The Tide Is Turning

By the way, if you haven't heard it... this is "The Tide is Turning".



A sublime song about Live Aid.

We Don't Need No Thought Control

Pink Floyd were one of my favourite groups when I was younger. I thought "Dark Side Of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here" were wonderful. And the Tide is Turning" is sublime. But I never liked "Another Brick In the Wall", especially the title track. Not even for one second.

"We don't need no education!"? Of course you do, you pillocks. If that track discouraged even one person from getting a good education and career , well that's one person too many. And teachers and schools seemed such an easy target. Writing a song that encouraged kids to study would have been a bit trickier, eh?

But as explained on Harry's Place , this version - with Roger Waters blessing - is rather more appropriate. It's fronted by two brothers of Iranian origin living in Canada.....

Sometimes Anger Is the Right Emotion To Display

Sometimes the best thing to do in a poltical arena is to show your anger and contempt.... this is Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner.

The Guardian tries to explain here.

Say Something Nice About The Coalition? Our Tories Vote Against

On Rochford District Council we have a pretty oppressive form of the cabinet system - if you aren't one of the eight Tory cabinet members, you can never ever speak at a cabinet meeting , even if it affects your ward.

So the Lib Dems were pleased to see that the coalition are going to give councils the chance to go back to a committee system, and two of us put forward the following motion:

‘That this Council welcomes the statement by the Liberal Conservative Coalition Government that they will allow Councils to return to the committee system, should they wish to.’

This was treated by horror by the Conservative leadership. Clearly any hint from us that the cabinet system isn't perfect hit a extremely raw nerve. As a result they voted as a block against a motion praising their own national party.

I'm Chuffed To Bits About This Chinwag

I don't know if Cameron and Obama got on as well as this - but here's an entertaining game between High Lawrie and Ellen Degeneres as they try to guess the meaning of English and American slang.....

Third Place.....

Wheatley Ward on Rochford District Council is a real Conservative stronghold - when the seat was contested in May, only the Tories and English Democrats actually stood.

Following the sad death of Conservative ward councillor John Pullen, we've just had a by-election, in which the Lib Dems and Labour dipped their toe into the electoral waters here. However the result was, as expected , a Conservative hold:

Aron Priest Conservative 417 61.0% (down 7.8% since previous election)
John Hayter English Democrats 142 20.7% (down 10.4%)
Sid Cumberland Liberal Democrats 78 11.4% (up 11.4%)
David Bodimeade Labour 47 6.9% (up 6.9%)

Turn out this time was 21.3 %

All Hail The All Whites!

Not a bad world cup for me personally , as I had Holland in the office sweepstake...

But the gane that riveted me most was New Zealand 1 Italy 1 - a defiant performace by the All Whites.

And am I the first person to point out that New Zealand were the only team to leave the World Cup Finals unbeaten?