Well Jim Devine is showing his true sporting colours in a charity event tomorrow.
While local team Livingston are away in Dumfries against Queen of the South, he will be parading the SPL trophy currently held by his beloved Celtic at the Almondvale shopping centre, without earshot most Saturdays of the Livi drums.
While the event is to raise money for charity it is said that the local MP is encouraging teh support of non-local football teams within his own community. Livingston FC have for the 11 years of their existance been fighting an uphill battle to encourage local people to support the local team. The youngsters of West Lothian are the best hope for the local team to survive in the long term.
Friday, 27 October 2006
Expenses at Different Ends of Scale
The list of MPs expenses until the 31st March puts the two West Lothain MPs at different ends of the chart. Michael Connarty for Linlithgow and Falkirk East is the 8th Highest in Scotland 14th in the UK with £151,852, while Livingston's victor Jim Devine is 57th of the Scots with £92,297. Only the Speaker Michael Martin and the other, later By Election Willie Rennie claimed less than Devine.
Connarty however is not the most expensive MP in the Lothians that dubious honour is retained by Edinburgh South's Nigel Griffiths.
Although the evening news is worryingly telling us that Jim Devine is MP for Linlithgow. Is Connarty aware of this?
Update:
The break down of how the expenses were accrued for Connarty and Devine are now on theyworkforyou.com just don't tell Jack Straw.
Connarty's expenses are up £11,476 on last year. While making savings in stationary, computers and staff travel. It is his incidental expenditure which has shot up by £9,461 or 51% on last year which is the bulk of his increase.
Connarty however is not the most expensive MP in the Lothians that dubious honour is retained by Edinburgh South's Nigel Griffiths.
Although the evening news is worryingly telling us that Jim Devine is MP for Linlithgow. Is Connarty aware of this?
Update:
The break down of how the expenses were accrued for Connarty and Devine are now on theyworkforyou.com just don't tell Jack Straw.
Connarty's expenses are up £11,476 on last year. While making savings in stationary, computers and staff travel. It is his incidental expenditure which has shot up by £9,461 or 51% on last year which is the bulk of his increase.
Extract From the Minutes
There was an article about De Loran sports cars in the motoring section in today's Scotsman. But clearly this was a car that was time travel complient as the following note from the future was just visible on the dashboard I have enlarged it for my readers benefit.
Minutes from 2007 AGM of the IRA Old Boys Assosiation
Hon. Life President Adams: (rose) Welcome to the 2007 AGM of the IRA Old Boys Association. I wish to express a vote of thanks to our speaker this evening and inspirational founder David.
Dave: Actually call me Dave.
Adams: Sorry Dave Cameron for agreeing to address us tonight for the Bobby Sand’s Memorial Lecture. I also would like to say how smart we all look in our new ties. Our crest of a Balaclava over crossed Kalasnikovs did cause a slight stir at the tie designers. But eventually the owner agreed providing we didn’t tell the Grand Master of the Orange Lodge Old Boys Association. I hand over to the Secretary for some announcements.
Secretary McGuinness: Thank you Gerry. Next Saturday we are having a Pimms and strawberry evening in Falls Park. We shall be gathering at the Divis Flats memorial end. A bouncy castle will be available to entertain your children on the slope overlooking the bowling green. Members who are supervising their children are asked to remember that the Old Boys Association condones throwing stones unto the green irrelevant of the opposition teams religious make up.
Member from the floor identity hidden by balaclava: (raises hand) But we’ve always done it.
McGuinness: As our speaker has shown in his words and actions in the last years, just because you’ve always done it doesn’t mean you keep on doing so. It’s all in the image, do whatever makes you popular. Now other events upcoming....
Thursday, 26 October 2006
It's a Family Affair
The election for Edinburgh South in next May's Holyrood election has taken another interesting twist. Already the former council leader Donald Anderson had been selected by Labour to take on Liberal Democrat MSP and former city councillor Mike Pringle again in the contest.
Now in as a replacement for Graham Sutherland, who stood down earlier in the year for personal reasons, is one of Mike Pringles own kinfolk has been selected to stand for the SNP. Robert Holland who has been selected is the son of the MSP's cousin.
Mr Holland has alrady surprised Tory voters in Edinburgh South by telling them that their vote is a wasted vote and only he can beat Labour and the Lib Dems. Fighting talk from the party that was in 4th place in 2003 and had an even poorer showing last May when then managed to lose half their votes in the larger Westminster constituency.
While Mr Holland head may be up in cloud cuckoo land, as not even his leader Alex Salmond has this seat on any list of potential gains, Edinburgh South is already gearing up to be another fight between Liberal Democrats and Labour. Although this time for a pleasent change the defender is not a Blair lackey.
Now in as a replacement for Graham Sutherland, who stood down earlier in the year for personal reasons, is one of Mike Pringles own kinfolk has been selected to stand for the SNP. Robert Holland who has been selected is the son of the MSP's cousin.
Mr Holland has alrady surprised Tory voters in Edinburgh South by telling them that their vote is a wasted vote and only he can beat Labour and the Lib Dems. Fighting talk from the party that was in 4th place in 2003 and had an even poorer showing last May when then managed to lose half their votes in the larger Westminster constituency.
While Mr Holland head may be up in cloud cuckoo land, as not even his leader Alex Salmond has this seat on any list of potential gains, Edinburgh South is already gearing up to be another fight between Liberal Democrats and Labour. Although this time for a pleasent change the defender is not a Blair lackey.
Tackle Climate Change Take a Plane - Labour
Apparently the best way government guidelines tell us to tackle underused railways is to take a plane.
Are these planes going to stop at request stops along the line of the rail route? How are they going to tackle the stations in the Highlands or rural Wales which surely must be amongst those targeted? I mean it will be difficult to built airports next to every conceiveable station. That is before taking into account that taking off is the most carbon heavy point of a planes emmissions.
If there are not going to airports at every stop how are passengers going to get to their final destination? In some of these underused rail lines there is no realistic alternative to make the journey from Rannoch Station to Fort William being a prime example.
So not only is Tony Blair not prepared to set annual targets for cutting carbon emmissions (when he has them for everything else), he looks like adding to them non-sensically.
Are these planes going to stop at request stops along the line of the rail route? How are they going to tackle the stations in the Highlands or rural Wales which surely must be amongst those targeted? I mean it will be difficult to built airports next to every conceiveable station. That is before taking into account that taking off is the most carbon heavy point of a planes emmissions.
If there are not going to airports at every stop how are passengers going to get to their final destination? In some of these underused rail lines there is no realistic alternative to make the journey from Rannoch Station to Fort William being a prime example.
So not only is Tony Blair not prepared to set annual targets for cutting carbon emmissions (when he has them for everything else), he looks like adding to them non-sensically.
Wednesday, 25 October 2006
Not Quite a Rarity
Thanks to Peter Black for pointing out this one. So I find that there are only 163 people sharing my first name, 53rd most common, and last name, 572nd most common. Some of these American Stephen Glenns I have located in the past via google.
My Brother is rarer only 94 matchs. My nephews have 423 and 7 for their Old Testement fist names. My dad has 945 matchs and mum 25. However my sister-in-law is the rarest of the bunch with only 6 American's sharing her name dispite it being the same as a cartoon character but she was rarer under her maiden name with only 3 mathces.
My ex-fiancee who's birthday was yesterday always said she was a rarity 17 people match her name. If we'd have been married however she would have had only 1 American sharing her name with the correct spellings.
My Brother is rarer only 94 matchs. My nephews have 423 and 7 for their Old Testement fist names. My dad has 945 matchs and mum 25. However my sister-in-law is the rarest of the bunch with only 6 American's sharing her name dispite it being the same as a cartoon character but she was rarer under her maiden name with only 3 mathces.
My ex-fiancee who's birthday was yesterday always said she was a rarity 17 people match her name. If we'd have been married however she would have had only 1 American sharing her name with the correct spellings.
Volunteer to be a Nuclear Dumping Ground
David Miliband the 'Wayne Rooney' of Tony Blair's cabinet want to sweep the issue of the waste created by nuclear power station under the carpet, or at least under the ground in a willing local authority.
Obviously after decades of consideration weighing this up this has been considered the safest option open to the government. That is clearly why they will be offering hte willing local authority a multi-million pound bribe, sorry, investment incentive to volunteer. Of course the officers of the local authority who agree to having the nuclear depository built in their area will propably be long out of office by the time it comes online, as it is expected to take 40 years to construct the at least 500 metre deep dumping ground. So obviously it will be as 'safe' as houses then.
The previous attempt to try and get a deep nuclear dumping site established was scraped in the 1980s due to public resistance. Of course then public awareness was far more worried of nuclear fallout coming from the sky if America and Russia got a little too heated.
Of course the best way to avoid having to dispose of nuclear waste is to avoid creating new nuclear power stations. There is plenty of options for other energys to be utilised that will reduce our countries carbon footprint and be safer and cleaner to use.
Obviously after decades of consideration weighing this up this has been considered the safest option open to the government. That is clearly why they will be offering hte willing local authority a multi-million pound bribe, sorry, investment incentive to volunteer. Of course the officers of the local authority who agree to having the nuclear depository built in their area will propably be long out of office by the time it comes online, as it is expected to take 40 years to construct the at least 500 metre deep dumping ground. So obviously it will be as 'safe' as houses then.
The previous attempt to try and get a deep nuclear dumping site established was scraped in the 1980s due to public resistance. Of course then public awareness was far more worried of nuclear fallout coming from the sky if America and Russia got a little too heated.
Of course the best way to avoid having to dispose of nuclear waste is to avoid creating new nuclear power stations. There is plenty of options for other energys to be utilised that will reduce our countries carbon footprint and be safer and cleaner to use.
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