Banning things that should never have been allowed and allowing things that should never have been banned

This evening the Prime Minister has released a statement of posthumous apology to Alan Turing.
Turing was the father of modern computer science. In 1999 Time Magazine named Turing as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century for his role in the creation of the modern computer, stating: “The fact remains that everyone [...]

Tony Benn at the Bridgewater!

My latest e-newsletter from the People’s History Museum - due to re-open this autumn, and I’m counting the days! – informs me that Tony Benn has written the foreword to the museum’s forthcoming book with the University of Central Lancashire ‘The British Labour Movement and Imperialism’; and, even more excitingly, that there’s an Evening With Tony [...]

Swine flu and stilettoes

That mammoth, catch-up blog post I’ve been promising you all is underway, but has been somewhat delayed by the fact that – as you’ll know if you follow my bleeding heart Tweets – I’ve spent the last week in quarantine (i.e. under a duvet) with suspected swine flu.
I’m much better today and spent several hours on [...]

If you wanna be a blogger, you have to write a blog

Later this afternoon I’m off to the ‘Labour Northwest Online Campaigning Meeting‘ or, as it’s more commonly been called, ‘that Northern Labour bloggers Manchester meet-up thing’. It’s not just for bloggers, but I’m fairly sure I was invited because of this blog rather than because of my relentless tweeting. Which makes it all the more [...]

Excellent energy news from Europe

When I was working at Community Legal Advice (I’m gonna keep linking to that, ‘cos it’s a useful place to get help if you’re having issues with your bank/landlord/boss) and people called about problems with debt, I would ask them about all their expenses to check for any debts they hadn’t mentioned. If debt collectors [...]

Sweet Mandarin

Last year, until I was forced to find somewhere more cat-friendly, I lived in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. I miss the area very much and would move back in a second if only Audrey wasn’t so attached to things like grass and trees.
Although my current location obviously offers a lot in the way of eating in/eating [...]

Obama orders Guantanamo closure

If you’d asked me two years ago what one thing I wanted to happen to make the world a better place, I think there’s a good chance this would have been it.
It’s so strange…you get all caught up in the election excitement (see for example any of my posts from November) and then you return to good [...]

Happy Obama Day one and all!

Will post properly later, but hope you’re all enjoying it

Most advisable headline change ever?

Did I imagine it, or was this story on the MEN website yesterday under the headline ‘Cameron ‘promises’ TIF cash’, or something very similar? Daring use of inverted commas. Even the usual anti-TIF MEN commenters can recognise that “My view is that if you have got good schemes to go ahead with then you should [...]

Reasons to vote YES on the TIF bid, day…ah, I lose count.

Anyway, today’s reason to vote yes is that I’VE VOTED! It was very exciting. And you all want to be like me, yes…?