As a result they would perform well in the air but land belly or back first into the Lake. The Americans had a far more graceful conclusion to their dives attempting to enter perpendicular to the waters surface. German Alfred Braunschweiger initially lost the third place dive off and walked off in a huff. Dr Lewald the Imperial High Commissioner to the World's Fair thus refused initially to provide the statuette to to the winner and George Sheldon the American winner refused to accept his winners reward once the dispute was sorted out and a second bronze was awarded.

The first Olympic Lacrosse champions

The plunge for distance for competition to see how far someone could go from initial dive into the pool without propulsion from arms or legs, face down in the water, see how far they could get in 60 seconds.

Lacrosse made the first of its five Olympic appearances at St. Louis (though the last three as a demonstration sport only). Two teams from Canada (one entirely of Mohawk Indians, the other from the Shamrock Athletic Club) took on a local St. Louis team. In the end the Irish/Canadian Club beat the American's in the final.

A view of some roque courts

Roque as similar mallet sport to croquet replaced it at the 1904 games. Making its only appearance as an Olympic sport. It is played on a raised hard sand or clay surface which is walled. The walls could be used like the cushions of a snooker table to play off. The club that hit the balls had an Octogan head to it. But the aim to hit the ball through a double diamond of arches is very similar to croquet. The sport itself is now obsolete with its governing body ceasing to exist in 1970.

Athletics managed to see it a major controversy and the advent of a new sport.

The controversy came in the Marathon when the first runner to re-enter the Olympic stadium was Frederick Lorz. He had stopped running due to exhaustion after 9 km, then got into the car of his manager until that broke down and then jogged back to the stadium to pick up his kit. As he got there the cheers went up so he ran up to break the tape and was hailed the winner. He was given a life ban but which was later lifted when he apologised saying he never meant to defraud and went on to win the 1905 Boston Marathon. The winner therefore for Tom Hicks, who stopped to walk for part of the course and was given a strychnine shot (now a banned substance) to complete the course. In silver was Albert Corey, who was a French born runner living in new York, but because he had insufficient documentation he is listed as USA not France for his medal, though in the 4 mile mens race the Chicago AA team is deemed to be mixed because of the presence of Corey.

Tom Keily first decathlon gold

The advent though was for the Decathalon. Although the 10 events were a little different from what we know today.

100 yard dash
Shot put
High jump
880 yard walk
Hammer throw
Pole vault
120 yard hurdles
56 pound weight throw
Long jump
1 mile

Apart from the distance changes to 100m, 110m hurdles and 1500m the modern decathletes thrown a javelin instead of the hammer, a discus instead of the 56 pound weight and take a 400m sprint instead of the 880 yard walk. The first winner was Tom Kiely, he is listed as team GB, however the man from Carrick-on-Suir was a staunch Irish nationalist who had turned down offers both from the British Olympic Committee and a American sponsor to make his way to St. Louis. In the end he made it under his own steam and carried on claiming that he was there to represent Ireland. However, as Ireland was not yet independent the records record him as being British. He was not the first Irishman, nor nationalist, to win an Olympic Gold medal, indeed John Pius Boland in the tennis in 1896 takes that honour. But he was the first to try and vocally make a point of it. Indeed the only other medal won by GB in 1904 was by John Daly from Galway in the 2000m steeplechase.

But the decathlon was an event created for the Olympics and apart from the next games in 1908 it has been a permanent feature in the games ever since.

However, the games though there were notable individual exceptions overall were mediocre as a spectacle. The IOC had to do something to ensure their survival. But more about that next week.

See also:

Trains, Ships and Automobiles

2012-01-26T18:12:00.000Z

Often when the Easter weekend arrives in Ireland I used to have a short trip to see the opening stage of the Circuit of Ireland. Scrutineering would often happen in Bangor Leisure Centre's car park before the cars would head off around Castle Park to get things started before the cars headed off out into the country for the stages over the next three days. Sometime returning to the Marine Court Hotel for the champagne celebrations.

This year I will not have a walk to see the start, but I don't mind. This year the opening stage is starting within sight of the Titanic Signature Project around what is currently a derelict piece of land on Queen's Island a stones throw from the drafting offices of Harland and Wolff. I'm looking forward to catching the train up, to the great historic heart of ship manufacturing in Belfast, to watch the cars whizz around this tight circuit.

Seeing as this is the centenary of the launching of the Titanic near this location and the first time in over 20 years that the Circuit of Ireland has started from Belfast is a sign of how much things have changed here. Belfast is buzzing and its quarters are alive with various events throughout the year. Next year I wonder if the circuit will start out of the City of Culture?

If you can't beat Obama subpoena him

2012-01-26T16:15:00.003Z

Yeah the weirdest story of the week in the Presidential race comes from Georgia, home state of Newt Gingrich.. It is there that Californian attorney and "birther" Orly Taitz has managed to get one justice to actually look at her one of her various lawsuits trying to ban Obama from the State Primary on 9th March. Others have failed.

The court hearing is scheduled for today and Georgia Deputy Chief Justice Michael Malihi has subpoenaed the President to appear before him today n the grounds that his filings to Georgia's secretary of state fail to show why his attendance would be "unreasonable or oppressive," or why his testimony would be "irrelevant, immaterial or cumulative."

I'm sure one of the documents that were passed on to Georgia was the following, issued by the State of Hawaii on 8 August 1961.

Of course the guy who he beat in 2008 was John McCain, born 29th August 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone.

One wonders what would have happened had his non-American parent not been black and African.

The presumptive Democratic nominee for President is actively campaigning today, but no in the State of Georgia.

Looking at the text of the 14th Amendment it is clear that he qualifies, through section one from the place of his birth. His mother being a natural born American from the State of Kansas he was not the child of an illegal immigrant. His mother and her parents are American. He was raised by them.

14th Amendment to the US Constitution (adopted 9 July 1868)

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Even if both his parents had not been native born American's the fact that he was would make Barack Obama a Natual Born Citizen. This was tested in the Supreme Court in 1898 by by Wong Kim Ark who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents. This ruled that Wong was a natural born citizen of the USA.

The birthers really do not have a legal leg to stand on in this case are are merely showing prejudice as well as being sore losers. But of course not being native born, McCain did qualify to run for President even though he wasn't born in the US because his parents were American. Strangely the birthers never challenged McCain's eligibility to run or serve as President.

Update: Reading the reports of what happened in court today it appears that the main thrust of the plaintiff's cliams are that because Obama's father is saying because he was not an American citizen, neither is the President. If that is the main thrust it is unconstitutional and should not be admissible in court, see the above.

What Alex Salmond said?

2012-01-25T14:51:00.001Z

The best way to look at the emphasis of what Alex Salmond said as he launched his bid for a referendum on Scottish independence is through this Wordle.

In all that is 2312 words during which he said some of the keys ones this many times:

Scotland 39
referendum 32
people 25
Parliament 16
government 15 (of which UK 5, Scottish 4)
Scottish 13
independence 12
country 12
question 10
consultation 9
UK 7
Burns 6
fair 5
Electoral Commission
Union 3 (One the 1707 Union, one European Union and one a new social union)
legal challenge 1
mandate 1

One of those words above I highlighted was question. In his speech he has outlined what he wants the question to be. It is a very simple non-ambiguous question:

"Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?"

There can be no confusion as to the extent of that question. There would be no need for a follow up question is the question had been the convoluted, "Do you want the Scottish Parliament to open negotiations to lead towards an Independent Scotland" which at one point was muted.

If that is the question so be it. That question is clear. It is a straight yes/no. It is not confused by an option of devolution max, which though my preferred option is not one that is being offered at this time. Therefore I think the Secretary of State for Scotland should allow that question to be put to the people, the Electoral Commission will be running the practical side of the referendum. Let's get the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments around a table to discuss the niggling issues.

Game on.

And the nomations are....#Oscars

2012-01-24T14:21:00.002Z

Today is the day that all of Hollywood and a lot of studios elsewhere around the world have been waiting for, the Academy is announcing the nominations for this years Oscars.

The nominations are:

Actress in a supporting role

Bérénice Bejo for The Artist, Jessica Chastian for The Tree of Life, Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids, Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbsand Octavia Spencer for The Help.

Actor in a supporting role

Kenneth Branangh for My Week with Marilyn, Nick Nolte for Warrior, Jonah Hill for Moneyball, Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Max Von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Actress

ACTRESS

Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis for The Help

Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

ACTOR

George Clooney for The Descendents

Demian Bichir for A Better Life

Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Gary Oldman for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Brad Pitt for Moneyball.

Director

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist, Alexander Payne for Descendents, Martin Scorsese for Hugo, Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, Terrance Mallick for The Tree of Life

BEST PICTURE

I'm somewhat shocked that Tintin hasn't made the best Animated Feature. Scorsese's Hugo leads the way with 11 overall nominations and The Artist runs it close with 10. Meryl Streep has her 17 nomination but after winning two of her first four for Kramer v Kramer and Sophie's Choice. Christopher Plummer at 82 were he to win, as the father who comes out as gay to his son as gay after his wife dies, would be the oldest winner of a performance Oscar. But he is up against Ulsterman Kenneth Brannagh is attempting to win an acting Oscar by playing an Oscar winning actor for his role as Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn.

Thank you for being inspirational Congresswoman Giffords

2012-01-23T00:25:00.000Z

A little over a year ago I suspect like most other people in the UK I couldn't tell you the name of the Representative for the Arizona 8th District in Congress.

But when she was holding a Congress on Your Corner event in the Safeway store in Casas Adobes, to the NW of Tuscon her name became etched on many people's memory. Not because she was going out to meet the people but because of the actions of a gunman who shot her and , killed a staffer, a Federal Judge, 3 pensioners and a girl born on 11 September 2001 (yes that 9-11). Eleven others were injured in the shooting.

That congresswoman was Gabriele Giffords. Her recovery since then has been long and arduous, but none the less a little miraculous. She survived a head injury and has spent the past year getting back her motions, her speech, her cognitive functions, if not her memories of the day those shots rang out.

When she appeared in the House of Representatives on 1 August 2001, her first appearance there since the shooting, to vote in support of raising the debt limit ceiling, she received a standing ovation from her colleagues. She had previously been seen in public on 16 May at Kennedy Space Centre to see the launch of the last USS Endeavour Space Shuttle mission under the command of her husband Captain Mark E. Kelly. On that mission her wedding ring went into space with her husband while she kept his on earth awaiting his return.

On Sunday she announced that she would be stepping down from Congress this week, as she still had recovery ahead. However, she also promised that we hadn't seen the last of her and that she will be back. I certainly hope so.

So Gabby I wish you well as you continue to recover and I hope that the world has not seen the last of you as an active politician. You thank the people of the Arizona 8th for their patience, of the world for their prayers, but I'm sure we all want to thank you for the inspiration you have been over the last year.

Here is her announcement video.

Not even Salmond expects the Spanish Inqusition

2012-01-22T23:34:00.000Z

The latest obstacle to Alex Salmond's vision of an independent Scotland within Europe comes from a rather unexpected source: Spain.

They have indicated that they would veto accession of an independent Scotland into the EU. The separation of other European states is something that Spain in the past has taken a dim view on, they have refused to recognise Kosovo as an independent state.

The Spaniards have real fear that a peaceful split in the United Kingdoms 300+ year Parliamentary union could lead to increased calls from the Basque and Catalonia regions for independence. The Basque region in particular has only recently ceased to be an internal terrorism threat, with Eta calling its ceasefire on 20 October of last year. The fear is that even though Scotland might head into a peaceful settlement, if Spain refuse to allow the same for these two regions the violence could return.

Already they are facing demands for a stronger financial deal from the Catalan premier Artur Mas, based on the Scottish agreement with London and the threat of the splits.

Of course Alex Salmond has a number of things that he is relying on for his vision of independence, one is that he will retain the Monarchy, though there are rival claimants for the Scottish throne that may seen the Jacobites return for a claim. The other is that the Parliament in Scotland has, in his opinion, the right to call the referendum itslef, despite this power NOT being devolved from Westminster. central bank will still be the Bank of England and they will still use Sterling. And of course his determination that Scotland will remain in the EU.

The reaction of the Spanish however, puts another kibosh on Salmond's plans. But no doubt he will continue to bluster on through despite this.

For those of you, like Tom Elliott from earlier this week, bluster from Salmond is the default position for the SNP to attempt to get their way.There was bluster about centralising a Local Income Tax rate in Holyrood, that is until it was found that his Government had defaulted on the payments to Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs that allowed Scotland to alter Income Tax by up to 3% from the UK rate. There was bluster to get a Council Tax freeze in the Concordat with promises to provide for the shortfall centrally which while the first has been observed the second is certainly selective in its effectiveness and many councils are making cuts to keep key services going.

In which I Answer the Question

2012-01-22T17:30:00.001Z

Stephen Chapman used to challenge us to take five pictures for the fifth of each month, but now he is trying to spark us bloggers in different ways with The Question.

The first Question, for this month, is:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

The sportsman in me though tempted to select a sporting achievement, also realises that to be guaranteed success on the field of sport is something that is also somewhat unsportsmanlike. So all my dreams and aspirations in that area will have to continue to be through hard work and training, or things that have been attempted but are now in the past.

So in order to answer the question I think I have to look at a field that maybe just a little bit of the fear of rejection is actually putting me off getting on with in and carrying on. That also rules out the field of politics as I'm not scared of rejection there, in fact having stood on a number of occasions the failing to win has driven me on even harder in order to succeed.

So my mind gets cast back to a dream I had about 12 years ago when I was visiting Edinburgh in August. Yeah that month in Edinburgh where anyone with any artistic bone in their being is inspired by all the variety of acts that put on shows for a month long run in all manner of venues. That visit did spark the idea in me to write a play that would fit in to the ethos of what The Fringe actual is, but also be able in the way it was written to be able to transfer if it was a success.

You may think that the fact that I am writing about this dream is because there was no further progress in that area. Well actually that is not the case. There is about half of the play written, and every so often it does get revisited. As many of you who read this blog on a regular basis are aware I'm not afraid of putting stuff down in words, so why is this left unfinished.

I think it is because to hire a room in which to put on a production costs, the hiring and accommodating of a cast costs. Even though the later is at a minimum, I think there somewhere inside there is the sense that there might be financial failure even if the script is of top notch quality that somehow prevents me from even completing that script.

But I hear you say, surely there are other ways to get the script performed. Yes, maybe, but in my minds eye it needs to debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, it has a certain edginess to it that if it viewed by the right people will enable it to grow, and as a result maybe unleash the writer that has always been present in me.

Therefore if I could be guaranteed that I would not fail, I'd be hiring a venue in Edinburgh this summer, even before I have the script complete. Getting the company together, then getting on to finishing the thing off. Like Douglas Adams when it comes to literary creation I sometimes need an immovable deadline to get the final product out there, or else it will just whoosh past my head.

Romney got owned by Gingrich

2012-01-22T02:59:00.003Z

When Associated Press finally join the other news organisations a whole half hour after the pools close you know the exit polls had to be clear. CBS and Fox had taken all of 4 minutes, ABC and CNN eight.

As I write this with 85% of the results reported the result in South Carolina is (final result in red):

Newt Gingrich 40.4% 40.4%
Mitt Romney 27.1% 27.8%
Rick Santorum 17.4% 17.0%
Ron Paul 13.4% 13.0%

That is as much of an owning of a state result as Romney managed in New Hampshire. In fact it is more so. But then like New Hampshire the winner came from a neighbouring state.

So where does that leave the Republican party nomination race as they head to Florida.

First up Gingrich has the momentum, but as was pointed out in the coverage I heard he is not on every state's ballot at the moment. He says that if he is nominated he will challenge Obama to seven three hour dabates. He is talking like a winner after tonight, he is talking about taking on Obama not his opponents.

Romney took a bit of a pasting here. Before his supporters knew the cameras were live you saw the frowns. He outspent Gingrich with $2.4m of ad buy to $612,000. So although he is getting his message out there one thing is lacking. The exit polls revealed that he had lost his lead in who do see most likely to beat Obama in November. That honour now goes to Gingrich, possibly because of the way he ended up swinging from the start of the debate on Thursday, when a week ago that was Romney.

Romney also came out swinging at Gingrich saying that as he'd never run a state or a business. The counter punch came when Newt said he was the only speaker in the supporters' lifetimes that had supervised four consecutive balanced budgets. The fight is on.

Rick Santorum has done well enough to stay in the race. His speech was one that would allow him to be an asset to whomever happens to win this race. Indeed he opened in praise of his colleague in the House of Representatives. As I said earlier if he didn't put up a good position here he may as well pack up and head home. As it is he has done enough to keep on with the fight. He will be waiting to see if Romney and Gingrich manage to destroy each other in the crossfire they are aiming at each other, he may well be the man to pick up the pieces and be the compromise candidate if things get so nasty as to make both of them a political liability.

As for Ron Paul, this was Christian country and his liberal message may not have gone done well with some of these southerners. But he carried on and on and on in his speech with his economic vision. However, he is the only man left in the race who has not yet won a statewide poll. He said he will carry on, there are some caucusing states coming up where he has done well. He will still have picked up delegates here and as he said in his speech, before giggling his giggle, winning delegates is the name of the game. Wow! How insightful.

So all four are left in, nobody was knocked out yet and this race is far from over and may well get even nastier in the weeks ahead. If it does it could still stir things up even more. But tonight Romney was owned by Gingrich. At point I tweeted that the Romney gap was closing....but only between him and Santorum as Gingrich edged further ahead as the results mounted up.

Polling day in South Carolina

2012-01-21T15:17:00.000Z

It's been a week that one candidate's ex-wife claimed he wanted an open marriage. Another seemed to either lack or have the business acumen that made him successful as he stumbled over his tax returns. One was no longer strong enough to carry on and you didn't need to go to church to know that. One was actually ignored by the moderator in a debate (though the crowd booed that oversight). The one who speaks Chinese bowed to the inevitable and stopped his campaign. The other may have been declared winner in Iowa and looked deeper into the issue of fundamentalist Islam in a more thoughtful way that most GOP candidates before him.

In South Carolina voting is under way is what is heating up to be a GOP race. There are only four men left Mitt Romney who won in ~~Iowa and~~ New Hampshire, Rick Santorum who came ~~second~~ first in Iowa but performed poorly in New Hampshire, Ron Paul has shown strongly in both and Newt Gingrich who has come close to winning some counties but hasn't done so...yet.

Since 1980 the winner of the GOP South Carolina Primary has gone on to be the Republican nominee for President. So what does today hold for them all?

Mitt Romney picked up the endorsement of Jon Hunstman when he stepped aside on the 15th. He is still seen as the one to beat by the others and is running neck and neck with one of his rivals this time Gingrich. However, in the debate on Thursday night there were yet again concerns that the successful business man is using off shore banking to keep his taxes below that of the average working American. While this may be shrewd business practise in the world of politics it is seen as tax evasion especially to the Reagan Democrats that he seems keen to bring back from the Obama fold.

Newt Gingrich has ridden the wave of his marital issues. Of course his marital issues are not so much the problem as at the time his second wife said he was suggesting an open marriage he was calling for a special prosecutor into the affairs of the man at the White House, Bill Clinton. So it smacks of hypocrisy. But he is doing just what he needs to do to keep his hope alive, a win or strong second here will keep him in the race. He picked up the backing of Rick Perry when he dropped out and Sarah Palin, though he did promise her a position once she came out in support, which may smack against the constitution and a promise of appointment by candidate.

Ron Paul will no doubt by the end of today be saying that this year the trend since 1980 is there to be broken. Not least because there is proportionality in the delegates this time rather than winner takes all. In all possibility even if Gingrich wins here today he would still be second in the number of delegates. He's ticking along with his libertarian take on what is needed to beat Obama and his $1 Trillion cuts in Washington spending by slashing 5 Departments he sees as superfluous is gathering momentum with a certain electorate.

Rick Santorum may well be wishing that the eight Iowa districts that forgot to call in their results in the caucus had done so before New Hampshire. Then he would have been taking on New England's son having already beaten him once. As it is he trailed in behind the other 3, if only just behind Gingrich. He hasn't gone for the full out blood path that Romney and Gingrich seem to be playing on each other and Ron Paul. maybe it is true that the nice guy can't win, especially in the GOP. However, the fact that he is still here after some of the former front runners Bachmann and Perry have dropped out shows there must be some fight in him somewhere. If he stays in for the next stops on the itinerary he will have to bring it to the table and get back to the top of the lists to stay in this race. Of course not everywhere can be won by shaking every hand like Iowa and he is lacking the big financial backers to allow him to compete on a even footing.

So after today at least three if not all four will probably still be feeling they have a chance to win this thing, as we head off to the sunshine state of Florida, where there is a scheduled debate on Monday night.

1900 Summer Olympics Paris: II Olympiad

2012-01-20T17:00:00.006Z

Last week was the first in my looks at the various Summer Olympiads in the lead up to the return to London in July to be the first city to host a third Summer Olympiad. Today it is the turn to take a look at the second in Paris, which did not have an opening ceremony. Although seeing as the Olympics started on 14 May and ended on 28 October as part of the World Fair it may explain why.

There were no medals from these games with the winners receiving cups or trophies and professionals were allowed to take part in some sports like fencing.

Nations 24 (+10)
Competitors 997 (+756)
Sports 18 (+9)
Events 95 (+52)

14 May - 28 October 1900 in Paris

As you can see there were new nations and new events joining the growing Olympic movement.

Of the nations the debutants were:

Argentina
Belgium
Bohemia
Canada
Cuba
India
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Romania
Russia
Spain

As you may notice there are twelve countries on the above list as Bulgaria and Chile who had been represented at the previous games did not send athletes. So we are down already to only 12 ever present nations. There is also a dispute about whether Brazil, Haiti, Iran, Luxembourg and Peru were represented, the IOC records say they were not but some other records say they were there.

With twice as many sports there were more opportunities in different fields.

Archery the IOC lists 6 events as part of the Olympics but there were 8 other events as part of the World's Fair that could just as easily be counted. However as that would have involved 5000 archers it is probably a matter of making the games looklike they were growing that hte 150 who took part in those 6 events are officially counted. Only three nations France, Belgium and Netherlands sent archers.

There were no standardised rules for international archery until 1931 therefore the rules for the event were determined for early archery competitions by the host nation. The European nations tended to base their's on the skills of hunting.

The disciplines were:

Au Cordon Doré (the Golden Chord) 33m
Au Cordon Doré 50m
Au Chapalet (The Rosary) 33m
Au Chapalet 50m
Sur la Perche à la Herse (Perch on the Harrow)
Sur la Perche à la Pyramide (Perch on the Pyramid)

Basque pelota made its one and only appearance as an official Olympic sport. It was contested by two teams, hardly surprisingly France and Spain. If consisted of one match and the score is lost to history. However, the Spaniards were victorious.

Cricket surprisingly made made its only Olympic appearance in Paris of all places. It was meant to appear in Athens four years earlier but no teams signed up. In 1900 it almost faced a similar fate when Belgium and the Netherlands withdrew their teams. In the end a touring side the Devon and Somerset Wanderers (Old Boys of Blundell School and Castle Cary CC) took on a team made up of Albion CC and Standard Athletic Club in Paris (teams of expats). Only two of the GB team were deemed to be county standard but they still beat the French Brits by 158 runs.

Croquet appeared in the well known form only once, again in 1900. But it makes Olympic history in being the first Olympic sport to include women in the shape of Mme. Filleaul Brohy, Mlle. Marie Ohnier and Mlle. Desprès took part among the 9 French competitors but did not 'medal'. There was a one ball singles, two ball singles and doubles event to make 3 winners all French. Surprising considering the popularity in English lawns it was only the Belgians that challenged the French.

Equestrian made a debut for horsemanship in 1900. The disciplines were Jumping, High Jump and Long Jump. Belgium won two events outright and a French and Italian rider shared the high jump.

Football made its debut in Paris. Keep it quiet to the Scottish, Welsh and Irish FAs but the first winners were team GB. Well at least in the form of Upton Park FC, although no connection to West Ham United except the name. Although the event was actually two demonstration matches against the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques from Paris against Upton Park and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The French were therefore the only team to play twice but lost to the British and beat the Belgians.

Women golfers taking part in the 1900 Games

Golf actually went one better than croquet in having a separate Men's and Women's events. It therefore means that Margaret Ives Abbott (USA) became one of the first female Olympic Champions.

Polo along with the other equestrian events was the ball sport of the horsing world, In total there were eight polo events held as part of the World's Fair but it is only the Grand Prix Internationale de l'Exposition that counted as a medal event. Like the football and cricket it was a club event rather than an international. Unlike those two however it resulted in two Englishman, an Irishman and an American taking the gold for the Foxhunter's Club beating another GB/USA mixed team in the final.

Eights on the Seine

Rowing also made it's Olympic debut on the River Seine with four diciplines, single sculls, coxed pairs, fours and eights. Strong winds had prevented the event making an appearance in 1896. A four lane course was laid out, but this led to controversy in the coxed fours event when six crews were put through to the final. This came after protests that the winners of the three semi-finals plus only the runner up of semi final three were to go through. In the end when the final was scheduled the original qualifiers boycotted the event so other crews rowed again in the final. However, the officials deciding to hold a second 'final' for the boycotting crews, both are officially recognised as Olympic event and there are two sets of medals awarded in that event. However as the second final contained the winners or the semi-finals it means that the unbeaten crew of the Germania Ruder Club Gustav Goßler, Oskar Goßler, Walter Katzenstein,Waldemar Tietgens and (cox) Carl Goßler are probably the real champions.

Surprisingly considering its history in the sport GB only sent one sculler to the event.

France v Germany in first Olympic Rugby match

Rugby Union made a debut in Paris for the first of its four appearances at the games. While the hosts fielded the national squad, Germany were represented by FC 1880 Frankfurt and GB by Moseley Wanderers. Moseley had played a full game in England the day before their match in Paris against France and then returned straight away to England. In the result just two games were played both won by France and Germany and GB both received a silver medal. Rugby holds the distinction of being the first sport to award a gold medal to a black Olympian as Franco-Haitian Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera was part of the winning team.

Rugby will actually be returning as a sevens event in the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

Sailing another of the Olympic perennials that made it's debut at Paris, or rather Le Harve. Like rowing it had failed to appear in the first games as scheduled. So the first medals were awarded in classes that were handicapped on time based on the tonnage of the yachts. In the end GB won 3 golds, France 2, Switzerland and a Mixed (France/GB) team one apiece.

Charlotte Cooper first female Olympic Champion

Tennis made it debut a a little Olympic history on 11 July when Charlotte Cooper already three time Wimbledon won in both the singles and mixed doubles. The men's singles semi-finals saw four British men contesting the medals. Between them they would eventually take 10 Wimbledon singles titles, the winner Lawrence Doherty was the rising star, who would win five consecutive from 1902-1906, he beat the old hand and Scottish born 1896 Champion Harold Mahony, the beaten semi-finalists were Laurie's elder brother and 1897-1900 Wimbledon Champion Reginald and Arthur Norris. Sadly of the three Wimbledon Champions all three were dead by 43, the Doherty brothers had respitory problems which led to them taking up the sport and Mahony died in a motorcycle accident.

However, with the Doherty brothers taking the men's doubles and Reginald partnering Charlotte to the mixed doubles GB took all four of the competitions on offer.

Tug-o-War saw that man Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera win the first medal by a black Olympian, three months before the Rugby Union triumph. However, three of the USA team were taking part in the hammer at the same time as the competition so only two teams took part. France losing to a combined team from Denmark and Sweden.

Water Polo the pool saw the arrival of water polo to the games without a Hungarian team who dominate this event through Olympic history. In the end it was another triumph for GB with a team that scored 29 goals and conceded 3 through the knock out tournament. As a omen of things to come this was also the first time a Coe won Olympic gold as a Thomas Coe was part of the Osborne Swimming Club team that dominated this event.

There were some changes to other events that were mentioned in the 1896 post, weightlifting became an element in a 16 element gymnastics competition. In Athletics the hammer was added, as were standing jumps for the three disciplines, the 110m, 200 and 400m hurdles, two steeplechases over 2500m and 4000m, a 60m sprint, the 200m and a 5000m team race (like cross country adding the places for a lowest point score to win). Cycling saw just a 2000m sprint and the 25km race in the home of cycling, however 25km champion Louis Bastien also took part in the épée.

Being part of the World's Fair there were other sporting events taking place including kite flying, cannon shooting and motorcycle racing but these are not recognised by IOC.

See also:

SNP MP claims to be an Unionist

2012-01-19T20:24:00.005Z

Watson: How can MacNeill claim to be a unionist when he is of Nationalist stock?

Holmes: It's 1603, my dear Watson.

Angus MacNeill, the SNP MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, has just appeared on BBC Northern Ireland's Hearts and Minds [link to iPlayer from this point] claiming to be a Unionist!

The thing is that the tactic that he was using was which version of the Union was his opponent in debate, the UUP leader Tom Elliott, referring to. He kept going back to it as Elliott tried to mention that the United Kingdom was stronger under the European Union (throwing another union into the mix shows how poor a debater Elliott is). So my Scottish friends beware!

Having worked on the referendum for the yes to AV campaign one thing that the No team did was to try and confuse and complex the issues. Something that MacNeill was trying to do to a clearly unprepared and unaware Elliot and presenter Noel Thompson. Yes there are a number of Unions involved the Union of the Crowns (of England and Scotland) in 1603, the Act of Union 1707, which did away with the separate states and parliaments under the same crown, there are of course the Acts of Union of 1800 that united Ireland into that Kingdom. There is also the Statue of Rhuddlan from 1284 which effectively binds Wales to England.

MacNeill was using the confusion which anyone who hasn't spent time with the SNP could easily fall into distracting the debate away from the issues to Northern Ireland as a result of Scottish independence by trying to tie Northern Irish unionists up by their understanding of what the Union is. The thing is of course there are different views of what the union is for amongst unionists. There is the Northern Irish viewpoint. There is one largely shared by Conservatives and Labour, then there is a different one that Liberal Democrats hold. Other parties such as UKIP hold other opinions as well.

Was MacNeill trying a line of attack on a show in Belfast this evening that may eventually get used in Glasgow and Edinburgh? One that accentuates differences in what the union means to various people who support it to pull the union apart? Is claiming to be a 1603 unionist a cunning plot to assuage people that Scottish Nationalists are going to change things that much. Though look at their continuing vision to centralise with the police and fire services bill publication today.

I think we are well aware that the SNP are not going to play by the rules that currently exist, because each time they get knocked back it becomes one more trophy for them to parade about a repressive Westminster. Now it looks like they may also be trying to confuse people by just what union we're all talking about. They may have launched a divide and conquer approach tonight, to try and win through.

Strong redrafted by Rick Perry

2012-01-19T19:51:00.001Z

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our former speaker can’t celebrate an open marriage with his mistress in Washington as his wife at home. As President, I'm sure that Gingrich's war on Clinton will not stop him having sex with that woman, or that woman, or that woman. And I'll fight against liberal attacks on his sexual history of cheating on his wives. Faith made America strong. It can make The current Mrs Gingrich strong again. I’m Rick Perry and I approve Newt Gingrich.

The original ad is below.

Yeah believe it or not on the day that the second wife of Newt Gingrich revealed he wanted an open marriage when he confessed to his six-year affair, has suspended his campaign. This man of faith who doesn't think gays can enter monogamous marriage, or serve openly in the US Military, is backing the hypocrite who ordered the equiry into the Lewinski affair before saying goodnight to his wife while his mistress was beside him in his bed.

Now that is a strong choice, NOT!

Update Having just read that Newt Gingrich is offering senior appointments to GOP endorsers. Oops that is another contravention of the US Constitution after saying he will over rule the Supreme Court earlier. So Perry is endorsing a felon, see below:

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 29 > § 599§ 599. Promise of appointment by candidate

Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

SOPA Blackout

2012-01-18T18:47:00.002Z

This site is blacked out today in support of the SOPA Protest. Come have a look at the header.

Royal Yacht to cheer up Diamond Jubilee - the solution

2012-01-17T01:40:00.000Z

So the Queen wants a yacht!

Or rather Michael Gove thinks we should as a grateful nation give her one as a 60 years long service award for her current job. I'm thinking the £60m that it would cost might go some way to giving some of us without jobs greater assistance in finding one, rather than as an award for one that one was merely born into. Most of us who are unemployed don't have the luxury of a family 'firm' to fall back on.

However, if as Michael Gove says he is worried that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations are being put in the shade by the Olympic, I have a solution. If only George VI's doctors has euthanased him a month early to avoid such a clash, rather than a few hours so his death would make the morning papers.

But seriously the solution is to actually get her a yacht, not one of his motor cruisers with funnels etc, but a yacht with ropes and sails and everything. It is something she could easily get tutelage from some of her distant cousins. Hopefully they can get her up to speed to emulate many of her cousins in taking part in the games themselves.

For example the exploits of ex-King (then Crown Prince) Constantine of Greece (pictured GE3) in the 1960 games in Rome, who took the gold medal with his crew in the Dragon class, a now defunct class. But members of the Royal Family have spent time on Constantine's yacht, or that of his sister Sofia's husband, better known as King Juan Carlos of Spain. So there is a definite connection between the Windsors and Olympic gold in yachting.

Of course poor Constantine didn't quite have a home regatta he had to take part in the Med but at the Bay of Naples. Though he is a first cousin to the Duke of Edinburgh, but although being descended through Victoria's eldest daughter Victoria is higher in the order of succession that Prince Philip would be who is only descended from a younger daughter Alice.

In 1964 and 68 another cousin a descendant of Edward VII's daughter Maud, the current King Harald V of Norway took part in the 5.5m class (boats like those in the picture). His best was 8th in Tokyo in 64. However, his father Olav V had won Gold in 1928 in a 6m boat. Harald is still sailing competitively at least until recently as in 2007 he came 6th in a class at the World Championships and won a European title in 2005.

Constantine's sister Sophia has managed to give birth to two more Royal Olympian sailors. Her second daughter Christina took part in the regatta in 1988 coming 20th in the Tornado having carried the standard in the opening ceremony. Sophia's son Crown Prince Felipe has the honour of being the only Royal who has sailed in an Olympic regatta on home soil at the Barcelona Games of 1992, when he also had the honour of carrying his nations flag before his father and mother in the box. In the regatta he game in sixth in the Soling class.

So maybe we should get Her Majesty a Elliott or 470 class yacht and see if she can qualify for the Olympics as a condition of her keeping it.

Balls reveals Economic Plans....George Osborne's

2012-01-14T00:21:00.001Z

For the last 18 months Labour have been saying that the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition has been cutting too fast, they have stood along those in the public sector about their pay conditions etc. All the while many of us have asked what are their alternatives for this parliament then.

When finally the Guardian have got to the bottom of the issue in an interview with the Shadow Chancellor today.

Labour's alternative it seems is do exactly what is being done.

Balls says:

"My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts. There is a big squeeze happening on budgets across the piece. The squeeze on defence spending, for instance, is £15bn by 2015. We are going to have to start from that being the baseline. At this stage, we can make no commitments to reverse any of that, on spending or on tax. So I am being absolutely clear about that."

He also says:

"It is now inevitable that public sector pay restraint will have to continue through this parliament. Labour cannot duck that reality and won't. There is no way we should be arguing for higher pay when the choice is between higher pay and bringing unemployment down.

"I know there will be some people in the trade union movement and the Labour party who will think of course Labour has got to oppose that pay restraint in 2014 and 2015. That is something we cannot do, should not do and will not do."

So now we as Lib Dems know just what we have achieved. We have tamed the Conservative plans to make things fairer for those who are worst off than they initially planned and we have done it so well that the Labour party cannot improve on what we have managed to get unto the table.

Therefore plaudits to Danny Alexander and David Laws in the early days for setting up a fairness in the plan to help the UK recovery. For making tough yet fair decisions. Even Ed Balls agrees.

Not all the world speaks English (American) #GOP

2012-01-13T18:08:00.001Z

Considering that Nick Clegg can speak Dutch, Spanish, German and French as well as English of course which while this polyglotism is astounding is not shunned by British voters the same is not the case it would seem in America.

First of all there was shocking adverts by a group supporing Ron Paul about the fact that former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman might be able to communicate in Mandarin.

Now the fact that an American who spent 2 years in French in his youth can speak, shock horror, French has been attacked in this add from Newt Gingrich.

It is bad enough that most Brits think they should be able by with just English. I've spoken enough conversational Spanish, German and Russian to get by with greeting etc. but to use being able to speak to some of the 94% of the world who don't speak English as their first language, or some of the 75-90% who speak it as a second language is an atrocious sign of how little America and especially Newt Gingrich cares for foreign affairs.

The attacks on Chinese speakers of which 2 million existed in the 2000 US Census and French 1.6m shows that Gingrich and Paul are even not aware of the continuing diversity of the constituency that they wish to represent.

1896 Summer Olympics Athens: I Olympiad

2012-01-13T17:00:00.006Z

Over the Fridays between now and the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Games I'll be taking a little look at the summer Olympiads that have gone before.

Nations 14
Competitors 241
Sports 9
Events 43

6-15 April 1896 in Athens, Greece

So to kick off it is back in 1896 to Athens where Baron Pierre de Coubertin vision which he first had in 1889 to revive the ancient Greek idea of an Olympics. He wasn't the first as Thomas Arnold head of Rugby School had first come up with the idea of the Much Wenlock games (after where one of the London 2012 mascots gets its name) in 1850.

The original Olympic nations were Greece (the hosts)
Australia (although not independent until 1901 the 800m and 1500m golds of Edwin Flack are listed for them)
Austria (although part of the Austira-Hungary empire their results are listed separately)
Bulgaria (they claim that the Swiss born gymnast Charles Champaud who was living in Bulgaria was competing for them)
Chile (who had one athlete Luis Subercaseaux in the 100, 400 and 800m)
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britian and Ireland
Hungary (as with Austria above, but also including athletes from Vojvodina, now Serbia, in their team results)
Italy (although their most prominent athlete Carlo Airoldo was deemed professional and excluded they also had a shooter Rivabella)
Sweden
Switzerland
United States of America

As you can tell from some of the above comments there was little organisation as such. Indeed some of the olympians happened to be in Europe and turned up to take part.

The sports were:

Contestants lines up for the 100m

Athletics with 12 events

100m (when Francis Lane (USA) won the first heat on day one he became the first Olympic winner he came 3rd in the final)
400m
800m
1500m
110m hurdles
Marathon (a debut event of 40km from Marathon to the Olympic Stadium)
High Jump
Pole Vault
Long Jump
Triple Jump (James Connolly (USA) on winning became the first modern Olympic Champion)
Shot Put
Discus (part of the ancient games but never before part of an international competition)

USA won 9 of the Silver Medals (for winning), Australia 2 and Greece only the Marathon.

Cycling had 6 events mostly contested at the velodrome.

Road Race (87km)
Sprint (2km)
Time Trial (1/3km once around the track)
10km
100km
12 hour race

There were only 19 cyclists from 5 countries taking part with 4 wins for France (three of which were by Paul Masson), 1 each for Greece and Austria.

Fenching held three events in sabre, foil and masters foil and the spoils were 2 for Greece, 1 France.

Carl Schuhmann taking part in the vault

Gymnastics comprised a total of eight events (the first five are familiar, the last two are now part of the team overall)

Horizontal bar
Parallel bars
Pommel horse
Rings
Vault
Rope climbing ( to climb a height of 14 m (only achieved by 2) with style and time deciding factors to split equal heights)
Team parallel bars
Team horizontal bar

Germany won five of the events, Greece 2 and Switzerland the remaining one.

Shooting comprised 5 events

200m miltary rifle (Greece filled the top 5 places)
200m free rifle
25m miltary pistol
25m rapid fire pistol
30m free pistol

Greece won three of the events with USA winning the other 2.

Swimming all the events took place in the open sea at the Bay of Zea

100m freestyle
500m freestyle
1200m freestyle ( the final race and Alfréd Hajós (Hun) who won the 100m and Paul Neumann (Aut) who won the 500m both entered with mixed results. Hajós won and Neumann DNF)
100m sailors freestyle ( this was only open to sailors in the Greek navy and the winning time was 1 minute slower that the open event)

Winners Hungary 2, Austria 1 and Greece one for a Greek only event.

Tennis had only men's singles and men's doubles. John Boland of Great Britain won both the doubles with Friedrich Traun of Germany.

Weightlifting was still young event in 1896 and the rules are different from today so there was the one handed and the two handed lift. Launceston Elliot of GB won the one handed and Viggo Jensen of Denmark the two handed, with each man coming second in the other event.

Wrestling there were no weight classes back in 1896 just one open Greco-Roman event won by German Carl Schuhmann.

So there you have it the nations and sports that first graced the Olympics. Some recognisable some very different to the sports we know today.

See also:

Dixville Notch call it a tie

2012-01-10T10:28:00.000Z

Picture from CBS

The first vote in the New Hapmshire Primary is in. The small villgae of Dixville Notch right up against the Canadian border traditionally votes at midnight. It's 9 voters have made it a tie in the Republican nomination between Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman with 2 votes each. Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich picked up a vote each. The other three votes went to President Obama.

The village has 2 registered Democrats and 3 registered Republics with 4 who do not declare a party.

200 Days to go Olympic Countdown

2012-01-09T22:02:00.000Z

In just 200 days time the waiting will all be over. The countdown since the announcement in 2005 that the games of the 30th* Summer Olympiad had been awarded to London.

Therefore as we are in 2012 with less than 30 weeks to go you may be asking what are the rules of Taekwondo, or how many races are in an Olympic sailing regatta, or who is the most winning water polo team (the last is Hungary). So where can you find all these answers and more?

Well one book I've picked up recently is by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton and covers everything from history, basics of the events, the ceremonial, how various events are scored and some of the heroes down through the years. Called "How to Watch the Olympics" it is the armchair spectators guide to all that will be going on across London and indeed further afield between 27 July and 12 August (actually the football kicks off on the 25th). It may not be the most thorough of guides into the history, nor into the rules of the various games. But it is a gallimaufry that gives enough of a a taste of every aspect for a non-sport mad viewer, such as myself, an insight into everything enough to get enjoyment out of the events as they unwind.

If you want to invest in one book that is going to help you understand everything that the Olympics has to offer (because I can't be everywhere) this is certainly a book that will help you learn a little bit that even the BBC commentary team may not be able to fit into their commentary. But then again the number of hours they have to fill they may well have a copy with each one of them as well.

* There are three Olympiad where a sport never took part, the VI Berlin, the XII Tokyo, then awarded to Helsinki and the XIII London. These were all cancelled due to the World Wars.